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Communist Party Congress; Democracy Activists Freed; Niger Ambush; War on ISIS; America's Opioid Crisis; Trump White House; World Headlines; AFD Takes Seats In German Parliament; Catalonia's Political Crisis Sparks Economic Trouble; Melania Trump Addresses Bullying At Middle School. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 24, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream."

President Xi Jinping's ideology is enshrined in China's constitution, elevating him to the highest political level.

New information about the ambush that killed four U.S. soldiers in Niger and the role ISIS played.

Also, Donald Trump is set to declare an emergency on opioid drugs. What can be done to stop them (INAUDIBLE) across the border with Mexico?

It is a rare honor reserved for the most influential leaders of China. Now Xi Jinping has become the first president in decades to have this ideology

enshrined in the Communist Party constitution. The symbolic move comes at the closing of the party's congress.

Well, here you see Mr. Xi standing next to his two predecessors, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin. Neither have had the same honor bestowed on them. Let's

find out what this means for the future of China. Matt Rivers now joins us from Beijing. Matt, this move puts President Xi on power with Mao Zedong,

the founder of the People's Republic of China, which is quite extraordinary. How has he managed to orchestrate this and amass so much

power?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of infighting over the years, a lot of political wrangling, and a lot of success in doing

so. I think to put it into context for our viewers, what happened today at the 19th Party Congress closing ceremony was that something called "Xi

Jinping Thought."

That's actually the term that goes into the Communist Party constitution. That was enshrined in the constitution. The only other leader that has the

word "thought" next to his name is Mao Zedong. Is Xi Jinping being held on the same level as Mao? No, not really. It's a nuance way to look at it.

Mao founded the Communist Party, founded modern China, the communist China. But Xi Jinping has "thought" next to his name, so does Mao Zedong. No other

Chinese leader has managed to do that including Deng Xiaoping (ph), who is Mao Zedong's successor. So, we cannot really overstate how much that

symbolizes Xi Jinping's ability to amass political power over his past five years in office.

The past five years were about amassing political power. The next five years will be about using it. And so really impressive that he was able to

do that, fend off all of his political opponents. Many critics would say he used an anti-corruption campaign that on its face is to curve corruption

but in reality really purge all of his political opponents.

But likes the guy or not, Xi Jinping has has been quite successful and that was really formalized earlier today.

COREN: That is without a doubt. Some fear, however, Matt, that unchecked power of a 1.4 billion people in the hands of one man is dangerous. What is

he expected to do with this power domestically and internationally over the next five years?

RIVERS: Well, I think for the answer to that question, you have to look at what he's done over the past five years and that is an unbelievably

centralized approach to governing this country. Earlier in the Party Congress in his opening speech, he talked about how the Communist Party

should exert absolute control over all aspects of society.

That includes online, that includes cultural areas, that includes in state media, that includes the military. And what you have seen from Xi Jinping

over the past five years is a concerted effort to make the party felt in every aspect of life, building up and better control in the military,

censoring online conversations, controlling it in an absolute way state media, stamping out any dissent from people like human rights lawyers or

political activists.

And so moving forward, now that Xi Jinping has really been formalized, his power has been formalized, he can continue to do all of those things. And

furthermore, the other thing he talks about is China taking a greater role in the world stage, really pushing this power that it is amassing

economically and militarily out into the rest of the world.

So you're probably going to continue to see military expansion in the South China Sea and continue leadership on things like climate change. So, he's

going to use this power that he has amassed. No doubt about it, Anna.

COREN: Certainly it will be interesting to see where China is in five years' time

[08:05:00] and whether in fact President Xi stands down in 2022. Matt Rivers, good to see you in Beijing. Thank you.

In Hong Kong, two democracy activists are now free on bail. Why? They appeal their sentences. Joshua Wong and Nathan Law had been in jail since

August for their role in the so-called umbrella protest in 2014. They were originally given community service but an appeals court later increased

their penalty to between six to eight months in prison.

Nathan Law as elected the city's youngest ever lawmaker last year, but he was disqualified after a court ruled that his oath of office was

(INAUDIBLE).

We are getting a clearer picture of what exactly happened in Niger three weeks ago when American and Nigerian troops were ambushed by ISIS fighters.

A top U.S. general addressed reporters on Monday, filling in some of the planks about a deadly of a deadly mission that has been shrouded in

mystery. Still, many questions remain.

