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Trump: Death Penalty for Police Killers; North Korea Boasts of Hydrogen Bomb; Interview with Harrison Ford. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 11, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, despite widespread criticism of his proposed Muslim travel ban, new polls showed Donald Trump is still the man to beat in the race for the Republican nomination.

Divers search a California lake looking for new clues in last week's shooting rampage.

And the world's most popular podcast takes on the controversial story of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

We will begin with the U.S. presidential race where Donald Trump continues to ride a wave of support among Republican voters. This comes despite or maybe because of party leaders continuing to speak out against his controversial comments about Muslims.

The latest poll shows a majority of Republican voters like his plan to ban Muslim travelers from the U.S.

We get more now from political correspondent Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): Donald Trump still looming large over the GOP field pulling.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm 20 points up. I'm way up on everybody.

MURRAY: Leading nationwide even as Republicans remain divided over Trump's controversial plan to ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. A new "Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll shows 38 percent of Republican primary voters approve the proposal, while 39 percent oppose it. Among all Americans, nearly six in 10 oppose the plan. The frontrunner showing staying power as he faces a bipartisan backlash.

TRUMP: The group that is not criticizing me is the public. The public agrees with what I said.

MURRAY: His supporters, some of whom took part in a conversation with CNN, remain steadfast.

PAUL DIBARTOLO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: So I could care less about a few Muslims or a few people that are upset. I could care less about a few people saying that I like Donald Trump's tone. OK. We need a true leader in this country, and Donald Trump is that leader.

MURRAY: But Trump's rivals continue to line up in opposition, some subtle.

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to support the Republican nominee, I believe the Republican nominee is going to be someone that can win the general election, and I don't believe Donald can.

MURRAY: Others, more direct.

LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama's strategy is a miserable failure. The only thing worse than Obama's policies is Donald Trump's policies.

MURRAY: South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham unleashing a stinging critique today in New Hampshire.

GRAHAM: I'd rather lose without him than try to win with him if he keeps doing what he's doing. There's no shame in losing an election. The shame comes when you lose your honor.

MURRAY: And in the face of backlash from world leaders, Trump is canceling a group to Israel, tweeting, "I have decided to postpone my trip to Israel and reschedule with Netanyahu at a later date after I become president of the U.S."

That's after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement rejecting Trump's comments on Muslims. And as a petition to block Trump from the United Kingdom swells to nearly half a million signatures, Trump tweeted, "The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem."

There are signs his brash rhetoric is costing him in other ways. One of Trump's Middle East business partners is now pulling Trump-branded products from its shelves.

(On camera): Now Trump supporters here in New Hampshire said well, they didn't necessarily agree with all of the details of his plan to bar Muslims from coming to the U.S., they're still sticking by him. And at an event in Portsmouth, Trump referenced the plan only briefly saying we can't afford to be so politically correct, and it's time to take a closer look at the visa system.

Sara Murray, CNN, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ross Douthat is a conservative commentator for CNN and a columnist for the "New York Times" and he joins us now from New York, taking a close look at these poll numbers. So, Ross, if you look at the numbers here, most Americans oppose this

proposed travel ban put out there by Donald Trump. Democrats overwhelmingly oppose it, but Republicans are pretty evenly split. Is that how you expected the numbers to fall?

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: In a sense, yes. I mean, I think that -- one way to think about the Trump phenomenon in an international context is to compare him to what we've seen happen in European politics over the last few years. Trump is basically a version of the national front or any other right-wing splinter party in Europe, except he's operating within the Republican coalition in the U.S.

The U.S. doesn't really do splinter parties, third parties, fourth parties that much. And so you have basically Trump channeling a mix of nationalism, populism and anxiety about terrorism, and he's doing it within the Republican Party. And it's not surprising that there's a constituency for that.

[01:05:08] VAUSE: And within that party, Trump is now leading by more than double digits to his closest rivals. It seems the controversy gave him a boost despite or because of the controversy over this travel ban. Does this put him closer to the Republican nomination and yet further away from winning a general election?

DOUTHAT: No. I think it puts him further away from the Republican nomination ultimately. Because I think that -- I think his chances of winning the Republican nomination were always and have always been very, very low. And I think statements like this erase basically any chance that the people who actually run the Republican Party could reconcile themselves to him as the nominee. And unless they reconcile themselves to him as the nominee, at a certain point he's going to run into a wall. And he's going to run into that wall in terms of how many voters will actually support him.

