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Sources Indicate U.K. and E.U. Closing on Post-Brexit Trade Deal; Donald Trump Issues 26 New Pardons Including Roger Stone and Paul Manafort; Truckers Getting COVID Tests in U.K., but Process Taking Time. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:15]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York. I'm Richard Quest and you're with me in the CNN NEWSROOM.

There are hopes of a post Brexit deal as the trade talks between the U.K. and the European Union continuing -- deep talks -- and there might be a resolution in the coming hours before Christmas.

President Trump is sowing political chaos on Christmas Eve. He has pardoned loyalists and is leaving COVID aid plans in limbo as he is headed off to Florida for the Holidays.

On a verge of a breakthrough in the arduous process of Brexit. Sources on both sides have told us several hours ago that the U.K. and European Union are on the cusp of a landmark trade agreement. However, it could be some hours away.

It's going right down to the wire. The Brexit transition period ends just over a week from now and the issue is whether the deal can be struck and ratified in time.

The answer has enormous consequences for fishing, farming, and how much people pay for many of the good. CNN's Nic Robertson is outside 10 Downing Street with us.

So a deal of some sorts, perhaps by the close of play tonight. There's a question mark after that.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There is a question mark. And in fact, there are many question marks. I think the most significant question mark will be obviously to look at the deal when it arrives in detail.

I think it is expected to arrive, we can't say with a surety, but certainly the mood music is there. And I have to say, Richard, you've spent a lot of time here in London covering Brexit over the years, I think we all felt that very significant shift in the direction of the country standing here as I was about 2:30 in the morning, on the morning of the 24th of June 2016, exactly four and a half years ago today, as the results became clear that this Britain was going to leave the European Union. That felt like a very significant moment in the future of the country,

and it has taken a long time to get to where we are today. But today does have that historic feel about it.

The divorce was done. Britain left the E.U. at the end of January this year. It was in a transition period. It had to have this trade deal done. And now that seems to be almost within grasp. The last little bit slipping through their fingers seem to be the details of the fish of what E.U. fishermen and how they can fish in U.K. waters and how merchant and et cetera et cetera.

So that's the last issue that appears to be being discussed. But yes, it does seem as if it is very close.

QUEST: What I find remarkable is that at no stage did the Prime Minister Boris Johnson waver on this question of delaying because of COVID even as late as December, Nic, when the new variant came along, thousands of trucks, not Brexit related particularly, but waiting and yet he still didn't delay.

ROBERTSON: Yes, that was his position all along that he was going to deliver Brexit. He was the Prime Minister that got the deal in October last year, the divorce part of the deal, took that to the electorate, got that big 80 MP majority in Parliament in December last year, went into the negotiations on the strength of that. He was going to do it.

The legal deadline for extension would have been the end of June this year to extend it beyond the 31st of December coming up in seven days' time. He didn't do it. He told the E.U. he wasn't going to do it.

The E.U. got concerned about coronavirus, about the new strain in the U.K. and that this was going to make things difficult. There were times when somebody on the E.U. negotiation team got COVID, and they could -- the two teams couldn't meet face to face.

So many reasons that the Prime Minister could have chosen to delay this, but no he kept that deadline in place. But yes, what happened when the U.K. announced that it had a variant of COVID and we saw a massive pile up of trucks lining up to get across the port from Dover into France and they couldn't go because the French said for 48 hours, we want to know more information about this particular strain of the virus. That bought it home to all sides.

What was at stake here? The calamity of how quickly the trucks could pile up -- Richard.

QUEST: That's a good point, Nic Robertson. Nic, thank you. Paris now where CNN's Cyril Vanier is standing by.

Cyril, before we talk about Brexit, which we will in a second. I see on the wires that Macron is out of self-isolation now, according to the latest report. I assume, his health is good.

[09:05:11]

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Look, the French presidency said that he was no longer showing any symptoms of COVID- 19. He has been in self isolation for about a week, and given that he is now doing well, he no longer needs to be in self-isolation.

So he put out a statement today, asking French people to be careful, to maintain social distancing. But as he is doing well, he will resume his normal schedule of activities starting now -- Richard.

QUEST: And one of those activities is going to be signing off, along with other E.U. leaders on the deal that's being put forward. Macron was one of those who was hardline, and but it sounds like he too will sign off on this.

VANIER: Yes, there is reason to believe that if indeed there is a deal, then when that deal is presented to the European Council, which is made up of the 27 member states of the European Union, those 27 member states, including France, including Emmanuel Macron are going to agree to the deal because after all, the chief European negotiator Michel Barnier has been negotiating in their name and been keeping them apprised of developments.

