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Mike Pompeo Says North Korea Talks Moving Quite Rapidly; Trump Clashes with G7 Allies on Trade Ahead of Kim Meeting; Trump and Kim Jong-un to Meet Face-to-Face in Just Hours; Interview with Representative Brendan Boyle; Kim Jong-un on the Move in Singapore Ahead of Summit; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 11, 2018 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Just throughout the day, we've been learning more details of exactly what is going to happen 11 hours from now and perhaps the most important meeting is the one right off the bat, that one-on-one with President Trump and their translators.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That will be the most important meeting, Anderson. That's the one to keep an eye on because the rest will essentially just serve as photo opportunities for both sides, but that is the meeting where we could find out what exactly these two leaders are going to come to an agreement on.

We know right now they're going to sit down, shake hands and what comes next is still pretty unclear. The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo briefed reporters earlier and though he gave a few outlines of what exactly the United States is looking to get from North Korea, he made clear that they have not received any firm commitments. The United States has not received any firm commitments from them on what they would commit to.

So that is still largely up for debate. That's the question here. Pompeo said that he does believe this administration won't be deceived by the North Koreans, though, as he believes administrations in the past have been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States has been fooled before. There is no doubt about it. Many presidents previously have signed off on pieces of paper only to find that the North Koreans either didn't promise what we thought they had or actually reneged on their promises.

We are going to ensure that we set up a system sufficiently robust that we're able to verify these outcomes. And it's only once the V happens that we'll proceed a pace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So he didn't answer exactly what the security assurances the United States would make to North Korea if they did commit the denuclearization would look like, including did not answer a question about what would happen to those 25,000 troops on the Korean peninsula. But back to tomorrow morning, you know, we're just hours away from this meeting now and we're learning a little bit more about what it's going to look like.

We knew that Trump and Kim Jong-un were going to sit down one-on-one. Only their translators in the room with them. But now after that, they will go into an expanded bilateral meeting. That could include a few officials from the U.S. side, a few officials from the North Korea side and then they will participate in a working lunch. That is a lunch that's going to have a few more officials in it, including the National Security adviser John Bolton and the Chief of Staff John Kelly as well as a few other national security officials and the Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

But it all goes back to that first meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, something the president said he would be able to know in one minute what that meeting is going to shape out to be. But that's the meeting where the real progress will happen, where the real commitments could be made.

But, Anderson, we have to note it's just going to be Kim Jong-un and President Trump in that room. So whatever account we get of what happened during that meeting is going to be coming from one of them, and whatever one of them says was said or what was promised, we won't be able to corroborate it with anyone else. We'll have to go off of their word.

COOPER: Yes. President Trump said he'll be talking to reporters at some point tomorrow as well.

Kaitlan Collins, thanks very much. A lot to watch for.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So as he prepares for this summit with Kim Jong-un, President Trump is continuing to take aim at the United States G7 allies. Some of the president's closest advisers accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of stabbing President Trump in the back.

Let's go to Ottawa, that's where our correspondent Paula Newton is with more.

So the president left the G7 summit agreeing to sign this communique, gets on Air Force One, Trudeau holds a press conference, says we won't be pushed around, and then it just all fell out from there. Walk us through it.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Apparently the advisers, especially Larry Kudlow, says that, look, all hell broke loose. That at that point in time the president was incensed. And the thing that has Canadians reeling is that they say when he pushed -- pulled out of the G7 communique late on Saturday, they asked Larry Kudlow, what the heck happened? Larry Kudlow said he didn't know. And yet by morning television, Larry Kudlow not only knew what was going on, but obviously was channeling whatever President Trump had said to him on a phone call from Air Force One. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KUDLOW, TRUMP'S CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER: He really kind of stabbed us in the back. He really actually, you know what, he did a great disservice to the whole G7.

PETER NAVARRO, TRUMP'S TRADE ADVISER: There is a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, special place in hell. Canadian officials were absolutely floored. They're trying not to react at this moment, Poppy. It is tough. The prime minister refused to answer questions about it yesterday, he's got a day off today. The Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland saying that, look, these personal attacks are not a way to do business.

