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Israeli Prime Minister Charged with Bribery, Fraud, Breach of Trust; Impeachment Hearings; Hong Kong Local Elections to be Held Sunday Amid Violent Unrest; CNN Reveals New Accusations Against Pedophile Priest; Labour Party Promises New Brexit Referendum in Manifesto; Future Of National Health Service Front And Center; What's Next For Prince Andrew Amid Epstein Scandal; Columbia Closes Borders As Protesters Flood Streets. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 22, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
Next here on "CNN Newsroom," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been hit with corruption charges. What will this mean for Israel's political deadlock? We'll discuss that.
Also, a Catholic priest and convicted pedophile has been hiding out in Central Africa. See what happened the moment CNN tracked him down.
Also, you may have heard something about a feud between Taylor Swift and one of music's biggest managers. There are enough details to make your head spin. We'll walk you through it from the beginning.
Thank you again for joining us. Our topic story, for the first time in Israel's history, a sitting prime minister faces criminal indictment. Benjamin Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases. But the legal process could be slow because of Israel's current political deadlock. Mr. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and is refusing calls to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We need to get an independent committee in order to investigate what's happening here. The time has come to investigate the investigators. The time has come to investigate the attorney general that initiated this kind of investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, let's talk more about it. Paula Newton joins me now from Jerusalem. Paula, Netanyahu sounding defiant as always, but what does he face?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He faces almost insurmountable odds here. Remember we are in a political deadlock here in Israel. That is the climate in which this happened and these are incredibly serious charges. What is interesting here though, Natalie, is the fact that his title of prime minister at this point does give him some type of a shield.
So let's tell you where the state of play is with politics. In the next few days, almost three weeks now, neither Netanyahu or his chief political rival Benny Gantz managed to come up with any kind of a government reform here in Israel. That limbo continues. They now have almost three weeks in parliament to come up with some kind of option to get the government together here.
If that doesn't happen, this country will likely see elections in the new year that will likely mean the third election in just one year, the last two being completely indecisive. But that has a lot of weight and a lot of bearing on this investigation and this indictment for Netanyahu.
And here is the reason. At this point in time, neither the parliament nor the courts are really in a position where they can act on anything. In the first instance, there is the issue of immunity because he is still effectively right now the prime minister.
And the second instance, procedurally, there are a lot of things that have to go through parliament and both the courts in order for these indictments to really go through the court procedure right now. That just can't happen. In the meantime, Israelis, as I said, are facing political deadlock.
You know, a lot of the rhetoric has really heated up. You just heard from Netanyahu talking there about how he wanted the investigators investigated, but more than that, Natalie. He opened by saying that this was an attempted coup and a witch hunt. Interesting, echoing the words of Donald Trump as he faces his own investigation there.
His chief political rival, as I said, Benny Gantz and his party saying that look, there is no coup here. In fact, I will quote them, but rather people who have barricaded themselves in power. Right now, this political stalemate is really a game-changer for Israeli politics.
ALLEN: Right. Where does it go from here? Paula Newton for us there. Thank you, Paula. Let's bring in Gil Hoffman. He is the chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post.
Gil, thanks for talking with us. We just heard Paula there talking about Mr. Netanyahu calling this a witch hunt. That is something that we are accustomed to hear here in the United States. But let's talk about the charges against Mr. Netanyahu. Is the case against him strong?
GIL HOFFMAN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANALYST, THE JERUSALEM POST: Yes. He is accused of bribery in a case in which we are talking about a very large sum of money. And we had a prime minister who was convicted of bribery before, and he went to prison for it. Netanyahu has a long legal battle ahead if he hopes to clear himself of charges. And it remains to be seen, technically, if he can remain in office while he fights those charges. And on the one, a prime minister only to step down if convicted which could take years.
[02:04:58]
HOFFMAN: And on the other hand, he is Knesset member asking for the right to form a new government. This is going to be decided in court.
ALLEN: So, Netanyahu has gone after the process that led to his indictment. Do you expect him to remain defiant? And does he have immunity, as we see? This will end up in court, but what is the prevailing thought right now?
HOFFMAN: The prevailing thought is it is a big mess.
(LAUGHTER)
HOFFMAN: Yes, he has to ask the special Knesset community for immunity. Knesset committee in a parliament has not been formed yet because we don't have a government. In order to get a government, you need to form a government.
He's the only one right now who can form a government after Benny Gantz, his rival, took a turnout at it and failed. So it's kind of a catch-22 right now. We have a constitutional crisis in a country with no constitution. How about that?
