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U.S. Releases Trafficking in Persons Report; Syrian Children's Author Shares Her Story; White House Warns Syria. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired June 27, 2017 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:09:50] ROBYN CURNOW, HOST: There you have the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Ivanka Trump there speaking in Washington at this

ceremony. They have been laying out the findings of the U.S. government's annual report on human trafficking.

And interestingly, it doesn't look very favorably on China. China has been singled out. They have been ground -- downgraded to the third tier. Now,

this basically says that China doesn't mean the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.

Well, our Lynda Kinkade is watching this ceremony and Rex Tillerson when he made his remarks, certainly singled out China there?

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is certainly they key finding from this report, the fact that China has been

downgraded, now amongst the worst offenders for human trafficking alongside the likes of North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

Now, it specifically said in the report that China is accused of not doing enough to curb state sponsored forced labor. Now, the report concluded

that China didn't meet the minimum standards for fighting human trafficking. It went on to say that it's not making significant efforts to

do so and there are serious ramifications for that. If you are on that third tier you can be held back from getting U.S. foreign aid, weapons, or

training.

Now, there were a number of other countries that were downgraded. I believe we have a graphic showing some of those countries.

It also includes China, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Mali.

Now, Rex Tillerson spoke a short time ago about the reasons for downgrading China. Just take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: China was downgraded to tier three status in this year's report, in part because it has not taken serious

steps and its own complicity in trafficking, including forced laborers from North Korea that are located in China.

American consumers and businesses must also recognize they may have an unwitting connection to human trafficking. Supply chains creating many

products that Americans enjoy may be utilizing forced labor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Now as you saw, Robyn, Ivanka Trump also at the event, a key adviser to President Trump. And she says this issue is a key policy that

she wants to work on. Earlier this year, she met with human trafficking survivors in Rome. She also held a roundtable with President Trump at the

White House where she met with Human Trafficking experts to discuss strategy. And today, she spoke about why it's personal to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: As a mother, this is much more than a policy priority, it is a clarion call to action in defense of the

vulnerable, the abused, and the exploited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: So, Robyn, they have Ivanka Trump speaking there.

Now, at the moment the ceremony is honoring people that have done a lot to help curb human trafficking. They -- Ivanka Trump mentioned a police

officer that has identified over 300 children who were victims of human trafficking, and also a judge in their home country, they introduced

legislation to tackle human trafficking -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK, thanks so much there from the State Department. Lynda Kinkade.

And let's go straight now to Beijing for Chinese reaction.

I mean, what will be the Chinese reaction to this diplomatic announcement from the State Department?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly not the first time that China has faced criticism about human trafficking, and

it's not the first time, frankly, that they face specific criticism about forced labor from North Korea within the country. And every time China

gets this kind of criticism they maintain their strict talking points, which is that China does everything possible to fight human trafficking,

that they don't engage in North Korean forced labor and that that is on display for all the world to see.

Now, I don't think most people buy that. China is very opaque when it comes to being transparent about the way it fights human trafficking. And

in this report from the United States, they say that even though China does report some things when it comes to human trafficking, prosecutions and the

like, they don't report everything. And they label certain cases differently that don't line up with the definition of international human

trafficking under international law. So, there's a lot of way that China exploits loopholes according to the United States.

But, specifically what you heard there from the secretary of state talking about forced North Korean labor in China, that has been a criticism of

China for a long time now. You go up to a city like Dandong, which is a big port city in the northeast part of China right on the border with North

Korea, there's entire factories that we've seen firsthand that are filled only with North Korean workers. They go to the factory. They either live

on site at the factory and never leave, or they -- when they leave the facility we've seen them get on a bus and drive somewhere, get off, get

into a dormitory and stay there.

And so there's a lot of suspicion that those people are not there at their own will. And how much oversight is happening at that factory?

And furthermore, just around the corner from where our bureau is located here in Beijing, there is a restaurant operated by the North Korean

government. North Korean restaurants are quite popular here in China. And there's a large suspicion that some of the people that work in those

restaurants, if not all of them, could be forced laborers.

