Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

House Democrats Subpoena White House Documents; Sen. Bernie Sanders Promises to Return to Campaign Trail Following Heart Attack; Ambassador Gordon Sondland Will Be Next to Testify on Ukraine Matters; No Administration Comment on Hong Kong Protests; Prince Harry Suing British Tabloids Over Alleged Phone Hack. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 05, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're seeing as house democrats escalate this impeachment fight with the White House by sending out these subpoenas.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: We're not fooling around here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo missed the deadline for a House democrat subpoena for documents and testimony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congress also requesting documents from Vice President Mike Pence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To report of a second possible whistle-blower on Ukraine.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a hoax. This is the greatest hoax.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D_CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Some people say why are you doing this? He's not worth it. I say he might not be, but our Constitution is worth it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's good at getting everybody fired up, and he's been doing that for a while. S

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bernie Sanders left a Las Vegas hospital after spending two and a half days there being treated for a heart attack.

BERNIE SANDERS, 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, everybody. I just got out of the hospital and I feel so much better. See you soon on the campaign trail.

(END VIDEO)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Well, good morning to you. It is Saturday, and we're so grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell. A pleasure to be with you Christi.

PAUL: So god to have you here Boris, thank you. So listen, boy did you come on a weekend. We have a lot to talk about today. Another flood of headlines this morning regarding the impeachment inquiry specifically. I want to start with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who did not meet yesterday's subpoena deadline from three separate House committees to hand over documents pertaining to Ukraine. On top of that they've issued a new subpoena, this for the White House to hand over their documents.

SANCHEZ: Meantime there could be a second whistle-blower getting ready to file a separate formal complaint. "The New York Times" reporting that another intelligence official with even more direct knowledge of the phone call between Trump and Ukraine's president has concerns with the president's dealings with Ukraine. This person also reportedly interviewed by the inspector general to corroborate the initial account.

PAUL: And finally the "Washington Post" reporting this morning the president's phone calls with foreign leaders are quote, an anxiety- ridden set of event for his staff. The report saying, quote, they were worried the president would make promises he shouldn't keep, endorse policies the U.S. long opposed, commit a diplomatic blunder or simply pressure a counterpart for a personal favor. I want to go to our national correspondent, Kristen Holmes who's joining us from Washington. How is the White House responding to the subpoenas?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Boris. Well right now they have two weeks to comply so we don't know whether or not they're going to. So far we've only gotten a press statement from the press secretary that just says that these subpoenas change nothing and of course blames democrats saying they're not doing anything, but this really shows this investigation is ramping up on Capitol Hill. These subpoenas come after a letter that was issued by the three committees that are conducting this investigation that was sent to Vice President Pence, requesting more documents from him, saying they have an interest in any role he might have played in communicating messages or the president's views to Ukraine.

I do want to note one thing here. Before they even issued the subpoena, the White House was considering sending out a note -- sending a note to Speaker Pelosi that said that they didn't have to comply with this investigation because it wasn't a real impeachment investigation, citing the fact there hadn't been a House vote yet. So we'll keep their eyes out for that. They say it could come as early as Monday. But, as you said, President Trump is doubling down. He's calling this investigation a witch hunt and he's blaming democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TRUMP: And you know better than anybody, for the last three years, democrat lawmakers, their deep state cronies, the fake news media, they've been colluding in their effort to overturn the presidential election. Sixty-three million people voted and did nullify the votes of the American people and many African-American people voted for Trump. (END VIDEO)

HOLMES: Now, we heard from House Speaker Pelosi last night who insists this is not political. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

PELOSI: Some people say why are you doing this, he's not worth it, to divide the country this way. I say he may not be, but our constitution is worth it, our democracy is worth it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO)

HOLMES: And, guys, it is important to remember here we are still just at the beginning. There has not been that house vote, that official vote to launch this impeachment process. So keep in mind this is where we are and it's already ugly; it's going to get much uglier. Back to you.

[06:05:00]

SANCHEZ: All right, Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Greece this morning, hours after defying that House subpoena to produce Ukraine documents.

