the rule of law. >> so far you've got conclusion and no collusion. anybody who denies that is lying. >> i'm not sure i agree with the kwich hunt. we'll let the facts lead us to whether or not it was a hoax. >> we're prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and to defend our allies. >> these aren't going e to change north korea's mind. >> hopefully send a strong message that north korea understands the expectation of the rest of the international community. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to "new day." alisyn is off. brianna keilar is with us. >> good to be here. >> we have reached day 200 of donald trump's presidency. marking the event with a 17-day stay at a new jersey golf club where he insists he is not vacationing and he's touting his accomplishments marking this 200-day period. meanwhile, there's a report in the new york times that says mike pence and other republicans

are positioning themselves to run for president in 2020 just in case president trump decides not to run. the vice president denies the story and calls it offensive. >> secretary of state rex tillerson is ramping up the pressure on north korea. e's calling on the kim jong-un regime to cough off the missile tests. north korea is vowing to retaliate against the u.s. over the latest round of sanctions. we have it all covered. let's start with joe johns live from bridgewater, new jersey. joe? >> reporter: good morning, brianna. presidents often refer to their time off as working vacations, but this time the white house is undergoing some renovations. it comes at a time while the administration and the white house are trying to repair their policy prescriptions also at a time the president and the white house is trying to knock down

questions about mr. trump's political future. president trump waking up on his 200th day in office at his golf club in new jersey where he'll be spending the next two weeks on a, quote, working vacation, as the white house undergoes renovations, the president stressing on witter he will still be taking meetings and calls while spending time at his resort, while touting the successes of his first six months in office. this as vice president mike pence pushes back against a "new york times" report that some republicans have begun building 2020 shadow campaigns with pence advisers allegedly signaling to party donors that he would plan to hundred if trump did not. pence contesting the story in a longly worded statement calling the report, quote, disgraceful and offensive and dismissing as laughable and absurd the suggestion he isn't working solely for trump's agenda and re-election. >> it is absolutely true the vice president is getting ready for 2020 for re-election as vice

president. >> no concern he's setting up a shadow campaign? >> zero concern is. >> reporter: the report cites a report that other republicans are weighing a 2020 bit as the president continues to grapple with low numbers and the russia investigation. >> the special counsel is subject to the rules and regulations of the department of justice. we don't engage in fishing expeditions. >> reporter: deputy attorney general rod rosen stein saying rob muraler can investigate any crimes within the scope of investigation during an interview on fox news. >> if it's something outside that scope, he needs to come to the acting attorney general, at this time me, for permission to expand his investigation. >> reporter: "the new york times" reporting that mueller's investigators have asked the white house for documents related to fired national security adviser michael flynn and possible 35i789s from the turkish government. the president tweeted a little while ago something that appears to be his own take on "the new

york times" story about possible contenders for the white house in 2020. it says the failing "new york times" which has made every wrong prediction about me including my big win apologized, is total inept. now, "the new york times" has said it stands by its story. chris and breanne ma? >> appreciate it. we have one of the authors of the story with us, analyst john avlon, alex burns and karoun demirjian. alex, as i said, co-wrote the story on the vice president and other republicans' presidential ambitions. defend yourself, man. the president is saying the failing "new york times" has made every wrong prediction, totally inept. what is the basis of the reporting and what do you feel confident in saying what is the truth? >> i feel totally confident in what we reported. we reported there are a number of republicans including vice

president pence who are not only clearly gearing up for running in 2020 in the event that something happens between now and then that causes president trump not to be on the ballot, whether that's he can't run, chooses not to run, is so unpopular that he appears vulnerable even within his own party. we reported clearly got under the president's skin, several advisers indicated to republican donors that they want to be ready for all scenarios, they have to be ready for 2020 just in case. >> to be clear, this wasn't one adviser, this wasn't one donor, this was multiple sources on both sides, all saying they had the same conversation. >> or similar conversations, overlapping conversations. we wouldn't have reported this if this was one person talking to one other person. as much as the vice president has been pushing back really hard, i've heard from additional people who we didn't know of prior to publication who have said, yes, those conversations

are absolutely happening and the vice president's overreaction is sort of revealing in an unintended way. >> you're saying this is a statement when the story came out from the vice president, today's article in "the new york times" is disgraceful and offensive to me, my family and our entire. the allegations in this article are categorically false and represent the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration. whatever fake news may come our way, our entire team will continue to focus our our efforts to advance his agenda and see him re-elected in 2020. any suggestion otherwise is laughable and absurd. >> that has all the greatest hits in it, whatever fake news may come our way. >> i think that's churchill. >> mike pence is a man without ambition, whose only ambition is life is to serve the president.

