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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Meets French President Amid Russia Firestorm; Trump, Macron Speak To Reporters In Paris; Trump, Macron Try To Find Common Ground; Trump: Friendship Between Our Nations "Unbreakable"; Theresa May Marks One Year As British Prime Minister. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 13, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:17]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to a special edition of the WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Isa Soares in London.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Cyril Vanier in Paris. Tonight, as the U.S. and French presidents dine in the Eiffel Tower just
behind me, we'll look at the state of their relationship and whether they found common ground after spending the day together.
SOARES: Plus, as Mr. Trump defends his son's visit with a Russian lawyer, we'll head to Washington to get the latest on the ongoing fall out that the
U.S. president has left behind.
VANIER: U.S. President Donald Trump has been in Paris today getting a red carpet welcome from French leader, Emmanuel Macron, ahead of Bastille Day
celebrations on Friday.
The two will dine along with their wives at Michelin-Starred Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower in a little while. It's called Jules Verne. After a day
of talks and checking out historical sites like Napoleon's tomb.
But long handshakes and smiles aside, the latest bombshell to hit the Russian investigation is clouding the president's trip to the city of
lights and Mr. Trump defended his son's meeting with the Russian lawyer during his news conference with Mr. Macron.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. It's
called opposition research or even research into your opponent. I have had many people -- I have only been in politics for two years, but I have had
many people call up OG we have information on this factor or this person or frankly Hillary.
That's very standard in politics. Politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it's very first standard where they have information and you
take the information.
In the case of Don, he listened as they talked about as I see it, they talked about adoption and some things. Nothing happened from the meeting,
zero happened from the meeting.
And honestly, I think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people would do. Now the lawyer that went to the meeting,
I see that she was in the halls of Congress also.
Somebody said that her visa or her passport to come into the country was approved by Attorney General Lynch. Now maybe that is wrong. I just heard
that a little while ago, but no surprise here. She was here because of Lynch.
So again, have a son who is a great young man, is a fine person, took a meeting with a lawyer from Russia. It lasted for a very short period and
nothing came of the meeting and I think it is a meeting that most people in politics probably would have taken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, to answer question, I will not interfere into U.S. domestic policy and I think it is always good important (inaudible) not to
interfere in the (inaudible) domestic life. And I do believe that both of us have direct relationship with Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: All right, let's bring in our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who joins me now. You've the brunt of the answers that Donald
Trump gave to the press, in this case, the American media.
And he haven't really been heard on this topic since the beginning of the week apart from that one interview he gave pretty much on his terms on
Wednesday. Now he had to answer the tough questions. How do you think he did?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, he did what he typically does in these situations, which is defend and then deflect. He
defended his son. We heard him say that the meeting was short. Nothing came of it.
There are two other people there, one of them left very quickly. The other one barely paid attention. The issue of abortion was not something he was
campaigning on. That was something that was discussed there.
And then he turned it around sort of more broadly, any politician would do that as sort of a blanket defense, and then he turned it around to say,
well, how did this Russian lawyer get her visa and then sort of wanted to blame others for that.
So he was sort of deflecting the issue somewhere else, but you know, I think in this case, he gave as full an answer. I think as we can expect
him to give. He's short on some previously have been strong defense of his son and he maintained that.
Now the legal details of whether was there an obligation to inform, to inform all others of what it appeared that the Russians might have been
trying to do, obviously this is not going to be the last time we hear this question being asked.
VANIER: What about the French president, Mr. Macron. We just heard it there. He was actually sort of drawn into this debate. I mean, he's got
nothing to do with this, but he was actually asked, do you think President Trump was hard enough on Vladimir Putin when he met him?
[15:05:06]ROBERTSON: Again, he would sort of know that this sort of domestic political climate in the United States and the questions and that
he was likely to get some things with. And I don't know what you thought of the answer, but I thought it was quite enlightening because here was a
politician not being defensive about it.
But as you are saying there is a reason why we engage with President Putin. We don't always agree with him. We have disagreements. We discuss and we
said President Trump, you know, has spoken to him for two hours in the meeting at the G20. I have met with him twice.
But it's important to engage because on issues like Syria, it's important to make progress. We heard they talked about the ceasefire, a political
romance in the future about humanitarian corridors, about his own decision to accept President Assad's (inaudible) power, significant.
But that, you know, as he framed it as being things that grew out of having important conversations with people that you disagree with. Dealing with a
tough media question without getting defensive and without trying to deflect the blame somewhere else saying, yes, I own that.
That may have been, you know, the subtle part of Macron's invite to President Trump. There is another way of handling these issues than the
way that you're handling them. That maybe ever a subtle message, but I think not less than the people that were listening.
VANIER: Yes, and it was very interesting to see that he was drawn into this, which wasn't a given and he did seemed to have this transactional
approach to things. You know, decide where you can agree and where you can't agree and where you can make some headway, go ahead and do it.
Nic Robertson, thank you very much and of course, there is a lot to unpack in that press conference. Let's hand it over to Isa for more on this.
SOARES: Thanks very much, Cyril. Well, that was the view from Paris. How was it seen from Washington? Joining me now is Stephen Collinson, the
White House reporter. Stephen, we saw there President Trump surrounded pretty much by pomp as well as praise, I think it's fair to say.
