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U.S.-China Prisoner Swap; Biden Hosts Indo-Pacific Leaders amid China Concerns. Aired 12-12:15a ET

Aired September 25, 2021 - 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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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone, I am Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.

A long simmering feud pitting the U.S. and Canada against China was dramatically resolved late on Friday, with Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor suddenly released after nearly three years in Chinese detention.

Simultaneously, halfway around the world, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was flown back to China after nearly 3 years of house arrest in Vancouver. It came after the U.S. announced not to Meng Wanzhou, ending her lengthy extradition case in Canada.

CNN's Will Ripley is tracking this for us in Taipei but Paula Newton is in Ottawa.

Let's begin with you Paula.

Essentially, it's a prisoner swap, how did it come about and what's the reaction been in Canada?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Certainly, I can tell you in one word, shock. And then, followed up closely by relief. You said prisoner swap; China would never admit that and quite frankly Canada would never utter it.

But this with China using hostage diplomacy, in the sense of Meng Wanzhou, someone so valued to the Chinese government, was detained in Canada on a U.S. extradition request, they then detained, days later, both Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

For years Canada tried to dance around the issue but knew what was at play. I think in terms of the juxtaposition, many of the family members close to the two Michaels did not darer hope that they would be released this soon.

And yet you certainly saw when Meng Wanzhou boarded that airplane, so soon after those charges were stayed against her and was on her way back to China, it became untenable that someone living in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Vancouver, with an ankle bracelet, was allowed to return home.

And Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig would remain in solitary confinement, often in very severe conditions in China. I want you to listen to Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, who made the announcement.

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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: These two men have been through an unbelievably difficult situation. But it is inspiring and it is good news for all of us that they are on their way home to their families.

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NEWTON: Michael, this is also a big win for the Biden administration. When he took over, the president said, look, I am treating the cases of the two Michaels like they are Americans. And we have a statement from the U.S. secretary of state.

But it is clear that China and the U.S. are at a crossroads with relations. And they thought they should clear the decks of this so that perhaps they can get on to more meaningful and really cooperative negotiation.

And with this hanging over the heads of not just Canada but the United States, I think most people thought it was better to just get on with it.

HOLMES: Yes, Paula, thanks.

Will Ripley there in Taipei, it does seem to indicate the detention of the Canadians was connected to Huawei, even though there were plenty of denials.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was in Beijing back in 2018, when this all went down, Michael, when Meng Wanzhou was detained and then shortly after, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained.

At that time all of the reporters and observers and diplomats were questioning Beijing, how can you say, convincingly, that this is not hostage diplomacy, given the timing and the country involved, Canada?

The country that put Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of one of the most important companies, under house arrest?

And yet China said that these cases were not related, this was about national security, these men were convicted of espionage, one sentenced to 11 years and one waiting to be sentenced.

As Paula alluded to, they were sometimes under very, very harsh conditions, even kept in cells with the lights on 24/7, interrogated, not allowed consular access for months at a time. For the years they have been away, they are returning to a very different world.

When they were detained, this was before the Hong Kong democracy movement and the national security law and the coronavirus pandemic and all of the other seismic shifts that have happened around the world. They have missed so much time with their families and loved ones.

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RIPLEY: Nonetheless, Meng Wanzhou, she had a pretty different situation. She was living in luxury at her home, protected by security that she paid for as part of her court deal. Her private jet is expected to be landing in China around 8 o'clock local time.

Ironically, Michael, the conditions that she will have to endure during government-imposed quarantine, COVID-19 quarantine, when she arrives in China, will probably be the most severe restrictions throughout her three years of captivity.

HOLMES: All right, Will Ripley in Taipei, Paula Newton in Ottawa, thanks to you both.

Now the massive migrant camp in Texas at the U.S. border with Mexico has been cleared out. No one remains under the bridge now in Del Rio. At one point, 15,000 Haitian migrants were packed underneath in squalid conditions.

The treatment they received sparked an international outcry, especially these images of U.S. border agents on horseback, aggressively corraling these migrants. Now President Biden says that incident will not be tolerated.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay. They will be an investigation underway now and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It's an embarrassment.

But beyond an embarrassment, it's dangerous, it's wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It's simply not who we are.

