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Trump Back in Washington From NATO Gathering; Workers in France Strike Over Pension System; Report: Giuliani in Ukraine, Hungary to Help Trump; Malone Accused Of Mishandling, Covering Up Cases; More Than 100 Graves Defaced In Jewish Cemetery. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 05, 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, on Capitol Hill, constitutional scholars school lawmakers on impeachment and history, despite the partisan politics.
Trump calling Trudeau "two-faced" dominates the headlines of NATO as the alliance tackles major international issues.
And Huawei fights back: how the Chinese tech giant is challenging new U.S. restrictions on its products.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
The impeachment of U.S. president Donald Trump is one step closer to reality and could be wrapped up by the end of the year. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee opened its hearings on Wednesday with a public lesson on constitutional law.
Were the president's actions on Ukraine impeachable?
Three of the four legal scholars who testified agreed they were.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has our report.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The blistering conclusion from all but one of the witnesses that the president should be impeached.
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NOAH FELDMAN, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: I believe the framers would identify President Trump's conduct as exactly the kind of abuse of office ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): Professor Noah Feldman from Harvard laying out the reasons the president committed impeachable offenses alongside professors Pamela Karlan and Michael Gerhardt who agreed. All three were invited by the Democrats.
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MICHAEL GERHARDT, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF LAW PROFESSOR: If what we're talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): Karlan hitting back at ranking member Doug Collins who dismissed the hearing and suggested the experts hadn't digested all of the facts of the investigation.
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PAMELA KARLAN, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: Mr. Collins, I would like to say to you, sir, that I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): The lone witness called by Republicans, Professor Jonathan Turley said he was not a supporter of the president's, but argued the record for impeachment is wafer thin.
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JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: Close enough is not good enough. If you're going to accuse a president of bribery ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): Turley, who testified in the Clinton impeachment warned that a slip-shot impeachment process could pave the way for more in the future.
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TURLEY: That is why this is wrong. It's not wrong because President Trump is right ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): From the get go, Republicans blasted the hearing and the entire process.
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REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): But this is not an impeachment. This is just a simple railroad job ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): GOP members interrupting and delaying proceedings with procedural maneuvers.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, may I make a parliamentary inquiry before you ...
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): While Chairman Nadler previewed possible articles of impeachment, which may include obstruction of justice. Going back to the Mueller probe.
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REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): President Trump took extraordinary and unprecedented steps to obstruct the investigation.
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): The experts drew on history, repeatedly making the case that the country was founded on principles opposing absolute power.
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KARLAN: So kings could do no wrong because the king's word was law. And contrary to what President Trump has said Article II does not give him the power to do anything he wants.
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MARQUARDT: In comparing President Trump to a king, Professor Karlan also said that the president could name his son Barron, but not make him a baron. And that got a lot of blowback, including from the White House for invoking the president's teenage son.
Just a short time ago, Professor Karlan apologized saying she was wrong to do that and she regretted it. But also said that she wishes the president apologized himself for all that he's done -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about this is CNN legal analyst Ross Garber. He teaches impeachment law and political investigations at Tulane Law School.
Good to have you with us.
ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good to be here. CHURCH: Three of the four constitutional experts concluded that the president's conduct did rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.
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CHURCH: And he should be impeached.
What was your assessment of what all four expert witnesses had to say?
It was the fourth was brought there by Republicans did not agree with them.
GARBER: There was actually a number of things on which they agreed. High crimes and misdemeanors in the U.S. Constitution is not a find. But they all agreed that an impeachable offense does not actually have to be a crime under the law. So they all agreed on that.
They all agreed that one of the things the writers of the constitution were worried about was foreign interference. And they also agreed I think that another thing the framers of the Constitution were worried about were abuse of power.
As you noted, ultimately, they did not all agree on whether the facts that are known right now are an impeachable offense. Three said yes; one said at least not yet. Maybe at some point but not yet.
CHURCH: And thought that more witnesses should come in, of course, that's a problem when there's subpoenas preventing some of them.
That cannot be sustained, can it?
So Professor Michael Gerhardt said this, "If what we are talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable."
And he added, "This is precisely the misconduct the framers created a Constitution including impeachment to protect against."
How critical were his words at that juncture?
And do you think those words could change some people's minds?
