Return to Transcripts main page
NEWS STREAM
The Second Trump-Kim Summit Ends Without An Agreement; President Trump Heads Back To Increasing Pressure In Washington After His Former Fixer, Michael Cohen, Goes On A Quest For Redemption On Capitol Hill; Decades-Old Rivals, India And Pakistan At A Standoff. Aired: 8:00-9a ET
Aired February 28, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST, "NEWS STREAM" (voice over): No deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety. We had to walk away from that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): The second Trump-Kim Summit ends without an agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIIKE POMPEO, U.S.. STATE SECRETARY: I wish we could have gotten a little bit further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): On the defensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He lied a lot.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY OF DONALD TRUMP: He is a racist, he is a conman, and he is a cheat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): President Trump heads back to increasing pressure in Washington after his former fixer, Michael Cohen, goes on a quest for
redemption on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: I pray the country doesn't make the same mistakes that I have made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): Tension re-ignited. Decades-old rivals, India and Pakistan at a standoff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: India will work as one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): As Pakistan offers an olive branch.
LU STOUT (on camera): I'm Kristi Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." The Summit between the U.S.. and North Korea comes to an
abrupt end without any deal as President Donald Trump returns to a political firestorm back in Washington.
The U.S.. President claimed the meeting was productive, but said talks broke down when Kim Jong-un insisted the U.S.. lift all sanctions. Mr.
Trump added, "Sometimes, you just have to walk away."
Now, meanwhile, the President is slamming his former lawyer and fixer, Michal Cohen after his public testimony before Congress on Wednesday. Mr.
Trump called Cohen a liar and complained that Democrats held the hearing during his Summit in Vietnam. But he says that there is one thing his
former lawyer didn't lie about, "No Russian collusion."
Now, we are covering all of this with our reporters and analysts on both sides of the world. Let's begin with CNN's Michelle Kosinski in Hanoi.
And Michelle, there was so much optimism for a deal there in Hanoi, and now, we're hearing, after no deal, that Donald Trump is asking South Korea
and its President to mediate. What is going on here?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Hi, Kristie, you're right. Less than 24 hours ago, it seemed something had to come out
of this, right, to come all the way out here and do this, it seemed both sides were finally at the point to walk away with something. The only
question seemed to be what is it going be?
Well, now we know the surprise ending to this very Trumpian cliffhanger is nothing. They could not even agree on a basic definition of what
denuclearization would be. They couldn't even finish this summit and have lunch together.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KOSINSKI (voice-over): The President traveled 8,000 miles and comes away empty-handed. The Vietnam summit with Kim Jong-un quickly turned south,
leaving the President with no distraction from Michael Cohen's damaging testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that. It was a very productive
few days, but sometimes you have to walk.
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I wish we would have gotten a little bit further, but I'm very optimistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): There were good signs early. Kim Jong-un keeping denuclearization on the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (Through a translator): If I'm not willing to do that, I won't be here right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): But after many pleasantries on camera, talks in private did not lead to any breakthrough. A working lunch and signing
ceremony that had been on the schedule never happened, an abrupt end to talks overnight with the White House saying, "No agreement was reached at
this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future."
The President did make one stunning headline, letting Kim off the hook for the death of American hostage, Otto Warmbier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Those prisons are rough. They're rough places. He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): The Summit itself largely overshadowed by testimony back home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman and he is a cheat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): Explosive allegations by Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. The President responding this morning, slamming
the Democrats for holding the hearing while he was here at the Summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It was pretty shameful. He lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing, he said, "No collusion with the
Russian hoax."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): Cohen's testimony upstaged any kind of progress, the self-described dealmaker hoped to gain in his second Summit with the
North Korean leader.
The U.S.. was hoping for more concrete steps from Pyongyang towards a deal that is verifiable and enforceable. On time will tell now whether the
future holds more of this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI (voice over): -- or this.
[08:05:08]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd much rather do it right than do it fast.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KOSINSKI: Now, an official source tells CNN that in the days leading up to this Summit, President Trump was warned by his own aides that the North
Koreans weren't budging on their demands that the U.S. lift all sanctions and that this was unlikely to reach an agreement, but that the President
felt like meeting in person was going to lead to something. So this is once again proof that President Trump's insistence on a top down approach
to this extremely complicated and decades-long problem is not necessarily going to work out the way that he intends -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: And in the end, we have no deal, no agreement, and as you put it, a Trumpian cliffhanger in Hanoi. Michelle Kosinski, reporting live for
us. Thank you.
