they're in a state of confusion. if your health care is in flux and need apss from washington, do not expect them anytime soon. >> you can't have your central promise for serving years, repeal obamacare and show up and vote not even to take up the bill to consider repealing obamacare. doesn't make any sense. >> plus, we know president trump wants a new chapter with vladimir putin, but his hand-picked cia direct hear a message for the boss -- proceed with caution. >> a warm-water naval port and love to stick it to america. >> exclusive cnn reporting special counsel robert mueller asking the white house to save all records related to donald trump jr.'s connections to the russia meetings. whether improper coordination or collusion between team trump and the kremlin. dana bash broke the story and is live with more. a big deal the special counsel puts it on the record. what is he asking? >> right. cnn learned special counsel robert mueller sent a letter to white house counsel asking that white house staff save all documents relating to the june 2016 meeting at trump tower with donald trump

undermine the russia investigation by special counsel robert mueller. "the washington post" and "the new york times" report aides are scouring the backgrounds of mueller and his staff, searching for conflicts of interest they can use to undercut the probe. the paper cites several sources familiar with the research effort. >> "the washington post" also reporting the president has asked about his power to pardon aides, family members, even himself. one adviser told "the post" the president was simply curious about the reach of his pardoning authority. this follows the earlier attacks on mueller and those involved in the investigation. cnn's jeff zeleny has more from the white house. >> reporter: christine and miguel, president trump and the white house increasingly focused on the special counsel's investigation into the election. there are indications that the scope is expanding. president trump talked about special prosecutor robert mueller and the idea he could be looking into the trump family's finances. the president said he thought that would be outside of the purview of that. but

robert mueller's russia investigation. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. the "washington post" is reporting the president is asking whether he can pardon aides, family, even himself. that comes as he doubles down on his warning to mueller that looking into his family's finances would be a fireable offense. white house spokesman sarah huckabee sanders saying trump's warning made clear mueller, quote, should not move outside the scope of the investigation. now members of the president's own party are warning him not to fire mueller. meanwhile, attorney general jeff sessions vowing to stay on the job. in his words, "as long as that is appropriate." we have a lot to get to this evening. i want to get right to cnn's senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. cnn politics executive editor at large, i should say, chris cillizza, and political analyst april ryan. my goodness. every night there's something. jeff, i want to get to this big news from the "washington post" tonight. here's what the "post" is reporting. this is a quote, "some of president trump's lawyers are exploring wa

washington establishment. cnn correspondent forest sanchez joining us for more on reaction. we know reince priebus is friends with house speaker paul ryan. ryan saying glowing things about him prior to his resignation. what something said now? >> that's right. fred. the news is a shock. the way that we got the news. but the news itself isn't really a surprise. with so many rumors flying about. that there was a bad relationship between the chief of staff and the president and the ouster of another prominent rnc face, sean spicer just last week. the response from republicans has been heartfelt. i want to read you that statement now from house speaker paul ryan. he writes quote reince priebus has left it all out on the field for our party and our country. here's a guy from kenosha, wisconsin, who revitalized the republican national committee and became the white house chief of staff. he has served the president and the american people capably and passionately. he has achieved so much and he has done it all with class. i could not be more proud to call reince a dear friend. others frien

it's washington, there are a lot of webs that have to be broken up like the cobb webs in your attic. we have to start with incrementalism. all good entrepreneurs have to start somewhere. while things may not be perfect right now, whether it's repeal and replace or delay, you are moving the process towards a freer system where you will get the technological s servcurves you've experienced in our or areas. the uf a he no the been able to do that here because the centralized nature of the way the hospitals and doctors are interact wg the insurance companies. and so the president and secretary price and other members of the administration, frankly all the members of the administration under stand that. and what he's saying like a good possible coach, let's get off the same offensive game plan, don't focus on the micronature of this today. if you're a senator, but focus on the macrolong-term effects that this bill is going to have on the society and potszative effects on the economy. we don't want to see health care expenses continue to go from maybe it's 18 or 19% now, chris. into the m

make sense of it all. >>> from president trump to president washington. >> our two nations are joined together by the spirit of revolution. >> america's special connection to bastille. here's my take. the latest revolutions about russia and donald trump's campaign are useful because they might help unravel the puzzle that's been at the center of the story, which is, why has donald trump had such a benign and favorable attitude towards russia and vladmir putin. it's such an unusual position for trump that it begs for some kind of explanation. unlike on domestic policy where trump has wandered all over the political map. on foreign policy he's had clear and consistent views for three decades. in 1987 in his first major statement on public policy he took out an ad in several newspapers that began. for decades japan and other nation vs been tas have been ta advantage of the united states. this is trump's world view. he has never waivered from it. he's added countries to the roster of rogues most recently china and mexico. he wrote in his presidential campaign book, there's people who wish

