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Connect the World

Trump And Abe Play Golf, Watch Sumo Match During State Visit; One Killed In 8.0 Magnitude Quake In Peru; Conservative Contenders Line Up To Succeed U.K. P.M. Theresa May; Footballer To Miss Key Game Over Safety Fears; Missing Woman Found In Hawaii Forest After Two Weeks; The Dangers Of Reaching Mount Everest Summit. Aired 11-12p ET

Aired May 26, 2019 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00] RICK FOLBAUM, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: U.S. President Donald Trump in Japan enjoying some sumo, golf, and barbeque, but is he able to

forget his troubles at home. We'll have a live report from Tokyo. Plus, it's been a deadly season on the world's highest mountain. Could this

human traffic jam be making the trek more dangerous? I'll speak with a climber at an Everest base camp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last 17 days of my life has been the toughest. It did come down to life and death and I had to choose and I choose life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOLBAUM: A dramatic rescue after spending more than two weeks in the woods. We'll have the latest on her incredible story. Hello and welcome

to connect the world. I'm Rick Folbaum at CNN Center in today for Becky Anderson.

The first full day of U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to Japan is now officially in the books and it was marked by quite a lot of together

time with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two began with a morning round of golf and then it was off to ringside seats for a sumo wrestling

tournament. Mr. Trump presenting a huge trophy, the Presidents Cup to the winner. And then they finished with a BBQ dinner with their wives.

The highly choreographed day was thrown for a loop though before it even began with Mr. Trump tweeting "North Korea fired off some small weapons

which disturb some of my people and others but not me." But it was all smiles for the two leaders with no sign of tensions on display especially

not in that selfie.

Boris Sanchez is traveling with the president. He joins us now from Tokyo. And it looks like President Trump is being treated to a fun time in Japan.

Is any work getting done?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to President Trump, it is. They're advancing discussions over trade, and military

strategy, security, and that sort of thing, but it does not appear that we should expect any breakthroughs from this visit from President Trump.

In fact, he tweeted out that he expects that a potential trade deal would come after July elections here in Japan and not sooner. As you noted,

President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a wrapped up the day with a hibachi dinner of Wagyu beef and a grilled chicken alongside their wives.

That's before they turned in for the night.

Before that, the President attending this sumo tournament, something he said he always wanted to do in person. And the crowd really gave him a

warm reception when he tried to pick up that very heavy Presidents Cup trophy. It's more than a meter long. The president getting a warm

reception there.

And before that, he hit the links with Shinzo Abe. As you said, Rick, the two of them big of golf. They've played several times before when they've

met up. Shinzo Abe, of course, has bonded with the president, getting him some very fancy golf clubs in the past and visiting the president at his

Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida playing golf there as well.

One Japanese official told CNN that this was a way for the two leaders to strengthen their bonds in a cozy way. Despite the already strong bond that

they have, you're right, that tweet from President Trump sort of shed some daylight on just the distance between the two specifically on security and

North Korea.

Here's that tweet one more time. The president essentially saying that North Korea firing off some small weapons, those short-range ballistic

missile tests that were carried out last month, that bothers others but it doesn't bother him. He says he has confidence that Chairman Kim will keep

his promise to me.

The president then went on to attack former vice president current presidential candidate Joe Biden. We won't get into that but suffice to

say that Japanese officials certainly are not comfortable with the president being so close to Chairman Kim.

They have correctly pointed out as has the President's national security adviser and former ambassador John Bolton that North Korea violated U.N.

resolutions when they conducted those short-range ballistic missile tests so a bit of a disparity there.

The President also talked about tomorrow's main event. He's set to meet the new Emperor of Japan, Emperor Naruhito. Of course, this is a huge

deal. He's the first a foreign leader to meet the Emperor. And one more note. They are -- President Trump and Shinzo Abe a going to be meeting

with families of people who had been abducted by North Korea.

So the subject of North Korea despite their disagreements will come up in a very public way in just a few hours from now, Rick.

FOLBAUM: Boris Sanchez live where it's just past midnight in Tokyo. Boris, thanks very much. CNN U.S. Security Analyst Sam Vinograd joins us

now from New York. And Sam, good to talk to you. You wrote a piece for cnn.com that predicted that the President's four days in Japan may wind up

being a waste of Air Force One jet fuel. Is that how it's shaping up?

[11:05:05] SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That was the best case scenario frankly. If President Trump had gone to Japan, played a

lot of golf and eating a lot of beef, I'd be feeling a lot better about the security risks associated with this trip.

