women. >> on this most solemn of u.s. holidays we join with millions across the country in acknowledging the service and sacrifice. i'm jim acosta. thanks for watching. wolf blitzer will be back tomorrow. in the meantime erin burnett out front starts right now. out front next, president trump takes sides with north korea as a dictator who runs that country. what does he gain by doing that. plus the push to impeach donald trump. and why are so many people dying on the highest mountain in the world? let's go out front. good evening. i'm erica hill in for erin burnett tonight for this special edition of out front. out front tonight, president trump backed a dictator, siding

with north korea's kim jong-un over his own national security advisor and a major u.s. ally while he's standing just feet away as the president refuses to condemn north korea's recent testing of short range missiles. >> my people think it could have been a violation, as you know. i view it differently. i view it as a many perhaps he wants to get attention, and perhaps not. who knows? it doesn't matter. all i know is that there have been no nuclear tests, no ballistic missiles going out. there have been no long-range missiles going out. >> it doesn't matter, says the president. his own people think it could have been a violation but not the president. those people include national security advisor john bolton who said just two days ago there's, quote, no doubt the missile tests violate u.n. resolutions. japan's leader who was standing right next to president trump today in tokyo shares that view. and it's important to note these short range missiles we're talking about aren't capable of

hitting the u.s., but they could hit japan. so what's the president's take? >> you're not bothered at all by the small missiles? >> no, i'm not. i am personally not. >> again, japan's prime minister at that moment standing right next to president trump. and while mr. trump may not be bothered others are including members of the president's own party. >> japan does have reason to be concerned, and i am concerned as well. we need to see north korea back off of those activities, and we need to take a very strong stance on that. >> so why is the president ignoring his own national security advisor, members of his own party and a close u.s. ally? why is he backing a murderous dictator who killed his own uncle and half brother. who has imprisoned thousands of political enemies in gruesome conditions including starization and torture? a murderous dictator who imprisoned american student otto

warmbier, returning to him in a coma only to die days later. remember when the u.s. intelligence community determined russia had in fact meddled in the 2016 election this is what the president had to say. >> i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. i have president putin, he just said it's not russia. out front tonight katelyn collins is live in tokyo where the president is set to depart in about an hour. this visit was supposed to be about the strong alliance between president trump and shinzo abe, but instead it seems to now be about the president siding with kim over abe and over his own national security advisor. >> reporter: yeah, the last several days was full of pageantry, all of this pomp. you saw that on display and it was meant to reinforce the relationship between president

trump and prime minister abe. but when the reporter started asking questions at that press conference that's when you saw the sharp divide that exists underneath all of that pomp we've seen over the last several days. and north korea was front and center because the president had no problem brushing off those missiles fired from north korea, dismissing the concern even though he knows that prime minister abe shares a great concern for those and actually wants to make sure that america does take a hard line stance against north korea. he had had conversations with john bolton just two days prior where they agreed yes, those missiles did violate those u.n. resolutions and then the president was on stage and said, no, he greed. he actually didn't think they violated to resolutions and he wasn't that worried about them. you really saw even though prime minister abe has gone to great lengths not only to impress president trump but keep him in his good graces by having him be the first foreign leader to visit the crown pemmerer, you can still see their differentiates. the question going forward is what does prime minister abe

gain with president trump, the chummy relationship you see between the two of them. and even though on stage prime minister abe does believe these violate the resolutions, he still found a way to praise president trump and the approach he takes when it comes to north korea. >>icate l >> katelyn collins, out front tonight, thank you. juliette kayyem, and david gergen. david, if we begin with you the president is once again contradicting his own folks, his own team. he's contradicting an ally, one he's standing right next to. and as shocking as that may be there's also a part that makes you say, we've seen this movie before but i wonder how it ends. >> well, it normally ends when

