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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Laying Groundwork For Second Trip Overseas; U.S. President Takes More Swings In Fight Against Media; French President Gives "State Of The Nation" Address; Qatari PM Delivers Response To Saudi-Led Bloc; Dying Boy's Parents Lose Controversial Court Case; Fierce Fighting In Mosul As ISIS Nears Defeat; Republican Lawmakers Answer to Angry Constituents; Venezuelan Attorney General Becomes Maduro Critic; Longest-Running Tennis Tournament Begins. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 03, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[15:00:24]
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Lynda Kinkade sitting in for Hala Gorani. We are live from the CNN Center and this is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Donald Trump is working the phones over a long holiday weekend here in the U.S. laying the ground work for an important trip overseas. U.S. president
will meet with some of the world's most powerful leaders this week when he attends the G20 Summit in Germany.
But there is no doubt one encounter will overshadow all the others, first face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Trump is
tweeting about his trip preparations today, but also couldn't help taking another jab at the media.
He wrote, "At some point the fake news will be forced to discuss how great job numbers, strong economy, success with ISIS, the border, and so much."
Of course, it's hard to forget that President Trump himself veered the conversation away from the substantive issues, but the tweet taken straight
from a pro-wrestling playbook. Suzanne Malveaux has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump escalating his ongoing war against the press tweeting out this doctored
video of himself pummeling a man with an edited CNN logo over his face. The video drawing sharp widespread condemnations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an incitement to violence.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's very disturbing. There is nothing lighthearted about it whatsoever.
MALVEAUX: Homeland Security adviser, Thomas Bossert, first shown the video on ABC insisting the president is not inciting violence.
THOMAS BOSSERT, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: I think that no one would perceive that as a threat. I hope they don't, but I do think that he's
beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to.
MALVEAUX: The president tweeting a barrage of anti-media attacks over the holiday weekend and defending his use of social media as modern day
presidential. Trump even unleashing a verbal tirade at an event meant to honor America's veteran ahead of the Fourth of July.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: To think media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they are not.
MALVEAUX: This with the White House already on defense with the president's crude attacks on two MSNBC hosts last week.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president in no way former fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence of
anything quite the contrary.
MALVEAUX: CNN responding directly to the president's latest attack, "It is a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence
against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the president had never done so.
Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea, and working on his health care bill. He
is involved in juvenile behavior, far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs, he should start doing his."
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price insisting the president's tweeting doesn't detract from the health care battle.
TOM PRICE, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The fact of the matter is that he can do more than one thing at a time.
MALVEAUX: But some Republicans saying the behavior could have serious consequences.
JOHN KASICH, GOVERNOR, OHIO: People are begging the president not to do this and you know, he ought to stop doing it.
SENATOR BEN SASSE (R), NEBRASKA: There is an important distinction to draw between bad stories or crappy coverage and the right that citizens have to
argue about that and complain about that, and trying to weaponize distrust.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: As you heard, there is a lot of backlash to that wrestling tweet, but it does appeal to Mr. Trump's base who see it as him fighting back
against unfair news coverage.
Let's bring in CNN's Kaitlan Collins in New Jersey, that's where Mr. Trump has been spending the holiday weekend at his golf resort.
[15:05:03]We are also joined by CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin. He is a columnist for the "Washington Post" and joins us from our D.C. bureau.
Great to have you both with us.
Kaitlan, I'll start first with you. President Trump certainly caused a massive firestorm over the weekend with his attack on the media encouraging
violence against reporters. But apart from one tweet today, it looks like someone else has taken his Twitter account?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It's certainly does. This is not the Donald Trump we've seen this weekend, who has relentlessly attacked
the media using his Twitter account.
But starting Sunday night, he seemed to have resumed his presidential duties starting with phone calls to several foreign leaders including
Japan, China, and the Gulf States.
This morning, he did the same, Germany and Italy, and so it seems the president has gotten back to being the president and not attacking the
media. That could be because of some wide spread criticism from people on both sides of the aisle who thought that his comments were beneath the
dignity of the president and that he should stick with his agenda not attacking the media.
KINKADE: I want to go to Josh on this. Josh, according to a Twitter tracker, President Trump has sent out more than 60 tweets about fake news.
Now the White House says that we should take statements on Twitter as official statements from the White House. What are these sort of tweets
saying about the president's state of mind?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know -- well, first of all, I think the president's Twitter feed has always been a mix of his personal thoughts
and things crafted by his social media team headed in this case by Director of Social Media Dan Scavino.
So you're always going to see a mix between sort of official looking kind of statements that talk about policies or things that he's doing and just
the president's random utterances or attacks now.
You know, what we have seen and what you're pointing out is that this campaign against the media, what he calls the fake or fraudulent media.
