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The Situation Room

Interview with Sen. Ben Cardin; Interview with Rep. Adam Kinzinger; Britain: Another Attack May Be Imminent After Subway Bombing; White House: Trump Supports A Deal On Young Immigrants; Trump: "Chain Migration Cannot Be Allowed"; Trump To North Korea: U.S. "Will Never Be Intimidated"; Secret State: Inside North Korea 10p ET Tonight. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 15, 2017 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news. Terror manhunt. Britain raises its threat level to critical, meaning another attack may be imminent. An urgent manhunt is now under way after a bombing on a London subway train injures 29 people. And New York is now boosting security for its own transit system.

[17:00:23] Not helpful. President Trump is scolded after tweeting that the bombers were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Britain's police and prime minister responding that such speculation is not helpful.

Within range. North Korea's latest missile flight is its longest ever, putting the U.S. territory of Guam within range. President Trump warns the U.S. and its allies will never be intimidated, saying the U.S. has effective and overwhelming options against North Korea.

And deal with it. His base may be up in arms over the president's talks with Democrats, but the White House says President Trump still supports making a deal on young immigrant DREAMers as long as it boosts border security.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Breaking news. Britain has just raised its terror threat level to critical, meaning another attack is considered imminent after a bombing on a London Underground train. Twenty-nine people were hurt in what police say was a terrorist incident. An urgent manhunt is under way, with hundreds of detectives backed by Britain's domestic intelligence service.

Sources say the device had a timer and likely contained the powerful explosive TATP.

President Trump is blaming radical Islamic terrorism and vows it will be eradicated. Earlier, he suggested the perpetrators, quote, "were in the sights of Scotland Yard." Britain's police and prime minister said such speculation is unhelpful. Security is now being beefed up for New York's transit system. Police

are deploying more officers, bomb detection dogs and heavy weapons teams until more is known about the London bombing.

Also breaking, a day after a North Korean missile flew for 2,300 miles, far enough to reach the U.S. territory of Guam, President Trump says America won't be intimidated. Meeting with U.S. Air Force personnel and standing in front of a stealth bomber, he just said the U.S. has effective and overwhelming options against North Korea.

I'll speak with a Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger, of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Senator Ben Cardin. He's the top Democrat on the foreign relationships committee. And our correspondents, specialists and guests, they are standing by with full coverage.

First, to the London Underground bombing, which has triggered a sweeping manhunt. We have two reports. CNN's Matthew Chance is in London. But we begin with CNN's Brian Todd.

Brian, what are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, London very much on edge tonight. As you just mentioned moments ago, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced the terror threat level in Britain has been raised from severe to critical. That means the assessment of officials there is that another attack may be imminent.

We're also getting new details tonight on the bomb itself, which, if it had detonated completely, would have brought much more carnage on that train.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Flames emanate from a crudely built bomb placed by the doorway inside a train in London's Underground. Officials say this IED sent more than two dozen people to the hospital with wounds like flash burns and singed hair. Witnesses say it also caused a stampede of panicked commuters, desperate to get out of the Parsons Green tube station in Southwest London.

LUKE WALMSLEY, WITNESS: People just got trodden. It was every man for himself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This wall of fire was just coming towards us.

TODD: Tonight, the suspect, or suspects, still at large. The full resources of Scotland Yard and British counterterror forces engaged in an intense manhunt.

MARK ROWLEY, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: There are many urgent inquiries ongoing now, with hundreds of sectors involved, looking at CCV, forensic work, and speaking to witnesses.

ART RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: The bomb itself did not go off, which for law enforcement is a great thing, because the bomb in and of itself, it's sort of a fingerprint of the individual who made it.

TODD: A British security source tells CNN a timer was found on the device. That it's clear that, although this was a crude bomb, it was intended to cause much greater damage.

ROWLEY: We're only aware of one device, so we now have the remnants of that device. It's been examined by our experts.

TODD: One source briefed on the investigation says an initial assessment of the bomb indicates it's highly likely to have contained TATP, an unstable explosive that packs a nasty punch.

This video shows TATP combusting just from a tiny film canister.

BRIAN CASTNER, FORMER AIR FORCE BOMB DISPOSAL TECHNICIAN: TATP is one of the most sensitive explosives known to the bomb tech community, and it takes very little initiation to set it off.

TODD: Tonight, the fact that a timer was used and the suspect is still at large has Londoners bracing for the worst.

