more from fred from moscow. the russian press trump ted trump, if you would like, what are they saying now? >> well, wasn't just the russian press, there were a lot of people here according to public opinion who felt at the time that donald trump would be a good president to -- for u.s. russia relations, at least from the perspective from the russians. it seems many russian politicians have, somewhat, cooled off i wouldn't say they make the president himself responsible for that. it was interesting because last week you had the prime minister of this country come forward and say they don't believe the lifting of sanctions against russia that were levied in the wake of the ukraine crisis with this new administration that the sanctions could disappear any time soon. it doesn't look as though people here believe that there can be a very quick positive diplomatic momentum between the u.s. and russia any more. at the same time you had one of the main pun dents is a good measure on what kremlin is thinking as well. he came forward and said, that he believes that donald trump, president trump

investigation. but many in moscow have already drawn their own conclusions. fred pleitgen has more. >> reporter: as the row over russia's alleged interference deepens, and president trump's contacts to the kremlin continues -- a lot of russians are mocking the allegations and the discussion about them. like vladimir putin's spokesman in a cnn interview. >> all of this is doing lots of harm to the future of our relationship. >> reporter: as spring temperatures rise in moscow, the new ice age between the u.s. and moscow is on people's minds. >> i think it's stupid. and it's just a provocation. how can you say all this. usa admits that russia changed their history? i'm just so shocked. how can you say those things? and this woman adds, this is ridiculous and stupid. i think we have nothing to do with it. i'm sure of it. >> reporter: whether it's questions about hotel servers and a russian bank or which associates met with moscow's ambassador during the campaign, russia's mostly state-run media is lashing out at the coverage, especially at cnn's. this is the top pro-kremlin pundit and

me now from moscow and drama playing out on capitol hill. it seems you struggled to find anyone that hasn't had a meeting with the russian ambassador. how is this playing out as for as the kremlin is concerned? >> i think that's precisely the kremlin's point that the ambassador in washington was doing what he should be doing which was getting out and having meetings particularly in an election year, meeting with people from the campaign's -- with a view to -- for help moscow better understand what may be coming from either campaign and therefore for them to -- you know, for the kremlin to formulate better. they are caught up in an intense internal political fighting within the united states. they deny, of course, any accusation that they were involved in -- in trying to interfere and influence the outcome of the election in hacking the dnc computers. they say that's not what they do. they don't interfere into the affairs of other countries. but where it impacts russia today is that you know, they feel here in russia that they're trying to sort of maintain some patience, the wait for

end of another week here, there are certainly more questions being raised about moscow and they are not just about from democrats. from republicans as well. that's what donald trump is facing as he heads off to florida later today. christina and dave? >> all right, jeff zeleny, another busy day and night for jeff. so, with the attorney general recused what happens next? for now the acting attorney general deputy attorney general will over see any investigations or prosecutions related to the trump campaign. but he may choose to appoint a special prosecutor to probe the trump campaign and its ties with russia. for that, three conditions must be met. that a criminal investigation is warranted, that the current probe presents a conflict of interest, and that an outside investigator is in the public interest. who would determine if these conditions have been met? attorney general jeff sessions. >> so, another option is being floated by some democrats reviving the old independent counsel law under which the attorney general asks a three-judge panel to name an independent counsel. that la

moscow bureau chief. we keep learning new details about the russian ambassador meeting with top aides to trump. he keeps denying there's any -- but don't you want to know why so many contacts and what were the meetings about. >> weren't you intrigued about who this donald trump guy was and whether or not he could win? the russians, he was just as much of a puzzle to them. how many asked me, is he for real, what is he going to do? could he win? is he a caricature, he's not a normal american politician and explain same thing in russian so they could get confirmation. some of this goes on -- getting secret instructions, i doubt it. >> explains the russian side about it. just because they want to learn about it doesn't mean they must meet with them. doesn't explain why the folks on the trump side wanted to meet as well. >> this is the black box. still not had a serious explanation from donald trump about his intrigue with russia. what does he want to do? does he want to do it? does he like russian souls? want to do it because it's contrary? like putin because everyone in american es

going to transform the relationship between washington and moscow has now been swept to one side. and so i think the russians at the moment are looking to a future relationship, which is going to be probably tense, certainly not as, certainly not as good as they thought it would be when donald trump was elected. >> matthew chance, appreciate it. reaction now to the russian reaction from seth molten. i spoke to him just before airtime. congressman, what do you make of the similarities between the white house and kremlin push back in all this in terms of fake news, witch-hunt. apparently that doesn't squash skepticism from those in congress pushing for more information. >> no, it's not. it's strikingly similar how the push back is from the creme lip a -- kremlin and the white house. that's why we need to push for a bipartisan independent investigation. >> republicans control congress. there's no indication they support a select committee investigation. there's no indication at this point that the justice department will appoint a special counsel. that leaves the house intelligence

