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Unprecedented Heat Wave Hits Europe; Hong Kong Braces for Massive Anti-Government Protests; Cities Around the World Celebrate LGBTQ Pride. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 1, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00]

NATALIE ALLEN, HOST, CNN NEWS: Donald Trump crosses the line with Kim Jong-un, so what's next after the U.S. president's historic steps into North Korea?

Thousands of pro-democracy protestors gather in Hong Kong yet again and scuffle with police this time ahead of massive planned protests. Also Japanese ships are heading out to officially resume commercial railing for the first time in decades.

The question is why? And what will be the international reaction?

Hello everyone, big stories coming up here this hour, I'm Natalie Allen and this is "CNN Newsroom". Our top story, North Korea's calling Sunday's talks with U.S. President Donald Trump amazing and dramatic.

It's state media have released these photos showing history being made, the U.S. president with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone. Mr. Trump stepped into the North, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to ever do so.

The surprise summit has the two leaders promising to revive stalled nuclear talks. But now comes the hard part, turning a photo op into real diplomatic progress. The leaders did not publicly mention denuclearization, but it's been a stated goal of Mr. Trump.

For his part, Mr. Kim wants relief from crushing sanctions, but the U.S. president says those will remain in effect for now. We get more now from CNN's Will Ripley in Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWS: With these 20 steps, President Donald Trump made history at the DMZ, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to cross the military demarcation line into North Korea.

The groundbreaking moment began with a tweet the day before. "If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the border, DMZ, just to shake his hand and say hello." Sources say that tweet and Pyongyang's speedy response set the wheels in motion for a whirlwind day of impromptu diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"Some say the meeting here was preplanned through the letter you sent me" he said, "but to me it was a surprise." U.S. and North Korean officials scrambled to overcome logistical and security hurdles, creating surreal moments, Kim's body guards and the secret service together at the DMZ.

And chaotic moments, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham left bruised in what a source called an all our brawl with North Korean officials and the press. The day's biggest surprise, Kim crossing into South Korea and meeting privately with Trump for nearly an hour, far more than the two minute handshake the president previewed earlier.

When talks ended, the two announced a plan to revive stalled nuclear diplomacy.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES: We've agreed that we're each going to designate a team and the team will try and work out some details.

RIPLEY: Sources told CNN much of Kim's negotiating team was punished after February's talks in Hanoi fell apart. In the four months since, North Korea has resumed bellicose rhetoric, and short range ballistic missile tests.

It's unclear if this historic moment at the DMZ will be enough to smooth over vastly different views on denuclearization, a word President Trump never said once on Sunday. Trump even invited Kim to the White House, despite the fact North Korea still has all its nuclear weapons.

As President Trump border Air Force 1, the day ended as it began, with a tweet. "Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all and a great honor", Will Ripley, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Paula Hancock is near the DMZ, same place she was about 24 hours ago when this historic step took place. So yes, all smiles in the photo ops and now the question is where does it go from here, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWS: Well that's right Natalie, and that's the crucial part. I mean we've heard from President Trump that they have agreed to restart the talks, that they are putting their teams in place.

Clearly the U.S. already has a team in place and that some shuffling appears to be going on on the North Korean side. But what we heard from the U.S. president was in two to three weeks they could be starting to talk again, and this is what many experts are now looking to, the fact that even though this is a top down approach, the working level talks are crucial. And we have seen this after the Singapore summit, we saw it after the

Hanoi summit that the leaders can get on very well and they can have a great relationship, that's clear for anyone to see.

[00:05:00]

But then when it becomes the turn of the working level talks when you're looking at the nitty-gritty of how or even whether North Korea is going to denuclearize, that's often when it has fallen down.

And that's when the problems have started. So that's going to be the key going forward here, I mean we've heard North Korean media as well has been reporting on this that Kim Jong-un called it a historic event, very dramatic language talking about 66 years after the armistice never has such an amazing event happened at the DMZ.

But of course it is the devil in the detail, it's all very well the two leaders getting along and of course this has now jump started the stalled negotiations. But it's the working level talks that have to take over at this point.

ALLEN: Right and the South Korean President Moon thanked President Trump during this moment for helping the peace process, but that I believe refers to a declaration of the official end of the Korean War, not so much the efforts to stop Kim's nuclear ambitions.

