the u.s. president amps up his trade war with china. live in beijing with reaction. donald trump heads to france for the g7 summit. sources tell cnn he is not too keen on attending. >> this is not new rhetoric. we have a president, now, who speaks plainly. remember when donald trump said he was the chosen one? voters talk about whether the president's behavior will affect their votes in the next election. live from the cnn center here in atlanta, great to have you with us.

as we speak, the u.s. president is playing over the atlantic on his way to the g7 summit that gets under way in the coming hours. president trump is not a fan of the international forum. he considers it a waste of time. but he is going reluctantly. the trade dispute between washington and beijing rattled markets. he increased tariffs on imports after china imposed new imports on american goods. that sent wall street into a panic. the dow plunged and closed down 623. before leaving the white house, the president claimed he was cleaning up the mess left by previous administrations. >> china has been hurt ouing ou

country for 30 years with the money they were taken out. other presidents should have done something about it and did it a long time ago. they should have done something about it. they didn't. i'm doing it. i have no choice. we're not going to lose close to 1 trilli$1 trillion a year to c. i hope with president xi, i have a good relationship. they understand we're not going to do it. and this is more important than anything else right now, just about, that we're working on. >> cnn's steven jennings joins us from beijing. he has the latest from there. any reaction to the u.s. response? in other words, to the u.s. promise of increased tariffs. >> reporter: the government has not responded to the latest twist. and media markets have stayed quiet. the swiftness of mr. trump's

tari tariff hikes caught trump offguard on friday night. they had been saying they would retaliate against the new tariffs mr. trump announced earlier on $300 billion of china's imports. one thing to note, the countertariffs are not dollar per dollar. the chinese are running out of things to tax on. this could mean the chinese government could launch more ca barriers against the business here. there are a few american companies names that have been floating to be put on that list for some time. they can delay licensing deals

or customs clearance, just making american companies' life difficult. that would be more escalation in this trade war that shows no sign of ending anytime soon. >> you know, over here, donald trump says that the u.s. economy can outlast the chinese economy in this trade war. how long can china last here? >> that's the thing. mr. trump has made a lot of claims, including how the chinese economy is hurting and all of the tariffs he put on chinese goods are more money going to the u.s. treasury. a lot of the claims are being disputed in the u.s., as well. here, a lot of the tactics, according to many, my strengthen the hands of xi who had been, according to observers, facing critics and skeptics over his handling of u.s./china relations after the trade war broke out. now, xi can push back the

criticisms, telling people, look, trump is impassable to manage. and all of his flip-flopping and trade bullying, only means one thing, that china needs a powerful leader like me to really push back on america. we can contain china on the global station. that's the political implication here in beijing. >> steven, thank you so much. let's go to nic robertson. he is standing by for us in southern france. president trump has different policy priorities than the other countries they will be attending, maybe with the exception of italy. is the g7 a good place to do diplomacy in this context?

>> the g7 and others are created for diplomacy for a number of nations to get together on kwli climate and trade, to fix problems. one of the big concerns coming into this is the escalating trade war between china and the united states. in the past, these forums would have been a place -- go back to the crisis of 2008, where world leaders shape a policy and a plan that can deal with a global issue. here in chance climate change would be one of those. but the united states is an outliar. a lot of people look at the g7 and think of it as a six mrugs one. he has different views on trade. different views on climate

change. but they are still -- if you go back and look at last summer's g7 of angela merkel in a staredown with president trump, it didn't produce the diplomacy at the end. president trump refused to sign a joint communique, that here in france, president macron said won't be a communique, but it does allow other nations around the world, to put their views to what many would consider the most powerful leader in the world. yes, in that context. they're much more fraught. i give you a sense of how fraught they are. president trump is pushing back -- excuse me, on on what france proposes on taxation, on digital companies, the likes of amazon and google. president trump is pushing back on that and threatening

president macron with taxes on french wine. this is how he put it. >> i don't want france taxing our companies. very unfair. if they do that, we will be taxing their wine or something else. we will be taxing their wine like we've never seen before. it's for us to tax them. other than that, i have a good relationship with -- as you know, with macron, as you say. i think we'll have a good couple of days. >> this is a perfect example of what diplomacy can happen at a g7. you had britain and italy thinking of similar taxation. germany and japan, not taken on

this issue. it is for those leaders to put their views in front of president trump. will it count for anything so far? we've seen not so much. >> nic robertson. it is 9:00 a.m. in france where you are. trump will be with you in about three hours or so. nic, we'll speak to you again. thank you so much. for more on all of this, samantha joins me via skype. the trade war escalated sharply. that could have been predictable. this time, donald trump dropped any pretense he was friends with the chinese president. he wondered if president xi, if he was the greatest enemy. is that a turning point, the

