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North Korea Says It Successfully Detonated H-Bomb; Interview with Candy Carson, Ben Carson's Wife; Hero's Mother Speaks out. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 06, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:33:20] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news this morning.

North Korea says it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb for the first time. This would be a huge escalation in the capabilities of the reclusive regime. Represent huge new challenges for the U.S.

Joining us to talk about this is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Bobby Ghosh. He's also the managing editor of Quartz. Bobby, great to have you here.

Do you believe that they have detonated a hydrogen bomb?

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well the -- all the early data suggest it is not quite a full blown hydrogen bomb. It's more likely to be an atomic bomb. We'll find out in the next couple of days as the scientists kept in their hands on more data. But for me the crucial thing is not whether it's hydrogen bomb or the atomic bomb.

The other part of the claim that North Koreans are making is that it's a miniature. It's a miniaturized hydrogen bomb. That is crucial, that changes everything because if they're ...

CAMEROTA: Why?

GHOSH: ... successfully miniaturized the bomb hydrogen or atomic it means they can put it on an -- on a warhead. That means they can put it on a missile. And that brings different things a new play. They have been working very hard on missile technology and expanding their range of their missiles.

They've been claiming that they can hit American sort of the -- American land mass.

CAMEROTA: Yup.

GHOSH: ... with their missiles. If they can put that bomb on a missile that changes a lot.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at the capabilities and the geography of all this. GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: So the last time that they tested a missile.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: This is the capability.

GHOSH: Theoretically, yes.

CAMEROTA: ... theoretically.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: Forty-two hundred miles.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: This is how far it could go.

GHOSH: Yeah. And that includes crucial American allies Japan, Korea, and then American land mass, Guam which is down there.

CAMEROTA: Yup.

GHOSH: That's the closest sort of toward -- actual American land mass within range or that...

CAMEROTA: Right, there are two U.S. military bases on Guam here.

[07:35:02] GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's look to the east.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: The last time that Pyongyang tested a missile. This is how far it could go skirting Honolulu.

GHOSH: Again in theory that's the maximum range of the Taepodong-2. They have more recently been claiming that they've got even more advance once we don't -- we haven't seen any evidence of it yet. But they say they've got missile that can hit the main American land mass. That's the crucial thing to remember.

If this bomb is -- if this test has successfully -- they have successfully produced a bomb that is small enough to put on the -- on a nuclear warhead that makes North Korea infinitely more dangerous to the United States, to the world at large.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the timing.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: ... of this. Why now? GHOSH: Well, one possible indicator on Friday is Kim Jong-un's birthday. We're not sure whether it's his 33rd or 32nd birthday but it is his birthday. And North Korea has a tradition of celebrating the birthdays of its leaders with grand gestures.

This could be an early happy birthday Mr. President sort of thing or in this case it would probably be Kim sort of saying happy birthday to me.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

GHOSH: It's a very important year for Kim Jong-un. Later this year, in the early summer there's going to be a huge communist party conference that takes, it's the first time in four decades, it hasn't happened in 38, 39 years.

It's his big stage. And on that stage you'd like to make a big announcement. This is just the kind of big announcement that worked for him.

CAMEROTA: He talked about that. He previewed that in a note three weeks ago that he put out where he says, "For the victorious and glorious year of the 2016 when the 7th convention of the Workers Party will be held, make the world look up to our strong nuclear country and labor party by opening the year with exciting noise of the first hydrogen bomb."

He threatened he was going to do this and now he's on something.

GHOSH: He has no -- nothing else to show. Really he doesn't have a tracker because he's a young man. He's only been in power in couple of years. The economy is still in shambles North Korea has no other achievement.

If he is going to go on this big stage and boast about something a hydrogen bomb real or imagined is kind of thing he would be.

CAMEROTA: And in the past experts have said that he has done this because he doesn't feel North Korea is getting the attention it deserves when all the worlds attention is based to say on Syria.

GHOSH: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: ... or Iran or other things. What -- is that the precursor to this and what is the connection between Iran and North Korea?

