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Trump on Trial; Davos 2020; Coronavirus Outbreak; Huawei Hearing; U.S. Senate To Begin Trump Impeachment Trial; Activist Greta Thunberg Headlining Climate Debates; U.S. Senate Goes Phone-Free For Impeachment. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 21, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Just ahead, the Republican leader of the Senate is fast-tracking the impeachment trial of the U.S. president, why Democrats are outraged.
Donald Trump will be watching from afar, he is on his way as the World Economic Forum in Davos where the big focus is on climate change.
Plus the public health nightmare for Chinese officials who are trying to stop the spread of a deadly new virus during a busy travel holiday.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with, us.
So for only the third time in history the U.S. Senate will put the president on trial, Donald Trump has already been impeached by the House. Now senators will have to decide if he should be removed from office.
The first step will be voting on the rules of the road. Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is proposing each side gets 24 hours of opening arguments spread over two days. A vote on whether to include witnesses or subpoena documents won't come until later.
But that doesn't sit well with Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: It's now certain that Leader McConnell is going along with President Trump's cover-up, hook, line and sinker.
When you look at his resolution, it is no wonder he delayed it until the last, minute. He did not want people to study it or know about it. After reading McConnell's resolution, it is clear McConnell is hell-
bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through.
On something as important and serious as impeachment, Senator McConnell's resolution is a national disgrace.
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CHURCH: Now if witnesses are not allowed, Senate Republicans could vote to acquit the president as soon as next week. CNN's Manu Raju reports from Capitol Hill.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just hours before the Senate trial is officially set to begin, Mitch McConnell unveiled the resolution detailing the parameters of how the trial would actually take shape.
Under the rules that Mitch McConnell put forward, it is going to be a fast-moving trial if senators don't agree to subpoena witnesses or documents, if they decide to reject all that, that then we can see the president potentially being acquitted by next, week.
This is how it essentially will play out under the resolution that McConnell laid out. After the debate on Tuesday, in which the lawmakers will take up the resolution that Senator McConnell put forward, there will be lots of amendments.
And Democrats will offer, those Democrats' amendments will undoubtedly be rejected by Republicans, probably all of them will fail to acquire witnesses and documents from coming forward. Republicans will deal with that later in the trial.
Ultimately McConnell's plan will be adopted sometime late Tuesday, then Wednesday comes the opening arguments, the Democrats will have 24 hours to make their case.
But they can only use two days of the 24 hours, so that means that could go probably to Wednesday or Thursday of this week. That's when the opening arguments the Democrats will, happen in that afterwards the White House, the president's team will have 24 hours to make their case. So that would happen probably Friday, Saturday, maybe if they don't use that all that time they could yield that time back and at that point the senators will question the two sides for up to 16 hours.
Now it's possible that those questions could extend into Monday and then if we get into Monday that is when the question time could be up and then there will be a vote about whether to bring forward any witnesses, subpoena any witnesses.
If that vote fails, which is very possible, then they will move on to question on whether to admit any new evidence in the, case. The case being what has been gathered by the House, Democrats under the impeachment inquiry.
This is different in the Clinton case that allowed the House evidence to be automatically in record. Now the Senate will have to vote about whether to admit that evidence into the record.
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No matter what happens if there's no witnesses to agreed to be subpoenaed no documents have been agreed to than the president could be acquitted if the Senate moves to acquit him sometime but in the middle of next week, this is exactly what the president wants, he wants to be cleared by the time of his State of the Union.
And it appears increasingly likely that will be the case but of course, this is a huge consequential trial. Lots of twists and turns on the way. We will see if anything surprises us along the way -- Manu Raju, CNN Capitol Hill.
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CHURCH: Ross Garber joins me now from Washington. He's a CNN legal analyst and teaches political investigations and impeachment law at Tulane Law School.
Always good to have you with us.
ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So what is your response to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell's resolution setting out the parameters for the impeachment trial of President Trump?
GARBER: Well, this is only the third impeachment trial of a president in U.S. history. There is not much precedent to go on. It will be heard from Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, was that he was going to use the Clinton rules as a baseline.
There are some things from the Clinton rules in there. But it diverges from the Clinton rules in some very interesting ways, including that all of the information from the House doesn't automatically become part of the Senate trial. There is going to be a vote on that. And it's going to come quite late in the scheme of things.
