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House Judiciary Committee Will Hold First Impeachment Hearing, A Nuclear Challenge for Germany; The Advent of Edible Bowls
Aired December 03, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. And thank you for taking a few minutes to get up to speed on world events.
An objective update on the impeachment investigation concerning the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. President Donald Trump is our first
subject today. Here`s what`s happening:
The House Judiciary Committee is planning to hold its first impeachment hearing on Wednesday. Until now, it`s the House Intelligence Committee
that`s been holding hearings, including two weeks of public testimony that wrapped up before Thanksgiving.
House Democrats who are leading the investigation say a vote on whether to impeach the president, meaning formally charge him with a crime could
happen in the House by Christmas, and after that, it would be up to the Senate to hold a trial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUBTITLE: What`s next in the impeachment process?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: So, what`s the process? How does impeachment work?
Well, the investigation is going to go forward and if the people in charge of the House of Representatives, the Democrats, think that there is enough
to go forward with impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee will consider what`s called articles of impeachment, which are specific charges. And if
they vote articles of impeachment, then the full House of Representatives will vote on whether Donald Trump will be impeached.
Now, if there is a majority in support of impeachment, Donald Trump doesn`t lose his office. That`s like a formal charge. It`s like an indictment.
So, if Donald Trump is indicted, the way Bill Clinton was impeached, and that is indicted, then the case will go to the United States Senate.
It takes two-thirds, 67 votes, in the Senate, to remove a president from office. I think everyone believes it`s very unlikely in a Republican-
controlled Senate that Donald Trump will ever be removed from office by the Senate. But that`s the next step if there is impeachment voted in the
House of Representatives.
SUBTITLE: What could the outcome be?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: So, what could the outcome be?
The easiest scenario and probably the most unlikely scenario is they move forward in the House of impeachment and they remove him in the Senate.
Under that scenario, Vice President Pence becomes President Pence -- again, very unlikely.
The other scenarios would be, they move forward with impeachment articles in the House, he`s acquitted in the Senate, and we`ll see what that means
for 2020. It could very well energize the president`s supporters. It could also energize Democrats.
Now, listen, if they don`t go forward in any way, and no impeachment articles come out of the House, we don`t know what happens with that. Does
the president simply dodge a bullet and his supporters are energized and therefore Democrats are demoralized in 2020? We just have to wait and see
how these scenarios play out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: So, what`s this all about? It involves President Trump and the president of Ukraine. Democratic leaders have accused President Trump of
abusing his power to get Ukraine to investigate a Ukrainian gas company that Hunter Biden used to work for. He`s the son of former U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden, who`s running for the presidency in next year`s election. So many Democrats say President Trump was trying to pressure a
foreign country to dig up dirt on a political rival, and that that`s an impeachable offense.
President Trump and Republican leaders say the impeachment investigation is a hoax motivated by politics. They say Democrats are rushing the process
and that the president did nothing wrong that he could be impeached for.
As far as tomorrow`s hearing goes, neither President Trump nor his attorneys will participate. They say it was scheduled for when the
president is in international meeting in London and that it`s unclear if the process would be fair to him. The chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee says that`s unfortunate because the American people deserve transparency. Experts say to expect the House to be divided along party
lines over the ongoing impeachment investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
Which of these nations celebrates Unity Day in remembrance of an event from 1990?
Germany, Serbia, China, or Argentina?
German Unity Day celebrates the reunification of the country at the end of the Cold War.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Germany has a unique challenge on its hands, what does it do with almost 2,000 containers of high level radioactive waste?
The country is shutting down all of its nuclear power plants. They made that decision after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Japanese plant in
2011. The problem is that the nuclear waste that these plants produced doesn`t go away. It`s usually put in temporary storage near the power
plant it came from, but it`s very dangerous.
Scientists say spent nuclear rods are so hot, they can`t even be moved for several decades until they cool down, and that then, they need to be buried
at least 3,300 feet underground for a million years. Oh, and the ground that houses the waste can`t be watery or prone to earthquakes that could
cause a nuclear leak.
Germany does not plan to export the waste to another country. Researchers there are on the hunt for a burial site in Germany, and a number of
communities are fighting to keep it from getting buried near them. Assuming a place is found, another challenge is figuring out how to warn
distant future generations who may have a very different language system than ours that the nuclear burial site is not something they want to
explore.
We`ve talked a lot about plastic pollution in our oceans. There are a number of companies working on edible containers, think bowls and spoons,
to cut down on that. But at this point anyway, they come at a price. The edibles you`re about to see costs 33 cents a piece if you buy them
wholesale, meaning in bulk. A foam bowl retails for about 3 cents.
But could the more expensive option be both healthy and friendly to the environment?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The beaches of Cape Town, like many around the world, are littered with food containers
like these.
This kind of waste bothered Georgina De Kock so much, that she was inspired to come up with a product that would eliminate it altogether. It is called
Munch Bowls.
GIOKOS (on-camera): When did you come up with the idea to come up with an edible plate?
GEORGINA DE KOCK, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, MUNCH BOWLS: It really started of thinking, you know, what alternatives are they? Because someone asked me
to create something for them to hold curry and rice.
I wanted to make it a wholesome product as well. It`s now you saving the world and you give people food that is not good for them.
Yes, no preservatives.
GIOKOS: No preservatives, I see. How do you preserve this thing?
DE KOCK: Rooibos.
GIOKOS: Why did you think of using that ingredient?
DE KOCK: It was probably amazing. I was at a talk show, specifically on rooibos, and they mentioned it is actually a natural preservative. And
this was like, wow, because I was looking for something and I tasted that and it actually does work.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Normally, these bowls are machine processed, but today, Georgina prepared a few bowls by hand.
(on-camera): How long can it stay like this without getting soggy and you picking it up and it being a disaster and mess?
DE KOCK: At least five hours.
GIOKOS: Five hours?
DE KOCK: Uh-huh. And you can heat it up in the microwave too.
GIOKOS: What?
DE KOCK: Uh-huh.
GIOKOS: Five -- how did you come up -- how did that -- how does that work?
DE KOCK: Well, you experiment, and then suddenly, you get a surprise and it works.
GIOKOS (voice-over): The soup du jour, lentil, warmed in the microwave, but the bowl is still crisp.
GIOKOS (on-camera): Yes, it`s pretty good.
DE KOCK: Do you like it?
GIOKOS: I do.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Munch Bowls come in different flavors for sweet and savory food. And while this is not the only edible tableware on the
market, the company says they`re in high demand.
But for innovations like Munch Bowls to completely eliminate single use plastics, they have to overcome one hurdle -- price.
DE KOCK: It is much more expensive than plastic. I think eventually, it will become cheaper as we can produce more.
No, we don`t have a problem with our export market. They realize the need for this product and, you know, they are actually quite proud to be more
green, eco-friendly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
AZUZ: Truth be told, if you drive around in a giant banana car, you`re going to get stopped. Steve Braithwaite got stopped by a state trooper.
The officer had a look to make sure the car is legal -- it is -- and probably asked some questions.
This is the record holder for longest custom banana car. Braithwaite built it himself. He tours the country, giving people rides for whatever they
want to pay. And instead of a ticket, the officer gave him 20 bucks.
And after that, well, we wish we can say he peeled out. You wouldn`t want to drive a banana car like a banana slug. It wouldn`t be nearly as
stimulating. Sure, the officer might have thought he slipped, might have given him a bunch of tickets, but it would have made the story even more
fruitful, y`all!
I`m Carl Azuz and CNN 10 will be banana-ck tomorrow.
END
