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Breaking News From Argentina Where Leaders Are Now Gathering For The Official Start Of The G-20 Summit; A Guilty Plea From Mr. Trump's Former Lawyer; On Wednesday, Ukraine Declared Martial Law In Parts Of The Country, Including The Russian Border After A Naval Confrontation At Sea, A Shadow Over Europe. Aired: 8-9p ET

Aired November 30, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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


ANDREW STEVENS, ANCHOR, CNN: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream" and we begin with breaking news from Argentina where leaders

are now gathering for the official start of the G-20 Summit and in a country famous for its tango, Donald Trump is in the midst of a diplomatic

dance requiring a few nimble moves.

In the past few minutes, the US President has just signed a new trade deal for North America, one he says will boost America's economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This landmark agreement includes intellectual property protection that will be the envy of nations

all around the world. The USMCA contains robust new provisions on digital trade and financial services and the most ambitious environmental and labor

protections ever placed into a major trade agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: But Mr. Trump still has a big meeting with China's President ahead, one which will be dominated by trade talks. Someone he won't be

sitting down with is the Russian President. Mr. Trump says he canceled talks because of Moscow's standoff with Ukraine. And then, of course,

there is brewing trouble at home. A guilty plea from Mr. Trump's former lawyer, something that is reportedly souring the President's mood

altogether.

Abby Phillip joins us now from Buenos Aires with more on this. And this really does look like it's casting a big shadow across Donald Trump in a

moment, what Michael Cohen been saying, Abby?

ABBY PHILLIP, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: That's right, Andrew. President Trump arrived here in Argentina with this Michael Cohen saga

hanging over his head and clearly consuming his thoughts. As we are learning more about what the Robert Mueller investigation is uncovering bit

by bit through some of these court filings and guilty pleas, President Trump, according to our source is furious and consumed by all of this.

It is clearly distracting him as he heads into these meetings. He's been tweeting all morning about the investigation, which he once again called a

witch hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PHILLIP: Shortly after touching down in Argentina for the G-20 Summit, President Trump calling on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe to

end after his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a planned Moscow tower project, a lie Cohen says he told to

be consistent with Mr. Trump's political messaging and out of loyalty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Cohen has cooperated. Mr. Cohen will continue to cooperate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: According to charging documents, Cohen previously testified that discussions about the Moscow project ended before the 2016 Iowa caucus.

But Cohen now says that negotiations continued until June of that year, while Mr. Trump was close to securing the Republican nomination.

During that summer, then candidate Trump and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, insisted that Trump was not involved in any Russian business

dealings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have nothing to do with Russia. I have - John. John, how many times do I have to say it? Are you a smart man? I have nothing to do with

Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So be clear, Mr. Trump has no financial relationships with any Russian oligarchs.

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER: That's what he said and that's what I said, that's obviously what our position is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: A claim the President has repeated throughout his presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We could make deals in Russia very easily if we wanted to. I just don't want to because I think that would be a conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Prosecutors say Cohen discussed the Moscow tower project with President Trump on more than the three occasions he had previously

mentioned and briefed Trump family members working in his business empire about the efforts. This revelation, putting Mueller's spotlight on two of

the President's children involved in the Moscow project. The President responding to Cohen's cooperation with the special counsel by attacking his

former long-time attorney and insisting that the public was aware of the project.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He is a weak person and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So he's lying about a project that everybody knew about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: But the proposal was first mentioned in passing in a "New York Times" article published in February 2017 after President Trump was

elected. A former business associate of Mr. Trump's, who was working with Cohen, tells CNN that one idea considered for the proposed Moscow tower was

to give Vladimir Putin the $50 million penthouse as a, quote, "marketing ploy."

President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani says the President never heard of the idea and insists there was no contradiction between what Cohen has told

Mueller and what President Trump said to the special counsel's team in answers submitted last week to written questions.

