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Putin Slams "Traitors" As Prigozhin Claims Mercenary Rebellion Was A "Protest" Not An Attempted Takeover; Russian Ruble Briefly Hits 15-Month Low; Beijing Predicts Five Percent Economic Growth This Year.; Trump Recorded Discussing Classified Docs; Wagner Boss Addresses Mutiny, Whereabouts Unclear. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired June 27, 2023 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Putin breaks his silence. The Russian strong man delivering a fiery speech just days after facing the biggest threat to his power in more than two decades. But the man behind the insurrection in Russia is not staying silent either. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claiming his troops had the public support as they move towards Moscow.
CNN obtains audio of Donald Trump talking about highly classified documents still in his possession after he left office. We'll have details on that.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, Russian President Vladimir Putin is speaking out publicly for the first time since the end of a short-lived insurrection which rattled his grip on power and threw the country into uncertainty. In a nationwide address. Putin lashed out of those who organized the uprising by Wagner Group fighters, but did not mention leader Yevgeny Prigozhin by name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): An armed rebellion would have been suppressed in any case. The organizers of the rebellion despite the loss of adequacy could not fail to understand this. They understood everything, including that they resorted to criminal acts to divide and weaken the country, which is now confronting a colossal external threat. Unprecedented pressure from the outside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Video showed Putin meeting with top officials Monday in a show of normality after the upheaval of the weekend. On Saturday, an armed marched toward Moscow by Wagner Group fighters caused chaos before a Minsk broken deal brought the brief uprising to an end. The man behind the insurrection, Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin also spoke out on Monday.
He was last seen in public on Saturday and his whereabouts are still unknown. Prigozhin said the march was not a move to ask Putin, but instead a protest and spoke about the public support in Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, CHIEF, WAGNER MERCENARY GROUP (through translator): When on June 23 and 24th we walk past Russian cities. Civilians met us with the flags of Russia. And with the flags and emblems of Wagner PMC. They were all happy when we came in when we passed by. Many of them still write us words of support. And some are disappointed that we stopped because in the march of justice, in addition for out struggle for existence, they saw support for the fight against bureaucracy and other blights that exist in our country today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments for us. She joins us live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So, what all did we learn from these two speeches from Putin and Prigozhin?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we learned Rosemary that you cannot take back the events of the weekend that Putin essentially let slip the dogs of war and now cannot contain them. I think look, Putin thanked the Russian people for staying united. You can't speak that into existence. The Russian society remains rattled by what's happened over the weekend.
And I don't think this speech did anything much to reassure them. It also did not resolve the status of Wagner. This band of, you know, many of them hardened criminals, hardened fighters have essentially been given the choice to do whatever they want (INAUDIBLE) to either, you know, sign contracts with the MoD which is fairly unlikely given the opposition that we've heard from Prigozhin to that -- to go and rejoin their families or to go to Belarus.
[02:05:03]
We don't know what that means. And we now going to get some kind of Wagner 2.0 in Belarus. But either way, the centers of Wagner and by extension, you know, Russia's efforts in Ukraine, which they played a key role in could be a key determinant of Putin's own future. So that was not resolved, either. And I think, you know, the other part of this is that we're seeing inconsistencies from Putin from the messaging from the Kremlin, which was bizarre around this.
At one point, state media was reporting that the Kremlin spokesman had said this was a speech that was going to determine the fate of Russia when it did not live up to those promises. It was just five minutes, which really didn't advance the narrative at all. The Kremlin walked that back and said, you know, don't report fake news. We never said this in the first place. So these inconsistencies are sort of compounding the sense of chaos here.
I think one thing that did come out of the speech, President Putin, it is now increasingly clear, sees his longtime ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin as an enemy. He tends to not speak the names of people he considers enemies like for example, Alexei Navalny, you never hear Putin say his name. And equally in the speech, he did not say the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin but made it very clear that he sees the organizers as he put it, of this rebellion, as traitors as his enemy.
I think less clear that that's how Prigozhin sees Putin. He in his audio message released just before Putin speech, said that he was not trying to attempt a coup that this was simply an effort to bring to justice those who said had made mistakes in the special military operation. But I think we still have a lot of questions unanswered, not least of which is the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin himself.
CHURCH: Yes. Many questions indeed. Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. Many thanks for that.
Well, joining me now is Robert English. Director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. Appreciate you being with us.
ROBERT ENGLISH, DIRECTOR, CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Nice to be here.
