Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
U.K.'s Theresa May Agrees Last Minute Deal With E.U.; People Evacuated Amid Roaring Wildfires In California; Del Mar Racetrack Takes In Evacuated Animals; Rage Mixes With Sorrow After Friday Prayers; Bitcoin Plummets After Topping $17,000; White House: Trump's Bold Economic Vision Paying Off; UK, EU Reach Deal On Northern Ireland Border; Key US State Department Posts Remain Empty; "CNN Freedom Project"; "Going Green"; "Feast On Tokyo". Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 08, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:33]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani coming to you live from CNN London.
Tonight, Theresa May triumphant, the U.K. prime minister brokers a Brexit breakthrough, but will the next phase of talks be even tougher? We're live
in Brussels and Downing Street.
Also, this hour, the U.S. president declares a state of emergency for California. Hundreds of thousands are forced to flee. We get an update
from the fire zone.
And fresh anger on the streets, fresh condemnation at the U.N. We track the continued fallout over Donald Trump's controversial Jerusalem decision.
We start with this -- all night wrangling and haggling ends with a surprise outcome. The British prime minister, Theresa May, has reach a deal with
the E.U. to move on to the next phase.
They have agreed on all three main issues, the rights of European citizens here in the U.K. The so-called divorce bill, how much the U.K. will pay
Europe and crucially that was the one that was still problematic until even yesterday, the Northern Ireland border.
The talks will now move to the next phase, future trade. Erin McLaughlin tells us how we got here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Prime Minister. Do you have a deal?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After nearly nine months of punishing negotiation, a breakthrough, something to make Theresa May smile and the
all clear from the European Commission.
JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: The commission has just formally decided to recommend to the European Council that sufficient
progress has now been made on this (inaudible) terms of the divorce.
MCLAUGHLIN: It's a deal many feared might never be done especially after what happened in Brussels earlier in the week.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Some differences do remain which require further negotiation.
MCLAUGHLIN: May was forced to go home empty handed after texts aimed at settling what happened to the Northern Ireland border leaked to the press.
Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which holds the key to her government majority nixed the agreement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will not accept any form of (inaudible) divergence.
MCLAUGHLIN: It took four more days of intense phone calls between Belfast, Dublin, London and Brussels. Then in the small hours of Friday morning,
just enough progress. Paving the way for a press conference unveiling a deal on the breakup.
The issues that matter most to the E.U., the financial settlement, rights for E.U. citizens in the U.K. and vice versa, and Northern Ireland. In the
15-page joint report outlining the agreement, the U.K. has made plenty of concessions on those issues.
Including on money, committing to a formula to pay the E.U. tens of billions of euros, and a role for the European Court of Justice to be able
to weigh in on what happens to E.U. citizens, a red line for hardline Brexiteers who wanted to leave the E.U. to avoid the European courts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole thing is a humiliation.
MCLAUGHLIN: But what is seen in Brussels as a diplomatic victory for Theresa May is also likely to be bittersweet.
DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: We all know that breaking up is hard, but breaking (inaudible) and building a new relation is much harder.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Friday's deal still needs to be approved here at the European Council in Brussels, something that seems likely. Then the
focus shifts to the potential transition. Something that the U.K. desperately wants to maintain the status quo for two years after Brexit to
give British business more time to adjust. E.U. officials already warning that that, too, will come at a high price.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Erin joins me now from Brussels. We also have Bianco Nobilo at Downing Street. Erin, you mentioned in your piece this transitional
deal so after March 2019, however many years until full Brexit takes effect, that it will come at a high cost. What do the Europeans want
during that period?
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes. Well, Hala, well, this transition deal is essentially a main reason why Theresa May wanted to get this deal done today. That is
because the business community is calling on her to secure the transition deal by March, something that is a tall order.
I was speaking to E.U. diplomats today. They told me that they believe that it is unlikely that a transition deal will be reached by March as it
is. It will be very difficult negotiations going forward.
[15:05:04] But today, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, outlining the E.U.'s requirements for that transition. If the U.K. wants
to remain a member of the single market and the Customs Union for two years after Brexit as Theresa May has said, it will need to continue to pay into
the budget.
It will need to continue to abide by E.U. laws. It will also need to remain under the jurisdiction of the European courts. At the same time,
and critically, the U.K. will lose its seat at the table. It will be a bitter pill for Brexiteers to swallow -- Hala.
GORANI: Well, it's not a great scenario. You have to pay, abide by the rules but you have no say in any of those rules. Bianca, I wonder, is this
a defeat, this agreement that led to the phase two, a defeat for the hard Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary?
