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New Day

Russians Denying Incursion in Ukraine; CNN Speaks With Americans Detained in North Korea; Rams Release Michael Sam

Aired September 01, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rebel takeover is the latest triumph in a counteroffensive that seen pro-Russian separatists seemingly regain the upper hand and Ukrainian soldiers encircled or on the run. Two weeks ago, it was Ukrainian forces dominating the fight, pushing east, taking rebel strongholds.

Kiev and western capitals say the rebel onslaught is backed by Russian troops, tanks and heavy weaponry -- an accusation Moscow denies.

For the rebels, the next target could be Mariupol, a strategic port city that would give the rebels a critical land link from the Russian border to Russian-annexed Crimea.

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: Russian has come, invaded with thousands of troops, with missiles, with tanks. This is no longer the question of some rebel separatists. This is a direct invasion by Russia. And we must recognize it.

SAYAH: On Sunday, just outside Mariupol, Ukrainian forces raced to bolster defense lines. East of Mariupol, the rebels lay in wait, seemingly poised for an attack. With the rebels gaining momentum, the European Union on Sunday issued Moscow an ultimatum, call off the separatists or suffer tougher sanctions. Washington, too, threatening more sanctions.

Russian president Vladimir Putin responded by calling for talks on the statehood of Eastern Ukraine. His spokesman later denied Moscow supports independence for rebel-held territories. Even so, Putin's comments raises the stakes in a conflict that's rapidly intensifying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH: Over the past 72 hours, government officials here in Kiev say more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers have stopped fighting and simply retreated. Many others are encircled. In the meantime today in Belarus, Ukrainian and Russian officials are meeting with representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It looks like another opportunity seemingly for a negotiated solution.

But at this point no indication, Alisyn, that they're close to that.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We will see what happens during that meeting today. Reza Sayah, thanks so much for the update. So, what will American officials do after hearing the CNN exclusive

interviews with three detainees in North Korea? And what is the North trying to accomplish with this move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH BAE, AMERICAN DETAINED IN NORTH KOREA: I've been asking the government to act upon getting me released here. And I do believe that a special envoy needs to come in order to resolve the situation that I'm in right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back to NEW DAY.

That was Kenneth Bae, an American being detained by North Korea, along with Matthew Miller and Jeffrey Fowle. All three spoke to CNN in a remarkable series of exclusive interviews expressing concern, asking for prayers, talking about their families. But most importantly, asking for help -- asking the United States to step in and do something.

So, what is now in store for these three? Can the U.S. bring them home?

Let's talk about that a little bit this morning. I'm joined by Peter Beinart, CNN political commentator and contributing editor for "Atlantic Media." And all the way from California, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and editorial director of "The National Journal."

Peter, I want to start with you. These interviews are remarkable. We played some of them. We'll play more throughout the show. They have the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

All three men seemingly reading from the same type of script saying, we want the United States to send somebody to talk to North Korea to get us released. Why would North Korea send that message?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's possible North Korea wants something. If you have a high diplomatic envoy to North Korea, North Korea may have a set of demands of its own. We've seen this behavior from North Korea in the past especially when it feels ignored at the time of other international crises.

The north is, of course, a country which is in desperate need of aid from the West. And so, perhaps they feel like they can leverage these very, very unfortunate tragic situations as a kind of bargaining chip.

BERMAN: I suppose as an international statement, it's better from a U.S. perspective than shooting missiles at someone.

Ron Brownstein, I said this had subtlety of a sledgehammer. I want to play you a little bit of this. One of the prisoners, Jeffrey Fowle, actually essentially asked for Bill Clinton to come.

Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY FOWLE, AMERICAN DETAINED IN NORTH KOREA: This is an opportunity for maybe Bill Clinton to come back and he's released a couple of journalists years back. Maybe George Bush, it's his turn as an elder statesman, to try his hand at that. I appreciate any help that they could lend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: As he mentioned, Bill Clinton in 2009 did travel in North Korea to help secure the release of journalist Laura Ling.

If you're sitting in the White House this morning, Ron, what do you make of this? What do you make of this overture?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, as Peter said, it's very transparent. And as you said, it really is explicitly calling for a repeat of the kind of envoy, high-level envoy that we saw with Bill Clinton, before that, Bill Richardson, I believe Jimmy Carter as I recall has been enlisted in this in the past.

