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House Democrats Divided on Biden's Agenda; Olaf Scholz Claims Early Victory; Mali Hired Russia's Wagner Group; Gabby Petito Remembered by Family and Friends; Israel's Raid Killed Five Palestinians. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 27, 2021 - 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 (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, it's a big week for U.S. President Joe Biden as his multitrillion dollar bet to change America is in trouble due to infighting within his own party.

Plus, the race to replace Angela Merkel. Why Germany social Democrats are in a party mood? And this --

The U.S. reclaims the Ryder Cup. A look at who stood out in a record setting win over Europe.

Good to have you with us.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is starting a critical week with a future of his domestic agenda unclear. At stake are his $1 trillion infrastructure bill, as well as his $3.5 trillion social welfare and climate control package. Despite division in his own party, Mr. Biden remains optimistic about this week's negotiations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had said she would call for a vote on the infrastructure bill later today. Well, now she's acknowledging that might not happen.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will bring the bill tomorrow for consideration. But you know, I never bring a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes.

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CHURCH (on camera): The infrastructure bill includes spending for roads and bridges, high-speed internet and public transit. It has bipartisan support. But progressive Democrats want to tie to the much larger spending bill. Moderate Democrats join Republicans in opposing the price tag. Congress faces a Thursday deadline to fund federal agencies. A Democratic move to tie the government funding to a suspension of the debt limit faces Republican opposition in the Senate.

Well, Democratic lawmakers admit there will have to be compromised to get these measures passed.

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REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): You want me to be honest, I'll tell you, it's going to be the week of. But the fact to the matter is failure is not an option. There's too much at stake. We need both of these bills. We're going to have to come together as a caucus. We -- being a Democrat for me stands for deliver -- we need both of these bills and we're going to have to figure out how we make that happen.

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Both bills are part of President Biden's vision for the United States, and I would say almost all of the Democrats share that vision. You're seeing the sausage making now. We have to reach compromise. I've been in Congress for quite some time now, and I'm to this fact, I don't get my way 100 percent of the time. We have to compromise and move forward for the good of the country. And I'm confident we'll do that.

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CHURCH (on camera): Melanie Zanona reports on the sticking points that will have to be resolved for both measures to pass.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are gearing up for an intense and crucial week of legislating on Capitol Hill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that there will be a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday. that was a promise that she made to her moderate members. But the question is, are there enough votes for that bill to pass?

As of right now, progressives are saying they will not vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless their work is complete on the massive economic package that Democrats are trying to pass through the reconciliation process.

The issue there is that bill is not going to be ready for a floor vote this week, it looks like. That's because there are still a host of unresolved issues from price tag to policy, and House Democrats don't want to put a reconciliation bill on the floor that they know is ultimately going to be paired back in the Senate.

And so far, it looks like Senator Joe Manchin and Sinema are in no rush to negotiate. So, I think the trick here is for Nancy Pelosi to convince the progressives that they are making progress on the economic package. And at least two centrists have come out and said that they would support the 3.5 trillion package. But there is still a lot of work to be done. And it remains to be seen how all of this is going to play out on Capitol Hill.

I'm Melanie Zanona, CNN, Capitol Hill.

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein is a CNN senior political analyst, and joins me now from Los Angeles. He's also a senior editor at the Atlantic. Good to have you with us as always.

[03:05:01]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, given all the infighting within the Democratic Party, with progressives refusing to vote for President Biden's infrastructure bill, without his sweeping $3.5 trillion economic plan that moderates won't support, what's likely to happen during this critical week do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think anybody knows for sure. I mean, I think the assumption has been -- and I've certainly been in this camp who believes that at the end of the day Democrats have to and will find a way to overcome their differences because there is no faction in the party that benefits if the whole thing collapses.