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: If they think so they are hiding it incredibly well. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove (ph), both former
leadership contenders who not only battled Theresa May for leadership when she stood originally, but have been reportedly launching leadership bids
throughout the year.
Boris said that it was an incredible feat that Theresa May managed to achieve this today and he admired the prime minister's dedication. Michael
Gove also said that it was an extraordinary achievement as did other members of her cabinet.
But hardline Brexiteers such as Nigel Farag, Arron Banks, one of main architects of the leave campaign are accusing the prime minister of
betraying those 17.4 million people, who voted for Brexit by saying that agreeing to a deal of these terms is essentially the U.K. staying in the
E.U. in all but name.
Being unable to strike its own trade deals, and unable to move forward in all the ways that they thought would be advantageous in terms of regaining
sovereignty and control over borders and trade. So, on the whole, the response is being favorable in the U.K.
The Tory Party are behind the prime minister. It's quite a feat that she's managed to get them behind her when many her own party were disagreeing
with paying any form of Brexit bill whatsoever.
Now we're talking in the vicinity of 35 billion to 39 billion pounds, but yes, those who were supporting a hard Brexit were not happy to hear the
terms of this deal.
GORANI: I can imagine that. But Erin, in Europe and you speak to your sources there at the European Union, they tell you based on this that they
now believe that the U.K. is headed toward what we might call a much softer Brexit especially with this Northern Ireland border, paving the way for a
situation in which the U.K. pretty much remains a player within the E.U. rules but just doesn't have any formal membership. What are you hearing in
Brussels?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, you know, I was speaking to one senior E.U. diplomat this evening and he was telling me that on that issue of Northern Ireland,
he believes that the text that they agreed upon essentially kicks the can down the road.
Essentially, meaning that the E.U. and the U.K. are going to have to re- visit the topic when they discuss that all important future relationship, which really neither side has outlined so far in explicit terms how they
see this future relationship going in the future.
The focus, the immediate focus now for the European Council, for the E.U. is on that transition deal, which the U.K. says it so badly wants.
GORANI: All right. We will learn more certainly next week. There's a big meeting in Brussels. We will be covering that. Bianca Nobilo, Erin
McLaughlin, thanks to both of you.
President Trump has just approved an emergency declaration for California. Six major fires now are burning across the southern part of the state. You
see them located there on the map carving a path from Ventura County through Los Angeles down to San Diego County.
Nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated and fire fighters are working nonstop. It is an uphill battle, though, because winds are picking up
speed, which is the worst-case scenario. In San Diego County, a new blaze sprung up.
The Lilac fire is burning at a rapid pace. It's currently zero percent contained. The largest of the fires, the Thomas fire, has destroyed more
than 400 structures in Ventura County.
That's where our Stephanie Elam joins us now. Talk to us about the situation where you are -- Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Hala, you are talking about fire that's eaten up some more than 150,000 acres since it started on
Monday. Just look at the devastation it's left behind. We are getting a look at some of the properties that have been lost in this fire.
The way the Thomas fire just roared through here. It's been so dry in California. We haven't had any rain in months. The humidity is also very,
very low because of that, you see the effects of how that kindling here is basically the trees, brush, and the houses that have burned down.
[15:10:09] And then the house beyond it made it through. It made it through. I talked to the man who lived there. He wasn't sure it was going
to make it and it did. He said within an hour he could see the glow around his house -- nothing and then within an hour, he could see the red glow.
That's how quickly the fire spread and you see this house made it through, but the house next to it, used to have a big beautiful tree in front of it,
totally gone. So, this is why you see some 200,000 people have been evacuated from homes because of the fires.
This area still under an evacuation order, it's because of this. This is how it looks up here for these people who were coming home and as you
mentioned, those winds, they're starting to pick bac up as we get into the afternoon hours.
We are looking at these winds threat into Saturday. So, we're not out of the thick of it just yet here in Southern California -- Hala.
GORANI: What about insurance? I mean, when your house burns down like that, if you don't have fire insurance, this is going to leave tens of
thousands of people completely stranded for a really long time?
ELAM: And even if you have insurance, it takes a really long time to get the money to then build the home and get back into it. For a lot of people
who go through this sort of devastation, it takes years until they are back on their feet. So, you are paying a mortgage.
You have a house that you can't live in and you have to find some place else to live. It's a devastating situation for people and I know that
there are a couple of homes from what I was told were on sale here on the street.
You have this whole situation, you can't sell a house now. It's an awful situation for these families right before the holidays.
