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A Sight of Calmness in Hong Kong; Cyclone Vayu Pass India's Gujarat Region; Hit Men Hired to Kill David Ortiz; President Trump Thumbs Up to Foreign Oppo Research; India Braces For Tropical Cyclone Vayu; Trump Would Take Info On Opponents From Foreign Government; Protest Subside As Hong Kong Government Closes Offices; Shinzo Abe In Iran; Amanda Knox Returning To Italy; Israeli Prime Minister's Wife To Plead Guilty To Illegal Food Orders; Deepfake Dangers. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 13, 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] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: It is calm on the streets of Hong Kong today, just 24 hours after violent clashes erupted between police and protesters.
We are live in Hong Kong as the city cleans up after Wednesday's violent demonstrations.
Plus, the eye of tropical cyclone Vayu makes a slight turn away from India, but people on the coast are still in the path of devastating wind gusts.
And later, U.S. president goes against his own FBI director. Donald Trump says he has no problem getting dirt on his opponents from former adversaries, including Russia.
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.
It is 3 p.m. here in Hong Kong where a small group of protesters have disrupted service on part of the city subway system. Others have been gathering in a nearby park but it is no comparison to the mass demonstrations we saw just 24 hours ago.
Police using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets. At least 79 people were hurt on Wednesday. Two of them seriously.
Our Andrew Stevens is live this hour in Hong Kong, he joins us now. And Andrew, again, we have dozens of people wounded in the aftermath of events yesterday. Too seriously. Areas on lockdown. Tell us more about the aftermath of yesterday's clashes.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The youngest of those injured, Kristie, was just 15 years old as well. The aftermath, it is very quiet on the streets of Hong Kong. That's not to say that people have given up and gone home, by any stretch of the imagination.
There's probably about 100 people in this park, I'm in the park just outside the legislative council offices of the Hong Kong parliament which was the scene of those violent moved by the police to clear out those protesters.
The protesters were attempting to storm into the legislative council building which drew the incredibly strong response from the police who then went on to use repeated attacks with tear gas, with pepper spray for the masses of protestors further out from the legislative council building.
Both Amnesty and Human Rights watch are saying that they used excessive force. The Hong Kong Fire Association are saying that they went beyond their legal agreement in restraining and moving the protesters out of the area.
So, there has been a strong backlash by many parts of Hong Kong. And particularly Hongkongers themselves, Kristie. The people I've been speaking today, the younger generations they are saying they saw what happened yesterday. They are deeply angry and they intend to continue their protests.
What they don't know at the moment, and what no one knows at the moment is exactly how they are going to do that.
STOUT: Yes, and a lot of those protesters directing their fury at the chief executive of Hong Kong. It's top leader Carrie Lam, she has defended the police response, as she defends the extradition bill. She has condemned the protesters. She gave this almost tearful reaction yesterday and has since been quite ridiculed for it. How is she trying to manage this?
STEVENS: Well, she certainly has been ridiculed for that response because she did come out very, very strongly after the police action to say that they acted because there was a blatant act of rioting going on by those young protestors.
There was some, a group did try to storm the parliament building, but on the whole, again the protesters were vocal, they were noisy, but they weren't violent. From at least what we could see.
Now, Carrie Lam has become, as you, say an object of derision. She is -- she is the focus of scorn across Hong Kong. She did do an interview with local television yesterday, last night, but I just want to now give you a bit more of an idea for viewers who don't really know Carrie Lam because she has been thrust into the spotlight like never before. This is who she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): They say I sold out Hong Kong. How could I? I am born here, and I grew up here with everyone. The love I have for this place has led me to sacrifice a lot, personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam's reaction to this weeks' anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong. A career civil servant, Lam's decades of government experience eventually led her to become Hong Kong's fourth chief executive and the first woman to hold the job.
Prior to her election in 2017, she had worked towards giving everyone in the former colony a vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:04:59] LAM: I have to stress that it remains our most important objective to achieve universal suffrage in this election of the chief of executive in 2017. And we will vote according to that objective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: But that didn't happen. And most of Hong Kong 7.4 million citizens had no say in Lam's election. Lam was chosen by an election committee made up of nearly 1,200 people stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As candidate number two, Mrs. Lam Cheng Carrie, has obtained more than 600,000 ballot votes in the election. I hereby declare Mrs. Lam as winner of the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Before becoming chief executive, Lam had a track record of reassuring Hong Kong citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAM (through translator): We respect citizens freedom to expect their opinions. We will carefully listen to their opinions and refer to these opinions for our policymaking later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: However, critics point at how she dealt with the 2014 Umbrella movement of protests. Lam was Hong Kong's chief secretary at the time, essentially the government top civil servant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAM (through translator): In 20 days, citizens and the whole society have used a lot of tolerance toward the unlawful occupation of students. Students have been orderly and peaceful in their demonstration, and we appreciate that, but it is still an unlawful act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Lam told protestors that Hong Kong could not decide its own political fate and threaten them with arrest if they didn't get off the streets. The chief executive's job has been described as part representatives for Hong Kong citizens and part enforcer for Beijing in the special administrative region.