Is that right?

HANCOCKS: Well President Moon Jae-in has two agendas really, yes he is talking about the denuclearization, he understands that is exactly what Washington wants and it's what South Korea wants as well.

But South Korea also wants peace on the peninsula, Kim Jong-un and President Moon have made no secret of the fact that they would like a declaration of the end of the Korean War.

It appears at this point that it is Washington that's dragging its feet on that particular declaration. So South Korea has made no secret of that fact, in fact President Moon from the very start of saying he wanted to negotiate and engage with North Korea when it was a very unpopular idea here and in Washington back in 2017, he said his main role is to make sure that there is never a second Korean War.

So certainly peace has been one of the main driving forces when it comes to President Moon, but he has also been pushing forward and been the mediator at President Trump's request when it comes to denuclearization.

ALLEN: All right, we appreciate it, Paula Hancocks covering this story for many, many years and quite a pivotal moment, at least we hope so. Thank you.

Well a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. calls the DMZ meeting a victory for North Korea's leader, Bill Richardson spoke with CNN on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: It's a political win for the president, but also a bigger political win for Kim Jong- un. He's gotten three summits with the president, this historic one, the president being the first sitting president to go to North Korea, and Kim Jong-un has virtually given up nothing.

He's given up nothing on denuclearization, he has given very little on the remains of our soldiers, nothing on missiles. There is less tension. Now the good part of the potential summit that might occur afterwards among working level people is that negotiating on North Korean and U.S. principals was stalled.

The talks were stalled. We weren't giving anything up on sanctions and North Korea, nothing on denuclearization. Maybe because the two leaders have met and they've staked so much personal prestige on this meeting, this will spur negotiations but at the lower level.

I don't think the president should have another summit, I don't think we have the president invite Kim Jong-un to the White House when he - until he delivers something. Kim Jong-un has not delivered anything yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and someone who has traveled to North Korea there, Bill Richardson.

Well Hong Kong is preparing for another day of massive anti-government protests as the city marks 22 years since it's handover from Britain to China. Crowds of police and protestors are gathering ahead of the march, expected to begin in just a few hours.

There have already been clashes, police charging demonstrators with pepper spray and batons and protestors pushing back with umbrellas. Millions of people over the past few weeks have marched against a proposed extradition bill, it would make anyone in Hong Kong subject to extradition to mainland China.

After weeks of public outcry, Hong Kong's government suspended the bill, protesters are demanding though it be completely scrapped. Well our Andrew Stevens is out in the streets in Hong Kong and there's already been a few scuffles with police and these protests haven't even officially gotten underway, Andrew.

ANDREW STEVENS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWS: That's right, Natalie. A group of protestors in their hundreds, which swelled into their thousands were planning to disrupt the ceremony. This is the ceremony to commemorate the handing of Hong Kong back to China in 1997 after 156 years of British rule here.

[00:10:00]

The protestors were going to try and disrupt that, but they were forced away from the area by police barriers, and they assembled about a half a kilometer away which is quite close to where we are now outside the Hong Kong Parliament building.

And the police, there was a stand off for a couple of hours and police then swept in around about 7:30 this morning, about half an hour before the official flag raising to clear out those protestors, and they did use pepper spray. They did use batons as well to partially sweep out the students and the younger protestors. They recovered some ground, but then a couple of hours later after a longer standoff they dispersed. So the police nowhere to be seen at the moment and this big protest that you're talking about gets underway in a couple of hours from now.

So what was happening officially today is that the flags of China and Hong Kong were both raised. The Chief Executive - the embattled Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, under so much pressure now from these protests to actually scrap that bill, made a six-minute speech at the official ceremony, and she did focus on what had happened in recent weeks, and she did promise that she would change her style of governance and the Hong Kong government's style of governance. Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CARRIE LAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF HONG KONG (THOUGH TRANSLATOR): I will learn the lesson and ensure that the government's future work will be closer and more responsive to the aspirations, sentiments, and opinions of the community. The first and most basic step to take is to change the government's style of governance to make it more open and accommodating. We also need to reform the way we listen to public views. Such work should be carried out without delay and will start from me.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

STEVENS: So Carrie Lam has apologized in the past about sort of the inadequacies of the government in dealing with this, but remember the government under push tried to bulldoze this very controversial bill through the legislative council, the Hong Kong Parliament, which has led to this standoff.