[08:05:09]

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PHILLIP: Now, President Trump has in the past said that the Mueller investigation does make him look weak on the world stage and this is coming

at a time when he is poised to have several meetings with world leaders here at the G-20, very high stakes on a number of issues, including on

trade.

He has already canceled one meeting with Vladimir Putin that was scheduled for Saturday morning, a two-hour meeting that would have discussed a number

of very important topics. President Trump said it was because of the situation with Ukraine, but it comes at a time when he is under scrutiny

for his ties to Russia and also at a time when he could benefit potentially from changing the subject, Andrew.

STEVENS: That's it. We are going to be live in Russia a later in the show so make sure you stay with us for that. Abby Phillip, in Buenos Aires,

thanks very much. Let's stay with this story about Michael Cohen for the moment. For more on what is weighing on the President's mind, we go to CNN

legal analyst Michael Zeldin. Michael, thanks, so much for joining us.

Donald Trump also said to the cameras that, yes, I was doing business at the time because I didn't think I was going to win. And I was, quote,

"looking lightly as Russia." So he does say quite clearly that he was looking at Russia at some stage in the lead up to him securing the

nomination. So the question is, is that illegal?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: No, it's not. He is permitted to be a private businessman while he is running for office. And a lot of

candidates don't do that for ethical and appearance reasons, but strictly from a legal standpoint, he is allowed to have done that and, you know, he

seems not to have been concerned about the ethics or appearance issues. And it appears that he did, in fact, pursue this deal late until June 2016.

STEVENS: It's interesting because when he says I did not, "I don't have a deal with the Russians," that was in July. So there is a - it's

interesting on the timeline there.

ZELDIN: Right. That question - that question also was do you have a deal in present tense July with Russian oligarchs. So, you know, you could be

very clever in your answers, misleading, but truthful.

STEVENS: Very specific. But okay, so given the fact that he is saying that yes, he did, at the time, why would Michael Cohen lie about this

timeline?

ZELDIN: Well, because it was also said by the President -- the candidate at the time -- that he had stopped all financial dealings with Russia

before the Iowa caucuses, which would have been at the end of January. So Trump, on the campaign trail, was saying I am to longer pursuing anything

with Moscow from January 30th onward. But this deal was going forward, negotiations for this deal were going forward post January.

So there is that contradiction. So Michael Cohen, knowing that, in fact, these deals were still in the works post January, lied in order to protect

the President from his statement. It doesn't mean that the President knew the deals was ongoing. One can infer that he did. But there's nothing in

the Cohen plea that says that Trump actually knew that it was ongoing from January to June or that Trump asked Cohen to mislead Congress to cover this

up.

STEVENS: Now, this is likely a question that would have been raised by the Mueller investigation because Donald Trump has given a written submission

to the - to Mueller's team. If he does write that something which could be considered as perjury, that then becomes a key issue for Donald Trump,

correct?

ZELDIN: Absolutely. So the timeline is that Donald Trump submitted written answers to questions that Bob Mueller put forward to him. One of

the questions that has been reported is exactly on this Trump Tower meeting - well, the Trump Tower meeting is one thing, but on this Trump Tower deal.

And so the question is, whether or not Trump's answers are consistent with those of Michael Cohen. Rudy Giuliani, one of his lawyers, said that the

answers that Trump put forward in writing are consistent with what Cohen is saying, but it's hard to completely reconcile that since Cohen has said two

different things, one of which was a lie to Congress and now the recanting of that lie.

So we're not sure what it is that Trump was consistent with. But that remains to be seen once those answers become publicly known.

STEVEN: Indeed, there's certainly a lot of smoke around Donald Trump, more than usual.

ZELDIN: Yes.

STEVENS: Revolving around this whole issue.

ZELDIN: That's right.

STEVENS: Michael, thanks so much for joining us.

ZELDIN: Sure.

