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New Day Sunday

North Korea Says It Has Conducted A "Significant" Test At Missile Site; NYT: Gunman Watched Videos Of Mass Shootings The Night Before The Attack; Democrats Plan To Conduct Monday's Hearing "Like A Trial;" Feud Between Buttigieg And Warren Flares Up Over Fundraising; North Korea Says It Has Conducted A "Significant" Test At Missile Site; Extreme Cold Takes Aim At Central, Eastern U.S. This Week. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired December 08, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:26]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: North Korea, where state media reporting that a very important test took place at the country's Sohae satellite launching ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the most significant test that we have seen this year. We have seen now 14 weapons test for North Korea since late February when the summit talks in Hanoi collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We continue to track Friday's deadly shooting at a U.S. naval base.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the big questions is what is the motivation of this gunman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps this attacker tweeted out some of his thinking or intentions in the minutes before the attack.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Speaker Pelosi charged us of writing articles of impeachment. We are in the process of exploring every possible dimension.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The impeachment thing is a total hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. Good to be with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker, in for Christi Paul.

The top stories this morning: North Korea claims it has carried out a significant test at a missile

set right after their ambassador accused the U.S. of time wasting and took denuclearization off the table.

BLACKWELL: There are also disturbing claims about the alleged shooter at a naval base in Pensacola. "The New York Times" says gunman watched videos of mass shootings the night before the attack.

WALKER: And building their case for impeaching the president. Democrats say they plan to conduct tomorrow's hearing like a mock trial.

And let's get right to that breaking news on the Korean peninsula.

BLACKWELL: We will have Will Ripley there in Hong Kong. Kristen Holmes is at the White House. We also have our CNN Military Analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling standing by.

Let's start with Will.

You spent a significant amount of time covering North Korea from the inside. What are you hearing about this test?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems as if we're headed down a very dangerous road once again for the North Korean peninsula. It is the latest sign frankly that diplomacy between President Trump and Kim Jong-un has been essentially failure, despite all the photo-ops and all of the warm and fuzzies that have been exchanged between the two of them, things have taken a turn now back towards the fire and fury days of 2017.

A couple of days ago, we saw the satellite images from North Korean's known missile test site at the Sohae satellite launching ground. They have a missile engine test stand and looking at satellite images told there is activity at that missile engine test stand that Kim, by the way, had promised President Trump he would dismantle after one of their meetings. But, of course, that didn't happen. It was dismantled but after the summit talks in late February and Hanoi fell apart, there was activity revived at that location.

And while we didn't see a launch from there at that time, what we did see are now 13 shorter range tests that President Trump brushed off at not a big deal, not a threat to the mainland U.S. But what we have seen over the weekend what analysts believe is likely an engine test, possible the kind of engine that would power a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, well, this takes things to a whole new level because the engine test, a successful completion of it, could be the precursor to a far more provocative test of an ICBM that President Trump has said repeatedly he wouldn't allow North Korea to possess.

If this engine is a solid fuel engine, which solid fuel is very different from liquid fuel, liquid fuel, North Korea has to roll out the rocket, it sets at a launch pad, sometimes for days, giving the U.S. advance warning. But solid fuel is something where they can hide the missile in a bunker, or a cave, roll it out and launch it without almost no notice. Is this the Christmas give that Kim Jong-un has cryptically promised as his end of year diplomatic deadline loom?

Remember, he said if there wasn't a movement or breakthrough the end of the year, he was going to do things his own way, he was going to take things in a different direction and we have seen this escalation starting in November 28th, those projectiles fired from a missile launcher and then the threat of that Christmas gift, the revival of these insults back and forth, North Korea calling the president a dotard, which means senile or lunatic after President Trump described Kim Jong-un once again as rocket man comment.

And then this weekend, the North Korean ambassador is saying that denuclearization is now off the table, followed hours later by this, what North Korea calls significant test at their missile site. It is unlikely from view that this engine test is the Christmas gift that North Korea has been promising, probably more likely the stocking stuffer. Will North Korea take things that far? I think it depends on President Trump's response in the coming hours.

[07:05:01]

But Kim Jong-un has been hitting that he's on the verge of making a major decision, possibly a major policy shift. All of North Korea's state media has been focusing on Kim, encouraging North Koreans to be self-reliant, to be immune from the kinds of sanctions that they have been trying desperately to get lifted by the United States.

