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China Cancels Arsenal Coverage After Player's Tweet; Tougher Laws Fails To Deter Sexual Violence In India; Growing Anger Against Measure Seen As Anti-Muslim; President Trump And Greta Thunberg Battle On Twitter; Congress to Vote on Trump's Impeachment Next Week; Aftermath of the British Elections Involving the Cabinet and Scotland; U.S. Urges Pyongyang for Nuclear Talks to Resume; No New Commitments From Climate Summit. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 16, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN World headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and "CNN Newsroom" starts right now.

Ahead here at this hour, the beginning of a historic week in Washington. Lawmakers will vote on whether to impeach. U.S. President Donald Trump.

Also this hour, here's a quote, "Let's get this done." That's the U.S. envoy to North Korea, sending a blunt message over the stalled nuclear talks.

Also, China state T.V. sensors a Premier League match, after one of the sport's top stars criticized Beijing over the treatment of a Muslim minority.

Thank you again for joining us. It is shaping up to be a historic week in Washington. The full U.S. House is expected to vote on articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump. The House Judiciary Committee has just released a report detailing its arguments for impeachment stemming from the Ukraine scandal.

It says in part, "While there is no need for a crime to be proven in order for impeachment to be warranted, here, President Trump's scheme or course of conduct also encompassed other offenses, both constitutional and criminal and character, and it is appropriate for the committee to recognize such offenses in assessing the question of impeachment."

The Republicans spent a dissenting view writing this. "The majority's actions are unprecedented, unjustifiable, and will only dilute the significance of the dire recourse that is impeachment. The ramifications for future presidents are not difficult to surmise."

Sources say a vote by the full House could come Wednesday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more about it 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 generals of the state of Florida, who is devising 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, TRUMP ADVISER: 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 him. 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 a 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 involves subpoenaing documents -- four 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 there.

The White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, his senior adviser, Robert Blair, the former National Security adviser, John Bolton, as well as Michael Duffy, who is the Associate Director for National Security Programs.

He is one of those officials who actually signed off on several of the documents relating to that aid freeze of nearly $ 400 million dollars 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 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.

[02:04:59]

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)

ALLEN: Let's talk about the week ahead. I'm joined from England by Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a professor of government at the University of Essex. Natasha, thanks for coming in because it's going to be quite a week. Let's first focus on that Schumer letter to Mr. McConnell, requesting witnesses. What do you think the chances are of that happening?

NATSHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I think there's absolutely no chance of that happening. The Republicans have absolutely nothing to gain by this trial being long, by dragging on, by it involving more witnesses, and by allowing some of these documents to come forward.

What they want is for this trial to go as quickly as possible and then they can move on from this. Because the more people that are involved, for example, if they were able to get John Bolton to testify or Mick Mulvaney, none of these witnesses would be particularly good toward the president.

We've seen Mick Mulvaney at press conferences openly admit, oh yes, we do this all the time. This quid pro quo, this happens all the time, just get over it. I can't imagine how that would be good for the president to have Mick Mulvaney come forward to testify.

So I think that this is going to get voted down. And even if it was close as it's been already stated, Mitch McConnell would never let this happen. He's made it pretty clear that he's going to be coordinating very closely with the president.

ALLEN: Right.

LINDSTAEDT: And that they're going to ensure that this is not a fair trial. He didn't say that explicitly, but he said he wanted to just get this over and move forward. ALLEN: Right. That was going to be my next question because McConnell

has indicated he will be on the same team with the White House. We know that President Trump has his vision of how he wants this trial to go. But at the same time, senators took an oath to be impartial jurors in an impeachment trial. So does this make any sense?

LINDSTAEDT: No. I mean, it is violating his oath that he took, that judicial processes do need to be unbiased or impartial, but we're in a really new era here where partisan politics seems to trump everything, and it's really more about saving the tribe here.

