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NATO's Formal Invitation to Finland and Sweden; Russian Missile Hit Near Park, Mall; Ex-Aide's Bombshell Testimony before January 6 Committee; House Committee Suggests Evidence of Witness Tampering; Colombia's Civil Conflict; U.S., South Korea and Japan Hold Trilateral. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 29, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We will demonstrate that NATO's door remains open by inviting Finland and Sweden to join our alliance.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): It is the most consequential enlargement in decades. NATO and two longtime neutral countries to its

defense bloc.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): NATO's open door policy (INAUDIBLE) of the mechanism of the (INAUDIBLE) measure

barriers. They are open. As soon as you approach them, they are shut until you pay.

Has Ukraine not paid enough?

ANDERSON (voice-over): Ukraine's leader appeals for consideration, too, from NATO members, reminding leaders of the price his country is paying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO MARK MEADOWS: I remember feeling scared and nervous for what could happen on January 6th.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Shocking new testimony reveals Donald Trump's actions during the Capitol attack. We are live on Capitol Hill with

reactions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANDERSON: It's 6 pm in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

History in the making right now, at the NATO summit in Madrid and Spain in what is being called the most consequential meeting of its type this

century.

NATO has formally invited Finland and Sweden to join, opening the way for expansion of the Western alliance on the Russian border. It comes after

Turkiye dropped its objection to their potential membership. NATO's secretary general says he expects the ratification progress to go quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOLTENBERG: This is a good agreement for Turkiye. It is a good agreement for Finland and Sweden and it is a good agreement for NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Major changes coming to NATO as the alliance adjusts to the new realities in the East and recognizing that relations with Russia have

deteriorated.

President Biden has announced new deployments of U.S. troops and equipment to Europe to strengthen NATO's presence in the face of Russian aggression.

Ukraine's president addressed the summit by video link. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Western leaders that NATO should find a place for his country, too,

asking, has Ukraine not paid enough to join the alliance?

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is covering the summit in Madrid. Atika Shubert is live in Istanbul.

I want to start with this NATO expansion. Natasha, President Biden set to meet with Turkish President Erdogan, a short time from now.

Is it clear how this meeting, this potential meeting between the two, helped seal the Sweden-Finland deal, if at all?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly didn't hurt things. This is something that President Biden has been involved in

for well over six months now. He has been involved behind the scenes because the United States has not wanted to be seen as an integral part of

this accession progress by Sweden and Finland because they did not want to put themselves in a position where Turkiye might be asking for concessions

from United States.

Rather, they wanted this to be at least publicly very much between Finland, Sweden and Turkiye. But the president has making phone calls, discussing

this regularly with the leaders Sweden and Finland and Turkiye.

Importantly, he was very involved earlier this week just after Sweden and Finland had a meeting with Erdogan. They called President Biden and asked

him, we, came to this deal, we came to these agreements.

Do we have the United States' support in this?

President Biden did give his signoff. That is ultimately how things moved forward. On top of that, the president, earlier in the day, had called

Erdogan, the president of Turkiye, and basically told him to seize the moment, basically said now is the right time for you to drop your

opposition to this.

We can work out any remaining obstacles that are in the way of this.

[10:05:00]

BERTRAND: And that is ultimately how things moved forward. On top of all of that, they dangled this meeting and that is something that President

Erdogan wants to have with Biden because Turkiye still wants to discuss importantly the sale of F-16 fighter jets from the United States to

Turkiye.

That is one of their top priorities. Erdogan has said that he hopes to discuss that directly with Biden during their meeting today. Clearly,

Turkiye is still hoping to get any type of concessions that it can out of this process.

The United States and NATO of course, very desperate to have this process move fast, especially because Sweden and Finland are vulnerable at this

point, in between their application to join NATO and of course, the actual ratification by each country's parliaments to actually allow them to become

members.

ANDERSON: Let me bring in Atika.

Turkiye was a holdout for Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

At this point, is it clear what sort of concessions the Turkish president got out of either of those countries and/or, indeed, is it clear at this

point what he wants from Washington?

ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, there was a lot of posturing by President Erdogan as he went into this meeting. And I think for that, perhaps, all

more reason that President Erdogan's office said this is a big diplomatic win for Turkiye.

