Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Kim Jong-un Prepares TO Meet S. Korean & U.S. Leaders; French Man's First To Get A Second Face Transplant; Remembering CNN's Richard Blystone; U.K. Media: Last In queen's Line Of Corgis Dies. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired April 18, 2018 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:00]
(PRESIDENT TRUMP IN MAR-A-LAGO MEETING WITH JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER)
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani live from Paris. You are watching images coming to us live from
Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida where the president of the United States, Donald Trump, is hosting the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzho Abe.
He was asked about Mike Pompeo. Mike Pompeo who we learned just a few hours ago made a secret trip to North Korea to meet with Kim Jong-un in
anticipation of direct talks between the U.S. president and the North Korean leader.
He talked about Mike Pompeo's confirmation hearings right now on the Senate. Was he confident he was asked that Mike Pompeo would be confirmed
as the next secretary of state of the United States? He said he is a great guy that he has confidence in Rand Paul, who is a U.S. senator, who's never
let him down, he said.
With regards to the Senate confirmation, he also talked up Mike Pompeo whose trip to North Korea came as a complete surprise saying he is a
Harvard graduate, that he had a great meeting and great meetings in North Korea and that he believes he will be in good shape with regard to his
confirmation in Washington, D.C.
So, we are going to keep our eye on what's happening at Mar-a-Lago. As I mentioned there, the president of the United States is hosting Shinzo Abe,
the Japanese prime minister. Of course, North Korea's neighbors are keeping a close watch on these developments and that would be what the
Japanese prime minister and Donald Trump are talking about among many other things including trade and the economy.
We'll get back to White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond, in a moment, but first let's bring in Ivan Watson, who is in Seoul. What more do we know,
Ivan, about this Pompeo visit to North Korea?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, it was secret, so we haven't seen images of it, yet, for example, of
officials shaking hands on red carpets or anything like that. Instead we've gotten like readouts coming from Trump administration officials who
say that the U.S. envoy found that Kim Jong-us was personable and well- prepared.
One of the things that were clearly discussing or plans for a summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the location, the exact timing has
yet to be determined. It would be historic if it does in fact take place.
But there does seem to be a sticking point according to a Trump administration official speaking to CNN where exactly that meeting could
take place. That's still not clear at this time.
And of course, President Trump himself tweeted about this saying that the meeting went, quote, "very smoothly and a good relationship was formed."
So, this was clearly a step towards trying to set up what could be an historic meeting the first-ever between a U.S. president and a leader of
North Korea. And there is clearly an enormous amount of work to be done there -- Hala.
[15:05:06] GORANI: So, it's been years since a high-level U.S. official visited North Korea. What changed here? What pushed North Korea into
these talks? I'm not sure that's even the right way to frame it, but is it the sanctions, promise of a one-on-one, face-to-face meeting with Donald
Trump?
WATSON: That's a question that everybody's asking right now and what is just a remarkable transition that the North Korean regime went from just
last year as late as last November where North Korea was firing ballistic missiles, where it was still threatening to do things like all fire
missiles at the U.S. island of Guam and the Pacific Ocean to a speech that Kim Jong-un gave on New Years of 2018 where he floated the idea of
attending the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
And then suddenly went from firing missiles and threatening attacks and nuclear weapons tests to sending athletes and musicians to South Korea and
then his first ever trip abroad as leader of North Korea in March to Beijing.
A secret visit where he met for the first time was another head of state, the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and now we're going to have apparently a
series of summits in rapid succession starting with a meeting next week with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, in the demilitarized zone.
So, what prompted North Korea to change tactics, was it sanctions, was it that kind of pressure, China joining in in the sanctions pressure, or has
this been calculated all along? We don't know. The North Korean government doesn't exactly give press conferences and is probably one of
the least transparent governments in the world.
But it is a remarkable shift that it's made which could eventually lead not only to a summit with President Trump, but also potentially with other
heads of state. We are hearing that the Kremlin is interested in a meeting.
We are hearing that Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister wants a meeting with Kim Jung-on, which is remarkable considering that nobody wanted to
break bread with this man just a few months ago -- Hala.
GORANI: Absolutely. And Jeremy Diamond is joining now. I guess, North Korea were not expecting a news conference from Kim Jong-un obviously. But
on the U.S. side, we also don't know much about what was said, right? We don't have that many details. What is the readout? What more do we know
about what was discussed here?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we don't know very much and that is -- you know, but the fact that we know of this meeting between
Mike Pompeo and Kim Jong is already relatively significant. You know, Mike Pompeo has been leading the back channels between North Korea and the
United States throughout the Trump administration.
