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Trump Becomes First Sitting U.S. President To Enter North Korea; W.H. Press Secretary Bruised After Scuffle With NK Officials; New "Birther Conspiracy" Targeting Kamala Harris; Trump Defends Biden In First Debate: Harris "Got Too Much Credit"; Booker Questions If Biden Can Unite As The Dems Nominee; Harris Raises $2 Million Post Debate Performance; Massive Pride Parades On 50th Anniversary Of Stonewall Riots; Bernie Sanders Hosts Ice Cream Socials In New Hampshire. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 30, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:40] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone, thanks so much for being with me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with that historic moment, the first sitting U.S. president stepping into North Korea, walking side by side with Kim Jong-un, this moment that will go down in the history books, including a last-minute tweet by President Trump inviting the North Korean leader to meet him at the DMZ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM JONG-UN, SUPREME LEADER OF NORTH KOREA (through translation): I believe just looking at this structure, this is an expression of his willingness to eliminate all the unfortunate past and open a new future.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made. A lot of friendships have been made. And this has been in particular a great friendship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Trump and Kim Jong-un also meeting for just about an hour and then agreeing to restart nuclear talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A very, very good meeting with Chairman Kim and we've agreed that we're each going to designate a team. And the team will try and work out some details. And, again, speed is not the object. We want to see if we can do a really comprehensive good deal. Very big stuff, pretty complicated, but not as complicated as people think.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: CNN's White House Correspondent Abby Phillip is in Seoul, South Korea. So, what else are you hearing about this moment and their meeting?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it all happened in quite a last-minute fashion, especially for something like this that usually takes weeks and months of talks by both sides. But President Trump basically confirmed about an hour before he showed up at the DMZ that he'd be joined by Kim in the demilitarized zone. And then once they did meet, they clasped hands and the President walked over that line into North Korea.

At the end of the day, what we've learned about this meeting is that the one takeaway is that North Korea has decided to come back to the table, at least according to President Trump. They have agreed to restart talks at the staff level, allowing their deputies to work out some of the kinks that have caused their talks to basically be stalled for the last several months, since President Trump walked out of the last summit with Kim in Hanoi months ago. So that's the good news.

But other than that, it seems that very little really was accomplished in this meeting that we've learned about so far. Even though the two men met for about 50 minutes behind closed doors privately, that meeting did not seem to produce anything concrete in the way of working out these details as it relates to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

So there seems to be quite a bit of work left to be done there, but President Trump and Kim both framed this meeting as a breakthrough in the sense that both men have reconnected on a personal level.

And as you heard in that clip that you just played, Kim talking about -- Kim and President Trump actually talking about how their personal relationship, they believe, will help them break through some of these log jams on the road to denuclearization. Only time will tell, though, considering that North Korea has so far been unwilling to take the steps the U.S. has been demanding for lifting of sanctions that they have been seeking for years now at this point, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Abby, tell us more about this incident where the new White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, you know, she appeared and cameras caught it, appeared to be pushed. What were the circumstances? What happened in the area that we can't see?

PHILLIP: Well, reporters were trying to get into that room where President Trump and Kim Jong-un were seated, about to go into their one-on-one meeting. And as they were going in, there were quite a few North Korean cameras, the state media, who were in a crush trying to get into the room.

And Stephanie Grisham seemed to be trying to move them out of the way so that U.S. reporters could get some room in that scuffle. Watch what happens in this exchange. It's pretty extraordinary. You can see it for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Stop. Do not go. Stop. No. Stop, let go. I need help here.

(CROSSTALK)

GRISHAM: Go, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:03] PHILLIP: Now, a source says that Grisham was bruised but otherwise all right. And it's just an indication of how quickly all of this came together, not a lot of time to arrange the logistics, and as a result U.S. press almost got boxed out. She was left.

This new White House press secretary, left in the position of trying to find a way to get U.S. cameras and photographers and journalists into that room so that they could see that historic moment unfolds.

