by russia, syria, russia has put weapons in space targeting u.s. space assets, arms control, russia just pulled out of a major missile treaty. what is the common ground that the trump administration thinks is there? >> you know, i feel, jim, number one it's good they're talking because both sides say they want to do it, they really aren't talking for the most part. so this is good news. now, what can they actually agree on? i think they can both agree on the fact that the mueller investigation is over and as the president sees it and also as president putin sees it that's the end of the story. you know, essentially they won, they feel, and so they can go on to try to repair this relationship. when you get into the details of what they will be discussing, you are right, i mean, on almost everything it's a very difficult picture. witness iran, i mean, russia absolutely is saying that the united states created this chaos, created this instability in the middle east with iran. and other issues, you know, don't forget ukraine, that's another issue on wh

russia, russia, russia. russia has disappeared because i had nothing to do with russia helping me get elected. but the president tried to clean up that part about russia helping him get elected. >> russia did not get me elected. i got me elected. russia, if anything, i think, helped the other side. >> reporter: here's the reality. a 2017 u.s. intelligence community report stated, we assessed putin and the russian government had a clear preference for president-elect trump. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. >> reporter: the president appeared sickened by the idea of being impeached. >> it's a dirty word, the word impeach. it's a dirty, filthy, disgusting word and had nothing to do with me. >> reporter: even as democrats are using the "i" word more and more. >> i think we should open up an impeachment inquiry. that's a more direct name to the oversight we were already involved in. >> repor

has the president been tough on russia, tougher on russia than anyone else? >> no, he hasn't, and -- and, you know, he gave us somewhat cherry picked descriptions of his policies, but broadly speaking he is a president that vladimir putin has dreamed of. he's done his best to try to weaken the alliance in nato. he has done his best to encourage splits within the european union with with the brexit situation in the uk. he has given free reign in syria. these are things that have been beneficial for russia in policy interests and began geopolitical aspirations, and i was just going to say there have been some sanctions that have been imposed under his presidency, but that was generally imposed by congress over trump's objections. >> that's right. >> his rhetoric hasn't matched sort of the imposition of those sanctions. we have a lot still to talk about. you're going to stand by with us, glen kesler from "the washington post." the claim from the president that the courts would never allowed impeachment. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ applebee's new loaded fajitas.

welcome, russia, to a cooperative agreement with nato. over time they will see the light, change, become more democratic. we can work together on things. but russia and china have their own interests, particularly in regaining a dominant position. russia, post fall of the soviet union. china, there is so much history on this. china feels it is retaking its position on the world stage from the 19th century. there is pride involved, an enormous military build-up involved. so the idea that they wanted what we believe they wanted was just a false one. even when the evidence was contrary through the years, folks just didn't see the light. only now are they beginning to see the light on this >> can i hold the book? >> all right. go ahead. >> what i think is interesting is you talk about the expanded battlefield between russia, china and the united states. essentially that battlefield is everywhere. i mean everywhere. you go into detail about space, satellites that eat satellites. not just space, the ground, crimea. it is the arctic. i remember

russia did attack our democracy. it was an incredibly huge demonstration of what a foreign power can do when he sit back and let it happen. that's what he's doing going into 2020. this was a huge cyberattack on our democracy and on our elections. if he can't even admit it happened in 2016, what does that mean for 2020? >> i have a theory, victor, perhaps he didn't even talk to putin about it because he wants and needs them to do it again in order to win in 2020. there really is no explanation to it. >> hold on a minute. if we want to look at a president and what they're doing to russia, with regard to meddle, i hate to play what about-ism? let's bo back to barack obama he simply said, cut it out. see how much good that did. >> come on, alice. >> this is the president thursday night on fox news, making that point. >> president obama in september before the november election, my november election, if you look, he was told by the fbi and others about russia. he did nothing about it. >> what could he have done? >> he cou