Let's go to CNN's senior diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kosinski. She is in Washington. Michelle, what can you tell us?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anna. Here we have the chairman of the joint chief of staff obviously filling the need to

get out there and take questions, making a point, in fact, to answer every question and repeatedly saying that the public is owed more information.

But he couldn't answer every question. There were even some basic questions that he couldn't including things like where exactly were these U.S. troops

when they came under fire, were they wearing body armor, how many of them took part in the search for the missing soldier who was found two days

later. Here we are three weeks after this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI (voice-over): America's top general providing some answers but not many, detailing a revised time line of the ambush in Niger that killed four

American troops.

JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We owe you more information. More importantly, we owe the families of the fallen more

information.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): October third, 12 members of the U.S. Special Operations Task Force leave the capital of Niger with 30 Nigerian troops.

Their goal, a reconnaissance mission in a village about 53 miles north.

DUNFORD: The assessment by our leaders on the ground at that time was that contact with the enemy was unlikely.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): But the next day, on their way back to the capital mid-morning, they came under fire by around 50 local fighters with ties to

ISIS, carrying small arms, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. NBC reports U.S. officials are looking into whether the militants were tipped

off by someone in the village.

The special forces team engaged in a firefight for about an hour, before requesting help. Within minutes, a U.S. drone was overhead. French jets

were scrambled but took another hour to arrive to the remote location.

DUNFORD: I don't know that they thought they needed support prior to that time. I don't know how this attack unfolded. I don't know what their

initial assessment was of what they were confronted with.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): The French did not drop bombs. U.S. officials said Friday the pilots had the authority but could not readily identify enemy

forces and did not want to risk hitting U.S or Nigerian allies.

It was evening by the time the French could evacuate the injured and bodies of the dead Americans. But it remains unclear how Sergeant La David Johnson

became separated from the group and why it took two days to locate his body about a mile away.

DUNFORD: Did the mission of U.S. forces change during the operation? Did our forces have adequate intelligence equipment and training? Was the a

pre-mission assessment of the threat in the area accurate?

KOSINSKI (voice-over): This as a White House official confirms to CNN that the administration expedited condolence letters to families of fallen

soldiers after President Trump made this remark last week.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have written them personal letters and they have been sent or they're going out tonight, but they were

written during the weekend.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): The following day, the president going a step further, making this false claim.

TRUMP: I have called, I believe, everybody. But certainly, I'll use the word virtually everybody, where during the last nine months, something has

happened to a soldier, I've called virtually everybody.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): An e-mail exchange between the White House and the Pentagon first reported by Roll Call shows that the president's aides knew

these remarks were not true. The aides rushing to learn the identities and contact information from the Defense Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: There are some surprising details that we found out here. I mean, for one, they hear that this was not just a 30-minute firefight but it

lasted several hours from mid-morning into the evening.

And another big question that General Dunford said they will be looking at is, did the original intent of the mission change? Did this team decide to

do something different or were they asked to do something different than they originally set out to do? Anna?

[08:10:00] COREN: Michelle Kosinski giving us the details. Many thanks for that. Regional security tops the agenda as U.S. Secretary of State Rex

Tillerson visits Pakistan. That comes after unexpected stops in Afghanistan and Iraq on Monday.

In the Iraqi capital, Tillerson focused on calming tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds. He keep the focus on fight against ISIS. Kurdish forces have

played a key role in forcing ISIS to give up territory at seas across the region.

While ISIS has retreated in many areas, the battle is not over. Arwa Damon spoke to two ISIS members who are being detained by Kurdish forces. They

confirm the militants have plans for the future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ISIS'S survival is not tied to the fate of its crumbling caliphate. It planned for

this day.

ISIS did calculate that one day they will be finished, the Bahraini man says. His voice calm and steady.

His name is Omar. He says he was in charge of ideological training at ISIS military camp in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.

He tells us, they did not put a lot of money into the battles they fought. The weapons they used were the weapons of the enemy. The money went

elsewhere. Omar says even during times of austerity, there was always a calculation for the future.

No one knows exactly how much ISIS is worth now. In 2014, the group was thought to have a total of $1.5 to two billion. It was making a million

dollars a day from oil fields, more than enough for its regular expenses. ISIS has distributed its revenues overseas, for the next phase of its war.

Esam is an ISIS member from Morocco who oversaw the border crossings between Turkey and ISIS territory. He tells us that ISIS would train and

dispatch members to set up companies which then acted as facilitators but also behaved as regular businesses.

ISIS may no longer physically control swaths of Syria and Iraq, but it thrives underground, and it is widely assumed that the ISIS leadership, Abu

Bakr al-Baghdadi and his top lieutenants are in the border areas between Syria and Iraq, familiar territory.

