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The Art of Body Language; U.S. Senate Rebukes Trump on Tariffs; France vs. Croatia in World Cup 2018 Final; Campaign to Make "American Idiot" Great Again; Trump Blast NATO Allies On Opening Day; Trump: Germany Is Captive To Russia; Trump Claims On NATO Spending Are Misleading; Croatia Top England To Reach World Cup Final. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 12, 2018 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour from bad to worse. Donald Trump shocked allies at the NATO summit saying they should double their spending on defense. Plus, inside an amazing rescue. New video shows the dangerous journey to free a team of young football players and their coach. Also, history in the making. Croatia knocked off England, possessed their first ever World Cup finals. Hello everybody. Thank you for being with us. I'm John Vause and this is NEWSROOM L.A.
Just a few hours the U.S. President will begin his second-day meetings at the NATO summit but European diplomats may still be recovering from the first day. Jim Acosta reports on the President's opening barrage on U.S. allies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning everybody and good morning to the media, the legitimate media, and the fake news media.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was an unsettling scene in Brussels as President Trump picked a fight with NATO accusing long-standing allies in the decades-old partnership of taking advantage of U.S. military might.
TRUMP: Many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money for many years back where they are delinquent. No other president brought it up like I bring it up.
ACOSTA: In harsh language that has Europe fuming, the President lashed out on Twitter asking what good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy. A message he relayed to the NATO Secretary-General.
TRUMP: If you look at it, Germany is a captive of Russia because they supply -- they get rid of their coal plants, they got rid of their nuclear, they're getting so much of the oil and gas from Russia. I think it's something that NATO has to look at. ACOSTA: The President seemed to surprise NATO by calling an alliance
member to dramatically boost their defense spending to four percent of their GDP, double the current NATO goal. The U.S. is at 3.5 percent while Germany is way behind at just over one percent. The NATO Secretary General explained unity is also needed when it comes to standing up to Russia.
JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY-GENERAL, NATO: When we stand together also in dealing with Russia, we are stronger. I think what we have seen is that -
TRUMP: No, you just making Russia richer.
TRUMP: We had a great meeting. We're discussing military expenditure. We were talking about trade.
ACOSTA: For all the President's tough talk, he didn't raise the issue of Russian energy in front of the cameras with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When Mr. Trump met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron made it clear he doesn't agree with the President.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Macron, do you agree that Angela Merkel is beholden to the Russians?
TRUMP: Oh, I'm glad they asked you that. Thank you. Thank you very much.
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: No, I think we just discussed. We work together.
ACOSTA: Merkel who grew up in East Germany during the Cold War insisted she understands Russian aggression all too well.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Because of current events I want to add that I myself lived through a part of Germany being uncontrolled by the Soviet Union.
ACOSTA: The melodrama at the NATO Summit played out just days before Mr. Trump is set to hold critical talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The President's sharp words for Germany appeared to be in response to criticism that he's too cozy with Putin a tactic he's used before dating back to the 2016 election.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States --
TRUMP: No puppet, no puppet.
CLINTON: And it's pretty clear --
TRUMP: You're the puppet.
ACOSTA: Back in Washington, the President's rhetoric on NATO unnerved fellow Republicans. Some of the GOP were careful not to criticize the President.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: NATO is indispensable. It's as important today as it ever has been.
ACOSTA: And some weren't.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Sometimes it feels like we punch our friends in the nose and hold our hand out to people that that are working strongly against us like Russia and Putin.
ACOSTA: It's unclear how much the President will moderate his tone. As he heads to Britain, he'll meet with Prime Minister Theresa May who's also had a tense relationship with Mr. Trump at times. With President's sense of decorum will be royally tested as he sits down with Queen Elizabeth. Then the states get much higher of course as he makes his way to Finland to hold that summit with Vladimir Putin. Jim Acosta, CNN Brussels, Belgium.
[01:05:05] VAUSE: Joining me now for more on this Nic Robertson live in Brussels and here in Los Angeles Political Commentators Joe Messina and Mo Kelly. OK, well here's how the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland who says President Trump today at the at the summit in Brussels, the first day, Nic, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTORIA NULAND, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: He's just made this big fight with our best friends, with our best family, essentially beating the family on the front lawn of the house while all the neighbors and particularly the hostile neighbors stand on the other side of the fence drooling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Nick, it may be a little early to say the dust is settled but it is a new day there. What's the feeling now among NATO members after a summit the likes of which they probably have never seen before?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, they went into this with a huge amount of trepidation and maybe they feel they kind of dodged the worst of the bullets that they thought might have been coming towards them. If you look at the communicator to NATO's issue, the second line of it is to expect -- or the second paragraph is to NATO expects prolonged instability, Russia challenging the rules-based order of the world. There's no doubt that NATO sees Russia as the biggest challenge. The way to deal with that is to have a military that's ready. We've heard that from the NATO Secretary General here saying that they have this sort of readiness --
VAUSE: I think we got a few technical problems there with Nic and we'll try to get back to Nic. In the meantime, Joe, to you, one of the demands we're hearing from the U.S. President kind of a surprise really for everybody was to move beyond this two percent of GDP spent on their defense budgets, now it according to the President, he would like it be at four percent. If that's a negotiating ploy, that's one thing but if it's a genuine demand, it's something which they cannot reach so these countries are unwilling and unable to reset that number. So as one European diplomat said, they're already increasing their defense budgets, why rub salt into the wound?
