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After Crossing DMZ Border, American National held in Custody by North Korea; Blistering Heat Waves Smashing Records On Multiple Continents; Scientists Develop White Paint To Bounce Heat Of Earth. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 18, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No official open lines of communication. There are backchannels, those backchannels will be operating, but it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be quick.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kylie, Will makes a really interesting point and we're trying to figure out. And I want to caveat this, but this is very early. Our reporters are working the phones. They're trying to get more information and we don't note know a lot right now. But, Kylie, one area that you do have a ton of expertise is on is uncovering how the United States operates in situations like this. Much of that is behind the scenes. Very little of it is known that well.

And I think one of the questions is, do we have any idea who this individual may be? And also, what is the United States doing in a situation where there are no diplomatic pipelines open, no contacts that actually exist with the country where a U.S. person has been detained?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I do think we need to note that we don't know much at all about who this American is right now. We don't know if it's a male, if it's a female, if they were just, you know, an American who is going on one of these joint security tours when they were visiting South Korea or if they were a member of the military.

We just don't know right now who this person was, and that is a critical question because that will influence, kind of, the conversations that are had between the U.S. and South Korea, and then, of course, potentially North Korea to try to secure their release.

But to your point about the fact that the United States doesn't have regular diplomatic relations with North Korea, particularly right now in the Biden administration, that makes a situation like this even more complicated at this moment in time because it's not as if there have been lines opened between the two governments so that U.S. officials can pick up and call over to the North Koreans.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that they are open to talks with North Korea. They are open to talks without preconditions, essentially saying that North Korea wouldn't have to break down its nuclear program in order to engage in those talks, but we haven't seen any interest in the North Korean side up until this point during the Biden administration.

It was very different during the Trump administration. As we recall, there were two summits between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. And so, there were open lines of communication. But when you talk to officials who were in the Trump administration leading those conversations, those lines just aren't open in the way that they used to be. So, that makes a moment like this even more complicated, even more challenging, even more delicate. And rest assured that the U.S. is going through their incredibly close ally South Korea right now to try and figure out what they can do on behalf the United States to really work on this situation.

As Will was saying, this demilitarized are between North Korea and South Korea has a lot of different assets to it. You know, I've have been to this area. It's an area where you can look over and you can see the North Koreans, but the North Koreans aren't right there in front of the U.N. Command who is in charge of maintaining this area. They are quite far ways away.

So, it's interesting that according to the U.N. Command that this American crossed over this demarcation line without authorization and then is believed to be in North Korean custody. What that indicates is that the North Koreans were in some way ready for it, potentially, and were looking to potentially detain someone. Of course, we'll learn much more about this, you know, in the hours to come.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we certainly will. I believe we have now with us Colonel Cedric Leighton, who has some additional perspective on this, because just in the last week, Colonel Leighton, North Korea tested an ICBM missile. And typically, these tests are designed to both demonstrate their current capabilities, but also to send a message about their posture. Set the table for us. What is the context here of how North Korea is positioned -- feels about itself as it relates to the United States right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER MEMBER OF JOINT STAFF, PENTAGON, AND FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR TRAINING, NSA: Yes, good morning, Abby. I think North Korea feels threatened and they lash out in various ways when they feel threatened or ignored. And I think we are seeing a bit of that right now. We have a U.S. nuclear submarine that's docked in Busan, the South Korean port of Busan, that's a very unique situation, it hasn't happened in 40 years. You have a situation where you have the possibility of, you know, North Koreans demonstrating their power. And we haven't seen a nuclear test in a long time as well.

So, with their ICBM launch, which you mentioned, that becomes a, you know, a test launch for them, but it also is a demonstration of power. And then this action on the DMZ, that becomes the situation where they are lashing out, trying to pick individual out of the mix. They see that, in essence, what really amounts to hostage taking is working a bit for the Russians and they, kind of, want to emulate that. They've done similar things before.

[08:05:00]

We remember the case of Otto Warmbier that ended tragically with Otto Warmbier's death, the college student from Ohio. That kind of thing, you know, hopefully, doesn't go that far in this particular case, but I -- it's certainly a danger and certainly a possibility for this American who is now detained who is now detained by North Koreans.

MATTINGLY: You know, one of the key things that we just want to keep reiterating in this as this continues to move along, and Kylie said this perfectly, there is a lot we don't know right now about, really, anything that's going on. What we do know is that according to the United Nations Command on Twitter, a U.S. national has crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea during a joint security area tour.

Priscilla, at that -- on that issue, specifically, White House officials are clearly aware of what's going on right now. To the extent we know, what are they doing? How are they operating in this moment?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they are also in a fact-gathering phase. They are trying to understand what are the details here. What was the circumstance that this U.S. national may have crossed or how -- that we know crossed into North Korea.