A lot of the payment, according to the United Nations and the United States, the payment that those workers receive are -- is at least in part

sent back to the North Korean government. So that is a criticism that has been mounted by previous administrations and it appears that under the

Trump administration, given that they're now being lowered to tier three status, that appears to be a major reason why they're doing so, that

criticism will continue under the Trump administration.

CURNOW: Yeah certainly, Rex Tillerson basically saying that China was downgraded in part because it had not taken serious steps to address

trafficking, including disrupting networks that fund the North Korean regime.

For that perspective there from Beijing, Matt Rivers thanks so much.

OK, let's turn now to an ominous warning from the White House. It says Syria maybe plotting another chemical weapons attack that could result in

the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children. And the White House says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will pay a heavy price if he

carries out a second deadly attack on his people.

On April 4 -- an April 4 attack on a town in Idlib Province killed 89 people. And international inspectors said they found evidence of Sarin

gas, or a similar substance was used in that strike.

The U.S. retaliated with a cruise missile strike on a Syrian airbase.

Well, we're getting strong reaction from the Kremlin on this. Let's go straight to our Matthew Chance in Moscow. Hi, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn. That's right. The Kremlin have denounced the suggestion that the United States may be

preparing a strike against Syria were it to carry out another chemical weapons attack. They've said that is unacceptable.

I think we have to bear in mind, of course, that even though the Russians say they are categorically against any kind of use of chemical weapons,

they are the strongest military and political allies of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. They provide military assistance, of course, in the

form of airstrikes, mainly, to the Syrian government on the battlefield in that country. And they provide diplomatic cover as well. And there's very

little sign from this latest statement that that situation, that stance by the Kremlin by four square, its Syrian ally is going to change.

What is, though, potentially changing is the risk that the United States and Russia could come into conflict, direct confrontation, in the Syrian

war zone. They've kind of obviously been studiously avoiding that, but these kinds of comments, obviously raise the stakes, draw the United States

potentially further into a confrontation inside Syria. You mentioned the U.S. airstrikes that took place in April earlier this year after what they

say was an alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack in Idlib province that killed more than 80 people.

The Trump administration carried out cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase. That was condemned not just by the Syrians, but by the Russians

as well.

Earlier this month, the Russians (sic) shot a Syrian war plane out of the skies. And so, if we are witnessing a more aggressive, more assertive, if

you like, U.S. policy in Syria. That raises the chances, as I say, of a direct confrontation between Moscow and the United States in that Syrian

war zone.

CURNOW: OK, thank you so much for that perspective and analysis there. Matthew Chance, as always, appreciate it.

We're bringing you Connect the World from CNN's headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Robyn Curnow, thanks so much for joining us. Up next, we look

at how web pages like this just cost Google billions of dollars. The details next.

Also, cyber attacks are causing major problems for some global companies right now. The details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:51] CURNOW: You're watching CNN. And this is Connect the World with me, Robyn Curnow, welcome back.

And companies across Europe are under cyber attack. Russian-owned gas and oil company Rosneft tweeted that their servers were under a, quote,

"massive hacking attack. The international shipping giant Maersk also reported being hit.

Well, CNN Money's Europe editor Nina Dos Santos is in London with more on this. What more do we know, Nina? Hi, there.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Hi there, Robyn.

Well, so far what we know is that at least 80 companies around the world, according to cyber security experts have been affected by this particular

hack. As you were saying there before, Rosneft describing it as quote, unquote, a massive attack. They were saying, the Russian oil giant, that

they have backup systems in place, but they have, of course, reported this cyber attack to local authorities in Russia.

Ukraine seems to have been the country that has borne the brunt of this, thus far. We've seen telecommunications outfits over there, financial

companies in particular, the national bank, as well as other firms and government ministries having been hit, also the metro system in Kiev as

well as the airport there seems to have been affected, too.

And there are signs, as you are pointing out, before, that this cyber attack is spreading internationally as well, with potentially rather

serious consequences, not just the largest privately-owned shipping company anywhere in the world, Maersk of Denmark saying that it has been

infiltrated.

But this time in the last hour we've had the world's biggest advertising company, WPP, the company that employs over 100,000 people here, says that

it has been hit by this cyber attack as well.

