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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Getting First Results In VA Race Where Trump Seeks Political Payback; Trump Says "I Love Milwaukee," Denies Planning To Stay Elsewhere During GOP Convention There; Milwaukeeans React To Trump "Horrible" Remark About City; Putin Arrives In North Korea For Talks With Kim Jong Un; Trump Adviser Boris Epshteyn Pleads Not Guilty In Arizona Election Subversion Case; Justin Timberlake Charged With DWI, Released From Police Custody; Texas Megachurch Accepts Senior Pastor's Resignation After Allegations Of "Inappropriate Relationship" With 12- Year-Old. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired June 18, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00]
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And this is someone whose entire life has been under a microscope. He grew up in front of our eyes and largely has stayed out of trouble. A ton has been said about his personal life, but this is his first arrest and his first brush with the law. With that said, he is always under a ton of public scrutiny for his personal choices and this comes in the middle of a huge tour for an album that has not been well received. So this is really the last thing that Justin needs in terms of his career.
And, of course, you'd imagine that his family is top priority right now. He has two young kids with Jessica Biel and actually this past weekend on Father's Day just posted a sweet message to them.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right. Elizabeth, thank you very much. And thanks to all of you. AC360 starts right now.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, primary night in three states. One race getting national attention, we'll take you there.
Donald Trump campaigning outside Milwaukee denying he called it horrible, but local voters make of it. A new reporting he was planning to stay elsewhere during the Republican convention.
Also tonight, our first look at Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea and the help he's seeking from despot, Kim Jong-un.
And later, a megachurch pastor and one time Trump's spiritual advisor admits to inappropriate sexual behavior after allegations it was with a 12-year-old girl.
Good evening. We begin with breaking news, primary night in Oklahoma, Georgia and Virginia where a kind of high power proxy battle is about to be decided. Congressman Bob Good, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a staunch conservative facing a challenger backed by the former president. You might ask, why didn't Trump back Good? Because the Congressman dared to endorse Ron DeSantis for president. A loss by the incumbent could be yet another demonstration of Donald Trump's clout. CNN's Melanie Zanona joins us now from Congressman Good's primary night headquarters.
What's the scene there like? What are their expectations?
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Anderson, Congressman Good just walked in moments ago. And there was a small but very excited group of supporters waiting to greet him inside this very small, quaint Italian restaurant here in Lynchburg, Virginia. But even though Good's team is feeling confident based on some of the early returns and numbers they're seeing, there's a lot of uncertainty inside that room.
I overheard people asking to them, what do you think is going to happen tonight? And that is because this has become one of the most bitter and the most expensive House Republican primary race in the country. Bob Good was outraised by his opponent, John McGuire, who is the Navy SEAL, a state lawmaker.
McGuire has racked up endorsements from 15 of Good's own House Republican colleagues, including a member of the Freedom Caucus, where Bob Good is a chair. So just a sign of how divisive and a polarizing figure Bob Good is inside the GOP, even though he does have his share of allies and defenders.
COOPER: Can you walk us through just some of the background on how Congressman Good ran afoul of not just former President Trump, but also former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and others?
ZANONA: Right. He's definitely created his share of enemies inside the GOP and those Republicans are looking for payback tonight. Of course, there's Donald Trump. As you mentioned, he has never forgiven Bob Good for endorsing Ron DeSantis early on. Even though we should mention Bob Good did flip his support to Donald Trump after DeSantis dropped out of the race. That was not good enough for Donald Trump. And he has endorsed John McGuire. He did a telethon haul last night for John McGuire.
And his campaign even sent a cease and desist letter to Bob Good saying he can't use these signs that seem to suggest that Trump is still supporting Bob Good. I should note, we spotted one of the sides inside the Italian restaurant tonight. And then, of course, there's Kevin McCarthy and his allies who are coming after Good with everything they've got. They poured a ton of money into this race and the reason is because Bob Good was one of those eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
So this race tonight, Anderson, is not only going to test Trump's influence inside the GOP, but also be a test of the strength of Kevin McCarthy's revenge tour, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Melanie Zanona, thanks.
I want to turn to CNN Political Director, David Chalian, at the Magic Wall. So what are the numbers right now?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, right now, here is Virginia. We're going to go into the 5th Congressional District here, Anderson. And what you see right now is a razor thin race, 42 votes separates John McGuire, the challenger here. He's got 50.3 percent of the vote to Bob Good's 49.7 percent of the vote. You see the raw numbers here. He is just 42 votes ahead right now. We've only got about 9 percent of the estimated vote in right now. So there is a lot of vote counting to do here, Anderson.
The fact that we're even talking about this primary is kind of astonishing. It kind of encapsulates, as Melanie just explained, all the intra-party dynamics going on with the House Republican Conference, Trump loyalty test, the ousting of Kevin McCarthy. But this is where it ends up right now with 10-- - 9 percent in, lots more vote counting to do, a razor thin race in Virginia 5.
COOPER: And what about the races in Georgia and Oklahoma?
CHALIAN: So take a look here, let's go out to Georgia. The big race tonight on the Republican side here is in the 2nd Congressional District. You see here, Wayne Johnson, this is a runoff, I should note, right?