And it's that issue, sanctions that has really ground everything to a halt that has resulted in months and months of diplomatic, basically, diplomacy dead in the water and no progress being made between the North Korea and U.S. and now a dangerous turn, in a direction, a dangerous direction for the Korean Peninsula as the North Koreans try to put pressure on President Trump to get in a deal that they said they want and haven't gone.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the North Koreans say that denuclearization is off the table. There was never a consensus of what the definition that was, of denuclearization, for every party at the table.

Will Ripley there for us in Hong Kong.

Let's now go to the White House and bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes there for reaction.

What is the president's team saying this weekend?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor.

Well, we have not heard yet from this -- from the White House on this very important test. We did talk to the president yesterday as he was heading out to Florida asking about the increased tensions we have seen over the last week. Of course, you just heard Will say that North Korea said that the talks were just foolish tricks, that they were all about U.S. politics, hinting there at President Trump's re- election campaign in 2020.

Here is what president had to say about that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un. I think we both want to keep it that way. He knows I have an election coming up and I don't think he wants to interfere with that but we have to see. The relationship is very good but, you know, there is certain hostility. There's no question about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: OK. So, the relationship is very good but there is a certain hostility. I do not know of a better way to describe what seen of a relationship between these two leaders over the last three years. Will alluded that that they're talking about those tensions, that name-calling, then a shift.

You see letters and you hear Kim Jong-un praising President Trump, calling him "Your Excellency". President Trump talking about these beautiful letters that he's writing back and forth with the dictator, at one point saying the two of them have fallen in love. Meetings, talks beginning, talks ending, promises made, promises broken.

This has been a cycle we have continued to see here. Now, White House officials have said this unique relationship between the two leaders would yield results but, of course, we have yet to see any of those results and, right now, it seems as though all of this is really falling apart.

I do want to note one important thing here. North Korea talking about how these talks have something to do with the 2020 election. They are not far off. President Trump, and his administration would really like a policy win and, of course, some kind of deal struck with North Korea would that as they head into this campaign cycle.

WALKER: All right. Kristen Holmes, I appreciate your reporting. Thank you.

Joining us to break it down for us is CNN |Military Analyst and Retired Lieutenant General, Mark Hertling.

Lieutenant General, great to see. Thanks for being with us.

Yes. I mean, let's talk about I guess the succession of events we have seen in the recent months. I mean, there have been three face- to-face meetings between Kim Jong-un, unprecedented I should say, between Kim Jong-un and President Trump. And even at the beginning of the year, there was optimism on both sides there might be some kind of diplomatic solution to this crisis and now as Kristen Holmes is saying, things seem to be falling apart.

What is your take what is happening now and especially from the White House point of view? Does it seem North Korea is a priority even with the things happening with the impeachment proceedings?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They are not a priority, Amara. It's good to see you again this morning. I looked in my records today and said, when was the first time I talked to Amara and Victor Blackwell about North Korea saying I was skeptical?

And that first time was in for those of us with short memories, that was in June of 2018 when the president first had his very first summit with Kim Jong-un and many of us who watched this part of the world said this was not going to work because the Kim regime relies on their missile systems and as part of their regime dynamics. It's the strength of who they are. They're not going to give it up because they realize if they do, they're going to lose their capability to run the regime.

So, this was, truthfully, something that many skeptics saw as a misdirection from the beginning. It doesn't matter how many love letters were passed. This was something that requires good, hard diplomacy with working out the details between the two sides that never occurred. And my take it, it's going to probably occur less today than it did a year and a half ago because the president just doesn't have time with all of the things going on on in his administration.

BLACKWELL: Yes, relinquishing those nuclear weapons or the nuclear program would be an existential threat to the Kim regime.

[07:10:01]

That was what most experts said walk again.

But you'll remember the acronym that we heard from Heather Nauert, who was a spokesperson at the time, and then Secretary Pompeo. CVID, complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization. The ambassador takes it off the table.

Is there a potential now for a half measure to get at least the conversation going again, considering the priority the administration has placed on denuclearization only from the start?

HERTLING: Well, one of the things that is going to happen, Victor, is the North Korean regime is now used to dealing exclusively with the president and we have seen multiple instances of this where State Department officials, even Pompeo, have gone over there and North Koreans saying we don't want to deal with these team and only want to deal with Trump because they gain credibility I being on the world stage. If it is not President Trump, himself attending a summit, talking with Kim, doing more than writing love letters, I think you're going to be seeing very little movement on the part of the North Koreans.

