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CNN NEWSROOM

Donald Trump Has Lunch and Plays Golf with Shinzo Abe; Donald Trump Pledges U.S. Resolve at Yokota Air Base, Japan; Donald Trump Expected to Address Strategies on North Korea with Allied Countries South Korea and China on Asia Tour; Saudi Arabia Intercepts Houthi Missile Attack over Capital Riyadh; Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri Unexpectedly Resigns, Blames Iran's Influence; New York Marathon has Increased Security after Manhattan Terrorist Attack; New York Marathon will get Drizzle, but Dry Out by Afternoon; Severe Weather and Gusty Winds in Central and Southern Europe will push up into Ireland, England and Scandinavia; Megabrands in South Africa Promote Themselves on Social Media, Paying Instagram Influencers; Facebook Invests in Africa. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired November 5, 2017 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:09] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump hits the ground swinging on his Asia tour, golfing with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Plus, the Saudi crown prince consolidates power. Several senior figures in the kingdom were sacked or arrested. And Lebanon's prime minister steps down 12 years after his father's assassination. Saad Hariri cites concerns over his safety.

Thanks for joining us, everyone. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived in Japan on the first leg of a lengthy trip through Asia. It's his first to the region as president, and the longest foreign trip so far of his administration. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Trump went to a country club near Tokyo to have lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two men then played a round of golf.

But the U.S. president's first order of business after landing in Japan was to address American troops at the Yokota Air Base. He didn't mention North Korea by name, or the nuclear threat it poses, but it seems clear who these remarks were aimed at.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No one -- no dictator, no regime, and no nation -- should underestimate ever American resolve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoo.

TRUMP: Every once in a while in the past, when they underestimated us, it was not pleasant for them, was it?

U.S. AND JAPANESE TROOPS, YOKOTA AIR BASE: No.

TRUMP: It was not pleasant. We will never yield, never waver, and never falter in defense of our people, our freedom, and our great American flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Alexandra Field joins us now from Tokyo.

Alex, Mr. Trump's opening speech gave some clues on his priorities in Asia. What did you make of it?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Cyril, this is the kind of speech that you would expect the commander in chief to make to the U.S. and Japanese troops that were assembled there.

You've got some 50,000 U.S. troops who are here in Japan; another 30,000 were here in South Korea. You did hear these messages sort of of solidarity, of strength from the commander in chief, the U.S. president, Donald Trump.

He also talked about the strength of the alliance, and that's certainly something that the allies here want to hear about. Those in South Korea and Japan, they want to know that that commitment from the United States remains ironclad. And that's sort of been the backbone of the messaging from other visits of high-level administration officials who have come to Asia prior to Mr. Trump's trip.

The focus of this trip is, of course, on North Korea. He'll be talking about that while he's here in Japan; also, when he moves on to South Korea, and then, on to China -- all part of this five country swing through Asia.

But he did point out that another top priority on this trip will be talking about the U.S.'s trade agreements. He again invoked the need for what he calls, "Free, fair and reciprocal trade deals." These were messages that were important on the campaign trail. These are messages that he has reiterated since taking office some 10 months ago. He has making a priority this trip.

But, Cyril, we know that, given the security situation, given the tenseness of the unfolding situation with North Korea, that that is really what will dominate headlines and be the primary international focus of this trip.

VANIER: OK, tell us more about the personal relationship between Mr. Trump and his host, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Because Mr. Trump notoriously has rubbed several U.S. allies the wrong way. That's not the case this time.

FIELD: Right, and you've actually heard from officials within his administration that there is a little (ph) confusion among the allies about Mr. Trump's policy when it comes to dealing with North Korea. But certainly, there has been some criticism of that policy, and we have heard that confusion here in the region.

Because on the one hand, you've got a president who gets on Twitter, who has very incendiary rhetoric that is geared directly toward Pyongyang, directly toward North Korea.

On the other hand, you've got these top administration officials who have spent time in the region saying that a diplomatic resolution to the crisis is the preferred method of the administration. So there has been some confusion about the policy, even if administration officials want to say that the allies here are very clear.

So a big part of the job that (ph) the president while he's in the region will be to clarify that policy, along with garnering support for his efforts to contain this crisis.