CHURCH: Interesting and, of course, what does all of this mean in terms of hearing from new witnesses?
GARBER: Indeed, that is the big question of the day, will there be new witnesses or not after opening arguments. There is going to be a vote up or down on whether the Senate will consider hearing from new witnesses.
That is going to be an important vote to watch, these are proposed rules right now and we expect a full day tomorrow of debate about whether these rules will be adopted.
CHURCH: And as you mentioned, McConnell says that he modeled his plan off the guidelines of the impeachment trial of president Bill Clinton. But as a matter of fact, they are quite different giving the Senate only two days to short days rather than four longer days for opening arguments on both sides.
The Democrats say McConnell schedule will conceal the presidents misconduct in the dark of night, their words, so obviously are they right is that the strategy here?
GARBER: I don't think that is the strategy, I think the strategy is to kind of get this whole thing done as quickly as possible.
And in the Clinton trial, there were 24 hours of opening arguments allowed. But those could be spaced over three, days. In the draft rules from McConnell. Still 24 hours but space over two days,
Republicans will say 24 hours that is incredible amount of time for opening statements. Many trial lawyers would never give a 24 hour long opening statement, Republicans will say that Democrats don't need to use all of that. But if they do they have two days to do it.
CHURCH: The problem is though they would be starting at 1:00 in the afternoon and going until 1:00 in the morning. Whether senators will be there for that whole time or if they will be awake and, of course, the American public will not necessarily get to be watching this if it is going to go so late in the night.
GARBER: Well, sometimes the Senate actually does stay quite late into the night. But I think the message here is, look, let's tailor things, let's see if we can get it done quickly and maybe we don't need to stay into the night because you risk losing the American, people.
But you also risk losing senators as well, start at 1:00, maybe finish up by 11:00, you get primetime, your best stuff during prime, time you don't need to go into the wee hours of the morning.
CHURCH: Right, you mentioned McConnell's resolution will be voted on in just a few hours from now.
What is likely to happen, what sort of amendments will be included?
GARBER: That's a great question. In this resolution -- the draft had been kept under wraps until very late today, so a lot of people haven't seen it. They are poring over it and I expect we are going to see a lot of discussion tomorrow and maybe an effort, several efforts, to try and amend the, rules. It is unclear how that is going to fare.
CHURCH: And in the meantime a new CNN poll shows 51 percent of Americans want the Senate to remove President Trump from office.
How significant is that, do you think?
GARBER: Democrats would say that's very significant, they would say that's a majority of the American people want the president removed from office is quite extraordinary, it's a very high, number.
Republicans will say, that is pretty much the number that has been all along and through this whole process, all of the witnesses who have testified, all of the, documents, that number hasn't really changed.
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GARBER: So it's not a great number if you are an incumbent president.
But the reality is it's pretty much where it has been for a while now.
CHURCH: I don't want to put you on the spot but I want to ask you your gut feeling of where this is all going and where it will land?
GARBER: My educated opinion on it is that we are very unlikely to see new witnesses and certainly the key witnesses that the House Democrats are looking for. I think we are looking for a relatively quick process here, a relatively quick trial.
CHURCH: So what has been achieved?
GARBER: A lot of new information has come out. The American people have been educated about it. I don't think the story is over, I think new information is continuing to come out. But it's a fair question, what has been achieved by the impeachment process.
I think that is going to be for history to tell us.
CHURCH: Right, maybe the election. Ross Garber, many thanks to you.
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CHURCH: And as the impeachment trial begins, President Trump is thousands of kilometers away in Davos, Switzerland. He is attending the World Economic Forum where he is expected to deliver a special address, to focus on the U.S. economy and recent trade deals. Nina dos Santos joins us from Davos.
Good to see you.
What could be expected in the special address from President Trump at the World Economic Forum and what meetings will he likely have on the sidelines?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Good morning to you, Rosemary, we are expecting the U.S. president to touchdown on soil in about 15 minutes time. He will make the journey by a helicopter here to the 1,500 meter above sea alpine resort of Davos.
And then he will address 3,000 of the world's most powerful people, we are talking leaders of countries, industries, thought leaders and big activists as well who have had such an impact on the international stage.
This year's focus -- Davos is celebrating its 50th anniversary -- is all about creating a more cohesive and sustainable world.
