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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Agrees To Meet Kim Jong-Un Face-To-Face; White House Need "Concrete And Verifiable Actions" Before North Korea Talks; British Military Joins Nerve Agent Probe; Tillerson Is In Kenya On Africa Tour; Turkey Says Its Military About To Enter Afrin City; Trump Imposes Tariffs On Steel And Aluminum Imports; Canadian, Mexican Imports Exempt From U.S. Tariffs; U.S. Economy Added 313,000 Jobs In February; Trump Stuns World By Accepting Kim Jong-un's Invite; Museum Showcases Women's Rights in Ancient Egypt. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired March 09, 2018 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:20]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London. I'm Hala Gorani.
Tonight, an astonishing new turn after months of hurling insults, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un agree to meet face-to-face.
Also, the British army is on the streets of Salisbury today as the investigation into the poisoned ex-Russian spy intensifies.
And exclusive pictures from one of the most contested regions of Syria. We have the latest from Afrin where Turkey is fighting Kurdish forces. We'll
bring in those images for the first time on CNN.
Now it has never happened before in history, an American president sitting face-to-face with the leader of North Korea, a country long considered a
nuclear armed pariah. But Donald Trump is forging his own diplomatic act agreeing to a meeting that has the entire world talking today, cautiously
hopeful about what might be achieved.
The United Nations and many world leaders are welcoming this stunning announcement that President Trump and Kim Jong will sit down to try to
resolve a decade-long dispute, but the White House says there is a caveat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The maximum pressure campaign has clearly been effective. We know that it is put a tremendous
amount of pressure on North Korea and they have made some major promises. They've made promises to denuclearize. They've made promises to stop
nuclear and missile testing, and they've recognized that regular military exercises between the U.S. and its allies in South Korea will continue.
The maximum pressure campaign we are not letting. We are not going to step back or make any changes to that. We are going to continue in that effort
and we are not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete action that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: OK, we still didn't know exactly when and where this meeting will happen. As far as we know, Kim Jong-un has never step foot off North
Korean soil.
Let's bring in White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond. Paula Hancocks is also joining us live from Seoul, South Korea, a country that, of course,
played a key role, some would say the key role in this breakthrough.
Jeremy, first of all, we heard from Sarah Sanders today saying it won't happen until certain conditions are met, but still, though, this type of
meeting takes usually -- I mean, obviously nothing is unfolding as normal in this White House, but a long time to prepare, with lots of experts and
diplomats weighing. Is anything in the works at this stage?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think first of all, it's important to note that if you do take Sarah Sanders' words at face value,
if you do take it that her words carry the weight of the presidency and the president's own views, her comments this afternoon in the White House
briefing really do cast doubt on the real possibility of this meeting actually happening.
And the reason why is that Sarah Sanders said that the North Koreans had promised to take concrete steps to denuclearize, and that was not what the
South Korean national security advisor, said just yesterday from just outside the White House when he conveyed the North Korean's message.
He said that Kim Jong was committed to denuclearization. Not that he would take any steps in that direction before talks actually began. What he did
say is that Kim Jong-un had promised to stop ballistic and nuclear missile testing.
And so that is perhaps something that they could take concrete steps on by not doing those, but concrete steps for denuclearization, which is what
Sarah Sanders said today were the new preconditions for these talks actually go through.
That does not appear to be something that the North Koreans have pledged to do or expressed a willingness to do. So, very much a lot of questions
really about whether this will actually go through.
It does, however, kind of realigned the administration's position from where they were before this announcement was made yesterday. Senior
ministration officials have been saying that North Korea would need to take those concrete steps for talks to happen.
And then yesterday that appeared to have gotten completely blown up by the president's agreements to these talks.
GORANI: Sure. And now were back more or less as you mentioned Jeremy to where we believe we were before, but Paula Hancocks, what about South
Korea, how confident are officials there that this meeting will take place?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, I think the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, summed it up pretty well when he said
this is an almost miraculous event. The fact that what happened when the U.S. president said, yes, I will meet with the North Korean leader was many
people were taken by surprise.
Not at least for South Korean president, it's what he wanted. It's what he's always said he wants that the more engagement with North Korea. He
wanted the U.S. to be part of that engagement as well.
[15:05:08] But, of course, that's like walking back to five exactly what the U.S. needs before Kim Jong-un -- before Donald Trump can sit down with
Kim Jong un that does raise questions as to whether or not it will in fact happen.
Now when Kim Jong-Un's Sister, Kim Yo-jong, came to South Korea, was talking about this, the South Korean officials who spoke to her, I spoke to
them, and they said this was pushed forward by the North Koreans.
They are the ones that wanted to move foster. The South Koreans were almost pulling back saying we should be more cautious and take out time
with this and that's what we are hearing from experts here as well.
