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 happen, and we
president xi about north korea. Thats a critical part of solving the problem with north korea, because china is seen as having some kind of leverage over pyongyang, although they havent shown a lot of that lately and the president has shown a lot of disappointment. One call the president has not made, from what we understand, hes not spoken with the governor of guam. That is despite the fact that government there in the u. S. Territory has been handing out bulletins to the residents on what to do and what not to do in the event of a nuclear blast. So for all these questions were seeing the president take over the last couple of days, white house officials are telling us the president wants to have his message carried over, other senior officials like the Secretary Of State and Defense Secretary and so on. But tonight this message out of the white house thats coming from the white house is continuing to create a lot of uncertainty around the world. And despite comments by tillerson and mattis, which are
perhaps more measured or preplanned, the president continues to double and triple down on the comments he made yesterday. Reporter absolutely. Hes making it very clear to kim jongun that hes going to go tit for tat when it comes to this kind of belligerent rhetoric. The problem is its rattiling u. S. Allice around the world. Russia and china are urging the United States to lower the temperature and the question is whether the president is capable of doing that. He is going to hold a News Conference on monday. By guess is, from observing what has transpired over the last couple of days, the white house is seeing some kind of political benefit of the president going out and engaging in this kind of tough talk. So my sense is, were going to see more of that on monday. Jim acosta, thank you very much. Lets go next to Barbara Starr for more on north korea and perhaps venezuela. The president was asked if he
ordered change in military readiness. Has there been any change that were aware of . Reporter none that were aware of. In fact, pentagon officials are telling us at this point, no need to send Additional Forces to the region. That everybody is ready, that they have Missile Defense on guam that could shoot down the north korean missiles if they come that way. They have ships at sea, troops in south korea always on a high state of alert. So they feel they are ready, that they are ready to defend against a potential Missile Attack that north korea has laid out, the possibility of, if it were to go beyond that. If the president were to decide to order some type of preemptive attack or something broader, then it would be relooked at, of course. Right now, tonight, as were talking, of course u. S. Intelligence keeping a very sharp eye out for any moves by the north koreans towards a missile launch. As of now, they dont see it. And there have been no evacuations of military
personnel from the region or civilian personnel i should say. Right. Theres no indication of moving civilians off of guam. The guam government, the governor seemed pretty calm about the whole thing, issuing those bulletins, communicating with his citizens on guam. They have a pretty active program there. I want to play what the president had to say about venezuela option. We have many options for venezuela. This is our neighbor. Were All Over The World, and we have troops All Over The World in places that are very, very far away. Venezuela is not very far away, and the people are suffering, and theyre dying. We have many options for venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary. So whats the pentagon saying about this . Is Military Intervention seriously being considered . You know, on a friday night in august in washington, this caught the pentagon by more surprise than almost anything
else. They did come up with a statement. So let me read part of that to everybody. A pentagon spokesman telling reporters, i refer you to the white house to characterize the president s statement. The pentagon has not received any orders with regards to venezuela. The military conducts Contingency Planning for a variety of situations. If called upon, we are prepared to support whole of Government Efforts to protect our National Interests and safeguard u. S. Citizens. Lets unpack that quickly. There are u. S. Citizens in venezuela. If it came to a dire situation, the military always is there to protect u. S. Citizens abroad. Theres no indication its at that point right now. But the president may have played directly into the hands of the venezuelan president , president meduro, who is facing stiff opposition, violent opposition in his own country, backed by his own military. President meduro, to put it
politely, has long claimed there will be a u. S. Invasion and a u. S. Backed coup attempt against his government. There is a lot of concern tonight that donald trump may have played right into the hands of a very unpopular venezuelan president. Barbara starr, thank you. I want to bring in our panel. Retired general tony tata. Peter fever, rick francona, and kimberly dozier. General, what do you make of the fact that despite all the rhetoric coming from the United States, and obviously the very real concern here, that the current u. S. Military posturing does not seem to have changed Nonessential Personnel Arent Being recalled from the region. Right. Well, anderson, i think what youre seeing is the very deliberate and synchronized application of the elements of National Power against north korea. So youve got military power