GARBER: Michael is sometimes very dramatic, he is a very smart guy but I think what even Professor Turley, who is the Republicans' lawyer, acknowledged is, that if it were proven that the president engaged in a deal where he was withholding or promising foreign aid in exchange for campaign help, for personal advantage, that would be impeachable.
But the question is, is the evidence all there yet?
And I think that's where Professor Gerhardt said, yes, there's enough that's there. And Professor Turley said, when you actually look at it all, there are pieces that are missing and it is not fair, it is not appropriate, it's not worthy of the constitutional process, to just try to fill in the gaps with inferences that are against the president.
As you, noted some of the information would come directly from the administration. That's another point that the witnesses disagreed about. Three of the witnesses said that even the administration, refusing to provide information, is an impeachable offense.
Professor Turley, the fourth witness, said, no, that is not, enough the administration is asserting privileges and immunities like other administrations have. They can't form a basis for impeachment unless the Democrats go to court and get a court order saying that the administration has to provide the information and witnesses.
CHURCH: And Republicans were furious; they rejected what the three witnesses invited by the Democrats had to say, even attacked them in some instances.
On what grounds can the Republicans refute the basis for all of this, which is essentially the United States president asked a foreign power to intervene in this country's elections?
GARBER: One of the challenges the Republicans have is that the White House and the president haven't come up with a coherent, cogent defense. But the Republicans saying is that the process that has sort of gotten us here is not fair because the president's lawyers up until now haven't had an opportunity to participate.
And I think the Republicans are sort of suggesting that there might be other facts out there that we just do not know of yet. And therefore impeachment is not appropriate.
But the Republicans really are sort of hamstrung because they don't actually know what those facts might be. So that is what we are seeing from the Republicans. And so far it has been pretty successful. It doesn't look like any Republicans are going to defect and vote for impeachment.
And that is unlike past impeachments. I think Republicans are thinking, regardless of the fact that their defenses are not incredibly strong, they are in good condition.
CHURCH: So what needs to happen now during the House Judiciary Committee and beyond to stop this from looking political in partisan, because that is the greatest risk for the Democrats, as the next presidential election moves ever closer.
A lot of people are going to say, what is happening, here, you are wasting taxpayers' money in order and not achieving anything here and, at the end of this, the Senate is not going to vote to impeach and remove the president.
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GARBER: I've actually been critical of the Democrats here. I have said they should have just adopted the rules that applied in the past two recent impeachment processes involving President Nixon and Clinton, the Democrats did not do, that. And here even with today's hearing there were three Democrat witnesses
and only one invited by the Republicans, I think it would've appeared less partisan if it were two and two.
There is another chance coming up to try and convince the American people, it looks like it is going to be next week, where a staff lawyer from the House Intelligence Committee is going to make a presentation to the committee. Maybe that will change the minds of the public.
But the Democrats, you are right, have a tough challenge ahead of them, it is tough to imagine, based on what we know now, that they will be successful in the Senate.
CHURCH: Thank you for your analysis. As always, we appreciate it.
GARBER: It's good to be with you.
CHURCH: And as impeachment storm clouds gather, U.S. president Trump is back in Washington. After the NATO meeting in the U.K., he has had a very public spat with French president Emmanuel Macron and became the butt of jokes by other world leaders. CNN's Nina dos Santos has the details.
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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Day two of the NATO gathering brought the usual pledges of unity and collective support that you would expect from a transatlantic alliance that now has 29 members and has brought peace and stability to around about a billion people across the globe these days.
However, behind the scenes, the cracks quickly began to show, with bad temper and discord very much being recorded at various bilaterals and press conferences and also behind the scenes at this event in Buckingham Palace that took place on Tuesday evening when the queen hosted a reception for world leaders.
Four of those world, leaders including the leader of Canada, the U.K., France and also the Netherlands, were overheard discussing the U.S. president, the biggest guest of all at this summit, behind his back.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER (from captions): Is that why you were late?
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (from captions): (INAUDIBLE).
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER (from captions): He was late because he takes a four -- 40-minute press conference off the top every time. Oh, yes, yes, yes, 40 minutes. He announced -- I just watched, I watched his team's jaws just drop to the floor.
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DOS SANTOS: That's in turn prompted President Trump to call in particular the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, "two-faced."
TRUMP: Well, he is two-faced.