But he wasn't able to escape those questions regarding his son's e-mail. Now we did hear him defend his son, but do you think he was able to change
the narrative that really has followed him all the way to France?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I don't think he was able to change the narrative that this is going to be a huge question for him.
That this latest revelation about Donald Trump Jr.'s meetings with this Russian lawyer a very damaging it appear to take the, you know, allegations
that the Trump campaign was ready to collude, at least, with the Russians to another level.
But I think he played his cards there, the president, in the best way he could. He made the best possible defense in a way that I think will please
his lawyers and his political advisers.
We've been told that the president was furious and frustrated when these revelations first came out. We've not seen him in public in the United
States for four days since he came back from his last trip to Europe.
And the impression was that he's really simmering and steaming over this. So the fact that he was able to come out and handle these questions in a
calm manner, in a self-contained manner in this hotly anticipated press conference in Paris, I think, didn't make his situation worst. And you
know, for this president that's in some ways an achievement.
SOARES: And as Nic Robertson was saying in Paris, he had a bit of defending and also a bit of re-deflecting and one of those deflections was
retrying to play the blame at the speech with the Obama administration's Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Basically saying that he'd heard Lynch was the one who approved the Russian lawyer's visa to come into the country. What did you make of what he said?
COLLINSON: Well, I think that's consistent with Donald Trump's tactics often when he's under attack. He issues a new sort of string of conspiracy
theories that it's design to get the press talking.
They are especially targeted at conservative media who will get hold of that and talk about it, and broadcast it to Trump's core supporters and
almost giving people an argument, a new argument to take the issue away from Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting.
So I think that's really consistent with what the president does and in some ways it shows his mastery of the media. It's clearly something that's
not necessary in complete alliance with the facts, but that's the way Donald Trump handles the media.
SOARES: What's struck me, Stephen, you know, he basically says that his assessment was that most people would have had that meeting in the U.S.,
received that meeting in the U.S.
For most of the guests I've spoken to on this show all week, they tell me that just isn't the case. That is in the reality. So how much does it
hurt, if at all, President Trump's credibility?
COLLINSON: I mean, I think it hurts this whole issue of the meeting. It does hurt the White House's and the Trump team's defense of the president
that there was no collusion because it appears in that string of e-mails that Donald Trump Jr. released -- that release was a willingness to talk to
the Russians about sort of what seems to be dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign.
[15:10:07]So I think that does that hurt the question now -- to your earlier point, it's not normal for campaigns to sit down with foreign
governments which are supposedly pedaling, what you call, opposition research or unflattering information on an opponent in an election.
That's just not normal. It's a lot different level that what we've seen in your selections. They are pretty dirty affairs, but that's taking it to
another level. In fact, Christopher Wray, who is the President's nominee for FBI director said anyone that got that kind of invitation should
immediately call up the FBI.
SOARES: Stephen Collinson, our White House reporter, thanks very much. Stephen, good to see you.
I want take you now to the city of lights where all the pump is taking place and that's where we find our Cyril Vanier -- Cyril.
VANIER: Isa, thank you. Let's just get back to developments here in Paris for a second. Presidents Trump and Macron have some big policy differences
then, there is no hiding that.
But today, they did try to find common ground. That was sort of the leitmotif of the day. They talked about everything from terrorism to the
war in Syria, to the landmark Paris climate change accord.
I'm joined now by Laurence Haim. And it's great to have you with us. You are, of course, you are the former campaign spokesperson for Emmanuel
Macron, spokesperson for his party en masse until this week, until two hours ago almost.
But you are no longer speaking on his behalf. So you can tell us what you absolutely really think. Look, how do you think today went? What was
Emmanuel Macron looking for with this visit? How do you think it went?
LAURENCE HAIM, FORMER MACRON SPOKESPERSON: He was looking forward for this visit because he wants to put France on the map, at the center of the
world. So there was a time for Russia with Vladimir Putin (inaudible) three weeks ago.
And then now, it's time for the United States with Donald Trump. As you know, he wants Donald Trump to come to Paris to show to the world that
France and Europe are now extremely important in the diplomatic part.
And Emmanuel Macron believes in symbols. He believes in images. He believes on colorful images, which are spread on cable news channel, which
are spread on Facebook, Twitter. And he wants the world to see that again --
VANIER: So what about today's images? (Inaudible), Napoleon's tomb, the (inaudible).
HAIM: I think the (inaudible) extremely powerful in terms of he's the president of the United States. I'm talking to him. I have a good
relation with him. I'm friendly with him and I'm going to tell him face to face what I think he should do regarding the (inaudible), regarding the
fight against terrorism.
But I want to establish a good relationship with the president of the United States. I think that's the key message. He doesn't want to
establish a good relation with Donald Trump. He wants to make sure that the (inaudible) alliance is varied and still important.
VANIER: So let's find out how he did in terms of establishing that relation and let's listen to what the U.S. president, Donald Trump, had to
say today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The friendship between our two nations and ourselves, I might add, is unbreakable. Our
occasional disagreements are nothing compared to the immortal bonds of culture, destiny and liberty that unite us so strongly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: There was such a change of tone between the two presidents.
HAIM: For you.
VANIER: For me?
HAIM: To people watching (inaudible), but from the beginning since the election, there was (inaudible) between the two presidents.