They had released a long list of what they saw as concessions by Sweden and Finland. The main points -- and is it covered in the memorandum -- is both

Sweden and Finland have said they promised to address the security concerns of Turkiye, especially as it pertains to Kurdish resistance groups.

For example, Sweden and Finland will now both recognize the Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK, as a terrorist organization.

That will bring both countries in line not only with Turkiye's thinking but also with how the E.U. and U.S. consider the PKK. There was a lot of these

commitments, a lot of big on political intent in this memorandum.

But there are not that many concrete things. One concrete thing, however, is that all three countries will set up an intelligence sharing mechanism.

That's one thing.

But a lot of the diplomatic language in there is open to interpretation. For example, Sweden and Finland have said that they will work toward a

legal framework for the extradition of certain individuals that Turkiye sees as being associated with terrorism.

What does that mean, working toward a legal framework?

That could be put to the test very soon. Turkiye's justice minister announced in the last few hours that he will remind both countries that

there are already 33 open extradition requests for individuals, 17 of which are members of the PKK.

So I think going forward, it will be interesting to see how this memorandum is implemented. But I think the biggest victory of all for President

Erdogan especially was just to show the importance of Turkiye, that it's very much needed by this NATO alliance and that for anything like this to

go ahead really requires Turkiye's cooperation.

That perhaps is the biggest political victory for President Erdogan.

ANDERSON: Atika Shubert is in Istanbul for you.

Thank you both.

Ukraine's president wants Russia off the U.N. Security Council. In an address to the council, Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that the U.N.

doesn't have a legal destination of terrorist state but Russia should be punished as one.

He also called for Russia's expulsion from the council. This, as Russian forces continue to pound Lysychansk. It's the last big city that Ukraine

still holds in the Eastern Luhansk region.

Ukraine calls the situation "difficult." New video surfaced of the moment of a Russian cruise missile appeared to strike a shopping mall in the city

of Kremenchuk. Scott McLean joins us from Kyiv with the details.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Becky. From the video, you can actually see there's a frame there, where you see the missile itself.

Ukrainian authorities deduced from that and from other evidence on the scene the type of missile that was actually used. They say it was a KH-22.

What does that mean?

That means that it is an older type of missile in Russia's arsenal, perhaps not as accurate as some of the more modern ones. The missile also can carry

a payload of 1,000 kilograms, which explains the absolutely massive impact site.

There is a separate video taken from CCTV from a nearby park, about 500 meters from the actual blast site. You can see, people get a moment's

warning before they actually feel the impact of that explosion, of that missile.

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MCLEAN: One person grabs their child, runs behind a tree, before the explosion takes place. Other people, one person actually jumps into the

pond there, to try to avoid all of the hot shrapnel that is raining down from the sky. You can see in the pond net there, it is absolutely a

terrifying sight.

The Russians, of course, claim they were aiming, they hit a cache of Western weapons and that the mall was merely collateral damage. The

Ukrainians say, look, civilian targets are something that Russia has hit before.

So the mall likely was the intended target in this case. Regardless, though, ,you have 18 people who were killed at least; you have 54 people

hospitalized, we're told most of them seriously. Now you have people picking through the rubble, trying to make that site safe, looking not for

survivors but for bodies.

What they found already is 11 body parts. Now they need to figure out how many bodies those 11 parts actually belong to. It is pretty grim work.

President Zelenskyy is calling on the U.N. Security Council to boot Russia as a member.

It is also calling, as you mentioned, for Russia to be labeled a terrorist state because they have hit, as I said, not just malls but also schools,

hospitals, apartment buildings, one in Mykolaiv just this morning.

ANDERSON: Is it clear whether he will get his wish?

Is there any chance the UNSC will expel Russia or label it a terrorist state?

MCLEAN: On the Security Council question, the short answer is no. Russia is a permanent member of the 15-member Security Council. The other 10

rotate between a series of countries.

So because Russia is a permanent member of that body, there is no mechanism to actually have them removed.

What there is, though, is a mechanism to have countries removed from the broader United Nations. That would require a vote of the U.N. General

Assembly. But it would have to be recommended by the U.N. Security Council.