QUESTION: Do you think that Germany's (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: And honestly with Trudeau, he is a nice guy. I find him to be a very nice guy. But you know, the truth is that I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2 percent and I guess he is not very happy about it.
I mean, you were there, a couple of you were there, and he is not paying 2 percent and he should be paying 2 percent in Canada. They have money and they should be paying 2 percent so I called him out on that and I'm sure he was not happy about it. But that's the way it is.
Look, I'm representing the U.S. and he should be paying more than he is paying. And he understands that. So I can imagine -- I can imagine he is not that happy but that is the way it is.
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DOS SANTOS: The president decided to leave early and then canceled a press conference that had originally been planned.
Now aside from these strained interpersonal relationships that also saw Presidents Trump and Macron spar after a bilateral that they had, there were some really serious issues that NATO has to contend with.
In fact, it is the likes of President Trump and President Macron who sort of set the stage for this after the U.S. president a few years ago called NATO obsolete and criticized other members for not contributing their fair share of defense spending.
More recently President Macron went into the summit calling the alliance brain dead. They have various issues to contend with over the next few years, some of which were discussed at the summit, including the likes of Russia. But also whether or not terrorism should play a bigger part in some of the challenges they have to consider, things like cyber crime and so on and so forth.
One of the biggest challenges for NATO actually comes within its own ranks. That's Turkey. After this country recently controversially decided to purchase a missile defense system from Russia, one of the big original foes of NATO when it was born during the height of the Cold War.
Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also taken time to lobby other leaders to try and gain support for his fight against Kurdish troops in Syria, ones that he deems to be terrorists and other NATO members have seen as allies. Either way, this was supposed to be a celebration of unity and what NATO had achieved over the last 70 years. Instead, it appears as though this bloc is having something of a three-quarter life crisis these days --
[02:15:00] DOS SANTOS: -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: France is waking up to a massive nationwide strike that could paralyze the country for days.
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CHURCH (voice-over): We are looking at live pictures here. It is just after 8:00 in the morning, 8:15 in, fact and the transportation system is expected to take a hit as thousands of workers rally against pension reforms.
Schools and hospitals could also be impacted. This may be France's biggest strike since 1995 when the government tried to overhaul the retirement system. We will keep an eye on all of that.
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CHURCH: Huawei is slapping the U.S. with a lawsuit. The Chinese tech company says it's being targeted unfairly with new regulations. We will have the details just ahead.
Plus southern Africa is literally feeling the heat from the climate crisis. Hotter and drier weather has transformed once lush farmland into barren plains, affecting the lives of millions. We will take you there after the break.
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CHURCH: Officials in southeastern Australia are issuing a severe fire danger alert. High temperatures and strong winds are forecast to intensify Thursday. Heavy smoke from more than 100 bush fires is blanketing New South Wales. Our meteorologists tell us there will be poor air quality for the next few days and it will not get much better until the weekend.
The Chinese tech giant Huawei is fighting back against new U.S. restrictions and suing the U.S. government over new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission, American carriers are being banned from using federal subsidies to purchase Huawei equipment. CNN's Sherisse Pham is live from Hong Kong.
Good to see you.
How successful will Huawei be in challenging these restrictions?
SHERISSE PHAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They say they are confident in this lawsuit. This is really part of a broader strategy of Huawei pushing back against these Washington restrictions, fighting them in U.S. courts and in public opinion. So they came out today saying that a recent FCC ruling barring U.S. carriers from buying equipment from companies that pose a national security threat.
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PHAM: Specifically buying from Huawei and a smaller Chinese company ZTE. Huawei say that is unconstitutional. It goes against fair market access in that it's unconstitutional because the FCC has not provided any evidence of the threat that Huawei poses.
Huawei's chief legal officer Song Liuping coming out today, saying this decision is based on politics, not on security and basically saying that Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman, was parroting political talking points. Have a listen.
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SONG LIUPING, HUAWEI: The FCC claims that Huawei is a security threat. But FCC chairman Ajit Pai has not provided any evidence. This is a common trend in Washington these days. Huawei is a Chinese company. That's his only excuse.
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PHAM: So really driving home the point there that this decision is based on politics. It's based on a fear of a Chinese company rising to global dominance. That's what Huawei is pushing back on.
