Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

G20 Protests in London; Obama and Russian President Meet; Obama at G20 Summit

Aired April 01, 2009 - 08:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Fran Townsend stick with us. Again, we're going to keep coming back to that. And here, some close street shots as well of the protest that are taking place in that area.

Again, you just saw more objects being thrown. And in this situation, we've seen that same gentleman down there who looks like he had something on his face, whether he painted on or not. At one point, police grabbed him, Fran, and then it seems like he sort of wiggled his way out and now he's back in front of the crowd.

In that type of situation, why don't they just get like some of the most, you know, the ones that seem to be inciting the most and just get them out of there?

FRANCES TOWNSEND, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I agree with you, Kiran. I mean, I actually think he was aggressive enough. I would have looked to take him out of the crowd. Now, it's getting more aggressive now here with this scuffle. They -- they will have to make a judgment about him. What you want to do is if you can avoid the arrests and get the protests back under control, good. If you take him out and arrest him, you run the risk of inciting the rest of the protesters, which you don't want to do. So I think they're trying to make a judgment here.

If he's just going to shout at them, that's fine. If he's going to incite the others, then they're going to have to make a judgment about taking him out. But they need grounds to take him out. And he's got to commit some sort of an infraction that will permit them, the basis to arrest him.

CHETRY: All the while, all the flashbulbs flashing away there as all the camera crews are recording minute by minute as this goes on. All right.

(CROSSTALK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Some of our cameras there are almost (INAUDIBLE)

CHETRY: It's about a minute and a half after the hour. If you're just joining us, again, welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry along with T.J. Holmes in for John Roberts. We have Christine Romans with us this morning, as well as James Rubin. And we're going to be weighing in on all of the elements, the various things that we've seen come out of the beginning of the G-20 Summit.

One was about an hour and a half ago -- two and a half hours ago, we heard from President Barack Obama as he talked about some of the key issues to solving this global financial crisis. And he kicked off his day with a closed-door meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

After that, the two talked about economic solutions before the start of tomorrow's actual summit. The president said that while G-20 nation won't agree on all points, that there is more consensus. He also talked about keeping an open mind and listening, not lecturing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are facing the most severe economic crisis since World War II. And the global economy is now so fundamentally interconnected that we can only meet this challenge together. We can't create jobs at home if we're not doing our part to support strong and stable markets around the world. I came here to put forward our ideas, but I also came here to listen, not to lecture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The president also assuring that there are basic principles the G-20 nations do agree on, and that plenty of work will be done during this week's conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Our immediate task is the critical work of confronting the economic crisis. As I've said, we passed through an era of profound irresponsibility. Now we cannot afford half measures and we cannot go back to the kind of risk taking that leads to bubbles that inevitably bust. So, we have a choice. We can shape our future or let events shape it for us.

And if we want to succeed, we can't fall back on the stale debates and old divides that won't move us forward. Every single nation who's here has a stake in the other. We won't solve all our problems in the next few days, but we can make real and unprecedented progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Many critics around the world, of course, are blaming American capitalism for this crisis. The president said that, you know, now is not the time to blame but to look toward recovery, and that can only happen if everyone works together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Some are to blame, but all are responsible. We are going to get through this, and so you should plan sensibly in anticipation that this economy is going to recover. And new families -- young families are going to want to buy new homes, and sooner or latter that clunker of a car is going to wear out and people are going to want to buy a new car. And, you know, so that -- you know, basing decisions around fear is not the right way to go. We are going to get through this difficult time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There were also some lighter moments as well, because you can't go to Britain without talking about the crown and soccer. No, no, no scratch that. Football, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There's one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain, and that is the Queen. And so I'm very much looking forward to, I'm very much looking forward to meeting her for the first time later this evening. And as you might imagine, Michelle has been really thinking that through.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I have had enough trouble back home picking my brackets for the college basketball tournament that's taking place there, called March Madness. Stirred up all kinds of controversy. The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European football. That would be a mistake.

I have to say it's not just Gordon and Sarah that have been very hospitable -- I had a chance to see their two sons and we talked about dinosaurs a little bit in between discussions of Afghanistan and Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, dinosaurs, football, some lighter moments, but not a lot of time for lighter moments right now in London, because the G- 20 is under way. A lot of serious topics on the agenda.

But this is also happening outside the Bank of England, where these protesters and demonstrators are trying to get through, appears at least, to be trying to make their way through this police line. We have seen scuffles break out here. We understand arrests have been made. At least appears to be one possible person down there who has been injured, who has been giving the police fits here as of late.

But police have been doing their best and they have been successful at it so far in keeping these protesters back. They are protesting a number, or demonstrating for a number of causes, including climate change and also anti-capitalism, but we haven't seen any. Even though the president is there, and is seeing these on his first trip overseas, none of these that we have seen necessarily have been directed at the U.S. president.

