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Pelosi: "Proceed with Articles of Impeachment"; Iran Vows to Continue Ballistic Missile Program; Report: 140,000 People Died from Measles Last Year; Somaliland Experiencing Climate Extremes; Pelosi Gets Into Heated Exchange With Reporter; Impeachment Inquiry; Outrage in India After Rape and Murder; Iran's Ballistic Missile Program and Massive Protests; U.S.-North Korea Tensions; Countdown to U.K. General Election; Massive Protests Disrupt France. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 06, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Natalie Allen at CNN Center in Atlanta. Next here on "CNN Newsroom," Nancy Pelosi calls for articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. She talked with CNN's Jake Tapper about the decision and the case against the U.S. president. We will have that for you.
Also, outrage in India after a rape and murder. Now, were that four suspects in the case have been killed by police?
Also, measles outbreak. How Samoa is dealing with the disease that has killed more than 100,000 people around the world this past year.
Thank you for joining us. We begin in Washington D.C. Articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump could be drawn up and approved by the end of next week. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave lawmakers the green light Thursday, setting the stage for an epic showdown that has only happened twice before in U.S. history.
Later, she appeared at a CNN town hall where she explained why the U.S. House must move forward with impeachment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I believe that we should introduce articles of impeachment. This is a very sad day, I think, for our country. It is something that I would hope we could've avoided, but the president's actions made it necessary. You cannot violate the Constitution in full view.
The facts are clear. They were presented by the people, who had access to the situation. Facts are clear. The Constitution is clear. The president violated the Constitution. And so I think it is important for us to proceed.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier this year, you talked about how you thought, when you are opposing impeachment, you said you thought that the president was trying to go to the House into impeachment in order to rally his base. Is there something different about this moment that makes you think that he is not doing that?
PELOSI: His goading is one thing, his violation of the Constitution, challenging us to honor our oath of office. We take the oath as the first order of business, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The president's oath is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. He is not doing that. This is -- this is about our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: For its part, the White House appears eager to get a trial in the U.S. Senate. Republicans have shown every sign of planning to acquit the president. That part of the story now from CNN's Pamela Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fresh from his checkered NATO trip in London, President Trump today asking House Democrats to speed up their impeachment inquiry, tweeting, "If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate."
JONATHAN TURLEY, LAW PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Fast and narrow is not a good recipe for impeachment.
BROWN (voice-over): But a hurried impeachment process was condemned by the House Republicans' sole witness in Wednesday's Judiciary Committee hearing, law professor Jonathan Turley.
TURLEY: You're trying to remove a duly elected president of the United States. That takes time. It takes work.
BROWN (voice-over): And echoed by senior counsel to the president Kellyanne Conway.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT: If you're going to do something as serious and as unusual, indeed somewhat unprecedented as impeaching a president of the United States, you cannot rush it.
BROWN (voice-over): According to sources familiar with the matter, White House attorneys have spent weeks preparing for a Senate trial, crafting the president's legal defense which White House counsel Pat Cipollone will lead.
CONWAY: I think if you go to trial, that will be more familiar, and we are very ready for that.
BROWN (voice-over): The president laying out part of their strategy on Twitter, saying he wants House Intel Chair Adam Schiff, Speaker Pelosi, and Joe and Hunter Biden to testify in a Senate trial.
CONWAY: If they have nothing to hide, then they should be happy to come and testify.
BROWN (voice-over): Amidst the impeachment fight, Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, finds itself in Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian lawmaker who posted on Facebook that he met with Giuliani in Kyiv. The lawmaker, who like Giuliani is known for publicly pushing the debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, was part of a pro-Russia political party and attended a KGB academy when he was younger, according to his website.
[02:04:59]
BROWN (on camera): Giuliani, for his part, refused to confirm to CNN that he is, in fact, in Ukraine and his spokeswoman would only say that his work is still confidential.
Pamela Brown, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin joins us now. Michael, thanks for coming on.
MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: My pleasure.
ALLEN: Well, it is looking like another U.S. president will likely be impeached. What are your thoughts on this moving forward as far as the effect on our country and where our country is right now?
ZELDIN: Well, it seems that we are going forward toward impeachment. Speaker Pelosi indicated today that she is authorizing the Judiciary Committee to return articles of impeachment. If approved in the committee, which it will be because it will go on a partisan vote, they will then move to the House of Representatives for a full vote.
