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Protest as G7 Summit Kicks Off in Canada; Trump Does Not Need to Prepare Much for U.S.-North America Summit; U.S. Lifting Ban on ZTE; In Guatemala, after Fuego Volcanic Eruption, 109 Dead and 200 Plus Missing; United Nations Security Council Sanctions Six Individuals for Human Trafficking in Libya; Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 08, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00] [COMMERCIAL BREAK]

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Protest before the G7 Summit are peaceful, but real clashers could be coming between the U.S. president and top U.S. allies. As for that other summit, Mr. Trump says the North Korean meeting is about attitude, not prep work. We have the latest from Seoul, South Korea. We have a live report. And later this hour, climate change destroying one of the Natural Wonders of the World, what scientists are doing to save the Great Barrier Reef.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. We will welcome our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN Newsroom starts right now.

The next few days for the U.S. president involves a summit that he wants to attend with a long-time adversary, the leader of North Korea, and then that summit that he doesn't seem so keen on, the G7 with U.S. allies. And from all indications, that looks to be a contentious summit in Canada. Both the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, are taking aim at Mr. Trump's America First Policies, tariffs on long-time U.S. allies.

Mr. Trump tweeted this, "The American president may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a six-country agreement if need be." Again, Mr. Trump fired back to that tweet coming from Emmanuel Macron saying this, "Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and creating non-monetary barriers. The E.U. trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 billion and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. The president plans to leave that summit early before talks on climate change.

Our Paula Newton has more from Quebec City where protests are already under way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, as the G7 Summit kicks off here in Canada, so do the G7 protests. There was quite an eclectic group selected here, everything from clonus (ph) to this combatting gender inequality, (inaudible) inequality, and even those wanting peace in the Middle East. This volunteers (ph) Quebec has had quite a prolific and in fact violent history of protests. The steering (ph) forces number is in the tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on security.

But what's different about this summit is that actually the protests groups have been so far quite predictable. What will not be predictable is what happens around that summit table. We are not even assured that they will be able to agree on and communicate. And the irony here is that the prime minister, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has been trying to set up a G7 meeting where a lot of the grievances of these protesters seem like trying to change income (ph) equality would actually be on the G7 agenda. But at this moment, we are still expecting that the usually surrounding space (ph) will in fact take over this summit. Paula Newton, CNN Quebec City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Let's talk more about this now with CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Max Boot, joining from Los Angeles. Max also was senior fellow for the Council on foreign relations. Thank you so much for your time today.

Look, there is the summit that this president wants to attend with the leader of North Korea, the long-time adversary, and then the summit that he doesn't seem so keen in being involved in, the G7 with American allies. Some are calling this the G6 Plus 1 summit. What do you see as the short-term and long-term effects of this approach with this elite group of the world's wealthiest nations?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it is striking. Donald Trump seems to get along better with dictators than with Democrats. And I might add either big D Democrats or small D Democrats he doesn't go along with any of them. He seems to gravitate towards more authoritarian (ph) types. And right now, he has picked a fight with America's closest allies and relations between the U.S. and its allies I would say are pretty much the low point in my lifetime and quite possibly since 1945.

I mean he is really trying to undermine the international system that the United States created after 1945 based on a shared commitment to democracy to free trade, to all these principles that we had in common with allies like Japan and those in Europe. And Donald Trump is now at odds with all of those allies in a way that I think will do tremendous long-term damage, possibly irreparable damage to American interest.

[02:05:11] HOWELL: I want to also ask you about the impacts. We talked about internationally what that means with -- back here at home for businesses. So, you see business leaders certainly pleased with less regulation. But at the same time, these questions with regard to trade, where does that leave business leaders?

BOOT: Well, I think that they are website (ph) because they certainly like the tax cuts and the regulation cuts that Trump and the Republican Congress have pushed through even though I think long term those are -- the tax cuts and the spending increases are going to be damaging to our fiscal standing, but no question businesses like that, but they don't like these tariffs.

So, while it's going to have ripple effects on the economy, I mean every company that uses steel -- and that's a lot of companies -- is being hurt by these steel tariffs and there's a lot more companies that use steel than companies that produce steel. And even some of the steel producers are being hurt.

