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Israel Bans Two U.S. Democrats From Entering Country; North Korea Fire Two More Missiles; Seized Iranian Oil Tanker Released By Gibraltar; Hong Kong Protests; U.S. Race Car Star Dale Earnhardt Jr. Survive Plane Crash; Investigations in Philadelphia Shooting; Ohio Shootings Updates; El Paso widower invites entire city to wife's funeral; Global markets uneasy over China-U.S. Trade War; James Bond's Aston Martin Auctioned For $6.4 Million. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired August 16, 2019 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Nina dos Santos in Kazakhstan and this is CNN.
[12:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: "From Send Them Back" to "Keep Them Here", under pressure from President Trump, Israel ban two U.S. Congresswoman from visiting the country.
North Korea fires two more missiles hours after its state media slammed South Korea saying it will no longer talk with Seoul.
Also, why the protest in Hong Kong or about more than just the suspended Extradition Bill, and the economic action the government is taking to address it. It's all ahead this hour.
Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Thank you for joining us. We have much to get to this hour. First up Donald Trump's grudge match against two Democratic lawmakers just got more heated. The U.S. President took the highly controversial step of encouraging Israel to ban Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan from entering the country. And Israel did exactly that.
Tlaib and Omar are outspoken critics of the President and also Israel, protesting its treatment of Palestinians. But that's not how Mr. Trump sees it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are very anti- Jewish and they're very anti-Israel. I think it's disgraceful the things they've said. You have lists of - this isn't just a one line mistake. What they've said about Israel and Jewish people is a horrible thing and they've become the face of the Democrat Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Israel's Prime Minister defended his Government's decision, saying the congresswoman wanted to damage Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As an open and vibrant democracy we welcome all visitors and all criticism, and we do this by welcoming all the Republicans and Democrats over the years, including last week with open arms.
But there's one thing we're not willing to do under the law. We are not willing to accept into Israel these people who call for a boycott of Israel and actually work to delegitimize the Jewish state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Omar says denying them entry to Israel is an affront to democratic values. CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest on this from Jerusalem.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An unprecedented step to punish President Donald Trump's political enemies. Israel barring two Democratic Congresswoman and outspoken Trump critics from visiting just minutes after the President tweeted, "Israel would be showing great weakness by allowing Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to enter the country". Later adding "They hate Israel".
After the announcement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying "No country in the world respects America and the American Congress more than the state of Israel." Adding, "Israel's law prohibits the entry of people who call and operate to boycott Israel."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The yeas are 398, the nays 17.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Netanyahu referencing a bill Tlaib and Omar supported which overwhelmingly failed to pass the House weeks ago, which supported the right to boycott though the resolution itself didn't specifically mention Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): I can't stand by and watch this attack on our freedom of speech and the right to boycott the racist policies of the government and the State of Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Even so Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, one of those closest to Netanyahu said last month the two would be allowed entry because of Israel's respect for the American Congress. Not anymore.
For her part Omar who along with Tlaib are the first Muslim woman in Congress responded saying, "Trump's Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing this time against two duly elected members of Congress."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TLAIB: We're going to go in and impeach (beep).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): The Democratic freshmen are also two of the most outspoken critics of Trump calling for his impeachment, leading Trump repeatedly to accuse them of being anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Oh, I forgot, she doesn't like Israel, I forgot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): And launching racist attacks against the two, including telling them to go back to where they came from, even though both are American citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This Tlaib - she's vicious. She's like a crazed lunatic. She's screaming.
I'm looking at this Omar from Minnesota and if one half of the things they're saying about her are true, she shouldn't even be in office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: In recent days there has been a bipartisan congressional delegation - some 70 Democrats and Republicans here to meet officials. But Congresswoman Tlaib and Omar chose not to go on that trip, because it was put together by pro-Israel American lobby APAC.