GORANI: All right. It really is. Thanks very much, Stephanie Elam live in Ventura County, California.
It's not just people fleeing the fires, animals as well. Look at this video. On Thursday, hundreds of elite thorough bred race horses sprinted
for their lives as flames tore through major training center in San Diego.
Several of them died. Others have been moved to nearby shelters including the Del Mar racetrack, which is now housing more than 800 animals on its
property.
Joining me from San Diego, the president and CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Joe Harper. Joe Harper, tell us you have provided
shelter to hundreds of horses who have had to flee the flames and the smoke. What's the situation at your facility?
JOE HARPER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DEL MAR THOROUGHBRED CLUB: I'm happy to report -- (inaudible).
GORANI: Joe, sorry, we have a good picture, but unfortunately, you are breaking up too much. We are having too hard a time understanding you.
We're going to redial and get back to you hopefully.
Joe Harper at the Del Mar Training Center there, who has allowed owners of horses who were keeping their horses in areas that were affected by the
fire to bring them there, and they are appealing as well for help, for hay and for what the training center needs to take care of these additional
animals. We're going to redial. It's an incredible story to try to get back to him.
A lot more to come this evening, rage mixed with sorrow clouded Friday prayers in Jerusalem. Palestinians marginalize for so long fear President
Trump's decision will totally destroy their dreams of their own state.
It is one of the spectacular money stories of the year, Bitcoin. Is this booming currency about to come crashing down in spectacular fashion?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:15:59]
GORANI: OK. I'm going to take you back to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The president and CEO of Del Mar, Joe Harper is with me. Joe, we had a bad
connection. We're back with you now. You are on the phone so we can hear you.
Tell us about the hundreds of animals that you have provided shelter for who have had to flee some of the stables and other clubs they were in
because of the fires.
HARPER: Well, we've got now 800 horses including Biscuit here next to me that we have brought in over the last 24 hours or so. It's been
devastating. You know, we lost horses out of (inaudible) training center, which was our main places where we train horses for Del Mar.
You know the Breeders Cup was a few weeks ago and some of the horses that ran were out there. The majority of all the horses are here and they are
safe. They are going to be here for a while.
So, we're going to open up the racetrack for training here for the next couple of months to ensure that everything is safe. We've got Equine
Hospitals up and running here and a number of veterinarians and hundreds of volunteers so it's terrific.
GORANI: But do you have enough food, personnel, and space to take care of all these additional animals?
HARPER: Yes. We can put away 1,800 horses here and right now we are at 800. We can take more if needed. We've got all kinds of people donating
hay and bedding and oats. A friend of mine just called bringing in 100 pizzas. I think we're going to be OK. But I just can't thank all the
people of this area enough for volunteering and working through the night to make sure these horses are safe.
GORANI: I think the pizzas are not for the horses but for the volunteers.
HARPER: I'm not sure Biscuit here, he might like a pizza. He's been eating my shirt most of the morning.
GORANI: But so the owners of these horses, I mean, they have -- obviously, their facilities, some of them have been destroyed. This is long-term
thing for you.
HARPER: It is. I know roughly 50 percent of the (inaudible) stalls are gone. So, what we need, those 500 horses that were training there for the
Southern California Thoroughbred Circuit. So, we are going to be up and running here for training tomorrow morning. So, that hopefully is taken
care of.
But right now, we are spending a lot of time trying to put the horses back with their owners because some of them left in a hurry. I have a lot of
anxious owners looking for horses. We're busy doing that.
GORANI: They are going to want to be reunited with their horses for sure. Joe Harper, thanks so much of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for joining us.
Really appreciate it and thanks very much for what your club is doing as well and keeping those animals safe.
Now protests over President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel have spread beyond holy city to Beirut, Amman,
Jordan and beyond. The Palestinian Health Ministry says a Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in Eastern Gaza. More than 20
protestors were injured. The Israeli Army says rioting Palestinians rolled burning tires at troops and threw rocks.
In Jerusalem, protests and scuffles broke out after Friday prayers where tensions were running high as well. From Jerusalem, here is Arwa Damon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chants broke out shortly after Friday prayers ended inside the courtyard of
the (inaudible) Mosque, Islam's third holiest site. The crowd vowing victory over the Jews. "With our blood and our souls, we will sacrifice
for (inaudible)," they shouted.
(on camera): They have started walking out. Of course, what everyone is concerned about but also at the same time anticipating to a certain degree
is that some sort of clashes will erupt as they have on so many other occasions.