[08:10:03]

STEVENS: Okay. The Kremlin is responding to Michael Cohen's guilty plea and casting doubt on President Trump's explanation for canceling his

meeting with Vladimir Putin, suggesting it was because of a, quote, "US domestic political situation." CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now to talk

about that. Matthew, what was the Kremlin saying and also, what are they saying about the whole Michael admission?

MATTHEW CHANCE, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It's the Russian Foreign Ministry that have been reacting to the cancellation of this long-

planned meeting between President Trump and President Putin in Buenos Aires at the G-20 Summit saying that this is has got much more to do, they think,

with American domestic politics than with the specific reasons outlined in Donald Trump's tweets that he tweeted, as it were, and moments after taking

off, it seems, en route to the G-20.

The Kremlin and we spoke to them very quickly after that tweet dropped. They were just as surprised as we were that this meeting had been canceled.

They had been expecting and had been prepping for a two-hour face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G-20. But this is what Dmitry Peskov, who

is Vladimir Putin's press spokesperson, texted to me. "We're actually flying, trying to get the issue clarified. If this is the case," he said,

that the meeting has been canceled, "We'll have a couple extra hours for other useful meetings."

And so, Dmitry Peskov was attempting to go play down the significance of that cancellation, but I expect they will have been very disappointed that

that meeting will not take place because Vladimir Putin believes that there are lots of important issues for these two leaders to discuss despite all

the noise that surrounds the relationship and the sort of negative PR I suppose, you could call it, that occurs every time these two figures come

into physical contact with each other.

So, yes, some disappointment, but they say they're going to move on with their other engagements at the G-20 Summit. There was also some statement

issued by the Kremlin as well, when it emerged in those Mueller court findings and that Cohen testimony that in fact, during the negotiations for

that Trump Tower Moscow project, there was contact with the Kremlin between Cohen and members of Dmitry Peskov's sort of press office to try and sort

of coordinate that project with them. That's been in the public domain for a long time.

But what emerged in the Cohen testimony is, in fact, they did get a response back from the Kremlin. Previously the Kremlin denied that. Now

they've changed their story a little bit to acknowledge they did get back to Cohen on that issue.

STEVENS: Matthew, thank you very much. Matthew Chance in Moscow. Meanwhile, Moscow is criticizing Ukraine's decision to bar Russian men of

combat age from entering the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry says it highlight's Kiev's quote, "dysfunction." Ukrainian President, Petro

Poroshenko says the decision to ban Russian men aged 16 through to 60 is to prevent Moscow from forming private armies inside Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Ukraine declared Martial Law in parts of the country, including the Russian border after a naval confrontation at sea. Well,

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is up live for us in Mariupol, Ukraine where members of the navy have docked. How would you describe sort of the state of

tension in Ukraine at the moment, Nick, because they're clearly upping the ante against the Russians?

NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes. I mean, certainly, the Martial Law that came into effect on Wednesday certainly

really had one palpable actual measure that we've noticed and that hasn't even come into effect yet. That's Petro Poroshenko's announcement of

banning Russian citizens of a certain age from entering the country. That will only last we're told until the end of Martial Law that's supposed to

be about 28 days from now.

So, yes, certainly here, in Mariupol, a port city whose traffic is massively reduced that frankly has been under a sense of light siege really

over the past four years since this conflict began. Remember, it has been going on under a low intensity since 2015 when the Minsk accords were

originally agreed to. This city has been feeling the pressure economically and also socially over the past years or so. But here is what we saw at

the port just behind me yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PATON WALSH: The days are short, but feel long now for Ukraine's navy. Since Russian boats rammed them and arrested 24 sailors near the Kerch

Strait, Ukraine's long and ugly war with its neighbor is in the spotlight again. These naval ships in Mariupol have been confined to port.

[08:15:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our superiors stop our moving and patrolling because of the situation. And right now we are a little afraid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH: The fear here is this is just the start that Russia wants to control entry and movement in all the Sea of Azov so it can take more of

Ukraine's coast right down to Crimea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Russian coast guard ships take and control the civilian ship going into our ports and take some time to check all

documents, more than 20 ships are waiting from that site to proceed to our ports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH: Ukraine is talking tough and here parading the readiness of their attack helicopters, jets, (inaudible) knowing what they need most is

international solidarity. The commander of Ukraine's forces tells us there's one thing he would like to hear from President Trump.

