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North Korea Claims First Successful H-Bomb; Rubio Hits Obama Over North Korea; House GOP Lays Out 2016 Plans. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 6, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:01:24] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We begin this hour in Washington. House Speaker Paul Ryan just moments away from the start of his first weekly news conference of the year. We are expecting to hear Ryan push back on the president's newly announced gun proposals which Ryan called earlier, quote, "a dangerous level of executive overreach."

We're also watching for his reaction to North Korea's claim that it tested a hydrogen bomb. We'll have all of that for you as soon as it begins.

In less than one hour, the United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting about North Korea's shocking announcement. It says it has successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb. The claim was drawing condemnations from worried nations around the world and especially in the region. But in the so-called hermit nation, the news on state-run TV is cause to celebrate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): First H-bomb experience success. It really excites me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): I'm so happy when I heard the news coming out of that notice board. The whole workplace is firing up and the streets are flooring with the news of the new power. It's so satisfying and makes my heart happy. Makes me want to dance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is in Hong Kong with more.

Hello, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. That's right. When the world first found out about this when there was a seismic event that was registered this morning of 5.1. And within about an hour, North Korea began its triumphalist announcement that it had, in fact, carried out a nuclear test. And it accompanied that with photos of Kim Jong-Un dated back to December 15th in what North Korean state TV said was his written order to carry out what was being described and what is claimed to have been North Korea's first hydrogen bomb test.

It has been described as an H-bomb of justice with North Korea justifying this nuclear test by claiming it is an effort of self- defense against pressure and threats coming from the U.S. Now Pyongyang very much stands alone right now with countries -- governments all around the world condemning this action for ratcheting up nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula. Of course, U.S. allies like Japan, South Korea have come out with statements condemning this. Japan saying that it's put up two military planes to try to detect radioactive particles in the air to see whether, in fact, this was a hydrogen bomb test.

And then you also have China and Russia, rivals of the U.S., who have also come out and condemned North Korea for this action. All of them saying that they want the denuclearization of the very tense Korean peninsula -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ivan Watson reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

Well, the White House has seemingly blunted Iran's nuclear pursuit. It faces only defiance from North Korea. Pyongyang not only names the U.S. as a reason for its weapons program but has now conducted three of its four nuclear tests while President Obama has been in office.

Let's get more now from CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Good morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Right. The White House is echoing this international condemnation we are hearing. But this is very similar to the statements we hear every time North Korea escalates a situation or provokes its neighbors. And clearly all of the urging for it to back away from its nuclear program hasn't had much of an effect.

But the U.S. is saying, you know, it could take a couple of days to truly assess what exactly we're dealing with here. But in the meantime, the White House's National Security Council has put out a carefully worded statement.

[10:05:06] And this is the exact same statement that the State Department is using, saying, "We are monitoring and continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our regional partners. While we cannot confirm these claims at this time we condemn any violation of UNSC resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments.

"We will not accept it as a nuclear state. We'll continue to protect and defend our allies in the region including the Republic of Korea and we will respond appropriately to any and all North Korean provocations."

And again, pretty similar to what we heard just in September when North Korea restarted its plutonium reactor, garnering much the same condemnation from around the world. And back then Secretary of State Kerry said that there were going to be severe consequences if North Korea kept on with these provocations, and that seems to be the case now. But back then Kerry was asked well, what exactly are these severe consequences? What could the U.S. do that might be effective? And he acknowledged it's tough. I mean, you look at sanctions, it's going to probably take more than that just because North Korea doesn't have much of a real economy at all. So the U.S. continues to urge other countries like China to put the pressure on and work with allies in the region, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House.

In the race for the White House, the response from conservative contenders has been quick and fierce. Earlier this morning frontrunner Donald Trump argued it was China who needed to respond, not the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: China has total control, believe me, they say they don't. They have total control over North Korea. And China should solve that problem. And if they don't solve the problem, we should make trade very difficult for China because we are, believe it, we are holding China up. They're taking so much money. They're draining our country. And they're toying with us with North Korea. So North Korea is totally under the control, without China, they wouldn't eat. They wouldn't have food. They wouldn't have anything. So China should do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Those words from Donald Trump. Now a live look at Marco Rubio who's stumping in Iowa. A few hours ago, he lashed out at the president and the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in a series of tweets saying, quote, "If this test is confirmed, it will just be the latest example of the failed Obama-Clinton foreign policy."

