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Full U.S. House Expected To Vote This Week; Cabinet Reshuffle Expected After Conservative Landslide; China Cancels Arsenal Coverage After Player's Tweet; U.S. Envoy Urges Pyongyang To Resume Nuclear Talks; Mountain Resort A Possible Key To Inter-Korean Peace; Heat Wave Fuels Dozens Of Bushfires; Protests Over Measure that's Viewed as Anti-Muslim; Star Wars Fans Camp Out for "The Rise of Skywalker". Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 16, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. And coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM, a big week in Washington. U.S. lawmakers preparing to vote on impeaching the president. Let's get this done. America's envoy for North Korea arrives in Seoul amidst stalled talks with Pyongyang, and he has a message for Kim Jong-un. Plus, Arsenal are off the air in China after sports and politics collide again.

Welcome, everyone. It is, of course, shaping up to be a historic week in Washington. The Full House is expected to vote this week on Articles of Impeachment against the U.S. President Donald Trump. Now, sources say that vote could come by Wednesday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the House of Representatives this week is expected to vote on those articles of impeachment that passed in the House Judiciary Committee, making it all but certain that President Trump will become the third American president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

But at the White House, much of the focus has already shifted to the Senate where the President, of course, will face trial, if indeed he is impeached by the House. White House lawyers have been working on the President's legal defense and there has been coordination already between the White House and Senate Republicans over how that trial would actually take place.

We heard on Sunday from White House advisor Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General of the state of Florida, who is advising the President on impeachment. She said that the President hopes the trial in the senate with Republicans in the majority will make for a fair trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAM BONDI, ADVISER OF DONALD TRUMP: So we weren't given a fair trial in the House at all. Now, it goes to the Senate, and these senators -- the President deserves to be heard. We should be working hand in hand with them. The rules of evidence will apply. These are the senators who will decide if our president is impeached, which will not happen. We should and will work hand in hand with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, despite what Pam Bondi said there about the president wanting to be heard in the Senate trial, there is no indication that the President will testify in that trial. In fact, Senate Republicans and the White House have started coalescing around this notion of a shorter trial that would have no witnesses.

But just as that is happening, we've now heard from the Senate Minority Leader, the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and he is making his pitch for what he would like to see in a Senate trial and it involves witnesses, it involved subpoenaing documents for key witnesses that Senate Democrats want Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to agree to bring forward and subpoena in a Senate trial.

They are the White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the -- his senior advisor Robert Blair, the former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, as well as Michael Duffy who is the Associate Director for National Security Programs. He's one of those officials who actually signed off on several of the documents relating to that aid freeze of nearly $400 million of security aid to Ukraine.

Now, of course, this is a request from the top Democrat in the Senate, and that is because Republicans control the majority in the Senate. And therefore, anything that actually goes through as far as the rules of this trial will require a 51 senator majority. And unless Democrats are somehow able to peel away four Republican senators to get them to agree to these rules, Mitch McConnell is ultimately going to be the decider here.

And McConnell, well, he has suggested that he will run anything as it relates to the proceedings of that Senate trial by the White House, specifically the White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. And so far, there is no indication from the White House that they would agree to have any of these witnesses, of course, come forward. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: For more now, I'm joined from Los Angeles by Ron Brownstein, Senior Political Analyst for CNN and the Senior Editor at the Atlantic. And check out his article on the Web site, a good one. Ron, just have a look ahead of the week for us and how you see the strategies in play. There is a lot of planes.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Excuse me. So apologies in advance for the scratchy throat but the Democrats I think are very much trying to bracket the impeachment vote substantive votes on both ends of it. You had a possibly their biggest policy vote of the year late last week on legislation to reduce prescription drug prices, which all the polls tell us is right near the top of concerns for Americans. And after impeachment, they want to vote on approving the trade deal that the President has completed with renegotiating NAFTA.

And this is critical, I think, for Pelosi's strategy because those Democrats in the marginal districts feel the need to be able to say to their voters, look, I did not just go to Washington to fight with the President, I went to work with him when he was working in the interest of country and to draw the line when he's not.

And so I think you -- the way I understand the impeachment vote is as a sequence of votes that is designed to kind of expand the comfort level as widely as possible within the party.

