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Biden Visits Late Night TV; No Response from North Korea; Grant Hill is Interviewed about His New Book. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 08, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Goodness me.

OK. Guys, what now? Another one? I thought we had to go after one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

CHANCE: One more again.

CHANCE (voice over): Seconds later, another bone-shaking round hurtless towards Russian positions.

CHANCE (on camera): OK. We've got to go now. Come on.

CHANCE (voice over): And we quickly leave Ukraine's grinding front lines behind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, John, minutes after we fled that location, we did see an incoming shell strike very close by, undermining -- underlining the fact that even though this place feels a bit like trench warfare from the first world war, it is actually at times quite dynamic and it's obviously very dangerous indeed.

Back to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Matthew, what a window on what's going on there.

And we have a map so people can see. In yellow here, these small areas of yellow are areas where the Ukrainians claim that they have retaken territory that the Russians had occupied for a brief period of time.

What are you hearing from the Ukrainians in terms of what they think might help them move more quickly? What do they think could break a possible stalemate?

CHANCE: Well, it's pretty clear. I mean, look, the Ukrainians are, you know, insisting, you know, time and again that what they need are more weapons. They need longer range weapons. They simply don't have the -- they have the manpower, they don't have the ammunition and the machinery to push back this Russian advance.

And, of course, it's going to be a big help, the fact that the Biden administration has agreed to send over multiple launch rocket launchers with a range of about 50 miles, but they want an even longer range weapons system than that so they can really start clawing back some of the territory that Russia has seized over the past four months.

BERMAN: Matthew, thank you to you and your team for showing us what's happening there on the front lines. Stay safe.

Voters in seven states making their voices heard in a new round of primaries and setting up high stakes matches in November. Some surprising and telling results from California ahead.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And right now a migrant caravan of more than 2,000 people headed toward the U.S. from southern Mexico. The White House joins us live to respond.

And tonight, President Biden visits Jimmy Kimmel for his first late night appearance while in office. A look at presidents in late night, next.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: That was the iconic moment that former President Bill Clinton, then a candidate, played the saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show."

There's been a long history of presidential candidates and presidents appearing on late night TV, beginning with JFK on "The Jack Par Show" back in 1960. And, tonight, President Biden will appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for his first in-studio late night interview as president.

Joining us now to talk about it is CNN media analyst Bill Carter.

Bill, I wonder what you think about this appearance, what he's hoping to achieve, especially considering the timing with his approval rating being low.

BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, clearly this is an appearance meant to, you know, give him a forum where he can be relaxed and maybe have some laughs and joke around, and, you know, it will be a positive thing for him.

I think it's always been that way with late night when you're a candidate. You feel like you have to do it for exposure. It's rarely done when you're in office. I mean Obama was the first president in office ever to appear on late night shows because it looks more like you're not campaigning at this point, you're just trying to, you know, stoke your image. Obama was really good at it and the late night people really wanted him. I think Biden can use a little bit of a, you know, a bit of exposure

that may not be too, you know, challenging for him, although I would expect that Jimmy Kimmel, who is a -- certainly a guy he expects to be sympathetic, will probably, you know, find some questions to ask him that were - that are serious questions because that's expected of him.

BERMAN: So, Bill, you know, I had to go back and fact check it because we've become so used to seeing candidates on these late night shows, but Obama was the first sitting president to do it.

CARTER: Correct.

BERMAN: Now it feels like it might be a more regular thing.

CARTER: Well, it certainly was not a regular thing with President Obama's successor. He did not make appearances on late night. The only thing he did with late night was attack it and go after the hosts for making fun of him.

But, let's face it, that's part of the gig anyway. You're going to get made fun of if you're president. And Trump went after these guys like they were, you know, committing treason basically. He all but accused them of that in public speeches. So there's been an interregnum (ph) there. Obama did it many times. He made the rounds, and he was a very coveted, coveted guest.

And in this case, Biden has not really done that. And I think, you know, his advisers have been looking for ways to get him out there and to have him be more public. And this is certainly a way to do it. And he has an invitation, I'm sure, in fact, I know from speaking with Jimmy Kimmel myself last night, that he had an open invitation and happened to be going to L.A. and so they made a quick connection. It was not some, you know, let's get a strategy together kind of thing, he was just going to be there and there was no back story to it. He just decided to be booked because Kimmel had an open invitation for him.

KEILAR: Yes, Trump felt very mistreated, I think we can agree his hair was very mistreated, as we just saw in that clip.

Let's talk, though, about this long succession of presidential candidates who have appeared in late night programming starting with JFK back in 1960.

[06:40:08]

CARTER: Well -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to now to give a real tonight welcome to the senator from Massachusetts, Mr. John Kennedy.

Would it be rude of me if I called you John?

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: That would be fine. Therefore, I'm running for the presidency because for the same reason I ran for the House, because this is the place where action is going to take place, affecting the lives of this - of our people and every people in the next four or eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: JFK was, Bill, a president who really understood the impact of television, but he's not the last.

