Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Sunday

Trump Fires Up Supporters At 100 Days Rally; Trump Invites Controversial Philippines President To White House; Journalists Tout First Amendment As Trump Skips Event; Tornadoes Hit Texas; North Korea Tensions; Nationwide Protests Slam Trump's Climate Policies; Heavyweight Fight For The Ages; Broncos' Picked Controversial Mr. Irrelevant; Houston Texans Fist-Round Draft Pick; Steelers Draft Cancer Survivor Aired 6-7a

Aired April 30, 2017 - 06:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got to address the elephant that is not in the room. The leader of our country is not here and that is because he lives in Moscow. It will be hard for Vlad to make it.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner without the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for the other guy, I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I could not possibly more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is 2017 and we are living in the golden age of lying. Donald Trump is liar in chief.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The Washington media is part of the problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somehow, you're the bad guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you on a Sunday. We are always grateful to have you with us. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

Donald Trump begins the next 100 days of his presidency but historically low approval ratings, but you wouldn't know it from the huge welcome he got just 100 days into his presidency there in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

(VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, has more for us on what Donald Trump said.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump delivering a rerun of his campaign from last year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (voice-over): In a speech on Saturday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, President Trump ran through a litany of grievances with familiar attacks on the media, familiar attacks on the Obama administration taking little responsibility for any of his own crises and chaos in the west wing his first 100 days.

But he was speaking in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to loyal supporters at the same time the annual White House Correspondents Dinner was going on back in Washington. He made that clear from the very beginning of his speech.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner without the president. And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people.

ZELENY: The president did not tell his supporters that he, in fact, has attended this dinner for years and he will likely attend it next year, he says. He did turn to other issues as well, particularly on China. His language on China so different than during the campaign and he explained exactly why he now says china may not be a currency manipulator.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think it's not exactly the right time to call China a currency manipulator right now. Do we agree with that?

ZELENY: The president also said that he would be deciding within the next two weeks whether to stay or withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Of course, that accord was reached during the Obama administration about climate change with the U.S. and more than 115 countries around the world.

He, of course, is being advised different things inside his administration, the subject of heated discussion. He says he will make that decision in the next couple of weeks.

Now the president also clearly was soaking up the moment of the 100th day in office. It was a familiar setting, a campaign rally type setting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: The challenge from him going forward here is though will he be able to expand to people who don't necessarily like what he has been doing? Will he be able to get any legislative accomplishments? He did not talk about infrastructure, did not talk about tax

reform. Instead, during this speech, at least, President Trump was largely looking backward -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jeff, thanks so much. The president, obviously, feeling that campaign mojo, but CNN senior political analyst and former presidential adviser, David Gergen, had a harsh critique of his speech last night. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: To bring your campaign speech into the presidency is something presidents rarely do. This was the most divisive speech I've ever heard from a sitting American president. Others may disagree about that. He played to his base and treated the other listeners.

The rest of the people who have been disturbed about him or oppose him, he treated them basically as, I don't give a damn what you think because you're like the enemy with the press. I thought it was a deeply disturbing speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, let's bring in Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News, and Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy managing for "The Weekly Standard."

[06:05:00]First, let me start with you, Errol, divisiveness was that not the goal here to cast those who are in Washington as the elites and president was with real America as it's been said that he wanted to create that divide?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, other politicians, I think, it's safe to say, Victor, would have done it in a little more subtle way. You know, the talk over the weekend was a split screen of Donald Trump talking to supporters while the Washington media elite dressed in black tie and seen on the other side of the screen sipping cocktails.

The reality is he went much further than that. He called them out. He sort of demonized them very much as David Gergen talked about. It is a little unusual to see a sitting president do that.

I think people have gotten a little shell-shocked the last hundred days, but the reality that is not normal for a president to go out there and to attack in such a full-throated way.

I mean, Victor, they were chanting lock her up at this rally as he smiled and sort of went along with it. You know? We are not only past the campaign, they want to relive some of the ugliest moments of it, and that is in fact very striking.

BLACKWELL: Kelly, I want to play for you a line from the president's acceptance speech back from November 8th, 2016. Apparently, we have one sound bite to play and we don't have that prepared to play. He said he wanted to be the president of the Republicans,

Democrats, and the independents. When does the president get to that? Is there some shift? I'm sure we have asked for it almost two years now but he's now in the office.

KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": He started his speech actually in Pennsylvania with similar rhetoric. You know, he talked about how the blood of Americans, it's the blood of patriots, it's not blue, it's not red. He did try to go that way.

He has always tried to use that rhetoric since he has been elected, but it is just rhetoric. That is the thing. He says it and then he moves on to campaign mode and you sort of wonder how sincere is he in reaching out to the people who are very disturbed by his first hundred days so far.

I don't think he necessarily demonized those people in a speech. He really did demonize the media, but he certainly didn't offer them anything. He didn't give them any reason not to worry as much as they have worried.

And I try to think that his speech really kind of encapsulates the Trump presidency so far. He is playing to his base and that's what he has constantly been doing and that's really why he demonizes the media because his base loves to hear that.

And that's why he didn't go to the White House Correspondents Dinner because his base elected him because he was an outsider who distains the elite and that was a clever move on his part. Less clever was giving a campaign rally speech.

I mean, he has been in office for a hundred days. Did he talk about his accomplishments? No. He talked about why he hasn't gotten some of the things he promised to do in his contract with the American voter done.

BLACKWELL: Errol, let me go to one other element here that the White House has invited the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to the White House there. Human rights groups say that his government has killed thousands of people in this ongoing war on drugs.

And that was back in December when the president said that or President Duterte said that he had received a call of congratulations from President Trump about his effort to rid the country of drugs. What do you make of this invitation?

LOUIS: Well, it was going to happen anyway. Just as a matter of state-to-state relations, there was going to probably be some contact at some point. There is a disturbing undertone, though, to what Trump says or more importantly does not say when dealing with some of the dictators and strong men around the world and that includes North Korea and Turkey and Russia, most of all.

That he is not using -- he is the president, is not using one of the strongest cards that America has which is sort of a moral superiority when it comes to the way that democracy rates compare to the way some of these strong men operate.

The fact that they throw people in prison, the fact that they demonize the press, not just with words but with bullets at times. You know, the fact that journalists and human rights activists turn up dead regularly.

I think the world press will sort of now focus on the Philippines and will look at the atrocious horrible human rights record of that strong man and the cry and the question will come up once again, will President Trump say or do anything about it in his role as leader of the free world?

BLACKWELL: Kelly, to that point, a couple of days ago, President Trump admiring in some way Kim Jong-un inheriting the leadership there in North Korea after the death of his father, inviting El-Sisi to the White House and now this invitation to Duterte.

[06:10:00]Is there any evidence or to what degree is there a consideration of the human rights violations in these countries when the president thinks about these countries and these leaders strategically and those personal interactions and relationships?

TORRANCE: It's an excellent question and it is a little disturbing. You know, China currency manipulator, I'm a little more worried how China treats its own people and its political prisoners. Talk about Turkey. Trump called Erdogan and congratulated him on a victory and a referendum that almost every outside observer said was not a fair referendum.

Turkey jails more journalists than any other nation on earth. And to invite Duterte, here is a man who actually challenged his own law enforcement officers to duels because he doesn't think they were doing enough in the war on drugs.

And for Duterte, what is doing enough is, he actually has said if you do drugs, we are going to kill you. It is disturbing that Trump is not only not speaking out against some of these abuses but in my mind almost encouraging them by showing, hey, I had a productive call with you, we have a really friendly relationship.

I mean, how does that discourage these strong men around the world from treating their people better? And, you know, dictators do get things done. Maybe that's why Trump seems to have an affinity for them, but it's certainly disturbing to anyone who cares about human rights.

BLACKWELL: You add to that some of the comments that President Duterte has made about the previous president, President Obama, the type of language in a barroom argument. We will see if that invitation actually comes to fruition and if Duterte makes it to the White House. Errol Louis, Kelly Jane Torrance, thank you both.

Be sure to watch "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning with Jake Tapper. Senator McCain is on the show and Samantha Bee talks about her not the correspondents' dinner bash. That's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. PAUL: Tonight as we have been watching comedy and journalists and typically the president all collide, how the White House Correspondents Dinner unfolded without the star guest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Historically the president usually performs at the correspondents' dinner, but I think I speak for all of us when with I say he has done far too much bombing this month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Plus, thousands marched in protest to President Trump's climate policies yesterday and children joined in on the action. Some are even taking their movement to court. They are going to join us ahead.