washington post contradicts the u.s. attorney general who previously insisted he did not discuss u.s. presidential campaign issues with the russian ambassador. >>> plus this. the end of the line for the president's much maligned spokesman. sean spicer resigns. >>> and the palestinian and israeli territories. live from cnn world headquarters. welcome to viewers from around the world. i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. it's 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. welcome. several stories we're following from washington this hour. first, potentially damaging new information about u.s. attorney jeff sessions. the washington post reports russian ambassador to the post told his possible bosses in mod about campaign related matters with sessions in the 2016 election. if true, this information directly con interetr if true, this information directly con interetadicts what sessions said with the meetings with the ambassador kislyak. here is the second story we're following. a turn of events involving trump junior and paul manafort. russian meddling in the 2016 election has struck a

lawyers are looking for ways to undermine the investigation by robert mueller? "the washington post" and "the new york times" report aides are scouring the backgrounds of mueller and his staf, searching for conflicts of interest they can use to undercut the probe. >> "the washington post" also reporting the president has asked about his power to pardon aides, family members, even himself. one adviser said the president was curious about the reach of his pardoning authority. this follows the earlier attacks on mueller and those involved in the investigation. >> reporter: christine and miguel, mt. trump and the white house increasingly focused on the investigation into the russian meddling of the 2016 election. there are indications that the scope is expanding. president trump talked about robert mueller and the idea he could be looking into the trump family's finances. the president said he thought that would be outside of the r purview of that. the legal team is look at strategies here. the washington host and new york times are both reporting that the president is also looking into ways

of the hour, a busy one, the end of a very busy week. a new story out in "the washington post" saying that russia's ambassador, ambassador sergey kislyak, ambassador to the u.s., told his kremlin bosses that he did in fact talk about campaign matters with then senator jeff sessions. current and former u.s. officials telling "the washington post" they know from american intelligence intercepts. if true, it is also possible the russian ambassador was boasting to his bosses. but if it wasn't a boast and the information bears out, it does cast serious doubt on the credibility of jeff sessions, the highest law enforcement official in the land, who denied having any contacts with russians during the campaign about the campaign. this is what attorney general sessions said during his confirmation hearing back in january. >> if there is any evidence that campaign communicated with the p russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i've been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and i did n

. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight here in washington with something we rarely get from the trump administration, an admission. not an admission of wrongdoing, just an admission by jared kushner that he took a few meetings with the russians. blf meeting with senate intelligence committee staff members today kushner released a statement offering his first public account of what he says were four meetings with russians during the campaign and transition. in this administration and from this president who cries fake news anytime the russian investigation comes up, it is something. for months now on twitter and the very rare times he's answered questions on carnell the president as you know has dismissed anything involving russia as fake news. >> russia is fake news. this is fake news put out by the media. >> the entire thing has been a witch hunt. it's all fake news. it's all fake news. >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. >> can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with r

move since scaramucchi isn't a washington insider. >> i don't have any friction with sean, i don't have any friction with reince. this is the white house. >> reporter: and downplayed tensions with steve bannon whose sources tell cnn oppose scaramucchi's hire. >> i want to keep my head in the game and work with steve bannon. >> reporter: scaramucchi pledged to advance his role that he says the media isn't paying attention to. >> i was in the oval office earlier today, we were talking about letting him be himself, letting him express his identity. >> reporter: spicer first stopped up the day after the podium to lecture the media about the reports that the crowd size was significantly less than president obama's first inauguration in 2009. >> this was the first live audience to ever witness an inauguration period and around the globe. >> reporter: in recent weeks, spicer was replaced by sarah huckabee sanders. spicer's place was widely spoofed on the "saturday night live." spicer tweeting it's been a honor and privilege to serve potus @real donald trump. i will continue my service thr

the united states and around the world. this is "new day." it's friday. july 21st. 6:00 in washington, d.c. chris is off. and john berman joins me from new york. great to see you. >> nice to see you. >>> the new york times and washington post is reporting that the president's legal team is trying to undermine robert mueller, looking for conflicts of interest in order to discredit his russia investigation. the president is asking advisers about his ability to pardon his aides, his family members, and even himself. >> one day after president trump warned the special counsel not to dig into his family's finances, bloomberg reports special counsel mueller's investigation is expanding to do just that. all this as cnn learns the president is shaking up his legal team. the president unhappy with how his lawyers are fighting back. a lot going on. we're going begin with senior washington correspondent joe johns at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, john. the reshuffling of the president's legal team comes around the same time he's sending signals that he's gearing up for