CARTER: Exactly.

KEILAR: And there's a lesson to be learned for presidents, including Biden.

CARTER: Exactly. Kennedy was a master of television. Let's face it, he was young, he was energetic, he looked great on TV. It was obviously a move for him to make. But even when he made that, Brianna, it was very sort of dicey. Like, is this a good idea to go on an entertainment show? Is it a good idea to go on an entertainment show? But, clearly, if you can do it and do it well, it's very advantageous and makes people - it humanizes you. That's the whole idea of it. You know, you're more yourself than just your political persona.

BERMAN: But there are some risks also. I seem to remember when I was covering George W. Bush in 2000, when he was a candidate, he had a tough go of it when he went on Letterman.

CARTER: Yes.

BERMAN: I think we have a clip of that. Let's play that.

CARTER: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: When that happened, I said to myself, this is the -- this is the only honest moment of the campaign, when you called that guy an (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Well, that -- and why - why not?

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: (INAUDIBLE).

LETTERMAN: Now, did you - did you ever feel the need to apologize to him for saying that?

BUSH: Not really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Actually, that was a funny moment there. That whole interview, though, was -

CARTER: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: You were on the edge of your seat going like, ee, this is not going great, Bill.

CARTER: Yes, well, that's the thing, I mean you are playing a little bit with fire because the hosts are much more adept at making fun than you are. And if you want to joust with a late night host, you better be really, really careful because they're very, very good at it.

And what Bush did there was effective for him because, again, it made people think, he's a regular guy, this is a regular guy trying, you know, laughing at himself. Laugh at yourself, that is absolutely essential.

KEILAR: Yes, there are risks. There are benefits. You have to sort of make that calculation.

Bill Carter, always great to have you. Thank you.

CARTER: Great to be with you guys.

KEILAR: The Biden administration reaching out to North Korea but getting the cold shoulder, raising concerns that Kim Jong-un may be preparing for a nuclear test.

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[06:47:01]

KEILAR: We have some new CNN reporting. We're learning the Biden administration attempted to contact North Korea here in the last month to discuss possible cooperation on humanitarian issues, but they have not received a response. This as the U.S. believes that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test.

Joining me now is CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand and CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood.

OK, what's happening here, Kylie?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, the Biden administration has been reaching out to North Korea over the last year in multiple ways, directly, indirectly, through third parties. And just in the last month, they reached out to them, as you said, to offer humanitarian support as North Korea has said that they have finally got cases of Covid-19. They haven't heard back from North Korea at all. But the Biden administration continues to say that they're going to keep reaching out because they think it's a -- in their best interest to engage, to try and engage with North Korea diplomatically without preconditions. So, what that means is they're not telling North Korea to stop it's ballistic missile tests, they're saying, we just want to sit down at the table and talk with you.

But it's significant that North Korea continues its provocations in an increased way as they're doing this, right, because just this year alone North Korea has carried out 31 ballistic missile tests. That is more than the missile tests that they have carried out in any single year previously, and we're already just in June right now. So just think about what that means for the rest of the year. But, the Biden administration continues to say that this is their policy, trying to engage but keeping sanctions in place.

KEILAR: The activity can't be ignored, Natasha. How concerned is the White House and the administration about North Korea, and how concerned are they that North Korea is not playing ball with any communications?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the big question is, how long is this sustainable, right, and which policy is going to be the winner here because we are seeing that this is a major policy shift from the Trump administration, right? The Trump administration was very eager to engage with North Korea. Trump and Kim Jong-un wrote love letters, for example.

The Biden administration's policy, extremely different. They are just holding out here. They are saying, look, the ball, right now, is in North Korea's court. We are going to essentially try our best to reach out. And if that doesn't work, then so be it. We will continue to strengthen our relationships with South Korea, with other nations in the Indo-Pacific. And if North Korea does not come to the table, there is not that much that we can do about it.

But is this sustainable, because, as Kylie said, they have carried out over 30 missile tests already. They are potentially preparing to carry out an underground nuclear test for the first time since 2017. So, as the pace of their tests and of their kind of provocations get, you know, further and further, will the Biden administration change tact here? So far we have not seen any willingness of them to do that.

Secretary Austin is in the region, of course, this week. Perhaps he will be discussing all of this with, you know, his Asian counterparts. But, ultimately, this has not been a top priority for the Biden administration since Biden came into office. Of course, President Obama was very fixated on it but his policy was similar, there's not much we can do here unless North Korea does come to the table.

[06:50:05]

They do not seem like they're willing to do that at all.

KEILAR: What if the administration does not change their approach and North Korea makes incredible strides in the meantime?

BERTRAND: That's the big question, right. And this is why the Biden administration has continued to say they're very focused on building up their alliances in the Indo-Pacific and Asia because they want that to serve as a counterweight to any kind of North Korean provocations. They want to reassure allies that they can come to their defense and come to their aid if anything were to happen. But, of course, it's kind of a wild card with North Korea.

