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Hong Kong's Image Stained by Relentless Protests; Blast Killed Five Scientists in Russia; Jeffrey Epstein's Death Angered Victims; Trump Administration Squeezes Immigration Policies; Monsoon Rains Devastated China and India. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired August 13, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hong Kong embattled leader says protests are pushing the city to the brink of no return as demonstrations at the airport disrupt flights for a fifth day.
Russia's explanation about the blast that killed five scientists at a military test site is raising more questions about what actually happened.
Plus, as the floodwaters recede the extent of the damage becomes clearer. More on India's devastating monsoon floods ahead this hour.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Hong Kong's chief executive says the city is being pushed to the brink of no return. Pro-democracy protesters are still gathering at the city's airport, hundreds of flights were canceled Monday and disruptions are still being reported.
Demonstrators have also gathered at a hospital and you can see some wearing eye patches and bandages, they are doing it to protest police brutality. Images from last weekend show a woman wounded in the eye, she was shot in the face with a bean bag round.
CNN's Andrew Stevens is at the airport in Hong Kong and joins us now live. So, Andrew, we talked last hour, what is the scene at the airport right now as more protesters arrive and what are they planning to do in the hours ahead?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What they are planning to do is what they're actually doing right now, Rosemary. So, I'll just get out of the way, we are standing right next to the departure gates, this is where you show your passport details and go through security.
And as you can see there is now several layers of protesters who have been basically staging a sit-in only for the past 10 minutes or so but have made it very, very difficult for anyone who is checking through a flight to actually get through these 10 deep layers of protesters. And this is very similar to what happened here yesterday. I've just been speaking to an airport official who said that there was a similar sit-in yesterday which actually led to passengers not being able to get into the departure gates which led eventually to the closure of the Hong Kong airport.
So, this is out of a playbook they already know, it has been relatively peaceful. But just in the last 30 minutes or so there were barriers holding protesters back from this area, the protesters move from the siding and came through.
You will see that the security here at the moment is just airport staff, there is no -- there is no sign of police. Someone, a senior aviation person has just said to me that if these protesters did attempt to storm these barriers to get through effectively the air side of the Hong Kong airport, they could close the airport for several weeks even because they would have to conduct a thorough security review and implement different measures.
So, at the moment, we have the standoff here, as you can hear it's pretty quiet at the moment but they have been chanting, they have been chanting an eye for an eye and they've also been calling for all five of their demands of the Hong Kong government to be met. They won't take one, they have to take five.
So, this is where we are at the moment. Downstairs, Rosemary, there are also hundreds more protesters staging a sit-in at the arrivals area, so all looking at thousands of protesters back here after they closed the airport yesterday.
CHURCH: And of course, the aim is to get international attention, and that's exactly what they're getting.
Meantime, a Beijing official says these protests show signs of terrorism, is there any evidence to support that claim and how likely is it that mainland China will intervene in some way if these protests continue in this way?
STEVENS: The Hong Kong and Macau affairs office which is the arm of the Beijing administration that deals with this area did say that there were signs that the protesters were engaging in acts of terrorism. And in the press conference where this was said they talked about petrol bombs being thrown at police stations. One police officer we see burns to one of his legs from a petrol bomb.
However, Rosemary, the Hong Kong police have virtually dismissed that and they have said we are not seeing what they would think or describe as acts of terrorism but what it does show is the ratcheting up of the rhetoric from Beijing.
Acts of terrorism is a very, very strong word, they've been calling on the Hong Kong police to show an iron fist on cracking down on people who commit as they call it violent crimes.
[03:04:57] So they are saying there is a criminal element involved, there are signs that they could be terrorism involved. This is all ratcheting up the pressure, if you like, on Hong Kong to bring this under control.
The Hong Kong government, remember, they have to actually signal that they want the Chinese military, the people's Liberation Army to step in to deal with these issues. And the Hong Kong government said, and said clearly today that they have the capabilities themselves to deal with what's going on.
Carrie Lam, the chief executive, talked about Hong Kong going to the brink of no return, she's talking about a breakdown in law and order. But to these students who are now getting up and started shuffling a little bit closer as you can see making it even more difficult for anyone who wants to check through to get out of Hong Kong, making it more difficult for them to reach the security gates.
But certainly, the Hong Kong government is saying that we are on a turning point, if you like, that there is a real chance that this cannot be recovered but as yet, they are saying we have the capabilities to deal with this, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Watching the situation very closely, our Andrew Stevens bringing us a live report from Hong Kong's International Airport. Many thanks to you as always.
