Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

North Korea Launches Missile over Japan; North Korea has Conducted 15 Missile tests since February; Trump Defends Response to Charlottesville again; Trump Vows Wall will Happen and 'Dreamer' Talks; Trump Humiliated Sessions after Mueller Appointment Trump Pressed on Climate Change After Irma and Harvey; Trump Seems to Reverse Obama Environmental Policies; Trump Downplays Size of Irma After Calling it 'Epic'; Crowd Concerns Delayed Arsenal-Cologne Match; Anti-Doping Agencies Call for Russia 2018 Ban; Heavy Winds, Rains Cancel Opening Round; Third Leg of Playoffs Underway Near Chicago; Tennis Legend Still Very Much in the Game. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 15, 2017 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:12] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Isha Sesay.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Vause.

You're watching NEWSROOM L.A.

And we begin with North Korea. If there was any question about the impact of tough new U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang a few hours ago we got the answer. North Korea test-fired another missile -- by our count, number 22 this year. And for the second time it took a flight path over to the east over northern Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

While the missile wasn't aimed at the island of Guam, the distance it traveled puts that U.S. Territory within range.

SESAY: Well, no one thinks this will be the last either. Pyongyang's ballistic missile program has been in high gear since mid-February -- a total of 22 missiles have been fired in 15 separate tests.

VAUSE: On July 4th, U.S. Independence Day, North Korea test-fired its first ever intercontinental ballistic missile. Pyongyang boasted the ICBM was capable of reaching any target in the world.

SESAY: Now in what can only be described as an astonishing display of belligerence, North Korea has sent a second missile streaking over the skies of Japan. Well the newest missile launch comes on the heels of punishing new U.N. sanctions in just 12 days after Pyongyang detonated its most powerful nuclear device to date.

VAUSE: Let's bring our correspondents now across the region: Phil Black in Tokyo, Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, Matt Rivers standing by in Beijing.

SESAY: All right. Well Phil -- to you first. This is the second North Korean missile to fly over Japan in recent weeks as we've made clear, once again triggering warning sirens and alerts. Japan's Prime Minister has been speaking out. How does his government plan to respond?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isha -- you're right. The second time in two weeks that vast numbers of people in Japan's north have been startled by these sirens, by these alert texts telling them to take cover because a missile was in the air from North Korea.

They received the all-clear just a few minutes later via another message. That was the initial response while that missile was flying and just after splashdown. But then the government here was really forced into what has become something of a regular pattern.

It obviously denounced this test. Said it was unacceptable. Said these tests must stop and talked about the importance of national unity. There's promise to vent this outrage at an emergency session of the Security Council.

But the reality is the Japanese government, like all the others in this region is frustrated by the fact that that is essentially the extent of how it can respond at this time -- Isha.

SESAY: And Phil -- bearing in mind North Korea's actions in the face of these new stringent sanctions, they continue to defy the international community. The fact that this test is coming a day after Pyongyang threatened that Japan should be sunken in the by our nuclear bomb, how seriously is the Japanese government and the public taking such rhetoric?

BLACK: That sort of language is concerning but it is not unusual for North Korea to talk about Japan in those terms. That said, the government here is concerned, frustrated, as I say because the actions of the international community so far clearly aren't working.

The latest package of sanctions passed by the Security Council was not enough yet again to deter North Korea from further developing, and showing off its missile capability.

Now the Japanese government is very much on board with the idea of applying maximum pressure to the North Korean regime. That's why it supported the initial draft for that resolution and those sanctions put forward by the United States which included very tough measures like a complete ban on exporting oil to North Korea, the idea of using force to inspect North Korean vessels at sea. All of that didn't get through because of opposition from Russia and China.

So the question moving forward now is to what degree whether or not this latest test would allow Russia and China to agree with Japan the further pressure diplomatically must now be applied to North Korea.

From the Japanese point of view though, perhaps there is one reason to be slightly optimistic about this because while they're firing that missile east over Japan is provocative and has triggered a great deal of outrage, if they had fired it south over Japan again but towards the U.S. territory of Guam, well, that would have resulted in a much stronger reaction, certainly from the United States and opens the possibility of some sort of military option being pursued.

And that is not something that Japan or any other country in this region really wants because they know that any military action against North Korea will very likely result in a counter-strike against Japan and other countries as well -- Isha.

SESAY: Yes. The situation could very quickly spiral out of control. Phil Black joining us there from Tokyo -- we appreciate it.

VAUSE: And if there is a counterstrike obviously Seoul is the number target with thousands of North Korean rockets aimed at the South Korean capital.

And that's where we're going now.

Our Paula Hancocks is standing by live. And you know, Paula - -the South Koreans are responding with their show of military force right now. And that has a message for Pyongyang.

[00:05:07] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John -- we do know that there was a live fire drill this morning. According to the South Korean officials it launched just six minutes after that North Korean missile launch. There were two missiles fired from the South Korea area and they say that one failed and fell into the waters off the east coast within a couple of minutes. The other one was successful.

And they were at pains to point out that this missile launch -- these missiles could hit the area of the Sunan Air Base in Pyongyang, so where this missile launch was from -- a very clear message to North Korea that if you launch these kind of missile launches, we can take them out.

