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CNN NEWSROOM

New Protests After Ex-Cop Acquitted in Killing of Black Man; Florida Keys Residents Can Go Home This Weekend; Conservative Site Labels Trump "Amnesty Don" Over DACA; Trump's Debut U.N. Speech Comes Amid Tensions; Facebook Hands Over Russia-Linked Ad Info to Investigators; Black Lives Matter Protesters Interrupt Pro-Trump Rally; McMaster on North Korea: "There Is a Military Option". Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 16, 2017 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[17:00:00] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: It is the top of the hour, 5:00 p.m. at the East Coast, I am Boris Sanchez in New York in this weekend for Ana Cabrera, thank you so much for joining us.

We start tonight with protests popping up all over St. Louis after a former police officer was acquitted in a murder of a black motorist. Take a look at these powerful pictures from CNN affiliate to St. Louis American. They show a protesters of all races and from all walks of life facing off against polices. Officers used riot gears and pepper spray to keep protesters at bay.

They are protesting the acquittal of Jason Stockley in a 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. This one key piece of evidence, dramatic dash cam video which contradict a police chase in the crash and then ultimately the moment that Stockley shot and killed Smith. Prosecutors argued that the video shows Stockley planting evidence. But the judge who says he agonized over this footage, he did not agree.

CNN Ryan Young joins live now from downtown St. Louis. Ryan, what do we expecting these protesters to do tonight?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's is the big question right now, Boris. They have been popping up all over the city. In fact, they've been to three different malls and going to the chase of St. Louis as well. So, right now it seems like they are coordinating through social media. And they're doing these pop-ups about two, three hundred people. They stay for about 30 minutes and then moved to another location.

Every time we go to a mall, we are seeing more and more state troopers just kind of positioning on the outside. We moved back down to the downtown center. And yesterday, this is where the first back and forth the violence happened between the police officers and those protests. As you look back in that direction, you can kind of see an armed vehicle over that way. What they were doing yesterday is they blocked off this road and there were officers in the bus.

At some point, someone started screaming, someone was throwing rugs. The police moved in. They used their pepper spray to move that crowd. From that point on, Boris, it remained mostly peaceful. That until late last night when we saw a group showed up at the mayor's house and that is where they were chanting outside. And then someone started tossing rocks into the window.

We do have video of that. We were standing just yards away when it happened. People started screaming. You could see half of the protesters say, hey, we are not here for that. About 20 minutes later then police used tear gas to clear the crowd. And for the most part, that worked to get 100 of people to go home. We do and can report that several others broke off and started creating damage throughout the rest of the city.

SANCHEZ: And Ryan, we have also gotten a response from Jason Stockley after his acquittal. What did he have to say?

YOUNG: Yes. He, the officer for the first time really talking to the local people here kind of describing what was going on in parts of that video, there were some language that was used in part of the video. A lot of people had questions about what he addressed that in this little video clip from the newspaper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON STOCKLEY, FORMER ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICER: I can tell you with absolute certainty that there was no plan to murder Anthony Smith during a high speed vehicle pursuit. This is not the case. And, I wish that I can tell you exactly what that was and what it meant, whether it was the heat of the moment or whether it was part of a larger conversation, I really don't, I just don't remember.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Boris, emotions have been running on high. You can understand why people are emotional and don't forget, we are just several miles away from where Ferguson where Michael Brown where that shooting happened. There are so many people in this community calling for answers. They believe this video would lead to some sort of conviction but that did not happen. And of course, you have the judgment from the judge and of course all of these other tidbits that are coming out throughout the community where people are saying, look, there will be more protests throughout the evening. They plan to pop up other events.

A YouTube concert was cancelled in the area because they did not believe they had enough officers to make sure everyone who is attending that concert would be safe. So, a lot of questions tonight about Boris about what may happen next in terms of what all of these protests may pop up, next.

SANCHEZ: And Ryan Young, reporting from downtown St. Louis, we know you will keep an eye on that for us. Thank you.