but russia, one of russia's goals here is to weaken the united states. and in many of these issues, we really don't need russia's help in resolving issues like north korea. iran managed to insert themselves a little more in, as in syria, but really, can the united states not figure it out together with our western allies without russia's so-called help? there ought to be ways to do that. there ought to be creative diplomacy to do that. i would hope so. >> u.s. allies didn't give pompeo the warmest welcome. didn't give him a group meeting, as he asked for. i wonder on iran, people may forget russia was a signatory and remains a signatory to the iran nuclear deal. supports staying in that deal. should we expect putin to be lobbying pompeo and the trump administration to somehow find their way back to the deal or at least not blow it up more? >> well, i think we can certainly expect that. russia is pretty close to iran, actually. it's been one of the big sort of geopolitical shifts of the past several years. the fact that historically russia and iran have a

russia didn't help me at all. russia, if anything, i think helped the other side. >> mueller reports they tried to help you and hurt hillary clinton. was mueller wrong about that? >> i believe russia would rather have hillary clinton as president of the united states than donald trump. the reason is nobody has been tougher on russia than me. whether it's our energy policy, which was not heard. whether it's the pipeline, as you know, in europe going all over the place that i have been bitterly complaining about. whether it's ukraine. whether it's a whole host of things, there is nobody ever been more tough or difficult to russia than donald trump. i have to tell you this, i put sanctions on russia at a level that nobody has seen before. >> this whole issue, whether how russia helped him get elected, wanted him to get elected. that is also addressed in the mueller report. it's a large part of volume one of the mueller report and what russia was doing. and it's also even contradicted what the president said there, is

and russia. the russian president actually praised the work of the special counsel, robert mueller, but without mentioning the mueller repo report, that the mueller report concluded that russia did, in fact, interfere in the election. you've done a lot of research now, what russia's up to here in the united states, what china's up to here in the united states. what's your reaction when you hear this? >> it's truly remarkable, because what is the potential area for agreement between russia and the u.s.? just go through the list of issues on which the u.s. and russia are on opposite ends of the spectrum? venezuela, the iran nuclear deal. remember, russia is a signatory to that deal. the u.s. has pulled out of it. syria, the u.s. and russia on opposite sides. election interference, not just in 2016, but which was attempted again in 2018, and is expected to happen again in 2020, russia has not changed its behavior there. russia still occupies large parts of a european country, ukraine, in spite of am

. >> and phil, he keeps calling it the russia hoax. still, he's talking about the russia hoax. you saw some of his tweets today. >> yeah, i think if you look at this, quickly, you look at the president has asked, or the u.s. government has asked the british to extradite someone who was involved in that election activity. that is julian assange. now we have another country that has a dozen people in its military intelligence service involved in subverting american democracy and the president, who has obviously the department of justice below him can't even say, what about the 12 people we have under indictment. his question for himself is, i wasn't implicated in the report, therefore, it doesn't matter. so putin gets a get out of jail free card, and the gru, the russian intelligence service says, let's bring on the next round, 2020. >> that's the concern, maybe because the president was silent, putin will say, let's do some more. >> every intelligence service has said that the russians are planning to do this again. but this goes back to the president always equating the russia

it makes sense to get along with russia. >> tough on russia? oh, tough like this, you mean? >> i think i have a good relationship with putin, who knows? i mean, who knows? >> putin's a killer. >> a lot of killers. what, you think our country is so innocent? >> russia, if you're listening i hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. >> i don't think anybody knows it was russia that broke into the dnc. it could be russia but it could also be china. it could also be lots of other people. my people came to me and they said they think tit's russia. i have president putin, he just said it's not russia. i will say this, i don't see any reason why it would be. he actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse but he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever. so pretty much that's what it was. >> well, the last thing that this president has been is tough on russia, and you've got to wonder just how tough he'll really be when he meets with vladimir putin and with president

if you look this was all about russia, russia, russia. they don't talk about russia anymore because it turned out to be a hoax. it was all a hoax. and then they say, gee, he fought back, isn't that terrible? he fought back. of course i fought back because it was a false accusation, a totally false accusation and it's a disgrace and it's a very -- it's a very sad period for this country. i think in the end i will consider what's happening now to be one of my greatest achievements, exposing this corruption. [ inaudible question ] >> i don't see how they can because they're possibly -- although i can't imagine the courts allowing it. i've never gone into it. i never thought that would even be possible to be using that word, to me it's a dirty word, the word impeach. it's a dirty, filthy, disgusting word and it had nothing to do with me. so i don't think so because there was no crime. you know, high crimes and -- not with or or -- it's high crimes and misdemeanors, there was no high crime and no misdemeanor. how do you impeach based on that?