The protestors we speak to here say it's not enough. They are still going to come out. And today, especially July 1, which is historically now a day for protests in Hong Kong when it should be a day of commemoration, they say they're going to come out once again in force today for this official protests gets away in a couple of hours.

Natalie, meanwhile the protestors here at the Legco building say they're going to stay put and they're going to maintain the pressure on the Hong Kong government, but interestingly the police presence which was so strong just a few hours ago has virtually evaporated.

ALLEN: That's interesting especially as more people will be taking to the streets. All right, Andrew Stevens will be covering it for us. Andrew, thank you. Let's talk more about it now with Alan Hoo. He's the Vice Chairman of Hong Kong's Liberal Party. He is also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Mr. Hoo, thanks so much for talking with this - with us on about this on this historic day - the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. Throngs of people are expected in the streets protesting. Is this a concern that this is still ongoing here as Hong Kong is celebrated?

ALAN HOO, VICE CHAIRMAN, LIBERAL PARTY: It's more than concern. There is upheaval. There's no doubt there is huge social upheaval which is unseen before at such volume and frequency. We had a demonstration yesterday with 160,000 people on the opposite side supporting the police and calling for law and order.

I think immediately what we need to do is settle down, and the first thing you need to do to settle down is to have law and order first. I think the police should have a clear rule book as to what and how they should deal with these demonstrations and attach on social order. They need to have a rule book. They can't just suddenly come out in huge numbers and then, as you say, evaporate amid (ph) the official function's over.

Law and order has to be maintained. Carrie Lam has to govern from day-to-day. Forget about yesterday's problems for the moment. Deal with the law and order for the moment. That's number one.

Number two, as she said, she has to change her style of governance. There's been total disconnect. This is a huge disaster in P.I. (ph) in connecting with people. She needs to rethink and reconstitute her cabinet which is called the executive council in Hong Kong. She needs to have better advisors. She doesn't have a political advisor. She's a career civil servant. All governors used to have political advisors. There's a blind spot politically for her.

The third thing is to deal with the immediate issue which is the bill.

[00:15:00]

The bill needs to be withdrawn, but it's out of her hands. It's in Legco, within our parliament. It's before the second reading. You can't just pick a bill out from Legco. There's a procedure. She needs to get the secretary for justice to tell her what the procedure is and tell it to the people of Hong Kong -

ALLEN: Yes, but you're -

HOO: - "I'm going to withdraw the bill. This is the way to do it," right?

ALLEN: Yes.

HOO: And the fourth thing is to have a public inquiry, and inquiry that is comprehensive, that will look at every issue, how it started, why it started. Was anybody behind it? Was it completely self- initiated? What are the problems? How shall we deal with it? And therefore, let's not have judgment on Hong Kong now, especially internationally. We've got your attention. We've got you looking at us, but let us do these things properly. We're bound to be able to with all of you helping us. ALLEN: She has pledged and she came out on the anniversary pledging the government would be more accountable and representative of civilians, but clearly these protestors don't believe that. There is much widespread mistrust, and they don't believe that she is the one to lead them. Is she capable of what you're saying?

HOO: Mistrust needs to be corrected by correct information. People need to be brought up to date to get involved. I don't think that it's a question of simply, well, she has to fall on her sword, right? She has a mistake. Society's still very divided on that. There's a lot of international attention on this and the thing will play out. Government has to go on in Hong Kong. People has to go on living. You can't have streets close at the whim just during the summer holidays where there are a lot of students with all this energy channeled into this piece of social issue which is important, but it's more important to understand it, to talk about it, and let's all sit down and calm down and let Hong Kong get on with life.

ALLEN: We'll see if it gets there because, as you say, there are a lot of young people leading these protests and this is the only Hong Kong they've known in the 22 years. Many of them are around that age, aren't they?

HOO: And it's a Hong Kong they need to cherish.

ALLEN: Thank you.

HOO: They need to understand this is your city. This is your home. The message has come out loud and clear worldwide. You've got everybody's attention. Now, let's sit down and justify all this upheaval with something constructive.

ALLEN: All right, we so appreciate -

HOO: It's not just paying for blood.

ALLEN: We appreciate your insights. Thank you so much for joining us. Allen Hoo, thank you.

