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NEW DAY SUNDAY

U.N. Passes Tough New Sanctions On North Korea; Tillerson: We Have To Respond To Threat From North Korea; Search Called Off For Three Missing Marines; Stephen Miller Could Take On White House Communications Role; Tillerson, Lavrov Discuss North Korea Sanctions In Manila; Tillerson Takes North Korea Pressure Campaign To Asia; U.S. Commander In Afghanistan Under Fire; Fox News Host Suspended; Trump On Leakers: Great To See A.G. Taking Action; Minnesota Mosque Explosion; Baltimore Violence; "Pharma Bro" Convicted; Usain Bolt's Final 100 Meter Race; Ryan Lochte Swims For The First Time After Rio Olympics; NFL Hall Of Fame Inductions Aired 6-7a

Aired August 6, 2017 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- message to the brutal regime. We are prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and our allies. The ball is in North Korea's court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we know about this regime is that they prioritize their nuclear and missile program above all else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Russian investigation is heating up and so is the president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Have you seen any Russians in West Virginia, Ohio, or Pennsylvania?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources tell CNN financial links could offer a more concrete path to potential prosecutions.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president's senior policy adviser is now under consideration for a high-level communications job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wants to have folks like Miller on television defending him creatively no matter what

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So grateful to have your company. Welcome.

Right now, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is at an international meeting of foreign ministers in the Philippines. Tillerson in that meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

In the next hour, we know he is also going to be meeting one-on-one with his counterpart from China, this after the U.N. slapped harsh new sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests. VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, sanctions that could cost a country a billion dollars in exports annually. Listen to what U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, told CNN's Ana Cabrera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: We are prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and to defend our allies, and the ball is in North Korea's court. They now have to decide where they want to go from here. We hope that they will go the route of peace and security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Plus, President Trump was on Twitter on the North Korea sanctions after a golf outing at his New Jersey resort. He wrote, "United Nations resolution is the single largest economic sanctions package ever on North Korea, over $1 billion in cost to North Korea."

Let's bring in now Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News, Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst and historian and professor at Princeton University, and Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst and former Army commander general of Europe in the Seventh Army.

Let's start with you, Julian. Good morning to you all. And just put into context the accomplishment of getting a unanimous vote on these sanctions from the U.S. Security Council for us.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, this was a very important step and highlights both the severity of the crisis that many people feel and Ambassador Haley has very successful diplomatic skills that she has shown.

This brings in Russia and China into a coalition against North Korea that focuses now on economic sanctions as opposed to military sanctions so this is a big step. I think President Trump will claim this as a victory for the moment.

It's unclear this is going to work. It's unclear this will end the provocations, but it's a step where international alliances held in dealing with international threat.

BLACKWELL: So let's pull out a few of the threats there Errol. First, let's start with why China and Russia, traditionally have vetoed or blocked sanctions like this have now signed on.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, they want to be the only players in the nuclear club, just like any other nuclear power. They don't welcome unstable dangerously fragile regime like North Korea suddenly getting nuclear weapons.

And if you're China, which is right on the border, you also don't want a collapse of North Korea, which would with create a humanitarian crisis. So, one way or another they were bound to get involved. And to put some pressure on it, I want to emphasize what Julian said, though, it's really quite an achievement for this administration to pull together all of the nations and to get a unanimous vote of this kind.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, General, let's go to Asean, where the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson is today. He will be in the same room at some point with the North Korean foreign minister.

I want to replay for our viewers what he said this week about the U.S.' approach to North Korea, this more conciliatory tone that we are hearing from Tillerson. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): China urged North Korea to treat the new resolutions by the U.N. Security Council regarding North Korea in a calm manner and not to conduct missile --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. That is clearly not Rex Tillerson. He said, "We do not seek regime change. We do not seek an accelerated reunification of a peninsula. We do not seek an excuse to send our military North of the 38th parallel. We are not your enemy. We are not your threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond."