That some realism has to be injected into this. There are concerns that if the U.S. president sits down with the North Korean leader, does that lend
legitimacy to the North Korean leader than without him having to give anything up.
Although, he has said that there wouldn't be any, any missile tests or nuclear test, while these talks were ongoing according to the South
Koreans.
GORANI: So, Jeremy, where do we stand? Because we are getting, you know, different messages from different people. The president is saying one
thing. His press secretary is saying something different closer -- more closely aligned to what we've been hearing before.
Rex Tillerson one day and his spokesperson say conditions aren't there. The next day they say they are not surprised that he made the announcement.
I'm a little confused personally.
DIAMOND: Yes. And we are in a very uncertain position right now and we may not get that clarity until we actually hear the president speak about
this extensively because he hasn't yet. All he did yesterday was come out, pop his head in the briefing room and tell us that this announcement was
forthcoming.
Then, we got the South Korean national security advisor's statement in person and then we got a paper statement from Sarah Sanders, the White
House press secretary, before hearing from her again today.
We haven't heard extensively from the president as far as how he interpreted this. It is possible that the president interpreted these
commitments to denuclearization as promises to denuclearize before these talks actually happen.
It's also possible that the president's advisers, national security advisors who in the past had expressed skepticism at any kind of dialogue
with North Korea without those concrete steps possible that they're trying to pull the president back a little bit as well.
So, we are waiting for that clarity at this point and as you said, we are in a very confused place right now. It does appear the White House
stepping back a little bit from the possibility of these talks, but we really don't know. So, this could all change direction again within a few
hours or a few days.
GORANI: Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thanks so much. Paula Hancocks as well, thanks to you. She is in Seoul, South Korea for us very, very
early in the morning.
Now the meeting itself, if it happens would be a victory for North Korea. They've been pushing for talks like this for decades. Well aware it could
lend a sense of legitimacy to their leader, so are there any risks this diplomatic gamble by Donald Trump?
Let's bring in former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jamie Rubin. He is now contributing editor at "Politico." So, do you think that Donald -- I
mean, what do you think the position of the administration is based on what we heard from the president and then what we heard from his press secretary
today. Will it or won't it happen?
JAMES RUBIN, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: I think all the signals are that this is going to happen. I think the president made a
commitment last night to a summit without preconditions. I think what's happening is the press secretary, and perhaps as you say, the national
security advisor or others are trying to stiffen up the president's message.
But I think it would be a shock to the people of South Korea, to the South Korean president, and all involved if suddenly Donald Trump reversed
himself and said, no, we are not to have a summit until North Korea take steps to give up its nuclear program.
That they did agree to was, not to take new steps to ruin the atmosphere that is not test nuclear weapons or test a ballistic missile what they were
doing before, but I think the summit is on track and the president's position is no preconditions and his press secretary is modeled it up.
GORANI: But where would it happen? Who would be there? Kim Jong-un -- I mean, and also there have to be diplomatic breath there for the United
States, the president of the most powerful country on earth on equal footing really at a summit with the leader of such a repressive regime.
RUBIN: Well, look, the fact is that President Trump has given that legitimacy to the North Korean leader by agreeing to hold such a summit and
if it goes forward which I still think the odds are signaling that they will go forward. He's going to get that legitimacy. That's a fact.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about it if we want to resolve the North Korea nuclear weapons issue and the missile issue without a military
conflict. There's going to be is a time when the North Korean leader is going to get that legitimacy. That's not the most important thing.
The most important thing is what does President Trump do at the meeting. Will he put on the table things like U.S. troops in South Korea?
[15:10:07] You know, this is a president who in the past has raised questions over whether it's worth our while the American taxpayers' dollars
to have troops in South Korea troops in Japan. So those are the kind of big imponderables that I think people should be focused on as risks.
GORANI: You also have a very peculiar situation here for the United States, where there are vacant in your diplomat posts, most notably in
South Korea. There is no American ambassador to South Korea.
I mean, before the Iran nuclear talks, over hundreds and hundreds of pages of requests, demands, thousands of pages of research, months of
preparation. Here it appears as though, everything is being done adhoc and in an improvised way.
RUBIN: Yes, that seems to be President Trump and his team's approach to this. There is no ambassador. There is no North Korea expert. The most
senior expert on North Korea apparently has left and all that is a reality.
And remember, only once has an American senior official really met a North Korean leader when my former boss, Madeleine Albright, went to Pyongyang
back in 2000, she was hoping to set up a meeting with President Clinton and the North Korean leader.
