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CNN NEWSROOM

Labor Secretary Acosta Faces Calls To Resign Over Epstein Case; Richard Branson To Take Virgin Galactic Public; Georgia Film Workers Struggle With Hollywood Boycott; Co-Captain Of U.S. Team On Equality In Football; Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt Face Off in Live Debate; Trump versus U.K. Envoy; U.S. Labor Secretary under Fire for Lenient Plea Deal with Child Sex Offender; Iran Demands Release of Tanker Seized by British Forces. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 10, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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


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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world I'm Paula Newton and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Coming up the two men competing to become Britain's next prime minister take on Brexit and the thorny diplomatic issue involving President Trump.

Mounting pressure on the U.S. Labor Secretary to resign over a 2008 plea deal for an admitted sex offender.

And why Amnesty International is calling into an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in the Philippine government's so- called war on drugs.

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NEWTON: OK, the last two candidates standing in the race to be the leader of Britain's Conservative Party and by default the next prime minister came face to face Tuesday in their very first and only televised debate.

Now during a heated moment, Boris Johnson refused to say whether he would keep Kim Darroch as the U.K.'s ambassador to Washington following the leak of diplomatic cables in which Darroch called the Trump administration "inept."

Jeremy Hunt attacked Johnson for sidestepping the issue and says he would let Darroch keep his job if he becomes prime minister. CNN's Bianca Nobilo has more from London.

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The diplomatic row between the United States and the United Kingdom intensified Tuesday as President Trump tweeted, we will not deal with him, him being the U.K.'s ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch.

This followed the publication of leaked emails from the U.K.'s ambassador, referring to the Trump administration as diplomatically clumsy and inept. It questioned the competency and policy as incoherent and chaotic.

President Trump fired back calling the U.K. ambassador wacky, saying that the United States was not thrilled with his appointment and that Darroch was, quote, "a very stupid guy."

The context of this spat in Britain is the U.K. looking ahead to an uncertain future over Brexit, the special relationship being of key importance. It is also a moment where the U.K. is about to embark on a change in leadership.

Tuesday night was the first and only head to head debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, both vying for the position of prime minister, when the matter of the U.K. ambassador came up, Jeremy Hunt said that he thought the president's remarks were disrespectful and Boris Johnson said something different.

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER CANDIDATE: It is vital that our civil service is not politicized by ministers leaking what they say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will he still --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: Whoever leaked that deserves to be eviscerated.

JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Boris, just answer the question. Go on, tell us is you'll you keep the ambassador or not. Come on.

JOHNSON: And on whether or --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Hunt.

HUNT: I will keep him until he is due to retire --

JOHNSON: OK.

HUNT: And I think we'd like to know if you would.

JOHNSON: Well, I'm not going to be so presumptuous as to --

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NOBILO: The candidates did not diverge significantly when it came to policy but they did diverge markedly when it came to tone. Boris Johnson tried to be far more optimistic, saying that Britain should have a can-do attitude and needed to get off the hamster wheel of doom.

Jeremy Hunt on the other hand underscored the importance of realism, pragmatism and attention to detail.

In two weeks' time the Conservative Party membership will appoint a new prime minister at a moment in time when Britain's future place in the world is under such scrutiny and now yet again the special relationship is going to be in the spotlight -- Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.

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NEWTON: In the meantime, Jeremy Hunt's defense of Darroch came amid growing speculation whether the ambassador can still effectively do his job. A source says that Darroch decided not to attend the meeting with Ivanka Trump on Tuesday following the president's criticism, here's the U.S. State Department's take on the matter.

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MORGAN ORTAGUS, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We will continue to deal with all accredited individuals until we get any further guidance from the White House or the president, which we will, of course, abide by the president's direction.

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NEWTON: OK, now earlier CNN asked a former British ambassador to the U.S. to weigh in on the debate and the leaked diplomatic cables.

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PETER WESTMACOTT, FORMER U.K. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: It certainly puts Kim in a very difficult position, I think the first set of salvos that came from the president, one might have been able just to shrug it off and say, well, something's gone risky and he's been watching something on television that has annoyed him and so he has lashed out.

And now we had three rounds and bear in mind it is not just insulting toward Kim, who --

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WESTMACOTT: -- by the way, who is not wacky, nor stupid, nor pompous. It is also insulting to watch Theresa May, the prime minister, for whom the president had lots of compliments when he was here for his state visit just months ago.

So it has gotten worse over the last few days, I think it makes Kim's position difficult but I would like to think that this will pass and that he would be able to carry on discharging his duty.

