Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump to Meet PM Theresa May, Queen Elizabeth, and Putin; Protesters Upset with Trump. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 13, 2018 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: With the NATO summit behind him, the U.S. president begins a visit to the U.K. And he's already stirring up controversy.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN HOST: Also ahead this hour, the Americans were present but their North Korean counterparts they didn't show up to an important at the demilitarized zone. What it could mean and the reaction ahead.
ANDERSON: And the story of the 14-year-old migrant from Myanmar, one of the rescued teenage footballers in Thailand is being called a hero.
HOWELL: This hour we want to welcome our viewers from all around the world. I'm George Howell at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson live in London. CNN newsroom starts right now.
And a very good morning from London where a political bombshell exploded overnight. A tabloid, The Sun, released an interview with U.S. President Donald Trump and in it he slammed the mayor of London saying he had done a terrible job on terrorism and crime.
He criticizes immigration in Europe calling it a shame and causing Europe to lose its culture. And he's lashed out against his host, Prime Minister Theresa May. According to The Sun he blames her for wrecking Brexit. And he warns she may have killed off any chance of a U.S. trade deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it. But she didn't agree. She didn't listen to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say?
TRUMP: She didn't listen. No, I told her how to do it. That will be up to her to say. But I told her how to do it. She wanted to go a different route.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Mr. Trump's arrival in London comes after a contentious NATO summit in Brussels.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny is traveling with the president.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump receiving two decidedly different British welcomes. Arriving for a formal dinner inside Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. And by screaming protesters outside. Taking a victory lap at the NATO summit earlier in Brussels, the president downplayed his detractors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it's fine. I mean, they like me a lot in the U.K.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: But that's not the only version of Trump's reality being scrutinized. At a hastily arranged news conference the president taking credit for what he said was a new pledge by fellow NATO members to bost their military spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I told people that I'd be very unhappy if they didn't up their commitments very substantially. Because the United States has been paying a tremendous amount, probably 90 percent of the cost of NATO and now people are going to start and countries are going to start up being their commitments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Not only is the 90 percent figure inflated, NATO says the U.S. makes up only 67 percent of overall spending. But other leaders quickly debunks Trump's assertion they plan to double their contributions on defense.
French President Emmanuel Macron said allies simply agree to make good on a 2014 pledge to increase military spending to 2 percent of their GDP by 2014 and not the 4 percent Trump asked for.
On CNN, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg paused for a moment and tilted his head when Christiane Amanpour pressed him about the commitment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Have they agreed to up it from 2 to 4 percent?
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We have agreed to make right on the commitments we have made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Stoltenberg and their leaders say the pressure from the president has led to increase NATO contributions long a gripe of American presidents. Yet the question is, what's the cost of alienating and agitating allies.
A day after suggesting Germany was totally controlled by Russia, the president once again downplayed election meddling engineered by the Kremlin in hopes of sowing discord.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So all I can do is, did you, and don't do it again, but he may deny it. I mean, we'll be the first to know, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: With his Putin summit set for Monday in Helsinki, the president showed little sign of changing his posture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm very consistent. I'm a very stable genius.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: But before that Helsinki summit the president has one more day here in London, certainly bracing for protests and then at the end of the day having tea with Queen Elizabeth.
The American with be the 11th American president Queen Elizabeth has met since she's been in her reign. Everyone except Lyndon Johnson at least since 1952.
President Trump going to his golf resort in Scotland over the weekend, heading to Helsinki on Monday.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, London.
[03:04:56] ANDERSON: Well, that was yesterday. The morning after the night before this, the front page of The Sun newspaper. An exclusive interview Donald Trump says that Theresa May, the prime minister has wrecked Brexit. The U.S. deal is off.
It is hard to imagine an awkward for the bilateral talks between the U.S. president and the U.K.'s prime minister schedule for later today.
Look, according to Sarah Sanders, the president likes and respects the prime minister and he's very thankful, she said for the wonderful welcome he has received in the U.K.
Leslie Vinjamuri joins me now. She's head of the U.S. and the American's program at Chatham House, the World Institute of International Affairs and senior lecturer in international relations at SOAS University of London.
Leslie, there is no one subject here more sensitive than Brexit. One can assume that there is an effort on Sarah Sanders part to manage what can only be described as a stinging personal rebuke to Donald Trump's host.
LESLIE VINJAMURI, SENIOR LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Well, even more than that, right? He's not -- he may well respect the prime minister, but it doesn't really matter for Donald Trump. He's had plenty of meetings with individual leaders where he's enjoyed the meeting. he might have enjoyed whether it was Macron, or Xi, or Abe, you name it.
