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World Leaders Gathering in Rome for G20 Summit; Biden to Meet with Pope Francis Ahead of G20 Summit; Biden to Meet Soon with French President Macron; Biden Hoping to Repair Alliances at G20 Summit; Xi, Putin Won't Be Attending G20 or COP26 in Person. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 29, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Rome with breaking news. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world.

Leaders of the world's biggest economies are arriving right now, here in the eternal city, for the annual G20 summit, the climate crisis, energy crisis and disruptions in the global supply chain, they are all on the agenda. But the U.S. President Joe Biden comes without an agreement from lawmakers back in Washington on his truly sweeping domestic agenda. For the second time in as many months House Democrats have postponed the vote on the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. Progressives say they won't support it unless it moves in tandem with a much larger economic and climate package.

Meanwhile, here in Rome, President Biden is hoping to mend fences with U.S. allies especially France. He's scheduled to talk with his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron in just a few hours. President Biden will soon head also here to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. He's only by the way the second Catholic to serve as president of the United States.

I want to bring in our Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher who is watching all of this for us. For President Biden, this will be, as it always is, the fourth meeting with the Pope, a very emotional moment.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is because this is his first meeting as president. You know, he's met with him as Vice President but he's coming back as a Catholic and as president of the United States. And you know, Wolf, these meetings typically, they last under an hour, so there's a lot to get through in terms of talking points and agenda.

But really the crux of the meeting is shoring up that personal relationship between the two. Which Pope Francis from the Vatican side, you know, really is hoping to have a good relationship with the U.S. leader, because he wants these issues that they will be discussing at the G20, they'll be discussing at COP26, those are issues that the Pope has spent a lot of his pontificate really advocating for. And he needs the U.S. leadership to help organize and move those issues forward.

Let's keep in mind that the Catholic church has on the ground in every country and in the world major organizations, like Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities, hospitals, schools, and you know, they are there on the ground. They are ready and willing to put plans into action, for -- on vaccines for example. But they need the united leadership of many of the world's countries, pharmaceutical companies and so on. So, they need people who can put pressure on these governments and show the leadership. And obviously he's going to be looking to President Biden for that.

BLITZER: For Pope Francis, the pharmaceutical companies and their distribution of these vaccines, is such an important issue, explain.

GALLAGHER: Absolutely. So, one of the Pope's major calling points is to say to pharmaceutical companies, you have an obligation, an ethical obligation to waive your patents, so you have donation. Obviously, he's been asking wealthy countries to donate to poorer countries. But he's also in favor of waiving patents. He's in favor of getting the hubs into Africa where they can produce the vaccine.

Look, I mean the Pope's point is whatever it takes, but the main message is, the wealthier countries and pharmaceutical companies, to share, to share their patents, to share the vaccines, and you know, it's kind of the a no-brainer as we say, but obviously the Pope can only say it so much, it's actually got to be put in action.

BLITZER: Has the Pope spoken out aggressively? Because as you know, there are some people out there for religious reason who don't want to get a vaccine and claim religious reasons. Has this been an issue that the Pope has addressed?

GALLAGHER: Yes, yes. I mean, he himself is vaccinated of course, as is the Pope emeritus. And from the beginning, he has said, you know, it's it is an act of charity, it's an act of love towards other people. It's an act of responsibility to get vaccinated. He's even said he doesn't really understand those who are skeptical of the vaccine. So, he has certainly taken every opportunity.

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He has vaccinated many people, even the homeless people here around the Vatican. He's really tried to show that as well, that, you know, not to be afraid of the vaccine, that people should get vaccinated but absolutely.

BLITZER: You know, you mentioned the homeless people around the Vatican, I have been walking around here since I arrived yesterday, you see homeless people all over the place.

GALLAGHER: Yes, we have seen an increase in that actually. A part of the reason -- there's two reasons there. One is that the Pope has set up dormitories, set up places around the Vatican, for the homeless, a barbershop, and so on. And the other thing is that the police before used to be move them away, and now with Francis, they understand that they don't really want to be doing that. So, there's kind of a double thing here, which is, you know, welcoming them in, but also trying to provide places for them to sleep, and to have a shower, and so on, and to eat, they have cafeterias here for the homeless.