I think the American leader, he says, must say to our enemy to stop his aggression, stop it now.

The port of Mariupol is itself pretty dead. Fewer and fewer ships came here before the Kerch clash because of the war.

Eerily quiet, isn't it? And that's really because Mariupol's economy has been in the doldrums for years now. This city almost constantly living

with the threat of a Russian invasion.

A tough industrial town made tougher when war saps away the industry. These park gardeners have a short lunch break and have raced for a tiny

cafe, some familiar with Russia, some fed up with their President. If we had a normal President, she says, would women work like this in this kind

of job?

I have relatives in Russia, adds another, we're Russian. I don't understand this conflict. A third adds, I have many Russian friends who

worry for us like we worry for them. Trump, I don't know why he supports Poroshenko, she says. And then another, she adds, good President.

Putin, a name that brought the odd smile among them. Strange, given how Moscow's pressure has killed thousands here and torn this once prosperous

town down. Yet it's a sign the war's agony is, in some places, decaying the fabric of Ukraine rather than renewing it in unity.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PATON WALSH: So if this episode does appear to be coming to an end after that Kerch Strait flare-up and the measures taken by Petro Poroshenko do

expire after 30 days or so, and it appears to sort of go back to the low intensity, what has changed? What has been gained here? Well, I think

Moscow know clearly that Donald Trump is not like Barack Obama about to lead the world in harshening sanctions against Russia if it continues to be

adventuristic in Ukraine to use a euphemism there and also to strategically, the Sea of Azov behind me, bitterly cold as it is runs from

Russia's mainland proper all the way down Ukraine's coast to the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014.

And there are many thinking here, certainly, Ukraine's navy that Russia simply wants to control that sea entirely and, therefore, have a very easy

access to that part of Ukraine's coast. And other strategists say, well, if you're looking to make a land bridge between Russia main and the Crimean

peninsula, it's that land that you need to frankly annex, as well. Currently Russia only gets the Crimean peninsula over a very expensive and

rickety bridge. So possibly, we might be seeing a little bit more of what Moscow's broader intentions are here, Andrew.

STEVENS: Nick, thank you. Nick Paton Walsh in Mariupol in Ukraine. The Marriott Hotel chain says that one of its guest reservation systems has

been hacked, potentially exposing the personal information of around 500 million - half a billion guests. Marriott says the hack affected hotels in

its Starwood group which include the St. Regis, Western Sheraton and the W Chains.

Marriott says it only discovered the hack last week, but the unauthorized access has been going on since 2014, two years before Marriott acquired the

Starwood group.

Still ahead here on "News Stream."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDITH EGER, SURVIVOR OF THE HOLOCAUST: I'm here, hopefully to tell young people that I count on them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: As new polling shows, many Europeans know little about the holocaust, survivors of Auschwitz keep their memories alive.

[08:20:00]

STEVENS: It should come as no surprise that growing ignorance about the holocaust mirrors the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. For survivors of

places like Auschwitz, it's unthinkable that the world's memory of those horrors is now fading.

CNN's Clarissa Ward recently spoke to a holocaust survivor. We do need to warn you that some of the images in this report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

EGER: It was hell. It was hell and yet I'm here. I'm here hopefully to tell young people that I count on them.

CLARISSA WARD, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Edie Eger was just 16 years old when she arrived in Auschwitz from her native Hungary with her

family in May 1944. Nazi physician Joseph Mengele was standing at the end of the train platform. Known as the "angel of death," he performed cruel

and often deadly medical experiments on his prisoners.

EGER: He pointed my mom to go to the left and I followed her. He came after me, grabbed me. I never forget those eyes. He said your mother is

just going to take a shower. You will see her soon.

