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U.K. Troops Honored at Gold Beach on the 75th Anniversary of D- Day in Normandy; President Trump to Visit American Cemetery in Normandy; Controversies and Ceremonies During Trump's State Visit to Britain; Trump U.K. Visit; Sudan's Opposition Vows To Keep Protesting; Chinese President Visits Russia, Boosts Economic Ties; Macron Meets With Two French Veterans Of D-Day; Celebrating D-Day 75th Anniversary; Cardinal George Pell Appeals Child Sex Abuse Convictions; Reflection Of D-Day Veteran; Tariff Troubles In Mexico; Republican Senators Oppose Mexico Tariffs; Sudan's Opposition Vows To Keep Protesting; Cyril Vanier's 100 Club. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 06, 2019 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00] (APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, on a gently sloping hillside above Gold Beach, with a commanding view over the landing areas, we gather to give thanks to Almighty God for the loyal service giving to crown and country by all who served in the battle of Normandy.

We commemorate the victory of the few achieved on land, at sea and in the air for the liberation of the many. And two bless and dedicate this British Normandy Memorial. Let us pray. Eternal god, you are the shepherd of our souls. The giver of everlasting like.

On this day, when we commemorate and commend to you those who lived and died in the service of others, we are glad to remember that your purposes for us are good. That you gave Jesus Christ for the life of the world and that you lead us by his holy spirit into the paths of righteousness and peace. Amen.

Would you please stand. We dedicate this memorial to the memory of those who lost their lives in the battle of Normandy, and whose name will be recorded here. For those whom we knew, for those whose memory we treasure, and who lived and died in the service of their country.

[03:05:00] (MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in 1944.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normandy veterans, salute!

[03:10:00] (MUSIC PLAYING)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: You have been watching a somber and moving ceremony. The leaders of Britain and France standing side by side, honoring British troops who lost their lives in Normandy on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6th, 1944, dedicating this permanent memorial to their memory. And French President Emmanuel Macron said it is a powerful symbol of

the unity of our two nations, France and Britain, unveiling the British Normandy Memorial that overlooks Gold Beach, that of course, where the British troops landed by sea, land and air.

A permanent monument and reminder of the 22,442 British soldiers who lost their lives when they landed on that day as they took that first step to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation. So let's go to Jim Bittermann now. He joins us live from Normandy, an extraordinary ceremony there. It really -- you really did feel the sense there the incredible dedication to those lost lives.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. In fact, Rosemary, it was a very moving ceremony. Especially Theresa May's speech which she was talking about all the young men that she singled out in her speech, and the way they gave their lives.

Emmanuel Macron talked more about the unity and, you know, it's interesting that neither one could kind of ignore the elephant in the room or at least the elephant at the monument, which is Brexit, which is not so much about, you know, it's just the opposite. It's disunity.

But in fact, it cost Theresa May her job and she is going to be leaving office tomorrow. Macron referred to that, he said, you know, "leaders come and go but the work continues," and he promised to be at her side in the years going forward. Here's a little bit of what Emmanuel Macron had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDEBT OF FRANCE (through translator): This monument will also be a powerful, singular symbol of the unity of our two nations, United Kingdom and France. Nothing will wipe them out. Nothing will ever wipe out these links and these shared values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMAN: And I guess he means by that, not even Brexit, but in fact that is one of the things that sort of gone unspoken here throughout all of this, show of unity and showing of multinational cooperation. These days, there's not so much multinational cooperation going on, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And of course, when we look at that memorial, the monument looking out to Gold Beach, of course, code named Gold Beach, where the British troops landed. Let's talk a little bit as we watch these live pictures of the ceremony coming to a close, but let's talk a little bit about the history and what happened when those British troops landed there.

BITTERMAN: Well, they landed to fierce fighting from the Germans and maybe a little bit later on this morning, we are going to be able to show you some of the German pill boxes where the shooting took place from. These beaches were all covered. This was part of the Rommel's Atlantic Wall, as he called it. He laid tons and tons and tons of concrete all along here to build all kinds of beach defenses. And those defenses served fairly well but not that well. They were bombed out by the Allied bombings ahead of the D- Day landings.

