China Unveils New Leadership As Xi Cements His Power; Two Republican Senators Fiercely Rebuke Trump; Republican Senate Nominee Condemns Same Sex Marriage Ruling
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, Xi Jinping's power move. The Chinese president unveils his new leadership team with no clear successor in sight.</s>VAUSE: Hostility has had broken out in the long-brewing civil war with the Republican Party. Two Republican Senators have unloaded on their president, and say they've had enough of Donald Trump.</s>SESAY: And later, few things are tougher than rocket science, but Brexit may actually be one of them.</s>VAUSE: I don't think so. Hello, thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause.</s>SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM L.A. Well, Chinese President Xi Jinping's hold on power is now solidified. He revealed the line-up for the Communist Party's proliferous standing committee just a short time ago. Five new members replaced the retired members of this all-powerful group.</s>VAUSE: Also, the men will help run the country for the next five years. The line-up did not include a clear successor to President Xi Jinping suggesting he may try to hold on to power beyond 2022.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the past five years, we have set out a broad agenda. Some tasks have been completed while others need more work. This party congress has set new goals and new tasks. We must make coordinated efforts to see them through.</s>VAUSE: Matt Rivers is in Beijing. He joins us now with more on this; he's in Tiananmen Square. So, Matt, on Tuesday, the party enshrined "Xi Jinping Though" into the party's Constitution. On Wednesday, he became a leader for life, what does he do on Thursday? I guess, the question is: what comes next?</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, whatever he wants, really, because you can look at what is happening today here in Beijing as kind of the final step, and President Xi's quest to amass more political power than any other Chinese leader since that guy, over my right shoulder, the guy with his picture on the wall, Chairman Mao Zedong, the Founder of Communist China. We saw the members, the new members of the standing committee walkout in their traditional</s>VAUSE: You know, what was interest when Xi Jinping spoke after announcing the new standing committee of the politburo, he spoke about this rejuvenation of China will become a reality -- talking about all China's citizen's sharing equally and the prosperity. Because this has been, really, a hallmark of the last five years ending corruption, you know, essentially trying to move the economy forward. Not necessarily reform it, but get it to a point where, I guess, you know, it works more efficiently and more Marxist political system. I mean, what's his vision in terms of economic reforms and to get to that point of sharing prosperity?</s>RIVERS: Well, I think you heard it in the beginning of the Party Congress when he gave that mammoth three-and-a-half-hour speech in which he kept coming back to this same theme of the total, absolute party control over all aspects of society. And so, while a lot of people are holding out hope that there might be some sort of market liberalization that we might the government actually take its foot off of the economy a little bit. If you listen to Xi Jinping's words, it seems like he is an absolute true believer in the fact that China does best when the Communist Party is at his strongest, and when he is at the helm of the Communist Party. And so, when it comes to lifting people out of prosperity, when it comes to being the new center of the world, when it comes to being a model for new era of socialism around the world, Xi Jinping is talking about that in the realm of the Communist Party running all of those things. He firmly believes that and now that he has the power to kind of do whatever he wants in this government, or at least execute his vision, I think that's what you're going to see moving forward.</s>VAUSE: Yes, there are many people who've been thrown in jail, a lot of dissidents who've been locked up. And of course, to the crackdown on the Internet is the flipside of all of that. But, Matt, we'll talk about that next hour. Matt Rivers, live in Beijing, thank you.</s>SESAY: All right. Let's turn to U.S. politics now. And since the start of his presidency nine months ago, and indeed -- well, before Donald Trump has engaged in blistering attacks often on Twitter. Now, now he's on the receiving end. Two Republican Senators delivered stunning rebukes, Tuesday; the same day the president was on Capitol Hill to push tax reform.</s>VAUSE: Senator Jeff Flake and Bob Corker accused Mr. Trump of debasing and dividing the country. We get more now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump on Capitol Hill today, trying to sell his tax plan and revive the agenda of a fractured Republican Party. But only an hour after leaving with the wave and a smile, Republican Senator Jeff Flake delivered a stinging rebuke of the president.</s>SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: When a leader correctly identifies real hurt and insecurity in our country, and instead of addressing it, goes to look for someone blame. There is perhaps nothing more devastating to a pluralistic society.</s>ZELENY: Flake's announcement: he would not seek reelection in his blunt concession that he's no longer comfortable with Trump Republican Party.</s>FLAKE: There is an undeniable potency to a populist appeal by mischaracterizing or misunderstanding our problem, and giving to the impulse to scapegoat and belittle -- the impulse to scapegoat and belittle, threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people.