[20:05:03]
Nobody got over 50 percent and so this is a runoff to be the Republican nominee in this Democratic-leaning district. Wayne Johnson at 44.6 percent of the vote. He's got a bit of a healthy margin there. You see 99 percent of the estimated votes are in right now, 32 percent for Chuck Hand, who, by the way, served some time in a federal prison for his activities at the Capitol on January 6th. Right now, that doesn't look good for Chuck Hand.
And to your question about Oklahoma, Anderson, I don't think we have any votes yet in the main district in Oklahoma that we are looking at here, which is the 4th Congressional District. Polls just closed in Oklahoma. You see here Tom Cole, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, longtime establishment member of the House Republican Conference, is facing this big spending outsider in Paul Bondar as a challenge here. Nothing yet, the polls just closed. We'll wait to see what happens there.
COOPER: All right. David Chalian, thanks so much.
CHALIAN: Sure.
COOPER: The man at the top of the ticket meantime campaign today in Racine, Wisconsin, not far from Milwaukee, started the Republican convention in the city. He recently used the word horrible to describe. Also the city he planned not to stay in during the July event, according to the New York Times, citing three people familiar with his plans.
According to the Times, the former president had planned to stay at a Trump hotel in Chicago. That is, until reporters asked him about it today. Campaign spokesman calls the story, quote, "fake news" from The New York Times. He goes on to say that Trump was always planning on staying in Milwaukee, a city that the candidate was quick to praise at the top of his remarks in Racine today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know I love Milwaukee. I was the one that picked Milwaukee, I have to tell you. I was the one that picked it, these lying people that they say, oh, he doesn't like Milwaukee. I love Milwaukee. I said, you got to fix the crime. We all know that. You got to make sure the election's honest. But I'm the one that picked Milwaukee and the Democrats or the radical left lunatics, as I call them, what they say is - just so terrible. They lie, lie, lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Yes, that happened. Keeping him honest, he said what he said about the city in a closed door meeting of Republican lawmakers last week. So any word of what he said to them about Milwaukee came from Republicans, not from Democrats or communists or Marxists.
But even if he was only talking about crime, as he and some of those lawmakers have said, crime is by and large down in the city. Murder down 40 percent over the last two years, according to police figures, shootings, rape, arson, thefts, assaults, all significantly lower.
So given all that and given how close the state is likely to be in November, the question is what are local voters making of it? We sent Gary Tuchman to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On a beautiful summer day in Milwaukee's trendy Historic Third Ward, I join these two Milwaukeeans as they eat lunch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you know who you're voting for in November?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm undecided. I don't like either candidates.
TUCHMAN: What about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm undecided, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): But undecided would not describe how these men feel about what Donald Trump recently said behind closed doors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (on camera): Donald Trump's saying that Milwaukee is a horrible city. What do you think about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I disagree entirely. This is a great city. It's a nice river, beautiful buildings, and nice and clean. Low crime.
TUCHMAN: What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just ignore what he has to say, because he says so many crazy things, there's not much value to what he has to say, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): The former president's comments have struck a nerve in Wisconsin's largest city, a city that will be hosting the Republican National Convention next month. A city that now has billboards posted by the Democratic National Committee calling attention to Trump's Milwaukee rhetoric. Kate Lobel (ph) also says she's undecided about her vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE LOBEL, MILWAUKEE VOTER: I've lived here my entire life, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, so I guess I don't agree with that.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Does it make you angry?
LOBEL: No, I just feel bad because, like, I don't want Milwaukee to have, like, a bad reputation because he said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): This woman says she's never been a fan of Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's an unfair statement and that he doesn't know the people of this city.
TUCHMAN (off camera): Now, what his spokesman has said is that it's been falsely characterized. He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are. Now, there's no evidence of significant voter fraud anywhere, but there is crime here, although the crime rate has gone down over the last two years, the violent crime rate. Do you abide that explanation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): This Milwaukeean who is voting for Trump says she thinks it was all taken out of context.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (on camera): So it doesn't insult you that he said that about your city?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, not at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): Outside of the city, in Racine, Wisconsin, most people we talked to who were in line for Donald Trump's campaign rally had no inclination to defend Milwaukee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he said exactly what he wanted to say.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What do you think about Donald Trump's comment that Milwaukee is a horrible city?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's absolutely right. Most Democrat-run cities are horrible cities. Murder is out of control. Crime out of control. We need to get things ...
TUCHMAN: You're right, all cities do have crimes, some worse than Milwaukee and some better than Milwaukee. Do you think he should be saying that? But cities are part of America, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not anti-patriotic to tell the truth. It's patriotic to fix what's broken. I have to go, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:10:00]
TUCHMAN (voice over): In the suburbs, the feelings of people we talked to about Trump's comment matched up with who they're supporting for president. Marian Cross (ph) is planning to vote for Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you don't think it's a big deal?
