Return to Transcripts main page
NEWS STREAM
World Headlines; North, South Korean Leaders To Meet In DMZ; Tariff Fears; Facebook on Collision Course With E.U. Data Laws; No Human Assembly Required? Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 19, 2018 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.
Willing to walk out, Donald Trump reveals more of the details (ph) in the upcoming talks with Kim Jung-un. End of an era, Cubans get ready to
welcome a leader not named Castro. And no (inaudible) required, at least not by people, how robots are easing the task of building Ikea furniture.
U.S. president, Donald Trump is setting high expectations for his planned talks with Kim Jung-un, saying he hopes to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula. But he also admits it could all end in failure. Standing alongside his Japanese counterpart at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Wednesday,
Mr. Trump indicated that he is willing to play hardball if necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It would be a tremendous thing for North Korea and a tremendous thing for the world. So,
we will be doing everything possible to make it a worldwide success.
If I think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go. If the meeting when I'm there is not fruitful, I will
respectfully leave the meeting.
((END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned the U.S. president not to mistake engagement for success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHINZO ABE, PRIME MINISTER, JAPAN (through translator): Just because North Korea is responding to dialogue, there should be no reward. Maximum
pressure should be maintained and actual implementation of concrete actions towards denuclearization will be demanded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: The leaders are also struggle to find common ground on whether Washington should rejoin the TPP, but they agreed to start talks on what
they called Free, Fair and Reciprocal Trade. All of this taking place just days before another high stake summit, The One, at the DMZ involving the
two Koreas.
Now, there is a lot to get to. We got reporters for us across the region covering every angle and let's begin with Senior International
Correspondent, Ivan Watson, who is standing by in Seoul. Ivan, Trump says that if the talk is not fruitful he'll walk out. He also said maximum
pressure must be maintained. How is all that weighing on Seoul ahead of the big meeting with Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-un?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very heavily and the U.S. relationship and the approach of the U.S. to the Korean Peninsula is -
- as South Korea's biggest patron is an integral part of the equation here. And the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, made that clear in speaking
with dozens of Korean news organizations today. He kind of spelled out a lot of his strategy going into next week's summit. He pointed out that the
inter-Korean summit will be very much be, as he put it, a quote, "guide to the success of the U.S.-North Korean summit."
He also made it very clear that he has experienced setting up these types of meetings with Pyongyang that he was the chairperson of the preparatory
committee in 2007 when you had a previous summit between North and South. So, he has experience here, but he also indicated that South Korea has much
less room to negotiate than it did a little bit more than 10 years ago in large part because of international sanctions that have been put on North
Korea as a result of its nuclear weapons program, its missile launches, and U.S. unilateral sanctions that have been imposed on North Korea as well.
He made it clear that trying to resolve differences between North and South would also rely very heavily on trying to resolve differences between North
Korea and the U.S., between North Korea and Japan. So, this is a very complicated equation, but he pointed that there's been some success
already.
For instance, April is the month of the annual joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, periods of traditional high tension when
Pyongyang is very angry and starts making its own threats. That has not happened this year for the first time in years. And he says that that's a
sign of hope that the momentum can be carried forward and that they can try to move forward on all these multilateral fronts to try to cut through this
Gordian knot here. Kristie?
LU STOUT: Yes. A number of multilateral fronts and a number of issues at stake here. President Trump, he also mentioned the three Americans still
being held in North Korea. So, how can this expected meeting with Kim Jung-un affect the fate of those three individuals?
[08:05:02] WATSON: You know, one former diplomat with experience here -- direct experience has pointed out that when the American CIA chief, Mike
Pompeo, made his secret trip to Pyongyang, he did not return with at least one liberated U.S. prisoner, which is interesting. And this is in the
backdrop here. Perhaps, it is something that Pyongyang would be willing to dangle to President Trump with an upcoming meeting.
Let's take a listen to what President Trump himself had to say about that very disturbing issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The fact is that they do have three prisoners. We have been talking about them. We're negotiating now. We are doing our very best.