VANIER: Wait, hold on --
HAIM: Absolutely. I mean, after the election, Donald Trump called (inaudible) Macron the day after he election and it was a friendly
(inaudible). At the G20 --
VANIER: Let me interrupt. Maybe that is what you chose to remember, but what the world remembers is Mr. Macron's strong arming Donald Trump when
they met at G7, and then Mr. Macron trolling Donald Trump. Remember make the planet great again --
HAIM: This is communication behind closed door. They have a friendly exchange about key issues like the fight against terrorism. And I think,
look, there was something really important again in terms of this friendly relation and I believe there is a friendly relation between Donald Trump
and Emmanuel Macron.
They went together in the (inaudible). They talked together. The two wives are together. They are going to have a good dinner tonight at the
Jules Verne. So you can (inaudible) in terms of diplomacy.
There was the fact that Emmanuel Macron wants to make this front and wants to make sure that Donald Trump understand what he's looking for in the best
interest of France, but again, it's not confrontation (inaudible).
Let's speak in a friendly way and let's make sure this is going to be my way but in a friendly way, and that's Emmanuel Macron's policy and probably
France's.
[15:15:09]VANIER: You know, I'm reminded by of the quote by the former French president (inaudible) who said relations between France and the U.S.
are always confrontational, but always excellent.
One last thing I want to hear from you, did Mr. Macron, is he now in a position to change Donald Trump's mind about key policy issues, which he
had said was his objective?
HAIM: I think he wants to make sure that no matter what the Paris agreement will have to stay and I think he wants to appeal the civil
society in America and people will believe that the Paris agreement is a good thing. That is going to be also his message to the president of the
United States.
VANIER: Laurence Haim, thank you so much for joining on the show today. It was pleasure having you.
And Isa, with that, we'll hand it back to you.
SOARES: Thanks very much, Cyril.
You are watching the WORLD RIGHT NOW. Still to come, its own parliament says it is one of the grudges legislative project ever undertaken. So what
does the U.K. government's new repeal bill and why does it matter to Brexit? We'll have all the answers in just a few minutes.
And an agonizing day for the parents of Baby Charlia Gard, the latest on his heartbreaking case in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now it's been exactly one year since Theresa May became British prime minister and what a year it has been, a slew of terror attacks, a
disastrous general election performance, not to mention the tricky question, of course, of Brexit.
On that front, the British government has published the so-called repeal bill that will get rid of a 1972 law that enabled the U.K. to join the E.U.
in the first place.
It would exchange E.U. laws and turn them into British laws. That's not an easy job, a report by parliament itself described it and I am quoting here,
as "one of the largest legislative projects ever undertaken in the country." Well, to complicate things for Theresa May, the opposition,
Labour Party, warns it cannot support in its current form.
Let's get more on this. I'm joined now by political analyst, Carole Walker. Carole, I mean, this is a huge undertaking, of course, is it going
to be a legislative nightmare?
So besides the trick of moving things for your being lost to U.K. law, you also have the opposition bringing in a couple of hurdles. What exactly do
they append?
CAROLE WALKER, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, a whole string of different proposals. This is going to be guerrilla warfare in the Houses of
Parliament because although the idea here is a fairly simple and straightforward one, you simply transpose all of these rules and
regulations, which are now part of E.U. law.
I'll put them into British laws so that the government can decide which bits it wants to keep and which it wants to change. What Theresa May's
opponents are going to do is to use this as an opportunity to make her life difficult, and to get the change they want.
So for example, the Labour Party, have said that they want more rights for workers. They also want to prevent the government steamrolling through
quite a lot of changes without even going through parliament.
[15:20:09] Then you add into that for the fact that, for example, the Welsh and Scottish leaders assembled. Listen, we don't want all these powers
going back to the central government of Westminster, we want some of them for ourselves.
So they are saying that unless they get that, they are going to block it. This is going to be a really difficult fight. One of her political
opponent said, it was going to be hell.
SOARES: I mean, this could potentially be a huge constitutional clash, couldn't you? I mean, mentioning some of the other parties, some in the
other forces involved, I mean, how difficult will this be for her? How does she go around this?
WALKER: She is going to have to somehow find consensus. Now she has got this deal with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which
just gave her a majority over all her other opponents.
But it's still only needs a handful of her own MPs to vote with the opposition, and she could lose a vote. She loses a vote, she could then
face confidence vote. It could be something which could bring down her government.
Having said that, one of her predecessor, John Major (ph) back in the 1990s went through a very similar process, did in fact battle night off tonight,
lost a vote, has had a vote of confidence, won that and still baffled on for two years. So theoretically, it is possible she can baffle off.
SOARES: Well, she's walking a very fine line, and you know, we have heard from her today and she sounded slightly less mechanical in her interview.
I want to play that out for our viewers. Let's just listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I was devastated really because I -- as I say -- I knew the campaign wasn't going perfectly, but still the
messages I was getting from people I was speaking to, but also the comments we were getting back from a lot of people that we are being passed on to
me. That we were going to get a better result than we did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Devastated enough to show (inaudible)?
MAY: To -- yes, (inaudible), yes, at that moment, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So at that moment, yes, a little tear. So less robotic and more personal. Are people here buying that?