From Missouri now to the nation's capital, Washington, DC, a hub of demonstrations today. Two are right now on the national mall forcing street closures and a major police presence. One of the demonstrations, the Juggalos march is against the FBI. We'll explain in just a moment. The other march organizers are calling, quote, "The mother of all rallies and the one thing that ties all these together is their support for the President."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not only just one of the very few people from Chicago that is not only a Trump's voter and supporter. But as you can tell from the uniform that I am wearing, I'm actually an anarchist. I know it's funny. I love the President, I voted for the President. I am all for draining the swamp by all means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Ryan Nobles is at the mother of all rallies right by the Washington monument. Ryan, we just heard from a self-proclaimed anarchist, not someone who usually aligns themselves with the President, seems like there is a lot of diversity at this demonstration, what are you seeing?

[17:05:17] RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, I don't think there is any doubt that is hard to pin down the ideology of this group. It's galactic to say the very least. And one of the things that they specifically said is that this is not designed for just Democrats or just Republicans but people that support Donald Trump and want to see the country unified behind him.

And one of the interesting things that we have seen here and there is no doubt that the vast majority of the people here are white. But there is a degree of diversity here. We have seen Latinos for Trump and actually quite a few speakers were African-American. And I caught up with one of them, Diante Johnson who was the founder of the black conservative foundation and he told me why he needed to be here to support President Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANTE JOHNSON, FOUNDER AND CEO, BLACK CONSERVATIVE FEDERATION: It is important for me to be here because I stand for unity. I'm the CEO of Black Conservative Federation, of course, I need to come here. But also, I like to see these things, I like to see us coming together and rallying together, and it is kind of like a Trump in union. You know, everyone, a lot of people here, we do found out that we're Facebook friends, we have been defending each other and we never met each other in person.

And so, there is a lot of tears. As I said, I worked on the Trump's campaign. I worked on the Dr. Carson's campaign. I -- strategy work. And I just love the President. I love what he's doing and I am just loving what he's going to do.

NOBLES: There are clearly, there is a lot of African-American leaders that feel differently than you do about the President. What do they have wrong about their perception of Donald Trump?

JOHNSON: They don't have the research. They don't have the reason. They have not done the research. And the thing about is it, if you do the research, if you actually, President Trump, I read a book that he has the art of the deal. If you read the art of the deal, you will know exactly, exactly how he operates and why he does. I mean, he's playing 3-D chess.

NOBLES: You know, I have seen some shirts here today, though, I think one shirt that said, no white guilt. Things like that. I mean, there is been some messages that might not be that open to folks from diverse perspective. I mean, what would your message be to folks like that?

JOHNSON: When it comes to no white guilt, I agree with that, I actually just made a post about it on my page and a video about it is that there is some white Americans that feel guilty for what their ancestors did, you know, this and that and the thing about it is, they should not have to feel guilty, this is America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So, certainly, an interesting positive there from an African- American who supports Donald Trump and he's here today. And Boris, you mentioned, that this is not the only rally taken place in Washington, D.C. just a few blocks from where we are now, down by the Lincoln memorial is a group called the Juggalos, these are people that are fans of the rap metal band Insane Clown Posse.

They are in DC today because they are protesting the FBI designating their group as a gang. They don't want to be defined as such. They say they are about peace and love and just enjoying their music. They're actually getting set and start marching in this direction. Now, they don't have any kind of specific ideology there with necessarily run counter to the group here. But that is part of the reason that there is such a huge police presence here. Because inner mingling of these groups could potentially lead the trouble and law enforcement just does not want to see that happen.

They may not make their way all the way up here, but there is no doubt that this police presence is big. They want to make sure that these rallies today stay what they've been all day long which is peaceful, no violent that we've seen all day long today -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Should be fun to watch. Ryan Nobles, we appreciate the update from Washington, DC.

In hurricane ravaged Florida this weekend, more than million homes are still without power, it's been nearly a week since Irma roared ashore. Authorities in the Keys are only now allowing residents back into their homes for the first time since the storm passed. Many of those people are finding their towns, have no running water, no open stores, no gasoline and in some places lingering flood waters.

Martin Savidge is live in Key West right now. Martin, help us set the scene and understand what conditions are like, not only where you are in Key West but also some of those middle and upper keys.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting Boris, is the fact that, yes, tomorrow is when many of the residents of Key West are allowed to come back, how many? We'll see. But at the same time, they're still having a hand out of food and water and ice to those who stayed here and weather out the storm. You have an indication that people coming back to a situation that's not all together that good.