And it's a very dangerous era for democracy because it really is eroding at our judicial process, the rule of law and so fort, because McConnell could not have been more honest about what is going to happen. It's going to be quick, as I already mentioned, and he's going to coordinate closely with Trump.

Now, this is somewhat different from the Clinton trial. We don't have that many historical cases to draw from, but there was more effort from the Senate at that time to have a fair process. There were some discussion amongst Republicans and Democrats about what the rules are going to be and they were trying to proceed with at least the perception that there was some sort of fair trial.

ALLEN: Right, there was some sort of agreement of how it will be carried out, not so this time, as you say, we're in a new era of polarization, so as well, is the American public.

I want to point to a new Fox News impeachment poll released Sunday, half of American voters want Donald Trump impeached and removed from office, 41 percent oppose impeachment, 4 percent say he should be impeached but not removed from office.

And again, that poll is from Fox News, who the president depends on for support. What do you read into?

LINSDTAEDT: Well, he already tweeted about it that Fox News needs to get new pollsters. He didn't like this particular poll. I mean, the polls aren't really good for the Democrats either, but you couldn't say that this is a good poll for Trump. You have 50 percent of the public saying that he needs to be removed.

But if you look a little bit deeper into the poll, it reveals the same thing that I keep saying, that it's just so polarized because you have 85 percent of Democrats, they want to remove him. A little bit of an increase to 45 percent of independents that are supportive of that.

And then you have 84 percent of Republicans that don't want him to be impeached. So there hasn't been much change here since October. A little bit more of the public supports impeachment if you go by that particular poll.

But the one thing that was one of the big headlines for Fox News was not the results of the poll, but the fact that his approval rating has gone up to 45 percent or two percentage points. And so there's a lot of different ways of looking at this but we just

haven't seen this whole impeachment inquiry move the public one way or another. And it apparently hasn't affected the way they feel about him.

ALLEN: Absolutely. All right, we will be watching to see the developments of this week. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you for your input. We appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

[02:10:00U]

ALLEN: Sure thing. Well, this week, the U.K. will start feeling the major political aftershocks following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's huge election win Thursday. There is speculation in British newspapers he might sack up to a third of his cabinet.

His first priority though as he had said throughout his campaign, get Brexit done. First 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.

And as you know, that is no easy task. He also 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 a party leader who wants an independent Scotland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: You 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 it 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 was out of the question for our generation.

In this general election, we have just seen what happens when politicians try to overturn a referendum result. And in the same way, we should respect the referendum results of 2014. Scotland is stronger in the United Kingdom. You can be proudly Scottish, and proudly British together.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

ALLEN: Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish National Party increased its share of Scottish seats in the Commons to 48 out of 49.

We turn now to North Korea, the U.S. envoy to North Korea is urging Pyongyang to resume denuclearization talks ahead of the year and deadline. Stephen Biegun met with South Korean officials in Seoul Monday and sent a clear message to North Korea. It is time to return to the negotiating table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN BIEGUN, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA: President Trump, President Moon and all of us who served them have worked hard to keep open the doors for negotiations with North Korea. It has been a long year and we have not made it nearly as much progress as we would've hoped.

But we will not give up. I have 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)

ALLEN: This comes just days after North Korea says it carried out another crucial test at a rocket launch site. And after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised to deliver a so-called Christmas gift to the United States.

Meantime, South Korean officials are now pushing to re-open a joint North and South Korean resort. They say it is the key to peace with North Korea, but the United States disagrees. Our Paula Hancocks reports from South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Mount Kumgang or Diamond Mountain. Its serene beauty belies the political turmoil that surrounds it.

At a half hour drive north of the DMZ, once 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 OF GANGWON PROVINCE: It's the door to North Korea.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): But the South Korean governor of this province, split in two by the DMZ says it is the key to keeping the increasingly fragile peace.

MOON-SOON: They are saying they will begin again, test of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile. So, we must have an exit plan. The exit plan is, I think, is the Mountain Kumgang. HAANCOCKS (voice-over): The tours were 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 a 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 is sure it will happen.