WALKER: You know, people are a little bit cynical. Theresa May has faced a lot of flak for being very robotic. The Maybot they have called her
during the general election and people are wondering whether perhaps this is a deliberate attempt to show herself as a real human being.
And it has to be said that a lot of the reaction has also been -- not exactly sympathetic, people are pointing out that she shed a tear not
because of, for example, the loss of life that we have seen in terrorist attacks during the election campaign.
Not for the loss of life in the appalling disaster at Grenfell Tower, but for the loss of her own authority because her own election campaign haven't
quite (inaudible). So it seems that she hasn't really garnered a huge amount of sympathy for this.
And indeed some of her harshest critics are predicting that May should be shedding a few more tears over the next couple of years given the huge and
very, very difficult parliamentary battle.
SOARES: She remained in this position so this is one year, Carole, as prime minister. Give a sense of, you know, can she hold on basically?
WALKER: She can hold on. At the moment, she is being kept in place, essentially because it doesn't suit anyone to move against her at the
moment. No one else in her cabinet wants to take the job at the moment, to take on that two-year battle through parliament that we have been talking
about.
They also fear that if there was to be a conservative leadership contest now, whoever took over as leader would then face an outcry from people
saying, loo, you've got your own mandate from the country and that could bring on another general election.
So the Conservative Party fear that if they were to try and replace her now, it could simply bring about a general election, which they would lose
and Jeremy Corbyn would be in power.
So yes, she cannot hold on, but it's worth remembering that only a year ago, she came to power on a huge amount of popular support. She went into
this election campaign with a huge poll lead and lost it through a series of mistakes over the general election, over a general election campaign.
It is usually around herself as a leader, herself as a personality. So she has seen a very difficult yet as a leading historian today has been writing
saying that the Conservative Party is now in a worse position that it has been over a century.
And it is very difficult to see how she restores her party's reputation in this very, very difficult process leading up to Brexit.
SOARES: Absolutely, and we've seen so much fighting, in fighting not just within the Conservative Party, but also from Brussels in terms from the
national pupate, will they pay the full bill.
[15:25:07]This is just the beginning, as you and I well know. Carole Walker, thank you very much.
Now Theresa May's busy first anniversary on the job also included a royal visit. It was from Spanish King Philippe who is on the second day of a
three-day state visit.
Earlier, the Monique (ph) broached the topic of Brexit while speaking to business leaders. He said the upcoming negotiations should keep
uncertainty to a minimum.
Now the parents of a terminally ill baby, Charlie Gard, stormed out of court today during a deeply emotional hearing on their son's future. The
British couple are fighting to keep Charlie on life support so he can be taken abroad for experimental treatment. Our Erin McLaughlin has the
latest for you.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A key question in the case of Charlie Gard, does the 11-month-old baby has irreparable brain damage? On
Thursday, the Royal Court of Justice heard from a U.S.-based expert that the only way to know to for sure to answer to that question is to give the
baby experimental treatment, the same treatment the parents have been calling for all along.
The same treatment that the hospital treating Charlie Gard says is futile. But this expert testifying over video link from the United States, his name
withheld by a court order, said that he believes there is a, quote, "small but significant chance of improvement in brain function with the
experimental treatment."
He said that this is an assessment based on recent months of research looking at mice and patients suffering from a similar but not the same
mitochondrial disorder.
The judge though in this case noting that this expert has not treated, has not seen Charlie in person, but in light of this new research, he is
calling for all parties involved to get together, the hospital, the parents, the experts, to try and reach a consensus on what should happen to
Charlie Gard. Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
SOARES: Well, up next, we'll take you back to Paris with the Trump's trip is sparking political discussion in France. You might expect to hear on
the other side of the Atlantic. Democrats abroad versus Republicans overseas. We'll have that debate straight ahead right here on the WORLD
RIGHT NOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back. I'm Isa Soares in London, and he is Cyril Vanier in Paris. We'll take you to Paris in just a moment. The time there is 9:30
or so. We had the French and U.S. president and their wives about to sit down in fact to dinner at the Eiffel Tower.
The restaurant is the Jules Verne Restaurant and Emmanuel Macron is hosting Donald Trump ahead of Bastille Day. Let's take you back to Paris where our
Cyril Vanier is there.
VANIER: -- hosting CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: -- is hosting Donald Trump. Let me bring in my panel now. We have members of the two main American
parties, Republicans Abroad, Democrats Abroad, who are joining us here.
So we've got Salli Anne Swartz on the Democratic side, and we've got -- I beg your pardon?
MARC PORTER, PRESIDENT, REPUBLICANS OVERSEAS FRANCE: Marc Porter.
VANIER: -- Marc Porter, thank you very much -- who are with us today and who, of course, have been following very keenly the meeting between Donald
Trump and Emmanuel Macron.
First of all, Salli Anne, you were just at a protest? What --
SALLI ANNE SWARTZ, INTERNATIONAL COUNSEL, DEMOCRATS ABROAD: That is correct.
VANIER: Why?
SWARTZ: Democrats Abroad organized a rally, protest, demonstration -- you can call it what you will -- to underline the Democratic Party position,
which is against most, if not all, of what President Trump and the Republican Party has -- is doing in the United States.
VANIER: Marc?
