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Another White House Shakeup; Sources Are Telling CNN Chief Of Staff John Kelly Could Be About To Resign; U.S.-China Trade Truce In Trouble, The Arrest Of A Chinese Tech Executive Is Raising Concerns About Sensitive Talks; Population Time Bomb, Japan Needs Immigrants To Prevent A Demographic Crisis,. Aired: 8:00-9:00a ET

Aired December 07, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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

WILL RIPLEY, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream" Another White House shakeup. Sources are

telling CNN Chief of Staff John Kelly could be about to resign. Plus, is the U.S.-China trade truce in trouble? The arrest of a Chinese tech

executive is raising concerns about sensitive talks; and population time bomb. Japan needs immigrants to prevent a demographic crisis, but do

immigrants need japan?

We'll get more on that breaking news about these possible resignation of the White House Chief of Staff in just a moment, but first, we turn to a

big story that is rattling the nerves of investors around the world.

We're talking about the arrest of a Huawei executive, a tech giant - an executive of one of China's most celebrated companies taken into custody in

Canada and that arrest requested by the United States and by the way, this happened on the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were

having dinner, negotiating a truce in the trade war.

Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou is set to appear for a bail hearing in Vancouver, Canada. News of her arrest on Saturday set off a rollercoaster

for global equities. Now, today, markets are more subdued than they were on Thursday, but investors are sting worried about Meng's arrest, worried

that it could escalate the trade war, the tension between Washington and Beijing just as they're trying to hammer out a deal.

Now, on Wall Street, there are U.S. futures pointing to an open in the red across all three major indices, as you see right there. There's a lot to

talk about here, so let's get it all covered for you. CNN's Matt Rivers is live in Beijing. Eleni Giokos is in London, so Matt, we're first going to

talk to you. You were at the G-20, you were when they were having this two and a half hour working dinner negotiating a truce. Is there now suspicion

in China that the timing of this arrest is the U.S. playing dirty with this trade war?

MATT RIVERS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I mean, you could certainly think that Beijing is going to consider that option, Will, I mean, there's no doubt

about it. You know, I think traditionally, if you talk to experts about China, there would be the realization or the general agreement that there

is the realization amongst China's upper echelon in government that what happens in the judicial system in the United States would usually be

separate than what happens in the diplomacy realm. There would be a realization of that what.

But given the timing of this, given the overall trade war that's still going on, I think you have to think Beijing is considering possibility that

this is politically motivated. Now, what you're hearing from the White House is that President Trump didn't know about this arrest. That's what

our own reporting is showing is that he didn't know about that arrest ahead of time before having that dinner with Xi Jinping.

That said, his national security adviser, John Bolton, told NPR that he did know about it and he was in that dinner in Buenos Aires in Argentina. So I

think the Chinese are looking at this saying, "Okay, maybe if President Trump didn't know about it, we can continue to move forward with this trade

deal," but if he did and this is just some sort of gamesmanship in a negotiation, that's going to really make this negotiations that much harder

to come to some sort of a fruitful end, Will.

RIPLEY: So what are the Chinese going to be looking at here? Because obviously, we expect in the coming hours to learn more details about the

charges in this case.

RIVERS: I think what you've seen so far really is the Chinese kind of holding back. You know, they haven't said, "Oh, this arrest is going to

scuttle the trade talks." They've really kind of had a wait and see approach, I think, and they're going to look at what happens at that bail

hearing, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time is when that bail hearing is set to take place and that's when we're maybe going to maybe get some more information

on the specific charges that Meng is facing.

We still don't know that and neither does the Chinese government. So we're going to wait and see there. I think the Chinese are doing the exact same

thing, but then I think moving forward, does her extradition to the United States actually go forward? How is she treated by the government? What

kind of statements is Washington, D.C. and the White House making about her? These are all the kinds of things that Beijing is going to be looking

for to take into their overall calculus about how to move forward with these trade negotiations.

RIPLEY: They certainly don't act impulsively. Everything is very carefully thought out. Thanks very much. Matt Rivers there live in

Beijing. Let's cross over to London now.

Eleni Giokos, so the markets on Thursday, it was a roller coaster. What are we seeing now?

ELENI GIOKOS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, absolute roller coaster ride is what we saw in the U.S. overnight. I mean we were down around 700 points

at one stage and then, of course, the market getting away from those deep losses and then, the Dow Jones closing down around three tenths of a

percent.

