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New North Korea Threat; ISIS Extorts Civilians as Oil Profit Dry Up; Takata Issues Largest Auto Recall Ever; Three Men Bikers Back in Waco Police Custody; Clinton Finally Answers Reporter Questions. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 20, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:03] CAMEROTA: It's beautiful. She's so cute.

PEREIRA: You know?

CAMEROTA: So great.

PEREIRA: It can change things.

CUOMO: That's why we started "The Good Stuff," people, ordinary doing the extraordinary for one another. Beautiful.

PEREIRA: And with that, we at NEW DAY, and pass over to Carol Costello and "NEWSROOM."

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, mini nukes, one big problem? A scary new development out of North Korea. Is the country a key step closer to building nuclear missiles? How will the U.S. respond?

Also a record-breaking recall. Now the scramble to fix faulty airbags in nearly 34 million vehicles. Turns out they could explode and send shrapnel flying into cars. What you need to know.

Plus a run-over foot? What could have caused that deadly biker brawl in Texas? I'm not kidding.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

North Korea causes a collective shutter around the world. By claiming a technical breakthrough that ratchets up its nuclear threat. The secretive nation now says it has created nuclear warheads small enough for missiles, meaning the United States and much of the world would be within striking distance.

CNN's Will Ripley is live in Tokyo with more this morning.

Good morning.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. North Korean officials were certainly hinting at this when I was visiting with some of them in North Korea just a couple of weeks ago. They talked about having a long-range missile that could strike the United States and they also talked about their nation's continued investment in their nuclear program.

This is a country that is spending a tremendous amount of money trying to grow its nuclear arsenal. They are spending just as much if not more money on their military and on their weapons than they are on feeding the people who are going hungry in that country.

So what does this mean? What is the threat?

Well, if North Korea's assertions are true, and of course they do have a tendency to embellish at times, but if this is accurate that they can now miniaturize nuclear weapons, in other words, make a nuclear weapon that would be small enough to put one of those missiles and launch towards an enemy like the United States, it's obviously very troubling for the U.S. It's also troubling for a lot of the other powers in the Asia Pacific region -- China, India, South Korea, Japan.

But there are still other steps that we need to be taking before this technology could actually -- be put into use. They have to develop a way to protect the nuclear device from the flight and the re-entry, the heat from the re-entry back towards the surface, so there still are more technical steps that need to happen but what is so troubling here, Carol, is that the country, North Korea, continues to push more and more to develop nuclear weapons. They seem intent on becoming a nuclear power even at the risk of further isolation, alienation from the rest of the world -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I also understand North Korea cancelled a visit by Ban Ki- Moon. Why?

RIPLEY: Yes, he's the U.N. secretary-general who was supposed to do something that no U.N. secretary-general had done in some 20 years, which was visit North Korea. He was going to cross into Kaesong industrial complex which we also visited during our recent trip. It's the one place where North and South Koreans are cooperating. South Korean owned businesses staffed by North Korean workers.

This was supposed to be a visit to talk about reunification, to talk about perhaps bringing the peninsula back together. North Korea abruptly canceling that opportunity, then making this major military announcement. They're certainly sending a message, and that message is clear, they intend to be a force to be reckoned with and they seem to put that above the priority and diplomacy -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right. Will Ripley, reporting live from Tokyo this

morning.

Just a short time ago National Security Council spokesman Patrick (INAUDIBLE) responded to North Korea's nuclear claims by saying this, quote, "We do not think that they have the capacity, however, they are working on developing a number of long-range missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that could eventually threaten our allies and the homeland. That's why the administration is working to improve regional and homeland missile defenses, and continuing to work with other members of the six-party talks to bring North Korea back into compliance."

So let's talk more about this with former U.S. ambassador, Nicholas Burns.

Welcome, sir.

AMB. NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: I should all mention -- I should also mention you're a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Ambassador, what do you make of North Korea's claims?

