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The British Prime Minister Theresa May Asking The E.U. For More Time Yet Again; Boeing Admits Its Equipment Played A Role In Two Deadly Crashes; U.S. President Donald Trump Calls Deal With China The Grand Daddy Of Them All. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired April 05, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST, NEWS STREAM (voice over): Theresa May's new request.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): She's essentially asking to delay the current delay.
LU STOUT: The British prime minister turns to the EU for another extension for Brexit.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've always been clear that leaving with a deal is the best solution.
LU STOUT (voice over): Boeing takes the blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS MUILENBURG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOEING: We are sorry for the pain, it is our responsibility to eliminate this risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): The company admits its equipment played a role in two deadly crashes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY SCHIAVO, TRANSPORTATION ANALYST, CNN: Finally, they're coming to the realization that they are going to be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): And a deal in the works?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to be the grand daddy of them all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): An end to the year-long trade negotiation might be coming close.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT RIVERS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: The Chinese government certainly wants a deal to be made here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (on camera): I am Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." "Another Brexit delay, please, Mr. Tusk." The British
Prime Minister Theresa May asking the E.U. for more time yet again. But nothing is guaranteed. The European Union must now decide whether to
approve the request or let the U.K. crash out of the bloc on April 12th.
Let's to straight to Nina dos Santos who is outside Parliament, and Nina, Prime Minister May has asked the E.U. to delay Brexit until June 30th. Why
June 30th and would the E.U. agree to that?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, two really big questions here and very important ones, Kristie. June 30th is the day that she has
already actually proposed to the E.U. In fact, she proposed it at the last E.U. Summit and got knocked back about two weeks ago.
She is doing this yet again saying, "Well, look, we're coming up to the wire here." There is another extended hard deadline of April 12th. She
came back with that from that E.U. Summit a couple of weeks ago and she's saying, "Look, there's just no way that in the time being, we're going to
get Parliament to agree to my withdrawal deal even if I've extended the olive branch over to Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party and we're trying to
constructively work through a Brexit solution between now and then." And as such, she has yet again floated this June 30th deadline.
June 30th is significant because what it does means is that she recognizes in this letter that she sent to Donald Tusk earlier today that the U.K.
will probably have to make preparations to run candidates in the European parliamentary elections which will take place on May 23rd, but if they
manage to - if the U.K. manages to extricate itself from the E.U., passing that withdrawal agreement eventually through Parliament before June 30th,
well, they wouldn't have to make those British Members of the European Parliament take up their seats on July 1st and that the U.K. could extract
itself from the E.U. in an orderly fashion between now and then.
Very unlikely, this is the second question of yours that the E.U. would actually go for this, though. As I said, they rebuffed Theresa May before
when she's come up with that June 30th deadline and France in particular has made it very, very clear that a short deadline is not something they're
willing to entertain unless they have a specific reason for that, either another referendum or potentially even an early general election for the
U.K.
Now, even before Theresa May actually issued this letter to Donald Tusk, we already saw overnight the European Union starting to brief journalists that
they were only in the mood to give the U.K. what they called a flextension -- a flexible extension for about a year. Probably, this would be to avoid
the U.K. continually distracting the E.U. from other things that needs to get focused on, including those Parliamentary elections over the next year
with these short extension requests upon short extension requests -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Got it. So the E.U. would like to see a much longer delay. Now, cross party Brexit talks, they resume today. There are a lot of
dynamics at play here. The Brexiteers, they want Theresa May to harden her position. Jeremy Corbyn, his Party has their own demands. How can these
two leaders reach a compromise and do they have the political skill to do it?
DOS SANTOS: Yes, again, big questions. you know, for a very, very divided political landscape, both inside the broader 600 and something strong
Members of the House of Commons, but also inside the smaller members of the shadow Cabinet and the Cabinet of Theresa May. And people pulling in very
difficult forces here with these cross Party talks entering their third day.
Yesterday, we had another series of what were called constructive, but ultimately inconclusive talks that lasted four and a half hours. The real
problem that they have here, essentially, and Jeremy Hunt has been speaking to reporters, the Foreign Secretary here, another potential person who
could take Theresa May's job in the future. He's been saying, "Look, part of our manifesto is that we've been quite clear that we don't want a
Customs Union. We are going to come out of the Customs Union," according to a Conservative-led government manifesto. But obviously the Labour Party
would like to stay inside the Customs Union.
