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Police Standoff With Hong Kong Protesters Intensifies; Iranians Denounce Gasoline Price Increase And Rationing; Long Lines For Food, Fuel As Political Crisis Deepens; Trump Slams Pence Aide Ahead Of Impeachment Hearing; Eight Officials To Testify Publicly This Week; WSJ: Sondland Briefed Trump Officials On Ukraine Plans; Trump's Hospital Visit Raises Questions In Washington; Duke of York under Fire over Epstein Defense; Netanyahu on the Attack over Arab Parties in Government; Venice Flooding. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 18, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM this hour, riot police in Hong Kong trying to clear out a university where student protesters are being holed up inside for days. They're battling bricks and Molotov cocktails with tear gas and water cannon.

A key witness in this week's impeachment hearings reportedly kept several Trump administration officials up to speed on efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate the U.S. President's political rival. And Prince Andrew sparking near-universal condemnation over his interview about his ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

A standoff has been raging in Hong Kong between pro-democracy protesters and police and the situation has once again turned violent. Authorities have been firing more tear gas trying to remove demonstrators from a university they've occupied. Many protesters have started to leave the campus, some they were arrested on their way out, others though staying put.

The school Polytechnic University is a strategic stronghold in the center of Hong Kong, close to major roads and across Harbour Tunnel. Police are urging the protesters who remain to give up their weapons, some of which are alarmingly dangerous like what you see there, and apparent makeshift bomb, metal bolts strapped to a gas canister, and then this one too, a giant catapult which is being used to launch flaming projectiles.

Meanwhile, a victory for the protesters, Hong Kong's High Court striking down a controversial ban on wearing masks at public gatherings which was passed last month. CNN's Paula Hancock's is in Hong Kong. She is following all developments for us.

Paula, fill us in on what's been happening. I mean, this standoff continues. Has the violence stopped? Is it peaceful for a moment?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. Unfortunately, it's not at all, Michael. While, there may be a standoff just outside that campus, what other protesters are doing is they are causing distractions, they are trying to draw police away from the campus. You can see what they're doing here. They're trying to close roads off. They've been building barricades here as well.

Just a few minutes ago, the police were here firing tear gas to try and clear people away but as you can see, it clearly hasn't worked. So as soon as they clear one group of protesters, and I must say an awful lot of bystanders out of the way, they go into the next spot and this fills up again. So it's a real cat and mouse game.

And this is what protesters here are telling us they're trying to do. They're trying to draw the police away from the campus to give people a chance inside to be able to get out of the campus itself. Now, we spoke to one 23-year-old man who's inside the campus at this point, and he said he's with a group of 20 protesters and he said they are effectively sitting there waiting to be arrested saying that they are all extremely tired.

He said that he wasn't part of the more violence elements, but of course, there is a violent element within that campus. The police have said they know that there are explosives inside, they know there are corrosive elements at the PolyU. Officials have said that they believe laboratories are broken into and dangerous chemicals have been taken from those laboratories.

So that's what the police are trying to deal with at this point. So clearly going very slowly when it comes to try to get onto the campus itself. We know there have been a number of arrests. Just earlier, we witnessed dozens of protesters escaping it appeared from the campus itself and running.

Now, we understand that police have widened this cordon to try and arrest those that did escape from the campus, and we understand many of them have been arrested. Michael?

HOLMES: And of those who remain -- I don't know, if you're in contact with them, is there a willingness to, you know, surrender basically or an element that just wants to fight on?

HANCOCK: I think that's both at this point. I mean, the individual we spoke to was talking about how his parents didn't know he was in there, how he told them, he'd been staying with his girlfriend last night, and he seemed worried about how to tell them as well as the fact that he was sitting there waiting to be arrested by police.

