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China Will be Hit by Another 10 Percent Tariff; Unrest in Hong Kong Continues; One Shackle Off of Saudi Women; A Voice Who Once Became Voiceless is Now Free; Politics as Usual for Democrats. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired August 02, 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)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S.-China trade war escalates. Donald Trump announces new tariffs against China.
Preparing for protests, policed in Hong Kong arrest several people, even before the latest round of demonstrations began. We'll tell you why.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIS ARMANDO CAMPOS, SINGER (through translator): He took me into his office and I was there where for the first time, he asked me to take off my shoes and my socks and kiss my feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: A promising young singer since a light on human trafficking by telling his own story of escaping his allege abuser.
These stories all ahead here. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. We appreciate it. I'm Natalie Allen. And this is CNN newsroom.
Our top story, U.S. consumers can expect to pay higher prices for everything from iPhones to tennis shoes, thanks to new tariffs on Chinese goods courtesy of President Trump.
The U.S. president has announced another 10 percent tax on $300 billion in Chinese goods starting the 1st of September. He says he's not happy with the pace of trade talks.
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region did not take the news well. You can see it here, the Hang Seng down 2.31 percent, Shanghai Composite at 1.3, and the Nikkei down 2.11.
Let's head to Beijing, and CNN's Steven Jiang watching the story unfold. What is the reaction there in China to this move by the president?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Natalie, so far, the only official response we have heard is from the foreign minister of China, Wang Yi, who is actually visiting Bangkok for a regional gathering.
He said that this latest threat from Mr. Trump is not the right way to resolve any trade dispute between the two countries and it's against World Trade Organization rules.
Now of course, we may hear more from Chinese officials at the daily foreign ministry press briefing is going on right now as we speak. But in terms of the two specific issues Mr. Trump mentioned in his latest series of tweets, one is the purchase of American agricultural products.
Just on Thursday actually, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 68,000 tons of U.S. soybeans to China. That was the first order from China since the trade war began. So, there seems to be some progress being made there, but of course this amount is not big, which probably explains Mr. Trump's frustration.
The other issue he mentioned, the fentanyl issue which of course has been an ongoing problem between the two countries because of this public health emergency in the U.S., thanks to the opioid crisis.
Now, on that front, China has been pushing back on U.S. accusations saying they have been doing a lot, they have listed more Fentanyl in pre-course to chemicals as controlled substances that the U.S. has done.
And they also have been cracking down on the production and shipments of these Fentanyl products to the U.S. So, I think we might hear a similar counter argument again from China on this issue.
But, Natalie, here's the thing. If Mr. Trump think his threat is going to make the Chinese cave-in, he may be disappointed. Because these threats from him really go against two of Chinese core demands. One is sincerity in these negotiations and the second one is removal of all existing American tariffs before any final deal can be reached. Natalie?
ALLEN: All right. We'll wait and see where this goes from here. Steven Jiang for us. Steven, thank you.
For the third time in eight days, North Korea has test fired ballistic missiles. South Korea expressed concern over the launches, a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying it will have a negative impact on the peace effort.
But the U.S. president shrugged it off, saying he never made an agreement with North Korea on short range missiles. The test come ahead of joint military drills with the U.S. that always provoke an angry reaction from Pyongyang.
Hong Kong police say they have arrested eight people for possession of weapons and material to make explosives. One of those arrested is the leader of a banned independence party the Hong Kong National Front.
This happened as protesters prepare for yet the ninth straight weekend of pro-democracy demonstrations. Matt Rivers is following the story from Hong Kong for us. And Matt, it
seems these protests could be going, or they were trying to go, and perhaps, in a new and potentially dangerous direction.
[03:05:01] MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, police they have not explicitly said that the explosives, Natalie, that were found in this apartment, according to the police last night were going to be used this weekend.
And I think it's notable that the police have not made that explicit link because they would, if it was there, you would imagine that would be something that the police would like to publicize because you have to remember they are playing a public relations game here too.
They want to paint these protesters as violent and out of touch, which is not the case for the vast majority of protesters.
But going back to what happened here, police say they arrested the people that you mentioned after going into an apartment and finding explosive devices, things like petrol bombs and also they found two bows and six arrows according to the police, which would of course be disturbing if those things somehow made their way onto the streets during the protest.
But again, police have not explicitly made that link, they did not say they would be used this weekend. And I think generally speaking, people here in Hong Kong, a lot of people in Hong Kong don't trust the police right now.