Both in terms they all have policy priorities. They're included in one or the other of these giant bills. The infrastructure bill and then the broader public investment, and social safety net bill. And also, they all stand to be exposed to more risk politically if this goes down and Biden's approval rating tumbles even further. So, my assumption has been that they always find a way in the end to do this. You wouldn't bet against Nancy Pelosi, they saw her track record where, boy, they rare taking it down to the wire.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, she as she always said. She won't bring the bill forward unless she's got the vote, and she doesn't think she has for infrastructure. So, your feeling that there will all this venting but eventually they will come on to this, the same page. Because, I mean, president's -- President Biden's agenda is really struggling to survive right now, isn't it?

BROWNSTEIN: right. I mean look. I mean, there is a historic degree of difficulty here, the reconciliation bill in particular the 3.5 trillion, even after it scale back that has been described as the great society in a single bill, it has everything from universal pre-K to free community college, to expanded Medicare, to new child tax credit, to historic massive investments in green energy and paid family leave.

I mean, you know, it is an agenda in a single bill. Well, when Lyndon Johnson passed that great society in fact in the 1965 Congress, he had I believe 68 Democratic senators, and 150 seat Democratic majority in the House. Now, they can only lose, what, four votes in the House, and they are at 50/50 in the Senate. So, they are trying to make historic change on a very slender majority, and that is very difficult.

But the assumption I think, has been that if you, you know, if logic prevails it is still in the interest of each faction in the party to find a way to move this forward than to allow it to collapse. But again, the pressure of doing all of this at once really has created -- by the way, the reason they have to do all of this at once is because the Senate Democrats will not confront the filibuster.

That's the only reason all of this has to be in one bill, because the reconciliation bill is the only chance that Democrats have to pass their priorities, and skirt around Republican filibusters. So that is really added to the complexities here as well.

CHURCH: And Ron, how concerned should the country be about a possible government shutdown, with Republicans refusing to raise the debt ceiling, and Mitch McConnell being very difficult in the situation, and going against what he has said in the past?

BROWNSTEIN: I think concerned. Look, I mean, Mitch McConnell, as he has done often before, has created a new rule out of whole cloth. Remember, famously in 2016, he said that the Supreme Court justices should not be confirmed if the Senate is held by the party opposite from the White House.

Well, now, he's creating a new rule in which he has said that the debt ceiling should be raised, and it should be raised only by the party that is in the majority except, and here's my catch, we in the minority should still preserve the right through the filibuster to stop you from doing it.

Democrats could take this threat away from him tomorrow by voting to exempt the debt ceiling from the filibuster. But they're not doing that, and they're allowing him to gain this leverage. So exactly how this comes out, again, the assumption has been that rational people will not let the U.S. default on its debts, that the business community in the end will lean on the Republican community, Republican, excuse me, caucus, because the economic consequences could be so severe.

But as on so many fronts, Rosemary, you are seeing the way in which the filibuster distorts decision-making at a moment of intense polarization in our country. And no one, I think can predict exactly how that is going to end either.

CHURCH: Yes. We just have to watch very closely. Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure to get your analysis in all things political. I appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Germany's left leaning social Democrats have scored a narrow victory over the conservative block of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. Here are the preliminary results. The SPD claiming the most seats in Germany's federal parliament. But Mrs. Merkel will remain in office for now. It will likely be sometime before we know who will succeed her.

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A new governing coalition will need to be formed, a process that could take weeks, even months.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now live from Berlin. Great to see you, Fred. It appears Germany's Social Democratic Party scored a narrow victory here. What is the latest on these results, and of course what it all means? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that

certainly seems as though that is the case, Rosemary. And I have to say it was one of the most exciting elections that I've certainly seen here in Germany in the past two decades. Really a very narrow one that for a very long time was also much too close to call.

But now as the results have come in those preliminary results, it certainly looks as though the social Democrats appear to have a mandate to try and form a government. In fact, right now we're waiting for the main candidate Olaf Scholz to give a short statement. And we believe that like yesterday night, or last night he is going to come and say that he believes that the Germans want him to be the new chancellor of Germany.

But as you've said, the real tough work starts now, trying to form that coalition. It was one of the interesting things that we saw late last night is that despite those massive losses that Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic bloc had, they still believe that they might be able to form a coalition.