What's really perplexing about this, though, John, is, you know, in the past, even the Bill Clinton trip, did not lead to a sustained change of the trajectory of the relationship. I mean, when Kim Jong- un came into power in 2012, it looked like there was some opportunity for an opening. Things are once again I think in a downward spiral with the concern about the ballistic missile testing out of North Korea.

So, it's really unclear where even if you got the high-level envoy they are clearly seeking in this, what their ultimate goal would be once that person arrived.

BERMAN: Peter, this just adds to the long list of foreign policy crises right now facing this White House. My goodness, you have Iraq, you have Syria, the combination of Iraq and Syria. You have Ukraine. You have Libya right now. You got some democracy issues in China going on.

And now, you have North Korea saying, hey, send someone and negotiate. Where do you put that in the hierarchy right now?

BEINART: Right, this is always the problem for any administration. You only have a certain amount of bandwidth at the very top, to deal with crisis.

And I think that as terrible as the situation is, it's going to be hard for it to compete inside the White House with what's happening in Ukraine, which is now a Russian invasion, really something pretty remarkable. And America contemplating war with ISIS in Iraq, contemplating extending that to Syria, trying to bring together an international coalition. Those are two of the largest foreign policy crises that the Obama administration has dealt with since it came into office.

So, I think there are certain people who are going to be paying attention, it's going to be hard for this to be job one.

BERMAN: And, Ron, that specific plea for Bill Clinton to come. You know, obviously, there's an interesting relationship between President Obama, President Clinton, not to mention former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. You think that would be complicated?

BROWNSTEIN: I think it would be complicated. It's hard to imagine bill Clinton going again. But again, this is clearly a request for someone of that stature.

I want to underscore the point that Peter, though, made about the multiple challenges that are erupting all over the world. In many ways, it feels like the controlling force in foreign policy in the early years of the Obama -- really throughout the Obama presidency, has been this post Iraq, Afghanistan disillusionment by the public with American intervention abroad.

And you kind of look at what's happening in Ukraine and in the Mideast. And you wonder if we are at an inflection point at this point, where the dominant force from here out may be the growing impatience among foreign policy elites, in both parties, the feeling that Obama has overcorrected from the mistakes of President Bush and just as President Bush may have been too quick to move to action, there's a growing sense among the elites that this president is too prone toward inaction.

And you wonder, I kind of feel like we're hitting a point where we're at a tipping point where that might be a greater force in shaping the political dialogue than the public disillusionment which hasn't gone away but I think it's being superseded by the urgency of this crisis.

BERMAN: Peter, I read a great analysis -- oh, it was from you -- calling President Obama a fierce minimalist, you know, a fierce minimalist on foreign policy. So, apply that to North Korea? Does that mean you do negotiate or maybe say, I'm not going to get involved in this right now?

BEINART: Well, the point I was making is I think President Obama has been very reluctant to use military force when he does not think that American lives are at risk, but has been willing to use them when he feels like he's attacking people who could be responsible for another 9/11.

This is a different case. This is not military intervention. This is diplomatic engagement.

But I think the question that you think about when you're dealing with North Korea is you want these people out. Goodness knows you want to get them out.

But you also want to have someone from home you have some kind of distant, because the North Koreans are very unpredictable. You don't know what they're going to do when you send those people over. You don't want to be in a situation where you appear to be trading things for hostages in which case you'll get more hostages.

So, who can you find who can negotiate with stature but you have distance from as well?

BERMAN: It almost complicates things as well because they asked for it publicly because when you do respond, you're giving them exactly what they want.

BEINART: Exactly.

BERMAN: Ron Brownstein, Peter Beinart, great to have you here this morning. Really appreciate it.

BEINART: Thank you.

Next up on NEW DAY, Michael Sam's hopes of making NFL history derailed for now. The defensive end fails to secure a final roster spot for the St. Louis rams, so what is next for him? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: 47 minutes past the hour. Let's give you a look at your headlines.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Iraqi forces celebrating a victory against ISIS terrorists, breaking the group's stranglehold on Amerli. They got help from American jets delivering targeted air strikes on ISIS positions. Thousands of Shiats had been facing massacre by the terrorists. All of this as British Prime Minister David Cameron prepares to address parliament where he is expected to announce strong, new anti-terrorism measures.

