Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. House Set To Hold Historic Vote; McConnell Rejects Democrats Request For Testimony; Protest Rage Across Country For Sixth Day; Australia Endures Its Hottest Day On Record; Pakistan's Former President Sentenced To Death; Articles of Impeachment; Pope Francis Lifts Secrecy Rules for Sexual Abuse Cases; Outrage in China after Arsenal Football Star Speaks Up for Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 18, 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]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: -- the eve of his likely impeachment. He went into fall victim rant mode. In a rambling six- page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump cut loose, think stream of consciousness meets the President's Twitter feed. He was the victim of an attempted coup. He was the innocent victim of hateful Democrats. And he warned come the 2020 election, they would regret.

This because Americans, he wrote, "will not soon forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power." In Donald Trump's world, he wrote, "More due process was afforded to those accused of the Salem witch trials." And he writes that "Nancy Pelosi was offending Americans of faith by continually saying pray for the President, but you know, this statement is not true, unless it's meant in a negative sense."

Nancy Pelosi seemed reluctant to comment saying she'd been too busy to read that letter, but knew enough about it to call it really sick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your reaction to the President's letter?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): (INAUDIBLE) reaction. It's ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have reaction? Why not?

PELOSI: Well, I mean, I haven't fully read it. We've been working. I've seen essence of it, though, and it's really sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And the House Speaker sent a letter of her own to Democratic colleagues. She reminded them that the oath banks as custodians of the Constitution. If we do not act we will be derelict. And while Donald Trump was raging, the business of impeachment was running forward, with the House Rules Committee outlining the procedure for Wednesday's impeachment vote, which includes six hours of debate equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. CNN, Alex Marquardt has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a day where we're going to disagree and disagree very strongly.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Partisan divide on full display on the eve of just the third vote in history to impeach a president. The ground rules being set by a House panel for today's final vote.

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Now it's up to us to decide whether the United States is still a nation where no one is above the law.

MARQUARDT: Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, Representative of the House Judiciary majority arguing that the President has been unrepentant.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): We believe this country is impeachable and should never take place again under our constitutional system. He believes his conduct is perfect, and we know, therefore, that it will take place again and again.

MARQUARDT: While House Judiciary Republicans, Representative Ranking Member Doug Collins held the line for the president.

REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): The clear and present danger right now in this room is the pattern of attack and abuse of rules and decisions to get at this president.

MARQUARDT: A new CNN average of recent polls shows that Americans are split on impeaching and removing the president by a narrow margin more oppose it. All of this setting the scene for the Senate trial to come with leadership contentiously disagreeing on the Senate floor over what the trial should look like.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shooting down the Democrats' proposal which called for more high profile Trump administration witnesses.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The House Democrats' case is this deficient, this thin. The answer is not for the judge and jury to cure it over here in the Senate. The answer is the House should not impeach on this basis in the first place.

MARQUARDT: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had requested subpoenas for among others, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and the former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): What is Leader McConnell afraid of? What is President Trump afraid of, the truth? But the American people want the truth.

MARQUARDT: For Schumer, to win this argument, he needs four Republican senators to vote with Democrats, but so far the eight moderate Republicans in Schumer's sights are showing little signs of defecting.

SEN.MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I've been talking to colleagues, listening to the leadership and giving it a great deal of thought.

MARQUARDT: So Schumer and McConnell are no closer now to agreeing to how this historic trial will look when it's expected to start in just a few weeks. After speaking on the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer is saying that McConnell is using the Senate to participate in what he called a cover-up, while McConnell told reporters that because this is a political process, he does not intend to be an impartial juror at all. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Presidential historian and distinguished professor of history at the American University Alan Lichtman joins us now from Washington. Professor, thank you for coming back. It is good to see you.

ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Same.