if you go back and look at what russia was doing leading up to the 2016 presidential election, russia was engaged in an information operation that stoked the divisions in this country, that really built on the strife, the divisions that we already have in this country. and all of that intense strife, all of those divisions, all of that discontent benefited the president, and he knows it benefited him. so what the president's doing is he's sitting in front of vladimir putin, and he knows that vladimir putin did this. and the president recognizes that if he confronts vladimir putin, basically it's like looking a gift horse in the mouth. vladimir putin gave the president something in the 2016 presidential election. he gave him a sense that -- he gave his base a sense they were in this together, and the president worked to continue to build on those divisions, and it helped push him into office. so i think he won't confront him because he does not have a lot of concerns as to whether vladimir putin does this again in 2020. >> listen to this. >> he had an airplane on the tarmac. he was rea

russia didn't help me at all. russia, if anything, i think, helped the other side. >> reporter: here's the reality. a 2017 u.s. intelligence community report stated we further assess putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president-elect trump. and then there's the president's personal call for russian assistance during the campaign. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. >> reporter: the president also appeared sickened by the idea of being impeached. >> to me, it's a dirty word. it's a dirty, filthy, disgusting word. and it had nothing to do with me. >> reporter: even as democrats are using that "i" word more and more. >> i believe we should open an impeachment inquiry. that is just a more robust version, more robust name and direct name to the oversight that we were already involved in. >> reporter: the president claimed he had nothing to do with efforts made by the whi

he claimed quote, i had nothing to do with russia helping to get me elected. u.s. intelligence and the mueller report laid out in detail, systemic effort by russia to interfere, and there was also this. >> i believe that russia would rather have hillary clinton as president of the united states than donald trump. >> well, fact check, vladimir putin stood right next to the president in helsinki last year and said he wanted trump to win because it would be better for relations between the two countries. >>> here's a pairing you probably never thought you would see. alexandria ocasio-cortez and ted cruz joining forces working together to ban former lawmakers from taking paid lobbying positions. they found common ground on twitter. where else. where ocasio-cortez wrote if you are a member of congress and leave, you shouldn't be allowed to turn around and leverage your service for a lobbyist check. cruz replied on this point, i agree aoc, the swamp would hate it, but perhaps a chance for some bipartisan cooperation. believe it or not. the new york democrat tweeted

it operates internationally and internally in russia. it operates both boeing and airbus, air frames as well as domestically manufactured jets such as this super jet which was the airplane here in question, so certainly we're just getting this early information from aeroflot saying that an investigation had been launched and the information that we've had from russia's emergency services -- emergency ministry, which is the ministry which is charged with overseeing russia's first responders, so this has been something that's immediately been all over russian state television. the news in fact broke in just as a press conference was happening with russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov and smally these images came in from the airport showing this very dramatic image with the plane engulfed in flames on the ground and the passengers evacuating down the ramps and down the emergency slides. >> what's been the experience of getting information out of russian investigators when something on this scale happened involving, you know, its national

russia wants to maintain maduro until power. and there were rumors which have not been substantiated that he even convinced maduro to keep the country and stay strong. this is something that the russians have done with other authoritarian regimes. this is against what they want evolving in venezuela, it has been a country that's long been democratic. and with the rise of chavez, they've had a difficult relationship with venezuela. so it's an opportunity to challenge russia on its actions with venezuela and push important nicolas maduro who has been in charge in venezuela's history is really the right leader for the country. >> all right. at the top of the show, i'm sure you might have heard. we reported on these projectiles that were launched from north korea. that issue again, front and center. before all of this, president trump in that call indicated his appreciation for russia's engagement with north korea. do you see russia as a growing player in these negotiations? because keep in mind, the last summit between kim jong-un

to lose at russia's expense so russia wins. you can't cooperate with a government that follow that is approach. >> putin and trump want a similar outcome in 2020 to what was seen in 2016. steve and patrick, thank you so much. >> thanks, fred. >>> still ahead, 40 million americans under a severe weather threat today and parts of davenport, iowa trying to recover from flooding after a levy breach. we'll talk to the city's mayor, next. this bleach indicator test reveals which disinfectant can leave harsh chemical residue on your food surfaces. what do you do with that? like, who's going to eat that? unlike clorox clean-up, lysol daily cleanser uses three simple ingredients to leave surfaces free from harsh chemical residue. lysol. what it takes to protect.® when you rent from national... it's kind of like playing your own version of best ball. because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if it's a better car class than the one you reserved. so no matter what, you're guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] (vo) g