? we are going to take a trip to moscow next. >>> accusations of collusion preaching a fever pitch as the senate intelligence committee prepares to a launch a hearing. in a matter of hours, so how are the russians reacting. good morning, matthew. what is the reaction in moscow? >> reporter: well, it may be familiar to you. they're saying it's about the dishonest media, it's about fake news and it's a witch hunt, so exactly the same kind of terminology being used by the trump white house. that's how they say described as this poisonous and toxic issue. there is though a lot of interest in them. and i think from our point of view in moscow watching these hearings unfold the recent issue of the meeting between jared kushner meeting with the head of the russian development bank is a really interesting one because there's a discrepancy between what the house says the meeting was about and what the bank says. the white house says this was just part of kushner's role as a member of the trump transition team reaching out to foreign leaders. the bank says it was about business dealings, the

trump seems to be cooling off. our report live from moscow just ahead. my friends think doing this at my age is scary. i say not if you protect yourself. what is scary? pneumococcal pneumonia. it's a serious disease. my doctor said the risk is greater now that i'm over 50! yeah...ya-ha... just one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia- an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13® is approved for adults 18 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. if you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. get this one done! ask about prevnar 13® at your next visit to your doc

in his corner. morton that in a moment. >> plus trump officials being fired. how moscow responds to the allegation that he may be a spy. that's just ahead. . >>> welcome back, everybody. welcome to cnn news room live from los angeles. it is 11:30. >> our breaking news this hour. u.s. attorney general jeff sessions is recusing himself from all investigations into the trump campaign and its ties to russia. >> he failed to mention two meetings with the russian ambassador when asked about any contact with the country's officials during his confirmation hearing. northwesterlies the president is still with him. sara murray has details. >> reporter: tonight a defiant trump is standing by attorney general jeff sessions. >> do you still have confidence? >> total. >> mr. do you still -- >> he probably did. >> the president sayingbelieves his attorney general testified truthfully during confirmation hearings even though sessions failed to disclose two meetings with the ambassador. kworgt a senior administration official. >> when were you aware that he spoke to the russian ambassador? >> i wasn

accusations against moscow. listen. >> so we all knew this before the election. we all knew russia was trying to meddle with our election, and we already know right now they're trying to do it with other countries. >> so this as the intel committee tries to break the paralysis of partisan bickers on the house side. devin nunes set to meet with the ranking democrat on that committee, adam shall have, who led the call for nunes to resign from leading that investigation amid bipartisan complaints the chairman is too cozy with the committee he is charged of investigating. what are you hearing at this hour ahead of the senate side of all of this starting to hold their first big public hearing? >> indeed within the next hour the senators will be sitting right behind me, talking asking questioning to these witnesses in which the witnesses are mostly academic types in the first panel. the second panel discussion is going to be most of the people can testify to the extent of the russian hacking. the vulnerability to the cyber security structure in this country as well as the proliferation o

headquarters in moscow, over and over again. finally, one official told him, simply, moscow is silent. >> and i think it felt like a deep betrayal to him. >> vladimir putin was on his own. he went down into the bowels of the building and fired up the furnace. >> he finds himself in the basement, at a furnace, shoveling documents, as he hears demonstrations out on the street. >> they are burning the secret files so fast that the furnace is blowing up. >> putin torched thousands of pages of kgb documents and secrets, as the crowd closed in. with the fire still raging, putin went outside and faced the mob. by himself. there are armed guards inside, he told them. they will shoot you. and he's able to bluff his way out and tell the crowd, don't try it here. you're going to get hurt. >> putin's threat worked. the mob dispersed. >> this is the drama that stays with putin all the time. the fear of popular uprising. ♪ ♪ >> vladimir putin quelled that fear with absolute control. this is what control looks like. in one of the world's busiest cities, the streets are emptied for vladimi

moscow next. >>> the state department is condemning the kremlin for arrests of hundreds. thousands of people hit the streets in moscow and nearly 100 russian cities and towns. alexey navalny opposition leader detained after a well known critic was shot and killed. let's get to fred for the very latest. fred you yourself were caught up in these protests, huh? >> reporter: yeah, absolute lichly. we walked along with the crowds in central moscow and could see how many people were being arrested in that demonstration. it seemed as though the police had what i would call was a no tolerance or zero tolerance policy. anybody who chanted against the government or a sign got arrested. we got pushed around while we were trying to do some reporting from the scene and that was really one of the things we did see a lot of. turnout was a lot bigger, but a lot of folks hauled into the vans and detained, many not released yesterday. >> speaking out against vladimir putin has become a deadly thing. what's the latest on alexey navalny who led the protests? >> he was taken into detention before he could

