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Trump: If Allies Retaliate On Trade, They're Making A Mistake; Trump: U.S. Like A "Piggy Bank That Everybody's Robbing"; Trump On Summit: We Have To Get Denuclearization; World Reacts To Death Of World-Renowned Chef; Museum Opens Watching Oprah Exhibit Honors Oprah Winfrey. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired June 09, 2018 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We start with breaking news. President Trump just boarded Air Force One to start making his way to Singapore for the highly anticipated sit-down meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. Trump is leaving the G7 Summit early for this trip, skipping out on a climate change session today with fellow G7 leaders.

Before the president left, Trump fiercely defended his relationship with his closest allies, but at the same time, threatened to end U.S. trade with G7 nations. Capping off some tense days leading up to the summit as trade war fears swirled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But the relationships are very good. Whether it be President Macron or with Justin. Justin did a really good job. I think the relationships were outstanding. But because of the fact that the United States leaders of the past didn't do a good job on trade and again I'm not blaming countries, I'm blaming our people that represented our past.

It's going to change. It's not a question of I hope it changes. It's going to change, 100 percent, and tariffs are going to come way down because we -- people cannot continue to do that. We're like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing and that ends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Boris Sanchez is live for us in Quebec City. So, Boris, too early to tell how that message was received by his fellow G7 leaders?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. We should be hearing from them. Several of the G7 leaders have press conferences coming up in the next few hours. I'm sure they will react to President Trump's tough talk on trade.

Over the past few days, he's been sort of blunt on Twitter regarding his feelings towards some of the other G7 leaders arguing that the United States has been taken advantage of.

And though, while, at least, outwardly on camera, he was all handshakes and smiles here at the G7, when alongside them, he did essentially say that these other nations have to get in line.

He said that they have no choice but to deal with the United States and sort of move in his direction when it comes to the issue of trade. Though he did qualify that by saying that his personal relationships with these leaders is at a ten. Here's more of what the president said, specifically on the issue of tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No tariffs, no barriers. That's the way it should be and no subsidies. I even said no tariffs. In other words, let's say Canada, where we have tremendous tariffs. The United States pays tremendous tariffs on dairy as an example, 270 percent, nobody knows that. We pay nothing. We don't want to pay anything.

Why should we pay? We have to ultimately that's what you want. You want the tariff free, you want no barriers and you want no subsidies. Whether or not that works, but I did suggest it. And people were -- I guess they're going to go back to the drawing board and check it out, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Two quick notes, Fred, the president also stood by his suggestion that Russia should rejoin the G7, recreating the G8. He says he believes the G8 is more meaningful than a G7.

And on North Korea, the president said that he is carrying millions of hearts as he approaches this historic summit with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. We just got word moments ago that Air Force One has now departed Quebec in route for Singapore and that historic summit -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you so much in Quebec City.

All right. Joining me right now to discuss, CNN political commentator and former senior adviser on the Trump campaign, Jack Kingston, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Alice Stewart, and our CNN presidential historian, Tim Neftali. Good to see all of you.

All right. So, Jack, we've heard this tough rhetoric from Trump on trade with our allies, before the summit, and then he's talking about, you know, potentially no tariffs, free trade, no barriers. He said his relationship with these allies is a ten. Is he talking on a personal basis or talking about country to country relation?

JACK KINGSTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think country to country we're in good shape, but I think the E.U. has to gang up on America economically. I don't mean that in a negative sense. But our economy is over $18 trillion, Germany, about four, France about three, Japan is five. So, if the rest of the G7 countries, particularly the E.U. countries, don't gang up on each other and use that leverage, then they're not strong enough. So, I think a little bit of it, we get along really well country to country. But they have to play on their team in order to get leverage.

But I can say this, somebody who served in Congress and fought a lot of trade wars, there are subsidies. And there are nontariff trade barriers that have to be addressed. Particularly when you're dealing with a country like China.

[12:05:05] WHITFIELD: So, Alice, what is the measuring stick on these good relations it being a 10 when the majority of the G7 don't like that the U.S. has pulled out of the Paris, you know, climate accord, on Iran, the U.S. has pulled out of that? So, what is he talking about?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's probably a 10 from his perspective. He looked at things through Trump rose-colored glasses. Based on the body language in the class photo yesterday, didn't appear it was wine and roses by everyone. They're frustrated. They're frustrated at the tone and tactic that he's going about using it.