They will pass the House of Representatives and that will go to the Senate. And then the trial will take place in the Senate and the camps on each side will be armed to the teeth fighting to the death about whether this is impeachable or not impeachable. It is not going to be pleasant.
ALLEN: Right. When you say a Senate trial, why is that phrase used? We have seen hearings, we have seen inquiries, and now we have a Senate trial. How will that look as opposed to what we have seen so far in this process?
ZELDIN: So, the Constitution says that the House of Representatives has the right solely to level articles of impeachment, which are just charges. Once those charges passed the House of Representatives, then the Constitution says those charges shall be tried in the Senate, as a trial, and if 67 of the 100 senators vote to convict, then the impeached party, in this case, President Trump, would be removed from office.
So it looks like a trial. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the Senate. The senators act as jurors, hearing the evidence. And then after the evidence is presented and closing arguments are made, the senators vote, convict or not convict.
ALLEN: All right. Leading up to that, meantime, do you expect that Democrats will look beyond Ukraine, the articles of impeachment, and look at the president's overall behavior in office? What else might that entail if they did?
ZELDIN: Yeah. That is a terrific question. Some Democrats really want to keep the articles of impeachment narrowly focused on Ukraine, his abuse of office, the bribery, quid pro quo, allegation that he held funding up to Ukraine until he got his investigation of the Bidens, and then the obstruction of Congress, his refusal to allow anyone in the administration to testify before Congress or to produce documents to Congress.
Some would like to add to that the obstruction of the Mueller investigation. So an obstruction of justice count saying that the president obstructed, interfered with delayed Mueller investigation, and he should be, just like Bill Clinton was, charged with obstruction of justice.
There is no clear point of view on that. They are debating it now. The people who favor just Ukraine say it is a much simpler narrative for the American people to get and that the resurrection of the Mueller investigation allows the Republicans more ammunition to muddy the waters, but they've got to figure that out, and we will hear in the next couple of days, probably by the end of next week how they decide.
ALLEN: Well, as this moves forward, as you say, it is going to get more rough and tumble moving toward the Senate, President Trump is saying hurry up, do it, impeach. He wants it to get into the Senate. What do you think of his statement there? Do you have a concern that Democrats are moving too quickly as some people questioned? They did not take this to the courts. They had more investigations to do. But they keep talking about this random Christmas, perhaps deadline.
ZELDIN: Yeah. It is very complicated. In an ideal world, it was just a normal prosecution against an ordinary citizen. You would not bring the charges at this point. You would fully investigate. You would make sure that all of the witnesses that you needed to testify were allowed to testify, and then you make a conclusion.
But in this case, because the election of 2020 is so close, that the Democrats feel that if they wait for the courts to make a decision, they will not get an answer as to whether these crucial witnesses can testify until after the election. And they feel that it is important constitutionally, as a matter of principle, to sanction the behavior of the president now.
[02:10:00]
ZELDIN: And, you know, we will see whether that works or doesn't work, but that's the debate. You know, if you've got this conduct which is impeachable and you've got sufficient evidence before you, do you wait until you get more evidence or you just go with what you've got? Knowing that if you go with what you've got, you get a trial now. If you wait until the courts decide, it may not be until 2021 that all the litigation is resolved.
ALLEN: Right. That would be kind of a catch 22 if not to this process. Michael Zeldin, we really appreciate your insights. Thanks so much.
ZELDIN: Thanks, Natalie.
ALLEN: We are following breaking news out of India right now where four suspects who confessed in a high-profile gang rape and murder case apparently were killed in a shootout with police. Vedika Sud is in New Delhi following the latest on this. What are you hearing about this, Vedika?
VEDIKA SUD, JOURNALIST: Well, a lot of people were surprised this morning, Natalie. You're hearing the news coming in. We believe that the police did take those four men accused to the crime spot where the girls' body was burnt beyond recognition and that is where they asked them to even reconstruct the sequence of events.
I've spoken with the Hyderabad police. Here's what I have to say. They claimed that this was not an encounter like media reports back in India are suggesting it was, but crossfire. Now, this happened between three and six this morning when the police team took those four men accused to the spot.
What the police tell us is that they tried to snatch the weapons from the police personnel and they tried to shoot at them, and that is when the crossfire took place in which all four men accused were shot. They called for the ambulance, but by then, the four men accused were dead. That is the latest we have.