These are CIA back channels that have existed even before the Trump administration, but this is taking it really out into public view and it
really does put a lot of meat on the bones as far as how likely this summit between the president and Kim Jong-un actually is.
There have been a lot of questions in Washington since this announcement that the president had accepted Kim Jong-un's invitation to meet directly
face-to-face for these talks that perhaps this meeting would never actually happen.
That the circumstances wouldn't quite come together particularly at the beginning when we saw a little bit of dissonance between what the South
Koreans were saying, the administration said that North Korea had promised.
There were a lot of questions, but now it does appear that this summit is truly in the works. That we are heading towards this summit actually
taking place and clearly, that is what Mike Pompeo's visit here shows.
GORANI: And as Ivan was saying, we don't know where it will take place that could be a sticking point. What is the U.S. getting out of this
really? Because it seems as though this summit was promised and is being organized -- promised to Kim Jong-un this face-to-face meeting without any
commitment on their part to denuclearize.
Mike Pompeo went in secret. Did he come back with anything? There's still three Americans that are being held by North Korea. It doesn't seem as
though there were any concessions as far as we can tell here.
DIAMOND: That's right. We don't have any indication that Mike Pompoe's visit there was, you know, to pre-negotiate the terms of the summit or what
might actually be agreed to. It seems from what we know at least that it was more logistical as far as, you know, testing the waters, making sure
that this is something that can actually happen.
And then discussing the possible location here, so it does remain to be seen, but this is a big part of why Shinzo Abe is at Mar-a-Lago right now.
He is there bringing a list of concerns that Japan has about these direct talks warning the president of some of these North Korean tricks or ploys
that they've tried in the past when they've attempted negotiations to warn the president to avoid those.
[15:10:06] And so, you know, Japan, of course, is the most cautious Asian power probably in the region when it comes to this idea of direct
diplomacy. So, the president is definitely going to get a reality check from Shinzo Abe as he prepares for these meetings, and they certainly want
to make sure that he doesn't give away too much in these negotiations. That is one of the fears not only in Japan but in Washington as well.
GORANI: Sure. These North Korean missiles flow very, very close to the Japanese coastline. It's a big concern for people in the region. Ivan
Watson, up very late in Seoul, thanks so much. Jeremy Diamond is in Washington, D.C.
Now to this story, an engine failing, a window shattering, and as the plane you see here began to drop, one passenger was hanging out of a window while
others were writing their last goodbyes, a horrific scene played out yesterday over the U.S.
Polo Sandoval has more on what happened and the search for exactly what went wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): All of a sudden, we've just heard this loud bag rattling and felt like one of the engines went out. The oxygen
masks dropped.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A terrifying scene on board the Southwest flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas when
passengers say they heard the engine explode midair. Just 20 minutes after takeoff, part of the left engine breaks apart damaging the fuselage and
shattering this window partially sucking the woman out of the plane.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Injured passengers, OK. Is your airplane physically on fire?
PILOT: Not fire, but part of it is missing. They said there's a hole and someone went out.
SANDOVAL: Passengers desperately trying to pull Jennifer Riordan, a 43- year-old Wells Fargo executive back into the cabin and resuscitate her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Passengers right next to her were holding on to her and meanwhile, there was blood all over this man's hands because he was tending
to her.
PEGGY PHILLIPS, PASSENGER: We made every effort that we could possibly make to save this woman's life.
SANDOVAL: One scared passenger live streaming this video to document what he thought were the last moments of his life. I feel so -- lucky to be
alive. All I could think about is I was going down and that plane was -- you know, how my life was -- being taken away from me.
SANDOVAL: Other scrambling to send final messages to their loved ones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife is in her third trimester with our first child so want find time trying to articulate what I wanted my final words to be
to my unborn child.
SANDOVAL: The "Navy Times" reporting the heroic pilot is one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots safely got the plane to the ground in
Philadelphia after declaring an emergency. The aircraft rapidly descending for more than 32,000 to 10,000 feet in just minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flight crew did an incredible job getting this aircraft here on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Professionals through and through and we are live because of them.
SANDOVAL: Southwest Airline says the plane was last inspected on Sunday, but investigators inspecting the damaged aircraft found one engine fan
blade was missing.
ROBERT SUMWALT, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: That's very unusual and so we are taking this event extremely seriously. This
should not happen, and we want to find out why it happened so that we can make sure that the preventive measures are put in place.