BURNS: You know, it's hard to know what to make of it. This is a government in Pyongyang that has openly lied in the past. They've distorted the truth, and they also developed a nuclear weapons force, and so you've got to take this a little bit seriously. If it's true, it's a game changer. It's a very consequential act. But you -- you saw the White House statement, you just read it out. The White House does not believe, it says, that the North Koreans have obtained this capability.

[09:05:05] The danger is we know that they're working on long-range ballistic missiles. If they're able to put together a nuclear warhead to fit on top of a missile, then they've got something of grave consequences for the United States, potentially in a number of years but certainly for Japan and for South Korea.

So, I think, Carol, the key here is what the White House statement said, the United States and our allies need to develop very sophisticated missile defenses to protect against this, and secondly, China has to use its influence to try to restrain and contain this North Korean threat, because China is the country with the greatest influence over Pyongyang.

COSTELLO: Well, that was my next question because some say that North Korea has grown giften (PH) from China and become more isolated. So what might that mean?

BURNS: Well, I -- the North Koreans, of course, aren't controlled by China, but the Chinese do have a lot of influence because, of course, China gives them badly needed consumer products, food aid, as does the United Nations, by the way, and I think it's a given that if there's any government that can have some influence over this young leader, Kim Jong-Un, it's the Chinese government.

And over the last year and a half, it's been clear the Chinese government has become increasingly frustrated by the North Koreans but they're not willing to break with them. So I think U.S. strategy obviously is to try to give assurances to our allies, South Korea and Japan, to work with them on missile defense, but to push the Chinese to be more assertive in trying to control the behavior of this very dangerous regime in North Korea.

COSTELLO: Ambassador Nicholas Burns, thanks so much for being with me. I appreciate it.

BURNS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: In Iraq, new gains by ISIS. And new concerns for the U.S. strategy there. Washington says it's looking at ways to support Iraqi forces in recapturing Ramadi. That city just 70 miles from Baghdad. And this morning the militants are marching eastward. They're trying to capture new cities as steppingstones towards the capital.

The United States says it will not mobilize special forces to enter the battlefield, but could be willing to step up the training and arming of local tribes. That's drawing howls from critics who accuse the White House of a half-hearted response.

Let's take a closer look at the debate in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

ISIS also facing a financial crisis of sorts. The terror group has long bankrolled its war machines through oil revenue. But U.S.-led airstrikes on refineries and the collapse in oil prices have choked off much of that cash flow, so now ISIS is putting the squeeze on Iraqi civilians and unleashing its trademark heartlessness.

CNN's Tadhg Enright joins us now to explain. He has more.

Tell us more.

TADHG ENRIGHT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you did mention the collapse in the oil prices. It's fallen by around a half over the past year. And while ISIS was never able to get that open market price for the oil that it did produce, it was able to get a black market price, and the people behind the report I have been looking at, the Maple Croft Risk Management Consultancy, they point at the black market price will effectively move in tandem with the open market price.

So they've taken a hit there. The other hitch to their oil revenue has of course come from those airstrikes on refineries. ISIS is not able to refine oil in the same way they used to be. It's having to sell it to other refiners. And that, too, has taken its toll on its oil income. And it's having to find sources of income now elsewhere.

COSTELLO: So in finding those other sources of income, I understand they are trying to tax people? Can you explain?

ENRIGHT: Yes, extortion and taxation. It is a bit of a gray line between them when you're supposedly to be dealing with a group like ISIS. You know, things like ransoms for hostages, outright theft, so those are things we've come to expect from ISIS, but actually taxing businesses and individuals in the territory which it's taken control of, that something new. And the scale in which they've ramped up these efforts has taken many ISIS watchers by surprise.

COSTELLO: All right. Tadhg Enright reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a massive recall affecting 1 in 7 cars on the road. Is your car one of them? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:12:36] COSTELLO: Exploding shrapnel in your face. Nearly one out of seven cars on U.S. roads today has an airbag that could injure or even kill.

Is your car one of them? Takata airbags now issuing the largest auto recall ever, impacting 34 million cars.

Tom Foreman live in Washington with more.

