to save 30% on all the medications we carry. so go directly to petmeds.com now. no deal in sight. trade talks are stalled between the u.s. and china, while president trump starts the process for even more tariffs. the u.s. sends more military power to the middle east, to counter alleged iranian threats. >> and a u.k. teenager survives from a genetically modified virus. not the right pictures. but the report is worth it, trust me. from the cnn center in

atlanta, it's great to have you with us. u.s. president trump gets tough on the world stage. we're waiting to see if it will pan out. first up, china. in the middle east, the u.s. has deployed patriot missiles to the region, citing threats from iran. let's begin with china and the threat of a trade war. less than 24 hours after hiking u.s. tariffs on $200 billion north of chinese imports, the administration says it is going to levee duties on everything else that is labeled made in china. all-told, that is $500 billion of merchandise a year.

some issues are not up for discussion. >> translator: at present, both sides have reached consensus in many aspects. but frankly speaking, differences still exist. we think these differences are crucial issues recording our principle. every country has its principle. and we will make no concessions on matters of principle. >> beijing has promised countermeasures but hasn't said what, how or when. we get more from matt rivers. >> reporter: now that the united states has increased tariffs on 2 billion imports from china. it's not if, but how and when china will retaliate. they said they will retaliate. we're waiting to see how beijing

responds. in this trade war, they've announced their intentions in short order. we expect to hear details from china soon. in terms of looking ahead, what might they do, there's a couple of obvious things that stand out as possibilities. no guarantees this is what they're going to do but it's in the range of possibilities. by broadening tariffs, covering all american imports. china has put tariffs on most american products but not all. they could expand that list. and they could raise the rates, like the u.s. did, going from 10% to 15% or 20%. they could look at market access. if you're a pharmaceutical company and you want to get a product licensed, here in china,

beijing could say we're not going to give licenses to american companies. and america ships a lot of soybeans to china each year. or they did. china put restrictions up. china actually eased the restrictions in a sign of good faith and negotiations. what happens if china decides to say we're not going to buy american soybeans again? that hurts american farmers in the heartland of the united states. these are all possibilities. they will try to hurt u.s. companies and the economy. they're not going to take the tariff hikes in the u.s. lying down. matt rivers, cnn, china. earlier, i spoke about all this with peter lewis. he's a hong kong-based business consultant. he says beijing cannot agree to

certain american demands without undermining chinese sovereignty. >> president xi thought there was a 50/50 chance of reaching an agreement, even before this . i think the big thing for the markets is donald trump doesn't see any urgency in reviving the trade war. >> i want to ask you about that. president trump says the u.s. is negotiating from a position of strength. and whatever happens now will be beneficial to the u.s. he says tariffs will bring in more wealth to our country than the phenomenal deal of the traditional kind would. he's saying it's win-win for americans. either they get a good trade deal or they get money from tariffs. is that how it works? >> no. that's not how it works. and it's a fundamental

misunderstanding of who is paying for these tariffs. the people that are paying are companies that import goods from china. they have to pay the tariffs to the commerce department and to the u.s. treasury. when tariffs were 10%, a lot of the companies have absorbed the costs themselves. the more than doubling of tariffs make it difficult to do that. and the chances are they have to pass the costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices. that would affect u.s. consumers. and it could be inflationary for the u.s. economy, as well. it's not a win-win situation. there's issues of economic sovereignty for china. they don't want to be in a position where the u.s. dictates

policy for china. and the things that donald trump are asking for are things that are impossible to agree to. he wants china to make changes to its laws and economic and industrial practices. things like reducing economics. so, if it were to reduce support for state-owned intervise prizes, it would reduce the government's control over the economy and weaken the party's authority. it will be very difficult for china to agree to those things. >> peter lewis speaking to me earlier. there's a growing dispute with the u.s., this one with iran. the pentagon says iran is dep y

