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World Headlines; CNN Gets Access To U.S.-South Korea Military Drills; Pressure Hits Boiling Point On Iran Nuke Deal; U.S.-North Korea Summit; Hawaii Volcano; President Trump Calls Off Summit; Harvey Weinstein Turns Himself To Police In New York; North Korea Destroyed Tunnels And Observation Buildings At Its Nuclear Test Site; Lawsuits Filed Against Facebook, Google, Whatsapp And Instagram. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired May 25, 2018 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNAH VAUGHN JONES, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Hannah Vaughn Jones live in London for you. Welcome to "News Stream."
President Trump calls off the historic U.S.-North Korean summit but Pyongyang says it is still willing to meet.
Iran nuclear deal in focus as E.U., Russian, Chinese, and Iranian officials discuss ways to keep the deal alive.
Plus, disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein turns himself in to police in New York. Sources say he has been arrested on rape charges.
Welcome to the program. We begin with the situation on the Korean Peninsula. China is calling on Washington and Pyongyang to show patience
after landmark talks on North Korea's nuclear program were abruptly called off. Donald Trump had agreed to meet Kim Jong-un in Singapore next month,
but the U.S. president cancelled.
In a letter, he cited recent hostile comments from the North Korean regime as a reason for pulling out. Officials in Pyongyang say Kim Jong-un is
ready to meet Mr. Trump at any time. The president says a meeting wouldn't be appropriate right now, but he left the door open to future talks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope that Kim Jong-un will ultimately do what is right not only for himself but perhaps most
importantly what's right for his people who are suffering greatly and needlessly. All of the Korean people, North and South, deserve to be able
to live together in harmony, prosperity, and peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Well the latest from both sides of this debate now, Joe Johns is in Washington for us. Matt Rivers is in Seoul, South Korea. Joe to you first,
is the White House still hopeful, expecting a meeting at all or just washing its hands of Kim for the foreseeable?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hannah, it's pretty clear that the White House here has left the door open I think that you said at
the very beginning. At the same time, they're being realistic about this and there is some sentiment that a return to maximum sanctions might be in
order.
The problem with that of course is getting the international community to go along particularly some of the countries in the region such as China as
well as South Korea. Those two countries, at least have been subject to entreaties, if you will, from North Korea during this period, which creates
a question at least for some of the international partners about which of the two parties that were involved in this summit that went down were in
fact holding the moral high ground, if you will.
In fact it was the President of the United States, it was the White House, the administration that pulled out of this very important summit and not
North Korea so, a lot of thought going into this. The big question, of course, can they return to maximum sanctions? It can be difficult, simply
because some of the countries that would have to go along might not.
JONES: Let's bring in Matt Rivers. Matt is standing by for us in Seoul, South Korea at the moment. Matt, I'm wondering if the North Koreans have
responded yet to this letter, responded formally at least. I mean, we understand that they say they're still up for a summit at some point, but
is there any sign of any regret perhaps for some of the rhetoric, the aggressive rhetoric news in recent days?
[08:05:01] MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Publicly, no. No signs of regret at least at this point, Hannah. What we did get was a
statement from a high ranking official within North Korea's foreign ministry. And in that statement, it said in part, we reiterate to the U.S.
that we are willing to sit face-to-face at any time and in any way.
And that is the only silver lining that many people here in South Korea are looking at here. That and also the willingness of the president of the
United States to leave the door open for a future summit as well. Both sides, the U.S. and North Korea seemingly willing to leave the door open
for a summit down the road.
And that's kind of been the only point of hope here in South Korea because today, frankly, has been a day disappointment here especially for South
Korea's government, for President Moon Jae-in who put so much stock in this summit, served as a middle man between North Korea and the United States.
There is deep disappointment that this summit did not happen and so the only thing left at this point would be to hope that there is, well, that
they can put a lot of stock in the relatively measured statements that we got both from the president of the U.S. as well as that statement from the
North Korean foreign ministry.