that are doing shows of force. We have Carrier Strike groups going back and forth, airplanes flying over. You have diplomatic powers to get a Unanimous Security Council vote for sanctions against north korea. And you have information power. And the president making a statement, fire and fury and those kinds of things, is a very deliberate and clear message to kim jongun and north korea. And then when you have the Secretary Of State and the secretary of defense both saying something similar, the Secretary Of State being a little more diplomatic, and the secretary of defense being a little more direct but all buttressing what the president said, thats all power information. And just on cnn an hour ago, you had an analyst laying out all of our offensive capabilities and all of our defensive capabilities. I can promise you that the north koreans that have televisions are watching that. Because we get this second order
benefit of the president saying hey, we are strong as well. And how many Missile Tests should we allow north korea to take . How many Nuclear Weapons should we allow north korea to have and how much threats should we allow against the United States from this rogue regime thats expressing intent and now has the ability to harm our nation. I think the president is right to synchronize these elements of power. As you mentioned, theres been no Combatant Evacuation or deployment of troops. So right now, i think its in the application of elements of power stage where we are trying to leave the golden bridge for kim jongun to walk across into the land of diplomacy. Do you see a strategy behind the president making a particular kind of comments and then the Secretary Of State and secretary of defense following it up with i dont knoweasur
coming at it from a different angle. Simplistically youve got a good cop, bad cop scenario going on. But you see the synchronization of the National Security team around whatever President Trump says. They are learning to use his willingness to use bellicose rhetoric to their advantage, by having tillerson message that there is a way out of this but having mattis back up some of the president s threats, the message is meant to break this log jam in north korea. Everything the u. S. Has tried to do over the past couple of decades hasnt stopped them from moving forward on nuclear development, Nuclear Weapons development. The last time we saw some sort of break in this was back in 2003, after george w. Bush called them part of the axis of evil, then you saw sixparty talks leveraged by china. I think thats what theyre
trying to produce right now is enough pressure on beijing that theyll take this so seriously, they go to pyongyang and say, youre running out of chances here. Peter, how much of the u. S. Language on this is, do you think, directed towards china . A lot of it. They clearly have a diplomatic strategy, and that requires that China Ratchet up the pressure on north korea. Im not sure i agree with your other guests that they have a cleanly synchronized messaging strategy. I think this white house is still struggling to get everyone singing on the same sheet of music, even if theyre singing different parts. And they dont have a ben rhodes kind of figure who in the Obama Administration delivered talking Poichlt Points for everyone to speak, that were tightly coordinated. The evidence of that is things like the venezuela comment, which was distracting and then interrupting whatever was the focus of the message on north
korea. Ive got to agree. Maybe its not synchronization, but theyre pivoting a little faster than they have in previous weeks. I think theyre Getting Better at reacting to him, and pretending they planned this all along. Colonel francona, whats interesting is a lot of the threats that the president has been making is talking about threats. In the previous days, it was north korea shouldnt make any more threats against the u. S. , and there were questions like, well, did he mean just rhetorical threats or was it actual action . He now has made it clear that it was they shouldnt speak any more threats. And then even today he sort of made it, well, kim jongun himself should not make any direct threat. Well, weve seen a whole change in the rhetoric coming out of north korea, as well. I think the rhetoric coming out of the white house, this bellicose rhetoric from the president , followed up by what i consider a very strong message from secretary mattis, and even
the more diplomatic talk from Rex Tillerson, i think its had a real impact in pyongyang. Weve seen the north koreans react differently to this level of bellicose rhetoric with that it wasnt really a threat against guam. It was saying were developing a plan by which we could strike guam and present that to the commander in chief, if he wants to exercise that. Much analogous to the u. S. Defense department preparing plans to strike korea, giving the president an option. But we never saw the detail. I think theyve been shaken by the rhetoric coming out of washington, and i dont think they know what to make of it. So i think its had that positive effect. But we have to make sure, and i think not raising the defcon status, not deploying more troops and not evacuating Nonessential Personnel keeps it a little lower volume. Once you see those steps, things
are probably going to happen. Were going to take a quick break. Well have more on the conversation where the korean crisis goes from here. And later, the president takes another poke at Mitch Mcconnell. The question, of course, is why . With advil, youll ask what twisted ankle . What muscle strain . Advil makes pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain . Advil. Knowing where you stand. Its never been easier. Except when it comes to your retirement plan. But at fidelity, were making Retirement Planning clearer. And it all starts with getting your Fidelity Retirement score. In 60 seconds, youll know where you stand. And together, well help you make decisions for your plan. To keep you on track. Time to think of your future its your retirement. Know where you stand. Time to think of your future dj siri ok, 10 minutes andr 10 counting. Es. Chef ludo je sens ce que the rock mijote. Dj Man Everything does sound better in french. Dj gimme some, chef. [siri ding]
