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U.S. And North Korea Put Positive Spin On Summit; Trump Blasts Michael Cohen Hearing As Fake; Israeli P.M. Netanyahu Faces Corruption Charges; Main Rival Calls On Netanyahu To Resign; India Awaits Captured Pilot's Release By Pakistan; Trump Has History of Criticizing Others Except Autocrats; Russia Mocks Trump for Lack of Results in Meeting; Brexit Heartland Frustrated by Political Stalemate; The Change for Cash to Crypto-Currency. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 1, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm John Vause, thanks for being with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, out of the deal or the wisdom of Kenny Rogers. The U.S. President says he knows when to hold then and knows when to walk away deciding no nuclear deal with North Korea was better than a bad one.

Plus, faced with multiple investigations and now word he'll be indicted, Israel's prime minister goes old Trupian calling it a witch- hunt and fake news. A gesture for peace, Pakistan will release an Indian air force pilot and hopes that will be enough to de-escalate the growing crisis with India but from New Delhi (INAUDIBLE) silence.

He skipped the lunch, canceled the signing ceremony, moved the news conference up. It seems U.S. President Donald Trump was more than eager to leave Hanoi and a failed summit behind. But it seems he's rushing back to a world of hurt in the wake of damning testimony to Congress by his once a lawyer -- loyal fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen. CNN's Jim Acosta is traveling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Speaking to U.S. troops on the way home from Vietnam, President Trump barely mentioned his second summit with Kim Jong-un that ended abruptly without a deal.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, I'm on my way back from Vietnam.

ACOSTA: While the President is learning the sequel as rarely as good as the original, there is more drama waiting him back in Washington as Mr. Trump still faces critical questions about his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.

TRUMP: I think having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing. They could have made it two days later or next week. ACOSTA: Responding the Cohen's scathing testimony on Capitol Hill --

COHEN: And I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore.

ACOSTA: The President cherry-picked from his former fixer's comments accusing him of lying except for the part about colluding with the Russians.

TRUMP: He lied a lot but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. He said, no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said I wonder why he didn't just lie about that too.

ACOSTA: Incredibly during an hour-long news conference in Hanoi, the president was only asked one question about Cohen's testimony. That's because the president largely avoided the White House Press Corps and instead randomly fielded questions from reporters he had never seen before including several representatives from Chinese and Russian state media.

TRUMP: Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russia, Sputnik News Agency.

ACOSTA: As well as a few favorites from back home.

TRUMP: What are you doing here, Sean Hannity? Should we let him do a question?

ACOSTA: The President did reveal why his talk suddenly broke down with Kim Jong-un as the summit ended without any concessions from the North Korean dictator.

TRUMP: They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that. So we continue to work in will but we had to walk away from that particular suggestion.

ACOSTA: That's despite a promising moment earlier in the day when Kim told U.S. reporters he was willing to give up his nuclear weapons.

KIM JONG-UN, LEADER, NORTH KOREA (through translator): If I'm not willing to do that, I won't be here right now.

ACOSTA: North Korea's foreign minister seemed puzzled by the failure to find an agreement insisting they were willing to deal. But perhaps the most stunning moment in Vietnam came when the president provided cover for the dictator when he accepted Kim's denial that he had anything to do with the death of American Otto Warmbier, the college student who died after being held in captivity in North Korea.

TRUMP: He felt badly about it, and his victim. He felt very badly about it. He knew the case very well but he knew it later. But he tells me -- he tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word. ACOSTA: There was another example of the president siding with

dictators and autocrats as he did with Russian President Vladimir Putin over interference in the 2016 election and as he did with the Saudis over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

But as the President left the news conference, he could hear the questions he avoided, a reminder of the potential new crisis he will have to face once he lands back in Washington.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Back in Alaska, as the President sidestepped, the summit when he addressed U.S. troops he did work in some praise for the nation's air defense system.

TRUMP: If I learned so much about NORAD so many years ago studying different things you know, I love -- I love this world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Our thanks to Jim Acosta for that report. Joining me now from Los Angeles Peter Mathews, Professor of Political Science at Cypress College. So Peter, let's talk about the collapse of this summer. The President -- it all went bad for him, but then he sat down for a grueling whole you know, hold no bars, take no prisoners interview. Actually, no, it was this softball palooza by Sean Hannity on Fox News. Here's an example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL: The art of the deal. One of components in the book as you say, you've always got to be able to walk up to the last second.

[01:05:05] TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: Reagan Reykjavik.

TRUMP: Well, whether it's Reagan or whether there's anybody, I mean you have to be prepared to walk. And this just wouldn't have been good for our country. And frankly, he could look at it the same way. Maybe he can look at it the same way. But we get along really well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just like Reagan. But even like the preparation in the lead- up to the meeting, you know, there's no groundwork. It seems that -- there really was two options on how this summit was going to end. One party would either walk away or Trump is going to agree to a bad deal. Is that now finally the lesson learned here especially if there is a third summit? You know, it's the groundwork, dude. You got to get the groundwork in.

