Republican Congressman Calls for Impeachment; Iran Dismisses Possibility of War in the Region; Austria Facing Snap Vote after Vice Chancellor Resigns
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A call for impeachment from a member of his own party. A Republican lawmaker is slamming President Trump and throwing his support behind impeachment proceedings.</s>GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And the prime minister of India facing his biggest challenge yet as voters there decide whether to keep Mr. Modi's party in power for another five years.</s>ALLEN (voice-over): Plus, a weekend of demonstrations over new laws that severely restrict abortions in several U.S. states. We'll see how the laws compare to countries around this world this hour.</s>HOWELL (voice-over): Welcome to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell.</s>ALLEN (voice-over): And I'm Natalie Allen. NEWSROOM starts right now.</s>ALLEN: Thanks again for joining us, 5:01 am here in Atlanta. Our top story, Republicans have been quick to defend U.S. president Trump from the chorus of criticism which has dogged him since he came into office. But now there's a Republican voice in that chorus.</s>HOWELL: That voice is Congressman Justin Amash, he is calling for Mr. Trump to lose his job, saying the president in fact has obstructed justice.</s>ALLEN: Writing this, Amash writes this, "Attorney general William Barr deliberately misrepresented Mueller's report. The president engaged in impeachable conduct. Partisanship has eroded the system of checks and balances and few members of Congress have read the report."</s>HOWELL: That's just the beginning. From there he goes on to add, "Attorney general Barr's misrepresentations are significant but often subtle, frequently taking the form of sleight of hand qualifications or logical fallacies which he hopes people won't notice." He also writes, "In fact, Mueller's report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice and undoubtedly any person who is not the President of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence."</s>ALLEN: Let's take a look at the implications of the congressman's statement with Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at University of Essex. Thanks for joining us. Good to see you.</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Good to see you, too.</s>ALLEN: First, this congressman has been critical of the president in the past, saying he doesn't represent the president or a party but his constituents but now calling for impeachment and for a specific reason -- obstruction. What do you think about this and what he's saying?</s>LINDSTAEDT: It's definitely interesting. This is the first Republican to actually come forward and say that impeachment proceedings should be initiated. But as you already mentioned, in some ways, it's not surprising that Representative Amash had came forward. He was very critical of Trump when Trump was trying to win the candidacy in 2016. He has, on Twitter, has been critical of Trump since. He also said in 2017, if Trump did indeed tell Comey to go easy on Michael Flynn in that investigation, that would be an impeachable offense. So he's had a history of attacking the president publicly. The question is, will other Republican colleagues follow suit?</s>ALLEN: That's my next question, will they?</s>LINDSTAEDT: I think privately some Republicans have had it with Trump and believe that the rule of law is being strained under this president, that if they did look at the Mueller report, it was very clear they're at least around 10 incidents of obstruction of justice, let alone the fact that Trump was considered to be an unindicted co- conspirator in the Michael Cohen case. So there are plenty of reasons to want to impeach Trump and, according to what Amash was saying, the bar has really shifted and any other president would have been impeached by now. But what's taking place among the Republican Party and among Trump supporters, it's as if it's a personality cult. People are completely transfixed by this president. They have blinders on. They don't want to look at alternative pieces of information. Amash was saying that many of his colleagues haven't read the report. They're completely rejecting it and don't want to follow suit. It will really depend on whether or not some of these others will --</s>LINDSTAEDT: -- follow suit. But it's going to be really important that there's some key senators in the Republican Party that say enough is enough.</s>ALLEN: One of the lines in his statement, "partisanship has eroded the system of checks and balances." We did see a Republican congressman issue a subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. as part of the ongoing investigation regarding Russian interference by the Senate Intelligence Committee. But Senator Richard Burr isn't running for re-election. That makes a big difference. We've seen what some might see as disloyalty by other Republicans who don't feel the need to align with the president because they're not running for reelection.