Well, the only official word from Moscow on a mystery or blast last week is that five nuclear scientists are being mourned.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports the silence from the Kremlin is raising concerns that the explosions may have been much worse than previously thought.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Confusion and concern about a mysterious explosion and a missile test gone wrong that some now fear could be the worst Russian nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Moscow acknowledges a blast took place at a naval range last week but won't say whether it was nuclear. Instead, they are saying liquid fuel caught fire during trials in the arctic north leading to the blast.
Local authorities initially said they recorded a short-term spike in radiation levels but their statement was later deleted, and the defense ministry claims "no dangerous substances were released after the explosion."
But tonight, experts tell CNN satellite images appear to show that the Russians has sent a special nuclear fuel carrier ship to the area.
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JEFFREY LEWIS, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: That ship is used to have nuclear fuel and Russia in the past has use that ship to transport the radioactive reactor unit from the nuclear-powered cruise missiles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Russia state run nuclear agency did admit that five of its employees were killed in the blast.
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VALENTIN KOSTYUKOV, DIRECTOR, RUSSIAN FEDERAL NUCLEAR CENTER (through translator): A chain of tragic accidents happened although our preliminary analysis indicates they were fighting to get the situation under control. Unfortunately, that failed.
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PLEITGEN: Last year, Vladimir Putin revealed that Russia is testing nuclear powered cruise missiles to counter NATO's defense systems.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now that the missile launched and ground tests were successful, we can begin developing a completely new type of weapon, a strategic nuclear weapon system within nuclear powered missile.
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PLEITGEN: If this was nuclear it would not be the first time Moscow muddled its messaging after a potential nuclear mishap. In 1986 the Soviet Union did not acknowledge the Chernobyl disaster until western nations detected heightened radiation levels in Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will need to move quickly and you will need to move carefully.
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PLEITGEN: Thousands of people died in the aftermath of that meltdown which is now the subject of HBO series "Chernobyl." And in 2000, Moscow kept its own public in the dark about the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine, killing all 118 sailors on board, leading to harsh criticism of then-new Russian President Vladimir Putin.
More questions than answers remain as Vladimir Putin's office still has not commented at all on the explosion leading Russians and the world guessing how dangerous the aftermath might be.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
CHURCH: We have new information about an incident in Sydney's central business district. Witnesses say a blood splattered man armed with a knife run through the streets shouting, "Allahu Akbar." One woman was found stabbed inside a hotel room. She has been taken to the hospital where she is reported in a stable condition.
Sydney police now tell CNN another woman was found dead near the scene. They are trying to determine if it's connected to the knife attacked. Bystanders managed to pin the man to the ground with a chair and a milk crate until police arrived on the scene.
Well police are investigating the Norway mosque attack say they received a tip about the shooter a year ago but they say it was too vague to pursue. The suspect in the shooting was battered and bruised with two black eyes when he appeared in court on Monday.
[03:10:01] Witnesses say he was overpowered on Saturday by a 65-year- old member of the mosque, just west of the Norwegian capital. Mohammad Rafik described how he stopped the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD RAFIQ, WORSHIPPER: He started to fire. Both men then I catch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he came from north on the main door on the side door because it was glass, then he started firing on the other two people and then he jumped on him.
RAFIQ: Yes. Then I a pistol and a gun thrown away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he threw like this and the pistol and gun they fell away from him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, police believe the suspect killed his stepsister and then went to the mosque. He is facing charges of murder and terrorism.
A long time Trump loyalist reverses his position while the White House takes aim at legal immigrants with strict new rules. We'll have the details for you.
And a number of high-profile figures are drawing unwanted attention from the Epstein scandal including a member of the British royal family. We'll have the details just ahead.
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CHURCH: The former White House communications director says he is withdrawing his support of President Trump in the 2020 election. Anthony Scaramucci is the latest Trump loyalist to back away. Meantime, the Trump administration is taking aim at legal immigrants with a new rule.
Jim Acosta has the details.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's a Mooch mutiny as former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is bolting from Trump world, announcing he will not back the president in next year's election.
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ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think you have to consider a change at the top of the ticket when someone is acting like this.
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ACOSTA: The reason Scaramucci points to the president's handling of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton and Mr. Trump's divisive rhetoric.
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SCARAMUCCI: He is giving people a license to hate, to provide a source of anger, to go after each other, and he does it on his Twitter account, so let's just stop for a second and think about this.
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ACOSTA: That are scathing criticism from a Trump loyalist turned defector comes after the president slams Scaramucci over the weekend, tweeting, "Anthony who would do anything to come back in should remember the only reason he's on TV and it's not for being the Mooch."