PORTER: That's just ridiculous. We used to have a tradition where Americans stuck together when we left the United States, and that is
completely destroyed. And we're quite disappointed that when Obama was elected, we were extremely respectful. We held it to the highest
standards, so we are quite concerned. Even though I heard not very many people turned out for your event today, so we'll --
VANIER: Let -- both your President --
SWARTZ: Actually, that's not true. We had greater turnout.
PORTER: What is it?
SWARTZ: And let me tell you --
VANIER: Are you going to give us the number?
SWARTZ: I didn't count.
PORTER: Well, because you didn't have anybody there.
SWARTZ: And we had --
VANIER: OK, sir.
SWARTZ: We had hundreds of people there. You can check with the police. They were there too. But, actually, what you say, Marc, is a little
historically off because when Clinton --
PORTER: Look, the President is here --
SWARTZ: When Clinton was president --
PORTER: -- we should respect the President.
SWARTZ: When Clinton was here --
VANIER: All right. You know what, let's not go back to that time because, now, Donald Trump is President. You're -- and your President is in town.
And honestly, there haven't been a lot of French protests so far, but I'm noticing that the Americans who are in Paris, according to you, have
gathered by the hundreds to protest against Donald Trump.
SWARTZ: We did not say we're protesting against Donald Trump. This was a protest against the political policies and laws that the Republican Party,
represented by President of the United States, is putting into place in the United States.
VANIER: OK. I fail to see the nuance. Marc --
PORTER: I fail to see it also. We're just very glad the President's here. We're here to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of American sending
troops back to France.
SWARTZ: As are we. As are we.
PORTER: Thank you. This is the first time a hundred years ago in World War I that we were able to give back to France. So France had helped us
set up our country. France is just an excellent ally with us. And we see this as a historic event where we -- when we work with the French and the
French work with Americans, we get a lot of things done.
SWARTZ: And we totally agree with that.
VANIER: All right. Tell me about the bilateral relationship between the French President Emmanuel Macron and the U.S. President Donald Trump. They
-- it seemed to have gone off at a rocky start. At least that's what it looked like from the outside. Things seemed better now.
PORTER: No, I think they get along fine. It's quite interesting that both are businessmen. Both have very strong personalities. And we see that
President Macron was gracious enough to invite President Trump back after just being in the G20 last week.
Quite interesting that Mrs. Merkel is here today also, kind of meeting with Macron on the side. But we think that they have a very nice relationship.
And the good thing about President Trump is if he's --
VANIER: It didn't look that way until today.
PORTER: Well, it doesn't look that way on CNN, but for the rest of us, what's quite interesting is --
VANIER: It didn't look that way anywhere.
PORTER: Well, actually, it did.
VANIER: Really?
PORTER: Because President Trump is quite good on one-on-one conversations. He always says that --
SWARTZ: How would you know that? Have you had one with him?
PORTER: Oh, yes, I have.
SWARTZ: Well --
PORTER: And not only this, President Trump is quite respectful on a one- on-one conversation. He's hard on policies and soft on people. But when people become policies like --
SWARTZ: Only when their loyal to him.
PORTER: -- like this woman, quite everything is policy here, but, in fact, what we're trying to show is our --
SWARTZ: Loyal.
PORTER: -- is our solidarity with French people and also with Europe.
VANIER: Are you --
SWARTZ: How --
VANIER: Are you satisfied about the relationship that Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump seemed to have developed today, which was, honestly, carried
out on much friendlier terms, at least as far as the public can see, than what had been done in the past?
SWARTZ: I think any relationship that is constructive is a good relationship.
VANIER: OK. So you're happy with the way things move forward today?
SWARTZ: Well, I don't know what happened today. I don't know what they discussed. I don't think that President Macron managed to convince
President Trump to change his position on the Paris agreement on the -- on climate change. I don't know that he had anything to say to him about the
immigration policy that President Trump has put into place. I think that there are many issues where they click and certainly work together, and I
hope that they will do so.
[15:34:58] VANIER: What transpired, I think, from the press conference today was that both men appear willing to have, if you will, something of a
transactional relationship where they identify the areas of disagreement and set those aside and then focus on areas of agreement. And I think
that's what we found out today.
SWARTZ: That's smart.
PORTER: I think you're right. So you start off with a transactional relationship, which is both President Trump's style and President Macron's
style, and you build up to a relational style. So this is sort of a moving forward from previous types of agreements and previous meetings that
they've had.
And this is what the point of this whole meeting is. That when we build relationships, individual relationships, then people can start to sit down
and understand the other point of view. That way, we can start to do something constructive.
The same thing that we see in Washington now. We see a lot of senators and representatives, that they go home for the weekend. They're not in
Washington. They don't have that personal rapport anymore.
So this is what President Trump is trying to do, is to build a personal rapport, so he understands where people are coming from, also their side of
the story and their say.
SWARTZ: You mean he's educating himself? That's a good thing.
VANIER: So let me boil it down to this, do you think that the France-USA relationship is different now as compared to what it was six months ago
under the other presidents, under Barack Obama and Francois Hollande?
SWARTZ: No.
PORTER: I do. I do.
SWARTZ: I do not.
VANIER: You do not?
SWARTZ: I do not.
VANIER: Why not?
SWARTZ: I don't think anything has changed. The President is the President.