BLITZER: All right, Delia, we'll stay in close touch with you as usual. Thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. He's also here in Rome watching all of this unfold. Set the scene for us on what's expected to emerge from the world leaders who have gathered here in Rome.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are sort of muted expectations from the G20 given that several of the major leaders will not be here. Among them, the leaders of Russia, China, Japan, and Mexico. For a variety of reasons, for instance, Vladimir Putin apparently is somewhat distracted by the fact that the pandemic is surging in Russia.

But because so many of them will not be here, in Rome, for the G20, it's not clear what is going to come out of this meeting of major developing and developed economies. They don't necessarily see eye to eye, for instance, China and India, are resisting the demands that everybody bring their greenhouse gas emissions down as quickly as possible. So, there may be at the end some sort of communique where some vague and broad goals are endorsed, but in terms of specific, it's not really clear what's going to come out of this meeting -- Wolf.

BLITZER: There will be a very significant meeting between President Macron of France and President Biden, given the tense relationship that has developed in recent weeks. Talk a little bit about that -- Ben.

WEDEMAN: Yes, this is something that Macron for instance was clearly satisfied to see Biden replacing President Trump, with whom he had a somewhat troubled relationship. But when the United States announced that it was pulling off a submarine deal with Australia, that there was a similar deal that France had done with Australia, totaling $60 billion. The French were absolutely outraged. They felt that they had been betrayed by the United States, a country with which France has had a long and close relationship.

And the Americans are trying to mend fences. We understand that when the two leaders meet today, that Biden will offer increased American support for counterterrorism, French counterterrorism activities in Africa. But the damage has been done. And this, the blowup over the submarine deal has really clouded the optimism that somehow the relationship between the United States and its key European allies was on the mend after the administration of Donald Trump -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Ben, thank you very much. Ben Wedeman reporting from here in Rome as well.

Joining us now Stuart Lau, the EU/CHINA correspondent for "Politico." Stuart, thanks very much for coming in. What are you going to be looking for specifically today and tomorrow? STUART LAU, EU-CHINA CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Right now, we are very

focused on, you know, the behind-the-scenes kind of negotiations to what is possibly a communique on what Ben was saying, describing to be broad and vague commitments about climate, about fixing distribution. What we're hearing from EU sources is that there is very intense negotiations on climate for example. Saudi Arabia is trying to block a lot of concrete commitments about climate financing or you know, carbon phasing, phasing out carbon, phasing out coal, and also different issue, you know, really blended together.

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To what we are also hearing as yesterday, the Italian President, which of course is chairing the negotiations, have proposed a sort of compromise deal to try to talk about bringing back the kind of 1.5 degrees point back to the table. But also linking it more closely as what the diplomats are describing as critical enablers, all sorts of financing which will be required on the part of developed countries. And so, with, you know, we're going to see what the negotiations will come out.

BLITZER: The G20 is the meeting of the wealthy nations around the world. But missing in action will be the president of China, the president of Russia, President Xi is not showing up. President Putin is not showing up. Others aren't showing up either. What does that say to you, Stuart?

LAU: Definitely not helping because so much of what the negotiations usually take place is really about, you know, the kind of high-level person-to-person interchange. You know, trying to persuade each other to take a step forward or take a step backward in some cases. So, you know, China, for example, is sending the foreign minister here instead of the president. We understand that he might be giving a virtual, kind of online sharing, but we'll have to see what exactly will be going on.

But then, you know, also because, you know, on the other hand, you know, people are also judging the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for how he conducts the negotiations. He's new to the job. He is a very respected international finance person, you know, but it's also, you know, going to be a very significant kind of litmus test for his diplomacy, diplomatic skills and whether he can actually bring China and Russia to the table, even though they are not really here.

BLITZER: Is there much of a difference, because when I was in Washington, before I left, I was hearing U.S. officials complaining that there were different attitudes towards China among the EU nations, as opposed to the United States. How much of a division is there right now?