He can't win the nomination with the 30 percent of support he has right now and he's going to run into an increasingly unified opposition from basically the entire infrastructure of the party at a certain point. That won't kick in until we actually get -- actually get into the voting. I mean, keep in mind right now, not a single American has cast a ballot for Donald Trump yet. All of this, this entire phenomenon, exists in polls being conducted months out from the actual voting.

So right now prominent Republicans are still assuming that Trump will come back down to earth, but even if he stays at 30 percent, that's not going to be enough to take him all the way through to the nomination.

VAUSE: But yet he started out in the high teens then he went to 20, then he went to 25, he went to 30, he went to 35 now. Now he's up to 38 in some polls. I mean, he's been leading every poll for the last four or five months. If any other candidate would had been leading the polls for this period of time, we would have said he is by far -- or he is by far, you know, the most likely nominee to represent the Republican Party in the U.S. presidential election. DOUTHAT: Absolutely. But Donald Trump is not like other presidential

candidates. Donald Trump, it's safe to assume, is not going to have the kind of normal campaign infrastructure that it takes to compete over a sustained clip of primaries and caucuses over months and weeks. Donald Trump has the highest number of Republicans who say they wouldn't vote for him of any candidate except interestingly Jeb Bush. So Trump has a lot more resistance. His -- his unfavorable ratings among Republicans are much higher than the unfavorable ratings of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

And at this point, he faces basically, again, unified opposition from the leadership and infrastructure of the party. All of those factors matter as much to who gets the nomination in the end as being able to hit 30 or 35 percent in a poll. If he hits 50 percent or 55 percent, and you have me back on, then maybe I'll have to concede that he has a chance. But at this point, I'm still saying Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee for president. He has the people who like Trump like him a lot. But there aren't enough of them to win the nomination.

VAUSE: How much pressure is there now on the other candidates, the ones who aren't really in there with a chance, 1 percent, 2 percent or 3 percent, if they're lucky, to drop out, coalesce around a non-Trump viable candidate. And who is that non-Trump candidate?

DOUTHAT: First, I don't think the pressure really kicks in until the voting starts. I think after Iowa and New Hampshire, there will be tremendous pressure on the four or five people at the bottom of the polls, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, and so on to drop out. But I think that until we start voting, they aren't going to quit. And then who that candidate is, I mean, look, the assumption, the working assumption of many people is that in the end it's likely to be Marco Rubio because he is the most acceptable to the most people in the party. He has the highest favorable ratings overall. He's the second choice of a lot of people, and he's a better general election candidate than Ted Cruz who is likely -- who is the third possibility.

So people are sort of looking ahead and assuming you'll end up with a Trump, Cruz, Rubio three-way race and that Rubio will probably emerge as the victor. Now that might not happen, obviously. This is -- this is going to be a very strange, unpredictable process. But Rubio is still a better bet than Trump. Cruz is a better bet than Trump. And I still think that Trump -- yes, it's not going to be Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: We shall see.

DOUTHAT: We shall see.

VAUSE: Ross, good to speak with you. Thank you so much.

DOUTHAT: Absolutely, thank you.

VAUSE: And Donald Trump has spent a lot of time focusing on recent terror attacks in the U.S. and across the world. And now a CBS News- New York Times poll has found Americans are more worried about a terror attack now than at any time since 9/11. 44 percent of those surveyed believe it's very likely an attack will happen in the next few months. 35 percent polled believe it's somewhat possible. More than 1200 people, both Republicans and Democrat voters, were surveyed.

[01:10:01] To Geneva now and Switzerland is on high alert as police search for suspects related to the Paris attacks. U.S. intercepts of ISIS communications are also triggering an alert. A source has told CNN ISIS extremists talked about attacking three cities, Geneva, Toronto and Chicago.

In California, FBI divers are searching for evidence in a lake near last week's massacre in San Bernardino. The FBI not saying what they're looking for, but this search could last for a few days. And as authorities attempt to piece together the events surrounding the attack, the FBI is now linking Syed Rizwan Farook to a convicted terrorists who once radicalized others.

CNN's Kyung Lah has that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The San Bernardino terror web is now expanding beyond Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. According to two U.S. law enforcement officials, Farook is now being linked to one of four men arrested in a terror ring in 2012.