The first stage of the ISIS insurgency back in 2010 was called aggressive hibernation, making money, building networks in the deserts and cities of

Iraq. In many ways, ISIS is going back to that strategy, waiting for the next opportunity. It's an ideology that exploits and feeds off of deep-

seeded grievances, fosters and thirst for revenge.

They will spring up somewhere else, Omar says, if you don't know how to fight them ideologically. ISIS plots for the long game. Its leaders are

fond of saying that it's not ruling Mosul and Raqqa that counts, it's the will to fight. And ISIS will once again simply bide its time.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Northern Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The U.S. president is set to declare a national emergency on opioids. The law enforcement officers believe at least half of his plan has

a major flaw.

Plus, how one judge is finding America's drug abuse classes with treatments instead of jail time. Stay with us.

[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: You're looking at pictures of beautiful Victoria Harbor here in Hong Kong. Welcome back to "News Stream."

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to declare opioid drug abuse a national emergency. Some experts are calling it the deadliest drug

crisis in U.S. history. Drug overdose is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. last year, more people died from overdoses

than were killed by guns or in car accidents.

In 2015, roughly two percent of the deaths in the U.S., that's one in 50 were drug-related. Well, now, more than two million Americans are estimated

to have a problem with opioids. The Drug Enforcement Agency says most opioids are made in China, but it's Mexican cartels that get the illegal

drugs into the country. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta went to the border to see if President Trump's border wall could stop the drugs from getting in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What is the first thing that sort of flags this?

SCOTT BROWN, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS: Sometimes it's just the driver's behavior, they're unnaturally nervous for

crossing the border. Sometimes the car hasn't crossed the border a lot, or sometimes the car has crossed the border, you know, too often.

GUPTA (voice-over): What you are witnessing here are efforts in stopping drugs from coming through the U.S.-Mexican border.

BROWN: Almost every car is crossing for a legitimate reason. It's a very small percentage that comes in carrying contraband. But I think when the

inspectors pick up on something, their success rate is pretty high. When you saw the dogs sit down at the back of the car, that's how that

particular dog alerts.

GUPTA (voice-over): Special agent in charge, Scott Brown, oversees the Tucson field office for Homeland Security Investigations, and drugs are a

big part of what he does.

(on camera): This is how it happens. I mean, what we're witnessing here is --

BROWN: Is what happens every day along the southwest border of the U.S. and the officers at the ports of entry are phenomenal, they're fantastic at

identifying marks that shouldn't be there. So, a screw that at least been turned and there would be no reason for it to be turned. They can pick up

on that. I mean, they are experts.

GUPTA: That's just human art and intelligence together.

BROWN: Yes, absolutely.

GUPTA (voice-over): What they find, about 24 kilos of hard drugs.

Minutes later, field testing reveals cocaine.

(on camera): This is a win today, isn't it?

BROWN: This is definitely a win.

GUPTA (voice-over): In the midst of the country's opioid epidemic, President Trump has made building up the wall a cornerstone of his agenda.

TRUMP: The wall is going to get built folks, in case anybody has any question. The wall is going to get built and the wall is going to stop

drugs.

GUPTA: But I wanted to learn just how effective the wall would be in accomplishing that.

(on camera): This is literally a physical wall between two countries that we're looking at here.

BROWN: The vast amount of hard narcotics don't come through at places like this. The vast amount of hard narcotics come through the ports of entry

where we just were.

GUPTA (voice-over): And besides meth, cocaine, heroin or marijuana, it's fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroine. It's the biggest

challenge nowadays. The most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control found overdose deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl rose

over 72 percent in just a year.

(on camera): In the past, cartels might try and smuggle 100 kilograms of drugs across the border, wasn't easy to do, they were likely to get caught.

But here's part of the problem, nowadays, they can smuggle across something that looks like this. This was just a one kilogram bag of flour. But if

this was street fentanyl, it will cost about $8,000 to make, could be turned into a million pills, and then sold for $20 to $30 million on the

black market. All of that from a small container that looks like this.

BROWN: The vast majority of fentanyl is produced in China.

[08:20:00] It comes into the U.S. two ways. It comes into Mexico, where there are pressed into pill form or combined with heroin. The other way

comes in is American consumers buying it direct, oftentimes from vendors out of China.

GUPTA: Then it gets mailed in?

