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Trump Blasts Impeachment, Touts Economy Before Leaving Davos; Trump Team Not Expected to File Motion to Dismiss Today; Trump Blasts Climate Activists as Prophets of Doom; Exclusive interview with Prince Charles at Economic Forum in Davos; Wuhan Coronavirus has Left 17 Dead, More Than 500 Infected in China; Carrie Lam Speaks about Hong Kong's Protests and Wuhan Virus; Lebanon Ushers in New Government Amid Ongoing Protests; Saudi Arabia Denies Crown Prince Linked to Bezos Phone Hack; Monty Python Co-Founder Terry Jones Dead at 77. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 22, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta. We are following two major stories this hour.

It's day two of the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump. And he currently right now is in Davos. He is touting the U.S.

economic achievements and the new trade deals. And of course, blasting the impeachment trial before he leaves Switzerland.

Plus our Max Foster has an exclusive interview with the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles. We're going to bring you that interview shortly.

Well we are just hours away from the opening arguments in President Trump's impeachment trial. It will follow a fiery debate that went on into the

early morning hours. Now the rules of the trial are set after Democrats failed in their repeated attempts to be allowed to subpoena witnesses and

documents. House managers and the President's lawyers are facing a deadline to file new motions.

A few hours ago before leaving Davos, President Trump weighed in on the impeachment fight. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the way I look at it. It's a total hoax. It's a disgrace. They talked about their tremendous

case and it's all done their tremendous case. They had no case. It's all a hoax. It's a con job like Schiff. He's a corrupt politician. Now I'll leave

that to the Senate. The Senate is going to have to answer that. I have great respect for the Senate as a body and many of the individuals. I have

great respect. So I'll leave that to the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Our White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Davos for us now. Also U.S. Congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly is in Capitol

Hill. Good to have you both with us. Let's start with you, Jeremy, because that was indeed a pretty long and rambling press conference from U.S.

President Trump. And he was asked, obviously, a lot about the impeachment trial and whether witnesses should be called. What did he say?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, you heard the President there at the end there saying that will be up to the Senate. And

that is what the President was saying today. Of course, we've heard him give a million different answers on this very same topic. Suggesting on the

one hand that he would like to see witness, particularly the whistleblower, to see Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden appear on the floor of

the Senate. And of course, the President's own lawyers are arguing against having witnesses come forward. Any witnesses at all. So that is kind of how

the President spun it today.

He was a little more specific when it came to his former national security adviser John Bolton, who, of course, Senate Democrats are trying to get to

come forward as a witness in this trial. It's unclear as of now if enough Republicans will join them once these initial arguments are made in order

to bring John Bolton forward.

But the President said that basically it's an issue of national security, a question of executive privilege. Arguments that we've heard him use before.

But at the same time, we also heard the President say today that part of the reason he doesn't want him to come forward is because they didn't

exactly end their relationship on great terms. Meaning that John Bolton when he left the White House fired, according to the President, resigned

according to John Bolton, that they didn't leave on good terms. And so, the President seems to be concerned perhaps that if John Bolton comes forward,

he'll have an axe to grind against the President.

KINKADE: Exactly, that would be interesting to hear from him if he does indeed come forward. If you just stand by for us, I will come back to you.

I want to go to Phil Mattingly. Because it certainly was a long day yesterday, day one of this trial. Finishing close to 2:00 a.m., next hour,

the trial resumes. What can we expect?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So here's what you'll want to pay attention to going forward. One, everybody needs

caffeine desperately at this point. Those of us who were here until 2:00 a.m. and are now already back here.

So an hour ago was the deadline for any motions related to the trial to be filed by either the White House defense team or the House managers. Our

expectation at this point in time is none will be filed which is good news from a process side of things. That means what we're going to see when the

Senate trial gavels into session at 1:00 p.m. is pretty much the immediate start to opening arguments from the House managers.

Now they will have three days, 24 hours total, to present the entirety of their case against President Trump. Their case for why the President should

be removed from the first -- for the first time in U.S. history in this, only the third impeachment trial in U.S. history.

