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Hong Kong Marks 25 Years Since China Took Control; Xi Praises National Security Law, One Country, Two Systems; Palace Museum Showcases Rare, Controversial Artifacts; Yair Lapid Takes Over as Israel's Caretaker Prime Minister; Texas Grapples with Uptick in Migrant Smuggling Cases; 1955 Arrest Warrant Found in Courthouse Basement. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 01, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hong Kong is marking 25 years since the former British colony was handed back to China with a day of ceremonies and speeches. Chinese President Xi Jinping took part in his first trip outside the mainland since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. He praised the city's response to COVID, defended the controversial national security law and talked about the importance of the one country two systems policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): To those who support one country two systems, support the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, whether you're from Hong Kong, from overseas, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Hong Kong's new Chief Executive John Lee took the oath of office replacing Carrie Lam. Lee is a former police officer who rose through the ranks. He's known for overseeing the harsh crackdown on anti-government protests in 2019.

The day kicked off with a flag raising ceremony at the city's convention center. The flags of Hong Kong and People's Republic of China simultaneously raised side by side there. CNN's Ivan Watson live for us this hour in Hong Kong. Steven Jiang is standing by in Beijing. And Will Ripley is in Taipei. Ivan, first to you. What stood out for you from this momentous day?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think -- I covered Xi Jinping's last visit to Hong Kong five years ago at the 20th anniversary of the hand over. And in that speech, he issued warnings. He said that anybody who tried to threaten China's national security from Hong Kong to try to take advantage of the freedoms of Hong Kong and use it as a spring board to challenge the one party rule of Communist China, that that would be a red line and it wouldn't be tolerated.

Five years later, Xi Jinping did not have to issue any warnings or any red lines because the organized political dissent, any form of that, has been largely crushed here in this former British colony. The street demonstrations that used to be held annually on July 1st, these pro-democracy marches, those do not exist anymore. They did not take place today. And we haven't seen any of these meetings or protests really in at least two years.

The elected lawmakers for the Hong Kong legislature from the opposition who were in office five years ago, most of them are either behind bars or they have fled into exile. Independent news outlets have been targeted by the police and shut down, labor unions, student unions, human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have all closed their offices.

So instead of issuing warnings, Xi Jinping celebrated what he and authorities here are calling a new era for Hong Kong, of stability as they put it. And he says that he is committed to this very unusual formula. They called it one country two systems here where Hong Kong is more free arguably and more capitalist than mainland China. But as Xi Jinping put it, it is now governed by what he describes as patriots. You disqualified anybody who is not considered a patriot from being able to participate in elections for local office.

This has been criticized by Western government such as the British Prime Minister, Canada and the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in this tweet where he accused Beijing authorities of breaking their promises to Hong Kongers and calling for promised freedoms to be reinstated there. Judging by the speech given by Xi Jinping, that's not going to happen -- Max.

FOSTER: Steven, how is it being received in China then? Because the state media were all across this and it went pretty smoothly, didn't it, from their point of view.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Definitely, Max. Wall to wall coverage with special banners and a lot of patriotic music and songs being played on Chinese television. But one thing that struck me was in Xi Jinping's speech was near the top that speech when he mentioned Hong Kong's rule under the British of one example of China's century of humiliation. Obviously, that was only stopped and changed when the Communists came to power.

Not surprisingly now Hong Kong text books no longer allowed to describe Hong Kong as a former British colony because in orthodox communist view China has never formally ceded sovereignty of Hong Kong to the British, instead the U.K. merely illegally occupied the territory for over a century.

[04:35:02]

So that is one example of how much Hong Kong has been in lock step with Beijing ideologically not to mention politically, economically and all the COVID and security rules. But of course, from Beijing's perspective, this is a very positive development because only the iron fist of Xi Jinping has really finally made Hong Kong a truly Chinese territory. That's why increasingly you hear the term in Chinese media the second return of Hong Kong meaning back in 1997, they regained sovereignty, but not the power to govern because of all the opposition not to mention so-called subversive and hostile forces.

But now with them being wiped out -- thanks to Xi Jinping's rule -- Hong Kong is more than ever a Chinese territory and destined for long term prosperity. This of course is something very much reiterated by Xi Jinping but also state media and also indeed believed by millions of Chinese citizens on the mainland. Who have bought into his version, his brand of patriotism and nationalism.

That of course is very important as he is all but certain to secure an almost unprecedented third term as China's top leader later this year and potentially paving the way for him to rule for life. Because that is really a true reflection of his governing philosophy or ideology. That is party needs to reassert absolute control over every aspect of Chinese society and every inch of Chinese territories and that is now that very much includes Hong Kong -- Max.

FOSTER: Yes, and Will, when we consider how Hong Kong fits into China, always in the background is the concept of Taipei as well. There wasn't really any clues about Xi Jinping's views on that within this speech at least.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he didn't mention Taiwan by name. And in fact, just moments ago, Max, this tweet has dropped from the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and she also doesn't mention China by name, but there is definitely a reference here.