PAUL: The death toll is rising this morning in part because of what you're seeing on your screen. That massive tornado. There was a line of tornadoes ripping through Texas. We are going to talk with the storm chaser who caught this monster on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy cow! Look at this thing!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to address the elephant that's not in the room. The leader of our country is not here and that is because he lives in Moscow. It is a very long flight. It will be hard for Vlad to make it. Vlad can't make it on a Saturday. It's a Saturday! As for the other guy, I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, he was not in the room. Didn't press Trump on a long distance (inaudible) as you could there at last night annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

BLACKWELL: So this is the first time since 1981 the sitting president did not attend the event. The keynote speaker, comedian and "Daily Show" correspondent, Hasan Minhaj, also fired off plenty of jokes at the expense of the political media.

CNN senior media correspondent and CNN's host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter, and CNN media analyst, Bill Carter, are here. Good morning to both of you. Brian, you're up early after late night. You were there. How did it feel without the president in the room? BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think the jokes were mostly funny without the mean at least for the most part. There were a few that made folks in the room squirm, but that's how it usually is and maybe how it's supposed to be.

You know, Hasan was careful not to be going too much at the president knowing the president wasn't there. Had he a few jokes about the other side and a lot of jokes about the media as well.

This is always a very hard gig, but I think he pulled it off to the extent that any comedian can, especially with the president pointedly choosing not to be there.

PAUL: Let's listen to more from Minhaj here real quick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASAN MINHAJ, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, "THE DAILY SHOW": We are here to talk about the truth. It is 2017 and we are living in the golden age of lying. Now is the time to be a liar and Donald Trump is liar in chief. Remember, you guys are public enemy number one. You are his biggest enemy. Journalists, ISIS, normal like ties and somehow you're the bad guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now let's be fair. The president also got a bit of a roasting on the media, so to speak at his rally as well. Talking about the failing "The New York Times." Bill, what do you make of the back and forth that happened last night and the fact that he did not attend?

BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, I think he didn't attend because I don't think he likes being the target of criticism and the first pitch to Washington Nationals game, in my opinion. I think Minhaj did take him on pretty strong. Some comments there calling him a liar in chief is pretty tough.

He basically called Steve Bannon a Nazi. He said that Jeff Sessions' favorite "n" word was not no. There were some grenades, but I think you have to throw them in this context. The president came out and did a whole speech and attacked the media again.

[06:20:02]And we have the same kind of feeling about him picking on the media as his main enemy rather than, as you point out, sort of people around the world who might have done some pretty outrageous things.

BLACKWELL: So Brian, the room was, I don't want to say the void of A- listers, but there were far fewer this year than in previous years.

STELTER: I would say that.

BLACKWELL: You would say so?

STELTER: I would say so. BLACKWELL: One of the stars of "Veep." I love that show and put on him that list but maybe not. There weren't many stars there. Is that essentially a good thing moving forward?

STELTER: Yes, (inaudible) to Jeffrey Lord of CNN fame. You could call some of those folks stars, but what was missing was Hollywood. There is Jeffrey and I. What was missing was Hollywood. You usually see a lot of A-listers fly in and it was especially true during the Obama years.

You thought less true any way for any Republican president given Hollywood's liberal leanings. Even more true this year because of who the president is and because the president chose not to attend.

So there was sort of a lack of energy from Hollywood but that is a good thing. You're absolutely right, Victor. This event had gotten to be probably too over the top. A lot of agreement among journalists it was probably better to focus more on the basis about first amendment values and press freedoms.

So that's why Hasan Minhaj was so effective. What he was saying was, in what other country can a Muslim could get up at this podium and make fun of the president of the United States who has proposed a Muslim ban?

There was something about the celebration of free speech and what the president was doing in Pennsylvania also, wasn't he? He was exercising his first amendment rights, however, only one of them was supposed to be a comedian.

When the president calls "The New York Times" failing that is like a laugh line for his audience, but there isn't a lot of truth to it.

PAUL: OK, and since we are talking about roasting. Bill, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, Jeff Mason, had some very pointed words for the president, not so much a roasting, but they certainly seem like serious words. Let's listen together here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF MASON, PRESIDENT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION: We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president about who we are and what we do. Freedom of the press is a building block of our democracy, undermining that by seeking to delegitimize journalists is dangerous to healthy republic.