</s>ZELENY: Came on the same day, the Republican picked a new fight with Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee -- it was an extraordinary moment for a party in power. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called Flake's decision to leave the Senate, good news, and blasted his speech as inappropriate.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I noticed that a lot of the language I didn't think was befitting at the Senate floor.</s>ZELENY: She also defended the president's fight with Corker.</s>SANDERS: He's a fighter, we've said it many times before that person of this country didn't elect somebody to be weak. They elected somebody to be strong.</s>ZELENY: After Corker said in a round of morning television interviews, the president should leave details of the tax plan to Congress. Mr. Trump launched a searing attack on Twitter. The president said: "Corker, who couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee is now fighting tax cuts." Seven minutes later, the president added: "Corker dropped out of the race in Tennessee when I refused to endorse him, and now he's only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record." The senator fired off this rebuttal: "Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #alertthedaycarestaff." The extraordinary exchange between a Republican president and of the party's senior statesman</s>SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENESSEE: No, it's not accurate. You know, nothing that he said in his tweets today were truthful nor accurate, and he knows it. People around him know it. I would hope the staff over there would figure out why he's so controlling.</s>ZELENY: When asked by CNN's Manu Raju if the president is a liar, Corker had this today.</s>CORKER: The president has great difficulty with the truth on many issues.</s>ZELENY: Asked whether he would support him again, Corker did not hesitate.</s>CORKER: No way, no way. I think that he's</s>ZELENY: Taken together, the decision by Flake who also has called repeatedly with Mr. Trump underscored the challenges facing the GOP, and potential complications to the president's agenda.</s>FLAKE: We must argue our positions fervently and never be afraid to compromise. We must assume the best of our fellow man and always look for the good. Until that day comes, we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it because it does.</s>ZELENY: The move stunned Republics, and overshadowed discussion of a tax plan the party still hopes will be the one major legislate accomplishment of the year. House Speaker Paul Ryan was among GOP leaders trying to extinguish the unusual and to much unseemly civil wars.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: So, all of this stuff you see on a daily basis on Twitter this, Twitter that, forget about it. Let's focus on helping people.</s>ZELENY: As Republicans watch this widening civil war inside their party, the question is: what effect will it have on legislating? Will they still be able to get the tax cut plan through with or without help from some of these Republicans who are now disenfranchised from the president? Once again, the White House message overshadowed by all of this fighting. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, The White House.</s>VAUSE: Joining us now CNN Political Commentator and Democratic Strategist, Dave Jacobson; John Thomas, a Republican Consultant, also a CNN Political Commentator; and Michael Genovese, a Political Analyst and President of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Nice to have you all with us. The White House Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders, she offered this tired old explanation about why the president was feuding with two senior Republican lawmakers. Here's what she said.</s>SANDERS: Look, you've got an individual and the president, he's a fighter, we've said it many times, before. The people of this country didn't elect somebody to be weak. They elected somebody to be strong. And when he gets hit, he's going to hit back. And I think Senator Corker knows that, and he, you know, maybe trying to get a headline or two on his way out the door.</s>VAUSE: But, John, the presidents hitting back at Myeshia Johnson, the widow of a U.S. soldier who was killed in Niger. He's hitting back at her close friend, Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, he's hitting back at Senator John McCain. Last week, two former presidents spoke out against this type of presidency. Donald Trump is taunting the nuclear-armed leader of North Korea by, you know, insulting Kim Jong-un by, you know, using names. This is exhausting for the country, and it just never seems to end.</s>JOHN THOMAS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I mean, it is. It's terrible when members of Congress use dead soldiers for political gain to pick fights for with the president. That's what all of these people have in common, John, are they pick fights with the president. Now, sometimes the president does an issue --</s>VAUSE: I'm talking about the bigger picture.</s>THOMAS: Oh, yes! Oh, it's terribly exhausting. There's no doubt about it. I wish -- look, as a good conservative, I wish we didn't have as many spats, I wish we just focused on the legislative agenda. Well, like Sanders said, it's not who Trump is.</s>DAVE JACOBSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I just think like the lack of civility and the discourse is not sustainable. It just isn't. People are angry, they're frustrated, they want their government to solve problems and get stuff done. They want to see pragmatic leadership, and they're not seeing that. And the president is thinking he feels them.