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President Trump is trying to do is not just message him, but message the elite around him, that theyre about 4 Million People in north korea who can access smartphones, who can hear the message that President Trump is sending out, possibly trying to inspire some sort of a coup. So the fact that kim jongun doesnt seem to be trying to goad him back means maybe some of his top command, some of his top advisers have gotten to him and said weve got to be careful with this guy. Its interesting, colonel general tatum, excuse me, its interesting to hearing from an unofficial response from china basically saying that if a message to north korea that if they strike first, that china would not support them in any way. But if the u. S. Did, that china would come to their aid. Well, i think thats chinas play here. Thats a huge concession on chinas part, for them to say if
they strike anywhere in american territory, that china will not stand by their side. And at the same time, a message to us from china, is if we preemptively strike, then they will come to the aid of north korea. I think thats chinas Perfect Place for them, and its not a bad place for us, because it could keep in check north korea. And i just want to go back to what one of your other panelists said. The last thing this Administration Needs to do is mirror in any way, shape, or form what the Previous Administration has done particularly with respect to north korea. This messaging and this synchronization of the elements of National Power are what are getting results for the United States right now, and we cannot have the proliferation of Weapons Of Mass Destruction as we had in syria with chemical weapons. Now we have with Nuclear Weapons
in north korea. China is the key here, and thats why the president is talking to them right now, and hopefully that china will help us out and put some more pressure on north korea and defuse this and i how for that golden bridge i mentioned earlier. Peter, do you see china stepping up on this . Well, i agree with the general, that if they were to do that, that would be the optimal play from our point of view. The problem is that china has never put enough pressure on north korea to put the regime in jeopardy, to put the regime close to the cracking point, which is where we assess they have to be before they would give up their Nuclear Weapons. And china is reluctant to do that, because they fear the collapse of the kim regime more than they fear Nuclear Weapons in kims hands. Heres the problem, the president has declared intolerable something weve tolerated for the last ten
years. And hes threatened that the kim regime must not do what has been their principal export for 70 years, which is issue threats. I fear the president is in danger of backing himself in a corner. But if escalating the rhetoric and creating the crisis rattles china that they escalate their economic sanctions on north korea, then well see a better outcome going forward. No one wants a war here, including north korea. They dont want a war. So theres a potential for a diplomatic out. Colonel francona, ive talked to a number of former diplomats who were trying to negotiate with korea and worked on it in the past. I talked to General Hayden just yesterday who said look, if there is a Military Confrontation between the u. S. And north korea, obviously in all the war games that they have rolled out, the u. S. Wins. But theres not a lot of great military options. Do you agree with that, just from a Human Life Standpoint . Absolutely. There are no good military options. You have to have a military option. You have to be prepared to execute it. But thats the last thing you want to do. Any military action, no matter what it is, is going to precipitate the Destruction Of Seoul and the ultimate destruction of the north korean government. They know that, Everybody Knows it, and we all agree no one wants to have a war. But somebody in this equation is going to have to back down or change their position, because if, as peter says, if the president is going to stick to this position that we will not tolerate a Nuclear Armed north korea with an icbm and the north koreans insist that its part of their constitution, that theyre not going to get rid of their Nuclear Weapons, all were doing is kicking the can down the road. I think whats probably going to happen is were going defuse this diplomatically and be right back where we are and have this same conversation a couple of years from now. Coming up, as the rhetoric gets more intense on both sides
r the president s comments impulsive or part of a strategy . Thats next. We, the people, are tired of being surprised with extra monthly fees. We want hd. And every box and dvr. All included. Because we dont like surprises. Yeah. Like changing up the celebrity at the end to someone more handsome. And talented. Really. And british. Switch from cable to directv. Get an all included package for 25 a month. And for a limited time, get a 100 reward card. Call 1800directv. Ltry align probiotic. N your Digestive System . For a nonstop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. Get 24 7 digestive support, with align. The 1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. Also in kids chewables. Locked and loaded, the rhetoric coming from the american president and the north korean dictator is not exactly the most careful. In the New York Times today, it was asked have we become so anured to the madness of the trump administration, have we forgotten what it would be like to have a real president handle the crisis. Tom, im wondering what you thought when you heard the president say if north korea utters one threat, hell truly regret it. Is that a smart line to be drawing . In the days past when the president talked about targeting threati threats, it seemed like mattis and tillerson said it would be attacks against the United States or an ally. The president doubled down saying yes, its uttering a
