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U.S. Says North Korean Missile Was Probably Long-Range; Lawmakers Face Backlash at Home Over Bill; Plus-Size Model Shuts Down Body-Shamer; Former Child Star Talks About the '90s. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 04, 2017 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:31:24] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN.
U.S. officials are now confirming that it's likely North Korea indeed launched a long-range ballistic missile. It would be a first for the North Korean regime. The projectile landed about 200 miles just off the coast of Japan.
The test forcing the Trump administration to meet unexpectedly today to weigh their options on the North. And this comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin is promising to work with China to help solve the crisis.
CNN International Correspondent Paula Hancocks joins me now. And so if we're talking President Putin and President Xi, is this leaving out President Trump?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is interesting, Brooke. It's not often that we get much of a statement from Russia when it comes to North Korean missiles, and certainly in the past, they haven't been covered very widely.
We look at the reaction from Washington, from Beijing, from Seoul, from Tokyo. So certainly, it's interesting that President Putin is now putting himself further into the North Korean realm here, and the fact that he is agreeing with President Xi.
They have a joint statement that they've come out with. And they said that their idea to try and solve the issue, or at least bring peace and less tension back to the Korean Peninsula, is North Korea should freeze its missile tests, freeze its nuclear program. And in return, the United States should stop its U.S./South Korean joint military drills.
Now, these are joint military drills that both sides do every single year. Every year, it raises tensions on the peninsula. Pyongyang is infuriated by them, but the U.S. says they are defensive.
And we have seen, in the past, that that idea, which was originally China's, is a nonstarter. Washington is saying that they're not going to stop having joint military drills with an ally like South Korea just to try and get this freeze.
So it is interesting that China and Russia are clubbing together at this point to try and hammer out some kind of solution for the North Korean issue. At this point, Russia effectively signing on to what China has already touted, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Is it a play by Putin ahead of the big Putin/Trump meeting this week? You know, we don't know yet.
But as far as that meeting is concerned, Paula, at the G20, apparently the priorities for discussion were Syria and Ukraine. Are we to assume that the issue with North Korea will be back on the table?
HANCOCKS: Well, I think by the timing of this launch, North Korea has made sure that every single leader there is going to be talking about North Korea. I mean, it's just inevitable.
It was July 4th here in North Korea when they carried it out. That's probably no accident, that timing. And they have made sure that they are going to be top of the agenda in many ways, and this is not the first time North Korea has done this.
BALDWIN: Paula, thank you so much. Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea.
Next here, with Republican senate health care bill hanging in the balance, lawmakers, they're back in their districts this Fourth of July, walking in parades -- in some cases, as Senator Heller there, on horses -- celebrating the Fourth and also facing the music from the voters. We'll have live reports there.
Also ahead, no regrets. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie defends his weekend getaway at the beach, saying that's not a story. This would be a story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:34:45] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: If they had flown that plane over that beach and I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blond in that beach chair next to me, that's a story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Fourth of July parades, celebrations, underway across America. And members of Congress, they're home to take part in the fun. But for a lot of them, that controversial health care bill hanging over their heads, and they are hearing about it.
This is Philadelphia, where protesters have been gathering outside of Senator Pat Toomey's office. They're holding what they're calling a die-in protest to protest the Republican health care plan.
Let's go to Ryan Nobles, our CNN correspondent, watching all this for us there from the White House. And so, Ryan, what kinds of issues, complaints, questions, are these members of Congress dealing with on their holiday? RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke, what's
playing out this week is exactly one of the reasons why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to have a deal done before these senators went back on their July Fourth recess, because this could really complicate the debate for Republicans.
They're going back to their districts. They're not only hearing from people who are very much opposed to the health care plan in its current form, but they're also going to hear from some more conservative constituents who want the bill to go further to the right. And this is just going to complicate things for these senators when they come back here in a week and start these negotiations again in earnest.
And you can see here, Senator Susan Collins, who's one of the key members in the Senate who's going to decide the future of this health care bill. She is walking in a parade in East Port, Maine.
We also saw Dean Heller from Nevada. He, right now, opposed to the health care bill in its current form. Nevada, one of the key states that expanded Medicaid under ObamaCare. And right now, the Senate health care bill will end the funding for that expansion, even though it's going to take place over an extended period of time.
So these senators are going to take this all in. And then when they come back to Washington and begin these negotiations, they're going to take the opinions of their constituents into this discussion. And that could complicate things.
[14:40:00] Brooke, this is already a complicated debate. And after hearing from your voters after a week, that's going to be in the back of your mind as you head into these high-level negotiations.
BALDWIN: Listening to you, but I'm also looking at Senator Heller on a horse in Nevada --
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: -- for his Fourth of July. Amazing. I'm impressed! Color me impressed.
NOBLES: Yes.
