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U.S. Intelligence Agencies Find North Korea 'Building New Missiles'; Assam register: Four Million Risk Losing India Citizenship. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 31, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: The U.S. President Trump says he is willing to meet with Iran's leaders whenever and without preconditions. Plus, untraceable guns that you could make at home if you had the right equipment. Activist doing everything they can to stop a U.S. settlement that will allow 3-D printed plastic guns.

And four million people could loose their citizenship even though they've lived in India for decades. We'll take you inside the controversial new registry that's throwing parallels to the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Hello everyone. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes and this is CNN Newsroom.

Welcome everyone. We begin with new developments on two of the world's nascent(ph) nuclear powers. First, Iran, Donald Trump saying he's willing to meet with that countries leaders whenever they want without preconditions.

The U.S. President withdrew, of course, from the Iran nuclear deal back in May and just last week threatened severe consequences if Iran ever threatened the U.S. again.

And in North Korea, "The Washington Post" reporting new indicators, including satellite images showing Pyongyang might be building new missiles. Now, that could be a serious blow, of course, to Mr. Trump's efforts to get North Korea to denuclearize.

Meanwhile back in Washington, the President and his attorney, Rudy Guliani, launching some of their most personal tactics yet on Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports from the White House.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump taking new aim at the Russia investigation, as the fraud trial of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, opens this week.

The president has Robert Mueller on his mind, personally calling out the Special Counsel in one weekend tweet after another. He often rails against the investigation, but seldom mentions Mueller by name like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: With the Italian prime minister visiting the White House today, the president taking questions, but not calling on reporters trying to get his take on what his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has spent hours talking about on TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN MALE: Mr. President, do you feel betrayed by Michael Cohen sir?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: The president did say, today, he would meet with Iran without preconditions, in what could be the latest chapter in his ongoing feud with the regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm ready to meet anytime they want to and I don't do that from strength or from weakness.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Do you have preconditions for that meeting?

TRUMP: No preconditions. No. They want to meet, I'll meet, anytime they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But earlier in the Oval Office the president also not taking questions about the Russia investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Thank you very much everybody. Thank you.

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Yet the president and his allies are trying to discredit Mueller. Just as Manafort stands trial on financial fraud charges.

Giuliani also insisting without evidence Mueller has a conflict with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER: You explain Mueller. Stand up and be a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: On CNN's New Day, Giuliani also saying, he's not sure collusion with Russia would be considered a crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: They're not going to be colluding about Russians, which I don't even know if that's a crime, colluding about Russians. You start analyzing the crime, the hacking is crime. The hacking is a crime.

ALISYN CAMEROTO, CNN HOST: That's you reason.

GIULIANI: Well, the president didn't hack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: It's a sign the presidents legal team is trying to move the goal post on the Russia probe. As the investigation moves closer to Trump's inner circle, Giuliani is trying to distance the president from Manafort, the man who helped him secure the Republican nomination two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: He was never involved in intimate business relationships with Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

HOLMES: CNN Political Analyst, Michael Shear, joins me now from Washington to discuss this and, well, discuss many things really. I mean you've got President Trump, let's start with this, saying that he's open to meeting the Iranian leadership without precondition.

And let's put up his tweet, where not so long ago, all caps, threatening quote, "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

I mean extraordinary stuff. Does this seem to be his ammo though, make (inaudible) as he did with North Korea and then open the door to talks?

MICHAEL SHEAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it is his ammo, not only with foreign leaders in this context, but it's sort of his modus operandi with everything, which is to say, you create a crisis and then you sort of sweep in and say that you're going to solve it.

The problem here is that even in the best of circumstances, if you think, well okay this is an actual strategy. He's tried this before with North Korea and made some progress, even if you think that, the case doesn't really work with Iran partly because the Iranians aren't sitting around waiting for conversations with the United States and if only, you know, the United States would allow them to talk without preconditions, then that would be great.

