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CNN NEWSROOM

A 7.3 Quake Hits Iraq-Iran Border; Trump Visit to Asia; Saad Hariri Speaks Out; Republicans Backing Away from Roy Moore; Russian Election Meddling; Texas Church Shooting. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 13, 2017 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:10] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: At least a thousand injured and 130 killed in Iran after an earthquake hits just across the border in Iraq.

In Manila, U.S. President Donald Trump navigates talking human rights with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in a meeting expected to start soon. We'll bring you those pictures.

And just seven days ago, this was the site of a shooting massacre. Today it reopens as a memorial to those killed.

Thank you for joining us everyone. I'll Cyril Vanier, live from the CNN NEWSROOM here in Atlanta.

Rescuers in Iraq and Iran are searching for people under rubble after a deadly earthquake rocked the border between the countries. The 7.3 magnitude quake hit about 30 kilometers from the Iraqi city of Halabja -- you see it on your map there. Iranian officials say at least 130 people have been killed with more than a thousand.

In Iraq now, at least four people have died and a Kurdish news program captured the exact moment tremors hit during a live interview.

You can see the studio shaking there on the left side of your screen. And the shocks were felt throughout Iraq including at this Baghdad grocery store.

News agencies in Pakistan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Turkey also reported feeling the quake.

Our Ivan Cabrera is monitoring developments. He comes to us from the CNN weather center. What do we know at this time?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A remarkable death toll -- right away 130 people. It may not sound like a lot in the scheme of natural disasters but for this particular area it's a big deal.

And the strongest quakes that I've been able to see as far as we've been keeping records here, in fact, that 7.3, basically is a .1 degree magnitude higher than what they had basically back in 1990 and that wasn't in that particular area there but at least near the region and involving the same plates that moved and that caused these earthquakes here. So quite a remarkable thing and in fact, we bring out this average of how many of these earthquakes we have. We only average about 15, and this is worldwide -- 15 earthquakes of that magnitude, a significant one.

Of course, the other thing we always talk about is not just a main quake. Folks are going to not be sleeping for quite some time and it's not unjustified because what happens is we have aftershocks which are basically the smaller earthquakes that follow the main quake.

And when you talk about a quake that initially had a magnitude of 7.3, you can basically expect this kind of pattern setting up here. So we could have a magnitude 6.3, you usually average one after that main quake, ten of 5.3 and above and it's kind of a logarithmic thing, right. So it drops down to a hundred.

The good thing is though this also diminishes as far as the frequency each day that passes. But since we're just very near the event, I wouldn't be surprised to get -- in fact, we've had numerous aftershocks, of course, but these can go on for weeks. And the stronger the quakes, usually that's what happens here.

The other thing we follow is when we have a deep earthquake here, we're not too concerned because all that energy that eventually gets to the surface has to pass through a lot of rock and so that diminishes or attenuates what the damage can be.

But this quake was pretty shallow so those waves did not have much to travel through and so by the time they got to the surface, they did a lot of damage and took a lot of folks with them as well, upwards of 130 as we've been talking about.

This is what we follow too in some regions of the world when we have earthquakes then it rains and rains and pours and we have issues -- not the case. Temperatures are going to be in upper 20s, recovery efforts at least will be just fine Cyril, with plenty of sunshine here over the next three days.

Again, the main concern now would be those structures that have already been compromised as a result of the quake and aftershock could bring additional structures down.

VANIER: And we also know that those death tolls are always temporary. As the rescue efforts go on unfortunately what tends to happen is you find more bodies and the death toll increases.

I know you'll be working on this in the coming hours. We'll get back to you.

Thank you very much -- Ivan Cabrera.

Now, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet any moment now with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, his host. They are at a summit of Southeast leaders in Manila. Mr. Trump's aides say that he will address human rights with Mr. Duterte. The Philippine leader's drug war has led to the killing of thousands of people without court trials.

The U.S. President met earlier with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They pledged to work together to bring North Korea quote, "to its senses".

The U.S. President also said that he will make a statement on trade when he gets back to the White House. That statement schedules for Wednesday. And throughout his trip across Asia, Mr. Trump has denounced what he says are very unfair trade deals for the United States.

[00:05:00] All of this comes as demonstrators have gathered in Manila's streets to protest the U.S. President's visit.