So that is one of the red lines that Jeremy Corbyn appears in these talks to have put down in front of Theresa May to say, "Well, look, for us to
come on board to support your withdrawal agreement, because you do need our votes in the House of Commons to get it through a fourth time ..."
[00:05:10]
DOS SANTOS: "... lucky, we would need permanent membership of the Customs Union." He has also apparently asked for safeguarding of workers' rights
and other things that are part of the six-part series of tests that the labor manifesto says any Brexit plan that they would support would have to
meet.
But even inside Theresa May's own government, you have those hard flanked Brexiteers who would like to see the U.K. actually leave potentially even
on April 12th in the cleanest fashion as possible with no deal. So you have competing forces on all sides on the Labour Party side, we also have
some members of the shadow Cabinet who have been involved in these talks with Jeremy Corbyn saying, "Look, a huge amount of our Party want a second
referendum, so that is something you should try and get the Prime Minister to capitulate on, as well."
Just finally, we've had the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the second senior most member of the government, Philip Hammond, he has publicly started
talking in favor of a second referendum. So on both sides, talks and pressure for a second referendum, pressure for a Customs Union and also
against it -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Nina dos Santos with the Brexit state of play this day, thank you. Now, just after Boeing admitted that its anti-stall system played a
role in the Lion Air and the Ethiopian Airlines crashes, "The Washington Post" reports that Federal regulators are now ordering Boeing to fix a
second software problem discovered on its 737 MAX.
This one affects the planes flaps and other flight control hardware critical to flight safety. Now, Boeing tells CNN that the problem was
unrelated to the anti-stall system and is, quote, "relatively minor."
A damning 33-page preliminary report details how pilots fought the automated anti-stall software almost as soon as they became airborne.
CNN's Tom Foreman is in Washington. He joins us now and Tom, with the release of that initial report, a very strong response from the CEO of
Boeing.
TOM FOREMAN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, this really seemed to be a tipping point for Boeing, Kristie. After days of joining the FAA and suggesting
maybe pilots should have been able to handle this, now Boeing really is saying, "This is our problem and we have to fix it."
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MUILENBURG: We at Boeing are sorry for the lives lost in the recent 737 MAX accidents.
FOREMAN (voice-over): A rare and stark admission of fault from the world's biggest airplane maker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUILENBURG: It's apparent that in both flights, the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, known as MCAS activated in response to
erroneous angle of attack information. It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk. We own it, and we know how to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN (voice over): The video statement from Boeing's CEO came after a preliminary report laid out in horrific detail what apparently happened to
the doomed Ethiopian Airlines plane.
The report says the trouble starts right after takeoff with airspeed and altitude readings from the left side of the 737 MAX 8 that don't match the
readings from the right side, and two sensors on the front disagreeing about the angle of the aircraft's nose. The sensor on the right shows
steady readings around 15 degrees, but the one on the left swings wildly from 11 to nearly 75 degrees steep, as if the plane is rocketing upward.
Those readings are false, but they appear to trigger the MCAS system, an onboard computer, which starts pulling the nose down. If the plane were
climbing steeply that would prevent a stall, but because it is climbing normally, the system erroneously starts pushing it toward the ground. The
report does not name MCAS, but Boeing has now acknowledged it was involved.
The captain asks the first officer to pitch up together, to pull back on their controls simultaneously. It does not work. Instead, the flight data
recorder shows the plane diving, in all four times without pilot's input. An impact warning sounds in the cockpit: "Don't sink, don't sink."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAGMAWIT MOGES, ETHIOPIA'S TRANSPORT MINISTER: The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer, but was not able to
control the aircraft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: The report says the cockpit crew even figures out what is wrong and disables the MCAS system. Then the captain asks his first officer
about a key part of the plane needed to regain control, the trim. The reply: "It is not working."
Less than six minutes in, once again, the aircraft began pitching nose down, eventually reaching 40 degrees; and it slams into the ground with 157
on board at nearly 600 miles an hour.
It is all eerily similar to the crash of an identical jet near Indonesia last fall, killing 189 people. Hours after the preliminary findings were
announced, the family of an American woman, Samya Stumo, who was killed in the crash, filed the first lawsuit against Boeing and others.
