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Umbrella Movement Student Leader Nathan Law Elected to Hong Kong Legislative Council; Interview with Jack Ma; U.S. President Holds Post-G20 Press Conference; Israeli Rescue Crew Searching for Missing After Collapse of Underground Parking Garage; No Peace for Syria. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 5, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:10:32] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: All right. And you've been watching U.S. President Barack Obama holding a post-G20 news conference in the

Chinese City of Hangzhou. This was the last G20 he will attend as he was president and he reflected on the past eight years and the accomplishments

of the group.

Now, earlier President Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. No deal was reached on ending the violence in

Syria. And President Obama says they discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as cybersecurity, and described

the meeting as business-like and blunt.

Now CNN's Matt Rivers is in Hangzhou with the latest. He joins us now. And Matt, I know you were listening to that press conference just now.

President Obama wrapping up that presser in Hangzhou. This is his final G20 summit as U.S. president. Your thoughts, first, on the message he put

forward.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the message there, and you heard him say it right at the end, is that he is a very strong proponent of

these kinds of meetings. I think that you hear from critics about summits like these that they end up just being talk fests, that they don't actually

produce tangible results, that you don't often see things come out of there that you can really put your finger on and say yes that is a breakthrough

that came from the G20 summit in Hangzhou or St. Petersburg.

But I think what you heard the president say is even if you don't see those exact items or you don't see as he put it the sexy headlines, you do see

some sort of progress, and there is benefit in the world's most influential leaders coming together and creating these personal relationships, and

laying the groundwork of that -- of those relationships to be able to respond when things happen.

And the example he gave was talking about steel overcapacity, which is a big issue here in China. Critics have accused China of producing way too

much steel and therefore driving prices down globally. And what the president said was that everyone recognized that that was enough of an

issue to put it on the agenda in the first place and he said over the next year,

things will be put in place that the next G20 next year they'll have a more firm regulations in terms of reining that problem in.

Now whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But he said even though that wasn't the most sexy head line you've ever read he said those

are the kinds of real world implications that these kind of meetings can have.

So, to sum up the president has really put a big emphasis on the promise of these kinds of

meetings. He said it right from the beginning and through both of his terms, Kristie, a very consistent message.

LU STOUT: Yeah. And in the Q&A portion of that press conference, an interesting answer about The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. How

did President Obama address the recent controversial statements made by Duterte, and, and if he plans to meet with Duterte?

RIVERS: Well, he used the words when and if he meets with President Duterte. And I think what he said is he was in a day-long -- or had

meetings all day long and hadn't been properly briefed, as he put it, on the exact comments from the Filipino president.

But what he did say is he called him a very colorful character. In fact, he used the word colorful several times. And I think perhaps you could

almost hear a hint of annoyance in the president's voice there in terms of the comments that came from President Duterte earlier on. And so what I

think you're going to see the president do moving forward is to, you know, what he said is that when he goes to meet with the president he said human

rights are a big issue that we're not going to leave that at the door. But he also talked about how important the Filipino alliance is. How they are

a treaty partner to the United States.

And very interesting, Kristie, when he talked about the alliance he said the Filipino people have

been a strong ally of the United States for a long time and he did not -- he specifically didn't say the president is a strong ally.

So I think that if you could be a fly on the wall, as he put it when and if that meeting between

the two leaders happens, I think that will be some very interesting conversation between the new Filipino president and the outgoing American

president.

LU STOUT: And Matt another diplomatic relationship in focus, Russia and the United States. I mean hours before that address just now and the press

conference we know that Barack Obama met Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20. No deal on Syria, but from

what came out of that meeting what you heard from that presser just now, where does the relationship between the U.S. and Russia stand?

[08:14:59] RIVERS: Well I think not much has changed. If you hear what the president has said, he used the words blunt and candid when describing

that meeting, and those are words that he has used before. He has said that the meetings were not overly friendly and that he was able to have a

little bit of progress moving forward on this issue. And he said they were able to talk about it.