Michael Cohen will be back on Capitol Hill next hour for a third day of testimony, this time behind closed doors. Lauren Fox joins me now from
Capitol Hill in Washington and Laura, good to see you. After yesterday's damning testimony, Michael Cohen is getting ready for round three. This
time, again, behind closed doors. Tell us what's going to happen next.
LAUREN FOX, POLITICS CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, CNN: Well, we expect him to meet with the House Intelligence Committee today where we do expect him to
get more into questions about whether or not Russia influenced the 2016 election, whether or not they had any communication with the Trump
campaign.
But, you know, yesterday was such a blockbuster day on Capitol Hill and Michael Cohen knew his audience. He knew he is a man who has lied to
Congress in the past. He came with evidence yesterday. He brought with him a check that he says shows that the President of the United States
reimbursed him for money that he had already paid to two women who had been silenced during the 2016 campaign, women who say that they had alleged
affairs with the President.
So all of that happened yesterday in this very intense setting. Take a look at exactly what Michael Cohen said yesterday at that hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: A copy of a check Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bank account after he became President to reimburse me for the hush money payments I
made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and to prevent damage to his campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that the President committed a crime while in office?
ELIJAH CUMMINGS, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, MARYLAND, DEMOCRAT: Based on what -- looking at the checks and listening to Mr. Cohen, it appears that he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Now, Kristie, the Committee is deeply divided about whether or not to believe Michael Cohen, but you heard there, Democrats say that this is a
man who has nothing left to lose. Why would he come before Congress and lie again? Many of them that I talk to including Cummings says, they
believe what he had to say.
Now, Republicans on the other hand, they said this is somebody who has already been convicted of lying on Capitol Hill. He cannot be believed and
they spent most of their time of that testimony trying to discredit the witness, expect much behind closed doors today that will look very similar
to what we saw yesterday. Of course, we'll have to be talking to sources coming out of that meeting because it will not be televised like yesterday
-- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, it was interesting to see the Republican response. They were on attack mode going after Cohen, but not necessarily defending the
U.S. President. Lauren Fox, we're going to have to leave it at that, but thank you so much for your reporting.
Now, let's go back to the Summit that was cut short today. Despite the friendly language between the U.S. and North Korea, there was no deal made.
Now, two experts join me from Hanoi. Joseph Yun is a CNN global affairs analyst and former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea policy.
David Sanger is a CNN political national security analyst and a national security correspondent for the "New York Times." To you both, thank you
for joining us here in the program.
And David, let's start with you. No agreement, no deal, no lunch even. Trump says it was all about the sanctions. I wanted to get your thoughts
on this. Why did this break down?
DAVID SANGER, POLITICAL NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, CNN: Well, I think it broke down for a couple of reasons, Kristie. The first is the President I
bet and think overinvested a little bit in his own ability to go persuade Chairman Kim.
Mr. Trump has got no shortage of confidence in his own negotiating skills, and I think in this case, the problem was that as the two leaders moved
towards this date, it was clear neither one of them was really in a position to move very much.
The second reason was that the North Koreans were insisting on a full lifting of all major sanctions, but without giving up all of their nuclear
capability. They were talking about closing parts or all of Yongbyon, a major facility you tend to see pictures of.
[08:10:09]
SANGER: But there are other facilities, including a uranium enrichment facility that the President acknowledged in a news conference today was
part of this that are outside of Yongbyon
And therefore, they were sites that the United States and international inspectors who would want to go see elsewhere in the country. It looks
like Chairman Kim was not willing to go along down that road. He wanted to retain something. And I think President's top advisers, including Mike
Pompeo and John Bolton, both significantly hawkish than he is, sort of stepped in and said, "You can't do this."
LU STOUT: Yes, so the North Koreans reluctant to give up key components of their weapons program, in the end, Donald Trump saying, "You've got to walk
away." Sometimes you have to walk away from the deal, and Joseph, I want to get your thoughts on that. Is no deal better than a bad deal? Could
President Trump be right?
