Harry and Meghan to Attend Prince Charles' Birthday Party; Journalists to Witness Dismantling of North Korean Test Site
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. It is 7 o'clock in the evening for you and we will be connecting the world for you this hour. Including connecting you to a very molten world in Hawaii. Take a look at these live pictures. Lava just gorging out of the earth. These are live pictures for you, folks. And we will get you to our reporter on the ground just shortly. Absolutely remarkable stuff. Well they are the superstar couple at the moment, royal newlyweds. Prince Harry and Meghan expected at Buckingham Palace this hour to help Harry's dad celebrate his 70th birthday. It will be the first official appearance by the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex as husband-and-wife in honor of Prince Charles. Well, like any other newlyweds this pair wanted to get straight back to work it seems after their emotional fairytale wedding in Windsor on Saturday. They captivated the U.K. and millions of viewers across the world. The Markle sparkle seems to be working its magic again on the weather, at least. Keeping the sun shining on the capital of England. CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster, joining us live from just outside Buckingham Palace in London. Have you seen the dynamic duo yet?</s>MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard a big scream as a fleet of cars went into the palace. We can assume they're here. And you talk about the Markle sparkle, we're wondering if it's something to do with the weather. Whenever she appears the sun seems to come out. Everything seems to be going her way at the moment. We're going to get the pictures in about half an hour, we think. It's not going to be live. Everyone is talking about what she's going to wear, of course. She's now this fashion icon. Everyone desperate to see how she's going to work it today in the palace. This isn't her day. This is Prince Charles's day. Although, shall be getting all of the attention, of course. This is to celebrate his 70th birthday. All the charities and patronages he's been working with over the years have been invited. Here are a few of the groups, Becky, Meghan's going to be introduced to today. This is her new life. So, she's going to be meeting the Badger Face Welsh Mountain Sheep Society, the Dry Stone Walling Association, and the Gloucestershire Root Fruits and Grain Society and the Goon Show Preservation Society. So, she has to go into these groups and, you know, engage with them, find out what they're doing. How she can help them. It's her first day really as a working royal.</s>ANDERSON: Drywalling and goon-something or other. She will feel this is terribly British, I should think. This is a garden party in Buckingham Palace, which you rightly point out, is behind you. Whilst we wait on those images from today, Max, I know that we've some images inhouse of these sketches for Meghan's dress. As our resident royal fashion expert now, you are all things tutorial will you tell us more about what you know about the dress?</s>FOSTER: Becky, you know more about the dress than I do. It's a dress. I think the fashion experts on Saturday -- she's drop in their viewers. That's what she's done here. But I'm going to go with it because I was being the fashion expert on Saturday. And they said actually it looks very traditional, but she really pushed the boundaries with it. Because you're meant to have your shoulders, as you know, Becky, covered in church and your arms. And what she did was push the barriers of that as far as possible. And actually, it is an example really of how she is trying to be herself whilst fitting into the system. And you know, Saturday she was the star of the show. But ultimately, it's a hierarchical system. The queens at the top, then it's Charles, then it's William, Dennis George, then it's Harry and even Kate is above her. So, she's finding her place and that. And it's going to be -- that's the adjustment she's got now. She's going to have to keep her place whilst expressing herself. But we saw on Saturday how actually she's been doing so brilliantly so far.</s>ANDERSON: You are absolutely right. And I wasn't dropping you in it. We did have some pictures, I promise you. You did very well as we looked at those pictures. The beautiful veil, of course, which had the flowers of the Commonwealth countries around it. We've just seen the sketch there. Max, thank you for that.</s>FOSTER: Thanks for having me.</s>ANDERSON: If the meeting happens, it happens. That's U.S. President Trump seemingly laissez-faire approach to his plan Summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The fate of which now hangs in the balance. Those inside the Trump circle are increasingly skeptical the plan talks will come to fruition. Well, in less than an hour the president of South Korea will arrive at the White House to make the case for dialogue. Last week amid harsh rhetoric, North Korea threatened to cancel the meeting. But the country does appear to be going ahead with what is being viewed as a good faith measure ahead of the two leaders sit down. Well, a small group of international journalists have been invited to witness what is the dismantling of a nuclear test site. We need to point out no inspectors or nuclear experts are expected to attend this demolition. The North by allowing the media says it is trying to ensure transparency. There are others though that say this could be a way to destroy evidence. CNN's Will Ripley, my colleague, is among those who will witness the leveling of this site in Wonsan in North Korea. Take a look at how remote the location is. There is Pyongyang, the capital. And the site is all the way up in a northeast of the country. Will's taken us along on what is his hours long journey to get there.