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CNN NEWSROOM
Pence Meets with Abe on North Korean Threat; SpaceX Successfully Launched Falcon Heavy Rocket; Steve Wynn Resigns as CEO of Wynn Resorts; Lottery Winner Won't Claim Prize Yet; Dow Surges after Suffering Massive Loss; Trump: "I'd Love to See a Shutdown"; U.N. Calls for Immediate Humanitarian Cease-Fire in Syria. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 7, 2018 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead for this hour, another roller coaster day on Wall Street with the wild 1,000-point swing. Markets in Asia now bouncing back but many bracing for more volatility to come.
Hundreds are hurt, dozens missing after a powerful earthquake strikes Taiwan. And aftershocks continue to rattle the region.
And blast off into the future, the world's most powerful rocket heads into space sending an electric car, yes, an electric car, into orbit.
Hello, thank you for joining us, I'm John Vause, this is NEWSROOM L.A.
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VAUSE: Well, the U.S. financial markets have bounced back after the Dow's worst one-day point drop ever, leading to a rebound on Asia markets. The Dow gained 567 points on Tuesday, almost half of Monday's losses, trading was volatile with a swing of more than 1,100 points over the day.
The momentum has carried to most Asia markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, all in positive territory. But the Shanghai Components down by almost 1 percent. CNN's Paula Newton is standing by in Seoul, South Korea, and here in Los Angeles, CNN political commentators, Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican consultant John Thomas.
Paula, we would like to start with you, it seems the Asia markets continue to take their lead from Wall Street.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taking their lead and yet they've lost a little bit of enthusiasm already for that bounceback at Wall Street, indicating what we've seen here for the last couple of days is that Asian markets do not believe that they've found the bottom yet in the United States. Volatility is back, John, all markets saying pay attention now. This
isn't just going to go in one direction. A lot of flight to blue chip companies here in Asia and looking for some type of safe haven. The Bank of Japan first out of the gate to calm everyone down and say, look, the fundamentals, not just in Japan, but in the region are solid. This is not another financial crisis. This is just volatility that we haven't seen in a very long time returning to the market.
I will point out something that's kind of interesting, whether you're into cryptocurrencies or not, they've swung. They were at a low, or at least a low for a few months, below $6,000 as bitcoin when all of this market turmoil started. Last 24 hours, John, a lot of those bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are up , anywhere from 15-25 percent, which one you track.
So appetite for risk is back. And that's whether you think cryptocurrencies are the best thing in thin tech or a pyramid scheme as old as the Egyptians. Not sure which at this point.
VAUSE: It's the latter. I don't (INAUDIBLE) bitcoin. I think it's a scam.
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VAUSE: Let's look at the Dow on Tuesday.
(CROSSTALK)
I'm just saying, the appetite for risk is back.
VAUSE: Well, some people are stupid.
You look at these huge swings, 500 points down, 500 points up, these are -- there's a lot of volatility, these are huge swings, huge point gains, huge point losses. We've sold this volatility. The scrutiny now is on the exchanges themselves and how they deal with this. Here's how the chief operating officer from the New York Stock Exchange Stock Exchange described, you know, how they are coping, you know, with essentially sort of new territory right now.
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STACEY CUNNINGHAM, COO, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: The systems were designed to cope well in all sorts of market conditions. And, in fact, today's market volatility, while the numbers are really big, and you see a thousand-point swings and that seems like a big market move. From a market percentage standpoint, it wasn't actually a significant move at all.
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VAUSE: So, Paula, the New York Stock Exchange believes they're OK to deal with this volatility.
But what about the other exchanges around the world? NEWTON: I mean, look, they're going to be in line with exactly what she just said. The problem is what the U.S. dollar does, and significantly what the Trump administration does about trade.
We have the synchronized global growth, at least that's what they told us in Davos a little while ago. And yet there are a lot of risks on the horizon. And I think whether you're talking to Asian companies here, that export, oh so much into the American and European markets, they are looking at currencies and the trade wars very carefully.
And the Trump administration has done what they said they were going to do. They're taking on some of these countries when it comes to trade. That's why they are cautious, even though they agree that looking at the volatility in the markets right now is not a good indicator about the way 2018 will go economically.
VAUSE: It's interesting you bring up the fact that the U.S. administration has, you know, made good on a number of promises. I'd like to bring John in at this point.
The president has also been tweeting --
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VAUSE: -- about the stock market, more than 60 times since the election, commenting on how great it's been. It's been incredibly silent for the last couple days, which is notable.
Has he learned that lesson, live by the Dow, die by the Dow?
Or did he simply take the risk, hope that the rebound continues so he can use this as part of his campaign through the midterm elections?
