get to yes. but that was just not something i could sell in the senate. >> laura: john mccain has been kind of a thorn in the side of the trump administration. they have had acrimonious relationship going back to the campaign. right now do you think he's the biggest obstacle to this getting to the ultimate 50/50? >> he voted to get on the bill. i know john mccain well enough to know he is not going to cast a vote on tax reform no matter how he may feel about the current member of the white house. >> >> laura: you don't think that comes into play. >> i don't think so, no. >> laura: let's talk about other issues. there is a whole bunch going on in the country right now. the alabama senate race taking up a lot of oxygen in the political landscape. he is up now in the polls 5%. you favored luther strange. a lot of money went in to supporting luther strange. he didn't win. roy moore won. i actually supported mo brooks. roy moore won. now all these allegations against him. you said he should step aside. he may very well win this election. what does that say about four influence in the s

mccain and cardin, the administration is slow-walking the administration of these. what is your response? >> with respect to russia, we're being very careful to develop the guidance that companies need because there are important allies and partners in nato who need specific guidance so they don't run afoul of the sanctions act as well. we're working with the treasury department to develop the guidelines so people understand what will be allowed and what will bring them afoul of the sanctions themselves, putting themselves at risk. i have been through one session on that. it's with treasury now. we're going to get the guidelines out so we can begin the full implementation of the act. >>> president trump says that the united states is more respected now in the world than it has ever been. polling to the contrary, notwithstanding, what do you think is the trump administration's greatest achievement internationally since you became secretary of state? >> i think there have been more than just one, but a couple i would highlight is the president called on nato member countries to st

alienated another top senate republican, john mccain. >> rex tillerson is expected to come to the white house for lunch with the president today not long after reports that tillerson referred to the president as, quote, a moron in a newly published article in forbes magazine. the president's counterpunch is, quote, i think it's fake news but if he did that, i guess we'll just have to compare iq tests and i can tell you who is going to win. chris and alisyn? >> okay, joe. thank you very much for that development. let's bring in our panel to discuss it. cnn politics reporter and editor at large, chris cillizza and analyst david gregory. since that's the development, this new "forbes" magazine interview with president trump that has just been published he's commenting on his real feelings of what rex tillerson said. you heard what joe just reported there, that the president said i think it's fake news but if he did, i guess we'll have to compare iq tests and i can tell you who will win. >> when tillerson was asked about this, he said he would not comment on this pit stuff. he did not

congress, perhaps most notably from republican senator john mccain who said an american president needs to be able to back up his statements, and he said he wasn't sure president trump at this point was ready to act. the president's words also likely to complicate the efforts of the secretary of state in the region. alisyn, back to you. >> joe, thank you very much for all that background. the escalating tension between the u.s. and north korea prompting neighboring countries to consider deploying more powerful weapons. cnn's alexandra field is live in seoul. what's the latest there? >> reporter: alisyn, we know a war of words can lead to a mistake. that's the fear. that's what can cause conflict. north korea doesn't need icbms or nuclear weapons to stage an attack in the region where you have 30,000 u.s. troops posted in south korea, another 50,000 troops posted in japan. these are real concerns for the people living here you've got more than 20 million people in the wider seoul metropolitan area, just 35 miles away from the dmz, where there are weapons along the heavily fortified borde

because you have two people, senator mccain and senator flake who do not donald trump to an be a successful president. that's my belief. how concerned are you that for all of this work you have been doing, some people still don't like it, you did something. goes over to the senate and guys? how worried are you? >> i should have brought my other chart in my pocket. we passed more bills here in the house in the first 10 months of the trump administration than obama administration and both bushes. >> laura: what do you say to o'connell? >> this bill can't be filibustered. the bubble rate are because we is to follow the senate rules and here's what we did differently than health care. we agreed ahead of time what this would look like. ha this tax relief would look-alike like. >> laura: what about flake and mccain? >> they are part of the discussion. it's important that we deliver this for the american people and the fact we agreed ahead of time gives me optimism we will get this done. >> laura: congressional approval is 22%. why is congressional approval this low? >> because we haven

senator john mccain amazingly stood up before all of you, eleven days off of brain surgery and as he was doing so, he really lectured your party for a lack of transparency on this whole thing. and a lot of senators up until, you know, the vote, didn't actually know what they'd be voting on. is your party botching this? >> i totally -- i do not defend the process at all. i do not defend it at all, and would, and have said publicly, i would have done the process better, differently. on the other hand, i think john mccain votes for graham/cassidy. as one example of someone who's clearly a critic of the process, is looking for a way forward, i think -- i can't speak absolutely, but i do think john mccain would end up voting for graham/cassidy and that's why i think it is a way forward. >> this morning, i don't know how often you read the president's tweets, but you know, in one of them early this morning, he singled out your colleague, senator lisa murkowski. she was a no vote on multiple versions of this. or said she would have been a no and then yesterday the procedural vote, she wa

