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China Furious Over New York Times Publication of Documents; Nationwide Protest Have Gripped Iran Since Friday; P.M. Johnson Challenges Corbyn Ahead OF T.V. Debate; The Ukraine Scandal's Best Quotes And Catchphrases. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 19, 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. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta with your next 90 minutes of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get started.
Gearing up for a full day of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry. For the first time, we will hear directly from people who were on that call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president.
We're live outside the Hong Kong university where a tense standoff between protesters and riot police threatens to turn violent again.
Plus, the Trump administration claims Israeli sentiments in the West Bank do not violate international law, despite what international institutions say.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
And just a few hours from now, the Trump impeachment hearings begin. Nine officials will testify this week, with four set to appear in the upcoming hours. On Wednesday, it's U.S. ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland, who is the one who reversed his earlier testimony and now says that there was a quid pro quo tied to military aid for Ukraine.
Lawmakers also announced that they will bring in diplomatic aide David Holmes for testimony and Phil Mattingly has the details.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here's what you need to know about the hearings happening today. The first hearing is two a White House officials, Jennifer Williams, who works in the vice president's office, and the other is Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who is the top Ukraine policy expert on the National Security Council. Both individuals testified in their closed door depositions they had
concerns about President Trump July 25th call with President Zelensky. Wondering why certain investigations were brought up and why vice president Biden's son was brought up and why the idea of the company that vice president's son, Hunter Biden, worked for.
That's something lawmakers will delve into as well as what those two individuals working in their roles inside the White House knew about the broader U.S. policy when it pertained to Ukraine, particularly the shadow policy run by the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
These are two witnesses and Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison, who were requested by Republicans, two officials who are deeply engaged with what the White House was doing, two officials deeply engaged in the White House Ukraine policy.
One of those, Kurt Volker, made clear in his closed door depositions there was no quid pro quo and they didn't believe the president did anything illegal. However, he was concerned about some of the individuals involved in foreign policy related to Ukraine.
Same for Tim Morrison. He made clear he was on the July 25th call between the two presidents and didn't think anything illegal was said on that call but made clear various elements of the U.S.-Ukraine policy outside of regular channels, whether Giuliani or Gordon Sondland, were problems in their roles.
That's Tuesday's hearing. There's a new development. On Thursday a, new individual has been added to the testimony list. That is David Holmes, he's the U.S. embassy in Ukraine official who overheard the phone call between Sondland and President Trump at an outdoor tavern. That phone call he testified behind closed doors in explicit detail in terms of what was said has become central to the impeachment inquiry.
And as I said, it's going to be a long week so be ready.
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CHURCH: CNN's Phil Mattingly with that report.
And as the impeachment process is in full swing, President Trump said he will strongly consider Nancy Pelosi's offer to testify. And here is Jim Acosta with the details.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tossing out a shiny new bright object, President Trump is dangling the possibility he might provide written testimony in the impeachment inquiry, tweeting: "Even though I did nothing wrong, I like the idea and will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it."
That was in reaction to what appeared to be an offer from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): if he wants to take the oath of office. Or he could do it in writing. He has every opportunity to present his case.
ACOSTA: But here's the problem. The president has dangled this possibility before during the Russia investigation.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would love to speak. I would love to go, nothing I want to do more, because we did nothing wrong.
ACOSTA: After months of haggling, the president ended up submitting answers to questions in writing. And as special counsel Robert Mueller stated in his report, "Mr. Trump stated on more than 30 occasions that he does not recall or remember or have an independent recollection of information called for by the questions."
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ACOSTA (voice-over): Add to that attorneys for the House of Representatives now say they are investigating whether the president lied to Mueller about not remembering aspects of the Russia probe.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): It's a crime to lie to federal prosecutors in the course of a federal proceeding. That's perjury.
ACOSTA: The president is also back to attacking witnesses in the inquiry, taking aim at Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, who told lawmakers Mr. Trump's phone call with the leader of Ukraine was inappropriate.
The president didn't like that and tweeted: "Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read both transcripts of the presidential calls. 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."
The president's swipe at Williams came on the heels of his tweet directed at former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): What effect do you think that has on other witnesses' willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing?
MARIE YOVANOVITCH, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, it's very intimidating.