That's why you have the steel workers union, for example, protesting against these tariffs, which are hitting Canada because the U.S. and Canadian steel industries are integrated. So, there's no question there is going to be economic damage from this. It's like Donald Trump cannot handle success. I mean the economy is going great. And instead of just resting on his laurels and taking credit for it, he is creating a crisis that he does not need to create and one that has the potential to cause a lot of American jobs and hurt a lot of businesses including some of his closest most fervent supporters.

HOWELL: As the president clearly airs his feelings in real time on Twitter, we've seen this Twitter back and forth between President Trump with the French president, Emmanuel Macron responding over that platform, Max, which is a clear departure from typical diplomatic engagement. What do you think about it?

BOOT: I mean, I think this is unseemly and dangerous. I mean it's striking too that you're having Macron and Trump feuding on Twitter. This is just a month out when Macron was in Washington. I mean he is the only European leader that Trump has gotten along with at all. And now, they're basically daggers drawn in public. I mean the way that they're doing it over Twitter, I think, is counterproductive and destructive, but I think Macron, you know, feels compelled to speak to Trump and the only language that he understands.

And you know, Macron tried to be conciliatory. He tried to kiss off to Trump literally as you're saying in that video. I mean, he was kissing him on both cheeks. He was trying to be his friend. He hosted him in Paris out of military parade that he invited him to. Trump loved all that

But basically, Macron got nothing for trying to reach out to Trump that Trump spit on him by pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump spit on him again by imposing these sanctions on France and other American allies. And so now, I think Macron has decided, "You know, forget it. I'm not going to try to be his friend anymore. I'm just -- I'm going to have to fight it out with him." And I think Justin Trudeau and other leaders have had the same realization that if they just tried to be nice to Trump he walks all over them. So, now, they're trying to get tough.

HOWELL: Max Boot, with your perspective, thank you so much for your time.

BOOT: Thank you.

HOWELL: Now, one person with some kind words for President Trump is the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson. In recorded comments published by BuzzFeed, Johnson says that he increasingly admires Donald Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Imagine Trump doing Brexit. What would he do? He'd go in bloody hard (inaudible). There will be all sorts of breakdowns, but there will also be some chaos (ph) in every (inaudible). But actually, we might get some (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The comments came out of conservative fundraiser. Apparently, Johnson did not know that he was being recorded. Now, in sharp contrast to his attitude about the G7, Mr. Trump seems eager to get to Singapore for a historic meeting on Tuesday with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. The prime minister of Japan was at the White House Thursday to help brief Mr. Trump and to ensure that Japan's security interest were not overlooked. The president said as far as that meeting that's coming up, he's all set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think I'm very well prepared. I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done. But I think I've been preparing for this summit for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Let's put all of these into focus with our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of this summit there in the region. Nic, the president says that he doesn't need to prepare very much. Nic, really?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, later said the comments took specifically that President Trump gets near daily briefings, that he's been briefed on the military aspects, the economic aspects, the trade aspects, the historic aspects. And Mike Pompeo believes that President Trump actually has absorbed that and is prepared.

[02:10:07] But I think when you try to analyze what President Trump is saying, it comes down to this fundamental feeling that the president seems to have that when gets into a meeting -- and this goes back to his business days -- he can get a good business still because he gets the sense of the room, the sense of the people. He feels that he is in a powerful position that he can negotiate on his terms, but is he getting it right this time?

And what we heard from him earlier today as well was that he thinks that this is sort of an economic-type negotiation. He said China, Japan, South Korea were all ready to help economically with North Korea. But we know from North Korean officials, who subsequently who haven't been quite the same, wouldn't say these things without Kim Jong-un's permission, is that this is not a deal money for nukes.

So, you know, one wonders if President Trump feels he's prepared, feels that if it's the other side -- you know, feels that he is going to be able to sense if the other side is ready to make a deal. This is a very complex scenario. And you know, Mike Pompeo says that he understood the complexities of it, but it really is going to be a test. It wouldn't be the first time that President Trump has proposed something economic terms to try to get around a huge international problem and essentially had it blow up in his face.

So, this is going to be key. Can he really go with that as he (ph) believes? And there are many people who are saying Kim Jong-un is several steps ahead of him on this.

HOWELL: OK. Complex for sure, but let's break it down into simplistic silos for the sake of argument. Here are two leaders who certainly value rhetoric, value images, and photo ops. So, the question here, is this going to be less about details of actual policy coming out of this summit or, Nic, is this more about insta-perfect images?