As you know, they've been there a long time. And it's harsh treatment. We fought very hard to get Otto Warmbier back. And when we came back, he was
in very, very bad condition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: It's not just the U.S. that has prisoners in North Korean custody. South Korea does as well. Those had been many now high level meetings in
recent months and none of them had been released. Japan has also made clear that it (ph) wants information about Japanese citizens that were --
that disappeared in the 70s and 80s who were believed to have been kidnapped by North Korea.
The fact is, if you want to put it very bluntly, North Korea could use these as kind of currency to offer concessions in its upcoming meetings
with South Korea and the U.S. Kristie?
LU STOUT: Ivan Watson reporting live from Seoul, thank you. Where would this anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un take place?
Well, for that, CNN's Will Ripley joins me now and with no definitive announcements yet, but we do know which places are not in the running
anymore.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Or at leas pretty unlikely. And the reasons for that basically is because these are considered not
neutral locations. Washington, Kim Jung-un wouldn't want to fight in the United States. Donald Trump doesn't want to have it happen in Pyongyang or
the DMZ. That's Kim Jung-un's territory. Beijing, obviously, both parties are not really interested in having China be the host. And Seoul as well
is not considered neutral location.
There was even talk for a while doing it at an aircraft carrier off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, but that has also been reportedly ruled out
by Kim Jung-un.
LU STOUT: Now, there are a number of locations that are still in play. And in the region at the top of the shortlist is Singapore. Why Singapore?
RIPLEY: Well, it's an interesting choice. And again, it goes to this issue of neutrality. The North Koreans have a relatively favorable view of
Singapore. They go there to learn about economic growth, for example. But Thailand, Bangkok also being thrown around. North Koreans have an embassy
there, Vietnam and other countries that considered a possibility here in Asia.
But if they were to do it in Europe, there are also some countries there that would really make sense. Sweden, of course, North Korea has a very
good relationship with Sweden. Their foreign ministers flew there last month and had three days of meetings. Switzerland, obviously, Geneva
considered a neutral city. And really, there are other counties in Europe as well that have diplomatic ties with North Korea that might be considered
here.
LU STOUT: I have to ask you about Mongolia because for a while Mongolia seemed like the top contender here, right? It is also reachable by train,
easy for Kim Jung-un to get there. Why is it no longer in the running?
RIPLEY: Ulan Bator, we really don't know other than logistically it might be difficult because, one, every journalist that's going to travel to
Mongolia has to go through a pretty lengthy visa application process. And obviously, for historic summit like this, the world's press would be
descending on Mongolia.
But Kim Jung-un's train will get there. It would avoid the logistical issues that come with having to fly long distance. It's not out of the
running just yet, but does seem less likely according to our source.
LU STOUT: OK. Well, I'm going to put you on the spot. Where is this meeting going to take place?
RIPLEY: That's the million dollar question. If they can sort out travel, if Kim Jung-un can figure out a way to fly there, I actually think
Stockholm, Sweden makes the most sense. And here's the reason why. Donald Trump has a good relationship with Sweden. The Swedish embassy in
Pyongyang often serves as an intermediary between the United States and North Korea and there were three Americans that are still being held in
North Korea right now.
Sweden has been working very hard to serve as an intermediary to try to bring about their release. Could their release be announced at this
summit? If that happens, Sweden would be the perfect place to do it or at least they should get some acknowledgement for their role in the process.
LU STOUT: All right. It could Stockholm. Will Ripley, thank you. Now, while it's not yet clear where Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un will meet, the
Koreas are preparing to meet in the middle at the Demilitarized Zone. Just a week ahead of that historic summit, CNN gets rare access inside the very
building where those talks will take place. That's upon the hour right here on News Stream.
During Shinzo Abe's two-day trip to Mar-a-Lago, he agreed to start to talks on free, fair, and reciprocal trade. Well, CNN's Anna Stewart is in Tokyo
fore more on that. And Anna, they addressed free and fair trade, but they also addressed the TPP and the steep tariffs (ph) as well. How did that
all pan out at the end?
[08:10:00] ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean they were kind of singing from the same hymn sheet for a large part of the press
conference and then they got quizzed (ph) about these sort of vague terms that used about a dialogue they were stressing out on free and fair trade.
And whether or not this was a bilateral free trade agreement, which of course we know Trump wants with Japan to address what he sees as an unfair
trading relationship, and we know Japan doesn't want another turnabout (ph).
