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Beijing Blasts "Bullying Behavior" of New U.S. Law; Israeli Prime Minister's Supporters Remain Loyal; U.S. to Designate Some Drug Cartels Terrorists; Zimbabwe Doctors Strike Over Poor Hospital Conditions; Putin Portrayed As International Statesman In 2020 Calendar. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 28, 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.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. president gives in to pressure from lawmakers and signs a bill that supports pro democracy campaigners in Hong Kong. We will go to Beijing for reaction.
In the U.K., new polling shows Boris Johnson's gamble to call for an election could pay off.
And in Israel why Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters are remaining loyal despite his indictments on corruption charges.
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CHURCH: With the stroke of a pen, the U.S. president has infuriated China by officially endorsing Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. The U.S. ambassador to China was summoned to the foreign ministry just a short time ago so Beijing could make it displeasure known.
U.S. and China relations are already tense with a bitter trade war at the top of Beijing's grievances. By signing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, President Trump may have put sensitive trade talks in jeopardy. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains why Mr. Trump did not want to take this step.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump signed legislation that shows the U.S.' support for protesters in Hong Kong, who are protecting the Chinese government's crackdown on the autonomy of that Hong Kong territory.
Now this legislation, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act will authorize new sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who are accused of carrying out human rights abuses in Hong Kong. It would also create an annual review of the U.S.' special trade
relationship with the Hong Kong government. An annual review that would be subject to how autonomous Hong Kong actually remains from Mainland China.
Now the president has been extremely resistant signing this legislation. A few days before he signed this, he suggested he might even perhaps veto the legislation but ultimately, colliding with reality, the president recognizing the overwhelming support in the House and the Senate veto-proof majorities that authorized this legislation.
Nonetheless the president sending perhaps a bit of a peace offering to the Chinese president as he does sign this legislation. The president saying in a statement accompanying the announcement that he signed the legislation saying, I sign these bills out of respect for President Xi, China and the people of Hong Kong. They're being enacted in the hope that leaders and representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long-term peace and prosperity for all.
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CHURCH: CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now live from Beijing.
Good to see you again. So China's very angry about this new U.S. law.
What all has it said and what's its likely next move?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Hello, Rosemary, their reactions have come quickly and strongly within hours of this bill becoming law in the U.S.
At least four different government agencies have issued very harshly worded statements, including this one from the Chinese foreign ministry, and I quote here, "The U.S. has been disregarding facts and distorting truth.
"It openly backed violent criminals who rampantly smashed facilities, set, fire assaulted innocent civilians, trampled on the rule of law and jeopardized social order. The egregious and malicious nature of its intentions is fully revealed."
Now this kind of winning is not surprising given what they have been saying for weeks especially in the past few days but this is in their words only reinforcing the notion of the minds of any here that the U.S. is the biggest black hand behind the chaos in Hong Kong.
Whether its ultimate aim being to destroy Hong Kong's stability and prosperity and to contain China's rise on the global stage. That's why the government here summoned the U.S. ambassador to China in the last hour to give him another dressing down and warn him as of now unspecified consequences.
Now all of this, of course, if you ask analysts, could be Beijing's way of covering its own mistakes and misjudgments on this issue. But this latest move is going to complicate this already very complex and the contentious relationship to the two countries, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Of course everyone wanting to know how this might impact sensitive trade negotiations currently under the United States.
Any answers on that?
JIANG: That's right. Certainly not going to help. But I think there is a strong political will in both Washington and Beijing from both leaders, to see a so-called phase one deal happening.
In the past few days we have seen signs of the Chinese government trying to separate the two issues between Hong Kong and the trade talks. As recently as on Tuesday top trade negotiators talked on the phone. And according to the Chinese government reached a consensus to resolve their trade dispute.
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JIANG: And they're agreeing to maintain communication at the remaining issues so they could continue to move towards a phase one deal. And I think that if anyone, president xi, given the political system here, has the power and capacity to deal with a domestic backlash on the Hong Kong issue as well as other positions to what really push through the phase one deal. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Steven Jiang with a live report from Beijing. Many thanks.
Well, Hong Kong is just starting to clean up the Polytechnic University that protesters occupied for weeks. A so-called safety team made up of police, psychologists and government officials is clearing the campus of dangerous items such as petrol bombs and corrosive liquids.
Officials say they believe no more protesters are on campus. More than 1,000 protesters were arrested when they left and there are allegations of police mistreatment. Paula Hancocks has our report.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 1,100 people were detained and processed by police leaving Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The scene of violent clashes a week and a half ago, with a subsequent siege by police labeled anyone inside - a rioter, a charge of up to 10 years in prison.
