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Opposition Leader Juan Guaido Back In Venezuela; Children of ISIS Members Returning to France; Netanyahu Says He's Facing Unprecedented "Witch Hunt"; Tokyo Court Grants Carlos Ghosn $9 Million Bail; Father of Pell Victim Speaks Out; Democrats Launch Massive Probe into All Things Trump; 12 Major Democrats Now Running for President; China Warns of a Hard Struggle Ahead Amid Slowing Economy; Trump Ending Special Trade Treatment for India, Turkey; South Korea's Smoldering Plastic Problem; The Story Behind Ajax's "Super Jews"; Remembering Luke Perry. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired March 05, 2019 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00] CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina Macfarlane filling in for Becky Anderson.
We begin in Venezuela where opposition leader, Juan Guaido, is meeting with public workers union after a triumphant return to Caracas. The self-
declared interim President received a hero's welcome Monday as huge crowds chanted, yes, we can. Guaido arrived in the capital after a tour of Latin
America designed to drum up support for ousting embattled President Nicolas Maduro. He called for a fresh round of protests against the Maduro regime
declaring Venezuelans are now stronger than ever and won't be stopped. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more from Caracas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporter: This was the image Juan Guaido wanted Venezuela and the world to see. The self-declared
interim President's triumphant return but getting into Venezuela required more twists and turns than a Hollywood thriller.
Guaido left last month for a tour of nations that support his claim as leader of Venezuela by walking across the border to Colombia. He returned
on a commercial flight from Panama on Monday, daring the government of Nicolas Maduro to do their worst.
JUAN GUAIDO, OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): They threatened all of us who are standing here, he said. They threatened me, you saw it, with
jail time, with death and I will let you know that it will not be through persecutions or threats that they will stop us.
OPPMANN: At the airport, Guaido was met by European ambassadors who used their diplomatic immunity to escort him safely to a motor cade of waiting
vehicles. The crowd of thousands cheered when he arrived in a plaza in Caracas. Student, Maria Gabriela was one of many who waited hours to see
Guaido.
MARIA GABRIELA, STUDENT (through translator): I was born in 1998, she tells me. I have never known any government but this one. I will see in
the streets and keep supporting President Guaido until the regime falls.
OPPMANN: Guaido and the opposition say Maduro stole the last presidential election and that he needs to go.
(on camera): Juan Guaido said he would return to Venezuela and now he has once again defying the government here. He told Maduro that if he was
arrested, it would be the last mistake he would ever make. But by all indications, the military still very much backs Maduro. So any possible
change in government is still a long way off.
(voice-over): Maduro and predecessor, Hugo Chavez, showered the military with money and houses. Even allegedly allowed some generals to engage in
drug trafficking, all to keep them loyal. Loyalty that Guaido claims is fading.
GUAIDO (through translator): And we know 80 percent of the armed forces are in favor of the change, he says. We know this. They have communicated
with us. They have spoken to us. Why do you think we are here today? Now. The time is now. There is no more for now. It's now when we need
change in Venezuela.
OPPMANN: Once again, Juan Guaido has outsmarted Maduro's regime, but it remains to be seen if he can out last them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And Patrick Oppmann joins me now live from Caracas. Patrick, we expect to hear from Juan Guaido this hour. He is speaking, as you know,
at the public workers union. As you mentioned in your piece, the goal was to get back into the country. Now that he is, what are his next steps?
OPPMANN: You know, you see at this meeting he's having this morning some of his long-term strategists meeting with union workers. You know, that's
Chavez country. These are people who are strong supporters of Chavismo. And I just wanted to -- one of the big surprises that I've had, having not
been in Venezuela for a number of years now, is talking to people on the street who said they used to be very and people who used to be very strong
supporters of Hugo Chavez and then Nicolas Maduro, but they have been wavering.
And the reason why perhaps Juan Guaido will be able to peel off some of that support is that when people go home and they open their fridge,
there's nothing in it. They receive a salary that's basically worthless. It is impossible to live on the salaries they receive from the government.
The inflation is out of control. Everyone has family that left the country. And then they hear Nicolas Maduro say that there is no crisis
here, and this is all something that has been invented by the United States and the opposition. So increasingly you're hearing people saying they are
starting for the first time perhaps in their lives to consider supporting Juan Guaido and the opposition.
MACFARLANE: Yes, but there was concern, wasn't there, Patrick.
[10:05:00] That the opposition support for Guaido may have slowed in his absence of being outside of the country. But from what you're saying and
what people are telling you, have they really been galvanized even further by his return?
