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Trump Slams Impeachment Process in Letter to Pelosi; Indian Police Ban Large Gatherings Amid Protests; Australia Breaks Record with National Average 40.9 Degree Celsius; Officials Surveillance Vessel Operating In Unsafe Manner; Estonian President Apologizes To Finland; House Panel Sets Rules for Impeachment Debate; Trump's Scorching Letter to Pelosi; Escalating Situation for Muslims in India; Australia's Hottest Day on Record; Arsenal Star Speaks Up for Muslim Uyghurs. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 18, 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]
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NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello everyone, I'm Nick Watt and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio 7 here at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour, Donald Trump's angry rant, just before he is expected to go down in history as only the third U.S. president ever to be impeached.
Wildfires rage and records fall as Australia burns through the hottest day in her history.
And a new report predicts women will eventually be paid as much as men, only it might take nearly another 100 years to get there.
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WATT: In the coming hours U.S. lawmakers are expected to make history, voting to impeach U.S. president Donald Trump for abusing his power and obstructing Congress. It is very likely the Democrat-led body will make Mr. Trump only the third U.S. president in 240 years to be impeached.
On the eve of the vote, protesters across the U.S. took to the streets to decry their president.
In New York, they chanted, "No one is above the law" and "This is what democracy looks like."
President Trump sees this as a declaration of war on democracy, an attack on himself and his wonderful, loving family, an attack on what he calls the great election of 2016. He takes zero responsibility for the impeachment, blames it all on the Democrats, who he claims revile America's voters and detest her constitutional order. CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One day away from impeachment, President Trump is coming out swinging, ripping into Democrats and refusing to take any responsibility for his historic predicament as he told CNN in the Oval Office.
(on camera) Do you take any responsibility for the fact that you're about to be impeached?
TRUMP: No. I don't take any -- zero, to put it mildly. They took a perfect phone call that I had with the president of Ukraine, an absolutely perfect call. You know it. They all know it. Nothing was said wrong in that call. To impeach the president of the United States for that is a disgrace and it's a mark on our country.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The president fired off a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that's dripping with raw anger and placing the blame on Democrats, writing, "This is nothing more than an illegal partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. History will judge you harshly as you proceed with this impeachment charade." Adding, "Voters will not forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power."
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time.
ACOSTA: The president also dismissed Pelosi's recent comment that she prays for Mr. Trump, remarking, "You are offending Americans of faith by continually saying 'I pray for the president,' when you know the statement is not true, unless it is meant in a negative sense." Trump writes in a letter adding, "It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, not I." The president sounded just as disgusted in the Oval Office about the impeachment vote that's coming.
TRUMP: I'm not watching. I haven't -- I'm not seeing it. What did it say, a hoax. The whole impeachment thing is a hoax. We look forward to getting on to the Senate. We're not entitled to lawyers. We're not entitled to witnesses. We're not entitled to anything in the House.
ACOSTA: While the president is venting his frustrations, he appears to be backing off of his demand that Republicans call witnesses like Hunter Biden once the impeachment fight moves from the House to the Senate. Mr. Trump told reporters he will leave the issue of witnesses to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
TRUMP: I believe the Senate is equally as well united. I watched Mitch McConnell this morning. I watched numerous people last night, senators. And I think we're equally well united. They know it's a hoax, it's a witch hunt.
ACOSTA: McConnell is channeling the conventional wisdom taking hold in the Senate that a longer more unpredictable trial could backfire against the president. SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): If it ends up in the Senate, we certainly do not need jurors to start brainstorming witnesses -- witness lists for the prosecution and demanding to lock them in before we even heard opening arguments.
ACOSTA: Despite all of the president's fury, he allowed his aides to shout over our follow up questions.
(on camera) What do you say to Americans who believe you abuse the power of your office?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jim, we're done. That's enough.
[02:05:00]
ACOSTA: The president sounded hopeful that the Senate would hold a vote on his new trade deal with Canada and Mexico before an impeachment trial but that may be wishful thinking. If it's delayed, the president likely won't take the blame for that, either.
As for the letter, it comes across more like a campaign speech or a six-page tweet than a legal document coming from the White House. It is filled with his grievances against Democrats accusing Pelosi of viewing democracy as the enemy -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Joining me now is Scott Lucas, a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham in England.