But important to note, Huawei really does not have a lot of business in the United States. So this lawsuit for fair market access and to preserve what little business they have in the United States, it's not going to have a huge dent for our U.S. viewers out there who use telecoms and smart phones.
But Huawei said this is about protecting their global brand as well today. If they let the Washington policymakers and regulators essentially continue saying that Huawei is a national security threat, it could also affect their global business.
CHURCH: Many thanks to Sherisse Pham, joining us from Hong Kong.
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CHURCH: Carbon dioxide emissions have been a major topic of discussion at the Madrid climate conference. A new study launched there says the upward march of global carbon emissions around the world is slowing. That is because of surprisingly less coal use in the West and softer demand in Asia.
One climate expert says it takes heavy lifting to put a dent in emissions.
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GLEN PETERS, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE RESEARCH: We don't expect carbon dioxide emissions to slowly rise the next two years. Hopefully with a few more policies in place we can see peak emissions in the next decade.
But the real question is how to get the emissions to go down. So peak emissions is essentially the easy part. Getting then down 1 percent, 2 percent or 7 percent is what we need per year, then we need some real lift in climate policy.
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CHURCH: CNN's David McKenzie joins us now live from Johannesburg.
A big problem in southern Africa with all of this climate crisis. Talk to us about just how bad it is there and how likely it is -- how much worse it's likely to get.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it is going to get a lot worse. That climate expert notwithstanding, experts I spoke to paint a much bleaker picture right now of the policy movement to get global emissions down. We are marching towards a climate crisis and here in southern Africa the crisis has very much already hit.
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MCKENZIE (voice-over): It's incredible, isn't it. The Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. And this entire stretch of rock should be churning with white water. Climate scientists say that the climate crisis is hammering this region.
A multi-year drought has transformed Zimbabwe's rivers and farmland into miles upon miles of sand and scorched earth. Here they do not speculate about climate, change they are suffering because of it. Once proud productive farmers like Felistus Ncube reduced to handouts to survive, reduced to just one meal a day.
FELISTUS NCUBE, DROUGHT VICTIM: Nowadays it is -- there is nothing.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): It's a hunger gripping an U.N. estimated 45 million people. And in this part of Africa, the climate crisis is only getting worse.
FRANCOIS ENGELBRECHT, U.N.: The region is projected to be warming at more or less double the global rate of warming.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Scientist Francois Engelbrecht is a lead author on key U.N.-backed climate reports.
ENGELBRECHT: At the current rate, the Southern African region five decades from now will be unrecognizable compared to the region we are living in today.
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MCKENZIE (voice-over): And in a future without aggressive emissions reductions, almost unlivable, where day zero events like when Cape Town almost ran out of water last year, are three times more likely. And cyclones like Idai slamming into Mozambique in March will become
more powerful and more frequent, extreme events punishing countries that did little to cause climate change.
ENGELBRECHT: We should realize that, if you look at the historical responsibility for the problem of global warming, entire Africans' contribution is still on the order of half a percent.
MCKENZIE: One percent?
ENGELBRECHT: Yes, 1 percent.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): But now among the first to feel its devastating affects.
"I wish they could stop climate change because we are the ones who are now suffering," Ncube says.
"If the climate stays like this, we will not make it."
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MCKENZIE: Rosemary, that 1 percent really struck me. Each individual country in southern Africa is far less than 1 percent, the contributions historically of greenhouse gases.
Compare that to the U.S., which is historically, the largest emitter of these products that have gotten into the atmosphere and are causing the climate crisis. They are by far the biggest contributor historically.
And that history is living with us today. And yet the Trump administration has said that it wants to pull out of the Rome agreement within the next year. And it shows the disconnect between those who are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis here in southern Africa and other parts of the world and those who are causing it but not taking responsibility for it, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, very important point. David McKenzie, bringing us the very latest on that from Johannesburg, many thanks.
We will take a short break here, still to come, the U.S. Constitution versus the U.S. president. Four of the sharpest legal minds in America told Congress what they think about impeachment. We will review their arguments -- that's next.
Plus Rudy Giuliani's travels, a new report says he is in Ukraine digging for information to help the president in the impeachment inquiry. We will explain when we come back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM I'm Rosemary Church we want to check the headlines for you this hour.
