Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20190530

Advisers and a key ally by signing with kim jongun, north korea unleashed a new attack accusing america of evil ambition and insulting the dictators regime. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Breaking news, a day after Robert Muellers refusal to publicly clear the president , attorney general William Barrs openly questioning muellers failure to reach a decision on the question of obstruction. That comes shortly after President Trump unleashed a stunning tirade against the special counsel and his investigation spitting out a string of falsehoods, lies, insults. He described mueller as a totally conflicted, never trumper, and after admitting in a tweet that russia helped him get elected, the president turned around and denied that, and he said, i got me elected. After slamming the late senator john mccain, the president described the wellmeaning that the apparent move had by white house officials to have the navy keep the uss john s. Mccain out of view during his visit to japan. The president may have revealed whats really on his mind. The growing democratic calls for impeachment calling that, and im quoting the president now, a dirty, filthy, disgusting word. Ill speak with former congressman, former senator, former defense secretary William Cohen and our correspondents and analysts will have full coverage of the days top stories. Lets begin wither chief White House Correspondent jim acosta. Jim, the president seems really rattled by Robert Muellers Public Statement and the reaction to it. President trump gave Fact Checkers quite a workout today as he opened up a fire hose of falsehoods on special Counsel Robert Mueller. That performance came after he the president appeared to accidentally concede that the russians helped him win the 2016 election one day after special Counsel Robert Mueller left the door open to the possibility that the president has engaged in criminal behavior, mr. Trump fired back. I think mueller is a true never trumper. Hes somebody that dislikes donald trump. Hes somebody that didnt get a job that he requested that he wanted very badly. And then he was appointed. And despite that, and despite 40 million, 18 trump haters, including people that worked for Hillary Clinton and some of the worst human beings on earth, they got nothing. Its pretty amazing. Reporter much of what the president said wasnt true. For starters, the latest estimated cost of the Mueller Report and russia investigation is 25 million, not 40 million. As for the president s claim that mueller was conflicted, former white house chief strategist steve bannon said that assertion was ridiculous. Also he said that mueller wanted the position of fbi director. Thats not true either who said mueller did ghot in looking for the position, a job he had during the bush and obama administrations. Still, earlier in the day, the president appeared to make a startling admission tweeting, russia, russia, russia, thats all you heard at the beginning of this witch hunt hoax. I had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. The president later tried to clean up that part about russia helping him get elctsed. No, russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected . I got me elected. Russia didnt help me at all. Russia, if anything, i think, helped the other side. Reporter heres the reality. A 2017 u. S. Intelligence Community Report stated we further assess putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president elect trump. And then theres the president s personal call for russian assistance during the campaign. Russia, if youre listening, i hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Reporter the president also appeared sickened by the idea of being impeached. To me, its a dirty word. Its a dirty, filthy, disgusting word. And it had nothing to do with me. Reporter even as democrats are using that i word more and more. I believe we should open an impeachment inquiry. That is just a more robust version, more robust name and direct name to the oversight that we were already involved in. Reporter the president claimed he had nothing to do with efforts made by the White House Military Office to hide the uss john mccain from mr. Trump during his recent trip to japan. Mr. Trump said he appreciated the move aimed at sparing the president the sight of the ship. I dont know what happened. I wasnt involved. I would not have done that. I was very angry with john mccain because he killed health care. I was not a big fan of john mccain in any way, shape or form. Reporter former Vice President joe biden said mccains legacy should be honored. John mccain was a war hero. Should be treated as a war hero. Anything less than that is beneath anyone who doesnt treat him that way. Its just he is a hero. Reporter the president will be taking a big announcement about the border and border enforcement later on today. The administration is working on a proposal to make it more difficult for Central American migrants to ask for asylum at the border so well be looking for that to come down in the next couple of hours. Wolf . Well stay in touch with you. Jim acosta at the white house, thank you. Attorney general william barr today openly contradicted Robert Mueller on the question of criminal activity. Lets bring in our senior justice correspondent evan perez. Barr told cbs news he disagrees with muellers decision to not reach the conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice. What exactly did he say . Well, wolf, youll remember that Robert Mueller said one reason why he would not make a decision on whether or not the president obstructed justice, violated the law, was because of a Longstanding Justice Department directive or opinion that says you cannot indict a sitting president and also out of fairness because the president