Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20181019

Thats what its going to be. Its going to be an election of those things. But if thats what on message looks like for President Trump looks like right now, then what was this . Greg is smart. And by the way, never wrestle him. You understand, never. Any guy that can do a body slam, hes my candidate. Hes my guy. I shouldnt say this. Theres nothing to be embarrassed about. Nothing to be embarrassed about, he says. Celebrating the republican congressman who was charged and pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter during his special election last year. Greg gianforte body slammed a reporter covering his race, just doing his job. Its not just that, of course. The president is applauding this assault as hes facing one of what could become the most kaungsquenceal decisions of his presidency. What to do about the disappearance of a Washington Post columnist and mounting evidence that he was murdered by the saudis. Jeremy, what are you hearing from the white house . Is this the president on message . Well, certainly last night, the president was true to form, focused on one element only, that is rallying his base. And to do so, of course, the president is talking about the issue of illegal immigration. Touting the Supreme Court confirmation of Justice Brett kavanaugh. But at the same time, the president is confronting one of the most serious diplomatic crises of his presidency, over the disappearance and alleged killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the saudi journalist who disappeared more than two weeks ago in the saudi consulate. But it is not that issue, while that issue will be front of mind at the white house over the next several days as we await the results of the investigation, it is not that issue that is dividing the president s advisers. Yesterday, the president s chief of staff and his National Security adviser, john kelly and john bolton, respectively, those two men were seen in the west wing engaging in a very public shouting match over this issue of a surge of border crossings down at the southern border. This issue of illegal immigration is not just a talking point for the president on the campaign trail but very much an issue that is dividing some of the president s top advisers as they look to see how they can reduce the flow of Illegal Immigrants coming into the southern border. We know that the president has been focused on this issue of a caravan of migrants coming up from Central America through mexico towards the United States. So that is very much top of mind for this white house today. We do know that the secretary of state mike pompeo is in mexico today. Hes due to meet with the Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister in just a few minutes, actually. And so that is the focus at the white house today. With this administrations efforts as they try to stem that flow of migrants, but also keep in mind, immigration will be a central message of the president s heading into the midterms which are just a few weeks away. Thats right. Great to see you, jeremy. Lets talk about this. Joining me is cnn political commentator and former director of legislative affairs for the trump white house, marc short. Thanks for coming in. Thanks for having me on. Of course. The president s in a tough spot when it comes to immigration and talking about this caravan. Because he wants to be able to say that hes the guy fixing it. But he also wants to be able to say this is still a huge problem. On both fronts, some of the facts out there right now arent with him. Last month, the highest number of arrests on report for families arrested at the border, and in all, this year, there was a much higher number of families taken into custody than recent years. On the flipside, though, over the past decade, the number of border arrests is way down. Doesnt this complicate his message in these closing weeks, marc . Actually, kalt, i think this is a winning argument for the president. The president has campaigned from 2016 to this day on the need for stronger Border Security. I think that, you know, democrats in 2006, 80 of democrats voted to fund essentially the wall thats being put forward by the Trump Administration right now. I think its apparent that a lot of opposition is political. When people see the optics of the caravan, they want Border Security. I think the president has a winning message there. A message, maybe, but when the facts make it a little tougher for him to be honest about his message. If this is his problem now, right, hes been president long enough he cant continue to blame everybody else. If this is his problem and his fix they came up with, its been slapped down by a federal judge, who does he have to blame but himself . On that point, though, the president has tried to get cooperation to fix the laws that tie the homeland securitys hands. In many cases you have heard secretary nielsen talk about loopholes that need to be closed, and in many cases their ability to stop the caravans from coming or immigrants coming across the border are restricted. Its important to remember the president actually offered a pathway to citizenship, not just for the 800,000 daca participants but to appease democrats, additional family members, cloche to 1. 