But you do have that more radical, that more violent element that is still willing to fight. We saw -- I mean, we've been in there the past few days, and we saw crates of petrol bombs at the ready. We know that there are individuals who have been firing -- that had bows and arrows and have been firing arrows and one police liaison officer was hitting the leg by one of those arrows. So we heard from the police as well. They said that if the protesters are going to continue using what they call lethal weapons and they consider a bow and arrow to be a lethal weapon, then they will start to use minimum force. And they say within that, they may have to use live fire. Michael?

[01:05:23]

HOLMES: Dramatic times. Paula, good to have you on the spot there reporting for us. Paula Hancocks in Hong Kong. And joining me now is Anson Chan who served as Chief Secretary for Hong Kong back in the 1990s under the last British Governor Chris Patten, also under the Hong Kong government after the handover. It's a pleasure to have you on the program.

The situation clearly worsening. It was bit like a war zone at times in the last day or so, and threats of live fire. Where do you see this headed?

ANSON CHAN, FORMER CHIEF SECRETARY, HONG KONG: I'm sorry to say that at the moment, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel because both sides remain in, you know, intransigent and digging in their heels. The protesters feel that they've already made considerable sacrifices, some of the protests, says have been hurt, and they're prepared to make a last-ditch effort to try and get the government to consider some of their demands, even if this means laying their lives on the line.

On the other hand, we have a totally intransigent government that is providing no solution other than every day coming out to condemn violence. Well, yes, none of us wants to see violence. We should not be tolerating violence. Violence does not solve problems. But with increasing brutality and excessive use of force by the police, the community and particularly the protesters are getting angrier by the day.

And with a government that doesn't listen, you have some sympathy with the protesters. So it's very much up to the government to make the first move.

HOLMES: How do you see the level of determination of this core group of protesters? What would satisfy them at this point?

CHAN: I think what would satisfy them, I hope, but it's you know, we're now into the six months of the protest, is for some of their public demands to be entertained by the government. And chief amongst these demands are two things, I think. First, the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry to look into the root cause of this whole protest movement, to look particularly at the action not just of the police, but also the action of the protesters. In other words, to establish the truth and the facts.

And once you have the truth, then we can begin to consider what steps can we take to begin the process of reconciliation because the society at the moment is seriously split. Now, it should not be difficult for the government to entertain this, particularly as its own appointed overseas experts recently commented that the task given to them under the current remit is too narrowly defined, and therefore they do not feel they can render a report that will receive public support.

HOLMES: You face threats yourself, haven't you? Are you concerned as this continues?

CHAN: Well, I think for the first time in the, you know, 50 years, yes, I am a little concerned, particularly when you receive physical threats, when you have, you know, harassing calls all day and all hours of the night, and when you have totally fabricated things written about you in the estate propaganda media. But it hasn't deterred me from doing what I believe to be right which that I --

HOLMES: Do you know where those threats are coming from?

CHAN: Well, it is entirely state-sponsored. People underestimate the pervasiveness of the state propaganda machinery. But this is a very good example of how they target individuals. But when they feel the need to target individuals, you start to wonder how much confidence does leadership have in their own leadership? Surely it is not necessary to target individuals like myself, Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai. What harm can we do?

HOLMES: Anson Chan, I appreciate your time. Very difficult times for Hong Kong. Thank you.

CHAN: Thank you.

HOLMES: Hong Kong not the only place experiencing unrest, demonstrations also going on Iran. People there denouncing a planned increasing gas prices, a big increase 50 percent. Violent clashes like these have been playing out for days. The U.S. says the government is using lethal force against the demonstrators and Iran's supreme leader says several people have so far died. Now despite the unrest though, he says he supports the government's decision to raise prices.

And the political crisis in Bolivia continues to spiral out of control. Long lines becoming common in La Paz as people try to buy basic food items and things like cooking fuel. Supporters of the ousted President Evo Morales have blocked major highways preventing supplies from reaching the city. And interim government official says supplies will be flowing into cities instead, but people in La Paz are worried.

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[01:10:31]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): At the moment, we're lacking food. Even if you have money, you can't buy anything. The stores have made us write down our names and telephone numbers, adding they will call us. Prices have gone up quite a bit, which is not good for many homes. And when hunger strikes, we can't tell the children well, you can't eat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Bolivian lawmakers are yet to agree on a date for new elections. Turning now to Lebanon, protesters there have been marking one month since demonstrators -- demonstrations erupted over the country's economic crisis. They poured into the streets on Sunday, part of a nationwide movement against a political establishment largely viewed as corrupt and incompetent.

Lebanon's politicians are struggling to form a government after the Prime Minister stepped down late last month.

Let's take a short break. When we come back, all eyes on Capitol Hill as key witness Gordon Sondland gets ready to testify in the Trump impeachment hearings this week. New details on how closely the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. was involved in the Ukraine dealings. That's coming up. Also this, why an unannounced hospital visit by the U.S. President is raising eyebrows in Washington. We'll be right back.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you and we are about ten days away from Thanksgiving holiday across areas around the United States. And of course, you notice the trend here wintry weather already in place in portions of the northeastern U.S., front is exiting off towards the east and the pattern expected to dry out just a little bit over the next couple of days. The system kind of stalls just offshore.

But notice in Chicago, how about we warm you up as we approach the unofficial start of the holiday season there, up to eight degrees by Wednesday, 12 degrees potentially come Thursday afternoon. We recall about a week ago temps there were five to ten below zero, especially when you factor in the wind chill.

So a trend of warmer weather is in store but of course, December is around the bend. So that'll be short-lived here. As we going towards this weekend, colder air expects to dive in around New York City. And in fact, even some wintry weather possible around the Big Apple there with a mix possible at least into the early morning hours. Highs still climb up about nine degrees or so.

Chicago, there's the three-degree afternoon, Vancouver some evening showers, highs around 11 degrees. And (INAUDIBLE) city middle 20s, Mexico City around 23, and in around Puerto Rico, San Juan, one of the warmer spots, that's right around 31 degrees this time of year.

And that is the case with the afternoon high and little farther towards the south we go with the tropics quieting down the end of the hurricane season just a few days away and has remained rather quiet for the last several weeks

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[01:15:00]

HOLMES: All eyes on Washington this week, as the next round of public impeachment hearings take off. There are eight people up to testify, and that includes the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland. A lot of people waiting anxiously for that one. Sondland has direct knowledge of President Donald Trump's Ukraine dealings. And in a stunning turn of events, the Wall Street Journal on Sunday revealed emails from Sondland that show he had been keeping Trump administration officials in the loop on the push to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. On July 19, this is prior to the infamous Trump-Zelensky phone call, Sondland wrote, quote, "I talked to Zelensky just now. He is prepared to receive Potus' call. Will I assure him that he intends to run a fully transparent investigation and will turn over every stone."

Meanwhile, President Trump is lashing out again this time at an aide to the Vice President, Mike Pence, on Twitter. He's discrediting, or trying to, Jennifer Williams as a "Never Trumper," ahead of her public testimony at the impeachment hearings this week. Earlier this month, during a closed-door deposition, Williams told lawmakers she listened to President Trump's July 25th phone call with the Ukrainian President, Zelensky, and that his request for investigations into the Biden struck her as quote unusual and inappropriate. Meanwhile, the Vice President's office, distancing itself from Williams just saying that she's a State Department employee, no support.

CNN's David Shortell takes a look at all the U.S. officials scheduled to testify this week.

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DAVID SHORTELL, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Eight witnesses set to testify publicly this week before the House Intelligence Committee, including a number of highly credentialed, the National Security officials, making this week out to potentially be one of the most consequential of the Trump presidency. You may recognize some of the names of these individuals, that's because these are folks who have already come in and provided lawmakers with testimony behind closed doors.

Well, now beginning on Tuesday, the American public will get to hear from them directly. I want to focus in on two of the witnesses who were expected to provide some of the most critical testimony so far in this impeachment inquiry. That's Gordon Sondland, a close ally of the president's and the Ambassador to the European Union, and Timothy Morrison, who was the top White House expert on Russia up until his resignation late last month.

