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Russia: Ukraine Launches New Drone Attack In Moscow; President Of Chad Attempting To Mediate Crisis; U.N. Chief: Torrential rains kill 11 people in Beijing, 27 missing; U.K. Announces Plans to Expand Drilling in the North Sea; China's New Generative AI Regulations Take Effect on August 15. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 01, 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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[02:00:28]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Russia says their capitol was struck by Ukrainian drones for the second time in just three days.

Niger's political crisis deepening as neighboring countries warned against military intervention to restore the ousted president.

And in Israel, an historic move by the Supreme Court to convene all 15 judges to hear challenges to the government's judicial overhaul plan. We are live in Tel Aviv with the latest.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, Russia and Ukraine appear to be ramping up aerial attacks against each other targeting key cities on both sides of the border. Russia claims its capital has once again been hit by Ukrainian drone strikes. Moscow's mayor says most were intercepted but one of them crashed into a high-rise tower, the same building that was hit in a previous attack on Sunday.

Earlier Russia's Defense Minister warned that his country would respond to such strikes by intensifying its own attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): Given the current situation, we took additional measures to improve defense against attacks from the air and sea. The intensity of strikes against Ukrainian military facilities, including those used to conduct these terrorist acts has been increased many times over.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Meantime, Kyiv says Russia coward out a deadly attack in the hometown of the Ukrainian president. Officials say to ballistic missiles hit a school and residential tower on Monday, killing at least six people and leaving dozens wounded. A five-year-old girl was among the dead.

The Kremlin says it will monitor an upcoming summit in Saudi Arabia where officials from multiple countries are set to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine. The talks will include Ukrainian representatives but they won't involve Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke about the summit on Monday saying Russia does not oppose attempts to settle the conflict. But he claimed a resolution is impossible right now because in his words, Ukraine does not want peace.

Peskov also condemned the recent drone attacks in Moscow, calling them acts of desperation by Ukraine. As CNN's Nic Robertson reports the attacks appear to be part of a bolder Ukrainian strategy to take the fight directly to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Russia Russia's war in Ukraine is increasingly blowing up in Moscow. This Ukrainian drone attacks Sunday night bringing Russia's war hundreds of miles away into the heart of its own capital, shocking citizens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My friends and I rented an apartment to come here and unwind and at some point, we heard an explosion and it was like a wave. Everyone jumped.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Attacks like this in Moscow becoming increasingly common. A psychological blow for a population repeatedly told by Putin-state media. They are winning the so-called special military operation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was asleep and woken up by an explosion. Everything started to shake and the whole building had come down.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): This weekend, Putin was keeping up the pretense everything is OK. Celebrating Navy Day. But behind the scenes his officials appear rattled by Ukraine's refusal to be beaten.

ROBERTSON: Former President Dmitry Medvedev says if Ukraine's counter offensive is successful, Russia will use its nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is dismissing the drone strikes and Moscow as an act of desperation. The defense minister calling them terrorist attacks reality. They've got Moscow's attention.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Ukraine's president is hinting more of these strikes to come.

VOLODYMR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Ukraine is getting stronger, gradually the war is returning to the territory of Russia to its symbolic centers and military bases. This is an inevitable natural and absolutely fair process. [02:05:12]

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Zelenskyy is stating what is becoming increasingly apparent. Ukraine is ramping up drone strikes inside Russia. In recent weeks, targets just over the border in areas vital to Russia's war efforts have increased two.

The impact even breaking through on Russia's state media. What is clear, Ukraine's fight on Russian soil is having effect.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The threat of Niger's political crisis spilling into other parts of West Africa has just escalated. The nations of Mali and Burkina Faso say they would consider any military intervention to restore the ousted president of Niger an act of war against them. It comes after the West African economic bloc threatened possible military action if Niger's coup leaders don't stand down by this weekend.

Chad's President is trying diplomacy hoping to persuade Niger's ousted president and the general who detained him to find some path out of this crisis.

CNN's Larry Madowo has details from Nairobi.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: France is denying that it's planning a military intervention to free ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. In fact, the French foreign minister saying it's absolutely not true that it's considered that. That response is necessary because the (INAUDIBLE) in Niger has claimed that France has been meeting with former officials, ousted officials to try and get military and political authorizations to carry out military strikes around the Presidential Palace to free Bazoum.

