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Strongman Showdown in Hamburg; Russia Stepping Up Spying Efforts; Trump Considering 'Pretty Severe Things' For North Korea; Samsung Selling Refurbished Galaxy Note 7; How Russian Putin Sets The Tone; Chinese Carrier Liaoning Arrives In Hong Kong; A Whole New Ball Game: Wimbledon As A Mother; All Blacks Host Lions In Decisive 3rd Test. Aired 12m-1a ET

Aired July 07, 2017 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:08] MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour --

Strongman showdown -- the Trump-Putin bilateral talk now just hours away and so much at stake. The meeting comes as intelligence forces tell CNN Russia is ramping up espionage activity in the U.S. Nearly 150 suspected Russian spies now believed to be in the country.

And the return of the Galaxy Note 7 -- the once fire-prone phone back with a new name, design and price tag.

Hello and welcome to our viewers around world. I'm Michael Holmes.

And NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Thanks for your company -- everyone.

One of the most highly-anticipated meetings in modern diplomacy is finally here. U.S. President Donald Trump and the Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet face to face for the first in just a few hours.

Mr. Trump arrived in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday for the G-20 summit meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders. The city has been gripped with protests ahead of the summit, demonstrators setting fires to garbage cans and police responding with water cannons. At least 80 officers were reported hurt.

CNN has reporters around the globe covering the summit from every angle. Nic Robertson is in Hamburg, Germany; Ivan Watson in Moscow; and Paula Hancocks standing by in Seoul, South Korea.

Nic -- let's start with you. Protests are normal for these summits but how do these compare with past years? What are the grievances?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it's sort of an anti-capitalist conglomerate of different protesters and did -- certainly the police were here in numbers. They control the demonstrations.

We saw people being arrested as you say. Quite a number of police officers injured. But in relative terms, protests here in Germany are normal. These were not on a massive scale by any stretch of the imagination.

Indeed, I'm thinking back to a G-8 meeting in London a few years ago that I covered. The protests there were, I would say, very much on a wilder scale.

So this, in Germany, certainly not unprecedented and certainly G-20 and G-8 meetings of global leaders absolutely normal to see anti- capitalist marchers taking their grievances to the streets -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly.

Let's talk about the business end of all of this -- bilateral coming up obviously with Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin is the headline act, others going on as well.

ROBERTSON: Oh, absolutely. I mean President Putin also has a list of bilaterals -- almost about a half-dozen people to other leaders to meet there. President Trump will have a bilateral today with the president of Mexico.

And right after his bilateral with President Trump, he'll be meeting with the British Prime Minister Theresa May. Perhaps he'll get into a little more discussion about when President Trump may come and visit Britain. The last time they met she invited him on a state visit to the U.K.

But obviously all eyes are going to be on that meeting with President Putin. And I think perhaps the best indication that we've had so far came from the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying that, you know, Ukraine will be on the agenda. Syria will be on the agenda.

And these are topics that the President discussed last night with Angela Merkel as well. North Korea obviously very likely to be on the agenda as well.

But we can expect in the words of the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that his anticipation will be that both these leaders Trump and Putin, are going to want to sort of just sound each other out and get to know each other a little better than they do already away from the glare of the cameras, of course.

There is the weighty issue of meddling in the U.S. elections that surrounds this. But, you know, I think we can expect coming out of this to hear about discussion on Ukraine, on North Korea and on Syria -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Nic -- thanks so much. Nic Robertson there in Hamburg in Germany.

Let's go to Ivan Watson who's standing by in Moscow and talk a little more about that. President Trump playing down Russian involvement in meddling in the U.S. election when he was speaking in Warsaw.

There has been speculation he might not even raise it at the meeting with Mr. Putin. Is it something Mr. Putin might raise? What's the expectation there about the Russian agenda?

[00:04:58] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think when President Trump spoke in Warsaw and basically didn't completely with the heads of his own intelligence agencies that Russia definitively was involved in meddling in the U.S. election.

That's probably the only thing that the Russians would have liked to have heard from Trump when he spoke about Russia in Warsaw because some of the other lines that he took when it came to Moscow were much more stern.

He accused Russia of destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere. He said he wanted to try to get Russia to stop its support for regimes in Syria and Iran. And those are not the types of things that the Russians would have wanted to hear.

Moscow, the Kremlin has certainly lamented the fact that the election of President Trump which brought so much hope about an improvement in U.S.-Russian relations has actually led to further deterioration of relations to the zero level as one Kremlin aide has put it.