someone as many disagreements that john bolton does with the president, that john bolton is on a short list for leaving. he's been undercut now on his views about north korea, about iran, undercut on his views about venezuela and what the russians are doing there. when you have three strikes against your own president, that's not good news for him. but i must say i think the president is playing politics with this. i think he's less interested in the technology than he is in trying to convince people back home that he's making progress with north korea. and he wants to make that a big deal. he wants to be able to show that he's -- for all this time he's had working with the north koreans, if he were to acknowledge that they're testing ballistic missiles, for example, even short range, that would heavily suggest that after all this time he's back to square zero, that he really hasn't accomplished anything. and i think that's not in his play book for 2020. >> which is a fascinating way

when you put it in that context. he seems to be reciprocating when it comes to kim. i just want to play a little bit more of what he had to say. take a listen. >> he's very much into the fact that he believes like i do that north korea has tremendous economic potential like perhaps few other developing nations anywhere in the world. and i think that he is looking to develop that way. he knows that with nuclear that's never going to happen. only bad can happen, he understands that. he is a very smart man. he gets it well. >> she's a very smart man, he gets it. he's got the flattering going on there, but to david's point, president trump also doesn't want to be seen as someone who could not make this work. is he being played in this instance by kim? >> i think that trump is being played by kim, you know, because kim has not reciprocated trump's gestures, and one of those gestures is just not enforcing u.n. security council resolutions. those short range tests are

violations of u.n. security resolutions and trump's not acknowledging that. and he's also given passes to the chinese and russians and south koreans on sanctions violations. and i think what's happening here is trump wants to give kim an opportunity to really sort of reciprocating. and also he also tries to peel north korea away from china. so that's what i think is also involved here. >> it leads for this administration, to a lot of cleanup. >> yeah, it absolutely does. look, i have been struggling to figure out how you describe the trump doctrine, and i think after today i know how to describe it. it is the trump doctrine. >> in other words, it's all about trump. when you did those clips earlier i counted how many times he used i, me, my and personally, as if trump is the national interest. and i think that's how the president actually sees it. and once you can now understand that, there's no talk of a u.s. interest. there's no talk of an allied interest. there's no talk of an

intelligence community interest. it is about his perception as being flattered, is he being criticized, undermined and how he can save face. in this instance i will say trump is just trying to save face. kim clearly did something he did not anticipate. so, you know, it's like the boyfriend who breaks up with you and you're shocked and you say i didn't really like him anyway. this is where trump is right now. and the trump doctrine is just the best name for the trump doctrine. it is about him. >> we got a sense as to what his thoughts are at least publicly on where everything stands. this is what else he had to say about kim today. take a listen. >> i view it as a man, perhaps he wants to get attention and perhaps not. who knows? it doesn't matter. all i know is that there have been no nuclear tests. there have been no ballistic missiles going out. there have been no long-range missiles going out. >> david, to juliette's point,

if we listened to that and put it in the context of what she's described as the trump doctrine, it's all about how does it impact me. maybe in the broader context of the united states, but i think more how does it impact me. and he's saying this and standing next to his ally in this country that could be directly affected by those short range missiles. so what does that message of indifference -- what kind of message does that send not only to japan but to america's other allies? >> we've been here many times before, and i like juliette's description of the trump doctrine. i would almost call it the trump anti-doctrine. he doesn't have a strategy. he looked more presidential than we've seen in a long, long time. i thought he might come out of this whole thing with a high.

but when he started talking he got himself into trouble and showing i would be concerned if those missiles would hit the u.s., but japan, not so much. not my problem. you can imagine what that says to the japanese government down deep about how much they can actually rely on america in the event they're attacked by china or by others. this is the same issue we had with germany way back when after the second world war about whether they could really rely on us from stopping the russians from coming in. and they learned over time they could rely on us, and it was major for our leadership in the world. and if we want to be a leader in asia, you've got to be able stick with your friends and do it in a way they can rely upon. >> how damaging was that today, because we are seeing too publicly as you point out from japan, they're not necessarily coming out against president trump, right? they get, too, how they need to play this and play their wrong .