Sondland, you'll remember is a wealthy businessman who donated a million dollars to the President's inauguration committee and later became his top envoy to the E.U. Well, his testimony on Wednesday is not expected to be a homerun for the Democrats, because he'll likely testify about a call that he had with President Trump, in which the President told him explicitly that he was not looking for a, quote, quid pro quo, with the Ukrainians. That, meaning, I do not want you to tell the Ukrainians that the release of military aid is contingent on the opening of an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden.

We have heard at other points, however, that Sondland did offer up such a deal to the Ukrainians. He's also likely to be quizzed by Democrats on a conversation he had with his colleagues over the summer that were only just now, this week, learning about in that conversation at a restaurant in Kiev in July. Sondland allegedly told other officials that Trump did not care about Ukraine, and was only concerned with the opening of an investigation into the Biden's.

Morrison, the former NSC official is scheduled to testify on Tuesday. And he's expected to really build the credentials of Sondland as someone who was working directly with the President on this shadow Ukraine policy, this effort to get the Ukrainians to open up a political investigation that was done outside of the normal diplomatic channels. Morrison is also likely to testify about a number of conversations he had with Sondland in which the ambassador described how he was doing this work at the behest of the President. That's going to really establish Sondland as the witness with the most direct role in this that we've heard from so far.

David Shortell, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now is CNN Political Analyst Michael Shear, also White House Correspondent for the New York Times. Good to see you, sir.

[01:20:03]

Now, let's start with this new reporting in the Wall Street Journal, get your thoughts on that. And basically, it is that in the weeks leading up to the Trump-Zelensky phone call, the E.U. Ambassador, Gordon Sondland, kept several top officials, including acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney, the Energy Secretary Rick Perry, kept them apprised of the push to launch investigations into Joe Biden and his son. How do you see the evidence stacking up? Is there a cumulative effect happening here?

MICHAEL SHEAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I do think there's a cumulative effect, and I think that you can see the result of that in the way in which the Republican defenders on Capitol Hill are having to shift their defense of the President. You know, initially, they were saying, well, there's no evidence of a quid pro quo. Then they said, well, there's no direct linkage that indicates that the President actually knew and directed this effort. Both of those have sort of gone by the wayside as we've seen the public testimony from people inside his own administration, like Gordon Sondland who will be, of course, testifying next week, that there was, in fact, a lot of knowledge at the White House that the President was directly connected in conversations with various officials to discussions of a -- of a, you know, a use of military aid in exchange for investigations.

And so, I think that the Republican strategy is having to come down to now, at the end of the day, Well, he probably did this, but he didn't do anything wrong. We don't think it's impeachable. And ultimately, I think it'll be the American people who cast judgment on that -- on that defense of the President. Ultimately in the election next year, but also in just public opinion over the course of the next several weeks and months.

HOLMES: Indeed, you made -- you made this point, and it's worth revisiting. Ambassador Sondland set to testify on Wednesday. And the thing -- and the thing with him is he's already offered two versions under oath. The second, an amendment of the first after his memory was quite refreshed. What's he facing in terms of potential legal jeopardy with version three when he comes back to testify, if he shows up?

SHEAR: Well, you know, I talked to some members of Congress at the end of last week about this. I think even among the Democrats, there's a sense that what we -- what we -- what he appears to have done this time around is more of a sin of omission than one of commission, right? He has perhaps not as fully disclosed all of the conversations that he might have had with the President, and the Democrats will hammer him on that and try to -- and try to, sort of, push him to describe the things that he hasn't yet described.

I don't know whether given the kind of speed with which the Democrats are pushing ahead with this impeachment inquiry, whether they're going to want to spend a lot of time focused on a perjury charge for him. I think what they rather hope is that the fear of such a charge whether or not it would ever actually happen, but that the fear of such a charge will lead Ambassador Sondland to be even more forthcoming than maybe he's already been about the kinds of conversations he had directly with the President.