But there's one other thing you need to keep an eye on. Obviously, they will be presenting a case, much of which we've heard at various points over

the last couple of months, but they have a targeted audience here. And such as the public it is a very select group of Republican Senators. Those

Republican Senators, four, five, maybe six tops who those Democrats, those House managers, need to vote with them later on in the process to assure

there will be subpoenas for witnesses and documents. It only takes 51 Senators to basically dictate whether or not that is going to occur. Only

47 Democrats in the U.S. Senate chamber.

[10:05:00]

That means they're going to need at least four Republicans to join them. My understanding right now is for the House managers, that is their target

audience. Try and get moderate Republican Senators, Senators who are on the fence with witnesses to come their way based on what they present over the

course of the next three days -- Lynda.

KINKADE: A busy few days. And of course, Phil, the Chief Justice John Roberts had to admonish or admonished both sides yesterday. He certainly is

going to have his work cut out over the coming days.

MATTINGLY: Yes, no question about it. And look, if you ever need a reason to tune in for the entirety of the proceedings, this happened about 12:45

a.m. this morning. I think most people were either asleep or their eyes had glazed over. What was occurring on the floor is a pretty intense back and

forth between House Democratic manager jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, and the President's lawyers who were going back and forth really kind

of accusing one another of lying, making pretty sharp accusations as to the intentions of the other.

And at one point, John Roberts, the Chief Justice who is presiding over the entirety of this trial stepped in and said, look, you guys need to -- I'm

quoting here -- remember, you're in front of the world's greatest deliberative body -- which the United States Senate is often called. And

essentially told them, tone it down a little bit. Understand where you are.

Now it's worth noting, the Chief Justice has an enormous amount of power in this Senate trial, if he wants to use it. But the expectation is, not

unlike what we saw in Bill Clinton's trial in 1999 with Chief Justice Rehnquist, he's going to be passive. He'll let the Senate decide kind of

how this is going to go moving forward.

However, last night proved that he's not afraid to step in if he feels like it's necessary. We'll see if it happens the rest of the way. But don't

sleep and I don't mean to pun that. Don't sleep on the Chief Justice. He has power here and can weigh in and kind of change the dynamics of how

things are going.

KINKADE: Well hopefully everyone gets a bit more sleep tonight. Phil Mattingly, good to have you there for us.

I want to go back to Jeremy Diamond in Davos. Because as microphone off man is like it is beyond representatives from some of the world's biggest

companies spoke about plans to go carbon neutral, we heard from the U.S. President Trump who seems to liken climate scientists to fortune tellers.

DIAMOND: Yes, and he did worse than that, frankly, in his speech yesterday. He compared them to doomsayers, suggesting these are people,

climate activists, scientists who back climate change, who are people who are essentially predicting Armageddon from one decade to the next.

Of course, the science behind climate change and the climate crisis is overwhelming. There's an overwhelming scientific consensus behind that, but

the President made quite clear during his trip to Davos, he was not on the same page. That is despite the fact, of course, that the World Economic

Forum this year was focused on that climate crisis.

Now the President was asked today whether or not he thinks the United States needs to do more, particularly after the President has pulled out of

the Paris Climate Accords, after many of his administration's policies have essentially rolled back a lot of the progress made towards countering

climate change. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have to do something about other continents. We have to do something about other countries. When we're clean and beautiful and

everything is good but you have another continent where the fumes are rising at levels that you can't believe. I mean, I think Greta ought to

focus on those places.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And you hear the President there mentioning that teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The President clearly hasn't let go of that spat.

You know that the President, of course, had referred to her anger management problems in the past, talking about the teenage climate

activist. The President raised that again today. He also raised the fact she had beat him out for "Time's" person of the year. It seems the

President is still holding a grudge there.

KINKADE: Yes, no surprise there. Jeremy Diamond for us in Davos, Switzerland. Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill. Good to have you both with us,

thank you.

Well, also in Davos today is Britain's Prince Charles. Climate change and the environment as we just heard is topping the agenda for many, including

the Prince of Wales. And in his keynote speech, the heir to the British throne stressed the urgency of battling global warming and saving the

environment.

