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Seoul Says North Korea Conducted Nuclear Test; Trump and Clinton Trade Fire over National Security; Kerry and Lavrov hold Talks on Syria Friday. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 09, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

[00:00:15] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

We are following breaking news out of North Korea and its fifth nuclear test. South Korea says Pyongyang conducted the test on Friday morning in clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The U.S. Air Force is expected to collect air samples in the coming hours.

At a news conference a short time officials in Seoul said Friday's explosion was 10 kilotons which is about double the test carried out in January.

Let's go now to Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul, South Korea. Paula, this test was not entirely unexpected but it is unusual for the North to carry out two nuclear tests in one year.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- John. It's actually unprecedented. I mean this is number five but we had one in 2006, 2009, 2013, and then one in January of this year. So certainly, the timing between the past two nuclear tests has been very short. And we have seen a significant amount of testing from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un this year alone.

Now, we do know that there is condemnation as you might imagine flooding in already. The South Korean President Park Geun-Hye saying that it is a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and in sever defiance against the international community. Also saying that she strongly condemns it; the same from the prime minister. Similar sentiment from Japan's prime minister as well saying it is absolutely unacceptable and we must lodge a strong protest.

Now, of course, the interesting thing is the size of this explosion. According to the meteorological administration here in Seoul they say it was around ten kilotons and the previous one was about four to six kilotons. So as you say, they believe it was twice as strong.

Now it is worth mentioning that back in January, North Korea claimed it had actually carried out a hydrogen bomb test which many experts cast doubts upon but if this test is even bigger it will be very interesting to hear what North Korea has to say about it -- John.

VAUSE: Ok. Paula -- thank you. Paula Hancocks, live there with the very latest from Seoul, South Korea. Let's go to our U.N. correspondent, our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joining us now on the phone from New York. So Richard, clearly this is an issue which will be taken up by the U.N. Security Council. Much will depend on China. How are they likely to fall on this occasion?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): The Security Council was very happy to finally get China on board on a statement condemning the three mid-range ballistic missile launches just two days ago, now the nuclear test.

The council was going to meet on other issues Friday morning in New York. One Security Council diplomat thought that China was really on board regarding the missile launches especially since they took place while the G-20 was meeting in China -- a source of embarrassment there. And, of course, the age-old issue you have discussed with me and others countless times is how much influence does Beijing truly have with North Korea?

A lot of people think China helps North Korea evade sanctions and get needed parts for a nuclear or missile nuclear program. There was a statement on Tuesday condemning what happened with the missile launches. It included reports and, you know, the other resolutions that they have issued countless times that there have been violations of.

Some diplomats think there's more to be done, that you could do more with sanctions but the question is how far China is willing to go -- John.

VAUSE: At this point there are many people asking, what are the point of sanctions anyway even if you do get China on board. In July the U.S. even sanctioned Kim Jong-Un by name.

ROTH: I certainly hear you on that. It appears that nothing will stop Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests as the U.S. ambassador just two days ago said that North Korea now has violated 22 times Security Council resolutions and now it's 23. The tests are coming faster than the statements.

VAUSE: Ok. Richard -- thank you. Richard Roth on the line there from New York. A busy day for you tomorrow, Richard -- thank you.

Let's go to the French Alps now where 33 people are trapped at the moment dangling in cable cars high above the ground near Mont Blanc. Rescue efforts will resume at first light. The cars stopped moving when two cables crossed. A local official says the passengers have blankets as well as rations.

Helicopters rescued 65 people before nightfall on Thursday when operations were then suspended. Another 12 people were in cars close to the ground and safely made it out.

[00:05:01] Hillary Clinton is pouncing on Donald Trump's performance in a national security forum. He gushed with praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and said U.S. generals had been reduced to rubble by the Obama administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As your commander in chief I will not trash our country's most cherished values. I will defend them.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is yet more evidence that Clinton is unfit to be your commander in chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: New polls show Trump gaining ground in several battleground states including North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, as well as Pennsylvania.

Joining me now Wendy Greuel is a former L.A. City council woman and a Hillary Clinton supporter; and CNN political commentator John Philips, talk radio host, political columnist for the "Orange County Register" and we should note a rare thing, a Donald Trump supporter here in California. Good to have you both with us.

