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State of the Union
Interview With Presidential Candidate Julian Castro; Interview With Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Trump in North Korea. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired June 30, 2019 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:20]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Meet in the middle? President Trump and Kim Jong-un agree to restart nuclear talks after Trump becomes the first sitting president to enter North Korea.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stepping across that line was a great honor.
KEILAR: Is North Korea willing to negotiate on its nukes? We will have the latest from the region.
And getting along. President Trump overseas defies critics at home.
TRUMP: I get along with President Putin. I get along with Mohammed.
KEILAR: And restarts trade talks with China. How is the Trump doctrine working on the world stage?
2020 candidate presidential candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar is here to respond.
Plus, taking the torch? Democrats jockey for position after the first debates, as one debate standout fights off despicable attacks.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a fight before us.
KEILAR: And another breakout star seizes the conversation on immigration.
JULIAN CASTRO (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did my homework, and that clearly paid off.
KEILAR: 2020 presidential candidate and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro joins in moments.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Hello. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Jake Tapper in Washington, where the state of our union is reconsidering the use of Twitter as a diplomatic tool. We begin with breaking news out of North Korea, where President Trump
and Kim Jong-un have agreed to restart stalled talks over North Korea's nuclear program after President Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil.
President Trump then met with Chairman Kim for roughly 15 minutes, and emerged to say that negotiations between the two nations would begin again in two to three weeks.
This unprecedented meeting came after President Trump sent a tweet offering to meet with Kim just a day before he was set to visit the heavily fortified demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
And it quickly became more than the quick handshake that President Trump had proposed. President Trump did not detail any commitments or concessions from North Korea ahead of the upcoming talks, which last stalled in February, but the president appeared to be betting his personal relationship with Kim could achieve what former presidents had failed to accomplish.
For more, I want to bring in CNN international correspondent Will Ripley. He is in Seoul.
So, Will, this meeting and the way this came about is totally unprecedented.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is.
We have been whispering about the possibility of Trump and Kim meeting at the DMZ for a number of days, ever since we learned that he was going there.
But if you believe the president's and Kim Jong-un's version of events, this all began just over 24 hours ago with a tweet from the president inviting Chairman Kim to meet him for a handshake at the DMZ.
Kim says that tweet took him by surprise. His people called Trump's people. They got the wheels in motion. We noticed that the special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, was missing from last night's dinner at the Blue House here in Seoul.
We have now just learned, sources telling Barbara Starr, that, in fact, he was involved in secret talks at that very moment with North Korean officials. And when it seemed as if the North Koreans were really serious about making this happen, then they brought in more people, and then we -- somehow miraculously, during the overnight hours, the ingredients came together for the chaotic, at times, event that we saw unfold today, with the Secret Service and the North Korean bodyguards standing next to each other.
At one point, the press secretary got into a brawl with North Korean officials. But, at the end of the day, Trump and Kim made history. Trump walked over the military demarcation line, the first sitting U.S. president to do so. Then he had almost an hour of private talks with Kim Jong-un. They say they're going to restart stalled diplomacy. Will it actually lead to anything this time around? We certainly don't know.
But what we do know, this played on the strengths of both Trump and Kim, we both love photo-ops. They love moments. They love symbolism. And we got that in spades today -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Sure did. Will Ripley, thank you so much.
And for more on this breaking news, I want to bring in former Director of National Intelligence General James Clapper.
Do you think that this is a breakthrough?
JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, not really.
I think it's a great historic moment, almost to the day -- the 27th of July marks the 66th anniversary of the beginning of the armistice, and, as Will indicated, first time -- and you -- first time a sitting president ever set foot in North Korea.
But I think, when it comes to the hard business of negotiating here, I think that's another story. I know I personally don't believe the North Koreans have, long term, any intent to denuclearize. Why should they? It's their ticket to survival. And they're just not going to do that.
And, moreover, why should they do that, when they have watched our performance, where a future -- it was suggested them a future administration could abrogate an agreement, just as this administration has done with Iran?
[09:05:02]
KEILAR: And Fareed Zakaria is also with us.
This, Fareed, was off the cuff, to quote -- to quote the president. And it sure seemed that way, because you had senior officials who were scrambling.
Does this kind of method, while unprecedented, unusual, does it work?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I don't think one should instinctively be opposed to everything Donald Trump does.
And so, no, I think it could work. Presidents have been impulsive and instinctive. And sometimes those traits are useful.
The part that I worry about, other than the fact that there is a kind of high-wire act to this, because it's somewhat unscripted, is that President Trump has been consistently more eager to do this deal than the other side.
So, he has given away what were often regarded as rewards in return for pretty much nothing. So, the United States president meeting with the leader of North Korea was regarded as a plum prize that no administration had granted. The president gave that away.
The United States president visiting North Korea was regarded as a great prize. That was given away for pretty much nothing.
The reason this is important is, of course, North Korea is a rogue regime. It's a regime that has always searched for survival, respectability, legitimacy. And these are traits that the U.S. president can confer on North Korea.
And we had always taken the position that, in return, we wanted some steps towards denuclearization, towards a less aggressive policy. And, remember, this is the world's most repressive regime. It is still building and stockpiling nuclear weapons. It's temporarily stopped testing them. It is still firing ballistic missiles.
So the concessions that have been made so far have not really been reciprocated by North Korea. So, just from a fundamental point of bargaining, it doesn't seem like, so far, we have gotten a good deal, other than some great photo-ops.
And that's -- that's my real concern.
KEILAR: I want you to listen, Director Clapper, to something that President Trump said after this meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: President Obama wanted to meet, and Chairman Kim would not meet him. The Obama administration was begging for a meeting. They were begging for meetings constantly. And Chairman Kim would not meet with him.
And, for some reason, we have a certain chemistry or whatever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: I wish we'd had a split-screen with your face, because you had a very puzzled look as you listened to that.
What's your reaction?
(LAUGHTER)
CLAPPER: Well, I don't know where he's getting that.
In all the deliberations that I have participated in on North Korea during the Obama administration, I can recall no instance whatever where President Obama ever indicated any interest whatsoever in meeting with the -- Chairman Kim.
I just know -- that's news to me.
KEILAR: News to you.
All right, so, you know better, as well as anyone who's been involved in this space, the difficulties that talks with North Korea can lead to. The last summit failed.
Do you think -- I mean, to Fareed's point, you -- not shutting down the idea that this -- we don't know at this point, but do you think that things are at least headed in a better direction...
(CROSSTALK)
CLAPPER: Well, sure.
And, to Fareed's point, photo-ops at the DMZ are always better than the long-range missile tests or underground nuclear tests. That's a given.
I do think it would be useful, though, if we got down to some hard negotiation, like agreeing on what denuclearization actually means, and asking the North Koreans the question, what is it, it would take for you to feel sufficiently secure so that you don't need nuclear weapons?
And in the absence of knowing the answer to that question, I think it's very hard to set out a negotiating strategy.
KEILAR: One of the things that came out of this, Fareed, is, the president actually invited Kim Jong-un to Washington. Do you see this happening?
ZAKARIA: Well, with Donald Trump, anything is possible.
(LAUGHTER)
ZAKARIA: But, again, one would hope that the pattern this would take would be, you carefully try to work out some of the issues Jim Clapper was talking about at a level of deputies and undersecretaries of state and negotiators, and that the summit becomes the reward, becomes the capstone, not the stepping-stone, for a process.
Remember, Panmunjom, the place that they met, is the place where the armistice for the Korean War was negotiated. That armistice took almost three years. It took almost as long as the war itself. It took one year or more than one year to negotiate just the prisoners of war exchange.
So, the -- and during that entire process, the North Koreans then, as they are now, very tough, very shrewd negotiators.
So, I think that there's a danger here that the photo-op and the feel- good atmospherics kind of overshadow the fact these are very tough negotiators. They have a very different view of the world and view of their security than the United States does.
[09:10:02]
I would suspect a better strategy would be to get China involved, to get Russia involved, to put collective pressure, but also collective security guarantees to the -- to the North Koreans. But Donald Trump really wants to win this alone. He wants to come across as the guy who single-handedly swooped down and managed to save the world from a crisis that he largely pumped up earlier -- earlier in his administration.
So we're not going to get that. We're going to get this kind of very -- and there will be a circus-like atmosphere here. I think Jim Clapper is right. It is better this than missile tests and buildups.
But there is going to have to be hard work. There's going to be have to be long, hard negotiations, if this actually results in the denuclearization of North Korea.
The great danger, Brianna, that I think everyone is worried about is the Donald Trump is so eager for a deal that he will settle for half- a-loaf or even a quarter-of-a-loaf, which will leave North Korea with nuclear weapons.
KEILAR: Fareed, thank you so much.
General Clapper, thank you for being with us on this Sunday.
And, Fareed, you're going to have more on these developments coming up next hour on "GPS." We will be watching.
My next guest has said that, as president, she'd be willing to meet with Kim Jong-un.
I will be asking 2020 presidential candidate and Senator Amy Klobuchar for her response to President Trump's meeting with Chairman Kim. We will have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:22]
KEILAR: The president making history this morning, setting foot on North Korean soil and announcing that he and Kim Jong-un have agreed to restart nuclear talks.
Joining me now is 2020 presidential candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Thank you for coming on STATE OF THE UNION.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: So, after tweeting an invitation, the president had this meeting with Kim Jong-un. Just hours ago, they announced -- he announced that both sides have agreed to restart talks.
You have frequently criticized the president for diplomacy by tweet, but did it work in this case?
KLOBUCHAR: I don't think we know if it works until there's results.
And we have seen a history here, especially in this case, where Donald Trump announces these summits, and nothing really comes out of it.
Of course, as a country, we want this to work. We want to see a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a reduction in these missiles. But it is not as easy as just going and bringing a hot dish over the fence to the dictator next door.
This is a ruthless dictator. And, when you go forward, you have to have clear focus and a clear mission and clear goals. And that has been our problem so far. The president will meet with him. That is fine. It is always good to talk to people when you're dealing with something so important as nuclear weapons.
But then we have no clear path and nothing comes out of it. And so I hope that will change. I would think working with our allies would make it better. But let's be honest here. In May, they were launching missiles into the sea, in violation of a U.N. resolution. I mean, that just happened.
KEILAR: Kim Jong-un said that, after this meeting, it was a signal that these two leaders could meet -- quote -- "any time."
This perception that he has of an open channel, do you think that is a positive development? Does that serve what you were just discussing, the progress you're hoping for?
KLOBUCHAR: I think any discussions are helpful. I don't think that is bad on its own.
My problem is that this fits a pattern that we're seeing with this administration across the world. Toughness is just not saying things by tweet. Toughness is results and standing true to our country.
At this same G20 summit, the president was coddling again Vladimir Putin, making jokes about getting rid of journalists to a man who actually has been involved in -- with thugs who have killed and poisoned journalists and human rights activists.
He was again talking about -- making jokes about meddling in our election, when, in fact, they used a cyberattack, maybe not tanks or missiles, but Russia did that. And you have hundreds of thousands of Americans that have lost their lives fighting for our freedom to vote and our democracy, four little girls in a church in Birmingham killed at the height of civil rights movement, when, in fact, people were trying to stand up for our right to vote and other economic and racial justice concerns.
That is what this country has been about. We stand up for our rights. And so I think making jokes about it, it wasn't a joke. It is an attack. And that is what you saw throughout the G20, culminating in the U.S. being the only country of the 20 not to sign on to the international climate change agreement. Nineteen of them have.
So what I see is more and more erosion of our work with the rest of the world. It is fine that he wants to talk to Kim Jong-un on the phone. OK, fine. He wants to go meet with him. But you look at it overall, the withdrawal from the Iranian agreement,
the havoc that that has wrought, where we were 10 minutes away from potentially getting into a war, those are my concerns about the way he conducts foreign policy around the world.
KEILAR: You mentioned Russia. You also mentioned Russia when you tweeted your condemnation of the racist attacks against your colleague and fellow candidate Senator Kamala Harris.
You said: "We are better than this, Russia is not, and stand united against this type of vile behavior."
Are you saying that you believe Russia is responsible for this?
KLOBUCHAR: You know what? I have no idea who is responsible for it.
I just know they have messed around on the Internet many times with bots and other things, and there's been some connection to them way past the 2016 presidential election.
But I think the bigger point I was making, in light of President Trump's hanging out with Vladimir Putin again, is that we are a country that is supposed to be about the truth. We are a country that is supposed to be about a free democracy.
Russia is not that. They do not have free elections. They conduct propaganda campaigns in the United States and all over the world. We don't want to be part of that.
[09:20:10]
And it certainly explains to me, Brianna, why, just this last year, when we were trying to move our bipartisan bill for backup paper ballots across this country to protect our democracy, that I got gut- punched from the White House. They made calls. And they stopped it in its tracks, even though it would pass the Senate with overwhelming votes.
They don't want this free election. You can tell by every move they make and everything the president says.
KEILAR: Let's turn to immigration now.
This week, Congress passed a $4.6 billion package in humanitarian aid for the southern border. You, as many 2020 candidates, were not able to vote on that bill. You were at the debate. Do you support it?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, I would have much preferred the House version and continuing to negotiate. I think it is unfortunate it happened at the end. There were some really important requirements in that House version.
But it is important to get the aid right now to the border and to these kids. I was just at the Homestead detention facility last week in -- outside of Miami, stood on that ladder, looked down at that hot, baking concrete yard, was able to see the fact that you have got tents expanding facilities, thousands of kids that are housed. And this administration just continues the rhetoric.
I believe, Brianna, for the good of our country, for the good of our economy, that we need to move on comprehensive immigration reform. And while that debate was understandably focused on the horrific policies of the Trump administration at the border, one thing that wasn't discussed at all that I hope can be discussed at the CNN debate in July is some of the other immigration issues we are having.
We have hundreds of thousands of people that are here on temporary status that they are trying to deport, including people from Venezuela, the very country that the president claims that he wants to see regime change in.
You have got millions of dreamers, two million dreamers, that are here that want to stay in this country, that came through no fault of their own. And yet this administration once again stopped in its tracks a bipartisan policy to make sure that that would happen.
KEILAR: Is it fair to...
KLOBUCHAR: You don't have workers in our nursing homes.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Senator, is it fair to say...
KLOBUCHAR: Go ahead.
KEILAR: ... you -- that you would have supported it, then? Even though you would prefer the House bill, you would have supported this bill that doesn't have the additional protections for migrants?
KLOBUCHAR: I would have preferred to keep negotiating to see if we could get some of those provisions in. But I think, if anyone was...
KEILAR: But if it were binary, if that was your choice?
KLOBUCHAR: If anyone was the deciding vote, if you are the deciding vote on that, yes, I don't think you're going to deny that money for the border.
But a protest vote is a different thing. I don't think you can go in there and deny that money for the border, when you have seen what I have seen.
KEILAR: I want to ask you, because this was a big defeat for Speaker Pelosi, who is known for her ability to wrangle her caucus. She was not in this case.
You talk a lot about bridging Democrats and Republicans. As president, how would you do better here and bridge Democrats and Democrats?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, first of all, Speaker Pelosi has shown tremendous leadership. And you think of someone who has stood up to Donald Trump, with one flip of her sunglasses when she walked out of that White House, in many, many ways, in keeping our government funded, keeping some kind of stability, when the White House just keeps going from one chaotic mess to another.
The best example is when they shut down the government, and she ended up, along with Senator Schumer and the rest of us, getting the deal basically that we should have gotten before he shut the government down.
But I think one of the things that would have been helpful here, again, is just doing this earlier. There was another bill that maybe we would have had leverage on that we could have attached it to.
But I'm not criticizing her in any way, because I think she was simply standing up for trying to get a compromise, which is very, very difficult to do right now in this era of Donald Trump, who is not interested in reaching a compromise.
And that is one of the things that I wanted to point out in the debate, is that we are living at this moment of chaos, when we should be living with opportunity.
And he made a bunch of promises back in 2016. He made promises about bringing down pharmaceutical prices. No negotiation under Medicare. I lead that bill. He has not pushed for that, despite saying he was for it. And we have seen prices escalate for thousands of drugs, up double digits since he came in office.
Election night, he promised infrastructure. No movement on that. I have a plan to do that. It is right there on my Web site at AmyKlobuchar.com.
[09:25:01]
And he has moved us backwards, promised to make us safer by getting out of the Iranian deal. We are one month away from Iran upping and busting the caps for enriching uranium.
