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New Day
Former Russian Foreign Minister Joins CNN Amid Revenge Strikes; Calls For L.A. City Council Members To Resign Over Racist Comments; Kevin Bacon Opens Up About Losing Fortune In Madoff Scheme. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired October 11, 2022 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And wipe out South Korean targets, including airports and potentially, U.S. military bases, threatening tens of thousands of American lives.
North Korea's provocative missile testing, including flying a powerful missile over Japan, triggering a national emergency alert there.
Experts say that North Korea is trying to develop full-scale tactical and strategic nuclear weapons and then use the growing arsenal as leverage to lift crippling economic sanctions.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: I'm Nada Bashir in London.
And as anti-regime demonstrations continue across Iran, human rights groups are sounding the alarm on the use of excessive and lethal force by security forces as they crack down on protesters.
According to Hengaw, a human rights organization monitoring rights violations in Iran's Kurdish region, at least five people have been killed since Saturday amid protests in the northwestern Kurdish city of Sanandaj, including a 7-year-old child who was killed by direct fire.
In a statement on Monday, Amnesty International expressed concern over the reported indiscriminate use of firearms and tear gas against protesters, as well as restrictions on internet access to curb the spread of information.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Angry passengers, hours-long queues, and missing flights. People at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the world's third-busiest for international passengers, have had enough.
Labor shortages, fuel chaos with cut flight capacity, long lines, delayed baggage, and passengers missing flights -- it's all infuriated the Dutch airline KLM, whose base is at Schiphol. In a statement, KLM said the latest round of cuts is damaging their reputation amongst passengers who are traveling after COVID. Now, Schiphol's CEO, Dick Benschop, is now stepping down. He acknowledged the airport's operational issues, which he said management was trying to fix.
With the country's upcoming school break in November, the chaos is far from over.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new round of Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight. Over the past 48 hours, at least 19 people have been killed and more than 100 injured. The targets include more than 20 Ukrainian cities and settlements. You can see the breadth of it on the map right there.
With me now is the former Russian foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev. Thank you so much for being with us, sir.
Why do you think Vladimir Putin has done this? Why launch this barrage of attacks over the last two days?
ANDREI KOZYREV, FORMER RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you for having me.
Why? Because he's desperate and because he made miscalculations -- three major miscalculations. One, that Ukraine will be defeat -- could be defeated in 2-3 days. Second, that the United States and the West will not come to the rescue to help Ukrainians. And the third one, that he brought the war back home when he announced this mobilization. Because now, every man in Russia is threatened and feels that the war is somewhere around the corner and that it's deadly -- potentially, deadly.
So, he's desperate and he returns to what he is doing -- intimidation and now this threat of nuclear weapons, which he will not use, or -- and terror actions in Ukraine and in Russia.
Most prominent voices of opposition in Russia are jailed now or threatened also with long terms. So, terror is the only thing left for him, like for any miserable terrorist in the world.
BERMAN: You say he's desperate but you also say you don't feel as if he will use nuclear weapons. How can you be sure?
KOZYREV: Well, sure, you cannot be of anything in the -- in this world, you know? But I feel that he will not do it and it's a rational conclusion. Because just look -- he made a statement about the -- all those threats and everything.
He was sitting in the room and he was drinking the Voss water. The Voss water is the one originated -- the brand is Norwegian water, and it's a NATO country. So he's drinking even water from NATO countries.
He likes to live a good life and he wears Western-made suits. And he has children -- I mean, nobody knows how many but he has. And he's a human being, so he does not want to commit suicide with strategic nuclear weapons.
But mini-nukes. Now there is a lot of talks about the mini-nukes. But the mini-nukes like the big nukes -- they are useless in military sense. They could be used only against tank Armatas. But the Ukrainians do probably to help the Western Americans, especially consultants -- they are not going in the Armatas. They are going disbursed operations -- smart operations. So the nukes will do nothing.