And the reason being that we saw a shift in sentiment slightly more positive is that everyone is focusing on whether we're going to see more

interest rate cuts out of the Federal Reserve. But definitely, the overlying factor here has been what happened between the U.S. and China and

this very high profile arrest and whether there's going to be a trade war or a trade truce.

And, of course, we really didn't have any clarity from the weekend, from the actual meeting, the initial meeting heading into this week. And then

everything just got even more muddled and we're seeing major whiplash hitting the markets, as well.

[08:05:04]

GIOKOS: So U.S. futures are pointing to go a negative start. However, European markets looking far better and then over in Asia, as well, more of

a subdued kind of reaction in today's session. So we've seen a mixed response going into today, but it's going to be really important to find

out what these charges are going to entail, how this bail hearing goes.

And of course, when you talk about extradition, it's not going to happen overnight. We're talking about a prolonged response here, as well, and of

course China isn't going retaliate. Are we going to see Beijing wanting to take a tough stance? You've got the tech stocks coming under major

pressure on the back of this news.

So there's so many things on investors' minds and this is just adding another big spanner in the works which of course is adding a lot more

problems and a lot more uncertainty as we head closer to the end of the year.

RIPLEY: Is what we're seeing right now essentially kind of nervous investors, or could there actually be financial loss if this case unfolds

in a way that is somehow detrimental to Huawei?

GIOKOS: Remember, you've got 90 days that had been put on the table in terms of a deadline and sorting out the U.S.-China trade relations. Is

that deadline going to be reached? Are we still going to see $200 million worth of tariffs that are going to be implemented? Are we going to see a

backtracking of that by the United States? So the losses and the stakes are really high.

And it's not just for China and the U.S., but the rest of the world as well. And the tech stocks are going to take a big knock. It's the stocks

that have major exposure to both China and the U.S. on both sides of the spectrum, as well.

So the stakes are really high, Will. And I think if we don't get clarity, if we don't get real results coming through from this negotiation, I think

that everyone is going to be on major edge.

RIPLEY: Indeed, Eleni Giokos, live in London, we know you're watching all the markets very closely. Thank you. Well, obviously, a lot of investors

are concerned right now. They're wondering how this is going to affect the already shaky truce between Beijing and Washington.

So here to talk more about that is the former economic adviser to President Trump, and also a CNN senior economic analyst, Stephen Moore who is joining

me now from Washington. Stephen, do you buy it that President Trump did not know about the arrest of a Chinese tech executive at this high of a

level on the same day he's having dinner with President Xi?

STEPHEN MOORE, SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST, CNN: Here in "The Washington Post" and the "New York Times" say that Trump was surprised by this. I don't

know that it really matters that much. It's just that, you know, this comes at a time when we're in these very delicate negotiations with Beijing

over this trade deal where the whole world economy kind of hangs in the balance here.

As you said, the stock market has been a roller coaster over the last three or four days as investors try to sort out what's going on here. But look,

this I think this reinforces, at least on America's side of this equation, the idea that China is very difficult to deal with. We know that they

cheat in terms of trade deals. We know that they've been stealing intellectual property, and now, you know, if these allegations are true,

they are just basically violating some of the international rules with respect to this selling of technology to Iran. So it's a complication, no

question about it.

RIPLEY: Shouldn't President Trump have known about something like this happening on the same day that he is in the midst of this very high stakes

negotiation?

MOORE: Oh I don't know the answer to that. I mean, I'm not a diplomat and I'm not involved in that. I am an economist. I will say this, that the

stakes are so high in these negotiations and what's really happened over the last several days, I think even more so than this event that we've been

talking about has been, you know, that the White House thought they had a deal with China and President Xi when they left Buenos Aires with that

handshake deal and then as soon as the Chinese got back to Beijing, they started retreating from that deal.

Now we don't know exactly where we are and that's why I think you saw the huge market sell-off. I'm still fairly optimistic that this is going to

get settled. There's a 90-day period now cooling off period for these two sides to come to an agreement. The tariffs that have already been imposed

on China by the United States are doing some serious harm to the Chinese economy. They don't want that 25% tariff to be imposed. Trump will do

that if they don't have an agreement in 90 days.

So I'm somewhat confident they will get some kind of deal done. It's good for both countries and it's good for the world economy as well.