But when it comes to the economy Trump will be on sure footing because this is a business conference. We could expect a victory lap with regard to the trade truce he struck with China. Probably expect something of a trade truce if tweets are to believed overnight with the president of France.
The United States and France were having an argument over a digital tax that France was going to introduce and the U.S. threatened heavy sanctions on certain goods. It seems as though both sides now have walked back from the brink on that.
The issue of climate change and international foreign policy, those will be two big ones that are going to be difficult territory for the U.S. president to have to charter here. Greta Thunberg, climate change activist, is going to be a prominent guest for the second year in a row.
And also Prince Charles talking about climate change. And many of President Trump's policies on repealing environmental protections in the world's biggest economy are not going well with the crowd, who's being asked to try to become carbon negative, carbon neutral if not carbon negative by 2050.
So there will be some difficult areas for him. But really when it comes to the economy that's where he's going to be on sure footing. And he'll be accomplished by the Treasury Secretary, the Commerce Secretary and also Ivanka Trump, who is going to be talking about getting jobs back to U.S. soil.
Very quickly as I said before, he has said that it is all about the economy, stupid, to paraphrase the only other U.S. president who has visited Davos when he was in office, that was president Bill Clinton.
Just like President Trump he faced impeachment in the House. The big question is whether the U.S. president will face acquittal in the Senate. And that is something that people will be focused on back in Washington as the president is here in Davos.
CHURCH: So can we expect President Trump to possibly talk about the forum's theme of sustainability and climate change and could that put him in the crosshairs of Greta Thunberg?
DOS SANTOS: It might be likely that the two of them could avoid each other, especially it's quite interesting if you look at the timings here. She gives a speech earlier this morning and she is giving one right now. And then he will have his big set piece.
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DOS SANTOS: And then she will giving another speech on stage as a side. In the middle of all of this you have other figures like Prince Charles milling around, keen to talk about saving the planet as well.
We don't know whether the U.S. president will go verbally off piece. As we know he sometimes he likes to improvise a little bit on some of these more contentious issues. That's what people will be looking out for.
But as I said before, what he's probably going to be trying to speak the loudest will be on touting the U.S.' economic credentials. There are many companies who find that very palatable at the moment. And he will be trying to say invest your money back in the United
States, hire American, workers. Now is the time to do so, as we head into another race for the White House in 2020.
CHURCH: Perhaps it will be safer for him to stick to the economy, Nina dos Santos, great to chat with you in Davos, talk to you soon.
A new strain of coronavirus is spreading in Asia and health officials fear the outbreak could get far worse. We will tell you more about what's being done to prevent that.
Plus the high stakes hearing for a Chinese tech executive and the political ramifications of it, all back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Health officials in China have confirmed a new strain of coronavirus can spread from person to person, sparking fears the outbreak could spread further. Scientists in the U.S. and China are working on a vaccine. And the World Health Organization is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the outbreak.
So far the Wuhan virus has killed four people and infected more than 200 in China. Thailand has also reported two cases. South Korean and Japan have each confirmed one.
But some experts believe the number of people with the virus could be much higher. Let's turn to our correspondents following the developments. David Culver is in Beijing and Blake Essig is in Hong Kong.
David, let's start with you. Since we talked 24 hours ago there have been these additional two cases in Thailand and one each in South Korea and Japan. Now we are getting this confirmation of human to human transmission.
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CHURCH: What's China's doing to contain this and how concerned should we all be?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting you point out that 24 hour mark because 24 hours ago the information was rather different. In fact, Chinese health officials said this was preventable and controllable.
Late last night here on state broadcaster CCTV in a live interview, we heard from one of the leading health officials, who said this is in the beginning stage but it is climbing, and that this is of great, concern. They don't want to create panic and they are mindful of that, even U.S. health officials have echoed that. But panic and preparation are two separate things. They certainly want to be prepared as much as possible.
But here's where the frustration is, a lot of people don't know what that looks like?
What are the guidelines?
What clarification can they get?
They have not seen anything that suggests how they should be best suited going into this possible spreading of this virus, especially when you consider the time of year that we are at. The holiday travel rush, if you will, this is the Lunar New Year, hundreds of millions of people traveling in close contact with each other.
Earlier today I was at a railway station and people were shoulder to shoulder. The big concern now is that this is in fact confirmed from Chinese health officials that is human to human transmission. That sparks fears as to how quickly this could spread and how severe this is.
What are they doing to try and contain it if you will?