The easiest leg of this trip in that respect should be just this leg of the trip, right here in Japan, because he does have this close personal relationship with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. You've seen that from the somewhat informal tone that the first day of the trip has taken. You've got the two leaders teeing off for a game of golf this afternoon. They'll move on to an informal steak dinner with their wives later.

This personal relationship has really brought the two men close together. They are very much in lockstep when it comes to taking a harder line on North Korea.

A more uphill battle when the president moves on to South Korea, where he's been more

[02:05:00]

critical of the administration in that country; and certainly, in China, where he is continuing to work to seek cooperation from the leader of China, which he sees as really the lynchpin, in terms of bringing in North Korea.

Cyril?

VANIER: All right, Alexandra Field reporting live from Tokyo. We'll speak to you in the next hour as well. Thank you, Alex.

That was President Trump and Prime Minister Abe are meeting and playing golf. The first ladies are renewing their friendship as well.

Melania Trump and Akie Abe had tea, and visited a luxury jewelry store in Tokyo. Mrs. Abe was the first spouse of a foreign leader to visit the U.S. after Mr. Trump became president. Mrs. Trump tweeted earlier in the day that she was looking forward to seeing Mrs. Abe again, as well as Madame Peng -- Madame Peng being the first lady of China.

With U.S. President Trump now in Japan, let's look at his other stops on what will be the longest U.S. presidential trip in Asia since 1992. Mr. Trump heads next to South Korea. He's expected to have bilateral and expanded meetings before going on to China -- and that's the third leg of his trip.

In Beijing, Mr. Trump will tour the Forbidden City with President Xi Jinping. Meetings are scheduled for the next day. He then heads to Vietnam for APEC Summit events, and makes his final stop in Manila to summits with Southeast Asian and East Asian leaders.

Let's head to the Middle East now.

Saudi Arabia says it shot down a ballistic missile shot by Houthi rebels in Yemen that was aimed at the Saudi capital. Saudi Arabia responded to that by launching an airstrike on Yemen's capital Sana'a, which is under rebel control. Saudi has been leading a war against the Houthi rebels who took over Yemen's government in 2015. Iran has backed the Houthis, sparking a proxy war with Saudi Arabia.

CNN's John Defterios takes a closer look at the attack and its fallout.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: We have a reporter -- a journalist on the ground in the capital of Sana'a, which is controlled by the Houthis, and you suggested, we're seeing late-night strikes that are unusual, but clearly, a response to what we're seeing taking place in Riyadh.

Saudi officials said there were no injuries be -- from the attempted missile attack, and it was -- in fact, it was intercepted by a Patriot missile. There was debris east of the King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, and officials also suggested that flight plans going in and out of Riyadh will not be impacted.

But clearly, this is a test for the young crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, who is both defense minister and crown prince, and when came into power, suggested he wanted to draw a line in the sand in the Middle East in Yemen because of the influence that he suggested Tehran exerts over not only Yemen, but influence over Lebanon, Syria, and now, after the Saudi-led embargo against Qatar, over Doha as well.

VANIER: And speaking of the Saudi crown prince, it seems he's moving -- he's been moving to consolidate his power. Three key ministers have been fired. They were in charge of the economy and parts of the military. Officially, they were removed as part of an anti-corruption sweep. The Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman now heads up an anti- corruption committee that arrested 11 princes, four ministers, and a number of former ministers.

And still in the Middle East, Lebanon is now facing a dangerous political vacuum after the prime minister's resignation there.

Saad Hariri has resigned, saying he fears for his life. He's Lebanon's most influential Sunni politician. His resignation is thought to reflect the rivalry between Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Hariri actually announced his resignation, and Iran, which supports Hezbollah.

CNN's Gul Tuysuz has more from Turkey.

GUL TUYSUZ, CNN PRODUCER: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announcing his resignation in a forceful speech that he issued from Saudi Arabia. And in that speech, he laid the blame for disunity, not just in his country of Lebanon but across the region, on Iran, and the Iranian-backed forces -- specifically, Hezbollah -- saying that they have been having a detrimental effect on Lebanon, as well as other countries in the Middle East -- specifically, Arab countries.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAAD HARIRI, FORMER LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want to say to Iran and its followers that they are losing in their interference in the affairs of their world. Our nation will rise up as it had done in the past, and cut off the hands that wickedly extend into it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUYSUZ: Hariri coming out and saying that Iran will pay a price for its meddling in Arab affairs and internal affairs of Lebanon as well. Iranian officials coming out just a couple of hours later, saying that the allegations put forth by Hariri are unfounded and baseless.