There is not much more clarity on this incident. We are waiting on an official press conference from the Hyderabad police on this. But also, a parliament decision has been raised about half an hour ago. There were members of parliament who raised the issue. And once again, the incidence of rape is the highlight in parliament as well.
ALLEN: Right, this has sparked this outrage among women and others there in the country. What is the latest on that?
SUD: Well, there have been protests over the last few days. You have heard of recent incidents of rape that have taken place. I just spoke to you what the Hyderabad rape. There has been one in Uttar Pradesh as well. A followup on that, a girl who had gone was rather on her way to court was accosted, attacked. And also, there was kerosene thrown on her. She was burnt, after which she has been taken to hospital. That happened yesterday.
We are trying to confirm whether she has been airlifted to India. Media reports suggested she has. But more on the update of her health is also expected in the next few hours. There had been a lot of anger on the streets of India, mostly in metropolitans including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, especially the capital of India as well, New Delhi.
A lot of people are now asking for fast-track ports to be set up for speedy justice to be delivered in these rape cases. Remember, the 2012 case, it paralyzed India for very long because there were massive protests that we saw all across India, that being one of the landmark judgments.
It has been seven years, Natalie, and the four accused left of the six are still in jail. They have been incarcerated but that death penalty is still pending because one of them has filed a mercy petition with the president of India. So, there are a lot of questions being asked about the delay in justice in most of the cases that we witnessed here back in India.
ALLEN: All right. We appreciate your reporting. We know you will continue to follow up on this report, that police have shot and killed these suspects. Vedika Sud for us. Thank you.
As the United Kingdom election nears, candidates are making their voices heard. Coming up, look at where they stand in the polls. Plus, train stopped, planes grounded, and schools shut down as massive protests paralyzed much of France. We will tell you what that is about.
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[02:15:00]
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ALLEN: Welcome back. Iran is rejecting claims from European countries that it violated a U.N. resolution by developing nuclear capable missiles. Iran's foreign minister dismissed the allegation from France, Germany and the U.K., calling it a desperate falsehood. But Iran is found to continue its ballistic missile program, saying in a letter to the U.N. it is consistent with international law and necessary for security.
Iran is also dealing with growing tensions at home. Mass protests have been raging on since November. They were sparked by hikes in gas prices and have turned into a broader anti-government movement. Tehran acknowledges there have been deaths but hasn't said how many.
On Thursday, the U.S. special representative for Iran said video evidence sent to the U.S. State Department indicates the total is enormous. He spoke with CNN about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN HOOK, U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR IRAN: This is the deadliest political unrest in the history of the Islamic republic. And what started as an increase in the price of gas quickly developed into anti-regime protest in over 100 cities.
The regime responded with violent force. People remember the 2009 green revolution. That lasted 10 months and there were 72 people that were killed in the span of just a few days. The regime killed many hundreds, possibly more than a thousand and Iranians.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook also condemned Iran's continued missile development.
A new satellite image reveals activity at a previously dismantled North Korean test site for powerful rocket engines. An official who works with the imaging company Planet Labs says the picture shows a new shipping container at the site, suggesting North Korea is moving to restart engine tests. The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency have not commented on the image but this comes as tensions are increasing with the United States.
Christmas is right around the corner and North Korea says it is up to America to decide what kind of gift it will get, after warning that the U.S. has until the end of the year to soften its negotiating strategy amidst stalled nuclear talks. CNN's Will Ripley reports Leader Kim Jong-un could be hinting at a big announcement with a horseback ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's diplomatic thaw looking more like a deep freeze. New images show Kim Jong-un riding a white horse, touring snow-covered battle sites on Mount Paektu, his second visit to the sacred mountain in two months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Our general is really a person who heaven sent to us.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Two years ago, I visited Mount Paektu. North Koreans believe Kim's father was born here. Kim has a track record of visiting the sacred site before making big announcements.
[02:20:03]
KENNETH CHOI, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR, THE CHOSUN ILBO: Whenever he goes up to this Mount Paektu, he does something, you know, to give a shock to the rest of the world.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The shock of short range missile launches is wearing off. Last week, the 13th weapons test this year, a year that began with diplomatic disappointment, the collapse of summit talks in Vietnam.
(on camera): We've see more than a dozen launches since the failed Hanoi summit. Why do you think Kim keeps doing this?
CHOI: He thinks that he can pressure the U.S. a little bit by a little bit, escalating on this front.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Those escalations don't seem to faze U.S. President Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He likes sending rockets up, doesn't he? That's why I call him "Rocket Man." I like him. He likes me.