VANIER: You have two different characters in office --
SWARTZ: Certainly different personalities.
VANIER: -- on both sides of the Atlantic.
SWARTZ: I totally agree with you, but I think at the level of presidents and countries speaking to each other, I think it is extremely important for
them to find common ground.
VANIER: All right.
SWARTZ: And I think that's what's going to happen, and I think that's always happened.
VANIER: All right. Salli --
SWARTZ: Particularly, between France and United States.
VANIER: Salli, Paul, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
PORTER: Thank you very much.
VANIER: And with that, I'm going to hand it back to you, Isa.
SOARES: Thanks very much, Cyril. Before we leave the subject of President Trump, some good news to bring you about, how he reportedly cut through
some red tape. A team of tech savvy Afghan girls will be able to compete in the Robot Olympics in Washington. The White House says the President's
personal intervention made it possible after the girls' visas were denied twice by the U.S. State Department.
Now, this is the latest video of the girls on their way to the U.S. earlier today. Ivanka Trump has tweeted that she looks forward to welcoming them
as well as the competition to D.C.
Coming up right here. Some had written off Venus Williams as a champion with a past before Wimbledon this year. See how she's won her way just one
step from the final.
And a search that feels like it's taken a thousand and one night. Why Disney and Director Guy Richie reportedly hadn't found their new Aladdin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back. You are watching THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Now, the Williams sisters are used to winning tennis tournaments. But with the pregnant Serena back home in America, Venus must uphold the family name
at Wimbledon this year. And it seems, well, no sweat.
[15:39:59] The veteran champion eased to victory in her semi-final against home favorite, Johanna Konta. A packed Center Court watched Venus Williams
win six-four, six-two. If she wins the final, it will be the 13th time a Williams sister has won the British Grand Slam.
Ravi Ubha joins me now from Wimbledon. And, Ravi, it was quite a face off and battle between the darling of Wimbledon, Venus, who has won something
like -- had 20 appearances or so versus the darling of Britain, Jo Konta. Talk us through their match.
RAVI UBHA, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Isa, you know, it was such an interesting match because these players are similar in the way they play
the game. They're both tall, have big serves, very good moving around the court, very aggressive. And for me, it really came down to one game or two
games in the first set.
Venus Williams was facing break points, two of them, saved them. And then she broke in the next game, won the first set, and then won the second set
very comfortably to make a ninth Wimbledon final.
I think, Isa, something to remember is that, also, what she was going to Wimbledon with. Just last month, she was involved at a car accident near
her home in Florida. And as part of that car accident, a 78-year-old man later died.
Now, Venus, on the eve of the tournament, said in a Facebook post that she was left devastated, heart broken. So she's been able to put that aside
and keep on winning the matches at Wimbledon.
SOARES: And now, of course, she faces off with Muguruza. What are her chances? If you were a betting man, Ravi, who would you go for?
UBHA: Isa, I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I think I would go for Muguruza. She's a player who's playing such good tennis and is in good
form at Wimbledon after she started off the French Open as the defending champion.
If we look at the tail of the tape: Venus, 37; Muguruza, 23. Venus, seven Grand Slam titles; Muguruza, just one. But, again, for me, I think
Muguruza is playing such great tennis.
But, you know, the whole backdrop also is you have to remember that Venus, with her age, is 37, getting to that final is such a big accomplishment.
And it's something we're seeing at tennis more and more. Because Roger Federer who's going to be 36 next month --
SOARES: Ravi, I'm sorry to have to interrupt you. I'm sorry --
UBHA: -- is the favorite to get to the Wimbledon finals so --
SOARES: Ravi, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just want to bring some live pictures from Paris because U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader
Emmanuel Macron, along with their wives, are dining at Le Jules Verne, a Michelin starred restaurant, at the Eiffel Tower.
As you can see from these live images, they're taking it all in. It's known for its extraordinary views of Paris at that height. So they're
taking it all in right there as you can see.
Now, the restaurant features a tasty menu with multiple courses. Really, the bogs (ph) surrounding the meal is that it could feature blue lobster
and caviar, something like six-course meal, roughly $260 kind of price set menu. And for those wondering, blue lobsters -- and raising an eyebrow,
blue lobsters are basically like East Coast American lobsters, only they're blue until cooked and then their shells turn red.
So they're now taking their seats. It's going to be a very intimate meal, as you can see. But this restaurant named Jules Verne, known for a French
novelist known for, those of you who know it, "Around the World in 80 Days." And the restaurant apparently aims to take diners on a journey.
As you can see there, President Trump and President Macron, really taking in the views. And as we get the camera to look closely -- oh, maybe
perhaps we won't be able to see it. But it really is all about the view, but I've been told the wine is spectacular as is the food. And hopefully,
so will the conversation.
Now, over on the small screen, politics is the recurring theme for this year's Emmy nominees, which include political satire, feminist dystopia,
and even a reality show about drag queens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Everyone, thank you for coming. I'd like to start by answering the question that's on everyone's mind. Yes, this is real life.
This is really happening.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: On January --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, "Saturday Night Live" is one of the two shows leading the way with 22 nominations. The other is HBO drama, "Westworld." "SNL" is
now the most nominated series in Emmy history with a total of 231 nods over four decades.