CHURCH: So, both Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin went radio silent after that short-lived armed rebellion. Then we hear from Prigozhin Monday in an 11-minute rant on tape and hours later, Vladimir Putin makes a very short five-minute speech calling it a militarized mutiny and accusing those involved or being traitors. But then calls most of them patriots. How weakened is Putin's leadership? And can he recover from this, do you think?
ENGLISH: You know, it's interesting, the juxtaposition of Putin's public statements and Prigozhin's. Putin is in a position that he despises of having to play a kind of P.R. game of having to compete with someone who's so adept at social media and has so long been criticizing the elite and building a populist image. Putin has heard about his falling ratings about the, you know, the popular despair at this and what's more -- he's heard that his speeches have fallen flat. His attempts to be inspiring and sound firm.
People joke that he looks like an automaton that is that the real Putin or was that an A.I.-generated Putin? So, he is angry. And I think the mentioned of corresponded before something important about Aleksei Navalny, remember that other public critics like Navalny before they wind up dead, they wind up assassinated, poisoned in jail. And I don't think that Putin will tolerate Prigozhin long and he won't tolerate this public back and forth on social media either. Look for Prigozhin to disappear in the near future.
CHURCH: Interesting you say that. I did want to ask why Vladimir Putin didn't arrest Prigozhin when he was in Russia when he had a chance because now the Wagner boss will continue to cause Putin problems and be a constant reminder of the President's authority being challenged. And we don't even know where Prigozhin is right now.
Oh, I'm just getting word that we have lost our guests. We will attempt to reestablish contact and see if we can bring him back. But let's move on for now. And Ukraine is using the chaos in Russia to its advantage claiming big gains over Russian troops on Monday. In his nightly address President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian fighters had advanced in all directions on the southern and eastern front lines.
And earlier he visited soldiers in the Donetsk region and praise them for their efforts. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are now on the defensive and that their main motivation is to hold on to the ground they have left. Ukraine also says Russia is focusing its efforts on the Donetsk region where more than 35 clashes were reported on Monday. CNN's Nick Payton Walsh has more on the frontline battles.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Unprecedented chaos in Moscow has yet to ease Ukraine's bitter fight in the trenches. Close combat around Bakhmut two weeks into the continued grind of the counter offensive open operations filmed over the weekend, just as Wagner troops roll towards Moscow. Here, the red, white and blue are Russians in disarray and surrendering.
The hope is more will follow as word spreads of the failed rebellion and morale and discipline falter. It was near here Ukraine proclaimed Monday progress on the front lines with room for hope elsewhere, to the south, on another Donetsk, France near the heavily contested Marinka. It appears some Kremlin loyal Chechen fighters were pulled to Moscow for his defense of the weekend. Here they are strutting along an apparent highway near the Capitol.
Bakhmut and Marinka, opportunities for Ukraine in the east, but also further west near Kherson the Ntonovsky Bridge. The scene of intense clashes captured by this Russian drone, as Ukrainian forces claimed to cross over to the Russian-controlled eastern bank. Opening another front perhaps.
It is too early to tell whether or if Russia is crumbling. And Ukraine's progress has been incremental still. This the familiar scene when they're fighters declared they'd captured another small village in the south Rivnopil on Monday. None of this yet, their strategic sea change and Russian collapse. The weekend's madness that Zelenskyy visiting troops in the East Monday as well will hope follows.
He faces anxious choices, even with all the Kremlin's intimate ugliness so exposed, move now or wait for more in Moscow to unravel. He must be sure to make no mistakes of his own or interrupt the torrent of them in Moscow.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden insists the U.S. and its allies had nothing to do with the Wagner Group rebellion. He says he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone on Sunday, and they will talk again soon. On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is investigating whether Western intelligence services were involved in the revolt. Mr. Biden offered a flat denial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We gave Putin no excuse to blame this in the West or to blame this on NATO. We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. This is part of a struggle within Russian system. It's still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going. The ultimate outcome of all this remains to be seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But it turns out U.S. intelligence may have had a pretty good idea in advance about Prigozhin's rebellion plans, but they didn't share it with key allies. CNN's U.S. National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood explains.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: U.S. intelligence painted an incredibly accurate and detailed picture of what Prigozhin was planning to do, including how and where he was planning to advance. That's according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. Now that intelligence was not shared widely within the U.S. government. It also wasn't shared widely with U.S. allies.