But he has his views and he certainly has views on trade. He has his views on the European Union and he clearly has his views on Brexit. And regardless, you know, the lovely visit that he is being given and is a lovely visit, he will make his views known. He's not been able to.
Normally he waits -- well, frequently he waits for a few hours until he's left the country. He's decided to intervene directly on the eve of the very significant talks that he will be having with the prime minister. And he's gone very public, right? He's gone right to The Sun. He's gone right to the audience that's sympathetic with -- would prefer hard on Brexit?
ANDERSON: What's his strategy here?
VINJAMURI: I think trying to shift public opinion to put pressure on the prime minister, possibly to put pressure on the government to move things in the direction that he'd like to seem go, which is Britain being free of the European Union having a clean break and providing, you know, America, the United States more of an ability to have a stronger, more autonomous more independent bilateral relationship with the U.K.
ANDERSON: Is this sort of in dimension that we would expect from the U.S. president?
VINJAMURI: Well--
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: In domestic politics.
VINJAMURI: It has been 18 months so I think our expectations have changed of this particular American president. We're never sure quite what to expect. We're getting very used to what seems to be abnormal behavior being quite normal.
ANDERSON: If he thought that he was swimming in the steam of Brexit supporters here and as you suggest trying to sort of, change the direction that the British government will take effective for Brexit. Is he likely to achieve that? I mean, we will see thousands of people schedule to be protesting this visit on the streets of London today.
VINJAMURI: No, that's right. And it's very difficult and there's a difference from the one that he's speaking to in The Sun. So there is, you know, there is a division still in the U.K. of course on what kind of Brexit people would like to see. Will the American president, fundamentally alter the direction things
that seems go. It seems unlikely. He certainly would like I think to claim that he could but you know, the U.K. has its own politics, it has its own issues. Brexit is really significant here obviously. It's a domestic debate. It's a debate with Europe.
I don't think the American president is going to fundamentally change the direction at play. But there is a real concern for what that relationship will look like.
The trade relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States after the U.K. exits the European Union and having the president say this will make it much harder to get a trade deal. I think puts on the table what many people have still might be the case. It makes it much more difficult for the prime minister.
ANDERSON: Is the U.S. president is claiming victory for an increase in defense spending as we assume he will post his visits with his NATO alliance members yesterday. How will you claim any sort of victory here do you think?
VINJAMURI: Well, you know, I think I suspect that Donald Trump will be a charm today by his visit by the military display at Sandhurst. So in a sense he is going to feel quite welcome. He's made his statements. He's done what he, what I think you wanted to do which is to communicate the people to take a hard line.
And so I think he'll go away saying, you know, yes, there are protest but they like me and they understand how I feel the British people. And he means, you know, his people and the people that he identifies with which of the people I think that wanted a -- that wanted Brexit and so on Brexit many of them.
So I think that he will claim a residence with a certain part of the British population. He'll say they treated me well.
[03:09:59] And, but this is a president who likes to be able to say that he stuck to his message. He has strong views and that he doesn't back down and he'll be able to claim that he didn't back down.
ANDERSON: Do you think he is being advised by do you think on British politics.
VINJAMURI: Well, it's very good question. I suspect that there's people around him in his inner circle are probably as unsettled by the interview in The Sun as we all are. I don't think that he has many people around him that play politics and adopt the same rules of the game that he has.
So, you know, everybody has sort of circling this and wondering how to manage it and nobody was quite sure what will happen. So I don't think that he takes advice in the way that we might assume that the conventional politician would.
ANDERSON: Leslie, for the time being, thank you for that. International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson outside the U.S. ambassador's residents known as Winfield house. The U.S. president waking up there today but will spend very little time there in London, indeed.
Protests expected across the city today, including where you are, Nic. Any evidence at this point?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Just looking into my shoulder. The one protest that there was here for the past couple of hours it seems to disappear. There were about three or four when we arrive banging pots and pans but they stop doing that and they all moved off now.
The police are obviously ready here if there are protests. Bigger protesters expected more in Central London today. But of course the president will be able to lift off from here in Marine One, this helicopter, which were take him, we're expecting it to take him to Sandhurst today, the military academy for officer training offices in the British Army.
He'll go from there to Checquers, the prime minister's country residence, lunch and a conversation with her followed by a press conference. One can only imagine how tough that is going to be for either than looking each other across the table now today at lunchtime compared to the friendly faces that they were -- that the smiles and everything that they had yesterday for that sumptuous dinner at Blenheim Palace.