JONES: Let's bring in Joe Johns again. Joe is still standing by for us in Washington. Joe, you were talking at the end of your last answer there
about maximum pressure. What exactly does maximum pressure mean if that is going to be the policy that the U.S. adopts now as far as Pyongyang is
concerned?
JOHNS: Well, it certainly were means among other things, more economic pressure on a country that has already worked its way through quite a bit
of economic pressure. It also means attempting to get China back on board. Of course, as you know, China accounts for so much of North Korea's
economy, if you will. The administration has also talked, obviously, as we heard, about keeping the military on high alert for anything that would
suggest hostility.
This, of course, can be perceived in that region as a threat from Donald Trump and return, if you will, to some of the rhetoric that we heard
earlier in the Trump administration, very strident rhetoric which was seen, I, think, around the world in many quarters as an escalation and bringing
the world one step closer to some very risky business, if you will, Hannah.
JONES: All right, Joe, live for us in Washington. Matt also standing by in Seoul. My thanks to you both.
Well, just hours before Donald Trump's announcement on that summit, North Korea appeared to destroy tunnels and observation buildings at its nuclear
test site and in fact, our Will Ripley was there and broke the news then to the North Koreans of President Trump's announcement. Will describes now the
long ride that he took to get there and that awkward moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We were on the way back from the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri here to Wonsan when the news broke
overnight that President Trump has cancelled the upcoming summit in Singapore.
It was incredibly awkward and uncomfortable to be on the train with North Koreans after just witnessing the destruction of their nuclear test site at
Punggye-ri, something they had hoped would lead to substantial progress in relations between the U.S. and North Korea. And instead the situation went
downhill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one.
(EXPLOSION)
RIPLEY: I'm here at North Korea's nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, a place that foreign journalists have never been allowed before and we are here,
the North Korean government says, to witness the destruction of this site. They say it will never be able to be used again.
(EXPLOSION)
RIPLEY (voice-over): With each powerful explosion, the earth shakes. We travel around 15 hours to get here. First by bus through the coastal city
of Wonsan.
Compartment seven, here we are.
Then, some 12 hours by train.
This is one of those moments where you blink and realize I'm having dinner on a train going through North Korea.
A luxury ride by North Korean standards.
They just came through and they closed all the blinds and told us that for the entire train ride, we can't film anything out the windows. We pull into
Punggye-ri station, then begin the nearly two-hour drive to the test site. Once again, no filming along the way.
We passed through a number of what look like small farming villages. There was no sign of life, completely empty except for the handful of soldiers at
the guard posts along the way.
We get a briefing from the deputy director of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Institute.
[08:10:02] He won't tell us his name. Then, we're allowed to inspect the tunnels. North Korea says they could have easily conducted more nuclear
tests here. They say two tunnels have never been used.
So they by rigging it with explosives and blowing it up that's a meaningful step towards denuclearization. No nuclear weapons experts at our small
group, only journalists.
It's actually quite beautiful here, the North Koreans say that the ecosystem hasn't been damaged by all of these nuclear test for more than a
decade. They say no radiation has seeped out. Journalists aren't allowed to carry radiation detectors ourselves. They were taken away at the airport
so, we have to take their word for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The dismantling of the nuclear test grounds conducted with high level of transparency has clearly attested
once again to the proactive and peace-loving efforts of the government of the DPRK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: You really do get the sense that you're witnessing history here, which is why we're documenting every single building on this site because
by the end o the day it will all be gone.
We hike to an observation post built just for us and watch Punggye-ri go up in smoke.
(EXPLOSION)
RIPLEY: The official statement from North Korea's ministry of foreign affairs indicates that Pyongyang is still interested in a dialogue with
Washington. They say they are ready to talk with President Trump at anytime. They say dialogue between the two countries is crucial to improve
the situation on the Peninsula.
And they say that the nuclear test site destruction was, in their words, a meaningful transparent step towards denuclearization. A sign of goodwill
ahead of any potential talks with the United States. Will Ripley, CNN, Wonsan, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Will, thanks very much. Let's bring in Barbara Demick (inaudible) for us. Barbara is the former Beijing and Seoul bureau chief for the "L.A.