But what's clear here, Poppy, is that the president thinks that it is a way to do business. Larry Kudlow basically said that it was connected to the summit in Singapore and that his allies, especially Justin Trudeau, made him look weak in the face of that.

[10:05:03] At issue still, Poppy, are those important trading relationships, front and center is NAFTA. What the shame here is that both sides have told me that they did make progress on NAFTA and were supposed to get back to work later this week to try and work out a path forward.

Poppy, it's no surprise to anyone that both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are watching this very closely.

HARLOW: Yes.

NEWTON: And wondering when and if they should get in the game here given really a new low in Canada-U.S. relations.

HARLOW: We did hear from Senator John McCain, we'll wait to hear from others on it.

Paula Newton, appreciate the reporting and let us know what we do hear from Prime Minister Trudeau. Anderson.

COOPER: Poppy, thanks.

Joining us now, CNN global affairs analyst, Ambassador Joseph Yun, and Jean Lee, a veteran foreign correspondent and an expert on North Korea.

Ambassador Yun, are you surprised that this one-on-one meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, which most people -- most observers say is probably the most crucial part of all this, that it's going to go on for as long -- it's scheduled for some two hours, which is a lot of time between two world leaders and just with their translators. JOSEPH YUN, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Frankly, I'm a little

surprised. It is so long. Usually this kind of meeting will be off schedule, you know. They wouldn't publicize so heavily a one-on-one meeting, also right on top, in the beginning. So typically one-on-one you place it in the middle, when you get stuck or at the end, to wrap it up. So, I mean, it does seem that one-on-one meeting is the main thing. An expanded bilateral working lunch is a side show.

And, Anderson, I mean, we have to be concerned, you know, of the leaders getting together without real expert help. You know. Denuclearization is a serious issue. What steps they take is a serious issue.

COOPER: Well, especially with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talking about verification being so important, which is obviously it is.

YUN: Yes.

COOPER: Verification is extraordinarily complex.

YUN: I think you could say it is all about verification. If you don't know what they have, what are you negotiating? If you cannot verify what they have, what are you negotiating? So verification is very, very important. And so I would hope that -- I mean, I know, for example, President Trump has been following the issue. But, again, this is very serious issue. Let's hope they get some technical help because they will need it.

COOPER: Jean, what are you expecting for -- to really come out of this tomorrow, if anything?

JEAN LEE, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR KOREAN HISTORY AND PUBLIC POLICY, WILSON CENTER: I'm expecting a historic photo-op, frankly. I do think that President Trump wants to get Kim Jong-un in a room alone, away from the aides. You know, he's been hearing from Kim Jong-un through his envoys, through the South Korean president. He wants to get him in a room and find out what he really wants and perhaps sit down with him and work out what they're going to tell the world.

But to be honest, the North Koreans, what they want at most is a declaration of some sort, perhaps pertaining to the Korean War. They want to have this photo-op that is going to make Kim Jong-un look like a leader who has been legitimized as a fellow world leader, on the same level as the U.S. president, and perhaps he wants to get out of this without agreeing to too much, that he -- about when it comes to denuclearization.

They will talk about denuclearization and he will certainly embrace the concept of denuclearization. Kim Jong-un has been very clear that he embraces the concept. But he's going to say, listen, I will give up my nuclear weapons when you give them up. So let's figure out how we're both going to do that.

COOPER: Ambassador Yun, has the U.S. -- it sounds like the language the U.S. is using is already moving toward the same kind of language that the North Korea has been using. YUN: I think this is a key point, Anderson, that over the past, I

would say, two, three weeks, our position has changed quite substantially. And as you say, moving towards what looks like North Korean position. Initially --

COOPER: Does that concern you?

YUN: It does concern me. Initially we wanted at least big deliverable big bang, you might say, all in one, and then we moved it back, it's got to be process, it's got to be progress. But I think to get away from what we've done in the past, at least we have to have sizable deliverable. And if we are too serious, Kim Jong-un seriousness, then we have to test it. So far I see no signs that we're seriously testing the hypothesis that he wants to denuclearize.