And then he'll fly off again in Marine One. We're expecting his helicopter to visit the Queen and he'll spend a short time with the queen before heading off to Scotland to his golf course up there.
And look, I think, you know, in terms of protests and The Sun newspaper those people that already feel a grief about President Trump's visit here to the U.K. And remember, in fact, to when Theresa May first try to get closer President Trump after his inauguration in Washington in early 2017. Immediately she cm back from that trip.
There were about 1.8 million people signed a petition to requesting that the President Trump wouldn't get to meet and sit down with the queen. Well, that's going to happen. I think the people that don't like President Trump already made their mind up about that. The newspaper are probably won't affect it further. They were planning to come out.
So we're told to expect more protests this year. And absolutely in Central London and other places as well. Perhaps, Scotland as well around his golf course, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson reporting from outside Winfield House. A bombshell interview in the British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, then likely to have unsettled Donald Trump host. The Prime Minister here she'll be holding talks later today and will likely have done nothing to improve the mood of those who are demonstrating his visits to the U.K.
More to come in the hours ahead. For the time being, though, back to George in Atlanta.
HOWELL: Becky Anderson, thank you so much. And following President Trump's controversial visit to the U.K. he heads next to Helsinki, Finland. As Nic pointed out for the meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump has said of that meeting, it might be his easiest on this trip overseas and that it would be a bad thing if the two leaders got along. That is a much different approach than his interactions in Brussels where he railed against NATO allies arguing the U.S. has been taken advantage of by them.
Following the story our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen live in Moscow. Fred, as Mr. Trump criticizes, contradicts, and undercuts his U.S. allies the one place that he proves consistent is his praise for President Putin. What is the mood ahead of this meeting?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, I think that the Russians can hardly believe their eyes and ears as some of the things that they're hearing from the U.S. president. It's interesting to see the messaging that we're getting here out of Russia.
If you look towards Kremlin they're really holding back on everything. They're saying, look, if there's rift in NATO has nothing to do with Russia. They really didn't want to comment on those at all.
However, they are saying, look, obviously they have a very strained relationship with NATO. They feel that NATO has been infringing on Russia's borders. They feel that NATO is a threat to Russia.
[03:15:04] They obviously feel that a strong NATO is something that's bad for Russia. And so, therefore, they say, look, weakening NATO is not necessarily something that's not in their interest, but then you have other Russian politicians, you have Russian pundits here who are saying look, they cannot believe the rift that president has called -- that President Trump has caused in the NATO alliance.
There was one political scientist who was on the show the other day who was saying that even the Soviet Union could not have caused the kind of rift or never managed to cause the kind of rift that President Trump has caused in the past day and day and a half.
Now of course all of that continues now on his visit to the United Kingdom. We have to keep in mind, George, that the relations between Russia and the United Kingdom are extremely strange, especially with the May government having two incidents with use of Novichok, the military grade nerve agent in a civilian town in the United Kingdom.
Obviously, the Russians saying it wasn't them, but it's certainly something that has been very bad for relations.
There were no British officials, for instance, here at the World Cup that is still going on and obviously where the England team just exited very recently, so the relations are very strained at the same time, you have President Trump ripping into Theresa May saying nice things about Vladimir Putin.
So that's certainly something that the Kremlin will not be unhappy to hear, George.
ANDERSON: And Fred, I'm curious a Russian media certainly follows how Mr. Trump is perceived in American media. I believe you and I have actually appeared on Russian media. I'm curious to know what is the sentiment, the feeling right now about this particular meeting through Russian media.
PLEITGEN: Yes. You're absolutely right. You and I have actually been on on Russian TV various times as sound bites and they obviously debate some of the things that we say on air as well.
I think that the Russian media and the Russia public believes that President Trump is very positive towards Russian federation. It's interesting because you always hear from, you know, lower-level Russian politicians that they believe is the present wants better relations with Russia. And I think that's something that they believe can, at least can be a stepping stone if you look at the meeting going forward.
Certainly if you look at the Kremlin they'll tell you look, it's just the meeting. They know there's a lot of points that are going to be very difficult and that is certainly true. There are a lot of issues that were Russia and the United States don't see eye to eye, but they do believe that if the two leaders can come away from this with good relations and certainly that's something that the Russians could build upon in the future, George.
HOWELL: CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen live for us in Moscow. Fred, thank you for the reporting.
And still ahead this hour on Newsroom we take you back like to London where protesters are gearing up for what could be a massive demonstration against the U.S. president's visit to the United Kingdom.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: U.S. President said in a newspaper interview that he used to love London but no longer feels welcome here. And that's exactly the message these protesters are trying to send. About two million Britons signed a petition not to invite Donald Trump to the U.K. and they are very unhappy that their government did so anyway.