What I think would be intolerable would be is if someone said he can't do his job or he has to be withdrawn or his tour of duty has to be shortened because somebody quite irresponsibly and maybe criminally back here in the U.K. has leaked the honest assessment which this ambassador and his team has made about the administration is up to. That is his job.

How could it possibly be right for an ambassador to be withdrawn or regarded as incapable of doing his job anymore?

When all he has been doing is his job and doing it pretty well as far as I can see.

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NEWTON: Something to keep in mind: Donald Trump says he has does not know the British ambassador although he has met him several times, including on his recent state visit to the U.K.

And there is another twist in the Trump administration's legal battle over the 2020 census. The Justice Department had accepted a Supreme Court rule blocking a citizenship question but then President Trump tweeted that he would like to pursue the issue.

The Justice Department tried to change the team of lawyers handling the case but Tuesday a New York judge said the request was quote, "patently deficient" and there were no satisfactory reasons for it. CNN Justice correspondent Evan Perez explains.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Part of the problem for the department, for the administration is that they cannot keep their stories straight. So the judge is calling them out on it.

He is simply saying look you have provided no reason, you have not provided an adequate reason and no reason as to why you need to change legal teams and we don't know why you are doing this, because the legal team handling this had been put in the place that essentially made them lose their credibility with the courts.

And so that is one reason why as a result of a tweet by the president, right, changing the legal course of the administration so that is the reason why they decided they needed to change their legal team.

And this judge in New York -- and remember there are two other judges handling other parts of this case -- this judge is simply saying, you need to come forward, you need to tell me exactly what happened here.

These lawyers by the way that have been removed can become witnesses as part of this thing, so the judge is simply saying, look, you are saying you need to do this quickly so I am giving you the chance to do this and I will not let you just switch legal teams when you are saying that you need to do this by a certain date.

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NEWTON: President Trump is standing by his Labor Secretary despite growing calls for Alex Acosta to resign, he's under scrutiny for a plea deal that he struck with multimillionaire and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 when Acosta was a U.S. attorney in Florida. CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Thank you very much --

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight President Trump appears to be standing by his embattled Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, at least for now.

TRUMP: I can tell you that for two and a half years he's been just an excellent Secretary of Labor. He's done a fantastic job.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president appeared to diminish Acosta's role as a federal prosecutor in 2008 plea agreement for multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who is facing new charges of running a child sex ring in Florida that includes accusations of abusing teenage girls.

TRUMP: I do hear that there were a lot of people involved in that decision, not just him. I can only say this, from what I know and what I do know is that he's been a great -- really great Secretary of Labor. The rest of it we will have to look at, we'll have to look at it very carefully.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And the president downplayed his relationship with Epstein.

TRUMP: Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. People in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I haven't spoken to him in 15 years. I wasn't a fan.

I feel very badly for Secretary Acosta because I've known him as being somebody that works so hard and has done such a good job. I feel very badly about that whole situation.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But that is not the whole story. Back in 2002, the president told "New York" magazine, "I've known Jeff for 15 years, terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do. And many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

Democrats are accusing the secretary of shielding Epstein from a tougher sentence.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: I'm calling on Secretary Acosta to resign. It is now impossible for anyone to have confidence in Secretary Acosta's ability to lead the Department of Labor. If he refuses to resign, President Trump should fire him.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: No surprised; he knew about this when he nominated him for the cabinet. It just goes to show you.

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ACOSTA (voice-over): Secretary Acosta tweeted in his own defense, saying, the crimes committed by Epstein are horrific and I'm pleased that New York prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence.

Republicans say they are awaiting more information.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): There is nothing new that we didn't know before he was confirmed by the Senate.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: As to Secretary Acosta's continued service, he serves at the pleasure of the president and I'm inclined to defer to the president to make that decision.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MINORITY LEADER: I don't know enough about it to say.

ACOSTA: Away from those controversies a crucial debate played out at an appeals court over the future of ObamaCare.

The Republican appointed judges on that appeals court suggested that ObamaCare, which protects people with pre-existing conditions, may no longer be constitutional after President Trump and GOP lawmakers stripped out the individual mandate from that law.

All of that means, another crucial ObamaCare case could be heading back to the Supreme Court just in time for the 2020 election -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

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NEWTON: Josh Rogin is a CNN political analyst and a columnist at "The Washington Post."

I know you've been watching this in terms of Alex Acosta and what he can do to actually save his job, it is incredible, here you have someone who even the Democrats would likely say grudgingly before this happened was at least a competent member of the Trump cabinet and yet what do you think it will take now for both Donald Trump and perhaps even Republicans in Congress to say enough is enough, he has to go?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, actually what we are seeing is a familiar pattern in the Trump administration, where one of these senior officials become scandalized and then all of the opponents of the administration tried to make that scandal last long enough to annoy the president long enough.