The arrests include two human rights observers who say they were wrongly arrested as they were there in an official capacity documenting events.
JENNIFER WANG, RIGHTS EXPOSURE: They patted us down -- this was on the street -- and said they were arresting us. They zip-tied us with plastic ties behind our backs and they led us onto the bus.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Police told CNN they don't comment on individual cases but always respect the dignity, privacy and rights of detainees. The human rights observers say once the police knew their jobs, they were verbally abusive, chatting at them for their occupation and for being foreigners, one British, one Chinese American.
ROBERT GODDEN, RIGHTS EXPOSURE: Maybe it's an obvious point but I think it's worth pointing out that when you're arrested, you're still innocent. And when you are in detention you have not been charged, you are treated as an innocent individual. That was not the impression we got.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): They say they were held in a police station parking garage with more 100 others, sitting on a wooden chair, not allowed to move around or speak. Wang says she was only offered water and no food for almost 24 hours. She said she later posted bail.
More than 5,800 protesters have been arrested since the protests began in June according to police. More than 900 have been charged.
Lawyers were advising those inside PolyU about their rights before they surrendered to police, some find the blanket label of rioter problematic.
LINDA WONG, BARRISTER: We need to prove that what they have done and why they were here, what they were doing at a time when the riot took place. You can say when there's riot because you were there and then you took part.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Police say anyone who believes they were mistreated can lodge a complaint. Thousands now face an uncertain future as they wait to hear if they will be charged, cautioned or exonerated -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Hong Kong.
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CHURCH: The Trump administration can claim a win in its effort to force NATO members to pay more. The U.S. is reducing its contribution to NATO's direct budget as President Trump prepares to attend next week's annual summit. Ryan Browne has the details.
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RYAN BROWNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NATO allies this week agreed to a Trump administration proposal to reduce the U.S. contribution to NATO's direct budget. Now this budget is relatively small. It is about $2.5 billion and it covers the headquarters operations as well as some military operations and other investment programs.
But it is a symbolic victory for the Trump administration. President Trump has long lambasted European members of NATO for not spending enough on their defense and so getting them to boost their contributions and allow the U.S. to reduce its payment into the NATO alliance is a bit of a victory for Trump as he prepares to travel to London to attend a NATO summit which will mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance.
That summit could still prove contentious. There are other issues at play. President Trump may ask for even additional contributions from European members, Turkey's incursion into Syria is likely to be an issue that will be debated among the allies there.
But a different symbolic victory for the Trump administration as it seeks to get European countries to pay more. The actual dollar amount relatively minor, the U.S. had been paying about a quarter of NATO's budget. That will now go down to about 16 percent, we are, told but still a symbolic victory for the Trump administration on the eve of a major NATO summit -- Ryan Browne, CNN, the Pentagon.
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CHURCH: To Britain, a new opinion poll is good news for Boris Johnson.
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CHURCH: Research group YouGov says the prime minister's Conservative Party is on course to win a majority of 68 seats, a total of 359, while Labour would end up with just 211. Two years ago, YouGov accurately predicted a U.K. hung Parliament.
Meanwhile, critics of Mr. Johnson's main rival, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn say he may be trying his hand at the art of deflection a day after his Labour Party was again accused of anti-Semitism. Corbyn is showing off a dossier on U.K.-U.S. trade talks.
He says it's a government document that proves the National Health Service will be on the table during any negotiations.
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JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: His government released this. We have since obtained this.
Perhaps he would like to explain why these documents confirmed the U.S. is demanding the NHS is on the table in the trade talks. These unsent documents the Boris Johnson's denial in absolute tatters.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The NHS is in no way on the table, in no aspect whatever. And this NHS (Ph) continually brought up by the Labour Party as a diversion tactic from the difficulties they are encountering, in particularly over the problem about leadership on anti-Semitism and then the great vacuity about their policy on Brexit.
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CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about this is CNN European editor, Dominic Thomas.
Great to have you with us.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Hi, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So it is always been Boris Johnson's election to lose. But if this opinion poll reflects true voter sentiment, then he'll be feeling pretty good right now. How reliable are these numbers, though?
that Well, what many have argued is that they're actually far more reliable than the broader kind of national polling where you take a sample of 100,000 people.
These polls go into detail about demographics and income and the particular regions that one lives in.
And so Boris Johnson will feel emboldened here and will feel like the decision to call the general election was a good one and that it has the potential to change the arithmetic in Parliament, which is everything he has been arguing he needed in order to get his Brexit deal done.
CHURCH: Right, in the meantime, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is dealing with accusations of anti-Semitism.
How damaging has that controversy been for him?