In fact, you know, within -- even before the president's offer, the Iranians were already rejecting any talks with the United States. And in fact, it's the United States that pulled out of the nuclear agreement with Iran and Iran's still technically working with five other nations, the European nations, on that deal, which they haven't pulled out of.

And so, the likelihood that whatever President Trump thinks he may or may not want to do in terms of sitting down with Iran, that the idea that they would actually agree to it is so exceedingly small, that it essentially makes the idea kind of meaningless, at least for the moment, unless a lot were to change in the world kind of overnight, it's kind of statement that doesn't mean a whole lot.

HOLMES: And of course, apologies(ph), controversial one-on-one with Vladamir Putin. We still don't know much about actually what happened with that and with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

A few hours ago "The Washington Post" reporting that U.S. spy agencies are seeing signs that North Korea is constructing new missiles and at a factory that produced the intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. How does that impact the president's portrayal of that meeting, that it was a success? That North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat.

SHEAR: Well, I saw that story. It builds upon what I think experts have been telling us for weeks now, which is that the president's -- the notion that the president has been advancing since those historic -- of that historic meeting with Kim Jong Un, the idea that the president has been putting forth that somehow, simply that meeting has led to a cessation of threats from North Korea, particularly the nuclear threat from North Korea, is just not true.

It may be that those meetings started a process that could eventually, years down the road, lead to some lessening of the threat from North Korea.

But, that is not the case now and the story in the "Post" puts an exclamation point on that, because not only are they continuing to produce fissile material, which is something that Secretary Pompeo acknowledged in a hearing just recently in Congress, but that they may actually also be continuing to build those very long range intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is the threat that had begun this whole process of seeking some way to negotiate in the first place.

HOLMES: Let's turn, if we can, to the (inaudible) inquiry and the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, I don't know whether you think whether he's just freelancing or what, but suggesting on CNN and elsewhere that collusion isn't a crime. Of course, the president has constantly said, no collusion.

Now, what's happening here? Is he moving or, let's say, removing the goal post, suggesting that if collusion happen, well it doesn't matter? How do you read what he's been saying? SHEAR: I mean, if you read it literally, you might come away with the idea that it looks like there trying to -- that they're worried that perhaps there collusion that will be found and that they're moving to make an argument about if that were to be the case, if collusion were to be found or alleged, that it wouldn't be a crime anyway.

I would caution though that I think if you were looking for somebody who is less disciplined, in terms of the way that he speaks than President Trump's, Rudy Giuliani might be the only person you could find. I mean the two of them are not disciplined, logical, careful speakers.

They don't think that way, they don't speak that way. Rudy Giuliani has been infamous over the years for sort of running his mouth without sort of a lot of thought. That's maybe why his own presidential campaign, a few years back, didn't go very far.

And so, I suspect that maybe what this, is just Rudy Giuliani's mouth getting ahead of any sort of particular strategy and we might read too much in ...

HOLMES: Just what you want from your lawyer, right? One other thing, just quickly. The president claiming Robert Mueller has some conflict of interest. Not explaining at all what that is or providing evidence. .

What do you make of that? Is it another distraction? I mean, why even raise this now? Is it just sort of laying the ground work for the base that whatever happens they're anesthetized to it?

[02:10:00]

SHEAR: Right. I mean I think there was some similar kind of claim that the president had made some months ago about some dispute that Bob Mueller had had with the Trump organization over fees at a golf resort or some such thing.

It's possible that's what he's referring, the White House won't - won't really say. I don't think they maybe even know specifically what he's referring to. But it does fit into the broader strategy, if you can - if you can attribute a strategy to the president, that he's been pursuing over literally a year, which is to undermine the credibility of the investigation, undermine the credibility of Bob Mueller and the people around him who are doing the investigation.

With the idea, which is - it's not a crazy strategy actually, because - because if at some point as we expect, the prosecution - the prosecutors come forward with a set of allegations about the president and the people around him, the more that - that President Trump and - and his allies can point and say well there's problems, there's conflicts, there's - there's political bias, there's overzealous prosecution.