, new jersey, he'll travel to washington briefly tonight to attend a rally at the kennedy center for veterans. and he'll return here tonight. heel likely spend the weekend preparing for his trip next week, a stop in germany and poland, attending the g20 summit. he's expected to meet many leaders there but the one that everyone has their eye on is the meeting with vladimir putin. everyone is wondering if he will ask him about russian meddling in the election. white house officials say no agenda has been set yet. answer it's not clear if they will have a bilateral or a pull-aside during the summit. >> the president telling lawmakers via twitter repeal obamacare now. if they can't pass this bill and then replace it later. but that does not correspond with what the president promised earlier? >> no, it doesn't. senate republicans as you know have been negotiating a health care bill for the last few weeks now. and donald trump really threw a wrench in that yesterday when he tweeted maybe we should repeal it now and replace it at a later date. now, the reason this is so shocking is that th

another big day, where i am here in washington. chris is off this morning, john berman joins me from new york. john, great to see crow. >> so much news, we had to be in two cities at once. >> that's right. so let's get right to it. up first, "the new york times" and "washington post" with new reporting that president trump's legal team is trying to undercut special counsel, robert mueller. the president's lawyers are investigating the investigators in hopes of discrediting the russia investigation. >> "the washington post" also reports that the president is asking advisers about his ability to pardon his aides with, family members, and possibly even himself. this as the president has re-shuffled his legal team. we have it all covered for you. let's begin with cnn's senior washington correspondent, joe johns, live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> john, i think reshuffling is the word. the president has already signalled that he is geari inin for a fight against the special counsel investigators, citing conflicts. and it appears now that the president's team is looking to the

also want to read you from their reporting. this is from "the washington post" that we just got. many on our panel are just hearing for the first time. i just want to read you the opening of this report. some of president trump's lawyers are exploring ways to limit or under-cut special counsel robert s. mueller iii's investigation basing it on allegations they say he is granting pardoning of people familiar with the effort. trump has advised his attorneys about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one of those people. a second person said trump's lawyers have been discussing the president's pardoning powers amongst themselves. the article goes on to say trump's legal team declined to comment on the issue, but one adviser said the president has simply expressed a curiosity in understanding the reach of his pardoning authority as well as the limits of mueller's investigation. quote, this is not in the context of i can't wait to pardon myself, a close adviser said. it guess on to say, with the russia investigation continuin

. >>> good evening. tonight a new story just out in "the washington post" as russian ambassador sergey kislyak told his kremlin bosses that he did in fact talk about campaign matters with then senator jeff sessions. current and former u.s. officials telling "the washington post" they know from american intelligence intercepts. if true, it's also possible that the russian ambassador was boasting to his bosses. but if it wasn't a boast and the information bears out, it casts serious doubt on the credibility of jeff sessions, the highest law enforcement official in the land, who denied having any contacts with russians during the campaign about the campaign. this is what attorney general sessions said during his confirmation hearing back in january. >> if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the r

opposed the move since scaramucci isn't a washington insider. scaramucci denied any problems with spicer and chief of staff reince priebus. >> i don't have any friction with sean. this is the white house. >> reporter: and downplayed tensions with steve bannon, whose sources tell cnn opposed scaramucci's hire. >> i want to keep my head in the game and keep my ego low and work with steve bannon as closely as possible. i have a huge amount of respect for him. >> scaramucci pledged to use his role that he says the media isn't paying attention to. >> i was in the oval office earlier today and we were talking about letting him be himself, letting him express his full identity. i think he's got some of the best political instincts in the world and perhaps in history. >> reporter: spicer first step upped to the podium the day after the election to lecture the media about reports that the crowd size was significantly less than president obama's first inauguration in 2009. >> this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. both in person and around the globe. >> repor

rating sliding the a record low. the abc news "washington post" poll finds 36% of americans approve of the job mr. trump is doing, the lowest of any president in seven decades. mr. trump unleashing a flurry of tweets defending his son's meeting with the russian attorney and once again attacking the media and hillary clinton. >> this as one of the president's biggest campaign promises, to repeal and replace obamacare, faces a new setback. the senate delayed the vote as senator john mccain recovering from blood clot surgery. let's begin with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> good morning, john. president trump is back in washington, d.c. frankly hoping to turn the page after a week of revelations regarding donald trump jr.'s meeting with the russian lawyer. it does appear that the swirl of contingency is continuing to affect the president's approval ratings. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> reporter: after nearly six months in office, president donald trump facing the lowest approval rating in recent history, just 36% approve of the president's performan

l elizabeth warren. praising senator mccain, heard across the political spectrum and washington processes word, senator john mccain now fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer. the diagnosis first reported by our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay is with us live with the latest. start with what the doctors discovered and then move on to the prognosis. >> sure. you know, you remember john, last friday, senator mccain went in for a routine visit. a scheduled visit but complained he'd been feeling fatigued the last few months, had a bout of double vision. whatever it was doctors were concerned enough to get a cat stan. that showed a blood collection right here. left frontal area just behind the forehead. he had an operation a few hours later. concerned enough to urgently perform that operation and found the blood collection and thought they saw something else at that time. in the operating room, but weren't sure. take as few days for the final diagnosis to come back, which is as you point out, john a tumor. a type of brain cancer known at glioblastoma. this i