HOO: Thank you, Natalie. It was good talking to you.

ALLEN: Same here. Well, in the next half hour we'll be joined by Bonnie Lung (ph), and organizer of the anti-extradition bill protest. We'll see what she has to say about where this stands. Well, it has been banned for more than three decades. Despite the controversy, Japan's whaling ships are heading back out to sea. We'll have a live report about why and what this means to whales.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

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(WEATHER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLEN: And welcome back to NEWSROOM. Japan's whaling ships are heading out to sea Monday for the first commercial hunt of whales in more than 30 years. Last year Japan left the International Whaling Commission, sparking worldwide condemnation. As CNN's Ivan Watson reports, Japan insists, whaling is an important part of its culture and most species are not endangered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Two brothers on the hunt, searching for the world's largest living creature, whales.

Captain Mitsuhiko Maeda (ph), age 73 and his younger 71-year-old brother Suboto (ph), lead a whale watch for Japanese tourists.

Oh, it's cold, it's windy and it's wet. But people are paying money because they want to see these whales out in the wild. They're delighted when we spot a minke whale.

Here's the thing about the Maeda brothers, more than 30 years ago, they weren't whale watchers, they were whale hunters.

This is Captain Maeda back in the 1960s when he worked with a team harpooning whales. That hunt came to an end in 1986 when the International Whaling Commission, of which Japan was a member, imposed a worldwide ban on commercial whaling.

MITSUHIKO MAEDA, ABASHIRINATURE CRUISE CAPTAIN: (Foreign language).

WATSON: That decision was unacceptable, he tells me, because suddenly we lost our jobs.

(YELLING)

WATSON: But, in fact, some Japanese whalers continued killing hundreds of whales every year, mostly in the Antarctic, under a special permit classifying the hunt as scientific research.

Animal rights groups and some western government condemns the practice. Last year Japan announced its abrupt withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission, declaring it would resume commercial whaling again within it's own coastal waters starting July 1st.

KIYOSHI EJIMA, JAPANESE UPPER HOUSE MEMBER: I was waiting for the day for the commercial to restart again.

WATSON: Kiyoshi Ejima, a lawmaker and passionate support of the whaling industry applauds the decision.

It's a victory for you?

EJIMA: Well, I shouldn't say a victory, it's a start off, kick off point.

WATSON: Do you eat whale meat?

EJIMA: Sure. Of course.

WATSON: They're also celebrating the new whale hunt here at Taruichi, a Tokyo restaurant that specializes in dishes like whale sashimi, whale steak and fried whale. The owner inherited this whale meat restaurant from his father.

[00:25:02]

SHINTARO SATO, TARUICHI RESTAURANT OWNER (through translator): I hope the young generation that did not eat whale meat will inherit this culture and learn to eat it again.

WATSON: After World War II, whale meat was a vital source of protein in Japan, but government statics show these days very few Japanese eat whale meat at all.

PATRICK RAMAGE, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: There are fragile whale populations around Japan that cannot sustain commercial hunting, that cannot feed a meaningful Japanese market, even if there were one for whale meat.

WATSON: Japanese supporters of whaling argue that the hunt is an important part of Japanese culture. Those supporters include Captain Maeda, whale hunter turned whale watcher.

MAEDA (through translator): Japan should continue whaling. I will continue whale watching tours, but the whale hunters should catch the whales. I want both to co-exist.

WATSON: One wonders how long these two completely contradictory impulses can co-exist in the waters around Japan.

Ivan Watson, CNN, in the Sea of Okhotsk (ph) off the coast of Japan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: We will talk with Ivan Watson live in our next hour about international reaction to Japan's whaling efforts.

Well, it's already been an eventful day for protesters in Hong Kong and the official march, well, it hasn't even begun. We talk with an organizer on why they're still coming out in force ahead here.

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[00:30:00]

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen with our top stories.

[00:30:16] North Korea says Sunday's meeting with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un was amazing. Its state media have released these pictures, showing the North Korean leader and the U.S. president at the DMZ. They agreed to revive stalled nuclear talks, and Mr. Trump made history, the first sitting U.S. president to enter the North. Asia investors rallied around news the U.S. and China committed to

resume trade talks at the G-20 summit. Tokyo's stocks opened sharply higher, the Nikkei up 1.9 percent, Shanghai Composite about the same. The Seoul Kospi down, just barely point zero 5 percent.