OPPMANN: You know, he is just a figure that likes to take bold risks, declaring himself to be the interim President of Venezuela. Walking across
the Colombian border and going on this tour of nations that support him. Showing himself to be someone who is receiving the support of so many
Venezuela's neighbors. And then coming back as he did yesterday. Not being smuggled in, but coming in on a commercial flight, essentially daring
the Venezuelan government to arrest him. So far, they have not, but as you know, Christina, things can change in a minute here.
MACFARLANE: They can, indeed. Patrick, thank you very much indeed for being live there from Caracas.
Now, as U.S.-backed forces try to sweep the remaining ISIS fighters out of eastern Syria, we're getting word that a prominent jihadist was killed.
Jean-Michel Clain was killed days ago in the strike on the town of Baghouz. That's according to his wife, claimed he was from France. Became known
when he voiced a recording that claiming responsibility for the 2015 attacks in Paris. Now France is taking in more than 100 children from ISIS
fighters, but what happens to the adults as the so-called caliphate dwindles. Thousands of people are fleeing the fighting every day. This
includes many jihadists and their families. And they're finding their lives are in limbo. CNN's Melissa Bell looks at how France is grappling
with this dilemma.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the last-known picture of Jannah, who is now 7. Ismail, whose family doesn't want his
face shown, is nearly 3. Both are in Syria, orphans of the falling ISIS caliphate. Ismail's grandmother hopes to see him soon.
NADIA, ISMAIL'S GRANDMOTHER (through translator): This is my only battle and I will not give up, it's for this child. So please, be human. He
shouldn't be out there, and he is all I have left of my daughter, we have to save this little thing.
BELL: The red cross sent a picture of Ismail to his grandmother. He is one of around a hundred children captured from ISIS territory that France
is preparing to bring home. For now they're being kept in Kurdish camps. At first the adults were to be brought to France and tried, now President
Macron says they should be tried in those countries, and some could face the death penalty. But the children will come to France, most are younger
than seven.
Nadia has been preparing a home for Ismail, the grandson she's never met. Her daughter ran away to Syria when she was just 14. Secretly brainwashed,
says Nadia, by the propaganda she found online. Nadia believes that she is dead and is now desperate to bring home the son she bore in Raqqah. But
she says, French authorities have been slow to bring home the children of the ISIS enemy.
NADIA, ISMAEL'S GRANDMOTHER (through translator): I feel alone, I'm suffering, I can't work, I can't sleep. Sometimes, when I wake up, I think
why must I wake up at all? I would prefer to never wake up. I'm sorry.
BELL: Nadia is not alone. Other French families have been fighting a long and lonely battle for the children either taken to ISIS territory or born
there.
SAMIA MAKTOUF, LAWYER: It is already too late. We waste one year and since last year we know in which camp they are. We know they are French.
We know they have families in France. And we haven't yet done nothing.
BELL: With France, as scarred as it is, by years of terrorism, the authorities have struggle with the idea of returning jihadis. We reached
out to French authorities but they did not respond to comment. Nadine Ribet-Reinhart who lost her son in the Bataclan, believes that a
distinction needs to be made between those who choose ISIS and those who did not.
NADINE RIBET-REINHART, MOTHER OF BATACLAN VICTIM (through translator): Just because we are the parents of the deceased and wounded victims of the
November 13 attacks, that does not mean that we have lost our humanity. So, of course, we wish for those children to be brought home to find a
foster family, grandparents, but their parents they must be judged. Yes, that is our wish.
BELL: But for some children still the problem is more complicated. Jana is still thought to be in ISIS territory. Her father died after kidnapping
her from her mother and taking her to Syria. Jana's uncle says he believes that she's in the hands of a Libyan family last heard of in Hajin, in
eastern Syria.
MUSTAPHA, UNCLE OF ISIS ORPHAN (through translator): This pain has caused tensions between everyone. What we should be doing now, what we should
have done, but unfortunately fate chose something else for this child to be kidnapped and to find yourself today in a war zone.
BELL: Children stuck in a war zone and in another no man's land.
[10:10:00] Caught between the sins of their parents and their rights as French citizens and as children.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Yes, a very powerful report there from Melissa. And speaking of those ISIS families, a U.S. court Monday turned down a bid to fast track
the case of an American-born woman who left to join ISIS in Syria four years ago. Now 24-year-old Hoda Muthana wants to come back with her young
son. She spoke with CBS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HODA MUTHANA, FORMER ISIS SUPPORTER WHO CLAIMS AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP: I hope no one sees me as a threat. And I hope everyone gives me a second
chance basically.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CBS EVENING NEWS: What do you miss most about the United States?
MUTHANA: I miss my family. I miss comfort. I miss security. I miss my freedoms really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The Trump administration says Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and has barred her from coming home.