Then he tosses that official aside, in other words the goal here that they are trying to do here that Democrats pursue it to keep this in the news and to keep the calls for his resignation loud and on the front pages. And if they can do that to the point where Trump gets sufficiently inconvenienced, it's likely he may push Acosta over the side of the ship.

But what is even more likely is that Washington will move onto a new scandal in the coming days and perhaps Acosta will be ultimately saved.

NEWTON: If he is saved, why do you think he will, be? I know some people looking at this deal, they continue to look at this deal, do you think if there isn't more information found that the heart of the plea deal was orchestrated by, him. He's making it seems as if I just signed off on this and I was one of many.

Do you think there is still more information to drop and then if it does, Donald Trump will cut him loose?

ROGIN: Yes, I think what you're saying is exactly right, that his survival depends on no more information coming out. And again that is because if nothing more comes out, then it is likely the story will loosen its theme and for sure there's another Trump administration scandal waiting just around the corner.

So for those people who have seen Acosta's actions on this as beyond the pale, that should be enough; in any normal environment that would be more than enough to shame a cabinet official of resigning and shame a president into realizing that this person can no longer function as an interlocutor with a Congress that doesn't believe in his basic morality and credibility.

But in the Trump administration this happens all the time so I think again unless you see more information there is a good chance that he could just wait it out.

NEWTON: Josh, it is easy for us to become cynical about this and you wonder what the red line is in the Trump administration. And yet when you look at that congressional confirmation and the fact that the Republican senators especially thought that he was a solid candidate, it's not like this was not brought up in Congress.

OK it was not a big deal but they brought it up, Tim Kaine questioned him on it, why has it taken so much for this, what will it take for people to say, children were hurt here?

This man got a plea deal that others would not get, at what point does this penetrate and you say to yourself the Trump administration even says this is wrong and we have to take a stand?

ROGIN: Well, the problem here is that President Trump doesn't view it that way, he sees all these issues as a reflection on him, as a reflection on his performance and his reputation and, of course, because he sees himself as the victim of so many false, what he considers to be false allegations related to sexual impropriety, he's already got a game plan in place for denying this kind of transgression.

And that is the game plan that he is following, again, in any normal environment this would be more than enough already --

[02:15:00]

ROGIN: -- but President Trump revels in this kind of stuff, he likes to fight what he perceives to be people attacking his administration officials, it gives him an opportunity to attack the press and play the victim. For him, Acosta is just a tool of that strategy, those kinds of

dynamics are what fuels these ongoing scandals and prevents the administration from being (INAUDIBLE) they don't believe it is in their political interest to do so, despite the fact that if you look around, the facts of the case in and of themselves are very damning.

NEWTON: Yes, damning and I'm sure a lot of people want someone to pay the price of what may have happened here. And as you said that may yet still be, Josh, turn to immigration. It seems there is always new information out and in fact contradictory, you know it seems like the immigration issue will become a problem not just for the administration but for the Democrats as well.

Let's listen to the acting DHS secretary on what he says the situation is right now on the border.

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KEVIN MCALEENAN, ACTING U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We have under 200 unaccompanied children in custody and only a few of them are staying with stations over 72 hours and usually those are medical cases. That is because HHS now has the funding to create additional bed space and move those kids out to a more appropriate setting.

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NEWTON: He's talking about that supplemental funding and something that had to happen when Nancy Pelosi said, fine, you will get your border deal.

Where do you see this going now in terms of how this plays out in Capitol Hill, as you know, some of the reporting from "The New York Times" and from others, the conditions are appalling.

Whether if you're Republican or Democrat, if you're an American, most Americans are looking at this and saying, enough, we can't have this.

ROGIN: Yes, I don't think the Trump administration's actions will absolve them of responsibility for continuing to clean up this mess which is at least partially their creation.

What they are saying is contradictory, they are saying that there wasn't a problem and we fixed the problem. That kind of attitude and that kind of deflection only fuels calls in Congress for more investigation, more oversight and more accountability.

I'm sure that's exactly what Congress is going to push for. The reason that they had to have the funding is because the Trump administration hasn't wanted to make a funding deal without their own political priorities included.

The joint funding is also another example of the hypocrisy they brought to this issue. The bottom line is exactly what you said, conditions are still terrible and these children and other migrants in detention are still being mistreated. And the administration is yet to fully account for this treatment and yet much less rectify it. This issue is not going away anytime soon.