In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. slapped additional sanctions on dozens of Russian entities. Vladimir Putin of course, would love to see some of those sanctions lifted. Would love to see two Russian diplomatic compounds that were seized by the outgoing Obama administration returned -- don't know whether or not that could happen but as Nic mentioned Rex Tillerson before coming out to Europe had indicated that perhaps Syria would be one area where the two leaders, where the two governments could cooperate.

And it was Tillerson who talked about the possibility of future no-fly zones, something that both sides could agree on. But there are a whole host of areas where there is disagreement right now and the Kremlin has certainly been lowering expectations going into this meeting. A top Kremlin aide yesterday saying that regrettably Moscow does not know what Washington wants to come out of this much anticipated meeting -- Michael.

HOLMES: And to that point -- Ivan, you've been reporting this, that they keep on lowering the expectations. Is the sense there that if Mr. Putin leaves this meeting with perhaps an agreement to meet again at some point, that would be a win?

WATSON: Yes, perhaps. And we've also heard from top Kremlin officials that they are pleased that there is at least going to be a face to face sit-down meeting saying that with a whole host of problems around the world that simply phone calls will not do it.

You know, it was also remarkable this week, Michael, that one of the areas where potentially Presidents Trump and Putin could have cooperated might have been on North Korea. Instead Russia took a much harder line on that issue, standing shoulder to shoulder with China and indicating that there are certain measures that Russia does not want to see the U.S. adopt in Korea -- on the Korean Peninsula.

The Russian foreign minister saying that it does not want further economic blockade of the North Korean regime and it does not want Washington to try to use the United Nations Security Council to take any measures that would allow for any kinds of military activities against North Korea.

So in that respect, Moscow taking a tougher line means that there is less kind of room for the two governments to cooperate when it comes to North Korea's nuclear weapons program which is something that Russia has signed on to many United Nations Security Council resolutions in the past trying to ban the further development of North Korea's nuclear weapons program -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. Ivan -- thanks so much. Ivan Watson there in Moscow.

Let's go to Paula Hancocks now standing by in Seoul in South Korea. And Paula -- when it comes to that North Korean missile launch and the fall out from that, there were some interesting comments today from the South Korean leader. Fill us in.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. This is President Moon Jae-In of South Korea has effectively outlined his North Korean policy. He was at a think tank in Germany and basically said that if the conditions were right, if North Korea showed willing that it wanted to ease tensions then he would be willing to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un anytime, anywhere.

Now this in spite of the ICBM launch, the first time he's made this clear since that launch earlier this week. It's not a departure from his previous thoughts and his previous stance but certainly it shows that his pro-engagement, pro-dialogue stance is still very much intact. He was talking about wanting to make sure that North Korea knows that there ere wasn't going to be a collapse of North Korea that he was wishing for.

He wasn't wishing for a unification by absorption and also pushing for humanitarian issues. For example, the family reunions, families of course, split between North and South Korea. Back in the 1950s after the Korean War, many of them still haven't seen each other since that time.

[00:10:03] So he really was putting together his North Korean policy and showing the world that he hasn't changed despite this ICBM launch. He still very much wants to engage with North Korea -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. And also, let's talk a little bit more about what Donald Trump had to say in Warsaw and everybody, of course, trying to read between the lines of what's being said, the words that are coming out on all of sides of this and Donald Trump talking about considering some pretty severe things.

What else did we learn?

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. He's been quite clear in saying that all options are on the table. We've heard that from many Trump administration officials. But yes, he did point out that there were many things that he was considering at this point.

We know from U.S. officials that all options have been updated for him to consider. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as North Korea is concerned -- I don't know. We'll see what happens. I don't like to talk about what I have planned. But I have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about. That doesn't mean we're going to do them. I don't draw red lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So at this point it's almost as though the U.S. is on one side and then you have China, Russia and South Korean on the other side pushing for more dialogue, more engagement and more talks with North Korea.

So the U.S. once again, pretty consistently saying that all options are on the table but it has to be said -- it has to be said that not many of those options re actually good -- Michael.

HOLMES: Paula Hancocks in Seoul. Thanks to you and Ivan Watson and Nic Robertson as well.

Let's continue our coverage of this with Aaron David Miller, CNN global affairs analyst and vice president and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. Always good to see you, sir. Thanks so much for this.