That's organized, OK. That's something that the White House is doing on purpose.
That's just (inaudible) and they are likely to continue doing it, right, for two reasons. One, it riles up their base. It serves a portion of the
Trump supporters that really love this stuff too.
It distracts the media from what -- he doesn't want them talking about which might be the stalled health care bill amongst many other things. So
you know, this is the kind of chaos strategy that the president thinks works for him.
And it plays to his advantage at least in his mind and the outrage sort of only feeds into his idea that he is winning in this sort of race to
the bottom.
KINKADE: But you have to wonder how his defeat globally. He is going to the G20 Summit at the end of the year. (Inaudible) watching these
tweets that he sends out, what do you think the perception is of him?
ROGIN: I think -- and speaking to foreign diplomats as I do all along in my reporting duties, there is a mixture of sort of disappointment,
confusion, sort of -- a little scorn, a little mocking, all right.
No country knows what to make out of this president, much less his foreign policy, which even from sitting here in Washington, looks very
confused and very sort of schizophrenic.
You have cabinet officials saying different things and the president is saying, you know, different parts of the administration, working on
across purposes, and then you have the president himself, who is not steeped in foreign policy issues.
And these phone calls that he has with foreign leaders to sort of get him prepared to meet a bunch of them at the G20, you know, are not
really substantive for policy based.
So what we are looking at is a foreign trip where Trump is going to be confronted with a lot of these foreign leaders who just simply are not
on the same page as him especially German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is mourning ahead of the G20 that she is going to be publically confronting
Donald Trump on very big policy issues including trade and climate change.
So it's going to be a very awkward set of meetings at the very least, and the very worst, it could be disastrous if the president
continues to make these kinds of mistakes we've seen and make on the world stage until now.
KINKADE: Kaitlan, one of the most anticipated meetings will be when President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first
time. How do you think it's going to play out when you have a former KGB officer meeting with a former TV reality star?
COLLINS: Well, this is really an opportunity for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to size each other up. Donald Trump talked throughout the
entire campaign that he thought he could improve relations with Russia and find areas of cooperation that he and Putin could work on together.
So it will be really interesting to see how they come out of this meeting and that's really what we are going to learn from it more broadly.
Specifically we are not expecting Donald Trump to confront Vladimir Putin over Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
That's what we are hearing from the president's national security team. They are expecting him to bring up Ukraine and Syria. He will
confront Vladimir Putin over the Russian support for the Assad regime in Syria.
So those are the things we are expecting them, but like I said, really, this is going to be an opportunity for them to size each other up.
[15:10:02]KINKADE: Josh, you mentioned the German chancellor talk about some of the major issues. We know that U.S. President Donald Trump has
pulled the U.S. or is about to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.
No doubt that's an issue that will come up, but he (inaudible) there that he is open to renegotiation. Do you think it's going to be a trust issue
when he meets with these leaders?
ROGIN: You know, actually, I think they are very clear on what their positions are. Remember, last month, when Trump went to Europe for the
NATO meeting and the G7, there was a lot of confusion, a lot of sort of behind the scenes, sort of discussion about whether or not they could all
get on the same page.
Nobody has that confusion about the Paris climate change agreement anymore and what Chancellor Merkel said very clearly is that she is going to
redouble her efforts to make sure the Accord goes as planned and that there will be no renegotiations.
So the White House can say all at once that it wants to renegotiate Paris. It's not going to happen, OK, and what Donald Trump has actually done
probably against his own plans and interests is to unify the rest of the allied community against his own policy.
And I think that's going to be on stark display and (inaudible) we really haven't seen before really. The U.S. and its European allies saying two
completely different things very publicly and very confidently.
And then you have that meeting with Putin and I totally agree, this is sort of like part of Trump's plan to normalize relations with Russia, but the
White House has admitted that they don't really know what they are going to talk with Putin about.
And that's a kind of crazy proposition that they are going to have this crucial interaction without any strategy for what they want to get out of
it. It's very -- it's going to be very strange.
KINKADE: Given President Trump getting some intelligence (inaudible) Russian officials at the White House, there must be some concerns about
whether they will be any slip up this time. We'll have to leave it there for now. Josh Rogin and Kaitlan Collins, great to have you both with us.
Thank you.
Amidst this turning (inaudible) of the powers (inaudible) Emmanuel Macron returned to the birth place of French democracy to address both Houses of
Parliament in the U.S. "State of the Nation" address.