JOE MESSINA, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Well, how about we give it a two percent first?
VAUSE: Well, I didn't demand the four percent.
(CROSSTALK)
MESSINA: No, you didn't demand either so you'd like to see it at four percent. We'd like to see them put more money into it. Maybe he wants to make up for all these they haven't paid into it, I don't know. But I mean, seriously it's back to the conversation that we have a lot which is they agreed to two percent, why can't they do two percent. Why can't they put the money in that's going to help protect themselves? And you know, we hear all the time we want a stronger Europe, if we have a stronger Europe that makes America stronger. But don't they need to step up and help themselves as well?
VAUSE: I mean, every president has complained about it but they've complained about the spending but they've never complained or questioned the very existence of NATO.
MO'KELLY, HOST, MO'KELLY SHOW: Yes, and they're also questioning the resolve of our allies and it'd be one thing if our president were willing to speak to Vladimir Putin in the way that he speaks to our own allies who are sending troops and are helping us in a military way. Since we're talking about military spending, Vladimir Putin is not helping us. He is ideologically against us in Syria and everything around the globe. So if he were to just approach our allies as friends as opposed to enemies than our enemies as enemies as opposed to wanting to be friends to use his word we would be in a better place.
VAUSE: And just so to expand on that point if he wanting that the U.S. President was sort of talking like this to NATO, if the motivation was to ensure the long-term survival of the alliance, you know, to boost spending so that this alliance could continue on. But it seems that's the last thing that this U.S. President --
MESSINA: Did he -- did he have to use those words though? I mean he wants to bring -- it's going to make them stronger bringing in more money. But to the Russian point for a second, I'm really, really confused here because we're supposed to come together against Russia. NATO was strong against Russia. We were screaming to President Trump to put more sanctions on Russia yet got --
VAUSE: Angela Merkel.
MESSINA: Yes, Angela Merkel. There you go. Germany is buying they're buying their energy from Russia, they're buying their oil from. They're putting money in their pockets.
VAUSE: With that point, they're getting 20 percent of the energy off of that pipeline, not 60 to 70 percent as the President said. And also it's a private project, it's not a government project. You know, it's part of a diversification on energy supplies. I mean, you know, these are allegations that were tossed out there that were just not true.
MESSINA: I'm not talking about percentage.
VAUSE: Well, there's a big difference between 20 and 70.
(CROSSTALK)
MESSINA: A percentage of a $21 trillion debt is you know --
KELLY: Do think that Donald Trump is not doing business privately with Russia as well?
MESSINA: You mean -- you mean the Trump Corporation?
KELLY: That's a private business but I'm saying so you -- so you're concern about Germany engage in private business --
MESSINA: I'm concerned about the E.U. sitting there or the NATO -- heads of NATO sitting there saying, hey, look we need to come against Russia but yet we're putting money in their pockets.
KELLY: Isn't that kind of talking out of both sides of your mouth?
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) that but Donald Trump like to engage.
MESSINA: It's what about it, it's the truth, right?
VAUSE: We actually got Nic because Nic is in Brussels. He's actually back with us. and Nic, let's just go talk about this pipeline that Donald Trump was so critical of when it came to Germany on day one of the summit. You know, this was according to some beliefs an attempt by Donald Trump to divert attention away from his own close relationship with Moscow.
[01:10:10] ROBERTSON: You know I think this is a way of attacking German Chancellor Angela Merkel. You know, we've seen this as a long- running spat and it's a long-running dislike that President Trump has with Germany. Its (INAUDIBLE) a lot about trade. Remember back the campaign trail criticizing Angela Merkel over the sale of German cars you know talking about seeing BMWs, Mercedes on Fifth Avenue. She shot back with you know, where we see Apple iPhones, Apple phones or iPhones you know in Germany. They said this is kind of business.
Look, he's taking a clear shot at her on a place where she is vulnerable. There's no doubt about it. Germany does get gas from you know, from Russia. There is a second gas line that's being built in Austria too that bypasses Poland and that puts gas directly into Germany from Russia. This is Russia's you know way of pressuring and separating out different European countries. You know, in the past we've seen Russia use is gas and oil supplies to Europe, to Poland, to Ukraine turning them off, jacking up the price to put pressure on these countries by putting a pipeline into Germany and Germany agreeing to that. That does anger and upset some European nations, Poland in particular. And perhaps President Trump was listening to the outcome of a summit in Ukraine, in Kiev just a couple of days ago where this issue came up. Ukraine criticizes Germany for this particular pipeline so that was an area where Angela Merkel was vulnerable.