RIPLEY: Which of the two powers has more to lose if they don't strike a deal and if this 25% does kick in at some point?

MOORE: Well, it's clear, it's China. China can't possibly grow their economy if they're faced with a 25% tariff. Their economy has already been

hit hard by the tariffs that are already in existence at 10% and there's whole warehouses and ports in China filled with merchandise that they

haven't been able to sell. They need access to U.S. consumer market.

[08:10:04]

MOORE: There's just no question about that. Now, look, it will hurt the U.S., as well. I mean, we benefit from the fact that we're able to import

low price products from China, but this is - you know, there's an old saying here that if we can't trade with China, we sneeze. If they can't

trade with us, they catch pneumonia.

And that's the very leverage by the way that Trump is using in these negotiations. He knows that China needs to be able to trade with the

United States. Again, I'm somewhat hopeful that this is going to get done. And by the way, if it gets done, you know the global market is just going

to explode with happiness and you're going to see a big increase in equity values all over the world.

RIPLEY: I'm sure a lot of investors are hoping for that option and not the alternative if all of this falls apart.

MOORE: You better believe it.

RIPLEY: But appreciate your expertise. There's certainly a lot to watch and this is not the kind of complication, I'm sure, that on the White House

side they were necessarily hoping for, but it happened. Thanks so much. And now we are turning to talks that can impact oil prices around the

world. This is the second day of OPEC meetings under way in Vienna. This time, Russia will take part in the discussions.

U.S. oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday, this after members failed to reach an agreement on supply cuts. Moscow is the world's number two oil

producer, also a key partner in OPEC's efforts to stabilize oil prices.

A big shakeup may be coming to the Trump White House. Sources say that Chief of Staff John Kelly, after 17 months on the job, is expected to

resign soon. Remember, President Trump when he first came on board said he was going be there for the whole term or two terms but they've stopped

talking in recent days according to sources and President Trump is reportedly now actively discussing a replacement plan.

This is news that is breaking right now, so let's get to CNN's Abby Phillip who is at the White House. Abby, is this a surprise to you who have been

covering this White House?

ABBY PHILLIP, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, no, not at all. This issue with John Kelly and President Trump has been ongoing for quite some

time. And I think a lot of people who have been watching this program and others will know that we've been talking for a while about whether John

Kelly was, perhaps, on his way out the door.

Now, our sources are telling us that this departure could be imminent, that John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming days because the situation

with President Trump has become untenable for both men. Now, they have, as you just said, stopped talking in recent days and there is an expectation

that he will be replaced in the coming days. Though no concrete decisions have been made about who exactly will be that person.

We have heard, however, that President Trump is actively working on a replacement plan. One of the top contenders for the job is Nick Ayers, who

is the Vice President Mike Pence's Chief of Staff. He's someone whose name has been mentioned quite a bit in this White House over the last several

months, but there are some concerns in the West Wing about Ayers.

However, President Trump has been attracted to Nick Ayers in part because he wants someone with a sort of political mindset as he's going into the

2020 re-election campaign.

So you know, as we stand here this morning, President Trump is expected to be leaving the White House within the next hour or so and it remains to be

seen whether this staffing decision or any of the others that we're expecting to come down the pike will be announced today. But our sources

are telling us that John Kelly is widely expected within this West Wing to submit his resignation in the coming days and President Trump is preparing

to replace him.

RIPLEY: Kelly was brought on board to try to control some of the chaos in the White House. Did he succeed in that? And where did things go off the

rails?

PHILLIP: Well, Kelly came into this White House ruling with basically an iron fist, really trying to straighten out some of the chaos that had been

going on, trying to stream line meetings, trying to change the way people got to President Trump, how information got to President Trump. But over

the last several months, that control has been slipping.

Kelly's control of both the West Wing and also his influence with President Trump has been waning. Up until this point where we are now, where the two

men are not even on speaking terms, President Trump has also brought in other people into the West Wing who, frankly, he has a closer relationship

with in terms of working. He has brought in a new communications aide who is a former Fox News executive, who has taken on an out sized role in this

White House and John Kelly's influence has been waning.

A lot of people in the West Wing have expected for quite some time now that he would be on his way out. Kelly has also gotten into some tiffs with

other West Wing officials, including John Bolton recently. They got into a shouting match outside of the Oval Office. So the problems have been

present for quite some time now. And I think West Wing officials have, frankly, seen John Kelly's influence really wane and wane and wane to the

point where it almost was as if they wondered how long he could continue staying on in this post, even though the types of things that he did when

he first came in, he no longer does, Will.