So, certainly something that seems to be spreading apace this afternoon -- Robyn.

CURNOW: So, it seems to be spreading quite quickly. Do we know who could be behind it?

DOS SANTOS: Well, if you listen to a group of cyber security experts called Group IB, they say based in Russia that what we're talking about

here is a virus called the petia (ph) virus, that bears a lot of hallmarks to another variant of this virus, a ransomware virus that by the way

encrypts your data a bit like the Wannacry virus we saw spreading around the world with devastating consequences on the national health system here

in the UK, a month or so ago. What this does is it encrypts your files and asks for a ransom of this time 300 BitCoin to get back access to your data.

They say they've seen a variant of this one before called petaware (ph) viruses before. And that it was actually disseminated by a criminal gang

called Cobalt. This is according, again, to Group IB. They say that Cobalt is a gang of cyber criminals that has had some success in the past

in countries like Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Romania, but even as far as Armenia on the other side of the planet and in Asia trying to target bank

accounts, in particular largescale financial institutions to disable what's called the SWIFT network of bank money transfers.

So, it may well, they believe, be linked to that, at least if they're looking at the hallmarks of this particular virus.

What's really worrying about this one is that they also say, according to Group IB, that there is at the moment no specific way that they have found

of stopping this. And that can be a real concern, as obviously America gets underway with its trading day, Asia starting to shut down now, the UK

is still in the middle of the business day and eastern Europe is shutting down.

There is no off switch they can find if this petia (ph) virus is linked to the one that they've seen before -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. Thanks so much. Keeping an eye on this developing story for us. Nina Dos Santos there in London.

And most of us use Google to look for all kinds of stuff pretty much all the time. Well, now the tech giant may have to do a little searching of

its own to find $2.7 billion all to pay the largest fine, the European Union has ever, ever handed out, because they say Google changed search

results like these to look after itself, not people like you and me. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGRETHE VESTAGER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR COMPETITION: Google has abused its market dominance in its search engine by promoting its own shopping

comparison service in its search results and demoting its competitors.

What Google has done is illegal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:25:07] CURNOW: Let's bring in CNN's Isa Soares who is in London for us, home to Google's largest office in Europe.

Pretty damning words there, also a huge fine.

Just lay out for us what Google is accused of doing?

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really comes down to one tiny box that is giving Google huge headaches today, Robyn. And it's -- if

we bring up just an example you should use very quickly there what we were talking about. And then that is really about the shopping, is shopping

items.

So, if you look for shoes online like we have done, you see there on the right side of your screen a selection of shoes that has been picked by

Google.

And the reason they're there is because on the right side of your screen you will see that says promoted. So, basically companies are paying Google

to hae that space on that website.

And that basically what the EU is saying is, it basically is artificially and illegally promoting its own comparison service in those searches, and

in doing so it is demoting other companies to the likes of the fourth page of Google.

So, what is interesting from what we heard from Margrethe Vestager there is that she said if you're in the top 10 of those searches, Robyn, you'll get

95 percent of clicks. So, the chances of actually your product being bought is very high.

But if you're not in that 10 -- top 10, then really your chance is very limited. So, there is no level playing field in the market.

So, she is then asking for Google to pay up that huge amount, 2.7, and really change its modus operandi and change and reform the way it operates.

Now, this is going to be a huge challenge for Google, because this is how Google makes its money, and this is their bread and butter. And they've

got 90 days to comply, Robyn, and if they don't comply, then they'll have - - they'll be fined an extra 5 percent from their revenue daily. And that basically works out around $14 million a day.

So, a hefty, could be an increasingly hefty fine, but I suspect that Google, perhaps, will go back to them. There will be a lot of back and

forth and might be talking about this for several years to come.

And Google has come back and basically said they are looking at this European Commission fine and what they've concluded, and this is what

Google had to say if we can bring up their statement, "we respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today. We will review the

commission's decision in detail as we consider, it says, an appeal. And we look forward to continuing to make our case.

And what is fascinating looking at this, and from Google's standpoint, really, Robyn here is that they're saying that the likes of Amazon, the

likes of eBay, they have more power in trying to control what consumers buy and how consumers shop and not just Google.