ACOSTA: The big question is what, if anything, Republicans will do about it, though one House GOP member said he was alarmed by the administration's attempt to link military aid to political dirt.
REP. MICHAEL TURNER (R-OH): The president United States shouldn't even, in the original phone call, be on the phone with the president of another country and raise his political opponent. So, no, this is -- is not OK.
ACOSTA: House Republicans are considering asking Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson to detail what he knows about the president's actions.
Johnson, who would discuss the matter with the president, says the entire issue should not have been exposed.
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Having this all come out into public has weakened that relationship, has exposed things that didn't need to be exposed.
ACOSTA: Also hanging over the president is something of a medical
mystery, as White House officials are still not offering many details about Mr. Trump's sudden trip to Walter Reed hospital over the weekend. The White House said it was just a routine checkup as part of his annual physical, but sources told CNN the trip did not follow the usual protocol, calling Mr. Trump's visit abnormal.
The president will be back to keeping an eye on the impeachment inquiry as public hearings resume on Capitol Hill and Trump's fellow Republicans are hopeful he will cease his targeting of administration officials who will testify this week.
As one Trump campaign source said about the attacks late last week, it was, quote, "not a good day for the GOP" -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
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CHURCH: Tim Naftali joins us from New York and he's a CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library.
Great to have you with us.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: A pleasure, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Big news was the addition of diplomat David Holmes to the list of officials set to testify the second week of public hearings of the impeachment inquiry. In the release transcript of the closed- door deposition, Holmes reveals he heard a conversation between Gordon Sondland and President Trump in which Trump was calling for an investigation into Joe Biden.
This has shaken Republican lawmakers and how concerned should the president be about this?
NAFTALI: The president's defense, that there was no quid pro quo, and he has interpreted the -- it's not a transcript but a partial transcript as substituting a quid pro quo.
However, what Mr. Holmes is saying, that the conversation which by the way was so loud he could hear it -- it wasn't between him and the president but Sondland and the president -- that he could hear the president insist that what he wanted was for President Zelensky of Ukraine to initiate an investigation of the Bidens. That undercuts the president's defense and is very worrisome for him.
CHURCH: It could very well be a turning point as you look at it?
NAFTALI: This would substitute if the president is responsible for the policy. Right now, there's been no opportunity to argue that there wasn't an attempt to force Ukrainians to do something that wasn't in their interest and that the president's interest was in a general clearing up or elimination of corruption of Ukraine.
Both of those are vitiated by the call and if can be substantiated by another person, that undermines the credibility of the president's defense in this whole story, which would mean that he did use foreign policy to obtain a domestic political gain, which would mean an abuse of power.
CHURCH: Right. As a presidential historian, what's your reaction to the way President Trump has been dealing with this inquiry and his attacks on witnesses via Twitter, former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch last week and in recent days the vice president's aide Jennifer Williams?
NAFTALI: This is the first social media impeachment and the president has not helped himself.
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NAFTALI: By launching attacks on people as they are sitting and responding to the Congress under oath. One of the goals of this inquiry, this is the goal set up by the Founders, was that the Congress should have an opportunity to evaluate the president as part of its constitutional duty to remove someone who is a challenge to the constitutional system.
The president's effort to intimidate the witnesses is a form of obstruction of Congress' constitutional duty and could form an article of impeachment.
CHURCH: On Monday, President Trump suggested that he might actually cooperate in the impeachment inquiry by providing written testimony.
How likely do you think it is that he will do that?
NAFTALI: We all remember President Trump also seemed to offer cooperating fully with the Mueller investigation. In the end he only submitted written answers. By the way, he is now perhaps in some jeopardy because, in a parallel trial that just finished up involving a former associate, Roger Stone, Roger Stone was found guilty for perjury and the perjury had to do with what he and president talked about when he was a candidate.
If it's true about what the president was saying to Roger Stone about WikiLeaks, the president lied under oath to the Mueller investigation. So he has mounting legal and constitutional challenges ahead of him.
CHURCH: Given that, how worried do you think President Trump is or how rattled are Republicans right now on what's being revealed so far and what's going to be revealed in the upcoming week? NAFTALI: The president should be very concerned. What I would suggest is that we don't really know the extent of concern among Republicans. I spent a lot of time looking into the story of the Nixon impeachment. I can tell you from having looked at diaries that were not available, that the Republican leaders were very nervous about Nixon but were very careful not to show it publicly.