Meanwhile, some other news we are getting, and we were getting it a little while earlier from our Suzanne Malveaux, who confirmed it, but now we can confirm it officially from the president and the president of Russia, Medvedev, who did met earlier today and now have come out and said, yes, they do plan to reach a nuclear arms deal before the treaty expires in December. And as I tell you that, you're noticing what I've been mentioning -- we've been mentioning the past hour or so. Some of these scuffles that break out. Oops, lost our live picture there. We will certainly get back to that and keep an eye on it.

And James Rubin here with us. This issue of Russia, we got word that this is probably going to come out. Put this in perspective for us. What this means now, that these two are about to story tell. It's a movement of getting rid of these nuclear weapons.

JAMES RUBIN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, what you're seeing is a new administration adopting a new policy towards arms control. The previous administration didn't believe that you needed these treaties, that with the cold war over, everyone could basically do their own reductions and you didn't need to have the type of tight arms-control treaties that have been in place in the past. But President Obama and his team believe in arms control. And they believe in arms control treaties. So now the Russians and the United States are going to get together and agree on a number, probably around 1,500.

But what's important about that is there will be verification. There will be detailed provisions to keep track of the warheads, to keep track of the missiles, to keep track of all the parts of a nuclear weapons system, so that you eliminate the risk of weapons falling into the wrong hands.

And you begin again to show the world that the United States is moving lower and lower and lower with Russia. And that gives you a better argument when you have to go up against the Iranians and the North Koreans or the Chinese and others to get their support for preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

CHETRY: All right. Speaking of Russia and China and, Christine, your take on this situation. I mean, these are not our typical allies, of course, when we take a look at the global stage, but really vital to our economic survival and the global economic situation. So what are we looking for out of Russia and China?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's true. In less than 50 minutes or so, at least on the schedule, the president is supposed to sit down with the president of China, Hu Jintao.

And you might call recall, over the past few weeks, there's been some -- some kind of alarming language from Chinese officials about the need for a global reserve currency that is not the U.S. dollar. And that is something that catches the markets by surprise for sure. Because, you know, the United States dollar -- the U.S. dollar is the -- is the global reserve currency right now.

So, it shows you that there is a -- that there is a rift in there. There's a complicated relation ship between the U.S. and China in particular, and how is that relationship going to change or grow in difficult times in the global economy. And we've both really boomed together, China and the U.S. And now, there's this huge bust. And how is that going to strain the relationship? So it's an incredibly important meeting. RUBIN: Some people, for example, the economists have said the real meeting is not the G-20, it's the G-2.

ROMANS: That's right, China and the U.S.

RUBIN: That U.S. and China have all the economic power really between the two of them, so this is a big meeting.

ROMANS: And it will be interesting to see what comes out of this meeting. What the two of them -- what the official, you know, version is of what happens in this meeting, of course. I don't think there's -- there isn't a G-2 communique that comes out of this.

RUBIN: Right.

ROMANS: But, clearly, there's been a lot of interest in the markets specifically about how this relationship will fare over the next couple of days.

HOLMES: Well, whether it's G-20, G-2, we're covering it over in London right now, including part of that team on the ground there is our Suzanne Malveaux, our White House correspondent, who is there.

Suzanne, hello to you, again. We've been keeping an eye on so much of what is happening outside with a lot of these -- a lot of these protests. But what is happening still with the meetings, and what have you gotten so far to be the highlight. Again, we're just getting this news that you brought to us earlier about the U.S. and Russia, reaching some kind of an agreement to move forward on getting rid of these nuclear weapons?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: T.J., obviously, that's very important, very significant. And one of the things that we saw out of that press conference with President Obama, as well as Gordon Brown is really President Obama trying to strike a balance here, trying to acknowledge the anger, the frustration that you see that spilled out onto the streets.

A lot of people blaming the United States, not Barack Obama, personally, but the administration for causing this global crisis, this mess, that started in the United States and spread. So, you heard the president acknowledge. He said, yes, the regulatory system was inadequate, but he also was sharing the blame. He said England faced similar problems, but he wants to move beyond blame. He wants to look for solutions. And I want you to hear how he framed it. The tone of the discussions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I came here to put forward our ideas, but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis that knows no borders. We have a responsibility to coordinate our actions and to focus on common ground, not on our occasional differences.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: T.J., this is two things really. This is President Obama signaling that things are going to be different. There's going to be a different tone. Not business as usual under the Bush administration. But also an acknowledge, too, that he may not get everything he wants out of this meeting, the G-20, that clearly he is listening and not just leading, because he has to listen, because other leaders have different ideas about how to move forward.

T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Our Suzanne Malveaux, we appreciate you this morning from London. And Suzanne, we're keeping up with her here on the air, but you can keep up with her also online with your twittering. She is twittering throughout the president's trip. You can follow her by checking our Web site. She has been twittering already today, and her last tweet, as it's called, was about an hour ago, and she was talking about Obama and the Russian president getting together on this negotiation. So that address -- cnn.com/amfix.

CHETRY: And 10 Downing Street was twittering this morning, so we all have. Caught on.

HOLMES: And accurately as we just point later, maybe.