[01:05:29]

HOLMES: Right. The Republicans right throughout the process have been screaming for their own witnesses, that it's been unfair. The Democrats do want to call witnesses in the Senate. But if you listen to Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, it's not sounding like they're very keen anymore when it gets to them. If the Republicans refuse, the Democrats can then say the Republicans aren't allowing for a fair trial, surely.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think the -- you know, the paradox here has been the Republicans have been demanding witnesses while they've been defending the president preventing really decentral witnesses from testifying.

And certainly, if it goes to -- if, if Republicans in the Senate open the door to allowing witnesses, the whistleblower, Hunter Biden, although exactly why Hunter Biden is irrelevant to a security decision in 2019, you know, is very much over the question. But certainly, they open the door to witnesses, it becomes very, very difficult to then argue that the trial should have the Republican witnesses, but not people like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney where the absolute center of the issues under discussion.

So in the end, that kind of mutually assured destruction I think will lead Republicans to conclude they don't want with this is after all.

HOLMES: Yes. The fundamental question that goes at the end of the day is, is it OK for a president to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival? That is the question. Republicans have just stopped with the line that it didn't happen. It did happen. It's indisputable. So what precedent is set when and if Republicans in the Senate vote to absolve the president of what he did?

BROWNSTEIN: I think that is a critical point here. I mean, not only are -- you know, the Republicans have kind of divided between saying it didn't happen, you know, despite the evidence in the call itself. Rand Paul today on CNN saying he didn't ask him to investigate a rival. And he meant well, he asked him to investigate Joe Biden. You know, Joe Biden wasn't arrival. Versus those like Ted Cruz, who was on -- the senator and former presidential candidate, he was on television today saying, it's OK to ask -- to do this.

And I think either way we are seeing here, a defending of the impeachment process. I mean, the Republicans -- there's really no evidence in either chamber that they have for even a moment kind of thought of themselves as an independent force that is assessing the President's conduct, upholding the separation of power, and trying to, you know, maintain some sort of standards for the rule of law. They view themselves as his defenders from the outset.

And what this really is showing us, as I've said to you before, is that one party alone, even in control of the chamber, cannot maintain the norms of democracy. That unless both parties are willing to impose some sanctions, a president is going to feel fundamentally unconstrained.

HOLMES: And you've got to -- I mean, you got to wonder about the constitutional damage being done if they -- if they basically vote to say that's OK. I wanted to just quickly, if you can, the tweet today from Donald Trump about Nancy Pelosi teeth. I think we've got the tweet to show people if they missed it, "But my goodness, Nancy's teeth were falling out of her mouth, and she didn't have time to think" won't even go into the juvenile nature and the bullying nature of that. But the question is, what does it say about his state of mind?

Last Thursday, he tweeted or retweeted 123 times. God knows how many today. What does it tell you about how he's handling this?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first, I mean, the personal attacks on Pelosi, you know, what we've seen is there's a portion of Trump base who really wants to see him degrade the presidency in this way. But there is a larger electorate as well. And, you know, there is a reason why incredibly something like 20 percent of the people who say they approve his handling of the economy disapprove of him overall. We've never had a number like that in American politics, and it really is because of behavior like that.

And it is, look, the President, whenever he is attacked, moves to delegitimize whoever is threatening him, you know, whether it's the courts, whether it's the press, and certainly when it's the Democrats. And this kind of behavior I think is kind of indicative of following the line from Judge Curiel all the way through to fake news, to Nancy Pelosi.

HOLMES: Or if it's the FBI. Ron Brownstein, thanks for that. Honey and lemon and a cup of tea for you.

BROWNSTEIN: I'm trying. Thanks. Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: I appreciate it, Ron. Battling through. Well, this week, the U.K. will start feeling the major political aftershocks following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's huge election win last Thursday. There is speculation in British newspapers that he might set up to a third of his cabinet. The first priority though, as he has said throughout his campaign is get Brexit done, the famous line now. First, that way by bringing his divorce bill before the House of

Commons again, perhaps even before Christmas. Then he has to forge a new relationship with Europe which is no easy task. And, of course, has to keep the United Kingdom united. The rumblings from Scotland are getting louder where voters just spoke out strongly against Mr. Johnson and strongly against Brexit, backing in huge numbers of party leader who wants an independent Scotland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLA STURGEON, FIRST MINISTER, SCOTLAND: He cannot hold Scotland in the union against its will. You cannot just lock us in a cupboard and turn the key and hope that everything goes away. If the union -- if the United Kingdom is to continue, then that can only be by consent.

