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Wolf

Trump and South Korean President Discuss North Korea Threat; Military Options for North Korea; Experts Call for North Korea Talks; Trump Attacks News Anchor. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 29, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: -- in Pyongyang, North Korea. Wherever you're watching from around the world, that's very much for joining us.

We start with President Trump and his latest tweets sending shock waves through Washington, D.C. and around the country, perhaps around the world.

There's uncertainty right now over North Korea, possible military options for the U.S. But there's also the question of whether the president will have a substantive meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the G-20 Summit at the end of next week.

And then, there are Senate Republicans trying to revive their health care overall. But with all of those critically important issues swirling through the White House, the president of the United States took time out this morning to tweet this.

I'll put it on the screen. "I heard poorly rated "Morning Joe" speaks badly of me. Don't watch anymore. Then how come low I.Q. crazy Mika along with psycho Joe came to Mar-a-Lago three nights in a row around New Year's Eve and insisted on joining me? She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no." End quote.

Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is getting reaction over at the White House. Jim, we're going to be getting a host of other responses to that -- those tweets in just a few moments.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BLITZER: First, I want to know what you're hearing from inside the White House on those tweets which were truly outrageous.

ACOSTA: Truly outrageous, appalling. You're hearing bipartisan criticism of the president coming from all over Washington today, Wolf.

But so far, the White House is issues no kind of apology, no kind of statement saying that the president regrets these tweets from earlier this morning about MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski.

This is what Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Deputy Spokeswoman here at the White House, said earlier this morning on Fox News. Here's what she had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, U.S. WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think that the president's ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn't push back. There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks. Not just to him but to, frankly, everyone around him.

This is a president who fights fire with fire. The president, again, isn't going to be somebody who's bullied and allows people, himself and those around him, to be personally attacked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, I suspect, Wolf, we're going to hear the same thing from Sarah Huckabee Sanders when she takes the podium here at the White House briefing in about half an hour.

Wolf, unlike yesterday's briefing, this briefing today is going to be on camera and feature the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. He may be making a policy announcement, from what we understand, my colleague, Jeff Zeleny, reporting that this afternoon.

But, Wolf, they can come out and issue policies and talk about proposals and the president's agenda. As a matter of fact, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was complaining at the briefing yesterday that we don't pay enough attention to the president's agenda and policies.

But, of course, as you know how things go, when the president issues tweets like this that are repudiated by the likes of the House speaker, who said earlier this morning that this was not appropriate. Susan Collins, a senator from Maine, who said that this is not how we should be talking to one another here in Washington.

When you have that kind of criticism coming from the president's own party, it is very, very likely that this press briefing that's coming up here within the next hour or so, it will only be dominated by questions about these tweets.

The president, as you and I both know, we've been covering this president for some time now, he occasionally throws everything off course at this White House with just 140 characters. And he has done that, yet again.

As the White House is grappling with how to deal with health care, how to get it over the finish line in the Senate, and so many other issues, the president welcoming the leader of South Korea in the next 24 hours. Here we are talking about the president's very appalling tweets aimed at somebody who's on television.

And, Wolf, this is the not the first time he's done that. Of course, as we know, he attacked Megyn Kelly on Fox News talking about her in a very unflattering, really just appalling way.

And earlier this week, there was a female reporter from an Irish news outlet who was in the Oval Office. And she raised questions about the president's behavior and how he was commenting about her looks and her smile and that sort of thing in the Oval Office.

So, there's just going to be, I think, a litany of questions on this subject from all -- from all sides in this briefing room in the next hour -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, people are asking, especially a lot of Republicans, why would the president do this on such a critically important day or do it on any day, for that matter.

Jim Acosta --

ACOSTA: That's right.

BLITZER: -- over at the White House. Thanks very much.

We're hearing responses from all over, almost all of them very, very negative. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, he tweeted this. Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.

And this from Republican Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins of Kansas. She's a leader among the Republicans. She tweeted, this is not OK. As a female in politics, I am often criticized for my looks. We should be working to empower women.

[13:05:10] And joining us now from Capitol Hill is Kansas Republican Congressman Lynn Jenkins. Also joining us from Miami, our CNN Political Commentator Ana Navarro. Here in Washington with me, our Political Commentator Alice Stewart and our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash/

Lots to digest here. Congressman Jenkins, thanks so much for joining us. I saw your tweet. That's why we invited you on this show. But when you saw what the president tweeted, what was your initial reaction?

REP. LYNN JENKINS (R), KANSAS: Well, I was just extremely disappointed. That's not OK. As a female who's been involved in politics for a number of years, I've had to deal with this. And it's just not acceptable. We need to demand better of folks in positions like myself, the president.