[02:15:02]

Tourism is exempt from U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea, but the U.S. believes it's too soon to re-open Kumgang. Washington has voiced concerns Pyongyang could use money from the resort to fund its nuclear and missile programs.

MOON-SOON: There were six times of summit meetings after Pyongyang Winter Olympic games, all of them -- each of them were gorgeous once, big smile big, big hand, big hook and promise, and then nothing. On the contrary, more sanction, more sanction. They are angry about it.

HANCOCKS: So this is the peace bell.

MOON-SOON: Yes.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Governor Choi Moon-Soon travelled to Washington last month to try and to convince Trump administration officials to re-open 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.

MOON-SOON: It is far from Pyongyang, far from Seoul, far from Washington. It is not political, it is only tourism, so it's the key.

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

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ALLEN: The longest U.N. climate talks on record end in disappointment. Next year, why the marathon in Madrid did not deliver the goods climate activists so hoped for.

Also ahead, political backlash, China pulling coverage of Sunday's Arsenal Manchester City match over one player's tweet. We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORTS)

[02:20:00] ALLEN: A disappointing end to gridlock talks. The U.N. Secretary General is calling their latest round of global climate talks a lost opportunity. The COP25 summit wrapped up Sunday in Madrid, where negotiators were supposed to hammer out the rules of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.

Instead, they hit a deadlock when a handful of major countries refuse to commit to bolder emissions targets. Those countries include Brazil, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, and the United States.

CNN's Arwa Damon spoke with young activist from some of the world's less powerful countries which are bearing the brunt of climate change because the local and national economies simply cannot cope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILDA NAKABUYE, CLIMATE ACTIVIST, UGANDA: You've been negotiating for the last 25 years, even before I was born.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hilda's generation does not deserve a crisis they did not create.

NAKABUYE: I'm the voice of the dying children, displaced women, and people suffering at the hands of climate crisis created by rich countries.

DAMON (voice-over): She's at the forefront of the climate crisis in her native Uganda, cleaning plastic filth out of Lake Victoria. When Hilda was just 10-years-old, the changing climate dried her family's crops. There was no water for the livestock.

NAKABUYE: We didn't have enough food. And then we started to sell off our property to survive. I missed three months without school, when other people were at school, so, I had to stay home because my parents could not afford it, and it's too much. And when you talk to people who are closing this and then they are not listening, and then it feels like you're wasting time.

DAMON (voice-over): Words the big polluters don't want to hear or are turning away from. Despite all of the signage declaring otherwise, these climate crisis negotiations, feel less like they are about saving the planet, and more like a battle between the haves and have not.

(on camera): Part of this really driven by the youth, by those populations whose communities are already feeling the effects of climate change. The security is trying to keep control of this situation, trying to break this up.

(voice-over) But they won't give up.

(on camera): How old are you here?

NKOSINATHI NYATHI, CLIMATE ACTIVIST, ZIMBABWE: Here I was 12. So this was my proof by then. (Inaudible).

DAMON: So people were listening to you when you were 12, like these clips and videos, you did, they made a difference?

NYATHI: Yes they did.

DAMON (voice-over): Nkosi got a UNICEF grant to get a biogas plant for his school to convert waste into energy. His trip to the conference was his first time on a plane to address halls a power.

NYATHI: I also know that the magnitude of the danger which is coming.

DAMON (voice-over): They heard his words but he feels like they didn't listen.

NYATHI: It hurts. It hurts. It actually hurts. I'm not actually seeing like real action on the ground. It's like a down, that's what I feel (inaudible), there is nothing which has been done.

DAMON (voice-over): Leaders are even getting a dressing down from those two small too small to reach the podium.

LICYPRIYA KANGUJAM, CLIMATE ACTIVIST, INDIA: This is not fair. Our leaders are just busy blaming each other instead of finding a long term solution.

DAMON (vice-over): Fourteen-year-old Mounir dreams of the stars. He wants to be a NASA scientist.

