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Pentagon: North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile; Trump Slams Health Care Vote; McCain Casts Deciding Vote; Trump Talking Anti-Gang Efforts; Senator's Impassioned Plea over Repeal; Interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 28, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Moscow, 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Pyongyang, North Korea, wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We start with breaking news. Out of North Korea, the Pentagon here now says North Korea fired another ballistic missile. It's another troubling move by North Korea as they move ahead with the development of the missile program. Also, it comes as fears are growing about the country's progress with weaponizing their nuclear program.

The last missile launch was back on the fourth of July. That would Independence Day here in the United States. This one comes just one day after both North and South Korea mark the 64th anniversary of the Armistice halting the Korean War.

And let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr as she standing by, Will Ripley standing by in Beijing. Alexander, Seoul, Alexandra Field is standing by in Seoul, South Korea for us.

Barbara, first of all, what do we know about this reported launch? Do we know for example, what type of missile was launched today, and is it different than the last launch that took place on July 4th?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: All the things we are awaiting the Pentagon to tell us, Wolf, on this day, as once again world threats intervene on Washington Politics.

The North Koreans fired this missile about 10:45 this morning each coast time. According to the Pentagon, it was very quickly detected. The U.S. has satellites and other intelligence gathering systems that can quickly detect ballistic missile launches, especially out of North Korea.

There had been a lot of indicators that they might be getting ready to launch. What we're looking for now is the announcement by the Pentagon about what kind of ballistic missile this was. There is a good deal of concern it might have been yet again an intercontinental range ballistic missile. Something designed to eventually be able to hit the United States with a nuclear warhead.

This is the kind of missile they fired on July 4th for the first time. That -- here's an interesting indicator. That missile on July 4th flew something between 37 and 40 minutes and the Japanese have already said, this missile today flew 45 minutes. So good deals of concern that what we are looking at is a potential announcement that this was another ICBM long-range missile launch. That is not confirmed.

They are still looking at all the data. We expect an announcement in the coming hours. But look, Wolf, make no mistake. This comes as a U.S. Intelligence Committee recently advised its estimate and said we could be facing the possibility of a reliable ICBM from North Korea sometime in 2018. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes. Couple years ahead of what earlier had been thought.

Will Ripley, you've been to North Korea several times, including recently. What else can you tell us about this launch? Certainly, doesn't seem to be much of a surprise. They're doing this increasingly more often.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Just yesterday, Wolf, I was reporting for your program from along the demilitarized zone. We were there specifically to watch for this kind of thing. We were looking at Kusan as a possible launch site. But it actually turns out this particular missile was fired a significant distance away about 250 kilometers away in Chagang Province, a mountainous region in the northern part of Korea.

I visited that part of North Korea just last month. I spoke with officials in the country who said that they not only will have an ICBM capable of striking the mainland U.S. but they are absolutely not willing to relinquish this kind of weapon. They --their leader, Kim Jong-un has made it a real point to develop these weapons as quickly as possible, because they feel this is their chance to get a seat at the table and to get respect from the international community.

Really, it's the only leverage that North Korea has that can force other countries, much more powerful and much more wealthy countries, like the United States, to talk to them. And so, what we're seeing, not only at the development of this kind of potential, another potential ICBM, a first strike kind of missile. But remember, just within the last week, we saw them also trying to perfect their second strike capability, a ballistic missile that could be launched from a submarine.

They tested a component of that kind of missile just a few days ago. So North Korea trying to develop an ICBM, they can launch from the land and also one they could launch by sea, by surprise. So, this is certainly a very troubling development for everyone watching North Korea, Wolf.

BLITZER: Certainly is. Will, stand by. Alexandra, you're there in Seoul, South Korea. We know that South Korea government, the Japanese government, both called emergency meetings in response to this latest North Korean missile launch. What else can you tell us about the reaction? I understand the missile according to the Japanese. They believe it landed in what they call the Japanese exclusive economic zone? [13:05:03] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And they have seen missiles land in that zone before, Wolf. This is a troubling enough development that the highest levels of government had convened meetings both in South Korea and Japan. In the middle of the night, it is just about 2 o'clock in the morning here in South Korea.

These meetings do quickly happened in the aftermath of these missile launches. Here in South Korea, it's the National Security Council Meeting. What in the likely expect from this meeting would be a statement that might be issued soon.