VAUSE: When it comes to all of this, when it's all said and done, you predicted that Trump would win the election. You predicted that Trump would be impeached. So now look into the future. If this all goes according to plan. Trump is impeached by the House, he gets acquitted by the Senate, we hit 2020 in November, who benefits the most from this impeachment? Does Donald Trump get that case if they'd be after me forever, it's a witch hunt, I'm persecuted, vote for me or the Democrats benefit from this?

LICHTMAN: Well, the history of impeachment is that it's not a happy event for the party of the president. Every president who has been impeach, not have been convicted by this Senate, and Richard Nixon who resigned to avoid impeachment. In each case, their party lost the next presidential election.

Andrew Johnson's Democrats lost in 1868. By the way, he was impeached and tried in an election year. Richard Nixon's Republicans, of course, lost in 1976. And Bill Clinton's Democrats loss in 2000 in an election they otherwise could easily have one at a time of peace, prosperity, and domestic and foreign tranquility.

So impeachment on my system of (INAUDIBLE) to the White House that's been correct since 1984 is one mark against the president and his party. But as he's impeached, and impeachment alone and the scandal that it involves is not enough right now to defeat Donald Trump.

[01:05:54]

VAUSE: So that was mind. It is important that while the Democrats may have made a legal argument that the actions of the Presidents rise to level of impeachment and removal from office, it seems they have not won that case with the American public because the opinion polls have sort of flat line. The country remains evenly divided. And since this has a series of public hearings, and it's been out there for the public to see, some opinion polls have shown important support for impeachment has declined. LICHTMAN: Well, it's been pretty much steady somewhere around the

high 40, 50 percent, which by the way, is 20 points higher than the high point on public sentiment to impeach Bill Clinton and the Republicans went ahead and did it. I've always thought that the time in which the public mind might be changed is not in the House hearings, but in the Senate trial. People will follow the Senate trial fully. The third time happened in U.S. history.

That's why Mitch McConnell and other Republicans are so desperate not to have a real trial. And they've made the most absurd argument that all the evidence could be out in the charging stop, the indictment stop. The articles are not in the trial. When does that ever happened that American viewers (INAUDIBLE)?

Of course, witnesses and documents and evidence is presented in a trial. Plus, Republicans have given us a so-called fact pointing to the ultimate and circular reasoning. They claim well, the Democrats' case against Trump this week, because they don't have many witnesses in direct contact with the President. But of course, we're not going to let you hear Trump. Any witnesses in direct contact with the president, like Acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney or former National Security Adviser Bolton.

VAUSE: Let's listen to the leader of the Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on precisely on those issues you've been talking about on the trial which, you know, does that as if it will be very favorable for the President to say the least. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: I think we're going to get an almost entirely partisan impeachment. I would anticipate and almost entirely partisan outcome in the Senate as well.

I'm not an impartial juror. This is a political process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: If this is a trial, I mean, McConnell would be forced to recuse himself, wouldn't he?

LICHTMAN: He would be booted out by the judge faster than you could say Andrew Johnson. He is fundamentally wrong about impeachment. Impeachment is a constitutional process. It stands equally with election as a way of deciding who should be president.

And the Framers put impeachment on an equal footing into the constitution as a legal, peaceful, and orderly means for dealing with a rogue president as opposed to the remedies of the ancient century, assassination or revolution.

And they fully expected a real trial in the Senate, and they put it in the Senate because they expected senators to be man in their own -- man at that time of wisdom and circumspection, who didn't face electing first two years, who are not elected directly by the people, (INAUDIBLE) but by the state legislators in those days. And they expected the Senate to be impartial, nonpartisan and have a

real trial. It's a travesty what McConnell has said. He knows nothing about the constitution and nothing about history or only cares about partisan advantage.

VAUSE: We're almost out of time, but I want to go back to this first question, one of the first questions I asked about, Democrats is failing to make the case to win over the public. Is that testimony to this smokescreen and the muddying of the waters and the confusion which we've heard from Donald Trump and from the Republicans for the last couple of months?