moscow is a senior russian diplomat just like i was a a senior british diplomat. he's been droibed by some news organizations as a spy master. he's not. he's a good whose job it is to meet influential americans and get to know what they are thinking and where they are going. accusations of that sort to muddy the water tremendously in washington. and make it very unclear what if any basis there is to make wild accusations. >> has the u.s. reputation been damaged among our allies? >> i mean, the situation in the united states at the moment in terms of the personality of your new president in terms of the policies that emerging is so unprecedented that this particular corner of the story, the russian influence has mayed a role. if the hearings begin show there is so that would be huge. >> sur tony brenton, thank you for your insight today. >>> up next, the view from russia. we go live to moscow to see how closely russians are following the investigation into the meddling sbo the u.s. election. you're live in the cnn newsroom. why are you checking your credit score? you don't want to driv

instructions. >> desperate for help, putin dialed kgb headquarters in moscow, over and over again. finally, one official told him, simply, moscow is silent. >> and i think it felt like a deep betrayal to him. >> vladimir putin was on his own. he went down into the bowels of the building and fired up the furnace. >> he finds himself in the basement, at a furnace, shoveling documents, as he hears demonstrations out on the street. >> they are burning the secret files so fast that the furnace is blowing up. >> putin torched thousands of pages of kgb documents and secrets, as the crowd closed in. with the fire still raging, putin went outside and faced the mob. by himself. there are armed guards inside, he told them. they will shoot you. and he's able to bluff his way out and tell the crowd, don't try it here. you're going to get hurt. >> putin's threat worked. the mob dispersed. >> this is the drama that stays with putin all the time. the fear of popular uprising. >> vladimir putin quelled that fear with absolute control. this is what control looks like. in one of the world's busiest

, why is that important? that's the same day the obama administration imposed sanctions on moscow for interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. >> flynn, the white house and the kremlin initially said sanctions were not discussed in those calls. turns out that may not have been true. and michael flynn resigns february 13th. he admitted giving the vice-president elect incomplete information. >> and now the top cop of the u.s. has had to recuse himself from investigations on contacts between moscow and the trump campaign because of those previously undisclosed meetings with the russian ambassador. >> well, let's get the perspective from moscow and head there now. cnn's international diplomatic nick robertson joins us now. what are the implications of pointing the finger at moscow's man in washington? >> reporter: well, the reaction here is one of anger, of frustration, of claims by the foreign ministry spokes woman that this is a media vandalism. we've heard from the president spokesman here as well, pest could have describing the atmosphere in washington as one that is emotionall

government told cnn they won't be watching monday's hearing at all. joins me now from moscow with more on this. despite what russia has said, clearly someone in moscow will be monitoring this hearing to see how far director comey might go on the question regarding russian's possible involvement in the 2016 u.s. presidential election, right? >> yes, officially, they're not watching, they're busy. don't expect any more details. the kremlin spoke and said referring to this as quite a broken record futuristic song. there will be russian officials pouring over whatever it is that james comey actually says. he'll be under pressure. i mean, the scope and, frankly the potential ramification of the allegations being made of such he's been under pressure to come up slightly more evidence. of course he may choose to hide behind the vail of what is not and what is classified information that can be given out, but certainly in moscow, here, they will be facing that pressure to respond certain details, it will be interesting to see exactly how far james comey. rosemary. >> yeah, there's no doubt dir

met in moscow president. edward visited putin to affirm kooshd nation coordination of their military and diplomatic moves in the 6-year-old conflict and that is a big change. as recently as 2015, ankara and moscow had not been getting along. for his part, donald trump has repeatedly spoken about i think proved relations with russia. but recent controversies keep getting in the way. matthew chance explains. he's in moscow. >> reporter: russia has emerged as a controversy the trump administration just can't seem to shake. it started of course during the 2016 u.s. presidential campaign when first reports emerged of hacking targeting democratic party servers, dumping private e-mails on the internet. u.s. intelligence agencies said they had high confidence that russia was behind the separation, but the trump team refused to accept that. candidate trump even calling on russian hackers to target hillary clinton's personal e-mails. at the same time, trump's campaign manager, paul manafort, was accused of accepting millions of dollars in casual for representing russian interests in ukraine. t

weeks ago. carter page lived in moscow and did business with russian energy firms and he was on his foreign policy team but not anymore. >> he is an individual that the president-elect does not know. >> reporter: michael flynn re-signed after less than a month when it was found he misled the administration about his talks with the russians. we now know the president's son-in-law, jerry kushner, also attended a meeting with flip and t flynn and the russians just before the new year. jeff sessions, the nation's top cop, also had contacts with the russians. he could have been the one to decide whether to charge anyone in connection with russian hacking of the presidential election. >> therefore, i have recused myself in the matters that deal with the trump campaign. >> reporter: and there is this. assertions by u.s. intelligence that russian cyberattacks on democratic party computers were aimed at influencing the outcome of the november vote. put it all together and that's why suspicions keep growing no matter how the white house dismisses them. it is important to note there is current