PAUL: Earlier this week Pompeo, the Secretary, accused lawmakers of intimidating and bullying State Department officials. CNN's Sarah Westwood has more.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo missed the deadline for a House democrat subpoena for documents and testimony related to now infamous phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. This is the third deadline that Pompeo, the state department has blown through. House democrats started seeking this testimony, these documents September 9th.

Democrats wanted documents related to that phone call between Trump and Zelensky but also documents and testimony related to the president's decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine around the time that that phone call took place. House democrats had said that they would consider it obstruction under their impeachment inquiry if the state department and Pompeo did not comply with the subpoena, but Pompeo issued a defiant response earlier this week saying he did not agree with the conditions that House democrats had laid out under thesir subpoena including the fact House democrats did not want State Department and White House lawyers accompanying witnesses to the committee because they wanted to get the most candid testimony possible.

Pompeo argued that State Department's interest might not be protected if that were the case. Buts this just follows a long pattern of White House and administration stonewalling of democratic requests over requests ten months of democratic investigations into the administration. But again, the democrats have made clear that they will consider any stonewalling obstruction under their impeachment inquiry, and that could be included if any articles of impeachment were to be filed in the future. Sarah Westwood, CNN, Washington.

SANCHEZ: All right Sarah, thank you for that. No shortage of things to discuss so let's bring in Errol Louis, political anchor for "Spectrum News" and CNN political commentator and Page Pate, a criminal and constitutional attorney. Page, let's start with you. The White House has stonewalled just about every request from House democrats for documents. So do these subpoenas actually have teeth? What can democrats do if the White House just delays and this winds up in court?

PAGE PATE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Ultimately, Boris, I think a court is going to have to determine whether the White House or Secretary of State have to comply with these subpoenas. This issue normally does not go before a court this early in an impeachment process. Before the House has officially voted to have an impeachment inquiry. I understand the White House's position, the Secretary of State's position. Look, we're not going to do anything to comply with these subpoenas until you first officially declare that we're in an impeachment process. The Constitution does not require that type of vote but I could easily see a judge requiring something formal before he enforces those subpoenas that have been served on the White House and the Secretary of State.

SANCHEZ: Page, to be clear just to follow up on that, there's no legal requirement necessarily for democrats, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold this vote on the floor of the House, but you think a judge might necessarily make that the case, might require that.

PATE: Right. I do, Boris. There's nothing in the constitution. There's nothing in federal law that says you have to hold an impeachment inquiry before you issue subpoenas. Congress does that all the time without having an official vote. But if you have to go to court to enforce these subpoenas, that's not an unusual thing. Judges in the past have said, look, I'm going to allow Congress a lot more latitude if they're in the middle of an impeachment inquiry, and it would be so much easier if Congress just stepped forward, at least the House and say that's what we're doing here, that's why these subpoenas are especially important, that's why we need them enforced.

SANCHEZ: Errol, to you, from the White House perspective, we're hearing that the impeachment response is being led by two people, senior advisor and son-in-law to the president Jared Kushner and he acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney. Do you think that's a sign they don't take this impeachment inquiry as seriously as they did the Mueller probe where they brought in just a slew of attorneys?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it is a sign that they do take it seriously Boris but it's serious in a political sense, not necessarily a legal sense. The Mueller probe was all about trying to withhold documents, about trying to slow the process down and so forth. We're in an odd position here because normally you'll get whistle-blower testimony and you'll get documents and you'll issue subpoenas and it's all supposed to lead up to the smoking gun, the key conversation. Well in this case the president himself is not only describing those conversations, but he's defending them and he's making more of them publically. So to a certain extent Congress is really sort of filling in the blanks and trying to figure out the extent to which others were involved. What was the role of the Secretary of State?

[06:10:00]

What was the possible role of the vice president in all of this stuff? But the underlying - the most explosive and most frankly impeachable facts are actually not in dispute here which is a little unusual.

SANCHEZ: Errol, I want to stay with you as to the question of the potential second whistle-blower. "The New York Times" reporting that a second official with more direct information about Trump's attempts to sway the Ukrainian leadership, that they may come forward. What do you make of that?