It's -- again, it's a weapon -- potential weapon of terror. They want to terrorize. But they -- but if they use --
BERMAN: Our correspondent -- our correspondent -- I'm sorry. So sorry to interrupt you. Our correspondent on the ground --
KOZYREV: Yes, sure.
BERMAN: -- Nick Paton Walsh, was saying it's his feeling that the intensity of the airstrikes today on Ukraine was less than the number of strikes yesterday. And there have been people who are saying that Vladimir Putin doesn't have the capacity to continue -- the material, maybe, even to continue with this type of intensity for long.
What do you think about that?
KOZYREV: Well, that's natural because they have weak, corrupt economic and social system -- government system that is completely corrupt. So everything is already stolen. And he thinks that he has a lot of weapons and other things probably because he kind of paid it with the petrol dollars, but it is not there. It is, again, in NATO countries like in France, in London. And I have to tell you that probably in Miami or New York in the real estate. So invested in real estate.
So they are not to fight NATO. They are not to fight the United States. But they will resort to terror inside and outside.
But they will -- if they will be defeated and the Ukraine liberates the whole of its territory, nothing happens. He will not be back against -- up against the wall because he lives there in Russia within its internationally recognized borders. And Ukraine lived in Ukraine with its internationally recognized borders.
For 14 years or 15 years, he was in power and they lived there a good life. So he will just come back to that situation and still be in charge of Russia and all that and still have the Voss water and all the goods from the West.
BERMAN: Former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev, nice to see you this morning. Thank you.
KOZYREV: Thank you.
BERMAN: Ahead we will speak to John Kirby from the White House on this latest round of attacks from Russia. Los Angeles City Council president -- the Los Angeles City Council president has resigned from the presidency but not from the council altogether after her racist remarks about a fellow council member and her Black child became public.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The surprisingly tight Ohio Senate race heating up last night as both candidates faced off in their first debate -- a fiery one at that. We have the highlights ahead.
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REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH), OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: Ohio needs an ass- kicker, not an ass-kisser.
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BERMAN: The embattled Los Angeles City Council president has resigned from her leadership role, but not her council seat. This, after an audio recording was leaked in which she is heard making racist remarks about a colleague's Black son.
CNN's Nick Watt has the story.
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NICK WATT, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Mike Bonin is an L.A City Council member and father to a young Black son. Last year, they went to an MLK Day parade. City Council president Nury Martinez had some issues.
NURY MARTINEZ, PRESIDENT, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL: It's like black and brown on this float. And there is this white guy with this little Black kid who is misbehaving. The kid is bouncing off the effing wall on the float, practically tipping it over. There's nothing you can do to control him -- parece changuito.
WATT (voice-over): Translation: little monkey.
MARTINEZ: They're raising him like a little white kid, which I was like this kid needs a beatdown. Like, let me -- let me take him around the corner, and then I'll bring him back.
WATT (voice-over): Bonin tweeted that Martinez "attacked our son with horrific racist slurs, and talked about her desire to physically harm him. It's vile, abhorrent, and utterly disgraceful."
PROTESTERS: Fire Nury!
WATT (voice-over): There were protests at her house and she resigned as council president.
She issued this apology. "In a moment of intense frustration and anger, I let the situation get the best of me and I hold myself accountable for these comments. For that I am sorry."
Recorded nearly a year ago, the audio was posted anonymously on Reddit, first reported by the Los Angeles Times. Those present were, reports the paper, all Democrats, all Hispanic.
Among them, labor leader Ron Herrera. He has tweeted, "There is no justification and no excuse for the vile remarks made in that room, period. And I didn't step up to stop them." He did not. And when Martinez described Bonin's son as an accessory, according to the paper, he joined in.
MARTINEZ: It's an accessory. When we do the MLK parade --
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KEVIN DE LEON, COUNCILMEMBER: Just like -- just like when --
RON HERRERA, PRESIDENT, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FEDERATION OF LABOR: They used to have those statues in the -- in the plantations, didn't they?
DE LEON: And when Nury brings her Goyard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag --
WATT (voice-over): That last voice, councilmember Kevin de Leon. He's got big ambitions. He ran for mayor this year and the U.S. Senate seat in '18.