Well, anti-government protestors are gathering for a massive march, yet again in Hong Kong. They're protesting an extradition bill that has been shelved but not completely eliminated. There have already been some clashes between protestors and police, all this coming as Hong Kong marks 22 years since Britain handed the city back to China.

Well, Europeans continue to roast in the summer heat, but they will get a reprieve this week. A cold front moving in it will drop temperatures and bring rain.

This is Berlin, Germany's capital. Sunday saw the country's hottest ever June day. People headed to pools and rivers to do anything they could to cool off.

Ivan Cabrera's here. Yes, that's nice relief is coming. But it just seems like this is a new day!

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, and folks, they can get out of the pool and the beach. That's great, fantastic to cool off there.

But a lot of folks that -- perhaps the elderly, perhaps you're sick and you can't go outside.

ALLEN: I know. They can't go to a pool.

CABRERA: And so France has done an incredible job, from back, that calamity in 2003. We lost so many people then. And they've essentially taken charge, as far as letting schools out, closing schools so that you get folks aware of what's going on.

It's not a hurricane coming in. You know, it's not anything like that. But the heat can kill you. And it certainly has done that.

And I'll tell you one thing, Natalie. We've just got to get used to these records, as they continue here with our new climate, right? Warmer. Look at this: 45.9, in 28 June of this year in France.

Anywhere in France, I mean, anywhere, right, in any given month -- we're not just talking June, January, February, right through December, we've never seen that temperatures. So this is quite something: 45.9, almost 46 degrees.

We did it in Germany, as Natalie was mentioning there, and that occurred at 39.6. So that's the warmest ever we've seen in the month of June, not the whole year. A couple of degrees shy of that, but still, that's respectable.

And then Czech Republic at 38.9, the warmest June day ever. Warmest June day ever in Poland, with this very heat wave that is now, as Natalie mentioned, beginning to break down. And I think that will be excellent news for all of us here.

As you can see, the green is coming in. Wow, look at that, a cold front. The pattern has broken. We've had a pattern that has been stuck with us over the last several weeks. That is no more.

Now, Madrid, yes it's still warm, right? July, mid-thirties, but that's an improvement. So we're getting rid of the forties. And then look at all the widespread twenties and thirties. That's exactly what we want to see, and that's going to be the temperature of a few cities here over the next few days. We'll be back where we should be for this time of year. We'll get those temperatures back into the mid and upper twenties.

I mean, it is July. It's supposed to be warm, but not forties warm. That is record stuff, and now, we've never seen that since we've been keeping records in France, and that's been a very long time.

ALLEN: And a long summer to go, still.

CABRERA: Absolutely.

ALLEN: All right. Ivan, thank you.

Well, Hong Kong is getting ready for another round of those anti- government protests, and the crowds are already growing. They are huge.

Andrew Stevens is in the thick of it for us, and he follows -- joins us now with more about it.

Hello, Andrew.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie.

Yes, where we are, we're just in the public entrance to the Legislative Counsel Building, which is Hong Kong's parliament. And you can sort of see behind me there is a -- there are a lot of the protestors, many young protestors here, really catching a breath, if you like.

The main protests of this July, one, this commemoration of Hong Kong's return to China. The main protest kicks off in a couple of hours from now. But there has been some -- some clashes this morning amongst protestors and police. Protestors trying to disrupt the commemoration ceremony this morning, but pushed away from the actually area by police, and police then try to sweep them out of an area very close to where I'm standing. They swept some out, and then, after a couple of hours' extra standoff, they disappeared.

So we are now at this stage, waiting for the main protest to start and these protestors, as I say, catching their breath.

[00:35:06] I'd like now to turn this conversation to Claudia Mo. Claudia is a very well-known pro-democracy legislator here in Hong Kong. Claudia, welcome. Thanks so much for joining us. We heard from

Carrie Lam, the chief executive at the ceremony, saying that she will listen to the Hong Kong people. She will change her style of governance. She will be much more inclusive. Is that enough?

CLAUDIA MO, HONG KONG LEGISLATOR: No, it's not enough. And in her sort of quasi-apology, or sort of "I learned a lesson" remark comes too little, too late. And frankly, she's practically lost one whole generation of Hong Kong. She's abandoned them. And this hostility and anger and frustration have become simply insurmountable.