Before we get into our discussion I want to take a closer look at the latest poll numbers. John King is at the magic wall. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: New battleground state polling in four big states. What does it tell us? A competitive race heading into the final 60 days.

Let's take a look at the numbers. Quinnipiac University doing the polling in four always big presidential battleground states. In Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton up five points; in Ohio, Donald Trump up four points; in North Carolina, a Clinton lead, four points there; and in Florida 43 percent to 43 percent.

In all of these states the third-party candidates are in the question. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate is not on the ballot in North Carolina. But look at this, Clinton leads but narrowly Pennsylvania; Trump leads narrowly Ohio. Clinton leads narrowly North Carolina; and Florida is a tie.

This matches what we saw in our recent national poll, the CNN/ORC poll showing a tightening national race. Now look at this. On August 15th this is the Real Clear Politics average, on average Clinton was leading by nine points in Pennsylvania, now it's 6. She was leading just a couple of weeks ago by two in Ohio, now it's a tie. She was leading by two in North Carolina, now it's one. And she was leading by three in Florida and now it's a tie.

Again, a tightening race in four battleground states that matter enormously always, even more so this year because of how important they are to Donald Trump. He knows it's advantage Clinton when you look at the state by state map. In fact if you look at our map right now, the CNN map actually puts Secretary Clinton over the top because of the solid blue states and the lean-blue states. But those four states we just mentioned, Donald Trump is in play in Florida if he can make that red; North Carolina, if he can keep that red -- Mitt Romney won it in 2012; and Ohio, if he can make that red; then the fourth state we mentioned will be Pennsylvania. We now lean it Democratic, but if Donald Trump can come back and Clinton's lead is just five right now, if he could flip that one also, 273.

That is the Donald Trump's most plausible path to 270. that's what his campaign advisers tell us. Would that be easy? Absolutely not. But does this new polling leave the Trump campaign encouraged? Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Thanks to John King for that.

Ok. So John, there is a narrow path for Donald Trump but it's still a path. So what is the reasons behind the tightening poll numbers? Is there one thing in particular or a variety of factors?

JOHN PHILIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Donald Trump has been on message over the last couple weeks and Hillary Clinton as dealt with scandal after scandal and setback after setback. And it is a trend, it's a trend not just in the swing states that John king talked about, it's a trend nationally as well.

And when you look inside the numbers of the CNN poll you find a couple of things happening. One is that he is supported by 90 percent of Republicans. That means the Never-Trumpers aren't really not hurting him much. They're coming back in the tent as we approached Labor Day or go beyond Labor Day and go closer to the election.

Also married women are with Donald Trump by double digits. So that perceived problem that he was going to have with women voters isn't really playing out in these polls.

VAUSE: Ok -- Wendy? If you're Hillary Clinton, you look at these numbers, time to panic?

WENDY GREUEL, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I think, you know, she has never taken for granted that this race was going to tighten up. And I think they have been saying that all along that it was going to tighten up. She is still leading in the states that she needs to be leading in.

And the numbers as John King said, look, you know, it's difficult for Donald Trump to really get to that level. And I believe that, in fact, Donald Trump continues to step in it every single day on his comments that he has, whether it's about women in the military because he is actually not doing well in white, educated women which Mitt Romney won in the past.

So I think that we are still seeing that Hillary Clinton is going to keep that lead. Will it continue to tighten up? Absolutely and that's why she's working so hard.

VAUSE: The reason there's polls -- there is something in it for everybody. I'm going to share with you this. This is from 538.

PHILIPS: The poll of Nate Silver.

VAUSE: Yes, Nate Silver. I mean he's got a good track record. And this is what they're projecting. Clinton still has a 69 percent chance of winning this election. But the interesting thing about this is that just a few weeks ago Clinton was as high as 89 percent and she was going to have like a 9 percent majority of the popular vote.

So Wendy, I guess, you know, when you look at those numbers, that is a pretty major tightening but does this go to your point that Hillary Clinton was never going to hold on to such a substantial lead all the way to November?

[00:10:04] GREUEL: Again, she has always said and the campaign has said look, it's going to tighten up. It's going to get closer. She is still winning at 69, you know, the 69 percent chance in that Nate Silver poll.

I think she is going to be great in those debates. I mean, everyone, you know, gives her the upper hand going into those debates and her ability to demonstrate that she is going to be a great commander in chief. But she understands the issues of this country so much better than Donald Trump and he continues to offend people right and left.