And if Boris Johnson is confident in the case for the union, then he should be confident enough to make that case and allow people to decide. Because if it's to continue, it can only be by the will and the consent of the people of Scotland. Scotland cannot be imprisoned within the United Kingdom.

MICHAEL GOVE, BRITISH CABINET OFFICE MINISTER: We had a referendum on whether or not Scotland should be separate from the United Kingdom in 2014. We were told that that referendum will settle the question for a generation. In this general election, we have just seen what happens when politicians tried to overturn a referendum result. And in the same way, we should respect the referendum result of 2014. Scotland is stronger in the United Kingdom. You can be proudly Scottish and proudly British together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party increase the chair of Scottish seats in the commons to 48 out of 59. Turning our attention to China and the state television there lashed out after an English Premier League player publicly blasted Beijing's treatment of Muslim Uighurs. It pulled coverage of Sunday's match between Arsenal and Manchester City after Arsenal's midfielder Mesut Ozil posted social media message criticizing China's persecution of ethnic minority group, the Uighurs. The club has already begun distancing itself from the player's comments.

CNN's David Culver joins me now from Beijing to talk about this. Tell us what he said and why it offended and what's being done.

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This rises well beyond sports once again, Michael. This goes into geopolitics and ideology more than anything else. And this is perhaps dealing with what you could consider to be the most sensitive issue right now within China that has to do with the ethnic minorities known as Uighurs, predominantly Muslim.

Now Mesut Ozil who is Muslim tweeted out and posted on Instagram as well very harsh and critical words against the Chinese government in their handling of the detention of Uighurs saying that they are burning Quran, that they're banning essentially mosques from being put in place, that they're tearing them down, that they're killing religious scholars. That's what he put out in the social media message. The response has been furious from China.

And it starts with their actions from Chinese state T.V. pulling the Arsenal-Manchester City game from Sunday's air here, did not broadcast. Online streamers did the same thing. They didn't stream the game online. But it also shows that they are very protective over this issue and they have been so for several months now.

The U.S. State Department estimates some two million Uighurs have been put into detention camps in the far western Xinjiang region of China. They also have led to these are more like internment camps. China has said this is a matter of national security. They say this is deradicalization. They say this is counterterrorism, and quite frankly, they say this is a domestic issue. They want the west to stay out of it.

So now you have sports once again, bringing it to the top attention and it's causing just a really crisis that's in the making here, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. And talk more about the reaction this time to Ozil's comments compared to what happened when the Houston Rockets' G.M. Daryl Morey, he tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters. It was interesting then because China sort of went after the NBA as well as the man and the club. On this occasion, it seemed to be just going off to the man and a little bit hostile.

CULVER: Perhaps they're changing their strategy a little bit compared to what we saw in October. But it kind of followed a similar pattern where it was a Friday tweet that went out. Saturday there was a response from -- in the NBA situation, from the NBA essentially kind of pulling away from Daryl Morey in that moment and apologizing for those who were offended in China. We saw a similar thing with Arsenal.

The club has separated itself from Ozil and saying those are his personal views. But with the NBA situation, there was a backlash in the U.S. against kind of the NBA weaken its stance on freedom of speech so they had to come out even stronger.

[01:15:03]

It's going to be interesting to see what plays out today because this is where we have the opportunity hear from the foreign affairs, the foreign ministry to see what they are going to approach this as. And quite frankly, we'll see if Arsenal gets any pushback for their distancing themselves from Ozil. But the NBA is handling also, for many here in China, was a mishandling, if you will, because they feel like it was just ramped up to a level between China and the NBA that was unnecessary that it nearly severed the ties. And so, perhaps the Chinese side, and even the English Premier League side is going to be treading much carefully given what we saw just two months ago.

