Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Trump to Reveal Decision on Paris Climate Deal; Comey to Testify About Trump Conversations; Opposition Seizes on May's No-Show at Debate; At Least 90 Killed, 461 Wounded in Kabul Attack; Source: Comey To Say Trump pressured Him on China; YouGov: Conservatives Could Fall Short of Majority; No Claim of Responsibility for Kabul Blast. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 01, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:12] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to "News Stream." And what should be a pivotal day for our

planet -- just hours from now, President Donald Trump will declare whether he is taking the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

And while the world waits for that announcement, China and the E.U. say they will work together to fight climate change. And if the U.S. does

leave the Paris Agreement, we'll explore the immediate impact it could have on the planet.

The future of the planet could be hanging in the balance. In about seven hours from now, Donald Trump has promised he will announce whether the U.S.

will walk away from the Paris Climate Accord. Now, the United States is the world's second biggest emitter of carbon dioxide.

Major world powers are lobbying against any U.S. pullout from the landmark agreement. But they say that no matter what Mr. Trump decides, they will

stick to the deal.

Now, China has reaffirmed its support as have Russia and Germany, while Britain is urging the U.S. not to abandon its leadership in the global

fight against climate change. Now, decision to drop out would put the U.S. at odds with nearly every other nation in the world.

Only the countries here in red are not on board. That's right, just two of them. I mean, Syria, because it was in the middle of a civil war and

Nicaragua because they felt the agreement did not go far enough.

Now, hundreds of big U.S. businesses are in favor of the deal. That includes major oil firms like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Many like the

agreement because it favors the natural gas they produce over dirtier coal.

And tech firms like Microsoft and Apple all want the U.S. to stay on board. And Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, tweets this, that he has done

everything possible to lobby the president to remain in the climate deal.

But if the U.S. quits, how is that going to affect the rest of the world? Let's take you inside to the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

Matt Rivers joins us now from China's capital, Beijing. And Ravi Agrawal is standing by in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

And Matt, let's go to you first. As we wait for Trump to make that decision, how committed is China's leadership to the Paris Accord?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's interesting, Kristie. I'm standing in one of the most polluted cities in the world, Beijing.

Every day, there seems to be pollution problems here. And yet, the government that is based here is very, very much committed to this accord

that was struck only about a year and a half ago at this point.

And China appears to be the country now set to be at the forefront of pushing this agreement forward. China's government has been incredibly

consistent over the past several years acknowledging climate change and also saying that the world's countries really need to do something about

it, and that people who -- the countries who signed on to this accord need to stick to their pledges.

That's what we heard from President Xi Jinping when he addressed the -- the World Economic Forum in Davos, when he gave a keynote address several

months ago. He said it was the responsibility of nations around the world not to pass this problem onto future generations.

So no matter what the United States does, China has consistently reaffirmed that it will continue the fight against climate change under the framework

of that agreement struck in Paris.

LU STOUT: All right. From Matt Rivers in Beijing, let's bring in Ravi Agrawal in New Delhi.

So Beijing firmly committed. How committed Narendra Modi to the climate change accord?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Krtisite, India is also very committed as is the Narendra Modi government. Just this week in Germany, Prime Minister

Modi said that it would be a moral crime if India didn't take care of the - - the environment as it handed it over to the next generation.

Now, it's important that this stance on India's part, it diverges from a historical stance that India has had. Just 10 years ago, I remember the

COP 15 Summit, India was seen as a climate change laggard.

It was making the argument back then that, you know, well, you broke it, you fix it. That was India's message to industrialized nations that you

created climate change. You guys should be the ones fixing it, not us, not right when we're about to grow very fast.

That argument has changed since then. It's evolved since then. India, of course, signed the climate change accord, the Paris Accords in October of

last year.

And there are a number of reasons for that. Mr. Modi has cited a moral reason. But there are also economic and political ones that have made

renewable energy and the pursuit of clean energy in India very compelling, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Let's go back to our Matt Rivers standing by in Beijing.

[08:05:00]

Thank you, Ravi for that.

