Transcripts For CNNW Erin Burnett OutFront 20170811

Trump for the fifth time this week, the fifth time, using fiery language to make it clear the United States stands ready to strike north korea militarily. Speaking from his new jersey golf resort, heres the president of the United States. If anything happens to guam, theres going to be big, big trouble in north korea. So is this situation heading to war . The president was directly asked that question today. Heres what he said. We think that lots of good things could happen and we also could have a bad solution but we think lots of good things can happen. Reporter what would be a bad solution, sir . I think you know the answer to that, sir. Reporter tell us more, mr. President , please. When you say bad solution are you talking about for whwar . Is the u. S. Going to go to war . I think you know the answer to that. Nobody knows the answer to that and just over four days the president has issued threat after threat. Its now become the question every american is asking because of this. North korea best not make any more threats to the united stat states. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. The people that were questioning that statement, was it too tough, maybe it wasnt tough enough. North korea better get their act together or theyre going to be in trouble like few nations ever have been in trouble in this world, okay . Hes not getting away with it. Its a whole new ball game and this man will not get away with what hes doing. Believe me. Or if he does anything with respect to guam or any place else thats an american territory or an american ally, he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast. The bellicose words follow trumps tweet this morning which suggested American Military forces are ready to go at a moments notice. The president borrowing a catch phrase from an old john wayne Movie Writing military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded should north korea act unwisely. Hopefully kim jongun will follow another path. Trump then retweeted this photo of two air force be1b bombers n flight. The u. S. Central command said its standing by for orders. As for north korea the response has been almost exclusively from state media which has threatened to turn the United States into a sea of fire and saying the United States would suffer its final doom. But kim jongun himself has not said a word. Even the regimes threat to test a missile off the coast of guam was issued by a north korean general and trump tonight asked about north koreas threat made the point loud and clear, he wants to hear the tough talk from him himself. He said let me hear kim john un say it, okay . He hasnt been saying much for the last three days, you let me hear him say it perhaps giving north korea an off ramp. Athena jones is out front near where the president is staying in bedminster, new jersey. Is anyone inside the trump inner circle worried about the president s continued rampup of rhetoric against north korea . Hi, erin. If anyone in the president s inner circle is worried about his fiery rhetoric, theyre not saying so publicly and if theyre expressing that concern to the president privately, he clearly isnt heeding it because we continue to hear this rhetoric several times this week. As you mentioned, five times this week, whether its on twitter or statements to the press. We just heard it again and what was interesting is that during that gaggle, that brief appearance before reporters at his bedminster golf club, the president was asked about whether he was on the same page as some others in his administration who have been taking a more diplomatic approach. Folks like secretary of state Rex Tillerson or u. N. Ambassador nikki haley and the president said totally, we are totally on the same page and he pointed to secretary tillerson to weigh in. Secretary tillerson said that he felt that there needed to be a combined strategy to urge movement on the part of north korea and so there is a diplomatic approach that he says the president has made clear he prefers but that it was also important for the president to help them with that by making sure north korea is aware of the stakes in this conflict so that was an interesting answer. But as you noted, two things were interesting about part of that exchange, one was this idea of the president talking about a potential bad solution in north korea but not, andi iexpanding t and also in his statement earlier in the day he talked about how if north korea utters a threat in the form of an overt threat, theyre going to regret it. The bottom line is that that threat has already been issued by north korea in terms of sending missiles off the waters of guam. Erin . Thank you very much, athena. Will ripley is in beijing. China at the center of this. Will, obviously youve been to north korea more than a dozen times. New threats from President Trump aimed at north korea but you just heard what the president said. Basically i hear the threats coming but theyre not coming from kim jongun and either upping the ante daring him to do it or basically giving kim jongun an off ramp saying its not you who said it, we could stop this. How do you think kim will respond . I can tell you, its very unlikely kim jongun would come on television in north korea and make a conciliatory statement and very unlikely that he would respond directly to these comments because aside from giving major speeches, most of kim squong uns message is delivered, as weve seen this week, from his generals, from his ministerial level officials in these kcna, korean central news agency, releases. So perhaps the message is president is trying to say is that the warnings were hearing repeatedly from north korea are diminished in seriousness because theyre not coming directly from north koreas Supreme Leader himself. However it doesnt mean that north korea wont try to back up the warnings they made with action and thats what we need to watch in the coming months. According to intelligence, while there are no imminent signs of a Missile Launch in north korea, some u. S. Analysts have said they have seen missiles being moved around in the country, which is not unusual. North korea often moves its missiles from one location to another but it was just a couple days ago, erin, that north korea threatened to simultaneously launch four intermediate range ballistic missiles, fire them over japan and put them down within 20 miles of guam. All of this unfolding on a very tense month in the peninsula because of the regularly scheduled joint military exercises between the u. S. And south korea due to kick off in a matter of weeks towards the end of the month. It was just one week after these exercises last year that north korea conducted its fifth nuclear test. These exercises always enrage pyongyang and thats why china and russia are asking the United States to suspend the military exercises which most analysts say is highly unlikely if not impossible. There is the phone call coming up perhaps within the hour between President Trump and president xi. We should get a readout shortly after that call. That will be a crucial call between the president of china and President Trump. Perhaps within the hour, as you said. Thank you very much, will ripley. Out front now, republican senator jim risch, a member of the Foreign Relations and intelligence committees. Appreciate you taking the time, senator. The president was asked directly today if the United States was going to war. His response i think you know the answer to that. Most americans dont know the answer to that and most americans are really worried about what that answer might be. Senator, are we really talking about war between the United States and north korea . Well, thats up to north korea. The United States isnt going to do anything other than respond to whatever north korea does so the difficulty is with the guy running north korea, you dont know what hes going do. Something happened today that seems to have slipped through the cracks in the media and that is that china stunningly said they would not defend north korea if indeed they took first action and the u. S. Responded. Thats something that nobody has ever heard before and if i were in north korea, boy that would make you run for cover. Weve always been under the chinese umbrella and theyve said youre on your own. They also said, the chinese statecontrolled newspaper the global times said if the u. S. And south korea strike first against north korea china will take action. And the global Times Newspaper said if north korea launched missiles first, this is a chinacontrolled newspaper, china would remain neutral which is different than what you just said. Are you confident that china is playing ball and on the u. S. Side here . I think if indeed they launch first and China Remains neutral they have a big problem. They will cease to exist after a few minutes of that war and this is dangerous territory. Theres no question about it. I want to play more of the threat that the president issued to north korea, one of the threats he issued just this afternoon. Here he is. This man will not get away with what hes doing, believe me. And if he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat which, by the way, he has been uttering for years and his family has been uttering for years or if he does anything with respect to guam or any place else thats an american territory or an american ally he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast. North korea issues threats on a regular basis, we know that. The president said fire and fury would ensue if that happened again but today he used a different word. A couple days ago it was if he threatens the United States, fire and fury. Today he paused and he said if it is an overt threat. What does overt threat mean . Do you feel you understand very specifically what the president s red line is tonight . Im going to let you guys parse those words. He wasnt speaking from a prepared text which is always best when youre talking about these kinds of things. From my perspective, this is how i view this. If north korea does something very stupid, theyre going to regret it quickly and bad things are going to happen. I know that theres a lot of people worked up about the president using the adjectives he duds and the demeanor he does and that sort of thing but it would be worse if he didnt and didnt telegraph to the North Koreans what was on his mind because the North Koreans push the envelope, have been for years and years, theres nothing new there but when youre engaged in that activity, its really ripe to make a mistake. They need to know exactly whats on President Trumps mind. Ive talked with President Trump, hes passionate about defending this country. The North Koreans need to understand that. The question everyone has, though, is of course they do tests and the United States has not militarily responded to tests before, okay . So when the North Koreans threaten guam and, by the way, theyre threatening to test missiles that they could prove would land near the coast of guam, theyre not threatening to bomb guam would you support for that or any other test, all these tests that have gone by with no response, do you support a change in that . That the United States would have an actual military strike after any test from north korea . In this format i cant answer that question because there are other things going on and its too simplistic a question to answer. And theres no question that if indeed they attack United States citizens and do a kinetic attack, i would support a response to that. But thats different than a tes test. There are things that are happening that i cant talk about here. But let me quickly ask you, when you say i know you cant get into the