All of this just goes to show you how volatile the region is politically, as Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to engage in power plays

[02:10:00]

across the region.

Gul Tuysuz, CNN, Istanbul.

VANIER: Here in the U.S., the annual New York Marathon kicks off in a few hours. It is going ahead, but the city has boosted security in the wake of this week's terror attack.

Police are sending out helicopter patrols, snipers and bomb-sniffing dogs, and they'll line the streets with blocking trucks to protect against vehicle attacks. And (ph) just days ago, a terrorist plowed a truck into pedestrians in Manhattan killing eight people and injuring dozens more.

And runners can expect to get a little wet on Sunday.

Ivan Cabrera joins us now with the latest weather forecast from the CNN Weather Center.

Ivan, what's it going to be?

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEROLOGIST AND WEATHER ANCHOR: Well, it's raining right now, but I think the rain will be gone (ph) and off by the time the runners get going here.

We'll have a few showers that we talked about the last couple of days, but it's not going to be a deluge. In fact, the heaviest of the rain I think will be out of here by the time we get into the 6, 7 o'clock hour Eastern Time across the U.S.

Well, futurecast there for you -- watch the clock there -- we'll see the rain beginning to push off, the heaviest of the rain.

What I think we'll be left over with will be not just some showers, but just kind of a drizzly morning, and that will continue as we head into the afternoon -- although, by then, drying even more so before another batch gets set to move in, but that won't happen until late Sunday and into Monday. So, all in all, we're looking pretty good.

As far as temperatures, steadily increasing -- will start in the lower-teens that will end up into the mid-teens by 16 o'clock -- or, 16 degrees by 12 o'clock, and by then, again, some drier times here. So we'll start off with a few showers, and a little bit of drizzle.

Taking you across the Atlantic, and checking in on Europe, we had (ph) an area of disturbed weather here across Central and Southern Europe, in fact, and I think severe weather potential there, with even some nasty wind gusts by the time we get into the afternoon. And then, another wind and rain event setting the stage and queuing up here for portions of Ireland heading into England as well, and then, eventually crossing the North Sea, and heading up towards Scandinavia with some gusty winds.

But this is the area we're going to watch for today, the potential for severe wind gusts, thunderstorm activity, the likes of which could be seeing some rotating thunderstorms, and that would be tornadoes there from Barcelona heading east through Italy and the islands there, so we'll watch for that.

But of course along with that, we'll have plenty of moisture, and that will crash into the Alpine region there with plenty of snowfall, upwards 50 centimeters heading into the next couple of days.

So, again, some shower on and off for the big New York City Marathon. We'll keep you posted on that. Otherwise, looking pretty good. See you in the next half hour.

VANIER: Looking pretty good, all right. Ivan Cabrera from the CNN Weather Center, thank you very much.

And thank you for watching the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier. "Marketplace Africa" is up next. Stay with us to watch it.

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[02:14:46] ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: In Africa, as access to the Internet increases, so does the popularity of social media. This gives businesses a new channel to reach African consumers.

But can "likes" and shares translate to growth? We'll explore that and more this week

[02:15:00]

in "The Marketplace."

Welcome to "Marketplace Africa." We cover the biggest economic trends impacting the continent.

Now, you've probably noticed a brand new look in our studio here in New York. It's all designed to bring you information about Africa's economy simply and clearly -- information like this -- that is much easier to digest.

Now, today the focus is all about social media in Africa. According to the marketing consultants, there are 15 million active social media users in South Africa, and that's, by the way, 27 percent of their population, which is a higher penetration rate than both Kenya and Nigeria as well.

But here's the interesting trend to pay attention to. The number of people using social media on their cell phones or on their mobile devices in general in South Africa grew by 30 percent from 2016 to 2017.

Now, retailers have noticed this trend, and they see it as a way to market their products, but it takes more than just a clever tweet or an interesting post to engage consumers.

