North Korean Defector; Russia Blasts U.S. on North Korea
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. And now to North Korea, where an interesting picture has emerged. North Korean soldiers digging a trench at the very spot where a defector crossed into South Korea last week. You may remember those dramatic pictures. Let's discuss this with CNN global affairs analyst Aaron David Miller, who's with the Woodrow Wilson Center, international center, here in Washington. Aaron, looking at this -- I mean, first of all, it was just dramatic picture as this soldier runs out of North Korea, somehow surviving in this fuselage of gunfire. As North Korea reacts now, digging this trench, they've apparently replaced all the soldiers who were on the border there, what does that tell you about the state of play?</s>AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, this one defection, I think, speaks loudly about the status of economic, even mental (ph) conditions within the hermit kingdom. When the docs opened this guy up, they found these parasites, which is a pretty clear reflection of sanitary and nutritional issues with respect to North Korea. Look, blocking a trench -- and you say that the North Korean centuries were replaced, hopefully -- hopefully their sake they weren't executed -- but it shows a degree of sensitivity and venerability. It is a policed state, but there's a high degree of sensitivity on the part of Kim Jong-un, KJU, to anything that remotely suggests a degree of unhappiness, let alone a willingness of an individual soldier to defect to the South, which, in the end, Jim, I think is the real threat that South Korea poses to the North. Every day North Koreans look in the mirror and what they see is a vibrant, South Korean economy with all of the things, materially and psychologically, that they aspire to and they can't have them.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes. I want you to listen to what this North Korean defector said about the conditions inside the country. Have a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conditions were harsh. Everyone was hungry, even the soldiers, he says. The U.N. is sending rice and fertilizer and it all goes to the ranking officials. There are many soldiers who also die from disease because they're not given medical treatment.</s>SCIUTTO: The understanding had been that the soldiers, particularly those stationed at the border, got the cushiest treatment, the best food, resources, et cetera. But it seems that the soldiers not getting that anymore. And I wonder if that's a sign of weakness?</s>MILLER: Well, it could be a sign that sanctions are having an impact. The regime has made a decision that it's got to reserve most of the benefits for the elites and those who actually physically protect the president. But it's also a sign, I think, Jim, of the reality that this regime is prepared to allow its people to suffer and starve and die in an effort to consolidate and maintain power. And that's a serious problem when you're trying to bring leverage against a regime that's prepared to do that to its own public.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes, it's a sad reality. I want to speak about Russian's involvement. Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, he's accusing the U.S. of pumping weapons into Japan and South Korea, calling it a disproportionate response to North Korea. In effect, shifting the blame from North Korea to the U.S. How significant is Russia's stance on this?</s>MILLER: I mean, you know, Lavrov and Putin have been complaining for the last couple of years with respect to what they consider to be our reckless strategy towards North Korea. And we do have a certain annoying tendency to assume that everybody sees the world the way we do. The reality is that China and Russia do not see North Korea as the primary threat. The Chinese fear us and a united Korea with Japan and the United States and South Korea encroaching on their borders far more than they do KJU's nukes. And I think the Russian's basically see KJU as a kind of victim of an international system, which like Pyongyang has also imposed sanctions on Vladimir Putin. So bottom line, whatever the president says, it's really going to be hard to enlist China and Russia as key players in bringing the kind of leverage that it would be required to force Kim -- let -- forget giving up his nukes, but force him into a negotiation.</s>SCIUTTO: Aaron David Miller, thanks, as always.</s>MILLER: Thank you, Jim. Happy Thanksgiving.</s>SCIUTTO: Good to have you on. To you as well. The president seems to only admit that he's playing golf when he name drops his partners. Why he is teaming up with Tiger Woods today. Plus, Senator Al Franken delivering a new message, the first since more women have come forward saying that he groped them. The details on that just ahead.