We know that there are screenings set up at railway stations and airports. But health experts admit those are not perfect processes to detect this possible illness. And they say that folks can actually go through those screeners and it's not until they arrive at their destination or at some later point that they develop symptoms and that they are then diagnosed with the illness.
So that is the concern with where the screening is right now. And the lack of clarity over all. That's what folks here seemed to be pushing for more than anything else.
CHURCH: That's raised a lot of concerns. David Culver reporting from Beijing, many thanks to you.
Blake, let's turn to you now. Let's talk about the spread beyond China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, international airports around the world, including here in the United States, are checking for anybody possibly carrying the virus.
As we heard from David, there's a possibility people might not be showing symptoms. That's a reason for great concern.
What are they looking for and how sure can they be that this will stop the spread?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you said, this is a rapidly developing virus. World Health Organization believes it could constitute a public health emergency. As you mentioned at the top of the story they will be convening tomorrow to not only discussed the dangers but also to talk about ways to contain the spread of this virus from becoming a pandemic that spreads across the world.
And at this moment in time, it's worth noting that, in the United States the Institutes of Health is -- the National Institutes of Health is in the process of developing a vaccine to combat this virus.
But in the meantime, airports, about a half dozen airports in Asia in, the United States and Australia are instituting special measures to screen passengers.
They are looking for in particular the symptoms of this particular iteration of the coronavirus, we are talking fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. Those are the symptoms most associated with, again, this iteration of the, virus.
So in the United States the CDC has deployed about 100 of its staff to three different airports in San Francisco. JFK, New York, Los Angeles.
What those screeners are looking for, one, they are taking temperatures but they're also looking for those symptoms. Anybody that is displaying difficulty breathing, fever or coughing.
In Australia there are about three flights from Wuhan into Sydney on a weekly basis and it will only be those passengers that are coming directly from Wuhan that will be issued a pamphlet, an informational pamphlet describing the symptoms.
And health officials in Australia are asking anybody that is infected or believes they might be, to self report. At this moment in time there's one person in Brisbane, Australia, who recently visited Wuhan, came back to Australia and developed a respiratory issue which he essentially alerted the officials and is currently in quarantine.
As David mentioned with the Lunar New Year approaching, millions of people in the region of Asia are expected to be traveling.
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ESSIG: So it's in the best interests of everybody to do everything they can to prevent the spread of this dangerous and deadly virus.
CHURCH: Of course, just very quickly, do we have any idea how long it could take?
ESSIG: The National Institute of Health is in the early stages. Look back to 2002-2003 during the SARS pandemic. Again we are talking, during that pandemic, more than 8,000 people were infected; 744 people around the world were killed and it took a long time to develop essentially the cure.
So in this case we are still in the infancy of even understanding what we are dealing with here, so no timeline, it could be a while before we really understand what it is we are dealing with.
CHURCH: This is a real worry, Blake Essig bringing us the latest on that from Hong Kong. The top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei is fighting to stay out of U.S. custody. The extradition hearing for Meng Wanzhou began Monday in Canada. She was arrested in 2018 after the U.S. accused her of bank fraud and sanctions violations, CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on the case from New York.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a case deeply entangled in geopolitics. Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou gets her first chance to defend herself more than one year after she was arrested in Canada at the behest of the U.S. government, which now seeks her extradition to face charges of bank fraud and evading U.S. sanctions on Iran. She denies the accusations.
The key point here, in order to extradite her to the U.S., Canadian prosecutors must prove that what she did would have been illegal, not only in the U.S. but also in Canada. So called double criminality.
They are arguing this, saying her conduct amounts to fraud. Others argue the charges do not meet that standard, because they hinge on U.S. sanctions. The U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2016 and reimposed sanctions. Canada and other signatories did not.
Wanzhou's defenses are also expected to argue the case is politically motivated. That argument reinforced by the president's comments shortly after her arrest, that he could intervene if it would help get a trade deal with China.
This whole process could last months and there's a lot at stake. If she is extradited it would put a huge strain on China and the U.S. just as they move to negotiating phase two of their trade deal.
Huawei, which is also on U.S. trade blacklist has been a stumbling block in the talks. And it could hurt rock-bottom relations between China and Canada. China detained two Canadian citizens on spying charges. And they are still in jail, facing harsh conditions without access to lawyers or their families.
