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Men Rescued from Virginia Cave; Draft Pick Shot After Being Selected; Pledge Signed for Warmbier's Release; Avengers Move Shatters Records. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 29, 2019 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, guys, we're going to have to leave it here. I know it's going to be --

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't -- I don't disagree with that, Mr. (INAUDIBLE), I just need -- I must think the party needs a message.

SCIUTTO: All right. We're going to -- we're going to -- we're going to continue the conversation --

MICHAEL NUTTER (D), FORMER MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA: You'll hear a message from many of our candidates and you'll certainly hear something from Joe Biden today.

SCIUTTO: All right, David Urban, Michael Nutter, thanks very much.

Hours after becoming an NFL rookie, a draft pick for the New York Giants is shot and his college teammate is killed. We're going to have more just after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Five men are now free after being trapped in a cave in Virginia for nearly two days. The group entered the cave on Friday night. They got stuck there. Rescue crews worked around the clock despite heavy rain, chilly temperatures, to pull the men finally to safety.

CNN's Alexandra Field, she's live in Cleveland, Virginia.

So, Alex, first of all, how are the men doing this morning and how did they get them out?

[09:35:00] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They've all been taken to the hospital to be checked out. Certainly they are starting to recover from what was a harrowing weekend. These are a group of men who had planned to go into what's called Cyclopes Cave. There are about seven miles of passageways in the cave. It is on private property. But it does peak the interest of explorers. Their plan, again, to spend some time down there. But it seems they got down there, they didn't have enough food, they didn't have enough water, they had an unexpected downpour and suddenly they found themselves trapped, unable to make their way out. Early in the hours of Sunday morning, one man did get out. He is the

one who went and got help. He was able to let authorities know where exactly his friends were. The group of men stuck inside ranging in age from 34 to 59. Local and state cave rescue workers came together to plot a plan to get them out. They immediately went in to go and see the condition of these men who were exhausted and fighting off hypothermia. They were able to bring them some warm blankets and some food and then to lead them back out.

The rescue workers involved in the operation say that when they got down there and saw the group, certainly the group was in good spirits. And, Jim, we imagine smiles on all of their faces when they saw that help had arrived after two days in that cave.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we're just glad they're safe.

Alexandra Field, thanks very much.

Just hours after being drafted by the New York Giants on Saturday, an NFL rookie is wounded in a shooting. That same shooting killed a college teammate.

Andy Scholes joining us now with the latest.

Just heartbreaking for all involved here. What happened?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is heartbreaking, Jim.

And, you know, just hours after fulfilling a childhood dream of playing in the NFL, 23-year-old Corey Ballentine was shot at an off campus party in Topeka, Kansas. And Ballentine, who played college football at Washburn University, he was drafted by the Giants Saturday afternoon. And here was the call Giants Head Coach Pat Shurmur made to Ballentine after taking him in the sixth round.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT SHURMUR, HEAD COACH, NEW YORK GIANTS: Glad to add you to our team.

COREY BALLENTINE: Yes, sir. I'm glad to be a part of the franchise. I've been waiting on this opportunity for a lifetime really.

SHURMUR: Awesome.

BALLENTINE: So I'm glad to be even a part of the conversation. I'm definitely ready to be -- to start learning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So hours after that call, Ballentine and his college teammate and friend, Dwane Simmons, were at an off campus party. Simmons' family was told that a vehicle pulled up to the gathering and the people inside asked Ballentine and Simmons a question. And then when the car circled back around, someone inside started shooting. Now, Ballentine suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is expected

to make a full recovery. Simmons died in the shooting. And it was Ballentine that called Simmons' father to tell him what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVARRO SIMMONS, FATHER OF DWANE SIMMONS: At first I just felt like they were just calling. So I was like, hey, congratulations and this and that. But then when he said, no, Mr. Simmons, this is not good, we've been shot. And I just -- like my heart just dropped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And, Jim, police say that they are still investigating what exactly happened there in Topeka.

SCIUTTO: Tell us, Andy, what the Giants are saying about the situation and do they believe he's going to be able to still play football?

SCHOLES: Yes, the Giants did release a statement yesterday saying we are aware of the tragic situation and continue to gather information. We have spoken to Corey and he is recovering in the hospital. Our thoughts are with Dwane Simmons family, friends and teammates and the rest of the Washburn community.

And, you know, Jim, it's unfortunate what was supposed to be, you know, one of the happiest days of Ballentine's life turned into one of the saddest. But he is expected to make a full recovery and presumably play for the Giants one day.

SCIUTTO: That's good news for him and his family.

Andy Scholes, thanks very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

SCIUTTO: Baltimore police are looking for the gunman who opened fire on two cookouts just last night, killing one person, injuring seven others. Police say the suspect approached the intersection where the two cookouts were taking place and began firing just into the crowd. Police do not know if the gunman was targeting someone in particular. Investigators say the evidence suggests someone may have also fired back at the gunman, crossfire.

Also, four people are dead after a construction crane collapsed in downtown Seattle. Video captured the crane tumbling to the ground -- just incredible video -- there on Saturday. Two crane operators were killed as well as two people in cars who were crushed by that falling crane. One of those victims was Sarah Wong. She was a freshman at Seattle Pacific University. Three other people, including a four- month-old, were injured in the accident.

The national security adviser confirms that the U.S. signed a pledge to pay North Korea millions for Otto Warmbier's release. But did the president know? We ask the man who was there in the room who accepted that pledge. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:55] SCIUTTO: The national security adviser to President Trump has confirmed that the U.S. agreed to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of detained college student Otto Warmbier. Sunday, John Bolton told Fox News that Joseph Yun, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, signed that document in June 2017, though Bolton says the U.S. never, or at least not yet, has made any payments. Warmbier was in a coma when he was released. Sadly, he died just days after returning here to the U.S.