BROWN: U.S. mail, which is the most common, a very small quantity of fentanyl. It's very hard to detect in the masses of letters that come into

the U.S. everyday.

GUPTA: How effective is a wall at preventing drugs from getting into the United States?

BROWN: In terms of hard narcotics -- no, I don't know that we get immediately safer over hard narcotics. As of right now, the vast majority

of hard narcotics come in through the ports of entry, in deep concealment, or come in through, you know, the mail or express consignments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: So as can you see, it's a totally different war on drug nowadays. When you talk about a package this size, kilogram, $8,000 with the wrong

ingredients, that can get turned into a million pills, each pill costing $30. That's $30 million, $8,000 into $30 million.

So the economics of it are such a tremendous incentive for people to just keep trying through the mail, in the back of the car, whatever it takes.

That's what the war on drugs looks like nowadays with all these brand-new drugs. Back to you.

COREN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta there. Drug-related arrests are filling up jails across the U.S. One judge in the state of New Hampshire came up with a new

approach to deal with the problem. CNN's Chris Cuomo shows us what's being done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN JOURNALIST (voice-over): He just spent three days in jail on Judge Nadeau's orders for being dishonest about his relapse.

TINA NADEAU, CHIEF JUSTICE, NEW HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT: Hi, there. You know, you know I feel sad when I see somebody show up in handcuffs.

CUOMO (voice-over): During his stint in jail, Ron had to share a cell with other inmates going through opioid withdrawals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a horrible weekend.

NADEAU: Right. So you're actually in jail watching people detox?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. I had a punky in my cell detoxing, so I haven't really slept all weekend. I'm quite tired myself --

NADEAU: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cranky, irritable. I'm just looking to stay positive and keep going forward.

NADEAU: Why don't you tell me what you think is going on here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what it is is I'm trying to kick myself, really. The whole honesty thing is big --

NADEAU: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Key.

NADEAU: A slip off doesn't mean that we have to fall off the bus and it sounds like you get that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

NADEAU: OK, good. I look forward to seeing you next time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

NADEAU: OK.

In drug court, they are definitely told, you know, you are going to struggle, we don't expect you to be perfect on day one. They will see

somebody who uses and is honest about it will get a treatment adjustment. Someone who is dishonest about it will get a sanction.

CUOMO: So judge, you have criticism coming at you two ways.

NADEAU: Sure.

CUOMO: You have one, soft on crime.

NADEAU: Right.

CUOMO: Punish them. They did something wrong.

NADEAU: Right.

CUOMO: The other side saying, well, you just said you're an addict, put them in treatment.

NADEAU: Right.

CUOMO: Why do you believe that this satisfies problems with both of those ideas?

NADEAU: The study shows that if we treat that offender, then they're going to re-offend at a rate of about 25 percent versus 70 percent if they go to

jail or prison. So, it saves money and it reduces crime.

CUOMO (voice-over): She says taking the drugs may have started as a choice, but by the time they're in this program, 90 percent are full blown opioid

addicts.

NADEAU: We don't turn people away from hospital doors when they get lung cancer because they've chosen to smoke. We shouldn't be doing that for

people who are deeply addicted to opiates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first (INAUDIBLE) all about choice, path that I make that choice, it's all about necessity. You need it.

NADEAU: People start using because the euphoria is 100 times better than the most pleasurable experience and then the euphoria goes away and the

only way that can stay about the horrific feeling of the detox is to keep on using.

CUOMO (voice-over): Ron is escorted back to the jail to gather his things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have my phone in my hand, social media, smoke a cigarette. It's always a good feeling.

CUOMO (voice-over): It's a place where he spent a lot of time in the last few years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my high school diploma in this building, back in December.

CUOMO (voice-over): He has lofty goals for his future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to college --

CUOMO: Good for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to be a substance abuse counselor.

CUOMO (voice-over): Before Ron can help others, he's going to have to figure out how to help himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have four years to get this right.

[08:25:00] CUOMO: You want to go home, school (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. Obviously I'm behind on school work now, because I spent the weekend in jail. I will work on staying sober this

time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Chris Cuomo with that report. Well, in just a few hours, U.S. President Donald Trump heads to Capitol Hill for a high stakes meeting with

fellow Republicans. The president hopes to get party leaders on the same page on his big agenda item, tax reform. CNN's Joe Johns is at the White

House and joins us now. Joe, the president and the Republican Party have a lot riding on this, don't they?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: They have quite a lot riding on it. In fact, the message the president takes to Capitol Hill

today is if you don't pass tax reform, get ready to be defeated in the midterm election elections next year.