In an hour from now a giant balloon called Trump baby will rise above parliament behind me here as part of the protests. It's expected to hover over the city for about two hours as demonstrators march through the streets.
Now Mr. Trump will be facing plenty of this. His schedule is being carefully crafted to avoid seeing or hearing this massive show of disapproval.
Well, Owen James is one of the protest organizers. He's also a columnist for the Guardian newspaper and what do you make of Donald Trump's interventions today. (Inaudible) is very long. It's both in the city to a newspaper headline that reads like this.
OWEN JONES, COLUMNIST, THE GUARDIAN: Wow. Theresa May, the prime minister proceed the strategy of sucking up to this man and he came to this country and he has already her. That shows strategy does not work. You do not, you stand up to believe, you don't indulge them.
And what I find even more extraordinary is his attack on the elected mayor of London. He is one of most senior Muslim politicians in the entire world who Donald Trump blames for terrorism partly. Now this was a sort of attack you get on far right blocks in this country.
He's already come here as a foreign leader to interfere in our internal political affairs and what we've seen is the entire strategy of the British government of indulging this bigoted megalomaniac has collapsed. And that's why the real moral leadership will be on the streets of London and in towns and cities across the country.
If our government can't stand up to him then tens of thousands of Brits will.
ANDERSON: Where? Where will they stand up to him? Just explain. I mean, we're sitting across from the house of parliament as we spear. Where will these tens of thousands of people be today, Owen?
JONES: So we're assembling at 2 o'clock at Portland Place that's just outside of BBC just near Oxford Circus station. And then we'll march to Trafalgar Square where there will be a massive rally at 5 o'clock. Now this march will be led by women. What we're trying to do with this demonstration is sends of the voices of those from communities from groups who have been particularly targeted by Trump's visit.
Muslims, people of color, migrants, refugees. What will be I think, you know, exceptional about this will be is accountable. That's how we're calling it. It will be a family day. People will be there with their kids. That what will unite us is a repudiation of the sexism, the misogyny, the racism, the bigotry, the scapegoating of migrants and refugees and Muslims that Donald Trump personifies.
ANDERSON: Does it bother you as an organizer that he won't see nor hear any of there. That would be in London, is it?
JONES: Well, that because we have them on the road. I mean, he postponed this trip over and over and over again because of his fear of being humiliated by protests. The state visit has been kicked into the long grass because of the protest. And he's now doing an itinerary to avoid the protests precisely because he doesn't want to be humiliated by them.
Again, what most believe he's a coward, but it isn't simply just about Trump. It's about what he represents, as I say the misogyny, the bigotry the racism whether it be those who surround him. He want to go with Iran, whether it be climate change scrapping or withdrawing from the Paris agreements, whether it be the fact we don't want to become the stooge of Donald Trump's America like members of the British government under the ruling conservative party wants us to be. We won't tolerate it.
ANDERSON: So what will success look like briefly for you today?
JONES: Success will be mobilizing people in this country against racism and misogyny, sending a message to the government. We will not let you turn this into the puppet of Donald Trump's America. We will not accept a trade deal that privatizes NHS. We won't accept going to war with Iran like we did with Iraq under previous Republican president. If you won't stand up to him, we will. That will be the message on the streets.
ANDERSON: It's going to be a busy day in London. We will be across all of it. Thank you. For the time being, George. Back to you.
HOWELL: Becky, thank you.
The United States has long been viewed as a safe haven for victims of wars of violence and persecution, but under the Trump administration that is changing.
[03:24:59] Now many people seeking asylum in the U.S. will automatically be turned away.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has this report for you.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The future has become far more uncertain for migrants like Christian Ortiz. We recently met the 26- year-old from Honduras in a migrant shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, just across the Texas border.
Ortiz showed us the slashing scars left on his back. He is saying these are scars from whips where he was threatened to join a gang in Honduras and if he didn't join the gang he would be -- his family would be killed.