LOUIS: Well, here again, we're just kind of filling in the outlines of a picture that the president has already drawn. It sounds though as if the second possible whistle-blower would be more credible, would have more information, might name more names and more fully complete the picture of how all of this went about. What's interesting, Boris, it's the reaction in some ways that's almost the most important part of this, the fact that career officials were alarmed, were startled, were led to try and both memorialize and also inform others about what they consider to be improper and possibly criminal conduct. Over and over we're seeing it. We're seeing referrals to the justice department, we're seeing whistle-blower complaints, and we're seeing furtive - apparently furtive actions by the White House to try to cover up some of this stuff. Clearly something is wrong and the second whistle-blower might further explain that to us.

SANCHEZ: Page, the White House, the administration can try to stonewall when it comes to providing documents to Congress, but having a second whistle-blower -- having a whistle-blower in general, it's tougher for the president to try to stop them from providing information to Congress, right?

PATE: That's true. And I understand the inspector general's rationale for corroborating this or at least finding credibility with the first whistle-blower complaint was corroborated by the second whistle-blower who I think has talked to part of congress and one of the intelligence committees. So the more people that come forward, the more evidence is stacked up and the stronger Congress' case is to pursue an impeachment.

SANCHEZ: All right. Page Pate, we'll see you in the next hour for our legal brief. Errol Louis, we'll see you again in just a couple of minutes.

PATE: Thank you.

PAUL: So here's a question for you. Is Bernie Sanders healthy enough for the campaign trail? New questions about the senator's health, about his age after doctors reveal he actually suffered a heart attack earlier this week.

SANCHEZ: Also, a potential phone hacking scandal involving Prince Harry's voice mail. Details ahead.

PAUL: And a man walking his dogs miraculously survives a lightning strike. We're going to have more of this incredible story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:00]

PAUL: Fifteen minutes past the hour right now. Senator Bernie Sanders is promising that he'll return to the campaign trail. This is despite doctors confirming that he in fact have a heart attack earlier this week.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Sanders left the Las Vegas hospital yesterday and in a video posted online, he reassured his supporters that he isn't going anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

SANDERS: Hello, everybody. We're in Las Vegas. I just got out of the hospital a few hours ago, and I'm feeling so much better. I just want to thank all of you for the love and warm wishes that you sent to me. See you soon on the campaign trail.

(END VIDEO)

PAUL: CNN's Ryan Nobles has more for us. Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christi, Bernie Sanders left a Las Vegas hospital on Friday afternoon after spending 2.5 days there being treated for a heart attack. Sanders, with his wife by his side, waved to a crowd of people outside the Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center.

Sanders, as we mentioned, spent 2.5 days there after experiencing chest pains Tuesday night during an event in Las Vegas. Two of the doctors who treated him put out a statement after he was released that described his hospital stay as uneventful and said that he had a quote, good expected progress.

They confirmed that Sanders had two stents placed in an artery to combat a blockage but also said he was diagnosed with a myocardial infarction, which is the clinical term for a heart attack. Sanders will travel to his home in Burlington, Vermont, and take some time off the campaign trail but he's promised that he's going to return in time for the CNN debate, which takes place on October 15th. Now, inside the campaign I've been told there was really no real deliberation as to whether or not he would continue his run for president.

Sanders who felt immediately better after the procedure to have the stents put in, felt so much better and was ready to get back on the trail. While Sanders feels better and his doctors have said that his prognosis is good, this will no doubt be an issue for him going forward. His age, he just turned 78, has long been a knock on his campaign and now with the specter of a recent heart attack added to the mix, it's going to make the argument that he's up to the job that much more difficult. Still, Sanders has a remarkable endurance and he's been healthy for most of his life. At this point, after a short break he seemed prepared to pick up right where he left off. Boris and Christi?

SANCHEZ: Ryan Nobles, thank you for that. Let's bring back in CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. Errol, look, Sanders is 78 years old. He's raised more money than just about any other democrat. He recently just had a heart attack, but for three days the campaign didn't really tell anyone about the severity of the situation. What do you make of that?