Typically, we have seen the government first condemn the action then underscore the point these missile launches are in violation of international sanctions, and then vow any provocations will be met with a response.

That's sort of been the routine, response that you have seen from both South Korea and Japan after these barrage of missile tests that we've witnessed for really the past two years now. What's been slightly different about this launch is what has happened in the run-up to it.

As Barbara Starr pointed out, there were indicators that North Korea was preparing for another launch. And in that context, you actual will had an overture from the South Korean to the North Korean government to establish talks near the DMZ. That heavily fortified border that divides these two countries.

That request was not met with a direct response from North Korea. The South Korean government has continued to say that they remain open to talks. And Wolf as you know, as we reported on this program, that has really been the key aim of the new administration here in South Korea, to achieve some kind of dialogue with North Korea and certainly mark a shift from the previous administration's approach to dealing with North Korea. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, it would, a very important shift indeed.

Barbara, you're there at the Pentagon. We keep seeing these missile launches by the North Koreans. What if anything, is the Pentagon planning to do about it?

STARR: Well, Defense Secretary James Mattis has regularly and very publicly said a military confrontation with North Korea would be a catastrophe. Of course, no one knows how the North Korean regime would react. They have heavy weaponry along the DMZ that they could quickly launch into South Korea killing millions there.

The focus of the Trump administration has been, of course, on diplomacy led by the State Department, pressuring China to pressure North Korea to give up its weapons program, but that is not working. The U.S. military, top commanders, we have reported this have recently updated military options for what they call a rapid response if it is needed.

And just a few days ago, publicly, the chairman of the joint chiefs, General Joe Dunford, told an audience where he was appearing that he would be ready to take those options to the president, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very dramatic developments indeed. Barbara Starr, Will Ripley, Alexandra Field, all of you working the story. Stand by.

I want to bring in Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. She's serves on the Arm Services Committee of the U.S. Senate. Senator, thanks for joining us.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: Aloha, Wolf.

BLITZER: Alaska and Hawaii, the closest potential targets to North Korea. At a scale of one to ten, senator, how concerned are you about this latest ballistic missile launch?

HIRONO: We continue to be concerned, because we know that Kim Jong-un will continue to do these missile launches and that's why North Korea and what they're doing is a matter of great concern to us.

And we did just pass in the Senate a sanctions bill relating to Russia and North Korea and Iran. But I know that there are more sanctions that we could place on North Korea and that is an avenue that is being pursued by the chair of our Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker and our Ranking Member Cordon.

So, there are more things we can do at the same time, I certainly agree with General Mattis that there would be a catastrophe if we take military action. But, of course, as General Dunford says, we can't take that off the table either.

But, I believe there are still some other elements of sanctions that we can impose and certainly continuing to encourage China through whatever avenues including some sanctions on China to encourage them to do more, to -- encourage or discourage Kim Jong-un from continuing his nuclear ambitions.

BLITZER: Senator, you mentioned the bill that's now headed to the president's desk. It passed the sanctions bill, passed the senate, what 98-2 last night, 419 to 3 in the House of Representatives. Overwhelming margins in both chambers, what new sanctions specifically?

The bill includes sanction gives Russia, Iran and North Korea, but as far as North Korea is concern what new sanctions are you leveling assuming the president signs it into law, the vetos at the overwrite presumably will go forward given the laps side of the nature of the votes. What new sanctions would curb North Korea's nuclear capability in this legislation?

[13:09:59] HIRONO: I think the sanction on North Korea in this particular legislation was an area that Bob Corker wanted to strengthen.

Therefore, I agree with him that we need to place a lot more stringent economic sanctions on North Korea, and that is not exactly what was in this bill. A lot of us were very much concerned about the sanctions on Russia as way to telegraph to Russia that they cannot continue to interfere with our elections.

And that was a very important part of the sanctions bill as far as I was concerned, because as you know, as a member of the Judiciary Committee we have focused a lot of our committee's work on our oversight on what Russia was doing at any Trump teams -- efforts, I suppose, to work with the Russians.

WOLF: Very quickly, very quickly, senator.

HIRONO: Yes.

WOLF: You say maybe the U.S. should start imposing regular sanctions on China to squeeze the Chinese, to force North Korea to stop this ballistic missile program. How far do you want to go in squeezing the Chinese?

