. thank for joining us on this friday night. don't forget you can watch out front anytime. go to cnn go. anderson starts right now. the president first said you will soon find out about military action against iran. then he took no action against iran. now new remarks tonight. he is threatening if it comes to war, quote, o bl-- that is the breaking news. in the wake of president trump's decision to abort a strike on iran just minutes before it was set to begin, and it is not the only breaking news. also tonight a new and very serious allegation against the president. a woman coming forward accusing the president of the united states in terrifying detail of sexually assaulting her. we begin with iran. cnn's abby phillip joins us now from the white house.

abby, the president speaking to nbc tonight and seemingly simultaneously promising the possibility of military action but also saying he wants to talk. >> well, jim, the tough talk from president trump is back from president trump in this interview with nbc news. even as he explains his decision to hold off on that attack on iran that was expected last night, the president is also saying that he wants to talk and if iran doesn't want to talk and wants to threaten the united states instead, that there could be consequences. listen. >> i'm not looking for war and if there is there will be obliteration like you've never seen before. you can't have a nuclear weapon. you want to talk, good. otherwise you'll have a bad economy for the next three years. >> any preconditions? >> not as far as i'm concerned. >> the president is using a similar strategy with iran he has tried to use in other parts of the world, notably north korea.

so far it doesn't seem iran has any interest in talking to president trump at the moment. >> the strategy hasn't worked with north korea. do we know exactly why the president changed his mind at the last minute? he tweeted that this was about the number of iranian casualties estimated, but that's typically information you would get long before a strike was planned. >> well, the president never wanted to do this strike really in the first place. he has been kind of dragged along to this conclusion all along and has been resistant to this idea that there should be military action with iran. and so as he came into this decision making process over the course of the day, he was getting the input from his national security advisers who were according to our reporting unanimous in their view that a military strike was warranted here. but even while president trump says that this happened in the last ten minutes, our reporting is that he was briefed on the casualties earlier in the day, but our sources also say that that wasn't internalized until much later for him. and in those last few minutes or

even that last hour, the president decided 150 casualties was too much for him. he believed that an unmanned drone strike was not an equivalent to a u.s. strike that would ultimately result in iranian casualties. so that is why he ended up at this decision that he, frankly, did not want to go into military action in the first place. >> abby phillip at the white house. thank you. there is new reporting as well on the dimensions of the aborted strike and how this all un folded with the people who would have carried it out. cnn's barbara starr has that. she joins us from the pentagon. to abby phillip's point, you've worked at the pentagon for years during several administrations. is it standard protocol for the president to find out about the estimated casualties on the ground just minutes before a strike is under way? >> well, i suppose one of the things is there are no standard protocols with this administration. he says he found out just

beforehand. typically, you know, a president would be very involved for some period of time in looking at plans for a military strike. but this one ramped up very fast. the president was concerned about this, but we also know that u.s. military commanders were very clear that they could not assure the president even with a limited strike how iran might react and that it would not set off a wider war and by all accounts that was something that military commanders communicated their great concern about to the president. >> i spoke to a senior administration official this afternoon who said that the president's focus now is back on sanctions, not looking immediately at military options. from the pentagon, from your post there, do you see preparations to at least keep those military options open and how quickly could that happen? >> sure. i mean, you know, u.s. warplanes, u.s. warships will remain on station in the middle east with a very high state of readiness as they have been for

some time. don't expect to see any of that go away. and therefore, if iran were to conduct another provocation, they would be ready to respond at the president's orders. i think that's where we really are going into the weekend, jim. the u.s. very much on hold now waiting to see what iran does next if anything. jim. >> that's quite a turnaround in 24 hours. barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks very much. the president's turnaround has drawn criticism including from members of his own party some of whom seem to have rethought their views of just 24 hours ago. li listen to senator lindsey graham shortly after his briefing on iran at the white house. >> all i can tell you, if you're not willing to stand up to aggression, you're going to get hurt. this is an enemy of mankind. if you're not willing to take this enemy on, you'll regret it. >> full of venom and vigor there. that was a few hours before this