Instead, he's gone to Japan and unfortunately stayed true to form. He tweeted about Democrats and death wishes all the way from Japan and he

insulted a dedicated public servant Joe Biden. I work at the Biden Institute here in the United States while on foreign travel.

When he insulted Vice President Biden, he did so in echoing words that a despot and authoritarian leader reportedly used to describe the vice

president. I want a president that doesn't smile and nod when a despot like Kim Jong-un insults Joe Biden.

And concurrently, Rick, he also said that he's not bothered as Boris just mentioned by North Korea's flagrant violation of international law. When

North Korea launched short-range missiles, they did not, in fact, violate the moratorium that they promised they'd uphold with President Trump, but

there's a worrisome pattern here.

Back in 2006, North Korea launched short-range projectiles in the first instance. They then followed that up with longer range missiles just a few

months later. So what we're seeing is perhaps a foundation for a dangerous escalation from North Korea, and president Trump's basically saying, as

long as you keep your promise to me you can do anything that you want and I'll just sit back and take it.

FOLBAUM: Not to mention, Sam, he also undercut the message of his own national security adviser John Bolton who came out very harshly critical of

those missile tests. You worked on President Obama's national security team. How unusual is it for a resident to basically contradict his own

national security adviser?

VINOGRAD: Well, under this president, it's quite -- it's quite common. We know that President Trump is contradicted his own team on something as

serious as Russian election interference so it's not a stretch to imagine that he would do what he did yesterday which is contradicting John Bolton

and contradicting Shinzo Abe by the way, when saying that these tests didn't bother him. These tests again, violated international law.

In normal White Houses and in White Houses where the focus is on a coherent strategy, there's a process for these public talking points. You agree on

the intelligence about what happened, you agree on the policy response, and then you develop public-facing talking points so that you're reading from

the same sheet of music.

President Trump is saying that he doesn't really care what his national security adviser has to say nor what Shinzo Abe, the man who he was seeing

shortly thereafter has to say when it comes to North Korea's launch of illegal short-range missiles.

At this point, President Trump is again siding with Kim Jong-un rather than his own home team and his friends like Shinzo Abe.

FOLBAUM: Well, we saw the selfies so the men were able to go out and enjoy their golf game even after that public contradiction. Sam, I want to ask

you about something Lindsey Graham, a U.S. senator had to say this morning on the Sunday talk show of Fox News Sunday.

We know that Lindsey Graham is a hawk but listen to what he had to say about the U.S. and Venezuela and Cuba and then I want to get your response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I would do exactly what Reagan did. I would give Cuba an ultimatum to get out of Venezuela. If they don't, I would let

the Venezuelan military know you got to choose between democracy and Maduro. And if you choose Maduro and Cuba, we're coming after you. This

is in our backyard.

Trump said that he was for democracy against socialism and he's drawn a red line when it comes to Maduro. If he doesn't act, everybody in the world is

going to think he's weak. If he does act, it helps us with North Korea, Iran, Russia, and everybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOLBAUM: Lindsey Graham talking about the U.S. getting involved militarily in Venezuela. What do you make of that?

VINOGRAD: Well, you just have to respond to Senator Graham saying that if we invaded Venezuela illegally, that would help us with North Korea.

President Trump just said he's not bothered by anything that North Korea is doing so that's ridiculous.

But bringing up the Grenada examples really worrisome. Our military action in Grenada was widely condemned by the international community. And if we

did the same thing in Venezuela, I would imagine because there's no legal basis for invading Venezuela absent a large-scale attack on the United

States or something similar to that, there would be no legal foundation for action. We would be a pariah in that respect.

And at this point as well, we have to remember that there are a range of foreign actors on the ground in Venezuela. There were the catastrophic

loss of life, not to mention direct confrontation most likely between U.S. forces and potentially Russian, Chinese, and Cuban assets that are

currently on the ground.

We cannot compare Grenada and Venezuela both in terms of what's on the ground and the size and scope of what a military intervention would look

like.

[11:10:01] FOLBAUM: Thank you, Sam. Good to talk to you today. I appreciate it. And for more on Sam Vinograd's take on President Trump's

state visit to Japan, I would urge you to head over to cnn.com. You could read her full op-ed. It's titled Trump's high-risk Japan Trip.

Well, across the world now from Japan, in South America, Peru's president is surveying the damage after a powerful earthquake struck early Sunday

morning. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates an 8.0 magnitude quake hit deep below the remote Amazon region.

