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New Day

Kenneth Bae's Sister Speaks Out; Americans Detained in North Korea Speak Out; Obama's Foreign Policy under Fire; Rams Release Michael Sam

Aired September 01, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

TERRI CHUNG, KENNETH BAE'S SISTER (via telephone): We know that they've been working behind the scenes to try to procure his release and we are once again reiterating our thanks, but also too pleading with our government to continue their efforts to secure his release immediately because I think there's urgency now that he's back in the labor camp and his health is failing.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Has the rest of your family been able to see these interviews yet?

CHUNG: No, we're on the West Coast, so being woken up and we're starting to hear that and try to get - getting reaction from my mom and others.

CAMEROTA: Yes. What are you asking of the U.S. government this morning?

CHUNG: We are asking that -- this is an American citizen, a hard working father of three, who has been in prison in North Korea for almost two years. Please do everything possible to bring him home now.

CAMEROTA: Terri Chung, thank you so much for joining us. Let's hope that your words are heard. Thank you. We'll check back in with you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, want to bring in Bill Richardson. He's the former governor of New Mexico, also a former ambassador to the United Nations and, most importantly for us this morning, he has helped negotiate the release of hostages from North Korea in the past. He joins us now by telephone.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us.

I think we just lost Ambassador Richardson. We'll try to get him back as soon as we can because his expertise on this will be crucial.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, obviously he's helped secure the release of others and he may be instrumental in this.

All right, next on NEW DAY, President Obama getting plenty of criticism from the right, but now he's hearing it also from the left. Is he being too cautious dealing with ISIS? We'll tell you what one top Democrat is saying. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Want to talk more now about our exclusive interviews with three Americans being held prisoner right now inside North Korea. Really stunning, surprising interviews. With us by phone, former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, also former ambassador to the United Nations, a man who has helped negotiate the release of Americans held prisoner in North Korea in the past.

Ambassador, thanks so much for being with us.

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO U.N. (via telephone): Nice to be with you, John.

BERMAN: All right, ambassador, I want to play you a little sound from the interview that Kenneth Bae gave our Will Ripley. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH BAE, AMERICAN HELD CAPTIVE IN NORTH KOREA: I've been asking the American government to act upon getting me released here and I do believe that special envoy need to come in order to resolve the situation that I am in right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Ambassador, that was the message we heard from all three prisoners. It seemed almost scripted. And it seemed to me as if North Korea was trying to send a message, hey, send an envoy now, send someone high profile, so we can get this done.

RICHARDSON: That's accurate, John. The North Koreans are sending a message. And the messages from the three Americans were scripted. One, that they're being treated properly. Secondly, send an envoy. So the North Koreans are basically saying by giving access to your reporters, hey, you know, we're still around. You may be thinking about ISIS and Ukraine and the Middle East, but we, the North Koreans, we're still around. And basically they're saying, we're ready to bargain with these three Americans. The issue, though, John, is, I think the U.S. government is saying, first release them, then maybe we talk. The North Koreans are saying, let's talk first about some of our differences, then we'll release them. That's where the impasse is.

BERMAN: Does the fact that North Korea is sending this message in such a high profile way with the very, you know, specific request to send an envoy, does that in some ways hurt the chances because if the United States does send someone right now, it looks as if they're just catering to the whims of the North Koreans.

RICHARDSON: Well, yes, I think the administration has handled this properly. I know they're trying very hard to get them out. But, you know, we have said in the last few years, look, North Korea, you've got to reduce or terminate your nuclear program. You've got to take a step like a moratorium on nuclear detonations and then we'll talk. But the North Koreans are saying, no, no, first you need to send an envoy, send an official person from the administration. I don't think they're interested in like nongovernment envoys. In the past, I used to go. You know, President Clinton. I think they're saying they want official to official talks. So, you know, the good news, John, is that the fact that they trotted them out, the fact that they gave access to your reporters means that there's negotiating room, that there's a possibility for a deal, but it gets very complicated with the North Koreans.

BERMAN: And to be clear, no one has asked you over the last days or weeks to go and serve as the envoy there based on your experience in the past?

RICHARDSON: No. No. And that - that's probably good because what I think the North Koreans want, they - I think my sense from the North Koreans is they - they want official envoys. They want somebody from the States Department or the administration, not somebody that's not tied to the government. And I'm not tied to the government. I'm not privy to these discussions. So I think they're being very specific by telling the prisoners, look, you know, you want to improve your chances to get out, you've got to send these messages.

