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Trump Embraces Authoritarian Leaders; Budget Deal Would Avert Government Shutdown; Obama "Cashing In" with Wall Street Speech; Parents of Student Detained in N. Korea Speak; Hamas Tries to Soften Image; Trump Makes Overtures to Kim Jong-Un, Rodrigo Duterte. Aired 2- 3a ET

Aired May 2, 2017 - 02:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:08] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour --

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Hello, and welcome to all of our viewers around the world. I'm John Vause. We're now in our third hour of NEWSROOM L.A.

North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, rules with an iron fist over one of the most repressive countries in the world. He sends thousands of his own people to forced labor camps. He's accused of executing opponents with anti-aircraft guns. Now U.S. President Donald Trump says he would be honored to meet with him.

CNN's Jim Acosta has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's why in the first 100 days --

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 100 days in office, and now nearly as many new questions for President Trump after head-scratching comments to reporters. After weeks of tough talk aimed at North Korea, the president told Bloomberg he'd meet with that country's dictator, Kim Jong-Un, adding, "If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely. I would be honored to do it."

This is despite the fact that chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said it's not happening.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you imagine a scenario where President Trump and Kim Jong-Un sit face to face and have a conversation?

(CROSSTALK)

REINCE PRIEBUS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Not right now I can't. ACOSTA: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer acknowledged the

obvious, Kim Jong-Un is a brutal tyrant.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Clearly, the conditions are not there right now.

ACOSTA: But he also seemed to say Kim Jong-Un has good leadership qualities.

SPICER: He assumed power at a young age, when his father passed away, and there were a lot of potential threats that could have come his way, and he's obviously managed to lead the country forward.

ACOSTA: The White House is now focused on a new spending bill and perhaps one more attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. The president talked up the GOP health care bill to CBS.

TRUMP: Preexisting conditions are in the bill, and I mandated it. I said, has to be, so --

ACOSTA: But there's one big difference. Under Obamacare, insurance companies could not discriminate against consumers with preexisting conditions. Under Trumpcare, those consumers can be charged more. One top advisor said the health care vote are there.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have the votes for health care?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have the votes for health care? I think we do.

ACOSTA: Spicer insisted there is no rush.

SPICER: I think the president has made it clear he's not instituting a timeline.

ACOSTA: On whether he defends his astonishing claim that former President Obama wiretapped him at Trump Tower, the president appeared to answer the question in several different ways all at once.

TRUMP: I don't stand by anything. I just -- you can take it the way you want. I think our side's been proven very strongly.

ACOSTA: When pressed further, he cuts off the interview.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I want to know your opinion. You're the president of the United States.

TRUMP: That's enough. Thank you. Thank you very much.

ACOSTA: Spicer's take?

SPICER: Clearly, he stands by that.

ACOSTA: In a separate interview with the "Washington Examiner," the president sounded unsure about the root causes of the Civil War, saying it could have been presented by Andrew Jackson, a supporter of slavery.

TRUMP: I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He was -- he was a very tough person, but he had a good heart. The Civil War -- if you think about it, why? People don't ask that question. But why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

ACOSTA: The president also raised questions about his glowing comments for Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte, telling Bloomberg, "You know, he's very popular in the Philippines. He has a very high approval rating in the Philippines."

Human rights groups have condemned Duterte's war on drugs, a crackdown that's led to thousands of people killed.

The White House says Duterte could help with North Korea.

SPICER: The number-one concern of this president is to make sure that we do everything we can to protect our people, and specifically to economically and diplomatically isolate North Korea.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president did talk about health care and other big topics over the weekend with House Speaker Paul Ryan but there's no guarantee at this point there's enough votes for the bill to pass the House. Even if it did, sources say, its prospects in the Senate are in serious doubt.

Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me in Los Angeles, talk radio host, Ethan Bearman; and California Republican National Committeeman, Shawn Steel.

Good to see you guys. Happy start to the week.

OK, so, Shawn, it seems the next 1,358 days of the Trump administration makes you happy.