Times" and she has written a book called North Korea titled, "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea." She joins us from New York via Skype.
Barbara, great to have you on.
And with no summit in sight at the moment then, it seems that the U.S. policy is going to be applying maximum pressure on North Korea, the impact
of which presumably trickle straight down and hurts the ordinary people in North Korea that you've written about.
BARBARA DEMICK, FORMER BEIJING AND SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF, L.A. TIMES: That's exactly right. And these -- we've had this discussion before, but sanctions
tend to hurt the ordinary North Koreans who over the years have been very dependent on international food aid, medical aid, and you know, I've heard
from a lot o4 people in the NGO community that they can't get in x-ray machines for TB patients, very difficult to get in medicines.
It really is unfortunate I would guess, had I been, you know, talking to people in North Korea that they were really hopeful there would have been a
breakthrough and I think they're the ones who are most directly affected.
JONES: Yes, well, I mean the main players though in all of this of course, they force their geopolitical format. There's been a lot of talk about
China in all of this. Let's ask you about that given your experience in the region. Some people said that China sidelined by not being involved in this
summit were its go ahead not being at the table as well. Donald Trump seems to be almost blaming China as well for the fact that the summit hasn't
happened. What are your thoughts on that?
DEMICK: I think China is in a very complicated role, you know, publicly they've cheered on the summit saying they're here to facilitate, but I
think they were very fearful of being sidelined by the North Koreans and the U.S. I mean, there's a very delicate balance here and I think Beijing
is fearful of a situation like you have in Vietnam where a communist country draws closer to the U.S. rather than to China.
And although it's rarely spoken by the main players in public, you know, the North Koreans are also fearful of China. You know, one of the reasons
they've been developing this nuclear program is so that they don't need to rely on China for their security and you know, strangely enough, you know,
I think the North Koreans when they said there is a deal that U.S. troops can stay on the peninsula, what they were saying, although they were never
articulated, is that, you know, we're afraid of China too.
JONES: Right.
DEMICK: I don't think China wants, you know, a nuclear arms North Korea. They don't want to dangerous neighbor, but I don't think they really want a
peace treat with the U.S. that doesn't involve them.
JONES: It does seem that both sides though are still leaving the possibility of some talks on the table at the moment. Can you foresee a
situation when potentially we would have not just Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, but also have Moon Jae-in and also Xi Jinping as well so we have
four-party talks instead of just the two?
[08:15:02] DEMICK: Well, you remember we've had, for many years six-party talks that's included Japan and Russia. I think we could return to a multi-
party situation, but I know -- I think that, you know, there were so much momentum and energy going into this summit and everybody was so excited,
and I think, you know, that the wind has been taken out of those sails and I'm not really hopeful over that big breakthrough. I think many of us are
kind of disappointed.
JONES: While we wait to see. Barbara Demick, we appreciate your analysis. Thank you.
DEMICK: Thank you.
JONES: Now, the U.S. film producer, Harvey Weinstein has been arrested on sexual assault charges by police in New York. That is according to a CNN
source. He did turn himself in to a police station a short time ago and will face court itself for the next few hours. The source has told CNN that
Weinstein will be charged with raping one woman and forcing another to perform oral sex on him.
There has been a flood, of course, of accusations against the producer and they were the trigger for women around the world to come forward with
accounts of sexual harassments and abuse at the hands of powerful men. Those pictures from not too long ago of Harvey Weinstein. Let's get the
very latest then from New York. CNN's Brynn Gingras is there for us righ now. This remind us, Brynn, of the background to this case and of course
the fact that Harvey Weinstein (inaudible) himself, while he has turned himself in, as far as I understand, denies all the accusations against him?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, he still is. And we're expecting to hear from his attorney likely after court proceedings later this
morning, but yes, of course we know about how big, how global this case has gone. When that "New Yorker" article revealed some names of people who made
strong accusations against Harvey Weinstein, I can tell you from a source that the NYPD began investigating immediately.