All of that is going to help protect him. In the end, it's not unlike what President Clinton and his allies did in attacking Ken Starr and the prosecutors who were investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair. They - they - they employed a very similar strategy of - of really attacking Ken Starr and his - and his whole team around him. And - and in the end, politically anyway, it - it did have its desired effect.

HOLMES: Michael Shear, always a pleasure to get you on. Thank you so much.

SHEAR: Happy to do it.

HOLMES: Well several states in the U.S. are filing suit against the Trump administration, trying to block the publication of blueprints for 3D printable guns. Now, these plans are set to go online Wednesday.

All part of a settlement between the government and a company called Defense Distributed. Tom Foreman reports for us on the pushback from opponents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Gun control advocates are howling over the sudden availability of instructions for producing a plastic, single shot hand gun on any 3D printer capable of the job, arguing it is a first shot toward criminals and terrorists getting untraceable, largely undetectable guns on demand.

NICHOLAS SUPLINA, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR LAW AND POLICY, EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY: This is not simply instructions, this is download plug and play.

FOREMAN: Even those such specialized printers remain relatively costly and are not yet common, a nationwide prosecutors group says the development undermines critical public safety laws.

And on Capital Hill -

ED MARKEY: I ask the State Department to please reconsider this decision. I think it has long term national security and domestic security considerations for our country.

FOREMAN: At the center of the controversy is Defense Distributed, a non-profit in Texas that's been fighting the State Department for several years over the firm's desire to release the gun plans, insisting this is a free speech case.

These are merely instructions to build something. Cody Wilson who leads the company has described himself as a crypto anarchist on a mission.

CODY WILSON, DIRECTOR, DEFENSE DISTRIBUTED: It's (ph) giving you the ability to make something to military specification, but like affordably.

FOREMAN: Kind of. A ghost gunner machine from Defense Distributed, a 3D printer specifically designed to make gun components at home costs well over $1,000, beyond the range of some casual buyers. But -

SUPLINA: The price point here is not prohibitive for those who right now have an interest in undetectable and at times untraceable firearms.

FOREMAN: And with that consumer friendly device and downloadable plans, the company insists you can make more advanced guns with metal parts in your garage or basement, no trouble.

WILSON: And it's become kind of culturally edgy in the gun world to have your own ghost gun. People at least want to know they got one or two that nobody knows about.

FOREMAN: And according to federal agents, while the law prohibits firearms that cannot be detected by metal detectors or X-ray machines, making other guns for your own use at home, yes. That's fully legal.

Right now, fully plastic guns remain extremely limited in terms of their reliability and their capability. And these bigger, better guns involving metal can still generally be purchased on the open or black market more cheaply and more easily than they can be made.

Still, as this technology improves, concerns about untraceable guns emerging from garages will only grow. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Sam Radabi joining me now from Las Vegas, he's a former special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, well equipped to discuss this.

What - what to you does this decision mean, I mean in terms of availability of weapons that are potentially untraceable, undetectable, homemade?

SAM RABADI, FORMER SPECIAL AGENT, BUREAU OF ALCOHOL TOBACCO AND FIREARMS: Well Michael, speaking from the perspective as a - as a former law enforcement officer, I think the - the potential is there that the issue with 3D guns and - and the inability to trace that firearm, to track that firearm, the history of that firearm could be troublesome for detectives out there investigating a violent crime.

As I think you and public is aware, there's a lot of information that's derived off of the markings and off of the serial number of a firearm. And not having that information readily available to investigators can hamper an investigation pretty significantly.

HOLMES: How - I mean, by all accounts, it's fairly simple once you get the instructions. You do need high quality plastic. Some of these things have broken apart when fired.

I mean, there's safety issues in their use even by the user.

RABADI: Absolutely, and - and I think - look, I've been kind of tracking this issue for the last several years as advancements have occurred with 3D technology. I mean it's something that's - that's used by industry - throughout industry for production of many products.

You know, you've - you've seen a steady increase in the quality of - of these firearms that are produced by 3D machines, and I think the concern is as time goes on, two years from now, five years from now, several years from now, the advancements in technology, what will that - will that final product look like?