threat. Anderson, when youre dealing with Nuclear Weapons and an erratic regime like north korea, it seems to me you want to measure every word, because if you are drawing a red line, a red line not only about action but about rhetoric, you want to be extremely precise. Not only for the other side, but to protect yourself so you dont have to climb down. And i just find it unnerving that the formulation changes every day, a threat, you know, a different kind of threat, not action but words. Its just not a clear way to do things. Its interesting, though, that despite the president s rhetoric, it seems like from all the reporting the u. S. Military posture in the region really has not changed. Its not as if u. S. Personnel are being withdrawn, its not as if marines are being loaded onto vessels. Nothing seems it doesnt seem
to be a war footing. Yeah, you wonder whether all of the wires are connected here, from the president s lips to our diplomats, to our military people on the ground. And i just worry about i dont object, let me simply say, to the president raising the profile of this issue. I think the kascharacter of the issue has changed. North korea, a highly erratic, isolated country is building a missile that can, with a warhead that can hit the United States. Its not tomorrow or next week or next month. But in the next year or two. That changes the strategic equation, and the president doing a little madman act, its not such a bad thing, as long as its connected to as long as that stick is connected to carrots that the north koreans can bite into and possibly stand down on, and that our allies
would want to get behind. Because thats the key thing here. If were going to keep sanctions on north korea, if were going to keep the moral high ground here, we need china, south korea, japan at a minimum, but also russia as well. We really want them on our side. Thats what im a little concerned about here. Is it possible that the president believes or people around him believe that this sort of madman idea to will motivate china to become more involved, will motivate china to use more of its influence . Youre asking the right question, because i think a lot of this rhetoric is directed more at china than at north korea, or as much at china to act. But i think the chinese have also made their calculation. What the chinese have basically said to themselves is that look, if the north koreans were to launch a missile at the United States or at guam, that would be an act of suicide. What do we know about the north korean regime . The kim family has been in power three generations. They are homicidal, but they are not suicidal. Theyre there to survive. At the same time, if the United States unilaterally attacked north korea, it could unleash weaponry on south korea. I think the chinese dont actually believe that the administration would go that far or the north koreans would go that far. So theyre trying to nudge both sides towards the center. What ive been advocating, i dont mind the president s rhetoric, and a little madman here, it can be effective. If its wedded to it seems to me a diplomatic overture. Which is to say were ready, if youll give up your Nuclear Program and your missile program, were ready to make peace with you, Open An Embassy and end the korean war. I would put a clear offer on the table. They wont accept it early on,
but it would certainly give us the moral high ground, the ability to hold south korea, china, russia, and all of asia behind us. Because ultimately, we may find that the only solution is simply longterm deterrence and squeezing north korea until something happens. It does seem like this is such a change from decades of administration policy, which has been to not have one on one direct confrontation or involvement between the u. S. And north korea. The u. S. Always wanted other countries sitting at the table, if there were to be discussions or negotiations. The president is going toe to toe, whether for political or strategic reasons or whatever it is with kim jongun. Trading the same kind of rhetoric. What wore yries me is that t chinese have made their calculation that trump is bluffing and that the north koreans arent going to commit suicide. Therefore, the chinese dont
mind seeing america wrapped and the axle of north korea, spending enormous resources to deal with it. Thats fine with the chinese. Thats why theyve kept this alive all these years. Putin doesnt mind, either. We have to be very careful. It is all the options are bad. But it may be the last bad option is living with a north korea, deterring them and keeping sanctions on until something happens. And just maybe its a coup detat, but there can be worse things. As you recall, anderson, were about the same able. We lived with Tens Of Thousands of russian nukes aimed at us, and thousands of chinese nukes aimed at us under mao. A lot of people thought he was crazy. Its not ideal or preferable,
its just that all the other alternatives could be a lot, lot worse. Tom friedman, thank you. Coming up, what the white house is saying about the president Thanking Vladamir Putin for throwing out hundreds of American Embassy personnel in moscow. Todays explanation from the white house maybe didnt help. Your big idea. Will people know it means theyll get the lowest price guaranteed on our rooms by booking direct on choicehotels. Com . Hey badda book. Badda boom mr. Badda book. Badda boom
