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North Korean Foreign Ministers Speaks; California Fires; ISIS Ambush In Africa Kills U.S. Troops; Weinstein in Legal Jeopardy. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 11, 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: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin with breaking news. In a new interview, very ominous words from North Korea's foreign minister. He says President Trump, quote, "lit the wick of war" in his speech before the United Nations general assembly.

If you remember, the president put North Korea's leader on notice in that address, referencing Kim Jong-Un as rocket man and saying the country would not survive -- North Korea would not survive an American attack.

Our Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott is joining us right now. Very strong words from the foreign minister of North Korea, a direct threat to the United States.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And, of course, President Trump has been increasing his rhetoric since that U.N. statement, talking about possible military action being the only way to deal with North Korea.

Now, just a short time ago, foreign minister Ri-Yong Ho with the Russian news agency, TASS (ph), said, by his bellicose and insane statement at the -- in the U.N. arena, Trump -- it can be said, has lit the wick of war against us.

And went on to say that North Korea is actually winning and is working on having a military parody, a balance of power with the U.S.

And, clearly, Wolf, this rhetoric between Kim Jong-Un and President Trump has really grown sky high. And the fear, of course, is some kind of miscalculation or unintended consequence that could lead those past rhetoric into a type of military action.

And, of course, President Trump examining all his options with the united -- with his commanders and his U.S. officials about increasing the pressure on North Korea, not just on sanctions but also his military options. BLITZER: Yes. I'm just reading the interview, Elise, that Ri-Yong

Ho, the Foreign Minister of North Korea, gave to this Russian news agency.

He also -- in this interview, the foreign minister of North Korea said that the Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, would issue this warning that the United States should act sensibly and stop touching us if they do not want to disgrace themselves in the face of the whole world.

The foreign minister added that North Korean forces will not leave America, the aggressor state, unpunished. It comes as U.S. military exercises are continuing over the Korean Peninsula right now, including some major bombers that are flying over South Korea. This is always seen as extremely sensitive to North Korea.

LABOTT: Well, of course. And also, all this talk about the military action, the sanctions on North Korea have been heating up. Kim Jong- Un clearly feeling the pressure.

Diplomats and U.S. officials tell us that those sanctions also are starting. North Koreans are starting to feel the heat.

And you remember, Wilf, just a few weeks ago, Kim Jong-Un made the first ever, I think, public statement in his own name, talking about President Trump. If you remember, he called him an insane dotard, if you will. Kind of an insane, kind of senile old person.

And, of course, the threat here, the problem, is that, I think, U.S. officials are worried that North Korea sees the United States as bluffing.

When President Trump talks about military action being the only way and you remember President Trump's tweets, telling Secretary of State Tillerson that his diplomacy was a waste of time, the fear is that North Korea will think the U.S. is bluffing. Try to test the U.S.

And then, the U.S. will be forced to take some military action. If Kim Jong-Un were to take that extra step, not just launch a missile or a nuclear test but a rocket perhaps, at a U.S. territory, that could really set things out of control -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Elise Labott with the breaking news. Elise, thank you very much.

Let's discuss this and more with the former defense secretary of the United States, William Cohen. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

So, when you hear these ominous words from the foreign minister of North Korea, what's your reaction?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: I think we're seeing trash talking carried out at the global level now. I know that the president wants to give instructions to the NFL about what their players should or should not do during "The National Anthem." But I would hope the NFL would give the president some instructions in saying, we don't tolerate taunting. We don't tolerate taunting on the football field, because a taunt is the calculated to provoke a physical reaction. And you could have a fight break out. So, no taunting allowed.

I think we need to follow that at the international level, on the presidential level. And so, trash talking now could, in fact, escalate, taunting could provoke the North Koreans.

[13:05:02] And it may be that the president wants to taunt North Korea into taking some kind of an action which we could then respond with overwhelming force. I hope that's not the case that we're leading up to that, but that's a possibility.

