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Trump And Macron Clash Over Major Issues; Gathering Tense As Trump Clashes With World Leaders; Leaders To Gather Of NATO Sessions Wednesday; Report: "Overwhelming" Evidence Trump Abused Power; Democrats Preparing For Aggressive Republican Attacks; China Lashes Out at U.S. Lawmakers over Uyghur Bill; Gruesome Assault and Murder in Hyderabad Sparks Outrage; Melania and Ivanka Trump's Relationship. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 04, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Sometimes destruction is the only defense. And there are growing calls for extreme punishment to fit an extremely brutal crime in India, a country with dozens of sexual assaults are reported every day. One in particular has sparked national outrage.

NATO leaders will meet in just a few hours for the formal session just outside London and there will be the usual handshakes but the mood so far has been anything but friendly with U.S. President Donald Trump and the French President Emmanuel Macron tossing there for a bromance aside in an awkward public feud. We have more details down from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A meeting between two allies turning tense today as President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron sparred with the cameras rolling.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to say that nobody needs NATO more than France.

COLLINS: The stage for the clash was set after Trump slam Macron for saying the NATO alliance was experiencing brain death.

TRUMP: I heard that President Macron said NATO is brain dead. I think that's very insulting to a lot of different forces. Very, very nasty statement.

COLLINS: Macron made the comment last month suggesting the 70-year- old alliance could no longer count on the U.S. But today it turned this frequent NATO critic --

TRUMP: NATO is obsolete.

COLLINS: -- into its defender.

TRUMP: You just can't go around making statements like that about NATO. It's very disrespectful.

COLLINS: When the two leaders came face to face, Macron stood by his comments.

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT, FRANCE: I know that my statements created some reactions and shake a little bit of people.

COLLINS: After Trump touted his cozy relationship with Turkish President Erdogan.

TRUMP: I can't speak for the president of France. We have a very good relationship.

COLLINS: Macron fired back ripping Turkey for defying NATO in purchasing a Russian missile defense system.

MACRON: How is it possible to be a member of the alliance to work with our office, to buy our materials to be integrated and to buy the S-400?

COLLINS: Macron then sat stone-faced as Trump made this joke about offering captive ISIS fighters to the French.

TRUMP: Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I can give them to you. You can take everyone you want.

COLLINS: But Trump laughed it off.

TRUMP: This is why he's a great politician because that was one of the greatest non-answers I've ever heard and that's OK.

COLLINS: The tenth sit down a big contrast to a relationship that was once filled with camaraderie, compliments, and dandruff diplomacy.

TRUMP: But we do have a very special relationship. In fact, I get that little piece of dandruff off. We have to make them perfect. He is perfect.

COLLINS: Now, despite that contentious meeting today, we should know that President Trump did give the French leader a ride in his presidential limo to 10 Downing Street for a reception to Boris Johnson was hosting. Kaitlan Collins, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN's Nic Robertson is in Waterford just outside London where Wednesday's NATO meeting will take place. And what is it 6:03 in the morning there? I noticed that again. Nick, good to have you with us. OK, you know, the overall strategy may have been keep Trump happy. It seems Macron of France took the very opposite approach. (INAUDIBLE) let's be serious quip.

You know -- and we heard back from refusing to back down of his criticism of the alliances as being brain dead. You know, this kind of Macron playing Trump much like when a parent demands the very opposite of what they really want a young child to do. You know, whatever you do, don't put your toys away.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, if we want to put it in the context of parents and children and toys, there are multiple parents here and that's the problem, isn't it? Because NATO is trying to find one single voice to speak with and this is Macron's point.

You know, Macron sees things that he wants NATO to do. He wants clear objectives. He wants to know what direction NATO is going forward and do many of the other members as well, but they have differing opinions.

So when Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General who you might regard in this analogy here is the grandparent of them all. He's trying to curate them all together into one message, one voice. You know, he tried to create a situation here where there was a positive narrative for President Trump coming into this. But it -- but it's all got out of kilter now. And as you say, there are multiple voices being heard and therefore the outcomes are somewhat unpredictable.