JOSEPH YUN, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, CNN: Well, yes. I mean, no deal is always better than a bad deal, but I get the feeling there was some deal
that he could have had, it could have been -- it would have been limited both on the sanctions side and denuclearization side, but keeping the
process alive.
Look, he flew, what? Round trip? Sixteen - seventeen thousand miles and going back empty handed? I mean, that's not good. And I would have
thought at least, they would put in a process, agreed to a small deal that could for example, opening liaison offices, doing an end-of-war declaration
and beginning the process of denuclearization. So I am quite disappointed, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, we were expecting perhaps, as you mentioned, the liaison office, maybe a diplomatic upgrade, but nothing, not even the possibility
of more talks. David, back to you. So no deal, despite that, President Trump is still remaining optimistic that North Korea will refrain from
missile testing and nuclear testing, but could we see those launches again?
SANGER: Well, you could, but in the interim, I think that another big problem that they face really isn't in the missile testing and in the
nuclear testing, which the North Koreans have done plenty. It's the fact that the President didn't get a freeze on the production of new nuclear
material.
So the country whose arsenal is growing faster than almost any on Earth is going to be able increase its size, a form of pressure on the President
while this drags on. And right now, the best estimates are, North Korea is maybe 30 or maybe a bit more in nuclear weapons, but if this went on for
some times, and I suspect it could go on for months, if not years, I think you're going to see that arsenal get up near the sizes of those, of say,
France, Pakistan, and India.
LU STOUT: Very worrying development. Joseph, final question for you. The North Koreans, they will continue investing in developing their weapons
program, and Hanoi resulted in nothing. Trump and Kim, they went their separate ways. No clear road map, no commitment for another meeting. What
needs to happen next?
YUN: Kristie, I think you can see this like the first meeting in Singapore, it was not much preparation. You know, for example, Special
Representative Beigun probably had one session of negotiations, that's not enough, and this tells you the weakness of top-down diplomacy top-down
Summitry. You have to have more face-to-face meetings.
So I would hope that that would begin at least at working level, have meetings and decide where we agree and what to leave behind for something
we disagree. So this shows you that there is a lot more work that needs to be done before having the next Summit meeting.
LU STOUT: And hopefully more preparation before the next Summit meeting. Joseph Yu and David Sanger joining us live from Hanoi, a big thank you to
you both.
Now, let's take a deeper look at what Donald Trump will be facing when he arrives back in Washington. Our senior political analyst, John Avlon joins
us now from New York. John, good to see you. President Trump at this moment, he is flying back from Hanoi with no deal and this on the back of
the Cohen hearings, no less. What will President Trump be walking into when he touches down in D.C.?
JOHN AVLON, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, CNN: He's going to walk into a Washington that has been really set on fire by what will ultimately be
three days of hearings by Michael Cohen, only one of which were public yesterday with his testimony to the House of Representatives.
[08:15:00]
AVLON: But I think we can already say that yesterday's testimony was the most consequential of any Presidential whistleblower since John Dean helped
topple Richard Nixon back in 1970s. That doesn't mean that President Trump is on a trajectory to be impeached, but we know from yesterday's testimony
that he is in more legal jeopardy than he was when he flew to Hanoi.
We know more information about a check he wrote to Michael Cohen while he was President, a personal check to reimburse him for payments to Stormy
Daniels which he says was also companied by a request to keep quiet. We know about a new previously unknown investigation by the Southern District
of New York that implicates President Trump. We know there are implications in tax fraud, insurance fraud, bank fraud -- all of these are
new problems that illustrate the jeopardy he is in and that is outside things like Cohen's testimony that Trump knew about Roger Stone's
connections with WikiLeaks.
So it's very consequential, high stakes stuff, Republicans just focused on the attack, the attack, the attack, and didn't dig into the questions. But
the questions themselves and the evidence he handed over are extremely significant for the trajectory of this Presidency.
LU STOUT: I want to dig in further with you on the Cohen testimony and was revealed and what is politically potentially most damaging for the
President, but before then, I want to connect the dots here between Hanoi and Washington, D.C. and the political damage to the President.
We know this is a man who talks about the art of the deal, who has called himself the dealmaker. He has worked so hard to cultivate this reputation,
so how fragile does it look now after Hanoi?