ROBERTSON: You know, there is a lot of style over substance here it seems. President Trump has said that this is a getting-to-know-you meeting and we also understand that he's going to leave -- whether the meeting goes on into a second down (ph) that he is going to leave a lot of the details to his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. We know that Mike Pompeo is going to come here right after to South Korea to have a meeting here with the Japanese foreign minister, with the South Korean foreign minister. He will go after a couple of days to Beijing to meet with his counterpart there in China.

So, Mike Pompeo is the one that's going to have the heavy lifting for them. So, in that context, not a whole lot gets done here. It does seem to be more about the look of how it goes. Both President Trump and Kim Jong-un want that. And you know, analysts say, this is the big giveaway.

This is President Trump's mistake giving away that face time for Kim Jong-un because that's what he craves, that international recognition, that ability to return to North Korea appearing on an equal footing with a man who is in charge of the most powerful country in the world. For Kim Jong-un, those images are hugely powerful, perhaps more so than for President Trump.

HOWELL: Nic Robertson, live with perspective, thank you so much for your time today, Nic. We'll stay in touch with you.

With the Summit on the horizon, the U.S. is lifting its ban on a Chinese company accused of breaking sanctions on North Korea. The phone maker, ZTE, has agreed to pay a huge fine to continue to buy U.S. components. If you remember, the Trump administration spearheaded that deal, even if some Republicans say it hurts national security.

Our Matt Rivers has more now from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. officials are saying this is a very tough deal for ZTE and this deal does appear to have teeth to it, $1 billion in fine, $400 million in escrow that could go to the U.S. if ZTE violates this deal. They have to replace their entire board, their top leadership. And they also have to install a U.S. shows (ph) and compliance team to make sure that ZTE follow U.S. export law in the future.

But the big question there is how did this play into the overall situation between the U.S. and China? Does the deal on ZTE help generate enough goodwill to make the talks that U.S. and China have been engaged in on trade that admittedly having gone great lately? Does it make it progress more possible -- progress possible on a possible overall trade deal?

And even if that does happen, is that going to be enough to silence critics of this deal who say that any deal with a Chinese telecoms firm hurts national security because of the way Chinese telecoms operate where critics would say is essentially as an espionage arm of the Chinese government? But still a deal with ZTE appears to be moving forward on its broader trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Matt Rivers in Beijing, thank you. Still ahead here on Newsroom, Guatemala's fire volcano turning entire villages into piles of ash while survivors desperately search for their love ones. We'll have that story ahead for you. Stay with us.

[02:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell. In Guatemala, there is frustration over a tragedy that some say could have been prevented, 109 people are dead, some 200 missing, this after the Fuego volcanic eruption. Critics accused the disaster management agency there of not responding quickly enough to eruption warnings.

CNN's Patric Oppman reports from the disaster (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to believe that this used to be a neighborhood where people lived. There were houses here. This was the main street. And now, it is just tons and tons of volcanic ash that will need to be cleared before to be livable, before anybody could come back. We have a mask on in case the wind changes direction. But the smell makes you somewhat dizzy. It is really just overpowering odor.

And you see as they are watering it down, the steam rises. All these days after the volcanic eruption, that rock is still -- that volcanic ash still boiling hot. It is not safe to go there. And this (inaudible) was out spraying it down. It will probably cause them to (inaudible) malfunction. He is trying to cool down that volcanic ash. It gives you an idea of how dangerous this is. That's why they're telling residents not to return because (inaudible) coming off the street. It could still take someone's life. And you look down over here -- and this was someone's house again completely buried by volcanic ash. We don't know if the people who live in this neighborhood that is now one color, the gray color of ash, got out in time. But you can see what a hell escape it has become and you could see how difficult it will ever be for anyone to ever return to this neighborhood in Guatemala. The smoke is coming out there. You can feel the heat emanating.

I'm going to step back because it really is quite hot and we're going to leave. We've been told that we should only stay in this area for a short time. It is an incredible sight to see and it makes you wonder if anybody could ever live here again.