To understand exactly what's going on, it's important to pay attention to what two key Western allies are saying about the situation. The French and the Americans. The U.S. State Department has still not classified this as a coup, a technical definition that will require it to stop military support as well as aid. In fact, a U.S. State Department official telling CNN that they still consider this a domestic dispute between the presidential guard and President Mohamed Bazoum.

So some Western allies essentially believe that there's a path to restore President Mohamed Bazoum to the presidency. But for ordinary people, they worry about the likely effect of the sanctions announced by the Economic Community of West African States for a country that's already had been through so much turmoil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOUNTY AMADOU DIALLO, RETIRED TEACHER (through translator): I think the sanctions were initially taken in the heat of the moment, and then apparently dictated by outside powers, because Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea were in the same basket as us before, but we didn't sanction them as heavily. They say they want to set an example. They want to make an example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The clearest path out of this crisis in Asia appears to be the mediation efforts by the transitional president of neighboring Chad. If President Deby cannot get General Tchiani and Mohamed Bazoum to agree on some path out of this, that it means ECOWAS has no option, but to use force like they threatened. And on Tuesday, they would have five days after that one-week deadline to have some kind of military intervention.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

CHURCH: Let's get perspective now from Jean-Herve Jezequel in France. He is the Project Director for the Sahel with the International Crisis Group. Appreciate you joining us.

JEAN-HERVE JEZEQUEL, PROJECT DIRECTOR, SAHEL, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Yes. It's good to be here.

CHURCH: So as this political crisis plays out in Niger. Surrounding nations are calling for very different outcomes with Mali and Burkina Faso warning that any military effort to restore Niger's ousted president would be considered an act of war while the West African economic bloc is threatening military action if Nigeria's coup leader -- leaders I should say, don't step down by the end of the week.

So, how likely is it that this could end in conflict, do you think?

JEZEQUEL: Well, I mean, there is a possibility that in a -- in a week or more, you know, the ECOWAS, the original buddy decides on organizing, you know, some kind of a military operation. But it will be a new form of intervention. And right now, they are, you know, putting more energy on taking strong sanctions against the -- against the junta. They want to close borders. They want to suspend financial transactions between Niger and the rest of the region.

This is the first step and they hope that it will be enough for the junta to release President Bazoum.

[02:10:00]

CHURCH: And the President of Chad is trying to mediate the crisis but how can a compromise solution be found when all parties appear to want a different outcome here, including many citizens in Niger who support the military and a turning against what they call French colonialism?

JEZEQUEL: So, it's true that -- up to no, there is no strong mobilization in favor of President Bazoum. There have been some outside the capital in secondary cities, like in Taiwan or in Maradi, there have been some mobilization in favor of the president. But so far, it's true that what we are seeing is civilians, in -- especially in the capital in the (INAUDIBLE) you know, in support of the junta but even more against any western intervention, or even any African intervention in the country.

So, it's going to be very hard to find a compromise. Of course, you know, if they are strong economic sanctions against the country. As you said, it's one of the poorest country in the world and it's in a matter of a few weeks, it could be -- it could lead the whole country in a very dramatic situation. You know, the conjunctions between external pressure, you know, an internal mobilization in favor of the president is key.

If we want to have an exit to the situation that will bring back some form of civilian rule. Fruit solution, in a way is also to bring back a civilian rule in Niger.

CHURCH: Yes. You mentioned that Niger is facing these crippling sanctions as democracy falls apart in the country. But now there's also concern the Russian-backed Wagner group could take advantage of the crisis, particularly given the nation's uranium. How big a worry, could that prove to be do you think?

JEZEQUEL: Well, that's likely scenario. We've seen similar development in the last couple of years in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso. And that's a possibility that the new military authorities because they are not able to make a deal with the West and with the region. The new military authority could reject France, they could reject other Western allies, including the U.S. And they could welcome Russia as a new military partner.

We have also to remember that France, you know, is a former colonial power. So there is not much support in federal France. And also, France, as led to the fight against jihadists insurgents in the last 10 years, we've had much of a success. So, there are a few reasons why the new authorities and also the population in Niger are interested in a change of partner.

CHURCH: Yes. We shall certainly watch to see what happens. Jean-Herve Jezequel, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

JONATHAN VIGLIOTTI: Thank you.