cannot be indicted, he cant defend himself. Bill barr disagrees with that. Take a listen. He could have reached a conclusion. The opinion says you cannot indict a president while hes in office, but he could have reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity. But he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained. And im not going to, you know, argue about those reasons. But when he didnt make a decision, the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein and i felt it was necessary for us as the heads of the department to reach that decision. And you heard him there say that Robert Mueller could not make a decision. Theres a distinction. Mueller says he would not make a decision. He wouldnt even consider whether there was an obstruction crime here because of that olc opinion in the first place. Evan, i understand you also have new inside information about how mueller led the investigation over nearly two years. What are you learning . Thats right. This is reporting from me as well as laura jerod, jamie herd and pamela brown. We talked to more than a dozen people who had some contact with the Mueller Investigation. And one of the things we learned is that even people who were close to this investigation found him to be an enigmatic figure. He was in some interviews that came in, some of the witnesses that came in for interviews. He did not show up for others. For instance, he was there when don mcgahn sat down for his 30 hours or so of interviews. When Paul Manafort came in, day after day during the time he was supposed to be cooperating, mueller was not there. And so what we come away from is that, obviously, a lot of people are still waiting to hear from Robert Mueller, even despite yesterday, his tenminute address that he had yesterday, press conference he had yesterday. People still want to hear from him in congress, obviously, in testimony. And hes unwilling to give it. One of the more interesting things we found out in our reporting, wolf, is that there was this crisis with the members of the president s legal team. They wanted, they demanded a meeting with mueller after the president s name showed up in a Court Document related to jerome corsey, an associate of the president. In the end, mueller did not show up for the meeting they had at the Justice Department. In some places, even the president s lawyers had a hard time getting a meeting with Robert Mueller. Sdwhwhat does it tell you th mueller chose to be present for that interview with the thenwhite House Counsel don mcgahn . Don mcgahn is one of the key witnesses on the issue of obstruction. Mueller was more closely managing that part of the investigation. Had to do with the president. It had to do with whether or not the president committed a crime in obstructing the investigation. And i think that might explain why he was there. He even apologized when he had to step away for a little while to do something and then came back in during the time that mcgahn was sitting for those interviews. Evan perez, good reporting. Thank you very much. Joining us now, William Cohen, a former rb congressman and senator who served as defense secretary during the clinton administration. He sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the watergate impeachment inquiry and has written stinging Washington Post oped aimed at republicans in the article. A very strong article, mr. Secretary. When will the republican silence on trump end . In the article you write this among other things. The silence of republicans today in the face of president ial behavior that is unacceptable by any reasonable standard is both striking and deeply disappointing. How do you explain that silence . I explain it by fear that the republicans are fearful that if they do anything at all that contradicts the president or undercuts his credibility that theyll have a primary opponent. Secondly, they may very well agree with him. Whether they are acting out of fear or complicity is not the question for me. The question is why arent they willing to defend the constitution in the face of this fear or in face of their own judgments on this. Republican congressman justin amash of michigan is out on a limb by himself. The only republican calling for an impeachment inquiry to begin. You said privately youve heard from other republicans that they agree with him. They do. The ones ive talked to expressed the same. Frankly, they would not hear from any president in the history of this country. If you can imagine barack obama, george bush, bill clinton, anyone else having done anything of the things dealing with obstruction of justice, obstruction of the investigation itself, they wouldnt have hesitated to move to bring an impeachment article. You served on the House Judiciary Committee during the nixon impeachment inquiry. And when you broke with the republican party, republican congress, theres a picture of a young William Cohen. When you broke with your own republican party, you thought your career was going to be over. So what advice do you give republicans right now who think that they should begin some sort of impeachment inquiry but refusing to do so. You arent elected to simply seek reelection. Your job is one where you took an oath to defend the country against enemies foreign and domestic. You have an obligation to hold the president and any other official to the highest standards of a fiduciary. When we take an oath to serve the public, only our interests can be at stake here, not in terms of serving the publics interest. We cannot act out of selfpromotion or selfaggrandizement, self enrichment. Only for our interests as serving as fiduciaries. So i just think the republicans have to decide whether they are willing to be defeated. And i think in my own case, i dont expect to come back to the United States congress. I had a popular opponent. Most of the