moscow's man in washington will clarify what that was about. first latest from jim acosta. >> reporter: when then candidate donald trump delivered a foreign policy speech in washington last april, russian ambassador to the u.s. sergey kislyak was in the audience listening in as the real estate tycoon calld for better relations with the kremlin. >> i believe an easing of tensions, improved relss with russia from a position of strength only is possible, absolutely possible. >> reporter: three months later -- former campaign adviser j.d. gordon tells cnn he and foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty policy adviser carter page discussed u.s. russia relations with the ambassador. jared kush merer in and michael flynn also sat down with the ambassador at a previously undisclosed meeting at trump tower in december. now republicans are saying it's time for bhiswhite house offici to tell all. >> i think everybody ooh who's had any contact with the russians need to be in the practice of oversharing. >> reporter: the president pushed back about his campaign's contacts with the russians. >>

washington, who is a former cnn moscow bureau chief. jonathan, you first. we keep learning new details about the meetings between russia's ambassador to top aides for president trump. he has denied there was contact between any of these people with the russians. don't people want to know why so many contacts and what were these contacts and meetings about? >> don, weren't you intrigued about who this donald trump guy was? didn't you want to know whether he could win? the russians wanted to know he was just as much a puzzle to them. i can't tell you how many russians up until the election would ask me, is he for real? what is it going to mean? what is he going to do? is this guy crazy? is he a caricature? how do i understand his cartoons? he isn't a normal american politician. then they'd want me to explain to them the same thing in russian just so they could get confirmation. i think some of this was going on. were they getting secret instructions? i doubt it. >> that explains the russian side of it, but it doesn't explain the other side as well. just because they want to learn

joining us. >> now, how is all this viewed in moscow? let's bring in cnn's claire sebastian live. good to have you with us. i'm sure you just heard natalie's interview about the fbi director's testimony that's due monday. all eyes will be on what he has to say or what he doesn't have to say. in moscow, is there any anticipation about what's to come. >> well, the kremlin is saying they are very busy with their own work and are not paying attention to this hearing. the kremlin spokesman told us he doesn't expect to hear anything new, rather colorfully, calling this a broken record with futuristic songs, making the point that these accusations against russia keep coming despite russia's repeated denials there was any meddling by russia in the u.s. election. their insistence that any contacts between the russian officials and the trump campaign then and now trump administration were anything but day to day diplomacy. when you have the fbi director testifying under oath about an investigation into russia that russia will certainly be watching closely. this isn't just a potentially awk

so he can discuss the actual facts. >> bring in matthew chance, live in moscow. paul manafort, former campaign manager admitted he worked with this russian billionaire with close ties to vladimir putin. what more can you tell us about that? >> oleg derapaska is one of the co-called oligarchs who rose to wealth and power in the '90s after the breakup of the soviet union. he was the second biggest producer of aluminium in the world. we've not had acknowledged from either the campaign owned by the russian billionaire or paul manafort that there was anything other than the business agreement between them. rusal has told cnn it was consulting advice paid for from manafort, business interests of daripaska. there's been no confirmation that there was anything pushing russian policy or promoting russian interests or nullifying russian opposition figures in the region, which is what was alleged in the associated press report. >> you're speaking to people in moscow. what are they saying about the constant attention with putin, trump and u.s. relations? >> i think russians are frustrated with it

russia pay attention? how officials in moscow are responding next. did i ere's only one special edition? because, actually there's five. ooohh!! aaaahh!! uh! hooooly mackerel. wow. nice. strength and style. it's truck month. get 0% financing for 60 months plus find your tag and get $5500 on select chevy silverado pick-ups when you finance with gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. >>> fbi director james comey expected to shine new light on the investigation into russia's meddling in the 2016 election. the intelligence community says russia hacked the dnc and the campaign to help trump win. cnn's nick paton walsh is live for us. >> reporter: they're pretending they will not pay attention, saying they are too busy and won't be watching. that is from the kremlin spokesperson. he said they don't expect any details from the hearing. a broken record with a future song. there's two different ways to look at how moscow is feeling about the enormous amount of noise of the alleged interventi intervention. they are relishing the idea that they are able to influence the c