And we are now learning that one person was killed and at least 11 people are injured. Homes were brought down. There are reports of destroyed

roads, a collapsed bridge. Emergency response teams are on the way to the hardest hit areas.

This quake could be felt as far away as the capital Lima and in Venezuela and Ecuador where at least seven injuries are reported. Let's bring in

Allison Chinchar at the CNN Weather Center. And what more do we know about this earthquake?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So again, we talked about the depth and that really is the key for this particular one. It was a very,

very deep earthquake even though it had a relatively high magnitude of 8.0. That depth at about 110 kilometers deep. That puts it in the intermediate

category.

Remember the shallower you have an earthquake, the more likely you are to feel a lot of that strong shaking as well as perhaps the damage. Now,

here's a look at the frequency. Because we had an 8.0, we typically only average one earthquake that large per year across the entire globe, not

just in Peru.

The other concern, because the magnitude is so high, it also means we're likely going to have some fairly large aftershocks and maybe even some

frequent ones as well. You will typically have about one that's a magnitude 7.0 or higher and maybe as many as ten additional aftershocks

that are magnitude 6.0 or higher.

Now the U.S. Geological Survey has says one of the main concerns for this particular earthquake is something called liquefaction and we've seen that.

Some of the photos that came out where you see some of those bridges that kind of sink down almost as though they've become a sinkhole. That is what

we are talking about here in terms of the liquefaction and that's going to be a concern even going forward.

Because of that, you are likely going to have some pretty big economic impacts from this particular earthquake. We are looking at what we could

refer to as an orange pager. Meaning that it could end up being up to between 100 -- between 100 and 1,000 U.S. million dollars in terms of the

damage that is there.

So certainly something we will have to keep a close eye on is more of those crews are able to get into some of those towns that they have yet been able

to access. Rick?

FOLBAUM: A lot of damage also, Allison, in the United States, the central part of the states where there have been tornadoes and heavy storms. Tell

us about that.

CHINCHAR: Yes. So, unfortunately, last night we did have a deadly tornado in the town of El Reno, Oklahoma. That's one of the central U.S. states,

but it was one of nine tornado reports actually in the last 24 hours.

Again, it was a very active day having storm reports stretching from the state of Texas all the way up to the state of New York, very widespread.

But a lot of the focus really becomes on that area in Oklahoma where they had that deadly tornado. Here's a look at some of the damage.

What you were looking at here is what's left of a motel that was in that area. Here we kind of fast forward a little bit where you can see what

that should have looked like was that particular building there but this is really all that is left of that particular storm.

Here again, you can see cars that are up there. You actually have a dumpster that was lifted and put into the second story of that hotel just

going to show you how strong the storms were. This happened at night which is unfortunate because a lot of folks are sleeping at that time. But

believe it or not 37 percent of the tornadoes that take place in Oklahoma are actually at night, OK.

Here's a look, unfortunately going forward, Rick, we have even more severe weather in the forecast. Yes, for places like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,

Nebraska, and a very high -- very relatively high risk of tornadoes in the same region as well.

But the main threats will be tornadoes very large hail, it could exceed the size of a baseball, and also some damaging winds. We have a subsequent

area over here as well that does include, Rick, the city of Washington D.C. as well as Baltimore.

FOLBAUM: Allison Chinchar live for us with a couple of weather stories making news this Sunday. Thank you, Allison. Still to come, Europe

decides. Hundreds of millions of people casting their ballots across the continent in the world's biggest multi-national election. We're live in

Brussels coming up.

Plus, several British conservatives entering the race for prime minister after Theresa Mays reluctant resignation last week. And lost in a forest

for more than two weeks, you don't want to miss this woman's incredible story of survival.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:00] FOLBAUM: Well, it's the final day of voting across Europe in a decisive election that will shape the European Union for the next five

years. More than 400 million people are eligible to cast their ballots in the world's only multinational vote. The last of the 28 member countries

are voting today and the early results are expected in the next few hours.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is following it all for us from Brussels. And Erin, what's at stake here?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's at stake here is the makeup of the European Parliament. That's what voters are going to the polls to

determine as we speak because voting is underway, it's limited in terms of what I can say given electoral restriction. They don't want any sort of

undue influence in terms of the voting that is still happening now.

What I can tell you is that we're seeing pretty much across the board from Germany, Spain, and Italy according to preliminary figures is that voter

turnout is particularly strong which would suggest there's a lot of people interested in these elections.