LICHTMAN: It's been very effective what Trump does really well and his Republican factors have picked up on it is distraction and deflect. And that's what the Republican tactics have been all about. Complain about process, falsely say an impeachment even though it is constitutional status is the cancellation of an elective, say the Democrats have always wanted to impeach even though Nancy Pelosi, the leader, has stoutly resisted impeachment. And then blame it on everyone, but the president. It wasn't anyone but the president who started to shake down a vulnerable ally to help them cheat in the election.

Go back to what President Clinton said during his impeachment. He said I was wrong, and I apologize to the American people. You know, I have real remorse for what I did. Trump takes responsibility for nothing. It's always someone else's fault. And the crimes he committed in the Ukraine, it's going on right now even as we speak here.

His personal attorney at his direction is collaborating with the most corrupt, disreputable elements in the Ukraine to cheat in the 2020 election. The Republican thought that the dossier compiled by Christopher Steele using Russian story was the crime of the century. But what Giuliani is doing in Ukraine is ten times worse.

He's not just compiling information, he is collaborating with the corrupt elements in Ukraine and promoting corruption in the Ukraine and the U.S.

VAUSE: Play dead. It's hard to think about it. Professor Allan Lichtman, thank you for being with us. Good to see.

LICHTMAN: My pleasure, John. Take care.

VAUSE: And two sources have told CNN the top U.S. diplomats in Ukraine will be stepping down in the coming weeks. Bill Taylor was a key witness to the House impeachment inquiry, and he was labeled by the president as it never-Trumper. Taylor came out of retirement early this year to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine after the former ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch was ousted. Taylor's appointment is scheduled to end early January.

To India now where troops have been deployed to more than a dozen cities to fight a week of unrest which has seen tens of thousands on the streets, angry over a new citizenship law which discriminates against Muslims. As the violence escalates, officials have ordered a curfew and internet shut down in some parts of the country.

Police have been accused of committing state-sponsored violence on one university campus during clashes with students. Those students now seem to taking the lead in these protests. Sam Kiley is a New Delhi. He joins us now live with the very latest. And Sam, there's been especially harsh and brutal response by the police to these protests. Has that been a major factor in fueling the unrest across the country?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly has been a significant fact I think in energizing the demonstrations here in Delhi. Elsewhere in the country, it's been much harder to get a handle on what exactly has been going on because there are indeed as you observed there in the introduction localized internet blackout. So information about what's happened for example, in particularly are the predominantly Muslim universities has been very hard to establish and that's collapsed into the realms of rumor.

But what we have seen with our own eyes here in Delhi is the students have been joined by demonstrators, large numbers of women, large numbers of young students, pre-university students and older people in demonstrations that swell during the day. A lot of anger directed towards the Indian state over the violence at the main Muslim University or Islamic University here in Delhi last Sunday, which resulted in a number of injuries on to students indeed. The raid on the university library by police using tear gas and the alleged beating of at least one disabled student.

In that context, there is a great sense of unease about opponents of this act across the country, that perhaps this represents a drift towards further authoritarianism by Prime Minister Modi, who has let's remind ourselves been democratically elected, and elected in a landslide on a Hindu nationalist platform earlier on this year, John.

VAUSE: Is there a sign that Modi and the government is willing to back down even though, you know, this citizenship law passed both houses of parliament quite easily, but are they willing to sit down and take some of the heat out of these protests?

KILEY: All of the evidence is quite the reverse, actually, John. The interior minister yesterday insisting and he's right in a technical level that this act that was passed relates only to migrants to the country from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It allows them to apply for Indian nationality.

Now, of course, you can't do that under the legislation if you're a Muslim, but he's saying it would regularize the status of what he calls refugees. And he repeated his commitment to continue on that track. There is a challenge that is going forward in the Supreme Court. The argument on the opposition side being that this act violates the fundamental secular traditions of the Indian constitution, and indeed, is unequal because it discriminates against Muslims.

[01:15:07]

And so there is a hope from the opposition perspective that they could win in the Supreme Court. But no sign at all of any kind of dialing down of the commitment from the government, which, as you rightly point out, is already passed this act through two houses of the legislature, John.

