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U.S. Places Sanctions on Iranian Metals Exports; China Threatens Retaliation over Trump's New Tariffs; South Africa Votes; One Killed, Eight Injured in School Shooting; Iran Tensions Examined; Russia Parades Military Hardware During World War II Commemoration Parade; Latest on North Korean Tactics; Reporting from China. Aired 3- 4a ET
Aired May 09, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran. Washington's response to Tehran made by slapping Iran with new sanctions.
The U.S. president invokes executive privilege for the first time as Donald Trump tries to block the release of the full Mueller report.
And making history, Tottenham secures a place for the first time ever in the UEFA Cup final with a stunning win over Ajax.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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STOUT: U.S. president Donald Trump has leveled another round of sanctions on Iran; this time it is targeting Iranian exports of steel, iron, aluminum and copper with a warning to other countries not to accept any shipments.
The move came just hours after Iran said it would begin stockpiling enriched uranium. That is a calculated move that technically does not violate the 2015 nuclear agreement. Iran's foreign minister says the U.S. is the one breaking the deal, not Iran.
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JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The fact that they have pulled out of these agreements, there are several of them, all these are the actions and the steps that the America government has taken in the last few months.
It shows us that we are dealing with a lawbreaking government. The decision the Islamic Republic of Iran --
(END VIDEO CLIP) STOUT: European leaders have not endorsed the latest sanctions but that fact does not seem to concern the U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are on the same side. We are on the side of values-driven democracy. We are on the side of freedom, we're on the side of creating a nation for the Iranian people, where they can have religious freedom and they can have a democracy.
And I'm confident that, as we watch Iran's activity, that the United Kingdom and our European partners will move forward together to ensure that Iran has no pathway for a nuclear weapon systems.
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STOUT: For some perspective from Tehran, we are joined now by "Los Angeles Times" reporter Ramin Mostaghim.
Thank you so much for joining us. After Iran walked away from parts of the nuclear deal, the U.S. is back with these new sanctions.
How is Tehran responding?
RAMIN MOSTAGHIM, "L.A. TIMES": It seems like calculated measure, or measured (INAUDIBLE) if you like. But the problem is that Iran's government position is a little bit paradoxical.
Let me explain about the paradoxical situation. On one hand, Iranian supreme leader, President Rouhani and other top ranking officials are giving solace to the people that no panic, there won't be a war. They assure people there won't be a war or military confrontation, large scale.
But on the other hand, by exercising their national sovereignty, rise of Iran as the one party of the nuclear deal (INAUDIBLE) or reduce or give warning to the other parties of the nuclear deal, they are taking one step technically and practically toward the military confrontation.
At the same, people in the salaried group of people, they are panicked and they anticipate military confrontations. So this measured calculations, measured against the American pressure on the -- on the ground, the reality on the ground seems very paradoxical because you cannot assure people that there is no war and, at the same time, see the light at the end of the tunnel and say, this confrontation will not lead to the war but will lead to the negotiation.
Mr. Hala Fishet (ph), the MP and member of the head of the national security, foreign policy in the parliament, they are selling the idea that this confrontation will lead to negotiations with the Americans on one side and at the same time takes the steps by exercising the national sovereignty rights of the Iranians, according to the provision of the nuclear deal which situated Iran has right to do so, to reduce cooperations.
This is a difficult situation and it is also on daily base pressure, pressure on the shoulders of salaried group (ph) and reduction of the purchasing power and jumping of dollars against the Iranian local currency.
STOUT: Wow. So whether this leads to diplomacy, whether this leads to additional tension remains to be seen but --
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STOUT: -- what we do know is that tension is escalating between U.S. and Iran. Ramin, thank you so much for your reporting and take care.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis; the comment from Jerry Nadler came late on Wednesday after he and other Democrats voted to hold attorney general William Barr in contempt of Congress. But President Trump and the White House are fighting back. Jim Acosta has more.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Playing a game of hide and seek, President Trump is pulling out all the stops to keep the full Mueller report out of the hands of House Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, if the Mueller report clears you, why not let Congress see all of it, sir?
ACOSTA (voice-over): In a retaliatory strike, the president is now asserting executive privilege to block the report's unreleased materials from House Democrats, after Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler sought to hold attorney general William Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over what they want.
In a letter Barr told the president, "In these circumstances you may properly assert executive privilege with respect to the entirety of the Department of Justice materials that the committee has demanded."
The White House is all but taunting Nadler to take the matter to court.
SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You would think for an attorney Chairman Nadler would be a little bit more up on the law. I'm not and I actually feel like I understand it better than he does. Chairman Nadler is again trying to violate the law. The president and the attorney general are the ones that are actually upholding it.
