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Trump Withdraws U.S. From Iran Nuclear Deal; Iranian President Rouhani Says Iran Will Abide by Its Commitments; European Union Diplomat Says Europe Determined to Preserve Iran Deal; Saudi Arabia Backs U.S. Withdraw from Iran Deal; Pompeo in Pyongyang Working on Summit Plans; South Korean Officials Expect Mike Pompeo to Return From North Korea with American Detainees; Trump Withdrawing U.S. from Iran Nuclear Deal; Netanyahu in Russia for Vladimir Putin's Victory Parade; 104-Year-Old Australian Man in Switzerland to End Life; Flooding in Turkey. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 9, 2018 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:27] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, Donald Trump takes the U.S. out of a deal aimed at controlling Iran's nuclear ambitions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

America's allies and rivals are reacting.

SESAY: Returning to North Korea (inaudible) Pyongyang for the second time in just a few weeks. This time there are high expectations to what he'll bring back home with him.

VAUSE: And later, celebrating one last birthday, CNN speaks to this renowned scientist who's choosing to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. This is the what - - third hour, last hour of Newsroom L.A. We're finishing a little early, but stay with us.

SESAY: Well, the crucial question circulating through world capitals right now, will Iran restart its nuclear weapons program?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

U.S. President Donald Trump may have pushed Tehran firmly in that direction, announcing he will withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement.

VAUSE: Donald Trump called the deal defective at its core, and said it would not keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But, the U.S. president said he's willing to work on a new deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not only does the deal

fail to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, but it also fails to address the regimes development of ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads.

Finally, the deal does nothing to constrain Iran's destabilizing activities including its support for terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: While Iran says it will take a few weeks before deciding how to respond to this decision by President Trump.

SESAY: They could be restarting their nuclear program as a consequence or they could hold firm to the existing deal after talking with the other countries who signed on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT: Our people will see that our economic growth will continue and there will be a calm in the market. So, the foreign exchange needed by the country will be obtained, and regarding essential goods and commodities needed by the people, there should be no concern.

In fact, what Trump did was psychological warfare and economic pressure. We will not allow Trump to triumph in exerting economic pressure on the Iranian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Iran's President added the country will live up to its international commitments under the deal, while it consults with the other countries still in the agreement.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen reports now from Tehran.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of anger, disappointment, but also defiance here in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

After U.S. President Trump essentially pulled the United States out of the nuclear agreement between the U.S., various other countries and Iran.

Now, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, he came out shortly after President Trump gave his speech and he said the Iranians might try to salvage the nuclear agreement, but then it would only be between Iran and the other original signatories of the JCPOA. Of course, minus the United States.

Now, the Iranians are also saying that they want to take their time to see whether or not something like that would be feasible. Now of course, they fear that the U.S. might put pressure on international companies, and other countries, to not do business in Iran.

And, of course, what the Iranians want from any nuclear agreement is not just to give up nuclear capabilities, but also to reap benefits in return. And the Iranians want to see whether or not that would be the case, if they had an agreement without the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, the other thing that's of course very important, and that needs to be focused on, is that the nuclear agreement was always, always quite controversial here in Iran, as well. There were hardliners, conservatives who always believed that Iran gave up way too much for the sanctions relief that it got in return.

And then, of course, that sanctions relief was also fairly slow to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

So, for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to now go ahead and say that he wants to keep some sort of nuclear agreement in place, would be something that might be difficult for him to sell to conservatives here in this country as well.

Now, of course, we do also have a lot of disappointment among many Iranians. If you look back to 2015 when the nuclear agreement went into place, when you had people celebrating here in the streets. There was a lot of optimism that there would be new jobs, that there would be foreign direct investment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

A lot of Iranians from abroad came back here and started companies. A lot of that has now evaporated, as many here now feel that the hope that they had for this nuclear agreement seems to be - - or might be all but gone.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN Tehran.

SESAY: Well, now that the U.S. is out, its European allies say they are still in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:05] The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, says Europe is determined to preserve the deal. She expects international community to continue implementing the accord. And France, Germany and the U.K. are pledging to work together on a broader framework that will deal with Iran's longer term nuclear program.

They say the framework will also address Iran's ballistic missiles and destabilizing behavior in region.

Our Melissa Bell is in Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE) Melissa, it's the day after the U.S. pulled out of the deal. A deal

the French President worked hard to keep intact. So, what's the European view of how long this deal can really survive without the U.S. - - certainly, if the U.S. puts its mind to kind of killing it dead?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, the United States' decision is heavy with consequences for Europeans, especially those Europeans who have invested heavily in Iran since that deal was struck back in 2015 and France is really first and foremost among those.