moscow following this story. a great deal of anticipation here over what the fbi director may or hmay not say about the possible links to russia. they say they won't watch, but will they watch? >> reporter: i'm pretty sure someone will have the tv on, although they claim they're too busy doing other things. i think the comments about them not watching is designed to maintain the distance and scorn they have on these allegations repeated against russia that it did somehow interfere in the 2016 elections. they've called the allegations a broken record with a futuristic song suggesting that it doesn't correspond to the present-day reality they're dealing with. but you will be looking at what detail james comey might come up with. he's under great pressure to yield something that these allegations have something, a lot of this may be concealed behind the veil of classified information. but bear in mind the larger picture, here, george. if you were believing that moscow was hoping donald trump, a man conspicuous in his absence of criticism of vladimir putin. strange for republican can

with moscow's man in washington will clarify what that was about. the latest on cnn's jim acosta. >> when then candidate donald trump delivered a foreign policy speech? washington last april, the russian ambassador to the u.s. was in the audience. listen as he called for better relations with the kremlin. >> i believe an easing of tensions, improved relations with russia from a position of strength only is possible. absolutely possible. >> months later, they met with the russian ambassador in cleveland during the republican convention. the former campaign adviser told cnn he and another adviser discussed u.s.-russia relations with the ambassador. his son in law jared kushner and michael flynn sat down at a meeting in trump tower in december. even republicans are saying it's time for white house officials to tell all. >> i think everybody who had contact with the russians have gotten into oversharing. >> he pushed back on questions about contact with the russians. >> i had nothing to do with it. i have nothing to do with russia. >> he tweeted this photo of putin and chuck schumer

between washington and moscow has now been swept to one side. and so i think the russians at the moment are looking to a future relationship which is going to be you know, probably tense certainly not as good as they thought it would be when donald trump was elected. >> matthew chance. thks. >>> reaction to the russian reaction from seth is lten. i spoke to him just before air time. >> congress, what do you make between the russian playback on all this? facility news? presumably that doesn't quash skepticism from those in congress pushing for more information. >> in fact, it's striking how similar the pushback is from the kremlin and the white house. that's obviously a cause for concern. but we need to know the facts. the american people deserve to know the facts. that's why we've got to continue to push for bipartisan independent investigation. >> you talk about independent investigation. i mean, republicans control congress. there's no indication they support a special select committee investigation. there's no indication at this point the justice department will appoint a spec

instructions. >> reporter: desperate for help, putin dialed kgb headquarters in moscow, over and over again. finally, one official told him, simply, moscow is silent. >> and i think it felt like a deep betrayal to him. >> reporter: vladimir putin was on his own. he went down into the bowels of the building and fired up the furnace. >> he finds himself in the basement, at a furnace, shoveling documents, as he hears demonstrations out on the street. >> they are burning the secret files so fast that the furnace is blowing up. >> reporter: putin torched thousands of pages of kgb documents and secrets, as the crowd closed in. with the fire still raging, putin went outside and faced the mob -- by himself. there are armed guards inside, he told them. they will shoot you. >> and he's able to bluff his way out of it and tell the crowd, don't try it here. you're going to get hurt. >> reporter: putin's threat worked. the mob dispersed. >> this is the drama that stays with putin all the time. the fear of popular uprising. ♪ >> reporter: vladimir putin quells that fear with absolute control. thi

as you suggested with threats coming from moscow and other areas of the world, we don't have the luxury of quarreling amongst ourselves about the importance ever this allege l of this and i lie answer. >> we can't have time to get into the claims of wiretapping, but quite frankly, there is nothing to talk about. there is no evidence. thank you so much. >>> the secretary of state is seeking chinese support to rein in the north korean weapons program. in south korea he said that the u.s. would consider military action against north korea if it was provoked. let's get the sfview from china. will ripley is live from beijing. a pleasure to have you with us. let's talk about the secretary of state on the ground in china at the same time the president on twitter putting out this tweet within the last 24 hours. tweet reads as follows -- north korea is behaving very badly. they have been playing the united states for years. china has done little to help. this pressure that the u.s. is putting on china to do more, will it work? >> reporter: well, that is the big question. and we know that

from moscow, next. powerful you'll think they are. it's time to see what power really looks like. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair with accelerated retinol sa. clinically proven to reduce wrinkles in just one week. wrinkles? your time is up! rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots. rapid tone repair. neutrogena® see what's possible. [car[clicking of ignition]rt] uh-- wha-- woof! eeh-- woof! wuh-- [silence] [engine roars to life] [dog howls] ♪ dramatic opera music swells from radio ♪ [howling continues] of bad breath germs% for a 100% fresh mouth. feeling 100% means you feel bold enough to... ...assist a magician... ...or dance. listerine®. bring out the bold™ >>> the pentagon growing increasingly concerned about russia interfering in libya. u.s. aerial reconnaissance detectsing rush aircraft and a large drone at an air base in western egypt closed to the libyan border. unu.s. general testifying he believes the kremlin is trying to determine the course of libya's political future. relates go live to moscow and bring in cnn's clare sebastian. good morning to you. what is r