JOHN THOMAS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the president will continue to be bullish. It's good for politics, it's good for the country. And everything the president touches, he believes is the best, is the greatest, has only -- can only go up. So he's going to double down on this rhetoric. Up to this point, it's been pretty braggable.
VAUSE: But Dave, you know, I guess from my of view, for Donald Trump, the Dow, you know, going through the roof, when you consider that three-quarters of Americans don't put money into their retirement 401(k), which is basically the stock market, and more than half don't have money invested in stocks, they just see it as kind of like a background noise that the economy is good. They're not directly impacted by it. So it's not a bad strategy in some ways for the president.
DAVE JACOBSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Here are a couple issues. Headlines, like we saw yesterday, the Dow had the biggest dip in modern history --
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JACOBSON: -- but it was substantial nonetheless. At the same time, you've got Gary Cohn who Axios just reported yesterday, he's been pushing the president to not impact NAFTA or do anything that will derail the economy with trade deals.
Then if Donald Trump sees all this volatility, the question is, like, well, is he going to go in and create animosity with Canada and Mexico and rip up those trade deals and throw the economy down the tank?
So it raises those questions because now Donald Trump has said the economy is great and the stock market is rising. And then you've got this massive dip and all this volatility. So who knows --
THOMAS: A rising market is good for the average man, even if they're not invested in the market because as these companies, as their stock prices go up, they have more opportunities to expand their companies and the companies have to hire workers.
VAUSE: Which is one step removed. (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people, you know, (INAUDIBLE) 401(k)s, and that kind of stuff, it has a (INAUDIBLE) impact. If you don't have a 401(k), it's just kind of, oh, the company is doing OK.
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THOMAS: In politics people's perceptions are the reality. So Trump should continue to double down on the market and companies giving people raises, any positive economic indicators he can find, he will brag about them.
VAUSE: Paula, back to you, has there been any reaction or maybe any impact globally from Donald Trump's silence over the last couple days on the stock market?
HANCOCKS: Look, I think that the Asian governments have learned they've had their own trouble with commenting on markets and which direction they're going and they're looking at the White House again for tease on currency and tease to trade.
Other than that, if he wants to brag about what's going on in the Dow, so be it. I will say that the Asian markets, with some skepticism and I say the governments and the economic analysts as well, look at that American economy and they want it to grow at 3 percent and 4 percent as much as Donald Trump does.
The problem is that when you look at his stand on immigration, and I know you guys will get to this because you'll talk about a shutdown and what is going on in the United States --
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NEWTON: -- immigration deal, but the point is -- and I've been saying this for several months. No one listens to me, I know you don't listen to me, John, but the problem is with this constraint on labor in the United States, if you talk to entrepreneurs, small business people, as I have in North America, they are getting worried about the fact that the U.S. market will begin to be constrained by not finding workers, A, or, B, if they can find the workers, they're going to have to pay them a heck of a lot more and that will lead to more inflation. But over to you guys to see what you want to say about that.
VAUSE: Nice segue for the immigration part. Paula, thank you. Stick around.
Dave, we have a situation in Congress has agreed to another short-term funding measure if it's approved by the Senate. It keeps the government open until March 23rd. There has been some progress made within the Republican and Democratic leadership about a budget deal, that is until there is this Trump-sized spatter thrown into the works on Tuesday.
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TRUMP: I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of. And if we have to shut it down because the Democrats don't want safety and unrelated but still related, they don't want to take care of our military, then shut it down. We'll go with another shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The president was actually talking about he wanted tougher immigration laws; he was at a law and order conference there.
Is it possible he actually wants a shutdown here because he thinks he won the last one?
JACOBSON: It's possible that's the calculation. And let me just say like, I take issue with the Democrats caving so early. I think it was a miscalculation. We looked like we didn't have a spine. We had the moral high ground on the DACA issue. And now it's off the table on this latest --
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JACOBSON: -- C.R. So I think he scored big last time. He saw his approval ratings tick up a little bit. Gallup ticked up to 40 percent. It's been hovering around mid-30s for many, many months and so I think he looks at this, putting my Republican lens on, as a possible opportunity to score more political points.
I hope the Democrats actually learned their lesson from the loss last time around and actually dig their heels in.
VAUSE: This is how Sarah Sanders tried to clarify what the president was talking about, given the fact that immigration is not part of the budget negotiations between Republicans and Democrats.
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SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are not advocating for the shutdown, that's the fault of the Democrats not being willing to do their jobs. We're focused on actually getting a solution. I think if anybody is lazy, it's probably Democrats who aren't showing up to work and aren't actually getting to the table to make a deal on this. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I don't know what that last part was about, but you know, and just to who gets the blame if there is a government shutdown, you don't think it will happen, but should it happen, then, you know, the Democrats, you know, got blamed last time because they were the ones who were seen as bringing it on and causing it.
And it seems Donald Trump just gave the shutdown blame a great big bear hug, it's all me.
THOMAS: He is making it easy to blame him for I think for Trump, these are policies that he has to deliver, that he feels he was elected on, border security, building that wall, protecting our military, making sure they get what they need or expanding the military. He has to deliver on these. I think for him, being seen as trying to being willing to do anything to deliver these promises is a political win for him.
I don't think we get to a shutdown because I think the president's advisers understand a shutdown is not good.
VAUSE: It's no good.
JACOBSON: I think the comment is reckless. And I think it puts a bright spotlight on all the speculation that he has massive mental health issues. He looks like a crazy person when he says stuff like that.
THOMAS: I think actually it might be a short-term strategic one because cable networks are going to talk about how tough the president is on immigration.
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JACOBSON: Walk yourself down to Capitol Hill and work to cut a deal. He's supposed to be the ultimate dealmaker after all and we haven't seen him do that once in this presidency.
VAUSE: Very quickly, back to Paula, we are looking at this sort of period of uncertainty and volatility on markets around the world for a variety reasons and then you throw in the president saying I'd welcome a shutdown.
What impact does that have?
NEWTON: Let's throw another thing in there. The president has spoken for months and months about an infrastructure bill. If they're looking at a dysfunctional Congress and looking at a shutdown and looking at arguments over immigration, Asian markets, anyone around the world, American companies like Caterpillar are sitting there, looking at it and going, well, what about that infrastructure bill?
And Americans are saying what about that infrastructure bill.
This will have consequences, both economic and political. And just getting back to that shutdown, again, if you talk to people running businesses, they're going to blame everybody if there's a shutdown.
VAUSE: Right, that's a good point.
Want to get to this other bit of news. The president came in for some criticism after he called Democrats "un-American" and "treasonous" because they did not clap during his State of the Union last week. Criticism coming from some Republicans. Let's listen to Senator Jeff Flake, he was talking to the Senate on Tuesday (INAUDIBLE) on Tuesday and then after that we have the response from the White House.
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SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: Just sarcasm, only tongue in cheek but treason is not a punch line, Mr. President.
SANDERS: I don't really care what Senator Flake has to say. I don't think his constituents do, either, and I think that's why his numbers are in the tank. The president was clearly joking with his comments.
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VAUSE: You know, John, even if he was joking and that's getting a little old a year in, that's been the excuse for so many things.
THOMAS: The president is very often --
VAUSE: But is it the best joke when you're in the midst of a bipartisan long-term budget deal?
THOMAS: That's who Donald Trump is. Look, there is truth the way when he's talking about infrastructure bills coming together and having bipartisanship agreement and yet he can't even get any applause at all from the Democratic --
VAUSE: Come on, you've seen the State of the Union. The opposition, the party in opposition, the nonpresidential party, they never clap. Look at John Boehner. He never clapped.
THOMAS: I'm not saying -- I think the president wasn't serious about being treason. But his point is, they care about America, they should applaud for the issues that they agree on.
VAUSE: OK. So the president may have been joking but his reelection campaign was not, releasing this new political ad.
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TRUMP: Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people, we were elected to serve. We have created 2.4 million new jobs, unemployment claims have --
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TRUMP: -- hit a 45-year low. African American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. This in fact is our new American moment.
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VAUSE: Dave, apart from the fact that it has been a week and maybe the president needs to get over the fact the Democrats didn't clap for him at the State of the Union, that ad would really be effective.
JACOBSON: As an ad maker myself, who does this for a living, I thought it is extraordinarily powerful and compelling for his base. I'm sure Democrats would love the flip side and have the opportunity to cut the ad for President Hillary Clinton with Republicans sitting down.
Going back to the treason issue, a lot of the members in the House and I know Congressman Ted Liu from Los Angeles here, served in the military. He's a Reservist in the Air Force. He's a former Air Force prosecutor. That is irresponsible as commander in chief to say things like that about decorated patriots, who have served this country with dignity and integrity.
VAUSE: Who was it in Congress that called the president Cadet Bone Spurs?
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THOMAS: Yes. It is a good ad. And I think the thing we have to look at is the generic ballot, which is the only measurement we have right now for where the election might stand, is virtually tied when -- the generic ballot had a Democratic advantage almost 13 or 14 points a month ago.
Trump and the Republicans are in the hunt for this midterm election.
VAUSE: That is a fair assessment, John. Thank you for being with us.
And Dave as well.
Also Paula Newton in Seoul, South Korea.
Great to have you three with us. Appreciate it.
Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., more than 100 people remain unaccounted for after a deadly earthquake rocked Taiwan.
Also, what happened in Syria?
Just when it seemed the civil war was coming to an end, the U.N. calling for a month-long cease-fire. Details in a moment.
