Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Two Democrats Said They Will Vote Against Impeachment; President Trump Attended Army-Navy Game In Philadelphia; Pyongyang Conducted What It Calls A Crucial Test At A Missile Launch Site; Police Divers Are Searching Murky Waters Contaminated By Monday's Volcanic Eruption On White Islands; 2020 Democratic Candidates Are Sharpening Attacks On Each Other As They Pitch Themselves To Voters; Sanders Struggles To Connect With Older Voters; Farmers Hope New Trade Deal Means Brighter Days Ahead; U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Case On Trump Financial Records; Online Anti-Semitism Fuels Alarming Rise In Violence. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 14, 2019 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:29]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

And in just a few days, barring something drastic happening, President Trump will likely become the third U.S. president to be impeached. The full House of representatives will vote on two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

On Wednesday, only two Democrats said they will vote against impeachment, congressman Jeff Andrew of New Jersey and Colin Peterson of Minnesota. Both men represents districts President Trump won in 2016. So unless there's a flood of defection to follow, the President will formally be impeached. And then he will face trial in the Senate. That trial is expected to start in January. But if you are expecting a thorough and impartial trial, you may not want to hold your breath because Republicans aren't even pretending that's what will happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, CNNI: A debate going about how a trial should be held in the Senate, including whether to have live witnesses. You don't support live witnesses. Why?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I want this to end as quick as possible for the good of the Senate, for the good of the country. And I think the best thin for America to do is get this behind us. We know how it is going to end so we can focus on the problems we talked about today. If you don't like President Trump, you can vote against him in less than a year. It's not like a politician is unaccountable if you don't impeach him. So I think impeachment is going to end quickly in the Senate. I would

prefer it to end as quickly as possible. Use the record that was assembled in the house to pass impeachment articles as your trial record. I don't want to call anybody, I don't need to hear from Hunter Biden. I don't need to hear from Joe Biden. We can deal with that outside of impeachment. I don't want to talk to Pompeo. I don't want to talk to Pence. I want the House to make the case based On the Record established in the House and I want to vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: CNN Congressional Reporter, Lauren Fox is live in the nation's capital.

Lauren, is this really what we can expect or is Graham just talking to an audience of one right now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, this has been a talking point we have heard from a lot of Republicans over the last week. In conversations I have had with rank and file members, they certainly seem to be marching toward the idea of a shorter trial.

Remember, majority leader Mitch McConnell hasn't been shy about the fact that's his preference. And one of the reasons is that there are a lot of moderate members for whom this could become a very contentious back and forth if they are asked to vote individually on every witness that the President might want to see on the floor of the Senate. I mean, that's basically asking these members to be with the President or to vote in a way that might help them in reelections.

I mean, if you can imagine Susan Collins having to vote on whether or not she wants to hear from the whistleblower in the well of the Senate, that could be a very controversial vote. So that is why some Republicans are certainly making the case that a shorter trial might be better.

Now whether or not the Democratic colleagues agree with that may be irrelevant because those folks won't have the final say on what the Senate trial looks like. That's majority leader Mitch McConnell who has the final authority on how the trial will be run, Ana.

CABRERA: He, too, has made comments, sounding like if it is up to him be short and that he also knows how it will end which is that the president will not be removed from office. He said those remarks publicly.

Lauren, stand by because I want to bring in "The Washington Post" Congressional Reporter, Karoun Demirjian as well.

And Karoun, you know, why not even at least try to pretend to be a fair juror?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, impeachment is not a pure court process. And the senators have to be to exist in the parallel space, being a juror, and that requires being fairly unbiased, not commenting on it, and yet also being an elected official which is a political role and impeachment is clearly a political process as well. And so it is kind of existing in that hybrid space, there's never been a dictionary definition or statutory definition how you do it.

In the past, seems like senators have been a little bit more skittish about the idea, seeming biased or seeming to have preconceived f notions, and wanting to keep the veneer of impartial juror more intact. I think that right now, today, as you see with people like Lindsey Graham, people like Mitch McConnell, comments on how they plan to orchestrate the Senate trial. It doesn't sound like it is disinterested in what the outcome is.

[16:05:00] CABRERA: New polls find Americans are split on impeachment.

Lauren, in fact, more think the president shouldn't be impeached. If the President isn't going to be convicted in the Senate, are Democrats concerned that they're risking too much here, Lauren?