And Matt, the E.C. President, Jean-Claude Juncker earlier today said that China is in, quote, in his words, "prime position to fill the U.S.

leadership void on climate change." Your thoughts on that?

China is the leading polluter. China's poor air quality is well-known. Is China ready for that leadership position?

RIVERS: You know, I think this is a -- a situation that if you had asked Beijing's -- the government here in Beijing whether they would be facing

this kind of a situation a year and a half ago when these accords were signed, I think they would doubt that. But I think now, if the United

States moves out of this -- this deal, then, yes, China will very much take -- have to take a leadership role if it wants to stay in this agreement

because it's the biggest emitter in the world.

People will look to China to see if they're ready to commit and continue what they have said publicly. So on the one hand, I think China, yes, is

very committed to that leadership role.

You've seen President Xi Jinping take a more global statesman kind of air in his public speeches over the last year, saying that China wants to take

a lead on things like globalization, free trade and also climate change all lumped in there.

But I think it's important to note, Kristie, that China traditionally does not take a leadership role on big global issues. In fact, if the United

States pulls out on this, you can argue that this would be the first global issue that China could take the key leadership role on.

And with those kind of leadership roles comes more scrutiny. And if we know anything about the Chinese government, they absolutely hate

transparency and they dislike greatly outside scrutiny.

So there could be some growing pains here for China as they assume the mantle, assuming of course, Donald Trump and -- and his administration

pulls the U.S. out of this deal.

LU STOUT: Well, a very interesting point you make there, at this critical moment, China on the world stage. Let's go back to Ravi Agrawal for more

question.

And Ravi, you know, there is this ability to express commitment and then there's the ability to take action. India has the world's worst air

pollution.

It may overtake China as the most polluted country in the world. Can India do it? Can India adequately combat global warming?

AGRAWAL: That's a good question, Kristie. It is difficult. But India would argue that it is imperative.

They have to do it, and for the same reasons that I cited before, political and economic. For political reasons, in New Delhi, which is now seen here

where I am as the most polluted city in the world, there are protests about the air quality here.

You can see stories about it in the newspapers and on T.V. channels everyday. People are angry. They want to know what the government is

doing about cleaning up the environment in general and the air here in big cities across India.

So the government needs to be seen to be doing something. And so this accord is politically expedient in that sense.

The other thing that I was citing was economics. There was a time when it was very expensive to pursue renewable energy.

That's changed. Just a couple of months ago, there was an auction (ph) of energy here in India. Solar energy was not only 50 percent cheaper than it

was the previous year, it was also 24 percent cheaper than coal.

So there was a time when coal was the cheapest energy. It was also the dirtiest energy. It still is the dirtiest energy.

But solar is now cheaper. So we've reached the stage where it has become, you know, part of India's plan.

It is -- it is compelling for India to pursue renewable energy. And in fact, it is already on track to beat its 2030 deadline by eight years to go

30 percent renewable.

Kristie?

LU STOUT: Yes, fighting global warming, not just a challenge for these major countries. It is an opportunity as well.

Ravi Agrawal reporting live from New Delhi. Matt Rivers live in Beijing. A big thank you to you both.

Now, I want to bring in our weather correspondent, Chad Myers.

And Chad, you and I have been talking about climate change for a long time.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

LU STOUT: Really need your perspective on this. We have a U.S. president who has famously called climate change a hoax.

And still, many people out there cannot accept that climate change is very real. So what can you say to them to convince them otherwise?

MYERS: I think a major argument that they use is that there has been more CO2 in the atmosphere in the past. Three million, five million, whatever

million years ago, we've had more CO2 than this.

And look, nothing happened. Kristie, there were not eight billion people on the planet at that time. We have to feed. We have to clothe.

We have to house eight billion people. And if we do that and we continue to ramp up the CO2 in this range (ph), just (ph) completely almost

straight-up type of line, the entire world, the planet is going to be in trouble.

Sixteen of 17 of the warmest years that we have ever recorded -- now, I know we didn't record things in 1700, but 16 of the top 17 since the year

2000 -- the year 2000 and the only year that wasn't in 2000 was 1998. So you can argue 17 of the 17 hottest years ever have happened since 1998.

