[Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] They're going to have to answer for how they feel about what President Trump says. And this was her first sampling of how she'll do that tonight. Thank you for watching. "CNN TONIGHT" with Don Lemon starts right now. How do you think she did? You're a funny guy.
[Don Lemon, Cnn:] I've got nothing but the utmost respect for Nikki Haley. I think she is a fantastically professional all the time and I loved it when she said I don't get confused. Remember? I think-
[Cuomo:] Sure, I remember that.
[Lemon:] I like her chutzpah. But it's the Al Smith dinner, and we have to have a sense of humor. You talked about some serious stuff. OK. You can debate whether or not she did it while she was in office or not. That is fine to do that. That's legitimate. But when you're doing those things you've got to be funny.
[Cuomo:] Sure.
[Lemon:] And I thought she was funny.
[Cuomo:] What was her best joke you that heard there?
[Lemon:] I don't even remember what she said there. I thought she I thought it was funny-
[Cuomo:] Mine was-
[Lemon:] I thought it was Elizabeth Warren. I thought that was pretty funny.
[Cuomo:] yes. That was the best one.
[Lemon:] And if you're going to talk about it. You saw what the former congressman, what was his name, Chaffetz, on Twitter when he tweeted the terrible thing, he was at Disney World or Disneyland with his kids and there was a picture of a Native American or at least a carving, a sculpture, a statue and he was standing there saying look, I'm at Disneyland or Disney World, I forget which one, with Elizabeth Warren. It wasn't funny. But in that setting, I thought the joke was appropriate and funny. And listen, we've got to stop being so P.C. or we're going to kill comedy. You've got to understand you got to, listen, you don't want to insult people just because you you don't want to be racist or sexist or you've got to know some boundaries. But we can't kill comedy. And comedy is not about being politically correct.
[Cuomo:] It's often about the opposite.
[Lemon:] Right.
[Cuomo:] I mean, imagine what George Carlin would be saying today about things, may he rest in peace. Look, with P.C. I think what matters more than what you say is what you do.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] That's always been the big contradiction is that people say all the same things and I'll call you African-American but I don't work for equality and for your right and social justice. Then what the hell, it doesn't matter what I call you. Her test is going to be though, Don.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] You remember the one time she said I don't get confused or whatever it was-
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] because it was the only time. And even at the Al Smith dinner tonight she didn't make any jokes about Trump.
[Lemon:] No.
[Cuomo:] And that's something she's going to have to answer for at some point.
[Lemon:] Well, I think now what we're going to see, I think she was very smart and very strategic about how she navigated the Trump administration because she is, I think the only one so far who's come out unscathed and I think she may come out looking better than when she went in.
[Cuomo:] Her numbers are very good.
[Lemon:] She definitely built her resume, built up her resume. Now she has experience-
[Cuomo:] Yes. Big credential.
[Lemon:] Big huge credential. And I think she got out probably in the right time. She got out before the midterm elections because if Republicans do badly then she won't have to deal with that. Plus, she gets the headline. If she had if she had resigned after the midterm elections or, you know, shortly after that, the headline would still be the midterm elections and not Nikki Haley. So, I think she got out in time. But anyway, I have nothing but respect for her. I thought she was funny. And you know what? People may think this is sexist. I thought she looked great. I don't know if we still have a video of her. But I actually thought she looked really pretty.
[Cuomo:] I think it's still OK to say that.
[Lemon:] I know. I worry sometimes. Can you say that in this era? Like I say people at work and I say can I say hey, nice dress, you look beautiful. Because you never know, I'm just asking.
[Cuomo:] You never say that to me.
[Lemon:] Well, because your dresses are never nice and you never look beautiful.
[Cuomo:] Fair point.
[Lemon:] But seriously, I think she looks fantastic. She sounded fantastic. And I think that was a good look for her, meaning overall, everything.
[Cuomo:] I think she checks a lot of boxes.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] I really do. And I think in a great irony at a time where she's working for an administration where the motto is, make America great again, I don't care what anybody says, I think it's inherently reductive and I think inherently a dog whistle to a time when things were not great.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] She stands apart. She represents diversity, women empowerment. She represented a strength. She represented an evenness.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] And she went at it pretty much straightaway, not overtly partisan.