So there shouldn't be any major surprises in this deal for them. Of course, if anything has been decided in the last few hours that they don't yet know about, which frankly, I doubt is the case, then that's something that they're going to have to wrestle with.

But look, both sides want to deal -- we know that -- not just the U.K., but also the E.U. So in all likelihood, yes, E.U. member states will not only agree on the deal that is presented to them by E.U. Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen when it comes, but they will also more than likely agree for it to be provisionally implemented, starting January 1st, even before the European Parliament has had a chance to ratify it -- Richard.

QUEST: Cyril Vanier in Paris. We are wishing you well. As we wait on news of a post-Brexit deal, which could come at any time, Joey Jones is with me, the former spokesman for Theresa May, the Prime Minister.

Joey, so, all right. Every new person, I ask the same question. If you were a betting man, a deal before Christmas?

JOEY JONES, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR THERESA MAY: If I were a betting man, Richard, I would have lost my shirt many times over, over the past few weeks, so you probably wouldn't be coming to me for advice. But I hope so. I think that everything feels like it's pretty much in place.

But you wouldn't rule out even if there is a deal, as you say before this evening, some bumps in the road and some wrinkles in the process. It is going to be unprecedented what we will be witnessing with this coming to the House of Commons and the House of Lords for ratification right up against the wire, and then the European Parliament down the track.

So I think, I find it hard to believe that it will all just be smooth sailing given the history of this episode that we've witnessed over the past few years. QUEST: But from the U.K. point of view, from Westminster's point of

view, where do you see problems? I mean, such that it would derail bearing in mind, minds have focused on that end date. Who is going to be troublemaking?

JONES: Well, I just think it's a slightly weird situation in which obviously we find ourselves at the moment. But everybody over -- you know, everybody has said for a long period of time that the devil is in the detail.

And yet, people who have been hesitant, people who have been antagonistic to the European Union, supportive, all of them are falling over themselves now to, if you like, get into line and to say, look, this is it. It is the end of the story.

And I just think that that, to be honest, betrays an exhaustion that is at the heart of probably most countries politics right at the moment, but it is certainly very profoundly felt here in the U.K.

I'm not saying necessarily that there will be anything that would actually derail the process if the two sides can come to an accommodation, which now seems very, very close. But I do think it's much harder to predict what the impacts are down the track in terms of U.K. politics, you know, that ought to or otherwise for the Minister, and more widely might actually be.

QUEST: On a political point, if he pulls this off and gets the U.K. off the cliff edge to whatever it looks like afterwards, so that the trains keep running, the planes keep flying, the goods keep moving, and the minutiae of difficulties is left to those businesses who have to deal with it.

Will he have pulled off -- Boris Johnson that is -- will he have pulled off a political trick?

[09:10:05]

JONES: He will, but it's so volatile and it has been so bumpy for the Prime Minister and will continue to be, doubtless, where they are perceived as sort of widely -- a wide perception that he has not handled the COVID outbreak and the government's response well, such that, you know, a triumph, and such as he might may seize in the next few hours, could be swallowed up by a still greater crisis within his office.

I don't think he should be patting himself on the back with too much complacency.

QUEST: And if we look at the deal, I mean, what most Brits -- ordinary Brits want is to not have to queue up passport control when they go through along with the other countries. They want to sort of be able to buy the same things on the shelves, even if it costs a penny or two more, and they want to at least feel that they haven't been isolated.

Well, the last bit of course, COVID has certainly ensured that. JONES: Yes, but I do think that on some of those other points that you

make, Richard, there may well be a whole host of reality checks coming down the track at us.

I mean, I thought it was extraordinary, for example, that you saw a hefty chunk of the British media are very upset about the fact that it wasn't possible for British ski instructors to enjoy the same status as others from within the European Union in the Alps and the Pyrenees and other parts of the E.U. after the 31st of December.

It's like, do you not understand what this is all about? And it does feel as though to some extent it really hasn't sunk in that yes, we are claiming our sovereignty and all the rest of it. And you know, and he is, I think, right, that the result of the referendum should follow through upon, but I still think that people haven't woken up to the inconveniences, some of them small, but some of the more profound that will flow from it.

QUEST: Very important. Sir, thank you. I appreciate your time.