Patrick Oppman, CNN near the Fuego volcano.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:19:59] HOWELL: Patrick giving us that up close and personal look at what's happening there in Guatemala. Now, we've just learned at least 600 homes have been destroyed since May, this by the ongoing volcanic eruption in Hawaii. And on Thursday, officials reported that Kilauea's eruption has created enough lava to bury the entire island of Manhattan, almost 2 meters deep.

Fissure number eight remains the only active fissure at this point producing fountains of lavas spouting into 70 meters high at times and that fissure also feeding a lava channel that is still at Kapoho Bay destroying homes.

The United Nations is taking unprecedented action against human traffickers. This, after a CNN Freedom Project investigation exposed the slave trade in Libya. The U.N. is sanctioning six men that says led criminal network trafficking large numbers of migrants through Libya to Europe.

Nima Elbagir has this report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been more than a year in the making. In an unprecedented move, the United Nations Security Council, acting on a Dutch-led initiative, is sanctioning six individuals, four Libyans and two Eritreans for they say includes profiting from human trafficking, sex slavery, slavery, murder, all to do with the trade in people, the movement of people through Libya up from Africa into Europe.

Some of these names are unfamiliar to even those of us who follow Libya closely, but what they do isn't. And specifically, one man is a commander, Abd Al Rahman Al-Milad, in the European Union funded and European Union trade coast guard. He is a commander in the Libyan coast guard in Zawiyah, body that has been really part of the bigger picture in terms of stopping the migrant flow to the shores of Europe.

Well, for now, the message that has been sent is that even that is not enough to guarantee impunity. The Dutch foreign minister was gracious enough to credit CNN and saying that our reporting created the momentum that allowed these sanctions to pass.

STEF BLOK, NETHERLANDS FOREIGN MINISTER: I'm very glad the Netherlands was able to initiate this important initiative to effectively punish human traffickers active in Libya. It was CNN that draw the attention to this terrible -- well, you may actually call it a slave trade that has been going on in Libya for far too long. And as the Netherlands is currently member of the U.N. Security Council, we proposed to them to impose sanction on six of the worse perpetrators and that will mean that this crime won't be left unpunished.

ELBAGIR: So, what now, the sanctions, of course, go immediately into effect? And while there are many critics who would say that because this has taken some time with regard to diplomatic rambling over these sanctions in the U.N. Security Council, has there been enough time to allow those on list to hide away some of those assets but those we're speaking to say that it's not possible to hide bricks and mortars.

And yet, unbelievably, trading in people buys you bricks and mortars. Some of it, we understand in the European Union, but this isn't just about sanctioning about those individuals. This is about sending a bigger message to those behind these individuals. These are the kingpins. But most investigators working on this tell us that they know that this is a crime not just of opportunity but also a crime of so attractive that there are so many waiting and willing to fill the shoes of those running these networks.

This sends a message to them. The time to make money off the misery of those desperate to come to Europe and fulfill their dreams is running out. Nima Elbagir, CNN London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The time is running out. Nina, thank you with that reporting. The dangerous journey that migrants form the horn of Africa are escaping war and poverty through searching for better lives in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. And to get there, they must pass through war torn Yemen, a land of dust and desolation. CNN obtained exclusive footage of this very dangerous journey.

Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, has this report.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At dusk, they're still on the move, small groups of young men from Somalia and Ethiopia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you going now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to Saudi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which kind of work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any work. WEDEMAN: This exclusive video shot by freelance cameraman, Gabriel Hyen (ph), for CNN documents the plight of desperate people fleeing war, unrest, and poverty in their native lands to a country already wrapped by violence.

[02:25:06] According to the International Organization for Migration, every month as many as 7,000 people from the horn of Africa make these careless crossings over the Red Sea to Yemen. Nearly 50 died this week when their boat capsized. More than a dozen are still missing.

Despite the dangers of the crossing and their initial destination, the country at war since early 2015, and now threatened by famine and disease, they continue to come.

For more money says African-Ethiopian (ph). We don't have any money. We'll take any job. We don't have money for food and water. Our country has nothing.

Says 14-year-old, Evan (ph), I came to Yemen looking for work. There's war and sloth (ph).

The final destination of many, or so they hope, is oil-rich Saudi Arabia to the north, the land of milk and honey. For those who can't make it that far, stranded in Yemen, the land of dust and (inaudible).

The camp where I live has no electricity, nothing, no water, no food, no government says Umpha Tum (ph). We suffer. I come here to beg and then I go back and sleep in a cardboard box.

