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North Korea Announces Successful Test at Sohae; U.S. House Sets Stage for Historic Vote Next Week; Johnson Vows to Deliver Brexit by January 31; Labour Looks for New Leader, Scottish Independence Back on the Agenda; Democratic Candidates Battle Each Other; Ex-Breitbart Editor: Stephen Miller Is a White Supremacist; Sudan's Bashir Convicted of Corruption; Europe Sending Robot to Clean Up Space; Michelle Obama Defends Thunberg after Trump Tweet. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 14, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Breaking news this hour, North Korea says it has performed a new crucial test regarding what it calls its nuclear deterrent. We'll go live to Seoul, South Korea, in a moment with what happened.
Plus, articles of impeachment against President Trump have been approved. We look at what happens this coming week now.
And Boris Johnson's next challenge, now that his party has a majority, can he push Brexit through?
These stories are all ahead here this hour. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Coming to you live from Atlanta, it's 5:00 in the morning. Appreciate you joining us. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Thanks again for joining us. Let's get straight to breaking news on North Korea. State media announcing another crucial test, it says, was successively conducted at the Sohae launching site Saturday.
South Korea says it is closely monitoring the activity along with the United States but did not give specifics. This would be the second test at the same site in the past week. Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul, South Korea.
What more are you learning about what just happened?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are hearing from the South Korean side that the intelligence agencies of the U.S. and South Korea are looking into it but cannot confirm any specifics. North Korea has not told us exactly what they have tested except to say that this was a crucial test. It was a successful test, also saying that it helps a reliable strategic nuclear deterrent. We have heard from North Korea that they have a Christmas gift for the
United States. This isn't likely to be the gift itself but it certainly feels as though it is in preparation for that.
Now what happened just a week ago, last weekend at the same launching site, we had a test again from North Korea, which they said was crucial and successful. Experts and South Korean officials believe that was an engine test which could have been used in ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile or a satellite launcher.
This is something experts have brought up in recent days, what this Christmas gift could be. What this end of year deadline means and what this new path North Korea suggests it will take. A satellite launch could be a possibility. But some suggest an ICBM could be too provocative a move.
But we are speculating on what exactly North Korea is going to do after it comes out with some cryptic messages. Officials around the world really struggling and trying to decipher what they will do next.
ALLEN: Paula Hancocks following it in there Seoul. Thank you.
In Washington, there is a very real possibility Donald Trump could become the third U.S. president to ever be impeached. The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment Friday. The White House is reportedly restricting access to President Trump's calls with foreign leaders now.
Remember, his phone call with the Ukrainian president is the centerpiece of the impeachment process.
And on another matter, the Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the release of Donald Trump's financial records, something he has been fighting since he became president.
Well, let's begin with the House vote on impeachment. It comes after a lengthy and contentious hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Alex Marquardt has more.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): History in the making.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The Judiciary Committee will come to order.
MARQUARDT: For only the fourth time in U.S. history, a vote by the House to approve articles of impeachment against a sitting president.
NADLER: The question now is on article one of the resolution, impeaching President Donald J. Trump for abusing his powers.
MARQUARDT: In an otherwise quiet and methodical process, Republicans make their anger known.
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REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): May I ask how I am recorded?
NADLER: How is the gentleman recorded?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Gohmert, you are recorded as no.
GOHMERT: I want to make sure.
MARQUARDT: In just minutes, the two of articles impeachment, obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, approved in the House Judiciary Committee along party lines.
NADLER: The article is agreed to. The resolution is amended as ordered, reported favorably to the House.
MARQUARDT: No rejoicing among Democrats, who emphasized it was a solemn and sad day.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): We're defending the Constitution and we are defending the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
MARQUARDT: Republicans, knowing their efforts would fail, argued that for Democrats it's only ever been about impeaching a president who they don't like.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Impeachment is their drug. It is their obsession. It is their total focus.
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MARQUARDT: Next up, the full House vote set for Wednesday, meaning that, by Christmas, President Trump will almost certainly be impeached.
Then, early in the new year, this Senate trial, where it's Republican turf. Leader Mitch McConnell insists, that's where impeachment stops.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): There's no chance the president is going to be removed from office.
MARQUARDT: Even though Democrats agree they were outraged after McConnell told FOX News he is in lockstep with the White House, despite being on the jury.
