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CNN International: Putin Cheered by Supporters in Southern Russia; Russian President Vladimir Putin Speaks in Moscow; Putin Speaks at Business and Digital Forum; Why are Protests Breaking out in France; Court: UK's Rwanda Deportation Scheme is "Unlawful". Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired June 29, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead tens of thousands of police are being deployed in France, after two nights of rioting following the death of a teenage boy shot by police.

We're live in Paris on this developing story. Then presumed human remains are found in the wreckage of the Titan submersible, what investigations are finding out. And a major loss for the UK government after a court said its plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda are unlawful.

We begin in France though, where at least 150 people have been arrested across the country in the second night of rioting after the fatal police shooting of a teenage boy identified only as Nahel M. It happens during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

French officials say the officer who shot and killed the 17-year-old acted illegally and that the officer has been put under provisional detention for voluntary homicide. French President Emmanuel Macron chaired a crisis unit meeting earlier he has called the shooting unjustifiable, but he's also condemned the rioting.

Heavy security is in place across the Paris region as more protests are expected. Let's go straight to CNN's Melissa Bell who's in Paris for us. What's the atmosphere like Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max full of trepidation on the part of the authorities deploying those 40,000 police men and women fritter night across the suburbs, the outer suburbs of Paris. And that's really where we saw so much of the damage being done last night; cities like not to lose across the country.

But that outer ring of the suburbs of Paris, a lot of that violence was focused and that violence really erupting. As you said the first night in Nanterre as a result of what happened to young Nahel, during that traffic stop. Worsening that night, 31 people arrested, overnight it was 151. And really this time what we saw overnight, Max was schools being destroyed, for being put on fire.

Everything that represented the state, police stations were attacked, people went into them and took over extraordinary violence. And I think that is what they fear once again for tonight because this is something that has been a long standing issue here in France. What happened to young Nahel on Tuesday morning is all too tragically Max, something that has happened many times before.

Traffic stops or identity searches often in the less favored favorable were less, well-off neighborhoods of Paris, turning violent and sometimes as in this case, deadly. There have been investigations in the past there have been protests in the past. And this issue has kept coming back.

The line taken by the government this morning, this was not an issue of the state. It was the fault of one police officer. The anger that is out there on the streets is very much about the fact that this keeps happening and it keeps happening Max to the same people.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa, thank you. We'll keep watching it. Now that we're getting into mystery in Moscow, because questions are swirling about the status and location of a top Russian military general not seen since that aborted uprising last weekend General Sergey Surovikin, nicknamed General Armageddon, for his aggressive tactics has not been seen since Saturday.

That's when he appeared in a video appealing to a mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to halt his mutiny. The Kremlin has referred questions to Russia's Defense Ministry. The New York Times reported Surovikin knew about Prigozhin's plans before his aborted March.

Also not seen recently the man at the center of the rebellion the Kremlin today said it doesn't have any information about the Wagner chief. The Belarusian president said earlier this week that Prigozhin was in his country. Meanwhile, the Russian president was welcomed by cheering crowds where he visited Dagestan in Southern Russia. CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now live from Moscow. What are we learning more about the context of this queue and the reaction Matthew?

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The context of the, sorry, Max, you cut out right when you came to me then, can you repeat that question?

FOSTER: Yes. In terms of the -- what we're learning about the context of the rebellion? And, you know, what's the reaction to that from the Kremlin?

CHANCE: Yes, well, I mean, it's obviously been a massive blow to Vladimir Putin's credibility and his authority. And those pictures you were just showing of him visiting Dagestan yesterday, with crowds cheering and trying to touch him trying to take selfies and things like that. That's in southern Russia, highly unusual, particularly after the pandemic where Vladimir Putin has been very much at arm's length when it comes to ordinary people in the country. He was cheek to jowl last night with people down there, getting selfies with him treating him like a Rockstar.

Clearly, I think a reaction to or response to those extraordinary scenes we saw at the weekend of Wagner forces being cheered by locals in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Still a lot of swirling rumors speculation, though about the whereabouts of that, that General that you were speaking about there, General Surovikin, Surovikin rather, you said Surovikin, Surovikin.

Where he is at the moments and that he hasn't been seen, as you rightly say, since he appeared on television at the weekend, urging Prigozhin's Wagner fighters to stand down from their military uprising. The New York Times reporting, of course, that he had advanced information perhaps, about that the plans of Wagner and of Yevgeny Prigozhin, that we've not been able to verify that.

And, of course, the Moscow Times, which is now an online news organization, operates from outside of Russia, is quoting its anonymous sources that General Surovikin is being detained for questioning. Again, we cannot independently verify that and the Kremlin, in response to our questions, has said it will not comment on that.