Scott, I understand the appeal of Trump or at least the telegraphed appeal, that he is a maverick. He doesn't play by his rules. But if this letter was written by the CEO of a public company, the president of a school PTA, the coach of my kids under 10 soccer team, that person would most likely be removed from office.
But that is not what is about to happen to the leader of the free world, right?
SCOTT LUCAS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: I don't want to talk about the letter, Nick. We know that Trump is going to scream witch hunt. We know he is going to insult. We know he is going to lie. But this is beyond that. This is a PR attempt. Trump and his staff began drafting this last week. The White House counsel's office saw this letter.
They knew it was coming out, because it is an attempt to take attention away, as Trump appeals to his base, "I am the victim. I am not the defendant who is being accused of abuse of power."
I would rather talk about the process here, including what happens today. I would rather talk about the evidence and I would rather talk about why the evidence, under the U.S. Constitution, is considered so significant that those are impeachable crimes.
The letter is designed to take away from all of that, to turn what is the most serious crisis for the United States system since Watergate into a reality TV show, where you have to keep the star in order to keep the ratings up.
WATT: The thing is, we all know that evidence is rock-solid. The Republicans know the evidence is rock-solid and it doesn't frankly matter. Let's take a quick listen to what Nancy Pelosi had to say about that letter and then we will get back to what you want to talk about. Roll Nancy Pelosi.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Your reaction to the president's letter?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: My reaction is it is ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have no reaction?
Why not?
PELOSI: No, I haven't really fully read it. We have been working. I've seen the essence of it, though. And it is really sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: As you are saying, as I have been saying, we know the evidence is rock-solid but that won't matter. The House will vote to impeach the president. The Senate will then acquit him.
So what does that then do to America?
To democracy?
To this country?
I am not just talking about in a year. I am talking about in 20 years.
LUCAS: First, we know the discussion, as Donald Trump and his supporters will try to frame it, will not be about the evidence. So we continue to call out the politics. You continue to call out the politics of Mitch McConnell, who, rather than being part of the legal, the constitutional process, throws impartiality out the window and says I am coordinating with the White House.
You call out the politics of those who try to deny, block witnesses, to block documents, defy subpoenas and then you put your finger on it.
When Donald Trump is not convicted, because of politics and when he continues in the White House, this does not go away. The evidence of what he did does not go away. The threat to U.S. national security does not go away. The threat to foreign policy does not go away. And the threat to the Constitution does not go away.
It is not only Donald Trump but anyone in the White House who can think, if I scream loud enough, if I deceive long enough, I can stay in office, despite whatever impeachable crimes I commit.
WATT: That's the thing. That call with Ukrainian president was the day after the Mueller report dropped and nothing happened from that. Trump perhaps felt emboldened and continued with this Ukraine thing. Once he acquitted, he will feel he's bulletproof.
LUCAS: That will be up to the American people. It will be up to folks like you, like others, who try to provide understanding and provide knowledge.
We have had a spectacle since Donald Trump came into the White House, when he campaigned in 2016, we have had a spectacle in which foreign powers have been invited to work with Trump, to cooperate with Trump. We have attempts by officers of the United States, up to the attorney general, to bury all of that.
Now you may continue to ride with the spectacle.
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LUCAS: You may continue to follow Trump's Twitter line. I understand if you support Trump, as my parents do. But if you do, realize the damage you are doing. The spectacle overtakes our values, our decency and our system.
WATT: You mentioned that your parents support Trump.
How do those conversations go with them?
Do you try to convince each other of your point of view or is it pointless?
LUCAS: It is important to keep dialogue open, Nick. There are reasons to support Trump away from all the legal and constitutional damage, the possible crimes that are committed. People may feel they are economically better off. They may believe that Republicans in general, apart from Trump, are the party they want to support.
You cannot dismiss the people and say I am not going to listen to you because the man in the White House is so terrible. You have to discuss, you have to engage. Whether Trump is gone in 2020, in 2021 or in 2025, we are going to have to repair the United States. That is going to be a long-term effort and if we just shout at each other, it will only make things worse.
WATT: Scott Lucas, I really appreciate your knowledge and your insights and your time, thanks a lot.
LUCAS: Thank you so much.