CHURCH: The United States will face off against Portugal in the Women's World Cup in less than an hour from now. And all eyes are on the defending champions. CNN's Angus Watson is live from Sydney with a look at the next round of matches. Great to see you, Angus. So, what are the expectations for this next round?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, Team USA might have expected to be going into this third group stage game with the opportunity to rest some of their star players. Maybe Sofia Smith, Trinidad Rodman, or even Captain Lindsey Horan might have been able to put their feet up for this one. But it hasn't turned out that way. Three nil win against Vietnam to start up, but then a one-all draw against Netherlands in the second game means that Portugal need to -- the Team USA need to either win or draw against Portugal to make it through to the next round.

And that has fans nervous in Auckland, and in -- all across New Zealand and here in Australia. And back in the USA. Here's what one young fan had to say in Auckland today ahead of the match.

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STEVEN LIPNICK, USA FAN: There's all this ruckus. I'm really looking forward to see if the U.S. makes it and beat Portugal because I want them to make it to elimination round. And I want them to win the World Cup. And so, I'm really excited about the game.

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WATSON: Portugal are a country with a wonderful footballing history but they're making their first ever World Cup appearance. This time out in Australia and New Zealand. Their fans are excited despite being up against this daunting Team USA side. Here's what some of their fans had to say in Auckland.

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FERNANDO DE MATOS, PORTUGAL FAN (through translator): It's going to be fantastic tonight. We won a game, we lost the game. Today everything is decided so it's super exciting here in New Zealand.

[02:15:09]

WATSON: We've already had such wonderful football though at this World Cup. Fans in New Zealand and Australia treated to some wonderful matches. Not least of course last night in Sydney, Monday night the Matilda's up against Canada in a do or die match. Australia needed to win to ensure that they got through to the next round of competition. It would have been a failure in the words of Australia's Coach Tony Gustavsson if they hadn't managed that and many people around Australia may have felt the same way.

In the end, Australia beating the Tokyo 2020 Gold Medalist Canada for nil Melbourne and what a night it was down there, Rosemary. And here I am at the fan zone in Sydney where thousands braved the winter cold to watch, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. Lots of celebrations there. Angus Watson joining us live from Sydney. Many thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Well, for the first time all 15 Supreme Court judges in Israel will convene for a hearing on a controversial judicial overhaul board passed by the government. We'll head to Tel Aviv for the details.

And could the abduction of an American nurse and her child expedite a multinational force being deployed to Haiti? We'll take a look at that. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: Legal experts are weighing in on the case of Nicolas Petro, the son of Colombia's president who was arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment. Petro is a congressman and was placed under investigation in March. He was accused of taking money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father's peace efforts with criminal organizations.

He has previously denied the accusations. Nicolas Petro's ex-wife was also arrested for alleged money laundering and personal data violations. One lawyer in Bogota commented on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCISCO BERNATE, ATTORNEY (through translator): The reality is that the chairs he has with his partner show the flow of large sums of money in cash. The way they spent that money does not coincide with the salary he receives as a deputy. It will be a very complicated defense. We assume that his ex-partner is going to be a witness against him. The situation is very compromising.

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CHURCH: Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he was hurt to learn of his son's arrest, but said the prosecution would proceed in accordance with the law.

In an historic move, all 15 judges of Israel's Supreme Court will take part in a hearing challenging a controversial new judicial overhaul law in September. The legislation passed by the Israeli parliament last month would strip the court of its power to declare government decisions unreasonable.

[02:20:08]

For more let's go to journalist Elliott Gotkine who joins us live from Tel Aviv in Israel. Good to see you, Elliott. So all the Supreme Court judges will hear this challenge. How's this expected to play out?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The short answer, Rosemary, is that we really don't know. We don't know what the ultimate verdict will be from these 15 Supreme Court justices. We don't know how long the hearings will take either. All we do know is that they're due to start on September the 12th. So, this is the situation that we're in. I think, the fact that they're convening all 15 justices for the first time ever.

They have in a previous kind of incarnation when the Supreme Court had fewer justices convened all of them at one time. But this is the first time that they've all going to be convened together in their expanded capacity. What it does show is the gravity of the situation and the seriousness with which it views these petitions against the government's reasonableness bill. Because if it were to strike down that this bill, it's not just the law, like any other.

