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Senate Impeachment Timeline Remains Uncertain; Brexit Deadline Confirmed; American Diplomat's Wife Charged in Death of Harry Dunn; Former Governor Defends Controversial Pardons; Morrison Chills While Australia Burns; Civilians Fleeing Airstrikes In Northwestern Syria; Iraq Drawdown; Police Officer Donates Liver to Boy She Never Met. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired December 21, 2019 - 05:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead, President Trump says he wants a trial right away. But Capitol Hill is at a standstill.

Who will blink first?

We'll get into it.

Also, the wife of a U.S. diplomat has now been charged with causing the death of a British teenager. Why getting her to return to England may not be so easy.

Also, a not so glorious docking off the coast of Mexico as the Carnival Glory crashes into another cruise ship. Wait until you see the rest of this video.

It is all ahead here this hour. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen live from Atlanta where it is five in the morning. Thanks for being with us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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ALLEN: And let's get started. The U.S. Capitol may be in Christmas vacation mode. But White House lawyers and top Democrats are busy working out the details of Donald Trump's trial in the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles of impeachment until she is clear on how the trial will work.

Meantime, the White House counsel met Friday with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to coordinate strategy. CNN's Sara Murray has more about it.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump's impeachment trial may be officially stalled, but, behind the scenes, House Democrats are getting ready. Staff for the key House committees are expected to work over the holiday recess, consulting with Democratic leadership and prepping for a trial as early as the week of January 6. But that depends on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says she won't send the articles of impeachment to the Senate until parameters for a Senate trial are set.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): When they wrote the Constitution, they suspected that there could be a rogue president. I don't think they suspected that we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time.

MURRAY: In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this afternoon arranged for White House staff to get a lay of the land in the chamber after failing to cut a deal Thursday with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the rules for a trial.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We remain at an impasse.

MURRAY: McConnell argued rules from previous impeachments should suffice.

MCCONNELL: I continue to believe that the unanimous bipartisan precedent that was good enough for President Clinton ought to be good enough for President Trump. Fair is fair.

MURRAY: While Schumer pushed for an agreement to include testimony from witnesses, such as former National Security Adviser John Bolton and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Leader McConnell is plotting the most rushed, least thorough and most unfair impeachment trial in modern history.

MURRAY: The standoff means lawmakers are leaving Washington with the status of an impeachment trial in limbo until the New Year.

But if Pelosi's power play was meant to unnerve McConnell, he insists it's backfiring.

MCCONNELL: Other House Democrats seemed to be suggesting they'd prefer never to transmit the articles. Fine with me.

MURRAY: Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Mr. Trump hoped to escape the impeachment frenzy with a two- week trip to Florida over the holidays. But not everyone is happy about the president's vacation. That is because White House aides are saying they're concerned the president may have too much unstructured time, susceptible to influence from outsiders and TV news coverage. Here's our Jim Acosta from the White House.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Demanding to be declared innocent in the Ukraine scandal, President Trump is slamming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to hang on to the articles of impeachment on negotiations continue over the upcoming trial in the Senate. The president tweeted, "Actually, they have zero proof of anything, they will never even show up. They want out. I want an immediate trial."

Mr. Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani told young conservatives at a Turning Point USA summit, Democrats are out for blood.

RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: They want to put Barr in prison and they want to execute me. Good luck. I just get angrier and I go after you more.

ACOSTA: The president's daughter, Ivanka, concedes her father is upset.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: Angry at the waste of time. Angry at the collateral damage. Angry -- but is still energizing and focuses you on really draws into relief the stark contrast in priorities.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The House will be in order.

ACOSTA: But Pelosi appears to be getting in some digs of her own inviting the president to deliver the State of the Union around the time of Mr. Trump's trial.

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ACOSTA (voice-over): Writing in a letter "In the spirit of respecting our Constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, February 4th, 2020."

But an expert witness for the Democrats during the inquiries warning Pelosi should get on with it. Writing in an op-ed, "If the House does not communicate its impeachment to the Senate, it hasn't actually impeached the president."

Democrats aren't buying that.