Here is what we call the hockey stick, as it goes straight up the temperatures, the global temperatures now.

[08:10:04]

And we cannot only assess these by ground sensors and thermometers, but by the satellite. We know the earth is warming. We know the arctic is

melting.

If the sea ice melts in the arctic and the permafrost across parts of Siberia, across the Yukon, and even parts of Alaska, if that melts, all of

a sudden, what that permafrost is is a big bog. It's a mucky (ph) bog that has disintegrated stuff from eons past.

If that melts, all of a sudden, methane is going to pour into the atmosphere at an alarming rate because that's what bogs do. If they just

sit there, you can smell the methane if you stand over a bog.

Well, right now, those bogs are frozen. You melt those and you are in trouble. So also, sea level rise -- think about places that only have

maybe one or two meters of sea level -- above sea level -- the land in some of these island nations.

Well, I know we're talking about how the -- the ice will melt and the -- the water will go up, but not just that. Think about your thermometer.

When a -- the little red tube at the bottom, that little red bulb warms up, what happens? The thermometer goes up. If you warm the ocean, it's also is

going to expand.

So we're missing that expansion problem. And we could be one meter above where we are now. And this is probably at this point in time a very small

estimate of what we could actually see for sea level rise.

How many billions of people live within a couple miles of the ocean? So what does climate change really matter?

How does it really -- how is it going to affect people? Tornadoes and hurricanes -- we have limited evidence that this is going to happen or

change too much for global warming or climate change.

Will there be more droughts? Yes. Will there be more heavy rain and flood events? Yes. That's the rub.

You know, if you -- and people say, well, it's just going to rain someplace else. Yes, but in the middle of the bread basket of the United States or

in the middle of Russia, if it stops raining or if it floods, all of a sudden, a major food source for those eight billion people will go away.

Coastal flooding -- absolutely. Heat waves and the heat can kill more people on average over the years than anything else, just depending on how

that works out.

We are on a crossroads here. We are right at a point where I tell my 12- year-old son, the world when you grow up may not look like it does right now.

LU STOUT: Chad, climate change, as you point out so well, is very, very real. It demands an urgent solution. Thank you so much for your

reporting.

Chad Myers there. Take care, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome. All right.

LU STOUT: Now, as the White House tries to stay focused on Mr. Trump's agenda, the White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer is now referring all

questions about the Russia probe to an outside attorney hired by the U.S. president. But new revelations about the investigation are front and

center in Washington.

Joe Johns has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fired FBI Director, James Comey, now ready to tell his side of the story, first getting a legal green light from

Special Counsel Robert Mueller. His testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee could come as early as next week.

A source tells CNN that Comey appears eager to discuss details about tense private interactions he had with President Trump, which he documented in

memos, including a dinner where he says the president asked him for a loyalty pledge.

And an oval office meeting where Comey says President Trump pressured him to drop the investigation into his former National Security Adviser,

Michael Flynn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the president engage in obstruction of justice?

SEAN SPICER, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: We are focused on the president's agenda. And all going forward, all questions on these matters

will be referred to outside counsel.

JOHNS: This latest bombshell development coming as the Russia investigations are ramping up, House investigators issuing their first

subpoenas to Flynn and President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, seeking their testimony and business records. Congressional investigators

are examining whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had another undisclosed meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, this time at a

reception that Sessions and Kislyak attended in April when then candidate Trump delivered his first major foreign policy address at the Mayflower

Hotel in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you met with any other Russian officials or folks connected to the Russian government since you endorsed Donald Trump?

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't believe so. I -- we met (ph) -- you know, we meet (ph) a lot of people so.

JOHNS: Sessions failing to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador twice before under oath during his confirmation hearing.

SESSIONS: No, I didn't have -- not have communications with the Russians.

JOHNS: And again when he applied for a security clearance. Amid mounting pressure back in March, Sessions was forced to recuse himself from the

Russia probe, the Justice Department defending Sessions, denying any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton leveling a sharp accusation suggesting Russia did not act alone in their election interference.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: The Russians, in my opinion, and based on the intel and counter-intel people I've talked to

could not have known how best to weaponize that information unless they had been guided.