Japan still doesn't want the bilateral free trade agreement and it's managed to remain quite stubborn on that one. However, we did have some
comments on TPP. Again, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABE (through translator): On the U.S. side, they're interested in a bilateral deal. We are aware of that. But at any rate, our country's
position is that the TPP is the best deal for both of the countries.
TRUMP: I don't want to go back into TPP. But if they offered us a deal that I can't refuse on behalf of the United States, I would do it. But I
like bilateral better. I think it's better for our country. I think it's better for our workers. And I much would prefer a bilateral deal, a deal
directly with Japan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Yes. And now, they're coming on TPP. Just a recap, you know, Trump was very anti-TPP. As soon as he took office, he took the U.S. out.
Then last week, we had a surprising comment that he was open to it if it was a better -- much better deal. Then Tuesday night, he tweets to say he
doesn't like TPP. And now, we have this. So, yes, a few TPP turnarounds in the last week, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes. Not quite the comeback story just yet. Now, let's talk about domestic policy in Japan because politically it's been a pretty
difficult time for the Prime Minister. There's lost of confidence. In Abe's government, he's been going through this rating, Trump as well. What
about do you think this meeting that he just had with Donald Trump in Mar- a-Lago is going to have on him and his political standing at home in Japan?
STEWART: Yes. This summit was seen as crucial, Kristie, because as you said, you know, he's facing corruption allegations at home, which he does
deny, but his approval rating is out, very, very low. Last week, we had protest in Tokyo of tens of thousands of people, which is really quite
unheard of here. So, he really needs to just score high on some political points. And he said he did so on some issues like North Korea. He got an
assurance and a promise from Trump that they would bring up the issue of Japanese abductees held in North Korea for decades as you heard earlier
from Ivan. So, that issue is very important for Japan and he got that assurance.
With trade, yes, he still has gotten exemption on steel and aluminum tariffs, but really he managed to avoid the big bilateral free trade
agreement, which is why everyone was quite worried about here in Japan. So, he has quite a few good points. The optics, Kristie, were very good.
Did you see the golf photos? He played around in golf and very cheerful, many smiles, and of course, he called Abe his good friend many times over.
All this played really well. It shows that, you know, Abe is still a strong and friendly ally for Trump and that's so important since Abe was
appeared to be somewhat sidelined in recent weeks over all these North Korean discussions.
Whether or not it's enough to steady the political shift back home is another question because we are expecting more protest in the weeks to
come.
LU STOUT: Yes. I mean the optics may look good, but as you look at the smiling photos the two of them playing golf, you wonder how much Shinzo Abe
is kind of -- you know, just kind of grinning and burying (ph) it right now. Anna Stewart reporting live for us in Tokyo, thank you so much.
We'll talk again soon.
Now, for the first time in almost 60 years, a Castro will no longer lead Cuba. Find out who (inaudible) take it home next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I saw was a bunch of drug using pugs (ph) that came from my country who had no place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: She is the American mom who says that she was duped into moving to Syria and becoming part of ISIS. We'll have her story next.
[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, this is News Stream. Now it is the end of an era in Cuba. In the coming hours, Raul
Castro is to formally step down as president, ending nearly 60 years of rule.
Via Castro, Miguel Diaz-Canel will succeed him, the Communist Party loyalist was nominated by Cuba's National Assembly on Wednesday. Now for
more, we are joined by CNN's Patrick Oppmann who is in the Cuban capital, Havana. And, Patrick, is this handover power going to change Cuba?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It already is in so many ways because Cubans have never seen anything quite like this, a sharp turning of power,
the proceedings of being televised, this is not a very transparent country, but they are being taken inside.
At least what the Cuban government wants to show them, it's less of an election, and the more of a coordination, because there's only one
candidate on the ballot that was voted on yesterday, not by the Cuban people, but by the Cuban National Assembly. And the name for the President
of Councils of State is Miguel Diaz-Canel. And only now, Cubans are really finding out more about who the next president is going be.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN: There are long lines for just about everything in Cuba, but usually don't see top Cuban officials waiting in the line, except when
Cuban first Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel cued up alongside residents in his hometown of Santa Clara to vote in a single party parliamentary
elections in March.