REP. NORMA TORRES (D-CA): Absolutely. You know after the vote that we took on the floor and you know the majority of Congress voted to impeach the president. He has absolutely been impeached.

ACOSTA: As Christmas is approaching, the president is all but saying "bah humbug" to the religious publication "Christianity Today" which is calling for Mr. Trump's removal over his actions in Ukraine. The president blasted the website as a far left magazine but that is not true according to its editor.

MARK GALLI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "CHRISTIANITY TODAY": It is factually inaccurate that we're far left. We're pretty centrist. We rarely comment on politics unless we feel it rises to the level of some national or concern that is really important and this would be a case.

ACOSTA: Mr. Trump tweeted, "The fact is, no president has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself."

But while the president is popular among Christian conservatives he rarely attends church and has at times puzzled his own faithful, whether by signing Bibles or misquoting passages from the scripture.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: II Corinthians 3:17, that is the whole ball game.

ACOSTA: Now the president is tweeting about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. We can put this up on screen insisting she should be impeached for demanding a fair trial in the Senate. And even with all of that friction tonight, the president has accepted Pelosi's invitation to deliver the State of the Union in early February but that could be messy if the president's impeachment trial is still underway -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

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ALLEN: Let's talk about the developments with our guest Amy Pope. She is an associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House.

Good morning, Amy. Thanks for being with us.

AMY POPE, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning.

ALLEN: Where would you like to start this interview?

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ALLEN: First of all, I guess it's with Nancy Pelosi not sending impeachment articles until Senate Democrats agree -- excuse me, Senate Republicans agree to the rules. Trump is furious.

What do you think of her power play here?

POPE: It's really interesting to watch this play out. And as a political matter, it's not clear which way it will go. You remember we went into this whole thing with the Democrats really reluctant to take on impeachment because of their concern that it would ultimately impact the elections in 2020.

And so the fact that she's choosing to prolong it now really suggests she feels like either the process in the Senate is completely broken and she wants to point out that the Senate majority leader intends to just steamroll an outcome here.

Or she thinks maybe she has something to gain politically for the party in advance of 2020. But it is a departure from where she was before.

ALLEN: Well, Americans have indicated they want a fair trial. But I guess it depends on who you ask what they see as fair. But she has definitely gotten under the president's skin. He wrote that scathing letter to her this week. It was quite angry.

And then Friday, he retweeted a tweet from Vladimir Putin putting down the impeachment. So that goes on and on. And now, he's on vacation.

What will you be looking for as far as where Mr. Trump goes with this over the holidays?

POPE: If I were one of the president's advisors, I would be very, very worried. He seems to fixate on these sorts of issues when he has down time. The number of tweets that we're seeing, the tone of the tweets. He always, as we know, loves an incendiary tweet.

The letter that he sent to Nancy Pelosi was not one that I could imagine that his lawyers would have encouraged him to write. So if I -- again, if I were one of the president's advisors, I would be very concerned about him spending too much time in front of a television with his Twitter in hand.

ALLEN: Meantime, we've got kind of Pelosi versus McConnell.

Who might blink first?

What do you think they're up against here with one another?

POPE: Ultimately, leader McConnell has the right to set the rules of the Senate trial here. So he does control the decision in the end. I think what Nancy Pelosi is trying to do is really highlight, for the American people, that the process is not going in a way that will really highlight the misconduct at issue.

And we know already McConnell has said that he intends to move this forward quickly. He's already made up his mind.

[05:10:00]

POPE: Other key senators, Lindsey Graham, for example, has said publicly that his mind is made up.

And if you're sitting in your living room in the middle of America, it should -- you should ask the question, why don't they want to hear the evidence here?

This is not -- they are meant to be holding the trial. They are the ones who are meant to be eliciting all the evidence.

On one hand, they could say, we've heard it. But there is some key testimony missing. For example, national security advisor John Bolton hasn't testified. Pompeo hasn't testified.

So if I were them and I want to prove to the American people that I'm holding this full and fair process, then I would, in fact, put in some evidence and demonstrate that you're considering everything that is before you.