Do you think it is reflected in his poll numbers?
THOMAS: I think it is certainly taken some of the oxygen out of his campaign. It is very distracting. It means that yet again he has to address these issues. He has apologized in the past for this and it is really quite extraordinary that, on this occasion, he did not take that opportunity to do the same again.
It is a lingering issue and it allows the opposition, the main party, to be able to tackle him on this and to distract him from other messages that he is trying to get across here.
CHURCH: And what is behind this dossier of uncensored documents that Corbyn says prove the National Health Service will be part of trade talks with the United States, something the prime minister denies?
THOMAS: Yes he absolutely does deny it. Really the only reason the NHS is getting so much attention is because of Brexit and because of the question of the trade deal. Through the Brexit campaign, one can remember the double-decker bus making false claims about the funds that would be returned to the U.K. and to the National Health Service if they left the E.U.
Last summer when president Donald Trump was on his official state visit to the U.K., this issue came up. And I think that Jeremy Corbyn is well aware of the fact that even though this is related to Brexit, the more he can get the electoral folks to focus on domestic issues, the more he can hold Boris Johnson accountable for the nine years of Tory rule and distract some of the attention away from the issues of anti-Semitism and the other issues that have plagued this particular candidate's campaign in this general election.
So they are important issues and I think the British people have every reason to be concerned about this because it would be really quite unconscionable for a U.S. president to go into a post Brexit trade deal and not involve the pharmaceutical companies that are such a powerful lobby and such a huge industry.
And when one considers the history of the National Health Service in Britain, the number of people that are employed by it and the tremendous benefit provides the British people, the last thing they want to say U.S. style system, where millions and millions of people are uninsured or inadequately insured.
And so it is important for him to focus on this here.
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THOMAS: It also fuels the narrative of distrust in Boris Johnson but he is not being up front about the real implications of Brexit and what he plans to do with the trade deal.
CHURCH: Well, Corbyn does not have very long to make his case. We will see what happens there. But while I have you I do want to just turn quickly to NATO and the Trump administration apparently intends to substantially cut its contribution to NATO's collective budget from around 22 percent to 15 percent.
And that is according to several U.S. and NATO officials.
What impact could such a move have on the transatlantic alliance?
THOMAS: Well, the impact on the transatlantic alliance has been devastating ever since President Trump was elected, not just the transatlantic alliance but the European Union.
We know he is not fond of these multilateral international organizations. In this particular case, the talk about the funding is a little bit more complicated to the extent that he is talking about the contribution to the general budget rather than specifically to the question of a shared defense.
And so it is a little bit muted in that regard. But yet again, as Donald Trump heads to an international meeting, he makes his inflammatory comments. And the irony of, course, is that NATO has become so crucial and so absolutely in need of extra financial contributions precisely to fend off what they see as an increasingly bellicose Russia.
And, yet the more Donald Trump undermines this organization the more one could argue President Putin is emboldened by this and more NATO needs these particular fund.
So yet again, as he heads an international trip, the trip will be surrounded with controversy and with negative expectations as to the outcome of what would be the 70th anniversary of this incredible organization.
CHURCH: Dominic Thomas, we always appreciate your analysis. Many thanks.
THOMAS: Thank you, Rosemary. CHURCH: We'll take a short break. Still to come, Rudy Giuliani is in the middle of the impeachment inquiry and now there could be more trouble ahead for Trump's attorney.
And unrest in Lebanon is raising fear of another civil war.
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CHURCH: Anti government protesters in Iraq stormed the Iranian consulate in Najib and set it on fire.
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CHURCH: The mostly Shiite protesters have been on the streets for weeks. They say Iraqi politicians are corrupt and subservient to foreign powers, especially Iran. Iraqi security forces have gunned down hundreds of demonstrators.
For weeks Lebanon has been hit by protests and violence. They've been fueled by anti government sentiment and a failing economy. Now petrol stations across Lebanon are beginning an open ended strike and all of this has raised alarms triggering memories of Lebanon's long civil war. Ben Wedeman has our report.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A protester hands out flowers for a peace march in Beirut, organized by women in an area torn by tensions. Tuesday night clashes broke out between youth in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Ain Remmaneh and the adjacent mostly Shia Muslim neighborhood of Chiyah.
Many of the Christian support the protests while many here are backers of Hezbollah and the other main Shia party, Amal (ph), which are opposed to them.
These women, many of whom lived through Lebanon's civil war, came out from both sides of the old divide to say, never again.
ZEINAH KARAM, PROTESTER: The people that are fighting now are people who were born after the war so they don't even know what it is.
