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Puerto Rico Protest Against Governor Turns Violent; Trump Attacks Progressives At Campaign Rally; Mexican Drug Lord Sentenced To Life In U.S. Prison. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 18, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everybody! Thanks for having it -- thanks for being with us, I should say. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, protesters clashed with police in Puerto Rico as the island's governor refuses to resign over RickyLeaks, thousands of homophobic, misogynistic, and profanity texts which have been leaked from his office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMERICAN CROWD: Send her back! Send her back! Send her back!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. President whips up a crowd in North Carolina leading his supporters in racist chants directed at four Congressional Democrats, all women of color who criticized him and his administration.
Also ahead, the end of the line the ruthless drug kingpin and prison escape artist El Chapo Guzman. The most secure prison possibly in the world will probably hold him and probably home for Guzman for the rest of his life plus 30 years.
Anger and violence are escalating on the streets of Puerto Rico's capital as protesters demand the governor resign. Police fired tear gas into crowds who demand that Ricardo Rossello stepped down after text messages that were homophobic, misogynistic, and laced with profanity were leaked.
They were between Rossello and members of his inner circle targeting political opponents as well as celebrities and a whole lot of others. The governor though is refusing to leave. The mayor of San Juan says it's time for him to go saying people are fed up with corruption as well as a declining economy.
CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez is with us now live from San Juan. So what's the very latest there at the moment, Juan Carlos, essentially with the protesters and you know, the tear gas and the clashes with police?
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a wild night, John. As you said, people are upset over the leaks but over a whole number of corruption scandals. But what happened tonight was the police fired tear gas. There were thousands of people on these streets of all San Juan. People left but there was a protest headed by motorcycle riders.
So after this had been emptied of people, they started cleaning up, we started seeing hundreds of motorcycles driving here towards the Fortaleza Street. That Street is where the governor's mansion is and that's where protesters have gone during the last five days. Well, they came, they stayed here for a couple of minutes.
But what's interesting is that after the motorcycles left, people came back. So even though police fire the tear gas and kick people out, protesters are back. Some of them are back here. Let me just ask him why he's here and how long they plan to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when it comes to the revolution you know, we were already been here. And as long as we're going to stay together, stay strong, what's point of leaving, you know?
LOPEZ: It's been five days, John, of people demanding Governor Rossello leave. They say they're going to be here until he does and he says he's not doing it.
VAUSE: And Juan, he called it -- he called it a revolution, you know, this essentially -- you know, the man you just spoke to that whose face we did not get to see. He called this -- I think he called it a revolution.
So clearly you know, this is -- as far as he's concerned, I guess many others like him, this is just the start of something which as you said, it's above all than those leaked text messages, it's about corruption, it's about a lack of progress after Hurricane Maria, it's about a multi-billion dollar debt meltdown. This is an island which is in crisis.
LOPEZ: And what happened, John, was that by the time the leaks happened, Puerto Ricans had gone through several scandals in recent weeks. Two former cabinet members for Governor Rossello's administration were arrested. They were accused in a scheme of alleged misappropriation of over $50 million.
Remember there was controversy after Hurricane Maria where President Trump said that he wouldn't send aid to Puerto Rico because it wouldn't be used properly. So now that's the debate that they prove the president right. Governor Rossello had promised a different type of administration but the leaks which were selective, they were not the full conversations, but they were part of a political revenge, then demonstrated a pattern of behavior by Governor Rossello that it isn't very different from what many politicians on the island or in the region have -- are accustomed to and that's why people are so upset.
And one thing, this man that wasn't showing his face was talking about a revolution but we've spoken with people from different parties. Puerto Rico has a very interesting political life. But people from those center, from the left, from the right, people want to be a state, people who want to be independent, they are all complaining, they are all upset, and they say that Rossello has to go, that they're tired of the corruption, and they're tired of their schools being underfunded and hospitals being underfunded, and that it's time for a change.
VAUSE: Yes. They have been through so much over the last couple of years. And Juan Carlos, just as we were talking with you, just for our viewers, there were live pictures on the other side of the screen there as we were -- as you were you know, giving us real-life report.
Just finish up with this. Where do you see this heading? These are the live images again. 1:05 in the morning there in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
[01:05:20] LOPEZ: OK, so we have to go back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LOPEZ: We're switching our shot because the police is firing the teargas again. We want to show you what's going on right now. So can you -- can you -- let me get our photographer away of this car.
VAUSE: Juan Carlos, do you need to go?
LOPEZ: No, no, we're fine. We're fine. No, no, no, we're fine. I just want to show you what's going on.
VAUSE: Just explain the scene around you -- yes, what exactly -- what street are we looking at? How many people are there? And you know, just keep in mind this is past 1:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning.
