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Bannon under fire over explosive remarks in new book; Book: Bannon says Putin doesn't care about Trump; North and South Korea exchanging five phone calls; Iran's revolutionary guard says protests are over; Computer chip flaws impact billions of devices. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired January 04, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: A great man, Trump's former chief strategist now compliments the president despite being blasted by him on new book revelations.

Going steady, they're talking on the phone and may even meet next week -- more on North and South Korea coming up. And billions of laptop and

smartphone users may need to replace chips vulnerable to security flaw, allowing hackers to access your passwords

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Steve Bannon once the White House top chief strategist, now under fire for those explosive remarks attributed to him in a new book.

The president is said to be furious over the comments and attorney for Donald Trump says, he has sent a cease and desist letter to Steve Bannon

for those comments criticizing the Trump election campaign in a new book.

Now for the very latest, our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns joins us now live. And, Joe, there are there new comments out there by

Steve Bannon.

But up to now, it appeared to be this very public breakup between Bannon and the president. Where do we stand now on the war of words between these

two men?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, this is extraordinary, even for the Trump White House, which has had a lot of unusual things happen over the

last year.

The president angrily lashing out at his former chief strategist for trashing the president and the first family using words like treasonous.

The president's lawyers demanding in a letter that Steve Bannon, the chief strategist stop talking, even though if you really look at the record,

Democrats have been saying some of the things Bannon has been quoted as saying in the book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: President Trump's lawyer threatening imminent legal action against Steve Bannon, accusing the president's former chief strategist of

defamation and arguing that he violated a nondisclosure agreement when speaking to the author of this bombshell new book.

Excerpts published in, The Guardian, quote Bannon suggesting that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort have been treasonous and

unpatriotic for meeting with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton at Trump Tower in 2016.

Bannon also reportedly saying that the chance Don Jr. did not walk these Jumos up to his father's office to the 26th floor is zero. A claim that

runs contrary to the administration's longstanding position.

DON TRUMP JR., SON OF DONALD TRUMP: It was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell.

JAY SEKULOW, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: The president was not aware of the meeting, did not participate in the meeting.

JOHNS: Bannon is also quoted discussing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, claiming, they're going to crack Don Jr. like an egg on

national TV, allegedly predicting that the investigation will center on money laundering.

News of the book prompting a scathing statement from the president, asserting in part, Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency.

When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think furious, disgusted would probably, certainly fit when you make such outrageous

claims and completely false claims against the president.

JOHNS: Bannon saying this about the controversy this morning.

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Nothing will ever come between us and President Trump and his agenda. Don't worry about that.

We're tight on this agenda as we have ever been.

JOHNS: Democrat Andre Carson telling CNN, Bannon is scheduled to come before the House Intelligence Committee later this month.

REP. ANDRE CARSON (D), INDIANA: We want to make sure his statements aren't out of emotionalism or spitefulness. We want to really find out what he

really thinks.

JOHNS: Bannon's remarks just one part of journalist Michael Wolff's stunning new book, characterizing the first year of the Trump presidency as

chaotic and dysfunctional, and President Trump as uninformed.

Wolff saying this about the impression deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh allegedly had of the president, he didn't read. He didn't really even

skim.

[08:05:00] Some believed that, for all practical purposes, he was no more than semi-literate. It was, said, Walsh, like trying to figure out what a

child wants.

Walsh denies making these remarks, but the passage is similar to a different quote published in New York Magazine from aide Sam Nunberg, who

reportedly said this about Trump's attention span when he was sent to explain the Constitution, I got as far as the Fourth Amendment before his

finger is pulling down on his lip and his eyes are rolling back in his head.

The White House vehemently denying these accounts, saying, the book is filled with false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no

access or influence with the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The president has several meetings scheduled with Republicans today, though none appears to be opened to the media, at least for now.

Anger over the Russia investigation a likely explanation for the president's low profile this week. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, one can wonder why, very contentious quotes inside that new book by Michael Wolff. And we're going to talk about the accuracy of those

comments with Brian Stelter later in the hour.

But before you go, Joe, more about Steve Bannon. You know, Trump says he lost his minds. Trump is trying to dismiss him but these two men were very

close in the White House. Tell us about Steve Bannon's time there at the White House.