BALDWIN: Ryan Nobles, thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Coming up next, the moment a plus-size model confronts the man sitting next to her on a plane who she says body shamed her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE HAGE, PLUS-SIZE MODEL: I couldn't help but notice that before we took off, you were sending really horrible text messages about me to somebody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Let me tell you about this confrontation on a plane. This plus-size model flying from, I think, it was Texas to L.A. She calls out the body shamer sitting right next to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAGE: I couldn't help but notice that before we took off, you were sending really horrible text messages about me to somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I wasn't.
HAGE: I have photos. Yes, you were. I saw the whole thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize. I was drinking. I apologize.
HAGE: Yes, just -- you have no idea who you'll hurt with those kind of things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was the conversation. She ultimately confronted him. The man she was talking to was actually caught texting these nasty remarks about her as he was sitting right next to her. But he got more than he bargained for when she -- she being Natalie Hage -- turned the tables on him with her own phone.
So with me now, our Aviation Correspondent Rene Marsh. And, Rene, I mean, my goodness, where are we in 2017 that somebody is doing this rudeness to this young woman?
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Right.
BALDWIN: So they're sitting together on a plane and he is texting nasty stuff to a friend. Is that how it started?
MARSH: Right. So they're bound for Los Angeles, they're airborne. The incident happened on board this Los Angeles flight.
[14:44:59] This plus-size model, Natalie Hage, says that the man seated right next to her sent a text message to a friend of his about her body size. And I want you to hear, in her own words, what she said that text said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAGE: The person he talked to said, hopefully she hasn't had any Mexican food. And then he says, well, it looks like she's eaten a whole Mexican.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARSH: All right. So she read those words --
BALDWIN: You got to be kidding. MARSH: Yes. No, I wish I was. No.
She read those words. She waited until the flight landed because she didn't want to have an altercation mid-flight. And then she confronted him about these very hurtful comments. Good for her.
And she then shared this experience with her 100,000 followers on social media, and this situation really has gone viral.
BALDWIN: So what happened when she finally said, oh, by the way, I was looking at your mean texts. She confronts him how?
MARSH: She confronts him. She tells him that the words that he used were very harmful, very hurtful, and that he should never do that again.
First, he denied sending that sort of text. And then she quoted him, used his own words against him and said, you know, well, this is what you wrote, I saw your words. And she repeated what the text message said. And then he fessed up, he apologized.
And then I want you to hear what happened after the apology because this is just equally as stunning. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, in fairness -- in fairness -- you probably shouldn't be sitting in an exit row seat. You know, when they ask you, are you willing and capable to assist people in getting off the airplane in an emergency, do you honestly think that you are?
HAGE: Don't ever treat somebody like that again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
HAGE: You don't know anything about me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARSH: All right. So the apology that he gave kind of just went out the window after that comment there. You know, like I said -- you know, he said that he had been drinking a bit and that was his excuse.
Bottom line is, this woman was body shamed. She felt that she was, and then she kind of turned the tables on him. And like I said, this incident has gone viral, and she is now shaming him for those very hurtful words on board that aircraft.
BALDWIN: Come on. File this under, just never, ever do this.
MARSH: Yes.
BALDWIN: Man, woman, whatever, not nice. Rene Marsh, thank you.
MARSH: Sure. BALDWIN: Coming up, we're going to take you back to our breaking
news. The question we're asking today, is Russia taking the lead on calming tensions with North Korea by teaming up with China? Those two leaders meeting today.
Also, have you heard? Have you heard? It's '90s week on CNN. Joining me next, the man who played A.C. Slater on "Saved by the Bell," Mario Lopez. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:52:16] BALDWIN: Oh, the '90s. CNN's new original series explores the decade of snap bracelets -- remember those -- boy bands, the definition of "iz" and, of course, T.V. classics that are still hits today, including the show that gave us The Max, Belding, and some very memorable classmates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANI AMBER THIESSEN, ACTRESS: I mean, I'd love to be partners with both of you.
MARIO LOPEZ, ACTOR: Then why don't you just go with the best dancer? Hit it.
(APPLAUSE)
LOPEZ: Last night at the movies, you went too far.
MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR, ACTOR: I just helped a mother get together with her son. What's so wrong about that?
LOPEZ: Wrecking my date with Joanna wasn't funny.
GOSSELAAR: Oh, like it was funny wrecking my study date the night before?
LOPEZ: Hey, you started it, man, making me look like a jerk at The Max.
GOSSELAAR: Well, that's what you are.
CROWD: Oh!
LOPEZ: What'd you say?
CROWD: Who's that guy with the charming smile? Who's that guy that wins with style? Tell us now or tell us later, he'll still be champion. His name is Slater!