[03:15:00] And as well, they really were overrun in many ways like any kind of permanent structure in the military operation, it's very difficult with mobile armies these days to stay ahead of the game with the kind of permanent structures which can be overwhelmed.

And that's basically what happened. The Allies got behind the defenses and were able to route the Germans from at least this part of France. There were still some pockets that resisted up until the middle of the summer when like for instance around the town of (inaudible) where the Germans had a stronghold that they held on to for many, many weeks after D-Day.

But eventually, they were routed from that, as well. So, it was a fierce battle for this part of France. And then once this battle is over, the Allies moved on fairly quickly up until the Battle of the Bulge which is in the fall of 1944 and into the winter of 1944 in Belgium.

And that's where a lot of American troops lost their lives, as well. So, it was a pitched battle all the way along from the very moment they started the landing 75 years ago to win and in fact, Europe was finally liberated. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Jim, of course, earlier you and I spoke about how meticulously this operation was planned. And we saw that graphic of the five beaches and all of these troops landed simultaneously by land, air and sea on those five beaches.

And of course, each situation had its own separate history. But talk to us about that planning. And it is extraordinary because does anything matched the magnitude of that to this day.

BITTERMAN: I don't think so, Rosemary. I don't think anything could match it. I mean, it was -- for one thing, they had months. They had a lot of time to plan this. The Germans also had a lot of time to plan their defenses.

But in any case, it was meticulous, like you say, right down to every detail and every objective of every single unit that landed here along the beaches. One of the things that we have been comparing this to, what it looks like today, but one of the things that's different today, and you can probably see it here behind me, is the stretch of this beach.

We are at low tide right now, and Eisenhower purposefully planned to land at higher tide because, in fact, that would be able to -- he would be able to -- the distance that the men would have to charge ahead would be a lot less significant.

So, it was not quite like what we are seeing out there today. But in any case, there was an awful lot of planning that went in from all sorts of different factors. But in the end, there were things that you couldn't plan for like the weather, for example.

And the D-Day landings were supposed to take place from the 5th of June. That was the first date that they chose, but the weather was adjudged just too difficult especially for the airborne troops because they couldn't be flying through fog and cloud and try to hit their objectives. So, that was put off by one day.

And even then, there were some people who did not want it to go on the 6th of June because they thought it was still too dangerous in terms of weather and maybe they could hold on for a while. But the more they held on, the more there was a possibility that knowledge of the plans, the secret plans would somehow escape and the Germans would be able to figure out what they were going to do.

And so, they just went ahead and did it on the sixth. Eisenhower made the decision actually on the fifth and they went and started proceeding. This was a staged thing. The airborne troops came in first in the middle of the night between the fifth and the sixth, and they had to take off from Britain ahead of time. So, it was all very meticulously planned, as you say.

CHURCH: Marking a defining moment in World War II, our Jim Bittermann joining us live there from the beaches of Normandy. Many thanks to you. And as we go to, break, we do want to listen to one of the veterans whose bravery we remember today.

Seventy-five years ago, Richard Llewellyn was an 18-year-old British sailor in the fight of his life. His ship, the HMS Ajax fired on German bunkers as Allied soldiers stormed the beach which he watched through the smoke of battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD LLEWELLYN, BRITISH D-DAY VETERAN: We opened fire two hours before the landings which was about quarter past five in the morning, and we had a duel with the guns for a while, and then we obviously wait (ph) in fire, and incidentally the noise at that time with all ship started bombarding targets all the way long the Normandy beach.

And airplanes were over and dropping -- I think there were 900 airplanes across the beaches dropping bombs and rocket ships close in shore firing rockets. So the noise was just unbelievable.

[03:20:03] One of the things that I remember afterwards beyond anything else was the noise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, President Trump is now in the air on his way to France and he will pay his respects at the American cemetery in Normandy and take part in the official ceremony there. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his state visit to Great Britain. A trip filled with ceremony and controversy. CNN's Pamela Brown is traveling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wrapping his second official visit to the United Kingdom as president --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: It was great that you were able to come to this country again.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a great honor to be with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): President Trump and the First Lady taking in one last event with the Queen as she bid farewell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Great woman. A great, great woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): While the president seemingly said the right things during formal events, he made waves in an interview with Piers Morgan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, TV PERSONALITY: Do you personally believe in climate change?