I think you know, the analogy you're using of parents and children may be correct. But remember, these are all leaders with national interests. And not only national interest but their own desire as leaders to appear that they can stand tall and firm on the world stage and give direction to an organization like NATO.

So little surprise that Macron when he comes out, his relationship with Trump has deteriorated over the past few years, that when he hears Trump criticizing him a couple of hours earlier, he's going to be very firm and clear on his points about NATO. He is trying to set a direction and an agenda for Europe. It may not be shared by all Europeans, but that's President Macron at the moment.

[01:05:32]

VAUSE: Yes. I guess to keep it going, Donald Trump will meet with mom on the sidelines of the formal session and his one on one with Frau Merkel of Germany. But you know, let's get back to Macron and Trump because you know, we're in a great split-screen moment. You know, that was then, this is now, so let's take a look.

On the left, the way we were just a year ago. The overly personal flicking of lit, the handshakes which they get a little too long, the touchy-feely moments. And then, of course, on the right, you know, the reality of the here and now. If Macron and Trump were married, that's how they would look outside divorce court, I guess.

You know, what we saw on Tuesday which was spectacular was a relationship between two world leaders breaking down and playing out on world stage for everyone to watch.

ROBERTSON: You know, what was watched between these two leaders is, you know, people call it a bromance. It's been a power play from the get-go. You know, pulling lint off somebody else's jacket is another power play as in, you know, I'm the guy that's really sort of in charge. I'm looking after you. You're the -- I'm the parent here, you're the kid.

They both wanted to sort of try to have this strong relationship. Macron, the new emerging fresh-faced politician with new ideas in France and he sees Europe too, Trump entering the world stage. Macron thinks that he can develop a good relationship and corral Trump into certain, you know, directions favorable to Europe, but they're both engaged in power place here, and it hasn't worked out.

And I think what we're seeing is really an example of how that continues. Trump criticizes Macron publicly, Macron comes out and disagrees with him publicly. It's merely a continuation of where this relationship has been. We've tried to put a gloss on it and we understood that Macron wanted to influence Trump and Trump wants to dominate the world and it's not working out. -- as you might say in French.

This really though, these differences that we saw yesterday really exemplify what it is hard for NATO leaders to do behind closed doors, which is really take those strongly held differences of opinion and marry them into one articulated vision for 29 nations. That's what makes it difficult for NATO.

VAUSE: Well, a few hours ago, Queen Elizabeth held a reception for NATO leaders. They released that very familiar class photo, all smiles, everyone is happy, happy, happy. The official line, the event comes ahead of Wednesday's meeting of NATO leaders where our allies are expected to take decisions to further strengthen and modernize the alliance which is aspirational at best.

But I guess the real talking point for that reception is this hot mic moment between Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, and Justin Trudeau of Canada gossiping about Trump. What are the details?

ROBERTSON: You know, we were able to sort of pick up snippets of what was said on that -- on that camera feed. Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister making, making up the foursome. Johnson seems to kick off with, you know, is that why you were late, refer -- back referencing something. And Trudeau says, yes, President Trump really or appears the reference was President Trump, we don't really know, at this stage but appears the reference of President Trump you know, sort of getting into a long 14-minute press conference before their actual meeting.

We can understand some of the things that the Macron says. But I think the punch line there in how we see the leaders responding is where it appears that Justin Trudeau says, and then, appearing to reference the other people in the room with Trump, his advisors. And then his advisors, jaws dropped to the floor.

If that's what he's said which is what it sounds like on the tape, and then it seems to be a rather sort of jolly, convivial moment among the four of them there, as if there really is, there is some mirth about the way that they handle Trump and Trump handles them.

VAUSE: I guess if it was, you know, (INAUDIBLE) referring to about being late, you know, the extraordinary moments on Tuesday when Donald Trump would take these photo opportunities. And so it turn them into one-man news conferences for, you know, hours at a time with you know, the other world leader, whoever it may be, left to smile and nod and appreciate his jokes, and his barbs, and his insults.

And that was something which you know, we haven't really seen before. Donald Trump sort of you know, feel like very much at home at a NATO meeting.