So, a lot of finger pointing today, but Google really getting a huge slap on the wrist from the European Commission today.

CURNOW: Yeah, I mean, that's what I was going to say to you. I mean, in many ways Google has been singled out here, targeted with this today, but

what other broader implications for the industry?

DOS SANTOS: Well, interestingly, you know, besides this -- what we've seen today from Google, the European Commission also has two other cases they

are reviewing relating to Google, might I add, and that is their ad sensors, and that basically means that if you go anywhere on Google you'll

see ads everywhere. If you look for a holiday, say, in Paris that Google will always promote itself first. So, that is another aspect of the

investigation they're carrying out. And also Android, that Google has created the Android platform to give itself more opportunities and more

revenue than anyone else.

Interesting, given that Europe controls 90 percent of the European search market, Robyn.

But what this means is how is it going -- how is Google going to have to reform? How is Google going to comply? Will there have to be an

independent monitor to actually keep the tabs on Google?

I spoke to a vestiger (ph), European Commission competition in the last half hour or so for an interview, for Quest Means Business, and she said,

yes, there will be an independent monitor keeping tabs on Google. And that really probably sets a precedent and really will probably make many huge

U.S. tech companies really shake at the knees at that very thought.

CURNOW: Yeah, so it's not over yet, Isa. Thanks so much for that report there from London.

OK, the latest world headlines just ahead. Plus, a new poll is asking the world what it thinks of U.S. President Donald Trump. And he might not like

the answer. We'll give you the stats. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[11:33:27] CURNOW: And the U.S. is pushing for a diplomatic solution on Qatar as the tiny Gulf nation faces down a list of demands to end the

embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies. Qatar's foreign minister is set to meet U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the next few hours.

It comes after a top U.S. lawmaker said he'll block foreign military sales to Gulf nations, including $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, until

they can resolve their dispute with Qatar.

Well, let's dig a little deeper on this. I'm joined now from Doha by Noha Aboueldahab. She's a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.

So, what do you think Qatar wants from this meeting with the Americans?

NOHA ABOUELDAHAB, BROOKINGS DOHA CENTER: Well, you'll see that -- we'll probably see the country's foreign minister pushing for a sort of a more

consistent position coming from the U.S.

As we've seen from the beginning of this diplomatic crisis, there have been some contradictions between Tillerson's statements and Trump. And so I

would imagine that the foreign minister will be pushing for sort of more consistency there and more sort of aligned position from the U.S. And I

think they will also be emphasizing -- well, it's difficult to say at this point. I mean, I think judging by -- judging by some of the developments

in the last day or two, and in particular the senator's statements that the arms sales may be halted if the crisis doesn't resolve quickly. We may be

seeing sort of more stronger statements coming from the U.S.

But I also think that the foreign -- during the foreign minister's visit, he will sort of try to lay this terrorism question to rest by pointing to

some of the steps that Qatar has been taking, such as the hiring of John Ashcroft's law firm to audit Qatar's counterterrorism efforts and so on.

[11:35:26] CURNOW: And, indeed, do they have any leverage in the fact that they host a U.S. military base there? And what kind of argument can they

make in defense of that, and the impact on, you know, the war in Syria and the fight against ISIS, for example?

ABOUELDAHAB: Yeah, well, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's not for -- you konw, there's a reason that the removal of the U.S. base was not on the

list of their 10 demands, because of the sort of strong cooperations, from a military cooperation that Qatar has had with the U.S. As you mentioned,

you know, it's a very sort of a highly strategic U.S. military base in the region and, you know, the U.S. has sold F-15 fighter jets to Qatar just in

the last week or two, and so the military cooperation is there to stay.

CURNOW: And what does this mean about Qatar and its relationship with Iran? I mean, we've seen the White House firing shots at Russia and Iran

over Syria. I mean, is this broadly more of a regional dispute? And what does Qatar need to do?

ABOUELDAHAB: Well, I mean, I think that the Iran factor has -- which has always really been there, I think that the Saudi-Emirati alliance has sort

of banked on the U.S. concerns regarding Iran, especially with the current Trump administration to sort of push forward their agenda.