[02:30:00] U.S. President Donald Trump is back in Washington, after a NATO meeting in the U.K. that was heavy with confrontation. A video surfaced of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders gossiping about him, apparently mocking him behind his back. President Trump called Mr. Trudeau, two-faced. Mr. Trump later cancelled a news conference and came home early.
France's transportation system is expected to be at a standstill, as thousands of workers go on strike to protest the government's plan to reform the pension system. The strike is expected to paralyze the city for days.
Huawei says it's suing the U.S. government over new restrictions that further limit its business in the United States. The Chinese company says it's unlawful that American carriers are now being prohibited from using subsidies to buy Huawei equipment. Huawei denies it's a U.S. national security threat.
Four constitutional scholars appeared on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, to give their expert opinions about whether President Trump should be impeached. Three of them said he should without a doubt, while the fourth argued the process was moving too quickly. Our Cyril Vanier recaps the highlights of their testimony.
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CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Wednesday was all about interpreting the U.S. constitution. Did Mr. Trump's conduct reach the level of impeachment? Yes or no? Three out of four of the top constitutional experts in the country say yes, and they came from the top universities, Harvard, Stanford, University of North Carolina, George Washington University. So, let's hear from them.
First, Harvard law school professor, Noah Feldman, he said the words, abusive office are not mystical. And that the President has committed "impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors by corruptly abusing the office of the presidency.
Then, we heard from Michael Gerhardt, professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and he gave Democrats what for them, will be the quote of the day. He says, Mr. Trump's actions are worse than any president ever. If what we're talking about is not impeachable, he argued, then nothing is impeachable.
Now, Stanford law professor, Pamela Karlan, she also gave a stinging statement. She said that the president's conduct is a cardinal reason why the constitution even has an impeachment power. She warned that this is not politics as usual, at least not in the U.S. or in any other mature democracy.
One legal scholar disagreed with the others, however, George Washington University professor, Jonathan Turley, he was invited by the Republicans on the committee, while the first three were invited by the Democrats. It's worth noting that. He argued Mr. Trump should not be impeached because there isn't enough evidence. Here's the quote, if the House proceeds solely on the Ukrainian allegations, this impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president.
A shot on the arm for Republicans on Wednesday, but ultimately, Democrats got what they wanted out of the day. A strong majority of legal scholars backing impeachment. Now, based on this, they will decide whether to draft articles of impeachment and proceed with this. The safe money at this stage, is that they will. Back to you.
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CHURCH: Thanks so much for that. And since the impeachment inquiry began about two months ago, three different women have given some of the most forceful and memorable public testimony against the President. We get more on that from CNN's Athena Jones.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you swear or firm under penalty --
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Stanford Law School professor, Pamela Karlan, was fired up right from the start.
PAMELA KARLAN, LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR, STANFORD: Mr. Collins, I would like to say to you, Sir, that I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing.
JONES: Pushing back at the suggestion by the House Judiciary Committees' top Republican, that she had not followed the impeachment testimony and the evidence laid out so far.
KARLAN: Because I would not speak about these things without reviewing the facts, so I'm insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor, I don't care about those facts.
JONES: Karlan, the latest in the line of women to deliver a powerful message to lawmakers. Part of a panel testifying about the constitutional grounds for impeaching President Trump. Using analogies to make the case to viewers, in plain English, that Trump abused his power.
KARLAN: Imagine living in a part of Louisiana or Texas, that's prone to devastating hurricanes and flooding, what would you think if you live there? And your governor asked for a meeting with the President to discuss getting disaster aid that Congress has provided for.
What would you think if that president said, I would like to do you -- I would like you to do us a favor. I'll meet with you. And I'll send the disaster also the disaster relief once you brand my opponent a criminal.
[02:35:12] Wouldn't you know in your gut that such a president had abused his office? If you conclude that, as I think the evidence to this point shows that the President is soliciting foreign involvement in our election, you need to act now to prevent foreign interference in the next election like the one we had in the past.
JONES: Before Karlan, it was former White House Russia expert, Fiona Hill, who turned heads, blasting the debunked conspiracy theory the President and his allies continue to promote that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
FIONA HILL, FORMER WHITE HOUSE RUSSIA EXPERT: This is a fictional narrative that is being perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.
JONES: Hill testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, on which she viewed as an irregular second channel of policy for Ukraine, led by U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland.
