Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20180925

Cant we be friends . President trump changing his tune on north korea, setting his sights on iran with tough talk and even a downright threat from the National Security adviser. Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. We begin with a politics lead. Top Senate Republicans all on offense, trying to present a united front in the face of accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior by the Supreme Court nominee decades ago. With Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell promising, there will be a vote on the senate floor regardless of what happens during thursdays hearing, kavanaugh taking the unprecedented step of defending himself in a Television Interview on the president s favorite channel. And then today President Trump is on the attack against not just senate democrats, but against the two women alleging, respectively, Sexual Assault and sexually inappropriate behavior. Professor Christine Blasey ford and Deborah Ramirez. Hes never had any charges like this. I mean, charges come up from 36 years ago that are totally unsubstantiated . And now a new charge comes up, and she said, well, it might not be him, and there were gaps and she says she was totally ineastbou ineastbound rated and it might have been him. Oh, gee, lets not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that . This is a con game being played by the democrats. The president there clearly taking a turn from his relative restraint a week ago after professor blasey ford first shared her story publicly. And the message from the white house at the time was that she must be heard and not insulted. The president instead today charging both women are making, quote, false accusations, the likes of which have never been seen before. Yet despite this show of force from the president and Top Republicans, kavanaugh right now does not appear to have the votes to be confirmed in the senate with key republicans remaining undecided and saying theyre waiting to hear from blasey ford on thursday. One of those senators, Lisa Murkowski of alaska, is even indicating she would also like to hear from Deborah Ramirez, and she said an fbi investigation opposed by the president and Top Republicans would help clear things up. President trump clearly using his bully pulpit today to set the stage for thursdays hearing. In addition to questioning ramirezs account, because she had been drinking, and blasey fords account because they didnt file charges with the police when the attack happened, allegedly in early 2080, the white house announced on the eve, tomorrow, he will hold a very rare solo press con frerngs to get in front of the highly anticipated testimony. Lets get to jessica schneider. Jessica, the message among republicans seems to be get through this hearing and then get to a vote, asap. Thats exactly the resounding message from republicans. And weve also learned thats been the direct message from the president. Get kavanaughs nomination to the senate floor for a vote, and quickly. But while the president is voicing his frustration here, some key senators are starting to say, why rush . President trump unleashing over what he says are unsubstantiated allegations against his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. 36 years ago . Nobody ever knew about it . Nobody ever heard about it . And now a new charge comes up, and she said, well, it might not be him. And there were gaps. And she said she was totally inebriated, and she was all messed up. And she doesnt know if it was him, but it might have been him. Oh, gee, lets not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that . This is a con game being played by the democrats. Reporter sources telling cnn, the president has grown impatient with the slow pace of kavanaughs confirmation and pushed Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell over the with county to quickly call a vote. And that he also sees republicans as being too accommodating to Christine Blasey ford, the first accuser who came forward against kavanaugh. Ford, along with kavanaugh, will testify thursday. Im glad well be able to hear testimony from both. And then i look forward to an up or down vote on this nomination right here on the senate floor. Reporter but at least one swing vote senator has expressed reservations about what some view as a rush. Republican senator Lisa Murkowski seeming to side with democrats, who have called for an fbi investigation first. Should there be a full fbi investigation into these allegations from kavanaughs past . Well it would sure clear up all the questions, wouldnt it . Reporter several other republican senators are also uncertain, including Susan Collins and jeff flake. Meanwhile, the white house has expressed willingness to let kavanaughs second accuser, deborah ramp Deborah Ramirez, who claims kavanaugh exposed himself to her in the early 1980s testify too. Certainly we would be open to that. And that process could take place on thursday. Again, the president has been clear. Let them speak, but lets also let Brett Kavanaugh speak. And lets let him tell his side of the story before we allow allegations to determine his entire future. Reporter while kavanaugh continues to prepare for thursdays hearing, hes also going on the offensive, repeatedly defending his character in an