It's a long wait at the border. Stranded drivers are finally getting tested between the U.K. and France so they can move again. Some though will still spend Christmas in their driver's seat. We will be there in Dover in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: After weeks of being out of the spotlight, Donald Trump is now winding down his presidency and that includes presidential pardons.

On Wednesday, he issued 26 new pardons and continued to grant clemency for loyalists or criminals connected to his family.

CNN's Joe Johns with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Trump left the White House to spend the Holidays in Florida, before giving the gift of a pardon to a new wave of past associates.

Among the recipients, former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and longtime ally, Roger Stone. Their pardons in retaliation for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the manifestation of signals Trump and his team sent to some of his associates according to the Mueller report.

Manafort who is currently serving a seven and a half year sentence in home confinement was convicted of several crimes and Stone for obstruction of Congress and witness tampering. Trump commuting his sentence earlier this year, just days before he was scheduled to report to Federal prison.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): The President, one by one, wants to eliminate those who would provide testimony in other settings to get to the truth of what happened with the Russia investigation.

It's sad that a Commander-in-Chief has taken his powers and used them in this manner.

JOHNS (voice over): Republican Senator Ben Sasse, calling Trump's actions "rotten to the core." The President also pardoning Charles Kushner, father of Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser, Jared Kushner. He was convicted and eventually pleaded guilty to tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering.

Kushner served 14 months of a two-year prison sentence.

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Donald Trump doesn't surprise us anymore. What he does is always and only in his self-interest, and so he is rewarding people who he regarded as being useful to him.

That, of course, is illegal under our Constitution. It's not even close to what the pardon power was designed to do.

JOHNS (voice over): Trump is also using his final weeks in office to try to derail a crucial piece of congressional legislation, now vetoing the Defense Spending Bill for next year, which passed through both chambers of Congress with veto proof majorities.

The President among other things, rejecting the bill's requirement to change the names of military bases named after Confederate generals. This coming after Trump demanded Congress amend a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus relief package that lawmakers passed after months in gridlock.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): It's a blunder, deeply dangerous and self-destructive, pathetic, sad, crazy, and my hope is that it will be overwritten by the same kind of overwhelming bipartisan majority that both measures the national defense budget and the pandemic relief bill passed by both Houses of Congress overwhelmingly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Joe Johns reporting. Authorities are slowly testing people stuck at the border of U.K. and France. It is unlikely that most of the truck drivers will spend -- it's likely that they'll spend their Christmas in their cabs.

The testing process has been slow, meaning most will be home for the Holidays. Salma with me in Dover.

And I mean, this is the sad reality, now, is it? You were telling me last hour about 30 trucks, each one takes half an hour each, a long time this is going to take.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Richard. And we do have an update for you this hour from the Transport Secretary. He says that 2,367 tests have been conducted so far and that only three of those are positive.

But I want to read the other portion of that tweet because I think there's a little bit of an "I told you so" in it, and I think it's a little bit too soon. So this is from the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps. "As the E.U. Transport Commissioner has tweeted, testing hauliers is not recommended, spending days in a lorry on your own puts you in an extremely low risk category."

I do think he is patting himself on the back there way too soon, Richard, because I have seen the living conditions for the past four days that many of these truckers have been in. They've been cooking out of the back of their vans. They've had no access to sanitation. No access to bathrooms.

They've been hanging out essentially in groups on the streets because they have nowhere else to go. You've seen those pictures of those confrontations yesterday. Those are pretty physical altercations that are happening in the middle of a pandemic.

I really do think it is too early to really say, "I told you so" here.

We are seeing a steady stream, of course, of these trucks getting tested. They are starting to move across. This entry has been unblocked. But it's important now that we sort of have this moment of pause, this moment of calm to reflect on the fate of these truckers because it is those pictures, those images of those stranded truck drivers fighting with the police, trying to get through unable to do their jobs and transport their goods.

Their isolation, their strandedness that really became a symbol of what it means if Britain is cut off from its neighbors. It really became a wake-up call for what it would mean if the U.K. was unable to be in partnership with Europe, and I think it really did jolt European leaders into action.

So yes, we have this update. This is unblocked. This port has opened, but it is about the symbolism, large, as we wait for this Brexit deal of unblocking really the negotiation, the relationship between the E.U. and the U.K. -- Richard.

[09:20:13]

QUEST: Salma, thank you. Back to Brexit. And under the deal under discussion this hour, the catch of the day, or the one that got away, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: We're waiting for a breakthrough on the Brexit deal. The latest news, I just want to tell you exactly according to Reuters reporting. The E.U. Council has asked ambassadors to be available over the Holidays. But according to Reuters, the ambassadors will not meet today. Now, the critical deadline is just days away from now.