republicans had turned against me saying well never support you again. Until the tapes came out that showed president nixon had, in fact, engaged in a massive coverup. Then the sentiment shifted and they said you were right. We were wrong. We should have trusted your judgment. So i would say to other congressmen saying, do what you know is right. What you feel is right. Dont worry about whether you come back or not. Thats not your mission. Your mission is to get at the truth and only the truth. Your article in the Washington Post, you point out correctly that the American Public was not on board beginning some sort of impeachment process when you guys started thinking about that in 1974. You write this. Its also important to remember that Public Opinion is not anchored in concrete. It shifts according to the information it finds to be persuasive and free of rank partisanship. So youre saying are you saying right now that you believe congress should at least begin the process of impeachment . I think inevitably, theyll have to. I think that Speaker Pelosi is doing the right thing by saying not yet. There has to be more evidence gathered. There are lots of testimony that has to be inch corporated as they proceed. But i think its inevitable. Its one of timing. Is it better to proceed now or do it later . My own recommendation would be sooner is better than later. But its going to require bringing witnesses in and having live testimony. Having the public understand what mr. Mueller has said. And as he indicated yesterday, read the report. Present it to the American People so they know what it says. Most people have not read his book. And its a textbook. And people dont read textbooks today for the most part unless youre a professional such as you and other media individual. But its there to be read. Its there to be presented to the American People. Very other issue, a sensitive issue, the late senator john mccain. You and senator mccain were very close over many years. Whats your reaction when you heard this report that some white house officials wanted the uss john s. Mccain far away from the president during his recent visit to japan because they thought it would upset him . Well, i think first of all, it was petty on their part and rather prophetic given who john mccain is or was and represents to this day to this country. The fact that anyone in the white house would feel that the president doesnt want to see his name under any circumstances. Now i assume the president didnt know about this. I give him benefit of the doubt here that he was unaware of it. But also know the fact that if it comes from the top and as Michael Cohen said, Everybody Knows what he wants, even if he doesnt say it. And i believe that he did not want to see john mccains name on that ship. John s. Mccain for the father and grandfather basically, rather than john who was added ultimately. But he didnt want to see that. He was glad he didnt. I think it comes from the top. He sets the mood and the tone. They know what he wants, and theyre doing it. I think the military ought to be held accountable. Who authorized this, gld did you do it . One thing we dont want to see is the military being politicized. People wearing the make America Great again hats, patches, they are not President Trumps military. He likes to say its my military. No. Its americas military. And they shouldnt be pro or antitrump or any other individual. They serve the American People. And they are to not be exploited for political purposes. This is very personal. You served as best man at senator mccains wedding with cindy mccain. And so you have a longstanding friendship with the late senator. What did you think of the way the president , when he was asked about this today, responded and he keeps pointing out, even though senator mccain has passed away, he keeps pointing out how he disagreed with him on health care and the war in iraq and other issues. He also continues to say he was no hero. Anyone who knows john mccain, knows about him, theres no question he was a hero of tremendous proportions. And also the fact that john was a hero on a global scale. Whether you were talking about japan or china or any other place, they looked to him as a man of great courage who would endure tremendous personal suffering and still not yield his place in going back to the United States. That takes a real hero. Takes real courage. And i think when the president is unable to have even a grace note, a note that said, yes, he was a hero. I disagree with him. I regret the fact he voted against me, but we ought to raise up and say, john mccain, you served this country nobly and served it well. Even though i disagree with you, im proud of the service you rendered to this country. Thats all he has to say and show he has some note of grace in his soul. Secretary cohen, thanks for coming. Up next whats behind the president s latest insults, falsehoods and lies . Is he worried about impeachment which he now calls a dirty, filthy, disgusting word. And attorney general barr openly contradicting Robert Mueller, questioning his failure to reach a decision on whethero president committed obstruction. They really appreciate the military family and it really shows. With all that usaa offers why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. 