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China Celebrates 70th Anniversary of Communist Rule; Duchess of Sussex Highlights Johannesburg's Artisans. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 01, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live from Studio 7 at CNN World Headquarters.

Ahead this hour, China's Communists celebrate seven years in power and show he world a new intercontinental missiles capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads.

Hong Kong protesters look to spoil the party and police are on standby for violent confrontations.

And he gets a subpoena and he gets a subpoena. It's a subpoena- palooza as Democrats focus their impeachment inquiry on Ukraine.

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VAUSE: It's a day of celebration for China's ruling party, marking 70 years since Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China. The focus has been a huge military parade, with 15,000 soldiers goosestepping their way across Tiananmen Square.

Earlier President Xi Jinping addressed the, nation, it was brief, speaking of unity and progress for the world's second largest economy. But there are challenges, including the ongoing trade war with the United States and pressure to address human rights concerns.

After four months of unrest in Hong Kong, Xi talked again of his commitment to one nation, two systems, protesters were back on the streets again today but the pro democracy movement has been gaining strength, at times it has become violent.

In the past few hours, there have been clashes with police who responded with pepper spray, as is often the case. CNN's coverage of the arrests in Hong Kong was blacked out by Chinese government censors. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live in our Beijing bureau with more on, this.

It has been, quite the day. KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: It's another big celebration, this time the milestone marking 70 years since the founding of modern China, the founding of the People's Republic of China, it is national day, a day of celebration, of fireworks, here in Beijing but also a day of admiring the military prowess of the PRC.

The centerpiece was the military procession that happened in the last hour, when we saw a number of new pieces of military out on display, including the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile. We will be speaking to a military expert shortly about that.

Also happening right now is the citizens' march, a massive procession involving 100,000 people as well as floats from various provinces across China and now we have my colleague correspondent, Will Ripley, standing by in Hong Kong because this day is a very contrasting day when you hear what's happening in Beijing to Hong Kong.

Will, how is National Day being marked there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting because, so far, today, things have been relatively quiet, actually, very quiet, considering that normally on a public holiday in Hong Kong you would have businesses open and people out shopping. But this here in Causeway Bay, which was the starting point for a protest on Sunday that ended with violence, it has been relatively peaceful.

They've close the Causeway Bay subway station so it will be difficult for protesters to come here and assemble. There have been calls to assemble within the next hour or so, you do see people in black but these are not the radical fringe protesters, the ones that are carrying Molotov cocktails or picking up bricks from the sidewalk.

These are peaceful demonstrators and relatively small numbers of, them but peaceful demonstrators that are out here to see what happens. And we saw riot police station along the streets where we are within the last couple of hours, they have since cleared out.

But you can see it's extraordinary, businesses that would be catering to mainland tourists, people out on the public holiday, closed, closed, closed. And that is the situation here, you see all the people in vests. These are all the reporters, including us, who are out here waiting to see what happens, not too many protesters at this stage.

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RIPLEY: But again, it will be crucial to see how things develop in the coming hours because any demonstration today in Hong Kong, there is no police permit, no authorization, it will be an illegal gathering. So people are prepared presumably for a confrontation with police if they try to disperse the area.

I have not seen that yet but today is still young.

STOUT: The day is, young and I want to ask more about the police response, how much pressure is the Hong Kong police force under to quell any outbreak of unrest on this day, a very sensitive anniversary?

RIPLEY: I think they're under a lot of pressure, which is why you heard the police conference yesterday, they said that the violence that we saw right here in this area over the weekend is moving Hong Kong closer to terrorism.

Police say the attacks on officers and property, the fires being set, the hand held weapons, the bricks, the petrol bombs that are being hurled in the direction of officers, they say all of that is closer to terrorism that Hong Kong has ever seen.

And for police to use a strong word for like that is an indication of how they plan to respond if things deteriorate today. The number one priority of the Hong Kong government is to maintain law and order today, to avoid the kind of split screen moment, where you have the demonstrations, the celebrations in Beijing and the parade and the huge droves of citizens contrasting with the images of fires and unrest and protests in Hong Kong.

We don't have that right now but the protests aren't even due to kick off for another hour or so. It's interesting that Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, is not here in Hong Kong today. She flew to Beijing yesterday, along with the delegation of more than 200 Hong Kong officials and she will arrive back in Hong Kong this evening.

I guess the big question is, what will she find when she arrives back from the Chinese capital?