This reasonableness bill is now one of Israel's so-called basic laws. These are the closest things that Israel has to a constitution and never before in the Supreme Court's history has it struck down a basic law. So, if it were to do so, that would be unprecedented. The other thing, of course, that we don't know, in addition to how the Supreme Court will rule is, if it does strike down this reasonableness bill, how will the government react?

Now you'll recall in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN just last week, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to commit to whether his government would abide by a ruling that would strike down this law. He was asked again, on NBC News in an interview yesterday, again, he refused to commit. And actually his Likud Party put out a statement which said, the governments of Israel have always been careful to respect the law and the ruling of the court.

And the court has always been careful to respect the basic law. These two elements Likud went on to say form the basis of the rule of law in Israel and a balance between the branches in any democracy. Any deviation from one of these principles will cause serious damage to Israeli democracy which in these days needs communist dialogue and responsibility. So again, in that statement from Likud being seen by the opposition, almost as a shot across the bow of the Supreme Court, almost as a threat almost to say, look, you know, we've always respected the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court needs to respect the government as well. So again, not committing to abide by any ruling, not saying that it won't, but clearly hedging its bets depending on what that ruling is, by the Supreme Court. As I say these hearings due to begin on September the 12th. We don't know how long those hearings will go on or when it will make its decision known. But clearly that is something to watch.

In the meantime, against this backdrop, of course, the protests will continue and the opposition leader Yair Lapid has called for an 18- month freeze on any further judicial overhaul laws in -- as a condition for going back to the negotiating table to try to find some kind of compromise. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Elliott Gotkine joining us live from Tel Aviv. Many thanks.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for Sunday's deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan, saying the attack was part of its ongoing conflict against democracy, which it views as hostile to the principles of Islam. Police say the attacker detonated explosives at a political rally near Afghanistan's border. They also say a dozen children were among the 54 people killed.

The U.S. State Department is cautiously working to win the safe return of an American nurse and her child abducted in Haiti. According to the U.N., authorities have already registered more than 1000 kidnappings in Haiti this year. And the country is ramping gang violence only seems to be getting worse. CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALIX DORSAINVIL, NURSE KIDNAPPED IN HAITI: Haitians are such a resilient people.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voiceover): Alix Dorsainvil in her own words saying how much her work in Haiti means to her. Now her family and friends are asking for prayers and mercy and the safe return of this nurse from New Hampshire and her child. They were snatched Thursday from the grounds of the faith-based charity El Roi near the Haitian capital Port au Prince.

Her husband Sandro is El Roi's director. The statement from the charity reads, our team at El Roi Haiti is grateful for the outpouring of prayers, care and support for our colleague. We continue to work with our partners and trusted relationships to secure their safe return. The U.S. State Department says they're aware of the abductions and doing all it can to assist.

MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We are in regular contact with the Haitian authorities and we'll continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.

NEWTON (voiceover): Haitian police and government authorities have not responded to CNN inquiries about the kidnappings. But on the same day, Dorsainvil and her child were taken, the U.S. ordered all non- emergency staff to leave Haiti and again warned that all Americans should leave citing the increase in violence and the risk of kidnapping.

[02:25:03]

But it was the dire need in Haiti and the hope that gang recruitment could be stopped that Dorsainvil said so compelled her to live and work in Haiti over the last several years.

DORSAINVIL: Lots of people who would just have turned to games or turned to the streets, they're able to get vocational training. People are learning how to read. The community is being transformed where it was once ashes now beauties coming up from it.

NEWTON (voiceover): Brutal street battles and evermore violent incidents still plagued the streets of Port au Prince and beyond. And now with an equally violent vigilante uprising, Bwa Kale in recent weeks that has seen suspected gang members stoned and burned to death. In fact, the U.N. reported earlier this month that an alarming cycle of violence persists. The U.N. continues to plead for a multinational force to move in and quell the violence.

The U.S. Secretary of State saying Saturday there has been some progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been very focused on trying to put in place what's necessary for a multinational force including finding a lead nation to take this on.