[17:05:05] RODERICK: The timer is really what's freaking people out. And did this individual place bombs at other locations? I mean, they are, obviously, sweeping all the train stations in London, all the tube stations right now at this particular time. They're looking for other devices.

TODD: This marks the fifth significant attack this year in Britain, after the attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge, the mosque at Finsbury Park, and Manchester Arena.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And tonight, London authorities are asking the public for help. The assistant police commissioner, Mark Rowley, said they've received about 77 images from the public from the scene, but they are pleading with people to come forward with more photos and videos to help them piece together what happened and who is responsible, Wolf.

Remember, the suspect or maybe more of them are on the loose. They're not giving any names. They just don't have any leads yet, at least none that they're giving out right now.

BLITZER: Very worrisome development. Brian Todd reporting for us. Thank you.

Let's go live to London right now. Our senior international correspondent is on the scene, Matthew Chance. So what's the latest there as far as the response to this bombing, Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you can see, there's a pretty heavy police presence here right behind me. We're about 100 meters or so from Parsons Green tube station where that device exploded at 8:20 local time on that metro train, tube train as we call them here, at the height of rush hour. It would have been an absolutely packed train. There were scenes of pandemonium as people tried to escape the carriages onto the platform outside.

A big security operation is underway in London right now to try and track down the individual or the individuals who were behind this. As we've mentioned, the terror threat level has been raised from severe to critical, which means there's the possibility of another imminent attack against the people of this capital city.

So a great deal of tension, certainly, among the authorities, because they're feeling enormous amounts of pressure. I mean, this is the fifth time this year there has been a terrorist attack on British soil. And so the authorities are really under pressure now to try and quickly bring this matter to a close and bring those responsible.

BLITZER: Yes, they've got to find those individuals or individual.

What are you learning, Matthew, about the design of the bomb itself?

CHANCE: Well, it was -- it was an attempt to be a pretty sophisticated bomb, in the sense that it had a timer on it. We've seen that very rarely. It was obviously designed to cause maximum damage and mass casualties.

And it used this -- this highly explosive substance called TATP. We've seen that substance in a host of other terrorist attacks, as well, in Europe. And one of the reasons for that is it can be easily manufactured, that explosive substance, from normal household products like household bleach that can be readily bought at supermarkets.

And, Matthew, thank you. that's what makes it even more difficult for the authorities to pin down and to try and trace who it was that actually constructed this. And so this is another challenge facing authorities tonight.

BLITZER: Matthew, thank you. Matthew Chance in London.

President Trump is using some strong rhetoric in the wake of the London bombing and North Korea's latest missile test. He's heading for a weekend at his New Jersey golf resort.

Let's go to our White House correspondent, Athena Jones. She's in New Jersey for us. Pretty tough talk, Athena, from the president.

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. That's right. Speaking at Joint Base Andrews just before departing for New Jersey, the president said America's military options are robust. He called them both effective and overwhelming should they be need to respond to threats from North Korea.

He said America and her allies will never be intimidated and that North Korea has once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbors and the entire world community.

And earlier today, responding to that terror incident in London, the president talked about needing to get tougher when it comes to fighting terrorists. He also sent some tweets that frustrated British officials. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to say that our hearts and prayers go out to the people of London, who suffered a vicious terrorist attack.

JONES (voice-over): President Trump responding to today's terror attack on London's subway system.

TRUMP: Radical Islamic terrorism, it will be eradicated, believe me.

JONES: Those comments coming after a flurry of early-morning tweets about the incident. "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist," Trump wrote, adding, "These are sick and demented people who are in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive."

The president's national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, later trying to explain what Trump meant by "in the sights of Scotland Yard," the London Police Department headquarters.

[17:10:10] H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I think what the president was communicating is -- is that, obviously, all of our law enforcement efforts are focused on this terrorist threat from -- you know, for years. He didn't mean anything beyond that.

JONES: The president's tweets prompted strong pushback from London police, who said they didn't yet know who was involved and similar criticism from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate in what is an ongoing investigation.

JONES: The president seizing on the incident to push his proposed travel ban, targeting nearly all refugees as well as people from six Muslim-majority countries, a ban that is facing several legal challenges.

Trump tweeting, "The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific. But stupidly, that would not be politically correct."

Asked to explain his tweet, he would only say...

TRUMP: We have to be tougher and we have to be smarter.