LOUIS: That's right. They very specifically, Boris, tried to get all of us in the news media to not use the words "heart attack." I think people mostly adhered to that. We waited until it was official. The distinction for viewers is that some part of the heart tissue actually dies then they call it a heart attack as opposed to anything else. The campaign was doing what you could expect them to do which is try to put the best face on this, not make him seem as if he's going to be incapable of going forward. supposed to do, put the best face on it. On the other hand there's some news they're not going to be able to cover up or spin.

You know, according to the American Heart Association, there's a 20% chance after you've had a heart attack of having a second one that's over a five-year period. These are questions they're going to have to ask. I think it makes it less likely that they can avoid questions like, you know, what kind of prescription medicine has your doctor recommended? Is it statins? Is it beta blockers? What's your exercise regimen going to be? All of those are going to be relevant questions if Bernie Sanders is serious about becoming the next president.

PAUL: Possibly a relevant question too, to fell low candidates. We know the primary debate is coming up, the primary debate October 15. Sanders promises he's going to be there. How much of an issue do you think this is going to be that some of these younger candidates are going to pick this up?

[06:20:00]

LOUIS: I think they're going to tread very carefully around this question because this is a country where many, many people revere our elders, right? Where his experience and hitme on the campaign trail has really drawn a lot of people to him and Bernie Sanders cannot and should not be dismissed out of hand simply because he had a medical issue.

If he had fallen down skiing or something like that, I don't think anybody would say, well, you can't be president. I think people are going to be very careful about that. On the other hand, he's going to have to be careful and not simply dismiss it as something that's completely irrelevant. Again, you look out over the horizon, if he does manage to win the election next year, there will be four years after that, and he would by far be the oldest president we've ever elected.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and he might spin this to his advantage. Sanders was on message shortly after being discharged from the hospital. He tweeted that he was fortunate to have good healthcare. Take a look at this tweet that he sent out. He writes that no one should fear going bankrupt when a medical emergency occurs. He finishes the tweet with Medicare For All.

Probably a safe bet that he's going to use this on the stump isn't it?

LOUIS: Oh yes, well it's certainly right on brand. And I bet he'll be able to pull out some of those frighteningly high bills that he won't have to pay because I'm sure he has a pretty good insurance to back him up, but he can certainly underscore the problem that a lot of us know about as well as the suddenness of it. You know you're kind of going about his business. He was engaged in his profession, and right in the middle of it something unexpected happens. It should not be catastrophic financially for anybody.

PAUL: Errol Louis, always appreciate having you here. Thanks for sticking around.

LOUIS: Thanks, Christi, thanks, Boris.

PAUL: Sure. And get ready for the fourth democratic presidential debate live from the battleground state of Ohio. O-H-I-O to CNN, a "New York Times" democratic presidential debate, Tuesday, October 15th, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

SANCHEZ: The White House's Ukraine text messages scandal pings more state department officials. Two diplomats are expected to testify next week. We'll get reaction from a former U.S. Ambassador.

PAUL: And as outrage from demonstrators grows louder in Hong Kong. President Trump reportedly vows to stay silent about what's going on there. We're live on the ground as the pro-democracy protest enter 18th straight weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:00]

PAUL: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Welcome to Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: So big news this morning, a second U.S. diplomat entangled in the President Trump - Ukraine controversy is expected to testify before Congress next week. Yes, Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. is one of several U.S. diplomats that sent text messages discussing the president's goals in Ukraine. This week the messages were handed over to the House by Kurt Volker the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine after he spoke with impeachment investigators. CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider has the details. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former U.S. Special envoy to

Ukraine Kurt Volker's opening statement to lawmakers obtained by CNN details Rudy Giuliani's influence on President Trump's perception of Ukraine as he tried to convince the president that Ukraine's new government was serious about stopping corruption. Volker revealed that he met in late May with President Trump who insisted that Ukraine was a corrupt country full of terrible people.

The president said they tried to take me down. The president referring to a theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election; that has been debunked. Volker also released pages of text that show how the Trump Administration with the help of Rudy Guliani was determined to push Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son as well as that debunked theory.