Diaz-Canel who many expect will succeed Raul Castro is president on April 19th, many had been trying to show a common touch that has been missing as
of late from Cuba's leaders.
Even though he will be the first Cuban head of state, born after the revolution, it is carefully to drew a march, Diaz-Canel sounds a lot like
Cuba's older generation that has held onto power for the last six decades.
We are defending our process (ph), we are defending our revolution, he says, which continues to be threatened, which continues to be attacked.
After Fidel Castro seize power in 1959, he became not only Cuba's head of state, but also the first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, and top
general Cuba's Armed Forces.
Titles of Fidel eventually turned over to his younger brother Raul after he nearly died from a mystery illness in 2006. Now Raul Castro is 86, and
ready to transfer power to a handpick successor. Diaz-Canel isn't enough start or an improvisation, Raul Castro said in 2013, the trajectory has
lasted nearly 30 years.
During the years, he worked his way up the Communist Party hierarchy and Cuba's provinces, Diaz-Canel earned a reputation as an efficient
administrator, but did not seem interested in the limelight. In the rough and troubled war of Cuban politics, showing any ambition, who made a kiss
of death to one's career.
Many of Miguel Diaz-Canel's contemporaries were sidelined after they lost the faith of the Castros. If Diaz-Canel does become the next president of
Cuba, it maybe in part civil because he survived longer than the competition. Still almost no one expects Diaz-Canel to run the whole show.
Raul Castro is expected to remain head of the Cuban Communist Party until at least 2021. And it is unlikely that Diaz-Canel, who has little military
experience will head to most powerful armed forces, unlike the Castro's, Diaz-Canel could have a harder time imposing his will on various factions
within the Cuban government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my time, when Fidel or Raul said something, I would do it, even if I had second thoughts. Is that how the younger generation
and Diaz-Canel is going to react to what Diaz-Canel said?
[08:20:02] OPPMANN: And that could mean another first for Cuba. A president will need a form a license to stay in power.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN: So, already we're seeing Miguel Diaz-Canel show signs --slightly different kind of leader than either Fidel or Raul Castro, but of course as
I mentioned in the piece, Raul Castro will stay on as the head -- powerful head of the Communist Party in Cuba for at least another three years.
And yesterday, we saw that along side Diaz-Canel, as vice president, there are six vice presidents in Cuba, is a number of hardliners, people from the
historic generation, so it's on a full generational transition, and there will be people from the revolution, from the older generation, even though
they are in their 80s and 90s, keeping an eye on this new leader of Cuba. So it's still a question, Kristie, of how much power he will actually have.
LU STOUT: Patrick Oppmann live for us from Havana during this time of critical change. Thank you, Patrick. Now, more delays for chemical
weapons inspectors inside Syria.
The U.N. says it must carry another security check in Douma before that team from the OPCW can be send in. A U.N. advance team came under fire in
Douma earlier this week. The U.S. says the timing of the fact-finding mission is critical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MATTIS, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are very much aware of the delay that the regime imposed on that delegation, but we are also very much aware
of how they have operated in the past, and seal what they have done using chemical weapons, in other words, using the pause after a strike like that
to try to clean up the evidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: The U.S. and other western nations accused the Syrian regime of dropping chemical weapons on the last rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta,
killing 75 people. Syria and Russia deny a chemical attack even took place. It is a harrowing story.
An American mother and her children leaving their middle-class lives for one a life of savagery with ISIS, her name is Sam Sally. She is now in
custody, but recalls ritual beatings, slavery, and abuse at the hands of the terror group. Nick Paton Walsh has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The story of how an Indiana family went from a mundane life of sports cars, and the delivery business to
joining ISIS, and to see their son here, the face of ISIS propaganda against America, is one of mystery, compassion, and animal savagery that
stretches belief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So get ready for the fighting has just begun.
SAM SALLY, WIFE OF ISIS FIGHTER: All I saw was a bunch of drug-using thugs that came from their countries who had no place.
WALSH: We meet Sam Sally, 32, Matthew, 10, and Sarah, age five, and her youngest, two, born in the so-called ISIS caliphate, now in Syrian custody,
in limbo.