So, these things have been done in the past, but certainly what's going on now is very much being done adhoc without that level of expertise and will
just have to see whether Donald Trump likes to do --
GORANI: But let me put it to you, though, Jamie, what if this is what's going to actually change things finally? I mean, you know, people who
criticize Donald Trump for acting in a rash and unpredictable way. Maybe he needs credit here, that he's finally shaking things up.
RUBIN: Well, absolutely. I'm not criticizing the president for going to the --
GORANI: But not you -- we've heard criticism before that his unconventional style embarrasses America and he does know what he's doing,
and he has no experts and no ambassadors. Maybe what this is what this crisis needed, just throwing that out there.
RUBIN: We shall see, I think is the best thing one can say to that. We shall see what happens if the meeting takes place, and I think where people
should look is the question of American troops in South Korea, the American alliance with South Korea.
And then the real complication for President Trump is what does China do. You know, up until now, China has been an ally of the United States in
denuclearization. But what if the North Korean leader says, well, I'll be can consider giving up those weapons if the United States pulls its troops
out of South Korea.
Then China is going to switch sides and they're going to be an ally of South -- North Korea. How will President Trump respond to that? So, these
are big mega questions of national security, international peace, America's alliances.
And I think it's important to put the atmospherics aside and try to focus on the substance. We are going to have a lot of talk about Trump is a
great negotiator. What we need to see is whether denuclearization can be put in a concrete form as you refer to it was in Iran.
That takes negotiators, it takes verification, all those things which cannot be done by one man in one room on one day.
GORANI: Jamie Rubin, as always thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate your time. We'll be talking more about this story little bit later in the
program.
But I do want to bring you up-to-date on what's going on in Salisbury, almost 200 British troops have now joined the police to investigate that
mysterious poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.
Authorities are treating Sunday's attack on the former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with a sophisticated nerve agent as
attempted murders. While suspected, they have not directly implicated Russia for the assaults in Salisbury.
Investigators do believe that the two were deliberately targeted. We heard that from police. They were both found slumped on a bench near a shopping
center. Initially, by the way, passersby thought maybe they were on drugs.
No idea the people walking passed them that in fact they've been poisoned. The Skripals and one police officer remained hospitalized in very serious
condition.
Now we have the very latest details and reactions to this mystery. Phil Black is in Salisbury, England. Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow where
authorities are warning the U.K. not to politicize the incident.
First of all, I want to get to you, Phil, and you have people in hazmat suits walking around Salisbury at a cemetery where the son of Sergei
Skripal is buried. What's going on there? Do they still worry that there is poisonous material in the air or material or substances that could
sickened or harm people in Salisbury?
PHIL BLACK, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Hala, because the public warning or advice all week really has
been that there is no ongoing threat to the wider community. But despite that, as you say, they are calling in the military, some 200 as you
mentioned there, a range of units from across the services.
[15:10:08] The Marines, the Army, the Air Force, various capabilities but some of them we know are chemical warfare and decontamination experts as
well. Now, the police there are saying they are bringing in these groups or they've requested this support, if you like, in order to deal with some
objects, some cars disposing with them.
So, clearly there is a contamination concern there. Maybe they are being very cautious, but that's what these units are coming here to do and you're
right, in addition to that, we saw forensic operations, guys in full protective suits operating at the local cemetery today, at the graves of
Sergei Skripal's wife and son.
Now his wife died in 2012 from cancer, according to a family friend. His son died just last year from liver failure at the age of 43. The police
say they are not looking to disturb the graves. They are not exhuming remains at this stage.
So, it appears that again they are simply concerned with the gravesites themselves. Perhaps looking for potential contamination there as well.
It's all part of the ongoing operation to try and determine how and where this nerve agent was deployed in recent days, the police investigated --
GORANI: Sorry to jump in, Phil, because -- we still don't know where this nerve agent came from? I mean, how it was administered or where it was
administered? Because they were in a restaurant before they were found slumped?
BLACK: That's exactly right. So, what we've heard is that they know what the nerve agent is. That it's rare, but they are not making that
information public. They felt ill finally, in the center of town after visiting a restaurant and pub, spending a few hours in the center of the
town there.
Those locations are still cordoned off. But here where I am, is at the end of Sergei Skripal's street. His house is just down the road out of sight
from where we are now and over the last couple of days, there's been a lot of activity at his house and the police line has moved further back down
the road to where we are just now.
So, there is much greater separation between the public in that location. It appears that the investigation in terms of just how it happened is very
much focusing on the house itself at the moment -- Hala.
GORANI: And Fred, there are reported -- there is a reported new connection between Salisbury were Phil Black and Moscow. What is it?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right. I mean, one of the things that the Russians have been
saying and did say over the past couple of years is that they believe that Sergei Skripal was recruited by an MI-6 agent, who was at an Embassy of
Britain in Eastern Europe.