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Yes, and a lot that has to do with what their re-election chances are and what their constituency wants. If they're not running for reelection, Republicans have been more willing to come out, to take risks and to speak out against Trump. But those particularly, if they're running in red states or red districts, feel they have to stay in line with the Republican Party. You also have to look at what the general public feels. A recent Quinnipiac University poll indicated that though 37 percent of the public feels that Trump didn't deal with the Mueller investigation in an honest manner and 54 percent believe that he did obstruct justice, only 29 percent of the public thinks that impeachment proceedings should begin. In fact, 66 percent feel they should not initiate impeachment. And that's what the Republicans and Democrats are dealing with. They haven't overwhelmingly convinced the public that impeachment proceedings should begin. That makes it that much more difficult for Republicans to come forward and actually take a stand against Trump.</s>ALLEN: Will this at all resonate or have any impact on Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats?</s>LINDSTAEDT: Well, I think she seems to be moving a little bit more in the direction towards impeachment. But she still keeps saying things to the effect that the public needs to be behind this and this needs bipartisan support and we need to make the case to the American public. Pursuing more investigations before they jump the gun too soon and then that could lead to a backlash. Actually when a president is enduring an impeachment, they tend to have their popularity levels rise and not go down. In terms of other Democrats, we already know Elizabeth Warren, a senator, believes impeachment should begin and the progressive caucus in the House that's very, very interested in pursuing impeachment. For the moment, they're just pursuing these investigations. Another very recent poll by NPR taken about a week ago or so, revealed that 49 percent of the public is in favor of continuing with these investigations while 47 percent oppose it. So a slight majority wants to continue with these investigations and hopefully they can have a big reveal that will generate consensus and then the Democrats can move forward with impeachment and possibly other Republican colleagues will move forward as well.</s>ALLEN: A tough call for many reasons and for reasons that we're now heading toward the next election. Natasha, always appreciate your insights. Thank you.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thank you having me.</s>HOWELL: Now to Iran, that nation once again down playing the possibility of war in the region even though tensions continue with the</s>U.S. ALLEN: The Iranian foreign minister told state media that his country is not seeking war and that no one else has -- and this is a quote -- {the illusion that it can fight Iran in the Middle East."</s>HOWELL: In the meantime, the U.S. has issued a warning to commercial airlines flying over the Persian Gulf, basically saying that air carriers risk being misidentified by Iran even though the country isn't likely to target civil aircraft. Let's bring in CNN international correspondent Fred Pleitgen. Fred, the word from the supreme leader there is no war in the region. But what's the mood among people now they're getting this clear and direct message amid these rising tensions?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think, George, people are a lot more calm than they were at the beginning of last week. I think the tensions escalated to their highest point probably around Wednesday of this past week. You're right, ever since the supreme leader came out and said unequivocally --</s>PLEITGEN: -- that there's not going to be a war between the U.S. and Iran and the foreign minister last night saying that this is not going to happen. I think the Iranians believe in this recent standoff it's the U.S. who blinked first, sending aircraft carrier strike group to this wider region, sending B-52 bombers and some additional fighter jets. Then at the end of the week, President Trump calling for negotiations and saying he wants to Iranians to call him. The Iranians, for their part, say, that's not going happen. They want the U.S. to lift some sanctions against Iran, allow the Iranians to export their oil and allow international companies to invest in Iran as well. Of course, ultimately, they want the U.S. to go back to the nuclear agreement. That's something that doesn't look like it's in the cards. At the same time, George, the Iranians themselves also seem pretty keen not to further fan the flames. One thing we heard late Friday, when our own Barbara Starr had some reporting from the Pentagon, that they believe some boats that the U.S. believed to be carrying missiles, have returned to their ports and those missiles were unloaded. It's unclear why that was the case. Then at Friday prayers here in Tehran, we thought those were going to be pretty fiery, with the aircraft carrier deployment and those B-52s but it was pretty subdued. So it looks like they're trying to deescalate the situation. At the same time, there's not going to be any negotiations. And second of all, if there's an escalation of a situation, they would be ready, George.