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U.S. To Announce Afghanistan Troop Drawdown; U.S. House Sets Stage For Historic Vote; A 13-Year Old Has Been Arrested In Fatal Stabbing; Death Toll Rises In New Zealand Volcano Eruption; Giuliani Visits Ukraine; Trump Vents Anger At Another FBI Director; COP25 Extended As Climate Talks Deadlock; USMCA Offers Michigan Farmers A Glimmer Of Hope. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 15, 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): A major drawdown: thousands of U.S. troops could soon be pulled from Afghanistan.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham makes it clear he's not trying to be fair about Donald Trump's expected impeachment and trial.
Also ahead this hour, snow, ice and rain spreading coast to coast in the U.S. Derek will have the forecast about that.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Coming to you live from Atlanta, GA, where it is 5:00 in the morning. I'm Natalie Allen. NEWSROOM starts right now.
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ALLEN: Thank you again for joining us.
Our top story, new developments in America's longest war. Thousands of U.S. troops are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan. That's coming to us from a senior Trump administration official.
The move has been in the works for quite some time and is being welcomed by the Taliban as a good step. For more on it, here's White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond with more about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Trump administration is preparing to announce the withdrawal of about 4,000 troops from Afghanistan. That would take the total number of U.S. troops, which is currently estimated to be between 12,000 and 13,000, into the range of 8,600.
That is the number that the president himself floated back in August, when he said that the U.S. was likely going to be drawing down the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. So this is something that has been in the works for quite some time. But now a senior administration official is indeed telling me that is
the plan, to move forward with this troop withdrawal and that it could happen as early as next week. Of course, the timing, of course, is still very much in flux. That was the note of caution that I got from this senior administration official.
All of this, of course, coming as the U.S. has restarted those peace talks with the Taliban following President Trump's visit to Afghanistan over the Thanksgiving holiday. That was the president's first visit to Afghanistan during his presidency.
And while he was there, he suggested that the Taliban were now open to a cease-fire. That is not something that the Taliban leaders have so far admitted to and in fact they were quite caught off guard by President Trump's comments.
The question, though, is, of course, how this will all play in the negotiations; the withdrawal of about 4,000 troops could be viewed as a unilateral concession by the United States and certainly will have an effect on those peace talks with the Taliban -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Sam Kiley following developments from Abu Dhabi.
Sam, hello to you.
First of all, can you elaborate how the withdrawal may affect the peace talks?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are two different alternatives there, Natalie.
The first is the withdrawal clearly be seen as a sign of weakness. On the other side, it could be seen as a sign of good faith. We simply don't know how the Taliban will react.
We do know, during the last set of negotiations that went well as far as both sides were concerned, the Taliban insisted on continuing to prosecute their violent campaign, particularly in the capital city, Kabul, which, in the end, drove the U.S. president to suspend or abandon those talks.
But on Friday, the leading U.S. diplomat involved in the talks with the Taliban, was in Pakistan, talking to authorities there, a sign that they are definitely trying to move this forward.
[05:05:00]
KILEY: Of course the Pakistanis are absolutely key. They have a very high level of influence over the Taliban and are very, very key players to get buy-in for any future dispensation in Afghanistan -- Natalie.
ALLEN: Right, and then once this drawdown occurs, what might the Taliban do?
How may they push into the country more?
KILEY: Well, they will be faced with a choice.
Do they use this drawdown of U.S. troops as an opportunity to try to expand their operations or entrench themselves more as a political movement and less as a military movement?
That will depend on whether they think they will be able to be a partner, probably a dominant partner, in any future peace talks or dispensation that comes out of talks with the Afghan government, that is not yet involved in this process.
And the assumption is, certainly on the Afghan government's side, the reduction in U.S. troops could make them vulnerable. But that would only be in the center eastern parts of the southwest -- south of the country.
Of course in the north of the country, the Taliban are extremely unpopular because of their ideology and ethnic frictions between the north and the south. So it's not a foregone conclusion that the Taliban could overtake the whole country.
The issue is would Afghanistan collapse, create more ungoverned space and then become a roiling environment for other proxies, particularly, as far as the Pakistanis are concerned, they are very worried by Indian influence coming through the back door, if you like, through Kabul.
So the first stage, certainly as far as the Americans are concerned, is trying to keep the Taliban talking -- Natalie.
ALLEN: Right. You have to think of the peaceful Afghan citizens caught up in the middle of this. Sam Kiley for us.
