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Trump to Meet South Korean President; Chinese Bank Sanctioned; Trump Tweets on Health Care Repeal; Republican Voters on Trump Policy. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 30, 2017 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: How to message to each other how they're going to work on this. Think about the fact that the two men may be facing, during their presidency, the worst possible crisis any leader can face. A North Korea with an intercontinental ballistic missile that can be armed with a nuclear warhead and reach the United States. That could trigger a U.S. military response and South Korea is right there and would be on the receiving end.

So these guys have to forge some sort of a relationship after messaging at each other through the public sphere that Trump has said he doesn't like the way North Korea handles - South Korea handles trade and he might rip up the trade deal. And you've got Moon saying that he doesn't like the missile defense system that got agreed to by the previous leader in that country, and he would rather do more of a conciliatory (INAUDIBLE) with North Korea. He'd like to open up some sort of talks with them.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: So, China, in all of this, where - how would you assess the relationship between the United States and China right now, between President Xi and President Trump, given that the Trump administration just, in the last 24 hours, imposed these new sanctions on the Chinese bank? Why? They say that this bank its acting as an enabling for North Korea. We know that North Korea's economy relies almost completely on trade with China. Ninety percent of North Korea's trade is with China. And the president was very clear when he tweeted in the last two weeks that China has not done enough on North Korea. Where does that stand as we head into the G-20 next week?

DOZIER: Well, a couple of months back when I was talking to a bunch of North Korea and China watchers about how the Trump administration had decided to put its North Korea troubles in the hands of China to solve. They said, you know what, many U.S. administrations have done that before. China always drags its heels. It doesn't follow through. They're going to have to consider taking tough steps, like attacking Chinese banks that have been bank rolling the North Korean regime.

Fast-forward, that's exactly what the Trump administration is doing. Also with this weapons sale to Taiwan, it's saying to China, well, if you won't do what we need you to do to convince North Korea to denuclearize, then we're going to have to arm our friends and allies in the region. So these are two really strong messages of, you know, we didn't want to do this, we gave you time, but we don't see you moving fast enough.

HARLOW: There's also - I mean, under the agreement with the United States and Taiwan, there also is the agreement that the U.S. will help Taiwan defend itself.

Before I let you go, though, the vice president of Iraq just did a fascinating interview with our Christiane Amanpour and he said that President Trump lacks, quote, "clear-cut policies." He went further says that America has been, quote, "absent" from its traditional role in shepherding global stability. How big of a deal is that to hear that from the vice president of Iraq, given the situation and the instability in the region now?

DOZIER: He's trying to get Trump's attention. I've spoken to frustrated Middle East officials who say this White House seems more obsessed with domestic concerns, and in their complaint, more obsessed with tweets and they want him to lay out a plan, especially they are counting on U.S. and international funding for the next step, winning the peace, rebuilding billions of dollars' worth of destruction on the ground from ISIS, and they haven't been receiving the right messages. So now perhaps if they can't be friendly and get a response, maybe they can trigger his ire and get his attention.

HARLOW: Kimberly Dozier, thank you, from Washington for us this morning.

So this morning the president taking to Twitter saying, basically, if you can't get health care done in the Senate, just repeal it now and we'll deal with replacing it later. What would that actually mean? I will speak with a Democratic lawmaker, who is also a former E.R. doctor, about what that would mean for millions of Americans.

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[09:38:12] HARLOW: This morning, President Trump is tweeting some advice for his colleagues in the Senate if the GOP health care plan falls through. Here's what the president says, "if Republican senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately repeal and then replace at a later date."

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Raul Ruiz of California. He's also an E.R. physician.

Thank you for being here.

REP. RAUL RUIZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning. Good to be here.

HARLOW: So, congressman, with your hat as a lawmaker but also with your hat as an E.R. physician, you're a doctor, what would that mean if there were an immediate repeal without a replace?

RUIZ: Well, I can - you know, as you said, I'm an emergency medicine physician. And when my patients come to the emergency department, they are - they care about two things. They ask, one, doc, am I going to be OK? And, two, am I going to be able to afford this? I also know that there are no patients that I've ever treated that are

happy that they are uninsured when they see me in the emergency department. So what Trumpcare means, both the Senate and the House bill, are 22 or 23 million more people without health insurance. It means that those that are 50 years old and older are going to pay astronomical costs for their care and it also means that your coverage is going to have a lot of pores, a lot of kinks. You're not going to be able to get the emergency care coverage, maternity care, the mental health care and essential benefits. And all these are very concerning because, after all, they are human people. Often times during the partisan, ideological fights, people forget that there are real people behind these discussions. And right now these human faces are not smiling.

HARLOW: Look, I don't think that - you know, I would hope that lawmakers are not forgetting the human faces behind this, and you do have Senator Rand Paul, who, as you know, has been very opposed to the Senate GOP legislation, who tweeted this morning that he agrees with the president on this strategy. You called the Senate GOP health care bill deadly. You said that this week. So would you prefer -

[09:40:22] RUIZ: I did --

HARLOW: In essence, would you prefer that they do hold off? Would you prefer - I know you don't want to see a repeal with no replace -

RUIZ: Yes.

