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Queen Elizabeth Delivers Speech to Open Parliament; The Rise and Fall of Uber's CEO; Anger at London Tower Fire Still White Hot. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 21, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:12] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it's a pleasure to be with you. I'm Cyril Vanier outside the houses of parliament in London.

You're watching News Stream.

Now, it was a low key ceremony about some very high stakes, both for Britain and for Europe. Queen Elizabeth II has given her speech to mark

the formal opening of the UK parliament. It was expected to be Brexit heavy, and that's exactly where she began. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: My ministers are committed to working with parliament, the devolved administrations, business and others

to build the widest possible consensus on the country's future outside the European Union.

A bell will be introduced to repeal the European community's act and provide certainty for individuals and businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: The British monarch also addressed the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire, announcing special support for disaster victims. As the queen

spoke, her husband, Prince Philip, was in a London hospital being treated for an infection. Buckingham Palace says he was admitted as a

precautionary measure.

And the anger around last week's deadly London fire is still white hot. At this hour, protesters in a so-called day of range demonstration, are said

to begin their march to Downing Street. It comes in response to the government's handling of the Grenfell disaster, at least 79 people are

dead. Many people have been asking why the building had no safety sprinklers.

A demonstration is also expected today in parliament square will be all across (inaudible) throughout the afternoon. Queen Elizabeth II focused on

Brexit and terrorism as she laid out the priorities of British prime minister Theresa May's government.

We're joined by international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He's at 10 Downing Street.

Nic, several things I want to know from you, but first of all, the content of this speech is it - when you listen to it, is this the speech, and let's

remind our viewers that it's delivered by the queen, but actually written by the prime minister herself, Theresa May. When you listen to that

speech, is that the speech of a confident leader or is that the speech of an embattled leader?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An embattled leader, quite simply. I mean, there was a lot more that one would have expected to be in

that speech that was in the party manifesto, and of course they did so badly in the election on that manifesto, things that have talked about

cutting free school lunches for under 11-year-olds, things such as what became known as the sort of triple lock, if you will, that was on pensions,

to protect pension. Issues such as what became known as dementia tax, a taxation essentially on elderly people if they have a certain income or a

certain amount of assets that that could be tapped into to pay for their health care when they get old.

All of those things didn't play well. And of course they weren't in that speech. What we did hear was talk about equality. We'll talk about wage -

protecting wages for, you know, keeping a sort of a better parallel between the lower paid and the more highly paid. There were talks there about

mental health care, that' saccainst something that many people in this country have felt that the austerity measures and budgets of the

conservative party have, you know, put strains on mental health care in this country so that what - there were issues there that were really sort

of tapping in to some of the social issues on which the conservative party and the prime minister have been criticized.

So, confidence, no. Put in a confident tone. On Brexit, the language that we have come to expect from this government on Brexit, the immigration

bill, the fisheries bill, the agriculture bill, the look towards the future as well - satellite technology, electric cars, these sort of innovative

technologies - the high speed rail network in Britain, those were there, the sort of more aspirational for where the country is going in the future.

That's language we've heard before.

But, yes, absolutely, gone was some of the things that perhaps critics would say that cost Theresa May some of the MPs that she doesn't have to

form a majority government.

VANIER: Walk us through what's going to happen now, Nic? Because in a matter of hours, less than that, shortly, the (inaudible) we're going to be

debating the queen's speech. And next week they're going to vote on it. This, of course, is going to be a key vote for Theresa May.

ROBERTSON: Sure. By this time next week, or Thursday next week, we can expect a vote on the queen's speech. Normally, the prime minister would go

into, you know, would go into the queen's speech knowing that she could count on that speech as it was laid out there getting strong support.

At the moment, she lacks that majority, 317 conservative MPs. She still trying to strike a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern

Ireland. They elected - or the population of Northern Ireland - elected 10 DUP MPs to parliament. Theresa May is still working out a deal there.

And that's gone public, and it seems to be blowing up in both sides faces at the moment, or at least they've taken their cases public, if you will.