[08:15:04]

RIPLEY: If a decorated war veteran cannot survive more than 17 months in this White House, you have to wonder what it takes to go the whole time.

Abby Phillip, I know you'll be following this and we'll wait to learn more developments. Thank you very much.

All right, coming up here on "News Stream" there is cautious optimism that the United Nations envoy to Yemen, he's warning people about these peace

talks happening in Sweden. He says don't get your hopes up for a solution anytime soon.

The Brexit battle continues. At the heart of it, the Northern Irish border. Residents of Belfast speak out, next.

You're watching "News Stream" coming to you live on a Friday night here in Hong Kong. And it is day two of talks in Sweden between Yemen's warring

parties. The U.N. special envoy seems to be cautioning against too much optimism. Martin Griffiths says these are only consultations right now and

negotiations, well those, haven't even started yet.

For nearly four years, the Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Iranian- backed Houthi rebels in a savage war what has resulted in what the U.N. calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut and join us now. Ben, it is a breakthrough in itself, I suppose to get these two sides in the same building, but this

really does kind of pour cold water on any hopes of a significant breakthrough to help the people in Yemen who have been suffering for nearly

four years.

BEN WEDEMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: No, Will, nobody is expecting any major breakthrough, but certainly the fact that they're in

one place, under one roof, not necessarily speaking directly with one another, but through intermediaries does represent a step forward.

Keep in mind, Will that last September, a similar round of consultations were supposed to be held, but the Houthi representatives never went because

to get to the talks, they would have had to have gone through air space controlled by the Saudi-led U.S.-backed coalition, and the worry was that

either they weren't going to be able to get there or if they went to the talks, they wouldn't be able to get back.

I think what has changed since September is that for one, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen actually went, flew with the Houthi

representatives to Sweden to avoid any sort of Khashoggi scenario. And in addition to that, in October, the Saudi columnist working for "The

Washington Post," Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and that really changed the dynamic when it came to how the world

and how in particular the United States, the major backer of the U.S.- backed Saudi-led coalition ...

United States, the major backer of the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition ...

[08:20:10]

WEDEMAN: ... looked at that conflict. In the meantime, you've seen all sorts of horrendous statistics coming out of Yemen. For instance, Save the

Children put out a report saying that as many as 85,000 children under the age of five may have died as a result of malnutrition and disease since the

war began in the beginning of 2015.

It's important to keep in mind when looking at this conflict that essentially, it puts a faction in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab

world against other factions backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two richest countries in the Arab world. So there is a real

sort of imbalance when it comes to this conflict despite the fact that there's lots of talk that the Houthis are Iranian-backed.

The level of Iranian backing pales compared to what the UAE and Saudi Arabia have thrown into this war with the active support of the United

States, so now, we can expect no breakthroughs, but certainly the dynamic has changed and there is pressure on all parties, including the United

States which is the major supplier of weapons to the conflict to bring it to an end, Will.

RIPLEY: Or one would hope, at least they could agree to open up routes to get food and water and supplies to the people who are starving and need -

need help so desperately right now. Ben Wedeman, live in Beirut, thank you.

We turn now to the UK and Prime Minister Theresa May has received a much needed boost for her Brexit plan. It's coming from Britain's Finance

Minister and many lawmakers oppose the deal that she brokered with European leaders, a deal that they are due to vote on next Tuesday. The Finance

Minister told Parliament it is not realistic to renegotiate and he pressured MPs to approve this plan when they vote next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIP HAMMOND, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, I have observed this process at close quarters for two and a half years, and I am

absolutely clear about one thing. This deal is the about best deal to exit the EU that is available or that is going to be available.

The idea that there is an option of renegotiating at the 11th hour is simply a delusion. We need to be honest with ourselves. The alternatives

to this deal are no deal or no Brexit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: How to maintain trade between the EU and Northern Ireland once the UK leaves the European Union that has been one of the most difficult

questions to resolve. As CNN's Erin McLaughlin reports from Belfast, all the proposed solutions so far have left a lot of people confused.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Belfast is a city that knows division. And when it comes to Brexit, there are new fissures over Theresa

May's deal. Many say they are more confused than anything else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See, like I understood that at the start of the Brexit thing, but now I just don't understand what's happening any more.

So, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's difficult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand some of it, but not at all, I honestly say and I think the powers that be don't understand that much themselves,

either. So it's better for liquor sales, you know?

MCLAUGHLIN: Isn't that concerning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is concerning, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. It does - that's the world we live in, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's concerning. We don't know where we're going. We don't know what the future will hold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Then there are those with a more definitive view. They say the controversial backstop drafted to for the return of a hard border means

weakening the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it keeping us more in the EU than with Britain?

MCLAUGHLIN: And that bothers you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Because we're British, we're not Irish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: The Democratic Unionist Party feels the same. The DUP holds the keys To Theresa May's minority government and vows to vote down her

deal next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIGEL DODDS, DEPUTY LEADER, DEMOCRATIC UNIONIST PARTY: Northern Ireland will treat Great Britain as a third country. How can you possibly stand

here and recommend this deal?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: But where the DUP sees a threat, brewer Niall McMullan sees opportunity. If activated, the backstop means Northern Irish businesses

will be able to trade both in the EU and the UK friction free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIALL MCMULLAN, HERCULES BREWING COMPANY: As I say, we could actually benefit from inward investment, you know, being in this unique situation

where we can play with both markets.

MCLAUGHLIN: So it must be surreal to see arguing against a backstop that you see as a potential opportunity.

MCMULLAN: Yes, it doesn't really make an awful lot of sense to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: The City of Belfast has known relative peace for the past 20 years. With Brexit, there's new found uncertainty and plenty of confusion.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Belfast.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[08:25:01]

RIPLEY: We continue keeping a very close eye on the situation in Paris where thousands of troops will be deployed to the streets on Saturday to

prevent scenes like this.

There is another round of yellow vest protests planned across the country. Now, you'll remember a week ago, cars were torched, national monuments

vandalized, thousands of people injured in clashes with police. For several weeks now, protesters have been demanding economic reform starting

with relief from rising fuel prices.

French authorities says troublemakers are not legitimate protesters and they are vowing to use any and all means possible to try and prevent any

new outbreaks of violence over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDOUARD PHILLIPE, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (Through a translator): We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash. We want to have

the means to not give them free reign. We have mobilized a considerable amount of forces, 8,000 in Paris, which is much more than last Saturday and

in total for France. Not 65,000 as announced earlier, but 89,000. So it is truly an exceptional mobilization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: I misspoke a moment ago when I said that there were thousands of injuries. In fact, only dozens of people injured in Paris, but thousands

of police officers on the streets to try to keep calm. The Eiffel Tower and many other famous landmarks will be closed for the protests. And

street furniture like tree railings and benches will be removed from parts of Paris to stop them from being used as weapons.

Paris is no stranger to this kind of public anger. As CNN's Jim Bittermann explains, the yellow vests remind lawmakers of another violent social

movement 50 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Forty-year-old Emmanuel Macron is the first President of France with no direct memory of

what happened on the streets here in May of 1968. But many of those around the young leader recall graphically what took place back then and on the

consequences.

On the surface, the violent scenes of the protests that have taken place here look a lot like the scenes from 50 years ago. The street barricades,

burning cars, running battles between police armed with tear gas and protesters armed with cobble stones. All are signs in France that public

anger has reached a boiling point, that people have had enough.

Laurent Joffrin, today, the editor of the left leaning newspaper "Liberation" was a university student in 1968 and confronting the police on

the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENT JOFFRIN, EDITOR, LIBERATION: It's France you know. France is a country where you like rebellions, demonstrations, so that's a cultural

thing. And the fact that the government is lost. It was the same in May 1968. In front of a revolt that they didn't foresee at all and don't

understand in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: While the '68 protests started at the universities and today's began with higher prices at the gas pumps, both then and now, localized

demonstrations quickly spread throughout the country. Common to both, as well, was a growing sense that the government was having a difficult time

getting a handle on the situation as more and more groups joined in. But a well-known French journalist who is a researcher for NBC News back in 1968

says there are major differences today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE OCKRENT, FRENCH JOURNALIST: First of all, the internet, the social media, the fact that this movement is amorphous, no leaders. The

very few people who come out immediately receive threats from the others, so it's very dangerous.