WEDEMAN: This is an area of deep significance to the Lebanese. I was here in April in 1975, the 15-year civil war broke out.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): This is where Suzanne grew up.
"We were afraid to cross to here," she recalls.
"Every day we saw people killed in front of the barricades when we were small. They destroyed our childhood." When the protesters entered the Shia neighborhood, they were met with cautious enthusiasm. Some embraced while others tossed rice from balconies above, a traditional welcome. When the protest broke out last month, they quickly spread to areas where Hezbollah holds sway, shocking a group that has steadily gained political power in recent years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hezbollah today is kind of caught between a rock and a hard place.
Maha Yahya of The Carnegie Institute's Middle East Center says Hezbollah is struggling to come to terms with the fact that as part of the political establishment it shares the blame for Lebanon's economic crisis.
MAHA YAHYA, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: It's a very hierarchical organization where you simply obey so I think it's not one that is used to dealing with the internal dissent that has emerged from their community.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Hezbollah has moved to muffle voices of dissent but the causes for that dissent, declining living standards and poor public services, are shared by the vast majority of Lebanese, regardless of religion.
"What matters to us is that we live in dignity, says Um Bashir (ph).
"We're protesting for bread, for water, for electricity, to have the basic requirements of life. Poverty and hunger don't differentiate between Druze and Christian, between Sunni and Shia."
And that is a stark reality some of Lebanon's leaders have yet to face -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.
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CHURCH: A series of potentially damaging reports for Donald Trump's personal attorney. "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" reporting that Rudy Giuliani was trying to strike personal business deals with Ukrainian officials at the same time he was pressing them to investigate Mr. Trump's political rival.
Giuliani told "The Times" that a Ukrainian official wanted to hire him personally but he dismissed that suggestion.
Giuliani also said he spent a month considering a different deal with the Ukrainian government but it never worked out.
As problems mouth for Giuliani, president Trump is employing a tactic he has used before when other allies faced legal troubles, as Tom Foreman explains.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A key question in these impeachment proceedings has to be this, how much did Donald Trump know about and direct what was happening in Ukraine?
And how much was this a case of his people taking it upon themselves to do these things?
And his lawyer is right in the middle.
TRUMP: Well, you have to ask that to Rudy. But Rudy -- I don't even know --
FOREMAN (voice-over): President Trump is putting distance between himself, his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and all the accusations of dirty dealings abroad.
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FOREMAN (voice-over): Never mind that Trump specifically told the Ukrainian president in that now infamous phone conversation, I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call.
Now, he says of Giuliani.
TRUMP: No, I didn't direct him, but he is a -- he is a warrior. Rudy is a warrior. Rudy went -- he possibly saw -- but you have to understand, Rudy has other people that he represents.
FOREMAN: It's a familiar pattern. Trump praises his allies and friends effusively right up until they get into trouble, then he suggests he never knew them that well and certainly not what they were up to. Take his previous attorney, Michael Cohen, for two years worked hand-in-glove.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: They say I'm Mr. Trump's pit bull, that I'm his right-hand man.
FOREMAN: But when Cohen came under intense legal pressure about campaign funds and payments to women allegedly involved with Trump, charges that would eventually land Cohen in prison, suddenly, Trump seemed to know nothing about what his lawyer had been doing.
TRUMP: I haven't spoken to Mike in a long time.
He's a weak person and not a very smart person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you talked to President Trump in the last week or two?
FOREMAN: Cohen's successor, Giuliani, insists he and Trump are tight.
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: You can assume that I talked to him early and often.
FOREMAN: Amid the allegations, Giuliani was making a sneaky end-run on official U.S. foreign policy. Giuliani tweeted, the investigation I conducted concerning 2016 Ukrainian collusion and corruption was done solely as a defense attorney to defend my client against false charges. But that doesn't say Trump ordered it. And the acting chief of staff's assessment.
MICK MULVANEY, WHITE HOUSE ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF: It's not illegal, it's not impeachable, the president gets to use who he wants to use.
FOREMAN: Still, Trump is leaving room for doubt that he was using Giuliani or aware of his actions.
TRUMP: He's done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years. And I think -- I mean, that's what I heard.
FOREMAN: In short, the president has pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey, but with impeachment still running very hot, many political analysts say it maybe that he's yet cooking up a side dish of scapegoat -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: The court-martial of U.S. Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher is now closed and so too are the disciplinary reviews against three other Navy SEALs who will caught up in Gallagher's case.
The new acting Secretary of the Navy has ordered those reviews ended with all of them allowed to keep their tridents, coveted pins, which recognize their qualifications.
Former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was forced to resign after President Trump intervened in Gallagher's case. But Spencer was not leaving quietly, accusing Mr. Trump of undermining the Military Code of Conduct.