Well just moments ago, Prince Charles sat down with our Max Foster for a CNN exclusive interview. And Max joins us from Davos with more on that.

Max, great interview that you managed to get there. Prince Charles is, of course, the heir to the British throne and so much focus these past few

weeks has been on his son Harry and wife Meghan. What did he speak to you about?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he spoke to me on one topic. That was the only topic he was willing to speak about. It wasn't the case that the

palace say can't speak about this toing, that topic. They just want to talk about this crucial topic for him. And it's the only interview he's doing

this year, and climate is the big debate, obviously, here at Davos this year.

So I think it really shows how much he cares about the issue that he chose to do his one interview on this topic. Interesting as well, just before the

interview, we went with him to go and meet Greta Thunberg. Two icons really of the climate movement and in very different generations. So I started off

asking him about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:10:00]

FOSTER: There is a fascinating moment to see you there next to Greta. Two icons of the climate campaign really for very different generations. What

do you make of her and her contribution to the debate?

PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES, UNITED KINGDOM: She's remarkable. She represents one of the main reasons why I've been trying to make all this

effort all these years. Because as I said, I didn't want my grandchildren to accuse me of not doing something about this in time. And of course,

there they are, all her generation, almost my grandchildren, all desperate because not nearly enough has happened. We've left it so late. So I've

always worried about the fact that so often, in terms of humanity, we leave everything too late. So you have to hit a brick wall and experience a

catastrophe before anything happens. But this time, of course with this this kind of disaster we've engineered, it takes a huge amount to turn the

whole thing back to how it should be, to restore the balance.

FOSTER: It's interesting to hear your positivity around the Paris Climate Accord. A lot of people are being very negative about whether or not it's

achievable at all. Just explain to me why you think it is achievable.

PRINCE CHARLES: Really because I think partly we've suddenly noticed a -- 35 years ago, when I first started trying to encourage corporate and social

environmental responsibility and I had endless workshops, conferences, gatherings, seminars, dinners, you name it, to try and encourage the

private sector and executives to take on these issues seriously. We could never get the capital markets or the financial services sector to take it

seriously.

But in the last two or three years, as I was saying just now, there's been this extraordinary change where suddenly there's a huge amount of more

investment, I mean vast amounts, wanting to find sustainable investments to put their money into the right things.

And of course, at the moment, there aren't enough sustainable projects that have been worked out. So how do they work out the investment model that's

needed. For instance, for nature-based solutions which is one way of trying to tackle this and the other ways, all the different technologies, there's

carbon capture. There's an amazing range of remarkable ideas and techniques which are there but undercapitalized.

And it's an immense challenge. I've just been to a gathering we had where the former Secretary of State John Kerry was describing just how I know the

barriers and challenges are vast, but there is a real opportunity now to link the investors with the projects. And I know just from the case of the

Commonwealth, there's such vast challenges there with deforestation and fisheries and agriculture.

What we could do is transform a lot of this, particularly with -- by putting the secular bioeconomy at the center of all of this. And the

bioeconomy is now even more possible in terms of the returns you can make, the difference you can make to people and their environment. The use of

wood and what they can now do. The forestry sector, in terms of wood-based products being used for alternatives of plastics, chemicals, aviation

fuels, biofuels, everything and building materials with immense strength. All this provides a real incentive to do the right thing. To put trees

again where they're needed in order to capture carbon but also to help fuel an economy that centers around nature's own services. The ecosystem

services we depend on.

FOSTER: You talked about how the reason you're doing this is for the children, for the grandchildren, for your grandchildren. What vision do you

see for the likes of Prince George, if something isn't done now?

PRINCE CHARLES: Well, I mean, it's not very encouraging, is it? If you look at what's happening at the moment. We can't go on like this with every

month another record in temperatures being broken, one warmer and warmer and warmer. Last year was the hottest ever. And we're already seeing a

winter where it's even warmer.

So if we leave it too long and we have done, just growing things is going to become difficult. I mean, even in many of these forest areas, in other

parts of the world, if you deforest below a certain percentage, you end up with breaking the hydrological cycle and then you can't plant anything

because there's no water to, you know, to keep the system going.