Our senior political reporter Manu Raju is tracking the story from Marshalltown, Iowa.

Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Actually Marco Rubio just talked about this right now. He discussed how he believes Kim Jong-Un is a lunatic and how North Korea needs to be addressed aggressively. He thinks that this is an issue that differentiates him from his other Republican rivals in this race.

National security has been a centerpiece of his campaign. But he's not the only candidate who is trying to get a leg-up. Others are as well, Carly Fiorina addressed this on Facebook as well. This is what she had to say earlier today. She said, "Of course North Korea would conduct a nuclear test after watching Iran willfully violate an agreement they just made without consequence of any kind from this administration. North Korea is yet another Hillary Clinton foreign policy failure. America cannot lead from behind." So clearly each candidate believes they can get a leg-up on this issue

if they try to espouse a more hawkish foreign policy view, and clearly that is what Marco Rubio is doing right now here in Marshalltown. We'll see if it works, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju reporting live from Iowa this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, birther deja vu? Trump says Cruz could have a big problem when it comes to his Canadian roots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:12:12] COSTELLO: With just weeks until the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump appearing to launch a new birther attack. This time aimed at rival Ted Cruz, questioning the Texas senator's Canadian birth. Cruz is hitting back, though.

CNN's Athena Jones has how. Hi, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This birther issue really seems to be one of the issues that Trump likes to bring up the most. We remember --

COSTELLO: Athena?

JONES: Yes.

COSTELLO: I'm going to interrupt you because Paul Ryan just popped out. And as you know, this is the first press conference of 2016 with Paul Ryan as House speaker. So let's listen.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The House going to put on the president's desk a bill that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood. This is the first time -- this is the first time in five years we will finally put a bill on the president's desk that defunds Obamacare. For years, Senate Democrats have been blocking and filibustering these bills. This is too important to let up. So we have used the one tool that we can each year, reconciliation, to get a repeal bill on his desk.

With this bill, we are standing for life. We are confronting the president with the hard, honest truth. Obamacare doesn't work. Higher premiums and fewer choices and restricted access, these are not signs of success. Obamacare is not successful. They are signs of failure. And the American people deserve better. The people deserve a truly patient-centered health care system, and ultimately this is going to require a Republican president.

That's why our top priority in 2016 is going to be offering the country a clear choice with a bold pro-growth agenda. We know the president wants to fill this year with distractions. He wants to talk about anything but his failures. We're not going to let him take us off course. Too much is at stake. If we're ever going to get our country back on track, we need to make this year about ideas, not about Obama's distractions. And that is exactly what we're going to do.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Happy new year and welcome back. I want to emphasize what the speaker talked about. What the speaker said is many times it's been blocked by the Democrats. Even though the Democrats tried to block, they still had to hear from their constituents of the broken promises that the president made. If you liked your health care, you could keep it. That your premiums would go down when they went up. They also, the Democrats, as they sat there and tried to block it but they joined us bipartisan when we wanted to delay the medical device tax or when they want to delay the Cadillac.

So one thing you've found is they know as well, Obamacare does not work. So yes, today is a different day. Today is a day that will come to his desk, and he'll have to make a decision. Not just on Obamacare but the funding of Planned Parenthood after many of us and millions have watched those horrific videos.

[10:15:12] So it is a new year, a new day, and as the speaker said, it's going to be a new agenda to make sure America is confident again.

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R), MAJORITY WHIP: Today's going to be an important day in the House where we finally have the opportunity to pass a bill that will end up on President Obama's desk that guts Obamacare and that defunds Planned Parenthood.

This is something we've set out to do in 2015 at the beginning of this Congress. We said we're going to pass a budget for the first time in years actually get a reconciliation process between the House and the Senate where we can use this tool that you only get once a year with narrow constraints but with a powerful ability to get a bill to the president's desk with 51 votes in the Senate, not 60 where the Senate can filibuster, or where Harry Reid can filibuster, or where we can actually move important policy to the president's desk.

And we made a commitment as Republicans that we would focus on Obamacare. And then, of course, as the year went on, the country saw the horrific videos and what Planned Parenthood was doing to use taxpayer money to sell body parts. And we said we're going to put that in the bill as well, and the tools allowed us to do it and we worked very closely with the pro-life movement.

