[Rick Folbaum, Cnn International:] Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD, I'm Rick Folbaum at CNN center in today for Becky Anderson. And this hour we begin with breaking news. In an unexpected move, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Biarritz, France just a short time ago, the city where all of the G7 leaders have assembled for talks this weekend. Iran state media says he was invited by France and right now he is said to be meeting with his French counterpart. Iranian officials say there will be no negotiations with the U.S. and so far the U.S. is not commenting on the surprise guests. Our Senior International Correspondent, Jim Bittermann is in Biarritz and International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson is also following developments in southern France. Gentlemen, good to talk to both of you. Nic, I guess it's not technically party-crashing when you've been invited by the host but how big of a surprise is it that the Iranians have shown up there?
[Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well, it didn't seem to be a huge surprise to President Trump when he was asked a question about it but of course by then the Iranian Foreign Minister had landed in Biarritz. Would it have been a surprise for him to have found out about this last night? It really isn't clear. I mean, what is clear is that this has been held closely a closely guarded detail. We know that the Iranian Foreign Minister was meeting with President Emmanuel French President Emmanuel Macron, the host of the G7 here meeting with him on Thursday. We know that Emmanuel Macron has been pushing to ease tensions between the United States and Iran. We know that earlier today Emmanuel Macron said that at the dinner last night there was agreement between all the leaders that they didn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons and that they believed and were all in agreement that they were all concerned about tensions in the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. So but there's been some confusing mix messaging through the day since then. And that perhaps does point to this issue of how much did people know these leaders know and when did they know. At one point, it appeared as if the French President had got the backing of all the leaders to get into dialogue for the G7 with Iran. President Trump said, no that wasn't the case. And then it became clearer that Emmanuel Macron who was saying that he was speaking for himself and for the for the French nation. I think there's a lot more to learn about this but it does appear to have been something that certainly wasn't scripted and certainly wasn't expected by the people following the events here.
[Folbaum:] Nic, it's no secret that Iran is hurting from those sanctions that have been placed on them by the international community. Can the Iranians make any headway? Is that partly why they're there, try to get some relief.
[Robertson:] Oh beyond any shadow of a doubt that if Iran is here, it is because they are trying to find a way through what the United States is terming you know, tough sanctions on Iran. They've really been the United States has really been ratcheting up sanctions on Iran and pulled out of course of the joint nuclear agreement last year. And this has been financially hurting Iran. They are very keen, desperate if you like, to find a way out of this. But they're not going to do it in a face-to-face negotiation with President Trump or any American officials as best we can see. And it's into that void that President Macron has been stepping in too much it seems to the chagrin at times of President Trump. President Trump has said you know, that President Macron means well but it's really down to the United you know it's something the United States to set its policy on Iran. But it does seem that the French president is making headway here. But we don't know the details of what's being discussed between the two the French Foreign Minister and the Iranian Foreign Minister at the moment. We perhaps that perhaps will become clear later. But undoubtedly it is that economic pressure on Iran that leads Iran to try to find a way out of that pressure.
[Folbaum:] Jim, you covered these global summits for a long time. Can you remember any other occasion when such a controversial player has shown up unannounced?
[Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] I can't say I do, Rick. To tell you the truth, I should have probably been a little bit more wary. I traveled down here in the same plane as a top French diplomat, and he told me on the plane, he said be prepared for surprises and at that point, I must say that expectations for this summit was somewhat lower. And I surprises from our president. He said, you wait and see. So he might have had some inkling that this was all going to happen. And we did see as Nic just pointed out, we did see the Iranian Foreign Minister in Paris earlier in the week. And so it may have all been set up at that point. Now, one of the things that should be said here is that if it is the case that that Macron has pulled us off to surprise for the Americans, this will be yet another one of these opportunities that Macron doesn't seem to miss in order to one-up the American president. He's done it several times in the past. He did it at lunch at the opening lunch that they had as the summit was even before the summit was about to open. So once again, it looks like methanol may have pulled off a surprise here on the Americans. Whether or not the Iranian will speak to the Americans, the Iranian Foreign Ministry, he says, no. But he's clearly speaking right now to the French. So that's going to be something that we'll have to watch and see how this comes out. The Europeans, it should be said, are very much in favor of de- escalating the conflict with Iran. They believe the JPCOA, the nuclear dustbin, a nuclear development treaty that was signed with Iran, was being respected by Iran, and that the sanctions of the U.S. imposed shouldn't have been imposed, and they've been fighting against that for some time now. So and it should be also I suppose be said that the French do a great deal of business with Iran so that's part of the that's probably another factor in the equation here. But yes, this is a real surprise. Rick.
[Folbaum:] So the Iranians sort of sort of stealing the headlines there in France. But Jim, I'm wondering if you could touch on briefly some of the other storylines that you've been following during this G7.
[Bittermann:] Well, the big issue here, no question about it up until this moment has been trade. Basically, the whole idea of Donald Trump's trade war with China, how that's affecting world economies, and all of the leaders other than Mr. Trump have been saying that that's an escalating battle with China is not something that the world needs right now as the economies are slowing down everywhere. And at breakfast this morning, it's appeared perhaps like Mr. Trump had heard the message or at least taken on board. He said he was asking do you have second thoughts about this trade war with China? He said I have second thoughts about everything. Now, that doesn't say too much but in fact, they've all been working on the American President here I think quite vociferously, trying to get him to deescalate the trade battle that's going on with China because it's having an impact everywhere, Rick.
