geopolitical scale. >> our new president had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen. >> i'm very disappointed in mitch. >> the opioid crisis can be addressed without the declaration of an emergency. >> it's an emergency, it's a national emergency. >> this is new day with chris cuomo and allison. >> welcome to you on viewers in the united states and around the world. it's friday, august 11th. 6:00 in new york. brianna joins me once again. good to have you. >> good to be here. >> here's the starting line. fire and fury, not tough enough. that's president trump doubling down on his warning to north korea responding to pyongyang's reported plan to attack guam. the president says they would face retaliation the likes of which nobody has seen before. so while the president is stepping up the war of words, his defense secretary is

stressing diplomacy. james mattis says right now the u.s. effort in the tense standoff is being diplomatically lady by nikki haley. >> president trump thanked russian president vladimir putin for pushing american diplomats out of moscow and cutting the state department's payroll. and the president continues to attack mitch mcconnell telling the senate gop leader to goet wo -- get to work on the trump agenda and asking him to resign if nothing gets done. let's go to barbara starr at the pentagon. >> good morning. the administration emphasizing that diplomacy does remain what they hope is the long-term solution, but short of that, if north korea were to attack the u.s. in guam, the president saying much more than just fire and fury. >> i read about where in guam by

august 15th, let's see what he does with guam. if he does something in guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before, what will happen in north korea. >> when you say that, what do you mean? >> you'll see and he'll see. he will see. it's not a dare. it's a statement. it has nothing to do with dare. that's a statement. >> that if north korea attacks guam. the secretary of defense going very much down a longer road in his comments yesterday. >> the american effort is diplomatically led. it has diplomatic traction. it is gaining diplomatic results and i want to stay right there right now. the tragedy of war is well enough known. it doesn't need another characterization beyond the fact that it would be catastrophic.

>> so you continue to see this emphasis by the administration that they are not sending mixed messages, but two very different messages and it goes without saying the u.s. intelligence community now as you would well expect watching guam, watching all of that around the clock. brianna, chris. >> all right, barbara. thank you very much. the u.s. and north korea locked in an intense war of words. kim jong-un regime says america would, quote, suffer shameful defeat defeat and final doom. china is calling for caution here, but will they step up to help fix the situation? that remains unknown. that's why we have cnn will ripley live in beijing with more. what is the word officially from there? >> reporter: well, the word officially from china is they are reiterating their position here that they want all sides of the conflict, the united states and north korea specifically to use caution moving forward and to avoid this kind of rhetoric that can further inflame the

situation. china put out a statement a few hours ago saying that's basically going down an old familiar road. also within the past few hours a new statement from north korea but this one not responding to the comments from trump. i want to read this. this is actually pretty familiar language from north korea from military officer. it says, quote, our military will turn the u.s. mainland into a stage of nuclear war by immediately attacking it with various strategy nuclear weapons with any small sign of the u.s. carrying ought a small war is spotted. i know that sounds scary, but north korea makes this kind of threat all the time. that language is very familiar. it is much different from the very detailed specific plan that was laid out earlier this week about attacking guam. national security adviser h.r. mcmaster was on the phone during the overnight hours speaking

with south korea's national security chief to a resure him of the u.s. commitment to this region. also talking about sanctions saying they still believe those are the best path moving forward. >> will, good reporting. thank you very much. let's discuss. we've got a great panel. james spider marks. cnn counter terrorism analyst phil mudd and senior fellow for the atlantic counsel jamie m metzel. let's deal with the possibilities here. general, the fear for the rational person when you hear two world leaders talking this way is oh my god, it looks like something terrible is about to happen. how much of this do you see as posturing and talk versus potential threats of actual action? >> thanks, chris. i think from the kim regime and

pyongyang, this is rhetoric that is right out of their playbook. they do this as a matter of routine. this has been 70 years of isolation, essentially self-imposed isolation and as they do an about face and look around the region they see enemies and competitors. this is routine. what's unique about this -- so from that perspective, that's normal. we weren't ratcheted up the tension. but what is different now is that our intelligence community has now assessed and ascribed to the north korean regime the fact that they've got icbm sks. that's what's new. from the u.s. and coalition side and the rest of the world is trying to tamp this down, we now have a president that is jumping into the ring and has this verbal conflagration.

