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New Day Sunday

North Korea Missile Launch: Missile Flew 310 Miles, Landed in Sea of Japan; Protests Grow as Hundreds Arrested in 12 States; Winter Storm Warning Issued for Northeast; 52 Overdose Calls In 32 Hours in Louisville, Kentucky; Media Blocked From Seeing Trump at FL Resort; 59th Annual Grammy Awards Tonight. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired February 12, 2017 - 07:00   ET

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


(MUSIC)

[07:00:09] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to 7:00 on a Sunday. We're so grateful to see you. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Hello to you.

We begin with the latest provocation from Pyongyang. North Korea test firing another ballistic missile amid a U.S. state visit by the leader of Japan.

PAUL: Yes. And here's what we know this hour -- South Korean officials say North Korea fired an intermediate range missile. It happened earlier today and a source tells us it was launched from a province in the northwestern part of the country. Now, this is a missile that traveled about 300 miles before it crashed into the Sea of Japan.

BLACKWELL: As that happened, President Donald Trump was hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida. Last night, the two leaders were briefed on the situation and then they each made statements.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): North Korea's most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable. North Korea must fully comply with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Our team of correspondents and expert analysts are standing by to break this down.

Matt Rivers is live in Seoul, South Korea. Ryan Browne is our Pentagon reporter.

PAUL: We want to go to Ryan Browne right now.

So, Ryan, talk to us about what you are hearing at the Pentagon about the response to this?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: That's right, Christi. We are starting to see is, you know, the Pentagon tracked this missile through a strategic command. They're well aware of the launch, and they have seen this kind of test before.

But this -- what we are seeing now with Secretary Jim Mattis, Donald Trump's pick to run the Pentagon is a real concerted effort to boost missile defense in the region. We saw earlier this month, along with Japan, the U.S. military conducted a successful test of a missile defense system, shooting down a medium range missile, and we've seen Secretary of Defense Mattis on his first trip abroad went to South Korea where among other things, he discussed this new THAAD missile defense system kind of getting that in place before the end of 2017.

So, there's a real concerted effort to boost defenses in the region. Of course, there are thousands of troops stationed in Guam, in Japan and South Korea. So, kind of even though this missile couldn't reach the continent of the United States, those troops are very much at risk for this kind of system.

PAUL: We know the South Korean director of national security spoke to President Trump's national security adviser, of course, Michael Flynn, and they talked about options. Do we know anything about those options they spoke of?

BROWNE: Well, it's still a little early to say. Of course, I think there's a lot of things being discussed. One of them is to kind of go to Beijing, to go to the U.N. Security Council potentially to kind of seek potentially a ramped up sanctions against North Korea. This is something that Donald Trump spoke about a lot during the campaign trail, which is kind of getting China's buy-in to kind of help restrain North Korea.

Of course, that's something that's been the goal of the U.S. policy for sometime dating back to the Six-Party Talks era. So, we're not really seeing anything concrete yet. Of course, those plans for missile defense missile systems to be ramped up were in place before this most recent test. But I think this is just going to add a little bit of urgency to that.

PAUL: All righty. Ryan Browne, we appreciate it so much.

BROWNE: You bet.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's bring in Christopher Hill. He is a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and Iraq.

Ambassador, good morning to you.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA AND IRAQ: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, let's first start with China, which is at the center of Donald Trump's approach to North Korea. He talked a lot about it during the campaign. Just weeks ago, as president-elect, he talked about it on Twitter, that China should get involved here. To what degree do you glean that China is prepared to ramp up their involvement in kind of stamping out this progression from North Korea?

HILL: Well, of course, trying to get China more involved has been a long-standing effort by the United States, and frankly, many times we have been disappointed by China's involvement. Now, whether they are concerned about North Korean collapse and refugees or whether they are concerned that a North Korean collapse would mean a South Korea takeover and then a U.S. presence on their border, hard to say.

But what is clear is that we cannot outsource this to China, and I don't think we will get anywhere with that. But we do need to work with China, and China needs to be part of the solution here, and they are right there in the region. They do have close ties with North Korea. They could do more.