PHILIPS: The path to victory for Donald Trump runs through the Rust Belt. And if you look at some of those light blue states, states that could theoretically get flipped in toss-up category or the light red category they all lie in the Rust Belt.

In Wisconsin, there were polls out that showed a three-point gap between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As long as he stays on message and keeps this trend turning his way he could see his fortunes change electorally.

VAUSE: Ok. Stay on message. Does that include this sort of gushing praise that we keep seeing that he has for Vladimir Putin? Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him. I've already said, he is really very much of a leader. I mean you can say, oh isn't that a terrible thing. The man has very strong control over a country.

Now, it's a very different system and I don't happen to like the system but certainly in that system he has been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, Trump keeps talking about Putin. He is praising his. His running mate had to go out and clean up -- as well as a bunch of other Republican surrogates -- had to go out and clean up the mess, if you like. Listen to what Pence had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country. And that's going the change the day that Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America. Look, you have seen incidents in this last week.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean I don't need to tell you because you were in Congress. He has -- Barack Obama has a true democracy here with the Congress that pushes back through those checks and balances.

PENCE: Right.

BASH: Vladimir Putin doesn't have that.

PENCE: That's exactly right. And Donald Trump -- and Donald Trump said last night he doesn't particularly like the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ok. Everyone was on message, you know. Putin's a good leader for Russia. Obama is a bad leader for the United States. But, you know, John, to you -- if a Democrat said the same thing about Vladimir Putin, would Republicans be saying the same thing today.

PHILIPS: Democrats did but not about Vladimir Putin -- about Joe Stalin. FDR pretty much said the same thing.

VAUSE: You have to go back that far?

PHILS: These guys think that they are charmers. They're posturing right now. And they think if I go in and I sit across the table from this guy I can make him do the right thing based on my magnetic personality.

VAUSE: Look into his eyes and I can see -- that was George W. Bush.

PHILIPS: He is almost as charming as John Vause.

VAUSE: Wendy -- is there a double standard for Democrats?

GREUEL: Absolutely. But I also think, you know, the fact is that Donald Trump thinks he can charm Putin and he likes him and I can say these great things. He's living, you know, not in reality.

And I think that's the difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton knows what it takes to sit across a table and negotiate with these leaders. She knows how to be tough and she has demonstrated that. You know you can't negotiate with these leaders by tweeting, by sitting across the table and charming them. That's not the way to be a leader.

VAUSE: Ok. Next hour we'll talk a lot more about -- especially about, you know, "What is Aleppo?" Gary Johnson, the libertarian candidate. So there's a lot to get to. So we'll see you next hour. Thanks -- guys.

PHILIPS: Good.

GREUEL: Ok.

VAUSE: Now we'll take a short break. When we come back Russia and the United States returning to the table trying to hash out a ceasefire deal in Syria but the violence and the death continues there.

Also ahead, world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao joins us to talk about his good friend, the controversial Philippine president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The latest news -- breaking news out of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean president says North Korea has conducted a nuclear test in clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. A U.S. air force jet is expected to collect air samples within hours.

It occurred in the same area that North Korea has carried out four other nuclear tests, most recently back in January. Satellite images have shown activity there in recent weeks according to a monitoring site. Officials in Seoul said Friday's explosion was 10 kilotons, about double January's test.

In the coming hours, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will try again to reach a ceasefire deal for Syria. Both diplomats are in Geneva for Friday's talks. They have a mandate from their bosses. U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have urged them to move quickly on a ceasefire so humanitarian aid can reach areas cut off by the fighting.

We're joined now by Lina Sergie Attar founder of the Karam Foundation, a U.S. based charity helping victims of Syria's civil war. Lena -- thanks for being with us.

The U.S. and Russia -- they at lest appear to be working toward some kind of ceasefire in Syria right now especially in Aleppo. What are the consequences, though, if they fail?

LINA SERGIE ATTAR, FOUNDER, KARAM FOUNDATION: Well, the consequences are very dire. We have over 300,000 people besieged currently in eastern Aleppo and we have over a million people in western Aleppo. And we have people being bombed every single day by incendiary bombs by the Russian air force, by barrel bombs by the Assad regime and we're either seeing more chemical weapons attacks on Aleppo and, you know, the people being besieged were seeing another bout of the regime's infamous kneel or starve tactics which ends in many people's death, at the end of civilian (inaudible) the suffering of many innocent people, including children.