TRUMP: I believe that there is a change in weather and I think it changes both ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): Trump falsely equated climate with weather and said he believes the term climate change is basically just a marketing strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Something that used to be called global warming, that wasn't working, then it was called climate change. Now, it's actually called extreme weather, because with extreme weather, you can't miss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): Trump also setting the record straight regarding comments he made about American actress Meghan Markle, now Britain's Duchess of Sussex, insisting he never called her nasty, just her statements about him in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I wasn't referring to her as she is nasty. I said she was

nasty about me, and that's OK for her to be nasty. It's not good for me to be nasty to her, and I wasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): And on gun control after the recent mass shooting in Virginia where the killer used a silencer to quiet his shots, the president said he would consider legislation banning the sale and use of silencers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: What is your view of silencers?

TRUMP: I don't like them.

MORGAN: Would you like to see those banned?

TRUMP: Well, I'd like to think about it. I mean, nobody has talked about silencers very much. I don't love the idea of it. I don't like the idea of what's happening, it's crazy, OK. It's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): Trump now overnighting at his golf resort in Ireland, his first trip to the country as president and squeezing in a brief meeting with the Irish prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:25:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this true, for you just about promoting your golf course?

TRUMP: No, this trip is really about great relationships that we have with the U.K. and I really wanted to do this stop in Ireland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (on camera): Here in Ireland, the perception is that this trip for President Trump is much more about pleasure than work. The only working item on the president's agenda during his two-night stay was that meeting at the airport with the prime minister that lasted only around 45 minutes.

Now, a U.S. official pushed back on that, saying that the president had important issues to talk about with the Irish prime minister including trade and Brexit. The president, himself also said this was more than a golf trip.

And the Irish official I spoke with said perhaps it is better that the president came here in a low key fashion to avoid some of the protests that we saw play out in England. Pamela Brown, CNN, Ireland.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: All right, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a professor of government at the University of Essex and she joins us now from Colchester in England. Good to have you with us.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So overall, how do you think President Trump's first state visit to Britain went amid the politics and protests?

LINDSTAEDT: I think overall it probably went very well for him. There weren't any major gaffs and he didn't embarrass himself. He seems to be in a pretty good mood when he's in his sort of salesman mode. And I think part of that is due to the fact that the red carpet treatment or the royal treatment was rolled out for him and he tends to thrive when this happens. It makes him feel good.

You could see that he had nicer things to say about Theresa May and that their relationship seemed cordial and he made a couple of statements that the British probably liked in the beginning when he talked about the fact that there could be this major and great trade deal coming and that the British and U.S. have a very strong relationship.

And he emphasized the importance of their intelligence relationship, and that that was going to remain strong. There weren't also as many protests as they had expected, but there of course were some other issues. When he did this interview with Piers Morgan, he appeared to be very wishy-washy and it looked like whatever was going on with his potential trade deal with the U.K. really hadn't gone very far.

He mentioned at one point that a wall would be good for Ireland, talking about that that might be necessitated for Brexit. He sort of backtracked on that a little bit, but that worried people. And then he also said in terms of the trade deal, that everything was on the table including the NHS and I think that worry people as well.

So overall, I think the visit went well for him but, you know, as usual, he spent his nights on twitter tirade attacking the mayor of London, calling him a stone cold loser, attacking actress Bette Midler for some reason, and attacking Chuck Schumer calling him a creep. And so while he was in a good mood during the day, at night he fell into his old traps of being on twitter.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, you know, you mentioned the Irish border, you mentioned when he was going to include the National Health Service in Britain in a trade deal, of course, two gaffes really there. The leaders in both instances were trying to sort of jump in and clarify the situation.

Very much showing that the U.S. president didn't really know, or didn't appear to know what the National Health Service was or that there was a move not to have a border there for Ireland. That is a concern, isn't it, and embarrassing for Americans when a leader isn't on top of facts like that. LINDSTAEDT: Right, but I think that's one of the things about

President Trump that I think the world has been familiar with, that he is not that knowledgeable about facts about other countries. That's never been much a surprise, so the bar is very low. So when he doesn't make huge mistakes we tend to think OK, that went pretty well.

