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Manhunt In London; Trump Tweets On London Incident; Trump Slams London Terrorists; North Korea Launches Missile; White House Press Briefing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 15, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Pyongyang, North Korea. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

There is breaking news we are following. Terror in London. A massive manhunt underway after a bucket bomb explodes on the subway. This, as London officials slam President Trump for his fiery words on the attack.

Also, nuclear defiance. North Korea launching yet another missile, since President Trump threatened them with fire and fury. And now, the world rushes to act.

Plus, the Trump temper. New reporting that the president humiliated one of his cabinet members, calling the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, an idiot. Why Sessions is not the first official to face the fury.

But let's begin with the terror in London right now. The city's mayor says a manhunt for suspects is underway after a homemade bomb blew up on a busy commuter train during morning rush hour.

Police and hospital officials say at least 22 people were injured. Most of the injuries appear to be flash burns and are not life- threatening.

A British security source tells CNN, authorities are learning details about the device used in the attack.

Let's go live to the Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir. She's in the Parsons green area of London where the attack took place. Nima, the police are learning, apparently, about the device.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Yes, we understand from British security sources that is a timer was found on this device. And you've seen the pictures of this bucket bombs. It looks extraordinarily crude. Police say that definitely the execution was pretty amateur. But, really, our sources are concerned about the ambition behind the execution when you see a timer. It leads them to the working assumption that the intent was to cause much more mayhem, was to exact a much bigger toll than thankfully it did.

And you can only imagine what could've happened given this was peak commuter time. If this timer had worked when it was supposed to. If it had gone on -- gone off, for instance, in the center of London and while police believe this was not necessarily or particularly the work of a skilled bomb maker, there clearly was a lot of ambition going into this. Wolf?

BLITZER: You know, it's an amazing moment, right now, that they're all obviously trying to find the suspect. I assume there's a lot of closed-circuit T.V. in London, as we all know. And they're reviewing all the video, all the film to see if they can get a sense who may have brought that bucket on that train.

ELBAGIR: Absolutely, and especially given that this is a city that's on high alert. They are at the second highest terror threat level which is when authorities believe that an attack is highly likely.

And we heard, this morning, from the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and he acknowledged that what they're dealing with is a shift. In terms of the way that terrorists are approaching carrying out these operations, as they lose their territorial footprint, as the U.S. and the U.K. are exacting successes in ISIS territory.

They are jeering (ph) up their supporters through propaganda like this -- the execution of an attack like this to exact a greater toll inside the European capitals. And London is second only to an attack in a U.S. city, in terms of the propaganda goals that ISIS and their supporters would seek to extract with something like this -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nima Elbagir reporting live from London for us. We'll stay in close touch.

The London attacks -- the attack is certainly likely to come up in today's White House press briefing set to begin any minute now. The national security adviser to the president, General H.R. McMaster, and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, they will be in the briefing reporters in the White House briefing room along with the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders. We'll having live coverage of that. That's coming up.

The president took to Twitter earlier today to contend with the London attack among other things. He tweeted this, quote, "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who are in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive." Close quote.

It's not clear what the president meant by the words in the sights of Scotland Yard. Our Senior White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny is joining us now from the White House briefing room.

Jeff, how are officials in the U.K., first of all, reacting to the president's tweets? JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf,

officials in the United Kingdom are not reacting well to those tweets from the president this morning. Of course, this is not the first time that the president has gotten ahead of an investigation.

But Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, who the president spoke with earlier today, she had some pretty strong words for the American president, Wolf. She said this. It is, quote, "never helpful for anyone to speculate on an ongoing investigation."

[13:05:04] And also, a police spokesman in London had some similarly harsh words, Wolf. And said that the president's comments here were, quote, "pure speculation given that we don't know who is involved." Any speculation, the police said, is unhelpful. So, clearly, a bit of a rebuke there, taking issue with what the president here was saying.