MCCONNELL: Everything I do during this, I'm coordinating with the White House counsel.
MARQUARDT: One House Democrat telling CNN McConnell should recuse himself, another calling it outrageous.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): The foreman of the jury, Mitch McConnell, the guy that decides all the rules, is actually going to coordinate with the defendant. That makes no sense whatsoever. It is an outrage. MARQUARDT: Mitch McConnell and the White House legal team are pushing for a short, fast trial that will almost certainly result in the president's acquittal.
The president, sources say, had wanted a bigger spectacle, a full- throated defense. Now, the details of the Senate trial are still being hashed out, including how it's actually going to work, as well as a potential start date.
But we do know it will be early in the new year -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: The impeachment process started because of a whistleblower complaint into President Trump's July 25th phone call with the Ukrainian president. As a result, the White House is now cracking down on who has access to calls with foreign leaders.
Multiple sources say only the most senior, politically-appointed officials can now listen in. We are also learning transcripts of those calls will now be shared with a smaller group of people.
President Trump is also keen to deny access to his tax records. But the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether he can continue to block their release. America's highest court has set the stage for a blockbuster ruling on the power of presidents.
At issue, whether they can resist demands for information from prosecutors and Congress while in office. CNN's Ariane de Vogue has more on this from Washington.
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ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: The Supreme Court will decide by June three major cases concerning whether the House and a New York prosecutor can subpoena Trump's long-time accounting firm and two of his banks for financial documents.
The cases will be decided in the heat of the election campaign. No documents are going to go forward for now while the justices consider the cases. Trump has shielded his 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 the documents as it looks into Trump's finances, foreign interference in elections and hush money.
Trump says that the House has exceeded its authority when asking for these 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 concerning President Nixon and President Clinton.
After the proceedings are over, what the Supreme Court grants mean today, that President Trump's legal problems are far from over. They will continue -- Ariane de Vogue, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: Let's go back to Mr. Trump's most imminent problem and that would be possible impeachment. Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex, joining me from London.
Natasha, good to see you.
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Nice to see you.
ALLEN: Good morning. Well, Republicans are furious over this decision to move on with impeachment. Democrats call this time somber and sad.
What are your thoughts as the House prepares to vote to impeach next week?
LINDSTAEDT: No, I think it's not a good time for the U.S. I mean, we're seeing that U.S. politics is more polarized than ever. And that's the way things went in the big vote. It was 23 to 17, very predictable along partisan lines. The Democrats weren't able to convince the Republicans with the basic facts that there was an abuse of power that took place and there was an obstruction of Congress.
And so we're going to move on to the Senate trial and we already know that it's pretty much a pre-ordained or foregone conclusion here because the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, made it clear that he's going to coordinate with the president and there's not going to be a fair trial.
So all our democratic institutions seem to be really under attack at the moment because politics has become so partisan.
ALLEN: Right. We know that we've heard from people there in the House that say they used could at least talk with people from the other side of the aisle. But that's not happening.
I mean, this polarization in Washington is very real. And as you say, Mitch McConnell is being questioned for aligning himself with the White House in what is supposed to be a trial.
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ALLEN: I want to ask you about that trial, though.
What do you expect from Donald Trump when this gets there as it's expected?
He apparently wants more of a show than a trial.
LINDSTAEDT: Right. I think he may want to give off the appearance that he wants a show. But I think he's actually going to want this to move really, really quickly.
You know, he's had a lot of lawsuits that he's faced and he's always settled them out of court. And this is really going to be an instance on a global stage where he's facing a real trial. And I think that he -- he feels ashamed by it. I think he's more embarrassed by it than we may really understand.
I mean, he was on Twitter, tweeting 123 times on Wednesday. So I think he is really worried about it. And he wants this to move quickly. And that looks to be what Mitch McConnell going to do.
He isn't going to engage in having tons of witnesses. I don't think it's going to be a circus. I think they want to move on, get this over quickly, then acquit Donald Trump and try to move on to whatever is next.
ALLEN: How do you think history will record what we assume is going to happen?
And the fact that there doesn't seem to be one Republican that will even question some of the testimony brought up that points toward impeachment?
LINDSTAEDT: I mean, I'm very worried about our democracy at the moment because we are so polarized and sometimes polarization leads to complete paralysis. But it's also very dangerous for democracy because, when people have really strong convictions, even when they are faced with facts, they want to reject those facts because it doesn't confirm their convictions. And that becomes dangerous.