[08:15:07]

JOHNS: The president reviving his favorite nickname for his former rival on Twitter. All these as the White House offered a bizarre response to the

president's bewildering "covfefe" Twitter typo that was left online for hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did it stay up so long? Is no one watching this?

SPICER: No, I -- I think the -- the -- the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Senior Washington Correspondent, Joe Johns reporting. Despite a wave of international condemnation, Russian President

Vladimir Putin Has repeatedly denied any meddling in the U.S. election or any other country. In fact, Mr. Putin says his country is misunderstood, a

victim of what he calls Russo-phobia.

And despite allegations of cyber espionage, levied (ph) up (ph) Moscow, that didn't stop Mr. Putin from comparing some hackers to artists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Hackers are free people just like artists. They woke up today, read something about the

state-to-state relations.

If they are patriotic, they contribute in a way they think is right and fight against those who say bad things about Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Vladimir Putin made the comment while speaking to reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Now, it is one weak to go

until the U.K. election.

The gloves (ph) will offer (ph) a fiery televised debate. Seven candidates took to the debate stage.

But often, the conversation focused more about who wasn't there. Prime Minister Theresa May was a no-show at the BBC event, having pledged not to

take part in any debates during the race.

Instead, she sent her home secretary. But that did not stop her election rivals from seizing on the prime minister's absence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

MISHAL HUSAIN, MODERATOR, BBC ELECTION DEBATE: Caroline Lucas.

CAROLINE LUCAS, CO-LEADER, GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND: Well, I think the first rule of leadership is to show up. You don't call a general election.

(APPLAUSE)

.you don't call a general election and say it's the most important election in her lifetime and then not even be bothered to come and debate the issues

at stake.

(CROSSTALK)

HUSAIN: Tim Farron (ph), what -- what -- what are your qualities of leadership?

TIM FARRON, LEADER, BRITISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Well, good leaders don't run away from a debate. Theresa May undoubtedly should be here.

Without -- Mishal (ph), whatever we discuss this evening, her absence is undoubtedly the shadow that hangs over this election. How dare you call a

general election then run away from the debate? Now, I -- I.

(APPLAUSE)

.so we are.

HUSAIN: Yes, the question is about your talents and character in (ph) leadership.

(CROSSTALK)

FARRON: .we are all problems (ph) -- all problems (ph) -- we are all problems (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

HUSAIN: (Inaudible).to Angus Robertson (inaudible).

ANGUS ROBERTSON, DEPUTE LEADER, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY: So -- so real leadership is about putting the country before you put your party. And I

think we all now know that this was a totally unnecessary election.

And the only reason Theresa May called it was that she thought she was going to have a massive majority as a result of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: New images of the moment that horrific blast ripped through Afghanistan's capital. We're going to have the latest from Kabul. Also

ahead, going inside a Rohingya confinement camp in Myanmar, how a human rights group is trying to show the world how the ethnic minority is being

treated.

[08:18:19]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:31]

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching "News Stream." No claim of responsibility for Wednesday's suicide

truck bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan.

And here is the moment of the blast that struck the city's diplomatic quarter during rush hour. At least 90 people were killed.

Kabul's major hospitals are treating the wounds of 461 people. Muhammad Lila joins us from the scene of this terrible bombing in the Afghan

capital.

Muhammad, thank you for joining us. A day after that massive car bomb, how is Kabul taking in the shock of that attack?

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, I think yesterday would have been a day of emotion and grief. Today is a day of anger.

I think there are a lot of people here in the city, some people protesting, in fact, right outside the site of the blast, asking how something like

this could happen. How could you have a truck that was filled with explosives, by some estimates, as many as 15 kilograms of explosives, drive

into a busy area, one of the most secured parts of Kabul and detonate, causing so much damage.

We've all seen that footage. We've seen the shockwave that was caused. We know that buildings were damaged miles away.

We know that windows were shattered in several nearby buildings. And the injury toll is just catastrophic.