So this is a very dear investigation to the NYPD as they have been working on it for months, and today finally, the first criminal charges are going
to be filed in the case. But I can tell you here it's a busy (inaudible) here in Tribeca in Manhattan. We have tons of media out here because inside
that precinct house behind me is Harvey Weinstein. He is officially under arrest.
That means that he has taken a booking photo. That means he's been fingerprinted and soon he's going to head back out those doors and head
right to court. And that's where he's going to face charges of a criminal sex act as well as rape and we're expecting his bond, Hannah, to be set at
$2 million, Hannah.
JONES: And when we look ahead to any kind of future trial as well, this would obviously have a huge amount of attention from around the world,
given the fact that he is so prominent in Hollywood as well. What kind of time frame are we looking at for a trial?
GINGRAS: You know, that's always up in the air, right? But here's the thing. Like I said, this is the first criminal charges to be file. We are
expecting more to come. This was just the first. We know that there are investigations still happening in Los Angeles. We know investigations in
London, and we also know that there's a federal probe here in New York City that's happening as well as a current grand jury has been convened and
continues to listen to testimonies from at least four women in this case. So, we do expect more charges to be filed to both of these cases. So, it's
a long way, but this is just the beginning it seems for Harvey Weinstein.
JONES: Brynn, thanks so much indeed. Brynn's live there for us in New York.
Now, Europe's new data privacy law is just a few hours old and Facebook and Google are already in trouble for allegedly trying to skirt the rules. More
on that coming up.
[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back to "News Stream." Europe's sweeping data protection regulation goes into effect this Friday. CNN has learned separate lawsuits
have already been filed against Facebook, Google, WhatsApp and Instagram, alleging that the companies are failing to comply.
Testifying in front of E.U. leaders on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg insisted his company would follow the new rules. But out Samuel
Burke now reports legal experts believe Facebook is already violating the new law.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Austrian lawyer, Max Schrems has been fighting Facebook in court over data privacy for
nearly a decade. And today he wasted little time, his NGO suing Facebook for allegedly violating the E.U.'s new data protection law called GDPR the
day it came into force.
MAX SCHREMS, LAWYER: We were looking for big companies that really willfully violate the law that kind of tried to ignore it and trying to get
away with it.
BURKE: Schrems who helped write the regulation says he's taking legal action because big tech isn't complying with the law.
SCHREMS: (Inaudible) this idea if we don't want this, we think it's stupid so we don't want to comply with it. And there are no obvious business
interests. There are certain things you simply can do with data anymore that give a profit.
BURKE: The new law was supposed to stop companies from hovering up your sensitive data like political opinions, religious beliefs, ethnicity and
sexuality for advertising purposes without your consent. According to legal experts CNN spoke with, Facebook is skirting this requirement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VEALE, TECHNOLOGY POLICY EXPERT, UNIVESITY OF LONDON: On your Facebook profile, you can pretend things like sexuality, religion or
political beliefs, and if you put that on, you don't have any choice but for Facebook to use it to personalize content to every advertising and so
on.
BURKE: There's only an "I accept" button.
VEALE: Exactly.
BURKE: There's not an "I don't accept" button.
VEALE: Exactly, you got to --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: Veale says even if you completely remove sensitive traits from your profile, Facebook can still glean information such as your sexual
orientation by analyzing your behavior on the platform and on other websites too.
VEALE: Facebook can infer from the great amount of data it has about you across the web and also across your mobile devices and apps that also send
data to Facebook.
BURKE: As you understand the law, does it prevent Facebook from making these inferences that they make about us?
VEALE: Yes. That law forbids Facebook from making these inferences without explicit consent.
BURKE: Failure to comply could be costly for a big company like Facebook. European data regulators can impose a fine of up to four percent of its
global annual revenue. Based on 2017 figures, that means Facebook could face a penalty topping $1.6 billion each time it runs afoul of the new law.