Here's our Anna Stewart with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEAGAN KINGSLEY CARLIN, BLOGGER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, INSTAGRAM: And look down. That's nice. Face towards the sun. Stunning.

ANNA STEWART, CNNMONEY (voice-over): Posing for an Instagram picture isn't as easy as you might think.

KINGSLEY: And turn both feet slightly more that way.

TETEANN KETTER (ph), MODEL AND INFLUENCER, INSTAGRAM: This way?

KINGSLEY: Yes.

STEWART: At least not if you're an Instagram influencer like Teteann Ketter (ph) and Keagan Kingsley. Both are paid to post dazzling photos on Instagram by megabrands in South Africa.

KINGSLEY: I fell in love with creating content. So, it wasn't necessarily about me specifically or sharing my life, but it was learning the craft of taking beautiful photos, and what goes into that.

STEWART (voice-over): And Te Te (ph) strikes poses for the beauty brands, including Pond's, DKNY and T-Star (ph).

KETTER (ph): I really have been lucky enough to work with brands that say who I am.

STEWART (voice-over): Kingsley works for the likes of Ray-Ban and Adidas, companies who are increasingly focused on engaging targeted audiences for their marketing campaigns.

MIKE JAEGGLE, BRAND CONTRACTOR, ADIDAS SA: The macro, or the famous people, they help you when you want to reach. And the beauty of the micro-influencers is that they are experts in their -- in their field of interest. And because of that, their followers, they are -- they're seeing that as a very authentic element, and that increases their engagement.

STEWART (voice-over): Research firm World Wide Worx says Instagram users in South Africa increased 32 percent between 2016 and 2017.

ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK, MARKETING DIRECTOR, WORLD WIDE WORX: Back in 2010, we had about 5 million smartphones in use in this country. Now, there are more than 15 million smartphones in use. And most people, when they go onto the Internet for the first time through a smartphone, it's usually via social networks.

STEWART (voice-over): It's an opportunity that brands are keen to leverage.

GOLDSTUCK: Around 40 percent of brands are advertising on Instagram. This is more than 80 percent advertising on Facebook.

But bearing in mind that Instagram advertising has only been around for about three years, that's fairly high, and it will start catching up to Facebook in the near future.

STEWART (voice-over): Woolworths is one of South Africa's biggest retail companies, selling everything from food to fashion.

AYANDA MOHOLI, SENIOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER, WOOLWORTHS SA: We have a number of brands, such as Studio. W, Country Road Group, JT One, RE:, that also have their own sort of platforms on Instagram. Because we have the different tones in -- with the different brands, we try to align our influencer strategy with those.

STEWART (voice-over): Woolworths' brand RE: Denim, it's all about targeting a younger demographic.

MOHOLI: We try to localize their content in South Africa, and in that, we use a whole bunch of influencers to kind of put out the great content as a sort of a world on influencers out there, a circle, that they know each other.

So we work on referrals, we work on people that we've worked on before. We've worked on -- we work on people who we see can have a cross-, sort of, appeal. We have the advantage of being a little bit behind in the international trends. We are able to see what's out there, and what sort of, like, new features that are coming out that we could use.

STEWART (voice-over): Achieving which Instagram users to work with involves more than just the number of followers.

JAEGGLE: All in all, those influencers, they have to speak and resonate to our product, to our brand stories, or even maybe more important, to our -- to the -- their personality to our DNA -- to our brand DNA, to our values, and that's, I think, the most important one.

STEWART (voice-over): Being seen as authentic is crucial for influencers to maintain their instafame and keep the cash coming.

STEWART: So here's the big question. How much are your Instagrams worth?

KETTER (ph): Well, a -- you know, a basic Instagram post from me, I would charge anywhere around 5,000 rand a post, which is about $375.

STEWART: OK. Keagan?

[02:20:00]

Are you cheaper or are (ph) you more expensive?

KINGSLEY: I'm definitely more affordable than Te Te (ph) because I've got a much smaller following than she does. So it depends.

So usually, it's around 1,000, 2,000 rand a post. And that's --

STEWART: So just under $300?

KINGSLEY: Yes.

STEWART (voice-over): The many taste makers in South Africa agree that brands have much work to do when it comes to targeting Instagrammers.