I think this really behooves this administration. It needs to really get more involved with China. I think it was a good sign the other day that the President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump had a good conversation on the telephone. I think that's really essentially, especially to try to put to rest the issue of the "One China" policy.

[07:05:02] But now, I think there's going to have to be some serious diplomacy and another sort of effort, I think, really to get the Chinese onboard.

BLACKWELL: So, in the absence of elevated or increased involvement from China, we've seen that the sanctions from the U.N. had not really acted as effective deterrents. We know that the Obama administration's strategic patience as it was called wasn't really affective.

What are, I guess, the options as we talked about with Ryan on the table that would most likely, from what we know from President Trump, would be the next steps that he would take?

HILL: Well, first of all, I think we need to make sure that Chinese are really fully implementing the U.N. Security Council sanctions. I mean, they've done a lot more in the last year than they've done in the pat, but that s one thing that needs to be done.

Secondly, I think China can do more in terms of its bilateral relations with North Korea, in terms of the financial sector, where much of North Korea's finances end up in. So, I think they need to do more there, and then probably in the energy sector. I think China can really put some heat, so to speak, on the North Koreans by blocking some fuel shipments.

So, there are more things that need to be done there, but there needs to be some strategic trust between China and the United States. You know, when you call into question things like the "One China" policy, which is really a bedrock issue, the Chinese kind of pull away and say, you know, can we really do business with this administration?

So, I think it's very important that they somehow re-establish the strategic trust with China and try to work through these issues. At the same time, I think it's very important that we understand that, as your earlier piece suggested, we need to keep up the, you know, strong alliance, certainly, it was a great occasion to have the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the president this weekend, but he also needs to reach out to the South Koreans who after all of it, the ones within long range artillery of North Korea.

BLACKWELL: And let's go to South Korea now, our Matt Rivers is tracking developments from Seoul.

And it's important to point out the distinction, Matt, that this was not one of those ICBMs, not the intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland. Tell us more about what indeed was tested and how this is being received there in Seoul.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, this was a test that frankly, South Korean officials have seen before. This is an intermediate range rocket. In fact, there were eight different occasions in 2016 alone when this type of rocket was -- this type of missile was tested by the North Koreans.

Now, we should point out that U.S. defense officials and South Korean defense officials say seven of those eight tests last year were considered to be failures.

They're still trying to figure out whether this particular test that was done this morning here around 7:55 a.m. South Korea time was, in fact, a failure or a success. But the fact remains that it wasn't one of the ICBMs, and that's interesting because many observers were expecting or thinking that it could have been given what we have heard from Kim Jong-un, and it was on January 1st up in North Korea that Kim Jong-un said he was in the final stages of preparing a long-range missile test, that would be the first time the North Koreans have done that.

And so, many observers are now saying, well, it's only a matter of time at this point because the North Koreans seem so motivated to make sure that they have the long-range capability at their disposal. And one more thing that is that slightly different about this test compared to last year, South Korean officials are telling us that there could be an upgraded engine in this particular missile that would allow them to launch that missile that much faster if they wanted to. So, it is slightly different.

But the fact is, South Koreans are continuing to work with their U.S. counterparts to get more details about this test. But the Donald Trump administration certainly has a brand new issue on their hands to have to deal with, as this North Korean regime seems more motivated than ever to make its presence known.

PAUL: So, Matt, I wanted to ask you about the THAAD system, the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense system that's being debated, it's U.S. planned, and it would be positioned in the southern part of the South Korean peninsula. But does this latest provocation bolster maybe their argument that they need it there?

RIVERS: Well, it certainly gives proponents of the THAAD system some juice, frankly, to say, look, this is the latest provocation. We haven't heard from North Korea in terms of a missile test since October 20th. So, this is just a reminder of proponents would say that the North is dangerous, that they are unpredictable, and that we need this kind of missile defense system in order to ensure not only the safety of South Koreans but also of U.S. interest, in South Korea, in Japan, and even in U.S. interests out on the island of Guam. So, that's what they would say.