So it could mean that, you know, for the Republican side, a Democratic leader could arise that starts to commit certain wrongdoings and abuses power. And the Democrats could react the same way. They could decide that they don't want to face the facts.
It becomes really, really problematic in a democracy when polarization is at this extent that we can't convince any side to find some kind of common ground.
What we do know is about 70 percent of the public did think that Trump committed something that was wrong, that whatever he did with the Ukraine call was improper.
But we're having trouble convincing our elites, who are supposed to lead and supposed to help teach and socialize about democracy, we're having trouble convincing our elites that what Trump did was wrong in the face of a lot of evidence that seem to be the case.
ALLEN: Right. So Washington, the leaders there are polarized. The American people are polarized. It seems during this impeachment process, the needle has not moved substantially on what people think about it. Either are for it or you're against it. And so let's look at 2020 in the election.
Who could benefit or be at risk?
There are Democrats who support impeachment who come from swing states. There are, of course, Republicans who won't even consider it. LINDSTAEDT: Right. I think there will be some Democrats in the House that won some really tight races that may be vulnerable because they may end up supporting impeachment.
But the same could happen for some Republicans in the Senate. I mean, there's some tight races in the Senate. There are four races that Republicans are very, very vulnerable in and that they could lose if they decide to be incredibly loyal to Trump, which is what the Republicans have decided to do.
So I think there are some vulnerabilities on both sides here. But you were asking me the question about history. History is going to judge people pretty badly who decided to side with Trump because all the evidence was so overwhelming.
We see it in the way that Republicans were regarded who sided with Nixon. This was part of their obituaries. So it's dangerous to be on the wrong side of history. But some of these Republicans seem to be willing to do that.
ALLEN: It seems so. All right. We march on till next week. Natasha, we'll talk with you again. Thanks so much for your time.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: On another story involving the Trump administration, a former news editor at Breitbart is calling a senior Trump advisor a white supremacist and says she has emails to prove it. What the White House has to say about that coming up.
Also, the U.K. election is over. The votes are counted. Now the hard work begins for Britain's prime minister. We talk about what's next for Boris Johnson and Brexit.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: And yes, they will have an overwhelming mandate from this election to get Brexit done and we will honor that mandate by January the 31st.
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ALLEN: He did get his mandate. Britain's prime minister vowing full speed ahead on Brexit. He makes it sound easy but there is much hard work ahead if Mr. Johnson wants to be successful. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us this morning from London.
And good morning to you, Hadas. Yes, his phrase, let's get Brexit done. It's there now. Now he has to get it done.
What's next?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He did win a commanding majority. But it's just the beginning of what will be still a long process to go for Brexit.
What we're likely to see next in the next coming days here in the U.K. is we might see a cabinet reshuffle. So Boris Johnson might take out some cabinet ministers, replace them with some new people.
Then it's possible by the end of the week, we will have the Brexit withdrawal bill back on the table. It will start to be reintroduced to get that process started so they can get the bill voted on and approved by that January 31st deadline that Boris Johnson was talking about because that is a promise he made and a huge part of the reason why Conservatives won a majority. Get Brexit done.
That does it not mean this whole process is over come January 31st. It starts the transition period. Then there is the negotiations of what the future relationship between U.K. and E.U.
That could really change what the U.K. business community looks like. And what it looks like for people here who want to work abroad. Then, of course, the election had other consequences beyond just Brexit. The Scottish National Party did very, very well and part of their campaign was a second independence referendum.
That means Scotland could potentially break off with the United Kingdom. Boris Johnson does not want another independence referendum. But the SNP is saying this is what we campaigned on.
And as I said, that could lead potentially -- it may not happen but it could lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.
ALLEN: Certainly could. And Hadas, of course, Labour took a beating.
How does the Labour Party regroup from this?
GOLD: I mean, it's very clear that the Labour Party did just so badly in this. I don't think anybody's really expecting the results. There was a lot of long-held Labour seats that switched. Really interesting to see the parallels for example in the U.S, places that have long been Democratically held seats.
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GOLD: The real question here is Jeremy Corbyn. And actually one of the exit polls showed one of the concerns for voters about voting for Labour Party was Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party. He has said he will not continue leading the party.