But he used the words gaps of trust that exist between Russia and the United States on this

issue, very, very large differences that remain, although he did say that both sides would continue to negotiate over the next several days. And so

I think this kind of meeting is the kind of meeting that these two leaders have before there clearly remains a lack of trust on both sides.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Matt Rivers reporting live for us at the cite of the G20 in Hangzhou. Thank you.

Now with no Syria peace deal in sight at the G20, there is no end to the violence. Syrian media report at least 40 people have been killed in four

bombings across the country. Now government-held areas were hit including this army checkpoint in Homs. ISIS has claimed responsibility for an

attack in a Kurdish controlled area. There was a suicide bomber on a motorcycle which killed five security forces.

Now, for more on this, let's go straight to Arwa Damon. She joins us now live from Istanbul. Of course, she has reported extensively on Syria.

And Arwa with no peace deal in sight, the civil war just rages on with new attacks across Syria. Tell us more.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It does, Kristie. And we'll keep reporting about it. And global leaders will keep having all sorts of

conversations about it. And the irony of the reality that Syria itself, the people of Syria, are not really represented at these talks between the

U.S. and Russia and other talks that are taking place also between Turkey and Russia and Turkey and the United States, that is really what is fueling

a lot of this ongoing anger and frustration that has really been building up over the last five-plus years.

You mentioned those attacks that happened today. At least 40 people killed in regime-held areas, only one of the attacks claimed by ISIS, though, at

this stage, that the bombing you mentioned there in Hassaqah (ph), the deadliest of these attacks happened on a highway just outside of the

coastal city of Tartus, that is where the Russias in fact have their naval base.

And this particular attack, it was a car bomb that went off and then as people came in to try to

rescue those who they could another individual wearing a suicide belt then detonated those explosives, this is according to Syria's state-run news

agency.

We also have the siege of Aleppo that is ongoing. It was briefly broken, but now according to a number of opposition sources it has at this stage

re-materialized cutting off hundreds thousands of people from much-needed humanitarian assistance, and medical assistance, as well.

President Obama, of course, referring to the meetings that he had with his Russian counterpart, and then with the meetings that Kerry would be having

with Lavrov over the next few days referring to the cessation of hostilities that the U.S. and Russia had managed to very briefly implement,

a cessation of hostilities that allowed a fraction, only a fraction, of the needed aid to go in to Syria.

But right now, as President Obama was pointing out, they are back to basically square one. In the president's words he said that we're back to

the era where the Assad regime is continuing to bomb with impunity. Earlier we heard from a senior U.S. administration official who basically

described the sticking point as being technicalities.

But these are either not mere technicalities, or they are very severe technicalities at this stage, Kristie. Because when you think about what

is happening in Syria, when you think about all the various different global players who are involved, who are backing their different proxies on

the ground, it really, truly does seem as if no one at this stage genuinely has the interests of the Syrian people at heart.

LU STOUT: That's right. And with no viable solution in sight the tragedy inside Syria just keeps going on. And today, Arwa, we learned that Turkey

is claiming success in its campaign to remove ISIS from its border regions. This may be a reported setback for ISIS, but what about the

Syrian people? I mean how has Turkey's involvement affected them?

DAMON: Well, it is, to answer the first part of that, initially it is a setback for ISIS in the

sense that right now ISIS does not necessarily control any sort of significant territory along the Turkey/Syria border. And this was one of

Turkey's main aims, it said, when it went and began undertaking this operation that began with Turkish tanks, and troops moving in to Jarablus

and since then for well over a week around the last two weeks or so, they have been trying to recapture the stretch of some 91 kilometers along the

Syria/Turkey border that has effectively ended ISIS's capacity to freely move along the Turkey/Syria border. Potentially this is something that would significantly impede its ability to bring in foreign

fighters and other resources as well.

There is another issue in all of this, of course, and that is Turkey's other possible aim, and that is to stop the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces

from making even further advances. This has been a source of some great tension between Turkey, and the United States.

When it comes to the population, I think at this stage, of course, there is the relief at finally no longer having to live under ISIS, the concern of

what is going to happen next, and perhaps the sense that maybe Turkey is going to end up unilaterally at least attempting to impose some sort of

say-so, and although that, of course, we have to wait and see about.