It is our job to report on facts and to hold leaders accountable. That is who we are. We are not fake news. We are not failing news organizations and we are not the enemy of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You hear a lot of cheering there. Bill, how much do you think maybe the people in that room needed to hear that last night?

CARTER: I think they have been hearing for a long time that they have a responsibility to actually step up more than they ever have before because they are being challenged like they never were before. There is an attempt to delegitimize the press. He called them as enemy of the people, which is pretty outrageous.

And I think a lot of people in that room called for Bernstein to step up and do it. I agree with Brian. Best thing he said you guys are now a minority. How does it feel? You're being attacked like minorities are being attacked. I think it's a big challenge to the press to have to stand up to this president and feel like it's important for the country.

PAUL: All right, Brian Stelter and Bill Carter, we appreciate both of you sharing your views with us today and taking the time. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Be sure to watch Brian's show "RELIABLE SOURCES" today. His guests includes Carl Bernstein who spoke at last night's correspondents' dinner. That is at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN.

PAUL: We have to tell you about an active tornado, actually several warnings this morning across parts of the southeast right now. This is all part of the same system that produced that beast you're looking at right there, that tornado in Texas. The death toll is rising. We are talking live with a storm chaser who caught this video.

BLACKWELL: Plus, an act of defiance. North Korea fails in its missile launch but succeeds in sending a clear message to the U.S. and its allies. How will President Trump respond?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:29]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy cow. Look at this thing. It's going to hit the power lines. My God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Imagine this thing coming in your direction and this is amazing. This is just one of several tornadoes that hit the state of Texas yesterday leaving five people dead, dozens in hospitals.

PAUL: I mean, you can see it almost looks as though it is sucking up all of the cloud around it and that is how that vertex is growing bigger and bigger. Officials warn the number of these tornadoes that we see could be coming this morning and that the numbers could grow as search and rescue efforts are under way this morning in terms of the people who are found possibly injured.

Veteran storm chaser, Chris Collura, is on the phone with us there. He is the one that shot the video of that tornado that you just saw. Chris, thank you for being with us and getting up early. Help me understand what it was like in that moment when you saw that thing coming to you.

CHRIS COLLURA, STORM CHASER (via telephone): Well, the thing formed up the road after this, like, eerie fog in the air which is kind of interesting. And then up the road, there was the lowered cloud base and it touched down and crossed Highway 19 and continued northeast. And it actually out some high tension power lines and then continued up to the eastern side of Campton, Texas.

[06:30:12]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: As a storm chaser, I'm sure that you've seen a lot of tornadoes. Compare this one to what you've seen thus far.

COLLURA: This one was one of the bigger ones. This is one of like -- it will probably go up to the top five to 10 chases.

Now I'm saying top chases of course this is aside (ph) to property damage I would prefer to see this over, you know, an open field and not hit anything. And it could actually been a lot worse had it been a larger town or actually took a hit on Canton, Texas. But this was like one of the bigger ones.

I've seen ones before like I've seen the Joplin one which was kind of wrapped in rain. I've seen the Bowdle one back in 2010 in South Dakota. And this is like up there with the real violent stuff.

PAUL: So, Chris, how close do you let this thing get to you before you back away?

COLLURA: This one got to within a about maybe half to three-quarters of a mile. And at that point, I started to back away.

PAUL: And do you feel something when you're there? I mean, the wind? Is there rain? Is there -- help us understand what that is like.

COLLURA: It's kind of an indescribable feeling. Your ears are popping. You sometimes feel the ground shaking like in the case yesterday. A little vibration in the ground. It sounds like a very loud -- a very loud waterfall basically. Kind of like if you're standing at Niagara Falls. About that same sound. It does kind of sound like a train (ph) too (ph).

PAUL: Now what we are seeing now it looked as though we saw something light popping in the middle of the tornado. Would that have been the power lines that it hit?

COLLURA: Yes. I was -- I didn't -- wasn't quite exactly looking directly at it at the point. I was kind of like making sure I was getting the shot. And of course, looking behind me making sure there were no satellite tornadoes coming around the back side of it. And then you got to watch out for the RFD which is the rear flank downdraft which is 120-mile-an-hour wind gusts that you get coming in behind the tornado. Fortunately that wasn't an issue so it was kind of like that nice little sweet spot between that and the tornado itself. We call that the bear's cage when we're in there. It's like you're grappling with a bear inside the rain wrapped area of the super cell.