[02:05:03] SHAWN STEEL, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN: It does.

VAUSE: Look at that report by Jim Acosta. Those days are beginning to look like the past 100 days of the Trump administration.

STEEL: Oh, it's exhausting.

VAUSE: It is.

STEEL: First of all, happy May Day for all the other international Socialists and other professional mass killers of all time.

No, Donald Trump -- in the age of Trump, we got to get use to a different way of looking at that world. Part of it is he thinks he's got this great diplomacy touch, so the news comes out he's going to meet with Kim Jong-Un, maybe or maybe not. But he's meeting with Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow, who has done more damage to Israelis, killed more innocents in Israel, and who is a mass murderer himself. Sorry, but he is.

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: The Palestinian Liberation organization is a terrorist organization. So, of course, presidents have to see people like that. It doesn't mean he's doing bad stuff. But we have to deal with bad players throughout the world.

VAUSE: But, Ethan, does he have to say he's honored to meet with Kim Jong-Un? And does he have to invite Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president, to the White House? The man who, you know, is accused of killing thousands of people during his war on drugs.

ETHAN BEARMAN, TALK RADIO SHOW HOST: No. This is the wrong move. You don't invite somebody who believes in extrajudicial killings of people just because you think they've done something. This is a high honor to come to the White House. To have this type of reception at the White House with Duterte, I think that's wrong. It's sending the wrong message, saying, go ahead and kill as many of your citizens as possible and I'll still invite you to the White House and give you a big --

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: Let me ask you, Mahmoud Abbas, should he be invited to the White House or not? Tell us right now. Or should he be? You're consistent. I'm with you.

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: You tell me.

VAUSE: The reality is, every 40 or 50 years, every U.S. president has, Shawn, at some point, go out and championed for human rights at some part of the world.

STEEL: They should.

VAUSE: And I know we're only 102 days into the Trump presidency but, so far, it seems this president is willing to trade off human rights for, in this case, when it comes to North Korea, for what the White House spokesperson says is a policy of trying to isolate the North Koreans.

STEEL: So far, he hasn't traded off human rights. There's got to be some objective behavior. I don't like him saying nice things about Kim Jong-Un. He's a monster. On the other hand, he's got 10,000 artillery shells facing Seoul, Korea, that could kill be launched theoretically in 60 seconds that could kill 20 million people, so you have to talk to a maniac like that. You have to try diplomatic means. That's what most people in the world -- particularly my wife. She is Seoul, Korea right now. She is Korean-American. So I'm really interested in not having an all-out war. VAUSE: Ethan, diplomacy is a good thing and people should talk, but,

again, direct talks, one to one, with the leader of the free world, as you say it's a reward. And this is an administration that appears to be turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, except for the situation in Syria where 59 missiles were lobbed at strike into an air field.

BEARMAN: Right, which didn't actually change the outcome. That was my problem with that single attack on an air field.

But let's go back to North Korea and, for that matter, the Philippines. Supposedly, we have a diplomatic corps. That is their job, to be these intermediaries, so we don't have to give these -- I actually agree. Yes, we have failed in North Korea for 25 years. It is time to try something different. But instead of the president talking to Kim Jong-Un, there should be intermediaries doing that work.

VAUSE: One of the big achievements of the first 100 days of the Trump presidency was passing a bipartisan spending bill to keep the government funded until September. And it didn't seem to go the way the guy who wrote the book "The Art of the Deal." Let's look at a few things that went through this funding bill. No funding cuts for Planned Parenthood. Republicans wanted that because Planned Parenthood provides private abortion services. No funding to start construction for the border wall. Nothing for a deportation force. No federal cuts to the so-called sanctuary cities, which Republicans also wanted. There was a 1 percent cut for the Environmental Protection Agency, not the 31 percent the president had outlines. Only half of the requested funding for the military. The list goes on and on.

Shawn, as a Republican and as a Trump supporter, would you at the very least admit you may find that a little disappointing?