Spencer wrote in "The Washington Post" op-ed, "This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low level review. It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."
We'll take a break here. Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters have got his back, they remain loyal even as the Israeli prime minister faces charges. A report from Tel Aviv just ahead.
Plus, Mexico has its own way of dealing with cartels and it doesn't include foreign involvement. But a move from Donald Trump could challenge that. Back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour.
China's government is lashing out at the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation to support Hong Kong's pro- democracy movement. Beijing accused the U.S. of bullying behavior that meddles in China's internal affairs. There is concern the new U.S. law could jeopardize sensitive trade negotiations, now underway between China and the United States.
The U.S. is moving to cut its contribution to NATO's direct budget. It currently pays about 25 percent of the cost of running the headquarters. That will be cut to 16 percent and other members will pay more. The direct budget is separate from the much larger defense budget.
In the U.K., a new poll says Boris Johnson's Conservative Party is headed for a majority in next month's general election. Two years ago, research firm, YouGov, accurately predicted the vote. Now, it says the Tories are on course to win a 68-seat majority, when Britain goes to the polls, December 12th.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoys support from loyalists despite facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. With Israel apparently now drifting toward its third election this year, Paula Newton takes a look at Bibi's base.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The future of Benjamin Netanyahu may well rests on these shoulders. Those of his ever-loyal Likudniks.
Bibi lives on, goes the chant, at a Trump-style rally bolstered by Netanyahu's claims of a coup against him. The prime minister didn't even show up here and still.
RICHLITZ LEVY, LIKUD SUPPORTER: They came here for love, for Bibi Netanyahu. What he did to Israel in 10 years, you cannot deny it. He has done so many good things to Israel.
NEWTON: This is Netanyahu's base. Right-wing, nationalist supporters who see in the prime minister, a man in their own image, audacious and hardworking, but a victim and an outsider. His political lifeblood is staked on the pulse of these supporters. Their message?
JOE SAR, LIKUD SUPPORTER: We support you. Don't give up. For us, for the democracy, don't give up.
NEWTON: And yet, that hasn't stopped the challengers even from within Likud. Former Netanyahu cabinet minister, Gideon Saar, triggered what is, so far, a one-man insurrection and will run against Netanyahu in party primaries in the coming weeks. He says, it's for the good of the country.
GIDEON SAAR, LEADERSHIP CHALLENGER, LIKUD PARTY: I think I will be able to form a government and I think I will be able to unite the country and the nation.
NEWTON: But Netanyahu loyalist, Nir Barkat, the former mayor of Jerusalem, says the Prime Minister will win any primary and will never be ousted by his party.
NIR BARKAT, LIKUD MEMBER OF KNESSET: Well, I walk around the country, I speak to the Likudniks. I look at the polls, nobody -- it's going to be a huge success for Netanyahu. Challenging the prime minister in the middle, right now, and the timing of it, is a terrible mistake.
NEWTON: But about that timing, despite his party support, Netanyahu hasn't yet managed to form a new government.
Israel in an unprecedented political stalemate, two elections, no resolution, they could be headed for the third elections. And --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get rid of the deep state in Israel.
NEWTON: And there it is, deep state. Netanyahu's denunciations have gone viral among his base.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF JERUSALEM (through translator): I won't let the lie win.
NEWTON: We won't, we won't, they chant, bolstering the Israeli leader in his fight to cling to power. Lies, a deep state, a coup, a vast left-wing conspiracy, it all reverberates with this crowd, one determined to keep their man in power. Paula Newton, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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[02:35:06] CHURCH: Well, back in the United States, it's one of the busiest travel weeks of the year and more than 20 million people are facing brutal winter weather. Two major storms moving across the country, are bringing rain, snow and heavy wind. The mountains outside Los Angeles got some snow, while residents along the coast saw heavy rain and potential flooding.
On the East Coast, the weather could affect a holiday tradition, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. With strong gusts expected in New York, the giant character balloons could be granted a decision on whether they can fly, will be made just before the parade.
So, let's bring in our meteorologist, Derek van Dam. What's -- what do you think? Do you think they'll get to fly?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: I do not think they will get to fly, actually. I think we're just above that threshold where they can safely hoist those balloons into the air, and I'll show you why in just one second, Rosemary.
Look at this map, we're talking about 32 states with some sort of weather advisory, wind along the East Coast and snow over the Western, two-thirds of the country. Let me show you what it means for authorities to say, don't travel unless absolutely necessary.