fact that donald trump is no longer touting his relationship with xi as a given. >> we know that president trump has tried to court xi jingping, since he came into office, like he tried to court vladimir putin or erdogan or kim jong-un. he has been using a strategy that his perm rapport can navigate complex issue s. we've seen them getting together and making statements how to end this trade war, when the underlying facts haven't changed. there's strategic issues, between the united states and china, from property theft to cyber espionage, to the trade deficit, that negotiators have not been able to make headway on. it's not surprising we are with

where we are. what a difference ten days make. ten days ago, he was tweeting about the great leader that jingping is. my prediction would be, if president trump and president xi reconcile at the g7 meeting, we will go back to roses and rainbows with respect to their relationship. but again, their negotiators have not made progress on the scope of issues that need to be addressed. >> donald trump is heading towards a g7. this is the g7 weekend. apparently, he didn't want to go to the g7. i would assume that the world leaders there, who are seeing and feeling the effects of a world economic slowdown, are going to want to address the u.s./china trade war.

it was the g8. how do you think other leaders will address this president, if at all? >> they're going to try to work around him. there won't be a communique, that is a hallmark because it is a message of cohesion and coordination. you have leaders talk about how to stabilize the global economy. you mentioned because of the trade war, there are risks because of our outlook. because president trump and president xi are the primary instigators of that, the best case scenario here, with respect to the other leaders are trying to get president trump and president xi, not to make more statements that rile markets. president trump tweeted markets nose-dived in the united states. you can see a scenario where others try to encourage the president o not upset markets

further and to make its conversations on the trade from behind closed doors, so we don't do anymore damage. >> just for context, i want to bring up a picture of last year. they didn't look pleased with him. he left that meeting calling the host of the canadian g7 a liar. what's it like, when the leaders don't get along? when they have a president like donald trump, who is not playing the game. he does not have the same policy priorities as they do. what is the point of the g7? >> the last g8 i went to at camp dav david, it wasn't dissimilar that the russians were president. and eye-to-eye on a myriad of issues that the other leaders were discussing. it's not atypical that there's a

skunk at the party, so to speak. the difference this time is that it's the united states. the united states used to lead multilateral institutions and organizations. instead, now, the other leaders are trying to, as i mentioned, baby sit the president. in terms of what they're trying to get out of this, the other leaders, i think they're going to try to make progress on environmental sustainability and gender equality. issues on the g7 website that macron posted. when it comes to the core issues that trump disagrees on. iran or north korea, or how the u.s. economy is doing, i think we're going to see public distance. and i also think that's unfortunately going to have an impact on markets going forward. it's not like he's going to be honest about the dynamics at play here in the united states.

he will make statements that put him in the camp of autocrats that game the system, rather than make the system work. >> the french president said, we're not doing a communique this year. that speaks volumes. thank you for joining us. >> good night. the number of launches continues to climb. north korea carried out another missile test. we'll get the late northwest a live report from the region and tell you what the u.s. president has to say about that. also ahead, fires are raging in the brazilian amazon. that's impacting even more than the rain forest. stay with us.

they were pretty straight with me, i think. we're going to see what is going on. we'll see what's happening. he likes testing missiles. we never restricted short-range missiles. we'll see what happens. >> president trump downplaying there, the latest north korean missile test. the south koreans were thought

to test two missiles launched early saturday morning. david, what do we need to know? >> where the president left off. these were short-range miss les, according to officials. he never restricted those. he is referring to his agreement with kim jong-un in singapore. but those violate u.n. security council regulations. they threaten south korea. they threaten japan. they threaten the troops in this area. when you look at the short-range missiles and you look at the ones that were test-fired this morning, they have a range, according to south korean military, of 380 kilometers. in seoul, is about 230 kilometers away from that launch site. certainly, within range. we look at the whistles that have been tested. while north korea says they were doing this to a protest to the joint u.s./south korea military exercises that wrapped up earlier this week, defense

military experts believe they were doing this to enhance their capabilities. and the technology they claim to be scene has greatly advance d.. this could be the point of evading missile defense systems. we have to put this in greater context. two days, ending the intel sharing between south korea and japan. this is why this is so important. this is one of those examples, where intelligence from japan can assist south korea and vice versa. and for them to communicate with one another is important here. >> david culver reporting live from seoul. thank you, david. now, to the crisis in the samson, where fires in the rain forest are having a worldwde impact. and several world leaders, including the u.s. president,