But, you know, people who are not in favor of that would come back and say that by deploying THAAD, you're only going to provoke the North Koreans further and, frankly, you're only going to encourage the Chinese, who are very much against the deployment of this THAAD system, you're only going to provoke the Chinese into not going along with U.S. interests in this particular part of the world and you are only going to provoke the North Koreans even further.

[07:10:12] So, there are definitely two sides of the argument. But the proponents certainly have a little bit more ammo to go with today in South Korea.

BLACKWELL: Control room, let's play once more the president's comments last night from Florida where he talked about standing behind Japan.

I think it's important that we kind of try to understand why that statement was so brief. I think we have it. Let me know when we have it, if not I can read it, it's 14 seconds, instead of going to find, I'll just -- all right, let's play it. It's actually --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Wouldn't you rather in a certain sense in Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons, and they do have them. They absolutely have them. They can't -- they have no carrier system yet, but they will very soon. Wouldn't you rather have Japan perhaps, they're over there, they're very close, and they are fearful of North Korea and we are supposed to protect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. So that was the president back earlier in 2016, but what the president said last night was, "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, it's great ally, 100 percent. Thank you." Fourteen seconds.

Mr. Ambassador, what do you glean from that statement? Was that the right tone to be short and brief, limited in scope, or would you have expected and wanted to hear more from the president? HILL: I might have wanted -- certainly, I would have liked to have

seen a few more lines, and I would like him to mention the North Korean threat at least to characterize it, and, secondly, talk about the need to work with other partners, especially South Korea, and South Korea is going through a tough political crisis right now. Their president is on the brink of being possibly convicted, in impeachment. So, they'll be going to election, so something to them.

But I must say, given what has happened in the past, including that statement that you just ran from the fall, I think it was better short than long.

PAUL: All right. Go ahead? Did something want to say something?

All right. I thought somebody did.

Ryan Browne, Matt Rivers, Christopher Hill, thank you all so much. We appreciate it.

OK. Back here in the U.S., going to be a tough, tough day, a tough next 24 hours for many of you in the Northeast. Look at what is coming. We're tracking some of the biggest issues you will be dealing with. What you can expect moving forward here.

BLACKWELL: Plus, hundreds of undocumented immigrants arrested in raids across the country. Some have already been deported.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:15:52] DEMONSTRATORS: Undocumented!

Unafraid!

Undocumented!

Unafraid!

Show me what community looks like.

This is what community looks like!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: One of the massive protests here against the nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants, these angry protesters denounced the sudden arrest in a rally, this one outside the White House.

PAUL: And I want you to take a look at the protest in Austin overnight that we have for you as well here. Demonstrators holding signs and blasting President Trump's plan for that border wall and waving the Mexican flag in the air, the protests spilled unto roadways too and tied up traffic in the Houston area for hours.

Now, President Trump just tweeted a couple of moments ago about the raids. Here's what he said, quote, "The crackdown on legal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise, gang members, drug dealers and others are being removed."

So far, authorities have arrested undocumented immigrants in 12 states from coast-to-coast.

BLACKWELL: Now, this is also, we are learning from ICE officials in Los Angeles, they say that this is just the extension of a program that was planned during the Obama administration. So, on one hand, you have the president saying that what you're saying is his keeping a campaign promise, and the officials who are on the ground say this was planned before he took the oath.

The latest of these raids being more than 200 in the West, people arrested there, and 37 immigrants detained in California have now been already deported in Mexico. Officials say most of the people they locked up had already been convicted of felonies violent crimes like child sex crime charges, and crimes using weapons or assault charges. In fact, of 160 arrested in southern California, including to Los Angeles ICE authorities, 150 of them, according to those officials, had criminal histories. This is the first large-scale enforcement during the president's term.

There is at least one service we know hoping to quell the fears of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and this country. It comes in the form of a call center.

PAUL: Our Polo Sandoval reports from Arizona now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You wouldn't know it if you drove by this Tucson, Arizona, building, but bears the Mexican seal. But inside, it's a small army of call takers.

This is more than just a phone bank. It's a clearinghouse for Mexicans run by the Mexican government. It's called CIAM, or the Center for Information and Assistance for Mexicans. It's the only one in the U.S.