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ACOSTA (voice-over): The standoff over the Mueller report comes one day after the administration instructed former White House counsel Don McGahn to refuse to cooperate with Nadler's committee, prompting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to drop the I-word.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The president is goading us into -- wants to goad us into impeachment, whether it's obstruction, obstruction, obstruction. Obstruction of having people come to the table with facts, ignoring subpoenas every single day. The president is making a case. He's becoming self-impeachable in terms of some of the things that he --
ACOSTA (voice-over): As for his other big secret, the president is defending his practice of avoiding paying taxes after a "New York Times" report found he suffered more than $1 billion in business losses in the '80s and '90s, tweeting, "Real estate developers in the 1980s and 1990s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write-offs and depreciation. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes. Almost all real estate developers did and often renegotiated with banks. It was sport."
"The New York Times" revealed Mr. Trump was able to avoid paying taxes for much of that 10-year period. The president has bragged about his ability to avoid paying taxes in the past.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Because the only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years today when he had to turn them over to state authorities, when he was trying to get a casino license. And they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. So --
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TRUMP: That makes me smart. I have a tremendous income and the reason I say that is not in a braggadocious (sic) way. It's because it's about time that this country had somebody running it that has an idea about money.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Mr. Trump's steep losses in real estate call into question his main pitch to voters in 2016, that he was a business genius.
TRUMP: Our country needs a truly great leader. And we need a truly great leader now. We need a leader that wrote "The Art of the Deal."
ACOSTA: the president appeared to defend his decision to exert executive privilege over the full Mueller report, at one, point telling the crowd here, "It's time to stop this nonsense" -- Jim Acosta, CNN, Panama City, Florida.
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STOUT: Now the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a surprise subpoena to hear, once again, from President Trump's son, Don Jr. It is notable because the Senate is led by Republicans, who have overwhelmingly fallen in line with the president.
A source says the idea is not going over well, with Trump's son considering invoking his Fifth Amendment rights or not appearing at all.
The trade war between the U.S. and China keeps on escalating. On Wednesday Beijing said it would retaliate if President Trump follows through and starts to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. During a rally in Florida, Mr. Trump said that he was pushed to make the threat after Beijing reneged on some of its trade agreements.
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TRUMP: They broke the deal.
By the way, you see the tariffs?
They broke the deal. They broke the deal. So they are flying in, the vice premier is flying. In a good man but they blow broke the deal. I can't do that, so they will be paying. We don't make the, deal nothing wrong with taking in over $100 billion a year. $100 billion. We never did that before.
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STOUT: The U.S. and China will meet in the coming hours to continued their trade talks in Washington. Our Steven Jiang is in Beijing --
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STOUT: -- he joins us now.
Steven, Donald Trump called him a good man, the vice premier, he will soon be in Washington, D.C., to hash out a deal on trade.
Can there be a deal before that tariff threat goes into effect?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Well, Kristie, things don't look very promising right now, considering negotiators from both sides have literally just one day to work out all their differences in bridging this increasingly wide gap on a number of key issues.
We are talking about intellectual property protection and market access for U.S. firms and enforcement mechanisms in any final deal.
The Americans have been accusing the Chinese of linking these talks to this current state of crisis, because they say Chinese negotiators walked back all these issues during the last round of talks. And the Chinese are now starting to push back on these claims, saying, it was the Americans who make unreasonable demands.
So we are having this war of words here. The best case scenario seems to be for Mr. Trump to pick up his phone and call the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, for the two of them to work out a postponement to these new tariffs.
Failing that, I think it's increasingly likely we will be seeing an escalation in this year-long trade war -- Kristie.
STOUT: And if Trump follows through with that tariff threat, China says it will retaliate.
But how?
How can China fight back?
JIANG: Well, that's right. I think you have seen these public statements by the government here, saying they will retaliate against any new tariffs from the U.S. but probably not dollar for dollar, considering China imports a lot less from the U.S. than the other way around, which is what triggered this trade war to begin with.
But it's interesting to see how the Chinese state media has been preparing the public for such a prospect. In the past few days, they have been touting the strength and the resilience of the Chinese economy.
And today, on Thursday, they are starting to change their tone, saying things like the Chinese are no strangers to a scenario of fighting their enemies while negotiating with them. Some stories even evoking memories of the Chinese-U.S. military conflict during the Korean War -- Kristie.
STOUT: Wow. Interesting messaging there. Steven Jiang, reporting live from Beijing, thank you.
Now two dramatic comebacks in two days for the Champions League. Tottenham upset Ajax to advance to the final in Madrid next month. They are to face Liverpool, who also came from behind to secure their spot. As CNN "WORLD SPORT's" Kate Riley recaps all the action.
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KATE RILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fans all over the world have been overdosing on the Champions League this season, the drama and the entertainment. Liverpool's big storied comeback started on Tuesday. It was hard to imagine that anything else could be as exciting.