Contrast that with the test of the ICBM this week as well and the drills in South Korea. Is there an inconsistency here or is this part of a larger strategy?

[06:05:10] LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's part of a much larger strategy, Victor. We are talking about something that is really big in terms of this front.

The administration has been able to combine the diplomatic efforts, not only the U.N. vote yesterday, but also the previous vote earlier this week that everyone focused on because of its Russian sanctions, but it also had North Korean sanctions in it.

And this all came at a wonderful time because the Asean conference was just beginning to start. So, you see a diplomatic condemnation by 15 nations of the world that voted on this at the U.N. going against North Korea.

You combine that with the economic strategy, which was associated with this, taking away imports to North Korea of coal, iron ore and iron and several other products slamming some of their banks and taking personal actions against some of their leaders.

And, finally, along with an informational campaign. This is now on the world stage with many nations coming together. But when you use all three of those diplomatic information and economic tools, you always have to have the military tool on the background. It's not leading the way, but what Mr. Tillerson was saying is it's there if it needs to be if there are additional launches or tests of nuclear weapons. So, this is a very good strategy on the part of the administration and Ambassador Tillerson and Ambassador to the U.N. should be commented for very good work this week.

BLACKWELL: So Julian, back to a point you made. The suggestion or indication that these sanctions, above any other sanction, will be an effective deterrent to Kim to abandon this effort to get a nuclear weapon? Do we know that it will be?

ZELIZER: No. I mean, I think most experts agree it probably won't be and that the provocations will continue. I think as important as the sanctions is simply a show of international unity. That is why the U.N. can be so important, so this isn't simply about President Trump versus the North Koreans.

It becomes about many allies with different interests agreeing that this is the time to take action, whether that is diplomatic or military action. I would add the tweets are a little troublesome in that some of the bluster from the president is not always helpful in these situations.

And so, I think we need to check some of the enthusiasm with the reminder of the problems, not simply with sanctions, but with our own administration and the challenges that we are going to face.

BLACKWELL: Errol, let's look at a couple of the tweets. The president tweeting this about the last ICBM test, "I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade yet they do nothing for us with North Korea. Just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue."

China could easily solve this problem $3 billion economic impact and China is on board here, I mean, with this billion-dollar impact on their income. Does this public browbeating have a role?

LOUIS: Well, no. Look. North Korea is there, in part, because China wants it there. It's not a clear-cut sort of unambiguous hostile relationship. We should keep in mind, among other things, those ICBMs can reach Alaska or California can certainly reach Beijing.

So, that's not entirely absent as a consideration, but here again, I'll mention again this humanitarian consideration that they had. Right now, you have a few hundred perhaps even a few thousand people who can escape over the border into China from North Korea.

If that becomes a failed state, you don't want to see 200, 000, 300,000 people swamping China. China wants some degree of stability there so they are playing a delicate game of their own.

I'm sure if we look at some of the Beijing version of this conversation, they have a lot of really tricky considerations that they have to deal with and you can't change that by browbeating the Chinese government with a tweet. BLACKWELL: All right. Errol Louis, Julian Zelizer, General Mark Hertling, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

As the special prosecutor widens his investigation into the Russia and Trump potential collusion or cooperation, what will we learn next? A top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, joins Jake Tapper live on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

PAUL: The military says the search for three missing Marines off the eastern coast of Australia has been suspended, and that it is now a recovery effort. We are told their families have been notified here.

The Marine Corps is describing the incident as a mishap after an MV-22 aircraft was conducting regularly scheduled operations when it entered the water there. Twenty three of the 26 personnel who were on board were rescued, but the incident, of course, is under investigation.

[06:10:07] BLACKWELL: Still to come, the White House is looking for a new communications director and the president's senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, could be a candidate. What his appointment could mean for future relations between the White House and the media.

PAUL: Also following weeks of public criticism, President Trump is praising his Attorney General Jeff Sessions now. What changed?