They came out last night and said look, even if we're only the second strongest party, we can still try and form that coalition. But that certainly is something that is going to be quite difficult.

Also, in light of the fact, that the social Democrats are ahead by about 1.6 percentage points ahead of the conservative bloc. That's still a pretty big margin. That's a bigger margin than Angela Merkel, for instance, had in 2005 when she first became chancellor.

So now there's those negotiations are going to start. It could take quite a while for a new government to be formed so Angela Merkel is going to remain in office for that time. But certainly, and I saw Angela Merkel onstage also yesterday as their main candidate Armin Laschet spoke -- this really isn't the way that she would have wanted to leave the political stage here in Germany.

Also, of course the international stage that she was so big on with a result like this with the conservative bloc really facing some massive losses, and obviously, also a massive loss of trust by the German electorate as well, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. It is critical. Frederik Pleitgen, great to have you with us live from Berlin and great coverage to the election. I appreciate it.

Well, Stefan Kornelius is a German journalist and author of "Angela Merkel: The Chancellor and Her World." And he joins us now live from Munich. Thank you so much for being with us.

STEFAN KORNELIUS, AUTHOR, ANGELA MERKEL: THE CHANCELLOR AND HER WORLD: Happy to be with you.

CHURCH: So, Germany's left leaning Social Democratic Party celebrating what appears to be a very narrow victory, next of course comes these long drawn out coalition negotiations. What could this potentially mean for the country going forward? KORNELIUS: Well it means a long period of uncertainty, probably

making us on what content of the new government will be. It means a lot of uncertainty for Germany's neighbors, mostly in the European Union, will make the decisions, ADEU in the European Council. It's inconclusive for this result.

I mean even though Merkel's party, the CDU, the conservatives have lost big. They now claim a right to form a coalition and there will be a continued fight now, a continued battle between the four central parties on who goes with home to form that coalition who gets what claims they all have demands, they all have interests so that will take time to sort out.

CHURCH: And so, why do you think Angela Merkel's party, the CDU did so badly. Was this a rebuke of Merkel and what she stood for? Or was it a rebuke overall of her party and placement?

KORNELIUS: Well, actually if Angela Merkel would've stayed again for reelection, she might have won this. But after 16 years in power, she of course had some very reason decided to step down. Actually, the party is worn out after there is such a long stretch in government. You probably already have to reinvigorate. You have to get your new ideas, appoint your leader (Inaudible) figures. That's what the CDU hasn't done.

The whole process of handing over power has gone pretty bad, actually, not only just for past months but even for the past years. The main candidate will presume successor -- Armin Laschet was weak. He was not really -- he wasn't really keen on getting that kind of power. And there was an internal party battle between their sister party in Bavaria. So, a complex pattern of issues problems which really, really curse the party.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Stefan Kornelius for joining us.

Well, you are watching CNN Newsroom. Still to come this hour, deadly raids in the West Bank. How both sides are reacting after Israel said it acted to prevent a terror attack.

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Plus, why Russian missionaries may be headed to Mali, as the prime minister says the country has reached a breaking point. The details just ahead.

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CHURCH (on camera): Welcome back, everyone.

Well, five Palestinians are dead after raids by Israeli troops in the West Bank over the weekend. Israel says the raids were targeting a Hamas terror cell planning an attack. But Palestinian officials are condemning the raid, calling it a crime and a threat to stability.

CNN's Hadas Gold joins me now live from Jerusalem. So, Hadas, what more are you learning about this? HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the idea since this is

a part of major operation that was actually several days long but these raids that led to the deaths of five Palestinians and two were arrested took place on Saturday night. The youngest of those killed was a 16-year-old from the area of Jenin. Two Israeli soldiers, Israeli officials say were critically injured.

[03:19:52]

Now, Israel has long been concerned that Hamas who they believe these people were part of a cell that they say were about to plan and execute a terror attack. They have long been confirmed (Ph) that Hamas which control the Gaza strip is gaining a major a foothold in the West Bank which is controlled by the Palestinian authority.

