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Muhammad Ali Buried In Emotional Funeral Service In Hometown; France Wins Opening Match Of 2016 Euro Football Tournament, Brings Morale Boost To Paris; Harsh Critique Of Donald Trump From Top Senate Republican. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 11, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, HOST: A tribute to the greatest, Muhammad Ali is buried after an emotional funeral service in his home town.
France comes up big. The host country wins the opening match of the 2016 Euro football tournament and brings a much needed morale boost to Paris.
And a harsh critique of Donald Trump from the top Senate Republican. Mitch McConnell says the billionaire doesn't know much about the issues.
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ALLEN: It's all ahead here on "CNN Newsroom" we are live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
The greatest has been buried. Fans and loved ones of Muhammad Ali paid their final respects on Friday.
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[Chanting]
ALLEN: Ali's body was driven through the streets of his hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. People chanted his name as they threw flowers on the hearse. Afterwards, there was a service in his memory. A variety of religious leaders were there to eulogize along with his family and friends. Ali's widow, Lonnie, spoke about the legacy of the man she loved.
LONNIE ALI, MUHAMMAD ALI'S WIDOW: I think he saw a nation's soul measured by the soul of its people. For his part, he saw the good soul in everyone. And if you were one of the lucky ones to have met him, you know what I meant. He awoke every morning thinking about his own salvation and he would often say, I just want to get to heaven and I've got to do a lot of good deeds to get there. And I think Muhammad's hope is that his life provides some guidance on how we might achieve for all people what we aspire for ourselves and our families. Thank you. [ applause ]
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ALLEN: Ali's life of course touched people around the world and it showed in the sheer range of those there to eulogize him. Some familiar faces took the stage to remember him.
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DR. KEVIN W. COSBY, SENIOR PASTOR, ST. STEPHEN CHURCH: Before James Brown said, I'm black and I'm proud, Muhammad Ali said, I'm black and I'm pretty. He dared to love black people at a time when black people had a problem loving themselves.
BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR: Ali forced us to take a look at ourselves, this brash young man who thrilled us, angered us, confused and challenged us ultimately became a silent messenger of peace who taught us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: My enduring image of him is like a little reel in three shots. The boxer I thrilled to as a boy. The man I watched take the last steps to light the Olympic flame when I was president. [ applause ] and I will never forget it, I was sitting there in Atlanta, by then we knew each other. By then I felt I had some sense of what he was living with. And I was still weeping like a baby seeing his hands shake and his legs shake and knowing, by God, he was going to make those last few steps no matter what it took. The flame would be lit. The fight would be won (inaudible). I knew it would happen. [ applause ] we should honor him by letting our gifts go among the world as he did. God bless you. My friend, go in peace.
[Chanting] Ali! Ali! Ali!
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ALLEN: Manal Omar is the Associate Vice President for the Middle Eastern African Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. She attended Friday's memorial service and she told CNN it reflected Ali's faiths and beliefs.
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MANAL OMAR, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA CENTER: He designed the memorial service that took place today. And you really felt his presence just in the diversity that was on the stage and in the audience. It provided a glimpse into what we could be both as a country but as a global community and that journey came through faith. His wife said that he could have turned to violence, he could have turned to other means but his faith, Islam, didn't allow him to. And so - and her quote was very powerful. "It's easy to pick up arms. It's harder to fight for peace."
And that's what he chose to do pulling on his faith, also pulling on the faith of others. He truly was a global citizen. It was very -- I thought powerful one of the speakers the pastor who spoke who said you know it's easy to be able to you know talk about a horse when it's in the winning phase but it's the people that are in the mud, that's when the real bets need to be taken.
[00:05:13] And I think for people who want to choose the winner, Muhammad Ali, they forget the fighter, the person who overcame and the person who took great sacrifices to really honor his core principles. We know especially in this day and age standing by your ideals is a very difficult thing to do with consequences, and he epitomized that. He chose to stand by his appeals even over the sport that he loved the most
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ALLEN: Manal Omar talking with us. She also said that Ali taught her she could be simultaneously American, Muslim and patriotic.
Another news we're following; French football fans are celebrating after the host nation won the opening round of Euro 2016.