connections, possible russia connections. according to pop dopts, -- papadopoulos, he walked out because of her line of questioning about russia. was this an intelligence failure on the part of the u.s.? >> right now it doesn't seem that way because we know there wasn't sort of some big mother lode of information that george papadopoulos could have offered. they were clearly prodding to find out was he a key link between the trump campaign and russians because of his previous interactions. we now know that he wasn't. and so it would be hard to characterize that as a failure because it doesn't seem like a key piece of information in this case was missed. >> you know, laura, the attorney general bill barr used the word "spying," there was spying going on the part of elements of the u.s. government, of the trump campaign. is this what he was referring to? >> this is one of the big questions i have right now actually. he made it clear yesterday in his testimony that there was more there than just the foreign intelligence surveill

venezuela, where russia intervened. ukraine. the possibility of a meeting on the sidelines of the g-20 summit in japan next month. mike pompeo tweeted out his intentions, saying his meeting in russia will highlight a number of important topics. on some issues, we may agree, and other issues, we may disagree, but in the national interest, it is our responsibility to find a way forward. i think both sides are hoping there may be a positive outcome to these meetings. >> they have a lot to address. it'll be an interesting meeting. thank you, matthew. >>> investigating the investigation. apparently, two ongoing probes are not enough for the attorney general, so there is a new appointment from bill barr to look into the origins of the russia investigation again. biopharmaceutical researchers. pursuing life-changing cures in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... because it's not just about the next breakthrough... it's all the ones after that.

here's a clip. >> who is shadowier -- >> russia or china? >> russia or china? who's been more aggressive? >> russia is more aggressive today. russia's sort of like your drunk friend at the party, right? you know they're dangerous -- >> i think literally your drunk friend from the party. >> they are your drunk friend. you know they're dangerous when they walk into the room. china is more like the quiet one in the background but is more dangerous because they're kind of subtly evil, but equally vicious. i've talked to the former head of counter intel for the fbi, a former cop, and he talks about it, no one's more vicious than the chinese. they will kill you. they will kill your families. i mean, seriously. it's kind of like mob. it's like the mob! >> sleep tight, everybody. >> it's the mob. >> see, isn't that reason for you to buy the book? make sure to buy a copy of jim's book, "the shadow war." let's get him to the top of "the new york times" best-seller list. we'll be right back. heading into retirement you want to follow your passions rather than worry about

russia didn't help me at all. russia if anything i think helped the other side. >> well, that's not based on anything whatsoever. >> it's not based on anything, it's just a complete lie. >> which one? >> the fact that that -- >> we could certainly point out -- >> you could point out in passing it's extraordinarily ungracious not to credit his voters with making him president. he said he did it. okay, fine, he did it. we have, let's see, we have out of the words of the mouth of putin that this was his favorite candidate. we have all of the intelligence agencies, we have this exhaustive report and we have the president half an hour ago all saying russia wanted trump to be elected. we have the whole premise of the trump tower meeting. >> helped me. >> yeah, we have the whole premise of the trump tower meeting. everyone knows this. everyone knows this. so the request he becomes following up on jeffrey's point why does somebody tell an obvious lie that everybody knows is just that? i think he's building a political cas

the secretary of state mike pompeo says russia is interfering in venezuela right now, that russia was going to provide safe passage for maduro to go to cuba. john bolton, the national security adviser before he yelled at me for asking too many questions about russia says russia is trying to stick its finger in the eye of the world by being involved in venezuela. but then the president over the weekend said after he talked to vladimir putin, he's convinced that russia doesn't want to be involved in venezuela. this is yet another split between the president and the most senior levels of his own government about something very important. how do you explain it? >> i'm glad you pointed that out. i think it's gotten less attention than perhaps it might which is to say the president does seem to disagree with john bolton and mike pompeo on a number of important national security issues. in a way he's been undercutting them just as the previous team of national security advisers that he dumped on a lot and then fired, h.r. mcmaster and rex tillerson. this venezuela/russia thing is another exa

