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New Day Saturday

Ex-Doorman Free From Contract Preventing Him To Speak About Trump's Alleged Affair With Housekeeper; Trump Organization CFO Granted Immunity In Cohen Investigation; Lane Weakens To Tropical Storm, But Still Poses Threat; Some Residents Lose Homes After Brush Fires Hit Maui; Pope Francis In Ireland, First Papal Visit In Nearly 40 Years; Catholic Church Sex Abuse Victims to Meet with Pope as He Visits Ireland; John McCain to Discontinue Treatment for Brain Cancer; Trump Axes Pompeo's North Korea Trip Over Denuclearization; Urban Meyer Issues Apology to Ex-Wife of Former Coach; Julius Thomas Quits NFL to Pursue PHD in Psychology; Cam Newton Survives a Devastating Neck-Break After Landing Awkwardly; French Open Bans Serena Williams 'Superhero' Cat Suit. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 25, 2018 - 06:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows everything about Donald in terms of the money trail by Allen Weisselberg.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows every single financial transaction?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald trusted him. He was almost a family member.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can say something bad about Donald Trump and you'll go down to two years or three years. It's called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a safe. A safe with secrets about the now President of the United States. There was a case where they paid a doorman at the Trump organization to silence a story that he wanted to tell about an alleged affair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of interesting information on a lot of important people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to turn to Senator John McCain and his decision to end his cancer treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is a fighter. He doesn't stop moving. He's like a shark. He can't stop moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point you say, look, the treatment's not working or the risk and toll that these treatments are taking on my body are greater than the benefits.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day Weekend" with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY WEEKEND: Well, good morning to you. The storm's brewing and gathering energy over the White House are continuing to gain some traction this weekend.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY WEEKEND: Yes. Some are calling it the worst week for President Trump thus far. It's been bad headline after bad headline and now, this morning, we're learning salacious details from the former doorman at Trump World Tower. He claims he has knowledge of a child President Trump fathered out of wedlock.

BLACKWELL: CNN has obtained a copy of a contract this doorman signed with American Media Incorporated, that's the parent company of "The National Enquirer." Now, that's the same company that allegedly paid off former playboy model Karen McDougal in order to keep her allegations of an affair with the President from being published.

PAUL: CNN's Ryan Nobles is at the White House right now. So the former doorman says he wasn't free to speak until now. What do we know, Ryan? And good morning.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor, from the White House. And perhaps the details behind this doorman's alleged knowledge of an affair between the President and an unnamed woman isn't as important about what it means for the ongoing problems the President faces with those former associates which he once had a tight relationship.

And according to this report from CNN, the doorman, Dino Sajudin, had a deal with "AMI", which is the parent company of "The National Enquirer," that they struck back in 2015. And that deal basically said that he was not allowed to tell his story about what he thinks he knows about this affair which may have led to a child born out of wedlock that the President would be the father of.

Now, he's remained quiet about this for some time, but has now said that he's been released from this agreement, which would have meant that if he spoke about what he knew about this alleged affair, he would be forced to pay up to $1 million.

Now, it's important to point out that this deal, which he received $30,000 for in this -- what he alleges in this story have not been independently verified by anyone. And it's also important to point out that "AMI" itself did not find the report to be credible.

But what this tells us is that the President is now facing a situation where people who he once relied on, people that he was tight with, in particular David Pecker, who is the head of "AMI" who has now struck an immunity deal with authorities, are starting to move away from the President. And if more of these stories continue to come out, it's going to have to be something that this White House has to deal with when they have a ton of other things that they are responsible for. Victor and Christi?

BLACKWELL: So, "AMI", the head of that company, Mr. Pecker, and also the CFO, Chief Financial Officer of the Trump Organization, Mr. Weisselberg, they both have now immunity in this investigation into Cohen. These are very close confidantes of the President's for a long time. The President, does he see this as a betrayal? How is the White House responding?