WATT: Moving on, at least 11 inmates are dead, 11 others injured after a shoot out in a prison in Panama. Numerous weapons were found inside the prison including five handguns and three rifles.
Panama's president suggesting there was some type of cooperation with prison staff that allowed those weapons to get inside. He has called for an investigation.
India's government is not backing down despite violent protests across the country, sparked by a controversial new citizenship law. Thousands of people were back on the streets for a sixth day on Tuesday, protesting the law that they see as anti Muslim. Police fired shots in the air and tear gas. Sam Kiley is in New Delhi with the latest.
What is going on?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that, here in New Delhi, northeast of the town, a limited curfew has been imposed, banning gatherings of more than four people following the riots yesterday.
But these are ongoing protests and demonstrations that have spread right across the country, really now being led by young students, who are objecting on a moral and intellectual level to what they suggest is a very dangerous development in terms of potentially undermining the Indian constitution.
What this has done is often bring very unlikely people into conflict. Take a look at my report.
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KILEY (voice-over): A small woman with a big heart comes between Indian police to protect a fellow Muslim student from a beating. Aisha Renna (ph) admonishes the officer.
This video has gone viral. And for opponents of India's new citizenship law, her stand against authority reflects widespread anger against a powerful state. She has been in hiding since the incident last Sunday when demonstrations were broken by police who forced their way into her university library, firing tear gas.
Did you ever think you would find yourself scolding a police officer?
AISHA RENNA, STUDENT: No. At that moment I wanted to save my brother. So in order to do that, I wanted to make those people -- if God saved only because there were a lot of people came around us. If the media people did not came, there would be brutally having a killing my brother.
KILEY (voice-over): As for the man she saved ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to regroup and we are going to proceed.
KILEY (voice-over): Many parts of the country were and still are rocked by protests against the citizen amendment act passed into law by a government led by prime minister Narendra Modi just over a week ago. He has appealed for calm and has rejected claims that the new law discriminates against Muslims.
It allows migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan to seek Indian nationality but not if they are Muslim. It comes after he won a landslide election campaigning on a Hindu nationalist platform. India's 200 million Muslims make about 14 percent of the population.
They see the new legislation as part of a Hindu dominated government plan to marginalize them amid fears that their own Indian identities could be questioned soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do not want to give citizenship to Muslims. This is again the principles of injustice and inequality. Because you cannot discriminate on the basis of religion in this modern world.
[02:15:00]
KILEY: But it is an act of parliament that has been passed by a majority of people that have been democratically elected here in India.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, but the thing is, you cannot let your democracy go into the hand of a humanitarian (ph) view.
KILEY (voice-over): India's supreme court has been asked to rule whether the new law is unconstitutional. Its deliberations may take some time.
Meanwhile, at least five opposition led state governments have said that they will ignore the citizenship act, setting the stage for more clashes inside and outside the courts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: There are more demonstrations scheduled for capitals, regional capitals, such as here, the national capital in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, elsewhere in the country tomorrow, much more formally structured. They're expecting big demonstrations in Mumbai, given the numbers of celebrities that have joined this movement, objecting to this new piece of legislation.
I should stress it is being seen as part of a general drift of Hindu nationalism that is seen, by liberals, many of them Hindu, as undermining the essence of the foundations of the modern Indian state. And that, above all, is secularism -- Nick.
WATT: Sam Kiley, thank you for that. Reporting from New Delhi.
Australia's long, hot summer of discontent is about to get hotter, really hot, record breaking temperature hot, details in a moment.
Plus, fans in China erupt in fury after a football star makes a pitch for human rights. A report from Beijing just a little later.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) WATT: Pope Francis has finally lifted Vatican secrecy rules when it comes to cases of sexual abuse. That allows the Catholic Church around the world to now hand over documents related to sexual abuse cases to civil authorities, abolishing pontifical secrecy will also allow victims to be informed of the outcome of their cases.
This comes nearly 18 years after "The Boston Globe" newspaper shone a spotlight on abuse within the U.S. church. The declaration came on the pope's 83rd birthday.
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WATT: Summer has barely begun in Australia but records are already being broken as deadly bush fires continue to ravage New South Wales. Australia experienced its hottest day ever on record. Temperatures reached an average national high of 40.9 degrees Celsius.
The blistering heat now spreading across eastern and southern Australia, amid the country's worst drought in decades.