Interestingly, it was APAC in a rare move that split with Trump and Netanyahu, and said "Even if these two women support a boycott of Israel and are anti-Israel they still should have been allowed into the country, so they could see it and experience it firsthand". Oren Liebermann, CNN Jerusalem.
[12:05:00] ALLEN: Peter Beinart joins me now from New York. He is a CNN Political Commentator and Contributing Editor for "The Atlantic". Peter thanks for being with us. Good to see you.
PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you.
ALLEN: All right, first up, why did President Trump encourage Israel to bar these Congresswomen? Clearly, he has had derogatory comments about them. But with this is he using a foreign power to punish opponents for voicing different political opinions.
BEINART: Yes, absolutely. I think that Trump has been trying to make to leave and Omar and other, particularly non-white members of Congress to kind of his foil for his 2020 reelection campaign, because I think that they are effective for him in stoking the fears that his base has of America's changing demographic character.
And so anything that he can do to kind of position them as the opposition is helpful to him. And so he was essentially - as someone who's done Benjamin Netanyahu a lot of favors, he was asking Netanyahu to do him a favor, which was help him continue to demonize these women.
ALLEN: Right. And in a tweet the President said this about these women Omar and Tlaib leave. He said "They hate Israel and all Jewish people". Where's it coming from with a statement like that? Have you found evidence of that?
BEINART: No, I mean it's just utterly outrageous and absurd. I mean - and I say this as a committed American Jew. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, you don't have to agree with all of their views. You don't have to agree with everything they've said.
But they - Rashida Tlaib's Grandmother lives in the West Bank. She's a Palestinian. She has every right to be concerned about Palestinian human rights. Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule without free movement or the right to vote for the government that controls their lives. To be concerned about that is not anti-Semitic. It's to be it's to be concerned about human rights.
Ilhan Omar similarly has been a critic of Israel, but she's also been a very fierce critic of Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump actually has a much longer record of what you might consider anti-Semitic comments than anything else on Omar and where she does sleep have said.
So this is Trump's effort I think to paint these - to try to scare some Jews into voting for him. And again it's all part of a larger context to try to paint the Democratic Party as anti-white, which is I think his way of motivating his base.
ALLEN: Right. And you mentioned Rashida Tlaib, she was going to visit her grandmother when she went to Israel. She was going to visit her grandmother in the West Bank. But I want to bring up the statement from Congresswoman Omar.
She said this, "The irony of the only democracy in the Middle East making such a decision is that it is both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation." So what message here is Israel sending on democracy and free speech with this decision?
BEINART: The reality is that Israel in the West Bank is not really a democracy. That the vast majority people live in the West Bank are Palestinians who live under Israeli military law, but cannot vote in Israeli elections, cannot become citizens of Israel, live under an entirely different legal system than their Jewish neighbors.
And so what we got was a small taste of the realities that Palestinians in the West Bank live under every day. And I think what Israel was afraid of in part was that - most of the American politicians who go to Israel on trips from APAC and other American Jewish groups don't see the West Bank. They don't actually see the realities that Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were going to see and what Palestinian life without basic rights is like in the West Bank. And I think the Israeli government may have been somewhat afraid that if Omar until he went and brought media cameras with them, this would draw attention to something that the Israeli government doesn't want to show.
ALLEN: And how does this look for Mr. Netanyahu that he accommodated the U.S. President on. This does it make him appear he's under the thumb of Donald Trump.
BEINART: Well, you have to remember that Netanyahu has his own elections coming up in Israel in a few weeks. And like Trump he's also trying to appeal to his base - a very right wing base that like Trump's base in United States. It's not particularly fond of Muslims.
And so Netanyahu may feel that this helps him politically and taking a hard line against people who are considered to be anti-Israel inside his political base. But ultimately, the question is, as I think Rashida Tlaib rightly said. If a country calls itself a bastion of democracy in the Middle East how is it consistent with liberal democratic values to bar people from entering the country simply because you disagree with their political views.
ALLEN: Right. And as for back to President Trump's motivation here, was he trying to make a statement on the global stage or was this more about appealing to his base?