So a huge amount riding on this. The president has indicated he wants to see this bill fast-tracked on his desk by Thanksgiving, the end of

November, which is a very heavy lift for the congress in any circumstance, but especially in this one because all the ways to pay for the bill if you

will seem to keep getting taken off of the table, Anna.

COREN: Joe Johns joining us there from Washington. Many thanks for that. Well, neither side is backing down in the Spanish government's dispute over

Catalonia over the region's independence drive. We'll take a closer look at the immediate economic impact of the crisis later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." This is your world headlines.

The ideology of Chinese President Xi Jinping is now enshrined in the Communist Party constitution. The honor was bestowed at the closing of the

party's congress and puts him on power with Chairman Mao. Neither of Mr. Xi's two predecessors receive the same honor.

The Pentagon has revealed new details about the ISIS attack that killed four U.S. soldiers in Niger. The top U.S. general says the troops were on

their way back to their operating base when they were ambushed. He says they called for help an hour after the fight began.

New developments in the murder trial of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea's leader. Malaysian authorities put two suspects to retrace

their steps at Kuala Lumpur Airport. That is where Kim was poisoned back in February. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

[08:30:00] Well, now to German capital where a right-wing party is entering the country's parliament for the first time in almost 60 years. The anti-

immigration "Alternative for Germany" party or AfD as its known is now the third largest party in the Bundestag. Atika Shubert has this look of what

policies they want to see enacted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is Germany's 19th federal parliament and has a record-breaking 709 members, among them, far right

nationalist lawmakers will be sitting for the first time in nearly a century.

The Alternative for Germany or AfD has 92 seats. They are the third largest party in parliament and for some of those lawmakers, it will be

their first time sitting in any parliament seat whether regional or federal.

Now we a chance over the last few days to speak to some of those lawmakers and ask them what they intend to do, almost all of them agree they will

fight against immigration.

A number of them also say that they will be focusing on what they perceive to be the growing threat of Islamization. Some of the initiatives, they

intend to pursue suing Chancellor Markel for temporarily opening the borders to refugees in 2015, also drastically reducing the number of

immigrants here in Germany.

The AfD also, as a party says that Islam quote does not belong in Germany, so there are initiatives to ban Minarets, ban the call to prayer and banned

foreign funding of mosques for example.

Now the AfD will meet stiff resistance and parliament, not the least from Angela Merkel herself and her party, the Christian Democrats. They remain

the largest party in parliament.

Markel has nominated one of Germany's most distinguished and most fearsome politicians, Wolfgang Shoy-blay, the former finance minister nominated him

to become parliament's president, and it will be his task to keep the AfD in line, and make sure AfD lawmakers behave according to parliamentary

rules.

But other parties have also said that they will challenge the AfD head on, including the second largest party in parliament, the Social Democrats.

They are taking their job as opposition very seriously.

And Sigmar Gabriel, the former foreign minister had that decried the AfD as what he described as being Nazis having a voice in Parliament. So what

would normally be perhaps rather dull day at the Bundestag could turn into a rather raucous session as the AfD challenges the doctrines of the more

established parties, which is exactly what AfD supporters voted for. Atika Shubert, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Catalonia's parliament is expected to meet Thursday to discuss its next move in the escalating standoff with Madrid. The Spanish prime

minister has said he will dissolve the Catalan Parliament and Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, and replace the region's elected leader of the

Catalonia's independent strive.

Well, while, Spain's Foreign Minister has called on the Catalan people to ignore their current regional authorities once Madrid declares direct rule.

Madrid's actions spiked more protest over the weekend with some Catalan politicians calling it a coup.

The crisis is granted some businesses, including Catalonia's largest banks to pull out of the region. Earlier, I spoke to Victor Lapuente, Associate

Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. He is also from Catalonia. I asked him how the region plans to do business and meet

this Exodus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR LAPUENTE GINE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG: The Catalan separatist, they are trying to convince the

Catalans that this is going to be temporary.

But once Catalonia becomes an independent state, like -- by out of magic, tense will before or even better because in this case, they will not have

to contribute to their Spanish treasure and they will be able to collect all taxes.

But they are forgetting that now it is very clear that an independent Catalonia will be out of the European Union. We don't know for a years,

for a few months or even for a few hours that the economy can fix -- can be very damaging because the economy are moving very fast.

And there is a lot of concern about the investors, what's going to happen in Catalonia, that is what many Catalans are still feeling themselves now a

race. So this message is optimistic message and the future will be much better. It's not really convincing many Catalans now a days.