You know, what is the best in your view that Donald Trump could come away with from a face-to-face with Vladimir Putin?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Probably -- well, not making concessions that abandon American interests and principles. The best, raising the issue of Russian hacking into perhaps our most cherished and viable institution -- the election of an American president. But that's all I suspect for a galaxy far, far away.

I think back here on planet Earth the President probably won't raise in a major the hacking for any number of reasons. I think to some degree Russian and American interests on a variety of issues from violations of the INA 87 INF treaty to Ukraine to Crimea, European security, seem to be those gaps -- seem to be right now unbridgeable.

There might be some room for cooperation in Syria. I think the Russians and the Americans have worked out a pretty good deconfliction arrangement there. If they could figure out a way to deepen and broaden those understandings, it might have a way of ramping down the violence. But even then we're playing on Vladimir Putin's script which is essentially enabling and further ensconcing Bashar al Assad.

So this is not a transformational moment, Michael, in U.S.-Russian relations. At best, it's a transactional moment. We'll see whether or not some sort of process can be created that will allow some improvement in the relationship that not just strained. Arguably it's right now dysfunctional.

HOLMES: you know, it's interesting the President in Poland. He did call on Russia to stop destabilization in Ukraine. But still questioning whether it was even Russia who meddled in the election despite the view of the intelligence community.

What do you make of that continued doubt especially going into this meeting?

MILLER: Right. I mean I think particularly against what CNN has been reporting recently on the uptick in -- the FBI views as an uptick in Russians' efforts to have more agents come to the United States and to ramp up their intelligence operations here.

It's hard to know. There's a certain opaqueness and difficulty for me to understand why the exception-- why the Putin exception in Mr. Trump's mind. To see whether or not he can go where George W. Bush and Barack Obama never went, that is to say, create a functional relationship with Vladimir Putin if we could. It would certainly be a boon to American interest.

But I can't explain and I'm not prone to gravitate toward conspiracy theories. Why in fact the President has made this Putin -- what I call the Putin exception, which seems a reluctance to criticize.

[00:15:01] Yes, I think it was important that the President reaffirmed Article 5 today. It was important that he talked about Russian efforts to undermine Ukraine. I mean that's all to the good.

HOLMES: In the broader context of the G-20 meeting Mr. Putin of course, but other leaders as well. And you sort of alluded to this, Trump like to free-wheel and deal and be spontaneous. The question I suppose is does that work in the world of international leaders who prepare and study and maneuver and you know, perhaps in the case of Putin, manipulate?

MILLER: Well, I don't think it works. I think there's a certain degree of advantage in unpredictability and spontaneity. I mean it worked for half a doze secretaries of State of both political parties having voted for both political parties.

I'm a great believer in something called the American national interest which transcends politics. And understanding what that is and how best to promote it requires an enormous degree of discipline, patience and above all, Michael, above all it really means knowing what you don't know and being in a hurry to find out.

HOLMES: He's among leaders, of course, who have despaired of U.S. disengagement on things -- everything from globalization, trade, climate change and the like. I'm wondering how you think his position on the world stage is at the moment when he's among those leaders who are looking elsewhere, peeling off, if you like and looking for leadership elsewhere.

How -- where do you see his position and how important G-20 is for that position? MILLER: Well, you can argue that the G-20 is simply going to be three times plus one more awkward and difficult than the G-7. This is a kind of broader stage in which to demonstrate what Mr. Trump's view of the world really is.

I mean I find it somewhat anomalous though that he embodies an America first philosophy and yet he does rely on others to accomplish and to achieve American objectives. It's quite ironic.

Mr. Putin, he seems to have reserved a special place to cooperate with Mr. Putin if he can. He's put a lot of stock in the Saudis and some of the Gulf States to achieve his objectives in the Middle East. He's finally come around to reaffirming what should not be a transactional, bargaining tool but which is what is a very vital and sacred commitment -- Article 5.

But by and large I think he's demonstrated, much to the dismay of the Europeans that this is not your grandfather's foreign policy and on critical issues like trade and climate change where in fact, American leadership is important, not just in principle but to protect American interests and to guarantee global international stability, Mr. Trump has a very risk-averse, almost muscular economic, American, nationalist view of the world and frankly I don't think that sits well.

HOLMES: Interesting times, indeed. And also a time when Japan's just thinking in a deal with the E.U. which could hurt America as Japan looks elsewhere on trade.

We're going to leave it there, sadly. Aaron David Miller -- as well, our thanks for your expertise.

MILLER: Thank you so much -- Michael. It's always a pleasure.