are no votes. rand paul and john mccain. one more no vote will kill the bill. so, all eyes gaze northward, to maine, to senator susan collins who over the summer along with senator mccain and lisa murkowski voted nay, thus preventing the previous repeal and replace bill. senator collins joins us now. good to see you, as always. your vote is pivotal on the graham/cassidy health care bill. where are you? yes or no? >> jake, it's very difficult for me to envision a scenario where i would end up voting for this bill. i have a number of serious reservations about it. i'm concerned about the impact on the medicaid program, which has been on the books for more than 50 years and provides health care to our most vulnerable citizens, including disabled children and low-income seniors. i'm concerned about the impact on costs and coverage. we already have a problem under the affordable care act, with the cost of premiums and deductibles. and finally, i'm very concerned about the erosion of protections for people with pre-existing conditions, like asthma, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and wha

in over 70 combat support missions over vietnam. like senator mccain, really did put his life at risk because of this country's national security. and to impugn the character of somebody like jim clapper on veterans day, who has dedicated so much of his life to this country, i just find that outrageous and it's something that i -- i think that the -- i think mr. trump should be ashamed of but it doesn't seem anything he does he feels any shame whatsoever. >> what is the effect of these attacks, not on you two or jim comey, but on other people in the fbi, in the cia and the nsa, people who are still there, who worked under you and are still there working to try to make the country safer? >> first, i have to reciprocate what an honor it has been to serve with the likes of john brennan and jim comey, who are dedicated public servants and have served this country long and well and with great integrity. i think it can have a positive -- cannot have a positive impact on the morale of the workforce of the intelligence community but i believe in my heart the men and women of the intellig

mccain preparing for possibly the toughest battle of his life. but whether it is the senate floor, a pow camp or a life threatening disease, his daughter says nothing will make him surrender. also demonstrators gather in london to support young charlie gard and his family who are fighting for even the chance to save their son's life. >> -- we ask for the authorities to let him go to the united states to receive treatment that can save his life. ♪ this is a story about mail and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ type 2 diabetes with fitness, food and the pill that starts with f. farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. lowering a1c by up to 1.2 points. do not take if allergic to farxiga. if you experience sy

murkowski and john mccain. steve: john mccain was shocking though. >> john mccain was shocking. i think senator mcconnell did the best he could. we have got to deliver on tax reform and other things. todd: ronna mcdaniel thank you very much for being here. >> thank you for having me. todd: call it president trump's action. members of the ms-13 gang being rounded up and arrested in the midwest? steve: high school baseball player is suing his coach for making him ride the bench. that bench right there. apparently that is now considered bullying. an explanation coming ♪ remember me ♪ for history ♪ i just want to say ♪ i just want to say ♪ so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor. they always refer to me as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people that actually have a genuine

one of them. john mccain we have to see what he will do in this situation. mitch mcconnell this is the hail mary. this is the last opportunity for the democrats can start filibustering again. the deadline is september 30th. brian: governor christie says i don't want to do this because it's going to block grant stuff to my state. obamacare got more than. this i'm not going to take less money for my state. everybody is looking at their own interests. and as lindsey graham told us a couple days ago, massachusetts, new york, as well as california got a disproportionate amount of funds from obamacare and he wants to even it out. and he thinks that could possibly bring in susan collins and with an adjustment both alaska senators. steve: one of the problems and the opposition is late to mobilize because they didn't realize wait a minute the republicans are actually going to take a vote on this in a couple days. trying to mobilize people to find out what's in it one of the things out there is apparently there are a number of experts that say under the graham-cassidy plan, insurers would be abl

. president trump says that steve bannon is a good person and not a racist. attacking mccain, even as he deals with this floundering agenda, another blow with his latest diatribe. the president blames senator john mccain for the failure of his effort. >> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. a stunning display. the president just spanned the flames of the charlottesville violence by saying there is blame on both sides asking why there is no focus on what he calls the alt left and saying counterprotesters attack the white supremacist rally. he refused to condemn the alt right saying you had people that were very fine on both sides. earlier, the president shared a social media post from an alt activist and conspiracy theorist which the former head of the ncaa called a racial dog. then they show cnn being hit by a train called trump. a car slammed into a crowd protesting the racism rampage. so far, only five arrests have been made. witnesses are still being sought for the bloody beating of an african-american man. there is growing fallout. the presi

order to change the status quo. >> senator mccain not back in washington, the margins means that the gop can lose one vote. the president is meeting with victims of obamacare where we expect a comment he will be with vice president pence, guys. rob: we do expect a comment. the president's statement comes this big push for repeal and replace comes as incoming communications director lays out a new vision for his department. anthony scaramucci promising to reset the culture and more importantly stop the leaks. >> if the leaks don't stop, i'm going pair down the staff because it's just not right, chris. it's not fair to the president or fair to america and people in the government but something is going on inside the white house that the president does not like and we are going to fix it. i would like to reset the culture inside the comms department so people recognize that i'm actually there receiver them. >> anthony scaramucci will travel with the president this week. president heading to west virginia for the national boy scout. heather: well that brings us to look at who is talking,