To get here, they paid hundreds of dollars, for them, an astronomical sum. They're brought to Yemen by men like these, fishermen in times like these. Now, (inaudible).

Trafficking, he says, actually a test (ph) humans, human trafficking. He asked that we not show his face. They show how they load people onto their boat. It's designed to hold perhaps 30. But sometimes, vessels like these are crowded with as many as 50. The logic of this business is simple, in a day (ph) to make months' wages, he says.

Once on shore (ph), the migrants walk for days and days. As night falls, some stopped to pray. The road ahead is long. Ben Wedeman, CNN Beirut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Ben Wedeman tracking that very dangerous journey. We'll talk more news right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you. This hour, the leaders of the world wealthiest nations, they're arriving in Canada after what could be a contentious G7 Summit.

[02:30:00]

The French President Emmanuel Macron and the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are just some of those battling the U.S. President over trade and tariffs. 109 people have been declared dead after Guatemala's Fuego volcano -- the disaster management agency there is under fire for failing to respond to eruption warnings in a timely manner. Search operations are on hold at this point because of dangerous conditions this as some 200 people remain missing there. The U.S. president has a historic summit with North Korea's leader just days after the G7 meeting in Canada.

The Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was at the White House Thursday to help Mr. Trump get ready, but the president said, he didn't need much help claiming that he's been ready for a long time. To talk more about this with former CNN Correspondent Mike Chinoy who has been North Korea numerous times and is the author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis live this hour in Hong Kong. I want to start Mike by focusing on this comment from the U.S. president that, you know, he essentially doesn't need a lot of preparation, your thoughts from that.

MIKE CHINOY, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the North Korean's are going to come into this summit very well-prepared. This is a goal that the North Korean's have had for a very long time to have their leader meet an American president and I think they'll be ready for all possibilities. Donald Trump is a very different kind of president. He doesn't follow any of the conventional pads. He tends to react on sort of gut and instinct and he clearly thinks that that's going to work here. In one sense it might in the sense that if he and Kim Jong-un hit it off personally then that might create a climate for the two leaders to find agreement on some broad principles to change the decades of enmity between the U.S. and North Korea. But getting rid of a nation's nuclear program is an immensely complex task. Negotiating with North Korea as I documented in my book, Meltdown, is a arduous painstaking process arguing over every little thing and for the president to not get that sort of briefing and preparation does open him up to the possibility of agreeing to something without knowing what he has agreed to or other steps that could lead the summit even if he spins it as a success to actually turn out not to be so.

HOWELL: The president describes it as getting to know you meeting saying it's more about attitude. OK. So the question here, would that lost over the history, the reality of who this North Korean leader is, the history of this dictator with regards to human rights?

CHINOY: Well, it's ironic that you could see pictures early next week of Donald Trump getting along and having a warmer exchange with the leader of North Korea than when -- with the leaders of key American allies like Canada or France at the -- at the G7 Summit. The personal chemistry does matter and in the North Korean system, the leader makes all the key decisions. So in that sense I think President Trump is doing something that makes -- that has a certain logic. If you want to make progress with North Korea, you have to go right to the top. But still there are an awful lot of pitfalls here. HOWELL: OK. Remembering, you know, as we heard about the possibility

of this meeting. It was focus on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That -- those were the terms of the point -- at that -- at that point. But now, it seems that the terms have loosened. Now, it seems more about getting to know one another as we've discussed. How important are the details in this possible summit?

CHINOY: The details are usually important. And one of the big question marks here is what in fact will President Trump say to Kim Jong-un when the two men are together in the room. The signals from Trump key aides had been very mixed. You have National Security Advisor John Bolton talking about the so-called Libya model. You had other officials talked about North Korea having to agree upfront to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear arsenal which I don't think is something that Kim Jong-un will agree to. On the other hand, I think it is possible that if Trump and Kim do get along, they may agree on kind of broad set of principles that the U.S. and North Korea no longer be enemies which I think is an important first step and then of course the devil will be in the details of translating an agreement to end all those years of hostility into real progress in terms of North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons and what North Korea will demand from the United States or expect from the United States in response.