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WATT: Next, a tweet sending shockwaves through China. Arsenal football star Mesut Ozil voiced support for minority Muslims in the country. Chinese fans are outraged. The fallout rolls on, a report from Beijing just ahead.
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WATT: Heated reaction in China, Arsenal football fans venting outrage over comments from one of the club's stars. Mesut Ozil, who happens to be Muslim, took to social media to criticize China for its treatment of the Muslim Uyghur people. CNN's David Culver reporting from Beijing says that set off some sparks.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Chinese social media, video shows people setting Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil's jersey on fire. The heated reaction sparked by a tweet. In it, Mesut Ozil, who is Muslim, criticized China for its mass detention of Uyghurs.
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CULVER: China is accused of suppressing the predominantly Muslim ethnic minority. The government has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations, saying they're conducting counterterrorism efforts.
Following Mesut Ozil's comments, China state media pulled Sunday's Arsenal match, prompting U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo to tweet, "China's Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor Mesut Ozil and Arsenal's games all season long but the truth will prevail."
He added the China "cannot hide its gross human rights violations."
At a news conference Monday, China's foreign minister spokesperson said Mesut Ozil has been "blinded by some fake news" and invited him to visit to see for himself.
YAN QIANG, SPORTS ANALYST: That moment on Friday night, I thought it might be the end of Arsenal in China.
Yan Qiang is an independent Chinese sports analyst and an Arsenal fan.
YAN: My first response in that moment, was that Arsenal should fire him.
CULVER: He should be fired?
YAN: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): Arsenal was quick to distance itself from Mesut 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?
YAN: These leagues, they heavily rely on this massive market for their future growth.
CULVER (voice-over): European football has a strong and powerful following in China. President Xi Jinping himself is a big fan. Beijing locals often gather at pubs like this one to watch the matches.
Sira Jiao (ph) supported Arsenal for nearly two decades. The comments from Mesut Ozil are disappointing for her.
SIRA JIAO (PH), ARSENAL FAN: Yes, I'm so hurt. Plus I just bought a jersey for my son with his name on it. So bad.
CULVER: What will happen to the jersey?
JIAO (PH): Burn it.
CULVER: Really?
JIAO (PH): Yes, of course. I cannot keep it.
CULVER (voice-over): 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 and the fallout nearly severed the NBA's ties with China and spiraled into a geopolitical crisis.
But Jiao (ph) is hopeful that her beloved Arsenal can still survive this. CULVER: You can still love the team?
JIAO (PH): Yes, yes, do. Only Arsenal.
CULVER (voice-over): Chinese fans once again forced to balance love of country versus love the game -- David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: You may be wondering what that analyst and those fans, if they know about what is happening to the Uyghurs or perhaps they just don't care.
Coming up, the U.S. House about to vote on impeachment, Trump in peril. The what, why and how, just ahead.
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NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt with the headlines this hour. The U.S. House is expected to debate for six hours then vote to impeach Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the President summarized his objections in a bizarre scathing letter to speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Trump slammed the impeachment process, accusing Democrats of abuse of power. That's the charge he is facing.
For a six-day straight, thousands of Indians protested a new citizenship law. Police are now banning large public gatherings in Northeast Delhi, indefinitely. Protesters say the new law is anti- Muslim. But the government insists it's just trying to protect persecuted minorities, and will not back down.
Australia's historic heat wave broil's on. The national average temperature, 40.9 degrees Celsius, a new all-time record. And bush fires aren't making things easier. More than 100 blazes right now burning across New South Wales.
Burrowing some major upset, Donald Trump will, within hours, become only the third U.S. president in history to get impeached. The House Rules Committee just outlined the roadmap for the day ahead, leading almost inevitably to the trial of Trump in the Senate. CNN's Alex Marquardt has the latest.
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REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): This is a day where we are going to disagree and disagree very strongly.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL 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 representing the House Judiciary majority, arguing that the President has been unrepentant.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): We believe this conduct 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, represented by 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 curate over here on 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 adviser, 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 on Schumer sites, were showing little signs of defecting.
SCHUMER: I have 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) WATT: So, now to the nuts and bolts. Cyril Vanier breaks down the next steps in this historic impeachment process.
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[02:35:13]
CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL 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's 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 officially 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.