COREN: Victor, we know that the Spanish government is well within its right to invoke Article 155 and limit the powers of the Catalan Parliament

effectively centralizing control in Madrid but is this the best way to deal with this crisis.

GINE: So my perspective is a very good way to deal with this crisis.

[08:35:00] So the Catalan separatist, they have been taking that referendum that is legal, so they want to apply the rule of law to the Spanish

government and therefore, they are invited to do so.

However, I think there are -- from a political point of view, there are better ways, more carefully thought ways or trying to implement the rule of

law.

COREN: Well, we know that on Thursday, the Catalan Parliament makes and could technically vote for independence, and on Friday, Spain Senate will

meet to approve the implementation of Article 155 and this could all trigger social unrest, couldn't it?

GINE: Definitely, I think it's going to trigger social unrest. Therefore, the only solution -- I think the second best solution for both parties will

be to call for early elections.

And I think both -- I mean both in Madrid and in Barcelona, they are going conscious that at the end of the day, they will have to call for early

elections late this year or probably next year.

However, none of them pass and send these to be the one who was actually calling those elections because they are going to look like they are

surrendering. They are evening out and so on. So they would portrayed those elections as it were impose by other part to try to blame them for

the situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: That was a Associate Professor of Political Science, Victor Lapuente, speaking with me earlier. Still ahead, Melania Trump isn't

selfish about selfies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The photo frenzy as the first lady kicked off her anti-bullying campaign, coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Well, the scandal around disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is growing. Now, New York investigates as once you determine how

complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination were handled by his company, whether employees broke the law.

Weinstein was sacked after women came forward, accusing him of sexual misconduct that went back decades. Weinstein denies he did anything wrong.

Well, some behind-the-scenes drama around one of the TVs most famous shows, Actress Kim Cattrall spoke to Piers Morgan about Sex and the City and

revealed she was never friends with her three customs.

She says can hate from fans for turning down a third Sex and the City. Well, now she is singling out co-stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, who said she

is appointed, too.

Cattrall says quote, this is really where I take to the task, the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker is that I

think she could have been nicer.

I really think she could have been nicer. I don't know what her issue is. Cattrall says passing on another film was an empowered decision to end one

chapter over her life and start another.

Well, First Lady Melania Trump said social media ablaze Monday with the first trip on her anti-bullying campaign. Well, now the internet is

wondering why didn't she began a little closer to home. Jeanne Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The First Lady's speech got a big round of applause. But you know what seventh and eighth graders really want?

Selfies!

[08:40:00] Melania Mania manifested itself in selfies. One at time, two at a time, the First Lady's former life as a model makes selfies a snap. She

stooped, she put her arms around them, and Melania is no Prince Harry asking his fans to refrain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seriously, you need to get out. I know you're young but selfies are bad.

MOOS: Melania was anything but selfish about selfies. We counted almost 35 kids posing and one adult. But the trip was meant to be a photo-op of a

different sort.

Launching the First Lady's anti-bullying campaign in this middle school cafeteria, the name of the program, No One Eats Alone, anyone what to eat

with me? Want to eat with me?

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I encourage you today to find a new friend and have lunch with that friend. You agree?

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS: Yes.

MOOS: Of course, anytime the First Lady talks about putting an end to bullying, critics say start with your emotionally child-like husband.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm being very, very nice. But, at some point, I fight back, and it won't be pretty.

MOOS: Always dishing out those demeaning nicknames from Little Bob Corker to Wacky Congresswoman Wilson.

D. TRUMP: Lying Ted. Lying Ted. Crooked Hillary. Crooked Hillary.

MOOS: So, does the first lady need to square her bullying campaign with her husband's behavior? Her spokesperson told CNN, Mrs. Trump is

independent and acts independently from her husband. But does she eat independently? Red One tweet, someone befriend this boy. Jeanne Moos,

CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Before we go, the French president has a new addition to his household but it seems his adoptee isn't used to the more glamorous

settings of presidential life. Emmanuel Macron adopted his dog Neon from a -- Nemo, I should say, from a shelter earlier this year. Now keep your

eyes near the top right of the screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

COREN: Because as you see, it's saying that Nemo has some trouble finding the bathroom. Nemo's surprise appearance during meeting and ministers

approve that it makes you call, there's no saying no to new week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Very cute. That is News Stream. I'm Anna Coren. Do not go anywhere, World Sport with Alex Thomas is coming up next here on CNN.

END