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says Scaramucci is just out for attention, saying in a statement "He worked at the White House for less than two weeks and is certainly no expert on this president. This is all self-serving on his part and the media plays right into it. It's embarrassing to watch."
But the president's critics say Mr. Trump has learned little from the El Paso shooting and it's still targeting Latinos. Noting a new administration policy aimed at making it tougher for legal immigrants to receive government assistance like food stamps.
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[03:15:05] KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DIRECTOR, CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES: We're simply making effect of what Congress had already put on the books, so there's no reason for any particular group to feel like this is targeting them. This all apply across the world.
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ACOSTA: Announcing the change, top immigration official Ken Cuccinelli predicted there would be more ICE workplace rates like the operation last week in Mississippi which left migrant children in tears.
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CUCCINELLI: I think you can expect to see more of that as part of the message this administration we're going to enforce the law.
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ACOSTA: On vacation in New Jersey the president isn't taking a break from Twitter, retweeting a wild unproven conspiracy theory over the weekend that the Clinton's were somehow behind the apparent suicide sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The retweet is part of his long pattern of spreading false conspiracy theories.
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KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think the president just wants everything to be investigated, perhaps there's a public interest to knowing more about that. But again, this is all speculative it's not for me to go further than where the DOJ and FBI are right now.
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ACOSTA: One actual occurrence that it isn't getting much attention from the president the fact that it's been two years since the white supremacist violence that erupted in Charlottesville one of the low points of the Trump presidency.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The neo-Nazis started this.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He killed the person. Heather Heyer died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They showed up in Charlottesville to protest --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Excuse me. Excuse me. And you had some very bad people in that group but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: It's not clear whether Scaramucci's defection from Trump world will much have of an effect on the rest of the Republican Party. He spent part of his vacation fund-raising and planning for a rally in New Hampshire later on in the week.
The reality is the White House has withered other high-profile defections in the past but they have not resulted in some sort of mass exodus inside the Republican Party.
Jim Acosta, CNN, traveling with the president in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
CHURCH: U.S. Attorney General William Barr says he is angry and appalled after accused sex accuser Jeffrey Epstein was found dead of an apparent suicide inside a New York jail. Barr says there are, quote, "serious irregularities at that facility" and blamed it for failing to supervise Epstein.
CNN has learned that at least one of the two employees on duty at the time was not part of the regular workforce and was filling in as a guard.
The attorney general is also promising justice for Epstein's alleged victims and is issuing a warning to any co-conspirators. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who is complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. The victims deserve justice, and they will get it.
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CHURCH: The names of several alleged associates came out Friday when newly unsealed court documents revealed new details of sexual abuse claims against Jeffrey Epstein. Among those high-profile associates named, Britain's Prince Andrew.
Our Max Foster has the details.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Business as usual it seems for Prince Andrew, pictured on Sunday, riding alongside the queen on their way to church. A bold show of support perhaps as new details places spotlight on allegations of sexual misconduct laid against the British royal.
Hundreds of pages of previously sealed court filings were released on Friday, bringing to light fresh allegations which have linked the Duke of York to his former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who was found dead in his prison cell on Saturday.
At the heart of the documents connected to a 2015 defamation case, are allegations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre who claims Epstein kept her as a teenage sex slave. Giuffre pictured here with the prince says Epstein forced her to perform sex acts with a number of prominent men, including the Duke of York in 2001.
Now court documents detail fresh allegations that the British royal groped another young woman at Epstein's Manhattan mansion. The other woman who is alleged abuse at the hands of Epstein claimed she was forced into sexual acts with Prince Andrew at Epstein's New York city home where she says Giuffre participated as well.
Buckingham Palace has repeatedly denied the allegations, telling CNN that any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.
However, in a statement to CNN in July the palace confirmed that the Duke of York met with Epstein in 2010, describing the encounter as an unwise decision on the part of the prince. Once the royal family has in the past not been forthcoming in responding to such allegations, the Duke of York took to the World Economic Forum in 2015 to reiterate the palace's steadfast denial of underage sex allegations.
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[03:20:06] PRINCE ANDREW, DUKE OF YORK: I just wish to reiterate and to reaffirm the statements which have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: As this unsealed court filing shed new light on the lurid details of the Epstein scandal, questions surrounding the involvement of the financier's high-profile associates are beginning to mount.
While Epstein's death brought the federal criminal case against him to an abrupt end, the scandal is far from over and prosecutors could still pursue related criminal cases involving the financier's many associates.
Max Foster, CNN, London.