FOX: Well, certainly, I think the moderate members in the House of Representatives who won in districts that the President won in 2016, they are the folks who are having to walk the tightest line.

You know, Tom Malinowski is a Democrat from New Jersey in a swing district. He held a town hall a few minutes ago. And here's the reception he got when he said he planned to volt for articles of impeachment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOOM MALINOWSKI (D), NEW JERSEY: Based on the evidence that I have seen in the depositions, in the hearings, and the documents I have seen, I believe that on two counts of impeachment that have been put before us that the vote should be yes and I will be voting yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Ana, of course, that reaction very split. You hear applause and then you hear people standing up. You also hear boos. And that gets to the fact this is a divisive issue for those members who are in swing districts who have both Trump supporters and liberals in their district who they are trying to make happy. It is a difficult balance.

CABRERA: Speaking of New Jersey lawmakers, Karoun, you paper, "the Washington Post" is reporting one of the two Democrats we talked about who have come out against impeachment, congressman Jeff Van Drew met with President Trump and is considering switching parties? What's going on here?

DEMIRJIAN: Right. They are reporting that my colleagues have suggest that after the meeting that there is going to be a party switch happening with Jeff Van Drew. He is not saying that's the case yet, but our sourcing says that that is expected to happen. Jeff van Drew has been the most critical democrat when it comes to impeachment. He has given the most -- he has given statements that seem to be the

most unconvinced. They question the wisdom since the get go, and he has been basically the nay sayer in the Democratic Party when others in the moderate camp reference has more reference being important members have kind of come around to decide to side with Pelosi with the rest of the party and back these two articles of impeachment.

Van drew never did that. And it seems like this is gearing up potentially to have him not be a Democrat any more, which you know, has to do -- I am sure that this decision has more to do with both where his politics lie, not just on this question of impeachment but also, you know, the Democratic Party right now is a very pro- impeachment party, even if half the country is not in favor of impeaching the president, I think those numbers are much, much, higher for Democrats. And if you look at internal polling numbers at swing districts and running as a Democrat when you were one of the very few to say, no, I can't do this and spoil (ph) the President, that complicates your re-election race, too.

So it is going to be interesting to see when he makes that switch and if there is a rationale given at that time.

CABRERA: It is interesting to talk about fractures within the Democratic Party. Because I remember for so long talking about those fractures in the Republican party. And right now we are hearing from at least the minority leader Kevin McCarthy that there will be no defections when it comes to voting those articles of impeachment.

Bu I just wonder in the Senate when it comes to the proceedings, Lauren, the idea of a quick trial, no witnesses, are all Republicans on the same page because they were up in arms about not hearing from more witnesses in the House process.

FOX: Well, you know, it is funny, Ana, a couple weeks ago when I started asking Republican senators what their preference was in the trial, you heard from people like Rand Paul who wanted to hear from the whistleblower. You also heard from some moderates who said I want to be careful that I don't look like I am trying to cut these process short.

I want to make sure my voters back home think that I really listened to a case against the president. Now the same members, those moderates seem to be sort of changing their mind a little bit because they are realizing that they will be forced into some very tough votes if this starts to extend more than a couple weeks, if it extends past the point of where the House managers would present a case and White House counsel would present a case.

Then they get into a tough up and down vote process where they are going to have to take contentious and tough votes. So I think it really started to shift, Ana, and I think it will be interesting to see over Christmas what the polling is. Because perhaps if the polling starts shows that this is good for Republicans to drag this process out, maybe that starts to shift again. So I think that we have to watch and see how some things sort of shake out in the upcoming weeks. CABRERA: Real quickly, Karoun, if you will. If people like Mitt

Romney have expressed that they are open to listening to the evidence when it comes to considering impeachment. Do you get a sense that the Republicans may not be lock step in the Senate?

DEMIRJIAN: I think there's a few, a handful leaving that possibility open. But there were a handful of Republicans left that possibly open in the House when the process started, too, and that possibility quickly closed as proceedings went on. So I would not bank necessarily on those Senate GOP members that are talking that way sticking that through. We will have to take signals and signs how they start to speak as the trial progresses and if that shifts at all.

[16:10:13]

CABRERA: All right. Karoun Demirjian and Lauren Fox. Thanks, ladies.