LOPEZ: I mean, I'd say -- so the block we are showing all the way down -- Orlando, if we can show again, the police have established a cordon at the end of this block. So maybe 10, 15 minutes ago, these streets were empty. Now I'd say there are hundreds of people that are walking slowly around. They had already been evacuated from the zone.
The police are following people we see near and they're firing teargas is all the way down by the street that leads to the governor's mansion. There you can see -- you can see the smoke and you can see the people running. They had the zone. They had control of the zone, now they don't and people are coming back.
And I'm going to let you hear what they're saying. Puerco is pig. That's what they're screaming. You see how the police regroups and what actions they take, but now they're fighting tear gas again.
VAUSE: And this seems to be the pattern which has taken place for the last couple of hours there. It's old (INAUDIBLE), right, the old part of the capital?
LOPEZ: Yes. It's also in San Juan, this is a highly tourist zone. That's what we mostly see here. And today in the afternoon when we're covering the process, it was families with children. They were selling ice cream, beer. It was more of a carnival environment. Now after 11:30 last night, they started pushing people out and now
it's mostly a lot of young people. People with their faces covered with flags wrapped around their neck and confronting the police again. And the police I guess were starting to firing the tear gas after they had already cleaned the street. And we see a lot more young people returning.
We do have to say it is summer and I can see someone with a mask and a bat. It's one of these typical protest zone but they're not going to sleep right now.
VAUSE: And as you're talking there, Juan Carlos, we just saw police fire off what could be another round of tear gas. And you can see in the distance there, you know, looks to be young men possibly picking up projectiles rocks or stones or whatever debris they can find on the road and you know, those are often thrown back at the -- I guess the riot police there.
And it looks as it's to be a scene which we'll be carrying out for some time. We will continue to monitor the situation in San Juan, the capital Puerto Rico as these protesters are out on the streets demanding the resignation of the governor of the island not just over those leaked text messages but also as Juan Carlos was reporting, the ongoing corruption within his administration and the misappropriation of funds, number of arrests within his cabinet.
Juan Carlos, we appreciate you being with us. Stay safe. Try to avoid the tear gas. It's no fun especially at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. Thank you.
LOPEZ: OK. I mean, you know this. OK, thank you.
VAUSE: Thanks, Juan. And we have this just in from Kyoto, Japan where at least one person has died, dozens of others have been injured after an animation studio is deliberately set alight. Police now have a suspect in custody who they believe poured gasoline around the studio to fuel the blaze. The city's fire department says of the 38 people hurt in the blaze, ten remain in a serious condition.
There is still more than a year until the 2020 U.S. presidential election but were already getting a pretty clear picture of Donald Trump's strategy. He's a red-blooded flag-waving American patriot and Democrats who disagree are socialist or communist who hate America. And they can go back to where they came from. Here's CNN's Kaitlan Collins with -- beginning our coverage.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A new chant was started at the president's rally in Greenville, North Carolina and it's certainly one that is going to be in the headlines for the next several days. The president had just taken the stage and within minutes he was in the middle of lashing out at those four Democratic congresswomen that the president has been in an all-out brawl with ever since he first tweeted at them on Sunday. He started with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She was one of those four who was actually not born in the United States but instead was born in Somalia, later came to the United States as a child refugee before becoming a U.S. citizen.
And as the president was lashing out criticizing her, the crowd in the arena started to chant "send her back." Now, it was not a chant that the President himself started but he did pause in the middle of his scripted remarks to let the momentum in the arena here build before then moving on to go after the other three congresswomen. Listen to what exactly the president had to say about each of them.
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[01:10:10] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you see the fourth Congresswomen, oh isn't that lovely? Representative Ilan Omar, her colleague Representative Rashida Tlaib, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So Representative Ayanna Pressley.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, the president was reading from a teleprompter as he was making those remarks. And earlier in the day, White House officials have been teasing saying that what the president was going to say that night was going to be one of his most fiery rallies to date.
But what you were seeing is the president takes something that many of his advisers saw as a political stumble and try to turn it into political momentum because he thinks making these for women the face of the Democratic Party is going to be a winning strategy for him going into the 2020 election. Kaitlan Collins CNN traveling with the president in North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll stay with this story for a little longer. Joining us now Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor of Government at the University of Essex. So thank you for being with us, Natasha.
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK, back in 2016, Trump vilified just one person Hillary lock her up Clinton. At 2020 thought, it seems these four Democratic congresswomen and who knows who else will be you know, his target. Instead of jailing political opponents, this time it's all about deportation. Listen to the crowd chant "send her back." Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And obviously and importantly Omar has a history of launching vicious anti-Semitic speech.
AMERICAN CROWD: Send her back! Send her back! Send her back!
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: How is it that a significant part of the population in the United States can look at that rally, they can listen to that chant, and see nothing wrong with it or even enthusiastically agree with it?