SANDOVAL: Last year the FAA issuing a directive that would have required inspection of the fan blades. In 2016 a Southwest flight from New Orleans
to Orlando was also forced to make an emergency landing after experiencing engine failure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Polo Sandoval reporting there. Now investigators are focusing on that missing engine fan blade, and by the way, the pilot, Tammie Jo Shults,
is being hailed as a hero. She's the voice you heard on that recording that we heard yesterday on this program and that was featured in Polo's
piece there, so, calmly telling the control tower what was going on.
CNN's Richard Quest knows about all things aviation. He joins us now from New York and you know I have palpitations every time I hear about these
stories and these poor passengers were saying their last goodbyes. I mean, it's just so incredibly stressful for them. Talk to us about this fan
blade. The plane was inspected on Sunday. Was it not picked up?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Well, a visual inspection would not pick up necessarily unless it was thumping great big
crack. A visual inspection is not really going to pick up the minute cracks of a fan blade. I mean, it might do -- the fan blade was falling
off.
But remember, the pilot does work around the aircraft before every flight. That walk around is done before every single flight. Now what you're
looking at, Hala, and the seriousness of this incident is whether there is something wrong with this brandish major engine.
[15:15:05] Where there is an inherent weakness that after certain number of times or cycles, the fan blades disintegrate or there is a metal fatigue
within them. We've seen this before the DC-10 some years ago had a metal fatigue problem.
The Comet (ph) years ago had a pressurization problem. So, they will be looking to see is that something systemic wrong with the engine. Is there
something wrong with the maintenance of these particular engines by Southwest or is there some other factor which cools this fan blade to
disengage from the engine.
If you look at the pictures, Hala, and I understand the seriousness of the way the fan blade entered the aircraft, but equally seriously is how that
fan blade or debris damaged the wing because of the wing gets badly damaged then you lose the whole aircraft.
GORANI: Why did they drop tens of thousands of feet so quickly? Was it because the pilot needed to make the emergency landing is that --
QUEST: No, straightforward, Hala. There are 33,000 feet where the air pressure is very low. Suddenly, there's a massive depressurization,
standard procedure, absolutely standard the procedure to do a very fast descent to 10,000 feet where the air pressure is much lower, and they would
have been able to take their masks off and breath without oxygen.
It would have felt like the plane was diving, however, it would not have felt uncontrolled. Let's be clear about this. It would not have felt like
the plane was falling out of the sky, but it would have been a very, very steep immediate rapid descent to a lower altitude.
GORANI: I want -- like me most people -- but I want to talk about Tammie Jo Shults because we have another hero pilot who thanks to a lot skill and
cool headedness basically saved some lives. Talk to me about what she managed to do in a very difficult situation.
QUEST: I'm going to moderately controversial here, Hala, and say that this captain is not a hero. This captain was performing to the excellence that
one expects and of training of every airline pilot. I put it to you like this, Hala, that this is to all aviation, airline pilots around the world.
They would all have got that plane down on the ground if it was still flyable. They are all trained to that level of professionalism. Where I
think she is commendable beyond belief, and you know, extraordinary, is just the coolness, the coolness. But she like every other pilot at
Southwest performed her duties exactly as she was expected to do.
GORANI: I agree with you. I get that, but when you're a surgeon and you save a life, and you're a pilot and you save a life, let's spend 24 hours
calling them a hero. If I've been on that plane, I would have used that word.
In any case, we'll see you at the top of the next hour on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS." Richard, always a pleasure chatting. Thanks very much.
The U.K. government lost a key Brexit vote today. The upper house of parliament also known as the House of Lord voted 348 to 225 to remain in
the E.U. Customs Union, to remain in the Customs Union.
It goes against Prime Minister Theresa May's after repeated promise that the U.K. would leave the Customs Union the amendment requires the
government to report back by October on what to steps it has taken to stay put.
So, there you have it. This is the House of Lords saying, no, no, we want to stay in the Customs Union, Brexit or no Brexit. It's been nearly two
years since that Brexit vote. The leave result sent shockwaves around the world and led to the political downfall of then Prime Minister David
Cameron.
Now David Cameron is the one who promised this referendum. In his first major interview since resigning, Cameron told CNN he does not regret
calling the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I don't regret holding a referendum. I think it was the right thing to do. I don't think you could
belong to these organizations and see their powers grow and treaty after treaty, and power after power, going from Westminster to Brussels.
And never asking the people whether they are happy governing in that way, but I haven't changed my mind about the results of the referendum. I wish
the vote had gone another way. I think we've taken the wrong course, but to be frank, you know, Britain is the fifth largest economy in the world.
