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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump, Kim Jong-un Summit May Not Happen In June; Journalists To Witness Dismantling Of Test Site; CEO Zuckerberg Testifies Before E.U.; White House Briefing. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 22, 2018 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:30]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN's Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Lynda Kinkate sitting in for Hala Gorani.
Tonight, Donald Trump just met with South Korea's president at the White House. He says the North Korean summit might work out or it might not.
Also, ahead, more massive plumes of thick smoke in Hawaii as the molten lava heat the cold ocean water.
And fresh off their star-studded wedding, Harry and Meghan take part in their first event as a married couple.
We begin tonight with the fate of President Trump and Kim Jong-un's historic summit hanging in the balance. It comes after a remarkable scene
in the Oval Office. The U.S. president sitting next to his South Korean counterpart answering questions for more than 30 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, North Korea was top of the agenda. That summit is due to take place in Singapore in just a few weeks. But President Trump seemed to
indicate that it may not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There is a chance that it will work out. There's a chance. Theirs is a very substantial
chance that it won't work out. I don't want to waste a lot of time and I am sure he does not want to waste a lot of time.
So, there's a very substantial chance that it will not work out and that's' OK. That does not mean it will not work out over a period of time, but it
may not work out for June 12th. But there is a good chance that we'll have the meeting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, just a few minutes later, the president was saying that he could guarantee Kim Jong-un's safety if the talks go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will guarantee his safety. Yes, we will guarantee his safety and we've talked about that from the beginning. He will be safe.
He will be happy. His country will be rich. His country will be hard- working and very prosperous. They are very great people. They are hard- working great people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Let's go now to Washington. Our correspondent, Paula Hancocks in Seoul, is there for us live. Paula, the president seemed to support the
skepticism that we heard all day today that this meeting may or may not go ahead. He sounded skeptical but competent and hopeful.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Lynda. The fact is we have heard him before saying that it may not happen.
He may will walk out half through, but this is already clearest indication we have had that said that it may not happen on June 12th.
That timeframe might simply be too close. The U.S. president saying that it could happen then, but if it does not, it doesn't mean it's not going to
happen. It could happen shortly afterwards.
Now clearly, that wasn't what the president of South Korea sitting next to him wanted to hear. He is determined to make this happen as he's staked
his credibility on this diplomatic activity working. He's really the driving force in pushing the North Koreans and the United States together.
So, clearly, President Moon is here to try and convince the U.S. president that it can go ahead on time, actually be fruitful as we're hearing that
some U.S. officials around Trump worry that it won't be fruitful. They are becoming more skeptical about it.
They're worried that actually Moon may have overplayed just how willing the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un is to denuclearization. So, there was
some question marks over that. But what we heard from the South Korean side on the way over here, on the plane, the national security chief of
South Korea saying it's 99.9 percent certain that this summit will go ahead. So, we're really hearing very different things from both sides --
Lynda.
KINKADE: It was interesting to note, Paula, that the president didn't lay in on whether he had spoken directly to Kim Jong-un already, but as you
mentioned he spoke glowingly of the South Korean president and his efforts to try to make this summit happen. Is the South Korea and the U.S. aligned
on what they want to get out of this summit?
HANCOCKS: I think the question in really around this word of self- denuclearization when it comes to South Korea, they want to feel secure. They don't want to go back to where we were last year, and tensions were
incredibly high on the peninsula in 2017.
There were some serious concerns in South Korea among South Korean officials that Trump's threats of a military strike against North Korea may
not just be bluff and bluster that it could actually happen. So, that's the priority for the South Koreans not to go back to that position of 2017.
From the United States' point of view, from the U.S. President Donald Trump, he wants a win from this summit. He wants to be able to have a
headline at the end of it and say he has been successful.
[15:05:02] Now he does want full denuclearization. He did mention in this meeting with President Moon that he would like it to be all in one
presumably meaning the stage-by-stage negotiation and stage-by-stage denuclearization is not his favorite option.
He's not excluding other options, but that would be what he wants. But quite frankly, most experts do not expect Kim Jong-un to agree to this all
in one denuclearization. In fact, most experts don't think that Kim Jong- un will even agree to completely denuclearize -- Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Absolutely. Paula Hancocks for us in Washington, D.C. Good to have you there for us. Thank you.
Well, President Trump and indeed President Moon have a lot of political capital on this upcoming summit, but there is also one big regional player
with a lot of say in the outcome, China. President Trump is not particularly happy with their input at this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will say I am a little disappointed because when Kim Jong-un had the meeting with President Xi in China, the second meeting.
The first meeting we knew about the second meeting. I think there was a little change in attitude from Kim Jong-un. So, I do not like that. I do
not like that. I do not like it from the standpoint of China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, let's get more on all of this. I'm joined by Fang, a former senior advisor at the U.S. State Department and a visiting professor
at Georgetown University. Always great to speak to you and get your perspective.
I want to start first on that point that Donald Trump made about China. He went on to say that President Xi, has a, quote, "world class poker face."