Then, of course, the question will be who will replace him and what will the Labour Party look like going forward?
Because Jeremy Corbyn was from the much more radical left wing side of the party. It's a big reckoning for them. It's a big moment of reflection for the Labour Party because they need to regroup and build themselves back up.
ALLEN: We'll talk more about it with our guest next. Hadas Gold, thanks so much.
Now joining us, Thom Brooks, dean of the Durham Law School in Durham, England, and an advisor to the Labour Party on immigration.
Good morning to you, Thom. Thanks for joining us.
THOM BROOKS, DURHAM LAW SCHOOL: Great pleasure. Thanks.
ALLEN: Well, we just heard our reporter there talking about the Labour Party.
Will it stay to the left?
Or will it become more centrist?
What are you thinking after its trouncing by the Tories?
BROOKS: Well, it certainly was a very bruising election for the party and a disastrous result. I think that there's a tension here. The tension is between the party membership, which has been very strongly supportive of Jeremy Corbyn and his move to the Left in recent years versus, where much of the electorate seems to go and not in the same ideological space.
Whereas I think a lot of Jeremy Corbyn's policies, the policies of the Labour Party, did have some traction, clearly, they didn't resonate strongly enough with voters. And so I think it'll be a challenge to -- for a membership that will not want to move from its position but will probably have to.
ALLEN: Right. A resounding victory by Boris Johnson. Want to talk about how he did that with you. He had a singular goal. Get Brexit done. And many people are comparing that singular goal to that we heard from Donald Trump when he was elected. His was build the wall and America first.
Do you see the similarities in these men and how they kept it simple and how, like, in the U.K., the working class responded; Middle America responded in the U.S.
BROOKS: There's a number of similarities. Of course, they also extend to their personal lives. But there is a number of similarities between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
I think the messaging was enormously effective, that, you know, Boris had a simple message by getting Brexit done. People had a sense about what the first month would be of a Johnson government, that it would pass this withdrawal agreement. And a sense of what would happen in the first year, that there would be this trade deal. He was going to attempt to solve. Not much sense about anything else. But then again, Parliament's been pretty much in a -- in a paralyzed
for the last few years. So you had a sense about what was going on, as you say, a simple message, versus say the Remainer parties; 54 percent of the British public voted for parties that supported Remain, not Leave.
But the Remain side was divided between Labour, the Scottish Nationalists and Liberal Democrats. So I think that Boris Johnson was able to kind of coalesce folks on the Leave side, though, they were not a majority on that simple message; whereas he had a very fractured opposition.
I think what also hurt the Labour Party was that it had a kind of tissue -- lacked that clarity of message about what would be happening in the first month or two or three of a Labour government. Lots of different proposals. Lots of different ideas. But not a very clear sense about how it would be achieve in that time scale.
And I think ultimately did a lot of damage. Correspondingly, I think Boris Johnson had that clear message. But Brexit is not going to be happening by the end of January. So I think there's going to be some reckoning despite a very big majority. Making very big promises I think were not accurate.
ALLEN: Do you think the U.K. and the question of whether it will stay the United Kingdom now, will be able to weather Brexit as it unfolds?
BROOKS: I think so. Two reasons: one, you had a massive success of the Scottish Nationalists in Scotland. They did make the election about an independence poll. And Tories contesting the Scottish seats said, you know, to vote for them to reject an independence poll.
So it was very -- independence of Scotland was very much on the cards. That was one of the things that galvanized support around that issue in Scotland.
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BROOKS: Scotland was so firmly for remaining in the European Union. So whereas the DUP party in Northern Ireland were giving some support to Theresa May's government and Boris Johnson, as a party that was for Brexit in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland was even more for remaining in the European Union than Scotland was.
And now, the Nationalists in Northern Ireland outnumber MPs for the union. When Boris Johnson's deal that will set up a little customs border in the Irish Sea, it will divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom. It will keep Northern Ireland effectively as part of the European Union while the rest of Britain moves out, I think this is going to cause immense tension.
And it will be a challenge for whatever leader and whatever happens next.
ALLEN: All right. That's the big question. Whatever happens next now. Thom Brooks of Durham Law School in England. Thank you. We appreciate it.
Want to update you, a story we are following from Sudan. A court has convicted former president Omar Bashir of corruption and money laundering. He's been sentenced to two years in what is being described as a reform facility.
