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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Americans Freed from N. Korea Back in U.S.; Obama On His Way to Asia; U.S. Airstrikes Target ISIS Leaders

Aired November 9, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And President Obama on the move this morning. He's heading to Asia. We'll take a look at why this trip is so important for the U.S.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, get ready. An icy blast is just around the corner for a lot of us. How cold it could get where you live. That's coming up.

But we do want to say good morning to you. And so grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell. It is 7:00. Thanks for joining us.

We're going to begin with a story -- good news -- of the two American detainees released by North Korea. This morning, they're waking up on U.S. soil. There were smiles, there were tears of joy. There were hugs as Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller stepped off a plane in Washington state.

PAUL: Bae and Miller had been detained in North Korea for being convicted of crimes against the state and sentenced to several years of hard labor.

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

And, Ana, we're seeing it through the camera. But you are there. And you got to see it in person. What stuck with you?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was just such a joyous moment, Christi and Martin. So many hugs, so many smiles. As you mentioned, those tears of joy for these families as Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller stepped off the plane into the arms of their loved ones, a moment that had been anticipated for months and even years. And while there are still a lot of questions surrounding their release, one thing is for sure, this was an answer to many prayers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA (voice-over): After months and years of detention, two Americans held prisoner in North Korea are back in the United States. First off, the plane Kenneth Bae who had been held for two years, and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for hostile acts against the government, claiming he was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime.

KENNETH BAE, RELEASED FROM NORTH KOREA: I want to say 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 the last two years. And not to mention -- not only mentioning thousands of people who are praying for me as well.

CABRERA: Then Matthew Todd Miller stepped off. Miller had been detained since April. He was sentenced to six years of hard labor. He had been accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entering North Korea. Miller did not speak to the media after his arrival.

Their release comes after North Korea unexpected reached out to the White House to send a cabinet level official to discuss the detentions. But apparently, there wasn't a guarantee that Americans would be brought home. They were set free after Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went to the capital of Pyongyang in a secret mission, delivering a letter from President Obama to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The letter was said to be short and to the point. Clapper did not meet with Kim.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a wonderful day for the families and obviously very grateful for their safe return. I appreciate it. Director Clapper did a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission.

CABRERA: Their release comes less than a month after North Korea let go Jeffrey Fowle, an Ohio man who spent five months in detention. And now, with the men who just returned, there are no Americans being held in North Korea.

BAE: It's been an amazing two years. I learned a lot, I grew a lot, lost a lot of weight in a good way. But I need to stand strong because of you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Now, Kenneth Bae is actually from Washington which is only about an hour north of where we are in Tacoma. So, presumably, he got to sleep in his own bed last night.

Matthew Miller's family again chose to spend this moment very privately with her family, did not speak last night. We know they're from California. It's unclear exactly what their plans are today. But as one U.S. official told us last night, what these men choose to do moving forward really is up to them as they are truly free -- Christi, Martin.

PAUL: Good point.

SAVIDGE: Wonderful news for their families. Absolutely.

Ana Cabrera, thank you very much for that. PAUL: Thank you, Ana.

SAVIDGE: We're now joined by CNN's Will Ripley. He's in Tokyo. And it was really just recently in North Korea where he was speaking to both men exclusively when they were held in captivity.

PAUL: Yes, such a unique opportunity. So, we're anxious, Will, to get your thoughts on hearing that, you know, hearing Bae and what he said when he was back here in the U.S.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can tell just by looking at him, seeing smiling that a true weight has been lifted. Whether we saw him there at Pyongyang, he was very tired. He talked about his weight loss and also some of the other health problems. His health was deteriorating. It seems as if he was quite energetic when he was speaking to those cameras. So that makes me feel good.

Hopefully, he'll get checked out by physicians to make sure that all of his health issues are resolved, and then he can focus on moving forward with his life after two years of truly not being free. I'm sure it must have been just extraordinary for him and is extraordinary for him this morning to wake up knowing that once again he is free.