NOBLES: Well, the White House really isn't talking at all about these specific deals that have been struck by these people that were very close associates with President Trump, but it's hard to ignore the significance of it. You're talking about three men, Michael Cohen, David Pecker and Allen Weisselberg, who all understand the inner workings of the Trump Organization and could potentially have a lot of information that could be of need to Robert Mueller and the special counsel investigation.

But it's important to point out, Victor and Christi, we do not know the scope of these immunity agreements. They could have just been to be a part of this investigation into Michael Cohen and they're now complete and it could mean that it's not going to mean anything more for President Trump.

So at this point, the President and his legal team remaining mum, claiming that there isn't a whole lot that the President has to be worried about.

[06:05:00] But when you see these people this close to the President begin to flip, as the President himself described it, it's something that this White House is not going to want to -- want to deal with here over the next couple of weeks. Victor and Christi?

PAUL: President Trump has made it very clear that he values -- he values very much loyalty. Ryan Nobles, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

NOBLES: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. A lot to get to after this roller coaster week for the President. Joining me now is CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson and Daniel Lippman, a reporter with "Politico" and the co-author of "Politico's" Playbook. Gentlemen, welcome back.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.

DANIEL LIPPMAN, REPORTER, POLITICO: Thanks for having us.

BLACKWELL: All right. Joey, let me start with you and the question of why now? We just learned a couple of days ago that David Pecker, who's the head of "AMI" that owns "The National Enquirer," got this immunity granted as part of this investigation. And now this doorman has been released from this contract to be able to speak about it, at least. Who does this benefit and how?

JACKSON: Well, it certainly doesn't benefit the President. Who it benefits are the people and parties at issue. And let's be clear, we can't look at the doorman's story in a vacuum. The doorman's story on its face just speaks to, what we call in law, prior bad acts, right? It goes to the President's motive, his intent, his M.O., who he is. I think it lends further credence and credibility to the Stormy Daniels story, the Karen McDougal story, you know.

So, all those things I think add fuel to the fire in terms of the President and who he is, what he was about and the fact that he did have those other alleged affairs.

There's nothing in and of itself about paying a doorman to be quiet to -- that would be illegal, inappropriate or improper, but if you take the collective week in and of itself of the President and you look, it's just damning, right? You look at immunity deal for the money man at the Trump Organization, what he knows about taxes, about finances, about transactions. He can now speak.

And just to be clear, immunity is the biggest inducement, Victor, to spill and to tell all about who you know, what you know, when you know and why you know it. And then you look at the "AMI" chairman, Mr. Pecker, and he has immunity to speak to the issues of payoffs as it relates to doormen or Stormy Daniels or anyone else, or Karen McDougal. You look at the guilty verdict as it relates to Manafort. You look at Cohen's plea and implicating the President. And all this collectively spells that it's getting closer to Donald Trump, and certainly can mean that his presidency is in peril.

Final point, Victor. To this point, the republicans have turned the other way, looked the other way, have been mum and silent.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JACKSON: I just don't know under the pressure of all this, how long that can continue.

BLACKWELL: Daniel, let me come to you and specifically on this new reporting from CNN of this doorman has been released from this contract. How does the White House now respond to this? Because we remember the press secretary, Sarah Sanders, giving these full- throated denials and defenses of the President and the start of the Stormy Daniels reporting and the Karen McDougal reporting. And then just this week, the President comes out and says, yes, I knew about the payments later on and the money came from me.

So, the American people know that the President and the White House straight up lied to them. They will be looking at the White House with understandable skepticism.

LIPPMAN: Yes. I think if she's smart, Sarah Sanders will not touch this story. And I don't think the White House commented to CNN about this latest report and so they want to distance themselves from it. They don't want to hurt their credibility any more.