[08:10:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADNAAN MILLERON, BROTHER OF PLANE CRASH VICTIM: The potential of my sister and 156 others driven straight into the ground because of Boeing's greed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: Stumo's family says they are grief-stricken over the young woman's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADIA MILLERON, MOTHER OF PLANE CRASH VICTIM: Obviously, this could have been prevented, and that's what makes me cry. It's not like it was an
accident. This is not an accident. This is something that could have been prevented and should have been prevented.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: That young woman killed in that crash was the niece of a former presidential candidate here in the United States named Ralph Nader who
actually rose to fame as a consumer advocate and he is waging a campaign now against Boeing. A lot of others may be on board with that, too.
Remember, this is just a preliminary report. It could take months and months until we know all the details, the final word on this crash, but
this part is already in. This has become an existential question for Boeing and if they don't get their arms around it, this plane could
possibly never go back up in the air -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Tom Foreman reporting. Thank you. Now, more on the aviation industry a little bit later in the program. In fact, we're going to be
airing a second part of our interview with the CEO of Cathay Pacific. That will run in about 20 minutes from now.
Now, the U.K. has called on the UN to hold an emergency Security Council meeting on Friday over escalating tensions in Libya. This as the Military
Commander of the Eastern Libya Forces is advancing on Tripoli, the base of the country's internationally recognized western-backed government.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres is in Libya and he is calling for calm and restraint. Let's go straight to Nick Paton Walsh who is
following this from London. He joins us now, and Nick, this National Army is on the move, it is advancing on Tripoli. What is the latest you're
hearing from Libya?
NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, at this present moment, the capital of Tripoli seems calm, there are -- as they
have been frankly over the past years, queues in the streets, but less traffic. A sense of anticipation, I think, but the advance called, as it
has been by this Libyan National Army, led by a man who calls himself a Field Marshal, Khalifa Haftar coming from his stronghold in the east. It
appears to have stopped short of the capital, despite announcing they would move in and frankly, in their words restore law and order.
Now, a bit of context here because this is probably the most decisive military move I think we've seen since the Libyan Civil War in 2011 after
which a kind of almost impossible to explain, frankly, mess of different militias began to duke it out, often over street by street, it is often
very slow tempo over a matter of months for the various different parts of Tripoli and elsewhere for control.
Now, Tripoli itself has been a substantial mess, frankly, for years. Lots of different rival militia there contesting what had years ago been the
dominance of the Libya Dawn faction there and then separate militia in Misurata further to the east until you reach general or Field Marshal
Haftar's lot out in Benghazi and Tobruk who had their own part of the country.
Now, the bizarre back drop of this seeming advance on the capital is the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres is, in fact, in Libya, was in fact,
just in Tripoli, is now heading towards Benghazi and Tobruk, the strongholds of this Libyan National Army to try and broker a peace deal.
Now, in Tripoli, there is supposed to be a UN-backed government, that's really struggled to take hold of late, really struggled, and I think that's
contributed to this sense of a power vacuum here or certainly, the decision about who runs the country being in the balance, the question here is who
has influence outside the country and what happens inside of it. Well, Antonio Guterres will be hoping it's him.
The Kremlin who have been accused of cozying up to Mr. Haftar and even some suggest even sending mercenaries in perhaps to assist his military
maneuvers, they have said they're not supporting him and called for no bloodshed.
But after years of chaos, the troubling thing here, I think, there's something decisive appears to be happening or trying to happen and that may
bring more chaos, not less -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Now, attention flaring up in Libya after years of political chaos and violence, Nick Paton Walsh with the very latest. Nick, thank
you.
You're watching "News Stream." Keep it here because just ahead right here on the program, the suspect in the New Zealand mosque massacre last month
is formally charged. What happened inside the courtroom?
Plus, U.S. President Donald Trump calls its trade deal with China, quote, "very monumental." We've got a live report from Beijing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:00]
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, this is "News Stream." Now, the man accused of committing New Zealand's worst mass
shooting in modern history has been ordered to undergoing mental health tests. The 38-year-old suspect now faces 50 counts of murder and 39 counts
of attempted murders. He is accused of killing worshippers in two Christchurch mosques last month. Journalist, Blis Savidge was in the
courtroom earlier and tells us what she saw.