STOUT: Absolutely, especially if that split screen moment does indeed take place, where we have on one side protests and unrest in Hong Kong on the other side pomp and military power on display here in Beijing. Will Ripley, thank you.

David Culver is standing by on the parade route in the Chinese capital and, David, the military parade is over; the citizens' march is underway, what are you seeing?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is really a moment of the crowd engagement. There is a lot more folks who are on their feet, a few that have crowded around in there.

This is a moment for people to really connect with their fellow residents. What stands out is you had the parade of military might, the flexing of Chinese power and there's no question when it comes to that.

But China also pushes hard and focuses on its people. And this is the moment of trying to showcase that element. From a historical context, put yourself back 70 years to 1949 and have to imagine what folks who were born in that year have seen in those seven decades.

They've gone through crushing poverty, famine and then this surge of wealth coming to their country and are now living this new normal. They're in many ways trying to adjust with it.

It's a fascinating look at three different lives that our digital team put together at cnn.com. If you want to check that out, I encourage you to do it. Ben Westcott (ph), one of our digital producers, and Lily Lee (ph), my colleague here in Beijing, put this together this piece chronicling their lives.

And you look at the faces out here, they're of all generations. But is particularly the older generation that you see really connecting to this moment. it's the older generation that over the past several weeks, has been lining the street corners, walking around in Beijing, they've been volunteers to make this moment so special, spending their time to either be eyes and ears for police to help things run smoothly or to help with the logistics of a parade like this.

And, behind me, you can see the showcase of joy and this really a moment of letting it all come out.

STOUT: David Culver, thank you.

That is the message that China is trying to send to the world with this citizens' march and the military parade; 70 years ago, there was a military parade that was expected by then leader chairman Mao Zedong, significant military personnel numbers were involved.

But the military was put on display, rather limited at the time. That is certainly not the case now. We have a military expert who is joining me here in Beijing to talk about the military prowess of modern China.

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STOUT: Tong Zhao is a senior fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center and he joins us once again.

Tong, a number of pieces of equipment got your attention as you are watching all this unfold.

What were the three pieces of equipment, new weaponry that got your eye?

TONG ZHAO, CARNEGIE-TSINGHUA CENTER: The top one is the DF-41 new intercontinental ballistic missile that reportedly can carry more than one warhead by each missile and may be able to be armed with penetration aids and decoys which can be used to confuse enemy defenses, so they have a better capability than any other Chinese strategic long range missiles to defeat and penetrate missile defense.

Second one I think should be the DF-17 (ph), which is a new hypersonic boost glider missile. I have to emphasize this is the first type of such missile that is deployed in this across the world.

So the Chinese are now ahead of any other country in this area and this missile after being launched wouldn't follow a traditional ballistic trajectory. It can change its trajectory and maybe even make cross-range maneuvers, making it harder for the enemy to predict and to defend against.

The third one I think could be the new model of China's strategic bomber, which is sometimes called the H-6N model. If we look closely at the image of this new bomber, we can see it has an empty underbelly, which is because it's making space to carry a very large new air-launched ballistic missile and some people believe such missiles can be very powerful because they can attack enemy large surface ships, including American aircraft carriers.

STOUT: China has unveiled its new arsenal and you just listed three of them, the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic range missile as well as new bombers.

How should China's military rival, the United States, interpret these military advances?

ZHAO: I think we need to look at it from the Chinese perspective so according to Beijing, which feels that the United States is right now on the offense to try to contain China, to prevent China from further rising and developing into a rich and prosperous country.

And due to this perception, this public display of many new and strategic weapons serves to send the signal that China is capable of deterring any external threat. So it's meant to be a self-defensive message but from the perspective of other countries, including the United States it could very well be interpreted as a Chinese effort to acquire unprecedented military superiority and to drive American military away from the west of the Pacific region.

So this perception can be the key and is actually fueling this growing bilateral complication and rivalry.

STOUT: I wanted to ask you about the DF-41 missile, that ICBM.

Is it an intercontinental range missile that could technically reach the continental United States?

ZHAO: Yes, this missile reportedly has a very large payload capacity which means it can carry many warheads and can deliver them to -- over very long distances and is fully capable of reaching the entire U.S. continent.

And that is the exact purpose of such missiles, to be able to hold the most critical assets of the United States at risk. So it helps enhance Chinese strategic deterrence.

STOUT: Tong Zhao at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center, thank you so much for your expertise.