And of course, Russia has veto powers. So the chances of it voting to recommend its own removal from the Security Council is virtually nil. So

Russia is not going anywhere anytime soon.

ANDERSON: Scott McLean is in Kyiv.

Scott, thank you.

More on Ukraine and indeed on what is going on in that crucial NATO summit at cnn.com or on your CNN app.

We turn now to the investigation into the January the 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and to a key question about that day.

Did Donald Trump and those closest to him know the crowd they had assembled might turn violent.

On Tuesday, public testimony from the woman who worked in the White House, just steps from the Oval Office, left little doubt about the answer to that

question. CNN's Jessica Schneider has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUTCHINSON: That evening was the first moment that I remember feeling scared and nervous for what could happen on January 6th. And I had a deeper

concern for what was happening with the planning aspects of it.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cassidy Hutchinson chronicling the days and hours leading up to the January 6

Capitol attack. The former senior aide to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows recalling a meeting between Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows on

January 2.

HUTCHINSON: I remember looking at him, saying, "Rudy, could you explain what's happening on the 6th?"

And he had responded something to the effect of, "We're going to the Capitol. It's going to be great. The president is going to be there. He's

going to look powerful."

I went back up to our office and I found Mr. Meadows in his office on the couch. He was scrolling through his phone.

I remember leaning against the doorway and saying, "I just had an interesting conversation with Rudy, Mark. Sounds like we're going to go to

the Capitol."

He didn't look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, "There's a lot going on, Character assassination, but I don't know. Things

might get real, real bad on January 6th."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The White House counsel's office was gravely concerned about then president Donald Trump's speech and desire to march to

the Capitol, according to Hutchinson.

HUTCHINSON: Mr. Cipollone said something to the effect of, "Please make sure we don't go up to the Capitol, Cassidy. Keep in touch with me. We're

going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): As the rioters were storming the Capitol, Hutchinson testified Trump was cheering them on --

PROTESTERS: Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): -- agreeing with the chants to, quote, "Hang Mike Pence."

HUTCHINSON: Mark had responded something to the effect of, "You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing

anything wrong."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): She says Cipollone replied...

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HUTCHINSON: "People are going to die and the blood's going to be on your f-ing hands."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Hutchinson testifying in the clearest detail to date about Trump's desire to lead the crowd to the Capitol, despite

warnings that many present were armed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had Glock-style pistols in their waistbands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty-seven thirty-six with the message, "That subject, weapon on his right hip, he's in the tree."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Hutchinson recalled that, before the president took the stage, he insisted that metal detectors be removed and individuals

with weapons be allowed in to fill the crowd and eventually march to the Capitol.

HUTCHINSON: He was very concerned about the shot, meaning the photograph that we would get because the rally space wasn't full.

I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the president say something to the effect of, "I don't f-ing care that they have weapons.

They're not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march the Capitol from here."

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Hutchinson said Trump took the stage, thinking that Meadows was still figuring out a way for Trump to go to the Capitol

after his speech. She added that Trump got into his SUV after his speech and was seen in this video, presented by the committee, driving away.

Hutchinson recalling a conversation back at the White House with then deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato about an alleged altercation in the SUV

between Trump and his Secret Service agent, Robert Engel, when he learned that they would not be taking him to the Capitol.

HUTCHINSON: The president said something to the effect of, "I'm the f-ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now," to which Bobby responded, "Sir,

we have to go back to the West Wing."

The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, "Sir, you need to take

your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol."

Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel. And when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his

clavicles.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): A Secret Service official familiar with the matter told CNN that Ornato denies telling Hutchinson that Trump grabbed the

steering wheel or agent.

The Secret Service notified the Select Committee after Hutchinson's testimony that the agents involved are prepared to testify under oath that

the incident did not occur.

The committee standing behind Hutchinson's account while encouraging others with information to come forward.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Look, I believe Cassidy Hutchinson. I think she's a very -- a very smart, very

capable, very honest individual. She has no incentive to make up something that isn't true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That was CNN's Justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, reporting. I want to bring in our Capitol Hill reporter, Melanie Zanona.

Some of her testimony, Melanie, is being contested.

What is the Secret Service saying about the allegations that Trump wanted to drive to the Capitol during the mob?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First, let me remind viewers that Cassidy Hutchinson testified under oath about this episode, allegedly

involving Trump trying to lunge at his own Secret Service because he was so angry at them.