the shooting. senator john mccain's treatment for brain cancer could keep him out of washington for weeks. maybe even months. likely without objection, congress has a long-standing tradition in which no one questions ailing lawmakers taking time to recover. taking up to a year or more to recover. now back to hannity for all your headlines, log on to foxnews.com for it have a great friday. >> sean: from what i understand, the reports are that the president did not want you to go. tell us what happened. >> he did not. he has been generous throughout the process. he wanted to bring new folks and to rev up the communications process, and my decision was to recommend to the president that i give antony and sarah a clean slate to start from. so that they could talk about the president's agenda and help move it forward. and he after some back and forth understood that the offer that i was making was something that was in the best interest of this administration. i thanked him for the opportunity. and i'm looking forward to watching anthony and sarah do a tremendous job. >> sean: welcome ba

not exactly true, the real accomplishment, koraccording to john mccain, is gorsuch. that's really the only achievement that the president can directly link to him. the stock market, as you said, the stock market has for months and month s and months, the former president was in office, the stock market was on the rise, the economy was rising. yes, this president has continued that trend. it's not all his doing. i mean, for this particular thing in the white house, would you want -- can you imagine if barack obama had done something like this? >> no, look, i -- >> no, answer my question. can you imagine if barack obama's white house had done something like this, what would you be saying tonight? >> i would be saying the communications director in barack obama's white house shouldn't say that and shouldn't do that. they should serve the president and serve the country anding yo saying the exact same thing. >> ana, you mentioned peter king. you said republicans should stand up. you were disappointed with what we said, how he's trying to make sense of what anthony scaramucci said. here's

mccain both about that, the foreign trip but also about the troubles here at home. they're not going to go away. abby: that's going to be a great show, chris. chris: thanks, guys. clayton: ed henry and newt gringrich all here life. pete: plus big moment for protecting the president, dan who led trips like this before, will be life next. clayton: a take on his sword dance. [laughter] that keep you warm inside. marie callender's. it's time to savor. how if guests book direct ater, choicehotels.com and stay twice they'll get a $50 gift card? summertime. badda book. badda boom. got you a shirt! ...i kept the receipt... book now at choicehotels.com to f...nerve pain shoots and burns its way into your day... ...i hear you. when that pain makes simple errands simply unbearable... ...i hear you. i hear you because my dad struggled with this pain. make sure your doctor hears you too. so folks, don't wait. step on up. and talk to your doctor. because you have places to go... ...and people who can't wait for you to get there. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands

the last several hours to find an acceptable rationale for comey's firing. john mccain said he's disappointed in the president's decision. marks a rare break with mccain from lindsey graham. lindsey graham voiced support for the firing of comey. >> on the other side of the aisle, democrats calling for a special prosecutor. senate minority leader, chuck schumer. >> this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house and as far away as possible from anyone that president trump has appointed. >> president trump ready to fire right back on twitter. quote, crying chuck schumer stated recently i do not have confidence in him, james comey any longer then act so indignant drain the swamp. with more reaction let's bring in phil mattingly. >> reporter: two words uttered most by both republicans and democrats in the wake of that stunning firing of fbi director james comey was shock and surprise. with the exception of top congressional leaders the vast majority of lawmakers on capitol hill simply were not informed. according to several gop aides i spoke to they didn'

. >> senator john mccain joins us live for an exclusive interview. >>> and republicans divided. president trump starts negotiating the replacement to obamacare with his own party. >> if we do not act to save americans from this wreckage, it will take our health care system all the way down with it. >> gop leaders say the bill is good to go. but other conservatives say not so fast. >> the bill as it stands really is dead on arrival. >> can trump use his presidential power to make the deal? a top administration official will be here live in minutes. >>> plus -- cory booker, the rising democrat on taking on trump. >> this is a toxic environment being created right now. >> and his own political future. >> are you going to put yourself forward to be that person, to be that leader? >>> and the best political minds will be here with insights on what happens next. hello, i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of of your union is hearing echoes of the old trump catch phrase "you're fired." in a dramatic standoff, the one known for targeting major corruption cases in new york city, refused to resi

liberty. steve: john mccain catching heat or on this comment for trump's war with the press. >> first thing the dictators do is shut down the press. we need to learn the lessons of history. steve: trump, dictators, same paragraph? steve: lee carter put the week's most controversial sound bites to the dial test and your grades are in. brian: brand new video of harrison ford's disaster on runway at lax ♪ so put me on a highway ♪ and show me a sign ♪ and take it ♪ to the limit limit one more te ♪ widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fe

imposed by the obama administration, congressional leadership including senator john mccain have been very cool on that instead saying they want to do the opposite. they want to impose more. this is what trump had to say. >> i don't know the gentleman. i hope we have a fantastic relationship. that's possible and it's also possible that we won't. we will see what happens. i will be representing the american people very, very strongly, very forcefully and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, that's an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. how the relationship works out, i won't be able to tell you that later. i've had many times where i thought i'd get along with people and i don't like them at all. and i've had some where i didn't think i was going to have much of a relationship and it turned out to be a great relationship. >> so sometimes being charming works, got a little laugh in the room. but what do you interpret from that? >> well, i think that trump is