7 million. Its almost impossible to understand where the president is on daca because he was both for and against it in a matter of moments. I follow this day by day, and its increasingly difficult to know where he stands. Let me help you because he asked me to negotiate it with senate democrats. We basically offered a pathway to citizenship for daca in exchange for wall funding. They basically said we dont want that because we dont want the president to have a victory on the wall funding. Theres a lot of politics in this on both sides, but i think this is a political winner for the president. Regardless of where the facts are. Let me move on. I want to get to the border wall, but the president laid out, im going to call it something of a threat against mexico if they dont stop the caravan, tweeting that to him, immigration is in his words far more important to me as president than trade or the usmca. So after making such a big deal about how great the new nafta deal is for everyone, especially the United States, do you actually see him making good on that threat . Well, a comthings there. I think the trade deal is a significant achievement for the administration, but i actually think its going to have a lot of challenges moving forward in congress, particularly as some of the democrats potentially win more house seats. Its going to have a bumpy ride. Thats not what the president is talking about there though. I understand, but im simply saying that is a significant achievement i think is going to have a bumpier ride than perhaps some analysts think. In a house of representatives that perhaps has more democrat representatives. But the president , i think, is committed to making sure he gets the deal done. At the same time, hes also concerned about immigration. What do you think . You know him, you worked closely for him. You think he makes good on that threat . I think that in essence, what happens is mexico, the deal for nafta is important for mexico to the extenltd theyre going to come to the table and help with stopping the caravans coming up. I think the president is going to win on that. You think hes maybe not going to have to make good on that threat. Thats where were land on this one. This could come to a head again in december when the country could face another partial Government Shutdown if getting to the border now the president insists on billions of dollars for the border wall to be included. You were in charge of these negotiations. Should the president in your view force a Government Shutdown over border wall funding if it comes to that . I think that the president is in a position that its an important plan to get the wall funded. The wall funding planning is something that custom Border Patrol officials think they need. You think its worth it . Yes. See heres the thing, my concern, i dont know what the leverage is going to be from the administration. Having funded so many other Appropriations Bills that the military will be funded, people getting entitlement checks will be funded, parks will stay open. All those things that are important for Everyday Americans will continue to happen. The leverage of what the administration will have to shut down a particular component to get wall funding i think will be limited, but yes, i fully support it. That is a Campaign Promise he made, the American People wanted, and i think democrats have voted to support it before and the opposition is political. Youre for shutting in theory, you are supportive of a Government Shutdown in order to keep one Campaign Promise . I think its broader than one Campaign Promise, kate. Thats one. Thats one. That is one, yes, that hes made a million times over, but that is one thing that i mean, this is a real thing, marc, as you know. This is a real thing. That was a threat this last month, i think thats where the calendar is. I think Border Security is a very important issue for American People and the plan thats put forward is an important plan. Its where career Officials Say this is where i see human trafficking, here is where we see drugs, in some cases its seethrough because they say i need to see what happens on the other side of the wall. Do you still think mexico is going to pay for it . Kate, i think be honest with me. There are ways to get mexico to pay for it, such as elements in the nafta deal as far as additional customs fees that are assessed. Are they going to put forward a payment to say here, well pay for the wall . Of course not. Are there ways the president and the administration can say this is what we negotiated and those dollars can go toward the wall . Yes. Hmm. Okay. That doesnt seem so clean. You heard what the president said last night about the congressman who about gianforte who pleaded guilty. He was charged for assaulting a reporter back during his special election. Especially given the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, can you make an honest case that what the president was saying last night was just a joke . And no big deal . Kate, i think that the optics and the timing is obviously unfortunate. I do think that the president s rallies are partly political and partly just dumb, marc, just dumb. Partly entertainment, and thats what people come to see. But yes, i can confess to you that the timing is inappropriate. You think at this time that its a good idea to be joking i just said the timing is bad. I hope Greg Gianforte has more qualities going for him than the fact that he likes to body slam reporters. Youre right. Greg actually is a great guy and a good congressman who confessed to that mistake and apologized for it. So youre right. And i think the timing is poor, certainly. I think youre 100 right on that, kate. I will always end when you Say Something like that. Thank you, marc, for coming in. Lots to discuss. Appreciate it. Coming up, a change in tone from the president on the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist. What the president is saying now about what may have happened to Jamal Khashoggi. Plus, the outgoing u. N. Ambassador, nikki haley, cracking jokes at a charity dinner. She had people laughing. But did she also have a very serious message for President Trump . Stay with us. A onceinfive hundred year storm should happen every five hundred years, right . Fact is, there have been twentysix in the last decade. Allstate is adapting. With drones to assess home damage sooner. And if a flying object damages your car, you can snap a photo and get your claim processed in hours, not days. Plus, allstate can pay your claim in minutes. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Burning of diabetic nerve pain, these feet. Raised a good sport. And became a secondgeneration firefighter. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. 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Make it, squarespace hear from secretary of state mike pompeo who is in mexico, expected it focus on the migrant crisis and the caravan making its way north, but hes also facing questions about the presumed murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This as the president appears to be shifting his tone on saudi arabia as evidence mounts over khashoggis disappearance. Listen to what he told reporters. Do you believe Jamal Khashoggi is dead . It certainly looks that way to me. Its very sad. Certainly looks that way. What are you considering for possible consequences for saudis it will have to be very severe. I mean, its bad, bad stuff, but well see what happens. Joining me right now is gary saymar, former adviser to president obama, currently the Senior Executive director for studies at brandeis. Thank you for coming in. Over the course of this week, the president went from severe punishment would be coming to then he was floating the theory of rogue killers could have done this, to then seeming to defend saudi by saying that the country was getting the kavanaugh treatment of guilty until proven innocent, and now hes back to severe punishment and this is a bad, bad thing. What does this evolution in his tone, what does it mean to you . So i mean, obviously, i cant read President Trumps mind, but i think the administration is trying to put as much pressure on riyadh as possible to come up with a plausible explanation for the killing of the saudi journalist. And that includes, i think, a living fall guy, somebody who is prepared to take responsibility for ordering the killing and protecting the crown prince, mohammed bin salman, from any personal role in ordering the assassination. Gary, if that i know were playing maybe in a hypothetical, but maybe not too far off. If that happens and the world doesnt believe it, but thats the story they put out, can the white house just say okay, moving on . Thats what they would like to do. But of course, nobody knows at this point whether that is possible. And it will depend, i think, a lot on the credibility of the cover story and on how other countries react. In particular, turkey. Turkey still holds very damaging information in the form of these audio and videotapes. And presumably, there are quiet conversations going on between riyadh and ankora about the price saudi will have to pay in order to keep those tapes from becoming public. So whether or not erdogan is satisfied will be another thing. Where the truth coming out, this is a huge statement of where this thing is. You have secretary of state mike pompeo, he went over there, he met with turkey, met with saudi arabia. Its the turks who, as you have mentioned, who say they have really this brutal evidence of audio and video of khashoggis killing. Pompeo then told reporters afterward that he saw no video. He saw no transcript, he has seen none of that. Does that surprise you . If it exists, that he didnt see it, wasnt presented it when he was over there . Well, i think this is a big playing card for the turks. If they release it to the United States, it may leak out. And whatever value turkey can glean from keeping it suppressed would be lost. I can completely understand why ankora doesnt want to share those tapes with the United States. And frankly, for President Trump, i think he should be careful what he asks for because once that gets in the hands of the u. S. , theres going to be even more outrage over the killing of khashoggi. Gary, thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it. Thank you, kate. Coming up for us, outgoing u. N. Ambassador nikki haley drawing a lot of laughs at a charity dinner, but did she also serve up a serious jab at the president . Thats next. King being king midas, i expect the best of everything. 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In south sudan, where rape is routinely used as a weapon of war, that is evil. In syria, where the dictator uses chemical weapons to murder innocent children, that is evil. In north korea, where american student Otto Warmbier was tortured to death, that was evil. In the last two years, i have seen true evil. That reference to evil seems unmistakable. Thats exactly what President Trump has used to describe his opponents in recent months. Was a disgraceful situation. Brought about by people that are evil. Its a very dangerous period in our country. And its being perpetrated by some very evil people. So to whom then was haley trying to send her message . Chris cillizza, editor at large, is joining me right now. The last time we saw nikki haley, she was getting the star treatment with the president in the oval office with the nicest farewell we have ever seen. What is she trying to do . . Shes trying to differentiate herself from donald trump in terms of world view at least. I think nikki haley has National Political ambitions. I dont think shes running against donald trump, but i think she does want to be a figure Going Forward in the republican party. And i think that shes done her service in the Trump Administration. I think what youre going to see now, kate, is more of this, which is to say look, i support some of the things President Trump did and said, the economy and those sorts of things, but im not going to be with him in the way in which he vilified opponents, the way in which he talks about people. Thats what youll see more of from her. No question this was aimed directly at donald trump. Also a reminder that haley throughout her time as ambassador was able to get away with language, if you will, that few others could. Critical