President Trump Makes History At DMZ With Kim Jong Un; Talks Resume In U.S.-China Trade War
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made.</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: The president makes history crossing into North Korea, saying he's going to restart nuclear talks. But a deal to curb Pyongyang's nuclear program still faces long odds.</s>DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Literally breaking that glass overnight, protesters in Hong Kong smash glass at the legislative building. Thousands in the streets to mark 22 years since Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs and it is July first.</s>KOSINSKI: It is.</s>BRIGGS: Where did June go?</s>KOSINSKI: Welcome to July.</s>BRIGGS: Welcome to it, and welcome here.</s>KOSINSKI: I wonder if you're going to wear those patriotic socks through the Fourth of July, though?</s>BRIGGS: That would require a lot of laundry. I'll tweet those out for you --</s>KOSINSKI: I would hope so.</s>BRIGGS: -- for folks who can't see the socks this morning.</s>KOSINSKI: I'm Michelle Kosinski in for Christine Romans.</s>BRIGGS: There they are. The socks made an appearance, Kosinski.</s>KOSINSKI: Ask and you shall receive.</s>BRIGGS: The sock cam here on EARLY START. That's its debut.</s>KOSINSKI: I don't even have any socks on. Well, while you were enjoying a summer weekend, history at the DMZ. The president making -- meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and becoming the first sitting U.S. president to cross into North Korean territory. The two leaders met for nearly an hour, agreeing to restart nuclear talks. It was part of a weekend full of activity that could reshape U.S. relationships in Asia.</s>TRUMP: This was my honor. I didn't really expect it. We were in Japan for the G20 and we came over and I said, "Hey, I'm over here. I want to call Chairman Kim." And we got to meet. And stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made, a lot of friendships have been made. And this has been, in particular, a great friendship. So, I just want to thank you.</s>BRIGGS: Great friendship with a murderous dictator. No doubt, President Trump, though, loves the historic optics here. Overnight, North Korean state media describing the Trump-Kim DMZ summit as an amazing event, but will it amount to anything beyond a photo op? Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks, live near the DMZ. Paula, if this "New York Times" reporting this morning is correct, the U.S. has significantly lowered the bar on their expectations with North Korea.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Dave. We're reading in "The New York Times" that Trump administration officials are telling them that they may settle for a nuclear freeze as opposed to this complete verifiable, irreversible nuclearization they've been -- denuclearization they've been talking about all along. Now, this is something that previous administrations have tried with varying degrees of success but ultimately, all those deals have collapsed. Now, "The New York Times" also saying that potentially, the U.S. administration is going to look once again at that deal that North Korea offered in Hanoi back in February, which is effectively the main nuclear facility, Yongbyon, being shut down completely and closed in return for some sanctions being eased. Now, interestingly, we did see when President Trump was standing next to President Moon Jae-in of South Korea at the presidential office in Seoul, President Moon talked about this and touted it as an option. President Trump did not correct him -- will say that it not possible. So, let's listen to exactly what President Trump was saying just after he met Kim Jong Un at the border.</s>TRUMP: We want to get it right. We don't want to -- we're not looking for speed, we're looking to get it right. And in the meantime, there's been no nuclear tests, there's been no ballistic missiles. There's been a lot of good will and there continues to be. Maybe if anything, better. I think probably after today, better than it was even before.</s>HANCOCKS: There will be a lot of focus now on what comes next to see whether this is anything more than just handshake diplomacy -- Dave.</s>BRIGGS: Indeed. Paula Hancocks live for us near the DMZ. Thank you. Meanwhile, a temporary truce in the U.S.-China trade war. During the G20, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to table new tariffs and continue negotiations. The president telling Fox News he is optimistic about a deal with China.</s>TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": You just recently, hours ago, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.</s>TRUMP: I did.</s>CARLSON: Are you closer, do you think, after that meeting to a trade deal?</s>TRUMP: I think so. We had a very good meeting. He wants to make a deal, I want to make a deal -- very big deal. Probably, I guess you'd say, the largest deal ever made of any kind -- not only trade. We got along very well. We understand each other.</s>BRIGGS: White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said there's no guarantee that a deal will happen.