ALLEN: And lastly, as we mentioned, Nancy Pelosi asking the president and he's agreed to give the State of the Union address. Perhaps that will happen during an impeachment trial.

And in the world of kind of insanity and politics, where does that rank?

POPE: It is a bold move on both sides. She is calling him up, which, of course, means that there will be a huge flurry of press around his appearance. There will be quite a lot of speculation about his fate and his future. And, of course, it will drive the stories around his misconduct here.

So in some ways, the juxtaposition of President Trump coming in to talk about the State of the Union, the future of the country, at the same time that there is this enormous black cloud hanging over his presidency. I could see, for her, that's actually a good dynamic, to put one against another.

So you know, it is going to be crazy times over the next couple of weeks. The question is whether it dies down a bit over the holidays. But if the president is at home alone, then I wouldn't count on it.

ALLEN: Right. Who knows whether he goes for a swim at Mar-a-lago to relax. Probably not. All right. Amy, we always appreciate your insights. We'll be talking with you again, perhaps, within these two weeks. Sorry, it's a holiday. But we don't take holidays here. Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

POPE: Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

ALLEN: Bye.

President Trump, meantime, signed two sweeping spending bills Friday, avoiding a government shutdown. Totaling $1.4 trillion, the bills will keep the government funded through September 30th.

The bill will also fund the creation of the sixth branch of the U.S. military, the Space Force, which will work to protect U.S. assets in space.

And a major change to the tobacco industry. The bill will raise the federal purchasing age for all tobacco products, including e- cigarettes and vapes, from the age of 18 now to 21.

Next here, Boris Johnson, prime minister of United Kingdom, gets his wish. And the U.K. gets its E.U. divorce bill. We look at the next step on the road to Brexit.

Also, the wife of a U.S. diplomat in the U.K. now facing charges in the fatal crash of a British teen on a motorcycle. More about that.

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ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

The real work begins now for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Lawmakers in London approved his Brexit deal thanks to Mr. Johnson's new Conservative majority in Parliament. CNN's Nic Robertson looks at what comes next and why the PM's battles are far from over.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There you have it, a majority of 124. This is precisely what the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was looking for, the expectation he would have a very strong majority for the withdrawal agreement bill.

What happens next?

Parliament on reset for the next couple of weeks. After that, second week of January, three days set aside for further discussions about the withdrawal agreement bill. Every expectation now that Britain will leave the European Union on January 31st, 2020.

However, real contention in the lead up to that vote, the prime minister very clear that this is a more muscular withdrawal agreement bill, that he is setting a very clear deadline for negotiating the next phase of Brexit, the future relationship with the European Union, the trade deal.

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: The bill ensures the implementation period must end on the 31st of December next year with no possibility of an extension. And it paves the way for a new agreement on our future relationship with our European neighbors based on an ambitious free trade agreement with no alignment on the new rules but instead control of our own laws.

ROBERTSON: And in that debate in the House of Commons, the prime minister taking heat on precisely that issue, this 11-month Kier Starmer from the Labour Party, front bencher criticizing it, calling it reckless and irresponsible.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR MP: This prevents the extension of any transition period. That is reckless and it's ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

STARMER: Because the government has now chosen to give itself just 11 months to negotiate an entire trade deal and security deal. That's an unbelievably short period.

ROBERTSON: Undoubtedly we'll hear more of that type of criticism over the next year as the trade deal is negotiated. The prime minister feels he has the wind in his sails but one of the things that you could see behind that result today, a majority of 124, yes; significant, yes; the way the prime minister wanted it.

But break it down a little bit. No Northern Irish MP voted in favor of the bill and very few Scottish MPs voted in favor of it, either. And that tells you one thing very clearly, the union of the United Kingdom is strained and stressed by this still. And that is going to dog the prime minister in the next year -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

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ALLEN: All right. Let's talk about what all is going to dog the prime minister in the next year with our guest, David Henig, the director of the U.K. Trade Policy Project at the European Center for International Political Economy.

Good morning to you, David. Thanks for coming on.