JONES: The latest terror attack on an ally coming in the wake of yet another missile launch by North Korea. The second one to fly over another key ally, Japan, in less than a month. A problem international diplomatic pressure has so far been unable to solve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you running out of diplomatic options, Mr. President?

TRUMP: No.

JONES: Amid the escalating threat from North Korea, the president today visited Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, where he talked up the country's military might.

TRUMP: When our enemies hear the F-35 engines, when they're roaring overhead, their souls will tremble and they will know the day of reckoning has arrived.

JONES: Meanwhile, here at home, the president may be extending an olive branch to Democrats, signaling his willingness to make a deal to protect young people brought to the United States illegally as children.

TRUMP: We're looking at allowing people to stay here. We're working with everybody.

JONES: But the move is causing a stir among some conservative supporters of the president. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders making clear the president won't accept any deal without a strong border security component.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He supports making an agreement on DACA, but that would have to include massive border security and interior enforcement. The president continues to push for those things. He's still 100 percent committed to the wall, and we're going to be laying out what our specific priorities and principles are in that front over the next seven to ten days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now this is an important and emotional issue. We'll be watching closely to see just what the administration proposes to protect these 800,000 or so young people, the so-called DREAMers.

But it's important to remember that that proposal will be just that. There is no guarantee that Congress will be able to pass a bill before the deadline, the six-month deadline the president set runs out. And it's not at all clear what the president will do if Congress fails -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Athena, thank you. Athena Jones in New Jersey for us.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. He's the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, thanks for joining us. I want to get right to the news. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the terror attack in London, but British authorities point out it's routine for ISIS to claim responsibility, whether or not they were actually involved.

Based on the technology, the bomb components, the placement of the explosives, is there any indication, as far as you believe, as to who might be behind this attack?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Well, Wolf, first, it's good to be with you. And we don't know. We need to let the investigation go forward. This is not the typical M.O. that we've seen in terrorist attacks in Europe. However, we will wait to see exactly what the circumstances are. We know that, as ISIS's caliphate, its geographical territory is

shrinking, that there is a lot more interest in what's happening in this type of terrorist episodes. So ISIS will claim credit, even if they had nothing to do with it. But we should find out first exactly what happened.

Obviously, our prayers are with the people of London and those who have been -- who are injured. We all need to pull together. And we've got to share intelligence information to try to prevent these types of things from occurring.

BLITZER: This was not a suicide bombing. This was a bombing involving a timer that would go off after the bomber left the scene, presumably. It suggests that the attacker may be capable of planting more explosives in other locations. Are you worried that more bombs could go off?

CARDIN: Absolutely. The fact that this person did a delayed timing explosive device is exactly that. He could have planted, or she could have planted, or a group could have planted more than one, and they certainly have the capacity to put more bombs out there. It's not a suicide bomber; it wasn't a one-time shot. It's a person who intends to avoid being captured, and I'm certain would have desires to do this more than once.

[17:15:00] BLITZER: How vulnerable are American mass transit systems to this sort of attack?

CARDIN: Well, you know, we are very careful to -- to make sure we have all the intelligence information that will keep people safe. We've asked everyone to please let us know if you see something unusual. We have security at all of our facilities.

But obviously, we're an open society. We're a vulnerable society. We know that. But we're taking every step in order to keep people safe and will continue to find ways to try to stay ahead of those who want to harm us.

BLITZER: Shortly after the attack, President Trump early this morning tweeted this: "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive."

The reaction was pretty -- sharply critical from British authorities, including the prime minister, Theresa May, who said it wasn't helpful for the president of the United States to speculate on the attack. Do you believe President Trump was out of line?

CARDIN: Yes, I think his comments were not appropriate, and the fact that the national security adviser had to try to explain what the president meant, meant he shouldn't have said what he did. It is interpreted as meaning that London has not done what it needs do to keep people safe. It is also trying to use this episode to further his political agenda, the president's political agenda. That's not what you do. In these times we all need to pull together and do everything we can to keep each other safe. BLITZER: Is there any evidence, as far as you know, Senator, that

British law enforcement did have a suspect or suspects in their sights before the attack?

CARDIN: No. I have no information on that. But there's certainly been no indication that they had any advanced knowledge of this type of an attack or that one was planned. We'll wait to see exactly what the investigation shows. But for the president to make that type of speculation or where it would be interpreted that way is just not appropriate, and I think the prime minister of the U.K. was appropriate to call the president out on that.