but what the world has allowed to occur and facilitated on the part of china. and what the united states and south korea, our allies in the region, certainly japan as well have witnessed and allowed to occur. north korea has gotten away with bad behavior their entire existence and now we have a very narrowing window with a nuke and it hasn't tamped down. everybody should be concerned. but bear in mind, nothing is different this morning than it was yesterday or 15 years ago in terms of the level of preparedness and the heightened tensions that exist as a matter of routine on the peninsula. >> one of the things we heard from president trump, he said i inherited this mess and he's pointing to past administrations. here's what he said. >> we'll always consider negotiations, but they've been negotiating now for 25 years. look at clinton.

he folded on the negotiations. he was weak and ineffective. you look what happened with bush. you look what happened with obama. obama, he didn't even want to talk about it. but i talk. it's about time. somebody has to do it. >> jamie, i wonder what you think just because we are where we are with the u.s. where it is with north korea, he characterizes that as past administrations failing, but going this other direction with such -- >> what is the other direction? as far as i can see the united states is continuing with the same policy. the only thing we're adding is that the approximate the is making these unhelpful statements that are undermining our allies. they're undermining the united states. when we try to assess what's happening now, supreme leader kim, he's making all kinds of statements that are in many ways putting north korea in a

stronger position. but every time trump talks like he's talking, it weakens the united states, so there's nothing different. and if we think that destabilizing our allies and the world is going to get us anything without a coherent strategy that has yet to be unveiled, i think that's a terrible, terrible error. >> the president doesn't agree with jamie, phil. he says that past presidents haven't talked about this. i'll talk he just said. someone has to do it. what do you think his thinking is and is he right? >> he's dead wrong. he should wake up, put the golf clothes on and put some duct tape over his mouth. there's a simple reason why. he has a choice as the president. it's like sitting at a stove. you can take the temperature up to 400 degrees or take it down to 200 degrees. here's the problem. you offer the north koreany justification to say the americans are a threat. i told you all along they threat ent not only the security of the region but the security of my

regime so i have justification not only to build missiles and a nuclear program but to threaten the united states and to continue testing y. do you take up the temperature if it persuades your adversary? >> can i jump into this? my view of that, phil and i have a difference of opinion on this. my view is it really doesn't matter what we say or what anyone has said. inarguably no one over the course of 70 years has been able to alter the behavior of the north korean regime. i will agree completely that this type of talk is not helpful. however, it doesn't matter necessarily what we do. north korea is going to be north korea. they will continue to advance their capabilities. they have forever. >> let me jump in on that. because it does matter what we say. but in addition, it matters what we do. and so certainly this rhetoric is not at all helpful. but on top of that, the president has done so many

things to undermine america's leverage. china has a lot of influence. but our ability to pressure china to help on north korea is now less than it was when president trump took office. because we've undermined our allies. we've stepped away from the trans pa scific partnership tha gave us leverage over china. now the united states is weaker in every way. if we were taking strong actions that would strengthen us, that would be great. if we had a message coming out of the administration that gave our allies and the world faith that the united states had a coherent policy moving forward, we would be in a stronger position. we are not in that position. >> i was going to say obviously the mixed messages are very confusing for people, but if you're in guam, there's really only one message. this is scary if this is what you are waking up to.