operation would have taken place. today, though, a very different message, some might say contradictory from the now hawkish senator. quoting from his tweet, i appreciate president donald trump's desire to be measured and thoughtful when it comes to iranian provocation. what will be the response if they follow through to restar nuclear enrichment? i hope the united states will make this a red line. that's one senator's view or views in 24 hours the case may be. now some thoughts from a republican congressman who also has red lines on his mind. ad adam kinzinger. he is now a lieutenant colonel in the air national guard. we spoke earlier this evening. >> congressman, on twitter today you compared president trump's turnaround on iran to obama's turnaround, famous withdrawal from the red line on syria. you think there's a direct comparison here. tell us why. >> i certainly think there is a

risk. look, the president has every right to not strike and i disagree with that decision. i think the problem is how publicly this played outputting out basically an era, putting out a line and backing away from it. if you remember back in 2013 when the president said the use of chemical weapons will result in x, y, and z, the prosecute be is when he didn't do it, people turned around and didn't it seriously and there will be a cost. i worry about in this case. the way this played out today is actually pretty hurtful in the long run. >> to your credit, congressman, you are a rare republican who will disagree with this president. you certainly agree with him on a number of things, but when you think he's crossed a line, you will say that. why aren't more republicans in a case like this where the parallels are frankly clear and you could say president trump got even closer this time before pulling back, why does so few of

your fellow republicans, why are so few of them willing to do so? >> so today i've actually seen there have been a number, not everybody, but there have been a number of people that have spoken out and been concerned with this. but i think a lot of it comes down to he's the commander in chief. they want to support him 37 he's obviously the commander in chief of the same party they are and there's a concern. quite frankly, jim, and you know this because you talk to a lot of members of congress, a lot of members of congress don't know a ton of details about foreign policy, so it's hard for them to jump to we should have done this or this should have been the response or the reason. i think in the bottom line of this is if iran uses a weapon to take out an asset of united states of america, they ought to lose that weapon. >> to be fair, yes, the president is commander in chief, but president obama was commander in chief and republicans at the time took no issue in laying into him, president trump among them, for breaking through that red line. >> you're absolutely right. and i remember in 2013 how vocal i was with my own party.

i said you have to treat president obama and this decision with the same standard you would treat a republican president. you would give a republican president the authority to do this and if you remember, there was some in kind of the extremes of our party that said we don't want to give this president leverage to do it. i think that's happening in the democrats with president trump on some of this. the reality is if you were here in 2013 and you made statements and you see the similarities, you have to be consistent. that's the message i send to my friends everywhere. >> i spoke to a senior administration official this afternoon who said that now the white house is again focusing simply on economic sanctions against iran, not military options. that's a pretty remarkable turnaround. this time last night the country was bracing itself if not for war, for military action and now that seems to be off the table at least for now. what does that herky jerk if you want to call it or that whiplash on policy, what does that do to

american credibility in the region? >> i think that remains to be seen. i think the sanctions are working. i think they are devastating iran which is why iran is lashing out like they are. i still, again, i will like to see at least the destruction of the site that took out this drone at the very minimum, but that said it's not happening. what does it do to the credibility? i think it depends how it plays out from here. if iran does another thing similar to that, i think they would be underestimating the president to think that he again wouldn't act. i think the pressure is on him enough. i think he came close enough that any other provocation would actually lead to a strike probably bigger than was planned last night. so i think this will be judged in history. it may be a blip we never talk about again. it may be a defining moment either way, but time will have to play this out. >> congressman, always good to have you on the broadcst. >> you bet. see you. there's more inside the white house reporting on this next. maggie haberman will join us along with someone who had to speak for the pentagon and the

state department on occasions like this one. later more breaking news. the author who just accused the president of sexually assaulting her and the president's reply tonight. also how presidential candidate and -- i should say south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg handled a verbal barrage from his constituents over the police shooting he has pulled away from his campaign to handle. ♪ ♪ find calm in over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. it's another way we've got your back. the business platinum card from american express. don't do business without it. bill's back needed a afvacation from his vacation. an amusement park... so he stepped on the dr. scholl's kiosk. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relieve foot, knee, or lower back pain. so you can move more. dr. scholl's. born to move. since my dvt blood clot i was thinking... cother around the corner? or could it turn out differently? i wanted to help protect myself.