HILL: He was being involved in a domestic, political errand. And we were being involved in National Security, foreign policy, and those things had just diverged. And I did say to him, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, I think this is all going to blow up, and here we are.
JONES: But it was Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine and the first woman to testify in public hearings that marked one of the most memorable moments so far. A long-time diplomat known for her commitment to fighting corruption, who was suddenly recalled by the President, after a month-long smear campaign led by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
MARIE YOVANOVITCH, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: How could our system fail like this? How is it that foreign corrupt interest could manipulate our government? Which countries' interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail?
JONES: Her testimony sparking this remarkable response in real-time, from the President, on Twitter, prompting Democrats to accuse Trump of witness intimidation. Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And as all this is going on in Washington, the middle man, Rudy Giuliani, was in Ukraine and Hungary. The New York Times is reporting that President Trump's personal lawyer went to meet with former Ukrainian prosecutors to help defend President Trump in the impeachment inquiry. His spokesperson told CNN the trip's purpose is to prove his client's innocence.
"He will prove that this latest farce is even more baseless and malicious than the first attempted coup takedown. Once all individuals have returned safely to the United States, we will reveal the significant witnesses involved.
Well, meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani has been talking to a mysterious caller identified as '-1'. It's raising red flags among Democrats. CNN's Rene Marsh has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RENE MARSH, CNN GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT: Newly revealed phone logs show repeated calls and text messages by Rudy Giuliani to the White House and the Budget Office. But one number stands out, an obscure single digit caller noted as '- 1', on phone records.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think Giuliani was talking to who was number one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably somebody in the White House.
MARSH: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff points to evidence shown during the Roger Stone trial, including these phone logs, showing a call from '-1'. The implication at trial, it was probably Trump. President Trump, Wednesday, brushed it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, can you explain why your personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, would need to talk to the Budget Office?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't know -- you have to ask him. Sounds like something that's not so complicated, frankly, but you'd have to ask him. No big deal.
MARSH: Giuliani took a similar tone via Tweet, the mere fact I had numerous calls with the White House does not establish any specific topic. Remember, I'm the President's attorney. And in a text message, Giuliani told CNN he didn't remember calling OMB and not about military aid.
Multiple calls between Giuliani who is not a government employee, and the White House, including the Situation Room and the Budget Office, came just days before the President's first call with Ukraine's new president on April 21st, and a few days after that call.
The records only showed the calls and not the content. But Giuliani speaking directly to the agency that in June, instructed the State Department and the Pentagon, to freeze military aid to Ukraine, is raising concerns.
RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY OF DONALD TRUMP: Pay attention to Ukraine.
MARSH: April 12th, eight hours before this FOX News appearance, a short call from someone using the Office of Management and Budget phone number to Rudy Giuliani. Then, seconds later, another call, lasting more than 12 minutes. This time, from the mysterious '-1'.
After the FOX interview that night, Giuliani is back on the phone with the White House for more than five minutes.
GIULIANI: I think it get some interesting information about Joe Biden from the Ukraine about his son, Hunter Biden.
[02:40:06] MARSH: The same morning of this FOX News appearance on April 24th, records show three phone calls between Giuliani and a number associated with the Office of Management and Budget. Throughout the day, there were eight calls with someone at the White House. One of the calls between Giuliani and '-1', lasted more than eight minutes.
Later the same day, the state department recalled Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch over concerns from the White House. And August 8th, Giuliani text a White House number at 8:53 p.m. A little over an hour later, he misses five calls from the '-1' number, placed to both of his cellphones. Sixteen minutes later, '-1' calls him back and they talked for more than four minutes.
This call came as Ukrainians were pushing U.S. diplomats for a meeting between Zelensky and Trump. Democrats say the call logs show the extent to which Giuliani was running the show on Ukraine matters, conspiracy theories and the push for investigations.
REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): It does tell a story of Giuliani really being the guy who is doing all of these things and driving the stuff in Ukraine. And as we know, Rudy Giuliani is not an employee of the federal government.
MARSH: What this phone records reveal are highly unusual. As a formal OMB official said, there is no reason the President's personal attorney should be calling people at OMB regarding budgetary matters because that's what OMB handles. Now, the Budget Office says that no one at the agency ever spoke to Giuliani.