Bashir, you may recall, was ousted from office and arrested back in April following months of mass protests against his very long authoritarian rule. He is also charged with incitement and involvement in killing of demonstrators.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued warrants back in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes related to the uprising in Sudan's Darfur region.
That is him sitting right there as this verdict has been handed down.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidates are fighting for every vote but fighting each other. How the candidates are differentiating themselves in hopes of securing the Democratic nomination. We'll look into that next.
Also, a former Breitbart editor is speaking out, accusing a senior Trump advisor of being a white supremacist. Next, we look at the leaked emails that link him to anti-immigration views.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Our top stories now.
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ALLEN: U.S. Democratic presidential candidates are not missing an opportunity to take a jab at one another ahead of the Iowa caucuses. CNN's Abby Phillip reports it's not just a fight for votes but a fight for what the Democratic Party stands for.
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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you can't bring the country together, we're in real, real, real trouble.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the 2020 race, some Democrats are pitching themselves as healers.
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND, IND., 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-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I got into the race for president, I knew what I'd be fighting for, I knew who I'd 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 fighting that we start to think fighting is the point.
PHILLIP: Biden echoing that message, criticizing the progressive candidates' 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.
WARREN: Unlike some -- some candidates for the Democratic nomination, I am not counting on Republican politicians having an epiphany.
PHILLIP: And Buttigieg.
WARREN: We know that another calls people who raise a quarter-of-a- million dollars 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's upped her criticism of her more moderate rivals.
WARREN: I'm not betting my agenda on the naive hope that, if Democrats adopt Republican critiques of progressive policies, or make vague calls for unity, that somehow the wealthy and well-connected will stand down.
PHILLIP: Biden insists Warren is wrong, telling donors at a fund- raiser last night 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 tell me that they are deciding between Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren, a progressive and a more moderate candidate.
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PHILLIP: That's one of the reasons why we have seen the attacks between these two in recent weeks. Pete Buttigieg also said in a recent interview that Elizabeth Warren is offering purity tests to other candidates like him on the issue of fundraisers.
That's 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.
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ALLEN: Senator Warren is picking up a big endorsement from a international sports star, Megan Rapinoe says she's joining Team Warren.
Besides helping Team USA win the Women's World Cup in July, the soccer star has emerged as a fierce advocate for women's rights, equal pay and other social issues, announcing her endorsement in a Twitter video on Friday.
The pair spoke on a variety of topics, including impeachment. Rapinoe says she trusts Warren and will help her campaign in any way.
A former news editor at the right-wing news site Breitbart is accusing a senior White House aide of being a white supremacist. Leaked emails suggest Stephen Miller was promoting stories with an anti-immigration narrative.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We sat down with a former Breitbart editor who says she knows all too well that Stephen Miller is a white nationalist.
KATIE MCHUGH, FORMER BREITBART NEWS EDITOR: These are all white nationalists.
SIDNER (voice-over): Former Breitbart news editor Katie McHugh says she is doing her first television interview for one reason. She wants to expose a white supremacist in the White House.
(on camera): You think Stephen Miller is a white nationalist?
MCHUGH: A white supremacist, I would say, because I believe his ideology is domination and control over people of color.
SIDNER (voice-over): Stephen Miller is a senior aide to President Donald Trump. He did not respond to our request for comment.
A White House spokesperson has said that Miller is not a racist and is being attacked because he's Jewish. McHugh says that's laughable. She says on his rise to the White House while working for Senator Jeff Sessions --
STEPHEN MILLER, SENIOR AIDE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Are you ready to send Donald J. Trump to the White House? SIDNER: And later on Trump's campaign, Miller was in constant contact with her, pushing stories that fit an anti-immigration narrative, stories she wrote for Breitbart without question.
(on camera): Were you a white nationalist?
MCHUGH: I think I would call myself that. White nationalist, white supremacist, that's fine.
SIDNER: That's what you were.
MCHUGH: Yes, but that part is dead.
SIDNER: Do you think this is political to let his star rise because he could manipulate you or do you think he actually is a white supremacist?
MCHUGH: I believe he wanted access to power because he was a white supremacist and wanted to impose his policies. Those e-mail, you can read his own words. SIDNER (voice-over): McHugh says these are some of his own words in
e-mail to her. She saved 900 or so exchanges between Miller and Breitbart staffers from 2015 to 2016.