MCCONNELL: Everything I do, during this, I am coordinating with the White House council. 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 presides, that's one thing. Lawmakers, that's another. Selected by the House, present the 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 this political climate, that is extremely unlikely.
Things about the trial that we do not 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.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I don't want to call anybody. This thing will come to the Senate. And it will die quickly. And I will do anything I can to make it die quickly.
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.
SCHUMER: Trials have witnesses. That's 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're afraid of what they might say. VANIER: So, if you take a big step back. What does the sweep of history teach us? Does it hold any lessons? Well, kind 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 more than acquitted by the Senate and they 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)
WATT: OK. So, what is Wednesday actually going to look like? First up, six hours of debate on the House floor, three hours for each party. But don't expect much actual debate, expect politicians just loudly repeating their partisan talking points. Then, they vote on those two articles of impeachment.
Simple majority needed on each count to move them to the Senate for that trial. That will almost definitely happen, 233 Democratic members of the House, 197 Republicans. It will be newsy if anyone votes with the opposition. Wednesday night, President Trump holds a campaign rally in Michigan, and no doubt will react to it all.
Coming up, Russian spies of the U.S. coast. You are looking at footage of a Russian spy ship in Havana Harbor. And for the past few days, that ship has been spotted off the Southeastern Coast of the United States. And the coast guard doesn't like it. That's next.
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[02:40:00]
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WATT: Rudy Giuliani tells CNN that U.S. President Donald Trump continues to be very supportive of his efforts to dig up dirt on Democrats and Ukraine. But Mr. Trump's personal attorney declined to say if the President had actually directed him to go on his most recent fact-finding mission to Kiev.
Apparently, many of the people Giuliani is working with over there, have dubious reputations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Seemingly unfazed by President Trump's possible imminent impeachment, Rudy Giuliani is continuing his push to dig up dirt on the Bidens.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has a lot of good information. I hear he has found plenty.
PLEITGEN: But in Ukraine, Giuliani is relying on some dubious and controversial figures. Giuliani is meeting with two lawmakers, Aleksandr Dubinsky and Andriy Derkach -- who have been spreading unsubstantiated corruption allegations about former Vice President Joe Biden.
Of course, it was President Trump who pushed Ukrainian leader Zelensky to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, on a phone call that's now at the heart of the impeachment proceedings.
TRUMP: I believe there was tremendous corruption with Biden.
PLEITGEN: That's where two more of Rudy Giuliani's proclaimed witnesses come in. Former Ukrainian prosecutor's general, Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take us back to the first time you were appointed.
PLEITGEN: In an interview with the right-wing pro Trump channel, OAN, Shokin claims he was fired at Biden's behest for investigating Burisma, even though there was international consensus that Shokin was ineffective in fighting corruption.
His successor, Yuriy Lutsenko, who was also forced to leave office for being ineffective, says he often batted heads with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was recalled after a smear campaign against her, spearheaded by Giuliani.
And in a stunning twist, Giuliani is now acknowledging he wanted Yovanovitch out. Yovanovitch needed to be removed for many reasons most critical, she was denying visas to Ukrainians who wanted to come to U.S. and explain Dem corruption in Ukraine, Giuliani tweeted today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Kent.
PLEITGEN: Diplomat George Kent in a closed-door testimony at the State Department, objected to a visa request from Shokin due to his ineffectiveness in fighting corruption. Yovanovitch later corroborated that.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Did Giuliani try to overturn a decision that you participated and to deny Shokin a visa?
MARIE YOVANOVITCH, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Yes, that is what I was told.
SCHIFF: And that denial was based on Mr. Shokin's corruption?
YOVANOVITCH: Yes, that's true.
PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: The U.S. coast guard is urging mariners along America's Southeast Coast to watch out for a Russian spy ship. Officials tell CNN the Viktor Leonov is operating in international waters and what they call an unsafe manner. Our Brian Todd says, we have been here before.
[02:45:05]
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's known for playing Hunt for Red October-style games with the U.S. Navy. But according to U.S. officials, the Russian spy ship, the Viktor Leonov is sailing recklessly right off of America's shores.
Two U.S. officials telling CNN, the Leonov has been operating off the coast of South Carolina and Florida in a quote, unsafe manner. Not using its lights in low visibility weather, not responding from signals to commercial ships, which are trying to avoid colliding with it.