CHETRY: Yes. I'm little scared what type of that conference is actually taking place this morning.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: We want to take you back out live in London to the scene of the protests that have been taking place all around the city this morning. Our Becky Anderson is right in the thick of it, and she's going to be bringing us a report.

Last time, we had a little bit of trouble hearing you, Becky. If you can hear me right now, what is the scene? Because we saw things getting a little bit rough between police and protesters earlier.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can hear you now. This is the middle of the city of London, and today it is in lockdown. I came here about an hour and a half, two hours ago. I got stuck in the middle of the protests, which are sort of over that direction towards the Bank of England, which is where most of the protesters are thronging.

There are thousands and thousands of people here. You can describe them as anti-capitalists, as anarchists. There's a climate change camp behind me. But things are beginning to get just a little bit antsy.

You had some demonstrators here shouting at the police officers that are thronged. There are some 10,000 police officers here in the city of London today. Do not expect any of the G-20 leaders to be down here today. They are a long way away. I'm just keeping my eye on what is going on here. As I say, the crowds here, the throngs, converging from four tube stations, about two or three hours ago. When I got here, there were probably a couple of thousand people. But at this point, we're looking at probably 15,000 to 20,000 people. You can see people coming in all the time.

Back to you guys.

CHETRY: All right, Becky, you know, from the people that are standing behind you right now, that some of them look like they just happened to be there, that they're sort of wandering around.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CHETRY: Obviously, there are different levels of intensity, people coming out because they really, really feel strongly about their cause. And in other cases, they just want -- of course, sort of wanted to see what was going on. What are you getting from them?

ANDERSON: We're going to -- yes, we're going to have a walk her as we talk, because you're absolutely right. There are a lot of anarchists here today, but there are an awful lot of people who have really, really, really got an argument against the government here, against the administration.

So there are, as I say, a lot of people protesting against capitalism. There are a lot of people who are just extremely angry about what is going on in the world. A lot of onlookers. And then what I would describe as quite a throng of anarchists as well. People who suddenly turn up at these sort of events and enjoy it to all intents and purposes.

I was with my producer, Ben Blake, about 20 minutes ago. And there's a real push on the police lines. None of those people, I would suggest, have got anything to do with the actual administrative problems that we've got here in London at the moment. But we're going to move away, actually, because we've got a couple of people who don't really enjoy us being here.

Back to you guys.

CHETRY: All right, Becky, are you still able to talk to us, or do you want to get to a place where you feel a little more comfortable?

ANDERSON: Yes. We'll walk this way.

CHETRY: All right.

ANDERSON: Walk with me this way as we bring you -- yes, I want to show you -- there are some people here who are just here for the sake of it. But there are other people here. Here's a climate change camp. We can just go under here. You see here, there's a climate -- climate change camp. Just stop, and just give you a sense of that.

And one of the -- one of the big messages from protesters here in London is about the fact that climate change seems to have dropped off the agenda. They're certainly going to try and revive it at the G-20 conference. But as we know, G-20 today, at least, these G-20 leaders who are gathered here and indeed at the meeting tomorrow, is about regulatory reforms. It's about coordinated fiscal stimulus. It's about whether trade and protectionism are going to get better or worse at this point. And then, indeed, you've got other people here. So just bringing in a guest now. He's just joined us.

Why are you here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here to show that no matter what they want, transparency has to be the only way. There are people watching. We all are here. In evidence, on the streets, to show that the G-20, what they do, isn't happening behind closed doors. It's happening where we can see it, and where we can see effects, and where we would feel the effects, and the effects will be felt by everyone.

ANDERSON: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Generations down the line.

ANDERSON: All right. And you, why are you here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we've got the same reason, really. I mean, we're all here just (INAUDIBLE), to tell them, we've all had enough of everything. I mean, in fact, there has to be a change. And I think this is going to prove it. It's what the people want now. And we camped out in the streets, we're walking down the streets, and stop like that, and not going to go back to work until it happens.

ANDERSON: How would you describe those you see here today? Do you think everybody's really involved in the issue of transparency and the issue of getting a message across to the G-20 leaders?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are. I don't think anyone would take their time out and take a day off work and come down here, unless they truly believe in what we're actually trying to do. So, yes, I think -- I think everyone here (INAUDIBLE).

ANDERSON: All right. Well, there is a -- there is a message -- a big message in this madness today. As I say, a smaller throng of people who just turn up to these events and want to cause some trouble. I'd say that the majority of people are like these two guys that we've just spoken to here. They've got a real message, and they want to get it out.

Guys?

CHETRY: All right. Again, we saw one sign behind you that said something about a bailout and another sign behind you that was talking about renewable energy. So, there are different causes for sure. Seven actual official protests that were -- I guess were registered, and police were aware of. Of course, they are expecting that there are going to be many more that pop up throughout the day, and they're taking measures to keep it all peaceful.