NEWTON: It is important to remember that the president is saying or has said look the conditions are bad but better than where they came from, Josh Rogin for us, we appreciate it.

ROGIN: Anytime.

heavyweight Now from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of Hormuz, the latest on an oil tanker standoff, that is coming up. Lawyers for the Saudi crown prince's sister head to court in Paris she faces to trial for allegedly ordering an assault on a French plumber.

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NEWTON: Europe is urging Iran to rethink its decision to enrich uranium beyond levels talked about in that deal in 2015. The U.K., France and Germany have leaked out a position in a joint statement. They were joined by E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and here is her spokesperson on Tuesday.

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MAJA KOCIJANCIC, MOGHERINI SPOKESPERSON: We continue to urge Iran not to take further measures that undermine the nuclear deal, to stop and reverse all activities that are inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPOA including the production of low enriched uranium beyond the stockpile limit.

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NEWTON: Now Iran ramped up its uranium enrichment after the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal. In the meantime Israeli prime minister Netanyahu has praised that move by the White House In a new video he takes aim at Iran, showing off one of Israel's top of the line U.S.-made warplanes.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): I'm at a very impressive tour at the air force base, I'm looking at all our weapons systems and planes, behind me is the Adir jet F-35, Iran recently has been threatening Israel's destruction and it should be remembered that these planes can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran and certainly Syria.

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NEWTON: Iran's also been in a standoff with the U.K. after British forces seized an Iranian oil tanker, the U.K. says that it was headed for Syria in violation of E.U. sanctions and it was boarded by Royal Marines near the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on Thursday. CNN's Nic Robertson filed this report.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: With the authorities here in Gibraltar o have now released the results of their investigation into the cargo of the supertanker, the Grace 1. They say it was full to the top with crude oil, which gives a light to what Iranian authorities or seems to give a light to what Iranian authorities were saying.

They said that this was not a supertanker destined for Syria, which is what the British and Gibraltar authorities are saying, destined for an oil refinery in Syria, breaking E.U. sanctions.

So the tensions over the vessel are escalating, the Gibraltar authorities still have a number of days where they can continue to hold this vessel. What we are hearing, what we are learning from Iran, a senior adviser to the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei there, has said that this action by the British detaining this vessel cannot go unanswered.

It must be reciprocated. We are hearing similar lines from one of the top generals and Iran as well saying that essentially if the British continue to hold this vessel that Iran is duty bound, obligated to take a British vessel, presumably in the Strait of Hormuz, while the tensions are rising over this tanker, the president of France is sending one of his top diplomats to Tehran to try to turn down tensions over the nuclear deal that Iran is now beginning to break the terms of.

President Macron spoke on Monday by phone with President Trump. They both met in the margins of the G20 in Osaka in Japan 10 days or so ago. There president Macron asked President Trump if he could try to do something to bring down the tensions, it is not clear what progress the French may be able to make.

But escalating tensions not only with a nuclear deal but now over this vessel and the very real concern, will the British and Gibraltar authorities continue to hold the Grace 1 here precipitate an escalation here in the Persian Gulf?

Will the Iranians really try to seize a British tanker?

[02:25:00]

ROBERTSON: -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Gibraltar.

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NEWTON: The sister of the Saudi crown prince is being tried in absentia in Paris, accused of ordering her bodyguard to beat up a worker who took photos inside her luxury apartment in 2016. CNN's Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hassa bint Salman herself has not set foot in France since an arrest warrant was issued her in 2017. Today the allegations against her were finally tested in a court of law. The judge was faced with two very different versions of what happened on that day back in 2016.

On one hand a plumber who alleges that after he tried to take photographs of a room on which he was due to do work, his phone was captured by the princess' staff. He was tied up and beaten, threatened with both rape and death and was made to kiss the princess' feet.

It was only, he says, after several hours that he was allowed to leave.

On the other hand the princess to her lawyers and her entourage vehemently deny that version of events, saying that far from it, they simply seized the footage captured by the workman intent on capturing pictures of the princess.

They say he managed to take some footage of her wearing clothes that allowed her figure to be seen. That was why they say the photo was taken and destroyed. The judge today in the case regretted that, saying it was a shame since that would've cast light on precisely whose version of events should be believed.

It is now up to the judge to decide in the princess' absence whether indeed her entourage that day overstepped the mark or in fact whether they were simply protecting themselves from a man unscrupulous enough to seek to gain footage from inside her residence -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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NEWTON: Next on CNN, activists are outraged that a 3-year-old girl has become one of the latest victims in the Philippine government's war on drugs.

Plus a key member of the Trump administration is caught up in a scandal involved involving a well connected sex offender, why a deal Alex Acosta made more than a decade ago is back in the spotlight.

