Historic summit in the Koreas, denuclearization, economic development and diplomacy; Deadline set for Kavanaugh's accuser; E.U. leaders meet in Austria; New corruption charges for former PM of Malaysia; Former Pakistan prime minister released from prison
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." A fitting end, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un wrap up a three-day summit by visiting one of the most important sites on the Korean Peninsula. The partisan lines deepen. U.S. Republicans set a deadline for the accuser of Supreme Court nominee of Brett Kavanaugh to decide if she will testify. And Maria one year on. CNN looks at the day in day out struggle of people in Puerto Rico still face in the aftermath of that deadly hurricane. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is offering some encouraging words following that three-day summit with his North Korean counterpart. Speaking at a press conference in Seoul earlier in the day, Mr. Moon said that Kim Jong-un gave specific details regarding the denuclearization of North Korea and said he wants to focus on economic development. Mr. Moon said he hopes for further diplomacy.</s>MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through translator): Chairman Kim, in order to expedite the process of denuclearization, will pursue the visit of Secretary of State Pompeo, and he has expressed his desire to meet with President Trump to hold a second U.S./North Korea summit.</s>LU STOTU: Joining me now is CNN's Will Ripley. And Will, you know, the latest inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in North Korea, it literally reached a peak today at this Mount Paektu. What is the significance of that site and what is the significance of this moment for North and South Korea?</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, there really couldn't be a more apt place to end a three-day summit that many called a breakthrough than the most important summit for the Korean people, North and South. Mount Paektu is near the border with China and it is revered by all Koreans as a place of deep spiritual significance. I have spoken with so many South Koreans who haves said they would love to go visit there but they have not been able to for a number of years. It is illegal currently for them to travel there. Perhaps that may be changing as a result of what unfolded on the Korean Peninsula.</s>RIPLEY (voice-over): When South Koreans sing their national anthem, they sing about Mount Paektu. It's the very first line, until the mountain crumbles, the song goes, God will protect their country. But Mount Paektu isn't in their country, it's in North Korea. A place illegal to visit for most South Koreans who can only hope to see it from the Chinese border. That may be about to change. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, standing together at a place deeply symbolic to both North and South Korea, countries technically at war since before either leader was born. The symbolic value of ending three days of peace meetings here cannot be understated. This active volcano is Korea's spiritual home. If the North and South were still fighting over any place, it would likely be this place.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Mount Paektu is the soul of Korea's revolution, the spirit of our people and our pride. We are members of the great country of Paektu.</s>RIPLEY (voice-over): I learned what Mount Paektu means to Koreans when I traveled there last year. All around me were pilgrims. Kim Jong-un's people are told the water is holy. Its caldera is Heaven Lake, the centerpiece of a spectacular summit, a symbol of the nation's spirit and strength. In April, Moon Jae-in took one small step over the military demarcation line, hand in hand with Kim Jong-un. Now, Moon found himself standing in a place that would have been impossible to visit just months ago, adding a new moment to the mythology of Mount Paektu.</s>LU STOUT: Yes, and that meeting could pave the way to more talks, but you've got to say, wow. Just the mood, the tone struck as a result of the three-day summit, a world apart from the tensions of last year. Will Ripley reporting live for us. As always, thank you. Turning now to Washington, and Republicans, they have set a Friday deadline for Brett Kavanaugh's accuser to decide if she will testify against the Supreme Court nominee. So far, the Senate Judiciary Committee has received no communication from Christine Blasey Ford or her attorney about that deadline. The Democrats say the committee is rushing the entire process. CNN's Abby Phillip joins me now from the White House. An Abby, the Democrats, we know they want to put a delay on this. You know, the Republicans, they're trying to push this hearing through. Where do we stand right now?</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. Chairman Chuck Grassley is refusing to budge on his timeline and he is upping the pressure on Ford saying that she has until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to make up her mind about whether or not she's willing to testify. He is also saying that Democrats are not helping with the investigation into the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh.</s>PHILLIP (voice-over): Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley setting an ultimatum for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, telling Democrats that Ford and her lawyer have until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to let the committee know whether she will testify at a hearing Monday about her sexual assault allegations, claims Kavanaugh denies.</s>SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY, CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I'm not worried about anything other than just focusing for the next few days on encouraging her to come.</s>PHILLIP: Grassley rejecting ford's call for an FBI investigation, but giving her the option of a public or private hearing and offering to send his staff to California to speak with her directly. Ford's attorneys' responding in a statement to the media, writing, "The Committee's stated plan to move forward with a hearing that has only two witnesses is not a fair or good faith investigation. The rush to a hearing is unnecessary, and contrary to the Committee discovering the truth." Ford's lawyers also reiterating that ford needs time to deal with ongoing threats.</s>LISA BANKS, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD: She has been dealing with hate mail, harassment, death threats. So she's been spending her time trying to figure out how to put her life back together, how to protect herself and her family.</s>PHILLIP: Sources tell CNN that if Professor Ford chooses not to testify, the hearing will likely be scrapped. And a confirmation vote could occur next week. President Trump growing more vocal in his defense of Kavanaugh.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESDINT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is such an outstanding man. Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.</s>PHILLIP: But also encouraging Ford to testify.</s>TRUMP: If she shows up, that would be wonderful. If she doesn't show up, that would be unfortunate.</s>PHILLIP: Ford's resistance prompting skepticism from some Republicans who had initially called for a hearing.</s>SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I don't think she can reject having made all of these serious allegations, I don't think that she can reject all those options. I think it's not fair to Judge Kavanaugh for her not to come forward and testify. Both of them need to testify under oath.</s>PHILLIP: Democrats accusing Republicans of trying to rush Kavanaugh's confirmation before the midterm elections.</s>SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Leader McConnell delayed the filling of Justice Scalia's seat for 10 months and now they're saying we can't take an additional few weeks to get to the truth at a very serious allegation. What hypocrisy.</s>PHILLIP: And throwing their support behind Ford's request for an investigation.</s>SEN. DOUG JONES (D), ALABAMA: Dr. Ford is being reasonable. I think she needs to have the respect of the committee to let this play out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's being bullied by this committee. It's outrageous.</s>PHILLIP (on camera): And there has been a lot of talk in recent days about whether the FBI should investigate these claims. People have cited the fact that the FBI did investigate Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas back in 1991. But Republicans are saying that this is a different circumstance. That FBI investigation happened before Anita Hill's name was made public and that investigation was carried out in a confidential manner. They say now that these allegations are public the Senate should take the lead.</s>LU STOUT: And Abby, I just want to get your thoughts on those, you know, interesting comments from Donald Trump earlier about the Kavanaugh accuser. Donald trump saying, you know, if she shows up and makes a credible showing and we'll have to make a decision, you know. Abby, I want to get your thoughts on that. Is President Trump hedging here on Kavanaugh's future?</s>PHILLIP: Well, I don't necessarily think we should read this as the president hedging, but more that he's leading into what the White House believes is their advantage in this case. They think that if they can put the two individuals side by side in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, they can make this into a he said/she said case that will make it easier for Republicans to vote in Kavanaugh's favor. Now, the president has been reiterating he wants to hear Kavanaugh's accuser testify. He wants to see if she is credible, but I think it's because the White House believes that at the end of the day it's not going to change many people's minds and it's not going to make a definitive case either for or against her allegations. The White House and the president want to move this forward as quickly as possible and they actually think that this is the best way to do it.