In a statement to CNN, Facebook's chief privacy officer said that company has, quote, introduced better tools for people to access, download and
delete their information. The company also says it's building a new tool that will allow users to stop Facebook from storing information about them,
it collects from other websites and apps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: We do expect to be fully compliant on May 25th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: Lawyer Schrems believes the new rules are tough enough to prevent the kind of data scrapping that companies like Cambridge Analytica have
engaged in.
SCHREMS: If we enforce them properly, we can actually get a balance in this digitalized age. In the end, you as a customer have the possibility to
use let's say Facebook without worrying 24/7 about your data.
BURKE: However the courts come down on the tech giants, Europe's new data regulations are already re-drawing the line between profit and privacies.
Samuel Burke, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: The new rules have very strict wording but what happens if there really are violations. Our Kristie Lu Stout asked Vera Jourova, the
European justice (inaudible) if the E.U. is ready to enforce these new rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:25:00] VERA JOUROVA, EUROPEAN JUSTICE COMMISSIONER: Of course, we made it very serious that we will enforce the GDPR rules because they bring the
necessary better protection for the citizens to have their privacy better protected. And that's why we count with the enforcement of the rules. We
have a network of data protection authorities in all the member state and they will pay due attention to all possible breaches.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM HOST: A question about Facebook because we know that Mark Zuckerberg was just in Brussel earlier this week. Did the
European Union get the sense that Facebook is not only willing to comply with GDPR, but willing to self-regulate so that the E.U. won't find itself
in a position to pass more laws to protect data privacy?
JOUROVA: Well, we heard the replies of Mr. Zuckerberg. He said that he can guarantee that Facebook will be fully compliant with the strict European
rules. I have no reason not to believe him at this stage, but of course it will be under a very strict control, as I said, from (inaudible) to
protection authorities and Facebook will belong to the companies where we will pay full attention to because the volume of data they are harvesting
in the E.U., the data from Europeans is extremely big and that's why the risk is also rather big.
LU STOUT: OK, so far we've talked about GDPR and what it means for companies. Let's talk about consumers and a possible consumer backlash
because the number of consumers out there who like data mining, who say that it allows them to have a very comfortable online experience, a
seamless experience that is tailored just for them. How do you appeal to those digital users to embrace GDPR and what it represents?
JOUROVA: Well, that's a crucial thing that the people, as you say, the consumers understand that they have the rights fully in place. They have
fully under their control with what's happening to their private data and that they should be more aware of the possibilities which GDPR gives them.
For instance, to give well informed consent to using of the private data but also to say no, we do not want to be in the system and for instance in
Facebook. We do not want to discourage the people from using online route and social media. We just want them to be safer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: The E.U. justice commissioner there with our Kristie Lu Stout.
Now, a military drill that was slammed by Pyongyang. We have exclusive footage from Max Thunder, the joint exercise between the U.S. and South
Korea.
[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones in London. You are watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.
China is calling on Washington and Pyongyang to show patience after Donald Trump after Donald Trump pulled out to a planned meeting with his North
Korean counterpart.
Meanwhile, just moments ago, Donald Trump tweeted the following: Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will
soon see where it will leads. Hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time and talent will tell. Trump reacting there to a statement
from the North Koreans, saying that they will keep a big and open mind.
People in Ireland are voting on a referendum that could overturn the country's strict abortion law. They are deciding whether to repeal the
Eight Amendment which recognizes the right to life of the unborn child as being equal to the mother. It is a repeal parliament is expected to pass
legislation allowing abortion early in pregnancy.
Canadian police are on the hunt for these two men who they say set off an improvised explosive device in suburban Toronto. The explosion happened
inside an Indian restaurant. Fifteen people were wounded, three of them critically. The suspect then fled the scene.
U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein has been arrested on rape charges by police in New York. That is according to a CNN source. He turned himself in
at a police station a short time ago and will be facing court in the next few hours. Weinstein has denied allegations of nonconsensual sex.
Now, Washington's decision to scrap the summit with Pyongyang is likely to be felt most acutely in South Korea. The country just finished holding an
annual joint military drill with the U.S. CNN's Paula Hancocks was able to film the exercise exclusively. The footage embargoed until the drill ended
on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Loading missiles on an F- 16 fighter jet, ready for a mission against an imaginary threat, an imaginary enemy. This is Max Thunder, an annual joint air force drill
between the U.S. and South Korea, the same military drills that North Korea slammed 10 days ago as the turning point in warming relations with the
South and the U.S.