That is what again the experts have said is not a good idea to have the president be the first one and only one connecting with Kim. It has to be work at a lower level. That is now off the table because Kim has seen the promise land and that promise land is dealing with the president to get credibilities, to get sanction released, to get the exercises, the U.S. and South Korean exercises stopped on the peninsula. All of those have occurred and tough take would you those back. WALKER: It's really concerning there when you hear Kim Jong-un is the

verge of a policy shift and frustrated after these meetings. He has not gotten the full sanction relief he has been demanding. We will leave it there.

General Mark Hertling, appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

HERTLING: Always a pleasure. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, the search for answers and the motive in that deadly attack on naval air station in Florida. What the suspect was allegedly showing off at a dinner party the night before the shooting.

WALKER: Plus, Democrats plan to conduct tomorrow's impeachment hearing like a trial. Will House investigators make their case for impeaching the president?

BLACKWELL: And some cold, cold weather is headed for a lot of the central and Eastern Part of the United States. We'll take a look at just how low the temperatures will go this week.

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[07:15:59]

WALKER: Disturbing new information about the gunman behind Friday's attack on a navy base in Pensacola. "The New York Times" says Mohammed al-Shamrani watched mass shooting videos at a dinner party the night before the shooting.

BLACKWELL: Meantime, the three sailors who died are being remembered for running toward the danger and saving lives. The Navy identified the aviation students as 23-year-old Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson from Alabama, 19-year-old Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham from Florida, and 21-year-old apprentice Cameron Scott Walters from Georgia. We do not have a picture of him.

WALKER: Let's go first to CNN's Natasha Chen in Pensacola with more on the investigation.

And we are getting bits and pieces about the suspect, although we should be clear, the FBI is not categorizing this as terrorism.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Amara. The FBI is careful not to use that word, although we understand they are deliberating whether to say this is terror-related. And you are mentioning some of these details that are very disturbing details coming out about the gunman. "The New York Times" report that he was apparently having a dinner party watching mass shooting videos the night before this incident.

And, also, we are hearing from a report by the SITE intelligence group, that's a nongovernmental organization. SITE stands for Search for International Terrorists Entities, their report talks about his social media presence. They say that he quoted Osama bin Laden in a will to Twitter, that he espoused anti-American views and expressed hatred toward Americans for what he perceived to be a pro-Israeli stance.

Now, these are bits and pieces we are starting to learn about him. One of our producers spoke to some members of the Muslim community here in Pensacola yesterday to see if anyone had known him or seen him worship at their mosques. And what he found was that there was only maybe one person who had run into al-Shamrani outside of Walmart but that conversation was not very extended.

Here is the Islamic center of northwest Florida talking about the Pensacola Muslim community and their reaction to this whole thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALMA ASHMAWI, ISLAMIC CENTER FOR NORTHWEST, FL COMMUNITY ORGANIZER & SPOKESPERSON: I have yet to meet a radical person in Pensacola. It's a very rare occurrence anywhere, but here people know each other, almost everybody knows each other because it is still a small town and probably being on the base, he spends most of his time there. So I have not met anyone that knows him or have met him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Yes. So, we want to be clear as well as that he was vetted when he came into the United States for this training. His background was also looked into after the shooting happened and, so far, there have been no links to known or suspected terrorists. So that is where some of the difficulty is here, figuring out whether he has links to terrorism groups. So far, there is no indication of that.

Amara and Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen for us there in Pensacola, thank you.

WALKER: As we learn more about the three sailors who lost their lives, the details are heartbreaking.

The family of Ensign Joshua Watson is remembering the 23-year-old as a hero. His parents say he was recently accepted to flight school and arrived at the base in Pensacola two weeks ago to continue his training to become a pilot. They say he loved being in the military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA WATSON, JOSHUA'S MOTHER: He was so excited to do it. All he ever wanted to do. He called and talked to us that night before and told us he had -- he told us he loved us. He wasn't exactly excited about standing watch overnight but he knew it was part of his job.