There are more than 460 people confirmed injured. To put that into perspective, Kristie, if you think about the Manchester bombing that took

place not too long ago, the injury toll there was only 75 people injured.

So effectively, this is more than four times as big. And people here in the city are demanding answers.

They're demanding, for example, stepped-up security. They're demanding that people who are in charge of security be forced to resign and placed

with people who they say are more competent.

And most importantly, this might have some political implications as well. They're asking for the execution of some of the Taliban members that are

currently in custody in Afghanistan as a direct retaliation for this attack.

LU STOUT: Yes, they want justice. They want answers. And also, this is happening during Ramadan.

This is the first week of Ramadan. There -- there is a fear there'll be more attacks to come during this holy month.

Why -- I mean, why is it that terrorists choose to attack now during Ramadan?

LILA: Well, it's a very good question. And there's two ways to answer it. The first is in terms of ideology.

Look, these terrorists believe that by killing themselves or killing other people, you know, committing suicide and taking other people with you, they

believe that's actually a virtuous act according to their twisted ideology.

And so, you know, when would you want to do a virtuous act? Well, do it in the most virtuous month, with -- in the most virtuous month, which is the

month of Ramadan. That's from the ideological side.

From the practical standpoint, you know, Ramadan is a time where there are certain times of the day, there are more people out on the street. I mean,

if you're fasting during the day, a lot of people will go to marketplaces in the evening.

A lot of people will go out with their families to parks in the evening. This is true not just in Afghanistan but pretty much right across the

Muslim world.

And we see this with attacks in Iraq, for example, at an ice cream parlor, when you have large gatherings of crowds, larger-than-normal gatherings of

crowds. People might be staying out later than they normally would.

Well, in practical terms, that makes a good target for these terrorists.

LU STOUT: Well, such twisted logic brings tragedy to the people of Afghanistan. Muhammad Lila, reporting live for us from Kabul, thank you so

much for your reporting and take care.

And turning now to the plight of Rohingya refugees, many have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar. But their makeshift camp there

was demolished this week when cyclone Mora hit.

Thousands of Rohingya refugees live in this camp, driven from their homes in neighboring Myanmar, which refuses to recognize the ethnic minority.

Human rights groups have accused the government of persecuting the people.

Earlier this year, a U.N. report detailed eyewitness accounts of Myanmar security forces raping and murdering the Rohingya Muslims (ph) in hind (ph)

state during a security crackdown. And to show you just the extent of the oppression, rights group, The Nexus Fund, filmed a virtual reality

documentary of a Rohingya camp.

I recently spoke with the executive director, Sally Smith, about the project. She describes the horrifying conditions that the Rohingya Muslims

are forced to live in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

They are not in an IDP camp or a refugee camp. This is really a modern-day concentration camp.

They were put there behind 20-foot-high barbed wire fences and surrounded by armed guards. That man, he was incredibly special.

He was caring for his wife who is dying.

[08:25:02]

He was caring for his children. He, like a hundred and 40,000 other Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been put into this camp in 2012, continue

to be put into camps.

It's very clear that they're being targeted based on their identity as Muslims in a something like 90 percent Buddhist country of Myanmar.

There's just an irrational fear of them.

And -- and they continue to be persecuted and killed today.

LU STOUT: And the lack of medical treatment for the Rohingya in this camp is very clear. When you see this movie, you see the sick. You see the

dying.

You see a burial take place and a daughter just wailing for the loss of her father. Were you taken aback by the level of suffering that's happening

inside this camp?

SMITH: Absolutely. I've traveled all over the world. I run an organization that works on genocide prevention.

And this is some of the worst conditions I've ever seen. It was absolutely horrifying to see people dying when you have hospitals less than a couple

of miles away.

There's just absolutely no reason for it. And you know, we always say that these things should never happen again.

And yet, we continue to let them happen.

LU STOUT: Do you think V.R. (ph) storytelling has a power not only to generate more empathy and compassion and understanding, but to also lead to

actual change, especially at a time when there's growing fear and suspicion of migrants?

SMITH: I work on genocide prevention around the world. I also work on countering hate speech here in the United States.