Now this was after President Moon Jae-In had ordered a national security council meeting here and asked for the sternest possible measures to be carried out in light of what he called this provocation from North Korea.

I spoke to President Moon Jae-In just yesterday on Thursday and I asked him about this stronger military response we are hearing and seeing from South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON JAE IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through translator): South Korea and the U.S. have firm combined defense capabilities to neutralize a threat in the early stage if North Korea actually make nuclear or missile provocation.

However, we do not have a hostile policy towards North Korea. We do not have the intention to attack North Korea and we do not have the intention to re-unify the Korean Peninsula in an artificial way or in the manner of absorption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, President Moon also said that it was not the time for South Korea to have nuclear weapons. There had been an increased call for South Korea to have its own tactical nuclear weapons here on the Peninsula to counter that of the North.

He said that's simply not a good idea. It will just spark a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia.

Also saying he did expect additional provocations from North Korea. And if that was the case, as we have seen that's been the case this Friday morning, they could go back to the United Nations and strengthen those sanctions once again -- John.

VAUSE: Ok. Paula -- thank you. Paula Hancocks for us there in Seoul.

SESAY: All right. Let's go to Beijing now where Matt Rivers is standing by. Matt -- the launching of this latest missile has the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson responding, calling on China and Russia to do more to reign in the North and for China to use their supply of oil to North Korea as leverage.

Given their reluctance to go all the way on this issue during these latest U.N. sanctions do we think they'd go further now as a result of this missile test?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The general consensus of those that we have spoken to here in China is a big no. Right off the top you heard Phil talk about that draft U.N sanctions resolution introduced by the U.S. after the nuclear test which called for a complete embargo on oil exports to North Korea.

That was a non-starter for the Chinese and frankly also for the Russians. And you could very easily make the argument that a nuclear test is more provocative than what we saw this morning.

Yes, this morning's test was provocative in and of itself, flew over Japan but a nuclear test could easily be argued as the more provocative action. And so if take that into consideration -- if the Chinese were not willing to go forward with a complete oil embargo after a nuclear test why would they do that moving forward after a test that could be seen as less provocative.

We don't know exactly what the Chinese are willing to do. We know that they're not happy that the North Koreans do this. But would they be willing to go farther and to cross that line that could really cripple the Kim Jong-Un regime. So far they had shown zero willingness to do so.

SESAY: Well Matt, you know -- Beijing may be unhappy but the Americans are even unhappier. This week we heard a U.S. State Department official say we are determined to induce the Chinese to help solve this problem.

President Trump has, in the past, made threats of cutting off trade with any country doing business with North Korea. We'd assume he's talking about China. I mean how seriously is China taking such threats? Are they prepared for what could come next? RIVERS: Well, I think they're going to look at the kind of statement

in terms of cutting off all trade between the United States and China as nothing more than just bluster because frankly that would devastate the United States' economy as well as the Chinese economy. But what the Chinese government is certainly looking at is the possibility of secondary sanctions against Chinese banks, for example or Chinese individuals that continue to do business with North Korea.

And they're also taking in the possibility that the Trump administration seems willing where other administrations in the past have not, to link issues of trade and security. The Chinese think that that is a very bad idea. But the United States has floated that idea even if they haven't really put it into practice as of yet.

[00:10:01] So the Chinese are certainly concerned about that. They're certainly looking at it as a possibility. But whether that would be enough to change their strategic calculation which has not change at all over the past decade or so that the North Korean regime in place currently is better than the option of a unified Korean Peninsula is really unclear.

The United States could try but it's really unclear if the Chinese would go for that if really all the U.S. would do is secondary sanctions.

SESAY: All right. Our Matt Rivers joining us there from Beijing, we appreciate it. Our thanks also to Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea and Phil Black there in Tokyo, Japan -- thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you all.

We'll stay with this story for a little longer. With us now from San Francisco is Paul Carroll, senior adviser with the nuclear disarmament initiative at N Square. Paul -- good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Let's start with the technical details here first. This missile flew higher, traveled farther than the one which followed that similar flight path over Japan a little over two weeks ago. What are the implications here?

PAUL CARROLL, NSQUARE: Well, the implications I think are clear. The North Koreans are getting better and better at this. And this is no surprise. As I've said before on the show and as many analysts have said, even missile failures are an educational experience. You learn from your mistakes.

And this particular missile -- this particular missile, an intermediate range missile they're batting about 500. About three tests have failed and about three have succeeded.

So the implications are they're getting better. It won't be long before we might see something even more successful and longer range that could hit the U.S. Mainland. VAUSE: Ok. So the latest missile flew about 700 kilometers to the

east -- that's slightly more than the distance to Guam as we've been saying which is U.S. territory to the south. Clearly there's a political statement here or it's just an incredible coincidence?

CARROLL: Well, it could be either or both. The North Koreans rarely do something for one sole reason. The fact that they tested today may be a response to the most recent sanctions that were imposed after the nuclear test. It may simply have been on the schedule for some time.

But regardless, the result for the North Koreans I think has been a success not only in a technical point of view from this missile launch and this missile test but from a political point of view.

The last several correspondents that we heard from everyone is scrambling, everyone is calling for more sanctions and a stronger response. It's like Groundhog Day.