I - I would argue that probably the quality will be much more improved.

HOLMES: You know, now - now that the plans are out there, you can't put this genie back in the bottle can you? I mean even - even if they changed their mind on this officially, they're out there.

And not just in the U.S. these are out there internationally in place of where perhaps there are stricter gun laws than in the U.S.

RABADI: Yes, in my view, I'm always looking at it at the criminal use - misuse of - of a firearm. That's really at the core the issue here is an untraceable firearm in the hands of a criminal, of a terrorist, of someone else having the inability to track that firearm and how it eventually wound up at a crime scene is - is problematic.

I would say that, you know, for your average person out there, a gun enthusiast or a hobbyist, it's not really quite that significant an issue. But again, the criminal misuse of something like this could be troublesome for law enforcement.

HOLMES: Because I guess it eliminated oversight, I mean, you've got potential for terrorists to use it, you've got potential for felons, the mentally ill, basically people who would not be allowed to get a firearm anyway.

As long as you - you've got access to the right equipment, you - you could make it in your garage and - and potentially be undetected at airports, that's the other aspect.

RABADI: Well essentially, not having the ability to regulate the manufacturing of firearms, so if it's made in somebody's garage or in their basement, of course. You know, you - you wouldn't have the ability to regulate a production of that firearm and make sure it's - it's in compliance with - with federal laws and not have the serial number in there just - just thwarts law enforcement's ability to - to trace that gun.

HOLMES: I'm - I'm curious why do you think, and again, as a former law enforcement man, why do you think the government would allow this, especially for years they oppose this very thing and now all of a sudden it's no threat would be posed that would require regulation.

It's just hard to see how that argument holds water.

RABADI: Well I'll tell you, I've been in this business, Michael, for a long time, and - and there's probably nothing more intricate than our nation's firearms laws. There's a lot of technical language to it and I think as - as we've seen whether it's unfinished receivers, bump stocks, and now 3D guns.

As technology continues to advance, the - the laws probably have to advance with that. And it's really up to our legislators if they feel there's an issue that could arise from 3D guns, then it needs to be addressed by Congress.

But I think that's what you're seeing, not just with 3D guns, just a whole host of issues that as technology advances, there is going to be ways for potential criminal misuse of a firearm.

HOLMES: Does it frighten you, I mean the idea that these plans are out there and any terrorist or felon or whatever could, with the right equipment, make one? Does it - does it worry you?

RABADI: It worries me if I were still in law enforcement and my - many of my colleagues still are, not having the ability to have upper hand on - on a criminal, especially a violent criminal, especially a terrorist.

I mean these are - these are sort of the old tricks of the trade to try to identify a potential suspect and look, typically when you're finding a gun at a crime scene, it's usually a shooting or a homicide of some sort.

Very, very serious issues, so you know, I want to increase the ability of investigators to have the upper hand, not - not take away that edge from investigators.

HOLMES: Sam Rabadi, thank you so much, appreciate you joining, thanks for your expertise.

RABADI: Thank you for having me, Michael.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:14] MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Time to update you on our top stories this hour. Donald Trump says he is willing to meet with Iran's leader whenever they want without preconditions, a stark reversal from his all-caps tweet last week that Iran would suffer severe consequences if it ever threatened the U.S. again. A group of hikers has been rescued from Indonesia's Mount Rinjani.

That's according to the country's foreign minister. They were among 700 people trapped on and around the volcano after Sunday's devastating earthquake. The quake killed more than a dozen people. North Korea appears to be building new missiles less than two months after pledging to work towards ending its nuclear program in that summit with President Trump in Singapore. The Washington Post reports new satellite images and other information suggest liquid field -- fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles are being built outside Pyongyang.

Let's talk a little bit more about that. CNN's Paula Hancocks following it from Seoul in South Korea. OK. So where -- what are the indicators being seen and what's new in this? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael,

there's not a huge amount that is new. We have spoken to one U.S. official who says that this is really consistent with what is already publicly known. The Washington Post saying that they have spoken to officials who are familiar with the matter, and they believe that one potentially two liquid fueled missiles are being built at this point in a research facility just outside Pyongyang.