14 minutes, a missile fired from north korea would take 14 minutes. that's the reality of this. so if we discussed whether being belicose actually makes a difference, this isn't something you mess with. this is something that has very real consequences. and when you're talking about nuclear weapons, you don't really open up yourself to the possibility that something could go wrong because the consequences are huge. >> i think that's the bottom line here. when the president speaks like this and critiques his predecessors, george bush, barack obama, you've got to put up or shut up. any president that deals with this problem realizes beyond rhetoric you have a choice. you can either take military action against the north korea capability -- let me give you a message on that. if you break it, you own it. if you take out the capability, you have to move in and take out the leadership. otherwise they'll rebuild. do we want to build another country again after what we just did in iraq and afghanistan.

this isn't just about talk. it's not about missiles. the real question if touyou wano get tough is what are you going to do about the regime? that's what the bottom line it. >> gentlemen, appreciate the perspective this morning. >> thank you you guys so much. this was a rather cheeky moment we saw yesterday. he seemed to have a smirk about it. he said thank you to vladimir putin for expelling hundreds of u.s. diplomats from russia and for helping him cut the state department budget. all of this while slamming his most important ally in the senate. >> it was like a twofer. >> definitely. cnn joe johns live for us from bridgewater, new jersey. joe. >> reporter: good morning, brianna. the president took 31 questions during two off the cuff sessions with reporters. more questions than he's taken over the last several months combined. beyond north korea, he had plenty to say about a number of topics including his ongoing

feud with the senate majority lead, the man he needs to help push his agenda through on capitol hill. >> i'm very disappointed in mitch. but if he gets these bills passed, i'll be very happy with him. >> president trump ramping up his criticism of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell suggesting he may want a top republican to step aside if he doesn't deliver to the president's agenda. the stunning public spat escalating after the two leaders exchanged jabs in recent days over the failure of the gop effort to repeal and replace obamacare. >> our new president had of course not been in this line of work before and i think had excessive expectations. >> he should have had this last one done. they lost by one vote. for a thing like that to happen is a disgrace. >> president trump delivering harsh words for the republican senate leader, but offering his

thanks rather than condemnation to russian president vladimir putin over his decision to expel 755 u.s. diplomatic staff from the russian embassy. >> i want to thank him, because we're trying to cut down on payroll and as far as i'm concerned i'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. >> the president also sounding off on the russia investigation hanging over his administration. >> there is no collusion. you know why? because you don't speak to russians. look, i won because i suppose i was a much better candidate than her. >> dismissing the probe while denying he has plans to fire special counsel robert mueller. >> i'm not dismissing anybody. i want them to get on with the task. >> mueller's investigation acse accelerating amid news that there was a raid at the house of paul manafort next month.

>> to wake him up when his family was there? that's pretty tough stuff. i thought it was a very, very strong signal or whatever. i know mr. manafort. i haven't spoken to him in a long time, but i know him. he was with the campaign for a very short period of time. >> as for his current staff, president trump gave high marks to his national security adviser and new chief of staff. but offered a far more la lackluster endorsement of jeff sessions. >> it's fine. it is what it is. it's fine. >> the president also reversed his administration's decision on the opioid crisis after his own secretary said that wasn't going to happen. today the president is expected to sit down and talk to u.n. ambassador nikki haley where north korea is expected to be on the top of the list of topics. >> joe, thank you very much.

did you have it is what it is out there? did you guys use that phrase or not so much? >> i don't recall it being particularly regional, but i believe everyone kind of uses it is. >> it is a very big fixture of parlance where the president grew up and i grew up. it explains everything any further. it is what it is is kind of like i don't have anywhere else to go. so the approximate the thanks vladimir putin toungue in cheek for kicking out hundreds of u.s. diplomats. what kind of message does that send to other american diplomats around the world who may want to put pressure on america by expelling diplomats? we discuss the cheekiness next.

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sure, i've taken discounts to new heights with safe driver and paperless billing. but the prize at the top is worth every last breath. here we go. [ grunts ] got 'em. ahh. wait a minute. whole wheat waffles? [ crying ] why! . president trump a first public comment since russia expelled hundreds of american diplomats is drawing some criticism. he did not condemn the move by vladimir putin. in fact, he did just the opposite. >> no, i want to thank him, because we're trying to cut down on payroll. as far as i'm concerned, i'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people, because now we have a smaller payroll. there's no real reason for them to go back. so i greatly appreciate the fact that they've been able to cut our payroll for the united states. will save a lot of money.