</s>LU STOTU: Got it. Abby Phillip, reporting live from the White House. Thank you. French President Emmanuel Macron has called on European leaders to stay united ahead of crunch Brexit talks. E.U. leaders, they are in Salzburg, Austria where the British Prime Minister Theresa May is trying to raise support for her withdrawal proposals. There are several big obstacles thrown in the way of a divorce agreement, how to manage the border between Ireland and the U.K. That is proving to be one of the toughest to overcome. Now, let's break down this issue for you. A key part of the Good Friday Agreement was an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It's also the only land bordered between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Both sides have agreed to avoid a hard border, which would breach the Good Friday Agreement and could become a target for militants. But, there has been no agreement on what should take its place. Now, leaders have just 190 days to come up with a solution. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us live from Salzburg with more. And Hadas, let's talk about the border issue. Now, we know that's a major sticking point in these talks. How can European leaders cross this hurdle?</s>HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, that's exactly right. That is the major sticking point and one that's been really the top theme of the last 24 hours since the leaders arrived here in Salzburg yesterday. Last night at dinner, Theresa May, the prime minister of the U.K. tried to make the case to her fellow leaders saying that her plan, the checkers plan, was the only way forward because she says it's the only plan that avoids the hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. But it's very clear that on the other side, there is also a feeling that there needs to be more work done. The European Council President Donald Tusk said yesterday that the U.K.'s plan for the Irish border needs to be reworked. Just this morning though, Irish officials were saying that they are willing to look at new ways to sort of work this out. A lot of this goes down to the details of what exactly that border will look like and who will do the border checks? How would it all work out? But we haven't really heard any specifics coming out of this summit so far and it's very clear that there is still a huge difference. I mean, just a few minutes ago, Donald Tusk, the European Council president posted on Instagram a picture of Theresa May and himself going for some cake and the comments said something along the lines would you like some cake but no cherries. That's going along with the phrase of that Theresa May has been accused of cherry picking what she wants out of this deal. But right now the leaders have just wrapped up a meeting, all the leaders except for Theresa May. And in a few minutes we should be hearing from Donald Tusk and some of the other European leaders on what came out of that meeting, if anything, but to be clear, this is an informal summit. We're not going to get any official declaration. That probably won't come until October when the next formal summit takes place.</s>LU STOUT: Got it. An informal summit, a lot of discussions underway. Is anyone just floating the idea in talking about, you know, the U.K. holding a second Brexit referendum? Is this something a number of E.U. leaders would actually like to see?</s>GOLD: We heard from two prime ministers today, for example, Malta saying that they would like and they would hope for a second referendum. But Theresa May last night speaking to reporters outside of that dinner, she shut that down. She said that they are under her watch. There would never be a second referendum. She said that it would cast doubt into the political process of the U.K. and it would take them back to square one in this entire process. And she urged the leaders, labor leaders in the U.K. and the other politicians who are pushing for this to let it go. She said it's not helpful. So it seems unlikely that as long as Theresa May is in power that there will be another referendum. It seems sort of wishful thinking. A lot of the leaders here are just pushing forward on Brexit as it stands, but the hard thing is that we just don't know, we don't have a deal yet.</s>LU STOUT: Yes. Hadas Gold, reporting live from Salzburg, Austria. Thank you. Now in Malaysia, former prime minister, Najib Razak, has been hit with 25 more corruption and money laundering charges. Officials say more than $600 million linked to the country's 1MDB state fund were transferred into Najib's personal accounts. Najib pleaded not guilty to each of the offenses in court earlier. The former prime minister was arrested again on Wednesday in connection with the 1MDB scandal, allegations that Najib and others looted the fund that was a major contributor to his election loss in May. Turning to another embattled former head of state. The former Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif is a free man for now. A high court in the country ordered Sharif's release from prison, suspending a 10-year prison sentence for corruption that had been handed down in July. His supporters celebrated by showering his car with flower petals. Mr. Sharif's daughter and son-in-law were also released. They were each ordered to pay $5,000 bail. The three were arrested on corruption charges related to some properties the family bought overseas. You're watching "News Stream." Still ahead, millions left in the dark for months. A death toll that dwarfed initial estimates and some communities still cutoff from desperately needed services. How Puerto Rico has struggled to rebuild in the year since hurricane Maria.