my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot... almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. ...and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda approved and has both. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be surprising. ask your doctor about eliquis. i've got an idea. ooh, what is it? what if we give the people

iphone 10r when they join t-mobile? for a limited time join t-mobile and get the awesome iphone 10r on us. ♪

with licensed agents available 24/7. it's not just easy. it's having-a-walrus-in-goal easy! roooaaaar! it's a walrus! ridiculous! yes! nice save, big guy! good job duncan! way to go! [chanting] it's not just easy. it's geico easy. oh, duncan. stay up. no sleepies.

obliteration obliter as we try to puzzle out what went into president trump's literally last minute decision to stop an operation against iran that was either already in progress or nearly so, it is worth considering what he believes now that he got out of it. cnn political analyst and "new york times" white house correspondent maggie haberman has some new reporting on that. she tweeted out this morning, i'm quoting now, a source told me 30 minutes ago that trump was pleased with his own performance last night, loved being in command by ordering the strikes and then ordering the stand down

and the president just tweeted it. as always, she gets a twelielli quote. john kirby who served as a spokesman during the obama administration. i wonder how the president can feel he comes out looking good here when he backed off from what appeared to be a red line by his own definition here and of course he laid into president obama for backing off his red line on syria in 2013. is he convinced that he looks strong here? >> i think that even if he isn't convinced, he's going to say that he is, but he appeared very happy according to everyone i spoke with who was in contact with him. he liked the power of it. he liked being able to approve a strike and then pull it back while it was in process, but before anything had actually been fired. look, it's still not clear. there's a lot that you put it very well. we are trying to tease out this puzzle of what happened

yesterday. there's still a lot of questions about what exactly went down, what this new information was that he got. the strike was on according to multiple sources and then suddenly it wasn't. i know that the president said publicly that the reason was that he had learned about the loss of life. we've been told by other people he was told much earlier in the day about what the potential casualties were, whether he was actually, you know, felt that he had been fully briefed, whether he was fully aware of what was being put in front of him, i don't know. i think there is still more to learn about this episode. >> admiral kirby, you've been involved in meetings where military action like this was discussed and decided. is it credible to you that a president, the commander in chief, would find out 10 minutes or 30 minutes, the president has given two different time frames, but 10 or 30 minutes before the missiles are fired in effect about the estimated casualties on the ground? in this case an estimate of 150 iranians possibly killed on the ground. does that make sense? >> no, it's not incredible in terms of whether he was briefed

or not at that late time. i know for a fact he would have been briefed much earlier than that. look, the civilian casualty or even just the enemy casualty estimates as well as any collateral damage estimates by a munitions package is always in the up front of the brief that's given to the commander in chief or to the commander ordering or potentially ordering a strike. it's laid out right in the beginning. it's like the first powerpoint slide. here's what it's going to cost in terms of potential life. i'm confident that he had to have been briefed very early on for this. now, whether he digested it, whether he internalized it, where he understood t i agree with maggie, i don't think we know. maybe they did have to come back to him right before with another reminder. maybe he did ask for that. i don't know. or it's possible he's using it for an excuse for what might have been a politically motivated decision. i don't know. >> this president has defined his foreign policy to some

degree as to be distinguished from president obama's because he will enforce red lines and he of course to go a victory lap after ordering military action against syria after use of chemical weapons there. but now you have republicans like liz cheney making comparisons to the president, this president not enforcing a red line here. how does the president handle that criticism? >> well, i think he handles it by rejecting it but i do think hearing criticism from other republicans of that nature, comparing him to what many people feel was pretty valid criticism of president obama for allowing his own red lines to be crossed and not doing much, that is going to i think bother this president significantly. he has not laid out -- he seemed to be moving the red line yesterday, right? his public remarks, and i think he did it again in an interview with nbc, he suggested if it had been a manned drone, then there would have been a bigger issue, but since this was just a piece of technology, that was not really the same kind of thing.