Damian Green, the prime minister's first minister, this morning saying that perhaps they won't get a deal with the DUP. The DUP saying yesterday they

wouldn't get one before Thursday. So, both sides seem to be going public playing each other off in a way that they weren't.

So, you know, on that account Theresa May will be looking to get that support nailed, assured, so that when the vote comes later next week, on

the queen's speech, hugely important, that is passes. Because if it doesn't, if it failed to, then you'd be looking at a situation where

there's no confidence in this government and therefore you could potentially have elections and potentially the Labour Party could come out

those next elections doing better even than this time.

[08:06:26] VANIER: All right, Nic. Nic Robertson outside 10 Downing Street. Thank you very much. We'll come back to you throughout the

afternoon.

Now, this new government is going to have to answer to the public on what caused the Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 79 people. Protesters

are set to march the parliament today to voice their anger.

Let's bring in Phil Black. Phil, the purported aim of the protest is actually to bring down the government. That's what they say they want to

achieve today.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the word, Cyril, that so far there hasn't been any sign of a single protest. We're here at

parliament square just a short distance up the road from where you're standing - well, you can see, the square is still pretty empty.

We've got lots of tourists around here today, enjoying this very hot sunny London day. The've got to see the queen drive past at close quarters

before, which was pretty thrilling.

In addition to that, lots of police, crowd control barriers, some journalists, but that's all the sort of stuff that you would expect to see

every year at the opening of state parliament. As you say, there is talk of protesters joining this party over the course of the day. Some

activists online are trying to whip up what they call a day of rage against the government, because some of them they say they blame the government and

its policies for the Grenfell fire disaster. Others are just simply angry with the government and its policies full stop. In addition to that, no

doubt, some of them sense that it is weak and vulnerable because it no longer has a majority in parliament having taken, a bit of a slap across

the face from the electorate during that recent election. But as I say, so far here today pretty quiet.

We'll keep an eye on things and let you know as they change over the course of the day.

VANIER: And Phil, I think it's important to point out that there were voices that we heard yesterday coming into this morning, calling on

protests to be peaceful, both in the interests, actually, of the Grenfell Tower residents and the victims, but also more generally for the public

debate in this country.

BLACK: Indeed, there have been those calls to keep these protests peaceful. Having said that, there hasn't been any serious suggestion that

they wouldn't be peaceful.

There's been some emotive language used in describing what people have been trying to organize here today, like a day of rage and shutting down London

and so forth, but I don't think we should brand these things as violent before it actually turns that way despite that, the opposition Labour

Party, members of that party, have advised people to keep things peaceful. We've heard the same from people closely associated with Grenfell. But

let's see how things pan out as the day progresses from here.

So far, the opening of parliament has taken place, the queen has come and gone. We yet to see a single protester here.

It is likely that some numbers will come over the course of the day, but just based by what we've seen in terms of the response online, people

declaring their intention to go, I don't think we'll be talking huge numbers as the afternoon progresses. Cyril, back to you.

VANIER: Phil Black in central London. Thank you very much.

And also I want to bring you up to speed on this story that broke last night, so that would be Tuesday night in Europe, in Belgium. Belgian

authorities say that the man behind a failed terror attack in Brussels was an ISIS sympathizer. Officials declined to name the attacker who was shot

dead as he rushed toward offices of Brussels central station on Tuesday. Investigators say that he left a suitcase containing explosives, gas

canisters and nails at the ticket hall. It's believed that the device did not explode as planned, instead burning in a fireball.

No civilians were hurt, but the incidents did cause panic and sent people running for cover - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, still to come right here on News Stream. The death of American Otto Warmbier has raised many questions. And now a fellow

American detained and released from North Korea speaks out on what may have happened to Warmbier in Jail.

Also ahead, a growing humanitarian crisis in the Philippines, thousands of families are wondering when they can go home as the battle against ISIS

rages on in their once populated city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: Welcome back everyone. Special coverage today from London on CNN where a short time ago Queen Elizabeth II set out the government's

intentions.