As the impeachment engulfs the White House, President Trump has hit the road, attending today's army Navy game in Philadelphia. In fact, just last hour, he met with players in their locker rooms, then did the coin toss.

CNN's Sarah Westwood is there for us.

Sarah, some interesting optics here.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Ana. And perhaps a welcome distraction for President Trump. He received a warm welcome from the audience here at Philadelphia's Lincoln financial field. That audience consists largely of current, former, future military service members.

This is the third time the President has attended the army Navy game, he came last year and once as president-elect. And he is the 10th president to come to this matchup. So it is something of a tradition for presidents to come to the army Navy game.

Now as you mentioned, when the President got here a little over an hour ago, he first went to the army locker room, then to the Navy locker room, rallied the players before the game and he touted a reform that would allow the graduates of the military academies to play sports professionally before they complete their military service, if good enough to go pro. Trump said that it was the coach of the army team who first brought that issue to his attention. That is a reform spearheaded by defense secretary Esper.

And we did see the president also participate in the coin toss alongside secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The President loves to point out that Pompeo was a West Point graduate. And just a few moments from now at half time, the President who is now watching from the army side will cross the field, go over to the Navy side. That's a tradition commanders in chief that attend the game, they don't want to seem like they are biased toward one side of military branch that is being represented at the game, so they watch half of it from one side, half of it from the other side. But on a somber note, Ana, this game will also be honoring the three

Navy sailors who were shot at Pensacola naval air force base down in Pensacola, Florida earlier this month. Those three sailors will be honored by the co-captain of the Navy game and also some of their fellow service members who will be wearing special commemorative patches to honor their memory at this game.

CABRERA: Bittersweet moment their for that reason.

Thank you, Sarah Westwood, for that reporting.

North Korea has said it successfully conducted another crucial test at its missile site. The second in just a week's time at the same sight, Kim Jong-un says he would dismantle.

Plus, fighter or uniter, the 2020 Democratic candidates attempted to define themselves for voters while turning up the heat on each other.

And the Supreme Court steps into the fight whether the President must release his financial records.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:22]

CABRERA: Tensions on the rise again with North Korea after yet another secret test. Pyongyang claims it conducted what it calls a crucial test at a missile launch site. It is now the second one in just over a week. State run media there says the test was late Friday. It was part of a nuclear deterrent system but North Korea won't say exactly what it tested. And South Korean officials say they are unable to confirm any specifics.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has the latest from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A second test from North Korea in just one week. Now we heard from Pyongyang through state run media just like last weekend's test was very important, it was crucial, it was successful. And this particular one, although Pyongyang hasn't specified what they tested. They say it was important for nuclear deterrent.

Now it is at the same site as last weekend. This is (INAUDIBLE) launching ground. This is an area that the U.S. president Donald Trump when he met with Kim Jong-un in Singapore said that Kim Jong-un told him he would dismantle the area. Satellite imagery according to experts showed that he had, in fact, dismantled some of it. But earlier this year there was evidence it was being rebuilt once again.

So what we understand from last weekend, according to experts and South Korean officials is that they believe it was an engine test that could power either an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile, which could potentially hit main land, United States, or it could be used for a satellite launch.

Now we don't know what was tested this weekend. We know though that North Korea has threatened a Christmas gift, a year end deadline, a new path to the United States, depending on it said what the United States was going to do with negotiations with North Korea.

We also know that we are expecting as well the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Steve Beacon, arriving here in Seoul. So this test comes jugs before he arrives here where he is going to have talks with South Korean officials. It was seen potentially as a last ditch effort before end of the year to try to reengage North Korea. But clearly North Korea at this point is focusing on its testing.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: To New Zealand now where police divers are searching murky waters contaminated by Monday's volcanic eruption on White Islands. The specialist team was able to recovered six bodies from the island Friday, leaving two people are still uncounted for. Both are presumed dead. So that brings the death toll to at least 16. The volcano erupted Monday while dozens were visiting the popular tourist spot.

Meanwhile today, we learned the name of one of the victims of this tragedy. Krystal Browitt, a 21-year-old from Australia. GoFundMe page says she, her sister and her father were on the island, while her mother stayed on board their cruise ship. Krystal's sister and her father are comatose and are being treated in hospital burn units.