But Tottenham manager against Ajax away from home set the 3-0 down with barely half an hour left. The scorer scored a hat trick of goals, including a sensational winning season at injury time. This heartbreak for Ajax was seen desperately close to the Tottenham with the biggest result in the history of the club.
LUCAS MOURA, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: It's impossible to explain what I'm feeling in this moment. I am very, very happy, very proud of my teammates. We always believed in this moment. We always believed that it was possible and we gave everything on the pitch. I think we deserved this moment.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Thank you, thank you, football. This type of emotion, I think, is impossible to live. I'm so emotional now. I'm thinking of the fans. Thank you to the people that believe in us, believe in our decision in this amazing moment and I think it's fantastic. I can't describe with words all that we are living now.
(END VIDEO CLIP) RILEY: In recent years, Spurs have been one of the most exciting in Europe but they have nothing to show for it. It seems though Wednesday was going to end in anticlimactic disappointment. But now Tottenham can prepare for a Champions League final against their Premier League rivals, Liverpool, in Madrid in June.
Given the season we have had, don't be surprised if there are a lot of goals and lots of plot twists. As for who's going to win, well, only a fool would try to predict that. Back to you.
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STOUT: Kate Riley there. Now we are expecting the first results soon in South Africa's national election. Just ahead, what could stand in the way of victory for the ruling African National Congress.
Plus:
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone entered the building with incredibly malicious intent, using their cowardice, surprise and superior weapons. And they lost, they completely and utterly lost to good people. That is plain and simple.
STOUT (voice-over): Standing up to a gunman, a student saved lives by taking action, even though it cost him his own.
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STOUT: And later, we are live in Moscow, where Russia is commemorating the end of --
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STOUT: -- World War II by showcasing its military might.
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STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
We are expecting the first results in South Africa's nationwide elections anytime now. Wednesday's vote is seen as a key test for the African National Congress, in power since Nelson Mandela became president 25 years ago. But the country has a huge voter apathy problem. CNN's Eleni Giokos is live this hour in Johannesburg.
And, Eleni, as we are waiting the first results to be announced, tell us why is this election being seen as a test for the ruling party?
ELENI GIOKOS, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Imagine this, Kristie. In the last 10 years, under the ANC leadership, you have seen endless corruption, you have seen something called state capture, mismanagement of funds. You have seen two recessions in 10 years. Unemployment at 15 percent, 15 year high, so things are not looking good.
The ANC now has to say, you have to still vote for us because we want to create change. The big question is will they believe that story and president Cyril Ramaphosa, who was deputy president under Jacob Zuma, part of the administration that did embark on corruption, now say I'm going to be the change that you want and I will ensure that the ANC policies can be delivered.
And it seems like people believe the rhetoric and campaigning we've seen by him over the last few years. Importantly, we've seen the community buying into those stories. He voted yesterday, take a listen and he basically is admitting to the fact that there is corruption that needs to be cleaned up. He is saying he is the man that can get it done. Take a listen.
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CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: What we are saying is never, never, never again must South Africa go through what we have gone through, where there is (INAUDIBLE), malfeasance, where there is rampant corruption. Because our people hate corruption. They don't appreciate corruption. And they know that corruption acts against their interests. It takes money out of their mouths, it takes money out of service and delivery.
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RAMAPHOSA: So we have learned our lesson and we are now going to steam ahead to address the needs of our people.
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GIOKOS: And that's so interesting, learned our lesson. And of course, I guess the voters are going to show what they think of the ANC and Cyril Ramaphosa.
What is the ANC going to win by?
We know they are still the majority party, right now 27 percent of the votes have already been counted, we are seeing 54 percent for the ANC. The Economic Freedom Fighters, Kristie, the radical left, so to speak, are gaining traction as well. The opposition party, the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, basically unchanged and of course, you also have that big issue with a lot of people deciding not to vote because they don't identify with any of the political parties at the moment.
STOUT: Tell us more about that. I just find it stunning in South Africa, that there is the situation with voter apathy when there was such a struggle to end apartheid and bring democracy to all citizens in this country.
Why are so many people not voting in South Africa?
GIOKOS: It's such a good question. The voter apathy is coming through from the so-called born free generation. People born after 1994 and after democracy was put in place, because they don't identify with the ANC.
But the ANC has benefited from the liberation dividend and it's the older generation who have been loyal to the likes of the ANC. And you have to think about the economic scenario playing out because it's about the quality of life.
South Africa is the most unequal nation in the world when it comes to income inequality, when it comes to wealth distribution. You still have very skewed numbers. Black South Africans are still the poorest. White South Africans still hold the majority of the total wealth in this country.