HOLMES: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? The cost of business versus freedom of speech, and that is the battle that's going on. David Culver, thanks for being across it for us in Beijing there. Appreciate it. Smoggy day there again. All right. The U.S. wants North Korea to get back to the negotiating table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN BIEGUN, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA: We are here and you know how to reach us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We'll have more on Washington's efforts to resume those denuclearization talks. Also, still to come on the program, dozens of bushfires remained uncontrolled throughout Australia. How an ongoing heatwave could worsen the conditions. We'll have that coming up as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Weather meteorologist Pedram Javaheri watching what's happening across the Americas. And it is around the southern and southeastern United States for some severe weather over the next couple of days, as we have, of course, very mild temperatures in place for the middle portion of December. We do have a front skirting by across this region that will prompt in some strong thunderstorms, potentially Tuesday on into Wednesday. And with it, we'll get some cooler air that filters in towards the region as well. And of course, it is a wintery mess further towards the north. Look at Minneapolis, highs of six below, seven below, 10 below for an afternoon high. Still not even winter yet.

Of course, in the Northern Hemisphere, and you'll notice Chicago just a week before Christmas there on Wednesday comes in with a high of minus six. And notice into the Northeast, we do eventually get a cooling trend there as well as colder air filters in, but fortunately, all of this comes in with some dry weather, so we don't expect much in the way of significant snowfall anywhere across the region when it comes to the big holiday travel days at least over the next week or so. But you notice Denver, two below. In Los Angeles, we'll take the mostly sunny skies, a comfortable afternoon of 21 degrees.

And down to the tropics, a few thunderstorms pop up. Belize City around 28; Kingston Jamaica climbs up to around 30 degrees. Of course, the tropics are generally quiet this time of year, but you can pick out that front that will ignite some of the severe weather to its north. And a little farther to the south, we go, La Paz, some morning clouds, afternoon sunshine around 16 degrees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:14]

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. Asian markets pulling back from last week's games, reacting cautiously to that partial trade deal between the U.S. and China. Both sides said they reached an agreement to cancel new tariffs for now. Those tariffs were set to go into effect Sunday and also roll back other ones as well. Now, that deal, of course, has not been signed and it is just at phase one.

All right now, the U.S. envoy to North Korea, he is urging Pyongyang to resume denuclearization talks ahead of a year-end deadline. Stephen Biegun is his name, and he met with South Korean officials in Seoul on Monday. This is just days after North Korea said they've carried out another, quote, crucial tests at a rocket launch site. Biegun sent a clear message to North Korea. It is time to return to the negotiating table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIEGUN: President Trump, President Moon, and all of us who serve them, have worked hard to keep open the door to negotiations with North Korea. It has been a long year, and we have not made nearly as much progress as we would have hoped. But we will not give up. I've read closely the many comments from various North Korean officials over the course of the past month. We have heard them all. It is regrettable that the tone of these statements towards the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and our friends in Europe, have been so hostile and negative and so unnecessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, South Korean officials are now pushing to reopen a joint North and South Korean resort. They say the key to peace with North Korea, but the U.S. disagrees. Paula Hancocks has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Mount Kumgang or Diamond Mountain. Its serene beauty belies the political turmoil that surrounds it. A half hour drive north of the DMZ wants a bustling joint tourist resort between North and South Korea. Now, according to leader Kim Jong-un, who visited recently, shabby and backward. He's pledged to tear the resort down.

CHOI MOON-SOON, GOVERNOR, GANGWON PROVINCE: This is the door to North Korea.

HANCOCKS: But the South Korean Governor of this province split in two by the DMZ, says it is the key to keeping an increasingly fragile peace.

CHOI: They are saying they will begin again test of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile. So, we have a -- we must have a exit plan. The exit plan is -- I think is the Mountain Kumgang.

HANCOCKS: The talks was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier. Pyongyang claimed she had entered an off limits area. At a summit in Pyongyang last year, the leaders of North and South Korea agreed to resume the Kumgang tours and the joint industrial park in the North's Kaesong City as soon as conditions were right.