The 2020 Democratic candidates are sharpening attacks on each other as they pitch themselves to voters. Two things that keep coming up, age and electability. I will speak with rapper Killer Mike about why he is supporting senator Sanders and the concerns the party is moving too far left to beat Trump next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:36]

CABRERA: Welcome back. In the 2020 race, senator Elizabeth Warren is attacking Biden. Biden is going after Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg is taking a jab at senator Warren. But at the end of the day, who is winning over voters to be the Democratic nominee?

As CNN's Abby Phillip reports, it is not just a fight for votes but a fight for what the Democratic Party stands for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They can't bring the country together, we're in real, real, real trouble.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the 2020 race, some Democrats are pitching themselves as healers. MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am running to be

the president who can do that, who can gather up those pieces and bring the American people together.

PHILLIP: While others present themselves as fighters.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: When I got into the race for president, I knew what I would be fighting for, I knew who I would be fighting for.

PHILLIP: With just 52 days to go before voting starts, candidates are in a fierce debate about what America will need in a post Trump world.

BUTTIGIEG: What we need to do right now is galvanize, not polarize.

PHILLIP: Buttigieg taking a jab at senator Elizabeth Warren.

BUTTIGIEG: We will fight when we must fight, but I will never allow us to get so wrapped up in the fighting that we start to think fighting is the point.

PHILLIP: Biden echoing that message, criticizing the progressive candidate's approach on health care.

BIDEN: These guys are saying, no, no, my way or the highway.

PHILLIP: Warren hit back in a major speech in New Hampshire, and without naming them, targeted Biden.

[16:25:05]

WARREN: Unlike some candidates for the Democratic nomination, I am not counting on Republican politicians having an epiphany.

PHILLIP: And Buttigieg.

BUTTIGIEG: We know that another group of people that raise a quarter million for him, his quote, national investors circle and he offers them regular phone calls and special access.

PHILLIP: As Elizabeth Warren has stalled in the polls, she upped criticism of her more moderate rivals.

WARREN: I am not betting my agenda on the naive hope that if Democrats adopt Republican critiques, or progressive policies, or make vague calls for unity that somehow the wealthy and well connected will stand down.

PHILLIP: For Biden insists Warren is wrong, telling donors at a fund- raiser that if we can't unify the country, you all ought to go home now because nothing is going to happen except by executive order.

And despite their very different approaches, voters do tell me that they are deciding between Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, a progressive and a more moderate candidate. That's one of the reasons we have seen the attacks between these two heating up in recent weeks. Pete Buttigieg also said in recent interview that Elizabeth Warren is

offering purity tests to other candidates like him on the issue of fund-raisers, that is a reference to the fact that as a senator, Elizabeth Warren raised money in a traditional way from big dollar donors and then transferred some of that money over to her presidential account.

Abby Phillip, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Someone whose voice we didn't hear in Abby's report there is senator Bernie Sanders. He along with Joe Biden are leading the Democratic pack in support among nonwhite voters. Sanders is specially surging with Latino voters for a critical voting block in the early voting state of Nevada and super Tuesday states like California and Texas.

Let's bring in activist, Grammy award winning rapper, Michael Render, a.k.a. Killer Mike who is a surrogate for the Sanders campaign.

Killer Mike, good to have you here.

MIKE RENDER, SEN. BERNIE SANDERS SURROGATE: Hey, Ana. It is Render. Also I don't want my dad to get mad at me. How are you doing?

CABRERA: Mike Render. I don't want to mess that up either. I'm sorry to insult you as I introduced you. How dare I?

RENDER: Not an insult, that's why I said Ana, not Anna because (INAUDIBLE). I pronounced it right. So I am proud of myself. How you doing?

CABRERA: OK. Now that we're past the names, let's talk about the state of the race. And I want to back up a moment to a couple days ago after the election of conservatives in United Kingdom, Joe Biden suggests that bolsters his electability here in the U.S. against President Trump. Do you see that as a warning shot to progressive candidates about the party moving too far left?

RENDER: I think like the America that dared to stop being colonies and become a country, we need to do the most radical and progressive calls that we can. We need to be radical and progressive in our policy and we need to not trust in this moment fear. We need to not trust saying let's play it safe. I think we need to play the radical idea that formed America. We need to do that right now and push radical policy.