of the president s policies or the words he would choose, if you will. Still very much in his good graces. Never on the receiving end of any of his shame tweets or any of those, you know, background reports of him regretting that he put her in the position, a la Jeff Sessions and everyone else. I was going to say, everyone else. A la, end of show because it would take too long. How does she pull that off . Its totally fascinating. Remember, its not as though she was like Jeff Sessions, a stalwart trump supporter in the campaign. She supported marco rubio and then ted cruz. She made a speech in which she decried trump and trumpism, which is why it was such a big deal when she was named u. N. Ambassador. I dont totally know, but my guess is that she probably thought, wow, i have been the golden child for about two years. We know that no one stays in Donald Trumps good graces forever. Or even for that long. Let me get out while the gettings good. Maybe the smartest political move ever. One more joke. One joke that i do want to play for our viewers. She could not resist jumping on the, i dont know, dna test hit parade, if you will. Listen to this. So this year, you wanted to spice things up again, right . I get it. You wanted an indian woman, but Elizabeth Warren failed her dna test. Actually, when the president found out that i was indianamerican, he asked me if i was from the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren. This works on so many levels. Reminds everyone shes a republican woman of color, attacks a big name democrat, pokes fun at the president while joining him in one of his attack lines. The take away is, shes running. No, i dont know. She is eventually, dont make a mistake. One person we know is running for president in 2020 is Elizabeth Warren. This week started, it feels always like a month ago, but this week started with Elizabeth Warren releasing that fiveplus minute video on the dna test and the geneticist. Sounded like a Campaign Video in itself. It started with her trying to put that behind her, saying look, i know donald trump is going to attack me, but i have a foolproof response. By the end of the week, not just nikki haley. We heard from plenty of people saying it didnt work as well as we or she had hoped. Its sort of a book end to the week that began with this surprise video from Elizabeth Warren. If you learn anything from 2016, never apologize. Just double down, triple down, and keep whatever. Keep going. Great to see you, chris. Thank you. All right, coming up for us, beto orourke goes where a lot of Top Democrats say he should not go. Whos right . Thats next. At last my love has come along my lonely days are over at last. Applebees new neighborhood pastas. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. We have a mission to help hand everyone a better world. Thats why we, at the cocacola company, make shore breaks with actual coconuts. Tea, organically. Treats for celebrations. Water with added minerals for taste. Dear future us, thats why were striving to do good. And help our communities get the education they deserve. Were doing this today. So you can do even more. The cocacola company. So you can do even more. Daddy, mommys on the phone hi how are you guys . No matter when you retire, ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed. See how lincoln can help. If it was his closer argument, beto orourke went there. In a cnn town hall last night, the Texas Democratic Senate Candidate went all in on an issue that is still dividing democrats. Whether or not they should push to impeach donald trump should they win majorities. Heres orourke last night. Let me put it this way. There may be an open question as to whether the president , then the candidate, sought to collude with the russian government in 2016. But to quote george will, very conservative columnist, when we saw him on that stage in helsinki defending vladimir putin, the head of the runt rethat attacked our democracy in 2016, instead of this country and its citizens and this amazing democracy, that was collusion in action. You may have wondered when he fired james comey whether that was an attempt to obstruct justice, but when by broad daylight on twitter he asked his attorney general Jeff Sessions to end the russia investigation, i would say thats obstruction in action. His position all the more interesting because former Vice President joe biden said just this week that democrats should basically not do what he just did. Biden says democrats need to slow down, wait for Robert Mueller to finish the investigation before reaching any conclusions. Did orourke help or hurt his case with voters last night in that hotly contested senate race . Here with me now, former Communications Director for the rnc, doug haigh, and now the chairman of the superpac priorities usa. Great to see you guys. Guy, does beto win in texas taking this position . One thing we learned more than anything else this cycle is that people win when they are authentic, when they speak the truth about what they think, and that a lot of times even when voters might disagree with him on an issue, they respect that theyre being forthright and honest, which frankly in politics these days we need more of. I know theres differences inside the Democratic Party whether people should be publicly for impeachment or wait until investigations are closed but ultimately, i think the only way he wins is by being beto, and thats what we saw him doing last night. Doug, running against trump is what has been energizing democrats, but this, on some levels, is also energizing republicans as well. Who benefits more, cruz . I do. One, i think this race has gotten more scrutiny than it deserves. Its texas and its still texas. Republicans for a long time thought in six years, in eight years, in 12 years, texas will be a problem. Its not there yet. What we saw with beto last night is hes