BLIS SAVIDGE, JOURNALIST, NEW ZEALAND: The alleged gunman appeared in court Friday via on audio visual link. Now, while he was handcuffed, he
generally looks relaxed. Even a little bit uninterested at times looking around the room.
The courtroom -- small, full of family members, members of the media, with a large security presence, both inside the court, and outside court. Now,
while the hearing was a largely procedural and brief, they did officially announce 49 more counts of murder and an additional 39 counts of attempted
murder. Making the total 50 counts of murder and 39 counts of attempted murder.
Now, it was such unprecedented case in New Zealand. People want to know, what is the maximum sentence that someone can receive for such a crime, if
found guilty. We talked the Attorney General's Office while the Attorney General has no specific comment on the case. They did confirmed us, that
under New Zealand legislation, the maximum sentence that someone can face is life in prison without parole.
Now, while that's still a little bit a ways away, we do have immediately coming up an order for a mental evaluation which the judge wanted to stress
was normal and not out in the ordinary for a case such as this.
Now, the defendant was remanded back into custody and it's expected back in court on June 14th. Blis Savidge, CNN, Christchurch.
LU STOUT: Now, you'll recall that the gunman livestreamed much of the brutal attack on social media. In fact, he stayed up live for 17 minutes
on Facebook, but CEO, Mark Zuckerberg is pushing back against calls to delay livestreams. In fact, here's what he told ABC's "Good Morning,
America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: Live video itself was seen about 200 times while it was live, most of those, it seems, were from people in a different
online community off Facebook that this terrorist basically told.
One of the big takeaways from that is we need to build our systems to be able to identify live stream terror events more quickly as it's happening,
which is a terrible thing.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, ABC: Would a delay help -- any delay of live streaming?
ZUCKERBERG: It might in this case, but it would also fundamentally break what live streaming is for people. You're not just broadcasting, you're
communicating and people are commenting back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, Facebook has previously acknowledged that its artificial intelligence systems failed to catch the live stream video of the attack.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging his negotiators to wrap up trade talks with the U.S. quote, "as early as possible." Chinese state media
agency, Xinhua reports that both sides have achieved new substantive progress especially on the texts of an economic and trade agreement.
U.S. President Donald Trump calls the deal the grand daddy of them all, but he stopped short of saying whether there will be a summit with the Chinese
President later this month.
CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now live from Beijing with more. Steven, good to see you. Donald Trump - he is dropping big hints that a final deal is
in sight.
[08:20:10]
LU STOUT: But do Chinese officials share the same optimism?
STEVEN JIANG, SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN: Well, publicly, yes. You mentioned the Xinhua report and the upbeat sort of sentiment is really uttered by the
visiting Chinese Vice Premier, Liu He at the White House as well. But it's interesting to see Donald trump despite his hyperbole, also is
acknowledging the fact that both sides are not really crossing the finishing line just yet because of a number of longstanding sticking
points, the President mentioned a few in his remarks.
For example, intellectual property protection. The Americans really emphasized this issue, not only because of theft of American intellectual
property, but because of forced transfer of U.S. technologies as a condition to enter the Chinese market.
And probably even more importantly is the enforcement mechanisms because from the U.S. perspective, a lot of the pledges, a lot of the promises from
China they had heard before, but only to see the Chinese to fail to follow through.
So this time, they're trying to make sure that the Chinese live up to their end of the bargain. So that's why we have seen reports about the Americans
either wanting to keep the existing tariffs on the billions of dollars of Chinese imports or as a condition of lifting them to have the Chinese come
on board to say to allow the Americans to take unilateral actions to penalize the Chinese if they see Beijing fail to live up to their end of
the bargain.
Now, that's of course something -- that's going to be very difficult for President Xi Jinping of China to swallow. I think because of these
sticking points, that's why we are seeing both sides despite their public sentiment for making this new substantial progress, they're really not
there yet in terms of reaching a final deal -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Got it. So a number of sticking points remain from intellectual property rights to enforcement and that is why the trade war between the
U.S. and China has stretched beyond the one-year mark. Now, how damaging has this last year have been for the economy there in China?