Here is how Lam, herself, explain the role speaking with CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in 2017.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAM: The chief executive of the Hong Kong special administrative region has what we described as a dual responsibility and dual accountability. He or she has to be accountable to the Hong Kong special administrative region and also the central people's government.
STOUT: That's tough.
LAM: Yes.
STOUT: You have to be accountable to both.
LAM: That's unique.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: Ultimately, Carrie Lam may be forced to choose between the wishes of the Hong Kong public and those of the communist government in Beijing.
And Kristie, those who accused her of selling Hong Kong now referring really to the fact that they see Beijing eroding and eroding the sovereignty of Hong Kong, if you like.
It is important to remember that in 1997 when Hong Kong is handed back to China there was a clear agreement between U.K. between Britain and China, that Hong Kong would have its own basic law. It would have a high degree of autonomy. They see this autonomy being eroded all the time and that right at the moment they see Carrie Lam as the key architect of that erosion.
STOUT: Yes, Andrew. A lot of pressure on Carrie Lam, no doubt even Beijing is looking at her leadership in the way she is managing the situation and raising an eyebrow, as well.
Andrew Stevens reporting live from a very rainy Hong Kong. Take care.
Northwest India is bracing for what could be the strongest storm to hit the region in more than 20 years. Cyclone Vayu has turned slightly away from land. It is no longer expected to make landfall but it is still forecast to batter the coast with heavy rain, strong winds and storm surges.
About 300,000 people are being evacuated from low lying areas.
Now let's turn now to news 18 anchor Zakka Jacob who joins us from New Delhi. Zakka, thank you for joining us again. So, Vayu is not expected to make landfall but it still poses a danger. What are you learning?
ZAKKA JACOB, ANCHOR, NEWS 18: That's correct. So overnight, cyclone Vayu has veered off the coast of Gujarat, which is the westernmost province here in India. It also happens to be the home state of the prime minister.
It will now not make landfall in that province. Instead, it is still battering the coastline with wind speeds in excess of 100 kilometers an hour. Like you said a moment ago, already 300,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas.
The national disaster response force has already been activated. They've got about 50 teams on the ground in that one state. And then you have some columns of the army that have been evacuated, as well.
As a precautionary measure, all schools and universities in that state of Gujarat have been shut today, travel has become a bit of a problem, because five domestic airports in that state have been shut. Train and bus services have been suspended.
So, the worst is not over yet, although like you said, a moment ago cyclone Vayu will not be directly hitting the state of Gujarat. It will veer in a north northwesterly direction.
[03:09:58] One of the good things that has happened in the last few years here in India, we had a cyclone last month as well which hit the east coast. Again, in that instance, again close to a million people were evacuated within a matter of days.
The same thing is happening here, like you said, 300,000 people have already been evacuated. So, one of the good things that's happened over the last few years is that the central weather authorities, along with local officials on the ground, have been able to evacuate large masses of people from harm's way like we've seen in this instance.
STOUT: Yes. It's quite an endeavor, isn't it? Three hundred thousand people being evacuated. A very significant number of people. Where have they been moved to, and what kind of food, what kind of shelter do they have?
JACOB: So, a large number of these people have been evacuated to temporary shelters. There are about 700 temporary shelters have been put up in the state of Gujarat. Like I said, last month example is also there in front of us where, despite cyclone Fani being a super cyclone, wind speed in excess of 200 kilometers an hour, the number of fatalities was just a handful less than 10.
That didn't used to be the case here in India 10, 20 years ago. If you look at the cyclone that have hit India in the late 90s, early 2000, tens of thousands of people have died.
So, like I said, with advance warning the Central Weather Department has been able to give adequate lead time to the local authorities. In this case, in Gujarat.
In the state that happened in last month in a state called Odisha, which is in the eastern seaboard. And they have then been able to evacuate these large masses of people. Of course, they will be staying in this temporary shelter for the next few days, and after that the process of moving them back to their homes or whatever remains of it will have to begin.