It's something that happens only rarely, but the French president wants it to become the new norm. It was an event dripping with symbolism. He told
lawmakers that he wants to lift the state of emergency in a few months and that France is ready for a radically new path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I stand here for a profound transformation and change especially in the light of the recent
years where the result have been disappointing in the results of government. People trust us and are giving us the strength, the strengths
we need to realize our ideals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, let's go live to Paris, CNN's Melissa Bell is there. Melissa, President Macron really sounds like he is going to shake things up
(inaudible) some major caps to bureaucracy?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is one of the major things that announced today. This was really his intention here, Lynda,
was to explain in broad brush strokes what he intended to do with this tremendous amount of power that he now finds in his hands.
Not only of the French presidency extremely strong position is one of the most powerful in the western world, but it is also that he is essentially
seen off the opposition over the course of the last few months in his presidential campaign that he has won this stunning parliamentary victory
for his movement giving him a mandate that no other president has really ever had.
And so today in this speech which in its (inaudible), in its very form as you just explained was something quite radically different with what we've
seen a reminder really of all the power that he has and that big shakeup he wants.
Not only of French politics but the French economy, French society as well. He explained that he really wanted to bring to an end this system where
French political classes were essentially divorced from the French citizens where old ideologies have prevented progress and reform from taking place.
This is a man he said who wants to use a mandate that the people had given him, which reminded his audience of, to profoundly change France. Now
we'll get the detail of what that means no doubt tomorrow when the French Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, will announce planned legislative program
for the coming year.
So it is detail in terms of what precise reforms he intends to begin by will have to wait until tomorrow. But you can expect I think amongst other
things a massive shake up of France.
His labor laws precisely the kinds of reforms that no other politician have managed to deliver over the course of the last few decades.
KINKADE: Yes. Certainly a lot to cover in that feat. The other interesting news out, we know that President Trump is basically meeting
with President Macron on Bastille Day, July 14th, but we have learned about an assassination plot against President Macron. What are you learning
about that?
BELL: That's right. It was a 23-year-old man who charged for this plot. Now what we don't know is precisely how elaborate it was, how far down the
road it has gotten, Lynda, how close as having something achievable?
[15:15:06]He's been up preparing, but what we do know is that he was arrested last week. French authorities have now confirmed that he was
charged with an assassination attempt for attempting to carry out this terror activity.
We also know that he was a right-wing radical. This is a man who wanted to carry attacks not only against the French president on the 14th of July to
say when he'll be sitting alongside Donald Trump here watching the festivities on (inaudible).
But also, and this is according to French press reports, to attack Jews and Arabs. This was a man with right-wing leanings. A reminder, no doubt,
Lynda, of the great fracture within French society that has been revived really by the political campaign that we've just seen come to an end.
Something that Emmanuel Macron also alluded to saying that his aim was also to bring France together around this project.
KINKADE: All right, Melissa Bell joining us live from Paris. Thank you very much.
Still to come tonight, the demands are in and the official response is now in Qatari's hand to deliver their take on the demand imposed by their
neighbors. We'll have the latest on that story just ahead.
Also doctors saying nothing can save this little boy. Not appeals from the president or even the pope not even all the love of his devastated parents.
We'll tell you about his case, the case of little Charlie Gard, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. A diplomatic standoff between Qatar and the Saudi- led bloc is narrowing after deadline to respond to a lift of the demands for Qatar was extended to Wednesday.
The country's foreign minister delivered the official response to the mayor of Kuwait, who is the mediator. Saudi Arabia and three other Gulf
countries have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region. And that demanded sweeping changes in a policy including the
shutdown of the state-funded Al Jazeera network.
Our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is in Abu Dhabi. Nic, just explain why this deadline is being extended if Qatar won't meet
the demands?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it's not clear why it's been extended, but what we do now know from the Saudi
Foreign Ministry who was speaking in Germany just a few hours ago, he said that the deadline actually expired yesterday.
And it appears they gave the extension, the 48-hour extension to give the Qataris time to comply, which was respond, which they have done
today. So they've done it well ahead of that extended deadline.
It does seemed to be the position taken to extend the deadline does seemed to be give an indication that there is sort of a process of
diplomacy going on here that the Saudis and the Emirates aren't saying no.
It didn't get in there on time now we are going to make some more demands, that sort of thing. What we did hear from the Saudi foreign
minister today is that they are going to consider the proposal, consider the response from the Emirates. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:10]ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We look forward to receiving and closely studying the Qatari response. We
will take the necessary measures afterwards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now those necessary measures, they aren't clear what they are, as for discussing it, we believe that's going to happen on Wednesday. The
foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, will meet in Cairo to discuss this.
And that perhaps when we get a sense of what it actually is that the Qataris have said because we know that their position has been very
strongly won't accept these demands.
But we don't know precisely what they've said, how they responded, what sort of language they've used to put their points across.