But as someone who's been in these kinds of scrums before, Fred, I can tell you it can get really messy out there as some of the foreign media outlets and in this case North Korean state media can get pretty aggressive trying to get their spot and their view into the room as these kinds of moments are unfolding.

WHITFIELD: All right, Abby Phillip, thank you so much.

All right, let's talk further on all of this. With me now, the former director of Global Engagement for the White House under President Obama and president of the consulting firm, the Global Situation Room, Brett Bruen. Good to see you, Brett.

So, how do you view this moment of the President walking, you know, slowly but deliberately to the DMZ and then stepping over it and meeting with Kim Jong-un?

BRETT BRUEN, PRESIDENT OF THE GLOBAL SITUATION ROOM: Without question, it's a positive step. But I'm left asking what positive steps has Kim Jong-un taken? Because this is now the third meeting of the two heads of state and I don't know that we have advanced the ball. In fact, I think it perhaps has slid back quite a distance.

And you heard in the package about this visit that in fact the only outcome here is that they are going to agree to assign teams to keep talking, which quite frankly is not encouraging.

WHITFIELD: And so when you said it slid back, meaning because while in Hanoi the President walked out of it and then there was some testing that did happen from North Korea and now kind of back to the drawing board?

BRUEN: There was the testing, there's apparently ongoing research into nuclear weapons technology. You also have just the conditions on the ground, the human rights conditions which are quite concerning and Trump has secured no concessions on that.

So when we're looking at the last year, what has been accomplished, where have we gotten, this is not the kind of case you want to see in diplomatic school. You want to see a case where you're making steady progress. And sure, there are times when it can slide back, but this seems to have slid back quite a lot.

WHITFIELD: You wrote, you know, a piece for "Business Insider" a few days ago entitled "International summits like G20 always seem to bring out the worst in Trump." And so in your view, how do you assess how it went this time?

BRUEN: Well, this time we didn't see the big dust-ups, but that being said, I think Trump was, again, unable to secure much progress when it came to issues like China. They agreed to keep on talking. They -- in fact, Trump agreed to let some of the tariffs and the threats of additional tariffs go for the time being. So, in terms of what the U.S. is actually getting out of this, there's not much to show for it.

WHITFIELD: And our picture should be changing, because we're talking about the G20 that happened before this historic moment with North Korea. You know, he was side by side with Putin. They were challenged on the meddling of elections. The President, you know, kind of made light of it. The President was also standing next to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and also seemed to, you know, defend the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia absent of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Were these missed opportunities, glaring missed opportunities for the President of the United States to really take a stand?

BRUEN: Not only were they missed opportunities, and yes, you wanted to hear from the President of the United States a very clear message to Putin, knock it off, we don't accept your explanations, there will be consequences if Russia continues to meddle.

You want to hear a stern message to Saudi Arabia, but you also want to see our allies gathering around us, the west speaking in unison and that was certainly absent in this last G20. And I think it speaks to the diminishment of American influence around the world that we can't rally our allies around us on some of these issues.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, finally, back to the North Korea meeting, because it is historic that a sitting president would, you know, walk on North Korean soil, do you try to look at it half glass full that there is potential, you know, giving him at least credit for having embarked on this now third meeting?

And while we don't know specifically what was said in that 50-minute meeting, but is it your hope that denuclearization, that human rights, that specifics in those areas might have been discussed?

[15:10:10] BRUEN: Here is my fear. I fear we are giving away too much and getting too little. Each one of these summits, now this visit, these are big propaganda wins for North Korea. And normally in these kinds of negotiations, the U.S. gets something significant in return. And I'm just not seeing what this White House, what the State Department has managed to secure in exchange for giving Kim Jong-un a big boost on the world stage. WHITFIELD: Brett Bruen, thank you so much.

BRUEN: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, how is that historic meeting on the DMZ being perceived across the Korean Peninsula?