BENJAMIN WATSON, JOSHUA'S FATHER: He was chasing his dream to serve his country and be a pilot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:20:05]

WALKER: Airman Mohammed Haitham is remembered as an exceptional kid. His father said he was kind, fun to be around, and was an all-star athlete who he thought would play professionally until he told his parents he wanted to join the Navy. Airman Haitham was 19 years old.

BLACKWELL: The Pensacola shooting is one of two that happened at military installations last week. Attendees at the 78th annual Pearl Harbor remembrance day took a moment to remember the victims of the Pensacola shooting and the two victims of the Wednesday's shooting at the Pearl Harbor navy shipyard.

One of the survivors of that shooting released a statement from his hospital bed thanking first responders and medical staff and all others for supporting. Roger Nakamine also sent his condolences to the families of the two who were killed.

Senator Cory Booker, he's seeing a surge in support as he fights to stay in the 2020 race. Coming up, the grassroots support he is seeing and what it could mean going forward.

WALKER: House Democrats are gearing up for tomorrow's key impeachment hearings. Still ahead, what they've been doing behind closed doors.

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WALKER: Another day of prep for Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. They are holding mock hearings once again today as they get ready for tomorrow's key impeachment hearing.

[07:25:02]

BLACKWELL: We have learned that it will operate like a trial. House investigators will give opening statements, lay out their case and give evidence against president Trump.

WALKER: We could get the articles of impeachment this week. Democrats say they are still deciding what they will contain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Speaker Pelosi has charged with us writing articles of impeachment. We are in the process of exploring every possible dimension of that process and that's pretty much what I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The issue is whether the allegations of obstruction of justice that were detailed in the Mueller report will be included.

In the meantime, president says this is part of a three-year witch hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know this, that the impeachment thing is a total hoax. The numbers have totally swung our way. They don't want to see impeachment, especially in the swing states, they have swung our way. I've never seen a swing like this, because people realize it's a total hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: A recent CNN poll disputes those claims. It shows that support for impeachment has remained steady at 50 percent the past two months.

I'm joined now by Daniel Strauss, politics reporter for "Politico".

Good morning, Daniel. Thanks for being here.

DANIEL STRAUSS, POLITICS REPORTER, POLITICO: Hi.

WALKER: So, I mean, give us a preview of tomorrow. We are hearing that House Judiciary Democrats behind closed doors for much of the weekend, holding these mock hearings, preparing for it. Are we going to see or hear any new evidence, or hear new information that perhaps might move the needle for independence?

STRAUSS: I mean, we will have to find out tomorrow. Most of these behind-the-door proceedings and preparations have been pretty well kept under lock and key. But what we do know about this week is that there is going to be this avid discussion about moving forward with impeachment.

We know that there are -- there is this report right now basically giving House Democrats a road map to define their path for impeaching the president, sort of defining the terms they plan to use and the rational behind it. Beyond that, also, we know that there is going to be -- we know that House Democrats have the numbers for impeachment. We know that there hasn't really been much breaking of the ranks among the Democratic Caucus on this.

WALKER: Yes, I was kind of just skimming through this report that you refer to that the House Judiciary Committee, the Democrats drafted over the weekend, which basically outlines the constitutional grounds for impeachment.

What is the significance of this report? Are the Democrats hoping that this will serve as a justification for the impeachment vote?

STRAUSS: Yes. That's exactly it. This is basically a set of rules -- or a set of definitions. You know, so everybody can stay on the same page literally and figuratively about how they are going about this and what the parameters are for this.

When you have a big group of people, a big caucus like the House Democratic majority, you sort of need that as a lodestar for all of the members.

WALKER: So while all of this was happening, you had President Trump, yesterday, talking to reporters at the White House and, you know, he distanced himself a bit from Giuliani, at least the trip. But he did hype it up -- his trip to Ukraine and said, look, he wants or he thinks that Giuliani will testify to Congress about his, quote/unquote, findings. Here is what president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Rudy, as you know, has been one of the great crime fighters in the last 50 years. He did get back from Europe just recently. And no -- he does not told me what he has found, but I think he wants to go to Congress and say -- and also to the attorney general and the Department of Justice, I hear he has found plenty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: He hears that Giuliani has found plenty. Let us stress that there is no evidence of any crime being committed by either Joe Biden or his son Hunter.

But are these findings going to see the light of day or a part of the president's defense in the Senate, Daniel?