And this is because, of course, the American sanctions will affect European companies as well. So, companies like Total, Peugeot, Kounoul (ph), who have important investments in the country will be looking very wearily at what has been happening to the United States.

No doubt, seeking exemptions to allow them to continue doing business, but also very much looking to the French government to see how it can weigh in on this and really a lot is going to be riding on whether European allies, especially the three that are signatories to the deal.

That is France, the United Kingdom and Germany, whether they can continue with the other signatories to the deal. Russia, China and Iran, of course itself, to keep - - to hold this deal together despite the American withdrawal. And that in turn will depend on the ability of companies to remain invested in Iran.

Thereby giving Iran, in a sense, the reward or risk continued cooperation in this deal and there is so much riding on this, of course. Emmanuel Macron, as you know, Isha, has really taken the lead in trying to convince Donald Trump to stay. He failed.

We'll be looking also to (inaudible) today, to hear about how he intends to go about pursuing those negotiations on the idea of a bigger, broader deal now that the United States has withdrawn. And it's very difficult to see what traction he's likely to get, given the distrust that will now be developing between the United States and those signatories.

Isha.

SESAY: Many, many consequences from this move by the U.S. President.

Melissa Bell, in Paris, thank you.

VAUSE: Well, European allies have expressed their disappointment to say the least. Saudi Arabia says it supports the president's decision to leave the nuclear deal.

The kingdom claims Tehran took advantage of the agreement to develop ballistic missiles and support terror groups, Iran denies that, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praised Mr. Trumps decision as historic and bold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: Israel opposed the nuclear deal from the start, because we said that rather than blocking Iran's path to a bomb, the deal actually paves Iran path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs, and this within a few years' time.

The removal of sanctions made under the deal has already produced disastrous results. The deal didn't push war further away, it actually brought it closer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Ian Lee is in Jerusalem for us this hour. So, Ian, it seems there is no bigger winner from this decision than the Israeli prime minister. After 25 years, he's been calling Iran the number one threat to Israel. He warned that they would have some kind of nuclear bomb by 1999.

They don't have one yet, but finally he's got a president who agrees with him?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, and he gave a presentation recently that was detailing all this information. All this intelligence that Israel was able to get out of Iran about their nuclear program, except for the most recent document that they were able to get out of it dates from 2005.

Even though, you know, the prime minister has said that as we heard, that he believes that Iran is trying to pursue a nuclear weapon, despite the other signatories of the JCPOA. As well as the IAEA, saying there's just really no evidence that backs up Israel's claim.

But, you're right, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the big winner of last night. He's been advocating for this for a long time and it didn't matter, you know, what the evidence said compared to what he presented. He's goal was to get President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the agreement and last night we saw that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

You know, in the aftermath of this, though, John, we have seen increased tensions in the northern part of Israel, as well as along the Golan Heights. Israel called up reservists, these are people with a non-combat role.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:10:08] People like medics, intelligence, as well as those who operate the iron dome system, that is that Israeli system that can target, and shoot down incoming rockets and missiles.

You know, also, the United States officials have said there is concern that Iran might try to attack Israel, although they didn't give any details or evidence to back-up that claim. But, this does show that there is tensions right now along that border.

Especially last night, Syrian official media saying that they intercepted two Israeli missiles that were targeting the Damascus region. So, you know, after President Trump has pulled out of this Iran nuclear agreement, now we're going to be watching to see what the tensions will be like in the region.

John.

VAUSE: Sometimes the saying "be careful what you wish for" is apt. Maybe, in this case - - maybe Iran was being fairly restrained (inaudible) while the nuclear deal was in place. Now, everything may have changed.

Ian, thank you.

Ian Lee, live for us there, in Jerusalem.

SESAY: Well, President Trump's aides argue quitting the Iran deal strengthens the U.S. position in upcoming talks with North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is in Pyongyang for the second time to discuss details of the summit between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong-un.

A South Korean official said he expects Pompeo to leave with three American detainees. One of them is Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim. He spent a month teaching at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology before he was arrested last year.

His son describes how hard it's been to wait for news of his release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOL KIM, SON OF DETAINEE TONY KIM: As time goes, I think it's slowly wears you down more, starts to feel heavier. I think maybe now that we're kind of close to maybe the end, or it seems like it's going in the end direction. I think it's even more harder, you know, the last few steps for him to be released seem to going a lot slower than maybe the first year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Our own Paula Hancocks is in Seoul and joins us now.

And, Paula, as we did just hear from Tony Kim's son - - let me start there. The South Korean officials saying Mike Pompeo, who is in Pyongyang right now, could well be returning with those three American detainees.