RIPLEY (voice-over): On Tuesday, Trump expressed confidence in diplomacy. Time to strike a deal may be running out. North Korea gave the U.S. an ultimatum, a breakthrough by the end of the year. That's less than a month away. Their latest cryptic warning came just this week. It says, "It's entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select."
CHRIS STEINITZ, NORTH KOREA LEADERSHIP EXPERT, CAN: They're certainly going to make some sort of political statement around Christmas.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Even President Trump's point man on North Korea admits, the New Year --
TRUMP: They will be met with fire and fury.
RIPLEY (voice-over): -- could revive old tensions.
STEPHEN BIEGUN, U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREA: I can imagine that we could see a possibility of going back to some of the more provocative steps that preceded the start of this diplomacy to begin with.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Provocative steps that could include nuclear and long-range missile testing. President Trump's three face-to-face meetings with Kim failed to resolve the most sensitive issue, sanctions.
This U.S. computer expert is accused of traveling to Pyongyang, advising North Koreans how to avoid sanctions using cryptocurrency. That's a violation of U.S. law. Virgil Griffith's lawyer disputes the allegations and says his client looks forward to his day in court.
Kim is urging North Koreans to build a self-reliant economy, immune from sanctions. Everyone who lives in this new town helped build it. North Koreans are being told to brace themselves for what could be a long standoff.
Will Ripley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We are less than one week away from the highly anticipated U.K. general election and candidates aren't wasting any time trying to get out the vote. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is standing by his promise to get Brexit done if his Conservative Party wins a majority, while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is pledging to renegotiate Brexit and overhaul the economy. CNN's Nic Robertson has a look at where the polls stand.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, a week from now, those ballots will be being counted and the truth will come out about how many people voted Conservative, how many voted Labour. Right now, it really is guesswork. The polls have Labour and Conservative about 10 points apart. Labour was closing the gap last week, but that is where it is right now. Boris Johnson, the leader of the Conservative Party, was out getting in front of the cameras again, reminding everyone, one week to go, a big push.
He seems to have a bounce in his step now that President Trump has left the country from the NATO meeting. Nothing went wrong for Boris Johnson from that. There was worry that Boris Johnson was seemed too close to the U.S. president and that would count against them.
But now, he is pushing forward and talking about what he will do in the first hundred days in office. A Brexit budget in February, Britain will leave the European Union on the 31st of January. That's before Christmas Eve and there will be a vote on his Brexit deal in parliament.
So, all of these things lining up and saying, let's get Brexit done. But of course, he is facing a counterargument where he says, look, actually you might do that first part of leaving the European Union on the 31st of January, but that's not it done, that's the divorce part, then you have to fix a future relationship which could take much longer than the year time that is left to do that.
So, that is where Boris Johnson is facing a lot of pushback on his message of, let's get Brexit done. Well, it's not that simple.
The Labour Party, on the other hand, also challenging the Conservative Party, saying, they are going to be better for the country to take over the health service. They are going to be better for the country in terms of education. They are promising a cap on class sizes. They're talking about free school meals. They are talking about a significant budget boost for Britain's National Health Service as well.
The liberal Democrats, on the other hand, they are getting somewhat squeezed in the middle. They have seen their numbers drop over the past few weeks.
[02:25:00]
ROBERTSON: And the Scottish National Party in Scotland that was hoping to increase their take of those 59 seats in Scotland, they've got 35 right now. Their leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is out in front of the crowds again today pushing the message.
It is all to play for, one week to go, and they will be counting the votes in a week's time and it will all be over and we will get to know who is going to be the next prime minister.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Now, we turn to France, which is at a standstill as tens of thousands of people protest and strike over government plans to reform the retirement system. Trains, planes, even schools were cancelled because of the demonstrations. As Melissa Bell reports, it is unclear how long protesters can keep up the momentum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Public sector unions opposed to the proposed pension reform that is on the table here in France, had threatened to bring France to a standstill this Thursday, and they got pretty close to achieving just that.
Ninety percent of trains in France were cancelled today. Many people are just choosing to stay at home rather than braving the transport difficulties to get to work. There were, however, many people out on the streets here in Paris. According to the interior ministry figure, 65,000 people took the streets to express their dissatisfaction.
And for the first, the unions were joined in their march by yellow vest protesters. That march at times turned violent. There was tear gas thrown by the police, exchanges of projectiles at one point around the (INAUDIBLE). There is quite a bit of tension and anger out there in the crowd.