These are scenes -- these are scenes actually from Spokane in Washington, of a 60 to 70 car pileup that took place on slick winter- like roads. Look at the cars, and just the damage that took place from one of the many storm systems impacting the U.S., so very complex weather pattern taking place, to say the least. We're trying to track all three of these systems moving across the country.
We'll start over the East Coast and discuss the winds because we have wind warnings and advisories in place for many of the major East Coast cities, including the mid-Atlantic from Philly to D.C., as well as just outside of New York. This cost a significant amount of delays and cancellations on top of the winter weather over the Western U.S.
There are more travel delays in the forecast today, as the storm system departs the East Coast. You can see the moderate travel delays forecast in the outlook here, but it's the winds that are going to be the main concern and, of course, they are timing just perfectly with that Macy's Day Parade you alluded to a moment ago.
And you could see the threshold or the criteria that the authorities use in order to keep those balloons grounded. They -- if there are winds above 37 kilometers per hour or a gust over 54 miles or kilometers per hour, they will ground those balloons. And look at our forecasts, we are teetering very close to those numbers.
Some of our computer models showing even gusts to 60 kph, that of course would ground those balloons very quickly. There's a winter weather advisory over the Western U.S. We are going to be measuring the snow fall in feet, for many of the ski resorts.
And Rosy, we talked about this last hour, I know you're a skier, just like I'm a snowboarder, we will take the snow, of course, as long as it's not impacting our travel plans, right?
CHURCH: Exactly right. Yes. Wouldn't want to live through it all of the time, though, many thanks.
VAN DAM: Exactly.
CHURCH: Appreciate it.
VAN DAM: All right, thanks.
CHURCH: Happy Thanksgiving.
VAN DAM: Same to you.
CHURCH: Well, President Trump says some Mexican drug cartels will be designated terrorists, it means members of those groups would not be allowed to enter the U.S., legally, and Americans will be forbidden from supporting them. Mr. Trump was asked if it means the groups could be attacked with drones.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to say what I'm going to do, but they will be designated.
BILL O'REILLY, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Does terror group --
TRUMP: I am going to be designating the cartels, absolutely. I've been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy --
O'REILLY: No. I know.
TRUMP: -- you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process.
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CHURCH: But Mexico is pushing back against President Trump's plan. It's concerned it could eventually lead to a violation of its sovereignty. Matt Rivers has the latest now from the Mexican capital.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mexico's government responding and they're not happy with this latest announcement from President Trump that the United States could soon designate certain criminal groups here in Mexico, as foreign terrorist organizations.
The announcement seemed to surprise Mexico's foreign ministry here, with the foreign ministry releasing a statement, saying that he was urgently trying to set up a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to get some more clarification on the President's announcement here, and what it might mean for the relationship between both countries.
As for the president of Mexico, President Lopez Obrador, he had his normal daily press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday morning. He didn't talk too much about the situation, but he did make his views, clear.
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translator): I only need to say, cooperation, yes, interventionism, no.
RIVERS: So, let's unpack this a little bit. Basically, what the United States is doing here is saying certain groups in Mexico could soon be labeled a foreign terrorist organization. That basically sets up a legal framework in the United States, for the U.S. to take harsher legal actions, certain steps against certain criminal groups, here in Mexico.
[02:40:04] Those actions could range from financial institutions in the United States not being allowed to do any sort of business with anyone that has any relation to these foreign terrorist organizations. It also means a certain individual labeled as such, would not be allowed to travel to the United States.
Lots of economic and political impact there. Experts that we've spoken to have said there's no doubt that this will have a pretty major impact on the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States.
But further than that, there is also clearly a fear here in Mexico, that the United States could use this designation as some sort of a justification for the United States to send its military or some of its troops inside Mexican borders, to tackle the drug cartel problem.
It was just earlier this month when nine Americans who held dual citizenship between both countries, were killed in Mexico and the Northwestern state of Sonora, in a suspected case that had to do with drug cartels in that region at the time. President Trump suggested that if Mexico wanted to help, he would be willing to send in military forces because as he said, something has to be done about it.
Well, Mexico and the government here, thanked him for the offer, but says they don't want military help. So, the fear now would be, perhaps, that President Trump could use this foreign terrorist organization moniker, this designation, as a kind of justification to send in troops into Mexico.
And obviously, Mexico would view that as an infringement of its sovereignty, it would absolutely not be well received here in Mexico and President Trump has not said what he's going to do if he's even considering that, but that is the fear, some of the concern, here in Mexico right now, after this announcement from President Trump. Matt Rivers, CNN, in Mexico City.
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CHURCH: Spanish authorities are calling it a historical turning point in the battle against drug trafficking. The seizure of a submarine carrying 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $100 million off the coast of Spain.