Ortiz says the beating drove him north leaving his two sons behind so he could seek asylum in the United States. But now the Trump administration is adopting a policy that will immediately reject asylum requests based on fears of gang and domestic violence, likely leaving immigrants like Ortiz with frightening options.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: So he feels like his only option right now is to enter the country illegally because he's not confident that asking for asylum will work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS GARCIA, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: I don't think it's extremely called the death sentence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: McAllen, Texas immigration attorney Carlos Garcia says he's spoken with dozens of undocumented immigrants who had their initial asylum request denied. He fears it will prove deadly for thousands of people forced to return home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARCIA: More people are going to be assassinated. More people are going to suffer domestic violence. More people are going to die. That's the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Even last month the Trump administration was focused on changing the asylum rules, declaring that it wanted to make it even harder for immigrants to win asylum cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SESSIONS, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: Asylum was never meant to alleviate all problems even all serious problems that people face every day all over the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: The Trump administration still needs to reunite nearly 3,000 children under age 17 who the government separated from their families under the zero-tolerance immigration policy. Fifty seven of 103 children under five who were separated from their families have been reunited with their parents.
The others remain in government custody officials say because their parents had criminal records and already been deported or other issues, while most of these younger children were reunited within a day or two of the first deadline. Critics question whether the Trump administration can be able to reunite the thousands of other separated families by the July 26 deadline.
This woman who ask to be identified as Isabella was reunited with her 17-year-old daughter after being split apart for 40 days. Her case highlights the slow pace of being reunited. She arrived at the shelter and waited eight hours for the paperwork to be authorized.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: She tells us she felt desperation waiting but that she always trusted God would take her to her daughter.
And there is still a great deal of concern as to how the U.S. government is going to meet that July 26 deadline. Critics and immigrant activists are wondering if the U.S. government wasn't able to fully meet the deadline just this past Tuesday of just over 100 children and reuniting all of those families, they are wondering how in the world they are going to be able to do nearly 3,000 more children within the next couple of weeks considering what a long process it takes to reunite these families.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Hidalgo, Texas.
HOWELL: Ed, thank you for the report. Still ahead, what to expect when President Trump meets the queen in the United Kingdom. Of course, we'll have that story ahead for you.
Plus North Korea may have snubbed the US at the DMZ. We have a live report from South Korea. Stay with us.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Viewers around the world this hour you are watching CNN Newsroom, thank you for being with us, I am George Howell with the headlines we were following for you.
The U.S. president and the British Prime Minister will meet again on Friday, set the whole a joint news conference, but it may be testing affair in the newspaper interview released late Thursday, Mr. Trump criticized Theresa May also saying he just resigned Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson will make a great Prime Minister.
U.S. and North Korean envoys are set to meet on Sunday to discuss returning the remains of U.S. troops this according to the U.S. state department. North Korean officials didn't show up or plan talks at the demilitarized zone on Thursday.
FBI agent Peter Strzok endured hours of hostile questioning from U.S. lawmakers Thursday over anti-Trump text messages that he sent back in 2016. Republicans allege the texts show FBI bias against the President in the Russia investigation.
CNN of course, live from London. Our Becky Anderson following the U.S. President there in the U.K. and Becky, Mr. Trump clearly had a volley of criticism for many people there in London. And he is set to have official meetings today. That will be interesting.
BECKY ANDERSON, CONNECT THE WORLD, CNN: That is right. President Trump will maybe hammering the mayor of London and indeed the British Prime Minister Theresa May, but so far he is praising Queen Elizabeth, ahead of their meeting later today. He told this Sun newspaper she was a quote, tremendous and incredible woman. He also said she never really made a mistake and represents her country so well. Well, for more I'm joint by royal watcher and royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams. He is also the former editor of the international who's who. Sir, great to have you with us, thank you for that.
This is a U.S. President with a very different style. He doesn't do rules. He doesn't do rule books he does disruption which is anatomy to the way that the queen conducts herself. Will she be looking forward to this meeting?
RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: I think the Queen will undoubtedly curious, but I doubt she'll be looking forward to it. President Trump as you just said wants to rewrite the rules of diplomacy. One thing he must remember is that the key with the Queen when there is a private meeting when he and the first lady will be alone with the Queen, I think he will find it irresistible to tweet afterwards the content of that meeting, what they say to each other must remain private. I trust someone can convey that to him. Which is of course extremely
important. We know that America and Britain are close allies but it desperately needs America's support for Brexit. We know what's in the Sun newspaper this morning and the fact that basically despite being asked the pomp and splendor to Churchill's birth place, Burnham Palace, Trump has pulled the rug from under Prime Minister May's -- literally this morning.
ANDERSON: In the Queen Elizabeth II 66 year rein she has met most of the 12 Presidents. She was seen and come and go, wont she?
FITZWILLIAMS: She certainly would, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson. The defector, Trump is the force to actually go to Windsor and he will like the historical setting dating back to William the conqueror. He and the queen will be inspecting the cold stream garbs, the oldest regiment in the British army. He will like that the point is precisely will this (inaudible) achieve? I think that because his mother Mary was such a staunch royalist.