HOLMES: When we come back here on the program, Russia conducting more cloak and dagger operations in the U.S. and it's all because of last year's election. We'll explain.

[00:18:45] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

Intelligence sources are telling CNN Russia is stepping up spying efforts in the U.S. Since November, U.S. officials have detected an increase in suspected Russian intelligence officers entering the country under the guise of other businesses.

They say Moscow feels emboldened after seeing no significant response from both the Obama and Trump administrations for Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

A former intelligence official says the increase could also be an attempt to understand the new Trump Administration, which Russian officials view as unpredictable.

Let's dig in to all of this with CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. She joins us via Skype from Newton, Massachusetts. Always a pleasure to see you.

What do you make of these reports? Russian spies far from being put off by all this attention being given to election meddling in fact, ramping up their efforts in the U.S.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think we should anticipate that and have expected it. The spy network from Russia, but also from any country will take advantage of vacuums in leadership, senses of fighting or infighting in a country that, the differences between what Donald Trump, the President says and what the intelligence community says.

So in some ways they're a sort of, you know, greasing the runway for whatever they have planned for, say, 2018 or 2020. You know, as you said Michael, parts of this are done all the time. You have spies that are trying to figure out a new administration, they're trying to steal business, you know, secrets -- whatever.

But the amount of activity we're seeing out of Russian intelligence agencies is tied to the inability of the United States to respond effectively to what they did in 2016.

HOLMES: So you subscribe to that they're feeling emboldened. The thing is we all know countries spy on each other. No doubt the U.S. is busily spying in Russia as we speak. But what would Russia be wanting by increasing their efforts now? Is it to take advantage of that vacuum as you say or that they are just feeling emboldened because nobody's doing much about the meddling?

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. So I think first is just knowledge or understanding of any policy, you know. There's not -- there hasn't been a lot of substantive policy coming out of the agencies, for example, what eventually will be our Syria policy, what will be our anti-ISIS policy.

So some of that would be just your traditional trying to figure that out by sources and methods, trying to get people to talk to you, you know, through old, traditional spying activities.

I think the other is more serious for our democracy or any democracy which is having failed -- both the Obama administration, you know, not being able to address it sufficiently and then with President Trump questioning the very existence Russian meddling in the election or at least suggesting that there might have been others also involved would certainly let Russian to believe that 2018 and 2020 are somewhat fair game.

That's I think the scarier part of this and that these spies become part of a network. We've got a lot of -- we've got every congressional district up for reelections in 2018 and so the spies are, you know, figuring out who might be vulnerable and what can be, you know, influenced.

HOLMES: Is there a sense, do you think, that the administration is taking the threat seriously? I mean, as you point out, given the present reluctance to lay election meddling at the feet of the Russians, despite what the intelligence community says. Do you think that's being taken seriously enough?

KAYYEM: No. And I think -- I think it needs to be said loudly and clearly which a lot of people are now which that the failure to say anything at this stage, to stop the Russians. I mean we've heard testimony from many within the Trump administration who have said that the White House has never even asked for policies about how to stop the Russians.

[00:24:59] I feel confident now saying that whatever happened in the past, Trump is certainly not stopping or attempting to stop Russian influence at this stage because he has -- when we have no policies to address it at this stage.

We're still questioning its existence. No one in the field questions Russia's interference. No one in France does. No one in Britain does. No one in Germany does. People have seen what Russia is able to do but we, the United States are not doing anything proactively to stop them.

HOLMES: Well that leads to my next question. One of the concerns that's raised in the CNN reporting is the volume of Russians coming in, the number of -- and they don't just walk across the border illegally, they're getting temporary visas from the State Department. They're being issued to these Russian travelers basically coming in.

Why isn't that being stopped if, you know, part of government knows that they're not up to regular business? That they're being a bit naughty -- why are they getting in?

KAYYEM: Right. It's the $64,000 question. And I think when you see facts like that and when you see that the administration not taking on the Russians, when you see the President unable to even say without caveat that Russia's responsible for disrupting or influencing the democratic process, I think it's fair now to wonder if there is any strategy or if this administration cannot be somewhat accused of at least attempting or at least not attempting to stop the Russians from doing it again.

We all know that that they will not stop until we put in mechanisms to stop them, until we name and shame it, until we protect our own cyber networks, until we get smarter about fake news.

None of that is happening and at the same time as you said, these visas are happening and more Russians are coming in to the country, some of them are legitimate although most of those people tend to come in on business visas. These visas tend to be -- or now being passed out much more forcefully.