VAUSE: We had a report today -- more than 70 humanitarian groups are accusing the United Nations of allowing the Syrian government to manipulate relief efforts essentially stopping aid from being delivered in rebel areas; also, you know, stuff like removing medical convoys. Have you heard about this happening and what is your reaction to this?

ATTAR: Absolutely, we are definitely in contact with humanitarian organizations on the ground. And Karam Foundation has actually joined these groups in these calls to the U.N. to stop doing what they're doing and basically cooperating with the Assad regime in terms of manipulating the aid. Because what's happening right now is that humanitarian aid inside Syria is being used as a weapon of war against the Syrian people.

And there is a concept of humanitarian aid agencies, the international agencies acting as if they are neutral when, in fact, they are not being neutral at all and they are actually assisting the regime in the starvation and the deaths of Syrian civilians from lack of medical supplies and relief efforts.

VAUSE: Here in the United States, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee Governor Gary Johnson, he made a gaffe which was heard around the world when he was asked specifically about Aleppo. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?

GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: About?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aleppo.

JOHNSON: And what is Aleppo?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're kidding?

JOHNSON: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: What is Aleppo? What does that say to you about the current situation?

[00:19:55] ATTAR: You know, it was very hard to hear. And it was almost as hard to see the reaction. Once again I feel that Syria becomes you know, part of the social media theatrics, a lot of reactions to the gaffe, a lot of criticism of Gary Johnson which is justified.

But right now, as a Syrian, five and a half years in a war that has no end in sight, that has no real action to end to the suffering of the Syrian people and of the refugee crisis it's very hard to hear people say "what is Aleppo" especially if, like me, Aleppo is actually my home. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

And the thing is that "what is Aleppo" is not the right question to ask. The question to ask is "how do we save what's left of Aleppo" and "how do we save the people who remain in Aleppo"? And I think that's a question that every single person in the world should ask because the burning of Aleppo and the death of Aleppo and the slow death of Syria is a stain on our collective humanity.

VAUSE: Governor Johnson, as you say, he's been roundly criticized but he does have his supporters including the former governor of Minnesota, also pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura. He had a very blunt defense to Johnson. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't know what Aleppo was.

JESSE VENTURA, FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Neither do I.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Listen, you are feigning ignorance because you're supporting --

VENTURA: No I'm not. No I'm not.

(CROSSTALK)

VENTURA: For me if you are pulling out of the Middle East wars why the hell do you need to know of a city over there? Get us out of there. 15 years and we accomplished nothing, we've spent trillions of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't agree more.

VENTURA: So if you are coming home who the hell cares about Aleppo?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Lina, that brings me to this question. It was actually tweeted out by author Greg Gutfeld. This is what he said, "What is worse not knowing about Aleppo or knowing all along and not acting on it?"

How do you answer that question?

ATTAR: Absolutely. I mean what is worse? Not knowing Aleppo or not caring? And Gary Johnson didn't know what Aleppo is but President Obama knows very well what Aleppo is and what Syria is and he did nothing to stop the destruction of one of the oldest cities in the world.

And people who are ignorant to what Aleppo is should know very well that Aleppo is one of our humanity's history, the birth of civilizations, one of the most diverse cities in the world. It is the home of art and architecture and music and I think everybody should know what Aleppo is. And to not know it is really just stating your extreme ignorance. And I think that it's very sad to see that. And on top of all that we are watching genocide.

To not know what Aleppo is means that you are blinded to genocide and I think that people will think differently in the future when they think back on these moments in history when people didn't stand on the right side of history and with the Syrian people and did what they could at the moment to save Aleppo and save Syria.

VAUSE: Lina, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much for being with us. And good luck with all your work. Thank you.

ATTAR: Thank you.

VAUSE: A short break here.

When we come back, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is in Indonesia. After a controversial week, what the U.S. President is saying about a diplomatic row with Duterte.

Also ahead world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is a friend of Duterte and also a politician. Next -- we ask Pacquiao if he has some advice for his good friend, Duterte.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

And we are following breaking news on North Korea's latest nuclear test. South Korea and Japan confirm the test. Seoul says it created a 10 kiloton explosion, that's about double the force of January's test. This is North Korea's fifth test overall and its most powerful so far.