And, you know, people who talk to me in the White House, the mood is kind of grim and Trump -- the only thing that good happened down in the White House this week was there was a bunch of senior people's birthdays, like Larry Kudlow and Sarah Sanders. And so Trump kind of gathered around the team, wished everyone happy birthday and made some jokes, but kind of gallows humor there right now.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Joey, let me ask you. You brought up Allen Weisselberg and we talked about David Pecker. Both granted immunity in this investigation, the hush money investigation, related to the Cohen case. But does a prosecutor grant those two heavyweights in this saga, in this narrative, immunity just to go after Cohen?

JACKSON: No. Not at all. Let's be clear about something. Immunity, first of all, is so powerful because what happens is the prosecutors have to make a calculated decision, Victor, and that calculated decision is who do we want? And when they find out and they look at who they want, and generally, who they want is the top person on the chain. And so you might think that they're not looking about Cohen. He pled guilty. What do you need immunity as it relates to him? He stood before a judge and talked to his guilt. He's facing jail time. He's not looking at a pardon.

I think this is directly connected to Trump. That's who they want. And so immunity says, listen, no matter what you did in terms of your sentence -- you could have aided and abetted tax transactions, business transactions as it relates to Weisselberg -- no matter what you did, Mr. Pecker, as it relates to overlooking payments or knowing they were connected to the election, we don't care.

[06:10:03] What we care about is the information you can provide on that guy and I believe that that guy is the President of the United States. And so they have nothing to worry about as it relates to their criminal liability. All they have to do is tell the truth about what they know about the President and they are otherwise good to go.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JACKSON: This is damning as it relates to the White House and the nature of the imperiled presidency that Donald Trump currently has.

BLACKWELL: Daniel, any indication in the White House the President knew about this before it was reported, the Weisselberg reporting from the "Wall Street Journal"?

LIPPMAN: I don't think he knew about it, but he could certainly guess that they're trying to flip everyone close to him and so it's very concerning for Trump. This is a man that Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, said knew about every dime that left the building. And Weisselberg even worked for the President's father and so he's been in the orbit a long time. And Trump's sons still work for the Trump Organization. They still lead it so it kind of must be awkward in the office right now.

BLACKWELL: Yes. He knows the secrets. Daniel Lippman, Joey Jackson, thank you

JACKSON: Thank you, victor.

LIPPMAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, Hurricane Lane is a tropical storm this morning. Yes, it has weakened, but listen, look at what they're dealing with here. I mean, the rainfall is massive. There is still the threat of flash flooding and landslides there in Hawaii. BLACKWELL: And then, adding insult to injury, some people there in Maui have lost their homes from a brush fire.

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BLACKWELL: Hurricane Lane is now a tropical storm, but the biggest weather event to hit Hawaii in decades still poses a major threat to the island. Torrential rains and flash flooding are the main concerns. Also the storm's slow, slow pace. Several islands -- look at this. They're just being swamped here. More than 40 inches of rain have fallen in some areas. CNN's Nick Watt, he's on the ground there in Honolulu. What are you seeing and what are you hearing about how all of this rain is impacting the people there?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, that big island was the one that got hit the most. It bore the brunt of this storm. As you said, a 42-inch rain total in one location down there. This storm is the sixth wettest tropical storm ever to hit the United States. And as you mentioned, it's moving very slowly, and that has been the problem because the slower a storm is, the more it lingers over a place, the more rain it dumps on the place.

But that slow pace, the lack of power has also saved Honolulu and Oahu because the storm has lost power, which has allowed the trade winds now to push it westwards away from the islands.

As the mayor of Honolulu said, Honolulu dodged a bullet here, but there have been big problems, as we've just talked about. All that rain down on the big island and then three brush fires on another big island on Maui, and one of those was over 1,500 acres. We don't know what started those fires, but of course those winds whipped up the flames. Seven houses destroyed or damaged down there.

So, dodging a bullet, but there is still a lot more rain to come. I just looked at the weather forecast for Hilo. It says for the rest of today, 100 percent chance of rain. And that ground down there is so saturated that any rain that falls is just going to slide right off and flash flood. We've seen landslides. We've seen mudslides. We've seen roads closed. You know, we dodged a bullet, but this is not over quite yet.

BLACKWELL: So you've got the flooding, you've got the fires. Quickly there, Nick, where are people going? I mean, where is the refuge for people who are running from these flames and floods?

WATT: Well, most people have been told just to shelter in place, and here in Honolulu, that is what most people have done. Although there have been a few thousand people in shelters that have been set up on the various islands. I mean, there was a lot of preparation here for what could have been an absolutely devastating storm.

FEMA was here with hundreds of people, with a lot of supplies stockpiled, ready to make a huge rescue operation, if it was needed. But a lot of people have just sheltered in place. I mean, here in Honolulu, listen, there are 300,000 tourists on these islands right now and most of them have just sheltered in place in their hotels and they've ridden out this storm.

But here, as we say, dodging a bullet on this island, but it's not over on the big island yet. It is still raining there. There's a lot of water and that was always going to be the issue with this storm, just the volume of water that was falling from the sky and also the storm surges and the surf. But it's the rain.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WATT: It is just the rain that is causing problems and will continue to cause problems.

BLACKWELL: All right. Nick wWatt, thank you so much.

PAUL: So on the phone with us now from Honolulu, Coralie Matayoshi, the regional CEO of Hawaii's chapter of the American Red Cross. Thank you so much, Coralie, for being here. First and foremost, what are the most urgent needs right now that you know of?

CORALIE MATAYOSHI, REGIONAL CEO OF AMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII CHAPTER: Well, you know Hawaii is the most isolated population on the face of the earth so we needed to take it seriously all along. And because we live on an island with limited warehouse space and just in time of stocking up supplies in stores, we needed to ask residents to have a 14-day supply of food and water and medication in their disaster kit.

And so that's what we asked people to bring to the shelters and as of midnight last night, we had 1,500 people at the shelters. And then we had a surprise of the Maui brush fire, which gave us 300 more fire evacuees that we had to have in our evacuation centers, our 36 evacuation centers throughout the state, with a total of about 1,800 people in those shelters. And that doesn't even include the 35 people that we've been sheltering at for the Kilauea lava flow for 16 weeks.

[06:20:02] And we've had historical floods in April as well. So we're saturated, especially on the big island and Maui. I think that we did kind of dodge a bullet on Oahu, but there's still danger for the big island. There's road closures, there's power outages, and so they're just still hunkering down as well.

PAUL: So does everybody have what they need?Let me ask you that. Do you have enough resources to deal with what you're dealing with?

MATAYOSHI: Yes, we do. We were very, very prepared. This one was taken really seriously. We've had a lot of brushes with hurricanes and things before, but we've had a lot of assets being thrown our way with the federal government as well as our Red Cross Network. They brought tremendous national assets like satellite equipment and volunteers from all across the country came to help.

In fact, we have 200 local and national Red Cross volunteers on the ground and we were so prepared that we actually recruited 225 brand new local volunteers ...

PAUL: Wow.

MATAYOSHI: Just for the hurricane and these lava disasters.

PAUL: So Coralie ...

MATAYOSHI: So we were well prepared.

PAUL: Let me ask you real quickly before we let you go, we just heard there 100 percent chance of rain.

MATAYOSHI: Yes.

PAUL: What is, do you think at this point, the biggest threat to the people of Hawaii?

MATAYOSHI: It's going to be the sewers backing up and flooding and road closures and landslides. That's what the Hawaii, the big island of Hawaii is going to have to brace for.

PAUL: All righty. Coralie Matayoshi, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate you doing what you're doing there. Take good care.

MATAYOSHI: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, it is the first papal visit to Ireland in almost 40 years now. Pope Francis has arrived in Dublin, touching down just a few moments ago. How he plans to address the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.

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PAUL: Well, so glad to have you with us. Twenty-six minutes past the hour right now. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good Saturday to you.

PAUL: So just moments ago, Pope Francis addressed the latest sexual abuse allegations, this as he's beginning his second day or his two- day, I should say, visit in Ireland, because right now he's visiting the presidential palace in Dublin. And this is the first part visit -- the first papal visit, I should say, to Ireland in nearly four decades at this point.