BLITZER: Yes, she was clearly irritated.

Senator Cardin, thanks as usual for joining us.

CARDIN: Sure. My pleasure. Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Up next, more on the breaking news. We're going to get the latest developments on the London terror bombing and the warning that another attack may be imminent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:42] BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking news stories tonight. Britain is warning that another attack may be imminent after a subway bombing injures 29 people. And President Trump is talking very touch on North Korea, after its latest long-range missile launch. Standing in front of a stealth bomber, he just said the United States has, quote, "effective and overwhelming options" against North Korea.

Joining us now, Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He's a Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: You bet, you bet. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Based on the trajectory of the missile launch last night, it's very clear that North Korea now, indeed, has the technology to reach Guam -- that's an American territory; 162,000 or so American citizens live there -- with a weapon. Here's the question: Is that a game changer?

KINZINGER: I think it is a game changer. Actually I think we've been in a series of game changers over the last few months here. This is an intermediate weapon.

Think about the restraint that's already been shown, frankly, by the west, by the president and by Japan. You have a missile that was flying over Japanese territory, and there was no military response. That, to me, shows a good, professional restraint for these massive provocations.

And I think it's very worrisome, especially as they perfect their ICBM technology. When they shoot those, they go hundreds of miles up into the sky, so you can pin the trajectory out and know that they are now within the continental United States. There are still key things they need to work out.

But the pace they've been showing of development shows that we're probably not far out from them having a completely workable reentry- available ICBM, and that's very frightening to, I think, the future of that region.

BLITZER: When North Korea launches these intermediate-range or long- range intercontinental ballistic missiles, should the U.S. try to shoot them down?

KINZINGER: Well, it may come to that point. The reality is, when they shoot these things, we don't necessarily know where their target is. We can watch their trajectory; we can figure things out. We have very good computers that can determine this stuff.

But at some point, when North Korea has made the threat to sink Japan, when they've made the threat against Guam and they make the threat to destroy the continental United States, at some point, when a missile is launched and we're unsure of the exact trajectory, there's going to have to be a reaction. That may be a shootdown of the missile. That may be a retaliatory strike on nuclear facilities.

None of this is the place we want to go to, but I think we have to understand, this goes beyond just a country that has developed a nuclear capacity. This is a country that has shown the verbal desire and has shown reckless actions that actually puts us in a very dangerous, hair-trigger situation.

BLITZER: The president's national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster, insisted today there is a U.S. military option for dealing with North Korea.

I guess the serious question is, is there a real military option that wouldn't necessarily guarantee the deaths of thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of South Korean civilians and American military personnel within a matter of only a few hours or days on the Korean Peninsula?

KINZINGER: Well, I think that would be a decision, unfortunately, for the crazy guy in North Korea, determining if he wants to survive, let's say, if there's a retaliatory strike against the nuclear capacity. He would make a decision, if he did, to retaliate, which would end his life. And he needs to understand that.

[17:25:10] The United States and South Korea and our allies would undoubtedly win a conflict, but it would be messy and bloody if he decides to engage in that.

And this is, I think, why we're desperately right now trying to use the diplomatic and economic instrument of power to prevent the military power, but it needs to be made clear, in order to make those first two things effective, that the military option is a real possibility. And I think it's a possibility not just in rhetoric anymore, but in

reality, because if we allow North Korea to use a nuclear weapon or threaten with a nuclear weapon, next down the line is Iran and other enemies of the United States, that it will be virtually impossible to stop on this train of nuclear proliferation, if we let North Korea get away with this and threaten people.

BLITZER: Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks so much for joining us.

KINZINGER: Any time.

BLITZER: Coming up, more on the breaking news. Britain on high alert right now, warning that another attack may be imminent after a subway bombing injuries 29 people.

And President Trump talking tough after North Korea's latest missile test, saying the U.S. has effective and overwhelming options to address the threat.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:56] BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking stories, including the ongoing urgent manhunt underway right now following today's terror bombing in a London subway train. 29 people are injured. British authorities raised the terror-threat level from severe to critical, which means another attack is considered imminent. Our -- let's bring in our political and the counterterrorism specialists. And Phil Mudd, let me start with you. British authorities, what are they doing now to find the terrorist or terrorists who plotted, who undertook this terror operation?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: (INAUDIBLE) investigative operation here in two stages. First stage, we need an identification, we need a name. So, you can think of a couple of basics, obviously, interviewing people on the train, they're looking at the video. As you know, London is flooded with video cameras. Looking at the video to see who's carrying a bucket onto the subway. The forensics in some ways are basic, we want to see obviously if we got fingerprints on that bucket. Some of it is a little more subtle. For example, because the device didn't explode, are there parts of that device, for example, some electronic parts, that have indicators that allow you to know where that thing was bought, where it was produced.