PATRICIA AHUMADA, CALL CENTER OPERATOR: We also explain all the consular services that we offer.

SANDOVAL: These days, Patricia Ahumada says people are concerned about more than just basic services.

AHUMADA: It could be tough for us as well, because every story and every caller as a story, and I can have a call about a passport but I can also have a call saying that what happened if my kids are U.S. citizens and I have to go back to Mexico.

RICARDO PINEDA ALBARRAN CONSUL OF MEXICO, TUCSON: That's why we have around 40 people working here.

SANDOVAL: Consul General Ricardo Pineda, who leads this team, noticed a recent 100 percent increase in call traffic. The center received an average of 700 calls a day before Donald Trump was sworn in. Today, nearly 1,300, according to Pineda, who thinks more of his fellow Mexicans want answers about President Trump's immigration orders. He says many of the calls come from undocumented Mexicans with a new fear of dealing with U.S. immigration authorities. They fear deportation.

PINEDA ALBARRAN: What we are trying to do is refer our community to professionals, to duly authorized attorneys here, or in any location around the U.S. that can provide information, and we are going to do that and we're going to continue to do that on a more intensive manner.

SANDOVAL: Pineda echoes a new message from its foreign ministry's office, warning Mexican citizens in the U.S. to take precautions. The advice coming as hundreds of undocumented immigrants are being arrested in several states. The Mexican government foresees more severe immigration measures to be implemented with possible violations to constitutional precepts.

[07:20:00] Pineda says those concerns have prompted to keep their lines open 24/7.

PINEDA ALBARRAN: Call your consulate, please come to the consulate. It's our duty to get along with you, to accompany you in any possible process.

SANDOVAL: What concerns about what the White House's next step will be, it doesn't seem that the phones will stop ringing anytime soon.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: So that's what is happening there. Let's talk about all of you waking up in the Northeast, because 40 million of you need to get ready for another winter storm that's on the way.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we're tracking the latest warnings and what to expect. We've got the full forecast in a moment.

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PAUL: For all of you waking up in the Northeast, we're with you. We feel you here. We're from, you know, the North. We get it.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: We have been there.

BLACKWELL: Mid Atlanta.

PAUL: Yes.

It's expected to get dicey for you today. Second major winter storm in less than one week. That's what hurts. It's not the first.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's ice on snow on snow. I mean, 40 million people here under winter weather alert. And areas already dealing with a foot of snow on the ground from the last storm are expected to get another foot, and maybe more.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the severe weather center.

Allison, we are thinking about those in the Northeast. Who is getting it and when?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was thinking about this yesterday. You know the people that were probably out shoveling, you know, still shoveling out the snow from Thursday thinking, what the heck, I'm just going to leave it, otherwise, I'm just going to have to come right back out here on Monday and shovel it all over again, because that's the thing, we are getting a ton more snow in some of these areas.

[07:25:00] We're talking, just as you said, 12, 18, and maybe 20 inches of snow on top of what we just had on Thursday. So, here you can take a look, where we have the winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, and yes, even blizzard watches for some portions of Massachusetts.

Now, we are already starting to see the snow come down around Buffalo and even around, say, eastern Long Island, starting to see that transition. Central Park still dealing with some freezing rain at this point.

But as we go through the day, that colder air is going to filter back in and we're really going to start to see the heavy snow pick up, especially say around Boston, Portland, and maybe Manchester, New Hampshire.

The reason for this is we have two low pressure systems, one that's mostly a rain-heavy event, the other has mostly snow. Those two were actually combine together to create one powerful low pressure system. As it does, not only is it going to provide us very intense snowfall amounts but also very strong winds. We're looking at widespread amounts here, about six to 12 inches, but yes, this pink region here, we're talking in excess of 18 inches.

And the winds especially along the cape and further north, but even cities like New York and Philadelphia where snow may not be the big story, wind certainly is going to be.

But in terms of the snow, we take a look at Boston for example. Now, so far this season, we've already picked up over 30 inches of snow. For the entire year, we average about 43. When you factor in the additional 8 to 12, and I want to emphasize, this is on the low end, when you factor what they are expected to get today and tomorrow into that 30 inches, we will likely surpass what we normally get for the entire year, guys, and it's only the middle of February.