JOHNS: Steve Bannon from all accounts was very close to the president of the United States. He's had what has been described to me as walk-in

access -- access to the Oval Office.

We have also been told that the president and Steve Bannon regularly shared meals together, dinner together. So it's pretty clear that these men

shared a close relationship here at the White House.

Though, when you listen to the message coming out of here now, it would suggest they hardly ever talked and that access rarely was granted to Steve

Bannon with the president one on one. So a real conflict between what the White House is saying and what the record in the past has suggested to us,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, Steve Bannon truly had proximity to power there in the White House. Now it's open conflict. Joe Johns, reporting live for us, as

always, thank you.

Now in this new book, Michael Wolff details a conversation about Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that the U.S. president wants to be liked.

But in strong terms, the book says that Mr. Putin doesn't care about him at all.

Now for more, I'm joined now by, Mathew Chance, in Moscow. And Matthew, the -- we can't quote it directly on air. The colorful way Steve Bannon

describes Putin's dismissive regard of Donald Trump, what do you make of that. Does it ring true to you?

MATHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think -- I think it rings true for a certain period in what Donald Trump hoped to expect would be a relationship

between himself and Vladimir Putin.

Trump came to Russia on numerous occasions, most recently in 2013 as a businessman, where he oversaw the staging of this Miss Universe which was

held in Russia, in Moscow.

And he also, you know, tried to do a deal on numerous occasions to, for instance, build a Trump Tower or Trump hotel here -- Trump hotel, which

came to nothing.

And I think he was probably very keen to meet Vladimir Putin because he correctly identified that meeting the Russian president is the key to

unlocking business deals in this country.

And so undoubtedly, and from many of the witnesses we've heard speak about this, that there was an effort under way on the part of Trump to have a

face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin, although, there is no evidence to suggest that meeting ever took place.

In terms of Putin not caring about meeting Trump to paraphrase what Bannon said in this book -- I mean, that rings true as well to the extent that

Donald Trump was, you know, from the point of view of Russia sort of a second rate property developer from the United States compared to the kind

of, you know, multibillionaire sort of industrial relations that Putin is used to meting.

And so, there is no real reason why until Donald Trump became a prime candidate for the presidency of the United States. The Russian president

would have been interested in meeting him. And so, that also rings true.

LU STOUT: Got it. In this book, Steve Bannon also calls that Trump Tower meeting between Don Jr. and a Russian lawyer, treasonous. Last year, you

tracked down the pop singer who helped arrange that encounter. So what picture is now emerging of that meeting?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, it's a very controversial meeting, of course. And I think Steve Bannon quite rightly pointed out that the controversy around

this is justified.

The fact that Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump's son received an e-mail saying that this meeting should be held because the person who wanted to

have the meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer had effectively dirt on Hillary Clinton, his father's democratic rival for the presidency

in the election in 2016.

[08:10:03] And instead of reporting that to the FBI, he responded positively and said, you know, if that's true, then I love it. And that's

what Steve Bannon is saying is treasonous and unpatriotic.

What was actually discussed at that meeting is still pretty contentious. I mean, Veselnitskaya, the lawyer says she went there on the basis that she

wanted to lobby the Trump campaign team on the issue of Russia -- U.S. adoptions of Russian -- Russian kids.

She wanted to get the adoption situation transformed between these two countries and she denies having any dirt on the Hillary -- on Hillary

Clinton, and she denies being sent by the Kremlin.

And in terms of the Russian government, I mean, they just say this is part of a general hysteria and a general anti-Russian witch hunt, which provides

the U.S. economy. So there have been categorical denials from the Russians that there was anything untoward in this meeting.

LU STOUT: Got it. Matthew Chance, reporting live from Moscow, thank you. Now, the book, reportedly also talks about a meeting between former British

Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The author claims that Blair told Kushner the U.K. may have had Trump's stuff under surveillance during the election. Blair denies the allegation,

telling the BBC this, quote, I have never had such conversations in the White House or outside of the White House with Jared Kushner or with

anybody else.

Now, with all of the drama at the White House, Washington is also keeping a close eye on North Korea. Now in a rare move, the North and South has

spoken five times in just two days. Paula Hancocks takes a look at the communication hotline that connects the two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere in the border village of Panmunjom is a hotline. In a settlement that spans both North and South

Korea within the DMZ, one of the heavily guarded borders on earth.