Destruction to property is expected to be in millions of dollars, but luckily, like I said, the number of fatalities has been reduced. The record speaks for itself, at least in the last few years, and that's one of the good things that has happened.
STOUT: Absolutely. Zakka Jacob reporting live from New Delhi, thank you.
Now let's just leave this on the path of the cyclone. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the World Weather Center with that. And Pedram, the storm again, it has turned slightly away from land, but is it still very much a threat?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know, it has not weakened one bit since this time, yesterday, Kristie. And when you take a look at the storm system, still very symmetrical.
In fact, the last couple of hours, you see an eye beginning to form so we know the storm has not only maintained intensity, potentially even strengthen just a hair across this region. One hundred sixty kilometers per hour winds, but the closest it appears it will get to land is right now, this hour, about 130 or so kilometers offshore.
And that's fantastic news because all the energy, all the impacts right there along the center of course, near the eye wall of the storm system and that remains offshore. And it will continue to do so.
And the models indicate it will continue tracking west, northwest over the next couple of days. Water temperatures here still into the lower 30s, plentiful here to maintain the intensity of the storm, but over open waters we expect it to essentially rain itself out in really a fantastic turn of events when you consider the population density across this region of western Gujarat.
Of course, with over six million at least in the path of the storm initially estimated, but we know the folks across India, the National Disaster Response force taking this very seriously as noted in the previous interview there.
Several hundred thousand people, upwards of 300,000 here with the help of these folks have been able to be evacuated. The system still very impactful, still kicking one half meter storm surge possible, 100 millimeters of rainfall possible, but both those numbers have dropped off significantly from this time yesterday so the threat really have to be on that immediate coast for any impact to be seen.
The system just begins pulling away from the coastal community and again, weakens rather significantly. And notice what's happening there. Very dry air begins to filter in too in the next couple of days.
So, essentially chokes the storm out before it has any potential to cause any significant damage with a direct impact across this region.
So really, a best-case scenario. You have the evacuations in place, you have a storm system that begins to move away from the coastline. Not something you see very often, of course, it was 21 years ago this week a storm a very similar magnitude, Kristie, took with over 10,000 lives. So really get to see the way this is been playing out across this region.
STOUT: Absolutely. Twenty years on, authorities and residents they are taking this cyclone very seriously, and that's a good thing. Pedram Javaheri reporting. Take care.
It's a campaign move that sparked intense scrutiny, but President Donald Trump says he might do it again, getting the dirt on political opponents. Next.
Plus, police arrest six people in alleged plot to shoot the baseball legend David Ortiz. We are learning how much money the men were reportedly paid for the brazen attack that nearly killed Ortiz. We get the details, ahead.
[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: President Donald Trump says there is nothing wrong with accepting incriminating information about an opponent from a foreign government. He says that he would take dirt and not called the FBI.
In an interview with ABC, the president defended his son Don Jr. for not telling the FBI about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, CHIEF ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: Should he have gone to the FBI when he got that e-mail?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: OK. Let's put yourself in a position, you're a congressman, somebody comes up and says hey, I have information on your opponent, do you call the FBI? I don't think --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: If it's coming from Russia, that's what you do.
TRUMP: I'll tell you what. I've seen a lot of things over my life. I don't think in my whole life I've ever called the FBI. In my whole life. I don't -- you don't call the FBI. You throw somebody out of your office, you do whatever you --
STEPHANOPOULOS: Al Gore got a stolen briefing book. He called the FBI.
TRUMP: Well, that's different. A stolen briefing book. This isn't a -- this is somebody that said we have information on your opponent. Let me call the FBI. Give me a break. Life doesn't work that way.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: The FBI director says that's what should happen.
TRUMP: The FBI director is wrong.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Your campaign this time around, if foreigners, if Russia, if China, if someone else offers you information on opponents should they accept it or should they call the FBI?
TRUMP: I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen. I don't -- there's nothing wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, we have information on your opponent, I think I'd want to hear it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You want that kind of interference in our elections?
TRUMP: It's not an interference. They have information. I think I'd take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI, if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, let's call the FBI.
The FBI doesn't have enough agents to take care of it but you go and talk honestly to congressmen, they all do it and they always have. That's the way it is. It's called oppo research.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: That exchange was extraordinary. Now, Christopher Wray is the man President Trump appointed as FBI director after he fired James Comey. Here is what Wray said about foreign influence on elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: My view is that if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation state about influencing or interfering with our election then that's something that the FBI would want to know about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: President Trump welcomed his Polish counterpart to the White House, but the focus was on recent comments that Mr. Trump has made about North Korea.
