On a satellite interview from Pyongyang, North Korea, former NBA player Dennis Rodman 'lost it' this morning with the anchor from CNN's "New Day" show. Describing his (and his team's) visit to North Korea as a "great trip for the world," Rodman started to get frustrated when questioned about whether he will use the opportunity to speak about Kenneth Bae, an American citizen who has been held in North Korea. "Do you understand what he did?" Rodman exclaimed, "You tell me! You tell me! Why is he held captive?" Having described Kim Jong Un as a "friend for life," Rodman went on to tell the CNN anchor, "I don't give a rat's ass what you think." Ah, the new normal diplomacy. We wonder if Kim's uncle also described him as a 'friend for life.'? As WaPo reports, The White House is not happy.
As The Washington Post reports [6], The White House is not happy,
White House press secretary Jay Carney was not impressed.
"I'm not going to dignify that outburst with a response," Carney said during his daily briefing.
Carney reiterated the administration's position that the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will continue to face international economic and diplomatic sanctions until it takes steps to place its military and nuclear weapons programs under international monitoring.
"Sports exchanges can be valuable. Sports diplomacy can be valuable," Carney said. "But this is a private trip, and our focus when it comes to North Korea is on sharpening the choice that that regime faces between further isolation, further economic deprivation ... and taking advantage of the opportunity to rejoin the community of nations to ease that and potentially end that isolation."
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"We remain gravely concerned about Kenneth Bae's health and continue to urge [North Korean] authorities to grant his amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds."