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North and South Korea Pulling Back from the Brink of War; Joe Biden Moving Closer to a Third Run for the White House; Markets in the Asia Pacific Region Well Into a New Day of Trading; Identity of Another American Who Helped Stop a Potential Massacre Revealed. Aired 00:00-1:00a ET.

Aired August 25, 2015 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[00:00:01]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: China syndrome. Shanghai stocks continue to melt down, but the rest of the region appears to bounce back.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: North and South Korea pulling back from the brink, details of the deal to avert a new Korean war.

CHURCH: And Biden his time, the U.S. Vice President moving closer to a third run to the White House. But it might all come down to Hillary Clinton and the email scandal that just won't go away.

CHURCH: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm john Vause. The CNN Newsroom starts right now.

CHURCH: Markets in the Asia Pacific region are well into a new day of trading, and investors are watching the numbers closely after Monday's heavy sell off. Here's what it looks like so far. We bring them up. And there you see there Shanghai composite down 4.33 percent, the other markets in positive territory, Japan's Nikkei up .82 percent, and Seoul and Hong Kong up more than 1 percent there.

VAUSE: Markets open in about three hours and a bruised Wall Street will open six hours later. The DOW began Monday with a record 1,000- point loss but managed to recover somewhat, ending down almost 600 points for the day.

CHURCH: Now some of what happens in the markets ahead depends on how things play out in Asia. Our Will Ripley joins us now live from Beijing. Will, markets across Asia certainly look better than they did 24 hours ago. How much comfort should we take from that, and just how sustainable is it?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, even the number the here in China, as you mentioned, they're not as drastically down as they were earlier in the day, the Shanghai and Shinjin, 4.3 to 5.9 percent or so compared to earlier where we saw almost 7 percent and 5.5 percent for them. How much comfort we should take depends on who you're asking. There are some economists that we're hearing from who say that the world is overreacting to what's happening here in China. And the fact is the Chinese economy continues to grow at a pace that many countries would find enviable, in spite of the real estate slow down and the recent downturn in the equity market as well. That same economist would tell you that one in 30 Chinese own stock in the equity market, and so these fluctuations really aren't affecting things like consumer spending and what not, which of course the central government is trying to focus more on the Chinese economy, focusing on consumer spending and the domestic consumption to improve the situation, as opposed to all of the exports which continue to be the economic driver here. It is surprising, Rosemary, that state media is barely mentioning the stock market downturn today, considering the fact that for the first six months of the year it was a lead story on many days that the stock market was making so much money, and people were encouraged to invest. And we at the brokerage houses yesterday and today talking to folks who say they believe those reports, they put in some cases a significant portion of their savings and have watched a lot of that money evaporate in the past few months, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Will, August of course is usually a pretty jittery month on the market, isn't it? But Black Monday -- well, that was a whole different experience, what will China likely do to try to come up with concrete steps to help its faltering economy in the midst of this crisis?

RIPLEY: There are still a lot of economic tools, Rosemary that China has -- the Chinese government has in its back pocket. For one it has a $546 billion pension fund and up to 30 percent of that will now be invested in the stock market to try to boost some cash into it. There are also other options despite some of the dismal numbers that have been coming out, the factory numbers quite low, factory production the lowest it's been in more than six years, trade numbers are down. But what the central bank here can do, the central bank could lower interest rates if they want to. There could be government investment and infrastructure, roads, highways, the high speed rail line that they're going to build ahead of the 2022 Olympics. There's also the possibility of fiscal stimulus, to encourage consumer spending in the form of a tax cut of what not, and then of course China continues to crackdown on wasteful spending, inefficiency, government corruption, waste, and all those things. So there are still things that the Chinese government can pull out here to try to salvage the economic situation. But again, China's economy is still growing, just at a much slower pace than it has been over the last three decades or so, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And global investors are watching very closely what's happening there in China. Will Ripley reporting live from Beijing, many thanks to you.

VAUSE: A wild and volatile day on Wall Street saw the DOW lose almost 600 points or 3.6 percent, its eighth biggest one-day point loss ever and the biggest since August 2011.