[10:15:35]

So we only have a very short window. And this is why it's so absolutely critical, I feel, and with the help of the World Economic Forum, why we're

trying to bring as many of these investors together with as many of the companies and sectors as possible. And try to do this each month from now

on in order to try and see if we can create the right framework and the right response to make possible for your children and my grandchildren to

have a decent, reasonable future.

FOSTER: Your Royal Highness, thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: So there you are. That's the interview. That's the sort of message he wants to get out to the world when his family has been so high profile

recently. No word at all on the Sussexes from here. This was all about a look into the future. Looking to Archie perhaps, talking about the

grandchildren. What sort of world they're going to be living in -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Absolutely, very important cause. Max Foster for us in Davos, Switzerland. Thanks so much for bringing us that interview.

Well still ahead -- increasing concern about the rapid spread of a SARS- like virus first detected in China. We'll have a report from the epicenter of the outbreak when we return.

Also, the livid response from Saudi Arabia after the Crown Prince is accused of a high-profile phone hack on Amazon's billionaire founder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. The World Health Organization is meeting today to see what can be done to contain a SARS-like virus which has infected

hundreds of people in China. Airports around the world are stepping up health screenings and passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, the epicenter

of the outbreak.

London's Imperial College estimates that 4,000 people are likely to be infected with -- in Wuhan. And at least 17 people have now died in China.

More than 500 are infected there and there are fears that the coronavirus will spread during the busy lunar new year.

Well besides the U.S., cases have been reported in South Korea, Japan and Thailand. The virus was first identified last month at a market selling

seafood and live animals in the city of Wuhan. CNN's David Culver traveled to that market which has since been shut down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the police tape, this normally crowded market in central China city of Wuhan

sits eerily desolate. This is ground zero for the illness sparking global unease.

(on camera): So this is where authorities believe the source of the coronavirus is. It's the wildlife and seafood market. And you can perhaps

see over there it's cordoned off. You've got police at all the corners.

(voice-over): It is so sensitive that within minutes of us arriving and recording, security asked us to stop filming. There is an uneasiness felt

throughout Wuhan.

[10:20:00]

We experienced that as soon as we boarded the train from Beijing. Each car nearly full, most faces covered, just about everyone traveling home for the

lunar new year. Strict screening upon arrival. One by one, passengers stepped through a thermometer check to make sure they're not bringing a

fever with them. Scenes like this playing out in transportation hubs across China.

LI BIN, VICE MINISTER, CHINA'S NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION (through translator): The virus was being spread mainly through respiratory

transmission and is likely to mutate which will increase the increase of epidemics spreading. In addition, the spring festival travel rush saw a

mass migration of people and that has objectively increased the risk of epidemic spreading and the difficulties in taking effective preventative

and control measures. We should always be on high alert and never take the slightly.

CULVER (on camera): Behind me this is one of a few hospitals here in the region that is dedicated to treating some of those either confirmed cases

or suspected cases of the coronavirus. Out front you've got a few staff members we noticed are all wearing masks. Some of them are even wearing

protective gloves. Just to prevent any potential exposure.

(voice-over): It's brought the normally festive holiday mood in Wuhan to a halt and its cut down this vendor's business.

XIAO CHUAN'AN, Vendor (through translator): This year, the pneumonia situation is getting serious so there are not so many people coming here to

buy goods.

CULVER: Chuan'an is from a city about two hours' drive from Wuhan. She's got her mask nearby and she admits she's worried. And so, too, is her

daughter and other relatives.

CHUAN'AN (through translator): They were asking me to go back home, but I can't leave with all my inventory here. I have already bought these goods.

I have no choice, and I have to stay here and resign myself to my fate.

CULVER: Other vendors more hopeful. This woman telling me she does not feel the need to wear a mask.

YAN WEIXI, VENDOR (through translator): Maybe I am having a positive outlook. I've been checking online instructions on Baidu, like drinking

more water or your washing hands more frequently. I think that should be fine.