In 2015, not long after a white supremacist slaughtered nine black Americans praying inside their Charleston Church, McHugh says Miller called and e-mailed not with sympathy for the victim, but instead a focus on changing the narrative to outrage over the removal of Confederate statues and retailers removing Confederate merchandise.
Have you thought about going to Amazon and finding the commie flag and doing a story on that?
"Yes, definitely," she replies. This is the story McHugh wrote.
(on camera): Did he ever once mention that he was sorry that nine African-Americans were slaughtered while praying at church?
MCHUGH: Never. No, it never occurred to him, it seemed.
SIDNER (voice-over): But McHugh says immigration was his favorite subject. In 2015, he also sent McHugh a headline.
Subject line, "For your Islam story."
In it, a link to the conspiracy website, Infowars.
The headline, "Reverend Graham: We are under attack. Stop all immigration of Muslims to the U.S."
A few months later...
TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for at total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.
SIDNER: In another e-mail exchange, Miller suggests coverage of immigration and the pope. You see the pope saying we must, in effect, get rid of borders. Someone should point out the parallels to "Camp of the Saints."
MCHUGH: Vile, vile, disgusting, racist novel.
SIDNER: "The Camp of the Saints" is a book beloved by white supremacists.
A Breitbart editor published the content Miller suggested.
MILLER: This election is a referendum.
SIDNER: And just before Miller heads to work for the Trump campaign in 2016, he tells what he saw as the danger of allowing hurricane victims coming to the U.S.
They will all get TPS. That's temporary protection status. That needs to be the weekend's big story. TPS is everything, he says, and sends McHugh an article on the dangers of TPS from a prominent white nationalist website.
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SIDNER (on camera): Did he want you to parrot a white nationalist website?
MCHUGH: Yes, he did. It was understood that miller had editorial control over the political section of Breitbart news.
SIDNER (voice-over): Well, after Mueller joins Trump's inner circle, the U.S. ended TPS status for several countries. McHugh is ashamed of her role in all of this. She was fired by Breitbart for an Islamophobic tweet among other things the website said, including for being a liar.
(on camera): In 2015, you said, "Another crusade would do a lot of good. Let's turn Mecca into a strip mall."
Another tweet, "The only way to strike a balance between vigilance, discrimination and terror is to end the Muslim migration."
MCHUGH: That's a quote from Miller. That's a paraphrase of conversation that we had.
SIDNER: This was the tweet that ended you getting fired over. There would be no deadly terror attacks in the U.K. if Muslims did not live there.
Did you believe all these hateful, racist, Islamophobic things that you were putting out there on your Twitter feed?
MCHUGH: I did.
SIDNER: Why should people believe you're sincere?
MCHUGH: Because I believe in publicly confessing your sins and I also believe that, you know, working very hard to expose these networks that I was a part of and show how dangerous they are, how evil they are and how many people they hurt.
SIDNER: She says Stephen Miller should do the same. And resign. But so far, Miller is showing no indication of resigning. And as for the White House, while they did not comment on this particular story, they have done nothing but support him -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.
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ALLEN: This hour, we have heard the verdict in the corruption trial of Sudan's ousted long-time authoritarian president. We'll bring that to you next.
Also, Greta Thunberg trolled Donald Trump after he mocked her. See who else is supporting the climate change activist. We'll have the report.
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ALLEN: We have a verdict now in the corruption case against former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. He was ousted from office and arrested back in April following months of mass protests against his authoritarian rule. Let's get more on what has transpired. Farai Sevenzo following this case for us.
Hello, Farai.
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie. It's been a day of drama. Obviously, a much-anticipated verdict in Mr. al-Bashir's trial for corruption. Remember back on April 11th just after he was overthrown rather. Police, authorities said they found up to $135 million in various currencies, euros, U.S. dollars and, of course, Sudanese pounds.
And the aim really was -- this was a corruption case. And for receiving gifts illegally. What we know now is that he's been sentenced to two years in a correctional facility for those crimes, our man inside the courtroom tells us. But of course, there are other nuances to the -- to these law practices.
If a man is over 70 years old, he cannot serve in prison. That's why we're hearing talk of this community kind of correctional facility. But there are other things to remember, Natalie.