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VAUSE: Rescuers are searching collapsed buildings after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. At least four people have been killed; more than 200 injured, dozens others are now missing. Several other strong quakes have struck Taiwan in recent days.
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VAUSE: The United Nations is calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Syria after a surge in deadly airstrikes in Damascus and allegations chemical weapons have been used in the country's north.
The U.N. is investigating reports the Syrian military used helicopters to drop chlorine gas bombs on rebel-held Idlib province Sunday and in Eastern Ghouta (ph) near the capital of Damascus.
Actors say airstrikes and Syrian warplanes have killed 75 people, including many women and children (INAUDIBLE) enclave of Ghouta. That happened on Tuesday. And now with all of this, the U.N. now wants a month-long pause in the bloodshed.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're calling for at least one month's humanitarian pause, starting immediately, throughout Syria, given the very critical humanitarian needs and the inability to provide the aid that we do have.
The team there warn of very dire consequences of the crisis in several parts of the country.
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VAUSE: CNN military analyst retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona joins us now with more on this.
Colonel, thanks for being with us. There's been this perception that the war in Syria was winding down, instead there is this renewed military offensive by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad on these two rebel-held areas which were meant to be deescalation zones, according to that deal brokered by the Russians.
Did someone forget to tell the Syrian government?
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, it seems like there is just blatant disregard for this. They're taking advantage of what was supposed to be the end of the fighting.
Remember the glue that held all of this together was the common enemy of ISIS. That is pretty much gone. There are a few ISIS enclaves left. They're slowly being reduced. Now the Syrians have turned on to all the rebels that they allowed to escape to Idlib province.
So if you look at where all the fighting has gone, where the bombing has gone on, they're going after hospitals and schools and they're using this chlorine gas as a chemical weapon, that's all in this Idlib province where they've allowed all these fighters to congregate. It is a target rich environment.
VAUSE: One reason this deescalation deal was supported by the U.N. and others, there was this promise and an expectation it would mean an increase in the humanitarian aid to those areas and that hasn't happened. Again, here's the U.N. spokesman for humanitarian affairs.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are hundreds of thousands of people who are internally displaced there, on the run, extremely vulnerable and they are being -- they come under attack and under bombardment. That is completely unacceptable.
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VAUSE: How many times have we been down this road in Syria?
FRANCONA: It just seems like it's one iteration right after there. The problem is these humanitarian pauses. And they've had some in the past. The problem is the Syrian government and now the Russians control where the humanitarian aid goes.
So it doesn't go to the people that need it the most and those are the people that are right now in that eastern Ghouta area, just southeast of Damascus and that area south of Aleppo called Idlib.
VAUSE: There is a new complication. This Turkish military offensive, they are creating a buffer zone along the northern border because --
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VAUSE: -- this area has become a stronghold for Syrian Kurds, unbroken citizen terrorists. They're U.S. allies and they have been in the fight against ISIS. But Turkish president has made it clear yet again that he intends to expand this military operation all the way to the city of Manbij, where hundreds of U.S. forces are located. Listen to what Erdogan said on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Why are you still standing around?
Go ahead and leave.
Who did you bring there?
The YPG, PKK?
You take them there and you are still telling us not to come to Manbij?
We will come to Manbij. We will deliver the land to its true owners. This is the difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: That was a defiant message from the Turkish president to the United States, we should note that he was speaking in parliament so there are domestic politics here at play but explain why Manbij is such a potential flashpoint here between Turkey and the U.S.
FRANCONA: This will be the first actual contact area for American forces and Turkish forces. This area was a hotbed before. The Turks were coming down into Northern Syria. Their goal was to be the liberators of Raqqa. They were contained by the Syrian regime and the Kurds and they were bottled up into this enclave.
Manbij is just to the east of that and that's probably as far west as American forces are. The Turks want to clean that whole area out of what they believe to be the terrorists. Now they make no distinction between the designated terrorist group, the PKK, and the Syrian Kurds, who we're supporting, the YPG.
And they just want to roll to the east all the way to the Iraqi border eventually. But they have got to go through Manbij first. And Manbij will be that flashpoint where American forces are faced up against with Turkish forces. Then we'll see what happens to the NATO alliance.
Does it kick in or does it fall apart?
VAUSE: Well, if you listen to Erdogan, he is not backing away from this at all.
Finally here, we've also seen a significant uptick in chemical attacks carried out by the Assad regime. How did Assad rebuild his chemical stockpiles?
International monitors declared that it had all been destroyed two years ago.
FRANCONA: Yes, well, anybody who believes Bashar al-Assad would give up his entire chemical stockpile really needs to rethink their thought processes because that just didn't happen. It was a weak agreement to begin with and they just ignored it.