But it is consistent with what he's been saying all along. They were going to have free and fair trade. His agenda today was pretty clear on tariffs and trade, what he was going to do. He went out there, blunt policy, blame his predecessors, board a plane and got out of town. That's exactly what he did.

Once again, I agree with his policies. This is what he's always been saying, America first, not America alone, but it's the tone and tactic he goes about doing it. And, again, suggesting that Russia should be put back into the G8. I think that is something he should have had in private conversations with the other members of the G7 before rolling it out, without any conversations with them.

KINGSTON: Although Italy has already said they're in agreement on that. It was an interesting tactic. I agree.

WHITFIELD: With conditions. There was one stipulation --

KINGSTON: To me the G7 should not be lecturing the United States of America on climate change. They should be listening to President Trump on how did you turn your economy around and how is it now you have more jobs than workers and what can we to help in North Korea? To me those are far more relevant than the usual European lecturing us on how we need to be better social justice warriors or whatever the fad of the day is.

WHITFIELD: So, Tim, I wonder, does the president get, you know, fellow G7 members' attention? Does that language of the relationship is a 10, you know, the relationship is very good, does that translate or are these G7 members listening to his vernacular where he says he's blaming his predecessors for what he calls, you know, unfair trade, he's going to clean things up? This is how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And from the standpoint of trade and jobs and being fair to companies, we are really I think committed. I think they are starting to be committed to a much more fair-trade situation for the United States because it has been treated very, very unfairly.

I don't blame other leaders for that. I blame our past leaders. There was no reason that this should have happened. Last year, they lost 800, we as a nation, over the years, but latest number's $817 billion on trade. That's ridiculous and it's unacceptable. And everybody was told that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Tim, he talks about, as if it's his personal relationship. Or when he says his relationship, is he talking about the country's relationship with these other countries? Is there a difference?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think that this is without a doubt, this is a president who likes superlatives. This is without a doubt the most dishonest statement by an American president. I'd argue by any of the leaders. Since these economic summits started in 1975 and our president was Gerald Ford.

There is no reason to believe that the United States relationship with Canada, France, and the rest of Europe in the case of the European nations, Canada, of course, is North America nation is a 10 right now.

If you read the newspapers, go online, read blogs from those countries, they cannot understand why the United States, which, by the way, was the country that lectured other countries about free trade, that pushed, I think rightly, pushed other countries to lower their tariff barriers, to remove nontariff trade barriers.

America did that. Now is a protectionist country. There's a reason why President Trump doesn't agree with previous presidents, by the way, Republican and Democratic, because he's a protectionist. He wants to intervene in the U.S. economy and pick winners. And the way he picks winners are people who support him.

He'll support the coal industry, aluminum, but will he support the rest of the U.S. economy? No way. If you don't support Donald Trump, he's not going to stand up for you when he talks to rest of the world. How do we know that? Because most of our economy trades with the rest of the world.

And he is, now, flirting with a trade war that is only going to undermine most of our economy. Yes, it will help Ohio. Yes, it will help Pennsylvania. Yes, it will help West Virginia, but there are 47 other states that will not benefit by the Trump approach. So, this isn't America first, this is Trump first.

WHITFIELD: And so, Alice, the president had his remarks. He's leaving the G7 early. He's skipping out on meetings of climate and environment. [12:10:11] He attended or showed up at the breakfast late. I mean, is he sending some subliminal messages to these allies that he wants to go it alone? The U.S. wants to go it alone?

STEWART: Fred, I think what's really important to note is that always when the president says America first, it does not mean America alone. He does want to include our allies in the decisions that we make.

WHITFIELD: Are they hearing that? When he makes the condition of this is the way it's going to be, you're going to do it we're going to change, blaming the predecessor, I'm out, see you? Is that how they're going to receive that?

STEWART: Based on some of the tweets we've seen, reporting as Tim indicated we are getting from other. They hear more of it's our way or the highway. However, the president doesn't intend it that way. He's encouraging them. Look, you reduce your tariffs, we'll reduce ours. Everyone wins.

So, victory for everyone. That's the important thing. He never intends for this to be America alone. And moving forward, look, pulling out of the Paris climate accord, there's not really a reason to stick around for these meetings, because that's not something the president wants to be associated with the G7 because of him pulling out.