Now, Key West actually is doing better than most at least in the nearby other Keys. The power is getting back. The water is kind of iffy. But otherwise, it looked like it did not suffer anywhere near damages of some of the key north of here. And that's been part of the problem. Now, the mayor of Key West as we've talked too is very glad people are coming back but he also has some recommendations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: What do you tell residents coming back?

MAYOR CRAIG CATES, KEY WEST: I tell them that be prepared to be shocked when you get here. Don't expect the other services you need that you could just call somebody and they're going to come over and fix it. Be patient. If you do come back, don't be upset when things don't go exactly how you planned. And if you are going to come back, be a part of the solution, not a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:10:33] SAVIDGE: There was a very heated discussion, maybe argument is more between county officials and the various cities in the Keys along the way. Because there were some who say, look, there is no way that at least further north and big pine and other keys like that where anybody should be coming back. They consider it so dangerous right now. The Key West, they believe they got a lot of folks who should come home and unfortunately, you got to literally drive through that whole devastated region.

So, it is a lot of conflicts still and many say that those returning are only going to make it harder for first responders and those trying to fix things everywhere in the Florida Keys. It is going to be an emotional day tomorrow, that's guaranteed for us.

SANCHEZ: The repercussions from Hurricane Irma still being felt. Martin Savidge, thank you so much reporting from Key West.

Coming up, it's the latest instance of Trump versus his own party. Why the President's basis fuming over his meeting with Democrats. And how this could put a break on some of President's agenda. I will talk to the man who literally wrote the book on Donald Trump. Hear from him when we come back from the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:43] SANCHEZ: President Trump again at odds with his own party. Key members of the GOP calling his latest agreement with Democrats a betrayal. Well, he is hailing it as bipartisan. It came after his White House's dinner with Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer earlier this week. The trio say, they have agreed to move forward on DACA, it's the program that allows undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children also known as Dreamers to stay in the country.

But now, the question is, at what cost. Pelosi and Schumer say that DACA will not be linked to border wall funding. At one point the President seemed to be on board talking about paying for the wall but a later date. But then he later repeated at least four times, there will be nothing on DACA unless he gets that long promised wall.

I want to bring in our Michael D'Antonio, he is a CNN contributor, also a Donald Trump biographer. He is the author of "The Truth About Trump."

Michael, a White House official told me that Trump would talk to anyone to get something done. You've obviously spent a lot of time observing Donald Trump. Does it surprise you that he would just sit at the table and negotiate, even embrace Chuck Schumer like an old pal, the way that he's disparaged Chuck Schumer before? Does that surprise you?

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No, it doesn't surprise me at all. And it actually doesn't surprise me that Senator Schumer would be open to this. These are two fellas who are both New Yorkers. They're contemporary about the same age. They understand that there is this rough and tumble debate. Donald Trump talks tougher than anybody I have ever met but you know, I don't think he means half of what he says especially the raw stuff. I think that's posturing.

And they're both very practically minded. They are people who want to get something done. So, I see a consistency here in the President's outreach and flexibility that has been present throughout his life. In fact, you know, you look at the President's record in the past, he's been all over the place for policies concern. He was a Democrat, he was a Republican, he was even a reform party candidate for president. So, this is not an ideologically rigid president and Republicans who expect him to be so. I think our really wrong idea of who this president is.

SANCHEZ: Now, these deals and meetings with Democrats have generated a lot of positive press coverage and there is been some reporting out there that the President is really happy about that. So, how much of this bipartisan spirit has to do with generating a win, generating some positive headlines. It has to be a big motivator for him, doesn't it?

D'ANTONIO: It is a big motivator. And what I think the President understands and really something he is lived by is the idea that press matters and in fact perception can become reality, he promoted himself as a great builder before he'd actually built a single building. And the press accepted that and helped him along the way and then he became a great builder. So, you can understand that you can create the appearance of something happening and then pretty soon there is some momentum and then all of a sudden he's an effective president.

So, that win that he's looking for legislatively, I think is vital to him and I think that he's frustrated, you know, you can almost say that the President is motivated more by who he's angry with than who he likes. And I think at the end of the summer, he was pretty angry with Paul Ryan, pretty angry with Mitch McConnell. They had promised him progress on a lot of fronts, he really did not get any. So, what's wrong with going to the other side of the street?