Now to claims of a political witch hunt fueled by fake news. We're not talking about Donald Trump lashing out at all the investigations he's
facing, but rather Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister is taking a page out of the U.S. President's playbook when it comes to
fighting multiple corruption probes. Our CNN's Oren Liebermann reports the strategy is discredit and deny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two leaders, one message.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER AND DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fake news.
LIEBERMANN: As the Mueller investigation comes to a close, criminal investigations are encircling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His probe built like Trump's on the testimony of former associates. The two have hued to the same strategy, attack the media, the opposition, and
the justice system.
TRUMP: So the Attorney General is weak and ineffective and he doesn't do what he should have done.
NETANYAHU (through translator): The left are carrying against us an unprecedented political witch hunt. Its only goal is to overthrow the
right-wing government under my leadership.
LIEBERMANN: They favor social media to traditional news outlets, with one American exception.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, FOX NEWS: They have not been able to beat Bibi Netanyahu at the ballot box, and so they're trying to beat him through
these trumped-up -- he calls it a witch hunt, call it what our president calls it, trumped-up charges.
LIEBERMANN: The two leaders share more than a message. Trump and Netanyahu are well connected millionaires, the ultimate insiders who
portray themselves as fighting a system rigged against them and standing up for the little guy. There is one big difference here. Trump keeps
crashing into the American political system. Netanyahu is a master at finessing Israel's system.
ABRAHAM DISKIN,POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, HEBREW UNIVERSITY: I think Trump and his reactions, definitely was very emotional and very impulsive.
And I don't think that Netanyahu is either emotional. I feel he's very calculated and he's definitely not an impulsive person.
LIEBERMANN: Trump made his admiration of Netanyahu clear.
TRUMP: I can say this, that he's done a great job as Prime Minister. He is tough, he's smart, he's strong.
LIEBERMANN: Netanyahu has done the same.
NETANYAHU: Israel has no better ally than the United States.
LIEBERMANN: The adoration has helped each leader's popularity. Right wing Israelis celebrate Trump. Republicans hero worship Netanyahu. In a time
of surging right-wing politics these two have risen hand in hand. They have supported each other as each leader faces the investigation that
threatens to topple them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And Oren joins us live now from Jerusalem. Oren, Netanyahu seemed committed to this strategy of Trump style politics. Is it going to
work for him, do you think?
LIEBERMANN: Well so far it seems to be working with his base. I'm sure because partially at least his base is also very pro-President Donald
Trump. But one of the big questions as we deal with Israel's political system where it's not just about coming out with the biggest party but
being able to pull together a coalition. Is, does this strategy effect anybody else? Especially the right-wing block that he wants to put
together. Is anybody turned off by it? Does anybody look at Netanyahu's main rival? If there are even a few of those voters -- and by that, I mean
a few thousand here, a relatively small number compared to Israel's voter population -- that could be the difference.
So we'll see over the next election polls how Netanyahu -- not only his party but also his block reacts to his strategy and if they buy essentially
him doubling down on that attack strategy against the left and against the investigations. But it will be one of the critical questions moving
forward with less than five weeks at this point until the elections.
MACFARLANE: The two leaders, of course, due to meet at the conference of the American Israeli Lobby, APAC, in late March. Give us a preview of what
we can expect?
LIEBERMANN: So that will come right before the elections. And for all intents and purposes, for Netanyahu it will be a campaign rally. He's
meeting essentially his best political and diplomatic friend, President Donald Trump. Then everything they say will be scrutinized through the
lens of you have an election coming up here momentarily.
Netanyahu would like to keep this focused on diplomacy, how good the relations are between the two leaders and the countries, as well as Iran.
[10:15:00] That's essentially been Netanyahu's favorite talking point for years now. Where does he not want the conversation to go? Well Trump's
peace plan is said to be released shortly after the election. And if it veers too much towards the peace plan, Trump even hinting maybe Netanyahu
has already accepted parts of the plan. That could be a major blow to Netanyahu because his right-wing coalition partners made it clear they out
right reject basically whatever Trump puts on the table.
MACFARLANE: And. Oren, finally, just briefly, you mentioned the polls. Well Netanyahu officially launched his election campaign Monday night. Is
there any indication that the corruption charges are upsetting his popularity right now?
LIEBERMANN: So there's only been a few polls since then. The first two, which came out on Friday, were the first since the Attorney General
announced his intention to indict Netanyahu. In both of those polls he was not able to form a coalition government. Just barely missed out. He
needed 61 seats, he had 59 between him and the other parties he'd like to join with. The poll that came out today suggests he's back up to 61. But
that gives you an idea of how close this race is. We'll definitely keep an eye on the polls, but as every Israeli has seen in recent elections, those
polls are off. They miss by enough that even on election day it could be quite a surprise as to what actually happens.