WHITFIELD: He said it wasn't the deal he would have embarked on, that he could come up with something better. Wouldn't this be an opportunity to do that, Jack?

KINGSTON: Well, I think it could, but frankly, I'd rather have him studying up on North Korea and leaving and coming back on that. As we know, a lot of that is a photo op. The real negotiations are done by subordinates down the road.

I want to point out something important. He's not alone. The American people has a Constitution. It says equal branch of government. The legislative branch can conduct trade oversight. They have given, as I was a part of it, the presidents, Democrat and Republican, trade promotion authority, fast-track authority, and step back and let the president do the NAFTA agreements and everything with tariffs.

If the American people are really upset about this, they can pick up the phone and call their members of Congress and they can get this trade policy reversed. But you don't see that happening on Capitol Hill.

You see people like Bob Corker talking about it but rest of them are taking a pass. I'm just saying that underscores that the American people aren't putting this as a high priority to correct for whatever reason.

WHITFIELD: Tim, do you agree with that? It really is up to subordinates who would take the more leadership shaping role, less so than the president. NAFTALI: I'm going to admit a bias. I'm a free trader. Let me admit that right now. And I think it's -- what we're seeing right now is a scam. I think the American people are not picking up the phone or removing the iPhone from their pocket, because they don't realize the economic damage that this protectionist president is causing for this country. I think that's what's going on.

I don't think -- I think they have been misled into believing we've been a victim. We have benefited. Alice and Jack know this. They know that when we started removing trade barriers in the Reagan Bush and first term of the Clinton administration, our growth rates went up to nearly 5 percent a year.

Now, they stopped because of 9/11 and because of the -- the economic collapse of 2001, 2002. But don't argue that free trade has been bad for this country. The term "fair trade" is a term used by protectionists to pick different industries that they want to help politically.

So, I think the American people are being deeply misled. I think if they understood that when they go to target, when they shop in the future, they're going to be paying more because of the trade war launched by this protectionist president. They'll realize they've made a terrible mistake.

KINGSTON: But Tim, you would agree that there are nontariff barriers and patent issues which China and some other countries have played games with --

NAFTALI: Yes.

KINGSTON: And that is also a threat to the United States of America?

NAFTALI: Yes, but that's China, that's not the G7. By the way, G7 includes the United States. Yes, we have a problem with China. But don't annoy the Europeans and go after Canada and go after Japan because you're mad at China.

WHITFIELD: We will leave it there. Thanks to all of you. Tim Naftali, Jack Kingston, Alice Stewart, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, a one-shot, President Trump setting the stakes as he heads to Singapore to meet face-to-face with Kim Jong-un. And he says he'll know within minutes whether the North Korean dictator means business.

Plus, blaming Obama again. President Trump is pointing the finger at his predecessor over the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea. This, as he doubled down on his call to Russia to rejoin the G7 straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:19:21]

WHITFIELD: All right. With President Trump departing the G7 Summit early, his next destination is the historic summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. The highly anticipate meeting on Tuesday will be the first time that a North Korean leader has met with a sitting U.S. president.

The high-stakes summit in Singapore is shrouded in mystery. Details on what the two leaders will talk about remain unclear, but moments ago, President Trump said he was optimistic about the summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'll be on a mission of peace and we will carry in -- really in my heart, we're going to be carrying the hearts of millions of people, people from all over the world. We have to get denuclearization. We have to get something going.

[12:20:07] He can take that nation with those great people and truly make it great. So, it's a one-time -- it's a one, time shot. I think it's going to work out very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me now to discuss this is CNN national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd. She's also a former senior adviser to National Security adviser under President Obama.

Samantha, good to see you. So, you've been involved in the planning of these types of, you know, high-stakes summits. So, what is your reaction to the president saying he is optimistic and he's on this peace mission so to speak?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think this was a wise statement by the president, Fred. I think that every president should prefer peace over war and the president shouldn't be going to the summit if he isn't optimistic. This is a similar message to what Secretary Pompeo said earlier in the week.

To an extent, though, I think it's a question of what the president didn't say. He didn't say that he was optimistic, and he wanted peace but. And what we haven't heard to that point over the past few weeks is what happens if this doesn't work out. Are all options still on the table? Is the military threat still credible?

