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New Day
Kissinger on U.S./China Conflict; Injured Little Leaguer's Family Speaks Out; Billy Joel Speaks with Zakaria. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired August 19, 2022 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:03]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: In a new episode of "The Axe Files," CNN's David Axelrod speaks one-on-one with the 99-year-old former secretary of state and national security adviser Henry Kissinger. They covered an array of topics, including what he calls humanity's biggest challenge, avoiding a military conflict between the U.S. and China.
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HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE AND FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What is absolutely unique about this situation is that both countries have the unilateral capacity to destroy the world. And if they get into a conflict, there is no inherent restraint in the technology. And it is the biggest challenge before humanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Kissinger also weighed in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan.
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KISSINGER: I thought it was an unwise thing, a trip, to do. I didn't say anything publicly, but I thought it was unwise. If the Chinese don't cooperate, we'll be in a confrontation. And I am very uneasy where it goes from here on Taiwan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: CNN's senior political commentator and the host of "The Axe Files," David Axelrod is with us now.
David, what did you - it was such an interesting interview. What did you think of his answer there?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, you know, Kissinger is not a kind of idle observer on issues involving the U.S. and China. He was really the hidden hand behind Richard Nixon in opening the relationship between the U.S. and China. Interestingly, you know, he allowed that. He thought there were times when perhaps we were a -- we opened the throttle too much relative to China. And that has contributed to their - to their rise as a - as a competitor.
But, look, I think that he is articulating what a lot of people feel. We - you know, there is this cross pressure between our commitment to Taiwan, and human rights, and the reality that, you know, China is bearing down and no one quite knows how this is going to resolve itself, and China is watching probably closely in Ukraine to see how that works out.
But the reaction to Pelosi's visit was, you know, as he pointed out, was like a dry run for blockading Taiwan. And so there are concerns. And he, you know, he is very focused on that.
BERMAN: Ninety-nine years old. Henry Kissinger, obviously, German Jew, came to the United States when Adolf Hitler was in power.
And, David, you asked him a little bit about that. The connection between where he grew up, his early years, and if there was a connection between that or a line you could draw to January 6th.
Listen to his lesson.
AXELROD: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KISSINGER: well, our institutes have proved to be strong enough to resist it. The event was, it was not comparable to what Hitler did, but it was unacceptable. And whatever one to view of the nature of individual elections during the voting day, the outgoing president of the United States has an obligation for a transition to his successor. And that has been done throughout American history. And so an organized demonstration against the Congress, invading the Congress was totally impermissible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Impermissible, he said, but the institutions held, David.
AXELROD: Yes, I know. And, look, I asked him a few minutes earlier, John, about whether he saw any augerings (ph), any - any traces in this sort of ethno-nationalist (ph) movement here and around the world to what went on in Europe in the '30s. And he was very resistant to that. He said nothing like it and so on.
You know, our institutions did hold, but we've learned how close we came to their not holding. And it was the - you know, the question is what happens next time and how do we strengthen those institutions.
On a similar front, you know, he was among -- he came here and then he was drafted and he was in the army and he became one of the liberators of a concentration camp. And he talked about the fact that if his family hadn't escaped -- if they had stayed 12 more months, many of his family may have been in that camp. And he lost 13 relatives in the death camps in Germany.
But as a diplomat, his view, as a -- in office was that we have to put national interests ahead of moral interests relative to things like human rights.
[08:35:02]
And we had a very uncomfortable conversation about that, how he squared the impact on him of being a liberator of a death camp and what the U.S.' posture should be toward human rights in places like China and elsewhere.
KEILAR: Really interesting.
David, we always appreciate you being on to talk about these fascinating interviews. And we think folks should check this one out in particular. Just go to cnn.com and you can see this "Axe Files" interview.
Thanks, David.
So, this morning we have an update on that little leaguer who fell from a bunkbed at the Little League World Series fracturing his skull. CNN's emotional interview with his family as his team prepares to take the field.
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BERMAN: A 12-year-old baseball player is recovering from critical injuries after falling from a bunkbed at the Little League World Series earlier this week. CNN spoke with the family of Easton Oliverson. They say he is a fighter and improving daily despite the odds.
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us live from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
[08:40:00]
Jason, you know, everyone pulling for this young man.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Incredible story. You know, John, Easton's nickname is actually "Tank." And he has really earned that nickname. He's proven himself to be a tough little man. His doctors and his family say he's already won something much bigger than any championship title.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, buddy, food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
CARROLL (voice over): With every scoop, Easton Oliverson is defying the odds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just like you're scooping a ball in left field.
CARROLL: He's awake, alert and communicating. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel like it's going the right way or does
it feel like it's getting stuck?