STEEL: It's very disappointing. What you have is Senate Democrats use real bullets and Republicans use rubber duckies. They're using the filibuster. You can't get a spending bill through, through the Senate. The House is easy, but through the Senate, you can't unless you get 60 votes. They're using what the Democrats used in the 195r0s to preserve segregation. It's an unnecessary rule. It's aconstitutional. We shouldn't have it. I'm hoping McConnell and the other Republicans, if they want a bold, aggressive change-America agenda, just do the same thing you did for Gorsuch. Take away the filibuster on appropriations.

VAUSE: Ethan, Shawn wants to go back to 1950s.

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: No, no, no, no.

VAUSE: -- 2013 or '14 or '15 and what Republicans did, right?

[02:09:57] BEARMAN: This is democracy. As we have set up a representative democracy in the U.S. exactly as it is outlined in the Constitution. This is functioning the way it's supposed to. By the way, huge victory for the Democrats in this case. And President Trump should continue following "The Art of the Deal," because this was best negotiation ever. Bigly.

VAUSE: Shawn, there is disappointment now, too, with the Democrats now that President Obama has decided to accept $400,000 in speaking fees -

STEEL: That's just the beginning.

VAUSE: Exactly. For a Wall Street firm. It was even the subject of a "New York Times" editorial on Monday. This is how it read, in part, "It is disheartening that a man whose historic candidacy was premised on a moral examination of politics now joins almost every modern president on cashing in. And it shows a surprising tone deafness more likely to be expected from the billionaires the Obamas have vacationed with these past months than from a president keenly attuned to the worries and resentments of the 99 percent."

Ethan, Obama has a right to earn a living, but given everything that's happened with Wall Street speeches and Hillary Clinton, this probably not the best move, especially since he just got a $65 million book deal, right?

BEARMAN: But here's the fundamental difference between Hillary Clinton, who was going to be running for president, President Obama is done. He's out of office. He's not running for anything. Of course, he should be able to make money to support his family, to send his kid to private school, to put food on the table, and to plant a new garden for Michelle that was ripped out of the White House.

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: That's a terrible talking point. Obama -- the one thing the budget bill did so, is that Republicans got school choice back in Washington, D.C., for poor black kids. Obama opposed it. But his kids get to go to private school. And now we know how he can afford it.

(CROSSTALK)

STEEL: This goes to Obama's ethical problem.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

BEARMAN: Girls can't get education around the world that Obama put in place because President Trump cut it out today.

VAUSE: OK. Thank you. Good to see you both.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: OK.

Amid the standoff with North Korea, there are concerns that Pyongyang may use three detained Americans, which they're currently holding, as bargaining chips. Plus, last week, Pyongyang arrested American, Tony Kim, who was trying to leave the country. Plus, Kim Dong Chul is serving 10 years of hard laborer, accused of espionage. And North Korea detained 21-year-old student, Otto Warmbier, more than a year ago, accused of crimes against the state, for apparently taking a political sign from a hotel where he was saying. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Earlier, his parents spoke to CNN. They're praising President Trump for trying a different approach when it comes to North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED WARMBIER, FATHER OF OTTO WARMBIER: Cindy and I are here because of the rising tensions. And we don't have any views politically on this situation. We have a selfish view. And we believe that United States government, which has an obligation to protect individuals, as well as the masses, they can work two tracts here. And one is to focus on the big picture, which we're encouraged President Trump is willing to do that. And we're here to make sure that Otto is included in any solutions or political dialogue or anything related to this situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more on this, our David McKenzie, live in Beijing. Our Alexandra Field is in Seoul, South Korea.

Alexandra, first to you.