they know that they could work out. >> juliette, last word. >> so i think trump believes that america is relevant simply because we're american. i think what you're starting to see now after 2 1/2 exhausting years of sort of noncommitment and unreliable foreign policy is you are starting to see the orientation of whether it's europe or asia, canada or mexico, all heading elsewhere, whether that is china which if seems to be at this stage or

not. it takes a president to lead us that way, and i think what you're seeing with this sort of circle of events that we've been through before and will go through again, our lack of reliability is actually a sign of our weakness. and that will have long-term consequences well past this administration. >> juliette, david appreciate it. thank you all. out front next the president takes another swipe at joe biden, back up the comments of a dictator. >> plus the "i" word. nancy pelosi doesn't like it. but are democrats now coming around on impeachment. and the rising toll on mt. everest. is a traffic jam on the world's highest peak to blame? hurry into sam's club

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tonight president trump taking a swipe at his latest political target. former vice president joe biden. while also siding with a dictator. >> does it give you pause at all to be appearing to side with a brutal dictator instead of with a fellow american, the former vice president joe biden? >> well, kim jong-un made a statement that joe biden is a low iq individual. he probably is based on his record. i think i agree with him on that. >> the president echoing north korea's central news agency which speaks for kim and recently referred to biden as a quote, fool with low iq.

out front a member of president trump's 2020 re-elective advisory council. good to have you both with us tonight. the president doubling down on a tweet he sent on his way to japan with the same message about biden. how much stock are you putting in it? >> not any. i'll tell you it makes the president seem very weak, and it makes you ask the question what is it you're so afraid of, if you have to take the word of a murderous dictator when you're on foreign soil, nonetheless, on memorial day, nonetheless, you know, when they're attacking a potential rival but also a fellow american who has served this country. you may not agree with everything joe biden has done, but he's certainly served the country with honor and distinction. he's been a public servant for so so long and it makes you wonder, president trump what are you so afraid of? >> rob, i'll let you answer that. >> the answer is nothing.

but i think everybody needs to lithen up. really the faux outrage on the left about something like this. come on, he made those statements himself, the president did about joe biden. and this is the way he is. we know what he did to all the other republicans running against him in the primary 2 1/2 years ago. and he's going to hit and hit very, very hard. just as the democrats are all taking shots at the president. this is what we do in america. this is called a presidential campaign, and we're going to see much harder hits as we go forward. but i think joe biden, the hits he's going to get are from 23 other democrats, but they've got a lot to work with joe biden through a course of, you know, a lifetime when jimmy carter was president, and that's when joe biden started in congress. so i mean, there's a lot of things to go after joe biden on, and believe me the 23 other democrats are going to hit him much harder than trump will. i do have to pressure on one thing, rob.

even weighing in, he put this tweet out, quote it's memorial day weekend and you're taking a shot at biden while praising a dictator. this is just plain wrong. doesn't he have a point here, because it is memorial day. how, though, is this helping president trump. you're on the advisory council, how does it help him with his re-election? >> because i think the country sees it for what it is. but it wasn't the comment that the north korean agency made. it was a comment that president trump had made first. i mean, this is part of his nicknames, right? he tries to swat people down with the various nicknames. when it was said by somebody else, he didn't praise kim jong-un, he said this is what he said and i agree because he said it first. >> we should say, though, he has quit calling him smart man over

the weekend. >> your best defense president trump called him a name first so that makes it okay when a dictator called him a name. what are we 5? it's not the first time that president trump has sided with someone who is either a dictator or a foreign leader whose interests are not aligned with the united states. he has taken the word over vladimir putin, over our national security agents who have given him plenty of data and information about russian hacking. and he's stood there and several times and said putin called me so i believe him. and more horrifyingly he defended kim when the warmbiers came out and i mean what a heart breaking video to see mrs. warmbier talk about her child, and we know the horrible condition that their son otto was in when he was returned to the united states. i mean, there was a time in this country where people would be afraid to return an american in