How much longer will it lasts? This is one of the big questions at this stage, in particular for Emmanuel Macron, that reforming president who said that he is determined to put his pension reform through.
The rail unions have announced that their strike will last at least until Monday. On Friday, a number of flights will be cancelled. France has said that it will cancel 30 percent of its interior flights and 10 percent of its medium whole international flights. You can expect a lot more travel chaos to come.
Emmanuel Macron has vowed to push ahead. However, the last time that a universal pension reform system was used in France was 1995. It took the government just three weeks to fold and shelled his plans. The question is whether Emmanuel Macron will get past this opposition in order to get his reform through.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: A deadly measles epidemic is heading Samoa. Dozens of people have died. Next here, why residents are flying these red flags outside their homes to help stem the crisis. We will talk with the reporter who was just there.
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[02:30:00]
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Natalie Allen, and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Atlanta. Here are our headlines. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has instructed democratic lawmakers to begin drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Still unknown whether the formal accusations will stick solely to the Ukraine scandal or include elements from the Mueller report. The House Judiciary Committee could draft and approve the final document by the end of next week.
Iran says claims from European countries, that it violated a U.N. resolution by developing nuclear capable missiles, are a falsehood. But in a letter to the U.N., Iran vowed to continue its ballistic missile program saying it's consistent with international law and necessary for security.
A new satellite image is revealing activity at a previously dismantled North Korean test site for powerful rocket engines. An official who works in partnership with the imaging company, Planet Labs, says the picture shows a new shipping container at the site. He says that North Korea is perhaps moving to restart engine tests.
Cases of measles are soaring worldwide. A new report for the centers for disease control here in Atlanta and the World Health Organization, says more than 140,000 people died from the disease last year. More deaths were among children, younger than 5 years old. A similar tragedy is playing out in Samoa. Ivan Watson has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Noel was only 1 year old when a long-forgotten disease claimed her life.
ELSIE LOLESIO, DAUGHTER DIED OF MEASLES: She is gone. And I never forget her, the way I tried to teach her how to talk.
WATSON: Noel is buried next to her cousin who died just three days earlier.
LOLESIO: It's very hard to lose a child. I'm sorry.
WATSON: These two children are among the dozens of victims of a measles outbreak in the Pacific island nation of Samoa. Thousands of cases have been reported in recent weeks. The government is ordering businesses to close and shutting down all but essential services, as it implements a massive vaccination campaign.
TUILAEPA SAILELE MALIELEGAOI, PRIME MINISTER OF SAMOA: We have declared two days of holiday, so that everybody stays at home, no cars should be on the road.
WATSON: Here, the red flags are a warning, hanging outside the homes of those who have not been vaccinated. Measles vaccination rates in the country had dropped significantly before the outbreak began in October, and the government says it knows why.
MALIELEGAOI: We have so many anti vaccine people.
WATSON: Samoa is not alone. Unproven conspiracy theories about the side effects of vaccination have contributed to a resurgence of measles around the world, in both low and high-income countries, including the United States. The disease is highly contagious, but it is also preventable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one and done.
WATSON: Simple and nearly painless. Vaccination against measles is as fast as medical procedures get. But for many in Samoa, it is simply too late. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We're going to talk more about the situation with Logan Church, a reporter from CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand. He has spent the last few days in Samoa, he's back in Wellington, New Zealand and joins me on the phone. Logan, thanks for talking with us. You were just there. What did you see? What's your assessment, having been on the ground there?
LOGAN CHURCH, REPORTER, RADIO NEW ZEALAND (via telephone): Well, we saw a very tragic situation in Samoa. In total, as of today, 63 people have died, most of them children, under the age of 4. And that death toll is rising day on day. On top of it, there are also 20 critically ill children in intensive care, as well as three pregnant women who've also been speaking to families who have lost their loved ones.
One family we spoke to in a small village, about 20 minutes out from the capital city of Apia, they lost three of their five kids. Their mom (INAUDIBLE) was actually sleeping on top of their children's grave because she can't bear the thought of being separated from her children. Another young mom we spoke to, lost her 4-year-old, and his name was Yone.
[02:35:09] We actually met her as she walked into Samoa, victim support in Apia, as she had just received a call from the hospital which told her that they were releasing her son's body at 4:00 that afternoon.
ALLEN: Oh, my goodness.
