President Trump Calling Out on North Korea and Other World Leaders.
CHURCH: Donald Trump called his speech a message of peace, but in his debut address to the United Nations, he said he would totally destroy North Korea if he had to. The U.S. president warned that evil will triumph if the world does not stand up to a small group of rogou nations. He blasted Iran, calling it a murderous regime, and also criticized Venezuela and Cuba. CNN global affairs analyst David Rohde joins me now to talk more about the speech. David, always good to talk with you. Thanks for being with us.</s>DAVID ROHDE, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, CNN: Thank you.</s>CHURCH: Now, in his address, President Trump again referred to Kim Jong-un as rocket man and threatened to totally destroy North Korea. How does language like that impact a delicate and tense diplomatic relationship with a country led by such an unpredictable leader and has a U.S. president ever spoken to the U.N. like this?</s>ROHDE: I don't think a U.S. president has used such a language before. I think it reflects a sincere belief I think, you know, among President Trump himself and his advisors, that more delicate language, more threats of force will actually work. That President Obama was too soft-spoken and that if you do threaten military action that will lead to a change in behavior in North Korea. Others disagree with it, but I think that's what the president sincerely believes.</s>CHURCH: Does that work?</s>ROHDE: There is much evidence of that and the danger that after you make this kind of threat of military force, you know, Kim Jong-un and other leaders that are threatened could, you know, will think that it's an empty threat of force. So it's sort of a dangerous step by making this threats so openly and so publicly on such a global stage. You know, it will -- I expect more defiance from North Korea and then what does Trump do then, how does he respond?</s>CHURCH: Yes. I mean, that's what we'll wait for now to see how Kim Jong-un does respond to being called rocket man and of course, this threat to destroy North Korea. Overall, how did the U.N. General Assembly react to Mr. Trump's speech that target that not only Kim Jong-un but also the leaders of Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba?</s>ROHDE: There is this general feeling that it was a speech for a domestic, you know, U.S. audience. It continued the theme of seeing international alliances as bad for the United States, so that's an inherent sort of repudiation of the United Nations and this whole, sort of post-World War II system that so many American presidents have worked so hard to create. So, I think it alienated many diplomats, but I think President Trump's goal was to, again, appeal to his American political base and he alienated foreign leaders and that's his calculus that's more important to strengthen his base.</s>CHURCH: So, what's expected to be the next step now in Mr. Trump's game of brinkmanship with North Korea and of course with the Iran nuclear deal?</s>ROHDE: There is a deadline coming up in the next few weeks where President Trump can decide whether to certify that Iran is complying with Iran nuclear deal. He could decide to not certify that and that would instantly add to tremendous tensions with Iran. Most European countries don't want him to do that. That's the next clear state. And then if there is another North Korean nuclear test or missile test, that will again call his bluff, so to speak. So, it's a very tense situation. To be fair to Trump, I think North Korea has -- hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. He has inherited a very difficult problem, but his strategy is saber rattling and it hasn't work so far. We'll see if somehow the speech finally causes a change. But I'm not sure it will.</s>CHURCH: We'll be watching for the next step. David Rohde, great to get your analysis. Many thanks.</s>ROHDE: Thank you.</s>CHURCH: Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is also weighing in on Mr. Trump's speech at the U.N. She appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert a little earlier.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought it was very dark, dangerous, not the kind of message that the leader of the greatest nation in the world should be delivering. What I'd hoped the president would have said was something along the lines of, you know, we view this as dangerous to our allies to the region, and even to our country. We call on all nations to work with us to try to end the threat posed by Kim Jong-un. And not call him rocket man the old Elton John song, but to say it clearly we will not tolerate any attacks on our friends or ourselves.</s>CHURCH: And coming up, Christiane Amanpour's exclusive interview with French President Emmanuel Macron, why he says it will be a big mistake for the U.S. to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. We'll have that next.