But the U.S. official we spoke to said that this is consistent with what we know. Intel agencies have also been publicly saying that they believe that the programs are continuing and certainly U.S. officials saying that they believe that Kim Jong-un has not made a full commitment to denuclearization. The Singapore Summit between him and the U.S. President Donald Trump talked about working towards denuclearization. The negotiations are still ongoing.

So there's not too much that's new about this. In fact, we even heard from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo himself last week at a Senate hearing saying that he acknowledges the programs are ongoing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korea continues to produce fissile material, nuclear bomb material. Is that correct?

MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator, I'm trying to make sure I stay on that correct. Yes, that's correct. I'm just trying to make sure I don't cross into classified information. I'm not trying to hesitate. Yes, they continue to produce fissile material.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So U.S. official assesses that the Singapore Summit gave Kim Jong-un the nuclear recognition that he wanted. But the actual negotiations are still very much ongoing.

HOLMES: All right. Paula Hancocks there in Seoul, South Korea for us. Thanks, Paula. Now, the citizenship of millions of people in Northeastern India is now in question all because of a controversial new registry that is stoking ethnic tensions. Amara Walker with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than four million people in the Indian State of Assam are now unsure if they are citizens, sparking new fears for their future. On Monday, the government published a controversial list called the National Registry of Citizens and out of the 32.9 million people who submitted documents, only 28.9 million people made the list as legal citizens. The move comes amid popular anger over illegal migration into Assam which shares a forest border with Bangladesh. Opposition leaders say four million is just too high.

RIPUN BORA, PRESIDENT, ASSAM PRADESH CONGRESS COMMITTEE: This figure is very high figure. It is -- it is very surprising. It is unbelievable because there is no house number of illegal infiltrators in Assam.

WALKER: Still the move has prompted fears of possible deportation among Assam's hundreds of thousands of Bengalese speaking Muslims. Authority saying no one will be deported until an appeals process is cleared.

RAJNATH SINGH, INDIAN MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (via translator): Every person will get enough opportunities to claim or put up an objection. There is a provision of this in the law. Everyone will get full opportunity to get their case heard.

WALKER: Security has been tightened across the state in anticipation of potential anti-immigration violence along simmering problem. In 1983, hundreds of people were killed in Assam by mobs intent on driving out Muslim immigrants. And in 2012, riots broke out between indigenous tribal groups and Muslim speaking Bengalese. Many of the states Bengalese community have lived in India for decades crossing the border into Assam during the bloody Bangladesh Independence struggle in 1971.

[02:35:02] To be recognized as citizens, all residence of Assam have to produce documents proving that they or their families lived in India before March 24th, 1971. A final list will be published in December. Amara Walker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Harsh Mander now joins us from New Delhi, the Director of the Center for Equity Studies to talk more about this. I mean this seems extraordinary. Pretty much millions of people will be made stateless overnight. How many of those people are going to be able to prove citizenship?

HARSH MANDER, DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR EQUITY STUDIES: You see, I mean, you know, for -- in 25 days working days is about the time they've given four million people the last chance to prove their citizenship and so that's about 150,000 on an average per day. It's impossible. And I think we need to recognize and this is a process, you know, perhaps a form of legality. But completely without compassion and without a sense of fairness, you know, you -- India -- this is one country for 200 years.

Assam had forests and plantations were being opened up, farmlands were being created, and people from what was now Bangladesh had been traveling and settling here. They're legitimate sort of anxieties of, yes, these people about their culture. But this is not to be in which -- in which this conflict is to be resolve on the -- one the --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Is there anything to the timing of this move? I mean why now? And what's being done to help these people?

MANDER: You see, if the government wanted to reassure them they should have told them what is going to happen to them once they are finally declared foreigners. You know, I -- I'm one of the very few nonofficial who had a chance to enter the detention centers that exist for these foreigners in jails and there are some of most hellish places I've seen country to international law, families are separated, you know, men separate women, children I would say.

