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North Korea Message To U.S.; Trump Receives Briefing; Trump Blasts McConnell. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 10, 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: Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, President Trump about to huddle with his national security team as North Korea ups the ante regarding its threat against the United States. The regime of Kim Jong-Un is outlining details of its plan to strike near the U.S. territory of Guam.

North Korea says it involves a simultaneous firing of four intermediate range missiles aimed at the waters just off the Pacific Island.

Pyongyang also mocked President Trump's threat to unleash fire and fury against North Korea, calling it, and I'm quoting the North Korean statement right now, "a load of nonsense."

Here in Washington, the Trump administration is pushing back against criticism that it's sending mixed messages on North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER NAUERT, SPOKESWOMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Some of you may disagree with this, but the United States is on the same page. Whether it's the White House, the State Department, the Department of Defense, we are speaking with one voice. We are all singing from the same hymn book.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our CNN White House Reporter Kaitlan Collins, our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr and our Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson. He's in Guam for us right now.

Kaitlan, the president gets a high-level national security briefing very soon. Give us a preview of who he'll be meeting with and what we can expect, the next U.S. step in response to the latest North Korean threat.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Wolf. The president is going to have a high-level security briefing this afternoon at his golf course here in Bedminster, New Jersey. He will be with H.R. -- national security advisor, H.R. McMaster; his new chief of staff, John Kelly; and Vice President Mike Pence all here this afternoon. Reporters will get a chance to see the president after this briefing happens, where the president has the opportunity to comment further on his remark the other day that he would respond with fire and fury in response to -- if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

We also heard from the White House earlier this morning on North Korea's threats to strike Guam. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Press Secretary, said that the president's thinking had not changed and that he made it very clear where he stood on North Korea.

But you're right. We have heard some mixed messaging coming out of this administration. We heard from secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, he said Americans could sleep well at night.

And then, Defense Secretary James Mattis kind of escalated that rhetoric against North Korea.

So, there have been mixed messages comes out, but remains to be seen if the president will comment further on North Korea today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We are told, Kaitlan, that a pool of reporters, camera crew, will go in at the end of that national security briefing, and potentially have an opportunity to hear from the president. This would be his first public comment since the latest North Korean threat. Isn't that right?

COLLINS: Yes, that's correct.

BLITZER: All right. So, we'll stand by for that. We'll have tape presumably at the end of this briefing and get the president's reaction -- the latest reaction to this escalating nuclear tension.

Kaitlan, stand by.

Barbara Starr, what do we know, first of all, about these missiles that North Korea is now threatening to fire into the waters just off Guam? Maybe 10 or 20 miles off the coast of Guam?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Wolf, they're called the Waysong (ph) 12S. These are so-called intermediate range ballistic missiles. They are well within range of being able to hit Guam with them, having a theoretical flight range of about 2,000 miles plus.

The reason we say theoretical, because North Korean missiles are not known for precision, accuracy and targeting. It will have to be determined as soon as they -- if they fire them. If they fire them. There will be a very quick analysis by U.S. and military intelligence about the trajectory and whether or not they can actually hit Guam.

And that's what people are looking for. I think it's important to say, while this is so serious, it is a threat still today on paper. The North Koreans have these missiles. They have tested them. They have been able to successfully fire them. No question about that.

But whether they can actually live up to the threat of being able to send them so far and target Guam will remain to be seen. It doesn't lessen the concern. It doesn't lessen the threat. But the North Koreans have had some issues with their targeting.

So, it's something that keep an eye on as the U.S. begins to prepare what response, if any, it will have in place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: If these missiles are launched towards the U.S. territory of Guam.

Ivan, you're there in Guam for us. It's considered, as they call it, the tip of the spear of the U.S. military presence in the Pacific. So, it's sort of used to being in at least the rhetorical cross hairs of this tension.

But what's the reaction there now to this latest, very specific military threat coming from North Korea?

[13:05:00] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the tip of the spear with two important U.S. military bases, but also home to more than 160,000 American civilians.