HOLMES: There's a busy week ahead of testimony, and one of those whose testimony we've already read, Vice President Pence's aide, Jennifer Williams. She testified that Trump's request for specific investigation struck her. I think the words were unusual and inappropriate, and shed some light on possible motivations, I think, she said for Trump's decision to freeze security. And then you had Donald Trump tweeting about her, and let's put that up for people to see, quote, "Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read both transcripts of the presidential calls and see the just-released statement from Ukraine. Then, she should meet with the other Never Trumpers who I don't know and mostly never even heard of, and work out a better presidential attack."

Quite apart from the substance of that, you've got the President attacking Korea diplomatic and other officials, one of course, literally, as she testified. It's extraordinary, does it strengthen democratic claims of witness intimidation or obstruction perhaps?

SHEAR: Well, I think it does. I mean, I think it's unclear whether the kind -- whether a kind of tweets that the President is firing off with -- in a legal courtroom, constitute some -- the legal definition of witness intimidation or witness tampering. But that really is besides the point here, really, the system, the process that we're involved in is a political process. And I think the Democrats -- if the President is giving the Democrats more and more ammunition to argue in the court of public opinion that the President is obstructing or attempting to obstruct this investigation by the, you know, injecting fear into the minds of the potential witnesses that might -- that have already come forward and that might come forward in the future. And I don't think it's -- I don't think anybody is missing the fact that the two people he (AUDIO GAP) after, you know, eventually back to back are two women who --

HOLMES: Yes.

SHEAR: -- you know, are veteran diplomats, who, you know -- and there's no evidence of the fact that they are in fact Never Trumpers and certainly no evidence of the fact that they somehow are part of some deep state resistance that he imagines are -- is waging a war against them.

[01:25:12]

HOLMES: Michael Shear with the New York Times, as always, thanks so much.

SHEAR: Yes. Nice talking to you.

HOLMES: All right. President Trump's unannounced hospital visit is raising some questions in Washington. He went to Walter Reed Military Hospital on Saturday. The White House says he had an exam and some lab work done as part of his annual physical part one of the physical they said, but officials are not saying why he didn't have his entire physical done at the same time. And sources say hospital staff were not told in advance about that visit which is unusual. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I spent a lot of time in the White House Medical Office, within the White House itself, and it's -- they have pretty good capabilities there. They certainly can do, you know, a physical exam, they can take certain laboratory tests and things like that. If he was getting basic labs and a physical, why was that at Walter Reed? I guess seven years wasn't very clear. She says there's no -- there were no symptoms, nothing that sort of prompted this visit. But I think as a medical person, if somebody makes a surprised, unannounced visit to a hospital, that is the first question you would -- you would -- you would ask.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That usually means it's -- it is provoked by a something new.

GUPTA: Right. Something happened and then --

WHITFIELD: Something about his condition has changed.

GUPTA: It may not be super serious.

WHITFIELD: It's a presumption.

GUPTA: It could be serious. It could be, hey, let's just get this checked out.

WHITFIELD: Yes. GUPTA: But as a routine matter to have not left the hospital know --

not anyone know, it seems -- again, it seems unusual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Another source said Mr. Trump appeared to be in good physical health. It is a mystery for now. We're going to take a short break. When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, what might have been an attempt at damage control, appears to have backfired Prince Andrew. Why he's under more pressure than ever after facing questions over his friendship with a convicted sex offender. And with his political future in question, Israel's Prime Minister on the attack. We'll be right back.

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[01:30:36]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes with your headlines this hour.

A long stand off between police and protesters rages on at Hong Kong's Polytechnic University. Police have fired more tear gas as they attempt to force out demonstrators. Some of the protesters have attempted to flee the campus, but many of them are being arrested on the way out.