look, mike pence is the sane, responsible face of this administration. it would be crazy for republicans not to be saying he might be a safer alternative for us in '18 and '20 looking forward. there are other republicans who may be challenging the president for ideological reasons. there's such a degree of chaos and uncertainty, of course people are playing out different contingencies. this is politics, folks. >> karoun, what do you make of the legitimacy of this tweet from the president that goes to the poll numbers. the trump base is far bigger and stronger than ever before despite some phony fake news. russian collusion story, record stock market, border security, military strength, jobs -- >> we're still waiting -- >> he's taking a breath and going at it again. he's obviously watching the show

or something greatly similar to it because we are covering these numbers and themes. what is your response to this depiction of the president's base? >> let me know if part three changes -- >> let's see what you say, karoun. i'll let you know. >> look, the rally trump held in west virginia last week was in a way an answer to the approval ratings or disapproval ratings that came out that were not in his favor. he has throughout the campaign pointed to his large rallies and say forget what the polls say. no one believed it then, and it turned out he was right, he won the presidency although not the popular vote. this is what he takes stock in, pointing to the rallies and saying the report is support is strong out there. the quinnipiac poll, i believe it was last week, that showed not only his support among republicans had gone down but also among non-college educated white people had gone down.

these are key parts of his base that everyone was tracking during the election as being as strong. if they're not as strong anymore, that's a problem for the president. also, you can see he's on the offensive when he puts that list out there, the job numbers are strong, and the military is strong, although some people -- there's a big debate happening in the administration about what to do in afghanistan, pushback on capitol hill that the president wasn't serious enough in upping the strength of the military and putting enough money behind it to improve things. he's pitching himself, pitching his last 200 day as being stronger than a lot of people observing the administration believe it is. >> i want to change the subject and talk about something that was pretty rare that we saw this weekend, rod rosenstein, the deputy a.g. on a sunday show. this isn't something you see all the time and he was essentially asked where does this go, this special counsel with robert mueller. here is what he said about the scope of it. >> if he finds evidence of a crime that's within the scope of

what director mueller and i have agreed is the appropriate scope of this investigation, he can. if it's something outside that scope, he needs to come to the acting attorney general, at this time me, for permission to expand his investigation. >> the key words of the statement are "within the scope." >> what is the scope? >> there is an articulated purview of jurisdiction, that the acting attorney general put out in appointing the attorney general. remember, rosenstein appointed the special counsel. what went into his thinking, that only he knows. it doesn't clarify the issue. the issue is what would qualify as within this scope? why is this a concern? ken starr is why this is a concern. >> white water. >> started out in a land deal and turned into monica lewinsky. the republicans want to protect against that happening again. let's remember what the sticky wicket is here. if the special counsel were to come to -- >> that's a cricket metaphor.

i diversify my sports analogy whenever i can. if he goes to the acting a.g. and says, look, i've got a road i want to go down, if the acting a.g. were to say no to whatever it is, the political ramifications are huge, no matter what the road is that the special counsel wants to go down. is that not true? >> sure, of course that's true. the question of how public that conversation would be at the time or after the fact. that's what ken starr said when he was on "new day" friday. jaw dropping when he said no one wants to see the prosecutor going on a fishing expedition. he made a point of when he looked to advance the scope, he went to janet reno who green lit him. rosenstein has been in a very unique spot. because the a.g. recused himself to the president ooes great frustration, this whole process moves forward. what we know is mueller now is actively working with the grand jury. the president, probably all his instincts are to fire him.

what's most significant is people in the administration are saying don't. people in the senate and congress are saying we need a backstop put forward to not allow the president to do this because it would kick off a constitutional crisis in the form of obstruction of justice. let's not let the 17-day working vacation distract us from this is the big game going on in the administration, whatever economic numbers are being touted. >> karoun, the president said the red line for him is family finances, to him this is outside the scope. is it incumbent on, let's say, mueller, if he does as he is looking into the russia investigation, finds things that are unrelated but things aren't right with the family's finances, is it incumbent on him to pursue that but also on rosenstein to say yes, you should? >> i think the answer to that is probably yes. you've seen too much speculation about the family finances.