EASTON OLIVERSON: It's going the right way.
CARROLL: The 12-year-old little lighter now out of intensive care. His father says it was just days ago when doctors told him he may not survive.
JACE OLIVERSON, EASTON'S FATHER: Doctors are saying he's 30 minutes max from dying with so much pressure on his brain stem, that here we are, not even three full days later, he has his mobility, his brain function, and it's not by coincidence.
CARROLL: Easton is a player on the Snow Canyon Little League team, the pride of Utah. They're the first team from the state to make it to the Little League World Series in its 75-year history. So, you can imagine all the excitement the team, his family had leading up to it. All that crushed Monday morning during an unimaginable accident when Easton fell out of his bunkbed while sleeping and hit his head.
J. OLIVERSON: It was so heart wrenching and couldn't believe what we had just experienced hours before living the highs of highs and now having to feel like Easton is now fighting for his life.
CARROLL: Doctors told them Easton had severely fractured his skull, and punctured an artery outside his brain.
DR. FRANK MAFFEI, CHARI OF PEDIATRICS, GEISINGER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: There are some children that arrive in a very, very poor neurologic state. And Easton's state, upon arrival, was among the poorest I've seen.
CARROLL: Despite the injuries, Easton surprised doctors at Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital, when hours after surgery, he showed signs of improvement.
DR. ODED GOREN, NEUROSURGEON, GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER: He's making tremendous strides toward recovery. And we're expecting him to have a really near complete or complete recovery. We're all so happy.
CARROLL: His family says well wishes have come in from all over the world, including from Easton's favorite players.
MOOKIE BETTS, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: Hey, Easton, it's Mookie Betts. I just want you to know that we are praying for you, thinking of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, man. We're praying for you. Hoping that your recovery goes well.
CARROLL: The family says it's not just doctors they have to thank.
J. OLIVERSON: The only reason that he's at this point in such a short period of time is - is because of our Heavenly Father and the way that he is showing people now that miracles do happen. DEREK OLIVERSON, EASTON'S UNCLE: We 100 percent attribute that to the
prayers that we've been receiving across the nation. We know, and the doctors agree, there was divine intervention here.
CARROLL: Just one more thing, there will be an Oliverson on the field during the game. Easton's 10-year-old little brother Brogan (ph) will take his spot and says he's ready to represent his brother and take on Tennessee.
BROGAN OLIVERSON, EASTON'S BROTHER: Be ready. We're coming.
J. OLIVERSON: That's right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Go Brogan.
Well, doctors say that, just to put this in some more perspective for you, John, that Easton's injury was so severe that part of his skull actually had to be removed. So he's going to have a surgery in a few weeks or so to have that removed piece of his skull put back. So that just gives you a sense of just how critical this injury was. But, again, doctors say they expect him to make a full recovery. So, this family, this team, they are celebrating way before this team heads out on the field later on this afternoon.
John.
BERMAN: Yes, to hear those words from the doctor, near recovery or near full recovery, how wonderful. What a blessing.
CARROLL: It's great.
BERMAN: Jason Carroll, thank you so much.
KEILAR: Love that story. Love that.
So, who was Billy Joel thinking about when he wrote "New York State of Mind." He discussed that and much more with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. We have that next.
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[08:48:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY JOEL, MUSICIAN (singing): The flames were everywhere. But no one really cared. It always burned up there before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: American music legend Billy Joel sitting down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for an exclusive look into the inspiration behind some of his most popular songs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": A lot of times when you write, you're moved by events. You know, your music is kind of rich with history and culture. So, you hear about New York going bankrupt.
BILLY JOEL, SINGER, PIANIST, SONGWRITER: Yes.
ZAKARIA: And you hear about Ford saying to New York City, drop dead, that famous "Daily News" headline. And that motivates you to write "Miami 2017," right?
JOEL: Yes.
JOEL (singing): Seeing the lights go out on Broadway.
JOEL: I mean I'm part of the world also, aside from being a musician, I'm affected by events. If you think about it, right before the Beatles hit, which was in - on "The Ed Sullivan Show," February of 1964, what happened - what major event happened just prior to that?
ZAKARIA: The assassination of JFK.
JOEL: The assassination of John F. Kennedy, who was the young, vital, vigorous man who was the president, kind of represented youth and the future, and he was taken away from us. And the country had the blues. And big time. Everybody was depressed over the Kennedy assassination. And it lasted for a long time. Who took us out of that depression?
[08:50:01]
The Beatles. They represented youth. They represented the future. They represented vitality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: I love that.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria joins us now.
