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Benjamin Netanyahu Brings Good News to His Country; Another Airliner Bans Travel to China; Coronavirus Paints Red to Stock Markets; Impeachment Saga Stuck on Witness Talks; Noisy Brexit Now Muted. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired January 29, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: -- to suspend travel to the mainland, and countries work to evacuate their citizens.

Plus.

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MATT MAUSER, CHRISTINA MAUSER'S HUSBAND: It's not the big thing, it's not how good you are at basketball, you know, although all those things are wonderful. The things that I miss the most are the little -- the tiny little things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: A husband shares memories of his wife, one of the nine people killed in the helicopter crash that also claimed the life of Kobe Bryant.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Max Foster. This is CNN Newsroom.

The Israel's prime minister is ready to begin implementing U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan. With Mr. Netanyahu at his side, President Trump unveiled the long-delayed plan on Tuesday. The image of just the two leaders underscored how much the plan gives to Israel, while it's imposing strict conditions on Palestinians.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel's security.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Too many plans tried to pressure Israel to withdraw from vital territory like the Jordan Valley. But you, Mr. President, you recognized that Israel must have sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the other -- (APPLAUSE)

NETANYAHU: -- and other strategic areas of Judea in some area.

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FOSTER: Palestinians are outraged. There were huge protests in Gaza. The Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the plan the slap of the century.

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MAHMOUD ABBAS, PRESIDENT OF PALESTINE STATE (through translator): Trump and Netanyahu, Jerusalem is not for sale, all of our rights are not for sale or negotiation. Your deal is a conspiracy and it will not work.

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FOSTER: For more on this Oren Liebermann joins us from Jerusalem. Sam Kiley is in Ramallah in the West Bank. First of all, to you, Oren. Because talk of the Jordan Valley will now be enacted, presumably, because this is something that Netanyahu has been working towards.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially announced that he would move to vote on annexation not only of the Jordan Valley but all of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Sunday. That's been delayed but only slightly for procedural reasons. It takes a matter of logistics to get it going here.

So, one of the ministers traveling with Netanyahu says it will happen later in the week or perhaps next week within a matter of days, they want to do it as quickly as possible.

Make no mistake this is absolutely a victory not only for Netanyahu but also Israel's right-wing and the settler movement. In fact, one of the leading papers here one that is owned by Sheldon Adelson, a mega Republican donor, a newspaper that's considered a mouthpiece for Netanyahu, this is the front page. It says, sovereignty now.

This is exactly what Netanyahu was looking for. And for critics who have said this is an attempt by the White House to get Netanyahu elected and distract from the legal cases against Netanyahu, well, the fact that he was officially indicted yesterday then becomes the first prime minister in Israel's history to be formally indicted push down way below the bottom of the page.

So, in that sense, it succeeded very well. And this is a historic day for Israel, a green light from Washington to annex large swaths of the West Bank. Again, exactly what Netanyahu wanted.

Meanwhile, there are no incumbent sort of requirements on Netanyahu to proceed. He has the green light. The requirements are on the Palestinians to meet a series of demands and also recognize not only the Jewish -- Israel as the Jewish state, but also an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

So nowhere near what the Palestinians could even begin to accept. And that suits Netanyahu just fine. He essentially had committed to a future Palestinian state sometime down the road if they meet these demands, while he gets everything else for free right now.

He is on his way back to Israel after a quick stop in Washington. And instead of the headline here being an indicted prime minister returns home, it will be the hero of the right-wing returns home, essentially looking like a conquering champion after he stood next to Trump as this plan was unveiled.

That Trump had met Netanyahu's rival a day earlier and gotten Netanyahu's rival's approval for the plan makes Netanyahu look all that much stronger and makes this plan all that much more solid in the eyes of the White House, even if the commitment to a two-state solution is nominal at best.

FOSTER: Oren, thank you. Sam, this is being touted as a peace plan but it's certainly not being seen that way where you are.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been flatly rejected as dead on arrival, as a slap in the face according to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president of the Palestinian authority.

There has also been unanimity among the various Palestinian factions in rejecting this, particularly Hamas which of course is dominant, Max, in Gaza.

[03:05:08]

And it is being condemned by neighboring Jordan which has said that it would only endorse a plan that succeeded in establishing a viable two- state solution based on the 67 borders.

Now that had always be in the position of the international community. Why? Well, since the Second World War, the invasion of other people's territory, the seizure of land by arms as we've seen in Ukraine has always been seem to be and deemed to be illegal under international law.

But with this process of annexation as Oren says it will get going over the next week or so, procedures will start tomorrow.

There has been a complete flouting of international law in that context, though. There has been a degree of support for this plan as a basis for future negotiations coming from the United Kingdom, in the past a staunch supporter of international law.

