President Trump Arrives In South Korea; House Intel Committee Releases Transcript Of Carter Page's Testimony; CNN Poll Shows How Americans View Russia Investigation; Investigation Casts Shadow On Pres. Trump's Asia Trip; Trump: Texas Shooting A "Mental Health Problem" President Trump In South Korea; Election Day 2017 Tests Political Landscape Under Trump.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. It's just after midnight here on the east coast, but already Tuesday afternoon in South Korea. President Trump is there. Air Force One landed at Osan Air Base about 90 minutes ago. He then boarded a helicopter to a quick trip to Camp Humphreys where he had lunch with U.S. and Korean troops also receiving an operational briefing. I want to bring in now CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta who is in Seoul and CNN's International Correspondent Will Ripley who is in Pyongyang, the only American network correspondent in North Korea's capital. Hello gentlemen. Jim, you first. President Trump arrived in South Korea just a short time ago as tensions on the peninsula are high. What's the latest?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Don, as you mentioned, he's at Camp Humphreys. He's going to be receiving an operational briefing with some military commanders at Camp Humphreys. They will be briefing the president on the situation in North Korea. Obviously, that has been escalating in terms of these tensions between the U.S. President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. In that meeting right now, in that operational briefing as it's called right now, the Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Don, we do expect some brief remarks to come shortly here. So, we'll be waiting to hear what the President says because so far, he hasn't said much. He is talking now. And I think we can probably listen to him for just a few moments, Don.</s>LEMON: Yes. Yes, we're going to listen to the President. Jim, sorry to cut you off. Here he is.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the next nine days as you know, we just got back from Japan where we had a very successful two days. Today, we'll be really busy and tomorrow also. And then we head to China. And I look forward to that. There's great cooperation. We have a terrific meeting scheduled on trade in a little while with President Moon and his representatives. And we will -- hopefully that will start working out and working out so that we create lots of jobs in the United States, which is one of the reasons, one of the very important reasons I'm here. In addition to that, we will be meeting with the various generals, General Brooks, and with various generals about the situation in North Korea. And I think we have lots of good answers to you on those early times. And ultimately, it will all work out. It has always works out. It has to work out. So I want to thank you all for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. We're going to see you in a little while. And I think about 4:30, we're going to be separately meeting with you. But we appreciate. I hope you had a good flight here. Many of you were on the flight with me. So, I know, it's pretty good. And, I think you're probably just as impressed as I am. This is a very impressive group of people beyond facilities people, even, very impressive people. So general, thank you very much. Appreciate it, thank you. (OFF-MIC)</s>TRUMP: Thank you very much.</s>LEMON: So it's just holding on a little bit to see if the president want to answer to any of the reporters' questions. He is at Camp Humphreys now where he is meeting with both Japanese and American troops there on the ground. So, U.S. and Korean troops, pardon me, on the ground there. He flew into Osan Air Bases about 90 minutes ago, boarded a helicopter. And then went on to Humphreys, Camp Humphreys. Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent, you were speaking before the president, sorry, I rudely interrupted you. But our President Trump is meeting with Russian president.</s>ACOSTA: No, that's OK.</s>LEMON: -- President Vladimir Putin later this week. But the president wants his help with North Korea, right?</s>ACOSTA: That's right. And you heard the president there just a few moments ago saying that he believes things are going to work out with the situation in North Korea. They always work out. Don, that is not how people here in South Korea view the situation, you know, we've been talking to people on the ground here in South Korea. They have been living with this threat posed by North Korea for some time now. But what is really sort of thrown a question mark into all of this, and uncertainty into all of this is President Trump's really tough talk, this bellicose, confrontational, brinkmanship rhetoric with North Korea. And I think its going to be very -- he mentioned this press conference that's going to be coming up in a couple of hours, Don. I think the very big question hanging over this president's trip right now is whether he engages in this kind of rhetoric that he's been engaging in so far, like referring to Kim Jong-un as rocket man and talking about the U.S. having the ability to totally destroy North Korea. That will be something to watch because the South Korean president, President Moon, Don, is not a huge fan of that kind of rhetoric. He wants to lower the temperature here in north -- in South Korea, not raise it. But you mentioned Vladimir Putin, that's right. That is going to be the other fascinating thing to watch in a couple of days, Don, when the President goes to Vietnam. The President said a couple of days ago that he expects to