So while they were discussing perhaps having him resign, they didn't want the American public to know that. We don't really know the extent to which they're discussing but since the president's basic defend has been undermined by Mr. Holmes' testimony under oath, that Republicans are now beginning to ask themselves, what does this mean politically for us and if there is a quid pro quo, is it impeachable?
CHURCH: Tim Naftali, thank you so much for your analysis, we appreciate it.
NAFTALI: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: You can catch the CNN coverage of the impeachment hearing starting Tuesday at 1:00 pm in London, 9:00 pm in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's chief executive is warning if the violence across the city keeps escalating and local police can't restore order, she may turn to the Chinese army for help. Pro democracy demonstrations have grown even more violent recently. Protesters have thrown bricks and petrol bombs and police responded with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.
A few hundred demonstrators have barricaded inside Polytechnic University and police now say 900 people were arrested as they left campus Monday and into Tuesday. Paula Hancocks joins us now from Hong Kong with the very latest.
Good to see you Paula.
How many students exactly are thought to be holed up there now and what more are you learning about their plan for the next move?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it's hard to get an exact number of who is still in here, it's such a large campus. But I would say that at least dozens and potentially 100 but there may be more.
This is the main courtyard within the Polytechnic University; to my right is the main entrance where fires were lit by the protesters to keep the police out. This is what's left behind but not just left behind but potentially some protesters are saying that they could use this.
You can see the sheer number of boxes of crates and shopping trolleys are filled with petrol bombs and we have seen acetone, lighter fluid and explosive material and this courtyard alone.
And we've just seen a number of officials from Poly U going to laboratories and seeing what's been taken from those laboratories. The protesters were here earlier today and one was 16 years old and had been here for eight days. He could barely keep his eyes open and he said he was so exhausted.
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HANCOCKS: But he said that he wants to continue to fight against them and says he believes he is doing it for Hong Kong. But hundreds of people who have left and we heard from Carrie Lam earlier today that she thought 600 had left from here.
And a police source telling CNN that 900 people have been arrested overnight just from this campus alone. So there those that are leaving and have to surrender to police. They are immediately arrested and processed.
But if they are under the age of 18 they are not necessarily arrested. One solicitor who is voluntarily here to advise students on what to do has been saying -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Paula, what is the response of the executive Carrie Lam to call in China's army if the Hong Kong police can't control the protesters?
HANCOCKS: We heard from Carrie Lam before that she has refused to rule out the fact that she could call on the Chinese government. Certainly, the protesters here know that and have known that from the very beginning. They do not believe it will be possible that the Chinese military could be called into action.
And we've heard from Carrie Lam is that if the Hong Kong police don't have the situation under control and are unable to deal with it, there's definitely a sense that people are calming down here.
And we've seen it time and time again that things flare up, but the fact that so many protesters have left voluntarily and have handed themselves in to police, there are very few left here.
These are the frontliners, and there's about 80 still here and in other parts of the campus there are protesters meeting to take a democratic vote on whether they should stay or leave. There is definitely a sense that this has calmed down significantly.
Does that mean the Hong Kong police do feel they have things in hand?
Coming into this particular area, we were blocked on Monday but today it was easier to get through and definitely fewer police and looking far more relaxed -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: We'll continue to monitor this. Paula Hancocks bringing us that live report from the university campus, we appreciate it.
The Trump administration makes a major change to U.S. policy through the Middle East. A move applauded by Israel and condemned by the Palestinians.
The big question is, why now? Plus, down but not out. ISIS leaders are on the move, plotting attacks and looking to regroup. We will be back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The U.S. is changing a decades old policy in the Middle East. On Monday, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration would soften its stance on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
This reverses a State Department legal opinion from 1978 that deemed the settlements were inconsistent with international law. Mr. Pompeo said the old policy had done little to encourage diplomacy in the Middle East. The Palestinian leaders said the announcement could threaten security in the region.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law hasn't worked. It hasn't advanced the cause of peace. The hard truth is, there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict and arguments about who is right and wrong as a matter of fact international law will not bring peace. This is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
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SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are not only illegal under international law but they are war crimes. And the statement of the secretary of state in the United States is absolutely rejected and must be condemned.