MARIAN CROSS, MILWAUKEE VOTER: I think it's a nothing burger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Casey Salazar (ph) is planning to vote for President Biden and doesn't like the explanation she's hearing about Trump's comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY SALAZAR, MILWAUKEE VOTER: He said it and I - we know what he meant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): Meanwhile, on the beach in Milwaukee County, we asked this man about former President Trump's comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It upsets me. I wish that it wasn't said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice over): But it doesn't change how he feels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (on camera): Who are you voting for, for president in November?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm voting for President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Gary, did you run into any Trump supporters in Milwaukee who were upset enough to reconsider their vote? It doesn't seem like it.
TUCHMAN (on camera): We talked to a lot of Trump supporters here in Milwaukee, Anderson. And some of them are not at all happy that he made these comments about their city, but we did not talk to one Trump supporter who says they will not vote for him. Notably, though, we did talk to a number of people who are undecided about who to vote for, and among some of those voters, Donald Trump did himself no favors by making those comments about Milwaukee. Anderson?
COOPER: Gary Tuchman, thanks very much.
Joining us now three CNN political commentators, David Urban, Karen Finney and Alyssa Farah Griffin.
Obviously, Alyssa, I mean, it's never a great idea to insult the city where you're going to be holding your convention.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, it's a total unforced error, the billboards are just perfect politics. But listen, we haven't heard a lot of these kind of leaks from the Trump campaign the way that we did all the time when he was in the White House in previous campaigns. It's been a lot more buttoned up. But this time he was back on Capitol Hill for the first time in four years, since January 6th, and there's one just staple of Capitol Hill, anything you say behind closed doors will immediately leak to reporters, most likely Jake Sherman, and that's exactly what happened.
I think the more that he is out there and talking to folks, engaging with the press, but also other candidates, other lawmakers, we're going to be reminded of the things that he says all the time behind closed doors. But again, like, this is not helpful. This is a key state that I think both he and Biden are targeting to win and realize it's crucial.
But there's far more offensive things that I think he's saying on the campaign trail that the Biden campaign should spotlight. Immigrants are poisoning our blood, that talking about rage and retribution, those things matter just as much.
COOPER: David, I mean, it seems like he hates Milwaukee because Milwaukee didn't go for him in the election last time. I mean, he lost in, you know, Democratic areas in Wisconsin. He lost Wisconsin by 20,000 votes.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Anderson, I can tell you, my wife's from Milwaukee. It's a beautiful city.
COOPER: It's a great city. It is a great city.
URBAN: I will convince him ...
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You had to say that, David.
URBAN: ... I assure you by the time - listen, I will convince him. Well, my wife's watching at home, I won't be able to go home. I will convince him by the time we get to the convention that Milwaukee is a great city and he'll be saying it - he'll be shouting it.
Listen, Anderson, you heard Gary Tuchman ...
COOPER: It's all that voter fraud that took place in Milwaukee that he's so concerned about, apparently.
URBAN: Well, I will persuade him that that did take place. Listen, Gary Tuchman had it right though, Anderson. This is a political Rorschach test, right? No matter what Trump says, some people, if you don't like him, you're going to, you know, see what you want to see. If you like him, it doesn't matter what you say.
So there's a long distance between here and November 5th and I suspect this won't be the first time or the last time that Donald Trump says something that's shocking.
COOPER: And Karen, of course, you know, it's an opportunity to accuse Democrats of, quote, "making up stories," which is what he said that Milwaukee was a horrible city. Again, it's coming from Republicans.
FINNEY: Yes. Can I just remind us, Milwaukee, a predominantly black area of the state and I think what you're seeing actually, what I'm hearing is it's galvanizing people in the city. And so sure, say more things that are going to galvanize Democrats. I'll take that any day of the week.
COOPER: Well, we should also point out when the Republican Party, when Trump contested votes in Wisconsin ...
FINNEY: Yes.
COOPER: ... they picked the two predominantly black areas ...
FINNEY: Yes.
COOPER: ... to contest the votes and they were accusing them of a very specific thing, which was actually done in all the counties in terms of absentee ballots, but they only choose to contest it in the predominantly black counties.
FINNEY: Right. And look, I don't think that most people will get that level of nuance that you and I were talking about, Anderson, but I just, you know, throw that out there as sort of an interesting - I don't - I'm sure he doesn't even realize that Milwaukee is predominantly black and that the way to win the state, you have to win that area.
But look, I agree with David. This is the kind of thing where this, you know, it doesn't really matter to people who've already decided one way or the other, may galvanize Democrats, make people feel a little bit, you know, defensive about their city.
The people who, though, have had a rough couple of days since this came out are the people who actually working on the convention, because imagine you still have to deal with city officials while you're trying to plan the convention. So they probably had a rough couple of days.
[20:15:06]
COOPER: Well, now he's got to find a room too, which is a good - a lot of those rooms are probably booked, but maybe he'll - somebody will ...
GRIFFIN: I'm fascinated but ...
COOPER: ... (INAUDIBLE) ...
GRIFFIN: ... that Milwaukee is horrible, but he thinks Chicago is the safer place to be, a place that he's constantly criticized. But I suspect that has more to do with wanting to stay in his property there and put up ...
FINNEY: Yes.
GRIFFIN: ... you know, the hundreds of staff that come with him in secret service as well.
COOPER: Just in terms of primaries tonight, Alyssa, do any of them, you know, or any of them Rorschach test of anything or ...