PETER MATHEWS, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, CYPRESS COLLEGE: The groundwork is so important, John. All the diplomats who know the history of the situation, meeting with each other and negotiating it, all the details of the event of the actual deal, before the president walks in and sends signs that are in sit or make statements, he's got to have that expert background of all the experts in the State Department, diplomatic corps.

Yet President Trump doesn't seem to want to do that. He wants to be able to wing it himself on these decisions and these particular negotiated very important summits. And you really wonder where that's going to lead him. We've already seen where it's led him so far. It's pretty much of a dead end with North Korea at this point.

VAUSE: Yes. It does seem to be going nowhere and you know, there are questions about whether North Koreans will return for a third summit if it is to happen at all. But the best possible spin though that we're hearing from the administration after the collapse of the summit is that you know, the process has not failed. Both sides walked away but no one burned any bridges.

But he's a part of an op ed written by Victor Cha who was almost chosen to be the U.S. Ambassador in Seoul. He was an advisor during the W Bush administration. Having participated in nuclear negotiations with North Korea, I know what failure smells like. The truncated Hanoi summit which concluded properly without an agreement between President Trump and Kim Jong-un carried an awful stench.

OK, so again, was the failure here essentially because of the top-down process not just the lack of groundwork, but you had Donald Trump out there making it all about himself. In many ways, he undercut his own diplomats. He pushed for tap as soon as possible. He wore this circuit breaker like for this never-ending bad headlines which keeps appearing out back home in Washington and the United States.

MATHEWS: It seems like an ego trip basically and it shouldn't be that way. There should be a team effort. The groundwork has to be there. He also when he's on the stage, he's got to make sure that people know he's working together for this with his own expert, his own people, that he's already prepared. Instead, he's the kind of wings that as you go along and like the stench that Mr. Cha talked about, I can almost smell it across the T.V. screen here because you know, walking away that roughly doesn't say it's a very successful or friendly way to part. I don't think that -- the actions seems to reflect the words.

VAUSE: Yes. At one point, you know, Pompeo and all the rest are talking about you know, there'd be no let-up in sanctions until a complete denuclearization. And then Trump said, he's in no rush and you know, that's seems to be music to the North Koreans. It's exactly what they weren't here. They want to drag out this process which seemed to undercut you know, all the groundwork that we had been done beforehand, you know before the summit.

MATHEWS: It's a real shame because this is a serious issue, John. You know what happened about a year and a half ago where both sides were just screaming at each other and threatening to you know, use missiles and nuclear weapons need be and rocket man, all that stuff, that was a horrible situation for the both sides and for the world. And we could easily end up back there again and we might be lucky this time because sometimes wars begin with -- through miscalculation.

VAUSE: Yes.

MATHEWS: As Barbara Tuchman point about World War One, that could happen again in this case unless we get this together.

VAUSE: It's always -- it's always the unknown, the miscalculations which leads to the you know, escalation of a crisis.

MATHEWS: But --

VAUSE: The headlines after Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress were among the biggest and the baddest so far this presidency. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, he unloaded on his old boss. Legally and most damning of all it seemed the reimbursement checks for $35,000 once signed by the president submitted as evidence to support Cohen's claim. Trump was aware of hush money which was being paid to women alleging affairs. The payments were a violation of campaign finance laws. Here's the response from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: But I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times that he made the decision on the payments and he didn't tell you.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: Told me personally.

TRUMP: He did. And he made the decision. And remember this. He's an attorney. Whatever decision he makes, you're supposed to rely on an attorney to make a decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I guess what (INAUDIBLE) is here is Sean Hannity responding for the President as to what happened. They shared the same with Michael Cohen. You know, it raises a lot of questions about you know, what Hannity is actually doing interviewing the president on television in the first place.

But when you listen the explanation you know, by -- coming from Donald Trump that, oh, I just left over to my lawyer. Does that actually ring true?

MATHEWS: Absolutely not. It doesn't make any sense at all. This kind of a decision is such an important one for the president and for his campaign. He wouldn't let his lawyer just do it on his own. And most people tend to believe what Cohen had to say that this was approved by the president. He actually directed him to do this.

And the check that was written to reimburse him was in the President's signature, and the second check are those checks were in the son's signature and his CFO, the chief financial officer of his company. That's pretty damning evidence right there that was -- that there was involvement of the president.

[01:10:04] VAUSE: It say nothing of the recording of the head -- of the (INAUDIBLE)

MATHEWS: Audio recordings. Yes audio recordings as well, how can he deny that? It's amazing, John.

VAUSE: There was -- there was an ample amount of evidence for all this and yet Donald Trump seems to I guess live in a world where none of that is remembered. Cohen also made some devastating allegations about the president and his character and Trump was asked specifically about that. This is one of the few questions about Cohen that he received while he was in Hanoi. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He called you a liar, a conman, a racist. What's your response to Michael Cohen?

TRUMP: Well, it's incorrect and he lied a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It's a pretty subdued answer. But the bottom line here is all the bad stuff Cohen said and the stuff that may have some very serious consequences they're all lies. But when Cohen said that he did not have any direct evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, well the president says then he's telling the truth.