On July 25, the day of Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Volker texted Zelensky's aide, heard from the White House, assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate, get to the bottom of what happened in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington. But Volker's insisted in his statement that he never took part in an effort to encourage Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden saying the suggest that he would be influenced in his duties as vice president by money for his son simply has no credibility to me. I know him as a man of integrity and dedication to our country.

But Volker's involvement and influence in Ukrainian policy is clear from this text in early text in early August to Rudy Giuliani. Hi Mr. Mayor, had a good chat with Yermak last night. He was pleased with your phone called. Mentioned Z making a statement. Can we all get on the phone to make sure I advise Z correctly as to what he should be saying?

That statement was supposed to lay out how Ukraine would pursue corruption investigations into the 2016 election and a company Hunter Biden was involved in. But that statement was never relased. On August 30th, the top American diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor tells Volker that the president has canceled his trip to Ukraine. The next day Taylor texts Gordon Sondland, a prominent republican donor and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. Are we now saying that security assistance at a White House meeting are conditioned on investigations?

Sondland responds, call me. On September 9th Taylor again brings up the point. As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. Sondland texts back hours later defending the president. I believe you're incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The president has been crystal clear, no quid pro quos of any kind.

Volker also said in his opening statement he did become aware that foreign aid to Ukraine was being held up at the same time he was connecting Ukrainian leadership aides with Rudy Giuliani. But Volker said he did not perceive those two issues to be linked in any way. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

PAUL: Jessica, thank you. Now there's another state department official caught up in the questions swirling over Ukraine, ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

[06:30:00]

She's scheduled to give a deposition to the House Intelligence Committee next Friday. The "Wall Street Journal" reporting, removing her from her post was a quote, top priority for the Administration after the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani complained that she was undermining efforts to investigate the Bidens. To talk about this, I want to bring in Laurie Fulton. She's a former ambassador to Denmark, one of more than 50 female ambassadors who signed a letter in support of Yovanovitch. Now Laurie, Ambassador, we appreciate you being here. First and foremost, talk to me about what was in this letter.

LAURIE FULTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO DENMARK: Thank you Christi for inviting me to be with you today. Well we are a group of women ambassadors serving America and we wrote in support of Ambassador Yevanovich because she is a very well respected diplomat and the way she's been treated is not only personally offensive to me, to watch this happen to a diplomat that I respect, but it undermines our system of American foreign policy and the career foreign service, and I think that's just way out of line. I know Ambassador Yovanovitch.

During the last half of my tenure in Denmark, she was the principal deputy assistant Secretary of State for European affairs which made her one of my primary contacts at the Department of State and I always found her to be intelligent, prepared, responsive, and extremely dedicated to the American point of view, so I was pleased to join my fellow women ambassadors and support of Ambassador Yovanovitch and look forward to hearing more about her testimony next week.

PAUL: OK, so you see any initial reason as to why she would be dismissed?

FULTON: You know I was in Ukraine on the 21st of June - or 21st of April, the day Zelensky was elected president. I was there as part of an election monitoring team with National Democratic Institute, NDI, International Republican Institute, IRI was with us and we were briefed prior to the balloting by Ambassador Yovanovitch, who was the ambassador then. And again, she was extremely well prepared. She was perfect and then a few weeks later after I'm back in the United States, I see that she has been dismissed from her post and I was astounded.

My initial reaction was, this is bad for the United States. Why would we, after a new president in the Ukraine has been elected, a president with no political experience, why would we pull our extremely dedicated and terrific ambassador. Why would we do that? That does not benefit United States' interest.

So I'm -- I'm dismayed that it happened and I think it undermines our career foreign service.

PAUL: Ambassador Fulton, I want to ask you about some of these texts regarding someone else you know, U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, Wayne Taylor. On August 30th, he had a conversation with Kurt Volker and he says President Trump cancelled his trip to Ukraine. The next day, Taylor texts Gordon Sunland, again the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. and a prominent republican donor saying this, are we now saying that security assistance and White House meetings are conditioned on investigations? Sondland said at that point, call me.