MOUNIR MBOGO, CLIMATE ACTIVIST, CHAD: If they really love us they should act right, now because the climate change probably should be taken seriously. It's not a joke. It's about future generations and our living on Earth.

DAMON (voice-over): It's the children who are the ones having grown up conversations.

NAKABUYE: I do this with all of my heart and with love for the coming generation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

DAMON (voice-over): Arwa Damon, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well let's talk about why there were no breakthroughs here with Shyla Raghav. She's vice president of climate change for the global strategy group, Conservation International. She was at the summit and joins me live from Madrid. Shyla thanks for being.

It's heartbreaking to hear these children and to hear their pleas and to see their tears.

[02:24:59]

However, the big holdout to getting results are the big polluters, Brazil, Australia, the U.S., China, Russia other major emitters. Why won't they do something? SHYLA RAGHAV, V.P. CLIMATE CHANGE, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: Thank

you Natalie for having me. I think it's really important to understand the context of why this COP is so important. We've heard a lot of supporters. This a COP that extended the longest of anyone.

It would -- final agreement we're going to reach until Sunday when it was supposed to end on Friday. It's the last year before the rule book for the Paris Agreement is meant to be finalized. We know that science also demands clear action by 2020. It's just really our deadline by which emissions would meet the peak.

And so, this was really a critical COP to reach key decisions on elements like trading rules between countries. And what we saw is that this COP really failed to amplify the indispensable rule of government to provide predictable signals to the market.

And to innovators, to go beyond voluntary action, but rather demand specific provisions on ambitions requiring countries or encouraging countries to increase their commitment, to support developing countries that are on the front lines of climate change, and ultimately agree to the rules that will allow countries to cooperate.

I think there was a lot of difficulty in reaching agreement because of some -- particularly contentious issues around finance, around double accounting of emissions rules, and ultimately it led to a race to the bottom.

ALLEN: It certainly did, and the issue here is, Shyla, that there are solutions. We could change it and they just don't seem to, as you heard the young people say, they don't seem to listen, the biggest countries, that have the money to make changes, and the changes, that we can make right there.

RAGHAV: Yes. And I think -- I'm from California and one of the things I've realized is that a failure is really only a failure if it doesn't compel learning.

And I think in this case even though we've seen a series of failures and international processes to deliver the scale of ambition action that is needed, I think that this experience really can and should per learning innovation, bringing together a multitude of ecosystem of actors from the finance sector, from innovation and from government to really create that holistic solution that is going to be needed.

And the issue that I work on is nature. It's bringing the indispensable role of nature and natural capitals to the climate solution which is readily available, but requires political will and financing to really be able to be sealed.

ALLEN: Yes, So I want to talk about pointing the finger at the United States. We have a president that makes fun of Greta Thunberg, that denies climate change.

In an opinion piece by Paul Krugman in the "New York Times" this week, it was titled, "The Party That Ruined The Planet" pointing to Republicans. You probably don't want to get in the political debate here, but there is huge denial still in the United States where you don't see it so much in other places. Is that because of partisan politics?

RAGHAV: I think it's unfortunate that we have to start every conversation reiterating and re-confirming that climate change is real. I think the science and the conversation is way beyond that point, and we really need to be dedicating and focusing our attention on the solutions that we know that are there and bringing more voices to the table.

I think that the Youth Climate Movement has really demonstrated the energy and the vitality and the potential of youth to lead. I think that we need to be there in the war with them, providing them with their support, the leverage and the coverage that they need, and to lead the way, to lead the path forward.

And I also draw so much inspiration and hope from the innovations and the solutions that I've seen. I was just in Silicon Valley and we saw firsthand how innovations in agriculture and supply chains and big data analytics are already starting to transform the way that we respond to climate, the way that we direct our financial capital.

So, I think that there is really a key need and a rule and an opportunity for non-state actors as it's called in (inaudible) which is really private sector, investors for communities, city, states to really rise up and bring those solutions from the bottom up as we look to the government to provide that predictability and rules from the top down.