Then you have the second order, which really involves the data explosion. As soon as you identify somebody, that's Facebook, that's phone, that's e-mail, that's travel, the investigation will explode after that, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. So, they got some clues. And I'm sure they are working -- a lot of people are working on this one. As you know, Gloria, the President was quick to respond to the attack earlier this morning on Twitter. He said this, "Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive." That tweet was not received very kindly by the British Prime Minister Theresa May among others. This is what she said in a response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Did the President get ahead of himself?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes! And also, to say, that they were in the sights of Scotland Yard means, you know, by implication that maybe Scotland Yard wasn't doing its job, because they knew who they -- you know, they knew who this was. And, you know, I think it's a good rule of thumb -- A, not to get out ahead of what the head of state wants to say about the terror attack in her own country. And B, not to give away any information that is privileged information. I mean, they have to presume when they are sharing information with the United States government, that the government is not then going to go out there and make life more difficult for the people trying to solve this.

MUDD: That's not the piece, by the way, Wolf, that will really tick off an intelligence officer.

BORGER: Isn't it?

MUDD: That is not. The piece that will it says we need to be proactive. Let me tell you something, a little humility would be helpful. The British are better at this than we are. The British Security Service and British Police are far advanced in terms of intelligence and policing. And what that says to an intelligence officer is, you're not as good as you should be. Let me tell you, as I said, they're better than we are. A little humility would help here.

BORGER: And he's trying to blame somebody always, right? This is a -- this is a President who likes to blame people. So he's making the case that maybe they should have been more on it.

MUDD: Yes.

BLITZER: You know, Mark, it's interesting -- Mark Preston is with us as well -- in the aftermath of the White Supremacist attack in Charlottesville, the President said he wanted to wait, his words, for all the facts before offering an opinion. Shouldn't he have followed his own advice in this particular case?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. No question. And when he actually made that comment, it's not even just the words that he said, it was how he said it and really was talking down to the reporters at that time saying, "I'm not going to go out and be like every other politician and make these rash comments when I don't have all the facts. I need all the facts." Well, guess what, he made a very rash comment today about, as Phil says, another sovereign nation being critical of their -- of their efforts to try to track terrorism. Donald Trump has got to be very, very careful. Look, we've been saying this time and time again, I don't think he ever will be, but the fact is he's the Commander-in-Chief, he's the President of the United States, he's the Leader of the Free World. What he says matters. I don't think he's quite grasped that, or even worse, I don't think he cares.

[17:35:09] BORGER: But he -- but he -- it was a rash statement he made this morning, and he may have had some of the facts in this particular case, and then he went and shared it, which of course, is something he should -- he should just not be doing.

BLITZER: It happened, by the way, that tweet was at 6:42 a.m. local time. I think that's before his daily intelligence brief, but go ahead.

MUDD: There is an operational significance here that is really behind the scenes. Let me take you behind there for just a moment. He suggests that he has information that shows that these folks were on Scotland Yard's radar. What does that say? That he's received intelligence from the British, that they might have already identified subjects. The operational significance, Wolf, if you're out there and you ran away from this bomb, you just got a clue. I better move fast, because they're onto me. I don't have time to wait. It's not just about politics, it's about the operational significance of what he said.

BLITZER: All right.

BORGER: Either he knew or he was watching Fox.

BLITZER: Stick around. We have more breaking news we're following. Let's take a quick break. We'll resume our special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:42] BLITZER: Welcome back. We're back with our specialists. And Gloria, you know, we don't know exactly what was negotiated between the President and the Democratic Leaders, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, on the issue of the DREAMers, the 800,000 young adults now mostly were brought here illegally by their parents. But it does look like they will be able to remain, there will be tighter border security as part of -- do we know more about this deal that's in the works?

