Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Biden Welcomes Japanese, S. Korean Leaders At Camp David; Ten Officers Charged In FBI's Investigation Of Police; Focus On Crimea Has Some U.S. Officials Skeptical. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 18, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the first-ever standalone summit between the leaders of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. And I can think of no better way, no better way to mark our new chapter of our trilateral cooperation than meeting here at Camp David. And so, strengthening the ties between our democracies has long been a priority for me dating back to when I was vice president of the United States, as because our countries are stronger and the world is safer.

Let me say that, again. Our countries are stronger and the world would be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief we all three share.

And I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here. And I'm looking forward us having a great meeting. But continuing these meetings.

You stepped up to do the hard work, I would argue historic work, to forge a foundation from which we can face the future together -- the three of us together. And I'm deeply grateful for your leadership. And I look forward to working with both of you as we began this new era of cooperation and renew our resolve to serve as a force of good across the Indo-Pacific and quite frankly, around the world as well. President Yoon, let me turn this over to you.

YOON SUK YEOL, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through interpreter): Hi, I would like to extend my gratitude to President Biden for his warm hospitality. Last July, we met in Vilnius for the NATO Summit, and I'm pleased to be reunited in about a month. That this symbolic venue of Camp David in the history of modern his -- diplomacy, our trilateral partnership is opening a new chapter, which carries great significance in my view.

President Roosevelt once stated. Freedom is not a given but something you fight to win. To make sure that each of our freedoms is neither threatened nor damaged, our three nations must tighten our solidarity.

Such is also our promise and mandate towards our future generations. Stronger coordination between Korea, the U.S., and Japan requires more robust institutional foundations. Moreover, challenges that threaten regional security must be addressed by us building up a stronger commitment to working together.

Today will be remembered as a historic day, where we establish the firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership. Today, I hope we will explore together ways to elevate cooperation between Korea, the U.S., and Japan to a new plane through in-depth discussions.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through interpreter): First of all, I would like to express my sympathy once again for the devastating damages caused by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. In order to provide relief to the affected people, Japan has decided to offer a total of around two million dollars of support. I offer my heartfelt prayer for the earliest possible recovery of the affected areas.

May I also once again convey my heartfelt condolences for the passing away of President Yoon's father? And now, I would like to thank Joe for your kind invitation to the two of us to Camp David, a place with history. President Yoon, I have been meeting you almost on a monthly basis since March of this year. But the fact that we, the three leaders have got together in this way, I believe, means that we are indeed making a new history as of today.

The international community is at a turning point in history in order to allow the potential of trilateral strategic collaboration to be bloom and to blossom, I wish to take this moment to raise the security coordination between Japan, ROK, and the U.S. to new heights while strengthening the coordination between the Japan-U.S. and the U.S.-ROK alliances as we deepen our cooperation. And the response to North Korea, I wish to expand and deepen our collaboration in extensive areas including economic security such as critical and emerging technology, cooperation, and supply chain resilience.

[11:35:11]

Today, I look forward to engaging in a frank discussions amongst ourselves in order to declare a new area of Japan-U.S.-ROK partnership. I once again express my gratitude for Joe's initiative. Thank you.

BIDEN: Thank you. I politely asked the press to leave. Thank you for coming.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And they have cut the audio.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Already done.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All business.

BOLDUAN: That's one way to tell us to get away and get the press out of here -- out of here.

SIDNER: Get the press to shut up. Yes. BOLDUAN: But we're listening there to the trilateral, the pool spray at the very top of this historic summit with the -- with President Biden and the leaders of South Korea, and Japan. And sitting next to -- importantly to the discussion of what they're going to be talking about going forward, you saw the Commerce Secretary and the Secretary of State, flanking President Biden.

Joining us now is Max Boot, a Senior Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post. Max, in your piece, you said it's hard to exaggerate the significance of this gathering. What did you hear here, and what do you see happening today?

MAX BOOT, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, I think these are very positive dynamics, something that would have been very hard to imagine even a couple of years ago because of the long history of conflict between South Korea and their former colonial masters in Japan. So, to overcome all those historical differences certainly requires a major commitment and a courageous commitment by President Yoon of South Korea and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan. But I think it's also very much to the credit of Joe Biden that he has made this a priority.