SAVIDGE: I was struck by the same thing. We heard so much about his health, yet, he did seem pretty good.

I want to ask you about, following up on Matthew Todd Miller. He didn't have anything to say. Why not?

RIPLEY: It doesn't surprise me, Martin, because he held back a lot even when I spoke with him in Pyongyang. There were a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. He didn't want to talk all about any conversations that he had with his family or his motive for entering the country and tearing up his visa in the first place. Meanwhile, his family, they were also very private, putting up a sign on their door saying they didn't want to talk.

So, you know, to see them pull back and stay away from the spotlight is the same, you know, that the family -- the same approach the family has taken this whole time. That certainly is their right to have this moment, you know, as a family without being bothered by the media.

PAUL: So, Will, I'm wondering how do you think your interviews with them played into any possible backroom negotiations that led to the release?

RIPLEY: Well, look, we were there again for a completely unrelated assignment, although the moment we entered the country, one of the first questions we asked the North Korean government was if we could speak to the three detained Americans. We were told that that would be impossible. We asked a couple other times. We were told again it wasn't going to happen.

And then our last day, they decided to grant this interview. It seems as if North Korea was ready to work out some kind of a deal. Perhaps, the Americans, they were realizing it was no longer beneficial for the DPRK to hold these Americans in custody. So, they took advantage of the fact that a CNN crew is in country, to use these men to send a message to the U.S. government.

And here they are now, all three of them, back on American soil with their families.

PAUL: All right. Will Ripley, great job. Thank you so much. We appreciate it this morning.

SAVIDGE: Now, we're joined by Ambassador Joseph DeTrani. He's the president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance and former special envoy to North Korea.

Did I say that correctly, sir? I'm sorry?

AMBASSADOR JOSEPH DETRANI, PRESIDENT, INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY ALLIANCE: Yes, you did. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: OK. Thank you, Ambassador.

PAUL: We're so grateful you're joining us. If you would, please, let's take a listen to some more new sounds from Kenneth Bae this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAE: And also, I'd like to thank the DPRK, North Korean government as well, allowing me to go home and come home and be united with our family and for a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Yes. I think a lot of people listen to that and they're surprised not that he thanks President Obama and State Department here. But also that he thanks the North Korean government. What do you make of that?

SAVIDGE: The last people you would think.

DETRANI: The sense I have on that is he's so happy to be home after two years. It must have been really hell for him for two years.

So, I think that's sort of reaction. I think as we get into a few more weeks, I think we'll get some commentary from Kenneth Bae as far as his ordeal. It was a very tragic situation. The man, to this day, one has to wonder why the North Koreans kept him for two years for what so-called crimes he committed. It's beyond belief that that happened.

So, I think it's understandable what he said. But in truth, it's very tragic that the North Koreans kept this man for two years.

SAVIDGE: Can you take us behind the scenes and sort of give us insight on what possibly with the inner workings of the negotiations with North Korea, how did James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, manage to pull this off?

DETRANI: You know, my personal view is the DNI, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, was an ideal individual to go to North Korea. One, he's in charge of the intelligence community. Sixteen agencies that watch North Korea very, very closely.

They have a very good sense of what North Korea is doing with their nuclear programs, their missile programs. They're illicit activities, their human rights violence and so forth.

So, if anyone can speak to what's happening in North Korea, although we say it's very opaque, I think for the intelligence community, it's not that opaque. And it's indeed the director of national intelligence who can speak to those issues. So, a very good interlocutor with the North Koreans if they ever want to get into particulars.

And he's not carrying the political message at all. He is speaking about what's going on and what's happening in North Korea and why there are issues between the United States and North Korea and other countries with North Korea.

PAUL: You know, Bill Richardson, former ambassador to U.N., said he believes that North Korea wants a warming of relation ands food, humanitarian assistance, energy assistance, sanctions lifted. How likely do you think any of that will happen and by whom does that need to happen with?