And then on September 9th, Taylor texted, as I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. Sondland texts hours later I believe you're incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The president has been crystal clear, no quit pro quos of any kind. You know William Taylor, is it realistic to believe that he, a man who had been an ambassador to Ukraine who is a seasoned politician would misunderstand the directives of this administration?

FULTON: No. As you say, I know Bill Taylor, Ambassador Taylor, now charge d'affaires for the United States in Ukraine and he is, again dedicated to American interests and dedicated to diplomacy. And he is as bright as they come. He's not going to misunderstand what's going on. We don't have all of the texts here. We have whatever these few are but his position is extremely revealing to me that he understands that the United States is now trying to make military assistance to Ukraine contingent upon the new president saying that he will investigate an investigation that benefits President Trump politically. I'm astounded.

[06:35:00]

PAUL: Real quickly before I let you go, we've heard Speaker Pelosi, even representative Jackie Spears, refer to Rudy Giuliani as running a, quote, shadow state department. First of all, do you believe it to be accurate, and secondly, is it uncommon for a president to have a personal attorney be involved in foreign relations as we see Giuliani to have been?

FULTON: I've never seen anything like this. I confess I do not quite understand Rudy Giuliani's role with the president. I certainly do not understand his role vis-a-vis Ukraine or United States foreign policy at all. I've never seen anything like this.

PAUL: Former Ambassador Laurie Fulton, we appreciate you so much taking the time to have -- make some time for us, I should say. Ambassador, thank you so much.

FULTON: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Protesters are taking to the streets in Hong Kong for the 18th straight weekend. Why U.S. Officials may not be getting involved in the protests any time soon. A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

PAUL: Forty minutes past the hour right now and protesters in the street again. This is the 18th straight weekend in Hong Kong's where the city's public transit system this time was shut down. It's still closed and will remain so today. A 14-year-old meanwhile is in critical condition after Hong Kong police opened fire on protesters for the second time.

SANCHEZ: And for context, all of this is happening as two sources tell CNN that President Trump promised Chinese President Xi Jinping that the U.S. would stay silent on pro democracy protests in Hong Kong while trade talks continued. Yesterday, the president said all his conversations with foreign leaders were appropriate just hours after calling on China to investigate Joe Biden. I want to get to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's in Hong Kong this morning. First off Paula, how are police reacting to protestors that are defying this ban on masks?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Boris and Christi, we just had in the past couple of hours, a march of maybe several hundred, potentially 1,000 people through the streets of central in Hong Kong and the vast majority of them were wearing masks and what we saw was because it was a (inaudible) march, because there was no trouble, the police were not to be seen. They didn't intervene in any way and so that particular march, we did see people just disperse and go home.

There's another match down the road as well. A human chain is being formed and they're heading to one of the police stations, the police station behind me. Tonight is very different to Friday night where we see quite significant destruction of those subway stations; all of those subway stations, 161 stations have been closed for the entire day. Some of the locals very frustrated that they couldn't get around. But certainly it seems to have brought far fewer people out onto the streets at this point, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Paula, have you heard any protests on the ground about their response to the president having this agreement with Xi Jinping reportedly to not bring up these protests?

HANCOCKS: Well certainly this would be disappointing to many of them because there have been protests that have been dedicated to calling for more U.S. interference into Hong Kong, more U.S. condemnation of what they see as human rights abuses, of chipping away at the democracy of Hong Kong. Certainly it's not well known here that that is potentially what has happened, but there have been many protesters calling for international intervention.

They welcome the fact that the U.K., Great Britain has been very vocal about this. We heard from the foreign minister just recently. But certainly they want the U.S. on site. One of the main activists here going all the way over to Washington, speaking to congress to try to drum up support. So certainly that will be a great disappointment to them.

SANCHEZ: Glaring that the world's most powerful democracy is not weighing in on these pro-democracy protests. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Paula.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, the battle against the British media continues for the royals. Why Prince Harry is now suing U.K. tabloid newspapers. Those details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

SANCHEZ: The royals are headed to court. Prince Harry is suing the owners of U.K. tabloid newspaper "The Sun" and "the "Daily Mirror"" for allegedly hacking into his phone.

