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China Extradition Bill Ignites Protests in Hong Kong; Fanfare and Fallout after U.S.-Mexico Agreement; Mnuchin, Chinese Central Bank Governor in "Candid" Trade Talk; Women's World Cup Day 3; Trooping the Colour for the Queen's Birthday. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired June 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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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Mass demonstrations in Hong Kong over a controversial extradition bill. We're live from the protest site in just a moment.

Celebrations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border after the two countries agree on a deal to curb migration.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to play football. We want to win games, so, you know, it's exciting things to come.

VANIER (voice-over): And day three of the Women's World Cup is hours away. We will be previewing the star matchup between England and Scotland.

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VANIER (voice-over): We're live from the CNN Center here in Atlanta. I'm Cyril Vanier, it's great to have you with us.

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VANIER: Hong Kong is bracing for what could be its largest protest in years. Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people could turn out to rally against a controversial extradition bill. It would allow fugitives to be sent to Mainland China.

Critics fear it's a power grab to help Beijing crack down on dissidents but supporters insist this is about law and order, stopping Hong Kong from being a criminal safe haven. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live in Hong Kong.

Kristie, the protest was scheduled to start now. We're looking at the live pictures.

What does it look like?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: You know, we have thousands of people gathering here in Hong Kong's Victoria Park, which is at the heart of the city, and thousands more streaming in from other locations to take part in this march that will start here.

This is believed to be one of the biggest political protests that Hong Kong has seen in years since the 2014 democratic protest.

At issue here is the extradition bill that would allow the extradition of suspected criminals into Mainland China. The Hong Kong government say it is necessary to cover a recent loophole. They cite a recent murder case of a woman allegedly murdered by her boyfriend on holiday in Taiwan. Under the current legal system, the Hong Kong government's inability to extradite him to face justice in Taiwan.

But you talk to critics of the legislation and there are many critics out there. They say this law, if passed, would be abused, that this law would allow the extradition of critics of China -- dissidents, journalists and human rights workers -- to be extradited to China and there would be no guarantee of a free and fair trial. This is what some of the protesters had to say.

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STOUT: Do you feel that this protest will make a difference?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Absolutely not.

STOUT: Then why do it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just at least you fight for it. At least like you didn't give up anything. You fight for it. Fight until the end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The law in China and Hong Kong is so different. Like they have so different standards. So if they happen, then what I can't imagine like what happened to the political activists or whatever, they were just sent back to China just for whatever reasons.

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STOUT: If you look at some of the banners that are being used in this protest around me, they say no to extradition in both Chinese and in English. They're very aware that they are messaging to an international audience as well as for the chief executive and the security chief to step down.

This march starts here in Victoria Park. It will then go to the legislative council building. That march will take place in about two hours. And the timing is critical, because Wednesday, later this week, is when lawmakers will gather to consider this highly controversial legislation.

There are some protesters here resigned to the fact that it may not amount to anything but at least they're fighting. But there are many, many here who believe they can somehow convince the lawmakers to scrap the bill.

VANIER: Kristie Lu Stout reporting. It is 3:00 pm local time where you are. We are just laying eyes on those live pictures for the first time. And there are a lot of people out there against this controversial bill. Kristie, we'll be speaking with you throughout the day. Thank you.

The presidents of Mexico and the United States are celebrating Friday's agreement on migration and the end of U.S. tariff threats. The Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he spoke with President Trump by phone and told those gathered at a rally that politics had won over confrontation.

President Trump tweeted that everyone is celebrating the deal and that Mexico has agreed to immediately begin buying large quantities of agricultural product from our great patriot farmers. There are no details --

[03:05:00]

VANIER: -- on that particular aspect of the deal as of yet.

But now there's word that parts of that deal aren't new at all, that they were actually hammered out months ago. "The New York Times" reports that Mexico's pledge to deploy its national guard nationwide was actually agreed upon in March.

And the agreement to allow asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed in the U.S. was actually reached in December.

Though one senior government official told "The Times" that the Mexican government had agreed to move faster and more aggressively than they ever had before this week's talks.

On the Mexican side, relief, celebration, apprehension as well. Mexico's president spoke at an event that was planned as one thing and then became another. Our Paula Newton reports.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Tijuana, this was supposed to be a unity rally, a protest rally to show Mexican strength when it was faced with those tariffs from the Trump administration.

Don't need it any longer. They've turned it into a celebration rally and President Lopez Obrador of Mexico insisting Mexico got a good deal out of this negotiation. Says before he came, here he was on the phone with President Trump. President Lopez Obrador says no, in fact they did not give in to the most drastic demands of the U.S. administration. Take a listen.