[02:30:02]

ALLEN: Right. California, certainly a leader there and they're just going their way with solutions. Hopefully, others will follow because it just makes sense. Shyla Raghav with Conservation International, thanks so much for your input.

SHYLA RAGHAV, VICE PRESIDENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: Thank you for having me.

ALLEN: Sure thing. Next here, Arsenal fans in China were out of luck if they wanted to watch Sunday's match against Manchester City. Why this tweet from one of the players led state media in China to pull coverage of the game? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Sports and politics are clashing once again in China. This time, Chinese state T.V. pulled coverage of Sunday's Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City after Arsenal's midfielder Mesut Ozil posted social media messages criticizing China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs. The club has already begun distancing itself from the player's comments.

Let's get more about it from CNN's David Culver where he's live for us from Beijing. And I guess this is more evidence, David, that China just doesn't respect free speech.

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's certainly what's going to be portrayed by a lot of folks on the western side of things. It's interesting to look at social media here in China, Natalie, where they are very critical of the comments saying people need to know that there are ramifications for that freedom of expression and perhaps losing one of the most prized sports here, soccer football is one of those impacts.

What's interesting is the timeline here because all those may sound familiar because of what happened just two months ago, right, with the NBA facing a similar situation with China. Now, the timeline, on the days are concerned, you know, it was a Friday, it played out over the weekend. State media responded. In this case, they likewise pulled the broadcasting of a game. Social media responded.

What I'm curious about is what's going to happen today, because what's really underway at this hour is a press conference involving the foreign ministry. This is where we're going to see as a real indicator as to how China is going to characterize this going forward. Are they going to perhaps try to defuse this early on so that it doesn't ramp up to the extremely what's considered to be unnecessary tensions between the NBA and China or could this be further exacerbated? And it may come down to the topic here.

The issue with the NBA, Natalie, had to do with Hong Kong and the democracy protests that were going on there. This one is involving what some may consider a far more sensitive issue, the Xinjiang situation involving the Uighurs, the predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. The U.S. says some two million have been detained in what are considered to be internment camps.

China says that is not what's going on. They consider this to be a D radicalization of extremist efforts. They consider it to be counterterrorism. And so this has been a clash going on back and forth over the past several months, really. And so today is what we're going to be watching closely for. Of course, this foreign ministry press briefing that's underway, could be the indicator as to how China plans to portray all of this.

ALLEN: Right. Yes. And you mentioned the NBA. It's interesting that it's -- in this case, one player says something that wasn't about the team with the NBA, it was the coach for the Houston Rockets. And China went after the NBA. So it's one person yet China looks at it painting it with a much bigger brush.

CULVER: They are. And part of that, Natalie, is how the NBA initially responded. You'll recall when Daryl Morey put out that tweet, the NBA somewhat apologized for offending China. And that was likewise over the weekend. They faced backlash from the U.S. though. That's where fans of the U.S. said to the NBA, wait a minute, why don't you allow this freedom of expression to go forward? And that's when the NBA kind of changed course. They say they clarified their statement. And it became much more confrontational between the NBA and China. As of now, we haven't seen the backlash against Arsenal or really even

the English Premier League. So that could perhaps change things and defuse it as well. But if that comes and they feel like they need to likewise clarify the situation, perhaps this could rise to that extreme nearly severing of relationships between China and in this case, football.

ALLEN: All right, we'll wait and see what happens today. David Culver for us in Beijing, David, thank you. Still to come here, the protest rage on against a controversial citizenship law, a new law in India. The government says it's protecting religious minorities, critics say it's targeting Muslims.

Also, the public outcry is growing over India's rape culture, seven years after a brutal assault that shocked the nation.