VAUSE: And, Sam, as is often the case, what starts out as a protest, you know, on one particular issue this is (INAUDIBLE) here in India often grows into a widespread demonstration or protests covering a number of grievances. That seems to be the case with the these protests now, especially with the element of the university students taking part.

KILEY: Yes. Excuse me. I think that what they see is the CAA, the Citizenship Amendment Act, an innocuous sounding piece of legislation that doesn't even relate to citizens of India, but what it is part of as you observed there are hint out there, John, is a much wider drift of anxiety within, not only the non-Hindu population here in India, but the many Hindu liberals, too, who are anxious, particularly saying the traditional Congress Party, anxious that India is losing its secular nature. Then this -- therefore, the demonstrations that we've seen that are technically against this one act actually refer much more widely against concern about a registration process that was conducted in Assam that is been accused of discriminating against refugees more widely.

And also, the sort of greater level of Indian control has now been imposed on Kashmir, now over several months itself. And Muslim, predominantly Muslim area, of course, contested area -- Pakistan has also laid claim to it, where there's been an internet blackout now for several months. All of these things combining into fueling these protests. There's no sign, really, that these protests are going away, at least not in the short term, John.

VAUSE: OK, Sam, thank you. Appreciate the update, the analysis. Sam Kiley live for us, bringing some of that Delhi air and getting through just. Thanks, Sam.

Well, Australia's long, hot summer of discontent about to get hotter, really hot. Record breaking temperature hot. Details in a moment. Also ahead, guilty of treason and sentenced to death. The verdict is in for Pakistan's former President, Pervez Musharraf.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: It is "WEATHER WATCH" time for the Americas. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. And we're going to see some sunny skies across the Gulf Coast states at the expense of very cold air here, as a massive area of cold air filters off towards the east. And with it, of course, some like enhanced snow showers to be had. A clipper system dives in, quick shot of snow showers across this region.

And then beyond this, we change the pattern up a little bit and bring in much, much colder temperatures, at least for the next couple of days. The trend, though, expected to moderate back out here going over, say, Friday, Saturday into Sunday, which by the way, Saturday is the first day of the winter season across the northern hemisphere. But notice the trend, Minneapolis nine below to eventually three

above. Chicago, from six below climbs back up to six above to usher in the first day of winter. And New York City also kind of going up and down over the next several days from right above the freezing mark to just below it. And then, eventually climbing up into about eight degrees or so, which is above average for this time of year for that region of the United States. San Francisco, showers possible, 13 degrees. Dallas, Texas, a cool but comfortable day at 15 with sunny skies.

And then, the tropics watching a few thunderstorms across this region. 30 degrees in Kingston, San Juan into Puerto Rico looking at sunny skies. Temps there also around 30 degrees. And you'll notice some showers and thunderstorms possible across the Yucatan, as a system disturb -- a disturbance skirts off towards the east across that region. Down towards Paranam (ph) looking at the upper 20s, and cloudy conditions in Bogota about 20 degrees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: An already scorching hot summer in Australia is moving from blistering to searing. According to early day Tuesday may have set a new record for the hottest day ever on record. That's the maximum national temperature averaging out at 40.9 degrees Celsius. Queensland Police are warning of the dangers that come with extremely hot weather tweeting a GIF of the Star Wars baby Yoda character, and adding this, "It's hotter than a baby Yoda in the toy store today. Stay cool and hydrated." I don't like Baby Yoda. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is with us. So, yes, but there is a lot of sense and obviously, you know, staying out of the hot weather and trying to stay cool.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely. And you know, the longevity of it, of course, makes it that much more dangerous, as your body's mechanism to cool off begins to break down after so many days, John, I've seen these extreme temperatures. But of course, the fire weather certainly hasn't helped out with the gusty winds we've had. And of course, the expansive nature of all of this from the west towards the east, John, just told you, the 40.9 degrees Celsius temperature for a nation as a whole, all-time hottest ever observed. And guess what, as we go into this afternoon and this evening, a 41 potential exists here as we wait for all of the numbers to be tallied when it comes to the average across the continent.