So, in a situation like this, officials are backchanneling. They're trying to get information from the allies they have in the region. As you heard from Will and Kylie, this is complicated because there is no line of communication with North Korea. But what can be done in the region or with the United Nations Command to try to understand how this U.S. national crossed into North Korea and got -- was -- is now in custody are all questions that White House officials have that they're working on getting information on.

I have asked the White House for any comment or any information they can share us with. They haven't provided any yet. But, Phil, let me remind you that this is a White House that cares deeply and has made detained Americans a priority. In fact, just last week, we heard from President Biden about a separate case, an American journalist detained in Russia, but he said this in his response to reporters when asked about that. He said, "I'm serious about doing all we can to free Americans who are being illegally held in Russia or anywhere for that matter."

So, this is top of mind for President Biden and other cases of detained Americans. You can imagine that the White House working furiously around the clock to try to determine what happened here and what is going to be done moving forward.

PHILLIP: Yes. And the detained Americans issue, as Colonel Leighton was just saying, it builds on itself that when a rogue state like North Korea sees what Russia does, it seems to embolden them in some ways. Will, I want to go back to you on the question of where do we go from here. And as Kylie said, South Korea is a key ally, likely to be leaned on by the United States in figuring this out. But what about China? What role do you think China will play as they are a close ally of North Korea's? And while they are not necessarily allied with the United States, there is some communication that happens there.

RIPLEY: There is no country with more leverage over North Korea than China. China is the enforcer of sanctions or the nation that would look the other way if sanctions are not being enforced. The sanctions prevent missile components and other -- and materials that are used either for the North Korean military or the North Korean elite.

But if China, kind of, you know, allows those things to go into the country, then the life and living standard continues as it does for those who, in Pyongyang, need to be kept happy, which is the very small group of North Korean elites.

And then, of course, the military has enough components to keep building the missiles that Kim Jong-un is collecting and launching with his 10-year-old daughter alongside, Kim Ju Ae, who could someday be the one who is in command of that entire growing arsenal. Basically, securing the fourth dynasty of the Kim family. Whether she is the successor, whether there's another child, it is essentially going to be the Kims in control for quite some time.

And Kim Jong-un has a pretty stable relationship right now with the Chinese. You know, we -- he hasn't done that nuclear test, which probably would be something that would cross a line that might aggravate China, because every time North Korea does something, certainly this was the case back, you know, during the fire and fury days, 2017. You know, North Korea would launch missiles, they'd do a nuclear test, and everybody would, you know, look at China and say, hey, why aren't you doing more to solve this problem? Where China always gives the same response.

Both sides need to have a hard look at the situation and to resolve the situation with cool heads prevailing and, you know, not escalating tensions. China doesn't want to see anything breakout on the Korean Peninsula, but they also don't want to see, you know, a U.S. allied, you know, presence like South Korea right at their doorstep, like, at least with North Korea there, it's kind of a buffer zone for China.

So, they're -- they have some interest in just letting North Korea continue to survive. And they could, if they wanted to, you know, really pressure North Korea to do something on this. American that crossed over the DMZ, but I would not wager much of my own money that that's going to happen, guys.

[08:10:00]

MATTINGLY: Kylie, to that point, the -- even in kind of the most tense elements of the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China over the course of the last year, which has started to cool a little bit, it has seemed. U.S. officials have constantly said, look, if there is one issue, we should constantly be talking about it's about North Korea. There is interest on both sides in terms of North Korea not doing the next nuclear test that I think everybody has long been expecting. There has been a shift in terms of U.S. contacts over the course of the last couple of weeks. We had Secretary Yellen go over there, I believe the president's Climate Envoy, John Kerry, met with Wang Yi, the top foreign policy official for President Xi Jinping yesterday, I believe, if my timing is correct.

I'm interested in if you think that that could end up being a helpful line of communication that's been, sort of, reopened over the course of the last couple of the weeks?

ATWOOD: Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, as will is pointing out, the impact, the influence that China has over North Korea can't really be overstated. And when you do have what is becoming more regular contact between the U.S. and Chinese officials, that is noteworthy in a situation like this.

John Kerry is actually in China right now meeting with his counterparts over there. Talking, of course, about climate change. But we should note that John Kerry was the former secretary of state. He is someone with an incredible diplomatic history. You know, he is someone that is probably being alerted to this situation right now, and potentially, you know, could play a role. We don't know what that looks like. But it is noteworthy that he is there. That the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, traveled to China just last month, and also that the secretary of treasury was also in China earlier this month.