, washington, moscow, and seoul. good morning, and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm miguel marquez. it is friday, july 7th, 4:00 a.m. here on the east coast. it's one of the most eagerly anticipated meetings of world leaders in decades. this morning president trump sits down with russian president vladimir putin as the g20 summit gets underway in germany. their bilateral meeting comes just a day after president trump said russia should stop its destabilizing activities. minutes later refused to conclude that russia meddled in the u.s. election. >> new cnn reporting this morning says russia has even stepped up its spying efforts in the u.s. more in a moment. >>> for the latest, let's turn to the white house correspondent covering this for us, sara murray, live in hamburg. president trump meets putin face to face in just a few hours. it will be fascinating to see the optics of this meeting. >> reporter: yes, it is a very highly anticipated and will be closely scrutinized. this is expected to be a brief meeting between these two world leaders. an intermat one, as well.

. all eyes in washington today from here at the white house over to capitol hill are focusing on that critical vote in the senate on health care. the senate is scheduled to vote this afternoon on proceeding to debate on the actual bills. it's a two-step process. but yesterday here at the white house, we saw president trump engaged in this issue, engaged in this matter, more so than ever before, using the power of the presidency. that unique megaphone, to make the case for why republicans, he says, should vote for this bill. >> for the last seven years, republicans have been united in standing up for obamacare's victims. remember repeal and replace? repeal and replace? they kept saying it over and over again. every republican running for office promised immediate relief from this disastrous law. we as a party must fulfill that solemn promise to the voters. >> reporter: president trump engaged in this. vice president mike pence generation e engaged, as well. we -- engaged, as well. we received late word that senator john mccain will be on hand today in the united states senate to also c

state of new jersey, watching the u.s. women's golf open. in washington his white house, it is in full battle mode focused on how to best deal with the questions that have risen from the 2016 meeting between the president's eldest son and russian lawyer. a veteran attorney, ty cobb, has been brought in to help manage the turmoil that's threatening to derail the president's agenda in congress. all the while, the senate vote on republican health care that has again been delayed, there time because of senator john mccain, he's in arizona recovering from surgery. republicans need every vote that they can get, so they will need to wait until mr. mccain returns to washington. >>> bringing in a heavy hitter like ty cobb as special counsel shows just how the stakes have risen for the trump administration. we get more from boris sanchez. >> reporter: the name of the new attorney added to the white house's legal team is ty cobb. he's a powerful washington, d.c., defense attorney who's handled some high-profile clients in the past including defending two officials with connections to the cli

. to, to, get some traction and in washington. so, my idea now is that -- 10, 20, 30 years from now. he will be donald trump businessman. he will have an office in trump tower. and he will have preserved the family legacy. >> the family legacy is still being written. now more than ever in business and politics, it seems the first son, donald trump jr. may be getting a much bigger chapter. i'm randi kaye, thank you for watching. >>> tonight on the "axe files." a special conversation with civil rights icon, john lewis. >> to believe in something stand up for it speak up and speak out. >> from his march with dr. king to the historic campaign with robert kennedy. >> the assassin bullet changed course of history. >> john lewis reflects on service and his message to donald trump. >> this president should be leading us into the future. not taking us backward. >> announcer: welcome to "the axe files." >> congressman john lewis, so good to be with you. especially here at center for, civil and human rights in atlanta that museum of history so much of which you were in the middle of. we look o

intensive care unit. he's been readmitted to the intensive care unit at med star washington hospital center due to new concerns for infection. condition is listed as serious. we'll provide another update tomorrow on july 6 and keep youup dated on this story. we'll be right back. assume nothing. just like the leading brands, these kraft dressings are made with high quality ingredients, at a price you can feel good about. no wonder kraft is so good. ♪ i love you, basement guest bathroom. your privacy makes you my number 1 place... ...to go number 2. i love you, but sometimes you stink. ♪ new febreze air effects with odorclear technology cleans... ...away odors like never before. because the things you love the most can stink. and try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up... ...to 30 days. breathe happy with new febreze. you're searching for something. like the perfect deal... ...on the perfect hotel. so wouldn't it be perfect if there was a single site where you could find the right hotel for you at the best price? there is. because tripadvisor now compares prices from ov