VAUSE: We've had these two flights however. Japan is going through a Groundhog Day. Is that an attempt by the North Koreans to sort of normalize that so that -- in a way they expand sort of their military region in some way. They keep doing until we get used to it?

CARROLL: Well, in this case I suspect it did have more to do with technical requirements or at least the practice. The range -- I'm sorry, the launch point of the last missile test that flew over Japan was in a new area just near Pyongyang International Airport. And so this launch site was the same.

I don't think I would necessarily read too much into the political statements there. It may simply be technical reasons for that trajectory.

VAUSE: And the trajectory, it was on a much lower arc. Normally they go straight up and then straight down and you sort of extrapolate the distance from that. These last two launches over Japan have been much more operational conditions, if you like. What are they testing here, like reentry technology?

CARROLL: Yes. Well, the ones that you mentioned going very high up in the air, there were political reasons to do that. It was called a high-loft trajectory. And the North Koreans were probably playing it safe. They didn't want to provoke at that time by shooting over the territory of say South Korea or Japan.

But then when it came time and they gained more confidence in their skills, they did want to send a message, hey we can hit Guam. We can fire missiles on a longer range.

So these last two were more quote-unquote "normal" trajectories. These were trajectories designed to maximize the range of the missile and probably to demonstrate to the North Koreans their own ability to deliver a payload through the stresses of the atmosphere in reentry.

Now, we don't know much about that. We don't know what the payload of this latest test was. We may find some statements coming out of our own intelligence community. They'd give us some more information about that.

VAUSE: And you know, the missile fell into the Pacific and presumably it's being recovered by the Japanese or the South Koreans maybe tied -- depending on the location but you assume that it would have been Japan. What sort of information, intelligence can they gather from that?

CARROLL: Well, if we do in fact find enough debris and are able to sort of reverse engineer things we may able to determine how much of a payload it carried? Did it carry enough to simulate a 200-kilogram or so reentry vehicle? If that's the case, then you're talking about, you know, pretty garden variety but modern thermal nuclear warhead.

If we don't find enough debris or we don't find debris in a condition that we can back-engineer it the question remains -- we just don't know.

[00:15:06] VAUSE: You know, this week started with the U.N. Security Council imposing those economic sanctions, the toughest ever they said on North Korea. It was after the nuclear test that was aimed at, you know, the nuclear missile program as well. It ended with this missile launch. It seems that Kim Jong-Un has removed any doubt, what little they may have been that those sanctions would have changed his behavior in any way.

CARROLL: Yes. I think -- I mean going back to the Groundhog Day analogy, we're very good at the sanctions sort of reflex where we the United States, our allies, even China and Russia were really suffering from sort of a one-trick-pony syndrome.

What is lacking is a longer term view. And as difficult as it might be politically, particularly domestically politically for the United Nations and for other nations it's time to bring some things on offer.

It's clear that the North Koreans know we know how to punish them. But do we know how to offer them positive inducements. Have we been clear with them that if you suspend missile tests here's what you get and then you begin to reverse the cycle of tit for tat and provocation for punishment. That's what needs to happen.

VAUSE: Yes. All sticks and no carrot has proven not to work.

CARROLL: Right.

VAUSE: Ok. Paul -- good to see you. Thank you.

CARROLL: Thank you -- John.

SESAY: Well, this weekend, Will Ripley takes us inside North Korea for an exclusive look at that country as you've never seen it before. Watch "SECRET STATE" Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 p.m. in Seoul only on CNN.

VAUSE: If anybody knows North Korea, it's Will Ripley. He's been there 17 --

SESAY: Indeed. Is it 17, 16?

VAUSE: 15 times.

SESAY: Ok. There you go. Maybe 17.

VAUSE: It won't be long before 17.

We'll take a short break. When we come back -- thousands of people who are desperate after Hurricane Irma ripped through their homes. We will hear how they're trying to rebuild their lives in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone.

I don't know if I can make it -- one woman tells us on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas after hurricane Irma tore through more than a week ago. On St. Maarten drone footage paints a haunting picture of the massive destruction. And there's still no power. Food and water are running low and there's little sanitation.

VAUSE: Police are trying to end the looting of shops and homes but major international help is yet to arrive. On the U.S. Virgin Island of St. John, one mother says there's nothing left to my home. U.S. forces and volunteers are trickling in, bringing aid with them as well as security. But many residents are evacuating, leaving their shattered lives behind.

SESAY: Let's get more on all of this from Shep Shepherd in New York. He's part of the management team for Sonesta St. Maarten Resorts and joins us via Skype.

Shep -- thank you so much for being with us. First of all, just tell me about your experience of riding out Irma.

SHEP SHEPHERD, SONESTA ST. MAARTEN RESORTS: Good evening -- Isha.

[00:19:56] We were lucky in Sonesta St. Maarten because we had a very thorough hurricane-preparedness plan in place. But with that in mind, I guess nothing could still have prepared us for the magnitude of Irma. And the sheer destruction I think has been unprecedented.

You know, it was a long time that we were in our bunker and certainly it seems even longer when you're inside if you were in those conditions that she submitted us to.

And then when you leave the bunker and you see what remains and the damage and destructions afterwards it's a real adjustment. And it takes you a while to really process that. I mean it's left the islands devastated and people without any of the basic living necessities, running water, food, sanitation, shelter.

And surviving the hurricane itself is really only the beginning. The aftermath now is I think perhaps even more dangerous.

SESAY: Yes. Shep -- I understand the resorts have been used as kind of a hub for relief efforts. Talk to us about how that has been playing out? How smoothly the process has been or has proceeded?

SHEPHERD: We've been very lucky the Sonesta Resorts in particular are located rig next to the airport by the famous Maho Beach where the planes land over the beach. And within hours of Irma having hit, Samaritan's Purse landed with their first DC-8 jet full of supplies, a team of humanitarian aid.

And they themselves have based themselves at the Sonesta Resorts along with the support of the Dutch Marines who have been instrumental in securing provisions, getting to the right place and securing safety and good communication across the islands.

So yes, that's exactly it. The Sonesta Resorts have become in essence a hub from which we really hope we can help support relief and aid across the island. But it's going to take a lot and we're going to need a lot of support, a lot of generosity from the international community.

SESAY: Yes. I mean you're talking about the efforts that have been centered at Sonesta and your resorts. But talk to me about the federal and the local response. There have been criticisms that it hasn't been smooth. It's been inadequate. What's your assessment?

SHEPHERD: Listen, I don't know how anybody really can fairly measure the response to a natural disaster, a catastrophe of this scale. What I can tell you is that as harrowing and as terrifying as the hurricane was, the response from the locals, from the community, the community leaders, the government officials from the Dutch Marines, from Samaritan's Purse and from the property owners has been inspirational.

I've seen people come together, work together. Of course it's a stressful time. People are panicked. People are worried and scared. But what I've seen in my experience was people doing their best and working together. And I think that we've seen a lot o people evacuated to safety very, very quickly.

Not a huge loss of life which is staggering when you look at the destruction that's been forced. And again I think that's down to the level of preparedness and the cooperation.

St. Maarten is a simple island. You know, it's not a city. It doesn't have all the means and facilities that maybe some places might to cope with this. And without proper communication, plumbing, and electricity down, it makes all these things much harder to deal with.

SESAY: Yes. Shep -- let me ask you this. Obviously, tourism has been a lifeline for St. Maarten, and many of the Caribbean islands. That obviously is on hold while these places are devastated. I mean what is your sense of, I mean first of all how long it's going to take to get back on your feet, St. Maarten, that is and whether these places will ever be the same again?

SHEPHERD: Ok. Well, tourism -- yes, you're right. For St. Maarten and for many of the islands in the Caribbean community, it's the sole industry. So we're not going to see any business being done on that front for a year or two at least. What I hope where St. Maarten and many of the islands are concerned is that the cruise industry continues to support us because if we can get the ports into good order then hopefully people can still come by and spend their money and invest in the local economy which is critical to the islands and their industry.

In terms of are they going to be the same? No, of course not. This is a really near fatal blow for a lot of the islands. But what I believe is that they'll come back stronger if -- principally if they're given the right support now.

SESAY: Yes.

SHEPHERD: And they desperately need it. They desperately need it because they don't have the basic living necessities -- fresh water, food, sanitation, clothing and these things very quickly disappear on remote islands that aren't easy to access.

[00:25:08] SESAY: Absolutely.

SHEPHERD: We're so grateful to Samaritan's Purse and we're going to need a lot more support going forward.

SESAY: And we're grateful that you could join us -- Shep and just, you know, give us a reality check of the conditions there on St. Martens. Thank you so much in all you've done -- for all you've done there on the island and we'll continue to check in with you. We wish you the very best.

SHEPHERD: My pleasure. Thank you for having.

VAUSE: Wow.

Ok. Still to come here from fire and fury to locked and loaded -- the tough talk from the U.S. President appear to have little impact on North Korea. So what are his options now?

SESAY: Plus Donald Trump has also re-ignited an old controversy with his latest comments on the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone.

Back to our top story. North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan for the second time in less than a month, according to South Korea. In response to Friday's launch Seoul carried out a live- fire drill that included its own missile launch capable of striking Pyongyang's missile test flight.

VAUSE: The U.N. Secretary Council will meet in the coming hours. Before the launch, U.S. President Donald Trump said he's working with China to try and rein in North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are working on different things. I can't tell you obviously what I'm working on. But believe me, the people of this country will be very, very safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman and Republican digital strategist Austin James join us now here in Los Angeles. Good to see you both.

SESAY: Welcome.

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to see you.

VAUSE: Ok. Donald Trump is a man with a plan -- doesn't want to give away the details. But since fire and fury, locked and loaded, the North Koreans -- they fired two missiles over Japan. They've carried out the strongest nuclear tests so far.

Austin, at the time when Donald Trump used those words, used that tough language there was praise for him by some saying he's talking the tough language that Kim Jong-Un understands.

Well, Kim Jong-Un might understand it but he doesn't care, right.

AUSTIN JAMES, REPUBLICAN DIGITAL STRATEGIST: Sure.

VAUSE: He called his bluff every time.

JAMES: Listen, I was -- you know, we were just talking before we came on and I said listen, I think someone's ready to call someone's bluff here. I think, you know, Tillerson recently, before we came on said, you know, he's calling on Russia and China to kind of make the first move here.