The -- they located in prisons. They do nothing and for about nine years, they've been just sitting there. The imprisonment is indefinite and this contravenes international law sort of with self- concern and rightly about the U.S. and what it's doing with separating families. We've been doing it for the last nine years and if that is what has happened in the past, Bangladesh is refusing to accept any of them. What is going to happen to four million people?

It requires the government to -- great compassion, explain to them what is going to -- what is going to happen to them and there's also the history of extreme violence in the -- in the 1980s. Maybe it was a site where it has 3,000 people were massacred around the same issue and so there is a huge sense of fear about their destiny and the government is, you know, the majority of the government it's also announced -- it's trying to introduce a law that Hindus will not be -- will be treated as being citizens regardless and so --

(CROSSTALK)

MANDER: -- an entirely different spin.

HOLMES: Exactly. And to that point, Assam is -- it is one of India's most multi-ethnic states. How widespread are the complaints that there's an anti-Muslim sentiment in India or parts of the country? And you mentioned there the risk for violence as well.

MANDER: You know, India is -- India has never been as divided in it's -- since its independence that than it has been in the last four years because we have a government which has a strong majority than Hindu nationalist ideology in prospective, and so there's a sense of fear. We have increasing incidents of lynching across the country. I have been visiting families affected by lynching in across 12 states and there's a sense of a state which is ideologically hostile to its Muslim citizens.

And Muslims -- and India has the second largest population of Muslim people in the world and so we're talking about a very large something like 180 million people who belong to India to whom India belongs as much as it does to its Hindu and other residents. And the sense of fear that has been fostered by the politics of the present (INAUDIBLE) contravenes India's constitutional promises that it will not matter which God you worship. It would be an equal Indian.

[02:40:01] HOLMES: Yes. Harsh Mander with Center for Equity Studies, thank you so much. Very warring situation there. All right. We're going to take a short break on the program. Next stop on CNN NEWSROOM, the Palestinian teenager who slap an Israeli soldier last year has been released from prison and has big plans for her future. We'll have the details for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. A Palestinian teen who spent eight months in prison for slapping an Israeli soldier is now free. She became a symbol of resistance for many Palestinians after a video of the incident went viral. The young activist sat down with CNN's Ian Lee to talk about what happened and what's next for her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a life Ahed Tamimi couldn't have anticipated. Shooting to fame when she was 11 by staring down Israeli soldiers. The young Palestinian was on a path to international prominence but also prison. She was in this video in late 2017 of her hitting a soldier that for Israeli was the last straw. Moments before the incident, an Israeli soldier had shot her cousin in the head with a rubber bullet. He survived. Do you regret hitting the soldier?

AHED TAMIMI, PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST (via translator): My belief that I didn't do something wrong, I didn't go to the soldier. The soldier came to my house. The soldier forced me to do this. It's a normal reaction for what happened.

LEE: Days later, police raided the 16-year-old's home and arrested her. Israel's Defense Minister told reporters at the time whoever goes wild during the day will be arrested at night. Her trial in an Israeli Military Court lasted months. It became a lightning rod for criticism of the idea and its treatment of Palestinian youth. Tamimi finally plead guilty to four charges of criminal acts where she disrupted an IDF solider and carried out incitements. She served a total of eight months in prison. Released Sunday, Tamimi received a hero's homecoming. But the teenager who became a Palestinian icon first wanted pistachio ice cream.

[02:45:02] TAMIMI: It's a wonderful feeling. I haven't eaten ice cream in a long time. It's a wonderful feeling that I heard all the female prisons are released and can eat ice cream.

LEE: Israeli officials were mute about her released. Tamimi celebrated her 17th birthday in prison and graduated high school. She says she learned patience and studied human rights. All the while, her notoriety only grew. How do you feel that you're now a symbol of the Palestinian cause?

TAMIMI: Of course it makes me happy. I'm so proud that I succeed to deliver the message of prisoners in my homeland and nation. God willing I will succeed to deliver the message that Palestinians are suffering because of occupation.