I think there was a lot of concern because that is such an unpredictable president. You don't know what he is going to say from one moment to the next. He doesn't know key facts about the NHS, about the border wall with Ireland.

It also revealed in the interview that he doesn't know that much about climate science, about what global warming is. He seems to confuse as the report mentioned, whether with global warming. So, this isn't really anything new.

I think it is an embarrassment to the U.S. that we have a U.S. leader that speaks to the world, that's important to the world, but doesn't know key facts of course. But I think because we now expect that to be the case, we know there is going to be some sort of backtracking, some sort of explaining that will take place and then people just kind of move on and forget about it.

CHURCH: Now, of course, we know that President Trump is on his way to Normandy to mark the lives lost, American lives lost as a result.

[03:29:58] Seventy-five years ago, the D-Day landings on June 6th, 1944. But after that, he then returns to the United States and he will face the hot issue of Mexico tariffs. It's already blown up, isn't it? With some of his own party pushing back. How problematic could this prove to be for him, do you think?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX, ENGLAND: I think this is a real problem for him, if he decides to go through with implementing these tariffs. And he seems to be willing to go through with it. He is going to have really negative economic ramifications for both Mexico in the U.S., as has been reported many times. Mexico and U.S. trade with one another, over 600 billion in trade, 346 billion in Mexican exports go to the U.S.

It's going to affect consumers. Both something that he should be paying to attention to, I mean, obviously his base would be eventually affected is that people in his own party are really, really against this. They think this is a terrible idea, they think that it's going to have a deep impact on the economy and that he shouldn't be tying immigration with these tariffs. Something that was concerning was the fact that he tweet that he didn't think anything had -- there hadn't been any progress with the Mexican government and he is not being very clear as to what exactly they need to do. He did tweet that they are 140,000 you know, apprehensions and he wants that to go down, but he doesn't seem to be fair as what they're doing.

CHURCH: All right. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so, much we appreciate it. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone, I'm Rosemary Church. I want to

update you now on the main stories we've been following this hour. Opposition groups in Sudan say protests will continue until the ruling military council is replaced by a civilian government. Tensions have escalated along with the death toll.

A group of doctors says 108 people were killed in Monday's attack on demonstrators. The numbers jumping significantly after dozens of bodies were found dumped in the Nile River.

The presidents of Russia and China are showing off their close friendship and deeper ties. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin signed a joint agreement on strategic cooperation. Chinese and Russian companies also signed a number of business deals. Their meeting in Moscow comes during escalating trade tensions between China and the United States.

Well, time is standing still today on the coast of France as the world pauses to remember the heroic events of D-day 75 years ago. French President Emmanuel Macron is paying his respects to two French veterans in the Normandy town of Bayou. He and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May attended a ceremony to lay the cornerstone of a British memorial at Gold Beach.

[03:35:07] U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Normandy about an hour from now for a ceremony at the American cemetery.

Well, in the hours before allied forces landed on Normandy beaches, paratroopers flew into occupied France by the thousand, jumping from D.C. military transport planes known as Dakotas. One of the pilots was Dave Hamilton, 21 years old and about to fly his first combat mission. Nick Glass met up with him at the same English airfield he took off from 75 years earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That famous dolphin nose, a splendid rode them in bearing liberty. Everywhere you look to the area in Duckworth, there were Dakotas. These DC-3 are the military version of the C-47 and the growing band of admirers, we counted 24 planes in all, the greatest gathering of Dakotas on British soil since 1945, all here to mark the D-day anniversary. No historic military transport plane is more revered, forever remembered as a crucial component in the allied victory.

Some 60 miles away in Eastern England, nature has been reclaiming another old airfield slowly, but surely. Seventy five years ago, this was a brand-new American air base. Dave Hamilton, 97 next month, hasn't been back since the Second World War. He is a young Dakota pilot, he took off from here on a special mission on D-day.

This was his first sighting of one of his old runways.

How vivid are the memories of that night?