STEPHEN BLANK, FORMER PROFESSOR, UNITED STATES ARMY WAR COLLEGE: It's absolutely purposeful. First of all, this is an intelligence ship. So, it's not going to disclose its point of location to anybody.
They like to be able to intimidate people and bully them and this is another way of doing that.
TODD: The U.S. Coast Guard says the Leonov is making other erratic movements and warns other ships to maintain a sharp lookout for the Russian spy ship. The Leonov has been prowling around America's East Coast for more than four years near some key U.S. Navy installations; Cape Canaveral, which handles underwater operations. Kings Bay, Georgia, home to nuclear missile submarines. Norfolk, the world's largest naval complex, and New London, Connecticut, another major submarine base.
Experts say those U.S. bases offer a treasure trove of possible intelligence for Vladimir Putin's Navy.
BLANK: Where they be looking for the schedule of ships entering and leaving the port. They'd be trying to monitor as much of their communications as, as possible. They would also be trying to monitor underwater developments if they can track submarines.
TODD: Experts say Russian vessels have even spying on undersea Internet cables.
MICHAEL KOFMAN, RUSSIAN MILITARY EXPERT, CNA CORPORATION: And the reason why they want the map, so that in future conflicts or crisis they actually have the opportunity if they can to attack and destroy, or otherwise tamper.
TODD: But despite the dazzling unveilings of hypersonic missiles and other weapons, Putin's military hasn't been hitting on all cylinders recently. It's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, caught fire last week during repairs at an arctic seaport.
In August, during what U.S. officials believe was the testing of a secret nuclear-powered missile, a mysterious explosion occur, killing five. This summer, a fire aboard a Russian submersible killed 14 crew members -- tragic examples, analysts say of the Russian president overextending his military.
JEFFREY EDMONDS, EXPERT ON RUSSIA AND EURASIA: There are certain parts of their military, they're very formidable, but they push the entire military as much as they can. And so those parts that might be weaker or older might be more subject to accidents and mishaps.
TODD: Analysts say despite the recklessness, the accidents, all the setbacks, we shouldn't expect any of it to deter Vladimir Putin from pursuing his grand strategy. Not only of projecting Russian military power across the globe but also of signaling his American and NATO adversaries not to mess around with his turf. Those naval bases in the black and Baltic seas, the Pacific, and the Arctic oceans that the Russians value so much.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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WATT: Not in this lifetime. A new study suggests women will have to be pretty patient on gender equality. Stunning, dispiriting findings from the World Economic Forum just ahead.
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WATT: Estonia's president is apologizing after one of his Cabinet members mocked Finland's new leader. The interior minister referred to 34-year-old Sanna Marin as a salesgirl. She's taking the insult in her stride while Estonia scrambles.
CNN's Scott McLean has more.
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[02:50:01]
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This story has moved remarkably quickly over the past few days. It started on Sunday when according to the Estonian public broadcaster, that country's interior minister Mart Helme, said this.
"Now we can see that a salesgirl has become prime minister and some other street activists and uneducated person have also become members of the government."
Now, those comments were taken as a slight against the 34-year-old prime minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, who had a modest upbringing in Finland and once worked as a cashier.
She tweeted in response, "I'm extremely proud of Finland. Here, a poor family's child can educate themselves and achieve their goals in life. A cashier can become even a prime minister.
Now on Monday, Helme offered an apology and also an explanation, saying the comments should have been actually taken as a compliment that someone from a relatively low social class could eventually go on to become the prime minister. But in Estonia, there was enough embarrassment that the Estonian president called over to the Finnish president to apologize, and Estonian Parliament also held an unsuccessful non-confidence vote to try to remove Helme from his Cabinet post.
Helme is the leader of a far-right party in Estonia and part of the government coalition and his seemingly flipping comments are a big deal for Estonia. That's because the country is part of the former Soviet Union. It's now a member of NATO, but certainly not immune from the threat of Russian aggression on its eastern border.
The Estonian president's office told us that the comments affect Estonia's security network, which depends on having a lot of friends and friends that liked them enough to actually defend them.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
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WATT: Now, as that story suggests, women have a long way to go before they're treated as equals, paid as equals. And a new report, the World Economic Forum says global gender equality is still a staggering 99-1/2 years away.