JIANG: Well, you know, it's been damaging in the sense that's like it's really certainly affecting consumer and investor confidence here. Now, the
economy, of course, has been slowing substantially in the past few years and that is why President Xi is under mounting pressure to get this trade
deal done especially for this politically very sensitive year for Mr. Xi.
As you know, there are a couple of very sensitive anniversaries coming up here in China, including the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown
and the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
So Mr. Xi really wants to have this deal done, to really have this economic engine revved up to ensure social stability. But on the other side of the
coin, Mr. Trump is probably also keen to have this deal because he is under a tremendous pressure domestically due to a number of contentious issues.
So I think both leaders, both governments wants to see a deal sooner than later, but it's just interesting to see in the coming weeks or months which
side would back down first or what kind of compromises negotiators can really reach -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Got it. A lot of desire for a deal from both sides, but who is going to blink first? We've got to wait and see. Steven Jiang reporting
live from Beijing. Steven, thank you.
Mr. Trump is now sending a new line of trade warnings to Mexico, while also backing off earlier threats to completely shut down the U.S. southern
border. The President says if Mexican authorities don't do more to stop illegal migration and drug trafficking within a year, he will take action
to impose tariffs on car imports from Mexico. He says Mexico did take some actions this week to ease the pressure on U.S. ports of entry.
Now, the U.S. President plans to view a border wall project later today. Let's go straight to Nick Watt now at that site in Calexico, California.
And Nick, when the President touches down, he's going to see what? A wall? A fence behind you? What is he going is to see?
NICK WATT, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, that's a very good question -- wall or fence? This is it and we were actually here back in October when they
unveiled this and there's a plaque on this fence that says, you know, to commemorate the completion of the first section of President Trump's border
wall. Is it or isn't it? Well, that's the question.
You can see through it, which suggests that it's a fence. It's 30 feet tall. It is also replacement. The wall is a fence here before and this
replaced it and they ear marked it for replacement back in 2009. But the funding did come through during President Trump's term in office.
Now, he will be touring this today and the fear down here had been that he would use this opportunity to announce the closure of that border. As you
mentioned, he has since backed off that and given Mexico a year before he says he'll impose tariffs on cars as a punitive measure, but the reason
people around here were scared of the border closing down is they rely so heavily on cross border trade.
[08:25:03]
WATT: We are on the U.S. side right now in a place called Calexico; on the other side in Mexico, that is Mexicali. Now, the clue there is in those
names. There is such a cross border culture here. And you know, 20,000 people cross this border every day.
The economy of Calexico relies almost entirely on its much bigger Mexican neighbor on the other side. That is why people were concerned and in fact,
some local officials have told us, they would rather that the President not focus on building a wall, but focus on refurbishing the ports of entry so
that the safe crossover of people can be expedited and people can get across that border easier.
Now, there are protests planned for the President's visit here today from three groups. One of those is bringing -- I am not sure if you've seen it
-- it has flown over a number of U.S. cities, a big inflatable balloon of President Trump as a baby wearing a diaper. They say they do it because he
is childish. Kristie, back to you.
LU STOUT: And that will be an incredible sight for him to see. Protests, that big Trump baby balloon and what we see behind you, the first part of
Donald Trump's wall/fence. Nick Watt reporting live from Calexico, thank you.
U.S. Democrats, they are ramping up the pressure on Attorney General William Barr over the Mueller report. Now, it comes after reports that
some members of the Russia probe aren't happy with Barr's four-page summary of the nearly 400-page report. They feel it does not properly convey how
damaging their findings are for the U.S. President. Jessica Schneider has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler demanding the public release of summaries prepared
by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team outlining their findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: This is a matter of law, and it is a matter of justice. We need a full accounting of
the President's actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): CNN learns that several investigators on Mueller's team have expressed frustration with the way Attorney General William Barr
characterized their report. In particular, some investigators say Barr's letter inadequately described how the probe into potential obstruction
included derogatory information about President Trump's actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: There's an easy answer to this. Release the Mueller report as soon as
possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): Nadler also requesting all communications between the Special Counsel's office and the Justice Department about the report.