LU STOUT: Arwa Damon reporting live for us from Istanbul. Thank you, Arwa.

Now Israeli emergency services say that two people have now died in a building collapse in Tel Aviv. One person is in critical condition.

Now, rescue teams are looking for several people that could still be under the rubble of what was believed to be a four-story parking garage under

construction.

Now, let's go straight to CNN's Oren Liebermann who is live for us at the scene. And Orrin, we know that these frantic rescue efforts have been

underway the last four hours or so. What's the latest?

OREN LIBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, you can see here behind me this is the sight of that parking garage collapse.

First, you can see how thoroughly, almost how completely this parking garage collapsed falling right in. You can see the crushed concrete there,

the rebar that's sticking out that supported what was this four story parking garage. And on top

of that, you can see that the Israeli military homefront command that's leading this search and rescue effort.

According to Israel's emergency rescue services there are approximately five to seven workers

still trapped under there. This was a four story parking garage. As far as police know right now, the top three stories collapsed, leaving that

fourth story in a state that they're trying to figure out.

Now, Israel's director of emergency services says they had real-time information at the time of the collapse as to where the workers they're

looking for are. Now it's a question of finding them, getting to them, and finding out what kind of help they need, and did they survive the building

collapse?

Police also unsure what state that bottom floor is in that could be 50 or more feet underground because this was an underground parking garage.

Kristie, as you mentioned, we've found out that two people died in this building collapse. One more remains in critical condition. Approximately

20, according to police, were injured, some taken to local hospitals for treatment, some treated here at the scene.

A short while ago, a large crane arrived, presumably to start moving some of that earth, moving some of that rubble, to allow rescue workers to get

deeper down into this parking garage.

We spoke with a witness who was here, walking right by here at the moment this collapse

happened. He said it felt like an earthquake and the dust rose so quickly that within seconds he couldn't see right in front of him. Here's what he

had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SRAYA LISTENBERG, EYEWITNESS: Lots of chaos. The workers there was completely shocked, but they had lots of luck. There was under the ground

there was ten minutes before it happened there was like 40 people working there, 40 or maybe more people

are working there, and they just had the break. So they had lots of luck that they went out.

And I saw one of the workers standing and start eating his sandwich, after 20 minutes say -- didn't even start to eat anything from the morning,

sandwich in my hand and everything fell down in one second.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Interesting what that man said. He said he was walking right by, He jumped in to help and after speaking with workers he realized that

this happened in the middle of a lunch break so a lot of people had left, had come out of this parking garage to eat their lunch outside. But some

workers stayed in. That's presumably who rescue workers are still looking for at this point.

They've been on scene since this collapse happened right around 11:30, so some four hours ago. Now homefront command leading that rescue effort

trying to find whoever is left under the rubble of this parking garage -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: CNN's Oren Lieberman reporting live at the scene of this terrible building collapse in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Oren, take care.

You're watching News Stream. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:22] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back.

Now, Singapore now says it has 258 cases of locally transmitted Zika. Now the city-state Zika outbreak went from zero cases to more than 200 in just

one week. And some worry that this could lead to a rapid surge in Zika across Asia.

Now, Singapore's ministry of health says two cases they analyzed show the infection evolved from a similar strain of Zika that was already in

Southeast Asia.

Now I spoke earlier with Professor Lim Poh Lian about why Zika cases are rising so quickly in Singapore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIM POH LIAN, CONSULTANT: Well, I think that Zika numbers in Singapore have increased in part because there's good access to diagnostic testing,

and also because of community awareness. We're also in the hot and wet summer season for monsoons, so

it's right now optimal breeding conditions for aedes mosquitoes.

So, you know, those are the reasons I think that we're seeing some of this. And some of the numbers are also from look back cases.

LU STOUT: So if Zika cases are being reported in Singapore, and it's spreading in Singapore, what do you think is the situation in neighboring

countries like Malaysia and Indonesia?

LIAN: Well, those countries really have potential for Zika infections as well, because the conditions for aedes mosquitoes, and the conditions for

dengue, we do see throughout the region. The challenge is really with dengue control in the region, are really similar to the challenges for Zika

control.