And that he ran, Sergie Skripal, for several years until Skripal was then released from jail. Now one of the interesting things about all this and
apparently after this MI-6 agent that went into retirement, he seems to have moved to the same place that Sergei Skripal works in or lives in as
well.
And also, where he was then hit by that chemical agent. So, the Russians made all this public shortly after Sergei Skripal was arrested. I think it
was around 2007. There was even quite rare.
A press release by the FSB, by the intelligence service of the Russian Federation, blaming a specific officer of -- he was officially a British
diplomat, but they said that he was an officer of MI-6 for having recruited Skripal and then also having run him for a number of years.
So, certainly, there appears to be some sort of connection there. How deep that connection is certainly something will be very interesting for the
authorities also to look into is looking at what exactly happened there -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. Phil Black in Salisbury. Thanks to both of you. A lot more to come this evening, a big show of
unity from bitter political rivals in Kenya. Will it really accomplish anything? We are live in Nairobi?
And also, these exclusive images, a bird's eye view of one of the most war- ravaged regions of Syria. Our exclusive new footage from Afrin is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:20:16]
GORANI: The time has come to resolve our differences, that was the joint message from political rivals in Kenya today, the president, Uhuru
Kenyatta, and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, gave a joint television address.
Media reports say it was the first time they met publicly since the disputed presidential election last August. It came as the U.S. secretary
of state headed to the region. So, just how meaningful is this?
Farai Sevenzo joins me now live from Nairobi. So, Farai, this is important because there was some post-electoral violence. There have been some very
tense moments during the campaign as well. Will this heal many wounds in Kenya?
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, we don't know, but what I can tell you is that it's been a day of understanding between two men who
were bitter rivals for so long, (inaudible), as you said. (Inaudible) we saw Odinga have been running the election.
But the understanding today at (inaudible), Mr. Kenyatta's presidential offices was palpable. This is what Mr. Kenyatta had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UHURU KENYATTA, KENYAN PRESIDENT: We have come to a common understanding, an understanding that this country of Kenya is greater than any one
individual and that for this country to come together, leaders must come together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEVENZO: And Mr. Odinga for his part, Hala, went on to give many analogies about the situation of the country. He said they were like a ship out to
sea, which was sinking water and now they had to pull together to get the words out.
Otherwise, they will not go back (inaudible) destination and many, many people all over the city of Nairobi where we are (inaudible) incredible
that this has happened, but they have suffered this political kind of crisis since August, many of them without jobs, with companies were closing
because of the uncertainty.
And many were happy, but I have to say that many people within the Odinga's (inaudible) coalition just cannot believe what has happened. Now only 30
days ago, he was declaring himself the people's president.
Some of (inaudible) were being basically deported from the country even though they were Kenyans and many of his followers died in these protests
so at the moment we wait to see what plan the government and Mr. Odinga have to move this country forward and of course, it is a very new chapter
in the drama of these politics -- Hala.
GORANI: So, after all this bad blood, what made this happen now?
SEVENZO: Well, if I were to speculate in my humble opinion, you remember, of course, that today Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state landed in
Nairobi. He is here to talk about issues of security throughout the region. We always report to you about bombs in Mogadishu.
There are people all over Southern Somalia was, Kenyan defense forces in Nigeria where young girls have been picked up and disappeared and abducted,
and of course, in order to tackle the issue of security, how can they were -- how can Mr. Tillerson come here when these two men are constantly
fighting.
And of course, is that the protective nature of this political crisis (inaudible) CNN, Mr. Odinga swearing in was (inaudible) as a non-event, and
of course, his own party is driven with ambition (inaudible) when you and I were talking again about that new election when Mr. Kenyatta is no longer
in power.
GORANI: Farai Sevenzo, thanks very much live in Nairobi.
The Turkish president says his military is poised to enter the northern Syrian city of Afrin, a significant milestone in its bid to take control of
the region from Kurdish forces. It is intense violence and it made filming there very difficult.
[15:25:02] But in this exclusive new footage for the first time on CNN, we had a glimpse of what is left of Afrin, and I must warn you, there is some
disturbing footage towards the end of this piece.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI (voice-over): This used to be an ancient temple, famed for its carved stone lions that it survived intact for over 3,000 years. But now
exclusive new drone footage shows little of the Ain Dara Temple remains. The telltale scars of airstrikes in the green Syrian countryside.
Six weeks since Turkey began its offensive against Kurdish militia in the northern Syrian region of Afrin homes are leveled over 100 civilians
killed. Turkey insists it is targeting terrorists and trying to avoid civilian casualties.
Those who have the means to leave have packed up their belongings. But some like Muhammad feel they have no choice but to stay. Hiding inside
with his wife and 10 small children placing their faith, they say in God's hands.