deployideplo deploying patriot misseses to the middle east. the u.s. insists it doesn't want war. and it gave the swiss a phone number that iran can use to call president trump. barbara starr has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: one week after the pentagon decided to send an aircraft carrier and b-52 bombers to the persian golf, also sending patriot missiles in rising tensions with iran. those missiles can go against ballistic or cruise missilesing. and the concern is that the iranians are threatening those things. iranian rhetoric is very high and there's no sign that the iranians are backing away. the u.s. is very concerned that iranian boats in the persian gulf have missiles onboard that could be used against u.s. forces. there's a warning to commercial

shipping in the persian gulf to be very aware of what is going on. a lot of concern that the iranians are not backing off. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. in the face of all of the other crises, the u.s. president is downplaying north korea's missile tests. on friday, president trump told politico he didn't consider the short-range missile launch thursday to be a breach of trust by north korea's leader. he called it very standard stuff. and the u.s. representative for north korea says the door for talks is still open. paula hancocks is monitoring this. the u.s. is choosing to ignore north korea's provocations. >> they're downplaying what they see as standard according to the u.s. president donald trump. that's a different line to the one he was taking when things were going well with north

korea. he did continually say as long as north korea is not testing missiles or nuclear capabilities, that's okay. there are many that wanted more than that. but north korea is testing missiles and the u.s. president has changed his line. very standard stuff. he is right. it isn't a breach of trust when it comes to the moratorium from north korea. he said he would stop the intercontinental ballistic missile tests. these are the long-range ones that can potentially hit mainland united states. the shorter-range ones don't be concerning washington too much at all. president trump mentioned a day earlier that no one is happy about this. when it comes to the region, this is a concern. these are the missiles that could be a threat to south

korea, and to about 28,500 troops that are stationed here. >> if north korea is trying to send a message to the united states with the muscle launches and the u.s. says it's standard and no big deal, doesn't that, in some way, insent wise north korea to ratchet up tensions further to get its message across? >> potentially. there's many experts who are convinced this is not the last missile test we'll see from north korea. and potentially they could increase the range or the technicality of the missile launches. we've been hearing from the south korean president, saying this is north korea reacting to the hanoi summit, the summit that had no agreement.

it's north korea showing discontent but not going so far to derail the talks completely. some feel that north korea is showing frustration with the process but not showing that washington would have to give a stronger reaction. but the question is, how do you get both sides to go back to the negotiating table? you have north korea carrying out launches and the u.s. president saying it's standard. >> thank you very much. we know that donald trump is quick to comment on just about anything. but the former white house counsel is not so keen to talk, even if the president wants him to. four times she came for him, they said. and the last time, they told me, we'll come here to kill him if we see trouble again. >> a crackdown on venezuelan protesters. some are detaped.

some are forced to seek sanctuary. and more rallies on the horizon. [♪] check your credit scores for free and learn how to improve them at creditkarma. here's to progress.

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donald trump's personal lawyer says he is not traveling to ukraine after all. rudy giuliani had planned to push ukraine to investigate democratic candidate joe biden and look into biden's call in 2016 to have a ukrainian prosecutor removed. that prosecutor was investigating a natural gas company connected to biden's son. but by friday night giuliani called off the trip. >> i'm not going to the ukraine. >> you're not going to go? >> i think i'm talking into a group of people that are enemies of the united states. some enemies of the united states. and one person who was involved with the democrats in the 2016 election. >> it is not clear who giuliani

was talking about there. earlier this week, treasury secretary steve mnuchin refused to turn over six years of tax returns per the house request. they have until next friday to comply. mr. trump says he can't release them because he says he's under audit, even though being under audit doesn't preclude him from releasing them. sources say former white house counsel don mcgahn was asked to publicly state that president trump did not obstruct justice. he declined. "the new york times" said it happened twice in the past month. according to the mueller report, he resigned when he was told to fire the special counsel. but mr. trump says that didn't happen. >> i never told don mcgahn to