DAVID HENIG, EUROPEAN CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY: Good morning.

ALLEN: Good morning. So Brexit is here. And Nic Robertson was talking about the battles ahead for Boris Johnson.

Would you say the battles are behind him?

Or ahead of him?

HENIG: Well, he'll win the first battle. So we haven't left the E.U. yet. We will leave on January the 31st. And that will almost certainly happen. He will have won that battle.

But then there's a huge amount of work to do in terms of defining the U.K.'s future relationship, not just with the E.U., with the United States, with every other country. And also, the internal problems that you heard about with Northern Ireland, with Scotland. And these have the potential to be really troublesome.

ALLEN: Yes. Let's break it down. First, with the trade deals. It almost sounds like when Brexit happens, all the trade deals go away.

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ALLEN: And then they must come kind of right back in a new form or not.

HENIG: So what happens is, with the E.U., we have this 11-month, what is called an implementation period. During that time, nothing actually changes. But at the end of that, if we don't agree on new deal, then we return to trading under WTO terms.

That's a big shock to trade. So that gives 11 months to do that. And that is not -- that is a much shorter time scale than is normal for any trade agreement.

And the same is true with a number of other countries as well, where we have trade agreements. That includes Canada, as well and Mexico, where we have trade agreements that could fall away at the end of the year.

ALLEN: That's a lot of trade agreements. And like to make sure you can hear me.

HENIG: I'm fine. ALLEN: That's a lot of trade agreements.

What about the United States?

Of course, Boris Johnson cheers Mr. Trump on. He cheers Boris Johnson on.

But what could be at stake here?

HENIG: Well, I think there's a lot of enthusiasm in the U.K. government for doing a trade deal with the United States. In some ways, Prime Minister Johnson takes a lot of political inspiration from President Trump. He kind of talks in broad-picture terms about the fact that we'll have great deals.

So I can anticipate that we'll have a great deal with the United States. I'm just not quite sure what will be in that great deal.

And in the public at large, there is a lot of concern about whether it'll affect our National Health Service or our food. So a few issues there to pick up if we're to get a deal with the United States. But I think that is a U.K. government priority.

ALLEN: All right. Well, you mentioned the other issues. Northern Ireland. The Irish backstop. Of course, there's Scotland.

The question is, will the United Kingdom stay united?

HENIG: Well, Northern Ireland will continue to follow E.U. rules and essentially be in the European Union zone. No -- so there will be no border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland. But that is already a little bit of a tension.

You heard that all the Northern Ireland MPs voted against this deal. Scotland, more complicated; the Scottish National Party would like to see a referendum in Scotland. The U.K. government does not want to give them this. You can expect to hear a fair amount more of it in the next year. Probably, we won't see any immediate move towards independence in the next year.

But if things get rocky in terms of our departure from the E.U., the pressure may well increase. And we may see a Scottish referendum in the next two or three years to discern whether they will be independent from the rest of the U.K. And that could be close if it happens.

ALLEN: Hold on because here it comes. David, thank you so much for your insights and we'll talk with you again. Appreciate it.

HENIG: Thank you very much.

ALLEN: Well, British authorities have filed wrongful death charges against the wife of an American diplomat whose car struck and killed a British teenager last August. But it is not clear the U.S. will grant an extradition request, in part, because of the long prison sentence she could face. CNN's Phil Black has more on this story from London. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Harry Dunn's parents have endured months of grief and frustration. Now, finally, they say they've had a great day.

CHARLOTTE CHARLES, HARRY DUNN'S MOTHER: We feel that we've taken a huge step in the start of achieving the promise to Harry that we made.

That, in itself, to us as parents, to make that promise to him the night that we lost him, that we would seek justice, thinking it was going to be really easy, knowing the circumstances that night as we did.

BLACK (voice-over): Nineteen-year-old Harry's motor bike collided with a car northwest of London in August. The car's driver was Anne Sacoolas, an American diplomat's wife. Harry died soon after the crash.

Sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity and returned to the United States. That's where a British news crew caught up with her last week. She didn't answer their questions.