[03:35:03] He will feel some warmth towards the queen. He said those in the interview in the Sun, but the facts also are what will come out of it and can she somehow make him more stable in his approach to it.
ANDERSON: What do you think the success will look like as far as the royal household is concern?
FITZWILLIAMS: I think certain stability. I think the recognition that he is had a meeting which has been extremely meaningful to him. After all, this is going to be a state visit and of course he wanted to be getting on horse guards, the ride down the balance, but with the demonstrators it simply wasn't possible.
ANDERSON: This isn't a state visit, it's a working visit.
FITZWILLIAMS: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: Did the queen have to meet the U.S. President on this visit?
FITZWILLIAMS: Oh, I think had she not met the American head of state it would have been seen as a slight. There's absolutely no doubt about that. Remembering that the first state visit ever was George W. Bush in 2003. There are a hundred thousand demonstrators but none the less will London was in lockdown, Bush made the speech in fact putting house, he went to number ten. The Bushes stayed at Buckingham Palace. The Trump's simply because of the tremendous antipathy that his behavior has provoke in Britain. So, it hasn't been possible to lay anything like that on and even if it were, his response to hospitality when we've just seen one example of it after last night's attempt to put on a show for him, he launches an attack in the tabloid this morning which will be desperately embarrassing when he meets Theresa May for lunch today.
ANDERSON: The newspaper released literally as that a gala dinner was closing out earlier last night. And we will wait to see whether we hear from the U.K. Prime Minister and Donald Trump, what may be a sort of hastily convened press conference a little later today. The pomp and ceremony continues, though. And that meeting with the Queen a little later on the south in which the time being. Thank you very much indeed.
Busy times in the U.K., busy times for the royal family here today. The U.S. President is in town, but only for a very short period of time, by which I mean he is not going to spend any time in London. It is London where demonstrators will protest the U.S. President's visit. He is off out to the Prime Minister's residence in the countryside and then off to Windsor a little later on all of that here on CNN. There is though other news, of course. George has that at CNN headquarters.
HOWELL: Becky, thank you so much.
There are growing signs that relations between the United States and North Korea could be breaking down. Two envoys, the envoys from the two countries are now set to meet on Sunday. This after the North Korean side didn't show up Thursday talks at the DMZ. They were supposed to discuss the issue of bringing home the remains of U.S. troops killed in the Korean War. Following the story, CNN's Andrew Stevens is live in Seoul, South Korea. Andrew, this is certainly a delicate issue. The President has said the remains have been returned on stage at one point after that summit, that is not the case, they have not been returned. And the North Koreans now seem to be putting pressure on this process.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN NEWSTREAM ANCHOR: It's an enormously delicate issue and a very political issue for Donald Trump. Given the fact that this was talked about. This is one of the highlights that actually came out of that June 12th summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. I mean it is a very broad agreement on denuclearization but specifically Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un did agree about repatriating those remains. And as you say, George to Donald Trump had tweeted they are on their way, they are not -- the first meeting on that was due to take place yesterday at the DMZ between the North Koreans and the U.S. The U.S. turn out, but the North Korea we a no show. And it wasn't until midday or so according to the U.S. that the North Koreans got in touch with them to say that they wanted to have a meeting on Sunday. So the U.S. has agreed to that, but remember Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State had used June 12th for the sort of -- July 12th, excuse me, for the meeting to take place and said it may shift a couple of days, but it was very clear that was the intention and it just didn't happen. So, yet another blow not any to relations but to the ability really on this ongoing denuclearization talks.
HOWELL: That is curious, I mean, is there a sense though that there could be a little less than meets the eye to this?
[03:40:00] Because there were missed meetings before the summit. I guess the question is, is there a real great concern about what happened here or is there a sense that it could be more than, you know, should be read into?
STEVENS: Yes. It really does depend on who you talk to. The South Korean government say this could just be the North Koreans playing hard ball. Sorting out their negotiating stats. Mike Pompeo, indeed his boss, Donald Trump, continued to put a very positive spin on things. But on the ground they are genuine concerns about this is just not moving forward. I mean, we heard, we have sources telling Michelle Kosinski just a couple of days ago that that meeting in Pyongyang went as badly as it could have gone.
So that gives you an idea that there are real issues now between these two. And the core issues too, George. What does denuclearization mean to Kim Jong-un? What does it mean to the U.S.? It looks at this stage, they are not on the same page and that certainly came through pretty loud and clear at the Pyongyang meeting. Mike Pompeo was snub, he did not meet with Kim Jong-un. That Kim Jong-un apparently was too busy looking at potato farms and potato factories in the northeast of the country.