Are there other sanctions that we're considering? So, it's good to hear the president say that he prefers peace over war. But it would be helpful to understand that this is not an open-ended offer for the North Koreans.

WHITFIELD: Does it become more clear to you what it is that the U.S. hopes to demand of North Korea? When the president in his last remarks says, you know, North Korea will be -- I'm quoting now, will be a tremendous place, you know, and life will improve for people, does that help you understand what it is the president will be negotiating for or demanding of or expecting from North Korea?

VINOGRAD: It doesn't, but to be honest, I don't have as much of a problem with that. Having been involved in some of these negotiations in the past. I am comfortable with the fact that the details are still classified. The question will be after the summit whether we get some more specificity about what denuclearization means.

For example, will international weapons experts be let in? Will there be an inventory of North Korean WMD materials? But think it's a little foolish to think we will know immediately now how all this classified information.

WHITFIELD: The president says he'll know within the first minute that the meeting is going well, essentially be able to get a read on the North Korean leader.

VINOGRAD: I think that's also a foolish statement. Kim Jong-un is a sociopath, so I think Kim Jong-un is doing his homework and probably trying to figure out how to play President Trump. So, it could come down to something as simple as how they get each other.

Kim Jong-un, for example, may try to hug the president to show the world that he is literally able to embrace Donald Trump. Trump needs to do his homework and figure out how to signal with his body language and with what he says in that initial meeting that he's serious about actually negotiating and not just kicking off what he's called a process for a photo op.

WHITFIELD: How will you gauge a successful summit?

VINOGRAD: I think we have found ourselves in a much better security situation over the last few months. To me, if there's some way we can prove or make sure that scenario continues that will be successful in some respect, but I also would like to hear from the president, from the negotiators, how this process is different than what has happened under previous administrations.

Whether it be Clinton or Bush. So, coming out of the summit, if we see some sort of joint communique, which my sources are telling me the two sides are working on are there any details in there about what's actually going to happen and whether again we can verify that the North Koreans have actually frozen their program.

WHITFIELD: Diplomacy, hypotheticals are always considered. A potential hypothetical, what if Kim Jong-un either requests or perhaps President Trump extends an invitation to the U.S.? How might that be that handled? How will the president prepare to handle that?

VINOGRAD: Well, it's funny, when you prep a president for these meetings, you give him affirmative talking points, what your bottom lines are and then you give him what we call if raised points. To me this would be an if raised point.

If Kim Jong-un says, President Trump, I want to come to the White House, what do you think, the president should really be prepared to lay out what the preconditions are. We have glossed over the last few months the fact that these meeting with Kim Jong-un is a concession to Kim, it's something he wants.

So, if he is going to get the historic concession of walking through the front door of the United States, the president needs to be prepared with full details about what it will take for Kim to get there.

WHITFIELD: Samantha Vinograd, always good to see you. Thanks so much, Sam.

All right. Who annexed Crimea? A simple question, right? Well, President Trump isn't putting the onus on Russia or Vladimir Putin. Why he says it was President Obama's fault coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:29:42]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Washington, D.C. President Trump is pointing the finger directly at his predecessor for Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, an ax that cost Russia a seat at the G7 Summit. This was the president's parting shot before he left the summit earlier this morning for Singapore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Inaudible) President Obama because he was the one that let Crimea get away. That was during his administration. He was the one that let Russia go and spent a lot of money on Crimea because they've spent a lot of money on rebuilding it. I guess, they have their submarine port there, et cetera.

[12:30:06]

But Crimea was let go during the Obama administration. And, you know, Obama can say all he wants, but he allowed Russia to take Crimea. I may have had a much different attitude. But -- So you'd really have to ask that question to President Obama, you know, why did he do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now, CNN Political Commentator and former Senior Adviser for the Trump campaign Jack Kingston and CNN Political Commentator Alice Stewart both back with me. All right, let's see the comments from the President, Alice, this falls squarely on the lap of President Obama according to President Trump. That President Obama should not have allowed Russia to take Crimea.

STEWART: Yes, that's a good story and a good point. Unfortunately, it doesn't fall in line with the actual facts of what happen. Of course in 2014 --

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

STEWART: It makes perfectly good sense to have and probably those that follow him. But the reality is, in 2014, Vladimir Putin decided he wanted to invade Crimea, he wanted to annex Crimea. This was in violation of international law. Clearly, once he annexed Crimea, there was frustration across the world. The U.N. even was opposed to this. So naturally, the G8 said we're not having this.