Look at Birdsville, current temperature just a few notches shy of 50 degrees. And just a little to the south and the west of that region up to 44. Alice Springs sits into the middle 40s. Even Adelaide where the 20s are what is expected this time of year, a 40-degree afternoon is currently what is being felt across this region. And that extreme heat right there in the middle 40s, that is all going to expand a little farther towards the east. And really important to note, when it comes to heat, much like a lot of other areas in the world, including the United States, Australia, heat waves are the number one weather killer, they come ahead of cyclones. So, you have cyclones, and certainly, tornadoes get a lot of attention when it comes to the world of weather, but it is heat waves that take the most lives in many places around the world, and Australia certainly is one of them.

So, we'll watch this here carefully because the ridge will gradually shift on over portions to the east. With it, the heat really begins to culminate and reaches its maximum, sometime within the next couple of days, over portions of New South Wales, certainly onto Victoria, as well. And then notice, of course, in New South Wales, we have over 100 active fires, about half of which that are still uncontained. This is a number that is now twice as much as it was this time yesterday. So, we know the situation's not getting better anytime soon. And of course, when you look at a forecast of 37 degrees, which sits right around 100 degrees Fahrenheit there with very windy conditions on Thursday, that is very concerning across this region.

So, look at the forecast here. We get the winds that come in, temps shoot up to the upper 30s. By Friday, we get a little bit of a drop here as the winds shift and become more of a marine influence. And then, by Saturday, you go right back up again, John, where the middle 30s are slated. So, going to be a dangerous go here. And again, it was a historic day on Tuesday across Australia with that 40.9, and it could even be hotter for today and even potentially tomorrow, as well, John.

VAUSE: Yes, it just gets to the point where it's hot and it just never seemed to end. Thanks, Pedram, appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: It's too much.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Well, accorded Pakistan has sentenced the former president Pervez Musharraf to death in absentia. Musharraf was found guilty of unlawfully declaring emergency rule while he was in power. Notably, this is the first time an army chief has been tried and found guilty of treason in Pakistan. CNN's Nic Robertson has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's not the first time Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf is judged on the wrong side of the law.

Good morning. How are you?

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: Good morning. How are you?

ROBERTSON: Very good. Thank you very much.

This is 2013. He was under house arrest, charged for his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Barred from running in elections.

[01:25:10]

MUSHARRAF: My lawyers are appearing and appealing on all the rejection. They are all absolutely frivolous. ROBERTSON: He remains a fugitive in that case. Now, Pakistan's High

Court has ruled on five counts of treason, sentencing the failed military ruler to death for overturning Pakistan's constitution in 2007. Musharraf had come to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Musharraf became president two years later. In 2007, he declared a state of emergency in an attempt to extend his grip on power. Pakistan's High Court has now ruled that was illegal. Two of the three judges saying he should pay with his life. The catch, however, Musharraf is currently in self-imposed exile in Dubai. And therefore, unlikely to be executed. When I met him under house arrest in 2013, he just come back from exile in London to run in the national elections. He was convinced he was popular.

MUSHARRAF: Anyone who thinks that I don't have support, I totally disagree. Please go down to the streets. Go to the markets and streets of Islamabad. Go and ask them, go and ask people, what do the common man think.

ROBERTSON: Today, the stakes are higher. Musharraf older, may be wiser. His lawyer, not for the first time, rejecting the charges.

AKHTAR SHAH, ATTORNEY FOR PERVEZ MUSHARRAF: I say this complaint is false, this complaint is wrong. It was just to victimize him.