And it is not hard for the Syrians to regenerate that capability. Once you know how to do it, it's fairly easy. But they're not using a lot of sarin. They're not using a lot of nerve gas. What we see is this constant use of chlorine which is an industrial chemical. It is made all over the country, readily available. It can be put into any kind of artillery shell.
And they're even using these barrel bombs out of helicopters to drop it. So we are seeing the uptick and why are they doing this?
Because they feel they have got cover from the Russians. Every time there's an in international effort to clamp down on Syrian chemical warfare or even chlorine use, we see the Russians tamp down any attempts at investigation or censure.
VAUSE: Colonel, always good to see you. Thank you, sir. FRANCONA: Thanks a lot, John.
VAUSE: The president wants a great big military parade and he's asked the Pentagon to make it happen. Some reports say Donald Trump wants a military display just like the one he saw while visiting France -- details after the break.
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VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, we'll take the headlines this hour.
Stock markets in Asia are now mixed after Wall Street's big rebound on Tuesday. The DOW gained 567 points recovering almost half of its record point loss on Sunday. Tokyo and Sydney finished higher in Wednesday trading, Hong Kong and Shanghai though were low.
145 people are missing after Taiwan was hit with a 6.4 magnitude earthquake late Tuesday. These four people have died, more than 200 others injured, including a number of tourists. Several other strong quakes have struck Taiwan in recent days.
Two hundred and eighty North Koreans including a cheer squad and sports officials are now in South Korea for the Winter Olympics. It's one of the largest peacetime crossing on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is also on his way to the games after first stopping in Tokyo for a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They'll talk about security and the North Korean nuclear threat. Pence said he has no plans to meet with North Korean officials at the Olympics but lesser possibly open.
Elise Labott joins us now from Tokyo with more on this. OK. So, Elise, there's been a lot of speculation here about possible talk between Mike Pence, the vice president, and North Korea's ceremonial leader, Kim Yong-nam and it's based on the fact that Pence hasn't ruled out the possibility although they actually meet because the two men will be at the same event at the same time. It sounds pretty thin, is there anything else here that we don't know about which could justify your -- this optimism?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, John, I mean, it is thin on the surface but I think if you have someone like Vice President Mike Pence talking about saying we'll see, that comes on the heels of Secretary of State Tillerson saying the same thing.
Essentially, let's see if an opportunity presents themselves. I mean, I think that on this particular case I might lean into it a bit. They're both going to be there and it doesn't mean that there's new warming of ties. You remember Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the U.N. Security Council in December sat across from the North Korean ambassador and gave a very tough message about the need to denuclearize. So as Vice President Pence goes along this trip, he's in Tokyo today,
tomorrow going to Seoul before heading off to the Olympic games. He says his message is going to be the same no matter who he speaks to. So that could be Prime Minister Abe, it could be South Korean President Moon and it could be Kim Yong-nam, the need for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and rejoin the family of nations, John.
VAUSE: OK. So when we say talks between these two men, I always say anything from just a, "Hi, how are you doing?" Or "Hey, should we talk about maybe rejoining the international community if you give up all those nuclear weapons, can you pass the hotdog?" Kind of talks. I mean, what are we talking here?
LABOTT: I think it would have to be the latter. I mean, part of this trip, yes, Vice President Pence is leading the U.S. delegation to the Olympic games but even the Olympics U.S. delegation itself is a message about denying North Korea what they call a propaganda opportunity that come from Pyeongyang agreeing to send the Olympic team to the games, sending -- joining this kind of united Korean team where athletes will be playing together with their South Korean counterparts and also sending officials.
They want to deny North Korea this vic -- propaganda victory and keep the focus on North Korea's behavior, whether it's nuclear threat, the missile threat, its human rights. And so I don't think they would want to give the North Koreans another propaganda photo-op that's, "Hi, how are you?" I think it would have to be Vice President Pence saying -- showing what he has called what this trip is about, American resolve giving the North Koreans a chance to look that resolve in the face and say, "Look, there's -- we're prepared to combat your threats but we're also prepared to open up if you're willing to change your behavior."
VAUSE: Interesting times ahead. Elise, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
LABOTT: You bet.
VAUSE: Well President Trump has asked the Pentagon to plan a military parade in the nation's capital. The "Washington Post" is reporting military officials for parade just like the one in France. The White House is calling it a celebration of the U.S. military. And now the Pentagon is looking for possible dates.
Full of surprise being journalist, Michael Hiltzik joins us now. Michael is a columnist for the "Los Angeles Times." OK. Michael, we know the president, he wanted that big military parade for the inauguration, apparently, he hasn't given up on the idea. The "Washington Post" reported late, (INAUDIBLE) the reporting from the "Washington Post" late last month. Donald Trump was meeting the generals at the Pentagon when the directive came down.