MATHEWS: Yes. He had one held both ways, didn't he? Here's the thing though. Cohen pointed out that this negotiation that's going on the Trump Tower between Trump -- his campaign and I mean, but Trump himself is business interest and Russia, that was going on for six months, but the president said was over in January, and then Cohen said no, it was over in June and that was what probably the case.

So there's some example right there that a collusion or conspiracy to make money with Russia and to cover it up. This is big stuff. Don't forget, I think Ocacio-Cortez had the best interrogation when she said let's get the tax return. Let's get some documentation here to show that the President inflated and deflated his properties at will just to avoid taxes and also have insurance settlements. That's pretty damning evidence. She had -- she had a great question there and that's going to end up with more investigations with evidence.

VAUSE: And the interesting thing it seems it's a strategy by Cohen to you know, to admit to certain things and not admit to certain things, that may be not beneficial to the President, may not have been. He says he just to tell the truth, sort of puts the president in a bind because not all of its lies and not all of it -- not all of it you know, is true. I mean, you can't pick and choose, I guess that's the problem one for Donald Trump. Peter, thank you.

MATHEWS: Thank you so much, John. Just keep going.

VAUSE: Well, it's Friday. MATHEWS: Finally.

VAUSE: Well, Israel's attorney general says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be indicted after a two-year long investigation into bribery and corruption. Formal charges are not expected until after the general election in April. But the accusations could hurt Netanyahu at the polls. And as CNN's Oren Liebermann reports, the stakes are high.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be charged with bribery and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases. Israel's Attorney General announced Thursday evening pending a final hearing. The intent to indict the Israeli leader is a major blow to Netanyahu as he seeks a fifth term in office with that election just a few weeks away at this point in early April.

In the biggest case known as case 4,000, the Attorney General, a Netanyahu appointee said he intends to indict the Prime Minister on bribery and breach of trust. In this case, investigators say Netanyahu gave regulatory benefits worth some $300 million to his friend, a wealthy businessman in exchange, investigators say, Netanyahu received favorable coverage in a news site owned by that businessman.

Shortly after the announcement, Netanyahu went on-air in primetime and blasted the accusations saying they were an attempt by the left and the media to put pressure on the attorney general to issue an indictment at any cost. He also said the timing of the announcement was unfair since his hearing where he can present his side of the case won't happen until after the elections.

Netanyahu faces a very tough fight in these elections as he seeks a fifth term in office. He's party is behind in the polls though he still has the support of the right wing parties, crucial to his chances of winning. But if he loses even a few seats to his main challenger, that may severely damage his chances of winning. Oren Liebermann, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He joins us now from New York. Mr. Ambassador, thanks coming in.

MARTIN INDYK, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: John, thanks very much for having me.

VAUSE: OK, we just heard from Netanyahu describing the investigation that's a witch-hunt. He also posted a short video clip on Twitter saying it was all just a house of cards where you sort of come crashing down. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: (Speaking Hebrew). Fake news. (Speaking Hebrew).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, you don't need understand Hebrew to hear the words fake news. So you know, it can't be a coincidence that he's following the playbook has written by Donald J. Trump, you know, claimed me the victim and then attacked the rule of law.

INDYK: Indeed. But it's a little harder for him to do that since he's been effectively the rule of law for the last ten years as Prime Minister of Israel. He's completely dominated the political scene. The notion that the left wing has some kind of deep state operating there to overthrow him is absurd given the way in which he is effectively set up a settler deep state in the country.

So therefore the less, if it works here, he probably figures it'll work there and I think he will succeed in rallying his base.

[01:15:10] But he'll need to do that because, at this point, he's got to worry a lot about the potential for right-wing voters to crossover to the Mr. Clean candidate now that he's been indicted for corruption. And that is the -- this quite credible former general, Benny Gantz, who's a centrist and a moderate.

VAUSE: Yes. And has actually, you know, said it's -- called his party out of the -- out of the government and come like you can no longer sit with Bibi, another coup.

But when Netanyahu called this early election, they were seen as an attempt to get to the polls before the legal troubles began. Autonomy didn't work out so well. But as the saying goes, never let a crisis go to waste.

Here's a little more from Netanyahu's national address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): I intend to serve you and the country's prime minister for many more years. Don't believe all the spin. I intend to serve you as prime minister for many more years. But it's up to you. It's not up to the civil servants. It's not up to the television studios. It's not up to the pundits and journalists. It's only up to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And so, essentially, listening to Netanyahu, it seems like -- you know, he's betting if he could win this election. In some ways, he'll beat the charges as well.

INDYK: Well, in Israel, as you know, John, the system is a little more complicated than in the United States. He, not only has to win, he has to form a coalition government because at best if he wins, he'll have 30 percent of the vote -- maybe 35 percent of the vote, he's going to get up to 61 percent of the seats, I should say, 51percent of the votes.

And so, to do that, he's got a cobble together a coalition. And his first challenge is going to be with the right-wing parties who up to now have been with him but may some of them may have some qualms about joining the government of an indicted prime minister. And to that, that's going to be his first problem.