She said she was told that story by someone else. But the Secret Service says the agents involved are willing to testify under oath to respond to

these allegations. And sources tell CNN that the agents involved deny that they were ever attacked and also deny that they told Cassidy Hutchinson

this story.

The select committee says they believe Cassidy Hutchinson. They found her testimony to be credible. However, they are willing to hear from anyone

else who can aid their investigation and are willing to publicly testify. So we'll see if that happens.

But I want to remind people here that absolutely no one is disputing the core facts of this case. That is that Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on

January 6. While these other details are certainly sensational and raise eyebrows, I think it's important not to lose sight of the fact that Trump

knew the mob was armed and dangerous.

And he not only egged them on, encouraged them to go to the Capitol but also wanted to join them as well.

ANDERSON: In the wake of Hutchinson's testimony, there are calls for her boss, former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to testify and also calls for

former White House counsel Pat Cipollone to say what they knew about January 6.

Do we know who the committee expects to hear from next?

How many more witnesses are likely to be revealed?

ZANONA: We do know there are at least two more hearings scheduled for mid July. It seems unlikely that Mark Meadows is going to testify. But the

committee is holding out hope that the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, will come forward.

They're hoping that these hearings will really inspire him to come forward. They have made some direct appeals to him, including congress woman Liz

Cheney, a Republican.

[10:20:00]

ZANONA: She tweeted this morning, saying, "After all of this, it is in his interest to come forward and testify publicly on this matter."

But he was the White House counsel and so perhaps he is more protected, he has executive privilege. He's been resistant to come forward thus far. But

we'll have to wait and see whether that changes in the coming weeks.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

There's a lot more on the fallout from Cassidy Hutchinson's explosive testimony coming up in our next hour. I'll speak to a legal analyst about

whether the evidence presented could actually lead to criminal charges against Donald Trump and his closest aides.

The impact of that extraordinary testimony is coming up after the break.

Colombia's truth commission has issued its final report. We'll have more on the reforms that it's recommending to help heal a scarred nation after a

decades-long civil conflict.

And Turkiye's homegrown drones are flying in a new realm: diplomacy. We will tell you how they are changing the country's foreign relations.

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ANDERSON: Colombia's truth commission has presented a landmark report on the country's nearly six decades of civil conflict. The 800 page report was

unveiled on Tuesday, during a ceremony in Bogota.

It sheds light on human rights abuses and criminal events that happened between the Colombian military and FARC rebels and it also called for

reforms in Colombia's military and governmental approach to its war on drugs.

Stefano Pozzebon is joining us live from the Colombian capital of Bogota.

What are the key takeaways from this commission's findings?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I think the main takeaway is just the sheer scale of this conflict that really attached every single

aspect of Colombian society for 58 years, spanning from 1958 when the FARC launched officially their rebel insurgency against the state.

Until 2016, which was the landmark peace agreement between the two -- between the state and the FARC. And Father Francisco Luis -- Father

Francisco de Roux -- sorry -- a Jesuit priest, who was the president of this Truth Commission yesterday, said something that left me speechless.

He said that if Colombia had to spend one minute of silence for every single victim of these conflicts, it would take 17 years to cover every

single victim. The sheer majority of more than 260,000 victims of the conflict, casualties of the conflict, people who died, were civilians.

[10:25:00]

POZZEBON: So that is why the commission calls for a radical rethinking of the way Colombia handled security, the Colombian army and military forces

are run and the way Colombia fights the war on drugs, which, of course, is a massive part of the conflict.

He said, how can we allow for 58 years to have a civil war in our nation and not change that approach?

And I think we have covered several difficult stories here in Colombia. You remember, last year, the national strike, over allegations of human rights

abuses on behalf of the Colombian police.

It's something that we know Colombia still needs to address, these ghosts of the past. But seeing it in such an emotional moment yesterday here in

Bogota on such a vast scale, it's an 800-page report.

But the commission is also presenting nine more books, nine more volumes of testimonies, of transcripts, of interviews. They have spoken with over

30,000 people to get to the bottom of what happened, really, in those 58 years of conflict.