so there seems to be a shift there, but i think he's going to plow through it the same way he always does and essentially ignore it. i do think the comparisons to obama will be what get to him. >> admiral, this was unmanned, but it was $110 million drone flying in international air space at 50,000 feet, it is shot down into a million pieces out of the sky and the u.s. response is silence in effect. does that embolden further attacks? >> if the response is silence, if they do nothing, then yes, i think this will further embolden them but even the rouhani government to some degree. if there's no response from the american government, i hope that what they consider is a multi-level response. not just maybe economic sanctions, but you could do -- there's military actions you could take that are not provocative to try to dissuade and deter the iranians further.

i don't think it's a complete mistake that this all became public today because clearly the iranians understand how close it came. and that's not all together a bad thing. >> that's a fair point. admiral kirby, thanks very much. maggie, please stick around because up next there is more breaking news about this president. in a magazine excerpt from a forthcoming book a woman claims the president assaulted her at a new york city department store. her accusation, why the president says it is false as well as one clear untruth in his denial this evening. that's all coming up. this is the ocean. just listen. (vo) there's so much we want to show her. we needed a car that would last long enough to see it all. (avo) subaru outback. ninety eight percent are still on the road after 10 years.

come on mom, let's go! hello to the best part of the day.... with italian quality pizza. get two medium, one-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. every store. every day. the italian way. hello primo. calyou're gonna love this.rs. new coppertone sport clear. not thick, not hot, not messy, just clear,

cool, protected. coppertone sport clear. proven to protect. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, every day can begin with flakes. it's a reminder of your struggles with psoriasis. but what if your psoriasis symptoms didn't follow you around? that's why there's ilumya. with just 2 doses, a majority of people were clear or almost clear. and over time, even more people were clear or almost clear. all with dosing 4 times a year... after 2 initial doses. plus, ilumya was shown to have similar risks of infections compared to placebo. don't use if you are allergic to ilumya or any of its ingredients. before starting treatment, your doctor should check for tuberculosis and infections. after checking there is no need for routine lab monitoring unless your doctor advises it. ilumya may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms, or if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. this could be your chance to leave your psoriasis symptoms behind.

ask your doctor for ilumya today, for a clearer tomorrow.

in an interview published a woman claims that president trump assaulted her 23 years ago in an upscale new york city department store. late today president trump issued a blistering denial saying among other things he had never met the woman and that she was lying to, quote, sell a new book. cnn's jason carroll joins us now. jason, tell us what we know about these allegations and what exactly ms. carroll is accusing

the president of and what has he said about her? >> well, the president is issuing a very strong denial tonight against accusations he forced himself on author and advice columnist e. jean carroll at a department store in manhattan 20 years ago. she raised the allegations in a just published new york magazine article. he tied the publication of it to her new book, "what do we need men for". in the article, she writes the following, and these are very serious allegations. the moment the dressing room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall hitting my head quite badly. puts his mouth against my lips. she then continues. she says i am shocked. he shoved -- i shoved him back and he started laughing. he sees both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time. and as i bottom aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and

jams his hand under my dress and pulls down my tights. however, the president says i've never met this person in my life adding shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves or sell a book or carry out some sort of political agenda. he continues no pictures, no surveillance, no video, no reports, no sales attendants around. i would like to thank the department store for confirming they have no video footage of any such incident because he says it never happened. false accusations diminish the severity of real assault. trump then goes on, jim, to ask for help saying if anyone has information that the democratic party is working with mrs. carroll or new york magazine, please notify us as soon as possible. the world should know what's really going on. it is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations. despite trump saying they never