The Justice Department tells CNN they are not commenting on Nadler's latest demand, but earlier in the day they defended Barr's handling of the report,
insisting that every page of the report may contain confidential information and that the Attorney General did not want to release the
report in serial or piecemeal fashion. Democrats making clear that what Barr is preparing will not be enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADLER: It's inevitable that Mr. Mueller is going to testify at some point, but the first thing we need is all -- is the release of the report
and the documents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): The White House accusing the Democrats of overreach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They've lost in 2016. They lost on the collusion battle. And now they're looking for any and
everything they can to continue to attack this President, because they have no message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): President Trump echoing that message on Twitter, writing, "This is the highest level of presidential harassment in the
history of our country."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Jessica Schneider reporting. You're watching "News Stream," and still ahead, my interview with the CEO of Cathay
Pacific. In part two, we talk about airline competition, security and a spelling mistake gone viral.
And 5G mobile technology looks at to revolutionize communication in the coming years, but already one nation is ready to use it now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:00]
LU STOUT: I am Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, you're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. The British Prime Minister
Theresa May has written the European Council President, Donald Tusk to request another short Brexit extension to June 30th. The request comes
amid cross party talks between the U.K. government and the opposition to break the Brexit impasse.
"The Washington Post" reports that U.S. regulators have ordered Boeing to fix a second software problem on its 737 MAX. Boeing tells CNN that the
issue is relatively minor. The report comes just after Boeing admitted its anti-stall software played a role in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines
disasters.
Ecuador's Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on claims from WikiLeaks that its founder, Julian Assange will soon be expelled from the country's
embassy in London. Assange has been hiding at the embassy for almost seven years after Ecuador granted him asylum in 2017. His legal team says his
expulsion would be illegal.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging negotiators to wrap up trade talks with the U.S. quote, "as early as possible." China's state news agency,
Xinhua reports that both sides have achieved new substantial progress especially on the text of an economic and trade agreement.
Asia is now at the center of demand for much of the world's traveling population, and Cathay Pacific Airlines is adjusting to that growth and to
increase competition. Here is more of my interview with CEO, Rupert Hogg starting with the importance of protecting customer data.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RUPERT HOGG, CEO, CATHAY PACIFIC: We were doing an awful lot at the time. We had done an awful lot in terms of investment in that area of cyber
security. It is, I think, an issue of real importance to us in terms of customers and customer faith, you know, we're not under any illusion that
these things have an impact on people and their perception of Cathay Pacific and trust.
Data is marvelously powerful for giving us real insight into what it is that our customers want, what it is that they value, and whether we're
delivering it or not. So that will continue. But it's most important that we make sure that people's data is always safe and secure.
LU STOUT: Cathay Pacific has recently returned to profitability, but it is tough out there. You have competition from the Middle Eastern airlines,
the luxury side of the business, competition from Chinese airlines on the budget side of the business, how worried are you about competition?
HOGG: There's always been lots of competition actually in Hong Kong, there's over a hundred airlines that we compete with. So it's a
competitive environment out there. It's really pleasing.
In the last two years, we've been working through a transformation of our business and the results in 2018, profit and profit at the airline level,
as well, are you know, encouraging because we've done a lot of work in demand for travel and I think that the center of that demand is sorted of
moving to Asia.
We can see China being the largest market in the world at the moment, Hong Kong being very well positioned as the largest international hub in Asia,
third largest in the world. And so what are we doing about that? Well, we're trying to make sure that we put the customer at the center of
everything we do.
LU STOUT: More growth, new business propositions, new destinations, including Komatsu and Seattle and you've also agreed to purchase Hong Kong
Express. So you're in the budget business. How do you make sure that the budget side of the business doesn't cannibalize the rest of your business?
HOGG: As has been reported, we've signed a purchase agreement with Hong Kong Express, that's not over yet. But we hope that that deal will
complete by the end of this year, and hopefully sooner. And you're right, it's a new type of business for us, a new sort of business proposition, but
we're excited by that.
[08:35:05]
HOGG: We intend, if we complete the deal, to keep the airline as a low cost airline and so I guess that's another brand in our portfolio of brands
operating out of Hong Kong.
LU STOUT: I have to ask you about that massive typo that took place on delivery of one of your planes last year, it said Cathay Piciic - no F. it
went viral, even Cathay Pacific on social media made light of itself, which prompted some people to think that this was some sort of a PR stunt. Was
it?