Secondly, once he's become, prime minister. He's got to have to bring in the extremist right-wing elements he's already making his bed with them because the centrist parties will not join him. They're already coming out, they're been against the leader of the main Centrist Party has made it clear today that he's not going to be part of a Netanyahu government.

So, the government he's going to form if he -- if he wins, which is a big question mark now, is going to be an extreme right-wing government. And it could bring him down at any moment because it's totally dependent on them to save himself from the courts.

VAUSE: But what if he makes up with the -- a part of an opinion piece, in the relatively liberal Haaretz Newspaper. During a connection between Netanyahu's Israel and Trump's America, saying that what happens in Israel could be seen as a dress rehearsal for the United States.

Here is the conclusion. "If Netanyahu is reelected in less than 40 days, it will not only be seen as a personal vote of confidence and public vindication. He will be given the mandate to overturn the rule of law, disperse its remaining adherents in the legal apparatus, and detach Israel from the constitutional underpinnings that have held it together since its inception. If he succeeds, America should be put on notice. Trump will soon emulate his good friend and follow him into the twilight zone that exists only in the distorted mirrors of their minds."

OK, I mean its lots of sort of -- I mean, it was a good piece. But do you see the connection that this article is sort of drawing between what's happening in the Israel and what could be happening in United States?

INDYK: Well, very much so. They -- both Trump and Netanyahu, kind of reinforce each other. Borrow their tactics Bibi has stepped up his social media campaign, mirroring Trump's Twitter campaign. Although, Netanyahu uses Facebook and small ads on Facebook that are quite effective.

He uses the same kind of tropes about a witch-hunt, which is what he used today. He attacks the judicial system and the police in the way that Trump attacks the FBI and Department of Justice. So, there's a -- there's a lot in common there.

And it's no coincidence, of course, that Donald Trump today in Vietnam, basically endorsed Bibi, notwithstanding the expectation he was about to be indicted. And he is going to host him in Washington, two weeks before the elections when Netanyahu comes here to address the AIPAC, Israel lobby annual convention. He's going to be hosted in the White House. There's rumors of a -- of a major dinner. And no doubt, Trump will endorse him and Trump is quite popular in Israel.

But as I can attest, from my time as ambassador when Clinton tried to get Peres. How Peres get reelected when he was running against Netanyahu way back in 1996. The Israeli people don't like American presidents to interfere in their campaigns. It didn't help Peres, and I doubt that it's going to help Netanyahu.

[01:20:25] VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. The Israelis also have a healthy disrespect for prime ministers, as well, which also is I think a very healthy trait to have. Ambassador, thank you. Its good have you with us.

INDYK: Thank you very much, John.

VAUSE: Still to come here. Will the release of a captured Air Force pilot, be enough to avoid all-out war between India and Pakistan? Pakistan calls at the gestures of peace and the start of negotiations. India, says nothing. Not at -- just critics.

Also, Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, one man's dictator is another man's friend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: India is waiting for one of its captured Air Force pilots to be released by Pakistan. His plane was shot down by Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir on Wednesday.

Pakistan's prime minister, says the pilot will be released on Friday as a gesture for peace. It comes amid rising tensions between the two nuclear powers after a car bomb attacks two weeks ago in Indian- controlled Kashmir, killing 40 Indian soldiers.

Several cross border skirmishes have followed since then, raising fears it could spark a much larger conflict.

CNN's Nikhil Kumar joins us from New Delhi with a Ben Farmer of Daily Telegraph in Islamabad. And Ben, what is interesting is how this is will all play out.

Pakistan's prime minister sort of grab the headlines and I guess the momentum here by announcing the release of this pilot. That logistically, has there been any word on what we'll see how and when he'll be released? Because clearly, the Pakistanis what to have broadcast so one haven't seen.

BEN FARMER, CORRESPONDENT, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Well, absolutely. As you say, Imran Khan has seized the momentum here. He's coming for a lot of praise, as well. His gesture has been seen as statesmen like and measured.

Now, we don't know how that handover will take place. I would think that the Pakistanis would want to get as much credit as possible. But it will have to be handled very carefully. It can't be seen to be triumphalist.

We don't know whether it's going to be in public or discreetly behind closed doors. There's very much a lot of expectation about how this will happen. All we know at the moment is it's going to happen later today.

[01:25:02] VAUSE: Right. And Nikhil, no doubt the pilots return. We welcome to where it happens. But what exactly does New Delhi want? What does Pakistan have to do to avoid increased military action from the Indian?

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, John, this news that the pilot is coming and his arrival, all of it has been welcomed and will be welcomed. We've already seen people celebrate the fact that this release is isn't the offing and we're all waiting to hear more, later this afternoon.

But India maintains that it's initial point, and its point over several years now when it comes to its relationship with Pakistan has been about the terrorism. The problems with terrorism. The fact that it continues to face terrorist attacks which it blames on proxies that operate from Pakistani soils. Pakistan denies this -- has denied it for several years.