There is, though, some speculation that some of the calls may have been to Mick Mulvaney who had moved earlier that year, from OMB to the White House. A White House official is telling CNN that Mulvaney and Giuliani have not discussed Ukraine. And Mulvaney's call records show that he did not speak to the President's personal attorney by phone on the dates listed in the report.
So, despite what the phone records show which, by the way, they all came directly from the phone companies, the White House and OMB says they never spoke to Giuliani. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And when we come back, Jewish gravestones defaced with swastikas at the cemetery in eastern France. How authorities are vowing to respond. And after more than a year of protest, a bishop in Buffalo, New York resigns. The allegations against him plus the Vatican report that ended his career. We're back with that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:45:22]
CHURCH: A New York state bishop accused of covering up sex abuse in the Catholic Church is stepping down. Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo is the latest high ranking clergyman to be forced out.
He was accused of mishandling dozens of abuse cases in his diocese, he denies the charges. Malone resigned after learning of the results of the Vatican's investigation that hasn't been made public.
For more -- for more than a year, thousands of Catholics in Buffalo protested and demanded Malone, resign. The Vatican announced Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany will temporarily lead the Buffalo diocese.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD SCHARFENBERGER, BISHOP, ALBANY DIOCESE: I think bishop, he made a prudent decision to withdraw, as he did at the time that he did. And I don't know that his being present is the same thing as being present as a healer, you know.
I mean, bishops can do certain things because their priests such as say, Mass and that can be a great service to people, just to be able to have somebody preach in harmless. Whether he would be appropriate in a position as a healer is another question. And given the fact that he is, himself, recognized that, that was not something that he thought he could do effectively, I would support that decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, there are groups within the Catholic Church that are free to self-police. After a year-long investigation, CNN reveals the second-largest religious order in the world, the Salesians of Don Bosco, repeatedly failed to protect children from pedophile priests.
Nima Elbagir traveled to Europe, Africa, and the United States for her exclusive report. Here is an excerpt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An anonymous victim, John Doe 17, filed a lawsuit that was brought in 2003. John Doe 17 is Joey Piscitelli.
JOEY PISCITELLI, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DIRECTOR OF SNAP: I was kind of a happy child. I was an artist, I went to a Catholic Grammar School. I got straight A's for eight years.
ELBAGIR: When did that start to change?
PISCITELLI: We were going to play pool, and the priest who was the vice principal he sat down at the bench, and he said you shoot, and I said OK, and I shot the ball. And I turned around and told him, it's your turn. And I looked at him, and he was sitting there masturbating.
And I remember I turned all red, I started sweating, the hair on my neck was standing up, and I just stood there frozen, I didn't know what to do. And he said, keep playing and I want to watch you.
And then I turned around in the head of the boys club, Brother Sal was watching this. And he just stood there watching, he did nothing.
ELBAGIR: Joey Piscitelli drew to cope with the abuse. His pictures becoming more vivid and violent mirroring the nightmare he was living. A nightmare that only got worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And you can see Nima's special report, "ABUSE AND SCANDAL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: THE CASE OF THE PREDATOR PRIEST," Thursday, at 3:00 p.m. in London. That's 11:00 p.m. in Hong Kong.
In eastern France, police are investigating what's being called a heinous act of anti-Semitism. More than 100 graves in a Jewish cemetery was spray-painted with graffiti. It is the latest hateful act toward France's large Jewish population.
CNN's Matthew Chance has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are the shocking scenes at a Jewish cemetery in Eastern France. More than 100 graves defaced with graffiti, including Nazi swastikas scrawled on the tombstones. It's an act of anti-Semitic vandalism that shocked the country. French officials branding it a hate crime, which will be punished.
CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR OF FRANCE (through translator): I want to say to those who think they can come here in the middle of the night and tarnish the memory of those who are buried here, tarnish the memory of our French Republic. I want to tell them that we will not leave them alone.
[02:49:50]
CHANCE: It is not the only cemetery that's been targeted in the region which is close to the German border. Hours before, anti- Semitic graffiti was found in a village nearby in a country with the world's biggest Jewish population outside of Israel and the United States, there were calls for the authorities to do more.
But France has, for years, been wracked by anti-Semitic crime. Back in 2015, an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris left four people dead.
Earlier this year, thousands of people marched through Paris to protest after another Jewish cemetery was vandalized. French authorities say hate crimes against the country's Jewish community have increased 74 percent in the 12 months from 2017 to 2018.