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NEWTON: Welcome back, I'm Paula Newton, I'm updating you now on our top stories right, now.

[02:30:00]

Secretary Alex Acosta is defending a 2008 plea deal he cut with multimillionaire and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein even as a cause to face his growing calls to resign over the scandal. He says he's pleased, prosecutors are moving ahead with charges against Epstein who was accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls.

A three-year-old girl has become the youngest known victim in the Philippines government's war on drugs. Now, her death is renewing criticism from activists who fear the killings are becoming in fact all too common. The government's own statistics indicate at least 6,000 have been killed by police during President Rodrigo Duterte and his war on drugs. He has made that the focal point of his administration.

Now that happened three years ago and since human rights activists say the number of those killed is likely much higher than the government has estimated. Our Amara Walker has more.

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AMARA WALKER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And especially somber funeral procession in the Philippines for a life taken too soon, a hearse carries the body of three-year-old Myca Upina, her family marching by her side, demanding justice for her death. As she is laid to rest, Myca's weeping mother bends to kiss her daughter one last time, laying inside a small white coffin barely a meter long.

She is one of the latest and youngest known casualties in the violent so-called war on drugs, police say Myca's father was a suspected drug dealer who uses the girl as a human shield during a raid. Her mother disputes that version of events.

In reality, we were sleeping when the police force themselves into the house, the mother says, I asked for proof or warrant, she continues, but they couldn't show me anything. A former police chief was -- lead the Philippines' brutal crackdown on drugs, calls the girl's death collateral damage.

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WALKER: He since apologized but under Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte police have killed at least 6600 people in a three-year war on drugs according to official numbers. Activists estimate closer to 30,000 deaths at the hands of police and vigilantes which are often indiscriminate and increasingly unreported.

BUTCH OLANO, SECTION DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES: It has normalized EJKs, it has normalized the abuse of police and rule of law and it has normalize the situation where it is the poor who are always the victims of the war on drugs.

WALKER: The President's administration has denied these claims and dismissed calls for a U.N. investigation as an attempt to influence Duterte's record-high approval rating. The government also denies accusations of intimidation. After the repeated arrest of a high- profile journalist whose Web site frequently publish his reports critical of the deadly anti-drug crackdown. A crackdown leaving countless in the crosshairs.

Like three-year-old Myca whose tiny body is laid to rest as war rages on. Amara Walker, CNN.

NEWTON: And an unsettling reminder there of what is at stake. And we bring in Nicholas Bequelin now for his perspective on all of this. He joins us live from Hong Kong. You know, your report details the war on drugs and says it's nothing but a large-scale murdering enterprise for which the poor continue to pay a high price. And then, authorities according to the report are planting evidence, recruiting paid killers, stealing, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports.

I mean, why do you believe this has gone on now for three years with impunity really?

NICHOLAS BEQUELIN, EAST ASIA DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Well, I think the sad reality is that the orders come from the very top, from the President and then all the institutions that are supposed to keep a check on how the police behaved are broken and going along with President Duterte's policies. There's no one to hold accountable the police for what is really murder and all avenues domestically are broken.

This is why Amnesty International is now calling for U.N. investigation. There will be a vote later this week at the U.N. Human Rights Council that the Philippine governments is fighting very hard and this vote must establish the need for an investigation. There is just no hope for getting justice in the country anymore.

NEWTON: And you want that U.N. investigation and you also say in fact that some of this could actually amount to crimes against humanity. You know you heard from the report there from Amara Walker.

[02:35:06] The Philippines says, look, this is collateral damage in a war, they call it a war, and then you heard further that lawmaker actually saying that, well, a three-year-old girl died but, you know, I'm going to paraphrase here, stuff happens.

BEQUELIN: Yes.

NEWTON: Why do you believe through all of this that the international community hasn't done anything sooner?

BEQUELIN: Well, I think that initially we started working on this in 2007, we already pointed out that this could amount against -- crimes against humanity, I think that at the time there was still some hope that the other institution, the ombudsman, the Human Rights Commission, the courts could somehow hold this policy accountable. And in fact, President Duterte a couple of times stop the so-called war on drugs.

But now, what we've seen the senior officials from Metro Manila moved to other provinces like Bulacan and then we see the spike and the number there. What has changed today I think is that the myth of buy- bust, the myth that the police kill people just because the suspect has drawn a gun or is trying to fight back. I think that unfortunately, this strategy with Myca Upina shows that this is an absolute lie.