The other dimension is that trade unions are completely out. Political parts are completely out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMAN: Just like 1968, though, the demands of the protesters have broadened as the protests have worn on. Demonstrators demanding more and

more, and now just like in '68, some want the President to resign, even though he was democratically elected just 18 months ago.

President Macron's government has now made compromises, but is still trying to identify a leader of the grassroots yellow vest movement to accept them,

still looking for an exit strategy.

Back in 1968, President Charles De Gaulle faced a country paralyzed in protests. He decided to suddenly leave the country without telling anybody

where he was going or when he would come back. After a day of political uncertainty and high drama, he returned to make major concessions to the

protesters, dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections, something that just strengthened his hand.

Macron is a committed follower of De Gaulle and like De Gaulle he's had to make major concessions to diffuse the threat from the streets. But just

like in 1968, it may take even more to avoid further chaos. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RIPLEY: You're watching "News Stream" live from Hong Kong. Coming up, we go to Japan. And when you think about that country, you might think about a

deeply closed society that doesn't want foreigners moving in, but that might be changing. We explore why Japan is now considering loosening its

strict immigration policy because of a population time bomb.

[08:35:00]

RIPLEY: I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. There could soon be a big shakeup in the

Trump White House. Big surprise, right? Sources tell CNN, Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to resign soon. Kelly and Mr. Trump have apparently

stopped speaking in recent days. Now the President is reportedly looking at potential replacements, including Nick Ayers, the Chief of Staff for

Vice President Mike Pence.

In the coming hours, a high profile Huawei executive is set to appear for a bail hearing in Vancouver, Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on Saturday

at the request of the United States. It happened just as President Trump was meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping trying to hammer out a trade

truce. President Trump says he didn't know that she was going to be arrested as apparently part of a U.S. investigation into whether Huawei

violated Iran sanctions.

Beijing is calling for Meng's release and the arrest is sparking new concern at the U.S.-China trade trcue could be in jeopardy. But a short

time ago, President Trump tweeted, "China talks are going very well."

Theresa May's Brexit woes continue. In a report released Friday, a committee in Parliament warned that a lack of transparency in the Brexit

deal poses a risk to public safety and security.

Many lawmakers oppose the deal the Prime Minister brokered with European leaders. Today, they've been telling Parliament essentially that it's not

realistic to try to on renegotiate at this late stage and a no vote could be catastrophic for the UK economy.

Japan is expanding the search for five missing U.S. Marines who were involved in a deadly crash on Thursday. Rainstorms and strong winds making

the search more difficult, but officials say conditions have improved and they are now continuing at this hour.

One marine was killed and another one was rescued after two U.S. aircraft collided during an aerial refueling that was supposed be part of routine

training.

Also in Japan, that nation which is known for having a very strict immigration policy, basically not wanting foreigners to move in, that may

be about to change. With the population now considered super aged and record numbers of babies not being born, under a million babies born. Just

last year, lawmakers are now looking at a policy change that would welcome more foreign workers and blue-collar workers, which is really unprecedented

for Japan.

[08:35:07]

RIPLEY: Now if the ruling passes, it would create two new visa categories for these foreign workers. Over the next five years, Japan can see an

undefined number of high skilled workers and up to half a million low-wage workers moving into the country.

So why is Japan doing this? And why now? CNN digital producer, Emiko Jozuka just returned from japan. She was on a reporting assignment in

cooperation with the Pulitzer Center and Amiko, you learned some pretty interesting details about the current situation really this looming crisis

facing Japan when it comes to foreign workers.

EMIKO JOZUKA, DIGITAL PRODUCER, CNN: Hi, Will, yes. So I was on a four- week reporting trip just in Japan where I was exploring the impact of the country's demographic decline on society. And it was interesting to see

that there were a lot of people in Japan who were slowly starting to open up to the idea of having immigrants within the country because often, you

know, when you think of Japan, you hear of it as this very xenophobic anti- immigrant country. But I was quite surprised to learn that people's perceptions of foreign workers are slowly changing.

RIPLEY: But the Japanese government itself, they are not doing this because they want to, they're doing it because they really have to.

JOZUKA: Yes, that's right. I mean, you know Japan has always had this very closed door policy against immigrants. And even though these reforms

are said to be, you know, very sweeping, there's still a lot of uncertainty around these measures and even though they've created two new visas, one

for blue collared workers which is very revolutionary in many ways, they just haven't you know, given many details on how these foreign workers

would be sort of accepted into Japanese society.