Now, the good news is that they're in a hotel. They're not in a labor camp. They are spending time on a labor camp, obviously, from the interview.

BERMAN: Right.

RICHARDSON: But, you know, they're being well fed. But, still, they should get out and they shouldn't be there and we should do everything we can to get them out. Make it a humanitarian issue.

But, again, the North Koreans, they, you know, they're in their own stratosphere. They have a peculiar way of negotiating. And this new leader, John, he's not the way his father was. We used to be able, with his father, to, you know, to negotiate a little more directly. So we don't know much about the new leader's negotiating tactics.

BERMAN: Right. To be clear, Kenneth Bae is in a labor camp. He says working eight hours a day in that labor camp.

Why now, ambassador, is North Korea trying to take advantage of the world situation right now and all the chaos in so many other areas?

RICHARDSON: I believe the North Koreans have decided, look, we've had these guys a long time, like Kenneth Bae, over two years. I mean this is very, very difficult for that family. A very fine family. They're probably saying, look, you know, we've got this issue now. We've milked it all we can. Let's negotiate and get something out of it. That's a little bit of the good news.

BERMAN: Right. And to be clear, do you think the White House will respond?

RICHARDSON: Well, I think the State Department, the White House, I think has to assess, you know, the semantics of, OK, we'll deal with you, we'll send an official, we'll have official talks, but I think this will -- this will generate some policy review in the administration that maybe narrows some of these differences. But, again, I think the administration is right to say, look, North Korea, you can't keep detonating nuclear weapons. You know, you're using these Americans as bargaining chips, but, you know, it's a humanitarian case. Let's try to get this thing done.

BERMAN: Ambassador Bill Richardson, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate your time, sir.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John.

President Obama is getting criticism from a prominent member of his own party over his handling of ISIS. Here's what Senator Dianne Feinstein said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: I think I've learned one thing about this president, and that is he's very cautious. Maybe in this instance too cautious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, this following a firestorm over the president's comment that the administration, quote, "did not have a strategy yet" against ISIS in Syria. So let's debate all of this with CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and Marc Lamont Hill, also a CNN political contributor and professor at Morehouse College.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's nice to be here.

CAMEROTA: So, Ben, when a fellow Democrat says that he's being overly cautious, is that notable?

FERGUSON: I would say yes, but Dianne Feinstein also said a couple of weeks ago, ISIS is a military, they're well trained, they have a lot of resources, they have a lot of money and it's going to take another well trained military to beat them and we better pay attention to this. And I think this was her second warning keeping the pressure on this White House of saying, you're going to have to deal with this. No one else is going to do it for you. I know you don't want to be a war president, but ISIS is a real threat. It's going to take our involvement. And I think, more importantly, our leadership to beat ISIS because if we don't lead, it's not like someone else is going to stand up here and do it. These people are doing the best they can trying to fight them, but you're dealing with genocide with many people in that part of the world.

CAMEROTA: In fact, Marc, Feinstein went on to say that she agrees with two Republican senators, McCain and Lindsey Graham, who put out a "New York Times" op-ed titled, "stop dithering" to the president.

HILL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So I know that you're going to say that President Obama is deliberating, not dithering. But Feinstein's point is that we've known about ISIS for many months, what's taking so long?

HILL: Well, I think you have to develop a coherent strategy and I think the president has done that. I think that his statement that we don't have a strategy was really problematic (ph). I'm still baffled by that statement.

FERGUSON: I take him at his word on that one, though. It's not me.

HILL: But - but -

CAMEROTA: Right. Yes, (INAUDIBLE) coherent strategy then?

HILL: Because - well, we're watching it. We saw it in (INAUDIBLE) last night. We saw in - with the air strikes over the last few days. We see a coherent strategy. What we don't want to see is U.S. troops and U.S. boots on the ground because, number one, we're a war weary country but most - more importantly, strategically, that doesn't make a lot of sense. We need the entire region in Iraq to fight ISIS, otherwise it becomes a Christiane Shia alliance against Sunni, which only foments more sectarian violence, more terrorism and three more heads will pop out, as you saw (ph).

FERGUSON: But -

CAMEROTA: Yes. Ben, go ahead.