STRAUSS: I mean, your guess is as good as mine here. I assume, I suspect that Giuliani will bring something for it, partially because as the president's comments just suggested, he wants to have some sort of counter, some sort of ancillary to Democrats findings in this report. And I think, from what he is referring in this clip, that is what he is trying to say Giuliani will present.

WALKER: How crucial will the next few months be? I bring that up because our CNN's Harry Enten wrote a pretty interesting piece on CNN.com explaining why the next 100 days are critical for President Trump when it comes to winning re-election.

[07:30:02]

There is a headline there. And if his approval ratings remain low through March because it's hovering over that 40 percent mark.

Historically speaking, that could mean a loss. Do you agree with that assessment?

STRAUSS: Yes. Harry is actually a friend of mine. So --

WALKER: You have to then.

STRAUSS: But, yes, look, I mean, this is -- the new cycle and really the memory of the average voter only really kicks into gear about a hundred days out. And so, even though President Trump's approval ratings are low, we are looking at a fairly strong economy, job numbers especially this month were pretty good.

At the same time, there is a strong sense of -- a strong urge for Democrats to remove this guy from office, one way or another. There is a large amount of energy. I haven't really seen this level of this unanimity among Democrats in an election in the past few cycles I've covered this.

And so, for the president, he wants to be able to put some wins on the board, he wants to be able to say this impeachment trial was essentially just a political move meant to hurt his re-election prospects and, at the same time, really highlight accomplishments. So far, nothing that the president has done has buoyed him among -- above 50 percent in major approval polls. And so, in the next 50 days, he is going to need something to carry him to re-election, 100 days.

WALKER: All right. Daniel Strauss, appreciate the conversation. Thank you.

STRAUSS: Thanks very much.

WALKER: And later this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler joins Jake Tapper, along with Congressman Mark Meadows. That is at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: Well, Pete Buttigieg's movement up the ranks of these polls, it's bringing increased scrutiny, as expected. Coming up, the questions he's now facing over fundraising.

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[07:35:37]

BLACKWELL: Senator Cory Booker's campaign is seeing a surge of support after weeks of struggling. His campaign saw a swell of donations, he says, after he called out a lack of diversity in the 2020 Democratic field. Now, according to his campaign, the New Jersey Democrat raised $1 million between Tuesday when Senator Kamala Harris dropped out of the race and Friday. But so far, only six candidates, all of them white, have qualified for the next Democratic debate on December 19th.

Let's bring in now, Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic strategist, and member of the Democratic National Committee.

Robert, welcome back to the show. It's been a while.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thank you. Good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, good to have you.

So, let's start here. You're a member of the DNC.

ZIMMERMAN: Sure.

BLACKWELL: You started with the most diverse field of candidates in the history of the process and now you've got as of this moment, deadline to qualify is Friday, six white candidates on the debate stage.

What's your reaction to that?

ZIMMERMAN: Look, diversity has got to be an overarching theme and goal of the Democratic Party on every level. You know, your guess yesterday, Steven Phillips, leading Democracy in

Color, made a very important point when he said that candidates like Stacey Abrams and Ben Jealous and Andrew Gillum became Democratic nominees for governor only by taking on the party establishment. And so, the Democratic establishment has to do more in terms of investing in young American-African, Hispanic, LGBTQ candidates -- candidates of adversity and building them up and elevating them in the process.

I think that is really most critical. I mean, to put things in perspective, I mean, the Republican Party is about as diverse as Mar- a-Lago. So, I think Democrats could be proud of the progress they made. But there's a lot of things we have to do in terms of developing young talent.

On the presidential stage, I mean, you're seeing a result of frankly rules that have been established to sort of narrow the field. Having a minimum standard of polling, minimum standard of fund-raising and regrettably, you got more billionaires on the stage than people of color and that worries me greatly.

BLACKWELL: Yes, talking about the bullpen you pulled these candidates there. The two black members of Senate, they both ran for office and there is not a single black governor in the country currently.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I'm glad you brought up Steve Phillips --

ZIMMERMAN: Terrific individual.

ZIMMERMAN: -- because something he said about 2016 and Hillary Clinton's selection of Tim Kaine as a running mate, he called it, and I kept this note just in case it came up, he called it an egregious political miscalculation and personal insult to the people of color across the country. Specifically because black voters in 2016 gave Hillary Clinton a significant edge over Bernie Sanders but this cycle he is doing pretty well with nonwhite voters.