SANCHEZ: Now, I am fascinated by this perspective that I have heard from some experts, they compare Donald Trump's ability to get something done on DACA to Richard Nixon's ability to open up China. Because Nixon was such a strong anticommunist and no one would doubt his intent of his ability to square off with Chairman Mao. Because Donald Trump has such a hard line stance on immigration -- does that earn him some sort of credibility in some way to get something done with Democrats on DACA?

D'ANTONIO: I think it does. So, I think he is very much aware as Ramstein (ph) said in the previous hour that vast majority is from Americans want to see something done for these Dreamers, that includes Republicans and Independents. The only people I think who are really hard line on showing them the door are the very small base of support that is going to stay with the President no matter what. So, just as Republicans did not abandon Nixon when he went to China. I don't think anybody who's in the President's base is going to leave it for whom?

You know, they're not going to go to the Democrats in the next presidential election. They're going to stick with him. So, he obviously perceived that he can broaden his base. This is something I think that he needs to do especially with those better educated and more moderate Republicans and independence who took a chance on him and had been watching with some alarm as he says extreme things about Charlottesville and stumbles in his efforts with Congress. This is the thing that he could get. And so, what does he have to lose? I don't think very much at all.

SANCHEZ: We should note though that those Steve Bannon vowed to not go after the President. We saw some headlines from Breitbart this week calling the President's amnesty done. So, it will be interesting to see how his relationship with that wing of his base plays out. Michael D'Antonio, thank you so much for spending your Saturday with us. We appreciate it.

D'ANTONIO: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Coming up. After being highly critical of the United Nations in the past, world leaders are preparing for President Trump's visit next week? What can we expect from his first ever address to the United Nations? You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:33] SANCHEZ: As President Trump prepares to give his first speech before the United Nation's General Assembly on Tuesday, North Korea is raising concerns with yet on another missile attack. This latest coming on Friday sending ballistic missile flying over Japan. The question now, how will Trump handle North Korea's latest launch when he speaks before world leaders.

I want to bring in Asian Affairs expert Jamie Metzl, he is a senior fellow on The Atlantic Council and he served on the NSC staff with the Clinton administration. Jamie, welcome, we appreciate you spending some time with us. We've heard this president say some very aggressive things about North Korea before, are you concern of how Trump may handle North Korea when he speaks at the U.N.?

JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: I am deeply concerned. Everybody knows that the leadership of North Korea, Kim Jong-un is extremely erratic and in some ways dangerous. But the world has not grown accustom to the level of bombastic language that Donald Trump seems to be throwing out in a very reckless manner. And so, the United States by his actions by its actions and by the statements of Donald Trump is destabilizing the region in a very, very fundamental way.

And I hope that after addressing the United Nations, we're going to be able to get a little more rationality in America's approach to North Korea because the situation is dangerous enough on its own. And it is being made far worst by the reckless and irresponsible language of President Trump.

SANCHEZ: Now, Jaime, I want to bring up something that you recently wrote. Quote, "America and the world will be far better off if President Trump start behaving less like Kim Jong-un and develops a real strategy for addressing this growing crisis." If you were advising the President, how would tell him to handle Kim Jong-un?

METZL: Well, first thing I would say, is stop with this tweeting. Stop making these empty reckless threats that the United States is not in a position to support. At the same time, we need to have a comprehensive strategy for addressing North Korea. These threats don't work, bombastic language does not work. What would work is having strategy of how we can get China to put more pressure on the North Koreans to change their behavior.

By unfortunately the Trump administration is thrown away the majority of our leverage over China by alienating our allies, by throwing away the trans-Pacific partnership, by having all these empty red lines that are violated at really no cost. But the credibility of the U.S. administration is at rock bottom. And just at the time when we need the President of the United States to speak, representing not just American power but our allies all brought together with the soul goal of promoting a strategic approach to North Korea. We have none of that. So, this has really been in many ways just a disaster and the North Korea's crisis has started out terribly six months ago but it's gotten even worse under the Trump's administration.

SANCHEZ: Well, I am curious about China's role in this. Because we've heard from Trump and some of his advisers that China needs to take on a bigger role in influencing Kim Jong-un. But does China really have that kind of influence over him?