ALLEN: That is a headline right there, Gil, for sure. OK, to the next question for you. Will his Likud Party stand with him through this?
HOFFMAN: Absolutely. The Likud Party is full of very, very uncourageous men who in private conversations believe Netanyahu should have gone a long time ago, or even when the police allegations against him were revealed. Since then, we have had the prosecution and the attorney general pending a hearing. Now, the attorney general is after hearing Netanyahu's side of the story in a hearing.
And they are still standing by their man because they know that he keeps on helping them politically because the people of Israel value experience more than people in any other country, definitely a lot more than America. And Netanyahu has by far the most experience out of any leader alive today.
ALLEN: And he has been such a long time. What is his indictment mean to Israel's democracy? You talked about a big mess. No one really knows what is going to happen next.
HOFFMAN: Nobody really knows what is going to happen next. But what we've seen is that our democracy is strong. And we've seen that our legal system is strong. If we have a prime minister go to prison and his successor have all these cases against him without fear, this shows we are a democracy on steroids and is not such a bad thing, maybe.
ALLEN: Gil Hoffman, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.
HOFFMAN: Thank you.
ALLEN: We turn now to the United States. Public impeachment hearings under the Ukraine scandal wrapped on Thursday with two final witnesses corroborating the factual basis of a quid pro quo, a term we've all become familiar with.
One of those witnesses, President Trump's former top Russia expert, Fiona Hill, warned that Russia is exploiting the situation to undermine Americans confidence in democracy. Unless key Trump officials come forward to refute the facts, democratic sources say articles of impeachment could be voted on by Christmas. For more, here is CNN's Sara Murray in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Do swear --
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A U.S. diplomat in Ukraine recounted for lawmakers the moment he realized that President Trump cared more about having Joe Biden and his son investigated than anything to do with Ukraine.
DAVID HOLMES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE OFFICIAL WHO SERVES AS A COUNSELOR FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN UKRAINE: The four of us went to a nearby restaurant and sat on an outdoor terrace. Ambassador Sondland selected a bottle of wine. During lunch, Ambassador Sondland said he was going to call President Trump to give an update.
MURRAY (voice-over): The phone call David Holmes overheard came July 26th, just a day after Trump spoke with the Ukrainian president.
HOLMES: While Ambassador Sondland's phone was not on the speakerphone, I could hear the president's voice through the earpiece of the phone. The president's voice was loud and recognizable. When the president came on, he sort of winced and held the phone away from his ear like this. He did that for the first couple exchanges.
I heard Ambassador Sondland greet the president and explain he was calling from Kyiv. I heard President Trump then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine, and went on to state that President Zelensky, quote, "loves your ass." I then heard President Trump ask, so he's going to do the investigation? Ambassador Sondland replied that he's going to do it, adding that President Zelensky will do anything he asks him to do.
MURRAY (voice-over): After the call, Holmes pressed for more clarity.
HOLMES: I asked Ambassador Sondland if it was true that the president did not give expletive about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland agreed that the president did not give an expletive about Ukraine. I asked why not. Ambassador Sondland stated that the president only cares about big stuff. I noted there was big stuff going on in Ukraine, like a war with Russia. And Ambassador Sondland replied that he meant big stuff that benefits the president, like the Biden investigation that Mr. Giuliani was pushing.
[02:09:57]
MURRAY (voice-over): Rudy Giuliani's problematic role re-emerged as both Holmes and Fiona Hill, a former top White House adviser on Russia, described how Trump embraced Giuliani's conspiracy theory, also championed by some GOP lawmakers that Ukraine meddled in 2016.
HOLMES: Mr. Giuliani was having a direct influence on the foreign policy agenda. My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, quote, "dammit Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved, he goes and f--s everything up."
FIONA HILL, FORMER OFFICIAL AT THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPECIALIZING IN SOVIET, RUSSIAN, AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS: Ambassador Bolton had looked pained in the course of that discussion and said that Rudy Giuliani was a hand grenade that was going to blow everyone up.
MURRAY (voice-over): Alarm bells were also going off about Ambassador Gordon Sondland's role.
HILL: He was being involved in a domestic political errand. And we were involved in national security foreign policy. And those two things have just diverged.
MURRAY (voice-over): Hill recounted Sondland's deal with acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to arrange an Oval Office meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian president.
HILL: He said that he had an agreement with Chief of Staff Mulvaney that in return for investigations this meeting would get scheduled.