DAVE HAMILTON, DAKOTAS PILOT: They are very, very vivid. In fact, I have a bunch of pictures taken three hours before takeoff that night.

GLASS: Was that the first time you had ever flown in Europe?

HAMILTON: It was my first combat mission.

GLASS: You're first?

HAMILTON: Yes. Oh, yes.

GLASS: How old were you?

HAMILTON: 21.

GLASS: First lieutenant Dave Hamilton had a pencil mustache then. He was commander of one of 20 Dakotas on the night, they took off just a few minutes before 10 p.m. on June 5th, 1944.

You were the first guys in?

HAMILTON: We were the first ones in, and that meant we were the first ones out.

GLASS: What altitude over the channel?

HAMILTON: 50 feet. Just above the water. Stayed under the German radar.

GLASS: Dave had 18 paratroopers on board. The guys all painted up and combat ready.

HAMILTON: I dropped my paratroopers into quarter after one in the morning, and then came back home with lots of holes in my airplane and I had nobody injured or hit. Unbelievable, but they just hosed us, you know. Like running through a water shower.

GLASS: We heard it before we saw it. The special Dakota fly past in honor of 96-year-old fly boy.

GLASS: Do you hear that?

HAMILTON: Hey! Familiar sound?

GLASS: Seventy five years on, here above an abandoned old American airbase, a poignant salute from one veteran to another. Back in Duckworth, they had been preparing for a commemorative flight and their drop.

HAMILTON: Whoever designed that airplane did a wonderful job. They should paint one in gold and put it on a mountaintop somewhere, and honor it the way it ought to be.

GLASS: Naturally, David is going on a beloved Dakota again over to Normandy for the anniversary, but this time as a passenger. He is hitching a ride on D-day.

GLASS: Looking forward to that?

HAMILTON: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I haven't done it since 75 years ago. This time we won't be hosed!

GLASS: Nick Glass, CNN, with Dave Hamilton and the Dakotas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Extraordinary there and we move to Australia now, and Cardinal George Pell returned to a court in Melbourne for a second day in the appeal of his sexual abuse conviction. He was found guilty of abusing two 13 year old boys when he was the cities archbishop in the 1990s. If the convictions are overturned, he could very well walk free. Well, the hearing for the appeal wrapped up just a little while ago without a ruling and our Anna Coren joins us now live from Melbourne with the latest on this. Anna, part of Cardinal Pell's appeal involves undermining the credibility of the victim in this case. So how did the prosecution respond to that?

[03:40:13] ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The prosecution, Rosemary, said that the victim was credible. A man of conviction who was very believable. He said, quote, the barrister for the prosecution said quote, the complainant was a very compelling witness. He was clearly not a liar, not a fantasist. He was a witness of the truth.

Now obviously the case of the prosecution hinged solely on the evidence and the testimony of the surviving choir boy who is now in his early thirties. Well, as you say, he was 13 years old when he was sexually abused by George Pell. His friend was molested in the priests sacristy when George Pell was archbishop of Melbourne back in 1996, 1997, but Pell's team have tried to make him out to be a liar and a fantasist and whilst we heard from the prosecution and they put forward their legal arguments, it wasn't a convincing performance.

Barrister Christopher boys was really struggling, Rosemary to counter some of those arguments and answer the questions of those three appeal court judges. At times, really struggling for words. The journalist here, David Mar (ph) from The Guardian described it as a train wreck, was how he said boys performed today before those three judges.

Now whether this is going to hurt the prosecution's case, we just don't know. Normally with appeal cases, 95 percent of it is written submissions, 5 percent of it is the oral argument and today the crown seriously struggled. Now there is so much hinging on this, Rosemary. If the appeal court judges find that there is reasonable doubt, then George Pell will be acquitted. He will walk a free man.

So, this is something that for the survivors of clerical sexual abuse, could be catastrophic. We spoke to some of the survivor groups and they just said this would send a terrible message to other victims. Basically saying that we don't believe you, that you are a liar and that when you come up against someone as powerful as the cardinal, you will not be believed.