LAU: So, the really interesting case here would be Germany, because for such a long time, Germany played a very critical role in trying to bring the EU to what's a more engaging position, vis-a-vis China. We're now seeing Angela Merkel stepping out of chancellery office after 16 years. Interestingly she'll also be bringing her successor -- likely successor, Olaf Scholz -- who is currently her finance minister even though he's not from the same party to the same table, to the same room, to meet with other G20 leaders. We'll have two see what Olaf Scholz's policy is going to be like on China.

And also, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, you know, he's a very critical, vocal proponent of strategic autonomy, which means, you know, having EU's own policy on China, slightly different from Washington's. So, we'll have to see what comes out of, again, what Ben was saying, to be a meeting between Biden and Macron on the fallout of August and whether France will get some kind of diplomatic guarantee from the U.S. on a bigger role in the Pacific.

BLITZER: As you know, the U.S. has been desperate in the recent weeks trying to restore, strengthen U.S. relations with France right now. And today president Macron will be meeting with President Biden. How strained is this relationship?

LAU: Very, very. So, France has been really building up a case in the European Union and to the partners in Brussels. Look, basically, you know, Biden is not respecting us. You know, what can we expect from the U.S.? Of course, you know, the caveat here is that a lot of European Union members are not on board with this idea. The Baltic states for example and the Nordic states, you know, they are stern allies, you know, tough allies for NATO.

But on the other hand, there is also the dynamic, this momentum being built up towards, you know, what Macron envisions to be a European army, European defense force, so we'll have to see whether France is able, is capable of mustering a strong enough alliance within the European Union when it comes to its next presidency in the EU at the start of next year.

BLITZER: Stuart Lau is the EU-China correspondent for "Politico," you're here in Rome, thank you, Stuart, very much.

LAU: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right there's much more coming up. World leaders preparing to meet in Scotland for what's called the COP26 climate conference. Amid dire warnings that time is quickly running out. We'll have a live report from London. That's just ahead.

Plus, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, she's standing by live. She'll join me for live one on one interview to discuss President Biden's spending and infrastructure bill and whether arriving at the G20 without a deal in hand is a failure. Much more of our special coverage coming up right after this.

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BLITZER: As world leaders convene here in Rome, we're getting live pictures coming up. And later in Glasgow, this coming weekend, climate activists have planned protest, just ahead of both the G20 in Rome and what's called the COP26 meetings in Scotland. We're expecting to see demonstrations today, in London, Berlin, Rome, and other cities, as activists demand stronger international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The British government is presiding over this year's COP26 climate conference, in Glasgow, Scotland.

I want to go to CNN's Scott McLean. He's standing by in London for us. Scott, set the scene. What are you anticipate?

SCOTT MCLEAN CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf, if there's any meaningful progress that coming out of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, we may well see the very first signs of that progress on climate change at the G20 summit in Rome.

This is a group of countries that for all intents and purposes could solve climate change on their own since they account for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Now while most of the countries in that list of course say that they want to take meaningful steps to keep the world from going -- from warming more than 1.5 degrees. Some of the biggest emitters, well, they're decidedly less keen.

Chief among them is China which on its own accounts for about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. And even with their updated targets that they released ahead of the Glasgow summit, they are still very, very modest by international comparison and even still they rely on this metric, Wolf, called carbon intensity.

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Which essentially in theory at least allows the country to pollute more overall, over the next decade, as long as their economy continues to grow at a very fast clip. President Xi also will not be at the G20, nor will he be in Glasgow. So, any chance that these world leaders had, or plans that they might have had to sort of pull him aside to try to make the case that China needs to be doing more on climate change. Well, it's just simply not going to happen.

The same is true for Russian President Vladimir Putin who will be absent as well as Mexico, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Now, Wolf, obviously you're waiting to see President Biden meet with the Pope, Pope Francis, he is a climate change believer. This is a guy who has faith in the climate science and he has made that clear for years. Blaming global corporations, politicians, and energy companies, for the mess that we're in right now on climate change.

And as you mentioned, climate change campaigners, activists, they're also not waiting to make their voices heard. Several cities around the world will see protests even today ahead of the Glasgow summit. The one in London here will be led by teenaged climate change activist and climate celebrity Greta Thunberg. The protest specifically is outside the Standard Charter banking headquarters here in London. They're calling on the financial sector to stop investing in fossil fuel projects. Specifically Standard Charter Bank as well.