[00:05:07] And yet, by the closing bell, there was almost a sigh of relief, because it could have been and was in fact a whole lot worse. Veteran traders say they have never seen anything like this before. Many analysts were at a loss for words. Richard Quest has never been at a loss for words, and he joins us now to try and work through these numbers. This was kind of a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde day, began with that 1,000-point number out the gate, it bungee-jumped back into almost positive territory before the afternoon plunge. So after a couple of hours to reflect, what is going on, Richard?

RICHARD QUEST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS ANCHOR: As I watch that rebound I was wondering what was happening. And the market traders I spoke to say there was some sort of squeeze, some long squeeze in the market, which caused it to come back up again. And that sort of was why it was more technical. The truth is that the pressure remains on the down side. And you saw that very clearly in the last hour and a half to two hours of trading. Once that momentum had begun, it continued. And that's the worrying part about this, because in the absence of an exogenous event that points in a new direction, it's very likely that we continue with this volatility for the foreseeable future. There's no reason not to. Until either the fed makes it clear what it's going to do in September or the Chinese give some sort of policy statement about what they're doing, because, John, the fear is that China is in some shape or form has lost control of the economy.

VAUSE: All this talk about government policy, interest rates in the United States, fiscal stimulus in China. Did that ultimately raise the question, can the global economy continue on without all these extraordinary measures which have become the norm in recent years. Is it now a case of taking the heroin away from the drug addict?

QUEST: You've put your finger perfectly on the problem. You can use the analogy of taking the drug away from the addict, or you can simply say we have been living in a completely unreal world for the last five to six years, which has been fueled purely by central bank money with policies that have never, never been tested on such a scale as they are now. If you read the latest minutes of the fed, from the last meeting, long sections on how they're planning to unwind all this stuff, the plotting, the planning, but so far nobody's done it. Now remember you've got the Bank of England that's got to do it, you've still got the ECB pouring more money into the economy. And the federal government is about to change. So this quantitative easing, this unwinding of stimulus is virgin territory for the global economy.

VAUSE: Right now stock markets as we know, they're driven by greed and fear, and at the moment, it's definitely fear. The VIX index, the fear index is as high as it was in 2011. Back then there were concern of a double dip recession but is that justified right now?

QUEST: In the United States, no. There's absolutely no reason. The economic fundamentals in the United States are robust and strong. I'm not making a political statement. This has nothing to do with 2016 and the election. The truth is an employment of 5.3 percent, growth 2 to 3 percent, and inflation -- if anything the inflation is the worry because the rising dollar and the way things -- and the falling oil price could lead to more deflationary forces in the economy. But the U.S. is fine. Now talk about Europe, and you've got some worries, obviously. France, but the ECB seems to have got that under control for the time being. The big worry, the emerging markets, India, Russia, Brazil, even little Colombia, the commodity countries, even Australia. Anyone that is selling into China in that way and relies so much on Chinese growth and also oil exporting countries, like Nigeria, Saudi, the UAE, that's why, John, this particular -- I don't want to use the word crisis, this hiccup, this indigestion is so complex and difficult to unwind.

VAUSE: Very quickly, are we at the beginning of something, the middle? Or are we coming to the end?

QUEST: I still have the shirt on my back for the simple reason I'm wise enough not to answer questions like that.

VAUSE: We'll leave it there then. Thanks, Richard.

[00:09:57]

CHURCH: China's slowing economy and falling global oil prices are getting much of the blame for this latest sell off. But one economist we spoke to say the plummeting markets reflect a more fundamental economic problem. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED EL-EIRAN, ALLIANZ CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISE: The west fell in love with the wrong growth model. They fell in love with the concept that finance was the engine of growth, and we stopped investing. We stopped investing in infrastructure, in our people, in our education. The result of that is that the west lacks a growth model. And therefore, it has had difficulties. So what did the west do? It started experimenting. And that started derailing what happened in the emerging world. They couldn't, couldn't respond quickly enough. And now you have a massive quest for growth. And when you cannot create growth, you steal it from someone else, you depreciate your currency. That is the problem we're having right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The latest on the markets and all the financial fallout, please visit our website at cnn.com.