There is no such thing as buy-bust. They've killed 6,000 people and the reports that we've seen from the police, they're basically templates, copy and paste. There's absolutely no credence there. That's why really, only the International Criminal Court or the U.N. are now in a position to carry this investigations and the member -- and we're urging members of the Human Rights Council to vote for this.

And very strangely you have a very powerful countries like Australia who have pledged to defend human rights -- the Human Rights Council were still fence-sitting and not casting the vote, not committing to cast a vote to do this investigation that is claiming thousands of life and including innocent lives like the three-year-old kid who was murdered last week.

NEWTON: And that that international fence-sitting is a major issue here and yet I have to ask you, Nicholas, you know, as repressive as this government maybe, if you take the latest elections there, those midterms, you know Duterte is still incredibly popular, does that matter?

BEQUELIN: Yes, I think it does matter because it's like, you know, selling the poison and then selling the antidote, right? What the Filipino people feel is that the system is broken, this is a country where you can't get justice, where the police is completely corrupt, where the courts are inefficient, where the media has been brought to heel. So the -- someone comes and say, I'm going to change that, I'm going to change the way the country works.

They vote for that person. And Duterte may be popular but that's not a license for mass murdering that we are witnessing. The Philippines is a member of the United Nation, it has undertaken obligations under human rights law. There is no such thing as collateral damage in police operations. This is only for humanitarian in war context, this is not a war, these are poor people being murdered by the police under the flimsiest pretext because someone put them on a watch list.

This has to stop and what we're seeing now is the government is fighting in Geneva at the U.N. very ardently to prevent this from happening. This is not a government that is confident in what it's doing, this is a government that deploys all its effort for a massive cover-up.

NEWTON: And we will continue to watch this carefully especially as we expect that vote at the U.N. Nicholas, thanks so much for giving us perspective on the story. Appreciate it.

BEQUELIN: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, Donald Trump's labor secretary under fire for his role in a 2008 plea deal with a child sex offender. Now, Alex Acosta was a U.S. Attorney in Florida when he gave powerful multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal to avoid Federal charges. But now, there are growing calls for Acosta to resign as Epstein faces new charges of sex trafficking with underage girls. Former U.S. Attorney says Acosta has questions he needs to answer.

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PREET BHARARA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: The way in which the resolution happened in Florida with Alex Acosta at the head of the U.S. Attorney's Office was done in a very strange, you know, arguably potentially corrupt way. And I was just attorney for 7-1/2 years in my own district and I never once had a meeting ever, notwithstanding -- not even off-campus but never with defense counsel in any case not to mention the high-profile case without the team there and negotiated personally a resolution like it looks like happened here.

So I think Alex Acosta has to answer a lot of questions about why it was resolved that way and what the reasons were and what he based his decisions on.

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[02:40:08] NEWTON: Interesting here. Acosta is now applauding Federal prosecutors in New York for moving forward with the case, something he didn't do in 2008. CNN's Senior Investigated Correspondent Drew Griffin has more on the plea agreement at the center of this case.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the non-prosecution agreement sealed by the court 12 years ago and obtained by CNN, a seven-page document which states the Palm Beach Police Department, the Florida state's attorney and the FBI say Epstein knowingly did induce or entice minor females to engage in prostitution and travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minor females.

In other words, all evidence the government thought back in 2007 proved Jeffrey Epstein was sex trafficking underage girls, with much of the abuse happening in his Palm Beach mansion. But instead of facing a possible life sentence, he signed the sweetheart deal that said the Federal government would not even prosecute him. Epstein did plead guilty to two-state prostitution charges in 2008 and was allowed to serve a 13-month prison term in a county jail that he could leave during the day.

The Federal non-prosecution agreement was approved by then U.S. attorney for Southern Florida Alex Acosta, currently Donald Trump's Secretary of Labor, who was confronted by CNN last year, only to dodge questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to ask you about the Jeffrey Epstein --

GRIFFIN: GRIFFIN: In 2017, at his Senate confirmation hearing, he defended the lack of Federal prosecution, but did agree Jeffrey Epstein's come and go as and he please jail time was a disgrace.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): He had to sleep at a county jail, but he was basically allowed to move and go around the community and do whatever he wants. And then that became a subject of significant criticism.

ALEXANDER ACOSTA, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: And I'm on record condemning that and I think that was awful.

GRIFFIN: The lack of federal prosecution even more puzzling, given Acosta's record of aggressively going after others for sex trafficking, getting convictions and pushing for sentences of a decade or more behind bars. Acosta's role in the plea deal brought to light last fall by a long investigation by The Miami Herald, which identified dozens of women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused by Epstein, four of them willing to speak on video.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were underage. We were little girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was 16.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was 16.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I started going to him when I was like 14, 15.

