JAKE TAPPER: He’s going to take Kim Jong Un at his word that he didn’t know about it.

The Warmbier family put out a statement. They disagree. They say Kim Jong Un is responsible. Are they wrong?

BOLTON: Look, the president made it very clear he considers what happened to Otto Warmbier an act of brutality that's completely unacceptable to the American side.

I have heard him before the summit itself, before the press conference, talk about how deeply he cared about Otto Warmbier and his family.

The fact is, the best thing North Korea could do right now would be to give us a full accounting of what happened and who was responsible for it.

TAPPER: Do you take Kim Jong Un at his word?

BOLTON: The president takes him at his word.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: No, I know he does, but what about you?

BOLTON: My opinion doesn't matter. My opinion is that...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: You're the national security adviser to the president.

BOLTON: Right. I’m not ...

TAPPER: Your opinion matters quite a bit.

BOLTON: I am not the national security decision-maker. That's his view.

TAPPER: Well, we saw Otto Warmbier in North Korean custody after his arrest at a press conference, February 29, 2016. There he is. He was alert. He was talking. He was physically OK.

So whatever happened to Otto Warmbier clearly happened after he entered North Korean custody, after Kim Jong Un knew that he was in North Korean custody.

Do you believe that somebody in the prison system in North Korea just went rogue and did something to Otto Warmbier, or do your years of knowing North Korea, and knowing the politics there, tell you that, whatever happened to Otto Warmbier, Kim Jong Un had to have known about it, because that’s how that country is run?

BOLTON: Listen, nothing that happens in North Korea surprises me.

But I do think what North Korea would benefit from most is a full description of what happened, a full accounting.

TAPPER: I don’t know one expert on North Korea who thinks that anything could have happened to Otto Warmbier without Kim Jong Un knowing about it ahead of time.

Do you disagree?

BOLTON: Good for them.

TAPPER: But what about you? You’re a North Korea ...

BOLTON: I — look, you know, people in the media seem to have the impression that administration officials kind of comment from the distance, as if I were a Fox News contributor, as I used to be.

TAPPER: Used to be.

BOLTON: I don't do that anymore. I give my advice to the president. I give my opinions to the president. He makes up his own mind. That's why he's president.

TAPPER: So there is this context of President Trump taking the word of Kim Jong Un.

In the past, in Helsinki, he said he believed Vladimir Putin’s denials of election interference over that of U.S. intelligence agencies. He has cited [Saudi] Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman’s] denials of his involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who lived in the United States.

Why does the president say publicly that he's willing to side with dictators over Americans?

BOLTON: He's not saying he's siding with dictators over Americans.

TAPPER: He believes them.

BOLTON: He has — he has expressed his opinion about what they have said on these various points.