(voice-over): There's anger at the U.S., Israel, the Jews, but also other Muslim leaders, especially the Saudis, who despite Saudi denial many feel
betrayed them.
[15:20:14] They gave their stamp of approval, this woman shouts. The thousands pour into the narrow alleyways of old Jerusalem, it didn't take
long for the confrontations to begin, although, the day would end up to be considered to be measured by the standards here.
For Palestinians and Muslims around the world, Trump's declaration that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was as if to
proclaim that the Palestinians no longer have a claim to East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they have dreamt of for decades.
For Muslims as if Jerusalem has no place for them. This is a city well accustomed to protests, clashes, detentions. There's almost a rehearsed
back and forth as it were some sort of twist of game of cat and mouse, where spectators and shop keepers dodge both the protesters and the Israeli
Security Forces.
But there's also a sense that things have been altered. The time is different. He wants to wrestle the bulls in Jerusalem, here this 64-year-
old says referring to Trump, "Why does he need to plant his flag here? We feel that he is coming here to set the whole regions on fire."
There is rage, a feeling that a knife has been driven deeper into the wounds of injustice. A profound sense of sorrow brought on by the reality
that a two-state solution, peace, perhaps is more elusive than ever before. Arwa Damon, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Arwa Damon reporting there. At the United Nation, members of the Security Council huddled today to discuss the impact of President Trump's
decision at an emergency meeting. It was a near unanimous message. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW RYCROFT, BRITISH DIPLOMAT: We therefore disagree with the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and unilaterally to recognize
Jerusalem the capital of Israel before a final status agreement. These decisions are unhelpful to the prospects of peace in the region.
VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT (through translator): We are worried by the fact that the new position announced by the United States on Jerusalem
risks further complicating the situation in Palestinian-Israeli relations and in the region as a whole.
RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN DIPLOMAT: The U.S. decision to reward Israelis impunity undermines and essentially disqualifies its leadership role to see
peace in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now, surprising the view from the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations was quite different. Here is what Danny Danon had to say before
today's emergency meeting started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Today, we will call other members of the Security Council to follow the United States and to move
their embassies to Jerusalem as well. We expect the Security Council to condemn any act of violence. We cannot allow the (inaudible) violence to
become the tool to threat the Middle East. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. We will follow that story more in the coming hours.
Now though it's the currency at the center of an investment frenzy, Bitcoin. It just had a dramatic increase in value with another new record
on Thursday, but today Bitcoin took a massive nosedive. Does this mean we're going to see a Bitcoin bubble bursting?
CNN's Richard Quest joins me live. He is in Atlanta today. Talk to us about this -- if I understand correctly, Bitcoin was 1,000 bucks at the
beginning then we were at 17,000, 18,000. I mean, it sounds like it's a classic bubble.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Indeed, that is exactly the view of some people like Robert Shiller, the Nobel Prize winner for
economics, who on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" last night said yes, it does seem to have all the hallmarks of a bubble. It has a story to tell, a legend
that goes with it in terms of how it was created, myths about you trade and what happens to it all.
So, there are all the hallmarks of it. The difference I think between say this and Tulip Mania previous centuries or (inaudible) we sort of know that
crypto currencies are coming, that they will be part of the economic landscape of the future.
The issue is, which ones it will be and how they will develop in a deregulated or regulated environment. That's what you are seeing at the
moment, Hala. Bitcoin has made a huge triumph of the fact that it's unregulated, the wild west of currency.
[15:25:07] And now, of course, you are seeing exactly what that means, and then there's also, of course, the issue of some Bitcoins that went missing,
tens of millions of Bitcoins that were hacked.
GORANI: Explain to me how I would go about buying a Bitcoin because I'm still quite -- I'm still rather unclear about that.
QUEST: Bitcoin does not exist in any physical fall. You go online. You go and buy either a part of a Bitcoin or a whole Bitcoin, if you want to
spend 15,000. You hold it in a digital wallet on your computer. It is access to that digital wallet that is crucial.
If you lose the password, you are out of luck. If you managed to get hacked, it's over. Your Bitcoins are in that digital wallet, which is on
your computer. It has a unique -- if you like legends stamped to it.
So, that as you trade that Bitcoin, it is then mined and put into block chains and works through the system. Look, it's archaic. There were no
real rules. There certainly no regulatory authority. It's not backed by a Central Bank.
There is no monetary base. But Hala, it does seem to work and it seems to work efficiently and effectively. That's what you are seeing.
GORANI: Richard Quest, thanks very much. We will see you on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" at the top of the hour.