GRIFFIN: The Herald confirmed that more than a decade ago, Federal prosecutors identified 36 victims were underage. Perhaps most surprising of all is that sweetheart deal agreed to by the Federal government was never discussed or even shared with any of the victims.

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GRIFFIN: And it's because of that lack of notification that a Federal Judge just this past February found prosecutors led at the time by Acosta broke the law which requires victim notification. Not in his tweets today, Acosta seems to be applauding the fact Federal prosecutors are doing what he didn't do. Prosecute Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking charges. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

NEWTON: Just ahead here on CNN. A booming film industry takes ahead while production staff and the U.S. State of Georgia are asking Hollywood to rethink those plans for a boycott.

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[02:46:13] NEWTON: Space tourism is going to Wall Street? Richard Branson is taking Virgin Galactic public in a merger that will see new investors take a 49 percent stake. Now, going public will help Virgin Galactic raise money to compete against those rivals, Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Virgin Galactic would be the first publicly traded commercial spaceflight company. Branson spoke with our Richard Quest a little earlier.

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RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP: The exciting thing is that we have put five people into space in the last few months. They've all become astronauts, with the only company in the world to have done that. And the last company in America that did it was NASA in 2011.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Where is the long term revenue coming from for Galactic? BRANSON: There are millions of people watching this program who would love, love to become astronauts and go to space if they could afford it. The price that we're currently charging -- and, you know that we actually closed the bookings five years ago when we -- when we got 600 people because that will take us two or three years to accommodate them.

But since we've had the people in space, we've had 2-1/2 thousand people who've registered to go when we -- when we reopen again. So, I think the difficulty is not going to be finding people who want to go, it's going to be, you know, creating enough spaceships to cope with demand.

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NEWTON: You can count me out on that. Stakeholders of Virgin Galactic will retain a 51 percent share of that company. Now, Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther, you know, those are just two of the blockbuster films shot right there in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Now, several of Hollywood production companies are boycotting the state over its controversial abortion law. CNN's Robyn Curnow reports on what it could mean for the people who rely on those productions to make a living.

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MATT SCHEIB, STUNTMAN AND OWNER, ATLANTA JUDO MIDTOWN: Ducking this way, out, and down.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR CORRESPONDENT: A body slam, throws, and a fake jab, this group of Atlanta-based stunt professionals are perfecting film fight scenes. They and thousands of others who work in George's film industry have also though found themselves in the middle of a political fight between Hollywood and a state's lawmakers.

When George's Republican governor signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, major film and television companies threatened to end productions in the state if the law goes into effect next year.

Stuntman, Matt Scheib, has worked on movies like Avengers: Endgame. He and many others in the industry here are worried about the unintended consequences of a boycott of Georgia's thriving film industry.

SCHEIB: So, most people are transplants from other places. So, if work goes away, that creates a real issue. Yes, keep people working, keep the jobs here, don't yank that rug out of all these people here.

CURNOW: Celebrities like Spike Lee and Alyssa Milano are calling for a boycott to defend women's rights. It's a call that many women in the film industry agree with in principle, but disagree with in practice.

KALENNA BOLA, HELPS COMPANIES FIND BEST LOCATIONS TO FILM: Any major production that's come to Georgia, you name it, it's been shot here on Broad Street.

Kalenna Bola, helps companies find the best locations to film. She shows us that Atlanta's city center has been used as a backdrop for everything. From bank heist thrillers to the zombie apocalypse. Like this street scene in The Walking Dead. "Fight, but in a different way" is her message to Hollywood.

BOLA: Put money behind interest groups that support left-leaning policies. Instead of boycotting, money talks at the end of the day, right? And I think that people who are conservative look at the bottom line a lot more.

CURNOW: No matter where you stand on the politics of this, there is no denying that money is also at the heart of this issue. That's because here in Georgia, the state offers massive tax breaks to production companies and film studios. And then in return, Hollywood invests heavily in the local economy. Investing billions and billions of dollars.

This is one of these facilities where you can see this massive investment. This is black hole studios where the most recent Godzilla movie was filmed.

[02:50:29] MICHAEL MOSHER, MAKEUP ARTIST FOR FILM AND T.V. SHOWS: I have really mixed feelings because boycotts can work.

CURNOW: Michael Mosher, the special effects makeup like this for the T.V. show, Legacies.

MOSHER: Laws like this directly affect me because it may put my business out of state. But I always have supported women's right to choose.

CURNOW: Men and women across the political spectrum urging the Hollywood power brokers to make a statement without hurting their jobs. Robyn Curnow, CNN, Atlanta.