Have you heard anything more on that front there in Seoul?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, all we've heard at this point is that a South Korean official said that they are - - that he is expected to leave Pyongyang with the three detainees. Now, this was said once the official was in Tokyo for that trilateral summit between the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

You would imagine that this could have come up within those meetings as well, they were talking about North Korea. They're talking about the Panmunjeom Declaration that was signed between the North and South Korean leaders, and clearly, this is one issue that has been on the forefront of many officials.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(inaudible) here in Seoul and particularly in Washington for some time. We've heard from Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, on his way over to Pyongyang talking to reporters saying that they've been asking for these detainees back for the past 17 months.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

There's been this consistent message from the White House saying that this would be a good will gesture, if the North Koreans were to release these three detainees. And of course, this is the second time that Mike Pompeo has gone to Pyongyang in his Tweet, he suggested that he was invited to Pyongyang.

So, it was at North Korea's request that he is going, saying it was also about the date and the location, the specifics of the summit, but clearly this is going to come up in conversation and he would be hoping to bring them back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Yes. Paula, the withdraw by the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal has everyone speculating about what it means in terms of prospects for reaching a deal with North Korea. What are you hearing where you are? What's the view?

HANCOCKS: Well, we're still waiting for an official reaction from the South Koreans. The Japanese have said that it would be regrettable if there was a negative impact on these kind of deals.

And, what we're hearing from the expert point of view - - the unofficial point of view, is that what kind of message does this send to North Korea.

Clearly, North Korea's a very different kettle of fish than Iran, it's far more advanced in its nuclear program. It has a much greater nuclear arsenal and it's (inaudible) its nuclear war heads, it's not pretending that this was for peaceful methods.

So, certainly it's a much more challenging issue for eh U.S. President, Donald Trump, to be able to get some kind of a deal. The question from critics is has he now undermined being able to get a deal? As he has shown that from one U.S. President to the other, that these types of nuclear deals are not going to be respected.

[01:15:02] So, will Kim Jong-un be questioning that if he signs a deal with the U.S. President Donald Trump, what does the next U.S. President think of that? Will they feel that they have to respect that?

And in that respect, why would he want to denuclearize and not have that back-up, what he sees as the security blanket behind him. So, there are a lot of questions as to what sort of - - of - - of way Kim Jong-un could read this.

Potentially this will even come up with discussions between North Korean officials and Mike Pompeo, who's there right now.

SESAY: I'm sure it will be on the table for discussion.

Paula Hancocks, there in Seoul, South Korea.

Thank you, Paula.

VAUSE: Well, coming up, the swamp is getting a little swampier with a Kremlin linked company paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to the president's personal attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Those details in just a moment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal comes with a lot of political implications. With more on that we're joined now by former Los Angeles Councilwoman, Wendy Greuel, and CNN Political Commentator and Republican strategist, John Thomas.

Okay. So, what we saw sort of steady stream over the last couple of weeks - - we saw the French President, Emmanuel Macron, come to town (inaudible) sort of hand holding.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor arrived a few days later, but you know, the message was the same coming from Europe. Please keep this deal, you know, fix it, you know, mend it, don't end it - - fix it, don't nix it, whatever you want to call it.

But clearly, what now seems to be the case here is that the bottom line is that the U.S. President went ahead and did what he did, despite all of that, essentially because he can.

JOHN THOMAS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's because he can and it's also a promise he made on the campaign trail and that he needed to keep. And also, the recent shift of bringing John Bolton and he has General Mattis, and others, these are people that are hardliners that have said way before Trump ever thought about this deal, that it was a bad deal. VAUSE: Okay. So, here's the case. We've had Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, he's out, replaced by Pompeo. Tillerson wanted to keep the deal. Pompeo, a hawker (ph) on Iran.

And, a similar situation with the National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, booted, and John Bolton - - who no one's more of a hawk than John Bolton, when it comes to Iran.

WENDY GREUEL, FORMER LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCILWOMAN: Well, I think no one thought this deal was the perfect deal, but I think enough people said it is a step in the right direction, and that we have to continue.

[01:21] And now, you even had people from this administration saying they have complied with what the agreement was. I think it is an opportunity, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to be able to say let's fix it, let's be able to add to it, not throw it out and be isolationist.

VAUSE: We often hear conservatives and Trump supporters arguing with the Donald Trump promises on the campaign trail, but I'm just wondering whether, you know - - whether people had the right information here, what this deal was actually was meant to do.

Or, whether you know - - because it seems there is a lot of misinformation and confusion put out, if you listen to talk radio. You know, the right wing talk radio or if you watch Fox News, that kind of stuff, you didn't get an entire clear picture that the Iranians were actually in compliance with this deal.