"I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments," he wrote. "I fell short of the expectations we set for our leaders."
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KEILAR: Our thanks to Nick Watt for that report.
Joining us now is the CEO of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, Arturo Vargas. His organization has called for the resignation of L.A. City Council president Nury Martinez.
Arturo, thank you so much for being with us. I know it's especially early there, before 5:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, but I know that you feel strongly about this.
Nury Martinez has resigned as president of the council. She is still on the council. Does she need to resign from the council?
ARTURO VARGAS, CEO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS EDUCATION FUND (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it's become -- well, thank you, first, for having me. And it's become clearly evident that not just council member Nury Martinez should resign but so should her colleagues, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo.
The city cannot go forward with them remaining on the city council at this point. It would be best for everybody for them to step down and allow us now to come together and move the city forward. KEILAR: And what about Ron Herrera? I mean, the labor leader -- prominent labor leader. We heard his comments there in that piece as well. Should he be stepping down?
VARGAS: Well, the fact is that last night he, in fact, did step down. And I understand that the union is going to be making an announcement this morning about that development.
KEILAR: OK.
Can you speak more broadly about what this means? Because just to put into perspective, when she became president of the council, this was something that NALEO was very excited about in terms of it being a milestone. This was heralded by you as a Latina who was achieving a position of such accomplishment when it came to being an elected official, and here you see this fall.
Can you speak to what this means for the trust that people may have in Latino and Latina officials, or they may not have, more broadly?
VARGAS: Well, first of all, her ascension to the council presidency was historic to have a Latina in that role, which arguably could be even more powerful than the role of mayor of the city of Los Angeles. And to see this development is -- to say it's disappointing doesn't speak to the depth of emotions that many of us in the Latino community feel.
But we are holding our own leaders accountable. It is not acceptable for anybody to make these racist comments, no matter their background -- be they Latino, white, African American, Asian. There is no room in public service for racist attitudes and expressions.
KEILAR: Something -- a through line in the discussion is a sort of zero-sum way of thinking when it came to if Latinos are winning then the Black can't be winning, or if the Black -- if Black officials or voters are winning, then Latinos and Latinas can't be winning.
What did you think about hearing that?
VARGAS: Well, I don't think it's true. I have been involved in this work now for over 35 years. And I have been involved in coalition politics working with African American leadership, Asian American leadership on issues of redistricting, on issue of shared political power. And we have been working very closely with each other to envision a city of Los Angeles that serves everyone.
So it's so disappointing when some political leaders take it upon themselves to go in a different direction from where the community is. That's why community organizations stood up and demanded their resignations and that we need to hold our elected officials to a higher standard.
KEILAR: And just finally, she said her comments were born of frustration. Is that a sufficient explanation even -- she says she takes full responsibility, but she says they were born of frustration. VARGAS: Look, we all get frustrated, and when we're elected officials and we have leadership and roles and responsibility, we need to check ourselves on this. And the fact is that there's no vaccine for racism. There is no immunity. All of us can be effective at this and we need to hold everybody and each other accountable for when we stray and engage in racist activity and expressions.
KEILAR: Arturo Vargas, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
VARGAS: Thank you.
KEILAR: We have some dramatic new video this morning showing the Coast Guard rescuing boaters who were fending off sharks.
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BERMAN: Actor Kevin Bacon opening up about how he and his family lost most of their savings in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
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JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": It was a very busy weekend for our future president. Kanye West is yezier than ever. He got locked out of his Twitter account yesterday after posting "I'm a bit sleepy tonight, but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," which the all caps were a nice touch.
He should change his name from Ye to Boo, right? I mean, even Mel Gibson is like reel it in, buddy. You're going -- you're going --
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We started off with two words, made in America -- made in America.
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JAMES CORDEN, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": (Bleep). He doesn't make it easy, does he? He doesn't -- he doesn't -- he said two words. It ended up being three. Even Biden's sentences are experiencing inflation.