Notoriously the European parliamentary elections has a low voter turnout. I can tell you that officials will be looking at the final results in terms

of turnout hoping that that will spike beyond the 42 percent turnout that they saw five years ago in 2014, the last elections.

In terms of what's happening here in European Parliament, at this point, there's very much abuzz. There's also been a record in terms of interest

from journalists. A record number of journalists have registered to cover these elections, some 1,300 journalists from countries such as the United

States, China, and of course, all over Europe.

We expect the results to come in, preliminary results in the next hours or so. And by the end of the evening we'll have a better idea the overall

makeup of this Parliament. They'll be looking at various things in terms of indicators. They'll be looking at the Eurosceptic vote, how strong of a

turnout the Eurosceptics made in terms of countries such as Italy.

And they'll also be looking at the major parties here in the E.U. to see if their overall sort of land grab has either diminished or grown. Those are

all factors that E.U. officials will be looking at very closely in the coming hours.

[11:20:01] FOLBAUM: Erin McLaughlin, we'll be checking back with you as the results come in a little bit later on in a few hours. Thanks very much

from Brussels. And you can join CNN Sunday night as the European election results begin to take shape. Our special coverage hosted by Hala Gorani

kicks off at 8:00 p.m. Brussels time.

Turning now to the U.K. where conservative heavyweights are throwing their hats in the ring to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May. Mrs. May

reluctantly announcing her resignation Friday after failing multiple times to get her Brexit deal passed by the U..K Parliament.

Now at least eight MPs say they are ready to take on party leadership and become the next prime minister including former Foreign Secretary Boris

Johnson and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab. So let's take a quick look at how Theresa May's successor will be chosen.

The conservative candidates must be nominated by two fellow party members. If more than two candidates are nominated, the 313 Conservative MPs will

hold a series of votes until they select their top two choices and then the entire party about 124,000 votes in a postal ballot to make the final

decision.

Our Salma Abdelaziz is alive in London. And Salma, the field is growing.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Rick. The race is definitely heating up. One of the contenders announced today, Michael Gove, of

course, one of the key faces of the vote leave campaign, the current environment secretary. And he's seen as competition to the front-runner

Boris Johnson.

Now, these Tory leadership contests are notoriously bitter affairs with all sorts of impolite behavior going on and really the relationship between

Boris Johnson and Michael Gove is very reflective of that.

In 2016 when Boris Johnson was preparing to announce his bid for the leadership position, Michael Gove his then-campaign manager at the last

minute pulled out his support, declared Boris Johnson unfit and announced his own candidacy. So Gove is seen as a very toxic character within the

party.

But the last thing here that the U.K. public want to see is more political infighting, more drama after three years of Brexit. They just want to see

their leadership get on with it. But the concern is as you ran through that timeline of what's going to happen, is the new Prime Minister will not

be in place until the end of July. That leaves just three months to the exit date, October 31st.

So what that could potentially mean is that the country either crashes out of the E.U. with no deal or you have another delay. Rick?

FOLBAUM: Salma Abdelaziz live for us in London. Salma, thanks very much. John Rentoul is Chief Political Commentator for The Independent, and he

joins us now from London. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

JOHN RENTOUL, CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, THE INDEPENDENT: Hi there!

FOLBAUM: Well, you wrote about the current frontrunner Boris Johnson and I just want to quote you here. He will find himself on the same treadmill of

unrealistic promises as Theresa May. He will try and fail to renegotiate the deal. The DUP will remain opposed. The Tory party will become

increasingly wedded to an outcome that cannot be delivered. So who can deliver Brexit and how?

RENTOUL: Nobody. I mean, I just don't think it's possible. I think Theresa May tried as hard as she could, but actually, the situation slipped

away from her towards the end and that's what contributed to her final departure. But I mean, you know, Boris Johnson is the front runner to

succeed her.

He has already boxed himself in by saying that we will leave on the 31st of October whether he has negotiated a new deal or not, but I don't think he

can deliver an exit without a deal because the House of Commons will stop him, which means that he's going to go through exactly the same process as

Theresa May of promising to leave and not being able to do it.

FOLBAUM: As this field begins to take shape and more people jump into the race, what is your favorite storyline here? What are you watching in this

leadership battle?

RENTOUL: Well, this is an extraordinary thing. I mean, that article that I wrote yesterday that was published overnight is already out of date. I

mean, Boris Johnson was the clear favorite yesterday. He was actually odds on. The bookies thought he had better than 50 percent chance of winning.