there's still a groundswell of show me your taxes that still hasn't been satisfied, at least from the democrats. there's dispute on how the president's son-in-law met with the russian foreign investment bank. why wasn't her with sergei gorokhov? the president said it was because of perchl finances. the trump administration says it was to talk about syria which doesn't make sense to talk with that guy about syria. if mueller finds something that brings family finances into question, there could be personal motivation to do things, not campaign motivations to do things that we would find suspect or questionable when we're talking about the major question of was there collusion happening with kremlin officials. these are all questions that would be incumbent on mueller to pursue if he finds a reason to pursue them. rosenstein has been pretty straight about going by what he

thinks the facts are. he said he would not fire mueller without cause. any attempt to fire mueller has to go through whoever the acting a.g. is. trump can only order the a.g. to fire him. rosenstein has basically said i'm not going to be swayed by politics. >> karoun, i'm sad to inform you the president did not give you a derry sive nickname this morning or said it's complete balderdash. he did say the fake news, russian security story, supreme court pick, deregulation and so much more had driven the trump base even closer together. will never change. we give the president the final word on that. alex, john, karoun, thank you very much. we're following breaking news this morning as well. cnn has learned a police officer in clinton, missouri, was shot and killed in the line of duty. it reportedly happened during a traffic stop late last night. authorities are looking for the suspect who the highway patrol

says got out and just started shooting before driving off. we're on this story, as details become available, we'll bring them to you. the governor of minnesota calling the weekend bombing of a mosque an act of terrorism. this blast happened around 5:00 a.m. on saturday as people were getting ready for morning prayers. fortunately no one was hurt. the fbi is investigating the case as a possible hate crime. fox news suspending host eric bowling pending the results of an investigation into whether he sent lewd photos to at least three female colleagues. investigation launched after a "huffington post" story citing a dozen on none mouse sources. it reports the photos were sent several years ago and on separate occasions. his attorney says his client denies the claims.

that deadly accident at the ohio state fair caused by excessive corrosion. this is according to the manufacturer of the fireball ride that broke ap past last month and killed an 18-year-old rider, jirpd seven other people as well. inspectors say the ride passed multiple inspections before the deadly accident. >> excessive corrosion is going to be wind up being a little term of art language used by the maker of that thing to explain how it broke in a way that may not be their responsible. that's legal language. we eel see where it goes. kellyanne conway is out in the media spinning what's going on. she said, yes, the president's approval is slipping just a little bit, but it is not his fault. whose fault is it? and how do the parties being blamed feel about it? we'll give that all to you next.

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among conservative and trump voters is down slightly. they are telling him, just enact your program. don't worry about a congress that isn't supporting legislation to get big-ticket items done. >> very interesting. there you see presidential counsellor kellyanne conway saying, yes, his approval numbers have slipped but it's not his fault. the latest national poll has president trump's approval at a new low of 33%. the president's approval among republicans is at 76%. that's a deceptive number because it sounds high, yes, it's dropped since june. within your own party, it's like asking how many of your family members like you. it is not uncommon for that number to be above 85 or even 90%. i'm sure scott taylor's numbers are high and in that area. let's discuss the intrigue going on here with republican congressman scott taylor. always great to have you, sir, and i will not waste the

opportunity to pick your brain on what you learn when you went down and met with the leaders of different south american countries and get your perspective in venezuela. kellyanne conway say, sure his numbers have slipped a little bit, but it's because congress stinks at their job and have gotten nothing done. do you take responsibility for the president's slipping poll numbers? >> i think there's a lot of factors in there, of course. as you very well know, that's a snapshot in time. it's not a good one right now, obviously. but i think congress has been the punching bag for many presidents. when you're talking about obama attacking congress for gitmo, bush did the same think. as you know, we don't have a king, so you have to play well with others and get along with the legislative branch as well to enact your policies as a president. so i don't think that we're to blame, absolutely not. for some things, possibly, but

not for everything certainly. >> the president coming out long and strong on this this morning. lots of tweets, lots of detail. it shows the urgency that he sees on defending the merits of his base. he says the trump base is far bigger and stronger than ever before and then he goes into a whole tearing down of the media for making all this stuff that would even suggest that he's not doing well with the base. what is your sense of how that core of voters that motivated trump's campaign and ultimately his presidency, how is that base fairing? do you believe he's expanded it and intensified its strength thus far? >> i don't know about expanding it. but i do think his base is secure. but i don't think he's -- i don't think his base has left him, i don't believe nah. i'm not sure he's expanded it. there's still a lot of time for opportunity to do so. >> one of the reasons i love interviewing you, congressman,