It's official title of Panmunjom communications channel, a political lifeline between the two Koreas that is still technically at war.

This view from the South Korean side, the green phone to call the North, the red to receive calls from the North, different time zones reach state

above the phone, half an hour divides the neighbors and sign that reads, South-North direct phone.

The buildings on either side of the border where the phones are located are only about 18 meters away from each other. South Korea says that the first

two channels were connected in 1971 and they now have 33 different communication channels.

But North Korea hadn't responded since February, 2016. The South Koreans say that they had two liaison officers who called every day at 9:00 a.m.

when they got to work and then again at 4:00 p.m., just before they left work. And they sat by the phone all day in case it rang.

JOHN DELURY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: It's not a matter of who initiates what. It's that they get a positive dynamic going. And that

is not what we are seeing now.

It's not the North calling the South and the South calling the North. The two are sending positive signals back a forth. And they are creating

momentum, which can lead to some breakthroughs.

HANCOCKS: The hotline is sparking much interest, most notably for its apparent use of Windows XP, South Korean officials declined to comment on

that. But it is simply a means to an end. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right. Now for the latest on the story, let's take you to Seoul. Will Ripley is there. He joins us now. And, Will -- I mean, wow,

so far, five calls made on this reactive hot line. Is this momentum? Is this paving the way for more talks and better ties?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we need to take a look at the context of these conversations. Yes, there have been five phone calls, but

a few of them were to check technical issues to make sure the lines were stable. And the other two calls were the North telling the South that they

had no news to report.

Now we have heard that talks could be happening, possibly next week, some talks between North and South Korea, that would be potentially a major

diplomatic breakthrough after this hotline was shut down back in 2016 when things were really going downhill between the North and the South.

Remember, they use to have a joint venture, the Kaesong Industrial Complex, South Korean owned companies, staffed by North Korean workers.

And South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye pulled the plug on that complex, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un pulled the plug on the hotline.

Now it's back up and running. But we have to wait and see what conversations actually take place.

LU STOUT: Yes, and as it appears that a relationship is being exercised, there could be a thawing of ties. They are talking -- increasingly talking

to one another.

What does this mean for the U.S. because we know where Donald Trump stands on North Korea and what he thinks of Kim Jong-un. I mean, can he accept

this?

RIPLEY: It's interesting to hear the messaging from the White House. There is a new tweet just out within the last couple of hours, Kristie,

from President Trump.

I will read it for you, it says, with all of the failed quote experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue will be

going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the north?

[08:15:05] Fools, but talks are a good thing. But keep in mind, this is the same president who tweeted just about a day ago that his nuclear button

was bigger and more powerful than Kim Jong-un's nuclear button.

So clearly from the South Korean perspective, the U.S. president isn't necessarily being a productive force in terms of thawing of relations

between the two countries.

And keep in minds, you know, in the background on of all of this, there is still indications according to U.S. Intelligence that the north could be

preparing for a ballistic missile test really at any moment, even though South Korean officials here in Seoul today made a point to say that they

are not seeing signs of a looming launch.

Although, they believe that Pyongyang could push the button on a missile test really at any time. South Korea really wants things to be smooth over

the next 35 days.

Of course, leading up to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a major event for the world but especially here in South Korea, they want things to go off

without a hitch.

And frankly, they would love to see a North Korean delegation participate in the games. One is a sign of friendship between the two countries. But

also in hopes of perhaps ensuring ability during the games and no provocative actions that might -- that might interfere in anyway.

LU STOUT: Yes, and it would be such an incredible site for the world to see North Korean athletes to take part in the Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Will Ripley, thank you so much for joining us, we'll talk to you again soon.

Now, Iran's revolutionary guard says the anti-government protests are over and the main trouble makers have been arrested. And now pro-government

marches appear to be growing.

More rallies are, in fact, planned for Friday. Meanwhile, Iran is still lashing out against the U.S. In a letter to the U.N., Tehran's ambassador

says President Trump's tweets in sighted the protests.

Let's get more now on this dynamic between Iran, the U.S. as well as an update on these protests. Fred Pleitgen, joins us now live from London.

Fred, thank you for joining us.

