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U.S. Journalist Gets 11 Years in Myanmar Prison; New COP26 Draft Calls for 1.5 Degree Celsius Limit in Global Warming; Testimony Ends in Rittenhouse Trial, Closing Statements Set for Monday; U.S. Appeals Court Pauses Release of Trump White House Records; White House Fighting Threat to Economic Recovery; U.N.: Migrant Situation in Belarus is Catastrophic. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 12, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

A developing story in Myanmar. An American journalist sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

Plus, breaking news in Scotland. We are getting details on a new draft agreement from COP26 negotiators and it acknowledges the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis.

Also, Donald Trump gets a temporary victory in his bid to keep documents away from lawmakers investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.

Hello, everyone. It is Friday, November 12. And we begin with breaking news this hour out of Myanmar. American journalist Danny Fenster has in the last few hours been sentenced to 11 years in prison for incitement and unlawful association. And more serious charges are still pending. Let's go straight to Ivan Watson who has more in Hong Kong. Ivan, explain to us exactly what these charges mean and critically whether any evidence or any evidence whatsoever was presented in the court against Fenster here.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Danny Fenster is a 37- year-old from Detroit, Michigan, and he'd been working in the independent English language press in Myanmar for some time. He was managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, which is an online publication. He was detained in May on his way to the airport to fly back to the U.S. This was months after the military staged a coup in which they arrested the leaders of a civilian elected government and subsequently embarked on a major crackdown on civil society and the press in the country.

Fenster faced a number of charges. He was sentenced under three separate charges for basically breaching visas, for unlawful association with an illegal group, and for incitement, publishing comments that caused fear or spread fake news. And under the three charges, he got 11 years in prison. That's in a closed tribunal inside Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, an enormous circular structure that you can see from the sky as you fly into Yangon. The sentencing has been denounced by human rights organizations. Take a listen to what Human Rights Watch has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANNY MAUNG, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Obviously, the sentencing they have is a complete sham and it's a complete sham trial. And if anything, he shouldn't be there in the first place and he shouldn't be facing these charges. These are all Trumped up. It's not a proper display of justice simply because there is no such thing as due process in Myanmar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, here's the thing. Is Fenster's situation could get much, much worse, Isa, because he's still facing two additional charges of basically, under a counterterrorism law and an accusation that he's hurt the reputation of the military, which again seized power in a coup on February 1st. And those charges he could face up to life in prison.

He is just one example of a much broader crackdown on press freedoms in the country where you have up to 100 journalists detained since February 1st, dozens still believed to be behind bars, and journalists I know who have had to flee the country to become refugees in neighboring countries -- Isa.

SOARES: Do keep us posted, Ivan, on Fenster's case, as well is soon as you hear from the U.S. government on this do come back to us. Thanks very much, Ivan Watson there.

Now, we are following another major breaking story out of Glasgow, Scotland, where delegates of the COP26 climate summit have a new draft agreement. It says the world should aim to make global warming to 1.5 percent Celsius and for the first time acknowledges the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis. CNN's Phil Black is in Glasgow with more. And Phil, talk me through this new draft agreement. Does it go far enough? What's in it?

[04:05:00]

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, let's go to the crucial points that people will be watching, really, to determine whether or not this conference is going to be a success. So, as you touched on the science that says where we're at, what's at stake, how urgent the moment is, that is still there. So, it resolves that 1.5 degrees should be -- of average global increase should be the goal, that is much better than 2 degrees. It makes the point that the situation is urgent because in order to achieve 1.5 we have to cut emissions this decade by 45 percent. So, it describes it as a critical decade.

Then we get into some changes here because where it once said it needed meaningful effective action by all parties in this critical decade, it now says there needs to be accelerated action this decade. And goes on to reference different countries' individual circumstances and efforts to develop sustainably, efforts to eradicate poverty and so forth. We knew that developing countries weren't happy with the original version, and this is where you can see their influence. What it means in practice is that you can't expect the same of India and China in terms of emission cuts and actions as you would, say, the European Union and the U.S.

But that science, that basis that is still there as is the urgency. Now, because there is that urgency, crucially it still lays out a next step beyond COP26. We know that we are nowhere near on track to cutting emissions this decade in order to achieve 1.5 so what happens next is really important. The original draft urged countries to come back next year with new emissions targets. This version requests countries to do this. This is a weakening of that language in a legal sense.

But it is still crucially there in some form, and there is still a time frame. That time frame is considered vital to this process having any sort of future that means it is theoretically possible to deliver what the science says is necessary by the end of this decade.