GRIFFIN: I think, you know, Virginia 5, the Bob Good seat as the one to watch. This is ...
COOPER: The Bob Good who, by the way, you know, traipse to support the former president at his trial.
GRIFFIN: Well, and by the way, this is the chair of the Freedom Caucus. This is as right wing as you get in the House. The most pro- Trump faction of the House Republican Conference. His only, you know, sin was that he dared to back DeSantis in the primary.
But they actually found somebody who might be to the right of him to run against him. So John McGuire has admitted he was at The Ellipse on January 6th for the Stop the Steal rally. So they found somebody who may be able to outmaneuver him there. But what's fascinating is, yes, there's the Kevin McCarthy revenge tour. There's the Donald Trump revenge tour, but he's - Donald Trump keeps saying we're remarkably united.
Like - yet you're engaging in one of the safest seats and upending an unnecessary race, spending $12 million there. It undercuts that message.
COOPER: We're also now able to project another notable race, Eugene Vindman, who is a key player along with his brother, Alexander, in the first impeachment of the former president. We can now project he will win the Democratic nomination for the House seat representing Virginia's 7th Congressional District.
Sorry, the - Karen, did you want to say something?
FINNEY: Well, I was just going to point out that Eugene Vindman, you know, is running and looks like he's going to win. And sort of when you think about the Donald Trump revenge tour, it'll be interesting to see, you know, sort of what, if anything, he chooses to do around this seat, because obviously Virginia is going to be a very competitive state in the presidential election in the fall.
COOPER: David, what do you make of Trump supporting - not supporting Bob Good, who did show up, you know, to support him at the hush money trial?
URBAN: Yes, look, so, Anderson, there are - you know, if you - it's bare knuckle politics, right? I mean, he's very angry that he came out and supported DeSantis. And you make two errors, you vote against Kevin McCarthy, you make a big error there, and you pick the wrong horse in the primary. I don't know what Bob Good was thinking, but it's not really smart politics on his part.
I'll just say, Anderson, as a quick aside, in Georgia 3, I think it looks like our friend Brian Jack, Alyssa, everybody's friend in the White House, worked in the Trump White House, political director. There's not a human being on the Republican side of the ticket, at least, who would say a bad thing about Brian Jack. Looks like he's going to win handily there and go on. It's a safe R seat, so it looks like he'll be headed to Congress this November. And I'll just say congratulations - early congratulations to him.
I think that - you know, I'll - you won't find a Bob Good situation there, there's not a person on Capitol Hill on the Republican side that has a mean thing to say about Brian, so it's a celebratory vote there in the Republican Party.
COOPER: David, let me ask you, you know, Saturday at the Charlie Kirk thing, the former president was once again talking about, you know, stop the steal and talking about mail-in voting as being terrible and just dangerous and don't do it. You must love that. I mean, as somebody who ...
URBAN: No, Anderson ...
COOPER: ... as somebody who wants to see him elected ...
URBAN: Listen, Anderson, we have to - listen, again, President Trump, vote by mail is okay. We need it, okay. Like, I don't know what we can do, Anderson.
FINNEY: Keep it up.
URBAN: I will - you know, we need that early vote and we need to vote by mail. We need to bank Republican votes so that on Election Day we know [INAUDIBLE] ...
COOPER: I mean, it's incredible that he is still making this argument. I mean, it is - it's remarkable. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of Democrats who are saying, shut up, let him keep doing it.
FINNEY: Yes. Yes, we are actually.
URBAN: We - listen I know ...
FINNEY: He should keep doing it.
URBAN: ... the president feels very strongly about that, right? And listen, the rules are what the rules are. Where you can ballot harvest, we need to ballot harvest, we need to do everything in our power. The Democrats are very good at this. They clean their closets.
COOPER: So how - David, how much money do you want the RNC to devote to people watching drop mail-in ballot drop boxes? Because ,[INAUDIBLE] Trump seems very, very concerned about ...
URBAN: I want the RNC - yeah.
COOPER: ... voter fraud as well. How much are you pushing for the RNC to devote to them? How many billions?
URBAN: Yes, look - yes. No, look, I'd like billions to go to early voting, right, Anderson? I'd like billions to go to banking our votes, do the smart things so that we can win. Those are the things we need to do to win. You know, I've said this before, Anderson, and Van, and Karen, and everyone's heard me say this, the problem in America with voting, by mail-in voting, we need a winner on election night, right?
Florida, you can vote by mail, you vote early. But on election night, they push a button, there's a tally, and we know who wins. And that's the problem in America. People feel that - if they vote by mail or vote, you know, not in-person, that somehow that's not as effective, it creates problems.
[20:20:05]
We need to remedy that. So on election night or the next morning, we know who the winner is. And I think that would do a lot to give people faith in the election system and the electoral - and the way they vote to eliminate some of this concern.
GRIFFIN: And not telling them it's rigged. That helps as well. FINNEY: Yes.
COOPER: David Urban ...
FINNEY: And vote by mail does work. So I - David, I do disagree with you on that point, it's okay if it takes a couple of days.
URBAN: No, no, I think it works. No, I'm saying it works. I agree. It works. We need to do more of it, Republicans.