It is unknown if the police know more information than they're releasing, and they likely do, but for -- clearly, for their own investigative reasons, they were not releasing that. But that did not stop this president, Wolf, from answering those questions. And, in fact, it going out on social media earlier today.

BLITZER: Yes, he was tweeting a lot. On some domestic issues, President Trump is also defending his outreach to the Democratic congressional leadership. How does he explain cutting deals with them, with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, while Republicans apparently are getting sidelined?

ZELENY: Wolf, it's really interesting because we're ending a second week here, where the president has, indeed, reached a deal or the beginnings of what could be a deal with Democrats. It is the sign now of a clear, new strategy by this president who wants to get something done, who learned the lessons of health care. Where, you know, of course, there was not an accomplishment.

When he was flying back to Washington from Florida yesterday, he explained on Air Force One his new governing style that now includes Democrats.

BLITZER: I guess we don't have that clip.

ZELENY: I guess we don't have that sound bite. But what he --

BLITZER: Go ahead.

ZELENY: -- what he said, Wolf, was -- I guess we don't have that sound. He said, look, he's tried to work with Republicans on issues and that that is his preference. He said, I'm a Republican through and through but he has seen the shortcomings of that. So, he said he will bring Democrats in to try and get some legislation moving.

Of course, Wolf, it's still a very open question. The president on dreamers wants something to happen, you know, on the 700 or so thousand undocumented immigrants here. But it's still the questions of but border security that will, you know, be at issue here as this legislation, as this issue moves forward -- Wolf. BLITZER: Yes. All right, we'll stand by for the press briefing to begin. H.R. McMaster, the president's national security advisor; Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and the press secretary, Sarah Sanders, they will be briefing reporters fairly soon.

The briefing will focus, in part, on major international issues, as the president gets ready to address the United Nations' general assembly for the first time Tuesday morning. The president's tweets, his comments, they are in stark contrast to what he said last month after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't make statements that direct unless you know the facts. It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don't know the facts. And it's a very, very important process to me. And it's a very personality statement.

So, I don't want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement. I want to know the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's discuss all of this with our panel that's here. Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger; our CNN Military Diplomatic Analyst retired Rear Admiral John Kirby; our CNN Political Analyst and congressional reporter for "The Washington Post," Karoun Demirjian. Guys, thanks very much for joining us as we await the start of this briefing.

The president seems to jump into these phrase, these getting immediate reaction, for example, to this terrorist attack in London, even before all the information is apparently out there.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he does. I think, you know, this is a president who is always looking for someone to blame about something. And in this case, you know, he's tweeting that the terrorist is a loser which is obviously true, but also that this was on the -- on the radar of the British. And that's something, obviously, that he probably should not be talking about.

But he has to, sort of, say, well, you know, maybe the British should have had a handle on this before they did. It's a little bit like looking for Jeff Sessions to blame in the wake of his own firing of Jim Comey which, you know, he would never look at himself and say, I should -- you know, I shouldn't have fired Jim Comey.

No, he blames Jeff Sessions for betraying him by recusing himself which led to the appointment of the -- of the special council. It's all part of the personality.

BLITZER: I want to you listen to what Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, said about the president's quick reaction to what happened in London. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, BRITAIN: I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate in an ongoing investigation. As I just said, the police and security services are working to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify all those responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Not every day you hear the British prime minister basically criticizing the president of the United States.

[13:10:04] REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY (retired), CNN MILITARY DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: No, and she's right to do that. I mean, it's never good when an ongoing investigation is happening, especially in the few first hours, to begin to speculate about the cause was, the intent, the circumstances surrounding it.

And certainly, it doesn't do anybody any favors to criticize law enforcement and those invest -- and those investigatory bodies in London right now trying to figure this out.

And to piggy back on what Gloria said. I mean, he is particularly acute to jump in when he thinks it's Muslim-based terrorists. That's when he jumps right in. When there's no evidence of that or -- and, of course, there's no evidence right now. But when he doesn't believe that, that's when he, sort of, pulls back.

