the president of the united states holds his first solo news conference. the news media the main target. as for americans who watched it, some are left scratching their heads on it. some loved it. we'll take a look at that as well. it was one of president trump's biggest campaign promises, to build a border wall to mexico,

but some supporters may now be disappointed to find out what is happening with that plan. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. it is 3:01 on the u.s. east coast. the president of the united states held a major news conference today some 80 minutes in length. we will have more on that in just a moment. but first the big headlines of the day. the person mr. trump wanted to serve as his new national security adviser has declined the job. retired vice admiral bob harward would have replaced michael flynn who was asked to resign monday. he cited family concerns, turning down that opportunity. a republican source says harward wanted to bring along his own team but didn't feel that would be allowed.

the president says he lost confidence in michael flynn after finding out that he misled the vice president of the united stat states, mike pence, about contacts with russian official. a law enforcement source tells cnn the fbi is not expected to pursue charges against michael flynn. in the meantime the president nominated alexander acosta to be his labor secretary. mr. trump's previous pick withdrew on wednesday. this again on the day that the president held a combative news conference. the news media his main focus. cnn's sara murray reports from the white house. >> reporter: today an embattled president is dismissing the notion that his administration is in turmoil. >> i turn on the tv, open the newspapers, and i see stories of chaos. cha chaos. yet it is the exact opposite. this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. despite the fact that i can't

get any cabinet approved. >> reporter: but controversy continues to haunt the west wing. >> the whole russian thing, that's a ruse. and by the way, it would be great if we could get along with russia. >> reporter: the administration is still facing scrutiny of its russian connections. but trump kept up a rosy outlook, saying he'd love to have better diplomatic relations with moscow. >> nuclear holocaust would be like no other. they're a very powerful nuclear country, and so are we. if we have a good relationship with russia, believe me, that's a good thing. >> reporter: that's in spite of recent provocations from moscow. russia has buzzed a u.s. war ship, placed a spy ship 30 miles off the coast of connecticut, and deployed a cruise missile in an apparent treaty violation. for now the white house appears unlikely to respond. >> but hopefully i won't have to do anything. but i'm not going to tell you. >> reporter: in a winding and wild press conference that stretched for over an hour the

president aired a list of grievances. >> i inherit ed a mess. it's a mess. at home and abroad. a mess. >> reporter: insisted he would take a compassionate approach to children brought to the u.s. illegally by their parents. >> we're going to show great heart. daca is a very, very difficult subject for me. >> reporter: and leapt to the defense of his travel ban, which is currently being blocked by the courts. >> we had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. but we had a bad court. i think that circuit is -- that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. >> reporter: now trump says the administration is crafting a new executive order based on the court's decision. >> we can tailor the order to that decision and get just about everything, in some ways more, but we're tailoring it now to the decision. >> reporter: but while the administration faces pressing priorities, trump, who once professed his love of wikileaks. >> this just came out. wikileaks. i love wikileaks.

>> reporter: is now preoccupied with cracking down on them. >> i've actually called the justice department to look into the leaks. those are criminal leaks. >> reporter: trump also spent much of his time criticizing his favorite foil, the press. >> the information coming from those leaks is real. then how can the stories be fake? >> the reporting is fake. >> and if i may ask -- >> jim, you know what it is? here's the thing. the public is -- you know they read newspapers, they see television, they watch. they don't know if it's true or false. because they're not involved. i'm involved. and i'll tell you what else i see. i see tone. you know the word tone. the tone is such hatred. i'm really not a bad person, by the way. >> let's now get some context and perspective from peter trubowitz, professor of international releases and the director of the u.s. center at the london school of economics. live from our london studios. good to have you with us, peter.

let's first talk about the news headlines that came out about what has been a very busy day at the white house. the president's pick for national security adviser who declined that job. he has been described by some as a heavyweight in his field. what does that say, that he's apparently decided he didn't feel comfortable taking on that role? >> i think it tells us two things. first, not everybody thinks that the white house is the well-oiled machine that the president described yesterday. and i suspect, secondly, that there's still some ambiguity or confusion about who's calling the shots when it comes to foreign policy, who's setting the agenda. is it the white house and steve bannon and other american firsters or is it, you know, general mattis, secretary mattis at defense and rex tillerson at state?

>> the president also talked about the outgoing national security adviser michael flynn. i want you to take a listen to what he had to say about mr. flynn. >> sure. >> mike was doing his job. he was calling countries. and his counterparts. so it certainly would have been okay with me if he did it. i would have directed him to do it if he wasn't doing it. i didn't direct him but i would have directed him because that's his job. >> but again, the president saying that there was an erosion of trust. is he trying to have it both ways here, saying he lost trust in flynn but at the same time saying that he did do his job? >> well, it's pretty hard to square the comments in that sound bite. i don't think that that particular defense of flynn is going to stop the questions that keep on coming about the administration's connections and

outreach to moscow. and you know, you've just got -- it's like a drum beat right now. and it's just hard to believe that the press conference yesterday and those comments in particular are really going to change that dynamic. >> the president was also pressed about his campaign and any possible ties to russia, also how he is planning to handle a resurgent russia. given that there have been several incidents, peter, as of late that have raised concerns among security officials, here's what the president of the united states had to say about one of those during the news conference. let's listen. >> the greatest thing i could do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore right out of the water. everyone in this country's going to say oh, it's so great. it's not great. that's not great. i would love to be able to get along with russia. >> this is a time again where we are seeing a resurgent russia that is flexing its muscle.