have offered to help fight the flames. but brabrazil's president has n responded or stayed quiet. >> reporter: with respect to that was accepted, i will give you the gmo. the equipment from the armed forces will not only allow to stop the activities but curb the fires in the region. the brazilian president is sending in the military to fight the fires that is starting today. how do you feel about that spongs? >> i think the fires need to be put out. the thing we're more krconcerne about, is what is the president

going to do, given his first eight months in office, is about dismantling monitoring and transparency, and undermining the rights of the indigenous peoples in the amazon. >> who do you think is behind them? >> these are deliberate fires. they're not caused by accident. the fires are burned to clear the cattle ranches, pasture and cropland. >> the brazilian president, i think 36 hours ago, said it was a throwaway comment. but he did say it. he said the ngos might be behind this. how did you react to that. >> that's preposterous. >> okay. we'll leave it at that. he walked back the accusations and said he isn't accusing

anyone. >> the u.s. has offered help against the fires. so has the prime minister in the u.k. do you see them sending firefighters, trucks, planes or not? >> as i said earlier, the issue is not necessarily putting the fires out right now. the issue from the fires has the climate consequences. what does this mean in terms of concrete steps to end deforestation in the amazon. and i'm also skeptical of my own president trump, who is taking actions that are hostile to the environment, to science, and to endangered species. >> when you have a brazilian president who doesn't prioritize environmental protection. he slashled the budgets for environmental protection in

brazil. what needs to happen? president macron says he was lied to by the brazilian president about environmental commitments. as a result, france is not going to ratify a regional trade deal with brazil. they will squeeze brazil economically. that's a big move if it ends up happening. is that the kind of thing you want to see? >> in terms of the overall climate picture, there's a lot where leaders can do in terms of energy use. a critical part of taking action on climate change, is this question of how is the force protected. and a country like france, imports a lot of the commodities that are produced and produced cheaper because it's done through deforestation. and so sh, it doesn't just exisn

brazil, it exists through the world agrabusiness through trade. a lot of the cattle, whether it's leather or beef, it's produced through exports. >> that's interesting and people probably hear what you say and are purchasing items that might participate in the deforestation of the amazon. what would you advise to consumers? >> as consumers, we need to make sour voice heard. they listen to us. we need to demand that they produce and sell goods to us in a way that doesn't destroy the amazon forest. there is something to be said about meat consumption.

the u.n. world leading scientists published a report this month, that talks about how the current meat consumption, is not compatible with preventing climate disruption, with its impact on the forest. these are things we need to take into consideration. an important thing to know, supporting the land rights. scientific data shows when their rights are respected, the forrest is in a better condition. >> a couple years ago, before he was president, he said not one square inch, one square centimeter of the amazon, would be devoted to their reservations. that's where he stands on that issue. thank you for joining us today. appreciate your time. >> thank you.

cold war deja vu. and russia prepares a symmetrical response. a community torn apart by an immigration raid. their stories coming up. devices are like doorways

that could allow hackers into your home. and like all doors, they're safer when locked. that's why you need xfinity xfi. with the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. and people inside from accidentally visiting sites that aren't secure. and if someone trys we'll let you know.

xfi advanced security. if it's connected, it's protected. call, click, or visit a store today. welcome back. you are watching cnn newsroom. let's look at your headlines. the u.s./china trade war escalated sharply on friday, with both sides announcing higher tariffs on each other's imports. the dow dropping 700 points. there's no letup in president

trump's wicriticisms of his chairman of the federal reserve. mr. trump wondering who was the bigger enemy of the u.s., jerome powell of china's xi. also, the u.s. president is on his way to the annual g7 summit. this is being held in southern france. he dislikes the forum and questions why he has to go. but it gives the president a chance to meet with boris johnson, who discuss trade postbrexit. a u.s. official says short-range ballistic missiles fired 15 minutes apart. south korea says they threw about 380 kilometers towards the waters of the korean peninsula and japan. this is the north's fifth launch this month. with the collapse of a long

standing nuclear treattreaty, t u.s. and russia are back to saber rattling. our fred reports from russia. >> reporter: it appears the u.s. and russia are moving closer to a new nuclear arms race. during an angry announcement on national tv, the russian president slammed a recent test by the u.s. of a cruise missile. >> translator: i instruct the ministries to an mize the level of threat of the united states to our country, and to take comprehensive measures to prepare a symmetrical response.