>> we want to discuss this now with cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris alizza, john avlon and phil mudd. >> just look at their faces again on the intro. there was no attempt to maintain any type of decorum. >> he says there's no reason for them to go back. he's approaching this sort of as a ceo talking about job cuts by attrition. that's what he's saying. that's not how this works. phil mudd. >> there's a couple things you've got to think about. the president of the united states with american friends keeps talking about press prospecti reciprocity. the russians eliminate hundreds of jobs from the embassy and the president of the united states says nothing. that's great. there is one personal point i

think is very painful for american officials who have dealt with foreign policy. it is august, 2017. there's a lot of diplomats coming home from russia who have to find a school for their kid. how about if the president says thank you for their service instead of denigrating the fact that they worked in moscow. a little bit of thanks to the people who woerked overseas for the american population instead of saying thanks to vladimir putin. >> a question of style or something else in play? >> i see something neelse in pl. let's acknowledge the fact this isn't how government budgeting works. they don't order him them out of the country and the u.s. saves money. putin doesn't control payroll. you do. second thing and more important, find me one example where donald trump has not lost an opportunity to suck up to vladimir putin when asked a tough question. even when conservative commentators have said he's a

killer, the best he'll day is say there's lots of killer. every time he gets pressed on vladimir putin, donald trump, president of the united states, finds a way to praise him or deflect blame. that is at some point what it is to use one of donald's phrases. that looks like what it is. someone who has a reason, a compunction, an impulse to never say anything that could be construed as a criticism of the leader of russia. >> you hate that phrase. >> i do. i'm not going to spend my time crying it is what it is because it is what it is. i think what you're seeing -- i grew up watching boxing. in boxing if a guy gets hit with a solid pinch, a lot of times it's like it didn't hurt me, i'm totally fine. i think that's what trump was going for here, to show putin, you that, i'm going to joke about it and let it roll off my back. the point, however, that john

and phil make, you're talking about 700 plus lives affected by this. number two, you can't joke about certain things. he has a tendency, he does this a lot, to joke about things that are frankly not terribly funny. and you can never tell he's joking or if he's not. if you played that clip five times, i've watched it five times, i think he means it tongue in cheek and meant to say you didn't hurt us. >> but there's no reason to go back, it kind of makes you think he wasn't joking. >> i mean, he lives in constant state -- the entire campaign was wait, does he mean that or -- i mean, that's literally the entire campaign was spent trying to puzzle out, he says these things that are purposely controversial, but with enough wiggle room where he often would say i'm just joking, i'm just kidding around and you couldn't disprove it but you also couldn't prove it. he lives in that space. >> that may be his style, i i'm

a tough guy, i like to joke around. >> if the boxing boxing -- inst go on a three day twitter rant against the leader of his own party in congress. >> let's play a little sound of that. this is the latest back and forth between the president and the senate majority leader who stands at the middle of getting everything done that the president wants to achieve. >> i'm very disappointed in mitch, but if he gets these bills passed, i'll be very happy with him. i'll be the first to admit it. honestly, repeal and replace of obamacare should have taken place. it should have been on my desk virtually the first week that i was there or the day that i was there. i've been hearing about it for seven years. >> look, phil mudd, that would be an unreasonable expectation, because phil, on many points, you've got to give the fair balance of criticism to what we're hearing from the panel. whatever is done in the interest of style doesn't seem to be productive. here i think would suggest the

president has high ground. the republicans had been promising to do this. this was a big part of the campaign. he did also go heavy on it. the president himself as a candidate. mcconnell hasn't delivered. he has high ground and winds up being how does he deal with this relationship, what do you make of this back and forth. >> i think you're right, he has hi half high ground. >> how do you have half high ground? don't vacillate on me, mudd, that's not who you are. >> i understand you took your ugly pills this morning. >> oh, why do you laugh? >> i wasn't laughing. you're on my side. >> it is what it is, chris. >> it is what it is and you're hideous. i think there's something critically important. i don't think the issue here is repeal. i think the issue is replace. if the republicans had something to offer people like me, i have the affordable care act and my provider just said they're not signing occu signing up on january 1st.

