Clapper calls the president downright scary. He openly worries about his access to the Nations Nuclear codes. Plus, weird and ego driven. North koreas regime accuses President Trump of starting rubbish and posting weird and egodriven thoughts on twitter. But the president says he believes kim jongun is, quote, starting to respect us. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Breaking news, just hours after an angry divisive rant at a Phoenix Campaign rally, President Trump did a 180 today calling for unity during a speech at the American Legion convention in reno, nevada. While he slammed the news media, democrats and fellow republicans last night and the president today declared, quote, its time to heal the wounds that divide us. A republican senator tells cnn his colleagues are rallying behind Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell after some sharp attacks by President Trump. Sources say their last phone call broke down in a shouting match with the president cursing at mcconnell. There may be efforts to patch up that rift. Mcconnell has just issued a statement saying both sides are working together. But there is even more serious fallout from the off the rails phoenix speech. More critics are now suggesting the president is unfit for office, including the former director of National Intelligence, james clapper, who served under 10 president s and worries openly now about President Trumps access to the Nuclear Launch codes. And while President Trump says north Koreas Kim Jongun says, quote, he is starting to respect us, the pyongyang regime accuses trump of offcolor twitter posts. Were standing by to talk to former defense secretary and cia director leon panetta. Our correspondent, specialist and guests, they are standing by with special coverage of todays top stories. President trump seems to have calmed down after last nights very angry diatribe. Today he stayed on script in an address to veterans. Lets begin our coverage this hour with our Senior Correspondent jim acosta. Jim, we saw a different trump today. Reporter wolf, it could be the calm before the next storm. Trump continued his rendition of dr. Jekyl and mr. Trump today compared to the long rant he gave in arizona last night. Today he called on the country to heal the divisions, but in many instances, they are divisions he has created. It has become a growing concern here in washington to respected leaders from both parties. Speaking to military veterans in reno, it was a more president ial trump. We have no division too deep for us to heal and there is no enemy too strong for us to overcome. Reporter but the restrained performance was a far cry from the president who went on a verbal rampage in phoenix, ranting and raving about the removal of confederate statues. Theyre trying to take away our culture, theyre trying to take away our history, and our weak leaders, they do it overnight. Reporter and threatening a Government Shutdown if congress doesnt pay for a wall on the border, the same wall that he once vowed mexico would fund. Believe me, if we have to close down our government, were building that wall. Reporter the blinding moment came when the president tried to whitewash his comments on charlottesville. Heres what i said on saturday. Were unfolding the events that happened in charlottesville. This is me speaking saturday. We condemn in the strongest possible terms these displays of bigotry, hatred and violence. Reporter mr. Trump repeatedly said he blamed the violence on all sides. We condemn in the strongest terms this bigotry, hatred and violence on many sides. On many sides. Reporter he said some of the white supremacist demonstrators were very fine people. Excuse me, you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Reporter sir, there are no fine people in the nazis. In phoenix, the president was playing to his base. From a suggestion that he might pardon controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio you know what . Ill make a prediction. I think hes going to be just fine, okay . Reporter to his not so subtle bashing of senator john mccain, who is battling brain cancer. One vote away, i wont mention any names. Reporter the president is still venting frustrations over senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, fuming over health care tweeting, if lepp can senate doesnt get rid of the filibuster rule and go to a simple majority, theyre just wasting their time. But they failed to come to a majority rule in the senate. They went against the idea of a Government Shutdown. I dont think a Government Shutdown is necessary, and i dont think most people want to see a Government Shutdown. Reporter but a political battle is going on as to whether the president should have access to the nuclear arsenal. I worry most about access to the nuclear codes. In a fit of peak, he decides to do something about kim jongun, there is actually very little to stop him. Reporter now, the white house appears to be trying to heal some of the damage from the president s behavior. There is talk of trying to set a meeting between President Trump and Mitch Mcconnell. I vote on the debt ceiling and obamacare are looming next month. Mitch mcconnell just put out a statement, by the way, trying to downplay any rift with the president. Your sources have told you they havent spoken in quite some time. Thats right, actually since august 9. Remember what happened on that day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell went out, gave a speech, made some mild criticisms of President Trump, suggesting he had, quote, unrealistic expectations. Thats not the way to legislate. Afterwards President Trump made a phone call to Mitch Mcconnell and really laid into him. From folks who had direct knowledge of the call, the one issue that really irked the president was russia. He felt he didnt do enough to protect him from that. He did