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President Trump Attends World Economic Forum in Davos; Senate Republicans Wants Rush Impeachment; Asia on High Alert; Taal Residents Not Yet Out of the Woods. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired January 21, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN Newsroom, and I'm Rosemary Church.

We are just hours away from the start of the Senate impeachment trial of the U.S. President and Democrats are outraged at the Republican leader's plans to fast-track the process. Donald Trump will be watching from afar. He is on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos where the big focus is on climate change. The climate crisis, rather.

Plus, the public health nightmare for Chinese officials they are trying to stop the spread of a deadly new virus during a busy travel holiday.

We are on the brink of an historic day in American politics as the U.S. Senate prepares to put a president on trial for just the third time ever.

Donald Trump has already been impeached by the House, now senators will have to decide if he should be removed from office.

It all gets underway in the coming hours in Washington, Republicans are proposing two 12-hour days of opening arguments for each side before voting on whether to allow witnesses. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer objects.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: It is 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's no wonder he delayed it till the last minute. He didn't want people to study it or know about it.

After reading McConnell's resolution, it's 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. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And I spoke earlier with CNN legal analyst and Tulane Law School professor Ross Garber, and I asked what the rules proposed by Republicans indicate to him.

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ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: 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 Mitch McConnell is still 24 hours with a space over only two days.

What the Republicans will say is, 24 hours? That's an incredible amount of time for opening statements. You know, many of us trial lawyers we've never given a 24-hour long opening statement. Republicans will say that Democrats don't need to use all of that but if they do, they've got two days to do it.

CHURCH: The problem is though they would be starting at one o'clock in the afternoon and going until one in the morning. Whether senators will be there for that whole time or certainly if they will be awake, and of course, the American public will not necessarily get to be watching this if it's going to go so late in the night.

GARBER: Yes. Well, I mean, 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 one maybe finish up by eight, nine, 10, 11, you get primetime, have you're best off during prime time, you don't need to go into the wee hours of the morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And if there are no witnesses the Republican-controlled Senate could vote to acquit the president as early as next week. And that would be just fine with the White House.

CNN's Jim Acosta has our report.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Before his impeachment trial has even begun in the Senate the president is seeking a ruling of case dismissed. In a 110-page memo blasted on by the president's defensive team, Mr. Trump's attorneys right, all of this is a dangerous perversion of the Constitution that the Senate should swiftly and roundly condemn.

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ROBERT RAY, COUNSEL TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: This will be the argument from the president's defense team that this is an impeachment that is fundamentally and constitutionally flawed. [03:05:02]

Never in our history has there been an impeachment of a president without even an allegation that a crime was committed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The president's lawyers go on to argue that it was just fine for Mr. Trump to ask the leader of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden during their July 25th phone call, adding, "it also would've been legitimate to mention the Biden Burisma affair." All but making the case that it's OK for a president to welcome foreign interference in an election, as Mr. Trump in front of the cameras.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened in China is just about what happened with -- with Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Over the weekend at his Florida resort, a source close to the White House told CNN that Mr. Trump was asking friends, why are they doing this to me? His allies are trying to assure him he should receive a speedy trial that's over in a couple of weeks.

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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): His mood is to go to the state of the union with this behind him and talk about what he wants to do for the next rest of 2020, and what he wants to do for the next four years. He is very much comfortable with the idea this is going to turn out well for him.

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ACOSTA: But sources tell CNN one of the president's high-profile attorneys, Alan Dershowitz, needed some convincing to sign on to the trial team that included a phone call from Mr. Trump to Dershowitz's wife. Dershowitz is on the defense of himself, changing his story on whether a crime is necessary for a president to be impeached. Compare what he said during the Clinton impeachment.

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ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: It's certainly doesn't have to be a crime. If you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty, you don't need a technical crime.

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ACOSTA: To what Dershowitz is saying now. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DERSHOWITZ: No, I haven't changed, I'm saying you need a technical crime but you need a criminal type behavior, that's the position I've taken over time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Democrats aren't buying any of it and in Mr. Trump's case.

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REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY): There's ample evidence, overwhelming evidence that any jury would convict in three minutes flat that the president betrayed his country by breaking the law.

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ACOSTA: One top Democrat is warning that portions of the intelligence community are holding on to some evidence that could damage the president.