PAUL: Yes, of course, his wife, Megan, the duchess of Sussex, sued the U.K. "the Mail" on Sunday is what it's called; claiming illegally published a private letter to her father. CNN's Anna Stewart has more.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been days since Megan, the ductchess of Sussex launched legal proceedings against the man on Sunday for allegedly publishing a private letter to her father and now her husband, Prince Harry, has filed new claims against tabloid newspapers. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the lawsuit interception of voice mail messages.

News Group Newspaper, the parent company of "The Sun" have confirmed they have received a claim and a source at the publisher of "The Mirror" says it's aware of the legal proceedings but it hasn't yet received official notification. Both papers have declined to comment on the allegations at this time.

The big question here is when did this alleged voice mail interception take place? Does it date back to the so called hacking scandal of 2005 and 2006. That was a hacking of royal and celebrity phones and it engulfed those newspapers as well as the now defunct news of the world. The scandal resulted in numerous lawsuits, settlements, criminal charges and even jail time for some journalists as well as the million-dollar wide-ranging inquiry into press standards by (inaudible).

Prince Harry's decision to sue tabloid papers comes days after his wife's and after his extraordinary and emotional statement on the tabloid press in which he criticized the double standards. He said of a specific press pack which gave positive coverage of their recent trip to Africa and his wife, but he said they villified her for the last nine months. It feels like the first shots of a new royal battle against the British media. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

SANCHEZ: Anna, thank you for that. It's the rare commuter alert that you actually want to hear. Details on a new form of high-speed travel that could cut down a four-hour road trip to just 30 minutes. And a security camera capturing the moment a man was struck by lightning, a video you have to see.

PAUL: First, though, more than 2,000 people have been shot this year in Chicago -- 2,000. So tired of seeing news reports about the ongoing violence in our city, this week's CNN Hero decided to help people regain a sense of community and she's doing it one block at a time. She's down in West Englewood, that's one of Chicago's most turbulent neighborhoods. Meet Robbin Carroll. [06:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ROBBIN CARROLL, CNN HERO: I started coming out to the community. The lots were all empty. The houses were getting boarded up. People were not coming outside. I stood on the corner and just asked anyone that walked by, are you interested in taking back your community, and everyone said absolutely yes, we are really brave space and courageous space. We're going to get there. We will work through all of what is holding you back to becoming the person and the potential that you have to be.

PAUL: Look at them. They're not just transforming the block from surviving to thriving but you can learn more about her work. Go to CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So the University of Missouri at Columbia showcased this new form of high speed travel. It's called the Virgin Hyperloop One, it's similar to a high-speed train that uses electricity and magnetic levitation look at this, to move pods through a tube.

[06:55:00]

It can reach speeds of up to 240 miles per hour.

SANCHEZ: The science is a little bit over my head but 240 miles an hour is impressive. Missouri is one of the first states to potentially have a hyperloop routed. It would run from St. Louis to Kansas City in about a half hour and experts say the tube could transport up to 60,000 passengers in each direction every day. The exact cost of this thing has not yet been determined.

PAUL: You let me know how that goes before I step on that.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes. Take a look at this video quickly. It shows the moment a Texas man collapsed after he was struck by lightning. CNN affiliate KTRK obtained the security camera video.

PAUL: I mean look at this again. Workers at a nearby veterinarian clinic, they came to his rescue. They started CPR and they said he wasn't moving or breathing when they found him. His clothes were charred. His shoes and socks were blown off his feet. His family said he's in pain right now, but he's expected to be okay. Thank goodness. A gaping hole was left in the concrete there too where the lightning bolt struck the man.

SANCHEZ: My favorite part about this video if you watch it closely is that man's best friend, his dogs that he was walking, they just ran off.

PAUL: He takes off.

SANCHEZ: They didn't even sniff to see if he was okay. PAUL: They're smart; they know. Next hour of your "New Day" is back

after a quick break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:00]