Horrible situation for the Warmbiers. They are suggesting that maybe this approach of flattering Kim Jong-Un, engaging him diplomatically, could lead to their son's release. What are the chances of that happening?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are parents who have not heard a word about their son's whereabouts for more than a year, John. And the advice they received was the best thing to do was to stay quiet or to stay out of the public eye so as not to rankle North Korea in any way. But their 22-year-old son has been detained for 16 months. They're trying to take a different approach. At the same time, you have a new administration in Washington trying to take a different approach. They're doing this and signaling they're doing this at a time where tensions are incredibly high on the Korean peninsula. It speaks to the fear they have about their son's safety and about whether he could be a pawn in the process that could unfold between North Korea and the U.S. Right now, they're loudly, as you see there, urging the administration in Washington to make their son a part of the dialogue. They're trying to walk a line where they recognize the administration's primary concern is the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea and heading off what top-level administration officials have warned could be catastrophic consequences. At the same time, they say they want to put a face on their son. They want people to know that they have not heard from their son in more than a year. They know nothing of his whereabouts. He's been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He's one of three U.S. citizens currently detained in North Korea.

And while most of the world was probably taken aback to hear President Donald Trump saying he would be honored to meet with Kim Jong-Un if the circumstances were right, any signal that there could be an opportunity for dialogue or an improvement of a relationship with North Korea is the kind of information this family, who has had so little information, does want to hear right now -- John?

[02:15:24] VAUSE: OK. Alex, stay with us.

To you, David, in Beijing.

Assuming Donald Trump has calculated his words very carefully, talking about, it would be an honor to be meet Kim Jong-Un, is that a message for Beijing as much as it would be for Pyongyang?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Assuming that he did calculate that, and it wasn't an off-the-cuff kind of remark, it would be potentially welcomed in beijing because China has repeatedly, consistently, and for a long time, said the only solution to the North Korean situation is some kind of dialogue. Now, they would say, in China, that should happen through multiple parties like the previous six-party talks. Certainly, in a country here in China that is often very much part of the structures of diplomacy, they might at least raise an eyebrow that that overture came directly from the U.S. president in a media interview. But it would broadly fit with China's aims to have a discussion.

Worth remembering though that Kim Jong-Un hasn't even met with the president of China, Xi Jinping, since he took over in North Korea. And that is a country that has a strong alliance with China. So China hasn't taken that step to meet with Kim Jong-Un at the highest level, so it would be potentially a long shot that it could happen with the U.S. But anything is possible -- John?

VAUSE: Anything is possible. David, you and I have both covered Beijing and China and North Korea for a long time. If there's to be any high-level meeting, there's a lot to be done apart from the U.S. president saying that's a good idea. And there doesn't seem to be a structure in place for any of that to move forward right now. Is there?

MCKENZIE: No. There would be potentially something happening behind the scenes. But we haven't heard any word of it. Even China's envoy to North Korea hasn't, as far as I'm aware, travelled recently to Pyongyang. There would be, according to this region, most countries involved in this situation would want some kind of preconditions to talks, some kind of signal that Pyongyang would be easing off or halting its nuclear program, and that doesn't appear that Kim Jong- Un's regime is willing to do. So talks without preconditions, I don't will be welcomed be either China or South Korea -- John?

VAUSE: Or the U.S., I can imagine as well.

David, thank you. David McKenzie, live in Beijing.

And Alexandra Field, also covering South Korea in Seoul for us.

Thank you both.

A short break here. When we come back, Hamas redrawing the borders of a future Palestinian state but is the militant group now willing to recognize Israel's legitimate right to exist? Those details in just a moment.

Plus, a congress of people or a power grab by the Venezuelan president? Details on Nicolas Maduro's call for a new national assembly. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:55] VAUSE: Hamas is redrawing the borders of a future Palestinian state. Khaled Mashal, the leader of the militant Palestinian group, put out a lengthy new policy document in Doha, Qatar, where he's living in exile.

As CNN's Nic Robertson reports, this all comes amid growing international pressure on Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So a lot of people are asking how relevant was this announcement of Khaled Mashal? This was a press conference that went on for two hours. A lot of nuance, a lot of detail, and then Khaled Mashal talking about an evolution of the organization. But to understand some of that evolution, you really have to understand some of the nuance. But some of the headline items, Hamas, the last time it set out its way forward was in 1988 with a charter. This is a 42-article political document designed, he said, to sort of set the path for the future, how they would explain the movement today to Hamas' children of today. He said they would accept the 1967 borders for a Palestinian state. But they wouldn't accept the existence of the state of Israel. Both of those things done really seem to add up. He said this was to kind of reframe it, if you will, as a political struggle rather than a religious struggle. And you get the sense there is an effort to build more international support for Hamas, perhaps more from Egypt. No mention of their ties and previous connections and roots with the Muslim Brotherhood. He framed it this way, he said that Hamas is not against the Jews for religion, per se, but against the Zionist project, kind of make it more political than religious.