[01:10:03]

ROBERTSON: Yes. The press conferences, these events are typically at the end and President Trump typically doesn't do many formal press conferences at the White House is something that is heavily criticized for. 52 minutes in his meeting again with Jens Stoltenberg, over a half an hour with Macron, almost the same with Justin Trudeau, taking all sorts of questions. He seems to feel very at home.

He clearly wanted to take up this valuable meeting time by actually talking to journalists, speaking to the world about whatever questions he was going to be asked. You know, it does feel odd, but then that's the nature of President Trump. He doesn't play by the standard rule book and that's what makes these meetings awkward for other leaders because it's like how do you quite deal with him.

Stoltenberg tries to keep him on track, Macron really fights back, and Trudeau was sort of relatively, I would say, try to sort of be, you know, a little quiet, didn't get into a confrontation with Trump over anything. So everyone tries to handle this president as best they can but it's unpredictable and they don't know what's coming down the line.

VAUSE: Yes. It sounds like a bunch of schoolboys, doesn't it really at some regards? Nic, I appreciate your reporting and your early start. Thanks so much. Well, the evidence is overwhelming. That's the findings from the U.S. House Intelligence Committee as the impeachment inquiry of President Trump goes on to the next stage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you for CNN weather. Watch the pattern across the Americas. Let's just touch with the eastern half of the U.S. in particular across the south and east remaining rather quiet over the next 24 so hours, while back towards the west where typically it is quiet is an entirely different story.

And of course, there is a clipper system skirting across the Great Lakes that will eventually push in a very brief shot of wintry weather, really a far cry of what we saw earlier in the weekend across portions of the northeastern U.S.

Notice the temperature has warmed up up to 12 degrees in Washington, about eight degrees out of New York City and also up to six in Boston after about ten or so centimeters of snowfall blanket at the city. But what is much, much colder air does arrive eventually as we go in towards the beginning of next week, at least initially there, and then warms up again. So kind of getting a late autumn pattern because of course it is late

autumn and the trend they're going between the single digits and the double digits. But back towards the southwestern United States, a significant storm in the works, quite a bit of moisture associated with it and also an impressive amount of high elevation snowfall, in some cases measured by the order of meters across the High Sierra.

But notice Southern California gets in some beneficial rainfall, could see some flooding in those burn scar regions, but the trend and the temperatures 17 degrees rain showers on Wednesday in Los Angeles, San Francisco a similar story while in Chicago, mostly sunny skies. We leave you the areas to the south.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:35]

VAUSE: The next stage of the U.S. impeachment process just hours away with hearings before the House Judiciary Committee. On Tuesday, the Intelligence Committee released its findings, saying there was overwhelming evidence the President abused the power of his office for personal benefit and then obstructed Congress in an attempted cover up. CNN's Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: House Democrats concluding "evidence of the President's misconduct is overwhelming." As lawmakers take a big step forward in impeaching the president by pressuring the Ukrainian President to open investigations into the Biden family and the 2016 election in exchange for a White House meeting and security assistance. "The President placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought to undermine the integrity of the U.S. presidential election process, and endangered U.S. national security." according to the newly released impeachment report.

The 300-page document expected to serve as the framework for articles of impeachment sharply condemn the President's efforts to block witnesses from testifying, saying "it would be hard to imagine a stronger or more complete case of obstruction than that demonstrated by the President since the inquiry began." House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff and the other committee chairs leading the inquiry stopped short of recommending impeachment, saying "It will be up to the Congress to determine whether these acts rise to the level of an impeachable offense, whether the President shall be held to account, and whether we as a nation are committed to the rule of law, or instead, whether a President who uses the power of his office, to coerce foreign interference in a U.S. election is something that Americans must simply get over."

But the sharply-worded document lays the groundwork for a U.S. president to be impeached for the third time in American history.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): If we don't care about this, we can darn well be assured the President will be back at it doing this all over again.

MURRAY: The document makes the case that President Trump's efforts to shape foreign policy to benefit him politically stretched beyond his July 25th call with President Zelensky. The call was a dramatic crescendo in those efforts.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): He abused his office to leverage your taxpayer dollars to have a foreign government try and cheat an election.