Let's go to CNN's Matt Rivers who joins us now from the Philippines capital, Manila. Matt -- we know that Donald Trump is someone who doesn't like to lecture, as he says, his hosts about human rights. But this time it's difficult to ignore with the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines being such an internationally prominent issue. So is he going to address that?

MATT RIVERS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: According to White House officials, he does plan to bring up the human rights allegations against the Duterte administration when the two have their bilateral meeting that is scheduled in just a couple of minutes for now. It was actually schedules originally about an hour and 14 minutes ago but it got pushed back a little bit. So we're expecting to see those pictures pretty soon.

The White House does say that President Trump is expected to bring up those human rights violations that human rights groups across the world have accused the Duterte administration of committing.

But the big question there is how forcefully does he bring that up? Does he make public statement about it at some point down the road? Because it's an interesting dichotomy here because you have the White House also saying that the President enjoys a warm rapport with President Duterte; that the two barely (ph) get along quite well.

And as you mentioned Cyril, the President is very consistent when he says he doesn't like to lecture other countries about how they about their business. So it will be very interesting to see how he does that.

But of course, the other big issue that the President will be discussing here will be trade and the ability of the United States to continue to maintain its economic influence in this part of the world. And the President spoke a little bit about this right off the top of a trilateral meeting that he had between leaders of Australia and Japan.

Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've made some very big steps with respect to trade, far bigger than anything you know. This has been a very fruitful trip for us and also in all fairness for a lot of other nations. They way they've treated us. The respect that Japan and China and South Korea in particular because went there and really there has been really great respect for the people of our country, the people of the United States and we very much appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: And so in terms of the specifics, what the President is talking about there, we're not really sure there hasn't been a lot of tangible concrete steps about trade that had been announced by the White House over the course of this wide swing through Asia despite some deals that were announced in China between Chinese and U.S. companies.

But the President, as you said, Cyril is expected to make a statement, not only about trade but also he said about North Korea once he arrives back at the White House when he departs.

So that will be not for probably another two days or so, more or less, before we hear form the President in Washington, D.C. And perhaps then we'll get some more details as to what the President is alluding to there.

VANIER: We may get some clarity on that. Matt Rivers speaking to us live from the Philippines' capital of Manila. Thank you very much -- Matt.

Now let's go to Glenn Shive. He's the executive director of the Hong Kong America Center. He joins us from Hong Kong.

Glenn -- how is the U.S. President's message on trade going down in Asia? He's been running around telling everybody in that region that he wants better trade deals for the United States.

GLENN SHIVE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HONG KONG AMERICA CENTER: Well, America first, in the midst of a meeting of the APEC group and the ASEAN group. I mean these people are working on consensus, oriented, regional, collective trade agreements. And it's the way the global economy is working.

And they see, in as sense, strength in coming together and Trump is just the outlier. He's the guy that's saying, you know, America first and we're going to look after our interests. And yes we're open to one-on-one relationships but big America looking at some of these smaller countries, they're not going to like that so much.

So I don't see -- I think he had a very good northeast Asia trip focused on North Korea. But by the time he gets to Southeast Asia, he got back on that campaign sort of style of speaking and I don't think his audience took it well and it's sort of mixed messages.

Yes, America is going to be a factor in the Pacific region. But on the other hand he's saying, you know, there's no place like home, you know. Maybe he's getting homesick, he's been out so long. So I think it comes ultimately to a mixed message that people are scratching their heads and say we don't know where America is going as far as what their role in Asia -- what do they want to be their role in Asia.

VANIER: But what do you see there on trade? Because that was one of the two priorities -- that and North Korea going into this or trip for the U.S. President. I mean has he got anything out of it aside from telling every country that he wants a better trade deal?

SHIVE: Well, in China he's got, you know trade deals. And he's a deal maker and he understands company, the company negotiations. But when you talk about trade it's architecture. It's government to government relations.

[00:10:04] And he's new to this and, you know, it doesn't matter you can get -- what, $250 billion if that's the number -- you know that's impressive if it happens. But the point is that it's the rules of the game. And that task has been changing.

So he left China, you know, he's bedazzled by the hospitality, we understand it's beautiful. I think his rapport with individual Asian leaders is great but how long does that last in terms of really dealing with some of the confrontational issues that are on trade relations that he wants to get for America -- what is good for America. Is that going to come at the expense of Asian partners?