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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The NSA in particular is withholding what are potentially relevant documents to our oversight responsibilities on Ukraine, but also withholding documents potentially relevant that the senators might want to see during the trial. That is deeply concerning, and there are signs that the CIA may be on the same tragic course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The president's advisors wanted Mr. Trump to make this trip to Switzerland so the public can still see him doing his job like giving the speech to deliver to the World Economic Forum in Davos. But sources who have spoken to the president in recent days say he is distracted by this impeachment trial that he is wondering why it's all is happening to him.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

CHURCH: And as the impeachment trial begins President Trump is thousands of kilometers away in Switzerland. He arrived in Zurich last hour and he is now on his way to Davos where he will attend the World Economic Forum.

Now organizers there say he will deliver a special address. He is expected to focus on the U.S. economy and recent trade deals.

So, let's turn now to Nina Dos Santos, she joins us now from Davos. So, Nina, what can we expect in this special address? We understand trade and U.S. economy but is it possible that President Trump will veer into the area of the forum's main focus, climate change?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he might go verbally off piece, if you like, to use skiing metaphor, Rosemary, especially if he's asked in public by journalists, at this point we just don't know.

Interestingly enough, we do know that his speech has been bookended rather hopefully by the World Economic Forum by the climate change activist Greta Thunberg who has clashed with the U.S. president for his policies on the environment and repealing environmental protections in the world's biggest economy.

She's actually speaking on stage at the moment on a panel, and she has been using her voice to try and speak directly to the companies that are in the audience here. We got 3,000 dignitaries and business leaders. She is trying to focus their minds so say stop investing in fossil fuels.

Well, this is the 50th anniversary of the World Economic Forum. And as such you can expect that trying to sort of, build a legacy, and that means leaving the planet in a better future from here. They're appealing to all of their members to commit to pledge to neutralize their carbon emission become carbon neutral by the year 2050.

For people like Greta Thunberg, she says that's not enough for youngsters like us. What kind of sake will the planet be in if you don't tackle this right now and we inherit it in 20, 30 years to come? We want immediate action now.

[03:10:03]

So, after she gets off stage and there will be another couple of speeches, we'll have the U.S. president speaking in about two and a half hours from now. We believe he's already touch down in Switzerland and will be arriving here to the resort via helicopter as he did back in 2018 when he was only two years into his term and his populist rhetoric made him a rather unwelcomed guest.

Now, obviously, we have an interesting timing. He is turning up here in his foreign visit of the year, a big election year, it's his first foreign visit since the killing of Qasem Soleimani of Iran. That will something he'll probably be asked about in bilateral with the president of Iraq, also the prime minister of Pakistan, among some of the world leaders he is meeting on the sidelines here of Davos.

And it's also kicking off just on the day of, of course, the start of that Senate impeachment trial. Now just to point out how important historically this moment is, the U.S. President, Donald Trump has been here twice, as I said before, the only previous sitting president to attend Davos was Bill Clinton who, of course, was famously impeached by the House although he was acquitted by the Senate thereafter, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Very interesting piece of information there. Nina Dos Santos, many thanks to you bringing us that live report from Davos.

Well, health officials in Asia are trying to prevent a new strain of coronavirus from spreading even further. We are live in Beijing and Hong Kong with more on their efforts. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Health officials in China have confirmed a new strain of coronavirus can spread from person to person sparking fears of a wider outbreak. Scientist in the U.S. and China are now working on a vaccine and the World Health Organization is expecting to meet Wednesday to discuss the outbreak.

So far, the Wuhan virus has killed four people and infected more than 200 in China alone. Thailand has also reported two cases while South Korea and Japan have each confirmed one. But some experts believe the number of people with the virus could be much higher.

So, let's turn now to our correspondent following all the developments, David Culver is in Beijing and Blake Essig joins us from Hong Kong. Good to see you both again.

So, David, I want to start with you. And now, of course, we have this confirmation of more cases outside China and the sobering news that this coronavirus can be transmitted person to person. So, what is China doing to contain this and how concern should we all be?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is certainly concern that we are hearing from folks on social media in particular, and it's interesting because as you point out that some health expert are concerned with the fact, or the possibility that it's a fact that they may be underreporting some of these cases.

[03:15:01]

That concern is echoed on social media as well here, where we are seeing folks who are saying that perhaps this is a repeat of what was done here in 2002 and 2003 with SARS being covered up and that led to even the mayor of Beijing and the health minister at that time to be fired.