sit down with Vladimir Putin. Of course, we're all going to be talking this in the context of the Russia investigation. But the President trying to shift of the narrative a little bit, saying, you know, he wants to talk with Putin about this issue of North Korea to see what kind of leverage the Russians can provide. Because so far, Don, and this gets into the President's next stop in China, Chinese President Xi Jinping has not been able to, in the view of this administration, been able to really change Kim Jong-un's behavior. And so that is going to be fascinating to watch. We see President Trump and Vladimir Putin sitting down together or at least standing together talking to one another at this APEC Summit coming up in Vietnam. Don, we're coming up on one year since the election of President Trump. And hanging over the President ever since that night, and you and I remember it well in midtown Manhattan, one year ago, this Russia investigation has just been dragging on for this president, hanging over everything that goes on with this administration. And finally, we'll see the President Vladimir Putin face-to-face in a couple of days. He says they want to talk about North Korea. But there is so much more that we'll be reading into with body language and the statements that are made by those leaders and so on.</s>LEMON: Absolutely Jim. I'm going to bring in Will now. Will, you're going to be reporting from North Korea for the duration of President Trump's trip to Asia. He is just across the border from where you are standing. How is North Korea reacting to this?</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you notice, Don, the president's measured tone just now with his remarks about North Korea. And he was somewhat measured when he was speaking in Japan over the past couple of days. But honestly, it may be too late from the North Korean perspective, listening to the rhetoric, leading up to the trip and more importantly for the North Koreans now, with two officials here in Pyongyang last night. The fact that in the coming days, three U.S. aircraft carriers will be engaging in yet another round of joint naval exercises. And those are carrier strike groups with around generally 10 ships in each groups. So this is a massive show of U.S. military force happening in the pacific. And the North Koreans are watching this. And they have said, they don't like they can talk with the Trump administration. Diplomacy has completely broken down, we have that confirm from multiple sources. And they've been saying for weeks now that they need to deliver a clear message to President Trump that they have this intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the mainland in U.S. They've threatened another nuclear test possibly above ground. They've threatened a long-range missile launch. And look, there's activity that's being detected at North Korean missile research facilities, the Watchdog Group 38 north reported new activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. Could this be the time when North Korea decides to send that strong message while President Trump is here in the region? And then what will his words be? That's the real concern on both side of the Korean peninsula, Don, is that one misstep, one miscalculation could trigger a series of events and take this part of the world and really the whole world down a very dangerous road.</s>LEMON: Well, how is North Korean media covering President Trump's visit?</s>RIPLEY: It's interesting, because they are covering if there was a new article just out today, you know, warning President Trump and the United States not to underestimate the abilities, the nuclear arsenal of North Korea. They say doing that would be a big mistake. And yet you see the pictures in the news lately of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, the big headline over the weekend, he was inspecting a cosmetics factory. You can read into this but perhaps because it's been more than seven weeks since North Korea has conducted a live fire military exercise they may be trying to project to the North Korean people. But they haven't forgotten about the economy. They have told the North Korean, Kim Jong-un gave a speech about a month ago telling people in this country to brace for the impact of more sanctions. They blame the United States for the sanctions, not the behavior of the leadership in this country. And this could be perhaps trying to let North Koreans know they're trying to develop their economy at the same time preparing them for this new round of testing that we know is going to happen eventually because North Korea said, they need to round off their nuclear program. And that means another nuclear test and more missile launches. We just don't know when and what's going to happen. How President Trump will response.</s>LEMON: Will Ripley and Jim Acosta, thank you gentlemen. I appreciate it. Breaking news tonight in the Russia investigation I tell you about, I want to bring in now Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. Manu?