QUESTION: Would you go back to the U.K., Ms. Sacoolas?

BLACK (voice-over): We now know the answer. Anne Sacoolas' lawyer says Anne is devastated by this tragic accident and continues to extend her deepest condolences to the family. She has cooperated fully with the investigation and accepted responsibility. But Anne will not return voluntarily to the United Kingdom to face a potential jail sentence for what was a terrible but unintentional accident.

Harry's parents have angrily lobbied for Sacoolas to come back, even making their case directly to President Trump in the White House. They left that meeting upset Trump had tried to orchestrate a face-to- face meeting with Sacoolas.

Now a U.S. State Department spokesperson says we are disappointed by today's announcement and fear that it will not bring a resolution closer. We do not believe that the U.K.'s charging decision is a helpful development.

[05:25:00]

BLACK: Anne Sacoolas is charged with dangerous driving causing death. The maximum punishment is 14 years in prison. Prosecutors say they have now begun extradition proceedings but that's unlikely to be a quick or easy process.

The British government says it hopes Sacoolas will now realize the right thing to do is to come back and cooperate -- Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Britain's Prince Philip is expected to remain in a London hospital for a few days. The husband of Queen Elizabeth was admitted Friday. Buckingham Palace says it is for precaution and that he is being treated for a pre-existing condition.

A source tells CNN the 98-year old was not taken there in an ambulance but walked in. The Duke of Edinburgh has not been seen in public since May. He retired from public life more than two years ago.

A picture says a thousand words. This one shows Australia's prime minister on vacation while deadly fires rage back home. What the leader says he'll do next amid the backlash.

Also, Carnival is in damage control mode after two of its cruise ships collide. What it's doing to help passengers after the accident. We'll have more about it.

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ALLEN: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour.

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ALLEN: We turn now to a story in the U.S. sparking outrage. In his final days in office, the former governor of Kentucky issued hundreds of pardons, a child rapist and convicted murderers among them. Just so you know, some of the details in this next report are disturbing. Here's our Polo Sandoval.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: His single term as governor may be over. But Matt Bevin keeps drawing criticism about hundreds of pardons he issued just before leaving office last week. On Thursday, Bevin took to the air waves, defending his decision to pardon convicted child rapist Micah Schoettle.

His reason?

His 9-year-old victim's hymen was, quote, "intact."

MATT BEVIN, FORMER KENTUCKY GOVERNOR: This is perhaps more specific than people would want but, trust me, if you have been repeatedly sexually violated as a small child by an adult, there are going to be repercussions of that physically and medically. There was zero evidence of that.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): In more of the ex-governor's interview with radio station WHAS, Bevin claimed an examination of the child yielded little physical evidence of rape. BEVIN: This man was convicted purely on something that there's no corroboration for.

And there is a system that should have caught this long before that. You should not be sent to jail based simply on the word, an uncorroborated word, of a single individual especially when it is possible to verify that medically and physically. And there were no ability to do so.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): But that shouldn't be the only factor, according to medical researchers. A 2012 study in "Forensic Science International" revealed physical signs of sex abuse should not be the only indication of an assault on a child.

The survey found approximately 90 percent of child victims of abuse do not show evidence of physical damage.

Prosecutors are also questioning the pardoning, including Kenton County Commonwealth attorney, Rob Sanders, who originally pursued the case.

In a statement, Sanders calls for a review of the former governor's actions, "I would prefer a statewide investigation led by either federal law enforcement or a special prosecutor appointed by the Kentucky attorney general.

"However, to my knowledge, that hasn't happened. Until then, I will be conducting my own investigation into the Schoettle pardon."

CNN reached out to Bevin and Schoettle's attorney for comment. Before this radio interview, Bevin posted statements on Twitter, defending his pardons and commutations of sentences. Bevin said the justice system isn't perfect and I personally spent hundreds of hours reading every application and final of those who received a pardon -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Police say a woman in Iowa admits to running over a 14-year- old girl because the teenager was a Mexican. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, now faces a charge of attempted murder. Police say the hit and run happened about two weeks ago as the teenager was walking to school. Here's the girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATALIA MIRANDA, HIT-AND-RUN VICTIM: I remember waking up in the snow and I'm screaming, I'm crying, I'm like, how did this happen?