Israel's prime minister's spokesman said he believes Hamas is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KEYES, SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Hamas' motivation is clearly to alleviate some of the international pressure against it. What they're trying to do is basically fool the world to say we're not as bad as you think we are. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: I was able to ask Khaled Mashal about that, and I put it to him in the context of the evolution you're talking, what is it you want Israel to understand when they criticize you this way. He said, Israel doesn't want a moderate understanding of Hamas. They want a Hamas that is weak on the ground and extreme in their language. That was his position towards Israel.

This doesn't change anything in the short term but it does indicate an evolution on the part of Hamas' leadership, trying to bring the grassroots with them. What are the changes we might see on the ground? All of this is completely uncertain. But a sense here that they're trying to chart a slightly new, slightly different course to try and bring more international support.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Doha, Qatar.

VAUSE: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is putting forward a plan for a new national assembly, calling it a special chapter in the country's history. The move would allow changes to the constitution and reshape the current government.

Mr. Maduro told his supporters it's all about giving power back to the people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUALAN PRESIDENT (through translation): I call on the original constituting power so that we can regain the peace that our Republic needs so we can defeat the Fascist coup and so that the people, with their sovereignty, impose peace, harmony and a true national dialogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The country's opposition though says it's a coup and is urging Venezuela to reject it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED OPPOSITION LEADER: What has happened today, and I say without exaggeration or trying to be dramatic, is the greatest coup I the history of Venezuela. If Nicolas Maduro is dissolves our democracy, he dissolves our republic. Faced with this, the Democratic Unity Party and the members of the National Assembly call on the Venezuelan people to rebel and refuse to accept this coup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:25:03] VAUSE: President Maduro made the announcement during a May Day rally in Caracas. City authorities clashed with anti- government protesters.

May Day rallies turned violent in a number of other cities around the world. Turkey's police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up demonstrations in Istanbul. At least 165 people were arrested. Protesters in Montreal threw smoke bombs at police. One person reportedly was detained. Authorities in Portland, Oregon, say demonstrators threw fireworks, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at police. In Paris, police fired tear gas at protesters. Some activists in France also used May Day to protest far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen. Thousands rallied in Paris just days before the country's runoff election this Sunday. Le Pen and her rival, centrist, Emmanuel Macron, are going after each other's vision for the future of France.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE (through translation): The reality is simple, clear. Emmanuel Macron is just Francois Hollande who just wants to stick around and is clinging onto power like a barnacle. Emmanuel Macron means it is Francois Hollande who will continue to run politics in this country. Well, this outgoing candidate, we're going to get him out.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translation): The question being posed on May 7th is that of the future of France, of Europe, and of a certain conception of the world. In the past week, our country has been involved in a profound mutation. The political landscape that we had known for so many years vanished before our eyes in a matter of hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Macron and Le Pen will go head to head in their final television debate on Wednesday.

With that, time for a quick break. "State of America" with Kate Bolduan is coming up for our viewers in Asia.

And for everyone else, we'll look at the impact of Donald Trump's embrace of authoritarian leaders. What that means to authoritarian leaders all around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ACHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Whenever a head of state is invited to the White House or sits down one-on-one with a president, it sends a powerful message around the world. It's often a reward for a loyal ally or maybe a leader who has embraced democratic reforms and human rights. But are the implications if the leader is guilty of killing and starving his own people, like North Korean's Kim Jong-Un, or the Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte, accused of ordering thousands of extrajudicial killings as part of his war on drugs?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) For more, David Gergen joins us now from New York. David is a CNN senior political analyst. He served as an advisor to four U.S. presidents.