So you have systemic issues that need to be sorted out and the ANC has promised to do that. In 25 years, they haven't been able to achieve that and economic growth is very sluggish, Kristie. Even things that are making people say that there is nothing for us to vote for because we just don't believe you anymore.
STOUT: This election, a referendum, a huge test for the ruling party, the ANC and we are expecting the results very shortly. Eleni Giokos, thank you so much for your reporting.
In Venezuela, a close ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido has been taken into custody by the intelligence agency. The vice president of the national assembly. This is the latest move by the Maduro government, by those who believe him responsible for recent unrest.
Paula Newton spoke to the national assembly president Juan Guaido about the future of the opposition.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Juan Guaido was quite blunt about why he thinks the government of Nicolas Maduro has not arrested him yet. He says they are afraid to.
He was not quite as forthcoming or blunt about what happened during that failed uprising last week.
Juan Guaido says he continues to speak to the military at all levels but was not very precise in saying exactly what went wrong. He is saying that these things are, of course, difficult when you're dealing with an oppressive dictatorship. Take a listen.
JUAN GUAIDO, INTERIM PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): I've spoken to many officially across the ranks, including the armed forces, including from the regime, to achieve the transition in Venezuela.
NEWTON: Do you think whoever you are talking, to you were talking to in good faith? Or do you think you are tricked?
Yes, you. I mean everybody else.
GUAIDO (through translator): I always start in good faith, I always start in good faith and with the understanding that we are in a dictatorship. We are always working towards democracy and the transition. And the majority is planning the faith and many are afraid.
NEWTON: Guaido also spoke about the possibility of U.S. military intervention and yet he takes a different tone with this, saying that now, perhaps local, not foreign military intervention is what's needed. He says it would be one of the last options before everything else is exhausted.
He also spoke about the fact that he is having dialogue with Russian officials. He would not tell me who they are or at what levels. I kind of asked, why would Russia be speaking to you if they believe Nicolas Maduro has a future in this country?
And he said Nicolas Maduro has failed on keeping the economy together and that's why Russia is speaking to him. So he was very vague about where this movement goes next and what are those next steps. And crucially was also vague about what he says to protesters, who say that while haven't lost hope they are afraid of going out on the street -- Paula Newton, CNN, Caracas.
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STOUT: Investigators in Colorado are still working to learn the motive behind the latest deadly school shooting in the U.S. A community --
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STOUT: -- gripped by grief came together for a vigil to honor the teenager that was killed and eight others wounded. CNN's Ryan Young reports, the two suspects made their first court appearance on Wednesday.
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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eighteen-year-old Devon Erickson, identified as a suspect in the Colorado STEM School shooting, appearing in court, his head hanging. The second suspect, a juvenile female officials had previously identified as a male.
SHERIFF TONY SPURLOCK, DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO: This individual is a small, young person. And the identity wasn't definitive, obviously obvious, to us when they were taken into custody.
YOUNG (voice-over): Police have yet to determine what prompted the attack.
SPURLOCK: We're still working towards a motive. YOUNG (voice-over): Authorities say the suspects used a pair of handguns and are working to determine how they got them.
SPURLOCK: The suspects went to the school. They were able to get deep inside the school.
YOUNG (voice-over): Investigators searched a home Tuesday night, but officials would not confirm if one of the suspects lived there.
TUSCANY GIASOLLI, STUDENT, STEM SCHOOL HIGHLANDS RANCH: The next thing I know, he's pulling out a gun.
YOUNG (voice-over): The two shooters first opened fire in the high school just before 2:00 p.m. A student's cell phone was recording during the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention, please, lockdown. Lockdown.
YOUNG (voice-over): When students heard this, one 12-year-old student in the middle school prepared to fight for his life.
NATE HOLLEY, STUDENT, STEM SCHOOL HIGHLANDS RANCH: I had my hand on the -- on a metal baseball bat, just in case, because I was going to go down fighting if I was going to go down.
YOUNG (voice-over): One of the shooters thwarted by his classmate, Kendrick Castillo, jumping into action to protect his classmates.
GIASOLLI: As soon as he said don't you move, Kendrick lunged, giving all of us enough time to hide under our desks. And the shooter ended up shooting Kendrick.
YOUNG (voice-over): His action giving students in the classroom time to flee. Castillo did not survive his injuries.
JOHN CASTILLO, FATHER OF KENDRICK CASTILLO: It's no surprise that if danger was facing him, he would approach it, you know and take it on.
YOUNG (voice-over): The 18-year-old senior, an avid member of the varsity robotics team, was days away from finishing high school.
CASTILLO: Be selfless. That's the one thing. That's what my son was. And it got him killed, but he saved others.
YOUNG (voice-over): At least three other students followed Castillo's lead, struggling to stop the shooter, including an aspiring Marine.