WARD: Edie never saw her again. Both her parents were killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz along with more than one million Jews. Hundreds of

thousands of others were worked or starved to death. Eddie did see Dr. Mengele again.

EGER: He came to the barracks and he wanted to be entertained. So they volunteered me. And I ended up dancing. And closing my eyes and

pretending that the music was Tchaikovsky and I was dancing the "Romeo and Juliet" in the Budapest Opera House.

WARD: It was that powerful spirit and imagination that helped Edie to survive the unsurvivable. It would be eight months before Soviet troops

would liberate the death camp. Discovering horrors that remain etched on humanity's conscience 73 years later.

In many ways, it's the experiences and testimonies of those who survived that have kept the horrors of the holocaust alive and the fear now is that

as fewer and fewer of them remain, the memory will start to fade.

According to a CNN poll, it already is. More than a third of Europeans have either never heard of or know just a little about the holocaust.

[08:25:02]

WARD: The statistics for the younger generation are even more alarming. Twenty percent of young French adults have never even heard of the

holocaust. Michael Schudrich is the chief rabbi of Poland.

When you hear that younger people say they know very little or next to nothing about the holocaust, in Europe, which is where the holocaust was

perpetrated, how does that make you feel as a Jew?

MICHAEL SCHUDRICH, CHIEF RABBI OF POLAND: How does it make me feel? It makes me feel I have more work to do. It makes me feel that we need to be

more proactive. It makes me feel we need to work far more intensely with ministers of education.

WARD: The stakes are high as Europe grapples with the resurgence of anti- Semitism. But there are signs of hope. More than 40% of the respondents believe anti-Semitism is a growing problem in Europe. Half agree that

commemorating the holocaust helps to combat anti-Semitism. And nearly two- thirds say it can help ensure such atrocities never happen again.

Today, the ghosts of Auschwitz still linger, serving as a vital reminder to the more than two million tourists who visit every year.

SCHUDRICH: Visiting Auschwitz fundamentally transcends the intellectual. It confronts you face-to-face. You're not looking at a book. You're not

looking at a film. You're looking at a place that was built to kill human beings. You're looking at a place that's a factory of death. Four huge

gas chambers with crematorium, built for the only purpose to eliminate Jews from Europe.

When you stand there, don't try to understand it. Just have your eyes open, your heart open. Absorb the moment. Somehow if you go there and you

stand there and you experience it, maybe that will help every human being that visits to be one step, 20 steps away from ever doing something like

that again.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WARD: Now, our polling, Andrew, really was focused on Europe and the problem of anti-Semitism in Europe and the problem of the fading memory of

the holocaust in Europe. But it's important for our viewers across the world to understand this isn't only a problem in Europe and, in fact, a

survey that was done in the United States earlier this year showed one in ten Americans are not sure they know what the holocaust is. That goes up

to one in five when it comes to millennials. And perhaps most disturbingly, 50% of millennials in the US say they cannot name a single

concentration camp, Andrew.

STEVENS: Wow. That - as one of your interviewees says there, there is so much work that still needs to be done to keep the horrors of the holocaust

in people's memories. Clarissa, thank you for that. Clarissa Ward joining us.

And our coverage of anti-Semitism in Europe culminates with a special half hour report by Clarissa that's on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in London and that's

2:30 in the afternoon on the US East Coast. Still ahead, signed, sealed, but how much can he deliver? Donald Trump is in Argentina for the G-20

summit, but there are other things on his mind. More on a big weekend for the President, just ahead.

[08:30:00]

STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome back. You're watching "News Stream." More now on our top story, the US President is in Argentina

for the start of the G-20 Summit. It's already been a busy morning and in the past few minutes, Donald Trump has signed a new trade deal with Mexico

and Canada, but events back home continue to over shadow things. The President is said to be in a terrible mood after his former attorney

Michael Cohen pled guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump project. That's before a big meeting with China's President expected to be dominated

by trade war talks.