not like the way it played out and made Mitch Mcconnell aware of that, even dropped some curse words, i am told. Then afterwards they have not spoken face to face or on the phone since that august 9 encounter. It overwhelmingly passed the senate 982. That is overwhelming passing the senate, that russian sanctions bill. Lets talk a little bit about the whole russia probe. What does the president want Mitch Mcconnell to do, to tell the Senate Intelligence committ committees republican chairman, the judiciary committees chairman, stop it . We dont know if hes just venting frustration because he does not like the way this is playing out, but we do know there are two investigations happening in the senate. The Senate Judiciary committee wants to talk to his oldest son, donald trump jr. That is hitting pretty hard with the president. They seem to be rallying around the Senate Majority leader, right . Right, President Trump said perhaps mcconnell might not be leader after this congress. That is not what republicans are saying who i talk to. They say they support him. Its having a unifying effect behind mcconnell, and one i talked to that was a pretty close ally with the president said, these are just distractions. These actions against jeff flake, its time to focus on getting the agenda through. Doing this will lead to, quote, distractions in the words of this one member as they try to get this ambitious agenda done. I can tell you, Mitch Mcconnell does not like talk of a shutdown, so well see if the president backs down on that talk. In a tweet this morning he said, not a fan of jeff flake. Weak on crime and border. He went after john mccain as well. Thank you very much for that report. Joining us now, democratic chairman john deremendi, member of the house and congress services. We saw a version of trump last night in phoenix, we saw another version today. How do you reconcile that . Theres no way to reconcile it, except in trumps own words. During the campaign he tore into his opponents who were using teleprompters saying those were not what they believed. And if you want to know what a person believes, listen to them when theyre not using the teleprompter. Thats basically what trump believes, and we saw two different displays. One, trump using a teleprompter, very nice words, very conciliatory words, almost certainly written by somebody other than trump. And then the night before, we saw the real trump, a man that is totally, totally out of control and engaged in rhetoric that slams the press which, by the way, happens to be the very first thing that a dictator will do to secure his position is to delegitimize the press. Trump has been at that for his entire campaign, in fact, his entire presidency. Weve got to be very concerned about that. And then the lies, the path logical lying thats going on is just beyond. That creates another problem of just what exactly are our friends and opponents to believe . What is the role of the president . What is he really going to do . There is no way to know because the truth is constantly changing in his mind. I want to get to that issue of lying, if you will, but when you suggest the words that the president is doing, what dictators try to do in stifling or criticizing or blasting the news media, just elaborate a second on that. I want you to be precise. Well, ill be very precise. If one were to look at nazi germany, that was the very early part of their tenure was to delegitimize the press. They constantly attacked the press. They always were going, they and us, them and us, back and forth. That is exactly what this president is doing. He is using a tactic not only in that particular country but around the world to delegitimize, to muzzle, or to count on the free press. We count on the press in this nation to counterbalance to congress, to the presidency and to the power of government. It is extremely important that it not be delegitimized and all the words hes using, fake press, are adding to it. Last night we saw him do that to a fare thee well. Congressman, those are strong words. Are you suggesting the president wants to be a dictator . He is certainly power hungry. Theres no doubt about that. The words that hes used during this campaign, i will do this, i am the only person that can do this or that. Does ehe want to be a dictator . He certainly has pushed the congress aside. Hes taken into the judicial system by going after federal judges and it goes on and on. This man is clearly not fit to be president. This man does not have the demeanor or the temperament to be president , but he is our president. And so those of us in congress are going to have to push back. And were going to have to push back very strongly. We have legislation in place, not only impeachment legislation, but more to the point of the nuclear issues, depriving the president of the opportunity to use Nuclear Weapons as a first strike. They, of course, would remain as a deterrent, which has been their presumed purpose, since the very early days of the arsenal. What do you mean by that, mentally unfit, politically unfit . Talk a little about that. Well, i dont like his politics, but thats not what im talking about. What im talking about is his temperament. Hes always flying off the handle. We saw what happened at the now very famous press conference a week ago at the trump tower where he was totally out of control. Last night at the rally with one lie after another, with one demonizing the press in one word and in the next word, tearing into his political allies that he has to have for the passage of any legislation, mccain and other senators. This is not a person that is thinking rationally about whats important. Hes just flying off the handle, and that is extremely dangerous. Also, as i said a moment ago, the word of the president is absolutely essential, not just in domestic politics and with the congress, but more