But Angela Merkel as well, is you know, she used to live in East Germany. She grew up there. She speaks Russian. She was pretty close before President Putin annex Crimea. She was pretty close to President Putin. She realizes she couldn't trust him, has led the European Vanguard against president -- against President Putin rather. She doesn't trust him and Europe as a whole is trying to sort of realign its energy supply so that it isn't so dependent on Russia. But look at Britain this year, shortage of oil, couldn't find it anywhere else, bought it from Russia even from a company that supposed to be under sanctions. So Europe is pressured through necessity, geographic necessity to get some supplies from Germany. So that is definitely a point where President -- from Russia rather. So it's definitely a point where President Trump knew he could score an easy point against Angela Merkel and that to me seems to be where it was coming from.
VAUSE: OK, Nic stay with us. I want everyone to listen to Donald Trump go after Germany in that breakfast with the NATO Secretary- General. But while we listen to the President we've got a split screen here. I want you to watch the reaction for the White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Germany is totally controlled by Russia because they were getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia in a new pipeline and you tell me if that's appropriate because I think it's not and I think it's a very bad thing for NATO and I don't think it should have happened and I think we have to talk to Germany about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tried to laugh this over the statement to the Washington Post. Kelly was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese. Mo, you know, we know Sanders is having a bit of a joke but that's also not the reason why John Kelly was so upset along with other senior members of the administration who were there who shifted uneasily in their chairs while the president went about this tirade.
KELLY: He's a military man. He's aware of his surroundings. He knows that cameras are on him at all times and if he was so exasperated to not be able to control the outward expression, then I have to take it at what it seemed to be that he disagreed vehemently with what the President was saying. And for me it seemed like the President was talking out of both sides of his mouth where he wants to chastise Germany for not necessarily doing his part to keep Russia from having financial security but at the same time, our President doesn't want to enact the sanctions to help ensure that Russia struggles financially.
VAUSE: Joe, does Kelly's reaction say anything to you?
MESSINA: Well, yes. I think -- obviously he's frustrated --
VAUSE: Not on the way out.
MESSINA: Well, I mean, let's talk about this for real. How often do you always have your boss is done? And I think he's sitting there saying oh my god, I don't know if these numbers are right and I don't know this is the place to say this. I don't agree with Trump 100 percent of the time I don't think anybody agrees with the president --
KELLY: But you agree with his message today.
MESSINA: Which one?
KELLY: About what he was just saying about Germany.
VAUSE: About Germany and the pipeline.
MESSINA: Oh yes, I still do. Look, if Germany is paying -- you just heard they're paying a little bit over one percent in the NATO. We're paying 3.5 percent. When do we start feeling --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: OK, everyone can say paying into NATO. This not how it works. I want you to listen to the former Supreme Commander of NATO General Wesley Clark talking about how all this -- who owes what and how this works. There he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:14:53] GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER SUPREME COMMANDER, NATO: All the NATO allies have paid every penny that they owe to NATO. There's a pledge that the allies made to commit two percent of their budgets by 2024. Five of the allies are doing it, the others have plans to do this. And so, what Mr. Trump -- President Trump is saying -- is misleading about the allies not spending enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, that -- that's the former supreme commander of NATO.
MESSINA: Kept the tease, willingness. What did he just say, contradict to himself.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: No, he didn't.
O'KELLY: No.
MESSINA: He said -- he said they're saying everything --
O'KELLY: There's a timeline by 2024.
VAUSE: But, they're paying (INAUDIBLE) now. (INAUDIBLE) by 2024.
O'KELLY: Yes.
MESSINA: 2024. So, why don't we -- why don't we follow the same, same, same program?
VAUSE: Well, that's a different discussion we have.
MESSINA: No, but I'm just saying you, why do we -- we're always allowed -- it's always allowed to take advantage of the big guy in the room, right? It's what -- we're always allowed to be taking advantage of as the U.S. We're expected to come up with that money, and if we don't, you hear an outcry.
O'KELLY: So you're fine with him misrepresenting what is actually happening right now, (INAUDIBLE)?
MESSINA: Are they paying the 2 percent or not?
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: And it -- and it have to bite until 2024.
MESSINA: They have agreed -- telling me for my phone just --
O'KELLY: Pay bill four months in advance.
MESSINA: No, no, no. They haven't been it -- then, why do they keep saying, we'll get to the two percent? They've already --
O'KELLY: Because it's 2024.
MESSINA: No, no. Now, they've put it down. It's not always been 2024, that's recent.
O'KELLY: So Wesley Clark is lying?
MESSINA: He's misinformed, how was that?
O'KELLY: I'll use his words, I doubt that.
MESSINA: I'll use his words.
VAUSE: OK. But it is misleading. I can look.
MESSINA: Misleading, I'll use. How was that?
VAUSE: The president has made two very big demands at this summit. Increased defense spending to four percent of GDP. Also -- you know, that's never going to happen. And also to reimburse the U.S. for money which if you listen to General Wesley Clark, that's money which was never actually owed.