Why did this happen?

Why am I on snow?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Police are also looking into whether Franklin committed a hate crime.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is apologizing for going on vacation in Hawaii while parts of his country burned. Two firefighters were killed battling the fires prompting a backlash against the prime minister. Here's our Scott McLean with more about it.

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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While a brand- new state of emergency was being declared in Australia this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in a state of relaxation, on vacation in Hawaii while a record-breaking heat wave fueled a hundred wildfires, burning back home.

Despite being half an ocean away, the PM is still feeling the heat about the unannounced trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, everybody.

Where are you?

MCLEAN (voice-over): That line, made famous by an ad campaign during Morrison's time as Australia tourism boss, is now exactly the question his critics are asking, even the model in the ad.

[05:35:00]

MCLEAN: Worse for Morrison, a photo of him in Hawaii was spotted online, prompting comparisons on social media to former prime minister Tony Abbott, a trained volunteer on the fire lines.

Morrison's holiday comes during a tough week. On Thursday, two firefighters were killed 100 kilometers outside of Sydney. Geoffrey Keaton and Anthony (sic) O'Dwyer died when their vehicle hit a tree and rolled off the road during a firefighting operation.

On Friday, the prime minister expressed regret on a Sydney radio show about his ill-timed R&R, a trip he said was planned well in advance.

SCOTT MORRISON, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Because there have been such horrendous events that have understandably caused a lot of anxiety, I deeply regret that.

I don't hold a hose, mate and I don't sit in a control room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. No.

MORRISON: that's the brave people who do that are doing that job, but I know that Australians would want me back at this time, after these fatalities and so on. I'll happily come back and do that.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Morrison promised to arrange a flight home over the weekend. Heavy smoke from the fires has caused flight delays and cancellations for some travelers and Sydney has been blanketed in dense smog. On Wednesday, the average temperature nationwide hit almost 42 degrees Celsius. New South Wales declared a state of emergency, allowing greater access to resources though already thousands of firefighters are working to control the fires that have destroyed more than 800 homes so far -- Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: The Carnival Glory cruise ship is heading to its home port of New Orleans just hours after it was damaged in a collision with another Carnival cruise ship while at port in Cozumel, Mexico. Carnival is giving passengers a $100 credit for the inconvenience. Nick Watt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the cruise line, Carnival Glory was maneuvering to dock when it made contact with Carnival Legend. No more detail yet on what exactly caused this collision or allision, as they are calling it. An allision is when one boat is stationary and another is moving.

But CNN has spoken to passengers aboard the vessels. One person said it felt like a big wave had hit the ship. Other passengers said that announcements after the event suggested that perhaps currents were a factor here. Another suggested that perhaps wind was a factor.

These are huge vessels. The Carnival Glory, when it's at full tilt, it has a stopping distance of one mile. This is a massive ship. Of course, it was not going at full tilt here. It was maneuvering at low speed. But this ship, 110,000 tons. A capacity of passenger crew of over 4,000 people hitting another vessel, another 85,000-ton vessel.

That is going to be a smash. It was bow to stern. Now the cruise line says they are right now assessing the seaworthiness of both vessels. They do not expect that seaworthiness to have been compromised at all by this event.

They told passengers to go ashore, enjoy their day ashore. And they do not anticipate that the itinerary of either ship will be impacted. One person was injured while they were trying to evacuate a couple decks on one of the ships during this event. But not a nightmare before Christmas, a low-speed allision before Christmas -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: A major test of a new Boeing spaceship fell short of its target. The Boeing Starliner had no problems with takeoff but fired its engines at the wrong time when it got to space. As a result, it isn't in the proper orbit to rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Boeing says it will bring Starliner back to Earth Sunday and study what went wrong. The unmanned Starliner is going through testing to take humans to the space station. Many are trying to flee northwestern Syria. Yes, we're talking about northwestern Syria again because airstrikes on rebel-held areas have, yet again, intensified. We'll tell you what a volunteer rescue group says Syrian forces are doing to maximize human casualties.