Abby Phillip has more.
[03:20:00] ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump pulling out all the stops for Poland President Andrzej Duda, ordering a rare fighter jet flyover of the White House before his Rose Garden press conference today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It actually came pretty close to a halt over the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIP: But it was President Trump's comments about North Korea and
the next steps with Kim Jong-un that raised eyebrows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Strong force, we're the strongest force in the world, but that's a strong force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: President Trump, not offering much clarity on his comments yesterday. When he said he wouldn't allow the CIA to use Kim Jong-un's half-brother as an informant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No, it's not what I meant. It's what I said and I think it's different than maybe your interpretation. I think we are going to do very well with North Korea over a period of time. I am in no rush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Minutes earlier, in the Oval Office, Trump slamming reports that his campaign's internal polls showed him lagging his 2020 rivals in key states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They were fake polls that were released by somebody. They were fake polls that were either put out by the corrupt media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And insisting that he is in the best position possible to win reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have some internal polling, very little, and it's unbelievably strong, the strongest I've ever been is exactly today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Trump, defiant as Democrats make it clear they will use their subpoena power to bolster their investigations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think what the Democrats are trying to do, because they know they will lose the election, so they are going to give this a shot. They are going to just every day, they are going to go and more and more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The president also making this fall game about the Mueller report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In fact, it said we actually rebuffed your friends from Russia. That we actually pushed them back, we rebuffed them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: But the report made it clear that Trump campaign officials believed they could benefit from Russian help. Trump also talking up his planned meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 later this month. Even jokingly dangling the prospect of inviting reporters into the room before the meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You people are so untrusting. So, it's probably better if I -- would you like to be in the room? OK? Would you like to be? I can imagine you would be. I think it's probably easier if we have people in the room because you people don't trust anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: President Trump was also asked to clarify what was in that beautiful letter that he said he received from North Korea's Kim Jong- un on Tuesday. The president wouldn't add more details about what was in the letter. He only described it as warm and appreciated.
But a source tells CNN's Kylie Atwood that Kim did not provide a way forward for talks between the U.S. and North Korea on denuclearization. All of that seems to suggest that those talks remain stalled as of right now.
Abby Phillip, CNN, the White House.
STOUT: The front runner to succeed the British Prime Minister Theresa May says he is in a battle to restore faith to British democracy.
Boris Johnson officially launches his campaign for prime minister on Wednesday, promising to unite Britain, defeat opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and deliver Brexit. Johnson says he is prepared to leave the E.U. without a deal but it is not what he's aiming for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER CANDIDATE: We can get Brexit done and we can win. We can unite our country and our society, and that is why I'm standing to be leader of the Conservative Party in prime minister, because this contest is not chiefly about any one person. Or even about the conservative party. It is the opening salvo in a battle to restore faith in our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now during the campaign launch, Johnson's previous drug use was brought up. He has admitted to using cocaine in the past but dodged the issue when pressed by reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you telling the truth, then? And do you regret the fact that you took a class a drug?
JOHNSON: I think the canonical account to this event when I was 19 has appeared many, many times and I think what most people in this country really want us to focus on in this campaign, if I may say so, is what we can do for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Yes, that was dodge. Now Johnson is one of 10 candidates vying to succeed Theresa May, the first secret ballot to start whittling down the field is on Thursday. By June 20th, two candidates will be left and Tory remembers will choose between them. The winner should take over 10 Downing Street by mid-July and they will have to hit the ground running as the deadline for Brexit is October 31st.
Now, authorities in the Dominican Republic say six men are now under arrest in Sundays' ambush shooting of the baseball legend David Ortiz, including the alleged gunman. A seventh suspect is still on the run. Officials say the men were offered about $8,000 to shoot the retired baseball player at a crowded nightclub.
Patrick Oppmann has more now from Santo Domingo.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dominion police say they have the gun used to shoot David, 'Big Papi,' Ortiz but not the motive behind the failed hit.
[03:25:02] The former Red Sox superstar was shot in the back in a bar he frequented in Santo Domingo on Sunday. Police say this man Ferreira Cruz shot Ortiz and has confessed to pulling the trigger. Cruz, police say, escaped on foot after shooting Ortiz. His alleged motorcycle getaway driver Eddy Garcia was captured and beaten severely by the enraged crowd with what police called, quote, "blunt objects."