mccain could go. time for him. brian: he has five more years he just got re-election. is he not going anywhere. ainsley: sexual he is ca escapa. rivalry. watergate leaks and clinton. >> senator kennedy went into the river with mary jo. the story gets deeper and deeper. we did some investigation. it turns out according to him he waited on the bank for a long time trying to figure out what he was going to do worrying about his career, the senator. and mary jo was alive in that car for hours. by that choice, by worrying about his own career, his own self-interests, mary jo died. steve: it's not just current time it's historical. >> take you from the beginning all the way up. ainsley: congratulations, we are proud of you. the swamp. brian: see you on radio in an hour -- a couple hours. 12 minutes after the hour. steve: coming up, the left seems to be dodging the fbi investigation into bernie sanders wife which eric was just talking about just like bernie was dodging fox news yesterday. >> where are you from? >> fox news. >> cbs is reporting on this, politico is reporting on this. do you s

about $54 billion in additional money for our military. senator john mccain said that is not enough. what's your reaction? >> we are going to spend a lot more money on military. we really have to. we have though choice. a lot of people think it's a tremendous amount of money. it could be actually $30 billion more than that. we are going to upgrade our military very substantially. remember this i also am going to get involved in negotiating. we have many planes and boats and ships that we're spending too much money individually on. we are going to get involved in negotiating. we are going to be able to get, i think, a lot more product for our buck. and i'm going to be very, very serious about it. we saved 700 million plus on an f-35 after i got involved. and i have to tell you lockheed was terrific. but we saved a lot of money on airplanes and that number is going to increase very substantially as we keep going. we will be having the greatest military that we ever had by the time i finish. brian: mr. president, you will have the biggest -- if tradition means anything and i know sever

sanders, who came close to getting the democratic nomination. john mccain, another nominee who almost got there but not quite. >> you see the senators, they are here, the congress mmen, senators, the incoming cabinet, a lot of the vips, military personnel. through those doors president obama and the first lady michelle obama will be walking out together with the incoming president donald trump and incoming first lady melania trump. after their coffee, their tea, their hour session inside the white house, a private little meeting, they'll b walking out, getting into the motorcade, driving to it up to capitol hill for this moment in american history, a truly important moment that i want to reiterate what we've been pointing out, this is something that we're watching closely but the whole world will be watching as well, because the signal will be significant. >> the trump children making the walk down, we'll see them soon on the platform, the walk that their father will do not too long from now, that remarkable view that he's going to have as he walks down those stairs and sees not just the

where they can't exactly see how they're going to get back, particularly with senator mccain being out. that's a crucial vote for this. they plan to spend the next couple of days trying to see if repeal and replace could get the votes, if repeal only could get the votes. republicans mixed the messages, the constant shifting from the president, sometimes within the same day, is hugely unhelpful because republicans also want to move forward. they want to put a bill on his desk and have that bill signed, but it's really unclear day-to-day what bill the president actually wants to sign. chris: we asked you for questions for the panel, and f.d. tweeted this: could donald trump have done more to dig into health care legislative process? was there a lack of presidential effort involvement? congressman chaffetz, you know, i looked into this. the president has not made, since he took office, a single major speech that was really devoted to repeal and replace. and say what you will about obamacare, and i know you've got a lot ofs with it, but -- lot of problems with us, but president obama barns

prosecutor. brian: as is justin amore and senator bush and senator mccain and some republicans are also doing that i think it would have been good for the president to work the phones because he is the best at that. listen, this is my school of thought. this is what i'm looking to do. we all know the russia investigation is going nowhere. how do i get this done with the least amount of ancillary dang. ainsley: here is the bottom line. he is the boss. and he gets to decide who works for him. someone who works for him who is not supportive of him he gets rid of them. he has the ability to do that. brian: of course. and there is no corruption involved. the timing of doing it to get more republicans on the same page so they know what's going on someone like susan collins was able to speak coherently about it other republicans are being pulled over in diners and restaurants asked to comment. that to me is a problem. ainsley: you ask the intelligence community a lot of them are upset for being so public and having press conferences and ring so much information. steve: given the fact ther

to be at the table to accomplish that. >> you're with senator mccain on that. start from scratch for all practical purposes. get to work with democrats, come up with a bipartisan compromise, if you will, to try to improve the affordable care act and not necessarily appeal it or simply let it die. is that right? >> we've always wanted to have the future direction. i've always advocated, if you're going to repeal it, let us know in the states where we're going so we can plan stability in our delivery of health care. that's very important. now, i believe that there is a consensus that between democrats and republicans that we've got to change things. if that's the case, democrats should come to the table and say, we will join that effort. i think with that, we can actually accomplish something, and i hope that in washington they can accomplish that. >> well, asa hutchisonson, democrat of arkansas. more than happy to work with republicans and don't want to see the word "repeal" as part of that process. we'll see what happens next. governor asa hutchinson's arkansas. thanks for joinin