It is a legitimate choice to try and be a friend and a neighbor and a partner of the European Union rather than a member of the European Union.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:06] GORANI: All right. David Cameron, no regrets.
Still to come tonight, the Castro family's longtime grip on power in Cuba, it's coming to an end, but will the new president be willing to break with
decades of communist rule. We are alive in Havana for you ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: I want to take you now to confusion and concern in Syria. We still don't know if international weapons inspectors will be able to visit
Douma. Of course, you'll remember, 11 days ago, it was the scene of a suspected chemical attack.
Yesterday, we told you the team of experts had been given the green light, but they were supposed to arrive today. It's still not clear though if
they got in. And we're hearing a U.N. security team surveying one of the sites came under small arms fire.
So, there you have it. We are going to keep an eye on that because as time ticks away, of course, it's more and more days since that suspected attack.
More and more difficult therefore for inspectors to do their job.
It's hard to imagine Cuba without a Castro at the helm. For nearly six decades, the island has been ruled by two revolutionary brothers, first,
the late Fidel and the current president, Raul.
But now a new era begins, lawmakers at an assembly in Havana are electing a successor to replace Raul Castro. There is only one candidate, so we are
not expecting any surprises, but there are so many unknowns about Cuba's political future.
Let's bring in Patrick Oppmann. He is live in Havana. So, who is going to be the next leader and what should we expect from him?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is little suspense to these proceedings now, Hala, as you mentioned, Miguel Diaz Canel, was
nominated earlier today as the only candidate to succeed President Raul Castro.
So, even though, that voting is going on and the decision is not expected to be announced until tomorrow morning. Well, we already know what is
going to happen. Raul Castro hugged Miguel Diaz Canel, the country's current first vice president today essentially sealing this deal that has
been made over the last several years.
And only now though are Cubans getting know the man who is going to be their next president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN (voice-over): There are long line for just about everything in Cuba, but usually don't see Cuban officials waiting in them except when
Cuban first vice president, Miguel Diaz Canel queued up alongside resident in his hometown of Santa Clara to vote in a single party parliamentary
election in March.
Diaz Canel who many expect will succeed Raul Castro is president on April 19th (inaudible) trying to show a common touch that has missing as of late
from Cuba's leaders. Even though he would be the first Cuban head of state, born are the revolution.
In his carefully (inaudible) remarks, Diaz Canel sounds a lot like Cuba's older generation that is held on the power for the last six decades.
[15:25:07] We were defending our process. We are defending a revolution he says, which continues to be threatened, which continues to be attacked.
After Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, he became not only Cuba's head of state, but also the first secretary of the ruling Communist Party and top
general of Cuba's Armed Forces.
Titles that Fidel eventually turned over to his younger brother, Raul, after he nearly died from a mystery illness in 2006. Now, Raul Castro is
86 and ready to transfer power to a handpicked successor.
Comrade Diaz Canel isn't enough start or improvisation Raul Castro said in 2013, his trajectory has lasted nearly 30 years. During the years, he
worked his way out the Communist Party hierarchy in Cuba's provinces.
Diaz Canel earned a reputation as an efficient administrator who do not seemed interested in the limelight.
(on camera): In the rough and tumble world of Cuban politics, any ambition amid a kiss of death to one's career. Many of Miguel Diaz Canel's
contemporaries were sidelined after they lost the faith of the Castros. If Diaz Canel does become the next president of Cuba, it maybe in part sickle
because he survived longer than the competition.
(voice-over): Still almost no one expects Diaz Canel to run the whole show. Raul Castro is expected to remain head of the Cuban Communist Party
to at least 2021. It is unlikely that Diaz Canel with little military experience will head Cuba's powerful Armed Forces.
Unlike the Castros, Diaz Canel could have a harder time imposing his will on various factions within the Cuban government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my time when Fidel or Raul said something, I will do it even if I had second thoughts. That's how the younger generation and
Diaz Canel is going to react what Diaz Canel says.
OPPMANN: And that could mean another first Cuba, a president will need to form alliances to stay in power.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OPPMANN: And Hala, many Cubans took note that along with Miguel Diaz Canel, a number of hardliners, men from the older generation, who fought
with Raul and Fidel Castro, men in their 80s and 90s still are going to maintain top leadership positions in the new government.
And the question that we are all asking is even if a younger new leader wants to make changes, wants to make reforms, will these members of the
older generation allow him to?
GORANI: Patrick Oppmann live in Havana, thanks for that report.
Well, let's go back to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is saying hello to Hollywood. It's ending its 35-year movie theater back. Today, 500 invited
guests will get the first taste of "Simple Town" with the U.S. blockbuster, which is the first movie to be shown at the AMC in Saudi Arabia.