Because one superpower has determined to undermine international law.
Once they become an administration that is pro Israel occupation, pro Israel war crimes, this constitutes a major threat to international peace and security.
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CHURCH: All of this comes as Israel's political factions are struggling to form a coalition government. The U.S. move looks to be a big win for the right wing parties as well as Donald Trump supporter and current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Here's CNN's Oren Liebermann.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration's announcement that it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as consistent with international law is a change in decades of U.S. foreign policy but shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. The U.S. under Trump already stopped considering the West Bank occupied territory.
And a former official on the peace team, Jason Greenblatt, said settlements should just be called cities and towns. This appears to be just an extension of that policy. It's a blatant win for Israel's right wing and advocates of the settlements and they began celebrating immediately.
Some even saying the next step is to apply Israeli sovereignty to West Bank annexation. Palestinian leaders slammed the move and said nothing will change the fact that settlements are still considered illegal under international law whether the U.S. wants to recognize it or not.
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said it doesn't pre-judge the status of settlements and negotiations and this is nothing other than a green light for the continued expansion of settlements.
Pompeo said the administration has been working on this for a year. But there are two very conspicuous things with the timing of this announcement. It seems a direct rejection of last week's court justice ruling that products and goods produced in the West Bank have to be labeled as such. They can't say simply made in Israel.
Second, whether it was intentional or not, this is a major gift to prime minister Netanyahu, who called it historical truth. That as he finds himself in a perilous political situation. It's a boost to him and to Israel's right wing as a whole as Netanyahu tries to hang onto his position.
Who benefits the most?
That would likely be president Donald Trump. It's a decision that will go over incredibly well with his religion evangelical base who sees Israel as a key issue -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
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CHURCH: Turkish police say they have arrested four ISIS members suspected of planning an attack. Officials didn't give any details about the alleged plot. But state media say the men crossed into Turkey from Syria.
It was just last month that Trump claimed ISIS had been defeated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We defeated this group largely. Defeated ISIS 100 percent of the caliphate, 100 percent. And we wanted to do 100 percent.
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CHURCH: Now the head of Iraq's military intelligence warns senior ISIS leaders have taken refuge in Turkey.
Plus what millions of driven by revenge, the massive jailbreak outs to rebuild the network. These explosive warnings come from the military intelligence and exclusive interview with CNN.
Those elements that are the air of Turkey play a key role to recruit fighters. Top level leaders who are in the direction of other areas are key members of the organization. They have vast amounts. They even have investments.
The general said that he had a dossier of nine ISIS leaders and Turkey military officials a month ago. He was shown but not allowed to film the Iraqi arrest warrants for two of those men which were expert bomb makers and wanted for terror and mass murder.
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CHURCH: Now the head of Iraq's military intelligence warns senior ISIS leaders have taken refuge in Turkey. Sam Kiley interviewed him in this CNN exclusive.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hidden among those fleeing the last stand of the so-called Islamic caliphate are leaders who evaded prisons like these taking refuge in Turkey.
Flush with millions of dollars and driven by revenge, they're plotting mass jail breakouts to rebuild the terror network. These explosive warnings come from Iraq's veteran head of military intelligence in an exclusive interview with CNN.
LT. GEN. SAAD AL-ALLAQ, HEAD OF IRAQI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: (through translator): Those elements who are currently in areas in Turkey play a key role in the new effort to recruit fighters.
Top-level leaders who fled secretly in the direction of Gaziantep and other areas are key funding members of the organization. And they have vast amounts of money. They even have investments in Turkey.
KILEY: The general said that he handed a dossier of nine ISIS leaders to Turkish military officials in this room a month ago. We were shown but not allowed to film Iraqi arrest warrants for two of those men which said that they're expert bombmakers wanted for terror and mass murder.
The warrants say they pose a great danger in the Middle East and to the West. Turkish officials told CNN that they're looking into the allegations.
Iraq trapped and attacked former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, forcing him from Iraq into Syria where he was eventually killed in October. But the general warned that the ISIS threat remains potent. About 10,000 alleged fighters are now held in prisons guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
How long they can be contained is unclear since Turkey's recent incursion into the area where it considers the Kurdish elements of the SDF a terror group.