LEE: Now free, her message is a Palestinian unity and hasn't ruled out a career in politics. But one step at time.

TAMIMI: In the future, I will register for university and study law and someday, I want to be a famous lawyer to defend my country.

LEE: The world and Palestinian Society will watch Ahed Tamimi closely. So, too, will Israeli authorities as she's currently on parole. Ian Lee, CNN in Nabi Saleh the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Police in China want to arrest 18 people for their involvement in producing faulty vaccines for children. Yes, you heard that right. According to state media, police say they found evidence the company they all worked for illegally sold substandard medicine. They have asked for approval to arrest 18 of the employees including senior executives. Chinese social media has been inundated with comments from concerned parents and understandably vaccines for rabies, diphtheria, and tetanus have been recalled.

Oxfam has long been known for its work in the fight against global poverty. But earlier this year, the charity's reputation took a serious hit. Some of its workers accused of hosting sex parties with prostitutes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The U.K. government investigated sex abuse claims against Oxfam and other international aid organizations and has come to some troubling conclusions. CNN's Erin McLaughlin with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Out of one of the greatest natural disasters one of the worst scandals in the history of global philanthropy. The revelation that Oxfam's country director in Haiti hosted sex parties with prostitutes while the country reeled from a devastating earthquake. It triggered headlines around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About sexual abuse allegations in --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A growing scandal --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the charity denies covering up accusations.

MCLAUGHLIN: And further revelations of sexual exploitation and abuse across the global charity sector. Six months on, a new damning report by the British parliament warning the scandal is far from over.

STEPHEN TWIGG, CHAIR, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SELECT COMMITTEE: What our report sets out is a collective failure over a period of at least 16 years by the aid sector to address sexual exploitation and abuse. But organizations have often put their own reputation ahead of the protection of children, women, and other victims, and survivors of sexual exploitation abuse.

MCLAUGHLIN: Stephen Twigg, chair of the parliamentary committee which found sexual exploitation in the aid sector to be a, "Open secret" noting outrage is appropriate, but surprise is not. And that the aid sector has been aware of sexual exploitation and abuse by its own personnel for years and that the reactive patchy and sluggish response of the sector has created an impression of complacency verging on complicity.

TWIGG: One of the most disturbing pieces of evidence we took was the suggestion that because very often humanitarian crisis are chaotic situations with little regulation, predators will be attracted to working in the aid sector.

MCLAUGHLIN: The report calls out British charities including Oxfam and Save the Children. Oxfam acknowledges the report makes for, "Painful reading." In a statement saying, we know we failed to protect vulnerable women in Haiti and we accept we should have reported more clearly at the time. For that, we are truly sorry. We've made improvements since 2011, but recognize we have further to go. In a statement Save the Children says along with other charities, we've heard the wakeup call for the entire aid sector loud and clear.

A wakeup call that the problem is global. For example, at sites of 2018 report looking at abuse in Syria which found that, "Sexual exploitation by humanitarian workers at distributions was commonly cited by participants as a risk faced by women and girls trying to access aid."

TWIGG: It can't be left to one country. There's got to be buy-in from other countries that --

(CROSSTALK)

MCLAUGHLIN: Do you see that buy-in?

[02:50:01] TWIGG: I think there are some encouraging signs, but it's very early. It's very early. And if this is going to change, it's not going to change in weeks or months or even years. It's going to take decades to really establish a system that works in every part of the world.

MCLAUGHLIN: Erin McLaughlin, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, it's been described as modern Britain's great shame, a steady relentless rise in child poverty. Four million children now impoverish in the U.K. and many of them have one or more parents who are working. They are among Britain's working poor and their numbers only expected to rise in the near future. CNN's Phil Black talked to one young girl and her family about how hard it is to make ends meet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How can you tell which of these young students is quietly worried about home, parent's happiness, money, and debt?

PRIYANKA PRADHAN-LAMA, Student: My name is Priyanka and I am 10- years-old. When I leave school, I feel like being like a doctor or maybe actress.