That only sounded like he was really pointing the finger of blame at China for the changing attitude that we've seen coming out of North Korea.
BALBINA HWANG, VISITING PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: It was rather interesting that he would make such a blatant point about that. I'm not
quite sure why he would say that in advance, especially coming on the heels of a rather quite a turnaround very, very interesting week in which we saw
that he has been playing quite hardball with China on trade.
First, we saw that he was talking tough with China on trade and then he turned right around, and it made such a stunning turnaround on ZTE and the
now he is saying this about China on North Korea.
So, we are really not sure what he is thinking. Yes, we have to understand that North Korea is sending these messages for multiple reasons and I think
that is probably true. What North Korea was saying last week when North Korea sent these messages was for two multiple players, for multiple
reasons. I think that that is correct.
KINKADE: President Trump also made some pretty big promises today saying that the U.S. would guarantee Kim Jong-un's safety if these talks go ahead
as planned and promising to make North Korea great. It sounded like a last-ditch sales pitch to get Kim Jong-un to the table.
HWANG: I think that that is right. And we have to remember, President Trump is who he is. He is the great negotiator. He's never tried to be
anything otherwise. Remember, this is who the American people elected, and this is what the world got. You know, we go back to what his book is, and
you know, this is the reality star that the American people elected.
KINKADE: But the question is can that translate into real diplomatic policy and debate here given what is at stake. We heard that the U.S. Vice
President warned North Korea said don't try Donald Trump, which makes it sound like he can be played.
HWANG: Well, you know, I think this is exactly what President Trump though is exactly doing. He is raising the stakes. This is what the fire and
fury speech was all about. This is what the rocket man rhetoric was all about.
And then he essentially did tone it down, what we saw in several weeks ago when he -- when he eventually praised Kim Jong-un by calling him a
gentleman, honorable. This is after the inter-Korean summit.
He essentially did not -- when Kim Jong-un released the three American detainees, and after the inter-Korean summit, Kim Jong-un has not
essentially done any provocations, has not launched any missiles.
And North Korea has essentially no rhetoric has not done any provocations, and so I think the United States has shown its part by toning down its
rhetoric and the United States for its part, has done exactly what North Korea has expected, which is to say, given what North Korea wanted, which
is security guarantees. That's exactly what President Trump stated today, guaranteed security.
[15:10:10] KINKADE: All right. Balbina Hwang, we'll have to see how this plays out if this summit does indeed take place in the coming weeks. Good
to have you with us. Thanks so much.
HWANG: Thank you.
KINKADE: While all that, of course, is going on in the White House, thousands of miles away in a remote area of North Korea, Kim Jong-un is
seemingly fulfilling a goodwill gesture ahead of that planned summit. He invited journalists to witness the destruction of a nuclear test site.
CNN's Will Ripley is one of those journalists and had quite a trek ahead of him as you can see from this map, it is pretty far out of the way. The
latest on his journey so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, we are in Beijing about to board our flight into North Korea. We were told that we are
flying to Wansang (ph), but our tickets say Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. So, I guess, we will find out on the plane.
This will be my 18th trip to North Korea, but I can already tell you it's a lot different from any trip previously. One, because we are taking a
charter flight in and two, all of the press interest, we walked in the airport, we were surrounded by media, who are not on this trip.
As far as who is on the trip, I'm counting maybe a dozen half of us on this bus. Maybe they will be more press inside, but it is a small group to go
see the -- what we are told will be the dismantlement of the nuclear test site.
This is something I never I'd see in the Pyongyang "Times," the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shaking hands with the North Korean leader,
Kim Jong-un, and the article is overwhelmingly positive.
So, here we are in Wansang and this is the newly renovated airport. They have built this up and implicating a surge of tourism. They are building a
lot of hotels along the coast, but as far as we can tell, we are the only flight today.
We are the only guests here at this North Korean luxury hotel and this is a city I visited before just under a year ago when they were launching
missiles from Wansang, now they are building a luxury resort along the beach, hoping to attract more tourists, hoping this country will open up.
But before that happens, they need to take steps towards denuclearization and that is why we have been invited here to witness what we are told will
be the destruction of the nuclear test site at (inaudible).
We'll travel 12 hours or so by train another four-hour drive and then an hour-long hike to get to a site that no foreign journalists have never seen
before. We are told we will witness the destruction of this site. Is at all for show or the North Koreans really taking substantive steps?
That's what we are here on the ground trying to find out. I'm Will Ripley reporting in Wansang, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Facebook chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said he's sorry for data breaches at the European Parliament in Brussels today. The format
where lawmakers post questions that Zuckerberg answered at the end and he avoided any kind of cross-examination.
It left several E.U. Parliamentary members pretty angry and frustrated. We are following the story from Brussels with CNN Money's business and
technology correspondent, Samuel Burke. Good to have you with us, Samuel. The Facebook CEO has suddenly apologized several times over several things,
but there was no cross-examination, how did this compare to the grilling he got in the U.S.?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, what a missed opportunity here in the European Parliament especially because the
questions were much tougher from the members here than they were in the United States.