that condition. clearly kim is not afraid of donald trump at all. so it's not just this one name-calling, this one time and it doesn't really matter who said it first. what matters is that this president time and time again will side with, you know, whoever it is convenient for him to do so to make himself look good rather than to be presidential, to be more magnanimous. >> go ahead. >> look, we can go back and forth on this all day long. you can go back and forth on anything. that's why we have you here. >> but again this is part of a presidential campaign, okay, and it cracks me up to hear the democrats go look at him, terrible, he's siding with a dictator. give me a break, okay? we've got people like bill de blasio and bernie sanders who can't even bring himself to go after maduro in venezuela as

it's falling apart and people are dying. that's where the democratic party itself is going. the comments the president actually made first, by the way -- to me it's hysterical this is the issue of the day. >> well, it's an issue that will come again. we're out of time tonight but there will be another opportunity. out front next nancy pelosi has kept impeachment talk in check so far, but is that about to change? and an american becomes the 11th person to die on mt. everest this cliepbing season. why overcrowding and inexperienced climbers are being blamed. [music (plays throughout): lack of afro - recipe for love]

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welcome back to a special edition of out front. tonight one of the most vocal democrats in favor of impeachic president trump claiming a majority of democrats will soon be onboard. despite opposition from house speaker nancy pelosi. here's freshman congresswoman ra'sheda talib. >> this is not about a 2020 election, but about doing what's right for our country. >> why do you think you can't convince a majority of house democrats it's time to impeach him? >> i think it's moving towards that. it's going to demand it. it already is. >> phil mattingically is out front. phil, are there more democrats today in the house moving towards impeachment? >> there are more democrats moving in that direction than there were two weeks ago and i think part of that is sheer frustration. where you looked at what the trump administration was doing related to witness testimony, related to document requests, related subpoenas, basically saying no at every single turn.

and democrats particularly early on last week were saying there has to be something else we can do to try to and get the information they say they need to conduct the wide ranging investigations they have. at the same time last week you saw two court cases come down at least on the district level on the side of house democrats. that's where you see speaker nancy pelosi saying in private meetings and to press that was evidence their strategy at least at this point was working. there's something key to remember here. one thing to note on launching on impeachment inquiry, the crucial committee on this issue start to move towards the direction of an impeach inquiry. as long as the chairman jerry nadler is not there yet and nancy pelosi has made clear she's not, likely they will not move in that direction. while more democrats are clearly moving in that direction the numbers are still not a majority of the caucus. and until that critical mass really forms you're not going to see the speaker move in that

direction. a comthings here to keep in mind. one, the reason why people are thinking about pursuing an impeachment inquiry think it'll give them a stronger case in court. from pelosi's perspective it's not just the politics of it but what's the end game here. knowing those republicans are likely not going to vote against the president on this, she doesn't want to turn what she calls a very divisive political issue into the only thing people discuss when a lot of democrats in 2018 won in districts trump won. the question now the momentum we saw sort of building last week, will that carry over or will those court hearings have the effect. >> out front now jamie ras kn, he sits on the house judiciary committee which would oversee potential impeachment proceedings. good to have you with us. we just heard some of the reporting there from phil. we heard representative talib said she believes democrats are

moving towards impeachment. she talked about the momentum. where do you think that momentum stands today based on your conversations? >> let me distinguish between impeachment articles and which is an indictment and an impeachment inquiry, whether we should proceed to articulate the standards and then apply them. i think that there is a lot of momentum towards an impeachment inquiry. and even as people go home over this break, they're hearing more and more from their constituents about it, and every day i think more people are signing onto it. but i think we should be very clear what they're signing onto. i think that whatever divisions are in the caucus has really been overstated. i think that there's a convergence of view we need everything on the table at this point, including the 25th amendment, including the impeachment clause, the speech and debate clause, the emoluments clause. we have a very unstable fluid situation with this president