Part of that may have to do with the Russian strategy. We just don't know what it is at this stage.

HOLMES: Juliette Kayyem -- always a pleasure. Nice to see you. Thank you for this.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right. We're going to take a short break here on NEWSROOM L.A.

When we come back -- tough talk from Donald Trump on North Korea. How the U.S. is responding to the escalating threat from Kim Jong-Un's regime.

And the Galaxy Note 7 returns. The ill-fated phone back with a new name and a new price.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:00] HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Michael Holmes.

Let's update on the headlines this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump, just a few hours away from his first face to face meeting with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Mr. Trump arriving in Hamburg in Germany for the G20 Summit on Thursday, the White House said, Syria and Ukraine will top the agenda.

Police are bracing for more protests as the summit officially gets underway. Nearly 8000 people filled the streets of Hamburg on Thursday, some throwing bottles and smoke bomb, police responding with water cannon. Nearly 80 up officers were hurt in the clashes.

Japanese and European Union officials have signed the preliminary agreement for a free trade deal. Details are still going to be worked out before the final text goes to member states, including Japan and the EU parliament for approval. It is a big deal and it comes, of course, up with Donald Trump who the U.S. out of the trans-pacific trade deal.

Harsh words and veiled threats, the North Korea, the Trump administration stepping up its language as it looks for the right response to Kim Jong-un's latest long-range missile test. Now, Michelle Kaczynski reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president today in Europe facing the intensifying threat from North Korea.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a shame that they're behaving this way, but they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it.

KOSINSKI: Tough talk but vague talk, he says, intentionally.

TRUMP: I don't like to talk about what I have planned, but I have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about. That doesn't mean we're going to do them. I don't draw red lines.

KOSINSKI: The U.S. Defense Secretary, James Mattis, was quick to assert today that North Korea's launch of a brand new intercontinental ballistic missile this week does not bring the U.S. any closer to war. He then says, the focus is still diplomacy. That's just a day after U.S. Ambassadors of the U.N., Nikki Haley, raced the specter of force.

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Time is short. Action is required. The world is unnoticed. One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces.

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN: NORTH KOREA TAKES ON THE WORLD": There have to be severe things because we don't have very much time to figure this out. The North Koreans, within a year or maybe 18 months, will be able to position a nuclear on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile and hold the U.S. for ransom.

KOSINSKI: And there have been some concerns about U.S. missile defense capabilities. The new Thaad system in South Korea is working. But as for defending U.S. soil from a long-range missile, the systems in place failed three of the last four tests. But after a significant upgrade, the last one went well.

A Pentagon source telling CNN, missile defense was designed to defend against a rogue missile, not a full scale attack. For now, at least, North Korea's ability to strike the United States is hardly ready for primetime. It's technology, rudimentary.

Finding a diplomatic solution now is just as complicated. Past efforts have quickly failed because North Korea didn't comply.

Russia and China now say it's time for a far different approach, starting with actually talking to Kim Jong-un without the precondition of committing to denuclearization that the U.S. has demanded.

VICTOR CHA, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The record has shown in the five years, this guy has been empowered. They have no interest in sitting down with anybody right now. They are not going to come back unless they feel some sort of pressure coming from sanctions.

KOSINSKI: Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Samsung's fire prone smartphone, making a comeback. The company is releasing a refurbished version of the Galaxy Note 7 in South Korea under the name Galaxy Note FE.

The original phone was taken off the market last year, you may remember, after customers reported their devices catching fire. Now, this new cheaper version will come with updated software of lower capacity battery and the artificial intelligence systems takes peak (ph).

CNN Money Correspondent, Sherisse Pham, joins me now from Hong Kong to talk about it.

You know, my first response when I heard about this is why. Even though they've fixed it or we hope so, why re-release what was tainted, you know? SHERISSE PHAM, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael and you're not the only one thinking that. Analysts have said that this could even be a really great thing for Samsung. It showed that they identified the problem and that they've moved on from it or it could be a suicide mission, right?

If anything goes wrong, it will just be a huge backlash on the company and the brand. So, for our viewers out there who need a little bit of a reminder, the Note 7 was the phone that was released late last year, and within weeks of the release, videos started emerging of the phone catching fire while plugged in. And airplanes started banning it because of the danger they poss.

[00:35:07] And then Samsung tried to recall it twice, failed, and eventually had to recall 2.5 million of those phones. And that was a huge hit for them. You know, they ended up taking, you know, more than a $5 billion profit loss by recalling these phones.