At that time, he was suspended from the G8, now becoming the G7. So, it was Vladimir Putin and it was Russia. And Russian troops that led to him being outed from the G7. It wasn't Barack Obama. It was Vladimir Putin. And this is a situation where if this was going to be something to consider, to bring them back into the G7/G8, I feel this is a conversation he should have had with the other members prior to throwing it out there for discussion.

Let them have this private conversation. But in the end, I don't think they should be brought back in.

WHITFIELD: Jack, why would the President say something like this with the backdrop being in Quebec City, with the backdrop of the G7, knowing what the opinion and thought process was for the entire G8 as to why Russia was penalized? What does this do to the President's credibility in front of his fellow G7 members?

KINGSTON: You know, I think the venue wasn't the best one to bring this up. But I do want to say that if you remember when Crimea was invaded by Russia, there was a lot of criticism in Congress, led by John McCain, by the way, that said the President was not doing enough --

WHITFIELD: So are you saying that if President Trump said this, as he did on the White House lawn before he went to Canada, that would be the more appropriate setting? But it's still not true.

KINGSTON: Well, I don't know that it's completely false. I can say this, that as a member of Congress during that time, there was a lot of criticism the President wasn't doing enough and he was being very soft on Russia and then suddenly now, you know, Trump's the President and the party seemed to have reversed in some respects. But --

WHITFIELD: Except that -- he said the U.S., Obama, allowed Russia to take Crimea. You know, when he was on the White House lawn, he just said that he thought it was time that Russia should be part of the gG7 again, make it back to the G8, but now he's actually placing square blame on his predecessor.

KINGSTON: You know, during the soviet years, the cold war, there was always the talk about, well who lost what country as soviet aggression annexed another country in South America, the Far East to communism. And there was this thought -- we didn't lose any countries during Reagan, for example. That was, you know, a pride of both -- and I don't want to be historically accurate on that -- I'm just saying that I do remember those kinds of discussions.

And so, what the President is saying during the reign of Barack Obama, Russia invaded Crimea. And I think a lot of the reason was because Ukraine did not join NATO. And if you look at the Warsaw pact countries, if you look at the Baltics, they all joined the E.U., or they joined NATO, and Ukraine hesitated and when they did, Russia, who felt like (INAUDIBLE) gave away Crimea in 1954, it's ours anyhow. It doesn't belong to Ukraine. We're going to invite. So I think where else is right is it's Putin acting like Russia.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Alice, will these G7 allies believe that too? Is that how they see it? That, you know, President Trump's predecessor is to blame for this?

STEWART: Clearly, they do. I mean, there's been pushback by them at the initial suggestion of bringing Russia back into the G7 and I don't think it should happen. I don't think they should be a part of this summit. These are our allies. Russia is not an ally. So I think it's important to put this into context and clearly I view this as the President once again trying to throw a bone to Vladimir Putin and trying to ingratiate himself with the --

WHITFIELD: Why is that, in your view?

STEWART: That remains --

[12:35:06] WHITFIELD: It could tie in to North Korea. It could tie in to Syria. But I want to say this, you know, Russia is going to be relevant anyhow because of the size of their economy. However, in the United States, we're an $18 trillion economy. They're about a $2 trillion economy. Their economy is smaller than Germany, smaller than Japan for example.

But, still, it's big enough to be relevant in this world, whether they're at the G7 table or not. I don't think I would admit them back, but I think the discussion is probably one that they should have at these type meetings. But, you know, if you want to come back in, you get the heck out of Crimea or you something for us.

WHITFIELD: And we heard the express worry coming from Senator John McCain, not necessarily about the President's comments today, but really about the comments from the President about whether, you know, Russia should be brought back in and McCain saying, "Vladimir Putin chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Russia is assaulting Democratic institutions all over the world."

STEWART: And on top of that, the impact they're having on our elections. We don't know if it affected the outcome. But they certainly impacted our elections and we need to get to the bottom of that. And what they are doing with the American process, in our elections, we don't need to reward them with getting back into the G7.