Three years ago, the FBI descended on this house located just miles away from San Bernardino. Among the four men arrested and eventually convicted, Sahil Kabir, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan. The FBI called Kabir the recruiter. Court documents putting one defendant referring to Kabir as a Mujahideen walking around the streets of LA.

The FBI complaint says the four men shared extremists' postings, including violent video messages from Anwar al-Awlaki, the now dead leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Federal agents arrested three of the suspects just days before they were set to fly to Afghanistan and target U.S. military bases. Investigators tells CNN Kabir who's now serving 25 years in prison and Farook were in the same social circle.

But authorities did not know of Farook until the San Bernardino shooting last week. 2012 is also the year Enrique Marquez told investigators he and Farook were planning a terror plot. They called it off, Marquez told investigators spooked by the arrests, but was this a terror network or just a group of men connected by friendship and a twisted desire for violence?

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: We're working very hard to understand exactly their association and the source of their inspiration. We're also working very hard to understand whether there was anybody else involved with assisting them, with supporting them, with equipping them. LAH: As far as these married killers, the FBI says, Farook and Malik

chatted of Jihad online before meeting in person, radicalized before their marriage and before she would enter the United States last year.

(On camera): And in a late development, FBI dive teams arrive at this lake. There was a report that the two killers were spotted here at this park on the day of the massacre. Dive teams spending several hours searching here, expected to resume the search at daybreak.

Kyung Lah, CNN, San Bernardino, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A former police officer in the U.S. state of Oklahoma is facing a sentence of up to 200 years in prison for raping women while on the job. Jurors took four days to convict Daniel Holtclaw. He cried in the courtroom as the judge read the verdict. The jury found the 29-year-old assaulted more than a dozen women in Oklahoma City. Prosecutors say he preyed on women in the state's poorest neighborhoods, telling them he would drop drug charges against them if they did not report the assault. Holtclaw will be sentenced next month.

And in Chicago, residents there continue to call for the mayor to step down. And now an Illinois state lawmaker has introduced a bill which could have Rahm Emanuel removed from office by a vote. Protesters have marched around the city in the past couple of days and weeks, and they're angry over police misconduct after officials released a video of an officer shooting and killing a 17-year-old teenager.

Now here's Martin Savidge.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here we are on the streets of Chicago and again, another night with protesters. It's not a huge crowd, maybe 150 or so but they've been going for about two hours. And they are on the move.

This is the heart of downtown Chicago. So it's right where everybody is shopping, it's right where everybody is working. And that's the idea, to spread the message. And the message of these people are talking about is, one, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has got to go. There is a crisis of confidence in the leadership, not just in the police department, which many of these people also are against. But also at city hall.

And even though Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a very impassioned speech saying that there would be change, especially in the police department, it didn't appease people who are so adamantly opposed saying there's been a cover-up, saying that there's corruption, and saying that the police department has actually been involved in what they allege are murders of young black men in the city for far too long.

The anger you can hear. But for the most part, it has been peaceful. And ironically, carefully watched, and carefully looked over by the police as they shut down the streets in advance of the crowd that moved through the streets. And these protesters say it isn't going to end anytime soon -- John.

[01:15:21] VAUSE: Marty, thank you for that.

Still ahead here CNN NEWSROOM L.A., we go to New Hampshire where voters firmly in Donald Trump's camp say why they support him no matter what.

Plus, the first time the U.S. soldier held captive for five year, speaking out about the day he left his post.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT: I'm going good grief, I'm in over my head. Suddenly, you know, it really starts to sink in that I really did something bad. Well, not bad, but I really did something serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

VAUSE: Ever since U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has been freed by the Taliban last year, he's been at the center of controversy. I mean, all the opinions and theories about why he left his post, we've never heard from Bergdahl himself. But now Bergdahl is telling his side of the story and he's telling it to the world's most popular podcast.

[01:20:06] CNN's Jake Tapper has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD" (voice-over): Shortly after Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl left his post in Afghanistan in 2009, he says the gravity of what he had done shocked him.

BERGDAHL: Twenty minutes out, I'm going good grief, I'm in over my head. Suddenly, you know, it really starts to sink that I really did something bad. Well, not bad, but I did -- I really did something serious.

TAPPER: For the first time since the Obama administration controversially and possibly illegally traded the Taliban, five of their prisoners, in exchange for Bergdahl, a dramatic release captured on tape by Taliban forces, the controversial figure explained why he left with filmmaker Mark Boal and the podcast Serial.