Very poignant questions, well thought out questions, and what really intrigued me was the fact that the European Parliament members were
actually tag teaming with U.S. politicians. They named senators saying this senator asked this question, but you did follow up with it, so I am
going to repeat it now.
So, here you had people who had really done their research, really displayed a strong knowledge of privacy questions. They asked so many
solid questions about fake news, about foreign interference, about the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
But this format that you referenced meant that there was an hour of very good questions from the members and at the end, there is this type of
monologue from Mark Zuckerberg, and is even frustrated the members of Parliament who had to agree to this format.
This is the traditional format. It is not something that Mark Zuckerberg just came up with but listen as anger really boiled over with the format.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK CEO: I'll make sure that we follow up with each of you afterwards to make sure that your specific questions get addressed
and we're going to have someone come to do a full hearing soon to answer more of the technical questions as well. So, thank you again for inviting
me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there was one question raised by (inaudible) that's link to my question, and that's the separation of different services
and I think it is a very important question this round.
[15:15:11] The market power of Facebook and the question, if you cross use, for example, data between Facebook and WhatsApp, so it would be good to say
at least one worked to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you allow users to escaped (inaudible). I mean, I asked you six yes and no questions, I got not a single answer. And, of
course, while you ask for this format, well, for a reason.
ZUCKERBERG: I'll make sure we follow up and get you answers to those.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: So, Lynda, you had all of the right ingredients, maybe the best ingredients possible, but just not the right recipe to get meaningful
answers from Mark Zuckerberg. At least not that we are seeing publicly. They are promising that they are going to follow up with written responses.
KINKADE: Yes, really an odd format. Clearly, Facebook hoping it would work in their favor, but despite the lack of debate, he did promise more
transparency when it comes to elections and that, of course, is a major concern not just here in the U.S., but right around the world.
BURKE: Zuckerberg admitted that they were too late in 2016 realizing what he said the Russians did on his platform, but you heard him going back to
these elections over and over again. I think there are really two reasons here.
Number one, these are going to be moneymakers for Facebook, just like we've seen political ads, on television, local television be huge moneymakers
over the years. Facebook knows this is a place where they can make real bank.
But at the same time, they know that this is the target not just the people who want to carry out foreign interference in election, possibly the
Russians in the United States, for example, but he kept on coming back and saying that he did not believe based on what he had seen from his own team
that really so much of the fake news that we see is foreign interference.
And a lot of it is money based. So, he said they need to be doing a lot more in transparency when it comes to elections, but that they need to make
sure that fake accounts are off of Facebook so that the fake news doesn't spread, and he kept on saying those are people majorly in its totality --
were nearly in its totality going after money, not necessarily political influence.
KINKADE: All right. Samuel Burke for us, good to have you on that story. Thanks so much.
I want to go now to the White House for the press briefing where Sarah Huckabee Sanders is speaking. Let's listen in.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- this month after a review of his transcripts from the late 1940s, showed he completed enough
courses to qualify for an associates degree. As the president said in his letter to Bob, his hard work, diligence and passion to learn exemplify the
greatest generation's commitment to excellence in the American spirit.
As you know, the president took a number of questions earlier, so we'll keep this short today, and with that I'll start with Jonathan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you agree with the South Korean official who say there would be a 99 percent chance that the summit with Kim Jong-un comes
off? And how will the president ultimately make the decision about whether or not to go?
SANDERS: The president addressed this earlier directly to you and said that we'll see what happens. We continue to prepare for the summit and if
they want to meet we will certainly be ready and the president I think rightly stated that if North Korea agrees to denuclearize it can be a
bright future for them. We remain clear out in these negotiations, but we continue to prepare, and we'll see what happens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What preconditions does he have? What does he see that the North Koreas have to do to make that trip? Was it premature to make
those coins commemorating the summit?
SANDERS: So, on the first part of your question, the president has laid out what he wants to see as a commitment to denuclearization. That has not
changed. In terms of the coins, this is not something that the White House has anything to do with. We don't have any input on the design, the
process, this is a standard procedure by the White House communications agency, which is made up exclusively of career military officials and these
coins are designed and done by that organization. Pamela?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Sarah. Why would the U.S. guarantee the safety of a dictator whose regime is a serial rights abuser and is
responsible for the recent death of an American college student? Why is that the morally right thing to do?
SANDERS: Again, the goal and the purpose of these conversations would be to have complete and total denuclearization of the peninsula. The
president has been up front about that part of the conversation and we're going to continue to move forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a follow-up really quickly.
SANDERS: Sorry, I'm going to keep moving because we're going to be really short today. Major, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talk about preparations for the summit. Can you describe for us how the president himself is personally preparing? Who is
he working with, how much time does he devote on a daily basis to get ready for the underlying themes, questions and difficulties of a summit of this
magnitude?