Russia's foreign minister says there is no Russian incursion into Eastern Ukraine. This Russian denial comes as Vladimir Putin calls for statehood talks for Southeastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian patrol boat was attacked Sunday off the coast of Mariupol. A video posted online claims to show the aftermath of the attack that left two crew members missing and seven others injured.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a strict new abortion law in Louisiana. A lawsuit challenges the new requirement that abortion clinic doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (on camera): The suit claims doctors did not have enough time to arrange admitting privileges before the law goes into effect today. The judge's ruling prevents authorities from penalizing doctors while the case is being heard.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): The national Corvette museum announces it will fill in that sink hole. Remember this? Devouring eight beautiful cars in February of this year. The Kentucky museum is working with Chevrolet to restore three of the damaged cars. However, the other five were damaged beyond repair when they fell into that sink hole. They will stay on display. The sinkhole was a mixed blessing for the museum, it actually brought a 70 percent boost in visitors.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: The under reported benefits of sinkholes. They get a bad rap.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: I remember how cringe, it was just, we saw that happen and it was so awful - -

BERMAN: Unbelievable pictures.

CAMEROTA: My first car was a vette.

PEREIRA: No way!

CAMEROTA: A Chevette. Is there a difference?

(LAUGHING)

PEREIRA: No, not at all.

CAMEROTA: Okay, alright, well - -

BERMAN: You kill me.

CAMEROTA: Let's go straight to meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She's filling in for Indra Petersons for the look at the Labor Day forecast. Happy holiday to you, Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You as well. We are going to see a little bit of rain and possible storms push across the Midwest as we go through the afternoon hours today. We had a round yesterday, today it does include places like Chicago. Right now we are seeing that rain pushing right towards St. Louis. If you're getting out and about early this morning, you may run into a couple of those showers. But the damaging winds, large hail your main threat this afternoon. Isolated tornado, slight risk of a spin-up or two. Chicago, that includes you, Indianapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, even Springfield. As we time this out, we are going to see some showers around the afternoon hours in Chicago most likely. And then this will all pull to the east.

We are going to see some rain fire up around the Mississippi River Valley tomorrow. Should have a quiet east coast for much of tomorrow and then more rain pushing in as we get into the late evening hours, into the overnight hours. But that ridge of high pressure is going to stay in place. We have very hot conditions across much of the Southeast. We are going to keep temperatures well above normal. 92 in Atlanta today. New York you're at 88 today. Tomorrow you'll be in the low 90s and you will be about 12 degrees above normal. So feeling the heat all the way up into the Northeast, guys.

CAMEROTA: That is steamy. Jennifer, thanks so much.

BERMAN: If I had a nickel for every time I heard that. Go ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Next, Michael Sam will have to wait a little longer to make history.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): The NFL's first openly gay player to be drafted is now a free agent. Where will he end up?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Alright, let's talk football. Is Michael Sam's NFL career over before even a single regular season snap?

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): The first openly gay player drafted into the NFL was among the final cuts by the St. Louis Rams. He reportedly cleared waivers which makes him free to sign with any NFL team, but are there any takers? What is in the future for Michael Sam?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): Here to discuss, Sean Gregory, senior writer for "Time" got up early on this Labor Day to labor with us. Alright, so a little bit of news because one of the possibilities was that Sam would sign with the practice squad for the Rams, and you say this morning, we just found out that's not going to happen.

SEAN GREGORY, SENIOR WRITER "TIME": Yes, there's a report on NFL.com that, yes, the Rams aren't going to sign him. And the reason being that the Rams have a lot of depth at defensive line. That's a big position for them. For the practice squad you need players at other positions to kind of fill in and help the other guys. So, you know, not a total shock that he's not on the Rams. One problem with Michael with the practice squad could be he's kind of a tweener they say. He's a little small and so no guy on the practice squad is going to be as good as the all pro defensive tackle.

PEREIRA: Sure.

GREGORY: But you want maybe a big, you want the body type to kind of be the same. So that's just something that might complicate matters for him.