details but if you could indicate obviously youre in a position on your committees where youre being briefed. Is there any diplomacy going on other than the president s threats . Are you at least able to tell us that . I cannot tell you that. But what i can tell you is that generally any time you see any issues between any two countries whether theyre mortal enemies or not, other countries frequently get involved as messengers, as negotiators, as carriers of proposition. So i cannot confirm or deny any of these things are going on but anyway, history is history. History would give you a precedent for assuming that. Before we go, i must ask you one other thing because the president said hes locked and loaded for for what the pacific. He struck syria, he said he will do it again and up the ante if assad crosses his red line, now hes threatened another country on another continent and he did so twice. Here he is. Im not going to rule out a military option. We have many options for venezuela. We have many options for vaz including a possible military option if necessary. Senator, that would theoretically be war on three fronts in three continents and were not even talking about afghanistan. Is the president warmongering . Are you all right with all this . Well, as you said theoretically, and it is all theory right now. We get briefed on this stuff regularly. The United States is always ready to respond to whatever the situation is but as far as anything that anybody needs to get real worked up about at this point, Everybody Needs to stay calm, were safe in america. Weve got the best military in the world. We know how to respond, we know how to defend ourselves. I sleep well at night but i can tell you as far as the north korea situation is concerned, it is a dangerous situation. All right, well, thank you very much, appreciate your time, senator, thank you for coming on. You bet, thank you. All right, and President Trump of course warning north korea that it will pay steep price if it threatens guam. Theres obviously a question as to whether a threat is a test or whether its killing american citizens, theres a lack of clarity. Guam is home to two military bases and nearly 240 200,000 americans. Martin savidge is live in guam and martin we know there are for lack of a better word preparations where you are. There are two levels of preparations going on. There are the physical ones that would be people stocking up food, water, the essentials that which they might need for a typhoon or hurricane. Then there is the mental preparedness and that is much more difficult. Let me show you the saturday morning headline. Were under a missile watch as the main headline says. For the one thats more troubling is the one at the bottom of the page here and it says officials do not look at the flash. Thats a direct warning to the population here that if there is some sort of Nuclear Flash or fireball theyll be looking at it because you could go blind. This goes to the other aspect of the preparation here because the governor is telling people they should go on with their lives as normal, keep calm, carry on, that saying, however the Civil Defense and the homeland security, they issued a sheet of sorts a to how to prepare for a Nuclear Blast including not looking at the flash, getting under cover, covering your head, the old duck and cover but then on top of that afterwards stay inside your home for up to 24 hours and go into a shower and watch yourself thoroughly with soap and water and dont use conditioner, apparently that attracts the radiation. That kind of information, know very important, is very disturbing to people because it makes it seem so very real. Erin. Thank you very much, martin savid savidge, it certainly does. I think it was the conditioner line that may bring it home to all of us who, of course, are sitting far away from guam, how real this threat is. What does President Trumps threat mean . When he says locked and loaded and you have flyers like that going around guam, about not using conditioner because it attracts radiation, what does this mean . Tom foreman is out in front. What options does the United States military have . They have a lot of them, erin. If north korea were to launch a missile toward guam where our friend martin and those thousands of other people, immediately, even though this flight would take 14 to 18 minutes, immediately the u. S. Would trigger the thaad Missile Defense system. This is an advanced radar system. There are ground based systems, as it moved over the water you would have seabased stations involved. Japan has a different system theyre going to try to kick out and there would be assets from space, all trying to track how big this thing is, how fast it is, and precisely where it is headed bauds if they believe it represents some kind of significant threat, the thaad system would trigger these countervailing missiles from guam which would come in and try to intercept it and tear it apart in flight. This has been tested. Theyve shown this can work. Even if it misses there are patriot missiles batteries in guam that could be fired in an effort to stop this if they think one of these threats is actually coming toward people there or assets that need to be protected. Erin . And it raises questions because what they said is they would trystrike 15 to 25 miles the coast to prove they can do it but not kill people. Does the United States accept that or not . If the defensive part of the locked and loaded equation is how you laid it out, what is the offensive start something happens and the United States then responds . Right, and we dont know if the u. S. Would respond or want to respond, were not advocating it in any way shape or form. When they say theyre locked and loaded, thats because they have a lot of assets in the region. In guam theres a naval base and Anderson Air Force base is home to the f22, the f35, the