</s>SESAY: And Dave, to that point, is Democrats exhausted? Is that why it feels as if they're quieter and not really bringing the fight in terms of -- you know, in terms of -- and we're talking about the comity and the lack of civility. It just feels as if Democrats are like, Nah, let them do it, let them fight amongst themselves, we're not going to challenge or stand up for what is right?</s>JACOBSON: Well, I wouldn't make the argument the Democrats are sitting back. I mean, I think they're digging their heels, and in the sense of --</s>SESAY: It seems quiet.</s>JACOBSON: Well, I think they're doubling down on 2018. And they focus on fund-raising and looking at seats that they can flip. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is looking at 80 seats across the country -- the Democrats are targeting. We only need to pick up 24 seats to flip the house.</s>THOMAS: And the harder part they're having is the RNC and the Republican Party's dramatically our-racing the Democratic Party largely. I mean, the Democrats --</s>JACOBSON: Nationally, but not the Democratic Congressional Committee.</s>THOMAS: They've had their fair share of challenges.</s>VAUSE: And you know, when your enemy is shooting itself in the foot, you can have their way.</s>THOMAS: And that's also true. They're gambling that Republicans will solve this problem for them.</s>JACOBSON: It's not going to make headlines if Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer go out there and obscure President Trump. It's going to make headlines when John McCain does it or Jeff Flake does it.</s>VAUSE: OK. After announcing he was retiring from the Senate, Jeff Flake spoke to Jake Tapper to explain his decision not to stand for reelection.</s>FLAKE: But right now, the vast majority of those who vote in Republican primaries seem to be OK with the president's policies and behavior. I do agree with the president sometimes. I disagree with him other times. That's what I've done with Republican and Democratic for residents. But now, it seems that you know, if you deviate at all from, you know, the president's positions or if you fail to condone his behavior, then you're out of step with the party or at least a segment of the party that votes in the Republican primaries.</s>VAUSE: So, Michael, does that sum up the problems right now for the Republican Party there? Because there's almost rabid core group of voters who essentially don't reflect the wider GOP?</s>MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST AND PRESIDENT OF THE GLOBAL POLICY INSTITUTE AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: You know, I think Senator Flakes in a tough position. He probably would have lost the election had he run. But I think, you know, the Republican Party is torn; it's torn between the old party of Lincoln, the party of Reagan. It's now becoming or in jeopardy of becoming the party of Trump, and I think a lot of very traditional Republicans find that to be morally obnoxious. After all, that was a marriage of convenience, to begin with. And that marriage of convenience is now looking inconvenient. The president said Senator Corker has a distant relationship with the truth. I think, you know when the political autopsy is done 20 years from now, where are the pieces going to fall? Who's going to be at the front end of history and who is going to be criticized?</s>SESAY: But, John, that's the whole point. Doesn't it seem as if Republicans are worried about 20 years from now? I mean, they're not worried about --</s>VAUSE: 20 months from now.</s>SESAY: Yes, exactly. I mean, because I think -- I mean, that's what Jeff Flakes -- that's his calculation, the one they look back. He doesn't want to have been on this side, although Republicans don't seem to have those issues.</s>THOMAS: Well, time will tell. But I think in politics the ways how we look at it is it's a sport of winning. He needs to win in order to get your legislation through. If you're not in power, you can't even have a crack at it. Now, Republics haven't been super successful in driving legislation. But certainly, if we lose in the midterms, we're toast. If you look at Senator Flake's approval rating in his own state is 17 percent. I mean, people talk about Trump's approval rating as being terrible in the high 30s, low 40s; he's at 17 percent. I think a lot this honestly -- I'm not saying that Senator Flake was being untruthful in his remarks, but he's upset. The guy lost his power because he went up against the president and lost.</s>VAUSE: He's also partly upset by what the president has been doing, right?</s>JACOBSON: I mean, certainly, because it's his style of the way he would do it.</s>VAUSE: OK. This Flake and Corker retiring, at least the way it opens a special breed of candidate ones like Steve Moore -- Roy Moore, I should say. The hard-right candidate who is backed by Steve Bannon.</s>SESAY: Steve Bannon. Merging the two.</s>VAUSE: Exactly, Steve Moore-Bannon. You know, this is the guy who, you know. There he is with his little pistol -- ping, ping, ping, ping. He was a judge. He described a Supreme Court ruling, which affirmed marriage equality; he said it's worse of a decision by the Supreme Court often described as the worst decision by the Supreme Court to legalize slavery. This is what he said.</s>SEN. ROY MOORE (R), ALABAMA: In 1957, the United States Supreme Court did rule that black people were property. Of course, that contradicted the constitution and it took a civil war to overturn it. But this ruling in the</s>VAUSE: John, is this the direction you want your party going?</s>THOMAS: That's not the direction the party is going. I mean, that clip was from November --</s>VAUSE: But he's under the Senate.</s>THOMAS: But hold on, he didn't run on that. That clip was on Pastor Radio from 2016. If you look at the --</s>VAUSE: But his views are well enough.