So in Iran, authorities are now claiming that there is stability in Iran. I mean, is it under control? Are they just trying to spin this story?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think -- I think it is by and large under control, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still

protests taking place, it does seems as though, they might be losing steam or they might be less of them.

But it also it doesn't mean, Kristie, that the under lying issues that caused the protests from the beginning, that those have been resolved. And

I think many Iranian politicians are very much aware of that.

You have to had some senior politicians like one who is in the defense and security apparatus, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who was a very senior member of

parliament there.

He said on the one hand, he lashed out at the United States, but on the other hand, he also said look, there are problems in this country. There

is a reason why these people are protesting and there are issues that need to be addressed.

So on the one hand, politician and even people who are very senior in the clergy as well are saying that. But on the other hand, they are also

lashing out at President Trump, at Vice President Mike Pence and also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, for some of the remarks

that have been coming out of the U.S.

The most recent one, Kristie, just came in literally a couple minutes ago from the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and he says and I quote,

Trump has an odd way for showing such respect for Iranians, from labeling them a terrorist nation, and banning them from visiting the U.S., to petty

insults on the name of the Persian Gulf.

And best of all, helping them by depriving them of the economic benefits of the JCPOA, that of course, is the nuclear agreement between Iran, the U.S.

and other world powers that were supposed to see sanction lifted, some of which happened in return for the Iranians curbing their nuclear ambitions.

So, clearly the Iranians shooting back at the U.S. verbally, of course, but you can see, that there is a lot of anger in the air at the moment between

the Trump administration and the Rouhani administration. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely, the Rouhani administration targeting the Trump administration that is ratcheting up the pressure. Earlier, we heard from

Vice President Mike Pence saying that he is supporting the anti-government protesters.

The world is watching. The U.S. is with them. When that kind of support is delivered from the Trump White House, is that undercutting the movement

in Iran? Does that play into the narrative that, yes, enemies of Iran are behind this?

PLEITGEN: That's a very good question. And you know, in a certain way, that is the way that a lot of the senior leadership in Iran is trying to

portray the situation.

They're essentially saying, look, at this point in time, those people internationally who are fully behind the protests that have been going on,

let them protest, where the rioting is what the authorities are saying is the U.S., that has been, the Israeli government and then also the Saudis as

well.

So that's the way the Iranians are trying to spin it. But at the same time, of course, it does hold some clout, when for instance, the U.S.

president says some of the things that he has said.

So does it embolden some people in the movement? Maybe. Did it maybe undercut them with other parts of the Iranian population? Certainly the

Trump administration is not one that's very popular in Iran, especially some of the things that have been pointed out.

The travel ban, for instance that President Trump has been pushing. Some other issues as well, the way that he's handled the nuclear agreement,

which is still very popular among many Iranians.

[08:20:04] So it seems as so it may undercut it in certain ways. But I think one thing is always clear, Kristie, and that is, these protest,

whether or not they grow, whether or not they decline in size will depend more on the situation inside Iran rather than anything the U.S. or any

other outside players do.

There is a history of protests and a political dissent in Iran. And certainly, we have seen major protests in the past. So really what the

U.S. does is a side show, if you will, it might have a little bit of influence.

But in the end, it's about what happens inside the country. And we're going to see the next couple of days, whether or not these protests might

be resurrected, whether they might grow again especially tomorrow, on Friday -- Friday prayers, generally, usually a very politically volatile

time in Iran.

LU STOUT: Yes, and this is a grass roots movement. As you said, happening inside Iran after all. Fred Pleitgen, reporting live for us, thank you.

Still ahead right here on the program, President Trump slammed Pakistan in a Twitter tirade.

And now Islamabad is striking back. Also in the program, Apple, Google, Microsoft, they all have a common problem, it's a big one and affects you.

What average users can do about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream. Now not even a day after being slammed by U.S. President Donald

Trump, Pakistan announces that it is strengthening trade ties with China.

Pakistan central bank has officially adopted China's yen as of trade currency. That means businesses in two countries can now trade directly

instead of having to use other currencies like the U.S. dollar. This decision was announced shortly after President Trump tweeted that the U.S.

has been giving too much aid to Pakistan.