I think this is just -- yes, this is one of those opportunities. Someone's going to be caught with their pants down, so to speak. And so I think Trump has to actually kind of back up his words now unfortunately.

SESAY: Caroline, you were very critical of President Trump when he used that kind of language, the bellicose rhetoric. So bearing that in mind and where we see Kim Jong-Un right now, what's your thought as to the next move by the administration?

[00:29:58] HELDMAN: Well, I'm hoping it that it is something that is not unilateral. I'm hoping that it's something that is global, right? So we have a lot of nations involved and D Tillerson said that they're calling a punch line once again and perhaps Russian because of all of the North Korean migrants that that might be a point of pressure.

But at this point in time, this is the third president who's had to deal with his problem and it has rapidly escalated probably because of the personalities involved where the North Korean leader believes that they are under threat, where is that tension coming from? That's likely coming from the bombastic language of Donald Trump. So now we are in a position where it is escalating and we really have four options, right? We have decapitation, which is taking out the leader. We have a surgical military strike on nuclear sites or potential nuclear sites. We have an all-out military expansion, or, you know, we're doing what we're doing which is the sanctions that the U.N. has just approved putting pressure economically, perhaps cyber warfare. But at this point in time, you know, as unfortunately quoting Steve Bannon, right?

VAUSE: Yes (INAUDIBLE)

HELDMAN: There's nothing there.

VAUSE: We're going to be blunt, but look, they contain -- the contained the U.S. Army for crisis, you know, for generations and we did destroy each other, so maybe containment could work. But anyway, yes, to the biggest natural disasters to ever hit this country for the tone out of the White House seem relatively normal over the last couple of weeks.

You know, there's always a sense of nobility going on, but now, today (INAUDIBLE) and we're back to blaming both side of the violence in Charlottesville. Listen to what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think, especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what's going on there, you know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also, and essentially that's what I said.

Now, because of what's happened since then with Antifa, you look at, you know, really what's happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying -- in fact, a lot of people have actually written, "Gee, Trump might have a point." I said, "You got some very bad people on the other side also," which is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And, you know, these comments came after he was reviving a lot of criticism because he had dinner with Chuck and Nancy, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, other Democrats, reached this sort of tentative maybe. Maybe not deal over the Dreamers, you know, the young immigrants, undocumented immigrants brought to this country as kids.

The deal, the (INAUDIBLE) deal, which allows them to stay (INAUDIBLE) out, the Democrats come up with a plan. So Austin to you, he does this deal with the Democrats, maybe, maybe not, I guess it'll blow back for and then suddenly --

(CROSSTALK)

JAMES: Negotiations.

VAUSE: Negotiations.

JAMES: Ongoing negotiations. HELDMAN: Ongoing, yes.

VAUSE: But then suddenly, he gets all those criticism from his hardcore basis, what, he (INAUDIBLE) a couple of white nationalist Nazis and we're all good together.

JAMES: Well, I mean, listen, I think we're also overlooking the fact that, I think it was Resolution 49, came to this desk and he signed that. He actually had some very great kind of fluffy language. I think that's what people wanted to hear from him. I haven't seen any of those sound bites or those clips, so we're kind of jumping back on the red meat. I will say this though.

I think you're absolutely right, you know, he's definitely a man who, you know, with this Antifa stuff, he's basically going back and saying, "Look, I was right. Violence is wrong." And you're right, I think a lot of that point to, "Hey, I was right," comes from the backlash he got unfortunately with the meeting with --

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, but I'm not sure that even that would quell the anger that came from Conservatives over that proposed deal or ongoing talk. Can we put some of these up because they were heated? Ann Coulter tweeted this. "At this point, who doesn't want Trump impeached?"

Sean Hannity suggest them that (INAUDIBLE) Trump, "Weak R's have betrayed voters. @POTUS needs to stay the course and keep his promises or it's over. Pelosi and Schumer can never be trusted." Although they are negotiating with Trump. Yes. "Breitbart" headline, "Trump Caves on DACA, Wants 'Quick' Amnesty for 800,000 Illegal Aliens." Wow.

VAUSE: Amnesty Don.

JAMES: Yes, amnesty. He's a passionate individual, he's an emotional, very into what he's trying to accomplish, the large sweeping change. I think they're playing right into it though. They understand that one negative tweet from Sean Hannity who he adores is basically the red cape to the bull. So I think that (INAUDIBLE) action and I think they're -- you know, they have to go really hard against them to get some movement back.

VAUSE: I just wanted (INAUDIBLE) so I want to get to the relationship between the president and the Attorney General Jeff Sessions, well, it seems to be really happy now, I think, there's been a new Jeff Sessions. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: How's your relationship with the president these days?

JEFFERSON BEAUREGARD SESSIONS III, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: He is great. We had a good time with him yesterday and his positive leadership just comes through. I wish that American people could've seen him as he focused on these issues. He's going to ask the right question and he sends messages that are clear. He expects us to perform.

MARSH: Yes. And you two are good?

SESSIONS: We have a great time and had a good time yesterday with him. And of course we're working on a number of issues before that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:35:00]

VAUSE: Ooh, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. OK. But their relationship's strained because Trump blames Sessions for the appointment of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller as --

SESAY: Because he accused himself.