This is an important victory for the pro-life movement as well as for conservative all across the country who want to see the president confronted with a bill that not only guts Obamacare, makes him confront the problems that Americans are facing all around the country with his failed law, but also the ability, then, to defund Planned Parenthood as well and have record votes in the House and Senate but also have a bill on the president's desk that he has to decide whether he's going to sign or veto.

So it's going to be an important vote in the House today. It's going to be an important decision for the president to confront where he can't change the subject, talk about other issues like he tries to do with gun control and other things. He's going to actually have to confront this issue and that bill will be on his desk because of the work that was initiated by the House, this House majority, to get to the president's desk.

REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIRWOMAN: Good morning, everyone. It was great to be home over Christmas, spending time with the family and also with the people of eastern Washington. And as I return, I am reminded once again why we are here. And it's to empower the people that we have the honor of representing, giving them more freedom, more opportunity. And in 2016, it is our opportunity as Republicans to lay out the choice for the American people. And it's really a choice between two different futures.

One is a future that is driven by the status quo, by top-down policies. The other is one that is driven by bold ideas that is going to empower people, open up America for new futures. And it's solutions that are driven from the bottom up.

Next week at our Republican retreat, it's really our opportunity to go to work on this. And we're going to be working on an agenda for the people. Produced by the people's representatives. So whether you're a student who's struggling in school, a business owner who's trying to figure out how to expand, a veteran in need of care, you should be trusted to make your own decisions, and you should have the freedom to pursue your own dreams. That's the kind of agenda that we will be building for 2016.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks. Today the House will send --

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to -- we're going to step away from this presser for just a second. We do expect Paul Ryan to take some questions from the press assembled there. And when that part of the event happens, we'll go back to Washington.

But I want to talk a little bit about what Paul Ryan is prepared to do in the House of Representatives. And with me now is Peter Beinart. Who else do I got with me? Sabrina Schaeffer. Oh, Sabrina. OK. She's the executive director for the Independent Women's Forum.

Welcome, Sabrina. I'm glad you're here.

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Happy new year.

COSTELLO: So, Sabrina -- happy new year. Happy new year to you, too, Peter.

So, Sabrina, you're listening to this, and Paul Ryan says the House is going to use this one-time tool called reconciliation which basically it means that when he introduced a bill, it requires a simple majority passage to get it to the president's desk which means nobody can filibuster the bill and prevent it from going to the president's desk in its, like, original form. Is this a good idea?

SCHAEFFER: Well, yes, and as we are entering a political season right now, we are in the throes of it, and we're getting closer to when voters are going to go to the polls, both Republicans and Democrats want to more clearly define their principles and what they stand for. And so certainly we saw that yesterday with the president's address about gun control. And today we're seeing it with Republicans and health care.

[10:20:06] I mean, this is their -- this is what has legs for 2016. They're saying if you elect us, we will help roll back and ultimately repeal Obamacare. They are differentiating themselves from Democrats. It may be somewhat symbolic, but it could have some lasting impact on voter behavior.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's say this bill gets to the president's desk, Peter. It's going to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. I'm thinking the president will probably veto it.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a real cliffhanger here, right? We're not sure what the president's going to do. I mean, how many times have they already voted against Obamacare? Everybody knows what ultimately is going to happen if this gets to Obama's desk. He's going to veto it. So there's no -- this is not going to achieve anything except for potentially putting this more front and center in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The question is, do Republicans really want this front and center in the presidential campaign? If you're noticing, the Republican presidential campaigns are not really focusing on repealing Obamacare. That's because, although Obamacare is not overwhelmingly popular, repealing it means taking away certain things that actually people like. Like, for instance, the fact that you can stay on your parents' plan until you're 26 years old.

So I actually am not so sure tactically for Paul Ryan who has to appease his right-wing base in Congress, it may make sense. Do Republicans really want to make this a bigger issue in the 2016 campaign? I'm not sure it's such a smart idea for them.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's go back to Washington because Paul Ryan is now taking questions, I assume, so let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The parallel between North Korea doing this and the deal with Iran, perhaps they feel it's acceptable to do this sort of thing?