MURRAY (voice-over): She recalled how John Bolton, then the national security advisor, told her to report it.
HILL: The specific instruction was that I have to go to the lawyers, to John Eisenberg, our senior counsel for the National Security Council, to basically say, you tell Eisenberg, Ambassador Bolton told me, that I am not part of this, whatever drug deal that Mulvaney and Sondland are cooking up.
MURRAY (voice-over): Amid the impeachment sparring, both Hill and Holmes offered sharp warning to lawmakers.
HILL: I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an ultimate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary and that Ukraine, not Russia, attacked us in 2016. These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes.
MURRAY (voice-over): They described the perils of the false Ukrainian meddling narrative.
HILL: This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.
DANIEL GOLDMAN, COUNSEL FOR U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATS: Why would it be to Vladimir Putin's advantage to promote this theory of Ukraine interference?
HOLMES: First of all, to deflect from the allegations of Russian interference. Second of all, to drive a wedge between the United States and Ukraine.
MURRAY (voice-over): Holmes left lawmakers with an urgent reminder. The Ukrainians never got that White House meeting, and they are still under pressure to please the American president.
HOLMES: I think that continues to this day. I think they are being very careful. They still need us now going forward.
MURRAY (voice-over): Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Larry Sabato was the founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. He joins me now via Skype. Larry, thanks for coming on. How are you?
LARRY SABATO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I'm doing great. Thank you, Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. Good to see. On Thursday, we saw the top Russia expert at the White House testified, Fiona Hill, a State Department official who worked at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine. What did they add to the narrative that we have seen from these hearings?
SABATO: Dr. Hill, Fiona Hill, was extraordinary. She came prepared to be attacked or challenged as, of course, the Republicans had intended, and to use an expression we use in the south, she came loaded for bear. I think what she did and what she said put this impeachment in part back on track.
That is while all the witnesses have been good and they told their stories well and we've learned from them, what is really important about this, first of all, what President Trump is accused of doing and the proof has been laid out for all to see, is that he was looking out for his own personal political interests rather than the country's interests.
And second, Dr. Hill presented very directly to people the cost of this which is going to be felt in 2020. If we are denying in a sense that Russia is the real problem, that Russia actually interfered in the elections in 2016 and we believe this, as she put it, false narrative, that Ukraine was the one behind it all, then we are going to have a similar disaster occur in 2020.
And I fear that she's absolutely right. So, I would say she is a witness worth listening to closely. If you did not hear her testimony, you really ought to take time to do that. I can just quickly comment on the other witness, Mr. Holmes. I thought his testimony was completely believable, totally credible. It was made more so by the tweet which President Trump sent out, claiming that it was absolutely impossible for anyone to hear a call like that or hear both sides of the call, and that he had tried himself and been unable to do so, that is just malarkey.
I think we all have heard both sides of a conversation from time to time. So, he was also credible. It's just that Dr. Hill really got at the heart of it.
[02:15:00]
ALLEN: Right. She was measured and she had an air of credibility to her as well. She is an expert in this area. As you say, she put it back on track. Larry, we've now had two weeks and seven hearings. Was there a bombshell as far as something that stands out to you that could impeach President Trump?
SABATO: The bombshell to me was the original whistleblower's complaint in the transcript. They've been proven correct. That's what people need to know, that witnesses who have pieces of the story have come together at this witness table and have confirmed, have validated the charges.
The charge is the bombshell. And the charge, to me, at least, is true. And I think to most people who actually have taken time to watch these hearings, even if you only watched a portion of them, you've gotten the essential storyline, which is that the president looked out for his interests and not America's interests.
ALLEN: Well, how the Republicans do pushing back on this narrative that these witnesses laid out in defending the president?
SABATO: I would say that they are the largest producer of shiny objects in the world. All those shiny objects that they would throw out on to the road so that you can see the reflection of the sun that gleams (ph) from the street light --
(LAUGHTER)
SABATO: -- all of those things help to divert citizens from the real subject here and no doubt provide ammunition to Republicans a rank and file -- rank and file Trump supporters who have no intention of supporting the ouster of Trump even if they believe he is completely guilty.
ALLEN: So, now it is on to a likely Senate impeachment trial. Republican senators are working with the White House on the parameters for that. What do you expect?
SABATO: Well, they've talked about lots of different arrangements from a six to eight-week trial, which I think will be absurd and damaging to the Republicans as well as to the Senate. They are now talking about possibly a two-week trial. It's important that there be a trial. There was discussion at first about how the Senate could just dismiss this.