[02:35:10] HOWELL: OK. Mike, to your point here this is about feelings, this is about optics. I've been using the word insta- perfect because again these are two leaders who are really value, the photo-op, those images that glow around the world of the two together. But here's the question, who needs this more? Is it the leader of North Korea or is it the U.S. president?

CHINOY: The North Koreans have wanted this moment for a long time. Donald Trump has gone hot and cold both on North Korea and on the summit. It's hard to say who needs it more, but I think both men want it to be seen to work. For Trump, I think is it essentially a photo opportunity more than the substance something that will allow him to portray himself as an international statesman going where no other American leader has gone before. But for Kim Jong-un, a meeting with an American president is a kind of legitimizing process that he's an equal of the president of the most powerful country on Earth. And for North Korea, that's usually important that its leader is meeting on equal terms with the leader of the United States and he's doing so without having given up his nuclear weapons. So in that sense I think the stage is set for Kim Jong-un to walk away with a big win which is getting a kind of legitimization from President Trump without yet having made any big concessions.

HOWELL: Mike Chinoy, thank you so much for your time and perspective. We'll stay in touch with you. So again, that is the summit that President Trump is looking ahead to. Looking to the other summit, French President Emmanuel Macron has got in a few digs ahead of the G7 that is set in Canada. The animosity has some questioning whether the Trump-Macron bromance may be over. Our Melissa Bell takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From that frosty first

handshake to this warm hug.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like him a lot.

BELL: Over the course of the last year an unlikely friendship has blossomed between the French and American president as Emmanuel Macron has told repeatedly to get his message across.

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (via translator): United States like France has a responsibility particularly in the moment that is today. We are the guarantors of mostly literalism.

BELL: His plan was to keep his unilateralist counterpart talking multilaterally even on those subjects that divided them which didn't work out the way Macron had hoped when it came to Iran.

TRUMP: They restart it, they're going to have big problems, bigger than they've ever had before and you can mark it down.

BELL: Other subjects of discord climate change and the imposition of tariffs on E.U. steel and aluminum export. Apparently, the final straw from Macron who said the decision to impose them was not only illegal but a mistake on many points. The day before the tariffs took effect, Washington sources told CNN that a phone call between the two presidents had been not just bad but terrible. This week, Emmanuel Macron chose to strike back, the leaks about the nature of the cool off draw had not come from Paris.

MACRON (via translator): As Bismarck used to say, if we gave people the recipe for the sausages, it's not sure that people would eat them.

BELL: Not the first time the French president has had a dig at his American counterpart, but has the divergences simply grown too big.

PIERRE VIMONT, FORMER AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES: This is a gap that is going to be very difficult to reach, sorry. And of course, the result of this could very well be that France would look for other partners.

BELL: Emmanuel Macron has been reaching out to older friends this last few weeks convincing Angela Merkel to back at least part of his plan for European reform. One year on from their first meeting (INAUDIBLE) summit in Brussels and then a G7 meeting in Sicily, another G7 Summit will reunite them and their peers borrow one new Italian leader, the faces will all be the same, but the mood no doubt a little grimmer. Melissa Bell, CNN Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: A wave of protest is shaking up politics in Jordan which has been a rock of stability in turbulent region. They've lead the prime minister there to resign and now his replacements says that he will put an end to the source of unrest, a controversial tax bill. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has more from Amman, Jordan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a week like no other in Jordan. From scenes that need little translation like this one when a group of protesters showed us their wallets, some empty, some with less than two dollars. The anger barely seemed on the streets of Amman. The demonstrations that remained largely peaceful made history bringing down the government and reversing at least for now that controversial income tax bill aimed at causing more than $37 billion debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:08] KARADSHEH: This has been a spontaneous movement. This is not really organized by any political group or entity. It's quite a diverse crowd. You see people old and young families -- parents even brining out their children to these demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH: When families like (INAUDIBLE) who told us that they were protesting for their children's future. Within 10 days of getting your salary, you spend it. It doesn't even last until the middle of the month, mother of two (INAUDIBLE) told us then gets begin to build. It's not enough for school tuition, rent, fuel, and groceries. I rent my house, her husband (INAUDIBLE) told us. I've been married for 12 years and I haven't been able to build a house or buy an apartment. Thursday's announcement by the newly appointed prime minister withdrawing the tax bill meant victory for the protesters, but it's not an end to Jordan's economic troubles.