</s>THOMAS: True. But if you look at the campaign advertising, what that whole election in Alabama was about, it's about who was the establishment and who wasn't. That was the conversation, and that's the broader conversation we're seeing internally across the Republican Party.</s>VAUSE: So, you think</s>THOMAS: Well, no, but I'm saying not every candidate -- I mean, he happens to be incredibly socially conservative. But a lot of the other candidates that are running, they're not social conservatives, that's not the commonality. It's the anti-establishment crusaders like Bannon -- that's what they have in common. Versus the Tea Party wave, that was singularly focused on smaller government. If you didn't believe that guy you were -- you want to a contender.</s>SESAY: Jeff Flake is basing near the point, it's not enough to be conservative these days, you have to be angry. He said that's basically -- that's the defining factor of those coming to the forefront now.</s>JACOBSON: That's the manifestation of what the Bannon movement did today. And look, I think more came off as a barbarian with those kinds of comments. And I think Alabama is a special case because of this a state where Donald Trump won by 20 points. But if you look at the 2018 map in states like Arizona and states like Nevada where Democrats are angling to flips those seats red to blue, like you can't have a candidate run in a more moderate sort of purpled state like that and expect to just walk into Congress, right? Like Roy Moore and the 20-plus state that Donald Trump dominated in is a special case. I don't think like if you look at the broader electorate as we gear up for 2018. But, like, you can have these sort of fringe, Steve Bannon- backed candidate propelled to victory campaigning on a mandate like that.</s>VAUSE: I keep remembering what he says, "I'm not a witch."</s>THOMAS: And that's the way Republicans run is as of nominating somebody who may not be a witch.</s>VAUSE: Exactly.</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>VAUSE: I haven't checked my Twitter feed the late last 30 seconds but Donald Trump, I think, has yet to respond directly to Jeff Flake, but has lashed out repeatedly at Bob Corker. Among the many insult, tweets are this one: "The entire world was laughing and taking advantage of us. People like little Bob Corker have set the U.S. way back. Now, we move forward." Michael, this seems to be Trump's way of sort of framing this as a battle with the establishment not just with the Republican establishment but the establishment from both parties.</s>GENOVESE: And you wonder how long a shelf life, smallness, and anger has. You can't be the basis of governing philosophy. And so, you wonder when will, when will -- when might the American public tire of this? When will they say we want something better, we want something to be optimistic about, something to believe in. And the failure to Democratic Party has been that it has not offered an alternative. It has been sitting back, waiting for Trump to implode, waiting for the Republicans to crack up. That's not a governing strategy either. So, the Democrats need to offer something positive, hopeful, something about tomorrow. They have not done so, and so the Democrats are at fault in this as well.</s>SESAY: Dave, which goes back to what I was saying to you about the Democrats' response to all of this. I mean, what's your response to what Michael just said that they haven't done enough?</s>JACOBSON: I think Michael's precisely right. I mean, Democrats, from a national perspective, haven't done enough in terms of coming up in articulating a broad social and economic justice message nationally. We've got the better deal. I don't think that's resonating with the electorates; it's not where we need to go. But you are seeing really comprehensive big and bold plans with leaders like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, who are putting forward, you know, single-payer healthcare Medicare for all which is extraordinary --</s>JACOBSON: You know what, the polling there actually is in the majority. And if you look at a state like California, I think we've been a beacon for the Democratic Party, and at least for, like, the national resistance against the White House. And I think national Democrat was looking to states like California to help shake that narrative. But you're right, it does need to come from leaders in Washington and it hasn't yet.</s>VAUSE: But, John, that message can't get out because Donald Trump dominates every minute of every news cycle.</s>THOMAS: Well, and the game -- you're right. It's hard to get any other oxygen. You know you follow where the story is. But also, the Democrats, especially looking at 2020, they're all jockeying for who can be the most anti-Trump. I mean, that's the dynamic we see; they're not talking about who could have the best policies. It's who can foil to President Trump.</s>JACOBSON: Well, Donald Trump's vulnerable. I mean, look at his polling numbers.</s>THOMAS: No, what I'm saying is the Democratic base wants to crusader against Trump.</s>JACOBSON: Absolutely.</s>THOMAS: They don't want the economic plan against Donald Trump.</s>JACOBSON: Well, I think it's a combination of both.</s>VAUSE: OK.</s>SESAY: We'll do this again tomorrow.</s>VAUSE: You know what, there will be --</s>SESAY: There will be more.</s>VAUSE: Tomorrow, there will be more. Michael, John, and Dave thank you so much.</s>SESAY: Thank you, gentlemen, thank you.</s>VAUSE: OK. After the break, we'll have much more on our top story where China's new leadership team stays up President Xi's power and his plans for the future.</s>SESAY: Plus, officials fear the Russians did in the U.S. and now in the U.K. as well. British lawmakers want to know whether Russia used Facebook to influence the Brexit referendum.