But I mean during just today, he has lost so much ground that it now looks like a four-horse race.

I mean, you've got Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, and Dominic Raab, all about level in terms of the number of endorsements they've got from fellow

Conservative MPs. And this is -- this is how the election system works. The MPs themselves have to vote several times to reduce the field to just

two. And there's a question mark over whether Boris Johnson will be one of those two.

FOLBAUM: It's tough to be a journalist and cover this story. You've got to keep stay right by your typewriter. The Labour Party --

RENTOUL: Yes, no kidding.

[11:25:00] FOLBAUM: -- while all of this is playing out with the Conservatives, how are the Labour Party faring in all of this?

RENTOUL: Very badly, but less badly than the Conservatives. So you know in terms of relative advantage, the Labour Party is doing alright. I mean,

the problem is that if the Conservative government fails to deliver Brexit then you know whenever the next general election is, the Conservative Party

will be absolutely crushed.

And you know, unless Nigel Farage and his Brexit party actually becomes a national party which is not impossible, the Labour Party will be the main

beneficiaries of that because they have a solid base of voters who want to stay in the European Union. They'll probably vote for the Labour Party

rather than anybody else. And that means whenever the next election is, Jeremy Corbyn is quite likely to emerge the winner.

FOLBAUM: I love that the U.K. has already voted in the parliamentary elections of the body that they voted to leave the E.U. And voting wraps

up today and we should have some results in the next few hours. It seems though as least as far as I've been able to read that there are many exit

movements in many countries across the continent aren't there?

RENTOUL: Indeed. I mean, Euroscepticism is quite strong in many countries, I mean, Italy and Poland potentially, and France actually. But

I mean nothing quite as strong as in the U.K. I mean, the U.K. has always been a semi-detached member of the European Union. The desire to not be

part of this grand European project has always been much stronger in the U.K. than in any other member state.

And that's what -- that's what we saw with the -- with the Brexit vote and that's going to continue. So if we don't leave we are going to be a very

difficult member of the European Union for the foreseeable future.

FOLBAUM: John, great to talk to you, terrific insight. John Rentoul, Chief Political Commentator for The Independent. Thank you so much for

your time and we'll be looking for your latest column. And this is CONNECT THE WORLD. Coming up, when the beautiful game turns into a potentially

dangerous one. Why a top footballer will miss out on a major match.

And then later, it's always been risky of course to climb Mount Everest. But as the crowds of people wanting to scale the world's tallest mountain

grow, the danger grows too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:31:04] FOLBAUM: You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Rick Folbaum in Atlanta. Welcome back, glad you're with us. There are

times when sport can be a form of diplomacy that transcends politics. But there are also times when politics can turn sport into a dangerous game.

Arsenal footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss the Europe -- Europa League final because of his fears over his own safety. The match is being played

in Azerbaijan, a bitter political rival of Armenia where Mkhitaryan is from. And he tweeted, "It's the kind of game that doesn't come along very

often for us players and I must admit it hurts me a lot to miss it. I will be cheering my teammates on. Let's bring it home."

Azerbaijan says that it has done everything it possibly could to protect Mkhitaryan. Let's get the picture from Armenia, though. Armen Melkbekyan

is deputy head of the country's National Football Federation. I'm glad to talk to you, sir. And let me just ask you right off the bad, or

Mkhitaryan's and Arsenal's concerns understandable in your view?

ARMEN MELKBEKYAN, DEPUTY HEAD, NATIONAL FOOTBALL FEDERATION, ARMENIA (via skype): So, you know -- good afternoon. In this particular case, Henrikh

Mkhitaryan represents Arsenal and not national team of Armenia. Anyway, the Football Federation of Armenia, of course, closely follow the

situation.

I should say that the decision not to travel to Baku is made by the club and the player, and we believe it was the best one in current situation.

So, we support that decision. We, as Football Federation of Armenia, understand that there are several reasons. One of them is that issue was

highly politicized in that event organizing country.

There were -- there were some xenophobic statements and one cannot rule xenophobic chance during the game, of course, everyone understands that.

Also, which is very important. According to our sources -- according to our sources, Mkhitaryan has been advised not to display Armenian flag in

Baku, which is completely unacceptable as the football fans remember, he displayed their Armenian flag after Manchester United's victory two years

ago in Stockholm, and when Henrikh was one of heroes of the game.

So, when we speak about safety, you should be also -- you should also be safe to display the flag after the game in case of victory.