GIASOLLI: And he was then tackled by a couple other students. They all risked their own lives to make sure that 10, 15 of us all got out of that classroom safe and that we were able to go home to our families.
YOUNG (voice-over): Castillo's sacrifice is not lost on the parents of surviving students.
NYKI GIASOLLI, MOTHER OF TUSCANY GIASOLLI: If it had not been for him, I wouldn't have my baby today. I will never be able to thank him.
YOUNG (voice-over): The first sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene within two minutes, but it was an armed private security guard who apprehended one shooter and turned the suspect over to deputies.
SPURLOCK: I believe one of them was restrained when the deputies came in contact with him. That was by the security officer that was at the school.
YOUNG (voice-over): Eight other students were injured, three of them remain in intensive care. Another school shooting in an area all too familiar with this kind of violence. Only seven miles from Columbine High School which, just weeks ago, marked the 20th anniversary of a shooting that killed 12 students and a teacher.
GEORGE BRAUCHLER, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, COLORADO: And if you had suggested to anyone behind me or in this room that, within 20 years and 20 miles, we would have dealt with Columbine, Aurora Theater, Arapahoe High School, the shooting of Zach Parrish and four other deputies, we would've thought you mad. And yet here we are again.
YOUNG (voice-over): Ryan Young, CNN, Denver, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: More senseless loss in America, it's just heartbreaking.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong. And up next, relations between Washington and Tehran are going from bad to worse. Take a look at why the Trump administration is taking such a hard line against the government of Iran.
Plus, Russia shows off its military muscle in a victory parade, we are live in Moscow, next.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I am Kristie Lu Stout, giving an update on our top news this hour. Now the House Judiciary Committee--
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--is supposed to hold U.S. attorney general William Barr in contempt of congress. They went him to turn over the full unredacted Mueller report and all underlined evidence. Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump asserted the claim of executive privilege over the entire report.
China trade negotiator Vice Premier Liu He is due in Washington hours from now. He and U.S. negotiators will try to end an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. Earlier, Beijing hit back at President Trump's threat to raise tariffs on Chinese imports saying they would retaliate with counter measures. U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran this time targeting exports of steel and other industrial metals. The news came just hours after Iran said it would begin soft piling enriched uranium. Iran's foreign minister said his country is still committed to the 2025 nuclear agreement.
Iran's decision to step back--
(END VIDEOCLIP)
--from the landmark nuclear deal came exactly one year after President Trump walked away from it completely, so why the hard line response from the U.S. now? Well for that, we turn to CNN's Michelle Kosinski.
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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: The U.S.'s policy on Iran now seems squarely in the hands of the person who may be the most vocal, committed, decades long Iran talk in this administration, National Security Advisor John Bolton.
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The longer we wait to confront the threat Iran poses, the harder and more untraceable I will become to solve.
KOSINSKI: That's from back in 2006 as ambassador to be UN. But it's a stance that has lasted.
BOLTON: Ayatollah Khomeini's 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: You remember John Bolton. If anything, John Bolton has become more determined that there needs to be regime change in Iran, regime change. Regime change!
KOSINSKI: In 2015, Bolton wrote a New York Times op-ed called "To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran." Two years ago, he told the MEK, a group of Iranian ex files once branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. that it should be U.S. policy to overthrow Iran's (inaudible). Three months ago, he tweeted this video.
BOLTON: So, Ayatollah Khomeini, I don't think you'll have many more anniversaries to enjoy.
KOSINSKI: It's rattled other members of the Trump administration at times. Like when Bolton asked the Pentagon for military options to strike Iran late last year after mortars were fired at two U.S. compounds in Iran, thought to be the work of Iran backed route first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
And this week, it was Bolton, not the Pentagon that announced the U.S.'s latest military move warning of unrelenting force if Iran attacks the U.S. or allies.
Exaggeration though and cherry picking Intel to suit his views are things Bolton has been excused of multiple times, including his stance on the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that led to a U.S. invasion.
BOLTON: Well, I think the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, that military action was a resounding success.
KOSINSKI: Now some worries that the U.S.'s latest moves could spark hostility.
SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): What worries me is you've got Bolton's present position and then you've got three or four actions in the last two weeks designed to poke Iran in the eye. I just -- I'm uncomfortable about where this is headed.
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KOSINSKI: John Bolton has publically said that U.S. policy is not regime change in Iran, even though we have heard him now publically advocate for that many times as well as air strikes. U.S. policy is increasing the pressure on Iran's regime, but of course it's anyone's guess as to where that ends. Michelle Kosinski, CNN The State Department.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now Russia right now is commemorating the end of World War II, its military is on full display in the annual Victory Day parade happening in Moscow's Red Square. President Vladimir Putin is there attending the festivities as well as Steven Seagal you saw just then.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance joins us now from the Russian capital. Matthew, what are we seeing and what kind of Russian military hardware is on display today?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah you're right you saw Steven Seagal in the crowd there, Vladimir Putin obviously there as well.