MACFARLANE: We'll keep a close eye on that. Oren Liebermann there live from Jerusalem. Thanks very much, Oren.
Now an appeal by Tokyo prosecutors to keep Carlos Ghosn in jail has failed. Paving the way for the former head of the world's biggest car making
alliance to be released on bail as he awaits trial. Bail has been set at $9 million. The former Nissan chief is accused of financial misconduct.
Charges he denies. Our Anna Stewart is following this story and she joins me now. Good to see you, Anna. For the first time the courts have granted
bail after two previous attempts failed, taking everyone by surprise. I understand there's been a response from Ghosn this morning. What's he had
to say?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Really substantial statements we've had from him. Let me bring it to now.
He says, I'm extremely grateful for my family and friends who have stood by me throughout this terrible ordeal. I am also grateful to the NGOs and
human rights activists in Japan and around the world who fight for the cause of presumption of innocence and a fair trial. I am innocent and
totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these merit list and unsubstantiated accusations.
Now throughout this here tonight, the charges as you said, he's also said, that this whole thing has been a plot by Nissan executives who feared that
he was trying to get a greater reliance between it and Nissan's alliance partner, Renault. French partner, Renault owns more than 40 percent of
Nissan. Whereas Nissan only owns actually a 15 percent of Renault.
MACFARLANE: And just because, Anna, we've heard that he's actually on bail today, that's not the end of it. Is it? It doesn't mean that he
necessarily walks free. He still has some hurdles to overcome.
STEWART: Oh, absolutely. We still don't have a trial date set. He's been in prison for three months awaiting trial and actually this has caused a
lot of confusion and interest around the world as to Japan's criminal justice system. How somebody could be kept in prison for so long without
even a trial date being set. We do expect that to happen later in the year now. The conditions of this bail, he must stay in Japan. And
interestingly, new conditions on this bail application, which may be why it's actually passed unlike the other two, he will be under video
surveillance and his communications will be limited.
MACFARLANE: All right. Anna Stewart, thank you very much there for bringing us up to date in London.
Well still to come --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was trying to cover up something that had happened to him so heinous, so horrible --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: A father said his son fell into drugs and died after he was molested by one of the most prominent members of the Catholic Church. We
hear his story next.
[10:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: You're watching CNN and this is CONNECT THE WORLD. Welcome back.
Let's get you up to speed now on some other stories that are on our radar right now. Brexit is a lesson for us all. Those are the words of French
President Emmanuel Macron in an opinion piece addressed to EU citizens ahead of May's European elections. In it, Mr. Macron cites Brexit of the
starkest example of the dangers facing the EU and outlines his vision for the block.
India is denying Pakistan's claim that one of its submarines tried to enter Pakistani waters. The Indian government is dismissing this video as part
of a campaign to create war hysteria. It comes amid a spike intention between the two countries.
The Egyptian government has released an award-winning photojournalist who had been held in jail for five years. Mahmoud Abou Zeid was arrested for
taking pictures of a crackdown of antigovernment protests in 2013. Though out of jail, Amnesty International says Abou Zeid will have to spend 12
hours a day in a local police station for the next five years.
A patient in London might be the second person to be cured of HIV. The man has been in remission for 18 months after a treatment involving stem cells
transplants. This case comes more than ten years after the virus was eliminated in a Berlin patient using similar stem cell therapy.
Now to the sex abuse scandal that has been rocking the Catholic Church and to the scars that never heal. Cardinal George Pell, as you know, was
convicted of child sex abuse. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week. CNN's Anna Coren is the only international journalist to speak with the
father of one of Pell's victims. She says his son spiraled after he was molested.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dressed in his chorister robes, his thick hair brushed to one side, this young boy is a
picture of innocence and so much promise. It's the way his father tries to remember him.
FATHER OF PELL VICTIM: If he wasn't playing lacrosse, he was at the football. If he can't at football, he would be at church, at the choir.
COREN: To be in the choir was a privileged position. He had been handpicked along with two other boys from his local school to be a choir
boy at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It came with a scholarship to a prestigious Melbourne private school and a world his parents would never
have been able to afford.
FATHER OF PELL VICTIM: For my son, it was a fabulous opportunity. Yes, and it would have been fabulous for his future.
COREN: But it was inside this blue stone basilica that sits on Eastern Hill in the city where unspeakable crimes happened to his son and his
friend when they were just 13 years old. Neither the boys nor their families can be identified for legal reasons. A jury found that Cardinal
George Pell, then Archbishop of Melbourne, caught them in the pre-sacristy after Sunday mass in 1996. He forced the other choir boy to perform oral
sex on him before indecently assaulting both boys. While his son never spoke of the attack, he says his behavior the following year suggested
something had gone terribly wrong.