Beijing denies it was retaliation but their fate may hinge on the outcome of this case -- Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
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CHURCH: We will take a short break here. Still to come, Davos putting the focus on climate change and they will have to answer to a number of young activists, including Greta Thunberg. All the details ahead.
Plus a phone call and denial of an alleged cover-up. We will look back on the key events that led up to President Trump's impeachment trial. We will be back in a moment.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for this hour. Health officials in China have confirmed the Wuhan coronavirus can spread from person to person, sparking fears of a wider outbreak. So far the virus has killed four people and infected more than 200 in China. Scientists are working on a vaccine and the World Health Organization will meet Wednesday to discuss the outbreak.
U.S. President Trump is on his way to Davos, Switzerland for the 50th annual World Economic Forum. In just a few hours, he will deliver an address that's expected to focus on recent trade deals and the U.S. economy. Leaders will be watching to see if he discusses the forum's theme of sustainability and climate change.
We are just hours away from the start of Donald Trump's impeachment trial. U.S. senators will have to decide if for the first time ever the president should be removed from office. The House has already impeached Mr. Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the U.S. Attorney General should not be involved in his case regarding campaign finance violations. A lawyer for Parnas filed a request Monday for William Barr to recuse himself. It alleges Barr has a conflict of interest and his involvement has harmed his client.
Parnas now admits he worked on the Trump pressure campaign in Ukraine. He is urging Congress to let him testify in the impeachment trial, and he's turned over evidence. Giuliani also says he's willing to testify. He had this to say about Parnas on Fox News.
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RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER OF DONALD TRUMP: Lev is someone I'm -- I was close to. Obviously, I was misled by him. I feel very bad as godfather to his child, and spit on his child. I still feel sorry for him. I'm not going to respond to him for each and every one of the misrepresentations he's made because there is so many. If I'm called as a witness, I'm prepared to do it. In fact, I wouldn't mind being called as a witness for a lot of reasons.
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CHURCH: We may not find out until next week if the Senate will call any witnesses, of course, but the American people are strongly in favor of it. A new CNN poll shows 69 percent want the Senate to hear from new witnesses, 26 percent disagree. Even Republican respondents say they favor allowing new witnesses, 48 percent to 44 percent.
Well, the road to the impeachment trial has taken many interesting twists and turns. CNN's Tom Foreman has the timeline of how we got there.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Spring 2019, as Volodymyr Zelensky is winning the presidency of Ukraine, team Trump sees a possible win of its own according to congressional witnesses. Perhaps the new Ukrainian president can be persuaded to launch an investigation that might help the U.S. president, a probe into alleged corruption in Ukraine involving the U.S. Democratic Party, Joe Biden, and Biden's son.
GIULIANI: The facts are stubborn, and eventually this is going to have to be investigated.
FOREMAN: The President's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani insist it has nothing to do with Trump's reelection plans, and there's nothing illegal about it. The Ukrainians have concluded this conspiracy theory about the Democrats and the Biden's is unfounded. Nonetheless, Trump is soon saying if a foreign government offers dirt on a political foe --
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I'd want to hear it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want that kind of interference in our elections?
TRUMP: It's not an interference. They have information. I think I'd take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI.
FOREMAN: Summer, the White House unexpectedly suspends nearly 400 million in military aid to Ukraine, money needed to fight the Russians. A visit to the White House by the new Ukrainian president is on hold too. Then Trump gets on the phone with Zelensky.
I would like you to do us a favor. Trump personally asked for an investigation into the 2016 election conspiracies and another into Biden. Trump's defenders say this was all about fighting corruption in Ukraine. But the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, a Trump ally, now says it was really about securing a public announcement that Biden was under suspicion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would benefit from an investigation of the Biden's?
GORDON SONDLAND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: I assume President Trump would benefit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we have it. See?
FOREMAN: According to the testimony of other career diplomats, Sondland would know.
FIONA HILL, RUSSIA ADVISER, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Because he was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy. And those two things had just diverged.
FOREMAN: Remember, this was all happening largely behind the scenes, then everything blows up.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We now know the whistleblower --
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The whistleblower complaints.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The whistleblower scandal.
FOREMAN: An anonymous whistleblower files a report pushing the story into the open, reflecting widening concerns about the call between the two presidents.
LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN, DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: It was improper for the President.
JENNIFER WILLIAMS, ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: It involves discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter.