FERGUSON: Here's my issue with this, is, there's political theory and there's reality. And the reality is, ISIS is going to have to be dealt with. And if you don't start to do deal with it, and I think a lot of this comes down to theory, it's like why - I don't want to be a war president. I don't really want to get involved. I don't want to be there. I want others to stand up. Well, we've been saying that, but -

CAMEROTA: But Marc said we are dealing - (INAUDIBLE) -

HILL: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

FERGUSON: But we're in a very limited way. And my issue is this -

HILL: But it's not limited at all, Ben.

FERGUSON: But it is limited. You have - you have - well, first of all we're saying you're already putting it in this box of, I don't want troops on the ground. I think that's sort of (INAUDIBLE) -

HILL: No, I don't want U.S. troops - no, I want U.S. troops on the ground. I'm fine with arming the Peshmerga forces in Kurdistan, which we're beginning to do. I don't mind seeing these unlikely bedfellows with Iran on the border. I don't mind seeing what we see in - with (INAUDIBLE) - FERGUSON: But I still think - I still think part of it is -

HILL: Those are real militarized troops. They're just like U.S. troops.

FERGUSON: I think - but I think part of it is that - I think Obama believes, if I don't dignify them, if I use things like calling them junior varsity or JV, if I say things like, I don't have a strategy with ISIS, somehow somebody else in the world is going to stand up to them because they'll think, well, maybe America really isn't going to take the lead. And, unfortunately, I think it's a bad situation to put us in because it -- no one else is going to have the capability to do it.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE). Just curious, what are you basing that on?

FERGUSON: Well, look at David Cameron. I'll look at what he's saying. At least he's being blunt and calling them what they are, which is terrorists.

HILL: No, no, what are you - no, no, that's not what I said (ph).

FERGUSON: He's saying they're JV and I don't have a strategy.

HILL: But that's not what I'm asking you. First of all, the entire west underestimated ISIS.

FERGUSON: I - see, I disagree with that. I don't think ISIS was underestimated. I think Obama underestimated ISIS.

HILL: No, no, no. (INAUDIBLE) - that's not - no, that's absolutely not true. David Cameron underestimated ISIS (INAUDIBLE) - the entire west underestimated them. We underestimated how much money they had. We underestimated how much military reach they had. We underestimated the relationship between them and the Saudis. We've -- everyone underestimated them. And I'm not - that's not an excuse. It is not Obama sitting around waiting for someone else to do it - -

FERGUSON: Oh, I think he absolutely is.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: I think Obama has intelligence that everyone else that is watching from the outside doesn't have. He's been briefed on this now for almost two years on ISIS. He's been briefed on their money, he's seen the videos that we --

HILL: They didn't have the money then, Ben.

FERGUSON: They did start to have money. As soon as they went into Syria, they started to have money.

HILL: When they overtook Mosul that came out with almost $800 million. That was in the last two months. The bulk of their cash on hand came in the last few months. They were not JV per say, but they were a very small group, much less powerful than they are right now. And they still don't have the resources to win in the north or the south. They are dangerous. We need to worry about them, but let's not overstate their danger.

CAMEROTA: I have a lot more questions but you guys have asked each other several questions.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: That I'm just going to leave it right there. Ben Ferguson, Mark Lamont Hill, great to see you guys.

HILL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for the debate.

FERGUSON: Happy Labor Day.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, you too. Alright, next on NEW DAY.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Just months after the Rams made history by drafting the first openly gay player into the NFL, the team cuts Michael Sam from its roster before the season opener. What does this mean?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team has been cut before the season opener. Michael Sam failed to make the roster for the St. Louis Rams after the final round of preseason cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN (voice-over): So can the defensive lineman catch on with another team or is it possible his career is over before it began?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN (on camera): Want to bring in Coy Wire, a Fox sports analyst who spent nine years in the NFL. Good morning, Coy.

COY WIRE, FOX SPORTS ANALYST: Good morning. How are you?

BERMAN: Very well, thank you. Anything but football at play here? Was this -- did this have anything to do about the fact that Michael Sam is gay?