[15:20:11] SANDERS: As you all know, he spent a significant amount of time meeting both in person and having regular phone conversations with other
world leaders like you saw today with South Korean President Moon as well as he has constant and regular meetings with his national security team.
This is something they talk about on a daily basis and will continue to in preparation. Jordan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Sarah. I want to ask about this meeting regarding documents that they've requested about the Russian investigation.
Can you say what specific documents the lawmakers will be allowed to see? Chairman Nunes has requested all documents related to intelligence source.
Will he get to see all of the documents?
SANDERS: That's something that you would have to ask the Department of Justice. I can tell you the president asked Chief of Staff Kelly to set up
the meeting. It is set to take place on Thursday this week. The individuals expected to attend are Chairman Nunes, Chairman Gowdy, FBI
Director Wray, DNI Director Coates and DOJ official, Ed O'Callahan. No one from the White House staff will attend. Blake?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Sarah. The North Koreans are bringing in journalists to view what they say is a dismantling of a nuclear test site.
If the administration believes that site is already damaged as some are alleged to believe and what exactly are the administration's response on
this?
SANDERS: I don't have anything that I can comment on that at this front. Steven?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us what was the outcome of the discussions between the South Korean president and President Trump today about the size
and cost of U.S. troops in South Korea?
SANDERS: The focus, at least in the meeting that I was in, that specifically did not come up but certainly conversations primarily centered
around preparations towards the scheduled summit. Darlene?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said no one from the White House staff will attend the meeting on Thursday. Does that not mean that the chief of staff
would not attend?
SANDERS: He's charged with coordinating and making sure it took place but at this point is not expected to attend. Michael?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you respond to why no Democrats would be at that meeting? The Democrats have said they think it's inappropriate to have a
meeting set up with just Republicans and the Justice Department. Would the White House welcome Democrats to be at that meeting?
SANDERS: We'll keep you posted. My understanding is they haven't been the ones requesting this information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say to the extent that the White House is brokering a deal between the Justice Department and --
SANDERS: I hardly call brokering a deal to help coordinate a meeting and help Congress receive information that they've requested. To my knowledge
the Democrats have not requested that information. So, I would refer you back to them on why they would consider themselves randomly invited to see
something they've never asked to. Jeff?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah, the president spoke at length this morning about his vision or solutions to dealing with Chinese company, ZTE. Both
Republicans and Democrats on the Hill are criticizing that saying he is bowing to pressure from Beijing. Senator Schumer called it a wet noodle
solution. What's the White House's response to that?
SANDERS: The U.S. and China relationship has a number of issues that were constantly having conversations, national security trade, ZTE is one of
those. This is something the president has asked Commerce to look into and he's outlined some possible actions against ZTE by Commerce, but at this
point, they're still in discussion and there's nothing else to add beyond what the president already said this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he respond to their criticism of what they have said on Capitol Hill?
SANDERS: Like I said a few times before, Senator Schumer is not somebody this White House is probably ever going to take advice from on how to
negotiate. We'll get a good deal on anything particularly based on his track record. And certainly, I think his weakness when it comes to China.
We finally have a president who is actually calling out China on their unfair trade practices and not just calling them out, but actually doing
something about it and aggressively pushing forward in negotiations, something that we haven't seen in decades and so Senator Schumer is
probably the last person we would call and ask for on how to make a deal. Anita?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to change topic. I wanted to get your comment on this incident that happened at the EPA earlier today. They were
having a national summit on water contaminants. At least two reporters were barred from going into the event and one was forcibly removed. I
wonder of you had a comment if you approve of how that was handled?
[15:25:04] SANDERS: Certainly, we'll look into the matter. I've seen the reports. I know EPA has put out a statement. At this point, I'd refer you
to them as we look into the incident. I don't have a lot of visibility since certainly we weren't there, and we are in other meetings here. But
something we are certainly going to look into. But at this point, I'd refer you to the statement the EPA put out. Again, I can't speak to a
situation I don't have a lot of visibility into, but I would refer back to their statements -- Steven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president in the oval office said he was disappointed that after his second meeting with Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un
seemed to have a change of attitude. Does the White House have any theories as to why that might be? Is China a spoiler and why?
SANDERS: The president spoke to this directly. There's nothing else to add at this point. Mike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you add more about the president's comments, you said that China, South Korea and Japan were willing to invest very large
sums of money into North Korea? Can you add anything more to that? Is the U.S. planning to add to that very large sum and describe what kind of money
is he talking about?
SANDERS: I don't have anything to add beyond the president's comments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you talk at all about what President Moon said about Kim -- about the new tenor coming out of Pyongyang, what President
Trump learned in the meeting with President Moon.
SANDERS: We felt the conversations today were productive and again, we're going to continue in preparation. We'll see what happens. Alice?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To follow up on Anita and then a question to you, is there any situation barring a security incident in which you feel the White
House feels it is appropriate to physically touch or physically handle --
SANDERS: I'm not going to weigh into random hypotheticals that may or may not exist. I don't know any information about the specific incident.