in russia. we'll have a high report of moscow. >> hong come doesn't add a new leader, saying her election was great. back in a moment. today, unlimited gets the network it deserves. verizon. (mic thuds) uh, sorry. it's unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, most advanced 4g lte network in america. (thud) uh... sorry, last thing. it's just $45 per line. forty. five. (cheering and applause) and that is all the microphones that i have. (vo) switch to unlimited on verizon now and get our best android smartphones for as low as $15 a month. >>> we are following a tragic and developing story in japan. avalanche struck a group of high school students taking skiing lessons, 125 miles north of tokyo. >> fire official said eight of the students are feared dead and six are injured. 32 students and teachers were able to get down safely from the slope. emergency crews are having trouble reaching the area due to poor weather. we'll continue to monitor this situation for you. >>> they say chinese government has effectively chosen hong kong's new leader. as predicted in elect

he met in moscow with french presidential candidate marin le pen, who could turn mesh's alliance with france on its ear. vladimir putin's latest attempt to manipulate another country's levers of policy. he meets in moscow with marin le pen, a woman who, if she wins, could turn a key u.s. ally upside down. le pen says she'd like to lift sanctions on russia, to recognize putin's annexation of crimea. and another bold prediction. >> it's the world of vladimir putin, the world of donald trump and the united states. >> reporter: analysts say it's a stunning image for a top candidate in a western democracy to unabashedly embrace moscow at a time when in america president trump's campaign is being investigated over whether aides coordinated with russian operatives. >> i think what's unusual is how much russia is now playing into our daily news cycle, our daily consciousness. russia is very much at the center of our attention, and that's exactly where putin would like to be. >> reporter: why is marin le pen a favorite french candidate of putin's? >> because le pen wants to break euro/atlantic

on this. appreciate it. >>> so once again, there's the perception in the u.s., at least, that moscow is playing a central role in what is front-page news here in the u.s. let's get the reaction in moscow. matthew chance is with us. matthew, to date, what has moscow said about the trump-russia connection and the allegations? >> reporter: well, cyril, i think they're watching the political theater playing out in washington, with quite a degree of alarm and concern. because they, first of all, have denied they've had any involvement in manipulating the u.s. political process. they deny, of course i'm talking about kremlin officials, deny that they have coordinated inappropriately with any members of the trump administration or before that, trump campaign. but they are looking at this crisis effectively in the united states and worrying about what it means for u.s. policy towards russia. of course the kremlin had been expecting a president trump to come into office with sympathetic views towards russia. but because of the way that the russia issue has become so toxic now in american poli

nic robertson. >> reporter: around the u.s. election donald trump fever hit moscow. matryoshka dolls on sale at the kremlin and plenty of time on russian media. >> he ordered the tone of the state-controlled media, particularly television in russia to be more friendly toward the trump administration. >> reporter: veteran commentator says trump's pop lairity in moscow was overdone. >> i think there was a lot of hype in the u.s. media about the relationship and about the bromance. i don't know where people got that from. >> reporter: if there was a bromance, the last 40 days have alled the ardor. >> i love to negotiate things. do i it really well and all that stuff, but it's possible i won't be able to get along with putin. >> reporter: then came the tumult over who in the trump camp met the russian ambassador and why media vandalism say officials in moscow. >> stop spreading false news. >> and some hard-line comments by u.s. officials on russia's seizure of crimea and its meddling in ukraine. >> i must condemn the aggressive actions of russia. >> reporter: a quick scan of the newspape

to moscow on a trip approved by the trump campaign. he gives a speech critical of the united states. for what he believes is a hypocritical focus on democratization. according to christopher steele, a former british intelligence officer, who has reportedly held in high regard by u.s. intelligence, russian sources tell him that page has had a secret meeting with igor session. he's reported to be a former kgb agent and close friend of putins. according to steele's russian sources, he's offered brokerage fees. according to reuters, the sale of a 19.5% share later takes place, with unknown purchasers and unknown brokerage fees. also according to steele's russian sources, the campaign is offered documents damaging to hillary clinton, which the russians would publish through an outlet that gives them deny ability, like wikileaks. it would be in exchange for a trump policy that de-emphasizes russia place in ukraine. policies as recently as last week with angela merkel have now come to pass. in the middle of july, paul m manafort attends the republican party convention. carter page back fro