Philip Yun is the executive director of the Plough Shares Fund. He joins us now on the line from San Francisco. So Philip, unless it is revived downwards, a 5.3 magnitude explosion this time, a 10-kiloton yield according to the South Koreans, this would be the strongest of all the five tests so far. Clearly the North Koreans are getting better. What else does it tell you?

PHILIP YUN, PLOUGH SHARES FUND (via telephone): Well yes. I think that this is one -- have to be seeing in a one of series. This is the fifth test and each time they're getting better and better at what they do. I think right now we're going to have to wait to get the final, more specific calculations because the previous test was calculated between -- estimated between five and 12. This one they're saying is a 10. These could be revised upward or downward.

But, you know, the key is that these are very consistent all the way through and it indicates a technical capability which is relatively sophisticated moving forward and as is expected. Again, this is their fifth test. Each time they do it they learn more.

VAUSE: From a technological point of view what would you expect the North Koreans to do next?

YUN: Well, I think what's going to happen now is that, you know, part of this is have they succeeded to the point where they feel like they can miniaturize or actually make a device that's small enough to mount on a delivery vehicle, in other words a missile? That's what they are going to be trying to do and perfecting this and to be able to calibrate in a way that they want. These are the things that they're going to be doing.

The other point is we don't know if this was actually a plutonium device. You can make a nuclear weapon with tube, by tube materials, plutonium or highly-enriched uranium and those are two separate kinds of processes which they're probably trying to perfect as well. So these are the things in terms of the next tests of what they're going to be looking at.

VAUSE: What difference would it make if this was plutonium compared to highly enriched uranium?

YUN: For all intents and purposes not a lot but it really makes a difference in terms of how much material they have available to them. Right now, we feel like they don't have as much plutonium material as they do with highly enriched uranium. And so if this is a -- the previous tests we know were plutonium. If these subsequent ones were highly-enriched uranium that becomes more problematic because we know they probably have much more highly-enriched uranium to continue doing this than they do plutonium.

[00:30:04] VAUSE: Philip -- have we sort of been talking down the North Korean capability here for a period of time? Every time they fly these tests there's a flurry of concern and then sort of apathy, if you like, or the yield wasn't that big. They don't have the capability to put it on a missile. They can't militarize it.

And now, are we at a point where we really have to take the North Koreans a little more seriously?

PHILIP YUN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND COO, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: Well, I think we've always had to take the North Koreans seriously. I think you point to the basic problem is that we go to extremes. On one hand, we feel like given that there is a test or a missile launch, suddenly the world is falling apart and then other times when they fail we kind of laugh at them.

And you know, really, you know, each thing that they do is significant in and of itself, and we have to take it seriously. I think the larger picture here that we really have to worry about is that unless we figure out a way to deal with North Korea and stop their activity, at some point in the near future, they are going to have a relatively sophisticated nuclear arsenal that is capable of hitting the United States. And that is a huge problem.

We still are a ways away from that. But that's something that we have to take seriously and something that for a variety of reasons we haven't been able to make any headway in stopping them.

VAUSE: OK, Philip, we'll leave it there. But we appreciate you being with us. Appreciate your insight.

Philip Yun from Ploughshares Fund on the line there from San Francisco. Well, the controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is on his first official visit to Indonesia. The fight against terrorism and drug trafficking are at the top of the agenda.

Mr. Duterte was criticized for using the profanity which we are about to play for you when he was referring to the U.S. president. And after that, Barack Obama cancelled a meeting with Duterte at a regional summit in Laos.

Mr. Obama now says he spoke briefly with Duterte on Wednesday, and that he doesn't take Duterte's words personally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: I'm a president of a sovereign state. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining us now for more on the political situation in the Philippines is Manny Pacquiao. A former member of the Philippines House of Representatives. He's also a freshman senator.

We should also mentioned, Manny, that you are the eight-division world champion boxer and you're a national hero to what about 100 million Filipinos.

So thank you for coming in. Appreciate you being here.

MANNY PACQUIAO, PHILIPPINES SENATOR: Thank you.

VAUSE: You have a very close relationship with President Duterte?

PACQUIAO: Yes.

VAUSE: Would you say you're friends?

PACQUIAO: Yes, my friend before he became president.

