Former NBA player Dennis Rodman gets emotional talking about the road to the summit between the United States and North Korea.
“I’m so happy,” said an emotional Rodman, who arrived in Singapore on Monday to, according to him, “see what’s going on.”
“Today is a great day for everybody,” he added.
Rodman, who was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, told Cuomo that he’d long touted the possibility of wagering peace with North Korea — but said no one had believed him.
“Obama didn’t even give me the time of day. I asked him, I said, I have something to say from North Korea, and he just brushed me off,” Rodman told the CNN host. “But that didn’t deter me. I still kept going back, kept going back … I said to everybody, the door will open.
Tearing up, Rodman said he’d received “death threats” for what he’d said about North Korea. “I couldn’t even go home,” he said, his voice breaking. “But I kept my head up high, brother. I knew things were going to change.
“I’m not in this for no money,” he later added. “This is not about Dennis Rodman being the greatest person in the world that lead these two people together.”
The former basketball player, who has visited Pyongyang several times, is one of a very small group of Westerners who has personally met with Kim, whom he referred to as a “good friend.”
Immediately after his interview with Rodman, Cuomo told former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that the former NBA player is “our best resource” to understanding Kim, which is just plain scary. “I agree, Chris,” Clapper replied, “as weird as that is.”
WH Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called Dennis Rodman to thank him for his effort in Singapore and his support of President Trump, according to Rodman’s agent, Darren Prince.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 12, 2018
Former spy chief James Clapper tells @ChrisCuomo he believes @DennisRodman is relevant in US/North Korea negotiations:
“I have long been an advocate of involving Dennis Rodman… I think that there is a potential here to engage [him] in a serious way" https://t.co/iz8ioGSmzM pic.twitter.com/pBCslFw7Tp
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 12, 2018