I'm pleased to be joined now by Joseph Yun, who also works as a global affairs analyst for CNN.

So, first, Ambassador Yun, is John Bolton correct, that as you went there to get Warmbier's release you signed such an agreement?

JOSEPH YUN, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes. He's completely correct. I can confirm that when I went there almost two years ago, I did sign a letter of assurance that the United States government would pay in medical expenses some $2 million.

SCIUTTO: Now, were you under instructions there to do anything, under instructions from the secretary of state or from the president or from both to do whatever was necessary to get his release?

[09:45:02] YUN: Well, as soon as the North Korean side told me that his bill for $2 million would have to be paid, of course, I contacted my boss, then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to ask him. And he got back to me very quickly thereafter to say, yes, go ahead and sign.

SCIUTTO: Was it your understanding that Secretary Tillerson had the president's approval for that OK?

YUN: That was my understanding. I never asked him. But that was my understanding.

SCIUTTO: That this was coming directly from the president --

YUN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Who has since said he would never pay such ransoms, he called them.

Now, Bolton says the U.S. has not paid this money yet. Will the U.S. pay this money? Is that your understanding? Should the U.S. pay this money?

YUN: I -- Jim, I don't know. I left the government about a year ago, and I know until I had left, U.S. government had not paid the money.

My view is that, of course, this involved two separate decisions. One is should we sign. We did sign. Second, having signed, should we pay? My view is, yes. If you've signed, if you promised another government from the U.S. government that you would make the payment, my view certainly is that we should go ahead and meet our end of the commitment.

SCIUTTO: What is your -- and, again, this would just be an assessment, right? Why do you believe John Bolton made this public?

YUN: Well, I think, number one, it's, you know, it did happen. And, you know, I mean, you know, you know, you should be (ph) in the government when something comes out and it did happen, I think it's best to come out with it --

SCIUTTO: Right.

YUN: And be as clear as possible. So I do applaud National Security Adviser John Bolton for coming out and making -- making it clear, yes, we did make that commitment.

SCIUTTO: OK. Where does this leave nuclear negotiations with North Korea, particularly after a second failed summit in Hanoi, where the president and the leader left with no agreement. Are there still substantive negotiations.

YUN: As far as I know, there is not much communications between the two sides. But as we have seen, the relationship, at the leaders level, that is between Trump and Kim Jong-un, apparently remains quite good. So that gives some hope that the -- you know, the momentum can be sustained. I mean remember where we were two years ago, fire and fury and all that. And so it is good that tensions are reduced.

But what is not good is that we haven't made any progress towards denuclearization. In fact, North Korea has continued to make nuclear weapons and they have continued to, you know, go ahead and research missiles.

SCIUTTO: And can you say that North Korea is playing the U.S. here, because if they drag out the negotiations and they continue to perfect the technology --

YUN: I do believe that what North Korea is trying to do is keep their nuclear weapons. As of yet, I do not see any signs that they have made any decision to give up nuclear weapons completely. So, I mean, it does leave us in a very, very tough place.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador Joseph Yun, thanks very much.

YUN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: That's news, the ambassador saying that he had direction from Secretary Tillerson and the president, he believed, to sign that agreement.

Other news, it is a superhero sized haul at the box office as the latest Avengers movie shatters records worldwide. It's a big one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:08] SCIUTTO: "Avengers: End Game" battled its way to an historic box office debut this week. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the end game now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The fourth installment of the Marvel franchise shattered the record books, becoming the first film ever to earn more than $1 billion worldwide in its debut. The $1.2 billion nearly doubles the previous record set by "Avengers: Infinity War."

CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas joins me now.

So, Chloe, put us -- put this into context here because, I mean, this is big, big numbers and it beats the previous record by a mile.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: It is jaw-dropping. So buckle up with these numbers, Jim. So, like you said, "Avengers: End Game" had the biggest international opening ever, making an estimated $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office and it's the only film in history to ever cross the $1 billion mark for its debut. The biggest opening day in North America, bringing in over $350 million domestically. The list goes on and on. The biggest IMAX opening. The highest grossing debut ever in China with over $330 million.

Jim, movie chains across the country, across the world are opening theaters for days straight just so that they can meet the demands of these movie-goers.

SCIUTTO: That's incredible. And I know Hollywood loves superhero pictures. They love franchises. I mean this brings that all together here.

But put this into all-time kind of history here. Where does this opening stack up?

MELAS: OK. Well, so, domestically it beat the previous record, like you said, that its own franchise actually held, "Avengers: Infinity War" last year, which made a little over $640 million for its opening. And then you have "The Fate of the Furious," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Jurassic World."

You know, what we're seeing here, Jim, is that this is an incredible ending to a decade-long series of these films with an incredibly star- studded cast, like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper. And even though the film is almost three hours is where it clocks in, that is not stopping people from heading to the movies. So, you know, for people who say that it's all about streaming services these days, these numbers, they don't lie, Jim.

[09:55:25] SCIUTTO: That's incredible. Three hours of entertainment.

Chloe Melas, thanks very much.

The attorney general, William Barr, threatening to skip a hearing this week before the House Judiciary Committee because some of the questions would come from people other than lawmakers, other lawyers, just like him. We'll have more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:59:56] SCIUTTO: A good Monday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Poppy is off today.

And for the first time since most of the Mueller report was made public, Congress is not off today. The House and Senate both reconvening after the two week Easter recess.

END