unprecedented Television Interview. I am not perfect. I know that. None of us is perfect. Im not perfect. But ive never, never done anything like this. Reporter and tonight republicans are defending their decision to hire an outside counsel to question Christine Blasey ford on thursday. An aide is telling cnn, this is a woman with an expertise in sex crimes prosecution, but senator grassley is not disclosing her name for safety reasons. And democrats are criticizing that move. Meanwhile, jake fords attorney has fired back as well in a letter, saying there is no precedent for this, for an outside counsel, for the Judiciary Committee to bring this in. And they say it also shields senators from performing their duties. Jake . Jessica schneider, thanks so much. Lets talk about it with my experts. Kirsten, let me start with you. Obviously, President Trump completely different strategy than he was doing a week ago. Now he is calling the accusers, saying theyre putting out false accusations. You saw him go into detail about Deborah Ramirezs story. What changed, do you think . I dont know. Maybe he feels hes in trouble and he needs to come out and help them. Because help kavanaugh. Yeah, help kavanaugh. Because i think if you talk to republicans earlier in the we week early in the week . Its early in the week. Last week. Its like bleeding together. Feels like friday, but its not. Earlier in this process, they were very confident. Even when this allegation came out. They felt very sure that things were moving forward. Not getting the same kind of confidence coming from them. They do seem a little rattled. Do you think thats whats going on . Listen, i have more questions today than i did last week. For kavanaugh or ramirez . Kavanaugh. I feel like weve learned more about the cultures that hes grown up through to this position. We know that there was a very chauvinistic culture at his prep school, at his college. And look at the judge that he clerked for, who resigned reasonable among sexual accusations. And so what i want to know, and i didnt get from his fox interview, when have you ever stood up to this culture . It seems to me like his strategy to convince people hes this perfect catholic altar boy who never engaged in any kind of bad behavior, but certainly i know from what ive read he was immersed in it. So i have questions about how he navigated that. And, you know, i think people can navigate that. But when you witness that kind of behavior, there has to be kind of a conversion moment. And i think he has to prove thathat at the very at least. When you go after an accuser the way that President Trump is going after an accuser, obviously you can score some points, undermine her creditability. But there is also a risk, isnt there . And its a risk and if you look at the senate as a jury in a way they are, theres a risk of alienating people like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who dont want to hear these arguments weve heard in the past. Oh, she was drunk. How much can you believe her . Et cetera. Ive got to tell you. Its a white man strategy that is politically dumb, in my opinion. He needs these votes. That being donald trump. The senators need the votes of each other. And including women. And it just makes no sense. It has all been put through a political prism. And yet the humanity of these women, whether you vote for kavanaugh or not, giving them a hearing, not a meeting, where you hear both sides like youre in the principals office, but a real hearing with corroborating witness asks what have you. They will numbflub this up, whis why theyre calling a female attorney to cross these witnesses. They still need the women vote. The independents, suburbanites. And that need isnt going anywhere, giving the numbers, what the democrats and republicans and the mid terms coming up. Its just a bad strategy, i think. Do you think that it helps or hurts to get kavanaugh confirmed for President Trump to pick away at Deborah Ramirez and Christine Blasey ford the way hes going after their allegations . Its not the strategy i would have chosen. But i think what hes reacting to, and i think theres a lot of frustration on the republican side at this point, that there is seemingly this outward strategy, as dictated by brian fallon this morning in the new york times, who is running the opposition to the kavanaugh appointment. Who says, basically, look, this is a twopart strategy. We have to destroy kavanaugh, get him to step down, win the senate, and then hold the seat open for two years. And, look, if youre that transparent in what youre trying to accomplish, and this guy is just sort of, you know, caught in a cross fire, i think that makes people really, really angry. And if we keep this focus basically to the voracity of the claims in thursdays hearing, and the importance of that gathering, i think republicans are going to be in a lot better spot. But i dont at all i mean, i understand the frustration that they have had at this point. Its interesting that you heard Lisa Murkowski, who is one of the swing votes on kavanaugh, even before any of these allegations, concerned as she is about his position on issues having to do with native americans, reproductive rights, et cetera. Lisa murkowski saying it would sure clear up questions if there was a full fbi investigation into these charges, because thats something that Senate