</s>HOWELL: Fred, to that point, both sides really, you're saying Iran poised to defend if necessary. Talk to us about this warning that's coming from the FAA in the United States, about commercial airliners flying through the region.</s>PLEITGEN: Commercial airliners flying through the region, the FAA said in a notification to airmen, it's less than a warning but it's sort of a message to be on higher alert than usual. They were talking specifically about the area of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, so the waterway that separates Iran from Saudi Arabia and, of course, the UAE and Oman as well. They say right now, there's more military activity going on there than usual. They're also warning about the fact that the Iranians do have air defense systems. If there's escalation of the conflict, it could be used by them as well. There's also a lot of military air traffic going at the moment. The FAA says on the one hand, you have the deployment of the B-52s. But some additional American fighter jets were in that region as well. One of things that FAA warning, I actually read through that warning very carefully, one thing it said is that airmen should be very careful while going through there, use additional caution because planes could be misidentified. That's always a threat when you have a fairly narrow place and a lot of commercial air activity. Flight tracks, you can see that's one of the main sort of air highways, if you will, for flights going from the U.S., Europe, all the way to the Middle East. There's always a lot of air traffic there, to use some additional caution because there's so much military traffic going on there now.</s>HOWELL: Fred, we appreciate the reporting, given that tensions seem to be ratcheting down. Fred, thank you.</s>ALLEN: A political scandal is triggering snap elections in Austria.</s>HOWELL: That's right, that country's vice chancellor has resigned after the release of compromising video. Our colleague, Cyril Vanier, has more now on what it means for Austria and for European elections.</s>CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Seated beside a woman whose face is obscured, a man in glasses casually discusses investments worth millions and plans to control an Austrian media outlet. It appears to be Austria's vice chancellor, offering government contracts to a woman who claims to be a Russian investor. Standing is a member of the vice chancellor's far right Freedom Party. The video was allegedly filmed in secret in 2017, three months before that year's elections which brought him to power. First published Friday in German media, its origin is unclear but the fallout unequivocal. Chanting snap elections now, thousands demanded new leadership in front of the chancellor's office, targeting his governing coalition with Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, who resigned Saturday. After yesterday's video, "Enough is enough," says chancellor Sebastian Kurz, ending a --</s>VANIER (voice-over): -- controversial alliance between his conservative party and Strache's far right. The Austrian president agreed, with calls for early elections, describing the video of Strache as "shameful."</s>ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The main task now is to restore the trust in our institutions from both the inside and the outside. This is unprecedented disrespect to our citizens and such disrespect I will not tolerate.</s>VANIER (voice-over): As he stepped down, the vice chancellor referred to the footage as "a targeted political attack" and denied doing anything illegal. But he apologized for the behavior that was caught on tape.</s>HEINZ-CHRISTIAN STRACHE, FORMER AUSTRIAN VICE CHANCELLOR: It was typical, alcohol-fueled macho behavior in which, yes, I also wanted to impress the attractive female host and I behaved like a bragging teenager. And with that, I ultimately deeply hurt the most important people in my life, particularly my wife.</s>VANIER (voice-over): The scandal and subsequent blow to Austria's far right agenda come at a key time in the European Union. Elections for the European Parliament are just days away. And anti-immigrant populist leaders appear to be gaining momentum, forcing more moderate groups to ask themselves a difficult question.</s>SKA KELLER, EUROPEAN GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE: As European partners (ph), we need to take a decision. Are we collaborating with those extremist forces?</s>VANIER (voice-over): It also highlights concerns about Russia's interests in meddling in foreign elections. Speaking from Croatia, German chancellor Angela Merkel said of the scandal, Europe must fight against the quote, "purchasability" of politics -- Cyril Vanier, CNN.</s>HOWELL: After six weeks and seven rounds of voting, India's general election wraps up today. The question now, will prime minister Modi and his party hold on to power? We'll have that story for you.</s>ALLEN: And tens of millions of Americans are in path of a severe weather system. You won't believe the video we have of a tornado in Kansas.