That's not to say they were angels on everything else, but when it came to this deal, they were complying 15 times according to the IAEA.

GREUEL: Well, I think you now he's saying this is his campaign promise fulfilled and that there are a lot of things that he said he was going to do as a candidate Trump, that he wants to be able to do as President Trump. But, sometimes when you get into that office, you have to understand that it's much more complicated than what you thought on the campaign trail.

And, this is about the place we are in the international world and right now, the world's looking at us saying, "What's this country doing?" They're not fulfilling what they said in their contracts.

VAUSE: Yes. And it's interesting because this decision was made on the same day as, you know, V.E. Day, Victory in Europe Day. Listen to President Harry Truman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY TRUMAN, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: This is a solemn, but glorious hour. I wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to see this day. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations.

The flags of freedom fly all over Europe. For this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the providence which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity, and into light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: John, what's truly amazing about Truman, this humble man from Independence, Missouri, who went on to essentially lead the world in this new world order. The Marshall Plan, rebuilding Germany, making allies out of enemies, defending Berlin against communism, defending Europe against communism.

And, essentially setting up what was I mean, you know, it wasn't perfect in many ways, but it has been a post-World War II period of peace and prosperity for so many people in Europe.

And now, what we have is a president who seems to be doing the exact opposite of that and for many people they look at what Truman did, what F.D.R. did and what other U.S. leaders have done over the years, as representative of American values; what Donald Trump did, not so much.

THOMAS: Well, I think you can look at a lot of Trump's foreign policy accomplishments. Number one, moving the embassy to Jerusalem. I think Trump is trying to position himself as the most pro-Israel president . . .

VAUSE: But, there's a slap in the face to the Europeans, he said don't do it.

THOMAS: That's right, but so goes Israel - - so goes the rest of the world. So, if we don't stand up for Israel, no one else will. You look at what's happening in North Korea - - look, where's Europe? Why haven't they arranged a sit down talk and got things done?

Barack Obama told Donald Trump, he said single biggest challenge he's going to have is going to be North Korea. Trump's making more progress than almost any president has. It's not because - - not just Barack Obama's problem, it was President Bush's problem.

So, look, it's a great clip, but Trump - - it's early days, but he may under his watch, get more progress with North Korea and peace than we've seen.

VAUSE: We'll see, but let's face it, any president could have had a sit down with Kim Jong-un. All they had to do was say, "We want one." The North Koreans have wanted one since the 1970's. You know, it wasn't exactly hard to get.

(CROSSTALK)

GREUEL: Criticism starting giving him legitimacy.

VAUSE: Yes, exactly. North Koreans will be throwing themselves at U.S. Presidents . . .

THOMAS: But also what they do with South Korea in terms of . . .

VAUSE: Give that credit to the South Korean President. He was the guy that - - anyway, we move onto the latest in the Russia investigation, because it's another bad day for Michael Cohen. They all seem to be bad days.

We have new reporting that he received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company controlled by a Putin allied Russian oligarch, a gentlemen called Viktor Vekselberg - - sorry about that - - sources have confirmed the story to us. The allegations initially came from the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, that's Michael Avenatti.

Stormy Daniels, as everyone knows, is the porn star who was paid $130,000 in hush money for allegedly sleeping with the president.

This is part of Avenatti's allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

"Within approximately 75 days of the payment to Ms. Clifford", which is - - Ms. Clifford, which is A.K.A. Stormy Daniels. "Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, caused substantial funds to be deposited into the bank account from which Michael Cohen the payment. It appears that these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms. Clifford".

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:25] VAUSE: So, John, you know, the company doesn't dispute this, that the payment was made. You know, they said, "Yeah, we did it", but that's it. I mean, you know, they're not saying what it was for, but clearly, if it's not illegal, it's really swampy.

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: Yes, but there are a lot of things . . .

(CROSSTALK)

. . . but, it wasn't illegal and we also don't make in the accusation that that's where the money for the Stormy payment came from - - seems like a bridge too far, because there are other people that were also putting money into that account.

Like AT&T, that were by access and it's the timing of the payment happen to occur around the Stormy - - I think that's Avenatti reaching for a hook for his client to keep him on television.

VAUSE: Wendy, the company has denied this and said that Viktor Vekselberg was not involved in the (inaudible), which is the company, in any way, but his cousin is the head of it. He's an American citizen, he runs the company.

So, there is a link there. Again, it's a Russian link.