importantly, with our allies and our opponents around the world. When the president says something, people have to rely on that as being not only factual but also that is a clear demonstration of the view. So when he ripped into, what, fire and fury two weeks ago, what did that mean . Everybody thought it might mean nuclear war. Perhaps it did, we dont know. And that is what creates the uncertainty. What is the opponent, in this case kim jongun, to think . Is he coming after me with Nuclear Weapons . If so, how do i respond . Do i respond first while i have the wieapons . Thats the kind of uncertainty this president is creating in international affairs, in security issues, and just the chaos of washington is every day getting worse. Listen to how the former director of National Intelligence, james clapper, who served, by the way, under 10 american president s responded to President Trumps speech last night. I really question his ability to his fitness to be in this office. And i also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it. Maybe he is looking for a way out. Having some understanding of the levers that a president can exercise, i worry about frankly access to the nuclear codes. Access to nuclear codes. So if the former dni, director of National Intelligence, congressman, is concerned about the president s access to the nuclear codes, what does that tell you . It tells me to be concerned. But i must tell you that my concern is somewhat relieved or alleviated by the fact that we have some extraordinary generals running the military. Mattis as secretary of defense and then on down through the leadership ranks, men that are stable, men that have a lot of experience, women also in key positions who are thoughtful, who recognize the incredible destructive power as well as deterrent power of our nuclear forces. Will they obey a command . Probably so. But before they do that, im quite certain that they would push back very, very strongly and cause the president to rethink any decision that might be the start of a major con f g conflagration. It doesnt have to just be nuclear. A war on the Korean Peninsula is a devastating, devastating event. For our own troops, we have 25,000 soldiers, airmen, their families are there. They would be seriously impacted, many would die, and seoul, south korea is in direct range of hundreds, if not thousands, artillery pieces and Ballistic Missiles from north korea. So we have to go lightly. We have to go very carefully here. Teddy roosevelt said it. Carry a big stick, and god, we have a big stick, but speak softly and use that power wisely. We were very, very close to a situation where we could move to a negotiation with north korea. You think about the u. N. Security council 100 in support of serious sanctions for russia and china. And then the president blows it with his fire and fury statement. Let me press on you that because he did speak a couple weeks ago of fire and fury, said the u. S. Military was locked and loaded as far as north korea was concerned. But last night in a speech, he expressed optimism in regards to kim jongun, the north Korean Leader. Listen to this. Kim jongun, i respect the fact that i believe he is starting to respect us. And maybe probably not but maybe something positive can come about. So hes gone from fire and fury to maybe something positive can come about. Whats your reaction . I like the last statement better than the first statement. The last statement is where we have to be. There is no doubt that kim jongun know he said if there was a war, he would lose it. He would lose that war. He would lose the reign thats been three generations in his family and it would be over. We do know from our side it would be a devastating war. It would make the first korean war looks serious, but this one would be far more serious. We understand that. And hopefully what the president is alluding to is that there is a path to negotiation. And i believe that there is. Without going into the details today, we need to sit down at the table with the five in the area, china, russia, the United States and possibly japan, certainly south korea, to see a serious discussion about how to resolve this war which did not end. This war did not end in 1953. There is an armistice, so we need to look at what can be a stable future, and i believe there is one out there. But thats going to take negotiations. We have a big stick. Kim jongun knows that. He knows that if there is a war, it would be bloody on both sides, but ultimately, we would win it at a huge, horrible cost. But we would win. Congressman, there is more we need to discuss. Ive got to take a quick break. Well resume all our special coverage right after this. 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. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. 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With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Megans smile is getting a lot because she uses act® mouthwash. Act® strengthens enamel, protects teeth from harmful acids, and helps prevent cavities. Go beyond brushing with act®. President trump did a complete turnabout today just hours after delivering an angry, divisive diatribe at a Phoenix Campaign rally. The president on script today calling for unity at an American Legion convention. Were back with congressman john deredundi. I want you to listen to another brief excerpt at what the president said at his Campaign Rally in phoenix last night. In the proud tradition of americas great leaders, from george washington, please dont take your statue down, please. From lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt, i see they want to take Teddy Roosevelt down, too. Theyre trying to figure out why. They dont know. Theyre trying to take away our culture, theyre trying to take away our history. As you know, some of the president s critics have said that