</s>LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER: As the president said, continuing the talks, which had been interrupted for a while, is a very big deal. No promises, there's no deal made, there's no timetable. I want to emphasize that.</s>BRIGGS: Investors, though, like the news of a temporary truce. Wall Street futures are positive ahead of the opening bell. Something to remember, though -- existing tariffs on Chinese goods are still in place and will continue to hit businesses here. Futures are also higher after Trump said he would lift some restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei, ending a ban on American companies from using the telecom gear. Trump said Huawei will be saved for the end of trade talks between Washington and Beijing. I should note Republican Sen. Tom (sic) Barrasso, Michelle, said Huawei would be essentially a Trojan horse --</s>KOSINSKI: Right.</s>BRIGGS: -- in terms of entering national security spaces. So we'll see what happens.</s>KOSINSKI: Right -- Europe feels differently, though. So this is one of those things where --</s>BRIGGS: That is -- that is true. They will deal with Huawei. Let's discuss all this with Josh Rogin, CNN political analyst and "Washington Post" columnist. And, Josh actually beat the president to North Korea by 17 years --</s>KOSINSKI: Wow.</s>BRIGGS: -- and he tweeted out --</s>KOSINSKI: Wow.</s>BRIGGS: -- the visual proof. So, Josh --</s>JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes.</s>BRIGGS: -- the obvious question is which trip was more consequential or provided more in terms of international diplomacy? And more seriously, what's your reaction to "The New York Times" reporting this morning that the U.S. would essentially -- searching for a nuclear freeze with North Korea?</s>ROGIN: Well, I'd have to say that my trip across the DMZ into North Korea was equally as consequential as President Trump's trip just a couple of days ago because neither of them really resulted in any progress towards peace on the Korean Peninsula. But, then again, let's wait and see --</s>KOSINSKI: There's still time, Josh.</s>ROGIN: -- now that my picture has been widely circulated on CNN. We might see some progress. Let's cross our fingers.</s>BRIGGS: Right.</s>ROGIN: You know, I think basically what we're seeing here is that the president has done something good, which is to keep the process of peace alive, but it's simply not enough. There's no actual progress and there's no -- You know, we look at this reporting in "The New York Times" and we can see that as like one idea by some officials who want to put this idea of a freeze, but that's not actually U.S. policy. And there's no actual indication on the North Korean side that any of the fundamentals of this dynamic have changed at all. North Korea has not shown any actual willingness to denuclearize. Their negotiators have been missing, let's say, for the last few weeks. And if this starts the process again -- fine, that's all well and good. We have to see that as a positive. But until there's some indication that these talks are producing some result, I'm going to put this in the category of good photo op -- something I know something about.</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>KOSINSKI: I mean, that would be -- a deal like that would be a huge reversal from the two years of the goal being complete, verifiable, irreversible --</s>BRIGGS: That's right.</s>KOSINSKI: -- denuclearization. We also used to hear we need to do this quickly. We're not going to do it incrementally. We can't dilly-dally. We need to do this now.</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>ROGIN: Well, that's right, Michelle. I think what you're seeing here is a tension between the needs of diplomacy and national security and the political needs of the President of the United States. For President Trump, the process is the thing, and as long as he can keep the process going and run for reelection as a peacemaker, that's good enough. But for people in the national security bureaucracy and people on the peninsula who are -- and all around the world who are the targets of all of these dangerous North Korean weapons, the process is not enough. And unless the process leads to some -- leads to some actual progress on keeping all of us safe, then this is going to be seen as a fool's errand.</s>KOSINSKI: Yes. But I am hearing from multiple foreign policy minds --</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>KOSINSKI: -- that let's not get too disgusted by it being a photo op with a dictator at this point.</s>ROGIN: Sure.</s>KOSINSKI: That this could be -- it could amount to a diplomatic opening.</s>BRIGGS: But just to put it in context, remember the Iran nuclear deal prevented Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon. That deal the president called "worst, horrible, terrible, and laughable." If, in fact, the president is willing to accept North Korea as a nuclear power, the hypocrisy baffles the mind. But let's turn now to what happened or what did not happen with Japan out of the G20. No deal, but the president punting on the additional $300 billion in tariffs. How significant was that development? And given the Huawei -- they will allow U.S. companies to purchase Huawei products, how significant was all of that, Josh?</s>KOSINSKI: With China.