And Democrats on the campaign trail defending Senator Kamala Harris following a retweet by the President's son questioning her race. She is speaking out in San Francisco today. We'll take you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Kamala Harris' campaign is slamming an online attack from the President's son, Don Jr. He retweeted, then deleted, a post saying, she isn't "an American black because of her Indian and Jamaican background." Don Jr. responded, "Is this true? Wow."

[15:15:00] His spokesman says Trump was only asking the question because he hadn't heard she is half-Indian. Kamala Harris' campaign said, "This is the same type of racist attack his father used to attack Barack Obama. It didn't work then and it won't work now."

A number of 2020 candidates have come to Harris' defense, most notably Vice President Joe Biden who compared the attack to the birther conspiracy Trump senior launched at President Obama questioning Obama's nationality and birth place.

CNN's Senior National Correspondent Kyung Lah is traveling with the Harris campaign in San Francisco. So, what has her campaign or even Kamala Harris, how has she addressed it?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She hasn't addressed it head on quite yet. We are anticipating that she will be taking some questions from reporters. The campaign says she likes to speak with reporters, that she will be speaking to reporters and that she may address it at that point if asked.

So, she's not trying to focus on that today. Her focus is in what you're seeing right behind me, some 700,000 people who are taking part in San Francisco Pride. The senator is riding in an open convertible. She is with her husband. She is being greeted with cheers. She is wearing that very bright rainbow sequin jacket in celebration of Pride.

This is a community that has long supported her, back to when she was the San Francisco district attorney and started a group to fight hate, anything against LGBT Americans. She spoke this morning at a breakfast reflecting on her career here as a district attorney and pledged that she would continue the fight in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: He opposes, he opposes what these heroes stood for. He has no appreciation for the lives they lived and the courage they had and the patriotism that they possessed.

He says he wants to make America great again? Again for whom? Well, I'm running for president, because we're not going back. We're not going back. And we are prepared to turn the page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Not only does Harris have a career of supporting LGBT rights here, it's also very smart politics. HRC, Human Rights Campaign, estimates 10 million LGBT votes and voters will head to the polls in 2020.

Now, this is Harris' first major public event since the Democratic debates. And, Fredricka, you can see her smiling and waving, a woman who generally wears only navy and black certainly letting her hair down today.

WHITFIELD: She is indeed. All right, Kyung Lah, thank you so much for that.

All right, let's talk further on all of this. Karen Finney is the former Communications and Political Outreach Spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton. And back with me is Democratic Strategist Aisha Moodie- Mills. Good to see you, ladies.

OK, there's a lot there. OK. So the warning shot, you know, was perhaps fired when Trump said Harris was, you know, given too much credit, you know, for her debate performance.

Trump seemed to follow, you know, a pattern of belittling black women. And now his son tries to get voters to question her American blackness. Don Jr., you know, has since taken down the tweet.

So, Aisha, you know, is this the beginning of the Trump reelection campaign, you know, revealing how it hopes to divide American voters, particularly ones of color, black voters?

AISHA MOODIE-MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I mean, this is on brand. I would not say, this is the beginning, this is the continuation of the way that they perform. Remember, Trump started the whole birtherism against Obama trying to suggest that he wasn't American. And now we're seeing his son perpetuating the same type of propaganda and foolishness.

And ultimately, so what I want everybody to recognize that this is bigger than just today's jab from the Trumps against whatever Democratic candidate it might be. This is fundamentally about conservatives trying to now pit black people against black people to rile up some type of anti-immigrant framework that the MAGA people are really pushing.

And so, all this talk about, you know, are you really black if one of your parents wasn't actually born in the U.S., even though you're a black person who was born in the U.S., is just fodder that they're trying to out there as a way to divide black people and to create a conversation that's a distraction the foolishness that this administration is pushing in the first place.