Ahead of a historic vote in Washington this week, one of president Donald Trump's biggest supporters is pushing for a quick impeachment trial in the Senate. Republican Lindsey Graham said he will do everything in his power to ensure it "dies quickly." That's a quote. This is what he told our Becky Anderson at a conference in Qatar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 thing for America to do is get this behind us. We know how it's going to end. I have tried to give a pretty clear signal that I have made up my mind.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: I wasn't in any doubt at this point.
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ALLEN: We will have more of Becky Anderson's interview with senator Graham later this hour. Before we get to a Senate trial, of course, the U.S. House of
Representatives still has to vote on two articles of impeachment. Obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. That vote likely to happen in the coming days.
CNN's Lauren Fox reports from Washington.
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LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another big week in Washington as the House of Representatives is poised to vote to impeach president Donald Trump as soon as Wednesday.
That's putting pressure on moderate Democrats, some of them who won in districts president Donald Trump won in 2016. One Democrat, Republican Van Drew, is expected to switch parties soon. That's according to one senior Democratic source, who said Van Drew has told fellow members that that is his plan moving forward.
Van Drew already said he was not going to be supporting the articles of impeachment but it just shows the pressure that the Democrats are under.
Another Democrat in a swing district, Tom Malinowski, held a town hall on Saturday where he heard from both supporters and opponents of President Trump. Here's what happened when he said he would support the two articles of impeachment.
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REP. TOM MALINOWSKI (D-NJ): Based on the evidence that I have seen in the depositions, in the hearings, in the documents I have seen, I believe that, on the two counts of impeachment that have been put before us, that the vote should be yes. And I will be voting yes.
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FOX: Meanwhile, plans are still developing in the Senate where majority leader Mitch McConnell has made no secret of the fact that he would prefer a shorter trial with no witnesses. Meanwhile, President Trump has been telling his allies privately that he would prefer a longer trial, more of a show to defend himself.
Where that goes will be uncertain until Democrats and Republicans in the Senate return from their holiday break in January -- for CNN, Lauren Fox, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: All right. Let's talk more about all of the goings-on with Scott Lucas, professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham. He's joining me now.
Good morning, Scott.
[05:10:00] SCOTT LUCAS, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: Good morning, Natalie.
ALLEN: Well, where do you begin with this saga?
Why don't we begin with Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell stating they will not be impartial jurors in the trial of President Trump, which when they took the oath they declared they would be impartial?
LUCAS: Yes. Let me begin with what Mitch McConnell signaled, they are all in with the White House.
Mitch McConnell's statement, in which he said he saw no chance of conviction, came after he met with White House counsel Pat Cipollone for several hours. They are not serving as jurors. They are serving as part of the defense team.
We have two narratives here. One is the narrative that is the evidence, the legal process, the U.S. Constitution, all of which we are supposed to adhere to, and the other is the political process.
Unless 20 of 53 Republicans politically detach themselves from Trump, he will not be convicted and he will fight the 2020 election, along with senators who will vote to keep him in office.
ALLEN: Right. We just saw in that previous report a House member stating he would impeach. And there were cheers and jeers from his constituents.
Do you think there will be a public paradigm shift?
The headlines next week will be in bold and italics that the president has been impeached.
LUCAS: I think Americans may not as much be tuned out as much as bedded in. There are two narratives here. If you go with the narrative that is 17 current and former U.S. officials in months of hearing that documents alongside those witnesses established that Donald Trump put pressure on a foreign government, Ukraine, to investigate one of his political rivals for his personal gain.
If you're on that narrative, you think impeach and convict. But if you're on the narrative, which has been the Republican tactics all along, not to deal with the evidence, not to deal with the legal issues but to say it's a hoax, it's a witch hunt, it's all an attempt to get a coup to overthrow Donald Trump, if you are embedded with that, you have already acquitted him.
That will probably continue through the trial in January and February. But Natalie, I return to this. The more we talked about public opinion as being the barometer of this, the more we miss the central point, that there is a U.S. Constitution, there is a U.S. system. There is American foreign policy, which, according to those witnesses, has been compromised by the men in the White House.
And if you simply gauge this by public opinion, you let all of those issues slide. And anyone in the White House, not just Donald Trump, at the end of the day, can say, let's not pay attention to the Constitution. Let's not pay attention to our own security. Let's see what the opinion polls are saying today.
ALLEN: That's a good point.
And I was going to ask you what about Democrat backlash?
Ivanka Trump said Democrats have been out to get her father since day one and this is just part of that.
LUCAS: Ivanka Trump would say that.
ALLEN: I know.