You can't dismiss articles of impeachment. You have an obligation to review them if you are the United States Senate. So, I expect him to have a shorter trial. We all know what the outcome is going to be. There is almost no chance -- I would say no chance that you can get 20 Republicans to vote to oust President Trump because Trump is so popular with rank and file Republicans.
He is hated, of course, by rank and file Democrats and disliked rather intensely by a majority of independents, too. So, that's the kooky theater of impeachment, but it doesn't mean it was worth less. It means that along the way, lots of people are learning important things about how the government works or doesn't work under President Trump.
ALLEN: Larry Sabato, we always appreciate your insights. Thank you so much for joining us.
SABATO: Thanks so much, Natalie.
ALLEN: Next here on "CNN Newsroom," Hong Kong preparing for crucial local elections this weekend. But some are, of course, concerned that new violence could break out. We will take you there live for a preview of what to expect, next.
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[02:20:00]
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ALLEN: Welcome back. In the days ahead, U.S. President Trump will be faced with a crucial decision about Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests. Both Houses of Congress in the U.S. have now passed a bill supporting the democracy movement and it is waiting for final presidential approval.
But, if President Trump signs the bill into law, he risks retaliation from China, which has already warned of consequences including putting trade talks with Beijing in jeopardy.
The protests in Hong Kong, of course, started almost six months ago, and police are now concerned of potential unrest this weekend. That's because voters will cast their ballots Sunday in local elections. And as a precaution, police will deploy riot officers to every polling station in the territory.
Let's go now to our Will Ripley. He's live in Hong Kong. He's been covering these protests for months now. Hong Kong, Will, in a perpetual state of tension. What is it like there right now?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think, Natalie, there's a potential for a huge voter turnout if people feel safe at polling stations like this one here in the mid-levels, which has not seen a whole lot of protest activity, but there will be riot police here. Some people say that the riot police could intimidate pro-democracy supporters who, you know, have said that police allegations of excessive force -- one of the main factors that are driving this protest. But if they don't come out and vote, they're not going to be able to send that message. It certainly should be interesting to see what happens here this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): A city in turmoil prepares for Election Day. Political banners in tatters, like Hong Kong's reputation. Nearly six months of this. And now, politics took a dark turn. Junius Ho, a prominent lawyer and pro-Beijing lawmaker, stabbed at a campaign event earlier this month. Jimmy Sham, a pro-democracy protest organizer and outspoken LGBT activist, beaten with hammers by at least four men and left for dead.
Not only did both survive, they are still campaigning. Sunday's district elections are widely seen as a referendum on Hong Kong's highly unpopular government, a government pro-Beijing lawmaker Holden Chow stands firmly behind.
HOLDEN CHOW, PRO-ESTABLISHMENT LAWMAKER: We want democracy which is pragmatic and fixed Hong Kong situation.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Chow says he and his colleagues face almost daily intimidation.
(On camera): How many times has your office been (INAUDIBLE)?
CHOW: Four times in total.
RIPLEY (on camera): Do you see that as a threat?
CHOW: Under this kind of atmosphere, you can tell that people are very much having a kind of a fear, and people have grave concerns.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Undaunted, candidates carry on, putting their best face forward.
(On camera): Here is the question nobody knows the answer to. What happens this weekend? Will there be more violence? Will there be a huge voter turnout? Can Hong Kong actually pull off what protesters say they've been fighting for all along, democracy?
(Voice-over): At least as close to democracy as Hong Kong gets, citizens only elect their local leaders, the chief executive and legislative council who actually make laws, are selected by a system stacked in Beijing's favor. The establishment always has the majority.
Hong Kong's short-term stability and long-term survival greatly depends on finding a peaceful compromise, says pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui.
[02:25:02] TED HUI, DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE: Sadly, I think this doesn't end until the government can take few more steps. Says a very slight sorry, that's not enough.
RIPLEY (voice-over): He imbedded (ph) with protesters for two days at the height of their standoff with police at PolyU (ph).
HUI: I witnessed that they are just defending themselves.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Police say they only reacted when protesters provoke. Hui is calling for calm this weekend on all sides.
HUI: Those who want to vote peacefully and have their voice out. This is their time to show, you know, their power.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Less violence in the streets means higher voter turnout, and he hopes more power for the pro-democracy movement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: So if people do come out and vote the way that pro-democracy lawmakers think they will, this could really be a historic election here in Hong Kong. It is the first time, Natalie, that all 18 districts are being contested, which means establishment candidates and for pro-democracy candidates will be facing off.