WHITFIELD: So, Karen, you know, Harris seems to be ready, you know, and poised for this. She tackled the issue of her parents' roots, you know, her mom, Indian, her dad, Jamaican, and her American experience. And she tackled it in this manner on a radio show. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Spend my time trying to educate people about who black people are. I was born black, I will die black and I'm proud of being black. I'm not going to make any excuses for anybody because they don't understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:20:04] WHITFIELD: So this together with, you know, the debate stage, you know, telling of her busing experience, sends a very strong message that, you know, she very much lived a black American experience.

So, you know, if Trump wanted her heritage to hurt, you know, Harris, does it only really enhance her, you know, speaking truth mantra, Karen?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it does. I mean, look, as a biracial person myself, I will tell you that, you know, part of what I think this is about, I agree with Aisha. But it's also about what we saw during President Obama's time in office, which is this othering, right? That somehow you're some other kind of something and to kind of separate us from that.

And, you know, look, she is someone who has no problem speaking truth to power. I think it was very important, frankly, that the other candidates spoke out very clearly, because one of the things that we know from the 2016 campaign is that fear of change, fear of demographic change, fear of changing roles of women, gay rights, I mean, it was straight-out racism in some instances. Those were top voting concern -- voting reasons for people who voted for Trump.

So we've got to, you know, bring people back together and we've got to call this stuff out when we see it. And so I think it was -- it's important that the candidates do it. I think it's important that we do it.

And I think, you know, it's also important that what matters is she's an American. She's running for president. Let's judge her based on her ideas, her experience, and let's see how she does, you know, on the campaign trail.

WHITFIELD: And, Aisha, you know, the other Democratic contenders in a very big way are coming out, you know, in her support and certainly against Don Jr.'s, you know, tweet, retweet, et cetera, you know.

And among them, you know, Cory Booker taking it even further. You know, persistently, you know, critical of the former Vice President Joe Biden, you know, following that debate moment.

Booker saying this, this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoever our nominee is going to be, whoever the next president is going to be, really needs to be someone who can talk openly and honestly about race with vulnerability, because none of us are perfect. But really call this country to common ground, to reconciliation.

I'm not sure if Vice President Biden is up to that task given the way this last three weeks have played out. And, frankly, I know whoever is that nominee needs to be able to pull this country together because we need to reconcile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Aisha, you know, can Biden, you know, recover, you know, maintain this leader of the pack standing?

MOODIE-MILLS: So, here's how I feel about all of this. At the end of the day, right, we're going to go tit for tat. We still got like 400 -- like almost 500 days left. I mean, a lot of days left in this whole thing.

FINNEY: Yes.

MOODIE-MILLS: But here's the thing. At the end of the day what Democrats need to do is make sure make sure that the base is really enthusiastic and excited to come and participate in the 2020 election. What we saw in 2016 is that there was a downturn in turnout, right? Like people weren't as jazzed up.

And so whether it would be Kamala, whether it be Biden, whomever, at the end of the day, the conversations are going to need to reach the hearts and the minds and the souls of people who should be the most likely voters in the Democratic Party to come out furiously with a lot of energy to get rid of Donald Trump.

What we're seeing right now is we're seeing Trump nitpick at whoever the person might feel like the frontrunner of the moment because they have a strategy to try depress enthusiasm among Democrats. And we can't let them do that. And, of course, of course having unity as a party doesn't mean that that's going to Trump accountability for Biden and his, you know, semi-racist comments, right?

But at the end of the day, what we're going to need to see and what I think that Cory Booker is trying to kind of get to is that the people who right now are just so fearful of this president, who are angry that this guy is president, who are caring about the future of our nation, they need to stay jazzed up and understand how consequential all of this is.

And so getting distracted by these side bars about, you know, who -- the color of someone's skin and what that means about how they' are going to represent America is kind of fool-hearted. And I think that it's playing into really the opposition strategy which is to distract us.