The queens speech marks the formal, and this year it has to be said, somewhat low key opening of the British parliament.

It was dominated by Brexit and it set out the government's policy plans. The British monarch said that there would be a full public inquiry into the

deadly Grenfell fire in London, and she announced special support for disaster victims.

At this hour, protesters in a so-called day of rage demonstration, are set to begin their march to Downing Street, however as we heard from Phil Black

a short time ago, for the moment not a sign of a single protester at parliament so far.

It comes in response to the government's handling of the Grenfell disaster. At 79 people are dead. Many people have been asking why the building had

no safety sprinklers.

Also, Buckingham Palace says 96-year-old Prince Philip has been admitted to hospital and that's why he was not by the queen's side as she delivered the

speech today.

Let's bring in Fred Pleitgen for more details. Fred, what do we know, if anything, at this hour?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Cyril, we are getting a little bit of information, though it isn't very much. We do know

that Prince Philip from the palace was driven to King Edward Hospital last night.

Now, we're also hearing, and we understand, that this was not some sort of emergency deployment, that there was a physician at the palace who said

that because of an infection, because of a pre-existing condition that it was a better idea to bring them to hospital, to get him some treatment

there.

So this was not something that happened very quickly, this is something that happened in a very orderly way.

What we're understanding so far is that he is in the hospital. Apparently he was out and about this morning sort of getting up and walking around, so

he certainly doesn't appear to be tied to a bed. We don't know what exactly the nature of the infection is, but we do know that in the past

Prince Philip has been dealing with issues with his bladder, so perhaps it is some sort of infection that might have to do something with that.

Prince Philip, of course, is 96-years-old, and has been of remarkable robust health, over the past years, even as he's started aging. However,

there have been a few medical issues that he has had over the past year especially. Of course, earlier this year, just a couple of months ago, it

was announced that Prince Philip was essentially retiring from many of his public duties, but we do have to state that he has said that he is still

going to attend public events that he wants to attend, just not as many as in the past.

In fact, I was actually attending a public event that he was at on the day that it was announced that he would retire. So, certainly he is still very

much in the spotlight. He is very often still by the queen's side at important events like the one that we're seeing today. And we have heard

from the palace that he's very sad not to be able to attend this special one, not just the queen's speech itself, but of course also the royal

ascot, which is taking place later today, Cyril.

VANIER: Yeah, and Fred it's true that as you point out, Prince Philip is not a young man anymore, but it is unusual, even thought he has a

diminished role now in the public eye, it is unusual not to see him by the queen's side, especially for events like this. And we saw Prince Charles,

the queen's son, really stepping up.

PLEITGEN: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's something that was announced by the palace as well, Cyril, that because Prince Philip is not able to attend

this event, that Prince Charles would instead be taking his place.

It was really announced very shortly before the queen came out and made her way from here, from Buckingham Palace to there, down to parliament. And,

of course, as this was going on, the streets were already lined with a lot of people who wanted to catch a glimpse of the queen and Prince Philip as

well. Of course, many of them in this day and age getting the news very quickly that Prince Philip would not be attending, some of them, of course,

quite concerned about Prince Philip's health. But again, what the palace is saying at this point in time is that he is in good spirits, that he has

decided to get this treatment at the hospital, but it doesn't appear as though they're overly concerned at this point in time.

But, yes, normally you would see him at her side, so it is somewhat unusual for that not to be the case, but of course we do have to keep in mind that

this man is 96-years-old, and he has had some health issues, especially in the past year or so there have been a few more. But at the same time,

still very robust, I mean, for having seen him earlier this year, you can see that he is still really going very, very strong, despite his age,

Cyril.

VANIER: Fred Pleitgen outside Buckinghim Palace early on this very hot London afternoon. Great to speak to you. Thank you very much.

And with that, let's hand it back to Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

LU STOUT: All right, Cyril, thank you.

The most expensive election in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives is over. And a supporter of President Donald Trump has

won. Republican Karen Handel won a special election in Georgia to fill a seat vacated by Congressman Tom Price who became Mr. Trump's health and

human services secretary.