Republicans and the white house have resisted. Yeah. I think if youre fairminded and you look at this, and i certainly have tried to be fairminded. It doesnt mean that i am being, but i am trying. And you look at this in the beginning, and you say you have an accusation from one woman who seems very credible. Not the kind of person she has a lot to lose, right . And you have this other person who says this doesnt happen. I think the sort of fairminded thing to say is lets investigate it, right . It sounds like a credible allegation, but were not just going to throw him under the bus, just because someone said this. Lets do an investigation. The fact that the republicans have steadfastly refused to have the fbi put people who are alleged witnesses under oath is to me is what has tipped me into thinking something is really going on here. Because theres something that they know. Especially when you have marked judges exgirlfriend, a person supposedly in the room, telling the new yorker, reluctantly she says, hes lying about the culture at georgetown prep. Even now you have judge kavanaugh last night in the interview, this whole i was just a choir boy going to church kind of thing doesnt really add up with what people know about what was going on at that school. Yeah so the fbi thing is a red herring. And ill tell you why. On six different occasions, they have had a full Background Investigation of Brett Kavanaugh. And for the democrats to assert that somehow there is now a pattern of sexual abuse over a period of years, you would have to believe that the fbi is absolutely incompetent of doing their job on six different occasions. Thats no, hold on. Secondly, and this part is very it can be both. Thats actually Donald Trumps argument. What youre asking its not a red herring. They are not under any obligation, and if the statements of all of the people that the accuser has pointed out was at the party, that those, in fact, are somehow not accountable. They have not questioned they havent been hold on. He was just talking about what i just said. They have not been asked under oath about that incident. So why are they so willing to speak publicly about it . But not talk to the fbi about it . That is let me finish. They will speak, and the republicans will use them as character witnesses to him, saying, mark judge said this, and the other people said this. But theyre not saying it to the fbi. Heres what i think is strange. I think an fbi investigation with a time line makes sense. But i think it is plausible that people do not want an fbi investigation, because it would expose people like Brett Kavanaughs friends to potential criminal behavior. And that gets to my problem. Is Brett Kavanaugh protecting his friends . Did he enable this . I mean, with he saw the things that his friend mike judge has owned up to. I dont want to accuse anybody of anything. But i think theres lots of questionable things that went on. So covering i think a lot of people would be interested in protecting graduates at georgetown prep. There is no plausible reason why there shouldnt be an fbi investigation. You talk about you would agree with it. You talk about why have an fbi investigation . They have done a background check on him. That didnt come up. But they didnt know the women. You have two women now who have come forward. And i think theyre credible, because they dont say they have the dates, times and places, right . Theres nothing what why wouldnt the republicans want an investigation . If a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court and there are two people that allege that one exposed himself or attempted to rape them, why would you, as a human being, in this society not want that investigated . Why not . Other than a political prism and that you dont care . Thats the message youre sending. Let him answer the question. What youre doing is making a political argument. No. There is a process i can tell you the way this works. There is a process in place in the senate to deal with this. It happens months before you get to a hearing. Its called closed session. Something that senator feinstein skipped and didnt tell anybody anything about. She was asked to. She not only skipped that hearing she protected so well, so well that, in fact, she leaked it the week after the hearing. We dont have the democrats side was the only side that knew, jake. We dont know that Dianne Feinstein leaked it. Sure. But somebody did. The point of the matter is, if you want to get to the bottom of it, you take sworn statements from everybody that the accuser has said was in the room. They have done that under penalty of felony. Those all exist in our part of the record. Those statements handed in are under penalty of felony. The statement is not in question. George bush thought believed even though there had been a background check on clarence thomas, when the accusations came against him, there should be an fbi investigation. So the idea that because of background check has been done that you cant reopen anything is not true. All right. Everybody, stay right there. Weve got a lot more to talk about. 