[12:10:00] BEINART: I think it was more about appealing to his base. I think that - again Trump has been really - Trump is someone who always needs foils. He needs targets and he needs people who will scare his supporters.
The primary driver of Donald Trump's political rise, going back to when he led this campaign suggesting that Barack Obama was not really a citizen of the United States, has been to mobilize the fear of white Christian Americans that the country is becoming demographically unrecognizable as the percentage of people of color and of non- Christians rise in the United States.
Much of what Donald Trump does politically is aimed at stoking and restocking those fears, so those people will look away from the fact that his administration is utterly incompetent, that his trade war is tanking the economy. So in their fear they will turn to him as their protector. This is another part of that.
ALLEN: All right. We appreciate your insights on this. Certainly this is a story that we'll be continuing to discuss in the coming days. Peter Beinart for us, thank you Peter.
BEINART: Thank you.
ALLEN: All right. Other top stories we're following for you. North Korea has fired off two more missiles in the past few hours. The Pentagon says they were short range ballistic missiles. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff tells CNN they were launched off the North's eastern coast and landed in the water between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
South Korea's National Security Council has been meeting in emergency session following the launch. And this comes as North Korea rejects any more face to face talks with the South. A government spokesman saying Seoul is deluding itself to think otherwise.
On Thursday South Korea's President said the momentum for dialogue with the north remains unshaken despite the recent missile launches. CNN's David Culver joins us now from Seoul South Korea to talk about these developments.
Let's take it first. David, what you're learning. What more do we know about this latest provocation, these latest launches?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Natalie. We're following the latest feeds coming in on this from the South Korean military and U.S. military officials. As you point out the U.S. military is labeling this as short range ballistic missiles, South Korean military so characterizing this as projectiles.
We know they went up at 8:00 in the morning local time and we should point out that this is the eighth such launch since May 4th. It's the sixth in nearly three weeks, so it seems they are accelerating these launches over the past just few weeks.
Now the North is saying that they're doing this as a response is a protest, if you will, to the joint U.S. South Korean military exercises that are currently underway. That these computer simulated war games, so to speak, that have been happening here for the past several days.
However, I've spoken with several military experts here and they seem to believe that this is far more than that. In fact, they suggest that this is the North perfecting their short range missiles. They call their recent enhancements ingenious, creative and they point to the altitudes that have been used in these recent launches.
And the reason those are important is because those suggest that these missiles could potentially evade South Korean and U.S. missile defense systems. That could pose a real threat not only to South Korea, not only to neighboring Japan, but also to the U.S. forces and their families who are here in South Korea. So that's the real concern with these missiles. And it's really showing that the North Korean military is gaining an advantage here.
Now President Trump, just last week, even downplayed this. He said these are just short range missiles. These aren't the intercontinental ballistic missiles. These are not nuclear test, since they're short range missiles. But the experts say that is of concern and that shouldn't be overlooked. And they worry that this will only continue.
Now the North using the president's words almost to justify their actions saying, we're doing this as an act of defense and they're also seeming to drive a wedge between South Korea and the U.S.
They're pushing that wedge wider, they're now saying this morning, Natalie as you point out, that they want South Korea to not even be at the table when they have talks with the U.S. They don't want them anywhere near this. They want to only focus on talking with the U.S. and no longer with their neighbors here in the south.
ALLEN: My goodness. Unfortunate news about what we're learning about these missile systems and now with the absolute rejection by North Korea to consult with South Korea. All right David Culver for us. Thank you David.
CULVER: All right.
ALLEN: Gibraltar has officially released an Iranian oil tanker seized six weeks ago despite a last minute appeal by the Trump administration to keep it detained. Tehran denounced the U.S. move as attempted piracy.
[12:15:00] The Grace 1 was seized on suspicion it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Gibraltar's Chief Minister says the vessel was finally cleared to leave after getting assurances it would not sail to Syria.