And I think there are great applications for a virtual reality, helping people connect with people who aren't like them in situations unlike their

life. If I can put you inside that headset and I can stick you right into that camp, you can see what I've seen.

You can be moved in the way that you might be moved if you were there in person. I can't put everybody on a plane and take them to Myanmar.

But I know that if I could and if they could see this in person, there's nothing they wouldn't do to help. It's absolutely horrifying.

Virtual reality just helps you connect with the empathy you would have if you were to able to see things firsthand. Studies have shown that virtual

reality does cause an increase in both empathy and action.

And I think you're only going to continue to see that with increased use of V.R. but also increased access to virtual reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was Sally Smith, executive director of The Nexus Fund, talking to me earlier about the camps Rohingya Muslims are placed in -- in

Myanmar. The Myanmar government has repeatedly denied claims of human rights abuses against the Rohingya people.

We are just hours away from finding out if President Trump will turn his back on the world and walk away from a global climate agreement. We'll go

live to Paris where that historic deal was agreed upon.

[08:27:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:22] STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM and these are your world headlines.

Just hours from now, Donald Trump is expected to announce whether the US will walk away from the Paris climate accord. Major world powers are

urging against any US pullout. And countries, including China, Russia and Germany, have reaffirmed their commitment to the deal.

In the US Russia investigation, multiple sources say Congress is looking into whether US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had an additional private

meeting with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 election campaign.

In another development, former FBI Director James Comey is set to testify that Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into Michael

Flynn's ties to Russia. A source says that could happen as early as next week.

A major new election forecast suggests Theresa May could fall short of winning majority in next week's vote. YouGov's election model shows the

conservatives nine seats short of the 326 she needs. May's party held a 21-point lead when she first called the snap election.

The City of Kabul is reeling from one of the biggest suicide bombs in years and no group has claimed responsibility. Residents are outraged that the

truck bomb could get past security in the middle of the city.

And more now on our top story. President Trump's upcoming announcement on the Paris climate deal. Now, CNN's Melissa Bell joins us from the French

capital where that landmark deal was agreed.

And, Melissa, we are just waiting for Trump to make that decision and to announce it. If he backs out, what will happen to the agreement?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That is the question that everyone is asking. And as you say, all eyes very much on Washington.

Earlier today, not least here in Paris, where you'll remember a year-and-a- half ago, there was that real euphoria, Kristie, that this extraordinary agreement, as improbable that it was, bringing together as many countries

as it did, had actually been signed.

I think much will depend on what precisely he announces, whether or not he announces an outright withdrawal of the United States or simply that he

plans to lower the target that had been set by his predecessor.

I think that will make a big difference not only to the future of the accord itself, but also to the reaction of the rest of the world and to the

future nature of the United States' position as a global leader because that, Kristie, is actually what we're talking about.

I'd like you to have a listen now to what the European Commission president had to say ahead of his announcement about what it might mean for Europe's

strategic repositioning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We explained to Mr. Trump in Taormina that it would not be good for the world or the United

States if America was to literally step off the world stage because the vacuum will be filled and the Chinese are in prime position to take on a

leadership role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: As you see, Kristie, we're talking, of course, about the environment, we're talking about this incredibly ambitious deal, but we're

also talking about much more than that.

We're talking about an old alliance between Europe and the United States, which is probably at stake when Donald Trump go out to speak in the Rose

Garden in just a few hours' time.

LU STOUT: In Europe, just a lot of expectation that China is going to fill the void here. So, let's talk more about the leadership stakes.

In the run-up to Paris and when that deal was agreed upon a year-and-a- half ago, you had Obama and Xi Jinping setting the tone for their

agreement. If Trump backs away, is it just going to be China being the new climate leader or could it have a sort of partner nation?

BELL: You're right. I think to understand the almost inevitable strategic pivot that we see here in Europe towards China, you have to cast your mind

back to those negotiations in the winter of 2015.

The world's two biggest polluters, China on one side, United States on the other, really acted as sort of motors to this deal, pushing it forward.

And without their support, without their determination, without the enthusiasm of Barack Obama's administration, it probably wouldn't have been

achieved, certainly not along the ambitious lines that it did end up being signed on.