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Do not assume that Rod Rosenstein is going to be kicked to the curb. Thats the line coming from the white house as the Deputy Attorney general is set to meet facetoface with President Trump on thursday. With the fate of the russia investigation possibly also on the line. Cnns Laura Jarrett is at the Justice Department. Laura, there are reports there was a rosenstein exit letter already drafted . Jake, thats right. Officials over here at the Justice Department were all geared up, ready to go, believing that his departure was imminent. But, of course, it never happened. And then he returned to the Justice Department yesterday afternoon, carried on with his day as if nothing happened. But, of course, his longerterm status here as the number two in command still very much in limbo. The future of russia probe leader Rod Rosenstein may still be in peril. With lawmakers now pressing for the Justice Departments number two to testify on political. The president in new york today trying to redirect attention to the work at the u. N. Im meeting with Rod Rosenstein on thursday. Today im doing other things. Reporter white house officials caution, rosenstein may not be out of the job, as White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders added to the ambiguity. Obviously, the president has been disappointed by a number of actions that have taken place at the department of justice. And he wants some answers to some of the questions that he has. Some of them have to do with Rod Rosenstein, some of them have nothing to do with him. Reporter the Justice Department prepared a statement monday, ahead of what they thought was rosensteins last day, according to sources. The statement, obtained by axio ask read in part, Rod Rosenstein has served department of justice with skill for 28 years. His contributions are many and significant. We all appreciate his service and sincerely wish him well. Officials were also ready to name matt whitacre, attorney general Jeff Sessions current chief of staff, as rosensteins replacement. Whitacre, a former cnn legal contributor, urged rosenstein last year to order special Counsel Robert Mueller to limit the scope of his investigation. But if rosenstein leaves. Whitacre wont oversee the russia probe. That will fall to noel francisco. Meanwhile, on capitol hill, republicans are calling for the deputy ag to be subpoenaed over the story that started it all. Reports that rosenstein discussed secretly taping the president and invoking the 25th amendment to remove him from office. One source in the room dismissed to cnn as sarcasm, but republican congressman mark meadows isnt laughing, tweeting, you cant have the number two official at the department of justice making comments about wiring the president and not address it. Rod rosenstein must come before congress this week, under oath, and tell the truth about his alleged statements. And republican congressman, matt gates, saying the story could be careerending. I dont think its appropriate to joke about taking an action against the institution of the presidency while youre overseeing an investigation. Fireable . Probably. Others on capitol hill, however, raising very different concerns. Republican senator of maine, Susan Collins, who i should mention is a key swing vote for the president on his embattled nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, saying to reporters just a short time ago, jake, that forcing rosenstein out would be, quote, a huge red line and very problematic. Jake . All right. Laura jarrett, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Lets discuss with phil mudd, former fbi official. I want to play the sound again from Sarah Sanders, talking about Rod Rosenstein and the Justice Department. Because its really stark. I know weve all gotten accustomed to this. But this is the White House Press secretary talking about her own Justice Department. The president has been disappointed by a number of actions that have taken place at the department of justice. Some of them have to do with Rod Rosenstein. Some of them have nothing to do with him. But it is department of justice. And it should work to actually fix and hold up law and order, not complicate or undermine law and order. Again, that is the White House Press secretary, saying that the Justice Department under her own president undermines law and order. Well, if you ask the american citizens if they have a gang problem, if they have a drug problem, if you go back to enron, if they have a White Collar Crime problem, who the heck are you going to call . I think 98 of the American Population would say not only would i call the fbi, but i would trust them. Guys, i went over there. I wore different colored socks some days and the fbi guys would be like, whats wrong with you . These guys are arrowstraight. My point is, the president of the United States in this 1 probably less than 1 of the fbi resources. That is the investigations that Rod Rosenstein has been involved in, the russia investigation, has persuaded the American People that 99 of the world, you trust them. And in this one area, where people, including judges, have said these cases are not only predicated, but have led to guilty pleas, this you shouldnt trust him. I dont get it. I trusted the fbi. I saw them for four and a half years and i think most Americans Still would, unless its russia. So it seems as though the most likely bet is that Rod Rosenstein has a judge, at least through the mid terms. Theres a lot of pushback going on. At least politically. Yeah. Well, the reporting is that chief of staff