Bergdahl admits he left on his own volition with a plan to return. It would create a crisis, he says, to draw attention to problems with his leadership.

BERGDAHL: I was fully confident that when somebody actually took a look at the situation and when people started investigating the situation that people would understand that I was right. You know, what was going on was a danger to the lives of the men in that company.

TAPPER: Bergdahl also says he wanted to show he was a super soldier like Jason Bourne.

BERGDAHL: All those guys out there who go to the movies and watch those movies, they all want to be that, but I wanted to prove that I was that.

TAPPER: It was a decision he would relive during his next five years in Taliban captivity. Bergdahl, a 23-year-old private first class at the time, wrapped his head in a scarf and walked away. Bergdahl's former platoon mates scoff at his story pointing out that the platoon was supposed to return to a larger base later that day where Bergdahl could have voiced any concerns. Bergdahl says as a private first class he would not have been taken seriously. But his platoon mates believe he put his fellow troops in danger with six of them killed in various missions afterward.

FORMER SGT. EVAN BUETOW, U.S. ARMY: I don't really know if there's anyone who can prove that soldiers died on a directed mission to find Bergdahl. However, every mission especially in the following two or more months, those were directed missions. Everything after that, there were still missions that were in search of Bergdahl.

TAPPER: Bergdahl tells Serial, after he left his post, he looked for someone planting IEDs whom he could track. But instead he got lost and in the morning he was spotted by a group of insurgents.

BERGDAHL: They pulled up and that was it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But they said you fought like crazy.

BERGDAHL: No, I didn't. I'm not stupid enough to try and fight off -- all I had was a knife. I'm not stupid enough to try to knife off a bunch of guys with AK-47s.

TAPPER: And then for five years, the horror of a tiny, blackened room.

BERGDAHL: Just on the other side of that wooden door that you could probably easily rip off the hinges is the entire world out there. Everything is behind that door. I hate doors now.

TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Bergdahl still faces a court-martial which could land him in prison for life.

Joining me now is our military analyst. Major General James "Spider" Marks. He spent more than 30 years in the United States Army.

General, thanks for being with us.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Absolutely, John. Thank you.

VAUSE: Can you share your thoughts right now on Bergdahl has -- thank you. Can you share your thoughts on what Bergdahl has been saying that this was all part of some kind of noble plan. He wanted to be a whistleblower to bring attention to poor military leadership?

MARKS: Well, this is clearly in his mind and it's a justification of his actions after the fact. He knows he's confronted with a court- martial. That's going to happen. He's going to be sentenced, that's going to happen. I have no clue what that looks like. But clearly what you have is a troubled young man who is a soldier, and there is no isolation when you're in combat with your buddies and with your unit. But it sounds like this man was, in his own mind, incredibly isolated, therefore he walks away from his post.

All of this could have been avoided if he had done his duty, which is stay with your buddies, stay with your unit. Do your job. And if you do have an issue, you've got to push that thing aggressively up through your chain of command. You're not going to solve your problems by trying to be a Jason Bourne and find IEDs on your own in Afghanistan. Totally a must grave mistake on his part.

VAUSE: Because obviously the big problem with this narrative, which we're now hearing from Bergdahl, he said that he did this because he was worried about the lives of his fellow soldiers being endangered by this poor military leadership, but yet by his actions it's quite possible that a number of soldiers were killed.

MARKS: Absolutely. He exacerbated a situation if in fact he thought that the unit he was a part of had troubles and there were issues. Bear in mind, first of all, he's looking through the filter of a 19 or a 20-year-old man who's brand new to the army, brand new to the military. And he is going to do an assessment of what leadership looks like within his organization.

[01:25:06] It's a bit presumptuous on his part, but what he really did is he put his fellow soldiers at risk. He failed to do his duty. That's what he's confronted with right now.

VAUSE: The producers of this podcast, they've got about 25 hours of interviews with Bergdahl. They say the more information which gets out there, the better. That's in their words.

Do you agree with that? Do you think this is good for Bergdahl to have sort of free rein here if you like?