is you do not have the appetite for what is obvious political spin. maybe it's because you're a decorated war veteran or maybe because you went in with a direct sense of what you wanted to get done, your motivations are different. when you hear this talk, the numbers are what they are. this energy being spent on spin and blaming you and blaming everybody else, what do you make of that use of energy? >> as you very well know as a veteran reporter, you've seen this a lot. it happens all the time with the different presidencies, of course. of course i would like to not see the spin. i'd like to get to work and get stuff done for the american people. to be fair, that's the way our system is set up, to have that tension all the time and then everybody -- something hopefully a policy coming out of all that tension and the infighting and stuff like that. i don't like to waste time on dumb stuff. you know that. >> you're in the wrong job. let's talk about a couple things

that matter very much right now. h.r. mcmaster, a man you know and believe to be worthy of respect says you cannot overestimate the concern and the potential problems with north korea. what do you make of the sanctions strategy? do you believe that we are pulling levers that will make a difference right now? >> well, we've been trying for about 25 years or so. it was good to see of course the u.n. urine animusly voting, 15-0 i think it was, to put sanctions in place and let north korea have a very strong message that we won't tolerate some of the he lidge rent behavior they're doing. i've been on the program talking about, whether you're a democrat or republican, it's unacceptable to have north korea shooting missiles off the coast of california like they do japan. that's completely unacceptable. i think under this president you have seen a change of strategy, you've seen some force in the region to change the dynamics of

what we've been trying to do for the past 20, 25 years, and i support that. i think it's very important and i agree with mcmaster that it is a serious issue that all americans should be concerned about, whether democrat or republican. >> mixed bag, right? you've seen more urgency from this administration, teeing it up. the question now is that puts added emphasis on what you do about it and you have an unstable regime. -- >> putting more attention on it creates more tensions. that's true, of course. but at the same time, if we don't have that, you'd see them steadily marching to have an icbm that would hit the homeland. >> fair enough. you go to south america, meet with different leaders and come back with a message about the urgency of different situations but specifically venezuela. to be honest, we report on it here. cnn has a big mandate when it comes to international news. it has not resonated here at home. it's not easy to get people's

attention, even after the president of the united states and the administration went hard at the venezuelan president, targeting him specifically with sanctions, an unusual move. what do you want people to know? >> i think it's extremely important for not just americans but obviously our leaders, too, to pay attention to our own back yard. venezuela is falling apart. that's going to create a tremendous amount of destabilization. we met with the presidents of colombia, peru, haiti, dominican republic. also a refugee crisis on the border. on top of that you have maduro making threats to the colombia government to mask the disintegration of his own domestic sector there in venezuela.ombia is our closest . peruvians are having a summit with a foreign minister who is

bringing other foreign ministers to discuss to potential sanctions, potential severing of diplomatic ties. leaders in america should also be paying strong attention because the destabilization effects of what's happening in venezuela. >> congressman scott taylor, always appreciate your perspective. as you have information you need to know about issues that matter, you always have a home here at "new day." thank you, sir. >> thanks, chris. thanks for having me on. the justice department is cracking down on leakers. the deputy attorney general says anyone could be prosecuted. does that mean they're going to target reporters? we'll be asking a democratic senator next. whoooo. looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino!

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the justice department says anybody can be prosecuted for leaks, including white house staff and members of congress. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein echoing attorney general jeff sessions' promise to crack down on leakers. >> we look at the facts and circumstance, what was the potential harm, the circumstances. that's more important than who is the leaker. we identify somebody no matter what their position is.

