Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S.: North Korea Nuke Test "A Grave Threat"; Donald Trump's Interview by Larry King. Clinton Explains Her "Unemotional" Demeanor. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired September 09, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: -- and will use a robotic arm to grab a sample of the rock and return it back to earth. Scientists are concerned the asteroid could hit earth in 2135. The next hour of CNN "Newsroom" starts now. Happening now in the "Newsroom," North Korea hits the button and carries out what could be its most powerful nuclear test ever. World leaders outraged. How the U.S. is responding? Plus, praising Putin. Controversial comments from Donald Trump and his running mate.
MIKE PENCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.
COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton calling it scary. And bank thieves bad enough but getting fined on a phony account. Why thousands of Wells Fargo employees got fired. Let's talk, live in the CNN "Newsroom." And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. North Korea says it has carried out its most powerful nuclear test yet, the explosion registering the force of a 5.3 earthquake. Kim Jong-un's government now claiming it can make nuclear warheads small enough to fit on to missiles. World leaders are strongly condemning the apparent test. With President Obama saying just moments ago there will be serious consequences. He also said, and I'm just getting his statement right now, that North Korea's nuclear test is a grave threat. He says to be clear the United States does not and will never accept North Korea as a nuclear state. We have Suzanne Malveaux on this story. She'll join us in a little bit when she gets more information. But let's head to Tokyo now for North Korea's side. Will Ripley has that. Hi, Will.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. That brand-new statement from President Obama comes after he was very busy during the overnight hours speaking on the phone separately with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is here in Tokyo and also the South Korean President Park where according to a White House spokesman, we have a quote from them as well, he, "The President reiterated the unbreakable U.S. commitment to the security of our allies in Asia and around the world. The President indicated the world would continue to consult our allies and partners in the days ahead to ensure provocative actions from North Korea are met with serious consequences." But those serious consequences, Carol, what are they at this point? When you think about the fact some of the strongest sanctions ever are in place against North Korea with even the naming of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un having little effect in slowing, not only this nuclear test, North Korea's fifth nuclear test in some ten years but also they launched three missiles just last week. They launched a submarine- based ballistic missile the week before. There was a reported H-bomb test in January, it was in Pyongyang. After that H-bomb test, I asked the North Koreans if they were fearful of more sanctions, more isolation and more international condemn nation. What they said, and this is from a government official branded, not from somebody speaking freely on the streets, is that they're prepared to tighten their belts and go hungry if they have to because their leader wants them to develop these weapons because he tells them it's the only way they can protect their country from invasion by the United States. That's the mind-set that the rest of the world is up against, Carol. And it makes you wonder what it's going to take to stop this rapidly accelerating development of these weapons. What North Korea wants a miniaturized nuclear warhead they can put on one of these missiles and strike U.S. associates, here in Japan, in South Korea, or also the United States mainland as well.
COSTELLO: All right, Will Ripley reporting live from Tokyo. I'm just reading more of President Obama's statement here. But I do want to bring in my panel a little early to talk about what's happening in North Korea right now. Mike baker is a former CIA covert operations officer. Colonel Cedric Leighton is a CNN military analyst and former air force colonel. And Aaron David Miller is Vice President for New Initiatives and a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson -- International Center. He is also the author of "The End of Greatness, Why America Can't Have and Doesn't Want Another Great President." All right, I do want to start with you, Mike. What do you make of what's happening in North Korea? President Obama just coming out with a statement saying that the North Korea nuclear test is a grave threat.
MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA COVERT OPERATIONS OFFICER: Well, I mean, he's right -- in the statement. But it's -- it's kind of more of the same, you know, what they're doing is consistent with what North Korea and the North Korean leadership has been doing for years, and there's a sense that the world isn't paying attention, the world isn't taking them seriously, and, you know, so, once again, they're throwing their teddy out of the cot, in sort of a simplistic fashion. But this is a serious issue. This is their fifth nuclear test. By all counts, they are getting the intelligence, the information they need for their weapons program. So yes, I mean, but we have little to know leverage. And frankly, we always do the same thing. We always say, well, China, you know, China is the key here. China needs to deal with them. Well, that's not necessarily true either. China doesn't have the leverage I think that the administration or the previous administration also believes they do.
[10:05:16] COSTELLO: So, Aaron, what can the United States do, because this sounds like North Korea's just ratcheting things up and it's starting to sound really scary.
AARON DAVID MILLER, VICE PRESIDENT FOR NEW INITIATIVES AND SCHOLAR WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: I mean, I think this is just one of the many problems in a cruel and unforgiving world that the next president's going to confront. A serious problem without a really good set of - options, I mean, four powers outside of the five permanent members of the Security Council, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea possess nuclear weapons. And of those four, North Korea's the most unpredictable. Sanctions working with the Chinese, our own force posture, creating a presence in Asia, all of these things are critically important. But if a small country ideological and authoritarian is determined to produce nuclear weapons, the real question is, short of a military confrontation, which is prohibitive, what do you do about it? And an honest man and/or woman would admit right now that the options for blocking a program that's already developed and perhaps, now in the phase of producing the delivery system that is very effective and precise, those options are just very poor.