Anand Menon is the Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College. Judging by what that is, again, it doesn't sound like the deal is going to be announced today if the E.U. ambassadors have been told that there won't be a meeting. ANAND MENON, PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

KING'S COLLEGE: Well, they could announce a deal today. They could even in theory, I think publish a text today. But what this means is, it won't get formal sign off from the member states who have to sign it off before it goes to the European Parliament today. So that part of the jigsaw is still missing.

QUEST: So help me understand the logistics here. Would you expect the ambassadors to have met before the deal is announced? Or is it six of one half and a dozen of the other?

MENON: Not necessarily because I think what's been going on throughout these negotiations is the E.U. negotiators who are negotiating on behalf of the 27 have reported back to the 27 assiduously right from the start in 2016, actually, but particularly so over the last few weeks.

So they'll be on the phone to the French talking about proportions of the mackerel catch that the French will be allotted, and things like that. So I don't think there's any failure of communication here between the E.U. and its member states.

QUEST: How much of what we're seeing tonight or today is just grandstanding? I mean, the vast majority of the thousand-plus page deal is done. No tariffs, no quotas, all the usual important stuff is done.

So why are they haggling over fish at the end?

MENON: They are haggling over fish because fish has a political importance that far outweighs its economic significance, not just in the United Kingdom, but in many member states as well.

Remember, the French have got regional elections next year, some coastal communities where fish is a really important issue are going to be going to the polls. So, that's why they are haggling.

Actually, one of the things I've heard today is one of the reasons things got delayed as it turned out that the E.U. were using slightly out of date figures about fish catches, so they've had to go back to the drawing board on those figures, which has slightly held things up, which is why the press conferences we were expecting have not yet materialized.

QUEST: Finally, the way I -- looking at this. I mean, I'm judging by what you're saying, you don't expect the deal to founder on this question of fish, but what have they agreed on level playing fields and in terms of verification and enforcement?

MENON: Well, the sad truth is, we won't know for sure unless -- until we see the draft of the text that they've agreed. They've been playing this very, very close to their chest. There have been all sorts of rumors sometimes contradictory over the course of the last few weeks.

But ultimately it's only when that document gets published that we will know the precise details as to what the minimum standards are and what forms of retaliation the E.U. has reserved the right to be able to carry out in the event that they see a breach.

[09:25:14]

QUEST: And that's something that -- again, do you expect a deal before Christmas? I mean, I've asked everybody else, if they were a betting men or women, if they would expect a deal tonight, what's your gut feeling?

MENON: I think there will be a deal. I think both sides are very keen to at least announce that they've got a deal today before Christmas.

There is no sign at all that the talks are in trouble simply that the talks are taking a bit longer than people anticipated. So yes, I'm pretty certain that we're going to end up with an agreement.

QUEST: There we go. Lovely. Thank you.

Now the deal was years in the making, and one leading figure at Number 10 has wasted no time in seizing what he wanted today.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

QUEST: Now, that's a good metaphor, isn't it? It's Larry the Cat at Downing Street. Now, he saw a pigeon and he went for it. Yes, yes. Oh, but like the deal and the Europeans, it got away and Larry was left just wondering what on earth had happened.

I'm not sure -- and of course, the press corps didn't intervene in any shape or form.

To try and sort things out today, you have Larry the cat, and the pigeon and the metaphor for Christmas and the E.U. deal. Larry the cat.

Finally, of course. Let's have a look and see where Santa Claus is. Where is Santa Claus? There you go. Santa Claus is in -- he has just left Seoul and is heading for Shenyang in China. He'll be there in one minute and 18 seconds.

He has already given one billion gifts, 1.1 billion gifts. And those regular viewers, of course know that the NORAD, the U.S. early warning missile ballistic missile system, they always track Santa and have been doing it for decades ever since a local newspaper printed the NORAD phone number by accident instead of a number where children could ring Santa and tell them what they wanted for Christmas.

That started -- the commanding officer at the base saying we must do this every year, and so they have. Santa will be in China in 30 seconds. No tariffs for Santa. Santa free tariffs.

We'll talk about more about tariffs and trade in the E.U. and will they do a deal? If I'm a betting man, I have no idea. But if they do a deal, we'll tell you about it.

That is it for the moment. I'm Richard Quest. I will have the news headlines for you, and I'll have more news in just a couple of hours from now because the news never stops, neither do we, around the world, around the clock, this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)