BLACK: In a class that looks like any other filled with concentrating often smiling faces poverty's cruel grip isn't always obvious.

P. PRADHAN-LAMA: My worry is that one day we might not be able to keep paying the bills because it's getting really too much for us. My mom since she early works for a few hours. She's not paid that much, but she tries her hardest.

BLACK: A 10-year-old girl's clear eye assessment of a family on the financial edge. And what Priyanka's describing isn't uncommon here at Stanhope Primary School in West London. Priyanka is one of many students who with instructions from mom take what she can from the weekly visit by a free food charity.

P. PRADHAN-LAMA: I only get some vegetables and some bread rolls, and also I bring sometimes I bring some yoghurt to make it then.

BLACK: Priyanka's parents moved to the U.K. from Nepal in the '90s. The goal a better life. Three children later they're getter by just.

TARA PRADHAN-LAMA: You should calculate as -- like we are spending more than we are earning. Something, well, it's too stressful. I -- at home, and I just cry and the children get very stressed as they have a good piggy bank that I can borrow their money. I said that money is not enough.

BLACK: This is a home where the parents sacrifice all for their children. And you're counting every penny?

T. PRADHAN-LAMA: Every penny, yes.

BLACK: It all makes a difference?

T. PRADHAN-LAMA: (INAUDIBLE) even a good prices went up 10 percent.

BLACK: Yes.

T. PRADHAN-LAMA: Milk used to cost one pound, but the last two weeks, it has gone to one pound and ten cents.

BLACK: Tara works part time for minimum wage. That money only cover school lunches and little else. Her husband must drive buses six nights a week.

T. PRADHAN-LAMA: The children like they have their daddy with them just 30 minutes in a day. He takes them to school. That's the time with him and he's not there the rest of the days. So they don't even know him properly.

BLACK: The parents' resolve means they earn enough to struggle through most days and that's too much to qualify for government help. So while Priyanka and her siblings are raised in hardship, they artificially deprived unlike 28 percent of the children at their school. Head Teacher Sahreen Siddiqui tells me some students aren't regularly fed which impacts learning and that ultimately alters life chances.

SAHREEN SIDDIQUI, HEAD TEACHER, STANHOPE PRIMARY SCHOOL: One girl told me that in emergency situations, she goes to school -- she goes to school hungry for example and when I talked about what that might be that might be the day that dad doesn't get any work.

BLACK: Activist described it as modern Britain's great shame, a steady relentless rise in child poverty. It now affects four million children according to a coalition of charities. At one statistic shows the complexity of the problem. In more than 60 percent of impoverished families, one or more of the parents has a job. They are Britain's working poor. And charity say a complex web of factors means their numbers are only expected to rise in the near future.

Unaffordable housing especially in London, recent price inflation, employment contracts which don't guarantee daily work and pay, and the government's decision to maintain and freeze on the benefits it pays to families in need. The U.K. government insists creating jobs and getting more people into work is the best way get by poverty. Low paying work and extraordinary determination allow Priyanka's parents to keep their family's dreams alive. But it's getting harder all the time and the children know it.

P. PRADHAN-LAMA: I feel like happy and proud that my parents are doing so much for me and that they don't really do much for themselves because most of the time they normally buy things for us, not for them.

BLACK: Phil Black, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:56:41] HOLMES: A lack of food is driving kangaroos in Australia out of their regular homes and a little closer to human civilization. It's actually a serious problem in the nation's capital, Canberra. That is -- that's some interesting pictures posted on social media. One resident tweeting, nothing like waking up to find a kangaroo in the backyard. On a local golf course says enjoying the breed of spectators. And the folks at NASA's Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, they used to complex math.

They counted nine roos outside their fence. And one woman tweeted this, Canberra have to pay respect to our macro pod overlords. They're everywhere. They are everywhere. Nothing unusual in that. Thanks for being with us. I'm Michael Holmes. Do remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @holmescnn, also on Instagram @holmescnn. I'll be back with another hour of news coming up next. You're watching CNN.

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