And there is concern here in Guam but certainly no signs of panic. That's partially because the civilian officials here, the governor, who I caught up with, is insisting that the threat level is not raised to Guam right now.

And I had a chat with him about some of the defensive measures that he feels have him feeling confident about Guam's safety. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

How much does Guam depend on the THAD missile defense system in this situation?

GOV. EDDIE BAZA CALVO, GUAM: That's the final layer. So, again, there is -- there is -- there are several layers. There are layers that are floating in the Pacific, in terms of missile defense.

And there are layers that are in - I mean, there is a THAD system even in South Korea now. And the THAD System happens to be the last in a line of -- or a layer of a defensive shield.

WATSON: So, that's part of why the governor here in Guam feels comfortable that for missiles to get all the way from North Korea to here they'd have to cross over South Korea, over the Sea of Japan, the East Sea over Japan as well.

And then, over hundreds and hundreds of miles to try to reach this area as well. And it would have to deal with U.S., South Korean and Japanese missile defense umbrella and security.

Now, as far as ordinary people go, Wolf, well, the opinion is mixed, depending how you talk to. There's some saying, hey, we've been threatened in the past by North Korea. This is nothing new. We trust the U.S. military to protect us. Others, far more concerned. And one woman I talked to said she had to tell her six and eight-year-old kid what to do if there was a drill; and we heard emergency sirens ringing out; and they were in school; and she's at work far away from them.

And if those sirens go off, worst-case scenario, because missiles are fired in this direction -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Obviously, very, very scary, frightening situation. Ivan Watson, thanks. Barbara Starr, Kaitlan Collins, thanks to you both as well.

Let's get some more perspective now on this North Korea threat from someone with first-hand knowledge of the military and diplomatic challenges involved. William Cohen served as the defense secretary under President Bill Clinton. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Great to be with you.

BLITZER: So, let's talk about the current state of play, the potential threat right now. How significant, how serious is it?

COHEN: I think we have found ourselves and wrapped ourselves into a rhetorical corner right now, that the president has, by his rhetoric initially, tempered by Secretary Tillerson, and then reinforced by Secretary Mattis, to say, we've gone from threatening action to actually having the North Koreans threaten they are going to take specific action. That is something that really can't be allowed to stand.

And I think we have to communicate to the Chinese, this is something -- if someone were to threaten you. I'm going to fire four bullets at you, Wolf. They are at your feet, about 20 feet away. Not to worry. I don't think that will be an acceptable situation. That is the equivalent of what the North Koreans are now threatening.

I think the president, after he receives his brief, should make a very short, very precise, concise statement about what our policy is and then go radio silent. Radio silent, T.V. silent, Twitter silent.

BLITZER: But he basically drew a red line in that fire and fury statement he made the other day. He said, if there are more threats from North Korea, the U.S. will respond with fire and fury that the world has never seen before.

And now, North Korea, in this very specific statement that their military commander put out, delivered, a specific threat to Guam, a U.S. territory.

COHEN: Threat to take action against. And that was a difference between General -- Secretary Mattis said. If you threaten to take specific action, that's opposed to just making a threat.

So now, we're in a situation where they're threatening to take specific action. I think what we have to do is send the signal to the Chinese saying, this is going to be met with a response. We'll determine how and when that takes place. But this is not going unresponded to.

And so, we could do a number of things. We could really shut down the flow of ships going into North Korea, things coming out for sale. Really cramp their economic survivability.

We could do a number of things, including taking military action. Now, the president -- someone has floated the notion the Pentagon is now revising or updating their plans to use a B-1 bomber strike, limited strike against --

BLITZER: A pre-emptive strike.

COHEN: A pre-emptive strike.

BLITZER: To destroy some of their missile capability.

COHEN: That's a very -- number one, we don't know, is that fake news? Because the president has said in the past, I'm never going to tell you what my plans are. Well, someone's telling us what the plans may be.

BLITZER: We haven't reported that.