FATHER OF PELL VICTIM: He was trying to mask something that had happened to him. He was trying to cover up something that had happened to him so
heinous, so horrible.
[10:25:00] COREN: His father says he was kicked out of the choir, lost his scholarship and fell into the wrong crowd. Within 12 months, his treasured
son was injecting heroine. An addiction that would eventually claim his life after an accidental overdose in 2014. His parents had to identify him
at the morgue.
FATHER OF PELL VICTIM: You -- you look at him and you think, why? What a waste. What a waste of life.
COREN: He believes it was his son's death that would prompt the surviving choir boy to go to police. When Cardinal Pell was interviewed by
Australian detectives in Rome in 2016, he scoffed at the allegations.
GEORGE PELL, FORMER CARDINAL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: What a load of absolutely disgraceful rubbish. Completely false. Madness.
COREN: A jury found Pell guilty on all five charges of child sexual abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the devil.
COREN: The 77-year-old maintains his innocence and has lodged an appeal.
(on camera): Despite the fact Cardinal George Pell is now a convicted pedophile, he still has enormous support here in Australia. Former Prime
Ministers, media commentators, even some church leaders have all questioned the voracity of the jury's decision. Sowing the seeds of doubt as to
whether the crimes that took place inside this Cathedral 22 years ago ever happened at all.
LISA FLYNN, SHINE LAWYER: This isn't a case where there's been only allegations. There has been a unanimous jury verdict of guilt in this
case. And to suggest that somehow the jury didn't get it right, that the victims and the survivors should still not be believed, I think, is
incredibly dangerous.
COREN (voice-over): The father is now considering a civil case against the church, which if successful, could prove to be a test case for other
survivors and their families who have been betrayed by an institution that was supposed to keep children safe.
Anna Coren, CNN, Melbourne.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: You're watching CNN and this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Welcome back.
Now when Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, they vowed they would use that power to launch a real investigation into Donald Trump.
We are now starting to see how extensive that investigation will be. On Monday House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jerry Nadler, announced his
committee will be seeking evidence from 81 people and entities as it looks into the President, his administration, his campaign an even his personal
businesses. The sheer scope of the investigation is striking. And Nadler says he wants to show the American people the case against President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JERRY NADLER (D), NEW YORK: Our goal is to hold the administration accountable for the obstruction of justice, the abuse of power and the
corruption. Our goal is to vindicate the rule of law, protect the rule of law in this country. And that's our core function as a judiciary committee
of the Congress. And we have to find out what's been going on, and we have to lay out a case to the American people and reveal it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Our CNN White House reporter, Stephen Collinson, joins us now. Stephen, the sheer scale of these investigations is stunning. Jerry Nadler
also said in that CNN interview that this isn't an impeach drive, but it certainly looks that way, doesn't it?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It does. And it could easily be changed into the kind of structure you need in the House to hold
impeachment hearings. Any evidence that would go towards an impeachment process would be what is being unearthed by this committee and several
other House committees. I think Democrats are conscious of the fact that right now there is not yet public recognition that there needs to be an
impeachment process.
They're going to try to make a case that the President abused his power, obstructed justice and is guilty of corruption in his personal and
political life. And then I think get to a point where they make a decision on whether impeachment is warranted.
This is, of course, going to go on a long time. It's going to bleed into the 2020 election race. So the politics of this are very delicate.
There's a conventional view that Democrats aren't going to go to impeachment in the House unless they believe that sufficient numbers of
Republicans would vote to oust the President and the Senate trial. That could all change if the evidence shows gross wrong doing by the President,
but at this stage, public opinion isn't there. And it would be a dangerous step for Democrats to take without that.
MACFARLANE: Yes, we saw the list of 81 names there. One notable absentee amongst them is Ivanka Trump. She works at the White House. She's married
to Jared Kushner. Why hasn't she been called do you think?
COLLINSON: It's interesting. One theory is that she is so close to the President, he has a special relationship with her, that would just really
tip Donald Trump over the edge. He's very sensitive about investigations into his family. Having said that, his two grown sons, Eric Trump and
Donald Trump Jr. are on the list. They are very closely tied with the Trump business. Jerry Nadler said in a CNN interview yesterday, that it
was quite conceivable that Ivanka Trump could be on a future list.
I think what Democrats are trying to do is to avoid the impression that they're going after the President and his family personally. And I think
having Ivanka Trump on that list, hauling her up to Capitol Hill for televised hearing would risk making it look more like this is a vendetta at
this stage rather than a legal and political process. But she could be called in the future.