So, what they're really trying to do now is brand it as a eco friendly initiative, which it is. Because my phone, your phone, a lot of the viewer's phones out there, these smartphones are made up of a lot of components that are environmentally unfriendly.

So, Samsung had said that the new phones, which they are calling, you know, don't call it the Note 7. Call it the Galaxy Note Fan Edition. So, they're really relying on those Samsung loyalists to buy these phones and they're going to be made from unused and unopened Note 7s and unused parts. They will come with a new back so that it will have a new name on the back there, the Note FE.

And, you know, Samsung has already taken a little bit of heat online for naming it the FE, with some people joking that maybe that actually stands for fiery explosion or maybe it stands for fire extinguisher. So, a lot of jokes that you can have with that one there.

But -- so will this really be a good thing for Samsung? Possibly, if nothing goes wrong. But if something goes wrong, again, it will be a huge backlash on Samsung. Michael?

HOLMES: Taking a little heat. I see what you did there, Sherisse. Thank you very much for that, Sherisse Pham. All right, I hope it doesn't catch fire.

All right, good to see you. Thank you, Pham.

PHAM: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, the wanted Putin versus Trump showdown is headlining the G20 Summit in Germany. And it's as free as any indicator, the Russian president will bring his A game. More on this negotiating tactics when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. Over the last few years, Russia has repeatedly asserted itself on the world stage. And President Vladimir Putin has put forth and he majored himself as a controlling strong man. Well, it all lies on his impending meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Randi Kaye looks back at how Mr. Putin played some of his past encounters with other world leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, met with Vladimir Putin back in 2007, they weren't alone. The Russian president brought along his big black Labrador even though Merkel was afraid of dogs. She'd been attacked by a dog back in 1995. She sat with her hands in her lap, clearly uncomfortable, while the Russian President seemed to smirk.

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, DIRECTOR, KENNAN INSTITUE, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: It was absolutely a power play. It was intimidation tactic. This is a way of showing to the Russian people, hey, I'm a powerful man. I'm a manly man.

KAYE: Years layer, Putin tried to explain to a German newspaper, I wanted to do something nice for her. When I found out she doesn't like dogs of course I apologized.

[00:40:09] ROJANSKY: It's well known that Putin is a former KGB officer. And in that role, he was trained to a handler of people. And what that means in an espionage context is, of course, exploiting people's vulnerabilities but also their desires, their ambitions, their insecurities to achieve your objectives. And that's not always to shame that person. It's not always to have dominance. But it's to advance your interests.

KAYE: This wasn't Putin's only apparent ploy involving a dog. Former President, George W. Bush, shared a story recently about how Putin, "dissed" his dog barney.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin says, would you like to meet my dog? Laura and I were with Putin and his duches had a mustache. I said, yes, I'd like meet him. And out comes a giant hound kind of loping across first line (ph) yard. And Putin looks at me and says, bigger, stronger and faster than barney.

And, you know, it speaks volumes when you're listening on what somebody says. And so now that he's got a chip on his shoulder.

ROJANKSY: Putin, at the end of the day, is he human being? He certainly has his ego. He's got his insecurities.

KAYE (on camera): Putin is also well-known for keeping important people waiting for a long time. In 2014, he left Germany's Angela Merkel waiting more than four hours to see him. He kept the Prime Ministers of Japan and Ukraine each waiting three hours. He even made the pope wait almost an hour. The waiting game, it seems, is just part of the power play.

ROJANSKY: It puts him in the position of being appreciative of that time and automatically taking Putin more seriously even if they are actually there to chide Putin or to try to pressure him into changing his views.

KAYE (voice-over): In a meeting with Putin back in 2011, then Vice President, Joe Biden, referenced to conversation he'd had with the Georgian prime minister. Putin's response seemed to hint that Russia had eavesdropped on that conversation. His response to Biden, according to the Washington Post, was we know exactly what you're saying. Biden reportedly laughed. Putin did not.

And in 2007, Putin may have succeeded at unnerving the President of France. In a documentary that aired on French public broadcasting, a journalist said Putin berated Nicolas Sarkozy in a private meeting, leaving Sarkozy visibly shaken for his press conference that follwed.

RAJONSKY: And this is, again, a way of setting a tone in a relationship where, you know, if you have anything resembling empathy for the story that he tells, you kind of feel like you owe them something. What are we going to do make up for it? How do we apologize? How do we make it right?