HOGG: No. It wasn't a PR stunt. Every so often in big complicated businesses, things go wrong. And that went wrong for us. And yes, it was
a mistake. I'm delighted to say that the aircraft is back to our Cathay Pacific aircraft and it looks great.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: I wish they kept the typo. That was the CEO of Cathay Pacific, Rupert Hogg speaking to me earlier. Okay, now the U.S. jobs report for
March has just been released. The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate remains steady at 3.8 percent. We're going
to have a lot more with CNN's Alison Kosik coming up on "First Move" in about - a little under a half an hour from now, so stick around for that.
Now, South Korea says it is now leading the global 5G race. The country is the first in the world to roll out the ultrafast smart phone networks
nationwide beating out both the United States and China. Paula Hancocks has more now from Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: You've been hearing about 5G for years, about how it is going to be more than 10 times faster than 4G. How
you'll be able to download an HD movie in a matter of seconds. For South Korea, it's here.
HANCOCKS (voice over): Samsung is launching its Galaxy S10 phone, Friday and it's the first hand set on here to be 5G compatible, cool for the
Korean tech company and also a useful litmus test for companies around the world to see how many consumers actually sign up.
The largest telecom operator in South Korea, SK Telecom launched its plan this week saying they are aiming for one million subscribers by the end of
this year. Eighty five cities have covered so far with customers paying between $70.00 and $115.00 a month for the updated service.
SK Telecom insists we should believe the hype.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARK JIN-HYO, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, SK TELECOM (Through a translator): Speed that goes beyond our imagination. Latency (transmission speed) that
exceeds our expectations. I think 5G will provide experiences above and beyond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS (voice over): SK Telecom and rival KT are highlighting what 5G can mean for VR - virtual reality, and AR - augmented reality. Sitting
with your friends at a baseball match without actually going to the match or even being in the same city as your friends.
The smallest provider her, LGU Plus has 18,000 5G across the country. They're the only ones using technology from Chinese telecom giant, Huawei
who is currently locked in legal battles with the United States.
The Trump administration has been pushing allies to remove Huawei technology from their networks claiming the company is too close to the
Chinese government.
HANCOCKS (on camera): South Korea may be the first, but it's somewhat of a guinea pig. Many companies around the world will be watching this rollout
very carefully to see how many customers actually sign up. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream." We'll have more after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:00]
LU STOUT: Welcome back and all this week, we are exploring the travel trends that are catching on in India. Now, Coachella might be one of the
best known music festivals in the United States, but some organizers in India are also hoping to attract crowds to lesser known destinations.
Cyril Vanier has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, ANCHOR, CNN (voice over): The romantic city of Udaipur. Here, as if by magic, Rajput-era palaces float above the water and the
sound of music lends ambiance to the mid-day call.
SANJEEV BHARGAVA, DIRECTOR, UDAIPUR WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL: Rajasthan and music has absolutely endless roots because our music in Rajasthan is very,
very precious and it's very old. It's heritage music.
VANIER (voice over): Inspired by the musical pedigree of the Indian State, Sanjeev Bhargava started the Udaipur world music festival in 2016. An
annual showcase of local and international acts. This year, some 130 musicians from 14 countries are playing over three days.
Bhargava says that in India, large scale multi-day festivals like this one are increasingly being staged across the country as a way to draw locals
and foreigners alike to lesser known cities.
BHARGAVA: Udaipur to me, it is not only beautiful, but it is absolutely burgeoning as far as cultural world-class events are possible.
VANIER (voice over): With a name to democratize music, Bhargava decided to make the event free to the public, seeking funds from private and public
sponsors.
SHASHANK SUBRAMANYAM, FLAUTIST: Well, I've heard a lot about this festival and I know the director very well and it is beautifully created. One does
not so often get to listen to music in this environment. It's very rare. And the audience, too, is a good mix of Indians and the Europeans. So it's
an excellent festival to be a part of.
BHARGAVA: Music festivals to me is not just a stage and people performing and audience listening. To me, music is actually a congregation of
creative people. People who have a great ear for music and I want them to interact with my artists in Rajasthan.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: Wow, such a colorful destination for music lovers. And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristi Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport"
with Alex Thomas is next.
(WORLD SPORT)
[09:00:00]
END