b2, these are stealth aircraft which could be sent very quickly into north korea to tryauout radar facilities and north koreas robust antiaircraft system. They could be followed by the b1 which is a heavy bomber that can carry the heaviest munitions in the u. S. Arsenal, not Nuclear Weapons but Everything Else which could be used to break up fortified Nuclear Facilities and missile facilities there. Beyond that, erin, there are about a dozen destroyers and cruisers in the water out there almost all the time and they could launch a very healthy barrage of tomahawkguided missile which is would go streaking toward targets in north korea at more than 500 miles an hour. If u. S. Officials want to do that, thats what they mean when they say locked and loaded. They have what they need to get that done. Tom, thank you very much. Just to remind all of you, the president retweeted today pictures of b1 bombers in the pacific in action. Out front now, retired u. S. Army general spider marks, former Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and jim sciutto who served as chief of staff and Senior Adviser to the u. S. Ambassador to china. Obviously the perhaps crucial player in all of this is not going to be in pyongyang or washington but beijing. General hertling, let me start with you. The reality of the situation is the United States can hit north korea. Thats the easy part. Technically speaking. It can not, though, eliminate its military power in a single strike and we dont know where all their missiles are located. They have 1. 1 Million People in their military, the United States isnt that much big we are 1. 4 million and they have thousands of rockets pointed directly at seoul and weve heard the estimates, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans could die in the first few hours of any kind of combat. My question to you, general hertling, does the United States have the ability to have a military conflict and prevent that kind of slaughter . This could be a majjor theatr war. It would not be like iraq and afghanistan. Even though those have been devastating conflicts and have taken up resources, this is a major theater war and it would take a lot of equipment thats currently not on the peninsula and nowhere in the area. We have equipment there, we can fight there, we would prepare to fight there but we need reinforcement. The thing id say, erin, i spent a lot of time in the military, ive learned lessons, the who most important ones ive learned is number one, these are universal truthings, when soldiers go some place, they can never pronounce the names of the towns theyre fighting in and most importantly its easy to start a war, its a whole lot harder to stop it. What does this look like at the end . What is the t thes end game going to be and what is he trying to do . There are 52 Million People in south korea. There are 26 Million People in north korea. I just heard senator rich say wel risch say were going to take them out. What are we taking out and how . Its going to be a difficult problem set and im not sure were ready for the type of conflict being advertised right now. General marks, on that front, the president says if the United States strikes he gives a totally different perspective, he says its going to be successful and done quickly which harkens back to words we heard in iraq, very different situation and were still not done. Here he is today. I have no choice but to take it on and im taking it on and well either be very, very successful or very, very successful in a different way quickly. Our Barbara Starr reports that theres no evidence of deployment as general hertling just referred to yet you have tonight a possibility of a major theater war that the president put on the table and hes added a military option in venezuela that he brought up himself in comments moments ago and you have afghanistan, iraq and syria. Can the United States military do that . Well, as mark laid out, this is a major regional conflict if we were to be engaged in korea. The United States over the course of the last 15, 20 years has walked away from the notion of maintaining readiness for two major regional conflicts simultaneously and to reserve a bit of a strategic reserve. Heres what happens on the peninsula. We have the ability, United States in concert with allies in south korea and japan to strike very quickly and precisely with munitions over the horizon and take out targets in north korea. We can do that and we can do that immediately. Immediately. The challenge is as mark laid out what happens as you have an action followed by a reaction which would be a devastating blow in south korea by way of artillery, dumb rockets, middles that would pour down on seoul, tokyo would be under that attack as well, you would have tens of thousands of people dying. Then there would be a counteraction which means the United States has to stop either the potential of an invasion or to continue to move forces. We have assigned forces and allocated forces which means they have to flow. Those are not been ready to deploy so the intended consequences of a strike will be as weve just described which is going to be incredibly devastating to the south and the region and beijing, beijing is going to have a role to play. So jim let me ask you about this because were moments away from a call between President Trump and president xi of china. I dont know if you heard senator risch but his take was chinas completely on the u. S. Side because theyre saying theyre going to remain neutral which he interpreted as taking the United States side. If north korea launches missiles first, china says it will remain neutral according to the statecontrolled newspaper but if the u. S. And south korea strike first, china will take action. How do you interpret chinas stance . That was a calibrated message delivered via the global times. Their message being, listen, north