[17:30:00] I've heard some experts say that Kim Jong-un would chafe at the idea that he's a pawn for the Chinese to handle.

METZL: Kim Jong-Un is not a pawn of the Chinese. The Chinese and North Koreans have a terrible relationship. But the problem is North Korea is being kept alive by the trade, particularly food and oil that China is providing. And so, for China, they have a binary choice. If they prefer to have a hostile nuclear-armed North Korea more than a potential a unified Korea, allied with the United States, then they'll continue to do what they are doing, which is say a few things or have mild sanctions pressuring North Korea but really not do enough that would pressure North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons or face destabilization. Because China feels they are better off with North Korea there, even nuclear armed, than they are with a unified Korea, China has a binary choice. Either they threaten to cut-off North Korea completely, which would force North Korea to change its actions, which could destabilize their regime, or they do what they are doing, which is pay lip service to sanctions, do a little bit, but not so much to reach that threshold.

SANCHEZ: Jamie Metzl, we appreciate the time. Thank you very much for joining us this saturday.

Still to come, in the wake of news that Russia used Facebook as part of their meddling in the U.S. election, the social network is handing over copies of ads to federal investigators. What this could reveal about the Mueller probe.

You are live in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONAS LETIERI, PROFESSIONAL SURFER: When I paddle all day on the ocean, I have no limits.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Growing up on the beaches of Brazil, Jonas Letieri was no stranger to the ocean.

LETIERI: Was my dream, become a professional surfer and travel all over the world to get some good waves. One day, my entire life changed.

GUPTA: In 2011, he was electrocuted in an accident that forced doctors to amputate both of his arms below the elbow.

LETIERI: I asked God for another chance. That day, I was reborn. It was the restart of my entire life.

GUPTA: Jonas thought he would never catch another wave again until he discovered stand-up paddle boarding.

LETIERI: The main problem was to stand up on the board to catch the wave. With the paddle board, I don't have these kinds of problems. So the only problem right now was how to hold the paddle.

GUPTA: Jonas attached two wings to the side of his paddle, creating custom handles for his arms.

LETIERI: I got my first wave, was like this big, was the best wave of my entire life because that day I realized I can do everything, you know, I can surf again. GUPTA: Now he has his eyes set on the Nash Columbia Gorge Paddle

Challenge. Racers come from across the globe to compete on the Columbia River. A demanding seven-mile course with strong currents, 30-mile-an-hour winds and large swells.

LETIERI: So it was, like, really hard to stay on the board and go faster.

(SHOUTING)

GUPTA: Jonas crossed the finish line in just over 90 minutes, ahead of dozens of able-bodied competitors.

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here he is.

LETIERI: Finished the race and I saw my friends. It's amazing.

(CHEERING)

LETIERI: Being in the ocean, for me, it's the best place in the whole world. I just forgot that I don't have hands anymore. I feel like I'm complete again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:54] SANCHEZ: We've learned that Facebook have turned over copies of Russian-linked ads, which ran on its site, to special counsel, Robert Mueller, and his team. Mueller's team had obtained a search warrant for that information. At one point, Facebook discovered these ads were linked to a Russian troll form. A source tells CNN Facebook turned over detailed information not only about the accounts that bought the ads but the way the ads were targeted at American Facebook users.

CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter, is joining us now.

Brian, what does this say about the Mueller probe? Does this change anything?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABILE SOURCES: It's revealing of what Mueller's team is doing. You got to go before a judge and say you got enough evidence that a crime is being committed by specific individuals. And information in this case, Facebook is going to help you get to the bottom of the crime. We know Congress was recently briefed on some of the Russian-linked ads that were sold on Facebook last year. Congress is not getting nearly as much information as Mueller obtained. That's because he had a search warrant. It indicates to me that Mueller is really focusing on the role of social networks in spreading Russian propaganda before the Election Day. Does it link at all to the Trump campaign? We don't know. So he may know more than we do now. SANCHEZ: One repercussion from this, especially the ad portion in

Russian meddling in the election, is something our colleague, Laurie Segall, eluded to in an interview with one of Twitter's founders, that there's junk information epidemic, and you don't know the truth of the information and where it is coming from. Some, like Senator Mark Warner, are calling for these ads on Facebook to be regulated like TV ads. What do you make of that?