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BLACKWELL: This trip comes at a very important time. The clerical sexual abuse survivors across the world are looking for answers from the Catholic Church. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have (ph) the Pope the other day in a strong letter. A lot of it is good, but unfortunately he still says we're working on finding a way to hold people accountable. We're decades on. You can't still be working on it.

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BLACKWELL: That's a strong summation of the frustration from some of the victims of this scandal. Joining us now from Dublin is CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. John, hello to you and what are we hearing, what are we expecting to hear from the Pope about this?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Morning, guys. Well, listen, I have been in Dublin all week covering the World Meeting of Families. That's a Vatican-sponsored gathering of Catholic families from all over the world, which is the official reason for Pope Francis' visit to Ireland.

I will tell you that the mood here is clearly that people are expecting Pope Francis to tackle the clerical sexual abuse scandals in Catholicism head on and they're looking for something more than simply apologies and reassurances. They have heard those things from popes and other church officials before.

They are looking for some concrete indication of what action Pope Francis intends to take, particularly on the issue of accountability, and accountability not just for the crime of child sexual abuse, but also for the cover-up of that crime by bishops and other senior officials.

And so I would say that if Pope Francis does not deliver that, the disappointment here is going to be deep and it's going to be real, Victor and Christi.

PAUL: You know, it's interesting because it was 1979 when Pope John Paul II made the last trip there and at that point, divorce, homosexual acts, and abortion were all illegal. Help us understand the atmosphere in which this pope is entering in Ireland there.

ALLEN: Well, I mean, Ireland, as you say, is a vastly different country than the one that welcomed John Paul II in 1979. You have seen a fairly rapid process of secularization here. Mass attendance rates are down for the Catholic Church. Vocations to the Catholic priesthood are down.

Nevertheless, the church does remain an enormously important social institution here. And you know, I mean, Pope Francis will draw warm and enthusiastic crowds. Tonight, in Croke Park here in Dublin ([ph]), he's going to celebrate a Festival of Families. You'll see some real enthusiasm there. Tomorrow, in Dublin's Phoenix Park, he will celebrate an open-air mass that is estimated to draw probably around 500,000 people.

[06:30:00]

But that said, clearly the elephant in the room on this trip are those sexual abuse scandals.

And of course, that would be true under any set of circumstances. Ireland has had arguably the deepest and most painful clerical abuse scandal anywhere in the world.

But if you add in the recent context, that blistering grand jury report from Pennsylvania, identifying more than 300 predator priests and more than 1,000 child victims over a 70-year span, the horrific revelations we have seen coming out of the nation of Chile, the scandals involving former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in the United States.

In that context, it is absolutely unavoidable that Pope Francis is going to have to engage this issue, Victor and Christi early and often.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CO-HOST, NEW DAY SATURDAY: And engage with some of the victims. The Vatican confirmed that the pope would have this private meeting with some of the victims. Do we know how many? How this is going to play out?

ALLEN: Well, the Vatican has not released any details on that, which they generally don't in the run-up to these meetings. Remember, I mean, Popes have met sexual abuse victims before. The first time was actually in the United States when Pope Benedict XVI was there in 2008.

Generally, it's a group of about six to eight, maybe 12 survivors. It will vary whether Pope Francis encounters them as a group or individually, sometimes both. The Vatican will not release any content from that meeting -- they don't even release still pictures or video, but the survivors are free themselves if they choose to, to discuss it with the media afterwards.

And we will have to wait to see whether that happens this time. We are expecting that is likely to happen sometime today, perhaps this evening here in Dublin, so we will have to see how that plays out.

CHRISTI PAUL, CO-HOST, NEW DAY SATURDAY: All right, John Allen, so good to have you here, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: This morning, the Pope will be taking questions, we'll have more of that in our 10:00 hour.

PAUL: Thanks, John. So, news this morning that Senator McCain is going to discontinue cancer treatment has been met with so many different emotions, grief and sadness.