Newcomer, "The Handmaid's Tell," which I've watched and really enjoys, has also been recognized in some of the big categories. The show imagines a
not-so distant future where the government has been overthrown by Christian fundamentalists.
And expect style, sequins and shade on awards' night with "RuPaul's Drag Race" up for eight nominations. It is a landmark achievement for the show
which celebrates the LGBT experience through the art form of drag.
The winners will be announced in September. And in the words of RuPaul himself, gentlemen, start your engines and may the best woman win.
Now, I want to take you to Hollywood, which is reportedly facing a problem only a magical lamp may actually be able to solve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:45:00] BRAD KANE, SINGER: A whole new world. A new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Now, it may be a whole new world, but according to the "Hollywood Reporter," movie bosses are facing an age-old crisis: diversity.
Apparently, casting directors can't find an actor to play the lead role in Guy Richie's live action adaptation of "Aladdin" you're seeing there,
despite a search that's gone on, believe it or not, four months. Disney has not officially commented on the matter.
Sopan Deb is the culture reporter "The New York Times" and joins us now from New York.
And, Sopan, I mean, Twitter is really alight, isn't it, with total disbelief at the thought that Disney and its producer, Guy Richie, haven't
been able to -- made it -- found it so difficult to find its prince from the Middle East and from India?
I want to bring to our viewers' attention some of the tweets and then we -- I'll get your thoughts.
And one of the tweets, it says -- if we can bring it up -- there is literally an entire second most populous country in the world with an
industry of men who dance and sing, hinting there at Bollywood.
And then the second won that struck me is -- if the film industry can actively seek out Middle Eastern actors to portray terrorists, it shouldn't
be this difficult finding one for "Aladdin."
And finally, Disney too busy trying to figure out which White actor looks best with a tan for "Aladdin."
Explain to our international viewers why the difficultly here.
SOPAN DEB, CULTURE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, this has been a problem in Hollywood going back decades, the notion that there aren't
enough South Asian or Arab or Asian-American roles to -- in -- to be had in Hollywood. This has been a point of contention among minority groups going
back a long time.
In fact, for a long time, the only roles that, you know, Asian-Americans or, you know, Middle Eastern-American or Indian-Americans could get, or
Indians from abroad or -- were those of terrorists or taxi cab drivers, very stereotypical caricatures of those ethnicity.
That's changing a little bit. That's changed over time. For example, Kumail Nanjiani is the star of "The Big Sick," which is a romantic comedy
based on his life. And even that was -- is kind of a rarity, to see someone of a Pakistani descent play the romantic hero in a romantic comedy.
But the larger point still stands.
Now, in relation to Disney and "Aladdin," it's kind of a glass half-full thing. On one hand, you have to give Disney credit because they want to
cabs -- to cast someone of Arab or Indian descent.
In the past, there have been numerous roles in which someone Asian or someone Middle Eastern or, you know, someone who is meant to be an ethnic
hero is recast as a White person. And an example where this was a controversy was Matt Damon in "The Martian." That Matt Damon -- that role
was supposed to be an Asian role and that didn't end up being the case.
So, of course, it's a glass half-full thing. I will also say that Disney has, in past movies, "Star Wars," one it being a notable example, has gone
far out of its way to discover unknown talent or a lesser-known talent, you know, relying on its name to bring in viewers.
So, you know, the story is not totally finished yet. We'll see who they cast. But it does illustrate the lack of prominent Asian-Americans,
Indian-Americans, Arab actors, Indian actors that are in Hollywood that they're willing to cast right now.
SOARES: Absolutely. And I suppose -- I don't know if you can touch on this because it might be tricky because he might be portrayed as -- well,
whoever they cast may be portrayed as a sort of -- interpreted as a portrayal of a certain culture and its certain stereotype. Are they
worried about that?
DEB: I'm sure that's certainly a concern. And if you remember when "Aladdin" first came out, there were some edits made because there were
some parts of the movie that were -- and I'm referring to the Disney cartoon here -- that were thought of to be as offensive, that they were
caricatures. All the Arab characters are -- looked like caricatures.
And I'm sure there is some concern to that. But there's also the concern of the opposite, that "Aladdin" will be the latest in the movie that is
going to be White-washed and devoid of the actual culture that it is trying to represent.
SOARES: Yes. And we just saw "Aladdin" on Broadway, so they clearly could cast for Broadway. And with so much talent in the Middle East and in India
with Bollywood industry, I'm surprised really at seeing this from Hollywood.
Thank you very much, Sopan. Always great to see you. Now --
DEB: Thank you for having me.
SOARES: Pleasure. Coming up, we'll return to my colleague, Cyril Vanier, in Paris for more on President Trump's visit as he tucks in to dinner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:27] VANIER: Welcome back. U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron, along with their wives, have just arrived for
dinner at Le Jules Verne, the Michelin starred restaurant at the Eiffel Tower. It's known for its extraordinary views of Paris. And that, as we
understand it, is why, in fact, the French President chose it.
They were greeted by the legendary chef Alain Ducasse. President Macron has really rolled out the red carpet for the American leader today and also
tomorrow on Friday. After a rocky start, the two seemed to be paving a new way forward. At least that's the sense we got from their joint press
conference.
Let me put that question, in fact, to Thierry Arnaud who is an anchor and chief political correspondent for BFM-TV, CNN's Paris affiliate here in
France. He joins me now.