I think that universal health care is doable. I think that wiping away student loans so the next 20 years of students' lives can be invested in making a better America, not just paying debt is good. I think trade school is good. I think ending the school to prison pipeline is good. And we have to think that radically in order to come to the solutions that we need as a country to progress.

CABRERA: So that explains why you are backing the candidate who is, you know, the revolutionist of sorts and he has talked about a political revolution. Poll after poll, however, are shown Sanders consistently in second or third. No one can argue that his supporters lack campaign for his campaign and his message, but he has not been able to grow his support beyond the teens. Has he hit a ceiling?

RENDER: I like to congratulate him being the most growth in South Carolina, seven percent up in South Carolina. He is up against millennials as I see.

I hear polls, but you never know who is polling, where they are polling and why. What I know as I walk the streets of America as a musician everyday, I'm on and off planes, young people come up to me, as young as 17. I will be 18 by the election, I am voting for him. Old as 28 to 35, say he is reenergized, re-giving me interest in voting.

I just left a barbershop full of black people in North Carolina. They are intent on voting for Sanders and people like him. We want progress and we want it now. I don't see the word revolutionary in mockery because we are here as a result of the American revolution. Had not those colonists dared to dream America, we would not be. If Sanders doesn't dare to dream the dreams that he is dreaming, we will not have the future that I think is possible in 20 years. So I am with the revolutionary and I am with the radical policy.

[16:30:03]

CABRERA: You're right, he is popular among the young demographic. But at age 78, he is the oldest of all the 2020 candidates. NN polls out of California and Texas show he has single digits support with those 65 and older. Not much more than that even with 45 and older.

Historically, older voters tend to be the most reliable voters. Does his struggle to connect with them concern you?

RENDER: No. I think that a lot of times we vote out of fear, are told what to do by a couple different television stations. I think if young people get out locally, door knock, engage people that are the age of their parents and grandparents, we'll see those demographics change as well.

It is time to set fire to the ground locally. The young people that shake my hand in airports and stop me in restaurant restaurants are the young people that are putting on Bernie T-shirts and going out to knock on doors.

I don't think we should allow fear to negotiate for us. We should negotiate from a place of firmness, fairness, knowing what's possible in 20 years, AND not living off the fear of 20 years prior.

CABRERA: Next week is the next primary debate. Only one candidate of color qualified, Andrew Yang. How do you make sense of that?

RENDER: I don't use the term color. My grandparents warned me against the term colored. I don't care what color you are. I care how policy effects my community. I am black from Atlanta. I'm from a place where 54 percent of all

African-Americans live, AND that's the south.

In terms of communities of color, black, Latino, other ethnicities, the policies of Sanders' campaign, much like the poor people's campaign of Dr. King, or Eugene Debbs' campaign, 100 years ago before him, is in line for all people, not just people of color, not just Anglo-Saxon Protestants, but all people that includes my community, the black community.

CABRERA: Sometimes people assume minority voters will automatically support minority candidates. You're obviously an example of how that's not always true. You support Sanders.

Joe Biden, for example, continues to have the most support of all candidates among black voters in places like South Carolina. Why aren't the candidates of color, minority candidates resonating more?

RENDER: I don't have the answer to those questions as I wasn't in their campaign. The campaign I'm with has risen seven points in South Carolina. That's Sanders' campaign.

It is because he is not asking you to vote for him on matters of color or people of color or matters of just being black or matters of being sympathetic to our cause.

Over 60 years, he was the guy chained to black people protesting 50, 60 years ago. He's asking because the policy directly effects our community. How does it do that? Disproportionately health care is not afforded to black and poor people in this country. His policy directly affects that.

We know the school-to-prison pipeline must be ended. His tuition program for trade and college programs helped to end that.

We know that we need restorative justice in matters of marijuana. His policy does that.

And we need to end, radically end how we deal with prisoners and addiction in this country. And he deals with that.

CABRERA: Let's end on a less serious note. You know a little about this. Bernie Sanders slow jams the news. You're a music producer. Listen to Sanders' performance and tell me if he has a shot in the studio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: We all know you got a huge heart.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): No, no. It's a normal-sized heart.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDERS: It's a completely normal, completely fine heart. (SINGING)

SANDERS: Feeling good as hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Your assessment?

RENDER: I would definitely put him on the new album. Run the Jewels 4. Comes out next spring.