the president is right to critique mitch mcconnell. the president did receive the bid from the republicans last summer. he's been in office since january. my question would be where is the conversation over the past year about a sophisticated replace plan so americans and the congress would say we're okay with repeal because we know what happens afterward. at some point you've got to own it. a year after winning the nomination, i think you have enough time to come up with a reasonable replace plan. i haven't seen it. >> and also to that point, phil makes a good point, yesterday we had senator ron johnson on here, one the first republicans i've heard where he said maybe repeal and replace didn't work, we've got to leave that alone. let's find what's wrong and fix it. he came on. you can look online and see a lot of his economic reckoning. maybe that's starting to go in the right direction. i appreciate that, guys, thanks for stepping up, brianna. nice of you. >> but they share responsibility, right? that's what happens. the president shares some of the responsibility. that's how it goes. >> that's how it goes.

please. riveting testimony, really fascinating from pop superstar taylor swift about the denver d.j. who allegedly groped her. what she told the judge next on "new day." reciproc these days families want to be connected 24/7.

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declared in new orleans. the city's water pumping system mal functioning after last week's rains and flash floods. scrambling to repair kwaequipme that was damaged at a power plant wednesday night. there are more storms on the way. let's get to meteorologist chad myers. to remind people the sensitivity of this area flooding and how little they have working for them in battling against this. >> parts of new orleans, chris, are 7 feet below sea level. they didn't start out 7 feet below sea level, but the whole city has been sinking over time. here's what's going on. heavy, heavy rain showers occurring across the country today. and especially across the gulf coast. this is where the rainfall will be the heaviest. this is where is has been the heaviest. 2 to 4 inches already across the area. the ground is saturated.

we will see the showers pop up in new orleans, also to the east of there. the heaviest rain doesn't get there until tomorrow. it's not a matter of can they get the water out. the pumps have do move the water out of the city. the water cannot drain . if it drains it goes down to the deepest part which is still where people live. >> chad myers, thank you for that report. president trump is undercutting another top adviser declaring the opioid crisis a national emergency right after his health and human services secretary said it wasn't necessary to do so. we'll bring back our panel to discuss next. forhas adapted to my weightic and shape... so i sleep deeply... and wake up ready to perform. only exclusive retailers carry tempur-pedic. find yours at tempurpedic.com.

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the opioid crisis is an emergency and i'm saying officially right now it is an emergency. it's a national emergency. we're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis. >> the president's strong and clear on an issue that matters more every day to families all across this country. one problem. there's someone who disagrees with him and it's the guy in charge of making it a national emergency. health secretary tom price said it wasn't necessary to make opioids a national emergency situation. let's bring back chris and john. you have two things. one, you have opioids which is an area of coverage we really own on this show. we have a big documentary coming out about opioids. you saw what poppy did about the

scope of addiction across this country country. it matters. it can't be taken seriously enough. now you have the second issue which is is he ever on the same page with his people which is not just about style or language but efficiency and action plan within government. >> right. so i think you're smart to separate it out because i do think regardless of the second point, the first point is important, which is there will now be resources dedicated to this. there are real things that come with declaring this a national emergency. .2 is the answer is no, is he ever really on the same page. he acts and talks and then the people in and around him have to react and try to make policy around those things. it happens again and again. north korea is an example. this is an example. immigration is an example. we're going to build a big beautiful wall. how do we do that? how do we fund it? what does it logistically look like? and i don't think he really -- i don't know if he isn't aware

that he's contradicting people who have said other things that work for him or he doesn't care. again, i think every day donald trump gets up. it's clean desk and he just goes. yesterday is not that important. tomorrow is not that important. i always turn to that met fa forin art of the deal. he comes in every morning. no meetings plan no. sk his desk is clear and he lets the day come to him. i see no reason to think that's different than what he's doing now. >> i wonder what's the matter with saying it is a national emergency, especially when by all accounts -- >> nothing except it's a term of art, even if there's certain funding streams, certain mechanisms. >> but even so, i mean, he's under fire. his administration is under fire for maybe not -- for not putting more toward it. >> no. you're exactly right. there's nothing wrong with calling it a national emergency. if anything it's overdue. it was a major campaign promise. the country is hurting.