You're asking me to speak to blanket possibilities, which I'm not going to do, nor would I never ask you to do. John, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Sarah. There's been considerable discussion back and forth about the tenure of Speaker Ryan, whether he will relinquish
his gavel early and have a new election of a speaker before the elections. Conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill made it clear that they want Ryan to
stay.
Congressman Warren Davidson said that's unfair to the new members coming in and he also said that there should be a discharge position, so members can
have an up-and-down vote on repeal of the Affordable Care Act and immigration. Does the president agree with the statements of Congressman
Davidson?
SANDERS: I haven't spoken with him specifically about that statement, so I wouldn't want to weigh in on that right now. John.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president earlier today spoke about the protections he's prepared to offer to Kim Jong-un not only personally but also for his
country. In preparing for these meetings and when the summit date actually takes place, does human rights take any consideration in the meeting that
the president will have with Kim Jong-un?
SANDERS: I'm not going to get ahead of the discussion that the president and Kim Jong-un could have, but certainly we would expect that would come
up and be addressed. Charlie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Following up on John's earlier question, does the president back Speaker Ryan's decision to stay in office until after the
election or is he concerned that there's maybe a period of time when he's not getting as much done as he could serving as a lame duck speaker?
SANDERS: Yes, at this point, that's something for Speaker Ryan and members of Congress to make that determination, not something that the White House
has weighed into at this point. Francesca.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Sarah. We heard from President Trump before that meeting with President Moon, but after sitting down with him,
does President Trump feel more like the summit is worth having and that it will happen? And what is the White House's drop-dead date so to speak for
deciding whether or not to go to the summit?
SANDERS: Again, we're going to continue to prepare and we'll see what happens. There's really nothing more to add beyond that at this point.
Ben?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Sarah. I wanted to ask --
KINKADE: You've just been listening to the U.S. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asked predominantly about the upcoming summit between Kim
Jong-un and President Trump. She, again, reiterated the president's comments earlier today by saying that we'll see what happens, but we are
making preparations for that meeting.
She was also asked about the president's plan to investigate the investigation that's ongoing right now the fact that the allegations of an
FBI spy in the Trump campaign. We are going to have much more on that story. For now we are going to take a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:16] LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Welcome back. Well, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, better known as Prince Harry and Meghan, made
their first public debut as a married couple just a few hours ago. They attended an event and marked the 70th birthday of Prince Harry's father,
Prince Charles. The royal couple have not yet celebrated their honeymoon, the location and date haven't even been revealed.
Joining me for more in all of this is our royal commentator, Kate Williams. Good to have you with us, Kate. Good to see you. The royal couple stepped
out today, the first time we've seen them since that beautiful wedding. And to celebrate Prince Charles' birthday, six months before his actual
birthday.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: It is six months before his birthday. He is having the big one, the big birthday. The big 70 in
November. But there's a series of summer garden parties throughout the summer. Usually, the queen hosts them, but this one has specifically
hosted by Prince Charles to celebrate his charity work. There were 6,000 people there from all these different charities. Many about conservation,
the natural environment, all kinds of things including (INAUDIBLE) including one that fosters dry stone walling. But it seemed to be a
wonderful occasion and it was just marvelous to see how relaxed, how in love Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are.
KINKADE: And it was a day to mark the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing. How is -- how were the victims on it in the first
respondents?
WILLIAMS: Yes, we've had a lot of memories today of those killed in the tragic Manchester bombing, 22 were killed during the Ariana Grande concert.
And Prince William is absolutely (INAUDIBLE) today, so he wasn't to the garden party. But at this garden party, 250 members of the armed forces
with there, those who risked their lives to try and ensure survivors and Prince Harry in his speech to Prince Charles, he gave this wonderful
touching birthday speech to Prince Charles where he celebrated their heroism and the fact that if it wasn't for them, there'll be many more
causalities than we just have.
KINKADE: Yes, that certainly would be. Well, after the last royal wedding, there were instances where we saw guest auctioning off old wedding
cake and this time around, since this wedding, people actually auctioning off their goodie bags.
WILLIAMS: Yes, the goodie bags. Well, these are the goodie bags with people who are on the grass outside. So there were charity workers. Some
of them there were so much of bombing survivors there. All kinds of people who have given a lot in charity to this country. They were on the grasp in
the chapel and they've got goodie bags containing a gold coin with Harry and Meghan on it and some short word and a bottle of water and these had
been auctioning off on eBay for a huge sum. And certainly there has been some controversy in this country saying, well, I mean, these were given for
free, so why are they going on eBay?
[15:35:02] But I do think that certainly these people, many of them saying they're giving the money to charity with it. But certainly if you give a
special royal, limited edition bag, it probably ends up on the internet quite for sale.
KINKADE: Yes. I have seen some of the prices, up to $4,000 to some of those. Those goodie bags.