The other interesting point is on coal. The original version talked about accelerating the phase-out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies. Again, some more qualifying language here. This version has phasing out the -- accelerating the phase-out of unabated coal which is usually a reference to coal that doesn't have carbon capture technology attached to it, for example. And it also talks about inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. So, some qualified language there.

What this means, though, is a lot of the substance is still there in some form. This is only the second draft. We are on the final day of the conference. We would normally expect yet another draft before the final version is agreed. You can probably say these negotiations are running behind. But I think some people will be weakened -- will be disappointed by some of the weakening that has taken place. But they'll be looking forward to the successive drafts in the final version to make sure that at least these crucial points are in there in some form -- Isa.

SOARES: Yes, and we expect -- what -- 197 signatories to this. It's supposed to end today at 6:00 p.m. let's see if it does go through the night. Phil Black for us in Glasgow, Scotland. Thanks very much, Phil.

Now meanwhile, in the United States testimony has ended in the trial that underscores the deep divide within the country. Kyle Rittenhouse is on trial for killing two people and wounding a third at a racial justice protest last year. Prosecutors have portrayed him as an armed vigilante, while the defense insists Rittenhouse acted in defense. Kyung Lah reports for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: We're in the final stretch. Enjoy the weekend and ...

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With that closing arguments are now set for Monday, testimony ended in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Eight days of testimony with 31 witnesses. The last day of testimony ending as it did through much of the trial, leaning on video from that night.

The first victim shot by Rittenhouse, Joseph Rosenbaum, seen here in the red T-shirt. Rosenbaum was among the protesters in Kenosha days and nights of unrest after police shot Jacob Blake. Rosenbaum would collide with an armed Rittenhouse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Raise your right hand, please.

LAH (voice over): This video was taken by defense witness Drew Hernandez who described Rosenbaum this way.

DREW HERNANDEZ, DEFENSE WITNESS: Rosenbaum was charging Kyle Rittenhouse from behind, hear it and saw it in real time. And Rosenbaum is lunging towards him very clearly and Kyle fires.

LAH (voice over): The defense's goal by showing what led up to the shootings is to boost Rittenhouse's self-defense claims, that the then-17-year-old was cornered and feared for his life. He's pleaded not guilty.

A moment his lawyers hope humanize the defendant who faces a potential life sentence. But the third man shot by Rittenhouse, Gaige Grosskreutz, whose bicep was blown off by Rittenhouse's bullet says he didn't see an emotional man on the stand.

[04:10:00]

GAIGE GROSSKREUTZ: To me it seemed like a child who had just gotten caught doing something that he wasn't supposed to, more upset that he was caught and less upset about what he had done and what he had taken and the numerous lives that he affected through his actions that night.

LAH (voice over): The eight-day trial was wrought with tension not just from the witnesses, but between Judge Bruce Schroeder and Prosecutor Thomas Binger after the judge lashed out yesterday.

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: Don't get brazen with me.

LAH (voice over): Another testy exchange.

THOMAS BINGER, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Yesterday, as I said, I was under the court's ire.

SCHROEDER: I don't want to talk about -- why don't we just --

BINGER: Well, I think it's a fundamental fairness issue, your honor.

SCHROEDER: All right. Say what you want to say.

BINGER: If I'm being held to obey the court's orders, I'm asking that the defense be held to that too. SCHROEDER: I was talking yesterday about the Constitution of the United States and how the Supreme Court has interpreted it for 50 years.

LAH (voice over): But the Rittenhouse trial is most noteworthy for being a flashpoint in a battle far beyond Kenosha.

Hernandez was just one of the many capturing the events on the Kenosha Street. He's an Arizona-based commentator who works for far right-wing outlet, Real America Voice and post frequently on social media.

HERNANDEZ: Black Lives Matter is a Marxist organization.

LAH (voice over): Hernandez testified he was in Kenosha to track Antifa and BLM when the shootings happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever posted anything on social media?

HERNANDEZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In support of Kyle Rittenhouse.

HERNANDEZ: One could argue, yes.

LAH: And a last-minute twist from prosecutors, the prosecutors told the judge that they intend to ask for lesser-included charges to be submitted to the jury, a decision on that has not yet been formalized. Kyung Lah, CNN, Kenosha, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Thank you, Kyung. Well, attorneys in the case will each have 2 1/2 hours to address the jury. Their statements are expected to underscore the opposing views of the case. For those who favor more gun rights, the shootings were justified. The opposite view sees Rittenhouse as a vigilante, a product on the country's gun culture. CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson says the defense focused on Rittenhouse's feelings and explanation of the event. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Now, we can have the debate as to whether or not Rittenhouse should have been there, whether or not he's not a police officer. He's not a technician. Why is he there in the first instance? Why would he interject himself? That's a separate issue. That's not what the jury is being there to decide. Those political questions are left to debate.