David, thank you so much for be with us.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure.

VAUSE: With regards to North Korea's Kim Jong-Un, even if there never is that meeting, what is the impact of the U.S. president putting it out there and saying it would be an honor to meet with him? How does this elevate Kim's position at home?

GERGEN: It strengthens him at home. And across the United States, Donald Trump is taking a lot of heat over the way he's been speaking about the leader of North Korea. He's been calling him a "smart cookie," quote. Importantly, he said, "I'd sit down and talk with him, if the circumstances are right," and he said, "It would be an honor to sit with him." That has stuck in the craw of a lot of Americans.

I must tell you I have a contrarian view. There are a lot of folks that work in the foreign policy, quote, "establishment," say work around the Council of Foreign Relations, who believe a president should be able to sit down with an enemy, even one as murderous as Kim is, if that will help to avert conflict. I think there is an interest on the part of the United States, if you can find a way to settle this short of war, to find a way to perhaps give more recognition of the leader of North Korea, to welcome him into the family of nations, then it's worth trying out.

VAUSE: With regards to this proposed meeting that Donald Trump put out there with Kim Jong-Un, Donald Trump seems to know he's breaking with long-standing tradition. He also said during that Bloomberg interview, he talked about his willingness to meet with Kim. He said, "Most people would never say that, but I'm telling you, under the right circumstances, I would meet him. We have breaking news."

That last line, "breaking news," so clearly, he knows that this is breaking with what has been tradition and protocol. Can you explain the logic behind what Donald Trump might be thinking?

GEREN: One can never be certain of what Trump is thinking. I think that's one clear lesson out of the first 100 days. He may be setting up some sort of potential deal making. He may think, OK, I've threatened the guy and now I've held out the iron fist, and now I'm going to put a velvet glove on it and talk to the world about how this guy is a smart cookie. I'll be willing to sit down with him. Maybe he thinks he can change the dynamics. There are people, again, foreign policy experts who say one of the best ways to settle this might by giving him a lot of money, as we've done in the past. But very importantly, extending international recognition to the North Koreas, inviting Kim to the table of great powers to sit there. That might somehow convince him to be more rational. There may be that theory in the back of Trump's heads and his advisors. But overall, what he's been saying the last couple of days about North Korea and the Philippines has not only surprised but stunned some of the people around him.

VAUSE: There seems to be this belief that Donald Trump has that once he sits down one on one with somebody he can make deal and maybe once he sits down in a room with Kim Jong-Un, he can solve this crisis that other presidents haven't been able to simply by sheer force of his personality and his ability to cut a deal.

[02:35:09] GERGEN: He had success with that in the real-estate industry. You have to say that about him. He has yet to demonstrate that the skills that served him well in the real estate industry apply well as president. He has not cut any deals. Maybe let the deal making start in North Korea and see if it works. But I think we ought to get behind the words and see the action.

VAUSE: Meaning, with Kim Jong-Un it seems pretty unlikely.

GERGEN: Very unlikely.

VAUSE: But a White House visit by the Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, that's not out of the question?

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: No. I think the world's going to be turned on its head. I was talking to Fareed Zakaria earlier tonight. Both of us were of the view of, increasingly, what you're seeing in some of these countries is the popular thing is to have a leader who stands up to Trump. We're seeing that emerge in Mexico. It may emerge in South Korea. They have elections coming up next week. The candidate doing well there is a guy who doesn't want to fight with the North Koreans and doesn't seem to want a lot of the military things we want there. So, we still haven't seen what are all ripple effects are internationally, but there's no question the Trump presidency is sending huge ripples out across the world. A lot of nations are trying to figure out how to handle this. This is a very different kind of president form what we've seen. We'd like to get along with him. But we're not quite sure how to handle him.

VAUSE: I'm curious. If you're an opposition leader in the Philippines, you've been pushing for accountability, for the rule of law, for basic human rights, against this man who -- the International Criminal Court has warned he could be committing crimes against humanity. To see him walk that red carpet into the White House, what does that do to those groups in the Philippines?