Kim Jong-un announced it to his people and the world in his New Year's address, something he usually only does when he's sure it will happen. Tourism is exempt from U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea, but the U.S. believes it's too soon to reopen Kumgang. Washington has voiced concerns Pyongyang could use money from the resort to fund its nuclear and missile programs.

CHOI: There were six times of summit meeting after PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. All of them -- each of them were gorgeous ones. Big smile, big hands, big hug, and big promise, and then nothing. On the contrary, more sanction, more sanction. They're angry about it.

HANCOCKS: So, this is the peace bell.

CHOI: Yes, yes.

HANCOCKS: Given that Choi Moon-soon traveled to Washington last month to try and convince Trump administration officials to reopen the resort. He says they listened but did not agree. The minister for unification has also been lobbying the U.S. to give the green light.

CHOI: This far is from Pyongyang, far from Seoul, far from Washington. It's not political, it's only tourism. So, it's the key.

HANCOCKS: The key that South Korean officials fear is slipping through their hands. Paula Hancocks, CNN, near the DMZ, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, Australia is bracing for bushfires to intensify, as a heat wave sweeps across the nation. Just have a look at the intensity of these videos we're showing. You've got firefighters in New South Wales. They're battling more than 100 active fires. You have nearly 2.7 million hectares that have been scored this fire season alone. There's also fires right across from the other side of the country in Western Australia.

[01:25:10]

Pedram Javaheri is tracking the latest conditions. I got family in Perth and in Sydney, and they are hot.

JAVAHERI: Yes, you know, it's certainly been historic here, Michael. You know, when you look at how much heat has been in place, we're talking multiple days in a row temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in Perth. That has never happened in the month of December. Of course, you factor that, the drought situation, and of course, some blustery weather. You're talking about extreme fire situation across this region. And notice the 13th, 14th, and 15th, all of them exceeding 40 degrees. Again, first time in recorded history, Perth have seen -- have seen such sheet in the month of December.

But we got to tabulate all of this out, we're talking about 27,000 square kilometers of land, this fire season that have been consumed across Australia. Another way to put it, take the cities of New York, Tokyo, and Chicago, three of the largest cities in the world when it comes to land area, put them together, that is a smaller amount than how much land has been consumed in Australia. And of course, this is the climatological norm, the latter portion of

the continent here, the southern portion of it from, say, December on into February, that's when you kind of begin to see fire activity really pick up in intensity, and even continues in parts through April as well. And look at this map here, because the dark colors of red that indicate areas and territories across Australia that in the past couple of years have seen historic low levels of rainfall. And just about every single territory has parts of it have gone through extreme drought situation. So of course, now you kind of begin to put together the pieces of the puzzle of how this has become a continent wide issue from the West Coast all the way through the East Coast.

As Michael kind of noted, the amount of, of course, land destroyed the number of homes and properties destroyed, and number of land consumed, all of it pretty impressive. And over 110 active fires, two of which considered emergency warnings, the worst case scenario and 26 of which still considered uncontained. And notice that heat pushes in from the west all the way towards the east. So, the next couple of days, we expect these severe weather situation when it comes to fire behavior to kind of begin to skirt all the way back towards the eastern region of the continent. 40 degrees in Alice Springs up this hour. And look what happens here, Michael, over the next several days, gets windy in advance, a big time heat that is for Thursday and also Saturday across Sydney. So, the fire weather is certainly not going to be helpful here the next couple of days.

HOLMES: Absolutely. Thank you, Pedram. Pedram Javaheri there. Dreadful situation. We have to take a short break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:51]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.

I'm Michael Holmes.

Let's check the headlines for you this hour.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wants at least four witnesses to testify in an impeachment trial for the U.S. President Donald Trump that include acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security advisor John Bolton.

Schumer laid out his request in a letter to the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Democrat-controlled House expected to vote on impeachment Wednesday.

Reports from the U.K. suggests Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a major reshuffling of his cabinet on Monday. He is expected to axe up to a third of his ministers come February after Brexit is completed. Minister Michael Gove (ph) says Boris Johnson will get Brexit done by January 31st and aims to have a new trade deal with the E.U. by the end of the year. Thousands of anti-government protesters return to the streets of Beirut Sunday night. Police using tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse people throwing rocks and firecrackers. Caretaker prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, is expected to be named Lebanon's prime minister again in the coming hours. He resigned of course last October, as a result of these protests.