met, carroll published a picture showing her chatting with trump. you see it there during a holiday party in the 1980s. new york magazine says they reached out to carroll's two friend whose corroborated what she did disclose about the attack at the time. trump says the story is made up and, quote, should be sold in the fiction section. he was taped during a 2005 access hollywood interview saying he liked to grab women by their private parts adding when you're a star, they let you do it. cnn has reached out to carroll, but she has yet to respond. >> jason carroll, thank you. joining me now, maggie haberman. she covered the president long before he became commander in chief. here we are again, sadly another woman accusing the president not just of sexually assaulting and groping him. more serious allegations this time around. physical force here. your reaction? >> look, these are obviously very disturbing allegations and they are very serious and it is

not the first time this president has been accused of misconduct of some kind or another with women. we certainly know about the access hollywood tape. he certainly has the right to defend himself and his statement is more forceful than his statements have been on some of these in the past. but he has one thing that he tends to do with regularity which is to say he's never met someone when there's photographic evidence he has. this is another example of it and it doesn't help his case when he's trying to, you know, fight back against a very serious allegation. >> and for folks who might be seeing this picture for the first time, she is the woman on the left just over trump's right shoulder, the blond woman. she is the one who has made this allegation. you mentioned his response. it is forceful. it hits back on a number of levels here. but on that one point saying he never met when there is photographic evidence, but also alleging a political motivation here even comparing this to what

happened to brett kavanaugh. it's sort of a greatest hits of the president's defenses, is it not, when faced with allegations like this? >> it is. but i also think that you have to look at it in the context of where we are right now in terms of the election cycle and that's the prism for that response. there was a part if anyone knows she's working with the democrats, please let me know and i think you are increasingly going to see any allegation, whether it's this kind or something else, i think you're going to see the president or his aides suggesting that it is part of a broader effort to undermine him. >> no question. the other part of the president's statement which is notable, of course, is this claim, i'm quoting, all should condemn false acsicusations and any actual assault in the strongest possible terms, to say that, you know, i want to defend the actual victims of sexual assault. >> there has been -- there has been some asymmetry for how the

republican party broadly has dealt with accusations of misconduct when it has been among somebody who is known among democrats like harvey weinstein and the way they're drawing the line on that is he has been charged with something. it's not the same when someone hasn't been charged such as steve wynn, the casino magnet and friend of the president who w recently -- he was kicked off the rnc fundraising but is still around and still is a donor and why they are sort of suggesting this is not the same as what the president has been accused of. i think this president is aware and i think this his team is aware that he has trouble with women voters and they are looking to try to address that in any way they can. >> no question. everything through a political lens at this point. maggie haberman, thanks very much. >> thank you. coming up ahead, it is one of the intelligence community's least contested findings after the 2016 election. president trump's attorney general is reportedly pulling in

threats, trying to see if there are disagreements among analysts who produced those findings. that's coming up. nkind has ever. we got the idea that if we took two dimensional patient imaging and put it in holographic displays, we could dissect around the tumor so we can safely remove it. when we first started, we felt like this might just not be possible but verizon 5g ultra wideband will give us the ability to do this. ♪ since you're heading off to dad... i just got a zerowater. but we've always used brita. it's two stage-filter... doesn't compare to zerowater's 5-stage. this meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. our tap water is 220. brita? 110... seriously? but zerowater- let me guess. zero? yup, that's how i know it is the purest-tasting water.

i need to find the receipt for that. oh yeah, you do. who used expedia to book the vacation rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. expedia. everything you need to go.

president trump's attorney general appears to be looking into a high confidence finding of the u.s. intelligence community assessment of the 2016 election that russia did indeed interfere specifically for the

benefit of donald trump and against hillary clinton. "the wall street journal" is reporting that william barr is now looking at whether there were disagreements among the intelligence analysts who produced that assessment. and we'll also see if there was a political motive for those findings and that this is making the intelligence community nervous. joining me now is retired lieutenant general james clapper. he was of course the director of national intelligence when that report was issued. general clapper is now a cnn national security analyst as well as author of "facts and fears". good to have you on tonight. you oversaw this report as director of national intelligence. it was a high confidence assessments that the preference here was, one, to damage hillary clinton, and two to advantage donald trump? >> it was with one exception. admiral mike rogers, then director of nsa ascribed moderate conference, which is kind of next in the tier and i