Good morning.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. How are you? You know, I couldn't help but think about this during my commute this morning. This is so far-reaching. There are so many people on the road today that potentially have this as a problem in their car. It's not like a lot of other recall where you see it's happening to someone else. This is happening to a lot of people out there and it is truly a potentially lethal problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): This is what the trouble is all about. Airbags exploding, firing metal shards into passengers with so much force police say some victims look like they've been shot. That's allegedly what happened to Cory Burdick. His lawyers says when Burdick had a minor accident in Florida the airbag should have protected him.

RICH NEWSOME, CLIENT BLINDED BY EXPLODING AIRBAG: Instead the airbag exploded and sent a three and a half inch piece of steel into his face, taking out one of his eyes.

FOREMAN: Now federal authority are saying enough, launching a recall of 34 million cars, nearly double the original number thought to be involved.

ANTHONY FOXX, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The airbag inflators we suspected did not work correctly. And we believe that they have been responsible for at least five deaths in the United States.

FOREMAN: The airbag manufacturer is the Japanese company, Takata. And for months the company tried to limit the recall, saying the problem was appearing only in areas with high humidity. The government didn't buy it, pounding Takata with more than $1 million in fines.

FOXX: Up until now Takata has refused to acknowledge that their airbags are defective. That changes today.

FOREMAN: The most serious accidents have occurred in Hondas, but the recall also involves Fords, Chryslers, Mazdas, BMWs. In all 11 manufacturers and parts suppliers, and there could be more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long is this going to take? Nobody knows that yet. There is no question, it could be some years.

FOREMAN: The manufacturer issued a statement saying it remains committed to consumer safety but like the government it does not yet know why the airbags are exploding. Although Takata has devoted resources to these efforts with some of the leaders researchers, it is clear that this is a complex issue which takes time to fully evaluate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:15:00] FOREMAN: So the big question is, is my car involved? You can find out by going to the website, safercar.gov/rs/takata. Let's start by thinking about that. Safercar.gov. You can enter the vehicle identification number, the VIN number, and they will tell you whether or not your car is involved. If it is, you can contact your dealership. They will replace the air bag assembly for free, as the parts become available -- that's a catch there, Carol, because there are so many out there, this may take many months. It may not be available when you first sign on.

And one more caution here, Carol. Even if you go to that website and check on your car and it's not there, check again at least in a few days, because this is being updated as they go through this process, and you may not be on the list today but you may be in a couple weeks. So it's worth checking more than once.

COSTELLO: I will check. Tom Foreman, many thanks to you. I appreciate it

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, police say they may know what may have triggered the bloody biker game shoot-out in Waco, Texas. You won't believe it. We will take you to Waco next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: That bloody shoot-out in Waco, Texas, well, it may have all started when a biker got his foot run over. And you thought it was a turf war. Police could wrap up their initial search of the parking lot today, three days after bullets went flying, killing nine people. They have been clearing out rifles, knives, chains and brass knuckles. 170 suspects remain in custody, but police warn there could be more trouble on the horizon.

[09:20:01] So let's head to Waco and Nick Valencia. Good morning.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. New developments this morning. Breaking overnight, one of those biker gangs involved in Sunday's shoot-out has decided to cancel their weekend event on the suggestion of the local sheriff. That event was supposed to take place about two hours outside of Waco, Texas, with more than 300 bikers expected to be in attendance. That will no longer happen.

Also this morning, police say three of the men originally arrested after Sunday's shoot-out are back in police custody. Police say they were originally booked under a different bond, about $50,000 bond instead of the $1 million bond. The other 170 people that are detained right now, that's what being held on. Those men, Jim Harris, Juan Garcia, and Drew King were taken into custody with the help of the U.S. Marshal Service.

Back here in Waco, Texas, at the strip mall, things are creeping back to normal. Police say they expect to have everything wrapped up this morning. Businesses going back into effect here, reopening, and that's a good sign here. Things hopefully getting back to normal for this area. So much has gone on in the last couple of days, Carol.