Our next guest is in the Marine Corps and says Senator McCain made an unforgettable impact on his life. We're going to have that story for you next.

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BLACKWELL: Senator John McCain is a man known for his tireless service and sacrifice to and for his country. And news he's discontinuing cancer treatment was met with sadness from lawmakers in Washington and people really across the country.

The 81-year-old senator has been battling brain cancer for more than a year now, but as the senator wrote in his memoir, "The Restless Wave", his life has been quote, a "quite a ride". Joining me now is Lieutenant Colonel Scott Cooper, he was with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Colonel, first, let me start here with your reaction once we heard from the senator's family that he had decided to discontinue treatment. Does that correspond with what you know about this man?

SCOTT COOPER, FORMER MARINE: You know, he's one of the bravest men I think this country has ever produced. I remember when he spoke at my graduation in 1993 from the Naval Academy, when he was a little-known senator.

And so his courage, his bravery, his stamina, we thought John McCain could just go on forever, and it turns out he can't.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you talked about when he spoke at your graduation, he talked about his service, but there was also some humor there as well. Let's listen.

COOPER: Well, there certainly was some humor. He talked about how he was at the very bottom of the class and congratulated us that he had marched all the way to Baltimore and back 17 times marching off his demerits.

But I think what he also did was inspire us, he was a giant among us in the military, but especially those of us that had been to the Naval Academy and followed in his footsteps. He inspired us to an idea of America, that we were going to be engaged in the world, that we were going to be part of an important effort that was to preserve the liberal democratic international order that is something that we continue to do in the military.

How little did we know before that, what we'd be engaged in only a few years later.

BLACKWELL: We had a sound bite here, but I want to move on to the next one, control room, let's go to the most recent interview between Jake Tapper and the senator. And this is how he assessed his life and service. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, HOST, THE LEAD: My last question for you, and I hope I don't run this clip for another 50 years, but how do you want the American people to remember you?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: He served his country, and not always right, made a lot of mistakes, made a lot of errors, but served his country, and I hope we could add honorably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What's your take? COOPER: Oh, he certainly served his country honorably. Something

that's little known of his legacy is that after 9/11, John McCain spent every independence day visiting troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[06:40:00] I remember when he visited us in 2007 during the surge when things were not looking good, and he told us how proud he was of us, how important this was to what we were doing here, not just in what we were doing in fighting, but also in what this meant to the cause of America's role in the world.

Whether it was aid, whether it was diplomacy, whether it was some kind of development project that we were working on, that was what we were as Americans.

BLACKWELL: This is obviously a difficult time for the McCain family and all of those who know him well, and I thank you for taking your time. So again, thank you for your time and thank you for your service, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Cooper.

COOPER: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Well, President Trump says he is canceling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip to North Korea next week. So where does the U.S. go from here, and what does this mean? We'll talk about it.

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[06:45:00] PAUL: Well, President Trump has axed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to North Korea next week. He tweeted, quote, "it's because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula", unquote.

Now, the White House tweeted this picture of President Trump meeting with Secretary Pompeo and others on North Korea. Cnn's Paula Hancocks has the details.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, that trip for U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea is off for next week. The U.S. president saying there's simply not sufficient progress being made in steps towards denuclearization.

Now, from a South Korean point of view, there is disappointment here. The Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a phone call with the Secretary of State on Saturday morning, she said that it was regrettable that such a highly anticipated meeting was not going ahead.

And of course, it puts the South Koreans in a slightly more difficult situation as the South Korean President Moon Jae-in is going to Pyongyang next month, he will be meeting in another summit with Kim Jong-un. And certainly, what he wants to see is this dual-track approach that at the same time the North and South Koreans are getting closer, the U.S. and North Korea are getting closer as well. But interestingly, from the U.S. president, so we also saw somewhat of

a good cop, bad cop within the same tweet, at the same time as saying not enough progress is being made. He also said he sent his warmest regards and respects to Kim Jong-un and said that he hopes to see him soon.