</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, we are in Beijing about to board our flight into North Korea. We were told that were flying to Wonsan, but our tickets say Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. So, I guess we'll find out on the plane. This will be my 18th trip to North Korea, but I can already tell you it's a lot different from any trip previously. One, because were taking a charter flight in. And two, all of the press interests. We walked in the airport and we were surrounded by media who were not on this trip. As far as who is on the trip I'm counting maybe a dozen and 1/2 of us on this bus. Maybe there'll be more press inside but it's a small group to go see the -- what we're told will be the dismantlement of the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. This is something I never thought I'd see in the "Pyongyang Times." The U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shaking hands with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. And the article is overwhelmingly positive. So here we are in Wonsan. And this is the newly renovated airport. They have built this up anticipating a surge of tourism. They're building a lot of hotels along the coast. But as far as we can tell, we're the only flight today. We are the only guests here at this North Korean luxury hotel. And this is the city I visited before just under a year ago when they were launching missiles from Wonsan. Now they're building a luxury resort along the beach hoping to attract more tourists. Hoping that this country will open up. But before that happens they need to take steps towards denuclearization. And that's why we've been invited here to witness what were told will be the destruction of the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. We'll travel 12 hours or so by train. Another four-hour drive and then and hour-long hike to get to a site that no foreign journalists have ever seen before. We are told that we will witness the destruction of the site. Is it all for show? Or are the North Koreans really take substantive steps? That's why we're here on the ground trying to find out. I am will Ripley reporting in Wonsan, North Korea.</s>ANDERSON: Well that is the view then from North Korea. Our correspondent based in South Korea is CNN's Paula Hancocks. Today though she joins me from the White House after traveling with the South Korean delegation to Washington. There is a lot on the line here for Mr. Trump. Also, though for the South Korean President Moon, maybe even more so. What is his message today for the American president?</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the message is to make sure that this North Korean/U.S. Summit goes ahead. Given what's happened over the last couple of weeks we've heard both the U.S. side and the North Korean side throw doubts on whether this is even going to happen. So, President Moon Jae-in's main task is to make sure it goes ahead. He has put a lot on the line to get to this point. He had that Summit with Kim Jong-un at the end of last month. And that was to improve relations between North and South Korea. The next step is going to be this Summit on June 12th in Singapore. Whether talks, substantive talks about denuclearization actually get underway. Now we know that President Moon earlier this morning, just in the last hour or so, has met with the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, also with John Bolton, the national security advisor. And from a readout from the Blue House we heard that he had asked them to cooperate with North Korea, quote, calmly and unwaveringly. So, interesting words there that are being used. This is potentially what he's going to be trying to suggest to the U.S. President as well. To be calm when it comes to dealing with North Korea. We've had these articles from KCNA, the state-run media, and they are particularly bellicose. They're slamming the U.S. and South Korea. But that's nothing new. You can still at the same time have this diplomatic process ongoing at the same time as having these articles -- Becky.</s>ANDERSON: There is some uncertainty about what will actually happen and still whether this will happen at all. But the White House communications agency has already minted a commemorative coin for the June meeting. It shows Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un facing-off against each other under the words "peace talks." A little early possibly?</s>HANCOCKS: Yes, I was asking people here about this and they say this is what happens before there is an international trip or any trip. There is a commemorative coin that is minted. Now this particular one is raising eyebrows because, of course, it refers to Kim Jong-un as supreme leader and not dictator or other words that the U.S. President has coined for him recently. Also talking about peace talks, I mean, these haven't been billed as peace talks. These are being billed as denuclearization talks. So, this isn't something that's approved by the White House. They don't have input into the design. But it's raising a smile or two.</s>ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks is in Washington for you today. Where the time is 11:11 in the morning. Thank you. My next guest arguing President Moon overstated North Korea's willingness to deal when asking Mr. Trump to come to the negotiating table happen. But thanks to some it will probably still happen. I'm joined by Robert Kelly. He is a professor of political science at Pusan National University. And, sir, you are nothing short of skeptical about the prospects for this meeting. Should it happen at all? Why?</s>ROBERT KELLY, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, PUSAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (via Skype): Mostly because I don't think the American side is really prepared for it terribly well. Up to and including most importantly the President himself who has admitted he's not preparing for it and even more so that he doesn't feel he needs to prepare for it. That's pretty astonishing given how difficult and technical the issues are. Right? Missile technology, nuclear weapons, North Korea's, you know, Korea's complex history. And if you look at the way things have sort of swung from all over the place in the last couple of weeks it strongly suggests that the Americans haven't really nail this down. And so, you know, I've argued that we should probably postpone this for a while until the staff work can be done to make this a little bit more formalized.</s>ANDERSON: You've argued that this is all about the South Koreans effectively flattering Donald Trump with these invitations and sort of trumping up the opportunities that he might actually get. What about from the North Korean side? How well organized are they?