[Berman:] Breaking overnight, North Korea says it is considering suspending nuclear talks with the United States and says it will soon decide whether to resume nuclear and missile testing. President Trump said he left the summit in Vietnam with a promise from Kim Jong-un that there would be no missile testing. So this would be a huge reversal. CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Seoul with the breaking details Paula.
[Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, John, this was a press conference that the vice foreign minister gave to reporters who are based in Pyongyang. And she effectively said that THAT Kim Jong-un is now deciding whether or not he even wants to continue diplomatic talks with the United States. And, as you say, whether he's going to respect and keep that moratorium on nuclear and missile launches. She also said, quote, "The U.S. were too busy with pursuing their own political interests and had no sincere intention to to achieve a result." They also pointed out once again, as they did at that midnight press conference in Hanoi after Mr. Trump had left the country, that they weren't asking for all sanctions to be lifted in return for giving up the Yongbyon nuclear facility. They were only asking for some of those that really affected the North Korean people. Now, we don't know for sure whether or not that is accurate. One interesting thing, though. The vice foreign prime minister did not criticize Mr. Trump himself, saying that the North Korean and the U.S. leader do still have a special relationship, talking about "The chemistry between them is mysteriously wonderful." Instead, what she did was lay the blame for this failure of the Hanoi summit at the doors of the U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and also the national security adviser, John Bolton. Back to you.
[Camerota:] Paula, thank you very much. Now to this breaking news. At least 49 worshippers murdered inside two mosques. Dozens more are injured in this terror attack in New Zealand. Joining us now to talk about this and more, we have Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for being here. Just another sickening morning, just another sickening mass shooting, mass murder at the hands of a white supremacist. We're seeing more right-wing extremism around the globe, as you know. What are your thoughts?
[Sen. Richard Blumenthal , Connecticut:] A heartbreaking day and, of course, our prayers go out to the people of New Zealand, particularly the loved ones and survivors and victims. But words do have consequences; and we know that at the very pinnacle of power in our own country, people are talking about good people on both sides.
[Camerota:] You mean the president talking about it. I mean, I know it's hard to even call this out. I've heard this from a guest this morning. They're having a hard time calling this out for some reason.
[Blumenthal:] I think it's more than the president. It's the people who enable him and who fail to stand up to him and speak out. And we're seeing some glimmers of spine now in the United States Congress, some of my colleagues in the last three votes standing up to him and saying no to his trampling on the Constitution. But it also more than words. The president has defied constitutional norms and principles in declaring a national emergency. Words have consequences, like saying we have an invasion on our border and talking about people as though they were different in some fatal way. I think the public discourse from the president on down is a factor in some of these actions.
[Camerota:] I mean, we don't have to guess, actually, at this. We don't have to connect the dots ourselves. This is what the suspects say. This guy put out, I mean, according to authorities, put out this manifesto where he connects the dots between the rhetoric that he likes to hear and his violent action. I'm wondering what you think of the president's quote to Breitbart that he said. And I just want to read it to you. This was from this week. He said, "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump. I have the tough people. But they don't play it tough until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad." How do you interpret that?
[Blumenthal:] I interpret that kind of comment as a danger to peaceful transition of power in our democracy. That's one of the fundamental principles of our Constitution, that we have that kind of peaceful transition of power and respect for the rule of law, which that kind of comment utterly betrays. We are at a break-the-glass moment for our democracy. And so, on an issue like the transparency of the Mueller report, which I think is vital so that America knows the facts and evidence that are found there; on an issue like the declaration of a national emergency when there is one, usurping the powers of Congress on spending guaranteed by the Constitution. We need to speak up and stand out. And I think my Republican colleagues need to show a little bit more backbone.
[Camerota:] But if this is a break-the-glass moment, do you hear what President Trump said there as that he would not relinquish power, as that there won't be a peaceful transfer of power in 2020 if he loses?
[Blumenthal:] There certainly are glimmers and hints of that fact, and that's what is so, really, alarming, even terrifying in a remark of that kind. Because it encourages people who may, in fact, say, "We are going to resist. We're going to go to the streets. We are going to stop that kind of peaceful transition of power."