>> reporter: russia and the u.s. are blaming each other for breaking the imf treat by. russia tweeting today, that there are superweapons in the works. >> we're obliged to secure our people and our country. we're doing this now and we will do in the future. >> as russia vows to develop new weapons, it is reeling from the malfunction of a missile it was testing, causing an explosion and a radiation spike in the north of the country and killing five nuclear specialists. russian opposition media is reporting two died of radiation poisoning. but authorities where the explosion took place, acknowledged today, one of the doctors who treated victims now has the radioactive isotope

cesium 137 in his body. officials strangely claiming the contamination didn't come from treating blast victims but easing seafood. we can assume that this got into the human body through food. on monday, putin told reporters no background radiation had been found. moscow has a history of covering up incidents. >> will burn and spread its poison until the entire ca continent is dead. it's unclear if they will discuss the incident or interest in readmitting russia into the group. what is clear is that despite

trump's interest in building a bridge to russia, vladimir putin says he is gearing up for a new confrontation. to hong kong, now, where president-democracy protesters are flooding the streets for the 12th-consecutive weekend. as we speak, demonstrators are holding a large police-approved value rally in parts of kalun. it is just one of several rallies that have been planned this weekend. those are live pictures. it's almost 4:00 in the afternoon in hong kong. for the first time, the u.s. government has allowed cameras into one of its family detention snefr centers. immigration and customs enforcement showed off of the cafeteria, hair salon, medical facilities. until now, children could only

be held for 20 days. now, a new law says they can be together until their course is settled. hundreds were rounded up in the single-state immigration raid in u.s. history. nick valencia shows us the scars it left behind. >> the start of thursday moofor, mississippi. today, the pews are moetszly empty. two weeks ago, i.c.e. agents took 150 people from his congregation. he tries to reassure parishio r parishioners that he will be okay. parishioners are encouraged to pray to god out loud.

this woman pleads to god for their parents to be reunited with her children. it's a desperate pair, but for many, open hope is all that some left. while he was released with an ankle monitor, his wife is being withheld. he said both of their certafutu are uncertain. they want to know when their mom will be back. for a 10-year-old, the pain of being without his mom is too much. you're sad? it's hard, huh? and living in the same kind of discrimination.

>> reporter: no one in the community seemed to beprepared for a possibility of a raid or the chance that their family might be split up. >> this is something i don't understand. why they want to divide families. >> they pay taxes and they are connected to this culture. >> if you could tell your mom something, what would you tell her? >> i miss her. >> reporter: 70 people have been charged, including re-entry in the united states and falsifying documents. for those wondering whether or

not the owners of the company will be charged, as well, that decision is ultimately up to the u.s. attorney's office. nick valencia, cnn, jackson, mississippi. ruth bader ginsburg has just finished treatment for pancreatic cancer. a court statement says there's no evidence of the disease in her body right now. the 86-year-old leads the liberal wing, which is outnumbered by conservatives 5-4. this is her fourth doubt with cancer. as fires rage in the amazon, ranchers are taking advantage of the dry season. ahead, why that is impacting much more than just the land they are cultivating. check your free credit scores at creditkarma. here's to progress.

in brazil, people are demanding their government do more to combat the flames raging in the amazon. protesters spelled out s.o.s. in

the streets of soao paulo. that's 300 kilometers away from the flames. but sao paulo was under thick smoke. you've been working on this for a while now. >> i'm concerned that if there's immediate action takesing place, it could get worse before it gets better. we are entering into the driest months of the year. end of august, into september. the peak of the fire season, being the middle of september, before the rains start to settle in. we don't have measurable rainfall. we know the damage has been done. the deforeeforestation that has occurred has really caused such an issue across, specifically, the brazilian amazon.

we look at satellite date a fro 1987. fast-forward to 2019, you can see the square, brownish areas. a lot of cattle ranchers, a lot of logging taking place there. we have heard, from some of the data, the deforestation, through 2016, that's occurred in the amazon, the entire basin as a whole, spanning several countries, has taken down as much as the equivalent size of france. we're talking about a large area that's deforested. and the thing about the amazon, it is a carbon sink. it stores the greenhouse gases that you and i emit. if we deforest and remove the rain forest, that's a bad thing. that will release the carbon in the atmosphere.

there's a hidden danger. not so hidden. it's before our eyes. we saw it in sao paulo. it's the pollution being emit sfemited from the fires. just a week ago, to what it is now. this is a compel ilin inling im nasa. this drifts for about a month. and upper-level winds can drive that into sao paulo. that is what we saw took place. this puts it into the forefront of the media, as the pollution from the smoke and the fires in the ramazon, blanketed that are.