AVLON: I'll let you in on a little secret here. He's actually not good at making deals. That was always just hype. It was branding. It was
marketing. We've seen enough evidence of him as President to know that is actually not a strong suit.
He should, as Joseph Yun just pointed out, at least a little bit of a signing ceremony, something symbolic to indicate good will. Instead, he
comes back with nothing. That said, a no deal is better than a bad deal. That's correct. Members of the administration are going to be reaching for
Reagan at Reykjavik parallels. Don't buy it. This was a disappointment of a Summit and that combined with yesterday's taking on water on the hill,
it's not been a good 48 hours for the President.
He is depending on Republicans just stay in line with them and attack, attack anybody who raises questions, but that's not going to work with the
legal system as it goes forward.
LU STOUT: Yes, and let's talk more about the Republican response because they did go on the attack. You know, they were on the attack, directing
their ire against Cohen again and again calling him a liar, but they didn't necessarily defend the President. What do you make of that?
AVLON: Right, well, it's fascinating. There's a blind quote in today's "Washington Post" from a senior Republican saying, "Look, we didn't defend
the President because we think he's actually indefensible, so we're going to focus on attacking the credibility of the witness," in effect.
With the exception of Justin Amash, a libertarian congressman from Michigan, they only focused their attacks on Michael Cohen, who has been
convicted of lying, but lying on behalf of Donald Trump, and that's a real lost opportunity. There were no questions from Republicans about the
substance of the serious allegations his former personal lawyer and enforcer made against the President of the United States. This is an
indication that the Party is in division, how partisanship and hyper- partisanship makes this stupid, and it's a real sign of the problems afflicting our democracy right now.
LU STOUT: And also showing Trump's vulnerability looking forward to 2020. John Avlon, thank you so much for joining us. Take care.
AVLON: Thank you.
LU STOUT: Now, you're watching "News Stream" and still to come right here on the program, an olive branch and another escalation as Pakistan prepares
to make a goodwill gesture towards India, but deadly cross border skirmishes go on. We have got more from both countries, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:20:00]
LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, in a bid to deescalate tensions between India and Pakistan, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says his country
will release a detained Indian pilot as a gesture for peace. The pilot was captured after his plane was shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir
on Tuesday, but Pakistan's military is claiming four of its civilians are dead and two more injured after a cross border fire from India into
Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the Indian Army has responded saying in a statement that "Pakistan initiated the attacks on Thursday morning.
Now, in a moment, we will hear from Nikhil Kumar in New Delhi, but first, journalist, Ben Farmer joins us from Islamabad. And Ben, we know India has
been demanding for the release of this pilot. Pakistan is now saying yes. Imran Khan is saying that this is a good will gesture, but still, the
tension remains. What's the latest?
BEN FARMER, JOURNALIST: Yes. Well, the tension is still very high. As you say, there's gunfire and artillery fire being traded across the line of
control in Kashmir. So despite Mr. Khan's overture, things are still very tense.
Now, what we're waiting to see is what the Indian government says in response to Mr. Khan. Mr. Khan says that it's a peace gesture to release
the Indian wing commander who was shot down in an aerial dogfight over Kashmir yesterday. He told lawmakers that his overture was not a sign of
weakness, but he did want to de-escalate the conflict.
LU STOUT: We are waiting for the Indian government response and Nikhil, very curious about the response of the people across India, especially
people throughout the nation. They saw a video of that captured Indian pilot, at one point being dragged around on the ground. Now, Pakistan says
it plans to release him. Will that diffuse the anger? What's the reaction there?
NIKHIL KUMAR, NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF, CNN: Well, Kristie, so far, I mean, this has been seen as promising news, but only promising. It needs to
happen is what we are seeing in the media here, the reaction to what Imran Khan said in Pakistan.
India officially as you say, hasn't yet responded and as Ben said, the tensions remain high on that side of the border and on this side of the
border. What happened over the past two days, the introduction of air power in the conflict between these two countries, we haven't seen that for
a long, long time when two days ago India said that it had sent its jets across the line of control, the de facto border that divides the disputed
Kashmir region, India hadn't done that since the 1971 war with Pakistan.