are $500 million of money. rather than running health care from washington, we are going to block grant it to the states. here is what will happen. if you like obamacare, you can reimpose the mandates at the state level. you can repair it if you think it needs to be replaced. you can replace it if you think it needs to be replaced. it is up to the governors. they have a better handle on it than any bureaucrat in washington. >> how does this way of putting forth health care insure people can afford the health care they need? >> you are giving money back to the states. they are able to have their needs addressed. if we couple it with the ted cruz amendment, which allows people to get it through a health savings account. they put money in with which to purchase the insurance you need. the essential benefits will be there. we can't repeal those as part of the process. you have the protection. this perfectly fulfills the jimmy kimmel test. >> does every state give the same amount of money from the federal government? how does its decide? >> we will come up with a formula that is fair t

>>> jeff sessions' days as attorney general may be numbered. breaking news tonight. the "washington post" reporting president trump is discussing possibly replacing him. a short time ago, i spoke with "washington post" reporter matt zepatosky. so, matt, what have you learned? >> well, we learned as president trump and his aides have been discussing possibly removing jeff sessions as attorney general which maybe isn't a total surprise given what he told "the new york times" last week. but interesting that it's maybe not just him venting and not thinking about what he's saying, but a calculated move and considering, you know, getting somebody else in there. >> do you have any idea based on your reporting how serious the discussions, what level they're at, or what the kind of permutations are being discussed? >> we understand at this stage, it is pretty informal. some names have been floated, but maybe not even with the president, himself. it's not as if he is asking people what do you think about this person, what do you think about this person? and some people characterize this as ju

powers. and the "washington post" reports that sessions in fact did discuss matters related to the trump campaign with the russian ambassador, sergei kislyak. and this was all before sean spicer resigned. this was a chaotic week for donald trump and one that overshadowed a bright spot, in my opinion. given the current events and the fragile relationship and the united states and russia, the american ambassador to russia is arguably the most important posting in our diplomatic corps. it would have been objectionable had the president appointed a flunkie. someone lacking credentials to this important post. but instead he selected jon huntsman, who not only distinguished himself as a two-term governor of utah, but also as president obama's ambassador to china and president george h.w. bush's ambassador to singapore. he has cleared confirmation without a single vote in opposition. in appointing governor hundredsman, the president has selected a credible, qualified public servant who is no trump yes man. it was huntsman who called the 2016 gop primary process a race to the bottom. and e

may be heading back to washington to cast what could be a deciding vote on health care. >> meanwhile, the president is also slamming his attorney general jeff sessions, calling him weak and saying he should be investigating president trump's rival, hillary clinton, something that would be unprecedented. let's remember that mr. sessions was the first senator to support donald trump's bid for the white house and now it seems that the president is trying to push him out. we have it all covered for you. we begin with cnn's suzanne malveaux live on capitol hill. another busy day there, suzanne. >> reporter: it certainly is, alisyn and extraordinary turnaround for president trump to call senator john mccain a hero. in the campaign he denied him that, now tweeting he is in fact a hero because he will bored a plane, he's expected to get here in washington later today, this after less than a week of being diagnosed with brain cancer. he is going to be participating in that extraordinary critical senate health care vote. republican leadership hoping it will be one vote closer to pushing it for

republican party and in washington, d.c., from a year ago when we were unable to do things. >> president trump, very clearly ran on this as well. i mean, isn't -- isn't this on him as well? do you see him -- do you see him taking any ownership of this right now? >> right now, no. it's not a problem, he was in paris. that's fine. he can do those things. with twitter, he can apply pressure on individual senators and have his legislative staff -- >> do you think they don't want him to? is it different if he applies more pressure or buy-in or like obama did with obamacare? >> that's the difference. barack obama spent every day of a year and a half working on the affordable care act. president trump has not been involved. he needs to be. he needs mike pence with long standing relationships on the house and senate side to do so and the white house staff. this is the only dynamic new in town. it's all hands on deck, regardless of small hands, big hands, whatever. >> don't start. >> if you are donald trump and you don't have a legislative victory, this is the biggest one he can have. >> there's