COHEN: We don't know that that's true. But I think that would be a mistake to be floating that. Because that, in itself, could produce a reaction.

[13:10:00] So, we ought to be careful here. But we have to go to the Chinese to say this is serious now. This is something --

BLITZER: Well --

COHEN: -- that could provoke a reaction and a military reaction.

BLITZER: You worked as the defense secretary. You know that the military has plans for everything.

COHEN: Everything, yes.

BLITZER: So, they -- I'm sure they have all sorts of plans.

But listen to Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator. He said he had spoken at length with President Trump about this. He says the president does want to find some sort of negotiated, diplomatic solution, if possible. But then listen to what he told Hugh Hewitt on his radio program earlier. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: But if negotiations failed -- fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I think he's there mentally. He has told me this.

Now, the question for him is, what are the options available to him under the preemption, you know, scenario? He's thinking long and hard about it. His rhetoric yesterday, I think, is a change that is probably necessary.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: A pre-emptive strike, is that, in your opinion, necessary potentially?

COHEN: I don't think it's necessary, at this point. I don't think we should ever plan on a pre-emptive strike because the consequences are unconscionable.

BLITZER: Let's talk about the -- let's say the U.S. launched B-1 bombers or other bombers and took out what the U.S. regarded as most of their major missiles, their intercontinental ballistic missiles and whatever nuclear capabilities they may have. How would the North Koreans respond?

COHEN: Well, the likelihood is that Seoul would not exist. Seoul would be in ruin.

BLITZER: The South Korean capital?

COHEN: The capital where there are 10 million people.

BLITZER: And maybe 20 or 25 million people in the area.

COHEN: Yes. At least 10 so consider New York City. It would be the equivalent of wiping out New York City.

BLITZER: And they could do that with conventional weapons?

COHEN: They could do that within 45 seconds of time, flight time into Seoul. They're only a few, 30-40, miles away.

BLITZER: So, basically, the mortars, the artillery pieces, conventional weaponry that the North Korean military has just north of the demilitarized zone. They would immediately respond, you believe?

COHEN: I believe they would and I think the military planners understand that. So, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people potentially dying.

BLITZER: Including 28,000 U.S. troops?

COHEN: Including U.S. troops. So, that's the calculation, which has always been an impediment to our taking action.

If you go back and read Dr. Kissinger's White House years. In 1973, Richard Nixon had a similar problem, and they hesitated to take any action. There is also fear. You had to fight on two battle fronts with Vietnam and Korea. But the fear was, we've got a lot of people there, innocent people who would die.

BLITZER: So, they're -- so, from your perspective, and you're a former defense secretary, there really isn't a pre-emptive strike contingency that's realist?

COHEN: There is a contingency and it's real but it has consequences which I think the American people and the world would find really unacceptable.

BLITZER: Because the president says the U.S. cannot tolerate a nuclear-capable North Korea.

COHEN: And what we say is we have a way to try and solve that by going to the Chinese, the Russians and the others and saying, let's shut down their economy. Let's really prevent them from doing what they're doing because they've been able actually to improve their economy with the help of the Chinese, the Russians and other people, including some of our allies.

So, we have to go to allies and say, no more business with them. We -- they built guns. They have missiles. They can't have butter anymore. We can't continue to give them fuel or food. That's a better option than saying, let's try a pre-emptive strike.

BLITZER: Do you want to starve all those North Koreans? Millions of North Koreas?

COHEN: Well, I would take that over hundreds of thousands and potentially millions of South Koreans and the American people. Yes.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen. All bad -- all bad options right now.

COHEN: All bad options.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us. The former defense secretary, William Cohen.

Coming up, President Trump about to get a very high-level national security briefing, amid this ongoing threat from North Korea. We're standing by for any presidential remarks. We'll have that for you. Stay with us for that.

Also, other stories we're following. Grudge match. The president lashing out at the Senate majority leader on Twitter. So, why is he attacking the man he needs to get his agenda through? We'll have details when we come back.