Tech firms are rushing to pack to security hole that is affecting billions of computers and smartphones that was caused by two major flaws in computer

chips called meltdown and Spectre. They can allow hackers to steal sensitive data like passwords or see what tabs you have opened on your

device.

Our researchers say meltdown affects only chips made by Intel, while Spectre exists in almost every computing system. Let's find out what this

means for us.

We are joined now by, Bryce Boland, from the cybersecurity firm FireEye. Bryce, good to see you again. Wow. How do I know whether one of my

device, a smartphone, a P.C., a laptop has been affected here?

BRYCE BOLAND, CYBERSECURITY EXPERT, FIREEYE: Well, Kristie, a great question. If it's been built in the last 15 years, chances are pretty good

that it's affected by one of these two vulnerabilities.

Both of these vulnerabilities are basically part of what makes these computers so fast today is the capability that's been built into them. But

that's a -- it has created a vulnerability.

[08:25:00] And that vulnerability is a bit like giving an attacker x-ray vision to ever see into a safe and be able to see the secrets inside the

safe.

LU STOUT: OK. I don't like that, so how do I fix it?

BOLAND: Well, it's not going to be you who fixes it. It's going to be mostly two different groups of people. One is the software vendors, we

have already seen Microsoft, and Google, and Apple, making Red Hat.

Making changes in the operating system to affect one of those bugs. And they will fix that bug, but there is another bug which enables pretty much

anybody who wants to conduct an attack who can get code on your machine.

A web browser or an app installed on your phone, to be able to see into the secrets on other parts of the phone and other parts of your computer.

That's going to take quite a long time to fix. It's going to take software, as well as redesigns of the hardware that we all use.

LU STOUT: Wow, it's going to take a patch. It's going to take software, a redesign, a U.S. government statement says this, quote, fully removing the

vulnerability requires replacing vulnerable CPU hardware. I mean, wait, does that mean we need more than a patch here, that we have to actually

replace our hardware?

BOLAND: To completely resolve all of the issues, that is currently the case.

LU STOUT: Wow.

BOLAND: There is no way that you can completely solve this problem without hardware support. It is, in fact, the design flaw in the implementation of

the chips that we will use. And that is why it's going to require hardware fixes.

But that doesn't mean all hardware needs to be replaced. Only those that are going to be most at risk and in some areas, the hardware needs to be

replaced if it's going to have significant performance degradation as a result of the software fixes as well.

LU STOUT: And to clarify, this is not just an Intel chip problem. This is a serious overall chip-maker design problem again affecting billions of our

devices. How did this come to be? How did this happen?

BOLAND: Well, what's happened in the last 20 years, everyone started to use computers for lots of things, and every one of us wanted the computers

to be faster and faster.

And what we've seen here is a design choice that was made in the way to improve the speed of computers has created this opportunity for a

vulnerability. It's a weakness in the design that wasn't always able to be easily exploited.

And now some very intelligent researchers have identified a way to take advantage of it and to be able to exploit it in a way that would make every

computer using those speedups vulnerable.

So that's why it's has happened, it's something that has been talked about for a number of years. But now we have real world technical examples of

how it can be exploited. And it creates a big risk for everybody going forward.

LU STOUT: I appreciate your advice as always, you know. I know I have to patch it. I am kind of lazy about these things. I will put it on my to-do

list. Bryce Boland of FireEye, thank you so much. We'll talk again soon.

BOLAND: Thank you very much.

LU STOUT: Now, Bitcoin may be gaining popularity among the general public. But that's making it lose favor with criminals. Europol says the world of

crime is switching to crypto currencies that are harder to trace like Monero or Dash.

All crypto currencies are technically anonymous. We don't need middlemen like banks for transactions and you never have to give your real name. But

law enforcement can trace IP addresses in Bitcoin transactions to link it to companies or people and use that to track criminals.

Monero's higher privacy level blocks investigators from doing just that. You are watching News Stream. And up next, more on the Donald Trump-Steve

Bannon war of words. A former White House communications director weighs in on the feud. We're going to hear from Anthony Scaramucci after the

break.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.

An attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump says he sent a cease-and- desist letter to Steve Bannon for comments attributed to him in a new book.

The White House rebuked its former chief strategist over excerpts from the book. One of them calls a meeting between a Russian lawyer and the Trump

election campaign treasonous.