So many, many decades we haven't seen that, and so it sort of - it raised tensions to a whole new level. Pakistan's actions yesterday which India
views very much as an escalation with their jets striking targets on this side, so it's been very, very tense and the concern always, of course, is
that no matter how a conflict between these two countries begins, the fact that they have nuclear arms, nobody knows how it will end. That's the
biggest risk here -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. And Ben, a lot of questions about the Pakistan fighter jet activity that led to the capture of this Indian pilot. Do we
know exactly what happened and why?
FARMER: There are two very different conflicting claims to what happened. Pakistan says that it launched airstrikes on an Indian territory. It says
that these were symbolic strikes targeting open ground, it says that soon after that, there was a confrontation with Indian jets. It claims to have
shot two jets down.
It says that one of them crashed on the Indian side and one of them crashed on the Pakistani side, now India says that it did lose one jet and it says
that one of its airmen is missing, but it also says that it shot down a Pakistani jet. Pakistan refutes that's totally. So two very different
stories here.
LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely, and Nikhil, the political fallout there in India, how is Narendra Modi navigating this crisis and how has it altered
the political landscape for him?
[08:25:00]
KUMAR: Well, you know, we have to go back to really the trigger for all of this, Kristie, to understand some of this.
India is only months away from a general election and on the 14th of February, we had a massive car bomb attack in India-administered Kashmir
where 40 Indian paramilitaries were killed. The worst attack on Indian forces there in several decades since the late 1980s. That added pressure
on the government here to act.
You will recall in 2016, the last time that tensions went up. They went up because an Indian military installation was hit, India blamed Pakistan-
based gunmen. India said that it sent troops across the line of control to strike targets, but as Ben points out in this case, two different stories,
that's what we had then, as well. Pakistan saying, no that didn't happen, it was just an exchange of fire.
Given that India has said that it reacted muscularly, then there was a lot of pressure to do so now, which is why when India came out with its news,
its version that it had sent jets across the line of control to strike what it said was a terrorist training camp, it was seen here very much as a
response -- a fitting response -- in the face of the terror attack on the 14th of February.
The concern, again, I come back to the concern here of course is, no matter what the context, no matter what the pressures of the elections coming up,
the main concern for everybody and the one thing that nobody wants is for this to escalate to a point where it ends up in an endless spiral and at
the end of it, we're talking about nuclear weapons. That concerns India, it concerns Pakistan and it concerns the wider world -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: That's right. We don't want to see this happen as the tension escalating further between these two nuclear powers. The world is
watching. Nikhil Kumar reporting live for us from New Delhi. Ben Farmer live for us from Islamabad, we thank both of you for your reporting.
You're watching "News Stream" and still to come, Donald Trump, he is jammed between a rock and a hard place facing a political uproar in Washington on
the heels of an inconclusive Summit in Hanoi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I am Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and you are watching "News Stream." Right now, the U.S. President is on his way back to Washington
where he is face the aftermath of an explosive public hearing starring his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.
Donald Trump departed just a few hours ago from Vietnam after an abrupt conclusion to his Summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The two
leaders parted without a deal.
Pyongyang was demanding a complete lifting of sanctions. The U.S. refused. Now, Mr. Trump says he is in no rush to sign an agreement saying quote,
"What's important is that we do the right deal." Paula Hancocks joins us live from Hanoi.
And Paula, good to see you. Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, walked away with no agreement and now we're learning that President Trump is asking the South
Korean President, Moon Jae-in, to step in and mediate. What have you heard?
[08:30:05]
PAULA HANCOCKS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, Kristie, we know that as soon as President Trump got on board Air Force One, he took off, he then did call
the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in and said that he would like him to act as a mediator between the United States and North Korea.
This really is nothing new. We have seen the South Korean President act as mediator really from day one. Moon Jae-in has placed a lot on these talks
going well. He has staked his credibility on engaging North Korea succeeding, and actually, it resulting in some kind of deal at the end of
the day.
So certainly, there's a lot of pressure on him at the moment. The U.S. President is asking him to step in again. We did hear a fairly rosy
outlook from the Blue House, their statement after that both side walked away without a deal, but we did also hear from a South Korean official
saying that he was as perplexed as the rest of the world when it ended abruptly.
So that really shows the surprise of everybody that this didn't go as it was expected to go.