[01:35:34]
The marching orders were this, "I want a parade like the one in France. Said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. This is being worked at the highest levels of the military." And so the White House says that this is all about finding a way to honor the troops and show Americans appreciation for that. But at the end of the day, is it about the troops or is it about Trump?
MICHAEL HILTZIK, COLUMNIST, LOS ANGELES TIMES: Well I think it's about Trump and I think it's really about childishness. And I think when you talk about the planning being done at the highest levels of the Pentagon, I think what we've seen here is a leak from the highest levels of the Pentagon.
I think people at the Pentagon heard this idea, they knew they couldn't contradict or they couldn't thwart Trump directly. So they put it out to attract the reaction that I think it's attracting which is that this is childish and asinine and it's really not something that Americans do. A parade, he's really talking about a parade that they do in North Korea. This would be a celebration of hardware, not the troops. We celebrate the troops all the time on the 4th of July, every community at the United States has its own parade.
The veterans march the local detachment of trading, soldiers march. This is going to be -- I think the way Trump thinks of it is the celebration of Boeing and General Dynamics and Lockheed and all the military contractors who put out hardware, that's what you're going to see marching down Pennsylvania Avenue and I just don't think it makes sense. It really doesn't make sense to spend the money that would be spent when we're talking about -- we're claiming that we don't have the money to fund Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare, it's ridiculous.
VAUSE: And one of the reasons why Donald Trump wanted transgender Americans to not serve in the military was because of the increased cost of healthcare which wasn't even accurate. Mark Hertling served in the army for 37 years, he was commanding general of the U.S. Army, Europe, and the 7th Army, here's his take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), U.S. ARMY: It is not in the culture of the United States military. That is not who we are from our founding fathers. The military were civilians that came together and protected our democracy. It's not an over effort to show how tough you are, we come together, we fight wars when we have to, and we do the kind of things we need to do and there is not a whole lot of -- there shouldn't be in my view a whole lot of chest thumping and these overt meetings of showing how tough you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I suspect this won't happen. But if it does, what message would that be seeing all sent around the world?
HILTZIK: Well I think as the clip you just played points out that the United States is not a martial nation the way France is and the way North Korea is, and the way Russia is. I think it's who we -- we simply don't do this sort of thing. I think the message would be Trump sending a message to his base, a progressively narrowing base, these are people who think there's something great about chest thumping is because as that clip just put out, it's not something that broad mass of Americans really enjoy or think about and it's just going to be another way to appeal to as I said a narrowing group of people who are Trump supporters that he's losing even support in that narrow band of voters.
So look, who knows what he's thinking. Whatever it is, he's not thinking very hard. This would expensive, it would be pointless, it would be very much countered to what Americans do and the way Americans think about their military.
VAUSE: Yes. Among those who criticize this idea and there are many, Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and now human rights activist, he tweeted, "Trump wants a soviet style military parade, something weak leaders do to try to look strong." I mean, that seems to be a subtle point, is that something which would be lost on his base but would be something that most Americans would realize?
HILTZIK: Well I don't know who really -- I mean, the base -- Trump's base is sort of a closed book to me and to millions of other Americans. But I think Garry Kasparov is right, this is sort of parade that we got used to seeing in wrench where in front of the Kremlin during the Soviet era.
[01:40:29]
It's the sort of parade that we see down the streets of Beijing under Chinese communist, and it's simply not the message that the American military or American -- or the American community tends to put out. It would be unique, it would be entirely dreamt as -- and I don't think it would have a lot of appeal domestically.
VAUSE: I mean, having parades in the past when the U.S. have returned home from wars, they are infrequent where at time Michael but, I guess, if Donald Trump wanted to celebrate a victory in a war, maybe it was the war on Christmas, I don't know. Good to see you.
HILTZIK: That's right.
VAUSE: A short break here. When we come back, back to the future. SpaceX launches its Falcon Heavy rocket and gives the U.S. capability in space it has not had for decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well Poland's president has signed a law making it legal to suggest the country was complicit in the holocaust. Penalties included jail time, even suing the phrase, "Polish death camps." The Nazi's (INAUDIBLE) camps in Poland including Auschwitz during their occupation.
Now the Polish constitutional tribunal will review this bill and Israel wants it changed. Here's Ian Lee reporting from Jerusalem. IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When Poland's parliament
first passed this bill, a little over a week ago, there was widespread condemnation across Israel's political spectrum and that's because the holocaust is such a sensitive subject here in Israel.
The Nazis killed six million Jews, many of them in the death camps in what was then Nazi Occupied Poland. In fact, a lot of Israeli students go to Auschwitz, one of the most famous concentration camps to learn about the horrors. Now with today's move by the president to ratify the legislation, the reaction has been a bit more measured. We heard from Israel's foreign ministry that said that they're going to reserve judgment, hold it back until they hear what the top court says if this bill does, in fact, violate freedom of speech, then they will give their reaction.