But India maintains that point, a point that it raised again when the trigger for all the recent tensions sort of happened, which was on the 14th of February when 40 Indian paramilitaries died in what was the worst attack in Indian-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s.

India blamed that on a group based in Pakistan. It, in fact, accused Pakistan of having a direct hand in the attack. Islamabad again, as I say, denied it. But India said that look, this keeps happening again and again. There were the Mumbai terror attacks, there was the attack on leading Parliament in 2001.

Every time, India says that it brings up the issue of cross-border terrorism that it provides evidence. But that it sees no action which is why this time, it decided to send its jets across the line of control. And that all sets a whole new precedent.

Even as the return of the pilot offers an opening for tensions to cool down, for tempers to cool down, this sets a new precedent at sort of the chessboard has been reset.

India saying that look, enough is enough, and if we face terrorism, which we suspect comes from your soil, we will take action. And that since a very dangerous precedent. John?

VAUSE: And Ben, you know, this is not the first country, this is not the first time that the Pakistanis have been accused of harboring terrorists on this soil, or at least, allowing them to say of not anything about it.

You know, why is this an issue which Imran Khan -- you're for always striving likes, your actions that he's doing with the release of the pilot, why is he prepared to actually talk about this specific issue? FARMER: Well, I'd say it's not just that to Imran Khan, there's also a powerful military establishment. Powerful generals in Pakistan who have a big say on national security policy. You're absolutely right that is the big issue behind all this is Pakistan's alleged sponsorship in the use of militants.

Now, Pakistan denies any involvement in the attack in Kashmir which killed, at least, 40 paramilitary police a couple of weeks ago. It is said, if India comes up with actionable intelligence, then it will act.

India said yesterday that handed over a dossier which it says contains evidence. That dossier is being evaluated by Pakistan, and we'll see what happens.

VAUSE: And finally to you, Nikhil, do we know exactly what sort of intelligence the Indians have on where (INAUDIBLE) these terrorist groups are, and who's responsible for the attacks in Kashmir?

I mean, how reliable is this evidence? Because that will be the key for the Pakistanis.

KUMAR: They haven't released it publicly, but what they say is that look, they've provided evidence at all of these junctures. The 2001 attack that I mentioned, the Mumbai terror attacks, the attacks were in 2016 when an Indian military installation was hit on the Indian side of Kashmir.

And they said that "Look, we keep doing this, we keep providing intelligence, we keep bringing up this issue at the international level. But that, not enough what nothing seems to happen. No matter what we say nothing seems to happen. And the worse, we continue to be subjected to terror attacks in India. And that enough is enough."

So, we don't know publicly, they haven't released this publicly. But their point is we've done this many times before, and that we've seen the story many times before that attacks within India, in which, this time those paramilitaries, in the past, there have been civilians. And that this has to come to a stop. So, if not public, but their line is that look, enough is enough. John?

VAUSE: OK. Nikhil and Ben, thanks to you both. We appreciate the updates from both sides of the border.

A short break, when we come back, home from Hanoi with nothing to show. Donald Trump's diplomatic fell did not go unnoticed in Russia. So, a Moscow take the lead now on denuclearizing North Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:35] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Israel's attorney general says criminal indictments are pending against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No charges are expected until after the general election in April. But the cloud of corruption could hurt Mr. Netanyahu at the polls.

And Indian Air Force pilot captured by Pakistan is expected to be released Friday. His plane was shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir on Wednesday. Pakistan's prime minister calls the release a gesture for peace. India's (INAUDIBLE) remains on high alert.

Donald Trump back in Washington after his summit with Kim Jong-un. Despite a lack of any formal agreement, both sides are putting a positive spin on the talks. North Korea though is pushing back on Trump's claims that negotiations fell apart when they asked for all sanctions to be lifted.

Mr. Trump is also facing pushback in the United States this time for siding with the North Korean leader over the death of an American student. President Trump says he believes Kim Jong-un did not know Otto Warmbier was being mistreated while he's being held in North Korea for 17 months.

The country released him in 2017. He died shortly after being returned to the U.S. He was in a vegetative state. He was blind, deaf, unconscious. But Donald Trump says Kim denies any involvement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly. He knew the case very well but he knew it later.

And you know, he's got a lot of people. It's a big country -- a lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps you have a lot of people and some really bad things happened to Otto. Some really, really bad things.

(CROSSTALKING)

TRUMP: But he tells me -- he tells me that he didn't know about it. And I will take him at his word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For many who voted for him and even some who didn't, a big part of Donald Trump's charm are his taunts and schoolyard name- calling. Almost no one and no topic is off limits. Who can ever forget the campaign rally when he mocked a journalist with a physical disability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You've got see this guy. I don't know what I said, I don't remember.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Women, war veterans, widows of war veterans, Jews, African- Americans, agents -- all fair game. But dictators around the world rejoice for you are not just spared the caustic tongue of Trump, you are men worthy of praise like Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte.

His much criticized drug war has claimed more than 12,000 lives. But during a telephone conversation Donald Trump reportedly told him he was doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem.