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ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translator): As the head and representative of the Mexican state, I cannot permit that anyone go against the economy of our country and much less that they establish an unjust asymmetry unworthy of our government and humiliating to our country. Fortunately, yesterday the politics of confrontation were imposed and

I must recognize that there was willingness to seek a negotiated exit to the conflict on behalf of President Trump and his negotiators.

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NEWTON: Beyond the actual words and details, the migrants are still trying to figure out what it means for them. Many are terrified about the fact that they will never reach their ultimate goal of getting to the United States. You can really see the frustration on their face and feel the grief with which they are now confronting their future.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In the end, in my neighborhood, the gangs harassed me, that if I didn't get on their side, I would have to leave or they would kill me and my daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): While there are people that might say I won't go, putting yourself in a situation n a country that is not our own, where sometimes we don't have money, no support because sometimes that happens on the trek. So some might prefer to stay. Others will prefer to risk it, risk what comes.

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NEWTON: For now, though, Mexico still taking this as a win and understanding that they averted economic disaster without those tariffs being imposed on Monday and without those escalating tariffs over their heads.

Having said that, they're not out of the woods yet, the Trump administration and the Mexican government say they will be looking very carefully to see how their new deal is implemented over the next 90 days -- Paula Newton, Tijuana, Mexico.

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VANIER: Joining me is Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

Now that we have closure on this, that the whole tariff drama is behind us now, what do you think of this whole thing?

JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: I think this is what we've seen from President Trump in the past. I think this is really a self-inflicted wound in the sense that I think he created this drama.

He decided to cause really wreak havoc by saying maybe we should have tariffs. I think it scared people on the Left and on the Right. It scared people outside of his administration and in his administration.

And I think, then, ultimately, after having created the emergency, he said, oh, I'm going to snap my fingers and look, I solved the emergency. So I think this is a pattern that we've seen in the past. But I think

that doesn't negate the fact that people are really breathing a sigh of relief. I think most people were united behind the fact that they thought these tariffs were a bad idea and now they're happy that we're not going to get them.

VANIER: But officially the point of these terror threats was to curb migration, to curb illegal immigration into the U.S. So that's the benchmark.

Do you think, in that respect, Donald Trump got what he wanted?

LEVINSON: I don't think he got what he wanted in the sense that I think he was able to save face by saying, look at the deal that I just had. I really, you know, I gave them first a carrot and then a stick with the tariffs. And America, I got you something great. We're going to reduce illegal immigration.

But I think if you actually peel back what really happened, as your viewers just heard, this was a deal largely already in place. I don't think this is a true victory for President Trump right now. I think this may have been a victory for the Trump administration maybe five months ago when it was first reached.

But this idea that I have great news for you is about five minutes --

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LEVINSON: -- too late. This is a deal reached almost half a year ago.

VANIER: But what's going to matter is Mr. Trump's ability to go to voters and say, hey, I promised to curb migration and look what I did, mission accomplished.

Do you think he can credibly say that?

LEVINSON: I think he's going to say that. I don't think it's going to be credible. I don't think we know yet for a couple of reasons.

One, as basically everyone has expressed, there's skepticism as to whether this deal can actually be implemented.

But, two, I'm not sure that actually matters for President Trump's base. I think for President Trump, this is a win politically. I think that people will read his tweet. They'll read a headline -- excuse me -- and they will say, President Trump accomplished something. He is going to do what was the centerpiece of his 2016 campaign, which is to curb illegal immigration.

I think there's about 36 percent of the public that will always be with President Trump. The question, as we go into 2020, is how will this play with the swing voters in the swing states and my guess is it's not going to be particularly popular with them.

VANIER: What about the legal aspect of this? There are already legal challenges against one of the key components

of this deal, the fact that the U.S. is going to be sending back asylum seekers to Mexico and make them wait for their U.S. asylum claims there. There are challenges against that.

LEVINSON: Right, and the challenges are based on the idea that these asylum seekers will not be able to have due process of the law, that they would be deprived of legal counsel and those are challenges that have already begun and they've begun quite successfully.

We've seen lower court judges saying, I don't want to implement this plan yet. But we I think we have to really increasingly untangle the politics from the law. So I think what President Trump is going to say is, look, there's more judges trying to hold up my agenda. I'm trying to work for you, the American public.

But I think what we see is, once again, we have a President Trump administration proposal that is having problems in the courts. We've seen this with the executive orders, regarding the travel ban. We've seen this regarding requests, subpoenas for his taxes, for instance.

