Former NBA player Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea for a basketball game between a local team and former NBA players. He decided to do an interview with CNN Tuesday morning and must have thought that he wouldn’t be asked about Kenneth Bae, the American still being held in North Korea. He had a meltdown when CNN’s Chris Cuomo tried to talk to him about Bae.

Rodman took several high profile trips to the isolated country in 2013 and constantly avoided questions about Bae, who has been held in North Korea for over a year now without any charges. Before a September trip, he said it was all about basketball and seeing his ‘friend,’ leader Kim Jong Un. He just arrived there again this week to prepare for the game, which will take place on Wednesday, Kim Jong Un’s birthday.

Cuomo spoke with Rodman via satellite and at first, things were going well. But the moment Cuomo brought up Bae, Rodman became defensive. The other basketball players behind him appeared to be trying to pull him back, but he refused, insisting on responding to Cuomo.

“Kenneth Bae did one thing ... If you understand what Kenneth Bae did,” Rodman said in a grave voice, pointing at the camera with a cigar in his hand. “Do you understand what he did in this country? No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why? ... I would love to speak on this.”

Cuomo told Rodman that he could speak on Bae, but instead, he talked about how the players had given up time with their families for a “sports venture.” He continued, “I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. I'm saying to you, look at these guys here, look at them ... they dared to do one thing, they came here.”

He told Cuomo that, “You're the guy behind the mic right now. We're the guys here doing one thing. We have to go back to America and take the abuse. Do you have to take the abuse that we're gonna take? Do you sir, are you going to take the abuse?”

Rodman continued, “One day, one day, this door is going to open because these 10 guys here, all of us, Christie, Vin, Dennis, Charles, ... I mean everybody here, if we could open the door just a little bit for people to come here and do one thing.”

Later, Cuomo also spoke with player Charles D. Smith, who defended Rodman, despite his outburst. “We are here because it's about doing great will around the world,” Smith said.

image: screenshot