[02:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Monday marks seven years since a crime that shocked and horrified the world, the torture, rape, and death of a 23-year-old student in India. A protest movement was born in the aftermath. And laws were changed but the culture that tolerates crimes against women has not. CNN's Anna Coren has our story. And we want you to know, we asked to interview government officials but none were made available.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A garland of Marigold draped the body of one of the latest victims of rape in India. The 23-year-old was set on fire by a gang of men, including two of her (INAUDIBLE) on her way to court to testify against them. Suffering burns on 90 percent of her body, she pleaded with doctors to save her so her attackers would face justice. She died a day later.

Sexual violence against women and girls is so prevalent in India, it's been described as a disease. A disease many thought the government and judicial system would have eradicated following the horrific case in 2012, involving a woman who become known as Nirbhaya that shocked and outraged the nation.

ASHA DEVI, MOTHER OF NIRBHAYA (through translator): I cannot express how painful it is these seven years, how much we've struggled on a mental level, the amounts of torture that I have dealt with.

COREN: Asha Devi is the mother of Nirbhaya which means fearless. The 23-year-old university students brutally gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi. Her attackers used a metal rod causing such severe internal injuries. She was flown to Singapore for specialist surgery, but died in hospital. Under Indian law, we cannot name or show a rape victim.

Most of her perpetrators were sentenced to death but remain on death row as an arduous appeals process goes through the courts.

DEVI (through translator): It is that pain that does not let me sit at home, does not let me sleep. So my daughter's struggle is my strength. These men must hang. They must be punished for the crimes.

COREN: The recent string of brutal rape attacks on girls and women in India have once again spoke protests across the country where according to the National Crime Records Bureau, around 100 rapes occur on average every day. Citizens are demanding the system protect India's daughters. They want more action by police who also lack resources and are accused of failing to enforce the law, to the courts that are overloaded with justice can take many years to arrive, if at all.

KARUNA NUNDY, SUPREME COURT LAWYER: The delay in the justice system and the fact that there isn't swift certain punishment means that if you rape, it's highly likely that you will get away with it.

But the activists Swati Maliwal, her main grievance with India's rape culture lies with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who she says has been resoundingly silent on this crisis.

SWATI MALIWAL, ACTIVIST: It's the sick mindset of the government which refuses to respond to the pain, and the cries, and the seeks of the women of this country. The owners of the rape is put on the girl. The victim becomes the most shamed and really a fact that the entire system starts raping her.

COREN: Some legal experts say India's patriarchal and the misogynistic breeds a sense of entitlement and impunity among Indian men. And unless this is addressed, India's rape crisis will continue.

[02:45:04]

NUNDY: Governance at the moment happens for a tiny sliver of man. For able-bodied, upper class, Hindu, rich, straight, men.

COREN: For Asha Devi, whose tragedy has brought her an audience with the country's most powerful man she refuses to be silenced or ignored. Dedicating her life to the girls and women whose country failed them.

My only purpose is to work against these crimes, raise my voice against these crimes, and above all, that Nirbhaya gets justice.

Anna Coren, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Now, to another controversy in India, Reuters news services reporting more than 100 activists were injured as they clashed with police in New Delhi on Sunday.

Officers used tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators at a major university. The protesters are rallying against a new Indian citizenship law as fears grow among India's 200 million Muslims that they soon could be classified as illegal immigrants.

Let's talk about it with journalists Vedika Sud, she joins me now with the latest from New Delhi. Vedika, hello to you. First up, what is behind this bill? Why was it enacted? VEDIKA SUD, NEWS ANCHOR, INDIA TODAY TELEVISION NETWORK: Well, according to the government, it's pretty clear what they wanted is that those communities, the non-Muslim minorities who have been persecuted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh be brought to India and the ones who've been residing in India before the Year 2015 get fast-tracked citizenship in the country.

Now, this in itself is where the controversy lies, Natalie. Because you have the Muslims of the country and they constitute 14 percent of India's population protesting against this act which was given alone by the president last week, and it became an act from a bill.