Garcia has been charged with being an accomplice to attempted murder. His mother told CNN she wants Ortiz to know that her son didn't realize he was part of a murder for hire plot and he is a big fan of Big Papi.
"That we love him lots, me and my son are his fan and this is a lie," she said. "This couldn't have happened with my son. And much health I want him to get well and to overcome this." Police say the plot involved at least six alleged hired killers. Several they say waited in parked cars near the scene of the shooting.
"These individuals, each one of them" said the head of the Dominican police force, "all of them have been jailed and will go before a court." The alleged shooter in driver, police say, conferred with other members of the group into cars just before the shooting.
Police say it was a coordinated, paid hit. When David Ortiz played in the Major Leagues, he pulled down million-dollar paydays but the alleged hitmen hired to kill him, police, say were promised far, far less.
Four hundred thousand Dominican pesos, police say about, $8,000. Police say this man the groups alleged pay master nicknamed (Inaudible) or "The Surgeon," is still at large. Also, beyond officials grasp is the motive behind the shooting.
Police say this group of alleged hired guns went to great lengths to try and kill one of their country's most beloved baseball players. But investigators say they still don't know why.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santo Domingo.
STOUT: Now terrible news for a Golden State Warriors fans. Forward Kevin Durant is out for the rest of the NBA finals. He underwent surgery on Wednesday, posted this picture on Instagram from his hospital bed.
He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Monday's win against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors lead the best of seven series, three to two, and will face the Warriors in game six later on Thursday.
Now for the first time in history, the St. Louis Blues are the National Hockey League champions. They beat the Boston Bruins four to one in game seven of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday to claim the title.
The Blues center Ryan O'Reilly was named the series most valuable player, and back home in St. Louis, Blues fans were celebrating the long-awaited victory. They packed the hockey arena and the Major League baseball stadium to watch the game.
Now the battle maybe over for now for protestors here in Hong Kong, but the fight against a controversial extradition law will go on. We'll hear what the government wants just ahead.
Also, years after being released from prison, Amanda Knox is returning to Italy. We will look back at a controversial murder trial and the media frenzy surrounding it. Also, ahead, look closer, which of these is different and why? The dangers of deep fakes, next.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom, I'm Kristie Lu Stout with the headlines this hour. The powerful cyclone that is forcing about 300,000 people to evacuate parts of northwest India maybe turning slightly away from land now, but experts predict that cyclone Vayu could still be the worst storm to hit the region in decades and will batter the coast with heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge.
In an ABC interview, President Donald Trump said he would take information from foreign governments on his political opponents and he would not necessarily report it to the FBI. Despite the FBI Director saying that the agency would want to know about it. Mr. Trump said the FBI Director is wrong.
Hong Kong closed earlier central government offices. They were closed not supposed for the rest of the week after days of protesting against a controversial extradition bill. Chief executive Carrie Lam condemned what she called intentional riots. At least 79 people were injured Wednesday in clashes with police.
And joining us now is Fernando Cheung, vice chairman of the Labour Party. And Fernando, thank you for joining us. You are now inside the legislative council, earlier it was on lockdown.
FERNANDO CHEUNG, VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE LABOUR PARTY: Hi, Kristie.
LU STOUT: A day after those violent clashes there are dozens of people, over 70 people injured, two in serious condition. How dire is the situation in Hong Kong today?
CHEUNG: It is in the brick of falling into a difference status, if you will. We are afraid that we would become a mainland city. We would no longer have a rule of law, our own it autonomy and also liberty in Hong Kong that is protected by the basic law and the one country, two systems.
LU STOUT: Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, she continues to defend the extradition bill despite widespread opposition to it. She is also condemning the protestors and their actions on Wednesday. How are you gauging the way Carrie Lam is managing this crisis?
CHEUNG: Well, we had one billion people strong came onto the street on Sunday. It was loud and clear. It was probably the biggest demonstration ever in Hong Kong. Now, wouldn't that show the administration that something is wrong with this bill? And that at least they should recognize that there are a lot of opposition, a lot of concerns about this bill, by pressing it on really does not do any good to Hong Kong.
Now, despite all that, Carrie Lam insisted, but nothing. And therefore, when the bill was supposed to be resumed reading in the legislative council here, people came out and people were frustrated. We saw most of these people being very young people, high school students, university students, they came out and they wanted to show the administration that this is no way to simply press on such a controversial bill. Now, they continue to ignore them, so it has to escalate to an extent that people want to show their frustrations.
LU STOUT: And it certainly has escalated.