You know, that's still unclear so he's a year into his presidency. He's been talking about trade a long time. You know, he doesn't have a lot of advance people that have worked these things out. He's still talking in broad terms and people have -- are puzzled to say what does this mean in practical terms.

So if you're confused, I don't see it clearly. You know, it is -- it's not clear for most of these leaders.

VANIER: And so the U.S. President is going to put out a message but that's going to be until Wednesday. So we're 48 hours removed from that.

You mentioned the personal relationships between Mr. Trump and some of his hosts along this trip.

SHIVE: Right.

VANIER: I mean at end of the day how much difference does that actually make?

SHIVE: Well, it makes a difference to get on the phone and you talk to somebody and you feel you have a rapport. So I think that, you know, it's important but of course, these are diplomats. These are people who are very good at, you know, relationships.

So with Xi Jinping, ok we've got good rapport but ultimately, you know, one wonders -- you know, Xi Jinping is going to pursue his agenda. And I even thing, I mean it was amazing that, to me, that he said -- you know, it's really America's fault that we're in this situation, it's not your fault. He's being a nice guest. It's very hard to sort of speak in candid terms when you're in that position.

But, you know, in a sense he walks away saying, you know, we have to get our house in order which ironically, it's actually true but it sort of -- he pulls his punches back on terms of with China on trade relations. I mean market access is crucial.

It doesn't matter if you have a whole bunch of individual trade deals. It's not going to add up to really changing the deficit of trade in the long-term. So you can have a lot of amity -- that's great. It helps going forward.

If there's a crisis in North Korea, we want the leaders to be on the same page. And I think in the northeast Asia part of his trip, he was the -- you know, there you saw America being the sort of convenor of a collective security approach to a problem in the region. That's kind of, you know, old-fashioned American presence in Asia.

By the time though he got to Southeast Asia, he was singing a different song than everybody else was. And America was the country on the outs. And that is worrisome to a lot of our, you know, alliance partners, and countries in between who are hedging between China and America into saying how much is America going to be there for us?

If America first is the theme, maybe, not as much -- and that's worrisome to people who are looking big China next door who are taking advantage of the vacuum, as it were, that Trump is leaving in Asia as it withdraws its leadership role in the region.

VANIER: And Glenn -- Glenn Shive of the Hong Kong -- thank you very much for joining us.

And of course, Donald Trump is going to likely address that in his public statement that we'll be carrying live here on CNN.

SHIVE: I think it's great. I think it was added on at the end. I think he has -- he knows he has to clarify further what America's role in trade relations going forward in Asia is.

It's not clear yet.

VANIER: Glenn -- thank you very much for coming on the show.

And still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, they were running a marathon in Lebanon but it's still not clear who is running the government. The latest on the Saad Hariri crisis when we come back.

[00:14:14] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: Welcome back.

Saad Hariri is finally speaking out more than a week after announcing his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister. In a new interview, he says that he will return to his country and formally step down. However, he also signaled that he could stay in his job.

Hariri announced his resignation from Saudi Arabia. He said at the time that he feared assassination and he denounced Iran and Hezbollah. That has led to speculation that the Saudis are controlling him as Riyadh is lost in a proxy war with Iran. And some believe that it wants to expand its reach in Lebanon.

Here's what Hariri had to say about Hezbollah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAAD HARIRI, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF LEBANON (through translator): We had to adhere to the fact that the interest of Lebanon is first and foremost. I'm not against one party or another party. I'm not against Hezbollah in the sense that it is a political party, which is what it should be. But that doesn't mean that Hezbollah should ruin Lebanon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Hariri also said that he's free to leave Saudi Arabia and that Saudi King Salman sees him as a son. But by staying in Riyadh, Hariri missed one of his favorite events in Beirut this weekend.

Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And they're off, runners in the 15th Beirut marathon. In a country where divisions have led to war, this is a race about unity joining athletes, professional and amateur, young and old, the able and the disabled and others.

[00:19:58] (On camera) A record number of people are participating in this year's Beirut marathon. However one person who participated in the past is conspicuously absent. And that's runner number 3.

That's Saad al-Hariri, who resigned suddenly as prime minister from Saudi Arabia more than a week ago.

Sunday evening, Hariri spoke up on Lebanese television for the first time in eight days, explaining his resignation was intended as a wake- up call for the people of Lebanon to the dangers facing them from Iran and others. And he promised to return soon.

