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Moon Jae-in Promises New Direction for North Korean Relations; Interview with Syrian Chemical Attack; President Trump Defends Decision to Fire FBI Director. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 10, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:10] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Now, the U.S. president defended his shocking decision to fire FBI director James Comey, saying the man responsible for investigating ties between

Trump's team and Russia has lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington.

And South Korea's new president is sworn in. And now attention turns to how Moon Jae-in will change relations with North Korea.

Now, we will have those stories in a moment. But first, last month a shocking chemical attack on the Syrian town on Khan Sheikhoun led to the

first American military strikes against the regime of

Bashar al-Assad. And CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward has never before seen footage of the immediate aftermath of that

fateful day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I want to warn our viewers that this is extremely disturbing material. And if you have

children at home you might want to have them leave the room.

When the chemical attack hit, some very brave journalists were the Aleppo media center went straight to the scene. Of course, this was at enormous

personal risk, and the footage that they shot really offers an unvarnished, unsanitized, up close look at the horror of a war crime, which is why we

felt it is so important to show.

(voice-over): The attack happened shortly after dawn. Cameraman Adam Hussein says that warplanes are targeting the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

From his roof top, he quickly sees this is no ordinary strike. They are using toxic gas, he reports.

Five minutes after the attack, there was a call for anyone with a vehicle to go to the scene to help, he says. I headed straight there.

But nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see. We must warn you these images are shocking. It is a scene of unimaginable horror -- the

immediate aftermath of a chemical attack.

The number of victims keeps going up, Adam explains, and many are women and children.

All around him people are foaming at the mouth. Convulsions are racking their bodies -- as rescue workers try in vain to wash away the chemicals.

Look at the kids here, someone tells him.

The limp bodies of small children lying next to those still gasping for life.

Death for these innocents is agonizing and slow.

Dr. Hassan Al-Misham (ph) is among the first responders.

All of the cases were suffering from suffocation, convulsions, narrowing of the pupils, increased sweating and difficulty breathing. All this is proof

that a chemical agent was used, he says.

I asked the rescue workers to first wash the victims with water and take off their clothes. This was the only first aid we could provide.

Nineteen-year-old Mohammed al-Dilal (ph) lies thrashing on ground. One of the survivors, he later describes the moment the gas hit him.

I fell down and I couldn't feel a thing had. I felt myself laying on the ground and my hands were hitting the ground, and then I fainted, he says.

It was as if I was hitting myself. I had no control. I couldn't see anything with my eyes.

The casualties are brought to a nearby clinic, built underground, to protect it from airstrikes. A man brings in his lifeless little girl. He is

sure he has seen her chest moving.

But the doctor says it's just air trapped in her chest.

There is nothing left but to pray and say good-bye.

Suddenly, there is panic as news comes in more fighter jets heading that way.

A local journalist Yamin al-Khatid (ph) is in the middle of delivering a report.

[08:05:39] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): Right now the warplanes are circling --

(EXPLOSION)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go out, go out, go out!

WARD: The camera crew tries to escape the chaos, but once outside another missile hits.

The journalists managed to survive. All casualties must now be taken for treatment half an hour away.

At that hospital, body bags are already piling up on the sidewalk from the attack. The dead are brought out to make room for the living.

The tiniest victims are carried in gingerly, one by one by one. Inside, medical staff struggle to cope with a flood of patients and only a limited

supply of the lifesaving antidote atropine. Most are treated hastily on the floor, as distraught relatives look on, powerless to help.

The youngest victims are the most vulnerable. After a quick check that the heart is still beating, the doctor moves on to the next case.

Those who did not survive are taken to be buried before the end of the day, in keeping with Islamic tradition. In all, 92 people were killed in Khan

Shaykhun, among them, 33 children. Entire families were laid in a single grave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Pray to God. They are in heaven. You must accept God's will. To God we belong and to him we shall return.

WARD: Kusail Yusuf (ph) lost more than 20 members of his family.

"This is the grave of my cousin Yasser (ph). He is my friend and brother. His son Amer (ph) just 4 years old, what did he do to deserve this? His

second child, Mohammed, may God have mercy on his soul," he says.

"And this is my brother Moham (ph)'s grave. Abu Yousef (ph), Abu Yousef, I am your brother. Abu Yousef, you left me all alone. May God protect you, my

brother and accept you as a martyr. Abu Yousef. Please, God, answer me."