(LAUGHTER)

GREUEL: As they say, the 1966 movie, 'Russians are coming, Russians are coming', at every level and I think what it did is it married you know - - I can't believe we're still talking about this, but a porn star with the President of the United States in the same - - literally the same account.

And, they don't describe necessarily what all that they do and I think the jury is still out as to whether or not Michael Cohen actually did everything he was supposed to do. He was getting money to lobby the rules for that, particularly international money.

THOMAS: If he was lobbying, then he needs to be held accountable.

VAUSE: When it comes to Andrew, in trot of the cousin who runs the company.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

According to our reporting (inaudible) $250,000 to the Trump inauguration fund, $35,000 to the Trump victory fund, $29,600 to the Republican National Committee in June 2017, that's according to the Center for Responsible Politics. And these donations were a sharp increase over previous years.

The only ones we could find, 2008, Bill Richardson, $1,200 for his presidential run and $2,600 for Chris Day, a Republican running for Congress in New York.

So John, you know, again, maybe it's not illegal, but it's swampy. It's looking swampy.

THOMAS: Well, it looks like they're trying to get access. And also, you know, Michael Cohen . . .

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: If it's all about access, why weren't they paying these huge donations in these previous election runs?

THOMAS: We don't know what this person's business was doing in those prior years. Maybe they needed access now more than they needed it in the past.

But remember, a lot of the traditional lobbying community for the Republican side, that would traditionally lobby a White House, they were never Trumpers, they don't have access to the Trump administration. Michael Cohen, on the other hand, does.

So, may just be he and Flynn are the only guys in town with access.

GREUEL: And Manafort, and . . .

(LAUGHTER)

I think the point is, though, that they probably didn't have access before, because Russia wouldn't even think about trying to influence the U.S. President. Because they knew the difference between Putin and what we do here in the United States. VAUSE: Well, they're access may be limited to the right to a phone call, we'll see what happens.

(LAUGHTER)

John and Wendy, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Up next, why Turkish President fears new crises will break out in the Middle East due to the U.S. pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. CNN's exclusive interview next.

VAUSE: Also ahead, dying on your own terms when you are 104 years old. you probably have the right to make that call, right?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:01] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour.

Donald Trump says on Iran -- well, rather the Iran deal will not keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons so he's pulling out. He wants a better agreement that addresses Iran's missile program and its support for terror groups in the Middle East. Iran says it will take a few weeks to decide how to respond.

VAUSE: Not long after President Trump announced his decision Syria claimed it had shot down two Israeli missiles south of the capital, Damascus. No comment yet from Israel but the Israeli military went on high alert citing unusual Iranian military activity in Syria.

SESAY: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is now in North Korea for more talks on the proposed summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. And a South Korean official believes Pompeo will leave there with the three American detainees North Korea has held for months. This is Pompeo's second face to face meeting with North Korean officials.

VAUSE: For more now on President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and the reaction -- this is now getting around the world. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the moves saying the U.S. has failed to live up to its international commitments under the agreement and he warns Iran is prepared to restart uranium enrichment if the deal collapses entirely.

SESAY: Well, the United States' European allies, also parties to the Iran nuclear agreement, expressed disapproval of President Trump's decision. British foreign secretary Boris Johnson the U.K. remains strongly committed to the deal and will work with its partners to maintain it.

Meantime Turkey's president spoke exclusively to CNN about President Trump's decision to abandon the nuclear deal.

VAUSE: Recep Tayyip Erdogan fears it would now lead to greater chaos across the Middle East and says the world's economy is at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECAP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): This nuclear deal was previously called unsignable. It was rendered possible after years of negativity raising hope all around the globe. And in the drop of a hat, turning this deal around and retreating from this deal possibly is not just going to impact the region but also the entire world.

The whole world economy is at stake. And that is the reason why as Turkey, we will be hit. And the United States might gain some certain positivity (INAUDIBLE) from this or the rising oil prices. But many other countries in poverty will be hit even harder and deeper.

And at the same time we fear new crises will break out in the region. We don't need new crises in the region.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you believe or are you concerned that a geopolitical war will break out? What is the biggest risk here, sir?

ERDOGAN: We would wish to see -- of course, it's an (INAUDIBLE) we won't like to expect. However, in my point of view, the U.S. will be the ones to lose. Iran will never compromise on this agreement and will abide by this agreement until the end. That's what I think. However, the U.S. will lose in the end.

Because you should respect an agreement that you signed. This is not how the international mechanisms work. International covenants and international conventions cannot be annulled upon will. If any document is bearing your signature, you need to respect that. You need to abide by that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, our own Jomana Karadsheh joins us now from Istanbul. So Jomana -- we just heard the Turkish president speaking exclusively to our own Becky Anderson and basically saying that, you know, Americans need to honor their word. Otherwise (ph) what is it worth?