COOPER: David Urban ...
URBAN: We need to catch up with you, Karen.
COOPER: ... Karen Finney, Alyssa Farah Griffin, thanks so much. Coming up next, we're waiting for a new video of Vladimir Putin's visit with Kim Jong-un. We'll bring them to you as we get them and dig deeper into why their meeting could spell so yet more misery for people in Ukraine.
And later, another close associate of Donald Trump's charged with a crime, Boris Epshteyn, who was always with Donald Trump during his New York felony trial. He has now been arraigned today in Arizona. Nine felony counts of his own, what he's charged with in his boss' alleged role in the alleged scheme.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:25:01]
COOPER: Some more breaking election news, this time in Georgia, Republican primary House race between Wayne Johnson and Chuck Hand, who was convicted for illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol on January 6th, CNN can now project that the winner in that race for Georgia's 2nd District will be Wayne Johnson, who's leading now by a wide margin.
Now, overseas, hard on the heels of the G7 summit, Vladimir Putin is in North Korea tonight for a summit of his own, not with a similar collection of Western democracies nor with a leader of a superpower. Instead, Putin is in North Korea meeting with fellow pariah Kim Jong- un in search of what he badly needs to continue his war in Ukraine. More from CNN's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Russian President Vladimir Putin stepping foot on North Korean soil for the first time in 24 years. A late night landing in Pyongyang for Putin's presidential plane. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rolling out the red carpet for Putin.
Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square decked out for a massive celebration in Putin's honor. The global outcast getting a grandiose welcome in signature North Korean style, says Chad O'Carroll of NK News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD O'CARROLL, NK NEWS: Flags everywhere. Red carpets everywhere. Military bands everywhere. Portraits of Putin adorning all the streets. I think for a leader with dictatorial tendencies, it's probably a dream come true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): Kim invited Putin to Pyongyang after their landmark meeting in Russia last year. Satellite images of the North Korean capital show preparations for a military parade. The U.S. and South Korea warn Kim may be seeking sophisticated Russian military technology and economic support in exchange for weapons and ammunition helping Putin wage war in Ukraine.
O'Carroll says Kim's wish list for Putin could include advanced Russian fighter jets, ballistic missile and spy satellite expertise, sending North Korean workers to Russia, generating critical revenue. The two are expected to sign a new strategic partnership, replacing previous agreements from 1961 and nearly a quarter century ago when Putin last traveled to Pyongyang, a few months into his presidency.
Analysts say North Korea may have been an afterthought to the Russian leadership back then. O'Carroll says times have changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (on camera): What do you think Kim Jong-un is getting right now?
O'CARROLL: He's getting legitimacy. He's on the world stage. You know, this couldn't be better for Kim Jong-un.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): All without having to give up a single nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Will Ripley joins us now from Taipei, Taiwan. How strong is the alliance between Russia and North Korea? Is there a limit to how far Russia may go to support Korea?
RIPLEY (on camera): It's strong for the time being while there's active fighting in Ukraine. But experts say, Anderson, this alliance is pretty fragile because if there were a ceasefire in Ukraine, that could shift the whole dynamic here. Also, Putin's really walking a fine line here. He needs to not alienate Xi Jinping, the president of China. And he also doesn't want to alienate South Korea, which is one of the world's largest arms exporters.
In fact, just last week, he thanked Seoul for not sending weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine. But if he goes too far with Kim Jong-un, the South could change his mind.
COOPER: All right. Will Ripley, thanks.
For more on what Vladimir Putin hopes to gain here, we're joined by Steve Hall, former CIA chief of Russia operations.
I mean, Steve, is this purely about weapons and ammunition or is it about forming some kind of a coalition that has a common enemy in what Putin has called the collective West?
STEVE HALL, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I think it's a little bit of both, Anderson. I mean, on a tactical level, there's no doubt that the Russians need to continue to prosecute the war in Ukraine. They need armaments. They need weapons from North Korea, which is, to me, just amazing that we've all of a sudden got, you know, a former superpower Russia kind of coming hat in hand to the North Koreans.
And the Russians, of course, need everything because they're arguably the poorest country in the world. So they'll take whatever they can get. But on a bigger scale, you allude to the correct thing. This is Putin trying to build a coalition, an anti-West, anti-democratic coalition with the likes of North Korea, Iran, even Cuba recently. And of course, China's in that mix as well, so it's a little bit of both.
COOPER: Is there any military equipment or technology that Russia would not want to share with North Korea? I mean, obviously, the big question would be nuclear.
HALL: Yes, I mean, I think they'll start at the bottom, you know, and then - and work their way up, you know, the lesser dangerous and the lesser sophisticated types of assistance to North Koreans would make sense.
The Kremlin has said, of course, we would never send sophisticated, you know, nuclear weaponry or even know how to North Korea. But whenever the Kremlin says something like that, that we would never do something like they said we'd never, you know, invade Ukraine, then it is certainly worth paying attention to. That is the nightmare scenario and it's, you know, worth watching it very carefully to see where they're going to go on that.
COOPER: In March of this year, Russia used its veto to deny the renewal of the UN panel that investigates sanctions violations involving North Korea. Is it possible to make sanctions stick if a country like Russia is willing to subvert them?