BORGER: Charlottesville.

KIRBY: Charlottesville.

BORGER: It's a perfect example.

BLITZER: How are congressional leaders on both sides reacting to all these late breaking developments? Karoun, you cover Congress.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, this is a very late breaking development, in terms of, you know, what Congress' reaction has been because they're not in town today and they've been watching this from afar.

But in terms of the way that they've responded generally to the president and the way he reacts to these things is to urge the same, sort of, caution as you've seen world leaders do. Which is to say, you know, that they're still looking for facts, looking for details about what's going to happen.

And you've heard many lawmakers from both sides of the spectrum who say the president has a Twitter problem. That he's is too quick with his thumbs and that that causes more problems sometimes in situations like this than it helps solve. So.

BLITZER: You know, and he likes to tweet early in the morning. Chris Cillizza's with us as well. I'll read a couple of these tweets from this morning. This one is 6:42 a.m. Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. But be proactive.

And then, a few minutes later at 6:48 a.m. Loser terrorists must be dealt with in much tougher manner. The Internet is their main recruitment tool, which we must cut off and use better.

Then, he goes one step further. The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific, but stupidly that would not be politically correct.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes. So, two things. One, he does this early morning tweeting because he watches television and he, sort of, live blogs television on his phone, as someone who occasionally does that myself.

But that's what he's doing, Wolf. I mean, he's watching shows which he says he doesn't watch usually, and he's reacting to interviews and things he sees on them. He's also putting out facts that he sees on them that are not factual.

To the admiral and Gloria's point. He has -- anything that confirms his already existing world view, he will leap on it. Remember the Philippines. The robbery that he described as a terrorist attack because it fit the Donald Trump world view narrative that this would be a terrorist attack and we need to stop these people.

So, the illusion of something happened in London. It's being investigated as terrorists. And say, see, I was right. The travel ban happened in -- I think that was about three tweets.

It's because he wants it to be true. In the same way Gloria mentioned Charlottesville. In the same way he didn't -- doesn't, as we know from yesterday, want the Charlottesville thing to be well -- white supremacists and neo-Nazis who are responsible for this. This was not a both sides did it thing. He doesn't want that to be true. It doesn't fit in how he sees the world. And, therefore, he will wait for the facts.

DEMIRJIAN: There is an added element here, too, which I think that when you see these things happen in Europe, especially because Trump has been in a little bit of an arm wrestling match with Europe and where he's going to stand on NATO. To be able to have a situation where it's not only fitting with his world view about who the perpetrators might be.

But that how the -- our allies do deal with these situations. Because he is trying to assert his own view on our allies and that has caused another seer of tension to rise up. So, this is basically a two for.

(CROSSTALK)

CILLIZZA: He attacked the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, in the past for saying -- misquoting the London mayor, in terms of what he said in response to a previous terrorist incident.

BORGER: Well, and you can also presume that a president who gets briefed every day on these kinds of things, and gets briefed early every day, one would presume unless he's watching television, would know a little bit more about what he's talking about here.

And, you know, today, I don't know whether this -- it was informed speculation about the British and whether this person was on the radar or not on the radar.

But you also expect that a president, after he is briefed, would exhibit a little bit of restraint, in terms of what you tell the public so as not to impede the investigation abroad.

KIRBY: Not that I want to give him too much credit for strategery, but the U.N. general assembly is next week. I think we're going to hear Nikki Haley and McMaster talk about how they're going to focus on counterterrorism and immigration issues which, of course, are plaguing all of our allies and partners in Europe.

And I think this tweet, although I think it was just a storm, certainly fits into the narrative that they're going to push next week in New York.

[13:15:00] CILLIZZA: Yes, I mean, I tend to be in the happy coincidence camp, when, to the admiral's point, there is a strategic element to it. I really do think he often -- maybe not always -- but he often just sees things or hears things or is told something and reacts, and then reacts in the reaction.