Becky, though, thank you for that -- that firsthand look of what's going on there in London today. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk about how much is at stake for President Obama as he makes his first trip overseas as president. We're going to ask two of the best political minds about it as well. It's 18 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." A lot of news happening this morning. And it's happening over in London right now. The G-20 Summit is underway. Yes, the world leaders are meeting. However, a lot of news has been happening outside on the streets, where we are seeing protests. And we have seen them get tense at times.

Let's go to -- I think we do have this live picture. Let's go ahead and show you this live picture. And take this -- and let me show you exactly what I'm talking about here.

Throngs of people are starting to gather. Thousands and thousands are expected. I don't have an accurate account of how many are expected, but 10,000 police, at least, have been mobilized.

That's just one picture we've been keeping an eye on here. And this is a young man here, right in the middle, that has been actually giving the police fits, if you will. He has been in a few scuffles with police. Again, this appears to be some tape we're seeing earlier. But police are using those wands you see, the batons they have in their hands, to kind of push some of these protesters back. They've been trying to break through that line.

Again, the president is there. He is there in -- there for his first trip overseas, and a big one for him, an ambitious one, but meeting with the other leaders of the G-20 summit. Christine Romans here with us. Jamie Rubin also. We have Ed Rollins, Karen Finney, going to be joining us here as well. But this was the press conference a little early this morning. Let's take a quick listen to just a bit of what the president said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems. I think that the separation between the various parties involved has been vastly overstated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. We're going to bring in Ed Rollins now, Republican strategist and CNN contributor.

Sir, help us understand here as so many audiences possibly for the president -- and Karen Finney as well, but, Ed, my first question to you. The president has so many audiences it seems to be. Maybe the least of his audiences right now is here in the U.S., his own constituents, who may not be paying as much attention as the world is to this thing.

But also his audience is all of Europe, the rest of the world, but also immediately these world leaders he's in the rooms with. So, who is the audience he needs to be most impressive in front of and he is trying to get at right now?

ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST/CNN CONTRIBUTOR: First, you can never forget the American audience...

HOLMES: Of course, of course.

ROLLINS: (INAUDIBLE), which is the key. But the 19 other leaders that are in the room are going to measure him. He's the new leader. He the one, obviously, there's great interest in. His sidebar meetings with the Soviet leader, with the Chinese leader are very, very critical because, obviously, they're going to measure him. And at a point -- you know, in an eight-hour meeting with 20 world leaders, you're not going to accomplish a great deal in the public meetings.

But sometimes the sidebar meetings are very important. These are pretty well scripted, as Jamie can tell you, and they tell a president where to go and where not to go and you just have to be careful of any ad-lib that turns out something that can be misinterpreted or what have you. And this is a very polished president, so I don't expect that to happen.

HOLMES: All right. And Karen Finney here with us as well...

CHETRY: Yes, we're just going to -- we're going to get back to Karen in just one second. We have a little bit of economic news that's just coming in and Christine Romans is going to tackle for us right now.

These are employment numbers?

ROMANS: Right. This is an ADP National Employment Report, and it shows that -- and this is what we get typically before the big employment report that's going to be due on Friday. This is another group. It shows, gosh, total jobs lost in March of 742,000. Another report, though, earlier today, this morning, from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed maybe the pace of mass layoff was slowing a little bit.

So, some conflicting news about just what direction the intensity of the job losses is. But, clearly, this is coming at the backdrop of all of this, it's about jobs being lost here and around the world. That's what these leaders are trying to figure out how to prevent and slow the pace. So, we're looking desperately for any sign that the pace of those job loss is slowing. But according to this ADP National Employment Report, it's showing that -- it's estimated that 742,000 jobs were lost in the private sector in March.

HOLMES: And we want to keep it in perspective. You said that it's kind of confusing there. The numbers seem so huge, but the mass layoffs seem to be slowing. ROMANS: Another report was showing the mass layoffs was being slowed down. There are two conflicting reports, but both of them showing that there are still a lot of jobs being lost in this country.

CHETRY: You know, that's the interesting thing I want to ask Karen about as well when we talk about this. Because one of the interesting things that President Obama said in his press conference is that times are tough now, but eventually we are going to get through this, and so people need to be ready for that. And he also talked about the possibility that people might want to start spending, if they're able to, right now.

Karen?

KAREN FINNEY, FMR. DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes. Well, I think that's right. I mean, look, we know that we've been through tough times before and we'll get through these times and that's part of the message obviously the president wants to send the country. And I think that's probably part of the message that this group of leaders wants to all send to their respective countries.

I mean, there's certainly some broad agreement on the need for a new regulatory framework as we enter these discussions. At the same time, there may be some disagreement. I think our president enters these conversations, though, in a very strong position, as your own polls showed, the American people believe that the president is respected in the world. We know that's important to our economic as well as our national security interests.

So, I think we'll see some good news coming out of these discussions. I agree with Ed. These sidebar meetings actually sometimes end up being the most important and the most critical meetings. But I think there's a real broad understanding that we've got to get not just the American economy going again, but the world economy going again.