You remember that he has also been hauled before the courts to explain his part in a 1989 coup that made him president of Sudan for 30 years in which he was then able to do so many things.
But of course, other people are asking, is this corruption trial a distraction?
What about all those charges, war crimes, genocide, inferred on him by the International Criminal Court?
At the moment, this verdict is sending some kind of signal that he does not have the judges in his pocket. And now, he is going to have to wait to go back to the notorious jail to wait for the verdict that will come out.
Our man in the court says that there was no mention. Remember back in May, he was also told that he's going to face charges for the death of protesters. Those reports have been reported since December last year of how many Sudanese people were dying on the streets to try and remove him.
That charge hasn't been mentioned by the judge. For now, we know al- Bashir, in charge of Sudan for 30 years, is going to serve two years, at least, for this story over the millions found in his house.
ALLEN: All right. We'll wait and see what the reaction there is to this news. Thank you, Farai.
Next here, the war of words between two polar opposites. More on what caused the U.S. president to mock teen activist Greta Thunberg.
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ALLEN: Well, we have a lot of trash here on Earth. Apparently, we do in space as well. Look at that. The European Space Agency wants to clean up decades of orbiting space junk. It's from things like dead satellites and discarded rockets.
The agency plans to send a multiarmed robot into space in 2025 to latch onto the debris. Then the machine and its trash will dive back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. There are about, get this, 170 million pieces of junk in Earth orbit right now. But no international rules hold space agencies accountable for it.
Back on Earth, international negotiations to battle climate change will resume in the coming hours. Right now, countries are deadlocked after working well into the overnight hours, past a Friday deadline, to wrap up the two-week COP25 summit in Madrid.
Countries cannot agree on how to set regulations and targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a key part of the Paris climate accord.
One person at the center of it all is teenage activist Greta Thunberg. She's made a name for herself by calling out world leaders for inaction on issues. In Madrid, she slammed participants, calling their response to the crisis "clever accounting and creative PR."
She kept up the pressure in Italy in one of her usual Friday protests with more harsh words for world leaders attending the climate talks.
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GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: World leaders are still trying to run away from their responsibilities. But we have to make sure that they cannot do that. We will make sure they -- that we put them against the wall and that they will have to do their job and to protect our futures.
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ALLEN: Greta, who was named "Time" magazine's person of the year this week also urged activists to make sure next year is a year of action.
Not only is Greta fighting for climate change, she took time out to fire a shot of sorts in a war of words with U.S. president Donald Trump. You may remember Trump mocked her after she was honored by "Time" magazine. But many came to her defense, including former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. Jeanne Moos has the story.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIOANL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Global warming aside, it must be heartwarming for a 16-year-old climate activist to be defended, by a former first lady when attacked by the current president.
Michelle Obama tweeted: Don't let anyone dim your light. Ignore the doubters, after President Trump said this about Greta Thunberg, "Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": This is his tweet, "So ridiculous. Greta must work on her anger management problem."
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BEHAR: Oh, hello, look in the mirror.
MOOS: The president continued, "Then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend. Chill, Greta, chill."
Reaction wasn't chill.
"What kind of president bullies a teenager?" pondered Joe Biden.
One cartoonist pictured them as Greta and Regreta.
Thunberg herself responded by changing her Twitter bio to, "A teenager working on her anger management problem, currently chilling and watching a good old-fashioned movie with a friend."
One fan compared Greta Thunberg in a war of wits with Donald J. Trump to shooting fish in a barrel.
But Republican Representative Mike Johnson defended Trump's tweet, mocking the teen with Asperger syndrome.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The president communicates in a unique way.
MOOS: After Greta communicated her thoughts on climate change at the U.N. in September...
THUNBERG: You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.
MOOS: -- President Trump tweeted, "She seemed like a very happy young girl looking toward to a bright and wonderful future."
She then made that her bio.
(on camera): Things came to things came to a head when President Trump's campaign war room literally used his head, leaving critics shaking their heads.
(voice-over): Over this, the president's head Photoshopped on Greta's body.
President Trump used to like to ask the question...
TRUMP: Would you rather see Person of the Year, Man of the Year?
MOOS: Just call Greta Man-eater of the Year -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: She definitely fights back. She is not afraid of adults. So go Greta.
That's CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. For U.S. viewers, "NEW DAY" is just ahead. For everyone else, I'll be right back.