FOREMAN: Congress starts buzzing. Did Trump use tax dollars to coerce a foreign government to investigate a political rival? As the scandal boils, Trump releases that military aid and goes on defense.
TRUMP: You take a look at that call, it was perfect.
FOREMAN: His acting chief of staff seems to confirm pressure was applied to Ukraine.
MICK MULVANEY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We do that all the time with foreign policy. I have news for everybody. Get over it.
FOREMAN: But then he walks it back. Facing an impeachment inquiry, Trump orders officials to defy Congressional subpoenas to explain what happened. And he insists there was never any kind of deal.
TRUMP: There was no quid pro quo.
There was no quid pro quo at all.
I want no quid pro quo.
FOREMAN: But Sondland says otherwise.
SONDLAND: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and the White House meeting, the answer is yes.
FOREMAN: Winter, in the Democratic-controlled House, the gavel falls and Trump heads into Christmas as only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
And now comes the trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the odds for convictions seem long and the time until the next election is growing short. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Well, teen climate activists Greta Thunberg has a headlining role in Davos. And right now, she was on a panel called forging a sustainable path toward a common future. Later, she will open a debate on how to avoid a climate apocalypse. Let's turn to John Defterios now who joins us from Davos with more.
And, John, what can we expect to hear from Greta Thunberg on this avoiding a climate apocalypse? We all want to know because earlier she has suggested that's going to be a tough one. And how likely is it that she would target the U.S. president?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, I think this is a very interesting strategy by the World Economic Forum today. They have Greta Thunberg as you say here speaking in front of a panel. And she's serving almost as a bookend to Donald Trump because she'll be giving a keynote speech leading into a panel which includes religious leaders like the patriarch of the Orthodox community, known as the Green Patriarch.
So you can see the pressure on Donald Trump around the environment as one of the key pillars, in fact, I would say the main pillar over the next four days here on the 50th anniversary of the World Economic Forum, and a tricky one for Donald Trump. I was thinking Rosemary, this one was one of those Davos moments.
And what I mean by that, something we'll remember for years going forward in the -- in the realm of Nelson Mandela, for example, or Mikhail Gorbachev after the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, or Bill Clinton, who was well known here. Will Donald Trump acknowledge climate change once and for all. There'll be the pressure to do so.
And then coming into this meeting here in Europe, we had Germany with the policy to phase out coal over the next 30 years. The European Union itself and somebody the President is going to be meeting as the president of the European Commission, put forward a $1 trillion infrastructure plan to go to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Can you imagine the president here making a pivot and saying, you know, I tend to agree with you? We can't just focus on the coal workers here. Let's put up a very bold proposal, acknowledge the change. I don't see it from the president right now. But clearly, the pressure will be on and people from afar and even in the building are saying, John, this is Trump versus Thunberg, almost like a boxing match.
Let's see if they confront each other. But it's amazing that they have a 17-year-old be the one that stands up to the President on the very urgent issue of climate change.
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CHURCH: She is certainly fearless. So I wouldn't put it past her. I'm sure it's a possibility. And of course, it's going to be very difficult for President Trump to avoid the main focus of the forum, which is climate change sustainability. He will be wanting to focus it all on the economy and the success of the U.S. economy. So what is Trump's likely game plan here? DEFTERIOS: I like the way you phrase it, Rosemary. What is the Trump game plan because he likes to come in with a strategy? He is a businessman after all, a dealmaker. I think he's going to try to acknowledge Greta and not smirk at her like he did at the U.N. General Assembly. But I would think that he's going to have as his core focus here, the U.S.-China, first phase of the agreement.
Many see it here on the ground is very hollow, actually, and a lot of drama in 2019, perhaps are not a big payoff. He'll probably try to talk about the restructure of the NAFTA agreement with Canada and Mexico. Again, we don't really know what's the teeth in that agreement going forward.
And certainly, even though it's cost the U.S. economy in terms of the budget deficit, he'll talk about the job creation here and the steady growth. It's not great growth for 2020. We're 10 years into the economic cycle after the global financial crisis, but clearly, he'll say I've made this a much better place.