And we do need Americans to get spending, and we need Americans to have confidence in the fact that, you know, we can get things going again. And I think we also saw in polls that the American people believe that the president's handling things well, and they have confidence in his abilities.

HOLMES: All right. Well, his abilities right now are going to be on display, Karen, over for those leaders at the G-20. Thank you, Karen, Ed, Christine, Jamie. All stand by with us. Our conversation will continue after this break. We are keeping an eye on what's happening at the G-20 summit, the meeting of world leaders, but also what's happening outside the meeting.

Another live picture here of protests. Thousands and thousands of people getting together for what police are calling an unprecedented protest in London. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING. The breaking news we're covering out of London this morning -- the demonstrations, the protests and a bit of the scuffles we have been seeing so far this morning as police try their best to keep some protesters, who have been giving them a bit of fits, doing a little pushing and shoving, trying to keep them back. For the most part, people there peaceful, mostly people there just trying to get their message out for a number of topics from climate change to anti-capitalism, just trying to get their message out and be heard surrounding this G-20 summit there in London.

The president did speak a little earlier. We're on live here with the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Started at 5:00 so we can bring you live coverage of the president at his press conference this morning with Gordon Brown as you see there. Here, just to listen to a little bit of what the president had to say here this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: All of us here in London have the responsibility to act with a sense of urgency. Make no mistake. We are facing the most severe economic crisis since World War II. We can't create jobs at home if we're not doing our part to support strong and stable markets around the world. We are lifting ourselves out of this crisis, and putting an end to the abuses that got us here.

I came here to put forward our ideas, but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead. History shows us that when nations fail to cooperate, when they turn away from one another, when they turn inward, the price for our people only grows. That's how the Great Depression deepened. That's a mistake that we cannot afford to repeat.

The prime minister and I also covered several other areas of challenge that are fundamental to our common security and prosperity. As he mentioned, we discussed my administration's review of strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The City of London, like the United States, was attacked by the al Qaeda terrorists, who are still plotting in Pakistan and we are committed to a focused effort to defeat them.

Our immediate task now is the critical work of confronting the economic crisis. We cannot afford half measures and we cannot go back to the kind of risk taking that leads to bubbles that inevitably bust. We won't solve all our problems in the next few days, but we can make real and unprecedented progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And that was of course, coming from the news conference, the joint news conference with Gordon Brown, prime minister of Britain as well as Barack Obama, president of the United States and that was about three hours ago now that we heard them speak for about 45 minutes. And that was really just the public showing. A lot going on today behind closed doors as well.

If you're just joining us once again, we are covering all aspects of the G20 including a protest that has been taking place in the streets of London today. We have Christiane Amanpour with us and I want to ask you about this, because this is another big headline that came out of this. President Barack Obama says he's accepted an invitation from Russia's president to visit Moscow.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The date apparently is in July. And this is important because it will be the first summit between Russia and the United States. At a time when the U.S. is saying it must reset the button on their relationships and at a time when Russia is saying we also want a new relationship based on mutuality and common interests and with mutual interests in mind.

So, that's very important, there's a range of issues, arms control as we've already talked about, Afghanistan cooperation, Iran cooperation, the whole defense-shield issue that the United States is very prickly on with Russia and the moving of NATO eastward relentlessly as the U.S. has wanted to do. So all these issues will likely come up then.

CHETRY: All right. Christiane, thanks so much.

HOLMES: There are issues surrounding the g-20 summit. We just something else, I don't want to call it a sidebar necessarily, but something else that's going essentially hand in hand we have to cover as well with these G-20 summits and this one in particular, these protests and these we're seeing right now have begin to grow.

For the most part they are peaceful. Police say they are getting ready just in case things turn violent. We have seen a little pushing and shoving but certainly nothing that we can certainly deem as necessarily violent. But a little pushing and shoving and police are able to hold a lot of these folks back so far. I want to head down to our Becky Anderson who has been able to make her way down the ground where a lot of the protesters are. Becky, hope you can hear me. Again, you just set the scene for our viewers.

ANDERSON: Yes, we've been holding our ground. There's been pushing and shoving as you say. But this is perhaps one of the calmer areas of this protest. We've been over that direction which is towards the Bank of England earlier on in the past few hours. I would say that there are tens of thousands, if not 100,000 people at this point, in lockdown in the city of London. But this is one of the quieter areas in this protest today.

It's the climate camp. And the people here have got an issue, which is close to their hearts. I'm just going to walk through and give you a sense of why these guys are here. And what they hope to achieve. Your name is what?

JAMES: James.

ANDERSON: And, James, why are you here today?

JAMES: Why am I here?

ANDERSON: Yes.

JAMES: Protest the world governments aren't doing enough about climate change, as simple as that.

ANDERSON: All right. Is this the platform for that?

JAMES: I think it's one platform for it. We've tried many other platforms and they aren't listening. We've written letters and e- mailed positions. It's a lot. This is the way democracy is supposed to work and it doesn't. So we're exercising our rights to protest on the streets.