LU STOUT: Yes, expectations were so high for an agreement and when the meeting ended so abruptly, it was a shock. Now, the challenge ahead for
the South Korean President, it's been a deja vu here. He must decide how to proceed with Kim Jong-un in North Korea without alienating the U.S., he
has done it before, but will it be just as tricky or even trickier now?
HANCOCKS: Well, I think certainly it will and we know that the U.S. President also spoke to Shinzo Abe from Japan and from the read-out from
Tokyo, they're saying that Mr. Abe agreed with what Mr. Trump had done.
One interesting thing though, Kristie, is the fact that we do have one official who is familiar with these negotiations telling CNN's Kevin Liptak
that Trump had been warned that the North Koreans were going to demand that all sanctions be lifted.
The fact that there was this expectation even going into these talks that the North Koreans were not going to be flexible as they have not been for
previous decades, many times before, many U.S. Presidents and officials have come up against this.
But according to these officials, the U.S. President thought that he could still make a deal with Kim Jong-un and he had been apparently advised by
his closest aides that if it wasn't going to be fruitful, if these talks were not going to reap rewards, then he did have to walk away.
But I think, certainly from the South Korean point of view, there is going to be a scramble to try and make this work. Remember, Kim Jong-un was
supposed to be coming to Seoul. That was going to be next historic moment in these episodes and I've been hearing from people within Seoul that they
were just going to make sure this went well, this particular meeting with the U.S. President and then they were going to look to Kim Jong-un's
historic visit to Seoul, the first time a North Korean leader was going to go to Seoul, and of course, that's all up in the air now -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, everything is up in the air, no commitment for a third Summit, no deal, really no idea what is going to be happening next. Paula
Hancocks reporting live for us. Thank you very much.
Now, while Donald Trump's focus has been on the North Korean Summit, Michael Cohen's testimony against the President was stealing the spotlight
in Washington.
On Wednesday, the former Trump personal lawyer said that there was still more bad news to come for President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ILLINOIS, DEMOCRAT: Is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding Donald
Trump that we haven't yesterday discussed today?
COHEN: Yes, and, again, those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: To explore the legal ramifications of Michael Cohen's testimony, I'm joined by CNN legal analyst, Elie Honig in Washington. Thank you so
much for joining us. Damning testimony from Michael Cohen, that's the adjective we keep hearing over and over again, but legally, what can land
the biggest potential blow to the U.S. President?
ELIE HONIG, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: So if I was representing the President, the thing I would tell him to be most worried about is what is coming down
the line and we got a taste of it in that sound that we just heard. One of the things Michael Cohen told us is that the Southern District of New York,
my former office, which is the Federal prosecutor's office, has several ongoing investigations of Donald Trump, and unlike Robert Mueller who is
sort of limited in what he was instructed to look at, which is Russian interference in the election, the Southern District can get into the Trump
Foundation, the Trump Organization, the Inaugural, wherever the evidence may lead it.
So that would be of concern to me if I was in the President's shoes or on the President's legal team. Beyond that, some of the things that Michael
Cohen testified about could be crimes in and of themselves.
I think Michael Cohen made a fairly forceful clear case that the President was engaged in making these hush money payments to women who allegedly had
had affairs with the President which could be violations of campaign finance law. He brought a check with him. He had testimony about it, but
he also brought two personal checks from the President that go to that crime.
[08:30:12]
HONIG: So I think there is some potential liability for the President there.
LU STOUT: Yes, so this is a big legal takeaway for the President. There will be, yes, more political hearings in Washington, but Cohen's testimony
escalates Trump's legal troubles in New York.
HONIG: Yes, absolutely. And, again, it expands the scope of those legal troubles, as well because when the Southern District gets involved, there's
no restraint as to what they can look at. There's no restraint as to time. Robert Mueller is under some time pressure and there's been reporting that
he's in the process of wrapping up.
The Southern District of New York has been there for centuries and will be there for as long as they need. So the Southern District does pose a
different kind of challenge and threat to the President, and on top of that, I think yesterday, we just saw sort of the opening act in what I
expect to be a long series of congressional investigations.
That this new Congress, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives that just took office in January and yesterday was their first sort of
major exercise of the subpoena power and I think we should expect to see a lot more of that over the next almost two years.