We now know the identity of another hero who helped stop a potential massacre on a Paris-bound train. Mark Moogalian was actually the first one who tried to take the gun away from the shooter on Friday.

CHURCH: The French-American was shot in the neck and is recovering in the hospital. On his website Moogalian describes himself as an Author, Teacher and Musician. The other four men being hailed as heroes have been awarded France's highest honor in a red carpet ceremony at the President's palace.

VAUSE: Martin Savage has more on how they stopped the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were the right people in the right place at the right time. Three boyhood friends, together on a long-planned European vacation, today honored by France's President for preventing a possible massacre on a high-speed train bound for Paris. It began at 5:13 Friday night. The train had pulled out of Brussels, that's where French investigators say 25-year-old Ayoub El-Khazzani got on, packing an AK47 assault rifle, a Lugar pistol, a box cutter, and nine magazines of ammunition. Alek Skarlatos, a National Guardsman unwinding after a nine month tour in Afghanistan heard something in the next car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stop was probably the first noise I heard. And then it was followed by some breaking glass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spencer Stone, an Air Force Medical Technician sat next to Skarlatos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just woke up from middle of a deep sleep, I turned around and I saw that he had -- what looked to be an AK47, and it looked like it was jammed or wasn't working and he was trying to charge the weapon, and Alek just hit me on the shoulder and said let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Skarlatos wrestled away both guns, and Stone says that saved this life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All three of us started punching him while he was in the middle of us, and I was able to grab him again and choke him unconscious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stone paid the price with box cutter wounds to his head and neck. His left thumb almost cut off, later reattached by French surgeons. Despite that his first act after subduing the gunman was to stop the bleeding of a passenger who had been shot in the neck, likely saving his life. Their friend, Anthony Sadler, a CAL State University Senior quickly joined in, along with a British passenger, Chris Norman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's our friend so once we saw him go we had to go join him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had the best of possible endings. No one was killed. There were few serious injuries. Back home, Alek Skarlatos, very relieved and very proud parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We never doubted that Alek had this in him. He's a big, buff, strong, brave guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three brave and humble American heroes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still waiting to wake up. This is all just seems like a movie scene or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martin Savage, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: And we do have new details on the suspected gunman, Ayoub El- Khazzani, the 25-year-old Moroccan national was well-known to European authorities before the attempted train attack.

[00:14:01]

CHURCH: French sources say El-Khazzani was already the subject of an intelligence notice which would put him under special surveillance. Still, one U.S. official says El-Khazzani slipped through the cracks and that Europe is wide open to attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MCCAUL, U.S. HOUSE COMMITEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN: I'll tell you that the three it of the European countries had intelligence flags on this individual as a potential terrorist. It's been identified after the fact that he flew from Berlin into Istanbul and then into Syria, presumably to train with ISIS, and then returned back into Europe. This shows you how wide open and vulnerable Europe is to the foreign fighter travel people going to the region, training and then coming back. The fact that three of these European countries had flags on this individual, yet he was able to travel so freely without being impeded or being flagged or stopped or detained, I think, illustrates how dangerous it is in Europe right now, the threat of this foreign fighter traveling to ISIS and Syria and coming back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: El-Khazzani's lawyer says her client denies trying to launch a terror attack and was planning only to rob the passengers.

VAUSE: Still to come on CNN Newsroom, she has enjoyed front runner status from the very start, but Hillary Clinton may soon face another challenger in the Presidential primaries. We'll have the very latest details from Washington.

CHURCH: And the U.S. State of Washington reaches two milestones regarding wildfires, records no state wants to make, an update on the relentless blazes. That's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: In U.S. politics, Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush is taking sharper aim at the front runner in the primary race, specifically Donald Trump's stand on the divisive issue of immigration. Mr. Trump has suggested building a massive border fence and deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants.

CHURCH: Drawing a visit to the Mexican border, Bush called Trump's 14-point plan unrealistic.