</s>KELLY: My sense is the North Koreans probably know this still very well. Right? I mean, the North Koreans have been working on nuclear weapons for 40 years, 50 perhaps. Right? And they wanted a negotiating position with the Americans for a while. They wanted to meet an American president for decades. The North Koreans are almost certainly going to come into this ready to go. I would be very surprised if you see this level sort of disorganization on their end.</s>ANDERSON: You've tweeted today that you think Trump likely desperately wants the summit for the TV morning shows --</s>KELLY: Right.</s>ANDERSON: -- and a political win. Monday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warning North Korea could end up like Libya if Kim fails to make a nuclear deal. Let's just have a listen to that.</s>MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This will only end like the Libya model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people saw that as a threat.</s>PENCE: Well, I think it's more of a fact.</s>ANDERSON: Libya, of course, abandoned nuclear ambitions in the early 2000s, but Muammar Gadhafi was overthrown by Washington backed rebels a few years later. This type of rhetoric, do you think, helpful or hurtful at this stage?</s>KELLY: Oh, it doesn't help at all. Right? I mean, Libya is a terrible model. I don't know why the Trump administration is talking about it this way. Basically, stabbed the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi in the back by helping the Arab spring revolutionaries overthrow. And, of course, that was the reason he gave up the nuclear weapons program because we were supposed to give him a security guarantee which we dropped. You know, we cheated basically. Right? I mean, telling that to the North Koreans. I mean, North Koreans have told us in negotiations that Libya there's no reason why they're getting a weapon. Right? Because they saw what we did to Qaddafi. And they figured if they gave them up, you know, that we would launch a regime change campaign against them or something like that. And so, will be had to have the weapons. I'm actually rather astonished that that model is being thrown around at all. Because it doesn't reflect well on the American negotiation.</s>ANDERSON: I have to say when I heard it myself I shared your thoughts. I did think it was quite astonishing. Anyway, not the analogy I would have drawn. Look, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also warning North Korea's Kim Jong-un not to play Donald Trump if and when they meet next month. This was on one of the breakfast shows. I think it was Fox earlier on this morning. He probably forgotten more about North Korea than most of us will ever know. How do you think that line goes down with Kim Jong-un? Don't play the U.S. president.</s>KELLY: It is not helpful. My sense is that the North Koreans aren't really going to play the president. They're just going to walk in there with a series of demands that Trump isn't going to really understand because he's not doing the preparation. And a lot of it's going to be things that he's not really ready for and he won't want to accept. Right? Which is among other things, that most importantly that North Koreans won't give up all their nuclear weapons. They are not going to go to zero. This is something we all need to sort of get. We need to understand. And the President shouldn't be talking about this and neither should Secretary of State Pompeo. Because they raised enormous expectations and that crashed into the wall of reality this week.</s>ANDERSON: Sir, I want to have a look again at the aerial photos of the nuclear test site North Korea says it will destroy in the coming days. Our Will Ripley will witness that. A small group of international journalists has been invited to the site. We need to point out, no inspectors or nuclear experts are expected to attend that demolition. But as we look at this site from these aerial images, how significant is this move? And indeed, the site, a critical part of the program going offline or is this a PR stunt?</s>KELLY: Yes, that's actually sort of a big discussion right now. Just how sort of important is this? Right? I mean, there is a sort of argument out there that the site itself is sort of on its last legs. Right? Sort of what they call tired mountain syndrome. And that if the North Koreans do another test that the mountain could actually erupt or break, and you could have Chernobyl incident up there. What's important is to find out if the North Koreans have other major testing sites like this or not. This is why it's important that whatever deal is struck in Singapore, come with verification. You've got to get inspectors back in there. You've got a get cameras back in there. I don't know if that means the IAEA or the European Union or somebody. We've got to get somebody in there, so we have a shape and sense of what the North Korean program is like. We're not going to get the North Koreans to go to zero. That's understood. We all know that. I think it will be a big gain for the president, a big win for him, if he could get the shape of the North Korean program out of them, including this. Right? Is this all they have? Is this real or do they have other sites? And this is just for us for PR consumption.</s>ANDERSON: Robert Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University. It's a pleasure having you one, sir. Thank you for joining us.</s>KELLY: Thank you for having me.</s>ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD folks. Thank you, Still to come, tough talk from the America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo. Issues a list of demands to Iran that go far beyond its nuclear program. Saying it better change its behavior or else. Plus.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look up and watch them. Keep your eye on them. It is almost like catching a football, but you don't want to catch it.</s>ANDERSON: Let me tell you these are live pictures. I mean, this is absolutely remarkable. It's the sight of that erupting volcano in Hawaii. We're going to go there to hear about the desperate attempt to save homes.