Still to come tonight, he followed through on a campaign promise, but at what cost? We'll have much more on Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision and
look at some other big developments at the White House this week. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Donald Trump is chalking it up as a win, a campaign promise kept. The American president formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel this week. While it's a crowd pleaser for his base, at home, it's angered much of world, including U.S. allies across Europe.
Mr. Trump's week was capped off by a strong jobs report out today, proof the White House says that his bold economic vision is paying off.
Let's bring in CNN White House reporter, Stephen Collinson. These jobs numbers, Stephen, are definitely the news the president wanted to cap off
his week.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Certainly, you remember during the campaign when the Obama administration was talking up good job
numbers, the president basically argued they were fake news. He is trusting in those numbers now.
Unemployment is at 17-year low. Clearly, that's good news for the president. His White House is arguing that the core of his presidency is
his economic vision and that vision is contributing to the economy soaring.
[15:30:00] The question is, does this help the Trump voters who helped put him in office. If you look at the numbers, wage growth is still sluggish.
A lot of those Trump voters in the old industrial Midwest are finding that the jobs they can get now are not as high quality as they were in previous
decades, make more difficult to buy a house or get good healthcare.
So, I think while the figures are very good, there's certainly points of concerns still for the economy and politically going down the track.
That's what's going to be significant.
GORANI: But does it really matter because Trump's supporters seem to support him regardless of whether or not his policies hurt them or not?
COLLINSON: That's true. It's clear that the president has an ultra-loyal support base and they tend to believe him whatever he says.
I mean, a lot of these people - for example, one of the president's main arguments is that the stock market is soaring. But when the stock market
does really well, it tends to benefit people who have enough money to have stocks, who have pension funds invested in the stock market.
They're not necessary the kind of people that are Trump voters. But, often, I think the impression that things are going well is enough for
those voters, but that's a proposition that's going to be really tested in the midterm elections next year when the Democrats are going to point out,
look, the president said coal jobs are coming back, the factories in your town were going to reopen. And if that's not the case, that will be the
key test of this phenomenon.
GORANI: Because the Democrats need to seize on that that, right? I mean, what is their strategy? Who is their figurehead? How are they planning on
forging ahead?
Usually, the midterm elections are an opportunity for the party - the opposition party to try to reclaim some ground that they've lost. And the
Democrats control absolutely nothing in Washington.
COLLINSON: That's right. On the one hand, I think there are Democrats who believe that if you have a president who has an approval rating of 32
percent as was revealed in one poll today that you're going to do well in the midterm elections, whatever happens.
If you look at history, presidents, historically, getting a kicking in their first midterm elections in their first term.
The Democratic Party, though, still seems to be working through the questions that were raised by the election. Is it going to go all the way
to the left with a Bernie Sanders sort of candidate or is its message going to be more centrist like Hillary Clinton's.
I mean, you talk to Democrats throughout the sort of Midwest, people who are working on campaigns, it doesn't seem that that argument is resolved.
They have to decide whether they're going to try and reassemble the old Democratic coalition in some of these Midwest states where Donald Trump did
very well or if they're going to try and reassemble the Obama coalition, African-American voters, affluent white voters in suburbs, a much more sort
of multi-ethnic coalition.
I don't think the Democratic Party has really decided where it's going to go. The midterm elections will be a big challenge - test of that as they
think about how they are going to run against Trump in 2020.
GORANI: And also reconnecting with their traditional voter base, right? Because that's been lost to the Republicans now for many, many years since
the 90s. How do you get to those?
COLLINSON: That's true. It maybe that you can't reconnect those voters. Some Democratic strategists believe that, look, America is changing
demographically. There are many more Hispanic voters, for example.
That's our coalition now. There are many more places in the South - for example, in a state like Georgia where Democrats - which has been a
Republican state for many years, but Democrats believe that cities like Atlanta, whether affluent suburban populations, affluent African-American
communities, now that's the future.
That's where they should be concentrating. And, perhaps, thinking that, while they can make inroads in the South and the West, some of those old
states in the Northeast and the Midwest where they used to do very well in which Hillary Clinton lost are going to lost to them for some time. So,
it's a very dynamic political environment.
If you look at some of the races in the midterm elections, I think that is where we're going to see can a Democrat win again somewhere like Michigan,
can Democrats win sort of in the Philadelphia suburbs. If that starts to happen, that will give us some clues about how they can erode Trump's
coalition in 2020.
GORANI: They definitely need their strategy honed by then. Thanks very much, Stephen Collinson, for joining us.