MURRAY: Other administration officials, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry allegedly new of or aided the President's efforts, according to the report. The document also provides new details on Rudy Giuliani's efforts to peddle conspiracy theories about Ukraine and aid Trump in his pursuit of investigations. After subpoenaing phone companies, Democrats laid out calls between Giuliani and officials at the Office of Management and Budget, as well as Giuliani and Congressman Devin Nunez, the top Republican on the House Intelligence panel.

SCHIFF: It is, I think, deeply concerning that at a time when the President of United States was using the power of his office to dig up dirt on a political rival, that there may be evidence that there were members of Congress complicit in that activity.

MURRAY: Now, our colleagues on Capitol Hill tried to catch up with Congressman Devin Nunez today to ask him about being named in the report but he refused to comment. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein is with us this hour from Los Angeles. OK. So, Ron, when the Judiciary Committee starts calling witnesses, presumably, you know, a few hours from now, it seems that Republicans have decided on disruption as the best form of defense. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): There's a bunch of brawlers sometimes on the Judiciary Committee, so it should get pretty, pretty hot and under the collar as we go along. I don't think things have been done the way they've been done in the past, Mike, and so it causes some rancor, and it should be pretty, pretty -- much more feisty, I would say, than the Intel committee was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Given the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are among those hotline defenders of the President, they are of the Freedom Caucus, which is born from the Tea Party, they're the bomb throwers. In the past, they've argued with the parents whose kids were killed, you know, in gun violence. And with the White House refusing to send any legal representation, is Donald Trump relying on these guys as his last line of defense?

[01:19:58]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (via Skype): Well, I mean, this strategy is consistent, and what you're hearing about the Republican judiciary committees is in a way consonant with what you saw in that statement from the White House today, about a 300-page report putting out a single paragraph in response. No substantive attempt to respond to the allegations, instead, a determination to simply portray this as a partisan affair, an effort to relitigate the 2016 election.

And in many ways, that's what the goal will be on -- for Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, not so much to try to rebut the Democratic arguments or to kind of poke holes in the factual narrative, but to -- but to create kind of an atmosphere of partisan conflict that will help them rally Republican -- rally Republican voters and thus make it easier to keep Republicans in Congress in line, and also to cause some independent voters who just basically tune out and view this as another extension of Washington's endless partisan warfare. That really is the goal.

VAUSE: Democrats, at least, seem to be prepared for the moment when Republicans throw that switch to vaudeville. Here's another report from Politico, "Democrats are bracing for the GOP to disrupt the hearings with procedural shenanigans, and they don't want to be baited into any unnecessary process fights that could serve as a distraction. During a practice session on Tuesday, Democrats had people play the parts of Representative Jim Jordan and Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republicans on the committee, so members can be prepared for their antics." I mean, this is nuts. But you know, given the partisan divide of the country, is there any point in trying to rise above the fray, or is there more to be gained by the Democrats getting in the gutter and taking Republicans head on?

BROWNSTEIN: No, I don't think -- I don't think that is the answer to that. Look, I mean, we are seeing some extraordinary -- some extraordinary truths about where we are politically are being revealed by this. First, that every -- that there is essentially no Republican in either chamber, who is standing up to the institutional authority of the Congressional the legislative branch to conduct oversight over the executive branch. If there is a Republican who has raised alarms about the White House systematically and totally stonewalling congressional requests, demands, subpoenas, or documents and testimony, I haven't heard it.

Second, we are seeing, you know, the challenge of kind of maintaining any kind of civil debate when one party is almost completely abrogating the responsibility to deal in reality and facts. I mean, when we have -- not just Devin Nunes and not just the House Republicans in their impeachment report, but Senators now, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Richard Burr of North Carolina, essentially equating a few op-eds or Twitter comments by Ukrainian government officials with the systematic campaign to intervene in the U.S. election 2016 by Russia. You know, we have taken a turn to a place that we really have not been in our political debate. So, I mean, in essence, you know, what we're going to see in this

hearing is that the two parties are operating on very different planes at this point, and they are appealing to very different constituencies, and there's probably very little overlap, there's probably very little Democrats can do to try to reach that hardcore constituencies Republicans are targeting, but also, there's an almost complete abandonment of any effort by the Republicans to reach persuadable voters.