DETRANI: You know, they do need all of the above. But when you look at what's happened over the last 2 1/2 years since Kim Jong-un took over, it's been sort of appalling. I mean what's gone on here with missile launches, nuclear tests, executing his own uncle, threatening the U.S. with a preemptive nuclear strike. I think North Korea realizes they've been on a very bad path and they need to change tact and they need to get together. It's become a more isolated country.

So, I think the realization is because they've become that much more isolated to include with the principle ally, the People's Republic of China. So, they realize things are really dire, very difficult and they have to change tact. And I think this is part of their approach. We saw that with the foreign minister going to the United Nations, the number two or three person going down to Korea, South Korea for the Asian Games. We saw this with the deputy premier going to the European Parliament.

So, North Korea is reaching out. This is Kim Jong-un and indeed the advisors around him saying it's not working. You have to change. Let's move on that.

SAVIDGE: All right. We'll see how genuine that change will be.

Ambassador DeTrani, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

PAUL: Thank you, sir. DETRANI: Thank you.

PAUL: And speak of interesting timing, President Obama's on his way to China this morning.

SAVIDGE: Yes. We'll break down that trip, his trip to Asia, I mean, and his message. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Fourteen minutes past the hour right now.

And President Obama is on his way to China. Take a look here. Going to be waving as he departs from joint base Andrews in Maryland. This was overnight.

SAVIDGE: That's a long flight, by the way.

Mr. Obama is expected to attend a series of summits during his eight-day trip.

And CNN's Erin McPike is live at the White House to fill us in on more on all of it.

Good morning to you, Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martin.

Well, first, I want to talk about Beijing. He will be meeting with the Chinese president there. And they're going to be talking about the economic relationship between the United States and China. Also, trade climate change and essentially just this relationship between the U.S. and China as Secretary of State John Kerry had said recently. The most important economic relationship that United States has is with China.

Now also, when President Obama was running for re-election in 2012, a lot of foreign policy analysts said that President Obama has managed the China relationship well. So, this will be important for his legacy.

The next, he's going to Myanmar. And you may remember that in 2012, in fact, President Obama was the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country. It's opened up had some political and social reforms over the last few years. But some people say it's beginning to backslide. So that, too, will be important for the president's legacy.

Last, he's heading to Brisbane for the G-20 Summit. And why this is so important is that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be there. President Obama and Putin don't have any meetings scheduled, but they may meet and have a side conversation which, of course, is important. Since March, the relationship between the United States and Russia has been somewhat damaged. We're all waiting to see if that meeting will take place -- Christi and Martin.

PAUL: All right. Erin, we appreciate it this morning. Thank you, Erin.

SAVIDGE: It's quite a to-do list.

PAUL: Yes, it is.

And, you know, we want to get to another story we have to watch this morning. The U.S. targeting the leaders of ISIS. New air strikes this weekend aimed at a convoy in Iraq.

SAVIDGE: That just after the president's big announcement did more U.S. troops. We dig into what's happening next in Iraq right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Going directly after ISIS leaders, the U.S. Central Command says that a series of air strikes yesterday, part of the convoy near Mosul. That's Iraq's second largest city. And apparently, it was an attempt to kill leaders of that terror group. But it's unclear whether the group's top commander, Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, is actually in that convoy.

PAUL: The U.S. isn't letting up. President Obama recently announced 1,500 more troops heading to Iraq.

We're joined now by CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes.

Tom, so good to see you as always.

You know, I was listening to Bob Baer yesterday, former CIA operative, and he actually said that going after Baghdadi, killing him is a bad idea. I think what he's saying was, the devil you do know is better than devil you don't -- meaning you don't know who will replace him. What do you say to that?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, there's truth in what Bob says, Christie. But also, you know, leadership matters. So, if he's the charismatic leader of this organization and he's helping in the recruiting efforts, declaring himself the caliph of the newly established caliphate, you know, taking him out would matter.