And I think yet again, we're going to have legal problems but I'm not sure they're going to hurt him politically. I think he could actually use them as a political win.

VANIER: I want to read you the tweet by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, something he wrote shortly after the deal was announced. It's full of snark as it often is.

"Now that the problem is solved, I'm sure we won't be hearing more about it in the future."

Do you see President Trump dialing back immigration as one of his key talking points?

LEVINSON: I don't and I think that statement from Chuck Schumer is really not all that productive. It doesn't further the concern in any way. Let's be honest, the Democrats really aren't helping by putting out this type of statements.

I think President Trump has seen that with his base, with his party loyal, this is a very important issue and he is going to keep moving on it. He's going to keep talking about it in the rallies. He's going to talk about it in the debates.

And because I think it plays really well with the voters he's trying to reach, he's going to say, I'm going to keep you safe, you live in a dangerous place, I'm alone can help you. And this deal, while it may have been reached in the past, while it might not be legal, is probably still a political win for that reason.

VANIER: Jessica Levinson, thank you for joining us today, always a pleasure.

LEVINSON: Thank you very much. VANIER: For the first time since the U.S.-China trade talks broke down last month, the two countries are talking again. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has held a private meeting with China's central bank manager. Their meeting was constructive and candid. It happened on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

The full G20 gathering set for Osaka, Japan, later this month could bring President Trump and President Xi together for a trade summit.

But beyond the generalities Mnuchin offered, did the talk bring any progress at all toward resolving this trade dispute?

Let's try and find out. Journalist Kaori Enjoji is in Tokyo.

KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: Well, it's hard to imagine that a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 between Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and the head of the central bank in China, with more symbolism rather than substance, particularly given the track record that the Trump administration has in negotiating with its partners, not only with China but with Mexico and, to a larger degree, the negotiations that happened and the end result that happened with North Korea.

But having said that, I think the fact of the two sides met finally --

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ENJOJI: -- after a month of a face off. And during that time, when we saw the tariffs go up for both sides and there's a threat of more tariffs coming at the end of the month, I think the fact that they sat down triggered a little bit of relief among some of the watchers of this G20 finance ministers' meeting.

I think it's going to be critical what the chair of Japan says at this news conference that will be happening shortly and the language they use to portray the trade situation.

I mean, going into this meeting, a lot of finance ministers, the IMF, were saying the biggest risk for the global economy was the very fact that trade tensions were escalating. So I think it is almost unavoidable that they will use some kind of stronger language to characterize the situation we're in right now.

The bigger, more important thing is, did they resolve this issue? I think people are expecting no consensus on that particularly because we are in a very thorny situation and that is one of the reasons why people are questioning how the G20 can really put on a united front this time around.

And I think that will be very challenging for the chair, particularly in a country that likes consensus. At the same time you're going to hear that they did reach consensus on some of the less contentious issues, like the so-called digital tax issue, what they're going to do with artificial intelligence and so on and so forth.

There could be some progress on that but I would be very surprised if they reached any kind of meaningful consensus on how to reach, how to solve this trade dispute. And I think now people will be counting down on the possibility of a meeting between U.S. president Trump and President Xi at the G20 leaders' meeting scheduled later this month in Osaka, Cyril.

VANIER: Kaori Enjoji, thank you so much. And let us know as soon as you have an update on any of that. Thank you.

A new CNN poll in Iowa shows Joe Biden the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of that state's caucuses in February. About one in four likely caucus goers say they prefer Biden over the other candidates. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris round out the top candidates.

The other 18 candidates polled at 2 percent or less. Their first debate is set for later this month in Miami, Florida.

It's a big weekend in Iowa for all of the Democrats;19 of the 23 declared candidates are expected in the state for the annual Hall of Fame dinner on Sunday night. It also coincides with Pride Fest in Des Moines. Leyla Santiago is there.

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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is pride and politics. As many of the candidates make their way here, not only for the Pride Fest but also for a big dinner on Sunday night. That is the Hall of Fame dinner.

And we expect about 19 of the 23 candidates to be there, to not only show strength in their campaigns but also make themselves stand out. Now in this crowd here at the Pride Fest, a lot of the voters are looking for someone who's going to talk about abortion, the rights of LGBT. But a lot want to know about the jobs, the economy, health care and the candidates are taking note.

We've heard some take aim at President Trump. We've heard them talk about marriage equality. They've each had about 10 minutes to make their pitch to voters at a candidate forum to do so.

So really, the focus for many of these candidates is Iowa this weekend, that very first caucus state that really carries a lot of weight for that first vote. But take note of the time here. We are just weeks before a lot of these candidates get on a very big stage and that will be for the very first debate for the candidates -- Leyla Santiago, Des Moines, Iowa.