Depending on which way the vote goes, certainly it will send a very clear message directly from the people of Hong Kong themselves. We could learn a lot about what they're thinking.
ALLEN: Yeah, absolutely. We certainly know these protesters have been thinking, don't we? What about Carrie Lam? Have there been any issues or any statements about carrying out this vote in a peaceful way?
RIPLEY: She has made very clear in many press conferences I'm attended, many others that I've watched live on television, that this is a crucial moment for Hong Kong, and she, like every other elected official here, or I should say she's not elected, she's appointed, but officials in Hong Kong have been calling for calm, have been calling for the city to take a break this weekend and allow the voters to actually cast their votes, send their message one way or the other.
We don't know whether there is this silent majority that's going to vote in favor of the establishment overwhelmingly as some feel, or if there's going to be this real public surge of support for the pro- democracy side, and the only way that we are ever going to find that out is if there is no violence and people actually feel comfortable coming to polling stations like this.
So, like I said, we are all kind of watching and hoping that this election goes off smoothly because there is a lot that we can learn from it if people actually come out and feel safe enough to vote.
ALLEN: Absolutely. That's critical. Thanks so much for your report, Will. We'll see you soon. Thank you, Will Ripley.
With Britain's general election right around the corner, the Labour Party is revealing what it plans to offer, but those promises are being met with some harsh criticisms. We will tell you about that coming up here.
Also, Prince Andrew faces harsh criticism over his relationship with a convicted sex offender. Why some say there are inconsistencies in his story. Also ahead --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a priest. You're a man of god. These children are accusing you of abusing them, and you have nothing to say for yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ALLEN (voice-over): New allegations the Catholic Church may be failing to protect vulnerable children from pedophiles. CNN's Nima Elbagir travels to Central Africa in search of answers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[02:30:00]
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, we're live from Atlanta. In a year-long investigation in the United States, Europe and Africa, CNN has found that the second largest religious order in the world, the Salesians of Don Bosco, repeatedly failed to protect children from pedophile Catholic priests.
In the first part of a CNN Special Report, Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir uncovers the case of a convicted pedophile who was sent to work amongst some of the most vulnerable children in the world. This report features themes some viewers may find distressing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're tracking down a convicted pedophile priest, Father Luk Delft. Delft abused two children in a dormitory in Belgium. We've learned he may be abusing again. Our investigation is zeroing in on a remote town in the Central African Republic, Kaga-Bandoro.
It's taken us about two days, three different planes, to get up here, to the north of the Central African Republic. If you are trying to disappear, this would definitely be suitably remote. UNICEF has called it one of the worst places in the world to be a child. It's here in Kaga-Bandoro that Delft first worked for Caratas, the Catholic Charity. Their mission, to protect the most vulnerable.
It's also here that we're hearing whispers of possible new victims. At a camp that displaced people on the outskirts of town, Alban and his father agree to speak to us about his alleged abuse at the hands of Father Luk Delft.
Do you know who this man is?
ALBAN ALAIN, ABUSE SURVIVOR: Luk. We were friends. He would buy me clothes and he would often give me money. Every morning I would greet him before he would go to work. It was the basis for our friendship.
ELBAGIR: He became your friend. What happened?
ALAIN: It was a horrible thing that he did to me. When you showed me his picture, it upset me. I don't even want to see his face. It upsets me very much.
ELBAGIR: It's clear Alban is too upset to talk much more, so we asked his father if he can explain what happened.
What did Father Delft do?
ONONO ALAIN, FATHER OF ALBAN ALAIN, ABUSE SURVIVOR: What he did to my son is not a good thing. There are plenty of women he could have had sex with. He preferred to sodomize my son.
ELBAGIR: This was hard for both Alban and his father, but they told us it was important for them to talk. They want justice. We leave Kaga-Bandoro. It's time to track down Delft. This is Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. We've traveled here from the north, where we met Alban. Our contacts are telling us Delft regularly celebrates mass in the area. We try the churches. He's nowhere to be found.
We try him at his residence, but he hasn't spent the night. Nothing. We've spent the whole morning looking for Father Delft. It's been a bit of a wild goose chase. But now we are hearing that he's back at his office. And we're heading there now.
Hello, Father Delft.
FR. LUK DELFT, CONVICTED PEDOPHILE: Yes.
ELBAGIR: Hi.
We spoke to the prosecutor in Belgium. We'd like to speak to you to ask you some questions about breaking the terms of your sentence. We also spoke to some children up in Kaga-Bandoro who had some really disturbing stories to share with us. And, of course, we want to hear what you have to say about it, Father Delft.