, quote, the intrusion into a u.s. political party. senator john mccain traveling this week with other senators said there is no doubt moscow is the culprit. >> it is clear that russia has attacked the united states of america. all of our intelligence agencies will affirm that that is the case. we will work in the congress to have stronger sanctions in order to prevent further attacks on the united states of america. >> reporter: and while we await that comprehensive intelligence review of the election hack that was ordered by president obama we are told by officials that part of the reason the intelligence community is so confident is because of the high quality intelligence it has on russia compared to other cyber hacks involving countries like north korea. >> thank you very much. trump has come out and said that he knows something that the rest of us don't. according to one of his advisers he may just be saying that for attention. >> do you think he is playing us? >> there is a possibility he is a little bit. >> jim joins me now. come out and said i know something and i will tell yo

by senator lindsey graham, john mccain, as well as democratic lawmakers. we don't have the answer to that question. >> carl, i'll state the same thing in a different way. what did the president know and when did he know it? just like the watergate scandal, is this deja vu for you all over again? >> we don't know yet. all we know is the russians tried to hijack an american presidential campaign and they tried to do it through relationships around donald trump. and now we need to know all the facts, and the president has not been forth coming. his aides have not been forth coming, and republicans should embrace and open wide investigation as there was in watergate. it was republicans who joined with democrats as patriots in watergate to find out what had occurred in a presidential campaign, and had it indeed been hijacked by the president of the united states and those around him. that's the situation we're faced with, and all patriotic republicans ought to be saying, hey, open up, mr. president, let's see what happened here. let's get past this, if nothing happened. but we need to kno

. >> we hope john mccain gets better very soon. he is a crusty voice in washington. plus we need his vote. >> this is an epic fail. >> i opposed jeff sessions, but let's be clear. recusing himself is simply following the law. >> it's been a difficult situation, maybe not as bad as jfk. >> john roberts was bored today, he's headed out. >> i spent a conflict free life. >> is a possible there was a civilization on mars thousands of years ago? >> i would say that is extremely unlikely. >> james: it's not inconceivable, those folks would have the answer to that question. all the same, we will just keep an open mind about that question. that's going to do it for "special report." i am sitting in for bret baier, thank you so much. "the story" hosted by martha maccallum is next. stick around for 4:10 p.m., where sean hannity will have an interview with sean spicer and reince >> sean: tonight. >> i would like to read a statement from the president on the resignation of sean spicer. >> sean: change comes to the white house. press secretary sean spicer resigned. >> he is a true american patriot

story, the senate passing the bill down party lines 51-48. all democrats against it. john mccain absent, mike pence presiding over it. at times very passionate. here is senator curtis. >> let my ask my democratic friends are you prepared to look in the eyes of a kid with disability and explain why you said you are cut out, you're standing up, raising that objection, 100-0. all of us should agree on that. >> reporter: democrats slammed it, here's minority leader chuck schumer. >> republican tax bill is like pouring gasoline on a raging fire. the republican propagandists collect passage a political victory, a year from now republicans will be running away from this bill in shame. >> mitch mcconnell disagrees saying this means america is ready to soar. >> after eight years of slow growth and underperformance america is ready to take off. stock market is up, optimism is high. america is ready to start performing as it should have a number of years. >> reporter: the senate made changes to fit their budget rules, therefore the house will have to vote again around noon on this modified version

john mccain doesn't see it that way and here is why. >> i don't like it. i just don't -- i know that some administration officials are saying well, that's standard procedure. i don't think it's standard procedure prior to the inauguration of the united states by someone who is not in an appointed position. >> democratic congressman adam schiff is calling for kushner's security clearance to be reviewed. he also wants him to testify before the house intelligence committee and kushner is reportedly eager to do so and share his side of the story with congress. brian, ainsley, pete? ainsley: all right. thank you, kristin. brian: there was contact. the russians did want back channel contact and that's why he responded hey meet you in the embassy. let's make private phone calls from there before my father-in-law gets in office. ainsley: everyone is so upset about this. lit the investigation go on. if you have questions about what really happened, ask jared, hear from jared, and then we will discuss it. but the mainstream media is making this such a big deal, we don't even know the details.