Mr. Trump says China could bring a "happy", that's his word, ending to Hong Kong's political unrest. Mr. Trump is urging Beijing to deal with the pro-democracy movement directly and is pitching an idea involving China's President Xi Jinping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would be willing to bet that if he sat down with the protesters - a group of representative protesters, I bet he'd worked it out in 15 minutes. I bet it worked out very quickly. I know it's not the kind of thing he does, but I think it wouldn't be a bad idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: But China's Ambassador to the United Kingdom says Beijing will not compromise on how it handles the protests, saying the government will quote "Sit on its hands and watch if the violence gets worse". And to prove it, China deployed pair of military troops and equipment to the border with Hong Kong.
Well for more than two months public anger has been boiling over in Hong Kong, but it's been simmering for a long time before that, even before this Extradition Bill that sparked the mass protests. Part of the reason how hard it is to find a decent place to live in the city.
Ben Wedeman is following the discontent in Hong Kong and he joins us live with more about it. Hello to you Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie it's not just finding a place to live it's being able to live it's increasingly difficult for millions of people here in Hong Kong which is not unlike many places in the West, for instance, where in recent decades you have a tiny percentage of the population accumulating massive amounts of wealth and power while the vast majority of the population has seen its standard of living stagnate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): If you're rich in Hong Kong you're rich, the lucky few. If not you might live in Sham Shiu Po, a crowded working class Kowloon neighborhood, a hotbed of unrest and this summer of discontent.
WEDEMAN: Yes, terrible.
WEDEMAN (voice over): It's terrible. 26 year old Lai-nam (ph) has all the gear necessary for the next protest. He's rarely missed one.
A career for a law firm, he makes almost $1,300 a month of that $740 go for rent on this minuscule apartment, which he shares with his cat - Ty Kuan (ph). Lai-nam's grievances go well beyond the now suspended Extradition Bill.
For Lai-nam and others, it's about leaders who cater to the powerful and ignore the rest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TSE LAI-NAM, PROTEST ORGANIZER (through translator): You got thorn. The government, he says, should take from the rich and give it to the poor so they can live in Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): He labors under no illusions. He believes he will never own the roof over his head and for that again he blames the government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAI-NAM (through translator): They've increased the gap between rich and poor he tells me. They've taken away the chance for young people to improve their lives and buy an apartment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Yet Lai-nam apartment is sprawling compared to some nearby.
WEDEMAN: Hong Kong is one of the world's most densely populated cities and living space is in desperately short supply. This gentleman, for instance, pays 3,000 Hong Kong dollars a month that's about three $382 for this.
WEDEMAN (voice over): Hong Kong has by far the world's least affordable housing. The easiest way to get decent housing says, Sham Shiu Po, community organizer Gordon Chick is to be born into it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON CHICK, SOCIETY FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: Depends on your parent, wish or not. If they are wish, they can give the money to buy. If not, sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Sorry may not be enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And Thursday, the Hong Kong government did announce some measures to help low income people - they're going to be, for instance, paying the rent for a month for some people. There will be subsidies for people with children. There will be help for businesses.
But when they announced these measures they stressed that this was because the Hong Kong economy is beginning to contract, not they stressed as a result or in response to these protests, Natalie.
ALLEN: All right Ben, thank you and thank you for that report. It gives us important perspective on the larger issues doesn't it. Thank you, Ben Wedeman for us.
[12:20:00] Next, here gun violence strikes another U.S. city, just one day after a major shooting leaves six police officers wounded, a separate attack sends more people in the hospital. That story for you later.
Also, a firing plane crash with the top American racecar driver on board how he and everyone else it made it out alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: This is the scene from Tennessee, after a fiery crash of a private jet carrying top U.S. race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife. They were able to scramble out of the plane and there survive that right there, along with the two pilots and another passenger.