BLITZER: Well, if that were to happen, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people along the demilitarized zone in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is, what, only 20 or 30 miles below the DMZ. They would in danger.

COHEN: Absolutely. We're looking at hundreds of thousands, if not more. If you had even a limited type of attack carried out by the North Koreans, not using nuclear weapons but their 19,000 or 20,000 pieces of artillery or in that neighborhood.

So, it's very dangerous. I think we have to continue to show what we're doing, in terms of let's continue to squeeze North Korea economically, diplomatically, wage an information war campaign against them, in terms of trying to undermine the support that Kim Jong-Un has. Make him go to sleep each night worried about whether he has the support of his people.

And then, go to the Chinese and say, look, we need to work together here. We can work together to either change the direction of Kim Jong-Un or change the leadership in North Korea. But the two of us have to do this together and we're counting on you. And I assume that's what the president is going to say when he goes there.

BLITZER: The foreign minister, in this interview with this Russian news agency, the foreign minister of North Korea, he said that any attempt to strangle us under the pretext of carrying out the sanction resolution is equivalent to an act of aggression and war. That in return, we will not abandon the use of our extreme means.

So, even if what you're suggesting, continue the sanctions, continue the diplomacy, they see the sanctions as an act of aggression and act of war.

COHEN: And we see the firing of missiles over the Japanese territory and threatening to hit Guam or the United States as pretty aggressive.

So, I think what we have to do is say we're going to follow this policy of isolating them, diplomatically, economically. I think we have to bring them to their knees economically in order to bring them to the table to solve it diplomatically. I think threatening war, carry a -- you know, walk softly, talk softly, carry a big stick. BLITZER: Do you want the president to stop referring to Kim Jong-Un

as little rocket man?

COHEN: Yes. Anyone who demeans another person is demeaned by that process. If you take a two-edged sword and you try to wield a two- edged sword that has no handle, you're as hurt by it as your potential victim.

So, I think that's what we're doing. The president lowers his esteem when he gets into name calling. I don't think that's not consistent with the office and the dignity of the office.

BLITZER: Should the U.S. continue these exercises over South Korean air space, these B1B bombers, for example? As you know, the North Koreans, they always see that as a potential act of aggression.

COHEN: I think we should continue to do what we're doing, saying if you're going to threaten either our neighbors, the South Koreans, the Japanese, Guam, the United States, we're going to show that we have a force capable of, really inflicting, really, substantial damage, without calling it you're going to destroy their country. But we could inflict substantial damage.

So, I think it's a message to the South Koreans to say, we're with you. It's a message to China especially, saying, we are prepared to engage this if we have to. We're help -- we're hoping you will help us avoid this.

BLITZER: One very disturbing development over the past day or so. A South Korean lawmaker says the North Korean cyber warfare experts, they managed to hack into very sensitive U.S.-South Korean information, national security information, including a U.S.-South Korean decapitation program to get rid of the North Korean leadership.

If that's true, that they have managed to steal this kind of sensitive information, that's very alarming.

COHEN: Let me stay with the football analogy. It may be time for the United States to call an audible, in terms of what our policy and practice should be and what the strategy should be in going after the North Koreans should we ever have to do that.

So, I don't know if the report is true. But even if it is true, I think we have enough flexibility in our contingency plans to take whatever action we need to take, in order to achieve our objective. I wouldn't -- I wouldn't get too hung up on that. I don't know the facts.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks so much for joining us. William Cohen is the former defense secretary of the United States.

Other major news we're following, including those deadly wildfires raging in California's wine country. More than 500 people now reported missing in Sonoma County alone, while the fires burn out of control with no rain in sight. Seventeen deaths are now blamed on the fire, while hundreds of families desperately searching for loved ones. Mandatory evacuations are in place. Thousands of people are leaving their homes behind while hospitals try to move critical patients to safety.

And this. Take a look at this. It's new video showing intensity of the blaze on the night that the fire broke out in Sonoma. Sheriff's deputies drove through the flames while Hurricane force winds helped spread the fire through northern California.