[10:10:05] And if we get into this action for action, little by little, it can drag on forever and in the end, we're going to have no progress. So I would like to see coming out tomorrow, from the declaration that Jean mentioned, some immediate steps that they will do. We do some security assurance, they do denuclearization. So it's fair. Fair is fair. You got to do a little bit of each. But let's see something that shows Kim Jong-un is indeed serious.

COOPER: Yes. Ambassador Yun, thank you very much. Jean Lee as well. Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. Anderson, thank you very much.

So back in the United States, our relationship with allies certainly on the rails from fair trade to free trade to fool's trade. What the president is saying this morning and what if means for the future of U.S. diplomacy.

Also the Trump administration maintaining it is looking for complete denuclearization. We're going to take a look at how is that defined by both leaders and how it is accomplished ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:28] HARLOW: All right, welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Singapore this morning saying the U.S. goal remains the same, complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. He says until that happens, there will be no relief from economic sanctions on North Korea, but to move the talks forward with North Korea, Pompeo did say that the president may give security assurances that no other administration has put forward before for North Korea. Could one of those be an offer to remove U.S. troops from the South? He would not say.

Joining us now, Congressman Brendan Boyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, he also sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

It's nice to have you. Thank you for being here. Let me just get your read on Pompeo this morning. Are you feeling more assured this morning of what we may see between President Trump in this one-on-one meeting with Kim Jong-un in a few hours? Because you've been critical of the president heading into this.

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I would say, and thank you for having me, I'm neither more nor less assured by Pompeo's remarks just because we know that this administration to a degree unlike any other really it is what the president says and what the president does that matters and not members of his administration.

This past weekend was a great example of that when Defense Secretary Mattis was in Europe saying one thing about the Western alliance and then President Trump was at the G7 summit saying literally the exact opposite. So in the end, when it comes to the summit, it's what Trump says and does that matters and really not any member of his administration.

HARLOW: Let me ask you about legislation you put forward. You're very concerned about the human rights issues within North Korea to say the least. We saw that American college student Otto Warmbier die at the hands of Kim Jong-un's regime. You put forward legislation, you say, to address that.

A, do you believe that any nuclear agreement with North Korea must include addressing human rights? And, if so, B, what would your legislation do?

And let me just note for our viewers, sorry to interrupt, we're looking at Kim Jong-un's entourage live in Singapore. These are aerial shots. We know that he just left the Marina Bay Sands Hotel there in Singapore. It is 10:17 p.m. in the evening. The night before this potentially historic summit with President Trump. He went for about 20 minutes or so it looked like to visit this three-story sort of remarkable hotel there, and we're just unsure right now where he's headed. We'll bring you more when we have it.

But back with you, Congressman, tell me about the legislation.

BOYLE: Yes, you know, one of the most inspiring and sobering moments I've had as a member of Congress was when three members or three individuals who were from North Korea who were defectors met with me and a few other members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I've actually met with them twice now. And the horrific conditions that they had to endure are unlike anything else that we see around the globe.

So I believe that it is our moral responsibility to speak out on human rights, not just in North Korea, but around the world. I was someone who thought that that should be part of the conversation when it came to negotiating with Iran. And so I'm just being consistent saying that certainly if human rights were of great concern especially to my Republican colleagues with respect to Iran, it certainly should be the case when it comes to North Korea which does have the worst human rights record on earth.

HARLOW: What will tell you in your mind that this summit has been more than a photo-op, but has been a success? Because we know from the latest polling out just a few days ago from Quinnipiac, 72 percent of Americans are supportive of this meeting.

You're looking at live pictures right now. Look, you can see for the first time this evening, and let me bring Anderson Cooper back in with me.

Anderson, we can see for first time this evening shots there just moments ago of Kim Jong-un leaving his motorcade. And this is moments after he's left the Marina Bay Sands Hotel there in Singapore. It's dark, obviously.

COOPER: Yes.

HARLOW: It's almost 10:20 at night, Anderson. But you saw his face moments ago.