There were plenty of reminders that the 47-year-old leader left out of the running.

May Khalil (ph), organized the first marathon back in 2003.

MAY KHALIL, BEIRUT MARATHON ORGANIZER: The Prime Minister has been a great supporter to the Beirut marathon -- a sportsman himself, young, very dynamic. And not having him here today definitely we all feel very sad. WEDEMAN (voice over): His absence from the race and from politics has left a gaping void and sparked intense concern Lebanon could be sucked into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The Lebanese have long been accustomed to outside involvement in their internal affairs. But that doesn't make it any more acceptable.

"Hariri's fate is unknown and that makes us angry, says veteran runner Katia Rashid (ph). "We completely reject any interference in our country."

Says another runner, Alin (ph) "In the end he's Lebanese and the Lebanese are all brothers regardless of their sect and that's our goal, to be united."

(MUSIC)

WEDEMAN (voice over): After the race they united for a street party overseen by Santa Claus, dancing to a song close to the hearts of the people weary of outside interference".

Ben Wedeman, CNN -- Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: A very different political crisis now, this one in the U.S. Many Republicans are distancing themselves from the candidate in a key senate race.

Four women told the "Washington Post" that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore pursued romantic relationships with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One of them claims that he made sexual contact with her when she was just 14 years old.

Trump administration officials say that if those allegations are true then Moore needs to quit the race.

Martin Savidge went to Moore's hometown to get reaction.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Roy Moore continues to vehemently deny the allegations. Some of his strongest support though has come from faith-based organizations, specifically Christian conservatives. So that's part of the reason we wanted to hear from churchgoers today especially in his home town.

The answers we get are interesting. This gentleman, who you're going to hear from here is a friend but not a voter. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roy Moore is my friend. I'm a Democrat. I'm not going to vote for him because I'm Democrat. But I've known him a long, long time. The thing that bothers me about those charges is that he's been in public life running for many offices and as many times as this happened, no one has ever said anything until now.

And I don't think it comes from any place except Washington. It comes from Washington. It comes from the Republican Party.

SAVIDGE: What's really interesting is what he raised at the end there which is that he does believe this is a political conspiracy. He thinks it was purposely done to derail the campaign of Roy Moore. But not by his Democratic opponent but by the Republican party, the mainstream Republican Party which Roy Moore has had problems with over the years.

He's not the only one who feels that way. Meanwhile those who have come out in support of the women have said that there is no way they are lying. There's no way they would put themselves through the horrendous backlash that they're receiving now. A number have gone into hiding.

How this is all going to play out one month from now, it is still very difficult to determine.

Martin Savidge, CNN -- Gadsden, Alabama.

VANIER: And we're going to take a short break.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin -- both of them leaders of the powerful nations. So why shouldn't they get along? Top intelligence officials explain exactly what is at stake, When we come back.

[00:24:36] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: Welcome back, everyone. Good to have you with us.

I'm Cyril Vanier. Let me remind you of our headlines this hour.

The death toll is rising after a powerful earthquake on the border between and Iran. Iranian officials say at least 160 people have been killed there with more than a thousand injured and that death toll continues to mount. At least four people were killed in eastern Iraq. Shocks were also felt in Pakistan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Turkey.

In a new interview Saad Hariri says he will soon return to Lebanon. He said he will formally resign as Prime Minister but he also signaled that he might not step down.

Hariri announced his resignation more than a week ago while in Saudi Arabia, which had fueled speculation that the Saudis are detaining him.

In Manila now, U.S. President Donald Trump has met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, his host. When asked by journalists before the meeting whether he would bring up the subject of human rights, the U.S. President ignored the question.

Mr. Duterte told the media that it wasn't a news conference. Duterte's drug war has led to the deaths of thousands of people without court trials.

Meanwhile the brief chat between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier at the APEC summit is prompting warnings. Mr. Trump suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was sincere in his denial of Russian meddling in the U.S. election. President Trump however did not specifically say Russia was behind the hacks.

Two former U.S. intel chiefs tell CNN that appearing to give Russia a pass is dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think what he's doing is saying to Vladimir Putin we need to put this behind us because there's important work to be done.

I agree, we need to be able to find a way to improve relations between Moscow and Washington.

