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Hala Gorani Tonight
TV Hosts: White House Used Tabloid As A Threat; Trump: Strategic Patience With North Korea Is Over; Nearly 500,000 Syrians Have Returned Home In 2017; Iraqi Forces Seize What Remains Of Key Mosque; Germans Celebrate Yes Vote On Same-Sex Marriage; NYPD: Multiple People Shot at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital; A Look Back at London's Historic Month. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 30, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[15:01:23] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani live from CNN London. Happy Friday to you all. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Well, what began as an inflammatory tweet has snowballed into allegations of blackmail from the White House, two American television news hosts are
firing back at Donald Trump after the president attacked them on Twitter.
Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski say that earlier this year, the White House threatened a hit piece on them in a popular tabloid. They say they
received multiple phone calls from top administration aides. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST, "MORNING JOE": We had a call that hey, the "National Enquirer" is going to run a negative story against you, guys, and
it was, you know, Donald is friends with -- the president is friends with the guy that runs the "National Enquirer."
And they said if you call the president up, and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: It didn't say take look long for Donald Trump to respond on Twitter, "Watch low-rated "Morning Joe" for first time in a long time.
Fake news. He called me to stop a "National Enquirer" article, I said no. Bad show."
That tweet got a response from Joe Scarborough as well. He called it yet another lie and he asked President Trump on Twitter, quote, "Why do you
keep lying about things that are so easily disproven. What is wrong with you?"
Let's bring in White House reporter, Stephen Collinson. I mean, the level -- I have to say is just quite interesting how this has snowballed into
this just dramatic back and forth between the president of the United States and two cable news show hosts.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Hala. It really does beg the question of what the president of the United States,
the most powerful man in the world is doing waging a feud on Twitter with two television hosts.
It seems somewhat below the dignity of his office and that's the conversation that's been going on in Washington over the last two days ever
since this latest Twitter spat erupted.
If you think about it, what Donald Trump is also been doing today is meeting South Korean President Moon about the North Korean nuclear crisis,
which many people believed will come to a dangerous pivot point in his presidency.
He is heading to Europe next week for another very important trip including the G20 Summit and his first ever meeting with President Vladimir Putin,
which is going to be one of the big political events of the year because of everything that's been going on with Russia and the election in the United
States.
And yet he seems to have time to be indulging in this spat, which many people believed raises again the question of whether Donald Trump has the
requisite temperament to serve as president. So it's a -- as you say, it's really spiraled since this first erupted yesterday.
GORANI: Jeremy Diamond at the White House can join us now. And Jeremy, we are hearing from a White House official speaking to CNN as well about these
allegations that the White House threatened Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough to either suck up to the president or will allow this piece to
be published. What have you heard?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Well, a White House official telling CNN just a little bit ago essentially confirming
that Joe Scarborough did call Jared Kushner about this "National Enquirer" story.
However, that's basically where it stops as far as where Joe Scarborough's story is and where the White House's story is. This White House Official
saying that there was no discussion of any kind of quid pro quo at all.
As you know this morning, Joe Scarborough alleged essentially that Kushner said, listen, call Donald Trump, apologize for your coverage and we'll
spike this "National Enquirer" story.
So this White House official at least pushing back on that version of events. We also just finished up the White House briefing here at the
White House off-camera, of course, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not get many questions on this whole affair.
But she only said that the -- she wasn't aware of whether the president had read this "New Yorker" article alleging some of these details about this
alleged -- apparent blackmail it would seem from Jared Kushner to Joe Scarborough.
GORANI: And Stephen, we are hearing from very top level Republicans this time around, you know, stop tweeting, this is beneath the office of the
presidency. We also have the front page of the "New York Daily News," with sort of an eagle the symbol of the United States vowing its head.
The "New York Post" had an editorial that was only three words long, "Stop, just stop." Is it going to make any difference?
COLLINSON: History -- the history we know of Donald Trump would suggest that no, it won't, and in fact, you know, he was tweeting about this again
this morning as Jeremy has just said.
I think this does feel a little bit different just because it reminds us of some of the controversies that fade out over the campaign. But now Donald
Trump has been president for five months.
It's a little perhaps too long for people to make the eye even look this is a new president. He is so different. He is just going to behave in a
different way and people not just in the United States, but around the world are looking at this and wondering about President Donald Trump
temperament.
The interesting thing about this "National Enquirer" issue that has raised its head today is if this is what took place and we don't exactly what
happened as Jeremy was saying, worse this appeared -- could appear to be, you know, an example of political dirty tricks or even an abuse of
presidential power.
Now this is a narrative that's been growing around the president's administration. It takes us back to the firing of FBI Chief James Comey,
an allegation that the president is not just -- not have the right temperament to be president.
But he is not willing to accept the boundaries of his own power as president and that takes us into a much more serious political dimension I
think.