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NEWTON (voiceover): Kenya now says with the U.N. mandate, it is willing to send up to 1000 officers to train and assist Haitian police. But an international intervention may not come soon enough for Dorsainvil and her child who at this hour are at the mercy of their captors, with their demands unknown. Paul Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

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CHURCH: Hollywood is mourning Angus Cloud. A rising young actor best known for his breakthrough role in the HBO drama Euphoria. He played a sweet natured drug dealer named Fezco who quickly became a fan favorite. Cloud also had a few other projects in the works. No cause of death has been released, but his family says he lost his father recently and struggled intensely. Angus Cloud was 25 years old.

And still to come. Heavy rains pummeled China causing major flooding, powerful enough to wash away roads. How the country is dealing with the remnants of a typhoon and preparing for another one.

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[02:30:06]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well hundreds of thousands of people are waiting to get back into their homes as the remnants of a storm called Doksuri weaken over China.

Torrential rains caused flooding across the country, killing at least 11 people in Beijing with nearly 30 still missing, CCTV reports. Now nearly 100 weather warnings were issued on Monday alone. Heavy downpours are expected to continue through Tuesday, increasing concerns about dangerous flooding and landslides.

And CNN's Marc Stewart joins me now from Tokyo with more on this. So good to see you Marc. So what's the latest on this extreme weather with more to come?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately Rosemary, as you said more is to come. In fact Beijing has been seeing rain today. This, as the city really tries to focus on both rescue efforts and recovery efforts after this storm dumped record amounts a rain.

Let's first talk about these rescue efforts, because some of the pictures that we have been watching are quite gripping. One in particular of someone who has been rescued from a car. There's a big push of water, a car was flipped to its side and the driver was stuck in that vehicle, was able to get out.

Fortunately, there were emergency teams nearby and we saw an emergency worker get hoisted onto a crane, drop a line, and then able -- is able to rescue this person from their car. So a safe conclusion there.

We have seen other rescues throughout Beijing, maybe not to that extent, but we have seen people being rescued from cars. We've been seeing emergency workers going building to building, taking people out, having to wait through water, which in many cases is well above their waste. Beijing home to 21 million people and in many ways life there is at a standstill. We saw images of shopping center, a new shopping center that had a big hole in front of it, where the road collapsed. The winter Olympic venues, one of the venues at least has been covered

by water, so a lot of complications there. Not to mention, it's very difficult for people to get around. There have been delays to some of the flights out of Beijing. One airport there, we saw a lot of flooding on the tarmac. Trains have also been impacted. Also, Chinese President, Xi Jinping did release a statement saying to the effect that he wants all resources mobilized to get transportation back to where it needs to be. To get infrastructure repaired.

But this storm, as we are seeing, is just one example of the extreme weather really to hit Asia. Where I am here in Japan, we are getting ready for the potential of another typhoon. Just today here in Tokyo, we have seen some heavy rains. We have seen thunder and lightning. And there is concern that the weather that is developing from this latest typhoon could then transport and move back toward the Chinese coastline causing more troubles there.

So Rosemary, we could be in for yet another few very difficult days.

CHURCH: That is not good at all. Marc Stewart joining us live from Tokyo. Many thanks for that.

And still to come, an economy growing and inflation coming down. So why experts still worried about the Eurozone's economic future? And China is quickly becoming an AI powerhouse with a heavy dose of oversight. The Chinese government's new rules for Artificial Intelligence.

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[02:35:00]

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CHURCH: As the world faces a worsening climate crisis created by the rampant burning of fossil fuels, the U.K. has announced plans to drill for more oil and gas. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has committed to grant hundreds of new licenses for companies to expand drilling operations in the North Sea. He says it will provide the U.K. with its own domestically sourced energy as the country transitions to a net zero carbon emissions goal, but environmental activists say this plan will take a wrecking ball to Britain's climate commitments.

Across the 20 countries in the Eurozone, the latest economic signs appear to be positive. GDP is rising, albeit slightly, and inflation is easing. But as CNN's, Clare Sebastian explains, there are still many signs that have economists worried.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the surface this looks like a sign of resilience in the Euro area. A modest growth rate of 0.3% compared to the previous three months after flat-lining in the first quarter of the year and shrinking in the one before that. Overall inflation also fell to 5.3% in July, which is exactly half its peak rate last October, when of course the war in Ukraine had caused energy prices to skyrocket. That shock now clearly receding.