MARKS: Well, what sounded very interesting to me, John, is that Bergdahl, Sergeant Bergdahl is still in the United States Army, and I find it odd that he would be granted permission to have this media interview. I mean, everybody who wears a uniform has to go through the chain of command and has to get permission before you engage with media. He certainly is now engaged very deeply with media, with some desired outcome, that he's looking for, I would think he would think that this might ameliorate his condition and soften this prospective jury it's going to have. Frankly, it's going to do the exact opposite. This is not in his best

interest at all. That's why I find it quite odd that, number one, he had a chance to do it and number two he thinks that this is going to be a positive outcome.

VAUSE: OK, General, thank you for being with us. It's interesting the impact that this could in fact have on the court-martial process. As you say, it could have quite the opposite of what Bergdahl may be hoping for.

MARKS: Absolutely.

VAUSE: Thank you, sir.

MARKS: Thank you.

VAUSE: No matter what he says, no matter what he does, it seems Donald Trump's hard core supporters just don't care. And we will hear from them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Just turned 10:30 on a Thursday night. I'm John Vause. The headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Trump announced on Thursday, if he were president, he would mandate the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. It comes on the same day that Mr. Trump picked up an endorsement from a police union in the key state of New Hampshire.

Here's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Members of the New England Police Benevolent Association showing support for Donald Trump in New Hampshire, despite the growing list of his inflammatory remarks.

(on camera): Does any of that concern you?

JERRY FLYNN, PRESIDENT, NEPBA: I think what concerns me is for my members, we have a president of the United States who has no respect for law enforcement officers. That's the problem right now.

KAYE (voice-over): Retired police officer, Jerry Flynn, once met with Trump in his office in New York City.

FLYNN: Found him to be very charming to be honest with you.

KAYE (on camera): Charming is not a word you hear a lot when you talk about Donald Trump. What do you make of his style? FLYNN: I think he is what he is. He's a very successful businessman,

he's somebody who obviously can poke the bear, and he's done that pretty well.

KAYE (voice-over): So well, in fact, that there's a growing panic among some in his party he could win the nomination. But because of his inflammatory remarks about Latinos, women, and now Muslims, many say he wouldn't stand a chance in a general election.

(on camera): You're not at all concerned about him being the nominee?

JOHNNY ARNOLD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: No, I want him to be the nominee. I want him to be the president of the United States.

KAYE (voice-over): Johnny Arnold also thinks he could take Democrat Hillary Clinton in a matchup.

ARNOLD: When it comes to immigration, the debt, the safety of our country, I feel he's stronger than she is.

KAYE: Despite what some Republicans are saying, no one told us they thought Trump was hurting his party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's trying to make America great again, and I think he's doing it his way on his own, the way he would work in business.

KAYE (voice-over): And you think that's playing well in the party, not driving people away from the party?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's playing well with the public. And the party will, I guess that will be determined at the convention.

KAYE (voice-over): And about that "New York Times"/CBS poll showing that among all registered voters, 40 percent say a Trump presidency scares them.

(on camera): Does a Donald Trump presidency scare you?

ARNOLD: Not at all. When it comes to a lot of presidents, they don't know how to say no. I feel like he has so much fire in him. If we were to be attacked for example, he knows how to say no.

KAYE (voice-over): Meanwhile, with so many critics inside the GOP, Trump is floating the idea of being a third-party candidate and Independent. And according to a "USA Today poll," 68 percent of his supporters say they'd go with him.

(on camera): Would you consider crossing party lines to go with Donald Trump?

FLYNN: I'll leave you with this, Ronald Reagan said, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me."

KAYE: All right. I'll take that as a yes. The main theme I heard tonight was trust. These folks really trust

Donald Trump. They believe he has their back. You heard from them over and over that he loves the police. That if he is ever elected president, if a police officer is shot and killed during the line of duty whoever did that would get the death penalty. This group really believes that Donald Trump is misunderstood, that he really does love America and care for America, which is probably why they endorsed him tonight. They believe because he is a businessman he also understands them and understands labor unions as well.

Not everyone here, though, was thrilled about seeing Donald Trump. There were protesters inside and outside. One man screaming very loudly inside the hotel where Donald Trump was speaking, "Be brave, dump Trump!"

Randi Kaye, CNN, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And the Republican front runner is making waves across the Atlantic. And Donald Trump tweeted out, "The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem. Everyone is lying about what is happening. Very sad. Be honest." But in Britain, a petition to stop Trump from coming into the U.K. has more than enough signatures to send it to the House of Commons for debate.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton says Trump has gone too far. Secretary Clinton appeared on "Late Night with Seth Meyers", and she told Meyers, the joke's over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:35:27] HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I have to say, Seth, I no longer think he's funny.