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ALLEN: Millions of Syrians are now at risk yet again of losing access to humanitarian aid. It is due to Russia and China using their vetoes to block a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have extended aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq. Humanitarian groups say the Syrian people will continue to suffer.

And U.S. ambassador Kelly Craft calls the move reckless, irresponsible and cruel. This comes as airstrikes, barrel bombs and shelling have resumed and intensified in northwestern Syria.

Syrian forces and the Russian allies are targeting the area. They apparently carry out double-tap strikes. That is to kill rescuers as they try and save people who were attacked.

Syria's White Helmets, as they're called, have released a video that they say shows just that as they rescue a 9-year-old girl. CNN has our story but we warn you some of this footage is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Isla, 9 years old, trapped under her collapsed home from an airstrike.

Moments earlier, Liev, the civil defense volunteer you see in this video, could hear her mother's faint cries from deeper under the rubble. But then there is another warning.

When the smoke and dust clears, Liev is still by Isla's side but he says her mother's voice is gone.

It's hard to describe, he tells us the following day, what it was like with the girl in my arms and the strike and then realizing that I couldn't hear her mother anymore.

He said he tried to distract Isla. He tried to focus her attention on freeing herself. He doesn't have the heart to tell her, her mother is dead. So are two of her little cousins.

And we're on the job, we sometimes have to have hearts of stone, he tells us.

[05:45:00] DAMON (voice-over): But in moments, we melt. We really melt.

The last five days have been especially merciless, even by Syria standards, with more than 50 civilians killed. Liev describes it as being the most deliberate intense targeting of the civilian population in Idlib to date.

The rescuers, survivors and the dead, they're like family, Liev says, bonded by cruelty and courage.

Isla is sealed in his heart, the little girl who he saved but whose mother was stolen from her -- Arwa Damon, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Such a tragic story. Yet another one from Syria.

The U.S. State Department plans to dramatically downsize the number of American diplomats in Iraq. In a memo sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this week, it says staff is expected to be cut by 28 percent by May 2020.

This comes as mass protests have erupted nationwide and Iranian influence in Iraq has grown. U.S. military bases in Iraq have been targeted. And Iranian-backed paramilitaries accused of being behind those attacks.

Earlier, my colleague Michael Holmes spoke with Barbara Lee, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, about the timing of this decision.

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BARBARA LEE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UAE: The timing couldn't be stranger. Couldn't be worse, actually. And, you know, actually, I don't think there's anything deliberate about it. I think this has been a sort of a slow-moving process to get to these results and to seek this reduction for -- you know, it may be for financial terms, whatever.

But that's not really going to be the result. The result is, right at this key inflection point, in Iraq's trajectory, right when you want to see U.S. diplomats out on the terrain, engaging in numbers across a spectrum of people in a generation that really is quite critical for us to get to know, right at this point, we're pulling back. We're not leaning in.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And the disturbing thing is, for those of us who, you know, know Iraq and love the place. A disturbing thing is many Iraqis themselves are fed up with the Iranian influence we're talking about and it's become part of the demonstrations we've seen.

Would this not be the time for the U.S. to take advantage of that sentiment rather than step back, push forward?

LEE: It is absolutely the time to do that. And the thing about these demonstrations, these protests that are so fascinating, you know, like in Lebanon, like in Hong Kong, they are leaders -- leaderless. These are mass public outpourings. And they are people who are just fed up with a very corrupt system that doesn't give them services or jobs.

And they also see it very much entwined with and sort of the product of, in part, this Iranian presence and the Iranian approach to Iraq, which is to keep it fairly weak and sort of always on a low boil.

So this is absolutely the time when we should not be cutting our presence. We should, if anything, be growing our presence. But at least maintaining what we have there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: A senior state official tells CNN the decision was made collectively, adding they believe those at the embassy could be targeted.

When we come back, police officers are used to saving lives. But usually, not like this. How one officer went beyond the call of duty.