[17:39:59] STELTER: It will be hard to do because you're able algorithmically able to buy ads for hundreds of people at a time. We'll hear more of these calls for greater transparency. Every time any campaign's running on television, the government have a record on it. On Facebook and Twitter and the web, there is no such data.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: It would be a huge database. Facebook is very hard to do. But clearly, they're able to because they were able to help Mueller when Mueller brought this search warrant and said show me the documents. It is an indication that we are learning a lot as Mueller continues to bring in lawyers and specialists for various parts of his investigation. We are seeing the role of Facebook and perhaps other social network insiders, but right now, it's really Facebook, is the focus of his mission.

SANCHEZ: We have plenty more to get to.

Unfortunately, Brian, we are out of time.

The conversation will continue our conversation tomorrow on "Reliable Sources." Do not miss that.

We are taking a look at live pictures right now from Washington, D.C. I am being told that some Black Lives Matter protesters are trying to interrupt the mother of all rallies where we saw Ryan Nobles a short time ago. This has been a peaceful demonstration and there have not many interruptions like this one. We'll get word on what's happening and we'll bring you more information as we continue to watch the mother of all rallies in the nation's capitol today.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, everybody, let's thank the women and men in blue who are here to protect --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:50] SANCHEZ: We are following breaking news in the nation's capitol, and quite an interesting scene. On the left, you are seeing the mother of all rallies. This was initially designated to be a pro- Trump support rally in which Republican and Democrats are getting together and talking about uniting the country and following the lead of President Trump. A few moments ago, some Black Lives Matter demonstrators took over the stage there. They were actually handed the microphone by some of the mother of all rallies organizers in the interest of free speech. On the right-hand side, not far from this demonstration, you are watching a Juggalos (ph) march. This is a group dedicated to the Insane Clown Posse, a rap, metal musical group that peeked in popularity in the early 2000s, who have dedicated followers who are trying to remove a designation the FBI replaced on them as a gang.

We have Ryan Nobles who's helping us to get a clear picture of what's happening.

Ryan, what are you seeing?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the closest that we have come to a serious confrontation here in what has been a peaceful rally. The mother of all rallies, a group of Trump supporters that are here to unify and bring the country together under Donald Trump's leadership. About 20 minutes ago, there was a small group of Black Lives Matter that made their way, behind where I am standing right now, off to the right of this stage if you were -- sorry, to the left of the stage if you are facing the stage, and that led to a group of people where they came over and it was kind of a face-to-face show down. But a remarkable moment. The speaker who was on stage as part of the mother of all rallies group, who was an African-American himself, called the Black Lives Matter up on stage and he handed the microphone over to the Black Lives Matter movement. They gave a speech and expressed their point of view and said why they believe it is important for people to understand their perspectives, and handed the mic back over.

As you can look on the stage right now, we have a live picture of that, those Black Lives Matter supporters are still on stage right now. They are having a conversation between these two groups. And one of the supporters from the mother of all rallies are saying that the goal is not to end disagreement with violence, but we need to talk things through and try to learn from each other's perspective.

This is a front end of the confrontation, Boris, but so far the tension does appear to lessen to a certain degree. I am not sure we are prepared to call a victory by some stretch of imagination. Not what we expected when we initially saw the Black Lives Matters supporters making their way over to the stage in this big crowd surrounding them. This is something that the folks from the mother of all rallies have been talking about all day, if you encounter someone from a different perspective, have a conversation with them, don't have it turn into something like what we saw in Charlottesville a few weeks ago.

Boris, we'll continue to keep an eye on this. So far, this remains a peaceful demonstration. But there are two opposing viewpoints of strong views on stage right now. We'll update you as things change -- Boris?

[17:49:15] SANCHEZ: Ryan Nobles, again, reporting of a peaceful confrontation and maybe some heighten tensions between Black Lives Matter at a pro-Trump rally. Civility won out in the end. Glad to see that. We are going to keep an eye on this.

Be back after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA MCCARTHY, COMEDIAN: And our president will not --

(LAUGHTER)

-- be deterred --

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

MCCARTHY: -- in his fight against radical Mooslambs.