CHEUNG: It is definitely nothing like a riot. Yes, but it's not a riot.
LU STOUT: It wasn't a riot, you're calling it a protest. Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong police, they called it a riot. Carrie Lam has defended the actions of the Hong Kong police force. Human rights groups all around the world have condemned their actions in the use of what they call excessive violence. Did you see, firsthand, examples of police brutality on Wednesday? CHEUNG: Yes. It was out of proportion. We saw police shooting
rubber bullets and beanbag bullets towards the crowd without giving warnings. And that is totally unacceptable.
[03:35:07] We are talking about lethal weapons being used against unarmed citizens and most of them are young children. I can't imagine an administration, a government would use such armed, lethal weapons against his own citizens. Now, of course there are pockets and times, certain violence has happened, but these violence, we are talking about people pushing barricades. And the types of tools they were using were like helmets or face masks or umbrellas.
All of these are devices to protect themselves rather than for attacking others. On the other side, we saw police having a lot of weapons. The pepper spray, the tear gas, they basically used tear gas at will without limitation and they even used the rubber bullets against them and that is something totally unacceptable.
LU STOUT: We have an ongoing standoff on the streets. There is impasse over this controversial piece of legislation. What can Hong Kong do to climb itself out of this situation? What's the solution, here?
CHEUNG: Well, I think we should come back to some sense. Now, everybody knows that this is such a controversial bill that should not just go on without any revisions. The government should suspend the bill for now, come back to the negotiation table, have all parties and the public included do a thorough consultation of the bill and then we will go back to this legislation process. Otherwise, we can only brace ourselves for even higher confrontation and we don't want to see any more bloodshed in this confrontation.
LU STOUT: Fernando Cheung, thank you for joining me. CNN has reached out to the Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam as well as members of her government. We have not received any replies today, and on Wednesday, I spoke with a member of the Hong Kong executive council Ronny Tong about the demonstrations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONNY TONG, MEMBER, HONG KONG EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: The government has already made two important concessions over, you know, a number of days. I'm appealing to everybody in Hong Kong to search back, you know, in relation to the political system. To see if there is a common ground between the two sides. At the moment, those who are opposing the bill are asking, an all or nothing situation. Either you passed it or you shove it.
I think that there should be room for something in between. That there will be more protections for people who may be extradited to the mainland, hopefully they will be satisfied with more concessions, but I think it's important for the people who are opposing the bill to say that they are willing to talk about it.
It doesn't have anybody by resorting to violence in the streets. I think everybody will have to agree with that, so I hope that in the days to come we will see less violence, more talking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Ronny tong from the Hong Kong executive council speaking with me on Wednesday.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Iran. He is hoping to ease tensions between the U.S. and Tehran. Mister Abe met once with the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, and in a joint news conference the Prime Minister said, armed conflict in the Middle East must be avoided at all costs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHINZO ABE, PRIME MINISTER, JAPAN (through translator): We had a useful exchange of views on how to reduce tension and avoid any unintended clashes in the region. How to prevent instability and preserve peace and stability.
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANINAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I welcome that Japan is willing to purchase oil and will consider steps to resolve and improve financial ties, as well as ties in the fields of science and culture. All these are points that will help guarantee the expansions of ties between the two countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: During his remarks, President Rouhani blamed U.S. sanctions for tensions in the region. He also said that Iran remains committed to the nuclear deal. Mister Abe is meeting Thursday with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
A criminal justice conference in Italy is making headlines, because of its high profile guest, Amanda Knox. She is returning for the first time since being released from an Italian prison in 2011. Remember, Knox what the American exchange student who was convicted then exonerated for the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher.
[03:40:05] CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live from Milan. And Melissa, Amanda Knox has returned to Italy, what is going to be her message at this conference that she is due to speak at?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the time being, we'll gathered here at the airport waiting for her return to Italy, but be expected over the course of the next few hours, we understand that tonight she will be at the criminal justice conference opening ceremony as a sort of party to welcome all the guests. She is not due to speak until Saturday. Now interestingly, Kristie, she has said that she will not be giving interviews before then because she wants to make sure that the impact of her words is what it should be. But of course, everyone very keen to hear what this woman has to say as she sets foot on Italian soil for the first time in eight years. The woman who has known more than most what the harsh glare of the media spotlight can be.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: It was a case that gripped the world back in 2007 and continues to divide, today. It began with a sexual assault and murder of 21 year old British student Meredith Kercher. Within days, the suspicions of Italian investigators turn to one of her roommates, 20- year-old Amanda Knox. Then her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who she claimed to have spent the evening with change his story.