LINDSTAEDT: That's a fantastic question. How people don't see that there's a problem with you know, shouting out to send her back. It sounds incredibly racist and xenophobic. It's very scary and frightening. But I think the reason is because Donald Trump has been able to somehow normalize racism and bigotry. We just gotten used to it. He says this you know, I'm being politically incorrect. I'm telling it like it is. I'm just being honest. I'm just telling them if they don't like it here, they can go back.
And I've heard Republicans being interviewed actually on CNN. They were interviewing several Republican women, they didn't really see anything wrong with it. They didn't think it was a problem.
VAUSE: They say the problem was actually with the four women, the four Democratic Congressman. They thought they were -- they hated white people I think was the --
LINDSTAEDT: Right. They said the problem was that those four women are anti-American, that they complain too much about the U.S., that they're communists or socialists and that they are spewing out all kinds of hatred themselves, and that the problem lies with these leftist women in the Democratic Party.
VAUSE: OK. So I want you to listen to sort of the language that the president was using in North Carolina or a few hours ago to whip up this crowd. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And tonight I have a suggestion for the hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down. They never have anything good to say. That's why I say hey, if they don't like it, let them leave. Let them leave.
They're always telling us how to run it, how to do this, how to do that. You know what, if they don't love it, tell them to leave it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And look, just to you know, be clear, to connect the dots here, the president is equated criticism of him, criticism of his administration as being the same as an attempt to tear down the country. And you know, that is not treasonous. I mean, criticism of him is not criticism of the United States but he does not make that distinction.
LINDSTAEDT: No and this is very ironic coming from a president that was accused of treason, that was accused of conspiring with the Russian government to undermine U.S. elections. It's actually very American to criticize, to be vocal, to exercise your free speech, but Donald Trump personalizes everything. Any sort of attack on his policies or his agenda is a personal attack
and his comfort zone is in bullying people, in making other personal attacks, and in inciting you know, passion about race, about identity politics, about ethnicity, about religion. He has to go there. That's where he thinks he resonates the most with his base.
And as Representative Ocasio-Cortez says, she claims because he can't defend his policies, he has to get personal and he has to distract and motivate his base with identity politics.
[01:15:34] VAUSE: And you, it's the historical context here which have -- which is essentially why so many people have been left stunned and shocked. And you know, I mentioned this sort of very carefully saying we're not heading down this road but this is one of the concerns.
You know, March 1933 the German Reichstag passed the Malicious Practices Act making it a crime to speak out against the new government or to criticize its leaders. You know, even the smallest expression of dissent was seen as a crime. The enabling act came a few days later which enabled the Chancellor to punish anyone he considered an enemy of the state.
And you know, look, I'm not saying we're there. I'm not saying there's an executive order coming tomorrow. It does sound hyperbolic, but it is history. And it's the actions of an authoritarian leader like what we saw in Germany which has so many people's shocked that this President of the United States could even sort of look at that path, even think about going down that road.
LINDSTAEDT: Right. But that's because he's not really a Democrat or committed to democratic ideals. He was a businessman so he was able to sort of execute whatever he wanted to do without being affected by institutions.
The other issue is that -- and this I think is a really big issue, is that we have a segment of the population that is consenting to this, that is OK with this, that is chanting you know, these horrible things that people need to go back to the country where they came from, and that is part of it,
It's not just the leader but there has to be a segment of the population that consents, that allows this to happen and that's one of the reasons why democracy in the U.S. is being challenged so much. We are backsliding and significantly because our democratic ideals are eroding.
VAUSE: And that's why so many people around the world watching what's happening in the U.S. are concerned. And that includes the man who's most likely to be the next Prime Minister of the U.K. Boris Johnson. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, UNITED KINGDOM: I think it's totally unacceptable for the leader of a great multicultural, multiracial society to start using the language of sending people back home. I mean that went along (INAUDIBLE).
I'm incredibly proud -- I'm incredibly proud of you know, having cunningly stationed my ancestors around the world before I became foreign secretary. The people that I was proud to be mayor of is the most diverse, the most diverse city on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, this president of the United States is clearly energized right now. He's enjoying this. But is there a price that will ultimately be paid you know, in terms of you know, international standing or how are you want to phrase it that do come either sooner or later.
LINDSTAEDT: There's already been a price. Because you know, the U.S. is one of the biggest most important democracies in the world, we see that international norms about human rights about democracy have been decaying. And we've noticed that world leaders were mostly pretty silent about this because they're afraid of challenging him.
But in terms of what the US's moral standing is, people can't really look up to the U.S. internationally anymore. And I think in terms of how this might affect 2020, Trump is just energizing his base. That's it. He's not adding numbers.
People aren't seeing this type of hate speech and thinking oh I want to vote for him. And he desperately needs to add to his numbers, add to his support if he has any chance of actually winning in 2020.