CULVER: The unknowns looming over a city with a rising death toll. Unclear what's next for Wuhan and the 11 million people who call it home.

David Culver, CNN, Wuhan, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now to discuss all of this. Really good to get your perspective on this.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

KINKADE: So this virus is now in five -- at least five countries, including the United States.

GUPTA: That's right.

KINKADE: 17 people dead but I imagine the times since this broke out that more people would have died from the regular flu than this. Why is there so

much concern?

GUPTA: That's a great point and I think one that gets overlooked a lot. So far in the United States alone you've had over 6,000 deaths and millions of

people that get the flu every year. I think there's two things here. One is like an objective and one is a more subjective.

For the flu we typically do have a vaccine. It's not -- this year it's only 58 percent effective but still a vaccine. There's some sense of there's

something we can do about this. With this particular new coronavirus, there's no vaccine. We have no idea exactly how this virus is going to

behave. We have no way of actually preventing it from infecting people.

The other thing is, I think, Lynda, there's always this concern. Is this going to be a very large pandemic? We've had large pandemics in 1919, again

in 1969, 50 years later. There was a belief for a long time that another one would have happened in 2019, 50 years again. So the question always I

think in the back of public health officials is this starting to emerge as something that could turn into a very deadly worldwide pandemic? Not

suggesting this is, but they are always looking for the clues here. And I think that's why the public health folks are paying so much attention.

KINKADE: And this particular virus seems so mysterious to begin with. At first, we were told that it was only transmitted from animals to humans.

Now it seems human to human transmission is happening.

GUPTA: It definitely does. And you know, there's -- most of the viruses that we talk about coming from the animal world. Throughout history there

have been seven of these types of viruses that have made the jump from animals to humans. Most of the time it's not a big deal. They don't

actually cause illness. People don't even know they have the infection. Twice in the past, it ended up being a big deal. That was SARS and that was

MERS. Same type of family of viruses here. And those, obviously, caused significant illness and significant deaths around the world.

This is within that family of viruses. So the question is, is this going to start behaving that same way? We know it's human to human because health

care workers have gotten sick. We know people who have never visited Wuhan have become ill. The only way that can happen is human to human

transmission.

KINKADE: Right, so what's your advice? So many people travel, especially to parts around Asia.

GUPTA: Yes.

KINKADE: What should people do?

GUPTA: Well you know, it's interesting because going back to your first question, the flu is still a far more deadly thing. So what would I tell

you for something that is far more deadly. First of all, would you even think about restricting travel plans because of the flu? No. And yet with

this, people are more concerned about it. But I would say the basics still apply here. The way that you would get this infection is the same way that

you get the flu infection.

[10:25:00]

So basic precautions, you know, lots of hand washing, staying away from sick people, not touching surfaces that may be contaminated. We touch our

eyes, nose and mouth several times throughout the day after we've touch surfaces. It's those basic precautions that apply. And it feels silly

almost to say those things in the midst of a new emerging outbreak, but it still works and it can greatly prevent the number of people who get

infected.

KINKADE: And for people traveling around Asia, how effective are those masks? Are there specific masks that people should buy?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean -- so I'm just hearing in fact, in the province where Wuhan is located, they are going to start recommending people wear these

masks out in public. It's a city of 11 million people. People always think of these small central Chinese cities as tiny. No, it's bigger than

Manhattan. And there's a lot of human to human transmission going on. So in places like that, I think the masks can be effective. But I don't think

we're at the point now where people need to widely start wearing them.

KINKADE: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as always, good have your advice and --

GUPTA: We talked about it a lot, I think.

KINKADE: I know, it sounds that way, but good to have you available for us. Thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

Well, CNN's Fareed Zakaria sat down in Davos with Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam. Now he asked her about the city's plan for dealing

with the coronavirus threat, as well as the ongoing protests. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST OF FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: What can you tell us about the Wuhan virus? How worried should we be?

CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE: We have been putting ourselves on a very highly vigilant system. Because we learn from the past. I'm sure you

still remember Hong Kong handling the SARS. Now a couple of hours ago, Hong Kong health authorities have just announced that we have the first case of

highly suspicious infection in Hong Kong from a passenger from Wuhan or from Wuhan via another city coming through Hong Kong. So this system which

has been put in place for almost three weeks now, have been put into actual action.

I have asked my health colleagues to be really on the guard because public health is so very important to the community. And with this rapid flow of

people across the border, it makes Hong Kong even more vulnerable for this disease to spread.

ZAKARIA: All right, now to the larger stuff. I saw somewhere that you said you weren't sure what the protesters were still protesting about in Hong

Kong, given that you have withdrawn the Extradition Bill and made clear that it is a dead letter. You know, there is this irresistible force of the

protesters with a lot of public support, and there is the immovable object of Carrie Lam. What is going to happen?

LAM: We have absolutely no problem with peaceful demonstrations against anything under the sun, whether it's myself, my government, a so-so

livelihood issue, lack of affordable housing. But on this particular occasion over the last few months, what we have seen in Hong Kong, which is

totally unprecedented and unfamiliar to us and every one of you who knows Hong Kong and loves Hong Kong, is that high degree of violence. The total

disrespect for differences in opinion that people were beaten when they hold a different opinion from some of these protesters or rioters. So to

simplify all these protests as just fighting for democracy and for continued freedoms may have underestimated the situation.

So similarly for the governments who provide a political response because the protesters, or these rioters wanted to see a particular response will

not be a very prudent way of ensuring Hong Kong's future and probably interest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: You can see Fareed Zakaria's full interview with Carrie Lam from Davos. That is at 5:00 in the morning London time, 9:00 in the morning in

Abu Dhabi right here on CNN.

We learning a private investigation into the phone hack on amazon's CEO has found a probable link to Saudi Arabia. We'll have the details on that hack

and the reports that Saudi officials are calling absurd.

Also ahead, more protests on the streets of Lebanon. We are going to go to Beirut for the latest there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP: In the past, business leaders have felt that their job is to worry about the next quarter's earnings, to worry

about the shareholders and then to leave governments and social sectors to worry about. If we can actually now bring more, and more, and more

entrepreneurs and business leaders into the fold on actually tackling issues, I think we can get on top of the problems of the world much

quicker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We are going to recap the story of impeachment.

Right now we are also following the developments on the street of Beirut in Lebanon. Now for months there have been protests as this political vacuum

has continued. But we have heard of a formation of a government. Despite that, people are still out on the streets protesting right now. We

understand water cannons are also being deployed. Our Ben Wedeman is standing by for us in Beirut following this story. Ben, just bring us up to

speed with what you're seeing.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda, we're right across the street from the road leading to Parliament. There's a

gentleman bringing more rocks to throw at Parliament which is just up the street. More specifically, throw at the security forces, which are huddled

behind this barrier that was constructed today to prevent exactly what is happening.

Now they are protesting following the formation of a government last night led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab. It's a 20-minister cabinet, that's down

from 30 before. There are six women among them, including six women, but that doesn't seem to have calmed down the anger on the street. People

clearly unhappy, they want to see a different kind of government. Supposedly a government made up of independents.

This government actually is composed of largely technocrats, but because of the political system here, it's inevitable that some of them -- or many of

them, almost all of them are in some way or another affiliated with the political parties.

All right, they've been shooting the water cannons, and now it appears that they've also fired tear gas as well. So it looks like another night in

Beirut -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, it certainly does seem that way. So the formation of the government certainly not appeasing those protesters there. Just give us a

sense, Ben, of where exactly you are because this is a Wednesday night in Beirut.

[10:35:00]

WEDEMAN: Yes, we are right down the street from what's known as Saida Nejmeh or Nejmeh square where the Parliament of Lebanon is located. There

are no members of Parliament inside. It's more a symbolic thing. This is very much the downtown of Beirut and certainly over the last ten days or

so, this has really been the focus of the protests that have been going on. Of course, we are now on day 98 of the mass protest movement.