KINKADE: We know Nic, there are 13 demands, among those demands is shutting down the Al Jazeera TV network. Where do you think there could be
some compromise? Where do you think Qatar might come to the table in some of these demands?
ROBERTSON: Well, certainly, if you look at the international pressure, the call today let's say from Theresa May to the crowned prince of Saudi
Arabia, the meeting between the German foreign minister and the Saudi foreign minister today.
What we heard about the phone calls from President Trump to the Saudi king to the emir of Qatar to the crowned prince of the United Arab Emirates.
The one message that resonates in the international community around this is yes, you need to get tough on terrorism.
Yes, you need to support getting tough on terrorism, but you do need to sort out this rift in the GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council. You do need to
sort that out. So where might that be a middle ground?
Well, the Emirates are saying, well, maybe some kind of western, United States, European -- you know, monitoring of Al Jazeera, monitoring of
financial networks within Qatar could satisfy them that the right steps are being taken.
After all they say back in 2014, the Qataris agreed to these demands, but then they didn't live up to them. So what they are looking for in essence
is some monitoring but of course, Qatar says, you know, the demands counter their sovereignty.
So is there a middle ground on the sovereignty? It's very hard to say right now, but certainly there's that pressure outside to make a deal and
make it work.
KINKADE: All right, well, we will be watching that meeting closely on Wednesday. Nic Robertson, good to have you with us. Thank you.
In Germany, one of the deadliest road accidents in memory, at least 18 people are dead after a tour bus collided with a truck in Nuremberg. The
bus burst into flames leaving both vehicles virtually unrecognizable.
At least 30 people were injured with two of them listed in great condition. Most of those on board the bus were senior citizens.
Now to the story of this sick little boy whose case has launched protests and attracted the attention of the pope and the U.S. president. Doctors
saying there is no hope to save 10-month-old Charlie Gard, but his parents have been fighting for the chance to try. Diana Magnay reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tubes that keep him alive will be turned off soon. His parents last hope to take him to the
states for highly experimental medical treatment blocked by the British and European courts. Their last wish refused to take him home to die.
CHRIS GARD, CHARLIE GARD'S FATHER: He will fight. He'd fight until the very end and he is still fighting, but we are not allowed to fight for him
anymore. Our (inaudible). We can't even take our own son home to die. We've been denied that.
MAGNAY: Little Charlie Gard was born healthy but diagnosed the following month with a rare genetic disorder, a form of mitochondrial disease, which
has left his doctors say with irreversible brain damage.
At the weekend, protests in London against the decision to turn off life support, and after the pope sent a message to the parents from the Vatican
saying he was "praying for them in the hope that their desire to accompany and care for their own child until the end will be respected."
Now Donald Trump has weighed in too, "If we can help little Charlie Gard as far our friends in the U.K. and the pope, we would be delighted to do so."
(on camera): Charlie's case is extremely complicated. The treatment that the U.S. is offering is called nuclear side bypass therapy and it's never
been tested on a strain of the disease as rare as Charlie's is.
And even the U.S. specialist who is offering it says he thinks it's unlikely that it will be able to reverse Charlie's brain damage. That's
why the British courts ruled the way that they did.
They said they didn't want Charlie to be the subject of medical experimentation if there was no chance of him getting better. That his
rights to die with dignity must come first.
[15:25:11](voice-over): But that's not the way his parents see it. Sadly for them, the pleas of a pope and a president already too late. Diana
Magnay, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Still to come, a month-long battle in Iraq comes down to the final few days or possibly even hours. We'll get an update on the fight to
liberate all of Mosul from ISIS.
And the youngest president in French history, a sweeping majority in parliament and now a symbolic speech (inaudible). We'll take a look at how
Emmanuel Macron is shaping his French presidency. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. Donald Trump is working the phones today calling several world leaders ahead of an important trip overseas. He departs to
Poland on Wednesday where he will attend a regional summit.
Then he'll head to the G20 Summit in Germany capping off the week with his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In France, a man has been charged with a plot to assassinate French President Emmanuel Macron. The 23-year-old suspect is said to have planned
the attack for July 14th, Bastille Day. That's also the time the U.S. president is expected to be in Paris as a guest of honor.
Qatar's foreign minister has delivered the country's official response to a list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies. The minister met with
Kuwait City with the emir of Kuwait who is mediating the crisis. The Saudi-led bloc has extended Qatar's deadline to comply to Wednesday.
Iraqis are getting to celebrate a victory that's been years in the making. Iraqi troops appear in the verge of pushing ISIS completely out of Mosul.
The terrorists are still putting up a fierce fight in the city.
Take a look this -- all of that green area was once an ISIS stronghold. Now the militants are boxed into just a few hundred meters at the old city
right along the Tigris River.
