[Tapper:] All right. Amanda and Kirsten, thank you so much. Appreciate your being here today. That's it for "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper, turning you over to Wolf Blitzer in
[The Situation Room. Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news. No knowledge. The former chairs of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee have told investigators they had no knowledge of a deal to pay for opposition research on Donald Trump. But a law firm says it hired a research firm on behalf of the Democrats. Is everyone telling the truth? Addiction emergency. With tens of thousands of Americans dying every year, President Trump declares the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency. But is he shortchanging the nation on the resources necessary to fight the addiction plague? Declassified. More than half a century after President Kennedy's assassination led to endless conspiracy theories, President Trump allows the release of thousands of secret government documents. Will they shed new light on what happened on that dark day in Dallas? And hating America, a CNN exclusive. We'll take you inside North Korea's capitol, where burning hatred of America is the theme of propaganda plastered everywhere by the regime of Kim Jong-un. Are North Koreans being prepared for war? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in
[The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news.
[Blitzer:] Breaking news. Top Democrats have denied knowing anything about payments for research that led to the dossier on Donald Trump. Multiple sources say former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz both told congressional investigators they had no knowledge about a deal to pay for opposition research, but this week a law firm which represented the Democrats said it hired the researchers. One source says the revelation may lead investigators to dig deeper into that Trump dossier. Also breaking, President Trump has just declared America's opioid epidemic a national public health emergency, saying it's time to liberate our communities from the scourge of drug addiction. Tens of thousands of Americans are dying from opioids every year, but the new declaration does not automatically open the flood gates for emergency funding, and there are still concerns about whether the president and the Congress will follow through. And more than 50 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the government is now releasing thousands of secret documents which may clear up some of the persistent questions expressed by official investigators and two generations of conspiracy theorists. A CNN exclusive. We'll go inside North Korea's capital, where Kim Jong-un's regime has launched the shocking propaganda campaign in which daily life revolves around hatred of America. I'll speak with former defense secretary and former CIA director Leon Panetta. And our correspondents, analysts and specialists, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's begin with President Trump's emergency declaration on the nation's opioid crisis. Our senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is joining us. Jeff, there was a lot of passion in the announcement today. But will there be concrete steps to attack this truly terrible problem?
[Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Wolf, that is the open question then evening. The president, of course, delivering or at least speak to a long-promised campaign pledge to address this drug epidemic that is ravaging many parts of the country. But left unanswered as he signed that the memorandum today, will there be any more money to go with it? That's something Congress will have to decide.
[Donald Trump , President Of The United States:] As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue.
[Zeleny:] President Trump declaring America's opioid crisis a public health emergency.
[Trump:] It is time to liberate our communities from the scourge of drug addiction. Never been this way. We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic. We can do it.
[Zeleny:] In the East Room of the White House today, the president and first lady Melania Trump joining together to address a drug epidemic ravaging the country.
[Melania Trump, First Lady Of The United States:] We are here today because of your courage. The opioid epidemic has affected more than two million Americans nationwide, and sadly, the number continues to rise.
[Zeleny:] The president's speech was a long-promised effort to deliver on a campaign pledge, but the memorandum he signed today does not call for new money to combat the opioid fight.
[D. Trump:] Effective today, my administration is officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law.
[Zeleny:] By calling the crisis a public health emergency rather than a national disaster, relief funds won't immediately be directed to the epidemic, as he suggested during these remarks in August.
[Trump:] It's a national emergency. We're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis.
[Zeleny:] The White House called it a distinction without a difference. And the president said he was committed to reigning in the abuse of painkillers and heroin. He said the government would work toward finding a nonaddictive pain killer to replace opioids and launch an advertising campaign to warn children to stay off drugs.
[Trump:] If we can teach young people and people generally, not to start, it's really, really easy not to take them.
[Zeleny:] Craig Moss, who lost his son to a heroin overdose, supported Trump's bid for the presidency on his promises to crack down on the epidemic. Today, he said the president's pledge fell short.
[Craig Moss, Lost Son To Heroin Overdose:] I commend the president and the first lady for reaching out and addressing this issue and letting the struggling addicts of this country know that that there's something's going to be happening, but I certainly wish that he had spoken more about what he how he plans to attack the epidemic by not providing additional funding.
[Zeleny:] The president also renewed his call to build a wall on the border with Mexico to help block drugs from coming into the
[U.s. Trump:] An astonishing 90 percent of the heroin in America comes from south of the border where we will be building a wall which will greatly help in this problem.
[Zeleny:] Meanwhile today, the White House is looking ahead to try to deliver on another campaign promise, cutting taxes. "Big news. Budget just passed," the president hailed on Twitter. The House passed a new budget today, following the Senate last week, now paving the way for a full debate on tax reform. And Wolf, that full debate is going to happen in the coming weeks. We are going to see the first bill exactly the specifics of this tax reform pledge released next week by the House. The president, I'm told, is going to become more involved in this to try and sell this plan. Wolf, this is the biggest priority on the president's plate here. The biggest test for what he calls a unified Republican Party. We'll see if they are unified and if they can get this tax agenda moving forward.
[Blitzer:] Good news for the president and the Republicans. Since the House passed the same budget as the Senate, they will only need 50 votes in the Senate to pass tax cuts, pass tax reform. They won't need 60. That's a major development today. All right. Jeff Zeleny over at the White House, thanks very much. There's more breaking news right now as top Democrats have denied knowing anything about those payments to affirm behind the opposition research dossier on Donald Trump. Let's go to our senior congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, who's joining us from Capitol Hill. Manu, what do we know about what the chairman of the Clinton campaign, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, told the Senate Intelligence Committee?
[Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Correspondent:] Yes, Wolf, for the first time we are learning that John Podesta, the former campaign chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was the chairwoman in the Democratic National Committee, both met privately with the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors. And they were asked directly about Fusion GPS and whether or not they knew of any Clinton campaign or DNC ties to that firm that produced that opposition research about the Trump dossier allegations of coordination and other issues with President Trump, his associates and Russians. And they said they had no knowledge of any ties between the Trump campaign between the Clinton campaign, the DNC, and Russia. And of course, what was now come to light, that the Clinton campaign and the DNC did effectively pay Fusion GPS, that firm, in advance of that dossier being published. But those two individuals, senior officials said they absolutely had no knowledge about this going forward. And they said they spoke truthfully about that; they really had no knowledge. But Wolf, this really raises the stakes considerably. They have been saying this publicly they had no knowledge. But for the first time we know they said this to Congress and, of course, you can't mislead or lie to Congress in any way. You have to tell the truth. So a significant development there, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Yes. Even if you're not under direct oath, you still have to tell the truth. Otherwise, that could be perjury. Manu, CNN has reported that the law firm of Marc Elias, a Democratic attorney, retained Fusion GPS as a client as part of its representation of both the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Has he been interviewed, as well?
[Raju:] Well, Wolf, he hasn't actually been interviewed as a witness, but what was interesting about this issue is that we have learned that Marc Elias actually was representing John Podesta at the time of his Senate Intelligence Committee interview. So he was sitting next to John Podesta when Podesta was asked directly whether or not the Clinton campaign had ties and a contractual relationship with Fusion GPS. And Podesta said he didn't. Elias was not being interviewed, because he was the attorney. Now Elias may eventually have to come back and be interviewed as a witness. We'll have to see. That remains a possibility. Now since then, Wolf, in the last couple of days, Elias's firm has put on a statement saying that it just only recently informed its clients, the DNC and the Clinton campaign, that it had retained Fusion GPS as its own client to investigate, to pay for this research, and that the clients, the DNC and the Clinton campaign, didn't know anything about it. But Marc Elias was in that room while John Podesta was asked a key question, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] It's very, very awkward indeed. I know you're working on other new developments. Stand by, Manu. We're going to get back to you very soon. Manu Raju reporting from Capitol Hill. And joining us now, someone who wore a lot of hats here in Washington. Leon Panetta is a former defense secretary, former CIA director. He was also the White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.
[Leon Panetta, Former U.s. Defense Secretary:] Nice to be with you, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] All right. So it's very awkward. How can both the chair of the DNC and the Clinton campaign not know about these payments?
[Panetta:] Well, it's obviously something that the Intelligence Committee is going to have to have to look at. You know, knowing presidential campaigns, they're big operations, and somehow the left hand may not know what the right hand is doing. And that could be the case here, but I really do think that the committee is going to have to get into this, determine just exactly what happened, who knew what and when.
[Blitzer:] But if the lawyer who was representing the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, Marc Elias, is sitting next to John Podesta, he was asked, "Do you know about the funding?" He says no. Wouldn't it be his responsibility to at least whisper in his ear, "Yes, yes, you" and tell him what was going on so if he wasn't lying, John Podesta, he would be able to clarify all of that before before the committee in a sensitive issue like this?
[Panetta:] Well, it certainly makes the situation very awkward. If you're testifying and saying you have no knowledge, and the attorney sitting next to you is one of those that knew what what was involved here, I think it does raise an issue that the committee is going to have to look at and determine just exactly what knew what. But I'm going to I'm going to allow the committee to do that kind of investigation. I suspect that Bob Mueller is also looking at this issue in terms of the dossier and those connected to it.
[Blitzer:] Yes, I'm sure he is. The intelligence community, as you know, has confirmed many of the details of that very controversial dossier. By no means all of them, certainly not the salacious parts of that dossier. But it's generally, according to a lot of officials, a lot of it is pretty reliable. Does it even matter, when all is said and done, who funded this research?
[Panetta:] Well, I think it is important at least to know, you know, who was pulling the strings here in terms of the research. Whether it's on the Trump side of the campaign, and the connections with the Russians, or whether it's on the Clinton side of the campaign, you want to know who was making decisions that involved dealing with possible foreign individuals in terms of trying to determine negative research on the opposing candidate. But, in the end, the most important thing is to look at what the dossier says, and whether it's in any way verified. And also, to look at, obviously, the connections with the Russians and what they did. What we can't do here is lose sight of the fundamental objective of this investigation, which is to look at what the Russians did, how did they get about it? And what can we do to prevent it from happening again?
[Blitzer:] Yes, that's certainly the thrust of this investigation up on Capitol Hill, as well as the special counsel, Robert Mueller. I want your reaction to the latest revelations, Mr. Secretary, regarding Cambridge Analytica. That's the data firm working for the Trump campaign, which reached out to WikiLeaks about obtaining e-mails from Hillary Clinton's personal e-mail server. What red flags does that raise?
[Panetta:] Well, again, it's one of those issues where, if somebody from the campaign was in touch with WikiLeaks, and WikiLeaks was involved with the Russians in terms of determining just exactly what would or would not be revealed in terms of what they possess, again, it raises the connection issue as to just exactly how much was involved because between the Trump campaign and Russians in the form of WikiLeaks. So, it's another issue that obviously has to be looked at as part of this whole investigation into what what was the connection here between the Trump campaign and the Russians?
[Blitzer:] Mr. Secretary, we've got to take a break, but we're getting some new information on that deadly ambush in Niger that killed four American soldiers. Stand by. We'll continue our special coverage right after this.