PAUL: Well, it is just -- I mean, it is a sight to see. It is, no doubt, a monster the way you can see those cloud just starting to wrap around the whole thing and seem to, as I said to Victor, just kind of get sucked in everything that is around it.

Thank you so much. Chris, we are glad you're OK, first and foremost, but thank you for sharing your experience here. And again, we are watching this threat today because there is more severe weather expected.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. This threat is not over. There is more weather that could produce these tornadoes expected today. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is following this system for us. So, what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's still ongoing at this point. We are actually taking a look at the radar.

Look at all of this lightening. For folks waking up from Illinois stretching down to Louisiana you are getting quite a light show to wake you up this morning. Lots of lightning, lots of very heavy rain. And, yes, the threat for severe thunderstorms and tornado does still exist.

We have a tornado watch in effect until 10:00 a.m. eastern time this morning, 9:00 a.m. central time local. And that threat is going to push a little bit further east throughout the day. So cities from Chicago, Cincinnati, down to Nashville and all the way down to New Orleans, still have the potential for, yes, some more tornadoes, but also damaging winds and also the potential for some hail to go along with it as we go through the afternoon.

So here is a look at the time line because this is going to be key. The morning time frame is this main line you see here. But once we start getting into the afternoon you also have a lot of these cells, especially further south that begin to develop. Those are the ones that really pull that heat of the day in and can oftentimes be incredibly intense storms. But the main line continues through the evening hours.

And the issue with that is night time tornado -- this is when we start to have a lot of concerns. People -- their guard is down. They are sleeping. They're not paying as much attention and that's where you start to get higher fatality number oftentimes.

Here's the look at states, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas are all at risk for having a good majority of the tornadoes that they see happen at night. And unfortunately, this is the same region we are talking about the threat for today.

Another threat also is the flooding potential. Look at how much rain has already fallen. We are talking in excess of eight inches already and now we're going to be adding more on top of that. Several locations along the Mississippi River are likely to get near or if not above their record height, especially in and around Missouri today.

So that is going to be a threat going forward, especially a long-term threat, Victor and Christi, because observe times with the river flooding you don't see the impacts until Monday, Tuesday, or even Wednesday of the upcoming week.

BLACKWELL: Good point there. Allison Chinchar, thanks to so much.

PAUL: Well, President Trump seems to be leaving the door open for military action against North Korea. A lot of people wondering what his plan is in the wake of the regime's latest ballistic missile test.

[06:35:00]

We have an exclusive live report for you from Pyongyang.

BLACKWELL: Plus, young climate change activists are taking legal action now to protect their future. They stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to protest President Trump's climate policies. They will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now.

President Trump is not ruling out military force in the wake of North Korea's latest ballistic missile test adding leader, Kim Jong-un, is -- quote -- "Going to have to do what he has to do" -- unquote.

In fact, let's listen to the president here what he told CBS's "Face the Nation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would not be happy if he does a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I can tell you also I don't believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either.

JOHN DICKERSON, CBS ANCHOR: Not happy, meaning military action?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, we will see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, the failed missile launch blew up yesterday over land in North Korean territory but it succeeded in escalating tensions around the globe.

[06:40:05]

Now, Mr. Trump appeared to downplay the significance of the test calling it a small missile launch. After the president's 100th day rally in Pennsylvania, reporters pressed him on his message to the North Korean regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: You will soon find out, won't you?

QUESTION: Does that mean military action?

TRUMP: You are going to soon find out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's go now with CNN international correspondent Will Ripley live in Pyongyang. He's the only western T.V. journalist in the North Korean capital.

Will, my question to you is after now this second failed missile test, does that make potentially a nuclear test more likely?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could potentially, Victor. Because obviously having the world talk about a North Korean failed test is infuriating to the regime here which has insisted to us on the ground that they will conduct another nuclear test at the time of their choosing.

However, in addition to all of this rhetoric and you have, you know, North Korea blasting the U.S. even over this controversy over who is going to pay the billion dollars for the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, but we get a sense here there is a desire to engage with the United States. They don't want to see a military conflict just like the U.S. doesn't want to see a military conflict because it would be really destructive for all sides involved.