And hopefully, now the big challenge is presented to the Colombian community, to the state, not to let such conflict happen again.

ANDERSON: Stefano, thank you.

Let's get you up to speed on other stories that our radar.

Right now in a couple of hours, a verdict is expected in the trial of 20 suspects in the November the 20th, 2015, terror attack in Paris. The

Islamist government killed 130 people in multiple attacks at the Bataclan music hall, the Stade de France sports stadium and several restaurants and

cafes.

Philippine journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa is vowing to keep her online news site, Rappler, open. She says it will appeal what is

effectively a shutdown order by the government. She has been critical of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte and his antidrug campaign.

We are expecting in the next hour to learn the sentence for disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, convicted on nine counts, including racketeering and sex

trafficking charges. U.S. federal prosecutors in New York recommend more than 25 years in prison.

For the first time, leaders from South Korea and Japan are attending NATO's annual summit. Ahead, we'll show more on what is a rare meeting between the

two countries' leaders and the U.S. President.

And in the next hour, it's time to step it up. The words of the E.U.'s energy commissioner, who is trying to make sure the continent will have

enough natural gas this winter. She'll explain why that is a herculean task.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. You are more than welcome.

Updating our top story, NATO leaders meeting in Spain announce they would strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe, as Russia's war in Ukraine shows

no sign of slowing.

U.S. President Joe Biden also taking on non European affairs. He met earlier with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to discuss the threat

from North Korea. Mr. Biden is scheduled to meet this hour with Turkiye's president.

This comes a day after Turkiye agreed to support Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO. NATO has now formally invited Finland and Sweden to

join. Initially, Turkiye was against that, saying the two countries harbored Kurdish rebels.

The change of heart may be due in part to its newest diplomatic tool, its drones. CNN's Nina dos Santos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): The Bayraktar TB2, Turkiye's most effective drone and one of its president's most assertive

foreign policy tools.

With NATO members meeting in Spain, Turkiye's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is lobbying hard to lift embargoes on Ankara's weaponry. Just as he held

out against Sweden and Finland joining the block until obtaining security guarantees at the 11th hour.

Finland had previously hinted that it would potentially buy Turkish drones if admitted to the alliance, while the U.K. might be the next to acquire

them according to Turkiye's industry minister. It's moves like these that have a revamp the image of Turkish drones. Once subject to embargoes due to

their use in contentious conflicts, including in Africa.

ULRIKE FRANKE, DRONE ANALYST: The image of drones, in general, has changed over time. There really have been these waves of moment where -- moments

where drones were seen as being negative and evil. And now indeed in Ukraine, they're seen as a really important system to be used by Ukraine

against the Russian invasion.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Turkiye's drones have become such a cult military item that they've inspired this pop song filmed on the battlefield of

Ukraine.

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The Turkish economy may be stuck in the doldrums but sales of drones have soared since the war in Ukraine started. Meaning, a boom for the drones'

maker Baykar, co-owned by Erdogan's son-in-law, which last year posted record profits.

But will Turkiye's diplomacy, as it's being called, work?

FRANKE: One of the reasons why Turkiye has started its drone program was indeed that it couldn't buy armed drones and other drones from, especially

the United States, because the United States didn't want to export them.

And then on the back of it, they'd realized, well, I can also export these systems to countries that may also not get American or Israeli or, indeed

now, Chinese systems.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): With the second largest army in NATO, Turkiye is an unlikely country to be focusing so heavily on unmanned combat. But with

drones like these for sale, one of Turkiye's priorities at NATO is putting more of them on the market -- Nina dos Santos, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: As I mentioned, the U.S. President has been holding a rare trilateral meeting with the leaders of both Japan and South Korea on the

sidelines of this NATO summit in Madrid.

President Biden says the group is deeply concerned about escalations from North Korea and that cooperating is essential to achieving

denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. This is the first time South Korea and Japan have been represented at a NATO summit.

Selina Wang standing by live in Beijing. First though to Paula Hancocks, who is in Seoul.

Tell us more about this meeting and that more Asian nations are being included in the summit.

What is the motivation behind strengthening these cross regional ties?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the fact that this trilateral meeting hasn't happened for five years is probably a point to

start at because five years ago was when tensions were particularly high on the Korean Peninsula.