LUCAS: What got Donald Trump in trouble?
Let's be honest with it; claims, which have largely been substantiated that he and his staff cooperated with Russian officials, either directly or through cutouts in the 2016 election.
What got Donald Trump in trouble was, far from getting rid of conflicts of interest, including those involving his family such as his daughter, Ivanka, he maintained the conflicts of interest and allegedly profited by the tunes of millions from his office.
What got Donald Trump in trouble is that his business and tax dealings continue to be under scrutiny, to the point where he paid a $2 million fine this week for taking money from his charity. That's what got Donald Trump in trouble, not the Democrats.
But you don't deal with reality. You try to put smoke in everyone's eyes to keep Daddy in the White House.
ALLEN: We have heard witch hunt, witch hunt. And we heard that again from Richard Nixon. So that's not something new when faced with impeachment.
Scott Lucas, we appreciate your insights. Thanks for being with us.
LUCAS: Thank you, Natalie.
ALLEN: Next here, new details of the deadly stabbing of a beloved New York college student. A 13-year-old suspect is talking to police about the killing.
Plus, from coast to coast, we are tracking winter storms across the U.S. A look at the expected snowfall coming up.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: New York prosecutors are deciding if a 13-year-old boy should
be charged as an adult in the stabbing death of a college student; 18- year-old Tessa Majors was killed just blocks away from her campus. The suspect, again, just 13, reportedly told police he watched as his two friends grabbed her and then one of them stabbed her. Polo Sandoval is following this for us.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Barnard College student enrollment includes students from about 57 different countries. So, as you can imagine, the cold-blooded murder of one of their own is sending shock waves here in New York but also throughout the international community.
Police do say that the teen they have in custody was found with a knife and admitted to being involved in Wednesday's attempted robbery and deadly stabbing.
But the question prosecutors are asking, to what extent?
See, according to "The New York Times," the 13-year-old faces a felony murder charge, meaning he is not accused of stabbing Tessa Majors but of taking part in the robbery. "The Times" also reporting that, as a detective with the NYPD testified during the 13-year old's hearing yesterday, he reportedly told the court that the teen and two other teenage accomplices walked into that Manhattan park on Wednesday specifically to rob people.
The boy told detectives he watched his two friends grab the college freshman and put her in a choke hold. He claims they removed items from her pockets and then slashed her repeatedly with a knife.
A second person, also a young individual, is in custody but not been charged. The boy's attorney telling CNN there is no allegation against her client, claiming that he actually touched the victim; rather that he was merely present when this took place.
We have reached out to prosecutors who ultimately decide if this teenager will be charged as an adult.
In a statement ,yesterday her family wrote, "We lost a very special, very talented and well-loved young woman. Tess shone brightly in this world and our hearts will never be the same."
New York authorities are trying to get to the bottom of this, trying to find out if they can prevent something like this from happening again. They are considering increasing patrols in the park. The mayor called this an unacceptable reality -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: Just absolutely terrible.
Authorities in New Zealand are starting to release the names of some of those killed in last week's volcanic eruption. Police have named five victims. One of them is 21-year-old Krystal Browitt from Australia.
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ALLEN: Family and friends are leaving flowers, balloons and messages at a dock near White Island. The eruption killed at least 16 people. Police are continuing their search for victims. Contaminated waters, low visibility and the threat of another eruption are slowing down recovery efforts.
All right. Let's turn to the U.S. now. Parts getting slammed with wicked winter weather.
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ALLEN: As the U.S. House sets the stage for an historic vote on impeachment, it will be a snowy Washington, D.C. It appears he and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, are still digging for dirt on the Bidens. So much so that Giuliani was in Ukraine last week.
And before his plane landed back in New York, the president was reportedly calling him for the lowdown. Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, showed up at the White House early Friday with notebooks in hand. The timing of his arrival the same morning the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Trump on two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstructing Congress.
And while critics say Giuliani is partly to blame for what happened to Trump, Giuliani and his client, President Trump, remain intent on his quest to dig up dirt on Trump's political rival, Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Last week, Giuliani travelled to Ukraine to meet with officials while back at home, constitutional experts were testifying on Capitol Hill about the parameters for different articles of impeachment. On Monday, Giuliani appeared on a podcast and promised to reveal what he says he has found in Ukraine.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, ADVISOR TO DONALD TRUMP: I was going to do an outline of it and try to present it at the convenience of the Republicans in the Congress and the attorney general at the end of this week. I should probably have it ready on Wednesday or Thursday.