will be doing with the same thing. so the president's rhetoric, i was surprised to see senator mccain, senator feinstein as well as senator cardin all coming out and saying the president is way off base with this. lieutenant colonel oliver north weighed in and this is a tremendous challenge. he didn't have a problem with it. >> >> the threats posed by pyongyang are far more serious than what kennedy faced in the cuban missile crisis. because the soviets wanted to survive the experience. that's why mutually assured destruction worked. the obama administration's maligned neglect of the north korean iranian connection in building nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them has allowed kim jong un, rural of one of the poorest nations on earth to rapidly acquire the means of striking the u.s. that's why he is talking the way he is. ainsley: okay. steve: is he talking in the kind of language that mr. kim himself uses. so was he bluffing or is it our intent? it was very clear so far that the administration has, as we have heard many times, all of the options on the table. ainsley: you k

john mccain, like lisa murkowski and like susan collins and john kasich and lindsey graham, i feel represented in the republican party. it's important for these folks to remember that the legislative branch is a co-equal independent branch. they need not kowtow to this president. they need not be a rubber stamp to every ridiculous thing he does. we've been talking so much about sheriff joe arpaio. let us not forget what he did earlier today. i mean, at 6:00 in the afternoon, a man who dodged the draft five times banned transgenders and qualified patriotic americans who want to risk their lives in service of this country. banned them from serving our country. throwing another bone to this base. so that in itself is so repugnant that somebody who did what donald trump did during vietnam. this week slammed john mccain. a man hanging by his thumbs for five years and then today also goes ahead and bans people who want to serve and risk their lives. something that he was unwilling to do. >> let me give you some new reaction to the pardoning of sheriff joe arpaio from one of those republi

doing their jobs. >> bret: a couple more things, quickly. senator mccain and a few others are calling for a special prosecutor prayed obviously democrats are in lockstep. why is that not a good idea? stick i don't think it's a good idea. we have three investigations going on right now. how's investigation by our intelligence committee which is the appropriate committee to do that, i believe. and we have a senate intelligence committee. you just played richard burr. and have the fbi investigating all things russia. i don't think that's a good idea. i think the intelligence committee is the one that should do it. the methods and sources of our intelligence gathering are also at play here. we have to be sensitive so we don't compromise any informatio information. i really do believe these three investigations of the way to go. let's get them done. let's go where the facts lead, and i do think that director comey was compromised clearly his superiors at the justice department felt that way and the president made a presidential decision. >> bret: how it happened. are you okay with all of t

to cut through red tape and increase trust. he has a long way to go, i spoke with john mccain who passed a choice act back in 2014 for thi this. senator mccain told me today it is a national shame that these problems are still going on. >> tucker: tough place to run, thanks a lot for that. a little-known bureaucratic change from the department of agriculture could imperil thousands of lab animals including many dogs, will talk to someone who's sounding the alarm on that and not a minute too soon, stay tuned >> tucker: the u.s. department of agriculture has for some reason stopped publicly providing a large amount of animal welfare information on this web site. lab inspection reports had been removed, the department is saying they raised privacy concerns. it might sounds like a minor bureaucratic shuffle but animal welfare advocates say thousands of dogs and cats used in animal testing could needlessly die as a result of this. kevin chase is vice president of an animal welfare group he joined us in the studio yesterday along with his beagle, called george. watch. thanks for joining

was john mccain. he has been feeling ornery all year. these are all achievements. they are undeniable. they are mostly presidential achievements. the fact is that the congress has been a complete bust. and that i think is a huge disappointment. here they are, they have been saying for seven years give us control, give us the signature in the white house. we will do great things. and on the great things they did nothing. the obamacare repeal was an epic fail. they had seven years to work it out. and for some of the senators it was a matter of bad faith. when they had a vote to repeal, knowing that obama wouldn't sign, they voted to repeal. when they had the same vote to repeal, knowing that president trump would sign, they voted the other way. that, i think, is going to be a big mill stone around the neck of the congress for a very long time. >> bret: i want to put up two graphics. one is the dow. we just talked about today's dow industrial average. you see the record highs. we have hit nine of them in recent weeks. and then the president's job approval, according to real cl

mccain as out, he didn't like there was regular order so i don't think there's anything you can do to get him in. that's two more senators say no, republican senators, this bill is dead. to help try to get susan collins, if you move in that direction, provide more medicaid funding, you will ensure that rand paul, perhaps ted cruz and mike lee are out and you go the other way, try to make it conservative and cut it more, you will make sure murkowski and collins are out so whoever you try to appease, you will force other people who are either more liberal or more conservative out, so i don't see how you appease everybody here who needs to be appeased in order to get those 51 votes. arthel: one half of graham cassidy was on abc this week talking about this very issue. let's take a listen and we will talk about it. >> we're moving forward and see what happens next week. i'm very excited about it. we finally found an alternative to obama care that makes sense, take the money out of washington and let states design systems, if you keep replicating obama care even at the state level, you wil

the meeting, we we had i guess virtually every senator including john mccain. we had a great conversation yesterday. john mccain and myself about the military. i think we had a tremendous -- i called it a love fest. it was almost a love fest. maybe it was a love fest. we got standing ovations. there is great unity. if you look at the democrats with bernie sanders and hillary clinton, that's a mess. there's great unity in the republican party. >> reporter: do you bear any responsibility? >> i think it's sad but i think to a large extent in all due respect, i think the media causes a lot of it. fake stories are being reported. a lot of bad things are being reported that aren't true. i think to a certain extent maybe i can blame the media, but politics is a rough business. there's no question about it. i will say this. i think the republican party has a pretty good unity. when i look at that room yesterday at lunch and you know and you recover theed on it very well, kristin. you gave it a very good report. the fact is, there was tremendous unity in that room. we're really unifie