PAUL: Oh, wow. Good point.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar, we'll be watching it. Thank you so much. PAUL: You know, there's one state dealing with an alarming spike in

overdoses. We're talking 52 calls in just 32 hours. We're talking to somebody who is fighting on the front lines of this epidemic.

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[07:30:15] PAUL: Hey, we have been waiting for you here. Sunday morning, 7:30. Welcome. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.

PAUL: So, let's talk about this, and I don't know if you've heard these numbers, but 52 emergency calls for overdoses in just a 32-hour period. We are talking about Louisville, Kentucky, here, the largest city to deal with this growing heroin epidemic.

BLACKWELL: Now, there's an emergency services spokesman who say that the majority of those 52 calls were for heroin overdoses, but there were also calls for alcohol, prescription medications, a few other controlled substances.

Now, at 52, though, this week's number more than doubles the 25 overdose calls from the same area last week, no deaths were reported. But one person reportedly died in a car crash where the driver was using heroin.

PAUL: On the frontline of this epidemic, first responders, of course, and those who have to treat the rising wave of overdose victims.

Joining us now from Louisville, Dr. Robert Couch, emergency medical director at Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville.

Dr. Couch, thank you so much for being with us.

Help us understand --

DR. ROBERT COUCH, EMERGENCY MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NORTON AUDOBON HOSPITAL: Good morning.

PAUL: Please help us understand, if you could, what you are seeing there in Louisville?

COUCH: We are just seeing tremendously increased numbers of heroin and other opioid overdoses. It's been a real crisis for the last few months. We had a big spike several months ago where just in one five- hour period, I treated nine heroin overdoses. Now we are seeing overdoses that seem to be heroin that is mixed with fentanyl, or other fentanyl analogues, it's making it much harder to treat these or requiring larger doses of Naloxone, a reversal agent, and we are having to give them repeatedly to keep these patients alive.

PAUL: Do you feel like you have enough resources to handle what's come into you? COUCH: Absolutely. At Norton Audubon Hospital, we are prepared to

deal with whatever comes through the doors, and it's just the increasing number and the larger amounts of medicine we are having to use that makes this somewhat unusual these days.

PAUL: Why is this, do you think, becoming such an epidemic? There are a lot of people watching and wondering how this drug, heroin, and especially the versions of it that you're talking about, that are laced with something even worse, how is it so making its way through towns like this?

COUCH: Well, this problem just didn't start a few days ago, it's been years in the making. And as we have seen people transition off of transcription opioids and turn to something else, or younger people who are trying things for the first time, unfortunately, heroin is now filling the void. It's a very cheap drug and so for that reason, it's just flooding the streets and it's a huge problem for not only health care workers but for police, law enforcement, and other agencies. We're just seeing it at every turn.

PAUL: So, once you treat them, once you save them, where do they go? What happens from that point on?

COUCH: Well, we encourage these patients to get into treatment, but unfortunately, many of them refuse. In fact, sometimes, it's hard to get them to stay in the hospital even for us to observe them for a few minutes after they have been resuscitated, and it's hard to believe that someone could be near death and then demand to leave ten minutes later. But we see it every day.

PAUL: And these are young people, is that correct mostly?

COUCH: This is really every age. You know, people ask what does the typical heroin user look like, and I tell folks, just look around, it could be any. I've had patients who are teenagers and I've had patients in their mid-60s.

PAUL: So, what would you say to your community? How would you get through to people to try and curb this? As a doctor, you've seen it on the frontlines. I mean, your voice is important here.

COUCH: Yes, and it's going to take everywhere. There's no magic bullet. There's no one solution. It's going to take involvement of health care and drug treatment centers, churches and faith-based groups, law enforcement organizations, the courts to get people into drug treatment rather than incarceration, because I've said many times we are never going to incarcerate ourselves out of this problem.

The main thing is to avoid new users from using and to get those who are into treatment.

PAUL: Do you find this to be a problem within families and that's why the support systems are not working, perhaps the support systems themselves are broken?