STEVENS: So you said, to effect, are you saying she's not sincere?

MO: She's not sincere. She's been a consistent liar, if you will. Though she's been telling lies to Hong Kong about practically everything.

STEVENS: She has -- she has withdrawn the bill. She has shelved the bill. She has not scrapped the bill.

MO: She suspended it.

STEVENS: OK.

MO: A suspension is only temporary.

STEVENS: But -- but the reality is that that bill has another year or so to see the light of day. She says she won't introduce it unless Hong Kong agrees. So, effectively, to all intents and purposes, that bill has gone. Is that not enough?

MO: It's not enough, because it boils down to trust. Do you trust Carrie Lam, or the boss behind the Beijing government? So that's the issue here.

STEVENS: So what are you saying to these young protestors, many of whom are risking their own personal safety, now? Are you telling them to keep it up? To keep these confrontations going?

MO: We've been urging the young to stay peaceful and not to be arrested, not to bleed (ph), not to sacrifice. Because you must have heard that a couple of young persons have taken their lives. Apparently, they're in protest against this Carrie Lam regime. And we're urging them not to do it. I mean, not to copy anything to that effect.

Time is on their side, and we have to fight on, certainly. But they have to fight on, or 2047, it's right in front of us already. 2047.

STEVENS: Twenty-eight years from now.

MO: Being the sort of expiry year of our so-called basic law, the Hong Kong constitution.

STEVENS: OK. So Carrie Lam is between a rock and a hard place, is she not? In that she has to serve two masters, in a way. The people of Hong Kong and Beijing. Where is she getting -- what you're saying is that she doesn't serve the people of Hong Kong?

MO: She doesn't. I mean, you must have noticed that Beijing has been trying to distance itself from Carrie Lam, that she's the one who started all of this.

Now, assuming, even assuming that's true, it tells you that Carrie Lam has completely lost any trust among the Hong Kong people. And today marks the 22nd anniversary of our hand-over. And it's such a joke, it's so ironic. You say that black flag of the Hong Kong special administrative region being hoisted behind us. And that's how the young have been thinking. And they have every right to fight for their future. It is their Hong Kong.

STEVENS: Gloria, thank you very much for joining us.

Claudio Mo, the pro-democracy legislator here in Hong Kong, and who's been a very, very strong voice, supporting these students, supporting the protests.

And remember, it's not just students. We've seen these previous protests, Natalie, where we have seen a broad cross-section of Hong Kong, with one very specific aim, and that is to have this bill scrapped. At this stage, though, the government is not listening to them.

Back to you.

ALLEN: Absolutely. Andrew Stevens for us. Thank you, Andrew.

Well, pride celebrations across the world this weekend, even in a city that bans them. CNN was there to cover it. That's next.

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[00:41:22] ALLEN: LGBTQ communities all across the world took part in rallies this weekend, celebrating pride. In Mexico, thousands of people turned out for the 41st pride parade in the capital. In Calcutta, India, activists marched in the 20th annual friendship walk.

New York City hosted World Pride, the biggest celebration of its kind. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising there which sparked the LGBTQ rights movement.

Well, activists also held a small rally in Istanbul, Turkey, even though authorities there had banned them for a fifth straight year.

CNN's Ben Wedeman was there for the brief celebration before riot police moved in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the 17th time that the Istanbul LGBTQI community has tried to hold a pride parade in this city. But, today, and for the last four years, those parades have been banned. That hasn't stopped them from gathering, holding this noisy

demonstration. But, in fact, the interior ministry has banned all demonstrations in this area of central Istanbul, citing unspecified security concerns.

What's different now is that, for the first time in many years, the opposition runs the municipality of Istanbul. The new mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, he said -- has said that he respects all lifestyles, but it's not the mayor who's responsible for security here. Rather, the governor, who reports to the interior ministry.

And the interior ministry is run by a member of conservative Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, which frowns upon this sort of alternative lifestyle.

Istanbul LGBTQI community has put out a statement saying, "We are here. Get used to it. We are not leaving."

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from a very noisy Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: A small but noisy rally there in Turkey.

I'll be back in 15 minutes with another hour of news. Stay with us next for WORLD SPORT.

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