COSTELLO: OK, so -- Colonel Leighton, I'm going to get to you in just a second. I want to go to Suzanne Malveaux first because the President of the United States office sent out a very long statement. It's a page long. You've had more time to read it than I have. What else does it say, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol it's a very good point that your panelists are bringing up here because part of the statement talks about what are the consequences here. The president making clear, that there have to be consequences. And he goes on to say we agreed to work with the U.N. Security Council. Obviously they're having an emergency meeting today and the other six-party partners. And he says they're vigorously going to implement existing measures imposed in previous resolutions and take significant other actions including additional sanctions. But this is something that previously President Bush and now President Obama have had to deal with, with North Korea and the sanctions have not worked, and so they really are in a situation where these are tough words. We have very strong allies. But it has not really been effective. And so you have this very strongly worded statement of condemnation, you have promises of doing additional economic sanctions. But the question still remains really, whether or not this is going to be effective.
COSTELLO: So, Colonel Leighton, my question for you. Will there come a time when the U.S. takes some sort of military action?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST AND U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, unfortunately, I think we have to be prepared for that, Carol. It's a very difficult situation, as Aaron David Miller and Mike Baker and of course Suzanne just pointed out. And what you're dealing with here is the fact that there are so many limited options means that the military option, instead of becoming the true last resort, becomes the only resort in a very extreme case. You really don't want to go that far. So one possible thing they could do before that is to have a more serious blockade of North Korea that would absolutely limit trade between China and North Korea but the Chinese would have to be willing to do that, and I don't see them going that far yet. Yes, they've condemned this, but the next step is will they actually fulfill the idea of limiting trade to a much greater extent than they previously have.--
COSTELLO: OK. So you have -- the situation with North Korea ongoing right now. The Secretary of State John Kerry is now trying to negotiate with the Russian Foreign Minister to come to some sort of agreement about how -- the United States and Russia fight ISIS within Syria. All of this is going on. While Donald Trump actually appeared on Russian-funded television and he criticized American policy. And I want to get into that right now. Donald Trump's campaign says he didn't realize the interview would air on the Kremlin-backed station since Larry King asked the questions but it did. Jeff Zeleny is here to tell us more about that and then I'll return to my panel. Good morning.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol. This is the point of a presidential campaign where real events like this on the ground, like North Korea really can shape the race as well. But Donald Trump's words on the Russian president break from the traditional boundaries of American politics. Democrats now are outraged. Even many Republicans are uneasy about these blurred lines of country versus party. Hillary Clinton says this praise for Putin is the latest example of Trump's lack of judgement. She says all Americans should be alarmed by this embrace of the hostile leader. Let's listen to these comments from yesterday when she was on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is not just unpatriotic. It's not just insulting to the office and the man who holds the office. It is scary. It is dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: But Trump is indeed embracing Vladimir Putin. And in that interview on Russian television with Larry King, he poured cold water on the suggestion Russia is meddling in U.S. elections as many intelligence
[10:10:16] officials believe by hacking into that computer networks at the DNC and elsewhere. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's probably unlikely. I think maybe the Democrats are putting that out, who knows. But I think that it's pretty unlikely but, you know, who knows. I hope - that if they are doing something, I hope that somebody's going to be able to find out so they can end it. Because that would not be appropriate at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: And Carol, as you said, the Trump campaign is pushing back on that appearance in a statement this morning from his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks. Let's take a look at that. She said "Mr. Trump recorded a short interview with Larry King for his podcast as a favor to Mr. King. What Larry King does with the interview content is up to him, we have nothing to do with it." But, Carol, this is unlikely to be the last word on this with so many Republicans already alarmed and unsure about his ability to embrace national security issues. And the latest news from North Korea even adds to this. And it's a new challenge for both candidates, but particularly for Donald Trump.
COSTELLO: And I want to play just a bit more of what Donald Trump said on Russian state television because he was directly criticizing the Obama administration policies on Russian state television. - I know he did say he didn't know he was on it but it happened. So let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Maybe the Democrats are putting that out, who knows. But I think that it's pretty unlikely. But, you know, who knows, I hope that if they are doing something, I hope that somebody's going to be able to find out so they can end it. Because that would not be appropriate at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So I'm going to go back to my panel right now. Aaron, Mr. Trump said it was an accident, he didn't know his comments would be on Russian state television. Should voters be concerned about this?