certainly didn't insist on anonymity. that's his prerogative. his privilege. i think that was a personal determination. it might be useful to understand how this report was done. we assembled about 30 people from the three agencies involved plus a few people from my office and we formalized a working group that had already started under john brennan's office who was then director of cia. at no time was there any wind or direction given for the outcome of that report. they were tosome p comply with president obama asked us to do which was assemble all the reporting that accrued about russian meddling in our political processes. i didn't even meet with this group until after the report was done. afterwards, of course, the two oversight committees, which is their responsibility, both the

house intelligence committee and the senate intelligence committee, scrutinized our report that we took a month to do, they spent months scrutinizing it. in the case of the house intelligence committee, the republicans took exception to that finding and the democrats on the committee dissented reflecting the very partisan atmosphere in that committee. in contrast, the senate intelligence committee on a bipartisan basis endorsed the findings as well as the soundness of the trade craft employed. to have a prosecuting attorney go investigate the analytic judgments and findings of a bunch of analysts, and these were professional experts on russia that were hand picked to be on this working group, sends a very chilling message to the intelligence community. if you had a portfolio that might produce sensitive information that the president doesn't like, then you better lawyer up. and that is having, i think,

very bad vibes in the intelligence community. >> and it's good that you know that. the senate intelligence committee chaired by a republican with a majority of republicans which agreed with the assessment that this interference not only happened but happened to benefit donald trump and hurt hillary clinton. >> i might comment, jim, that i was around in the '70s, you know, 50 plus years in intel when those committees were stood up. my observations are that the only time the committees are credible is when they are on a bipartisan basis. as the house intelligence committee was under the leadership of chairman mike rogers, now an analyst for cnn. when they're partisan, i don't think there's much credibility. >> retired lieutenant general james clapper, good to have you on the program tonight. >> thanks, jim. still to come this evening, we will show you what happened just a short time ago when marchers confronted mayor pete buttigieg in south bend,

indiana, about an officer-involved shooting that killed a black resident. hat is what if we give the people iphone 10r when they join t-mobile? for a limited time join t-mobile and get the awesome iphone 10r on us. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. scholl's massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, you'll move over 10% more than before. dr. scholl's. born to move. at red lobster. featuring three new dishes that are planked to perfection. feast on new cedar-plank lobster & shrimp. or new colossal shrimp & salmon with a citrusy drizzle. tender, smoky and together on one plank. but only till june 30th, so hurry in.

hi, do you have a travel card? we do! the discover it® miles card. earn unlimited 1.5 miles on every purchase, plus we'll match your miles at the end of your first year. you'll match my miles?

yeah! mile for mile! and no blackout dates or annual fee. nice! i was thinking about taking a scuba diving trip! i love that. or maybe go surfing... or not. ok. maybe somewhere else. maybe a petting zoo. can't go wrong. can't get eaten. earn miles. we'll match 'em at the end of your first year. plus no annual fee or blackouts. the discover it® miles card. on a john deere x300 series mower. because seasons change but true character doesn't. wow, you've outdone yourself this time. hey, what're neighbors for? it's beautiful. run with us. search "john deere x300" for more.

monitor their blood glucose every day. which means they have to stop. and stick their fingers. repeatedly. today, life-changing technology from abbott makes it possible to track glucose levels. without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. life. to the fullest.

while most of the other democratic presidential candidates will be at this weekend's big fish fry in south carolina, indiana mayor pete buttigieg will be back in south bend. it's his second trip home in the wake of a police-involved shooting there that claimed the life of a black man, eric logan, on sunday. tonight marchers confronted the mayor in a sometimes tense standoff. >> in front of all these cameras that black lives matter. >> did you just ask me if black lives matter? of course black lives matter. >> what about a black life? what matters about a black life you to, mayor pete?