I want to go to Nic over there in Brussels. So, these two demands which cannot be met it seems would suggest in some ways that instead of looking for a solution to the problem, the president may have been looking for a confrontation.
ROBERTSON: Look, he may also be looking to try and jack up the contribution in coming years. And that's certainly will have been the takeaway of some of the -- some of the leaders here. What I was told by a -- by a source who is close to talks this morning was, you know, it's perhaps not important. The figures are not important. You know, these defense spends are not contributed into a big pot, they're a defense spends, there is a civilian budget for NATO of a couple of -- a couple of hundred million. There is a military budget of about 1.8 billion. And you know, about 900 million dollars a year for a sort of overall command and control.
These are very small figures compared to the hundreds and hundreds of billions that overall all NATO allies spend on defense spending. So, you know, I think, what I -- you know, the way it's been explained to me is what the key things that are happening here at NATO. Is that it's ready for future challenges? Is that its future proof"? Is that it can take on cyber terrorism? Is that it can take on regular terrorism? Is that it's ready for the threats of the future? And one of those being the sort of hybrid threat that the way that Russia went into Ukraine, annex Crimea, all these sorts of things.
The 30 aircraft squadron set upon standby. The 30 mechanized battalions that are on standby. The 30 warships that are on standby. All those ready in 30 days, those are the key metrics the bridges reinforced between Central Europe and Eastern Europe.
VAUSE: Yes.
ROBERTSON: So that NATO tanks can roll over them, should there be a hard confrontation with Russia.
VAUSE: Yes. They have --
ROBERTSON: These are the critical things. So, but I don't think it, and just to finish, I think we're here -- you know no one would be surprised if President Trump comes back in a couple of years, and says, "What that 4 percent I talked about? Let's make that happen."
2014, at the NATO summit in Wales, there was a lot of detail, a lot of discussions, a lot of pre-planning and pre-planning and pre-discussion to get to that two percent agreement to hit the target by 2024.
Realistically, the leaders here know that's what it's going to take. Pre-planning preparation not just a surprise comments to actually make it happen where they were -- they're not unsuspecting that this number may come around again.
VAUSE: Well, you should note that NATO also spends more on its defense than Russia does, than China does, a year. So which is an important point in all of this?
I want to change very quickly on what was a very telling photographs from the summit. Take a look at the first one, it's the class photo with all the members, but the U.S. president looking at a flyover. They're all looking in the same direction except for Donald Trump.
As they walked to that group photo, the U.S. president walked alongside. Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of Turkey has been accused of a power grab, he's also locked up thousands of political opponents and journalist.
Before dinner on Wednesday, the president checking is watch, somewhere else to be, perhaps, not wanting to be there. And, of course, the unhappy couple, Angela Merkel and the U.S. president. Not looking too chummy at all.
So, Joe, you know, a quick summary from all of these images, what's you're take away?
[01:19:58] JOE: Well, obviously, he is causing some bad relations back there. When you're in negotiate -- when you're in negotiations, not everybody's happy. When you're trying to get what you want, not everybody's happy.
Again is -- I'm tired of the feel-good moments. Everybody wants a happy feel-good moment. (INAUDIBLE).
VAUSE: Personal blogs and should you be one.
JOE: There's been plenty of them. There has been plenty of them.
VAUSE: Without a dictator.
O'KELLY: You know, it's not that hard to not embarrass your allies publicly. You can -- there's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. They can have those hard discussions and uncomfortable moments behind closed doors. So, everyone can save face publicly.
But if I'm Angela Merkel, there is no reason to help President Trump right now under these circumstances after you publicly embarrass me.
VAUSE: It does make you wonder if Article Five would be invoked today if there was a similar attack on the United States as it was on 9/11, a hypothetical question we should be dealing with later this hour.
Mo and Joe, our Mo-Joe is back. And also Nic Robertson. Nic, in Brussels, we appreciate you being with us, as well. Thank you so much.
Croatia have made it to their first World Cup final after beating England in over time. The Three Lions struck first for the goal in the opening minutes of Wednesday's semi-final, but Croatia tied in the second half. Then, scored an extra time, final score 2-1. England and Belgium will battle it out for third place on Saturday.
(INAUDIBLE) are fans packed the streets to celebrate ahead of the final against Sunday -- against France, rather, on Sunday. Les Bleus defeated Croatia 20 years ago in the World Cup semifinal.
A lot more on the World Cup later this hour. In the meantime, up next here on CNN NEWSROOM, what does it miracle look like? The parents of some of these boys rescued from a cave in Thailand will tell you, it's right there behind that glass window.
Also ahead, dramatic vision. A video, rather, of the mission to save the youth football team. The toughest obstacles divers had to overcome deep, deep underground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
We're getting our first look at divers rescuing those young boys from the cave in Thailand. Video shows the narrow passageways, the muddy water, and the jagged rocks. In the steepest pass, the boys were hoisted into the air by pulleys.
All 12 boys and their coach are recovering in hospital. And some saw their parents for the first time in weeks on Wednesday. They were separated by a glass window. CNN's Arwa Damon spoke with the youngest boy's father about this ordeal.