Let's return now to our top story. It was an issue so contentious, it was a risk it could derail the entire Brexit talks. But now that an agreement
over the Northern Ireland border has been reached, what do people living there think about it. Here's Diana Magnay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am standing right on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Republic
is that way. That's why you see the 80 km per hour sign. But otherwise it is invisible. And Theresa May promises that it's going to stay that way.
[15:35:02] That is an old customs coast. In the 1950s, the IRA tried to bomb it. And that was a big concern, that if a hard border was put back,
the customs infrastructure, border post officials might become the target of dissident groups.
So, Theresa May is promising that that will not happen. Whatever happens with Brexit, there will not be a hard border. And that really matters to
people in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland because of trade.
We went to the town of Newry, which is just a few miles from here, and ask people what they thought about this deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I'm very happy that they've got together. And Mrs. May, and she seemed to bring her cabinet along with her to effect it.
She's got this deal going and, hopefully, as I said, they don't renege on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know probably exactly what a soft border is going to mean until she comes through with all the regulations and all the
rest. But so far, so good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, whenever a referee blows his whistle and he gives a free hit, it's free for one person against the other. This time,
he's actually giving a free to both people. I'm not too sure how it's going to work out. Obviously, it's going to be in the next page. But
let's hope that whatever way it works out, it's going to work out for our benefit.
MAGNAY: So, hard border. But does that mean no hard Brexit. That is certainly the fear of some of Theresa May's Brexiteers. But if the
Northern Ireland issue is parked for now, it's the end of the beginning, so to speak, and now the hard work really begins.
Diana Magnay, CNN, near Newry, Northern Ireland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Sean Kelly is an Irish member of the European Parliament. He joins me via Skype from Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. Thanks, sir,
for being with us.
First of all, help us explain something to our viewers. If the UK exits the EU, how does it work if it doesn't have a hard border with an EU
country. Could you enlighten us about that? What's your understanding of how this would work practically?
SEAN KELLY, IRISH MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Where we are concerned, there will be regulatory alignment in north and south. That
means essentially the arrangements that are there right now will continue. And that means no hard border.
The final arrangements will have to be worked out in phase two and subsequently probably in a transitional period, and I think that's the best
way to go about it.
But, as of now, everybody has committed to no return to hard border. And everybody in this island, I think, and indeed, across the European Union,
can breathe a sigh of relief.
GORANI: I understand your relief. I just don't understand how it's going to work. If the UK has decided to leave and your country, the Republic of
Ireland, has no hard border with the UK and you're a member of the EU, how does that work practically?
KELLY: They haven't left, yes. And there is no such thing as a hard Brexit, yes.
GORANI: Right.
KELLY: And that's why a transitional period where nothing will change until the final decision is made is so important.
But I think the key point here is, they have given the guarantee that there is going to be no change essentially in their environment and that there is
no threat to the (INAUDIBLE) population in terms of trying to bring forward (INAUDIBLE).
GORANI: Yes. And I was just going to say, do you think this means we're headed for a much softer version of Brexit that some people thought could
emerge, right? Because, I mean, there's no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, there have been some agreements
on the rights of Europeans here in the UK and vice versa, the divorce bill seems to have been settled.
It sounds like the UK is going to end up being very close still to the EU in terms of regulations and things like that. Do you see the UK headed in
that direction?
KELLY: Actually, I think that is quite likely because even the UK are talking about the closest possible trading relationship with the European
Union in a new free trade arrangement.
When you think of it, over 50 percent, almost 60 percent of the United Kingdom goods and services going to the European Union. That makes sense
from a practical point of view. And I think as time goes by, businesses see the alternatives and the ordinary person just - is what might happen.
I think the point you're making may well emerge as the final solution. Indeed, it makes sense for Europe, for the United Kingdom and indeed for
Ireland to have closest possible relationship and they fuse possible barriers.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Sean Kelly, a member of the European Parliament, joining us from Ireland.
[15:40:02] Check out our Facebook page, Facebook.com/HalaGoraniCNN, @HalaGorani on Twitter as well.
In Africa, there was a brutal attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 12 United Nations peacekeepers and five members of the armed
forces were killed.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says it was deliberate and constitutes a war crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN SECRETARY GENERAL: I condemn this attack unequivocally. And these deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers are
unacceptable and constitute a war crime.
I call on the DRC authorities to investigate these incidents and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. There must be no impunity for such
assaults here or anywhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Antonio Guterres there. The UN mission in Congo believes the attack was carried out by the rebel word, the Allied Democratic Forces. It
happened in the eastern province of North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda. At least 40 other people were injured.