WHITFIELD: We'll leave it right there, Alice, Jack, thank you so much. Good to see you both. Appreciate it.

All right. Still to come, remembering the legacy of CNN's Anthony Bourdain. How the larger than life figure and friend to many brought the world home to viewers by exploring cuisine and culture straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:41:01] WHITFIELD: Famed Chef Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer, who took CNN viewers around the world, has died at the age of 61 after taking his own life. People around the world are reflecting on their memories of this culinary genius. Chef Julien Schroeder shared a photo of himself with Bourdain and Chef Eric Ripert taken earlier this week after the three had dined together at Schroeder's restaurant in France. Perhaps best known for his legacy of bridging cultural divides through food, Bourdain's award winning series "PARTS UNKNOW UNKNOWN" highlighted how much we all have in common.

CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval take a look at how in both life and death Bourdain continues to bring us closer together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPODENT (voice-over): Few people knew Anthony Bourdain the way Eric Ripert did, the French chef often appeared on CNN's "PARTS UNKNOWN" alongside Bourdain. Ripert shared his grief on Friday, writing, "Anthony was my best friend, an exceptional human being, so inspiring and generous. One of the great storytellers who connected with so many. I pray he is at peace from the bottom of my heart."

Ripert is among many chefs worldwide shaken by the loss of this culinary legend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to be you since the first time that I saw you. When I grow up, I want to be just like my friend Tony.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Fellow chef and traveler Andrew Zimmern wrote, "A piece of my heart is truly broken. Tony was a symphony. I wish everyone could have seen all of them, a true friend."

Then there's this poignant bond with French Chef, Ludo Lefebvre, showing a spoon tattoo he shares with Bourdain. "I am forever indebted to this passionate great man," writes Lefebvre of this late mentor. "Bourdain inspired others through the art of cooking", says Chef Marc Murphy.

MARC MURPHY, CHEF: I think if all the leaders in the world could just eat and drink together this would be a better place. And I think Anthony Bourdain sort of showed that, that there is no -- there was no barrier, there was no boundaries. Food was the universal language.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Bourdain's unique style of storytelling was unmatched, admired by many fans around the world, including former President Barack Obama.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not too elegant, but --

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Obama recalled his Hanoi noodle dinner with Bourdain writing, "This is how I'll remember Tony, he taught us about food, but more importantly about his ability to bring us together, to make us a little less afraid of the unknown." Bourdain's reach stretched beyond the culinary world, far beyond. Astronaut Scott Kelly said he often watched Bourdain's show from space. "It made me feel more connected to the planet, its people and cultures and made my time there more palatable. He inspired me to see the world up close."

Among your tributes messages of prevention, celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay says, "Stunned and saddened by the loss of Anthony Bourdain. Remember that help is a phone call away."

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In every conversation with Anthony Bourdain promoting the next episode of "PARTS UNKNOWN" was a delectable appetizer to what's to come. But my first sit down conversation with Anthony back in 2010 before "PARTS UNKNOWN" and in the midst of his travel channel show "No Reservations" and the book "Medium Raw Fame, he was the appetizer. The full meal and dessert. A true treat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: This opportunity to be able to travel the world, you kind of created it but it was also happenstance. And then you thought, oh my gosh, you're actually going to buy this, you're actually going to let me do this?

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN'S PARTS UNKNOWN HOST: Yes, I still can't believe I'm getting away with it. I mean, I sort of overnight -- had an overnight success with a -- over-testosteroned obnoxious memoir of a not very distinguished career in the restaurant business. One day I was standing next with a deep fryer and the next I had this (INAUDIBLE) and traveling around the world, make television anyway I want, anywhere I want, living the dream. That said, I mean, in this book I really talk about the fact that having made the first half of my career making fun of celebrity chefs, I've become part of the problem.

[12:45:10] WHITFIELD: There you are. So do you take all that back?

BOURDAIN: No. I mean, I still feel I was a chef at 28 years and I'm somebody who takes food very seriously. So it hurts me physically to see somebody abuse food on television or lie about it or, you know, sort of demean the profession. If nothing else, it's fun and funny to make fun of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: There was nobody like Anthony Bourdain. And there was no show like "PARTS UNKNOWN." CNN pays tribute to Anthony Bourdain with a special night of episodes. It begins tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:50:24] BILLY SHIRE, WACKO: Hi, I'm Billy Shire. Welcome to Wacko. Wacko is referent fun and mind-boggling. When you walk into Wacko, you experience sensory overload. We have people that come in and they're taken aback. And two hours later, you'll find them lost in the aisles.