And John, as Tong was laying out just there, there's three examples of pieces of weaponry that were unveiled for the first time earlier today from this military parade that also confirmed one of Xi Jinping's goals during his leadership to modernize the military in China and to shed the number of PLA soldiers and make it a more high-tech, modern and effective fighting force.

Back to you John.

VAUSE: A much more professional fighting force than it was 10 years ago and continues to modernize.

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VAUSE: Kristie, thank you.

When we come back they're seen as a federal prosecutor but Rudy Giuliani is being subpoenaed by Congress and will bring you the very latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry in just a moment.

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VAUSE: The impeachment inquiry into the U.S. president seems to be moving ahead at a clip with House Democrats focusing in on Ukraine, issuing a subpoena for Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Congressional Democrats want documents relating to his dealings with Ukraine after denying he has admitted to asking Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rival, Joe Biden.

Giuliani also met in Spain with an aide to Ukraine's president. The scandal emerged after a whistleblower was filed over Trump's July phone call with the leader of Ukraine. A summary of the call notes that they discussed Giuliani and Biden and now a source tells CNN, the secretary of state was actually listening on that call as well.

Mike Pompeo has already been subpoenaed last week. His failure to turn over documents, lawmakers want to know if Giuliani's contact with Ukraine was sanctioned by the State Department.

They also want to find out if the release of military aid was dependent upon Ukraine investigating Joe Biden.

The secretary of state has been relatively quiet since the scandal broke but other Trump allies as well as the president himself have been lashing out at the whistleblower. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a sign of growing frustration that he faces the real prospect of impeachment, President Trump is demanding to find out the identity of the administration official who blew the whistle on his phone call with the leader of Ukraine about Joe Biden.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we're trying to find out about a whistle-blower, when you have a whistle-blower that reports things that were incorrect. As you know and you probably now have figured it out, the statement I made to the president of Ukraine, a good man, a nice man, new, was perfect. It was perfect.

ACOSTA: That drew a quick response from the whistle-blower's attorney, who tweeted: "The intel community whistle-blower is entitled to anonymity. Law and policy support this and the individual is not to be retaliated against. Doing so is a violation of federal law."

Lobbing grenades from his social media bunker, the president tore into House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for mocking Mr. Trump's call at a hearing last week, tweeting: "Adam Schiff illegally made up a fake and terrible statement.

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ACOSTA (voice-over): "Arrest for treason?"

TRUMP: It is a disgrace. This whole thing is a disgrace. There has been tremendous corruption and we're seeking it. It is called drain the swamp. There has been corruption on the other side. There has been corruption like you have never seen.

ACOSTA: White House aides have grown frustrated with Mr. Trump's clinging to a bogus conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 election, a false claim former counterterrorism expert Tom Bossert says he's tried to ask the president to abandon.

TOM BOSSERT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: And at this point, I am deeply frustrated with what he and the legal team is doing and repeating that debunked theory to the president. It sticks in his mind when he hears it over and over again.

And for clarity here, George, let me just again repeat that it has no validity.

ACOSTA: Over the weekend, the president warned his removal from office would cause a civil war-like fracture.

That prompted one House Republican to tweet: "I have visited nations ravaged by civil war. I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a president. This is beyond repugnant."

Mr. Trump's 2016 foe summed it up by calling the president a distinctive force of nature.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: A corrupt human tornado.

ACOSTA: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says his chamber would have to consider removing the president if the House votes to impeach.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Under the Senate rules, we're required to take it up if the House does go down that path. And we will follow the Senate rules. it's a Senate rule related to impeachment. It would take 67 votes to change, so I would have no choice but to take it up.

ACOSTA: Even the president's top surrogates are struggling to spin the investigation.

QUESTION: President Trump replies, "I would like you to do us a favor, though."

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): You just added another word.

QUESTION: No. It's in the transcript.

MCCARTHY: You said, "I would like you to do a favor, though"?

QUESTION: Yes, it's in -- it's in the White House transcript. ACOSTA: One top White House official strangely insisted it is the president who is blowing the whistle.

STEPHEN MILLER, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: The president is the whistle-blower here?

The president of the United States is the whistle-blower. And this individual is a saboteur trying to undermine a democratically elected government.

ACOSTA: Sources familiar with internal deliberations over the last few days involving Mr. Trump and top advisers about his call with Ukraine's leader say aides to the president have warned him he faces the real likelihood of being impeached.

But one source said aides are divided over the subject, as some are reassuring the president that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is just placating Democrats and ultimately won't drive the process toward an impeachment vote -- Jim Acosta, CNN the, White House.