[20:30:16]
HALL: Yes, I think it is. I think what we saw happen in the U.N. Security Council, where Russia voted against continuing the team that is actually monitoring that and trying to abstain is you're seeing signaling going on between Russia and North Korea -- Russian support for North Korea.
But, in fact, there are other ways to do this. I mean, intelligence collections is, of course, the obvious way to find out whether there's being any violations of either their nuclear program or sanctions or anything else. So yes, there's other ways to do it besides the U.N. I think what we saw there was political signaling primarily.
COOPER: Do you think the U.S. or its allies is trying to drive a wedge between the two countries? If so, how?
HALL: I'm sorry, if the United States is trying to drive away?
COOPER: Yes. And, or allied nations would be trying to, you know, have an interest in driving a wedge between Russia and North Korea. I mean, how much of a threat of this.
HALL: You know -- yes, it's really -- it's a complicated geopolitical thing because, of course, is -- as we were alluding to earlier, you got the South Koreans who are watching this very carefully because, of course, they have, you know, a big interest in what North Korea is up to and what assistance they're going to get.
You've got China who has much more to lose than these sort of, you know, the waning superpower of Russia and in North Korea. So, yes, you've got people that are looking to find out where the cracks are and what they need to avoid. China is in a particular precarious position, I think, in this regard.
COOPER: Steve Hall, thanks very much.
Coming up, more allies of the former president in legal trouble, this time in Arizona. We'll have new details on who are the latest to plead not guilty in the alleged fake electors plot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:46]
COOPER: There's more legal fallout tonight from the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Multiple figures associated with the Trump campaign pleaded not guilty to election subversion related charges in Arizona, including former White House aide Boris Epshteyn. While not all of the 18 defendants charged in the Arizona indictment are still prominent figures in the former president's orbit, Epshteyn is, he's appeared alongside him at his New York trial. The two men reportedly still speak regularly.
Our Jessica Schneider has more now on the charges in Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jenna Ellis.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis pleading not guilty via video in Arizona State Court. Just the latest former Trump ally to be arraigned after an April indictment accusing 18 defendants of attempting to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J. Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Your Honor, Boris Epshteyn. SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Boris Epshteyn also pleaded not guilty today in Arizona. He's been by Trump's side since his first presidential campaign in 2016.
BORIS EPSHTEYN, TRUMP ADVISER: It's making America great again.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Even attending his criminal hush money trial in Manhattan, where Trump was convicted last month. Epshteyn is charged with nine counts related to election subversion efforts in Arizona.
EPSHTEYN: I'm happy to share all of the information about the overwhelming amount of fraud that happened in the 2020 election in Arizona.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Epshteyn is accused of working alongside Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to implement the scheme to submit fake elector votes for Trump in Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any regrets about what you did in Arizona after the election?
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Oh my goodness, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
GIULIANI: I'm very, very proud of it.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Giuliani was in Arizona last week to post bond after an arraignment by telephone in May.
GIULIANI: I do consider this indictment a complete embarrassment to the American legal system. But I've shown tendency not to comply.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): According to the Arizona indictment, Giuliani spread false claims of election fraud, pressured local officials to change the election outcome and was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states. Now he faces charges in two states, Arizona and Georgia. Trump is not charged in Arizona, though, he is referred to in the indictment as unindicted coconspirator one.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The fact is, we won the presidential election, we won it big.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Trump and his allies repeatedly railed against the 2020 election results. In Arizona, Joe Biden won the state by more than 10,000 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being the duly elected and qualified electors for the president and vice president of the United States of America from the state of Arizona --
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): All 11 of the Republican electors who tried to submit certificates falsely saying Trump won are now charged in Arizona. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim Lamon.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Former Republican State Senate candidate Jim Lamon was also arraigned Tuesday for his role as a fake elector.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida, number of votes, 11.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): And Arizona isn't the only state where Trump's allies are facing charges.
TRUMP: I thought the election was a rigged election.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Trump and 18 others were charged as part of an election subversion racketeering scheme in Georgia. And cases have also been brought in Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan against people involved in the fake electors plot.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Much more ahead tonight. Take a look, this is singer Justin Timberlake's mugshot after he was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York and charged with DUI -- DWI. What he said during the traffic stop and what the police officer revealed in court documents, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:43:26]
COOPER: We have new details tonight about the DWI charge against Justin Timberlake. The singer was released from police custody this morning after being arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, overnight. According to court records, Timberlake told police he had one martini. Authorities say he did poorly on all the field sobriety tests.
More now from CNN's Brynn Gingras.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Megastar Justin Timberlake pleading not guilty to driving while intoxicated after spending the night in a Hamptons' jail. A source said Timberlake was leaving this hotel in downtown Sag Harbor, New York, seen here in surveillance video.
GINGRAS: Police allege the pop star blew through this stop sign before heading in this direction. For six more blocks, police say Timberlake swerved lanes and they pulled him over. It was here where they say he had slurred speech, unsteady footing, and he failed a field sobriety test.