It was shared with some British officials but not with all of NATO. And Ukrainians were also not the recipients of that intelligence before the events over the weekend with U.S. officials concerned that those communications could be intercepted. Now when it comes to where Prigozhin is right now, state department spokesperson Matt Miller said the U.S. does not have an assessment as to where he is over the weekend, of course.
The expectation was that he was headed to Belarus after President Lukashenko brokered the deal that brought down deescalated the situation. But so far, officials from Belarus have not said that he is there and U.S. officials have been weary to project what his actual goals were over the course of the 24, 36 hours when he carried out that attempted insurrection. Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.
CHURCH: We have reestablished contact with our guest, Robert English and he joins us now. Let's pick up where we left off. I did want to ask you why Vladimir Putin didn't arrest Prigozhin when he was in Russia because now of course the Wagner boss will continue to cause Putin problems and be a constant reminder of the President's authority being challenged and we don't know where he is right now, of course.
[02:15:05]
ENGLISH: You know, it may be that he wishes he had arrested Prigozhin while they were in Russia, while they were in approached to Moscow. Unfortunately, that would have been a bloody affair either way. We know that there were some encounters, some aircraft were shot down, there were halfhearted attempts to halt that column. And a fully dedicated effort would have meant bombing and mass destruction.
So, I don't think they even had the option of a clean surgical arrest of Prigozhin. You know, the Russians just don't do that well. If you think back to the 1991 coup to so many terrorist encounters, and showdowns with the Chechens and others, they constantly fumble. Their special services are not very adept. So, there really wasn't an option to just arrest and silence him surgically.
It would have been a bloody mess. And Putin made the call, that it was better to make this compromise, let him leave the country, and then can think about the long term later.
CHURCH: Yes. And of course, Prigozhin survived his stalled rebellion. He has survived for now at least. He's now calling that a march for justice, not a coup. But we were discussing just before we lost communication with you that Putin will likely target him. So, your sense is that if he goes and seeks exile in Belarus and that's part of the deal, that his life could be at risk.
ENGLISH: I think it is at risk. When Putin is finished interrupting our communications here, evidently, we've displeased him, then he will turn wholeheartedly to a plan to neutralize Prigozhin. And that will mean probably, you know, there'll be a hacking, there'll be a cyber side. I wasn't joking before completely. They'll simply silence him online. They'll remove him from Telegram. They'll make his access to YouTube much more difficult.
And then quickly, they'll turn to simply physically silencing him. I don't think Putin wants to continue this game of competing for public attention, competing for prestige with some challenger abroad. Not at all.
CHURCH: Yes. It will be interesting to see if Prigozhin remains in hiding, as he appears to be at this juncture, at least. Robert English. Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
ENGLISH: You're quite welcome.
CHURCH: And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM. Donald Trump says he didn't keep classified documents in his Florida home after he left office, but recently obtained audio appears to contradict that. We will hear it next.
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CHURCH: CNN has obtained a key piece of evidence in the federal indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump. In an audio recording from 2021 after he had left office, Trump seems to indicate he is holding top secret Pentagon documents about plans to attack Iran. Documents he acknowledged he did not class declassified. Take listen. TRUMP: These are bad sick people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was your cue, you know, against you.
TRUMP: Well, it started right at the --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like when Milley is talking about, oh, you were going to do a coup. No, they were trying to do that before you even sworn in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
TRUMP: Well, with Milley, let me see that, I'll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn't it amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. His was him. They presented me this. This is off the record. But they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
TRUMP: We looked at some. This was him. This wasn't done by me, this was him. All sorts of stuff-pages long, look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mm.
TRUMP: Wait a minute, let's see here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: I just found, isn't that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mm-hm.
TRUMP: Except it is like high confidential.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. You attack and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary would print that out all the time, you know.
TRUMP: She'd send it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her private e-mails.
TRUIMP: No, she'd send it to Anthony Weiner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: The pervert.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please print.
TRUMP: By the way, Isn't that incredible?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: I was just thinking, because we were talking about it. And you know, he said, he wanted to attack Iran and what --
These are the papers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did.
TRUMP: This was done by the military and given to me. I think we can probably, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know, we'll, we'll have to see. Yes. We'll have to try to --
TRUMP: Declassify it.
STAFFER: Figure out a -- yes.
TRUMP: See as president I could have declassified it.
STAFFER: Yeah.
TRUMP: Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret.