Police say their Cessna Citation ran off the runway while landing. Earnhardt is U.S. racing royalty. His legendary father died in a horrific car crash at the Daytona 500 18 years ago. Dale Jr. was planning to work as a TV announcer at a NASCAR race this weekend, but will spend time with his family instead.
Another shooting has occurred in the U.S. City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Our affiliate WPVI reports that multiple gunmen have shot and wounded at least five people. All the victims have been taken to the hospital. One of them in critical condition.
This shooting coming just one day one day after six Philadelphia police officers were shot and wounded during an hours long standoff with the gunman.
We are learning about the man accused of Wednesday shooting likely used an AR-15 rifle and also had a hand gun in his possession. This comes as the city's mayor is renewing his call for new gun laws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR JIM KENNY, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Our officers need help.
They need help keeping these weapons out of the hands of the bad guys. No one should have access to the kind of weaponry and fire power that we saw in North Philadelphia yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The suspect, his name is Maurice Hill, surrendered after a seven hour standoff. Officials say he had a long rap sheet, including multiple charges of illegal gun possession.
[12:25:00] Earlier, this week in the wake of mass shootings in Texas, Ohio, and California, President Trump claimed many Republicans supported his push to strengthen background checks on gun sales. Thursday, he didn't talk about that instead he returned to talking points a pro-gun groups.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I do want people to remember the words mental illness. These people are mentally ill. A lot of our conversation has to do with the fact that we have to open up institutions. We can't let these people be on the streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: We are learning more about how the gunman in the Ohio mass shooting died. According to "The Corner" Connor Betts was shot at least 24 times. The bullet proof vest he was wearing stopped at least one bullet. He also had cocaine, alcohol and Xanax in his system and more cocaine in his pocket. And we've learned that two of the nine victims killed had been shot by police. But "The Corner" says their fatal wounds had already come from the gunman.
And that friend of Betts who faces federal weapons charges has been denied bond. Ethan Kollie had asked to be released with electronic monitoring. The judge ordered he remain in custody pending trial.
In El Paso Texas the aftermath of another mass shooting, this weekend a 61 year old man will bury his wife two weeks after she died in the carnage that saw 22 people killed. In the days leading up to the funeral he had worried that not that many people would be able or willing to attend his wife's funeral. CNN's Gary Tuchman picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tony Basco loved only one person in the world, and now she's gone.
TUCHMAN: And she loved you a lot.
TONY BASCO, WIFE KILLED IN WALMART SHOOTING: You know what, I will tell you, I don't know what she saw in me sometimes. But we had wonderful years. The best years in my whole life. TUCHMAN (voice over): Tony has no other family. His wife Margie
Reckard had just a few family members, but none in the El Paso area. Attendance at her funeral was expected to be minimal, until the internet took over.
Tweets from journalists, the media outlets sent out messages of support for Tony. Then there was this Facebook post from the funeral home reading "Mr. Antonio Basco was married 22 years to his wife Margie Reckard. He had no other family. He welcomes anyone to attend his wife's services."
People from all over the United States have contacted the funeral home as well as Tony to say they plan to attend Margie's funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: They're going to be hundreds of people here probably from all around the country. How does that make you feel?
BASCO: I mean it's nice to see people really caring about people. There's going to be a lot of people here. I told you were important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): They had been married for 22 years. Tony says his life had been very difficult prior to meeting her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: What would you like people to know about Margie?
BASCO: She was caring, loving and the beautifulist person.
(End VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): Every day now he goes to the memorial site next to the Walmart taking exquisite care of Margie's Memorial, making sure the flowers and the wind chimes which he always loved so much, look the best they can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Where did you meet her?
BASCO: I met her at (inaudible) at a bar.
TUCHMAN: And you were single, she was single.
BASCO: Yes, that was then.
TUCHMAN: And was it love at first sight.
BASCO: Oh man you can bet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): Tony is still waking up each morning in disbelief that she is gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASCO: I sit at my table looking at the front door, wait for her to walk in. I've even tried calling her on phone.