PEREIRA: So talk about overall how well he did, why was he cut? Was it because of this tween, if you will, his size and effectiveness on the field? GREGORY: I think so. I think as far as, you know, him being the first

gay player in the NFL and a quote, unquote, distraction. I feel that didn't really happen in St Louis. I mean, everything kind of went smoothly. There was a few hiccups here and there with the ESPN report that was cited a few times. I think this has been a pretty positive experience. If anybody is thinking of following in Michael Sam's footsteps - -

PEREIRA: He's paved the way.

GREGORY: - - he kind of blazed a little trail here. Yes, definitely. No doubt.

CAMEROTA: For people who don't know, what was that unfortunate ESPN report?

GREGORY: An ESPN report talked about basically Michael Sam's showering habits in a way, saying that an unnamed player had told the ESPN reporter that Michael Sam wasn't, you know, relating. He was kind of nervous taking a shower, which another NFL player tweeted I think last night or early this morning that that was the reason, he thought that was the reason NFL teams are shying away, basically blaming ESPN. I don't know if it got to that level. I think if a team in the NFL thinks that Michael Sam can help them, I don't see why they'd shy away.

BERMAN: No, I think people widely condemn that.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: ESPN essentially apologized - -

GREGORY: They apologized, no doubt.

BERMAN: And I get the sense, even though Michael Sam did not make the Rams at this point, as we wake up this Monday morning, as teams are setting their final rosters. I think the NFL and all these teams and even Michael Sam, they'll feel pretty good about the way this went down because this all happened for football reasons.

GREGORY: Exactly. And I think that's a huge takeaway from this. Michael Sam was very positive coming out of the bad news. He didn't blame anybody, he was thankful for the opportunity. I don't think he's going anywhere. I think we're going to hear more from him. If nothing happens early, maybe he goes to Canada or something like that.

PEREIRA: The CFL.

GREGORY: Yes, the old CFL. If he can play, I think now we're at a time in our society where a guy like Michael Sam will be accepted.

BERMAN: That's exactly right. If he can play, if he can help a team, there will be some team that signs him. His problem, and this goes back to the combine. For football fans and non football that's when the college players get together and do all these physical tests, he had a really awful combine. GREGORY: He did and he played pretty well in the preseason, had some

impressive steps, but he's playing against backups and so its hard to kind of totally - - the Rams saw him every day, saw what he can do. They were kind of an odd team to draft him in a way because they were so deep at that defensive position but helped them out. Everybody was very positive on him. I think it's a pretty great story. And you have to remember that also Michael Sam played a whole season in college, he came out to his teammates.

BERMAN: Right.

GREGORY: So we've seen that a football team will survive with a gay player.

PEREIRA: You think it's a moot point in the NFL now?

GREGORY: You know, that's a little - - are there teams saying I don't want to deal with the crazy ESPN reports and stuff like that? Possibly. Overall, it's hard to say he'll definitely be on an NFL team, but I think he's going to be around and in people's minds, no doubt.

PEREIRA: Sean Gregory, thanks for coming in.

GREGORY: No problem, thank you.

BERMAN: Alright, we're following this and a lot of other stories this morning, a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been asking the American government to act getting my release here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I deliberately committed my crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time is getting urgent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Obama is taking harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've learned one thing about this president and that is he's very cautious, too cautious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States is either in denial or overwhelmed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kiev and western capitals say the rebel onslaught is backed by Russian troops, tanks and heavy weaponry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a direct invasion by Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY, I'm Alisyn Camerota. BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. We're in for Chris and Kate this

morning.

CAMEROTA: Alright, we gave a lot of breaking news and we begin with a CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Three Americans are being held captive in North Korea. CNN's Will Ripley is in North Korea and he got a rare and exclusive interview with all three in Pyongyang, including Kenneth Bae. Here is the missionary detained in 2012.

BERMAN (voice-over): So how are these three men doing this morning? Do they have hopes the United States might work to secure their freedom? We're going to start with Kenneth Bae who has been held and subjected to hard labor for nearly two years.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me about your conditions.

BAE: Yes, I'm serving a 15 year sentence right now and I've been going back and forth from hospital to the labor camp the last year and a half.