But actually there's a distinct lack of other global leaders that are attending the parade this year and that's partly because of the (inaudible) that Russia's military has put itself in, the intervention in Ukraine, the intervention in Syria -- its presence in Venezuela. All of this has made their presence at these kinds of parades very controversial for many people -- many world leaders around the globe.
It is first and foremost though meant to be a commemoration of the massive sacrifice that Russian and former Soviet Union military personnel paid in the Second World War. They called it the Great Patriotic War here, 26 million people died in the Soviet Union -- in that conflict.
And so it's something that's deeply resonant still here today, they paid the biggest price in terms of human life loss of any country in the world. And it's something they commemorate in this extravagant way every year. But of course it's also about modern Russia, it's about putting on display Russia's current military might. Showcasing its vast arsenal of weaponry -- it's modern weaponry that's
been -- it's been developing over the past decade or so under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. And of course reminding the world that it is a significant player internationally in the military sphere, not least because of the -- those areas of intervention and (inaudible) Venezuela that its currently involved in.
And I think what's interesting is that, you know this is all about bonding Russia together as a sort of national glue. To get it to rally around its commander and chief -- you could say it's the parade that President Trump and the United States wanted to have, but wasn't given because it was essentially too expensive. But here when you're talking about unity in the country, money is no object.
Think of (ph) how much money they spent on this (ph). I've got some figures here for you, 57,452 Russian soldiers taking part in this -- 1,517 military vehicles of all shapes and descriptions -- tanks, and missile launchers, nuclear weapons -- we're going to see paraded past us within the next few minutes -- 139 aircraft also flying through these admittedly very cloudy skies in the Russian capital today.
So it is a massive extravagance, but one that's very important I think for the Russian state to celebrate this Victory Day as probably the most important holiday in the Russian calendar. Kristie.
STOUT: This is such a colorful, and highly choreographed expression of military might, and it must be pushing a lot of emotional buttons, patriotic buttons among Russians -- does this help boost the popularity of Vladimir Putin among the people in Russia?
CHANCE: I think it does. And I think it's probably fair to say that's the main -- that's the main benefit for the Kremlin, that is (ph). Look where I am right now, we're outside of Red Square -- just outside it.
And I'm with a whole bunch of -- you know, thousands of people that have lined the streets of the Russian capital, they're from all corners of the world, all corners of the former Soviet Union -- lots of Russians here, lots of people from the -- these people from behind me are from (Inaudible) --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tajikistan.
CHANCE: (Inaudible) they're from Tajikistan behind me. But you know, Tajikistan of course was part of the Soviet Union. And so all of these people have come here to take part in these -- in these commemorations, so it's an immensely sort of popular and emotional time. And remember the Second World War, the called it the Great Patriotic War here. It had deep cultural resonance in Russia, in a way that even in our countries it doesn't.
I mean, a lot of people obviously died in Britain and in the United States and in Australia in the Second World War. But 26 million people died from this country, and that's a scar that is still acutely felt. It's a deeply emotional time. And you know what, the Kremlin have tapped in to that, and they said,
"yes, we are the heirs to that military sacrifice," is what Vladimir Putin said in his address to the crowds there, is saying -- paying tribute to the costly victory in which the -- Russia basically defeated Nazism he said.
[03:40:00]
He said this, "it was the determination of the Russian people that saved the world, and it was a reminder," he said, "of the infallibility of Russian weaponry." So there he is saying that it was us, it was the Russians that saved the world from Nazism. And that's -- I think a characteristic of this parade is basically saying that without the Russians -- without the Soviet Union that war against Nazism, the Second World War would have been lost.
STOUT: Matthew Chance reporting live from the Annual Victory Day Parade in Moscow -- Vladimir Putin there overseeing the proceedings. Matthew, we thank you for your live reporting.
As Vladimir Putin marks Victory Day there in Moscow, former Russian oil tycoon says that the Kremlin will continue to interfere in foreign elections. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Putin critic spoke with Richard Quest, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST: Do you believe that Russia interferes in the British elections, the French presidential elections, the European elections that are taking place at the moment? The U.K. referendum? I mean, are they -- are they up for all elections, the Russians? And are they up for interfering wherever they can?
MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY, FORMER RUSSIAN OIL TYCOON (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): First of all, I wouldn't say Russia -- 145 million people in Russia couldn't care less about elections even in their own country. But the Kremlin, yes. It's trying to create situations wherever it can. Elections are just one of the types of situations that it creates.
QUEST: To what end?