phrasing, using those our culture, our history playing to the confederates on taking the statues down. Is it wise for the president to be doing that so soon after the violence in charlottesville . It raises a fundamental question about the moral leadership of this man. He clearly displayed as a result of the charlottesville incidents a lack of moral clarity and moral leadership. Even to this day, he does not seem to be clear in denouncing White Nationalism or kkk or the neonazis. That kind of moral clarity is absolutely essential because the lack of it or the very ability in the way he has addressed this issue leads those elements to believe that they may somehow be legitimate, and others who might be outside those groups say, well, after all, the president doesnt think theyre so bad, maybe ill kind of feel that way and ill go ahead and join up. Thats not what we want. What we want is clarity. Weve had it from president s dating back to actually Ronald Reagan and before with Lyndon Johnson and kennedy very clearly denouncing that kind of racial bigotry by those and other groups. Thats what we need from the president. The thing that disturbs me so very much about these rallies, and im thinking about the rally the president had when he returned from the meeting in mexico with the president of mexico. He went to, again, arizona in a rally that was just full of them. They are the problem. They are crossing the border. They are the bad people. They are the drugs, they are the criminals, and we. So it was them and us. That is a technique thats been used repeatedly throughout histories of cultures and around the world where the nation is divided, where bigotry and hatred take root. And from the very first day of this mans candidacy to this moment, he has maintained a very close walk to the edge. Think. He came down the golden elevator, and the first words out of his mouth were to go after mexicans. Not just those in mexico, but those in the United States, some of whom have been here for five, six, seven generations. In one case a gentleman i met yesterday, the governor of nevada, his family, mexican to be sure, have been in the United States for nine generations. So this kind of divisiveness, which has been at the heart of the Trump Campaign and his presidency, its always there. And as a result of that, it tends to legitimize these hate organizations. We cannot have that from a president. And if he cant be clear, if he cannot clearly state in his own heart and to the American Public that this kind of racial bigotry is hateful and has no place in this nation, then he really must step aside. Because it is an extraordinary problem. Our history in this nation is not good on these matters. When you say step aside, you want him to resign . Is that what youre saying . If he cannot provide the moral leadership that is essential to keep this nation together as a whole so that every person from the world who is here today and wants to be here tomorrow has a place, a legitimate place and a legitimate role in our nation, then yes, he should not be our president and he should step aside and we should have a president that can, with clarity, with moral certainty, make it clear that we are a nation of the entire world. We are all here, and all of us, wherever we may be from, whatever our language, color or religion or sexual orientation, we have a place in america. And we all belong here. And there are no them and us which is a constant theme that he uses. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Coming up, President Trumps mixed messages and angry rant. In one moment warm and fuzzy, the next i didnt say i love you because youre black or i love you because youre white or i love you because youre from japan or youre from china or youre from kenya or youre from scotland or sweden. I love all the people of our country. Hey, big guy come on in let me guess your weight win a prize sure, why not. 12 ounces sorry, mate. Four ounces. Ive been taking the stairs lately. You win, big guy. Sorry, scuse me oh, he looks so much more real on tv. Yeah. Over 75 years of savings and service. Get your rate quote today. I love you. Love you too, dad. I will love you in the morning when the dew is on the ground will love you. Man hey, good luck dad, dad, your tie when the sun is rising scuse me. Un is mind if i sit here . 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For 77 minutes last night, President Trump delivered a rambling, fiery and divisive speech at a crowd of supporters at a rally in phoenix, arizona. At times the president stuck to the script, and at other times not so much. Lets watch. Our movement is a movement built on love, its love for fellow citizens, its love for struggling americans who have been left behind. Truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. Respect for america demands respect for all of its people. Im really doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are. When one part of america hurts, we all hurt. They are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that. When one american suffers an injustice, all of america suffers together. Were all together. I hit him with neonazi, i hit him with everything. I got the white supremacist, the neonazi, i got them all in there. Lets see, kkk, we have kkk. I got them all. No matter where they come from, no matter what faith they practice, they form a single unbreakable team. I didnt say i love you because youre black or i love you because youre white or i love you because youre from japan or youre from china or youre from kenya or youre from scotland or sweden. I love all the people of our country. Were a team. As a nation were a team. These are sick people. You know the thing i dont understand. You would think you would think they would want to make our country great again, and i honestly believe they dont. I honestly believe it. Thousands and thousands