what matters about a black life to you? >> we should note a short time after that mayor buttigieg received applause for promising to sign a petition for the justice department to investigate the shooting. the mayor will hold a town hall meeting to address the concerns of residents protesting this officer-involved shooting. as i mentioned, the rest of the field in south carolina is a big test. for joe biden, how about his headlines with the relationship of seg regation of senators affect his front runner status? they asked if they thought south carolina voters would blame biden. he said i don't think so, we'll see. that's what they did today at a beauty parlor in south carolina and here's what voters told her. >> at designs by liz salon in charleston, south carolina, pampering and politics go hand

in hand. what did you think about the biden's comments? >> i was a little bit disappointed in what he said. but i think he is one of those people who speaks his mind and sometimes he can put his foot in his mouth. >> not all of these south carolina voters are so happy with joe biden. after his comments about working with segregationist senators. >> it makes me angry. >> bertha middleton was especially offended calling his comments racist. >> biden has said there's not a racist bone in his body. do you believe that? >> not at all. he wouldn't have made come of the comments he made. >> it's not an issue for me. >> you don't think his comments were insensitive? >> i don't think so. >> why not? >> because we all have to look at that and stop being so sensitive about race. i mean, i'm black. >> this voter wasn't offended either but says biden could have

chosen his words more carefully. >> biden had said it was to prove the point that he could work with others. do you think he could have found a better example than these two senators to prove the point? >> i think he could have. >> for bertha middleton, eight years isn't enough to ignore the comments. >> i think he really feels a lot of african-americans are still going to be on his side because he was vice president for obama. we have to get away from that. >> for some in this group, biden's use of the word "boy" in describing his conversation with a segregationist senator was especially hurtful. >> it goes back to slavery. it has been one of those words they consider derogatory. that was always something that was demeaning. it didn't promote african-american men. >> within this group the older voters surprisingly forgiving of biden's remarks. were you offended by that? >> not really. because i know that having lived

in the south for so many years, that's a common thing with a lot of people of the other race with my age. i just kind of overlook it, because the younger people today don't really seem to have a problem with that because they didn't go through what we went through during the civil rights movement and what not. >> does it change your opinion of joe biden? would this make you not want to vote for him? >> no, it doesn't. >> do you like him as a candidate? i. >> do. >> most in this group are still undecided, but if joe biden does become the nominee, they will support him. >> he would certainly be an asset. he would be better than what we have now. that's for sure. >> randy kay, cnn, charleston, south carolina. >> cuomo prime-time is up next. good anything good in your hour

tonight? >> yeah. we have u.s. senator doug jones, friend of joe biden. i want to talk to him about iran, specifically an issue that you've been a real mentor to me in the past. the authorization for the use of military force. there's going to be an argument now about, well, it's a good thing this was averted unless you're sean hannity or some on the right. where was the authorization for the president to do this without going to congress? pelosi said he needs to come to us. the republicans are screaming you have to come to us again, the constitution says trk the law says it. where is senator doug jones in we'll go through it and talk about the biden issue and whether or not it still matters after tonight in south carolina at the big fish fry that they're at down there. we'll take it all on. >> and try to resurrect the al qaeda resolution from 2001. >> that's exactly right. >> chris, i'm glad you're talking about it. we'll see you in a few minutes. coming up next, the only woman

in launch control for that historic apollo 11 fright to the moon. advil is... relief that's fast. strength that lasts. you'll ask... what pain? with advil. is this ride safe? i assembled it myself last night. i think i did an ok job. just ok?

what if something bad happens? we just move to the next town. just ok is not ok. especially when it comes to your network. at&t is america's best wireless network according to america's biggest test. plus buy one of our most popular smartphones and get one free. more for your thing. that's our thing. calyou're gonna love this.rs. new coppertone sport clear. not thick, not hot, not messy, just clear, cool, protected. coppertone sport clear. proven to protect. so, i started with the stats regarding my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. like how humira has been prescribed to over 300,000 patients. and how many patients saw clear or almost clear skin in just 4 months - the kind of clearance that can last. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. numbers are great. and seeing clearer skin is pretty awesome, too.

that's what i call a body of proof. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your dermatologist about humira. this is my body of proof. of a lifetime. it's "progressive on ice." everything you love about car insurance -- the discounts... the rate comparisons... and flo in a boat. ♪ insurance adventure awaits at "progressive on ice."