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HOLMES: The U.S. says about 12,000 of the migrants who crossed there will have their cases heard by an immigration judge. But 2,000 have already been deported back to Haiti, with thousands more removals pending. They had hoped to escape a string of crises dating back years in Haiti. Melissa Bell in Port-au-Prince with some of their stories.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Junior, his wife, Elianne, and their 2-year-old were deported to Port-au Prince on Tuesday, seven years after the couple says they left in search of a better life. They're now staying with friends, the three sharing a single bed, not much but more comfort than they've known for several months. When work dried up in Brazil in June, where they'd been given asylum, the family headed north through 10 countries, some of it by bus but much of it on foot.

Elianne, though, says that the worst was arriving in the United States. As they arrived, she said, everything they had, including toothpaste and soap, was taken away from them.

She says the worst was when they were cooped up inside the prison.

"We thought they would free us," she says, "but they shackled us instead. Seeing my husband shackled was the worst. Then they handcuffed the women and they put us on the plane. My baby was crying, and I couldn't even hold him. And that was what made me cry."

The family gives us a tour of the neighborhood they find themselves back in. Junior says that Port-au Prince is worse now than when they left. I asked him if it is the insecurity that has worsened. He laughs and tells me there is no security in Haiti.

The assassination of the country's president and the aftermath of a 7.2 earthquake in August, just some of the dismal conditions forcing families to embark on the grueling trek to the U.S. border with Mexico.

BELL: And yet, the flights keep on coming, seven in all arriving here in Haiti just this Friday, some here at Port-au-Prince, others at the airport in Cap-Haitien in the very north of the country. The logistics, almost impossible to deal with, says the International Office for Migration, given the sheer number of people being deported.

BELL (voice-over): Back to a place they desperately wanted to leave. The dream of finding a better life in America ends here, back on Haitian soil, with a handout of $100, a hot meal and a ride to the bus station provided by the IOM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are going to suffer now. You see all those people being deported to Haiti, including women and children. There are no jobs in there is nothing here. What are those people going to do?

BELL (voice-over): That's the dilemma facing thousands of migrants forced to return to a country the U.S. special envoy to Haiti called "a collapsed state" before he resigned on Thursday.

A small group of people turned out in Port-au Prince to protest the deportations, a show of dissent but little help to the migrants, still being flown back to Haiti, returning to the many problems they thought they'd left behind -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

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HOLMES: The leaders of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia have solidified their commitment to safeguarding a free and open Indo- Pacific region. They met on Friday for the first in-person meeting of the Quad. While China was not mentioned by name, the four countries share concerns over the nation's expanding influence in Asia.

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HOLMES: The Australian prime minister emphasized how their democracies must stand together to overcome the region's challenges.

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SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: There is no part of the world that is more dynamic than the Indo-Pacific at this time, a region that has extraordinary opportunity, wide diversity, great wealth but many challenges that must be overcome.

And we see the role of our nations, we see our home in the Indo- Pacific as the place that we wish to focus on to ensure that our peoples can realize everything they want for themselves.

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HOLMES: The group also said they are making progress on commitments to combat COVID, climate change and emerging technologies.

Now to Afghanistan and disturbing words from the imam of Kabul's largest mosque. During Friday prayers, he called for retribution against Afghans, who worked with foreigners, calling them spies and nonbelievers. CNN's Nic Robertson with the latest.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really feels like a day of mixed messages at the principal press service Friday. At the main mosque in the center of Kabul the message was very clear. Anyone that worked and assisted with U.S. and other international governments is a spy.

Indeed, the imam saying they were outside of Islam, they were not Muslims, that there should be revenge through the religious education, meaning the judiciary. Going on to say that the United States and other countries were just in Afghanistan to exploit it for their own gain.

On the other hand, it seems contrary to this message of sort of, turning on Afghans who may be considered spies, you have a message from the defense minister, Mullah Yaqoob, the son of a Taliban founder, Mullah Omar, saying that there needs to be better discipline within the military forces and within the Taliban military ranks.

Anyone involved in killing and thieving will be investigated and will be held to account, making it clear that the Taliban fighters must be more disciplined. So, these two apparently conflicting messages from the mosque, very clearly, to the Afghan people, from the defense chief to his fighters but perhaps some essence of the message in there for the international community that they are going to double down on holding to their principles of not taking vengeance out on former government and military members -- Nic Robertson, Kabul, CNN, Afghanistan. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me, I'm Michael Holmes. Do stay tuned for "MARKETPLACE AFRICA," I'll see you a little later.