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Are you asking me to tell you whats in Donald Trumps head . Yes, yes. Good luck. Not so sure that i can do that. On the one hand, donald trump is telling people who are close to him and this is my reporting, dana bashs reporting, Abby Phillips reporting that he relishes the idea of impeachment because it can mobilize his base. And hell be able to have an enemy and he can fight back and it will be bad for the democrats, and it will get him reelected. On the other hand, i think what we saw today was the shame of it. The sense and the understanding that any impeachment inquiry would be losing from the day it started. And it would be shameful for him. And it would be something that would drag him down. And i think thats what we heard when he talked about it today using that language. It was surprising to me because it kind of opened the door a little bit on his narcissism and how he would react to that because everybody would be talking about him not in a positive way but about all the things he might have done wrong. Its interesting. The president tweeted something today that previously had denied. Ill read it to you. I had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. And then when he was meeting with reporters, he walked that back. Listen to this. No, russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected . I got me elected. The i got me elected. Well, what explains that . He said the quiet part out loud in the tweet. He didnt mean to. I think went back, wasnt going to delete it because it became such a thing. If he deleted it, it became more of such a thing. Its still up there. Hes acknowledging what the Intelligence Community unanimously concluded in 2017 and what was in the Mueller Report, which is that russia actively sought to interfere in the 2016 election to help donald trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. Now how much help or hurt did they provide . Thats a very difficult thing to quantify. I think it is very difficult to make the argument that the targeted release via wikileaks of hacked emails from john podesta, Hillary Clintons Campaign Chairman and the Democratic National committee had zero effect on the election. Zero. How much, however, you know, i dont know. The things the russians did through facebook via their troll farm. Its hard to quantify it, but its very hard to say it was zero. So trump acknowledged what everyone already knew, which is that, yes, russia tried to influence the election to help him win because they thought hed be better for their interest. And he unacknowledged it. What does he really think . Im kind of with gloria trying to pick his brain. It changes on any given day. Hes been broadly consistent, however, in saying, look, i won fair and square. Which it can be true that those two things can both be true. Russia sought to interfere and help him and he won without their help or would have won without their help, but he cant square those. I have to take a quick break. Much more on all these developments right after this. You try hard, you eat right. Mostly. You make time. When you can. But sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just wont go away. Coolsculpting takes you further. A nonsurgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. Discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. Some common sideeffects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. Dont imagine results, see them. Coolsculpting, take yourself further. What you need and so much more. 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Say get pets tickets into your x1 voice remote to see it in theaters. Were back with our analysts. Phil mud, wasnt that long ago the president called Robert Mueller, he said he acted honorably. But now all of a sudden, hes saying this is a total conflicted person. Hes a true never trumper who hired 18 trump haters, including, quote, some of the worst human beings on earth. The worst . I was among them. I was an fbi officer. A couple of things. The president is alone here. His advisers, according to everyone report, came in to him and said the special counsel is not conflicted. Obviously the department of justice looked at this and said theres no conflict here. Every time everybody watches the president of the United States get out in a speech and hug the flag and talk about the military and we can talk about, obviously, the controversy over the mccain ship, senator mccain served. Mueller served honorably in vietnam. Mcmaster served. Kelly served. Mattis served. Every time the president gets facetoface at a senior level with someone who actually served he goes back to bone spurs. He wants out. So he can talk about honor and how he loves the military, but facetoface, doesnt seem to work out too well. Its interesting, laura. The Justice Department ethics lawyers cleared mueller of any conflict of any wrongdoing, among other things. They addressed the issues. As for muellers interview for fbi director, steve bannon, the former aide to the president recall the white house invited mueller to speak to the president to offer a perspective on the institution of the fbi. Bannon said that, although the white house thought about beseeching mueller to become director again, he did not come in looking for the job. You know who did come in looking for the job . Bill barr. Unlike Robert Mueller who served and then was chosen to be special counsel by Rod Rosenstein after the fbi director was fired by the way, james comey. He, in fact, auditioned for the job. An 18page memorandum, unsolicited that said all the reasons why essentially it would be a foregone conclusion he was never going to find obstruction of justice and lo and behold, volume 2 aside, thats exactly what he found. The notion of the president attacking and singling out the conflicts involved of mueller and not highlighting the conflict that was inherent and explicitly stated in an 18page memo, is very shocking. I want you to listen, gloria, about the looming threat of impeachment proceedings beginning in the house of representatives when asked about that this morning. The president had this rather bizarre response. To me, its a dirty word, the word impeach. Its a dirty, filthy, disgusting word, and it had nothing to do with me. He says its a dirty, filthy, disgusting word and had nothing to do with me. What does that indicate to you . I think it