FOLBAUM: One of the officials from your government had this to say about the precautions that had been taken, should Mkhitaryan have decided to

come? Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZAD RAHIMOV, MINISTER OF YOUTH AND SPORTS, AZERBAIJAN: More, what, what do you mean when they say more? More, it's a guarantee? More, it's 100

percent, our understanding and now the feeling about the security, we did all that. What could we make more? Of course, we can -- we can send the

private jet for him and accompanied by the two F-16 Fighting Falcon. Let's say that maybe machine -- I don't know what can we make more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOLBAUM: Was the Football Federation prepared to do anything to protect him? Should he have decided to come?

MELBEKYAN: I mean, you see. We have a lot of concerns and the biggest -- one of the biggest concerns if that some British citizens even of Armenian

origin were denied entry visas to Azerbaijan, and we know this. And this is also very disappointing.

By the way, we have a lot of fans of Arsenal in Armenia who supported Arsenal even before Mkhitaryan was in the club. So, and of course, they

cannot travel to Azerbaijan to watch the game which is usually the case with all other cities.

So, in fact, it is very bad that the player should choose between sport, sport event, and safety. It is not fair, I mean.

[11:35:04] FOLBAUM: But it sounds to me like you're almost relieved that he's not coming. Am I -- am I reading you correctly?

MELBEKYAN: No, I don't think so. So, are just -- we support the decision of the player, and he had the consultation. Once again, with Arsenal

management and his family, and every decision of the player, we believe that's needed for the best -- more it is possible to dealing the current

situation.

FOLBAUM: I just want to ask you one more question, sir. Amnesty International's director in the U.K. says that your country, Azerbaijan has

waged a crackdown on journalists, and bloggers, and human rights defenders. Are you happy with your country's human rights record?

MELBEKYAN: No, it is not my country because I am (INAUDIBLE) football federation of Armenia. And I cannot answer this question, by the way.

FOLBAUM: Understood. OK, thank you very much. Thank you so much for joining us today and giving us your insights. We appreciate it very much.

Well, in other sports news, the Toronto Raptors clinched their first trip to the National Basketball Association finals in their 24-year history.

The Canadian based team eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-94 in a wild Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Toronto's Kawhi Leonard, with a spectacular night. This guy is unbelievable, 27 points, 17 rebounds. But it was Kyle Lowry's steal in the

fourth quarter who led the game singular highlight. His assist to Leonard had the ground understandably on their feet.

Look at that, the Raptors (INAUDIBLE) the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals started Thursday in Toronto. It will be the first NBA

Finals game to take place outside of the United States.

This is CONNECT THE WORLD. Coming up, climbing the world's highest mountain comes at the biggest risk than normal as a human traffic jam makes

the trek even more dangerous.

And later, U.S. President Donald Trump, visiting Japan right now, and he is getting a crash course in Japanese culture in between talks with Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe. We'll have details coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOLBAUM: You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Rick Folbaum in Atlanta. Welcome back.

In Hawaii, a woman who disappeared after going hiking two weeks ago has been found alive deep inside a forest. And now, Amanda Eller is speaking

out about her terrifying experience and she is thanking all of the people who searched for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA ELLER, RESCUED MAUI HIKER: There are times of total fear and loss and wanting to give up. And it did come down to life and death and I had

to choose. And I chose life, I wasn't going to take the easy way out. Even though that meant more suffering and pain for myself. But this is

just like a tiny little book of my story.

Just seeing the power of prayer and the power of love, put everybody combines their efforts is incredible. It can move mountains. And at some

point, you know, I think we all thought that was lost on the world and it's beautiful to know that it's not only lost, but it's just -- it's so

prevalent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:40:34] FOLBAUM: What a nice story. Amanda also thanked the people who donated money. She says that will pay for the helicopters that located

her. Our Jessica Dean has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Missing more than two weeks, Amanda Eller is found alive in Maui, Hawaii.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there she goes. And there she goes! Yes.

DEAN: Her rescue was announced on this post on a Facebook page set up by family and friends. "Urgent update, Amanda has been found. She got lost,

and was stuck, and slightly injured in the forest, way, way out. Somewhere way far above Twin Falls, between two waterfalls down a deep ravine in a

creek bed."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can cry now. It's awesome, man. That's like the best -- you got a good Memorial Day.

DEAN: A photo on the page showed Eller just before the air evacuation surrounded by members of a search team. She appeared to be only slightly

injured, and this picture of the ravine where she was apparently found.