North and South Korea has spoken over the phone five times in just two days. Kim Jong-un ordered the reopening of the line for the first time in

almost two years. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is taking credit for the communications. He tweeted, quote, does anybody really believe that talks

will be going on right now if I wasn't firm, strong, and willing to commit our total might against the North?

Iran's revolutionary guard says anti-government protests are over. The main troublemakers have been arrested. Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to the U.N.

citing the U.S. president's tweets on the protests is accusing the U.S. of interfering in the country's internal affairs.

In South Africa, a collision involving a train, a car, and a truck has left at least four people dead and up to 100 injured. The death toll is expected

to rise. The train was going from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg. The crash caused a fire that spread to several carriages.

Now back to the political bombshell over those explosive comments in the new book on the Trump administration. What does a former White House

communications director think about this fiery feud between the U.S. president and Steve Bannon? Well, here's what Anthony Scaramucci said to

"New Day" Chris Cuomo.

(START VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think what Steve did if everything has been said about Steve, he's talking like

that, I think it's absolutely ridiculous and he should walk it back.

(CROSSTALK)

SCARAMUCCI: I said the truth six months ago of what he was like as a person.

CHRIS CUOMO, HOST, CNN: You think he's disloyal?

SCARAMUCCI: Well, I think he's for Steve. At the end of the day, what I said taking out the expletives, he's for Steve, we're for the president,

OK? If you love your country, President Donald J. Trump is our president, let's go out and help him. I'm not for myself. I said that in that

interview, unfortunately, it got picked up on a recorded phone line. But I was there to serve the president, OK?

CUOMO: Why is Bannon there?

SCARAMUCCI: I think that the president wanted to reward him for a job well done during the campaign, but I think he diverged from the president. He's

sort of focusing on his own brand. I mean, that's very damaging. It wasn't the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right, Scaramucci there, saying Steve Bannon serves Steve Bannon. No surprise there. Now let's get some thoughts on the book and

everything else with our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. He joins us now live from New York.

Brian, thank you for joining us. The bombshells from this book. The contentious quotes are many. What are the key takeaways?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: The big picture story of this book, I would say there are two elements. One, why in the world was

this author allowed inside the White House in the first place? How did he have so much access? And that leads to number two, the most important part,

this book is an unflattering portrait of a White House in crisis, a chaotic administration that had dysfunction at the very beginning, coming mostly

from the top.

There are so many embarrassing descriptions of President Trump, suggesting he's not stable and not fit to be president. And they're coming from his

own aides, some on the record, but many on backgrounds, meaning these are anonymous quotes that were provided by sources to Michael Wolff and then

attributed to various people.

Now, there are debates going on about the sourcing. There have been a few denials of specific details in the book, but the consistent picture of the

entire book is of a White House in crisis.

[08:35:00] And that is going to be very hard for the administration to refute or deny.

LU STOUT: Yes, as you say, this is a very unflattering portrait of a White House in crisis. It calls into question the stability of the president of

the United States. A lot of people are also asking about the accuracy of the quotes in the book.

STELTER: Right.

LU STOUT: What is Steve Bannon saying and how is Wolff, the author, backing it up?

STELTER: I think it's really telling that Bannon has not commented on the book. It's been almost 24 hours since these initial quotes came out, where

he is calling Don Junior treasonous, he is saying that Trump was a fool in some respects. It's really noticeable. It's really telling that Bannon has

not denied any of it. He has not denied saying those things.

He did come out last night and praised Trump as a great leader and maybe he had to say that in the wake of this controversy. But it is really

noticeable that Bannon is not denying what he has been quoted as saying. One of the deputies, Katie Walsh, has denied part of what is in the book.

There have been some other -- a couple other denials, also been some confirmation of what's in the book.

I think what's most important for audience at home watching is that this book is affirming what reporters like Jeff Zeleny at CNN have been saying

for months. They have been reporting details about the White House dysfunction for months. Now, Wolff is out with even more details and, yes,

there are going to be some denials.

I've had some fights with Wolff over the years, I'm not going to vouch 100 percent for his accuracy, but the big picture that he is painting here has

been corroborated by others. It's an embarrassing picture for the White House and for the United States.