CNN was able to film the exercise exclusively, which had been embargoed until the drill ended Friday.
DAVID SHOEMAKER, COMMANDER, 8TH FIGHTER WING: While the situation in the background has changed over the years as we've flown Max Thunder, the
exercise itself is still there for the same reason, and that is the tactical level and operability learning to fight together as an alliance.
HANCOCKS: Pyongyang canceled high level talks with South Korea because of this drill, calling it, quote, an intentional military provocation. The
first of many recent bumps in the road to a historic summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders that U.S. President Donald Trump has just
canceled. But the mood is still far less tense than this time last year.
The situation on the Korean Peninsula right now really could not be more different to how it was last year when this Max Thunder drills were last
held.
But for those involved in these military exercises, the pilots, the U.S. Air Force, they say that the politics is irrelevant. The most important
thing despite that is to make sure that they are trained and ready for anything.
Pyongyang's anger at these drills took Seoul and Washington by surprise. A South Korean delegation who met with Kim Jong-un said that Kim said he
understood why joint drills had to take place.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in said in Washington this week he believe the relations would be back on track once Max Thunder was over, according
to aides. But a lot has changed since then. It's unclear if this drill was really the reason Pyongyang cooled its enthusiasm for talks with Mr. Trump
or a convenient excuse. But what is clear is that these types of drills infuriate Pyongyang, year in, year out.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUGHAN JONES: Negotiations are reaching boiling points on the Iran nuclear deal as nations that remain committed to the agreement meet for the
first time since President Trump decided to pull the U.S. out of that agreement.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live in Vienna, Austria for us right now. Fred, even if they are all on the same page as far as the deal is concerned, time is
definitely running out, right, to keep it afloat in its current form?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right, Hannah. I think time is absolutely running out.
That is simply something that a senior Iranian official told us earlier today.
[08:34:58] The Iranians are saying they want especially the European country to put together a package of measures to offset the United States
leaving the nuclear agreement.
That means that they not only want to have, for instance, the sanctions relief that they had before. They want European companies to be able to
invest in Iran without having to fear retribution from the United States. They want to be able to sell their oil, continue to sell their oil on
international market.
But in addition to that, they also want other measures to make sure that they get the benefits that they would have gotten if the U.S. had stayed in
the agreement even after the U.S. moves out. The Iranians were saying they believe that the nuclear agreement has what they call two pillars. One of
them is obviously their nuclear dismantlement, the large part of their nuclear program.
And then in return, they said, they were promised economic incentives. They say so far they have not gotten them and now the JCPOA is in trouble. They
say a11 of that has gotten even worse. So, that's one of the things that led this particular Iranian official to say that he is not very confident
that the deal can be kept.
The negotiations here behind me have been going on for a while. There was a Russian delegate who walked out a couple of minutes ago and he said, so
far, at least all sides are still talking. They are trying to find a way forward.
So these things haven't completely fallen apart but there is no doubt that it is going to be very, very difficult to keep the nuclear agreement intact
in light of the fact that the U.S. is out and is threatening European companies especially that there might be sanctions if they deal with Iran
in the future, Hannah.
VAUGHAN JONES: Yeah. One wonders (ph) what the U.S. is making of these negotiations taking place across the Atlantic and it not being a part of
those negotiations.
PLEITGEN: Well, the U.S. has essentially left the deal and so therefore they wouldn't be part of these negotiations. I think that is something that
all sides that remain in the deal do agree on. On the other hand, of course they are highly skeptical and critical of these negotiations still going
on.
The United States government has come out. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has come out and said, look, the Europeans need to pull their businesses
out of Iran. He said they are willing to listen to European concerns. However, the Americans have a very clear, very strict and hard line
position on this issue.