[Folbaum:] Jim Bittermann and Nic Robertson, gentlemen, thanks very much. A little excitement there at the G7 Summit, we appreciate your insight and reporting. Let's dive into one of the issues weighing heavily on Mr. Trump during this G7 Summit not to do with Iran, but instead, Mr. Trump's quest to write what he describes as horrible trade deals and his top priority is China. Jim was just talking about that. That squabble has really developed into a full-blown trade war with the latest escalation sending U.S. markets plunging on Friday. Mr. Trump giving his take earlier in France. Take a listen.
[Unidentified Female:] Mr. President, are your allies pressuring you about the trade war with China?
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] No, not at all. I think they respect the trade war. It has to happen.
[Unidentified Female:] Are having second thoughts on escalating trade war with China?
[Trump:] Yes, sure, why not.
[Unidentified Female:] Second thoughts yes.
[Trump:] Might as well might as well
[Unidentified Male:] Do you have second thoughts about escalating trade war with China?
[Trump:] I have second thoughts about everything.
[Unidentified Male:] Are you concerned about how the market is reacting?
[Trump:] No, the market is doing great, our country is doing great.
[Folbaum:] The White House now trying to spin those second thoughts, comments, saying that Mr. Trump didn't hear the question and that his second thoughts were actually about whether to raise the tariffs even higher. Joining us now to talk about all of this, CNN Political Analyst, friend of the show Julian Zelizer. Julian, always good to talk to you. And let's start off with the U.S. President's assertion and he really has been talking about this since his campaign that the United States has been taken advantage of in trade deals for years. Let's just start off with that premise. Is he right? Has the U.S. historically gotten the short end of the stick?
[Julian Zelizer, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, I think he has many people who agree with him. There's many people in the business community before President Trump came into office who have been complaining about trade practices, who have been unhappy with the way that China handles policies, and so that's one issue. The second issue is how President Trump is handling this and the way in which he is using the tariffs and threats of tariffs to try to obtain leverage.
[Folbaum:] So Mr. Trump's book when he was a civilian before he assumed the presidency was called the Art of the Deal. Is he showing the business acumen that led to a lot of Americans voting for him in 2016?
[Zelizer:] Well, his business acumen is not clear. He's had a lot of failures in business and so we have to remember that is a big part of his record. But being president is different than being a business person. And when you raise a threat against another country, it has quick ramifications, it can affect the stock market, it can affect the way workers are suffering here in the U.S. and it can undermine international relations. So there's not many people who are very pleased right now in either party with the way in which he is using this as a way to get leverage on China.
[Folbaum:] You mentioned the markets and part of what's spooking the markets is the President's tweet last week that he was ordering U.S. companies to leave China. It's something that he insists he has the right to do constitutionally speaking, tweeting at critics that the emergency economic Powers Act of 1977 actually grants him that presidential power. But does it? Can h order U.S. companies to stop doing business with China?
[Zelizer:] Well, that's a very liberal interpretation of the 1977 legislation which was really intended for countries that were in some kind of more immediate conflict with the United States and it has not been used for tariffs. That said, presidential power has expanded greatly since the 70s. Presidents have used that law in all sorts of ways. So I think some of his critics might be surprised that he has more leeway than they think if he really wants to go to this place. But he will have a lot of criticism including from business, from conservatives who don't want a Republican president tampering with business decisions this way.
[Folbaum:] The U.S. presidents are often identified by their overall sort of approach to foreign policy running themes or doctrines as professors call them the Truman Doctrine, the Nixon Doctrine etcetera. What is your sense now of what the Trump doctrine looks like?
[Zelizer:] Well, it's still an America first doctrine. It's what the United States best interests our guide policy. This is a president who is not very comfortable or interested in international relations and international alliances and he's more interested in bilateral agreements as we're seen at the G7. But if there's one word for me that characterizes his approach, it's chaos. It's to create ongoing chaos to sow confusion and to try to use that to the advantage of the United States and to his administration, not clear that's working at all but I think that's how he thinks of foreign policy.
[Folbaum:] Finally, Julian, we got word this morning that another Republican has decided to enter the race to perhaps win away the Republican nomination from Donald Trump in 2020. We know that Bill Weld the former Republican moderate governor of the State of Massachusetts has announced that he's running and now Joe Walsh who was a former congressman and now a radio talk-show host, a former Trump supporter who is now apologizing for his support for President Trump, he says he's going to run too. Do you expect to see more moderate Republicans or anti-Trump Republicans joining this race?
[Zelizer:] The odds are still very low. Major Republican voices in the party have not been interested in challenging the president, and just the opposite, they've lined up behind him. And anyone who is going to do this realizes the president will come after them. There'll be a cost. So I'm not sure any Republicans are going to take that step. The major ones like John Kasich of Ohio, those would be the people who could actually challenge him and so far they have not wanted to enter the race.
[Folbaum:] Julian, thank you. Julian Zelizer joining us from New York today. Great to talk to you. Thanks very much.
[Zelizer:] Thank you.
[Folbaum:] As the G7 leaders meet in France, Russia and North Korea flexing their muscles. Both touted weapons tests Saturday. Moscow says it fired two ballistic missiles from submarines in the Arctic Ocean as part of combat while Pyongyang claims to have tested what it calls a super large multiple rocket launcher. State media released these images of Kim Jong-un supervising Saturday's test which the U.S. believes was another short-range missile launch. U.S. President Trump says that he's not happy about the North Korean launches but claims that they do not violate any agreements. And still, to come, Israel says it hit Iranian and Shiite militia targets inside Syria, but Iran denies its positions were hit. The evidence Israel is providing and the attack it says it foiled. Plus smoldering embers bear branches, this is all that remains in parts of the Amazon. The rainforest is burning at its fastest rate in years. World leaders say something must be done. Also, two years on from what rights groups have called crimes against humanity, refugees in Bangladesh camps holding peaceful rallies demanding rights from the country that drove them out.