In Syria now, the dead are considered lucky, free from the unspeakable crimes of this brutal war and the agony of grief.

WARD: American, British and French intelligence, as well as chemical weapons experts who we have spoken with all agree that this attack was

certainly carried out by President Assad's forces. Samples taken from the scene have shown that the nerve agent was likely sarin gas, which, of

course, has been outlawed since the end of the First World War. And, Jake, when President Assad was asked in an interview shortly after the attack

what his thoughts were about it, he denied that it had ever even taken place, calling it will 100 percent a fabrication.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was horrifying to watch that. The new evidence of the chemical gas attack That took place in April, in a sense just gasping for

a last breath, many of them children.

Now, the man you're about to meet now is a former activist. He is a former rebel fighter. He narrowly survived a Sarin gas attack in Syria in August

of 2013. And he joins us via Skype from Germany where he now lives.

And Kassem Eid, thank you so much for joining us here on the program. When you see that video, this new evidence of children choking on their last

breaths. I mean, as a survivor and as someone who knows this war so intimately, how does it make you feel?

[08:10:36] KASSEM EID, SURVIVED 2013 SYRIA GAS ATTACK: I actually feel speechless. I've been watching those pictures and videos. I've watched

them myself with my

own eyes for years and years. And the fact that those pictures and videos, and people are still dying in such a horrible way in 2017 makes me feel

nauseous.

I really can't express my anger in words. I tried for many years to talk, to scream, to write, to protest, to do anything - everything I can, along

with thousands and thousands of other people trying to bring help for the Syrian people to stop the lunatic Bashar al-Assad from committing war

crimes, but unfortunately we live in a world made of hypocrisy. When it comes to Syria, people are not considered real people. They were not

considered humans. We're just considered statistics and collateral damage for a lot of countries.

But I think the thing that makes me angry the most is the fact that President Obama lied to the

United States, to the American people and to the entire world that he took all of Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons and he lied again when he said

that he will make Bashar -- give Bashar a pass in case he will give him his chemical weapons.

So he lied twice, and the cause of his lies was women and children getting gassed to death. 500,000 people were killed by the Assad regime and

President Obama did nothing, absolutely nothing

for more than six years. He just kept making false statements about how Assad should go and how this is against international law, but on the

ground he did a lot of efforts to keep Assad in power. He stopped a lot of countries from arming the rebels with the necessary weapons to take Assad

down or to establish safe zones. He stood against almost every effort by the international community to actually bring an end for the Syrian

atrocity.

I really cannot understand how someone can be that horrible, and how can he say such nice words when people hear him talk, they think he's a good

person, but when you see his actions, you will see the exact opposite.

LU STOUT: And Kassem, with this new video evidence of what happened in that Syrian gas attack in April. We don't see politics. We don't see

grandstanding. We don't see statistics. We see death. We see a war crime. We see the immediate aftermath of a chemical attack. This was

something that you experienced. You lived through it. What was that like?

EID: Well, I lived for more than two years under government siege in my hometown (inaudible) which is the western suburb of the capital Damascus.

This all started when we asked for freedom, when we marched in the streets asking for freedom

and democracy, asking for free elections in our country and the government responded by bullets and tanks and aircrafts.

After almost living almost two years without power, without gas, with daily bombardment, with hundreds of people who got killed, on August 21, 2013,

also in the early morning, I heard alarms coming from Damascus. Rockets hit the ground. Seconds later, I lost my ability to breathe or talk. I

started beating my chest to be able to do anything, to speak, and I got my first breath. It was the most painful feeling I ever experienced in my

life.

I start screaming in agony, so did the neighbors. I ran to the street to figure out what's going on. And I see what I -- I saw what I always

describe as judgment day because I saw men, women and children running, falling on the ground, suffocating. The terror, the agony, the fear, the

confusion that was in the air was unbearable. I tried to rescue a little boy who was suffocating, and by the time I got into the field hospital with

the help of the Free Syrian Army, that boy was dead, and I lost my conscious. And the doctors thought that I was also dead because my heart

stopped. I was in a coma.

And I was placed among the dead bodies until my friends noticed that I was still moving. The doctors came again and gave me more atropine and CPR and

washed my body over and over with water until I woke up. I woke up among piles of dead bodies, of women and children. My friends took me outside

just to see, just try to get some fresh air because the air was contaminated in the basement, which was the only field hospital we had

under ground.

By the time we got there, the regime started bombing each and every corner of our town. They were trying to invade. They sent their special forces.

They were wearing full chemical gear protection and trying to kill whoever remained alive. If it wasn't for the bravery of the Free Syrian Army, we

would have been all killed that day.

A few days later I helped the United Nations weapons inspector, five days later I helped them

investigate the incident in our town. They examined evidence and blood samples and everything, and they wrote a full report that shows clearly

Assad regime was responsible.

I remember that attack with the most painful memory, to be watching President Obama failing to fulfill his red line promise and letting Assad

walk away unpunished after gassing 1,400 people to death in less than one day.

And he lied, like I mentioned earlier, about taking all of Assad chemical weapons. I knew it, a lot of people knew it. The OPCW was talking about

it. A lot of foreign and saying Assad still had chemical weapons, but President Obama kept lying and insisted, that no, he doesn't have chemical

weapons anymore.

And what happened in Khan Sheikhoun was theproof on President Obama's hypocrisy. And I can also say that it was somehow -- he was a part of that

crime because he had the tools and the power to stop the lunatic from committing the war crimes, but he just let him go without any kind of

punishment. This is really disgusting.

I don't know how he can be a father for two beautiful girls and a husband for such a beautiful woman and not to think about those poor families, that

they were gassed to death. I want to ask him if he's listening right now, what if your children were gassed to death? What if it was your wife who

died from Sarin gas? What would you do if I was you and I let the man who committed that war crime unpunished, what would you think of me? What

would you think of me?

LU STOUT: That's a pointed question that every world leader should be asking themselves. And politics aside, we thank you for sharing a very

stirring and horrific account of the impact of chemical warfare and how you were once thought to be dead, brought back to life after what you

experienced, a gas attack, a Sarin gas attack in 2013.

You've been speaking out ever since. Thank you so much for joining us here on the program. And take care.

You're watching News Stream right here on CNN. And we'll be right back after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:34] LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream.

U.S. President Donald Trump is standing by his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. And it's hard to overstate the impact of that

decision or the outrage it has caused. Now, President Trump defended the move in a series of tweets that he fired off a short time ago. He says

Democrats are, quote, playing sad but have also criticized Comey in the past.

In another tweet, he writes both parties lost confidence in the former FBI chief. And in the end, he expects that he will be thanked for the decision

to let him go.

Democrats, even some Republicans, have questioned the timing and rationale behind Comey's firing. He was heading the agency investigating possible

links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Now, for more, Joe Johns is with us from the White House. And Joe, I mean, this decision it sent shockwaves through Washington and beyond. Walk us

through the announcement and what happened.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think it's important to keep those last words

you said in the lead-in in your mind. The president of the United States firing the man who is heading up the investigation into the president's

campaign and things related to Russian interference in the U.S. election.

With that in mind, we can tell you that the administration's version of this is that it started a week or two ago. The number two person in charge

of the Justice Department here, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, putting together a recommendation in writing for the president.

The attorney general himself who is supposed to be recused because of matters relating to the Russia investigation also wrote a letter saying he

concurs with the firing of the FBI director. And it was delivered to the FBI headquarters, the letter was, yesterday afternoon, evening.

However, the FBI director was not here. He was in Los Angeles, apparently found out about it

while watching television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): President Trump attributing his bombshell firing of FBI Director James Comey to Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail

investigation, a stunning reversal, given Trump's repeated praise of Comey for how he managed that very investigation.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I respect the fact that Director Comey was able to come back after what he did. It took guts for

Director Comey to make the move that he made, in light of the kind of opposition he had, where they're trying to protect her from criminal

prosecution.

JOHNS: And just last week, the president tweeting that Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Clinton.

The White House says the president acted on the recommendation of newly- appointed deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who made the case for Comey's firing in a letter to his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions,

asserting that "The way the director handled the conclusion of the e-mail investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public

and congressional trust."

The attorney general pledged just two months ago that he would recuse himself from any Russia investigations after it was revealed he did not

disclose contacts with a Russian ambassador. Despite that, Sessions joining his new deputy in recommending that a fresh start is needed at the

leadership of the FBI. Despite this praise of Comey six months earlier.

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Director Comey did the right thing. When he found new evidence, he had no choice but to report to the American

Congress.

JOHNS: President Trump firing Comey in a bizarre letter, stating, "While I greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that I am

not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the

bureau."