Let's look again now at a controversial move by the American president. Donald Trump may want a new Jerusalem embassy, but he may not have enough
staff to fill existing diplomatic posts.
Almost a year into his presidency, dozens of key State Department jobs remain empty. As CNN's Becky Anderson reports, that has some diplomats
just a bit worried.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ABU DHABI MANAGING EDITOR (voice-over): Reports of a souring relationship between US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson may be grabbing headlines.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When the president loses confidence in someone, they will no longer serve in the capacity that
they're in.
ANDERSON: But it's what's happening away from the spotlight that has many sounding the alarm about far greater and long-term consequences for the US
abroad.
Eleven months into the Trump administration, there are at least 45 high- level vacancies at the State Department. And it's just not the number of vacancies, it's the importance of the positions that are raising fears of a
declining US leadership role in international diplomacy.
Despite rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the US currently has no top diplomat in the post for ambassador to South Korea.
In the historically complex and often volatile Middle East, there are ambassador vacancies in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Kuwait
despite those nations playing key roles in regional stability.
The President's response -
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me tell you, that one that matters me. I'm the oy one that matters.
ANDERSON: But now, in the wake in the president's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, those positions will be even more
important should this region be explode in violence?
While President Trump may not seem worried, plenty of others are. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright weighed in on the issue of State
Department vacancies.
In a scathing editorial saying, "if the US military were facing a recruitment and retention crisis of this magnitude, few would hesitate to
call it a national security emergency." Adding that, "while it saddens me to criticize one of my successors, I have to speak out because the stakes
are so high."
And she is not alone in her alarm. US Senators John McCain and Jeanne Shaheen expressed their concerns in a bipartisan letter to the secretary of
state about the waning level of commitment to the diplomatic service, saying in part, "questionable management practices at the Department of
State, the attitudes of some in the administration on the value of diplomacy, declining morale, recruitment and retention, the lack of
experienced leadership and reports of American diplomacy becoming less effective lead us to conclude that America's diplomatic power is being
weakened internally as complex global crises are grown externally.
The morale inside the agency is believed to be so low that even the State Department spokeswoman was forced to address it.
HEATHER NAUERT, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Sure. There is a morale issue in this building. And that's why I say, folks, hang in there. We
have a lot of work to be done. Please don't give up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Becky Anderson reporting there. We'll have a lot more after a quick break. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:33] GORANI: Well, imagine how desperate you have to feel to pick up your life and trek across a continent, cross a dangerous sea. It's no
wonder who brave this journey are willing to work endless hours in terrible conditions.
But their efforts to make a better life for themselves can leave them very vulnerable. Isa Soares reports from Italy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Italy's rich and vibrant produce is on full display at the local market in Puglia. This is
their agricultural heartland. And, here, produce is economic gold.
But the hunger for cheap fruit and vegetables has come at a cost. This is Ghetto Rignano, a home, if you can call it that, for many of Italy's
farming migrants.
Figures do vary, but we have seen several hundred who lived in squalid conditions and with poor sanitation.
I meet Galoume Madourie who arrived in Italy in 2011. Six years on, he says he still endures the same demoralizing living and working conditions.
GALOUME MADOURIE, MIGRANT LABOR (through translator): Working conditions are really hard. Very difficult. Because there isn't a normal contract.
Two, there is no normal pay. Thirdly, the work is hard. These are the conditions that we live with here.
SOARES: They are tied to these ghettos because they depend on the caporale who operate here. It's a corrupt system of middlemen who control their
access to work because land owners go to them when they need cheap laborers.
(on-camera): The governor of Puglia tells me migrant workers don't have to live in these shanty towns which he says are ridden with criminal activity
as well as mafia.
Instead, they can seek official shelter created for - provided by the regional government. But speaking to many people here, they tell me that
is just a dream.
There isn't much space for them all there. And, critically, they want to be living next to the land.
(voice-over): The migrants working these government-owned fields have escaped exploitation. They have contracts and get a fair wage.
They get assistance from Ghetto Out, a migrant advocacy group. The president of the organization explains the criminal network operating
across many of Italy's farms.
MBAYE NDEAYE, PRESIDENT OF GHETTO OUT ASSOCIATION (through translator): The caporale is the intermediary between the land owner and the worker.
When they need workers to pick tomatoes, they go to discuss with the land owners. Agree on 5 euro and then talk to the workers. I will help you
make money, but you have to accept 4 euros per box. So, the caporale gets 1 euro per box.