I mean, it's -- you know, it's a sort of balance of power, geopolitical balance of power issue. And, you know, Qatar has made it very clear that

it's relations with Iran sort of extend only so far as, you know, some -- they share the gas field and so on. And so I think that -- you know,

there's an argument to be made there from the Qatari side.

CURNOW: In many ways, people argue that these demands that were placed on Qatar that they were set up to fail in many ways, that they would -- they

wouldn't actually make those demands.

What happens next now? I mean, what is the process and where does this go politically?

ABOUELDAHAB: Well, this current visit with the foreign minister is absolutely key. We -- I think that given that from the U.S. side,

obviously it's important that the GCC holds together for the purposes of counterterrrorism efforts and for containing Iran as we were just

discussing.

And so I think that there will be some more serious efforts to deescalate the crisis, and, you know, this -- the Senator's remarks about halting the

arms sales are sort of, you know, if that -- if they were to follow through on that, that would hit Saudi Arabia where it hurts the most. I mean, the

Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is really the architect of the war in Yemen. And so I think that we will probably be seeing sort of more serious

efforts to deescalate the crisis.

CURNOW: Noha Aboueldahab, thank you very much coming to us there from Doha.

Well, confidence in the U.S. has plummeted around the world since the Trump presidency began, that's according to a new Pew report. And as you can see

here, faith in the U.S. regarding global affairs has fallen dramatically since the Obama administration, with major allies like France, the UK,

Germany seeing public opinion of America drop by more than 50 percent. Israel and Russia have a more positive view of the United States under

Trump, but it's important to say this is a survey of just 37 countries, many that have complicated relationships with the U.S. are not on the

polls, Gulf states like Saudi Arabia don't appear, neither does China.

So, to discuss how this drop in public opinion could affect American influence on the global stage, I'm joined by the president of the Eurasia

Group Ian Bremmer who is in New York.

Is this all about soft power? What are the long-term consequences of people not being so crazy about the Trump administration around the world?

IAN BREMMER, EURASIA GROUP: Well, first of all you see how quickly these numbers have changed. I mean, you have a bunch of European countries,

Sweden, for example, going from like 90 percent to 15 just over the course of a few months. So, that would tell you that with another president, or

potentially if Trump was able to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of all of those unhappy Swedes that that could change very quickly in the other

direction. So, it's clearly very volatile.

Other point is that you've got some countries out there that, you know, Canada may not be happy with the United States right now. The Pew poll

tells you they're not. But you know what they're not moving. The Canadians are fundamentally, economically, socially, politically security

wise tied to the United States, vastly more than any other country, the same is true with Mexico, the same is true with Japan for security because

of their concerns about China.

But if you take those two things apart, recognize that overall the fact is that an America first policy and a President Trump who is really very

incapable of thinking about or dealing with foreign policy personally, is going to undermine America's ability to get other countries to do what we

want. And that's happening in a world where China is absolutely pouring a lot of money into precisely that, so are some other countries, too.

So, it doesn't bode well.

CURNOW: And this is specifically about this president, his personality. I mean, the poll kind of went into attitudes towards him as a man.

BREMMER: Some of it is about him. I think we should recognize that there were a lot of countries that were getting more worried about how much they

could count on the United States as an ally well before Trump became president.

President Duterte in the Philippines decided that China was his country's future under Obama before Trump even got the nomination. The United

Kingdom and its special relationship was undermined significantly with the U.S. in part by them deciding they wanted to join the Asian infrastructure

investment bank, led by China. The U.S. said no. They voted for Brexit. That undermines the Transatlantic relationship.

But Trump himself, who is, you know, telling all of these countries you're not paying enough, you're not doing enough. I don't care about shared

values. The fact that he likes strongmen leaders. And it has an orientation towards more authoritarianism, you know, so clearly more coal

and the Germans don't like that. Putin and the Russians actually do.

Those things play. but we'd be mistaking ourselves to believe that this is all about the election of the American president. Some of these trends

were going to be happening no matter who the Americans voted for back last November.

CURNOW: I mean, you make an important point there. The reverse question is for a president who is often looking for a pat on the back or for some sort

of public approval, do you think he cares about this poll?