The demonstrations may have been triggered by the tax law but they were the result of years of frustration with the rise in the cost of living especially after IMF battle austerity measures were enforced bringing constant increases in energy prices, more sales tax on basic commodities, and an end to bread subsidies. Official say slowing foreign aid and the refugee crisis contributed to their billions of dollars in debt, but say of bad economic planning and corruption are also to blame. Much help now ride on the countries new prime minister who has promise change, but there's no easy fix for Jordan's financial troubles especially with an embolden population that seems to have reached its breaking point. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN Amman.

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HOWELL: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, saving the world's oceans, dive into the life and death issue at this Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Stay with us.

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HOWELL: Friday is World Oceans Day. It's a call to action, an alarm really about what's happening to our aquatic ecosystems because of climate change. Let's go live to Australia. CNN's Ivan Watson is there. And Ivan, you got a firsthand look at what's plaguing this natural wonder. [02:45:02] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT:

That's right. You know, the story of the Great Barrier Reef particularly over the last couple of years is quite a tough one on World Oceans Day. Because in 2016 and 2007, there were record marine heat waves that killed off an estimated 50 percent of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef which is some 2,300 kilometers long. And now Australia is in a race to try to save what's left of this magnificent reef.

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WATSON: In aquamarine waters off the coast of Australia, there's a world so fantastic that words cannot do it justice. A sprawling marine habitats of coral reefs that's larger than Italy.

I'm at the Great Barrier Reef, it's one of the natural wonders of the world and it's in trouble.

CHARLIE VERON, MARINE BIOLOGIST, GREAT BARRIER REEF: This is the beginning of a -- of a -- of a man that bring catastrophe.

WATSON: Charlie Veron is the world's leading authority on the Great Barrier Reef. In a career spanning nearly half a century, he's discovered a quarter of the world's coral.

You still remember the first time you came out and saw some of this?

VERON: I'll never forget the first time by the -- by the image impression on me. I was absolutely my life, stuttered.

WATSON: The 73-year-old godfather of coral gives me a guided tour with a few short strokes, we dive into a vibrant underwater universe. A place where living coral, some of its centuries-old provides shelter and food for countless species of marine life. But then, Veron takes me to a nearby patch where the coral is dead as

far as the eye can see. These coral forests cooked to death by record marine heat waves in 2016 and 2017.

VERON: It's about half that all the corals at the Great Barrier (INAUDIBLE).

WATSON: In just two years.

VERON: In just two years.

WATSON: Australia is now in a race to save what's left of the reef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a sea turtle (INAUDIBLE). Oh, my God.

WATSON: In April, the government pledged around 400 million U.S. dollars to come up with ways to protect it.

LINE BAY, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST: All our pilot studies are suggesting that it's all possible to help the reef help itself.

WATSON: Dr. Lena Bay is one of the scientists at a government research center trying to genetically engineer heat-resistant coral.

This is an example of plating coral from the Great Barrier Reef, but born and bred here in the laboratory four years ago and you can see how much grown in that time.

Scientists are also experimenting with a kind of IVF treatment to boost reproduction in the wild. In this lab, they test what they call a sun shield. Thinner than a human hair, it could theoretically protect coral from the sun. This inventor demonstrates a submersible drone called the RangerBot.

MATT DUNBABIN, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FELLOW, QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY: And when we pressed start the mission, it's all by itself.

WATSON: Guided by Artificial Intelligence, it's designed to one day patrol the reef and protect the coral from predators. So far, these are just pilot projects that could get funding from the government's new reef protection program.

BAY: There are still options available to us if we start looking at it now. We just can't wait 20 years, and then start thinking about this.

WATSON: And $400 million save this reef?

VERON: No.

WATSON: Why not?

VERON: Because the water is warming.

WATSON: Research shows record heat is killing coral at an increasingly frequent rate all across the planet. Australia alone cannot stop global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists here warn unless that changes, this incredible reef stands little chance of surviving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: And George there is a bright spot in this difficult story. 2018 so far, has been far more temperate than 2016 and 2017. So, when I got that very memorable tour of part of the reef with that veteran marine biologist Charlie Veron, he was pointing out little crops of baby coral that have grown up in the subsequent months. Signs of really that the power of Mother Nature to recover after those bleaching incidents that killed off so much of the coral.