ANDERSON: And you know that there is a potential for this to morph into something ugly today. Would that concern you?

JAMES: Of course, it concerns everyone, isn't it? We don't want to it happen. We're not here for violence.

ANDERSON: I know. You can see we're standing on at the moment. Our viewers have played this game, but this is "Twister." A very good-natured protest here today at the climate camp. Have Scottie, the cameraman, to give you a sense of what we're seeing here today. There are onlookers out here. These are the guys that actually turned up to work today. Not many people have. Much of the city is actually boarded up.

Right up top there you've got the construction workers who aren't doing an awful lot of work either today and they've got probably what is the best view of what is, as I say, an enormous protest today in the city of London. We've seen some pushing and shoving T.J. as I suggested, there are an awful lot of people, I'm told, 10,000 on the streets, just here in this area of London. So hoping that it won't morph into anything ugly. We're going to stick around for you, T.J..

HOLMES: All right. We do appreciate you sticking around there, Becky Anderson, in the thick of the protest. Again this is some video, some tape we saw a little earlier. Again, that gentleman right there in the middle and appears to have blood on his hand - excuse me, on his head right there. We can't confirm it, he put something there on himself or maybe he may be actually injured. But this is the police line we were keeping an eye on a lot earlier where there is a lot of pushing and shoving going on.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: At these big events, you guys, we always see the same sort of groups. I mean we've seen them in Seattle. We've seen them in Davos, in Switzerland, many times. Whenever these leaders get together, it's the anti- capitalists, it's the anarchists, it's the one time I was with the stop biogenetic manipulation people, and you know, I was trying to find out exactly what companies, what policies are you against, and no one can really articulate for me what policies they were against.

I mean this happens every time and Christiane made a good point, she thinks it's more of a demonstration than a protest. And these are what the fresh pictures are that people are watching. There's a lot of work in the streets but there's a lot of work happening behind those closed doors to try to figure out how to repair the financial infrastructure, how to repair the banking system, how to get maybe coordinated global stimulus. How to - I mean, there's really important things that are happening that I think are overshadowed a little bit by you know, the guy who may or may not have blood on his head waving his hands in the streets.

CHETRY: Well, you talked about some of the similarities to some other places like Davos and Genoa, but one difference is the twittering which is happening at the protests.

ROMANS: Oh, wow.

CHETRY: This will be the first year we've seen that. One funny thing, Christiane, and I thought you were getting kind - somebody from Florida says 11 people arrested at the G-20, right in Miami, we call that a Wednesday. Another person wrote, a very British riot, soups and sandwiches and tents and not a water cannon in site.

AMANPOUR: Look leave it to the twitter people to put it in perspective. Look, obviously we're seeing these pictures, because the only moving pictures that are being shown out of London right now. There's one guy with whatever he's got on his face. He doesn't look like he's too worse for the wear. He's jumping up and down.

I think the big story is that the police are holding the line. That this is not a massive riot at all by any stretch of the imagination and not only that, it's far less people than I've covered in London. For instance, for the pre-Iraq war demonstrations, a million people on the streets. Nothing really untoward, the countryside, the alliance March, which was held to protest the then- Blair government anti-Fox hunting ban and all the rest of it. So, this so far, is -- is very calm.

ROMANS: Democracy at work.

CHETRY: That's right.

ROMANS: Democracy and the ability to show, you know, your opinion at work. But there's not - a lot of other hard work happening behind closed doors.

HOLMES: We just happened to be focusing on one bloke with something on his head.

AMANPOUR: You know protests and demonstrations are a very part of the political event in Europe. Not so much here but definitely in Europe.

HOLMES: All right. We thank you all. Stick around. We're not going anywhere. We're taking a quick break. We continue our coverage of what's happening in the G20. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking news. CHETRY: And welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're coming up on 40 minutes past 8:00 here in New York. We're tracking all of the events taking place at the G-20 summit, though, in London today. It's about three hours ago that President Obama spoke, along with British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. They held a joint press conference, here we go, answering questions that were posed to them by the - by members of the media about how to best tackle the global financial crisis, who is to blame for the global financial crisis, and what they expect to come out of this meeting.

But it wasn't just President Obama who was a big hit overseas. It may pale in comparison to his wife, the first lady's popularity. As the Europeans are watching Michelle Obama's every move. CNN's Alina Cho is part of that story for us. There we're looking at some pictures of Sara Brown and Michelle Obama together, taking some photos together and sort of getting to know each other ahead of that press conference that their husbands were holding.

ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, Tina Brown, as you know, joked about an hour ago that Sara Brown is a beautiful girl but, you know, everybody sort of knows that right now at least she pales in comparison to Michelle Obama Of course, the big question is, could she overshadow the president?

You know, when the Kennedys went to Europe in 1961, President Kennedy joked I'm just the man accompanying Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris. So, you know, there's no denying that Michelle Obama is a rock star in America, but how is her style and personality playing abroad? Well, the early reviews are very good. The apparent love affair with the U.S. First Lady is flourishing in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): America's fascination with the First Lady has been well documented. But across the pond, Michelle Obama s a brand new star. The headlines say it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's very stylish. And she's a good right hand woman to have for Barack Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think she looks very good --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, for her age.

