world. i m bianca nobilo. i m max foster joining you live from london. just ahead on cnn newsroom secretary of defense lloyd austin came to get more details from prime minister netanyahu to get a real sense of where israel is in its operations against hamas. the israeli military on sunday revealing new video of what it is calling the largest hamas tunnel they have discovered inside the gaza strip. former president donald trump ramped up this anti-immigration rhetoric during remarks in nevada sunday. they come from prisons, they come from mental institutions and insane asylums, many terrorists. senators have spent the weekend trying to see if they can get any sort of compromisen out issue of immigration. this is not just immigration reform. they re basically working diligently on just security at the border. announcer: live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. it s monday, december the 18th. 9:00 a.m. here in london, 11
i m sally bundock. a very warm welcome to the programme. we start in hong kong where the high profile trial of the former media tycoon and pro democracy campaigner jimmy lai has, in the last few hours, got under way. the 76 year old was originally arrested in 2020, accused of undermining the territory s national security through articles published in his apple daily newspaper and on social media. mr lai has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years since his writing was deemed to be illegal under new legislation imposed by beijing. security was tight around the court for the start of his trial. mr lai who is also a british citizen has pleaded not guilty to all charges. the united states and britain have condemned the trial and have urged the authorities in hong kong to release businessman. we ll be live outside the court in hong kong shortly. first, this report from our diplomatic correspondent james landale. jimmy lai used to be a powerful media boss in
about mrjimmy lai. what was the word that you used to describejimmy lai at the very beginning? respected newspaper proprietor is what he is. respected? yeah. ok, so recently last year, an nbc article revealed that jimmy lai has, according to him, unknowingly funded a false persona report discrediting joe biden. and he accused hunter biden of chinese business ties, and you know what apple daily did? one of the charge that the enforcement agency now lay on apple daily has nothing to do with national security. it has to do with fraud, and apple daily actually lied to the government and misused the land, which is supposed to be used for media purposes and used it for company secretarial purpose. and so i find it very difficult to believe that you would use the word well respected to describe mrjimmy lai. i wonder what the government in hong kong and indeed
of these protests and not as a result of these police. so i think hong kong definitely has preserved our freedom and liberty. mr lee, do you feel comfortable living in a society where a respected newspaper editor, jimmy lai, can be imprisoned under the national security legislation and can potentially face the prospect, if convicted, of spending the rest of his life in prison? are you comfortable with that? you know what s interesting about what you said about mrjimmy lai. what was the word that you used to describejimmy lai at the very beginning? respected newspaper proprietor is what he is. respected? yeah. ok, so recently last year, an nbc article revealed that jimmy lai has, according to him, unknowingly funded a false persona report discrediting joe biden. and he accused hunter biden of chinese business ties, and you know
you know what s interesting about what you said about mrjimmy lai. what was the word that you used to describejimmy lai at the very beginning? respected newspaper proprietor is what he is. respected? yeah. ok, so recently last year, an nbc article revealed that jimmy lai has, according to him, unknowingly funded a false persona report discrediting joe biden. and he accused hunter biden of chinese business ties, and you know what apple daily did? one of the charge that the enforcement agency now lay on apple daily has nothing to do with national security. it has to do with fraud, and apple daily actually lied to the government and misused the land, which is supposed to be used for media purposes and used it for company secretarial purpose. and so i find it very difficult to believe that you would use the word well respected to describe mrjimmy lai.