It's certainly how he approached his life before running for office. He brags in "Art of the Deal" he doesn't have a plan, right? He sits down at his desk every day and sees what comes to him. I think there is some of that.

Now that doesn't mean that you can't have that dove tail and have him say, now, wait a minute, this is -- this is a good thing. He did that in the campaign repeatedly. He would happen upon, I think, issues or lines, lock her up or who's going to build a wall, Mexico, all that stuff, that he would see, OK, this works, I'm going to use this more. So he is an acute reader of how what he said is interpreted and received. I just don't know that before he talks, he is engaging in that strategic thinking.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, everybody stand by.

We're standing by for the White House briefing. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, will be briefing reporters, as will General H.R. McMaster, the president's national security adviser.

The London terror attack, the North Korean missile launch, lots of issues on the agenda right now.

Our special coverage continues right after this.

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[13:20:28] BLITZER: As we await the start of the White House press briefing, let's get the latest information as far as North Korea is concerned. There's new outrage after the rogue nation launched yet another missile despite President Trump's threats and new sanctions against North Korea.

Just a little while from now, the U.N. Security Council will get ready to hold another emergency session to discuss the North Korean's second ballistic missile over Japan in less than a month. It traveled more than 2,000 mile. That's the furthest a North Korean missile has gone. That number is important, by the way, because it's roughly the distance between North Korea and the U.S. territory of Guam, where 162,000 U.S. citizens live and there's a major U.S. Air Force base as well.

In Japan, you can hear the sirens. Residents on the island of Hokkaido awoke to the screaming sirens. It's the second time in a month. And that hasn't happened, by the way, since World War II.

South Korea immediately responded with its own live-fire drill. It launched a missile of its own, which the South Korean military said was capable of striking North Korea's rocket launch site.

Let's go to our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's tracking this important story for us.

Jim, there are lots of developments here and the potential for escalation is enormous.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question. It's been five weeks since President Trump's famous fire and fury comments, but vowing to North Korea that if they were to attack Guam, the U.S. would respond with fire and fury, really to any threats. If that was intended to make North Korea back down, if you look at North Korea's activity since then, it hasn't played out that way.

Since those fire and fury comments, you've had two missile launches, including last night's, both of them over U.S. treaty ally Japan, an ally that the U.S. is sworn by treat to defend. You've had another nuclear test two weeks ago. And not just any nuclear test. This one, the sixth by North Korea, the strongest by far. Perhaps six times as strong as the previous test. More than 100 times as strong as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And, of course --

BLITZER: I've got to interrupt you for a moment, Jim, because the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, has just started the briefing. You're seeing the U.N. ambassador, the national security adviser, they're standing by to brief on North Korea and other sensitive issues as well.

[13:22:47]

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- horrific incident. And our thoughts and prayers are with those injured, and we wish them a speedy and full recovery.

We are aware of the arrest that took place in Paris, following the attack on a counterterrorism soldier. And we are thankful that the soldier was not seriously injured. We are also aware of the attack in Burgundy, and our thoughts are with

those wounded in that incident.

France is our oldest and one of our closest allies, and we will certainly provide any support to their investigations that they request.

Looking ahead to the next week, the president and key members of his foreign policy team will be in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

Here today are National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and United States Representative to the U.N. Nikki Haley, who will walk you through the meetings and other events of next week, and then take some of your questions.

As always, I'll be up afterwards to answer questions, unless of course you guys want to give me a free pass since it's Friday.

(LAUGHTER)

With that, I'll turn it over.

MCMASTER: Good afternoon, everyone.

I also want to begin by acknowledging the horrific attacks in Europe.

The United States, of course, stands in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom and France. We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to prevent attacks.

And, of course, the United States remains committed to defeating terrorist organizations, as well as their evil ideology. The president has been unambiguous here, energizing our Defeat ISIS campaign and calling on Muslim majority nations to combat extremism and to end financing of terrorist organizations.