They look at what they've done over the past two weeks, engaging in what protesters would call police brutality, using very harsh tactics against peaceful protesters is what the argument the protesters would make is. And they simply don't trust the police. Why? They say would this arrest conveniently happen the night before protesters scheduled to kick off again here in Hong Kong this weekend. They would say the timing is circumstantial at best.
And so, there's just a lack of trust and it goes to the deeper issues that these protesters have. They do not have faith in their government, they do not believe the police tell the truth and that's not going to change even after these arrests would signal to some that protesters could be getting more violent.
ALLEN: All right, Matt Rivers following it for us from Hong Kong. Thank you, Matt.
China's military commander in Hong Kong says violence by pro-democracy protesters should not be tolerated. His comments and a slick new promotional video are stoking fears that China's military will intervene as these demonstrations continue.
Kristie Lu Stout is looking into the story for us.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Advancing soldiers armed with shield, a battered vehicle that resembles a Hong Kong taxi and a soldier carrying a machine gun, shouting in Cantonese that "all consequences are at your own risk."
It's all part of a new promotional video for China's People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison. It comes as a Chinese military mark its 92nd anniversary, and as Hong Kong enters nine consecutive weeks of protests against its pro-Being leadership.
In a rare move ahead of the video's release, the commander of China's People's Liberation Army, Hong Kong Garrison spoke out for the first time about the unrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN DAOXIANG, COMMANDER, CHINESE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY, HONG KONG GARRISON (through translator): Recently, there have been a series of violent incidents happening on Hong Kong. The incidents have seriously violated the bottom line of one country two systems. They should not be tolerated and we expressed our strong condemnation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: After the handover, they PLA's established the garrison of 6,000 soldiers in Hong Kong. Now China has never ordered them to interfere in the territory's affairs, but Chinese officials reacted angrily after protesters targeted the Chinese government's liaison office, Beijing's top representative in Hong Kong located in Sheung Wan.
The area has become a flash point after a group of hard-core protesters threw eggs and vandalized the government's seal in front of the building. And that has raised concerns that the Chinese military could become involved in maintaining order as the protests rage on.
That is something pro-Beijing lawmaker Michael Tien firmly dispute.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
MICHAEL TIEN, HONG KONG PRO-ESTABLISHMENT LAWMAKER: We can take care of our own problems, we want all foreign intervention and foreign elements to stay out of Hong Kong and we also want Beijing to leave us alone.
(END VOICE CLIP)
STOUT: According to Hong Kong law, the Chinese military can intervene in local affairs only when requested by Hong Kong's leaders. Carrie Lam may have attended the reception to celebrate the Chinese military founding, but she has shown no indication of asking for their assistance so far.
Toward the end of that PLA video, there is this montage of Cantonese- speaking citizens praising the Chinese army. This is three minutes of propaganda that could not have come at a more politically fraught time for China and Hong Kong.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
ALLEN: Next here, a step forward for women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
Also, Democratic front runner Joe Biden has a message for his political rivals after their most recent debate. That message? Stop criticizing Barack Obama.
[03:10:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Later this month, Saudi women will be able to obtain passports and travel freely without permission of their guardians.
Sam Kiley joins us from Abu Dhabi with the details. This is quite the change, Sam. Is this a significant step forward for Saudi women?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a significant step forward. You will recall, Natalie, that they were allowed to get behind the wheel of a mortar car last year. And Princess Reema al Saud, the Saudi Arabian female ambassador to Washington, D.C. has celebrated this new development with some fanfare, if that's possible on Twitter.
And what it does, essentially, Natalie, is rescind legislation that was brought back in 2000, the year 200 under King Fahd that required Saudi women to get the permission of their male guardians, their husbands or fathers in order to obtain a passport.
Now, of course, CNN has reported recently, Natalie, on a number of cases involving young Saudi women who have managed to obtain passports by using their usually father's log-in credentials in order to do their online application and escape from Saudi Arabia from what they say is either family or regime persecution.
But this therefore does very significantly free up the options of travel for all Saudi women. A significant step forward in terms of human rights in a year in which human rights group -- groups have accused Saudi Arabia of continuing with a policy of capital punishment, of executing people who committed offenses when they were minors, executing people for political crimes and (Inaudible).
So, this will be seen, I think, Natalie, as a step forward for women, but not necessarily a significant step in the much wider political evolution of Saudi Arabia and its relationship particularly with the west.