And whether they go home or not, depends in part on how well Sam explains her innocence in the four-year ordeal behind them. Her story begins with a
vacation to Turkey that led to a border town where she says she was duped to crossing into ISIS' world.
WALSH (on camera): There will be people who simply don't believe you.
SALLY: They can believe whatever they want to believe, but they've never been put in a situation to make a decision like that.
WALSH (voice over): At the ISIS border crossing, she says she faced an impossible choice. Her husband grabbed little Sarah, while she had
Matthew.
SALLY: The position I was in was to stay there with my son, or watch my daughter leave with my husband. And I had to make a decision. I thought,
like I said, we could just walk across the border, and we could come back again.
WALSH: She chose to keep the family together. But it's hard to believe Sam didn't ever realize what she was getting into. It was also when the
gentle comforts of her marriage ended and her husband, Moussa, who never even seemed devout (ph) in America, became an abusive monster.
SALLY: Before he used to spoil me, I love you, this -- I mean we were very much in love. It was -- the romance never left. As soon as we came here,
it was completely different. Everything was completely different. I was a dog. I didn't have a choice. It was extremely violent.
WALSH: Moussa traveled a lot to fight. He beat Sam at home, but still had two more children with her in Raqqa, quite why part of the stifling twists
of a clearly abusive relationship may remain locked inside Sam, along with exactly what she knew, and when about Moussa's radicalization.
Remarkably, Moussa suggested they buy slaves, some of these Yazidi girls captured by ISIS in 2014. They spent $20,000 on two teenage girls, Suad
(ph) and Berdrean (ph) and a younger boy, Aham (ph). Donned to keep her company, she says, and rescue the saves to a better life. Yet Moussa
repeatedly raped the girls.
[08:25:00] SALLY: When I met Suad (ph), I couldn't -- I couldn't think about money, like, I would have spent every dollar I had on her to bring
her.
WALSH (on camera): But it turned out that she was repeatedly raped by your husband.
SALLY: That is true. But in every house that she was in before, that was the same situation, but she didn't have the support of someone like me.
WALSH: Do you now not regret enabling that serial rape?
SALLY: No, because it would have been worse with anybody else. And, no one will ever, ever be able to imagine what it's like to watch their
husband rape a 14-year-old girl, ever.
And then she comes to you -- comes to me after crying, and I hold her, and tell her it's going to be OK. Everything's going to be fine, just be
patient.
I would never apologize for bringing those girls to my house. We knew that if we were just patient, we would stick through it together. You
understand? I was like their mother.
WALSH (voice over): Astonishingly, Suad (ph) sent this message from a refugee camp confirming Sam's kindness, and how Sam was beaten black and
blue, when she tried to protect her from Moussa.
I'm doing well with my family, she says, and I want to see you even just once more. Let me know what I can do to get you out.
Yet the terror did not stop there. Matthew, born in Texas of Sam's first marriage to an American soldier, was a prized cast member for an ISIS film
shoot.
WALSH (on camera): How did Matthew come to be in that video? I recognize him from it.
SALLY: It was not by choice. I ended up with two broken ribs over that video. I fought - I mean, I fought. I fought.
WALSH: What do you remember of that day, Matthew?
MATTHEW: It was hard. I didn't want to do it. He would hit me. He would stress me.
WALSH: Moussa died in a drone strike late last year.
SALLY: And then I was able to be free. It was like, OK, we can start phase two.
WALSH: Tens of thousands fled the Raqqa siege, but Sam said, she only felt safe for the very end leaving with these last hundreds of ISIS given
passage out in a deal. The FBI has interviewed them, but there were no charges yet, or ticket back home.
SALLY: We want to eat McDonald's, and you know, we want to live a normal life for us again.
WALSH: Instead, now, she's surely relieving her decisions over and over again. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Northern Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You are watching News Stream, and these are your world headlines. Raul Castro is stepping down
as president of Cuba in Thursday. The Vice President, Miguel Diaz-Canel had been nominated to replace the 86-year-old. A transition of power is
expected within the next few hours. There will be the first time that Castro has led Cuba in almost 60 years.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is looking forward to meeting North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, but he is not afraid to walk out if talks aren't
fruitful. Mr. Trump says his main focus is for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. He says U.S. officials are doing everything possible to
make the meeting a worldwide success.