But Israel's Education Minister, Naftali Bennett was harsher in his words, he was in fact, scheduled to go speak in Poland. He said he was going to speak the truth, the Polish government rescinded that invitation. He said that, "The blood of Polish Jews cries from the ground and no law will silence it." And for being -- having that invitation rescinded he said that he was honored. Ian Lee, CNN Jerusalem.
VAUSE: Right now, SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket is moving into deep space after an historic liftoff.
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VAUSE: Millions watched the launch online, on television, tens of thousands saw it in person including CNN's Rachel Crane.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy just had its made-in launch and became the world's most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.
[01:45:51]
Now a launch from Launch Pad 39A just over my shoulder which is, of course, where Apollo 11 sent humans to the moon. The rocket is powered by 27 engines and when it full throttle, it has over five million pounds of thrust which is the equivalent of 18 747s and men, when that rocket launch, could you feel the rumble. I mean, it was amazing to experience. We also know that they landed two of their boosters and you could also hear the sonic booms here at Kennedy Space Center.
The excitement in the air was palpable, everybody came out from the buildings here at Kennedy Space Center to witness this incredibly exciting and historic launch. Rachel Crane, Kennedy Space Center, CNN.
VAUSE: The Falcon Heavy has one passenger on board for its Earth-Mars orbit, "Starman," a test dummy is strapped into a red Tesla Roadster owned by SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk and it was blasting out songs, "Life on Mars" and "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. Musk says the car in the spacecraft could travel in orbit a billion years, that's a billion with a B.
Well coming up we'll tell you why one U.S. lottery winner is not actually picking up $560 million in winnings.
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VAUSE: Well Steve Wynn is stepping down as CEO of Wynn Resorts, the global gambling that he built. Allegations of sexual misconduct by Wynn have prompted Nevada's gaming board to launch an investigation. The 76-year-old casino tycoon denies the allegations which came to light last month in an investigative report by the "Wall Street Journal."
(INAUDIBLE) has found himself in an avalanche of negative publicity and could not continue to be affected as CEO. He resigned as finance chairman for the Republican national committee last month.
Well right now, $560 million waiting to be collected by one lucky lottery winner in New Hampshire. She knows the money is hers, state officials know she's the winner, but there is a problem, the winner doesn't want the world to know she is the world's newest gazillionaire and she wants to stay anonymous. She bought the winning ticket last month at this store New Hampshire. Lottery officials say the rules of the game (INAUDIBLE) if she wants the money, she has to go public because she signed the winning ticket.
Now here's the rob, if she signed it in the name of a trust, she could have stayed anonymous. So the power ball winner is arguing in court all of this is an invasion of privacy, she has up to one year from the draw date to claim her prize.
Well joining me now, Austin Dove, a Criminal Defense Attorney and former Prosecutor.
[01:50:08]
OK, Austin, what are her chances of winning this? It seems at least from a legal point of view fairly clumsy.
AUSTIN DOVE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She's got an uphill climb from a legal perspective. I mean, it's almost -- part of the exchange of buying a lottery ticket is its sort of a mini contract. You're basically saying the exchange for the state giving them access to all this money in the rare chance that win, I'm going to agree to a lot of things. Some form of publicity, disclosure, the PR campaign, all that is even if it's not expressing something anyone wants to do, it's implicit in the exchange of (INAUDIBLE) of a money like this.
VAUSE: So -- but especially why because so many states demand that you go public, that you stand up there with the great big check and you run around (INAUDIBLE) I mean -- because there are clearly obvious dangers here and all. That's what this woman is arguing that if she goes up there and she makes herself public then every kind of dead bit relative will hear up the cash. But it's not that, there's also being cases of kidnapping and
extortion and what now. So there is an element to this which it's not entirely safe. So why do it? Why does it -- why do the lottery companies make winners do this?
DOVE: Well I think that the main reason is it does go back to the reason, they want to be able to parade that big check around, they want to be able to have that promotion, they want to be able to say that the people who have participated in this are part of our exchange, they're part of the public domain.
We have a state, we have -- they earn tons of money from the ticket sales and you have to be another ambassador for this ticket once it -- once you go big and this is a huge, huge win. You make a valid point, anonymity is something that probably most lottery winners actually kind of want someone's fame, someone like the publicity and the exposure and the bling and so on.
But that tradeoff, that person that it's going to have to try to hide and try to be obscure just doesn't really -- if there are other ways to manage it besides saying, "Hey look, just don't give my name up." And remember, this is a person who's already signed the back of the ticket. So --
VAUSE: Right. OK. With that in mind, this is what her attorney is arguing because she's admitted she sign it was a big mistake. So this is from her lawyers, "She's a longtime resident of New Hampshire and is engaged community member. She wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half billion dollars."