We have a lot of things that we're working on here on Capitol Hill. The Senate's wrestling with health care, how to save the broken system that we have today in the House. We're focused on tax reform and how to get the economy moving and people back to work and wages increased.

We would just appreciate it if the president could focus with us on doing some really good things for the American people and leave comments like that to himself.

BLITZER: Well, why do you think he does this? Why do you think he issues such a really brutal personal attack on Mika Brzezinski, who's an anchor over at MSNBC?

JENKINS: I'm not going to pretend to understand what he's thinking when he does that. But I do know that I think he's capable of doing some really good things for the American people.

We've seen some good work on the regulatory front already. He has got some folks working with us on House Ways and Means on the tax reform bill. If he could just focus his attention there, I think we could advance the nation.

BLITZER: I think you're probably right. But the White House says, and they have said, that these tweets that the president posts, they are -- should be treated as official statements from the president of the United States.

I guess the bottom line question to you -- and you're a leader among Republicans, I think you're the fifth highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. Do comments like this make your work harder?

JENKINS: They're unacceptable. I hope that they stop and that we all can get back to civil discourse, treating with each other with respect on both sides of the aisle and putting good public policy first.

BLITZER: The first lady, according to her communications director, stands by the president, saying that when he is attacked, the president hits back 10 times harder.

You see the quote. As the first lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder. That's from Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump's communications director.

When you see that kind of defense -- you've been very active on the Hill. This is a busy day, as you know. Have you heard anyone, any of your Republican colleagues, male or female, say anything positive about this president's tweet?

JENKINS: Not about this particular tweet. I think everyone around here wants to take the high road. We're happy to have a debate and disagree, but do so agreeably on public policy issues.

So, if the president has an issue of public policy and he disagrees with someone on it, you know, I hope we'll have that debate. That's what we do here. We find common ground and move forward.

But to refer to a female's face, as someone that's involved in politics, it's just not appropriate.

BLITZER: So, if the president is watching you right now, what's your bottom line message to him?

JENKINS: We look forward to working with him on some public policy, especially tax reform on House, Ways and Means. I hope he'll focus and meet us on the Hill to advance our cause.

BLITZER: Representative Lynn Jenkins, Republican of Kansas. Representative, thanks so much for joining us.

JENKINS: Sure, thanks for having me. BLITZER: All right, let's get to our panel. Lots to assess and,

Dana, let me start with you. You know, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by now. But when I saw that tweet this morning, I was pretty startled.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And let me just say, I'm very impressed with the fact that you have -- there are two women in the House Republican leadership, if you, kind of, look at it as a number -- as a number of five. She's the fifth.

She's the vice chair of the -- of the House conference. She is not going to be in a good stead with the White House as a fellow Republican by not just tweeting but coming on CNN and saying, he's got to stop.

But she had the guts and the courage to do it. And you know what? I think that that should be -- should be applauded.

You know, it is not easy for these members of Congress who go to work, on both sides of the aisle every day, trying to do important things. Like trying to figure out the health care system in this country.

[13:10:08] And they understandably get asked about really monumental, unbelievably inappropriate tweets by the president of the United States. And they have to spend time reacting to that.

And the fact she recognized that it was important enough to do, to show that there's another face to the Republican Party, I think is really noteworthy.

BLITZER: Alice, what was your reaction when you saw that tweet this morning?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I obviously commend her for taking the high road and not going down there. And there's no doubt the high road has a lot less traffic here in Washington.

However, when we're constantly addressing gutter language from the president, it's such a huge distraction. His tweet this morning was -- it was upsetting. It was unacceptable and very unpresidential.

And, in my view, shame on anyone, at any time, in any way that condones or defends that kind of talk. And the -- and for the comshop (ph) to blame the media for not addressing policy, then you can tell that to their boss. You know, if they're out there trying to push some policy on the Treasury today, they're trying to get health care passed, that's what he needs to be tweeting about. He doesn't need to be doing this.

BLITZER: The issue isn't so much that the president's reacting to negative comments. He got plenty of negative comments from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Plenty of negative comments from a lot of T.V. anchors.

But to go after Mika Brzezinski for what he says, she was bleeding badly from her face-lift? I mean, that is pretty outrageous. BASH: It is outrageous. You know, there are a lot of ways you can

come at the criticism because there's so many levels of ridiculous to that tweet.

But I actually -- I'm coming at it, actually, not as a woman, which is the way you can, but as a parent. I honestly -- I have a six-year-old boy. What -- how do I explain to him that you can't say things like this, as a six-year-old, when he's looking at a guy who's the president of the United States who thinks that it's OK? How do you do that?