VAUSE: Yes. We're out of time, Natasha, but there's an argument that what he's doing is actually trying to motivate those in other in states that did not vote for him. You know, that's how he's expanding his numbers. You know, that's one theory out there but we're sort of out of time but it was great to speak with you. Thanks so much. I know it's early there, 20 past 6:00 in the morning. You're great for getting up early. I appreciate it.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Well, the notorious drug lord El Chapo complained about prison conditions during his sentencing hearing, but now he's being sent to a place that's -- it's going to be a whole lot worse. The latest in just a moment.
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[01:20:00] VAUSE: It's the most secure federal prison in the United States and now home not so sweet home to the drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. He was transferred there just hours after being sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. Guzman was convicted back in February of engaging in a criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, and firearm charges.
The 62-year-old infamously escaped from prison twice. Authorities say Guzman is finally facing justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN BENCZKOWSKI, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CRIMINAL DIVISION: The long road that led Chapo Guzman from the mountains of Sinaloa to the courthouse behind us today was paved with death, drugs, and destruction, but it ended today with justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ana Maria Salazar was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement in the Clinton administration. She's an expert on international law. She joins us now from Mexico City. Anna Marie, thank you so much for being with us.
ANA MARIA SALAZAR, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR DRUG ENFORCEMENT: It's -- I appreciate joining you this evening.
Well, the next chapter in all this could play out in terms of what happens to El Chapo's billions. Here's part of an op-ed which was written by a Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan. Guzman's drug empire has accrued an estimated $14 billion from narcotic sales responsible for affecting and destroying the lives of countless Americans.
Congress should pass the common-sense bill. He's referring to the El Chapo bill to divert his blood money to help stop the flow of drugs and violence into our neighborhoods and give President Trump another tool to build the wall.
You know, Donald Trump promised to build a wall. Maybe he should have said a Mexican will pay for it. But you know, what are the legal challenges here when it comes civilly to just getting -- you know, the government getting their hands on husband's assets, assuming the authorities can find them.
And secondly, it's a bigger question. When it comes to slowing the flow of drugs into the United States, is there a better way to spend $14 billion?
SALAZAR: Well, good luck in trying to find all El Chapo Guzman's money is because it's going to be very difficult. Certainly, if there is money out there and bank accounts, it is probably not in the United States. So they're going to have go looking around the world to find these bank accounts.
There may be cash hidden or buried in different parts of Mexico but also once again, good luck in trying to find where they are. And maybe they're going to try to seize assets that belong to his wife or his kids but it's going to be very, very difficult.
And the United States is going to have an enormous challenge and trying to prove that these bank accounts actually belong to El Chapo Guzman.
VAUSE: So we're talking about a way essentially when I ask the question about is that the best way to spend $14 billion with a wall. I guess the other question is, is a wall a good way to stop drugs coming across the border? It seems there are better ways that money could be spent here right?
SALAZAR: Oh no. A wall is not going to stop anything.
VAUSE: In court on Wednesday, Guzman complained about the conditions of his incarceration in New York. It's being torture, he said. The most inhumane situation I've lived in in my entire life. It has been physical, emotional, and mental torture.
You know, it's extraordinary to think that this man with this reputation for violence, who ever saw a ruthless bloodthirsty drug cartel would stand there and loudly and widely complain that life was unbearable considering the amount of violence and death and disruption and destruction and everything else that he is brought to Mexico for a star.
[01:25:34] SALAZAR: Right. No, I agree with you. When I saw those comments, my first reaction was, really? I mean, they -- of course he would complain about stringent, high-security jails in the United States because he didn't have that in Mexico.
I mean, even though there are now you know, high-security jails in Mexico, I mean you know, it is so much easier like you know, there's -- there is for example, they have a constitutional right to have access to their wives or to their spouses or marital you know, meetings. There's so much -- you know, there is so many guarantees that are given to these prisoners that is abused in the Mexican criminal -- in the penal system, in the jail system. So, of course, he was going to complain.
VAUSE: After the verdict, his defense team, continue to insist that this was not a fair trial, that somehow justice had been denied. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY LICHTMAN, JOAQUIN GUZMAN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You can bury Joaquin Guzman under tons of steel in Colorado and make him disappear, but you're never going to remove this stink from this verdict due to the failure to order a hearing on the misconduct of the jury in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is this essentially the defense team playing it up for Guzman or is this the basis of a possible legal appeal?
SALAZAR: I don't think it's the basis of any legal appeal. And you know what, even let's say in the best-case scenario for the defense they had to -- there could be a retrial, there's six other jurisdictions in the United States that would love to get their hands on Joaquin El Chapo Guzman who could actually -- that would love to be able to have this trial.
Trials are very expensive so obviously, these other jurisdictions are not going to have the opportunity to convict El Chapo Guzman because if you know, especially after the sentence today, he's going to be in jail for the rest of his life.