LU STOUT: Now, Zika has been linked to severe birth effects like microcephaly. So now that Zika is present in Southeast Asia, will it lead

to cases of microcephaly in Southeast Asia?

LIAN: Well, it's certainly something that we're concerned about. The likelihood of Zika --

microcephaly happening after Zika infection in pregnancy is not that high, but it does happen. And I think that if we see enough Zika cases in the

population, and in pregnant women, and we certainly already have one pregnant woman with Zika in Singapore, then there is a risk that we will

see the microcephaly, and the other complications.

LU STOUT: So how should women in Singapore and around the region protect themselves from Zika, especially expectant mothers?

LIAN: Well, the first thing to remember is that Zika is not like SARS or MERS. There's no person-to-person spread by respiratory droplets. Zika is

predominantly a mosquito-borne infection with aedes mosquitoes that tend to bite in the daytime. So the key to Zika control in the community is going

to be vector control efforts. But for women, you know, the things that you would do to protect yourself from mosquito bites, like wearing long-sleeved

clothes, staying in air conditioning, using mosquito screens, are all important to prevent yourself from getting Zika infection if you're

pregnant.

In addition, now that Zika is actually in Singapore the concerns about sexual transmission, you know, potentially if you're pregnant and you don't

have Zika, either abstaining from sex or using condoms during pregnancy would also be important.

LU STOUT: You know it's incredible because in just one week we've seen the number of Zika cases in Singapore go from zero to over 240. Just how bad

is this outbreak going to be?

LIAN: Well, I think that Singapore's been rather transparent about reporting our Zika numbers. I think that the rapid jump in numbers is

really a function of the access to diagnostic testing, and we understand that Zika's already present in many of the countries around the region.

And in other countries, as well.

So we are a large urban center with a lot of travel both regionally and internationally. So -- and it is mosquito season for us. So it's

something that we think that we will probably have to try to get on top of with very good vector control and cooperation between the government and

communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:30:18] LU STOUT: And that was Lim Poh Lian, a senior consultant with Singapore's health ministry speaking to me earlier.

Now you're watching News Stream right here on CNN. And here in Hong Kong a historic vote took place yesterday. Millions turned out to vote in the

legislative elections, and an Umbrella Movement student leader comes away with a surprising win.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

LU STOUT: A historic vote here in Hong Kong. Several pro-democracy activists have been elected to the city's legislative council, among them,

Nathan Law one of the Umbrella Movement student leaders. Now he won over 50,000 votes, becoming the city's youngest-ever lawmaker.

And it has been a contentious vote. Some candidates who were promoting Hong Kong independence were, in fact, barred from running.

Now I'm joined now on the phone by Nathan Law, again Umbrella Movement student

leader and also newly elected Hong Kong legislator.

Nathan, welcome to the program and congratulations.

NATHAN LAW, HONG KONG LEGISLATOR-ELECT: Hello. Thank you very much.

LU STOUT: Now, we know that you are a student activist. You've also been called a

radical. You are now an elected lawmaker in Hong Kong. Are you surprised by what you just achieved?

LAW: Well, I was quite confident about being elected, but I didn't expect that high amount of votes. And it also reflects that actually there are

lots of Hong Kong people, they wanted to have a breakthrough of our democracy movement and they want new hope and new vision in the Leg.

Co.(ph).

LU STOUT: And they put that hope and vision to you. How do you plan to use and maintain your new power and position in Hong Kong's legislative

council?

[08:35:11] LAW: Yes, indeed, it is quite a challenging -- quite a challenging situation for

me to really to saying to really do my job, and then to make them feel like they are making the right choice.

But I'll try my best in the following four years, and I will keep up -- I'll keep updating myself, and improve myself in order to fulfill my duty.

LU STOUT: Now, Nathan, you and your party, the Demosisto Party, you've called for a referendum to be held on Hong Kong's future after 2047. When

will the referendum take place? And will that vote include an option of independence from China?

LAW: Well, the referendum is derived from the concept of Hong Kong people should decide its

future. And basically we are still in a very rough stage about fighting for the rights of self-determination, because it is actually being deprived

by the Communist Party, the Chinese Communist Party. So we to have a very long battle in order to win that back.