I think, also, we should note the timeline here when it comes to Americans being detained in North Korea. Just to sort of give people context about how North Korea has used Americans who are wrongfully detained to engage with the U.S. side. Otto Warmbier was released in 2017. There were then three other Americans who were detained in North Korea and released in 2018, and later that year was when we saw the first summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. There was a second summit that following year.

So, it's very clear that in the past these, Americans have been used as leverage by North Korea to engage with the U.S. side to get something out of the United States that they want in that situation. It did lead to them getting accolades, getting attention on the world stage, standing by the leader of the free world when President Trump was in office. So, that's noteworthy, and I think we should consider that context when we're having this conversation. But clearly on the China front, very important to watch that John Kerry is there right now.

PHILLIP: It is a very important point. And as you said, back in 2018 the secretary of state at the time, Mike Pompeo, actually went to Pyongyang and brought back Americans who were detained there in North Korea. Kylie, Priscilla, Will, and Colonel Leighton, thank you all very much.

We will have more on this breaking news out of North Korea. We will bring you all the latest developments as they come into us. But also, we have to turn now to the scorching temperatures all around the world. And for many it won't let up anytime soon. We are live in Phoenix, Rome, and Hong Kong on these global heatwaves next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, across the nation and around the world blistering heat waves are shattering records on multiple continents. Here in the United States, 65 million Americans are under heat alerts from Florida to California. Today, Phoenix is set to smash its all-time record for longest hot streak 19 days above 110 temperatures.

The heat hell is worldwide. That's an actual quote from a top climate group in the U.K. Extreme heat intensifying across southern Europe, Italy surrounding countries being described as a quote giant pizza oven. CNN has covered all around the world from the U.S. to Europe to Asia. We want to start here at home with Stephanie Elam in Phoenix.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Phil. You're right, we are breaking records here in Phoenix in all the wrong ways. Not only is it that high temperature in that 19th day in a row that we're going to see over 110 degrees here. It's also the low temperatures at 3:00 in the morning local time, it was above 90 degrees and that is part of the danger here.

Hospitals saying they're seeing people come in with burned because surfaces the ground is so hot. If people get to the point that the (INAUDIBLE) at about 107 degrees, they're falling making contact and they're dealing with those burns. Really dealing with a lot of the dangers here from heat. For more on this, let's go to Anna Coren in Hong Kong.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Tiffany. Well, China is suffering an extreme heat wave with temperatures reaching above 50 degrees Celsius, that's 126 degrees Fahrenheit, in the far western region of Xinjiang setting a new record for the country. It comes as U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is in Beijing holding climate talks with top Chinese officials, in the hope the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gas accounting for 40 percent of global emissions can work together to reduce global warming.

Also in Asia, the effects of climate change are being felt in South Korea where Torrential rain has caused flooding and landslides killing more than 40 people. Even though this is monsoon season, the volume of rain falling has experts sounding the alarm. Now to Barbie Nadeau in Rome.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you know, it's another (INAUDIBLE) day here in the Eternal city and there the has not stopped the tourists. There's so many tourists defying what the authorities are telling them to do, which is to get out of the sun during the heat of the day.

Of course, the Italians and other Southern Europeans where it's also hot, no better, they're inside, they're drinking water, they're not taking much food or alcohol. But the tourists on the other hand are enjoying themselves in the heat. For more on this let's go to Derek Van Dam in Atlanta.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Yes, Barbie. Our own heat hell is actually unfolding here in Atlanta and across the southeastern United States. This time its heat coupled with wildfire smoke, reminiscent of what New York City and the entire eastern seaboard dealt with a couple of weeks ago. This time the smoke travelled over 2,000 miles to get where I'm located now.

And what you see directly behind me is extremely unhealthy air and it's set to continue for the next several hours, choking the city of over 6 million people on this larger Metropolitan of Atlanta with wildfire smoke coupled with heat. The climate crises here and now, the fingerprints of climate change being felt in the southeastern U.S. Phil, Abby?

[08:20:07]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Derek Van Dam, Stephanie Elam, Anna Coren and Barbie Nadeau. Thank you all very much. Let's bring in now CNN Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir. Bill, let's pick off right there where Derek Van Dam left off. Are we here now? Is this what it feels like to be at the onset of climate change?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: I'm afraid to say that seems to be the case. It's not that the planet is going to refreeze anytime soon. A lot of this is baked-in after a century of industrialization now. And right now, Scientists estimate that every second of every day, our planet absorbs as much heat as 10 Hiroshima sized atomic bombs. The oceans have held most of that in our lifetimes right now.