kelly and others want him to have they dont want this issue before the mid terms. Well im sorry, good right ahead. As a political issue. Do you think that means that mueller and rosenstein should think about the fact that their days might be numbered . I think rosenstein needs to think about whats next. But i think the gop in the house, senate and white house need to think about whats next. Because if you take rosenstein out, youre taking out someone that has many respects been the glue between the chaos, between mueller, between the public and the house and the senate. Because hes got a lot of credibility. Secondly, there will always be that concern that he was removed because of the president s dislike of him or of the russia investigation. Thats the constitutional crisis that the house and senate dont want to get into. But who takes over for him . And what do they do . Theyll feel the same pressure that rosenstein feels. Thats not going to change. And even if they are big trump backers, even trump and whoever the next one will be will feel that, remember, this is a republicanled investigation endorsed by all the republican powers. Its got to see an end. Because were talking about our democracy, our voting rights, our systems. Not just about whether trump colluded with russia. Thats a part of it, but its really superimportant to the American People. And yet you have these House Republicans who have been really pushing against rosenstein for a long time. We saw them in the in the piece just there, Laura Jarretts piece. Matt gates, mark meadows, they have not liked rosenstein. They have been talking about impeaching rosenstein. I think its not if he gets fired, but when he gets fired. I think donald trump probably wants this reporting about the 25th amendment and allegedly wanting to wiretap him, which, of course, rosenstein has denied, gives donald trump the excuse. And so i guess he could argue, you know, i didnt do it before the election, because that would have been bad. And then after the election, he decides hes really upset about it. But theyre having this meeting on thursday. So it feels like this would be the opportunity for him to do it in a way where most people would say, yeah, most president s would be pretty mad about that if that happened. Certainly. But i cant imagine i mean, mark meadows and the freedom caucus, they really love President Trump. And i cant imagine a hearing like that would actually happen without President Trumps tacit approval. One demanding that rosenstein answer under oath what he did or did not do as reported in the new york times. I mean, i dont know. I think House Republicans have run a number through the intel committee, through the reform committee, a number of different hearings that, you know, if i were running communications in the white house, would probably not be my first choice of things to do. But their frustration is real. And i think the president s frustration is real, because the reality is, the moment he decided to fire comey, he was boxed in on rosenstein and sessions. Period. And the cavalcade the dominoes that fell afterwards put him in a place where just optically, its impossible. No matter how much he feels like theyre not doing their job or theyre not responsive to his administrations agenda, all of that kind of doesnt matter, because of the optical box that hes now in, visavis the russia investigation. Yeah. Everyone stick around. Coming up next, cruz confronted. The tough moments for the senator and his wife at a d. C. Restaurant. What these activists wanted him to hear as President Trump sends his own message to voters ahead of the midterm. We believe survivors these friends were on a trip when their windshield got chipped. So they scheduled at safelite. Com. They didnt have to change their plans or worry about a thing. Ill see you all in a little bit. 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Addon advantage. Only when you book with expedia. We believe the survivors we believe survivors we believe survivors theyre chanting. That was senator ted cruz and his wife heidi being forced out of a washington restaurant by left wing activists. I guess theyre talking about the Sexual Assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. The texas senator endorsed kavanaugh for the highest court back in july. Lets talk about this with our experts. I mean, this is now this now happens. Weve seen it with the department of homeland security, secretary kirstjen nielsen, other incidents with Sarah Sanders, steven miller. Most people look at that and say thats awful. I mean, you look at the polls going into the mid terms and you kind of wonder how republicans are doing so well in spite of everything. Its stuff like that. The protests that have been happening in capitol hill how many people have been arrested in the last six months . Hundreds and hundreds. Most reasonable people, even if you dont like republicans right now, are not down with those kind of tactics. And so democrats want to do well going ahead, youve got to find a way to draw a line. Because reasonable people will never get on board with the movement that does things like that. What do you think . I mean, there are a lot i cant speak for these activists, but i think a lot would say what the Trump Administration is doing, what republicans are doing is intolerable ask this is civil disobedience. Right. I