Egypt's strong man Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who has ordered crackdowns on opponents, used the military to crush dissent and has tried to wind back basic human rights. Donald Trump thought he was doing --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A fantastic job in a very difficult situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And then there's the autocrat of all autocrats, Russia's Vladimir Putin. Given a chance to condemn Putin for murdering his critics and rivals, Trump fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Putin's a killer.

TRUMP: We've got a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. What -- you think our country is so innocent?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali is with us now from Washington. That was just a quick, you know, background to Donald Trump and his love affair with the dictators -- Tim.

So we've got the situation now with Kim Jong-un, the most recent example of the U.S. president taking a dictator at his word. Recently though, he sided with the Saudi Crown Prince in the Khashoggi murder. Also he took Putin's word on election hacking.

Here it is. Just listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have President Putin. He just said it is not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be.

[01:35:01] I hate the crime. I hate what's done. I hate the coverup. And I will tell you this. The Crown Prince hates it more than I do. And they have vehemently denied it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, he said he's got great relationships with all three of those leaders. So is it as simple as that? He knows them. He likes them? So believes them. TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I don't think he knows them. Look, I think you have to be partly a psychologist to understand what is going on.

VAUSE: Right.

NAFTALI: But I think it is fair to say that the President is in love with tough men, strongmen. It may be because of a pinched view he has of the world and of history. I don't know.

But he seems to one, be very attracted to tough men. The other I believe is that he's in over his head when he engages in into diplomacy. This is not like negotiating for a tower in the capital city of a foreign country or in one part of the United States. It requires a certain subtlety

He forgets that he's president of the United States and for that reason you don't go and excuse a dictator whose regime was responsible for putting an American citizen in a coma. You don't give rhetorical support to someone like that. And that's what the President did when he talked about Otto Warmbier's death and the extent to which he thought that Kim Jong-un wasn't responsible, was unaware of what was going on to that American citizen.

So I think in those moments the President isn't really the president. He doesn't act like a president. He's forgetting that he has a responsibility to all Americans to uphold certain norms. And he just doesn't seem to care.

It is unfortunate. And it undermines American diplomacy.

VAUSE: And talk about this sort of love affair he has with strongmen. And I remember when he was in China with Xi Jinping, he almost seemed envious jealous of the power that Xi Jinping wielded. How he could push his agenda through, you know, essentially a rubber stamp of, you know, the people's congress there.

And then on Wednesday, just fast forward to Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress, you know, Trump's former lawyer and fixer. Cohen dropped a statement which really seemed to stand out. It came from nowhere it seems. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So is it possible that the President, you know, will refuse to go if he loses the 2020 election. He complained about the election last time being rigged and he won. What will he say if he loses?

NAFTALI: Well, I mean the institutions of the American -- the United States government are much stronger, I believe, than any individual. There was a concern in 1974 that Richard Nixon might try to stay on and that he might actually use the U.S. military to stay in power.

And his Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger was worried that this might happen. And so he put in place a system whereby only the President could order the movement of troops as opposed to a presidential lieutenant.

James Schlesinger understood Nixon that would not himself order the movement of troops. He was concerned that Nixon would have his chief of staff do it. So the U.S. military was put on notice you always have to respond to the order of the President and you have to respond to the Secretary of Defense. But if anybody else tries to move troops, you don't have to do it.

So that shows you how concerned members of the Nixon cabinet were in 1974 that he wouldn't leave office. But in the end, first of all he respected a Supreme Court decision. And then when it was clear that Republicans wouldn't support him in the Senate and he would be convicted after being impeached in the House he knew he had to leave.

Donald Trump does not respect American institutions. Nevertheless I remain hopeful that they will be stronger than him if that time were to come just as they were in 1974 with Nixon.

VAUSE: John T. Flynn's classic from 1944, "As We Go Marching", you know, the warning about the rise of fascism in the United States.

Here's part of it. "When fascism comes it will not be in the form of anti-American movement or pro-Hitler bund, practicing disloyalty nor will it come in the form of a crusade against war. It will appear rather in the luminous robes of flaming patriotism."

You know, this is a president who for example, he's replaced love of country with love of patriotic symbols. He's tried to bully the press into submission as well as the judiciary. You know, most Republicans in Congress are on a short leash.

And I'm not saying that he is a fascist, you know, trying to take over the country but it is a reminder of just how delicate these institutions can be, you know, and how these institutions need to be protected.

[01:39:47] NAFTALI: Yes, but we have seen that for example in the 1950s a demagogue named Joseph McCarthy wreaked havoc on American institutions, ruined careers, spread false fears. In the end he was brought down by the very institutions he was trying to attack. He crossed a line.

In 1974 Richard Nixon was also challenging American institutions. And in the end he bowed to those institutions and left office.

I'm simply saying that there is at least historically a resilience to American institutions, that's not saying that they will at some point maybe collapse although I don't predict that. I think we have yet to see the President get his way in a manner that would undermine for the long-term our constitutional system. He has had -- he has actually been checked time and time again. After all the best example of a check on this president is the fact that Americans went to the polls in Novembe2r of last year and changed the leadership of the Congress, the House -- one house of Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats.