[13:10:00] But it's not just wine country battling wildfires. You can see dozens of fires stretching through the entire state of California right now.

CNN's Ryan Young is joining us now live from Santa Rosa in California. That's in wine country. Tell us what you're seeing, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this has just been completely scary. In fact, you gave me that number, about 500 people missing. I can understand the terror that people are feeling. We've had people show up here and ask us, do we know where their neighbors are? Because they had no chance to, kind of, figure that out.

Look at this neighborhood. More than 8,000 people lived here, at one point. Now there is nothing left. You can't even tell, sometimes, where the houses start and where they end. And as we walk through this, kind of, area here, look inside this car. You can see how ravaged the fire just came through here, moved through here very quickly. You talk about the deaths; 17 people have been killed because of this fire; 20,000 people had to evacuate.

And as we take you around the corner here, I'll tell you this, we talked to a man today who said he was awakened by his dog. The next thing you know, he came outside and all he saw the fire starting to roll over the top of his house. He wanted to get out quickly. He said it was bumper-to-bumper traffic. Listen to what he just told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNEST CHAPMAN: My one dog, she's really alert to things. She started barking and just wanting me to check on stuff. It was really windy. I went out front. The wind's blowing, ashes coming down. I just went back in to check my phone to see if there's any information about what's going on and didn't really find anything.

I came back out. Embers were dropping everywhere. I just grabbed my keys, my truck and my dogs and took off. I'm just glad to be here, glad to have my dogs. You know, you can replace the stuff. But life's the most important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, you can understand that feeling. We've had several other neighbors stop by and ask us if we had additional information. Right now, it's hard because people can't even really figure out what's left here. Wolf, one of the things that stood out to us is trees like this one right here are the only things, sort of, that's left standing, besides the chimneys. And some people have, kind of, stopped and said, hey, that was my tree from my home. In fact, the guy with the dog said people in this neighborhood may know him because of those two dogs. He's hoping they'll reach out to him on Facebook. He's worried about people.

We've also talked about police officers who have had issues with looting. Can you imagine that? People showing up here taking what's left from these people who've lost everything -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So heart breaking, the fires, the earth quakes, the hurricanes. It just keeps on going. Ryan Young on the scene for us. Thanks for that update.

And this is another important story just coming into CNN. The Pentagon now says ISIS is responsible for an ambush that killed four U.S. troops in Niger.

Let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. She's working the story for us. What are you learning, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Wolf. We are now hearing from the Pentagon that they have confirmed, to their satisfaction, it was ISIS behind the ambush several days ago that killed four American soldiers and wounded two in the west African nation of Niger.

Now, you will recall this was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces since President Trump took office. And he has yet to publicly comment on this entire episode. The Pentagon now saying it was a group of about 50 ISIS fighters that ambushed these four American soldiers, killing these four, wounding two others, when they were on what they thought would be a routine visit to villagers in the southwest area of Niger. They were there on a so-called advise and assist mission.

When ISIS attacked, they had machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The American troops only had their rifles with them. No explanation yet on how the intelligence could have been so poor that the American troops did not know that there were 50 ISIS fighters in the immediate area. And that those fighters were there ready to ambush them.

Very difficult circumstances for this is 12-man team led by U.S. Army green berets. Those soldiers, those that were killed in action now, being, of course, to the United States, returned to their families. The wounded are said to be in stable condition.

But an awful lot of questions how this one U.S. military mission in West Africa could have gone so wrong -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And you point out, the president has not said anything about this. Has he reached out to the families of those four green berets to express condolences for what occurred? STARR: The White House has not said that yet. We are told that

Defense Secretary James Mattis regularly reaches out to the families of the fallen.

But there is another matter to be pointed out here. One of the soldiers, La David Johnson, was not found. He is deceased. But he wasn't found until 48 hour later. They -- he is the gentleman you see there on your left. His body was not recovered.