indicates that hes a little scared of it. Even though hes not the bravado, which is, it will be good for me. It will be good for my base. On the other hand, its something that i think is unknown, frightening. The public could shift its opinion about him and about impeachment. If there is if witnesses that could be very convincing. When he says its dirty and its like when something is dirty, you just want to toss it aside and push it out of your line of sight and i think thats exactly what hed like to do. Like, on many things, hes come across a lot of different ways on impeachment. Hes tweeted out any number of times, including in the 24 to 48 hours, how can you impeach someone that hasnt done anything wrong, that has the strongest economy in world history, not since mesopotamia as an economy been this strong . He, i think, doesnt totally grasp it, and i think to glorias point, some of that is donald trump understands that things can go sideways. He thinks its a good thing, broadly speaking for him. Polling would suggest hes right. But he also knows this is a changeable process and he cant control it. Impeachment moves through the house and senate. The white house has limited ability to do much of anything on it. And i think that probably wo worries him a little. Just time in impeach and donald trump in tweets, he sure does mention it a lot for someone not terribly concerned about it. The attorney general william barr is now pushing back against mueller what he said yesterday. Listen to what barr told cbs news. He could have reached a conclusion. The opinion says you cannot indict a president while hes in office, but he could have reached a decisions too whether it was criminal activity. But he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained. And im not going to, you know, argue about those reasons, but when he didnt take a decision, the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein and i felt it was necessary for us as the heads of the department to reach that decision. Is he right . Well, he told us when he gave the hearing in front of congress that it was his baby now and reminded everyone that mueller worked for him. Certainly, yes, he could maybe he could have reached a conclusion but he would have been violating the essence of that policy and the olc policy said which is not to indict a sitting president. Now mueller made clear that you could investigate a sitting president. You can absolutely do that. But his hands were tied by that olc opinion. As special counsel he was tied and had to abide by that. Could he have reached a conclusion . Sure. What about the second pillar. The fairness aspect. The very reason people like rosenstein rilified comey for tarring and feathering Hillary Clinton and then saying we cant do anything about it. Thats what hes talking about. Ill say on that notion, the idea the president of the United States could not have combated that insignuation is odd given e has the presidency of the United States. Everybody stand by. Theres more news were following. First, a very quick programming note. Democratic president ial candidate senator Michael Bennet joins dana bash for a live president ial town hall later tonight. Be sure to tune in, 10 00 p. M. Eastern. The russians are weighing in on Robert Muellers first Public Statement in nearly two years taking their cue from President Trump. Pepsi hear you. Were working together to do just that. Bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. Smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels and reminders to think balance. Because we know mom wants whats best. More beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. Balanceus. Org this is why we no longer have to worry about flushing too much toilet paper. Wait, so you dont flush your toilet paper at home . No yuck because that man is afraid. Afraid too much toilet paper will back up our system. 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Now with 5g evolution. The first step to 5g. More for your thing. Thats our thing. President trump isnt alone in attacking special counsel Robert Muellers investigation today. The russians are echoing him. Lets go to our Senior International correspondent Fred Pleitgen joining us from moscow. Fred, tell us more. Reporter yeah, wolf, its very interesting. The messaging from the kremlin and generally here from moscow almost identical to that of the trump administration. Essentially the russians are saying they believe that this case should be closed. And that they wouldnt mind if they never heard about the special counsel investigation again. Heres what were learning. Tonight, the kremlin trying to downplay special counsel Robert Muellers emphatic statement that russia systematically meddled in the 2016 president ial election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every american. Reporter despite the Mueller Reports clear finding and associated indictments, moscow continues to deny attacking americas democracy. With Russian Politicians blasting and even mocking the special counsel. A Senior Member of russias senate saying, quote, mueller failed to put the blame on russia, as well as to prove russias connections to trump. Now hes trying to justify himself in front of those who have placed serious hopes in him. We all have a lot of questions. Reporter moscow claims it was mostly antitrump democrats who pushed the mueller probe, echoing trumps own messaging that he repeated just this morning. 