[01:35:01] The day after America withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, what's the view of the U.S. in the region?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it depends on who you talk to -- Isha. This is obviously a very divided and polarized region. You have some that are Iranian allies like Syria, for example, that have condemned the United States saying something similar to what you've heard at the end there from President Erdogan saying that the United States here is not really respecting or committing to its international agreements.

On the other hand, you have Iran's Sunni rivals in the region who have been opposed to this deal and they have voiced their opposition for quite some time now say that this nuclear deal emboldened Iran. It allowed it to pursue a more aggressive, have more aggressive action and behavior in this region.

And they wanted to see tougher action by the international community in curbing Iran's destabilizing behavior in this region as they describe it. Those countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for example. So really welcoming of President Trump's decision; one senior Emirati official describing this as the correct decision by the U.S. president.

But as we heard the warning there from the Turkish president there is, of course, a lot of concern about what happens next. And it does seem that the ball right now is in Iran's court. We have to wait and see as we heard from President Rouhani what their reaction, what their next move is going to be in the next few weeks.

There is a lot of concern that there could be a backlash that we could be seeing, you know, consequences for this decision that could push Iran towards more aggressive behavior, you know, look at places like, for example, Iraq and Syria where Iran does have proxies on the ground there. And the situation is obviously very complicated as it is right now. And this is the warning we heard from the Turkish president that this decision could very well destabilize -- further destabilize this already very turbulent region -- Isha.

SESAY: Absolutely. We have to watch this one very closely.

Jomana Karadsheh joining us there from Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Bob Baer is a CNN intelligence and security analyst and a former CIA operative and has written extensively about Iran. You know a lot about the country so it's good to have you with us, you know, up there in Telluride in Colorado. Thanks -- Bob.

Ok. Here's part of what Iran's president said shortly after that announcement by Donald Trump. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I have also ordered the atomic energy organization to be fully prepared for subsequent measures if needed. So that if needed we will start our industrial enrichment without limitations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ok. Rouhani -- he's been a staunch supporter of this nuclear deal even though he was talking about restarting the uranium enrichment process which seemed to be a burden to the hardliners. But how much pressure is he under now from those hardliners who want to end this agreement almost as much or maybe more as the U.S. president?

ROBERT BAER, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well John -- he's under a lot of pressure. He put his reputation on this agreement. He put his reputation on the word of the United States that we would obey treaties and agreements especially when they're international agreements and for no reason at all we backed out of this one.

I mean I can't tell you what a catastrophe this is for Rouhani and clearly right now, he's going to go to the Europeans -- France and Britain, who didn't want us to pull out -- and said let's cut a separate deal. Let's isolate the United States.

And how far is Trump going to do to impose sanctions? Will he put sanctions on European companies trading oil with Iran with Total, in particular, the French company that runs South Pars with the Iranians? We don't know. But I mean our relations with Europe are going downhill very fast.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) period of freedom fries and freedom toast I guess. If there is this battle on the way in Tehran between the so-called mullahs (ph) like Rouhani who want to keep this deal alive and the hardliners who want to kill it who do you think will win this?

BAER: If he can cut a deal with the Europeans and hold this agreement together, I think he'll do just fine. If he can't the hardliners are going to say look, we have won in Syria. We have won in Lebanon with these recent elections. We won in Iraq by military force. And that's how we're going to, you know, sustain Iranian interest.

And that's why the problem, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is watching and waiting. And if Rouhani fails in this his administration, the middle class in Iran, the liberals in Iran will all fail. I can't tell you how bad this is.

[01:39:57] VAUSE: So when you say they will all fail -- because this is obviously a lot more -- a lot bigger political reputations (ph) here than just, you know, this nuclear deal for Rouhani and for the government because in many ways it seemed Trump just cut the ground from under Rouhani.

BAER: Totally. Well, ultimately Trump is after regime change. There's a belief in the hardliners in this administration that if you put enough pressure on Iran, the place will collapse. The currency will collapse. The economy will collapse. The mullahs will be thrown out. I mean these are the same people that talked us into going in to Iraq in 2003.

You know, I just don't see it. There is no evidence that the Iranian street is going to rise against the mullahs or Rouhani or anybody else. And it's a gamble which could very well get us into a war in the gulf. I mean, you know, this is so -- it's just so hard to tell where this could go; hard to tell what sort of pressure will come down on Rouhani and where this war could start.

And I would assume -- and it has something to do with Israel with things spinning out of control in Syria with more missiles with Iranian forces on the Golan Heights and on and on and on. Somebody's going to make a mistake here. I guarantee it.