[00:20:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mr. Trump's plans are not grounded in conservative principles. It would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. It's not realistic. It won't be implemented, and we need border security to be able to deal with getting this country back on track. So I'm not going to get into the issues of what he said and I said. The simple fact is that his proposal is unrealistic. It will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, it will violate people's civil liberties, it will create friction with our third largest trading partner, that is not unnecessary, and I think he's wrong about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And on the Democratic side, Vice President Joe Biden is sending new signals that he might jump into the race.

VAUSE: Momentum seems to be building for Biden to challenge to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Joe Johns has some of the factors that would suggest a run may be imminent and the challenges Biden would face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden arrived at the White House today with a lot on his mind, his weekly lunch with the President in the Oval Office taking on new meaning, with speculation swirling about whether he will run.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Everybody is pretty interested to find out as to what decision the Vice President is going to make. The President has indicated his view that the decision to add Joe Biden to the ticket as his running mate was the smartest decision he's ever made in politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Democratic source in touch with Biden's associates tells CNN the Vice President is now leaning more toward running for President than against it. The buzz about a possible Biden candidacy intensified after he traveled from Delaware to Washington this weekend for a secret meeting with influential liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren.

DONNA BRAZILE, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She's a leading voice in our party for progressive values and progressive issues, and I'm not surprised that Joe Biden and others will seek her counsel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far the Massachusetts Senator has refused to endorse front runner Hillary Clinton, saying this last week.

ELIZABETH WARREN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I don't think anybody's been anointed. What I want to see is I want to see all of the Presidential candidates lay out where they stand on key issues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biden associates see a possible opening because Clinton has been battling trust issues with voters over her email controversy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you wipe the server?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like with a cloth or something?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The latest CNN/ORC poll shows 53 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, while 44 percent view Biden that way. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders sees Clinton's number as helping him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the evidence is pretty clear. We are gaining. What the polls seem to indicate is that Hillary Clinton's support seems to be receding a bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biden still would face major hurdles if he got into race this late, raising enough money and quickly starting up an organization. In the last few weeks, he's been talking to advisers and supporters about whether a run is realistic. Biden has been told he needs to make a decision by October 1st. One plan would have him announce his intentions the first week of October. The official message from the Vice President's office is that he has not made a decision about running for President, and any speculation to the contrary is false. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: To the weather now and Typhoon Goni is battling parts of Japan after making landfall just a few hours ago. Winds reached speeds of 260 kilometers per hour, knocking out power to thousands of homes. Goni is the strongest storm to hit the region since 1993.

VAUSE: At least eight people have died in northeastern Turkey after two buildings collapsed in heavy flooding. One of the governors said that an adult and a child are still missing. The heavy rain continued into Monday night.

CHURCH: Two significant milestones have been reached in the U.S. State of Washington's disastrous wildfire season, 2015 is now the worst fire year on record for the state. And the current group of 16 wildfires is also the largest in the state's history, close to 255,000 hectares or 630,000 acres have burned. That's an area bigger than all of New York and London combined. More than 200 homes have also been destroyed by the fires.