and russia could cooperate on. but the russians are not going to help us out of the kindness of their heart. they're going to help us if it's if had their interest or we have leverage to compel them to. all the problems that the trump administration is involved in are all sort of piling up and the russians, because they're smarter, willing to let it stew, and if we give them concessions, sure they'll help us but i don't see exactly what it is that mike pompeo is going to offer. >> let's zero in on iran and the coming confrontation. john bolton has talked about striking iran, he has talked about regime change in iran. it's tough to separate his intentions with the president, from where you stand, what is our suspension with iranians? >> well, yeah, first of all, i think there's real credible threat reporting that the united states government is responding to. i don't think that's made up. i don't think that's part of some sort of secret effort to get us into war with iran. at the same time, there's a gap, as you men

but it was russia who convinced him to stay. so the state department said absolutely pompeo is going to bring up that. he's going to bring up ukraine. he's going to bring up election meddling, he's going to bring up americans detained in russia. he's the one who's doing bring up all of these problems. they also emphasized the u.s. has exacted costs from russia on these things. problem is, does any of this ever do anything to change russia's behavior? no. and also, you hear sometimes a very different tone from the president of the united states. and that is the relationship that the russians look to and rely on. but they're procedubably going talk about the next putin/trump meeting which could happen in a matter of weeks in japan. that would be something that they could build towards. >> absolutely. michelle laid it out great. expectations and kind of what, i mean, maybe i guess we say what they are all up against in trying to accomplish anything in this meeting this morning. really interested to hear what comes out of it. michel

russia is fighting a war under the waves. deploying more advanced quiter sub marines to deploy closer to u.s. shores without warning. they're finding multiple ways to undermine the u.s. something america figured out is only trying to address now. but the only way to fight back is to have leadership from the top which it doesn't have and the remarkable thing is that china, two different countries, two different histories, two different governments is fighting a very similar strategy to undermine the u.s. >> they have a trade and economic situation. one absolute problem for the u.s. is that u.s. markets have priced in a successful deal with china. >> they have. >> if you don't get one you'll have market issues and that could undermine the economy at the worst possible time for this president going into it. reelection. but what does the tariff battle mean? >> we're in a situation. we're in a game of chicken. on the trade war. the president will not confront russia for whatever reason. a clear adversary of the u.s. on china he is

russia, russia, russia. that's all you heard at the beginning of this witch hunt hoax. now russia has disappeared because i had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. it was a crime that didn't exist. so now the demes and their partner, the fake news media say he fought back against this horrendous false accusation and he shouldn't fight back. just sit back and take it. could this be obstruction? no. mueller didn't find obstruction either. presidential harassment. that last part. mueller didn't find obstruction either. >> he didn't pronounce that there was obstruction, right? that's true. but if you actually listen to robert mueller and read the mueller report it is clear that the mueller team believes at the very least that there are two or three instances where obstruction is on the ta suggesg about russia. if you were to say to robert mueller, what's the single reason you held the press conference, my guess would be he would say to focus on russia. >> he led and closed with it. >> that's critical. >> is congress going to call robert mueller to testify?

and russia? secretary of state mike pompeo said this morning he hopes the two countries are head going a new phase. >> the president seems to be suggesting that he's ready for a new phase of his relationship with putin now that the mueller report is done. we going to see -- there has been talk of a summit. there going to be a trump/putin summit on the horizon? and are we entering basically a new phase? >> i hope we are. i hope we can find places where we have overlap in our interests. i think it makes sense that any place we can find where we have overlapping interest, we work along with the russian that. >> brings us to your weekend presidential brief. with us is sam vinograd. she spent several years and helped prepare the presidential daily brief under president obama. pam, pompeo strategy for the u. u.s.-russia relationship? >> we do have overlapping interests with russia right now. it includes undermining our institutions and doing everything possible to keep president trump in power, because