if they violated the law, in that case we'll prosecute them. >> including white house officials and members of congress? >> including anybody who breaks the law. >> joining me to talk more about this is democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut, a member of the senate judiciary committee. thank you very much for being on "new day" this morning. you heard that from rod rosenstein. he also said separately we're after leakers, not reporters. there is a review of the media subpoena process in the department of justice. that is part of this. who do you see in the crosshairs here? >> government officials who break the law by disclosing classifi classifi classified information, eng dangering national security, should be pursued and prosecuted. i'm afraid they this is for political ends and specifically

the white house's purposes. that includes the announcement by the attorney general that he's going to be reviewing the guidelines that essentially establish standards for when reporters can be subpoenaed or when information can be sought from them. that's a chilling effect on the press and on whistle blowers and on information that doesn't involve classified data or disclosures or, in fact, maybe just embarrassing or unwelcome, and what would we know, for example, about michael flynn. what would we know about the president's financial dealings but for the press doing its work? >> they're talking about classified information. we've heard even from jeh johnson, former obama secretary who said this is out of control, this is different from anything he's ever seen, the leaks. if there is this problem, why not confront this when you're talking about classified

information? >> when there is classified information, there's a strong argument to pursue the government officials, not the reporters, and that's different from information that may simply be embarrassing. >> you're worried that gets caught up in the net here? >> exactly right. politicizing the department of justice for personal ends i think is a disservice to the law and also potentially a violation of the spirit of the first amendment. remember, what we know about the trump administration so far has been the result of very good reporting. i believe when the history of this era is written, the heroes will be the free press and the independent judiciary who have upheld the rule of law against threats by the trump administration. >> let's talk north korea, new u.n. sanctions. we just heard from the north korean government. they said nuclear weapons will not be on the negotiating table. you look at these new sanctions, but there's this question about

whether there's really going to be any effect. are you worried about this war of words that we're seeing between the trump administration as they ksh even this option, having it on the table, of a military option? >> i'm worried the trump administration will fail to enforce these sanctions. not an easy task. it has to involve china and russia, just as enforcement against the rant of sanctions there had to be supported and encouraged by congress, members of the senate like myself, who put the obama administration to enforce sanctions. they're only real if shipments of coal and other energy are stopped and, most important, financial institutions are enlisted to stop the flow of financial support to north korea. >> on russia, we talk so much about russia, but i wonder what you think when you're looking at the upcoming midterm elections. so many democratic strategists

are out there saying, look, this isn't what is keeping voters up at nice. we tausk a lot about russia, but they're worried about jobs. are you worried that democrats using this criticism line of republicans is actually going to backfire on them? >> not backfire, but absolutely right, that the american people are concerned about the economy, job creation, not only employment but fair compensation for what they do and good jobs and benefits and how they are doing, how their children are going to do in this economy, but the russia investigation, impanelling the grand jury shows that bob mueller is pursuing this potential wrongdoing by the russians, the attack on our democracy, serious li and diligently. and there is no minimizing or underestimating that attack by the russians. it was purposeful and

relentless, and it involved propaganda and hacking into our voting machines or at least an attempt to do it and potential collusion by the trump campaign and then obstruction of justice. that investigation must be pursued. >> and discussed, all important topics. that isn't the message democrats are putting out there. they're saying what you're saying. they're not talking about jobs and inspiring voters at this point in time to look at them as an alternative on these kitchen table issues that really drive people to the ballot box. >> the fact is, we are talking about a better deal, about economic inclusiveness, about better pay or good jobs, and the democratic caucus in the united states senate has just unveiled a very specific program for building infrastructure and creating greater fairness in taxes, lower pharmaceutical drug

prices and health care costs generally. hard to cut through, but we are pushing that mandate as part of what we as democrats are offering to the american people. but this grand jury investigation also involves the rule of law and fundamentally americans care about the rule of law. so protecting bob mueller through legislation that a group of us on a bipartisan basis offered last week, requiring a three-judge panel if the president threatens to fire bob mueller, i think is very important to protect and safeguard the independence and integrity. >> obviously, in your purview as a member of the senate judiciary committee, senator blumenthal, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. there's a lot of talk about what can unite our lawmakers.

here is something that should be at the top of the list, the opioid epidemic. you know this. it's taking time for the government to react to the reality. everybody knows somebody who is getting hit by these new waves of heroin offshoots. everybody is being affected, including a sheriff's wife. >> it will take a fa family and turn it upside down. >> it broke your family apart? >> yes. >> that's poppy harlow. she's doing something on this issue, a special report called "hooked, america's addicts," a look at the range of people all affected by this poison next. at whole foods market, we believe in food that's naturally beautiful, fresh and nutritious.