Police say it's the first narcosubmarine intercepted in Europe. They arrested an Ecuadorian national on the scene, wearing a wetsuit. A second Ecuadorian has been arrested and a third suspect is still on the run. While moving drugs using submarines is rare in Europe, police say it is common in North America.
Hundreds of Cuban doctors say they were on a medical mission to Bolivia, but the new Bolivian government is accusing them of fermenting violence after the fall of the Morales government. Plus, Vladimir Putin is going for a new image. We'll get a look at his own 2020 calendar, where he's dressed impeccably in a suit and tie, unlike his past shirtless mud show images, and that's ahead.
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[02:45:30]
CHURCH: Senior doctors in Zimbabwe are refusing to work to protest a deteriorating conditions in public hospitals. And more than 400 junior medical officers were fired by the government after they protested poor salaries.
Doctors say the situation is so dire. It's a "silent genocide". CNN's Farai Sevenzo has the details.
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zimbabwe's senior doctor's association announced Wednesday that they too would be dropping down their tools and they're not assisting in the public sector hospitals. Those are the clinics and major -- a general public hospitals that the very poorest of society in Zimbabwe rely on for their health care.
They cited many things and were scathing about the government's inaction at the Ministry of Health in providing basic tools of their trade such as syringes, rubber gloves, for them to do their work.
They also bemoaned a lack of medicines for basic health care. This, of course, brings to the head of what has been going on for the last two months in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, where a junior doctors.
Those are the very people who would just finish medicine school and are about to complete their professional qualifications to become doctors who too are down their tools as doctors is saying that they cannot live on the wages that they're being given.
They are trying to fight, they say triple-digit inflation and, of course, Zimbabwe has moved into dire economic straits at the moment. With the United States dollar being dropped as that the currency of U.S. and the Zimbabwe dollar being adopted.
Of course, these loggerheads between the health professionals and the government has also affected nurses, and now senior doctors. It remains to be seen how the government will react.
But we know for sure that they have fired those senior doctors. And the senior doctors are now saying that some of them were even given their letters of notice as they completed their theater operations. This remains a story that's going to affect many people of poor health in Zimbabwe.
Farai Servenzo, CNN, Nairobi.
CHURCH: Meanwhile, Cuban doctors are back home from Bolivia after some of them were accused of aiding protesters after former President Evo Morales resigned the doctors deny these charges.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann has the details.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of Cuban medical professionals are returning home from Bolivia, following a change in the government there. That's not just hurting the Cuban government's sense of pride, but also, their pocketbook.
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OPPMANN: This violent street protests over allegations of a stolen election in Bolivia forced President Evo Morales to resign and flee into exile the aftershocks have been felt as far away as Cuba.
Morales was one of Latin America's longest-serving leftist heads of state and a stalwart ally to the Cuban government.
Immediately after Morales, the Bolivian government detained six Cubans working on a Cuban government medical mission in that country. Accusing them of participating in the unrest.
Eventually, they were released and sent back to Cuba with over 700 other Cuban doctors and medical staff we've been working there.
These last few days have been tough, very stressful for the whole medical brigade. This Cuban doctor told us. We've been accused of things we're not guilty of. We only went to Bolivia to provide health care and better care to the Bolivian patients.
The shift in power in Bolivia is not just the loss of an ally for Cuba, but the loss of a key source of revenue. Cuba earns millions of dollars by sending government trained doctors to work abroad. Medical services have become the communist-run islands number one export.
The Trump administration claims those medical professionals are the victims of exploitation. And in some cases, they've alleged without evidence that some are even spies.
MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: And the Bolivian government announced Friday the expulsion of hundreds of Cuban officials for their country it was the right thing to do.
Cuba wasn't sending doctors and officials to Bolivia to help the Bolivian people, but rather to prop-up of pro-Cuba regime headed by Evo Morales, who sought to maintain his grip on power through electoral fraud.
Bolivia now joins Brazil and Ecuador in recognizing the Cuban threat to freedom. In each case, these governments free of outside interference have acted to protect their own national sovereignty and to -- and to defend their own citizen's interests.
[02:50:06]
OPPMANN: In the past year, new governments in Brazil and Ecuador also sent Cuban doctors home. Slashing revenue for the Cuban government just as U.S. sanctions impact the island's economy is never-before.
Cuba trades its doctors for oil from Venezuela. But U.S. sanctions on the ships that bring that all have led to some of the worst lines for fuel that Cubans have seen in years. Now, Cuban officials say they are facing an energy crisis.
The Cuban government hopes leftist governments in Mexico and Argentina will invite Cuban doctors there.