time, he says that includes alleged links and coordination between moscow and trump associates. >>> no wiretapping. the fbi chief publicly dismisses president trump's claims that he was wiretapped by president obama, saying there is no information to support those allegations. >>> on defense. the white house is not apologizing, saying nothing has changed. while the president's tweets suggest a new conspiracy theory. >>> after an ominous rocket engine test, north korea says it's not afraid of the u.s. and threatens to use what it calls its nuclear sword for self-defense. >>> i am wolf blitzer. you are in "the situation room." >>> breaking news. fbi director james comey today publicly rejected president trump's claim that he was wiretapped by president obama. and then comey dealt the white house a stunning new blow, saying for the first time that the bureau is looking into alleged links and coordination between russia and trump associates, part of a criminal investigation into russian meddling in the u.s. election. that investigation has been going on, he says, since july. >>> national s

concerned russia may be meddling in a foreign conflict. where and why it matters. we're live in moscow, next. why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. ♪ that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. ♪ here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority : you z2a1gz zx9z y2a1gy yx9y with moroccan argan and camellia oil formulas, new garnier whole blends illuminating haircare indulges hair with moisture. for naturally-beautiful, luminous shine. garnier whole blends argan and camellia oils. find every blend at walmart. the market.redict but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. >>> the pentagon growing increasingly concerned about russia interfering with libya. u.s. aerial reconnaissance detectsing a large drone and aircraft at a base in egypt close to the border. one testifying he believes the kremlin is t

over to moscow and it seems like they are working with russia during our election. >> roger stone did not work directly for the campaign, and -- >> he was an adviser. >> not in the summer when the meetings are said to have taken place, and you know, there are meetings between politicians and ambassadors, correct? >> right, and roger stone is not a politician, and carter page is not a politician and jeff sessions who met with the ambassador two times after it was revealed russia was attacking us, and in the best light that's bad judgment, but why would he deny under oath in a senate panel that he met with them, as a former prosecutor when we would present that to the jury, we would say that is a consciousness of guilt. >> his honesty before the senate is a separate issue and it seemed to be less than forthcoming, and these are questions you will get to ask tomorrow. >> coincidences or convergence? >> you have a redeye to catch and we will let you go. thank you for being us with. we appreciate it. >>> we eluded to it right there. exactly what, if anything, is the fbi investigating r

surrounding president trump. want to see how it's playing out in moscow. we have senior correspondent nick payton walsh joining us from there. what reactions are you hearing from russians about the conversations being had here in the u.s.? >> the kremlin keeping the same distance from these accusations of meddling in the u.s. election. that persisted when the spokesman told us they weren't going to be watching the hearings on monday. they were too busy on other work in the kremlin. they weren't expecting to hear things from it. it was a broken record are futuristic songs. they keep hearing the same accusations against moscow but they don't feel they've been presented any evidence. james comey will be under pressure in that meeting to provide details about possible contacts between u.s. officials in the trump administration and russian officials, perhaps the one we haven't seen posted on instagram or well-known in social media and of course to what's been referred to as the smoke bomb of the wiretap allegations that president trump made. certainly, all eyes on what new detail can emerge fro

moscow. you've been getting the same line from the kremlin, that there is no evidence that russia was involved in any sort of hacking. >> reporter: absolutely, max. from the very early stages of this, when these allegations first surfaced last year, the russians have dismissed it, almost laughed it off as ridiculous. i would say that in recent weeks, as these investigations become more serious, the kremlin spokesman has called it emotional extremism, hiysteria n washington, in the u.s. media, but the denials have remained consistent. russia said it's a u.s. domestic issue, but it does intelligent -- threatening to undermine the fragile resolve between the u.s. and russia. since the trump euphoria his receded, we've seen a dramatic reduction of issues surrounding the trump administration in russia. fair to say that as these investigations get under way, the first public hearing is next week, they will be very closely watched here in russia. >> and have you been able to get any information on these two russian spies that have been charged by the justice department? >> reporter: well, ce

moscow. matthew, the president didn't actually say russia, but that's how it's being read here in the united states. how is it seen there from moscow? >> reporter: well, it's certainly being commented on widely in the russian press, that the word russia wasn't uttered by president trump. you get the sense that given the critical remarks from various elements of the trump administration in the past couple weeks, there's probably some relief about that. but in fact, this continues the idea that there's mixed messages coming from the trump administration, when it comes to its policy toward russia. on the one hand, trump affirmed his support for nato, that's something that won't be welcomed very readily here in russia. of course they're opposed to nato expansion. they were hoping trump would be opposed to that as well and would see it from their point of view. but also this idea that america's willing to find friends and forge new relationships. perhaps in a bleak reference to the idea of cooperation over international terrorism, it's something that both the united states and russia do ha