in beijing. >>> mike pompeo heads to russia. in a few hours he's set to meet with vladimir putin in a wide range of issue the. senior international correspondent matthew cahance live in moscow with the latest. matthew. >> reporter: it will be 3 1/2 hours before mike pompeo, the u.s. secretary of state arrives in russia for his first visit here officially. he was meant to moscow first but delayed that, went straight to sochi in southern russia, will be having meetings with the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov and vladimir putin. all range of issues being discussed from venezuela to syria, to all sorts of other issues, arms control and the possibility of a meeting on the sidelines of the g20 summit in japan as well the key issue is iran, the russian foreign minister saying he'll be seeking clarification from secretary pompeo about how the united states plans to get out of this crisis that he says has been caused by uni lateral decisions. the kremlin is deeply suspicious about u.s. motives when it comes to the islamic republ

russia, russia, russia, that's all you heard at the beginning of the witch hunt hoax and now russia has disappeared because i had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. it was a crime that didn't exist so now the dems and part of the fake news media. i had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. the president's own fingers typing that russia helped him get elected. he said he had nothing to do with it, and then on the south lawn later the message was a little different. >> russia did not help me get elected. you know who got me elected? i got me elected. russia didn't help mean at all. russia, if anything, i think helped the other side. >> you get whiplash. robert mueller is an honorable man. robert mueller found nothing. no, he's a conflicted. i had nothing to do with russia helping me to get elected. rush didn't help me get elected. which is it? >> not only he tweeted it once, deleted, it re-tweeted that tweet and left the russia part in there, so what the president was essentially tweeting though, though he later reversed it, was essentially what already ev

this case was about russia. we've written about this. it was about russia. period full stop. >> so what does it say that he felt compelled to speak out? >> it's essential that he does because there's narrative out there that somehow this whole thing started because, you know, the fbi had it out for donald trump. and so what we have to remember is, as baker says, is it started because of concerns about what the russians were doing to influence the election and no one believed at that moment that the trump campaign would work with the russians, you can fill in the verb, or accept what the russians had, or, you know, ask wikileaks to release emails, so the trump part of it came later. it was the concern for our elections, for our democracy, for our constitutional system that the trump campaign was willing to dance with the russians was of no concern to the fbi until they started actually investigating. >> max, i want to get your view on this, when you consider barr's testimony and how he made the president out to be a victim. it's a stunning review of barr and

russia is interfering with our elections and in venezuela. yet, as is always the case, he has nothing negative to say. even the childish tweets, the silly insults, the names he tries to slap on opponents never, ever applies to the russian dictator. >> good point. errol lewis, appreciate your perspective, sir. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >>> former chief of staff john kelly has a new job. it's controversial. he joined the board of directors for caliburn. they operate shelters for unaccompanied migrant families. >> straight ahead, the situation in venezuela is really heating up this morning. the country's opposition leader is calling for more protests. instead, they will continue until president maduro steps down. we'll have a live report from caracas. >>> how a military flight skidded off the runway and ended up in a river. ♪ here i go again on my own ♪ goin' down the only road i've ever known ♪ ♪ like a drifter i was-- ♪ born to walk alone! keep goin' man! you got it! if you ride, you get it. ♪ here i go again geico mo

adversary he could be confronting instead, russia's vladimir putin. during a friday phone call that lasted more than an hour we told, the president said he and president pute-a good talk and chatted about five or six things but not russia's election meddling and says putin is not interested in getting involved with venezuela and today we learned something that suggests the exact opposite that russia's foreign minister will meet with

i want to first start with russia. special counsel mueller's report found that the russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a sweeping and systematic fashion. later director wray informed us that 2018 was a dress rehearsal for the big show in 2020. director coats, the president's intelligence adviser has told us that the russians are getting bolder. yet for the last two years senator langford and i on a bipartisan bill with support have been trying to get the secure elections act passed. this would require backup paper ballots, if anyone gets federal funding it would require audits and better cooperation. yet the white house as we were on the verge of getting a markup in the rules committee and getting it to the floor, the white house made calls to stop this. were you aware of that? >> no. >> that happened. what i would like to know from you as our nation's chief law enforcement officer if you will work with us to get this bill done. otherwise we have no clout to get back up paper ballots if s