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see how much you can save when you choose by the gig or unlimited. call or go to xfinitymobile.com. xfinity mobile. it's a new kind of network, designed to save you money. new jersey governor chris christie speaking out on the opioid crisis on cnn's "state of the union." one of the missions, to declare opioid addictions and overdoses a national emergency. take a listen. >> we've gotten really good response from the white house and from the public in terms of our recommendations. i'm confident the president will accept the recommendations of this commission. >> what that would do is increase the priority of funding and additional resources to this problem. >> that's right. and a cnn special report "hooked: america's addicts" is

looking at the opioid crisis and how no one is immune, from the high school cheerleader who got hooked at 15 to fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. >> it is averaging every single segment of our society. this is a chemical almost warfare on us that people don't know how to control. >> reporter: the high school cheerleader, addicted at 15, the 20-year-old baseball player dead. these fathers now inmates because of their addiction, and even the sheriff's former wife, addicted. this is the real picture of america's opioid crisis where drugs don't discriminate. it's infesting neighborhoods across the heartland and from coast to coast. >> how does a 15-year-old cheerleader from ohio start doing heroin? >> it started my freshman year, and i was doing good, i was cheerleading -- i ended up not

going to school as much, and i ended up getting kicked off the cheerleading team. >> i tell my kids when they come to my treatment court, you have three options in my court, graduate to treatment court, going to prison or you're going to be dead. >> reporter: death, jail or recovery, the only options for the millions of americans now addicted to opioids from prescription pain pills like oxycodone to street drugs like heroin and fentanyl. >> since the end of december, 2016, we've seen an amazing, alarming increase in the amount of accidental overdose deaths. >> i do think this's a feeling across the country thinking, that is so tragic, that can't happen to me and that's not in my neighborhood and that's not in my house and not in my family. >> it is. >> you're naive if you think that because it's everywhere. >> reporter: these are the families living heroin's hell and watching their dreams and

their children's dreams slip away. >> joining us now with more on the special report is cnn anchor poppy harlow. poppy, they talk about that, the stigma of people not talking about it might contribute to why we haven't heard much about the epidemic until, in a way, after it's become such a problem. there's obituaries where we have young men and we have no idea necessarily why they died. >> because it's an overdose and their parents are embarrassed to tell people that. that's what these families pleaded with us. i think our goal in all of this, guys, was to show america that no one is immune, that this is a humanitarian crisis in this country, the human toll, and that it can happen in any neighborhood. we talked to these inmates in jail who thank goodness are being treated, instead of just being locked up. one of them told us, when i went up to my dealer, so did men in

businessmen in suits in lexuss and mercedes. its hits every race and background. >> sadly, well older than you guys. we've been looking at this for well over a decade. we've never seen a drug -- methamphetamine, crack was close, but no drug has saturated different markets in different ways beyond detection and has a kill ratio that these new sin thet cal opioids domainly in the form of fentanyl. the network will be doing a lot of stuff about this which is good. you have to tell people how broad it can be. it's not someone who is weak and makes bad choices. it can be your kid. >> people are scared. i have a 13-year-old nephew. how do you talk to someone about this, how do i talk to my daughter when she's a little bit older? you have to because this is happening in middle school to them. if you don't talk to them, who is talking to them? >> they're harg about it more than you know.

if you don't shape to the message -- >> you can see poppy's piece "hooked: america's addicts" at 10:30 eastern. just as important. go online, cnn.com/heroin. you'll see all the reporting there, and it will be a building trove of helping in this matter. >> national security adviser h.r. mcmaster says no option is off the table when it comes to north korea. could the u.s. be considering a preemptive strike to military in insiders? we'll discuss next.

theso when i need to book tant to mea hotel room,tion. i want someone that makes it easy. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. visit booking.com. booking.yeah! how concerned should the american people be that we are actually on the brink of a war with north korea? >> well, i think it's impossible to overstate the danger associated with this. i think it's impossible to overstate the danger associated with a rogue, brutal regime. >> hugh hewitt talking with national security adviser, h.r.

mcmaster, on the nuclear threat from north korea. north korea, this morning, vowing to retaliate against the u.s. over these new u.n. sanctions unanimously voted on, and says they won't put their nuclear missiles on the negotiating table. all right, so let's discuss the urgency of that situation. what can be done, and a little bit of context on where we are 200 days into the trump administration. cnn military analyst, mark hurt li ling, and author of "besieged," brigadier general, anthony tata. great to have you both with us. . >> good to be with you. >> so let's start with h.r. mcmaster, some context on north korea. we get a lot of mixed messaging here. not from mcmaster, but, okay, the trump administration has made north korea more of a priority, can't overestimate thousand dangerous this could be if they can reach the homeland, it's unstable, the u.n. votes unanimously for these sanctions.