VAUSE: We're almost out of time -- Bob. But, you know, essentially what we're saying here is that, you know, for Israel and for Saudi Arabia, the U.S. two main allies in the Middle East, this is not so much about nuclear weapons but much more about breaking the regime in Tehran which seems to be a pretty big gamble.

BAER: It is a big gamble. But look at their point of view -- Israel and Saudi Arabia, there is an Iranian hegemony. Again with these elections in Lebanon, Hezbollah won a majority of the seats. There is a problem. There is a threat.

But right now pulling out of this nuclear deal is not going to make that threat go away. The Iranians are not going to all of a sudden get up and leave Lebanon and Syria and Iraq. It's not going to happen.

VAUSE: Again -- a deal is a deal. This was a done deal but no more and it comes with a lot of consequences now, I guess. Bob -- thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

BAER: Thank you.

SESAY: Well within minutes of President Trump's announcement on Iran, Israel's Prime Minister expressed his support for the move. Benjamin Netanyahu is in Russia Wednesday where he'll attend the victory day parade with President Vladimir Putin. It is a complex relationship though between the two men.

Russia is a military ally of Iran, Israel's sworn enemy and at the parade Mr. Netanyahu will see some of the hardware Iran could use to boost its military arsenal. Russia has said it's disappointed in President Trump's decision on the Iran deal.

CNN's Matthew Chance is near Red Square in Moscow and joins us now live. Ivan -- Matthew rather, Russia and Putin saying that they're disappointed by the U.S. view but how committed is Russia to keeping this deal alive?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that Russia is certainly committed to carrying on its relationship with Iran and indeed intensifying it particularly in this new situation. The Kremlin has issued warnings in the past of harmful consequences if President Trump were to pull out of this Iran deal.

And now that he has, the Russian foreign ministry which is the only sort of really official body that has spoken about it, has said they are deeply disappointed and that they're concerned that the United States is once again following its own narrow interests by going against the will of the majority of other states in the world.

And so Russia, interestingly, because usually it's the spoiler in international relations -- Russia has bound itself on the same side as the United Kingdom, as France, as Germany, as China and much of the rest of the international community and essentially condemning President Trump's decision to pull out of this Iran deal and committing to trying to make it work as we go forward if it can.

And as it makes that commitment, of course, as you mentioned, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the world's leading advocates, or critics rather, of the Iran deal is right here in Moscow. He's the guest of honor at this victory day parade which is set to start in about an hour and 15 minutes from now which will be a dramatic display of not just Russian national pride but more importantly Russia's most sophisticated modern military hardware some of which could be making its way in the future to the Iranian military which is, of course, Russia's close military ally.

SESAY: All right. Matthew Chance joining us there from Moscow -- appreciate it. Matthew -- thank you.

VAUSE: Ok. Well next up here in NEWSROOM L.A. -- after a long life well lived, a renowned Australian scientist says it's time for his life to end.

[01:44:50] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, as John Donne wrote, "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful for thou are not so." And to 104-year-old David Goodall death is not to be feared but welcomed.

SESAY: The renowned Australian scientist says he greatly regrets living that long. In Australia assisted suicide controversially remains a criminal offense so he reached out to Switzerland where it's been legal for decades.

He spoke to our own Melissa ahead of his appointment to die.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an age most people only dream of reaching. But to Dr. David Goodall, the renowned scientist and academic, life has been too long.

DAVID GOODALL, AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST: Life has become less worth living. I'm not enjoying life now as I would have done five or ten years ago. And I think the same maybe true of most people of this age.

I get up in the morning and I find it a bit of work and well, generally speaking I just sit. What's the use of that?

BELL: It is because Dr. Goodall loved life so much that he is choosing to leave it. A few days ago, he left his home in Australia and his family saying his final farewell. He was going to Switzerland -- one of the few countries on earth where it is legal to choose death over life. His final hurdle will be the confirmation on Wednesday by a psychiatrist that he is competent enough to choose.

GOODALL: I don't find peace until I get there. Well, in a few days time, I shall have it. And they will (INAUDIBLE). My message would be once a person has passed the mid-period of aging and have full competence, let it be their choice. BELL: You've been obliged to leave your home, to leave your family, to travel across to the other side of the world --

GOODALL: That is right.

BELL: -- to die in a country that isn't yours.

GOODALL: Exactly.

BELL: And without your loved ones around. How do you feel about that?

GOODALL: I feel resentful -- resentful of the government and the establishment in Australia that they don't recognize on as old as I to end ones days in Australia as I would.