So, the fact that the United States pulls out, if that is what happens later today, it means that necessarily the world then turns to the

remaining superpower, which is China in this case, to see whether it will continue to provide the leadership that the rest of the world needs.

And you've seen over the course of the day a number of other countries, Russia for instance, reaffirming its commitment to this deal. I mean, the

United States, if it decides to pull out, will really be joining a very select group of countries.

Syria, which didn't sign initially, of course, because it is in the middle of its bloody civil war, and Nicaragua which chose not to sign because the

deal hadn't gone far enough. That is how isolated Washington would certainly find itself.

[08:35:05] LU STOUT: Alright. Melissa Bell reporting on the landmark Paris agreement and the implications of a US withdrawal. Melissa, thank

you.

As the US president decides whether to withdraw from the climate accord, he has already proposed budget cuts to programs focused on science.

Now, for NASA, it means that five Earth science missions could be axed. That includes part of Discover, which brought us stunning images of Earth,

like this one, and the NASA Office of Education is also on the chopping block.

It shouldn't come as a total surprise if Donald Trump does pull out of the Paris accord, after all, it was one of his key pledges during last year's

election race.

But another of the president's campaign promises may be harder to fulfill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: Will you recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The answer is yes. I would.

BLITZER: When? How quickly -

TRUMP: Very quickly. I mean, it's got - it's a process, but fairly quickly. I mean, the fact is, I would like to see it moved and I would

like to see it in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was Mr. Trump in March of 2016 backing a controversial plan to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But this week, sources suggest the president could be backing away from that promise for now at least. Well, CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now

with the latest on Trump's campaign promise, this one.

Oren, the Israeli government wanted the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Now, it doesn't quite look likely. So, how is that sticking in there?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the government still very much wants to see the embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and

there was one last chance to lobby President Trump when he was here just a week and a half ago, but that lobbying, it seems, didn't work.

Trump, in all of his public statements, both in Israel and Jerusalem and the West Bank, didn't mention the embassy and didn't recognize Jerusalem as

the capital of Israel.

Now, administration officials are saying that Trump is sticking by his big picture plan, which is to say he still wants to move the embassy, he's just

not doing it now.

Why? Well, his special envoy for the Middle East peace process Jason Greenblatt is still pursuing a restarting of the Israeli-Palestinian peace

process and Trump knows that to move the embassy would effectively end any chance of trying to restart negotiations or renew some sort of peace

process.

That's certainly also the message you would have heard right before he was here when he was in Saudi Arabia, meeting with the Saudi king and the

Jordanian king who have lobbied him not to move the embassy because of how sensitive an issue it is.

Decades of US foreign policy have held that the final status of Jerusalem will only be decided in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. To

move the embassy is then to avoid that and essentially to prejudge one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict. It seems now Trump realizes

that.

LU STOUT: All right. Oren Liebermann reporting live for us from Jerusalem. Thank you.

You're watching NEWS STREAM. And coming up, the stories of China's abandoned children and how the good fortune of one of them is sparking

hope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, in China, there are dozens of cases of abandoned children every day. And most of them have disabilities.

CNN visited a medical foster home in 2015 an interviewed Jia Jia who eventually found a new family, but there are many other children at the

orphanage. Our Serena Dong went back to see how they were doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:00] SERENA DONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Alaina's (ph) home. It's a Chinese orphanage just outside Beijing.

Last year, we came here and met Jia Jia (ph). Then he met his future parents. He is now in the United States and he's doing well. But so many

of his friends remain here in China.

It's now one year on and I wanted to come back to visit some of Jia Jia's old friends.

This is Dian Dian (ph). She suffers from cerebral palsy. She is one of 500,000 children abandoned in China. Some of them ended up living in a

foster home like this, just waiting to be adopted.

Encouraged by Jia Jia's story, these children do have dreams of a new life outside China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Such beautiful children. The girl in the video, Dian Dian, is still looking for a family along with 18 other children at the orphanage.

Thank you, Serena, for following that story for us. And that is NEWS STREAM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, "World Sport" is

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

END