BORGER: No, that's all we know. The devil is in the details, and we don't have any details. And what -- OK, they get to stay. Do they get to have a path to citizenship? The President has said no. One of his spokespeople has said yes. We don't know what this border security entails. The Democrats say no wall. The President says, well, we have to, we're going to start beefing up the wall. So, we don't really know, other than the fact that they have agreed in principle. Look, I don't want to downplay the fact that they agreed in principle. I think Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer knew exactly what they were doing. I know you've talked to Pelosi about this.

PRESTON: Right. You know, I spent about an hour with her this past weekend, talked to her about her discussions, you know, with Donald Trump and how things are going, and what they thought about DACA. What's interesting about this whole idea about whether they're going to get citizenship or not, if they do not get citizenship and they're allowed to stay in this country, what we have effectively done is created another class of people, and we've created a class system at that point. That is so un-American in many ways. I just don't understand how you can allow someone to stay here but say you can't become a citizen. It just doesn't make sense.

BORGER: And you take away hope. I mean, you take all sense of --

PRESTON: And the drive to work hard and reach the American dream.

BLITZER: You know, the President, you know, also tweeted that -- I mean, I think he was trying to reassure his base that if these 800,000 DREAMers as they're called, will be allowed to stay, he also seemed to suggest he isn't betraying his base by saying, "Chain migration cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on immigration." Meaning, these 800,000 young kids, if they then move on to citizenship, they won't be allowed to sponsor their own parents from staying in the United States or siblings or other very close relatives.

MUDD: You're asking me to comment on Donald Trump's knowledge of the details of what he is negotiating? I don't buy it, Wolf. This is not about politics, this is about personality. He spent months in office realizing that being a tough guy and ousting the Democrats wasn't getting him anywhere with the American people. I doubt he knows a lot about DACA. I think what's happening here, and we've seen this repeatedly in recent weeks is he said, if I want to be seen as a dealmaker, as someone whose image is a guy who can get things done, I'm going to come up with some sort of deal, and we'll figure it out on the backend. I don't think he knows what's going to happen with the details of this agreement. I think he wants a deal.

BORGER: I think he wants a win and I think he wants to get good press, and I think he believes that this might get him closer to both. And that if he's going to hurt his base, he keeps saying, well, we're not -- we're not forgetting about the wall. We will build the wall. But by the way, who's going to pay for the wall, remember Mexico is going to pay for the wall? That's not happening. And will Congress appropriate the funds to pay for the wall, when you've got tax reform coming up, which is going to not be revenue neutral, costing off a lot of money? So, I think you're right, the details are not his strong suit.

BLITZER: And I assume Nancy Pelosi told you that she's sticking by what she and Chuck Schumer said after their dinner, the Chinese food dinner with the President of the United States that the wall was excluded from this agreement. The President himself said they'll talk about the wall later.

PRESTON: Well, the thing about Nancy Pelosi is she doesn't stab you in the back, she will look you straight in the face and she will cut a deal with you or she will -- she will fillet you in front of you as you bleed out on the floor. What I will say this, though, to about Nancy Pelosi --

BORGER: That's some images.

PRESTON: As Gloria say, what is happening over there? Nancy Pelosi said to me that she thinks that Donald Trump might be coming to the conclusion as Phil says, that you can't govern by decree. The fact is, we're not a parliamentary system, we're a presidential system. That the legislative branch has equal power. I kind of believe that, but I also think that he looks at Paul Ryan, he looks at Mitch McConnell, and he says, you've let me down, so I'm going to go with Chuck and Nancy this time. Everything is situational. He has no allies. His personality means he will never have an ally in this town.

[17:45:01] BORGER: On a personal level, by the way, this is a guy from Queens, I think he's much more comfortable with Chuck Schumer than he is with Mitch McConnell.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Mark Schumer himself said he likes me. You heard him at that open byte --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: I think Chuck Schumer --

BLITZER: An important note to our viewers, Mark mentioned his interview with the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It airs this weekend on your Sirius XM radio program. It's "Full-stop with Mark Preston". There he is, good work, Mark Preston. (INAUDIBLE) noon on Saturday, what, 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

PRESTON: On Sunday.