WILLIAMS: That's an expensive piece of chocolates.
KINKADE: And expensive water bottle.
Kate Williams, good to have you with us. Thank you.
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.
KINKADE: Well, from T2s and rail workers to know who's the traffic controllers, public sector employees in France went on strike today
bringing many services to a halt nationwide. Civil servants protested the government's economic reforms and cost cutting proposals much as talk,
taste riot across the countries. More than a dozen arrests reported in Paris.
Well, let's get the very latest now from Paris. Our Melissa Bell joins us live. Melissa, this is the third nationwide protests since President
Macron was elected. And people not only protesting against his reforms, but also the way he's going about it.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Lynda. I mean, in a sense the key to Emmanuel Macron's success so far, certainly his success in
his own terms which is reforming France. This is what he had stated he wanted to do when his economy been through this. This was the heart of his
campaign as a candidate and this was always going to be what his presidency was about and his success in the years that he's been in office so far and
pushing through reforms that has been attempted in the past, Lynda, but there's no other president has managed to see through all the way, has
really been this new technique that he's employed which is a series of consolations with unions. He sits down with them, he talks to them, the
government speaks to them. And in the end, the statutes were published largely circumventing parliament than any real political opposition. This
is how in the end he gets even controversial reforms too.
So today, the public - the public servants who are one of the many groups of French societies that had been protesting the changes that Emmanuel
Macron wants to see through were saying not only we object to those forms themselves which will largely change the way we're paid and the way we
function, but also the way that the government has been putting them through. And really this is something you've seen a great deal of anger on
the streets, not just of Paris but in France. There were 130 cities in which these protests took place today, Lynda. But people saying, look, we
feel that this government is going too far. We feel that it's being too brutal and that France is becoming something we simply don't recognize
anymore.
KINKADE: So these protests impacting obviously flights, transport. How much support does this movement have from the general public?
BELL: It is a really interesting question. Various poll suggests different things, Lynda. And of course, this is, as ever in these
situations is what previous administrations who attempted these reforms have found to their detriments and saying lost largely on number of the
reforms they've been suggesting. You're talking about an arm wrestle between the protestors hoping to see the government backed down so great as
the chaos that they concord. And the government determines to see things through. One sense at the moment and where I'm speaking in the middle of
what has been potentially a very disruptive strikes is there was from the national rail workers, but really that seems again to have been fairly well
circumvented by the public. Technology has played a good part in briefing people about what trains will be running, what wouldn't. This doesn't feel
like strikes we've seen in the past that have brought the country to a standstill. On the contrary, you get a sense of people are kind of
cracking on with it. They know there'll be protests, they know there'll be disruptions.
But the latest poll (INAUDIBLE) the majority of people believed that Emmanuel Macron would see these reforms through. And that to have his key.
What people believed the government is capable of how determined they believe that it is. And for the time being, it does feel that Emmanuel
Macron has the public on his side.
KINKADE: All right. All right. Melissa Bell, joining us from Paris. Good to get that perspective. Thank you.
Well soon to come investigators investigate the investigators. Donald Trump accusing his justice department of embedding spies in his
presidential campaign. We'll tell you about the showdown, ext.
Plus, an Australian archbishop is the highest ranking member of the Catholic Church convicted, accused stealing, child sex abuse. We'll have
the details from Rome, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:35] KINKADE: Welcome back. Frustrated by an investigation he wishes would go away. Donald Trump is using the power of the presidency to
pressure his justice department the information on the probe into his own campaigns ties with Russia. Mr. Trump again, today repeating claims that
spies infiltrated his campaign for political purposes. Sources telling CNN that the FBI got information from a confidential source. But that source
was never embedded in the campaign. The justice department has now agreed to investigate any possible irregularities in the FBI tactics. And here's
what Mr. Trump had to say today about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of people are saying there had spies in my campaign. If they had spies in my campaign that
would be a disgrace for this country. That would be one of the biggest insults that anyone has ever seen and it would be very illegal to had make
probably every political event ever look like small potatoes. But if they had spies in my campaign, during my campaign for political purposes, that
would be unprecedented in the history of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: White House reporter Stephen Collinson says Mr. Trump's refusal to accept the historic boundaries of executive power elating the United
States onto treacherous ground. Stephen joins us now live from Washington. I want to get your take first, Stephen, on what we just heard from the
president saying that it would be unprecedented to have the FBI spying on a potential presidential candidate. I always thought that would be very
possible to ensure that a presidential candidate is not compromised.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the president is doing here is he is trying to spin a story for his supporters to discredit the
special counsel investigation into his alleged -- campaign's alleged ties with Russia. He's saying what's taking places with the FBI or someone from
the Obama administration and planted a spy in his campaign to damage his campaign. As you said, what really happened was that the law enforcement
authorities, the FBI were alerted to possible Russian interference in the campaign and they used the source to contact people who had thought might
have been contacted by the Russians. So it's completely different thing. So what the president is trying to do is spin off a drama and what he's now
about is he's got his own justice department to investigate which what is little more than a conspiracy theory put about by conservative
commentators, his own allies on capitol hill and in the media. So this is something quite extraordinary.