VAUSE: OK. As friends would you advise him that maybe it's not appropriate to use the kind of language that he's used in recent times, not just when he is talking about President Obama, but you know also talking about the pope, for instance and the U.S. ambassador?

PACQUIAO: Yes, yes.

VAUSE: What would you say?

PACQUIAO: I'm sure he realized to say something about -- because in a way, he apologize after that so I think I'm sure he realized what he said.

VAUSE: Do you think there will be a change maybe in how President Duterte speaks from this point on? Will he change his tone, perhaps?

PACQUIAO: Maybe he changed his tone when he apologized. The good thing for him is he knows how to apologize. And we support him 100 percent of his advocacy against illegal drugs.

VAUSE: I want to ask you about that. Because the reason why there was this diplomatic spat, if you like, between the United States and the Philippines was because, you know, President Obama did say that there were concerns about the number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. People being killed without trial over drugs. There are more than 2,000 drug dealers -- suspected drug dealers.

(CROSSTALK)

PACQUIAO: The problem is when he announced the massive campaign against illegal drugs, the problem is -- this is reality in the Philippines. Unfair to the president, because now all the killings that are happening is charged to him.

VAUSE: Well, about half are the police and half are vigilantes.

PACQUIAO: Yes, yes, charged to him.

VAUSE: Yes.

PACQUIAO: But what I believe and what's happening in the Philippines is there are drug lords, drug pushers that are killing each other because they don't want to, you know, to -- somebody will, you know --

VAUSE: So you're saying is this is a gang-related, that you can't put all of the blame on President Duterte.

(CROSSTALK)

PACQUIAO: Yes, yes.

VAUSE: But would you say he's encouraged it with his language? He said he wanted 100,000 criminals killed.

[00:35:00] PACQUIAO: He's not encouraging -- I mean, when he announced strongly about the campaign of the illegal drugs, these illegal drugs, you know, the drug lords especially, like, generals involved in drug lord -- I mean, involved in drugs, there are people that are killing their people or big officials in the politics, they're killing their people because they want to be brought up in their names into the media.

VAUSE: OK. So they're doing it for notoriety, I guess, or for fame?

PACQUIAO: Yes.

VAUSE: President Duterte has been described by some as a dictator in waiting. He's a strong man.

What do you say in all of that?

PACQUIAO: I know him personally, Duterte, he's not like other leader that -- a dictator. He just want -- he is fighting for -- because his mother is a former activist, you know, fighting for the right of the poor people. And that's what his heart is. You know, he is fighting for the poor people.

VAUSE: OK. Now, you personally, you said you were going to retire. That was six months ago. You are back in the ring. But I want to ask about maybe long term here. Because when the Philippines hold their next round of presidential elections, you will be old enough under electoral law to actually run for president.

You are very popular. You've got a great turnout for your Senate campaign.

Do you think you would be a good president? Would you like to run for president of the Philippines?

PACQUIAO: I don't know. What I believe, to become a president is not by the will of person, but it's the will of God. Because like Duterte, who never -- who knows that he would become a president.

VAUSE: Right.

PACQUIAO: So it's God's will that -- if you become a president, then you will become a president.

VAUSE: Could you see yourself in that role then?

PACQUIAO: I don't know. I didn't think about that. My focus right now is my job as a senator.

VAUSE: Yes, and a boxer.

PACQUIAO: As a boxer. So that's very interesting.

VAUSE: OK. It's very interesting.

Thank you for coming in and good luck. Good luck with the fight, too.

PACQUIAO: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

VAUSE: And details on that fight, Manny Pacquiao is returning to the ring to face Jessie Vargas who holds the WBO welterweight title. The fight November 5th from Las Vegas. You can see it on pay-per-view.

Still to come here, live long and prosper. The "Star Trek" TV series has become a cultural phenomenon and it has turned 50 years old.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission to explore strange, new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

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VAUSE: Little did Captain Kirk know back then, but that five-year mission is now 50 years and counting. The very first episode went to air on the U.S. network NBC half a century ago.

The special effects were cheesy, and William Shatner who played Kirk, infamous for overacting. Still doing its three year long run.

The show tackled major social issues from race relations to the Vietnam War. 13 movies were to follow and five more series for television.

Sandro Monetti is a film and entertainment journalist and a lifelong trek. He joins us now.

