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Wolf

Terror Tip Puts Philadelphia Officers on Alert; Report: North Korea Arrests American Accused of Spying; Presidential Candidates Sign No Label Movement Pledges; David Bowie's Life and Legacy. Aired 1:30- 2p ET

Aired January 11, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, we can tell you that the FBI has confirmed that Edward Archer did travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt and traveling to Saudi Arabia in 2001 and in Egypt in 2012. So, definitely some points of concern, but once again, at this point, the investigators are tasked with determining whether or not that tip is credible.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What years did he travel, did you say?

CARROLL: 2011 to Saudi Arabia, and Egypt in 2012, and so it was not that long ago. But again, this is part of the investigation, and the police will also be interviewing those who know him well, and visiting the mosque where he worshipped as a hope of getting more information with the tip that he was tied to others with more radical beliefs and whether that tip is credible.

BLITZER: Michael, you have been spending some time reporting on this Edward Archer, 30 years old, and you went to the mosque where he belonged, and spoke to the iman, is that correct?

MICHAEL MATZA, STAFF WRITER, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Yes, I spoke to him by phone, Wolf.

BLITZER: OK. What did he say?

MATZA: Well, Wolf, he said that initially when the name Edward Archer was put out and he did not recognize the photo or that name, but these are for the most part, most of the people here are African-Americans who have converted to Islam, and they have taken Islamic names. And when others in the mosque told the imam the Islamic name of the particular person, he said, yes, indeed, I did know him, and he did not have a big high profile at the mosque. Involved in organizing some touch football games, and not a companion of the imam, and that he worshipped there, but that nobody knew that he harbored beliefs to do what he did, nobody knew that.

BLITZER: And I take it that you say that he was a convert to Islam, and made two trips to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Jason reported, in recent years. Do we know where he got the money to pay for the trips or if he was in contact with others who may be involved in the operation or the attempted assassination attempt against the police officer? MATZA: I think that is exactly the kind of leads that the police are

running down. We don't know yet. The trip to Saudi Arabia was reportedly a hajj trip that devout Muslims make to go to Mecca. And the time he spent in Egypt was six months to a year, which does seem like a substantial amount of time, and it's not clear how he was supported there. But he was allegedly there with a woman who was his wife, and that they came back together at the end of that period in Egypt. But we don't know at this point how he was sustaining himself there and exactly what he was doing. Some have been suggesting that he may have been studying Arabic, the language of Arabic, which many times the Muslims do go to the Middle East to try to pick up the language.

BLITZER: And did he have the money? Where did he get the money for these kinds of trips?

MATZA: I do not know. He was a security guard and described as a security guard. I do not know where the funding would have come from for that trip.

BLITZER: I am sure that the police are looking into all of that --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- as is the FBI.

Go ahead, Michael.

MATZA: Yeah. No, that is exactly right. Both the local police and the FBI are looking into this. The local police are taking this seriously and assigning two officers to a squad car instead of one until further notice per the police commissioner. He wants two officers were per car.

BLITZER: And how is the Officer Jesse Hartnett doing, Jason Carroll?

CARROLL: Well, he was shot three times, and a picture there, and he is in the hospital. But he is going to require multiple surgeries to repair the nerve damage to the arm. I was listening to one of the interviews with the father who described him as a tough guy, but looking at the video of what happened out there that night, he is also a lucky man as well -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And thank god he survived what could have been a real assassination of him.

CARROLL: Yeah.

[12:34:23] BLITZER: All right, guys, thank you very much, Jason Carroll, and Michael Matza.

Still to come, North Korea claims it's holding a U.S. citizen on spying charges. We have an exclusive interview with the detainee inside North Korea. Will Ripley is there. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: As tensions on the Korean peninsula continues to rise, and new incident threatens to fuel the flames. North Korea claims it has arrested an American citizen on charges of spying.

CNN's Will Ripley spoke exclusively to the man to find out how he was detained.

Will Ripley has the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Days after North Korea's nuclear test shocked the world, a new diplomatic bombshell. Kim Dung Chul says he's an American citizen who used to live in Fairfax, Virginia. North Korea calls him a spy, accused of stealing nuclear and military secrets.

Pyongyang authorities ordered Kim to speak to us in Korean. He seems aware that our conversation is likely being listened to.

"I committed an act of espionage against North Korea," he says. I gathered information about its nuclear program and military facilities."