says this is bipartisan. here we have john mccain moments ago talking to our manu raju saying he had serious concerns about specific people in the trump campaign, ties to russia. here he is. >> i have serious questions about some of the people around the presidential campaign. there were people with close ties to the russians. and including an individual who was paid large sums of money by yanukovych who was the russian stooge as the president of ukraine. >> forfort's -- >> mr. manafort, his relations. >> mark, there is a cloud hanging over this administration. that isn't something you can deny. democrats and republicans agree. >> no doubt. it was telling when fbi director james comey wouldn't get into specifics other than saying it's been going on for eight months. it could be going on eight more months or for year. dark cloud, put it in this perspective of where the phrase came from, from the house intelligence chairman devin nunes yesterday saying to mr. comey, there's a big gray cloud you've put over people who have important work to do to lead this country. regardless, if th

republican party brand. a test vote in the senate today over obamacare. how big a deal? john mccain days removed from a brain cancer diagnosis returns to washington for the gop's moment of truth. with us to share reporting and insights, jackie kucinich of the daily beast, michael warren, and margaret talon and malika henderson. senate set to gather at any moment now. mitch mcconnell will call for a vote in what the senate call as motion to proceed. motion to proceed to debate on the house gop health care bill. even though there are no guarantees he has the votes to move forward. no guarantee he has the votes, even to begin this debate. cnn congressional correspondent phil mattingly is following all this on capitol hill. a lot of chaos around town including right there in the capitol. still questions. what exactly are they proceeding on? >> reporter: on the first still, they still don't know. don't have commitments of 50 yes votes from senators as of yet. walk you behind the scenes. very important. in a few short minutes senator mitch mcconnell will lay out what's going forward. the

some concerns. have a bunch of senators, johnson, susan collins, murkowski, john mccain, jeff flake. they are very skeptical of what they see. but we are at the beginning the process. leadership think they can be one over. >> heard nancy pelosi and my conversation with secretary steve mnuchin that is a giveaway for corporations and the wealthy. distantly enough impose or been taken so far we can question how much people know about the details of the bill. not very popular. >> no, i think is more than 50 percent so the majority of americans disapprove of the republican tax cuts right now. people want tax reform. i think they want a simpler system, they want to do with with some loopholes and deductions that allow specialty corporations and the rich to benefit. people want a simple system. now we've gone as a republican 20s that we have to do is on a fast track. they do not want to much criticism, it's very important to have a legislative accomplishment. i think you at the point where republicans are saying hold your nose, we will see what comes out of the senate. the president has be

this verdict could give the president new impetos on the new agenda. and john mccain said he will support the tax cuts. he sunk repeal and replace obamacare. his support makes it likely the president will get a victory on that as early as tomorrow. the president has been touting a stock market on fire. the dow seeing it's 63rd record close and could go higher. the corporate tax rate will be dropping from 35% to 20%. the personal side, there's been claims that this helps very few people. the joint committee on taxation put out a new report saying 60% of u.s. households will get a tax cut. 8% will pay more. democrats jumped on that same study. the committee saying that the economic impact will not be very strong and that this will strongly increase the deficit. republicans pushing back on that today saying that they're undercounting the impact on the economy. that will be hashed out tomorrow with a likely final vote on friday. the bottom line, the other big story tonight, reports out of north korea that the north koreans may be willing to negotiate about its nuclear weapons program.

flynn's story. on january 26 the justice department rely the concerns about the call to john mccain who inform the president. they concluded there was nothing illegal about flynn's action. that raises question about why the president said he don't know anything about it. >> what report is that. >> i'll look at that. >> was he aware of a "washington post" story. he had not seen that at the time. >> reporter: spicer deflected the question. >> the irony that the president has been tough on russia. >> how can you say that. >> there's a difference between the president wanting to have an understanding of how a good relationship with russia can help us defeat isis throughout the world. they failed. >> reporter: frustrated by the spectacle the president had no other choice. >> you cannot have the misleading the vice president or others. i think the president was right to ask forest nation. >> reporter: the white house revealed white house pence found out from the news report that flynn was change the story about whether he discussed sanctions with the russian ambassador. cnn, at the white hous

caused by americans and lone wolves. if you ask not only me, but john mccain, they will -- they will do whatever pops in their heads. >> when you say saudi arabia and egypt on the list, neither was lebanon or uae. with that argument, it almost sounds like you're saying well if we put more countries on the list -- >> no no no. you don't put a whole country on the list. you vet people and see who might be a terrorist. the refugee program has had such a strong vetting that we have had almost no terrorists coming from there. the place to really look at is -- are places that are part of the visa waiver program. belgium, france, where we know there are indigenous terrorists and they can come into the united states with very few questions you're asked. if you come from the countries you get a thorough two year vetting that's why we have had little terrorist coming from the folks. focus on the problem, not on what sounds good for the moment. >> the two issues of course there's the refugee halt and then there's -- separate from that the seven countries that have the temporary visa ban. but i