But you know, the defense is doing their job and they can question -- they can question the jury, they can question the judge, but ultimately there was evidence and more than sufficient evidence to convict Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
VAUSE: And when Guzman's attorney referenced tons of steel in Colorado, he's talking about the Supermax president about 160 kilometers south of Denver. 376 inmates are there. The cell of the most notorious criminals in living memory. There's Ted Kaczynski a.k.a. the Unabomber serving life of the 16 mail bombs sent out over 17 years ago.
The French-born Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person ever charged in connection with 9/11. Terry Nichols who helped plan and carry out the Oklahoma City bombings. There's the shoe bomber Richard Reid, the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Ramzi Yousef who pleaded guilty to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
We heard from the special agent Angel Melendez from Homeland Security. He said the trial and the sentence sent a clear message. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGEL MELENDEZ, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOMELAND SECURITY: This sentence today finally separates the myth of El Chapo from the man Joaquin Guzman. And for the man, it is the end of the line and it is a reality that he will not be able to escape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There's also the reality that he will not be able to escape from that supermax prison in Colorado. At least you know, the chances are incredibly low. How important is that now to send that message to Mexico and to other countries around the world which struggle with the drug cartels?
SALAZAR: Oh I think it's extremely important because there -- you know, there's these mythological criminals and not only drug traffickers, but there's you know, there's these mythological criminals around the world that think that they can never be prosecuted.
So it is very important because like the agent said -- and I'm so glad he said it that way, you know, you have to destroy these myths of these cartel leaders that will never be punished. And in the case of El Chapo Guzman, I mean, in the eyes of many he was a myth, you know, untouchable. Well, guess what, you know, he's going to jail and he's going to one of the most horrendous, high-security jails in the United States.
VAUSE: Ana Marie Salazar, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
SALAZAR: Thank you. Have a nice evening.
[01:29:57]
VAUSE: Next up on CNN NEWSROOM, Theresa May rarely gets populism and absolutism claiming in her last speech as British Prime Minister politics has come to an all-time low.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
In Puerto Rico, 1:32 in the morning right now and this is the scene. Riot police are still there on the streets of the capital, the old part of San Juan. Violent protests have erupted there.
The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello. Protestors are upset over leaked text messages between the governor and his inner circle which were homophobic, misogynistic and offensive in nature.
The governor has expressed regret but is still refusing to step down.
More bodies are being discovered as monsoon flood waters recede in parts of south Asia. More than 200 people have now been confirmed dead across the region. Officials in just one Indian state say more than four million people there have been affected. More than 100,000 people have been forced to leave there.
The U.S. is wrapping up the response to Iran by sending 500 troops to Saudi Arabia. Defense officials say the forces will be deployed to the Prince Sultan Air Base outside Riyadh. They're expected to fly F- 22 stealth fighters and other jets from the military base.
Well, it's been a pretty tough three years for Theresa May as Britain's prime minister. Now it's almost over. This time next week, she will no longer be in Number 10. And the reason can be stated in just one -- Brexit.
No matter how hard she tried, no matter what she did she could not win parliamentary approval for a deal which she brokered with E.U.
Here's what she said on Wednesday as part of her final official speech as prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, OUTGOING BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm deeply disappointed that I haven't been able to deliver Brexit. And look, you know, I did everything I could to do that. I put my own job on the line in order to do that.
I was told that if I said I would stand down then the votes would come behind the deal. I said I'd stand down and I'm doing so, the votes didn't come. That's politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Josh Boswell joins us from Los Angeles. So Josh -- thanks for coming in.
JOSH BOSWELL, JOURNALIST: Hi -- John.
VAUSE: You know, this was a farewell speech which sort of had the right message. There was a call for civility and compromise over dire warnings and what lies ahead. Listen to some of it. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAY: Words have consequences. And ill words that go unchallenged are the first steps on a continuum towards ill deeds, towards a much darker place where hatred and prejudice drive not only what people say but also what they do.
[01:35:07] This absolutism is not confined to British politics. It festers in politics all across the world. We see it in the rise of political parties on the far left and far right in Europe and beyond. And we see it in the increasingly adversarial nature of international relations which some view as a zero sum game where one country can only gain if others lose and where power unconstrained by rules is the only currency of value.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, it's hard to disagree with her message. It just seems to comes from the wrong messenger. She kind of -- if you listen to the entire speech, she outlined almost everything that she failed to do in office?
BOSWELL: That's quite right. I think it's fairly hypocritical speech. A lot of her critics are at least making that point. And you know, I think this is obviously a veiled -- thinly-veiled jab at President Trump here, you know, talking about absolutism, making references to what I think is his, you know, America first policy saying that, you know, a zero-sum game form of international relations.
But you know, she's also talking about compromise and how we need to have a politics that doesn't lie to the people, doesn't just tell them what they want to hear.