Kim says North Korean agents arrested him three months ago, seizing a USB drive, camera and documents with details of North Korea's nuclear program. CNN cannot determine whether Kim is making his statements under duress. He says he was not spying for the U.S., but for South Korean conservative elements with the goal of undermining North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's regime. The South Korean government calls the claims groundless.

(on camera): How did it work? How did you pass on the information that you collected?

[13:40:02] (voice-over): "I bribed a local resident, an ex soldier with military access," he says. "He handed over information and I hid it in my car and I secretly brought it to China."

Kim says that he drove back and forth from China everyday as president of a company that operates in special economy zone where foreign-owned businesses operate just inside of North Korea.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: The businesses help the cash-strapped regime to make money to pay for things like its nuclear program.

"It is time for the U.S. government to withdraw its hostile policy against North Korea," Kim says, using the same language that is often found in Pyongyang propaganda.

We are allowed to photograph Kim's American passport. He says that he was born in South Korea, but he became a U.S. citizen almost 30 years ago. So far the State Department has refused to comment or confirm his U.S.

citizenship, and telling CNN, quote, "Speaking publicly about specific purported cases of detained Americans can complicate our tireless efforts to secure their freedom."

"I am asking the U.S. or the South Korea government to rescue me," Kim says. Neither country has diplomatic relations with North Korea.

For now, this professed U.S. citizen is detained, no trial date, no idea if he will ever see his family or country again.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks to Will Ripley for that exclusive reporting from Pyongyang, North Korea. The only Western journalist reporting from there at this time. Thank you, Will, very, very much.

Another story, a reminder of the Syria suffering. Civilians of the town of Madaya are starving right now but some relief has arrived. Located miles north of Damascus, and almost seven miles from the border with Lebanon, the city has been besieged since early July by government forces and their Lebanese allies, Hezbollah. The first shipment of food and medicine reached Madaya earlier today. Last week, the United Nations said that it had credible reports of people dying of starvation, and so the Syrian government agreed to let the aid convoys in.

And coming up next, Jon Huntsman and Joe Lieberman, veterans of pitched political ballots, they are now teaming up to challenging presidential candidates to get on board with No Labels. There they are, standing by live. We will go to them right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:46:40] BLITZER: Six of the current presidential candidates have now signed a new pledge, a pledge to remove labels and work on bipartisan issues. The so-called No Labels Movement is led by former Senator, former Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman, and former governor and former Republican presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman. They are joining us now from Manchester, New Hampshire.

Thanks to both of you for joining us.

I know that the two of you are the co-chairmen of the No Labels Movement which calls on candidates to embrace a bipartisan agenda, including 25 million new jobs in the next decade, securing Social Security and Medicare for the next 75 years, and balancing the budget by 2030, and making the U.S. energy secure in eight years. Six of the current presidential candidates, they have signed on, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, John Kasich, and Martin O'Malley, and they have all pledged to tackle one of the planks of the No Labels platform during their first 30 days in office.

Senator Lieberman, they sound reasonable these request. What did the other presidential candidates say to you why they would not jump on board this No Labels Movement?

JOE LIEBERMAN, (D), FORMER SENATOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wolf, thanks for having us on.

You are absolutely right. I can tell you that I, myself, I am puzzled why all of the candidates didn't sign on and make this promise, not just the No Labels but to the American people that regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican or left or right or center, they are going to be working with the other party when they get elected if they are elected to get something done, which is what the American people most want to have happen. So put me down as puzzled.

I mean, I am grateful that six of the candidates, and very diverse as the names you read show, now made the promise. Why the other nine active candidates did not puzzles me. But we are not done. Our members up here in New Hampshire and around the country are going to be pressing those other candidates to be making the promise to be a bipartisan problem solver. And if they don't, ask them why not, because we have not received an adequate explanation of why not.

BLITZER: Governor Huntsman, you are a Republican, and Donald Trump is on board. Does it mean that he gets the Republican nomination that you are on board with him?

JON HUNTSMAN, (R), FORMER UTAH GOVERNOR OF & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm a Republican, and I'm always a Republican, and I will respect the wishes of the delegates who gather at the convention in Cleveland and the will of the people. I think that he is bringing a new force to politics that has not been seen, maybe ever. Some of what he says is disagreeable, and no doubt the about that. Other things that he says about cleaning up the ways of Washington, and about reforming the big money in politic, and about bringing a new generation of people into politics, these are awfully appealing themes. So we will see what happens.