18 trump haters, including people that worked for Hillary Clinton and some of the worst human beings on earth. They got nothing. Its pretty amazing. Reporter despite the kremlin today submitting documents to suspend a key Nuclear Arms Treaty with the u. S. , both the kremlin and Trump White House seem eager to move on and improve u. S. russian relations. Secretary state of mike pompeo travelled to russia this month to meet with Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to try and map out areas where russia and the u. S. Can cooperate. Responding to cnn, Vladimir Putins spokesman refused to even talk about Robert Muellers statement. Translator no, i cant comment on that. We spent enough time talking about mr. Mueller and the results of his work. Reporter russia has long said it wants to get relations with the u. S. Back on track, claiming continued talk about election interference would only get in the way. And, wolf, senior russian officials are already saying they believe that the atmosphere between the kremlin and white house has improved since the end of the mueller probe. And they certainly wouldnt want questions about election meddling to weigh on that, wolf. Fred pleitgen, thank you. Coming up, a new blast of insults from north korea. Despite President Trumps going out of his way to side with kim jongun. 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Wolf, analysts are telling us it took real nerve for the North Koreans to come out with this just a couple of days after President Trump was so conciliatory toward kim jongun. The north kraebs are accusing the trump team of wanting to invade them and theyre taking aim with personal insults at two of the president s top advisers. Reporter despite more than a year of deescalation and declarations of love by President Trump and then we fell in love, okay . Reporter tonight north korea is once again attacking the president s administration. In a new statement, kim jonguns Foreign Ministry saying, there is no change at all in the american evil ambition to conquer north korea by force. There really ought to be a korean word for chutzpah. Unfortunately there isnt one. Reporter the new broadside is especially surprising, given how conciliatory President Trump has been toward kim jongun. In japan in recent days, the president sided with the brutal north korean dictator over his own National Security adviser and acting defense secretary who both said kims recent missile tests violated u. N. Resolutions. My people think it could have been a violation, as you know, i view it differently. Reporter and trump even supported north koreas insult of a prominent american, democratic president ial First Responder joe biden, who kims regime called an imbicile and a fool of low iq. Kim jongun made a statement that joe biden is a low iq individual. He probably is based on his record. I think i agree with him on that. What it really shows is that our good words towards kim jongun, the president s good words towards kim jongun, will not change his behavior. This is more an illustration of the true nature of the kim family regime and we will get nothing in return by being nice to kim jongun. Reporter in its new statement, kims regime voiced, grave concern the that the u. S. Had conducted socalled subcritical Nuclear Tests in february even though kim said last year he had conducted his own such tests. A subcritical nuclear test ensures all the components that make the bomb work like the trigger are functional without letting the bomb actually explode. North korea also slams trumps National Security adviser john bolton and secretary of state mike pompeo in the new statement, saying they, have insulted the dignity of our stream leadership and spitted out abusive language to north korea. I think that is an effort to separate President Trump from his advisers. What kim may be doing, one, is mirror imaging. He got bad advice from his own advisers. He thinks President Trump is getting bad advice from his, but i think he would really like to purge bolton and pompeo from trumps circle there. Reporter tonight veteran diplomats say they worry President Trump is so invested in good relations with the dictator that he now cant get tough with kim. Thats my fear, that the president is every day going out of his way to keep things on a positive plain when the actual thing that he could do right now that would advance denuclearization is to squeeze the North Koreans and to take advantage of the fact that the North Koreans are in a much weaker position now. We pressed the white house and the state department for a response to these latest verbal attacks from north korea. Even after the president s conciliatory words towards kim jongun. They didnt respond to those attacks, but a state Department Spokesperson tells cnn tonight that President Trump remains committed to building a lasting peace with kims regime, including denuclearization and that the president remains ready to negotiate with the dictator. Wolf . Brian todd reporting for us. Thank you. Coming up, a cnn exclusive, inside the Mueller Investigation how the special counsel conducted his probe and how one witness drew his scrutiny. 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Com moving to get started. Happening now. Filthy, disgusting word. The president uses that phrase to describe impeachment and to rail against the growing push for it as he tears into Robert Mueller and distorts just about everything mueller said a day earlier about his investigation. Well break down the tirade and get to the truth. Could have decided. Attorney general william barr apparently isnt satisfied with what mueller said either. Tonight hes disputing the now former special counsels refusal to determine if mr. Trump committed a crime. Inside the investigation. Cnn has exclusive new reporting on how mueller led the probe of the president , revealing one key witness who got his attention more than others. And midatlantic warning. After weeks of deadly tornadoes and floods, the danger is now shifting toward the east coast. Well show you who is on the radar for Severe Weather tonight. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Were following breaking news on new blowback from Robert Muellers first and possibly only Public Comments about