MACFARLANE: Well certainly either way, a lot of paperwork and months of work ahead. Meanwhile the list of Democratic candidates running for office
just gets bigger and bigger. There are now 12 major Democrats in the race, Hickenlooper the most recent. Is this a good thing or a bad thing to have
this many in the race do you think?
COLLINSON: Certainly very interesting. What I think it shows is that the Democratic race for President is very open. There's no real dominant
person in the race. There's no candidate really with their own big political base. Perhaps with the exception of Bernie Sanders, who had some
big rallies over the weekend. There's not really an agreement in the Democratic Party about how to run for President right now.
[10:35:00] Whether the party should go all the way to the left, adopt things like state-run healthcare, for example and free college, or whether
there should be a more moderate path. You have some candidates that are angling specifically for the very important African-American vote in the
Democratic base. Others present themselves as a historic figure, you know, to be the first woman president. So I think this is the most open
Democratic race, at least since 2004.
At this point in 2008 and 2016, it was clear that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were going to be the big characters in the
Democratic race. We don't have that dominant candidate yet. And because there's so much going on in Washington, some of these candidates are having
the luxury of time to develop their campaigns away from the harsh spotlight of presidential campaign coverage.
Let's remember there's still another 11 months or more until the first votes are counted in this race. I think when we get to the summer, we see
presidential candidate debates, then you're going to see sort of tiers emerge in the field, perhaps some candidates will come to the fore. More
well-known candidates, for example, like Kamala Harris, the California Senator, or Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Senator. But right now
it's very interesting to watch how the Democratic Party is working out exactly how it wants to run against Donald Trump.
MACFARLANE: Yes, very interesting indeed. 12 Democrats so far, possibly more to come. Stephen, thank you so much there for giving us your insight.
Now the U.S. and China say they're making important progress to resolve their trade war. But the Chinese Premier says those trade conflicts have
already created serious challenges for his country's economy. Speaking at the annual National People's Congress, he warned citizens to brace for a
tough year ahead. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LI KEQIANG, CHINESE PREMIER (through translator): Pursuing development this year we will face a graver and more complicated environment as well as
risks and challenges foreseeable and otherwise that are greater in number and size. We must be fully prepared for a tough struggle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Li Kequang set this year's economic growth target at 6 to 6.5 percent. It's the lowest in almost three decades. Our CNN's emerging
markets editor, John Defterios, joins me live now from Abu Dhabi to crunch the numbers. And John, how significant is this? And to what extent is the
slowdown and the trade war really being felt in China?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNMONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, they're all factors here, Christina. I think the National People's Congress though, is a great
lead indicator to suggest what the Chinese leadership is thinking right now. And very importantly in this slower growth environment what it's
willing to do. Premier Li was suggesting it's going to be turbulent times ahead. This bandwidth, by the way, of 6 to 6.5 percent is the envy of most
emerging markets, but not for China. For two decades it was growing at 9 to 10 percent. It's not sustainable as it moves up the value chain and
becomes closer to a middle-income economy.
But it is complicated because you have U.S. and China trade tensions, that deal is not done yet. They're hoping they're going to see some daylight
here. So, it kind of lifts the cloud. But they have been cracking down on corruption and also, what is called, shadow banking, which created a lot of
lending and created some real estate bubbles that have to be dealt with.
So this is a clear indicator. Remember two years ago when Premier Li took the stand at the National People's Congress when I was in Beijing, he was
guiding the growth lower, 6.5 percent to 7 percent. This time it's 6 to 6.5 percent. A signal for industry and to the Chinese people, they have it
under control, and they're actually willing to do something about it. He also revealed about a $300 billion tax cut plan for businesses and also
removing business fees here going forward.
So the indication that they're saying now is we're ready for the slowdown. We have to try to clean up this complex issue with the United States, but
we are aware of what's ahead and you should be as well.
MACFARLANE: Yes, really setting expectations. We know, John, that President Trump has been going after China. But it seems he's now setting
his sights on knew targets, India and Turkey.
DEFTERIOS: Yes. I find it extraordinary, they haven't closed the door with the trade tensions with China, Christina and they're going after the
second largest emerging market, India. And by the way, Turkey is no small player as well. It's a major exporter.
Let's cover India first. The bilateral trade with the United States has grown by over 100 percent in the last dozen years, $126 billion. The issue
for Donald Trump is that the trade deficit is about $23 billion with India, and he wants it corrected. He says that the tariffs, for example, this is
just one example on American whiskey, unfair. The price caps on U.S. medical devices in India, unfair right now. And he says that the 2,000
products that go from emerging markets into the United States have to be phased out over time.
[10:40:00] Turkey is a different example. Again, the President was suggesting that Turkey's move up to middle income status. The per capita
income is about $9,000 a year. It doesn't need this special treatment from the United States going forward. We know that President Trump Erdogan and
President Trump fought last summer over economic policy and they're no friends when it comes to that policy going forward. And this is perhaps an
indication.