JULIA ELLER, MOTHER OF AMANDA ELLER: Oh, I was crying tears of joy.

DEAN: Her mother, Julia Eller, told CNN affiliate KHON, Amanda used water sources and ate the berries she found, strawberries, guava, and other items

to sustain her.

J. ELLER: I never gave up hope for a minute. And even though at times, you know, I would have those moments of despair, I stayed strong for her

because I knew that we would find her if we just stayed with the program, stayed persistent.

DEAN: Authorities said, Eller, a 35-year-old yoga instructor disappeared after going on a hike May 8th. Her car was found with her cell phone

inside at a forest reserve parking lot. A last image of her was captured on surveillance video buying a Mother's Day gift the day before she was

reported missing. A $50,000 reward was being offered for information regarding her disappearance and possible abduction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.

DEAN: But now, there's an ending that some are calling miraculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. If you believe in prayer, folks, thank your Lord because this is an answer.

DEAN: Jessica Dean, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOLBAUM: Now to the dangers of climbing Mt. Everest. Since Friday, three people have died on the world's tallest mountain and that brings the number

of dead or presumed dead over the last year to nine.

A British mountaineer died on Saturday after posting on social media that overcrowding at the summit could prove fatal. We're also hearing from the

man who led that rescue operation. We're going to talk more about what's happening on Mt. Everest when we come right back. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:37] FOLBAUM: Now, to the dangers of climbing Mount Everest. Since Friday, three people have died on the world's tallest mountain. And that

brings the number of dead or presumed dead this year alone to nine. And as we were mentioning before the break, a British mountaineer died Saturday

after posting on social media that overcrowding at the summit could prove fatal.

He then died this traffic jam right here. Look at all those people, may have contributed to two deaths. Nepal's tourism director calls that base -

- claim, baseless and blames the altitude sickness. But the people you can see there waiting to reach the summit, they're all in what's known as "the

death zone" where oxygen is dangerously low.

My colleague, George Howell, spoke to a climber about the dangers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Joining us now to talk more about what's happening here is Alan Arnette. Alan is a mountaineer who has

climbed Mount Everest four times, joining this hour via Skype from Colorado. It's good to have you with us.

ALAN ARNETTE, MOUNTAINEER: Thanks, George.

HOWELL: So, Alan, again, you've climbed this mountain several times. Tell us about your experience and the dangers of these traffic jams.

ARNETTE: You know, so first off, Mt. Everest is a difficult mountain. It often has a reputation of having being a walk-up that anybody could do it.

But the reality is that any mountain over 26,000 feet, 8,000 meters is truly going to the death zone, and you have to be prepared to do that.

I tried three times without success and made it on my fourth time, and it was much sweeter on my fourth time because I realized how difficult it was.

HOWELL: And again, you describe this as the death zone. Help our viewers to understand what that means because part of the climb really comes down

to being susceptible to altitude related illness.

ARNETTE: That's exactly right. When you get about 26,000 feet, the human body just simply was not designed to survive at that altitude. And what

happens is that you don't metabolize food, your body is slowly dying, and really all you want to do is lay down and go to sleep.

But you're also trying to move from the high camp or around 26,000 feet up to 29,000 feet, you're trying to do it as quickly as possible, and then you

get back down as quickly as possible.

HOWELL: And it comes down to the amount of oxygen, right? I mean, so you're able to take a certain amount up, and coming down, time really

matters.

ARNETTE: It does. You know, you're carrying supplemental oxygen, but some of the -- it only makes a difference of about 3,000 feet. So if you're

let's say at 27,000 thousand feet, that means your body feels like it's a 24,000 feet.

And there's a limited amount of oxygen that you can carry in your backpack, or that other people do carry on your behalf. So, if you go too slowly,

and that's what's happened this year with a few people that they've gone to slowly, they've run out of oxygen. And when you run out of oxygen above

26,000 feet is a deadly consequence.

HOWELL: And again, the fact that climbers have to contend with a human traffic jam, that again, it just adds to the factor the time factor of this

climb with literally hundreds of people who've been permitted to make the climb and weather permitting there is a narrow window for those climbers to

summit.

ARNETTE: That's exactly right. And this year of 2019, it was a combination of several factors that created just an imperfect storm, if you

will. First off, the jet stream, the high winds aloft that are over 120 miles an hour.

They typically move off the summit of Everest in the middle of May, allowing for a few days of winds below 30 miles an hour. Last year in

2018, there are 11 straight days of acceptable wins. This year, 2019, there's been about five.