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: When did he say that?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO DONALD TRUMP: The president says in his letter...

COOPER: On what occasions did he do that?

CONWAY: The president says -- the president says -- that's between the president of the United States and Director Comey.

JOHNS: The president's assertion perplexing, given that Comey testified that the bureau is investigating Trump's campaign.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the

Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.

JOHNS: Sources tell CNN Comey learned that he was fired through TV reports while he was addressing FBI employees in the Los Angeles office. He was not

at FBI headquarters to receive the president's letter.

The shocking announcement coming just hours after CNN reported exclusively that federal prosecutors had issued a number of subpoenas to associates of

Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, Democrats accusing the president of trying to derail the FBI's Russia investigation.

[08:25:27] CONWAY: This has nothing do with Russia. It's everything to do with whether the current FBI director has the president's confidence.

JOHNS: President Trump and his advisers attacking Democrats who previously criticized Comey for announcing that he was reopening the Clinton e-mail

investigation 11 days before the election.

Trump's seismic firing sparking comparisons to Watergate. Although the Nixon Library was quick to point out that, while Nixon fired the

independent special prosecutor investigating him, Nixon did not go as far as Trump in firing his FBI director.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Add to all of that this: in the midst of all the controversy over the Russia investigation and a day after the president fired the director

of the FBI, the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is

expected to appear here at the white use for a meeting with the president of the United States. So far there's no indication that cameras will be

allowed in there.

Back to you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and that meeting due to take place in just the next few hours. In that report, Joe, I like how you call it a seismic firing, wow,

a stunning moment in politics even for the Trump White House. Joe Johns, reporting live for us, thank you.

Let's get more now from CNN's Jessica Schneider who is live for us from New York. And Jessica, we know this investigation was under way, and then on

the same day the FBI director was fired, federal prosecutors issued these grand jury subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn. I mean, so much

happening. What are we to make of the timing of all this?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it's really the timing and the

motivation that are the big questions here. We do know that the FBI is moving full steam ahead in this Russian probe, both to the Russian meddling

during the election, and also to whether or not Trump or his associates may have colluded with the Russians.

So, in that vein, yes, in fact, the FBI has made that first step. We've learned issuing grand jury

subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn. Of course, Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who resigned just a few weeks after the

inauguration, because of his ties to the Russian ambassador, his talks with him, his talks about sanctions. And then of course in the past few months

we've learned that Michael Flynn has these ties to foreign governments. He was paid by RT TV, a

propaganda arm of the Russian government back in 2015 for a speech that he made.

We also know that he did lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government. So, a lot swirling there in terms of Michael Flynn. The subpoenas have been

issued to his associates to get business

records. This is really the first significant step by the FBI in this Russia investigation. So, the question is, as all of this comes down as to

the Russian investigation, was that the real reason that Director Comey, the head of the FBI was terminated.

Of course, that's not the reason that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave in his memo. He said it was because of the mishandling of

the Clinton email scandal and the investigation. But of course tellingly, perhaps, President Trump did write in his about five sentenced termination

letter to Director Comey, he did directly reference that Russian investigation. So, the question is, was that the

reason, in fact, that Director Comey was canned as this FBI investigation into Russia is now ramping up - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, what happens next with the investigation. Of course, at the FBI who will replace Comey? A lot of questions, a lot to report on

next. Jessica Schneider, we'll leave it at that. Thank you.

Now, Washington's relationship with Seoul that will be in the spotlight now that South Korea

is under new leadership. Newly sworn in President Joon Jae-in is vowing to change the way his country deals with Pyongyang. What it could mean for

peace on the peninsula. We've got that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:42] ] LU STOUT: South Korea's new president was sworn in early on Wednesday. Moon Jae-in says he will work for peace on the Korean

peninsula. And he says he is willing to go to

Pyongyang to achieve that goal if the proper conditions are met.

Now, during the campaign, Moon pledged to move away from the hawkish policies of his

predecessor, the ousted former President Park Guen-hye. Ivan Watson has been keeping an eye on the election response. He joins us now. And Ivan,

under the leadership of Moon Jae-in, how will South Korea and its attitude toward North Korea and the Trump administration change?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, foreign policy analysts here they say that you can expect a pivot of sorts as he has pledged to try to talk

to North Korea, which is not the policy that conservative presidents have had for 10 years, roughly 10 years of conservative party rule.