including a noted critic of president vladimir putin. live in moscow next. >>> the state department claiming the kremlin for protesters including a key proponent. the detention of opposition leader alexi valni coming less than a week after a shooting of another -- let's bring in, we understand you got caught up in this as well. >> reporter: yes, it was certainly a lot bigger than anticipated. when the rally got underway there were a lot of cops on the street to keep that from getting started. police dogs were all there, a lot of people were detained and we actually did get caught up in some of that scrum as well. here is what happened. >> reporter: there's a massive p presence at these protests and time and again we are seeing this protesters pushing back with the police making arrests. >> reporter: as you can see there a lot of scrum going on and indead dea lot of people crested around 500, the numbers are saying around 700 detained. the opposition leader has not yet been released from detention. he apparently has his court date today. this comes when the safety of the opposition i

election and tomorrow fbi director comey promises to -- but many in moscow drawn their own conclusions. >> as the row over russia's alleged interference in the u.s. election deepen and questions into trump's connection continue, a lot of republicans mocking the discussion about them. like vladimir putin's spokesman. >> all the hysteria in public opinion, hysteria in american media is doing lots of harm to our relationship. >> reporter: the new ice age between u.s. and russia is on people's minds. >> i think it's stupid and just a provocation this man says, how can you say all this he adds. russia changed your history? so shocked. how can you say these things. and this woman says this is ridiculous and stupid. i think we have nothing to do with it. i'm sure of it. whether questions about servers and bank, or what associates met with ambassador during the campaign, russia's mostly state-run media is lashing out at coverage of the story, especially cnn's. this is one of his unfounded accusations. the cia feeds the russian hacker stories to the media, he says, and then let's say cnn blows

wiretapping accusations against president obama? >>> plus our man in moscow. jon huntsman signs on for what may be the toughest job in the trump administration, ambassador to russia. we'll talk about all of that. >> cnn's justice correspondent pamela brown is looking into this. what have you learned about the investigation? >> don, we've learned fbi investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer connection between the trump organization and a russian bank called alpha bank. according to several sources familiar with this investigation, this is the same server mentioned in a breitbart article that a white house official had sparked president trump's series of tweets last saturday accusing investigators of tapping his phones. cnn is told there was no fisa warrant on this server. the questions about the connection between the server and the russian bank were widely dismissed four months ago as an attempt by alpha bank to block them. we have learned the fbi counterintelligence team, the same one looking into russia's suspected interference in the

be visiting moscow instead. the optics of that are confusing to say the least. >> the president has been silent last night when he was in louisville, he did some local tv interviews. reporters were told he's not going to talk about any of this, don't eve skn any questions. today the white house was pretty silent on it as well. what do you make of that? >> it's not clear if they have suddenly found some discipline on this issue and some message discipline or maybe there are some concerns from a legal perspective with an ongoing fbi investigation, with ongoing investigations on the hill. do they not want to get themselves in potentially more legal trouble than they are already in. it's not clear. really this will only last as has been the case in the past until perhaps there is another trump tweet or another trump interview. it's really unclear if this is a long-term strategy. >> what's he going to do, tweet about his own fbi director? you're laughing but what's he going to say? "sad"? what can he say about comey and wouldn't he have to say something about barack obama and the charge

candidate over the other. i was in moscow last august. i came home and did some media interviews and talked with folks and i said they are going to mess with our elections. that wasn't based on intelligence analysis or specific information. it's just based on history. we knew that they would. i was always asked who do they want to win, and i said then, i don't think they care. i don't think they -- a believed they could determine who could win. i said a number of times they want to break down the foundation, take away the trust in our institutions, take away the faith in our electoral process. they agreed with me for a long time. suddenly they didn't. that was when the president asked for the report and he asked for it quickly and then the analysis changed quickly. it went from no, no, they don't really care, to no, no, they want mr. trump to win. i think there is another plausible explanation. which is what i want to talk to you about in the minutes i have remaining. let me ask you, do you believe they expected secretary clinton to win the election? >> yes, as of august certainly, a

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prepares for the first hearing today, how is the kremlin reacting? we will go to moscow next. >>> accusations of collusion between the trump administration and russia reaching a fever pitch as the senate intelligence committee prepares a hearing into kremlin election meddling in a matter of hours. how are russians reacting? let's bring in matthew chance. i'm sure it's the lead story on rt around the world clock, right? >> reporter: no, they're trying to ignore this taking place, but when they do talk about it you may have heard this before, they talk about it in terms of the dishonest media, a witch hunt and yeah, fake news as well, this has been a common refrain in russia just like it is in the u.s., but russians are really disappointed particularly the government because they thought donald trump was going to be good, recognize crimea, lift sanctions but say the atmosphere in u.s. is toxic, and these senate hearings and house hearings are outlining that for the russian government. >> interesting as we stay tuned to the story, jared kushner, what was his role with that veb b