Really? I mean, how -- we all like that, wouldn't we? I would like to have half a billons dollar in the bank and no one hassle me as well. But to tell you this, that doesn't (INAUDIBLE)
DOVE: Oh yes, it's a nice town and it's very quiet. Well listen, there are all kind of ways that you can live in a nice town. And so first of all, for the most part, nice towns are smaller towns even though you may have a big element or a big ((inaudible)) that will converge on it. For the most part, neighbors know one another, neighbors respect one another.
And if she's been establishing in the community as she says people will probably say, "Well that's Jane" or whoever, "She's always been a nice person. Now, you're going to have that all relative, that uncle is going to come out of the woodworks and hits you up for funds, but that would happen if she got money from some other source. If you won a big lawsuit or if you happen to create something that was unexpected and --
VAUSE: Or you inherit a bunch of money from Uncle Fred or something.
DOVE: Yes, and inherit a bunch of money. Yes, yes. So you -- they have to -- that comes with the territory and there are measures she can take. So she can hire security people, she's already hired a lawyer. VAUSE: She could buy an island and --
DOVE: She can buy it. And she can move. (INAUDIBLE) apparently, she can do it. So trying to say, I'm going to try to change the law or I'm trying to sort of work my way around the law or navigate or manipulate the law and to my advantage when you're in this very, very public event already inherently, it's probably not going to fly.
VAUSE: The other thing which I found amazing though, this isn't a legal issue but this is a character issue, there is more than half a million dollars waiting for this woman and she has this self-restraint and the strength of character not to get it and say, "I'll go for this legal battle beforehand." I don't know how she's doing that. I mean, the vast majority of people are like, "Woo-hoo" and they'll take it.
DOVE: Well the (INAUDIBLE) I mean even if it's (INAUDIBLE) just like in the $100,000 or $500,000 you're like, "I can just do that right now." So she's got to be -- but for some, it's a moral -- almost existential crisis. Here's this time I'm arriving, you really kind of don't expect too, the odds are so remote of winning. So the fact that it actually landed in her lap and became a real win for her now, she's having to deal with all those mental machinations that go with trying to figure out what do I actually do.
VAUSE: If I won $560 million, I'd have like plastic surgery --
DOVE: You'd split it with me.
VAUSE: -- no one will know what I look like, I'll change, I'm happy to go on.
DOVE: I'll be the guy that -- I'd be the one guy that would hit you up and say, "Hey, remember me? Remember me?"
VAUSE: Austin, good to see you.
DOVE: You're welcome.
VAUSE: OK. Well, Doritos for ladies, the idea left many with a sour taste in their mouth, a company calls for an equal opportunity to crunch. What does this mean? Here's Jeannie Moos.
[01:55:06]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let the chips fall where they may. Lady Doritos?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm going to eat the crunchiest, messiest Doritos I want and enjoy the hell out of it.
MOOS: Sounds like she has a chip on her shoulder after the CEO of PepsiCo suggested her company was developing chips for her because men eat Doritos differently from women.
INDRA NOOYI, PEPSICO CEO: Men a little bit lick their fingers with great glee.
MOOS: And guys like to tip back the bag. Yes, men like to be macho with their nachos. While women --
NOOYI: The don't like to crunch too loudly in public. They don't lick their fingers generously.
MOOS: Tell that to this former Ms. Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I definitely lick my fingers after. I love it.
MOOS: Even in network morning show host couldn't resist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I do not want a silent chip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I love a loud crunch.
MOOS: Because there is no more appropriate snack for the #MeToo era than a chip that tells women to be quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The only quiet chips are stale chips" tweeted model Chrissy Teigen. Read another comment, "My generation mark so future generations of women could enjoy lady Doritos."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go tell (INAUDIBLE) and Susan B. Anthony, they can finally rest in peace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sing it, sister.
MOOS: Though PepsiCo CEO promised snacks designed and packaged for women would launch soon, the company said, "We already have Doritos for women, they're called Doeritos." Some men stood up for women's right to crunch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just as loudly and obnoxiously as men do.
MOOS: But there are worst things that eating low crunch ladies chips --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, did you just eat that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relax.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ashton put his toenails in the chip bag.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just ate Ashton toenails.
MOOS: We did one crunchy Doritos fan, "Can we just get quiet bags instead?" Jeanne Moos. And licking your fingers is cool?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I find it at home.
MOOS: CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
I'm John Vause. Be sure to join us on Twitter at @cnnnewsroomla, there you could find highlights and clips from the show. Not just yet though because I will be back with more news after break.
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VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