think there is a difference between just protesting and this kind of stuff. So i would ask, what do they hope to accomplish with it . Okay, they feel that way, thats legitimate. And they want to do something to change things. I dont see how this helps them change anything. I think it actually makes somebody who almost never seems sympathetic, ted cruz, seem sympathetic. Because it just isnt and you also have to think about about the other people. This is a fancy restaurant and youre disrupting people. So i dont think you can protest him as he leaves. There are other things you can do. But there are many levels of the movement. I certainly wouldnt do that. I dont support ted cruz. But when i see my far left democratic brothers and sisters engaged, thats their choice of engagement. And as a moderate democrat, as a business democrat, i feel the way they feel. We just express it differently. And so while i dont condone it, per se, this leadership in the white house, the gop, and all the changes going on in this country merit protest. And how they protest, who they protest is up to them, because they got a First Amendment right to do it, like all of us in this country. I want to bring in a quote from brian fallon, the democratic activist, who is running the campaign against judge kavanaugh. Because you alluded to it earlier. It was in the new york times. And he says, quote, democrats would have the leverage after the mid terms to force trump to choose a moderate caretakerstyle nominee or else could keep the seat open entirely for two more years. The strategy being delay this vote until the mid terms, hopefully democrats retake the house and senate, in his view, and then we can either get, you know, a less conservative nominee or maybe just keep the seat open. You reacted to that on twitter. I wanted to give you a chance here to do it, as well. This is where the conservative base is absolutely apoplectic. And its not just brian fallon. We have senator hirono on your program and others, discuss similar strategy, which basically it all comes back to retribution for what they see is a poor handling of merrick garland, right . Can you say that again . Merrick garland. Yeah. The fact that youre bringing it up i think underscores the point. We have now accused, as a Judiciary Committee, is going to be dealing with the accusation of Sexual Assault against a nominee. Which is a very extremely serious thing to have at this level in politics. And to just sort of brush it aside as, well, merrick garland. Thats not what he was doing. Thats i think, you know i think its a fair thing to complain about that story, and i dont think that was helpful. I dont know quite why brian fallon did that. Because it sounded like i know this is not what brian meant. But it sounded like, oh, we found some people, and they made this accusation, and were now going to, you know now were going to we have this big plot were carrying out when in fact, its more what he was saying theyre taking advantage of an opportunity, which is now looks like kavanaughs seat could be in jeopardy. And, of course, you know, theyre trying to figure out how they can try to get the seat back they feel was stolen from them. And scott, let me show you some numbers. I want you to take a look at this gallup poll. 45 of americans say they have a favorable view of democrats at 44 . Thats the highest favorable view for the Republican Party since 2011. President trumps poll numbers have been under water, to say it nicely. What do you see going on here . Do you think this is a reaction to the protesters . A reaction to democratic strategy . What do you think it is . I think thats a snapshot in time. The democrats have stayed at 44 . Republicans in that poll have gone up by 9 . When the poll was taken, youve got the kavanaugh nomination, which is very, very important to the gop. The gop, surprisingly, 81 support this president. But the kavanaugh nomination will give them control of the Supreme Court for generation, and thats hugely important. Not just to the evangelicals, but several republicans. Do you agree . Youve had a lot of issues with President Trump. Im shocked democrats arent doing better. To me, i think they have a lot of enthusiasm. They have a lot of issues that i think would do well for them in the mid terms. I mean, think about everything. Family detention issues, black lives matter, parkland. And yet the National Party hasnt been able to channel that or focus that in any way. And the Democratic Party at large seems very reactionary and i dont see any leaders with a positive, compelling, alternative message. And thats i think why were hung up. Were competing in georgia and florida. Thats a manifesto that democrats are coming together. You know, every race is different at the state level. And so but when you get a number like what we see. When you get numbers in georgia and florida where you have a woman candidate, africanamerican male candidate, and theyre competing and have a shot, that is important. Everyone stick around. We have more to talk about. The president s tough talk in iran just taken up a notch by his National Security adviser. The direct threat that john bolton just made. Is this the new fire and fury . Stay with us. Your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small you could fix it with a pen. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. President trump may not have gotten the reaction he expected today when he used a Goto Campaign line on a room full of World Leaders at the United Nations world assembly. Instead of cheers, the crowd at the u. N. Laughed at the president when he tried to brag about his administrations accomplishments. But the moment didnt stop the president from reinforcing his americafirst message, and issuing a stark warning to leaders in iran. Cnns jeff zeleny is live outside the u. N. For us. Last year the president threatened north korea. This year hes saving his fire and fury for a different country. Reporter he did, jake. It was a year ago he called him rocket man on a Suicide Mission. But this year, President Trump referring to north Korean Leader kim jongun as chairman kim. Using so much more respect and optimism. He saved his harsh language for iranian president rouhani. Rouhani said President Trump had a weakness of intellect. At the United Nations today, President Trump opened with a signature line. In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. Reporter but the booming applause that fills his Campaign Rallies evoked a different response from World Leaders and diplomats. Laughter at the president s expense. [ light laughter ] didnt expect that reaction, but thats okay. Reporter in his second speech to the United Nations general assembly, the president reaffirmed his rejection of globalism, translating his americafirst mantra to the world stage. We will Never Surrender americas sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy. Reporter today, his sharpest message was aimed squarely at iran. He touted the u. S. Pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal and accused iran of financing terrorism in the middle east. Irans leaders, sow chaos, death and destruction. They do not respect their neighbors or borders. Or the sovereign rights of nations. Reporter but it was at odds with the tweet he sent before the speech. Despite requests, i have no plans to meet iranian president hassan rowhani. Maybe someday in the future, i am sure he is an absolutely lovely man. Rouhani telling cnn christians amanpour, he did not ask to sit down with trump. Translator we have never made such a request for a meeting with the president of the United States. Reporter some of the president s warmest words were not directed at long and loyal u. S. Allies but at north Korean Leader, kim jongun. The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction. Reporter a year ago, the president made this threat. Rocket man is on a Suicide Mission for himself. And for his regime. Reporter at a lunch with his fellow leaders, the president acknowledged the shift. As he looks ahead to a second summit with kim. Which cnn has learned the president hopes could be in the United States. Tremendous progress has been made. And i think youre going to see an outcome as the expression goes, who knows . Reporter and this speech, jake, coming six weeks to the day before the critical midterm elections. Noticeably absent from any mention in this speech was russia or vladimir putin. Clearly no message about Russian Election meddling from the 2016 campaign, and no warning about the midterm elections to come in november. One striking absence in the speech, jake, which was entirely different than a year ago. Jake . Jeff zeleny with the president at the u. N. For us. I want you all to take a listen to what the National Security adviser, john bolton, just said while addressing iran. If you cross us, our allies or our partners, you harm our citizens, if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, yes, there will indeed be hell to pay. Hell to pay. What do you make of that, phil . Well, let me be clear. There will not be hell to pay. And by the way, when he talks about the iranians cheating, i suppose a guy who has been involved in the Intel Community for decades hasnt read the intel estimates on whether the iranians were compliant with the nuclear deal. Look, theres a couple of youre saying they were compliant. They were. Number one, john, we had Great Success in afghanistan. Weve only been there for 17 years, and the taliban is moving back through. Iraq has been a spectacular success after the surge in several thousand dead that partly was responsible for the rise of isis. We failed in syria, and said to our great russian friends, support bashir assad. And libya, he thinks hes going to go to a town hall and say, why dont give this one a try again . From the other perspective, iran had its revolution in 79. For decades, there have been divides between people who say maybe we should talk to the americans. Rouhani. You cant trust them. What do you think those people who want to talk to the americans are supposed to say in iran now . Why would you talk to the americans about a nuclear deal when you get that crap on the air from someone who will never back it up with action . Never. There is a real question about whether or not the United States would ever, you know, commit to any sort of military force against iran. Im not saying they should. But it does wonder, especially President Trump does not he didnt campaign as somebody who wanted to get into more middle east conflagrations. This is the type of stuff that john bolton says. Anybody who has ever watched him, he loves to, you know, make these sort of hyperbolic statements. And