Can you nominate or can the party put forward an all-white ticket in 2020 and excite the voters who need to be excited to get a Democrat elected?

ZIMMERAN: Look, I think it's essential that our ticket be a diverse ticket and we have diversity represented in our ticket. And that can be in a number of different ways. The woman candidate for vice president, an African-American candidate or Hispanic or a gay candidate running for vice president.

I think clearly when it comes out to reaching for people of color it has to be a major focus of the Democratic Party, because let's face it, Democratic Party success has been built on the strength of support from African-American voters, especially African-American women. So, it has to be respected and has to be acknowledged.

I don't agree with Steve that Hillary Clinton was insulting people of color with this selection of Tim Kaine. I think she devoted her career to standing up for diversity, standing for people of color in particular, and so, I think that should be acknowledged.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about some specifics here. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren going after South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg specifically on fund-raising, calling on him to release the names of his bundlers and to open up these fund-raisers to the media, some of the closed-door fund-raisers.

She has taken a different path, only going on with or prioritizing small donors. What is the consequence for the way that traditionally, at least in recent cycles, candidates have run with bundlers and closed-door house parties with high ticket supporters? Is there a significant, do you expect, consequence for candidates who run that way?

ZIMMERMAN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, let's be realistic about this. As Barack Obama learned in 2008 and Mitt Romney learned in 2012, there's no such thing as off-the-record fund-raisers because especially in our world of mobile phones and recordings devices, everything is on the record.

[07:40:06]

So, I'm disappointed that Mayor Pete Buttigieg does not have pool reporters covered his fundraisers the way in fact Joe Biden does. I think that's essentially for every candidate to do it. Likewise, let's also be realistic, Hillary Clinton released her list of bundlers. Barack Obama put out his list of bundlers.

And for your viewers, bundlers are individuals who collect donations that could be small dollars and donations up to $2,800. We're not talking millionaires and billionaires. We're talking people who raised in the thousandaires I guess you can call it. So, to put in perspective, but still, that's very significant money and those who raise, it should be publicly acknowledged.

But I must point out I think when Elizabeth Warren attacks Mayor Buttigieg for not breaking his nondisclosure green light with McKinsey, it's a cheap shot, and I think the voters will see through attacks like that that really aren't valid, versus more substantive issues like, for example, having pool reporters for fund-raisers or for Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden releasing their health records, which they've been saying they would do.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. And they said they would do that before any votes are cast in Iowa, what, 60 days or some, give or take, until that happens.

Robert Zimmerman --

ZIMMERMAN: What is taking so long?

BLACKWELL: We have been talking about this for more than a year now, let's do it.

ZIMMERMNAN: Right.

BLACKWELL: Robert Zimmerman, always good to have you on. Thanks for being with us.

ZIMMERMAN: Great to be with you.

WALKER: North Korea said their latest test will change the strategic position of the country. How will that impact the relationship between president Trump and Kim Jong-un? We will discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:45]

WALKER: Breaking overnight: North Korea claims it conducted a significant test at a missile site that will, in their words, change the strategic position of North Korea in the near future. It's not immediately clear what, if anything, was actually tested.

Moments ago, the White House confirmed it had seen reports of North Korea tests and they say they are coordinating closely with allies and partners.

Joining us now is CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger with more.

Good morning, David. Thanks for being with us.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you, Amara.

WALKER: Yes. I guess, first of all, your reaction to this apparent test at a satellite launch facility. Clearly, right now, the U.S. president, President Trump, is really distracted, especially with the impeachment going on.

Has North Korea been a priority to President Trump and are you surprised at all that looks like Kim Jong-un is acting out saying, hey, I'm here?

SANGER: Well, I think actually he is doing more than that. He set a deadline for the ends of the year for there to be significant progress in changing the nature of the relationship. Remember, we are 18 months out now since the first Singapore summit where the president met Kim Jong-un, the first time an American president ever met a North Korean leader.

So, he has been doing slowly, escalating doing tests. I suspect, given the site for this one, that this was a -- what is called a static engine test. They probably tested a new engine just on a stand. We know there wasn't a flight. We haven't seen that.

What's really interesting is they did it at a site that the president, during one of his news conferences after the Singapore summit, said he had been told was going to be closed. It didn't look terribly closed yesterday.