DELFT: Nothing.
[02:35:08] ELBAGIR: What do you mean, nothing? You're a priest, you're a man of God. Those children are accusing you of abusing them and you have nothing to say for yourself?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Do you know Alban? Do you remember Alban? He said he was 13 when you abused him. Do you remember him? Alban? Alban, in Kaga- Bandoro at the compound, the Catholic compound. He and his father spoke to us. He was crying. He said that you told him you loved him and then you hurt him. You have nothing to say?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: It doesn't disturb you to hear that children said this about you?
DELFT: Alban, no.
ELBAGIR: Do you want to say anything?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: OK. Well, we will, of course, be speaking to the managers of Caritas about our findings. Thank you for whatever this was.
Father Luk Delft's religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, moved him multiple times, each time to schools, campuses, even supervising children, before we were able to catch up with him. You may think you know the story. priests abusing children.
But what you may not know, is that there are powerful institutions within the church who are free to self-police. In many cases, not even the Pope can sanction them. Father Luk Delft belongs to the Salesians of Don Bosco, the second largest of these institutions, a religious order whose mission is to help the most vulnerable children in the world.
Patrick Wall was himself a religious order priest, and to date, has helped to investigate hundreds of clerical abuse cases.
PATRICK WALL, CO-AUTHOR, SEX, PRIESTS, AND SECRET CODES: My experience has been that Salesians have the highest percentage of perpetrators o any religious order across the world, because of their focus. If a priest is allowed to go 20 to 30 years, there are several hundred victims per priest.
ELBAGIR: We came to the Vatican to share the evidence that we were able to unearth over a year-long investigation and it's not just Father Delft. We found evidence of abusers being moved, evidence of refusal to defrock convicted pedophiles.
Caritas Internationalis' new head of safeguarding says the Salesians did not contact them about the current allegations against Caritas' former director, Luk Delft.
So, you were only made aware when we contacted you?
ANDREW AZZOPARDI, HEAD, CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS: Yes, and from what information you shared with us, there are new allegations there which needs to be investigated, hopefully by the police or at least internally by the church to take action against Father Luk and any other person who was responsible for Father Luk's behavior. ELBAGIR: The Salesians appear to have withheld information even from others, in the church. We are still looking to understand how this is possible. Father Hans Zollner was one of the few people at the Vatican willing to answer questions. He says the new papal guidelines are progress.
FR. HANS ZOLLNER, MEMBER, PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS: This is a very important step forward in the development of a culture of accountability.
ELBAGIR: Does this apply, though, to the Holy Orders? Because the Holy Orders will not directly fall under that bishop.
ZOLLNER: Now, the congregations and the religious orders follow a different type of structure and legal procedures. Many people think the Catholic church is a monolithic block with one CEO, who is the Pope, and he presses a button and every bishop and every priest and every Catholic, actually, salute and they follow what he does. And that is not the case. In some cases, in way too many cases, the religious superiors did not follow through canon law.
ELBAGIR: But the fact is, they did not follow through canon law.
ZOLLNER: Yes.
ELBAGIR: And there was no oversight mechanism that made any note of that, so there are no sanctions. There have been no sanctions for that.
ZOLLNER: If there are no sanctions within the community, which is in that case, an order, or a congregation, then there's almost no possibility to do that.
ELBAGIR: And I think that's the heartbreak for a lot of survivors.
Until this blind spot is addressed, and the religious orders brought under the same guidelines as other priests and bishops, many survivors believe the cycle of clerical abuse will only continue. Nima Elbagir, CNN, the Vatican.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Britain's opposition, Labour Party, has released its manifesto with a little less than three weeks to go until Election Day. The party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, defended its promises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: Labour's manifesto is a manifesto for hope. That is what this document is. A manifesto that will bring real change. A manifesto that full of popular policies. That's the political establishment has blocked for a generation. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Meantime, Prime Minister Boris Johnson blasted the opposition's plan, especially when it comes to the economy.
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BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: None of it had any credibility, whatever, because the whole of the heart of Labour's manifesto, this was the moment, you know, it was lights, camera, action, Corbyn come center stage, drumroll, and he completely misses his cue.
Because what we want to know is, what is his plan to deliver Brexit and what's the deal he wants to do and which side would he vote on that deal, and we still don't know. Until we have answers to those questions, until we get Brexit, done, none of this carries any economic credibility, whatever.