GINGRAS (voice-over): According to court documents, Timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy and there was a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. He also refused a breathalyzer three times. The pop star allegedly telling police, "I had one martini and I followed my friend's home." Authorities report giving him water twice while they held him overnight ahead of arraignment.
This happening in the downtown district of Sag Harbor, a Tony enclave of the Hamptons, where celebrity run-ins are frequent. As for Timberlake, his locally based attorney and reps aren't commenting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope you brought your camera.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Timberlake is currently on tour promoting his latest album. This is Timberlake's first arrest, but the latest headline in a string of scandals that have recently plagued the pop star.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to apologize because I absolutely -- nobody.
[20:45:09]
GINGRAS (voice-over): Some fans turned against the singer earlier this year when Timberlake appeared to brush off criticism after ex- girlfriend Britney Spears revealed in her 2023 memoir that Timberlake encouraged her to get an abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
ALL: Free Britney.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Timberlake also came under fire in 2021 following a documentary about Spears career, as well as renewed questions in the wake of the Me Too movement about his role in the infamous Super Bowl incident with Janet Jackson. He did apologize then and admit that he benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.
The former NSyncer (ph) and 10-time Grammy Award winner will return to New York next week set to perform at Madison Square Garden.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: Anderson, this is the courthouse where Timberlake appeared before a judge earlier this morning. His next court date is scheduled for July 26th. That will be a virtual appearance, and it turns out that on that same date, he has a concert scheduled in Poland. Anderson?
COOPER: Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.
Now to Texas, where the senior pastor of a Dallas area megachurch has resigned after allegations of a past inappropriate relationship with a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s surfaced last week. The former pastor's name is Robert Morris, and he's one of -- or was one of Donald Trump's former spiritual advisers.
According to a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WFAA, the church's board of elders plan to conduct an independent review. Randi Kaye has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CINDY CLEMISHIRE, ROBERT MORRIS' ACCUSER: The story is gut wrenching when I read it on paper, and I've been sharing for years.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story Cindy Clemishire is talking about is her own. It's a story of abuse at the hands of Gateway Church senior pastor, Robert Morris. Clemishire told CNN affiliate WFAA that he molested her from 1982 to 1987. It started on Christmas Day, Clemishire says, when she was just 12 years old and he was in his 20s.
According to Clemishire, Morris was a family friend who was marries and already working as a traveling preacher.
CLEMISHIRE: It just happens to be God's time, I think, for it to come to light.
KAYE (voice-over): Pastor Morris isn't just any pastor. In 2016, Morris was part of candidate Donald Trump's Evangelical Executive Advisory Board.
TRUMP: Please, Pastor, please.
ROBERT MORRIS, PASTOR: Well, thank you, Mr. President.
KAYE (voice-over): In 2020, when then President Trump held a roundtable at Morris's Dallas area megachurch, Morris led a prayer before the event. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told CNN in a statement that Morris "does not have a role with the 2024 campaign."
Decades after the abuse, Morris resigned today as senior pastor. Yesterday, he admitted engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior, but did not name Clemishire or give her age. In a statement to WFAA, Morris said in part, "When I was in my early 20s, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years."
He added, "In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of."
CLEMISHIRE: He didn't come forward and confess. He was turned in. And when someone's turned in, what are they sorry for? Are they sorry because they got caught? Or are they truly repentant of what they did?
KAYE (voice-over): Morris said he stepped away from the ministry at the time and received counseling. Clemishire told WFAA that her family forgave him, but never supported Morris returning to the ministry. CNN has reached out to Morris and Gateway Church for comment.
The Board of Elders of Gateway Church told WFAA in a statement it was their understanding that Morris extramarital relationship, which he discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with a young lady and not abuse of a 12-year-old child. The statement goes on to say, "As leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have."
They said they are, quote, "heartbroken and appalled" and express sympathy to the victim and her family.
CLEMISHIRE: I think that leaders can get caught up in feeling like it's our responsibility to protect God. And it's not. Their responsibility is to protect the people.
KAYE (voice-over): Clemishire's attorney told CNN in a statement that churches ignored his client's disclosures while embracing, promoting, and endorsing this reported sexual offender as a man of God.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Randi joins me now. It's incredible to me that even in a recent statement, this guy called, who was then a 12-year-old girl, a young lady. He's saying he had to do something inappropriate with the young lady. It was a 12-year-old girl and it happened -- and it went over the course of her entire teenage years.
KAYE (on-camera): Exactly. He never acknowledges her age, even though he acknowledges now what happened.
[20:50:03]
And he also told WFAA that back in 1989, he and his wife actually met with the survivor and her family. He doesn't say her name. He says that he asked for forgiveness and that they, quote, "graciously" forgave him. But again, this woman is now saying that they never thought he was going to go back to preaching when they forgave him.
And in terms of next steps in this case, Anderson, the lawyer for this woman says that he thinks it's probably too late for them to actually file a lawsuit. But he does hope that now that he's getting all this attention, that maybe it will prompt lawmakers to drop this statute of limitations when it comes to these child sex crimes (ph).
COOPER: And this guy's wife is standing by him, even though he -- well he said this girl from age of 12 on for years?
KAYE (on-camera): At the time, he said that he told WFAA, he and his wife had met with her back in 1989. What their situation is now is unclear.