The second factor this year is that Nepal issued a record, 381 permits to foreigners. Plus, they require that every foreigner hire a Sherpa guide.

So, you've got close to 800 people trying to climb the mountain this year.

So, you take a record number of people in a limited number of days. You know, that needle becomes very difficult to thread.

HOWELL: Alan, I'd like to again show our viewers. We've been looking at these images while you've explained, you know, what it's like to climb this

mountain. But if we could take full these images, especially the image of all of these climbers in this traffic jam, it's really not something that

many people think, think about when it comes to people climbing Mount Everest. What is it like to have summited the mountain, and then you're

coming down and it's the slow, slow descent with people -- you know, so many people in line?

[11:50:08] ARNETTE: You know, this photo is shocking to anybody associated with Everest. It is unacceptable full stop. What we're seeing here is the

consequence of having too many people into too short of a time trying to attempt the mountain.

You know, like I said earlier that there's a limited amount of days that are available, and people go up and down the mountain in April and early

May to acclimatize their body to get used to the altitude.

So, now when you're standing in that line, all sorts of things are going through your head. First off, you're using up the valuable supplemental

oxygen that you have. Also, every minute that you're there your body is getting weaker and weaker. You're also worried that you can take another

step higher but can you take another step lower?

And in many of these cases, because the lines are so clogged, it's almost impossible to turn around. This year was the worst possible scenario that

you could possibly imagine.

HOWELL: All right, Alan Arnette, we appreciate your time again. Thank you.

ARNETTE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOLBAUM: Well, for our "PARTY SHOTS" today, we go back to our top story. U.S. President Donald Trump in Japan for trade talks with Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe. In between the meetings, the two leaders are bonding over rounds of golf and hamburgers. Earlier, Sunday, Mr. Trump gave out the

President's Cup trophy at a sumo tournament in Tokyo. But as Ivan Watson reports, this wasn't his first brush with professional wrestling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is the most iconic of Japanese sports, sumo. A contest between huge men grappling in a tiny

ring. And the U.S. president is getting a front-row seat for the finals of the grand sumo tournament during his visit to Tokyo.

What would you advise President Trump to know about the sport as he's about to attend?

JOHN GUNNING, SUMO COLUMNIST: Well the rules itself, the rules themselves are very, very simple. It's a down or out situation. So, I think he won't

have any problem understanding what's going on in the ring.

WATSON: John Gunning is an Irish sports columnist based in Japan. He says President Trump will witness firsthand an ancient tradition.

GUNNING: All the pageantry and everything, that's several hundred years, and perhaps, a thousand years of Japanese tradition and culture all mixed

together. Re1ligion, sport, entertainment, it's a mishmash of all of those things.

WATSON: This Irish expatriate is an expert when it comes to sumo.

GUNNING: Joining sumo itself is like joining a monastic order.

WATSON: He competed as an amateur wrestler and has the scars to prove it.

GUNNING: Personally myself, I fractured the skull, broke teeth, fractured my socket, broken arm lengthways into three pieces, and almost every single

time I did sumo training, I ended up with some kind of injury.

WATSON: President Trump is no stranger to a very different quintessentially American style of wrestling. Before his political career,

he made appearances in U.S. professional wrestling shows.

But Japan's much older version of the sport is much more Spartan. Often starting at the age of 15, athletes live, eat and train in stables. Only

those few who claw their way to the top become wealthy superstars.

Centuries of history and tradition give sumo a special place in Japanese society.

GUNNING: It has a special place I think in the heart. Even people who are not sports fans are sumo fans.

WATSON: On Sunday, Trump presented a giant trophy to the winner of the tournament. It's been called the President's Cup. Ivan Watson, CNN,

Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOLBAUM: Looks like the president had a fun time there. Well, you can always follow the stories the team is working on throughout the day by

going to our Facebook page. The site is facebook.com/cnnconnect.

Like this great series from my colleague, Sam Kiley's recent reporting trip to Yemen -- fascinating stuff. Be sure to connect with us on social media,

so you can keep up-to-date with all of our stories on the go whenever news breaks.

I'm Rick Folbaum. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. From the team in Abu Dhabi, London, and here in Atlanta, thanks for watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:59:50] FOLBAUM: Hello, I'm Rick Folbaum, and this is CNN "NEWS NOW". Polls are beginning to close across Europe in a decisive election that will

shape the European Union over the next five years. Seven member states voted last week with the remaining 21 countries casting their ballots

today.

END