The problem is that Theresa May should have compromised a lot earlier on. You know, if she had reached across the aisle to Labor, the opposition, then she might have sold the Brexit crisis quite a long time ago. you know, that was a possibility. That's what she's been criticized for, only coming to them at the 11th hour.
Instead she, you know, catered to the right wing of her party, the Brexiteers. And there's -- there is a lot of these criticisms that can level straight back at her.
VAUSE: Yes. There's an editorial in "The Guardian" (ph) which seems is sort of, you know, bringing home that point. It's especially blunt calling out her failure to speak about the risks and dangers of leaving the E.U. without a deal. Here's part of it. "She retreated into a familiar routine of blaming parliament for the current impasse as if she were a paragon of flexibility and compromise while implacability was found everywhere else.
No honest narration of the past three years would substantiate that self-serving revision of events. it is true that Mrs. May suffered at the hands of fanatical Eurosceptics in her own party but by pandering to the unrealistic fantasies she became the author of her own misfortune."
You know there does seem to be this element of self delusion in what she did not say. But how is this all being seen by the British public apart from, you know, there's some admiration for her determination and stamina. How do they view her legacy?
BOSWELL: Well, I think the consensus is that she really has very little legacy -- and nothing very much to speak of that's positive, you know. Her legacy is failing to deliver on Brexit. And she's I think widely viewed as one of the worst prime ministers we've had.
She is kind of having this last ditch attempt to salvage some kind of legacy here. She came in with these grand gestures and speech of the burning injustices that we have in British society, of racial inequality, economic inequality.
And she's made very little progress on those, you know, in some places moving backwards. You know, she is now trying to get through at the last-minute, 27 billion pounds in education spending package. She's trying to get the office for tackling injustices set up.
But these are really, you know, too little too late. And I think that's the consensus here that she's failed to come through on what the main task for her premiership should have been which is delivering Brexit. And she has failed to tackle any of those other social issues as well that she says she wants to tackle.
VAUSE: And as Theresa May heads out Number 10, coming into Number 10 will most likely be Boris Johnson, seen as the most likely one to win the conservative party leadership and become the next Prime Minister.
He was at the Tory leadership debate on Wednesday. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH MP: The planes will fly. Whatever deal with do and it will be great, you would have a deal we do, the planes will fly. And there will be clean drinking water, my friends. And there will be adequate supplies of glucose and milk solids and say to make the Mars Bars that we need because where there's a will there's a way, ladies and gentlemen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, there's BoJo talking about, you know, Britain post- Brexit. You know, all those jolly hockey sticks (ph) and yakety-yak- yak but, you know, the reality is no deal Brexit will have a big impact, a lot more than just, you know, hitting the supply of Mars Bars. And this is economic Armageddon, some have described it as.
BOSWELL: Yes. And you know, you've got some alarmists and people are certainly on the left saying that it's going to be Armageddon but you've also got people saying that people who are -- their job is to give, you know, very responsible forecast -- the Office of Budget Responsibility, a section of government set up to make forecast about these kinds of things.
[01:39:54] And they say that we could have a 3 percent decline in GDP. That is what they forces from a no deal Brexit and that's in 2020 so just around the corner.
(CROSSTALKING)
VAUSE: And that's not a laughing matter, you know, from any kind of standpoint.
BOSWELL: Yes. Exactly. And then you've got even worse forecast from the Bank of England. They say by 2035, an 8 percent decrease in GDP. So it really is no laughing matter.
And you know, Boris is a great speaker. And, you know, he's very charismatic and I think part of the reason why he's ahead so far in the polls is because the Conservative Party membership thinks that he can win an election off the back of that exuberance and charisma. The only problem is he is leading us into a potential economic catastrophe.
(CROSSTALKING)
VAUSE: Sorry -- very quickly, we're almost out of time -- Josh. Let me interrupt.
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson's only challenger for the leadership seems he's kind of smelled the, you know, the scent of defeat in the air. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: If I don't win, it would be a huge honor to serve Boris in a way that unites our party and our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Very quickly -- that like a concession.
BOSWELL: Yes. It's coming to sound like that he's really kin of getting to that point. I think that -- and you know, The polls are so clearly showing that Boris is ahead. Really as a good politician he should be making those moves if he wants to have any kind of high- ranking job.
I think Boris would be clever to do what Churchill would do, a man who he very much admires and, you know, be very gracious in victory and he would do well to bring Jeremy Hunt into his government -- VAUSE: Ok.
BOSWELL: -- and I think Jeremy Hunt recognizes that and wants to kind of push the advantage there and in defeat, you know, and getting a decent cabinet job.
VAUSE: Josh -- thanks so much. Good to see you.
BOSWELL: Thank you -- John.