Knox then blamed her boss, Patrick (inaudible), for Kercher's murder while under questioning. She was later found not guilty. Plus another man Rudy (Inaudible), who was arrested and convicted of Kercher's murder is currently serving a 16 year prison sentence. Yet prosecutors continue to insist on Knox and Sollecito's involvement and in 2009, the two were found guilty and sentenced to prison.
Media interests, both Italian and international was intense throughout the trial, fed by headlines that labeled Miss Knox, Foxy Knoxy, focusing on her character and on the alleged sexual nature of the crime. One Italian commentator described her as having the face of an angel, but the eyes of a killer. After four years in jail, Knox and Sollecito were freed when an appeal court (inaudible) their convictions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's important for me to say is thank you.
BELL: She returned to Seattle and was exonerated by the Italian judiciary in 2015. All along, she maintained her innocence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means that everyone is vulnerable, and that is everyone's nightmare. Either I'm a psychopath in heaps clothing or I am you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I think that Amanda Knox was unlucky. She was judged by the media before, and then her rights and defense were not respected. A lot of people was interested on this history, because it was a sex crime. There were young people, students, foreigner students and so there was a lot of (inaudible) for a good plot for a good crime plot. But it was -- this was reality.
BELL: It is that question of her trial by media that Amanda Knox will address at a justice reform conference in Italy this week. A first return to the country that she vowed never to revisit again that is likely to place her once again firmly in the media spotlight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Now, what she is coming here to talk about specifically, what her panel will be on, Kristie, is the question of trial by media and the impact that the high-profile media attention can have on someone's right to a fair trial. So, it would be really interesting to hear what she has to say and already Italian photographers have gathered, once again, the irony being, of course, that she will be talking precisely about that media spotlight while she finds herself once again very much in it. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, Amanda Knox, very brave to return to Italy. She will face a media onslaught once again, once she touches down. Melissa, what is Amanda Knox's legal position right now?
BELL: Well, she was of course, exonerated on that central question of her conviction. First of all, it went back and forth a number of times through the courts here in Italy of whether she had been involved in the murder of Meredith Kercher. She was exonerated on that as was her boyfriend in 2015, but there is this outstanding conviction which has to do with those crucial first few days of questioning when she accused her boss at the time, Patrick, remember that you saw there in that report, of possibly having been responsible.
That malicious accusation is the conviction that still stands, and it was at the heart of her attempt with the European court of human rights to get that further exoneration. She took the Italian judiciary on, the judgment came out earlier this year, and Wall Street recognized that there had been mistakes and that she had been denied access to a lawyer into an interpreter in those crucial few hours when she says investigators tried to break her and forced her, she says, to make up false confession including that accusation against Patrick.
[03:45:06] But what the European court of human rights did not find was in her favor on the broader question of whether she had been mistreated or bullied by the police during those crucial hours. So, questions remain about precisely what happened. Questions remain, of course, Kristie, about what happened exactly to Meredith Kercher. The man who is currently serving a 16 year prison sentence in his judgement, in his verdict, it was found that he had not acted alone. Who, then, was responsible? To this day, no one is for sure.
LU STOUT: That's right. We still don't know who definitively killed Meredith Kercher. Melissa Bell, so many questions, reporting live from Milan. Melissa, thank you.
A new political weapon is being unleashed, why soon you may not be able to believe your eyes and how dangerous that could be. Details on deep fakes when we come back.
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LU STOUT: Welcome back there. When Israeli voters go to the polls in September they will have one more factor to consider. This time it's the Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu has agreed to plead guilty on one several corruption cases facing the Netanyahu family. Oren Liebermann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORESPONDENT: The case against Sara Netanyahu involves the illegal ordering of catered meals to the official Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. Sara Netanyahu, along with a manager of the residence, order nearly 50,000 dollars of meals. According to an updated indictment filed in court Wednesday. That is illegal, under Israeli law. When there is already an official chef at the residence. And prosecutors say there was one at the time.
Sarah Netanyahu pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unfairly taking advantage of a mistakes. She'll have to pay some $15,000 in fines and restitution. The bigger story REID: is the additional criminal investigations facing the Netanyahu family. Specifically, of, course Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader faces charges of bribery and breach of trust in three separate cases, with a pre- indictment hearing schedule for early October.