tickets not available now or ever. the new cnn film "apollo 11" debuts this weekend with

never-before-seen footage of that remarkable mission. next week marks the anniversary of the flight to the moon and the first two people to set foot on the moon's surface. nearly everyone involved were male and white. here's 360's randy cay again tonight. the only woman at launch control, at liftoff. >> we choose to go to the moon not because they are easy but because they are hard. ♪ >> reporter: the space program in the early '60s was dominated by men. but one woman stood out in a sea of men in the control room. 28-year-old joanne morgan. >> i was the instrumentation

controller. and they need to know is there a problem, if so, i need to tell the right people on the test team. >> reporter: how did you end up the only woman in the firing room during the launch? >> my director of information systems called me in and said you're our best communicator. he had to go and convince the center director that it was going to be okay. >> reporter: do you think it had to go all the way up to the top for the men? >> heck, no. >> reporter: exactly. >> i don't think so. >> reporter: growing up, joanne had a love for science and learning. >> joanne was a reader. she skipped the first grade. she would not want a doll for christmas. she would much rather have a chemistry set or erector sets. >> reporter: at 17, joanne interned at the ballistic

missiles agency and became the first female engineer at cape ka vaf ral. >> what was like when you first started at nasa? >> it was pretty intense. it was all men and a lot of the buildings i worked in didn't have ladies restrooms. >> just like the women in the movie "hidden figures," joanne had to go to a different building or use the men's room. >> sometimes during tests the guard was great he would come over and say you need a little break, i'll police the men's room. >> when joanne first started working in the firing room, she also got some obscene phone calls. >> one time when one of them came through, i slammed the phone down and one of the television operators from the station downstairs came up and he said, is something wrong? is something wrong? and i said, yeah. an obscene phone call. but i never let myself feel like

an object. i was not going to be an object. you know, i just had too much fearlessness in me to let that be any kind of deterrent. >> reporter: roy sat next to joanne in the firing room. >> we're all men and joanne was there and, you know, she was a looker. you could never pull anything over on her because she would take and cut you to pieces because technically she was extremely competent. >> were there some men who didn't want her in there? >> right. but there was no doubt about it, she had the moxie of what it took to be in a position of being the only woman in the firing room for apollo 11. >> we have main engine starts, four, three, two, one, zero, liftoff. >> i got to feel the launch, the vibration of the lift off once

the shockwave hit the building. the false floor shook, my console shook. it was so slow, it lumbered and you think it's never going to get off the ground. it creeps and creeps, and then once it's gone, it's like, come on, you burn perfectly for me. >> where did you watch the moon landing? >> my husband was a school teacher and he was wanting to go on a fishing trip and that evening we had a great dinner and a bottle of champagne and we watched it on tv with everybody else. >> the eagle has landed. >> we got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. we're breathing again. thanks a lot. >> we're sitting there watching and it was so dramatic. >> it's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind.

>> and my husband looked at me and he said you are going to be in the history books. >> reporter: after apollo 11, joanne's career took off. over 45 years from 1958 to 2003, she continued to break barriers and became the first female senior executive at the kennedy space center. >> when you looked at joanne and the way she worked the politics and the way she did things, she had greatness. >> do you think that you would be where you are today without someone like joanne morgan? >> no, i don't. she's a champion for me. she's an inspiration for all of us. >> you've been described as fearless. where does that come from? >> it comes from that tiny little child, seeing my dad go off to war and my dad turning around and saying, little jo, you're in charge. and my grandmother said i saw

you get your bossy on. >> did you get your bossy on at nasa? >> yes, i did. i had to get any bossy on sometimes. ♪ >> i've always planned piano. and for many years i thought i was going to be a piano teacher. but my track changed after my dad moved us to florida and i saw rocket launches. >> you're retired now in montana. but there was a point where you actually wanted to retire on mars. >> well, i thought they should have a gereatric program. >> randy kaye, cnn, big fork, montana. >> if you want to have