MILLER: I mean, look, you know, I've worked for Republican and Democratic administrations. I watched a lot of political campaigns. Rarely, if ever, have I ever seen a presidential candidate embrace a foreign leader, particularly one who may not be an enemy of the United States but is clearly -- belongs in the adversary category. And for Mr. Trump who prides himself on not wanting to telegraph his moves and to remain unpredictable, the embrace of Vladimir Putin as a risk-ready strong leader who admires Mr. Trump is, I think, well out of the box of mainstream politics in this country. And injurious, I'm persuaded, to the interest of the United States. And what's driving it is very curious. It's not simply Putin's flattery of Mr. Trump. I think there is a conviction. A part of Donald Trump that is - his self- fashion, world's greatest negotiator that he figures Mr. Putin is a guy that he can deal with. And I think he's got that fixed in his world view -- well before the presidency.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about that a little bit more with Mike. So would it be beneficial for the United States to establish better relations with Vladimir Putin? Could Vladimir Putin help us defeat ISIS?
BAKER: Well, I mean, better relations with any major power in the globe would be a good thing for us. But we have to be pragmatic. Look, -- this is like a never-ending sketch from "Saturday Night Live," I mean, on both sides to be fair. The fact that Donald Trump would try to make a point, and I think what he's attempting to do, and -- it's bizarre, is to say he disagrees with the leadership style of Obama. So in contrast, look at Vladimir Putin. And then Mike Pence comes out and says, you know, Donald isn't saying he likes the system. He doesn't particularly like the system that Putin is running. -- I've never seen anything like this before. But then you have Hillary Clinton, you know, saying that ISIS prays to Allah every day hoping that Donald Trump will win. I mean, this really is -- we have entered new territory here. But can we work with Russia to defeat ISIS? I don't think that's very likely. We have to understand that Russia is operating according to its own best interests, as is China, as is North Korea, everyone else. We seem to be here in the U.S. incapable sometimes of understanding that that's what other nations do. So Russia -- is taking care of its own agenda. We might be able to, in very short bursts, find an intersection with our interests crossed with -- Putin's right now in Syria and in the Middle East. But we need to be very careful and very pragmatic in understanding that in no way, in no way, do Putin's interests in the Middle East match
[10:15:16] in the mid or long term, what is in our best interest.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Thanks to all of you for being with me. Mike Baker, Col. Cedric Leighton, Aaron David Miller. Of course my thanks to you too, Jeff Zeleny. I want to take you to the Pentagon now where a 9/11 remembrance ceremony is under way in the courtyard. The Deputy Secretary of Defense, Bob Work, among those making remarks to the Department of Defense workers, President Obama will attend a larger ceremony at the Pentagon on Sunday and that day, -- well, that is the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB WORK, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are dedicated to honoring the souls lost that faithful day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:16] COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton projecting a softer image working to counter attacks but she's too cold, her platform, Humans of New York, a website devoted to sharing personal experiences. Clinton writes, quote, "I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional." This is what Clinton said on this episode. "But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions." Clinton later went on to say, -- went on to to talk about humility with voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Humility is not something you hear much about in politics, is it? But we should. None of us is perfect. It's because of our limitations and imperfections that we must reach out beyond ourselves to God and to each other. It isn't easy but I've learned to be grateful not just for my blessings but also for my faults and there are plenty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. So let's talk about humility this morning. Here to discuss is Joseph Borelli, Councilman for the 51st District of New York City Council and a Donald Trump supporter. And Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress and Hillary Clinton supporter. Welcome to both of you. Neera, why is Hillary Clinton now talking about humility and the mistakes she's made in the past? NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS AND HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: You know, I think that in a presidential campaign, we learn every aspect of a president's character, a leader's character. I think she's really trying to communicate directly with voters. I hope people all throughout the country read both of these posts and really see Hillary talking about her strengths but also her weaknesses. And in the posts, you know, I've known her for 20 years. And -- in the Humans of New York posts, she really talks about how the kind of armor got start, -- you know, got created, but there is -- the Hillary that her friends know which is warm and funny and kind and caring so I hope people see this and really see her talking about herself in her own voice.
COSTELLO: Joseph, what do you make of this?
JOSEPH BORELLI, COUNCILMAN FOR THE 51ST DISTRICT OF NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL AND A DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, the warm, fuzzy and kind Hillary Clinton is certainly not the Hillary Clinton that the public knows. And this is just one of a -- series of you know, quote/unquote Hillary remakes. We've seen this tried back in July, right -- before and during the convention. But the truth is her character has essentially been defined through -- over the last 30 years. The public knows who she is. And I think the public is sort of concerned and is shaped by the trust issue more than anything else. I think that, sure, she can try to -- sound softer. She can try to sound more -- family oriented and things like that. But I think this is just a reaction to some of the bad poll numbers that have come up that show she has a marriage gap even among women.