One thing is for sure, Wolf, we are sitting here in New Hampshire, and it is wide open, and people don't begin to really coalesce around the candidates until the very end. And notwithstanding polls telling us a certain story today, no doubt, we will see something maybe very different in the last couple of days running up to the primary. It is a very exciting time to be here.

BLITZER: Senator Lieberman, did you speak personally to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders? We know that Martin O'Malley, the Democratic presidential candidate, he is on board. Did you speak personally with them and ask them to sign?

[13:50:08] LIEBERMAN: I did not, Wolf, but I know that many people within the organization, who are close to both of those candidates, Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders, did talk to them. I'm disappointed they haven't signed yet, but I put the emphasis on the "yet." We have two big trucks that are going around New Hampshire from now until primary day. They have a simple message that's painted on them, ask your presidential candidate to sign or whether they have signed the problem solver promise and, if they haven't, ask them why not. We're not giving up. BLITZER: While I have you, Governor Huntsman, you're a former U.S.

ambassador to China. You know a lot about what China's influence in North Korea could be. North Korea had had this nuclear test last week. Now they say they have arrested an American citizen on espionage charges. How much influence does China really have over the Kim Jong-Un regime in Pyongyang?

HUNTSMAN: Well, they have less than we might think here. There's a generational realignment that has occurred on both sides. You have the fifth generation in China leading under the party secretary, Xi Jinping. You have Kim Jong-Un, who is now generation number three of the Kim family. You have to imagine this, Wolf, which is absolutely unbelievable. Xi Jinping has spent a whole lot more time with the president of South Korea, and Kim Jong-Un has sent a whole lot more time with an American basketball player than the leader of the country with whom they are aligned. So you have generations that don't connect that feel very differently about the world. And the communication isn't what it used to be back during the glory days of the Cold War. And you have to imagine that Xi Jinping is waking up thinking it's a lose-lose prospect for him, given where North Korea is.

If North Korea fails as a nation-state, they have the unthinkable of a unified peninsula under the control of an ally of the United States. If North Korea continues as they are, unpredictable and wily, then you have the prospects of economic problems, especially in Manchuria, which is a prosperous economic region in China. Blowing up bombs from time to time is not a good investment and trade. That has to be a huge irritant for Xi Jinping, who is trying to push economic reform.

BLITZER: Jon Huntsman, Joe Lieberman, gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us. Enjoy New Hampshire. We'll see you back here in Washington down the road. Appreciate it very much.

Remember, we're only --

(CROSSTALK)

HUNTSMAN: Thank you.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Wolf.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Thank you.

We're only a day away from President Obama's swan song to the country, his final State of the Union address. Today, the White House released this new black-and-white video of the president in the Oval Office putting the final touches on his speech. We'll have special live coverage of the president's address to the nation and to a joint session of Congress right here on CNN tomorrow night. Our coverage, our special coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. eastern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:57:24] BLITZER: He's been called the Picasso of pop, a man who created some of the most iconic songs and characters in music history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I'm, of course, talking about David Bowie, who died at the age of 69 after battling cancer. Tributes have come in from all corners of the music world, from Mick Jagger, who said, "David was always an inspiration to me and a true gentleman."

Our Brian Stelter has more now on David Bowie's life and legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES (voice-over): Legendary British singer, David Bowie, who indelibly influenced generations with his eclectic persona and ground- breaking sound --

(SINGING)

STELTER: -- dead at age 69 after an 18-month battle with cancer.

Bowie's publicist confirming the icon "died peacefully surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family's privacy during their time of grief"

His son tweeting, "Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for awhile. Love to all."

(SINGING)

STELTER: An illustrious career spanning over 40 years. Bowie was born in south London as David Jones.

(SINGING)

STELTER: Bursting on to the scene in 1969 with the smash hit "Space Odyssey."

(SINGING)

STELTER: And later as his serial space alien alter ego, Ziggy Stardust.

(SINGING)

STELTER: Bowie's flamboyant theatrics and a fashion-forward style becoming a signature hallmark of the genera-defying pop fixture. (SINGING)

STELTER: His music a rally cry for misfits everywhere.

In 1996, Bowie was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and he was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 10 years later.

(SINGING)

STELTER: His long-time wife, super model, Iman, a steady fixture by his side.

Bowie, a master of reinvention, continued working, dipping in and out of the public eye, releasing his latest album, "Blackstar," just days ago on his 69th birthday, much to critical acclaim. The album topping charts in the U.K. and the U.S.

(SINGING)

STELTER: Highlighting Bowie's unparalleled ability to continue to push the envelope even after four decades in the industry.