ROBERTSON: And while Musharraf may not return to fight the conviction, Pakistan's powerful military may take up his case, saying the ruling "has been received with a lot of pain." "That due legal process seems to have been ignored." This is the first time a former military chief or president has been found guilty of treason. In the arc of Pakistan short, turbulent history, Musharraf's role center stage help define its antagonistic post 9/11 relationship with the United States. Trust between the two nations remains poor. And with it, U.S. policy in the region mired in part by a former general, now on the run from the law again. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Law school is in after the break. Time to brush up on the U.S. Constitution. First lesson, impeachment is not removal from office. Also ahead, Pope Francis has lifted the Vatican's secrecy rules on sexual abuse cases. What this means for survivors just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:28]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody.

I'm John Vause with an update of our top news this hour.

For a sixth day, thousands of demonstrators protested India's Citizenship Law. Police fired shots in the air and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Protesters say the new law is anti Muslim. The government insists it is trying to protect persecuted minorities and will not back down. There is no end in sight for Australia's blistering heat wave. Tuesday's national average temperature, 40.9 degrees Celsius -- a new record. And that's making -- complicating efforts to fight bush fires, more than a hundred active places now burning across the state of New South Wales.

The U.S. House is set for six hours of debate Wednesday ahead of an impeachment vote. President Trump outlined his many impeachment objections in a scathing letter to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. He slammed the impeachment process and accused Democrats of violating their oath of office.

On the eve of this House impeachment vote, protesters gathered in New York, chanting "No one is above the law". There was a similar scene in dozens of American cities -- protesters calling for Trumps impeachment.

If you thought impeachment meant the U.S. president would be removed from office, you would be wrong. But you're in good company -- a lot of people think that.

Impeachment is more like an indictment in a criminal case.

CNN's Cyril Vanier explains what is next in the impeachment process. It's kind of like impeachment for dummies. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump is facing two articles of impeachment or two charges -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

On Wednesday the House of representatives will vote to decide whether to formally level those charges. And there is no suspense anymore about this. Democrats have a majority in the House and they are expected to approve the articles of impeachment.

At that point, Mr. Trump will be considered impeached. However, and this is often the misunderstood part, he will stay in office awaiting a trial which will be held in the Senate, probably next month. And that trial will ultimately decide whether Mr. Trump remains president or not.

Crucially, the Senate is controlled by Mr. Trump's Republican allies.

SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Everything I do during this I am coordinating with White House counsel. There will be no difference between the President's position and our position. There is no chance the President is going to be removed from office.

VANIER: Here is what we know about the Senate trial. The chief U.S. Supreme Court justice preside, that's one thing. Lawmakers, that's another, selected by the House present a case to the senators who essentially here act as jurors. And the senators then vote on whether to oust the President. This is a very high bar to meet. You need a two-thirds majority to make a conviction. That is 67 senators. And in this political climate, that is extremely unlikely.

Things about the trial that we don't know now. Whether or not the President will actually show up. How long the trial might last. What evidence can be presented. And who, if anyone, would be allowed to testify.

Republicans are leaning toward a quick trial and they might even skip witness testimony altogether.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I don't want to call anybody. This thing will come to the Senate, and it will die quickly. And I will do everything I can to make it DIE quickly.

[01:34:54]

VANIER: Well, be that as it may, Democrats actually want to bring in key witnesses. Those include the President's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and his former national security adviser John Bolton.

SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Trials have witnesses. That is what trials are all about. These people know better than anybody else the facts. There is no reason on God's green earth why they shouldn't be called and testify, unless you are afraid of what they might say.

VANIER: So if you take a big step back, what does this sweep of history teaches? Does it hold any lessons? Well, find of.

Three presidents before Trump have faced impeachment. Two were impeached by the House. Andrew Johnson in the 19th century and Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Both of them were then acquitted by the Senate and kept their jobs. One, Richard Nixon, resigned before his proceedings ended.

But all three previous presidents who have faced impeachment saw their parties lose the White House in the following election.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Cyril -- thank you.

And we'll have special coverage of Wednesday's historic House vote. It starts at 1 pm in London. You will see it early here on CNN -- all the analysis, and all the post and pre-game analysis from all of our commentators.