COUCH: Well, that is likely part of the problem. [07:35:02] But, unfortunately, we'll see families who are very supportive, who would do anything if they could get their son or daughter into treatment, and yet, they are not willing to avail themselves with the resources that are available. That's frustrating for many people, we can't will these users into treatment.

PAUL: And can't force them into treatment in terms of even from a legal standpoint, isn't that right? If you are of age you can't be forced to go to a rehab facility?

COUCH: That's true. In Kentucky we have a law called Casey's law that is not being taken advantage of. But other than that route, it's very difficult to force people into treatment.

PAUL: What is Casey's law?

COUCH: Casey's allows someone to petition the court to enroll someone into a drug treatment program. Unfortunately, it's somewhat a limited program and requires some financial support to participate in it, but it can actually force people into treatment.

In Louisville, I am told we see three or four cases a month where this is used, but, you know, the hundreds of other cases are able to do something like that.

PAUL: Lastly, I can only imagine what it must be like for you, and the people who are responding to all of this, after a day of what you just described. How are all of you holding up?

COUCH: Well, it's a real tough time for a lot of people from the paramedics and EMS workers who are seeing this on the streets. You know, we see the cases that make it to the hospital, and that's a hard enough toll on us, but our EMS colleagues are seeing this where they are responding to people who have already died. So, seeing it day in over and over again, and with such increased numbers, it's a real burden for people.

PAUL: Well, Dr. Robert Couch, we appreciate the work you are doing and we thank you so much for sharing with us what the experience is, hoping that people can watch and help in some way. Thank you.

COUCH: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: President Trump enjoying the views at his Florida resort this weekend, but the views for the press pool not so great. Look at this -- the details behind a literal blackout, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:49] BLACKWELL: President Trump is hosting the Japanese prime minister at his Florida resort this weekend. He shared the view from his golf course saying, quote, having a great time with hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the United States, but for the press covering the president, they didn't see that.

Members of the press pool tweeted photos showing black plastic on the windows blocking their view of the golf outing.

PAUL: Let's bring in CNN senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter.

So, President Trump made -- I guess, should we assume that this is his dislike of the media? That this is a sign of that?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It sort of looked that way. That's how the press pool interpreted it. These journalists, of course, is a small group of journalist with the president as close as they can get with all times, in order to know what's going on and that came in handy last night when that very last-minute press moment was called when the journalists were brought in for that brief statement last night.

But these papers, you know, they make this look more suspicious than it really was. The president enjoying a round of golf at one of his golf courses. President Obama, when he would go golfing, would also sometimes have the reporter go off from the clubhouse and cover the windows up so he could have privacy. Every president entitled to some privacy but this certainly gleaned some attention yesterday because it is another example of the president not entirely being accessible, only having us take images, take pictures when he wants us to be taking pictures.

I think this raises a broader issue, though, Victor and Christi, this issue of the president using his various resorts and retreats using it for official presidential business, but also profiting from them at times. You know, Mar-a-Lago is a members only club, costs a lot of money to join and by having a foreign leader come and visit, it does raise questions about ethics.

You know, President George W. Bush oftentimes brought foreign leaders to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that famous western White House. The difference, of course, was President Bush was not, you know, it wasn't an investment for Bush with members the way that Trump has at Mar-a- Lago.

BLACKWELL: So, what do we know and maybe we don't have an answer to this yet, about how much the resorts are receiving in paying for these dinners, and paying for these visits and all the people who go there and have dinner night after night, at the president's invitation we see with Shinzo Abe, how much are they making off of this?

STELTER: Right, that's the question mark. You know, there have been reports that Mar-a-Lago, a membership costs $100,000, that the price has been raised in some cases to $200,000 recently. With regards to the foreign leaders trip, the Japanese prime minister's trip, this was comped, this was a gift from President Trump. Of course, normally, foreign leaders give each other gifts, ceremonial gifts on these kinds of trips.

The Mar-a-Lago, you know, a gift, a different kind of token or gift in this case from President Trump. It is very curious. It's probably example number 1,000 of how this president is different from his predecessors.