KINKADE: It is extraordinary. And I want to learn our viewers to an article you wrote on cnn.com the way you speak about the president
interfering with an investigation into his own campaign team and you speak about how he's always stepping his boundaries headed towards a
constitutional fight. Just how serious is this?
COLLINSON: Well, Donald Trump, as we know, has made a political career out of shattering conventions norms. What he's doing now though as president
really does take this throughout a dangerous set of circumstances. There is not much to curtail presidential power in the constitution in many ways.
But presidents have been constrained by norms. The way presidents should operate, the way their predecessors has operate -- operated.
What we've seen with President Trump is throughout his presidency, he has obliterated the firewall between the White House and the justice
department. The justice department is supposed to be independent to avoid the perception that politics are interfering with justice. Justice is one
of the principles of a democratic society. With his firing of James Comey, with his constant pressure on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over
the Mueller probe. And now, in this circumstance, the president stepping across those boundaries.
[15:45:22] KINKADE: Just going to interrupt for a second, because I understand Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of state is speaking right now.
We're just going to listen in.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: -- a great deal of work to do, but you should know I am committed to that and we will get there. We've lifted
the hiring freeze. We can now hire the most talented person, including family members, here, both things that weren't possible when I arrived.
We've made substantial progress on some of our senior level processes so that we get our ambassadors and senior level persons working here in the
building. Nothing to report just yet, but as I committed when I gave testimony at my confirmation hearing, we're going to flood the zone. We're
going to work on this diligently. It's one of my highest priorities to make sure that we've got the right people in the right places every place
in the world, and here in main State as well, so we can accomplish our diplomatic mission. I hope in the coming week or two to have several
significant announcements about who some of the new senior leaders will be.
Second, I left the White House. I was in the bilateral meetings with the South Koreans. They were constructive. I think Sanders has already given
a press conference about this, so I'm happy just to take questions about it. But suffice it to say we are continuing to prepare both our team and
the White House so that in the event that the summit takes place on June 12th we are fully prepared, with the mission statement having not changed
at all. We are committed to achieving denuclearization and creating conditions such that the North Korean regime no longer threatens the world.
A final thought. I gave some remarks yesterday on the President's strategy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I think it's important
that I re-emphasize that the tasks that Iran needs to undertake aren't that difficult. I've seen reports that these are a fantasy and they can't
happen, but we ask for things that are really fairly simple that, frankly, most nations in the world engage in. We asked them to stop firing missiles
into Riyadh. This is not -- it's not a fantasy to imagine the Iranians making a decision not to fire missiles into another nation and threatening
American lives that travel through that airport. It's not a fantasy to ask them to cease engaging in terror. These were all a set of demands, the
demands we put on the rest of the world.
If it was the case that some other country in the Middle East desired to build a nuclear weapons system, we would work to stop them too. These are
a set of simple requirements that the Iranian regime could quite easily comply with, and it would benefit the Iranian people to an enormous extent.
And so, frankly, what we laid out seemed like a pretty straightforward set of requirements that we would put on any country in the world to stop
malign behavior that threatens other of its neighbors and other parts of the world.
And with that, Heather, I'm happy to take a couple questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Just a few minutes for questions. Matt Lee. You met Matt on our last trip. So Matt.
POMPEO: Yes. Matt, good to see you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you, sir.
POMPEO: In Washington. Had to think about where I was for a second.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, certainly not Pyongyang, that's for sure. Just on North Korea and the meetings today, we don't met -- we have just met, so
I don't know if you're a betting man. But if you were a betting man, what would you say the odds are for this meeting actually coming off and at the
date and venue that's been set? And if it -- are you prepared to go back or to meet again, wherever, with Kim Jong-un, if that is decided -- if
that's necessary to actually fully prepare for a summit?
POMPEO: I'll take your second question first. The second one is we will do what it takes to make sure that this is a successful meeting, whether
that's meeting with the North Koreans in some third country or whatever it may take. We are prepared. The President will ask us to ensure that we've
done all we can to make sure that we have the real opportunity to have this historic successful outcome.
And I'm not a betting man. So I wouldn't care to predict whether it will happen, only to predict that we'll be ready in the event that it does.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nick from Bloomberg.
[15:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, thanks very much. There were reports that when you met with Kim Jong-un you were looking out at a
sunset, and he allegedly said, "Wouldn't it be great if there were American hotels lining this scene?" Do you believe that he's open to the idea of
American investment in North Korea? And can you also give us your thoughts on what would explain the change in tone from North Korea? The President
said he thought China had something to do with this.
POMPEO: You mean the tone this past week, as opposed to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last week, correct.
POMPEO: -- the trajectory. No, I'm not going to talk about that, speculate about that. We're preparing. We're continuing to do our work and lay the
foundation for a successful meeting. I'm confident we'll get there.