who is the most reckless and norm destroying president of our lifetimes. and we need every tool in the constitutional tool kit on the table in order to respond effectively. and i think that the caucus has maintained a lot of cohesion, a lot of sense of focus and purpose about this as have millions and millions of american people who are really very anxious about what this president has been doing to our democracy. >> when it comes to an impeachment inquiry, which correct me if i'm wrong, you're in favor of in. >> those of us who have seen up close and personal the obstruction of justice both through the mueller report but also through all of the misconduct of the administration since then when the president made mystery in a completely unprecedented way by ordering people in the executive branch not to kwupt with congress, to violate subpoenas, to not turn over evidence. what we're seeing is contempt of

congress being imposed in a systematic and wholesale way by the administration. >> when it comes to this impeachment inquiry we know speaker pelosi is not there, and she's saying and i quote, she's not sure you would get any information with that. what do you think specifically this inquiry could bring you in terms of information, and what do you think it would take to convince speaker pelosi that the right path. >> speaker pelosi said this past week what we're seeing is an impeachment cover-up so i don't know how much distance there is between her and people who are moving on this. >> so are we misunderstanding what she's saying, because she's still come out pretty clearly saying she's not there yet. >> i think she's correctly pointing out as the leader of the u.s. house of representatives impeachment is, always has been and remains a remedy you only use under extraordinary circumstances.

and if it's going to be divisive or polarizing it should be disfavored. if it's going to be unifying people behind the constitution and rule of law, put the point about information is really important. what we're winning on is our article i power under the constitution to collect evidence, to engage in fact finding. so we're winning on the accountants, the mazor's case in the oversight committee, we're winning on the deutsche bank. but all of that is just evidence we're collecting, and it's evidence that pushes us more towards an impeachment inquiry because it's revealing more and more high crimes and misdemeanors. winning evidentiary skirmishes on their own is not a goal unto itself. all of it is instrumental to get the goods. >> i do want to quickly get your take on something else. in terms of bill barrophousp investigation into the origins of the russia probe sarah sanders was asked specifically this weekend whether the president would accept that

outcome. take a listen. >> we already know there was an outrageous amount of corruption that took place at the fbi. >> so the president is not going to accept exoneration if that's what bill barr finds? >> look, i'm not going to get ahead of what the final conclusion is, but we already know that there was a high level of corruption that was taking place. >> so she was asked if she would accept the conclusion everything was done legally. well, quick two part question, do you think a the american people will know, and b, will you be able to tell what was given by attorney general barr is an honest finding or the outcome the president and barr have decided on. >> it was an ilujiimate and deep state conspiracy and angry democrats and all this nonsense. it's an absolute paranoid

conspiracy theory the president has sold the attorney general on, and the attorney general shame fa shamefully, in a disgraceful show of -- says he's going to investigate the investigators. remember this is the theory that republicans were proceeding on in the judiciary inquiries into peter struck and lisa page, all they had against struck and page they had called the president a moron or idiot, and we can find you lots of comments by ted cruz and marco rubio where they said he's a compulsive liar and serial philanderer and unqualified for office. likely half of america or more have said. >> congressman, appreciate your time tonight. thank you. >> delighted to be with you. >> out front next 11 deaths already this climbing seen on