You will recall also, Natalie, that some U.S. senators are continuing with efforts both and also congressmen and women to end the United States sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen, an issue that cause President Trump to veto legislation in the past.
So, this is a step forward, it will be seen by many Saudi critics as window dressing, but for ordinary Saudi women a very significant moment, a return to rights they used to have.
ALLEN: Right. Their movements are so restricted there in the country, so what's behind this loosening up there, Sam?
KILEY: Well, there is, under the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia an effort they would argue of modernization over their next 15 or 20 years.
[03:14:57] They hope to be able to increase the levels of individual freedoms on the ground in order to increase Saudi Arabia's ability to attract investment with declining, ultimately, declining sales perhaps in fossil fuels. Not least because of the environmental problems that those oils, which of course, Saudi Arabia's biggest export causes worldwide.
But at the same time, we've seen for the first time the introduction of cinemas in Saudi Arabia, again, a return, rather, to people being allowed to go to the cinema after few decades of them being banned. We've seen music concerts, restrictions on women's movement on the ground, and the liberalization of approach to women in general.
There's still a very long road to travel, but this is part of Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince's modernization efforts. While he's doing that of course, when on the one hand he has also been accused of involvement, perhaps even ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and a string of other human rights abuses around the world, particularly against critics of the government. Natalie?
ALLEN: Absolutely. He is certainly a complex and controversial leader, but I'm sure the women will take what they can get right now. All right, Sam Kiley, thanks so much, Sam.
The British prime minister's chances of securing an agreement on Brexit, well, it just got harder. Boris Johnson's conservative party just lost a seat in a parliamentary by election to a pro-E.U. liberal Democrat.
This is Mr. Johnson's first electoral defeat since becoming Britain's prime minister less than two weeks ago. It cuts his working majority in parliament to a razor-thin one seat.
The Democratic front runner in the race for the White House in the U.S. is calling out his rivals for their performance in the latest presidential debates. He says they spend more time attacking the legacy of the former president than the policies of the current one.
For more about it, here's Jessica Dean.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris back on the trail hours after sparring at the CNN debate in Detroit. Biden saying the level of criticism directed at parts of former President Barack Obama's record was unexpected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I must tell you; I was a little surprised at how much incoming there was about Barack, about the president. I mean, I -- I'm proud of having served with him, I'm proud of the job he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Including the attack on mass deportations by the Obama administration. That criticism coming from Obama's HUD Secretary, Julian Castro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We sat together in many meetings, I never heard him talk about any of this when he was the secretary.
JULIAN CASTRO (D), FORMER HUD SECRETARY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, Mr. Vice President, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't.
(CROSSTALK)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Mr. Castro, thank you.
CASTRO: What we need our politicians --
LEMON: Your time is up.
CASTRO: -- that actually have some guts on this issue.
LEMON: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: My guts enough to say his plan doesn't make sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio repeatedly asked Biden if he used his powers as vice president to advise Obama against the deportations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I was vice president. I am not president. I keep my recommendation to him in private, unlike you --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Which quickly led to new Jersey Senator Cory Booker calling out Biden for using his ties to the former president as a political shield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't have it both ways. You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can't do it when it's convenient --
BIDEN: Right.
BOOKER: -- and then dodge it when it's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: The candidates also sparring over their healthcare plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The senator has several plans so far, and any time someone tells you you're going to get something in 19 years, you should wonder why it takes 10 years. You can't beat President Trump with double talk on this plan.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vice President Biden, you're just simply inaccurate in what you're describing. The reality is that our plan will bring healthcare to all Americans under a Medicare for all system. Our plan will allow people to start signing up on the first day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Harris faced tough criticism for her record as a prosecutor in California from Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm deeply concerned about this record, she fought to keep cash bail system --
(CROSSTALK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thank you, Congresswoman.
GABBARD: -- in place that impacts poor people in the worse kind of way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: According to a CNN fact-check, Harris advocated for higher bail amounts for gun-related crimes after being elected San Francisco's district attorney in 2004. But she also introduced legislator as a senator in 2017 to reform or replace the practice Gabbard criticized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: As the elected attorney general of California, I did the work of significantly reforming the criminal justice system of the state of 40 million which became a national model for the work that needs to be done. And I am proud of that work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:19:58] DEAN: Also, back out on the campaign trail, Elizabeth Warren she had a big Tuesday night than was quiet last night as the rest of the candidates took part in the second part of the two-day debate.