PAUL: So, Will, I want to listen to what the president said last night in this tweet basically calling North Korea's missile test a direct snub to China. Here is what he tweeted.

"North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected president when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!"

There appears to be some clear divisions though in how the U.S. is responding and how China is responding to North Korea. What are you learning about how China is working with the U.S.?

RIPLEY: As of now, we haven't seen any public response in term of sanctions from China. There have been some state media editorials encouraging Pyongyang not to move forward with that sixth nuclear test that they could face grave consequences for that not to engage in provocative behavior.

But the big difference with China and the U.S. now versus the Obama administration is that we are getting a sense and certainly a sense from President Trump that Beijing seems to be willing to work with the U.S. more closely on trying to get North Korea to denuclearize. China has always called for engagement but how much of a stick would they be willing to use? Would they cut off the flow of oil into this country? Would they continue to further restrict trade? They've already suspended coal imports. Could they take it one step further to punish the regime if they move forward with a really provocative action?

Keep in mind that nuclear test was supposed to be eminent but it hasn't happened yet.

BLACKWELL: All right. Will Ripley for us there in Pyongyang, thanks so much.

PAUL: Thanks, Will.

All right. Coming up. You see them here. And there were thousands across the country who rallied for climate action yesterday.

Well, guess what? Look at the kids here. These were some of the children who were part of that movement, a big part of it. Some of them even taking their fight all the way to the steps of the Supreme Court. Yes, a lawsuit is being field. They join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:18]

PAUL: You are listening there to the sounds of tens of thousands of activists that descended upon Washington yesterday for the people's climate march. It was one of many marches across the country were advocates demanded action on global warming. President Trump of course en route to his rally in Pennsylvania did have a message for all of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Do you have a message for those rallying on climate change?

TRUMP: To enjoy the day and the weather.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: To enjoying the weather -- the day and the weather, he said.

Meanwhile, the people who are ultimately affected by climate change are young people, of course. And now some kids, yes, kids are taking legal action to protect their future. And they are doing so with a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit -- now we should point out initially targeted the Obama administration. Now has taken on a different significance in President Trump's administration but that lawsuit carrying on into this one. They took their fight all the way to the steps of the Supreme Court. You see them here. This was last week. And they were among the thousands of people who were at the climate march yesterday.

Some of them have gotten up early after all of that and with us this morning. Two of those kid suing the administration. Kelsey Juliana and Levi Draheim. And their legal counsel from Our Children's Trust, Julia Olson.

Thank you all so much for being here. We certainly appreciate it. I wanted to ask you, first of all, Kelsey, what was your reaction yesterday to the rally?

KELSEY JULIANA, SUING TRUMP OVER INACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING: I thought it was a beautiful demonstration of just how actively engaged and hopeful and joyous we are. You know, we are doing this out of a place of love and out of a place of deep passion to protecting the things that not only we value, but we hold to be true to ensuring the safety and security of all people.

PAUL: Levi, you look like a happy camper today. So I have to believe that you were happy with the rally as well. Help us understand here what is, Levi, your biggest fear when it comes to the environment right now?

LEVI DRAHEIM, YOUNGEST PLAINTIFF SUING TRUMP ADMIN FOR IGNORING CLIMATE CHANGE: Well, my biggest fear is that if climate change continues, I live on a barrier island in Florida and there has been lots of dune erosion. And if the dune keeps eroding, then the sea turtles won't have a place to nest. And then that would kind -- would be a really big problem. And also there has been way more wildfires than there has been normally.

PAUL: OK.

[06:50:01]

So Kelsey, when you listen to what his concerns are, help people who don't understand maybe what human causes are doing to the environment, help them understand what we can do to alleviate his fears and to turn things around.

JULIANA: Every day action from all people is necessary and, of course, when we talk about addressing climate chaos, we are looking at a systemic shift, a paradigm shift is really necessary.

You know, part of our case is looking at evidence that our government, our federal government who are literally elected into a job that, you know, provides them the responsibility and the opportunity to look out for protecting all people. And ensuring that systems need for survival are, in fact, protected and put in place, that future generations can depend on resources like air, water, and land for their needs.

And so we are looking at evidence that our government has kind of neglected those responsibilities. And this is dating back several decades to the mid '50s. So we do need a systemic shift and we need our government to really put into action climate recovery and protect those inherent constitutional rights of all people but we do need...