I understand lovely to have you here to talk "Star Trek" because I wouldn't want to talk "Star Trek" with anyone else but you.

The series has ebbed and it's flowed over the years, the good and the bad. But the fan base --

SANDRO MONETTI, FILM AND ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: How dare you, it's always been fantastic, John.

VAUSE: Really? Well, it's all fan-based. Why are the fans always love it? Why are they being so loyal for so long?

MONETTI: Two reasons.

VAUSE: Yes.

MONETTI: One, it was Gene Roddenberry's original vision of a hopeful future where humans settle their differences. In the 23rd century, no more wars.

You know, the federation just started them with a bunch of other planets. So that was the policy.

The second reason was a fantastic central performance by William Shatner.

VAUSE: Really?

[00:40:00] MONETTI: The series originally had Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike in the original pilot. It became Shatner. He was great. So it was always about the central character.

And I would go to my grave arguing that the greatest performance in movie history was given by William Shatner in "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan."

VAUSE: Are you an even number "Star Trek" first like all the even number "Star Trek" movies are better than the odd numbers "Star Trek" movies.

MONETTI: I would generally agree with that, but I like them all.

VAUSE: OK.

MONETTI: All of them have something to recommend. VAUSE: You know, the original series, incredibly unique, dealing with issues like the cold war, the Vietnam war, civil rights even had its first interracial kiss on television. It broke boundaries.

MONETTI: It did. You are referring to Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner in the episode "Plato Stepchildren" of course.

VAUSE: Right. Of course.

MONETTI: Classic moment. And, yes, TV in the '60s, it was all about using science fiction as an allegory. The "Twilight Zone" had done something similar with Rod Serling and the writers of "Star Trek" also found they could examine contemporary issues in a futuristic setting.

VAUSE: It's funny because Nichelle Nichols, she has a great story.

One of her biggest fans was Dr. Martin Luther King. And she had a conversation with Dr. King when she told him she was about to leave the show after the first season. And this is -- she picks up the conversation here. She spoke to NPR.

Listen to this.

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NICHELLE NICHOLS, ACTRESS: And his face got very, very serious and he said what are you talking about? And I said, well I told Gene just yesterday that I'm going to show after the first year because I've been offered -- he stopped me and he said, you cannot do that. And I was stunned.

He said don't you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time we are being seen the world over as we should be seen.

He says, do you understand that this is the only show that my wife Coretta and I will allow our little children to stay up and watch? I was speechless.

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VAUSE: It gives you goose bumps to think about, you know, the social significance of this. Have the later series been true to the original vision? To that kind of social change?

MONETTI: They've tried, but not so much. But viewing habits have changed as well. We demand different things from our science fiction shows. We would no longer accept wobbly sets and cheesy special effects.

And so therefore, there's more -- as digital technology has grown, it's been more of emphasis put on special effects. But, you know, as a traditionalist, I love the charm.

And storytelling is where it's at. And I think that when "Star Trek" stops that original vision of the best version of humanity, it's always led to the best series and movies. VAUSE: It's funny because you say people won't accept basically the crappy sets anymore. But some say that's actually a criticism of the newer version of "Star Trek." That it's basically a, you know, special effects big block buster palooza where all that matters is the bottom line?

MONETTI: "Star Trek" has always been about commerce. The reason it got on the screen in the first place was in order to sell color television sets. That was part of the pitch here.

He said well with all the colorful uniforms --

VAUSE: With all the green people.

MONETTI: All the aliens and all the green people, you can sell colored TV sets. And that was part of Roddenberry's pitch to get it on the air. So, yes, "Star Trek" has always been about commerce, always been about entertainment.

VAUSE: I have no idea.

MONETTI: Boldly going on for 50 years.

VAUSE: Favorite episode?

MONETTI: "City on the Edge of Forever," starring Joan Collins.

VAUSE: OK, Joan Collins. Remember it well. Thanks.

Appreciate you coming in.

OK. And we are continuing to follow that breaking news out of North Korea. Conducting their most new powerful nuclear test so far. Pyongyang just confirmed Friday morning's test. A live television broadcast a short time ago. South Korean officials say that it tested a 10 kilotons explosion, 5 kilotons less than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan.

South Korea's president says its latest nuclear is in clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions. We'll have more on this story at the top of the hour after a live "World Sport" with Kate Riley.

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