HARLOW: But would you prefer a repeal with no replace to a repeal with replacing it with the Senate GOP health care bill as it stands now?

RUIZ: No, this is what I prefer, and this is what we need to really demand from the Trump administration and the Republicans. They need to stop creating uncertainty in the health insurance markets. They need to stop threatening -

HARLOW: OK, but, congressman, that's not what I asked you. What I asked you is, would you prefer what the president is suggesting here, a full repeal and a replace later or would you -

RUIZ: No, I don't prefer what the president - I don't - I don't prefer that the president repeal the Obamacare. I do not prefer that they wait to then later replace it, because what they're going to replace it with is going to be more detrimental. What - so they should not repeal. They should mend it and not end it. And what I mean by that is, that they should stop creating uncertainty, stop threatening not to pay the cost sharing subsidies, start implementing the health mitigation risk pools or programs that they have stopped putting in place, which will decrease premiums and stabilize the market.

HARLOW: Let me get your take on your party overall before we go. As you know, your party has not been on a roll when it comes to winning elections, lost the presidency, Democrats lost the four special elections recently. Bernie Sanders came out earlier this month and said, it's the Democratic Party that lost this election, not that Donald Trump won it. The - he says the Democratic Party lost it. Do you think your party needs a reboot, needs a different strategy heading into the midterms?

RUIZ: Absolutely. I think we need a revival. We need to really understand and listen to the American people. We need to have connection. I - when I ran, I told the local Democrats that I am not running for the Democratic Party. I am not even running against the Republican Party. I'm running for the people in my district. And that's what we need to come back to, the essence of who we are, which is, to stand up for the American people and really fight for them and their - and their concerns in the work space, their concerns in the classroom, their concerns at home, their concerns in the physicians' offices. And this is what we need to stand for, because in this debate with health care, there are Republican patients, there are Democratic patients, there are Republican and Democratic seniors who are going to lose their potential nursing home care and that's what we need to fight for.

HARLOW: Congressman, thank you very much. As you say, your words, "revival" is what you think your party needs right now. Thank you very much.

RUIZ: Thank you.

HARLOW: President Trump on the world stage today, set to meet with the new president of South Korea. So how do Republican voters, a large number of them who voted for President Trump, want him to handle foreign policy and how do they think he's perceived by other world leaders? I asked them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What is more important for you that this country be, a world leader or America first? And can America be both at the same time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we have been both for a long time. And -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so I don't think they're mutually exclusive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:59] HARLOW: Today, the vice president of Iraq says under President Trump's leadership America is absent from its role as a global leader. He sat down with our Christiane Amanpour and said that the U.S. does not have a clear-cut plan to deal with the crisis in the Middle East. He also said that he has no idea what the Trump administration's policy towards Iraq even is. Iraq, of course, a critical U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS. In another statement from the Iraqi vice president, "there is a vacuum in the overall leadership in the world. The Americans need to get back to their role as an international power."

So what do Republican voters think about President Trump's approach to foreign policy? We sat down with a group of registered Republican voters this week, most of them who voted for President Trump, and we asked them, top of mind for many, as you'll hear, foreign policy and the travel ban.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Let's talk about America first, Bill. What is more important for you that this country be, a world leader, or America first? And can America be both at the same time?

BILL, REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER (ph): Well, we have been both for a long time, and -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.

BILL: And so I don't think they're mutually exclusive. I mean I think a strong America makes us a strong leader on the world stage and I think, you know, the world is looking for that type of American leadership right now and has been. And these are issues all across the globe that they need I think American leadership on it. And with Secretary Mattis, Secretary Tillerson, I think they've done a great job. And I think probably one of the best things that Trump has done, is he's allowed - he's allowed them to just do their jobs.

HARLOW: How do you think the world views President Trump's leadership?

BILL: Well, I mean, you don't have to look far to see what people think of President Trump. I think there was a poll that was out today talking about his, you know, America's image or his image -

HARLOW: Yes, the Reuter numbers.

BILL: Being battered right now. But, ultimately, I think, you - you know, it's - those numbers are snapshots in time, right? I think if you're able to come to an agreement in Syria, that number goes up. If you're able to work out a way to stop the - the humanitarian disaster that we've seen over there, if you're able to solve an issue with North Korea, I think that number changes. So you can get tied up in those types of numbers, but I do think, ultimately, all that goes away when you step out and you lead.

[09:50:10] HARLOW: Josh, what is the most important foreign policy issue for you that you would like to see the president focused on?

JOSH, REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER: For me, I like the fact that he does let Mattis, General Mattis, take the reins and do what he knows best. I think that that's where, when Trump was coming up, he's a businessman. He surrounds himself with people who are smart and intelligent and know what they're doing. He's going to let them do things. And he's going to, you know, keep them in check but he's going to let them go do things.