The common link between Turkey and India and perhaps the nasty game that Donald Trump is playing now. We have national elections coming up in India
by the end of May, and local elections in Turkey by the end of the month. Perhaps Donald Trump sees this as a way to push up the pressure on both of
them to get what he needs on the trade front and play to his base back in the United States.
MACFARLANE: Great to have your perspective. John Defterios there in Abu Dhabi. Thanks very much, John.
Well as China deals with an economic slowdown, the world grapples with a mounting waste problem. Beijing banned recycling imports in 2018, leaving
countries struggling to dispose of what they once shipped to China. And in South Korea at least the problems are piling up and highly combustible.
Paula Hancocks has the dirt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 170,000 tons of illegal waste dumped on prime farming area. A health risk and eyesore.
South Korea is struggling to deal with its own rubbish.
Park Hyun-soon, has farmed here for 10 years. Her greenhouse is just meters from the expanding dump.
PARK HYUN-SOON, EGGPLANT FARMER: First of all there's the dust, she tells me. The greenhouse is a shell of plastic sheeting. And the dust covers it
up and blocks the light and my egg plants are starting to grow gnarled.
HANCOCKS: Since December, the dump is now starting to self-combust as year's old waste decomposes, it produces flammable and toxic gases.
Workers and firefighters doused the fire with water only to see it reignite elsewhere.
PARK HYUN-SOON: We are constantly worried about the fire, Park says. It's pretty close to us, so if a spark flies over, my entire livelihood is here.
HANCOCKS (on camera): The smell of burning household waste and burning plastic, construction materials is really quite unpleasant. And this is
the wintertime. It's subzero temperatures at the moment. Just imagine what this is like in the summer. One of those who lives very close by,
says she hasn't opened her windows in the past two years.
(voice-over): The company that owns the dump changed hands just over a year ago. The CEO tells CNN the previous owner dumped almost 170,000 tons
of mostly illegal mixed waste that market rates that could raise more than $20 million. We were unable to contact him. Local officials say he is
under investigation. They first took legal action five years ago to limit him to the original permit of a small storage site for recyclables.
The government has now had to allocate a budget of $5 million for this, one official tells me. We plan to remove 21,000 tons of waste within the year.
Illegal dumping is happening across the country and beyond. This is Mindanao, in the Philippines. 6,500 tons of waste that a South Korea
company had claimed was recyclable plastic synthetic flakes. In reality it's filled with batteries, straws, electronic products, used diapers.
After pressure from the environmental groups, the South Korean government again had to step in and pay for its repatriation.
China's decision to accept less of the world's waste and unscrupulous companies dumping illegally to make money means South Korea has a new waste
reality to deal with. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Uiseong County, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Paula Hancocks there.
Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD they're one of the biggest names in football with a group of fans nicknamed the "Super Jews", who keep on
singing amidst rising anti-Semitism. More on that next.
[10:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Ajax of Amsterdam are one of the most successful football clubs on the planet. But there is one important part
of their history that is often overlooked. Founded in 1900 they became known as a Jewish club in the 1930s, as their stadium was located next to a
Jewish neighborhood. And Jewish culture has been embraced by many of the club's fans, but not without some controversy. Alex Thomas has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ESTHER VOET, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, NIW: What you see with Ajax is that the supporters identify themselves with the Jews in Amsterdam.
CROWD CHANTING (through translator): Hey, Hey, Ajax Jews, Super Jews.
NIRIT PELED, FILMMAKER: I was 20 years old when I came to live in Amsterdam. A week later I found myself on a train full of football
supporters. They had Israeli flags, David star tattoos on their arms chanting, hava nagila, hava.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT (voice-over): Israeli filmmaker Nirit Peled, made the film "Super Jews" after moving to the Netherlands and found the
roots of the Ajax supporters Jewish appropriation.
PELED: I think I could pretty much isolate it in the kind of mid '70s, late '70s, and the word Jew was considered a curse word, and the Amsterdam
group -- Amsterdam has the kind of nickname of being the Jewish city. So an Ajax supporter would be -- they would be called the Jews by opposition
supporters. Somewhere around that time, they kind of thought, you know what? We are going to take this super insulting word, the Jews, and make
it our name. I know when I came here, my uncles were big fans of Ajax and they said you know they love Israelis, because all they can see is, they're
the ones jumping with Israeli flags in the stadiums.
THOMAS: However questions have been asked of Ajax supporter's appropriation of Jewish culture and the problematic nature of songs which
continue to be sung such as if you don't jump, you're not a Jew.
CROWD CHANTING (through translator): Those who don't jump, aren't Jews.