</s>MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, a lengthy transcript released tonight by the House Intelligence Committee giving new details about a closed door testimony that happened last week with the former Trump Foreign Policy Adviser Carter Page in which he went into detail about his knowledge about Russia. But specifically about a July 2016 trip that is under scrutiny on Capitol Hill, a trip that he took to Moscow. And these long, contended was a private trip and nothing to do with the campaign. He met with no Russian officials. But according to his testimony released tonight, he does acknowledge having an interaction with Arkady Dvorkovich who is a Russian deputy prime minister under Vladimir Putin. Now, he also sent e-mails to the campaign about the trip, saying that he'd be willing to give them some valuable insights about the trip from people who are connected to the Russian government and senior legislators in Russia. Now, he down played that e-mail that was revealed in this transcript, saying that, you know, some of these exchanges he had were pleasantries and some of these things that were picked up, or things that be heard in a conference that he attended. But Democrats in particular believe that he may have contradicted himself in some key areas of this testimony. Now, what was also interesting is the level of interaction that he had with senior levels of that -- members of the Trump campaign about this trip including Hope Hicks, now communications director, Corey Lewandowski, as well as he sent an e-mail suggesting that then candidate Trump could go to Russia and deliver a speech in his place rather than Carter Page himself. Now, Page also met with a senior energy executive at the time of that July 2016 trip, even though he has long rejected a central assertion on the so-called dossier of Trump Russia allegations that included this meeting with an energy official. It turns up he did meet with a now an energy official while he was there with one of the Russian energy giants. Now, the question is how does this fit into the broader piece of Russia collusion allegedly with the Trump campaign. Carter Page says there was absolutely no collusion. He strenuously pushed back against that point. And also, Don, he also met with Robert Mueller recently, the special counsel, as part of his investigation. Don.</s>LEMON: All right, Manu Raju, thank you very much. The White House may want to pay attention to CNN's new poll about the Russia investigation. Chief National Correspondent John King has the numbers for us. John.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we all know the president says Russia is a ruse, Russia is a hoax. These investigations should be about Hillary Clinton not about the Trump campaign. The American people flatly disagree with the president. Sixty-four percent of the American people in our new CNN polling say the Russia investigations are a serious matter. Thirty-two percent, a third, thinks it's an effort to discredit the president of the United States. We polled him, Don. We know he'd be in this camp. But this is a big number. Sixty-four percent of the Americans say this is a serious matter. Now, there's a partisan breakdown on this, most questions when you're asking polls. Ninety-one percent of Democrats say these investigations are quite a serious matter. Only 28 percent of Republicans say that. Six percent of Democrats say it's an effort to discredit the president, a much higher number nearly in seven -- nearly seven and ten Republicans look at these investigations and think, it's an effort to discredit a Republican president. Now, of course, the American people processed this past week, two former campaign officials indicted. A third cut a plea deal with the special council. What does that mean to the American people? Well, four and ten Americans think its proof of widespread coordination between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials. Forty-four percent, a bigger number, think its proof of limited coordination. A couple of people at least in the campaign may be not widespread coordination but limited coordination. That you add those up, that's pretty big numbers of people who believe there were some coordination between the candidate Trumps campaign and the Russian government. Only six percent say there was no effort to coordinate, 11 percent say they're unsure. Again, let's look at this by party. And on this one, the president does not get the benefit from Republicans he does on many other questions. Was there widespread coordination, more than six in 10 Democrats say, yes. But 10 percent of Republicans think there was widespread coordination. This is even more troubling for the President. Sixty-four percent of Republicans, Don, say there was limited coordination. So add that up, three out of four Republicans think the Republican candidate for president at least had limited coordination, his campaign did with Russians. That is not a good number for the President. And one of the defining questions, did the candidate know about these contacts? Again, at least nine campaign officials are now known to have been in some contact with the Russians during the campaign, six in 10 Americans, 59 percent say yes, they believe the candidate did know about these contacts, 35 percent say no. Here when you break it down by party people go back into their corners, 87 percent of Democrats believe candidate Trump knew, 61 percent of independents believes candidate Trump knew, only 17 percent of Republican think the candidate actually knew about what they think was at least some limited coordination between the two. So bottom line, the American people think these investigations are serious. They want them to continue. They have belief that there was at least some coordination. And Don, where we started at the beginning, there's no doubt all these Russian investigations contributing to the president's now record low approval rating in our CNN polling.</s>LEMON: John King, thank you very much, coming up, new developments in the Russia investigation. A former top aide to Donald Trump set to be interviewed by investigators and the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower before the election is speaking out.