there are pockets in this country that are suffering enormously. not enough room at the morgue. so making this officially declaration of emergency actually has enormous practical benefit for people and communities and states that are hurting. the larger point is it's more evidence of this administration is not a well-oiled machine. there is a degree of governing. what i look forward to further reporting is on why secretary price came out and said we don't need this. what was that debate? because his opioid commission disagreed and said it should be. this decision was made a bit on the cuff without secretary price's consultation. >> the big space for criticism is of price. this isn't the first time he said something that seems to run afoul of what the president wants but may be what's best for the country. the opyoioid thing is where the president needs to jump on t. he

was in new hampshire standing with firefighters. i have never seen first responders under pressure in dealing with this crisis. they don't call themself firefighters. they're doing moreover dose calls than they are fighting fires. he promised them help and it hasn't come. more sound for you of once again the president running afoul of his own people, picking fights with his own. here's the latest, not just about opioids, but with jeff sessions and how it's going to go with the new chief of staff. >> it's fine. it is what it is. it's fine. he's working hard on the border. i'm proud whaf we'of what we've the border. i'm very proud of kelly because of what he's done on his outstanding job on the border. >> if you're jeff sessions first of all you've endured plenty from the president, but it's fine and then i hate to even repeat the words, but it is what

it is. and then the pivot to john kelly, he's a good guy. it would be like if you walked in the street afterwards and somebody said i saw john and chris on your show today. yeah, chris -- yeah, john avlon, great guy. that probably does happen. but how does that -- if you're jeff sessions, it's brutal. i mean, it's not new. he's clearly sort of -- he will like jeff sessions to go do another job, but he's not willing to fire him. >> jeff sessions has been, like, checked into the locker by the high school bully and it feels like love and affirmation. this is clearly like a dis fuch functional relationship. he loves generals. also the praise of mcmaster is significant because mcmaster has come under so much fire from the alt-right and that's a significant step. if that coalition can stand together, that bodes well for the white house and its policy.

>> i love that word because it's a special word, fine, it always mean it's not fine. right? >> like saying it is what it is. so the president waging a war of words on two different fronts. the first one is north korea. the other his most important republican ally. where is it working for the president better in either situation? we'll take it on. usiness." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. if they knew just howers rich they were.ed the average american home value has increased $40,000 over the last 5 years. but many don't know you can access that money without refinancing or selling your home. with a home equity loan, you can pull cash out of your house for anything you need- home improvement, college tuition,

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the president likes to engage adversaries. he likes tough talk. we're seeing that happen on two dch different levels right now. one is the leader of north korea. you know what's going on there. the other is with the leader of his own party in the senate, mitch mcconnell. how is the strategy working in each instance? let's discuss. we have ben ferguson and scott jennings. jennings is a former special assistant to president george w. bush. ben ferguson has a heck of a radio show. let's start with north korea.

why does this matter? well, checks every box of concern. scott jennings, presidents in the past, obama, he wouldn't even talk about it. i will talk. somebody needs to. how is it working? >> well, i like the president's tough stance on north korea and it's true, actually. other u.s. presidents have made not dissimilar statements to donald trump. at one point barack obama actually said no u.s. president will ever accept a north korean regime with nuclear missiles. that's a pretty clear statement coming from a different administration. i think there's a lot of liberal hammering today about the president's tough talk, but it's not all together dissimilar than what we've heard from other presidents and frankly i think the american people want someone s to stand up to north carry. they've taken our restraint and built a nuclear missile. that's a bad thing. >> the question ist raises, though, is to what end?