But what we've seen certainly since about ten days is that the protests which were largely peaceful are taking on a much more violent character. A

result perhaps of the decision or the conclusion drawn by many people here that peaceful protests tends not to accomplish much of anything and that

somewhat more violent protests certainly gets the attention of the politicians.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And it's not just what's happening in politics that is making these people on the streets frustrated and angry. There's

certainly a lot of frustration aimed at the economic situation with Lebanon on the brink of collapse.

WEDEMAN: Which is really at the heart of it. Is that the fact that the economy is in a state of collapse. Many people have lost their jobs. Others

aren't getting paid. Others are only being paid half as much. Hundreds of businesses, if not thousands have closed over the last three months. The

Lebanese lira, the local currency, has lost somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar depending on the exchange rate

on any given day. And this is a country that imports almost everything and, therefore, in the absence of dollars, either imports can't be made or the

goods that are imported become dramatically more expensive. I don't want to get wet here -- Lynda.

KINKADE: We are going to let you and your crew get to a safe spot. Good to have you there on the streets of Beirut where, as we heard from ben

Wedeman, protests there now in their 98th day. We will stay across that story for you. We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. Saudi Arabia is lashing out on reports the Saudi Crown Prince was behind a phone hack on Amazon founder and "Washington

Post" owner Jeff Bezos. The source tells CNN that a forensic team traced the 2018 hack to Crown Prince bin Salman with medium to high probability.

Now the Saudi embassy in Washington is calling the reports linking the two absurd.

Our Nina dos Santos is following this story and joins us now live from Davos. Nina, if we are to believe this allegation, it seems that this hack

started with a WhatsApp message from the Saudi Crown Prince to Jeff Bezos.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. It seems as though the two of them met in Los Angeles in April 2018 and immediately exchanged

phone numbers.

[10:40:00]

And very soon afterwards, the Crown Prince, or at least a mobile phone belonging to, linked to him, texted via WhatsApp Jeff Bezos. They stayed in

contact and then some time afterwards, it appears as though Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, one of the world's digital companies, received

an MP4 video file from the Crown Prince's mobile phone number.

And according to this forensic report, commissioned by Jeff Bezos -- which appears to have been shared with special rapporteurs of the United Nations

investigating Khashoggi's killing -- that is when the hacking operation appears to have begun. According to -- as you said in your introduction --

this report that has medium to high confidence this is when the moment happened and that was the telephone that linked to it.

After receiving this video, it appears as though Jeff Bezos' phone began sending an awful lot of information to Saudi Arabia and a lot of the

information was being scraped from it. Again, as I said, the U.N. has now commented on it. They have two special rapporteurs that have been

conducting an investigation for many months into Khashoggi's killing and they say that they demand an urgent investigation into the circumstances of

Jeff Bezos' hacking.

By the way I should point out, it is very, very similar, Lynda, to a story that we broke a year ago which appeared to show that a Canadian dissident

in contact with Jamal Khashoggi had been intercepted by very, very similar methods. And that could have opened the possibility that Jamal Khashoggi's

messages could also have been intercepted. He was communicating with this Canadian dissident. He could have been communicating with Jeff Bezos as

well.

Remember, Jeff Bezos, the U.N. thinks, has been targeted specifically here because he was the owner of "The Washington Post" and, therefore, the de

facto boss of one of the loudest critics of Saudi Arabia, "The Washington Post" columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

KINKADE: Yes, that is an interesting parallel to remind our viewers of. Nina dos Santos for us in Davos. Good to have you with us on that story.

Thanks so much.

Well, it is a sad day for Monty Python fans around the world. The Monty Python co-founder and beloved comedian Terry Jones has passed away. Now his

agency says he was 77 years old. He was at his home in London on Tuesday with his wife by his side and he died after, quote, a long, extremely brave

but always good-humored battle with a rare form of dementia.

Now Jones co-starred and directed the Monty Python hits, "Life of Brian," and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." He was renowned for his portrayals

of housewives, cardinals, waiters, even a nude piano player. He was also a children's author and a scholar of medieval history.

I'm Lynda Kinkade. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks so much for joining us. "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next followed by our special coverage of the

Senate trial of U.S. President Trump. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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