WALKER: Right. SANGER: What is going on here is that the North Koreans are escalating and post-January 1st, I suspect may be back to the kind of testing they were doing before because they are calling what the president doing is just time wasting.

WALKER: So, David, you see this as a precursor to something bigger, a bigger test?

SANGER: I suspect so. Most of the people I talk to in U.S. intelligence believe after the new year, you'll see one of these high- arc ICBM tests just to remind the president that they are still working on technology that can reach the United States.

WALKER: I want to pivot to the Pensacola naval air base shooting. I know you've been with the president. You've been traveling with him.

And, you know, there is a lot been made about the U.S./Saudi relationship. President Trump did have quite a measured response to it. We should mention, I mean, this is a very complicated relationship, there has been a lot of criticism, at least from U.S. lawmakers, against Saudi Arabia when it came to the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the war in Yemen, weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, but not so much from Trump.

Do you expect him -- do you expect the relationship to get, I guess, more tense, the more we find out about the shooter in Pensacola?

SANGER: You know, I was struck by the fact that the president's first reaction here was to convey the condolences of the Saudi king. And yesterday, as we were getting ready to go down to Florida with the president on Air Force One, he added the crown prince, who, of course, the American intelligence believed who's behind the Khashoggi killing.

In other cases, when there have been murders conducted in the United States by people who were immigrants from other countries or illegal immigrants, the president has reacted with fury and called for the death penalty. Here, he tweeted out and then said to us that the king was not only shocked but would be compensating the victim's families. It was almost as if he was doing everything he possibly could to deflect the attention away from the central fact that this was a Saudi military officer engaged in a training program, so we have clearly been vetted by the Saudis.

[07:50:00]

And there was no assurance that the Saudis would participate in the investigation. He didn't say that he extracted that from his conversation with the king.

WALKER: Yes, very interesting stuff.

David Sanger, appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you very much.

SANGER: Great to be with you. BLACKWELL: Well, brace yourself. It's about to get really, really

cold. Freezing temperatures. That looks like almost everybody. I mean, it's amazing how cold it's going to be.

Ivan Cabrera is back to tell us how low these temperatures will go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Look at this, incredible video out of Queensland, Australia. This is a fire-nado.

WALKER: Oh, wow.

BLACKWELL: Emergency crews are battling more than 100 brush fires. They say those fires are burning across Australia, in Queensland, and New South Wales.

WALKER: It's really spectacular.

An arctic blast is making a move across the central and eastern U.S.

BLACKWELL: CNN Meteorologist, Ivan Cabrera is tracking this for us.

So, how cold will it get and who is growing to get it the worst?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's going to get very so cold, in fact, so cold this is what you'll look like if you don't bundle up.

[07:55:01]

This is serious stuff, and it's coming in through Monday and lasts through the middle part of the week. Coldest air of the season, and that's saying something because we've been cold. That is coming straight from the North Pole and it's coming in with an arctic front that will trigger snowfall. In fact, I'll show you some of the winter advisories in a second here.

But pulling out ahead of it, this is a gulf of moisture that's going to be coming in and that is going to be producing some significant amounts of rain, which we prefer than the snow. On the northern side of it, we will get snowfall and it will accumulate anywhere from three to six inches, where you see in the purple, and parts of northern Wisconsin potentially may get up to six to 12 inches of snow. So, we have a winter storm warning there.

But really, the big story, case in point here, Minneapolis. You're going to start your week with temperatures in the 30s and then we're going to drop 60 degrees as far as how it will feel. Minus 25 Wednesday morning, so be prepared for that. It's already starting in Fargo. This is Monday morning.

The rest of us, you see that flow, nice into the 40s. But fast forward to Wednesday and there you see the temperatures in the morning and the wind chill, brutal stuff, into the purples across the Midwest -- guys.

WALKER: As long as we're not feeling minus anything in the South. I don't miss those days where it's bone chilling.

CABRERA: You moved to the right place.

WALKER: Yes, right.

BLACKWELL: You said the really cold temperatures are coming, what, Wednesday?

CABRERA: Midweek on Wednesday. And then we recover. It's still December.

BLACKWELL: I'm back at work on Wednesday. Somebody is going to call me to go stand in Minneapolis.

WALKER: Oh, yes, you'll probably. I'll be in New York freezing.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: All right. Got to go. Thanks for joining us. Glad you were with us.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.