Trump-Putin Summit in the Works; North Korea Upgrading Nuclear Facility.
BRIGGS: President Trump on the verge of finalizing plans to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin. Details of his meeting with the Russian President are expected to be announced today. The President already revealing it is likely to take place after the NATO summit in Brussels in July. Let's go live to Moscow and bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen. Fred, good morning to you. What are we likely to hear these two discuss?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're likely to hear them talk about just some that the President, Dave, said yesterday. We're likely to hear them talk about Syria, about Ukraine as well. Of course, those two major issues. But then one of the things that the national security adviser John Bolton said at the press conference yesterday after his he meeting with Vladimir Putin is that, apparently, the meddling in the 2016 election could very well also be on the table. Now, the big question is going to be -- where is the summit going to take place? Right now, what we're hearing is that, most probably, it will be Helsinki. Although apparently, Vienna is still on the table as well. As you were saying there, the middle of July seems likely right now. The President, of course, in Europe in the middle of July. Vladimir Putin has to be here in Russia on the 15th for the end of the soccer world cup, but planning around that is what they seem to be doing. Of course, Dave, we always have to point out that President Trump says this meeting is absolutely necessary. He says it will be good for America and the world. Some of America's allies? Not so sure. They're a bit concerned about the fractured alliance that President Trump has had with them while, of course, embracing leaders like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and then also the Chinese leadership as well, Dave.</s>BRIGGS: Yes. It should make for some fascinating optics. Fred, thank you.</s>ROMANS: Brand new satellite images showed North Korea has made rapid improvements to the infrastructure at its Yongbyon nuclear research facility. The images captured last week reveal planned upgrades that were already underway before the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, but this seemed to cast doubt on North Korea's commitment to denuclearization. CNN's Will Ripley is live in Beijing for us. And, Will, I mean, if you've got all those road improvements and new buildings and spruced up facilities, how does that fit into a path toward denuclearization?</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because I was looking at some pictures out of Pyongyang yesterday that show some construction of apartments in the city has ground to a halt, and yet you have the nuclear reactor. You have two new buildings going up. You have improvements to the cooling system of the plutonium production reactor. And you wonder why North Korea is investing scarce resources in a nuclear facility after vowing to complete denuclearization at that summit on June 12th with President Trump. Certainly, eyebrow-raising and really underscoring the need for an agreement, a verifiable agreement that the United States has yet to negotiate. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, presumably, will be meeting at some point with his North Korean counterpart to get specifics on a timeline for denuclearization. He has said it will take quite some time. He actually said there is no timeline now. That's dramatically different from their tone just a few weeks ago, saying it could happen in a matter of months. Pompeo is also saying that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, contradicting, by the way, President Trump who said that the nuclear threat from North Korea was over after his meeting with Kim Jong-un. North Korea is on the agenda in South Korea where the U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived overnight after his meetings here in Beijing. He has said, despite some disagreements with the President, that he does supports the U.S. decision to suspend joint military drills, saying that, hopefully, it will help to create a peaceful atmosphere and move forward this progress on denuclearization. But all the questions remain, Christine, especially given this satellite images we're seeing from Yongbyon.</s>ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that. In Beijing, Will Ripley.</s>BRIGGS: OK, two words. Beer shortage.</s>BRIGGS: That's right. United Kingdom now rationing beer during the world cup. Why and how long it will last, next.