If our institutions couldn't bear the social media onslaught of Donald J. Trump I think the election would have been different. The outcome would have been different in November. So I'm saying that there's lots of reason to believe that the institutions while bruised are still healthy.

VAUSE: Let me just get this to you -- we're almost out of time. What we saw under George W. Bush and we saw in Barack Obama as well, was the executive gathering more and more power over Congress.

And that is something which has accelerated to a degree I think on to Donald Trump, at least has attempted to accelerate that progression. If that continues -- then that is something which is -- is it possibly going to be, you know a real threat to the democracy of this country? If the executive branch continues to amass power as it has done over the last 20 years.

NAFTALI: Ok. John -- keep in mind it was Congress that really forced the end to waterboarding. It's Congress, ex-John McCain, the hero POW in the Vietnam War who forced the Bush administration to change its approach to torture. That was Congress.

So you've seen -- you see the expansion of the executive power but you've also seen Congress fight back. I think the issue now is in play but we're already seeing members of both parties oppose the President's declaration of a national emergency to get more money for his wall.

It is not just Democrats who are concerned. I think that you will see congressional push back. I also believe that there are people on the Republican side in Congress who are watching public opinion.

The President's base has not grown since he took the oath of office in 2017. It's been shrinking, not dramatically but systematically. There may be a point where beyond which, you know, it will have shrunk so much that he will find congressional support on his side of the aisle shrinking as well.

VAUSE: Ok. It's a great discussion and it's one that, you know, could go on for a very long time. But I think we hit it -- the main points there.

I appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

NAFTALI: My pleasure -- John.

VAUSE: Well, the collapse of the Trump-Kim summit brought strong reactions from Russia. The foreign ministry viewed the meeting positively but others gloated about Trump's failure to strike a deal. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tonight, the failed Trump-Kim summit a feeding frenzy for Russian state media mocking the lack of results and President Trump walking out on Kim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It ended so badly the sides even avoided signing any joint agreement.

Crafty Kim Jong-un was ready for some concessions but not the ones Trump reportedly wanted. So the agreements that were ready to be signed had to just go back to Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Overall very, very meager for such a pompous summit that has been lauded as the biggest deal ever.

PLEITGEN: Analysts even claiming America isn't negotiating in good faith and that the U.S. would invade North Korea if Kim gives up his nukes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kim is risking a lot. If he makes concessions then Trump's successor could come and say everything this clown Trump signed is against our national interest. Kim would end up in a Gaddafi-like situation.

PLEITGEN: The key, while the Russians have publicly been backing the Trump-Kim talks even saying the U.S. consulted with Moscow before the summit, Putin wants to lead the diplomatic effort to denuclearize North Korea. His spokesman taking a swipe at President Trump's negotiating style.

DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN (through translator): Every step towards each other should go with some flexibility, certain concessions, certain small agreements. It is impossible to immediately set sights on a quick-fix solution to such a complex problem like North Korea.

PLEITGEN: And saying Putin-Kim summit is already in the works.

[01:44:58] "This meeting is on the agenda. There are no exact agreements right now but we will continue to coordinate this with our North Korean counterparts through diplomatic channels."

The Russians noting that Kim Jong-un is welcome to visit Vladimir Putin in Moscow at any time convenient for the North Korean strongman.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: 28 days until Brexit -- still nobody knows what's going to happen. Some are staying steadfast with their stay or go vote while others, not so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You voted for Brexit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did like millions of others but you know, I never put enough thought into it, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Mixed feelings, and turning the Brexit mess up ahead.

VAUSE: Like now, mixed feelings concerning the Brexit mess just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Now to the deepening humanitarian and political crisis in Venezuela. On Thursday, major differences dividing the U.N. Security Council were on full display when it failed to pass two resolutions on how to address the crisis in Venezuela.

Russia and China vetoing a U.S. resolution calling for new elections and Russia's resolution supporting the Maduro government failed. It was vetoed by the United States, the U.K> and France.

Venezuela opposition leader and self-declared interim president says he will return home by Monday despite threats to his safety and his family's safety. Juan Guaido was in Brazil on Thursday trying to drum up international support. Brazil's president promised to do everything within the law to help reestablish democracy in Venezuela.

Guaido's next diplomatic meeting comes on Friday with the President of Paraguay.

Brexit -- yes. Just 28 days away, less than a month for British lawmakers to approve a withdrawal deal, only four weeks away from possibly crashing out of the E.U. without a plan.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is urging parliament to put their absolutely focus on making that March 29th deadline. She wants an on- time Brexit although she is offering a vote for a last resort delay. The E.U.'s chief Brexit negotiator says it is possible to push the exit day back but only for a valid reason and time is running out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL BARNIER, E.U. CHIEF BREXIT NEGOTIATOR (through translator): Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a serious moment in these negotiations since the United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union on March 29th in one month. There's very little time left. I have often said, the clock is ticking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, in a British town far from London, far from the political squabbles of Westminster, the emotions which were driving the 2016 referendum are still there and still being felt. Phil Black traveled to a seaside town which went all in for Brexit but how do they feel now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:50:02] PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sunny, warm, February days are rare in Margate. And you don't usually see overexcited English people taking off their clothes at this time of year.