CHURCH: Eastern China is assessing the damage from typhoon Lekima. State broadcast CCTV reports the storm has left 44 people dead and 16 missing after a second landfall along the country's coast. China's eastern provinces are also counting the economic costs with many homes and thousands of hectares of crops destroyed by the tropical cyclone.
Well, now to the monsoon flooding in India that has killed more than 170 people. And our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been keeping a very close eye on that. So, Pedram, what's the situation and what's the outlook here?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary. You know, such a disruptive event here. Of course, the monsoon is bringing with it so much life. And unfortunately, this time of year from July into August and certainly into September. We see significant damage left in place across a wide-reaching area of India where a several hundred millimeters of rainfall come down in a matter of a few hours.
And in the past several days we've seen observations of 400 millimeters in a few spots. I'm kind of painting the picture over the subcontinent here. It kind of shows you the amount of rain we're talking. Any time you see reds, oranges, yellows, that is two, 300 plus millimeters of rainfall.
And that is precisely what is really covering much of the northern tier of this region. And this is what it looks like from above when you look down towards some of these communities.
We know some 30,000 homes have been destroyed, we know almost 200,000 hectares of land and crops have been destroyed as a result of the monsoon. And of course, this is the heart of the monsoon season, July and August into September we see the heaviest rainfall.
We know the excess rainfall in the past seven days has really exacerbated the problem. And of course, the infrastructure is very poor as well across some of these areas. That also plays a role in this as well.
July is the wettest season in Mumbai. And notice even into August quite a bit of rainfall and then we finally see that improve going into September and October.
Tuesday flood warnings and also flood watches here across some of these areas, flood alerts that have been in place remain in place for Tuesday. And notice it expands a little bit going in towards Wednesday as well.
So that's the concern, that the flooding concern would actually increase and worsen into the next couple of days before and improves. And when you look at the entire year, we are sitting just a hair below what is considered average for the monsoon season.
Yesterday we are just above it and now we are below it, so it is in line with what you expect for this time of year. And the next culprit of weather here going to be that disturbance here that shift towards Nagpur, and eventually Ahmedabad. It brings with it a tremendous amount of rainfall potentially another 300 to 400 millimeters and a few spots.
The white contours that's indicative of 500 millimeters of rainfall that could come down across this region. And, Rosemary, of course we know given the next several weeks, and potentially several months you see the monsoons withdraw out of this region, but again, a lot of rain left before that will happen here in the next few weeks.
CHURCH: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Pedram. I appreciate that.
We'll take a short break. We're back in just a moment.
[03:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton met with Britain's new prime minister at 10 Downing Street and his message was clear. We are with you on Brexit.
Bolton told Boris Johnson if the U.K. decides to leave the E.U. without a deal the Trump administration will support that decision enthusiastically. The pair also discussed a range of security issues including Iran and the protests in Hong Kong.
Well, we finish on a lighter note and there is something a little passive aggressive about the way Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have become pen pals.
Our Jeanne Moos explains.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know how President Trump always describes the letters he gets from North Korea's leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A really beautiful letter. It's a very beautiful letter from Kim Jong-un.
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MOOS: Well, apparently, he's been sending some beaus of his own to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Beautiful at least if you love Sharpies. Axios reports that Trump took a May 2017 magazine cover, which called Trudeau the anti-Trump and scrolled something like, "looking good, and hope it's not true" in silver Sharpie. Someone on Twitter created this mocap. The president and his Sharpies inspired some sharp criticism online,
maybe he is inhaling too many Sharpie fumes, what, no crayons? Critics suggested President Trump is jealous of Trudeau, even jealous of the way Ivanka once look at the Canadian prime minister.
When the Sharpie annotated cover arrived at Canada's Washington embassy, a Canadian ambassador thought it was a prank, according to Axios. The embassy called the White House. The White House said it was real.
Trump has a habit of writing with Sharpies say folks who have gotten mail from him.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO HOST: He writes mostly in magic marker, like with big, block letters.
(END VOICE CLIP)
MOOS: Trudeau sent Trump a letter of his own, it was after the president described disagreeing with Trudeau.
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TRUMP: I said, no, no, you have a trade surplus. I said, Mr. Prime Minister, we do not.
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MOOS: Trudeau's letter included a web page from the U.S. trade representative's office with the U.S. foods and services trade surplus. Surplus not deficit for that year circled, next to it Trudeau draw a smiley face, Trump has his Sharpies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I said to myself, well, wait, this writes much better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But Trudeau takes the edge off of Trump's Sharpie with a smiley.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: And we leave you with a smile. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Inside Africa is up next. But first, I'll be back with the check of the headlines. You're watching CNN. Don't go anywhere.
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