It doesn't stop there because the caporale takes you to work and force to pay 5 euros per day to go and return from work. Those who live in the
ghetto are slaves. They aren't workers, they are slaves because they're exploited from head to toe.
SOARES: There was a limited amount they can earn here. They miss out on regular work managed by the caporale who largely control access to the
region's many private farms.
The Governor of Puglia tells me this is a mafia structure that needs to be dismantled.
MICHELE EMILIANO, GOVERNOR OF PUGLIA (through translator): The firms in Puglia have had a real weakness. They are afraid they won't find the
workers if they don't ask the caporale. They are afraid of potential intimidation and threats by the caporale and here the state should do its
part.
SOARES (on-camera): Are they being challenged? Are they being fined in any way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): There's a very strict law against caporalato was passed in Italy. The firms that don't follow the law risk
having their land confiscated. It's something that has never happened before.
[15:50:06] SOARES (voice-over): The caporale would not exist without the farmers who use their services. And with 70 percent of their exports from
Puglia going to the European Union, these are facts that may be hard to digest.
Isa Soares, CNN, Puglia in Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, he's a man on a mission trying to stop people from throwing their trash on the streets. He's an Indonesian street sweeper and he's in
his 70s. And despite that, showing no signs of slowing down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MR. SARIBAN, LITTER PICKER (through translator): My name is Mr. Sariban. I pick up rubbish in Bandung, Indonesia. I do this because I care about
the environment. I want to keep my city clean.
I always teach the residents of Bandung, remind them not to carelessly throw trash on the ground.
Mister, mister, remember Mr. Sariban's voice, don't throw away trash carelessly.
I've been a volunteer in the city of Bandung since 1983 and is now 2017, right? So, for 34 years now, I've been a pure volunteer and not been paid.
The smokers, to those who love to smoke, this is not allowed. Whoever comes to the gazebo, don't leave litter.
The world environment gets more polluted every single day. So, don't make it even dirtier. We have to keep moving together to keep it clean. Don't
just care about it. It should be planted in the heart. That's for the whole world.
There's a religious teaching that says cleanliness should be a part of practicing your faith. This applies to all humanity, the whole world, not
just for Mr. Sariban.
Mr. Sariban was once called a crazy person. Crazy. Crazy. But I am truly crazy. I'm crazy about cleanliness and crazy about work.
God willing, as a parent, I can pass on to our children and our grandchildren an environment that is clean rather than just polluted. That
is my dream.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: In Japan, you'll find many yakitori joints, serving skewers of grilled chicken late into the night. Now, some Tokyo restaurants are
raising the bar. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kohei Onoda comes from a family of yakitori chefs. But in order to inherit the business, he had to leave home and learn how to
grow.
KOHEI ONODA, YAKITORI CHEF (through translator): Torishiki was the only place that I couldn't get a reservation. The fact that it was hard to get
a reservation made me wonder what was special about it, what the secret behind its popularity was.
[15:55:05] I called them back after I was turned down for a reservation and asked if I could work there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, Onoda manages a sister restaurant called Torikado. It opened in March to give apprentices like himself more
opportunity to get behind the grill.
And now, Torikado's budding reputation is making it tough to get a reservation that there well.
Onoda starts every shift the same way.
ONODA (through translator): After I arrive at work, all I do is skewer chicken. Chickens are living things and we don't want to waste any part of
it. I think it's respectful to use every part of the chicken, from head to toe, such as its heart, liver, tail, cartilage and bones. I want to cook
every part of the chicken appropriately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no menu at Torikado. The meal is omakase, a Japanese phrase that means "I leave it to you."
First time diners are asked if they have any allergies and then they are in the chef's hands. The courses keep coming until the customers say they've
had enough.
ONODA (through translator): Here we have sesame. We use the breast meat. We serve it with wasabi on top. The inside is rare, so it tastes soft and
chewy, so customers can enjoy eating rare meat.
When you eat it, it's not cold or raw. If you can imagine that we stop the heat right before it changes color, so there's no danger in getting sick
from raw food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Onoda suggests eating the sesame as is because other foods go well with Japanese pepper called sansho.
And he offers one other tip.
ONODA: We provide each yakitori one by one, so it'd be great if people can eat them while they're still hot. And if they can, without taking each
piece off the skewer. If you take it off the skewer, the temperature lowers and you lose some of the meat's juices.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, there you have it. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks very much for watching this evening. If it's your weekend, have a great weekend. I'll
see you same time, same place on Monday.
Stay with CNN. "Quest Means Business" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