KHODORKOVSKY (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): To weaken governments in order to make it easier to negotiate with them and reach those goals that Putin has set for himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: I want to watch more of that. Now you can see Richard's full interview with Mikhail Khodorkovsky on "Quest Means Business," tonight. They will discuss what intelligence he thinks the Kremlin could have on Donald Trump. It's at 8pm London time, 10pm in Moscow.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be taking a new tack with the U.S. as CNN's Brian Todd reports, the dictator is using missiles and the remains of U.S. servicemen to needle President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD: The Pentagon is now confirming that this smoke trail was really a warning shot from Kim Jong-un.
PATRICK SHANAHAN, ACTING U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I went for a run and then Chairman Dunford called me up and said, "North Korea was now shooting rockets and missiles,"
TODD: Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Congress Wednesday about the North Korea leader's test fire of a short range missile last week -- his first missile firing since 2017.
Kim's regime has just called that a, "routine and self-defensive military drill," and warned that attempts in the U.S. to label it as provocative could be an excuse to try to disarm and invade North Korea.
PATRICK CRONIN, HUDSON INSTITUTE: Kim is talking to Trump as though he's a teenager who has to be told, "look you are out of control, come back to being my child -- I'm in charge here, and come to the table."
TODD: But Kim Jong-un isn't just using missiles to confront President Trump. Officials with the Pentagon's team which handles the return of American MIAs tell CNN they are suspending their effort to get back American soldiers remains from North Korea because their North Korean counterparts have not communicated at all with them since the failed Trump-Kim Summit in Hanoi in February.
Just last summer Vice President Pence and military officers travelled to Hawaii to salute the remains of American servicemen missing from the Korean War, as they were finally returned to the U.S. for burial. President Trump had touted the exchange as one of the best achievements of his Singapore Summit with Kim.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He gave us the remains of our great heroes. I have had so many people begging me -- parents, and fathers, mothers, daughters, sons -- wherever I went "could you please get the remains of my boy back?" They've giving them back.
TODD: Experts say North Korea is now using the importance the exchange holds (ph) for Trump as a way of getting under his skin.
LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, FRMR U.S> MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: They're tugging on our emotional heartstrings by shutting down contact with our agency doing the recoveries. The North Koreas will traditionally try to use this as their first go-to in your face, but passive "we're not happy with your behavior."
TODD: The Pentagon says there are more than 7,800 Americans still unaccounted for from the Korean War and up to 5,300 sets of remains are still somewhere inside North Korea.
According to former diplomats and Pentagon officials, the North Koreans in the past have used the repatriation issue as leverage.
LINDSEY FORD, FORMER TOP PENTAGON ADVISOR, ASIA: The North Koreans will sort of use whatever they can to extort it for cash for their regime. And then beyond that, it's how can they use an issue that is so sensitive for families and for service members to try to get concessions elsewhere in the relationship.
TODD: A relationship that's now being severely tested by disputes over remains and rockets.
[03:45:00]
Experts who track North Korea's missile program are worried that the North Koreans may now revert to a pattern they've engaged in before. But after diplomatic impasse they've started out small by testing short-range missiles like the ones they just tested a few days ago, then they quickly escalate to testing longer range missiles. Analysts say if that's done this time it could hurt the dynamic between Trump and Kim Jong-un beyond repair. Brian Todd, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Well reporting the news in China comes with its own set of challenges from constant surveillance, to so-called visa checks at odd hours -- how Chinese authorities tried to shut down CNN's coverage of its controversial camps for Muslims.
(COMMERCIAL)
STOUT: It could be the biggest human rights violation in the world. Detention camps in remote parts of China where the U.S. believes millions of Muslims are being held. But just as a CNN team investigated it was pushed back by Chinese authorities. Matt Rivers has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the CNN Beijing Bureau just spent a week reporting in the western Chinese province of Xinjang and it's not an easy place to do journalism. So we wanted to show you a little bit of what we went through, but I think more importantly tell you why that matters. Xinjang is the province where the U.S. says China has detained up to 2 million people -- nearly all Muslims in camps over the last few years.
Activists say Beijing has done that to try and eliminate Islam within its borders, and ex-detainees have told CNN they were tortured inside while undergoing political indoctrination. China denies that and says these camps aren't prisons, but voluntarily vocational training centers that are being used to not eliminate Islam only Islamic extremism.
Now China's government says that Xinjang is wide open for us to freely report there, maybe in theory but in reality that's just not true. For example, upon landing there our welcome gift was a government tail.
We've already been followed by three or four guys, including one of them who I've seen follow us from the second we got out of the baggage area.
That would be this man -- he and at least a dozen others followed us every single hour of our six day trip, never more than 20 feet away. In the car, in the train station, in the hotel -- in the room next to mine.
[03:50:00]
So it's a bit of an odd feeling to be in your hotel room at 1 in the morning, and knowing that on the other side of this connecting door which leads to the room next door to mine -- there's at least three, four of the guys who've been following us around over the past couple days.