BREMMER: I tell you, I think that his supporters don't care. I think it would have been great for Pew to do a poll right next to this one asking

how many people that voted for Trump give a god damn what the Prew research poll has to say about the way other people around the world feel about the

United States or feel about the president they just elected.

So, Trump himself is incredibly sensitive to the way he is perceived. As you know, he is postponed indefinitely his state meeting, visit to the UK

because he's so concerned about the fact that he's not popular there and there's going to be demonstrations.

So, he actually cares a lot. But his message, his campaign, and his base, his political base in the United States really is much more oriented to --

that's right, of course they're not going to like it. We need a president who talks tough and who is going to force these guys to do what we want.

And of course they're not going to like it. They liked it when soft Obama was giving away the store. Of course they were friendly. He was born in

Kenya. He's not even American. Of course they're going to like him.

So, you can see how this narrative plays out in a way that doesn't really do much damage to Trump among those that are his solid supporters in the

United States.

CURNOW: And they're the voters. Thanks so much, Ian Breemer. As always, thanks for joining us here on CNN.

BREMMER: My pleasure.

CURNOW: OK. Next, we'll delve into the State Department's annual report on human trafficking and examine how it might impact U.S. relations with some

major powers. That as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:54] CURNOW: You're watching CNN. And this is Connect the World with me, Robyn Curnow. Welcome back. Let's get back to our top story: the

release of the United States's annual report on human trafficking. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson introduced the report. China is said --

is to be downgraded to the third tier, the lowest level. And while he had strong words for China, he said he was hopeful that human trafficking can

be eradicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON: Human trafficking is as old as human kind, regrettably. It's been with us for centuries and centuries. But in the expression of

this act as I read that one line to you, it is our hope that the 21st Century will be the last century of human trafficking, and that's what we

are all committed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Hopeful words there from Rex Tillerson. Well, let's go straight back to the State Department where our Lynda Kinkade is standing by with

the ambassador who just introduced the report -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Hi, Robyn. That's right. I am here with Ambassador Susan... who oversees the department, which looks at human trafficking. And they did

hand down the report just a short time ago. China, of course, as you mentioned, the key finding amongst the worst offenders for human

trafficking now. A massive downgrade. Just explain why, after being on this watch list for several years, why were they downgraded?

SUSAN COPPEDGE, U.S. AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE: So, any country that moves down to tier three is not engaging in significant efforts to combat human

trafficking. And there are variety of reasons that countries can do that, and China certainly this year was not increasing its efforts to combat

trafficking.

KINKADE: Now, Secretary Tillerson did announce a new initiative to tackle human trafficking. Explain what that is and where the funding will come

from?

COPPEDGE: So, the U.S. congress created a -- set aside $25 million for what the State Department is calling the program to end modern slavery.

And the idea is to create a global fund, similar to the fund that combated AIDS and to have other countries and other donors, citizens, individuals,

businesses contribute to this global fund to fight modern slavery.

Modern slavery is a worldwide phenomenon. And we can't tackle it with just U.S. dollars. We need dollars and commitment from other countries, other

businesses and other organizations.

KINKADE: Now, President Trump has spoken pretty tough on ending human traffickin, saying this is a key priority for the Trump administration.

But we do know from the budget papers that there could be a 30 percent cut to the State Department.

That doesn't seem to add up. How will the State Department operate to tackle this issue with cuts of that amount?

COPPEDGE: The State Department budget is not finalized yet. And we don't know how it affects various departments. My office is very committed to

continuing with whatever resources we have to fight modern slavery.

KINKADE: There are always concerns about the integrity of a report when it's linked to the U.S. government, you're ranking other countries and

whether there could be a conflict of interest. We saw in 2015 that Cuba was upgrade the same years that the U.S. embassy opened in Havana. How do

you ensure the integrity of the report.

COPPEDGE: So, the report is created on U.S. law. And U.S. law clearly sets out four minimum standards that we are to evaluate, 12 (inaudible)

come under that fourth standard. And those minimum standards look at things like is the law sufficient, are punishments sufficient when someone

is convicted. We look at the number of convictions in a country. We look at the number of victims identified and what services they are provided.