But as far as the court is concerned, they have decided to reserve their decision for a later date. We are expecting that, Rosemary, in the coming. Weeks

CHURCH: All right. Our Anna Coren bringing us the very latest on that from Melbourne. Many thanks to you.

And as we mark 75 years since the D-day landings, let's hear from one of the last surviving veterans of the battle, 96-year-old Leon Gautier, he was among nearly 200 elite French commanders who stormed the Normandy Coast to push the Nazis out of France. He was in his early 20's at the time, and recalls being met with a hail of bullets and heavy bombardment as he reached the French shoreline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON GAUTIER, FRENCH D-DAY VETERAN (through translator): I think the first thing is to preserve peace. Do what it takes to keep the peace, because war is a misery. It ends with widows and orphans. War is a misery?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, U.S. President Donald Trump again talking tariffs, trade and immigration before leaving the island, he threaten to slap new tariffs on China and he repeated his intention to go forward with 5 percent tariffs on important Mexican good starting Monday.

Now, if Mexico doesn't do more to block the flow of migrants entering the U.S. illegally, those tariffs will be applied. Mexican and U.S. officials resume talks in the coming hours after they failed to reach a deal on tariffs and immigration on Wednesday in Washington. Mr. Trump said a lot of progress was made at the bargaining table, but he remains prepared to take dramatic steps against the U.S. neighbor. Here's what Mexico's foreign investors said after his meeting with Vice President Pence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCELO EBRARD, MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We are optimistic, because we had good meeting with respectable positions from both parts. We had the opportunity to share are point of view and explain why the Mexican position is like, that we are following regarding this issue. And tomorrow we are going to follow the talks, so, that is why I'm optimistic.

It's to hurt the people on this tariff issue. It's people in both countries and that is (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, some congressional members of the president's own party opposed the tariffs and are challenging him to defend his plan in person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): We think tariffs in this instance are

hurting the chances -- again, USMCA and for me, that is a very important goal.

SEN. PAT TOOMEY, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: I think we would all be better off if we don't put around those tariffs on Mexico and let's see what happens.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I support getting Mexico doing more and I hope the conversation occurring today produce more cooperation by Mexico. They can have a big impact, but I think the tariffs are unnecessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Amid this threat of tariffs, and also an escalation with China, economist have been sharpening their pencils and darkening their forecast for the U.S. economy. Clare Sebastian explains how a trade war could spark a recession.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We've got the hottest economy anywhere in the world.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a chill wind threatening President Trump's economy and his own trade policies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dropping a tariffs bomb on Mexico.

TRUMP: Five percent to 10 percent to 15 percent, to 20 and then to 25 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China will slap more tariffs on goods made here in the United States. Folks, this is what a trade war looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the past few weeks we've gone from a relatively sunny outlook in --

SEBASTIAN: The prospect to the potential deal with China and hoax for Congress to ratify the new NAFTA.

So the prospect of a trade war on two fronts. So while most economist agree the U.S. economy is relatively strong. Forecast are starting to darken.

They say if no deal is reached with China that could be a global recession in less than a year. Gregory Daco led another recent survey of U.S. business leaders, they forecast a 60 percent chance of a recession in 2020.

GREGORY DACO, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, OXFORD ECONOMICS: If we have tariffs applied on all imports from China which includes a lot of consumer goods, then you would start to see much larger effects on the U.S. economy. You could think of a loss of about five tenths in terms of GDP growth. SEBASTIAN: Economist say once the tariffs trickle down to the

consumer the risk multiply. The spending is about two thirds of U.S. GDP.

You get to 25 percent category if you are a U.S. importer, there's no way to meliorate that type of effect through administrative affects or structural changes to your supply chain. You are going to have to pass those prices on to consumers.

SEBASTIAN: An actual escalation in tariffs isn't the only reason to forecast. There's another cloud on the horizon here uncertainty itself.

[03:50:06] DACO: That is the biggest fear I think right now for the U.S. Economy is that we talked ourselves into a recession.

SEBASTIAN: (Inaudible) has already cause stock market volatility and that can get worst. (Inaudible) forecast Bank of America just cut its outlook for corporate earnings by 1.2 percent, because of renewed trade tensions.