But the Palestinian authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas is becoming more and more deeply unpopular. For its part, Hamas blamed the death and the arrest on the security cooperation between the Palestinian authority and Israeli officials. Hamas in a statement calling on what they say the masses of our Palestinian people in the valiant West Bank to escalate the resistance against the occupier.

Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his part condemned the raid, calling it a crime, calling them field executions, warning that the continuation of this policy will lead to an explosion of the situation and to more tension and instability. And that's really the concern here.

An explosion of the situation. There has been a fragile ceasefire in place and said that 11-day conflict in May between Hamas and militants in Gaza and Israel. And there's been this concern that any sort of spark could cause this conflict to really explode once again.

Overnight, actually there was even more violence in the West Bank, according to the Israeli border police, several dozen Palestinians threw off and some reports of live ammunition at a group of 500 Jewish worshippers who were going to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus in the West Bank. They were being escorted by a heavy presence of border police.

Two of whom, Israeli officials say were injured. We have no word yet on any Palestinian casualties. I should also note, Rosemary, that in just a few hours we're expecting to hear from the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett who is expected to give a speech to the United Nations.

Now although we don't expect much of his speech to be focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he wants to instead focus on issues such as Iran and the potential Iranian nuclear deal. A lot of eye will be towards the south, towards Gaza to see how and if Hamas will respond. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. We'll certainly be monitoring all of this. CNN's Hadas Gold joining us live from Jerusalem. Many thanks.

Well, Russia's foreign minister says Mali plans to hire private Russian mercenaries to assist with security. Mali's prime minister says the African country is at a breaking point. He spoke at the U.N. on the need for a new security strategy, citing rampant terrorism and criminal violence.

CNN's David McKenzie joins me now live from Johannesburg. So, David, what's going on with this, what does it signal?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it confirms weeks of rumors that the notorious Wagner Group, a mercenary group from Russia was doing a deal with the Malian government, the military government there. And you had that confirmed significantly by the foreign minister of Russia. Saying that they would be doing this deal, and it could be up to 1,000 paramilitary in the country to help stabilize the region. Here's Sergei Lavrov.

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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Mali has approached Russian private military companies. We have nothing to do with that. This is an activity which has been carried out on a legitimate basis.

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MCKENZIE (on camera): Now, we have to take that with a pinch of salt. Our reporting and others reporting has shown that the Wagner Group has deep ties to the Kremlin, and it's kind of an unofficial military wing of Russian foreign policy. They've been involved in Mozambique, notoriously in Central African Republic, as well as Libya.

And this is also, of course, have a geopolitical implication. You have that very strident and usually direct speech by the prime minister of Mali at the U.N. criticizing the French government for, in his words, abandoning the nation in the fight against Islamic extremists and insurgents that control or have control of parts of the northern part of the country.

But a couple of things worth remembering. The French have recently said they are looking to transition towards a multilateral force. They've had several thousand troops in that region. And they basically bailed out Mali in 2012 after it looked like the entire country would be taken over by these groups.

You had two coups in recent months, and there's a lot of distaste from the French and the European Union about the lack of motivation it seems for the military rulers to transition to elections. And you've seen in recent months these closer ties developing with the Russian government who are less queasy about the lack of a Democratic transition there.

And it means that this foothold that the Russians in that part of the world could expand, all through this you have this terrible violence and extremism that is affecting the civilian population of the Sahel, through Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger that is having an impact in that region, and potentially much wider implications. Rosemary?

[03:25:04] CHURCH: All right. David McKenzie bringing us the very latest on that story. Many thanks.

And still to come, we will hear from the former FDA commissioner on when he thinks the Delta variant surge will start to die down.

And still ahead, how the U.K. is planning to tackle both its petrol shortage and sudden need for more truck drivers.

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CHURCH (on camera): Hundreds of friends and family members of Gabby Petito gathered Sunday to celebrate her life and her sense of adventure. A public memorial service was held in New York near the town where Gabby grew up. Long lines of people waited to get inside.

It was one week ago that Gabby's remains were found at a national forest in Wyoming. The heartbroken father spoke at the memorial.