[13:14:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:25] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome back. In less than an hour so from now President Trump scheduled to have a high-level national security briefing as North Korea threatens a strike on the U.S. territory of Guam. We're standing by for any presidential remarks. Stand by with us for that. But first, there's a brand new CNN polling just released in the last hour that shows republican lawmakers are taking a solid hit after failing to repeal Obamacare. Take a look at this. 7 in 10 Americans now say they disapprove of the job republican leaders in congress are doing. That's a 15-point drop since January when President Trump first took office. And this comes as the president is escalating a feud with someone who supposed to be one of his key allies in congress, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. For a second day in a row the president is attacking McConnell, tweeting from his golf resort this only minutes ago, Mitch, get back to work and put repeal and replace, tax reform and cuts and a great infrastructure bill on my desk for signing. You can do it.

Earlier today the president tweeted another tweet. Listen to this , can you believe that Mitch McConnell who has screamed repeal and replace for seven years couldn't get it done? Must repeal and replace Obamacare. The president's attacks come after McConnell said this in his home State of Kentucky earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: Our new president has of course not been in this line of work before, and I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:20:04] BLITZER: All right. right. Let's discuss with our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, the senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg, Margaret Talev and CNN political director, David Chalian. Gloria, this battle is going that the president is having with Mitch McConnell. What's up with that?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Maybe Jeff Sessions feels a little good about that because he's off the griddle this time. Look, I think the president feels that he -- there's no hell to pay for him for attacking Mitch McConnell. In our poll that you were just talking about, we asked republicans who they -- their approval ratings of both Trump and the republican leadership and the approval rating for Donald Trump is about double. What it is for the republican leadership.

And republicans overwhelmingly do not blame -- they do not blame the president for all the problems that have occurred legislatively and so -- this president believes he can attack republicans. He's attacked more than half a dozen of them, calling them quitters because it works with this base. Now, in the long term I would argue it might not work so well for him if he's trying to rally his troops because they want to know that they can trust him and that he will have their back and it's very clear from what he's done to members of the senate that in fact, he won't. But for the larger picture, his base thinks it's fine to go after them --

BLITZER: But so awkward though for other republicans, David, in the senate to see the president of the United States going after the republican majority leader.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. Although they've observed Donald Trump's behavior for two years throughout the republican nomination race and this is not unfamiliar territory that Donald Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But he's the president. He's got to deal with the republican leadership.

CHALIAN: There's no doubt. And he doesn't do the job of president like other presidents have. And I think that they've observed that for the last six months. I -- everything Gloria is saying is true about our polls. It is very easy to see that the politics of the blame game, Donald Trump versus republicans in congress, Donald Trump wins that. What is not clear at all to me is how this actually makes it easier for him to get a legislative victory because that's actually what Donald Trump needs.

So does Mitch McConnell, so do the republican senators, but Donald Trump who's sitting at 38 percent approval rating just having a strategy that excites your base because you're taking on the republican establishment doesn't actually get to where Donald Trump needs to go which is he need to rack up some W's because his own numbers need a victory and a success to tell --

BLITZER: He makes a good point, David -Margaret because in our poll among republicans who were asked who's most responsible for the lack of bills passed so far? Look at this. Opposition from democrats, 51 percent, disagreement among republicans, 32 percent. Only eight percent of these republicans say a lack of leadership from Trump is responsible.

MARGARET TALEV, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Well, there -- one thing that stuck out to me in the poll also was the desire, at least the - her reported desire for more bipartisan collaboration. So I'll say this about the president's public fight with Mitch McConnell. The Twitter stuff is for mainstream, mass, public consumption. But look at the same time what he's doing. Supporting McConnell's choice to replace Jeff Sessions in the senate and just as we right -- just before we came here on this panel naming as the new chairman of the federal regulatory committee, Mitch McConnell's former energy policy advisor, a Kentucky native. So I think it's kind of that classic Trump play, right?