(LAUGHTER)

Does anybody else have any questions.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Yes, "Wall Street Journal." Are you OK?

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That, of course, is Melissa McCarthy as "Spicy" Sean Spicer on "Saturday Night Live," a performance that has now won her an Emmy. She received the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a comedy series at the Creative Emmys.

Sean Spicer joked about it when he appeared on late night with Jimmy Kimmel. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: The president didn't think that was funny?

[17:55:57] SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think he found as much humor as others.

KIMMEL: Was he particularly annoyed at the fact that a woman was playing you?

SPICER: I really didn't ask a ton of questions.

KIMMEL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

SPICER: That may have been a contributing factor.

KIMMEL: What a no-win situation that is. They're making fun of me and you're mad at me for it.

SPICER: Yes, and she wins an Emmy.

KIMMEL: I know, and then she won an Emmy.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "SNL" is tied with the HBO show "West World" for the most primetime Emmy nominations this year. The ceremony is set to air tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. with host, Stephen Colbert.

From the humorous to the frankly unsettling, North Korea's nuclear threat. President Trump's team insists he has viable options to deal with North Korea. Some global security experts are not convinced. Even Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, says, forget about it, no feasible military option does exist.

Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Trent Franks, of Arizona. He's the chair of Missile Defense Caucus and a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, we thank you so much for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I want to talk about some of the difficulties in weighing out a military option against North Korea. Here's a map of that peninsula. Ten million people live in Seoul. That's just 35 miles away from the border. If the United States does launch any kind of preventive military strike on North Korea, is there really anything stopping Kim Jong-Un from dropping a nuclear bomb on Seoul, very quickly, killing hundreds of thousands of people, not to mention thousands of American service members?

FRANKS: Well, Boris, as you know, we have placed our THAAD battery there, which is a terminal phase interception capability that could, indeed, prevent a nuclear warhead, if it's launched from a missile in North Korea, from landing in South Korea. But the options here are pretty grim. And let me just suggest to you, without trying to sound partisan in any way, there's always a moment in the life of nearly every problem when it's big enough to be seen by reasonable people and still small enough to be addressed without catastrophe. With North Korea, that moment was back when Mr. Clinton was debating how to handle dealing with them becoming a nuclear-armed nation. And he paid the ransom and didn't secure the hostage, and now we face a very grim situation. This president has a lot fewer options and they are a lot more grim. I'm suggesting to you that we have to move at flank speed to not only deploy, but to advance our missile defense capability every way that we can. We have to do what their president has done in making sure that the Kim Jong-Un people know that to attack the United States is to completely destroy themselves. And we have to make it clear to the world that they can trade with us or North Korea. We have to completely sanction them into a point where the regime changes and where we can drill down and dismantle that capability. To do anything less than dismantling the capability, is to only leave this to a future president in a more dangerous situation even than we face now.

SANCHEZ: I want to dig deeper on that, Congressman. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, says the U.N. has strangled North Korea economically. China accounts for 90 percent of trade with North Korea. That's according to figures brought about by the Trump administration. China has repeatedly promised to implement U.N. sanctions on North Korea, but has either failed to follow through or seemed hesitant to follow through for years. Has the United States been able to verify that China is taking action on these sanctions? And how so?

FRANKS: Indeed, we've been able to verify that they haven't done nearly what they could have done. And I think that we have to make it very clear to them that when we talk about trading with us or North Korea, we mean both Russia and China. I think Russia and China see North Korea sort of a mad dog in our yard that keeps us busy and keeps us sort of dealing with that to where they have advantage to see America have to wrestle with North Korea. We need to let it be known to them that this is a threat to the security of the Western world, and the world in general, and that we're serious about this changing. And if the probably dozen or so Chinese companies that trade with North Korea, if they're really that committed, we can make sure they don't trade with us. Our economy is 1,000 times the size of North Korea's. That's an asymmetry that we have to exploit.

Let me point out that I don't think sanctions are the answer here. They're a part of it. But we have to make it clear this time that this is it. We're not going to keep it going. North Korea watched -- (INAUDIBLE)

SANCHEZ: Congressman, unfortunately, due to breaking news, it cut our conversation short.

But, Congressman Trent Franks, of Arizona, we appreciate the time, sir. Thank you.

I'm Boris Sanchez, here in New York.