SETH MEYERS, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS: Yes. I will say --

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: You know, I think for weeks, you know, you and everybody else were just bringing folks to hysterical laughter and all of that, but now he has gone way over the line. And what he's saying now is not only shameful and wrong, it's dangerous.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A lighter note here, First Lady Michelle Obama dropped some rhymes at the White House and encouraged teenagers to pursue a college education. Mrs. Obama raps with "Saturday Night Live" star, Jay Pharaoh. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. Anticipation is building for the new "Star Wars" movie, including the return of some of the iconic characters. Up next here, on NEWSROOM L.A., my colleague, Isha, sits down with man, Harrison Ford.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: As you say in the movie "Chewy, we're home", what's it like to be back?

HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: It's good to be home. It's good to be home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:40:30] VAUSE: There are new concerns about North Korea's military ambitions. The leader, Kim Jong-Un, has long boasted of their nuclear capability. Now state media say they have a hydrogen bomb potentially hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb. If this is true, it's a huge leap in North Korea's capabilities.

Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This would be a huge and frightening leap if the North Koreans' claims are accurate. They say they are ready to detonate a self-reliant hydrogen bomb. The Hiroshima bomb had the equivalent of 13,000 tons of TNT. They've gotten more powerful since then.

On the North Korean claim, U.S. officials are not commenting. South Koreans intelligence and the experts we spoke to say they are very skeptical. Analysts say they don't have the capability to produce a standard hydrogen bomb. What they are likely doing, they say, is taking the materials like tritium and compress them and place them onto their existing nuclear bombs. That would increase the yield of those nuclear bombs, but that's pure explosive power of those bombs.

But what's important to note here, our experts say Kim's regime is working toward producing an H-bomb. They have technical hurdles to overcome, and it will likely take more than five years.

As far as what they're doing to overcome it, the Institute for Science and International Security recently published satellite photos ever the Yongbyon Facility, where North Korea produces the materials for nuclear weapons. I spoke with former U.N. weapons inspector, David Albright, from that group, and he says that the photos show at Yongbyon they have constructed buildings which could separate tritium and refine the material. That could be an important step toward eventually constructing a hydrogen bomb, and that is what is so concerning right now -- John?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Brian Todd, thank you. Well, computer models are now indicating that noxious pollution which

blanketed Beijing this week may be targeting Japan.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on this.

This is one export from China that no one really wants.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, no one wants this think layer of smog. It's the same smog that closed schools in Beijing and knocked millions of cars off the roadways temporarily. You can see on this satellite image some of the smog just now starting to enter the southern suburbs of Beijing. This is taken recently. But the latest computer model that you just mentioned indicating that some of this pollutant will be taken up by the strong winds moving across the sea of Japan, but it looks as if that will not cause the serious concerns they experienced in northeast China, specifically into Beijing, because it will get mixed in to atmosphere because of a strong storm system. That storm has set record rainfall amounts. Kochi has their wettest 24 hour period for the month of December with this fast-moving storm system that moved through the area. The winds move from the Western parts of the world to the eastern parts of the world. And this is exactly why we're seeing this train of moisture funneling all the way from Japan through the Pacific northwest of the United States.

Take a look, for example, Tokyo, they normally get on a yearly average about 60 inches of rain, or 1500 millimeters in a 365-day year. But Portland and Seattle on the contrary have significantly less rain but more frequency of those rainy days. Just solidifying the fact that it often is gloomy across the Pacific Northwest. And guess what, there is more of that in store for this region, but they've had some wild weather, into the U.S. State of Washington. They've had two confirmed tornados. This took place on Thursday. They also had wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour that did some considerable damage, but not only is it rare to see a tornado in the state of Washington, it's extremely rare to see a tornado across the entire United States this time of year. In fact, December is one of the rarest months of the year to even see any kind of tornadic activity, typically only experiencing about 24 on average. The peak of tornado season in the United States in April and May.

I want to show you what an EF-1-rated tornado can do. It takes a piece of plywood and splinters it straight through unfortunately somebody's home and knocking over roofs.

John, back to you.

[01:45:25] VAUSE: Derek, thanks for the update.