And then I think the Middle East very quickly here. Two of his five bilateral meetings are with Iraqis, the president of Iraq himself, and also the president of the Kurdish Regional Government. U.S. troops will be on the agenda. And I think the President will approach a victory lap, if you will, with the killing of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
It is a high-risk Gambit. He thinks it's paid off. Those in the Middle East, and normally in Abu Dhabi, suggest it's made it a riskier region right now. Let's see what the President has to say whether he goes far with this idea to expand the NATO blueprint reaching into the Middle East, policing the Strait of Hormuz, and where the European Commission and those like Angela Merkel will support that effort.
CHURCH: We shall be watching very closely to see what he says and what happens. John Defterios joining us there live from Davos, many thanks as always. Well, he may no longer be a working Royal but his official appearances are not quite over. Coming up, Prince Harry's attendance at the U.K.-Africa Investment Summit.
Plus, they locked arms for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but top Democratic presidential hopefuls are going on the attack. The negative campaigning ahead of the Iowa caucuses. We're back in a moment.
[02:45:00]
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CHURCH: So you can hear the mixed reaction there for Donald Trump as he paid a visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington. Monday was a national holiday honoring the Civil Rights leader. Two years ago, the President was criticized for playing golf at his Florida Country Club on MLK Day. On Monday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested Dr. King would have opposed Mr. Trump's impeachment.
Well, the top Democrats fighting to replace President Trump are going on the attack taking shots at the president and each other. But they showed some unity for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more now from Washington.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The leading Democratic presidential candidates marched arm and arm today in South Carolina, paying tribute to the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. But signs of unity are increasingly fleeting on the campaign trail with the Iowa Caucuses two weeks from tonight.
A circular firing squad among leading democratic rivals is unfolding on multiple fronts with urgency as candidates sharpen their distinctions and voters make their decisions. Bernie Sanders is taking aim at Joe Biden on Social Security, trying to soften support among its base of older voters by suggesting Biden was eager to cut payments to retirees.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a little doctored video going around put up by one of Bernie's people.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is Joe's position on Social Security over the years, versus my position on Social Security over the years.
ZELENY: The issue is a video circulated by the Sanders campaign that shows Biden praising former House Speaker Paul Ryan for wanting to cut Social Security. A full viewing of the tape shows Biden was actually mocking Ryan. At the same time, the Sanders campaign is questioning Biden's long record on race relations hoping to erode some of Biden strength among African-American voters.
Biden firing back bluntly questioning the electability of Sanders and Elizabeth Warren during a weekend interview with the state newspaper in South Carolina.
BIDEN: I'm just asking a rhetorical question. Bernie is the top of the ticket in North -- in South Carolina, or Warren is the top of the ticket, how many Democrats down the line you think are going to win?
ZELENY: Well, natural at this late stage of a campaign, the finger- pointing and flat out attacks are fraught with peril as some Democratic voters say they are turned off by the infighting. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar who have quarreled about experience are now largely staying above the fray. The sharpest face to face exchange yet between Warren and Sanders at last week's debate still hangs over the race.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think you called me a liar on national T.V.
SANDERS: Let's not do it right now.
ZELENY: The two candidates were all smiles today outside the South Carolina State House, but have yet to address the underlying issue of Warren's assertion that Sanders told her a woman couldn't win the presidency, a claim he still denies. His weekend explanation did little to clear the air.
SANDERS: But in this country, anyone who doesn't understand that there's a lot of bigotry, there's a lot of sexism.
ZELENY: In the final stretch of the opening chapter of a too close to call race, Tom Steyer, a longshot contender offered this lesson today to his rivals.
TOM STEYER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not the time for the people who are running for president to bicker. This is a time where we have a job, beat Mr. Trump.
ZELENY: Now, there are risks, of course, to negative campaigning, but they're also a risk to not campaigning at all. And that is what is facing these Democratic senators also running for president. They're clearly trying to get their arguments in before they're locked in that impeachment trial. Those new rules mean that they will spend up to 12 hours a day in Washington, not on a campaign trail. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: We turn to weather now. And parts of Australia are still dealing with bushfires. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been tracking a storm system that could bring more rain and cooler temperatures. And Pedram, of course, this is great for dampening the fires but it can cause other problems as well.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: It's been a wild ride. You know, we can't get a break here, Rosemary. Whether it's a good news in the way of rainfall, it comes in at such an incredible rate that it leads to damage. Of course, you've had hail reports as large as golf ball size.