Now that bank did come out with a statement yesterday saying that by 2030, it will no longer deal with any clients that are more than 5 percent reliant on coal. Coal, as we know, emits a lot of methane. Which doesn't stay in the atmosphere as long as carbon but while it's there, it has a really magnified impact on climate change. And so, the European Union says that is sort of low-hanging fruit when it comes to climate change action, and it's calling on countries to sign up to pledge to cut methane emissions by 30 percent, by 2030. It said that 60 countries have already signed up, obviously they're hoping for a lot more though -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, thank you very much, Scott McLean reporting from London. Clearly a lot going on. I'm Wolf Blitzer here in Rome at the G20 summit. I'll be back in a few minutes right at the bottom of the hour, with the latest developments from here.

Right now, I want to turn it over to my colleague Kim Brunhuber who is joining us from Atlanta -- Kim.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much, Wolf. And we're going to start with troubling signs in the global fight against the coronavirus. The World Health Organization says new infections and deaths are up around the world for the first time in two months. It's being driven by rising cases across Europe. The W.H.O. chief blames the continued spread of the virus on inequity. Listen to this.

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TEDROS GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR GENERAL: It's another reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. The pandemic persists in large part because the inequitable access to tools persists.

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BRUNHUBER: Europe accounted for 57 percent of new cases worldwide last week and is the only W.H.O. region to report increases in infections.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer's COVID vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11. This will allow the company to begin shipping out its version for younger kids. Pfizer says clinical trials show it's more than 90 percent effective against symptomatic COVID, after the FDA grants authorization, the CDC still needs to give its approval. The CDC's vaccine advisers are set to hold a meeting on the issue on Tuesday and then the agency's director gets the final say.

Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows could soon find himself in the same fix as the former president's ally Steve Bannon. Multiple sources are telling CNN that members of the House committee investigating the January 6th insurrection are considering setting a deadline for him to comply with the subpoena, or risk being held in criminal contempt like Bannon.

Now while his counsel has been in talks with the committee, one source with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN it's becoming, quote, increasingly clear that he has no real intention of cooperating. But unlike Bannon's case, it's possible Meadows could have executive privilege protections as Trump's chief of staff.

A major rebrand for Facebook. The tech giant will now be known as Meta. Facebook will become a subsidiary of the company like Instagram or WhatsApp, instead of the overarching brand that it was. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement during a virtual reality event on Thursday.

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MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta. Our mission remains the same. Still about bringing people together.

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Our apps and their brands, they're not changing either. And we are still the company that designs technology around people. But now, we have a new north star, to help bring the "Metaverse" to life. And we have a new name that reflects the whole breadth of what we do.

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BRUNHUBER: Zuckerberg says the so-called "Metaverse" is a new online virtual reality realm where people will be able to work, play and shop and all this comes as the social media site faces scathing criticism over misinformation and its harmful impact on society after a whistleblower leaked hundreds of eternal documents.

Chief executives from four of the world's largest oil companies appeared before a U.S. House committee to answer for what Democrats call a disinformation campaign on climate change. The bosses of Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP America and Shell all denied any involvement in deliberate efforts to deceive the public. But Democrats don't seem to be buying it. They're now vowing to subpoena company records and they're urging these oil giants to own up to their history and make this a turning point in the climate crisis.

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REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Spare us the spin today, really, we have no interest in it. Spin doesn't work under oath. In 1994, the CEOs of the seven largest tobacco companies appeared, right here, before our committee. They too faced the choice. They chose to lie under oath. Denying that nicotine was addictive. As I'm sure you realize it didn't turn out too well for them. So don't think of ourselves as the CEO. Just think of yourself as human beings.

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BRUNHUBER: And Wolf, back to you in Rome.

BLITZER: All right, Kim, thank you very, very much.

One big question emerging right now, what does it mean for President Biden to come here to Rome without a final deal on his key domestic agenda? I'll speak live with his Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She is standing by. We'll discuss all of the late-breaking developments. Make sure to stay with us. That's coming up in a few minutes.

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