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officer larson and nicholas burns. Ambassador burns, yesterday you tweeted about the president s comment saying a shameful statement by President Trump. If he was joking, it shows his true character. Im wondering what you make of the white house responding that he was joking, saying he was being sarcastic. You know, heres the president , anderson, who has not defended our country since the russian cyber attack on our election. He was not in favor of the sanctions at all, republicans and democrats were in favor of. Hes never criticized what Vladamir Putin did. He didnt criticize Vladamir Putins expulsion of 700 american diplomats. I cant think of any american president who would not defend our country when it was so treated by the russian government. And he hasnt stood up for our diplomats. If he was joking, it was very poor taste and shows his
character. I can tell you this, the people in the State Department, the men and women of the State Department dont feel they have the respect of their president. And he needs them, he needs them in north korea and russia. He ought to show more respect. Rolf, i know you served in moscow, these 755 people whose positions were cut by putin, how important a role did they serve . The president says it doesnt matter if they come back, theres no reason to go back. Is that true . No, its not, anderson. Whats shocking about the president s comments is it reflects or betrays a lack of understanding of how valuable our officers and diplomats are in these Emba Sisssies abroad, just moscow. Also all the other members of the country team that are part of this complicated and important post overseas. And by the way, anderson, the men and women who defend america on our front lines, not just the u. S. Mill stair personnel, of course, we all respect them
greatly. But all the other personnel serving in embassies across the world, have to be wondering if the president has their back. Ambassador, when u. S. Russia relations are at this low, doesnt it just increase the importance of having a large american diplomatic presence in russia . Well, it does. I think were at our lowest moment with the russian government since the end of the cold war. You might have to go back to the mid 80s before gorbachev took over the soviet union to find a time when there was so much distrust between moscow and the United States. President trump doesnt talk about diplomacy. Hes never honored the foreign service. He was dismissive of them yesterday. So it would really behoove him to plug into the State Department. Rolf, to the ambassadors point, the president seems to put a lot of stock in the military, obviously. And obviously its incredibly important. But most Military Personnel will
say look, we need diplomats or our jobs will become exponentially more difficult. Thats absolutely right, anderson. I couldnt agree more with nick who had such a distinguished career in the State Department. And behalf of all of our men and women serving overseas right now, this is a time when its important, not just for the president but the American People to understand the roles theyre playing. Theyre serving in many places like moscow and other places that are real hardships and advancing u. S. Foreign policy interests. Theyre our front lines, just like the u. S. Military. Its important for the president to recognize that. Ambassador, i always try to walk in someone elses shoes or look at things from a different angle. Any strategic reason why the president of the United States would have avoided directly criticizing Vladamir Putin to the extent that this president has . I mean, you know, you really cant find examples of him
criticizing Vladamir Putin where you can find him criticizing Mitch Mcconnell, jeff sessions, other world leaders. No, i think he the weakest president he eve hweve had tow moscow in my time. What putin respects is power, he respects toughness, he respects people who speak their mind. And President Trump has been nothing like that. I dont think that the president is putting us in a strong position visavie russia. Of course we want to have an open channel to putin. We have to talk to him about north korea, about afghanistan, about iran, about our Nuclear Weapons standoff with the russians. But you also have to exact a price when putin crosses a line like hacking our election. So i think its been entirely misguided, and i hope he listened to Rex Tillerson and jim mattis. I think they have a much more realistic sense of how to work effectively with the russians. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. The president s not criticized Vladamir Putin, but he has been going after the Top Republican in the senate, Mitch Mcconnell. Today was no different. Well tell you what the president said and has Many Republican senators rallying around mcconnell. Xiidra is the first and only eye drop approved for both the signs and symptoms of dry eye. One drop in each eye, twice a day. Common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. Dont touch container tip to your eye or any surface. Remove contacts before using xiidra and wait at least 15 minutes before reinserting. Chat with your eye doctor about xiidra. Pepsoriasis does that. It was tough getting out there on stage. I wanted to be clear. I wanted it to last. So i kept on fighting. I found something that worked. And keeps on working. Now . They see me. See me. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Never give up. See me. See me. Clear skin can last. Dont hold back. Ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. For the Third Straight day, the president went after senator Mitch Mcconnell in whats turning into a onesided spat. No comment from the senator, who isnt taking the bait. Still, President Trump took another dig at mcconnell with the difficulty of passing health care reform. A number of senators have rushed to the defense of senator Mitch Mcconnell. What do you make of that i dont make anything of that. We should have had health care approved. He should have known he had a couple of votes that turned on him, and that should have been very easy to handle. Whether its through the fact that you take away a Committee Chairmanship or do whatever you have to do. But what happened last week is unacceptable. To the president s critics, its not clear what these comments accomplish. Joining me now, my panel. Aman amanda, does it make sense for the president to go after mcconnell . Yeah, for once i think donald trump has the right target. Now, do i agree with a lot of what donald trump is doing stylistically . No. But Mitch Mcconnell is an obstacle towards for a long time, the trumps of the world, demonized paul ryan and put a lot of blame in the long place. Now were seeing paul ryan, pass bills and tried to go to the white house and make these things work, especially when it comes to health care and then it goes to die in the senate. Well, that is not really going to work. And for a long time, Mitch Mcconnell has gotten away with not saying anything, letting other people take the blame and now donald trump sees, yes, is donald trump to blame for not Passing Obamacare repeal. Yes. But can he pit Mitch Mcconnell against him because he is the