It's a summer holiday temp and Like other seaside communities around the U.K. it's known tough times since cheap flights to Europe lured many tourists away.

That decline is a popular theory for explaining why so many people in this patch of southeast England voted for Brexit -- almost 64 percent.

We meet proud residents, Jackie and Martin Lanham while they take their daily cruise along the coast. Both are passionate Brexit believers who hate the idea of delaying the process further.

MARTIN LANHAM, MARGATE RESIDENT: It's very simple, Europe needs us more than we need them. And that is something that you cannot get the Theresa Mays of this world to understand.

BLACK (on camera): I'm guessing you're not a fan of the way Theresa May has handled all of this.

LANHAM: Absolutely in no way. She's an idiot.

BLACK (voice over): We easily heard more disappointed Brexit cheerleaders enjoying the sunshine outside Margate's waterfront pubs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just went on and on and on and now it is not --

BLACK (on camera): And it could drag on longer if they try to extend it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. It may never happen

BLACK (voice over): E.U. lovers here can be like good weather in February, difficult to find, except for Rob Yates.

(on camera): You don't support Brexit?

ROB YATES, MARGATE RESIDENT: No. I'm an ultra-remainer.

BLACK: His big side windows certainly declare "block Brexit".

(on camera): Is it fair to say that not everyone in town likes the windows of your apartment now?

YATES: I think -- that's quite fair. There are some people that do not agree with what I'm doing. They find it quite arrogant. I think what I'm doing is showing that this is a -- this is a political discussion which hasn't ended yet. BLACK (voice over): The rarest beast of all is the regretful Brexit voter. But we caught one. Meet 80-year-old Colin Sackett.

(on camera): You voted for Brexit?

COLIN SACKETT, MARGATE RESIDENT: I did, like millions of others. But you know I never put enough thought into it, did I?

BLACK: Are you a gambler?

SACKETT: Not with stakes this high. No.

Am I? I do dabble a little bit now and then and I have an uneasy feeling about it. Put it that way.

BLACK (voice over): Brexit supporters in Margate hoped breaking with the E.U. would quickly bring sunnier happier times for their community. More than two and a half years after the referendum, they still can't be sure when or how or even if they'll get what they voted for.

Phil Black, CNN -- Margate, southeast England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A cashless society could be in our future. Already happening in Singapore.

CNN's Will Ripley found out that the city state is testing new ways to deal with financial transactions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Singapore, cash is no longer king.

In this city state, you can easily swap out your wallet for an app on your smartphone. And some say this is just the beginning of a financial tech revolution.

MARCELO GARCIA CASIL, CEO, MAECENAS: What we're doing is creating a stock market experience when it comes to investing in art.

[01:55:00] RIPLEY: Singapore-based Maecenas used crypto currencies to auction off shares on a multi-million dollar Andy Warhol painting. CEO Marcelo Garcia Casil hopes this new form of purchasing power will transform the fine arts industry.

CASIL: People get excited. I mean we bring in something completely new.

RIPLEY: Some of Singapore's biggest believers say transactions like these are just the beginning.

KENRICK DRIJKONINGEN, FOUNDING PARTNER, LUNEX VENTURE CAPITAL: What crypto currencies allow for is innovation around the system.

RIPLEY: Lunex's founding partner Kenrick Drijkoningen says its potential is unprecedented.

You say that bit coin is the best kind of money that's ever been invented.

DRIJKONINGEN: Yes.

RIPLEY: Why.

DRIJKONINGEN: A, it cannot be censored. B, it cannot be seized from you. C, very important part is it is portable. And D, the monetary supply. There will only ever be 21 million of them, never more. It is more sound money than gold even.

RIPLEY: But bit coin the world's most famous crypto currency is still highly volatile. And I experienced a few hiccups myself trying to buy my morning coffee.

(on camera): This cafe doesn't even accept cash. So we're going to try to take bit coin out of this bit coin atm, all out of coins. So I guess I'll try to counter it.

(voice over): Is it fad or is it the future? These innovators are banking on tomorrow's fintech revolution and the world of finance as we know it, fading into the sun set.

Will Ripley, CNN -- Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I still don't understand bitcoin, so I'm not (INAUDIBLE).

Ok, one of the world's tiniest babies has left the hospital in Tokyo at five months old. He's now a healthy -- 3.3 kilograms compared to his birth weight of just 268 grams, slightly more than a typical grapefruit, so small he could be held in two hands, not happy there. In the past 83 years only 23 babies weighing less than 300 grams have ever survived preterm birth. Good luck to him.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Stay with us. The ne ws continues here on CNN after a short break..

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:59:55] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Trump-Kim summit ended with no agreement and there's now disagreement over the key sticking points.

The Prime minister of Pakistan offering what he's calling a goodwill gesture to India after days of violence. END