BLITZER: Good work, Mark Preston with us. Coming up, an exclusive look inside North Korea, as President Trump warns Kim Jong-un's regime and the U.S. that the U.S. and its allies will never be intimidated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:25] BLITZER: We have breaking news in the standoff with North Korea. Just a little while ago during a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force, President Trump singled out the North Koreans and declared the United States, quote, will never be intimidated. The President denounced North Korea's latest missile launch, saying, it shows utter contempt for its neighbors and the entire world community. Let's go to CNN's Will Ripley joining us from Tokyo right now, just back from North Korea. So, what are you hearing, Will? What are the North Koreans saying?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are reports breaking right now, Wolf, citing North Korean State Media KCNA that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean Supreme Leader presided over this missile launch of what we have already believed to be the Hwasong-12. KCNA apparently confirming now their intermediate-range missile was fired from the Pyongyang Sunan Airport, they fired it right from their capital. 2300 miles over Japan's northern Island of Hokkaido. But if you look at the range of this, this is the longest that a North Korean intermediate range missile has ever traveled. And that circle is all of the areas that this missile can hit.

Most concerning to the United States tonight, the U.S. territory of Guam, now easily within striking range of that missile. That's why you saw South Korea conducting their own live-fire drill, they tried to launch two ballistic missiles, one of them failed but they say the other one could have hit that launch site at the airport. Clearly, this is a strong message of defiance, a threat to the United States that North Korea has what they feel is a reliable missile that can now hit any military targets in South Korea, Japan, and Guam, Wolf.

BLITZER: Will, you have -- you've been granted unprecedented access to North Korea. You have an incredible documentary that will air later tonight on CNN, that really shows what life is like inside North Korea. Let me run a little clip. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: In North Korea, government minders watch our every move and restrict what we can film. Even if this is what we want to see, high school students horsing around at the beach. I can't help but wonder, what are they actually know about America?

RIPLEY: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, I just wear it to play sports.

RIPLEY: Have you ever heard of Portland?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Haven't heard of it.

RIPLEY: Have you ever seen any American movies or heard any American music?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No.

RIPLEY: Ever heard of Facebook or Twitter or Instagram?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, not at all.

RIPLEY: These teens have been told Americans act and look scary.

What would you expect from an -- from an American? What would you expect an American to be like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Big nose with a hairy chest.

RIPLEY: Big nose and hairy chest, huh? Well, I don't have a hairy chest. You tell me, do I have a big nose?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): With a nose like that, it is, sort of.

RIPLEY: Have you, guys, ever met an American before?

They become visibly uncomfortably when they learned I'm an American. I'm the first one they've ever met.

Well, I won't interrupt your game any longer. Thank you very much, it was nice to meet you guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Will, tell us a little bit more about what we all will learn in your excellent documentary later on tonight.

RIPLEY: Well, you know, Wolf, we're always under the supervision of government minders when we operate inside North Korea, but that moment was an example of something where we're driving in the van, I saw those kids playing on the beach and I said, "Hey, can we pull over and see if we can talk to them?" And our minders said, yes. And so, that was a spontaneous moment. It wasn't set up by the North Korean government. And those are the most powerful moments, I think, that you'll see throughout this entire hour. It is very important for people when they watch this, to really read between the lines of what these North Koreans are saying because you'll find striking similarities between very young children and senior citizens and adults, they're all kind of saying the same thing.

Because from cradle to grave, they are fed information that has been approved, vetted by a totalitarian regime. And they've really been force-fed this for their whole lives. And so, it's all that they know. It's a country that's isolated from the outside world. No access to outside media. But when we had these candid conversations and they opened up and kind of went beyond the typical rhetoric, it was really striking some of the things that people told us, Wolf. And I hope that people will learn a lot about North Korea, not to mention the access from the south all the way up to the border with China, extraordinary images of places we've never been allowed to see.

BLITZER: Will has been to North Korea now 15 times. Will, thank you so much for your excellent reporting in this documentary later tonight. To all of our viewers, be sure to tune in later tonight for our exclusive documentary "SECRET STATE: INSIDE NORTH KOREA." Will Ripley had unprecedented access to people, never-before-seen places in North Korea. "SECRET STATE: INSIDE NORTH KOREA" premieres later tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

[17:55:12] Coming up, there's more breaking news, Britain raises its terror threat warning another attack may be imminent after a bombing on a London underground train wounds 29 people. An urgent manhunt now underway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, breaking news, search for the bomber. Just hours after an explosion on the London subway, Britain is at its maximum terror-threat level tonight, meaning a new attack may be imminent. We're told authorities are chasing down suspects this hour.

Pure speculation, President Trump responds to the terror in London suggesting that culprits were in the sights of Scotland Yard.