>> derek van dam, joining us from the weather center. thank you very much. a group of evangelical voters are speaking out about the u.s. president. will their support for mr. trump continue in 2020? or will they vote for someone else instead? we'll hear from them, next. can it help keep us asleep? yes, it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. and now, all beds are on sale! save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus free home delivery. ends saturday.

it made hered my mom feel proud.esults, ancestry specifically showed the regions that my family was from. new features. greater details. richer stories. get your dna kit today at ancestry.com.

for years, u.s. president donald trump has enjoyed overwhelming approval from evangelical christians. now, some are questioning their support for the president given his actions. just this week, he compared himself to a messiah of sorts, saying, jokingly, he later claim ed that he was the chosen one in the trade war with china. and recently, the president has taken flak for using the lord's name in vain. to find out if evangelicals will support the president in 2020, randi kaye spoke with evangelical christians. take a look. >> i don't think we're looking

for a pastor in chief. >> reporter: evangelical christians in charlotte, north carolina, weighing in on campaign 2020 and president donald trump. how many of you at this point do plan to vote for donald trump? one, two, three, four. four support trump. four are undecided and one will absolutely not vote for trump. >> this man is not morally sound as a leader. as a christian. >> reporter: trump's comments calling jewish people disloyal if they vote democratic is a turnoff for some in the group. what do you make of that statement? >> i think he was out of line. >> reporter: does it offend anyone of you that the president seems to be treating the jewish people, in this case, as a monolithic voting block? >> what bothers me is anytime a religion group is lumped together, so they can be lobbied, as if they are all going to vote one way. >> we're not monolithic. and that's part of what trump's

problem is. even when he refers to immigration or whatever, hispanics, they're not monolithic. >> reporter: is this rhetoric dangerous? >> this is not new rhetoric. we have a president, now, who speaks plainly. it does not make him a racist. >> when critics call him a white supremacist, a racist, you disagree? >> i disagree. >> reporter: this voter isn't sold on trump, but happy that he is calling to attention issues that democrats are ignoring, like undocumented workers taking houses from african-americans. >> immigration. illegal immigration. nobody wants to talk about it. there's not a city in america where black folks are not on these streets. especially charlotte. people who look like me are on the literal streets. >> reporter: why are you okay with supporting donald trump? >> we're imperfect.

we're going to offend one another. he is not the pastor. he's my president. >> reporter: trump has been remarried three times, has never asked for forgiveness from god, and is pro-choice. why are you able to look past donald trump's flaws and support him? >> it's not my place to judge his heart. this week, when the president referred to himself as the chosen one, echoing what some evangelical leaders said about him, that certainly caught this group's attention. >> when we ask the question, is he the chosen one? for what? to help our trade agreements with china? maybe. is he going to help us solve racism in america? heck no. >> part of your faith includes forgiveness. can you forgive the president for some of the things he said? >> absolutely. absolutely. i still have to stand in the gap for those who are brutalized on a regular basis and left behind.

>> can you forgive the president? >> yeah. a new central tenant of our faith. >> oh, yes. >> i don't have to agree. but i can forgive. >> there is nothing that cannot get under god's umbrella. god is a god of forgiveness. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. the 2020 democratic presidential field justice u.s. got a little smaller. massachusetts congressman seth molten sa e molton is out. he says it's a three-way race. >> you have warren and sanders at about 15%. biden twice that. but no one else really close. i'm not saying that's a good thing. >> molton says he will run for re-election for congress and whoever gets if nomination. one of the candidates is slamming his party for the

debate rules. michael bennet says the rules will likely keep half of the field out of the next debate. >> the dnc is stifling debate when we need it most. we have twitter followers and billionaires who find their way on the debate stage, and candidates who have been running for years. >> to qualify, candidates must get 2% in four qualifying polls and have 130,000 unique donors. at this hour, independence day celebrations are under way in ukraine. saturday marks 28 years since cr ukraine was re-established as a military state. the president ordered $12 million to be given to soldiers as a bonus. thank you so much for watching "cnn newsroom" this

hour. up next, george howell will be with you. have a fantastic day. way out h. your marshmallow's... get digital id cards, emergency roadside service, even file a... whoa. whoa. whoa. whoa. whoa. whoa! oops, that cheeky little thing got away from me. my bad. geico. it's easy to manage your policy whenever, wherever. can i trouble you for another marshmallow?

with one tweet the u.s. president east caescalates his trade war with china. more on that. and the g7 summit, mr. trump reportedly questioning why he een needs to attend at all as world leaders make that i way to france. we have detailed analysis of what to expect. also ahead, the amazon wildfires, the change in tone from brazil's president now calling in the country's military to fight the fires. live from cnn world headquarters