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: He is here in person, Mr. A.C. Slater himself, Mario Lopez. You know him. You love him as a host on "Extra." He will also be hosting the new CBS live action game show, "Candy Crush," based upon the popular and very addictive mobile game.
Happy Fourth of July.
LOPEZ: Happy Fourth of July, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much for coming in.
LOPEZ: Nice to have you here on this nice quiet day here --
BALDWIN: I know. It's --
LOPEZ: -- at CNN. It's eerily quiet.
BALDWIN: Eerily quiet, but we like --
LOPEZ: Nice.
BALDWIN: We like quiet.
LOPEZ: That's good news day.
BALDWIN: It is good, knock on glass. OK. So, I mean, this was my jam. This was my era. When I came home from school --
LOPEZ: That was your jam. Oh, you're a '90s kid. Nice kids.
BALDWIN: I'm a '90s kid.
LOPEZ: I didn't know what I was getting myself into with these, but, I mean, unfortunately, I was a product of the times. But I guess we all were as far as the fashion --
BALDWIN: The baggy pants.
LOPEZ: -- and the style and the hair was concerned. But, you know, in those certain scenarios, you just sort put on what the wardrobe stylist tells you.
BALDWIN: Oh, whatever! You loved it.
LOPEZ: Yes, I don't --
BALDWIN: You loved it!
LOPEZ: I didn't know any better. It was easy.
BALDWIN: Look at that! Look at you!
LOPEZ: I loved it. I didn't what to do. I was just --
BALDWIN: How old were you?
LOPEZ: I was 15 when I started.
BALDWIN: Fifteen?
LOPEZ: I was 15 when I started.
BALDWIN: So when did you realize, like, you were walking around and people didn't really -- I mean, I know you've been working for forever, "Kids Incorporated" from way back in the day.
LOPEZ: Right.
BALDWIN: But when did you realize, I'm in the middle of something really special?
LOPEZ: Well, I didn't recognize that because that particular show was a Saturday morning show, not until it went into syndication. And for some reason, a show that was targeted for little kids started gaining popularity. I still ask to this day.
BALDWIN: That's "Saved by the Bell."
LOPEZ: Yes, that particular show. But like you said, I had worked on "Kids incorporated." I was in the "Golden Girls." I did a bunch of stuffs since I was a little kid. And I was just this kid from Chula Vista, and I just sort of fell into it.
Now, I'm very blessed to be working. Like you said, I have my show, "Extra," which I host; my nationally syndicated radio show, "ON with Mario"; a fun YouTube channel, "The Lopez Family Channel" with my family. I'm going to be hosting "Candy Crush" next Sunday.
[14:55:04] So I just feel, for the premier, very blessed to continue to be working because it's so difficult for so many kids that were former child actors to be able to make that transition.
BALDWIN: To keep it going.
LOPEZ: And the fact that I'm still busy and busier than ever, now I don't take for granted. And I'm very appreciative. And I'm grateful, yes.
BALDWIN: No, I could tell. I feel the gratitude over here from you.
LOPEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: But how many years was this in your life?
LOPEZ: We did it five seasons, so five years.
BALDWIN: OK.
LOPEZ: Because we did it one season per year, so about 15 to 20. And yes, we can move on from those pics.
BALDWIN: No, no, no. Can we -- I was going to say put that --
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Put that picture back up with the hair.
LOPEZ: Yes -- oh, come on.
BALDWIN: How long --
LOPEZ: Come on, Brooke.
BALDWIN: How long did the hair -- business in the front, party in the back.
LOPEZ: You got any pics of Brooke's in the '90s? I was -- oh, God.
BALDWIN: How long were you sitting in hair and make-up when that was your hairstyle?
LOPEZ: I didn't -- that was just the way I used to rock it.
BALDWIN: Was that au naturel, Mario?
LOPEZ: No. Listen, at the time, you have to remember, like, Steven Seagal, Mel Gibson, all those guys sort of had like --
BALDWIN: It's kind of a cool look.
LOPEZ: It was a cool look, and I loved those guys when I was a kid. And so I was like, yes, I used to try to rock my look like that.
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOPEZ: You know, Mel Gibson, "Lethal Weapon," and Seagal when he played Nico in "Above the Law" and all that.
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOPEZ: So, you know, you're a 15-year-old kid and you kind of look at those action heroes and you want to emulate them.
BALDWIN: Totally on purpose is what I'm hearing about the hairstyle for A.C. Slater. What about just even -- I mean, in the show, you were the cool guy. You were the jock, you know. You were talking about how Zach was the preppy guy and --
LOPEZ: Well, see, the show -- the character itself, he was supposed to be more like Vinnie Barbarino, kind of like in "Welcome Back, Kotter." All those things, like he played the drums, he wrestled, he was an athlete, that was me in real life. That was me --
BALDWIN: So much of you.