Also, extraordinarily, perhaps from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, all describing this as a basis for future negotiations or the basis for hopes over returns to negotiations.

There are no hopes whatsoever among the Palestinians that those negotiations should or could be entered into, and ultimately the decision really for the Palestinians remains sort of two related decisions in a sense.

Do they throw up their hands and simply surrender and somehow try to force themselves into a one- state solution and somehow trap Israel into annexing -- annexing the whole of the West Bank? Or does the Palestinian authority fold itself up altogether and simply say right to Israel, you want to -- if you want to do this kind of deal you are going to have to occupy us indefinitely and totally.

Now there haven't been any signs from Mahmoud Abbas that that last kind of cataclysmic option is being openly considered, but there are signs that that may be the case. That it may be forced upon them in the words of Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator.

FOSTER: OK. Sam Kiley there in Ramallah, thank you very much, indeed.

With more on the diplomatic responses to the plan, let's bring in CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. Because for decades now we've been looking towards a negotiated peace in that area but that seems to have ended. What's the rest of the world saying about this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, there is, as Sam was saying, really a broad narrative of this is a starting point. That there is support for a peace plan. You know, the British have been quite warm to it. It feels the Emirates, the United Arab Emirates have said that it's an important starting point.

The Saudis for their part have issued a statement saying that they support efforts towards a peace process. The Egyptians have called it have said they will support the Palestinians right.

You are not getting outright condemnation about this. It's sort of seen as, you know, as a beginning point. I think perhaps, the Irish prime minister who is going into an election campaign and for some reason may want to take a particularly strong position, but Ireland, in particular has been one of those countries that will often speak louder about Palestinian rights and issues.

And he has said let me be clear, annexation -- and this is the Irish prime minister there, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said, let me be clear. Annexation of territory by forces prohibited under international law, including under the U.N. charter.

So, I think, you know, what we are hearing is this is a starting point, and remembering that there's a lot of details in these 50 pages of the plan. Remembering that this is a period of four years that's allowed for this plan.

Remembering as well that there is a lot of discomfort that it gives so much to the Israelis at the expense of the Palestinians expectations, hopes, and bottom lines. It runs roughshod, it appears, over them very clearly. But you don't get the sense that the international community at the moment is saying this is an utter nonstarter.

But cautionary words to Prime Minister Netanyahu about how he moves forward from here. And that, I suspect, is going to be critical to the reaction that we see going forward. The Irish there are being very clear about the use of force which would undoubtedly bring condemnation.

FOSTER: OK. Nic, we'll be talking more about this. Thank you.

As China races to contain the Wuhan coronavirus, the outbreak has hit a grim new milestone. More than 130 people are dead. Nearly 6,000 infected. And that means the outbreak has passed the number of SARS cases China reported back in 2003.

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And British Airways just announced it is suspending all flights to and from mainland China as the virus spreads. Many countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from the epicenter of the outbreak.

A plane carrying around 200 Americans from Wuhan touchdown in Alaska a short time ago. Its passengers are bound for a military base in California.

The latest CNN's Steven Jiang is live in Beijing. They still say they are in control of the spread of this virus. But the truth is it's getting worse every day.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN PRODUCER: That's right. The grim milestone as you just mentioned, Max, of course that's raising a lot of alarm among the public here, but authorities have come out as you would expect to say look, it's not just the number of cases. But it's also the severity of the cases and the mortality rate among the patients.

They say on both fronts so far, this current outbreak is less serious than SARS. And also, they say the spike of number we have seen is partly due to that they have improved the process of testing and identifying this virus with more testing kits and medical personnel available.

But of course, at this stage of the outbreak these words are little comfort to a lot of people, and you mentioned this increasingly global scale over this virus. And I think that's why doing a meeting with the visiting WHO delegation Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wants both sides to further their collaboration on many fronts, including not only allowing outside experts in, but also sharing data including biological material.

Now that's important, Max, because one alarming trend we have been seeing here is more cases of patients without any symptoms infecting others. That of course has made a lot of the prevention and containment strategies questionable. Because if people are not even running fevers, how do you make it effective by simply checking their temperatures?

So, all these reasons why the collaboration between Chinese and international scientists would be more and more and more important as this virus still has a lot of unknown aspects. Max?

FOSTER: The second largest economy in the world is obviously slowing down because people aren't going to their offices in many areas, right? I mean, what sort of impact do you see on the Chinese economy. What are economists predicting?

JIANG: That's right. I think that real numbers will still have to come in, you know, sometimes in the future but still just by looking around this is still in the middle of a Chinese lunar New Year holiday, usually very busy, you know, everywhere in shopping districts and tourist attractions.

But right now, of course the whole country is probably, you can see the whole country has shut down, and 60 million people in Hubei province of course under virtual lockdown. And increasingly many other locations have announced a travel restriction and very strict quarantine rules.