CHO: As America's first lady embarks upon her first trip to Europe, the world is watching the royal family of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How the royal family, and not just a head of government, is received, is very important for perception back here at home.

CHO: Most of all, the First Lady. What will she wear? How will she act? On today's schedule, tea with the queen. And insiders say the queen and America's queen bee will be fast friends.

TINA BROWN, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: What the queen really likes is authentic women. She likes women who are strong, who are unpretentious and who are into their family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

BROWN: She'll love the fact that Michelle Obama was filmed, you know, digging her vegetable garden. That is very queen like.

CHO: When France's First Lady, Carla Bruni Sarkozy met the queen, she curtsied and London went mad for her. On this leg of the trip, Mrs. Sarkozy is a no-show.

BROWN: I think she recognizes that next to Michelle she's going to be badly compared.

CHO: And don't forget, the French First Lady is a former supermodel. In 1961 Jacqueline Kennedy wowed French President Charles de Gaulle with her flawless French and impeccable style.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So much so that Kennedy said at one point, I am the man who 8is accompanying Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.

CHO: So, can this glamorous first lady do the same thing to her husband, our own Wolf Blitzer says no.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: They're ga-ga over Michelle Obama but they're also ga-ga over Barack Obama. So I don't think he has to worry at all about the First Lady overshadowing him. In fact, knowing that their relationship is as strong as it is, he wouldn't be upset about that at all. He loves this woman very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: In fact, the president often jokes that Michelle is the boss. To be sure, everything Michelle Obama does while she's in Europe, everything she wears will be front-page fodder. Princess Diana, if you'll recall, was scrutinized in a similar way. And if you think about it, guys, the First Lady is a star in Europe in much the same way that Princess Diana was a star when she was here in the United States. People went crazy over here when she was here.

CHETRY: Absolutely. All right. Alina Cho for us this morning. Thanks so much.

CHO: You bet.

HOLMES: I do want to head back to these live pictures that we've been watching this morning. Our Becky Anderson is in the middle of all this. Letting you know here, this picture we're showing - the demonstrations we're seeing, a few scuffles here and there, but now, Becky Anderson, we understand that things are starting to escalate, at least in some areas?

ANDERSON: Yes, it's - it's been quite messy this morning, I've got to say. The Bank of England is this direction. We're in the city of London here, which is in lockdown today. Tens of thousands of people, can't get a definite number from the police, but tens of thousands of people are here on the streets of the city of London. This, as I was saying a little earlier on, is a slightly calmer part of the protests where there is a climate change camp set up, out of sight of the European headquarters for the environment here.

And it's, as I say, a much quieter environment. But around about, every so often we're getting surges on the police. These people raising their voices and people sort of surging towards the police. Let's just walk around and see if we can get somebody to talk to us here. You'll reduce your carbon footprint, stay in bed. You are really serious about the issues, obviously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well everyone here is having a good time, I think people are more just cheering and be happy. There's no aggression here.

ANDERSON: How long has it taken you guys to organize? How did you get involved?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not part of the organizing, so I can't take any credit. I just showed up to support it. It's a fantastic camp.

ANDERSON: All right. Good stuff. Thank you very much, indeed. I mean there's lots and lots of people here who are determined not to make any trouble at all. As we've seen over the past couple of hours, every so often this protest morphs into a fairly antsy situation. We sort of keep out of the way, as it hatches. I'm a human being, god darn it, my life has value. It says on the top of this guy's sign. What's your name, mate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not saying my name.

ANDERSON: Why, what have you done wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing new.

ANDERSON: OK. We'll keep your eye on this guy, and we'll follow him around. Maybe later on today we'll find out he's not quite as jovial is as he is at this point. Becky Anderson here in some distance away from the Bank of England, but we're moving back and forth, around the city of London. Back to you, guys.

HOLMES: All right. Becky, we appreciate you. I guess maybe the frisky gentleman is the one that we should be paying a lot more attention to. He's there to have a good time, he has a smile on his face. More people are down there doing that. He said it's a good time, no reason to be stressed out are exactly his words. So that is what the overwhelming majority of these folks are doing down there.

But at the same time we're seeing some of these pictures, some scuffles that people are getting into with police. Police about to use those - their wand. We see the police in the riot gear. We are getting reports that some windows have been busted out of at least one bank that's down there in the financial district. At least one and also some graffiti put on the wall. Again, that's not the overwhelming majority of the reports we are getting for the most part. People, of course, they are loud. They want to be heard, but for the most part, nothing too violent, but still, we're keeping an eye on all things G-20 including these protests. Quick break here on the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Breaking news we're seeing this morning, started at the G-20 summit and the world leaders getting together to talk about the economic crisis, but this is also happening on the streets of London. Demonstrations happening for the most part had been peaceful, but we are seeing scuffles here and there.