[05:25:00]
GIULIANI: I don't know exactly when it will be made public, but it should be ready by then. I worked on it all weekend.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CARROLL (voice-over): According to "The Wall Street Journal," Trump called Giuliani Saturday as soon as Giuliani's plane landed in New York and asked, "What did you get?"
"The Journal" reports he replied, "More than you can imagine."
TRUMP: He's going to make a report, I think, to the attorney general and to Congress. He says he has a lot of good information.
CARROLL (voice-over): Giuliani is a central character in the House's impeachment inquiry into Trump and a constant source of fuel for conspiracy theories seized on by right-wing media.
He has made a number of unsupported allegations, asserting corruption by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, though there is no evidence of wrongdoing by either of them.
And he continues to push unsubstantiated claims Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election when the entire Intelligence Community concurs it was Russia. FBI director Christopher Wray is cautioning Americans to be careful about where they get their information.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: There are all kinds of people saying all kinds of things out there. I think it's important for the American people to be thoughtful consumers of information, to think about the sources of it and to think about the support and predication for what they hear.
CARROLL (voice-over): Giuliani was a loyal lieutenant to the president even before he was hired as an unpaid personal attorney in April 2018.
But lately, there are debates in political circles as to whether Giuliani should be sidelined. Two Giuliani associates linked to his efforts in Ukraine pleaded not guilty for allegedly funneling foreign money into U.S. elections.
Prosecutors accused one of them, Lev Parnas, of failing to disclose that he received $1 million from a Russian bank account the month before he was charged.
According to "The Washington Post," in several conversations in recent months, attorney general William Barr counseled Trump that Giuliani has become a liability and the problem for the administration.
CNN has previously reported investigators have been looking into Giuliani's business dealings in Ukraine and have dug into everything from possible financial entanglements with alleged corrupt Ukrainian figures to counterintelligence concerns raised by some of those business ties. According to people briefed on the matter, Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing and Trump has his back.
TRUMP: Rudy Giuliani was one of the great crime fighters of all time. He's also a friend of mine. He's a great person. He's like an iconic figure in this country. CARROLL (voice-over): There is a long list of onetime Trump allies that have since been written off by the president. Just ask Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen. For now, the Giuliani-Trump bond seems intact -- Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Lindsey Graham said his mind is made up. Hear why he says he's confident Donald Trump isn't going anywhere.
Plus, some American farmers are breathing a little easier on word that new U.S. trade deals will make it easier to sell crops to other countries.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta.
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ALLEN: OK. More now on the rather frank comments from Republican senator Graham. He's making it clear under no circumstances would he vote to remove President Trump from office. Here's how he put it to our Becky Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 thing for America to do is get this behind us.
We know how it's going to end, so we can focus on the problems we talked to, 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 to hear the House make their case based on the record they established in the House and I want to vote.
ANDERSON: The Senate has a constitutional duty in holding this trial and comprehensively evaluating the case, agreed?
GRAHAM: No, it doesn't say that in the Constitution. It says that the Senate will -- I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind.
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ANDERSON: I wasn't in any doubt at this point.
I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here. I'm telling you right now, if Mueller had found something against Trump, I would have been his loudest critic and I told the president to his face. What I see happening today is just a partisan nonsense.
ANDERSON: You have voiced strong opinions about this impeachment, but you are, along with the rest of your Senate fellows, jurors. Is it appropriate to be voicing your opinion even before this gets to the Senate as a trial?
[05:35:00]
GRAHAM: Well, I must think so because I'm doing it.
So this is a political exercise by politicians. When you look at the history of why you have impeachment in the Constitution, what I am saying is that I view this as a political exercise. I view this to be more about Nancy Pelosi's speakership than wrongdoing by President Trump.
And I like Speaker Pelosi. I want to congratulate her for negotiating the USMCA trade deal as they impeach the president. I think that is quite a feat both for her and President Trump.
So I see the whole process and how it's dangerous to the presidency. Every other impeachment but this one was generated by outside counsel, people who were nonpartisan. This is being driven by people who are partisan politicians, no real ability to defend yourself. Most of it is hearsay, closed-door hearings.
No right to confront the witnesses against you. I want to make sure that this process is soundly rejected in the Senate because I think it's a danger to the presidency himself.
ANDERSON: Can I just underline what we have been talking about here?
Whether or not the president is impeached and removed, you clearly tonight think that's going to happen.
Is it OK, ever OK for an American president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival?