PAUL: Brian Stelter, good to see you this morning. Thank you, sir.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: And you can catch more of Brian on "RELIABLE SOURCES". That's today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: All right. We've got Adele versus Beyonce. Who are you pulling for?

PAUL: I don't know.

BLACKWELL: You've got to choose. You have to choose.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: I'm not saying. That's all I am saying, is that I am not saying.

BLACKWELL: Well, if it's not Beyonce, it's wrong.

PAUL: There you go.

BLACKWELL: Battle for the biggest award of the night. Watch.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BLACKWELL: It's when you learn your haters.

We've got a preview of what you can expect from tonight Grammy Awards.

PAUL: And I bet there will be some political speeches in it.

BLACKWELL: Of course there will be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:48:02] BLACKWELL: All right. One of the biggest nights in music, the 59th Annual Grammy Awards airing tonight.

PAUL: From the red carpet, all-star collaborations. You know what? There's probably going to be surprises.

So, let's talk about it with entertainment journalist, Holland Reid, because she is in the know.

I want to start with politics, because we understand that even John Legend said, "I welcome it" and might have something to say.

HOLLAND REID, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Absolutely. Well, we know music is supposed to be all inclusive. It is the universal language for all of us. It crosses, you know, gender. It crosses race.

So, John Legend being very outspoken about Donald Trump, is encouraged, is encouraged by the producers of the show. They are welcoming the political speech. They want people to speak their minds, whether you are for Trump or against Trump. So, I definitely think there are going to be some people setting up there and for sure speaking their mind about everything that's going on.

BLACKWELL: We've seen it at the Golden Globes. We saw it in the SAG Awards, and actors and performers come out and express that also.

So, let's talk about the big match-up. That's what I want to go. You've got Adele and you've got Beyonce.

REID: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I mean, it's category after category that they're going head to head.

REID: They are going head to head in almost every single category. We know that right now, Beyonce leads the nominations with nine, and if she wins, I think it's like four or five, she's going to be the most -- she's going to break te records. She will have the most Grammys in history.

But we have Adele as well, who has swept, you know, the Grammys as well. I mean, we've got these two heavy, heavy hitters. And they both had phenomenal years. So, I think that's going to be like a back-and-forth for the whole night that we're going to see, kind of picking them up and taking the stage.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Beyonce's "Lemonade" and Adele's "25", big albums in 2016.

REID: Huge albums in 2016.

PAUL: But let's talk about performances, too, because Beyonce is going to be performing and she's pregnant, and you are going, this woman can do everything.

BLACKWELL: Which wins?

REID: When does she stop? I mean, taking like, I think she's taking a page from J. Lo. Remember J. Lo was performing in Vegas at five months pregnant with twins.

So, Beyonce is a professional. She's been doing this for a really long time.

[07:50:01] So, I think she's -- that's not going to stop her. A windmill grabbing her hair did not stop her. So, performing, whether it's a ballad or whether she goes full-on performance, I think we can expect anything from her.

PAUL: OK. Can you take us through the album of the year nominees? Let's talk about each of them.

REID: Album of the year, we've got Adele that's nominated for "25" and we got Beyonce. But we also have Sturgill Simpson who I think is going to be a surprise. Oh, I'm sorry, "Lemonade" Beyonce. We've got the "Sailor's Guide to the Earth" is what it's called, forgive me.

Justin Bieber is up there. Drake who actually is on tour right now, who won't be there, he's nominated as well. But Sturgill Simpson, there's some rumors going around because the Grammy's are really known to be conservative and they can of sometimes give awards to the more conservative, I hate to say it, but white artists.

When it comes to the album of the year, we had the upset with Beyonce when Beck won. You remember when Kanye West went and had his little episode and everybody thought Beyonce absolutely needed to win and that was a huge year for her then, even with the huge album drop and the video drop. She did the same thing last year. So, there could be an upset with this wonderful, you know, alternative country artist. So, there's some of rumors swirling he wouldn't be undeserving if he did win.

BLACKWELL: The big surprises I like are the ones -- the duets that we don't expect are coming.

REID: Yes.

PAUL: They pair people up and they go I never would have done that but that was awesome.