VAUSE: This is the story that does not seem to quit. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is with us right now. Ok, so we keep talking about the forecast, it's not looking good. We know they've been in a drought four years. Where is it going?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI: There's some improvement in the immediate future, for the first time in a very long time, some of the coolest weather we've seen in a long time. You know 700 national guardsmen, 1,200 firefighters, 5,000 properties at risk of being burned now with what's happening in Washington State. So we often say Mother Nature almost always has the upper hand, just the wind pattern, the temperature trend, both of those conditions going to improve and a big-time storm system for this time of year going to cruise in here and the pattern shifting a little bit. So some good news there when you take a look at finally seeing the cooler temperatures in the forecast, finally seeing some wet weather potential in the forecast, and the jet stream takes a nosedive and we get more favorable rain showers beginning sometime Friday morning, continuing potentially through Saturday as well into Sunday. But look at the long-term trend. Over the next six to ten days, above average possibility for a rainfall across the northwestern U.S., we have not seen that in a very long time. Much of the southern part of the country remains below normal in that department. And then the temperature trend also supports improving conditions there when it comes to below average temperatures possible in the next six to ten days. Here comes the storm system, you kind of see it drop out of the western corner of the region of British Columbia into Washington and Oregon State. And the next seven days a rainfall finally returns -- the immediate coastline gets the most of the rainfall certainly on the eastern side of the state is where they need some rainfall -- the models say possibility of a half an inch to one inch in the forecast that is tremendous improvement over what we've seen in recent days. So certainly good news finally across the northwestern U.S. But show you what's happening and what's left of -- remnants of Typhoon Goni moving over portion of southern Japan, as Rosemary telling you the strongest wind gusts observed since 1993 over this region. In fact, when you talk about these sorts of wind speeds, up to 200 kilometers per hour was one of the observations that put us of course at about 120, 130 miles per hour, very impressive wind speeds there and the rainfall pushes in towards the Korean peninsula, drought in place over that region, good news for them. But we want to take you in for areas of northeastern Turkey, around Hopa. We just saw a video out of this region, show you additional video because this is a very impressive place when you think about this particular region of Turkey, near the Pontek Mountains, the mountains from the black sea, just six miles inland go up some 2,000 meters. So we're talking about getting up 6,000 feet, six miles away from the black sea. The recipe here is certainly for flash flooding, which is what happened. We know eight fatalities over this region. Several people missing. But it's a beautiful part of Turkey, it's actually bordering the country of Georgia right there and the rainfall just incredible, more than a months worth of rainfall inside of six hours in this part of Turkey.

[00:26:44]

VAUSE: Yeah, it's crazy -- rainfall where you don't need it...

(CROSSTALK)

JAVAHERI: Exactly.

VAUSE: It's been the pattern for a very long time.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. But after days of marathon negotiations, North and South Korea avert war by reaching an agreement, the details on the terms of the deal straight ahead.

VAUSE: Also the world of motor sports mourning the loss of British driver Justin Wilson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN Newsroom live all around the world. I'm John Vause.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, INTERNATIONAL NEWS ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church. It is time to check the main stories we are following this hour. Three Americans who helped stopped a possible terror attack on a French train will get a hero's welcome when they return to California. The mayor of Sacramento says we are throwing a parade for our three hometown heroes. They and a British Citizen were awarded for a highest recognition that Legion of Honor by French Francois Hollande on Monday.

VAUSE: British IndyCar driver Justin Wilson has died from severe head injury since the day at the Pocono Raceway in the U.S. on Sunday. Wilson was struck in the head by the nose cone of another car which it crashed. He remained hospitalized in a coma after the race accident, but died late on Monday night, just 37-years-old.

CHURCH: Financial markets in India are starting the day in positive territory after seeing their biggest fall since 2009 on Monday. Right now the Mumbai index is up nearly a hundred points, about a third of a percent. Let's bring up the other market and see how they pairing (ph). A China, Shanghai composite down 4.33 percent, much better than 24 hours ago of course, and then you see Tokyo up and the rest of the markets up. And Hong Kong Hang Seng at 1.62 percent.

VAUSE: (inaudible) let's get Asia-pacific editor Andrew Stevens live in Hong Kong. Andrew, this is incredible. You know, big losses continue for China, but the rest of the region, positive territory. They've worked out that China's stock market is basically a giant casino.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: I think there's always been that sneaking suspicion, John. I think the problem has been a lot of people have been connecting what's going on in the stock market to what's going on in the real economy. And I think that's been the fuel to this in many ways, particularly when we got that terrible number on Friday. A lot of people assumed that the selloff on the Shanghai on the Monday. It says that big selloff was a clear point toward any economy in deep, deep trouble, much deeper than everybody had thought. But it's interesting, look at the reaction of those, of the other markets around Asia. This is telling you something. This is telling you that perhaps that's a little bit overblown. What happened yesterday was overblown, John. And if you read some of the economist's reports, reactive reports today to what happened yesterday, there is a very clear consensus emerging, which is basically don't panic. Take a breath. Yes, the markets in China are bad. Yes, the economy is slowing, but it's not the end of the world in China. It is not necessarily going to be a hard landing. There are signs there are other economic signs out there which point to an economy actually not doing so badly at all. So basically, yesterday was a one-of event as far as the global markets were concerned, perhaps. The markets in China are disconnected from the economy. We know that. And that's pretty much the point that's being made today.