CHURCH: She was there at victim support because she couldn't afford a traditional burial garment for his son. And this sort of stories are sadly becoming more and more common in Samoa as death toll keeps going up.
ALLEN: How were they isolating people now that are children too, that could be at risk?
CHURCH: You know, the most vulnerable age group in Samoa throughout this entire crisis have been kids. So, the government has essentially banned all gatherings of children. While we were over on the island nation, we went to a Sunday mass in a small village along the south coast and we noticed that after a congregation of more than 100, there were almost no children there at all. And we spoke to the press afterwards, actually, and he said that many of the upcoming Christmas celebrations that happen every year in Samoa have had to -- have been canceled, as school breaks for the year and Christmas approaches, children are having to stay at home.
Now, that might sound paranoid, but right now in Samoa, that is sadly the norm. There are a lot of parents who are extremely worried for the safety of their kids.
ALLEN: Well, we know that vaccine hesitancy is a global problem. Samoa has seen that as well, but hopefully people are coming around to the vaccine so they can get ahead of this. Thanks so much for your reporting. Logan Church for us from New Zealand. Thanks, Logan.
An Italian sports newspaper is defending its Black Friday headline after receiving widespread criticism. The Rome-based paper was highlighting two of inter-Milan and Roma's top players ahead of today's match. As Don Riddell reports, this comes at a time when European Football has been criticized for how it handles racist incidents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Black Friday, it's not a sales promotion and it's not an advert for some discounted goods. This is the headline in the Italian paper, Corriere dello Sport, topping a story about two black football players and it has unleashed a furious backlash.
DARREN LEWIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I was staggered actually, Don, because Italy's had so many problems for so long, and so it just seemed remarkable that they would shoot themselves in the foot with such a negative headline.
RIDDELL: Black Friday is an appalling own goal from a publication which says it was trying to celebrate the players, Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling.
IVAN ZAZZARONI, EDITOR, CORRIERE DELLO SPORT (through translator): I would like to know what is racist in this headline because this is a total innocent play on words that was used and instrumentalized without reading the subtitle, summary and article. We incited this paper on the first page, we say that Smalling and Lukaku are champions of anti-racism.
RIDDELL: Both Lukaku and Smalling are new to Italian football this season. They'll play each other on Friday when Inter host Roma (INAUDIBLE) in September, Lukaku was taunted at Cagliari, by fans making monkey noises. Later that week, Smalling arrived in Italy and was asked about it.
CHRIS SMALLING, DEFENDER, ROMA: Racism is unacceptable and it shouldn't be stood for, but I think it's not an issue just in Italy. I think it's around the world, and I think there needs to be a change. I think there is going to be generational changes and younger people will learn not to act like that, but I think it's a world issue and I think it happens all over the world, but it's very sad that it does happen in these modern times.
RIDDELL: In recent years, racism has been on the rise across the European continent and Italy is often cited as one of the worst offenders. In November, Brescia's Mario Balotelli kicked the ball at Verona's fans who were abusing him.
Balotelli tried to leave the field but he was encouraged to stay by players from both teams. He is no stranger to racism in Italy, both casual and deliberate. In 2012, another sports newspaper, Gazzetta Dello Sport depicted him as King Kong.
In 2017, Sulley Muntari complained about racist abuse and he was booked for it. He left the field in protest and in disgust.
SULLEY MUNTARI, WALKED OFF PITCH DURING SERIES A MATCH IN 2017: I only feel that I am really a tough guy on the field but when it comes out of the field, I really get emotional sometimes. I am human.
RIDDELL: Campaigners who want Italy to do better are disheartened when it's brushed under the rug or dismissed as something other than racism, but they are encouraged that this article was trying to highlight these players in a positive way. The casual racism in the headline, though, indicates just how much work still needs to be done. Don Riddell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:40:11] ALLEN: We turn now to the United States, and a high-speed chase in Florida that left two suspects dead, as well as two people tragically caught up in the gun fire. The FBI says after a jewelry store was robed Thursday, two suspects hijacked a delivery truck, kidnapped its driver and led police on a chase.
On the highway, police exchanged gunfire with the suspects. Both were killed, but also dead are the delivery truck driver and a bystander. The FBI says it's investigating whether they were killed by gunfire from the hijackers or the police.