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ALLEN: France beat Romania 2-1 in the national stadium just outside Paris. 80,000 fans went through multiple security checkpoints to attend the match amid fears the month-long football championship could be a target for terrorists. Our Alex Thomas explains the win is some much need good news for France.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: A perfect start, both for the tournament organizers and for the host nation. Away from the pitch, a huge security operation seemed to go without a hitch. On the pitch, France survived a few nervy moments to secure a win in their opening game against Romania here at the Stade de France.
It was France who took the lead through Olivier Giroud, they were pegged back when Romania scored a penalty. And Dimitri Payet who has been outstanding for English Premier league side, West Ham all season, scored an absolutely scorching winning goal hit into the top corner.
But Payet admitted there were real nerves within the Le Bleu side. And France manager Didier Deschamps said afterwards that some of the star names particularly Paul Pogba had disappointed.
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THOMAS: Nonetheless, a win for France. They put a smile back on the face of a nation who has endured negative headlines and the long list of problems isn't over. Reports of violence between rival sets of fans in Marseille and the police there ahead of the Marquis game on day two of 2016 when England take on Russia.
Alex Thomas, CNN, Paris, France.
ALLEN: Well we have more information on that trouble in Marseille that Alex just mentioned.
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ALLEN: French police used tear gas to break up the scuffle between the English and Russian fans. They have reportedly taunted one another. Tens of thousands of fans from both countries are in the French port city and more than 1,000 police officers are deployed there.
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ALLEN: As Israel mourns the victims of the Tel Aviv terror attack, an extraordinary story is emerging about an off-duty police officer who helped capture one of the suspects.
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ALLEN: Four people were killed in the mass shooting at an open air market. Police say two Palestinians wearing business suits opened fire randomly. And we're learning that one of the suspects slipped away after the attack mistaken for a terrified civilian. He was invited inside a nearby home.
Erin McLaughlin picks it up from there.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chilling surveillance footage shows the moment two Palestinian gunmen storm a busy shopping mall in Tel Aviv. They'd illegally crossed from the West Bank into Israel. You see them shoot people at point-blank range. Then run away.
Police fire at one of the suspects but the other escapes. He blends in with the crowd. People were running for their lives. A group of terrified witnesses raced this way. A couple offered up their nearby apartment for shelter. The husband, an off-duty police officer grabbed his gun and raced back to the mall to help leaving his wife behind with the group. Neither of them knew they just welcomed one of the gunmen into their home.
(Inaudible) tells Israeli Channel 10 when the group arrived from the scene, the suspect was sitting on her doorstep.
OVRI HERTETZ-GRADY, WITNESS: (As translated) You see a man in such stress. He is hardly standing, hardly breathing what, you won't let him in and give him a glass of water? There's a terrorist outside.
MCLAUGHLIN: When her husband went back to the mall, he saw the other suspect in police custody. He realized the man he just allowed into his home was wearing the exact same thing.
HERTETZ-GRADY: (As translated) He told us these were the longest 20 seconds of his life. He was sure he would open up the door and find us all dead on the floor.
MCLAUGHLIN: Her husband entered the apartment and arrested him. Hertetz-Grady says at that point the suspect was unarmed. His motives for entering the home unclear, and we don't know what he planned to do next.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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ALLEN: Medical teams rescued 1300 migrants this week stranded in the Mediterranean Sea.
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ALLEN: Doctors Without Borders says more than one third were women and children including unaccompanied minors. Many of the migrants were suffering from dehydration and hypothermia. One of the three rescue ships is back at sea looking for more stranded boats.
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ALLEN: The U.S. top ranking senate Republican is joining other Republican leaders criticizing Donald Trump. We will tell you what Mitch McConnell is advising Trump to do coming next.
Plus, Hillary Clinton continues to burn Donald Trump as she marches toward the U.S. General election and gains another big endorsement.
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ALLEN: The United Kingdom is celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday this weekend.
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ALLEN: A new official photography of the Queen and husband, Prince Phillip was released Friday and in just a few hours, the royal family will attend the traditional tripping color military parade. CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster has more on what we can expect.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Three days of celebrations started open Friday focused on the Queen's role as head of the Church of England.
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FOSTER: A service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, attended by senior politicians and her entire family.