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JOSEPH PETITO, GABBY PETITO'S FATHER: The entire planet knows this woman's name now. Right? She's inspired a lot of women and a lot of men to do what's best for them first. Put yourself first, and do it now while you have the time. I couldn't be more proud as a father.

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CHURCH (on camera): Gabby Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie still has not been found. Police and the FBI are intensely searching for him.

After a horrific summer surge plagued unvaccinated Americans, the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations are finally falling.

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More than half of the U.S. is now fully vaccinated, but at the same time, we are back to an average of about 2,000 COVID deaths a day. And in places like Idaho, the virus is killing so many people. Hospitals and funeral homes don't have enough space to store the bodies. The former FDA chief predicts the delta surge could die down by Thanksgiving.

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SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Probably by Thanksgiving, I think that all have run its course. We've seen very dense epidemics right now in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. It became inflamed a little earlier than that. I think the big question mark is whether the northeast is going to see its own surge of infection.

It is a presumption because it has high vaccination rates and high prior exposure from previous waves of infection. That is somewhat impervious to a big wave of infections as people who believe that the surge of delta that you saw in the summer really was the surge that you're going to see in the northeast. I'm a little bit more skeptical. I think that you're still going still see a wave of infection sweep across the northeast. As kids go back to school, they become source of community spread. People return to work, the weather gets cold and people move indoors. But I think by Thanksgiving, you'll see this move its way through the country.

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CHURCH (on camera): Dr. Gottlieb also suggested that the U.S. could have a level of COVID immunity at around 80 percent through a combination of vaccination and infection.

And earlier, I spoke to Dr. Scott Miscovich, a national consultant for COVID testing, and asked him if he agreed with the former FDA commissioner's analysis.

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SCOTT MISCOVICH, NATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR COVID-19 TESTING: I agree with him on all those points because, you know, we have zero prevalence data across the United States. And what that means is people go in for a routine blood draw for like the pre-up test or just a regular, you know, cholesterol test, and they will do serial surveillance to also see if there's any signs if someone had contracted COVID.

The numbers are all over the map. Some states are upwards. Forty percent of those are positive. So most of us believe that there is a significant percentage well beyond what we see with our testing of Americans who are positive and will have immunity.

So I fully believe we are well into the 80 percent right now. If we can throw the children, you know, where we get half of them or more, we're gonna be pushing ourselves probably into the mid-80s, even closing on 90 if we get continuation of vaccinations.

CHURCH: That is very encouraging! So, I did want to ask you this because New York Governor Kathy Hochul is preparing for a potential medical staffing shortage because the statewide deadline for health care workers to get vaccinated with at least one dose has not been met. I mean, that's just in a few hours from now. So why do you think some health workers don't understand the science behind these COVID vaccines? They've been trained in science!

MISCOVICH: I'll tell you. When I look at it, I -- it just blows me away. And, you know, look at the national data. We have 13 percent or so or even 15 percent depending on the state who basically are never gonna get the vaccine. Those people work in health care also.

And there's something more. When you're -- like myself and my team are out in the field, whether it is giving vaccines, you know, there's some misunderstanding that have been perpetuated in the web that we're never going to understand.

And I do believe that we're going to see this across the country as vaccine mandates go. There will have to be some hardline held that people will be losing their jobs. I mean, even in regular health care right now, if you accept Medicare or Medicaid within a short period of time, all doctor's offices, nursing homes, et cetera are going to face losing federal funding unless you have your staff vaccinated.

So, it's gonna be a push, but I would have to say I believe we're going to get to a point -- my prediction is we are going to have mandatory vaccines just like we have mandatory school vaccines.

CHURCH: Yeah. It seems to be the only way forward, doesn't it? Dr. Scott Miscovich, thank you so much for talking with us. He is joining us from Hawaii. Appreciate it.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Rosemary. Nice to see you again.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHURCH: A shortage of truck drivers is driving a fuel crisis in the U.K. because you can't get fuel delivered without someone to drive the fuel truck. To solve the problem, the U.K. has suspended its competition laws on fuel companies and it is issuing temporary visas for foreign truck drivers.