But digging into the detail and there are still worrying signs. GDP growth seems to have been driven by just a few countries. Ireland grew by more than 3%, France by 0.5%. Well on the flip side, Germany, Europe's biggest economy was flat and Italy actually contracted. And as for inflation, that top line number also not a whole story.

Core inflations, when you strip out food and energy, didn't change at all in July compared to June and it's still more than twice the European Central Bank's medium term target. But for economists, all this just really adds to mounting concerns as data in recent weeks has shown business activity dropping, business loans falling to a record low as banks tighten credit standards and an ongoing decline in economic sentiment. All of that economists say means recession is still at risk and this will definitely raise the stakes for the European Central Bank as it tries to balance that risk with persistent inflation. Clare Sebastian, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: China has become one of the first countries to build guardrails for the technology that powers popular Artificial Intelligence services. The recently unveiled guidelines will take effect in about two weeks. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Xi Jiajia, a virtual idol powered by Artificial Intelligence to sell burgers in China. McDonald's hired Jiajia to interact with Chinese customers. The U.S. may be curbing AI chip exports to China, but the nation is fast becoming an AI powerhouse. The country's home to top tech firms leading the AI charge like Alibaba, Huawei, Tencent and BAidu, creator of Xi Jiajia boasts that it's chatbot ERNIE has beaten open AI's ChatGPT on several metrics. At the state backed world AI conference in July, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk praised China's AI prowess.

ELON MUSK, BILLIONAIRE, ENTREPRENEUR: China will have very strong AI capabilities is my prediction.

LU STOUT (voice-over): China has becomes one of the first counties in world to regulate the technology that powers popular services like ChatGPT. In July it unveiled interim rules to manage generative AI, saying it needs to be aligned with the core values of socialism.

ANGELA ZHANG, CHINESE LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: The Chines government is trying to ensure that the use and application of AI will be aligned with its own set of moral principles that underscores its political and social stability. The government not only placed the burden on the service providers, but also on the users of AI services.

LU STOUT (voice-over): In January China's new rules against Deepfake Technologies came into effect. Chinese authorities have detained people for allegedly using generative AI to commit fraud and create fake news. [02:40:00]

UNKNOWN: And while China is moving fast to regulate the industry. Some critics warned that it may not be equipped to avoid an AI disaster.

BILL DREXEL, ASSOCIATE FELLOW FOR TECHNOLOGY & NATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: Most societies kind of learn from disasters, but the PRC has a kind of propaganda machine that makes it hard to do that, where there's a sort of disaster amnesia. There is a kind of a chronic culture of crisis mismanagement in authoritarian regimes generally, and China is no exception.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Drexel cites China's zero COVID policy as a recent example of crisis mismanagement. But the danger posed by AI is not limited to one country. Top technologists the world over, including China, have signed this petition to warn of the risk of human extinction from AI.

SAM ALTMAN, OPENAI CEO: As these systems get very, very powerful, that -- that does require special concern and it has global impact. So it also requires global cooperation.

LU STOUT (voice-over): China's new AI rules have a provision to encourage participation in global standard setting.

ANGELA ZHANG, CHINESE LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: They are very keen to take part in shaping global regulation of AI.

LU STOUT (voice-over): For now, Beijing is steering its own AI future with a heavy hand.

To encourage Chinese tech success and ensure that Artificial Intelligence will not undermine the state, Kristie Lu Stout, CNN Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A zoo in Eastern China is trying to reassure visitors their Sun Bears are not people dressed in costumes. Rumors and conspiracy theories have been swirling on social media after a viral video of a Sun Bear standing on its hind legs looking uncannily human and appearing to wave at the crowd. Its fur appears loose and wrinkled in places almost like an ill-fitting bear suit. Sun Bears are the world's smallest bear species and the zoo insists people just don't understand their behavior.

And in Southern China, the world's only surviving panda triplets have celebrated their ninth birthday. Mengmeng, Shuaishuai and Kuku enjoyed a birthday cake made of bamboo and their favorite fruits and went for a ride in a specially made train over the weekend. Pandas spend 10 to 12 hours a day eating and the triplets are no different of course. Some triplet boys even visited the Safari Park to see the pandas for the first time and celebrate their big day.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport is coming up next. Then I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN Newsroom. Just stick around.

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