About 90 percent of that, so, you don't notice it as much. But now we're seeing these heat blobs all around the world, the ones we just talked about. In the south, west there, which had been holding for weeks, almost 40 days with these major warnings as well. And the superlatives you talk to scientists to -- who spend their lives looking at these numbers.

And seeing records broken by maybe a half of degree, seeing ocean temperatures, broken by five degrees, or just gobsmacked by bonkers or some of the quotes they've said. That's the 38 days, 1500 record high temperatures said just in the United State. In the last couple of days, over 3500 globally, and about 80 million under heat alerts in 14 states right now.

MATTINGLY: Bill, as we look across kind of the scale of what's happening right now, there are kind of downstream effects here that I think people will be tangibly seeing, including some in their wallets. And most of them are home -- homeowners insurance, right? If you're on a coast, you've been dealing with hurricanes, we're dealing with floods, everything is changing right now. How is it actually affecting homeowners' insurance?

WEIR: Well, California and Florida are really the canaries in this coal mine, no pun intended. And Farmers Insurance, State Farm, all state the big ones have essentially pulled out of California modified there. While in Florida, AAA, Lexington and farmers have modified how they cover. They're having insurance crises and a lot of these southern States, Louisiana also dealing with this. Florida may have to pass a hurricane tax, so they have enough of a pool of money to pay for the damage.

PHILLIP: And will -- and Bill, so there's this thing that is actually really fascinating to me, it's about white paint. Tell us how that can have an impact on how climate change plays out in some of these major cities.

WEIR: Well, if you -- if you've ever seen pictures of Santorini, Greece, if you've ever been there, all the white buildings on the Greek islands there, that's heat adaption. You know, early settlers, there wasn't much wood, and they were living basically in caves, and they realized if we cover (INAUDIBLE) on white as a reflective surface, you can bring temperatures way down. And this is basically being scaled up.

There's new science on the widest possible paints you can put on rooftops, parking lots, because Earth has lost so much ice at the Poles, they albedo effect, the reflection of sunlight it's being absorbed instead of reflected. Now, it's going to be have to be manmade in order to keep temperatures down.

You're going to see a future where major cities most of the rooftops will either be white or have green space growing there, those are the cities that will be coolest. It's time to study the hottest places around the world, those who have adapted to it in the smartest way and scale it up fast.

MATTINGLY: And the only actual solution Bill is you need to lead a trip with me and Abby to Santorini, Greece. And we're going to need to look at this. No, it's totally fascinating and I'm fascinated by these solutions people are trying to find and the developments in the evolution. And Bill, you're the always one to bring them to us. Thanks, man.

WEIR: My pleasure.

MATTINGLY: All right, a key hearing in Donald Trump's classified documents case is set for today in Florida. The judge, telling prosecutors and defense attorneys be ready to discuss trial dates.

PHILLIP: And we are, of course, continuing to cover that breaking news out of North Korea, an American man now in custody after crossing the border into North Korea. We'll be right back.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILIP: Back now to our breaking news. An American man is believed to be in North Korean custody after crossing the border during a tour of the DMZ. That's according to the United Nations Command which says it's working with the North Korean army to resolve this situation. Joining us now is former CIA North Korea Analyst and former White House official, Sue Mi Terry. And Will Ripley and Colonel Cedric Leighton are also back with us, as well.

So, Sue Mi, you -- I believe, have recently been to this area, what is your view of what we could be talking about here? Is this something that could have been accidental? Is this something that could have been intentional, meaning someone intentionally going across that border? What's your feel of it, based on the limited information that we have right now?

SUE MI TERRY, FORMER CIA NORTH KOREA ANALYST: What this absolutely could not have been accidental. So, I've been to the DMZ that area, I don't know, a dozen times in my lifetime. I just took a delegation out in January of this year. They are very, you know, you can even take pictures, you have to be away. They are South Korean soldiers are standing there, and you cannot, you know, it's very restricted.

You know, they're very careful about it. This is -- there's no way this could be accidental. This had to be intentional. Somebody had to just intentionally decide to run across which is very, very unfortunate, because now I'm sure that this entire tour has been -- it's going to be shut down or reviewed, but absolutely cannot be accidental.

MATTINGLY: Can you elaborate a little bit on the idea of the tours. I feel like I was kind of peripherally aware they existed. But can people just go to the demilitarized zone and take this tour? How does this all work? What's the universe of people we're talking about here?

TERRY: Right. So, you know, you go to Korea, and this is obviously a place of significance, right? The President Trump was there with Kim Jong Un remember the whole DMZ, you know, when President Trump cross and this is -- a place where it symbolizes there's a war going on still on the Korean Peninsula.