These Cuban doctors returning from Bolivia, said they are leaving behind communities that needed them.
RUBEN MARTI CAPOTE, DOCTOR FOR CUBA: They realized that when we left, they're going to be helpless, he says. Without any medical attention or much less care. Much of the consultations were done by the Cuban medical brigade.
Previous U.S. administrations praised Cuban's medical diplomacy. Now, Washington sees these returning Cuban doctors as a victory.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN: Now, the Trump administration claims that they are not pressuring governments like Bolivia's to send back the Cuban doctors. But they do say that this is a key way to pressure the Cuban government and counter Cuban influence in the region.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
CHURCH: Russian leader Vladimir Putin is going for a new image in his 2020 calendar photos. Transforming from a shirtless macho man to a more dignified statesman. We'll have the details for you when we come back.
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JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC NEWS: Trump tweeted out a picture of his head on Rocky's body. Take a look, this is what he tweeted.
Yes. Clap now, but you know that's going to be the new $20 bill. So, yes. Let me see that Rocky photo one more time too. That's -- see, that's how you feel before Thanksgiving dinner and here's how you feel after Thanksgiving dinner. You know what I'm saying? Is it real?
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CHURCH: Tonight shows Jimmy Fallon having a bit of fun there. Well, now, another world leader who really used to pose shirtless for official photos is getting an image makeover.
Vladimir Putin just released his 2020 calendar. But next year's photos show the Russian leader wearing suits and meeting world leaders instead of shirtless on horseback as in the past.
CNN's Brian Todd reports.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vladimir Putin's image-making machine kicks into high gear. The Russian president's 2020 calendar is out, predictably with pictures depicting him as a vital strong man, weight lifting with a cable pole, cuddling with a dangerous cat, and firing a high-powered rifle. What we don't see in this year's edition? The classics, Putin shirtless, no images of a bare-chested former KGB colonel on a horse, fishing, or sunbathing.
ALINA POLYAKOVA, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, PROJECT ON GLOBAL DEMOCRACY AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: Even now we get these images of Putin, you know, working out, but they're quite different. We no longer see bare- chested Putin.
Putin is 67 now. We have to remember that, so maybe the era of his physical strength as being something who show off is also coming to an end.
[02:55:00]
TODD: On the same day, we saw Putin's new pics, President Trump tweeted a superimposed image of his head on Rocky Balboa's body. Putin decidedly more conservative. The shirtless photos replaced with scenes of him with other world leaders, like the Saudi crown prince, French President Macron, and German Chancellor Merkel, and this picture of Putin, walking ahead of the much taller Donald Trump with Putin appearing deceptively tall.
Analysts say these new images are crafted to project Putin as a statesman and play on Russian's new sensibilities.
POLYAKOVA: This bare-chested nationalism, which was represented by literally a bare-chested Putin, is no longer really capturing the people's imagination. The Russian economy is in decline, standards of living are slipping, and you feel that. Russian people feel that.
TODD: While Vladimir Putin doesn't flex as much physically, he still pops his military muscle. According to the Kremlin-backed news agency Interfax, the Russian military has allowed U.S. inspectors to see one of Putin's newest and most dangerous weapons, the Avangard hypersonic missile, which Putin says can fly about a mile per Second.
JEFFREY EDMONDS, EXPERT ON RUSSIA AND EURASIA: The real challenge posed by Avangard is the speed at which it moves, and the fact that it's maneuverable and also difficult to detect.
And so you have something coming in very fast that's able to evade defenses that you may not know about until the last minute, and that really poses a certain -- you know, a very real challenge for U.S. defenses.
TODD: The Kremlin says the Avangard, which could carry a nuclear warhead, will be ready for combat deployment by New Year's Day. Avangard was part of a battery of sophisticated new weapons that Putin unveiled last year, including an underwater drone that could carry a nuclear warhead from a submarine.
Not all of these weapons have been completed. But experts say their reflection of Putin's ambitions is unmistakable.
EDMONDS: Its communicate to the United States, like look, I am a nuclear peer, I am a global actor, I'm a great power, and you have to deal with me on a global stage.
Vladimir Putin has run into trouble with his ambitious new weapons program in August. An explosion during what U.S. officials believed was a test of a missile with a small nuclear reactor onboard killed five scientists and caused a brief nuclear spike.
But analysts say, like the North Koreans, the Russians learn from their mistakes in these tests. And those mistakes will not stop the Russian president from charging ahead and developing even more weapons that can threaten the U.S.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Great to have your company. I'm Rosemary Church. And for those who celebrate the day, have a very happy Thanksgiving and a great day to the rest of you. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Max Foster after this short break. Stay with us.
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