russia didn't help me at all. russia, if anything, i think, helped the other side! >> reporter: mr. trump has managed to change the story line in washington from mueller to mexico, one of the u.s.' closest trading partners. the president has warned he will start imposing escalating tariffs on mexico in june until which full-time migrants coming into our country stop. he backed off the idea of shutting down the border. >> we're going to give them a one-year warning and if the drugs don't stop, or largely stop, we're going to put tariffs on mexico and products in particular, cars. and if that doesn't stop the drugs, we close the border. >> reporter: aides to the president are selling the proposed tariffs as a way of punishing mexico without hurting american consumers. >> why raise american consumers' prices on all of that stuff coming from mexico. >> so this is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the trough tariffs. china, for example, bears the burden of the tariffs in the form of lower exports, lower prices for their products, lower profits for their companies. these people who

the focus was on russia. this is all about russia. that's what we were worried about. >> it was an invasion that might be taking place. i hope you can come back and talk in the future. this threat continues. >> thank you. >> seven states, multiple restrictive bills, rhetoric, a woman's right to choose is at risk in this country, but why? why are so many states passing bills like this and laws? we have a reality check next. last year, the department of veteran's affairs partnered with t-mobile for business, to help care for veterans everywhere. with va video connect, powered by t-mobile, men and women who serve can speak to their doctors from virtually anywhere, and get the care they deserve, so they can return to their most important post. best friend, quarterback, or just dad. the va provides the care, t-mobile provides the coverage. yesss, i'm doing it all. the water. the exercise. the fiber. month after month, and i still have belly pain and recurring constipation. so i asked my doctor what else i could do, and i said yesss to linz

he once again played the victim in the russia probe, saying without evidence that officials conspired against him. and he talked about all of this declassification power he has bestob bestowed on his attorney general as he investigates the investigators. facing mounting pressure after a weak of multiple court losses and a public brawl with nancy pelosi, president trump tonight unloading before his long flight to japan. >> i declassified everything, everything they want. you're going to learn a lot. i hope it's going to be nice, but perhaps it won't be. >> reporter: trump defending his decision to give attorney general bill barr sweeping new access to top government secrets, ordering u.s. intelligence agencies to assist barr as he investigates the investigators who launched the russia probe. >> they'll be able to see how this hoax, how the hoax or witch hunt started. it was an attempted coup or an attempted takedown of the president of the united states. >> reporter: democrats quick to pounce. house intelligence chair adam schiff says the move allows barr to weaponize and politicize th

russia interfered. he makes it clear that russia interfered to damage the chances of one political candidate. that being hillary clinton. that this kind of interference continues. that americans, all americans should be aware of it. i think in those comments it's not just that you and i should be aware of it as americans and american voters but that american leaders have to acknowledge that this is a genuine threat. here is a special counsel who delved into this for two years and found enormous efforts of russian interference. there's no question what russia did here. listen, i write a lot about this in the book. the evidence is deep and far and wide and it is also deep and far and wide clear that russia continue this in 2018 and will continue again in 2020. robert mueller sounding the clarion call. will the president listen? no. >> he makes that point very clear. everybody stand by. the white house press secretary is insisting that the president has been exonerated even after robert mueller made it ver

we are all well too aware that russia has not stopped attacking our country. some of the same sources that were used in the 2016 investigation may be used for ongoing operations today. we don't know that and if bill barr does not heed the dni's warning it is very possible that those operations may be at risk. >> one thing to keep in mind, declarification decisions even under the ordinary process are often very contentious. parts of the intelligence apparatus actually fight with one another over these and they tend to be close calls and so the idea that the attorney general is the appropriate person to be making these decisions, sources and methods are fragile. ryan mentioned this is historical information. it's not the information itself. it is the manner in which the information is collected. intelligence collection is extraordinarily fragile and it really is -- it has genuine and life -- >> that's why the dni typically has the ability to -- >> the concern is not that barr is going to release information that will get anyone killed. does anyone think -- >> no

president trump goes off on a tirade of tweets on the russia investigation, iran, and immigration. is he using twitter to validate his viewpoints and make policy decisions? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking news, treasury secretary steve mnuchin defies subpoena requests from a powerful house democrat, refusing to turn over six years of president trump's tax returns. the issue is now certain to move to the courts. also tonight, president trump seizes on new documents from the russia investigation, showing how one-time national security adviser michael flynn told the special counsel that people tide to the trump organization, the trump administration, or congress had contacted him potentially attempting to obstruct the probe. the president today tweeted that someone should have warned him about flynn, but president obama personally warned him about flynn right after the election. the president also tweeted that his campaign had been spied upon using the word "treason" as the attorney general of the united states uses the words "witch hunt." i'll speak wit