She's back on the campaign trail and she, along with a number of the other candidates, including her fellow top tier candidates all head to Las Vegas next on Saturday, they'll talk to a union group there. They find themselves back together again.
Jessica Dean, CNN, Washington.
ALLEN: The father of an American teenager jailed in Italy says his son is innocent in last week's fatal stabbing of a police officer. After visiting him in prison, Fabrio's (Ph) -- Fabrizio Natale says his son Gabriel is distraught at what happened. He and another U.S. teenager are jailed in connection to the killing.
Police say both of them admitted to assault, but they add the second suspect, Finnegan Lee Elder confessed to stabbing the officer 11 times. A source says defense attorneys have not yet been able to see the autopsy report.
The third day of American rapper ASAP Rocky's assault trial starts this hour in Sweden. On Thursday, he gave a statement and was cross- examined. ASAP Rocky says he was scared and acting in self-defense and that the alleged victim aggressively followed him and attacked his bodyguard.
Newly released video shows part of the incident. The accuser says he didn't recognize the rapper or his entourage and was trying to ask a question when he was thrown to the ground.
The case has drawn attention from U.S. President Donald Trump, who's hostage negotiator was in the courtroom Thursday monitoring the trial.
A young singer was allegedly abused a predatory music producer. Just ahead, the story of the singer's survival is part of our Freedom Project here at CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: In our ongoing CNN Freedom Project special report, the story of a promising 14-year-old singer. A music producer offered to help his career. At first, the producer was friendly and helpful but it wasn't long before the singer says the abuse began and so, too, did the young man's fight for survival.
We get our report from CNN's Rafael Romo.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Singing, he says, is his life.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROMO: At 23, Luis Armando Campos has already had a very impressive singing career that started when he was just a child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPOS (through translator): I was about 11, almost 12, I was on a local TV show in Tampico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: In 2014, he was a semifinalist in The Voice Mexico, and has toured the country with his music. But what his increasing number of fans didn't know, Campos says, is that he was forced to live a double life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPOS (through translator): He destroyed my adolescence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:24:57] ROMO: Campos says his nightmare started at the age of 14, when he was for old practical purposes on his own due to his parent's separation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RITA HERNANDEZ, BOARD MEMBER, UNITED VS HUMAN TRAFFICKING: This man came out of nowhere promising, you know, an incredible singing career, he does have a beautiful voice.
CAMPOS (through translator): By the time my mother made the decision to leave, he offered to help me.
ROMO: At the beginning, Mario Enrique Miranda Palacios, the producer kept his promises, cultivating Campos' talent and polishing his singing voice. Campos says things quickly started to change. He says when he was 14, Miranda once ask him to show up early for a rehearsal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPOS (through translator): He took me into his office, and it was there where for the first time he asked me to take off my shoes and my socks and kiss my feet, he said it was something normal, that he was giving a scholarship at this academy and that I could thank him this way. That it wasn't something bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Campos says it started with verbal and sexual abuse and worsened to forced prostitution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPOS (through translator): I didn't have anybody to turn to. He would threaten me, saying that since my father had a criminal record, he was going to put him in jail again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Campos says he was coerced to work as a slave for four years, starting at the age of 14. Threats of harm to his family, deception and psychological abuse, he says, kept him quiet and submissive until one day he decided he couldn't take it anymore.
He says he finally found the courage to ignore the threats and flee after turning 18. As a contestant at The Voice Mexico he was coached by Yuri, a singer of international fame who he says convinced him he had to report the abuse to authorities.
Mario Enrique Miranda Palacios was arrested in March of 2018 under charges of rape, corrupting minors and forced prostitution. The charges were later updated to rape and human trafficking, according to the Tamaulipas states attorney's office.
He pleaded not guilty but his trial is pending through an attorney, Miranda denied the charges, saying that in reality Campos and his client had a romantic relationship. The attorney also denied his client and slaved Campos, adding that the young man only went to the authorities when they broke up, motivated by revenge. And that they have letters, videos, pictures, and witnesses to prove it.
Campos denies having a consensual relationship with Miranda and claims the defense is just using a pretrial legal strategy. In addition to his singing career, nowadays, Campos is also an activist who talks openly about what he says he went through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPOS (through translator): As I tell my story to people, I feel like I'm getting free again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: He will feel totally free, he says, when the man he accuses of abusing him for four years receives a long sentence.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City.
ALLEN: And that is CNN Newsroom. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. African Voices is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