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VAUSE: For more now we go to CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein who is also a senior editor at ""The Atlantic"." He is with us from Los Angeles.

Let's start with the subpoena for the outside counsel, Rudy Giuliani. Democrats want the phone records, emails, texts all relating to that call with Ukraine's president. The subpoena notes that Giuliani has almost admitted to everything publicly but in response he tweeted this.

"I have received a subpoena signed only by Democrat chairs who have prejudged this case. It raises significant issues concerning legitimacy and constitutional and legal issues including inter alia, attorney client and other privileges. It will be given appropriate consideration."

That just sounds like legal gibberish. But is it a sign that Giuliani will try to stonewall the Democrats here?

Have the game changed now that this is an impeachment inquiry though?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's changed in only one respect. I don't think the administration and those on the outside are likely to cooperate with this investigation now that it's been dubbed an impeachment inquiry any more than they have been with all the other investigations. The one difference was a signal in the letter to Mike Pompeo last Friday, when the House committee chair said that a failure to comply would be considered in another article of impeachment for stonewalling Congress. I suspect that's where we're going to end up. I don't think that the administration is going to cooperate more but I also don't think the House is going to go through this very elongated exercise of fighting out these subpoenas in the courts, either.

VAUSE: "The Wall Street Journal" was the first to report that Mike Pompeo was on that call with Ukraine's president, recently reported. He's also been subpoenaed for documents. But the big picture is the subpoenas are an indication that the Democrats are now focusing on the Ukraine phone call. All those other issues, it seems now it's just about Ukraine.

BROWNSTEIN: Certainly the immediate investigation of the House Intelligence Committee, I think there's still a debate in Democratic circles whether they want to get into anything else if they move impeachment to the floor.

But it appears that the dominant feeling is to keep its focus on this issue. And I think obviously they're going to investigate and interview and ascertain the extent to which the whistleblower was right in the part of the complaint where he or she said that it was essentially common knowledge inside the federal government that the president would not meet with the president of Ukraine unless and until they agreed to play ball on the Biden investigation. I think that would be the big question that they are investigating now.

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BROWNSTEIN: But absent that, I think you're going to be very close to having the 218 Democrats willing to impeach the president over what they have already read in the rough transcript of the call.

VAUSE: What's also astounding is that the president of the United States demands to know the identity of the whistleblower. There's always a lot of news out of this administration but the story doesn't really change and basically it's a president who doesn't understand how the system works and has no regard for the checks and balances.

BROWNSTEIN: I think it's more the latter than the former and I don't know whether or not he understands. I think he's indifferent to how the system works and he views everything as transactional and subject to negotiation.

He doesn't accept any of the legal boundaries that -- formal and informal -- that traditionally limit the arbitrary exercise of executive power. In some ways, congressional Republicans have brought themselves to this point because I do not think that if he had faced pushback along the way each time from the majority at that point in the House and Senate that he violated a norm, that he wouldn't have felt comfortable going as far as he did in this call, overtly and explicitly saying, Kevin McCarthy notwithstanding, I need you to do me a favor, though, before we talk about what you need. But in fact, each time the president broke a window the Republicans in Congress immediately swept up the glass and I think that made him feel emboldened to keep pushing his limits in the belief that he would never be held accountable when he went over the line.

And now we will see whether a likely impeachment in the House is sufficient to send a message to him.

VAUSE: The Republicans are sweeping up the glass over the weekend and senator Lindsey Graham was on CBS and was on -- his defense of Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wanted the president to release this partial

call record.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you're saying this is hearsay. The complaint, a number of fronts, is matched by the call --

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: The transcript and the complaint are not matched.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reference to the DNC server --

GRAHAM: Please let me talk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- but will you --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- favor?

I'm laying out the facts here.

GRAHAM: No, you're not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Repeated reference to Joe Biden. All those things --

GRAHAM: Joe Biden --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the fact that the attorney general was brought up.

GRAHAM: You know, you got an opinion, I got an opinion. You got me on the show to tell me what I think. I think Mueller did a good job for the country and there was nothing there.

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VAUSE: Lindsey Graham is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he's also a lawyer and he doesn't know what hearsay is?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, no, it's extraordinary. I mean, first of all, as the interviewer suggested there, so far, what we have seen from the transcript matches to an extraordinary extent the account that the whistleblower gave them.

And I think on that issue of what the president said in the call, we are past the whistleblower complaint. We have the actual transcript. And I think for many Democrats that would be all they need to cast their vote for impeachment.