</s>ROGIN: Yes, I think it's hugely significant. Again, we should want the process to continue, we should want diplomacy to continue, we should want negotiations to continue. Those are all necessarily good things, but at what price, OK? And the fact that the president gave Huawei concessions unknown, right? Larry Kudlow, on several morning shows, tried to clarify. I watched all of it and still couldn't make heads or tails of it because even he doesn't know what concessions President Trump gave Xi Jinping in that meeting. They're going to have to try to figure it out and that's going to be a struggle that the president has put his own team to in the wake of these meetings. And what did we get, right -- some farm products? Nobody knows exactly what that means, either. So what we're seeing here is, again, the president focusing on the optics. And that's not to say that the optics are nothing, but the optics are clearly not everything. And what we again see is the president giving concessions. OK, concessions are to be given if we get something in return. But basically what we're seeing is bad negotiating. And, you know, we could always hold out hope that in the end, this will all turn out to be a great deal, and I still hold out that hope. But indications are that the dealmaking --</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>ROGIN: -- is not going well.</s>KOSINSKI: Yes.</s>BRIGGS: The common thread there is optics and the importance --</s>ROGIN: Yes.</s>BRIGGS: -- of optics for this administration.</s>ROGIN: And policy -- exactly.</s>KOSINSKI: No surprise there, but look at some of these optics of President Trump with these leaders of countries where, at best, democracy is questionable. Listen to some of what he said about his relationships with these world leaders.</s>TRUMP:  (With Mohammad bin Salman): The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a friend of mine. He sent me a very beautiful birthday card. (</s>With Kim Jong Un): A lot of friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great friendship. (</s>With Vladimir Putin): We have a very, very good relationship and we look forward to spending some very good time together. A lot of very positive things going to come out of the relationship.</s>KOSINSKI: A "Wall Street Journal" op-ed over the weekend -- "Personal diplomacy has its uses as George H.W. Bush, in particular, showed as president. But, Mr. Trump doesn't need to flatter tyrants as if they're great leaders. These hard men will make decisions based on raw national interest, not because they like Mr. Trump." The fact that there even needs to be an editorial board piece out there like --</s>BRIGGS: Yes.</s>KOSINSKI: The fact that this even needs to be said would be shocking, I think, two years ago, Josh.</s>ROGIN: Yes or any year. I mean, it's -- you know, there's a couple of things. One is that the president who, of course, must and should meet with all leaders for which we have dealing with doesn't need to lie about it, OK? He doesn't have to say things that aren't true like there's no evidence that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. That he doesn't -- that he believes Putin on his claims that Russia didn't interfere or that Kim Jong Un has stopped shooting ballistic missiles. All those things are not true, OK, so there's no excuse and no explanation that can explain why the President of the United States would say things that are not true that help all of these autocratic leaders defend their horrendous behavior. That's doesn't make any sense at all. And then, I think the most revealing moment of the whole weekend, actually, was when the president, in his press conference, was asked to respond to Vladimir Putin's claim that Western liberalism had run its course and was obsolete. And, President Trump said there are a lot of liberals in San Francisco and L.A. who --</s>KOSINSKI: Right.</s>ROGIN: -- he thinks they're doing the wrong thing. He clearly doesn't understand the question and he doesn't understand the concept that the American-led --</s>KOSINSKI: I'm glad you brought that up.</s>ROGIN: -- world order for 80 years has defended individual rights as a core ideal and that that has driven progress, prosperity, security, and safety --</s>KOSINSKI: Yes.</s>ROGIN: -- for Americans.</s>KOSINSKI: Right.</s>ROGIN: And he doesn't get that and so he can't defend it, and that's very sad.</s>KOSINSKI: Yes.</s>BRIGGS: And all of us are old enough to remember the reaction on the right when President Obama suggested he might meet with Ahmadinejad lost their minds. Imagine how they would react if Obama sat down with Putin and</s>MBS -- KOSINSKI: Yes.</s>BRIGGS: -- and Kim Jong Un.</s>ROGIN: Times have changed.</s>BRIGGS: But don't have time to get into that today. Josh Rogin, great to have here, my friend. Thank you.</s>KOSINSKI: Great seeing you.</s>ROGIN: Anytime.</s>KOSINSKI: Well, he made this emotional plea just weeks ago.</s>LUIS ALVAREZ, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE DETECTIVE, CHAMPION FOR FIRST RESPONDERS HEALTH BENEFITS: The families would love to have time with them. I made mine have time with me.</s>KOSINSKI: The 9/11 first responder who tried to secure health care funding for heroes has succumbed to cancer.