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tonight a second american has died on mt. everest bringing the death toll this season to 11. the family of christopher coolish, a lawyer from colorado

said the 62-year-old died doing what he loved. this has been an extraordinarily dangerous and crowded season on everest. robin hanes figtser where british mountaineer who died on saturday wrote in his last social media post he chose that day to summit for one reason. i am hopeful to avoid the crowds on summit day, he wrote, and it seems like a number of teams are pushing to summit on the 21st. i am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people, unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game. out front now an expert who's climbed mt. everest four times. he runs a blog on the climbing season. there's been so much talk about why the death toll is so high now at 11 this season. is it the overcrowding? is it too many permits? what do you attribute it to? >> you know, this is week of celebration for people with lifelong dreams but the grieving

back home for 11 families just trumps that. you know, there's a combination of three different factors all the way from a limited number of suitable days to summit. it was down from 11 last year to five this year. and a record number of permits issued from the nepal government to an increase in the number of inexperienced people on the mountain. >> you add all that up and we see sadly what the result has been. we've been looking at these pictures and there's one in particular that just shows this thin line of climbers snaking up to the summit. when you're there we know the oxygen is thin. there's that challenge, but looking at a line like this, how is there even room to pass for those who are coming down and others who may be trying to go up? how does that work? >> erika, you nailed it. that particular line, that particular picture is showing

them go through the notoriously steep section. it used to be rocky and now it's a snow slope. but still somewhat narrow with a 3,000 foot drop off on either side. there's a safety line everyone is clipped into for safety. so passing coming up or going down is almost impossible. on the 23rd of this year we saw the most crowds this season because that was the day predicted to be the best weather. you had a lot of people that had already summited while many people were still trying to go up, approximately 300 that day alone. and that pictures just captures just an unacceptable situation. >> what do you think needs to change, and do you think these 11 deaths will in fact lead to change? >> well, i looked at all 11 deaths to get an analysis of them, and in my opinion only 4 of the 11 were related to the crowds. the rest were either a heart failure, some type of altitude

sickness or a fall. this happened in 2006 and then again in 2012 when they were 11 deaths in a very similar shortened weather window season. in my opinion, the only way to address this because you're not going to address the crowds. you have to address the competency of both the climbers as well as the guides. you know, there's zero requirement to be able to climb mt. everest on the nepal side. all you have to do is give the government $11,000 and find a guide that will take you up there. and there are plenty of guides out there that are more than happy to charge you $30,000 and cut corners in a lot of different places compared to the old guard that used to charge $45,000 and $60,000. so it's become a buyer beware market and people are being seduced by the low prices. >> thank you. >> thank you. out front next, ahead of this memorial day the army asked veterans how has serving impacted you. the responses were full of pride and lots of pain. and president trump gives

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gave their lives while serving. >> for the story of those remembered today is one of extraordinary sacrifice. it's a story of lives cut short, of hopes and dreams never realized. it's also a story of sacrifice for the families left behind. >> this tweet from the army, how has serving impacted you, generating thousands of responses. raw, emotional, many of them heart breaking responses. i'm in constant pain every day, and i think about killing myself. another reads, depression, anxiety, still can't deal well with loud noses. i was assault by one of my superiors. also this, a combat cocktail. ptsd, severe depression, anxiety, isolation, suicide attempts, never ending rage. it cost me my relationship with my eldest son and my grandson. out front now the founding director of the new york city veterans alliance who served three tours in afghanistan for with the army. she's given 25 years of service to this country. we appreciate you coming in

today. >> thanks so much for having me. >> this really started quite a conversation and the question itself a great one. how has your service these responses, did you think this is what the army expected? >> we're going on 18 years of war, continuous war in multiple countries. the cost of these wars has been borne by our military, by our veterans community, by their families, who often feel invisible, ignored, and i think with this tweet, it's so evident that veterans have so much to say that they haven't been heard on over these 18 years. and we also heard this twitter thread from individuals who served or whose families served well prior to 9/11. it shows that our veterans and military community really needs to be heard. >> they need to be heard. we know too -- i mean the numbers are staggering every