But I think what, by not confronting the issue directly and not acknowledging to Putin that we know that you're responsible for this, I think he's giving Putin a pass and I think it demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and to try to play upon his insecurities, which is very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint.

[00:30:06] JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The likelihood that the Russians are going to pursue like interests with us is slim and none. And I think it's very naive and perilous to this country to make an assumption that Russia is going to behave with the best interests of the world or the United States in mind. They're not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: We're joined by CNN senior economics analyst and former Trump economic adviser, Stephen Moore, as well as CNN political analyst and "The Washington Post" columnist Josh Rogin.

Gentlemen, Donald Trump has dismissed several previous intelligence chiefs as political hacks, politically motivated. What we just heard there, was that the talk of political hacks taking shots at the current president?

Josh?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think you're seeing both a response by these two men to the personal attacks that President Trump leveled on them on his trip but also an expression of what is the consensus opinion of the intelligence community, not just during the Obama administration but including today.

As you saw that Trump's own CIA director, Mike Pompeo, came out and concurred with the January 2017 intelligence assessment that said the Russians interfered with the election, there's also a bipartisan consensus about this in Congress and you saw in reaction to Trump's interactions with Putin yesterday, leaders from John McCain to Ben Cardin to you name it on both sides of the political spectrum, saying that, no, Donald Trump in fact does not understand or fails to articulate that he understands the true nature of Vladimir Putin and the true character of the Putin regime.

So yes, these two senior intelligence officials who served under Obama are insulted and offended that Donald Trump would accuse them of acting in Obama's political interest and not in the interest of national security because they both served for Democratic and Republican leaders over their 40-plus year careers in national service.

But also they honestly believe, as does almost everybody in the Donald Trump's national security team and in the U.S. Congress that Donald Trump's analysis of Russia and his approach to Vladimir Putin in order to solve problems that deal with Russia in totally wrong.

VANIER: Stephen, are you concerned that the U.S. President can be played by foreign leaders?

STEPHEN MOORE, CNN ECONOMICS ANALYST: It's been a strange kind of dalliance that Trump has had with Vladimir Putin. I'm an old conservative Cold Warrior and I still regard Russia as not friendly to the United States and Putin is a thug and tyrant.

And I can't quite understand why it is that Donald Trump is always apologizing for Putin. I think there is -- the only thing I could suggest here is that Trump is really obsessed with China, clearly. I think he's trying to play China and Russia off each other a bit. And that's why I think he gives Putin a free pass on some of his incredibly bad behavior.

VANIER: But, Stephen, does this explain this, though?

Because we're going to play the sound bite of what Donald Trump responded yesterday when he was asked to, once and for all, unequivocally state whether he thought that Russia had meddled in the United States election. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election. As to whether I believe it or not, I'm with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with their leadership. I believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. I have worked with them very strongly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: By anybody's measure, that was a confusing statement, that was a muddled statement. Yet Mr. Trump is somebody who is very clear. We always know what he means. He says things boldly and clearly.

Why can't he be bold and clear on this issue?

MOORE: It's a puzzle. There's no question. And that answer was puzzling. You're exactly right.

Does he think that Putin didn't know what was going on in the Kremlin?

Because that's, I think, a little hard for people who understand how tightly controls he -- the tight controls --

(CROSSTALK)

VANIER: That's the only way, by the way, we can make sense of his statement --

MOORE: -- yes, but that's hard to -- look, I'm not a Russian expert but he seems to have so much control. I mean, he's the ex-KGB official. He has his hands on everything.

VANIER: Josh?

ROGIN: Yes, there's no doubt that President Trump was told to clean up his earlier statements and did so at the direction of his staff that, after they saw the political fallout and he did so in a clumsy and half measured way. And even while he's claiming that he now believes our intelligence agencies, he's mitigating that by saying that it wasn't as many as people have said supported the assessment. So, you know --

[00:35:00]

ROGIN: -- he couldn't have been telling the truth both times. I believe the first time that he said it. I don't think that he does think that Russia interfered with the election. I don't think anyone can convince him of that. There's a lot of evidence of that actually.

He sent a FOX News contributor to Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, and told Mike Pompeo to investigate claims that the DNC hack was an inside job. So this is what President Trump really believes. He's incorporated the conspiracy theories into his own thinking.

VANIER: Josh Rogin, Stephen Moore, thank you very much, both of you, for joining us. Thanks, gentlemen.

