EU Chief: China Ready to Fill U.S. "Leadership Vacuum"; Trump Keeping U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, for now.
HARLOW: All right, this morning, world leaders and a number of CEOs of big U.S. corporations are making a final plea to President Trump. Do not leave the Paris Climate accord.</s>BERMAN: It seems like these warnings, though, may be coming too late. 3:00 p.m., he's issuing an announcement from the Rose Garden where he is expected to announce the United States is pulling out of that agreement. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, live in London with really some pretty harsh world reaction. Fred?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some very harsh world reaction. I can tell you guys, especially here in Europe, every leader here on the continent and probably elsewhere in the world is watching and we'll see what happens there at 3:00 p.m. And there are some pretty harsh words for the United States and for the current White House. There are some leaders who are pleading with President Trump to stay in the Climate Agreement. Even the leader of the United Nations is saying, look, we could maybe make amendments, but we really want the U.S. to stay in. And then you have others who are threatening, like the head of the commission of the European union, who said look, you can't get out that easily, anyway. This is Jean-Claude Juncker saying, "The law is the law, and everyone must adhere to it. Not everything that is written into international agreement is fake news," he is saying. They're obviously making a reference to words that President Trump himself tends to use every once in a while. That same man, Jean-Claude Juncker, also said, look, if the U.S. wants to step off the leadership stage here as far as climate is concerned, maybe China will want to move into that vacuum. And the state would have it the Chinese prime minister is actually in Europe right now. He's meeting with the economic powerhouse here with Germany. And Angela Merkel had some pretty kind words for the Chinese. Let's listen to what she had to say.</s>ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): I first want to say that I'm pleased that China stands by the commitments laid out in the Climate Change Agreement. And especially with the visit to Brussels that follows, it will be important that the cooperation of the European Union with China in this area will play a crucial role, especially in regards to new technologies.</s>PLEITGEN: And you can really see when you follow the meetings that are going on right now between the Europeans and the Chinese, how the Chinese are really laying on the full-court press, trying to woo the Europeans to closer cooperation on especially the climate sector, also the industrial sector as well. That certainly is something that I think the U.S. is going to be watching very, very closely as well.</s>BERMAN: All right, Frederik Pleitgen for us in London following the world reaction to the climate deal. Also, some news happening just moments ago, President Trump signed a waiver that will keep the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, in Israel, for now.</s>HARLOW: Remember, as a candidate, Trump said over and over he was going to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Will you recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The answer is, yes, I would.</s>BLITZER: When? How quickly -</s>BLITZER: Fairly quickly. I mean, it's a process, but fairly quickly. I mean, the fact is, I would like to see it moved and I would like to see it in Jerusalem.</s>HARLOW: I would like to see it in Jerusalem, but now signing this waiver just minutes ago. It means that he's not going to do that, at least not right now. Our correspondent Oren Liebermann has details. This is something Netanyahu wanted to see, but it's also something that would fly in the face of trying to get a peace deal done, right?</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: And that's exactly how Trump views it. President Trump was very clear in his wording. He said he's not backing off the promise itself, only the timing of the promise, saying he'll reconsider it. But it seems Trump realizes that to move the embassy, to recognize Jerusalem's the capital of Israel right now would effectively ruin any chances he has of trying to pursue a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. And he's made it very clear that that's his goal. He was very optimistic about it even just a few months ago, but it seems in his visit to the region, Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank. He backed off some of that optimism, saying it's a very difficult deal, but still saying he'll get it done. So far, the only statement right now -- and remember, Trump just signed the waiver a matter of minutes ago. So far, the only statement has come from the White House. We haven't seen reaction yet from Israelis and Palestinians, but I very much suspect that will be coming. Here is part of what the White House had to say in making their announcement. They said "No one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the president's strong support for Israel and for the United States/Israel alliance. President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians." So, Trump making it very clear he is still very much determined to pursue some sort of renegotiation or restarting of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. John and Poppy?</s>BERMAN: All right, Oren Liebermann for us in Israel, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Joining us now is former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Edward Walker. Thank you so much for joining us, Ambassador. I don't think it's a surprise at all that the president signed this waiver today, despite the fact that he had promised to move the embassy, you know, when he became president. The statement from the White House is the question is not if that move happens but only when. But the fact it's not happening now essentially means that the U.S. policy hasn't changed. This has been the U.S. policy, you know, for several administrations, certainly, the official congressional policy for decades.</s>EDWARD WALKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO EGYPT AND ISRAEL: That's correct. We've had this policy ever since the founding of Israel. And the original reason for putting our primary diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv was security. Now, we've got another problem or two problems relating to moving the embassy to Jerusalem. One is security, because we would suddenly become the target of every ISIS nut case in the world trying to reverse that effort. The other is that we really need to take time to study this because of the reasons said by your person in London and that is going to put to an end any opportunity for any kind of an agreement in the very short-term near future. So, it's a great decision to put it off. We should applaud the president for making this decision. It's not an easy one, given his statements.</s>HARLOW: So, turning to the announcement the president's going to make this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Rose Garden about what the U.S. will do with the Paris Climate accord. All our reporting is that the U.S. is going to pull out. And therefore, it is going to be practically alone, alone certainly among developed economies when it comes to not being a part of this agreement. You've said, I have no problem with "America First," but I have concerns about America alone. Why is this America alone and what are your concerns in terms of repercussions?</s>WALKER: 147 countries that have ratified the agreement.</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>WALKER: 197 have signed it. We're going to be, along with Nicaragua and Syria, the only countries in the world that are not engaged in this process. Remember, it does not commit anybody to actual efforts. It's up to each country to make their statements as to what the results will be and then to pursue those statements. This is -- you know, I'd like to be a neutral person in diplomacy, so I'm supporting Trump on the Jerusalem thing, but I am definitely against the president in trying to walk away from our international commitments and alienating 9 percent of the world against U.S. foreign policy. It doesn't make sense and for what?</s>BERMAN: Who benefits, do you think? Because there are some people out there saying this only makes the Chinese stronger.</s>WALKER: Of course it does. The Chinese have made it very clear that they're trying to take over leadership of, at a minimum, the Asian area and probably further than that. And our walking away from the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement and our walking away from the Climate Agreement, which China has committed to continue as a leader. It's handing the process over to China and it's destroying our Asian diplomacy.</s>HARLOW: To be fair, Hillary Clinton was also going to walk away from TPP as well. But you say that this will be particularly damaging for our diplomacy with Asia and China. It's interesting that China this morning sort of reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, something Angela Merkel called a joyous moment. Why do you think that is, that China reaffirmed so quickly, even though others would argue that this might give the U.S. a competitive edge, at least on some energy fronts for some jobs against China.</s>WALKER: Yes, but China's looking at the larger global region and their role in it and they see this as another step for the United States to undercut its own ability to pursue diplomacy, to gain the strength of support among alliances and so on. We're undercutting ourselves. And as I said, you know, you start it off with the fact that Trump wants us to be "America First." I agree 100 percent. That's what a president ought to do. But we should not do it alone. And we cannot walk alone in this international climate today, particularly when we're fighting enemies such as ISIS. And so, we need support. We need support from the Europeans and we need support from the Asians. So, this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.</s>BERMAN: Ambassador Edward Walker, great to have your insight. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it, sir.</s>WALKER: You bet.</s>BERMAN: All right. Maybe as soon as next week, James Comey will testify before the Senate. What will he say? How candid will he be? A friend and former prosecutor joins us next.