All this of course is going to have a major impact on the economy. But of course, as of now the government says this is not their priority, their priority is to contain this fast spreading virus. Max?

FOSTER: Steven in Beijing, thank you. As Steven says financial markets in Shanghai remain closed amid the coronavirus outbreak. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng reopened after a four-day holiday and this is what happened, down nearly 3 percent.

European markets just opening this hour. Let's bring in Anna Stewart for a look at that. I mean, there was an impact there yesterday, weren't they, in Europe? Is at -- is at the end of it do you think?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: We saw a big selloff, right, at the beginning of the week. It seems to have calmed a bit. There's barely flat this morning. We can bring you these markets. The FTSE 100 up by -- well, much less than 1 percent. CAC 40 around a percent. So not huge gains there by any means.

The big reaction today was in the Hang Seng. It had a lot of catching up to do. Yesterday the South Korean Index reopen after its holiday, we saw a big 3 percent loss. Today exactly the same story in the Hang Seng.

Some stocks taking more of a hit than others. Travel stocks in Hong Kong and gambling. The Macau casino stocks taking a huge hit around 5 percent some of them. I mean, actually we have some figures as Steven was saying, is when we get the real numbers out on the economy that we'll start to see where the impact will be.

Macau tourism just for this new year season is down some 75 percent. So, we can see why the stocks would be down.

FOSTER: OK. Thank you, Anna. We'll keep an eye on that.

Opening argument meanwhile ending in President Trump's impeachment trial but it is still not clear if any witnesses will testify. What the top Republican in the U.S. Senate is saying, just ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Well in the coming hours U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial moves into a new phase. Senators will spend two days asking questions with the major unresolved issue is will witnesses testify?

CNN's Manu Raju reports from Washington.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A critical day ahead in the Senate impeachment trial as we get into the number of questions. Senators will ask questions on both sides. It's expected to go about eight hours today and then tomorrow also an additional eight hours. But behind the scenes the debate will continue within the Senate Republican conference about whether to bring forward witnesses.

Now, in order to get the quick resolution to this trial that Mitch McConnell wants, that the White House wants, they will have to defeat that motion. And that means that they will have to assure that there are not four Republicans who will break ranks and join with 47 Democrats to move ahead with witnesses.

And behind the scenes Mitch McConnell yesterday made the case to his colleagues that it didn't makes sense to go forward on witnesses because it could lead to a sort of endless parade of witnesses with no obvious way out.

And while he doesn't have the votes locked down yet, Republicans emerge confident that they will ultimately get their members in line. And one Republican Senator, John Thune is making this argument to his colleagues.

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RAJU: Wouldn't it helpful for senators to know exactly what he knows about the president's actions?

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Well, I think there is already on the record that from the House managers that sort of evidence. So, like I said, I mean, you could, you could say reinforce it, he could put different context to it.

But, you know, if you start calling him, then the Democrats are going to want to call Mulvaney and they're going to want to call Pompeo because I'm sure they would get reference. And our guys are obviously going to start wanting to call witnesses on the other side to illuminate their case. And I think that gets us into this endless cycle of -- and this drags on for weeks and months in the middle of a presidential election.

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RAJU: But Republican leaders succeed in defeating this motion to call for witnesses, to subpoena witnesses, and subpoena documents. That essentially could lead to the end of the trial within days, and the president presumably could be acquitted by the time the state of the union next week.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

FOSTER: Investigators are releasing new details about the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others on Sunday. We now believe the aircraft was only about nine meters short of clearing the hilltop where it crashed.

They also say the flight didn't have a safety feature which could have alerted the pilot about the terrain.

CNN's Brooke Baldwin has more.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: New video showing the helicopter carrying NBA star Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others. Captured on camera near minutes before crashing in the hills of Calabasas. Taking the lives of everyone on board.

Investigators are scouring the crash site for clues working all hours to find answers. Just hours before the flight, Bryant and his daughter spent that Sunday morning at church.

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STEVE SALLOT, PRIEST, OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS CATHOLIC CHURCH: He just came here as a person of faith and he prayed. He prayed along with the rest of us.

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BALDWIN: Father Steve Sallot spoke to Bryant that morning.

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SALLOT: I put holy water on his forehead, so I knew that he got into the chapel to pray and I came out and blessed himself and then we spoke for a minute, we shook hands and off he went.

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BALDWIN: He and his daughter Gigi received communion there that morning leaving just before 7 a.m. to board the helicopter. Bryant, a lifelong Catholic regularly attended church often at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach with his family.

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SALLOT: He was quiet a man of faith, quiet about it but certainly a man of faith.