And Josh and Stephen are back next hour. We'll be looking at Mr. Trump's Asia trip before he heads back to the United States.

The feud between Donald Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong- un, is personal. When North Korea called the president "old" over the weekend, Mr. Trump sarcastically fired back on Twitter. CNN's Will Ripley has the North Korean reaction from Pyongyang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a weekend of mixed messages from President Trump but one very clear message for North Korean officials here in Pyongyang, they will push forward with developing their nuclear program, no matter what the U.S. President says.

In an article on KCNA over the weekend, saying, quote, "The reckless remarks by a dotard like Trump can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance."

That word, dotard, which roughly translates to senile old person, was first used by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, back in September after President Trump's fiery speech at U.N. General Assembly, when he threatened to totally destroy North Korea and also came up with his own nickname for Kim, rocket man.

President Trump apparently taking offense to use of that word. lashing out on Twitter, saying, quote, "Why would Kim Jong-un Insult me by calling me old when I would never call him short and fat? Oh, well, I try so hard to be his friend. Maybe someday that will happen."

So in the same tweet you have an insult but also an offer of friendship. And then there was this, when President Trump was speaking in Vietnam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Strange things happen in life. That might be a strange thing to happen. But it's certainly a possibility. If that did happen, it would be a good thing for, I can tell you, for North Korea. But it would also be good for lots of other places and it would be good for the world.

So certainly it is something that could happen. I don't know that it will but it would very, very nice if it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: So once again President Trump there talking about friendship with North Korea's leader. But when we showed the verbatim remarks to some North Korean officials, this is not an official response, but basically what they told us is their impression, they felt it was cunning attempt to perhaps try to dissuade North Korea from rounding off its nuclear force.

And again, they say actions speak louder than words. They point to the fact that just this weekend there were joint naval exercises involving three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups in the waters off the Korean Peninsula and therefore they say no matter what President Trump says, whether he's talking friendship or attacking this country's way of life, they will continue to push forward with their ultimate goal of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

They're also watching closely to see if President Trump will announce his decision, this decision he's hinting at, that will happen by the end of this trip, his administration officials have said, as to whether or not North Korea will be added back to list of state sponsors of terrorism, a list that they were taken off of nearly a decade ago during negotiations back then about North Korea's nuclear program.

We see where we are on that now. We'll watch and wait what happens here in North Korea -- Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: A small town in Texas is trying to emerge from tragedy stronger than ever. When we come back, the targeted church reopens a week after the shooting with a striking memorial for the victims. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

VANIER: A week after the deadliest mass shooting Texas history, a grieving community is turning to prayer to heal. The pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs fought back tears on Sunday as he delivered first sermon there since the massacre.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy says the shooter chose darkness but the community will choose light: 25 people and an unborn child were killed, including the pastor's 14-year-old daughter. The church is now reopened as a memorial which religious leaders say they hope will help Texas and the country grow stronger together.

Kaylee Hartung has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty-six chairs now sit inside First Baptist Church. Each chair placed in a location that a victim's body was found. As you walk among the chairs, you see the names handpainted in gold lettering.

You see where Joanne Ward threw her body on top of her children in an effort to protect them from gunfire. You see the vantage point that Carla Holcomb had as the horror unfolded before her, her chair the lone chair sitting on the altar.

Each chair has a red rose sitting in it. There's one pink rose in the seat of the unborn baby Holcomb. You hear a recording being played in the sanctuary now. It's the voices of the victims from moments when they were involved in church services past.

This sanctuary reopened to public from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm Monday through Friday of this week. The church leaders expressed a sense of urgency they felt to reopen the church's doors so that it could be a part of the healing process for some, to bring a sense of closure to others, particularly the victims' families.

And next Sunday the congregation of First Baptist Church will gather on the church's grounds for their worship service -- Kaylee Hartung, CNN, Sutherland Springs, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: It was two years ago that the city of Paris was hit by the deadliest attacks on French soil since World War II. ISIS militants killed 130 people across the city and wounded hundreds more.

In a few hours, president Emmanuel Macron and his predecessor, Francois Hollande, who was in office at the time, will pay tribute to the victims. The two men will visit the places where the attacks took place, the Stade de France, several restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall.

And that's it for us this hour. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Cyril Vanier. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up next. I'll be back after that.