"Black Panther," public screenings of the movie will begin on the 1st of May. Saudi officials say there will be no segregation between genders when
the theaters open. They expect the country's cinema industry to grow to $1 billion over the coming years.
Still to come tonight, a turnaround for North Korea's leader as Kim Jong-un finds himself at the center high stakes diplomacy and not one, two, but
three faces. I'll speak to the surgeon who made this medical breakthrough a reality. He joins me live here in Paris. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:54] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: What a difference a few months make the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un is in demand. You'll
remember, he was of course, once shunned, you know, as a string of high profile diplomatic meetings including talks with China's president and CIA
director, Mike Pompeo. And if all goes according to plan, he will sit down with the American president, Donald Trump soon. Will Ripley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula are a diplomatic dance, North Koran leader, Kim
Jong-un could be the belle of the ball. Next week, a meeting with South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, next month, a possible meeting with U.S.
president, Donald Trump. A potential visit to Pyongyang by Chinese president, Xi Jinping and Russia and Japan, also trying to arrange their
own summits with Kim.
MIKE CHINOY, FORMER CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: North Korea for years has wanted respect. They want legitimacy.
RIPLEY: And now, they're getting it, says author and journalist, Mike Chinoy. He's traveled to North Korea 17 times and covered the nuclear
talks 24 years ago. Chinoy says the North Koreans are notoriously tough negotiators.
CHINOY: There is no question in my mind that Kim Jong-un is going into the summit far better prepared than Donald Trump. People underestimate Kim
Jong-un and the North Koreans at their parallel. He's a very savvy trued operator. Trump, in comparison, seems to act on impulse. He seems to have
very little appreciation of the history here with North Korea, very little understanding of the nuances and the subtleties.
MIKE POMPEO, CIA DIRECTOR: I'm optimistic that the United States government can accept the conditions for that appropriately.
RIPLEY: The chances for the first ever summit between a North Korean leader and U.S. president seem to get a whole lot better Tuesday when news
broke that CIA director and secretary of state nominee, Mike Pompeo made a secret trip to Pyongyang. An administration official familiar with the
meeting tell CNN, Kim Jong-un was personable and well-prepared.
But the main sticking point continues to be finding a site for the summit. First, a meeting next week at the Korean demilitarized zone between Kim and
South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It appears the North maybe looking to change its fundamental relationship with the United States for the ultimate objective
of survival.
RIPLEY: Kim, with the Korean Peninsula future forum says the Korean summit will set the tone for talks for the U.S. She says the stakes are highest
for Washington and Seoul.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think the North has anything to lose, really, if the two summits fail. Because for Pyongyang, they can just go about
their way and continue on its path towards refining and further developing its nuclear and missile capability.
RIPLEY: Most analyst say it's extremely unlikely Kim would even consider abandoning the missile program that's gotten into this point, unless there
is substantial incentives to do so, finding the right feel for the right price will put Trump's dealmaker image to the test. But Kim's image is
already improving, experts say with leaders lining up to sit down with the man many once ridiculed as the ruler of a global pariah.
Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: President Trump's North Korea policy is certainly unconventional. It's veering for an all-out threats to playing nice and setting up talks.
Here to discuss all this is Bill Richardson. The former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., a former governor of New Mexico and also obviously an envoy to
the Korea. He's live in Washington for us this hour.
What do you make then of the secret trip by the CIA chief to North Korea to set up this summit?
BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO: Well, it sends several messages, one, that Kim Jong-un
directly is charge of this negotiation, not moving it to his subordinates. Secondly, that the summit is going to happen. That is good news in my
judgment. Third, that the intelligence channel between the U.S. and North Korea is the one that set this meeting up because Pompeo, former -- well,
current CIA director is leading the negotiations, but then he's moving to become secretary of state. So a positive development. Kim Jong-un is in
charge. It shows, and secondly, he's changing. He's got a plan. He's got an endgame. And I think he deserves some credit. He's no longer a pariah.
[15:35:33] GORANI: But why do you think this changed? Just a few months ago, Kim Jong-un was threatening U.S. territory, threatening to strike
Guam. They were flying missiles basically meters away from the Japanese coastline. Now, he's going to meet the president of the United States face
to face. How did this happen?
RICHARDSON: Well, I think he's had an endgame. One, he wants sanctions lifted or reduced. Secondly, he doesn't want to get knocked up. And
there's always been that threat in his mind. Third, I think he wants that mutual respect with the United States. It wants to say. We're the big boys
in the region. We'll make a deal, the U.S., North Korea, not China, not South Korea, not Japan. And I think that's his objective. The North Koran
leaders, over the years, have wanted that primacy in the region. And because he has his nuclear weapons, he's got maybe 40. He's got missiles.
He feels this is the time to negotiate when his leverage is the strongest.
The one danger I see is -- and I commend the administration for the movement right now is to say there's got to be denuclearization. Well,
North Korea is not going to give up their nuclear weapons. They may reduce some. They may curve their use. There may be limits. But let's be
careful. I think that's the message. But let's be prepared and the president should be prepared.
GORANI: That was going to be precisely -- it was going to be precisely my follow-up, because Mike Pompeo went to North Korea. He met with Kim Jong-
un, they're setting up this summit. They're giving Kim Jong-un what he wants which is legitimacy and that face to face meeting with the U.S. What
is the U.S. greeting in return there? Been no precondition set. There's no promise of denuclearization. There's still three U.S. citizens held in
North Korea. No word on whether or not, North Korea will release them.
There is a danger here that North Korea will get most of what it wants and the U.S. not much of what it wants.
RICHARDSON: Well, it remains to be seen what happens at the summit. This is why it's important not to raise expectations. But the summit would be a
success if we get North Korea at a curb the use of their nuclear weapons. If they stop their missile research that eventually hits the U.S. with a
warhead. If we get the remains of some of our soldiers from the Korean War. If we get the three Americans back. If they stop pointing their
artillery at South Korea.
South Korea and Japan, they're huge here. We want to protect them. We want tensions to lessen and this is what I think this summit can do,
because things could have gotten worse until the announcement of the president and the North Korean leader meeting and South Korea deserves
credit for the summit, for paving the way with their upcoming summit that they're having. So, you know, a lot of good movement after years and years
of disastrous missile shots and tension and people in the Asian peninsula scared to death.
GORANI: Am I hearing you give credit to Donald Trump here? What is it that he's done that other presidents before him haven't been able to
achieve?
RICHARDSON: Well, you know, I'm a critic of the president's foreign policy. I don't like his direction America first, his isolationist. But
I'm going to give him credit and his administration for this opening with North Korea, the sanctions, the meeting with Kim Jong-un, he's tempered his
tweets. They're not as -- I get up every morning worried that the tweets going to spoil everything with the summit. But you've got the president of
Japan, the prime minister in Florida. Thing are good in the region, people are hopeful.
And Kim Jong-un, if he is going to become a member of the international community, he's got to prove it at this summit. So he has a lot at stake
and this is why I think he met with Pompeo. He never meets with anybody, except sometimes Dennis Rodman. Btu now he's met with the Chinese, the
South Koreans, and now the CIA director who probably become secretary of state and is direction the negotiations with North Korea, through the state
department as it should be.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Bill Richardson. As always, pleasure having you on the program.
Back to France, it's been hailed as a medical first. A French man has now become the first person to receive not one but two face transplants.
Jerome Hamon and his first procedure eight years ago. His body eventually rejected the donor face. Doctors removed it a year -- last year, he lived
for three months with no face before his second transplant. Despite all of this, Hamon has managed to keep his sense of humor. Here he is on French
television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:40:27] JEROME HAMON, THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE TWO FACE TRANSPLANTS (through translator): I am 43 years old. The donor was 22 years old,
which makes me 20 years younger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So you have the face of a 60 year old, now the face of a 23-year- old. That's remarkable medical feat. It was carried out by the staff at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital here in Paris led by surgeon,
Laurent Lantieri who joins me live tonight.
Well, thanks for being with us. Two face transplants on the same man. This is the first time this has happened?
LAURENT LANTIERI, FRENCH SURGEON: It is. It is.
GORANI: You rejected his first face and then you --
LANTIERI: He rejected the face. This is what we call chronic rejection which is something that happens in most organs. The lifespan of a kidney
transplant is 14 years. So we didn't know what was it for a face and we were frightened in the field of this -- new field of face transplant that
sometimes, we have some chronic rejection. That's what happened eight years after the first transplant.
GORANI: Now, if I -- we could see this image full. I'm just talking to our gallery here, because this man suffers from a condition that leads to
the deformation of his facial features.
LANTIERI: Yes. He had what we called neurofibromatosis which people thought that's elephant man neurofibromatosis, but he didn't have -- it's
not a syndrome, which case deformation in rare cases and he had this deformation of the -- his face was literally melting years after years. So
he needed this first transplant which was which I would say was what's giving him life and quality of life.
GORANI: And then he got the transplant, but you can tell from the second photo that it's the face of an older man that was fit in 60 years old.
LANTIERI: The second -- the first transplant was the donor was 62 years old and the second transplant was 22 years old. So there's a great
difference. We don't know if it's act for the chronic rejection or not. Anyhow, even with this old face, he had a perfect quality of life who has
firmly integrated. He could work. He was - he was happy with the new face. And it's only about one year ago that he started to have the
deformation and the necrosis of his face.
GORANI: And why was that? Because I read it could have been -- did it have something to do with medication he took --
LANTIERI: Yes. He took an antibiotic which was given by GP (ph), which was not the right antibiotic. He didn't know he shouldn't take it. And it
started to modify his (INAUDIBLE) the drugs he needs for to avoid a rejection. And that's what the (INAUDIBLE) for many months. We tried to
push back the disaster that we had to face and we had to remove the face in mid-November.
GORANI: What's interesting is when I've seen previous face transplant patient, the features end up becoming half their own and sort of half the
donors. Psychologically, I wonder, this is a man who in his life has had three faces in this face of 10 years. How do you psychologically deal with
that?
LANTIERI: I don't know. I've never had three faces. So it's a bit difficult.
GORANI: I know. But you now intimately when you perform the surgery.
LANTIERI: He's very -- he has a tremendous transplant and his mind is incredible. It was his choice to go to this -- first experimental
procedure one we started the program many years ago. It was his choice, but he says that even with another face, it's still his face, he's still
himself. In French, we have two words. We have la face, the face which is the typical face what we transplant. And we have (INAUDIBLE) which is the
personality. And we transplant la face, the face, the anatomy but we did not transplant the personality.
GORANI: Of course.
LANTIERI: it's not face off.
GORANI: Yes. What I noticed is that he -- his speech was more natural and he had more mobility with the first transplant. Is that because the second
transplant has not had time to attach itself to the facial muscle?
LANTIERI: There are several steps. First, we hook the vessels and we hook all to the nerves. But the nerves would have to grow. The nerve is like
an electric wire, you have the cable inside and it goes into the extremities. The grow one millimeter per day. So when we hook it just
under at the ear, to some bad side under the ear so it goes all the way and it takes about six months before we will start to have some animation in
the face.
[15:45:01] GORANI: We're seeing an image there of the surgery which is a still image. So in six months, you hope that the mobility around the check
area, the speech will be more natural.
LANTIERI: Yes.
GORANI: But one thing that I found incredible -- and as I said, we've covered this story before. There was one done at the Mayo Clinic of a man
who received the face transplant and actually it had taken very, very well. You could almost not even tell that there was a transplant is that you need
very strong patients, right? Mentally. Because it's not just that you have to recover physically, you have to also be okay with not having -- yet
he spent three months in the hospital without a face.
LANTIERI: Well, that's different from the other cases. The other cases -- they had faces which are destroyed, but they still have faces. At one step
with Jerome, we had to remove completely the face. It was like walking dead. This was nothing, just the eye and no ears, no lips, no nose. He
had (INAUDIBLE) he had gastrostomy to be feed. He could not speak, he could not listen to anything. It was very, very difficult. Something --
GORANI: Well, we're keeping our fingers crossed. You're hopeful. I know. Dr. Laurent Lantieri, the surgeon who led this team. Thank you so much for
joining us on CNN.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: For decades, our colleague and friend Richard Blystone brought the world to us, whether it was the gulf war or the slaughter in Rwanda, his
storytelling and his rating drew us in and made us pay attention. And that is always the greatest legacy our journalist can wave. Richard died
yesterday at 81. Christiane Amanpour remembers a CNN original.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD BLYSTONE, FORMER ASSOCIATED PRESS AND CNN CORRESPONDENT: If hell had a national park, it would look like this.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND HOST: From the burning oilfields of Kuwait, this is the killing fields of Cambodia.
It's the narrative of news had a poet laureate, it was this man, Richard Blystone. Words seem small for a person who loom so large.
BLYSTONE: So we flew over in oceans of civil war and we came down and we walk through islands of misery.
AMANPOUR: Who always had the right turn of phrase to explain the unfathomable.
BLYSTONE: The sharp angles of the starving reflect the implacable geometry of their predicament. They tether on the knife's edge of survival. It
does not take much to tip the balance.
AMANPOUR: To make the seemingly Monday meaningful.
BLYSTONE: The conformity, the blind obedient, the numbing routine, the regulation, the herd mentality, the barrier shackles of feathers and curbs.