The Trump administration has been widely criticized for withdrawing U.S. forces who were working with the SDF from the border area. European forces have done nothing to help contain the potential threat here and most refuse to repatriate their citizens who joined ISIS.
Turkish forces have rounded up dozens of alleged ISIS members recently arresting 42 people allegedly involved in complex money transfers for the terror group. But Iraqi military intelligence believes that these prisons and others like it could be attacked at any time. Funded by ISIS leaders living in Turkey.
AL-ALLAQ (through translator): We have concluded that the real intention of ISIS is to begin a mission they're calling breakdown defenses, to storm jails inside Iraq and Syria to free terrorists.
KILEY (on camera): And what do you think should be done about them?
AL-ALLAQ (through translator): There should be a large international effort to deal with this because these criminals could escape camps and go back to their countries. They pose a great danger to countries in Europe, Asia and North Africa.
KILEY (voice-over): In the nation where the terrorist caliphate first emerged a warning that it still has the money and the intent to be reborn -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Baghdad.
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CHURCH: We will take a break still, to come though, violence in Iran with the protests that are being met with government response.
Plus, with the election and Brexit both looming will there be fireworks at the first TV debate of the campaign? We have a preview. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check the headlines for you this hour.
A few hundred anti-government protesters remain hold up inside of Hong Kong University. They've set fires and thrown petrol bombs at police. A police source says 900 people were arrested as they left the campus Monday and overnight into Tuesday.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she might turn to the Chinese army to restore order if the violence continues.
The Trump administration has upended a four decades old policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. now considers the settlements are not necessarily inconsistent with international law.
A big week ahead in the Trump impeachment hearings. On Tuesday, four key witnesses will testify, including three who on the July 25th Trump Ukraine call. Two of them said they did not feel it was appropriate for President Trump to ask Ukraine's president to investigate the Bidens.
China's government is furious about a New York Times report linking President Xi Jinping to the detention centers in the western region of Xinjiang. More than 400 pages of Communist Party documents were leaked, detailing the mass incarceration of mostly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
David Culver joins us now from Beijing with more on this. Good to see you, David.
So, China denies any human rights violations and caused the New York Times article a fabrication. But more than 400 pages of leaked documents telling other story. What all do these leaked papers reveal?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this is unprecedented. I mean, this is a remarkable leak that the New York Times has reported on here. And there's 403 pages to be exact and these suggest several things.
For one, then this is quiet perhaps the most important part of this is that it links some of the handling of the ethnic minorities particularly Muslims within that far western region here in China, all the way up to President Xi Jinping himself.
Now, according to the New York Times, this is a leak of documents that came from a member of the Chinese political establishment. They said this is an individual who requested anonymity and wanted to disclose this information so that many people including President Xi would not escape culpability in these individual's perspective.
So the documents themselves seem to have a variety of things. Several of the pages, couple of hundred have speeches, including speeches by President Xi Jinping himself. As well as some other party leaders and some local leaders within Xinjiang that western province.
And they also have directives, and these directives apparently according to the New York Times tell local officials how to handle it if some of the Uighur families are coming home from other parts of the country and discover that their loved ones perhaps are no longer there. That those local officials are told to tell those individuals to rest assured that they are being taken care of and that the Communist Party will take care of them in return. And if there's any noncooperation there, well, things will get worse. That's all according to these documents that the New York Times has put out. Now, what's most interesting about this is that this perhaps,
Rosemary, suggest some descent within the party itself. I mean, this is a -- this is a presidency here who has consolidated a lot of the power and has maintained that. So if these are in fact to be authenticated going forward, this would suggest that there's descent amongst party leadership.
Now, of course the Foreign Ministry is coming against this hard. They're calling the New York Times ignorant of the facts. Xinjiang's local leaders are going to step further. They suggest that this is -- and I'm going to read their words here, fabricated by domestic and foreign hostile forces, they go on to say, it's totally nonsense, full of lies and evil intended.
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They also point out that since the crackdown has occurred in that region, that no terrorist attack has happened within the past three years, Rosemary.
CHURCH: David Culver bringing us the details there on that New York Times article coming from those leaked documents. Appreciate it.
Well, next hour we will hear from one of the New York Times correspondents who reported that story.