VAUSE: Because he accused himself, don't complicated. But the "New York Times" have this really interesting report today that when the president -- the Special Counsel Mueller have been appointed, "Almost immediately, Mr. Trump lobbed a volley of insults at Mr. Sessions, telling the attorney general it was his fault they were in the current situation.

Mr. Trump told Mr. Sessions that choosing him to be attorney general was one of the worst decisions he had made, called him an "idiot," and said that he should resign." Kind of like (INAUDIBLE) it was in front of the vice president, it was in front of the White House Legal Counsel, there were eight in the room. This is not a happy White House.

HELDMAN: No, and this is what Donald Trump does to his most loyal supporters, that's what makes him so shocking. I mean leave it to Donald Trump to make me want to give Jefferson Beauregard Sessions a hug, right?

JAMES: You guys have a way too much fun with Beauregard.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: I think it's very (INAUDIBLE) calling him Beauregard.

(CROSSTALK)

HELDMAN: But I also -- I think it speaks to this issue of obstruction of justice, right? We see -- I mean we have a lot of evidence mounting aside from the fact that the president actually said it in an interview that he fired Comey in with considering the Russian thing. Now we see that he's incredibly upset because this is the moment that the appointment of Mueller, the moment at which he loses control of the investigation, right?

And this has a lot to do with Sessions recusing himself as he needed to because he was not honest with Congress during his confirmation process. So he didn't want all of that garbage or all of that dirty laundry out in public. And so he recused himself, and the president knew that he was losing control at this point. So I really think this is just a siren call that there is something that there's that Donald Trump that's trying to cover up and this is yet another, you know, more evidence.

JAMES: Actually --

SESAY: You look perplexed though.

JAMES: Well, I mean I'm just -- because I'm sitting here thinking through this and I'm thinking, listen, you know, we've worked campaigns, I have a business, we're in business. I mean what does he supposed to do, sit him down and pour him a cup of tea and talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: But if he's got nothing to hide, why is he so upset?

SESAY:

JAMES: Well, no. No. I think -- no, what he's kind of getting at is, again, you know, we're not going to sit here and talk about his tact or his wordsmithing, but I think what he's getting at is, listen, if I'm going to accomplish some of the large monumental things that I said I was going to accomplish on the campaign trail. I need people who don't need to be micromanaged and who are loyal (INAUDIBLE)

VAUSE: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) thanks so much.

SESAY: Thank you.

VAUSE: Appreciate it. OK. We will take a short break. When we come back, President Trump heads to Florida to visit with those who have been affected by hurricane Irma. We also find out what he now thinks about climate change and what role he may play in that disaster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The last two weeks, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has received mostly pray to the initial response to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. And what reason why everything at least appeared to go smoothly is because of the lessons learned out to hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 12 years ago --

[00:50:00]

VAUSE: -- and the response became a textbook example of government mismanagement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Again, I want to thank you all for--and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA director is working 24 -- they're working 24 hours a day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Heck of a job, Brownie. One of the really obvious lessons to almost everyone after Harvey and Irma is that climate change is causing the storms to get bigger and more destructive. And so the government and emergency responders need to take that onboard and be prepared.

Only for the past eight months, the Trump Administration has been steadily undoing the environmental protection, especially the rules to fight climate change which were established by President Barrack Obama, and his President Trump on Thursday being specifically asked about climate change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, we've had bigger storms than this. And if you go back into the 1930s and the 1940s, and you take a look, we've had storms over the years that have been bigger than this. If you go back into the teens, you'll see storms that were as big or bigger. So we did have two, you know, horrific storms, epic storms. But if you go back into the '30s and '40s, and you go back into the teens, you'll see storms that were very similar and even bigger, okay?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, joining us down from San Francisco is Daniel Kammen, professor of Energy and Society at UC Berkley. Good to see you. So what happens in the next few years if government agencies don't look at this trend and prepare for the next Harvey or Irma which will be bigger and more intense, you know, the next hurricanes that roll over this places?

DANIEL KAMMEN, PROFESSOR OF ENERGY AND SOCIETY, UC BERKLEY: Well, I think you've said it. The real word is bigger and more intense. So we saw record rainfall from Harvey, we saw record storm surge, we saw record warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. Record damages in the keys, records damage in the Caribbean, and that's exactly what the new normal is becoming and that's exactly what the science of climate change says.

The storms we get will be more intense. We may or may not get more storms, but it'll simply bankrupt the budgets for this agencies. In fact, they are already far over budget dealing with the storms we have had.

VAUSE: Again, here's the view of government policies which have been rolled back over the past few months. Social cost of carbon is one of them which looks at the impact that climate change will have a new regulations and the impact that global warming will have for future generations.

There's been an end to a three-year long moratorium on new coal leases on federal land, and now environmental impact studies for major projects must be completed within a year and run no more than 300 pages. And for the record, here's a look at the EPA's climate change page, working progress. So what's the collective impact here in all these, you know, policy rollbacks?

KAMMEN: Well, it's sad to see because these policies under President Obama really prepared us. And if they arguably laid the ground work for the good responses we have seen. And if you contrast these blank webpages to China where I was yesterday where they've just put a record, $300 billion into clean energy as well as adapting to climate change. That's really a strategy that will minimize your long-term cost.