It looks like Emmanuel Macron was really trying to seduce the American President today. What did you make of it?
THIERRY ARNAUD, HEAD OF POLITICAL SERVICE, BFM-TV: Yes, that's exactly right. He was really literally showering him with compliment in nice words
and gestures. And he clearly has made up his mind that he should invest in Trump, in a sense buy Trump stock on the cheap, you know, while these
things are not going --
VANIER: What does that mean, buy Trump stock on the cheap? What does that mean?
ARNAUD: When things are not going so well for the U.S. President, obviously, and that he appears as being very much isolated on the world
scene. If you can be his friend with the knowledge that none of the world's issues today can be solved without the United States, then you get
yourself a nice amount of capital that you can use at the appropriate time.
VANIER: That's it, so buy Trump when he's down in the hopes that it will pay off when Trump is up. Is that right?
ARNAUD: Yes. You know, in a sense -- in essence, I think that's what he's doing.
VANIER: And do you think that his gamble paid off? I mean, I understand from what you're saying that you think it's a longer-term investment. But
as far as today and the last few weeks have gone, I mean, they appear to have a chilly, tense relationship in the first few meetings and exchanges,
ad today was totally different.
ARNAUD: Yes. It was, obviously, very friendly. You know, they shook hands more times than I can remember.
VANIER: Yes.
ARNAUD: They called each other friend more times than I can remember. From that perspective, it worked extremely well, and I think it bodes well
for discussions on difficult issues such as climate, for example.
VANIER: Yes.
ARNAUD: It was quite interesting to me during the press conference to listen to President Trump saying that, of course, his decision was still to
take the U.S. out of the Paris agreement, but things, perhaps, could change or evolve a little bit. I don't know that they will, but the fact that he
would simply consider that in --
VANIER: Yes, absolutely. Yes.
ARNAUD: -- in and of itself is quite interesting.
VANIER: I want our viewers to listen to what Donald Trump used to say until a very short while ago about France, about Emmanuel Macron, about
this country. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: France is no longer France. France is no longer France. They won't like me for saying that, but you
see what happened in Nice.
Look at Paris. I have friends, they used to go to Paris. They don't go anymore. They say, no, Paris is in Paris.
It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania along with many, many other locations within our great country
before Paris, France.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: So, look, the American President used to be really tough on France and, today, that tone changed radically. So what do you think this does
for Emmanuel Macron politically here? Do you think that he sort of wins points? Is that considered a victory by French people?
[15:54:59] ARNAUD: The short-term victory is that these pictures have been seen all over the world today, and it puts him at the top of the world
stage. He's a very young president, a very inexperienced president, and there you see him standing next to the President of the United States and
looking as an equal.
And even more, perhaps he thinks that, you know, people are going to look at the one side of the pictures, see a young, some would say dashing,
French President, and then the other side of the picture, with a not so young, not so dashing U.S. President. That they will compare. And I think
that comparison will suit him -- will suit him fine.
But what he also is trying to establish is his role as a European leader. In essence, what he is trying to do today with Donald Trump is the same
thing he tried to do a few days ago with Vladimir Putin. And what he is trying to achieve is when either of these guys wants to know -- want to
know what's going on in Europe, when they want to make a deal with Europe - -
VANIER: Who do they call?
ARNAUD: -- who do they call? And he wants to create a reflex --
VANIER: That was --
ARNAUD: -- whereby --
VANIER: That was Angela Merkel and Theresa.
ARNAUD: Exactly. That's exactly right. And he wants to create a reflex whereby it will be, at least at a minimum, Emmanuel Macron alongside Angela
Merkel, and perhaps him first as well.
VANIER: You say he wants to carve out a role for France, but you know, I'm trying to remember -- I'm remembering back the last couple of times that
France has sort of rubbed shoulders with the U.S. on key policy issues, key foreign policy issues.
Think back to the Iraq War. France was against it, didn't want to go to war. Fine, they didn't go to war. The war happened anyway.
Think back to a few years ago when France wanted to bomb Syria with the U.S. U.S. didn't want to. It didn't happen.
So there's a pattern here.
ARNAUD: Yes.
VANIER: France can sometimes often a bite -- a bark louder than its bite.
ARNAUD: Well, they may or may not be a pattern. If you look back at Iraq, you might say that France was right not to go to war on the terms that were
presented at the time because --
VANIER: No, but maybe that they weren't able --
ARNAUD: Because --
VANIER: -- to stop the war.
ARNAUD: Yes, but we could argue that they were on the right side of things. And I think that's quite important.
VANIER: All right. Thierry Arnaud, thank you very much for joining us. BFM-TV's chief political correspondent. Thanks a lot for coming on the
show.
Now, this has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Cyril Vanier from Paris.
SOARES: And I'm Isa Soares in London. Thanks very much for watching. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next. Do stay right here with CNN. We are,
of course, the world's news leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And that is NOW (ph) and Formula E cheering there as they ring the closing bell. And somewhere on that balcony is actually
the CEO of DHL. He's going to be joining us in about half an hour from now, so do stay tuned for that.
[16:00:04] The Dow ending the day on a record high. Stocks have literally been on a tier. We're going to discuss that as well.
END