COSTELLO: There's been some confusure (sic) over who shot who. So among the nine people who were shot, how many were shot by fellow bikers and how many were shot by police?

VALENCIA: Well, according to a law enforcement source, preliminary information suggests that four of the bikers were shot and killed by police officers. Now that has been disputed by the local police spokesman here for the Waco Police Department, saying that that is a possibility, but they need to wait for the autopsies and ballistics test for that to be confirmed. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Valencia, reporting live from Waco, Texas, this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton finally talks to the press. What she had to say about the release of those controversial e-mails, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:29] COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton finally breaks her silence and talks to the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tell me something I don't know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For the first time in nearly a month, Clinton takes questions from reporters on the campaign trail in Iowa. Among the issue discussed, the release of those controversial State Department e-mails. Clinton has been under fire recently after revealing she used private e-mail during her time as Secretary of State.

So let's bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. He's in Chicago today where Clinton will be fundraising. Tell us what she said, Jeff. Jeff, can you hear me?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carol, good morning. I couldn't hear you, but we are here in Chicago where Secretary Clinton has arrived after two days of campaigning in Iowa. She is, of course, raising money here, as you said; also doing a quick campaign stop.

But we heard her answer those questions for the first time, defending the donations of the Clinton Foundation we spent so much time talking about, and also saying her Iraq vote was a mistake. But more importantly, she focused on the e-mail. She says she wants those e- mails released from the State Department, those 55,000 pages of e- mails, released as soon as possible.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I have said repeatedly I want those e-mails out. Nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than I do. I respect the State Department; they have their process that they do for everybody, not just for me. But anything that they might do to expedite that process, I heartedly support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Well, Carol, one of the reasons she supports it of course is her own team, her own staff, selected those e-mails to be released and she doesn't want it sort of hanging over her head for the rest of the campaign, so she does want them released soon.

But the State Department says it could take until next January to release all of them. So I think it's safe to say that this issue will be with her for quite some time.

COSTELLO: I think so. There's also a report in "The Wall Street Journal" today about the transparency surrounding those e-mails. What can you tell us about that?

ZELENY: Well, Carol, that report in "The Wall Street Journal" really takes the first look at how some of her political staff, including her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, was personally involved in the speed at which some of these information requests were released. So the report is actually pretty scathing. It says that her political staff, not just the government staff, was controlling how and when some of the information requests would be released.

So the Clinton campaign has yet to respond to this, but just one more sign that transparency will still be a dogging issue for her campaign as she goes forward. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Zeleny reporting live from Chicago this morning. Thank you.

Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina, for that matter, are definitely playing the gender card. And why not? Shouldn't you use what you got? It's working, at least with Snoop Dogg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOOP DOGG, RAPPER: I would love to see a woman in office because I feel like we're at that stage in life where we need a perspective other than the male's train of thought. And just to have a woman speaking from a global perspective, as far as representing America, I would love to see that. And so I'll be voting for Mrs. Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I am sure Hillary Clinton is thrilled with the "Gin & Juice" rapper's endorsement, but Snoop's comments point to an aspect of the 2016 election that some voters may soon find tiresome. As one of my next guests put it, quote, "The left has tried to frame the conversation as one in which Clinton will be swimming against a sexist current."

Maybe. But keep in mind Donald Trump reportedly retweeted this from another user last month. This is the tweet. "If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?"

And consider this from presidential hopeful, Chris Christie. He says his experience running against a woman in 2013 has prepared him to run against Hillary Clinton, a woman, if he throws his name into the race.

Still, I don't think the majority of men are remotely like Mr. Donald Trump. But charges of sexism are likely to flourish in 2016. The question this morning: Should they?

With me to talk about that, executive director of the Indepdendent Women's Forum, Sabrina Schaeffer, and journalist Anushay Hossain. She's the editor in chief of anushayspoint.com.

Welcome to both of you.

[09:30:00] ANUSHAY HOSSAIN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, ANUSHAYSPOINT.COM: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, thanks for being here. Sabrina, I want to start with you. I do believe men and women are different. We lead in different ways. So why not play up your gender?