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ALLEN: A very ill 11-year-old Colorado boy is getting a second chance at life. It's all thanks to a police officer, who went beyond the call of duty and became a living organ donor. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has the story.

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CLYDE HOFFMAN, ORGAN RECIPIENT: This is an E8 Prowler.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are few 12-year olds who know as much about aviation as Clyde Hoffman.

C. HOFFMAN: Yes, it's really beautiful. Just the curvature and everything.

KAFANOV: But it is not just his knowledge of planes that makes him special.

C. HOFFMAN: Don't shoot this. This is a nuclear bomb. Probably not activated though.

KAFANOV: It's the fact that he's standing here at all.

C. HOFFMAN: I was very thin and I was basically kind of yellowish, jaundice. KAFANOV: Clyde was born with Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that effects the organs.

MELISSA HOFFMAN, CLYDE'S MOTHER: His liver was probably functioning only at 10 percent.

KAFANOV (on camera): How bad did things get?

MARK HOFFMAN, CLYDE'S FATHER: He could barely keep 200, 250 calories down.

KAFANOV (voice-over): In the summer of 2018 the illness nearly claimed his life. He had to be put on a feeding tube and Colorado's transplant waiting list. Without a new liver, parents Mark and Melissa feared the worse.

MELISSA HOFFMAN: He would have died for sure.

KAFANOV: Wait times can often stretch into years but a month later, a miracle, a match from a living stranger.

MARK HOFFMAN: I could remember the day of the surgery and looking across the campus over to where I knew -- whoever this person was, was on a slab having their liver removed or a portion of it. And I'd never met her and there was a connection somehow.

CAROLYN BECKER, POLICE OFFICER AND ORGAN DONOR: I knew that there were kids out there that could use the help and I am healthy and had the means to be able to donate.

KAFANOV: That mystery donor, Broomfield, Colorado, police officer, Carolyn Becker.

BECKER: We're never off duty and whether I'm wearing my uniform or not if I see somebody in need, I'm going to help. And that was true in this case, too. I saw an opportunity to help somebody.

KAFANOV (on camera): You knew you could save a life.

BECKER: Yes.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Doctors removed a portion of Officer Becker's liver and transplanted it into Clyde, his improvement almost immediate.

C. HOFFMAN: My jaundice and my yellow eyes went completely away and the first time I ate a meal, I ate all of it. And that was amazing.

KAFANOV: The story almost ended there until a special thank you note arrived in Officer Becker's mailbox seven months later.

BECKER: Dear Donor, thank you so much for my chance at a new life.

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BECKER: I never could imagine this happening. KAFANOV: After searching online, Becker learned that the Hoffmans, who live two hours away in Colorado Springs, were saddled with huge medical bills.

BECKER: I knew there was more I could do to help.

KAFANOV (on camera): And what did you decide to do?

BECKER: Thank you. That'll be so helpful for him. Thanks, have a good day.

I decided to stand on the side of the road with a sign much like panhandling.

Thank you, hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a wonderful thing you are doing.

BECKER: Thank you. I appreciate that.

BECKER (voice-over): Raising more than $10,000, one donation at a time.

C. HOFFMAN: This is an E8 68 Prowler.

KAFANOV: So when Clyde and Officer Becker finally met more than a year after the surgery, the Hoffmans had a lot to be thankful for.

MELISSA HOFFMAN: It is hard to have words for it. I think that's why like the first week tears would come because it's a heartfelt decision.

C. HOFFMAN: And you can see this is just like a lot of piping and tubing.

BECKER: You want to tell people, yes, go donate, donate your organs, right, but now I can truly say go donate.

KAFANOV (on camera): Do you think she went above and beyond the call as a police officer and as a human?

C. HOFFMAN: Yes, I think so. I mean donating an organ, that's pretty big.

KAFANOV (voice-over): A big gift from a big-hearted stranger now a friend for life -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Broomfield, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: How about that one?

What a wonderful young woman and young man. We like that. We'll end on that one.

Thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. If you are joining us from the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. For other parts of the world, I'll be right back with our top stories.