KAYE: Vladimir Putin's power play, his next target could be President Donald Trump. Randi Kaye, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: China showing off its naval might as it gave a traditional watery welcome to its only operational aircraft carrier. The Liaoning steamed into Hong Kong's waters Friday for a two-day port call. It was one of China's largest symbolic displays of military force.

Days ago, Chinese state media released a video of the ship conducting exercises. The regions, rife of course with territorial dispute in boiling (ph) Beijing and its neighbors, a second Chinese carrier is still being filled.

Thanks for watching NEWSROOM LA. I'm Michael Holmes. World Sport coming up next. I'll see you in about 15 minutes. So, you're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE RILEY, WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome along. This is World Sports. I'm Kate Riley at CNN Center.

In a moment, we'll get close up on a high profiled casualty on the women's side of the drawer at Wimbledon.

But we're going to start with news about Novak Djokovic' quest for a fourth title at the All England Club.

[00:44:59] Some might say it's been a fairly rocky road for the Serbian since he won the last of his 12 majors at the 2016 French Open. Since then, he's lost all four of the slam titles he held and is now down to number four in the world, having cleared out almost the entire behind the scenes team and now brought in Andre Agassi as coach. Nole is hopeful he can turn things around. He won on heat (ph) last weekend and there he was just too good for the young Czech player, Adam Pavlasek. The 22-year-old ranked 136 says, he grew up idolizing Djokovic but he was shown no mercy, swept aside in three sets in just over an hour and a half.

Now, Roger Federer is going about his business with ease, breathing past with Serbian Dusan Lajovic in three sets to reach third round for the fifteenth time. But Fed who seeded third this year will face Germany's, Mischa Zverev, for a place in the last 16. The Swiss remains on course for what could be a record-breaking 8th Wimbledon crown.

In the meantime, the highest ranked women's player to exit Wimbledon is now Karolina Pliskova who fell to the 87th ranked. Slovakia Magdalena Rybarikova, the Czech's third seed took the first set, but then surprisingly, lost the next two. Pliskova was one of the favorites to win the tournament but she'll yet to reach the third round at the All England Club.

A really disturbing moment to tell you about for Bethanie Mattek-Sands who's been hospitalized after suffering what looks to be a serious knee injury. The 32-year-old's right knee buckling during the deciding set against the Romanian, Sorana Cirstea. The incident left the American screaming in pain and pleading for help. The scenes were so distressing that in fact TV cameras chose to pan away from her. We certainly wish Bethanie all the very best as she undergoes treatment.

Now, it's clearly a case of mom's the word for former, well, number one, Victoria Azarenka. She will face either the -- she will Heather Watson in fact in round three on Friday.

By the way, it will be Victoria's second tournament of the year. She returned to the sport after birth of her baby son late last year. Here is CNN's, Christina Macfarlane, with more about Azarena's return, the full schedule.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIAN MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, is back at Wimbledon doing what she loves most, competing for Grand Slam titles.

VICTORIA AZARENKA, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: You know, I came back early than I have expected, so all of this is a bonus to me. Overall, I felt good to be on the court and mentally, you know, I feel -- I still feel the same. I still feel that determination and focus and hunger and excitement to play. But its post matches that what is better.

MACFARLANE: Azarenka gave birth to son Leo in December. Shortly after his birth, she hired a new support team and made her grass season debut at the Mioka (ph) Open.

Now, Baby Leo has traveled to the All England Club as his mom prepares for a deep run at Wimbledon. AZARENKA: Well, you know, I have to take care of my son. And he is smiling no matter what he does. And know if I came from a tennis match or whatever, he is still like when he sees me, he's giving me this smile and giggle and that's all I need.

MACFARLANE: A year ago, we caught up with Azarenka in California where she was spending some time away from the court working on her fitness.

AZARENKA: I actually have begin to like it. When you see a little improvement, I think it gets you a little more engaged. I'm all about having fun, working hard but having fun.

MACFARLANE: The Belarusian's hard work paid off when she won a rare Sunshine Double, sweeping the fields and winning titles at Indian Wells and Miami.

Surely after beating Serena Williams and (inaudible), his net for these titles, Azarenka announced that she'd be taking a break from the game to prepare for her son's birth. What a difference a year makes. Now, it's Serena Williams who is on maternity leave preparing for the birth of her first child.

I'm very happy for her because I think regardless, you know, all the wins and the history that she made for herself as a tennis player, this is something that is so much bigger and she will find that out for herself.