fire mueller. if i wanted to fire mueller, i would have done it myself. >> so, melanie, has the white house actually done anything wrong here? >> that's a really great question. >> i would say when it comes to asking mcgahn to deny this publicly, it doesn't do anything illegal. but it doesn't look good for the administration. and democrats want him to answer to this. it will be a top priority for democrats going forward. now, they will have a new line of questioning. what did the president ask you to do? and there's a long pattern in history in this mueller report, of the president to step in and try to have influence over the probe. >> two things here. mcgahn has declined to cooperate

with the congressional subpoena he's received. he's doing what the white house is asking him to do and not transfer i transferring documents to congress. to that extent he is cooperating with the white house. secondly, what mcgahn thinks of obstruction of justice, doesn't carry legal weight. >> that's right. wh he says about obstruction of justice, it might not hold with a lot of democrats. but there's a lot of ex-d.o.j. prosecutors who say we think the president may have obstructed justice here. but the democrats want to hear from him. don mcgahn has emerged as a central figure in this probe. but is he going to show up to a hearing? we don't know. just like he was told not to

apply the documents. >> he is the name that mueller relies on the most, as far as interviewees. and mcgahn was part of the grayer areas, more troublesome areas of the obstruction probe because the president asked him to fire mueller and the president only backed down once mcgahn declined to do so. my question is, mcgahn told investigators he didn't believe that donald trump obstructed justice. doesn't it make sense that they want to have that publicly? >> i think they would like to have that. but this shows the great lengths that the administration was going through that didn't come out. and the white house had a copy of the mueller report, before the rest of the congress. they were trying to use that to their political advantage. they were trying to get ahead of the narrative, blunt any criticisms that would have come out. and to your point, there's an

understanding that if don mcgahn had said this, why it wasn't included. at tend of the day, william barr said he didn't believe there was any obstruction. >> and the white house has its hands full at the moment. congress subpoenaed the treasury secretary and the irs to obtain six years of the president's tax returns. he's not handing over documents. he's instructed others not to hand over documents. where do you see that going? >> i don't see the treasury or the irs to comply at this point. they have until friday. it's possible they could seek some resolution. we saw that with the justice department and the judiciary committee. they tried to come to a resolution on their subpoena for the full mueller report. they failed to. i think we're headed to a contempt citation proceeding for

the treasury secretary or the ifrs commission irs commissioner. the congress doesn't have much power to force contempt. they could take years to resolve. and it could drag into 2020 and beyond that. >> that's interesting. you get a gray area when there's a rule. but they don't have the power to enforce that rule. thanks for joining me. in cuba, now, a shortage of basics appears to be getting worse. the cuban government has announced the rationing of items that are hard to come by. chicken, eggs, sausage and cleaning products. the government blames it on the u.s. the trump administration has taken a hard stance of cuban support from president nicolas maduro. the supply of oil from venezuela and cuba is being affected. venezuela has beraraced for

more anti-government rallies. the government has stripped assembly members of immunity. some have taken refuge in embassies, fearing arrest. but regulators aren't the only ones being targeted. >> reporter: from hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets in january, to tens of thousands weeks later -- to just hundreds now. this is the maduro government's definition of success. >> the most important capital that the regime has is repression. political repression. >> the world catwatched as a st message was sent to protesters. human rights activists say they're being backed up by an

unprecedented police crackdown. maria says police would not stop harassing her son, detaining him, warning him to never take to the streets again. four times they came for him, she says. and the last time, they told me, we'll come to kill him if we see any trouble again. fearing for his life, her son escape ed venezuela, looking fo asylum in another country. she only speaks to him by phone. in venezuela, he was no longer safe. the last time they had him, she tells me, i kept thinking, don't kill him. she says protesters aren't tired or hopeless but scared. stories like jorge's have been common in neighborhoods like this.