VAUSE: And what was (INAUDIBLE) the U.S. President, he may be at NATO summit, but he's still dismissing the entire impeachment process as, you know, essentially another partisan attack, just nothing out of the ordinary. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You'll have a Democratic president, you have Republican House, and they'll do the same thing, because somebody picked an orange out of a refrigerator and you don't like it. So, let's go and impeach him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, you know, a lot of theory that a broken clock is right twice a day, you know, Donald Trump has a point here. That, you know, if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020, you expect Republicans they're looking for a reason to impeach, and then the Democrats might go looking for an impeachment issue for a Republican President. Has that moment arrived when impeachment, which was so rarely used in the past is now just another means of political point scoring?

BROWNSTEIN: Now, I -- look, I really don't think so. I mean, I -- if you -- if you look at this report, people who have watched the testimony, I think have a very -- should have a very clear sense that what happened here this summer was far out of the ordinary, and far beyond the boundaries of what Americans should be willing to accept their President, using the power of his office, and hundreds of million dollars of critical military aid negotiate -- legislated by the legislative branch in order to pressure a foreign ally into either producing or manufacturing dirt on a political opponent.

I mean, the scary part of this, John, is that if ultimately, no Republican in either chamber decides that this is worthy of sanction, what is the message that President Trump is going to take from this, even if the Democrats do vote to impeach him? I mean, Republicans I think have to be bracing for the -- not only the possibility, but the likelihood, if they all basically say this is OK, this behavior is OK, they're going to get more behavior like this and probably behavior that pushes even beyond this in terms of stretching the constitutional boundaries.

[01:24:59]

VAUSE: There's been some suggestion from Democrats that may be an old (INAUDIBLE) could be a congressional censure. Bill Clinton was censored but not removed from office over the Monica Lewinsky affair. Again, Donald Trump was asked about this on Tuesday. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I did nothing wrong. I heard about it. Now, they want to go to censure because they have no case for impeachment, so they want to go to censure. I don't want them to go to censure. I did nothing -- I don't want to be censured to do something wrong. I did nothing wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, I thought that reaction speaks to Trump's confidence that Republicans have his back on the perception of what he sees as being right and wrong, and also where he stands on trying to compromise the Democrats.

BROWNSTEIN: But also, it also leaves no room for Republican maneuver. I mean, part of the problem they have faced is that they have been left with defending -- and you know, in many cases, the indefensible. I mean, you know, when Gordon Sondland gets up and said, it was a quid pro quo, and everybody was in the loop, what do you say after that? And when you have the President saying it was fine, I mean, that this behavior was fine. So, they are -- they are like in a position, as I said, of not only going on the record and having to face voters next year, maybe it doesn't matter for many of them in the House since almost all of them are pretty -- you know, the GOP is down, a purely Republican district at this point.

But certainly, some of the senators in swing states, Cory Gardner in Colorado, Martha McSally in Arizona, Susan Collins in Maine, maybe even Joni Ernst in Iowa, they're going to have to decide how much -- how clearly do they want to endorse this as acceptable behavior for a president, especially, you know what I said a moment ago, knowing Donald Trump, if nothing else, he's a student of power and maybe more precisely, a student of weakness. And I think he will have a very clear interpretation of what it means if every Republican in both chambers says this is OK. I see nothing here to sanction. Certainly, he -- I think he will take that as a green light to go further, especially if he went to second term.

VAUSE: Yes. Yes, I mean, if past -- if past is prologue then, yes, absolutely, Ron, it's a good point to finish on. Thanks for being with us. Ron Brownstein there in Los Angeles.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Please join us, live coverage of Wednesday's House Judiciary hearings on the impeachment, starts at 10:00 a.m. Washington Time on the east coast. That's 3:00 p.m. in London. Get the popcorn and settle in.