GHOSH: Well this test puts North Korea into the conversation. I mean just consider the presidential debate. We've been having conversations about Iran, well now that we have a new tribute with Iran, the nuclear threat of Iran, the recent theory and at least for now he's off the table. That's not something that's going to come up in discussions very much.

Now North Korea has them. Now all of the candidates have to confront the question of what are they going to do about North Korea. And that's exactly what they want. CAMEROTA: OK, Bobby Ghosh thank you for all of the information. We'll be asking to run all about that very soon, Michaela.

MICHAELA PERIERA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, most of us know Dr. Ben Carson from the debates and his interviews on television but his wife is giving us a peak of the man she knows away from the glare of the political spotlight.

Candy Carson is here. She joins us live to tell us about her new book about her husband.

Good morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:08] CAMEROTA: Republican presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, is campaigning in the Hawkeye State ahead of next month's Iowa caucuses.

His wife, Candy, wants voters to get to know the real man behind the soft spoken voice of Candy Carson has written a new book "A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson," and she joins us now.

Mrs. Carson, great to have you here.

CANDY CARSON, WIFE OF DR. BEN CARSON: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: So why did you want to write this book about your life with Dr. Carson?

CARSON: Of course, I wanted too.

CAMEROTA: Why did you...

CARSON: Well, because, you know, because it's hard getting, you know, putting your life down on pages and there were some challenges and things that I still cry about as a read it.

CAMEROTA: What do you mean? Meaning that it's hard to...

CARSON: The tragedies we had in our life. But -- when I was doing the audio book, there were times where we just had to stop and I just had to try to pull myself together and just completely extract myself form the situation. But...

CAMEROTA: Meaning that you...

CARSON: ... we lost twins. There were patients that had stories that were very emotive, you know, it's just. When you do all you can and then, you know, the surgery goes well and everything else goes well but the patient's body just couldn't take another surgery.

And so even though everything went well as far as the surgery was concerned, this child was going to die. And it was a tight-knit family. I'm sorry. CAMEROTA: I do see that it is still emotional reliving all of this.

CARSON: It is. Because no one's life is -- I mean, it's oh, you had a great life and if you don't -- if you haven't walked in that person's shoes you've heard that before, then you don't know what they're going through.

Yes, in a lot of ways it was good life because, you know, blessings are always there. God is still in control of things. But, you know, and He helps you get through whatever you need to get through. But some of those things were kind of tough. But I did want people to get a better perspective of him. And actually, I got some input from some of his medical family because he spent more time at the hospital than with us. Even though he was there as much as he could be with the kids and me, when he was away, he was saving lives. So, that's a good thing.

CAMEROTA: You talked about that, obviously in the book. And you say that's the life of a neurosurgeon is obviously very difficult with long hours, lack of sleep, but also the spouse of a neurosurgeon. And see you write "The life of a neurosurgeon's wife isn't much easier. And I've had to put up with challenges that most wives don't face. But it's all been worth it. Together we've been through poverty, tragedy, disappointments, joys, successes and wealth. Even when things have been hard, we've had each other's backs."

And so, what is the life of a presidential candidate's wife like?

CARSON: In some ways it's similar because when the kids were growing up, he would be away at the hospital. Now, he's trying to heal a country. So he's dedicating a lot of his time to making sure that people understand what the problems are, you know, giving the diagnosis, and then what the prescriptions for that are.

[07:45:18] So he's in the midst of doing that. And when I have an opportunity, I do as well try to help people understand some of the situations our country is facing that aren't getting to a lot of the people.

CAMEROTA: As you say, writing a book is a personal experience. And it also does open people up to scrutiny of your life as what happened with Dr. Carson when there were questions about his own autobiography and his childhood and his past. What was that like for you to hear people scrutinizing that and questioning it?

CARSON: Not so much scrutinizing in saying that it was false. And this is something that has happened in his life, and it's true. I know it's true.

CAMEROTA: His violent past...