Let's get an update on the fighting from our Nick Paton Walsh. He is currently in Erbil, east of Mosul. Nick, it looks like they have ISIS
cornered. How soon could we see a victory?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very hardly to tell, Lynda, to be honest. We are talking about 400 meters it seems or
so, and in that area are ISIS numerous suicide bombers in their midst using possible hundreds if not thousands of civilians as human shields.
We've seen those terrifying vigils emerging from the rubble often lacking in eating but water for the weeks and months they've been held there as
hostage.
[15:30:00] And the entire area also is laden with booby traps as well. A lot of heavy weaponry being used to try and clear them out of that area,
some of which taking many lives with it as well.
It is a torturous task for Iraqi Special Forces but they do it, at this point, to be edging towards that very small pocket now of the old city
left. And effectively, once that has been cleared or politically declared to have been cleared, we are expecting a more broad, sweeping announcement
from the Iraqi government.
We already heard nearly a week ago now them declaring the caliphate over, but there is, of course, the next point where they will be able to say that
ISIS has finally been vanquished from Mosul. And that does appear to be possibly hours, if not days, very hard to tell in a war as brutal as this,
away from us now, Lynda.
KINKADE: And, Nick, this battle in Mosul has been going on for more than eight months. What's left of the city, and what about the ongoing threat
of ISIS in the south and west of the city?
PATON WALSH: Right. It's strange because Mosul is heavily damaged. The old city, itself, you might describe to be uninhabitable, frankly, given
the amounts of buildings that had been reduced to rubble and ruins.
But another part of the city, remarkably actually, even a matter of hundreds of meters away from the old city itself, there are signs of life
returning. People are grilling chicken, frankly, on the streets in that shop not so far from the old city when we drove past it recently. So life
is beginning to return, but that is just a fraction of what is needed.
Four hundred thousand people are said to have been moved from Mosul itself. They need to get back to their homes. Their homes are destroyed. And so
there's an enormous reconstruction that is required by the Iraqi government.
They possibly have the money able to do that, but they have a large political task, too, to ensure that the Sunni population inside of Mosul --
remember, half of the issues in Iraq for the past years have been down to the rift between the Shia sect and the Sunni sect in the country.
The Sunnis used to run the country under Saddam as a minority, but now the Shia majority are predominantly controlling the government and the
military. Those two sides have to begin to reconcile after these brutal years of war in order to prevent the kind of breeding ground amongst the
Sunni population's extremist fringe that enabled ISIS to get a foothold and to start it, to prevent that from simply recurring even now ISIS has been
vanquished.
So a lot of political reconciliation required and, of course, years of reconstruction and rebuilding to put Iraq back on its feet again, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, certainly a long path ahead. All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Erbil, Iraq, thank you so much.
Well, it's been quite a few months for Emmanuel Macron, sworn in as the youngest president in French modern history, quickly solidifying his power
with a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections. And as today's rare speech in Versailles shows, he is determined to mold the presidency in his
own way. Our Melissa Bell explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From his first determined steps as France's President-elect, Emmanuel Macron has sought
not so much to fill the role as to redefine it. France's youngest-ever president seems also to want to be its strongest since the founder of the
Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations, great job.
BELL (voice-over): Through his handshakes with other world leaders like Donald Trump at the NATO Summit in May and Vladimir Putin, who was welcomed
to their side days later and then given a lecture on human rights, Macron has not hesitated to impose himself on the world stage, going so far as to
twist Donald Trump's campaign slogan after the American withdrawal from the Paris climate deal in an address to the world, deliberate, in English.
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: Make our planet great again.
BELL (voice-over): And nationally, Emmanuel Macron has also shaken up the established order. Having seen off the mainstream parties in his campaign,
his Movement won an unprecedented victory in June's parliamentary elections, handing him an absolute and historic majority.
In his new official portrait, Charles de Gaulle's memoir sit on the desk behind Macron, a portrait that has been described as more imperial than
presidential.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, let's get more analysis on how Mr. Macron is doing. I'm joined by Kenneth Weinstein. He is the president and CEO of the Hudson
Institute.
Great to have you with us. Now, President Emmanuel --
KENNETH WEINSTEIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HUDSON INSTITUTE: Thank you.
KINKADE: -- Macron is the youngest president since Napoleon, with the greatest parliamentary majority ever, pushing radical reform. Is France
ready for that?
WEINSTEIN: We'll certainly find out. I mean, I think that the speech he gave today which was, in a sense, the version of an American state of the
union, one in which he -- only for the third time in the Fifth Republic were the two houses of the French Parliament joined together for a speech
by the President.
And today's speech, I think, it was philosophical. It explained the terms of the election. It explained the urgency of reform.