this s.w.a.t. force has taken up residence in areas recent weeks. a reminder they are watching. and president maduro warns that traitors will not go unpunished and justice will be served. in the days following the uprising, we saw national investigators collecting evidence on protesters and damage. >> they always recognize us. >> and human rights groups claim there's a revolving door of prisoners who are tortured and interrogated at police centers. >> ask yourself, if you're a poor person, you practiced and you're being taken to that place, of course, your neighbor, your friend, your family member will never protest again.

at risk now, geico's operation freedom, and the opposition leader may lack the power he says he needs to overthrow maduro. american consumers could soon be paying the price for new u.s. tariffs on chinese imports. items like shoes, clothing, appliances and more costing more at the checkout. we'll explain why after the break. and france carries out a hostage rescue in west africa but loses two soldiers in the operation. we'll have that story, as well. what if i wielded the power of i could bend reality to my will, with a snap of my fingers!

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welcome back to the cnn center. let's look at your headlines this hour. a new revelation about white house efforts to control the fallout from the mueller report. sources say don mcgahn was asked to state that president trump did not obstruct justice and he declined. "the new york times" says it happened twice in the last month. the pentagon is sending patriot missiles to the middle east. this is after they sent a carrier strike group to the region. and switzerland has been given a phone number that iran can use to call president trump. a migrant boat sank off of the coast of tunisia. the boat was heading to italy from libya. the u.n. warns that route is getting more danger woous with

person dying with every three that make it to europe. the u.s. is moving forward with a tariff on all of chinese imparts after trade talks failed to reach a deal. tariffs rose on 2$200 billion. now, the administration is moving to levee tariffs on the remaining products. if the proposed new tariffs go through, it will mostly be the american consumer who ends up feeling it. u.s. shoppers can expect prices to go up for just about anything marked made in china, including things that americans buy every day. >> reporter: despite handshakes between team trump and the trade delegate, trade talks have stalled. no deal on the horizon. and no sign of president trump giving an inch on the 25% tariff he's launched on chinese goods.

>> i think that tariffs for our country are powerful. we're the piggy bank that everybody steals from, including china. >> reporter: but american consumers could feel a greater impact if the american demand of consumer products. jacking up prices on smartphones, computers, fitness trackers and much more. the average cost for the average family of four is close to $800. what could drive it? three-quarters of the toys bought in the u.s., are made in china, including these hugely popular dolls. 90% of chinesemade footwear, including clothing from nike. last year, they steered away from consumer goods and focused

on industrial items. those costs were passed on by american companies. >> american consumers are paying. it's a stealth tax. it will be an obvious tax not too far from now, if this continues. >> the major markets are showing unease. economists say both countries could see their economies slow down and close to 1 million american jobs might be lost. still, the president has long assists that china is cheating the u.s. he is convinced that china will blink first. tweeting, tariffs will make our country much stronger, not weaker. just sit back and watch. the treasury secretary has called the talks constructive. but that doesn't tell us how

long the impasse may last or how far the impact may reach. reports say the syrian government, backed by russian air power is closing in on the last rebel stronghold in the country. a u.s.-based group says 13 health facilities have been hit. and doctors without borders warns the humanitarian crisis is growing out of control. the u.n. reports that 150,000 people have fled the province since the end of april. water is scarce and people are struggling to find shelter and necessities. the french military has carried out a daring rescue with the help of u.s. intelligence. they freed four hostages, four french men, and two soldiers were killed during the raid. here's melissa bell with the

details. >> reporter: tributes have been pouring in to the french servicemen and women involved for the rescue that allowed for the rescue of four western hostages. two french citizens, who have been missing since may 1st, when they vanished. the two teachers vanished from a trip and had been actively being searched for. they were located thanks to help partly from american intelligence. the american military weren't directly involved in the operation, that intelligence was crucial. what the french involved in the operation had not anticipated when hay got to the camp where the hostages were being held, but that two others would be in the group, one american and one south korean, who have also been rescued. we understand that the group of hostagetakers was on its way to mali, a country famous for the