GRAHAM: If you read the phone call, I'm OK with it. You ran against corruption. Some people believe and CNN and other groups, have not lifted a finger to look -- if Mike Pence's son had done this, I think you may have a little more looking by the media. Can you imagine if Mike Pence's son was on a board in the Ukraine
making $50,000 a month not knowing anything about gas and the prosecutors fired of Mike Pence's state government, you might want to know more about that.
I love Joe Biden but nobody is above scrutiny. We're not going to have a country where only Republicans are looked at. I would suggest that Donald Trump and his family have been scrutinized.
So to my Democratic friends, it's OK I guess to look at everything Trump all the time. It never ends. Don't complain when it comes your way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, now the U.S. president is taking a long, hard look at the director of the FBI. And he apparently doesn't like what he sees. You'll notice that doing battle with the bureau has become a common theme with his administration.
We watched it play out again this past week, as Mr. Trump took direct aim at FBI Chief Christopher Wray. Brian Todd has the story.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump vents his anger at another FBI director. In a Twitter broadside, the president saying, I don't know what report current director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, was reading, but it sure wasn't the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken.
A reaction after Wray spoke of how pleased he was that the Justice Department's inspector general found the Russian election interference investigation was properly launched and there was no political bias influencing decisions in the probe. Wray brushed back on the president's claims that some in the FBI were part of a deep state conspiracy against him.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: I think that's the kind of label that is a disservice to the 37,000 men and women who work at the FBI who I think tackled their jobs with professionalism, with rigor, with objectivity and with courage. And I think it's an affront to them.
TODD: But Wray's boss, Attorney General William Barr, doubled down on President Trump's criticisms of the FBI's Russia investigation.
BARR: They kept on investigating the president well into his administration. After the case collapsed --
TODD: Trump had some notorious public battles with FBI directors and other bureau officials. He fired his first FBI director, James Comey, after clashing with him over the Russia investigation.
TRUMP: Comey, lies and leaks. He's a liar and he's a leaker. TODD: Trump then accused Comey's immediate replacement Andrew McCabe and top FBI lawyer, James Baker, of being out to get him. He repeatedly eviscerated former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page who had a relationship with each other, accusing them of being part of a cabal of Trump haters inside the Bureau, after their personal texts critical of Trump were made public.
TRUMP: Lisa Page who was forced to leave the FBI and her lover, Peter Strzok, who we got their text messages and what they said in those text messages were shocking, when you talk about bias.
[05:40:00]
TODD: In one tweet, Trump called Comey, McCabe, Strzok and Page, clowns and losers, wondering aloud will the FBI ever recover it's one stellar reputation. A Trump biographer says the president simply doesn't tolerate being challenged by those around him.
MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: It doesn't matter if it's a spouse who's telling the truth about his infidelities or if it's a law enforcement officer trying to do his duty, the right thing to do where Donald Trump is concerned, is to serve him. Any other duty is superfluous and he'll be angry at you and really try to destroy you if you cross him.
TODD: Analysts are concerned that Trump's repeated attacks on FBI directors and their aides have serious security consequences.
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The president's statements are harmful, because what he's doing is he's undermining the credibility of the FBI with the public. And the FBI needs the public in order to satisfy its law enforcement and national security mission.
TODD: CNN has reached out to the White House to ask if President Trump has or will ask for Christopher Wray to resign as FBI director. White House officials told us that's unlikely, but they acknowledged Trump could act without warning -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Next here, the U.S. lost about 3,000 dairy farms last year. Now farmers in Michigan are hopeful a new trade deal will help reverse that trend. That's next.
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ALLEN: The U.N. climate conference in Madrid is finally coming to an end after a marathon session aimed at forging a final declaration.
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ALLEN: COP25 was supposed to conclude on Friday with the nation members agreeing to ambitious plans which are needed to address climate change. But those talks led to stalemate. The 12-day event has drawn large numbers of climate activists to Madrid. They fear any final agreement will be too watered down to be effective.
In the U.K., Michael Gove, a key ally of prime minister Boris Johnson, has reaffirmed that the government will not allow a second independence referendum in Scotland. The message was clearly aimed at the Scottish National Party.
The SNP greatly increased its seats in Parliament in Thursday's election and said it will seek another vote on independence.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon replied to Gove, saying, "You cannot hold Scotland in the union against its will."
Mr. Johnson will lay out his agenda next Thursday in the Queen's Speech with Brexit being the top priority. More now from CNN's Hadas Gold in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime minister Boris Johnson embarked on a victory lap on Saturday after his Conservative Party's big win in this week's election with a new majority not seen since the days of Margaret Thatcher.