[13:15:06] And, in fact, behind the scenes, we know and have reported that an urgent rescue mission was being launched because they were not sure when they couldn't find him if he might still possibly be alive out in the field, wounded, possibly even in ISIS hands for a brief period of time.

President Trump was briefed on the entire rescue mission. It did not get carried out because they did find -- very sadly, they did find his body, but they found him 48 hours after they found the other three and nobody knows at this point exactly what happened to him, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very disturbing indeed. Four American green beret soldiers killed and now the Pentagon confirming ISIS responsible for those killings of those American troops.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

Other news we're following, reaction pouring in after the rapper Eminem unleashes on President Trump in a five-minute freestyle rap. Why he's demanding his fans choose between him or the president.

Plus, the NFL firing back at the president taking credit for something that the NFL says doesn't exist, the league policy to stand for the anthem. We'll discuss that and more.

And more star actresses coming forward accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment. A big question now, is the movie mogul in legal jeopardy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:37] BLITZER: The disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is headed for rehab, but could he also be headed for more legal jeopardy. More than a dozen women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including allegations of rape. A spokeswoman for Weinstein says, quote, any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied. But the accusations keep piling up. A Los Angeles TV reporter says she was sexually harassed by Weinstein. She decided to speak out after some high profile actresses started coming forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN SIVAN, WEINSTEIN ACCUSER: When you see the huge names that have come out, it gives you an understanding of how hard and difficult it is for women, for victims of this type of behavior to come out publicly and talk about it. These are very powerful women in their own right. A lot of them come from very powerful Hollywood families. And even they weren't protected from a man like Harvey Weinstein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's get some perspective from our panel. Joining us, Hadas Gold, a CNN politics, media and business reporter, Jessica Schneider is our CNN justice correspondent, and Laura Coats is a CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor.

Hadas, you've been doing a lot of reporting on the Weinstein Company. It says it had no idea. It didn't know anything about these allegations over the years. What are you learning?

HADAS GOLD, CNN POLITICS, MEDIA AND BUSINESS REPORTER: That's what they're saying publicly. And it's clear that they are afraid of the legal jeopardy they might be in because, as I understand under California law, they are just as liable as the company as Harvey is himself.

Now, this is clearly bad for the company. They're already experiencing the business fall (ph). Amazon is start to distance itself from them.

It's hard to believe, though, that nobody on the board knew about this or at least heard about it because as we've seen from the reporting, multiple executives, including a former president of Miramax, has come forward and said that they weren't aware of it. So the fact that the board is claiming that they just were completely unaware of it is sort of hard to believe.

BLITZER: So potentially legally they could be liable?

GOLD: They could definitely be liable. But it all sort of depends on the statute of limitations, how long ago these incidents happened, whether these women are going to come forward. I mean the fallout from this is going to continue for a very long time.

BLITZER: As you know, Jessica, the Manhattan D.A., Cy Vance, he investigated this, he looked at it back in 2015. The police in Manhattan, they even wired one of the women. And we've all heard that audiotape by now. But they decided they didn't have enough evidence to go forward and charge Harvey Weinstein. What else are you learning?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right, that was in 2015. And as you can imagine, there has been fierce pushback by the district attorney's office about any implication that maybe campaign contributions from Harvey Weinstein's lawyers may have potentially influenced the investigation or any prosecution, the decision not to prosecute. They are pushing back against that.

But there are some questions because one of Harvey Weinstein's lawyers, David Boies, he has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Cy Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, throughout many of his campaigns. However, the district attorney's office, they're pointing this out. They're saying that Davies (ph) didn't actually represent Weinstein in that particular investigation and they say in general campaign contribution do not affect at all their investigations. But what is interesting here is that the D.A.'s office put it this

way. They said there just wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. However, the NYPD actually came out with a statement last night painting a somewhat different picture.