, get a list of meetings do the traditional washington thing and during transition or early on put out a file. here are all the meetings? all the meetings. sorry we didn't disclose them. did nothing wrong. shouldn't have taken this one, that one, but here you go. >> also specifically on jared kushner himself having to first he sent his security clearance form with no meetings listed of foreign contacts, it says explicitly, you have to list any foreign contacts. required by federal law. he didn't do that initially. said it was a premature submission of the form. having to amend it on multiple occasions to now include this meeting raises is a positions even if they say there's nothing there. >> listen to jay sekulow, one of the president's private attorneys out yesterday making clear he does not represent donald trump jr. but talking about this meeting how could it have happened in trump tower, middle of the campaign, he says this -- . well, i've wondered why the secret service, if this was nefarious, why did the secret service allow these people in? the president had secret service prot

washington. chris is off, john berman joins me in what looks like a very lonely new york studio. >> it is very lonely, but it's also 8:00 here, i can confirm that also. >> very good. up first, the "new york times" and "the washington post" are reporting that president trump's legal team is trying to undermine special counsel robert mueller. the president's lawyers are investigating the investigators in hopes of discrediting mueller's russia investigation. >> it comes as the president reshuffles his legal team after being frustrated with how they're responding to the daily russia revelations and perhaps one of the first tasks reported to "the washington post." the president is asking advisors about his ability to pardon his aides, his family, even himself. >> let's bring in one of the reporters from "the washington post" story who can give us the entire scoop. we have national reporter carol laning. thanks so much for being here, carol. >> glad to be here. >> so tell us more. the president's legal team is trying to find some chin ks in the armor obviously of robert mueller's legal team and

tapper in washington. the state of our union is defiant. congress ignoring the white house's appeals and reaching an agreement to slap new sweeping sanctions on russia from meddling in the presidential election. this now the first real test for president trump on this issue. he is willing to punish vladimir putin for the election interference snt white house says they want to move on. he is really contemplating the first ever veto of the bill, siding with putin over the overwhelming sen overwhelming sentiment? the white house says they to be the a provision in the sanction bill that gives congress the power to override the president should he choose to ease the sanctions. the house plans to vote on the bill tuesday. it could reach president trump's desk before the end of the month. joining me to discuss this is the incoming white house communication director anthony scaramucci. congratulations on the new job. >> thank you for that. >> you come at a white house when the time that president trump has low approval ratings. he signed into law zero major pieces of legislation. hea

this happened, scaramucci said this -- >> i know i'm in the cesspool called washington or a swamp called washington. so it will be virtually impossible to get rid of every leak. but i think we can take dramatic steps to get rid of leaks. one of the big problems here that i'm discovering in the comstein is that senior people are doing the leaking, and they're asking junior people to do the leaking. i'm proud to be reporting to the president to seal off the coms team from this sort of nonsense. >> that drew this response from the department of justice. "we have seen an astonishing number of leaks in the classified national security information in the recent months. we agree with anthony that the staggering number of leaks are undermining the ability of our government to function and to protect this country." >> after all this went down, scaramucci deleted the initial tweet and sent this one -- "wrong! tweet was public notice to leakers that all senior administration officials are helping to end the legal leaks." again, he tagged priebus. we reached out and found that scaramucci does

washington, d.c., he made this nouch announcement on twitter. this is certainly the type of thing that will hit the blindside of reince priebus. he had no plans of retiring. he felt his position in the white house was secure. >> he's standing out in the rain at joint base andrews. we're told both reince priebus and anthony scaramucci, they were on air force i with the president. we haven't seen either. i don't understand why he's standing outside, but presumably he'll get into the limo to head to the white house. jeff zelany is standing at the white house. jeff, you're getting more reaction? >> reporter: we are, indeed, and this is all playing out as the president announce this on twitter. he thanked his existing and outgoing chief of staff, reince priebus. this is just coming in, wolf. he said this. i would like to thank reince priebus for his service and dedication to his country. we have accomplished a lot together, and i am proud of him, exclamation point. as you know, reince priebus is on that air force i flying back to long island just outside washington. anthony scaramucci, the new c

headquarters of the democratic national committee in washington. they were caught by a night watchman, and they did not resist arrest when the police came. they apparently were unarmed and nobody knows yet why they were there. the film in the camera hadn't even been exposed. in any case, they're being held. >> the democratic national committee is housed in the fashionable watergate complex. the break-in apparently planned well in advance. files were ransacked and papers removed. also in this area, ceiling tiles had been removed for the suspected planting of bugging devices. >> it was saturday morningjune 17th. the phone rang, it was about 6:30. a colleague of mine, chuck work, was on the phone. he said, hello, it's chuck. we have a hot one. we have a burglary at the democratic national committee headquarters. and most unusual of all, the burglars, five of them, are wearing suits. >> the arraignment of the five middle-aged men was slowed down by the fact that each had several aliases. four said they were from miami, the fifth said he lived in the metropolitan washington area. three were ori