COOPER: Randi Kaye, thank you.
Coming up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me to discuss his new documentary on Alzheimer's research, and we launch a brand new segment right here on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:55:05]
COOPER: Here on 360, we're excited to announce a new series called "Dr. Sanjay Gupta On Call," where we're going to discuss and answer your questions about the latest health news with, who else, but our very own chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay's latest investigation includes a groundbreaking documentary five years in the making following the most recent Alzheimer's science.
Nearly 7 million Americans are currently living with the disease, and for decades, researchers have tried and failed to come up with ways to effectively treat it, leaving a lot of patients with few options. Well, now there are new signs of hope from hard science and lifestyle interventions to earlier detection and intervention. There are new tools to battle the disease.
Sanjay's latest documentary, "The Last Alzheimer's Patient," is now streaming on Max, part of our parent company. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the five years of making this documentary --
GUPTA: The 20-year-old newlyweds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): I've met with patients all around the country who were diagnosed or at high risk for this devastating disease.
GUPTA: Do you remember this time in your life, Mike?
GUPTA (voice-over): It made me really start to think about my own brain. I have a family history of Alzheimer's as well. Sometimes I feel a little rusty. Sometimes I worry that I make mistakes that maybe my friends and family are too polite to tell me about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to look at your body composition.
GUPTA (voice-over): So that's why I decided to do something quite personal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your muscle mass, your body fat.
GUPTA (voice-over): Quite revealing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That wasn't quite right.
GUPTA (voice-over): I went through a battery of tests to assess my own risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like we get a cholesterol test every year and check your blood pressure. Got to do the same thing for the brain.
GUPTA (voice-over): And what did I find?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll just say it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And joining me now, neurosurgeon and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So should people be tested for their Alzheimer's risk?
GUPTA (on-camera): I don't think it's ready for everybody yet, Anderson, but we're getting really close. I mean, you know, we're probably where we were about 60 years ago with heart disease. For a long time, people believed, look, you're either going to get heart disease or you're not. And there's nothing you can do about it, so why even bother getting checked?
We now know that's not true. We're sort of at those early days, I think, when it comes to the brain. And you saw Richard Isaacson there, someone you know as well, who says --
COOPER: Yes.
GUPTA (on-camera): -- we're going to get to the point where you test cholesterol, you know, for heart disease, there's going to be tests like that for Alzheimer's as well. I think the main reason why is because now we know there's something you can do about it. Before you get tested, what can you do? Why bother getting tested? That narrative is starting to change, Anderson.
COOPER: And that's one of the things that Dr. Richard Isaacson is very much involved with, the preventative aspect. How much of Alzheimer's is preventable?
GUPTA (on-camera): Yes, that's a great question. And I think if you had to put a number on it, I'd say around 40 percent. And this is based on not only data here in the United States, but all over the world. You've had, you know, Richard Isaacson has this preventive neurology clinic, but there are these preventive neurology sort of places in different places around the world where they've been looking at people saying, OK, we're going to implement certain lifestyle changes.
And let's see what happens to people who do that versus people who don't. And some of the lifestyle changes, we can just throw them up on the screen are going to sound pretty basic. But here's the thing. We now know when you do these things for about 20 weeks, about five weeks, people who went through these lifestyle changes versus those who didn't either didn't progress in terms of cognitive impairment or, Anderson, they even got better.
It was able to reverse the signs of cognitive impairment, early cognitive impairment in people who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. So vegan diet, not for everybody, but again, five months of vegan diet made a difference. 30 minutes of daily exercise, 1 hour of daily stress relief, they had these support sessions.
And also I think we have a full screen of the supplements. People went on specific supplements for five months as well. And when they did this, Anderson, again, we followed this along for five years to see what would happen to these patients. I saw patients who had clear cognitive impairment.
When I went to go visit them after they'd been through the trial, they were clearly improved. I mean, they were normal. It was hard to tell there was any problem at all.
COOPER: Which is, I mean, just really incredible given how hopeless it often seems with Alzheimer's.
GUPTA (on-camera): Yes, I mean, people are told when they're given the diagnosis to, you know, get their affairs in order. I remember one patient saying to me it was like looking over into an abyss. There was nothing there for them. And I think through the work of Dr. Dean Ornish, who conducted the trial, Dr. Richard Isaacson, many other doctors around the country, that is starting to change.
I mean, I've been a neurosurgeon for, you know, a quarter century. I've been a doctor for 30 years for most of the time we have said this is going to be preordained and there's not much you can do about it, but that is changing. So these are incredibly hopeful times. It's still early days. I want to emphasize that.
The trial that Dr. Ornish did was just 50 patients, hard trials to do. But as they start to do more and more of these patients' trials around the world, we're going to get that data. And I think it's going to offer a lot of hope, not necessarily just new medications, but lifestyle changes alone leading to these changes.
COOPER: Sanjay, it's incredible. Thank you. And if you're like me, and still have questions about this, as well as the latest in drugs to target Alzheimer's, you can submit your questions using the QR code on screen, and Sanjay will join me again later in the week with some answers.
The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. See you tomorrow.