Look at where we are, the first week of 2018, and the White House is consumed by this controversy of its own making by allowing Wolff in, by

giving him the access, and now it is the big story of the week. It's embarrassing for the White House. It gets in the way of any legislative

agenda or cultural agenda that Trump may have right now.

LU STOUT: Yes, as you point out, this book confirms reporting already out there done by CNN's own reporters including by Jeff Zeleny and others. What

does it mean for the Russia probe?

You know, in that recent interview with The New York Times, Donald Trump said multiple, multiple times there is no collusion, there is no collusion.

After this book and the discussion, the publicity it is generating, is it just harder for him to deny and say, this is fake news?

STELTER: Every single day that Washington is consumed by gossip or by innuendo or by anonymous source claims about the president's temperament,

that's another day that Robert Mueller is quietly going ahead with this probe, interviewing various people, gathering more information, and

gathering possible indictment of related material.

So every day, Mueller is still working on this, even though he remains incredibly quiet, has not said a thing since last May. I think the sense

that you get from this book and also from other reporting is that Mueller is closing in on people closer to Donald Trump. That may lead to the cause

of some of the various tweets recently.

It's always sort of a mystery, why is the president tweeting what he is, when he is? Some of it I think has to do with the news reporting about his

presidency and about the Russian investigations.

And I do think that if we were to be here talking about the leader of China or Germany or Brazil or Japan, tweeting in the way President Trump does,

there would be some pretty serious conversations about whether that person is well or not. Honestly, Kristie, we're at that point in the U.S. where

you hear more and more commentators asking about the president's stability, his fitness for office.

LU STOUT: That's right. That being raised again on the back of this book. Brian Stelter, thank you so much. Take care.

STELTER: Thanks.

LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream" and do keep it here because coming up, we are going to talk about this freezing weather condition. Right

behind (INAUDIBLE) snow, ice, freezing cold winds, blizzard conditions threatening most of the northeastern U.S. An update on that, next.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching "News Stream."

Now, a bone-chilling winter storm is hitting parts of the eastern U.S. and Canada. It is threatening hurricane force wind gust on top of the freezing

cold. More than 60 million people are under some type of warning right now. And at least 12 deaths have been linked to this cold weather.

Now, he did it on the campaign trail, and he is doing it again from the Oval Office. U.S. President Donald Trump defends himself from any slight.

And he was eager to brag to North Korea about his, yes, nuclear button. Jeanne Moos examines just how much size matters to Mr. Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And here you thought button size only mattered in sewing. Now the president is tweeting about

how his nuclear button is much bigger and more powerful than Kim Jong-un's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has the bigger button.

MOOS (voice over): One journalist called it a button measuring contest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How big is your button?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buttons, button size, and button performance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's all about who's got the bigger button.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS (voice over): When it comes to big buttons --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): That was easy.

MOOS (voice over): The one on President Trump's desk can't compare. But he use this tiny one to order Diet Coke, not nuclear strikes. The so-called

football carries everything needed to launch a nuclear attack. It's obvious size matters to President Trump. From his I.Q. --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I guarantee my I.Q. is much higher than any of this people.

MOOS (voice over): To his tax cuts.

TRUMP: This is the largest tax cut.

MOOS (voice over): To his hands.

TRUMP: He referred to my hands, if they're small something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee you.

MOOS (voice over): Cher referred to President Trump and Kim Jong-un, tweeting, they're probably both the size of tom thumb.

(on camera): When it comes to bragging about the size of your nuclear button, it might be wise to button it.

(voice over): And even if the button is huge, that doesn't mean a leader will press the right one, as we saw in "Monsters Versus Aliens."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That button launches all of our nuclear missiles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, then which button gets me a latte?

MOOS (voice over): Make that a Diet Coke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other one, sir.

MOOS (voice over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What idiot designed this thing?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, late night comediennes, as you can imagine, they have been having a field day, poking fun at the controversial new book called "Fire

and Fury" about the inner workings of the Trump White House. Now, here is what host Jimmy Kimmel said about the explosive expose.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC: This book paints a very unflattering picture. He sprays his hair with just for men and Ivanka makes fun of him for it. He is

constantly leaking information about himself and then demanding to know who leaked the information.

(LAUGHTER)

KIMMEL: He didn't want to win the presidency and was horrified when he did. Melania cried. We all cried, really. But now --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Alex Thomas is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END