GORANI: Yes, but I mean -- and Jeremy, obviously there are two very different versions here on the one hand, the TV show host was saying the
White House officials were calling us saying, call the president and apologize and he'll kill the story.
The White House according to this official who spoke to CNN is saying it's the other way around. Joe Scarborough called the White House. Either way,
this is very distracting. I wonder your sources inside this administration, away from the cameras and behind closed doors, what are
they saying about all this drama?
DIAMOND: You know, there is time and again, a source -- a deep sense of frustration among a lot of the officials that the White House here -- you
know, this is a White House that right now is working on a range of very complex policy areas.
They are trying to get health care done on Capitol Hill. They are trying to curb North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Jared
Kushner is trying to broker peace in the Middle East.
So there is a range of issues that this White House is facing and those are not the issues that the president is talking about now. He's certainly not
talking about them very much on Twitter.
And when it comes to -- in public his advocacy on the health care bill has been pretty lackluster simply offering promises of a big surprise saying
that he believes this health care will get pass.
And so certainly some of the officials here who work on these issues day in and day out are bugged down by a lot of these controversies and the
president's tweets. And they'd like to be able to escape that a little bit.
There's especially a sense of frustration I think sometime in this communications department, which day in and day out has to respond to a lot
of these things.
We saw some of that frustration boil over yesterday when Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary was fielding question after question
after question about these tweets and really getting exasperated by that wanting to talk about policy.
But again, coming back to one of the arguments that Sarah Sanders made yesterday was, you know, we want the press to talk about policy, but of
course, the job of setting the agenda rest over here in the oval office.
GORANI: Maybe the president some would say should tweet about policy. Last question for you, Stephen, there before we move on, in fact, to
foreign policy that (inaudible) talk about the visit of the South Korean president to Washington and all threats coming out of North Korea.
Just to remind our international viewers, Stephen, the president still has a sizable portion of the U.S. electorate, the U.S. population supporting
him. The fact according to a Quinnipiac poll his favorability rating has gone up.
So explain to international viewers how despite the fact that these scandals and this drama is unfolding in the White House. He still has so
much support within the U.S. population.
COLLINSON: And that gets right to this issue of the Twitter spat with the news anchors. There is a substantial minority of Americans, Republicans,
people out of the way of the big cities out in the heartland, who look on the media as biased as sort of fundamentally oppose to Republicans and
Donald Trump and his anti-establishment crusade in particular, and welcome this kind of attacks in the media.
They don't seem to think it's quite so serious as people in the big media cities like New York and Washington and California. That was the essence
of Donald Trump's appeal in many ways that he said things that people were thinking that no conventional politician would say.
Now the question is, if Donald Trump's demeanor and behavior and antics make it more difficult for him to pass his agenda as Jeremy said, is that
going to make his supporters look at him again and say, you know what, this guy isn't getting what he said he would do done for us.
That's like reopening factories in Midwestern cities that's bringing back coal mining jobs. That's taking on China and big companies on trade. If
his behavior makes it so that he is not effective politically, I think that's a dangerous spot for him to be in.
But there is no political liability for him with his supporters, that 40 percent or so of people that is still strongly with him for waging a
Twitter spat with a big liberal media star.
GORANI: All right, thanks very much. His behavior as you mentioned there with his core supporters not having any impact on his popularity even
though six out of 10 Americans are now saying stop tweeting to the president.
Thanks very much, Jeremy Diamond at the White House, Stephen Collinson in our bureau.
So we are talking about the drama unfolding at the White House and on Twitter and online and these spats between the U.S. president and cable
news anchors as well.
The American president also had a busy day on the foreign policy front. He met with the president of South Korea, Moon, at the White House earlier.
It was a very important meeting because it comes amid growing concern over North Korea's nuclear program and its behavior in the region.
President Trump called Kim Jong-un's regime brutal and reckless and he declared an end to the era of strategic patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed. Many years and
it's failed, and frankly that patience is over. We are working closely with South Korea and Japan as well as partners around the world on a range
of diplomatic security and economic measures to protect our allies and our own citizens from this menace known as North Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, President Moon echoed Trump's message promising a stern response to Pyongyang, but didn't just talk about that. There is also talk
about trade.
Paula Hancocks is in Seoul for us. So when Donald Trump says patience is over on North Korea. How is that received in the region?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, certainly, the fact Koreans and analysts in the region wants a strong response from
the United States. We heard President Trump saying that he is calling on sanctions to be implemented more fully, calling on regional powers to do
that.
He interestingly -- he didn't mention China by name, but surely he is referring to China when he is asking for these sanctions to be fully
implemented. And President Moon was agreeing with him saying that dialogue is necessary.
He said that he does believe that North Korea should come back to the negotiating table to talk about denuclearization. That is not something
that President Trump himself mention, though.
But did say that he favored sanctions as well and does favor the strong approach that he is really seeing from the United States and from Donald
Trump. Interestingly, though, one thing that many people here inside Korea or at least were hoping for and were watching was what sort of
interpersonal relationship these two men have.