We are getting this video, you see on the bottom of your screen there. We are getting this stuff, getting it in to us and we're seeing for the first time with you. So we just want to bring it to you as fresh as we can get it. But we are getting reports certainly that some windows have been busted out at a particular bank that's down there. And also some graffiti being plastered on some of the walls of the banks. So again, for the most part, overwhelmingly a lot of people down there want to be heard but not being violent. A little pushing and shoving, Kiran, but for the most part, it has been a peaceful demonstration.

CHETRY: Yes. One of the persons everyday applying for a job, there's already 150 people who have also applied for that job. Had to sign up for welfare for the first time in your life and then having to pay your mortgage on your credit card and falling into debt twice over. So a lot of angst, of course, about the situation, the downturn really affected a lot of people in their everyday life.

Meanwhile, it certainly is a busy day for President Obama ahead of the G-20 economic summit in London. He's going to be meeting face to face for the first time with the presidents of Russia and China. The president stressing his commitment to fix the global economic crisis and also saying that there's enormous consensus emerging about how to go about it.

At a joint news conference earlier this morning with British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, President Obama also addressed diplomacy on another front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: We're both committed to diplomacy with Iran, that offers the Islamic republic the opportunity of a better future, if it abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right. And joining us now to talk about it, we have Christiane Amanpour with us. We have Christine Romans as well and also Robin Wright, former diplomatic correspondent at "The Washington Post," and author of "Dreams and Shadows, the future of the Middle East." She is in Washington this morning but just returned from the region.

I want to ask you about this Robin, first, U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said there was a "brief and candid exchange with the head of the Iranian delegation." How significant do you think that that exchange was?

ROBIN WRIGHT, AUTHOR "DREAMS AND SHADOWS, THE FUTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST": It was clearly designed to be an encounter between the two men, get to know each other very briefly. But I don't think there was any substance to it. The real danger in this new diplomatic initiative is the pathology of suspicion, that both sides are so nervous about what the other side really wants that they may not be able to get in to the real substance of the nuclear programs, Iran's ties with extremist groups, its disavowal of the Arab-Israeli peace process, and I think it's going to be a long, drawn-out process. It's very notable that the Iranian foreign minister was not at this session, that he sent a deputy.

CHETRY: And the other interesting thing, and you brought this up, when you were talking about it, just now, about - about the pathological fear, how do we trust Iran? How does Iran trust us? When there seems to be a major rift about this nuclear situation, which Iran says we're not trying to build weapons.

WRIGHT: Well, the United States fears that Iran is trying to stall. And this will become a long, drawn-out process, talking about a range of issues beginning with Afghanistan, but including other issues of common concern, while Iran works on its suspected nuclear program. And Iran is worried that the United States is trying to talk to Iran, with the ultimate goal, really, of regime change or changing the major figures who dominate the regime and that's going to be an underlying current, I think, throughout this process.

CHETRY: All right. Robin Wright, we're going to have to leave it there due to the breaking news. I wish we could have talked to you a little bit longer, but I want to say thanks for coming in, and we are going to continue our conversation as well, right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And, again, welcome back to what has been a busy AMERICAN MORNING. We are keeping an eye on what's happening in London, the G-20 summit under way. The president on his first overseas trip, an ambitious trip and it's gotten off to a heck of a start this morning, starting with the prime minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, the two men did share a press conference. A lot of stuff came out of that, a whole lot, too much to even get at. But some news we know we did get today, the president's going to Moscow.

AMANPOUR: That's right, a July summit, to discuss all the issues and hopefully recalibrate the very tense relationship between the United States and Russia.

CHETRY: All right. And also we've been getting twitters about some of the protests that have been going on. One interesting one says, riot police are advancing toward the bank. We're seeing a scuffle take place right now between police and a protester. In other news, flashes of trouble on thread needle street. Police in riot gear, large batons making arrests. One protester seen covered in blood.

All this is coming in from people that are actually there and sending them, heading into RBS, urinating in the bank is another tweet that just came in. As well RBS World Bank of Scotland, the first to fall.

ROMANS: One of the original bailout banks. And inside you've got the president of this country is going to meet with the president of China. An incredibly important meeting. You heard Gordon Brown talking with the president about all the things they want to do to fix the financial infrastructure, you know, regulation, global stimulus, a lot of important things happening behind closed doors today to try to fix the mess were in.

CHETRY: It's wonderful - again, we're looking at some pictures, again, this morning of the riot that's taking place in the streets of London. Mostly peaceful. We really have to say. But occasionally the camera will be trained in on these little small eruptions that are taking place between some of the more angry protesters and police there as the police try to hold that line. Looks like some blood on the face of one police officer.

HOLMES: All right. We'll continue to follow these. Thank you for being with us on this special edition. Our coverage on CNN continues. But we appreciate you being with us this morning.

CHETRY: Right now, we'll take a quick break and when we come back, the breaking news from the G-20 summit continues with Fredricka Whitfield in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Bye-bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)