BLACKWELL: Elton John and Eminem, and we don't know yet who is going to perform. But I wonder, do you have a pairing that you'd expect or would want to see together on stage.

REID: Well, we know that Lady Gaga is performing with Metallica. I mean that's --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Oh, my gosh.

REID: We just had Lady Gaga coming off the Super Bowl who literally rocked that she put the house down and we have Metallica who is -- I mean, they are rock legends.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

REID: So, those two together, we don't know what songs they're performing. That's definitely one to watch. For the tributes, I think going into the tributes --

PAUL: Yes.

REID: -- we lost George Michael and Prince. We have Bruno Mars and The Time slated to perform together.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

REID: So, I think that's going to be an awesome throwback as well.

I think we're going to see a lot of surprise duets. Alicia Keys is performing with one of the new artist. That's going to be great. I mean, we know she's a mentor on "The Voice." So, we definitely have a lot of really good duets to expect.

PAUL: Good show.

BLACKWELL: A lot to look for.

REID: Yes.

PAUL: Holland Reid, so great to have you here.

REID: Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: So, actress Melissa McCarthy back on "SNL" with the portrayal of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer or as she refers to him, "Spicy".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mentally though, are you okay?

MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER: Are you kidding me?

You don't have a chance!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:56:23] STEPHANIE MANSOUR, WEIGHT LOSS COACH: The National Institutes of Health says that you're more likely to stick to a change in routine by taking one small step at a time.

Drop an extra pair of shoes by the door, that why you're reminded to exercise every time you walk in and out.

Line up some water bottles on a shelf in your fridge. This way you'll have to drink a bottle of water before you can eat the food behind it.

If you're a nighttime eater, try this trick. Put some lotion on your hands to signal that it's time to stop eating for the day.

Plus, who wants to eat a snack that tastes and smells like lotion?

Write down positive affirmations on sticky notes, then place them on your bathroom mirror. That way you can see them over and over again to help build a healthier and happier relationship with yourself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: See, I doubt that some of those might work. But I put a pair of shoes by the door, my dog is going to have my pair of choice is what the problem is.

BLACKWELL: And I still think that I would eat with moisturized hands. I would still find a way to have --

PAUL: "Saturday Night Live" is what we're going to talk about now because they are taking on the White House again, bringing back Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president has said there should be a test to see if immigrants truly love America. What would that test be?

MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER: It's easy. It's extreme vetting. Extreme vetting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But what does that mean, extreme vetting?

MCCARTHY: What does it mean? It means it's extreme. OK?

You know what, Spice is going to explain it so you dumb babies can understand it. I guess I can't use my big words! I'm going to have to use my jollies, all right. You ready for jollies, you can understand what's going on?

Here's how it's going to go down. You've got your TSA agent right here, OK, and first you've got Barbie coming in. Nice American girl, bathroom and dream vacation. We know she's OK because she's blond!

So, she gets in. Easy. We understand they are perfect. And now who is up next?

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh, it's Moana, whoa, slow your roll, honey, and then we're going to pat her down and read her e-mails and if we don't like the answers which we won't, boom, Guantanamo Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump, look, I read the ban. Is seemed rushed, even to me, and I decide three court cases in an hour, OK? I see no evidence that it will help so I'm sorry to say --

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I want to settle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me?

BALDWIN: I would like to settle out of court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, I'm sorry.

BALDWIN: They always settle Pocahontas and so will you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, sir, no, I won't. Let me just say you're doing too much, OK? I want one day without a CNN alert that scares the hell out of me, all right?

I hear you want to bring in a character witness.

BALDWIN: That's right, someone who has known me for years. He's family. He's an incredible person with impeccable credentials, Mr. Vladimir Putin. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's an authoritarian leader who has killed

rivals. He's president Trump's longtime crush.

BALDWIN: Vladimir is an amazing person and he knows me better than anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. Hey, everybody, come on. Lay off president Trump, OK? This man is a great friend. He's my little American happy meal.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

PAUL: The cleverness is just off the charts sometimes.

BLACKWELL: Thanks for watching this morning.

PAUL: Yes. "INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts right now.