KEILAR: Kylie, you have some reporting, I know. House Democrats are investigating former President Trump's apparent failure to account for gifts from foreign government officials while in office.

What can you tell us about this? ATWOOD: Brianna, there is an entire year, 2020, where there is no U.S.

government record, an official record, of any of the gifts that were given from foreign governments to President Trump, and that's because the Trump White House didn't provide that list to the State Department, that then creates a public list so everyone can see what those gifts were.

And so there are a lot of questions about who those gifts went to, where they are now, how much they are worth. And so that is what these House Democrats are looking into.

And we should note that this isn't just about former Trump officials or the former president himself having these gifts in their home that are worth more than they're legally allowed to keep, but it's also about influence. And that is the key here. The House Democrats are saying, look, there is a reason that there is a price tag on the gifts that U.S. officials are allowed to keep and that they aren't allowed to keep because they don't want foreign governments buying the influence over the president. And so that is why they're looking into this.

KEILAR: Especially a president -- a former president who may run again, who could be president again.

Kylie, thank you so much.

Natasha, thank you as well.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta penning a powerful essay on assault weapons and the human body. What it does to the human body. He's going to join us live.

BERMAN: Plus, NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill is here. He is opening up about his near death experience.

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[06:56:21]

BERMAN: He is an NBA Hall of Famer, a seven-time NBA all-star and an Olympic gold medalist. In his new book, Grant Hill opens up about his personal life, candidly sharing how injuries he sustained during his storied basketball career even led to a near death experience. He writes, quote, I gasped for breath. It felt like someone had just dropped a heavy dumbbell onto my chest. They frantically tried removing the cast from his ankle. A clear thought rose up in my mind. This was it. I was dying. I thought about Tamia and missing my daughter Myla growing up. My eyes closed.

Joining me now is former NBA star Grant Hill, author of "Game: An Autobiography," which is a terrific, I think, really heart-felt book, Grant. And you talk about this near-death experience.

Just tell me what that was like.

GRANT HILL, AUTHOR, "GAME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY": Yes, well, you know, about 20 years ago I went through a bunch of injuries and surgeries and so on and so forth and I got septic after my fourth ankle surgery. And it was surreal. It was scary. I ended up having a hole in my foot, my ankle and -- because of a staph infection. And being septic and just the feeling and, you know, being in the hospital, I vividly remember it. And I did think in that moment, one, seeing the reaction from the doctors and how they were panicking, but then also how I was feeling. I was like, wow, I can't believe it. Like this -- this is it. And I don't know if fans and people who were, you know, watching at the time and aware of my injuries were fully aware of the scope of what really went on and we went into that in the book.

BERMAN: No way. I don't think we had any idea what you were going through.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: We knew you were hurt.

HILL: Right.

BERMAN: And we knew it was a long time. You missed, you know, the better part of four straight seasons, five out of six seasons. And so much of this book, though, I think for you it seems is almost reframing how you look at this, choosing to look at life a little bit differently because, you know, you could sit here and say, oh, I missed so many of those seasons, how bad is that, but you have to learn how to look at the good.

HILL: You do. And I think the process of unpacking or going back and reflecting and living in these moments, the good and the bad, you know, you come to that realization more and you have to celebrate the accomplishments and the achievements when they're happening.

I didn't do a good job of that my Detroit years and even at Duke because I was constantly looking to do the next thing. And then I also don't think I fully lived in the moment when I was going through the injuries. I kept looking ahead. I mean maybe that was just to survive, maybe it was a way to get through, maybe I suppressed some of those feelings and emotions, and they came out while I was writing the book.

But, you know, I definitely learned a lot about myself, first and foremost, but also, when we have wins and we do, you know, do well, we have achievements, you've got to enjoy it, you know, and that was something that I don't think I did a good job of because I was chasing legends and I was trying to get to this destination and I didn't think I deserved to celebrate them until I got there.

BERMAN: So interesting. You know, there are people in 49 and a half states thinking, you guys at Duke didn't celebrate? You looked - you looked like you were enjoying winning.

HILL: Well, we had a lot to celebrate. And we had some good times. But that's the thing, you come in at - you know, as a freshman, you win a championship, you win a championship the following year as a sophomore, well, that's the expectation now. That's the bar. And you're constantly trying to get back to that level. BERMAN: I think it's really interesting you talk about making sure you

live in the moment, enjoying the good times, but also realizing when things aren't bad an acknowledging that.

I have to ask you, while I'm - while you're here, the finals, you know, 1-1.

HILL: Right.

BERMAN: What's going to happen?

HILL: Well, I know you have allegiances to Boston.

[07:00:00]

BERMAN: Right.

HILL: And - you know, I think it's interesting. Boston has been so up and down with good and tough and really resilient throughout these playoffs.