more of a cause than a candidate. And i see that when i have seen beto tshirts on broadway in new york and yard signs in connecticut. Hes a cause for democrats nationally. Hes not going to be a successful candidate for senate. You can like ted cruz, not like ted cruz, and there are republicans who fall on both sides of that, but beto is not going to beat him because texas is still texas and ted cruz has done the job to get reelected. Including going back on everything he said to get Donald Trump Campaign for him. No question about that. Being authentic, thats politics. Guy, i want to talk about other races as well. You guys are spending money in indiana. I want to play for our viewers the new ad from democratic senator joe donnelly, running in a tight reelection right now. Watch this. I split with my own party to support funding for trumps border wall. The liberal left wants to chop defense spending. No way. You watch that whole thing, thats like one of the more protrump ads from a democrat anyone has maybe ever seen or at least in a long time. If hes voting for the border wall, what kind of win is that for democrats if donnelly keeps his seat . Look, the one thing we know about joe donnelly is that hes independent. Thats how he won the race against a lot of prognosticators six years ago, and there are a lot of issues Like Health Care that hes also been running ads on that he agrees with the majority of democrats. I think this is representative of the fact that the senate map generally speaking is covered in a lot of red states. And thats what you saw reflective in that ad. It may not be the position i hold on some of these issues. But again, i want to get back to a simple issue. The reason why joe donnelly and jon tester and Heidi Heitkamp and Claire Mccaskill and joe manchin have been successful in their careers and have won elections in red states for a long time is because voters know who they are. They say what they think, when they agree with their party, they say so. When they disagree, they say so. Ultimately, at a time where were actually hoping and desperately in need of politicians that just say what they think, shouldnt we be respecting those, even when we have a difference of opinion, which obviously on some of these issues i do with joe. Yeah, especially if someone can chop wood on camera. Always an impressive feat. I thought he did a pretty good job. Fans of the show veep will recognize that ad. Thats an ad that jonah from veep ran. You mean there are political ads that look like other political ads . I cant believe that. This is blasphemy. Doug, you were also, everyone will remember, a top aide to eric cantor when he suffered the surprise loss to then unknown dave brat in virginia. Now brat is in trouble. He made a surprising plea in a surprising stop. Take a listen. I have 5 million worth of negative ads coming at me. How do you think im feeling. You think im a congressman, life is easy. This guy is off having steaks. I have a daughter. Shes got to deal with that crap on tv every day. Its tough. Important note on that, he was speaking to a group of prison inmates. Im serious. Doug, thoughts on that . Yeah, you know, i have not talked about dave brat for i guess about four years now on purpose. And in part because he won fair and square, and our team didnt do the job it needed to do to win the primary and have cantor potentially be speaker. I look at that and think my goodness, of all the appalling things you can say at an Addiction Center to somebody in recovery, what they need is help. What they need are people who are there to help them and get them back to the place they are trying to go to. They dont need some accidental congressman to say, you know what . I have my own problems too. And its not so much about being out of touch. It shows he was never really in touch. Thats not only a problem for the people who are there on the ground and who need help, but that shows why he has a problem for his reelection. Its a tough race for dave brat. I think its ultimately going to win, but if he loses, its not a situation of wow, republicans may lose the house. Its going to be, wow, republicans are going to lose 45 to sgirt seats if he loses. You mentioned Heidi Heitkamp. She was already kind of in the fight of her career in how things have been shaping up in this race. And that was even before the mess over her campaign putting out a list of Sexual Assault survivors without getting the consent without getting their consent or getting their approval. This has become this is a real thing here. Do you think she lost her race with this . No. Look, i think heidi did the thing she should have. She apologized. She held a staffer responsible. She apologized actually in the opening of a debate last night, which is what she should have done. I have been around politics for a long time. There is not a politician that is more humane, more thoughtful, and frankly, stronger in terms of the politics of her state than Heidi Heitkamp. People have been writing her off for a long time. I remember in 2016 when a poll came out like five days before the election that showed Heidi Heitkamp losing by ten points, and she went on to win by a point on the same ballot as barack obama who lost by a lot in that state. On one hand, i think she did the right thing. On the other hand, i think shes an incredibly tough, strong person who knows her state and is going to run the race through the finish line. Well see. Guy, doug, great to see you. Thank you. 