VAUSE: Yeah, we'll have to work through what has been an overvalued market for ages. But even Dow few is heard let a day, they are looking up -- I think that 2 percent. Is it too early to say if you know, we're now looking at the end or the end is in sight of all this recent volatility?

STEVENS: Probably too early to say, but the trend, it seems (inaudible), the trend. But the point is at least facing the right direction. You know, remember, we've been through this before in Shanghai, massive, massive slump in stock prices. Down, sort of 30 percent in two or three -- sorry, 10 trading sessions or so, which was then -- which then flattened out, and that didn't ruffle the global economy. I think it's the case now that perhaps, wiser heads are prevailing. And also, John, there's a lot -- there are school of thought that says that the U.S. markets have been overvalued somewhat. Still, as you were saying earlier, sort of still reacting to the quantitative easing which has now ended, and this is a bit of reality check. The market's coming more into line with what the real world is doing and what earnings are doing.

VAUSE: And guess when we look at the issue with China, you say that you know, the economy there is not as bad as people thinking. I guess from the economic planning point of view in Beijing, you know, boy, I didn't try to pop up the stock market is dropping about $200 billion into it, it really work. Has they came to the conclusion that it just has to work itself out?

[00:35:01] STEVENS: It would appear so. We -- there was news on Sunday that the pension funds in China were allowed to invest in the market. And patently, that didn't happen, or if it did happen, it was a fail. They didn't really put enough money in yesterday. And people I've been speaking to are saying that the government has lost a lot of credibility in the attempt to prop up the market. The market is not fundamentally important to the economy. One in 30 China is invested in the stock market. It's a far greater penetration in the U.S. The people who invest have borrowed money. They are in trouble, no doubt. It does send bad signals to see a stock market collapse, but it doesn't necessarily have a big impact on the real economy. You know economists point to things like the services sector which is growing and growing in China, that's actually at 11-month high, so that's actually getting stronger. This is what the Chinese want to see. This whole transformation of the economy is aimed at boosting the service sector, boosting domestic consumption, getting away from exports. So when we see exports down, consumption numbers looking better, that's actually the way policymakers want the economy to go. It's just pretty rocky at the moment.

VAUSE: Yeah, and bigger problems with the real estate bubble and over invest and infrastructure. A whole about other problems too, the stock market seems way down the list.

Andrew, thank you for being with us. Andrew Stevens our Asia-Pacific editor live in Hong Kong.

CHURCH: After two days of rare, high-level talks, North and South Korea have reached an agreement to ease tensions on the peninsula.

VAUSE: South Korea has a way to stop playing its propaganda broadcasts over the border, that's part of the deal. And South Korean official says the north has apologized or expressed regret over recent landmine incident which wounded two South Korean soldiers.

CHURCH: Our Kathy Novak joins us live from Seoul with more on this deal. So Kathy, how much of a breakthrough is this deal, and how significant is this apology or sense of regret from North Korea and South Korea's decision to end its cause boarder propaganda broadcasts?

KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well in terms of a breakthrough, Rosemary, we were talking about how important it was to have these people in a room talking at all considering where we started. That where we started was Pyongyang had set a deadline for 5:00 p.m. local time for South Korea to stop the broadcasts or it would take military action. And both South Korea and the United States were putting contingency plans in place for the possibility that North Korea really would attack. So the alternative is said we had these talks and they were able to defuse the situation. So you can call that a breakthrough, I suppose to that extent, it is. When it comes to the apology or the expression of regret, when it comes to these international diplomatic talks, it's all in the language. Is it in South Korea is painting it as an apology. The head of national defense, when he was giving the press conference, going through the points that were in that agreement, did refer to it being significant that North Korea has apologized. But if you look at the language that is in the statement itself, it is an expression of regret, essentially, North Korea saying it is regretful that two of your soldiers were maimed in this landmine incident, but not necessarily taking responsibility for planting the mines itself that were responsible in South Korea and both, and the United Nations both blame North Korea. They say the evidence is there that North Korean soldiers planted the landmines, but the north Koreans were able to in a sense find some clever language that allows them to defuse the situation while not necessarily taking responsibility or really saying sorry for it, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, interesting distinction there. And Kathy, follow-up talks to help improve ties between the two Koreas are apparently planned, but there won't be any summit between the leaders of the two countries at this time at least, talk to us about that and what it means exactly.