Was there any kind of rapport that was developing between the two? South Koreans really believing that it's incredibly important to get on with
President Trump before you can actually get on to the more substantial issues like North Korea.
GORANI: And what did we make then of their interpersonal relationship? I mean, the last kind of state to visit him was the prime minister of India,
Modi. He went in for the big bear hug. We didn't see anything like that between these two men. How was that seen and interpreted abroad? How they
both interacted with each other?
HANCOCKS: A lot has been made of the handshake. There has been approval from South Korean media and pundits about the handshake. Apparently, it
went well and there's an assumption that there was certainly a rapport between the two leaders.
Interestingly, though, the fact that President Trump brought up trade in such a focal way was a surprise I think to many South Koreans. I don't
think President Moon would have expected what some would have suggested was almost like a lecture from President Trump at one point.
When he also turned to his commerce secretary and also turned to his economic adviser asking them to air their grievances they have about this
free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea and invited the cameras to stay.
I don't think that's something that President Moon would have expected and certainly when it comes to trade and renegotiating that deal, the U.S. says
it's not fair. There was a lot more coming from the U.S. side than there was at the South Korean side. They don't want to renegotiate.
GORANI: Paula Hancocks, thanks very much live in Seoul.
Well, speaking of, well, Paula was mentioning that President Trump didn't mention China by name. However, the honeymoon period between Mr. Trump and
China's president, Xi Jinping, maybe coming to an end.
The series of recent sanctions followed by a mega arms deal with Taiwan has angered China. They say that the U.S. is not complying with the One China
policy. Alexandra Field has the latest.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This series of moves from Washington seems to mark a shift in the relationship between the U.S.
and China. For months now, we've seen U.S. Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that they have a warm relationship that they
are working closely together to build cooperation, to deal with the problems presented by North Korea.
But just last week, you saw a change in tone from U.S. President Donald Trump, a tweet either expressed his frustration or it was intended to dial
up the pressure on Beijing in. In that tweet he essentially said that China's efforts toward North Korea has failed.
Now you're seeing new moves from Washington. The latest, Washington, D.C. issuing sanctions against a small Chinese bank, the Bank of Dandong, which
they accused of having illegal financial activity with North Korea. Those sanctions met with a swift response from officials right here in Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU KANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): China always opposes unilateral sanctions outside the U.N. Security Council
framework. We are especially against other countries imposing long-armed jurisdiction over Chinese entities or individuals based on their domestic
laws. We strongly urged the U.S. to immediately correct its wrongful actions to avoid affecting bilateral cooperation on relevant issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Along with objecting to those sanctions, officials here in Beijing are also registering their objection with an arms deal that the Trump
administration has just announced. That's a $1.4 billion deal for the U.S. to sell weapons to Taiwan.
This is a deal that was initially signed by the Obama administration, but it had receded somewhat into the shadows as the Trump administration tried
to cultivate cooperation with China in the service of working together on North Korea.
But now the Trump administration has announced that they will in fact move forward with this deal. That is of course despite objections from Beijing.
Officials here in Beijing see this deal as undermining the One China policy.
That's the policy that has for decades governs the relationship between the U.S. and China through the tenants of the One China policy, the U.S.
maintains a diplomatic relationship with Beijing not Taipei in Taiwan, which China see as a renegade province. In Beijing, Alexandra Field, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Thank you, Alexandra.
Now to the Middle East, you'll of course remember that attack in Syria's Idlib Province in April. You saw some of those terrible images of people
gasping for air while inspectors have now confirmed the use of sarin gas in that attack that killed 89 people.
But despite graphic video and images from the scene and now the report from inspectors, the Russian Foreign Ministry claims the report is politically
motivated and uses questionable data.
Security concerns prevented them from reaching the attack site, those who conducted this investigation, but they did attend autopsies, collect
samples and interview witnesses.
Speaking of Syria and this terrible civil war that has been dragging on, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency says nearly half a million Syrians
have now returned to their homes this year.
The agency says they often comeback to find family members and check on their property. The refugees may also have information about improved
security in their home cities and villages.
It should be noted, though, that the people who are returning are mainly the internally displaced. Calling them refugees isn't exactly accurate.
The number of people who are outside the country technically refugees is a much, much smaller portion of the half a million less than 50,000. Here we
are talking about people who have been displaced within their own country.
Let's stay in the region and the Iraqi military has seized what's left of the great mosque of Al-Nuri (ph) in Mosul. They are now engaged in a
fierce battle with ISIS militants and terrorists still holdup in pockets of the old city.
Here's the latest report from our Nick Paton Walsh -- Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT Hala, yesterday, it is clear according to our sources on the ground that in the overnight
period, Iraqi forces have managed to secure the Al-Nuri mosque, that great symbolic place for ISIS where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave his one singular
public appearance announcement, the beginning of the caliphate.