Still to come, a young woman gang raped, murdered, and set on fire. In a country where sexual assault is widespread, this case is so horrific, it has sparked outrage, of course.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:44]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

The impeachment report of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee has found overwhelming evidence President Trump abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress in an attempted cover up. The report has new details of phone calls between Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and other officials including Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the committee. Democrats accused the President's allies of coordinating efforts to present false narratives.

NATO leaders are hoping cool heads will prevail on Wednesday, a day after a tense round of talks between the U.S. and French presidents on the sidelines of the (INAUDIBLE) meeting in the U.K. Emmanuel Macron stood by his comments that NATO was brain-dead because of Donald Trump's unwillingness to work with U.S. allies. They also sparred over NATO'S relationship with Turkey and Russia as well as what to do with ISIS.

U.S. Lawmakers have paved the way for possible sanctions targeting members of China's powerful politburo for the first time over alleged widespread human rights abuses of ethnic Muslim Uyghurs.

Beijing was outraged just last week after the U.S. President signed into law a bill supporting pro democracy protesters in Hong Kong. And officials are lashing out again at Washington, saying the U.S. House is wantonly smearing counter terrorism and deradicalization efforts in the Xinjiang Province.

All of this comes after a leak of Chinese government documents which shed new light on detainment camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. There are reports of torture and starvation within those camp which China insists -- they are just voluntary training centers.

CNN's David Culver is our man in Beijing. He joins us now live. So you know, David -- first of all, this move by the House of Representatives to specifically go after members of the politburo. That is unusual and that may be one of the reasons why this reaction from Beijing has been so swift and scathing.

Here's part of a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"This act has deliberately slandered the human rights situation in Xinjiang. It has viciously attacked Chinese government policies in governing Xinjiang. It has severely violated the international laws and basic norm of international relations and has seriously interfered in China's internal affairs."

I mean there are common themes in that statement but it sort of adds up on steroids, if you like. DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are furious. There is no

question that the Chinese foreign ministry is reacting strongly, swiftly, and the timing of it -- we also have to look for it -- about 45 minutes away from their daily press briefing.

Well, this came out hours ago, within roughly one hour of that vote happening in the U.S. House of Representatives. So they wanted to come out in front as strong as possible. And of course this has been echoed in perhaps even stronger words by some of the state media publications, and even some of the government entities.

Now, let's look at this bill because right now it's been passed by the U.S. House. It then moves into the Senate. And if it passed there it goes to President Trump, where it can be signed into law.

And as you pointed out, John -- just last week it was the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that was signed into law. China's response to that was that they banned U.S. war ships from going into Hong Kong and they also threatened sanctions on certain NGOs. It was unspecified. They did not go into many details.

But if you look back at the statement that they put out with regards to this most recent act that was just passed -- it's a lengthy statement. But it is the last line actually that stands out.

I will read the first part of it. This one says "Chinese government and people are unwavering in the determination to safeguard the national sovereignty, security and development interests."

But then they go on to say that China will have further reactions according to the development of the situation.

That is interesting to me, John, because they are clearly standing by not only for how the President may act -- that's assuming it gets to his desk, because passing it is one thing, enforcing it is another.

Where does it go from here? That remains the question. And China is watching very closely.

VAUSE: Yes, essentially they kind of backed down on the issue over the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with a, you know, strong statement that certainly did not go anywhere. I guess we will see what happens this time.

[01:35:00]

VAUSE: David -- appreciate the live report. Thank you.

A gruesome rape and murder is sparking new outrage in India. Protesters are demanding swift and deadly justice.

Here is CNN's Scott McLean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a country where some 100 sexual assaults are reported every single day, one case has struck a nerve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want --

CROWD: Justice.

MCLEAN: Last Wednesday in the central Indian city of Hyderabad, police say four men dragged a stranded women to a hidden area near a road where they raped and strangled her.

Police say the man who confessed conspired to attack her. One of the men had deliberately let the air out of her scooter tire. Later they dumped her body under a highway overpass and set it on fire.

As word of the crime spread, so did the protests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Things were not getting better at all, but this case has triggered the outrage that you are seeing today.