VAUSE: Well, about 160,000 members of Britain's Conservative Party are now deciding who they want to be the leader of the party after Theresa May. The next Tuesday we will find out if it's Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt. Whoever it is will almost certainly become Britain's prime minister.
CNN's Hadas Gold visited a conservative stronghold at the English seaside to find out which candidate has the edge -- Boris Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the seaside town of Lee-on-the- Solent at the Court Barn Conservative Club, the drinks and the debates flow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So have you -- have you tried convincing them yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, full on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, yes.
GOLD: A conservative stronghold on the southern coast of England is a microcosm of the select group of 160,000 party members who will elect the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.
We gathered six conservatives in the carefully-tended garden of the club to talk who should leave the country in one of its most pivotal political eras.
Raise your hand if you are voting or have already voted for Boris Johnson.
Graham, David and Reverend Sean have already sent in their ballots for Johnson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need someone who can communicate, and we need someone who can consolidate the party and get them back together.
But Caroline, Piers, and Allison aren't necessarily convinced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Boris the person who can persuade parliament through and pull him through with his charisma, or is it Jeremy who years of details of man, He's a manager. If he comes across as a decent man.
GOLD: One thing that does united this group -- Brexit.
CAROLINE HODGKINS, U.K. CONSERVATIVE PARTY MEMBERS: People are certainly tired of the word "Brexit".
GOLD: How many people here are ok with a no deal Brexit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me -- absolutely.
GOLD: All of you are ok with a No Deal figure.
(CROSSTALKING)
You don't care if there is a deal on the table.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want out.
GOLD: Are you not concerned about the effects no-deal would have.
(CROSSTALKING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
GOLD: Johnson's hard stance that the U.K. will leave the E.U. by October 31st, do or die, blends well with this group.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must have somebody that voted leave, that's a must.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.
GOLD: Whereas Hunt's more flexible position on the date and his original vote to remain leaves some here to question his Brexit bona fides.
The group, like the Tory Party in general, is not really representative of the entire country. This area is predominantly white and older, but they do represent a major block of conservative voters who will elect the next prime minister, which increasingly seems to be leaning toward Johnson.
As our conversation goes on, the support for Hunt seemed to wane even further.
HODGKINS: He seems to be better suited in his current role as foreign secretary, so he has got some diplomatic skills that are being put to good use. But I'm not sure that he's got my confidence to be prime minister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you have Boris --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she's coming off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are converting them.
GOLD: Despite concerns about his temperament and recent gaffes, Johnson is still winning over conservative members here and has the lead in party wide polls.
Hadas Gold, CNN -- Lee-on-the-Solent, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:45:03] VAUSE: One woman's allegation of sexual harassment brought punishment to her. Ahead, how her courage could now trigger change in Indonesia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, it's been a dramatic turn in a sexual harassment case in Indonesia which went all the way to the Supreme Court. Baiq Nuril was harassed by her boss but after complaining, she faced six months in jail for recording the explicit phone call from him.
And that focused worldwide attention on Indonesia's sexual violence laws. And now her courage in speaking up could bring some change.
Here's CNN's Anna Coren.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CORRESPONDENT: In this humble village on the Indonesian island of Lombok where the rhythm of life revolves around family and religion, Baiq Nuril calls her son for evening prayers. She is teaching him the ways of her faith. A source of strength for this mother of three whose world was turned into a living hell seven years ago when a new principal arrived at the school where she worked.
She explains, "The principal would call me into his office and tell me how he performed sex and what he would do to me. When I remember that, it disgusts me. I want to vomit."
Baiq Nuril was working as the school's bookkeeper. She would tell him to stop but the sexual harassment continued.
"I was scared if I spoke out, he would fire me," she said. "He knew he had the power."
After a year, Baiq Nuril finally had enough. She recorded one of his explicit phone calls as evidence, played it to her colleague who forwarded the conversation to school officials. She says when the principal found out, he fired her and sued her for defamation.
After two months in jail, Baiq Nuril was acquitted during the trial. But prosecutors appealed and the case then went to the Supreme Court which found her guilty of distributing indecent material sentencing her to six months jail and a $35,000 fine.
JOKO JUMADI, BAIQ NURIL'S LAWYER (through translator): This is an absolute injustice. Baiq Nuril is a victim and she was criminalized. The perpetrator was free, he even got a promotion. The system is completely wrong.
COREN: Many times, Baiq Nuril just wanted to give up. "I thought about suicide when I was riding my motorbike. What if I
hit that bridge? All my problems would be gone. But then, I remembered my children. What would happen to them?"
Her case made national headlines and when her final appeal was rejected earlier this month, the presidential palace took notice.
CNN asked President Joko Widodo if he would grant Baiq Nuril amnesty.
JOKO WIDODO, INDONESIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I respect the decision of the court, but when it's related to my authority, I will give amnesty to Baiq Nuril.
[01:50:01[ COREN: So, you are going to give her amnesty?