My mother and I founded Soap Plant in 1971 for $1800. When we first opened, we had basically soap. I bought my mother out in 1978 and took over completely. We started out at Soap Plant. But everybody knows it as Wacko.

The one misconception about entrepreneurship is that it's easy and it all just comes to you. Most of the time they worked on that idea a long time before it's come to fruition. Wacko is a reflection of me. I'm wacky, I'm a kid at heart. And I've always concentrated on the visual and pop culture.

We've really set trends and established different types of things as gifts. I think my mom would be very proud of me sticking with it and carrying on her legacy.

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WHITFIELD: All right, what an emotional roller coaster we have all been on in these last hours, the tail end of this week and of the weekend. A range of lows and highs.

And among the pinnacles this week, here in Washington, the national museum of African-American history and culture celebrated women in a couple more big way. The Smithsonian's newest in 19th museum already celebrates women who dating back to the 1800s have impacted American history from Harriet Tubman, Shirley Chisolm, Angela Davis and Aretha Franklin.

Well, now, two significant new building blocks in the way this museum recognizes how women continue to make an impact on American history. The first of what will be an annual E3 women's summit took place. E3 standing for empowerment, entrepreneurship, and engagement. And I was invited to lead as first one-on-one discussion with the powerful entrepreneur who is committed to those three tenets, Urban One founder and Chairwoman Cathy Hughes.

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WHITFIELD: It almost sounds as though you also had a personal mission, a commitment. Besides keeping your eye on the prize, what was that mission?

CATHY HUGHES, FOUNDER AND CHAIRPERSON, URBAN ONE INC.: The mission was I wanted to be remembered. To me, I think I'm still a work in progress. I think i can still learn. When you see yourself as a work in progress, you really don't believe your own press. You really realize you still must best your best. That you must continue. And you must always, always open doors to try to help other sisters to empower other sisters. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pretty impactful. Also during that women's summit and now open to the public, a year-long exhibit honoring a giant force, a champion of what it means to uplift others. Oprah Winfrey, watching Oprah is the name of the exhibit. This new 4300 square foot exhibit focuses on how American history since her birth year of 1954 shaped her and how the talk show queen turned global media leader has herself impacted American history and culture.

Hear Oprah in the auditorium of her namesake with her impressions of that exhibit. And then separately I spoke to the museum's founding Director Lonnie Bunch. Here's Oprah now.

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OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIAL MOGUL: I went through the whole exhibit. It's quite extraordinary. May i say #goals to have your exhibit on exhibit at a museum? But I got through the whole exhibit yesterday.

And the thing that made me cry was at the end there was a book where people had written just what the exhibit meant to them and what the Oprah show had meant to them over the years. A woman wrote watching you every day is the reason why I love myself so fiercely. And that made me cry. Because that is my goal. My intention is to use my life as an inspiration to other people to see what is possible for themselves.

How is she involved in assembling all of this material?

LONNIE BUNCH, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF African-AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: Well, in some ways, she wasn't involved at all. That it was basically our idea. We worked with scholars and my own scholars on staff and developed what the exhibition should be. Then we went to Oprah and said, OK, we're looking for this kind of stuff, do you have it?

[12:55:09] And she was kind enough to let us go into her warehouse and find the dressing material. And then she and her staff helped me fact check to make sure we were right.

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WHITFIELD: Oprah donated $21 million to this $540 million museum but Lonnie Bunch there said this exhibit is not payback for that generosity. I talked to Oprah bestie Gayle King after opera's speech who said it was equally emotional for her just to see the exhibit and she says, you know, she's been there during so much of Oprah's journey and it really gets to her.

And even more phenomenal, Gayle told me about Oprah's impact and commitment to uplift others. I'm quoting now. She said she's still going. And so many are thankful for that. It's a great exhibit. You should check it out at the museum. One year long exhibit.

All right. Straight ahead, President Trump on his way to North Korea now for the highly anticipated meeting with Kim Jong-un, making an early exit at the G7 summit in Canada, but not before a last-minute moment with the press, sounding off about trade, tariffs and Russia. What he said next.