HIRONO: I think part of it has to be a diplomatic dialogue with China because that's the dance of diplomacy in this area of the world. You know, China is, is a huge power. And it's not as though that we can just simply tell them what to do.

I think the diplomatic dialogue that we have with China in conjunction with further economic sanctions, but it is a matter of where do you, how far do you want to go? And that is a dance. And that's why the diplomatic aspects need to be strengthened.

WOLF: We'll see what the president, President Trump has to say about this latest North Korean missile launch.

Senator, I want you to stay with us. There's more we need to discuss. There's other dramatic news unfolding. We're going to talk about that very, very significant, health care vote last night in the U.S. Senate, including that maverick moment that's being called from Senator John McCain that derailed the Republicans' health care plan.

Plus, the president tackles the topic of gang violence in a speech plan just a little while from now out on Long Island. Looking at live pictures coming in, we're going to have live coverage of that. Stay with us.

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[13:16:05] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's on the road today. He's away from the White House, away from Washington, at least for a little while.

Overnight here in Washington, the U.S. Senate shout down the last Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare as it's called. Right now we're waiting to hear from the president. He's getting ready to address a group out on Long Island in New York state to talk about the threat of gang violence here in the United States. We'll have live coverage of that coming up.

The president is leaving behind the fallout, and there's a lot of it, from last night's very dramatic development on the Senate floor. The drama culminated in a thumbs down from Arizona Senator John McCain, who registered the decisive vote in effect killing the last Republican repeal and replace plan, at least for now. That vote made it 51 against, 49 for the bill.

Right after the vote, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it's time to move on, while President Trump tweeted, quote, three Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let Obamacare implode, then deal. Watch!, closed quote.

Our national politics reporter MJ Lee is up on Capitol Hill. Our senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny is over at the White House.

MJ, take us through all the intrigue on the Senate floor overnight, and what's being said about it today.

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Wolf, what we saw on the Senate floor last night was really pretty extraordinary. I was inside the chamber watching from the press gallery above when the vote was happening. And you could see, you know, being able to watch Senator McCain sort of close-up, you could tell that this was not going to be good news for GOP leadership when he started talking to Senator Murkowski and Senator Collins. Of course the two other "no" votes at the end of night. That was a sign. And when he was engaged in pretty long conversation with Vice President Mike Pence, that also seemed to not be a good sign for leadership.

And then when he got up and walked over to the Democratic side of the chamber and started hugging some of his Democratic colleagues, it was clear that he was delivering some good news to his colleagues in the other political party. And then, of course, the final moment when he walked up to the clerk in the front of the chamber, raised his arm and then gave a quick thumbs down and said the word "no," it was clear that this Obamacare repeal bill was not going to move forward.

Now, where does that leave Republicans today? Well, the Senate is not in, but House Republicans were in this morning meeting actually in the basement for their GOP conference meeting. And I can tell you that speaking to House Republicans, the message was pretty mixed. A lot of folks, of course, expressed disappointment that this is not -- this did not work out last night. And then just the argument back and forth about whether they need to continue their efforts to try to repeal Obamacare. That is going to be a key question to watch and to really press Republican senators and House Republicans on in the coming days.

BLITZER: MJ Lee up on Capitol Hill.

MJ, thanks very much.

Jeff Zeleny, the president is expected to focus his message, at least over the next few hours, on the fight against gangs here in the United States. Talk about this focus today, what we're hearing from the White House on the health care failure as well?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the president is going to be addressing that later this hour in Long Island, New York. He's flying there as we speak with a couple of representatives, Republican representatives who represent that district. He will be talking about MS-13, immigration and other matters.

But, Wolf, I can tell you the focus and the disappointment here at the White House is still very palpable today. It is impossible to overstate what a -- a collapse the bill overnight was and that dramatic moment, as MJ was just explaining there with John McCain voting against this. It really raises questions about the entire Trump administration's agenda here. Yes, his advisers saying this morning we're going to move on to -- to tax reform. Move on to other things. But tax reform, the idea of that was built upon getting health care through.

[13:20:15] So, Wolf, it is back to the drawing board at the six-month mark and a week or so of the presidency. And there is open warfare here in the West Wing among the president's top advisers from the chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to the new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci. So as all of that was going on here, this Republican priority was absolutely collapsing on Capitol Hill.