CASTANER (through translator): We must guarantee the right to believe. Whether we are Christian, Jewish, Protestants, or Muslim, we must make sure that the National Accord doesn't accept what has happened here in this little cemetery.
CHANCE: French officials are now promising to open a national office to combat hate crimes, acknowledgement that this growing and deep- seated problem needs to be urgently addressed. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Australian police have arrested three people in connection with the largest-ever methamphetamine bust on Australian shores. Two men and one woman are accused of importing $1 billion worth of the drug. That's about 1'-1'/2 tons.
Border officials found the load back in April. It came in from Thailand, hidden in vacuum-sealed containers inside loudspeakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL GAUGHAN, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OPERATIONS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: It would be alleged that two of the three suspects arrested were customs agents. That purported to be customs agents that is they are trusted insiders within the industry. They use their position of trust to circumvent the border controls that exist within Australia.
CHURCH: The three accused are set to appear in court Thursday. If convicted, they face up to life in prison. Animal activists are concerned about the welfare of a polar bear in Russia, spotted with graffiti painted on its fur.
Experts say the bear won't be able to hunt unnoticed because of the bold lettering on its side. Officials say unknown pranksters painted T-34 on the bear. That's the name of an old Soviet tank. They're hoping the paint will wash off soon.
Well, NATO's candid conversations ahead. All the side chats world leaders had at the summit we weren't supposed to hear. Back with that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well, the NATO summit was smoking hot. First, a hot mic court Canada's Justin Trudeau and other world leaders' apparent gossip about President Trump. Then, Mr. Trump had his own hot mic moment.
Jeanne Moos has all the remarks we weren't supposed to hear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Forget the bagpipes, the drums, the horns. It's what we weren't supposed to hear at the NATO summit that stole the show.
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, regaling other leaders about President Trump's long press conference during his photo op with the president of France.
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Is that why you were late?
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.
[02:55:04] MOOS: And then there was this eyebrow-raiser about a jaw-dropper.
TRUDEAU: You just watched his team's jaws drop to the floor.
MOOS: Trudeau, later told reporters that was a reference to President Trump saying the next G7 summit would be at Camp David.
TRUMP: -- at Camp David.
MOOS: Asked about the hot mic moment, the president unloaded on Trudeau.
TRUMP: Well, he is two-faced.
MOOS: Don Junior tweeted that his dad is 100 percent right. "Trump calls Trudeau two-faced see evidence below." Posting a split-screen of Trudeau and blackface, referring to the prime minister's recent controversy.
Mics were smoking hot at the NATO summit. There was even a second hot mic moment inspired by the first one.
President Trump was picked up complimenting his own dis of Trudeau.
TRUMP: That was funny when I said the guy's two-faced, you know that --
MOOS: Both world leaders were labeled embarrassments by their critics even using the same meme. But after calling Trudeau two-face, President Trump dialed it back.
TRUMP: And honestly, with Trudeau, he's a nice guy. I find him to be a very nice guy.
MOOS: Ad Trudeau, later said --
TRUDEAU: I have a very good relationship with President Trump.
MOOS: President Trump canceled a scheduled press conference, saying he'd given enough of them before heading home. The Daily Show put the hot mic moment to Trump's own words.
TRUMP: They laugh at us behind our back.
MOOS: At the U.N., in front of him.
TRUMP: I didn't expect their reaction, but that's OK.
MOOS: As for calling Trudeau two-faced, the president had to face taunt site, "Well someone likes both his faces.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Laughing all the way. Jingle bells, jingle bells.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And one U.S. presidential candidate has already jumped at the opportunity to capitalize on that hot, hot mic controversy. Joe Biden's campaign released a new political ad, just a few hours ago. Saying, the world is laughing at President Trump and it's time the U.S. had a leader that can be respected. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several world leaders mocking President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're laughing at him.
TRUMP: My administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. I didn't expect their reaction, but that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: World leaders mocking and ridiculing him for being completely off-balanced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allies are deeply worried about it. They say he's becoming increasingly isolated. Something is very wrong.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The world sees Trump for what he is. Insincere, ill-informed, corrupt. Dangerously incompetent and incapable of my view, of world leadership.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We'll watch to see how that goes. And thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. And I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Stick around.
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