Taking part in any kind of sales of oil that would violate u. N. Sanctions. The Treasury Department note d last month that there were north korea ben shipping companies that were attempting these ship to ship transfers likely of oil to evade u. N. Sanctions, but the president is on vacation here in maralago. He was on the golf course when the tweet was sent. Weve reached out to a number of of his aides at National Security counsel. Was there something new that set off the president . Some new piece of information he had confirmed . Did he know there was a new Transfer Attempt and we got no response ch its Worth Remembering that the president travel wg a very thin staff when he goes on vacations like this. So its possible that even his own staffers dont knowd the pr to send this tweet today. All right, thank you very much. With me now, the author of nuclear showdown, north korea takes on the world, gordon
chang. And cnn security analyst, bob. Gordon, let me begin with you. The word fs from the president today in his tweet, partly, there will never be a friendly solution if china continues to carry this out. This is nothing new. China is a large reason why north koreas economy can function at all. Responsible for 90 of the trade, but youre glad to see the president calling out china. What i wonder though is anything different in terms of action . In that video we saw from Meet The Press 18 years ago, he says we must act now. Hes not acting yet. Is he . No, hes not. What you had, this is like evokes the june 20 tweet where he expressed disappointment with xi of china. About five, six days after that, there were five actions the chinese didnt like, but they were light. They werent real close. They were just sending signals to beijing. So President Trump needs to do more than just send signals. If he doesnt, the chinese are going to say, this is all just empty talk. What would move chinas hand . If he, if trump declared bankrupt china one of chinas socalled big four banks, a primary Money Laundering concern under section 311 of the patriot act. That would be a Death Sentence for one of chinas biggest banks and it would rock confidence in china. It could have repercussions on the u. S. Weve got a Trading Partner there. You have to weigh what is more important at the time. Bob, you note its difficult to shame china into action. Its what the president s trying to do through essentially twitter diplomacy here. What comes of this . Well, youre not going to shame them. I mean the fact is the chinese are also in a corner. They dont want the collapse of the regime in north korea. They worry about the rationality of kim jongun. Whats he quoing to do if it does start to collapse . Is he going to let missiles loose on seoul, on japan . Chinese dont know for sure. But let me go back to what trump said 1 ye8 years ago. He was right. Thats when it should have been done. Theyre well armed. Theyre going to use those missiles. They can do a lot of destruction. The only way out of this situation now if the chinese and the russians by the way do not clamp down completely and there is no falling apart of north korea, is regime decapitation. And but thats hunlly risky. Its a hail mary that could turn out very badly. So it basically, the president is totally frustrated with north korea, he promised to do something about it. And now he understands once hes seeing the sbintelligence and t reality, its not going to be easy. Lets listen to how the president has continued as president to call out china. Time and time again. Calling on china to cut off north korea. Here are just a few examples. China can fix this problem
easily. And quickly. And i am calling on china and your great president to hopefully work on it very hard. I called on every nation including china and russia to unite in is isolating the north korean regime, until it stops its dangerous provocation. So President Trump is not the first u. S. President to call on china to do more. However, he does have an interesting sort of unique relationship with chinese president xi. Friendly on many fronts. Hes also said chinas ra p ping this economy. So do you believe he could move chinas hand more than his pred sessegn. Seth have been able to . There are a number of thipgs the u. S. Can do to really put china in a very bad place with regard to its economy. A number of other things trump could do. But the question is, does he have the political will and so far, hes been trying to
negotiate with the chinese. Get their cooperation, but these Satellite Imaungs of ship to ship transfers are by themselves a violation of u. N. Sanctions. Even if nothing came across those pipelines. So right now, the chinese have been caught red handed and that puts trump in very difficult position because hes got to do something but bo. But bob, explain to the American People what it is that china gains from aiding north korea. Because it is important to note the interest of the United States and china are not completely aligned. When it comes to north korea. Well i think its a thorn in our side. Dont forget that the chinese and russians have essentially equipped north korea to build this bomb. They didnt create all this. All these parts from you know, scratch. Theyve been helping all along. 