PETER PHILLIPS, QUEEN ELIZABETH'S GRANDSON: This is the religious part and we all know that religion is very important to her. And then obviously, the traditional pomp and ceremony of the trooping tomorrow and then the patron's lunch on Sunday, which is really a sort of a window of her interest. Because all of the organizations she's chosen to be a patron of and continued to be a patron of all these years. And so - and there is that personal connection.
FOSTER: On Saturday, we will see the Queen in the context of being head of the armed forces, trooping of the color, full pomp and pageantry on display here down the mall and down a horse guard parade. And possibly at the end of the day, a sighting of her youngest heir Prince George on the balcony behind him and many people hoping to see his little sister, Princess Charlotte as well.
Then the weekend finishes with a massive street party, a picnic along the mall. It's expected to rain. But it usually does in the U.K. but we need to bring out the British spirit.
Max foster, CNN, Buckingham Palace London.
ALLEN: And Max will cover it for us. The coverage of the trooping, the color parade will be seen here live on CNN in a few hours. You can also go to CNN.com/royals for more on all of the royal birthday festivities.
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ALLEN: To the U.S. Presidential election now we go. Donald Trump claims he is the least racist person and that no one should be judged by their race.
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ALLEN: In the key state of Virginia, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee said the U.S. Is divided by religion and race and that he will bring the nation together.
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ALLEN: Meantime, the U.S. Senate majority leader is the latest Republican leader to criticize Trump. Mitch McConnell has not rescinded his Trump endorsement, but says Trump doesn't know much about the issues. McConnell also says Trump should stick to prepared speeches and stop his controversial attacks.
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ALLEN: And another key Republican figure is strongly condemning Donald Trump. Former U.S. Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney is hosting his private retreat with Republican donors. And in a CNN exclusive, Romney says a credible Republican alternative to Trump is unlikely. But warns that electing Trump as President would be dangerous for the United States.
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MITT ROMNEY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think there's anything I'm looking for from Mr.. Trump to give him my support. He's demonstrated who he is. And I have decided that a person of that nature should not be the one who, if you will, becomes the example for coming generations or the example of America to the world. Look, I don't want to see trickle down racism. I don't want to see a President of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation. And trickle down racism, trickle down bigotry, and trickle down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America.
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ALLEN: Hillary Clinton is echoing Romney's sentiments there as she looks toward general election. The Democratic presumptive presidential nominee is blasting her rival on the Republican side and one of Clinton's biggest new supporters is joining us.
Here's our report from Michelle Kosinski.
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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton, her feet firmly planted as the presumptive Democratic nominee. [Chanting] now pushing on toward November.
HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Do we want to put our health, our lives, our futures in Donald Trump's hands?
KOSINSKI: Starting with a speech for planned parenthood a setting to both appeal to women and blast Donald Trump.
CLINTON: When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can't do his job because of his Mexican heritage or mocks a reporter with disabilities or denigrates Muslims and immigrants, it goes against everything we stand for. He does not see all Americans as Americans.
KOSINSKI: Earlier Friday morning, senator Elizabeth Warren spotted arriving at Clinton's Washington, D.C. Home for a private conversation. Adding fuel to speculation she could be the VP pick only hours after she endorsed Clinton on television.
ELIZABETH WARREN: I am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton to become the next President of the United States.
KOSINSKI: On her prospects as running mate, she would say that she is ready for the job. She would be able to draw on the independent progressive younger voters that Hillary Clinton needs on board. And she hasn't exactly been at Clinton's side from the start. She is proving more than willing and able to do battle with Trump.
WARREN: A loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and who serves no one but himself. A thin-skinned, racist bully.
KOSINSKI: Trump's treat back just as incendiary torching warren with the nickname he gave her. "Pocahontas is at it again, goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators has a nasty mouth. Hope she is VP choice."
She got in the last word though. "No seriously, delete your account."
Thursday night, Vice President Biden also called Trump's recent comments racist. So where's Bernie Sanders in this Democratic power coalition? Thursday night, still rallying his supporters in D.C. ahead of Tuesday's primary.
BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. DEMOCTRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we're still standing.
KOSINSKI: Not a mention there of Hillary Clinton nor has he endorsed her yet. It will be a quiet weekend at Bernie's in Vermont a day after pledging to work with Clinton from now on.
Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House.
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ALLEN: It has been a wild ride at the campaign from Hillary Clinton's history making week to Donald Trump's trouble with his own party. Don't miss "Political Mann" Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.
Heavy rain soaked the coast of Ghana this week crippling the capital with floods and Derek Van Dam is here with that report.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: One of my best friends actually lives in Accra and sent me a text earlier this week and said take a look at this flooding visuals.
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VAN DAM: He was in a taxi and he had to actually exit the taxi quickly because the floodwaters were coming up so fast. This is what we saw in the capital city of Ghana and this forced one of the busiest highways in the capital city down to one lane.
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VAN DAM: So you can imagine the congestion on any day to day basis there but then you add in flooded roadways and of course this causes all kinds of chaos. Now a lot of people there, the locals talk about how the infrastructure just isn't able to cope with the annual rains that come through this time of year.
We think back to one year ago -- I think it was the 5th of June in 2015 where over 150 people perished because of a flood disaster actually sparked an explosion at a gas facility or a petro facility. Not the case this time. But flooding has caused major problems in this city.
Look at how much rainfall they received right along the coast of Ghana. We're talking about over 150 millimeters. 140 of that was received in a three-hour period. So extremely heavy rainfall in a very short period of time leading to flooding, infrastructure can't handle it and we get the excessive flood waters there.
This is the wettest time of the year, June typically receives just about 220 millimeters. We talk about the inter tropical convergence zone so often because it's a worldwide phenomenon at least along the equator. And as we focus in to Central Africa, we get these converging trade wins that forces the air to rise. We get the convection and thunderstorms, these persistent bands of
rain showers and you can actually see them on our satellite loop. We call them frequent tropical low pressure systems. There they are moving across Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast into the other regions as well there. And you can see that this actually shifts depending on the time of the year. Now when we start to work into the northern hemisphere summer season, we see the rainfall pattern shifting ever so slowly towards the north and east. More rain in the forecast but it's focused to the north and west near Senegal.
Hey, we're talking about the Euro 2016. If you are a football or soccer fan aficionado well you like this forecast. As we head into Bordeaux, I think the rain showers will come to an end for the match at 3:00 p.m. today, 6:00 p.m. in Marseilles We have a dry forecast for you. But to the north in northern France, that is going to be interrupted by rain showers through the course of the next 24 hours. And by the way Natalie, there are ten stadiums throughout France for Euro 2016. Only one of them has a retractable roof. All of them are susceptible to rain and thunderstorms.
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ALLEN: OK. All right, thank you, we've got a whole month of it.
VAN DAM: We do, we do.
ALLEN: Hope they get them all played, thanks Derek.
All right, check this out, still to come.
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ALLEN: What do you think happened when this black panther snuck up on this man posing for the camera? We will show you the surprising result next.
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ALLEN: In Mexico, a man poses with his black back turned to a black panther and that's when the panther does something unexpected. Here's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It had a pink panther feel to it. A black panther sneaking up on a guy ready to pounce when all of a sudden -- instead of mauling the man, the man smothered the panther with kisses. No wonder this went viral.
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MOOS: Eduardo Serio, is the founder of an animal sanctuary in Mexico called "Black Jaguar White Tiger. (inaudible) following posting videos mainly of himself interacting with the big cats including the littlest big cats.
Papa bear as Eduardo calls himself is famous for his hugs. But is all that cuteness too cute to be true? The sanctuary has both fans and fierce critics. Celebrity fans like Khloe Kardashian are allowed to get up close and personal with the cats. And though nothing did happen, critics say it could. "This celebrity studded instagram petting zoo is, like a disaster waiting to happen."
KELLIE HECKMAN, EXEC. DIR. GLOBAL FEDERATION OF ANIMAL SANCTARIES: It's not safe to handle big cats. And what it does is portray this idea that these big cats are tractable or handleable.
MOOS: Sending the wrong message they can be pets as Kellie Heckman head of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries which has not certified the Black Jaguar White Tiger sanctuary. It's also not clear precisely where Eduardo rescues his animals from. He says circuses and breeders.
CNN was unable to reach papa bear. He was probably out running with his pack. Confident that they won't bite the hand that pets them.