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Robert mueller was appointed as special counsel in the russia investigation back in may of 2017. In the past year and a half, republican lawmakers and the president havent stopped calling on him to wrap it up. Today cnn is reporting thats not going to happen any time sign. Laura jarrett is here with the details. What more can you tell us . Well, kate, based on the way the situation has been described to me, i dont think we should expect to see mueller pack up his bags immediately after the november midterm elections. Theres been a lot of speculation about when this will finally wrap up. I am told it could wrap up by the end of the year, but at least well after the mid terms. But there are some complicating factors for when this could all get worked out, the most significant of which is the fact theres no resolution whether the president will actually sit down with Robert Muellers team. Our team has reported that theyre exchanging communications, in negotiations for responding to written answer being collusion, but not obstruction of justice. The timing could be really critical for toplevel officials at the Justice Department that are trying to hang on to their jobs in the meantime. We have the Deputy Attorney general muellers boss, rod rosenstein, expected to appear on capitol hill, and expected to face tough questions about secretly recording the president in the wake of the firing of james comey. He denies every pursuing that, but it could complicate his already delicate situation with the president. Round 100. Great to see you, laura. Thanks so much. Paul manafort is back in court this afternoon, this time in a prison jumpsuit, after being convicted on tax fraud and banking crimes. His lawyers will be in court to discussion his sentencing. Were outside the courthouse. Kara, what are we expecting to see happen today . Kate, about 90 minutes from now, Paul Manafort will be back in this courtroom. Manafort will be in a prison jumpsuit as the judge denied his request to wear a suit and tie now that hes a convicted felon. Were expecting the judge to likely set a up sentencing day, and possibly some discussion about the cooperation that Paul Manafort is providing the special counsels office. He pleaded guilty in a washington, d. C. Court to related crimes, and hes been cooperating with muellers investigation ever since. Cnn has been reporting hes been in at least nine times since his plea. The other issue is what they will do with the ten counts that the jury hunt on. To make a decision on whether to retry manafort. Prosecutors are hoping the judge will let them keep the ten counts hanging over manaforts head to keep the pressure on, so he continues to cooperate. Theyre hoping the judge will let them put that decision off, and when manaforts cooperation is complete. Now, again were waiting to hear from the judge about when that sentencing will be. It could be perhaps as soon as the end of the year. Kara, we appreciate it. Coming up, the top u. S. Commander in afghanistan had to draw his gun during an attack. More on that, coming up. Place, the xfinity xfi gateway. And its strengthened by xfi pods, which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. Well almost anything. Leave no room behind with xfi pods. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Click or visit a retail store today. Nearly 10 of homeless adults once served in the services. S this man built a solution to help them. Thats why hes this weeks c hero. What branch were you . I realized there was a huge gap in services. If you ever served, you know if one of your fellow platoon guys need help, you heche them. What we do here is give them an opportunity to get stable, a safe and secure place, and then fix what got them there in the first place. 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Aimovig is proven to reduce the number of monthly migraine days. For some, that number can be cut in half or more. The most common side effects are pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site and constipation. These are your days what will each one bring . Doesnt matter, as long as you can say. I am here. Talk to your doctor about preventing migraine with aimovig. And be there more. New information this morning about the attack yesterday in kandahar. We are learning just how close that came to the top u. S. Commander in afghanistan. Barbara starr has the latest. What happened here . Good morning, kate. General scott miller, u. S. Army four stars, heads up the troops in afghanistan. He had gone to this meeting in kandahar yesterday, gets up, leaves the meeting, when gunfire erupts, a lone gunman going after the Afghan Security official. U. S. Personnel were wounded. General miller, the commander, the fourstar, so close by that he we are told had to draw his own sideample. He did not fire. His security People Killed the gunman very quickly. Make no mistake about it, its not every day of the week that a United States four star is in a situation, even in a war zone, where they have to draw their weapon. This is a problem in afghanistan. You have these lone gunmen that suddenly basically pop up and they have to be dealt with. The other wounded we are told are still recovering. Kate . Barbara, what are you hearing . As you said, this is so rare. Do folks think that the general took too much risk . Reporter well, no, military people will tell you that basically that, you know, what he did is he takes the same risk that his troops take in the field. He didnt walk into a fire zone, but he took risks by meeting with afghans. Absolutely. Barbara, still the Mission Continues and its important to highlight general miller and the work that all our Service Members are doing overseas. Thank you, barbara. Thank you for joining me today. Inside politics with john king starts right now. S. Thank you, kate. Welcome to inside politics. Tougher words from the white house today aimed at saudi arabia, but still no clarity on what the president means by severe consequences, he waits for the royal family report on the apparent murder of a saudi journalist. The next campaign is front and center in this campaign. A half dozen democrats mulling 2020 president ial runs are out today making friends and urging big blue turnout in the 2018 mid terms