And for us, we believe that independence should be the option of the referendum, because that is the freedom of Hong Kong people to decide its

sovereignty status.

LU STOUT: Hmm. Your party is not calling out for all-out independence but saying that would be an option if a referendum vote was to take place.

You are an Umbrella Movement student leader, an activist, you've been called a radical. How do you think Beijing is reacting to the fact that

you've been elected into Hong Kong's legislative council?

LAW: Well, I think they will be very worried, because actually I'm representing a new vision of

Hong Kong's future and a brand-new force of resistance. And actually the Communist Party's worrying that would it be another wave of protests,

another wave of -- another wave of resistance. And I believe that for the following four years, not only talking about policies in the Leg.Co. but

also I will continue my civil disobedience and organizational work outside the council, in order to push forward more resistance power, and then try

to fight against autocracy.

LU STOUT: So we should expect more civil disobedience, more protests ahead. Nathan Law, Hong Kong legislator-elect. Thank you very much for

joining us here on the program.

Now, Chinese officials have previously blasted the Umbrella Movement and condemned any independence discussion in Hong Kong. And so far we are

still waiting for Beijing's reaction to Hong Kong election results.

Now, you're watching News Stream. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

now, the G20 summit has been taking place in Hangzhou, a city that China has been eager to promote as a high-tech hub. It is home to e-commerce

giant AliBaba. And its founder Jack Ma talked with our Andrew Stevens about the hardships in the early days and about what the future may hold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:03] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN MONEY: You're spreading and spreading and spreading in different businesses. Is there one business that, you, Jack

Ma, as taking Ali forward, wants to be in that you're not there yet?

JACK MA, FOUNDER, ALIBABA: No. We think people ask, do you have a boundaries?

you're almost everywhere, right? No, we don't have a boundary. I think just like what we are doing is internet and internet is like last century

electricity. Electricity has no boundary. The movie industry have electricity, and that -- so internet should be everywhere.

So AliBaba position is we want to position ourself as the engine of innovation. With our engine, with our technology, with our ideas and know-

how, then we can help most of the industries.

STEVENS: In 10 year's time, and this is something you spent a lot of time thinking about, where you'll be in 10 year's time, describe what Ali will

look like.

MA: Well, in 10 years we will bring China to the world, and the most important to bring the world connect together. This is what we call EWTP,

we want to making sure that because the ink -- the e-commerce or called commerce infrastructure we build up, anybody in the

world, if you have a mobile phone, you can do global trading.

STEVENS: As you conquered China in e-commerce, you would like to replicate that on a global stage?

MA: we do not use the word conquer China. As we help the China, we want to help more countries.

STEVENS: There's a quote in a book about you and about AliBaba of one of your employees who says Jack Ma gets as excited about life, which is a

wonderful thing to say about anybody, but you must have had a few dark moments, a few doubts in your corporate life.

MA: Oh, I had a lot of dark moments. I had more...

STEVENS: What was the darkest?

MA: Well, the darkest, I forgot it.

STEVENS: So many?

MA: So many. Because people know that the wonderful days of AliBaba today,but they never see past the 17 years how we've gone through the

tough, nobody believe internet. No banks will work with you. All the people have a counterfeit issues, and people cheating. It's like a every

minute to work.

So I say, succeed is always the time. Paying for day is long. Everybody in the company know

that. I say today is difficult, tomorrow is more difficult, the day after tomorrow is beautiful; but most people die tomorrow evening.

So, we have to realize that good things can never be achieved easily.

Life is not about -- only about AliBaba. I have run my first 100 meters. I should giving this to the next generation.

STEVENS: And once you pass that baton on can you imagine yourself sitting back relaxing?

MA: No. I've so many -- the education, the environment, and going around and meeting the entrepreneurs. And there are a lot of things.

Life is so fun, and never, ever focus on one thing. We come to this world, not to work, we come to this world to enjoy life. This is what i believe.

STEVENS: Jack Ma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: There's no one else like Jack Ma.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END