Democrats hoping to capitalize on dissatisfaction with the president poured millions of dollars into her opponent, Jon Ossoff's campaign. In the end,

Handel won the traditionally Republican seat by nearly 4 percent margin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN HANDEL, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN-ELECT: And a special thanks to the president of the United States of America.

CROWD: Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.

HANDEL: But let's not forget our equally great vice president, Mike Pence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: In a tweet, President Trump called Karen Handel's victory a big win.

Now, what to do about North Korea is likely the focus of high level talks between the U.S. And China after new activity reportedly was detected at a

nuclear test site in the north.

President Donald Trump has tweeted, "while I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi and China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out.

At least I know China tried."

Now, meanwhile a U.S. Citizen who was imprisoned by Pyongyang and then released has spoken out about the death of Otto Warmbier.

The 22-year-old student died just days after being sent home from North Korea in a vegetative state. Kenneth Bae says that Warmbier may have been

tortured while he was in custody. Now, for more on this interview, CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me live from Seoul. And Paula, what more did Kenneth

Bae tell you about Warmbier and about his own experience as a prisoner inside North Korea.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, Kenneth Bae hasn't spoken very much publicly in recent months saying he feared for

the safety of the detainees still in North Korea. He wanted to keep a low profile until, that is, the passing of Otto Warmbier.

He said he was so shocked and horrified by what had happened, he felt he needed to speak out. He said that he was very dismayed by what had

happened. I asked him about his experiences and he said that he had been threatened with physical violence, at one point I also pointed out that the

Warmbier family talked of the torturous, mistreatment of their son and asked him whether he thought that Otto Warmbier may have been mistreated in

that respect. He said it is possible as he had many threats himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH BAE, DETAINED IN NORTH KOREA: They told me before, while I was being questioned at the time, if you don't follow along with our program

you will get something worse. They did have that line, if you don't follow and there will be something worse that can happen to you.

So I do believe that, you know, something like that could have happened to other detainee at this point, because what happened to Otto is - and I'm

worried that other detainees, what were they going through?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:22] HANCOCKS: Now, Kenneth Bae was the longest serving American detainee in North Korea since the Korean war. He was the first to go into

a labor camp, being accused of acts against the state. But he said that he worries more about detainees at this point, certainly after what has

happened to Otto Warmbier, and he had a message for the U.S. President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAE: Every life is very important. And Warmbier's life is important, and all the detainees and 24 million people living under such a terrible state

right now. And so I do hope that President Trump would take a stand with North Korean governments in demanding all the detainees to be free. At the

same time that older issues of the human rights violations and other issues that are happening right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Kenneth Bae also said that he hopes at this point that the loss of Otto Warmbier's life will not be vain. A tragedy, he says, that has

highlighted the fate of the other detainees, and of course of human rights in North Korea - Kristie.

LU STOUT: That's right, there are other lives in the balance here, a number of U.S. citizens remain detained in North Korea and learning from

Bae's experience what does it take to get North Korea to release Americans in its custody?

HANCOCKS: Well, he had an interesting point on this. He said that it was nothing that he could have done that precipitated or slowed down his

release. He said it depended on geopolitical matters. The fact is that he was in detention shortly after the third nuclear test. He said Otto

Warmbier was in detention after the fourth nuclear test. And he believes that that had something to do with it. He believes he was used as a

bargaining chip. He says it is possible that Otto Warmbier was also arrested to be used as a bargaining chip. He says he doesn't know that for

sure, it's his personal opinion.

But he says that it is definitely to do with when North Korea wants to release these detainees. And potentially no matter how hard the United

States tries, North Korea will release them when it suits them.

LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks reporting live from Seoul. Thank you.

Now the White House Press secretary Sean Spicer briefed reporters on camera on Tuesday, something he had not done in more than a week. But there's

still some question that Spicer just won't answer.

Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: The White House was hoping to change the subject today from the lingering cloud of the Russia

investigation.

SPICER: Good afternoon.