korea if you strike first unilaterally on the u. S. , were standing out. Were not your friend on that but the u. S. , if you strike north korea first preemptively, were going to stand by our ally. In effect telling both players, you know, watch out which is an interesting and somewhat calibrated considering theyre saying that north korea as well has decades old relationship and telling them their limits but also telling the u. S. Its limits. I would disagree with the senator on saying china is on our side because remember china has different interests. They dont want to go to war, no question but they view the end of the north korean regime, a reunification of korea, a u. S. Ally on its border assuming that might very well happen if there was reunification, they view that as a Greater National Security Threat to them than a nuclear north korea. So they could be friendly, we could have common sbreinterests wanting to avoid a war, keeping north korea under wraps but it would be a misinterpretation from the president side or the u. S. Side to assume that. General hertling, the big question, though, is it seems there are maybe some expectations of how things operate if somebody strikes first but what there doesnt seem to be any clarity on is what the president keeps saying is which is a threat or overt threat. If thats just a test of a missile off the coast of guam and the u. S. Responds, it doesnt seem like anybody knows in the world of a test and right now the world of a test is what were talking about. Right. Well, what id say, too, is even the use of the thaad or the pac three missiles, those operators are trained to watch not only the point of origin, the poo, as they call it, but the potential point of impact, where its going to land. So if theres no threat to a population, if itlands 20 miles outside of guam, would you fire a defensive shot against it or would you let it land in the ocean and say it didnt hit. Nobody knows, no one has made that clear at all. He says if you do anything to guam. Well, thats 20 miles off the coast of guam. Right, so you have to be prepared for Something Like that. Are those individuals manning those platforms going to be told we dont care where it lands, take it out of the sky, we want to prove a point . Which is possible but you have to be within range to do that. So theres a lot of this is not a video game, erin, that not just shoot the laser, this is hard, Hard Military business and the commanders on the scene are going to be faced with some conundrums as they fight this. What jim just said a minute ago about how long did this last, we still have forces in the balkans, we still have forces in the baltics. Germany, germany. Germany. We have people training in ukraine, we have potential now to go to venezuela and weve been in iraq and afghanistan now for 17 years. It never ends fast and we have to be aware of that. General marks, a final word to you. What do you make of these now additional threats to say venezuela . Well, that puts additional pressure on the department of defense and our ability to respond but lets be frank about the level of readiness on the peninsula. Its always at an extremely high level and all of the capements that weve talked about are in place and are ready to be deployed to include the thaad missile system. And correct, none of these Technical Solutions are foolproof yet there is a level of redundancy within those that gives you a sense of comfort. The challenge that we have is what is the level of provocation that were going to be able to take and withstand and, again, those are human judgments, theres a man, theres a person in the loop all the time to ensure we dont let that get too close to where we think we have to be. We cant aforth to have a nuclear tip missile coming close to guam and then we make a miscalculation like, o, my god, there is going to be a challenge and we find out too late. So this level of readiness is always nonnegotiable. I dont think lost in this, the president has held out the possibility of military intervention undefined in another country, venezuela, apparently to the surprise of his own commanders. The pentagon telling us theyve received no orders from the white house and referring all questions on Venezuelan Military action back to the white house. Which is a stunning statement. Thank you all very much. Next, the president just saying millions of americans support his rhetoric towards north korea. What about his most ardent supporters . What do they think . It is concerning, i would step back just a little bit. And a power struggle inside the west wing getting uglier. New details about how trumps own National Security advisor is being undermined. With an unlimited Mileage Warranty on your certified preowned mercedesbenz, you can drive as far as you want for up to five years and be covered. Because only your authorized mercedesbenz dealer has the skilled technicians to certify that your preowned vehicle is up to mercedesbenz standards. Visit the certified preowned sales event, now through august 31st and learn more about our unlimited Mileage Warranty and how your confidence can be as unlimited as your mileage. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Find fast relief behind the counter with claritind. Strut past that aisle for the steroid free allergy relief that starts working in as little as 30 minutes. And contains the best oral decongestant. Live claritin clear with claritind. 