Johnson headed up to the northeast, a long-time Labour stronghold, a seat from former prime minister Tony Blair that the Conservatives managed to flip. Johnson said he recognizes many of them may have been voting for the Conservatives for the first time.
BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: You have changed the political landscape. You have changed the Conservative Party for the better. And you have changed the future of our country.
I know that people may have been breaking the voting habits of generations to vote for us. And I want the people of the northeast to know that we, in the Conservative Party, I will repay your trust.
GOLD: Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn's legacy as leader of the Labour Party has been tarnished by one of the worst electoral performances for Labour in decades. Corbyn said he will step down as leader of the party sometime early next year but has not given an exact timetable.
Some members want him to step down sooner, arguing that an interim leader should take over now.
Next up for Johnson is a likely cabinet reshuffle, a stripped down Queen's Speech later this week and getting his Brexit deal tabled before Parliament. The vote will likely take place in January in time for Brexit to finally take place January 31st -- Hadas Gold, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The prospect of two new U.S. trade agreements has American farmers hopeful they will finally regain access to foreign markets and not a moment too soon. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's the morning milking at Horning Farms.
JEFF HORNING, MICHIGAN DAIRY FARMER: Here's a friendly cow.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): For five generations, 365 days a year, Jeff Horning's family has been producing dairy in Michigan.
HORNING: Come on, girls.
The past five years have been very difficult. We've had cycles in the past where it's been extremely bad, but it lasts for maybe two years. To go for four years was almost unbearable and it has been unbearable for several.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): But with a handshake deal on the new NAFTA, USMCA, a glimmer of hope.
HORNING: I was surprised, actually. Getting stuff done in today's Congress has not been very quick. There's been too many political moves rather than action.
But I'm really excited if it gets done. That would be great.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Farmers stand to gain a lot from the deal, especially dairy farmers.
The United States has lost almost 3,000 dairy farms in the last year. Among the most, here in Michigan -- nearly one in seven. But now, Canada has agreed to buy more dairy while eliminating pricing models that allow its farmers to undercut U.S. dairy farmers.
YURKEVICH (on camera): Who is this a win for, Democrats, Republicans?
HORNING: Well, if they get it signed off, it will 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 RUHLIG, MICHIGAN FARMER: We're only 42 miles from Canada right here and so our ability to compete with a Canadian product coming in, imported into Michigan, is important. We need to be able to be on a level playing field.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Jason Ruhlig 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 --
RUHLIG: We do a lot of the hot peppers.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): -- who rely on foreign labor to work his fields.
RUHLIG: If we don't find a way to address these shortcomings in a guest worker program we are going to be nonexistent in three years.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Laurie Isley grows soy and corn, two crops hurt most by the trade war with China.
[05:50:00]
YURKEVICH (voice-over): She says USMCA is welcome news.
LAURIE ISLEY, MICHIGAN FARMER: It's a win. It's not going to be the same size as a win -- as an agreement with China would be but certainly, it's a significant one.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): USMCA won't save all of Isley's hardships on her farm but it does give her hope there's an end in sight.
ISLEY: Being able to see this one, which we have been talking about for 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 and replicate it with China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: An emotional moment as a U.S. college football player is awarded a top honor. The reaction to LSU's quarterback winning the Heisman Trophy next.
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ALLEN: For the first time ever, the winners of the world's top beauty pageants are all black women. That's Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, Miss America and Miss Universe and Miss World. That was awarded to Jamaica's Toni-Ann Singh on Saturday in London.
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ALLEN: She tweeted the crown belongs to all the girls around the world, adding that all have a purpose.
Speaking of winners, now to one of the most coveted awards in American college football, the Heisman Trophy. It's an honor given to those considered to be the most outstanding player in the entire country.
And it was an easy win this year for Joe Burrow. There he is. He took home the award. It was an emotional moment for the Louisiana State University quarterback. After first thanking his offensive line, he went on to express his gratitude to his coach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BURROW, HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: You have no idea what you mean to my family. I didn't play for three years. You took a chance on me not knowing if I could play or not. And I'm forever in your -- forever grateful for you.
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ALLEN: How about that sweet moment there. And just like on the football field, Burrow won the Heisman in record fashion. He received the largest margin of votes ever recorded for the honor.
Burrow started his college career at Ohio State, where he was, get this, a backup quarterback. He graduated in three years and transferred to LSU. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Will he have a career in the NFL or what?
We hope so.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. For U.S. viewers, "NEW DAY" is ahead. For everyone else, I'll be right back with the headlines.