It is so clearly, in such plain language linked, the Ukrainian government opening, doing what the president wanted as the price for the things that they wanted, including a meeting in the White House.

But Lindsey Graham, his remarks just continue, first his evolution or devolution from kind of an independent voice in the Senate to really I think in some ways the most slavish defender of the president but it also underscores the extent to which Republican so far, with very, very few exceptions, have chosen to circle the wagons rather than exercising any independent judgment.

It's worth noting that despite all that defense in the CNN poll out today, we're talking about a plurality, 47 percent of the country, saying they would support not only the impeachment but the removal of President Trump. That's about 20 points higher than the CNN poll ever reported for the impeachment and removal of President Clinton in 1998.

So I'm thinking that, despite that kind of intense resistance by Graham and other Republicans, again, House Democrats are likely to feel pretty comfortable moving down this road, based on what they already have, much less whatever they turn up in the weeks and months ahead.

VAUSE: Other polls show support for impeachment of above 50 percent and some as high as 55 percent. But it is an interesting point about Clinton 20 years ago.

Ron, as always, great to have you with us.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break and still to come on CNN.

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VAUSE (voice-over): More scuffles, more confrontations between pro- democracy demonstrators and police in Hong Kong as China celebrates its 70th anniversary of Communist rule. Stay with CNN as we continue our coverage of China's National Day parade in Beijing.

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VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

[00:32:23]

House Democrats have subpoenaed Donald Trump's personal attorney as part of their impeachment inquiry into the U.S. president. The Intelligence Committee wants Rudy Giuliani to turn over documents relating to his dealings with Ukraine. Giuliani says he'll consider their request.

China marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party with a huge military parade. President Xi Jinping addressed the nation, reaffirming his commitment to one country, two system, a reference to how Beijing how Beijing deals with Hong Kong, as well as other territories. And in Macau.

Meantime, scuffles broke out a short time ago between pro-democracy demonstrators and Hong Kong police, protesters are using this public holiday to spread their call for a greater democracy.

Hong Kong police have prepared for more violence, possibly as violent as last weekend, when protesters threw as many as 100 petrol bombs and blocked off streets during those demonstrations.

Back now to Kristie Lu Stout, who is live in the Beijing bureau, my old office, where the skies are gray and the pollution is there. Ten years ago, I can tell you, they had perfect blue skies.

STOUT: Yes, but ten years on, it's not a blue-sky day here in Beijing, but the celebrations are still underway, because it is National Day. And here in China, people are marking 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

We can bring up the images for you on your screen, live. This is the citizens march, currently underway; 100,000 people taking part in this possession going up and down Chang'an Jie, the Avenue of Eternal Peace. This follows a military parade earlier this day, as well as that speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he emphasized China's strength, China's unity and the principle of one country, saying, quote, "We will maintain long-term stability in Hong Kong, as well as Macau."

Now on the topic of Hong Kong, it's time to bring up our guest: Alan, who is a vice chairman of the Liberal Party. He is a pro-government lawmaker in Hong Kong, and he joins us now.

And Alan, this is in Beijing a day of celebration, a day of pomp and patriotism, but we are anticipating more protests in Hong Kong today. Do you fear that the protests will upstage this National Day celebrations?

ALAN HOO, VICE CHAIRMAN, LIBERAL PARTY: Well, the weather here is sunny, but the mood certainly isn't. And I think that the protests, things are going to get worse before they can get better.

What started four months ago as a very impressive peaceful demonstration against a piece of government legislation has now degenerated into continuing violence and destruction.

[00:35:06]

But the most important thing is that that violence and destruction is not just targeted at the chief executive, it's targeted at other members of society. A large sector of the society has been very quiet. And now they've been singled out. It's become a personal settlement of scores to anybody who doesn't agree with their demands.

They get their businesses smashed and affected. They get their persons attacked. They get their children bullied at school. Now the other thing is, of course, they're now attacking the flag, the national symbol that shifted to the central people's government.

So what you have now is that the situation is literally like a runaway train. The energy is there, and it's been sustained, really, because there's a lot of scope for demonstration and protests in this part of China, in Hong Kong, as allowed by the central government.

So this is going to be something which is going to be getting, as I say, much uglier when you get an attack from one section of society against another section of society. And I think it's very important now that we have international scrutiny.

STOUT: And you fear that the situation will only escalate and get worse. Today is National Day, a day of celebration in Beijing. But it's a very sensitive day there in Hong Kong.