So here's the statement from the NYPD. They said the case was carried out by experienced detectives and supervisors from NYPD's special victims unit. The detectives used well established investigative techniques. The recorded conversation with the subject corroborates the acts that were the basis for the victim's complaints to the police a day earlier. This follow-up reported conversation was just one aspect of the case against the subject.

So the NYPD there implying that perhaps there was additional information in an addition to that reporting and the D.A.'s office pushing back against that, as well.

Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Laura, a lot of people are wondering what kind of legal jeopardy, legal trouble does Harvey Weinstein face. You're a former prosecutor. What do you think?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there's two different aspects. There's a civil and there's the criminal liability. And Hadas already mentioned the idea of the civil liability, it's potential, because if the company knew about the behavior or if a manager, I.E. Harvey Weinstein, who's a very bigwig, it's his company, it's named after him, was -- if he did the actions, then they are liable under California law.

[13:25:03] But there's also the idea of the criminal case. It's a much harder case to prove for the reasons Jessica pointed out. Not only do you have delayed report for many of these alleged instances, which has already been a hurdle for people like Bill Cosby and others, like Roger Ailes, who were in the court of public opinion at least on whether it was justified or credible.

You also have the idea of, you no longer have DNA evidence, if there was any. You do not have the corroboration that's necessary to prove these different claims. And, most importantly, you've got the victim blaming a mentality of many people in society who question the credibility of anyone who delays in reporting. Now, that's not going to carry the day, at the end of the day. You already have his comments.

But one interesting point, the part about the D.A.'s office in New York. The reason that the police officers were so adamant about having one aspect is because this D.A. has already been under fire recently over campaign contributions from Marc Kasowitz involving Donald Trump. And now they have the issue of, do the investigators have the wherewithal to capture the Mens Rea to actually prove the case. And the police officers saying, look, we know what we're doing here. It was your prerogative not to go forward with the case. But we captured, we corroborated the event. But we've all heard the case, all heard the tape. What I didn't hear

there yet, from having heard it, was the idea of this being an act that was about whether or not there was consent provided or revoked or not having a chance to be given. And that was the hook that the D.A.'s office was looking for. Is there fact or proof of corroboration that that was not a sensual act that took place the day before? I don't know.

BLITZER: And there's -- these reports, Hadas, I'm sure you've seen him, he has now left the country.

GOLD: Right.

BLITZER: Harvey Weinstein has flown off to Europe someplace for rehab. Is that right?

GOLD: That is what we're seeing, as well. And also that his wife has left him, Georgina Chapman. He's a famous designer as well. Clearly he's trying to -- and as he said publicly, he's trying to get a second chance.

I don't believe that he will have a second chance. He's been ostracized from not only the film and TV community, but also as we're seeing the political community.

BLITZER: Well, if he stays in Europe, like Roman Polanski has stayed in Europe, does he have to worry about legal jeopardy here in the United States potentially?

COATES: Well, let's not follow the path of Roman Polanski if you're trying to separate yourself from somebody who is a sexual predator. That would be the poster child for what is predation.

However, there are instances of whether you have jurisdiction. He is an American citizen. Harry Weinstein's company would still be liable. His absence from that particular company, whether abroad or domestic, would not be impacted by that.

The bigger issue is whether or not any of these alleged instances fall under the statute of limitations. And, of course, in California and in New York, you no longer have a statute of limitations period that would not have -- would not allow them to prosecute for 30 years ago. And if anything happened after 2005 or 2017, well, Harvey Weinstein has a criminal problem today regardless of where he is.

BLITZER: And we're told that the Manhattan D.A., Cy Vance, may be answering some reporters' questions soon. We'll, of course, have coverage of that, as well.

Ladies, thanks very much. Excellent analysis. Hadas Gold, Jessica Schneider and Laura Coates.

The rapper Eminem, meanwhile, blasting President Trump on everything from race to the military. Why he's telling many of his blue collar fans, it's me or him. Plus, just in, the Boy Scouts of America says it will start allowing

girls to join the group. But there's a catch. We'll have the details. That's coming up.