WHITFIELD: Except, Karen -- right. Except, you know, when you're the leader of the pack, you're going to take, you know, some heat.

FINNEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Not just from the opponent, which in this case would be the incumbent, Donald Trump, but clearly, it's also coming from within the party trying to, you know, dethrone the one who is leading and perhaps, you know, creating opportunities for someone else to rise.

FINNEY: Of course. And that's what we --

WHITFIELD: So, that's happening, right?

FINNEY: That's absolutely right. I mean, there is a reason that Kamala went after Joe Biden. He is the frontrunner. When you are the frontrunner and, you know, he should have been better prepared for it quite frankly. You know, he and Bernie have been sort of leading the pack.

Although I think the latest Morning Consult poll that I saw, Bernie I think lost a little bit of ground. Senator Harris has actually gained ground and is now tied for third place, I believe, with Elizabeth Warren. So that's, you know --

WHITFIELD: Depending on the polling, right?

[15:25:00] FINNEY: Depending on the -- that was the Morning Consult poll that I saw just yesterday.

So, yes, I mean, when you are the frontrunner, you are the person who is going to be attacked not, like you said, not just by the opponent, but by the rest of the field. And I think it will be interesting to see, frankly, between now and our CNN debate in July how these candidates, particularly the ones who had strong performances this week, are they able to ride that.

I mean, we saw Kamala raised quite a bit of money. I know it has --

WHITFIELD: $2 million.

FINNEY: Right. And so, each of these candidates that have had kind of a bump, will they be able to ride that into and leverage that into the next debate?

WHITFIELD: Right.

FINNEY: But I think -- just the last thing I'll just say, I think what Cory was also speaking to -- I disagree with Aisha. I think he was speaking to the fact that we just have to be real about, you know, the changes that are happening in this country and not be afraid to call it out because that is what Donald Trump preyed on.

He preyed on people's fears. That's what "Make America Great Again" was about.

WHITFIELD: OK.

FINNEY: And we've got to make sure that people understand we don't have to be afraid of each other.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to have to leave it there for now, but we're not finished because we're going to be talking about this and a lot of other things along the way.

FINNEY: Pretty sure.

WHITFIELD: As you said, Aisha, we had almost -- just barely 500 days still to go.

MOODIE-MILLS: Just under 500, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Aisha Moodie-Mills, Karen Finney, thank you so much, ladies. Appreciate it.

FINNEY: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:01] WHITFIELD: While you were sleeping, history was made. President Trump became the first U.S. president, sitting president to step foot into North Korea. Let's take a look at that moment as it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we're going to head up to the bush bunker. You can look about 60 kilometers into the distance. You see that mountain out there? That's (INAUDIBLE) the heart of North Korea.

TRUMP: You say that it used to be very dangerous, very, very dangerous. After our first summit, all of the danger went away. It's a much different place.

So, I want to thank you very much. You're a very special group of people. I just look at you, look how healthy and how strong and how good and we really appreciate it. We appreciate it very much.

So this was a scheduled visit from a number of months ago. We went from the G20 and I promised your president, President Moon, who is a friend of mine, I said, "We have to see the DMZ." And so this was scheduled for a long time ago.

And then yesterday I had the idea maybe I'll call Chairman Kim and see if he wants to say hello. So we didn't give him much notice, but we've become -- we respect each other. We respect each other. Maybe even like each other. And he's agreed to meet and I'm going to meet him in about four minutes so I'm going to cut my speech a little bit short. OK, let's go. We have to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay low, stay low.

KIM (through translation): It is good to see you again. I never expected to meet you in this place.

TRUMP: Good. Would you like me to step across?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't see him.

KIM (through translation): You'd be --

TRUMP: I'm OK with it.

KIM (through translation): You will be the first U.S. president to cross the border at this line.