terror networks that operation there. some are affiliated to al qaeda, and others to the united states. president macron will be outside of paris to welcome home the hostages. we know less about when the american former hostage will be heading home. we know less, also, about the hostages' identities. sadly, of course, in that operation, two french marines lost their lives. the french authorities say it was an operation that was incredibly complex. melissa bell, cnn, paris. a nigerian militia has released about 900 children who were used as soldiers. here's some of the children at a ceremony with unicef officials. they were recruited to fight with boca haram. in nigeria, children had been

used in conflict for years. david mckenzie has more from johannesburg. >> it's seen as a victory for child rights in nigeria, almost 900 soldiers have been released by the civilian joint task force. the youngest of them, 13 years ole. no chance of a real childhood. they were taken by the communities of this group that is fighting ba ining boca haram. the use of child soldiers seeing as a stain on them and the nigerian military, with whom they work closely. boca haram is the worst offender when it comes to child rights. sending the boys out to fight and the girls into forced marriages. they send children out as

suicide bombers to attack communities. this move by this group that said they would do it in 2017, is seen as a positive one. they will be going back to school, the young girls and boys and hoped to be reunited with their families. david mckenzie, cnn, johannesburg. a parent fighting for her child's life ended up doing even more than that. >> please. we were almost at a point of begging for somebody to find something. >> how a last-ditch effort to find a cure for her daughter led to a remarkable breakthrough. that's coming up. flooded homes. flooded businesses. flooded roads. that's the scene in houston, texas, over the past 24 hours. there's more flooding rain in the forecast. i'll show you where, coming up, after the break.

look at this. torrential rain battering the u.s. state of texas. more than 20 million people are under a flash flood watch in the region. more than 64,000 customers in the area have lost power. severe weather started dremp eeg houston earlier this week. look at this, as floodwaters nearly send this man cover flying. >> i was in houston, texas, for hurricane harvey a couple of years ago. and the social media scenes i was watching unfold last night about this time, had eerie emine reminiscent recommendries. a lot of people were talking about this. the flooding reminded them of

harvey. it never got that bad. but it was a serious and tense couple of hours in houston last night. let's take you there. you can see the videography of flooded homes and cars and businesses. the streets were washed over as bayous, rivers, creeks, estuaries all overspilled their banks. this goes back days. in fact, end of april, when we started to see rainfall drench the gulf coast states. here's the latest water vapor image imagery. when you see the deep convection, oranges and yellows over one location, you will produce a lot of rainfall. we're talking about incredible amounts of precipitation. well over 6 inch les and higher amounts. this is a band that formed over

houston. i have highlighted this because i want to show you this feature we look out for. when storms move over, that is training of thunderstorms. they dump water over the same area. the radar has dried out. houston is dry at the moment. we expect more rainfall. that's why the weather service has 20 million americans under a flood advisory or flood watch for the apnticipation of the fld waters to come. after sunrise this morning, the weather prediction center has a moderate risk of flash flooding today. that's a level three out of a level four possibility on their scale here. you can see how that's focused in on southeast texas and into southwestern louisiana. there's three other flood pages.

37 at the moment are recording major flooding. we came across satellite imagery. this is st. louis in missouri. this was taken a year ago. fast-forward to just 24 hours ago, and you can see the extent of the flooding. i'll play it one more time. before, a year ago. now, look about 24 hours and you see how the flooding has impacted the river basins. it's all along the mississippi river valley and the plains because that area has seen record level flooding. it's only now slowly starting to recede. >> i was thinking back at the pictures you showed us from houston. when you saw harvey like you did and you see that water level rising. >> it's terrifying.