18 years ago, they could have done something about this. So they like it that were in a bind. They are not our friends. They are our competitors. Hes right about that. I do not know if a trade war is going to force their hand. I do not know whether the president of china is capable of caving into us on north korea. So openly and after a threat like this. I would be surprised. Because that is, you know, its the shame of that. And would politically undermine the chinese leadership. Gordon, to be clear. China does not see it in its best interest necessarily. They dont want to see Nuclear War Break out of course, but also, they dont see it in their best interest to have a unified korean peninsula. Bob is actually right. This is more than just a tlorn in our side. You know, every time that north korea does something provocative, we send a Secretary Of State to beijing, plead for ration cooperation. As one indian general said a few
days ago, look, north korea is the claw. China is the cat. The chinese are enjoying this immen immensely. They shouldnt. In the longterm, china gets hurt more than any other country. In the shortterm, the chinese are really, really enjoying this dynamic because they get a lot from us. Gordon, thank you very much. Bob, we appreciate it. Outfront next, it is official. Roy moore lost officially the Alabama Senate election. Even with the results certified today, moore is refusing to give up. Claiming voter fraud. Also, Rex Tillerson at odds with his boss. The Secretary Of State calling out russia for Election Meddling going a lot further than president has. And new year to remember buried under snow and blankets. The dangerous cold not going anywhere for 17 million americans. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. For her compassion and care. He spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. But to help others, they first had to protect themselves. I have afib. Even for a nurse, its complicated. And it puts me at higher risk of stroke. That would be devastating. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. Once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner. Significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. It has similar effectiveness to warfarin. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. For Afib Patients wellmanaged on warfarin,
there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an Artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. And before starting xarelto®about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Its important to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know™. Interview that dana bash did with her. It is important and fascinating. Diane gallagher is outfront in montgomery, alabama. The last 24 hours have been high drama. I bet you thought 24 hours ago you would not be there, but there you are. What is roy moore saying about the options that he thinks he has left at this point . So roy moore isnt really talking at this point. He also hasnt officially conceded yet, but he did issue a statement pretty soon after the Election Results were certified. Want to read you a quick little excerpt from it. He said Election Fraud experts across the country have agreed this was a fraudulent election. He then says i have stood for the truth b about god and the constitution for the people of alabama. I have no regrets. To god be the glory. We just want to add to that there, these Election Experts across the country, he seems to be referring to the three individuals that are drcited in his lawsuit. One of whom who is a bit of a conspiracy theorist, who talks about the Assassination Of Jfk and seth rich. They thought there was voter fraud, but this is something that the Secretary Of State in alabama has investigateded. We talked to him. Theres more than 100 Different Cases that were complaints to him. They looked into them. At this point, they say they have found zero evidence of any voter fraud. Some of the issues that were raised by roy moore with were talking about extra high Voter Turnout in counties that happen to be predominantly africanamerican and noting that seems unusual. They talked about people maybe being bussed in from out of state to vote at the polls in alabama. The Secretary Of State says they investigated that, found zero truth to that at this point. You know, it was something that as they went through here, they got through this lawsuit, it was put down by the court. A part in there that seems quite
strange to me, to supporters even, was the inclusion of roy moore claiming that after the election, he chose to take a polygraph exam and said he passed it when it came to those allegations against him. About going out with teenagers when he was a da in his early 30s. And the women who said that he either molested or sexually assaulted them. He said he passed a Polygraph Test after the election, but it was a roy moore affidavit. Wasnt from the polygraph admin strart. So that was Something Else included there. Doug jones should be sworn in by mike pence on january 3rd. Thank you. With me now, former federal Election Commission general counsel, larry noble. Knows a thing or two about how these things work. Chris cillizza and michelle holmes. Its nice to have you all here. Larry, let me begin with you. As former general counsel. At this point, a junl l. Alana judge has dropped this down. Said