[15:34:56] And I think that Macron realizes that he is under the same kind of populist pressure that really sort of ruined the presidencies of his
last two predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. So Macron is trying to set the terms differently to show that he is a strong leader,
that he has a clear vision, and that he has got means to get his job done.
KINKADE: Talk to us about the optics. So we're just looking at these pictures of President Macron walking through the palace. This is at the
start of his five-year term, a very regal affair. His predecessor, Francois Hollande, was considered Mr. Normal. How do you think voters
relate to Mr. Macron?
WEINSTEIN: Well, look, he's already being criticized now on Twitter for the grandeur of the speech. He is trying to restore the distance between
the French President and the French government, the distance the French President and the French people.
And he's talked about himself as sort of a Jupiter of the political world. That's to say, a major planet somewhat removed from the day-to-day
universe. And so by doing this, he is attempting, I think, as well, to raise his standing on the global stage, by acting as a President more in
line with Charles de Gaulle than, say, Nicolas Sarkozy who was very much tactical, involved in the day to day events.
And so either the style's going to work or it doesn't, but it certainly seems rare in the 21st Century that a president would try to take a greater
distance from the public than try to make themselves more popular.
KINKADE: Talking about the global stage, at the end of the week, we're going to see the G20 Summit. President Trump continuing to isolate the
U.S., moving away from international agreements. We've got the U.K. exiting the E.U. Is the French President or the German Chancellor feeling
more empowered than they have in the past to fill that vacuum in global leadership?
WEINSTEIN: Well, I think they feel that way. I think that Chinese leader Xi Jinping feels that way. But I think what's unusual about Emmanuel
Macron and Angela Merkel is that they're working together to try to fill the void, in some sense, that's created by the current state of world
affairs.
Rightly or wrongly, they are trying to reach out, themselves, directly to Vladimir Putin together at a breakfast, which should give an opportunity.
Macron would like to figure out a way to try to somehow bring Russia back to the community of nations. And he's also spoken critically of the
traditional French policy in Syria, which has been to demand the departure of Assad.
And so we'll see whether this goes anywhere. Certainly, even though he is one of the newest members of the G20, he will certainly be among the most
dynamic and among the most visible at that summit.
KINKADE: Absolutely. And, of course, we can't forget the pictures from the NATO Summit. It was noted that President Macron brushed past President
Trump to embrace German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Was that a snub, and should we be looking out for that this time?
WEINSTEIN: I don't think it was so much a snob as it was a sign that the Franco-German engine has to be restored. Let's be clear that France is
going to need economic concessions from Germany after the German elections this fall. And that's going to be critical to get the French economy
really moving again.
Angela Merkel's going to have to buy in to some of Macron's ideas on Europe-wide infrastructure and will possibly have to loosen up some of the
tight money policies. So he's going to need to keep Angela Merkel very close to him. As she also needs Macron as she faces her election this
fall, to show that there's a strong partnership in Europe and that they can work on reforms in the E.U. together, which is one of the critical issues
that Macron addressed today in Versailles.
KINKADE: Yes, they certainly both need each other. Kenneth Weinstein, great to have your analysis on all of that. Thanks so much.
Well, the U.S. health care vote has been delayed until after the senators come back from the Fourth of July recess, but that doesn't mean they're all
getting a break. Republicans are back in their home districts, and some are facing constituents' heated reactions to their health care proposal.
CNN's Randi Kaye has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republicans in Congress know they need to get the health care bill right. They haven't forgotten the
stinging reaction to the House bill.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: Now --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2020, you're going!
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sit down, Senator.
KAYE (voice-over): The man yelling at Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2020, you're done!
KAYE (voice-over): -- had to be escorted out by security. With the dismantling of ObamaCare under way, the atmosphere is ripe for anger. And
members of Congress across the country are feeling the wrath of voters.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton's town hall in Arkansas --
[15:40:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm an angry constituent!
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were for us!
KAYE (voice-over): Representative Tom MacArthur's town hall in New Jersey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife was diagnosed with cancer when she was 40 years old. She beat it. But every day, every day, she lives with it. She
thinks about it.
Every pain, every new something going on somewhere, is it coming back? Is this cancer? Do I have it again? Is it going to kill me this time? Is it
going to take me away from my children?
You have been the single greatest threat to my family in the entire world. You are the reason I stay up at night. Sit on down. You're done.
(APPLAUSE)
KAYE (voice-over): Republican Senator Joni Ernst's town hall in Iowa.
CROWD: Do your job! Do your job! Shame on you! Your last term. Your last term.
KAYE (voice-over): At Republican Congressman Paul Labrador's town hall in Idaho, the more he said, the more fired up the crowd became.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are mandating people on Medicaid accept dying. You are making a mandate that kills people.