The annual global gender gap report analyzed 153 countries on four themes: economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
For more on the forum's report, Saadia Zahidi joins us now from Geneva. She is a managing director of the World Economic Forum and she heads the Centre for the new economy and society.
First, when I first read this, I thought it was a misprint. How did you get to this shocking number?
SAADIA ZAHIDI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: You know, the very sad thing is that this is actually an improvement from past trends. So, last year, we were looking at 108 years. And it's only because most of the economies that we're covering have improved their performance between last year and this year that we get to this 99.5 years.
Now, of course, this is looking at past trends. It's looking at the last 14 years that we've been measuring gender equality across countries. And so, the focus now really has to be on ensuring that we can close this gap much faster than the century it's currently looking to be.
WATT: So, you're looking basically at how much we managed to close the gap in the past 14 years and then extrapolating that forward to where we will finally see full equality.
ZAHIDI: Exactly. But that is not to suggest that we couldn't see changes and disruptions and exponential change towards parity. There are some interesting positive signs. So, for example, if we look at some of the highest-ranking countries across the index, the Scandinavian countries, they not only have managed to maintain their number one position in these rankings, but they've actually been making progress relative to their own past performance.
So, Iceland, the number one country while not yet at parity, has closed about 88 percent of its gender gap. So, it's possible to not just have progress but to have it relatively fast.
WATT: And I mean, what should we as societies be doing? I mean, are there any sort of concrete things you can say that we should be doing to try and speed this process up? That might be a stupid question but bear with me.
ZAHIDI: So, I think, one of the points that really comes out very clearly is that there is a stalling of gender equality in particular and advanced economies. And one of the key reasons for that is that in the business world, there still needs to be much greater focus on closing wage gaps, and ensuring that all of this highly skilled talent that is actually now primarily female, because women are the majority of those graduating from universities, ensuring that they're actually getting a shot at making it to senior leadership positions. So that's one core area.
A second is, if we don't pay attention to the types of disruptions that are currently taking place in labor markets, across developed and developing countries because of the technological revolution that is underway, there is a risk of some of these gender gaps getting worse.
[02:55:00]
ZAHIDI: And so, we actually have an opportunity to reverse these gaps. We have great data on what are some of the growing roles of the future, particularly science, technology, engineering and math-related roles.
We don't need to do course correction in five or 10 or 15 years' time, we actually could be embedding much more parity into those roles as a strategy for accelerating change today.
WATT: And I do want to ask you about the kind of regional breakdown. I mean, you answered some of this in your -- in your last answer. But, you know, breaking it down, so, Europe, you're expecting to see parity in 54 years. Latin America and the Caribbean and 59 years. But way down at the bottom of that list, North America, 151 years. East Asia and the Pacific, 163 years.
I mean, North America under 51 years that stuck out to me. What's going on there?
ZAHIDI: Well, the United States is 53rd in this ranking and has been consistently falling in these rankings since we started in 2006. And what you're really seeing there is this enormous talent pool, because for the last couple of decades now, women are the majority of those with high skilled and higher education.
And yet at the same time, very little opportunity when it comes to leadership positions, still extremely large wage gaps. And when it comes to political empowerment, unlike the example that you just gave from Finland, far less presence when it comes to Congress or cabinet positions.
WATT: And finally, I just want to read you something that President Obama apparently you said in Singapore, earlier this week. He said, "If every nation on Earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything."
Please tell me you can get me some data to actually back that up.
ZAHIDI: There is some interesting evidence around this. So, for example, it's become very clear that when women and men are given more equal opportunity to take decisions on how resources should be spent and political decision-making positions, they actually spend differently.
Now, that doesn't mean that one spends better than the other, it simply means that you've got different life experiences, and that type of spending from political leadership is then likely to meet the broader needs of society, then if it was a homogenous group. So, there is some evidence for this.
And I think we're starting to see a little bit of a change there. So we found that the countries that have higher numbers of women in political leadership also tend to have higher numbers of women in economic leadership. And that is because of this positive role model effect that gets created, in addition to the fact that those women or the integration of those women leads to better spending for all of society or for a corporations.
WATT: Saadia Zahidi, thank you very much for your time and let's hope for an acceleration.
ZAHIDI: Thank you.
WATT: Thank you all for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt. The news continues on CNN right after this.
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