. >>> hello, i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is disapproving. a brand new poll shows president trump has hit a new low with americane americane voters. just 36% say they approve and 58% disapprove. half of the american people say they strongly disapprove of the job. 55% say the president is not making progress on his agenda. overnight the number one item repealing and replacing obamacare stalled again with mitch mcconnell announcing that the vote will be delayed while republican senator john mccain recovers from surgery. president trump is up this morning observing the sabbath as only he can tweeting attacks on the free press and hillary clinton as well as mounting a defense of his son, don junior who has acknowledged a meeting with russians who claim to want to deliver the trump campaign dirt on clinton. asked about the meeting in this poll, 63% of americans say it was inappropriate. joining me now is a member of president trump's legal team. good to see you. this week a number of different conservatives expressed disappointment after reading the e-mails from d

"the washington post" over new reports of leaked intelligence intercepts. they say that russia's ambassador told his superiors in moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters with jeff sessions during the 2016 race. the sessions repeatedly has said that he never discussed campaign issues with russian officials. >> it's important for people to keep in mind, this is again, kislyak's version of events of sessions, as you showed very clearly has sort of changed his accounts as we've gone through the months. from basically saying there were no meetings initially. to the meetings about the campaign to the meetings were not about collusion or coordination. so, again, either he doesn't recall clearly what they are, and maybe shouldn't have said what he said initially. or he is not telling us the full account. >> also this morning, former white house press secretary sean spicer, you see him there on the left. revealing more about why he resigned from his post just minutes after the president named a new communications drebtedreb director anthony scaramucci there on the right. sources

mission. both the "new york times" and "the washington post" are reporting that the legal team is scrambling to discredit special counsel robert mueller and his investigators. the goal, according to both papers, expose conflicts of interest that the president says are there, try to undermine the investigation. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports the legal team for the president is also investigating or taking a look at issues related to pardoning potentially his aides and family members if necessary. and the report does say that the president has even inquired about the ability to pardon himself. this morning when asked about it the president's lawyer called that reporting, quote, nonsense. we are covering all of the developments this busy friday morning. let's get to capitol hill where we find our suzanne malveaux. and before that joe johns is at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. so that question of whether the president has the power to pardon aides, family members and certainly himself is somewhat of an open question in the courts. it ha

, president trump is returning to washington but he has not said a public word about the drama mounting among his white house staff. cnn jeff zelany filed this report showing how it all works publicly, and more important, behind closed doors. >> reporter: with chaos in the west wing and another defeat on capitol hill, president trump making a quick trip to new york today. >> they should have approved health care last night, but you can't have everything. boy, oh, boy. they've been working on that one for seven years. can you believe that? the swamp. >> reporter: speaking of law enforcement officials, the president vowing to crack down on gang violence. but it's the open warfare in the white house that's causing turmoil for his administration and the republican agenda in washington. the new white house communications director, anthony scaramucci, and the chief of staff, reince priebus, embroiled in an extraordinarily public feud. today the two men shared a 45-minute flight aboard air force i as a fight between priebus and bannon appeared. the difference between how to run the wh

field offices working these cases. they included seattle, chicago, washington, new york, boston. i was assigned to the new york office in 2005. our squad was responsible for the new york area. couples. the one thing to understand is if one of these cases went down, it had the potential to affect all the rest of them. >> so it was imperative that we kept all the field offices connected to each other. todd and myself, our job was to set kind of a national level strategy so that each field office understood the trends, what was happening with one couple was pertinent to another couple. >> in 2003, i became an agent, graduated from the academy, and was assigned to the boston field office. we had a front row seat to the sbr's most highly valued program. >> we had identified the murphys, heath field, lazard, zottoli. in each and every case, the fbi used all of the tools in its toolbox to learn as much as they can about their residents, their habits. physical surveillance including clandestine searches was conducted. >> we started covert entries into the residences. the goal was to find a

, who knows? i don't make money from russia. >> reporter: "the washington post" reports the president's team is looking into whether he can grant pardons to aides, family members, even himself. >> the president maintains pardon powers like any president would but there's no planned announcements on that front whatsoever. >> reporter: the attorney representing mr. donald trump called "the washington post" report nonsense and insists the president's lawyers are cooperating with special counsel robert mueller on behalf of the president. now that statement was from john dowd. he's the lead on the president's outside counsel when it comes to the russia investigation. he's replacing trump's long time personal attorney marc kasowitz who cnn has learned is taking a more reduced role in all of this coming on the heels of the resignation of the communications strategist and spokesperson for the legal team, mike core aloe. >> all right, joining us is a former cia operative, bob baird. columnist for real clear politics ab stoddard and betsy, i want to start with what we last heard from diane gallag