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BALDWIN: That faith is what Bryant credited for changing his life after being charged with sexual assault in 2003. Bryant denied sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman but admitted the two had sex. He says it was consensual. The charges were eventually dropped and Bryant settled a civil suit in 2005. He told GQ in 2015, speaking to a priest is what helped him through those difficult times. Saying the priest told him to quote, "Let it go. Move on. God is not going to give you anything you can't handle and it's in his hands now. This is something you can't control. So, let it go. And that was the turning point."

A point he made in an interview with ESPN when he was asked what he learned from that time.

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KOBE BRYANT, FORMER NBA PLAYER: God is great.

STEPHEN SMITH, HOST, ESPN: Is it that simple?

BRYANT: God is great. Don't get more simpler than that, bro.

SMITH: Did you know that, I mean, everybody knows that, but the way you know it now did you know it before that incident took place?

BRYANT: You could know it all you want but until you got to pick up the cross that you can't carry, he picks it up for you and carries you and the cross, then you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: In Los Angeles, Brooke Baldwin, CNN.

FOSTER: One of the people killed beside Kobe Bryant was Christina Mauser. She was handpicked by Bryant himself to help coach his daughter's basketball team. Earlier, Christina's husband spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

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MAUSER: The thing that gets me the most are the, you know, it's not the big thing, it's not how good she was at basketball, you know, although those things are wonderful. The things I missed the most are the little, the tiny little things, my wife was, not just focused on the big things, my wife was focused on the little things.

And the attention to detail, you know, about what kind of foods to give our kids, doctors, you know, how she would research every disease that was out there.

She was, you know, she was relentless and she was organized and detailed, and how she would treat people that weren't important, that was my wife would always treat the person who you wouldn't expect anybody to treat well. She would always treat them the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: All nine victims have been recovered from the crash site now. Officials are expected to release a preliminary report on the accident next week.

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FOSTER: Now after years of heated debate and pushing back deadline the U.K. will leave the European Union on Friday. The European Parliament will hold a special session in Brussels in the coming hours to formally approve the withdrawal bill before it goes into effect.

Nina Dos Santos joins me from Brussels with more. It's funny, isn't it? So much coverage over this, over years, so much anger, and now it's going to happen and it seems quite muted.

[03:25:02]

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Everybody trying their best here in Brussels to play this down, make sure it's seen as a solemn occasion. Something that the Europeans didn't want but of course they have to respect the will of the British people they say.

Essentially, in terms of procedure what happened this morning is that overnight the United Kingdom has signed off on the final piece of paperwork to dissolve this 47-year long relationship. That documentation was delivered about an hour ago by the British de facto ambassador to the E.U. And it was acknowledged, it was received there at the European Council not far from the European Parliament where I'm standing.

And based on how a plenary vote goes among European members of the parliament here, if they sign off and finally vote through this withdrawal agreement bill, it will be done. Essentially, the paper work will be in motion to leave the E.U. at midnight, Brussels time not London time, by the way, on Friday at the end of this week.

Earlier this week I got a chance to speak to the president of the European Parliament, an Italian man named David Sassoli. And he talked about the pain that Brexit had inflicted, and now it was time for Europe to heal and mend its future relationship with the United Kingdom.

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DAVID SASSOLI, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (through translator): Well, we always said that this is a wound for us, to think of London being far from Brussels, Rome, Berlin, or Paris. Obviously, that's their choice but we respect the will of the British people, and today I think a new chapter in our relations with the U.K. is opening up.

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DOS SANTOS: New chapter will involve trying to negotiate a new free trade agreement, something that often takes the E.U. six to seven years with other countries like Canada and South Korea. If those previous recent free trade agreements are anything to go by the U.K. once to get one down within the space of one year.

That is the self-imposed deadline Boris Johnson, the British prime minister set the 31st of December 2020. There's a lot of skepticism here in Brussels as to whether or not a comprehensive free trade agreement that encompasses everything, they'll need to sign off on can be done by that time. It might be that they have to prioritize certain sectors like fishing, goods, and then do something on services later on.

All of this will be up for debate over the next few months to come. But for the moment, Max, the real thing that they're trying to get through is the procedure to remove any vestiges and hints of the U.K.'s presence here in the European Parliament and other E.U.

That will involve throughout the course of this week bidding goodbyes to hundreds of British members of the European Parliament in a reception later on this afternoon, and then later on in the week towards the end of the week once all of this goes through they'll take away their name badges, they'll change the names of meeting rooms and even take away those M.P.'s mailboxes and the Union Jack flag will be filed. Max?

FOSTER: That's a big moment in European history, but quite muted as you say. Nina, thank you.

Thanks for joining us as well for watching the show. I'm Max Foster in London. Quest World of Wonder is up next. But first, I'll be back with the check of the headlines.

You're watching CNN.

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