NOVAK: Well, as I said before, it is significant to have these high- level talks. This is what is as at a very high ministerial level that hasn't been seen since 2007. And the question was asked in the press conference that I was referring to, whether or not a summit at the leadership level was discussed and the head of national security basically said no, that wasn't on the table at this time. I don't know that we read too much into whether or not we are really expecting to see Kim Jong-un and Park Geun-hye in the same room having discussion. But what we do get is this promise that, as soon as next month, there will be more talks and a Red Cross will be involved in discussing the possibility of family reunions around the end of September. That's Korean thanksgiving, Chuseok. And that's the time that is very important here in the Koreas, and their saying that it is on the table to have these family reunions. So that seems to be a significant development as well out of this summit. Rosemary. CHURCH: Yeah, certainly done. Kathy Novak bringing us up to date on the situation there on the Korean peninsula reporting live from South Korea, many thanks.

[00:40:04] VAUSE: On the last few hours, President Obama made a pitch for cleaner energy. And when we come back, we'll see what role solar power will have in his plans for a greener future.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: U.S. President Barack Obama is in Las Vegas where he's outlining his plans for an energy-efficient future. Mr. Obama unveiled the number of executive actions to promote cleaner energy, especially solar.

VAUSE: That includes commitments to provide solar power to more than 40 U.S. military bases. And technology to double the amount of energy, solar panels can produce. Mr. Obama is also making a billion dollars in loan guarantees to better to encourage new technology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now is not the time to insist on massive cuts to the investments in R&D that help drive our economy, including the hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts that many republicans want to take from these successful job- creating clean energy programs. Its thanks in part to these investments that there are already places across the country were clean power from the sun is finally cheaper than conventional power from your utility. Power often generated by burning coal or gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Obama there. And joining me now from Las Vegas is Danielle Baussan. She is the managing director of the energy team at the Center for American Progress, co -sponsor of the summit. Thank you so much for being with us.

Thank you.

CHURCH: Now you were at the National Clean Energy Summit last night and listened to what President Obama had to say, and his measures to encourage solar power use. What stood out for you?

[00:44:56] DANIELLE BAUSSAN, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I think what stood out was that we really reached this tipping point where renewable energy isn't just an increasing part of our energy mix, but an increasing part of our economy as well. And that we need to increase access to that renewable energy, to allow people can take control of their own energy choices.

CHURCH: Now we heard there on that sound grab from President Obama, he talked about clean power from the sun finally being cheaper than conventional power, generated from burning coal or gas. Significant progress, he said, attributed to these clean energy programs. So given that, why do republicans want to cut some of these clean energy programs? How do you explain that?

BAUSSAN: Well, I think anytime -- this is what the president said, so it's not just my opinion, but anytime that you start to see a shift in how, in the status quo anywhere, but in the energy field, in this case. People are going to push back. And some of the people that are pushing back have a vested interest in our dirtier energy systems, our antiquated energy systems. And so I think what we are seeing is people who aren't really sure how to react to a new energy source who want to possibly mischaracterize it as being inefficient or unsustainable and who are trying to protect those vested interests.

CHURCH: So those who can't make money out of solar power will not support it, is that what you're saying?

BAUSSAN: Well, I think that there are some people who are entrenched in an older energy, dirtier energy system. And so it may not be that they may not make money, but that some of their colleagues or the life that they know it for their energy mix is changing, and that makes things more difficult for them.

CHURCH: Why has it taken America so long to embrace solar energy? In Australia, they've been harnessing the sun's power since the '70s, using it to heat water on rooftops, utilizing solar panels. What's been the major obstacle for the United States? Is it that the interest that you were talking about there?