to me, honestly, it sounds like theyre just they always have to have an enemy, you know . And i think that so this becomes the enemy. Why kim jongun gets a pass and isnt an enemy, i cant really say. But it just sounds like something thats very targeted at his base, thats you know, that wants to feel like, you know, were strong and macho and were going to tell you how it is. And youre not going to do this and youre not going to do that. And the fact that theyre really not doing anything to make the situation better doesnt seem to matter to anybody. But im not even sure who the audience for that is. Except for maybe lindsey graham. Hes had an extra coffee that morning. Because there is no one advocating for more military intervention. You raised the point, weve been in the middle east for 17 years, operating off an authorization for military force from 2001. Can we have a discussion about that . I dont think theres an audience necessarily for military force. I do think for the tough talk. Donald trump sort of ran as an isolationist. And then he has this now security adviser throwing this out . Theres a disconnect there. He was very aggressive when it came to the iran deal. Right. The deal. And his critiques. Ending the deal, yeah. And his critiques of iran. In fairness, regardless of whether you see further engagement is a good thing or a bad thing, look, iran is not a good actor here. Were talking about a state that has funded terrorism forever and has killed a number of our allies and our own americans through hamas and other in iraq they killed them. In the region. So, look, i dont mind at all that john bolton is being aggressive here. I think the question is, i hope our Foreign Policy is a little more nuanced. I want to get your reaction to what President Trump said when he was asked about the fact that people were laughing after his boast during his speech. Take a listen. Oh, it was great. That was meant to get some laughter. But it was great. Because it was great, that was meant to get some laughter. It was great. It was obviously selfaware. Obviously not meant to get some laughter when he talked about how he had accomplished more than any other presidency in american history. Its interesting, though. Hes not used to speaking in front of a group that looks at him more skeptically. I would take an americanfirst speech even at the u. N. But this was a trumpfirst speech and it obviously backfired on that line. What did you think . He said, this wasnt the reaction that i was expecting. So it clearly was not until a couple hours later when he said it was exactly the reaction. I think he went in like hes gotten used to these where hes normally speaking to people who are rahrah trump people and suddenly you have people who dont think youre the most amazing person ever in the history of the world. They may actually consider a fact. Lets do the globe in 35 seconds. You look at the g7, we humiliated them. We did the same thing with nato. We call him rocket man, go out to meet rim. Can you tell me exactly what the north koreans have done . They have stopped missile testing. Give me a break. I thought we were supposed to eliminate a Nuclear Program . We havent done anything. The second look at russia. Thats our great partner. Theyre about ready to close the deal with Bashir Al Assad so he stays in for you power. Our great friends in turkey and egypt. And the brits, lets see if we can humiliate them in public. Youre in that audience listening to the president , saying thats a pretty impressive record. Actually, its laughable. Im sensing mr. Mudd is not a huge fan. So ill put you down for one . All right, everyone. Stick around. Coming up next, a sight a Long Time Coming for cosbys accusers. The sentence just in as the comedian faces judgment day. Stay with us. You might take something for your heart. Or joints. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Im a fighter. Always have been. When i found out i had agerelated macular degeneration, amd, i wanted to fight back. My doctor and i came up with a plan. It includes preservision. Only Preservision Areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula recommended by the National Eye Institute to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd. Thats why i fight. Because its my vision. Preservision. Also, in a greattasting chewable. With new, more secure numbers. But con artists, they never change. 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More than 50 women accused cosby of Sexual Assault dating back decades, and Gloria Allred pointed to how important today was for their journeys. This is a very important day. Judgment day has come. Today ten of those woman were in the courtroom as the judge told cosby he was not above the law. Our coverage on cnn continues right now. Thanks for watching. Happening now, breaking news. Trump versus the accusers. The president aggressively attacks the second woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual misconduct, while republican senators hire an outside lawyer to question the first accuser in thursdays hearing and vow to push through a confirmation vote. Rosensteins reprieve. White house Officials Say dont bet the ranch on the president firing Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein this week. The house conservatives want rosenstein to testify. Are they trying to force him to quit