And you know, one of the striking things is that of course, Donald Trump also got involved in Korean negotiations. But he really swung for the fences of this unrealistic goal of getting North Korea to denuclearize, whereas President Biden has been much more realistic because he has much more experience in the field of diplomacy, and he knows what is achievable. And this is something that is achievable.

And it is in fact, a significant achievement to bring two of our closest allies in Asia closer together to confront the threats from North Korea, to confront the threats from China, and to deal with a destabilized world in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you, Max, about China and North Korea, in particular, China because tensions have risen in that region. And China recently this year warned North -- warned Korea -- South Korea about this. And I'm going to show you what they said.

They said I can assure you those who bet on China's defeat will definitely regret it. That was the Chinese ambassador talking to the opposition leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. It is very clear that China must be worried about this, correct when they see that this is the first time this has happened ever, this summit bringing together these two nations with the United States?

BOOT: That's absolutely correct. That's why it's such a huge achievement for the U.S. and for President Biden because this is the last thing that China wants to see. They want him to vide America's allies in Asia, not to see them coming together.

And I think a lot of this is really due to China's own behavior because you've seen the bullying from China, which is greatly worrying U.S. allies and other countries in the region. And so not long ago, you had President Yoon, actually saying that he wants to see a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Taiwan Strait, which was an issue where previous South Korean presidents didn't even engage.

And that's something that enraged China because he's basically saying that South Korea is opposed to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That's a -- that's a big statement, but it's indicative of how much China has alienated Korean public opinion. And also I would add Japanese public opinion as well as American public opinion. And so, you know, it's really -- it's not just North Korea, it's also China that's driving these countries into a closer alliance.

BERMAN: In terms of the deliverables from this summit, one of the things they're looking to do is schedule an annual meeting between the leaders of these three countries, much like the president of the United States meets with leaders of Mexico and Canada almost every year. But also what I find most interesting is they're going to codify this commitment to consult if either one -- any of these nations is threatened in a military way.

[11:40:10]

It's a little bit like Article Five of NATO, you know, collective security, but not exactly because they're not guaranteeing that these countries will jump into action. But why is a commitment to consult enough, Max?

BOOT: Well, I think you're right, John. And this is kind of edging towards Article Five-type of relationship. Certainly not there yet. We may never get there.

But this is, I think it's a very important statement for South Korea and Japan to say that their security is mutually interlinked, that they are not independent here that they -- that the security of one affects the security of the other because there's a lot they can do if they're working in closer cooperation. For example, if they would just integrate their ballistic missile defense systems directly with one another, they would have a much more effective defense against missiles from North Korea, for example. And that's something that's been very hard to do because of the nationalist feelings in South Korea, in particular, the anti-Japanese sentiment.

So, you know, President Yoon deserves a lot of credit for trying to move beyond that as Prime Minister Kishida. And I think you know, what President Biden is trying to do with this summit is to institutionalize this cooperation so that in the future, no matter what happens in the politics of South Korea, Japan, or the United States, that these countries will continue to draw closer together and to consult regularly on mutual threats.

BOLDUAN: And the summit gets underway, and we'll be hearing more from the leaders later this afternoon. It's great to see you, Max. Thanks for coming in. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:46:00]

SIDNER: 10 officers, two police departments in Northern California, four separate incidents. Newly unsealed court documents revealed that a federal grand jury returned charges ranging from excessive force to fraud after an FBI investigation. The indictment accuses three officers from the Antioch California Police Department in Northern California with civil rights violations for repeatedly using excessive force and sending racist text messages.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more on this story. There are a host of crimes alleged here. What the heck is going on?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. You know, force is supposed to be a last resort for police officers trying to resolve a situation. But it appears at least according to this criminal complaint that these officers do their job is to inflict punishment on members of the public. Three officers in particular who were arrested yesterday in this massive FBI takedown included Morteza Amiri, Eric Rombough, and Devon Wenger. They've been charged with conspiracy against violating civil rights.

I'll read you some of these texts just to give you a sense of what prosecutors are alleging. In one, an unidentified officer says I'm on my way in. What do you guys, up to? Rombough allegedly replies violating civil rights. And this just scratches the surface.