Nina Dos Santos joins me now live from London to explain. Good to see, Nina. So, how is this going to work exactly? How suspending competition laws help the petrol shortage?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rosemary. Well, essentially, what it allow is fuel retailers like this one behind me in Central London to talk to each other, to try and divert fuel supplies to empty petrol stations like this one. It's been empty in fact since Friday.

[03:35:00]

DOS SANTOS: They got a delivery on Saturday. That very quickly ran out. Another is just turning people away. It is a scene you're seeing right across the country.

Industry bodies are saying that between 50 and 80 percent of petrol pumps across the country are having some form of shortage, either (INAUDIBLE) supply at various ranges, grades of fuel or otherwise just -- well, so completely dry.

So, that will help from business perspective to divert supplies to where they need it but it is not going to address the underlying cause, which as pointed out was a shortage of highly specialized HGVD, heavy goods vehicle drivers, who are able to transport flammable material like this to places like this and then (INAUDIBLE) themselves.

There is (INAUDIBLE) of about 100 to 120,000 truck drivers in the U.K. That has been exacerbated by the coronavirus and also by tighter immigration rules, thanks to Brexit. So the government over the course of the weekend decided that it is going to temporarily loosen the visa restriction to entice hopefully about 4,000 of these specialist drivers over from the European continent. Whether they will arrive in time to try and evade situations like these remains to be seen. But this is a big crisis across the country. As I was saying before, the government says that there is no national shortage of fuel. That's a message that reiterated by the oil and gas companies, too. But it's a question of the supply crisis that is now manifesting itself in fuel. It has also been felt with fresh produce as well.

Again, legacy of Brexit, legacy of coronavirus, and also labor conditions inside this industry that's being felt right across the U.K. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And they've got a temporary solution here. But, I mean, is this gonna be a problem long term because of the combination of Brexit and COVID?

DOS SANTOS: Rosemary, if you just look at the numbers of those delivery and truck drivers, as I said, they have to have a special license to drive heavy goods vehicles across the U.K. And then you have to have special skills to try and dislodge and load flammable material and transport it safely in urban areas like this part of Central London. And you have to do specialized training for that.

But again, to get the licence, there is a backlog with the DVLA here, the authority that gives those licenses, thanks to coronavirus, thanks to things like walking from home, industrial action, etc. So there are various issues along the way.

But if you look at the fact that this is an aging industry, the average age of a truck driver in the U.K. has been getting older and older because the conditions have been more difficult. The pay has not been great. There have been long days. They're about 55-year-olds on average. And there's 2,000 people leaving the sector every single week, only 1,000 of them being replaced. That gives you an idea where the labor crunch point is and how it's manifesting itself in goods like this. Rosemary?

CHURCH: They will need a long-term solution for sure. Nina Dos Santos is joining us live from London. Many thanks.

U.S. transportation investigators are expected to give an update on the deadly train derailment in Montana in the coming hours. Federal authorities are trying to find out what caused eight cars of the Amtrak empire builder train to derail on Saturday, killing three people and hospitalizing seven others.

Montana's governor called it a heartbreaking event and said all passengers on board the train had been accounted for. The railway released a statement of condolence on behalf of its CEO.

And coming up, a landmark election is set to usher in a new era for Europe's largest economy. We will have a look at how Germany's historic vote is impacting the markets. That's just ahead.

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[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: Well, the first official results are in from Germany's pivotal federal election. They showed the left-leaning social Democratic Party winning the most seats in Germany's parliament.

The party took a narrow lead over outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc, but she will stay in office until a new governing coalition can be formed. And that process is likely to take weeks, even months.

For more, CNN's Anna Stewart joins us live from London. Anna, how is this narrow win at the social Democratic Party in Germany playing on markets this morning?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Rosemary. Well, I can tell you that there is positive reaction on European markets. We can bring you those now. They've been open for about half an hour now. All of the major industries in the green and really Germany's Xetra Dax is leading the way here up around one percent as you can see there.