Bernie, if you want on, we have a slot for you.

CABRERA: Killer Mike, Mike Render, great to have you with us. Thanks for taking the time.

RENDER: Ana, thank you. Please have a good day.

CABRERA: You, too.

Quick note, 2020 candidate, Andrew Yang. is joining us for a live interview in the 7:00 Eastern hour tonight here on CNN. Make sure you tune in.

It appears the new trade deal known as USMCA may be on the fast track. Why farmers say its passage is critical to their success, next.

[16:34:39]

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A new trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada has American farmers hopeful their darkest days are over. Their optimism is being fueled by news of a possible U.S./China deal on the horizon.

CNN Business and Politics Correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich, visited with farmers in Michigan for reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is the morning milking at Horning Farms.

JEFF HORNING, MICHIGAN FARMER: There's a friendly cow.

YURKEVICH: For five generations, 365 days a year, Jeff Horning's family has been producing dairy.

HORNING: Come on, girls.

The past five years have been very difficult. We had cycles in the past where it has been bad, last maybe two years. Four years, it was almost unbearable, and has been unbearable for several. YURKEVICH: With a handshake deal on the new NAFTA, USMCA, a

glimmering of hope.

HORNING: I was surprised. Getting stuff done in today's Congress hasn't been quick. Too many political moves rather than action. I'm really excited if it gets done. It will be great.

YURKEVICH: Farmers stand to gain from a lot from the deal, especially dairy farmers.

The United States lost almost 3,000 dairy farms in the last year,. Among the most, here in Michigan, nearly one in seven.

[16:40:03]

But now, Canada agreed to buy more dairy, eliminating pricing models that allowed its farmers to undercut U.S. dairy farmers.

(on camera): Who is this a win for, Democrats, Republicans?

HORNING: Look, if they get it signed off, it'll be a win for the people.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): President Trump flipped Michigan in 2016, supported by farmers with the promise he would help with trade. About two-thirds of the state's agricultural exports went to Mexico and Canada in 2018.

JASON RUHIG, MICHIGAN FARMER: We're only 40, 42 miles from Canada here. Our ability to compete with Canadian product coming in, imported into Michigan, is important. We need to be on a level playing field.

YURKEVICH: Jason Ruhig says USMCA is a small victory during one of the most challenging times in farming. But the agreement fails to help specialty farmers like him --

RUHIG: We do a lot of the hot peppers.

YURKEVICH: -- who rely on foreign labor to work the fields.

RUHIG: If we don't find a way to address these shortcomings in the guest worker program, we're going to be nonexistent in three years.

YURKEVICH: Laurie Isley grows soy and corn, two crops hurt most by the trade war with China. She says USMCA is welcome news.

LAURIE EISLEY, MICHIGAN FARMER: It is a win. It's not going to be the same size a win as agreement with China would be, certainly it is a significant one.

YURKEVICH: USMCA won't solve all of Isley's hardships on her farm but gives her hope there's an end in sight.

ISLEY: Being able to see this one, which we have been talking about over a year, move forward certainly paves the way, so to speak, for us to say, OK, let's move on to the next step. Let's see if we can take this, replicate it with China.

Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Still ahead, will President Trump be forced to turn over his tax documents to House Democrats? He's fought for years to keep them secret. It appears the Supreme Court will have the final say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:59]

CABRERA: For years, President Trump has been fighting to keep his financial records private. But now the Supreme Court says it will hear cases over those documents and decide whether or not Trump will have to turn them over.

CNN's Ariane De Vogue has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: The Supreme Court will decide by June three major cases concerning whether the House and New York prosecutor can subpoena Trump's longtime accounting firm and two of his banks for financial documents.

The cases decided in the heat of the election campaign. No documents are going forward for now while justices consider the cases.

Trump has shielded documents on multiple fronts since before the election. And the case has implications far beyond impeachment and the Trump era. The House subpoenas in two of the cases go to Congress' power to investigate.

The House wants documents as they look into Trump's finances, foreign interference in elections and hush money. Trump says the House has exceeded its authority when asking for the documents.

In a separate case, that goes to Trump's claims of absolute immunity from state criminal proceedings. Lower courts ruled against the president, citing cases with President Nixon and President Clinton.