But there will be other challenges as well. Some Koreans will say that they view their country, South Korea, as a shrimp among whales, meaning

that they're this small player and there are such bigger countries, powers in the region, like the U.S., like China, in addition to the rival North

Korea north of the DMZ. And that will be one of the big challenges for Moon Jae-in is trying to figure out how to balance South Korea's influence

with these other big regional powers here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: A victory lap for South Korea's newly elected president. Liberal lawmaker Moon Jae-in sworn in just hours after defeating a crowded field of

12 rival presidential candidates. He faces immediate challenges in foreign policy.

South Korea's new president now has to walk a tightrope, balancing between North Korea's mercurial leader can you recall leader Kim Jong-un and the

often unpredictable Donald Trump, commander-in-chief of South Korea's closest ally.

North Korea is threatening to carry out a sixth nuclear test as well as more ballistic missile launches while the U.S. conducts nearby military

maneuvers, warning Pyongyang to behave, sabre rattling that has many South Koreans worried.

[08:35:00] DUYEON KIM, KOREAN PEINSULA FUTURE FORUM: South Koreans worry more that President Trump would do something militarily foolish than Kim

Jong-un because of his unpredictability, because of his bluster, his outrageous tweets and threats of force.

WATSON: President Moon says he'll immediately tackle the security crisis.

MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through translator): I'll always be on the move for peace in the Korean peninsula. If necessary, I will fly

straight to Washington. I will go to Beijing and Tokyo, and if the conditions allow, to Pyongyang as well.

WATSON: Moon says the strategy of confrontation has failed. Instead, he wants to try diplomacy with Pyongyang. But while trying to talk to North

Korea, Moon also has to handle the thorny issue of missile defense.

The recent deployment of the American THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea angered China, which imposed unofficial economic sanctions against

Seoul.

JAE-IN (through translator): I will strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance. I will negotiate with the United States and China with sincerity

to resolve the THAAD issue.

WATSON: South Korea has had a power vacuum for months, after a corruption scandal and

impeachment brought down the country's last president. Moon has to remind both friends and rivals that now there's a new president in charge here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Now, Kristie, make no mistake, the top priority for President Moon is on the domestic agenda. And that's the economy and, in his first

presidential directive he has ordered the creation of a job creation committee and the formation of a new post of senior secretary of job

creation - Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Ivan Watson reporting live for us, thank you.

Now, let's go straight to Washington where right now U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is alongside Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Let's

listen in to the comments that are being said.

OK, unfortunately we just missed that brief to and fro, back and forth, between Tillerson, Lavrov, and the reporters there. Now, we know that that

meeting, it comes ahead of the meeting that Sergey Lavrov will have with Donald Trump in the next few hours.

Of course, they will be discussing Syria, Ukraine, bilateral issues. And in the background to all this, of course the ongoing investigation between

the Trump campaign and Russia, and not to mention allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 elections as well.

When Donald Trump makes an appearance, and if he makes an appearance, with Sergey Lavrov, we'll be sure to bring that moment live to you right here on

CNN.

In the meantime, you're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, late night comics they are at it again. How they are responding

to President Trump's firing of the FBI Director James Comey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now by now you know about President Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. Now, the move didn't just take Washington by surprise, it

also stunned some late night talk show hosts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: Wow, Trump fired the FBI director. You can't just fire the FBI director. Like I mean, if he's gone, who is going

to investigate Russia's ties to -- oh.

[08:40:05] STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, LATE NIGHT: That shows no gratitude at all. I mean did Trump forget about the Hillary emails that Comey talked

about?

I mean, thanks for the presidency, Jimmy, now don't let the door hit you where the electoral college split you.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, LATE SHOW: Well, this is the kind of things dictators do, this is the kind of thing reality TV hosts do, they fire someone every

week. Maybe that's what happened. He still thinks he's on the Celebrity Apprentice. It was between James Comey and Meatloaf and, well, the Loaf

won again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Jimmy Kimmel, he also joked that he plans to sell Comey is my Homey

t-shirts to protest Trump's decision.

And finally, Ellen DeGeneres move over, a teenager now has the most retweeted tweet. Now, Wendy's told Carter Wilkerson that he need 18

million retweets to get free chicken nuggets for a

year. So, he sent this message, help me, please, a man needs his nugs.

Now, Wilkerson is getting his wish, even though he got only a little more than 3 million retweets.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere because WorldSport with Christina Macfarlane is next.

END