WIDODO (through translator): Yes, if I have to do it, then I will do it. Why not? As soon as possible.
COREN: We relayed this news to Baiq Nuril -- a woman finally unburdened and completely overwhelmed.
BAIQ NURIL, JAILED FOR SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS: Can I hug you?
COREN: The sexual harassment that Baiq Nuril endured at this school for more than a year is sadly, not uncommon here in Indonesia.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women found that 260,000 cases of sexual violence, including harassment were reported last year. But believed unreported cases could be at least five times that number.
Baiq Nuril hopes that her story will inspire other victims to come forward and speak out.
"If we don't fight back and speak up then who will," she asks. You have to be brave, don't be scared."
While Baiq Nuril's case may be a focal point for Indonesia's Me Too movement, this mother just wants to hold her children, never to be separated again.
Anna Coren, CNN -- Lombok, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Next up on CNN NEWSROOM -- Kim Jong-un lives the high life with luxury cars and watches. Look how the North Korea is under sanctions. So, how did all the goodies make it in?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: U.N. sanctions are meant to prevent companies and individuals from selling luxury goods to North Korea. That doesn't stop Kim Jong- un from accessing those high priced items.
CNN's Brian Todd has a look now at the elaborate smuggling network. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're a flamboyant symbol of Kim Jong-un's power, and critics say his unbridled greed -- bullet proofed stretched limo made by Mercedes and Rolls Royce, worth about $500,000.
The North Korean dictator has toured around Pyongyang in them, famously had flanks of security agents run alongside them and even waved to the masses alongside China's president from the open top of one.
The problem is, under U.N. sanctions, Kim is not supposed to have these luxury cars. He smuggles them in within elaborate secret bootleg operation only to turn around and flaunt his apparent fleet of limos.
JASON AFTERBURN: North Korea's commercial facilitators overseas have global reach, it stretches not only in northeast Asia but also to places like Europe, as well.
TODD: The Center for Advanced Defense Studies in the "New York Times track a secretive shipment of just two of these armored Mercedes limos to Pyongyang. They say the journey started in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in June of last year. Sent in containers on a major shipping line.
After a 41 day journey, the cars arrived in the port of Dalian, China. Then they went to Japan, then to Busan, South Korea. But there a mysterious ghost ship which at the time says was tied to a Russian businessman picked up the limo. Once out to sea, according to the "Times" and the think-thank the ship vanished probably turning off his required transponder.
Based on their tracking of shipping records and satellite pictures, they believe the ghost ship took the limo to Vladivostok, Russia where they say North Korean cargo planes likely pick them up and flew them to Pyongyang.
[01:54:58[ AFTERBURN: They use some shady companies whose operations are not clear. they don't necessarily always report all of their commercial activities. They obfuscate the ownership of things like their vessels.
What this means for law enforcement is it becomes exceedingly difficult to track some of these shipments.
TODD: North Korea has been banned from importing luxury goods since 2006, but that hasn't stopped the regime from smuggling in items like high-end watches, yachts, cognac and other expensive liquor, even ski lifts for the resort which only North Korean elites can use -- At least $191 million dollars worth from 2015 to 2017, according to the new study.
But while that's going on, Kim apparently still says he needs donations from average North Koreans to pay for keeping his dead fathers and grandfathers bodies frozen. Radio Free Asia, a news agency funded by the U.S. government reports Kim has recently forced factory workers and others to donate money to pay for the expensive preservation of the bodies of Kim Jong-il, and Kim Il-sung at the Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang where they are displayed through glass for the North Korean people to worship and venerate them.
Analysts say Kim may not be doing this because he lacks the cash, but because he wants his people to feel connected to his dynasty.
CHRIS STEINITZ, NORTH KOREA PROGRAM CNA: It's a way of crowd funding. By reaching out to party members, by reaching out to the people, it makes them invested in maintaining this location which is an important symbol for the Kim family. It makes them part and parcel to the story of the Kim family. It gives them a stake.
TODD: But despite the Kim worship in North Korea, there could be some grumbling among North Koreans about the preservation of the leaders' bodies. Radio Free Asia citing a source with knowledge of a ceremony where people were rewarded for donating to that cause says some North Korean are upset, saying it's ridiculous that authorities there are seemingly ignoring their livelihoods, often letting some people starve to death while trying to raise money to keep dead bodies from rotting.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Although it just seems too good to be true, doesn't it? Looking younger, maybe even happier? Maybe even older because of a face app which uses artificial intelligence to transform pictures of faces. But, you know, there are concerns about privacy.
At first there were fears Face App could harvest all of the user's photos. That's actually been knocked down, but it can't do what it wants with your selfie. And some people are bothered by that, because the company is based in Mother Russia.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Stay with us. The news continues with me right after a break.
You're watching CNN.
[01:57:39] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