REP. PAUL LABRADOR (R), IDAHO: No, no one wants anybody to die. And you know that line is so indefensible. Nobody dies because they don't have
access to health care.
CROWD: Whoa!
KAYE (voice-over): In some cases, members of Congress lost complete control, unable to even make their presentation.
CASSIDY: If I'm allowed to complete the nine slides, some --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
CROWD: No!
KAYE (voice-over): Representative Tom Reed in New York was drowned out by angry naysayers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can say you're representing your constituency when only 17 percent of the U.S. population is supporting this?
KAYE (voice-over): It was all just too much for this man in the crowd to take.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on! Don't shout each other down. If you are Americans, then act like Americans.
KAYE (voice-over): Perhaps the general feeling of hostility among voters angry about changes to ObamaCare can be summed in a single tweet like this
one.
Rep. Tom Reed, you're done. I don't usually vote in the midterms, but I will now. Start packing your bags, you muppet.
CROWD: Do your job! Do your job!
KAYE (voice-over): A warning shot or a sign of things to come. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Still to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAFA, SYRIAN REFUGEE: I wake up in sadness. I go to bed in sadness. I don't know any other emotion than sadness. Every day, I live in fear of
tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: A mother who escaped Raqqa tells CNN how she communicates with her daughter still trapped inside the city. We have that story just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:45:08] KINKADE: Welcome back. No one can describe what it's like to live under ISIS better than the people who deal with it on a daily basis.
Wafa escaped from ISIS' de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria, but her daughter and grandson are still there. Our Atika Shubert's exclusive
report shows a messaging app is now Wafa's only way of knowing her daughter is still alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As coalition forces circle the ISIS capital in Raqqa, Syria, somewhere in this
city, a daughter records messages for her mother, a world away in the Netherlands.
MAHA, DAUGHTER OF WAFA TRAPPED IN RAQQA (through translator): Mom, I have nightmares. I dream that they come after me to kill me. I see them
everywhere.
SHUBERT (voice-over): She begs for help, whispers for rescue from ISIS and airstrikes. Her mother weeps as she listens.
MAHA (through translator): Get me out of this horrible situation. I am tired. My son is exhausted. Get me out of here! I beg you!
SHUBERT (voice-over): Wafa is not the mother's real name. She does not want to be identified, fearing ISIS will target her daughter. But her
voice is enough to understand the horror of life in Raqqa.
WAFA (through translator): When you go to the market to buy food and other things, you see a hand here, a leg here, a head there that ISIS has left.
We used to drink coffee there. Now, it's full of bodies.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Wafa has already lost one daughter to the sea when she fled for Greece. The boat sank and the little girl drowned. She was
2-1/2 years old. Her body washed up on the shore months later, now buried on the Greek island of Chios.
Now, Wafa is determined not to lose her eldest daughter in Raqqa, to get her out. The 23-year-old had tried to leave but ISIS arrested then
beheaded her husband. Her son, Wafa's first grandchild, is almost two years old.
MAHA (through translator): I'm exhausted, Mom. I can't bear this life anymore. My son is sick, and there's no medicine or clean water or
anything for my child. It was really hard to find some milk yesterday.
SHUBERT (on camera): You've never seen your grandson before?
WAFA (through translator): No, I haven't seen him. My dear, I wake up in sadness. I go to bed in sadness. I don't know any other emotion than
sadness. Every day, I live in fear of tomorrow.
SHUBERT (on camera): But when you see those photos and you get those messages, it gives you hope that it might be possible?
WAFA (through translator): When I see the pictures, my heart breaks into pieces. There is no hope. The only hope is their voice. The only hope I
have are their voices.
SHUBERT (voice-over): You cannot see her face but Wafa weeps as she talks. She clutches at her phone and her heart. Filled with hope and dread at
every new message, she doesn't respond straight away, but only once her voice is steady.
WAFA (through translator): Sweetie, the most important thing is that you take care of yourself and Odai, and God willing, as I promised, I will come
and get you. God will come and get you, and we will see each other again. Stay strong.
SHUBERT (voice-over): A mother's plea, only one voice of so many struggling to be heard under the terrifying noise of war.
MAHA (through translator): We moved to another place today. I don't know when I'll be able to get online again. The army (ISIS) is all over the
place.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Atika Shubert, CNN, Haarlem, Netherlands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TEXT: "Mama, save me."
KINKADE: And you can read more of Maha's message to her mother online. See our story, "Mama, save me," exclusively on CNN.com.
Well, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is raising the country's minimum wage by 50 percent, the third hike this year. The move is unlikely to ease
daily life for most Venezuelans because the currency's virtually worthless due to the extremely high inflation.