CARSON: Yeah, that and some of the other things they said about west point and so on. But the thing of it is, when the media discovers that it's true and they found, you know, the written word that proves it, then they don't say anything. They don't say, "Oh, we made a mistake there." You don't hear that. So it's really not fair in the way that they will attack people with untruths without checking, you know, to make sure that it's untrue.

CAMEROTA: So was it frustrating for you when questions arise not to be able to, you know, I don't know if you were tempted to go out and sort of speak on his behalf or to hold interviews. What was it like to sit by and watch that, all of that moment?

CARSON: Yeah, it's hurtful. But then again, we understand that even though the media is the one business that's protected by our constitution, some of the media is unethical. So it's something that you kind of come to expect now. And he's been talking about how, you know, listen to what I say, not what they say I say.

So if you want to know what Ben Carson is about, listen to what he actually says and not what people are reporting that he says. And in the book, he did go through some of it. He wasn't -- he's been so busy, he hasn't been able to go through most of it. But if I had questions, you know, he was there. I could check on some things because a lot of this is medical.

And I tell you, that was eye opening, hearing from the people that he worked with. And I challenge all of you to interview your spouse's co- workers and you'll find out that they're better than you thought they were.

CAMEROTA: That is enlightening. So, what is the thing, what is the one thing that viewers and readers will be surprised about with Dr. Carson?

CARSON: I don't know, he's been an open book for so long. It's hard to say that you would be surprised. But I mean he's consistent. He's a problem solver. He's someone who is thinking about others a lot. And in this case, you know, he's always been helping young people with their quality of life, you know, and our future generations. You know, it's all about helping young people and the rest of us in any way that he can.

CAMEROTA: How's his campaign doing? We've heard about a shake-up.

CARSON: Wow. It's was so exciting. Since the 31st and that when he came out with that announcement, you know, how they say that the telemarketing when you're going out with the phone calls to solicit donations, that's a good indicator of how things are going.

Well, in the first four days, I didn't get the information from yesterday but at least the first four days of this year, up 42 percent.

CAMEROTA: The fund-raising?

CARSON: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: The money coming in?

CARSON: Isn't that amazing, you know? So I think things are going well because 42 percent is 42 percent. The numbers don't lie.

CAMEROTA: There you go. And the book is "A Doctor in the House."

Candy Carson, thanks so much for sharing it with us.

CARSON: It's been great being here.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you here.

CARSON: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: Sure. Let's give it to Michaela.

PERIERA: All right, Alysin. During his emotional gun control speech, President Obama told the story of 15-year-old, Zaevion Dobson. His courage and his sacrifice saved three girls lives just days before Christmas.

[07:48:59] His mother joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: During President Obama's emotional speech on curbing gun violence, he cited this story and a very important story of a young man named Zaevion Dobson. He is, was a brave teenager, just 15-years- old from Tennessee. He sacrificed his life last month to save his friends from gunfire.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Zaevion, who was in high school, hadn't even gotten started in life. Dove on top of three girls to shield them from the bullets, and he was shot in the head. And the girls were spared. He gave his life to save theirs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERIERA: Joining us now is Zaevion's mother Zenobia Dobson and the mayor of Knoxville, Madeline Rogero.

Ladies, thank you so much for joining us.

First of all, Ma'am Zenobia, first of all our condolences to you, I don't know how you are even able to sit here today. Able to talk about your son giving what you have all just gone through, how are you doing? How is the family?

ZENOBIA DOBSON, MOTHER OF SLAIN KNOXVILLE TEENAGER: Everyone is OK and I'm OK myself.

PERIERA: All right. Did you know the president was going to talk about Zaevion last night?

DOBSON: No, I did not. PERIERA: How did you react when you heard his name?

DOBSON: Wow, I was surprised. I was happy. I shredded tears of joy right when I heard him say it.

PERIERA: I bet you did because you know that he is not forgotten. Tell us a little bit about the son Zaevion was to you?

DOBSON: Zaevion, he love to laugh, he love to smile. He love to take selfies all the time. He love football. He strived to make good grades. He wanted to go to college. He love football. He like Oregon Ducks, he like Alabama, he like U.T and he loved Fortune Falcons.