GERGEN: It's extremely discouraging. The U.S. spent decades -- we had Democratic presidents and Republican presidents trying to build trust and respect for the U.S., that we were a champion of freedom, of human rights, and that was very important to what my good friend, a professor, calls soft power. It gave the United States a lot of standing and moral authority in the world. You can let that diminish or disappear very quickly if you show indifference to the dictators and strongmen who are emerging, whether it be in the Philippine or in Turkey. You can look at other countries, Venezuela. These trend lines are very dangerous. It will lose respect for the United States, and others will step into that vacuum. China is trying to step into that vacuum now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And our thanks to David Gergen for that.

We'll take short break. When we come back, it was a rare moment in the televised history of Donald Trump to do an interview walkout. He did it to CBS on Monday. After the break, we'll look that art of the Trump interview shutdown over the years.

(commercial break)

[02:40:28] VAUSE: Donald Trump has done a lot of talking to a lot of reporters over the years but, apparently, when he just doesn't like the questions, he simply walks away. And now he's done it again.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TURMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can have your own opinion.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What really made it more than enough --

TRUMP: That's enough.

MOOS: -- was the dismissive wave. Interview over.

JOHN DICKERSON, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: But I want to know your opinions. You're the president of the United States.

TRUMP: That's enough. Thank you. Thank you very much.

MOOS: CBS's John Dickerson was thank-you'd right out the door.

27 years earlier, it was Donald Trump that walked out --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing that we didn't discuss on the phone, Donald.

MOOS: -- after tough questions from CNN about the financial health of his casinos.

TRUMP: Back to the negative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to the negative.

TRUMP: Back to the negative. Do this interview with somebody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talked about this yesterday on the phone. This is exactly --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Do this interview with somebody else. Really. You'll need this. Give it to somebody else.

MOOS: Instead of "thank you," it was "good luck."

TRUMP: I think it's very unfair for me. Good luck.

(CROSSTALK)

MOOS (on camera): Actually, Trump's walkouts are rare, when you consider how many hundreds, even thousands of interviews he's done over the years.

(voice-over): He's never come close to terminating me.

As a presidential candidate, Trump walked off on two Ohio TV reporters in a single day.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 19 days out from the election, you've been labeled a racist, a sexist.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How do you respond to that?

TRUMP: I am the least racist person you've ever met.

MOOS: This after a woman came out accusing Trump of touching her.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A woman came out today saying you groped her today. Can you answer about that?

TRUMP: I know nothing about that.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I don't know.

MOOS: Trump clearly knew nothing about fake wrapper Ali G. when he sat down with Sasha Baron Cohen's character, who asked him to invest in --

SASHA BARON COHEN, COMEDIAN: These are supreme plums.

MOOS: Trump declined to invest, and did it without taking off the gloves.

TRUMP: Good luck, folks. It's been nice seeing you. You take care of yourself, OK?

COHEN: Are you going to be in on that?

TRUMP: Well, it sounds like an interesting --

(CROSSTALK)

MOOS: Trump tends to be harder on the microphone --

TRUMP: Give it to somebody else.

MOOS: -- than the interviewer.

Jeannie Moos, CNN --

TRUMP: That's enough

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We've not had enough here yet. Finally, this hour, the odds may not be on this side, but a horse named Patch is the favorite in this year's Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old thoroughbred had his left eye removed last year because of massive inflammation. That has not stopped him from finishing strong in a few local races. Also, a second placing in the Louisiana Derby.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an intriguing story with having lost his eye as a 2-year-old. It is a really cool horse to be around. Very laid back, very professional, very straightforward, easy to train. Just a consummate pro.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Patch actually got his name before he had his eye removed. And the bookies have him at 40:1 for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. And we wish Patch all the best.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

"World Sport" is up next. Then Rosemary Church will be with you for another hour with news from all around the world.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

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03:00:05] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Donald Trump says he would be honored to meet Kim Jong-Un, but only under the right circumstances.