Somaliland has been in a drought for years. Now, it's getting unusually heavy rains and floods. Next here, how people there are dealing with life-changing climate extremes. Also, ahead here, sparks and embers filled the sky as firefighters battled dozens of fires in Australia's New South Wales. We'll get a report from Derek Van Dam.
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ALLEN: Global climate activist Greta Thunberg has just arrived in Madrid for the U.N. climate conference. The Swedish teenager took this train from Lisbon, Portugal. We expect she'll be stepping off of it quite soon, because she is scheduled to speak at COP 25 later, Friday, before joining a planned march through the Spanish capital.
A changing climate is bringing extreme to the horn of Africa, including unusually heavy rains and flooding. But at the same time, the region is drying up. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh traveled to Somaliland, recently. She joins me now from Istanbul, Turkey. They are suffering under two really severe extremes there, Jomana.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are, Natalie. You know, droughts are nothing new in the horn of Africa, but what's been happening there over the past few years is that they have been suffering from more droughts, droughts that have been lasting for a longer time. They have become more frequent.
[02:45:06]
And when it comes to the rainy seasons, they have become unpredictable. They have become shorter, the rainfall has been erratic, and when it does rain, it causes flooding. As we have seen over the past few weeks where several people in the Horn of Africa had been killed by these devastating floods, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
You know, Natalie, they say it is the world's poorest who suffer the most from climate shocks -- from climate shocks. And nowhere is that more evident than in that self-declared state of Somaliland, where we traveled recently, and we saw the impact of the climate crisis firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARADSHEH: Imagine learning to farm at 50. That's what Fatima is doing after losing all of her goats and sheep to years of drought.
These women are the survivors of extremes, they bear the brunt of climate shocks. Like other women in the developing world, they produce 80 percent of their food. But this village in Somaliland has fared better with this year's range than most.
Everyone gets climate shocks here, desperately searching for water, the rains once brought.
Historical climate data in the self-declared state that broke away from Somalia, three decades ago is scant. The local officials measuring rainfall here, say it has dropped by more than half in the last 50 years.
The Horn of Africa is drying up faster than it ever has in the past 2,000 years, according to a study by American scientists.
Even in the best of times, this inhospitable land has made life difficult for its people. For many, the changing climate has now made it impossible. More than two-thirds of the livestock died in the most recent killer drought, turning tens of thousands of pasture less into climate refugees. Living in makeshift camps for years with no way out insight.
Mother of seven, (INAUDIBLE) Solayman, lost her entire herd of 200 goats two years ago.
I have never worried for the life of my children, how to feed them, how to look after them, she says. This was the worst drought I have ever seen. SHUKRI HAJI ISMAIL BANDARE, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, SOMALILAND: We are touching it, it is there. Climate change is real, in Somaliland it's real.
When you have an empty stomach, and you don't have anything to put into your stomach or to put into your child's stomach, that's when you feel it.
KARADSHEH: One of the world's poorest and least developed economies is overwhelmed. You could see how harsh life can be in the streets of the capital Hargeisa. Charcoal sellers like this one, just about everybody depends on it for cooking at the cost of cutting down and burning trees, transforming vanishing forest into deserts.
Even solutions are defeated by the very problem they're meant to solve. This was supposed to be a star resilience project.
SADIA MUSE, MANAGER, SEAWATER GREENHOUSE SOMALILAND: I left it so beautifully. When I came this morning, I almost died.
KARADSHEH: This greenhouse is an ingenious, yet simple pilot design using to salinated seawater to grow food along Somaliland's arid coast. But two years out of three, they've been beaten back by the climate crisis.
MUSE: This is watermelon.
KARADSHEH: Rebuilding after last year's first-ever cyclone, getting battered by unprecedented winds this year. There's no question who is responsible, says Muse.
MUSE: The West, those industrial countries who are really producing all these gases into the air. Are we producing anything? No. We are just getting the impact. They should help just us and pray for this.
KARADSHEH: But the help just isn't there, says the environment minister.
BANDARE: Because we are not recognized by the International community, that means you are not visible, you are not there. Definitely, you are not there. You are in another world.
KARADSHEH: Searching for an economic lifeline, their governments now looking toward the sea. Courting investors for more projects, like the Dubai funded development of Berbera Port, on the strategic Gulf of Aden.
Officials tell us, they're mulling over a bold idea to move much of the population to the coast. A generational undertaking that will be outpaced by the rapidly worsening climate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARADSHEH: And Natalie, the message from Somaliland -- their government there is clear. Climate change is not a problem of the future, it's not something that's threatening humanity in the distant future. It is real. It is happening now and it is impacting the lives of millions.