BLACKWELL: Also, another Fox News host accused of inappropriate behavior on the job. We will tell you what led to Eric Bolling's suspension.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 14 minutes past the hour right now. The White House is looking to reshape their Communications Department with a new director. President Trump's senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, could be a possibility here.

BLACKWELL: You remember Anthony Scaramucci was fired on Monday after just 11 days. Let's go to Athena Jones at the White House.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. A White House tells CNN that Stephen Miller is being considered for an elevated communications role. That role will be in addition to the role he is currently serving in as a senior policy adviser.

[06:15:11] He is also the president's main speech writer so he already has been playing a part in White House communication. Now the source says that Steve Bannon, the president's chief strategist, who is also an ally of Stephen Miller.

They are both part of the White House nationalist wing of the west wing, Bannon favors restructuring the director of communications role. So, it's not clear whether Miller would get that title or just see his part elevated as part of the Communications Department.

I should also mention that CNN has talked to two sources who say that the new chief of staff, John Kelly, may be looking to bring his Homeland Security Department spokesperson over to the White House to serve as communications director.

So we will have to wait and see who ends up with that role and what that role will look like, but we know that Stephen Miller is said to be one of the names on the list -- Christi, Victor.

PAUL: Athena, thank you so much. Let's bring back Errol Louis and Julian Zelizer. Good morning, Gentlemen. So, political consultant, Ed Rogers, wrote an op-ed in the "Washington Post" this morning and here's what he said about this regarding Miller.

"Think of Miller as a thinking person's Donald Trump. He is arrogant, condescending, and full of himself, but he knows what he is talking about and he is proud of it." And he went on to say, "Good for Miller."

Errol, is that accurate based on what we know?

LOUIS: Well, he certainly comes across that way. He is sort of full of himself. He has got a lot of the policy ideas inside his brain that are part of the Trump administration's agenda.

On the other hand, there is a real simple reason I think why he is maybe not the best choice, which is that the guy has got a lot on his plate. If he is the principal speech writer, that, itself s more than a full-time job.

If he is doing sort of policy work and developing and shaping a lot of the policies, we saw what happens when he and people around him act too quickly, which is what happened when he tried the immigration ban and caused chaos at the airports and put themselves in a terrible position vis-a-vis the courts.

So, you know, it's fine to have the input. He did a confident job, I think, at advancing the Trump agenda at the press conference where he appeared. On the other hand, to do that day in and day out is probably courting more trouble than they want.

PAUL: OK. Let's talk about the fact that he is, indeed, you're right, Trump's speech writer and he did craft that rule out of Trump's travel ban which was unsuccessful, let's say.

Also crafted that controversial American carnage language for Trump's inaugural speech. With that said, Julian, maybe a better behind the scenes guy in your opinion than in front of the camera or do you think differently?

ZELIZER: Well, this is a very controversial figure. He was the warm- up act for Donald Trump as candidate and he both represents and believes in the most controversial ideas on this administration's plate from its very hard line immigration policies to many of the positions about Muslims.

And so here you are putting him front and center and he is not someone who is shy about saying what he thinks. And so, I think at the same time that the administration is trying to pivot and curve itself a bit, they put this person front and center and it could create more controversy. So, I think there could be costs beyond him doing too much.

PAUL: All righty, I want to talk about Kellyanne Conway telling Fox News that the DOJ may or may not use this lie detector test to determine who is leaking information behind closed doors here because that's been a real detriment to them no doubt about it.

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer, I should point out, said this about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD PAINTER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ETHICS LAWYER: On so-called leakers of non-classified information is really getting out of control. They are trying to cover things up and now they are talking about bringing lie detectors into the White House. At least Kellyanne Conway was talking about that. I suggest they put one in the press podium there. The place would light up like (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And you hear a little bit of chuckling there. So, Errol, why has this Communications Department seemed to be so unstable just six months in?

LOUIS: Well, the reality is the Communications Department is being run by the president sitting in the oval office, right? So, if you ask anybody else to do a job that the president has already sort of taken for himself, a job which, by the way, he is not very consistent or smooth at.