Days of protests over increased fuel prices in Iran have led to deaths and destruction. Now despite an almost total internet blackout, dramatic video has made its way out of the country. Here's Phil Black.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The few videos now emerging from Iran showed briefed chaotic moments. Security forces firing weapons. Banks and other buildings severely damaged by fire. Crowds of people, some running in fear. Others together determined and chanting against the Iranian government.
In this video, people linger in the eerie, smoky, aftermath of violence in the city of Shiraz. The world's view (INAUDIBLE) in Iran has been narrowed by at almost total internet blackout. But these images which have surfaced on social media (INAUDIBLE), a sudden dramatic outpouring of anger across the country by people feed up with tough economic conditions and what they see as corrupt leadership.
American sanctions designed to change Iran's behavior in the region are already battling hard. Now the government wants to increase the price of petrol by at least half with steeper heights for those who exceed strict rationing.
The Iranian government says the price increase is necessary to help Iran's poorest families. And it blames the United States for encouraging riots in sabotage.
Phil Black, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And just by way of background, a typical medium sized car like a Ford Focus holds around 55 liters of fuel. But for Iran's price hike that would have cost you $14.30 to fill. And you could have filled it up around six times every month without going over the subsidized ration.
Now that would cost you nearly $21.00 and would nearly wipeout the monthly subsidized allowance. To fill up a second time in the same month would now cost more than $34.00. A third trip to the pump would be totally unsubsidized and would cost $41.00. That's a 188 percent increase.
And just one more data point for context, according to the U.N., the 20 -- the 2017 salary for a family of a median income in Iran was about $3,300 a year. So that gives you an idea of the impact of that sort of increase.
So, joining me now from London is Sanam Vakil, she is a Senior Research Fellow on the Middle East at the Chatham House think tank. Thank you so much for being with us.
SANAM VAKIL, MIDDLE EAST SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, I do want you to explain to us how a fuel hike of this magnitude will likely impact the lives of Iranian people, certainly the average person. And what this could mean for most people living there?
VAKIL: Well, this fuel hike is coming at a time of extreme pressure inside Iran. The Iranian government is at odds with the Trump administration. And the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018 and has gradually reimpose nuclear related sanctions on the Iranian government and locked its ability to export oil.
This as of course constrained its access to revenue and the people are bearing the brunt of these policies in this standoff with Washington.
So, inflation is up to 40 percent. The IMF has recently downgraded Iran's growth to negative nine percent and people are very frustrated.
And this of course is also taking place within the context of general economic mismanagement and poor macroeconomic policies inside Iran.
CHURCH: So how likely is it that the Iranian government would back down on this hike in fuel prices if this protest continue? Or could there be a bigger crackdown? We've already seen deaths as a result of these protests.
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VAKIL: I doubt that there is going to be a review -- a meaningful review of this policy really because the Supreme Leader has endorsed the reform and this policy was implemented in coordination with the Iranian president as speaker of the parliament and the head of the Iranian Judiciary.
So this is a unified approach. The mistake here is that the government did not prepare the people, did not communicate the reasons behind this policy reform which is necessary and needed in order then distribute a cash handout to the poorest portions of Iran's society. And this cash handout which is beginning apparently this week and will continue in the forthcoming weeks is going to disperse money to about 60 million Iranians.
So, this is part of the repackaging. I don't think shift is coming and in fact what we are seeing is a quick crackdown and internet block of the presence of police on Iranian cities to over a thousand people have been arrested today and we're just having a hard time getting a lot of information out because of the complete internet blackout.
CHURCH: Right, understood. And what impact might this price hike have on the wider region and beyond?
VAKIL: Well, of course the downturn on Iran's economy does have regional reverberations. This is also coming on the back of protest also in Lebanon and in Iraq.
And so, I think that there is conscious and subconscious frustration throughout the wider Middle East about economic mismanagement governance, elite ability to translate and meet the needs of ordinary people. I suspect that these trends are going to continue until governments are held accountable. And this protest in Iran could be laid to rest as they have in the past but they are just this anger and these grievances are going to be bubbling underneath the surface and could reemerge at any time. And that's something that Iranian government has been mindful of.
CHURCH: Indeed. Sanam Vakil, many thanks to you for your analysis. Appreciate it.
VAKIL: Thank you.
CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. Still to come, for some Americans impeachment goes too far but even so they are reconsidering their support of President Trump. What Wisconsin voters are saying, that's ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the British prime minister was challenging his opposition rival, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, just hours before Tuesday's first televised debate of the election campaign.
Britain goes to the polls, December 12th. And Boris Johnson is accusing Corbyn of ducking questions about his Brexit policy. The face-off will feature only the Conservative leader and Corbyn after the other opposition parties lost a high court battle over the debate.
As the election and Brexit loom, there was plenty of jockeying for position, Monday, as the party leaders courted the business vote. CNN's Anna Stewart reports from London.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Politicians has spent days pitching to the public here at the annual CBI conference. It was all about pitching to business. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and leader of Conservative Party promised to cut the cost for businesses, but in the way of tax cuts.
Then came Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party and he promise great 320,000 apprenticeships all focus on climate change.
Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats. She said that her party is the party for business, given they would cancel Brexit. Brexit, a key topic of conversation here. Boris Johnson, the prime minister promises that his Brexit deal delivers frictionless trade between the U.K. and the E.U.
I asked the director-general of the CBI about it, she's not so sure.
CAROLYN FAIRBAIRN, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY: Not frictionless enough as it is currently set out. That's the political declaration. That is something that is not legally binding. It is all to be discussed after the withdrawal agreement is passed.
And one of the things that we're saying to the government is set up a proper consultation mechanism with business so that you know how you can actually make this work how it does need to work in our food sectors, for example, how it does need to work in pharma? So, we get the right trade deal.
And I have to say, you know, what we know is absolutely clear is that for 18 out of 23 sectors, we've done the work alignment with the European Union, where rules are very, very close is vital to keep that trade frictionless, and so, we will be arguing for that -- you know, whenever we get to the stage where we can do that.
STEWART: Over three weeks to go before Britain goes to the polls, plenty of time for the political parties to meet more pledges and promises.
Anna Stewart, CNN, at the CBI conference in London.
CHURCH: Well, starting Tuesday, some migrants hoping for asylum in the United States will be sent to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, instead. The Trump administration has spent months working on the so-called safe third-country agreements, in an effort to stem the flow of migrants coming across the border with Mexico.
The move comes as arrests at the U.S. southern border continue to decline. Customs and Border Protection says 42,000 migrants were arrested in October down from a high of 133,000 back in May. All eyes on Capitol Hill this week as the Trump impeachment hearings continue. Nine officials will testify this week and several of them felt that President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine were inappropriate.
But take a listen to what Mr. Trump's current and former secretaries of state have to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you explain why you haven't chosen to make comments in their support?
MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm happy to talk about Ukraine policy. I'm not going to get into the issues surrounding the Democrat impeachment inquiry, just not going to do it today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Ambassador Yovanovitch was on the Hill on Friday, the president made a tweet right when she was appearing saying that everything -- everywhere that she went turned bad. Is it an assessment you agree with, you've known her?
POMPEO: I don't have anything so. I'll defer to the White House about a particular statements and the like --
REX TILLERSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: The asking personal favors and using United States assets as collateral is, is wrong. And there's just no two ways about it.
So, if you're seeking some kind of personal gain and you're using whether it's American foreign aid or American weapons or American influence, that's wrong, and I think everyone understands that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, some voters in Wisconsin aren't fully on board with impeachment, but there are clear signs their support for President Trump is fading.
Miguel Marquez has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Third-generation farmer Greg Lohr --
GREG LOHR, FARMER, WISCONSIN: Every cow has a place to lay down.
MARQUEZ: On the fence.
In 2020, what are you going to do?
[02:50:00]
LOHR: Still undecided. MARQUEZ: Dairy cows and harvesting an already late crop a bigger worried than impeachment.
LOHR: I think they should just forget about that and just worry about the issues at hand and try to help people. I mean, they're just -- there's going to be a new election in another year, I guess.
MARQUEZ: Yes.
On impeachment, Sauk County, Wisconsin, northwest of Madison, divided as ever. Farmland and picture-postcard towns, where the Ringling brothers got their start.
In 2016, candidate Trump won this rural county by 109 votes. Doris Lore is an Independent who supported Hillary Clinton. She dislikes the president but isn't sure there's enough to remove him from office.