They appear to have moved passed it and further deep into the old city of Mosul. Hundreds of meters now potentially between them and the river that
marks the end of ISIS territory.
But there is no comfort to thousands of civilians still caught in that area that ISIS control. We saw some of them emerging ourselves yesterday
talking of an absence of anything apart from water being shelled constantly.
Some injured hobbling simply out of the rubble. The broader question, though, is simply a matter of days says the U.S.-backed coalition and the
Iraqi government until Mosul falls entirely.
The broader question is how does Iraq deal with the lingering insurgency that ISIS will become in the months and years ahead? They were only seeing
parts of it, reaching into Baghdad and elsewhere.
There are certain towns like (inaudible) that ISIS still have a substantial presence in. This isn't really over. Politically the message may be out
that they've defeated ISIS, but politically too they have to enter into moments of reconciliation here.
Remember the government of Baghdad is predominantly Shia. They have had a lot of Shia forces fighting against areas which are predominantly Sunni.
Remember the Sunni-Shia split in Iraq.
The Sunnis were in control on (inaudible). Now the Shia dominating control. The question is how do you get that Sunni part of the population?
The extremist of whom felt more affinity frankly with ISIS than anybody else here.
How do you get them to come together and for Iraq to heal? Well, the phase in which declarations of victory are being made suggest maybe
reconciliation isn't on top people's agenda.
We'll have to see in the months ahead. Because without a broader hearing here, we may see something like ISIS reel its head again -- Hala.
GORANI: Thank you, Nick Paton Walsh. Certainly without healing, something like ISIS could reemerge.
A lot more to come this evening, she made same-sex marriage in Germany possible, yet she voted against it. Angela Merkel's complicated role in a
vote that legalized equal union.
Plus, the Chinese president is on a historic visit to Hongkong. We will show you how he is marking two decades since the handover of the former
British colony. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Scenes of jubilation in Berlin today after German lawmakers voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. As long as it's approved in the
Senate, the ruling will grant homosexual couples equal rights under the law to marry and also adopt children.
It's not just the result that is getting headlines. Critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel say she called to vote for political gain. It is
after all an election year in Germany and her opponents have been campaigning against her longstanding opposition to equal unions.
Earlier this week, she called a snap vote and told her party members they could vote freely on their conscience. She herself though voted no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): This issue needs to be clarified in regards to same-sex marriage, which must be seen as a
decision of conscience. For me the basic law is about the marriage of woman and man. That is why I voted against this bill.
What has been said during the debate is correct. It has been a very long one and for a lot of people, it was a very emotional discussion. This
applies to me very much personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, shrewd political calculation or could it backfire for Angela Merkel? Julian Reichelt is the editor-in-chief of "Bild Digital." He's
been in Berlin.
First of all, let's talk about why now? I mean, this has been a hot topic, a passionate debate in Germany for many decades. Why did it passed at this
point in time?
JULIAN REICHELT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "BILD DIGITAL": Well, Hala, I think what you saw here was a classic Merkel. One of her political skills is
hijacking, concurring the topics of her political opponents.
And this election campaign, she saw that the SPD (ph), the Social Democrats here in Germany had one main thing. They were running on in the last weeks
that may have gotten risks or dangerous for her and that was same-sex marriage.
So she knew she could basically destroy this as a campaign topic by opening this for now and allowing the parliament to vote on it which happened and
many people in her party voted for it.
There are some very high profile gays in her party who is part of this for a while, who gave her conservative party the appearance of a party that
supported this and this topic now basically is off the table for the election campaign. So she has nothing to fear anymore when it comes to
this topic.
GORANI: But it could be seen as too opportunistic? I mean, in the beginning of the week, she says her views on gay marriage had changed
because she had dinner with a lesbian couple and then only a few days later, she votes against legalizing gay marriage. She could have abstained
but she voted against it.
REICHELT: Well, again, classic Merkel, taking, you know, both sides of the argument and what you see here is really classic election campaign
politics. She brought up this lesbian couple which she says, you know, change reminded (inaudible) that well, that was four years ago.
So you know, it took her quite a while to realize that, and then when, you know, the media (inaudible) on the story turned out she never, you know,
had visited that (inaudible). They had approached those who said, well, you know, I've (inaudible) interest in the story. I will come and visit
you.
She never did that. She now brought up that couple to kind of justify, you know, how she changed her mind. So it was very opportunistic, but I think
her calculation was that people will forget until the election, which is still a couple of months away.
And that this topic is, you know, the same-sex marriage topic, would have created much more trouble (inaudible) on the table and again, she has some
credibility in her party.
There were some (inaudible) members who voted for it. She made the case to her conservative followers that voting against it that it's not a topic
from her heart, but she got off the table, very opportunistic but very skilled.
GORANI: All right, she's playing to more than one audience here. We'll see how it translates politically in her favor or against her in the
autumn, of course, important election. Julian Reichelt, as always, thanks so much for joining us from Berlin.