time we hear them, but these are coming from the v.a. as many as 20% of veterans from operations iraqi freedom and enduring freedom are now living with ptsd. they also give us the numbers on suicide. from 2008 to 2016, more than 6,000 veterans have died as a result of suicide every year. this is becoming more of a conversation. how much, though, do you think these tweets and even the conversation we're having right now may lead to a more constructive conversation in actually dealing with things? >> we can't talk enough about it. it's wonderful that this is getting attention, that this really struck a chord with people to see the individual stories. these are the stories that we see in the veterans community all the time. it's why veterans have -- they came back from vietnam, and they formed organizations to advocate for veterans who were being left behind or unserved by the resources that were there for them. they created resources that they needed. veterans returning from the wars that feel especially forgotten in the '80s and the '90s,

they've needed resources this whole time. but veterans en masse have come back from our wars in iraq, afghanistan, and elsewhere to advocate for the veterans who are telling these stories, for the family members left behind by veterans that we've lost to suicide, to overdose, to all of these issues. but also veterans can feel isolated, and they can come home and be the great leaders that we've been trained to be and come home and work great jobs and do great things, but still feel very isolated and forgotten by a nation that barely remembers that it's still at war. we have colleagues, friends, families, loved ones who are still overseas because that's part of our community. and so much america, while well meaning in saying we support our troops, we appreciate our veterans, they're not learning these stories. >> we have about 30 seconds left, but i want to make sure you have the time. when you pause on memorial day, who is it that you think of?

>> there are so many. there are so many that i think of. in three deployments there are so many stories, so many names, individuals who i worked with in our task force, americans, coalition nations, afghan forces, names and faces i remember. but what i wear on my wrist is the name of sergeant roger p. pena. he died by enemy fire in afghanistan in 2006, and i remember him especially today. >> thank you for sharing that with us. thank you for coming in today, and thank you for lending your voice to the conversation. i hope we can continue it. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. outfront next, a lighter note, jeanne moos on president trump's gift to the emperor of japan.

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president trump is wrapping up his trip in japan, one that included a traditional exchanging of signed photos with the emperor. but there's nothing traditional about one of their signatures. here's jeanne moos. >> it's a big one. >> reporter: not just big. it's enormous. it's colossal. it's huge! marking his territory. when it comes to president trump's signature, even oldsters won't be needing their reading glasses. why? why is his signature so big, someone tweeted. author j.k. rowling responderesi didn't believe in graphology until about three minutes ago. she linked to a site analyzing what large handwriting means. an independent handwriting expert confirmed. >> the size of the signature correlates with narcissism, with ego, with a grandiose sense of self-importance. the size alone equals i'm so important, i don't need to obey margins. i can just scribble like i'm a

movie star or a rock star. >> reporter: or president or a best-selling author. trump supporters dug up j.k. rowling's signature. i guess you're no different than. >> you know, it's funny because she is throwing stones about donald trump, but she also has a really big signature, which i think is a success trait. >> reporter: that goes for both of them, but graphologist bart baget says rolling exhibits a fluid, feminine flow, while president trump's signature looks like a hacksaw. >> it's sharp, angular, scissor-like "m"s and "n"s, which basically is a lack of compassion. >> reporter: tweeted one critic, it looks like the result from a polygraph. he's lying of course. a polygraph, a seismograph. since we're comparing size, the handwriting expert's signature is no shrimp, though perhaps not trumpian. internet tranksteres keep changing the president's signature. when it comes to presidents and

authors, the writing's not just on the wall. it takes up the whole wall, and it can take big hands to sign a big signature. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thanks for joining us. ac 360 starts right now. good evening and good memorial day. today means so much to anyone who has lost someone in war thyme service to the country. it's a day to remember their sacrifice but also to honor the commitment that we all share from the commander in chief on down to the men and women who are serving right now all around the world. vice president pence marked the day by visiting arlington national cemetery where he spoke about efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff with north korea. more than 33,000 american service men and women died in the korean conflict. some are buried here, and as you know, it's a war that never formally ended. right now approximately 30,000 u.s. troops are stationed in south korea with more than twice that number posted to japan in part to deter