establishment of everything the Trump Campaign worked to disrupt in his election. So donald trump has the right target and as long as mcmcconnell powers away. Donald trump will win. Senator sand or u santorum agree . No. Trump is prodding Mitch Mcconnell and the entire senate. He is committed to getting the Health Care Bill done and he feels let down. Not just by mcconnell but also by paul ryan. He trusted both leaders to put together a bill he didnt together and said give me a bill to sign. And this is paul ryans bill that mcconnell had and he tried to tweak it and he told the president up until the very last day and he thought he a plan b. That he thought could work and the president feels let down and
he will continue to prod them as he should to get back to the table and get a bill passed. And i could tell you they are working on it at the white house. There is an effort which im going on which im very ken aau very encouraged by because that is the most important thing in the agenda. But the president ran on repealing an replacing. He could have come up with a plan. You would expect a president to have a plan instead of outsourcing it to somebody else. But im going to defend Mitch Mcconnell here tonight. Number one, President Trump has one substantial agenda, part of his legacy, only one big thing and that the neal gorsuch, but guess what, mcconnell had more to do with that happening than donald trump did. So lets talk about this Health Care Bill. When mcconnell was having a hard time getting 51 votes to has health care. How was donald trump helping him. Lets go back. It feels like it was an eternity ago but it wasnt that long ago. Here is what donald trump was doing in the run up to the big Health Care Bill, he was attacking jeff sessions, a former u. S. Senator and hired Anthony Scaramucci and threatening the fbi on the Chief Of Staff and delivering a speech to the Boy Scouts Of America they had to apologize for and on top of that donald trump was attacking people like lisa murkowski, a republican senator. So threatening her. This is how donald trump, think i he is the one we to blame. And every Republican Congress has an interest in advancing the legislative goals and even more so Donald Trumps outrageous comments actually provide cover for them to get this kind of stuff done. Listen, there is a lot of people in washington who are all talk and no action. Mitch mcconnell for far too long has been no talk and no action
and at every opportunity he lowers the bar for expectations. If you look into republican who were taking back majority. Mcconnell said the bar for victory would be returning to regular order and no government shut down. That is the bear minimum. Meanwhile huge opportunities like being able to tie spending reform to the debt ceiling increase. Hes failed every single time. So donald trump has all of the reason in the world to expect more from Mitch Mcconnell and you will notice mcconnell did not return fire and he will not engage because he only cares about staying in power himself and he goes to his other republican senators, respond for me and goes out to paul ryan and he said he will. And will donald trump make Mitch Mcconnell resign at majority leader. Probably not because he has support in the senator. But he need to provide some is explanation as to why something isnt getting done. And mr. Santorum, does it in terms im not talking about obamacare, but just on other legislative things in the future, resentment, concern about other soirenators that th president didnt have their back. Does have any ripple effect. I dont think any senator watching donald trump expects him to have their back if they cross him. I think that is pretty evident, that it is an every man for himself when testimonies cou o the president. And disagreements with him. Look, i think the most important thing the president is doing here is trying to refocus and Mitch Mcconnell said were moving on to tax reform and i could tell you, the president doesnt want to move on to tax reform. He wants to get a bill done. And i think that is really i understand there may be all of the other things going on, but this president understands how important this is. I know members of congress and im hearing from them who are back home who are hearing it
loudly and clearly that they are not happy that they werent able to get this done. The president im sure getting that same feedback and trying to keep everybody focuses and that is a good thing. And you have to say, mcconnell has done a job of cultivating this image in washington that hes a legislative genius but he is man behind the curtain not getting anything done and donald trump has every reason to say send me a bill, there is no excuses. We have to take a break. When we come back, trump doubling down on his rhetoric and the latest for the nuclear warned country next. Wheres gar . saved money on Motorcycle Insurance with geico. Goin up the country. Later, gary i have a motorcycle wonderful. Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle,
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