This is a great moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the photographer out of the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, get out of the way. Move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move, move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Move. Move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of you, clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, move. Move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we take a picture here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move. Wait until they move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait until they move. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Guys, come on. Come on. Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guys, let's go. Go, go, go. Move. Move. Move. Where are they going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guys, move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Straight, they're going straight. They're going straight.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: This is my honor. I didn't really expect it. We were in Japan for the G20. We came over and I said, "Hey, I'm over here. I want to call up Chairman Kim." And we got to meet and stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that's how it all unfolded early in the hours.

All right, still to come, how has this historic meeting, how is it being received on the Korean Peninsula? We'll take you there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:38:23] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. President Trump is now the first sitting U.S. president crossing over the border at the Korean Demilitarized Zone and stepping into North Korea, walking side by side with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un. This is how he described the moment, speaking to a group of U.S. soldiers in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I actually stepped in with Chairman Kim. I stepped into North Korea. And they say -- and they say that's a very historic moment, and I think it is a historic moment and a very good moment.

And he asked me, "Would you like to do that?" And I said, "It would be my honor," and we did. And we went over the line and turned around and everybody was so happy. And many people, I noticed from Korea were literally in tears crying, crying. This is a big thing. It's a big thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Will Ripley is in Seoul, South Korea. And so, Will, the President describe that there were people, you know, in tears. What is the reaction that you were able to see or hear about?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Well, obviously this is a huge deal here in South Korea and it will be in North Korea whenever the news actually announces it to the North Korean people.

But let me show you the front page of one of the papers here. I mean, pictures don't get much bigger than this of President Trump and Kim Jong-un shaking hands at the Demilitarized Zone. People are cautiously optimistic.

Remember, South Koreans saw their own president, Moon Jae-in, make history and cross over the Military Demarcation Line into North Korean last year in April only to watch talks fall apart.

[15:40:04] The North Koreans blast South Korea, stop talking to South Korea after the diplomacy with the United States stalled. So they know that they're dealing with a very brittle northern neighbor and unpredictable northern neighbor and they hope for the best. But they've also been down the road where things go off the wheels.

WHITFIELD: So, what's the interpretation as to what North Korea gets out of this?

RIPLEY: Well, what they don't get is sanctions relief, which is what they ultimately want. What Kim Jong-un does get is time in terms of diplomacy with the U.S., because there are still a lot of doubters inside North Korea who really criticized him, perhaps not publicly, but certainly behind the scenes.

He had a tough time coming back empty-handed after talks fell apart in Hanoi, saving face, if you will. This allows him now to say, "Look, I still have a good rapport with the U.S. president. Give me some time to try to work things out with the U.S."

WHITFIELD: And so, what does North Korea expect to get out of any kind of continued dialogue? If denuclearization, you know, is at the core, particularly from the U.S. point of view, what ultimately is North Korea hoping to gain?

RIPLEY: Kim Jong-un's strategy appears to be to count on his personal relationship with President Trump to get economic relief as quickly as possible in terms of sanctions being lifted, while having to give up as little as possible when it comes to his nuclear program.

They thought they made a good offer in Hanoi. The U.S. rejected the offer, which was to, you know, basically give up Yongbyon, their main known nuclear facility even though they have a lot of others. Now, he knows he's going to have to come up with more but he wants a lot in return economically.

WHITFIELD: Will Ripley, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much for Seoul, South Korea.

All right, up next, from a protest in New York to a worldwide movement, today's celebration across the globe for LGBTQ equality. I'll talk with the first African-American trans woman elected to public office about today's events coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:09] WHITFIELD: Live pictures right now of Pride parades in Seattle and, quite frankly, across the country and around the world. There are celebrations. New York is the nucleus of it all. Thousands of people celebrating Pride and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City. It was an event that proved to be the spark igniting the gay rights movement.

With me right now is Andrea Jenkins. She is a transgender activist and is the first black trans woman to hold elected office in the United States. She was elected to Minneapolis City council. Good to see you, Andrea.