ridiculous. many people are saying he, senator john mccain saying he needs to retract and issue an apology. i personally think that, if he has this information he should have come forward with it. but the fact remains that the president and his administration and his officials and his spokespeople are digging in and they are not budging and they still stand by their assertion, which is not many others, their assertion that news reports indicate that this happened. they are standing by those news reports and they are standing firm. but the reality is, all he has to do is make one call to do it. the people that know and put an end to this. it looks as though we may get that on monday when we hear from comey. why are they standing firm? we aren't they retracting, why aren't they issuing an apology if there is no proof, no evidence? >> because they live in an alternate reality. at the end of the day, no matter what facts come to light, what truths there, this is an administration by a president who do not believe ever that they should retreat, back down, tell the truth. the president i

in the president got a boost on this front. mccain endorses budget bill and win for g.o.p. tax reform efforts. joining us now, author of the soon-to-be best-selling book "vengeance," former speaker of the house in fox news contributor, newt gingrich. i know you are aware of the uranium one deal. now we've got documents. emails. financial records. we've got eyewitnesses. that show they knew. in 2009, they knew about russia, top officials. bribery, kickback, extortion and money laundering. they still signed off on the uranium one deal, 20% of our uranium in the hands of russia. the same russia they had been screaming about for a year. your thoughts on this development? >> your report, senator grassley it's beginning to ask very serious questions and i hope the senate judiciary committee is going to open a full-blown investigation. i also hope that the house judiciary committee will do the same. these are unbelievable charges. if this is true, there are two good friends here. the russian front which is unbelievable. and the comey drafting and exoneration of hillary two months befo

government. >> senator john mccain takes it one step further. >> vladimir putin is a thug and a murderer and a killer, and a kgb agent. he had boris nemtsov murdered in the shadow of the kremlin. >> this is personal insult. this is lousy behavior from a political spokesperson. >> it's nonsense, it's nonsense. there's nothing to comment on. >> over the course of putin's time in power, his regime has been accused of involvement in the deaths of many of its critics, including the journalist ana pollit kof skyia, and a former kgb agent. >> there's not a shred of evidence. there's not a single thing to sustain these allegations, but they take on a kind of folklorish reality. >> it may stem in part from the evidence that nemtsov had been accumulating against the president. >> nemtsov was about to reveal information that would prove russia's involvement in the conflict in ukraine. >> that ukraine report was released a few months after nemtsov's murder. but there was an earlier nemtsov report published in 2012 that also was embarrassing for putin. it claimed the president had 43 planes, 15 helic

health care in john mccain. this economic plan sounds a lot like what reagan did and that created 20 million new jobs and revenue doubled. it's important for your agenda. how do you get this through the senate, which does not have a good record? >> sean: this will be a bigger tax cut than the reagan tax cuts. it will create even more incentive. media is bad. they are really dishonest people. very, very dishonest people in many cases. not all. i know some reporters and journalists that are phenomenal people. but there's such dishonesty. it's interesting, if i was just watching television, you don't know whether or not -- you're just watching a report. you know if it's good or bad they always try to make it negative. i call it fake media. it is fake. so much fake news. >> sean: do you agree with that? fake news? >> president trump: i only say it, when people read things, they can understand that so much of it is indeed fake. there are a lot of good people. don't forget, for health care we had 48 votes. 49 votes. we had a lot of great republicans. we need more republican senators to be

, mccain saying they're actually undercutting their agenda at a key time. it's a very important time on capitol hill, just as the senate republicans hope to unveil a new heal health care bill tomorrow and trying to get their party behind it. but the party under barrage of legislation, and as a result, there is no public effort to push this bill which is facing a really steep climb to get past here in the coming days, jake. >> mana raju on capitol hill for us, thank you very much. >>> how does the white house administration get back on track? that story next. for just one cent after rewards. ♪ taking care of business. (woman vo)o) my husband didn't recognize how tour grandson.eeth. (woman 2 vo) that's when moderate alzheimer's made me a caregiver. (avo) if their alzheimer's is getting worse, ask about once-a-day namzaric. namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients taking donepezil. namzaric may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. don't ta

mccain killing the gop promise to repeal and replace obamacare. but in the climate of less regulations and prospect of higher interests rates mega deals littered the landscape. broad come targeting quaul com. cvs trying to acquire aetna and at&t fighting the government trying to own time warner. the good and bad of technology was on display. artificial intelligence and robotics taking major leaps forward. hackers making their mark, too. a huge breach of the very power equifax was supposed to protect. 150 million americans data stolen prompting national outrage from congressional investigation. all in all a great year for technology as well. amazon and google, apple marking the 10th anniversary of the iphone. they have sold more than 1 1/4 billion iphones in the last decade. then there was a scandal decades in the making rocking nearly every industry in america, sexual harassment from the slew of high profile people to major media figures like matt lauer, bill o'rielly and charlie rose and boy's club culture in silicon valley taking down several executives. powerful men losing positions