After the proceedings are over, what the Supreme Court grants mean that President Trump's legal problems are far from over, they will continue.

Ariane de Vogue, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: There's been a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. and in Europe. Who is behind the Web sites encouraging this kind of hate? A CNN exclusive up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:51:03]

CABRERA: The FBI recovered a white van with a possible connection to a deadly shooting at a Jersey City kosher market and is examining the vehicle for potential evidence.

Meanwhile, New Jersey's attorney general says the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism and hate crime.

It comes amid an alarming global rise in anti-Semitism fueled by online Web sites.

Melissa Bell takes a closer look in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tombstones marked by hate, but also cultural centers, town halls, schools. In all, 42 anti-Semitic attacks in a region of Alsace in just 18 months.

(on camera): This cemetery in the village of Westhoffen is just the latest to be desecrated. And 107 of its tombs were found marked with swastikas earlier in this month.

And although the cleanup operation is underway, for a region as troubled as this one by anti-Semitic attacks, the stain will be harder to remove.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of symbol touched more than you think. It's awakening the history. Part of the family line died in Auschwitz and in the Holocaust. So to see it here where I live, there is a disease in the society.

BELL (voice-over): France's Interior Minister visited Westhoffen announcing the creation of a national task force. When the graveyard at Quatzeheim was attacked, it was the French President who came. Another case that remains unsolved.

A source close to the investigation says that locals are believed to be responsible. Locals, who may have been incited by global websites.

While the hunt for the culprits continues, we wanted to find out where they're finding encouragement.

Two French language sites registered in Panama and the Bahamas and enabled to stay online by an American company, White Europe and Participatory Democracy both shared pictured of the attacks in Alsace.

White Europe celebrating these exemplary actions by the proud people of Alsace that show us the way. Reached for comment, White Europe told us they stand behind their posts.

Participatory Democracy told CNN that while they don't condone the attacks, they do believe that it's all a Jewish conspiracy.

Both sites celebrating the number 14, a reference to a slogan coined by the late American White Supremacist David Lane, and which was also found graffitied on one of the Westhoffen tombs.

(on camera): Both of these sites used the American internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, which provides protection from cyber-attacks. Both sites openly celebrate anti-Semitism. And that here in France is a crime.

Now in the past, Cloudflare has discontinued its services to (INAUDIBLE) in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting and to the American neo-Nazi blog, "Daily Stormer."

So why the different treatment when it comes to hate speech that is in French? Cloudflare have not responded to CNN's questions.

(voice-over): CNN also found that Facebook, which does not allow "Daily Stormer" posts to be shared, did allow posts from both the French sites. Until CNN reached out for comment after which it blocked them.

Twitter allowed sharing from all three sites but told CNN that it's taking action to prevent linking to such content.

We asked France's Interior Minister in an exclusive interview if the United States was doing enough to help tackle the problem?

CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER: (through interpreter) No. My answer is clear because there is a clear difference of culture. It is not about opposing French or European culture to American culture. But clearly on these subjects there is a belief in the freedom to say anything and everything. I believe that there is no freedom when it is us and our fundamental values that are being attacked.

[16:55:05]

BELL: One victim of the latest attack says global action is required in the fact of a global problem

GUILAUME DEBRE, GRAVES OF HIS FAMILY WERE DESECRATED: If we don't have that, you're going to have others. And not just in France. You see it in New Zealand, you see it in America, you see it in France.

BELL: The tomb of Guilaume Debre's family was amongst those desecrated. He has yet to show pictures to his daughters.

DEBRE: It is a marking on sacred stone. It is a marking that spells out hate. In this country, not me but my family and generations have understood what hate means and what it can lead to.

BELL: In the heavily guarded synagogue in Strasberg, the city where much of the Jewish population lives, the chief rabbi says he is not surprised, he fears for more than his community.

UNIDENTIFIED RABBI: The hate never ends with truth.

BELL: Last year, this rabbi buried the last Jew in Westhoffen. Roger Kahn (ph) hid during the occupation, escaping camps, and dying peacefully in his sleep at 88.

But with Web sites celebrating attacks on tombs like his, the question is whether it is in peace that he will now be allowed to rest.

Melissa Bell, CNN, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: More on the historic news from Washington. The president one step closer to being impeached. And a prediction from one of his biggest supporters, Lindsey Graham.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)