The U.S. condemning Iran for allegedly using lethal force on protesters. The Iranians have been demonstrating against a planned increase in tax and gas prices. Iran's Supreme Leader says several people have died so far across the country. Internet and cell phone service has been shut down for more than 24 hours -- that is the longest outage in six years.

The U.S. President Donald Trump lashing out on Twitter, calling an aide to Vice President Mike Pence a never-Trumper. Jennifer Williams will be testifying on Capitol Hill this week. It is the latest in a series of social media attacks by the President against people cooperating with the impeachment inquiry.

Britain's Prince Andrew coming under fire after speaking for the first time about his friendship with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawyers for Epstein's victims are now demanding that the British Royal talk to the FBI.

CNN's Hadas Gold with more from London.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prince Andrew may have hoped sitting down for an extensive forensic interview with the BBC would help quell the controversy surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. But it seemed to have only fanned the flames. The British press pounded the Prince for his answers and demeanor, not expressing enough sympathy for Epstein's victims, they said, with blaring headlines like "Not one single word of remorse".

PRINCE ANDREW, DUKE OF YORK: Do I regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes.

EMILY MAITLIS, HOST, BBC: Unbecoming? He was a sex offender.

ANDREW: Yes, I'm sorry. I'm being polite. I mean in the sense that he was a sex offender.

GOLD: Prince Andrew claimed in the interview aired on Saturday night that he and Epstein were not that great of friends, but then said he went on to stay at Epstein's house in Manhattan just months after Epstein had been released from prison for sex crimes in order to break up the friendship in person.

PRINCE ANDREW: Six months --

GOLD: He told the BBC he kicks himself daily for visiting Epstein, realizes it was the wrong thing to do and let the royal family down.

The interview was taped on Thursday here at Buckingham Palace, the seat of the British monarchy. According to the BBC, it took six months to arrange and was conducted with the Queen's approval.

For the first time, Prince Andrew provided alibis for the allegations leveled against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre who claimed in a 2015 federal court filing, that she was forced to party with Prince Andrew and engage in sexual acts with him.

But the Duke of York has repeatedly denied all of the allegations saying in the interview he couldn't have been with Giuffre on at least one of the occasions she cited because he was at a Pizza Express restaurant with his daughter Princess Beatrice.

Prince Andrew said he has no recollection of even meeting Giuffre despite the fact the photo allegedly shows him with his arm around a young Giuffre in 2001. Are you saying you don't believe her? She's lying?

PRINCE ANDREW: That's a very difficult thing to answer because I'm not in a position to know what she's trying to achieve. But I can tell you categorically I don't remember meeting her at all. I do not remember a photograph being taken. And I've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever.

GOLD: Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of Epstein's victims, has called on Prince Andrew to speak under oath or testify to U.S. investigators. The Prince said he would be willing to do so if his legal counsel advised him to.

When asked if Buckingham Palace had a reaction to the fallout from the interview, a spokesperson said on Sunday that the Duke's words speak for themselves. Hadas Gold, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:34:55]

HOLMES: The Israeli Prime Minister's political future hangs in the balance this week. The opposition leader Benny Gantz has days left to form a government. And it's possible he could do so with support from Arab parties.

Oren Liebermann reports that that has prompted a sharp warning from Benjamin Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a kind of victory tour after last week's fighting with Gaza visiting soldiers and security forces. Now, he's on the attack once again facing the possibility of defeat -- political defeat, that is.

In part it's the Arab parties in Israeli politics calling them supporters of terror.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Today we are having an emergency meeting against the minority government which depends on appears on the supporters of terror, it's a danger to the security of Israel.

LIEBERMANN: Netanyahu is under pressure. Benny Gantz his rival has until Wednesday at midnight to announce he has a coalition to unseat Netanyahu.

Gantz is pursuing a Unity government he says but won't rule out any option.

BENNY GANTZ, LEADER OF BLUE AND WHITE: We will construct a table for direct negotiations on substantive issues and when that is done, we will discuss the seating arrangement around it.