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Breaking news, new threats tonight as President Trump warns north korea of big trouble, his words, should the rogue nation threaten the United States or its territories. What that threat means very unclear. Over the past several days, the heated rhetoric between the president and north korea nearing a boiling point. The president insisting that millions of americans want him to keep up the verbal attacks. I will tell you, we have tens of millions of people in this country that are so happy with what im saying because theyre saying finally we have a president thats sticking up for our nation. So what to do trumps core supporters think . Jason carroll went to North Carolina to speak with them. Its a story youll see only out front. They will be met with fire and fury. Reporter the president s comments on north korea drawing condemnation from critics, some of whom have called his words inflammatory or reckless. That has not deterred trump, who tweeted friday the u. S. Military is fully in place, locked and loaded. Its comments like that that have raised eyebrows with Trump Supporters like jason olson. It is concerning. I wish he would step back just a little bit and have advisers on things of that magnitude. Reporter olson opens woodys bar in North Carolina. He opened it after retiring from the army where for a short time he was stationed in south korea. He still supports trump but when it comes to north korea, olson says trump should tone down the rhetoric. I know he doesnt im almost sure he doesnt want, i know the American People dont want a war and i think sometimes that can be pushed to that type of environment. Nobody want s ths that weve be war for the last 20 years. We dont need to fight with anybody else. Reporter theres a lot of support for trump here in these parts. After all, Robeson County helped trump win North Carolina by having the greatest percentage of voters in the state who flipped from democrat to republican during the flexion. Robeson is also noted for being the poorest county in the state. Boarded up store fronts not uncommon here. Sentinel fence factory is a metal manufacturing company. Its ceo comes from a family of democrats but he voted republican. He says he can accept trump trash talking north korea, for now, if he can help struggling businesses like his and improve the local economy. Do i like he tweets all the time and some of the stuff he says and does . No, but im not going to agree with everything he does. He keeps saying hes going to work for the American People. Thats what i want him to do. Trumps north korea talk and tweets too tough for some, maybe not tough enough for others, so says susan walker, the owner of candy sues. I think he might have been on target on a lot of it. He should let him know we mean business. Reporter back at jason olsens bar, the erry tyndle shs the same sentiment. Nice sweet words wont stop this problem. I wish it would, but it wont. So the othverall sense we go from those folks in North Carolina is that theyre willing to give trump wiggle room in terms of how he expresses himself but theres also gray area we noticed and got a sense that many people we spoke to have real concerns over why six months into this presidency President Trump hasnt learned to choose his words more carefully. Thank you very much, jason. Out front now, brian will lanza, former Deputy Director communications and robby mook, Hillary Clintons former campaign manager. Robby, you heard two people express what the president said at the end of jasons report, they say talk tough, someone has to do it. I think as americans any time our leaders are talking tough with foreign dictators its easy to feel pride and support iv of statements like that. But the fact of the matter is in this case its just not the smart thing to do. Kim jongun is a terrible person. I hope every president will speak out against him but the problem here is the president s threatening a war that we dont wantment the figure i heard today is a quarter million americans are in that region, not to mention more than 20 Million People. This war cant happen. And when the president does the saber rattling and threatens violence, we know hell never come through in fact, hes going to degrade his own credibility and our credibility and when we do need to make threats then we need to follow through on that credibility wont be there and the other thing i would add is this president is threatening one dictator in korea, in north korea, this week he thanked Vladimir Putin for kicking our ambassador staff out of russia so i just think the president needs to be consistent and hes not doing that. Brian, the person in that report who said the president is making a mistake, the person the strongest on that, is the veteran, the one who actually was in the military stationed in south korea. Is that something that should make the president listen, when one of his hard core supporters, a vet, says this is a big mistake . I think the president listens to a lot of voices and if what were seeing with north korea and the rhetoric, president obama used tough rhetoric against north korea as well and he had a policy of strategic patience where the rhetoric didnt match the policy. I think the president has articulated his position. Hes been transparent that he viewed protecting the American People a priority and thats what hes doing. Its a shame politics comes into the dynamic but there has to be a republican and democrat in this fight whereas there should be an america in this fight rather than being split apart by politics. The question here though both of you are raising a point in different ways but trump is right about something. He is saying past president s have failed when it comes to north korea. Theres a truth in that. After north koreas fifth test last september it was candidate Hillary Clinton who made it clear she felt United States policy wasnt working and had to change course. Here she is. Its clear that the increasing threat posed by north korea requires not only a we thinking of the strategy but an urgent effort to convince the neighbors, most particularly china, that this is not just a u. S. Issue. Robby, i know you must have spent time talking with her about that issue, you were her campaign manager. Would she do maybe not exactly the same words, but