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President Trump On U.N.; North Korea Threatens USS Carl Vinson; U.S. Action on North Korea; Strike Force to Korean Peninsula; Debate over Govt. Shutdown, Health Care; Interview with Rep. Mike Coffman. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 24, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Pyongyang, North Korea. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We're keeping a very close watch right now on the White House where, a little bit later this hour, we expect to see the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. He'll be briefing reporters. We'll go there live once that briefing starts.

One of the things we expect to hear more about is China now promising greater cooperation, as far as North Korea is concerned, as the threats continue from Kim Jong-Un's government. That commitment came in a phone call with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

Just a short while ago, at a White House lunch with ambassadors from the United National Security Council, President Trump spoke about the threat from North Korea and about what he sees as a chance for a new beginning for the United Nations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The mission of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council is to maintain international peace and security. These are important aims and shared interests.

But as we look around the world, it's clear that there's much work for you to achieve. You're going to be very busy people, I suspect, over these coming months and years.

Our nation faces serious and growing threats and many of them stem from problems that have been unaddressed for far too long. In fact, the United Nations doesn't like taking on certain problems. But I have a feeling the people in this room -- and I know for a fact that Nikki feels very, very strong about taking on problems that, really, people steered away from.

I encourage the Security Council to come together and take action to counter all of these many threats. On Syria, the Council failed again this month to respond to Syria's use of chemical weapons. A great disappointment. I was very disappointed by that.

The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable. And the Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs. This is a real threat to the world.

Whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem. And it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades and now it's time to solve the problem.

The United States is just one of 193 countries in the U.N. pays for 22 percent of the budget and almost 30 percent of the United Nations' peace keeping which is unfair. We need the member states to come together to eliminate inefficiency and bloat (ph) and to ensure that no one nation shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden militarily or financially.

And this is only fair to our taxpayers. I look forward a productive discussion about our shared role in keeping the peace, advancing reforms and getting everyone to do their fair share.

I also want to say to you that I have long felt the United Nations is an underperformer but has tremendous potential. There are those people that think it's an underperformer and will never perform.

I think -- and I think especially I'm so happy with the job that Nikki is doing and our representatives. But Nikki and the group -- and I see the relationship that she's already developed. I think that the United Nations has tremendous potential, tremendous potential. Far greater than what I would say any other candidate in the last 30 years would have even thought to say.

I don't think it's lived up -- I know it hasn't lived up to the potential. I mean, I see a day when there's a conflict with the United Nations. You get together and you solve the conflict.

You just don't see the United Nations, like, solving conflicts. I think that's going to start happening now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is inside the White House briefing room, getting ready for the Sean Spicer briefing. Our Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson is joining us live from Seoul, South Korea. The -- once again, the White House briefing coming up.

So, Jim, what do we expect to hear from the White House press secretary, as far as strategy on North Korea, the latest U.S. steps? We heard a strong statement there from the president.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We absolutely heard a very strong statement from the president there, Wolf. You know, that was a gathering of ambassadors to the United Nations and some pretty undiplomatic talk coming from the president there, almost lecturing those ambassadors, saying that the U.N. has not lived up to its potential. Saying that he's not going to be worried so much about how much money the U.S. gives to the United Nations, if they can have successes.

And he also lectured those ambassadors in the room about how they did not do much when it came to Syria and its use of chemical weapons.

[13:05:00] And I think, on top of that, just those comments on North Korea where you heard the president say this is a problem that's going to be solved, it is -- it is essentially saying that, during his administration, he's going to solve this problem with North Korea.

But you took, as you know, Wolf, to foreign policy experts, you talk to former secretaries of state, former ambassadors to the United Nations, going back administration after administration. North Korea is one of those vexing problems that challenges every White House to come up with a solution. And, at this point, it has been, for the past couple of decades, to trade water.

So, I suppose we'll be asking Sean Spicer about that when he comes into the room here in about half an hour. Well what new is the president proposing, when it comes to solving this problem with North Korea? Because he's been asked about this issue over the past couple of weeks, what he has said time and again is that he's going to be leaning more and more on China to get to the bottom of this, to apply that pressure to North Korea, to curtail its behavior.

But that is a strategy that administrations have been using for some time to no success.

But we should point out, you know, we did obtain these talking points that the administration is using for its first 100 days to highlight its achievements. North Korea is not on there. But in the foreign policy national security section of those talking points, Wolf, it does mention the Syria missile strikes that the president authorized a couple of weeks ago. And also talks about that travel ban that is tied up in court.

But no question about it, the president is trying to make the case that during his first 100 days, yes, a lot of people were saying he didn't accomplish much. Legislatively, he has relied on executive orders. All of that is true. But he's making foreign policy front and center.