latest "washington post" abc news bomu ews poll. that is down six points from his 100 day mark in april. president trump responding with a tweet that accepts the numbers and casts doubt on the poll at the very same time. >> he says the abc news "washington post" poll even though almost 40% is not bad at this time was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time. well, that has a few issues. first, ooirts actually the lowest approval rating at the six month mark of any president in the last 70 years. so not exactly what you would call not bad. the second is the final estimate from the "washington post" poll was 43% for a trump, 47% for hillary who posted 48.5% on election night, well within the poll's margin of error. >>> also this morning, the secret service rejected a claim by president's lawyer that the agency would have prevented anything questionable from happening that the meeting last june between donald trump jr. and a russian lawyer. secret service says it had no responsibility to check out participants in the meeting because doon junin jr. was not the president was

the tone is set at the top. many people near the white house, close to the white house in washington aren't convinced president trump is going to change. >> the chief of staff, you can change. the president, is he prepared to change? we will see in probably the next 24 hours. great to see you, thank you. joining me to discuss, mark preston and chris whipple, awe thor of "the gate keepers." appropriate today. thank you for joining us, chris. great to see you both. try this on for size. how is this? he will go down as one of the great ever. >> ever. >> ever. >> i mean, anybody he ever hires or associates himself with, he always says they will be the greatest, do the greatest, become the greatest. it's trumpisms at its best. >> has john kelly taking on the post, has the west wing changed today? >> no. a couple things, one, we were talking about this in the green room. i don't think the journal is going to be able to go in and change donald trump. can he go in and change everyone below donald trump? in some ways, what donald trump does with the tweeting and have you and enact change and

reporters for "the new york times" and the "washington post" that he's a veteran of the soviet army. in a march letter to the justice department, senate judiciary chairman kruk grassley said someone alleged to have conducted political disinformation campaign as as part of a pro russian lobbying effort. >> plainly this russia third party that was present, they were there to deliver a message as well as to receive a message. and plainly moscow understood only too well that this is conduct that the trump campaign would really appreciate. >> akhmetshin denied any links to the "washington post." saying quote at no time have i ever worked for the russian government or any of its agencies. i was not an intelligence officer, never. he told the "post" he was born in russia and became a u.s. citizen in 2009. akhmetshin's lobbying effort, which he did on behalf of the russian lawyer, veselnitskaya, was aimed at repealing the magnistky act. a complaint filed against him with the department of justice, claimed that effort was on behalf of the kremlin. he's also been accused according to court pa

did not cross the line. official reaction from washington and beyond has been mostly one sided against the president. in part because it's been radio silence from most republicans. just before trump posted this tweet, nebraska senator ben sass said on sunday that he's been troubled by the president's recent attacks on the news media. >> there's an important distinction to draw between bad stories or crappy coverage and the right that citizens have to argue and complain about that, and trying to weaponize distrust. the first amendment is the beating heart of the american amendment, and you can't separate that in there. >> kate collins is traveling with the president. >> reporter: democratic members of congress have wasted no time attacking the president after he tweeted a video of himself tackling a man with a cnn logo imposed on his head. house minority leader snowplows, "violence and violent imagery to bully the press must be rejected. this july 4th, celebrate freedom of the press, guardians to our democracy." congressman frank pallone echoed her sentiment saying, "donald trump with a

>>> hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. right now we're standing by to hear from the white house. you're looking at live pictures coming in from the briefing room where the press secretary sarah huckabee sanders will brief reporters laters think hour. live coverage of that and certainly hit with questions on several major fronts. one will be the ongoing debate and the expected votes coming up over health care. president trump has kept up the pressure on republicans in the senate. once again, tweeting today and i'm quoting him "don't let the american people down." all of this while a now deleted tweet from the white house communications director anthony scaramucci is causing ripples through washington about possible discord inside the white house, with scaramucci seemingly calling outing the white house chief of staff reince priebus for leaks. >> people know my history between me and reince. >> we begin with the in-fighting going on within the trump administration. scaramucc

. today, it happens to be cnn. but it's been "the new york times" and "the washington post" and other networks. who knows who his target will be tomorrowsome >> stay with us. we want to bring in the rest of our panel. jeffrey, let's start with you. there are republicans raising serious concerns about this. here's the congressman from new york. >> when i was 10 years old, we looked up to the president of the united states. we're trying to understand the difference of right and wrong and set our own moral compass to be future leaders. being presidential is being that role model. and i don't believe that some of what he's doing on twitter is setting if right example for my kids. >> jeffrey, is the president setting the right example for america's kids? >> look, i know lee zeldin and i have a lot of respect for him, but i disagree with him. the logic that this could result in violence against journalists, let's just flip this and wonder -- i mean, cnn, and i don't want to pick on cnn. cnn, "the washington post," "the new york times," liberal media in general, gives air times to democrats