But also, as a competitor and as a colleague of hers, I'm so excited she's back. Because when I heard it, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm now going to be able to play against her and that was scary to me. But then she told me she's coming back, so I was like, OK, that's all good..

I went and play with her many times. I love -- I always loved our matches, you know, win or lose. Obviously, win is better. But I always enjoyed the battle and she is one of my biggest inspirations.

MACFARLANE: Even though Serena won't be at Wimbledon to battle this time around, Azarenka is already finding success on the grass with the support of little Leo. The two-time Grand Slam champion is already safely through to the next round. Christina Macfarlane, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:50:12] RILEY: And good luck to her. We'll go now and look at the Belgian international strike, Romelu lukaku will leave Everton to join Manchester United for fee of around $97 million.

Multiple media outlets in the UK reporting the deal has been agreed although there's been no confirmation from either club yet. If Lukaku does go to Old Traffod , he will be reunited, her manager Jose Mourinho who sold the player when they were at Chelsea together.

Lukaku has become a hugely consistent premiere league goal scorer. Only Sergio Aguero has hit the back of the net more times over the last five years. Lukaku's displays have made him a crucial part of the Belgium National team.

Coming up on the show, looking ahead to the big showdown this weekend. In the southern hemisphere, the British Irish Lions face the All Blacks, then a decisive match in just a matter of days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RILEY: CNN World Sport back with the themes of joyful New Zealanders. Around 80,000 fans lie in the streets of Oakland to welcome home the victorious America's Cup sailing team. The first time in 17 years, the country has won the prestigious trophy. And there's more to and also be braced in the next week in the capital city of Wellington, Christchurch and Gameten (ph).

Now, I feel watching (inaudible) right now. And if you're a rugby fan, you may indeed have one of the hottest tickets in town. On Saturday, the world champions, the All Blacks will face the British and Irish Lions in what should be a thrilling series decider at Eden Park. The host can take heart from the fact they haven't lost on that venue since 1994, but they'll have to make do without the services of Sunny Bill William. He's suspended for four weeks.

What a moment it could be for the Barrett brothers. Twenty-year-old Jordie will make his first stop for his country. And for older siblings, Beauden and Scott, are at Flyhalf and also on the bench.

Alliance, meanwhile, have un -- have named an unchanged team for and bench for this huge game. Their first time they'll field, the same starting, 15 in consecutives tests since '93 as they look to win only their second other series on New Zealand soil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARREN GATLAND, HEAD COACH, BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS: They're now to deliver a bit of a legacy, don't they? You know, this opportunity hasn't -- has been since 1971. I mean it's a living toss (ph) in New Zealand, '91 (inaudible) and potentially something special. And you get those moments in your life and you don't want those moments to pass you by.

[00:55:13] And that's sort of big occasions and big sporting events for them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RILEY: Well, finally, and Cricket Joe Root scored a quite brilliant unbeaten 184 runs on his first day as England Test captain to play aside and control against South Africa.

On the opening day of the first Test match, England was 17 for the loss of two wickets. Then Root arise who then saw his team slum to 74 for four wickets. But the 26-year-old soon assumed control and England closed on a highly respectful 357 for five. Root was lucky to be dropped while on 16 runs and was later approved by a no- ball when found (ph) on a 149. Well done and that is it from us. But before we go, we are headed back to Wimbledon now. And Thursday was day four of play, the season's third Grand Slam in England. And with more on that, here is today's Rolex minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two-time Grand Slam winner and four-time champion, Rod Laver, first visited Wimbledon in 1956. Over 70 years later, the allure of the All England Club remains strong.

ROD LAVER, FORMER AUSTRALIAN TENNIS PLAYER: The center court at Wimbledon is a precious item to most every tennis player that plays the game. Going there in 1956 as a 17-year-old, seeing Wimbledon walking through those gates and then competing on the center court, you know, it's a dream come true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With day four came the biggest shock in the women's draw so far, number three seed Karolina Pliskova, unable to respond to a determined Magdalena Rybarikova, this Slovakian down a set in the break triumphing in the decider.

Also, on center court, Roger Federer's second round match was slightly longer than his truncated opener. The Swiss maestro swept Serbia's Dusan Lajovic aside in big (ph) sets as he chart the courts for an eighth title.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PATRICK SNELL, SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Patrick Snell in Atlanta and this is CNN.

HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

High stakes in Hamberg, the Russian and American president set --