That talk is believe to happen in the weeks following the historic summit between the two Koreas. Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in will meet at the DMZ on
April 27. South Korea also hopes the North will fully commit on giving up its nuclear program.
At that historic summit, President Moon Jae-in will also make a bid to formally end the Korean war. He says the armistice that has been in place
for 65 years must come to an end. Paula Hancocks got rare access inside the DMZ truce village where those critical conversations will take place.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HACONCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the truce village in Panmunjom and it is where the upcoming summit for North and
South Korean leaders will be held, the first one in more than a decade.
Now we will be seeing a North Korean leader crossing the border into South Korea for the first time ever. Now potentially that could happen just here.
You see that lift of concrete just in the distance. That is the actual border. That is the MDL, the Military Demarcation Line.
Kim Jong-un potentially could step over that. If he does, he is in the history books. Now the South Korean presidential office appreciates how
significant this is. They said they are going to try and broadcast that moment live because it is so historic.
Now of course Kim Jong-un might decide to drive. We simply don't know at this point, but this would be the most dramatic image.
So this is one of the conference rooms where talks have been held in the past. It is a truly neutral point. Half of this building is in South Korea
and the other half is in North Korea. Discussions have been held on both sides of the border, not specifically in here. This is one of the tourist
favorite places to come because once you pass this middle point, they can say, I'm in North Korea.
This is the Peace House. It is about 200 meters also from the MDL, the actual border, and it is the building where Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in
will be meeting on April 27. Now we're told we are not allowed inside because renovations are ongoing. They want it to look its best for the
occasion. But quite frankly, every time I come to the DMZ, you're never even allowed to film this building, so that is a new development.
Now from the Blue House's point of view, they say that they see this summit as a guidepost to the next summit, the one between Kim Jong-un and U.S.
President Donald Trump. The official agenda for this summit that will be held here is denuclearization, but of course, both sides could see that
denuclearization in very different ways.
They also will be talking about how to secure peace on the peninsula, how to improve relations between North and South Korea. But from the Blue
House's point of view, they say this will be the perfect chance to asses North Korea's willingness to denuclearize and of course whether or not the
U.S. will guarantee that conditions in return.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, in the DMZ between North and South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are on a knife's edge. Each country has imposed tariffs on the other's products and threatened to
implement even more. But how are workers and business owners in China reacting to the trade battle? CNN's Matt Rivers finds out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Kristie, if the Trump administration proposal of $100 billion more potentially in tariffs
actually go forward and into effect, then some of the places that will be (INAUDIBLE) are factories like this that make consumer products that end up
on American shelves (ph).
(voice over): Quiet, nondescript, this factory in Southern China makes LED lights day after day, useful, it's not exciting, and yet this churning
assembly line can easily become the front line in the U.S.-China trade war.
I'm worried, says this worker, because it will affect me a great deal.
The Trump administration has hit Chinese deal in aluminum with tariffs and proposed tariffs on another $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. China hit
back with tariff proposal of its own, but so far though, the U.S. largely avoided targeting typical consumer goods from China, think shoes, clothes
and lighting.
But on April 5th, the Trump administration announced it was looking into tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods. We don't know which
products will be hit yet but with a value that big, most experts agree it will likely include those consumer products A.K.A. when Americans buy at
Target or Walmart.
Is that frustrating?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, it is frustrating.
[08:35:00] RIVERS (voice over): Ben Swall (ph) helps American companies buy products in China, not knowing the details around the tariffs has made
life harder as of late.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will they happen? Will they not happen? We don't know. If it do happen, how long are they going to be in place for?
RIVERS (voice over): Even when the administration releases its new list of possible tariff targets, it will be months before they went into effect,
and that's assuming the U.S. and China don't negotiate a deal to avoid it altogether. Swall (ph) says he can't just move his entire operation based
on what if's, and the factory owner he works with feels the same.
(on camera): So despite the possible tariffs, certain products like LED lights are still going to be made in China and sold at American stores. The
only difference is when you go to pick one of these up, it's likely going to be more expensive.