Right now, it is Somaliland, it is the Horn of Africa, but they say that this will happen elsewhere in the world unless there is real action that is taken right now. Natalie.
ALLEN: Yes, right now is the key and the COP25, it's beginning, and we'll see what comes from that because it is the poor -- is nations in the world that will suffer the most. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you for that report. It was eye-opening, Jomana.
[02:50:11]
Well, firefighters in New South Wales are struggling to contain the flames as fire conditions worsen across the Australian state. Homes and communities are being threatened for more than 100 fires. More than half are not contained.
Emergency warnings are in place for nine fires, which is Australia's highest level of bushfire alert. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam, is following this story for us. It's not looking promising, Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN INTERNATIONAL WEATHER ANCHOR: No, not at all. In fact, Natalie, look at this direct result of the fires that are just outside of the greater Sydney region.
Look at the poor quality of the air that they are having to contend with. Over 30 schools canceled today alone. The threat for some of the beaches being completely coast because of poor quality of the air this weekend.
And that is just not good news, considering that this is the time of the year where people should be preparing for the holiday. Tourists, the influx of tourists coming into the region, and instead, they're preparing for worsening fire conditions, at least, in the short term.
Now, look at this. You can see on the satellite imagery the fires have still been visible from space as they have been for the past several weeks. They continue to deteriorate the downwind locations, and we found this bit of information. This is some clement modeling.
The plumes of aerosols created from the fire -- the brush fires that have taken place where the bush fires, I should say, have actually spread across to the other side of the world.
So, they've tracked them from the east coast of Australia, over the Pacific Ocean, and those aerosols have been detected in South America. That's just how far-fetched these plumes of aerosols and the deadly and very, very contaminated air that travels such great distances from events such as this.
Now, just comparing different cities, New Delhi across northern India has an Air Quality Index of nearly 350 on the AQI index. Sydney, however, has air quality index at last we checked, 121.
So, there are still locations across the planet that have even worse quality of their air, even though, they don't necessarily have bush fires that are burning just outside of the city center. So, that really puts it into perspective. But nonetheless, for the weekend, we have slight improvement in the air quality, at least, in the forecast for the greater Sydney region
But we still know that there are over 100 active fires burning out of control across parts of Queensland and New South Wales. That's why authorities have -- on the day of Saturday, put in seven areas that we'll see a complete fire ban from preventing additional fires from actually spreading throughout this region.
You can see the wind forecast here behind me. Natalie?
ALLEN: All right, Derek. Thank you so much.
VAN DAM: OK.
ALLEN: And thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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[02:57:19]
ALLEN: Hello from CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Natalie Allen. Next here on CNN NEWSROOM.
Nancy Pelosi calls for articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. She talked with CNN's Jake Tapper about the decision and the case against the U.S. president. We'll have that for you this hour.
Also, on strike. Angry protesters bring parts of France to a standstill and say they will keep it up for weeks.
Plus, an armed robbery leads to a bizarre chase. A deadly shooting involving a parcel delivery truck in Florida.
Thank you for joining us. Our top story after months of razor-sharp testimony and bombshell headlines, the U.S. House is on the verge of putting its formal accusations against the U.S. president into writing.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday set in motion a chain of events that will almost certainly result a Donald Trump becoming the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
Even if he's acquitted in a Senate trial, as conventional wisdom suggests, he will -- Pelosi said the U.S. House would do its constitutional duty because the president's actions have demanded it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA): The president leaves us no choice but to act. Because he is trying to corrupt once again the election for his own benefit. Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders, and a heart full of love for America, today, I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, the White House has until later today to decide if they will participate in the next phase of impeachment. But it's already signaled, it won't. Over the next week or so, articles of impeachment will be drawn up and approved. They will then be put before the full House for a vote by Christmas.
Pelosi was about to exit after talking with the reporters, then one of them shouted a question that made her stop. What followed was this heated exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?
PELOSI: I don't hate anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Representative Collins -- the reason I ask --
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: I don't have -- was raised in a Catholic house, we don't hate anybody. Not anybody in the world. So, don't you accused me --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not accuse you.
PELOSI: You did. You did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked a question.
PELOSI: You did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Representative Collins yesterday suggested that the Democrats are doing this simply because they don't like the guy.
PELOSI: That has nothing to do with it.
END