DOORIS LOHR, UNDECIDED VOTER, WISCONSIN: You know, we need to be unified. We need to be -- we're not making progress in America, we're going downhill.
MARQUEZ: The counties divisions, obvious at a regular Democratic protest of the president they get support as much as thumbs down among other less polite gestures.
Mike and Kari Walker, co-owners of the Touchdown Tavern, both describe themselves as moderate conservatives. Both voted third party in 2016, she's opposed to abortion rights but is considering a Democrats.
Can either of you see yourselves voting for a Democrat in 2020? And which one, if so? Boy, that was a pain expression.
KARI WALKER, CO-OWNER, TOUCHDOWN TAVERN, REEDSBURG WISCONSIN: It is pain. I will tell you, I love Andrew Yang.
MIKE WALKER, CO-OWNER, TOUCHDOWN TAVERN, REEDSBURG WISCONSIN: Obviously, he's very smart.
K. WALKER: And he's funny.
MARQUEZ: On impeachment, they haven't decided whether the president crossed the line.
K. WALKER: I don't think it's a witch-hunt, I don't think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars. I don't -- I think we need to go through this.
MARQUEZ: Veteran, business owner, and Independent voter Gregg Snell, says he doesn't like Trump, but impeachment --
GREGG SNELL, INDEPENDENT VOTER, WISCONSIN: Well, I believe it's a pretty drastic step. Whether I like the man or not is immaterial. You know, impeachment is -- it's, it's pretty drastic.
MARQUEZ: Dan Shay lives paycheck to paycheck. He voted for Trump, now, so disillusioned, he switched parties. Where is Sauk County right now?
DAN SHAY, VOTER WHO SWITCHED PARTIES, WISCONSIN: A toss-up. He still had to come here, work his butt off, and try to win this state back.
MARQUEZ: So, both parties are going to contest Sauk County and Wisconsin heavily. Democrats are holding their convention in the state. Republicans say, it's trending more conservative and they think they can win.
At the end of the day, the way the Electoral College is shaping up, those 10 electoral votes here, they could decide who sits in the Oval Office. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And coming up, CNN's Jeanne Moos looks at some of the most memorable lines coming out of the Trump impeachment inquiry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do us a favor though.
SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC: Do us a favor.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Do us a favor, though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Some of recent history's most infamous quotes and nicknames have come from U.S. impeachment inquiries. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos, with a look at the past and present.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Every impeachment has its most memorable lines from the guy being impeached.
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm not a crook.
MOOS: From staffers caught on the Watergate tapes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a cancer, within close to the presidency. It's growing.
[02:55:00]
MOOS: But that's Watergate under the bridge. We now have Ukrainegate, and already it has a famous line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like you to do us a favor, though.
MEYERS: I would like you to do us a favor. SCHIFF: I would like you to do us a favor, though.
MOOS: The Democrat sure know how to give it that sinister twist. Back in Nixon's time, there were no tweets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president just sent a tweet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tweet?
MOOS: Now, impeachment tweets end up his testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad.
SCHIFF: "She started off in Somalia, how did that go?"
MARIE YOVANOVITCH, FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: It's very intimidating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump started off in Atlantic City, how did that go?
MOOS: Some things never changed. The Watergate tapes were littered with expletives deleted. And now, President Trump --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did not give expletive about Ukraine.
MOOS: Back then we had, tricky dick, now we have --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Shifty Schiff.
It was shifty Schiff.
Literally, shifty Schiff.
MOOS: We may be watching history. But sometimes it's the little things that stick.
JAMES CORDEN, HOST, CBS: It represents a Jackie Speier had something in her hair, it's a paper clip. Look at that.
MOOS: Little things like that big bottle from which a witness chugged. "George Kent stays hydrated." "Saving democracy one gulp at a time."
With all of that liquid intake, you'd think he would have been less ambivalent about a break.
SCHIFF: Would you gentlemen like a brief recess. Well, let's take a five-minute recess.
MOOS: We're all going to need a recess from this expletive not deleted hearings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And went on to state that President Zelensky loves your ass.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
JOHN OLIVER, HOST, HBO: He have already said that, although --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter, and I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Don't go anyway
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[03:00:02]
CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a day of critical public testimony in the impeachment inquiry.