But here is the problem, scientists have done studies they found that because of the rising temperatures, the frequency of these bleaching incidents, of these record high temperatures have increased dramatically. Not just here off the coast of Australia but all around the world at a coral reefs. And it's killing off coral reefs all over -- all across the world with such frequency that it doesn't give the new coral enough time to recover. So that's where some of the urgency comes in to try to save the coral not just here out the Great Barrier Reef of the coast of Australia, but in these habitats, these rich habitats all around the planet. George.

[02:50:34] HOWELL: Ivan, thank you for sharing that bright spot. I mean, I'm just getting -- you know, the details of your very well produced good reports, solid reporting, of course, but did feel very bleak. It's good to know that there is some recovery but the bigger problem here the waters are getting warmer and that is a problem that nations are trying to solve if they can. Ivan, thank you for the reporting.

Another issue, plastics in the water, plastic in the ocean. Well, on June 8th, join CNN with students and schools around the world who will celebrate World Oceans Day by enjoying a lunch without plastic.

The best efforts will be featured on CNN's live blog. You can learn more on how to participate at CNN.COM/ZEROPLASTICLUNCH. Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, what is up with the President Trump and his beverage ballet. You've been watching it, stay with us.

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HOWELL: In sports news, the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3 to win their first ever Stanley Cup. The Capitals Lars Eller, scored the game-winner and the third period to seal that room.

Hockey fans poured into Washington streets they are to celebrate the victory just take a look at that. This is the first major sports championship the city has won since 1992 when the Redskins won the Super Bowl. All right, for those fans of the late artist, Prince you've never heard him like this before.

The Prince's Estate is releasing previously unheard recordings of his from his home studio called a Piano and a Microphone 1983. And who knows of Prince who was intensely private would have approved of this. The nine tracks are expected to be released on September 21st. But the announcement came on Thursday, to mark what would have been, Prince's 60th birthday.

Reality star Kim Kardashian is on a mission to get a life sentence commuted by President Trump, and she succeeded with that. Alice Johnson spent 21 years in prison for a first-time drug offense. Here she is just moments after her release. Take a look at that. Wow.

Kardashian said that she came across the case about six months ago, and set out to take it up with the president. She spoke exclusively to CNN's Van Jones about breaking the news to the former prisoner.

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KIM KARDASHIAN-WEST, REALITY TELEVISION PERSONALITY: I was a little bit shocked because she was very calm and I had assumed she knew. So, I just was like, "Wait, she doesn't know?" And Alice was like, "Know what?" And I was like, "You're going home," like I can like cry thinking about it.

Hearing her scream was like, I know I'm going to cry so much when I see her, but just to know that like we changed one person's life.

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[02:55:10] HOWELL: Johnson, says she's thankful to Kardashian for never giving up on her case.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, America's vice president must really appreciate his boss. Our Jeanne Moos, reports.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, we present synchronized water bottle stashing. First, the president ditched his, then the vice president followed suit. In no time, the internet bottled and preserved the moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To plan for the whole community, it's the plan that I'd like --

MOOS: It happened that a FEMA briefing on hurricane season, it was at the Response Coordination Center noted one Eagle Eye, a boy were these two coordinating their response as one Twitter user reminisce, "Didn't you ever play that game as a kid where you mirror everything, your sibling, or friend does until they wallop you?"

The one who got walloped here was Vice President Pence, by Jimmy Kimmel.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!: It's like Trumpy-see Trumpy- do. He is for sure a Westworld robot, right?

MOOS: The V.P. has perfected the adoring gaze and has been known to pick up on the president's gestures, get the point? Point of getting rid of the water bottles was probably to make for a neater photo-op. Now you see the bottle, now you don't.

It seems like the president's relationship with water runs hot and cold. His watery antics are always going viral from his dainty swag to his two-handed sip. And then, there's the president's odd habit of moving things. Anything, a few inches here, a few inches there, but this time out of sight.

Complete with the sight of Vice President Pence, mimicking the move, flunky see, flunky do, was someone's mean cake on the moment. A more charitable one, who the heck is under the table that was so thirsty? One guess, little Marco Rubio. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Jeanne, thank you. And thank you for being with us this hour. I'm George Howell at the CNN center in Atlanta. Let's reset more news right after the break, stay with us.

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