We are anticipating more violent clashes and unrest there in Hong Kong. And this day, the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, is in Beijing. We saw her moments ago, right there on the CCTV video feed, enjoying the citizens marks procession on Chang'an Avenue here in Beijing.

Do you think that Carrie Lam should've stayed in Hong Kong? By being in Beijing on this day, does she risk angering more people?

HOO: No, I think she -- she's in a dual role. Apart from being chief executive, she's also Hong Kong's representative to the Beijing government.

So when the whole country gets together for a national celebration, she represents 7 million people in Hong Kong as part of the whole 1.4 billion party of Chinese people. I think, in fact, although she may be smiling outside, I think it's a very difficult time for her, because she's facing the 1.4 billion people in the other system in China, who has always found that there's so much given to this part of the system in Hong Kong that they really do -- do not understand or resent what Hong Kong is going through.

And this is something she needs to explain to Beijing and the people that she meets. But coming to Hong Kong, I think that four months ago, people went onto the streets, quite legitimately, to complain about a piece of legislation they disliked, that they were against, that they were afraid of.

But the funny thing is that, since that very first day they marched, until now, some four months later, there's been no discussion on this legislation. There's been no discussion on, wow, what does this legislation mean? How does that affect one country, two systems and our freedom?

No, that there's just a process of elegy being channeled to show the determination that things are not well; we're discontented.

But what they are wanting to achieve is not something which is very clear now, but it's an attack on the central government, that they want independence for Hong Kong. They want to sever Hong Kong away from the motherland. Or whether it's something to do with Hong Kong itself, to do with their livelihood, to do with universal suffrage, to gain a little bit more under the system.

STOUT: Right.

HOO: I think that -- that we need to keep our eyes on the ball. Everybody in Hong Kong, because the whole world is watching us.

STOUT: Absolutely.

HOO: And it's affecting our standing in the international community. And people's livelihoods are being disrupted on a regular basis.

STOUT: Without a doubt. Absolutely. With the credit rating of Hong Kong being downgraded across the recession, and this making regular headlines.

Fortunately, Alan, we'll leave it at that, but we thank you for sharing your views with us this day. And John, as Alan was mentioning just then, the pro-government lawmaker from Hong Kong. it has been, what, four months since what was initially a single-issue protest about an extradition bill has dragged on and on and turned into an unprecedented crisis for Hong Kong. But on this day of celebration, a direct challenge to Beijing -- John.

[00:40:04]

VAUSE: One of the biggest challenges for Xi Jinping, as he -- as he makes himself the leader for life there in China.

Kristie, thank you. We'll catch up with you next hour. We'll take a short break. In the meantime, the Duchess of Sussex. We all know she has an eye for fashion. She's been using it with the focus on Johannesburg's artisans.

We'll have the very latest on the world tour in just a moment.

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VAUSE: All good things come to an end, and so it is for the royal couple and their tour of southern Africa. Prince Harry is wrapping things up in Malawi, while his wife, Meghan, met artisans in Johannesburg.

CNN's Max Foster reports the duchess likes to play ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine you're a small clothing shop and you get a call four weeks ago from the embassy here in South Africa, and you're asked to create a pair of jeans for the Duchess of Sussex.

And then imagine the Duchess of Sussex turned up to a shop to collect her jeans. That actually happened today in an area of the city called Victoria Yards, where lots of artisans gather together. And the duchess wanted to promote the way of working there. She describes it as it working very well on the holistic level.

So went on a private visit there. The media weren't invited, but we did get some pictures from the palace afterwards. We should show you now.

Meanwhile, her husband was over in Malawi, where he was finding out more about anti-poaching projects. He was particularly keen to try to do what he could to get rid of the stigma, as he describes it. Many people see people that can -- that are concerned about the conservation of the world as hippies, but he thinks that shouldn't be the case. We should all be concerned about it. And he spoke to that very powerfully in Malawi.

PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: We are literally driving ourselves to extinction. I know people have said that before, and it seems to be a bit of a narrative that's being covered across the globe at the moment. But there are so many problems, and a vast majority of them -- not all of them, but a vast majority of them -- the root cause of that is what we're doing to the planet.

FOSTER (on camera): But on Tuesday, French Harry comes here to Johannesburg to be reunited with his wife and son. There will be various engagements here. Everyone looking out for a sighting of Archie, of course.

But also, a big highlight coming on Wednesday when they head out to a township here and then go on to meet Graca Machel, who is, of course, Nelson Mandela's widow.

Max Foster, CNN, Johannesburg.

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