Jeanne Moos, CNN. New York.
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ALLEN: The Euro 2016 football championship is under way of course. And German zoos are fielding animals to predict the match outcomes.
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The Leipzig Zoo has turned to Oobi-Oobi, the Koala. The marsupial has predicted Germany will draw with Ukraine when the two teams meet on Sunday. He had to pick between two eucalyptus branches and didn't choose either.
But Cologne's Astrid, The Sea Lion thinks Germany will lose. She was given three balls and picked the Ukrainian one. There you have it. The animals have spoken.
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ALLEN: Happy watching. I'm Natalie Allen. Your headlines are right after this.
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ALLEN: Back with your CNN news now. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: France has won the opening match of the Euro 2016 football championship besting Romania 2-1. Fans waded through intense security to attend. France and other countries have warned the tournament could be a target for violence with terrorists. Muhammad Ali has been buried in his hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. It
has been a week-long celebration of the boxing legend's life in his home. Religious leaders, lifelong friends and family all paid their respects to Ali in a public service.
A domestic dispute led to police shooting a man outside Love Field airport in Texas. Police say he was throwing landscaping rocks at the mother of his children. He then allegedly rushed at an officer who fired several times. No word on the suspect's condition.
Keiko Fujimori has conceded defeat to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in Peru's Presidential election. Kuczynski claimed victory after winning a bare majority of the vote. But the Electoral College must officially make him president elect. Fujimori says her party will fill the role of the opposition.
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ALLEN: That's CNN News Now, "Business Traveller" is up next.
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RICHARD QUEST, HOST QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Hello and welcome to CNN Business Traveller. I'm Richard Quest this month reporting from the ancient city of Xi'an the capital to 13 Chinese dynasties and the perfect place for us to investigate the never ending search by today's tourists for the truly authentic experience.
We will ask what's real and what's manufactured for travellers' delight? And anyway what does it matter?
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QUEST: We begin at Beijing's Ritten Park. Stroll these paths and you'll catch a glimpse of the ordinary and a chance to encounter what today's travellers seem to prize above all else, that authentic experience. Exactly what does that mean you may well ask. It means different things to different people as our experts made clear.
Mei Zhang is the Chief Executive and Founder of the Beijing based travel company Wild China.
MEI ZHANG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND FOUNDER WILD CHINA: Authenticity in Chinese, we call it (inaudible) which means unaltered, unchanged, the way it is in its natural state.
QUEST: Robert Shepherd, anthropologist and China specialist at the George Washington University.
ROBERT SHEPHERD, ANTHROPOLOGIST: Authenticity implies the unexpected, the out of the ordinary and the unplanned.
QUEST: Jason Klampert Co-Founder and Head of Content for Skift, a travel research and intelligence platform.
JASON KLAMPERT, CO-FOUNDER, SKIFT: Authenticity is about familiarity and access. It's about being able to see a destination on your own terms.
QUEST: For me, authenticity means Sunday afternoon in this park. The chance to look and listen and see how ordinary people live their everyday lives. This is a local experience, there are few other travellers around.
ZHANG: If your travel experience gives you much more in-depth learning, i think it makes it more authentic. The more contacts you have with someone who is of the local area, the more authentic your travel experience is likely to be.
QUEST: With authenticity, there's no one size fits all checklist. Once we leave the tranquility of the park, it all becomes so much more complicated. The whole issue of authenticity is fraught with difficulties. This is traditional pastry stretching. But here it is being done in the street fair for the tourists. So, is it authentic? And the same with making these sweets and delicacies, banging the (bajeebies) out of them, but here it is being done for the benefit of the crowd.
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SHEPHERD: When we look at sort of the roots of modern travel in the 20th century, you find two things. You find this complete distancing of something called travel from tourism. People who see themselves as travellers like to point out tourists are not having authentic experiences. Travellers supposedly are the heroic ones who go off on their own.
QUEST: Our experts agree, people are willing to pay more if they believe they are having an authentic experience.
KLAMPERT: I think people do seek a deeper experience when they go to destinations. I think that's a reaction to some of the homogenation of the world that's taken place. If you look at the catalogs that come from the tour companies, if you look at the stories the hotel brands are trying to tell, experiential is definitely still part of it. But authentic is really the next phase.