And even with the latest hike, the pay package is down than what it was when the last wage increase was announced. Prices for food and basic
supplies rise almost daily, and chronic shortages have fueled a black market economy.
[15:50:00] Well, Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz says she is the target of a government crackdown. Her assets have been frozen and
she's been barred from leaving the country. She's also due to appear in court on Tuesday to find out whether she'll face trial of malpractice
charges. Rafael Romo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): She's a self-described Chavista, a long-time loyalist of the late Venezuelan
leader, Hugo Chavez, and one of the top officials in that country's embattled government. But Attorney General Luisa Ortega has now become
President Nicolas Maduro's most outspoken critic.
LUISA ORTEGA DIAZ, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VENEZUELA (through translator): I believe that we are destroying the legacy of President Chavez.
ROMO (voice-over): Ortega has argued in favor of cracking down on protests and jailing opposition leaders, like Leopoldo Lopez. Now, under three
months of anti-Maduro demonstrations and violent clashes and dozens of deaths, she's made a dramatic turnaround.
In recent weeks, Ortega has started investigating incidents of police violence against protestors and charged the former head of the National
Guard with human rights violations. She's spoken out against Maduro, accusing him of creating a climate of terror, condemning his plan for a
special assembly to rewrite Venezuela's constitution, and taken on the country's Supreme Court, seen as loyal to Maduro, by questioning the
legitimacy of its judges.
ORTEGA DIAZ (through translator): The Supreme Court is made up of the main actors who are denigrating the constitution, and I will not allow that.
ROMO (voice-over): The court has now moved to weaken the Attorney General's powers and opened its own investigation of Ortega, accusing her
of serious offences. Ortega calls the charges a political witch hunt and continues to speak out.
ORTEGA DIAZ (through translator): The nation is in danger. The rule of law is in danger. The law is in danger. Peace and citizens are in danger.
This is the death of law. This will be the death of the law if we allow these judges to continue on the court.
ROMO (voice-over): Ortega faces a July 4th hearing on whether she should face trial for alleged professional malpractice. Until then, the Supreme
Court has frozen her bank accounts and assets and banned her from leaving the country, actions the United Nations calls deeply worrying.
Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, still to come, the third tennis Grand Slam of the year gets under way. We'll have the latest from Wimbledon when we come back. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well, pick a store breeze and break out the cream. It's time for the Wimbledon Championships. It's one of the most famous fortnights in
tennis, the oldest for the four Grand Slam tournaments and the only one played on grass.
Here's a look at what you can expect at the All England Club.
TEXT: 493,928. 2016 attendance. Wimbledon.com
KINKADE: Well, almost half a million visitors. Last year's total attendants topped 490,000 people.
TEXT: 320,000 Glasses of Pimm's. Wimbledon.com
KINKADE: Three hundred and twenty thousand glasses of the iconic gin cocktail, Pimm's, will be served and naturally paired with 28,000 kilograms
of English strawberries.
TEXT: 52,250 Tennis balls. Wimbledon.com
KINKADE: Above from the royal box to the nosebleed section, all eyes are on the more than 50,000 meticulously cared for tennis balls stored at the
precise temperature and changed out after.
Well, let's have a quick update on Play One of the favorites. On the men's side, it's already out. Fifth stage Stan Wawrinka lost to Daniel Medvedev
in four sets.
[15:55:03] Well, meanwhile, one of the biggest names in the women's game is dealing with serious issues off court. Venus Williams broke down at a
press conference following her opening round win at Wimbledon. She was asked about her recent car crash in Florida, which led to the death of a
78-year-old man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS PLAYER: Yes. I've been completely speechless, and it's just -- yes. I mean, I'm just -- maybe I should go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We can reschedule (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, police in Florida say Williams was at fault. She faces a wrongful death lawsuit from the victim's family.
Well, as the third tennis Grand Slam of the year gets under way, the Duchess of Cambridge made her debut as the patron of Wimbledon. She
chatted with current and former players, including Kim Clijsters and Martina Navratilova. She also met some young bold boys and girls.
"CNN WORLD SPORT" will have much more from Wimbledon just ahead. And you can get much more on the championships at Wimbledon. Just go to
CNN.com/sport for the latest news and interviews with the top players.
Well, hundreds of New Jersey families were out of luck this July 4th holiday weekend. The Governor, Chris Christie, closed the state's beaches
and many other parks because of a budget stalemate. But that did not stop Christie and his family from enjoying the sunshine.
He was photographed yesterday on a closed New Jersey beach. Local media snapped the Governor relaxing in a beach chair while his family bathed in
the sun and played sports.
The sun-kissed Republican politician and former presidential candidate later told reporters he didn't get any sun. Caught out.
Well, that has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for joining us. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