And another, Amiri's alleged to have said to an officer after an incident, lol putting a pistol in someone's mouth and telling them to stop stealing isn't illegal. It's an act of public service to prevent further victims of crimes.

Now, one officer in particular, Amiri, was a canine handler. Dogs obviously very important tools for police in resolving violent situations, but it appeared and it's alleged that this officer had a scoreboard of sorts regarding the number of times his dog was deployed to bite people. He also shared allegedly gruesome images among other officers.

In one text, he allegedly writes I'm going to take more gory pics. Gory pics are for personal stuff. Cleaned up pics for the case.

And just to give you a sense of how they viewed their role allegedly, in another incident, an unidentified officer said it's good that even though the laws don't keep them in jail, talking about criminals, they still get effed up by the dog. Amiri allegedly replies, I know right. I feel like this is the real punishment compared to the soft district attorneys. Very serious charges here. These officers now in federal custody, Sarah.

SIDNER: Josh Campbell, if any of these allegations are true, it is truly disgusting to listen to some of this.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

SIDNER: And it's over such a broad a number of people as well who are supposed to be protecting and serving. I know you'll be watching this case. Thank you so much for your reporting on it for now.

CAMPBELL: You bet. SIDNER: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. The scope of that is just galling. Coming up for us. At best, it's a distraction. At worst, a valuable waste of resources. That is how some U.S. officials now view Ukraine's new focus on Russia-controlled Crimea. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:09]

BERMAN: This morning, new concerns from U.S. officials on the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Some are growing increasingly skeptical that recent attacks against Russian-occupied Crimea are effective. Some are going so far as to call it a distraction at best and at worst, a waste of critical resources.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has this reporting. Katie Bo, what have you learned here?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: John, in recent weeks as to -- as Ukraine has turned its focus towards striking Crimea, it's been using missiles in order to strike bridges that have connected Crimea with the mainland of Ukraine as well as with Russia, it's used artillery to strike things like ammunition depots, command and control nodes logistic hubs. As Ukraine has made this shift in focus, it's raised some concerns amongst U.S. officials who are concerned that Russia -- or sorry, that Ukraine has spread itself too thin across multiple axes of attack.

Now, we spoke to some Biden administration officials and U.S. intelligence and military officials who say it's not clear yet whether or not the Ukrainian strategy of striking -- of striking Crimea is having intended to the fact that the Ukrainians want it to, right? Their goal is to try to isolate Crimea and to make it more difficult for Russia to sustain their military operations on the mainland.

The U.S. isn't sure whether or not it's actually doing that. But what we can say, John, is that behind the scenes -- behind closed doors, members of the Biden administration, as well as the U.S. military are becoming increasingly concerned that this strategy isn't a great idea. Here's what one senior defense official said to us.

It's not the Russians' off balance a bit, but it's not doing anything decisive. And it would probably be better for everyone, for them to just focus on the counteroffensive. At least for now, the U.S. is not actively warning Ukraine not to strike Crimea. But what we can say, John, is that the longer this counteroffensive goes on, analysts believe the less likely it is to succeed.

[11:55:05]

BERMAN: And, Katie Bo, we have just about 20 seconds or less, any sense of how the Ukrainians feel about this?

LILLIS: Yes. They see this as part of their counteroffensive, right? They see this as part of their critical -- a critical part of their strategy to try to isolate Crimea. The U.S., not so sure about that.

BERMAN: No, and you have to remember. I mean, for Ukraine, Crimea is part of their country. This is not just a strategic decision. It is a very emotional one as well. Katie Bo Lillis, terrific reporting. Thank you so much for that.

SIDNER: And we have to remind you the trilateral is still going on. It is historic. It involved Japan and Korea and the United States, of course, happening at Camp David. I'm sure you'll hear more about that coming up on "INSIDE POLITICS." But for us, goodbye. It is the weekend.

BERMAN: For us, see you.

SIDNER: See you.

BERMAN: Bye for this show.

BOLDUAN: You did not bye from this show.

SIDNER: He did.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my God.

SIDNER: He did.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)