COOPER: Yes, and it's an area called Gardens by the Bay, which is right near the hotel that he ended up going to. There was a picture tweeted out with Singapore's Foreign minister as well, so there you see large security detail and Kim there in the middle of it.

[10:20:00] And really fascinating that he's chosen some 11 hours before his historic sit-down with President Trump to go for a bit of a walk about in Singapore. He's obviously never been here before. Hasn't spent much time frankly outside North Korea. So security, which is always tight in this city state, is especially tight now. And the security detail for Kim is enormous.

Those are -- that's North Korean state television documenting basically all his movements for North Korean state television. And we were told earlier in the day that some of these locations were being scouted out by North Korean officials. So we had some sense that this might be in the offing, Poppy, and he has the -- the Singapore Foreign minister actually is by his side and as I said, a tweet was sent out with a picture of them, which we'll show you, in a little bit as well.

But these are the first images that we we're getting, taken a short time ago. We did see his motorcade leaving that hotel area already. But it is also a sign just of -- go ahead, Poppy.

HARLOW: I was saying, Anderson, you're there, you're on the ground, it's remarkable to see what has happened for a regime, a rogue leader who has barely left his country to have in a matter of, you know, two months to have these meetings, you know, twice with President Xi Jinping of China, twice with U.S. secretary of State and now just less than 12 hours away from sitting down one-on-one in a room with the leader of the free world, with the president of the United States, with no other advisers in the room, with just the translators.

COOPER: Yes. This is a regime which has sought legitimacy for decades, going back to his grandfather, obviously his father. There you see the Foreign minister taking a selfie right there and we -- that selfie has actually already been sent out, we'll show it to you shortly. So they paused to take a selfie. I'm not sure how many times Kim Jong-un has been photographed in a selfie before. That may be first time.

HARLOW: Yes.

COOPER: But it is certainly a sign of -- that he's in a very different location than he normally is in Pyongyang. There, now you see there he is lit up by the cameras from North Korean state television. It is fascinating to see. As you said, Poppy, you know, this is a man who just in the last several months has made two trips to China.

HARLOW: Yes.

COOPER: Has met obviously with the leader of South Korea as well, stepped over the border into South Korea. He also pulled the leader of South Korea, had him walk and step over into North Korea as well in sort of a power move.

HARLOW: Right.

COOPER: Has met with the Russian Foreign minister, so in terms of what one of the things Kim Jong-un had hoped to achieve in this summit, he may have already achieved just a level of --

HARLOW: Sure.

COOPER: Of legitimacy sitting one-on-one with the president of the United States and being viewed on the world stage along with the leader of China, with the Foreign minister of Russia, and with others.

HARLOW: And, Anderson, as we look at these -- obviously those are the camera flashes, it's, you know, almost 10:30 at night there, we see these images. He's also seeing what economic prosperity can bring, right, Anderson? And that's the message and part of the sell here from the Trump administration to Kim and to his regime is, look, if you denuclearize, we will lift these sanctions that will make you -- the president has said, will make you very rich and will make North Korea prosperous and rich once again.

I mean, you look at the immense wealth in Singapore and he's seeing that firsthand with what he's visited tonight.

COOPER: I mean, Singapore is a city state, it's an extraordinarily wealthy city state. The difference between here, obviously, and North Korea could not be any more stark.

HARLOW: Yes.

COOPER: Even when you see satellite images of South Korea and North Korea at night, the difference between the electricity output, the number of lights in South Korea compared to North Korea, he already has a sense of where North Korea is in terms of -- in terms of financial security, in terms of economic security. But certainly walking around in Singapore is unlike anything else he has done so far.

Kaitlan Collins is also standing by.

Kaitlan, President Trump has not actually gone outside in the time that he's been here, correct? He got off the plane, he met with the prime minister of Singapore today, I believe he met with some diplomats as well. But for the most part, he's been in his hotel. Is that correct?