The obliteration of individuality what a neat symbol of life and work under communism just find yourself a bottling plant.
[15:50:07] AMANPOUR: And to make the apparently insignificant consequential.
BLYSTONE: A long way from Berlin no John F. Kennedy would come to this wall to boost spirits by declaring (INAUDIBLE)
AMANPOUR: Elmira, New York was where Blystone started his life. The Associated Press is where he started his journalism career. Reporting the
civil rights movement and later the war in Vietnam and it's there he started his family. Risking his own life to save someone else's when he
rescued AP's Cambodian newsman Chaay Born Lay along with his wife and children.
BLYSTONE: When this cast was filled when Jimmy carter was president of the United States --
AMANPOUR: Blystone joined CNN in 1980 just before this pioneering network went on to the air, becoming one of the so-called Originals. A true
original who witnesses seismic event at the end of the millennium and showed us what most couldn't see and stood up to men others feared.
BLYSTONE: Can I go a little farther with this, Mr. President? You have seen the magazine covers. No doubt which say beast of Baghdad or butcher
of Baghdad.
AMANPOUR: The best of colleagues, Richard was wedded to the truth and he knew how to find it in everyone.
BLYSTONE: And (INAUDIBLE) knows not only the thrill of catching something, but the pleasure of setting something free. Freedom of thoughts, freedom
of speech, freedom of worship. Does the freedom to go down to the river and fish rank with those? Well, maybe it does.
AMANPOUR: Following the collapse of communism, he travelled thousands of miles along the old iron curtain.
BLYSTONE: The iron curtain (INAUDIBLE) had it right, not only it was meant to keep the Germans from one another, but to blind them from what was going
on with one another.
AMANPOUR: Not afraid to slay the fool or show the foolish side of the world.
BLYSTONE: I got the shop right here, the bed is all revere. And they would all (INAUDIBLE) can't do. Can't do. The law says the shop can't do.
AMANPOUR: And remembering those who should never be forgotten.
BLYSTONE: All in perfection's past, they march now in thoughtless order. Keeping the hard one heights over Omaha beach. A field of pattern weaving
their many origins into their common destiny. A field that was then so far from tranquil, 9,000 Americans have earned a place they rest, but their
(INAUDIBLE) would be sterile as stone. If it didn't belong as well to all who come or had led here (INAUDIBLE) of what it was like a grass of what it
was for. For the dead are all one nation. A sinister place of prying eyes now --
AMANPOUR: CNN's own poet laureate leaves a world of morning friends, followers, and colleagues, but we will always have his words.
BLYSTONE: My side (INAUDIBLE) your side is in Bavaria. Walls crumble and fall, bureaucracy is forever. Richard Blystone, CNN, Moedlareuth, Germany.
Beirut, Paris, Lochaber, Amsterdam (INAUDIBLE) Iran, Leone (INAUDIBLE) Iran, Northern Iraq, Kuwait, West Germany, East Germany, Elton, England,
Loch Ness, Wales, Belfast, Dublin (INAUDIBLE) Tuzla Air Base (INAUDIBLE) in Malta, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Richard Blystone, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And we'll be right back live from Paris. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:49] GORANI: Now, for the British monarch, it is sad news. Queen Elizabeth has lost the last descendant of her original corgi. It's the
first time since her 18th birthday that the queen is without a dog from that leakage. Here's Michael Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a sad milestone for Britain's queen to British media reporting that her last corgi, Willow has died,
ending several generations of the breed that has become a royal staples. Queen Elizabeth is believed to have felt upon this for Corgi (INAUDIBLE)
developing an attachment to her father's part which inspired a lifelong love for the breed. For decades, since corgis have appeared in family
photos, casual outings and trips, even at some political meetings and one reception for winners of the World Cup. Corgi's in prominent royal statues
and formal photos and of course, the newest addition to the royal family had to win over the queen's beloved K-9s.
HENRY CHARLES ALBERT DAVID, PRINCE OF WALES: (INAUDIBLE) absolutely nothing.
MEGHAN MARKLE, PARTNER OF PRINCE HARRY: Just laying on my feet during sleep.
HOLMES: Before her passing, 14-year-old Willow had quite a bit of the spotlight, featuring in a photo with the queen on the cover of Vanity Fair
in 2016 and making a cameo appearance beside James Bond actor, Daniel Craig for a sketch in the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony.
Willow was the last generation of corgi since the queen reportedly decided not to continue breeding them. There are other pups that remain royal
residence, but the full bred royal corgi have seen the last of its kind and the Britain's queen.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani, stay with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