Because we have seen so many inconsistencies when he wakes up this morning and decides to tweet something that contradicts a position that he had taken days or even hours earlier.

So to the extent that they want somebody to sort of stand at that podium and try and give a coherent consistent message about a president who has decided he wants to act impulsively and on a whim, whoever is there is going to have a very, very tough job.

[06:20:11] PAUL: So, Julian, let me ask you this, we only have a couple of seconds left here. But when they look at who to put in that position, what one characteristic or quality do you think should be top of the list for that candidate?

ZELIZER: They need someone who could actually heal relations with the media and do damage control for some of the tensions that President Trump, himself, causes. I don't think they are going to want to do that or go in that direction but, in my opinion, that would be one of the biggest advances this administration can make. Rather than a war with the media, try to take a more diplomatic route.

PAUL: Errol Louis and Julian Zelizer, grateful that you two will get up so early in the morning for us. We appreciate it. Thank you. BLACKWELL: The U.N. hits North Korea with devastating sanctions. We are talking a billion-dollar impact here. Of course, this is over the long-range missile program. While the Trump administration celebrates the strongest sanctions ever. Some wonder is it enough?

PAUL: A ceasefire is shattered. Two people were shot and died after Baltimore activists hoped for a weekend without any shootings.

BLACKWELL: CNN original series "The 90s" takes a look at some of the most devastating events through the decade, including a tragic string of bombings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WACO was proof positive to many of these people that this was an aggressive predatory federal government and now we have to fight back like the minute men in 1776 to bear arms, to defend their own rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is the Michigan militia. A self-proclaimed fighting force of ordinary citizens preparing to defend themselves against the federal government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will be receiving live fire over your heads this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is also an armed militia here in Indiana and at least 20 other states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always had a radical right, but in the '90s it really entered the mainstream. Gun shows became an extremely important venue not just for selling guns, but they are selling real life Nazi literature along with survivalist and books and all that kind of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You can watch the full episode of "The Nineties" only here on CNN tonight at 9:00 p.m. tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:41]

PAUL: It's 26 minutes past the hour on a Sunday morning. Good to have you with us. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. New sanctions for North Korea in response to its nuclear missile testing.

PAUL: The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution slashing the regime's banks, business relationship, and key exports by more than a billion dollars. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley says, these are, quote, "the strongest sanctions ever imposed in response to a ballistic missile test."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: We are prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and to defend our allies, and the ball is in North Korea's court. They now have to decide where they want to go from here. We hope that they will go the route of peace and security.

We hope that they will go the route of focusing on human rights and beating their people. We hope that they will go the route of stopping modern slavery they do in terms of sending laborers overseas and taking money from that situation but, again, all of this is now in North Korea's court and we will see how they respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is meeting with world leaders right now in the Philippines and he could come face-to-face with his North Korean counterparts and leaders around the world are waiting and watching to see if they will acknowledge one another if they are going to maybe ignore the other.

The possibility here really high stakes. A meeting that could set the tone for the Trump administration's policies on Pyongyang going forward.

PAUL: Reaction from across the world is pouring in. Australia is taking to sanctions against North Korea a step forward, slapping travel bans and financial restrictions targeting specific people and businesses in the regime.

BLACKWELL: We have a team of reporters and analysts across the globe monitoring the world's response to the North Korean threat.

Let's begin our team coverage with CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, in the Philippines. Ivan, the secretary of state just met with Russia's foreign minister. Of course, on the list is North Korean sanctions. What are you learning about that exchange?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. That's right. Rex Tillerson coming here for manila and amid the many meetings he is having at this diplomatic conference sitting down face-to-face with the Russian foreign minister.

It was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, who pointed out that this location, this venue might be a good place to show areas where, despite their huge differences, Moscow and Washington can work together, such as, for example, the case of North Korea.