ZELENY: But during his first televised briefing in eight days, Press Secretary Sean Spicer didn't help matters with this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just very plainly, a yes or no answer, does President Trump believe that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 elections?

SPICER: I think I have not sat down and talked to him about that specific thing. Obviously we've been dealing with a lot of other issues today. I'd

be glad to touch base...

ZELENY: Asked again Spicer gave the same answer.

SPICER: I have not sat down and asked him about the specific reaction to it so I'd be glad to touch base and get back to you.

ZELENY: Keeping him honest, the entire U.S. intelligence community said Russia did interfere with the election. And the president's reluctance to

acknowledge it has confounded his allies and armed his critics. It also helped fuel the investigation on Capitol Hill and by a special counsel.

Meeting with the president of the Ukraine in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump had strong words for North Korea about the death of Otto Warmbier, the

University of Virginia student who died Monday. He'd been in a coma after 17 months in North Korean captivity.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never, ever be allowed to happen.

ZELENY: Mr. Trump implied President Obama was to blame since Warmbier had been detained since January 2016.

TRUMP: Frankly, if he were brought home sooner, I think the result would have been a lot different. He should have been brought home that same day.

ZELENY: A former national security aide to President Obama said at least 10 Americans were released from North Korean custody during the last

administration. It's painful that Mr. Warmbier was not among them, but our efforts on his behalf never ceased, even in the waning days of the

administration.

Spokesman Ned Price said. All this while the biggest republican priority, repealing and replacing Obamacare is still under wraps in the Senate. After

once hailing the House version of the bill during this jubilant Rose Garden event, the president lately has been describing it as heartless and mean.

SPICER: The president clearly wants a bill that has heart in it.

ZELENY: Senate democrats are seizing on the president's criticism.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY) MINORITY LEADER: I think President Trump summed up his health care bill best with one word, mean. For once on the topic of

health care, my colleagues and I find ourselves agreeing with the president. This bill is mean. Very mean.

[08:25:15] ZELENY: Now, it's unclear if President Trump even knows exactly what is in that Senate health care bill. His Press Secretary Sean Spicer

said he didn't know when asked that directly today, but it's clear that Senate republican leaders want to have a vote on this measure before the

July 4th legislative recess. They are trying to get one accomplishment on the board to overtake some of this coverage and this cloud of the Russia

investigation.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Meanwhile, President Trump's son-in-law has arrived in the Middle East to discuss the next steps in the peace process there. Senior

White House adviser Jared Kushner will meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem later on Wednesday. He will then travel to Ramallah

in the West Bank for an evening meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Philippines President is pledging to rebuild Marawi, a city in the middle of a raging battle against ISIS. Tens of thousands of families have

left in the past few weeks, some have found shelter with friends and family, and others are still stuck in evacuation centers. Ivan Watson

takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are some of the people, the civilians, who have been forced to flee their homes during four

weeks of vicious fighting in the city of Marawi after ISIS affiliated militants tried to take over the city and have fought the Philippines

military to a standstill.

Now the president of the country, Rodrigo Duterte, just came and spoke to some of the displaced persons and he promised to rebuild that city.

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: You will find in your heart to forgive my soldiers and (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) for declaring

martial law (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE). I have to drive them out, but I am very sorry.

WATSON: But here is the problem, the ISIS militants are not giving up that besieged town of Marawi, even though the military has been carrying out

daily airstrikes, soldiers continue to take daily casualties. And this scene here, these people who have been displaced, they're just the tip of

the iceberg, the Philippines government says some 338,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and even more ominous, ISIS has established

itself, it has found a foothold here for the very first time in Southeast Asia.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Iligan (ph), in The Phlippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: And Queen Elizabeth II gives a speech to officially open parliament. I will be joined by former Conservative Party leader Ian

Duncan Smith after a short break. Stay with us on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:47] VANIER: And let's bring you more about Queen Elizabeth's speech to the British parliament. We're joined now by Ian Duncan Smith, a member

of the British parliament and a former Conservative Party leader, so he knows what it's like to be in Theresa May's shoes.