RYAN: That's a good question. We don't know the facts yet. This looks like a provocation. I think this means we have to have a well- honed response with our allies on this rouge regime. So I think it's a little early to say exactly what the response ought to be until we get all of the facts at hand. But it does clearly look like this is what took place.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One of the complaints from Democrats is that you're putting forward this repeal bill before you put forward the alternative that you promised. Why do that? Why not just put up an alternative?

RYAN: Just wait.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You were asked about your agenda for this year, the tax reform and the health care replacement that you wanted to do. He said oh, so it's going to be like Contract with America which makes it sound more like it's going to be (INAUDIBLE) handflip rather than actual bills. So I know that last year that was still under debate. I was wondering where you're leading at this point.

RYAN: And Jonathan, we all collectively, members of the House Republican Conference, are going to be the decision-makers. We are just beginning this decision-making process. What we envision here is an organic bottom-up process where all members, after listening with our constituents, are coming together to put together a bold pro- growth agenda that we offer to the American people.

So the form and the process of this agenda is something that's going to be decided by all of our members, and we're beginning that conversation at our retreat.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is that process focused on specific bills?

RYAN: Go back to my last answer. It has -- nothing's been decided yet.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yesterday after the president's announcement (INAUDIBLE) he doubted it could survive the challenges. Would House Republicans overturn?

RYAN: We're looking at all of our options. Look, first of all, if you are buying and selling guns, you have to have an FFL. Whether or not you do so at a gun show or anywhere else. There isn't a loophole. This is a distraction. The president clearly does not respect the Second Amendment rights for law-abiding Americans.

I think it'd be nice if he would actually focus on defeating ISIS, on calling radical Islamic terrorism what it actually is instead of talking about how he can intimidate and frustrate the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. We will look at all of our options but we will not take this distraction for more than it is, a distraction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question.

COSTELLO: OK. All right. So we're going to step away. Last question for Paul Ryan. But as you can see, he's talking tough on President Obama's agenda.

Sabrina, I want to go back to you because I'm wondering, you know, the House is going to get this bill through that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood, and they want the president to look at it, and they want him to veto it so they can make a point.

I'm just wondering, that will -- I mean, will Senator Rubio and Senator Cruz show up to vote on this, and will that help them?

SCHAEFFER: Well, I don't know. You'd have to speak with their staff about that. But I do think that they have the upper hand here. Look, I think that this is always going to be a heavy lift, as Peter pointed out, Republicans are in the position now of telling some Americans they'd have to take something away, although there's plenty of Americans who are really unhappy with Obamacare.

And there's a lot of people who are poised to lose their current plans in the next year or two as things continue to unfold. That being said, I think that, you know, what Paul Ryan understands, what all of the Republican candidates understand, is that if they want to appeal to a wider base, if they want to appeal to women, for instance, they really need to make the case that people are better off when they own and control the most important things in their lives, health care, education, the workplace, the marketplace, home.

[10:25:11] And that's where Republicans are trying to do, and if they can really sort of get their messaging together on this, I think they could go a long way.

COSTELLO: Peter?

BEINART: Yes, good luck putting -- defunding of Planned Parenthood front and center of the 2016 campaign. You know, most of what Planned Parenthood does, as the Democrats will rightly say, is women's health doesn't have anything to do with abortion. And for the Republican Party that's been struggling, not with all women, but especially with single and unmarried women, not to mention women of color, that's not going to be I think a very effective message.

So I think the Republican Party since 2014 and 2012 has recognized it has a problem in reaching out to new constituencies, but I would say the party is further away from where it needs to be rather than closer.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there.

SCHAEFFER: I see -- OK.

COSTELLO: I have to leave there. Thank you so much. Peter Beinart, Sabrina Schaeffer.

SCHAEFFER: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it.

Just a quick programming note for our viewers, tomorrow, President Obama joins Anderson Cooper for an exclusive one-hour live town hall -- excuse me, an exclusive town hall to discuss gun control. You can watch that right here 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM. North Korea brags it built a hydrogen bomb. Why? It says it needs nukes to defend itself from America and its allies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. World capitals across the globe are reverberating with strong words condemning North Korea's claims that it successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb. In a rare show of solidarity, nations are voicing grave concerns. CNN's Kristi Lu-Stout explains why this could be such a game-changer.