would she do what trump is doing now . Well, i dont want to ever speak for her on this matter but, look, i think theres one thing that had broad support and that was further sanctions and that has happened . Which trump just got, a big victory, 150, china and russia on board, that was a big victory for the president. I think it was important the entire world came together and did that but the second part of what she said was working with the chinese to get them to change their posture and this president has insulted the chinese, he has ridiculed them over twitter, i think he would have seen secretary clinton or frankly a more thoughtful republican work more collaboratively with the chinese not just just get the sanctions but to cool off the situation and get real negotiations going on. Violence isnt an option here. Weve been hearing people say that all night, people need to come to the bargaining table and i think that would happen faster if the president was more responsible. Brian, you worked with him, you know him, everyone said violence isnt an option, the generals on this program, everybody. Youre talking about possibly millions of people dying. Were going back to world wars sort of talk here. Does the president actually think that is an option . Is he willing to do that, do you think . Heres what the president wants to do. He wants to have a discussion with the American People about north korea and can they be a Nuclear Country in this world stage . Thats an important conversation they are already a Nuclear Country on this world stage so to stop that, you have to have a war. You cant stop it from happening. Theyve already gotten there. They havent gotten the technology to hit most of the cities in the United States so you have a moment where theyre having discussions. Weve heard diplomacy is taking place on the back channels. That is what happens when you have these situations. You have the president putting a marker out there saying no different than when president reagan put out the marker against the soviet union when he called them the evil empire. President s use these rhetorics all the time and strengthen their position because the American Public wants to feel safe at the end of the day, they felt safe under president reagan and theyll ultimately feel safe against President Trump. If that happens. I think theres a lot of questions about whats going to happen, people are nervous. We all hope for the best. Out front next, as the Trump White House faces threats from north korea, theres an ugly around intern fight brewing among his top security advisers. Plus, just who is kim jongun . The north korean leader, a former cia director calls him calculating. This is crabfest at red lobster. With choices like the classic crab lovers dream and new favorites like dueling crab legs with dungeness and snow crab. Its happening right now right here at crabfest. Red lobster. Now this is seafood. Depend silhouette active fit briefs, feature a thin design for complete comfort. They say move it or lose it and at my age, im moving more than ever. 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Getting us back on track and finding us dates. Phones really have changed. So why hasnt the way we pay for them . Introducing xfinity mobile. You only pay for data and can easily switch between pay per gig and unlimited. No one else lets you do that. See how much you can save when you choose by the gig or unlimited. Call or go to xfinitymobile. Com. Xfinity mobile. Its a new kind of network, designed to save you money. Breaking news. President trump threatening north korea for the fifth time in four days, saying it will be in big, big trouble if it targets guam. The president making those comments flanked by top advisers, including h. R. Mcmaster, and the one or the far right who has been at the center of a fierce, fierce rift in the white house, coming at a horrific time for a rift in the National Security apparatus. Reporter a controversial memo by a former National Security official argues that bankers, globalists and Establishment Republicans are trying to undermine the president. The sevenpage memo, obtained by Foreign Policy, describes a larger power struggle within the white house. That divide is symbolized by the tension between chief strategist steve bannon, a populist, and the more establishment minded h. R. Mcmaster, tapped by the president in february to replace michael flynn. Hes a man of tremendous talent and experience. Reporter the army general has found himself in the cross hairs of right wing media and bannons allies. Bannon has been laser focused on helping the president fulfill his Campaign Promises on the domestic and Foreign Policy fronts. In february, he touted trumps decision to withdraw from the tpp. He got us out of a trade deal. Reporter supporters say they believe mcmaster is pushing the Foreign Policy bannon and trump opposed during the campaign. I think that steve bannon believes that President Trump ran as a noninterventionist, as a nonmilitary hawk. Reporter the feud between bannon and mcmaster is getting noticed and raising concerns. I would also resolve this strife that seems to be going on in the white house between bannon and mcmaster. Look, you cant run a train with two engineers. Reporter the president said thursday mcmaster has his full confidence. Absolutely. Hes our friend. Hes my friend and hes a very talented man. I like him and respect him. Good morning, everybody. Reporter and the wall street journal editorial page came to mcmasters defense, saying of bannon, he has been a white house survivor, but his warring habits have also been responsible for much to have white house dysfunction. Still, conservative outlets like breitbart continue to slam mcmaster, aimed at firing aides close to fin, including the memos author. And his decision to extend the security clearance of susan rice. A practice a white house aide