[01:25:03] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So many of us remember the images of those boys. The first ones that came out terrified inside the cave. The first moment that they were found, and it's just so heartwarming to be seeing them in a safe environment in this hospital. And, of course, so emotional for their families.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: To imagine what these boys endured and to finally see them safe, some signal I love you to their parents watching. Waving and weeping behind protective glass. Titun, as he is nicknamed is just 11, the youngest of the rescued boys.
He puts his hands together gesturing, hello, as he realizes his parents are there. We met Titun's exhausted father a few hours later.
TANAWAT VIBOONRUNGRUANG, FATHER OF CHANIN VIBOONRUNGRUANG, RESCUED BOY, (through translator): I was so happy in that moment. All I wanted to do was hug him but I couldn't because of the glass. I started to cry, everybody start to cry. I feel glad to see my boy still healthy. I'm happy to see his face because I have not seen his face for 17 days.
DAMON: The last night they spent together, they were watching the World Cup. The innocence of that moment now gone. To cope, they drew strength from the support of those around them. Titun's younger brother imagined a fairytale story of a mountain, and that his brother was just on a long journey. Reality could not have been further than that.
Newly released dramatic video from inside the cave helps to illustrate how complex and delicate the rescue mission was. The winding dark narrow passages, how there was no room for error. So much could have gone wrong, its success a testament to the professionalism of those involved and what unity can accomplish.
Titun was the last boy to come out, just before the coach. He was the one who wrote to his parents not to worry and that he just wanted to eat fried chicken when he comes out.
DAMON: Are you worried about the psychological effect this is going to have? VIBOONRUNGRUANG: I worry, but just wait and see. After the boy gets back home, I will see whether he can stay at home alone in the dark by himself.
DAMON: Knowing what he knows of his kind and gentle son, he thinks that Titun will feel guilty and apologetic.
This was drawn by Tanawat's cousin. The image of the former Thai Navy SEAL who lost his life, encircled by 13 messages from each of the families.
DAMON: This one's from you and your family. And what does it say?
VIBOONRUNGRUANG: Sam is our hero for our family forever, we will not forget.
DAMON: And Tanawat has this pledge to everyone.
VIBOONRUNGRUANG: I will teach him to grow up a good person, and help society. And I will let him follow his dreams.
DAMON: Dreams that came so close to being stolen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: Now, according to the authorities, three of the boys do have mild cases of pneumonia. Although, they are expected to make a full recovery. And so many parents, so many citizens of Thailand are really taken back by the level of international interests and international support that these boys flight their story the entire rescue effort has generated.
And there is as you saw in that report, so much gratitude being expressed.
VAUSE: Arwa Damon, there with that report, thank you. We'll take a short break. Next up on NEWSROOM L.A. amid the allegations, the insults, and the accusations from the U.S. president at NATO. Perhaps, the body language of his senior advisors said a whole lot more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:06]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
I'm John Vause. We'll check the headlines this hour.
The second day of meetings begins at the NATO summit in just over an hour from now. It follows the first day of blistering criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump on allies' defense spending. He also called Germany captive to Russia for its energy reliance.
An emotional reunion in Thailand even separated by glass as those rescued boys are seeing their parents for the first time in weeks. Doctors say most of the boys should be out of the hospital in about a week from now.
And new video shows the divers bringing the boys through the cave's flooded and narrow passages.
A court in Munich has found a key member of a German neo-Nazi network guilty of killing 10 people and sentenced her to life in prison. Prosecutors said Beate Zschaepe was part of the National Socialist Underground group which killed eight Turks, a Greek citizen and a German police officer 2000 and 2007. >
Now back to the moment at the NATO summit when President Trump accused Germany of being captive to Russia. Talk about awkward and not just for European diplomats. The reaction from the President's senior advisers spoke louder than words.
Here's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Germany is totally controlled by Russia.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The President's scathing critique of Russia made diplomats cringe, but no more so than his own team. Watch U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison look away from her NATO counterparts squirming. You can see chief of staff John Kelly look away from the President and pucker his mouth.
When the President renewed the attack using the word "captive" --
TRUMP: Captive to Russia --
FOREMAN: Some turned their heads, some fidgeted, and like that scene in "The Devil Wears Prada" --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the pursing of the lips.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which means?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catastrophe.
FOREMAN: Catastrophe may be too much. After all, President Trump has famously given his European counterparts an eyeful of body language before. And when the press secretary was asked about the chief of staff's reaction, she told "The Washington Post", Kelly was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there was only pastries and cheese.
Still, body language can be louder than words at these international gatherings. When Trump shoved the Prime Minister of Montenegro aside in a photo-op critics and comics erupted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who does that?
FOREMAN: But his fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love it. We're America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're rude?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're not rude. We're dominant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not rude. After eight he made America great again on the world stage.
FOREMAN: Clearly tough body language works for some, but not all. Especially considering the times the President has grabbed for the first lady's hand only to have her push his away. So when the President says he's great at reading people, experts in body language say --
DR. JACK BROWN, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: He's not as skilled as he claims to be with that, with assessing someone else's body language. He's more like a bull in a China shop.
FOREMAN: Certainly it's more art than science figuring out what people mean by the way they hold their body, but the body language of team Trump has absolutely raised a lot of eyebrows around here.
Tom Foreman, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For more on that NATO summit, Fabrice Pothier is the former NATO director of policy planning and current chief strategy officer at Rasmussen Global. He joins us once more from Brussels.
So Fabrice -- only once in the history of NATO has Article 5 been invoked -- the agreement within the alliance that an attack on one member would be considered an attack on all. The date, September 12th, 2001 -- a day after the terror attack on the World Trade Center. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ROBERTSON, FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO: The 19 nations of NATO last night made a historic decision to invoke this Article 5 for the first time in history because of the enormity of what happened.
[01:34:55] And these nations did so conscious of the fact that this was not just symbolic. It was not just an act of solidarity, although it was both of them. It was also a very clear declaration that this one nation in the alliance has been attacked and they regard that as being an attack on all of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And then in the days which followed, you know, 200,000 people attended a memorial service at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, there was a moment of silence in the U.K. parliament, there was another moment of silence in the European parliament. I mean the French President at the time Jacques Chirac, the first foreign leader to meet with George W. Bush after the terror attack. And then there was the NATAO commitment of troops in Afghanistan. Given what we saw in Brussels this week, what are the chances NATO would react in the same way if the U.S. was hit by a similar terror attack now?
FABRICE POTHIER, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, RASMUSSEN GLOBAL: I think it's quite a speculative question, but you can assume that there would be the same show of solidarity. That, I think, would be pretty clear for most, if not all the allies.
However, what you have to remember is, after invoking Article 5 for the first and only time, actually the United States did not ask NATO to do anything more than just invoking Article 5. The then U.S. administration decided to go away in a coalition of the willing in Afghanistan without basically wasting time, according to some people in the administration at the time, with the alliance.
So I think it also tells you about the paradox of the alliance showing solidarity with the U.S. But the U.S. not necessarily wanting the alliance's help in doing what it felt that it had to do in Afghanistan.
VAUSE: But NATO eventually did turn up in Afghanistan and committed forces there. They remain there to this day. Britain announced it was doubling its troop numbers just this week.
POTHIER: Yes. But that was not part of, in a way, Article 5 operation. It was later on that NATO came in and took over a part, and then the whole territory. But the NATO -- the Afghanistan operation started with a coalition of the willing called "Operation Enduring Freedom" which is still going on nowadays in parallel to the NATO training mission.
So obviously NATO played an important role and helped to sustain the U.S. Presidents in Afghanistan over now more than 15 years. And I will actually recall two years ago when the Obama administration was contemplating withdrawing from Afghanistan, the German chancellor calling on Obama and saying, we've got to stay, we've got to finish the job.
So it's interesting that Germany was actually a few years ago, the one telling the U.S. we've got to, you know, stay and finish the job in Afghanistan.
VAUSE: Ok, so when this president asks on Twitter, what good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy? What is the answer?
POTHIER: Well, the answer is not going to be as straightforward as a tweet. NATO is good for the U.S. because it gives it -- to the U.S., a group of friends. And it allows the U.S. to do a little bit less when it's engaged in some operations in the wider Middle East like you see in Afghanistan. It's obviously not always ideal. I think the U.S. would wish there would be more European troops deployed that already the thousands of European troops deployed mean that you don't have to put thousands of American troops. That's one important.
The second thing is that, and this is probably the most important, NATO gives an important credibility and international legitimacy to whatever the U.S. wants to do. So U.S. alone is, I think, practically possible, but in terms of international perceptions and legitimacy, it's always more difficult to manage.
So it's good to have a group of friends and to have this group of friends in a military organization that puts together operations and deployment.
VAUSE: Here's a Gallup poll from January. It reads, "One year into Donald Trump's presidency, the image of U.S. leadership is weaker worldwide than it was under his two predecessors" -- this is Donald Trump. Meaning approval of U.S. leadership across 134 countries and areas stands at a new low of 30 percent.
You know, some would argue, what does it matter? Estonia or Germany, for example can't go vote for a U.S. President but there are consequences when there's a lack of global goodwill towards the U.S.
POTHIER: Absolutely. Starting with defense spending. And I know that some leaders have warned Donald Trump already when he started talking about 2 percent last year saying, the more you push this argument down our throat, the more difficult it's going to be for us as heads of argument to argue for more defense spending with our taxpayers because if we have to do it for Donald Trump, taxpayers will not want it. So there's indeed some toxicity.
[01:40:01] VAUSE: You know, I'm sorry -- we're almost out of time. I want to get to this last question because after Brussels, the President goes to the U.K. And then he's off to Helsinki to meet Vladimir Putin.