At least that what it appears to look like. So, there is what looks like ill will so early on in these negotiations as Donald Trump tweets out a letter from Kim Jong-un who calls Donald Trump his Excellency and talks about the war relationship and the chance to build on this historic relationship. And Donald Trump is saying, great progress is being made. It patently is not being made. George.
HOWELL: Andrew Steven, thank you for breaking it all down for us. Live in Seoul, South Korea. We'll stay in touch with you.
Still ahead this hour, the divers who helped to rescue the Thai football team trap in the cave are being hailed as heroes by one of the trap boys is also being recognized.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm George Howell.
In Japan landslides and flooding cause by torrential rain have killed at least 200 people. It is now one of the deadliest natural disaster to hit that nations since 2011. Some 75,000 responders are helping with search and rescue operations, but incoming thunderstorms and landslides could make that much more difficult. Officials also fear there could be an outbreak of disease, because of intense heat and water shortages there.
[03:45:05] Some good news to tell you about this hour for the families of the 12 boys rescued from that flooded cave system in Thailand. They've gotten the all clear to visit the boys now in the hospital.
Those there the Thai navy SEALS chanting for the cameras, one last time. After the successful operations to pull the boys and the coach from the cave. They took part in the special welcome home ceremony Thursday at a military airport in southern Thailand. One told CNN the help of international dive experts was critical to this rescue.
In the meantime, as we have been reporting, the families of the rescued boys are finally getting the reunion that they waited 18 days for. Thailand's ministry of public health says relative wearing protective gowns and mask can visit them now in their hospital rooms and one of the boys is being hailed a hero for the special role he played in the rescue. Our David McKenzie reports. (BEGIN VIDEO)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For days they had no food, were in total darkness and when the British rescue diver finally discovered the boys --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13? Brilliant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A clear, confident voice from a translator from Thai to English.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. I understand. We come.
MCKENZIE: That young voice is from a 14-year-old migrant Adul Sam-on. Star player of the Wild Boars soccer team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): Adul's teacher believes that he played a key role. He helped save those boys, he says. At his school they put up his soccer trophies and image is a kind of shrine. Praying he would return. He is at school, he is a god kid he says, he is such a happy kid. But Adul, didn't come from a happy place. He was born in Myanmar's border region. Infamous for militant's insurgencies and drug trafficking rings.
MCKENZIE: The border to Myanmar is right over there. Right in the center of town and like many people here, Adul had to flee as a child to seek refuge in Thailand.
His parents brought him to a church mission when he wasn't much older than these migrant children. In a country where migrants are sometimes shunned. Adun tribe was a near perfect TPA, his Thai teacher call him a champion. He's Thai best friend said he can't wait to play football again with Adul and give him a hug.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): I think he is a hero he says. He helped get everybody out of that cave.
MCKENZIE: the extraordinary international effort to rescue the boys brought together military specialist and dive experts from across the world. And putting their prejudices aside helped unify a country. David McKenzie, CNN, Northern Thailand.
(END VIDEO)
HOWELL: David, thank you.
Now to India where there's growing anger and outrage over violent sexual assaults against minors. Several incidents have sparked protests in this latest case seven people were arrested after a 15- year-old girl alleged she was gang raped by 19 people over six months. Police arrested the girl's principal, two teachers and four boys, who are minors, they all deny any involvement. We will be right back. [03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: A busy day Friday ahead of the U.S. President in the U.K. President Trump will meet again with the British Prime Minister Theresa May and hold a joint news conference. He'll also have tea with the queen all against the backdrop of an incendiary interview that Mr. Trump gave to the tabloid, the Sun. Mr. Trump slammed London's mayor. He criticized immigration in Europe and trashed Theresa May's handling of Brexit negotiations.
Most people are keenly aware of the pluses and minuses here, the good and bad traits, the strengths, and shortcomings, but it take a very special person to know that he is a genius especially stable genius as President Trump describes himself. Jeanne Moos picks it up from here.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The return of the stable genius, oh, yes he did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where you'll be tweeting differently once you board the Air Force One.
TRUMP: No, that is other people that do that. I don't. I'm very consistent. I'm a very stable genius.
MOOS: Actually, this was the first time the President said it. The last time was in a tweet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A stable genius which I guess Einstein if he owned a comb, I think.
MOOS: President Trump certainly is stable when it comes to consistently describing his stability.
TRUMP: I am a very stable genius.