Mr. Trump says he canceled a meeting with Russia's President over the standoff with Ukraine. The Russians think otherwise. Our team in Buenos

Aires is covering every angle. CNN's Nic Robertson has the big picture and Matt Rivers joins us for more on that Xi-Trump meeting. But Nic, let's

start with you.

We said at the beginning of the show that Donald Trump was going to have to pull some fairly nimble moves over the next couple of days, plus he has the

whole cloud of Cohen over his head. Just outline for us, if you'd like, sort of what Donald Trump is facing and what the world leaders he's meeting

at the G-20, after all, this is the biggest meeting of global leaders. What are they looking for from Trump?

NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR, CNN: Well, President Trump, you know, as you say, comes here with a cloud hanging over him,

although he got a big ray of sunshine in that signing ceremony with the Mexican President, and the Canadian Prime Minister. That was a moment they

had been looking for even as recently as yesterday. It wasn't clear that Justin Trudeau was going to be there and he did make a dig of the issue.

He still has with the United States - we have aluminum and steel tariffs.

But yes, I mean, this is a big event with the leaders of the countries that contribute to 85% of the world's economy. These are the big hitters. And

expectation on the United States has always been high to sort of be a leader. But President Trump comes into this, you know, sort of as - a bit

of a sort of on the fringes when it comes to the mainstream view, which is multi-lateralism is the way forward and Donald Trump is seen as being as

being a disruptor in that environment.

He does as you say have that big meeting coming up with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But he will have other meetings on the margins here. He was

expected to meet with Angela Merkel, he is expected to meet later today with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He is expected also to have a

pull aside or some kind of meeting with the Turkish President Erdogan. One could expect in that conversation that Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist

killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to be part of that conversation, and of course, on the stage here, with everyone is the Crown Prince of

Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, Theresa May. The British Prime Minister has announced that she will meet with him. He met yesterday with the

Indian Prime Minister. No mention of Khashoggi and the write up from that meeting. But all about Saudi investment into India.

So there is a lot of different elements here, but, again, the world community typically looks towards the US President to pull things together.

And as you say, he arrives here distracted by what's happening in the United States. Indeed as one of his tweets this morning was, again, to

reference that special counsel investigation into him calling it a witch hunt. We've heard him say that before. That's clearly front and center on

his mind despite the big issues here.

STEVENS: Absolutely. Nic, thank you very much for that. Let's turn to Matt Rivers now. Matt, you usually can be found in Beijing. You're now in

Buenos Aires following this Xi-Trump meeting.

[08:35:04]

STEVENS: I'm curious, the relations between China and the US get ever worse over trade, but Donald Trump has been very careful to continue to

praise Xi Jinping himself. To say that he is a strong leader and a good man. So given the fact that they are now meeting and having a personal

meeting, is there any expectation that there could be some sort of breakthrough on the trade war?

MATT RIVERS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I don't know if breakthrough would be an expectation here. I mean, I don't know any sort of deal that might be

reached would have some sort of substantive quality to it. I think that most people we've spoken to, most analysts, most experts are saying, look,

if you can expect any sort of deal to come out of this, it would be more the broad strokes of a deal, perhaps just putting tariffs on hold, the

United States saying, okay, we won't increase the rates on our current tariffs, we won't put new tariffs in place and we recommit ourselves to

negotiating.

But that's kind of the best case scenario if you're not in favor of this trade war. If you don't think it's a good thing for the global economy. I

think that's basically what you're hoping for out of this meeting. There is a very real possibility, though, Andrew, that there is nothing that is

accomplished here at the G-20 that President Trump goes in. He doesn't like what President Xi puts on the table and he walks out of there without

a deal.

I think that's just as much of a possibility as any sort of deal being struck is and really, that's just what it comes down to and it's amazing

that you have this incredibly important complicated global economic relationship between the world's two largest economies and it's all

seemingly at least for the foreseeable future, that relationship is going to come down to one meeting here in Argentina. We've been doing live shots

about trade for years now between the US and China during the Trump presidency and yet it all really feels like it's culminating on Saturday

evening in South America.