She says: When the going to gets tough, the tough get going. Unprecedented threats from authoritarian actors will not deter us in Taiwan from working with our partners around the world to uphold liberal values and strengthen democratic institutions.

That is the strategy, Max, here in Taipei. They know that they're outspent by 15 times when it comes to China's military. There's just no way to match head to head with the technology that China has been developing to create this massive monstrous military that with the goal some U.S. intelligence experts say of trying to be able to take Taiwan even with U.S. intervention.

But what they do have here is they have soft power. They have semiconductors. They are world leaders in chip manufacturing. And these are the semiconductors that power our well cellphones, our cars, our computers. If something were to disrupt the supply chain here in Taiwan, it would be cataclysmic for industries around the world. Taiwan knows that and they try to kind of let other wealthier nations know that there is more than just this island and its democratic system and its 25 million people at stake. It's the global economy. And that's soft power.

Those friendships, albeit not formal diplomatic alliances, but Beijing won't allow formal diplomatic alliances. But Taiwan has a lot of friends, powerful friends, rich friends, friends with armies and militaries that Taiwan, in addition to, bolster its own self defenses, they certainly hope that the world will see this island and the democratic Western world will see this island as valuable enough to come to its aid in the event that China were do something or more importantly to signal to China that it would be very, very bad for them if they try to make a move, you know, with a stronger response certainly, then what we've seen in terms of just weapons being supplied to Ukraine, but no boots on the ground. You know, this would be a very, very different military scenario, Max, but something that they are thinking about constantly here.

They're trying to evolve their military to make it more asymmetric, to be able to defend against a large scale Chinese invasion. So, look, this is a very real issue in this beautiful place where people have a great quality of life but they know that their democracy is vibrant as it is. It's young, it's fragile and it's 100 miles away from the mainland with 1.5 billion people and massive military and a government with an increasingly firm determination to reunify as they put it even though communist rulers in Beijing have never controlled this island. It's had its own government since the end of China Civil War more than 70 years ago.

FOSTER: OK, will Ripley in Taipei, Steven Jiang in Beijing and Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thank you.

Hong Kong set to open its new palace museum this weekend, a gift from the central government. The $450 million project will showcase hundreds of artifacts while some relics are considered national treasures, others came at a price. And Kristie Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Palace Museum stands at the heart of Beijing. And it is expanding into Hong Kong with a building designed to house hundreds of its priceless treasures.

[04:40:00]

The new seven-story, $450 million Hong Kong Palace Museum is dedicated to Chinese art and culture. Its July opening coincides with the 25th anniversary of the city's handover from British rule to China.

BERNARD CHAN, CHAIRMAN, HONG KONG PALACE MUSEUM: So important for our museum to be able to tell the story. Where does Chinese civilization come from? And how is Chinese civilization connect with earlier civilizations. Because we now know, right. So, I think that's important especially at a time when the world is so polarized and divided.

LU STOUT: More than 900 artifacts are on loan from Beijing's Palace Museum exhibited across multiple galleries. In this one the spotlight is on the history of Chinese ceramics with the focus on imperial porcelain from the Ming and Ching dynasties.

DAISY WANG YIYOU, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, HONG KONG PALACE MUSEUM: The Palace Museum has 1.8 million objects, right. Out of that, only 8,000 were designated as grade one objects one. Out of the 8,000, they gave us 166, 5 percent. Which is a big deal. You have to see it because only with your own eye you can really appreciate the exquisite nature of Chinese art. LU STOUT (voice-over): Chinese President Xi Jinping has promoted the

glories of China's past as part of his vision for achieving the Chinese dream. In 2017, she visited Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover and oversaw the signing ceremony between Beijing and Hong Kong to develop the museum. At the time he said that he hoped it would promote traditional Chinese culture.

As the president's push for cultural soft power is being realized in the city, freedom of expression has been curtailed thanks to a national security law passed in 2020, scenes of mass protests are no more and politically charged artworks like the "Pillar of Shame" Tiananmen Square Memorial have been removed. The Hong Kong outpost will be the third Palace Museum in the world, many of the forbidden city's other treasures are also on display at the Palace Museum in Taiwan after some of China's most prized relics were taken to Taipei by retreating nationalists forces in the 1940s.

CHAN: We have these exhibits from Beijing and China, as well as Taiwan working together with us in our museum. So, I can only imagine that dialogue will continue. I hope that one day there could be an actual collaboration between the three museums.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Three museums, housing China's priceless national treasures, but only two have the blessing of Beijing, including here, but the capital's influence is already felt.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Yair Lapid is spending his first days as Israel's new Prime Minister following the Knesset vote to dissolve parliament. After the dissolution is symbolically switched seats with his predecessor, Naftali Bennett. The two later held a handover ceremony at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. Bennett's stint as Prime Minister was one of the shortest in Israel's history. But he says he's happy to hand the job over to his former Foreign Minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a very special role and this day it does not belong to one person. It belongs to all the people of Israel. And I'm passing to you this holy baton and the responsibility for the state of Israel and I wish that you will protect it and God will protect you.

YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And we have a commitment to the past, and we have a commitment to the future. We have brought the future with us. And we will do our best for good, strong, prosperous and democratic Jewish state because that is the job and it is greater than any of us. Thank you, my brother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Mr. Lapid will lead the country as a caretaker until elections on November 1 which will be the fifth time in less than four years that Israelis are heading to the polls.

Texas dealing with increasing human smuggling cases, with several attempts leaving several dead in just 24 hours. Details after the break.

And new development in the case of a brutal racial killing, why the family of Emmett Till is demanding justice for his lynching nearly 70 years later.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: An American woman accused of killing an elite cyclist in Texas has been arrested in Costa Rica. Authorities say Caitlin Marie Armstrong entered the country using someone else's passport. She is expected to be deported and returned to the U.S. Armstrong is suspected of fatally shooting the 25-year-old Anna "Mo" Wilson back in May. Investigators say Wilson had previously dated Armstrong's boyfriend and the shooting was a violent act of romantic jealousy.

Texas is grappling with an uptick of migrant smuggling cases and deaths. Officials say there were at least three separate smuggling attempts within a 24 hour period leaving at least six dead. Two of the cases involved fatal vehicle crashes. Officials say another smuggling attempt was foiled when authorities found more than ten people inside a tractor trailer. This all comes days after more than 50 migrants lost their lives inside a different tractor trailer in what officials say was the worst human smuggling event in the U.S. Family members of some of the victims have been speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADELA AGUILAR, GRANDMOTHER OF ADELA RAMIREZ (through translator): I told her don't leave, you will live well here. It is easy to find a place to live here working, you can live anywhere. But one says I'm going to go and look for a better life and you end up finding death. You're not looking for something else but death. Because what else did she want but one wants something different, that's life. She sought death because there is nothing else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The alleged driver of that semi-truck made his first court appearance before a federal judge on Thursday. He's charged with human smuggling resulting in death and could face life in prison or death.

Well, the family of Emmett Till is calling for the white woman who accused the black teen of making aggressive advances to be arrested. This comes after an unserved 1955 arrest warrant charging Carolyn Bryant Donham and two others of kidnapping Till was found nearly 70 years later in a Mississippi courthouse basement. Emmett Till was just 14 years old when he was kidnapped, tortured and brutally killed by two white men following Donham's accusations. CNN's Ryan Young has more on the latest development. And a warning some of the images in this report are graphic. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The description of this has been quite fascinating when you think about this, the family of Emmett Till from 1955 to now has been working to find who was responsible for the crime.

[04:50:02]

And they were down in that basement in Mississippi in the courthouse looking through documents and they found what they considered a dusty dank box. They opened it up and they found a warrant with three names on it. And actually, one of the names on that warrant is the woman who originally said that Emmett Till had whistled at her. Now they believe that story and this warrant should lead them to finally be able to see some justice being served. Take a listen to the family.

DEBORAH WATTS, EMMETT TILL'S COUSIN: This is evidence -- this is new evidence that no one had every searched for and we were able to find it. It was unbelievable. It was overwhelming. We all cried. We were also in a state of shock, speechless in some instances. :

TERI WATTS, EMMETT TILL'S COUSIN: Well, the moment was very, very overwhelming. I had to look at the warrant several times just to make sure that it was real, that it actually read, Mrs. Roy Bryant.

YOUNG: The Emmett Till case was so pivotal in America because once the pictures of his death were published all across the world, they were quite graphic. It really changed the civil rights movement here in America. The family is still working to see some change, some difference, some justice. Because the two men who originally were accused were never convicted. They did eventually say that they did commit the crime, but that was to a magazine after they had gone throughout court process. The family is hoping for change now. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We'll be right back.

[04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Some basketball news now. NBA superstar Kevin Durant has requested a trade from Brooklyn Nets -- that's according to reports in the Athletic and ESPN. Durant's business manager is working with the Nets to find a trade partner. The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are said to be amongst the teams on Durant's wish list. Durant has been with the Nets for three years and signed an extension in 2021 which would have kept him in Brooklyn for the next four seasons.

And before we go, a Denver couple who are big hockey fans got the surprise of their lives when a delivery van pulls up to the door and gave them the coveted NHL Stanley Cup. Really? But you guessed it. It was all a big mistake. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first, I opened the trunk and I saw the case. I recognized it because it was the final games. So, they brought it up here and like jokingly said, is that the Stanley Cup? And he says, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It's a tradition for every member of the winning Stanley Cup team to spend a day with the trophy. The cup was supposed to go to the team captain's house who lives nearby. The address was off by one digit apparently.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. Our coverage continues on "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett. You're watching CNN.

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