Time after time after time, he makes these promises to the American people, and, as I said in the debate, it is basically all foam and no beer.
KEILAR: Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for coming on STATE OF THE UNION.
KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: And my next guest was one of the breakout stars of the Democratic debates.
How did two nights of combative exchanges and attacks on the president shake up the Democratic field? We have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Brianna Keilar, in
for Jake Tapper.
2020 Democrats are back on the campaign trail this weekend, after the first round of highly anticipated and sometimes fiery presidential debates.
[09:30:00]
And for 2020 hopeful Julian Castro, that means drawing attention to the crisis at the border, after his breakout moment at the debate, when he sparred with Beto O'Rourke on immigration.
Joining me now from San Antonio is Democratic presidential candidate and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro.
Sir, thanks for being with us.
CASTRO: Great to be with you.
KEILAR: So, before we do get to immigration, I want to ask you about this historic meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un at the DMZ.
Is this, in your view, a positive step?
CASTRO: Well, look, I'm always for speaking to our adversaries, opening up diplomatic conversations.
The problem is that this president seems bent on approaching this very erratically, very haphazardly. As you know, Brianna, he did this at the last minute.
And the problem with that is that, to be effective, this usually goes the other way around. There is a lot of staff work that goes into preparing a meeting like this, so that concrete terms are on the table and you can get something out of the meeting.
They had the first summit, the Singapore summit, I guess just over a year ago, and North Korea has not abided by what it promised at that summit, which was to produce an inventory of their weapons stockpile, so that there could be a baseline for further talks.
So I'm not quite sure why this president is so bent on elevating the profile of a dictator like Kim Jong-un, when Kim Jong-un has not lived up to his promise from the first summit.
It has been a failure so far. We can always, and I will be, hopeful that there is some progress that comes out of this. But, again...
KEILAR: Is restarting talks -- the president said that this is reopening discussion. Is -- is that not progress, in your view?
CASTRO: Well, usually, that reopening of discussion is done by lower- level staff. And the reason for that is that you want to work up toward an
agreement that the president can get, something that is concretely on the table. What it seems like is that, for the president, this is what he's about. It is all show. It's all symbolism. It is not substance.
And right after the Singapore summit a year ago, he told the American people -- and folks will remember this -- that North Korea was no longer a threat. But it turns out that then they did weapons testing after that.
So, there is a problem here. He keeps telling us one thing, but the realize is another. And haphazardly meeting with Kim Jong-un, raising his profile, strengthening him across the world, with nothing for the United States, that is a problem.
KEILAR: Now, the president says -- I want to talk to you about immigration right now.
The president is saying that he plans to start some raids next week on some migrant families who have been court-ordered to leave the country. There is Los Angeles and Chicago, who have said that they're going to direct their police departments to not assist ICE in rounding up immigrants.
Would you encourage police departments to follow suit in other cities?
CASTRO: Yes, I would, because I believe that local law enforcement should do its job, and federal law enforcement has its own job to do. So, I'm glad to see that Los Angeles and Chicago are doing that.
The other thing is, what is very clear is that this president likes to terrorize these immigrant families. He likes to scare them. He likes to use this issue as a political weapon to draw up fear and paranoia in his base. And he thinks that this is going to help him get reelected with a narrow Electoral College victory in 2020, the way he got in 2016.
And I draw a very, very straight line between these types of actions by the president, or at least the talk, the threat, and the proposal to have a citizenship question on the U.S. census. He wants to scare these immigrant families. He wants self-deportation. And he wants to chill the others from participating in American life.
The fact is that our immigrant community, whether documented or undocumented, add a lot to this country. They help us move forward. They don't deserve to be terrorized like this.
And last time, he all of a sudden said that he's going to postpone these raids. He talks so much, you don't know what to believe. And -- but I'm glad that Los Angeles and Chicago and other police departments are pushing back.
KEILAR: There have been some just despicable online racist attacks on your fellow candidate Senator Kamala Harris, including one that the president son's Donald Trump Jr. retweeted. What is your reaction?
CASTRO: That it's disgusting, that it has no place in our politics.
And this is the game that these folks play. They put something out there. You notice what he did. He tweeted it out and then he deleted it, like a coward, so he can say, oh, that was just a mistake.
[09:35:06]
But he knows what he's doing. He's giving voice to these racist utterances about Senator Harris.
We need to dispel them immediately and condemn them, and then not give them any more life, because they're disgusting.
KEILAR: I want to ask you about another one of your candidate -- fellow candidates, Beto O'Rourke. You criticized him for not supporting your push to decriminalize crossing the border.
Afterward, according to "The Texas Tribune," you said at a campaign event that, while you were previously written off as the -- quote -- "other Texan," you are now -- quote -- "the Texan" in this race.
Are you saying that the former congressman's campaign is effectively over?
CASTRO: No, of course -- you know, I have respect for Congressman O'Rourke. I was glad to support him when he ran against Senator Cruz. He and I get along well.
The disagreement that we had the other night was about policy. It wasn't personality.
And I'm glad that 13 other candidates now -- you may have seen, on the second night of the debate, they asked this question, who believes that we should repeal that law that I was talking about, Section 1325, the Immigration and Nationality Act?
And either eight or nine of the 10 people on the stage that night raised their hand. So, 13 other candidates have said, if we want to end family separation, the way to do that is to repeal that section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
And I have proposed that we do that. Congressman O'Rourke has refused to agree to that. So many people, a lot of immigration lawyers, have said we have to do that if we're going to be -- if we're going to effectively end family separation.
So this is about the people that are impacted by this. I was just at the Clint detention facility yesterday, where there have been reports of terrible living conditions, of children being mistreated, of all sorts of things that we cannot justify as Americans or human beings.
So, this is important to me. It is not about a personal difference. It is about the policy. KEILAR: All right, Secretary Castro, thank you so much for coming on.
CASTRO: Thank you.
KEILAR: President Trump just made history in North Korea this morning. We'll have more on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I actually stepped in with Chairman Kim, I stepped into North Korea. And they say -- and they say that's a very historic moment and I think it is a historic moment. And a very good moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: President Trump describing his historic meeting with Kim Jong-un. What should we make of this impromptu hour-long handshake summit. Let's discuss this with our experts here.
I want to ask you, first, David Urban and we have to disclose that you are a corporate lobbyist who has clients in the defense and energy industry.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We get in trouble. We always get in trouble. I get in trouble (INAUDIBLE).
KEILAR: So the last time that we saw President Trump and Kim claiming that both sides had overreached, so they were finger pointing, just because the talks are going to be reinstated what makes you think that this is going to be anything different?
URBAN: Look -- I mean, I think you saw Kim there saying, wow, I didn't expect this. I didn't expect you to come do this.
There is something to be said for that personal connection. And I think the people who say, oh, I've heard some of the previous guests say oh, there needs to be all this run-up, this work needs to be done, all these -- you know, these different meetings need to take place before the principals take place -- the meeting takes place, I think that is mistaken in this account.
This fact -- there are two people who are going to make a decision here about what gets done. And they both met today. I think, that is -- that is very important.
And so I think it is different because they both want something to happen, pretty quickly, and I think they both are very sensitive about the time. Look -- again, no one could predict the future. I think it's a great thing that it took place, but I think you had -- the last summit that didn't go so well and I think the North Koreans know what they need to do to make this next summit go well in terms of denuclearization.
KEILAR: Critics might say he was surprised because something was given to Kim without really him having to give anything back. I wonder, Bakari, in this historic moment though where this is the first time we've seen a sitting president go to North Korea and make this overture, if the president doesn't get some credit.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is a historic moment but it's a historic moment of theater, pure political theater. It's nothing more, nothing less. That does not advance the international interest of the United States or any other surrounding countries.
I mean, the fact is this, what we did was we validated a nuclearized North Korea. That is what we have. And the fact is that as David stated, the first summit, I think, the quote was it didn't go so well.
I don't know what we get out of doing this. And just to tie in the chunking of the Iranian nuclear agreement that we had, why would anyone agree to a long-term agreement with this president of the United States knowing that we have no continuity among administration.
And so my last point is one -- and this is more personalized but I was thinking about this morning as we're preparing about Otto -- Otto Warmbier's parents and how they have to feel about you going and actually legitimizing someone who is a terror and a -- he's a dictator.
And he's a dictator who kills his citizens. He's a dictator who kills his own family members who are members of his government and here we are legitimizing him.
I actually do agree with David on one small point because I know we're moving, that sometimes you have to take a different tact in dealing with foreign adversaries, this simply was not the right tact.
KEILAR: I want to talk now about candidates who are going into this week in a stronger position than they went into last week. Specifically Kamala Harris who -- Bakari, you support. That is important to note.
She's really taking a victory lap after this debate. She raked in more than $2 million in 24 hours and of course President Trump, he's not so impressed.
[09:45:06]
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I thought that she was given too much credit. He didn't do well, certainly. And maybe the facts weren't necessarily on his side.
I think she was given too much credit for what she did. It wasn't that outstanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Jess?
JESS MCINTOSH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: President Trump has a particularly difficult time with black women excelling. I think we saw Kamala Harris do that in the debate. It was kind of undeniable. That was why we saw the outpouring of support immediately after and that has got to get under his skin probably worse than any other candidate having a stand-out moment.
It is just not something that he's capable of handling in a mature way and I think frankly she probably scares him quite a bit. She's the one he doesn't have a nickname for. She's the one who -- I mean, watching her on that stage, it was so terribly obvious that she could go toe to toe with him in a debate.
I think it might even gotten through to him that she could be a threat to him. So I think we're going to see more of this attempt to undercut him as much as possible.
KEILAR: Should Kamala Harris scare Donald Trump?
MARY KATHARINE HAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, what I saw the other night is that she's very skilled at being aggressive and also being pretty likeable, which is a tough line to walk. And she saw where she could take shots and she took them.
So, I think, that's a skill that does work well against Trump. On the other hand when it came to the actual policy she got tripped up on this health care question again because she's sponsored something that eliminates basically all of private health insurance. She I raised her hand about it -- hold on.
SELLERS: It wasn't accurate. But OK.
HAM: She says supplemental but they're like -- they wouldn't actually add the supplemental --
(CROSSTALK)
SELLER: But she has actually -- she actually co-sponsored multiple bills but go ahead.
HAM: The point being she raised her hand on it and then had to backtrack and say, well, that is not actually what I said.
KEILAR: That I misheard the question basically.
HAM: And this is the second time on this specific issue she's done it so cleaning up that kind of mess is going to be important --
URBAN: So I will just say this. As long as we saw the same tone and tenure in those debates where everybody is trying to out-left each other -- right -- you heard -- you heard Mike Shields here on -- earlier today saying like, the middle -- the most -- middle America, they hear -- they listen to stuff and they're rolling their eyes going, what are you peopling talking about?
Like, this -- this Democratic field cannot get further to the left of one another. And as long as that occurs, there is nobody up there that's going to beat Donald Trump, I promise you that.
MCINTOSH: I just think we have this erroneous idea --
URBAN: I promise you that. I promise you.
MCINTOSH: This erroneous idea that some of these policies that are being perceived or portrayed in the media as are super lefty are actually enjoying really widespread -- 50 percent of --
URBAN: Listen, you're talking about eliminating insurance --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: -- eliminating insurance for all. Hold on, hold on. Let's just be -- let's be very factual.
(CROSSTALK)
MCINTOSH: No. Fifty percent -- 50 percent of Republicans are in favor of Medicare for all.
URBAN: Stop, stop. This is a network that believes in facts. Let's get rid of ICE. Let's have open borders.
MCINTOSH: That's OK.
URBAN: Let's have --
SELLERS: Nobody --
MCINTOSH: Nobody said that.
URBAN: Hold on, hold on --
SELLERS: But -- I mean, if you're going to spew right wing talking points then I have to correct you.
URBAN: No, no. This isn't right wing talking --
SELLERS: There is nobody --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: Medicare for all --
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: David, there is nobody --
URBAN: John Delaney -- SELLERS: There's nobody talking about --
URBAN: Craziness --
SELLERS: First of all when we talk about Medicare for all there is a role for supplemental insurance and most people --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: Not according to most of those candidates up there.
MCINTOSH: That's not true.
SELLERS: There are only two people who raised their hands who actually believe that and yes you were talking about Senator Harris having to go back and clean that up, or Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But the overwhelming majority of people want to have Medicare with some type of private insurance supplemental. Nobody is getting rid of that.
Second, for open borders, that is a crazy right-wing talking point --
URBAN: It's not a crazy right-wing talking point --
SELLERS: Because when Castro -- when Castro talks about that all you're doing is -- those people still have to be adjudicated you're just going through a civil process and you still get to be adjudicated, and criminals -- there are still crimes on the books to deal with those things.
So look --
MCINTOSH: Open borders would mean dismantling the security apparatus we currently have --
(CROSSTALK)
MCINTOSH: No one is calling for that.
KEILAR: Can I ask you, Barry (ph), as our resident -- Kamala -- Bakari, sorry. As our resident Kamala Harris surrogate here, is it a problem for her that she had to -- even if her explanation this time made some more sense, I think that she misheard the question, the issue is she's gone back and forth before.
SELLERS: Listen, I don't -- I don't disagree with anything that you all say. I think that the campaign realizes that and Senator Harris is brilliant enough to realize that on her own that as you move forward, this campaign is long. You have to tighten that up. You have to get better with your answers.
But even though people want to harp on the food fight moment that she had and the moment that she had with Joe Biden, I actually think the best moments that she had on stage were distinguishing her immigration policies with Joe Biden. Or just doing -- distinguishing her plan for middle class tax relief from Bernie Sanders. And lastly distinguishing her plan for gun rights with Elizabeth Warren.
So she was having these policy moments although people will glorify the moment she had with Biden.
URBAN: She was clearly the big winner in my opinion. Clearly the big winner.
SELLERS: And it's clear -- you guys are scared of her.
URBAN: Again, I'm not afraid of anybody as long as you guys continue to be crazy.
(CROSSTALK)
HAM: Let me add on -- to the crazy point. I think Democrats are in danger of thinking that because Trump doesn't -- this is a technical term, hide his crazy, they don't have to hide their crazy either. And if they do go too far left and in some cases admit -- yes, the point of the public option is to glide people on to government health care overall, then, yes, people are going to notice that.
[09:50:06]
SELLERS: To quote -- to quote a Democratic candidate, girlfriend, you are on.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Thank you, guys, so much.
The U.S. women's soccer team is celebrating a huge win. So why are some Trump supporters rooting against them?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: The U.S. women's national team is fighting to bring home another World Cup trophy. Just don't expect a victory lap to include a stop at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): For winning U.S. sports team a presidential congratulations is a time honored tradition. But with President Trump in the White House, some teams are cutting the victory lap short and blaming the president's divisive rhetoric.
[09:55:05]
MEGAN RAPINOE, CAPTAIN, U.S. SOCCER WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: I'm not going to the (EXPLETIVE) White House. No. I'm not going to the White House.
KEILAR: If the American women soccer team wins the World Cup co- captain Megan Rapinoe says she'd skip a White House visit.
RAPINOE: I would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending that platform or having that co-opted by an administration that doesn't feel the same way and doesn't fight for the same things that we fight for.
KEILAR: The president snapped back that Megan should win first before she talks though he said he would invite the team whether they win or lose. But President Trump has canceled visits in the past after some players criticized him over his stance on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
Here's basketball star LeBron James --
LEBRON JAMES, NBA SUPERSTAR: He has kind of used sport to kind of divide us.
KEILAR: -- and Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry.
STEPH CURRY, NBA SUPERSTAR: You're not going to celebrate, you know, the collective and the majority of Americans that live in this country, then I didn't want to go.
KEILAR: The president responded by retracting invites and canceled a planned visit by the Philadelphia Eagles after reports that many players wouldn't attend due to similar concerns.
TRUMP: My attitude, if they want to be here, it's the greatest place on earth, I'm here. If they don't want to be here, I don't want them.
KEILAR: But not all teams have stayed away. The president catered fast food burgers and fries for the Clemson Tigers' football team.
TRUMP: We have 300 hamburgers. Many, many French fries.
KEILAR: He congratulated successive Stanley Cup winners the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
TRUMP: It's called winning, right, Sidney? It's called winning.
KEILAR: And when the New England Patriots visited, one even considered taking a job behind the podium.
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think I've got this, but thank you. Maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like you.
SPICER: All right Thanks, man. I'll see you in a minute. All right. That was cool.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: President Trump making history in North Korea, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:41:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I actually stepped in with Chairman Kim, I stepped into North Korea. And they say -- and they say that's a very historic moment and I think it is a historic moment. And a very good moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: President Trump describing his historic meeting with Kim Jong-un. What should we make of this impromptu hour-long handshake summit. Let's discuss this with our experts here.
I want to ask you, first, David Urban and we have to disclose that you are a corporate lobbyist who has clients in the defense and energy industry.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We get in trouble. We always get in trouble. I get in trouble (INAUDIBLE).
KEILAR: So the last time that we saw President Trump and Kim claiming that both sides had overreached, so they were finger pointing, just because the talks are going to be reinstated what makes you think that this is going to be anything different?
URBAN: Look -- I mean, I think you saw Kim there saying, wow, I didn't expect this. I didn't expect you to come do this.
There is something to be said for that personal connection. And I think the people who say, oh, I've heard some of the previous guests say oh, there needs to be all this run-up, this work needs to be done, all these -- you know, these different meetings need to take place before the principals take place -- the meeting takes place, I think that is mistaken in this account.
This fact -- there are two people who are going to make a decision here about what gets done. And they both met today. I think, that is -- that is very important.
And so I think it is different because they both want something to happen, pretty quickly, and I think they both are very sensitive about the time. Look -- again, no one could predict the future. I think it's a great thing that it took place, but I think you had -- the last summit that didn't go so well and I think the North Koreans know what they need to do to make this next summit go well in terms of denuclearization.
KEILAR: Critics might say he was surprised because something was given to Kim without really him having to give anything back. I wonder, Bakari, in this historic moment though where this is the first time we've seen a sitting president go to North Korea and make this overture, if the president doesn't get some credit. BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is a historic moment but it's a historic moment of theater, pure political theater. It's nothing more, nothing less. That does not advance the international interest of the United States or any other surrounding countries.
I mean, the fact is this, what we did was we validated a nuclearized North Korea. That is what we have. And the fact is that as David stated, the first summit, I think, the quote was it didn't go so well.
I don't know what we get out of doing this. And just to tie in the chunking of the Iranian nuclear agreement that we had, why would anyone agree to a long-term agreement with this president of the United States knowing that we have no continuity among administration.
And so my last point is one -- and this is more personalized but I was thinking about this morning as we're preparing about Otto -- Otto Warmbier's parents and how they have to feel about you going and actually legitimizing someone who is a terror and a -- he's a dictator.
And he's a dictator who kills his citizens. He's a dictator who kills his own family members who are members of his government and here we are legitimizing him.
I actually do agree with David on one small point because I know we're moving, that sometimes you have to take a different tact in dealing with foreign adversaries, this simply was not the right tact.
KEILAR: I want to talk now about candidates who are going into this week in a stronger position than they went into last week. Specifically Kamala Harris who -- Bakari, you support. That is important to note.
She's really taking a victory lap after this debate. She raked in more than $2 million in 24 hours and of course President Trump, he's not so impressed.
[09:45:06]
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I thought that she was given too much credit. He didn't do well, certainly. And maybe the facts weren't necessarily on his side.
I think she was given too much credit for what she did. It wasn't that outstanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Jess?
JESS MCINTOSH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: President Trump has a particularly difficult time with black women excelling. I think we saw Kamala Harris do that in the debate. It was kind of undeniable. That was why we saw the outpouring of support immediately after and that has got to get under his skin probably worse than any other candidate having a stand-out moment.
It is just not something that he's capable of handling in a mature way and I think frankly she probably scares him quite a bit. She's the one he doesn't have a nickname for. She's the one who -- I mean, watching her on that stage, it was so terribly obvious that she could go toe to toe with him in a debate.
I think it might even gotten through to him that she could be a threat to him. So I think we're going to see more of this attempt to undercut him as much as possible.
KEILAR: Should Kamala Harris scare Donald Trump?
MARY KATHARINE HAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, what I saw the other night is that she's very skilled at being aggressive and also being pretty likeable, which is a tough line to walk. And she saw where she could take shots and she took them.
So, I think, that's a skill that does work well against Trump. On the other hand when it came to the actual policy she got tripped up on this health care question again because she's sponsored something that eliminates basically all of private health insurance. She I raised her hand about it -- hold on.
SELLERS: It wasn't accurate. But OK.
HAM: She says supplemental but they're like -- they wouldn't actually add the supplemental --
(CROSSTALK)
SELLER: But she has actually -- she actually co-sponsored multiple bills but go ahead.
HAM: The point being she raised her hand on it and then had to backtrack and say, well, that is not actually what I said.
KEILAR: That I misheard the question basically.
HAM: And this is the second time on this specific issue she's done it so cleaning up that kind of mess is going to be important --
URBAN: So I will just say this. As long as we saw the same tone and tenure in those debates where everybody is trying to out-left each other -- right -- you heard -- you heard Mike Shields here on -- earlier today saying like, the middle -- the most -- middle America, they hear -- they listen to stuff and they're rolling their eyes going, what are you peopling talking about?
Like, this -- this Democratic field cannot get further to the left of one another. And as long as that occurs, there is nobody up there that's going to beat Donald Trump, I promise you that.
MCINTOSH: I just think we have this erroneous idea -- URBAN: I promise you that. I promise you.
MCINTOSH: This erroneous idea that some of these policies that are being perceived or portrayed in the media as are super lefty are actually enjoying really widespread -- 50 percent of --
URBAN: Listen, you're talking about eliminating insurance --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: -- eliminating insurance for all. Hold on, hold on. Let's just be -- let's be very factual.
(CROSSTALK)
MCINTOSH: No. Fifty percent -- 50 percent of Republicans are in favor of Medicare for all.
URBAN: Stop, stop. This is a network that believes in facts. Let's get rid of ICE. Let's have open borders.
MCINTOSH: That's OK.
URBAN: Let's have --
SELLERS: Nobody --
MCINTOSH: Nobody said that.
URBAN: Hold on, hold on --
SELLERS: But -- I mean, if you're going to spew right wing talking points then I have to correct you.
URBAN: No, no. This isn't right wing talking --
SELLERS: There is nobody --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: Medicare for all --
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: David, there is nobody --
URBAN: John Delaney --
SELLERS: There's nobody talking about --
URBAN: Craziness --
SELLERS: First of all when we talk about Medicare for all there is a role for supplemental insurance and most people --
(CROSSTALK) URBAN: Not according to most of those candidates up there.
MCINTOSH: That's not true.
SELLERS: There are only two people who raised their hands who actually believe that and yes you were talking about Senator Harris having to go back and clean that up, or Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But the overwhelming majority of people want to have Medicare with some type of private insurance supplemental. Nobody is getting rid of that.
Second, for open borders, that is a crazy right-wing talking point --
URBAN: It's not a crazy right-wing talking point --
SELLERS: Because when Castro -- when Castro talks about that all you're doing is -- those people still have to be adjudicated you're just going through a civil process and you still get to be adjudicated, and criminals -- there are still crimes on the books to deal with those things.
So look --
MCINTOSH: Open borders would mean dismantling the security apparatus we currently have --
(CROSSTALK)
MCINTOSH: No one is calling for that.
KEILAR: Can I ask you, Barry (ph), as our resident -- Kamala -- Bakari, sorry. As our resident Kamala Harris surrogate here, is it a problem for her that she had to -- even if her explanation this time made some more sense, I think that she misheard the question, the issue is she's gone back and forth before.
SELLERS: Listen, I don't -- I don't disagree with anything that you all say. I think that the campaign realizes that and Senator Harris is brilliant enough to realize that on her own that as you move forward, this campaign is long. You have to tighten that up. You have to get better with your answers.
But even though people want to harp on the food fight moment that she had and the moment that she had with Joe Biden, I actually think the best moments that she had on stage were distinguishing her immigration policies with Joe Biden. Or just doing -- distinguishing her plan for middle class tax relief from Bernie Sanders. And lastly distinguishing her plan for gun rights with Elizabeth Warren.
So she was having these policy moments although people will glorify the moment she had with Biden.
URBAN: She was clearly the big winner in my opinion. Clearly the big winner.
SELLERS: And it's clear -- you guys are scared of her. URBAN: Again, I'm not afraid of anybody as long as you guys continue to be crazy.
(CROSSTALK)
HAM: Let me add on -- to the crazy point. I think Democrats are in danger of thinking that because Trump doesn't -- this is a technical term, hide his crazy, they don't have to hide their crazy either. And if they do go too far left and in some cases admit -- yes, the point of the public option is to glide people on to government health care overall, then, yes, people are going to notice that.
[09:50:06]
SELLERS: To quote -- to quote a Democratic candidate, girlfriend, you are on.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Thank you, guys, so much.
The U.S. women's soccer team is celebrating a huge win. So why are some Trump supporters rooting against them?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: The U.S. women's national team is fighting to bring home another World Cup trophy. Just don't expect a victory lap to include a stop at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): For winning U.S. sports team a presidential congratulations is a time honored tradition. But with President Trump in the White House, some teams are cutting the victory lap short and blaming the president's divisive rhetoric.
[09:55:05]
MEGAN RAPINOE, CAPTAIN, U.S. SOCCER WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: I'm not going to the (EXPLETIVE) White House. No. I'm not going to the White House.
KEILAR: If the American women soccer team wins the World Cup co- captain Megan Rapinoe says she'd skip a White House visit.
RAPINOE: I would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending that platform or having that co-opted by an administration that doesn't feel the same way and doesn't fight for the same things that we fight for.
KEILAR: The president snapped back that Megan should win first before she talks though he said he would invite the team whether they win or lose. But President Trump has canceled visits in the past after some players criticized him over his stance on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem. Here's basketball star LeBron James --
LEBRON JAMES, NBA SUPERSTAR: He has kind of used sport to kind of divide us.
KEILAR: -- and Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry.
STEPH CURRY, NBA SUPERSTAR: You're not going to celebrate, you know, the collective and the majority of Americans that live in this country, then I didn't want to go.
KEILAR: The president responded by retracting invites and canceled a planned visit by the Philadelphia Eagles after reports that many players wouldn't attend due to similar concerns.
TRUMP: My attitude, if they want to be here, it's the greatest place on earth, I'm here. If they don't want to be here, I don't want them.
KEILAR: But not all teams have stayed away. The president catered fast food burgers and fries for the Clemson Tigers' football team.
TRUMP: We have 300 hamburgers. Many, many French fries.
KEILAR: He congratulated successive Stanley Cup winners the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
TRUMP: It's called winning, right, Sidney? It's called winning.
KEILAR: And when the New England Patriots visited, one even considered taking a job behind the podium.
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think I've got this, but thank you. Maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like you.
SPICER: All right Thanks, man. I'll see you in a minute. All right. That was cool.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: President Trump making history in North Korea, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
_