QUEST: Sift through all the marketing catch phrases, it turns out whether or not something is really authentic depends mostly on you and me. How we experience a place, who we meet there and what we hope to take with us when we leave.
It would be remiss to come to China and not mention the numbers. Even amidst the economic uncertainty here, the number of outbound Chinese travellers is remarkable. 120 million international trips taken in 2015 and the forecast for just four years' time, 200 million.
If you are thinking, I've heard all this before, consider another part of the equation. China has now surpassed the United States and has become the number one business travel market in the world by its own domestic strength. More than $290 billion spent on meetings, hotels and airline tickets. It's not only in Beijing and Shanghai. It's in what we call the real everyday china, so-called second tier cities like Xi'an. Both United Airlines and Hynan, China's biggest star to the three
state-owned carriers, see strategic advantage in growing in Xi'an.
HOU WEI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: We are talking about five, six, seven million population. So the point to point demand is huge. We have nearly 30% of market share in Xi'an so that means Xi'an is a viable hub for Hynan airlines.
QUEST: It's not just a hub, it's an opportunity for a new kind of route. Connecting secondary cities in China nonstop to major international gateways.
WEI: Well we flew Xi-an to Rome, to Paris, to Sydney. We've flown from (Chongquin) to Rome and we've from Changsha to Los Angeles.
QUEST: And then you do the reverse? You take a primary Chinese and you attach it to a non-traditional destination?
Hynan Airlines, one of the driving forces is the Chinese government's one route, one airline rule for Chinese carriers flying overseas. Because Hynan can't fly from Beijing to London or Los Angeles, it is adding nonstop service from the Chinese capital to places like Manchester, England and Calgary.
To make these new routes to secondary smaller cities economically viable, Hynan along with all other airlines is using brand-new planes like the 787 dream liner which gives much better fuel economy. On the ramp at Xi'an airport, United Airlines Walter Dias tells me even as China's economy slows, the long-term prospects remain robust.
WALTER DIAS, UNITED AIRLINES: There's no other market in the world growing as fast as this one. The sky is the limit for opening new cities in China.
QUEST: This year, United is launching nonstop service from its San Francisco hub to Xi'an and Guangzhou. It's already flying the Dream Liner direct to Chengdu.
Where did the idea of secondary cities could from?
DIAS: The coastal cities were doing very well but the west wasn't doing well so China wanted to invest in the west. So when we saw that, we started very carefully monitoring the economic activity in the second tier cities in the interior.
QUEST: What's fascinating about this is you weren't just looking at traffic flows.
DIAS: I think definitely you have to have a strong local market in the secondary cities. Essentially when you start them out, they're going to really rely on local on this side.
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QUEST: And with China forecast to overtake the United States as the world's largest passenger market by the year 2029 neither United nor Hynan see any reason to slow down.
As we continue, the hotel brands you have probably never heard of.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, What's up? Are you here for check in?
QUEST: How the travelers' cravings for authenticity is now reshaping an entire industry.
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QUEST: Welcome back to CNN Business Traveller, we're in Xi'an in China.
The desire to offer travelers a real authentic experience now permeates the whole tourism business. Say, for example, this hotel built in the 1950s as a state visitor's guest house. Its pedigree now means the owners can charge twice as much per night as its sister property just across the street. The large international hotel chains made their global reputation by offering quality and consistency. Now they are building new brands, including local experiences.
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JAMES WILLIAMS: Moxie and Centric, these aren't the corporate hotel chains that we're used to and that is the whole point of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, what's up? Are you here for check in.
WILLIAMS: They are into the next generation of travelers. And according to many online travel publications, today's modern explorers are seeking experiences or authenticity, starting with where they stay.
And as the big chains are now getting in on the authenticity act, they're creating new niche brands that are tapping into a younger and more culturally aware market. This is the New York city flagship of Marriott's new brand Moxy. The concept's so new that in here it's still a building site.
TINA EDMONDSON, GLOBAL BRAND OFFICER, MARRIOTT HOTELS : We talk about our guests and fun hunters. They're really excited, they're full of life. They want to discover new things.
WILLIAMS: Tina Edmondson is Marriott's Global Brand Officer. So now this is going to be your lobby space?