What a fascinating interview, just these glimpses that we're getting of this, Fareed. I know you've interviewed, obviously, hundreds of important people throughout your career. What was it like doing this one?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": This was very special because, you know, when CNN came to me and said, who are the people you really want to interview in a kind of special way? And we started to think about the usual, you know, ideas. And I interviewed many of them. And I didn't feel it would be different and special. And I thought to myself, one thing I've always wanted to do is to interview really creative, talented people and understand their artistic or their creative genius.
And the other part of me was thinking, you know, the guy - the person who I've been a fan of since I was 15 years old is Billy Joel. And the two things merged together. And I thought, the person I really want to interview is Billy Joel, which at the time, you know, the CEO was like, OK, go for it. And, you know what, I spent essentially a day with him. So, what you're seeing is a very sculpted interview where we, you know, we took the parts that really resonated, but he really came out and talked about what motivates him to write, how does he - you know, because people like him think differently. They produce differently than most of us.
BERMAN: Yes. And to hear him talk about writing songs, it's like going to school. I mean it's something that he -- he thinks about or thought about so much when he was writing.
And, Fareed, you talked to him about some people's favorite song is "New York State of Mind." I want to listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAKARIA: I always thought "New York State of Mind" was your homage to Ray Charles.
JOEL: You are exactly right. I was thinking of Ray Charles when I wrote it. Except I wrote it in such a high key, I don't know if Ray would have been able to sing it.
JOEL (singing): Some folks like to get away.
JOEL: It should be more like -
JOEL (singing): Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood.
ZAKARIA: Would you - would you wear dark glasses when you play it?
JOEL: Absolutely. Sure. But I thought of Ray Charles singing it at Yankees Stadium when I was writing the song, yes.
ZAKARIA: And did you -- were you - were you trying to do some kind of fusion? I mean not just the Ray Charles, but, in general, where you'd have some - some influence and then you'd try to meld it into some -- with something you were doing?
JOEL: Well, a lot of times I'm thinking of somebody else other than me singing what I'm writing.
ZAKARIA: Interesting.
JOEL: Because I don't like my own voice. I never did. I like to sound like somebody else and I'm thinking of somebody else when I'm writing. I want to conjure up somebody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Guy who, you know, has like 50 top hits doesn't like his own voice, Fareed.
ZAKARIA: You know, it's funny, what motivates people like that, it's fascinating, right, because you create constraints for yourself. And then you got to breakthrough those constraints. You've got to work in those constraints. So, for him, as you say, he didn't fundamentally think of himself as a single. Remember, this is a classically trained pianist. I mean he can play Mozart and Beethoven and things like that. And so he's approaching it from that point of view. He thinks his voice is an afterthought. He doesn't like it. He likes Ray Charles, the Beatles. He talks about that. But somehow as a result of that, those constraints and that creative energy, you get this burst of extraordinary talent.
He's rare, John, in that a lot of talented people I've talked to can't explain their talent. They can't explain what it is they do. Maybe because of the classical training. Maybe because he's unusually articulate. Billy Joel is really unusual to the point of being unique as a musician and being able to both have that talent and explain it to the rest of us, which is, I think, the great gift of this - of this special.
KEILAR: Yes, I cannot wait to see the whole thing, Fareed. Thank you so much for being with us.
And, you know if you do want to see the whole thing after that, which I don't know who would not, "Extraordinary with Fareed Zakaria" premieres tomorrow night starting at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
It is extraordinary.
Unsealed documents from the Mar-a-Lago search sharpening the focus on Donald Trump as a potential target of the criminal probe. New CNN reporting ahead.
BERMAN: Plus, ludicrous, ridiculous, BS, those are just a few of the words former Trump -- top Trump officials used to describe one of the former president's claims regarding classified documents.
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[08:59:07]
BERMAN: CNN Hero Deanna Pursai was moved to action when she saw that her sister who has down syndrome had no way to keep learning and growing after being mandated out of high school. So, Deanna co-founded a college for students just like her younger sister, allowing more people to experience the magic of college.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, everybody.
DEANNA PURSAI, CNN HERO: College of adaptive arts is a life-long, equitable collegiate experience for adults with special needs of all differing abilities who historically haven't had access to college education.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit that right there.
PURSAI: We have ten schools of instruction, and they get the same access to an array of classes that any college student can select.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out, reaching toward the sun.
PURSAI: I want for every student that walks through our doors to be treated like the thinking intellectual that they are.
[09:00:01]
I love you.
ANGEL, DEANNA PURSAI'S SISTER: I love you too.
PURSAI: My experience with my sister, Angel, has helped me be a better, more authentic, transparent person. I am so humbled each and every day by their depth and ideas and ways to make the world a better place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So wonderful, that work. And to see Deanna's full story, go to cnnheroes.com.
CNN's coverage continues right now.