What they claim is why will we not get citizenship? The government claims that only attempt is to help those people who've been trying to get citizenship in India, of course, non-Muslims there. Because they gather from what they've been claiming, and here is what we also gather from what they've been saying is that as far as the Muslims are concerned, they have these three Islamic nations to go back to.

And they can be safe and sound there as far as the other non-Muslim communities are concerned who have been persecuted over the years, they need refuge in a stable India. And that's why they've been fast- tracking the citizenship of these people.

This, of course, has not only led to protests in northeast India. Now, it's coming down to north India as well. As well as other parts of the country. I've just heard from the police as well in Bengaluru, where they claim that there are peaceful protests taking place at a university ground there as well.

As far as the standoff in a Delhi University is concern, it is a minority university. There were clashes that were witnessed yesterday between the police and protesters all of them were not from the university as far as the protesters are concerned. There were others who join that protest. It turned violent.

Now, we're hearing from the university, they claim about 200 of their students have been injured, some of them were detained. The official figure we have is 51, they were released later. But this is just the beginning of these protests as far as students are concerned.

We saw the students (INAUDIBLE) protesting. We're seeing Delhi students' protests, and we will see other cities take up the cause for the Muslims as well across the country.

ALLEN: Right, they are clearly indicating concern this bill and the safety of Muslims. What is the concern there?

SUD: Well, the concern is that they are being discriminated against, they are being sidelined, and this is something that activists, as well as students, have been taking up as a cause on the streets of India, especially in the Northeast as well as in Delhi.

They claim there's discrimination against Muslims as far as the Citizenship Amendment Act is concerned. We've had the prime minister speak out, he's attempted to allay the fears of the Northeast. He's attempted to allay the fears of the Muslims. About three days ago, he did speak in a rally where he said whoever is a citizen of India, remains a citizen of India, you don't have to worry about your citizenship.

But there are Muslims, of course, who've come from across these three con countries to India and resided here before 2015. So, the question as far as they are concerned to the government is where do we go?

[02:49:35]

ALLEN: Vedika Sud, for us there in New Delhi. We'll continue to follow it, of course. Thanks so much for your reporting.

The climate crisis sparked a battle of wits as the U.S. President Donald Trump takes aim at a teenage activist who's been emboldening the world. Who's winning in this? We'll have a report next.

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ALLEN: 16-year-old climate activists, would think you know her by now, Greta Thunberg is trending again. Not because she inspired millions to protest global inaction or because she's been named Time magazine's Person of the Year. it is her clap back against U.S. President Trump's tweets against her.

Here is our report from Jeanne Moos.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's one thing for a comedian to joke about 16-year-old climate activists Greta Thunberg being named Time's Person of the Year.

SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC: When asked what she thought about Time, Thunberg said we probably have about five, six years left.

MOOS: And it's another thing when President Trump goes after her.

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, THE VIEW, ABC: This is his tweet, so ridiculous. "Greta must work on her anger management problem." 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?" Thunder 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."

[02:55:05]

MOOS: One fan compared Greta Thunberg in a war of wits with Donald J. Trump to shooting fish in a barrel, after her September climate speech at the U.N. GRETA THUNBERG, STUDENT AND CLIMATE ACTIVIST: You have stolen my dreams, my childhood with your empty words.

MOOS: President Trump tweeted, "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future." She then made that her bio.

Just the other day, Melania Trump went after an impeachment expert for mentioning that Trump's 13-year-old.

PAMELA KARLAN, PROFESSOR, STANDFORD UNIVERSITY: So, while the president can name his son Baron, he can't make him a baron.

MOOS: Now, so many critics are noting the irony of President Trump mocking a teen. But the first lady's anti-bullying campaign BeBest started to trend.

Things came to a head when President Trump's campaign war room literally used his head, leaving critics shaking their heads. Over this, the president's head photoshopped on Greta's body.

President Trump used to like to ask the question --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Would you rather see a 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: Way to go, Greta.

Thank you for joining us. Please stay with us though, I'll be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM right after this.

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