EDMONDSON: Yes. This is the most important part of the entire hotel. It's a communal space. It's a social space. Think about the effects of social media. They are very willing to share personal information. They want customized experiences and then they want to actually tell people about it.
WILLIAMS: Moxy is meant to be a boutique hotel on a budget. And what I'm seeing though is that you've dedicated a lot of the real estate space in the room to the bathroom; almost half of the room.
EDMONDSON: We actually very intentionally went for a larger size shower so that you feel like it is luxurious.
WILLIAMS: There's no closet.
EDMONDSON: There is no closet, but here is an interesting tidbit. We find a majority of guests that are traveling on business don't unpack. People's expectations of travel have changed. They don't want a cookie cutter experience.
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WILLIAMS: Moxy has four hotels in the U.S. and Europe and they have five more set to open in 2016. And they're not alone. There's also Hyatt who created Centric. Now with seven locations including this one on Miami Beach.
LARA MIGLIASSI, VP BRAND MARKETING HYATT: We found that there was a gap. There's a need in the market for a hotel that actually serves as a very central launch pad, if you will.
WILLIAMS: Hyatt's VP of Brand Marketing Lara, Migliassi, says that these travellers expect accommodations that will put them in the very heart of the city. Like Moxy, there may be a young vibe here, but Migliassi says Centric isn't just for millennials.
MIGLIASSI: I think everyone has a little bit of an explorer in them.
WILLIAMS: James Williams, CNN.
QUEST: A ride on a modern bike along a sixth centuries old wall. It's the sort of experience that millennials absolutely adore. Being millennial is more than just an age. It's also a mindset. Now, looking forward as an entire industry dedicated to giving millennials the experiences they seek and adore.
DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's known as the wild great wall. Lush, unrestored and relatively untouched. The perfect opportunity for this group of Beijing college students to escape their books and reconnect with nature.
IRIS CHANG, STUDENT: Last Friday I just finished my thesis defense and now I feel like it's the right time to go out and have some fun.
MOLKO: English lit major Iris Chang, describes herself as a 20- something millennial.
CHANG: Being rebellious, being new, being creative, being different.
MOLKO: When it comes to travel, that means Iris doesn't go with the crowd. Though she's willing to pay for a tour, if it delivers something unique. (Unio Wang) may look like one of the college crowd but this is her weekend gig and she's being paid to lead our trek.
UNIO WANG: I want to bring others while nature and beautiful things to other people around me while Beijing is not our traffic, not pollution.
MOLKO: An avid hiker, (Unio's) trip is one of dozens available on immobile travel platform called New You Go. A new venture aimed specifically at tech crazed Chinese millennials.
MEI ZHANG, CEO AND FOUNDER: It's a marketplace for authentic travel experiences.
CEO and founder Mei Zhang says she's built the business around providing access. It works by connecting young travellers with local personalities they wouldn't necessarily be able to find on their own. Tofu makers, rice farmers or in this case an amateur botanist.
ZHANG: If you just exactly deliver their expectation. Deliver their stereotype image. They're like OK, no surprises. What would impress these people? What would make them wow? Create this wow moment in this young generation.
MOLKO: The real wow moment comes when we finally reach the wall. Trading the well-worn path for the adventure of climbing and crawling through a crumbling watch tower some 500 years old.
WANG: You can see the wall is steep and all the bricks are like broken. It was built in the main dynasty and nobody touch it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I used to see the great wall was stuck full of people. But today the great wall really reminds me of the history. What it was like.
DAVID MOLKO: Everybody crowd in, are you ready, one, two.
Not bad. Let's post it. But it turns out we chat and Instagram will have to wait. What could be more authentic when it comes to stepping back into history than no cell service?
David Molko, CNN on the wild Great Wall of China.
QUEST: Coming up, face to face with the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. Feeling the heat; how far should you be willing to go searching for that authentic Chinese meal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Goose intestines in a spicy sauce.
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QUEST: What could be more authentic than statues 2,200 years old? Yes of course, if there's one thing I must do when visiting Xi'an, it's sear the Terracotta Warriors. Now we're talking authenticity.
Battling my way through the thousands of selfie snapping tourists, what a reward; a view like nowhere else in the world.