BAUSSAN: In part, you know, we have had, we've had an addiction to oil in our country for a long time. And it's interesting, because in the 1970s we, Americans also had their own energy crisis, and that was a period where there was a strong interest in renewable energy and people were moving toward figuring out ways to harness cleaner sources of energy. But as oil and dirty energy became more accessible again, people, you know, shifted gears and started moving away from that renewable energy source. And the demand for renewable energy we saw started to fall. We saw it start to pick up obviously in the last -- certainly, in the last 8 years. And what I think the president allude to today was that we have reached this watershed moment where it's not going to just shift in the price of oil suddenly goes down as we're seeing today.

CHURCH: Is this a turning point, then, in your view?

BAUSSAN: I think so. We, you know, the president mentioned that the solar industry is adding jobs 10 times faster than the rest of the economy, that there is more than 20 times -- sorry, 20 times more solar energy capacity than there was in 2008. We are seeing a time when people can walk into a chain store and purchase a solar panel and have it installed on their house in a week. And that is not where we were 30, 40 years ago. So I think we're at a point where it's affordable. Companies are doing it, not just because it's something that they think is good for the environment, but it's good for their bottom line. And once that has started to happen, which it already has, I think that's a watershed moment for America.

CHURCH: Danielle Baussan, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. BAUSSAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: And still to come here on CNN Newsroom, never before seen photos of author Agatha Christie will no longer a mystery when they go on display in London. We'll show you some of them, up next.

[00:49:03] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Mystery crime writer Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Trivia, selling more than 2 billion books...

CHURCH: Very good, very good. Well, now to mark the 125th anniversary of her birth, a new London exhibit will show fans never before seen family photos of the famous author. Nick Glass has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW PRICHARD, AGATHA CHRISTIE GRANDSON: And there she is.

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Matthew Prichard is Agatha Christie's one and only grandchild. We were privileged. This is, we believe, the first time the family albums have ever been filmed.

PRICHARD: The early years of my grandmother, up until did you know her 30's really -- she was a different person to what she became after she became famous and was known for her writing. I mean, she was, then, you might say, she was herself.

GLASS: This London exhibition should prove revolutionary, not let it out go girl on roller skates by (inaudible) and in her early 30s in Honolulu, surfing.

PRICHARD: It was said that she was one of the first British women who actually, you know was photographed upright on a surfing board.

GLASS: Agatha described the sport as heaven. One of the most perfect physical pleasures she'd ever known. Agatha Christie was simply prolific. This, they think is the typewriter she used to tap out, And Then There Were None, and Death on the Nile. A legacy over 100 works, novels, short stories, plays. Matthew is the keeper of the flame, manager of her literary estate for almost 40 years now.

PRICHARD: I do consider myself, if you want to use that word, a glorified brand manager. I mean, that is what my job is.

GLASS: I mean there are a lot of books, have you read them all?

PRICHARD: Oh, yes.

GLASS: You must be one of the few?

PRICHARD: Oh, no. I think you'd be surprised how many people have read all the books.

[00:54:54] GLASS: But one Agatha story remains resolutely taboo, a mysterious, sensational and evidently traumatic disappearance from home in 1926. Her husband Archie Christie told her he'd fallen for another woman and Agatha went missing for 11 days. She was eventually found by the police in a hotel in Yorkshire.

PRICHARD: We don't talk about the disappearance. As you say, a lot of people ask me about it, but the family never did, and I don't. So can we move on to the next subject?

GLASS: Absolutely.

In a way, this new exhibition amounts to a deeply affectionate tribute from a grandson to his beloved grandmother. In part, it's also a celebration of Agatha before he came along. They both had birthdays in September.

PRICHARD: She gave me the (inaudible) for my 9th birthday and not that I knew very much about it at the time, but I don't think she realized how generous she was being.

GLASS: In Agatha's hand, in one of the family albums the words Chariots and Horses, namely the design on a favorite summer dress worn as she left by boat with Archie on a world tour in 1922. Not only could Agatha Christie write, but she had style.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Great story it is.

VAUSE: Yeah, Nick Glass reporting. Not bad in 9th birthday present.

CHURCH: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

CHURCH: Very nice.

VAUSE: Like that.

CHURCH: And thanks for watching, I'm Rosemary Church.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. I'll be right back after this break with the very latest news from all around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom.