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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Americans Freed from North Korea Back in U.S.; Obama On His Way to Asia

Aired November 9, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. So glad to have you company. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell. It is 8:00 and it's terrific to be with you.

Let's begin with really good news. The story of two American detainees released by North Korea. This morning, they are waking up on U.S. soil.

PAUL: Yes, there were smiles. There was a lot of joy, a lot of hugs.

These are the first pictures that you are seeing here that we're getting of Kenneth Bae and Todd Miller as they stepped off that plane in Washington state a few hours ago. They both had been detained in North Korea after being convicted of crimes against state and they were sentenced to several years of hard labor.

CNN's Ana Cabrera is live in Tacoma, Washington.

And, you know, we're seeing it through the screen, Ana, but you saw it person to person, so to speak. Help us understand what it was like in that regard.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was really -- it was really an emotional moment. We saw a lot of joy, so much gratitude expressed as those two men, 46-year-old Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller stepped off that airplane and into the arms of their loved ones. This moment that they had been anticipating for months and even years, in the case of Kenneth Bae, of course. He had been in prison for two years in North Korea. In fact, it was two years this week. And then, Matthew Miller, he was detained back in April. So, he had been detained for about seven months.

Both men had been convicted of hostile acts against the government of North Korea. They were both sentenced for hard labor and we understand that one of them was supposed to get 15 years, of course Kenneth Bae. And then Matthew Miller was to serve a six-year sentence. He had just begun his sentence when they mysteriously were released -- a lot of questions still surrounding their release. But, of course, everybody is grateful that they are now home.

I want you to listen to what Kenneth Bae had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH BAE, RELEASED FROM NORTH KOREA: Thank you all for supporting me and standing by me during this time. And it's been just amazing blessing to see so many people being involved, getting me released from the last two years, not to mention, only mentioning for thousands of people that have been praying for me as well. I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and lifting me up and not forgetting me.

It's been amazing two years. I learned a lot. I grew a lot, lost a lot of weight. Good weight. I stand strong because of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: It was just so great to hear his strong words, his spirit and he even cracked a little joke there about losing weight in a good way. We also heard from Kenneth Bae's sister, Terri Chung, who, of course, has been on our air, on CNN multiple times over the last couple of years as really the family spokesperson on behalf of her brother, working so hard and tirelessly to secure his release.

Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRI CHUNG, KENNETH BAE'S SISTER: We're finally here. My brother is home. All of our hopes and prayers for this moment have finally come true. We are so thankful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: She went on to thank a whole list of people and communities and everybody that they could really think of. And ask for continued prayers for people of North Korea.

The family we did not hear from was of course Matthew Miller's family who were also there at this airfield as they greeted both men coming off the plane and they chose to have their private moment as a family. They are from California. It's unclear at this moment what their plans are today.

But as we heard from a U.S. official both men are free and really free to do as they wish -- Martin and Christi.

PAUL: All righty. It's something else. Ana Cabrera, thank you so much.

SAVIDGE: Really was amazing to watch. The release of Bae and Miller come a less after Jeffrey Fowle was released.

PAUL: And that's what a lot of people asking, what's the significance of this happening right now?

Well, CNN's Paula Hancocks has more for us from Seoul, South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A top secret mission in the dead of night. The top spy chief for the United States arrives in Pyongyang, carrying a letter from the U.S. president. He leaves one day letter with two former prisoners. No conditions and no strings attached according to the U.S. so why this sudden humanitarian gesture from North Korea?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Clearly, they crave having this high level attention so, obviously, they are pleased that General Clapper came.

HANCOCKS: Another suggestion Kim Jong-un wants to show he's still in charge after disappearing for six weeks recently, he's back in the spotlight, limping but without the cane.

Other experts believe Pyongyang's recent charm offensive, including a high-profile visit to Seoul, technically enemy territory is a PR exercise to improve its image. The trigger: the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on human abuses in North Korea, abuses the report termed crimes against humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had to basically showed a lighter side, a more human side to the international community, because although there could be legal sanctions or even International Criminal Court proceedings against North Korea, North Korea is also very much conscious of its reputation.

HANCOCKS: The release of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller comes more than two weeks after a third U.S. citizen, Jeffrey Fowle, won his freedom. No U.S. citizens remain in North Korean captivity.

(on camera): Two things are certain. This decision came from the top and it was made for a reason. Pyongyang released a statement claiming that the U.S. president had made many requests and also an apology.

Now, if that's the case, this domestically is propaganda gold for a leader who wants to remain and show that he's relevant on the international stage.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: OK. So, now we're joined by Forbes.com columnist, Gordon Chang. He's also the author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World." He's live in Toronto.

PAUL: Gordon, thank you so much for being with us. You heard Paula Hancocks reporting. No conditions, no strings attached, according to U.S. officials.

And I heard you earlier say that you think right now, there's a charm offensive. That might have been part of the motive for North Korea here to release these two men.

Charm who? Elaborate on that for us.