STAFFER: Yeah. Now we have a problem.
TRUMP: Isn't that interesting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: It's so cool. I mean, it's so, look, her and I, and you probably almost didn't believe me, but now you believe me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I believe you.
TRUMP: It's incredible, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they never me a war they didn't want.
TRUMP: Hey, bring some, bring some Cokes in please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Paula Reid breaks down what we just heard and why it's so remarkable.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This recording is from the summer of 2021 at Trump's Bedminster golf club. He's speaking to two people working on an autobiography for former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. And the former President knew he was being recorded. His own aides were making a recording of this meeting, in addition to the folks working on that auto biography. But even though he knew he was making a record of this conversation, former president was -- as you can hear on this tape, surprisingly casual when talking about some of our nation's most sensitive secrets, he admits of this information that he is sharing with others in the room who do not have proper clearance or any clearance at all. He acknowledges that this is classified information that he could have declassified it when he was in the White House, but that he no longer had the power to do so.
Now in public, the former President has repeatedly said that he didn't have these documents, that is not actually that document that he is referring to in this tape. But one interesting quote that you can hear on the CNN version of this tape that was not included in the indictment, is that the former president said these are his papers. And so, he's insisting that in fact, whatever he appears to be showing the other people in the room, or the papers that he alleges, will vindicate him in terms of Mark Milley's comments about Iran.
Now, this tape is expected to be a central piece of evidence for the special counsel. Now another aspect of the tape that was not included in the indictment is former President Trump and at least one of his staffers mocking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her use of a private e-mail server. Now that's of course not really pertinent to a criminal case. But in the court of public opinion, it does appear to be hubris.
Paul Reid, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: As investigators are working to piece together what led to the implosion of the Titan submersible, we are hearing from a family member of two victims. The mother of Suleman Dawood. The 19-year-old who was on board with his father says she was meant to be on the catastrophic expedition but instead gave the spot to her son.
[02:25:11]
She also says the family had been planning a trip on the submersible for some time, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Christine Dawood also describes her last moments with her husband.
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CHRISTINE DAWOOD, WIFE AND MOTHER OF OCEANGATE ACCIDENT VICTIMS: We just hugged and joked actually because he thought I was so excited to go down. He was like a little child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lifelong dream of his.
DAWOOD: Yes. Absolutely. He had this ability of childlike excitement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: She says they gave up hope after the 96-hour mark passed. The submersible was on its way to the Titanic wreckage when it imploded killing all five people on board. Well, more on the short-lived Russian rebellions. Still ahead, including a look at Yevgeny Prigozhin's rapid rise from Putin chef to military enforcer. Back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: We are expecting to hear from the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in the day ahead about the short-lived Russian revolt. Russian President Vladimir Putin broke his silence Monday but did not mention the leader of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin by name.
[02:30:01]
Instead, he criticized the organizers of the rebellion for betraying their country and he said Wagner Group fighters could go with --
END
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Prigozhin by name, instead he criticized the organizers of the rebellion for betraying their country. And he said Wagner group fighters could go with Prigozhin to Belarus or join the Russian military. Prigozhin spoke earlier on Monday, he said his goal was never to replace Putin but to prevent the breakup of the Wagner group.
He says he stopped the march on Moscow to avoid more bloodshed. Relative calm has returned to the streets of the Russian capital, after Mr. Putin enacted emergency measures over the weekend. But an air of uncertainty still looms over the country, and the European Union's top diplomat says the Russian President has been damaged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: The monster that Putin created with a Wagner, the monster is biting him now. The monster is acting against his creator. The political system is showing the fragilities and the military power has been cracking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Prigozhin's exact whereabouts still unknown, and many experts believe he won't be safe in Belarus. CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the Wagner Chiefs long and complicated relationship with Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): From Putin's chef to a billionaire powerful mercenary boss. Prigozhin's rapid rise to the Russian President's top off books, military enforcer seems over. Saturday, Putin indirectly branding Prigozhin a traitor, saying he was leading an armed insurrection. The tipping point in escalating tensions, Prigozhin sending battle hardened Wagner mercenary fighters towards Moscow. From an undisclosed location, ostensibly on his way to exile in Belarus. Prigozhin denied he wanted to overthrow Putin.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, CHIEF OF WAGNER GROUP (through translator): We marched in demonstration of a protest not to overturn the power in the country.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Prigozhin's point, his beef not with Putin directly, but with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Whom he blames for starting an ill-conceived and badly executed war in Ukraine. And wants to strip Prigozhin of his troops.