All these question marks remain around this immigration bill. And I think one of the failures of it or one of the weaknesses is that, you know, Japan

still doesn't want to call this a concrete immigration policy.

RIPLEY: And these visas are just one step. But as you mentioned, there's a workplace culture that's often very difficult for foreigners to adapt to.

JOZUKA: That's right. I mean, in Japan, if you want to work there, even with these new visas, you would have to be proficient in Japanese and this

really is a bit of a barrier when it comes to communicating with foreigners.

Along with that, Japan is quite infamous for its very kind of rigorous work ethic when people work overtime and I think all these things, you know,

could end up being rather unappealing for foreign workers.

RIPLEY: Yes, the work days are long, people are reluctant to take their vacation. I lived in japan for four years and I know a lot of people from

other countries did struggle with some of the difficulties of adjusting to Japanese society. So what steps is Japan taking right now and what else do

they need to do?

JOZUKA: So I think one of the challenges that international foreign students face when they come to Japan is it's very difficult to find

accommodation. Often you have to pay a large deposit, something called key money, and some estate agents just don't want to rent out to foreigners.

But I found there were small offices that were offering cheap sort of dorm rooms to international students from Southeast Asia who couldn't afford

very high living costs.

So I think on the grassroots level, people are trying to make it easy for foreigners to settle in Japan because I think there are people in society

who realize that Japan is facing this looming demographic crisis.

RIPLEY: Japan as you have reported is a super aging society with a population that is expected to drastically decrease in the coming decades.

What does the future look like if they don't find a solution?

JOZUKA: That's right. It's predicted right now that Japan is going to shrink from 127 million to 88 million by 2065. And I think that if the

government isn't able to establish a concrete immigration policy or change its outlook towards foreign workers and consider them as humans that could

contribute long term to Japanese society, there will be fewer young people to care for an increasingly graying population. And I think that would

place and enormous strain on young people.

RIPLEY: A bleak picture for a country that you were born in but then you moved away and now you're rediscovering here, working for us here at CNN.

Emiko Jozuka, it's great to read your article. You can read the article on cnn.com, again in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Thanks for joining

us.

JOZUKA: Thank you.

RIPLEY: Trading on Wall Street is set to begin in just under an hour and these new numbers just in, November job figures for the U.S. could shape

how the markets do - 155,000 jobs were added to the labor market. That is below expectations. Unemployment, though, remaining unchanged at a very

low 3.7%.

And again trading beginning just under an hour. A very turbulent week there on Wall Street. "First Move" with Julia Chatterley, we'll have it

all covered for you.

And up here on "News Stream", one of Hollywood's biggest comedians turning down a chance to host, really the biggest night in Hollywood, the Oscars.

But there is a reason why and it has to do with Twitter.

[08:40:06]

RIPLEY: In the United States, few gigs are bigger than getting the chance to host Hollywood's biggest night, the Academy Awards. So why is this

American comedian, Kevin Hart, turning down the chance to host the Oscars? Well, he made some offensive remarks on Twitter about the LGBT community.

Some of the tweets are almost a decade old from 2009 to 2011. But you know, in today's digital age, once it's online, it lives there forever.

Hart is apologizing on Twitter saying he does not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing and talented

artists.

Speaking of awards, we have some good news to share with you. A little closer to home here. CNN is being recognized for some of its outstanding

news programming, taking home five awards at the Annual Asian Academy of Creative Awards in Singapore.

This is this region's version of the international Emmy Awards. So we are so proud to say that this show, "News Stream" was awarded Best News Program

and this show's anchor, Kristie Lu Stout, who usually hosts the program, she won Best Presenter. Well deserved. Richard Quest, "Business

Traveler," he won best lifestyle program for its episode on Thailand, and there were also two items that I worked on that won as well, "Secret State:

Inside North Korea," our documentary picked up an award for Best One-Off Documentary and our report on the destruction of the Punggye-ri nuclear

test site in North Korea, also won for Best Single News Report.

So many people here worked very hard to put this show and put these stories on the air and we are grateful for all of our team members who should be

proud of winning these awards tonight. That is "News Stream" the award winning "News Stream." Kristie Lu Stout will be back here for you on

Monday. I'll see you around. Don't go anywhere, though. "World Sport" with Rhiannon Jones is next.

[WORLD SPORT]

[09:00:00]

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