But yes, you know, clearly, lots of things happening behind the scenes. What if anything's happening, it's happening behind the scenes at the moment, and it's not happening in public, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Matthew, thank you. The failed Russia mutiny is topping the agenda at a meeting in Brussels, NATO and European leaders. Looking at the repercussions of the rebellion, they're also discussing the EU's role in the West commitment to bolstering Ukraine security that could include long term deals to provide weapons equipment and other military aid to Ukraine.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it has found what are believed to be human remains in the wreckage of that submersible that imploded near the Titanic. Pieces of the sub have now been brought to dry land and are being investigated. The Coast Guard says it's proving whether criminal or civil charges should be filed in connection with the implosion that killed five people as they were exploring the Titanic wreckage.

CNN's Paula Newton has been tracking this story for us and incredible really, that they've managed to get anything up from the bottom.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's been quite a bit significant developments Max in the last 24 hours. And we begin with what the U.S. Coast Guard says are presumed human remains. What's interesting here is that they will say that U.S. medical professionals will now begin what they call a formal analysis of those remains.

And again, Max, you can only imagine how painful that is for the families, but also a measure of comfort there because they desperately want to know what their families went through if they knew what was coming. And those are the kinds of pieces of information that they would like as well, hoping to obviously bring their loved ones to rest.

I also do want to point out though, that late yesterday, we received a release from the transportation safety board here in Canada initiating yet another investigation. They say that in fact that they have in their possession, the data recorder from the polar prints. You'll remember this was the mothership that was supposed to be tethered communication wise to that tighten and would know step by step, minute by minute when things began to go wrong.

And then also, as we were saying, Max, those very large pieces of debris that were brought up by that remote operated vehicle, the transportation safety board here say as well --

FOSTER: OK, Paula, let me interrupt just because we're hearing from President Putin, speaking currently right now at a business forum in Moscow.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: -- is not some kind of distant future. Our own future, the one we are living through right now. And what's here, that we are discussing that in a very interesting exchange of ideas, where we learn things, they struggle and overcome problems.

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And I think it is really the duty of each one of us, of each business and particularly young personnel to come up with initiatives which are aimed at solving the various problems of the country, in whatever sphere and to develop their talents. And today, as far as I understand you have come here precisely for that for this competition, which the moderator spoke about.

And each year, I think that there have been more than a half more contestants each year. And that, also from our historic heartlands of Donbas and, and Luhansk, I should like to greet you particularly. Volunteer entrepreneurs, these are really the locomotives of progress, the foundation of the sovereignty of our country, the best proposals, the best decisions put forward by our citizens and other associations really are building the best for the country in the future and for the economy.

The economy is not about the consumption of each person, but it is about producing the best possible products and services. We are doing our utmost to do that. And I think that we can talk about progress and development here. And I think that we can say that we do not lag behind the best products of other countries, we're upfront. And in some areas, several steps forward.

At the exhibition just now, I heard people talk about that. I heard lots of good rubbish, as it was, good stuff. And I hope very much that these kinds of events will there be more of them in the future. As everyone knows, any kind of monopoly is not forever. And what we are doing is competing in teams. And I think that you have chosen you have demonstrated that, particularly the contestants in this competition. And obviously, that is very important for the market. Our contestants show and have shown that they can work better. And we have to make sure that we actually get this whole process working.

And at full speed, make sure that we do something we are proud of. And this will be a value not only to Russia, but to the entire world. You are not just ordinary folk, you are businessman. You know that the whole process begins with the CIS countries, the near abroad BRICS and so on, and that the market is absolutely colossal, enormous. As you know, the BRICS country contains the majority of the world's population.

FOSTER: And so, that was President Putin speaking in Moscow, obviously, you are tuning in Clare, in reference to the rebellion. He wasn't speaking about that, but kind of interesting in itself that this is business as usual other business forum.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is one of quite a few appearances that we've seen from Putin since Monday; I'd say an unusually large number, several addresses. We saw that military event at the Kremlin and the trip to Dagestan, where he had an unusual amount of actual physical contact with other people shaking hands with civilians and things like that.

And now we have this event. And in terms of the, the, the content of what he's saying, it's a business event. There's a competition to bring in sort of ideas, initiatives, and he's talking about elements of economic self-reliance.

How Russia needs to function on its own, how its companies are producing things that are no worse than what Western companies are producing and how they're breaking the monopoly of Western companies with their own brands.

So this is about Russia's self-reliance, the fortress Russia that we've been talking about since the beginning of the war Putin in this way, I think reasserting his own authority. And trying to build sort of I guess patriotism you could say in the business community like he's been doing with the rest of society.

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FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you. We'll keep across that speech and see if there are any references to politics around this situation in Russia. We're going to take a short break, back in a moment.

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FOSTER: Taking you to a Nanterre, just outside Paris, a march in memory of Nahel M, the 17-year-old boy shot dead by police during a traffic stop on Tuesday taking place. Huge crowds you didn't know quite how many were going to come out. It's difficult to tell without a wider shot, but certainly jam packed or groups of people there marching in his name, relatives of the boy also attending ritual -- . So why are these protests breaking out across France?