And there is growing anger in India over a controversial citizenship law. Protests erupted for a fifth straight day as demonstrators clashed with police at several university campuses. This was on Sunday. Police using tear gas and batons to try to break up the protest.

The Citizenship Amendment Act was signed into law last week. What it does is fast-track citizenship for several religious groups from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, but excludes Muslims.

India's Hindu-led government maintains Muslims are a majority in those countries, and it's the non-Muslims, who faced persecution there.

Journalist Vedika Sud joins us now with the latest from New Delhi. Explain what the fears are -- it seems a lot of people aren't buying the government's version of this.

VEDIKA SUD, JOURNALIST: Absolutely. Remember there is a 14 percent Muslim population in India. Now after this bill was signed into an act by the President on Friday, there have been massive protests before and after.

We saw it first in the northeast, we saw it in the (INAUDIBLE) and other northeastern states. Over the last two days, we've seen it in north India as well. It's spreading, we believe it's also going to the state of Uttar Pradesh which is a part of north India.

I've just gotten off the phone with one of the top police officers in Delhi and there was a huge violent protest that took place yesterday, in a minority university known as the Jami Amillah (ph) University.

Now what we've got to know is protesters joined others -- this was an organized protest -- in the morning and it turned violent in the afternoon on Sunday. This is because there was an altercation between the police as well as the protesters.

Now some of the protesters were from the university. This led to vandalism of vehicles on the road. There were clashes between the police and the students of the university. After which 51 of them were detained.

A lot of students claim that they were also at the end of massive showdowns with the police. There were atrocities also claimed by them by the police. After which they were detained and later released.

Then that massive protests move in the evening to the Delhi police headquarters. A lot of people from all over Delhi, especially students, were part of that protest against the Delhi police. Now this is an immediate fall out of the Citizenship Amendment Act that is taking place not only in Delhi, not only in the northeast, it's spreading all across India and the government is looking to curtail this as soon as possible.

HOLMES: And speak -- I mean whatever the government says about this, in terms of the religious aspects, the risk is it's going to fire up sectarian tensions which exist in parts of the country anyway.

[01:35:00]

HOLMES: I mean how do India's Muslims feel about this? There are a lot of them?

SUD: Like I said there is an uneasy calm, especially northeast India as well as north India. 40 percent Muslims of the population were talking about, they are extremely affected and hurt by this act because they claim that they are Muslims. They have the right to live in India and why are they being discriminated against.

The Prime Minister came out yesterday, there's a lot of politics over this issue as well. He's been blaming the opposition. He in fact says that the opposition that's stoking this fire in the north -- as well as northeast India.

Because the risk -- you see protests on the road. As we speak, we also have the Delhi chief minister appealing for calm along with the Delhi police. Delhi (INAUDIBLE) which remain uneasy. As I speak to you, there are still protests taking place at that university I just told you about.

The impact is on the Muslims that cross India. There are a lot of academicians from the minority also coming out and question the government. But the government is very clear.

Look we're talking about non-Muslim minorities here. As far as the Muslims are concern, they can go back to the Islamic nation and live there.

HOLMES: Yes. It's not over yet. Vedika Sud in New Delhi -- appreciate it. Thanks so much.

All right. We can take a short break. When we come back -- for days Star Wars fans have been gathering in force, see what I did there, to ensure their spot for the opening of "Rise of Skywalker". Coming up -- how one fan is using the time to raise awareness for a good cause. We'll tell you about it on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an instinct. A feeling which brought us together.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well, the main "Star Wars" saga is coming to a close in less than a week. The "Rise of Skywalker" will wrap up five decades of cinematic history with high expectations. Some dedicated fans hope this ninth film will bring closure to many unanswered questions.

Now, the movie might not be out for a few more days, but some fans are already lining up to see it. My next guest is one of them.

Peter Genovese is the cofounder of "LiningUp.net. Check that out. He's joining us from Los Angeles.

And thanks for doing so. From how I understand this, tickets were pre-sold. You don't need to be doing this, so it's really about a good cause you're raising money for, is that right?