So, there are really some concrete and specific things we are looking at, and we are very grateful to foreign governments for sharing that

information with us.

In additoin to getting statistical information from governments, we engage with non-governmental organizations. We read media coverage. We look at

all the different reports on what is going on in a country, and we assess those country's efforts under these minimum standards. It's a very

analytical process, and there is no room for political considerations.

KINKADE: Now, looking at China, could -- give us a sense of whether China was aware that it was going to be downgraded before this report was handed

down, and if so, what reaction they had.

COPPEDGE: So, as a courtesy to all foreign governments, our embassies in those countries alert the government the day before that the TIP report is

coming out and what the country's ranking will be. And many countries value a good ranking and look for a good ranking so they can demonstrate to

the world and to their own citizens that they are serious about combating trafficking.

Some nations, then, are frustrated when they are downgraded. But if you look at the narrative for each country, there are recommendations as to

what each country can do to improve its track record with respect to human trafficking.

KINKADE: Ambassador Susan Coppedge, great to have you with us. Thanks so much for your time today.

COPPEDGE: Thank you.

KINKADE: All right, Robyn, well here at the State Department we'll continue to follow this -- with the release of this report and the findings

as the day goes on. Back to you.

CURNOW: Thanks so much, Lynda, appreciate it.

Moving on here on CNN, we are also reporting on the queen who is getting a big pay rise. We'll explain that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back.

And even though her face is on the money, she still comes up short some times. But not for long, the queen is getting a really big pay raise, an

extra $8 million or so this year, taking her total income to more than $100 million bucks a year. Not bad. But remember, she's 91 and has been

working tirelessly nearly her whole life.

Here she is pitching back in the Second World War. And to top it off, that $100 million breaks down to just about 80 centers a dollar for every person

in the UK.

Plus, all that extra cash comes with a small catch. It all has to do -- and goes up to fixing up the queen's main home, Buckingham Palace.

And turning now to a whole generation of Syrian children who know nothing of their homeland, but civil war. You're about the meet Nadine Kaadan.

She is a children's author and illustrator who left Damascus when the conflict broke out. Now, she works with Syrian refugee children to try and

explain and to celebrate the beauty of their country before the war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADINE KAADAN, SYRIAN AUTHOR: If you look at my work before the war, before the conflict in Syria, it was very dreamy, inspired by the ancient

architecture of Damascus, the storytelling culture that's going on in the city.

But when the conflict started, there was an extreme shock in my personality that reflected in the illustration. And suddenly even the palette of my

colors changed. So, when I wrote my book Hadan (ph), Tomorrow, I didn't have an idea of what is the reaction of these children going to be. So,

the story is about a little boy who lives in Syria and suddenly his life is changing. He doesn't go to this school. He doesn't go to the park.

And so he realized that there is a war in the city, there is a conflict. And it's not safe anymore.

And when I read the story, many of the kids want to say - to tell me their own story, or to draw their own story.

Last year, I read this in Lebanon for Syrian kids and I told them let's draw our happy place. Nobody drew Syria. I asked them why don't you

want to draw home? Why don't you want to do Syria? And they said because we don't remember it.

These kids are 7 or 8-years-old, all they knew in their lives is being displaced. That's such a sad reality.

When I read it in Sweden, I remember one of the moms cried. Although it's a children's book, and it's not that sad -- it has a happy ending, and it

has cute moments to make kids laugh -- but she said that's exactly what happened to us. We get stuck in the house, because all I wanted to do is

take my children to the park to play and they couldn't and they were stuck for a long time in the house.

The Jasmine Sneeze is a fun story about a cat who lives in Damascus who hates Jasmine, but what can he do in the city of Jasmine? So, when I read

the story, especially with Syrian kids in the UK or in Europe, I find them so happy, because suddenly Syria is not only war and conflict, Syria is

culture and art and jasmine and grumpy cats and naughty kids playing in the streets.

I find it really beautiful that actually a story can remind kids that don't let conflict color who you are, and don't let conflict color an entire

culture and an entire population that comes from an enormous and beautiful heritage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:56:04] CURNOW: The power there of words and pictures.

Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Robyn Curnow. That was Connect the World.

END