BLITZER: Yes, let me get Ana into this. Ana, this is certainly not the first time the president has made statements along these lines involving women. Listen to this, this goes back during the campaign and years earlier, although the "Access Hollywood" tape came out during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP: You know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her -- wherever. But she was -- in my opinion, she was off base.

You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss and I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let do you it. You can do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever you want.

DONALD TRUMP: Grab them by the (INAUDIBLE.) You can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I'm anxious, Ana, to hear what your thoughts are.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, when I first saw the tweet this morning I was, frankly, disgusted. I thought to myself, this dude has got such a fixation with women and blood. What is wrong with him?

And then, you remember that this dude, this disgusting dude is the president of the United States. And you realize just how much he is diminishing the presidency of the United States.

You realize that what he is doing is not just acting for Donald Trump. He's acting for all of us. He's acting for our president. And he is embarrassing. He is shameful. He is disgusting.

And I'll say this about Republicans. I'm really tired of hearing words like, disappointed, like disturbed, like I'm bothered, like I wish he wouldn't do it. It's time that somebody look at the camera and looks at him and calls him up and says, listen, you crazy lunatic, 70-year-old man baby, stop it.

You are now the president of United States, the commander in chief. And you need to stop acting like a mean girl because we just won't take it. We won't vote with you. We won't work with you.

I can't -- I can't start talking about tax reform. I can't start talking about health care reform because I can't get past the fact that we have a president who lacks the sufficient character.

We have a president who is mean. We have a president who is nasty. We have a president who is immature, unstable and just acts like a crazy person with anybody who attacks him, because he's got thin skin and he is never going to pivot.

And anybody around him, whether it's his daughter, his chief of staff, his wife, who I remind you had said her signature issue was going to be fighting against online bullying, or any Republican on the Hill, stop enabling him.

Confront this and confront this hard or it will never stop. And it will embarrass all of us. It will take the presidency low, low, low.

BLITZER: I suspect the president's not going to accept your advice, but what do you believe he needs to do to fix this?

NAVARRO: Stop. Look, if you can't control your tweeting habits, then stop tweeting. Go seek therapy. Go and knit. Find a hobby. Talk to your wife. Do anger management.

You've got to realize, once and for all, you are no longer just Donald Trump. You're no longer just speaking for Trump Tower and Trump brand and Trump hotels and Trump estates.

[13:15:03] You are speaking for an entire country and our people do not deserve to be embarrassed and be represented by somebody who is so unfit for the job. So you've got to start pivoting. You've got to start acting presidential. You should have started six months ago. But, start now, if you couldn't do it back then.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Ana Navarro, thanks very much. Dana Bash, Ella Stewart (ph), guys, thanks very much. We're going to have a lot more on this story coming up.

But there's other really important news unfolding right now as well, including North Korea's growing threat to U.S. national security. How can President Trump leverage U.S. connections in the region to slow the North's growing nuclear capability? Republican Senator roger Wicker, he's a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, there you see him, he's standing by live on Capitol Hill. We'll discuss this and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures of the White House. We're standing by to get official White House reaction to President Trump's latest tweets. The deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, getting ready to hold the daily White House press briefing. Today it will be on camera. It will be live. We will, of course, have live coverage. Stand by for that. [13:20:05] There's critically important issues on this important day, including the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program. It will be front and center, of course, when the president meets later today with South Korea's visiting president. This will be the first meeting between the president and the South Korean leader. And it comes as the United States updates its military options for dealing with North Korea.

Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, the U.S. has now prepared military options for President Trump to consider. Does that include the possibility, for example, of a pre-emptive strike and what potentially could that - could that trigger?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Wolf, the military always has options. They like to say that. They always have options that range fully across the board. So they would have an option for everything.

But what is happening is, go back to what you said a minute ago, updating. That's really the key here. They are updating the options now because North Korea is making progress in its ability to build a weapon, a missile and a nuclear warhead, that could some day attack the United States, and they are beginning to better be able to essentially deceive the U.S. about their intentions, hiding their test program, hiding their launches until the very last minute. All of this leading to concern that the U.S. has options for the president if there was to be a leap forward, a really destabilizing test and they have to give a president an option of how to respond to all of that.

Listen to just a little snip of what the national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The threat is much more immediate now. And so - so it's clear that we can't repeat the same approach, failed approach, of the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, updated military options, if it comes to that. Still, very much hoping to focus on increasing Chinese pressure on North Korea to ratchet back on its weapons program. But the idea here is, North Korea is speeding up and the U.S. has to be able to match the pace of that threat, Wolf.

BLITZER: Arguably the most serious national security threat facing the United States right now.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

Both President Trump and the South Korean president, they want to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons program, of course, but they disagree on the approach. The Trump administration wants to put more pressure on North Korea, won't negotiate without pre-conditions. The South Korean leader is a strong supporter of direct talks and engagement with North Korea.

Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R), MISSISSIPPI: Glad to be with you. Thanks for the opportunity.

BLITZER: So, senator, what do you think President Trump needs to deliver when he meets with the South Korean president later today? They're going to be having dinner at the White House.

WICKER: I think Kim Jong-un is one of the most evil and most dangerous men on the planet. And the president needs to make sure that the South Korean president, our ally, understands that he shares this feeling about the danger and the threat that we - that we face from North Korea.

BLITZER: You have called North Korea's nuclear program a clear and growing danger to regional allies, including our own troops. And there are nearly 30,000 U.S. troops along the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. What are the options, realistic options, for dealing with this threat, because if the U.S. were to launch some sort of military strength, the North Korean response would be devastating to so many millions of people who live within 20 or 30 miles of the DMZ?

WICKER: That's true. And I'll tell you, we have to hope that as unstable as Kim Jong-un is, that he's not suicidal. And I do not believe he wants to commit suicide. So he has to understand that any attack on the part of his regime against us or our allies would be met with a devastating response.

To that end, we are building up our military again. We just finished the markup of the National Defense Authorization Act this week in the Senate. We marked to a $640 billion number, which is higher than in the past. Higher than the House was able to. But they marked to $621 billion. So suffice it to say the House and the Senate are building up our military.

The president's called for over 350 ships in our Naval fleet, up from 276, where we are now, which is completely inaccurate. A lot of that will go to the Pacific. And then we're going to have to make things hard on the Kim administration, the Kim regime, financially.

[13:25:11] BLITZER: Well, let me ask you about - because I -

WICKER: We need to cut off all tourism to that state and -

BLITZER: Well -

WICKER: And hurt them in their pocketbook.

BLITZER: Well, do you think the Chinese are doing enough to help in this crisis?

WICKER: I don't think they're doing enough, but I think they're doing more. And they have to realize, as a country that's trying to engage in more trade and be more open and have more Americans and more westerners coming in and out with all the benefits that it brings to us but also to their people, they've got to realize that an unstable North Korea, along their border and in their neighborhood, is a huge wet blanket to their efforts.

BLITZER: Six prominent experts on North Korea have now written an open letter to President Trump urging him to begin talks, direct talks, with the Kim Jong-un regime. Let me put up a quote from that letter. "Talking is not a reward or a concession to Pyongyang and should not be construed as signaling acceptance of a nuclear-armed North Korea. There is no guarantee diplomacy will work, but there are no good military options and a North Korean response to a U.S. attack could devastate South Korea and Japan.

What's your reaction to that recommendation in that letter, direct talks?

WICKER: You know, I think that - the president and the South Korean president are going to be talking about this tonight. And, clearly, the new South Korean president was elected on a platform of opening up talks and maybe a softer approach to the Kim regime. That has not worked very well in the past. I guess there's no harm in sending messages back and forth. But until we can get some indication that talks would mean anything, I think more severe sanctions, less western travel, and hurting the regime in their pocketbooks, as well as making it clear that an attack on the United States would be a death warrant to the regime and to a lot of people in the North. I think those are better approaches.

BLITZER: Senator Wicker, before I let you go, I want to get your quick reaction to this uproar, this tweet by the president that's causing a lot of commotion today, especially among your Republicans colleagues. As you know, he attacked a female anchor, Mika Brzezinski, described her as, quote, "bleeding badly" from a face-lift during an encounter around New Year's Eve. Your Republican colleague, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, tweeted this response. Quote, "please, just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office," close quote.

Is this tweet, I assume you were shocked when you saw it as well, but is this what we should expect from the president of United States?

WICKER: Well, I'll say two things. I wouldn't respond in that kind to the attacks of "Morning Joe" and Mika Brzezinski, but - and I wish the president wouldn't do things like that. That said, this really is a side issue as far as most people out in - in the great heartland of America are concerned. They want us to get health care done. They want us to cut taxes. They want us to get the economy going, to build an infrastructure program and to make our country strong and more respected again. And these sorts of things are distractions. I wouldn't have spent the morning talking about this if it - if it were up to me. But I think the American people are not going to be distracted from the important issues, the ones we're working on across the street in the Capitol.

BLITZER: But you agree, senator, that tweets like this make it more difficult to focus in on what you correctly point out are those critically important issues?

WICKER: I agree that I would rather do without the distractions.

BLITZER: Senator Roger Wicker, thanks so much for joining us.

WICKER: Thank you.

BLITZER: After the break, a glimpse from the front lines of ISIS' crumbling regime in Mosul in Iraq. Why the coalition now says a definitive victory in Iraq is imminent. We're going to the front line.

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