described as routine. Athena jones, cnn, bridgewater, new jersey. And now mark preston joins me. Mark, this is problematic at any time, but you now have infighting between the top members of the president s inner circle, talking about National Security. You have this happening at a moment in time when the president is talking about possible war with north korea. A possible war with north korea, and just opened a rhetorical front against venezuela, talking about sending in troops. Theres always infighting in a white house, but its never this public. This is a bad spot to be. We saw john mccain just say right there that there needs to be some kind of resolution. It seems like he was asking for the ouster of steve bannon from the white house. And what does happen here . Steve bannonslammed by the president , but he has survived when many others have lost the president s favor. Sean spicer, Reince Priebus among them. Does bannon survive now . I think he does for the time being. Having him on the inside as the wall street journal says causes is creating all of this chaos. Having him on the outside, would it be worse, because would he be able to marshal up these forces from breitbarts and other altright news organizations . I think hes a survivor for now, but who knows in this Trump Administration . Thank you very much, mark preston. Thanks. And next, kim jongun, the man at the center of all of this now. The new details we are learning about the mysterious 30 something, because we dont even know his exact age, the dictator accused of killing his own family members. At whole foods market, we believe in food thats naturally beautiful and fresh. Delicious and powerful, and full of nutrients. So there are no artificial colors. No artificial flavors. No artificial preservatives. And no artificial sweeteners. In any of the food we sell. We believe that the food we eat connects us to the Natural World and to each other. We believe in real food™. Whole foods market. No, please, please, oh shrieks in terror heavy breathing and snorting no, no. The running of the bulldogs . Surprising. Whats not surprising . How much money aleia saved by switching to geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Ditching the coverup for good . Thats cool. Showing off my arms . Thats cool. Being comfortable without a shirt . Thats cool. Getting the body you want without surgery, needles, or downtime . Thats coolsculpting. Coolsculpting is the only fdacleared noninvasive treatment that targets and freezes away stubborn fat cells. Visit coolsculpting. Com today and register for a chance to win a free treatment. Breaking news. President trump upping his fiery rhetoric aimed at kim jongun tonight. Trump saying kim will not get away with what hes doing. Now, kim is known as brash. Hes known as temperamental and he is young and unpredictable. The question is though, is he a madman if is he crazy . Or is he a mastermind . Brian todd is outfront. This man will not get away with what hes doing, believe me. Reporter a stern warning to the 30 something dictator, kim jongun. But experts say heated rhetoric to the man worshipped as a living god in north korea may only force imhim to kaes latesc crisis even more. In late 2011, kim has moved swiftly and ruthlessly to cement his power. Hes believed to have executed about 140 top officials, including his own uncle, sometimes with antiaircraft guns. We know hes violent and listens to no one, so far as we can tell, certainly not the chinese. Reporter hes conducted three nuclear bomb tests, and in less than six years in power, hes overseen about 80 missile tests. More than twice as many as his father and grand father combined. U. S. Officials tell cnn kim jongun grew up with few limits. After studying at a private school in switzerland and developing a passion for basketball, he leapfrogged his two older brothers to be placed in line as Supreme Leader. Intelligence believes he ordered the murder of his brother earlier this year in kuala lumpur. His regime denied it, but john brennan told erin burnett, the leader will do anything to become a nuclear power. A megalomaniac. Calculating. Reporter its his grandfather, kill ilsung, who is young tie rant wants to imitate. Is kim jongun under threat internally . And if so, could that cause him to flex his muscles against the u. S. In a show of strength . Kim jonguns leadership appears to be solid. He has insulated himself and protected himself from any threats to his leadership, whether those be physical or political threats. Ro reporter analysts say its possible the elites may move against kim if he keeps taking his country from one crisis to the other. But he keeps his generals under such close surveillance, its tough to gather forces against him. Interesting what john brennan said. He said hes a megalomaniac, and then that pause, i wouldnt say hes reckless at this point. That was last september. Is he reckless now . Big question for the world tonight. Thanks for joining us. You can watch us any time, anywhere on cnn go. Have a good weekend. See you monday. Ac 360 begins right now. Good evening. We begin with more startling headlines from President Trump. In just a last four days, hes threatened north korea with fire and fury, said maybe that wasnt enough of a threat. Said American Forces are locked and loaded and late today he said even more. Appearing this morning outside his new jersey golf club, the president went before reporters. When he was over, he raised the possibility of u. S. Military action in venezuela and renews his warnings to north korea. Nobody loves a peaceful solution better than President Trump, that i can tell you. Hopefully it will all work out. But this has been going on for many years. It would have been a lot easier to solve this years ago before they were in the position that theyre in. But we will see what happens. We think that lots of good things could ha