Many questions being asked today, Wolf, should the president have shown more leadership on this issue? Should he, you know, have exerted more pressure on members? So as all of this is being decided here, there are new questions that will be, you know, seeing in the coming days. Will there be more new faces here at the White House, Wolf? Many people think it's time for a reboot.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're going to have a lot more on that part of the story coming up as well.

Jeff Zeleny over at the White House for us, thanks very much.

The drama of the health care vote left us with several memorable moments, including this one. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and facing my first surgery, I heard from so many of my colleagues, including so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who wrote me wonderful notes, sharing with me their own experience with major illness in their families or with their loved ones. You showed me your care. You showed me your compassion. Where is that tonight?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring back Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.

We just heard, once again, senator, you're battling stage four kidney cancer even as we speak.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: Yes. BLITZER: We heard your plea to Republican colleagues, your personal story. We've discussed this in the past. Very, very moving. But let me get your reaction to the vote, the nos coming in from Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and especially from Senator John McCain of Arizona, who you specifically mentioned in your remarks last night.

HIRONO: Yes. And, you know, we were on the brink of voting on a bill that would have resulted in 17 million people getting knocked off health care, raising costs for so many others. And I'm so glad that the senator, John McCain, who, only a few nights before, had been on the floor of the Senate to exhort us to get back to regular order so that we could have hearings, and we could have debates, and we could really think about how best to provide health care for our people that he cast that deciding vote and it was quite that moment for me and for the rest of us.

BLITZER: Senators Collins and Murkowski, they faced some nasty remarks --

HIRONO: Yes.

BLITZER: Including Senator Murkowski getting a threat from the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, about federal funds that could help people in Alaska, her home state. What's your reaction when you heard about those kinds of direct pressure, the threats coming to those Republican lawmakers?

HIRONO: I had talked to Lisa Murkowski when she was criticized by the president, and then, of course, thereafter from the interior secretary. And so at the time she said, you know what, Mazie, I know that when somebody tries to bully you, you have to fight back from the very get-go otherwise they'll keep coming back.

The people of Alaska know who she's fighting for, and she's fighting for them. She's not afraid of these kinds of ham-fisted threats. And as you noticed, didn't work.

BLITZER: As you know --

HIRONO: Same thing for Susan Collins.

BLITZER: Yes.

As you know, senator, Obamacare, right now, is in deep trouble, especially given the uncertainty over the battle up on Capitol Hill. Now President Trump in his tweet said, just let it fail. The Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it's time to move on. What do Democrats do now to help strengthen the Affordable Care Act?

HIRONO: That's always been our position, because, of course, none of us takes the position that the Affordable Care Act is perfect. And so there are a number of bills that we all have proposed, such as, let's lower the prescription drug costs. Let's make sure that the subsidies are in place so that they -- costs can be lower for health insurance. Let's get a public option in there to provide for competition. And I know that, for example, Tim Kaine has a reinsurance program that I think is also very promising.

So I hope that going forward that we all care about health care for our people. And I also think that it's unconscionable for the president to say, let the Affordable Care fail, because it is going to fail under his watch. And if he does those kinds of things that he's already directed his departments and directors to do, to ensure the failure, I think that's unconscionable for a president to visit illnesses on the people of this country.

BLITZER: Senator --

HIRONO: A catastrophic non-covered illnesses. It's just unconscionable.

[13:25:08] BLITZER: Senator Mazie Hirono. Senator Hirono, thanks so much for joining us.

HIRONO: Thank you. Aloha.

BLITZER: I want to show our viewers some live pictures coming in from Long Island. I think this is Ronkonkoma, Rhode Island. The president's going to be heading over to Brentwood not too far away shortly to deliver a speech. A speech on the MS-13 gangs that are out there. Live pictures coming in from -- from the -- this is -- these are pictures that just -- from moments ago of Air Force One landing at the Long Island MacArthur Airport. The president will be delivering the remarks shortly. We'll have live coverage of that coming up.

We'll take a quick break. Much more coming up, including the White House communications chief calling the White House chief of staff a paranoid schizophrenic. And that's the only part I want to discuss right now on TV. A lot of the other words a lot, a lot more profane, I should say. Our panel is getting ready to weigh in on this latest saga. Stay with us.

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