Muhammad ALI, RESIDENT OF AFRIN REGION (through translator): Our faith in God is strong and we only see him. Of course, we fear for our children,
but where should we go, wherever we go is the same.
GORANI: His children too put on a brave face. They no longer flinch at the sound of explosions. For another family being treated at Afrin
hospital, tragedy has already struck, (inaudible) was in the kitchen cooking.
BANALSH IMMO, RESIDENT OF AFRIN REGION (through translator): I heard the sound of a shell falling in front of the door. It was dark. I went out and
saw my son, Ferat (ph). He lost his legs and hands, but he was still alive. My daughter was dead, and I took her out of the rubble.
GORANI: Three of their four children were killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): These children, what are they guilty of? Are they politicians? Are they military?
GORANI: In the morgue, their small bodies are prepared for burial, faced with the senseless loss of young life, a desperate cry for help.
Where is the USA? Where is Russia? Where are the human rights? What is happening to us? I call on the Germans to respond. This is a massacre in
Afrin. So far, no sign her call will be answered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: In response to the footage of Ain Dara Temple you saw at the beginning of this piece, the Turkish army said, quote, "Since the beginning
of the operation, the religious and cultural artifacts, historical artifacts and archaeological sites and facilities that serve for public
interest are definitely not among the target of the Turkish Armed Forces.
Still to come, President Trump's unorthodox methods have landed him in an unprecedented situation. He is now expected to meet with North Korea's
leader, but it is still raising so many more questions than it is providing answers.
Meanwhile, there's been swift condemnation of Mr. Trump on another front, tariffs, just part of global trade war. We'll discuss that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:56] GORANI: The last 24 hours have been pretty astonishing. The announcement of Donald Trump agreeing to meet North Korea's Kim Jong-un has
stunned the world. S you'd be forgiven if you forgot that this time yesterday, the U.S. president slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum
imports.
And remember this? It was the moment Mr. Trump signed those into law. This was despite a force of condemnation from international allies and
members of the president's own party. For now, Canada and Mexico won't have to pay the tariffs. Other American trading partners are waiting to
see if they'll be exempt too. Otherwise, they intend to hit back, and then we might get a global trade war.
Let's get out to Canada where steelmakers must be reading a sigh of relief. The country's, by far, is the biggest supplier of steel and aluminum to the
United States. Paula Newton is live in Ottawa.
So let's talks a little bit about -- so obviously Canada would exempt, so with Mexico. What would the impact of these tariffs be then if Canada is
the biggest exporter of aluminum to the United States?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they would have been completely devastating. And, Hala, full disclosure here. I'm a steel town
gal. I grew up in a steel town, I worked on a fast factory before for my summer job. Those jobs have been going for years and years and years.
Certainly the kind of demonstration that Donald Trump is complaining about and try to mitigate on his side, inside his borders which is America first
policy has happened across country, especially most acutely in North America.
Definitely a sigh of relief here from Canada. Having said that, they lobbied hard on Capitol Hill. And the problem is Donald Trump is basically
trying to put a gun to their head to negotiate with NAFTA. But if we just kind of broaden out here, even from Canada, and not to make too fine a
point about, but Canada has to trade. It's one of those countries that this economy will not go unless it's trade. It's already ratified an
agreement with Europe -- with Europe, has a good trade -- free trade with Europe. Just yesterday, they signed a transpacific partnership that Donald
Trump unilaterally pulled out of. That will be ratified in the next two years.
The point is this, the G7 comes here to Canada this year. The meeting will be in June. I'm sure you can bet that Justin Trudeau, he's already been on
the phone to people like President Macron, saying, look, how can we get trade back on the agenda and why? We want to avoid that trade war. And we
want to try and mitigate some of the structural problems that happened, when in fact the world rebalances in trade. When you have people have that
economic advantage of being a world leader and producing one thing, but that leaves another country with a delimitated industry on the other.
It was something that for decades really to be frank, has been overlooked by many politicians. And for these reasons, it's why Donald Trump found
that political sweet pot and what brought him to victory in 2018.
GORANI: But if Europe says -- if Europe -- if Europe is not exempt and the EU starts slapping tariffs, then levies on American products, iconic
products like a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I mean, this never works historically. All you have to do is look at every time countries have
tried protecting those tariffs and eventually never end up helping the economy. And by the way, we're showing the brands that the EU is
threatened to impose tariffs on. Harley-Davidson, Levi's and bourbon. Those three things go well together, by the way.
But, yes, they've got a whole lot more in Europe.
NEWTON: Remember, those are strategic. Those are political. The kind of retaliation that Canada has still in its pocket that you haven't disclosed.