With respect to the facts, I think what the defense did is three very important things. By putting him on the stand, Wolf, number one, they humanized him. They want to present to the jury a person who has feelings, who indicates that, hey, I didn't want to do anything, I didn't want to kill anyone, I needed to.

We saw him breaking down in tears. I thought he was very prepared. It was very effective. Pivoting to issue number two with respect to explaining. Why was it that I had to shoot one person? Because they were pointing a gun at me. Another because they were tussling for my rifle. Yet another because they were ripping their skateboard across my head like a baseball bat.

And then finally, Wolf, when it came to the issue of what he did thereafter, he turned himself in. We often as lawyers talk about this consciousness of guilt issue. It means we're running, right, defendants are running because they did something wrong. He ran, but he ran to a police station. So, from those perspectives, I think they were very effective and certainly have a very good shot of having him acquitted when the jury ultimately deliberates after closing examinations or closing arguments -- excuse me -- on Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson on the Rittenhouse trial there.

Now former U.S. President Donald Trump has scored a small victory in his efforts to keep White House documents related to the January 6 insurrection away from Congressional investigators. CNN's Evan Perez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A federal appeals court is pausing the release of hundreds of pages of Trump White House records from the National Archives to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The three- judge panel granted former president Donald Trump's delay request while the court decides whether Trump can keep secret documents that he says are protected by executive privilege.

Now, this is an unusual legal battle because President Joe Biden has waived privilege, citing the extraordinary events of January 6 and the need to find out what happened and how to prevent another disruption to the peaceful transfer of power.

The three judges, two appointed by President Obama and one appointed by President Biden wrote: The purpose of this administrative injunction is to protect the court's jurisdiction to address appellant's claim of executive privilege and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits.

The judges scheduled oral arguments on the dispute on November 30th, which means that the temporary pause could last into December. And of course, whoever loses in the appeals court is expected to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in.

[04:15:00]

In the meantime, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows says that he is going to wait for the courts to rule and be ordered to provide testimony to the committee. The committee has now demanded that Meadows appear before it on Friday morning or face potential contempt of Congress.

Evans Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And just ahead right here on the show, the U.S. president will be hitting the road to sell his economic agenda. How he plans to help Americans suffering from sticker shock.

Plus, the defense attorney causes an uproar with his request during a trial over the killing of a black man in Georgia. We'll bring you both of those stories after a very short break. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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SOARES: More Americans are feeling the pinch as inflation has climbed more than 6 percent in the past year. That is the biggest jump in three decades. In the new Fox News poll, 53 percent of Americans say they're extremely concerned about inflation. As you can see there, 44 percent are just as worried about health care as well as political divisions. All of this really putting a lot of pressure on President Biden and his economic team to come up with solutions. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more now from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:20:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden visiting Arlington National Cemetery to honor America's veterans.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our veterans represent the best of America. You are the very spine of America.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): As his White House scrambles behind the scenes to push back on an acute threat to economic recovery and his domestic agenda.

BIDEN: Everything from a gallon of gas to a loaf of bread costs more and it's worrisome.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Biden now convening regular internal meetings as inflation hits a three-decade high, a window into the political and policy threat emanating from across-the-board price increases now driving a clear public messaging shift.

BIDEN: I'm here to talk about one of the most pressing economic concerns of the American people, and it's real, and that is getting prices down.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): All part of a frantic effort to address a combination of supply chain bottle necks and a post pandemic demand surge, driving a reality largely outside of Biden's control.

BIDEN: Today's announcement has the potential to be a game changer. MATTINGLY (voice-over): A push to shift Southern California ports to 24/7 operations easing some pressures. But a record with 111 container ships still sitting in wait outside the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, according to data from the Marine Exchange. The latest inflation acceleration stunning Biden's economic team -- sources tell CNN -- with higher costs across the board including gas up 49.6 percent, rental cars up 39.1 percent, furniture up 12 percent, and meat, eggs, poultry, and fish up 11.9 percent. Even after Biden said this in June.

BIDEN: The overwhelming consensus is going to pop up a little bit and then go back down.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): And this in July.