So those concerns are surfacing on social media. I can tell you on state media there is a different portrayal and we are seeing comments from folks who suggest that they believe that this is all being properly reported that there is transparency and that they are comforted in that.

Overall though, I can tell you that what we are seeing from a concrete level is that there have been intensified screenings that are going up in place. And that's certainly happening at railway stations, at airports. And domestically here within China they are making that effort to put it out there and to make it very visual.

Now whether or not those are as effective as one would hope, health officials that we've spoken to even in the U.S. have suggested that you are not going to catch everyone who is potentially infected with those screeners.

It's a good safety net but there are folks who could perceivably go through and then develop symptoms later on.

Overall, though, people here have seemed to kind of taken mix concerns. You have some people who are in that panic mode, authorities are trying to dissuade that, not only here but also worldwide. They are trying to say panic and preparation are two different things. And then you have people who are tuned in wanted to know more information and feeling a little bit frustrated because there's a lack of clarity.

There's a lack of guideline as to what the everyday person should be doing. And those guidelines are important given the time of year we are, we are in the midst of the spring festival, the lunar New Year. Hundreds of millions of people are traveling. They're going to see loved ones and they're shoulder to shoulder in these rail stations and in these airports.

And so that human to human contact that was confirmed as a transmission of this disease is something that makes it even more alarming. And so, the lack of clarification, the lack of full understanding to what's going on here and really the questions that remain are something that are persistent in the minds of a lot of the folks that have yet to get those answers.

And the time of year more than anything else, Rosemary. I mean, these are times when folks are just wanting to kind of be with their family and breathe easy and celebrate, celebratory mood.

CHURCH: Yes.

CULVER: That's not been felt necessarily.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Information always key in these situations too. David Culver, many thanks to you for bringing us that live report from Beijing.

Let's turn to Blake now. And we want to talk about the spread beyond China, to South Korea, Thailand and Japan. And you mentioned last hour the possibility of Brisbane, Australia although we're still confirming that.

But international airports around the world including here in the United States are checking for anyone possibly carrying the Wuhan coronavirus, but what about those who haven't yet shown any symptoms. That's the big concern, isn't it?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Rosemary. Ad when you talk about those confirmed cases that we mentioned in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, we are hearing about suspected cases in all over Asia specifically. As we mentioned Australia and even the Philippines now, again, not confirmed cases but suspected cases and I anticipate that that will continue to be the case for some time to come as we are still trying to figure out what this coronavirus is all about and see how it develops.

But at this point, one of the things that airports are doing half a dozen in Asia, Australia and the United States they are all taking special measures to screen passengers specifically coming from the Chinese city of Wuhan. And the reason for that is obviously because that is where the coronavirus originated.

And so, in Australia there are about three flights from Wuhan into Sydney on a weekly basis. Those passengers will be issued pamphlets describing the symptoms and information about this particular coronavirus and they are asked if you have any of those symptoms to self-report.

And again, those symptoms that we've talked about before, fevers, coughing, and difficulty breathing, are some of the main symptoms that people need to be kind of looking for.

And then in the United States, the CDC is developing or has deployed about 100 -- 100 of their employees to three different airports, San Francisco, L.A. and New York. Again, looking for people that are showing symptoms of this potential coronavirus.

And last hour we talked about the idea that the Institute of National Health is developing a vaccine. Really what it is going to be about is the isolation of people that are potentially affected that is what ended the SARS pandemic 17 years ago. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. That is critical and anyone showing symptoms needing to report that. Blake Essig, many thanks to you for bringing us that live report from Hong Kong.

[03:20:03]

Well, a little over a week after the Taal Volcano erupted in the Philippines it's still showing signs of activity and the top volcanologists says it's recharging and the risk remain high for a much bigger eruption.

Meanwhile, thousands of evacuees are still living in shelters. But despite the warnings some have returned home to try and rebuild their lives.

CNN's Tom Sater has the details.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The moment when Taal erupted spewing ash into the air and suddenly blanketing nearby towns and villages making life there almost impossible. Residents panicked, tens of thousands fled, the government issued a mandatory evacuation order to include everyone living within a 14-kilometer radius of the volcano.