of brave americans have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Now its up to us to preserve and protect their legacy. One vote away. I will not mention any names. Very president ial, isnt it . Very president ial. And nobody wants me to talk about your other senator who is weak on borders, weak on crime, so i wont talk about him. My administration is committed to the idea that all americans have the right to live in safety, security and peace. They used to send in thugs. People are tougher than them so it wasnt always very good for them, but theyre sending thugs and our people would protect em themselves and then you would go home and watch this violence. We are americans and the future belongs to us. The future belongs to all of you. I always hear about the elite, theyre elite. I went to better schools than they did, i was a better student than they were. I live in a bigger, more beautiful apartment, and i live in the white house, too, which is really great. This is our moment. This is our chance. This is our opportunity to re p recapture our dynasty like never before. Ive had a great life, ive had great success, ive enjoyed my life. Most people think im crazy to have done this. And i think theyre right. All right, lets get some reaction from our political specialist. David chalion, i watched your Immediate Reaction to the speech and we only ran a little bit of it. You said he sounded unhinged. I want you to explain. Well, i think you just proved exactly what i was talking about in the way that you just presented the differences between them. Thats not a stable way of presenting a message. That is what i mean for unhinged. Also what i meant when i said that, wolf, is hes unhinged from the presidency as we have all, as americans, come to know the job. Which is to bind the country together, to set a course, be that north star, saying im going this way even if people have policy differences, and set that kind of leadership. He is removed from that. Hes unhinged from the presidency in that way. When you just heard him say, ah, so president ial to not say the senators names, mccain and flake, who he was clearly calling out without saying their name in the speech, so president ial. Donald trump is so in a different universe than president ial right now, he doesnt get credit for being president ial in his mind because he doesnt say the name of a senator that hes calling out and attacking of his own party, one of whom is a war hero and is battling brain cancer right now. You dont get points for being president ial because you dont say their name when youre slighting them. Mark preston, what did you take away from this speech . I looked at my twitter feed from the moment the speech ended to see what my thoughts were to go back. There were a lot of Different Things going on at the time. I wrote at the time, and it seems the same to me right now, that he was tone deaf, that there were so many problems facing the nation in this world, that instead of showing leadership, he was stoking the fires of division. It wasnt a speech to talk about the public agenda, it was a speech to settle scores with people who trump feel wronged him. I do want to point out, though, talking about alternative facts, how about an alternative universe . At the same time he was making that speech, his wife was tweeting to chelsea clinton, thank you, chelsea clinton, so nice to support children different from ourselves. She was supporting chelseas support for her son barron. Its amazing. I think David Axelrod could take that speech and teach his entire class at the institute of politics at the university of chicago just what happened in those 77 minutes. Rebecca, it was also clear that he was trying to defend his remarks following the charlottesville tragedy, what occurred there, but he never mentioned that he had said that there are very fine people on both sides. He said he condemned all the bad people but he pointed out there are many sides. He never really explained that last night. He never referred to that, and thats why hes continuing to get hammered. No, and its amazing were still having this conversation, wolf, days later from the president s first statement to a second statement, third, and i dont even know what number statement were on at this point, there have been so many. The fact of the matter is the president should have been clear the first time and we still wouldnt need to have this conversation, but donald trump cannot let things go. He cannot just let it lay. As preston said, he needs to settle scores. He feels that republicans have wronged him by going after him after he made his remarks, saying that there were some fine people in these white supremacist gatherings. And call him out for being wrong. And donald trump, this gets under his skin. This wasnt about america, this wasnt about uniting the country, this was about donald trump. Message discipline is just not a word that this house or donald trump really knows the meaning of. In an interview, james clapper, the former director of National Intelligence said the president s speech makes him worry about his access to the nuclear codes. Thats pretty amazing. You think of general clapper. He served under 10 american president s, all sorts of the most essential intelligence positions out there, and hes raising this question about the current president of the United States. When you heard that, what was your reaction . Well, it was stunning because i overlapped briefly with jim clapper in government. I know him to be a sober, serious, committed public servant, someone who is not partisan in any way and someone who isnt given to throwing around incendiary words. And for him to characterize the president in that way and to raise these concerns seemed to me really significant and probably reflected thinking of others in the intelligence and National Security community. And whats most