PAUL: OK.

JULIANA: ... to actively citizens taking action every single day.

PAUL: So you are taking action, many of you in the form of this lawsuit.

Julia, I'd like to bring you into the conversation. Looking at the policy cutbacks from the cutbacks of the EPA specifically since this is a carryover from the Obama administration now into the Trump administration has the suit changed in any way based on some of the policy shifts we've changed -- we've seen?

JULIA OLSON, CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL, OUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: Well, this lawsuit is really about five decade of our federal government creating a fossil fuel based energy system. And that energy system is causing pollution that is changing our climate in really devastating ways and they have known for 50 years that this would happen.

And so while the Trump administration is denying climate change and making things even worse, this case is really about the historic failure of government and the violation of the fundamental constitutional rights of young people and all future generations.

PAUL: Julia, I only have a couple of seconds left, but how long do you think before this -- there may be a ruling on this suit?

OLSON: We will be in trial by the end of the year and we are preparing for trial against the Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry right now.

PAUL: All right. So, Levi, one last question for you, my friend, if you could say one thing to the people listening who have questions about what they are causing in the environment, what would you like to say to them today?

DRAHEIM: Well, I'm not exactly sure, actually. I mean, one thing that I would like to say is that I'm being inspired by them and that that is one of the reasons why I'm standing up for my environment.

PAUL: All right. Well, Julia Olson, Kelsey Juliana and Levi Draheim, we appreciate all of you taking the time to be with us today.

OLSON: Thank you.

JULIANA: Thanks.

DRAHEIM: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. A heavyweight fight for the ages. Andy Scholes has more on boxing's biggest bout in years.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: That's right, Victor.

Ninety thousand people (INAUDIBLE) Wembley Stadium. And tell you what, they got their money's worth. Find out who came out on top next in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:51]

BLACKWELL: Ninety thousand boxing fans -- sold out crowd there -- got to see an epic finish to the heavyweight bout in London.

PAUL: Mm-hmm. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Ninety thousand?

SCHOLES: Ninety thousand. And when was the last time we talked about a heavyweight boxing match? It's been awhile.

But I'd tell you what, Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko they put on a show yesterday. This was just an incredible fight. The best heavyweight fight we have probably since Lennox Lewis versus Mike Tyson way back in 2002.

The fight went back and forth all the way the 11th round. Check this out, Joshua nailing Klitschko with a right upper cut that eventually sent him down to the mat but Klitschko gets right back up, the fight continues. Joshua connects with multiple more punches getting Klitschko to the mat again but he got up again. And later though Joshua pinning him up against the ropes and the ref had to jump in at that point and stop the fight.

An incredible finish. The crowd there going nuts. Joshua retaining his heavyweight belt in front of his home crowd there in England. (INAUDIBLE) a perfect 19-0 in his career.

All right. The NFL draft wrapping up yesterday as I always does. The last pick known as Mr. Irrelevant. This year's Denver Broncos picking quarterback Chad Kelly out of Ole Miss. Now, Chad is the nephew of hall of fame quarterback Jim Kelly. And Broncos' GM John Elway actually called Jim to get a recommendation for Chad and that's because -- well, Chad had several off-the-field incidents in college and was dismissed from Clemson early on in his career.

Now, check this out. Chad was actually caught maybe trying to catch some sleep while he was watching the draft? That was shown on ESPN. I'm guessing he perked up there at the end when he got picked. He'll be heading to Orlando sometime soon. One of the perks of being Mr. Irrelevant that last pick is that you get a parade at Disney World.

All right. Getting picked (INAUDIBLE) Texan dream come true for quarterback Deshaun Watson and his mama. She has been there every step of the way. Dean (ph) Watson is a cancer survivor and her son thanked her for being an inspiration for everything he has accomplished. And he also gave her a special birthday surprise for her.

Check it out. Yesterday, he gave his mom her first official car. It's a brand new Jaguar. And as you can see it came complete with a big giant red bow on top of it. So awesome.

All right. Another awesome story coming out of the draft is the Steelers selecting running back James Conner out of Pitt in the third round.

[07:00:03] Conner who is from Erie, Pennsylvania was overcome with emotion when it was announced that he was going to play close to home for the Steelers. Now, Conner has got an amazing story.