When there was talk of fire and fury, when North Korea had just carried out its sixth underground nuclear test.

[10:35:00]

HANCOCKS: That was when there was this trilateral meeting. This cooperation between the U.S., Japan and South Korea was key in order to try

and deal with the threat from the nuclear and missile program of Pyongyang.

Of course, we are back at that position now, as North Korea has carried out a record number of missile tests this year. The overwhelming intelligence

assessment around the world is that number seven of the underground nuclear tests is imminent. It could come at anytime.

So this is really why it was important for this meeting to happen at this point. Now we heard from the U.S. President, saying that the cooperation is

really key. Of course, for the U.S., Japan and South Korea are home to more than 80,000 U.S. troops. They are two key allies for the United States in

this region.

They need, really, to have that cooperation in order to be able to counter the threat coming from North Korea. We heard from South Korea's relatively

new president as well, saying the importance of the cooperation between the three is growing as North Korea's missile and nuclear threats are

advancing.

A similar story from prime minister Kishida of Japan as well, saying that the cooperation was key.

Also, that if there is a nuclear test he would like to see joint drills and other things between the three. Now we have heard from North Korea earlier

this Wednesday as, well, pointing at that one joint drill between the U.S., South Korea and Japan has already been announced, to be carried out in

August.

But it is not ideal, to say the least. We've heard through state-run media, KCNA, that this military alliance is, quote, "a dangerous prelude to the

creation of an Asian version of NATO."

Now the drill that had been announced was specifically detecting and tracking ballistic missiles, something that is key in the region, something

North Korea does not want to be happening. And they have made their displeasure very well known -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Substantive stuff, thank you for that.

Let's get to Selina. These leaders also hope to address tensions with China.

Are there any signs that this meeting is making Beijing angsty?

Let's use that word, perhaps.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky not just antsy, this is making Beijing feel uneasy and threatened to see the historic presence of its

neighbors, Japan and South Korea, in attendance at this NATO summit.

NATO has also just labeled China as a challenge to its interests, securities and values. And its policy guidelines for the coming decade.

What this really reflects is this changing geopolitical landscape in which China and Russia are increasingly joining hands in opposition to the

world's democracies.

China has repeatedly refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. And it has repeatedly blamed NATO for antagonizing Russia.

In response to all of this, we have heard harsh language from Beijing about this NATO summit, about that labeling. Take a listen here; this is what

China's foreign ministry person, ministry spokesperson said.

Quote, "China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace.

"How could China be labeled a systemic challenge?

"We solemnly urge NATO to immediately stop spreading false and provocative statements against China. NATO should stop seeking to disrupt Asia and the

whole world after it has disrupted Europe."

But of course, Becky, it's not just the NATO summit that is causing this angst from Beijing. It is also the AUKUS (ph) security deal, it is the Quad

alliance, it is the harsher rhetoric that we heard out of G7.

All of this is furthering Beijing's conclusion that many see here, that the U.S. is trying to contain its rise, it's trying to suppress the influence

of the Chinese Communist Party.

But worth mentioning as well that the Asian countries in attendance at NATO this year, they are also walking a fine line because China is a key trading

partner for those countries. And China has before and can in the future use that as leverage to inflict economic pain.

Also, within the NATO member countries, there is not alignment across the board on how to deal with China. Some countries think that the focus should

squarely be on Russia and that China is outside of its immediate security priorities.

But what is clear here is that Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this new geopolitical landscape, it has added urgency for democratic allies to more

effectively coordinate, not just in responding to the threats from Russia but also now China -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Selina, thank you.

Still ahead, she came, she served but it wasn't to be. What's next for Serena Williams. Details in our sports update, up next.

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ANDERSON: If you are looking for an unforgettable location to stage a party and look good on Instagram, forget about Airbnb. The company has now

brought in a permanent ban on trashing someone else's pad.

In 2020, Airbnb included a temporary one to curb the spread of COVID with reports of parties dropping 44 percent year after year. Now it's gone for

no parties whatsoever. Policy guests who break the rules could have their accounts suspended or permanently canceled. Landlords everywhere will

breathe a sigh of relief.

(WORLD SPORT)

[11:00:00]

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