Now, moving on to the Catholic Church and a big shift. Pope Francis has ended a controversial practice which critics say protects sexual abuses.

CNN's Delia Gallagher has more now from Rome. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis' new law abolishes pontifical secrecy in cases of sexual abuse. Pontifical secrecy is the highest level of confidentiality in the Catholic Church. It is used at the Vatican for a number of things.

But with sexual abuse it had been used as an excuse not to hand over documents to civil authorities, for example. Or not to communicate with victims about the status of their cases.

It was highly criticized at the February meeting in the Vatican on sexual abuse by cardinals and by other Vatican officials as not being in line with their efforts at transparency. And those discussions may have played into Francis' decision on Tuesday to abolish pontifical secrecy for sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse survivor groups greeted the news as a step long overdue. They said one prominent Chilean survivor, Juan Carlos Cruz, tweeted that it was the end of the circus of secrecy and obscurity.

Pope Francis also raised the age limit for child pornography. It is a crime to possess or use child pornography in the Vatican or by Vatican officials. And the age limit had previously been 14. The Pope on Tuesday raised that to 18.

Delia Gallagher -- Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, they're now burning jerseys in China, where fans of footballer Mesut Ozil are not ready to forgive and forget, after the Arsenal star voiced for minority Muslims in the north of the country. A report from Beijing in just a moment.

[01:38:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Arsenal's Mesut Ozil is learning there is a high price to be paid for criticizing China. He tweeted about the treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang Province, the Uyghurs. And that was on social media and that set off a storm and now they're burning his jerseys.

CNN's David Culver reports from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Chinese social media, video show people setting Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil's jersey on fire. The heated reaction sparked by a tweet.

In it Ozil, who is Muslim, criticized China for its mass detention of Uyghurs. China's accused of harshly suppressing the predominantly Muslim ethnic minority. The government has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations, saying they're conducting counter-terrorism efforts.

Following Ozil's comments, Chinese state media pulled Sunday's Arsenal match from airing in China, a move that provoked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to tweet Tuesday, quote, "China's Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor Mesut Ozil and Arsenal's games all season long, but the truth will prevail." Adding that China quote, "can't hide its gross human rights violations".

At a news conference Monday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said Ozil has been quote, "blinded by some fake news" and invited him to visit to see for himself.

YAN QIANG, SPORTS ANALYST: At that moment, on that (INAUDIBLE) Friday night, I thought it might be the end of Arsenal in China.

CULVER: Yan Qiang is an independent Chinese sports analyst and an Arsenal fan.

QIANG: My first response at that moment was that Arsenal should fire him.

CULVER: He should be fired.

QIANG: Yes. Or at least (INAUDIBLE).

CULVER: Arsenal was quick to distance itself from Ozil, saying his posts represent his personal views, not the club's -- a position that could help salvage its multimillion dollar relationship with China.

CULVER: What role do you think money has in this market?

QIANG: These leagues, they heavily rely on this massive market for their future growth.

CULVER: European football has a strong and powerful following in China. President Xi Jinping himself, a big fan. Beijing locals often gather at pubs like this one to watch the matches.

Cherry Gao (ph) supported team Arsenal for nearly two decades. Ozil's comments disappointing for her.

CHERYY GAO (PH), ARSENAL FAN: Yes. I'm so hurt. I just got a jersey for my son, with his name on it. So bad.

CULVER: What's going to happen to that jersey?

GAO: Burn it.

CULVER: Really?

GAO: Yes. Of course. I cannot keep it.

CULVER: This is the second time in as many months a major sports franchise has clashed with China. In October, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted support for the Hong Kong protesters. The fallout nearly severed the NBA's ties with China and spiraled into a geopolitical crisis.

But Gao (ph) is hopeful that her beloved Arsenal can still survive this.

Do you still love the team?

GAO: Yes, I do. Always Arsenal.

CULVER: Chinese fans once again forced (ph) to balance love of country versus love of the game.

David Culver, CNN -- Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up next.

[01:43:19]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END