But when you say things along the lines of, well, we're going to solve this problem with North Korea. We're going to -- we're going to make that happen. He's setting the expectations awfully high for his team here at the White House -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, good point.

Ivan, you're there in Seoul, South Korea. The president, his comments, come as the U.S. waits for word on yet another American citizen now detained in North Korea. What can you tell us about this most recent U.S. citizen who's been detained? I believe that's number three. IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He goes by the name Tony Kim. He'd an academic and he'd been teaching for weeks at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. And he was on his way out of the country on Saturday from Pyongyang airport and that's when the North Korean security forces detained him.

We have not had any official confirmation of this from the North Korean authorities. We're getting this mostly from the embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang because, of course, the U.S. does not have an embassy in North Korea. It does not have formal diplomatic relations with that country.

So, we're waiting to find out more about that. But the tactics that the North Koreans have used, Wolf, is one that they've used in the past with several other American citizens, grabbing them either at the airport or, in one case, off of the plane when he was about to take off.

There are at least two other American citizens, that we know of, who are in detention in North Korea and their situation is very dire. A University of Virginia student who was arrested in 2016, he faces a 15-year hard labor sentence for pulling a sign off a wall in his hotel. And a businessman by the name of Kim Dong Chul, Korean American who was detained the previous year of 2015, facing a decade of hard labor for espionage charges.

So, Tony Kim, whatever turns out, his situation is quite serious because in the past cases of Americans who've been grabbed at the airport, it usually takes them at least months to be released, Wolf. And usually they have to make a televised confession or apology before that can take place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ivan, amidst all of this, the U.S. aircraft carrier battlegroup, the Carl Vinson, finishing up exercises, we're now told, with the Japanese navy. Are there similar plans in place, when it gets closer to South Korea?

WATSON: Well, the South Korean officials say they're talking about this. And, of course, you've got to put this in context. The U.S. has been conducting joint military exercises with different branches of the South Korean military for all of the past month. And this is an annual series of exercises and it really, really irritates North Korea which every year claims these are exercises preparing for a possible invasion of North Korea, which both the South Korean and U.S. governments deny.

But the arrival of this aircraft carrier strike group in the region which was expected much earlier. It came later than expected. And that's been the source of some controversy.

The North Koreans, the state propaganda has been going after that claiming that this could also be part of an invasion, and they've been putting out warnings saying they could destroy the aircraft carrier with a single blow. They've also been claiming that they could destroy the U.S. and U.S. allies with five million nuclear bombs. That's kind of standard hyperbole coming from North Korean state media.

[13:10:09] But the fact that now you've got a U.S. citizen who's just been detained, that may complicate matters for the Trump administration. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, she told journalists that they think that she thinks that the North Koreans are using Tony Kim as a bargaining chip -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ivan Watson in South Korea. Jim Acosta over at the White House. Guys, thanks very much.

Lots of news today. The White House has said that all options are on the table for dealing with North Korea. But when asked today about a preemptive U.S. military strike, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the United States would only strike if provoked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR, UNITED NATIONS: If you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then, obviously, we're going to do that.

MATT LAUER, ANCHOR, NBC NEWS: Good. If he tests another missile, if he were to test another nuclear device, when you say, obviously we're going to do that, do you mean military retaliation?

HALEY: I think, then, the president steps in and decides what's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here with us is Sam Nunn. He's a former U.S. senator from Georgia, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He's also the founder and co-chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SAM NUNN, CO-CHAIRMAN AND CEO, NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let me get your quick reaction to what Nikki Haley just said. If the North Koreans were to test another nuclear bomb, if they were to test more ballistic missiles, she says, I think, then, the president steps in and decides what's going to happen. What should happen if the North Koreans take those provocative steps?

NUNN: Well, I think all options ought to be on the table and military option. But I also think the diplomatic option ought to be on the table. And that's where we do not seem to have a strategy, at this point in time. I certainly agree with the emphasis that the president is putting on the U.N. and the potential of the U.N., even though often short of its goals.

One thing that we have not really focused on, in the last two administrations, is U.N. resolution 2270 which gives a mandate to all countries to search every vessel and every plane coming in or out of North Korea to make sure there are no elicit goods. That's important from the pressure point of view. It's also important from preventing the leakage of nuclear materials which could be used for catastrophic terrorism.

So, this is an area that China voted for in the U.N. Security Council. It's an area where we can really work together. It's an area where the United States can strengthen our allies in southeast Asia, in terms of their capacity to search these ships and so forth. So, it's a very powerful tool that has been approved by the United Nations Security Council.