Thank you very much for joining the program.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that it is hard to write a queen's speech if you're Theresa May and you're fighting for your political survival, or at

least trying to fend off an insurgency within your party. How would you rate the effort?

IAN DUNCAN SMITH, CONSERVATIVE MP: I think it's quite straightforward right now, which is that we won the vast majority of the vote, the biggest

vote, the share that we've had for some time, but we didn't succeed in getting a working majority.

VANIER: You lost your majority, crucially.

SMITH: Yeah, but we didn't in this election. We didn't succeed in getting a working majority. But we will do a deal with DUP, which gives us a

working majority.

VANIER: Will you?

SMITH: Yeah. It's - it'll be done before the voting, which is not until next week on the queen's speech.

So, the priority now is to...

VANIER: Respectfully, they're saying it's not a done deal.

SMITH: No, it isn't right now, because they're still discussing it, but it will be by the time we get to the queen's speech. I know, because I've

talked to them about it.

VANIER: So, you guarantee that?

SMITH: Yeah, I'm sure of it.

But the real point is that, you know, it'll be about returning stability. Parked in the middle of this space is leaving the European Union, so that

occupies a huge amount of legislative time anyway, a lot of bills, a lot of complex bills, that sort of stuff.

So, there be lighter domestic legislative program, which is always going to be the case anyway. So, the key thing is, we need to press on, get this

European stuff done, get it away from us now. And then we can get on to much more domestic legislation.

VANIER: What are you hearing from conservative lawmakers about their views on Theresa May, her ability to stay on to power and their potential desire

for some of them. And we know that it is the case with some of them to change the leadership.

SMITH: Well, whatever ambitions individuals may harbor in their hearts, the reality is that they have to park all that, because we are at the

particularly delicate position, which is we need stabiity right now. They need to support the prime minister, which I believe they will do. And the

reason for that is, because staring across at it from the other side of the chamber is a Marxist who would like to take this country in the same

direction as Venezuela.

And my simple view is...

VANIER: So, to our international viewers, you're talking about Labour leader, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.

SMITH: Absolutely, a self-avowed, including his chancellor, said that they're all Trotskyite (ph). They believe in all of that. That's what

threatens the fifth largest economy in the world. And my point for conservatives is, if you look across at that, that's the abyss. And if you

want to go into the abyss the answer is defeat this government, in which case we'll have another election and chances are we'll lose.

So, right now we need stability, get the European legislation through, and then look to rebuild over the next two years after that. And then get

through general election within the time schedule.

VANIER: What about a change of leadership, those who tell you that that would be an alternative and that they need someone else to carry the UK

through the next two years, which are key to conducting these Brexit talks.

SMITH: We don't have that luxury. The answer is we have a prime minister and that prime minister has to take us through at least over the next

couple of years to get this European legislation done.

Bear in mind, what dominates this is the clock is ticking on our European negotiations. He sent the letter in March. And it's two years from March,

we leave with or without a deal.

It means that we then get indulged again and start looking for another election and the leadership. We'll lose really important time. We can't

afford that. So, what we have to do is get on with that negotiation, get in with those arrangements over the year, that's our priority and I think

that's the government's priority.

And I think what you find is, the Conservative Party in government is now more united around that prospect than at any time I've been around.

[08:35:11] VANIER: I understand your argument about not wasting any time, because you have important (inaudible) get to, but Monday, the opening, the

official opening of the Brexit negotiation, showed us what happens for the UK if you are not in a position of strength when you get to that

negotiating table.

The EU was on Monday was able to set the terms and the pace and the agenda for the negotiations.

SMITH: Yeah, but the key thing about this, it isn't about setting the terms and the pace, the fact is that what we've said all along is until

we've negotiated the trade arrangements there is no deal. And that still remains exactly the case. So, what they'll want to do is discuss the

(inaudible) about how you go about this. They'll want to talk, which we wanted to talk about citizen's rights. We said that was a priority for us,

getting Ireland sorted out on the border, that's a priority, the rest will actually be settled finally by the time we reach a trade agreement. And

that's still the case.