PRIGOZHIN (through translator): As a result of intrigues, ill- conceived decisions. It was planned that this unit would cease to exist on July 1st, 2023.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Wagner, PMC grew in the shadows of Russia's 2014 war in Ukraine. Following that got bigger supporting Russian troops in Syria. Precisely, when Prigozhin joined forces with Wagner is a well-kept secret. His connections with Putin had helped him get catering contracts for the Russian military in Ukraine. Prigozhin's real value to Putin rocketed in Africa. Secretly winning influence in countries including Mali, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya.
Making big money on gold, diamond and other deals on the side. It was Prigozhin's private fiefdom shared with Putin, whom he always wanted to impress. But Wagner and Prigozhin were still in the shadows. The Ukraine war changed that, Prigozhin went public had victories, potentially please Putin by taking ground in Bakhmut. But then, hubris took hold. He began to bite the hand that once fed him.
Criticized Putin's Defense Chief, Sergei Shoigu, making a big noise, claiming he was being shorted on ammo and his fighters were dying. His powers reach the pinnacle Saturday. Adoration from the crowds before Putin pushed him into exile in Belarus. And if there were any doubt, how irreversibly the pair have fallen out, Putin again late Monday, labelling him a traitor. A measure of how much Prigozhin is now under Putin's skin. He won't even say his name.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (on camera): And the measure of Putin's weakening grip on power. He didn't round up Prigozhin Saturday, when he had the chance. Leaving him free to keep up his critical anti Defense Ministry drumbeat. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
CHURCH: And the weekend rebellion is taking a toll on the Russian economy. The ruble briefly hit its lowest level in nearly 15 months on Monday, trading about 87 to the U.S. dollar before paring back some of its losses. Russians scrambled to swap their cash for dollars over the weekend, pushing up the exchange rate. The Russian currency has been surprisingly resilient for most of the year. Thanks to the Central Bank aggressive rate hikes.
[02:35:02]
And China's Premier is bullish about his country's economic outlook. He is predicting growth of about five percent for this year. That would be a big improvement over last year's three percent economic growth, which fell well short of Beijing's target. Beijing is also warning other countries against reducing their dependency on China.
The Chinese Premier told delegates at the World Economic Forum. He would like to see more communication and cooperation with Beijing's partners. So, let's go live now to CNN's Anna Coren, she joins us from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Anna. So, what were you learning about this and, of course, any other significant economic headlines coming out of the summit?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, as you say the Chinese Premier was sounding rather optimistic about his country's economy. While addressing the World Economic Forum summit in Tianjin today announcing, the China's economic growth was projected to reach an annual target of around five percent. Well, it comes as the world's second largest economy struggling to make the post-COVID recovery that markets were anticipating after it reopened at the end of last year.
As virtually cutting itself off from the rest of the world for almost three years with its harsh zero COVID policies. Li Qiang, he said growth in the second quarter of this year will be higher than the first and that China will roll out more effective policies to expand domestic demand and open markets. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LI QIANG, CHINESE PREMIER (through translator): For the whole year, we are expected to achieve the target of about five percent economic growth set at the beginning of this year. Recently, some international organizations and institutions have also raised their forecasts for China's economic growth this year. Showing their confidence in China's development prospects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: But Rosemary, not everyone is showing confidence. There's a long list of major banks and credit rating agencies that have cut forecasts for economic growth this year. Just yesterday, the S&P Global, reduced growth forecasts from 5.5 percent to 5.2 percent. Joining Goldman Sachs, UBS and J.P. Morgan among others in reducing estimates.
The property sector remains a drag on the economy as developers struggle to complete pre-sold projects and the local government debt burden comes into focus. And then, of course, there is the concern about the youth unemployment record, it is currently sitting at 20.8 percent. Many people feeling very disillusioned and anxious. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Anna Coren joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks for that report. And we'll be right back.
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CHURCH: NASA has begun preparing astronauts for what life would be like on Mars. Four researchers have been chosen to live in this isolated 158 square meter habitat here on Earth, where they will simulate the experience of living on the Red Planet. Over the next year they will be dealing with maintenance and equipment failures and undergoing strenuous psychological and physical testing. This mission will be followed by two more-year-long simulations with different crews. And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Do stay with us, "WORLD SPORT" is up next. Then I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in about 15 minutes.
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