It's pretty remarkable and we are all going to be waiting to see what comes out of it. Trump says he's still open to a deal, but he says he needs

China to do certain things, make really substantive structural economic reforms and it's not clear the Chinese are ready to do that.

STEVENS: This is the sort of thing Trump likes, isn't it? That he likes to be the center of attention and keep the world in this case, guessing.

Matt, thank you very much for that analysis. Matt Rivers and Nic Robertson, both joining us from Buenos Aires and make sure you stay with

CNN, we'll continue to cover this story minutely over the next few hours.

Now, a scientist claimed that he edited the genes of babies has prompted outcry, investigations and yet more questions. Just ahead, prominent

researchers explain why humanity has reached a critical moment.

School children in Australia took to the streets to demand the government to act urgently on climate change. At least 15,000 children skipped school

across the country on Friday in defiance of their Prime Minister, protests taking place in dozens of locations including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

and Perth - the four big cities. Students followed the footsteps of a Swedish student who staged her own rally that started the strike for

climate action in September. Similar strikes also took place in Canberra and Hobart earlier in the week.

Now, this week's controversy over a Chinese scientist claim that he edited the genes of babies has opened a whole new set of questions.

[08:40:10]

STEVENS: Some say with the advancements in DNA research, an experiment like this was inevitable. Others say it's still not too late for

governments and the scientific community to bring us back from the point of no return. Here is Alexandra Fields.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELDS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: This is the doctor who changed the future of the human race and let the world know on YouTube. He Jiankui

stunned the scientific community with the claim he pushed the boundary no one else had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A line has been crossed that should not have been crossed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's disturbing. It's inappropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is huge.

FIELDS: He says he genetically edited human embryos not just for research but for implantation leading to the world's first births of genetically

altered humans, baby girls born in China from embryos designed to be resistant to HIV.

HE: For this specific case, I feel - I feel proud, actually.

FIELDS: The tool used by He called CRISPR is found in labs around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It gives us a precise way of cutting the gene or putting a little piece of gene in.

FIELDS: It's often used by researchers trying to cure incurable diseases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The method itself is very easy. You can use it everywhere and use it now.

FIELDS: Leaders in the field of gene editing have collectively agreed it's too early to implant edited embryos in humans because of the risks, the

unknowns and the ethical questions about altering humankind.

William Hurlbut is a leading American bioethicist who teaches at Stanford University. In the months before the news broke, Dr. He consulted with

him.

WILLIAM HURLBUT, AMERICAN BIOETHICIST: Every time we met together, we would talk about the seriousness of the issues. And in a sort of stepwise

way, what you had to do to make sure that it was done right. But when I heard that there were live born children from it, I thought, "Oh, my gosh,

he just jumped ahead."

FIELDS: Hurlbut knew nothing of the plan to implant edited human embryos. Dr. He studied at Stanford as a post doctoral fellow where he worked with

leading researchers. Hurlbut describes him as smart, but perhaps too trusting of his own wisdom.

HURBLUT: He's young, he's inexperienced. He's from a small, rural community in China.

FIELDS: He's research has been shut down by Chinese authorities. It's also raised questions about whether there will be a rash of new regulations

to stymie scientific development or if scientists can regulate themselves.

VICTOR DZAU, PRESIDENT, US NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE: We all want to be first, right? I mean, this is where you really feel that you're making a

huge difference and you're getting recognition. But I think in this particular case, the outcry from the community is so huge that I think it

will slow things down.

FIELDS: He's work has already stoked fears about the future, what it could look like, how soon it could come, whether it includes designer babies and

if a tool found in labs around the world could one day make them. Alexandra Fields, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

STEVENS: And that is "News Stream" I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Alex Thomas is just ahead.

[WORLD SPORT]

END