But it's not really a surprise that the U.S. president is now acknowledging that there is very little progress being made towards denuclearization. It's what we have heard all along from many experts, most notably and most recently from the IAEA; the nuclear watchdog saying that there are some great concerns about the activities going on at some of the nuclear sites. Christi?

PAUL: Paula, thank you so much. Colonel Cedric Leighton is with us now, CNN military analyst. Colonel Leighton, thank you so much for being here. First and foremost, was canceling this the right thing to do?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Probably Christi, in this particular case, what you're looking at is a situation where the IAEA report is absolutely right. The North Koreans are continuing to do the kinds of things that we are worried about.

They are producing nuclear weapons, they're looking at ways in which they can increase the yield of those nuclear weapons, they're deploying those potentially in other parts of the country.

And that's really something that does not seem to be within the spirit of the agreement that President Trump reached in Singapore. The issue though is when you look at the statement from Singapore that President Trump and Kim Jong-un signed, it's vague enough that everything that the North Koreans have done so far is basically within the parameters of what was -- what was signed there.

PAUL: So, with that said, what would be an effective strategy for the U.S. dealing with North Korea moving forward?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think one of the key things would be consistency of policy. It's very important for the U.S. and South Korea to be on the same page when it comes to North Korea. And we're seeing that there is quite a disconnect there between what President Moon Jae-in of South Korea is doing and what President Trump is doing.

That needs to be synergized in a much better, much more coherent fashion than it's currently -- than it's currently been done.

PAUL: I want --

LEIGHTON: And --

PAUL: I wanted to ask you about South Korea actually, because we understand that the South Korean Foreign Ministry did speak with Secretary Pompeo, they called the cancellation, quote, "regrettable", and said they continue to maintain momentum for dialogue between North Korea and the U.S.

How do you think -- is there a space for South Korea to make some headway for the U.S. here?

LEIGHTON: I think there is some space. The -- you know, when the South Koreans use a word like regrettable, that means they're very angry, they're very hurt by this particular situation because it throws their policy of opening up to North Korea into question.

The fact that they have, you know, basically warned the United States that they need to move forward with this also puts pressure on the United States to come up with a very coherent plan that allows that to happen.

So I think, you know, you put those synergies together, South Korea and the United States in the ideal world, that could provide a much better way to leverage against North Korea when it comes to negotiations.

The other thing, of course, is the sanctions that need to be imposed, need to continue to be leveraged against North Korea. The fact that China and Russia are using those sanctions now in a much looser way than they have in the past, that creates a significant issue and makes the whole containment of North Korea a much more questionable endeavor than was previously the case.

PAUL: Yes, a lot of people have talked about the necessity for China to be part of this, but based on what you just said and based on what we know about possibility of a trade war between the U.S. and China, where do they fall into play here, if at all?

[06:50:00] LEIGHTON: Well, the Chinese have significant influence over North Korea. And it's very interesting, you know, when you look at the pictures that came from Kim Jong-un's several visits to China, in several of the pictures, videos that you see, you see Kim Jong-un with a notepad.

He is taking notes while the professor, the Chinese leader, President Xi is actually dictating some of the things to Kim Jong-un. So it's kind of a student-teacher relationship between the two of them, not that North Korea doesn't do independent things, and sometimes they do anger the Chinese.

But the key thing here is that the Chinese really are the only source of influence from the outside world with a little bit from Russia. They basically control a lot of what North Korea does from a foreign policy perspective, and that is something that we need to work much more carefully with the Chinese, instead of engaging in direct trade wars with them.

We have to be very careful in how we do that if we want them to help us with North Korea.

PAUL: All right, Colonel Cedric Leighton, so grateful to have your perspective as always, thank you for being here.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Christi, always a pleasure.

PAUL: Thank you. LEIGHTON: Urban Meyer is apologizing again -- Andy Scholes, what's he

saying?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Victor, Meyer coming under fire for the way he handled Wednesday's press conference. Coming up, we'll tell you who he's saying sorry to now.