[Lemon:] She's going to the lion's den. A lot of people won't do that. She'll actually come on, what's consider the line, she'll actually come on CNN, come on another network-
[Cuomo:] And in fact, if she were a Democrat she'd probably be at or near the top of the list for them right now.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Cuomo:] Funny how the fates work.
[Lemon:] I never even thought about that. So, did you you saw the president's reality, right?
[Cuomo:] I did.
[Lemon:] Did you see what he said about Gianforte?
[Cuomo:] No. What did he say?
[Lemon:] He was saying he pretty much, I'm paraphrasing here, he called him out as something good that was the guy that body slammed the reporter.
[Cuomo:] Right.
[Lemon:] Saying I was overseas on a trip and I heard that you body- slammed someone, you don't want to mess with this guy. We're going to play it in this hour. You'll see.
[Cuomo:] He's all about strength. Unless he's dealing with somebody who's strong.
[Lemon:] You dressed like me again.
[Cuomo:] No, I didn't.
[Lemon:] Yes, you did.
[Cuomo:] This suit is blue, plays great.
[Lemon:] I've got a new friend for you. I'll introduce him to you and the audience tomorrow. And we'll figure out a name for him. I'm giving it away a little bit.
[Cuomo:] Are you?
[Lemon:] Well, yes.
[Cuomo:] Well, no, you're not giving it away because people will be surprised to hear you have a friend other than me. I love you, buddy. People are going to love your new friend.
[Lemon:] Yes. OK. We'll see. We'll talk tomorrow. We'll figure it out.
[Cuomo:] All right.
[Lemon:] Thank you. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. You know, with everything that's going on in the White House, top aides in a screaming match over immigration, the administration trying to dodge world outrage over Jamal Khashoggi, it's no surprise that President Trump got out of Washington and headed to his happy place tonight, which is the campaign trail. You know this president loves a campaign rally in a place where it's still 2016, where he's surrounded by adoring MAGA hat-wearing fans. Where he's winning so much they're getting tired of winning.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] America is winning. Because we are finally putting America first again. It's America first.
[Lemon:] But back here in the real world, things are a little different. A lot different. Can you believe it was just last week that President Trump did his victory lap after getting Justice Brett Kavanaugh confirmed? That was just last week. Since then the outrage over the disappearance and likely murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has exploded. Leaving the White House desperately trying to avoid blaming the Saudis. But that didn't stop the president from making what may be the most inappropriate joke ever. Joking about, I just mentioned this, Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte, who assaulted a reporter during his campaign last May.
[Trump:] Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my candidate. He's my guy. I shouldn't say this, but there's nothing to be embarrassed about. So, I was in Rome with a lot of the leaders from other countries talking about all sorts of things. And I heard about it. And we endorsed Greg very early. But I had heard that he body- slammed a reporter.
[Lemon:] So, you heard the president. He's joking about an assault on a reporter. In the face of world outrage about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi. But there's more. The deficit, at $779 billion now, the highest it's been since 2012. And the president's signature campaign promise, stopping immigration along our southern border, falling apart. Border crossings are actually up. A record 16,685 family members arrested in September. Up 80 percent from July, 80 percent. That as a migrant caravan fueling instability in Honduras makes its way north. Sources telling CNN that's why the screaming match blew up today between John Kelly and John Bolton. They also say Trump is incensed about the rising levels of migrants.
[Trump:] Remember, it's going to be an election of the caravan. You know what I'm talking about. As you know, I'm willing to send the military to defend our southern border if necessary. All because of the illegal immigration onslaught brought by the Democrats because they refuse to acknowledge or to change the laws.
[Lemon:] So, you heard that. The president falsely claiming that Democrats are to blame for illegal immigration. And threatening today to deploy the military to shut down the border. Even though the Posse Comitatus Act forbids, forbids using the military for suburban duties on military bases. The president is tougher on immigrants than he is on Saudi Arabia. With the Saudis he's leading from behind. Actually, leading from behind would be a step up. It's no kind of leadership at all to give the Saudis a few more days to investigate what happened to Jamal Khashoggi.
[Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary Of State:] I told President Trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we too have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that.