It felt like intimidation tactics, they wanted us to know that we were being followed. And then of course there were the uniformed cops that showed up at odd hours.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): (Inaudible).
RIVERS: It's almost 1am.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): (Inaudible).
RIVERS: I know, but I was sleeping. This seems unnecessary.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I'm sorry to bother you. Sorry.
RIVERS: OK. So this is what happens when you do journalism in Xinjang. I've lived here for nearly four years and I've watched as things have gotten tougher and tougher for foreign journalists on all types of different stories. Xinjang is probably just the most extreme example. But beyond just being followed, there were the more obvious attempts to try and make sure that we saw nothing they didn't want us to.
For example, a highway we were on was closed for hours due to an accident nowhere to be seen. Not to mention spontaneous roadblocks that specifically target foreigners and ethnic minorities, our IDs were checked nearly 50 times in six days. And the second you book a flight, or a train the government knows about it -- and you can tell that because, well government officials are waiting for you upon arrival.
They clearly knew we were coming, they met us at the airport, they're checking our visa, they're telling us they want to accompany us for our own safety. But really this is just stalling tactics -- they know it, we know it and yet this is the game we have to play.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs say they don't know anything about the harassment we faced, but said Xinjang is, "open and hospitable."
The constant tails, the constant harassment, the constant delays -- they're more than just inconvenient they are specific tactics China's government has employed for a long time to prevent journalists from doing their jobs. But in the last few years there is broad agreement in the foreign journalism community here that it's gotten worse, nowhere more so than Xinjang.
The end result is that its nearly impossible to freely report on the hundreds of thousands of people that are likely languishing in camps right now, and that means that the rest of the world can't really see what's going on there. This is one of the biggest human rights stories on Earth. And as we saw, firsthand China is actively trying to cover it up.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
STOUT: Nothing to hide, right? That was CNN's Matt Rivers reporting from Xinjang. You're watching "News Room," coming to you live from Hong Kong, we've got more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL)
STOUT: Welcome back. Now Prince Harry is making his way to the Netherlands where he will launch the one year countdown to the 2020 Invictus games, but many royal watchers are still focused on his new baby boy whose name has just been released, meet Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor -- what a name, what a cutie.
Now a source says the couple chose a name that they like instead of picking a traditional royal name, here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEANNE MOOS: There used to be two, then baby makes three -- and now baby has a name -- a bunch of names.
[03:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is official, Archie Harrison Mountbatten- Windsor.
MOOS: But you can call him --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby Archie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little Archie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prince Archie.
MOOS: Actually, he's not a price yet. Archie met the queen, but his dad and mom decided against bestowing any aristocratic titles on their son for now. He was introduced to the public at Windsor Castle, Meghan caressed him while Prince Harry picked off lint. Mom described motherhood as --
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: Magic, it's pretty amazing and I mean, I have the two best guys in the world so I'm really happy.
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: He's already got a little bit of facial hair as well -- wonderful.
MOOS: Amid all the "ooing" and "aweing" some offered a reality check. Read one mother's tweet, "very much enjoying the irony of watching Meghan and Harry talk about the magic of parenting, whilst my three year old screams, "you're not my mummy anymore," for not painting her nails correctly."
And how about these top six name suggestions for the new royal baby, "I do not give a (inaudible)."
But you know who gave the baby's name the royal treatment?
The ginger haired comic strip character greeted the news with, "I'm baby," but someone wondered how can Archie be the prince, when Jughead wears the crown?
It's a lot of name for someone 7 pounds 3 ounces.
MEGHAN: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
MOOS: Mom and dad reportedly just liked the name Archie, while Harrison comes from son of Harry.
JIMMY KIMMEL: They had the baby on your birthday and there's a (inaudible) --
GEORGE CLOONEY: Yeah, that kid stole my thunder.
KIMMEL: Yeah, really --.
CLOONEY: My birthday (ph).
KIMMEL: You will be the godfather to the child, is that true?
CLOONEY: That would be a bad idea.
MOOS: All this royal baby hoopla, Archie's probably saying wake me up when it's over. Jeanne Moos, CNN New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
STOUT: All right, and this breaking news before we go. South Korea's Yonhap news agency is citing South Korea's military -- saying that North Korea has just fired new projectiles.
This comes after that weapons test that happened at (ph) the weekend by North Korea. Isa Soares is standing by in London for the next hour of CNN "New Room," we'll have Paula Hancocks up live for more on this story.
Again (ph) according to the South Korean military North Korea has just launched projectiles -- exactly what they launched, more details will be coming in. Fluid situation, we'll keep monitoring it for you. Thank you for joining us, I'm Kristie Lu Stout, you're watching CNN.
[04:00:00]