And in the past 24 hours, we've actually seen a slight increase in the fire activity across the region. Vast majority of the concern right across portions of Eastern Victoria certainly in place there. And you notice the looking ahead into Wednesday. There are level five in place that is out of six which would be an extreme concern into the northern and Northwestern tier there of Victoria, parts of central and southern Victoria also dealing with severe fire concerns as the winds are expected to shift yet again. This is a one-day event.
[02:50:28]
So, into Wednesday, strong winds also getting in from the England area. So some haze certainly will pick up as well and temps back up to 32 degrees. But notice there's the storm system, Rosemary, I was alluding to there, brings in quite a bit of wet weather once again on Thursday, drops the temperatures noticeably across the region, and potentially again brings the fire numbers down.
So it really kind of shows you how susceptible some of these areas are as the winds shift and dramatically alter the pattern in just a day by day basis. But quickly, take you back out across areas of the Western Mediterranean into Valencia, Spain we go we're upwards of 200 flights impacted, several fatalities with a storm system here that had hurricane-force wind gusts across this region, also at the height of the storm brought power down for about 10,000 customers.
And notice this, Rosemary, in a 24 hours span, upwards of 100 millimeters of rainfall across parts of coastal Spain. This is equivalent to two to three months-worth of rainfall in parts of these areas in a matter of one day. So quite a bit of weather there in western Mediterranean.
CHURCH: Yes. Thank you so much for covering all of that Pedram. Many things. Well, on the heels of a couple of tumultuous weeks, Prince Harry made an unannounced appearance. It came a day after his first public statement on his changing role within Britain's Royal Family. Anna Stewart has the details.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was back to business so Prince Harry Monday as he attended the U.K.-Africa Investment Summit. He had various meetings with African leaders and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Prince Harry will have several other official Royal engagements in the week to come, as we understand it, before this big transition in the spring, at which point he will cease to be a working member of the Royal Family and will give out the title of HRH, His Royal Highness.
Now, Speaking at a charity event Sunday, Prince Harry made a very heartfelt speech in which he expressed great sadness at reaching this decision.
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PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. There was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven't always gone to it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.
What I wanted to make clear as we're not walking away, and we certainly aren't walking away from you. Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Prince Harry also made clear that this was his decision. Perhaps speaking to the British tabloid press you have suggested, the move was masterminded by his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Now, clearly, the agreement is not exactly what Prince Harry and his wife wanted, nor is it exactly what the Queen wanted either. She wanted them to remain senior members of the Royal Family.
However, the agreement can mean perhaps an end to a couple of very tumultuous weeks for the Royal Family and the start of a new chapter in royal history. I'm Anna Stewart outside Buckingham Palace in London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, Donald Trump's impeachment trial is just hours away in the U.S. Senate. How lawmakers will cope in a phone-free zone. That's next on CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Well, U.S. senators are preparing to hear the case for and against impeachment of President Trump, but one thing they won't have to hear is their cell phones. Jeanne Moos has our report.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sharpen your pencil senators, it's going to be a low-tech impeachment trial. No use of cell phones and no talking, you hear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. All persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment.
MOOS: No cell phones, no yakking, oh the humanity duct tape and barbituates for all mocked some heartless soul. Special cubbyholes were built for senators can steal their electronic devices just like school kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your cell phones are supposed to be where? Yes, in your locker.
MOOS: Senators struggling with phone withdraw must confine themselves to salivating over the stenographer's keyboard. None of this. Senate Majority Leader McConnell's phones seems to ring.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Members will have the opportunity to review investigators' records.
MOOS: At the most inopportune times. But during the impeachment trial, no disembodied hand will have to reach out to relieve the senator of his phone. No one will be tempted to toss their phone like a grenade.
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, NATO: -- they were put back in place, they've shot down -- they've shot down the -- sorry about that. They caught it too.
MOOS: And no watching a golf tournament this Democratic Representative Cedric Richmond did during a House impeachment vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Stanton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: But racy stuff has popped up in the past. For instance, the time a Florida state senator said he just innocently open an e-mail on his laptop. What should appear but topless women in bikinis, State Senator Mike Bennett told the Sunshine State News, "I opened it up and said holy expletive. What's on my screen? And clicked away from it right away."
Senators if you have to do something with your hands. scratch your nose. At an old-fashioned impeachment, the ayes may have it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Sensenbrenner votes aye.
MOOS: But not the iPhone. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter and I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Do stick around.
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