And the Trump administration has a feather in its cap, a diplomatic feather in its cap having just gotten this United Nations Security Council resolution voted through unanimously through the United Nations Security Council with these sanctions blocking exports of North Korean coal, iron, and seafood, all big earners for North Korea.

According to, again, Ambassador Haley, this should amount for about a third of its export revenues. So, a sign that despite huge differences with Moscow, despite huge differences with Beijing as well, that Washington was able to get this moving forward.

Now the State Department said part of the meeting here in Manila was aimed at trying to show the diplomatic isolation of North Korea. That didn't entirely succeed because North Korea's foreign minister is also here, along with more than 20 other top diplomats from different other countries around the world.

[06:30:00] The South Asian nations that are hosting this meeting, they issued a statement that expressed grave concern about two intercontinental ballistic missiles launches that North Korea carried out in just the last month but it stopped short of condemning those launches. And also the Southeast Asian nations pushed back against the proposal by Washington to suspend North Korea from an Asian regional forum that the North Korean foreign minister will attend tomorrow and that is where you might get this interesting possible interaction where all the diplomats will be in one room and, for the very first time, the U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson and the North Korean foreign minister.

So we will be watching closely to see if they at least acknowledge each other, though top American diplomats have said there is no meeting planned. Now, of course, one country that faces a lot of possible repercussions is South Korea. And so we'll go now to Seoul where my colleague Alexandra Field is standing by.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Ivan.

We know that the threat posed by North Korea is not felt more greatly anywhere perhaps than right here in South Korea because of course of that proximity that you point out. It's one of the reasons that the government officials here in South Korea were quick to stand behind the U.N. sanctions that were just recently announced against North Korea (INAUDIBLE) of the strictest sanctions ever against North Korea.

The South Korean government sees this as a step by all the parties involved to send a strong message to North Korea and that it shows the willingness of all participants involved to work toward the denuclearization of that country, of that regime. Today there was also an opportunity to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to meet with his South Korean counterpart foreign minister here.

We understand that that conversation focused heavily on the growing threat that is posed by North Korea. They discussed the advancement of the nuclear and missile program that that country has so deafly demonstrated with two ICBM launches just last month. They also talked about how to proceed from here and it isn't just sanctions alone.

They talked about keeping a door open for dialogue with the regime. That is something that we have recently heard from Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson himself. He has talked about the possibility of engaging in talks with North Korea if the regime agrees to a big precondition, denuclearization. That is something that North Korea has said they will not do. They say that nuclear weapons are not a bargaining point for them. They see it as central to the regime's survival but certainly dialogue is the way forward according to South Korea. They have in fact extended an invitation for talks directly to North Korea, that invitation has not been responded to.

Victor, Christi, back to you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Alexandra Field in Seoul for us. Ivan Watson in Manila -- thank you both.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring back CNN military analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling on all of this.

General Hertling, thank you so much. General, Tillerson meeting with Lavrov just a couple of moments ago and we are getting some word right now.

One thing of note that the two men were already in the room and they were seated at the meeting table but there was never a handshake scene between the two of them. There was a shouted question about how the new sanctions would impact their talks. That question was ignored and the press was ushered out.

Do you make anything of the fact that there was no handshake?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't. I think it's symbolic, first of all. It is another way to conduct diplomacy especially in these tough times.

As the reporters just said, there are some things that might occur between the U.S. and Russia because of the sanctions against North Korea but there's still this overhanging cloud of all the other items that are present, not only in the American psyche but on the world stage in terms of what Russia is doing. So while we might be able to work together in bringing this North Korean issue to the forefront some other things are just detrimental to typical engagement between diplomats.

PAUL: President Trump tweeted out late yesterday, "The U.N. Security Council just voted 15-0 to sanction North Korea. China and Russia voted with us. Very big financial impact."

Does this collective vote does it choke off funds specific to their nuclear program, General Hertling?

HERTLING: No, it does not. But it takes about a third of that their GDP away from the use of the North Korean leader.