But Bob's correct. We would not know necessarily right away who the replacement is or the replacement's background. You know, one of the things about some of the leaders is they're very narcissistic and they want people to know who they are and what they have believe in and what they say, and in that process, you learn a great deal about them psychologically. So, there is an advantage of knowing who's running the opposition.

SAVIDGE: You know, it's been mentioned, of course, that we're sending additional troops there to Iraq. So, what comes next? How do you see this progressing?

FUENTES: Well, it could progress into full scale war down the line. And unless some other country from the vast coalition we've allegedly assembled, unless somebody else volunteers to put boots on the ground, you know, it may come to the point that the U.S. is going to have to ensure that Baghdad doesn't fall and the rest of the country doesn't fall into ISIS hands.

And I think that what the president is dealing with is that his legacy could be that he becomes the first U.S. president to lose a war that America already won. And that's the problem here. We've expanded 4,500 lives to secure Iraq and a trillion dollars and 50,000 wounded people for life only to sit back here in the last couple years and watch about a third of the country fall into the hands of ISIS.

PAUL: They keep saying that troops will be based out of -- at bases outside Baghdad and Irbil. I'm wondering, we know that ISIS is so strong and forceful in taking over so many territory. How secure do you think these bases are? Do you think some sort of combat with our troops on the ground is inevitable?

FUENTES: It's a very strong possibility. I'm not sure how secure the bases are without somebody's combat troops protecting them. And we have not exactly seen a lot of activity by the Iraqi military that would give us confidence that they are absolutely going to protect it.

In addition, you have terrorism now increasing. The sectarian violence increasing in Baghdad itself, and now, we're having almost daily bombings with Shia groups being attacked and Sunni troops being attacked. This is something that, you know, this is what we saw ten years ago in Baghdad. And now it's returning.

SAVIDGE: Right. Yes. It seems like a revival of the civil war.

Tom Fuentes, thank you very much for joining us this morning. We undoubtedly will talk to you again.

PAUL: Thank you, Tom.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

PAUL: I don't know if you peeked out the window yet this morning or maybe you opened the door just a crack to let the dog out. It didn't feel good, did it?

Winter is here and it is coming in with a force, folks. We're going to tell where you it's hitting, how long it's going to last, and how bad it's going to be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: All right. Let's get you caught up with this morning's morning read. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall, the Berlin Wall.

On this night, 1989, people rushed to the wall and they hammered it to pieces. Take a look at that. A few hours ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel placed a flower in a small segment of the wall that is being preserved, because if you didn't live through it, you probably can't recall how important it is. She is taking part in the ceremonies that are commemorating this incredible anniversary.

PAUL: And President Obama says Loretta Lynch is his pick for attorney general. She's a two-time U.S. attorney for the eastern district of New York. And the president describes her as tough, fair, an independent.

We cannot say the same thing about the weather. It's tough. It's not always fair. And it's knocking at our door, Jennifer Gray.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is. We're going to see chilly changes as we go to the next 24 to 48 hours, already beginning with our friends from the north. Portions of Minnesota, and North Dakota already feeling very, very cold this morning.

And we're also going to see a little snowfall with this. This thin swath of snow, that's what we're going to see. Eight to 12 inches possible in Minneapolis, six to nine for portions of the Dakotas.

That's really it. This area is going to see concentrated amounts of snow. The rest of the nation, we'll just see very cold temperatures.

So, winter weather advisories in place. Winter warnings in place through Tuesday. That does include Minneapolis. Temperatures will get into the teens in rapid city as we go through the week. Minneapolis, you won't reach freezing for the next several days -- guys.

PAUL: All right. Jennifer, thank you.

SAVIDGE: On Monday, we got word that Tom Magliozzi, he's the popular co-host of NPR's "Car Talk", Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, he died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He's 77.

Alzheimer's, if you didn't know, is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the only one that can't be prevented, cured or even slowed.

PAUL: So, Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently got a rare look inside the small village that he said should be what the future of dementia care looks like.

"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starting for you right now.