theres just nothing here that shows a shred of voter fraud at this point. What options are left, if any, for moore . In a normal situation, you would say there are no options left. That hes gone beyond Grasping At Straws and air. But in theory, he can try to bring this before the senate. The senate has the ability to rule on questions of Election Fraud. I think that would be the republicans nightmare. Theyve gone from first say iin they wouldnt support him. Many said they would and now if he brought this before them, what are they going to do . I think hes out of options. He has to accept the fact he lost. I dont expect him to concede. But its over. Now if he does try to pursue this in court, he could be subject to sanctions for this case. You know theres a comes a point that you just have to say its
over and you know, in one way, his Statement Today may have been a sign that you know, hes saying i fought as best i could. That hes not going to take it further, but with roy moore, you dont know. That would not be out of the roy moore playbook to just let it go. Chris cillizza, you just wrote a column on this and i know you saw the interview dana did with janet porter. Heres more of her claiming this widespread voter fraud. I think the president is also concerned about vote r fraud. Hes brought it up in his own election and i think if he were to read through the 84 pages of evidence from independent experts and the best in the country by the way, who say one county, 20 precincts in one county, jefferson, is enough to overturn this election. Dive into those socalled eck perts, will you . This is someone, one of their experts, the best in the country is someone whos regularly trafficked, excuse me, about conspiracy theorys. Including the seth rich dnc
case. This is a Young DemocraticNational Committee staffer who was murdered. Some theorists on the right suggest he was somehow involved in the russia emails and the hacking. This is not the best and brightest that roy moore is citing. The simple fact here is that roy moore doesnt concede races. He did in 2006 when he got about a third of the vote in the primary. He did it in 2010 when he came in fourth. Its not a campaign. It is a crusade for roy moore. This is not about a win or a loss. This is about a long sort of arc of what he believes to be a righteous quest. You saw it. This is again, put aside the allegations against him. Remember this is someone who has been elected and removed twice as the Chief Justice of the Alabama StateSupreme Court prior to the senate race. This is who he is. This is what he does. Chris, its something really important here, too, about the fact his team is choosing to call out Jefferson County u. Right. Well its heavily africanamerican. And look, i think that you can play that janet porter interview. People should, im with you, urge people to watch it, but heres what you need to know. The republican governor, the republican Secretary Of State and the Republican Attorney general, those are the three people you see sitting at that table today who certified the election. This is not some sort of grand conspiracy. By the way, the republican Secretary Of State was clear he supported roy moores campaign. And voted for him. So this is not a conspiracy. This is a small group of people insisting that the facts, not that we know, the facts that exist, are not the facts. Which is their right. But you dont have to believe it. And the republican president who you know, who campaigned for him in final days. Or steve bannon, the Republican Former chief strategist who put a lot on this race. Not saying anything about it and the silence is sort of deafening tonight. Michelle, what about the people of alabama . Roy moore says this is about them. The people of alabama. That he stands for the truth and for god and the constitution. What do they want to see happen . The people of alabama want to same thing that the people of across america want. Which is access to free and fair elections. Which is access to having their voices heard at the polls. The people of alabama spoke. We want to move forward. We want to move into the future. The people of alabama are tired. Its like weve moved into some sort of third rate circus where were being held here with no food, no water, just roy moore and his spokes people making a mockery. The people of alabama spoke at the polls. Its a little through the Looking Glass at this point. By the way, can i just make a
quick point. This is not a race that was decided by 500 votes. 21,000. This is a 22, roughly 22,000 votevo margin. Thats not that much, true, but for him to win, 22,001 votes for roy moore that have been discounted and zero votes for doug jones. These things dont happen. Larry, let me ask you about the Polygraph Test. None of the results are in there, nor is the name of the person who conducted it nor could the spokeswoman name anyone in the room with roy moore when he says he took it. What do you make of it . Its useless. Youre right. Its an affidavit from him saying he took the polygraph. Doesnt name the person who administered the polygrappolygr. Also its interesting that he says it showed he did not know, he named three women who hes accused of sexually molesting. Doesnt address the other six. So we have no idea of what went on, even if it was a Polygraph Test