GORDON CHANG, FORBES.COM: Yes. North Korea wants to charm the international community specifically Russia, Japan, South Korea and now us. The reason is about a year ago, there was a rupture in their relations with their primary backer, which was China. So, North Korea needs to replace the support that it's been getting from Beijing and where better else than the United States.

SAVIDGE: You know, this place is so mysterious. I'm talking about North Korea and Kim Jong-un disappeared for a while, now, he's back, you get this release. Could any of his disappearance and the release now be related?

CHANG: You know, I'm sure they are related it's just that outside of a very small circle in Pyongyang we don't know. But I actually think that Kim Jong-un has lost power since he's been in office after taking over from the death of his dad in December of 2011. I think you have new players on the scene in Pyongyang and they are pushing the country in better directions.

Now, I don't know how substantial this will be, now enduring this will be, but nonetheless we do see an opening. So this is intriguing. North Korea is doing things it hasn't done before -- releasing people without getting anything in return. I think that that's very significant.

PAUL: You know, they still have a pretty dismal human rights policy. They are still building, as far as we know, their nuclear arsenal. Do you expect any changes in regards to those, two pretty controversial topics?

CHANG: Well, certainly with their nuclear program, we're not going to see any change. They are full steam ahead -- not only developing plutonium and uranium bombs but long range ballistic missiles to deliver them.

And a report from the general who is command of U.S. forces in Korea, had said that the North Koreans can miniaturize their nuclear weapons.

You know, other human rights record, we might see some, a little bit of improvement because they don't want to be referred to the international criminal court but apart from that, the regime is not going to change because it can't change. Especially can't change now when you have a young inexperienced leader who is very insecure.

SAVIDGE: All right. Well, we will all be watching very carefully to see if this glimmer of hope turns into something more substantial.

Gordon, thank you very much for your insights.

PAUL: Thank you, sir.

CHANG: Thank you.

PAUL: President Obama meanwhile -- this is certainly interesting timing, isn't it? He's headed to Asia. We're going to take a look at how crucial this trip is to the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, President Obama is on a plane this morning headed to Asia for a week-long trip. He boarded Air Force One earlier today. He took off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

SAVIDGE: The president's first stop is Beijing. That's for the APEC Summit. That will take place tomorrow. Excuse me.

Then, he'll head to Myanmar. That will be Wednesday morning. Friday, he will -- Friday evening, I guess, he'll be in Brisbane, Australia, for the G-20 Summit.

We want to bring in Douglas Brinkley. He's a historian at Rice University and he joins us now from Austin, Texas.

Good morning to you.

Let me -- let's talk about the importance of this trip starting with the first stop China. Things have been tense recently. What do we expect from that visit?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, RICE UNIVERSITY: Well, tense to put it mildly. Well, this is not going to be a historic trip. This is a Richard Nixon going to meet Chiang Kai-shek or Mao Zedong, or Jimmy Carter with Deng Xiaoping. I mean, you're really looking here now try to get China to cooperate with us on a few things like fighting Ebola, China saying they are going to build a hospital in Liberia, which is good news. So, some things on the medical front and dealing with climate change, you know, issues.

So maybe the president can have private talks that will lead to something but I'm not at all hopeful we'll get much out of this trip.

PAUL: Douglas, I don't think anybody can dismiss the fact that the timing is very interesting, that he's going Asia and have these conversations. North Korea, most likely, is going to be on this agenda and this coming right after the release of these two Americans. What do you make of that?

BRINKLEY: Well, that's a good point. I think they might be able to talk about North Korea and get some things done. It looks like the president has a minor foreign policy success right now with the prisoner release and so, perhaps you're going to be able to find a way to get the North Korea situation bogged down a little bit.

China showed some interest in keeping North Korea, you know, kind of a little calmer and not being a rogue player on the world stage. So, I'm sure that will come up in the talks too.

What's most alarming China is that already dissing President Obama before he even arrives there. This is a bit of an aberrant and unusual behavior and there's more tension on cyber issues, for example, might being able to talk about, copyright issues.

It is an important trip but I just think the agenda is going to be very crowded with other world leaders there and I just don't know how much one on one time the president is going to get with China's leadership.

SAVIDGE: Yes, some may be due to the Democratic, I guess the setback that they suffered in the election and lame duck president could be viewed that way.

But let me ask you about President Obama, Brisbane, and maybe the opportunity to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Do you think they will in some way actually come face to face?

BRINKLEY: I think so. I think right now you have to see Barack Obama has got to make foreign policy his hallmark. You know, you don't have to worry about Congress as much when you do it. We've got to get people to help us in the world fight terror.

Look at ISIS, what's going on in Iran. Mikhail Gorbachev yesterday said there's a new cold war amiss. Well, we don't need a new cold war. So, I think it's important that Obama and Putin try to at least to find some common ground and I think that will be occurring here in the next two years.

SAVIDGE: Yes, does seem like a new Cold War.

Douglas Brinkley, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

PAUL: Thank you, sir.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

PAUL: We want to get you caught up now on the morning read and talk about Iraq. U.S. airstrikes near Mosul targeted ISIS leaders, according to a spokesman for U.S. Central Command. War planes attacked a convoy in a series of strikes. It's not clear whether the group's top commander, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was in that convoy.

SAVIDGE: Germany today celebrating this -- the tearing down of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago today. During a ceremony a few hours ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel placed a flower in the segment of the wall that is being preserved. The fall of the wall, 1989 became a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War.

PAUL: And some icy weather. Oh, it's edging towards us, folks.

Jennifer Gray, how bad is it going to be?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes, it is coming for sure. We are seeing, already winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings already in place for folks in the northern plains and towards the Midwest. Minneapolis, you're included in this. In fact could see some of the greatest snowfall totals of this entire storm.

So, as this front moves down the South, we are going to see a swath of snowfall anywhere from Minneapolis, all the way through the Dakotas and back through Billings. Minneapolis could see eight to 12 inches and that's most likely going to be the trouble spot where the highest amounts are, the biggest city will be Minneapolis.

By the time it gets to Chicago, you should stay mainly dry. Maybe a little bit of rain and snow mix, but we are expecting Chicago to stay pretty dry and the points south as well. Temperatures look at this -- in the teens. You're not going to get above freezing for most of the week.

In Rapid City, Minneapolis, same for you. Temperatures will stay in the 20s and 30s and then Chicago not quite as chilly but temperatures don't get above freezing, maybe hitting hat freezing mark on Thursday. It's not going to impact places like Atlanta and the Northeast as much. We'll see temperatures fall just a bit.

This morning, though, chilly across much of the South even the Northeast, 47 in D.C., the same in New York, but these are the temperatures the next couple of days. Obviously, those areas to the north are going to be bitterly cold guys over the next couple of days.

PAUL: Ouch. All righty. Hey, Jennifer, thank you for the heads up.

GRAY: No problem.

SAVIDGE: Yes, much appreciated.

PAUL: You know, the president is ready to add to his team.

SAVIDGE: And he has a nominee for the next attorney general. Who is she and what are the chances of confirmation? That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: You know, all the news coming out of North Korea yesterday kind of overshadowed what is a pretty big deal. President Obama has nominated Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general and he called the Brooklyn attorney tough, fair and independent.

PAUL: Yes, Lynch promises, if confirmed, she is going to be all that and even more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: The Department of Justice is the only cabinet department named for an ideal and this is actually appropriate because our work is both aspirational and grounded in gritty reality. It's both ennobling and it's both profoundly challenging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, we want to bring in CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.

Candy, good to see you this morning. What do you think the president picked Loretta Lynch?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDEN: I think a couple of reasons. I think, first of all, she has been confirmed twice by the Senate. Now, very different position. She will still undergo some pretty rigorous questioning but she has been confirmed for previous positions by the Senate.

I think also this is -- she's not an insider-y person with President Obama. He's under fire right now for, you know, depending too much on an insular group. She doesn't have, you know, close ties with him particularly.

I think also that it's a signal the president wanted to send about the continuation of how they view Eric Holder's tenure, which is the fierce protection of civil rights and justice for all. I think that she certainly has a reputation for that, certainly has been a tough prosecutor. And so, I think there's also a message in what the message of the Justice Department is.

I think those three reasons, you know, particularly when we're coming up to Ferguson and what that grand jury may or may not do, and I think that, you know, it's just a strong signal.

SAVIDGE: Candy, real quick -- who are you going to have on the show? Big week, obviously. Tuesday had something to do with it.

CROWLEY: It is. We brought four members of the 2015 congressional class who were just elected, see what their questions are, what their hopes are. We're going pair them up with four members of one member of the Senate and three members of Congress who will be joining us to tell them what life is really like on Capitol Hill.

PAUL: Interesting.

All righty. Candy Crowley, we will be watching. Thank you so much.

SAVIDGE: Good to see you.

CROWLEY: Thank you.

PAUL: And stay here for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. It's at the top of the hour.

SAVIDGE: A woman battling cancer went from her chemo treatment to a country concert. And she got an unforgettable gift at that show. We have the video of that very emotional moment, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Welcome back. It is time for the good stuff.

PAUL: And you know it's got to involve Garth Brooks, right? Never fails. Good guy. Good stuff.

Garth Brooks fan got the surprise of her life on Friday after she held up a sign that caught the singer's eye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chemo this morning, Garth tonight enjoying "The Dance". That's one of my favorite songs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: (INAUDIBLE) is battling breast cancer, traveled all from Iowa to see his Minneapolis show. Brook Garth noticed her sign during a performance of "The Dance." That's when he had security pull Shaw (ph) up to the front of the stage so he could serenade her.

PAUL: Oh, can you imagine? He even gave her one of his guitars and a kiss, mind you. And a kiss.

We should point out, Brooks has a personal connection to the disease. His mother and sister both died from cancer. What a way to bring that together.

SAVIDGE: Garth Brooks is automatic. You associate that, he's such a great individual.

PAUL: He really is. Big, big heart that man.

So glad that you joined us. Make great memories today.

SAVIDGE: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts right now. Thanks for being with us.