TUCHMAN: You have.
BASCO: I've tried too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): At the memorial site. Tony tells Margie that someday he will meet her in heaven.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASCO: So what you've been up to? What are you going to do up there? I wish you could tell me sometime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): Tony is now beginning a new life alone. But for at least one day at Margie's funeral he won't be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASCO: She made me the happiest man in the world and the luckiest. There is nobody lucky than me in this whole world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Tony is spending a lot of time here at this memorial site next to the Walmart. When people come up to him, they hug him, they shake his hand, they talk to him. He says it gives him great comfort, as it does to family members of other victims when they too come to this memorial site.
When I was talking to Tony he was telling me that last week he actually slept at this memorial. He still wants to be as close as he can to Margie. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN in El Paso Texas.
[12:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. Let's update you on our top news this hour. Israel says it is blocking two U.S. Congresswoman from entering the country after Donald Trump encouraged the decision.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are critics of both Donald Trump and Israel's treatment of Palestinian. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the women wanted to damage Israel.
North Korea has fired off two more short range ballistic missiles. The Pentagon says they landed in the sea west of Japan. This is the latest in a series of missile launches over the past few weeks. South Korea's National Security Council convened an emergency session following the launch.
An Iranian tanker seized six weeks ago in Gibraltar is now free to leave. Gibraltar authorities made that decision after receiving an assurance the ship's cargo of oil would not be delivered to Syria.
Global financial markets got a bit of a breather on Thursday after Wall Street's 800 point cliff dive. The day before the DOW was up 100 points at the open and that's just about where it ended. But in between there were a lot of wild swings.
Markets are skittish over the mixed messages and the escalating trade dispute between Washington and Beijing. China again said it would retaliate if new U.S. tariffs take effect, but then added it was hopeful a deal could be reached.
The longer this impasse goes on the greater the fear it could lead to a global recession. But one person who says he's not worried is Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: They're worried that a prolonged trade war with China will push the economy into a recession.
TRUMP: No I think the longer the trade war goes on, the weaker China gets and the stronger we get. We're taking in massive amounts of money - billions and billions of dollars, Steve as you know. And I think the longer it goes the stronger we get. I have a feeling it's going to go fairly short.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well let's talk about it with Andrew Stevens joining us from Hong Kong. The threat of a global recession and Donald Trump isn't worry. He might be the only one, Andrew. But let's start now with how things are looking from a market perspective.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The market - the markets are - there is a sigh of relief after Wall Street stabilized overnight up 100 points, as you pointed out Natalie. But don't take that as anything more than - it's just a short term sort of flatness at the moment, if you like, because we are living in pretty volatile and pretty uncertain times economically, at least.
[12:35:00] Listening to Donald Trump saying - sort of crowing that the United States has taken $60 billion in tariffs, what he doesn't say and what most economists do say is that that $60 billion, a lot of that is being paid by U.S. consumers already and that the higher the tariffs go and the more products that are targeted by the Trump administration coming from China, means that the average American family is likely to pay more for their for this for their stuff. Basically that's what most economists will tell you.
And the one thing that's holding up the U.S. economy at the moment, Natalie, is the consumer. Retail sales in the U.S. look pretty strong in July. We had numbers out overnight and that was the main reason why we did see that stabilization in the - in equity prices in the U.S.
If the U.S. consumer starts to wobble, if they decide that their paychecks aren't really - you know then they're not comfortable with how much they're paying for higher prices for tariff hit goods, if jobs start to slow down, all of which are quite possible at the moment then, the U.S. economy starts to look pretty wobbly indeed.
And you add that to a Chinese economy which is now growing at its lowest level for 27 years, a German economy and now a big huge engine of growth globally, that's also slowing down. So at the moment the glass looks pretty half empty as far as the economy is globally is concerned.
Probably maybe not a recession, Natalie, as in negative growth, but certainly weak growth and weak growth for some time until lower interest rates and various other fiscal stimulus like pumping out more money from the central bank start flowing through into the system. That takes some time.