(voice over): Facing new tariffs, Swall (ph) says big box retailers will simply have to charge more for the shoes or clothes or lights.
Who bears the (INAUDIBLE) of that cost?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do. And everyone watching this program does. The consumer. At the end of the day, there is no free lunch.
RIVERS (voice over): The Trump administration has said these tariffs provide leverage in its quest for a fairer relationship with China and that
may well be true, but in the meantime, that may be of little comfort to producers and consumers, both Chinese and Americans.
(on camera): Look, Kristie, the (INAUDIBLE) of all this is that there is a ton of uncertainty here moving forward. In the meantime, this factory is
going to keep making lights.
But everyone that we speak to here in Southern China said that they hope that there can be negotiations between the U.S. and China and that this
economic relationship that has seen Americans buying cheaper light bulbs and has seen people like these get jobs as a result can continue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Matt Rivers there. Now, if you ever had to assemble furniture spread out the box, you know it can be a headache inducing relationship
testing experience. Now up next, we are going to speak with a researcher who programmed robots to build an IKEA chair.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now Facebook is on a collision course with new E.U. data protection rules that come into force at the end of May. Users
will have much more control about how their data is shared and used. And the new laws will force the social media giant to radically change the way
it operates.
Despite the changes, Facebook has said it wants to bring back its facial recognition tool in Europe. It was withdrawn in 2012 over data privacy
concerns. An E.U. regulator said they are not yet satisfied that the feature complies with the new rules.
Now, you've seen them build cars, deliver food, even assisting surgery, but now robots are able to do one of the most profoundly annoying human tasks,
assemble IKEA furniture.
A team of researches at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have programmed robots to plan and then execute, putting together most of $25
IKEA Stefan chair. And they're almost as good as we humans are.
Now joining me now is roboticist Francisco Suarez Ruiz. He is a research fellow at NTU in Singapore. He joins us now. Thank you so much for joining
us here on CNN. First, it got to ask you about the task. Why did you choose for your robot to put together an IKEA chair?
FRANCISCO SUAREZ RUIZ, ROBOTICIST, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY: Hi, Kristie. Thank you for having me here. We chose this task because it is
something that most people can't relate to.
[08:40:04] It is something most people have tried though that's why we chose it.
LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely, putting together a flat back IKEA chair. We can relate to it. It is not easy for us as you mentioned too. But for the
robots, what was the most challenging part for them?
SUAREZ RUIZ: There are several things that are difficult. So, the vision component is challenging. They need to be able to locate the pieces that
you are working with. You also need to be able to plan, to device a plan to put together the chair.
And on top of that, once you have your plan, you need to be able also to execute this plan and put together the whole chair. So the whole
combination of these three factors is the challenging part.
LU STOUT: Yes, they have to plan, they have to mobilize, they have to execute. And if a piece was missing from the box or something was in the
wrong place, will the robots still be able to do the task?
SUAREZ RUIZ: So in the case that you will have one piece, then you want to execute it because the system is expecting that piece to be there. And in
the case that it misses something like it fails, it is programmed to continue. So, in that scenario, we will have to stop it manually. So in
that scenario that is missing something, that it fails something, we will have to stop it manually.
LU STOUT: That's the thing. We still have to step in. Even the robots, they still can't put together (INAUDIBLE) completely by themselves. This is
the next question I have for you. Why is it that robots are really good at playing chess and playing (INAUDIBLE) and not so good at something like
this? Kind of complicated but low level physical task like putting together an IKEA chair?
SUAREZ RUIZ: We have seen that in the high level, the computer, the robots, they excel. But in this kind of low level task, they are very
difficult because they involve contact so you need to be able to have some sensor (ph) coordination between the way you move, I mean as a robot, and
they way you are sensing (ph) the environment.
So that's the challenging part because you have to control that in a very accurate way. And currently, the technology is not there yet that is why we
still --
LU STOUT: Got it.
SUAREZ RUIZ: -- can find lots of robots that are not so good, yes.
LU STOUT: Got it. So for the time being when it comes to putting together IKEA chairs, the humans are still beating the robots. Francisco, we will
leave it at that. Thank you so much for joining us here in the program. Take care.
And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere. We got "World Sport" with Alex Thomas coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END