BLITZER: Because it seems the president's strategy is to try to convince China, which does have leverage, influence over North Korea, to be more assertive, more aggressive and take steps to convince the North Korean regime to step back.

NUNN: That's exactly right and I think that's what the president should be doing. And I'm glad he's talking to his counterpart in China.

BLITZER: So, when you say he doesn't have a strategy, he seems to -- that seems to be a strategy, right?

NUNN: Well, I'm saying a diplomatic strategy. I certainly agree that talking to China is a very big part of it. Our goal in Korea is to have a stable nonnuclear Korean Peninsula. In my view, that can only be accomplished with the help of China without a war.

BLITZER: But do you think it's really realistic that the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-Un is going to give up its nuclear weapons?

NUNN: Well, I'm not sure whether they will or not. Our goal, in the short term, should be a freeze of both their missile tests as well as their weapons.

But I think that one thing we ought to do on the diplomatic side is we should have informal bilateral talks with North Korea. For -- the number one reason is to prevent some kind of miscalculation that could lead to absolutely catastrophe. Mistakes can be made. So, I think that kind of informal dialogue would be in and of itself --

BLITZER: You want direct negotiation, direct talks between U.S. representatives and North Korean representatives.

NUNN: I wouldn't call it negotiations. I'd call it dialogue, at this stage. It's important to make sure there's no tragic miscalculation.

Also, it's important because that's what China has been urging us to do for the last couple of years and we haven't been willing to do it. It could make a difference in China's willingness to really step up and have a lot more pressure on North Korea, including the sanctions I just mentioned.

BLITZER: Because, clearly, the president right now, I believe accepts what former President Obama told him in the final days of the Obama administration, that North Korea, right now, represents the gravest national security threat facing the United States. Do you believe that?

NUNN: I think it's a real threat. And as they develop the capacity to deliver nuclear weapons, they already have nuclear weapons, deliver them to targets, I think that's enormously destabilizing. For South Korea and Japan already but potentially for the United States.

BLITZER: So, let's say they have another nuclear test. They've had five in recent years. They have a sixth right now. Let's say they have another ballistic missile test. What should the U.S. do?

[13:15:06] NUNN: Well, I think we ought to do what I just said. I think we ought to get China involved. I think we ought to crack down on the sanctions. I think we should have military options which are viable. We should strengthen the alliance between the United States and South Korea and Japan, the military side of it, and we should talk directly to the North Koreans informally because that kind of informality is important. It's not a formal negotiation. There should not be preconditions. But we've got to make sure we don't have a war that nobody wants.

BLITZER: Because if there's any military confrontation, you know the North Koreans, they have a million troops north of the DMZ with thousands of artillery pieces. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is, what, 30 miles below the demilitarized zone. That area could be leveled within days.

NUNN: Yes. We would win any war with North Korea and I hope they're smart enough -- I think they are -- to know that. But South Korea, our ally, could be decimated while we are winning -- while winning the war.

BLITZER: Millions of people could get killed and there are almost 30,000 U.S. soldiers along the demilitarized zone as well.

NUNN: That's right. A war is not in anybody's interest. We have to have the military option on the burner, but it shouldn't be on the front burner. Diplomacy and sanctions should be on the front burner.

BLITZER: So when you say informal talks, you mean like a -- some diplomatic back channel, a third party going, representing U.S. interests and talking to the North Koreans?

NUNN: Well, it could be any of those, but I think at some point it would be ideal to have officials from North Korea, including possible military officials, and including those that have responsibility over the demilitarized zone, to talk to their counterparts in the United States in terms of --

BLITZER: Is it -- is it smart for the U.S. to be deploying the USS Carl Vinson strike force, that aircraft carrier battle group, to the Korean Peninsula now?

NUNN: Well, I think that it is important to show military strength. I think it's important for Japan. I think it's important for South Korea. But it's also important to have discussions so we don't have a mistake, miss calculation, that could lead to a war that neither North Korea, South Korea, Japan or the United States wants. So all of those things need to be. This is not a sequential sort of thing. We've got to do a number of things parallel. And the ones I mentioned, I would, at least from my point of view, put on the front burner.

BLITZER: Senator Sam Nunn, thanks very much for joining us.

NUNN: Thank you, Wolf. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, we're only moments away from the White House press briefing. You're looking at live pictures coming in from the briefing room. The press secretary, Sean Spicer, expected to address this issue of North Korea, plus the president's first 100 days, an upcoming tax reform announcement later this week. We'll have live coverage. That's coming up.

Plus, the president stepping up calls for border wall funding as Capitol Hill scrambles to overt a government shutdown. We'll discuss that and more. Republican Congressman Mike Coffman is standing by. There you see him. We'll talk with him when we come back.