So, it is very difficult especially for the European nations who have so much trade (ph) and were strong allies of the United States to try and see
this whole thing through and try to keep the deal intact.
It is something that they are trying at this point. But again, if you look at the delegates, you speak to folks here on the ground, none of them seem
overly optimistic that that is something that can be done.
Certainly they do say it is something that is difficult even though all of them are saying they do still remain committed to trying to save this deal
and to trying to keep the provisions of this deal in the future as well, Hannah.
VAUGHAN JONES: Fred Pleitgen live for us in Vienna, Austria where it is the middle of the afternoon at the moment. Fred, thank you.
Still ahead on "News Stream," why the collapse of the U.S.-North Korea summit did not surprise everyone, especially those familiar with Donald
Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUGHAN JONES: Welcome back to "News Stream." President Trump's decision to cancel his summit on June 12 with the North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un
may have taken some people -- many people by surprise, but not those who have followed Mr. Trump throughout his career.
In fact, some say it is a classic mood straight out from the bestseller he co-wrote, "The Art of the Deal." CNN's Brian Todd has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:40:00] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Nobody should be anxious. We have to get it right.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump walks away from what could have been the deal of a lifetime. A letter to his Excellency, Kim Jong-un,
terminating their planned summit, citing Kim's, quote, open hostility in a recent North Korean statement.
A letter from Trump touting America's nuclear might, a letter that analysts say is extraordinary for personal nature.
RYAN HASS, FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER: It is unusual that the president would use threats of nuclear weapons in communication with a foreign counterpart.
It is unusual that the president would use, I and you and such personalization.
TODD: But according to his biographers, not unusual for Donald Trump. They say the build up to a summit, the teams, and then the walk back is classic
Trump, a tactic he used to build his real estate empire.
MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The president's art of the deal strategy has always been to first ask for the world and intend to settle
for half of it and also be able to stake any position out in a course of negotiations. So the notion of walking away is something that he had always
advocated. He has said that you should never enter a negotiation wanting something too much.
TODD: For decades, Donald Trump has sold himself to potential business associates and then to voters on his ability to strike deals with difficult
partners like Kim Jong-un.
TRUMP: With deals, that is what I do is deals.
I make good deals. You know, it's a talent. It's a talent, you can't be a politician.
TODD: Now in his letter to Kim, Trump says he is pulling out because of the quote, anger and open hostility in North Korea's most recent statement,
where they called Vice President Pence a political dummy. Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio isn't buying that explanation.
D'ANTONIO: This after all, it's a situation where Trump himself has been insulted many times and he has traded barbs back. What we're really seeing
here is the president seizing an opportunity to get out of a situation which I think he felt was not going his way.
TODD: Another classic Trump move in deal breaking are taunt. Trump tells Kim, quote, you talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so
massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.
D'ANTONIO: The taunting in the president's letter is one of those mine is bigger than yours moments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you think Kim Jong-un might react?
HASS: Well, I think it raises the likelihood that Kim Jong-un will react by resuming the verbal taunts that were so evident last fall. And to pay
(ph) upon where things go from there, there is a higher risk that we could see a return of testing, either missile testing or perhaps nuclear testing.
TODD: President Trump and senior administration officials now say the door is not closed to the idea of a summit at a later date. Korean analyst say
for Kim Jong-un, that is going to mean swallowing his ego which may not be likely any time soon. Can Trump swallow his ego to do it? Trump biographer
Michael D'Antonio says it is possible if it means Trump will get what he wants, the world's approval and possibly a Nobel peace prize.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUGHAN JONES: Finally, authorities in Hawaii are urging people to stay away from areas where lava is oozing into the Pacific Ocean. You are
looking now at live pictures of the molten rocks spewing from a fissure. United States geological survey scientist says two to three of volcano's
main lava channels have now merged to create two entry points into the ocean.
When it hits the water, it sends hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles into the air. We will continue here at CNN to bring you the
latest on this incredible but of course very dangerous natural disaster.
And that is "News Stream." I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones live in London for you. "World Sport" with Christina Macfarlane is coming up next.
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[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
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