COSTELLO: Yes, because - Neera, can you imagine Mr. Trump softening his image and talking about humility and -- the mistakes he's made in the past?
TANDEN: I find it hard to -- for Donald Trump, to imagine Donald Trump talking about humility. Yes, I do find that difficult. But let me just respond to this. You know, this isn't like softening or -- this is just Hillary talking about her experiences. And talking about people have questions about, you know, -- her public perception. And she's trying to explain, you know, sometimes why people see her that way. And I think, again, people should really look at these things. I mean, and evaluate them for themselves. Look at what she's writing. Evaluate it for themselves. I think the reality here is that - you know we can do what people do in cable and I can mention Donald Trump's high negatives, that they are higher than Hillary's and that he is more distrusted than Hillary and very negative in most of the states. And she's doing better than he is, particularly with college- educed women, doing much better. But the reality here is I hope people actually just hear her and her own voice. Talking about her experiences - I hope a lot of women here would like for her as a young woman -
COSTELLO: -- I do find it interesting that -- some people say that Hillary Clinton must do that, soften her image, and she's a woman, -- but they don't say that about Donald Trump, Joseph, why is that?
BORELLI: I think Donald Trump's character has always been sort of consistent and he hasn't -- needed to essentially -
COSTELLO: But he has high unlikability numbers too.
TANDEN: Higher numbers.-
BORELLI: I understand that but if you look at the polls, I mean, they're going towards him. And while we're on the subject of -- gender gaps, I think it's safe to say that - and actually your own poll confirms that, that Donald Trump is doing better amongst women than Hillary Clinton is doing amongst men. So both candidates have -
COSTELLO: -- a segment of women he's doing better -
TANDEN: --No, that's not true.
BORELLI: No, no, no. Actually I wrote it down here below, --
COSTELLO: On a national level, Hillary Clinton leads women 15-
BORELLI: -- in CNN's poll, I think Hillary is -- has 38 percent of women rather -- Donald Trump has 34 percent -
COSTELLO: -- that's a segment -- that's a segment of women -- and when you consider all women, Hillary
[10:25:16] Clinton trounces Donald Trump and then Donald Trump on the other side trounces Hillary Clinton with men. -
TANDEN: But she's doing much better with women.
COSTELLO: That's what the CNN/ORC poll shows. --
BORELLI: No, among -- support amongst gender, Donald Trump had more support amongst women -- all women, not just the marriage gap --
COSTELLO: I know what the CNN/ORC poll says. And he is doing better against a segment of women. But when you take into account all women, she is trouncing him. He is trouncing her with men. And that's just what our CNN/ORC poll shows. That said, Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, was on "New day" this morning and she was asked about if Hillary Clinton was playing the gender card too much. And this is what she said. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: She runs on her D.C. political resume and having been the first lady United States, Senator and Secretary of State. She's using those achievements, Chris, to show, -- to say that she is qualified to be Commander-in-Chief. So you can't have it both ways. You can't run basically for eight years now for President of the United States on those credentials. And then turn around and say everybody's being unfair to me. They're picking on me because of my gender. Screaming about sexism when you're running as a first female President of the United States with two months to go seems to me a bit desperate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so I just double-checked those numbers on -- gender in the CNN/ORC poll. And Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump with women 53% to 38% and flipped for men. I just want to clarify that because, you know, perspective. -- Going back to Kellyanne Conway's -- I'm sorry, she's losing with men. --
BORELLI: Right, right, right.
COSTELLO: The numbers are almost flipped. And that's what I've consistently said during this segment. So Neera, I want to ask you about what Kellyanne Conway said, is there a danger, if Hillary Clinton goes -- and plays the gender card too much because she will be criticized by that by certain factions.
TANDEN: I mean, I think it's fair to say that no matter what Hillary does, she will be criticized by certain factions. I think -- I have to say, I didn't really understand Kellyanne's point. I don't really get it. Obviously you can be a person running on the fact that you have experience. You can be a woman running on the fact you have experience but also recognize that, you know, some of the coverage has not been fair. Hillary Clinton is not the first one to say some of the coverage has not been fair or some of the perceptions are affected by gender. That is men in journalism, women in journalism, -- a whole round of people. And so I think the reality here is it's not really about a critique of the press et cetera. What Hillary's really trying to do here, just to be clear about what's happening with this post, is she's really trying to explain to the public her experiences, how they shaped her and who she is. And I think that's, you know, -- if Donald Trump were to post on Humans of New York, I think we'd get a great sense of that. I just don't expect that kind of candor or humility. -
COSTELLO: You'll never know. It would be interesting to have him participate. I would like to see that. Thanks to both of you, Joseph Borelli, Neera Tanden. Coming up in the "Newsroom," it became a symbol of hope after 9/11 and then it simply disappeared. Up next, how one forensic analyst helped track down this iconic American flag.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