the reason you see leaders being measured is because they don't want to take the next step, because the next step is in this situation -- taking the president at a minimum, let's mitigate his words for the purpose of this. fire and fury the likes of which response the world has never seen. let's assume it has to have something to do with military action. boy, would that be a big commitment for the united states. that's why we've seen such measured language in part. so where's the balance of talking tough versus what you expose yourself to in terms of risk? >> look, i don't think there's much of an issue here with exposing yourself to risk when you're saying the foreign policy, the united states of america is to protect and defend the home land and our allies and we're not going to allow you to continue down the road you're on right now. the president also understands i think very clearly that the patient diplomacy road has been a disaster.

people say you need to not say that because we don't know that he can actually guide in one of his missiles into a direct hit on an actual target. i think for kim jong-un it's pretty clear in america anywhere is a good target and we've allowed thoim g allowed him to get to that point where he can accomplish it. i think the president's words are measured. i think it's a new day when it comes to how we're going to deal with him. we're not going to punt to the international community and we're not going to punt to china when china has done nothing to prevent it. >> what are you suggesting? let's say he puts missiles into the water near guam. what are you going to do? take military action against north korea? what are they going to do? immediately almost attack the dmz. almost immediately do something to japan. and then where does it go from

there? i don't know the casualness of the embrace of tough talk here when it could lead to an eventuality that the united states has zero appetite for. >> well, i think the other people that don't really have any appetite for armed conflict over there is china. i think the president's words are a message to north korea. but they are a message to the chinese government that we're going to take a tougher posture here. it's a signal to them you need to get in the rein and rein in north korea. >> and russia did as well. >> that the chinese get it. >> so you're hoping it increases the urgency there and will lead to de-escalation. fine. let's go do mitch mcconnell. ben, the president has high ground here. repeal and replace. that's what you republicans have been talking about for years and years. whether it was well-reasoned or not is beside the point. you're in a position of power. you're supposed to do it and you didn't. the president has high ground to

complain. but calling out mitch mcconnell in public when he needs him to empower the agenda, good move? >> yeah. mitch mcconnell is the next john boehner. it's time for him to move on. he's pretty much a useless senate majority leader and he obviously does not understand the american people and he doesn't understand what his job is. his job is to keep his members in line when all of them ran very clearly on repealing and replacing obamacare. if they didn't like the bill, whose false is that? it's not donald trump's fault. it's his fault for not leading and saying give me a good bill. mitch mcconnell is at this point meaningless and worthless to doing anything with obamacare. he cannot lead. he should not be in that position of power. that's the reason why donald trump got elected. it's the reason why many of his buddies who ran were complete failures in their presidential campaigns. they rejected people like

lindsey graham in this last election. i think it's clear his days are numbered or should be numbered. >> scott, you did a great job of keeping passive tv face there. do you want to own the same thoughts as ben? do you think mitch mcconnell has failed and needs to go? >> no. i'm going to disagree with my friend ben. >> i was wondering why there was such a good passive tv face. you couldn't see it, but it was a study of the craft. go ahead. >> the reality on obamacare is it's a bit of a miracle mcconnell ever got it to the floor in the first place and then got 49 votes. the three republicans who voted against it. two of them the president insulted or threatened in the weeks leading up to the vote and the third one is more liberal than every republican in the senate. the politics is a team sport. he and mitch mcconnell is on the same team. mcconnell got gorsuch confirmed. he just jammed through a bunch of his nominations despite the

obstruction of chuck schumer. be upset with chuck schumer. he's doing obstruction on all your nominations in the defense department, the state department. we've got a war coming with north korea. mitch mcconnell is your friend. chuck schumer is your enemy. make sure you understand what team you're on. >> different points but you guy his equal time. i've got to go. appreciate it. take a look at scott jennings passive face during what you were saying. it was a study in the art of the craft. >> chris, as you know, the nuclear tensions are rising between the u.s. and north korea. this reregigime is responding te president's latest rhetoric. we'll bring that to you at the top of the hour.

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. robert mueller thinks there was evidence of a crime in manafort's apartment. >> the president is in no way deferring to vladimir putin. >> i'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people. now we have a smaller payroll. >> this is the most ridiculous thing i have heard the president say in six months. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and allison. >> good morning.