PAUL: And coming up this Labor Day, a Cnn special event, the television premiere of "RBG", we're going to take a close look at the life of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we examine how the experience of all American women has dramatically changed, and today we're looking specifically at education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Education for women has been revolutionized since the era when RBG's mother, Celia was in school. Though Celia was an excellent student, her family sent only her brother to college. Home Ec class was there for girls when RBG was growing up.

When women did attend college, the common expectation was that they'd meet their husbands there. RBG did meet Martin Ginsburg, but she also graduated with honors. Many elite colleges didn't even accept women until after the 1960s.

Title nine changed everything. The act prohibited gender discrimination in federally supported education. The challenge has been to fulfill the law's promise.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: To my mother, Celia Amster Bader, I pray that I may be all that she would have been, had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch "RBG" on Monday, September 3rd at 9:00 p.m. on Cnn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URBAN MEYER, COACH, OHIO STATE BUCKEYES: Well, I have a message for everybody involved in this, I'm sorry that we're in this situation, and I'm just sorry we're in this situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer there earlier this week. He's apologizing again for the way that he's handled this domestic violence allegation against his former assistant coach.

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes is here with this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", trying to get the apology right, and he had to apologize for that. SCHOLES: It seems that it's the third time he's tried to get it

right, guys. You know, remember, he was slammed after that Wednesday press conference in the media for the way he handled that press conference where the school announced that he was going to be suspended for the first three game of the season.

For many, Meyer didn't seem apologetic and he never specifically apologized to Courtney Smith; the wife of Meyer's former assistant coach Zach Smith who was accused of domestic violence. Well, Meyer trying to make up for that mistake, apologizing in a statement posted on Twitter last night, saying in part, "my words and demeanor on Wednesday did not show how seriously I take relationship violence. I sincerely apologize. I understand my lack of more action in the situation has raised concerns about this commitment.

Let me say here and now what I should have said on Wednesday, I sincerely apologize to Courtney Smith and her children for what they have gone through."

Buckeyes will open their season without Meyer a week from today. College football season actually kicks off later on tonight. All right, pro bowl tight end Julius Thomas says he's retiring from football to pursue a PHD in psychology, specifically to study degenerative brain disease CTE.

Now, the 30-year-old telling "The Player's Tribune", he will focus his doctorate on investigating the effects of contact sports on brain trauma and neurobehavioral performance. Now, Thomas will also participate in research to identify early warning signs of brain disease. Thomas played seven seasons in the NFL, he was cut by the Dolphins back in March.

All right, pre-season action last night, Panthers hosting the Patriots, Cam Newton gave the Carolina fans a heart attack on this play. Watch him as he lands on his head, not what you want to see happen to your franchise quarterback, especially in the pre-season.

Cam was checked for a concussion, he ended up with just a black eye. Now, the Panthers let out a sigh of relief with that news. Carolina would end up winning the game 25 to 14.

All right, we won't be seeing Serena wearing her skin-tight cat suit at the French Open next year. In an interview with "Tennis Magazine, the French Tennis Federation president said outfits in the tournament have gone too far and there will be a new dress code.

Now, he also said of Serena's cat suit, quote, "it will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place." Now, Serena had said she felt like a superhero when wearing the outfit, it also helped her with blood clots which she struggled with after her pregnancy.

Serena is going to start playing the U.S. Open on Monday, but guys, you know, this news is not received well by many, because you know, a lot of fans of that cat suit Serena wore, and if it helps her health- wise, why would you ban it?

And she's the number one thing women's tennis has had ever. Why would you ever do something like this?

PAUL: Yes --

BLACKWELL: So you can't wear a cat suit, but you can wear a 3-inch skirt?

SCHOLES: Right, OK --

PAUL: And with that, Andy Scholes.

BLACKWELL: Thank you very much --

SCHOLES: Have a good weekend --

PAUL: Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He knows everything about --