But I can tell you that they are political. They hit where republicans are going to be hurt in elections. But that's a key point of this entire trade
war. It doesn't matter. I can be blew in the face giving anyone economic arguments about this, Hala. It doesn't matter. And I know that from the
kind of blue-collar town that I grew up in. When you are in these cities and towns and you are trying to win a congressional seat, the president,
trying to be reelected senators, they will go for anything that will give them that kind of political advantage and that's what they've done.
And I want to point out as well, there are some democrats that agree with Donald Trump and that's why you will continue to see this is an issue and
why people like Justin Trudeau want to bring it to a larger form.
[15:35:11] GORANI: And you got some fantastic news Donald Trump with better than expected jobless numbers in America. So he's had a pretty good
set of figures. Thanks very much, Paula Newton in Ottawa.
So as we mentioned with Paula, Canada and Mexico are exempt from the tariffs. And now the European Union is clamoring to join that list. If it
doesn't happen, the EU plans to retaliate. But the European Union is no stranger to taxing imports. CNN's Melissa Bell has that story from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The rumblings of war once again stirring Europe. But this time though of a trade war with the United States over
Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. In fact, the uproar here in Europe has been such that could be forgiven for
thinking that the EU doesn't impose tariffs of its own at all.
The truth is that thousands of them. In order to protect orange producers in Spain, for instance, those imported from Gabon, West Africa, has a 30
percent tariff slapped on them. And that's true of most of the fruits and vegetables that you'll see at this Parisian market. Take for instance,
these cashew nuts imported from Nigeria, they have had a 20 percent tax slapped on them.
Take also the cars that are parked outside the market or rather the steel from which they're made. Only last week, the European Union decided to
renew tariffs on Chinese steel imports. Some of those tariffs has high as 70 percent. The European Union's aim, to prevent cheap Chinese steel from
coming into Europe precisely the same reason invoked by Donald Trump to justify his tariffs. So, is the EU being hypocritical?
MATTHIAS FEKL, FORMER FRENCH TRADE MINISTER: When you implement tariffs, it's to respond to problems like dumping, to problems in labor laws, which
are not the same. And so it's to bring an answer to unfair trade. By the way if trade is fair, the U.S. must play the rules.
BELL: The European argument is that Donald Trump simply isn't playing by the rules, the rules that is of the World Trade Organization. And Europe
is worried that by flouting them, Donald Trump is endangering not just the global trade system itself, but also the transatlantic friendship on which
it was built. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All these tariffs and assumingly unilateral decision to meet with Kim Jong-un or just the latest examples of the U.S. president doing pretty
much whatever he wants, and it's usually in direct defiance of established norms and conventions. CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson
looks at Trump the great disruptor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will have to choice but to totally destroy North Korea.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: At the altar of democracy, the UN General Assembly.
TRUMP: Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.
ROBERTSON: Trump or Pence orthodoxy laying in to his enemy. North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-un punches right back, state media calls Trump an
old lunatic, and a dotard. Yet, less than six months later, Trump accepts Kim's call for face to face talks.
TRUMP: They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.
ROBERTSON: There have been times when Trump doubted his words were clear enough, even doubted his secretary of state's work for formal diplomacy.
Tweeting, "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with little Rocket Man."
Kim kept his rocket test coming (INAUDIBLE) creating a missile capable of reaching the United States armed with a nuclear bomb.
So what has changed even at New Year, both were boasting about nuclear buttons. So, has Trump's bombasts finally broke at the Hermit Kingdom's
resolve? Or has Trump simply been outmaneuvered by enemies and allies alike? Or was it South Korea's Winter Olympic diplomatic thaw that took
the chill of the relationship? Neither Russia nor China has been a water type partner enforcing U.S. sponsor sanctions on North Korea. Those
criticize Trump for bringing additional weapons to the region and running war games under Kim's nose.
Both want an end to U.S. militarization, they say is stepping on their turf.
[15:40:56] Yet so far, nothing indicates North Korea has changed and could be doing what it's done before. Playing for time to perfect its weapons.
Neither do we know what Kim wants to say at the talks, is this bottom-line admission to the international club of nuclear armed nations?
Both he and Trump utterly unpredictable. And it's quite possible both will merge from the talks declaring victory only for the relationship to return
to recriminations as the two great egos struggle to compromise over details. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, this has been a pretty remarkable week for Trump. There's North Korea, tariffs, good jobs numbers, a porn star suing him. Let's get
the latest and discuss all of this with Doug Heye, a political commentator for CNN, a republican strategist, and former RNC communications director.
He's live from Washington.
First, your take on this announcement that the president is ready to meet face to face with Kim Jong-un and then his press secretary Sarah Sanders
walking that back a little bit, saying that some preconditions has to be met. What was going on in your opinion?