With respect to Chairman Kim, I haven't spoken publicly about the conversations we've had. They were between he and I. But I do have a real
sense that he would -- he would find American investment, American technology, American know-how of real value to his people, and it's
something that he and I had a chance to speak about generally. And I do think it's something that, if we get this right and we get the
denuclearization right, that America would be quite capable of delivering them with lots of things that would make life better for the North Korean
people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rich Edson from Fox News.
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
POMPEO: Hi, Rich.
EDSON: The South Korean Government today put the chances at -- we're not talking specific numbers here, but they did put it at 99 percent.
POMPEO: I heard that. I heard they said 99.
EDSON: Is there something that gave President Trump pause in direct conversations that this government has had with the North Koreans? And how
would you describe, since you've left Pyongyang, what kind of communication the United States has had with the Government of North Korea?
POMPEO: Yes, I won't characterize that. I don't think there's anything that's given us pause. Chairman Kim asked for this meeting. President
Trump agreed to undertake it. We worked to find a date and location. We got those set. And since then, we're driving on.
It is clear we are working to make sure that there's a common understanding about the contents of what will be discussed, but I'm optimistic. But
again, this could be something that comes right to the end and it doesn't happen. As the President said, we'll see. And I think that's the place
that we find ourselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Francesco from AFP.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. So the President said --
POMPEO: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for doing this. The President said that the summit might be delayed. Are you discussing now possible new date or it
being delayed with the North Koreans? And what are the issues that would prevent it to be on June 12th? Are -- they're logistical or on the things
that you want to discuss with them?
POMPEO: We're still working towards June 12th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you're discussing this with them?
POMPEO: We're working towards June 12th.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conor Finnegan.
CONNOR FINNEGAN, JOURNALIST: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. If I could turn to Iran, in your speech yesterday, you've talked about this unprecedented
financial pressure that you want to bear on Iran. I think your critics, when they bring up the idea of a fantasy, they say that it's because the
Europeans won't go along with you on these sanctions, and that therefore you can't recreate this tremendous financial pressure. How do you -- what
do you say to those critics? How do you get the Europeans to go along, and then others like China or Russia, who continue to abide by the agreement?
POMPEO: It's really straightforward. This is a global challenge. This is a global challenge. I mentioned in my remarks yesterday, right, Quds Force
assassinations in European countries. This is a shared threat across the world. And I am confident that we can collectively develop a diplomatic
response that achieves the simple outcomes that we put forward. We wouldn't tolerate Iceland doing what the Iranians are doing.
We wouldn't tolerate Chad doing what the -- I mean, I could just pick a number. I'm sort of tripping through the alphabet, right? We wouldn't
tolerate another nation behaving with terrorist activity by putting proxy forces that threaten Americans in Iraq. Just the list is long. We
wouldn't tolerate that, right?
If somebody else created an equivalent of Hezbollah, would we sit by? We wouldn't. Neither would the Europeans. Neither will the other Arab
countries. Russia and China don't see that as a positive impact around the world either. So I am confident that there's a shed of -- set of
overlapping values and interests here that will drive us to the same conclusion about the need to respond to the Islamic Republic of Iran's
threats to the world.
FINNEGAN: I'm sure you saw some of the responses --
KINKADE: You've just been listening to the U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo there talking both about the plans he has, the hopes he has for Iran
given the U.S. pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, and also his hopes for an upcoming summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump. We have our
Stephen Collinson standing by.
[15:55:06] Stephen, I just want to ask you firstly about Iran, because it hit back of the critics who said it's a fantasy what you've outlined, what
you want Iran to -- it's a fantasy and he said, what we asked for is quite simple. And it really sounds like he's downplaying it, giving it took many
years for both the U.S. and other world leaders to come up with the Iran nuclear deal.
Collinson: Well, there's been quite a bit of backlash over the last 24 hours in Washington and around the world to Pompeo's speech in which he
outlined. This new hardened approach from the United States and the Trump administration towards Iran. People have been saying that the idea that
you can get is concerted pressure on Iran that was in placed before the nuclear is just not going to happen because the Europeans are not going to
put their sanctions back on Iran and neither are Russia or China. The other two signatories to the nuclear deal. So I think what we're seeing
there is the administration on the defensive a little bit about the new Iran policy and sort of spelling out that the behavior with which they
accuse Iran of pursuing its territorial ambition throughout the Middle East, its interventions with Houthi rebels in Yemen and other issues,
Hezbollah in Lebanon, for example, that he's pushing back against the criticism about that.
KINKADE: Yes, he certainly is. And he told the president line, of course, on North Korea saying we'll see what happens. We're hopeful, but we'll see
with regards to the upcoming summit. Stephen Collinson for us in D.C. Good to have you with us as always.
I'm Lynda Kinkade, thanks so much for joining me tonight. Stay with CNN. We are going to stay on that briefing of the secretary of state, "QUEST
MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