For me, it's renegotiation of NAFTA. It's getting out of the Paris Climate Accords. It's maybe even pulling back out of the U.N. I just don't think that -

HARLOW: You think the United States should not have a seat at the United Nations? Is that what you're saying?

JOSH: I think we should re-negotiate our position. We're funding all of these things ourselves.

HARLOW: You're shaking your head.

JOSH: We are though.

BILL: When you see - when you remove yourself from something like the Paris Climate Accord or the United Nations, you seed power and authority to countries like China and Russia. So you can't retreat when -

JOSH: But China wasn't even paying - paying into the climate -

BILL: We've tried - we've - we have tried -

JOSH: They weren't even paying.

BILL: We've tried isolationism before. And where did that get us?

JOSH: But I'm not saying full isolationism. I'm saying a renegotiation.

BILL: Well, you - I mean you talked about pulling out of the U.N. I don't know where the renegotiation is. Whether it's payments or what it is. But, I mean -

JOSH: Well, if he threatens to pull out of it -

BILL: I'm - I'm not - I'm really not understanding what - what you mean specifically by that, but I do not support a country of the president isolating ourselves from the rest of the world. The world needs American leadership right now.

HARLOW: All right, let's talk about the travel ban. The Trump administration's travel ban, as they have put it, is now headed to the Supreme Court. The justices will hear the argument in October. Has it, Richard, been worth the fight?

RICHARD, REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think so.

RICHARD: First of all, this is - we're talking about a presidential power. Does the president have the right to affect executive order that is deal with immigration? And the Congress has given him that power.

HARLOW: The Supreme Court decided that they would hear the case.

DEBORAH, REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER: Right.

HARLOW: And they lifted part of the stay.

DEBORAH: Right. Right.

HARLOW: Deborah (ph), you have an interesting question that you would like to pose to President Trump on this. DEBORAH: My question is, it has - they wanted it for 90 days so that

they can figure out how to better vet people from those countries. It has been more than 90 days. Where are the people who are supposed to be working on that vetting process and why isn't that in place? If the travel restriction, ban, whatever, had gone into effect the way it was supposed to 90 days ago, would those same people still be spinning their wheels and we still wouldn't have a vetting process?

HARLOW: So you're saying, look, to the -

DEBORAH: Get it done. Get it done.

BILL: Right, but let's talk about the execution on that. The execution on that was that the president did not talk to General Kelly before implementing this travel ban. How can you not talk to the secretary of Homeland Security when implementing something like this? So this is another thing where I think Trump gets in his own way, where whether you disagree or agree with the travel ban, on the execution, it's an "f."

RICHARD: Well, but that was the first -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure, you have to -

RICHARD: That was the first time that -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, if -

RICHARD: He's since resolved and regarded the travel - the travel restriction to one I think is constitutional. And I agree that -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One that he calls watered down.

RICHARD: Well, he calls it watered down, but I think it was necessary to pass constitutional law (ph).

HARLOW: Not included in this travel ban are the four nations where the 9/11 hijackers came from. Does that concern you?

JOSH: I don't think it goes far enough. I think those four nations that were identified as being part of the 9/11 attack should be included, especially Saudi Arabia. But they're not. And we are getting, you know, the watered down version or some sort of version. But to her point, yes, it's been over 90 days. Why haven't we been doing this? I mean why haven't we been coming up with a strategy for vetting? I mean you don't need this hold in place right now to start vetting or to start your vetting process.

HARLOW: So your message to the president on this issue is?

JOSH: I'd like to see this get done. So I'm happy that the Supreme Court is at least hearing this. I think that while this is in place, much like tax reform and health care, I think while this is in place, you could be working on your processes and procedures to have the vetting in place. RICHARD: When we talk about the four countries where the 9/11 terrorists came from, we have to separate that from this current travel restriction. And the reason why is we're talking about countries like Syria, Yemen, who don't have stable governments, who don't have an ability to vet. At least Saudi Arabia has the ability to vet people coming to this country. So the intelligence is there, the technology is there, the government's intact. So there is a separation between the countries who have travel restrictions, who basically have no government, versus countries that the 9/11 terrorists came from that actually have systems in place to do vetting.

HARLOW: And sitting here, as we are now, for the four of you who voted for President Trump, does he have your vote in 2020 as of now? Raise your hand.

[09:55:09] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to hear more about criminal justice reform at some point.

RICHARD: I agree with that, but I (INAUDIBLE). He has my vote right now, yes.

HARLOW: Would you right in General Mattis again?

BILL: I don't want to, but, you know, we'll have to - we'll have to see. Again, I think the president still has a lot to prove for some of us that have been skeptical.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: So, there you see, a lot to prove from that voter, but all of them want to see some action.

Minutes from now, a high stakes meeting for President Trump. In moments, the South Korean president will arrive at the White House for a crucial meeting as tension grows with North Korea. You'll see that live in just a minute. Stay with us.

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