TALEV: Where it's like, you know, the carrot and the stick at the same time and they're trying to figure out like, what's the strategy? It's kind of everything.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: You know, I reads - I read earlier, Gloria, two of the tweets that Donald Trump used going after Mitch McConnell, the original one, Senator Mitch McConnell said, I had excessive expectations but I don't think so after seven years of hearing repeal and replace. Why not done? So three tweets he's devoted to going after Mitch McConnell.

BORGER: When something is on Donald Trump's mind, let's say we all find out about it and we find out about it pretty quickly. He goes at it over and over again. I mean, look at -- look at what he did to Jeff Sessions for days - for days in a row. Mitch McConnell, luckily for him has established a policy and I think it goes back to during the campaign where he used to say, I'm not commenting on the president's tweets. I don't - I don't comment on Twitter, well I think he and his staff were continuing that policy and that's probably the right thing to do particularly since -- by the way, his wife is also in the president's cabinet.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: And that could be - that could be a little tricky.

BLITZER: It's a little awkward as well.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: You cover the White House, there's a new White House chief of staff, I thought things were supposed to be coming down a bit. on the president's tweets. I don't comment on twitter. I think he and his staff are continuing that policy and that's probably the right thing to do. Particularly since, by the way, his wife is also in the president's cabinet.

You have that and that can be a little tricky.

A little awkward. Covering the white house a new white house chief of staff. I thought things would calm down a bit. What happened to that?

[13:24:40] TALEV: All right. Well, maybe the president read all the coverage about how things were supposed to come down and decided he wanted to remind everybody who is actually in charge. But it is a really interesting dynamic. I think with General Kelly though, you know, you see this dynamic where there's what we can see. The tweets continuing or resumption of those tweets. The president having a little bit more public meetings at Bedminster and then there's what can't see which are the conversations that are happening among the generals as President Trump likes to call them.

So sort of from the national security advisors, the defense secretary, to the chief of staff, and to some degree of the inclusion of the secretary of state, there are a lot of those conversations going on right now in an effort to try to guide this back, you know, towards diplomacy. I still - I still think General Kelly inside the White House has a lot of goodwill and good faith from people but in terms of publicly, this sort of idea that nothing to see here is, well --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: David, speaking of General Kelly, the retired Marine Corps, four star general who's the new White House chief of staff, was the secretary of Homeland Security. Look at the new cover of Time Magazine and we know the president likes -

CHALIAN: Watch out, General Kelly. BLITZER: He likes to look at the covers of Time Magazine. There you

could see the cover. General John Kelly. Trump's last best hope. Now, this is a sensitive issue when it comes to the president of the United States.

CHALIAN: Yes. You may recall, he's known for hanging false Time Magazine covers in his clubs or what have you. He's pretty obsessed with Time Magazine covers, he likes to have his own that were legit up in his office. I don't know that it bodes well for when a staff member ends up as the cover of Time Magazine. I would be a little careful of that. Donald Trump likes to be the one out in front.

BORGER: Yes. No star is brighter in the constellation than Donald Trump. Remember when Bannon - Steve Bannon was on the cover that he was in the doghouse for a while. This is a little early for General Kelly to be in the doghouse, so we'll have to see if he sat down for an interview or posed.

BLITZER: But what do you think about the point of the article that General Kelly, Margaret is Donald Trump's last best hope?

TALEV: There's been a lot of -- this is the most important test and this is the last time but I do think there's -- General Kelly himself said no to this job several times before taking it. There is a recognition among everyone inside that White House including the general himself that this is absolutely a critical and pivotal time for the White House to turn around the narrative that's been dogging them the first six months of office.

BLITZER: Forget the country's in the midst of a crisis with North Korea.

BORGER: Now in actual crisis. Yes.

BLITZER: As all of this politics is unfolding as well. Guys, thanks very much, Gloria, David, and Margaret. Good conversation. Coming up. My next guest has a message for the president of the United States when it comes to North Korea. "This is not a playground." Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro taxes. There you see him live. He's standing by to join us. We'll talk about the growing nuclear threat right after this.

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