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NEWTON: OK, just ahead, the star of America's World Cup football team speaks to CNN about the U.S. team's victory. President Trump and, of course, equal pay for women.

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NEWTON: Communities along the Gulf of Mexico are bracing for a tropical storm and some oil companies may be evacuating some employees. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this system for us. I'm not sure what we can expect given there was some debate about the track of this storm, right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but I think the end-all message here is that there's going to be an incredible amount of rainfall just because the system is not moving very fast.

Right now, here is where the low-pressure system is located. Just kind of -- we're hovering right there along the panhandle of Florida. It's expected to dip further south and then push off to the west. And in doing so, it's likely expected to intensify. Giving it about a 90 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression in just the next 48 hours.

Part of that reason is it's going to be entering incredibly warm water. In doing so, that is fuel for these types of tropical systems. Most of the tracks right now have it dipping a little bit further south before wrapping back around and coming back into the United States, likely somewhere between Houston and Mobile. And just kind of somewhere in that range right now in terms of a landfall point.

But again, it's moving incredibly slow. When you look at this system, if you were to start from the same position it's in right now. Hop on a bike, you would actually make it to New Orleans faster than this storm. Well, that's how slow it's moving.

But here is the thing in turn that means a lot of rain is going to be dumped in a very short period of time. Look at this widespread amounts of around 100 to 200 millimeters of rain, but it's not out of the question for some spots. Especially, along the coastal regions to pick up in excess of 250 millimeters of rainfall.

So, again, this is going to be the main concern going forward is just how much rain will be dumped over the next five to seven days.

NEWTON: Yes, and we've learned to really be wary of those slow-moving storms. Thank you for keeping an eye on that. Allison, good to see you.

Now, the star of America's World Cup football team spoke to CNN on the eve of a victory parade in New York. Co-captain Megan Rapinoe addressed a number of issues including equal pay.

Now, male footballers or soccer players averaged more than $13,000 for 20 friendly matches a year. This is the math folks. The women get less than 5,000. Then, there are the bonuses. In 2014, the men who lost in round 16 of World Cup play got more than $5 million. The women won the World Cup in 2015, their bonuses less than $2 million.

Rapinoe tells CNN's Anderson Cooper, equality is about much more than money.

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[02:55:11] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Obviously, you couldn't be in a better position going into a mediation, I think. But what do you think the likelihood of actual substantial chance? Because it's not just a question of money, it's also a question of -- you know, you're forced to play on astroturf which is more dangerous than grass, which the men are allowed to play in.

And I understand even in the lawsuit, there was an example where you played in a stadium on astroturf. When the guys played there, they rolled out grass on top of the astroturf. So, the guys are playing grass. That seems -- (CROSSTALK)

MEGAN RAPINOE, CO-CAPTAIN, UNITED STATES WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM: It could be safer for them. Yes.

COOPER: Right, yes. It seems surprising to me.

RAPINOE: Yes. It's so much more than the money. Obviously, the money and the -- you know, the compensation part is a big piece and the thing that gets talked about, the most but it's really more about the investment in the game.

Is the investment equal or talking marketing dollars and branding? And investment in the youth, investment in the players, investment in the coaching staff, I don't think that that's there. I don't think that that's ever been there.

I think the men's side of sports just in general is seen as this exciting opportunity -- business opportunity that needs to be invested. And the women's is like how cheap can we do this? Well, you know, sort of keeping them happy and what sort of incremental changes can we make, you know, at each step to just kind of keep them at bay.

And I feel like, right now, we're really excited. Obviously, the win is huge for, you know, the lawsuit. And I don't think we need more, you know, public perception on our side, but we obviously have it all, but I think for us it's like how can we collaborate to make this better?

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NEWTON: OK, and in case you're wondering about that visit to the White House, there's no invitation yet. But Rapinoe, says she hasn't changed her mind. She won't be going, she says every teammate she's spoken to, in fact, feels the same way.

For now, though, we're going to try and tune in to that victory parade, right? Right here on CNN, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in London, 9:30 p.m. in Hong Kong.

And a significant ruling for President Trump and Twitter. Now, a federal appeals court ruled it's unconstitutional for him to block users just because he disagrees with them. That's because the First Amendment does not permit a public official who uses a social media account for official purposes to exclude persons from what's supposed to be an open online dialog.

Mr. Trump's use of Twitter is, of course, unprecedented, announcing policies and plans on the site and posting opinions about virtually everything. Including those soccer matches. He claims though that Twitter is biased against him.

And I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. I will be right back in a moment with some more news.

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