And what that does, Christi, is it forces him, Kim Jong-un, to make some decisions on where he is going to place the rest of his GDP. Will he starve his country, as he has been doing to a degree completely, and will it cause an uprising? Or will he readjust away from the nuclear and the missile programs to make sure that other things within the North Korean economy are take than care of? That is the decision now on his mind and it puts him in a squeeze. This is the kind of thing that could not have been done in the past. We have reached inflection point in the world, not just the United States has reached an inflection point with North Korea. So these kinds of actions are now forcing his hand.

[06:35:00]

Give up the nuclear testing, give up the missile program without notification, or you will see your population really affected by some of these economic measures. And that is the beauty of the economy and the diplomacy as being part of national power. If you can force the other person's hand without using military action it is much better.

PAUL: Yes, that I think is a collective idea there, definitely.

General John W. Nicholson, the commander of the 13,000 U.S. international troops in Afghanistan is something I want to shift to here. Because in "The Washington Post" there's a report that's indicating there is widespread alarm among Afghans that President Trump is going to fire General Nicholson and if so the Afghanistan is then is in jeopardy.

The U.S., they believe, will just abandon them. If the president asked you about General Nicholson and the U.S. mission moving forward in Afghanistan, what would you say to him today?

HERTLING: Well, I know Nick Nicholson very well, Christi. He is a good friend of ours. We worked together in an assignment for a very long period of time, and he knows Afghanistan more than any other soldier in the United States army, to be quite honest with you.

He has been there quite a long time, multiple tours. He's been in command now for over a year and a half. So he knows the trajectory of the country and what is going on there.

The president hasn't met General Nicholson yet. This is a very insightful individual. He knows the progress that Afghan has made and he also knows all the (INAUDIBLE) and where they are failing. But he also has his hands tied in some of the efforts to support him.

So what goes forward next in terms of the U.S. strategy toward Afghanistan, which has not been publicized yet, is critical important. This isn't as much to do about the commander as it is what do we want out of Afghanistan? What is the way forward?

What are the security objectives for the United States and what does the president, as the commander in chief, want his commander on the ground to do? That hasn't been vocalized just yet. So General Nicholson is in a very precarious situation trying to execute a strategy that has been in place for a while when it doesn't seem to coincide with what the president wants to do right now.

PAUL: Yes. He has been there for 16 years. So a lot going on.

General Mark Hertling, we appreciate your insight always. Thank you. HERTLING: Pleasure, Christi. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well another Fox News anchor is off the air. He is accused of inappropriate behavior on the job. We will tell you what led to Eric Bolling's suspension.

PAUL: Also following weeks of public criticism, President Trump is praising his attorney general Jeff Sessions. What changed?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:48]

BLACKWELL: Fox News says that Eric Bolling will be off the air until they finish their investigation.

PAUL: The announcement comes just a day after "Huffington Post" reports that cited more than a dozen sources who say Bolling sent coworkers unsolicited photos of his -- parts, let's say, of himself exposed. Bolling's attorney says he denies the claims.

Joining us now live from New York, CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. Brian, there are pictures, yes?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Pictures of his parts. Not of his hands. I'll let the audience guess the rest.

This is something that had been rumored at FOX for awhile but not until "The Huffington Post" wrote about it on Friday did FOX decide to suspend him. So here is what happened.

FOX says he will be suspended pending an investigation into these claims. His lawyer says he denies the claims.

Here is what his lawyer said to CNN on Saturday evening -- quote -- "The anonymous uncorroborated claims are untrue and terribly unfair. We intend to fully cooperate with the investigation so that it can be concluded and Eric can return to work as quickly as possible."

Bolling is star. He has been a rising star at Fox News. He is also one of the most pro Trump commentators on the channel. A well-known for his staunch defenses of the president.

He has a new book out called "The Swamp" for example. Now Bolling is the centre piece of the 5:00 p.m. show "The Specialist" for awhile there will be a rotating host filling in for him. But the broader context here is that we've seen a number of people from Fox News benched and removed from the channel due to harassment claims.