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ALLEN: And it is Mr. Johnson's party that has raised the most funding so far, in the first week of the U.K. election campaign. Conservatives raised more than $7 million. That is dramatically more than all of their rivals. And Mr. Johnson there, just mentioning Brexit. Well, how about this? Move, over Brexit.
The fate of the U.K.'s National Health Service is quickly becoming the most contentious topic in the British election. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are trying to outdo each other with plans to support Britain's favorite institution, as they vie for office of the prime minister. CNN's Scott McLean reports for us from London.
[02:45:00]
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CORBYN: You are going to sell our National Health Service out to the United States.
JOHNSON: This is an absolute invention. It is completely untrue.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With the U.K. election in full swing, there are warnings of an American invasion of the British health care system, the NHS. The Labour Party of Shadow Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner and leader Jeremy Corbyn, says America wants to use a long-promised post-Brexit trade deal to force the NHS to pay more for the U.S. drugs it already buys, costing the NHS more to the benefit of American pharmaceutical companies.
President Trump believes that if other countries like the U.K. pay more for U.S. drugs, it will lower prices for Americans, who pay vastly more than the British.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is wrong, this is unfair, and together, we will stop it. I'm asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading.
MCLEAN: In Washington, Congress has already proposed the Fixing Global Freeloading Act. But the president himself has made conflicting statements about whether he would insist the NHS is part of a future trade pact.
TRUMP: And we can quadruple our trade with U.K. and we can, I think, really do a big job.
JOHNSON: Always remembering that the NHS is not for sale.
MCLEAN: Drug pricing experts like Professor Martin McKee take issues with the president's logic.
If other countries pay more for drugs, will Americans pay less?
MARTIN MCKEE, PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH, LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE: No, I don't think they will. The objective of any company is to maximize its profits. And it's not at all clear to me why if it can make more money in another market, it should cut its prices in its home market.
MCLEAN: A trade deal may not help bring down U.S. drug prices. But it seems Labour is hoping the thread of the NHS for sale will help them get elected.
CORBYN: His toxic Brexit trade deal with Trump, could handover 500 million a week of NHS money to big drug corporations.
MCLEAN: But that scenario is also a highly unlikely one. The stunning figure, 500 million pounds per week is based on a worst-case scenario from researchers who roughly calculated the cost to the NHS if it paid American drug prices. There so far unpublished work was featured in a British documentary.
Do you think that's likely?
BARRY GARDINER, SHADOW SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, LABOUR PARTY: Well, it won't be with the Labour government. Of course not, because we would oppose that. We wouldn't -- we would never agree to a trade agreement that did that.
MCLEAN: But Boris Johnson has said he opposes it, as well.
GARDINER: No, Boris Johnson has used weasel words as he always does.
JOHNSON: Good morning.
MCLEAN: Boris Johnson, compared Labour's claim to the Loch Ness monster. Professor McKee doesn't buy it, either.
MCKEE: I don't see how that is going to happen. The money simply is not there. There may be some increase in expenditure, but we're not simply going to translate American prices to here. Because that he says would sink the British health service, and perhaps, the chances of any trade deal at all.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: Well, after what has been described as a car crash interview, Britain's Prince Andrew is under relentless scrutiny over his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
As the Royal withdrawals from public life now, CNN's Max Foster looks at what's next for the duke of York.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: By speaking out, Prince Andrew hope to end speculation about him and his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But it ended up costing him his job.
According to a royal source, he agreed to step back from his public duties, following discussions between him and the Queen, Prince Charles, and others. In a follow-up statement, the duke expressed sympathy for Epstein's victims and regret for his association with Epstein. Both noticeably absent from his BBC interview.
EMILY MAITLIS, NEWS PRESENTER, BBC: Do you regret the whole friendship with Epstein?
PRINCE ANDREW, DUKE OF YORK: Now, are still not. For the reason, being is that, that the, the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.
FOSTER: The duke has denied all the allegations made by Virginia Roberts, who alleges Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew while she was underage.
PRINCE ANDREW: I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. None whatsoever.
MAITLIS: You don't remember meeting her?
PRINCE ANDREW: No.
FOSTER: He even questioned the authenticity of this photograph of them together. He refuted Roberts' claims that he was sweating whilst dancing in a nightclub, saying an overdose of adrenaline at he was shot at while serving in the Falklands War made him medically unable to sweat.
A medical expert has cast doubt on that claim.