DAVID ENDT, FORMER AJAX TEAM MEMBER: I don't like it to be used because, you know, it gives the other party an alibi to shout wrong things about it,
to hurt people that have nothing to do with football.
THOMAS: But the Ajax supporters we spoke to told us it has nothing to do with religion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's nothing to do with that. It's just, you know, nostalgia for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a kind of culture, you know, every club has that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's complicated. That's heritage from a long way ago. But it's also the identity of Ajax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amsterdam used to be a Jewish city, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure if you ask 50 percent of these fans if they could quote the first verse of the bible, they wouldn't know what you're
talking about.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is being used by other teams to express anti- Semitic views. That's clear. And I'm quoting Hamas, Hamas Jews at the gas, or let's burn some Jews because Jews burn the best.
CROWD CHANTING (through translator): Hamas, Hamas, Jews at the gas --
THOMAS: Last month alone, two Ajax fixtures were overshadowed by anti- Semitic incidents. Dutch police arrested five Feyenoord fans following offensive chanting during a league game in Rotterdam. Whilst a group of
ADO Den Haag fans traveled to Amsterdam to paint swastikas on Jewish monuments in their club's green and yellow colors.
The Netherlands Jewish community is made up of just 30,000 people, not enough to fill Ajax's 55,000-seat Johan Cruijff arena. Despite the
relatively small Jewish population, an EU report in December found anti- Semitism on the rise in the Netherlands, and now accounting for a remarkable 41 percent of criminal prosecutions for discrimination.
[10:50:00] Whilst football has been in the spotlight over the issue, many feel this is a wider problem.
PELED: It's funny, in the whole discussion about this phenomenon, I thought, why are we not asking ourselves why is the word Jew being a curse
word in the Netherlands. I think that's actually this friction that what kind of gave birth to this whole phenomena.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Much more should be done to fight against this and this is not happening.
THOMAS: Ajax declined CNN's offer to participate in this report. But after 40 years of the "Super Jews" phenomenon at the club, the debate has
never been fiercer. In light of the recent resurgence of right-wing populism across Europe, meaning that once again, football finds itself at
the center of the fight against discrimination.
Alex Thomas, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And our thanks to Alex for that important report.
All right, still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD. From heartthrob bad boy and 90210, to father figure in "Riverdale." We pay tribute to the career of
actor and icon, Luke Perry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: You're watching CNN and this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina Macfarlane, welcome back.
Actor Luke Perry passed away Monday at just 52 years old. He was the bad boy of the 1990s hit show, "90210," playing the brooding emotionally
scarred Dylan McKay. His latest project, "Riverdale," temporarily halted production to honor the actor. CNN's Jeanne Moos looks back at the iconic
moments of his career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hard to believe a massive stroke at only 52 could take away the heartthrob of the 90s, the
actor Letterman introduced as --
DAVID LETTERMAN, THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW HOST: The hunkiest rebel in Beverly Hills, Luke Perry. Luke.
MOOS: A guy who helped make almost all of us able to recite a certain zip code.
LETTERMAN: Beverly Hills 90202, 02, 02, 02.
MOOS: On the show Luke played a teenage stud with a drinking problem.
LUKE PERRY, ACTOR: Hi, girls.
Hop on. My bike, that is.
MOOS: In real life, he told entertainment tonight --
PERRY: I've only ever had one addiction, and there she. No, there she is. No, there she is. No, that's my addiction I had.
MOOS: His fans once got so rabid he had to escape a mall appearance.
PERRY: They said give me that laundry bin we'll cover you up, and I jumped in, they covered me and we rolled right out through the crowd.
MOOS: In remembrance actress Leslie Grossman tweeted, when I was lucky enough to work with Luke Perry, I told him about the pillow of his face I
used to sleep with and he yelled you are such a weirdo, but there were plenty of weirdos with that same pillow.
His side burns are burned into our memories, how many of you grew long side burns, because Luke Perry made it look cool? He went on to everything from
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"--
PERRY: You're not like other girls.
[10:55:00] MOOS: -- to roles not like his other roles, for instance in the gritty prison drama "Oz".
PERRY: That is show biz on a stick.
MOOS: He got his start in a teen drama, and his final role was as a father in a teen drama, "Riverdale".
PERRY: If you harm a hair on Archie's head, I will kill you.
MOOS: It's not easy following your own act when you've been dubbed the epitome of cool. Vanity Fair once asked, is Luke a fluke?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say, you look familiar.
PERRY: Yes, I'm that guy you wish you were.
MOOS: That guy you wish didn't have to go so soon.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: A lovely trip down memory lane there with Jeanne Moos.
I'm Christina Macfarlane and that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks for joining us.
END