[Lemon:] And what kind of immigration is run by the very people you suspect of being involved in the crime?
[Trump:] We're waiting for some investigations and waiting for the results, and we'll have them very soon.
[Lemon:] So, sources are telling CNN that Jared Kushner, advising the president to go slowly, has also reminded him that the U.S. partners with less than savory regimes around the world, not just the Saudis. That kind of what aboutism is not leadership. But this president wants you to see him as a leader, a leader who can carry the entire GOP on his coattails.
[Trump:] I'm not on the ticket, but Congress is on the ticket. And I try and tell my people, that's the same thing as me. In a sense. That's the same thing. Think of it as the same thing as me.
[Lemon:] Yet, he also says this.
[Trump:] So let's say we have a really bad time in three weeks. If they don't go out and vote, they have themselves to blame.
[Lemon:] Heads I win, tails you lose. If the GOP goes down to defeat in the midterms, this president won't take the blame. He never does. He has no problem doing a 180, calling Christine Blasey Ford credible, then mocking her in of course a campaign rally. Admitting and apologizing for joking about sexual assault on that Access Hollywood tape, then telling his confidants he doesn't think that it was his voice, insisting there were very fine people on both sides of the deadly riot in Charlottesville and then one day after saying racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs. There's one thing that matters to this president, and that is winning. Heads I win, tails you lose. Jim Acosta is with the president tonight in Montana. He joins us now. Jim, good evening to you. The president at his favorite place at a campaign rally, and he's going all in on immigration. What's the latest?
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Well, that's right. I mean, it was pretty typical Donald Trump when it comes to pulling out the red meat for this crowd in Montana. But Don, there were times during his speech when [Inaudible] and that was essentially on this issue of the caravan of migrants coming up from Central America. [Inaudible]. The president at one point painting those migrants as criminals even though many of them, as you know, Don, are trying to escape crime in their home countries. Here's more of what the president had to say.
[Lemon:] So, Jim Jim, I have to ask you about that comment the president made about Congressman Greg Gianforte's body slamming skills. I mean, that was really in remarkably poor taste with the apparent murder of the journalist in the Middle East.
[Acosta:] That's right, Don. I mean, obviously right now the whole world is demanding answers from the Saudi government to explain exactly what happened to Jamal Khashoggi. It sounds like he was brutally murdered in the most gruesome possible fashion. And here you have the president at one point during his speech he was praising Greg Gianforte, the Montana congressman who body-slammed Ben Jacobs with the Guardian newspaper. Gianforte actually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in that case. And you have the president of the United States even in this investigation while he's claiming the administration is claiming that they're going to get serious with the Saudis about all of this, joking that Greg Gianforte is his kind of guy, saying anybody who can body slam somebody is my kind of guy. And Don, he not only did this once. He came back to this joke, this bit later on in the rally when he was handicapping the 2020 field going through the various Democrats he might be up against and he recalled when Joe Biden said he would like to take Donald Trump behind a school building or something like that and have a fistfight. The president at one point saying that he would take down Biden faster than Greg would, referring to Greg Gianforte. So not just once but twice tonight the president is making jokes about assaulting reporters while the whole world is demanding answers about the murder of a journalist who died in the most gruesome and vicious way possible. And Don, also we should point out, the president time and again was going after Democrats accusing them of being part of a mob, of being part of an angry mob. I have to tell you, Don, when the president made that joke about Greg Gianforte assaulting Ben Jacobs, I looked over to the crowd. There was one gentleman, a Trump supporter in the crowd, who was doing pro wrestling moves, doing body slam type gestures in the crowd. So, the crowd was obviously eating this stuff up, and people wonder whether or not there's a cause and effect, whether or not the president's rhetoric, you know, plants seeds of violence in his own supporters, in his own crowds. I think it was pretty evident there that the crowd was loving every minute of this when the president was talking about assaulting, joking about assaulting reporters at this rally tonight, Don.
[Lemon:] An embarrassing performance tonight by the president with those jokes and people cheering him on. Sad. Thank you, Jim Acosta. I appreciate it. The president campaigning tonight after his top aides got into a screaming match over immigration. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has the details for us next.