WIRE: No, this was completely about limitations within his game, John. I saw him play at the Senior Bowl, talked to a lot of NFL coaches there who were anxious to see if his game, which we saw in college was outstanding, was going to translate well into the NFL. In college, he had his hand in the dirt, he was strictly an edge rusher, had a lot of production. He's a little bit undersized for the NFL so they wanted to see could this guy get out in space, drop back into coverage, cover tight ends? And that athleticism in space just was not there. This was strictly about his limitations as an athlete on an NFL football field.

BERMAN: Jeff Fisher, the coach of the St. Louis Rams, says he played well, in a way said he was rooting for Michael Sam the whole time. But there was a little bit of controversy during the preseason, albeit generated by the media. There was this ESPN report about his shower practices, and, again, you don't think that played into this?

WIRE: No, John. I think that's absurd. Talking about shower practices. I've seen rookies and ten year vets who didn't shower with the team. They showered later or at home. First round draft picks or undrafted free agents. That has nothing to do with it and I think its completely absurd that that was even brought up. This is a guy who, again, had certain limitations within his game, that didn't translate. And the most important thing, John, I think you'll know this, young guys coming into the NFL, you have to be able to contribute on special teams. And he just did not have that ability to run down, cover a kick. He was, again, a one dimensional player.

BERMAN: Right.

WIRE: Really good at that one thing, but they needed more from him from that phase of the game.

BERMAN: No, its not his fault, by the way, he can't play special teams, just not that type of player. Look, he got cut. We don't know yet if he's going to end up on another team or a practice squad. Do you think that everyone will look back at this and say this was still a watershed moment, this was still successful for the NFL, for the Rams and for Michael Sam?

WIRE: I'm glad you brought that up, John. I think you're right on. His bravery was not lost. I don't think we can understate -- overstate, excuse me, we cannot overstate the profound impact and significant role that he played in the advancement of equality in professional sports. There are a lot of brave and courageous men in the NFL, none of them have more bravery or courage than Michael Sam.

BERMAN: You know, and it is interesting. It does say something that we can sit here and say he didn't make a team because he wasn't good enough, and only because he wasn't good enough. In this case, for the Rams, who had too many line men.

WIRE: They're loaded at that position, John. They have four solid players there. And he was a seventh round draft pick. This was a guy who was a marginal player, they cut all four of their seventh round draft picks. The Atlanta Falcons here in this city, they cut a fifth round draft pick. Nothing is given. Just because you're drafted doesn't mean you're going to make a team. The guy was a heck of a player, is a heck of a player. He might still get a chance, John, we'll see. I hope so. There are a lot of people rooting for him, hope that his game can develop at the next level, that he can contribute there. BERMAN: Yes, we all hope I think, or many of us hope that he ends up

on a team somewhere. And no matter what, he's already a pioneer and he's made it easier for another player or players down the line to do what he is trying to do. Coy Wire, great to have you here with us. I appreciate it.

WIRE: Thanks for having me, as always. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: Next, sticking with sports. Major league baseball umpires, they are critical on the field. But it is their work off the field that makes them today's Good Stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We are ready to play with some Good Stuff on this Monday, Labor Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Major League Baseball umpires we know are a mainstay on the field, but to kids coping with serious illness, its what they are doing off the field that is making such a tremendous impact. In between games last week, these umpires got some help from the Oriole Bird. There you go, the Oriole right, well, somewhere. To raise the spirits of little ones at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. There it is. The umpires are working with a nonprofit arranging these hospital visits all around the nation. They took the chance to provide some much needed relief, but it wasn't just the kids who came away with a rewarding experience.

JEFF NELSON, MLB UMPIRE: Their smile kind of brushes off on you and you get a chance to catch their enthusiasm because they're able to keep a smile throughout everything and its inspiring.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): Going above and beyond the call of duty.

BERMAN: I hope the kids argued with them just to make them feel comfortable.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: You know, the umps came in there and have the kids say you got that wrong!

CAMEROTA: And yelled profanity.

BERMAN: Exactly.

PEREIRA: And maybe kicked a little dirt at their ankles.

Yes, but I love that. Well done, gentlemen.

BERMAN: Their smiles were fantastic.

CAMEROTA: That's great. Alright, have a great Labor Day. It is time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, you guys have a great Labor Day too. NEWSROOM starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We start this hour with breaking news. The three Americans being held in North Korea, Kenneth Bae, Matthew Miller and Jeffrey Fowle, all spoke exclusively to CNN this morning from a secret hotel in Pyongyanhg. This was even a surprise to CNN.