He says that could quite be easy, the easiest part of this overseas trip. It will be easy if he doesn't call Putin out for election meddling and other issues. What happens and what will be the reaction within NATO if Donald Trump turns up to Helsinki and gives a great big bro hug to Vladimir Putin? Especially in the context of how he's been for the last day or so at the NATO summit?
POTHIER: Well, everybody's nervous. Everybody's always nervous when the U.S. has a summit with Russia because we feel that Europe will be given away but even more with this president.
The question is how much damage he can do. He's (INAUDIBLE) constrained by Congress, who, for example, holds the key to the U.S. sanctions on Russia. So of course, optics and photo opportunities matter, but it's not clear how much damage and how much change he can do just to appease Vladimir Putin.
I think what is key is that he sends a signal that he's standing by some key red lines, like the sovereignty of Ukraine, but also that he states without any ambiguity that Russia cannot meddle in elections in the United States or anywhere else in Europe.
VAUSE: Ok. Fabrice -- hey thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us for both hours, two interesting topics of discussion. So thank you, sir.
POTHIER: Thank you. All right.
VAUSE: Republicans in Congress seem to be having second thoughts about President Trump's use of trade tariffs especially when applied against allies. The U.S. Senate voted 88 to 11 on Wednesday that the President should get congressional approval before imposing tariffs in the name of national security.
Mostly a symbolic gesture as the resolution was non-binding. But it did speak to the disapproval many lawmakers feel towards Donald Trump's policies.
Asian markets are back in positive territory after Wednesday's sell off. But in New York, the Dow Jones index was down almost 220 points at the close. At least some of that was pessimism due to the White House planning another round of tariffs, this time on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Andrew Stevens is covering all this for us in Seoul, South Korea. Andrew -- $200 billion, that's actually more than the total amount of U.S. exports to China. So what will the Chinese be able to do in this sort of tit for tat war if they want to match those tariffs?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know exactly what the details are at this stage, John. But the Chinese are very clear in the fact that they would take countermeasures against this new plan by Donald Trump to impose $200 billion, or 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of exports coming in from China.
What we know at this stage is it's going to take a few weeks before this comes into play, if it, in fact, does come into play. There has to be a consultation period in the U.S. But China making no bones about the fact that it will respond.
So how would it respond? As you say, $200 billion is quite a lot more than the total amount of U.S. exports to China, around about $130 billion. So what the Chinese could do, things like instead of whacking 10 percent tariffs so it would match the U.S., it could increase the level of tariffs quite significantly.
It could also do other non-tariff sort of action. This could be just making it much more difficult for U.S. companies to operate in the U.S. It could put new regulatory hurdles in the way. It could stop purchases of U.S. goods, government purchases of U.S. goods. It could bring about a public boycott of U.S. goods.
So it does have various methods at its disposal. And what it would do quite likely, though, is antagonize Donald Trump to the point where he could easily follow through on his earlier threats to increase that $200 billion to $500 billion, John. And then you have major, major trouble between the world's two biggest economies, which would obviously bleed across global economic performance.
And you know, it would be a very, very tough outlook for the global economy in general.
VAUSE: What are those -- what's the possibility that the Chinese could actually pressure its trading partners to go after U.S. exports, imposing their own tariffs or, you know, trying to reduce those exports which they buy from the United States?
STEVENS: Well, that's a dangerous game, particularly with this administration. If China tries to get other countries that it's close to -- to start doing sort of countermeasures against the U.S., given the fact that the U.S. is still such an important export market to so many countries.
I mean the question is really can the U.S. or can China withstand the pain? Who can withstand the pain of a much escalated trade war easiest?
[01:45:03] Now if you talk to economists, if that $200 billion, the tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods comes into play, John, you're talking potentially of a drop in growth in China from 6.8 percent to about 6.4 percent, which is a significant fall.
Now the Chinese have the advantage of being able to wear that, because, a, they've got massive amounts of reserves they can throw money at the economy to soften the blow if they wanted to. And Xi Jinping doesn't have to worry about what the voters think. Whereas Donald Trump very much does have to worry about what the voters are doing.
Just interestingly, on that point, the Brookings Institution did a survey looking at that $200 billion worth of goods, what industries it would affect. And it would affect those industries which employed about 2.1 million people in the U.S., across about 3,000 counties.
Interestingly, John, in those 300,000 (SIC) counties, the pro-Trump vote was around 82 percent. So the Chinese obviously going after the voter as much as the administration, in trying to stop this trade war escalating.
VAUSE: We're out of time, but you know, yes, the U.S. may have the advantage in one trade war on one front, but they're fighting up front on four different fronts in the E.U., Canada and Mexico, everywhere. So I wonder -- you know, it makes you wonder how they're going to win this trade war.
Andrew -- thank you. Good to see you.
Still to come here, a hard-won victory in extra time has given Croatia their first trip to the World Cup final. But the French, they're hungry -- hungry for the title too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody.
There's a developing story out of Columbus, Ohio involving Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who has alleged an affair with President Trump. The affair she says happened before he won the 2016 election.