And that's actually really no surprise because actually what this result showed us was the biggest risk from investors going into election, which analysts warn me about last week was the risk of the left party being a part of any future coalition. That risk is pretty much completely off the table.

Then we look at the potential coalitions. A grand coalition of the main two parties look extremely unlikely, which means you are looking at probably a three-way coalition. And there are two potential key makers here, both the FDP and also the Green Party.

What's so interesting about them, when we look at a market perspective, what they mean for businesses, that policies are really quite divergent. For instance, the Green Party, very ambitious of course when it comes to climate change, they would like to ban combustion engines by 2030. That would have a huge impact on the auto sector given Volkswagen has said they will be fully electric until 2040, a decade later.

If you look at the FDP, they want to prioritize rail. That will have a huge impact for many in infrastructure and rail within Germany as well. But looking at all the sectors today, none is really higher than the other. They're all in the green. I think what we are seeing here is the expectation of compromise.

The fact that we're gonna have a three-way coalition, the fact that some of those more radical policies from those two junior parties are likely to get cancelled or balanced out. So that is (INAUDIBLE) could be plenty of marked uncertainty as this coalition talks unfold. Rosemary?

CHURCH (on camera): Anna Stewart is joining us from London. Many thanks. Well, Switzerland has become one of the last countries in Western Europe to legalize same-sex marriage. More than 64 percent of voters approved the change in a referendum on Sunday. Opponents forced the nationwide vote after parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage last year. The measure also gives married lesbian couples access to sperm banks and allow same-sex couples to adopt children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN MULLER, MEMBER OF "YES TO MARRIAGE FOR ALL" COMMITTEE (through translator): This is a historic day for Switzerland, a historic day for equal rights for people of the same-sex who love each other. It's a symbolic day for the whole LGBTQ community. Yes, it is a really very important day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:45:00]

CHURCH (on camera): Coming up here on "CNN Newsroom," it was a dominant performance for team USA on the links. Hear what they have to say after winning the Ryder Cup back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: So, just before the break, we were looking at the positive reaction on the markets to Germany's election results. Now, let's go to one of its neighbors because France and Germany are, of course, the heavy weights in the E.U. and they don't always see eye-to-eye on key issues. Now, the question is, will President Emmanuel Macron see Angela Merkel's departure as a chance to become the de facto leader in Europe?

Let's bring in CNN's Jim Bittermann to take a look at this. He joins us live from Paris. So Jim, what is President Macron's likely next move?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think for one thing, Macron has cast himself from the very beginning as a president of Europe from the 2017 election onward. On election eve, you will remember, Rosemary, he stood out on the stage (INAUDIBLE), the European anthem.

So he has always kind of considered himself very much committed European. And he's worked hand-in-hand with Angela Merkel all along here. The two of them, you're right, they have not seen eye-to-eye on everything, but by the same token, she's been a great partner for him.

[03:50:06]

BITTERMANN: And so in this period while she is still in there, they will be working together. Their countries will be working together as they always have although the real dynamism is supposed to be coming in the first of January when Macron takes over France, takes over as with the presidency of the European Council. And that's going to be a moment when it will be very helpful to have solid German government on board.

One of the things that I think they're watching is the way (INAUDIBLE) government in Germany are going because it will have a bearing on what takes part in terms of their leadership of the European Union.

One of the first reactions we got this morning from any French official was from the secretary of state for European affairs, Clement Beaune. He said the results are close but uncertain if there is going to be coalition negotiation. It's no doubt a complicated coalition with three political powers negotiating over three months.

So it's a kind of thing you're watching. You see how long this is going to take. Clement Beaune also said earlier, he said, you're never strong alone in here. So, clearly, the Macron government realizes the importance of having good strong negotiating partner with Germany. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Absolutely. Jim Bittermann joining us live from Paris, many thanks.

These are live pictures right now, the volcano erupting in the Canary Islands. Let's bring those up. Officials warn that the volcano in La Palma is getting even more dangerous. And experts predict lava explosions could last another three months. Nearly 7,000 people have been evacuated. Residents are in limbo as flights remained cancelled for a second straight day.