Those cases are far bigger in terms of their scope and the amount of money involved. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, as his high powered legal team has worked to delay and slow down the legal process he faces. Given enough time, Netanyahu may try to pass on immunity law after the next election to shield himself from prosecution. And that perhaps is the much bigger story of the legal cases facing the Netanyahu family. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And now to the latest in the war on fake news. A war that is getting harder and harder to fight as technology gets better and better at tricking us.
[03:50:05] Have a look at this. This doctored video, it appears to show the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, talking about the power of stolen information.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO FACEBOOK: Imagine this for a second -- one man with total control of billions of people's stolen data, other secrets, their lives, their futures. I owe it all to specter. Specter showed me that whoever controls the data controls the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: That video is fake. It was made using A.I. programs that take pictures of real people and put them into fake videos. The so- called deep fakes are coming under increased scrutiny. In fact, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing in the coming hours to discuss how fake videos are threatening democracy. Our CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has been following the story and he has exclusively obtained videos that show just what deep fake tech can do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are going to Mexico. They are going to many other countries.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Here is President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They took a microphone to Kenya and they broke. And now it's broken.
O'SULLIVAN: And Alex Baldwin's impression of him from Saturday Night Live, but now take a look and listen at this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's picking up somebody sniffing. O'SULLIVAN: That is not really Trump. It is just his face mapped on
top of Baldwin. Researchers at USC created this clip, and many others, of prominent politicians, showing just how easily viewers could be tricked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Listen, America, Donald Trump cannot be president.
O'SULLIVAN: Videos like this are known as deep fakes. A new, sophisticated way to create fake videos using artificial intelligence, and their potential damage is catching attention on Capitol Hill. While some technology experts say the trek is exaggerated, it's very real for lawmakers like House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's a race between the A.I. to create them and the A.I. to detect them.
O'SULLIVAN: His committee is scheduled to hold the hearing tomorrow discussing national security challenges of artificial intelligence manipulated media and deep fakes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The visuals that obviously were planned.
O'SULLIVAN: Highlighting this, altered video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it's not an example of a deep fake, but was edited to make it look like she is slurring her words.
SCHIFF: It would be very easy to introduce a doctored video that could have a very sizable impact, anonymously, at various places around the globe at one time. And whoever introduced it would always have some level of plausible deniability.
O'SULLIVAN: Other technology experts agree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to get to point out at some point in the near future, where you are not going to visually build the distinguish between the two. And we sort of, we want to get ahead of this. Before we get to that point.
O'SULLIVAN: Fareed, UC Berkley's studied hours of footage of political figures and 2020 presidential candidates, movements, when they talk. Constructing a system called fingerprinting. Aiming to help the government and news organizations separate the real from the unreal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the end of 19, and the lead up to the Iowa caucuses, and New Hampshire primaries, is that we will have most, if not, all of the candidates fingerprinted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Our thanks to CNN's Donnie O'Sullivan for that report. And an uninvited guest paid a visit to the White House Rose Garden and no one noticed for nearly half an hour. The calling card left behind, next, on CNN Newsroom. [03:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Whether he is exaggerating his wealth or maligning the Mueller report, Donald Trump can spin a tangle web like a few presidents before him. And on Wednesday, the U.S. President had some company in the White House Rose Garden. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the cameraman checked his focus, a mysterious glint! Something special awaiting President Trump and the leader of Poland, but this spider went up the presidential podium, judging by the single strand of a web, the spider web is literally going from mic to mic, LOL. The mighty strand managed to survive, President Trump adjusting his microphone, the president was unaware.
TRUMP: We are honored to welcome President (inaudible).
MOOS: And uninvited dude that left its mark, we first became aware of the web via the web when a self-proclaimed media nerd tweeted, OK, Jeanne Moos, whatever you are working on for tonight, stop. Now you will be reporting on the Rose Garden spider web, and we are.
The strands survived multiple handshakes, perhaps symbolizing an (Inaudible) warning not to waver from the truth at this press conference, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. The strand barely escaped some of President Trump's gestures. OK, this wasn't quite as dramatic. It's when President Obama nailed a fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice --
MOOS: Or when a fly landed on then candidate Trump's hair. Even walls won't keep out pesky bugs, at the Rose Garden event, it was as if a spider had written a president's remarks describing that web.
TRUMP: The enduring ties of civilization, the unbreakable bonds.
MOOS: But the bond was broken almost half an hour into the presser.
TRUMP: Let's see, who do I like? Nobody, that the end.
MOOS: His outstretched pointer was the end for the spider web that snag the president should have vacuum the podium, instead of the red carpet. You can put your shoes back on. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. The news continues next with Max Foster in London.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: A day after violent protests in Hong,
END