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's been greeted in Washington, I would say with some optimism and a lot of concern as well.
We know that, so often, in the past, North Korea has been ready to be at the table, always at the table so that they could not only have the
meeting, but claim credit or claim victory just for having the meeting. Some folks were optimistic that this is a different path and maybe it's
time to do a different path.
As long as we know that -- as Richard Nixon back in 1980, that if you're going to have these kinds of meetings that you already know, not only what
the outcome you want to be, but what the outcome will be. That's where the concern really comes in, when the president's own staff has been caught by
surprise and this has also happened with the tariffs and ultimately as well to some extent, that's where the concern sets in.
If we have an object that we've identified as what we want out result to be and a plan to get there, I think a lot of people, even those democrats on
foreign policy didn't necessarily support President Trump, will give him some leeway on this. But it's going to be one that's front with concern at
the same time.
GORANI: But you could argue they do know what they want the outcome to be. They want full denuclearization.
HEYE: Well, there's also in the real world of what may actually happen and what North Korea has said all along. They've always said that to some
extent, oh, we'll be willing to have these talks and then nothing ever actually comes from them. They claim credit. That's the difference here.
And it's why people are giving him again, a very short leash, but a leash to do something little different than what's been done in the past, because
we know if Republican and Democratic administrations, what we've done in the past with North Korea hasn't gotten us anywhere.
GORANI: No, not only that it's made the situation worst.
HEYE: Yes, exactly. And certainly even on the -- on the democratic side, certainly, but even with a lot of republicans, there had been a lot of
confidence in Donald Trump on foreign policy. And certainly given the unpredictable nature of how he's govern or how he's lashed out either at
adversaries or our allies, there's been a concern. But again, we know that we've done in the past hasn't worked, it's made things more difficult.
It's maybe time to try something a little different. We'll see if they're fully planned and ready to implement something though.
GORANI: Right. Now, it's not every day that you can report that a porn star is suing a sitting U.S. president, but that's what's going on. And
it's interesting that that's not even really the biggest headline two days after it happened. The potential impacts on the president himself, do you
think anything at all?
HEYE: I think we don't know yet. It depends on what more is out there. There certainly more names that have popped up. If there are pictures,
that's going to radically change things. If Melania has some kind of a public reaction, if she were to move out of the White House for instance or
say something publicly against the president, that would certainly have a reaction.
Otherwise, we know American politics are so stratified and so polarized, Trump supporters are going to be with Trump through thick and thin. Trump
opponents have decided that they're never going to do anything to work with this White House. Their messages resist. So it's hard for there to be any
real change short of the story changing, which is really remarkable in American politics. The headline itself you would think would be
disqualifying. But as we saw in the last weeks of the 2016 campaign, things that a lot of people, I'll put my hand up, a lot of people thought
will be disqualifying for Trump to win, really didn't matter on election day.
GORANI: Sure. Including that "Access Hollywood" tape.
Tariffs now and good job numbers. I want to bring that up, because they were better than expected over 300,000 job creations, in February, the
unemployment rate steady at 4.1 percent. We're also seeing an increase in wages across the board in the United States. And now, I think for those
opponents of President Trump, it's becoming more and more difficult to argue that this is just a continuation of Obama era policy. Obviously, you
could argue that it's the promise of deregulation, that's a whole host of things that Donald Trump embraces, that is causing perhaps companies to
hire more. But are they hiring more?
[15:45:19.] HEYE: Sure.
GORANI: So this has to be great news for the Trump administration.
HEYE: It's absolutely great news that there's more hiring, that wages are rising. It's do -- and part to deregulation. It's doing part to the tax
bill. But here's the challenge for the Trump administration, Hala, is this great news doesn't always get through to the voters, because what else do
we talk about? Instability with North Korea, what may or may not happen with the meeting. The porn star lawsuit. Whether or not --
GORANI: But isn't it always about the economy though, Doug? We've heard that time and time again, and it proves to be true every time. If the
economic numbers are good, usually the incumbent is safe, right? I mean, not always, but you know.
HEYE: No, absolutely. But what we've seen -- typically the first for this month, they weren't on the first Friday. Typically the first Friday of the
month at 8:30, when the jobs numbers are out. We don't talk about them all that much, because there's some kind of a self-created outrage du jour from
this White House. And what the best thing the White House can do, every first Friday, but also in general, is get out of its own way. There's a
lot of good news at this administration to be talking about.
Not just to it's based on some social issues or on judges and so forth, but on economics that resonate throughout the country. If they stay out of
their way and drive that message home, if Donald Trump tweets about jobs numbers and a growing economy, instead of the mirror of other things that
he tweets about, it would guarantee that that's what we focused on more than anything else and would really help, not only his cause, but that the
congressional Republicans is there moving towards their reelection campaigns in November.