LOPEZ: So much of me. So they incorporated that into the character. That wasn't the character. That was me. And so that was --
BALDWIN: Yes, obviously, those dance moves. You can't fake that, my friend.
LOPEZ: Well, you know --
(LAUGHTER) LOPEZ: Either you got rhythm or you don't, right? But that was not intended. They just sort of incorporated that. So, you know, thank goodness for my mom putting me in a bunch of different stuff when I was a kid and to stay busy and out of trouble.
BALDWIN: Was there any one -- I mean, of all the different episodes, we are remembering back when it was -- what was it -- Jessie Spano was hooked on the caffeine pills and that will --
LOPEZ: Good on you, Brooke, to remember that, nice.
BALDWIN: I mean, you know, these are the things I remember from my youth.
LOPEZ: Right.
BALDWIN: And was there any one scene you really love to remember shooting?
LOPEZ: It was all a blur. It's all --
BALDWIN: Seriously?
LOPEZ: They were all the same. It was like, it was fun. It was the summer. I was the only former child actor that I knew went to a regular public school.
I had 3,500 kids that I went to school with every day in Chula Vista High School, and that was not a school that you went back to and started talking about coming out on T.V. So --
BALDWIN: You went to public high school, seriously?
LOPEZ: Yes. I went to prom, I wrestled, I did the whole thing. So, you know, it was just like a fun summer job, and I never thought of it like something I wanted to do. And I wasn't like those actors, I don't want to be on T.V.
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOPEZ: It was just something that I just thought, cool, I'll make a little money to go to college and then it beat getting a real job. Until this day, my dad says I've never had a real job.
BALDWIN: That's amazing.
LOPEZ: So, you know, it was just --
BALDWIN: And you're still going to prom?
LOPEZ: Yes. So it was just --
BALDWIN: Still going to wrestling tournaments?
LOPEZ: Yes. So it was just one of many activities I was involved in.
BALDWIN: Are you still -- not with these characters. We actually talked to Wayne Knight, Newman, yesterday.
LOPEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: But are you still -- do you keep in touch with any of the actors?
LOPEZ: Yes, I do.
BALDWIN: You do?
LOPEZ: I just talked to Elizabeth Berkeley just yesterday. And Mark Paul and I text. I'm really happy to see that everyone --
BALDWIN: Progressing.
LOPEZ: -- is progressing. They have their own families. So it's sort of like real high school, you know. You keep in touch with some people. You don't talk as much as you can --
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOPEZ: -- but when you do, you just sort pick up where you left off, so it's great. And, you know, there may be more of that yet to come, so, you know.
BALDWIN: That's a tease.
LOPEZ: A little tease for you.
BALDWIN: That's a tease.
LOPEZ: A little tease for you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Can I get anything more?
LOPEZ: That's all --
BALDWIN: Pooling?
LOPEZ: That's all I can give. I'm not --
BALDWIN: That's all I get.
LOPEZ: I'm going to have to come back and talk to you straight, yes.
BALDWIN: Because, I mean, "Fuller House" is blowing up on Netflix.
LOPEZ: Yes. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see.
BALDWIN: Lastly, "Candy Crush."
LOPEZ: Yes!
BALDWIN: Tell me what --
LOPEZ: "Candy Crush." BALDWIN: Tell me about it.
LOPEZ: Biggest mobile game ever, the only mobile game to adapt into a television show. It's going to premier next Sunday, 9:00 p.m. on CBS. Very excited about it.
Teams of two moms and dads, rows of -- just real America just comes together. I give $100,000 away every episode. It's fun. I think fun is healthy and good for you.
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOPEZ: Everybody should have fun. The game itself is engaging. And you know, it personifies summer. And I think it's a really good time, so be sure to check that out. Sunday night, CBS.
BALDWIN: Mario Lopez, ladies and gentlemen.
LOPEZ: Thank you, Brooke. Thank you.
BALDWIN: Happy Fourth of July to you and yours.
LOPEZ: You too.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much for coming by.
LOPEZ: God bless you. Thank you.
BALDWIN: And do not miss CNN's new original series, "THE NINETIES," this Sunday night, 9:00, only here on CNN. Thank you.
All right. We continue on. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
We start with an unprecedented military act by North Korea. The U.S. now saying it is probable that the regime just launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, a missile capable of actually reaching the United States.
Japanese officials saying it may have landed some 200 miles from Japan's coast. President Trump responding to this on Twitter by essentially mocking Kim Jong-un, asking if he, quote, has anything better to do with his life, and saying -- hard to believe that South Korea and Japan would put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all.
That's from the President. This comes as he is preparing for this crucial international trip this week to the G20 Summit, Hamburg, Germany, where his face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone from a more informal sidelines talk to now this full-fledged bilateral meeting.
[15:00:06] So we begin the hour with Ryan Browne, our Pentagon reporter.