MCLEAN: Days later there was another horrific case in a northern Indian village. A drunk man allegedly lured a six-year-hold girl out of her school with candy, then raped and strangled her. Suspects in both cases have been arrested but that has not dulled the public outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every girl is suffering from this. Every girl scared to go after night. Even after 9:00, every girl is like scared to go out.

MCLEAN: A women's rights activist had vowed to go on a hunger strike demanding that all rapists get the death penalty.

"How can we sit silently when there was no one to listen to her screams," she asked on Twitter.

The crimes have caught the attention of the Indian parliament where one member said rapists "need to be brought out in public and lynched". Another lawmaker suggested offenders should be castrated.

India has had this debate before. In 2012 a woman was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi and died from her injuries two weeks later. The case set off national protests and prompted stricter penalties for rape.

Then last year after an eight-year-old girl was raped and murdered, the law was changed again to allow the death penalty in cases where the victim is under 12.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If women chop off the heads of a few of these rapists, then automatically we will see the society change for the better.

MCLEAN: But no matter the punishment with tens of thousands of rape cases piling up in Indian courts, justice won't come easily or quickly.

Scott McLean, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: They're stepmother and daughter -- first lady and first daughter. Both glamorous and fashionable and both have their own influence over the 45th President of the United States. When we come back, a closer look of their sometimes complicated relationship.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:39:59]

VAUSE: More than 20 years after Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the world's most popular search engine in a garage in California and the cofounders of Google are stepping down. The current CEO of Google Sundar Pichai keeps that job, but will take on the role of CEO of the parent company, Alphabet.

Page and Brin are not walking away completely. They'll will remain on the board of the parent company and retain voting control.

This generational change in leadership comes as Google faces growing scrutiny over its market dominance and how it protects data.

There's Melania -- former international model, stepmother, who speaks five languages. And then there's Ivanka -- the apple of the President's eye, his first born child, successful businesswoman.

In the days before the Trump family moved into the White House, the two women were said to be on good terms, but now we are told there is growing friction between the first lady and first daughter and their sometimes competing roles in the lives of President Trump.

More now from Kate Bennett.

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KATE BENNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unprecedented describes most things about the Donald Trump administration. One unique element, the presence of the President's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her relationship to first lady Melania Trump. Glamourous stepmother and stepdaughter since 2005, but it was 2016 during the Trump presidential campaign.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: My father, Donald J. Trump --

BENNETT: When the dynamics between the two women shifted to politics. Most times on the campaign trail --

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello -- Iowa.

BENNETT: -- Melania Trump is not interested in doing traditional spousal appearances, so it Ivanka Trump, as surrogate, who stepped into the role.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just want to thank you, honey, because great job.

BENNETT: Staying on as the female face of the administration and the family after Trump became president.

I. TRUMP: This is the first U.S. government, all of government, approach to empowering women and developing world.

BENNETT: Taking on as senior adviser some of the most traditional first lady issues involving women, childcare credit and female entrepreneurship.

D. TRUMP: A real power named Ivanka. She would call me and she would say, "Daddy, you don't understand. You must do this. You must.

BENNETT: Creating an odd dynamic, switching off front seat, backseat as the two women in Trump's orbit -- a relationship that one source with knowledge of the relationship says has created a, quote, "cordial but not close dynamic", and at times friction.

There are similarities that have reportedly caused static. Melania Trump's first big solo trip was to Africa, and Ivanka's first big solo trip was also to Africa. Melania Trump was the first to introduce highly-produced mini videos of her events for public consumption. Ivanka now makes her own short films, with voice overs and music.

On trips with Trump when Melania goes, Ivanka's profile diminishes. When she doesn't --

D. TRUMP: Mike -- beauty and the beast --

BENNETT: Ivanka often steps forward. In a way, splitting the traditional norms, but sharing one key component --

M. TRUMP: I give him many advices. But you know, sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't.

BENNETT: -- They both have the ear of the President.

I. TRUMP: I'm candid in my opinions and I share them -- solicited or otherwise.

BENNETT: Kate Bennett, CNN -- Washington.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause.

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