it floods easily. it's a recipe for disaster. >> we saw that play out. >> okay. >> thank you very much. a remarkable medical breakthrough is giving a teenager a chance at a new life. and the treatment can offer hope for people who are suffering from drug-resistant bacterial infections. phil black has this story. >> reporter: immediating isabel is a powerful lesson in courage. have you tried to add up how much time you spent in hospital. >> no. i was reckon it's almost equal to the time i spent out. >> reporter: isabel is 17. she's lived with cystic sivie b sis and has bacterial infection in the lungs. but the bacteria spread through

her body. >> she was sore. you couldn't touch her. she was frail. she was on the brink the whole time. >> it was in a really difficult clinical situation. >> reporter: despite all treatment, it couldn't be stopped. doctors had run out of options. >> when we sent her home, we were expecting that she was going to die from her infection. >> reporter: desperate for alternative treatment, isabel's mum researched online and asked the hospital to consider therapy. >> we were almost at a point of begging for somebody to find something. it is a virus like the flu, but it infects and kills bacteria. up close, it looks and behaves like something from a sci-fi movie. it grabs on to a bacteria cell. that's where it copies itself

and the new particles bust out, killing the bacteria. doctors have known about them for about a eventualry. but use of their powers hasn't been studied. the london hospital turned to an expert. pittsburgh university's graham hatfell and his team began experimenting with their stock of phages. >> it took research and doing manipulations to get the types of phages we thought would work well. >> reporter: they knorr rowed it down to three. back in london, the results inspired hope. >> we had this cocktail of phages, in the lab, when they looked at the dish, showed that the bacteria were killed.

for us, at that moment, we wanted to push ahead and try to get the treatment for her. >> it took just three months from her mum's first conversation about phages for isabel to get her first dose. her condition changed even faster. >> it seemed to be almost overnight that things started to clear up and heal. it was amazing. >> isabel's case could be significant, as doctors warrant of the spread of antibiotic-resistance bacteria. >> we need to understand why phages who work for one patient don't work for another. if we understand that, we have an opportunity to broaden this application. >> reporter: isabel isn't bacteria-free yet. but her recovery has been extraordinary. a year ago, she was sent home to die, and now, she's learning to drive, planning a future. celebrating things easily taken

for granted. >> this year, i made my sister's birthday cake. >> reporter: the doctors and experimental treatment, her family and a little laughter in the darkest times, together, have changed and possibly saved her life. >> there's a rainbow around every corner. >> reporter: phil black, cnn, southeast ng lapd. . >> a great story. and great reporting from phil black. president trump is feeling the love. he says he got another beautiful letter from a world leader. who is sending him warm regards this time? we'll tell you when we come back.

♪ [spanish recording] so again, using "para", you're talking about something that is for someone. ♪ pretty good. could listening to audible

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it's happened again. president trump says he got another beautiful letter from another world leader. this time, it was from china's president. and it looks like mr. trump loves talking about them just as much as leaders like sending them. here's jeanne moos. >> we know president trump is big on getting letters. and no wonder, since this keeps happening. >> i got a very beautiful letter from president xi. he wrote me a beautiful letter.

>> reporter: that crazy trump, read one tweet, stacking up love letters like nobody else can. this one from xi sparked memories. another beautiful letter, to keep his alongside kim's? that would be kim jong-un. >> he wrote me beautiful letters. they're great letters. we fell in love. >> reporter: though the love affair has hit a rocky patch, the president can always reread letters from kim. >> it's a beautiful piece of art. >> reporter: an envelope this enormous can cause dehydration from just licking it. that letter makes trump's hands look tiny. then, there was a beauty from japan's prime minister nominating president trump. for the nobel prize. >> it's the most beautiful five-page letter. >> reporter: the common wisdom is that the pen is mightier than the sword.

but for president trump, it's more beautiful. with so much beauty in letters, no wonder the president doesn't e-mail. >> that's a beautiful letter. we appreciate it. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn. >> then, we fell in love. >> reporter: new york. that does it for me this hour. next up, you are with george howell and natalie allen. you are in great hands. have a great day. i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. an ipad worth $505, was sold for less than $24; a playstation 4 for

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no deal between the u.s. and china as trade talks stall without an agreement. more on what happens, ahead. an order denied. the white house reportedly asked former white house counsel don mcgahn to declare the president did not obstruct