, ordered a sweeping investigation of this incident which has grabbed headlines across russia. certainly this is something that is of major importance for the russian government. the sukhoi aircraft that belonged to aeroflot, was a very important part of the russian fleet. >> nathan hodge in moscow, we appreciate it, nathan. we're learning more about the heart pounding trip that ended with a military charter plane skidding off a runway at a naval station and ending up in a florida river. rosa florez live in jacksonville with the details on this. what are you learning? >> reporter: good morning. according to the ntsb, the flight data recorder has been recovered. the cockpit voice recorder has not. that's in the tail of the plane and is submerged. the fuel tanks are also submerged with 1200 gallons of fuel. those tanks have to be emptied before it is moved. there was a small leak and they used a containment boom to contain it. the ntsb is looking into the pilot and crew, their histories, their records, trying to retrace what these individuals were doing the 72 hours prior to the

the president slipped up this morning, tweeting this, "russia russia russia, that's all you heard at the beginning of this witch hunt. spoiler alert, it wasn't a witch hunt, but let's continue and now russia has disappeared because i had nothing to do with russia helping me get elected. russia helping me get elected. i guess the president didn't mean to be quite so truthful there because less than an hour later he said this -- >> no, russia did not help me get elected. you know who got me elected? you know who got me elected? i got me elected. russia didn't help me at all. russia, if anything, i think helped the other side. >> well, that's not what vladimir putin said. >> president putin, did you want president trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that? >> translator: yes, i did. yes, i did, because he talked about bringing the u.s./russia relationship back to normal. >> well there you have it, straight from the horse's -- i mean the strongman's -- mouth. that's not all. the president back on his utterly false no obstruction, no collusion

russia interfered. they're going to do it again. and seeing how effectively their efforts put us at each other's throats, they have every incentive to go bigger than ever. >>> thank you for watching. "cnn tonight" with d. lemon right now. >> are you more interested in the welfare of the country? are you more interested in truth and facts, or are you more interested in protecting the president? i think that's a question not only for the people of this president, the people around him, but also the people supporting him, and that includes viewers and voters of this president and supporters of this president. which do you care about the most? protecting someone who has clearly misled you when it comes to what's in this report, protecting them at all costs, or protecting the country and our election process? i think that's a good question to ask people who are watching this tonight. >> i think it's a good question, and i think if you wanted to be helpful, you can say, by the way, you can have both. fight over whatever he did and what it

as part of its efforts to look at the campaign's links to russia. the bureau's moves are now under investigation by the inspector general. >> many people seem to assume that the only intelligence collection that occurred was a and vie fay a warra fisa warrant. i'd like to find out that that is true. >> reporter: and stephen moore will no longer be on recommended to the federal reserve board. he was going to have a very tough confirmation fight and th that they were not ready to throw their weight behind him thp about . this is the second percentage in addition to her main conta-- hr saying need to vet their nominees better. >> a much better job vetting pfr all right. thank you very much. >>> the testifying wattorney ge supposed to answer questions today but infuriated democrats by simply refusing to show up. manu raju is on capitol hill. so what is next in this increasingly bitter standoff? >> reporter: the attorney general could soon be held in contempt of congress and he could soon be served with a subpoena compelling him to appear before the hous

russia came for us, russia did. and they're coming again. and we ain't ready. and unlike the president's son-in-law who says the investigation hurt american democracy more than russia did, no one who knows a damn thing about anything to do with securing our country or our elections thinks that russian interference is a small deal. mueller knew what you wanted to hear, but he ended by mentioning this problem. remember that. now, as for the president, as you just saw or how i reminded you, he would rather embarrass this country on a world stage and all but congratulate mr. putin for his efforts, but he's making a mistake, not just on the facts but his feelings. he thinks denying russian interference is good for him, but he's not seeing it right. if they do it again and get better and get at the votes this time, god forbid, and they help him win again and he wins, well, how can that result be accepted? if people know it was interference that played with the votes? the president thinignored interference and thinks the russians hielped him, he's wron. the concern sh