[10:25:03] COLLINS: Yes, he has, Anderson. The White House actually issued a lid earlier this afternoon. Of course, it's now 10:30 almost here in Singapore. Around 3:00 or so this afternoon, the White House issued a lid, which means we won't see President Trump likely again until tomorrow when he's on his way to meet with Kim Jong-un. So no word on what President Trump has been doing. But he has stayed behind closed doors because if he was going to go anywhere, to a restaurant, something, along the lines of what Kim is doing here, they would have to take a slew of reporters with them.

So it is interesting to see that less than 12 hours before this meeting, Kim Jong-un, someone who rarely leaves his own country, this is the furthest he's ever traveled, is out and about on the town in Singapore. As you saw there, he was walking into the Marina Bay Sands, a very popular hotel and casino inside of it here in Singapore.

And as he walked in, people were cheering for Kim Jong-un. So certainly an interesting reception that the North Korean dictator is receiving. Someone who rarely leaves outside of his country. I think he's only left maybe two or three times since he came into power. This is certainly the furthest he's ever gone.

And it really gives us an insight into what his mindset is before this high stakes meeting tomorrow. He's not back at his hotel preparing at the St. Regis. Instead he's out and about with the Foreign minister from Singapore. That really does make you think about what these two leaders are going to walk into this meeting like.

President Trump is more than double Kim Jong-un's age. They both certainly are going to have some jet lag, a lot of pressure on both of these leaders, but it is interesting to see the way that Kim Jong-un is dealing with that pressure, going out and about in a city that he has not been to before since he came to power. And it does really kind of set the stage for what tomorrow morning could look like.

COOPER: Of course, part of that may be intentional, may be that he wants to project a sense of confidence that he's so well-prepared, that he is happy to just walk around and take -- and there you see Kim taking a selfie with the Foreign minister from Singapore. A lot of potential brinksmanship, gamesmanship going on here, but fascinating, there you see on the right-hand side of your screen from earlier, Kim Jong-un walking amidst that huge security detail, which follows him everywhere.

Oftentimes -- you see that his motorcade there on the left. You oftentimes see the security guards running along the side of his vehicle, about a dozen or so of them running alongside. Not this time, though, but they are certainly surrounding him as he goes for a walk about.

Manusha Tank is standing by. Manusha, you've been outside Kim's hotel for quite some time. You saw

the preparations for this. This has been going on now for hours, the preparation for Kim leaving the St. Regis.

MANUSHA TANK, CNN REPORTER: Yes, indeed, Anderson. It is now -- we're looking at coming up to half past 10:00 in the evening here. The center of Singapore outside the St. Regis. I saw the motorcycles, the police motorbikes lining up just before 6:00 p.m. local. It took them about three hours before they were ready to leave.

Now I can tell you something that's unfolding around me right now, which is we're seeing more police suddenly on the street. It was otherwise empty. Now what that normally means is a precursor to someone very important, possibly arriving at the hotel. So we're going to keep eyes on that for you.

What we normally do is to see a bit of an intensification, police officers normally come over and they warn us to stay off the road, and we'll begin to see motorcycles with their flashing lights appear as they clear the road for security reasons and safety before any motorcade can come in.

This is the kind of movement that we've over the past couple of days, but that is a movement we saw what is roughly an hour and a half ago and right before we got all of those pictures of Kim Jong-un meeting with the Foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, walking from Gardens by the Bay and Marina Sands, which as a resident of Singapore, I can tell you that whenever a visitor comes to town, those are the two first places you're going to take them if you want them to see your city.

So we're just waiting, wondering if that motorcade is on its way back. We're certainly seeing an increased security presence here, but he didn't leave the hotel the entire day. I have been here the whole time, outside the St. Regis, we didn't see any movement. We saw delegations come and go, but we did not see the North Korean leader move until this evening. And it has taken a massive logistical and detailed effort.

So it will be interesting in the morning to see when things begin to get that motorcade under way to get him to Sentosa Island, which I estimate is about a 30-minute drive or so from this point, Anderson.

HARLOW: Anderson, looking at these images here, I think we saw when he was lit up a bit, Kim Jong-un smiling, taking in the sites here, an image of him we don't see very often of him out, just and about, and enjoying himself.