Now, according to her attorney, Michael Avenatti, who posted on Twitter that his client has been arrested. He says, "Just received word that my client Stormy Daniels was arrested in Columbus, Ohio while performing the same act she's performed across the nation at nearly a hundred strip clubs. This was a set-up and politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges."
And he goes on say that apparently there seemed to be an issue that his client Stormy Daniels was touched in an inappropriate way by one of the clients once at one of these venues.
[01:49:58] We have reached out to Michael Avenatti. He has confirmed to us the information on his Twitter feed is in fact coming from him. As soon as we get more details on the story, we will bring it to you.
The 2018 World Cup final is set after a grueling match in Moscow. CNN's World Sport anchor Patrick Snell, live in Atlanta without a waistcoat and all the highlights.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: The waistcoat has been retired to the wardrobe. Thank you -- John.
Yes, history in the making for Croatia's national football team. What an achievement for them after they beat England in the semifinal on Wednesday. What's really impressive as well, they've got through to their first ever World Cup final in only their fifth tournament since becoming an independent nation.
The Three Lions of England, well they had a great start in this game in Moscow. They took the lead after just five minutes. Kieran Trippier taking full advantage with a really nice free kick straight into the back of the net.
All the talk of Croatia supposedly being physically and emotionally jaded after two recent penalty shoot-out wins -- well, that turned out to be way off the mark even Perisic acrobatically leveling them in the second half with a great goal.
Then the outstanding (INAUDIBLE) was a whisker away from scoring again, denied by the wood work. But wouldn't you just know it the match settled in extra time. Perisic again, who else, with the header before ruthlessly finished off by striker Mario Mandzukic. Super Mario in the 109th minute winning it for his country and for Croatian head coach Zlatko Dalic there, a massive career moment there. Heartbreak for the English and their young squad but, you know, these Croatian players, they were really so busy writing their own very special piece of history.
Well, it's been 20 years since France last won the title. They lie in wait for Croatia now in the final on Sunday. Earlier in the week, they had a win over Belgium in the semifinal. The coveted title once again within reach of the 1998 champions.
CNN's Melissa Bell now reporting from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the sun set over Paris on Tuesday, there was both tension and hope in the air. Expectant crowds gathered to watch and to pray for a victory over Belgium. After a first half dominated by their neighbors, France scored. But with the Belgians' side as strong as it was, it wasn't until the final whistle, after six long minutes of injury time, that France's joy could finally explode.
From Paris' town hall to the Champs-Elysees, there were scenes of chaos and disbelief. Not since France's win in 1998 had the French capital seen anything like it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feeling so great, finally --
BELL: For anyone old enough to remember, the Champs-Elysees on Tuesday night was reminiscent of 1998 when an entire country had been brought together by a World Cup win.
MARCEL DESAILLY, FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYER: At the end of the day, yes, we were all French, and we fight for the same flag. And this has brought a certain kind of spirit into the country. So a positive spirit being able to -- from players, from origin to altogether win and be an example.
BELL: Those were the sentiments that were very much on display here on the Champs-Elysees on Tuesday night, the sense of a country once again united by victory. But these were just the celebrations of the semifinal win.
France will, of course, now have to take on Croatia in the final on Sunday in the hope of bringing the World Cup back to the Champs- Elysees 20 years on.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNELL: France-Croatia will contest that big final in Moscow on Sunday, John -- as I send it right back to you there in L.A.
VAUSE: I've got it. Thanks -- mate.
Next on NEWSROOM L.A., a hit song from 14 years ago is making a comeback in the U.K. And Green Day has the U.S. President to thank.
[01:54:14] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: When Donald Trump arrives in London on Thursday, he'll be greeted by a blast from the past. Green Day's "American Idiot was a hit 14 years ago and now it's back -- talk about coincidence or not. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not nice to suggest the President of the United States is an American idiot, but British critics are trying to make this 14-year-old song by Green Day --
(MUSIC)
MOOS: -- number one in Britain.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Just in time for President Trump's visit to the U.K. the campaign to make "American Idiot" great again asks, how cool would it be to have this as a U.K. number one, are you in?
Enough were in on Amazon-U.K. to make the song number one. Though on the most prestigious official singles chart, "American Idiot" has been bouncing up and down in the high teens and low 20s. It's been fighting a soccer song
(MUSIC)
MOOS: -- whipping up support for England in the World Cup until England lost.
Back in 2004 "American Idiot" was seen as targeting President George W. Bush and the media after the invasion of Iraq. But now the song's title has been plastered on a mock-up of Melania's jacket, joining the Trump baby balloon in a one-two humor punch, aimed at embarrassing President Trump.
"Wow, a song and a balloon, that will teach him," tweeted an unimpressed commenter. But long before critics started using "American Idiot" to insult him, Donald Trump gave it a rave review.
Back in 2010, Donald and Melania Trump attended opening night of the Broadway musical, "American Idiot", which Trump called an amazing theatrical experience, maybe less amazing if "American Idiot" is now directed at you.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Who doesn't like Green Day?
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. The news continues right after this.
[01:57:37] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