Well, anger is rising across the country over the death of a teenage boy who was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop just outside Paris On Tuesday. More than 40,000 police officers have been mobilized across the country following two days of riots and violence. A French police officer was put onto provisional detention for voluntary homicide and French authorities say he acted illegally.

But the government urges calm and denies institutional responsibility for the shooting. It's not the first time French police have been accused of excessive use of force, particularly in the neighborhoods with racially mixed populations outside France's biggest cities.

Six French and international human rights organizations are currently involved in legal cases in France, asking for structural reforms to end what they say are discriminatory police practices. For a closer look and to try to understand what's going on within the culture here, Melissa joins us. This is a frustration boiling up. Or is it specifically targeted at the police? I'm trying to understand what you think this case has tapped into in France.

BELL: It is of those things at once Max, and it goes back so far and soon deep in French society for a number of reasons. There is the question of police allegations over the years of police brutality that have altered tragically in some cases led to deaths. There have been calls for the reform of the police; there have been calls for it, to be able to police itself much better and to investigate itself much better.

One of the big problems here in France is how questions of race are dealt with. And essentially this is a country that prides itself on its secular past. It is a law from the early 20th century that specifically bans any consideration mentioned, collecting of data on questions of race, race, ethnicity, religion.

And that has proven hugely problematic when it's come to looking at how the police in certain neighborhoods is functioning. And that is what you're seeing right now in Nanterre bubbling up. That neighborhood to the northwest of Paris where that protest is just kicking off.

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These are parts of Paris on the outskirts of Paris, where the local populations are all too familiar with exactly this problem. The fact that if you are as young Nahel was of Arab origin, you are much more likely to find yourself being checked having your identity papers checked to be on the wrong side of the police, as he found himself so tragically on Tuesday morning.

And yet, because the French institutions refused to consider questions of race choose not to look at them. It has been very difficult to pinpoint the specific examples of where it is race and racism that has colored the judgments of police officers in specific cases. Now, that is what you're seeing bubbling up right now, there on those images Max. It is a march that was meant to take place it had been called for by Nahel's mother, outside of Nanterre police station. It's been moving over the course of the last half hour into the neighborhood itself into what the French call -- these are these large residential complexes all around Paris in the least well off neighborhoods that have been considered problematic by authorities trying to keep law and order.

And from the point of view of the people, who live there, coming back, coming up against policies that they believe, policies and day-to-day actions that they feel to be discriminatory this has been a long standing issue. There have been so many examples over the years Max, of when this has bubbled up.

And one thing so of course of 2005, it took an entire summer to get to the end of the anger that have arisen in these neighborhoods as a result of the death of two young men who had been fleeing a police control. It has happened again and again over the years. And no doubt has been given a fresh significance these last few years by the residence of Black Lives Matter.

And that is what you're seeing today on the streets of Nanterre years of pent up anger and feelings of discrimination that is very difficult to voice or to have recognized here in France.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa, let's see how it all plays out again today. Thank you for joining us in Paris. We're taking a short break, back in just a moment.

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FOSTER: British court of appeal has ruled the country's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful. And the judge has said sending them to Rwanda would breach the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision overturns a previous high court ruling found around; there was a safe third country to send refugees and asylum seekers.

The plan was aimed at stopping human smugglers. That plan by the British government is to appeal the decision -- to the Supreme Court if they accept it. Let's get some perspective from Jomana Karadsheh. I mean, there weren't, the court wasn't disagreeing with the principle of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. Was it? It was saying Rwanda wasn't a safe place to go for those asylum seekers?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly Max. This is I mean; their ruling is based on the lawfulness of this plan. And what they're saying is, is that this that Rwanda is not a safe third country. They say that there are deficiencies in the country's asylum system.

And if the UK were to send asylum seekers, refugees and migrants to Rwanda, they are at risk of being sent back to their home countries where they could be facing persecution and other inhumane treatment.

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This would be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. And until these deficiencies are corrected, they say this plan is unlawful. And we pretty much straightaway had reaction coming in from the Rwandan government. A spokesman saying while this is the decision, ultimately, of course, if the UK's judicial system, they take issue with this saying that Rwanda is one of the safest countries in the world.

And we've been recognized by UNHCR and other international institutions for our exemplary treatment of refugees. Just a bit of background there, Max on this case, this was brought by the charity asylum aid and several asylum seekers individuals from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Vietnam, and other countries.

And this has, of course, put this government plan on hold over the past year as it has been going through the judicial system. It was dismissed by the High Court late last year. And that agreed with the government, essentially. And it went to appeals and today we had this decision by the three judge appeals panel and the appeals court.

Now what happens next is, we've heard from the Prime Minister a short time ago, Rishi Sunak, releasing a statement saying that they will be appealing this decision that it will go to the Supreme Court. Max, of course, as you can imagine, the kind of reaction we're getting from human rights organizations here in the UK and beyond who are welcoming this win for now. Max?

FOSTER: OK Jomana, thanks for joining us with that, thank you for joining us here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Amanda is up next.

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