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VANIER: Queen Elizabeth's birthday was in April but she didn't get to celebrate her official birthday until Saturday. We'll explain Trooping the Colour, when we come back.

Plus, a new chapter in an old rivalry. England and Scotland will take on each other in the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time ever. We'll have a preview of that. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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VANIER: Day three of the Women's World Cup in France begins in just a few hours and it comes on the heels of a thrilling second day of action. Germany's quest for a third championship got off to a solid start with a win over China on Saturday; 19-year-old Giulia Gwinn scored the lone goal in the second half, there it is, becoming the third teenager to score for Germany in FIFA Women's World Cup history.

Now Spain spoiled South Africa's first ever Women's World Cup match with a 3-1 victory.

Let's take a look at Group A now with Norway having a decisive win over Nigeria as they beat the team 3-0.

Amanda Davies is covering the World Cup for us from Paris, she has a preview of a highly-anticipated matchup between rivals England and Scotland.

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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I vividly remember being here in Paris back in December and England-Scotland was one of those matchups that brought groans from inside the auditorium when their names were drawn in the same group. People didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Scotland's first World Cup appearance; England looking at their best chance in a long time. Neighbors, such close rivals in the same group and fighting against each other for a place in the last 16. As we've got closer, excitement has only grown ahead of Sunday's matchup in Nice.

England will be the favorites with a real mix of youth and experience in their squad. Having won the invitational She Believes Cup, beating Japan and drawing with the USA earlier this year. Ellen White was one of the players that scored in that tournament and she scored against Scotland at Euro 2017.

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ELLEN WHITE, ENGLISH FOOTBALLER (voice-over): I went to euro 2004 in Portugal with my family and we went to watch England play against Croatia. And I think that was exciting to be watching a major tournament and involved in the crowd, be a super, super excitable fan and seeing like England play a live game. That was really exciting with my family.

Ultimately, you want to play in major tournaments and I think that almost gave me the buzz of wanting to be on that pitch. So yes, that potentially did give me a little bit of a push to be like, go, go be a footballer.

It's a huge transition, obviously, a new manager. It's clearly been a year now. I think it takes a while to embed a philosophy, a game plan, how he wants us to play. We've had like a full year to develop that and gain an understanding, not only as a team and a squad but also as individuals as well.

So I think he's definitely brought in a different philosophy, the standards, the mentality. I think that's really important, that we go into every game with so much humility for every team that we play, not that we never did. But I think it's more emphasis on it.

And we want to play football. We want to win games. So it's exciting things to come. We've obviously got to --

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WHITE: -- get out of our group and then we'll go from there. But ultimately we'll have six months to prep after Christmas. We're going to put everything we have to win that World Cup.

We came so close in Canada. And, yes, I think we want to go one step further.

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DAVIES: White and her England teammates know that this is being talked about as their best chance yet to win a World Cup and to improve on the third place finish in Canada four years ago. They really need to lay down a marker in their tournament opener. But have no doubts, there is no chance of Scotland playing nice in Nice -- Amanda Davies, CNN, Paris.

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VANIER: Britain celebrated Queen Elizabeth's birthday on Saturday. She actually turned 93 back in April, as I was telling you, but official festivities are saved for June at a glittering event called Trooping the Colour. Salma Abdelaziz has more on this from London.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: It's the most royal day of the year, Trooping the Colour, the grand military parade that celebrates the queen's birthday. And it all started with a spectacular departure from Buckingham Palace.

The queen, of course, could be seen in a carriage, wearing a gorgeous white outfit. In other carriages, other members of the royal family, a lot of eyes this year on the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Of course she delivered baby Archie just one month ago and took a break from maternity leave to be alongside her husband, Prince Harry.

The royal family and the household cavalry all make their way down the mall in this grand procession; thousands of well-wishers stand side, waving flags, greeting the royal family, trying to get a peek as they make their way to the horse guard parade, where the centerpiece of this ceremony really takes place.

It's a very elaborate and intricate affair with 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians and 200 horses, all there to impress the queen. Once that is completed, everyone makes their way back down the mall, back to Buckingham Palace and all this pomp and circumstance culminates with a flypast by the Royal Air Force.

This is when you see the iconic moment of the queen, standing in the balcony alongside all the members of the royal family. And they look up at the sky as the flypast happens and the sky fills with the red, white and blue streams of smoke. It's a really beautiful and iconic showcase of unity and strength here in the U.K. -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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VANIER: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Cyril Vanier, we'll be back in just a moment with your headlines.