Breathtaking. Ironic that one of the country's richest cultural sites is simply one man's fantasy. An entire fake army created to guard his final resting place and to follow his spirit into the afterlife. Most visitors must be content to gaze upon the soldiers from afar. Our guide takes us into what's known as pit one. A strange sensation like stepping back in time as I come face to face with row after row of warriors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the armor. This one and that one, you can see. That is different.
QUEST: From rank to hairlines to facial features. No two statues are exactly Alike. The archaeologist (Shen Muasheng) can spot every detail.
(SHEN MUASHENG), ARCHAEOLOGIST: I'm a little student when I come here. I see, amazing. So amazing.
QUEST: The whole thing was an accidental discovery. The story goes that the first statue was unearthed in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. This clay army believed to be just one small part of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China. Historians say he was a brutal leader and even killed some of the 700,000 craftsmen who toiled to build all this.
(MUASHENG) I think he is a great man. You know, I may say that even though in history they said he was very cruel. But I think, we think he did many good things for China.
QUEST: (Mr. Shen) has dedicated his life to piecing together what might very well be the world's largest jigsaw puzzle. Few of these terracotta soldiers, the horses, are uncovered intact. Do you ever get frustrated?
(MUASHENG): Yes, yes, yes, sometimes I get it. But sometimes I'm very excited about it. One example is I shall say that one finger is broken into more than 200 pieces. When I put them together, I cried.
QUEST: It can take more than three months to restore one warrior. A daunting thought when you consider the vast majority of the site remains buried nearby.
From the statuesque tranquility of the terracotta warriors to the chaos of Xi'an's street food fair, in this part of China enjoying food is not just a necessity, it's a right. This enjoyment of food spans the country, including capital Beijing. I've come to the market to see what locals have to choose from. Having a guide helps eliminate some of the guess work and there's none better than the chef and food writer Fuchsia Dunlop.
(FUCHSIA DUNLOP), CHEF & FOOD WRITER: This is (inaudible), the tender spring shoots of the Chinese tune tree. So it's a cooling vegetable. So if you have too much internal heat, in Chinese medicinal terms, eat (inaudible) and that will sort you out. They don't really want to come out. This is the (inaudible) which has a very slippery and tender flesh. In Chinese the sensation is called "ma", which is the same word as pins and needles and anesthesia.
QUEST: It's not even lunchtime but in the cavernous kitchens of (inaudible) run by Xi'an Provincial government, the chefs are turning up the heat.
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How significant is the food component of a trip in realizing an authentic experience?
DUNLOP: I think if we say an authentic experience involves of in some way entering into the real lives of people in a place, food is central to everybody's lives. I think there are certain challenges in looking for really authentic local food. First among them is language. Apart from that, how do you order? You have to have a mastermind who arranges a selection of dishes that will be a harmonious whole.
QUEST: Good grief, what have you ordered? Give me a rough idea.
DUNLOP: This is cold pork in a garlicky source with chili oil and sweet soy sauce. This is bamboo fungus from the forest of southern Xi'an with egg.
Now this one is for the texture, goose intestines in a spicy sauce. Lovely and slithery and rubbery.
QUEST: Across town, the kitchen is cramped, and chaos reaches new heights. This is also authentic Xi'an cooking of a different kind. Any similarity with the government run operation that I've just come from stops with the spices.
DUNLOP: The name of the restaurant, (inaudible) it's like food like your granny would make. Ironically as young Chinese people are cooking less and less, there's this real appetite for authentic home-style cooking.
QUEST: Cheap and cheerful. This dish is called "sad noodles" supposedly named because they are so hot they make you cry. I think I'll avoid the chillis.
DUNLOP: So, quail egg, chicken feet skin, chicken gristle, a couple of kinds of tofu.
QUEST: What's the rule of the road if you want to try to eat authentic?
DUNLOP: Well, I guess just be open minded and keep your eyes open and be willing to try new things. If you really want to experience China, then you just have to try some real Chinese food.
QUEST: The real tastes of China. And that's CNN Business Traveller for this month. I'm Richard Quest with the terracotta warriors of Xi'an. Wherever your travels may take you I hope they are profitable and of course authentic and I'll see you next month.