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[13:22:23] BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures from inside the White House Briefing Room. The press secretary, Sean Spicer, will be coming to the Briefing Room shortly to take questions from reporters on this the president's 95th day in office. Live coverage of that coming up.

A lot going on in Washington this week as the president nears the 100 day mark on Saturday. The scramble to avoid a government shutdown, the border wall showdown, questions about what's next with health care reform, just some of the issues on the agenda. Colorado Republican Congressman Mike Coffman is joining us from Denver right now.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

REP. MIKE COFFMAN (R), COLORADO: Hey, thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Let's talk about the effort to avoid a government shutdown Friday night --

COFFMAN: Sure.

BLITZER: When the -- you've got to pass legislation before then. You're a member of what's called the bipartisan Problem Solver's Caucus. A majority of the group has come out in support of what's called a clean spending bill, just pass something to keep the government operational. Where do you think -- see things standing right now? How's all this going to play out? Because at stake is a government shutdown.

COFFMAN: Well, there's about 40 of us that have come together in this group to try to bridge the partisan divide in Washington, D.C. And our goal is to avoid a government shutdown. We have to pass legislation, a spending bill, to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year, which is September 30th. We want to have a clean appropriations bill, a clean spending bill, free of any really polarizing ideological provisions in it that would cause a shutdown.

BLITZER: One of those ideological divisions, $1.4 billion spending for the start of construction of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. I take it, at this point, you would just as soon leave that out of this stop gap measure, this temporary spending bill.

COFFMAN: Sure. And, you know, obviously the discussion to secure the border can continue and we can have provisions into the next fiscal year starting in 1 October. But there's such a short time window here. There's just really no time. And I think that the fact is that it is a divisive issue. I certainly support securing the border. But I also support keeping the government open and I think this would cause the kind of showdown that would lead to a shutdown.

BLITZER: Yes, I think a lost your colleagues agree with you.

Republicans held a weekend conference call, I take it with the speaker, to discuss plans for dealing with the funning deadline, discuss plans to try to revive health care reform, repealing and replacing Obamacare. But a GOP congressman shared this description of the call with us. Let me put his word on the screen. "They were short on details and didn't take any questions because they said they had to assume the call was being recorded by somebody and it would get leaked. So they didn't take any questions which was disappointing. It was so content-free, it was embarrassing."

[13:25:19] I don't know if you were on the call, but what do you make of that?

COFFMAN: Well, I was certainly on the call. There is an outline in terms of an agreement on the health care bill that would allow an opt- out for states that wanted to cover pre-existing conditions through a high risk insurance pool. I have not seen the technical details of that, nor were they given certainly during that call. But we expect to have that conversation early this week.

BLITZER: So you think that this effort to repeal and replace Obamacare has a chance of getting approved? Forget about this week. Probably not much of a chance this week. You guys have a lot more going on. But do you think there's enough of a compromise between serve Republicans and more moderate Republicans to work out a deal?

COFFMAN: You know, I think certainly progress I understand has been made through negotiation from the Tuesday Group, which I'm also a member of, and the Freedom Caucus, and to try to come to an agreement to at least continue the conversation about how we reform our health care system and to get something over to the Senate to allow them to work on it.

BLITZER: And so you think there's still a chance of those 216 votes you need? You think that can be achieved?

COFFMAN: I think there's still a chance. I personally -- I've got to look at the details of what that agreement means. What does a high risk insurance pool mean and are the people with pre-existing conditions truly covered in that? And so I'm certainly open to taking a look at that.

BLITZER: Well, right now those details are pretty -- being held pretty much close to the vest with only a few of the other Republican leaders, as you well know.

COFFMAN: Sure.

BLITZER: I'm sure you haven't seen it. We haven't seen them yet either.

Congressman Mike Coffman --

COFFMAN: I have not seen it.

BLITZER: Yes. Thanks so much, as usual, for joining us.

COFFMAN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

The defense secretary, James Mattis, by the way, he's in Afghanistan today. After visiting with U.S. troops, he met with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani. Mattis reassured the Afghanis that the U.S. remains committed to the fight against terror. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY: To say that we're under no illusions about the challenges associated with this mission. 2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Secretary Mattis was supposed to meet with the Afghan defense minister, but the minister stepped down just hours before the visit. The resignation follows a major Taliban attack on an army base on Friday that killed more than 100 people, including dozens of Afghan soldiers.

Coming up, the White House press briefing getting ready to begin moments from now. We're just looking at live pictures from the Briefing Room. We'll have live coverage of that once it starts.

Also, former President Obama just wrapped up his first public remarks since leaving office. What did he say? What was his message? We'll update you on that and more when we come back.

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