MOOS: Of course it brought back the Mr. Ed jokes about that genius of the stable, as well as means like, my name is Donald J. Trump, the J stands for Jenius in no time, the stable genius remark was being repeated by the geniuses in Washington. Democratic Congressman, Gregory Meeks couldn't stop saying it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a stable genius. Stable genius. Self- proclaimed stable genius.
MOOS: The Congressman finally put it in a question to the treasury secretary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a stable genius?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm stable and I won't refer to myself as a genius one way or the other.
MOOS: The last time a President tweeted it, it inspire a Pennsylvania Congressman to introduce the stable genius act, requiring presidential candidate to be examine for mental and physical fitness. The stable genius act is stable all right. It's still sitting in committees seven months later while President Trump joins the ranks of brainy cartoon characters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a genius. Get over it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prevent me to introduce myself. My name is Coyote. Cayote.
MOOS: Genius Moos, CNN.
TRUMP: I am a very stable genius. Super genius.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEO)
ANDERSON: Well, Emily Thornberry is a labor M.P. Shadow Foreign Secretary. She joins us from Melbourne in Westminster. Whichever side of the British political divide you sit on, Emily, the U.S. President's comments represent a stunning intervention in British politics, coming in such sensitive time for Britain and the British people. The normal diplomatic response for a politician might be I welcome his comments. What is your response?
EMILY THORNBERRY, U.K. SHADOW FOREIGN SECRETARY: My response is, because mother teach him nothing. I was taught when you go to somebody's house, you don't insult you host. Just imagine what Theresa May is thinking today, when she was standing waiting for the president to arrive at the birth place of Winston Churchill. With the guards and their best kin hats, where everything had been laid out including the red carpet and everything. And then she hears that he has insulted her and our country in a way that he has.
If that is a stable genius, I'm Father Christmas. This is not the way that you behave towards another country. This is not how you do things and frankly, what does she do? I mean, really, you know, he loves strong people. He loves the strong men around the world. Not those who democratically elected but the strong men. And with the way in which our Prime Minister are behaving has been as weak as possible, what does she do? She walks up the steps of Burnham Palace, she holds his hands. Stop holding his hand. What is she playing at? Women around the world have men who try to hold their hands. We know how to stop them. Melania Trump knows how to stop President Trump holding her hand and our Prime Minister doesn't seem to understand how to do it.
[03:55:03] She needs to stand up to him. That is what you need to do with bullies. And I'm afraid that is what the president of the United States is, but he will not be there forever and when he is gone our friends in America with whom we share values will remember that we stood up and we stood by them and we stood against President Trump.
ANDERSON: Emily, no doubt President Trump's comments will further inflame his detractors, we are likely to see those on the streets of London in their thousands today. The likelihood is though given what was said about Brexit. Boris would be a great M.P. Migration is killing Europe. These are the sort of lines that are likely to boost the Prime Minister's opponents in her own party with regard to Brexit. Just what sort of impact do you think this article, this exclusive interview in the Sun newspaper which some will not take seriously at all, others will, what sort of impact do you think it will have?
THORNBERRY: So, the question really is, do we continue to trade closely with our biggest neighbors? Both with whom we do our largest amount of trade. Do we remain in a customs union, do we remain close to the single market? I believe that that is what we should do. And I believe that when the -- when Europe negotiates deals with free trade deals with other countries around the world that we as bolt on, the fifth largest economy where at extra ready to those negotiations and we should have a place at the table. That is what I believe should happen. And that is at one side. On the other side you have those who are within the conservative party, you think that we should basically sail off into the mid-Atlantic and have nothing more to do with Europe at all, and put our fate into our ability to be able to strike deals around the world including with the United States.
Now we already have a lot of trade with the United States. We are the biggest overseas (inaudible) in United States and frankly there is no evidence that this President is serious about a free trade deal with Britain. He said when he was first elected that he would be able to sign one up within a couple of days. But clearly he doesn't understand what a free trade deal is or the complications of it otherwise he wouldn't have said that. And secondly, he said that there are too many foreign goods going into the United States so if that is right, then exactly how is it that we are going to be able to strike up more trade with the United States and he is setting off a trade war around the world. There is no evidence that he is serious about this and yet he dares say we should turn our back on Europe and hope that he will give us a trade deal. Absolutely not.
ANDERSON: Emily Thornberry is in London for you where it is 8:57 a.m. Just on the other side of the House of Commons from where we are. Here the south side of the river looking back to the palace of Westminster. Thank you for joining us this hour. I'm Becky Anderson in London.