Well, German lawmakers passed another major bill today, a controversial law that will find social media sites that don't block or delete hate speech.
The bill states that sites like Facebook are responsible.
That they are responsible for removing obviously illegal content within 24 hours of posting and that any other dubious content must be removed within
a week of a complaint being filed.
If they do not comply, they face fines up to $57 million. Critics of the bill say it violates free speech.
Also who gets to decide how hateful or whether it's simply dubious or whether it fits the bill of free speech. All those are questions that will
have to be interpreted down the line.
President Trump is hosting South Korea's president, Moon Jae-in, and he says his patience with North Korea has run out.
[15:30:06] Serious foreign policy stuff, but the furor over Trump's tweets about a female anchor, that is not dying down. The view from a supporter
of the President is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: The U.S. and South Korean presidents held talks at the White House earlier. The meeting comes amid concern over the nuclear program in North
Korea. President Trump called Kim Jong-un's regime brutal and reckless. He also said that era of strategic patience with North Korea is over.
Also among the stories, by the way, we're keeping an eye on, the French far right leader, Marine Le Pen, has been formally placed under investigation
in connection with a corruption scandal. A spokesperson for her National Front Party says she would appeal the decision on Monday.
The Iraqi military has captured what's left of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul's old city. ISIS fighters destroyed the mosque apparently
completely last week -- certainly, the minaret is gone -- just as Iraqi forces closed in. U.S. coalition forces predict the operation to recapture
Mosul could be finished within days.
Back to our top story now, two leading anchors for the news network MSNBC are hitting back today following President Trump's outrageous Twitter
attack. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski say the President and the White House threatened them to not block a hit piece in a popular tabloid,
"The National Enquirer," unless they apologize for their negative coverage of the President.
Let's talk about this latest Twitter controversy and the fall out with CNN Political Commentator Ben Ferguson. He's the host of "The Ben Ferguson
Show."
Explain to our international viewers, Ben, how we reached a point in the United States where the President, the most powerful man in the world, is
engaged in a furious Twitter spat with two cable show hosts. How did we get here?
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I -- yes, you need the context first to understand. Donald Trump was very friendly with Joe
Scarborough and Mika for several years.
He appeared on their show often, even having them -- they were down in Mar- a-Lago over New Year's, spent time with them at New Year's. And then they became very critical of him, and that's when this turned ugly.
And so this is personal. Do I think the President should be taking it to Twitter in the way that he did? I would not have done this.
But I do think that this is something where Joe Scarborough knows exactly how to dig at his -- I think you can say now, his former friend. And this
is a personal thing between the two of them. They've known each other for a very long time, so I hope that they can move on past this real quick.
[15:34:59] I do think that some have tried to blow this out of proportion. The President obviously saw it, didn't like what they said, thought it was
untrue, what they said about him in that meeting in Mar-a-Lago, and he shot off a tweet.
But he has to remind himself, as the President of the United States of America --
GORANI: But you don't it's unacceptable for the President to engage in this type of spat on Twitter?
FERGUSON: That's -- no, that's --
GORANI: And also, frankly, the comments about a woman's face, again, those two --
FERGUSON: That's what I said. He --
GORANI: I mean, even very high-level Republicans are saying this just should not be happening.
FERGUSON: That's what I just said, he has to remind himself that he is the President of the United States of America. And unfortunately, when you are
the President of the United States of America, it is bigger than you.
Everything is bigger than you. It's about the presidency. It's about foreign policy. It takes away from domestic issues.
And from a political standpoint, my argument would be, to the President, was it worth it? You had two big victories domestically yesterday, and
none of that was covered because of a tweet that you start out the morning with, that is a tweet that should have never been sent from a sitting
president.
You're held to a higher standard than people on cable news that are even trying to bait you. Even if they're lying about you, even if you feel like
they were friendly to you and you were friends and then they betrayed you.
I just don't think this is the right way to go about it moving forward because it takes away from your legislative agenda, which is why people
voted for you. It wasn't because how you tweeted somebody on T.V.
GORANI: But is it because the legislative agenda isn't moving the way he'd like it? Could it be a distraction?
FERGUSON: I don't think so at all. I mean, yesterday, one of the biggest things, over 80 percent of Americans were in favor, a mandatory minimums
for illegal immigrants that had been sent out of this country who come back in to this country, and he had a huge victory on that.
The other big victory last night for the President was at 8:00 Eastern Time, when part of his travel ban went into effect, something very -- most
of his supporters were -- voted for him on.
These two issues, one illegal immigrants, one national security issues, and he delivered on both yesterday. Today and yesterday should have been a
massive victory lap for this White House and for this President, to talk about delivering on those two issues that he promised.
Some of his biggest applause lines during the campaign dealt with illegal immigrants and the issue of, should there be minimums if they continue to
break our laws? That's something he should've been able to capitalize on and remind his voters about, and now he has not been able to do that.