KETTER (ph): Instead of asking, who's got the biggest following, what can we get out of you, they're asking, who's right for the brand, who's going to be believable, who can we build a bigger relationship with.

STEWART (voice-over): A relationship that will bring both the brands and the influencers to the global spotlight.

Anna Stewart, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right, time for a quick break here on "Marketplace Africa." When we come back, we're going to debut a new segment on this show, and you'll hear the story of how the world's most popular social network entered the African market. Don't go away.

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[02:22:23] ASHER: All right, welcome back, everybody.

Allow me to introduce you to "Profit Point." So in this segment, you're going to be hearing stories about how African businesses grew to profitability, and how global companies expand on the continent.

And (ph) we're going to kick things off with the world's most widely- used social media platform -- no surprises there -- of course, Facebook. Facebook has more than 2 billion monthly active users all around the world, but the company found out that, in order to achieve real growth in Africa, they had to first do some groundwork.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IME ARCHIBONG, DIRECTOR, PRODUCT PARNERSHIPS, FACEBOOK: The growth of how big Facebook is, we all remember a time when we were a really, really small startup, and we (ph) always try to figure out how we can punch way, way above our weight -- how can we change the world with, you know, a thousand people -- how can we change the world with 20,000 people at the company.

Mark famously said during a Q&A in Lagos, he's, like, "Man, these really are my people." Because he could feel that hustle, he could feel that -- kind of that entrepreneurial spirit. I'd (ph) almost say that we were somewhat inspired by this, is this idea of mission- aligned community.

We took a step back, and we're, like, we have a community of 2 billion people, but we're seeing all these things happening around the world that are suggesting that the mission that we're after isn't necessarily being fulfilled -- like, let's get more international about it.

We knew that 2014, 2015 probably just felt like the right time to invest in the continent, get out in front of it early, and make sure that we established a presence.

NUNU NTSHINGILA, HEAD OF AFRICA, FACEBOOK: I went to the office, and I was told, "Here's the office." It was (ph) later when somebody said, "Have you seen the office?" I said, "Yes, no, I was just standing at reception. I did not go inside." And it -- they said, "No, that is the entire office."

ARCHIBONG: (LAUGHTER) Yes.

NTSHINGILA: "That one room is the entire office." I said, "I'm not sure (LAUGHTER) if this is what I signed up for."

I come from the advertising industry. I come from branding, I come from marketing. And when I was first approached, I said, "Oh, no, I don't think that I'm in technology at all."

But ultimately, it -- we've seen how business is coming together, and I'm -- and we continue to work with big businesses and small businesses in their ambitions to grow their brands, and that is what keeps me alive every morning.

We need to be able to build a base on the continent, to be able to draw people who live on the continent, who are going to be working with Facebook. And we've

[02:25:00]

grown into an amazing space. And the way we look at the space, it really is a great space for innovation, a great space to bring our partners -- a great space just to brainstorm, and think about the things that we see day-to-day.

ARCHIBONG: For any of the criticism that's out there, we haven't necessarily been intentional about dictating what the services are that people have access to. What we've been intentional about is trying to dictate that there is a platform that people have access to -- both people, and also services, or entrepreneurs. There's probably 500 plus different services and developers and entrepreneurs that have been building for our Free Basics Platform.

And if they have access to a platform that they can now build on, and offer their service for free, then that is how we're going to strike kind of the mission that we're trying to reach.

NTSHINGILA: In the last two few years, just the platform itself, Facebook the platform, has grown about 47 (ph) percent. We now have over 170 million people coming onto Facebook every month.

So, yes, we continue to work on those things, like making sure we're bringing people onto the platform, but most importantly, making sure that actors genuinely (ph) reflect our way of life here in Africa, just as it does to anywhere and anyone around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: And by the way, Facebook isn't actually alone in trying to deliver free Internet services across Africa. In fact, Google's sister company X has been working on a project that can beam the Internet to the continent via large gas-filled balloons. It's still in the testing phases, though.

OK, guys, that does it for us here on "Marketplace Africa." Please let us know what you think of the new look of the show and the format on Twitter, or on our Facebook page as well.

Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you guys next week in "The Marketplace."

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