A week later, about 100,000 people are in evacuation centers like this one, a school in Tagaytay. Relief organizations like Rotary International have stepped in to help people cope, providing food, water, and other essentials.

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LIZA VICENCIO ELORDE, PRESIDENT, ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: So, they are very, very desperate and we think there are some places that really cannot get the help that they need. So, we are helping out the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SATER: Despite the mandatory evacuation order some residents like Elaine Basa chose to remain at home. Today she is visiting a donation center to receive much needed aid.

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ELAINE BASA, RESIDENT (through translator): When anything happens, we can still move, some of the local officials are helping us and we get help from donations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SATER: Here is a moment when one of the local residents returned to his home days after the eruption to find his horses covered in ash, and the towns near Taal some locals rely on horses as a source of income, they use them to transport tourists up to the mountains to Taal. Now some, like this 39-year- old are forced to sell their horses to survive.

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ORLAN VILLACAMPO, TOUR GUIDE (through translator): It's difficult for me to let go of my horses because this is the main source of my livelihood, it's hard for me not to be with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SATER: There is still no word on when people will be allowed to return to their homes. Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warns that another hazardous explosive eruption is still possible within hours or days.

Tom Sater, CNN.

CHURCH: The impeachment trial is just hours away from getting underway but President Trump won't be in Washington to see it. Ahead, his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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CHURCH: Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Davos, Switzerland in any moment ahead of delivering a special address at the World Economic Forum. He's in Zurich or he's arrived there at least. He is expected to keep the focus on the U.S. economy and the recent trade agreements he signed with China, Mexico, and Canada. But in Washington his impeachment trial is set to begin in several hours.

We want to turn to John Defterios now who joins us from Davos with more. And John, while the U.S. president will want to focus on the U.S. economy and his trade deal, of course the main focus at the summit is climate change.

[03:25:06]

So, we want to talk first about what teen environmentalist Greta Thunberg had to say about that very topic and whether she is likely to find a way to confront President Trump on the issue of climate change.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, she is certainly surrounding President Trump, let's put it that way, Rosemary, because she spoke already in the last hour outlining the pressure on the global community here to step up their efforts to reduce climate change and do something about carbon emissions.

It's all about the ESG as they call it in the business community, the environment and social governance, what are you doing as a global community, the Fortune 500 around the world to specifically make improvements. And this is going to be a question that's going to be posed of Donald Trump, I'm sure, if not in his speech of course, but perhaps by Klaus Schwab who is the head of the World Economic Forum who took a lighter touch with the president took some criticism as a matter of fact.

Greta Thunberg who will also have a chance to address the global audience after the president and then lead a debate of a number of different environmental activists including the patriarch of the orthodox community known as the Green Patriarch. So, there is going to be all swaths of people talking about this key pillar of the event.

And then coming into this summit, if you will, or the forum, the European Union announce a trillion-dollar fund to reduce carbon emissions. The U.K. has already put a policy to go net zero on carbon emissions by 2050.

So I would think a stroke of genius by the president would be look, I get what you're saying here, I love the factor of have growing energy independence in the United States with shale, gas reduces the carbon footprint of the United States, but let's go with the green infrastructure fund to employ the coworkers that are getting displaced.

I don't see it happening right now, but I tell you, it really changes the narrative for the president in Davos beyond the U.S. and China trade dispute.

CHURCH: So, John, overall, what -- what's President Trump's game plan here?

DEFTERIOS: Well, it's an interesting point. If I was President Trump, I would go with something that's out of the box, as I was suggesting, but expect him to dump on the impeachment and even try to get the support of the business community saying look what I've done since I've been president, not only challenge China, that was a high wire act which are business community here privately didn't like.

They got phase one done. It didn't have great results to be candid. Chinese sources I spoke to yesterday said exactly the same thing. The World Economic Forum said it's better to have the president in the tent because he would attack us from the outside. It's nice to have him here.

He is restructuring the NAFTA agreement, creating jobs no less, but also building a huge budget deficit and debt for the United States. I think he's going to focus and say I'm keeping global growth moving forward here right now, I'm not going to make big movements on the environment but trust, I'm a steady tiller with the international business community who he's having dinner with tonight, Rosemary.

CHURCH: We will be watching and listening. John Defterios, many thanks to you with that live report from Davos.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Inside Africa is next. But first, I'll have a check of the headlines. You're watching CNN.

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