GORANI: Right, but he's not been able to get that health care law passed. And today, Donald Trump, once again taking to Twitter, saying just repeal
ObamaCare, we'll figure out a replacement later if senators and Congress people on Capitol Hill can't get this passed.
His party controls both houses in Washington, D.C.
FERGUSON: Right.
GORANI: If he can't get it passed, he has no one to blame but his own party and himself, right?
FERGUSON: Well, I agree. And that's one of the things that took away from these negotiations. There's a lot of people working very hard over the
last 48 hours, really all week long, on this, trying to get a vote before the recess for July 4th. You know, holiday recess the Congress goes into.
And yesterday and this morning, this has now just become a distraction, which takes away from the focus on that. The Congress -- or the senator
that came up with the idea of just repealing it and replacing it later, he's also made it clear that it would not happen for at least a year after
they actually pass the repeal of ObamaCare.
So there's plenty of time to fix it and come up with something new, but he has to deliver on this. So does Congress. And these tweets take away from
the political capital and the time that you need to be spending on that.
GORANI: And --
FERGUSON: And it takes away a news cycle.
GORANI: And, by the way, 60 percent of Americans -- we have a new Quinnipiac poll -- say Donald Trump should stop tweeting. And
interestingly, Ben, we have 50 percent of the GOP as well, supporters, say that he should stop tweeting as well. Why does he keep doing it?
FERGUSON: Well, the personal stuff. Look, I think there's certain things that you should tweet about, and there's no problem. If it deals with
legislative agenda, if it deals with someone putting out a fake story or not a real story about you, an accurate story and you want to go direct to
the American people, I have no problem with that.
But when you attack somebody personally because of a personal feud between you and Joe Scarborough and Mika, that's where you have to draw the line.
It is beneath the President, and it takes away from what you're trying to accomplish.
So I don't want the President to get off Twitter altogether. I just think you have to ask the question before you send a tweet out, is there any
upside to this?
GORANI: Yes.
FERGUSON: And mine would have been, was this worth it? And the answer is, no, it was not worth it.
You just gave a lot of publicity to Joe Scarborough and Mirka -- or Mika. You gave a lot of publicity to MSNBC for that. And they're winning this
today because people watch their show.
That's not your objective, so you need to stick to what it is you're trying to accomplish, which is health care and other issues.
GORANI: All right. Ben, his approval rating has gone up, according to that same poll.
FERGUSON: Yes.
GORANI: Up to 40 percent from 34 percent there, despite all of these distractions, the tweets and the rest of it. Ben Ferguson, thanks very
much. Appreciate it.
FERGUSON: Thanks. Good to be with you.
[15:39:57] GORANI: We have breaking news from New York. Police say multiple people have been shot at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.
The authorities are actively looking for the shooter. So still potentially on the loose there, according to the information we have. They have
advised people to avoid the area.
You see some live images there coming to us from our New York affiliate, WABC. As we mention, there are multiple people shot in New York City at
the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available.
The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is in Hong Kong, marking 20 years since the hand over from British rule. The anniversary comes at an especially
tense time.
Many residents of Hong Kong are concerned about Beijing's interference in the running of the city. And the President alluded to that during a speech
before a large crowd at a lavish dinner.
Apologies. He said the city's one country, two systems formula faces new challenges. Security is especially tight ahead of the July 1st
anniversary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Pro-democracy activists detained Wednesday have been released on bail, and a major march is planned for Saturday after a smaller Friday
night protest was cancelled.
Stay with us as we take a step back this hour and look at London's remarkably eventful month. A special report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: It was a horrific event that hit the U.K. hard. A suicide explosion killed 22 people including children as they were leaving a
concert in Manchester. That was May 22nd.
But there was little time to reflect though as June will go down in London's history books. In a special case, Nick Glass takes a look back at
a month when one city endured another terrorist attack, a stunning general election, and unprecedented fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Summer in the city. You wouldn't know it from above but a wounded scarred city, multinational,
multifaith, multicultural London. The mood on the ground seems superficially the same, lazy, playful, sweltering Hyde Park. This was one
of the hottest Junes on record.
There was still a detectable anxiety, perhaps, you can feel if you're a tourist in Trafalgar Square, a space for a girl from Dubai to blow bubbles
and for the boys from South Korea to dance their selfie stick dance.
It wasn't just the heat wave. June was searing in so many other ways.
A month of political shocks. Theresa May only just managing to cling to power and disinclined to risk mixing with the general public.
[15:45:09] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep moving. Stay calm as you can.
GLASS (voice-over): For others, June was simply the cruelest of months. Terrorist savagery. And terrible human tragedy. Much of it recorded on
mobile phones.
In June, London has gathered instead in silence, time and again, more often perhaps than they ever have in a single month.