ASHLEY GROSSMAN, PROFESSOR, ENDOCRINE SPECIALIST: I can't readily see her someone following stress can stop sweating. And then, subsequently, over time, start sweating again. But that is -- if it occurs, it must be very, very rare.
[02:50:08]
FOSTER: Prince Andrew also said that during a 2001 trip to New York, he didn't stay with Epstein. But rather, with the then-British consul general Thomas Harris. But, in an interview with The Daily Mail, Harris said he didn't recall the prince staying with him then.
Buckingham Palace told CNN, they wouldn't comment on the discrepancy. One by one, corporate sponsors for the prince's charitable causes peeled away. And when the story became part of the British election debate, it was clear that duke's position was becoming untenable.
JULIE ETCHINGHAM, JOURNALIST, ITV NEWS: Is the monarchy fit for purpose, Jeremy Corbyn?
CORBYN: Needs a bit of improvement.
FOSTER: That was the red line for any member of the British royal family. The duke's actions had affected the institution that he was born into.
PETER HUNT, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: This has damaged the British monarchy, make no mistake of that. It's not yet a full-blown crisis. What has been called into question is the judgment of many people, including the judgment to the queen for allowing this interview to take place.
FOSTER: An attorney for some of Epstein's victims has asked for the prince to testify. But so far, no official requests from investigators, no charges have been filed. He says he will help with appropriate law enforcement investigations if required.
Max Foster, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Columbia has become the latest country in South America to be rocked by mass anti-government protests. On Thursday, a national strike forced the country to close its borders as thousands marched against the policies of the president.
Colombia's police described the protest as mostly peaceful and said the situation was under control. But, some clashes did break out as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds.
In Australia, deadly bush fires are quickly moving south with no end in sight. Dozens of fires have ripped through New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria in recent weeks. And now, as a fourth state falls victim, air pollution is a big concern. A dust storm turned the sky orange in Mildura, Victoria. And a thick haze of smoke has blanketed Sydney for days, leading to more hospital visits. The hot dry windy conditions are only expected to get worse.
In Los Angeles, there were flames in the sky when the engine of a passenger plane caught fire after takeoff. Have a look at this video from inside the aircraft. The man who took this was filming his daughter's reaction as the plane lifted off. But he also captured alarming footage of flames shooting out from under the jet's right- wing.
The plane was forced to return to Los Angeles International Airport, where luckily, it landed safely. Here is how some passengers described the situation.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard boom, boom, like backfires, and then, people were panicking, smoke fire coming out of the right engine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as it lifted off the ground, we heard four large bangs they were explosions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, next here, they have had bad blood -- excuse me, for months over her old hits. Now, music manager Scooter Braun is finally speaking out about the dispute with Taylor Swift. We'll tell you about that next.
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[02:55:14]
ALLEN: Well, this Sunday, Taylor Swift will be named Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards.
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TAYLOR SWIFT, AMERICAN SINGER AND SONGWRITER: Because the players going to play, play, play, play, play. And the haters going to hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I'm just going to shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: But over the last 10 years, the pop queen has not been able to shake it off, at least, the drama. The latest bad blood involves her former record labeled Big Machine, and music manager Scooter Braun, over the ownership of her early songs.
Swift was with Big Machine Records from her 2006 self-titled album through 2017's reputation. And here's where the trouble unfolded. Swift left Big Machine last November to sign with Universal Music Group.
In June, Scooter Braun's company bought Big Machine, including Swift's first six albums. Last week, Swift said Braun and the label were preventing her from performing her old hits, which messed up plans for her American music awards performance.
Well, all sides have resolved the issue. And now, for the first time, in six months, Scooter Braun had opened up about this dispute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCOOTER BRAUN, CO-FOUNDER, MYTHOS STUDIOS: I've talked about this in six months. Now, I want -- I made a statement about it and that's hard. I mean, it's hard because when a lot of things being said, and a lot of different opinions, yet, the principles have another chance to speak to each other.
I just think we live in a time when toxic division and people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other and not have conversations. And I don't like politicians doing it. I don't like anybody doing it.
And I'm just -- if that means I got to be the bad guy longer, I'll be the bad guy longer, but I'm not going to participate. When it gets to a place where there's death threats, and there's often being called, and people being threatened the manager, I just think it's got out of hand, and anything people need to come together and have a conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: OK, then. Braun, also says he is nothing but respect, kindness, and support for Taylor Swift, who again, will be named Artist of the Decade at this weekend's American Music Awards.
I'll be back. More news in just a moment. I'm Natalie Allen, thanks for watching. See you in a second.
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