We will defend our people and our values against these cowardly attacks, and we will always stand with countries around the world to do the same.

Now I want to turn to President Trump's trip next week to attend the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. The president's consistent message across all of his engagements throughout the week will emphasize three goals common to all nations who will be gathered there: first, to promote peace; second, to promote prosperity; and third, to uphold sovereignty and accountability.

A peaceful world depends on the contributions of all nations. We must share responsibility for international security while each country protects the security of its own people.

Prosperity is also a shared responsibility. The president looks forward to furthering economic cooperation, investment opportunities and new business ties with other governments and businesses across the world. As always, this administration's iron-clad commitment to free, fair and reciprocal trade and access to markets will be the bedrock of our economic talks.

Sovereignty and accountability are the essential foundations of peace and prosperity. America respects the sovereignty of other countries, expects other nations to do the same, and urges all governments to be accountable to their citizens.

That accountability has broken down in places such as Venezuela and Syria. And we also see today revisionist powers who are threatening the sovereignty in the Greater Middle East, Eastern and Southern Europe and in East Asia.

Now let me quickly run through the president's schedule.

On Monday, the president will join senior U.N. leadership and the leaders of more than 120 other nations to discuss reforming the institution. The president will express support for Secretary General Guterres' reform efforts. The United Nations, of course, holds tremendous potential to realize its founding ideals, but only if it's run more efficiently and effectively.

That day the president will also meet with the leaders of France and Israel, two of America's closest allies. While their conversations will be wide-ranging, we expect that Iran's destabilizing behavior, including its violation of the sovereignty of nations across the Middle East, to be a major focus.

Monday evening the president will host a -- a working dinner with Latin American leaders. He's looking forward to discussing the crisis in Venezuela, as well as our increasingly strong economic ties, shared goals for elevating the prosperity of our peoples, and the extraordinary success of like-minded Latin American nations in recent decades.

The president's Tuesday morning speech to the General Assembly will emphasize the need for states to promote peace and prosperity, while upholding sovereignty and accountability as indispensable foundations of international order.

He will urge all states to come together to address grave dangers that threaten us all. If nations meet these challenges, immense opportunity lies before us.

Later that day the president will have lunch with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, meet with this year's General Assembly president, Mr. Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia, and meet with the emir of Qatar.

In the evening, he will host the traditional diplomatic reception.

On Wednesday, the president will meet with the leaders of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, the United Kingdom and Egypt. He will host a working luncheon with African leaders to discuss how the United States can help African nations develop their economies, address urgent challenges, and strengthen security relationships and economic relationships between our nations.

Finally, on Thursday, the president will meet with the leaders of Turkey, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The latter two countries in particular have suffered direct and persistent attacks on their sovereignty in recent years.

He will also host a lunch with the leaders of South Korea and Japan. As Kim Jong Un's most recent missile launch demonstrates, North Korea remains one of the world's most urgent and dangerous security problems.

It is vital that all nations work together to do our utmost to solve that problem.

With that I'll turn it over to Ambassador Haley.

HALEY: Thank you very much.

And I will tell you that next week is not going to be short on topics.

I think, first of all, we can all say it is a new day at the U.N. The U.N. has shifted over the past several months. It's not just about talking, it's about action. The members are starting to get used to act, whether it's Security Council resolutions. Whether it's with U.N. reform, whether it's with peacekeeping, we're starting to see a lot of changes at the U.N.

They are all anxious to see what the U.S. delegation looks like next week. And I think they will be heavily impressed with the fact that we have the president, the vice president, the secretary of state, many members of the National Security Council coming to really show the U.S. strength that we have in the world.

And I think, obviously, this will be the first time that the president has addressed the General Assembly. They are all very anxious to hear what he has to say. And I think that he will make quite an impact, in terms of all of the issues that we're dealing with.

We have three events that will be extremely important.

First, the president will highlight the U.N. reform event. It is very --

[13:30:00]