GORANI: I'm pretty sure you won't stop tweeting though, Doug.
HEYE: No, but if you can just tweet in a more discipline way, I think his White House should be much happier.
GORANI: Doug Heye, thanks so much. Have a great weekend.
HEYE: You too, thank you.
GORANI: Still to come, women around the world are demanding equal rights and they want them right now. But in ancient Egypt, they didn't have to.
We'll explain, its' ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: here's an interesting factoid. Back in ancient Egypt, women didn't have to fight so hard for equality. They walk side by side with men
on equal footing, it seems. A museum in Turin, Italy has special exhibits that displays ancient Egypt's dedication to women's rights. Here's the
eye-opening report by Ben Wedeman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She lives some 3,400 years ago, Merit was a woman of means. The wife of the architect, Kha, she
enjoyed all the trappings of wealth during Egypt's new kingdom. Her wig of human hair, her jewelry, and toiletries, her sumptuous sarcophagus are all
on display in Turin's Museo Egizio or Egyptian Museum. Founded in 1824, it's the world's first museum dedicated to ancient Egypt.
[15:50:10.] Merit and other Egyptian women enjoyed not just wealth, they also possess a rare commodity in the ancient world, equality.
"They could divorce, they could own property," says Egyptologist Valentina Santini. They had many rights that women in subsequent civilizations
didn't have.
Artwork from the time shows wife and husband are equal, side by side arms entwined. The Egyptian pantheon was full of fearsome goddesses like
Sekhmet, it means the powerful one. With the head of a lioness and a body of a woman.
There was no segregation, no seclusion, no veiling, quite to the contrary.
When the Greek historian, Herodotus, visited Egypt in the 5th century BC, and was shocked to find that women and men had almost equal rights, he
wrote that the Egyptian seem to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind.
Ancient Egypt was well ahead of its time, says museum director, Christian Greco.
CHRISTIAN GRECO, DIRECTOR OF THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN TURIN: Women in Greece, actually, had to stay at home and, well, take care of the
household, but they didn't really have a role in society. We can say that the ancient Egypt was very well developed in that concern.
WEDEMAN: That bothered Herodotus, according to Museo Egizio Foundation president, Evelina Christillin
EVELINA CHRISTILLIN, PRESIDENT, MUSEO EGIZIO FOUNDATION: So probably he was quite upset by, I think, what was happening just next door, because
maybe great women could take an idea and try to get the same opportunities that their Egyptian colleague had.
WEDEMAN: It's been time's up for a very, very long time. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Turin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Next week, CNN is partnering with young people around the world for a student-led day of action against modern-day slavery. It's on March
14th. And we're asking people what freedom means to them. Here's what a high school student in America had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom to me is to be able to go out in public and not have to worry about getting pursued by any, like, male or female or
anyone, and not having to worry about I'm going to be able to go home and see my family at night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And you can share your story too, using the hashtag, #myfreedomday. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI (voice-over): Well, it seems no one can resist the opportunity for a good selfie. This pair of penguins were just chilling on the South Pole
before stumping on a camera left by a research. The curious chaps didn't waste any time testing out all the angles or the lighting to achieve that
perfect selfie. And they're like, what was that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Imagine being able to predict where an outbreak of a deadly disease will occur next. That's what one young inventor set out to do,
after his own mother was struck by illness. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this episode of Tomorrow's Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Outbreaks of dengue fever can ravage entire communities in developing countries. But not if
you detect the disease early on. That's why Tomorrow's Hero Rainier Mallol is working to ensure these types of outbreaks can be contained.
RAINIER MALLOL, INNOVATOR: When I was 14 years old, my mother was infected by a disease called dengue. If it's not treated fast, it actually kind of
lead to death.
I wasn't able to do anything. I was powerless.
My name is Rainier Mallol and I'm 26 years old. My invention is a platform that allows public health professionals to predict where the next outbreak
is going to happen, effectively allowing them to save resources and save more lives.
Everything that you see when you open the platform is this big colorful map of the current situation of the location which you are in. So for the case
of dengue, you can see in the map the people that were infected. The current outbreaks that are active in the area. The predictions for the
next three months. Of a new case is reported, it automatically goes to the platform.
We have a system that obtains 276 different variables. When you take all of those variables, and we put them in artificial intelligence that is able
to understand patterns. It analyzes the data, but most importantly it gives you a prediction with more than an 88 percent of accuracy.
If you don't know when or where the next outbreak is going to happen, then you invest resources blindly costing more and being less effective.
So now, public health officials have very strong weapon against multiple diseases.
This is only the beginning. Dengue is just a start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani, stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