MAYOR SADIQ KHAN, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: These have been a terrible two weeks for London, unprecedented in recent times.
CRESSIDA DICK, COMMISSIONER, METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE: This is a very resilient city. And this is a very, very resilient set of communities.
And we, in the Met, are as shocked as anybody in this local community or across the country at what has happened.
GLASS (voice-over): We revisited the site of the London Bridge attack, drove south across the river just as the terrorists had. There's now a
concrete barrier along the pavement to protect pedestrians from being deliberately driven into.
Evil visited London Bridge on Saturday, June 3rd, just after 10:00. The atrocity lasted eight long minutes. The abandoned terrorist van on the
bridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't look back. Just keep moving.
GLASS (voice-over): People hiding, cowering under tables in restaurants.
Nearby Borough Market attracts many tourists. Three women, five men, were murdered that night. Victims of five nationalities -- Australia, France,
Spain, Canada, and Britain.
Police shot the three terrorists dead in the middle of the market, a policeman standing over one of them. The British Foreign Secretary
referred to them as scumbags.
A policeman decided to fight back on his own. The terrorist had long knives; he had a police baton. He suffered multiple injuries.
WAYNE MARQUES, POLICE OFFICER WHO FOUGHT LONDON BRIDGE ATTACKER WITH A BATON: There are members of the family and the girlfriend that think, no,
that is enough. You've done your time. That's more than enough.
I wonder whether I have to answer that question at a later stage. I can't be a police officer without my left hand and without my left leg.
GLASS (voice-over): Staff at the Barrow Boy & Banker Pub, where two of the victims have been having a drink, are now receiving counseling. There's
evidently deep trauma here. No one would talk to us.
And it was the same down in Borough Market. On a rainy evening, trade was good again. People were trying to move on. But staff working on that
terrible night were keeping their own counsel.
There was a sense of a family still freshly in mourning. Few people haven't returned to work.
But inevitably, business life has resumed. Every day, they hurry past this shrine in the middle of London Bridge.
This is basically a memorial to a city banker, a Spaniard called Ignacio Echeverria. He died using his skateboard, defending a woman against a
knife attack, hence the recurring skateboard motif.
A group of Spanish volunteers have been tending the shrine every day. Neither of these women knew Ignacio. They just admired him for his valor.
The Queen somehow seemed more visible during the month. At 91, she did what she always does in June, attending Trooping of the Colour and the
races at Royal Ascot.
But she also had to read an unusually abbreviated Queen's Speech at the state opening of parliament, did so without all her usual regalia, and with
her eldest son for company. Prince Philip was ill on the day.
The Queen also visited the site of the terrible fire in West London that claimed at least 80 lives.
Driving out of town and you simply can't miss it, a blackened monolith among the tower blocks, a desolate burnt out shell, a stump, an accusing
finger.
Tragedy struck Grenfell Tower in West London on Wednesday, June 14th, just before 1:00 in the morning. A local resident, Joe Delaney, was filming on
his mobile.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Mum (ph)! Mum (ph)!
JOE DELANEY, EYEWITNESS TO THE GRENFELL TOWER FIRE: I honestly don't --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help! Help!
DELANEY: It looks to me like it's only the outside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help!
DELANEY: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help!
(SCREAMING)
DELANEY: Oh, Jesus! That's where the stairs are.
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
DELANEY: All you could that night was people screaming. That was it. There were people at windows up there who were just screaming the whole
time, above, you know, for people to help them.
[15:55:03] GLASS (voice-over): Revisiting the streets around the tower a week after the fire, and the grief was still palpable. In the first few
hours and days, relatives pin photos of their missing loved ones wherever they could, and they were still going up, with long hope long faded.
This man named Jafari was remembering his father. Miss you dad, he had scrolled on the photo. One woman was coming to terms with apparently
losing six relatives, including her mother, her sister, and three nieces.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you want your family to be remembered?
SAWSAN CHOUCAIR, RELATIVE OF MISSING PERSON: Love, memory, pictures, and everything.
DELANEY: It's been horrible. I mean, it's like -- it is just really starting to hit me now. It's like, up to now, I've run on anger to get
things done.
And I'm running out of anger to run on, and there's nothing left to run on. And I don't know what -- I don't know what's going to be there when there's
nothing left.
GLASS (voice-over): Utterly and emotionally drained, Joe Delaney simply broke down at the end of our interview, disappeared off into a corner, and
sat facing a blank wall. Anguish personified.
Just a day before the Grenfell fire, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition opened in London, an annual ritual for art lovers. But even here, there
was art that resonated -- a howl, a scream for our times; a fiberglass sculpture by Anish Kapoor, bloody and white, called "Unborn"; and a neon
piece from Tracey Emin, "Never Again."
Finsbury Park, North London, Monday, June 19th, shortly after a midnight. And a man is pinned to the ground.
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to kill? You want to kill me?