Our journalist Al Goodman joins us now live from Madrid with more on this. Al, what are you able to tell us?

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. The latest, Rosemary, Canary Islands emergency authorities early this day, just after midnight, local time, sent out a series of urging tweets to the residents of the island, ordering people who live in four villages on the eastern shore of La Palma to stay indoors.

They are basically locked down and that's because the lava flow from the volcano, now in its ninth straight day of eruptions, the lava flow is just about one and a half kilometers or one mile from the ocean. And when it hits the ocean, authorities say, there will be toxic gas, fumes going out in that area across the island, and there could be some sort of explosion.

They say the force of these explosions as it hits the water, plus what is going on with the volcano itself, the eruptions, that could shatter glass in your house, windows in a radius of five kilometers or three miles. So people are on edge. Again, this has been an up and down situation where there have been more intense eruptions and explosions lesser. Now, we are back to a more intense phase.

As you mentioned, the airport has again -- flights cancelled this Monday morning by the Spain's airport operator, saying flights in and out have been cancelled. They were on again, off again yesterday. They were cancelled on Saturday.

More than 6,000 people evacuated are safe. The authorities are happy to report that in the midst of all of this, that there have been so far no reported injuries or deaths. All this happening, Rosemary, on La Palma, which is one of the smaller of Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off and northwest coast of Morocco.

The Spaniards like to call it the Isla Bonita, the beautiful island. But clearly, with hundreds of homes destroyed and its valuable banana plantations, many of those destroyed, as well as the major provider of bananas to Europe, the situation is quite serious.

And in terms of if you are on the island and you wanted to get off, basically the way out is a ferryboat, a two and a half ride to the nearest island. Rosemary?

CHURCH: We appreciate you staying on top of this. Our journalist Al Goodman joining us live from Madrid.

The American golf team is celebrating in a historic victory in the Ryder Cup. Team USA trashed Europe 19 to 9 in Wisconsin on Sunday. The result was never really in doubt since the U.S. players have been so dominant in the first two days.

CNN Sports' Patrick Snell was at the course and has more. Patrick?

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: So the pain of Paris (ph) three years ago is now officially over for this exciting and all conquering team USA, historic and record 19 points to 9- victory. And this party is just getting started.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, TWO WINS, ONE TIE FOR TEAM U.S.: This is possibly way better than any tournament that I have ever won in my entire life. Just a group of people, the collective game of golf, it's so much bigger than just a single tournament. It is about people coming together and doing something special for the game of golf.

[03:54:58]

UNKNOWN: It is amazing and to be part of this group of amazing, talented players and personalities has been a lot of fun. So, I am happy for Captain Stricker and happy to be a part of this team.

UNKNOWN: A lot of these guys have played a lot of golf with each other. They've grown up with each other. It is a special group of kids. And yeah, it was fun to be a part of it all this week, especially here in Wisconsin.

UNKNOWN: I've only lost one other one and it's painful.

IAN POULTER, ZERO POINTS FOR TEAM EUROPE: How much it hurts and how much you despise it and how much you can't wait for it to come around in two years' time to win it back.

SNELL: So, for Team Europe, there is much to reflect upon and that is putting it mildly ahead of the next Ryder Cup in Rome two years from now. Well, for Team USA, it is indeed time to celebrate. It is the first time in almost four decades they can celebrate back-to-back Ryder Cup triumph on home soil.

At the Ryder Cup, I am Patrick Snell, CNN.

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CHURCH: And thanks for that, Patrick. In the world of U.S. football, a history-making moment Sunday as the Baltimore Ravens Justin Tucker set an NFL record with a 66 yard game-winning field goal.

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): On its way! It bounces off crossbar and it stood!

CHURCH: Exciting. Baltimore had been trailing by a point with only three seconds left in the game when Tucker kicked the field goal. It beat the previous record by two yards. How about that? Well done.

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CHURCH (on camera): And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Isa Soares in London.

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