PETER GENOVESE, CO-FOUNDER, LINING UP.NET: Yes. That's right.

None of us need to be out here in this day and age of reserve seating but we love coming out here and helping support our charity which is the Star Lights Children's Foundation.

And you know, we come out there as a group. We're able to get a big box of tickets early and we're able to dictate how people get those tickets, which is waiting in line. Which is almost a lost art these days.

[01:49:58]

HOLMES: Yes. How did the tradition start because it's a pretty cool one.

GENOVESE: Yes. So back in 1999 when Episode 1 came out, there was a group of us that decided to line up for six weeks actually. We sort of went (ph) outside the Chinese theater. And I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I just decided to check it out.

I wanted to come for about an hour or two. And ended up staying the very first light and power night. And just basically got sucked into this whole thing.

You know, you really are able to make friendships, really quickly because you're sitting with people that love the same thing you do.

You know -- and it's something so unique and kind of crazy but yet fun to do. We always have fun doing it.

HOLMES: Yes. As you say, you don't need to these days but why not?

GENOVESE: Right.

HOLMES: You know -- a group of like-minded people. Ok -- so

GENOVESE: Right.

VAUSE: So the movie itself, I've got to say I'm not the sort of crazy Star Wars person that my producer Bonnie is. But tell us what the expectations are for the fans? What do they want from this movie?

GENOVESE: You know I think people really want closure on a lot of things. They want to feel the emotion that we found in previous Star Wars movies.

You know, there are people who weren't so happy with the last one. You know, a lot of people have different viewpoints but I think we all want some kind of closure and emotional -- you know, kind of something that brings our emotions out in this last episode of nine movies -- the last of the Skywalker saga, basically.

HOLMES: Yes. And you know, and Bonnie insists I asked this question. I have no idea what it means. Apparently the emperor is still alive. How the heck did he survive the destruction of the Death Star? Apparently that's a burning question.

GENOVESE: Yes. That's a good question. We are all wondering. I mean when we all saw that in the trailer, we could hear it last (ph), I mean people actually went nuts. I mean I'm one of the people that grew up with the original "Star Wars" movies, and to hear that emperor cackle in his last -- I think we're all happy to hear him back in the movie again.

HOLMES: Yes. I mean the "L.A. Times" calls "Star Wars" one of the most critiqued pop culture franchises of all time. Everyone has an opinion about it. What do you want to see next? This is the end of this bit. What does everyone want to see next?

GENOVESE: Yes. That's a good question. And a lot of people are trying to figure out what are they going to do next. I think 2022 is when they're planning on another Skywalker adventure. Not Skywalker -- "Star Wars" adventure. And it's not going to be about Skywalker.

So there's a lot of different things they can choose from. So I'm kind of excited to see what it's going to be. And, you know, big question for us is are we going to be back out here lining up for, you know, days on end or weeks on end.

I still want to see and I know a lot of people behind me still want to. We love hanging out as a group. We love watching a movie together. The first showing which is what we always do here at the Chinese Theater. And we love raising money for our charity, Starlight Children's Foundation.

HOLMES: Yes. That's great. And people can go to LiningUp.net and find out more about the charity side of this.

GENOVESE: Absolutely.

HOLMES: That's great. Peter Genovese -- thanks very much. Appreciate it. You are in L.A. So it's going to stay warm. You'll be fine.

GENOVESE: Yes. It's actually very cold right now. It's very cold right now.

HOLMES: Oh, it is? All right. Well, enjoy it. Good to see you.

GENOVESE: Thank you very much. Thank you.

HOLMES: Los Angeles, "cold".

All right. The U.S. box office by the way, getting a much needed boost at the moment. "Jumanji: The Next Level" that stars that guy there, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, also Kevin Hart blew pass expectations. It took number one spot with an estimated $60 million debut.

Despite getting iced out of the top spot, "Frozen 2" also on a hot streak. Breaking the $1 billion market to global box on Saturday. Now this is Disney's sixth film to make more than a billion dollars this year alone.

I hope you've got shares.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.

I'm Michael Holmes.

"WORLD SPORT" up next.

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