(SCREAMING)
GLASS (voice-over): This was the driver of a van. He had just veered off the road and driven into a group of Muslim worshippers. One man died, 10
others were injured. Most of the victims and eyewitnesses were Somali.
MARYAN ALI, WITNESS OF FINSBURY PARK ATTACK: I was shocked. Shocked! I never see something be like that. Even in my country was war, I never see
people as like this. Never.
GLASS (voice-over): Abdul Muridi is 29. He runs the cafe just a few yards away. The victims were his customers, his friends. He's still in shock.
ABDUL MURIDI, WITNESS OF FINSBURY PARK ATTACK: This is -- it's unbelievable. As human being, would you like to go around the city you're
living in and looking behind your back?
GLASS (on camera): And that's what you feel now?
MURIDI: Yes. Will you feel -- will you like that? A land you -- the country you're living in. Every time you come out from your house, if
you're driving, if you're walking, you have to look behind your back because you never know who is there.
GLASS (voice-over): Londoners are hoping that July will also be warm, but in that very English way, not quite as hot as June. They'd also like it to
be uneventful. Some communities in Central West and North London are still healing.
Nick Glass, CNN, in the great and recovering city of London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: -- for the city and for the country as well. We're going to take a quick break on the program. We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:40] GORANI: Canada is having a moment on the world stage. Its young Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is a social media darling. It's been
applauded for its openness towards refugees. And now, it is celebrating a major milestone.
Security preparations are underway on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Half a million people are expected to gather there tomorrow, Saturday, to mark the
country's 150th birthday.
Some royal visitors have already kicked off the festivities. Prince Charles and Camilla started their national tour in the country's far north.
The country doesn't look a day over 149.
And finally, a heartwarming story to leave you with about the power of Twitter for doing good. We see a lot of abuse on that social media
platform, but sometimes -- just sometimes -- this happens.
A father in the U.K. is standing up for his 9-year-old son, Ollie, who is being bullied in school.
Chris Hope-Smith of Leeds tweeted, strange request, anyone know anyone famous, well-known who could send Ollie a positive ninth birthday message?
The bully keeps saying to him that everything O has, he has bigger, better. More often, O, excited for his birthday but keeps getting told it won't be
as good as his own.
Well, a slew of celebrities responded. Actor Russel Crowe tweeted, hey, Ollie, heard it was your birthday. Nine years old, eh? Congratulations.
Happy birthday!
And then there was this wonderful message from Simpson's cartoonist, Eric Keyes, who personalized a drawing of Bart just for Ollie.
All right. That's going to do it for -- from me. I'm going to send you to our sister network, CNN USA, for more on that hospital shooting in New
York.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: -- six people have been injured, shot, but the extents of their injuries is unknown at this time. This is all happening,
so the right side of your screen, live pictures from the helicopter, of this massive hospital here, one of the biggest ERs in all of New York.
We've been talking about the challenges in securing a scene such as a hospital where you have lots of vulnerable patients, you know, reliant on
tubes and machines. As this is all happening, the challenge is, for police -- I was talking to Art Roderick about how you secure a scene at a
hospital.
Tom, the same question to you, how do you secure a scene here?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So I think that there's only so much you can do to secure it. If you have the police on the outside,
assuming the person hasn't run away, oftentimes --
BALDWIN: Tom, let me just jump in. Forgive me, but let me just jump in. We just got information.
The New York police is saying one shooter is dead. I don't know if there are multiple shooters, but I'm being told one shooter is dead.
Go ahead, Tom.
FUENTES: -- figures that we have altogether. Do we know any more about that, whether there are multiple shooters? Usually, in a place like this,
a workplace type violence, it's one person who has a grudge against the boss, co-workers, or the hospital administration itself and may want to
cause this.
So, you know, the likelihood that you only had one shooter and that that particular shooter is dead could mean that, now, they just have to check
the rest of the building and check their video cameras to see if anybody else could have been involved in this. And maybe they could bring this to
resolution fairly quickly.
But to your earlier question, it's very difficult to secure a building like this because you can't evacuate the building. You can't get off these --
BALDWIN: The patients.
FUENTES: -- people, especially if they're hooked up to IVs. You can't get them out of there, so you're going to have to deal with the fact that a
number of those patients are going to have to stay in the hospital and a number of medical personnel are going to have to stay with them to care for
them.
So, yes, it's a very difficult situation. Maybe, we're going to find out that this has all been resolved.
BALDWIN: Yes. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much. We've been talking to Harry Houck, Art Roderick, Jason Carroll, Polo Sandoval. We've been
watching the story unfolding here.
And again, the latest on this hospital shooting in the New York area at the Bronx at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, is that New York police now saying one
shooter is dead. This, after this search for the shooter, after this individual apparently shot or wounded these four to six people in this
hospital. The extents of the injuries unknown.
[15:59:58] We're going to continue our coverage here in Washington. "THE LEAD" starts right now with Jake Tapper.
END