PERIERA: Well it shows down he loved him some football. We know he was a standout athlete. We know he was actively involved in the community. He was beloved by students and teachers alike at the school. It sounds like you raised him right. And the fact that he chose to sacrifice his own life to save his friends, you did something right Zenobia.

[07:55:02] DOBSON: Yes, yes I did. You know, I always told Zaevion stand up for something that you know is right. If you know its right, it's right.

So at that time in that moment, my son made a decision to do what was right.

PERIERA: He sure did and at 15-years-old that is -- that's a rare thing, most of us would have done probably the exact opposite run for cover, ducked to find safety.

Mayor Rogero, I know that you spoke at the funeral. We know that these young men we're learning so much about him not just from the president last night. You spoke really eloquently about him at the funeral. This guy was a shining example in the community. He was a real standout.

MADELINE ROGERO, MAYOR KNOXVILLE TENNESSEE: Right, as I said, he was one of our success stories.

First of all and that's -- first of all because of his wonderful mom and his family. As you can tell, she is known in the community, she is known at the school, and she was a very active parent, is a very active parent.

But yes, we have many opportunities that we offer to our young children and young teens in our community and he took advantage of those. He was involved in the swim program of our -- one -- our local youth organization. He was active in the school, part of the football team.

So he is exactly the type of young man that we want to see in our community. And it is such a tragedy that he -- what happened to him.

PERIERA: Well we also understand that he was part of Save Our Sons, stop the violence, these initiatives trying to end the violence, the type of violence that ultimately ended his life. Mayor, what did you make of the president's speech last night? Did he go far enough for you?

ROGERO: Well, first of all we were, we certainly appreciate it that he recognized the sacrifice that Zaevion made for his friends.

I think that there are many reasons why these things happen in our community. I think that the gun issue is one of them, but giving opportunities to our kids and, you know, the -- some multi faceted strategy really that all of our cities and communities have to have.

PERIERA: Zenobia, I know that you know this. That gun control and gun laws are an extremely divisive issue in this nation. Do you think that the message that the president laid out last night? Do you think it's going to resonate with voters? Do you think that there's going to be headway? Where do you think we go from here as a nation?

DOBSON: Yes, I think that you just stricken the enhancement of, you know, convicted felons and stricken the enhancement of gang members, gang initiations. You know, just look at, you know, the bigger picture of everything. And, you know, just stricken the laws.

PERIERA: Zenobia, it is really hard to think that you have just joined us really a tragic club of parents who have lost their children to gun violence. Hopefully more and more people will hear the pain in your voice of having lost your 15-year-old and we can make some headway.

Thank you so much for joining us. Our best to you in the family, Mayor Rogero thank you for joining us today on NEW DAY.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night. President Obama is going to sit down with Anderson Cooper for an exclusive live town hall event on Guns in America. The president is going to discuss his executive action on guns. He is going to take questions from a live studio audience. Again, a town hall on Guns in America with president Obama, moderated by Anderson Cooper tomorrow night 8 p.m. right here on CNN.

We're following a lot of news. Let's get to it

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korea announcing it has conducted a successful test of a hydrogen bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A significant step in their nuclear capability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We may not be able to figure out what the radio activity is, that's a problem for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last 15 years North Korea is the only country in the world that is continued to push forward with this nuclear test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you suggesting or questioning his birth right, his citizenship.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just know that it's being questioned all over again. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all respect, our good friends here in the media are playing into the Democratic PlayBook.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we have allowed our government now to operate by executive FIAS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president is just doing whatever he wants.

OBAMA: Every time, I think about those kids, it gets me mad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under the president's new executive actions are warning to nearly all guns seller to conduct background checks.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am very proud of President Obama's announcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just changes the rules as he goes along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

We will begin with breaking news at this hour.

North Korea announcing the successful testing of a hydrogen bomb for the very first time, if it is true. If it is true, the test represents a significant advancement for the rogue nation's military arsenal.

[08:00:08] CAMEROTA: The U.N Security Council set to hold an emergency close door meeting later this morning. So how will the international community respond?