And not just financial cost. We've seen great cost to the poorest communities, we've seen deaths in nursing homes, we've seen the most vulnerable people the most impacted. And that's exactly what we expect to come from increasing climate change. And so to rollback these programs that are just plain good insurance is really financially as well as ethically the wrong way to go.

VAUSE: And, you know, we just heard from President Trump, talking about all those big storms in the 1930s, and if you go back, you know, a few decades, you know, beyond that, there were some big storms as well. You know, getting politicians to focus on anything beyond the next election is pretty tough. And then you say we should actually be looking not just the next 100 years, but looking to 1000 of years into the future for what will actually happen to this planet.

KAMMEN: Also right, man. I almost have to chuckle, but a sad chuckle to hear Mr. Trump say this because if you go back to the '30s to find comparable storms, but we've had Sandy, we've had Katrina, we've had Harvey, we've had Irma. We have all these storms in a very short time and so his owns statement grasping at straws to go back decades to 100 years just speaks to climate change.

And to deny, it shouldn't be a partisan Democratic-Republican issue, it should be, let's learn from the science, let's invest where we need to go to make a change here. And so I really think that the president's own words are highlighting that agreed to which this is climate change and that agreed to which we're now seeing the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy not being asked to use the words climate change.

Where there's very clear and very steady science documenting that these cause we're seeing society are coming directly from our inability to plan for these longer time (INAUDIBLE) that we need to do.

VAUSE: You know, Daniel, I would like to speak longer, but I'm told we're out of time, but thanks so much for joining us. Much appreciated.

KAMMEN: Always a pleasure. Thank you for having me on.

SESAY: And though we must leave it. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live --

[00:45:00] SESAY: -- from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Please follow us on Twitter @CNNNewsroomLA, there you find highlights and clip (INAUDIBLE) stay tuned now for "WORLD SPORT".

SESAY: But then we'll be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. Thank you for joining us today. Welcome to CNN WORLD SPORT, I'm Patrick Snell in Atlanta. We start off with all the fallout from Thursday night's delayed football match based on the Europa League in North London between Arsenal and German Bundesliga opponent Cologne.

A game that had to be delayed by one hour. Now, the holdup was decide upon in the interest of crowd's safety as the official line, after 20,000 Cologne fans, look at this, turning up in the heart of England's capital, in and around the Oxford Street area before kickoff. Bear in mind, the allocation for the German club, before this particular fixture, under 3,000 tickets.

Meantime outside the stadium, these images we were monitoring on social media, German fans involved disturbances and clashes in the buildup to kick off with fans of the away team getting into other parts of the ground too happily. There were no reports of trouble, once again, did get underway though. Police said, number of arrests were many.

(INAUDIBLE) seeing a shocking start for the home team as Cologne take lead after just nine minute of play, superb strike it is too from Jhon Cordoba who loves to go on a (INAUDIBLE) but there he go speeding from about 40 yards. Regardless (INAUDIBLE) equalizing with a ninth strike of his own. Really well done, huge relief for the home fans.

And they would go on to seal the win. It's the Chilean international, Alexis Sanchez putting his team ahead, finishing in fine style with a curling shot, 3-1, it would end in favor of Arsenal. Elsewhere, Everton with a ninth (INAUDIBLE) on Thursday, the Premier League club, but were away to Italian side Atalanta who are marking their return to European Football for the first time in 26 years.

Right from the outset, it would be (INAUDIBLE) who dominated, taken the lead to Andrea Masiello. What about this though? Alejandro Gomez with a brilliant second goal of the game as host showed their class, he places a shot with precision into the back of the net. What a strike. Three (INAUDIBLE) to end this one, Bryan Cristante adding one more. This was even before the halftime break.

The match taken place on 120 miles or so away from Atalanta's home ground, the stadium being renovated at the moment. Big win, Everton well-beaten. In other stories we'll following, there's been more fallout of the allegations of state sponsored doping by Russia. A group of the world's leading national anti-doping agency is now calling for a Russian Olympic Committee ban from the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

And a joint statement after a meeting in Denver, the agency saying, "A country's sport leaders and organizations should not be given credentials to the Olympics when they intentionally violate the rules and rob clean athletes. The agencies added, "They are committed to allowing individual Russian athletes to compete as neutrals as long as they've been subject to robust anti-doping protocols."

And they also criticize the International Olympic Committee for "continuing failure in its obligations to clean sport." Meantime, a Russian Olympic committee vice president referring to the call for a ban as regrettable saying, "Anti-doping agencies are again fueling hysteria over Russian's participation in Pyeongchang.

[00:50:00]

SNELL: We're edging in the close event of the biggest payday in golf, an update on the FedEx Cup Playoffs is just ahead. And winning is clearly in her blood even after all these years, a one-on-one with Swiss tennis legend, Martina Hingis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNELL: Welcome back, you're watching CNN WORLD SPORT. Back now with golf with the final ladies major of the year, the Evian Championships in France now reduce to a 54-hole tournament just after significant rain, strong winds are well closing the holes of the opening round to play over there in Europe on Thursday there.

The LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan saying he understood players will be unhappy about shortening the event, but added instead of Monday or Thursday finish wouldn't be good for anyone. American Jessica Korda was a joint leader after playing eight holes. How does she feel about it?