The rise of terror attacks around the world is bringing back some painful memories for former Prime Minister Tony Blair. He spoke to Christiane Amanpour about the September 11 attacks and the decisions which followed.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you feel pain? Do you feel a sense of responsibility? That people still point to what you did and what Bush did and they say never again? We are not going there? So lives are being lost because of what you all did?

TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I feel a huge amount of pain about the situation that we've experienced since 9/11, which is still the worst terrorist atrocity the world has seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Our viewers here in the United States can see the rest of that interview. That will be up next at 11:00 pacific time right here on CNN.

And we will take a short break. Back in a moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You're always the most beautiful woman in the world.

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[01:50:19] VAUSE: That is the most nominated film among the Golden Globe contenders this year. "Carol" leads the way with five nominations. The movie about a lesbian love affair in 1950s New York picked up nominations. Joining "Carol " are "Mad Max", "Room." "Spy", "The Martian", and Amy Schumer's comedy "Train Wreck."

Time to dust off the light saber and feel the force. "Star Wars, The Force Awakens," hits theaters next week.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Those stories about what happened.

FORD: It's true. All of it.

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VAUSE: This is the seventh chapter in the "Star Wars" saga. The last three were pretty awful. It will have its premiere on Monday. It such a huge event, "Star Wars" plans to stream the live carpet.

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#; And so a week before its premiere, hundreds of fans in Japan got to see the next generation "Star Wars" heroes in Tokyo. Details have been kept under wraps, and its director clearly eager for it to hit the screens.

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J.J. ABRAMS, DIRECTOR, STAR WARS, THE FORCE AWAKENS: The opportunity to work in this movie was so big, and it was actually bigger than the risk of it, because it just felt like there was too much fertile ground and opportunity to tell a story that was full of not just action and adventure but humor and heart. And that's thing I loved so much about the movie when I first saw it was how funny it was. So I hope that you find it that way.

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VAUSE: And one of the "Star Wars" originals, Harrison Ford, will return to that galaxy far, far away as everyone's favorite smuggler, scoundrel and hero.

But for not saying a lot about this movie, not even my colleague, Isha, could get him to spill any of Hans Solo's secrets.

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FORD: Chewy, we're home.

SESAY: As you say in the trailer, "Chewy, we're home," what's it like to be back?

FORD: It's good to be home. It's good to be home.

SESAY: You've done this so much since the original film, so much time has passed, I wonder coming back to this character whether it's almost like muscle memory?

FORD: It is, part of it is that muscle memory, but you put on the clothes of the character. You remember the gait of the character, the swagger of the character. It's all -- you know, it's, it comes back. It comes back.

SESAY: How Hans changed? I know there's not a lot you can tell me. You may have to kill me first. But imagine that wasn't the case.

FORD: I'd have to kill you after I told you.

(LAUGHTER)

And then I'd want to kill myself.

(LAUGHTER)

He's certainly 30 years older. There's no attempt to soften that blow. The story involves some of the changes in his understanding of the world.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Are you going to leave without a goodbye kiss?

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SESAY: Are you ready for the latest round of fandom?

FORD: You know, I'm delighted. I hope the film is successful as, you know, as it can be. I'm ready for whatever comes.

SESAY: And no regrets with coming back? I know in the past you've seemed a little, eh?

FORD: I thought when we were making the third film, we could make an interesting, we had an interesting opportunity with the character who had always been cynical and a bit outside the story for him to sacrifice himself for the greater good, for the, for the Benefit of the good side of, for the light side as opposed to the dark side, that he might lend some gravitas to the proceedings if he were to sacrifice himself.

SESAY: Well, I'm personally pleased they never killed you off.

FORD: Very grateful. Thank you.

SESAY: Harrison Ford, thank you.

FORD: Thank you.

SESAY: Best of luck with the film.

FORD: I appreciate it.

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[01:55:05] VAUSE: And apologies, it's Han Solo. The dark side took over me for a moment.

While doing press for this movie, Ford had a reality check with Trump. He said he liked how he stood up playing the President James Marshall in "Air Force One."

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FORD: It's a movie. Donald, it was a movie. It's not like this in real life. But how would you know? (LAUGHTER)

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VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

For our viewers in the North America, "Amanpour" is next.

For everyone else, NEWSROOM continues with Natalie Allen after the short break.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:00:09] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: The search for answers after last month's Paris attacks lead to Switzerland.