So, we haven't lost out in any shape or form.

VANIER: Now, you've had a couple of harsh words for your fellow Conservatives recently.

SMITH: Have I?

VANIER: I believe you have. "My advice to the party is shut up and get on with it," that's one quote, because there's no other option.

You've also referred to Torry MPs as having big mouths and small brains. What are they saying to you?

SMITH: Well, I don't know what they're saying to me. All I've said is those who go on...

VANIER: Well, what is the reply that you're hearing from them?

SMITH: Well, my answer is very simple, those who are moaning at the moment about there being some possibility of change in the leadership are

indulging and that's my comment. They're saying that, they're not thinking straight. So that's the big mouths and small brain comment.

And I think by and large, most of my colleagues, the vast, vast majority, agree that we have to just get on with this now and stop moaning about it.

VANIER: All right. We just have to get on with it and stop moaning about it, the words of Ian Duncan Smith, former Conservative Party leader. Thank

you so much for joining us on the program.

And with that, I'll hand it back to my colleague in Hong Kong, Kristie Lu Stout.

LU STOUT: All right, Cyril, good interview. Thank you.

And up next, the CEO of Uber is out. We've got more on the company's latest bombshell and a string of public relations crises. That next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has resigned. In recent months, his company has seen an exodus of top execs and a long list of PR crises. Just

last week, Kalanick announced that he was going on an indefinite leave of absence, but that move failed to placate investors who have questioned his

leadership.

Now, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was brought on to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and the work culture at Uber. He

recommended that Uber reevaluate Kalanick's responsibilities.

At one point, Kalanick was a major success story in the tech world. Samuel Burke has more on his rise and his struggles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY: He's the Uber ambitious, hard-driving executive that helped transform the world of both tech and transportation. Now,

Travis Kalanick is out, stepping down as Uber's CEO. Already, he's one of the tech world's highest earners, with a net worth estimated at over $6

billion.

Kalanick is a UCLA dropout. The first business he was associated with, a search engine called Scour, filed for bankruptcy.

But this Los Angeles native finally hit it big in 2009 when he and a colleague developed their idea for Uber. Those who know him say it was

only a matter of time before his first big success.

[08:40:04] LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY: He's very scrappy. And he doesn't take no for an answer. And that combined with the idea of Uber is really

something that's led, I would say, to its success. This went from a small startup idea to a company worth $70 billion. You don't get that without

having a certain level of aggressiveness.

BURKE: Uber's big idea was a future where consumers could order a cab at the push of a button and where drivers could benefit from the on demand

economy.

TRAVIS KALANICK, FRM. CEO UBER: In the Uber world, you can use your own car. You don't pay $40,000 to rent a vehicle. You make more dollars per

hour, and it's flexible, you don't have a shift.

BURKE: From the start, Uber's model was divisive. It expanded quickly to dozens of cities and countries, but many pushed back and banned the

service. Uber failed to get a foothold in China. And in February came yet another challenge to the startup: allegations of widespread sexual

harassment.

Kalanick was also criticized when a video obtained by Bloomberg showed him arguing with a driver about falling fares.

KALANICK: Some people don't like to take responsibility...

(CROSSTALK)

KALANICK: They blame everything in their lives...

BURKE: Afterward, Kalanick admitted there is still a lot he needs to learn about leading a worldclass firm saying, quote, "I must fundamentally change

as a leader and grow up.

SEGALL: You talk to folks who are close to him and they'll tell you that if he doesn't - if you disagree with him, or if you don't like what he's

saying, you kind of get blacklisted.

There's kind of this Travis orbit where you don't exactly have this like diversity of mindset, you don't have people who are necessarily disagreeing

with him or saying, hey, we should be more empathetic.

BURKE: In addition to his problems at Uber, Kalanick has also suffered personal tragedy. His mother died in May in a boating accident in

California, his father was seriously injured. That led to a leave of absence, which has now become an official exit from Uber.

Samuel Burke, CNN Money, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

END