disturbing, and he summed it up in his comments last night, is the worse things go for the president , the worse he seems to get. Were seeing it now. The more he feels embattled, the more he lashes out and creates greater problems. I have one other concern, wolf. That is, as much as i respect general clapper, the thing he left hanging is what we should do about it. He said, i dont think hes fit for office, but he had no real answer to that. And the inference was that somehow there should be some effort to remove him, or at least thats how some people would have heard it. And i think we have to be very, very careful when we have these discussions because we have a system, a constitutional system, and if people get a sense that there is some extraordinary measure thats going to be taken to affect what they would view as a bloodless coup remember, a third of the country supports this president. Thats a very dangerous road to go down. If you ever did go down that road, youre opening a pandoras box that will never end. So i was a little nervous about general clappers comments, even as i took them as a very, very serious admonition. What about you, david . I think David Axelrod is completely right. Theres been talk of impeachment, talk of the 25th amendment. I think those are misguided. Those are beyond what i can imagine right now of what is needed here. I think we all, and this is as youve heard many republicans say, i think everybody would like the president to be successful because that is good for the country. And trying to have you hear from his own party every day, theyre trying to influence him to get there. What is very concerning is donald trump may either be incapable or totally uninterested in actually getting his presidency on a course that would be beneficial to him, his agenda, that would be about addition and not subtraction, really trying to broaden out to get majority support and move the country forward. To this point in time, wolf, he seems totally either incapable or uninterested in doing that. This is a very sensitive moment, and you hear words like that from general clapper and its going to encourage others to follow suit. Yeah, i got to tell you, i agree with david here when it comes to removing him from office. That is extremely dangerous talk. Weve seen members of Congress Talking about trying to impeach him or that he should get knocked out. The only way thats ever going to happen is if the republican and Democratic Leaders and rank and file members come together, wolf, on capitol hill, and for some reason they think hes unfit for office. However, i do think that and i know we said this time and time again but ill say it again. There was a turning point in the last couple weeks for donald trump about his support for the american people. He did cross that red line when it came to race, and i do think he has a lot to make up for it to get his presidency back on track. He did say, general clapper, in looking at the verbatim of his comments. He said, among other things, maybe he is looking for a way out. You heard him say that, referring to the president of the United States. Do you think the president is looking for a way out . You know, thats something we heard tossed around as well during the campaign, wolf, interestingly, some advisers, republican strategists would raise this idea that donald trump was trying to selfemulate, essentially, or was on some sort of political Suicide Mission and didnt actually want to win. I think we saw that was not the case and he was just following his political instincts, many of which turned out to be correct in spite of the fact that he stirred a great deal of controversy in the process. I think thats a reasonable thing for people to assume given that this presidency has no context in modern history, and were all just trying to make sense of it. But at the same time, there is context for this in terms of donald trump in that this is always how he has acted as far as we have known him from his candidacy to his presidency, and he follows his gut. Thats what he does. And he doubles down. Very quickly, you know, david axelr axelrod, among the other inflammatory comments, he said last night at the rally that the threat of a federal Government Shutdown, that could happen unless there is money for the wall along the border with mexico. And hes getting severely criticized for that because a Government Shutdown, that would be a horrible thing for so many millions of people. Yeah, but, you know, what weve learned is that he seems more interested in inflaming his base, pumping up his base. Remember the night before he made a decision his base didnt like, to send more troops to afghanistan, so hes throwing some red meat out there. Im not sure that he thinks about these longterm impacts on the country. He thinks about the shortterm political impacts on his base. And thats one of the problems we have, because you cant govern a country like that from moment to moment. I was going to say he spoke about the wall with mexico, he spoke about the threat of a Government Shutdown unless the congress has funding for the wall with mexico. We didnt hear misshim say to t crowd out there, who is going to pay for that wall . During the campaign it was, mexico, and the whole crowd would cheer. That was gone from his stump speech yesterday. This was his stump speech as a campaign event. I want to say i read that moment about him threatening a shutdown, that was the classic art of the deal. Going to an extreme position, i think he was beginning a negotiation there much like he was on nafta, i think he goes to the extreme position and then he comes back. As david said, i dont think he thinks long term. You know what he thinks . He thinks in the moment. If there was a government shut down, do you remember last time, when the United States got downgraded . The fact of the matter is Donald Trumps words matter. Weve