LIEBERMANN: That includes the minority government that relies on the outside support of the Arab party. Netanyahu said such a government would be an unprecedented danger to Israel. It was a reminder of Netanyahu's campaign rhetoric when he accused Arabs of voter fraud and trying to steal the elections.

Arab leaders in Israel say there should be another criminal investigation of Netanyahu in addition to the graft probes he already faces -- this time for incitement.

Netanyahu and Gantz are both courting potential king maker Avigdor Lieberman. The former defense minister says only egos and personal issues are standing in the way of the unity government between Netanyahu's Likud Party and Gantz's Blue and White Party. Lieberman has been tight lipped about whether he would be ok with the government that needed Arab support. In the past he's called Israel's Arabs a fifth column and referred to them as enemies.

But on Facebook Lieberman posted a picture of Netanyahu sitting with the leaders of the Arab party saying he's worked with him for years, suggesting maybe such a government is and off the table for him yet.

Oren Liebermann -- CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, while that might be known as the floating city more than 80 percent of my be known as the floating city, more than 80 percent of Venice is now underwater. We'll look at the toll that is taking when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

Dozens of wildfires continue to ravage eastern Australia -- no end in sight at the moment plumes of smoke have filled the air as crews work to try to contain blazes across the states of Queensland and New South Wales.

[01:39:50]

HOLMES: Hot, dry weather fueling the inferno. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, four people have died. There is a total fire ban in effect and officials say water restrictions could intensify.

Well, while Australia battles fires and dry weather, Venice reeling from a much different problem -- the floodwaters there rising again reaching one and a half meters on Sunday, the highest level since the previous Friday. You can see the iconic Saint Marks Square submerged in water along with we're told, 85 percent of the city.

As Scott McLane reports it is not only buildings that are being worn down, it is the Venetians themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For Venetians, it's a familiar sound, they'd rather not hear after a week of high water.

Alarms echoing through the narrow streets and canals warning of the rising tide. Sunday's peaks sent water into St. Mark's Square, into the basilica as well. Peaking at a meter and a half -- exceptional even for Venetian standards.

On nearby Murano (ph) Island it was nearly impossible to tell the sidewalks from the canal. The island is famous for the many workshops that produce artisan peak (ph) with glass that end up on the shelves of Venetian gift shops. Fabiano Amadi has been making glass for decades. He didn't stop as water rushed inside his workshop for the second time in a week. He lost six of his specialized oven in the first high tide. And he worries that in the future he may lose much more.

"We may have to move", he says. "If we can't work here. Me can't live here."

But it's not just the water that's a problem, it's the salt the ocean water leaves behind.

Nearby, Romina Regini showed us the brick wall of her home -- it's turning to chalk.

ROMINA REGINI, MURANO RESIDENT: The salt break all the bricks. Because they are completely, completely melted.

MCLANE: For more than 15 years, Venice has been building a mobile hydraulic barrier system to block the catastrophic high tide from flooding the city.

But the project has been delayed by mismanagement and scandal. In 2014, the mayor at the time was arrested for his part in a bribery scheme.

Jane Di Mosto (ph) is an activist and environmentalist who has doubts about the project known as Mose (ph).

JANE DI MOSTO, ACTIVIST: Why should I believe in Mose. They started building it in 2003. They said it was going to be ready by 2011. It's now 2019 and nobody really knows if and when they are going to finish it.

And so it just makes me think, you know as a logical person that if it was ever going to be finished they would have been done it by now.

MCLANE: Venice's current mayor Luigi Brugnaro is not blind to his city's frustration with the project now expected to be complete by 2021.

"Everyone intelligent has doubts," he says. "But today it's the only chance we have to stop the sea. We have to finish it."

He says if they can block the rising tide, it'll be a victory for the world. A sigh of relief for Venetians who can only pray they'll be protected.

Scott McLane, CNN -- Venice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.

I'm Michael Holmes.

"WORLD SPORT coming up next. You will see Rosemary Church in about 15 minutes or so, with more news.

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