[01:50:02] BELL: But part of the problem is that people are afraid of death. They don't want to talk about it.

GOODALL: There's no obligation for anyone to either talk about death or to engage in death as I'm doing. You know, just be part -- let other people follow their own intentions.

BELL: This is the bed on which Dr. Goodall will die on Thursday, in this anonymous clinic at the foot of the Swiss Alps. This is the drug that he will administer to himself as this is after all to be an assisted suicide. All the doctors will do is place the intravenous needle.

I asked Dr. Goodall what his final thoughts would be.

GOODALL: Well, I hope that they might (ph), and so they will but that will be my consent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello everyone.

There are fears of more flooding in parts of Turkey after non-stop rain in the past few days.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more. Pedram -- what are you seeing?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know it's a pattern you don't want to be stuck in guys because we've seen a very persistent wet pattern in the last couple of days and if you haven't seen the footage from just a couple of days ago, it really is a remarkable set of video coming out of the Ankara region, which frankly I've spent a lot of time in Ankara and parts of Istanbul across this region -- really a gorgeous part of Turkey.

But you see remarkable footage of tremendous ways water coming down the hillside communities here taking over the suburban area there in this region of Ankara. And of course, we know some 150 cars washed away; some 25 homes destroyed. Incredibly nobody lost their lives with this. And you see folks literally on top of their cars being washed downstream.

I want to show you though what's been happening. What has set up this sort of a weather pattern here across this region because we know in Turkey, in fact, 30 percent of all natural disasters are related to flash flooding. That's number two. Number one is earthquakes -- the leading national disaster -- which take lives in Turkey. Flooding comes in number two.

Urbanization, poor drainage, certainly construction across this region really exacerbates the situation. But what we've had the last couple of days a storm system right over the Black Sea, very large body of water, plenty of moisture to go around. But the counter clockwise flow around this system not only bring in moisture from the Black Sea but also tapping into moisture from the Eastern Med, together really pumping, you know, a lot of rainfall.

And the concern is additional heavy rainfall possible in these identical spots. And all it takes is a rapid flash flooding event here to produce heavy rainfall with it and these mountain communities, you funnel that water downstream -- that sets the stage for additional flooding to take place and certainly to see scenes play out similar to what we saw in that footage there if the rainfall stays as persistent as it has across this region.

Again rainfall notice persistent across this region of northern Turkey. And I want to show you the incredible nature of moving water especially water that moves at a tremendous rate because it really is a deceptive sort of a setup -- right.

So when you have about say 15 centimeters or so of water that typically begins to knock a person off their feet. You take that up to 30 centimeters, you begin really lifting the car above and then once you push that up to 60 centimeters, about two feet, a car is out of its path.

[01:54:54] In fact, when you look at the lateral force of water, John and Isha, you take 11 kilometer per hour moving way which is pretty similar to what we saw in that footage. That has the same lateral force per unit area when you do the math to what the force will be behind an EF-5 tornado.

So incredible force behind that and we know that it doesn't take much to cause significant damage and in Turkey again, this is one of the number one killers there and really good to see that at least no fatalities with what you saw in that footage there which oftentimes does translate to numerous fatalities across that region -- guys.

VAUSE: Class is in with Professor Javaheri. Thank you -- Pedram.

SESAY: Appreciate that. Thank you.

VAUSE: Appreciate the explanation.

JAVAHERI: Thanks for having me. You bet.

VAUSE: Ok. A video that has gone viral is a reminder of the sacrifices soldiers often make. Watch as a U.S. army soldier from Mississippi watches the birth of his daughter on his phone.

SESAY: Well, it happened right after his flight was delayed in Texas. The bittersweet moment was recorded by fellow passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAPHICS: Video of a U.S. Army National Guard soldier watching his wife give birth on FaceTime has gone viral. Brooks Lindsey was traveling from El Paso to his home in Mississippi for the birth. Lindsey's wife Haley was already in labor when his connecting flight (INAUDIBLE) got delayed.

Passengers waiting for the flight captured this video and (INAUDIBLE) Lindsey watching the birth.

"All I remember was my doctor screaming, don't let him board the flight. She's here. She's here."

Lindsey did see his daughter's arrival before boarding his flight. He met her in person a few hours after flying to Jackson, Mississippi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ohhhh. You know, when Katie was born -- you can see that (INAUDIBLE) I got in trouble because I was watching CNN. It was like a 12-hour labor. It just went on and on. Anyway --

SESAY: You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Be sure to join us on Twitter @CNNNEWSROOMLA. There you find highlights and clips from the show.

The news continues next with Rosemary Church but there will be a short break first. Time for intermission, get a cup of tea. See you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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