BIDEN: These disruptions are temporary.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): But beyond the economic and political pain the numbers posing a very real threat to Biden's agenda with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin a key centrist holdout, long worried about inflation, tweeting, quote, Americans know the inflation tax is real. And D.C. can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.

It is a warning shot as the White House enters the final negotiations over Biden's $2 trillion economic and climate bill where a single Democratic no vote in the Senate would kill the backbone of Biden's domestic agenda known as Build Back Better

RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I think that Senator Manchin's concerns make the strongest possible case for Build Back Better.

MATTINGLY: And those higher prices are drawing real concerns on Capitol Hill among some Democrats that the price increases will overshadow the president's major legislative victory just one week ago. That infrastructure bill, bipartisan infrastructure bill. White House officials making clear they aren't going to let that happen or at least don't intend to and they'll be using the president to try and underscore that point.

The president will be hitting the road next week, heading to New Hampshire on Tuesday, Michigan on Wednesday, two critical swing states to sell that proposal, all following a Monday signing ceremony where sources tell CNN the president has invited every single lawmaker that's voted for the bill, both Republicans and Democrats.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: That was the domestic front. On the foreign policy front, sources say President Biden is expected to attend a virtual summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday. The highly anticipated meeting comes during heightened tensions over Taiwan, trade as well as military expansion. However, the U.S. and China did unveil a framework agreement to address climate change this week. President Biden and President Xi last spoke for about 90 minutes by phone back in September.

Now, in Europe at the Belarus/Polish border, tensions are rising as temperatures plummet. The U.N. says the situation there is catastrophic. About 2,000 men, women and children are now trapped in freezing weather along the border of Poland unable to go anywhere. Little kids hold signs that say "sorry" -- as you can see there.

The U.S., EU and NATO all accuse Belarus's leader of weaponizing the helpless migrants as payback for earlier sanctions against the regime. But the threat of new sanctions has been met with defiance.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins me now from near the border. And Fred, as we just outlined there, we have heard pretty strong words from the U.N. Security Council condemning Belarus's actions. Has that changed anything on the ground from what you've seen?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far it doesn't seem to have changed very much as far as Alexander Lukashenko is concerned, Isa. As you've noted, there is still that camp in place. There are apparently still migrants coming to that camp. And there are also still attempts to get across the border between Poland and Belarus.

And of course, what the Polish authorities have been saying, is that they believe that a lot of that is also being instigated by Belarusian security forces. Now of course, Belarus has denied having any sort of hand in that. We've heard the condemnation coming not just from European Union, not just from Poland itself, but of course also from countries like the United States and international organizations as well.

[04:25:00]

I think one thing that you said though, Isa, is something that we definitely have to point out every time we talk about what's going on there, and that is the fact that the temperatures here are increasingly starting to plummet. I was out here for the better part of the night. The temperatures there well below freezing.

And you know, the people who are in that camp, the many who are there, of course many women and children as well, they are essentially camped out in the elements. Some of them have tents, some of them have tried to build makeshift shelters out of any sort of wood they can find. They try to burn anything that they can find to somehow keep warm. But it is really very, very difficult. And, of course, it gets more dangerous for the people who are out there by the minute.

Now, the Polish government continues to say that it is not going to back down. Yesterday the president of this country, Andrzej Duda, he praised the border forces and the Polish troops that are on the border there. Right now, it's about 15,000 troops that the Polish government has on the border. You can really see that this zone does have a lot of military in it even though there's an exclusion zone that journalists aren't allowed to enter about 2 kilometers away from the border. And so therefore, the Polish government today is saying that there

have been fewer attempts to try and breakthrough the border and fewer breaches of the border. And so therefore, it seems as though maybe Poland has sort of gained the upper hand in this to a little bit of an extent.

One of the things I saw in the past couple of minutes is that the Belarusian flag carrier, Belavia, has now said it will not fly people from Iraq or people of Iraqi and Syria and Yemeni origin to Belarus from Turkey after the Turkish government apparently intervened on that note. So, it could be that the EU might be gaining the upper hand here, but still very early to tell. And as you've noted, some belligerent rhetoric still coming out of Minsk as well.

SOARES: Yes, let's see whether Belavia airlines follows through on that. Frederick liking near the Polish border in Kuznica in Poland. Thanks very much, Fred. Good to see you.

Now, a firestorm in the Ahmaud Arbery trial. The defense attorney says he doesn't want black pastors in the courtroom.

Plus, vaccine hesitancy is fueling a surge in many cases across Germany. How the government is cracking down on the unvaccinated. We'll bring you both those stories after a very short break. You are watching CNN.

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