DACO: If businesses are falling back on investment, deciding to delay investment plans then that in itself leads to reduce activity and in turn at least to reduce GDP growth.

SEBASTIAN: Now the big picture here is that last year when President Trump started imposing tariffs, this was a much brighter economic climate, now global growth is slowing and the effect of his tax cuts are weighing and if you add the trade war into this wintry mix, well, it might be too late to avoid getting light.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: All right we turn now to Sudan, an opposition groups are urging protestors to continue their civil disobedience despite the ruling military council's offer for talks. The Southern Times, Sudanese government says 46 protestors were killed during Monday's demonstration in Khartoum, but the doctors group says the number of dead has risen to 108 after 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile River. Our Farai Sevenzo has our report.

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FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The central committee of Sudanese doctors are now over a 100 people have died since the military crackdown in Khartoum and Sudan in general. Since the transition of the council decided to remove people from that area outside the military headquarters on Monday. And the same time the leader of transitional military council Lieutenant General Abdul Fattah Al-Bahan announced Wednesday that he is willing to restart negotiations with all the civil society groups and he announced the military was extending its arms to negotiate without restrictions in the national interest. But of course, this has not stopped bodies being pulled out of the

Nile and no one could quite far the trouble in the far lands went as the bodies are being pulled out. We are seeing pictures of these bodies having rocks attached to the torsos of the corpses, bricks attached to feet and the people who have been sitting in expectations for a civilian transition are all saying that the military have turned.

We must remember, of course, that the rapid support forces, those are largely being held responsible by the forces of freedom in change, the main coalition of a civil society group had been cracking down almost everybody. And we are hearing more and more reports of crack down on people being shot in the head of soldiers and people in the military gear are assaulting all those in that square. Now where does this takes Sudan? It takes to a situation where despite the fact that one head of the transitional military council is calling for negotiations. The other head, a man named General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (ph) otherwise known as Hemiti was the leader of the (inaudible) forces is also saying that they will not allow chaos. That they need to carry on with their convictions and that there's no way back.

It seems to be that there are two sentences of power in the ministry council and of course this puts the protestors themselves at a very precarious condition. Whether or not they will take up the words of the leader Abdul Fattah Al-Bahan to the negotiations is anybody's guess, but there is another thing in the mix here. Which is of the region, including Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Bin Salman has been meeting people like Mr. Hemiti, like Mr. Al-Bahan to try and force some kind of dialogue, but this has fall in on (inaudible) when the purchases are see, that all purchases, that all those fighting for the forces of democracy are constantly being shot and constantly being killed and there is no accountability. Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Nairobi.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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CHURCH: All this week we are profiling companies that has been in business for more than a 100 years. In this latest installment of the 100 club. CNN Cyril Vanier looks at how Hershey chocolate has been satisfying are sweet tooth since 1894.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whether it's Hershey's or Reese's or KitKat or your peppermint patty. Everybody has a special memory, a moment that they remember that evolve to one of our great friends. When they talk to consumers, we are at the top of the most loved brands list along with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Hershey. A brand that has been around for 125 years, right up there with the most contemporary brands that are in the marketplace today.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN SHOW HOST: Beloved by most for their chocolate, the Hershey Company was originally created by Milton Hershey in 1894 as a subsidiary of the Lancaster caramel company. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they are making caramels, he's making a lot

of different variety, but he also starting to think about kind of the next stage of his business as well. And he thinks it's in chocolate.

VANIER: While production began on the Hershey bar in 1900, another quintessential company treat didn't make its debut until seven years later in 1907. The demand for these foil wrap treats hasn't weighed since 15.1 billion kisses are made every year worldwide. And they're still one of the primary chocolates made at the company's headquarters in Hershey Pennsylvania, the factory here makes 72 million kisses a day.

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CHURCH: The magic of chocolate and you can join CNN Cyril Vanier for the 100 club all this week as he explores the stories behind famous brands that had survived and thrive for more than 100 years. And tune in for Cyril's special report on Saturday at 9:30 in the evening in London, 4:30 in the afternoon in New York.

And thank you so much for your company this hour, I'm Rosemary Church. The news continues with Bianca Nobilo in London. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a great day.

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