It's also worth remembering that like the Fed Reserve in the U.S. it doesn't have the same amount of ammunition that used to deal with a slowing economy, because a sort of fired so many bullets from the from the crisis of 10 years ago.
ALLEN: Yes, and we're looking at the Asian markets right now. Steven (ph) why don't you give us - excuse me Andrew, why don't you give us an assessment of that.
STEVENS: Well the Asian markets have been hit pretty hard by the trade war anyway. If you think about it, China as the size of the economy it is absolutely dominates the Asia region. Japan is a big market. But it is all about China.
And during the last global crisis - the financial crisis back in 2008- 2009 China spent more than $800 billion propping up its own economy and a lot of other Asian countries around that breathed a sigh of relief and found a market for their exports, so they became closely linked to the Chinese economy.
Now the Chinese economy is turning down, those exports aren't flowing as freely. So we're seeing a big drop off in exports around Asia into China. That's hurting the economies. That's playing out on Asian stock markets. So the markets have come off much further than the U.S. markets anyway.
So we saw there was a little bit of relief today is a bit of that. But the Hong Kong market for example it's got its own problems, of course, with what's going on the streets of Hong Kong.
But so that market is actually in negative territory for the year and there are a lot of other equity markets around this region that are also bleeding because of the trade war, because of the uncertainty it generates and because exports do still play a key part in many of these economies - economies like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore particularly, even Malaysia. So those economies are hurting as well Natalie. ALLEN: All right. Well, it would be interesting to see as this trade war continues, who blinks first. All right Andrew Stevens for us. Thank you for breaking it down Andrew.
OK. Next here is how much does it cost to ride like James Bond, ahead. The price for one of 007's famous cars, well, it shake and stir.
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ALLEN: It is one cool car. One of James Bond's stunning Aston Martins famous for its movie props like ejector seats, machine guns and smoke machines, and it fetch an even cooler is that $6.4 million at auction on Thursday.
CNN's Peter as takes a look at its gadgets and its glamour.
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PETER VALDES-DAPENA, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sleek, sophisticated and fit for spying. The Aston Martin DB5 is liked inextricably liked to James Bond.
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BARNEY RUPRECHT, CAR SPECIALIST, RM SOTHEBY: So much of it was cultural and iconic status. It was really ahead of its time and today the cars are really are really a throw back to that
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): Seen is a classic today, the James Bond DB5 was a pinnacle of special effects ingenuity in its era.
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RUPRECHT: Yes, we do a phone back to MI6 headquarters here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I can M.
RUPRECHT: Exactly.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): The car auctioned by RM Sotheby is fully loaded with all 13 gadgets seen in the movies.
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JAMES BOND: Ejector seats, you are joking.
Q: I never joke about my work 007.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): From a 30-calibre gun in each finder to tire slashers and even a smoke machine. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUPRECHT: Everything is housed in here as it he bulletproof shield.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): Sold by an anonymous owner, it is one of three surviving models of its kind.
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RUPRECHT: The restoration around the car really involved making everything functional again. So the rotating license plate motor servos to the GPS flashing in the dashboard. Everything about the car fully works.
VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): Used for a promotion this DB5 never actually appeared on film. But Sotheby says that doesn't make it less of a game changer.
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RUPRECHT: DB5 was really the first broadly speaking commercial mass produced car for Aston and it was a tremendous success.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): The car is ready to go home with the lucky buyer, helping them turn their deepest spy fantasies into reality.
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RUPRECHT: Fully road legal, fully compliant anywhere in the world.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): As long as the new 007 doesn't run at fault with the real world authorities.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess just please don't use the nail spreader or oil slick.
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VALDES-DAPENA (VOICE OVER): Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: Yes, pretty slick and $6.4 million sale. Thanks for watching this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. I will be back in 15 minutes with another hour. But for now please stay with us for World Sport.
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