First the head of the network Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly this spring. O'Reilly denied the claims against him but now here's Eric Bolling also suspended because of his alleged texting of inappropriate images several years ago.

BLACKWELL: All right. We will see where that goes. I want to talk about something else that we are hearing from the president via his official statements. Now praising the attorney general Jeff Sessions after a couple of weeks going after him.

STELTER: Yes. This is very significant. The president on Twitter for the first time in many weeks, offering some public support, some praise for his attorney general.

This after weeks of speculation that maybe Sessions is about to lose his job. So here is the tweet last night saying, It is great to see the A.G. taking action -- about leaks -- for National Security the tougher the better.

The president must have watched Sessions' press event on Friday when Sessions promised a crackdown on leakers in the government. He said leak investigations have tripled under the Trump administration.

So far, guys, we have only seen one prosecution that we are aware of of an alleged leaker. That's Reality Winner who was accused of sending a document to the Web site "The Intercept" a number of months ago. But Sessions is vowing further action perhaps, also targeting journalists, as well as the leakers who sent information to journalists.

That is a highly controversial move but the president seems to support it, expressing support for Sessions. So I wonder if this is going to relieve some of the pressure on the attorney general's office after those weeks of stories about whether he about to lose his job.

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: And how long this will last.

STELTER: Exactly. Yes, that's right.

BLACKWELL: All right. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Be sure to watch "RELIABLE SOURCES" with Brian Stelter this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: The FBI is investigating an explosion at a mosque in Minnesota. What a witness saw after that homemade bomb went off.

BLACKWELL: Plus, he has been found guilty by a jury in New York. But former drug company executive Martin Shkreli is celebrating with fans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, the FBI is investigating now an explosion at a Minnesota mosque. Investigators say this was caused by a homemade bomb.

BLACKWELL: No one was hurt and we know this happened yesterday around 6:00 a.m. in Bloomington. Now a witness said it happened around the time of morning prayers. But that person then ran outside, saw a car driving away.

We do know that a $10,000 reward is being offered for information in this case.

[06:50:01]

PAUL: A community led cease-fire in Baltimore just did not hold. Two people were shot and died just 40 hours into this effort. But activists had hoped for a 72-hour weekend cease-fire urging drug dealers and gang members to put their guns down.

Community organizers put up thousands of posters. They also held cookouts, rallies, vigils -- they were just hoping for a reduction in crime and these two deaths brought this year's homicide total up to 210 compared to 318 for all of last year.

BLACKWELL: Martin Shkreli is back on YouTube. This time he's celebrating the verdict from a jury in Brooklyn.

PAUL: Yes. They found the former hedge fund manager guilty on two counts of securities fraud and a single account of conspiracy. But after being cleared of five of the counts, Shkreli is claiming victory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hours after leaving a courthouse --

MARTIN SHKRELI, FORMER HEDGE FUND MANAGER: My new prison name is big rolls.

GINGRAS: -- Martin Shkreli cracked open a beer and made predictions with his internet fans about the punishment he could face on three federal fraud convictions.

SHKRELI: I don't think I'm going to prison, by the way. Just so you know.

GINGRAS: The FBI accused 34-year-old Shkreli of operating a Ponzi scheme, cheating investigators out of millions by mismanaging money at hedge funds he ran. After five days of deliberations, a New York jury found Shkreli guilty on less than half the charges. The most serious count securities fraud.

SHKRELI: This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, and maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day we've been acquitted of the most important charges in this case and I'm delighted to report that.

GINGRAS: This wasn't the first time Shkreli called his case a witch hunt posting this on Facebook during the trial.

"My case is a silly witch hunt perpetrated by self-serving prosecutors." Ending that post with, "Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA," a reference to President Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again." In January, the "pharma bro" as Shkreli nicknamed himself, was kicked off Twitter and Periscope for making unwanted advances toward a magazine editor. When asked about his continued social media use his lawyer said they are having ongoing discussions about that.

BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, MARTIN SHKRELI'S ATTORNEY: Martin is a brilliant young man, but sometimes people skills don't translate well.

GINGRAS: Shkreli first gained notoriety two year ago when he hiked the price of a life-saving drug for AIDS patients by more than 5,000 percent. He was dubbed "the most hated man in America," though that had no relation to the federal case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.

As for those three convictions, Shkreli could face up to 20 years in pretty much for the most serious charge there. And as of now, no sentencing date has been set.

BLACKWELL: Did you all catch that look though from Martin Shkreli --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Oh, my goodness. Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- saying his people skills don't really translate well.

PAUL: And it was a, what do you mean (INAUDIBLE)?

BLACKWELL: And I'm paying you for this? All right. Just want to make sure you caught it.

Greatest sprinter of all time. It's final race, final time for the hundred meter. Andy Scholes has the highlights.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, guys.

You know, Usain Bolt has been unbeatable for nearly a decade. Would he go out on top? We're going to show you the photo finish up next.

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[06:57:06]

BLACKWELL: Usain bolt racing in his final solo race yesterday, but didn't win it.

PAUL: The victory lap was not his, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: Yes. This is kind like a moment where you're like did this really just happen? I was watching to see him win one more time.

Because, you know, Bolt had never lost a hundred-meter final at the Olympics or the world championships in his entire career. But he not only lost his final race he took home the bronze losing to two Americans.

Sellout crowd more than 60,000 on hand to see Bolt's farewell in London but it would not go as planned. American Justin Gatlin would win in a photo finish. His teammate Christian Coleman taking home the silver.

The crowd didn't like it booing Gatlin. But this is a pretty amazing comeback for the 35-year-old. He has been banned by the sport twice for doping and has been unable to beat Bolt in the last decade. You can see him here though Gatlin bowing down to Bolt showing respect for the greatest ever.

And after the race the 30-year-old Jamaican well, he said he knows it's time to hang up the cleats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

USAIN BOLT, EIGHT-TIME OLYMPIC CHAMPION: I mean, my body is telling me it's time, you know what it mean? My legs are hurting now. It's the first time I've ever done running and my legs are hurting so it's time to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: For the first time since the Lochtegate Ryan Lochte back in the pool swimming for team USA. Lochte was suspended for 10 months by USA Swimming for his role in vandalizing a Rio gas station and then lying about it saying he was robbed. Lochte finishing fifth in the men's 100-meter backstroke final.

He posted on Instagram after saying this is something I will all remember for the rest of my life. My son, watching his dad swim for the very first time. Lochte's son was born back in June.

Finally, the pro football hall of fame inducting seven new members to the exclusive club last night. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson giving a powerful speech, calling for the U.S. to be more inclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON, FORMER PROFESSIONAL AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYER: I'm of mixed race and I represent America. My story is America's story. America is the land of opportunity.

Let's not slam the door on those who may look or sound different from us. On America's team, let's not choose to be against one another. Let's choose to be for one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: (INAUDIBLE) saying that was the best hall of fame speech they've ever heard of. It was very Obamaesque and many people are saying maybe LaDainian Tomlinson should go from the hall of fame into politics.

PAUL: I was going to say (ph) another career perhaps. SCHOLES: Yes.

PAUL: No doubt. All right.

BLACKWELL: And Lochte is a gate now?

SCHOLES: Yes. Lochtegate we talked about it every day for like three months.

BLACKWELL: He is a gate now? I mean, that is serious.

PAUL: Maybe that threshold is sports for a gate. It's lower than it is in politics. I don't know.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Andy.

PAUL: Thank you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: North Korea facing tough new sanctions designed to send a message to the brutal regime.

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We are prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and to defend our allies. The ball is in North Korea's court.

[07:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we know about this regime is that they prioritize their nuclear and their missile program above all else.