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BERMAN: Perhaps Jake can ask the president about those two or three words today when he interviews him in his exclusive interview, which airs --
KEILAR: Yes.
BERMAN: -- on "CNN TONIGHT" at 9:00 p.m.
KEILAR: I can't wait for that.
BERMAN: All right. Kevin Bacon, in other news, who gifted the world with "Footloose," is opening up about losing most of his fortune in one of the biggest Wall Street swindles of all time, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
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KEVIN BACON, ACTOR: We had most of our money in Madoff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yi, yi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way.
BACON: Yes. There's obvious life lessons there, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BACON: If something is too good to be true, it's too good to be true.
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BERMAN: All right. With me now, CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon. Kevin Bacon there -- what did he reveal?
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Kevin Bacon saying all the cliches work here, including what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
The actor opening up, as you pointed out, about being a victim of Bernie Madoff -- of course, the mastermind behind the infamous $20 billion Ponzi scheme -- the largest financial fraud in history. Bacon making the comments on the SmartLess podcast, which is hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.
And it's actually one of the few times that Bacon has addressed the incident. In fact, two of the three hosts of the podcast said they didn't even know.
Bacon talked about his reaction to hearing that he and his wife Kyra Sedgwick had lost most of their savings in the scheme. Take a listen.
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BACON: When something like that happens, you look at each and you go -- well, that sucks --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BACON: -- and let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.
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SOLOMON: Yes, a healthy dose of perspective there, John.
BERMAN: It is. And look, lucky for them that they could go back to work -- SOLOMON: Yes.
BERMAN: -- and replenish the coffers there.
Have they been able to recoup any of the money that they lost?
SOLOMON: So, what he said was that he and his wife were able to get a portion of the money that they invested, but hinted that it wasn't nearly all of it.
Now, according to the website for the Madoff victim fund, more than $4 billion has been recovered. But, John, of course, you have to remember that Bacon and Sedgwick -- they're just two of the more than 37,000 people who were victims of the Ponzi scheme, most of whom were not rich and famous Hollywood actors.
And Bacon said that really put his ordeal into perspective.
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BACON: There were a lot of people who were much worse off than we were, you know -- old people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BACON: Who -- whose retirement funds were completely decimated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BACON: So there's always going to be somebody that's going to have it a lot worse than you.
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SOLOMON: And Madoff did plead guilty in 2009 to 11 felony charges, including money laundering, perjury, false filings with the SEC, and fraud. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison, although he died in prison in 2021.
But John, in addition to gifting the world with "Footloose," he also gifted us with "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifa and Kevin Bacon, of course, where he famously played Jorge from Austria, via Nebraska.
BERMAN: I'm so sorry I left that out. You're absolutely right to issue that correction.
SOLOMON: Foreign context.
BERMAN: Rahel Solomon, thank you very much.
And NEW DAY continues right now.
Ukraine's president making a direct plea to the world as Russia launches a new round of strikes overnight against Ukraine.
I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is addressing an emergency meeting of G7 leaders this hour, including President Biden. This virtual meeting comes on the heels of two large-scale airstrikes carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine -- a broad range of airstrikes across the span of the entire nation. At least 19 people are dead and dozens wounded across many cities.
Oksana Lucheva (PH) was among those killed on Monday. She was a doctor at a children's cancer hospital in Kyiv. She was on her way to work after dropping her 5-year-old son at kindergarten when a missile hit. It set her car on fire.
With the new overnight strikes, which Ukraine says came largely from two Russian aircraft -- again, you can see how many cities across the entire country have been hit.
KEILAR: And in a rare public appearance today, the top British intelligence officer, Sir Jeremy Fleming, says Russian forces are running out of weapons. He says they are exhausted and their losses are, quote, "staggering."
BERMAN: Our Frederik Pleitgen is live this morning in Kyiv. Fred, we are standing by to hear what the Ukrainian president says to the G7. What are you expecting?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John.
Well, one of the things that we're expecting is, first of all, President Zelenskyy has said that he's going to inform the G7 leaders about the airstrikes that have been taking place here on Ukrainian territory.
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