LU STOUT: Yes, short-term, we're going to see or hear more. We'll find out behind the scenes, it's a closed door hearing, but Michael Cohen is
going to be speaking more, offering more information that he has about the U.S. President, what is he getting in return for his testimony? What's in
it for him?
HONIG: Great question, and I think, a lot of people are asking that and I think we got an answer yesterday. Michael Cohen said yesterday when he was
asked that he is hoping for what is called Rule 35 benefits.
Now, Rule 35 is a Federal rule of criminal procedure here in the United States and it says that after a defendant already has been sentenced, and
we know Cohen has already been sentenced to three years, the prosecutor has the ability to go back to the judge and say, "Judge, I want to ask you to
further reduce his sentence because he has continued to cooperate." It's somewhat rare.
I did it in my career a handful of times, maybe five to ten times, but in a case like this, Michael Cohen said he's hoping to get that additional
benefit which in my view heavily incentivizes him to A, continue cooperating and, B, to tell the truth because the worst thing he can do
here is lie and get caught in a lie because then, he certainly won't get any further sentencing benefit.
In fact, you could get charged with a new crime, so I think people should take that into account when assessing Michael Cohen's credibility.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. Cohen could be motivated by self-interest to come clean here. Elie Honig, thank you so much for joining us here in the
program. Talk again soon.
HONIG: Thanks for having me.
LU STOUT: Yes, you're watching "News Stream" and still ahead, Donald Trump says he doesn't want to rush things with north Korea, but after two high
stake Summits, what's really changed when it comes to Pyongyang giving up its nuclear weapons? We'll take a look at what got us just to this point,
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: The highly anticipated second Summit between the U.S. President and the leader of North Korea has ended with well, essentially nothing. No
new agreement regarding denuclearizing. No verifiable freeze on North Korea's nuclear program, no lifting of Washington sanctions on Pyongyang,
not even lunch.
Well, Mr. Trump indicated, there just wasn't a deal to be made this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Sometimes you have to walk. We had to walk away. For this particular visit, we decided that we had to walk.
You always have to be prepared to walk.
You have to be prepared to walk.
I am always prepared to walk.
[08:40:10]
TRUMP: I am never afraid to walk from a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, Mr. Kim was demanding total sanctions relief in exchange for only partial denuclearization, but that plan just wasn't going to work
for the U.S. President. And yes, the two were friendly, as they strolled around the pool in Hanoi. But let's not forget how things stood not that
long ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to
totally destroy North Korea.
Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: That seems like ages ago, but that was less than a year and a half ago when Mr. Trump was speaking at the United Nations. Mr. Kim fired
back with, quote, "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire." Unquote.
Just two months before that, on July the 4th, 2017, American Independence Day, North Korea conducted its first successful test of an ICBM, an
intercontinental ballistic missile which led to a massively escalation in tension.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: But North Korea's nuclear ambitions didn't let up. More missile tests, more photos of supposed hydrogen bombs, the New Year brought new
insults. Remember that infamous "my nuclear button is bigger than yours" exchange that we all saw on Twitter.
But suddenly, a few days later, the White House said that it was willing to hold talks with North Korea, and in March, after the Olympics in South
Korea, Mr. Trump accepted North Korea's invitation to meet.
High level talks went on behind the scenes in Pyongyang and in April, Mr. Kim announced that North Korea was suspending all nuclear tests and
shutting down a nuclear test site.
Then we saw Moon Jae-in shake hands for the first time with Kim Jong-un, setting the tone for the you first Summit that would eventually happen
after a few major hiccups between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim in June of 2018.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Denuclearizing North Korea, we have a wonderful relationship going between our country and them. We're being helped a lot by Japan and very
much by President Moon of South Korea and North Korea is going along very well. We will have made a tremendous amount of progress since this time
last year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: In short, those first talks were unprecedented. They were surreal, even triumphant in some ways. Pyongyang had been asking for years
for a meeting with the sitting U.S. President and it got one. Washington didn't want North Korea to test any more missiles and it hasn't since.
But there were no new verifiable written commitments towards denuclearization then, and as President Trump departs Hanoi this time, the
world is still asking what's changed?
And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristi Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, we have got "World Sport" with Alex Thomas, next.
(SPORTS)
[09:00:00]
END