Oh, well, when hearing she'd have to start from scratch on Friday, this tweet from her, somewhat sarcastically, you could argue, "Yes, I'm super pumped about it." She wrote. Here in the U.S., the race for the richest prize in golf continues next week in Atlanta, the 2017 FedEx Cup Playoff champion will be crown along with a $10 million bonus jackpot to go along with it.

Before that though, it's the BMW championship that's taking center stage with a whole host of big names looking to hit top gear just north of Chicago this week. Among them, Jordan Spieth leading the way right now in the FedEx standings as he continues his quest for a second title. Impressive start from him, the three time major winner recording a bogey-free, six on the 65. Now keep an eye too on this guy, Jason Day, another high-profile player who's just split with his caddie.

The Aussie right in the mix here at seven under, a 64 for him. But it's another Australian who leads the way is that man, Marc Leishman who's having an outstanding run (INAUDIBLE) 62 for him in a round that fitted 10 birdies no less. Well, the top of the leaderboard making very pleasant reading indeed, especially if you're Australian. The inform Leishman with a two-shot lead over his compatriot Day-Day. Remember, he hasn't won since last year's player's championship. Rickie Fowler too, looking menacing after his 65 on Thursday. It's been quite the last two days for one of tennis' most famous names Martina Hingis, the Swiss won her first two grand slam crowns. Well, remember that?

She was just 16 years of age at the time, 20 years on, she's still winning at the highest level, lifting the U.S. Open's doubles and mixed doubles titles last week in New York City. She's been speaking with our own Don Riddell.

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR: It's an era of megastars, the greatest of all. And the likes of Venus and Serena Williams, and Roger Federer have serious longevity, playing well into their late 30s. But you might have missed the fact that another star from the same era is still playing and still winning. Martina Hingis won both the women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the U.S. Open and can now boast the milestone 25 major titles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:55:00]

MARTINA HINGIS, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I always love to play tennis, whether it was for the singles or now for the doubles. On the court, I feel this is what I do best, this is what I know. This is my education since I'm two years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: It has been a groundbreaking career, turning pro at 14, winning three grand slam singles titles at the age of just 16. Hingis remains the youngest player ever to win a major. In fact, she won five of them before she was even 18.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: What are you the most proud of?

HINGIS: I guess being the youngest in most of the things I did now looking back at it. When you see juniors and, you know, young upcoming players and you say, like, "Oh, Ostapenko when she won the French Open, she's only 20 years old." And I was, like -- by then, like, when you were 20, you were like -- if you didn't win a grand slam by then, you almost get like, "Oh, you're almost, like, too old now."

RIDDELL: They say athletes who start their careers as young as you do, you kind of blow right through a child and you don't have one at all. I don't know if that's true, but at what point you think you realize kind of what that concept actually meant?

HINGIS: Well, in my case, I don't think that I would -- I definitely wouldn't want to change with anyone. Like, what I through, I think it's a lot cooler than, you know, having to go to school. I mean if I was to say. I did that, like, education until I was 14 and so I went pro and then I did some later on as well, but I think this is the best education you can get.

My mom will always pay attention that -- when we travel to different cities and countries that we also took something from there and learn about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: There has been many ups and some downs along the way. Hingis has twice come out of retirement, but her passion for the game is undimmed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Is there anything that you regret in your career?

HINGIS: Yeah, there has maybe one or two things that I would have done differently today than when I was 17, 18, you know.

RIDDELL: Like what?

HINGIS: Well, you really have to bring it up, right?

RIDDELL: I don't know what it is.

HINGIS: No. I mean, there's more than two matches definitely I like to replay or just a situation here and there. Obviously, the French Open finals, yes, I would like to replay that because I felt like I had the match in my hands and let it go, but that's the game. Hey, I made history. So --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Her desire to win hasn't changed, but the sport around her has. The advent of the William sisters transformed women's tennis into a more powerful and physical game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: I guess the power game is just a process of natural evolution, but do you think that's better for the game? Do you think tennis is better now because of it?

HINGIS: Well, I don't know if it's always better. I mean, sometimes I did complain about, like, I like to see a little bit of variety and a little bit of strategy in the game, but I think, you know, you see that more in the men's tennis and I think eventually women, they will come to there once you will be able to control all of that power to have the variety out there again. Sometimes I think that's forgotten that, hey, tennis is a game, it's not just all sheer power.

RIDDELL: I have to ask you about Roger Federer, your compatriot, just a legend in the men's game of course. What have you learned from him?

HINGIS: Hey, he's younger than me, so he learned from me. RIDDELL: Well, I'll ask you that (INAUDIBLE) yes.

HINGIS: Hey, I always say, I taught him how to win his first big tournament, and I was like, "Well, we won Hopman Cup together and we end up winning Sydney together." The week after in 2001, I believe, so that was -- that is some great moments we share and, you know, we all know what happened after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Once known as the Swiss Miss, Martina Hingis still likes to be the boss. Perhaps one day in the future, she'll get a chance to play doubles with Federer. And so it would be a fitting end to a remarkable career. Don Riddell, CNN New York.

SNELL: Martina Hingis there. Thank you so much for joining us. Do stay with CNN, thanks for watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00]