ANDREA JENKINS. TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST: Hello, Fredricka. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm good. So tell me what today's celebrations and commemorations are feeling like to you.

JENKINS: Wow, it is a really tremendous feeling, the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. As we know, the first Pride celebration, as it were, was a riot. And so, you know, to see this come full circle and have the voices of transgender and gender non-conforming people of color lifted up, it feels really good.

WHITFIELD: Well, it was a significant breakthrough milestone when you were elected, you know, city councilwoman there in Minneapolis.

JENKINS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Was that a marker, a moment for you, when you felt complete, you know, acceptance that, you know, we've come a long way, baby?

JENKINS: Wow, yes. We have come a long way, baby. My mother just said that to me the other day. However, you know, I really -- while it was a milestone and a marker, I think, you know, we still have a really long way to go, Fredricka. In over 28 states, transgender people, LGBT people can be fired from their jobs, can be denied access to health care, to housing. And so, we still have a lot of work to do.

But I think the election of myself and my colleague, Phillipe Cunningham, as well as other transgender people, Danica Rome, really marks a shift and a change in attitudes and people saying that we really do respect every gender expression and we want to see those things move forward.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel like more changes are only possible if there is legislation to support them?

JENKINS: Well, I believe, you know, just like the civil rights movement, legislation absolutely is imperative to create the types of equity and equality that LGBT people deserve. But we also need to shift the culture as well.

And you know, as a poet and a writer, I'm really concerned with people's hearts and trying to display the humanity of the transgender community, transgender women of color.

As you know, there have been many murders of transgender women over the past few weeks even and certainly over the past number of years. And it's really, I think, atrocious and its epidemic and we must work together to resolve these challenges. And I think that legislation around access to employment, access to housing is going to do a lot to move that forward.

WHITFIELD: Andrea Jenkins, thank you so much.

JENKINS: Thank you, Fredricka.

[15:50:00] WHITFIELD: And join me at 4:30 p.m. Eastern today for a CNN special, "Pride & Progress." I'll look at LGBTQ trail blazers just like Andrea and their continued fight for equality. That's today at 4:30 only on CNN.

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WHITFIELD: Senator Bernie Sanders is campaigning this weekend in New Hampshire where he is hosting a series of ice cream socials. CNN's Ryan Nobles is traveling with the Sanders campaign right now in Hampton. So, what has been the message served up along with the ice cream?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Fred, the ice cream social just wrapped up here in Hampton and now Senator Sanders taking part in what's been kind of a new addition to his campaign strategy, the selfie line, which is kind of become standard operating procedure for 2020 candidates. Everybody that came to the ice cream social has an opportunity to get their picture with this presidential candidate.

And you know, there's no doubt Sanders is putting a special emphasis on New Hampshire. In this event that just warped up, he talks specifically about how important the New Hampshire voter is in the presidential primary process.

And he also talked about how, even though there are a lot of Democratic candidates, his brand of Democratic politics is different. These aren't just all different shades of the same color.

He wants to make it clear that the things that he's talked about like a $15 minimum page, Medicare for all, getting out of unnecessary foreign policy entanglements is something that he's been talking about for a long time and the Democratic Party has just come around to in the last four years.

[15:55:08] So, that's the message he's driving home today, Fred. A lot of people responding well to it at least at these events and Sanders is hoping to carry that into Iowa next week with another big trip on his calendar. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Nobles, thank you so much.

All right, still to come, President Trump making history stepping foot in North Korea and meeting with Kim Jong-un. What does this moment mean for both countries and how will these impact nuclear negotiations?

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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this historic moment, the first sitting U.S. president stepping foot into North Korea walking side by side with Kim Jong-un. President Trump and the North Korean leader also met for about an hour and agreed to restart nuclear talks.

That moment will go down in the history books, including that last- minute tweet by President Trump, inviting Kim Jong-un to meet him at the DMZ. That one tweet helping to lead to this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM (through translation): It is good to see you again. I never expected --