been talking about that for the last seven months. Hes the president now and now were seeing them matter. David mentions a negotiation. This is maybe Donald Trumps first offer in terms of raising the debt limit and a potential government shut down. Republican leaders dont want this to be a negotiation. They want this to be an easy cut and dry lets get this done, move on to other things. It is a critically important issue. Everybody stand by for a moment. There is another Important Development we are following. President trump says kim jongun is beginning to, quote, respect the United States. But recent propaganda from the north korean regime seems to indicate otherwise. What is the story . Reporter the secretary of state is significant optimistic things about being able to work with kim jongun. But we have information tonight the volatile north Korean Leader is moving ahead with the Missile Program and is taunting mr. Trump in the process. President trump boasting that his rival in pyongyang may be coming around. Kim jongun, i respect the fact that i believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact. And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about. Reporter the president s remarks come just after north korea posted a new propaganda video showing trump looking out over a graveyard and members of his cabinet in the cross hairs of north korean soldiers. North koreas news Agency Issued a news statement saying trump is saying rubbish. Is the murder rust unpredictable dictator respecting the president . I dont know where the president got that. I dont think that any kim leader has respected a foreigner, except perhaps with mao tsetung in the early 1950s and vladimir putin. Weve got to be wary. Kim jongun may be setting a trap. Reporter another sign tonight kim jongun isnt tamping down his aggression, new images from his propaganda arm of kim looking at a design of what experts say is a previously unseen type of missile. A poster of it on the wall say its the pukason g3. What they unveiled is a three stage missile presumably solid propelled and its capable of reaching the entire United States or presumably so. We just dont know how large it is at this point. Reporter experts say the north koreans could be several years away from deploying this missile, but when he does have that capability, kim will be even more dangerous. Solid fuel missiles, experts say, are faster to deploy, can be driven to a launch point and fired, harder to spot or intercept before they are airborne. Another ominous picture from the north koreans tonight, kim examining a large coppercolored chamber. Analysts say this could be a new plastic casing for a rocket. Its a filament wound plastic co composite material which is much lighter than metal which will enable the missile to fly further with the same amount of propellant. Reporter analysts say the location where kim looked at that missile design could also be meant to send a signal. They say that place is a chemical Weapons Research and development facility. Kim jongun has ignored chemical weapons bans. Experts say hes got a massive stockpile of those weapons and he used a chemical nerve agent, of course, to kill his own half brother. The fact that hes highlighting that facility, analysts say, could be seen as a warning to america that chemical weapons could be used against u. S. Forces if they strike north korea. Wolf . Very disturbing, brian. In visiting that facility, kim jongun even ordered, what, more munitions to be produced . Reporter he did, wolf. According to north koreas media arm when he went to look at that missile design, kim ordered the production of more r more solid fuel rocket engines and more warhead tips. And also today his regime slammed those joint u. S. South Korean Military drills taking place saying the u. S. , quote, shouldnt forget that their opponent is armed with Nuclear Weapons. It does not seem, wolf, contrary to what President Trump said like mr. Kim is respecting the u. S. Any more than he ever has. Interesting. All right, brian. Thank you very much. Coming up, the breaking news, President Trump makes an appeal for unity just hours after his own divisive diatribe leads some critics to openly worry about his fitness for office. Ill speak with the former cia director, the former defense secretary leon panetta, hes standing by live. Thats just ahead. Heres to the safety first. I think i might burst. Totally immersed weekenders. Whatever kind of weekender you are, theres a hilton for you. Book your weekend break direct with hilton. Com and join the summer weekenders. Whoa thats amazing. Hey, im the internet i know a bunch of people who would love that. The internet loves what youre doing. So build a better website in under an hour with. Gocentral from godaddy. Type in your idea. Select from designs tailored just for you and publish your site with just a few clickseven from your. Mobile phone. The internet is waiting start for free today at godaddy. Hang nppening now, breaking news. No division too deep. President trump calls for healing only offer r hours after a divisive rant that rubbed salt in the wounds from charlottesville. Tonight critics say his scary behavior may be putting National Security at risk. Axe to grind, mr. Trump used a Campaign Rally in phoenix to launch multipronged attacks targeting the news media. Fellow republicans and others who made him feel wronged. New reaction tonight to a tirade fueled by personal grudges. Threatening a shut down, mr. Trump is drawing a new line in the sand over his border wall, demanding congress approve funding, or face the possibility of a paralyzing standoff. Well breakdown his brash threats and wild claims. And back up, you creep. Hillary clinton reveals what she was really thinking when mr. Trump loomed close behind her during a debate. The former democratic nominee opening up about that moment, saying