and then we hear expert after expert say, but they probably won't do thinking. and china getting behind them means they're probably not that effective, because what you really need is chinas and iran to back off and, you know, russia to repatriate workers and do real things that would hurt north korea and that's not going to happen. is that the state the way you see it, general? is that how caught we are and not making progress? >> well, it's a tough situation, chris. but first of all, i think there was some very good advances this week, this past weekend, especially this weekend, ambassador hailey in the u.n. did some magnificent work in getting that 15-0 vote. that's not only a diplomatic advancement, but it's also an informational one. the world is standing up against kju. the other things that are happening, there is -- although many people say it is not enough, this economic sanction, not only in the u.n. vote, but also in the sanctions bill that was signed last week, is tremendously advancing the move

toward generating some action against north korea. as joe mcmaster said, you know, the comments about what's going on with the military, the potential for using military actions, is still on the table. all of those things are sending a signal. is it enough? yeah, i don't know. this is increasingly complex. we are at an inflection point with north korea. they've got to be made to stop doing missile testing and nuclear testing without warning anyone. >> what's your take on this, general tatum in terms of, yes, this is great, as general hu hurtling says, you've got your 15-0 in the u.n., nikki haley helping to marshal a consensus, but at the end of the day, doesn't change the math or pressure dynamic going on with north korea. >> chris, wii think you're explaining exactly why h.r. mcmaster said what he said. you've got to have preventative

war as an option, from a range of options, from show of force up to combat on the table. because the truth is that china in the first quarter of 2017, their export/import with north korea grew by 37%. so china's face-saving move with the international community to vote for these sanctions is really nothing more than really an information show in my opinion. china and russia continue to support north korea. and they want to -- what they want to do is fight by proxy the u.s., through north korea. it is the new paradigm for cold war in this era, that china and russia are using north korea to bleed our treasure, as we marshal military forces to do what we need to do to protect our homeland, consistent with our national security strategy. >> yeah, as gordon chang just

said when he was on the show, yes, the problem is the north korean missiles, but how about those chinese missile launchers that are carrying them to the site. that obviously matters just as much. let me get your take on something else, 200 days in. and we have a little bit of a unique situation here on "new day." the president of the united states is often watching. he seems to be this morning. he's been commenting on the program. so my question is this. 200 days in, there does seem to be an as-yet unfiulfilled need o hear from our president directly to the american people and lawmakers are what the plans are in different inflection points in our foreign strategy. the military plan for afghanistan, his argument for the authorization for the use of military force, which is finally, apparently going to be debated in congress, as we're still operating under a 2001 recommendation from congress. what do we still need to hear from the president of the united states on the issues that matter, in terms of foreign policy and military incursion?

>> well, just as you said, chris, exactly those things. and i want to go back to korea as the first one on that agenda. you know, what i would suggest as your military analyst as a war on the peninsula in the 21st century would be like -- unlike anything we've ever seen before, in terms of the massive artillery strikes that may occur. and the massive humanitarian disaster. there are over 30,000 u.s. forces on the ground in north korea, most of them near -- i'm sorry, in south korea, near the border with north korea. there are over 100,000 u.s. expats in seoul and in and around seoul. and there are 10.5 million people, koreans, in seoul itself. so anything we might do as a preemptive strike would be very dangerous. and i think the president does have to say, what is our end state. what is our objective. is it to rid north korea of nuclear weapons? is it to stop their missile launchers? or is it to have conversation with them. and be very clear about that? the same thing with afghanistan.

there should be a determined end state. we have been at this war for 17 years. you know, the continual use as the number of forces as a judge of the strategy is not a good idea. many of us in the military have been saying this for years. you have to say, what are we attempting to achieve there. is it the total reversal to the afghan president and prime minister. is it having general nicholson, you know, it's been interesting, because general nicholson has been in the news, lately. he will do anything to advance the strategy if he knows what the strategy is, as opposed to just being told, keep doing things and win. that's not a good strategy that should be given by our political leaders. and as you mentioned the aumf is certainly something that congress should take on. many of us have been saying that for many years. >> so we'll see how the president responds. we'll see how these measures are taken up by congress. we'll bring you gentlemen back with your great minds to help understand the situation