in this one instance that the president pointed out. but at the sam time president trump saying that he would not tell people what he plans to do, if anything. rather in this news conference reiterating that he is hoping for closer ties with russia, peter. >> yeah. well, i think right now there's two messages that are coming out of the administration. it's -- you know, if you were flying at 30,000 feet, the pattern kind of looks like good cop bad cop. you know, you've got the president on the one hand talking about how he wants to improve relations with moscow and at the same time you have both general mattis and -- secretary of defense mat sxis secretary of state tillerson laying down markers with respect to moscow in europe. so the administration is, i don't know, trying to have its cake and eat it too is probably

the most generous interpretation. >> peter trubowitz, fair to say there are several contradictory messages that we are all sifting through here. the full transcript of the president's news conference is online at cnn.com. i urge viewers, yourself, anyone, to go check that out to try to understand the president's remarks and some couldn't draktry statements that were made. peter, thank you so much. >> delighted to be with you. >> now let's bring in cnn's senior media correspondent brian stelter joining us from new york. brian, where do we start here? first of all, fair to give the president credit for holding a news conference, taking on questions, but several questions, the first, was this a news conference to answer the people's questions posed by reporters there? was this more of an opportunity rather for the president to serve himself? or was this just a distraction to get away from topics like russia and other big stories? >> the president was playing his

greatest hits. he was going back to some of his favorite lines, favorite messages, favorite tactics, thinking back to the primary campaign when he would hold press conferences all the time using those in order to set the news agenda and to spar with reporters. now he's back to that style. and what are we going to see this weekend? a campaign-style rally from the president this saturday. so i think what we're seeing him do four weeks into the presidency is try to find some of the formats that served him well while he was campaigning. it's hard to see where the campaigning has stopped and the governing has started because he was very much in campaign mode at this press conference challenging reporters, in some case bullying reporters. i think he was, to your point, trying to distract, but i don't think it was successful. >> there was an instance where the president told the reporter of a jewish magazine to sit down. another moment where speaking to an african-american reporter, asking her if she would set up a meeting with him with the congressional black caucus, the

cbc. also asking are they your friends? some may understand the problem with these things. some may not. but the question, how does the president's style serve him when dealing with the media and speaking to the people? >> both of those instances were uncomfortable. and it's not just my own impression. we've seen the anti-defamation league come out and say the president needs to more fully answer these questions about the rise of anti-semi'tis m in the united states, instances of hate we've seen across the country. the president did not address that when he was asked about it. he missed an opportunity. we've seen groups like the adl call on him to speak about it. i also noticed top democrat elijah cummings speaking about the incident you were describing where april ryan of american urban radio networks asked the president about his plans for inner city revitalization and asked about the congressional black caucus. when trump said do you know them, are they your friends, can you set up a meeting for me, she

was -- tried to be above it all and tried not to react but elijah cummings came out and said hey, there are a lot of people who think all black people know every other black person as friends. that was the subtext that some people came away hearing in the president's statements. it is part of a theme we've seen of people criticizing the president in the way he communicates with various minority groups, whether it's african-americans or other minority groups. so yes, he deserves credit. he was calling on a wide variety of reporters. including big networks and smaller news outlets including that jewish magazine you mentioned. but some of the exchanges were certainly eyebrow-raising. >> the president in this news conference said several things, saying that the leaks are real, a lot of the news, he says, is fake news. also saying that there's a lot of hatred coming from the press. brian, i think you would agree for the record there is no hatred. this president no different than

any other president before him that has been under the media microscope, this is nothing personal, rather it's about fact versus fiction and an earnest pursuit of the facts and it will not stop. even a colleague from another network had a very sharp response about the president's approach to the media. let's listen. >> it's absolutely crazy. he keeps repeating ridiculous throwaway lines that are not true at all and sort of avoiding this issue of russia as if we're some kind of fools for asking the question. really? no, sir, we're not fools for asking these questions. and we demand to know the answer to this question. you owe this to the american people. >> shep smith making the point. and brian, just sharing the same question with you. does this president understand that reporters ask questions for the people and the people that he works for are due those answers? >> he seeks out and desires positive coverage and tries to punish negative coverage. and we had seen that in his career as a businessman.

we're now seeing it on the world's biggest stage. and i was glad to see our colleague jim acosta say do you understand that by challenge the press and calling real news outlets fake news that you are delegitimizing and trying to undermine the work the press does? trump sidestepped that question. but you know, george, we're seeing lots of journalists from lots of news outlets including fox, as you just showed, trying to describe what's going on here, trying to come up with the right language. i saw cbs's scott pelley on the "nightly news" on thursday night talking about the president going on offense using bravado, bluster, exaggeration, and a few loose facts. an anchor on the bbc thursday night said is the president on the verge of a nervous breakdown? and our colleague jake tapper described the president as being unhinged during the press conference. so i see journalists using basically the tools we have at our disposal, language, in order to accurately characterize the unusual behavior we're seeing. >> i think no journalist really

wants to be put front and center as the story. we would rather people think about the story and then forget about us. the story is what matters. but when we are put on stage we will defend the facts all day long. one republican lawmaker said the people who love the president, people who love him will love him more, the people who hate him will hate him more from this news conference. and brian, i want to show you this tweet coming from our own cnn commentator selena zito. she says, "listening to donald j. trump press conference in the middle of pennsylvania and watching press on my twitter is like parallel universe. people think he is doing well." it is important point to point out, brian, this is what the president ran on, this war against the media, even something steve bannon has suggested will be the case during his presidency. this really is red meat for donald trump's base. at the same time people who did not vote for the president, this may not be a way to bring them into the tent. >> it's hard to imagine the

divide getting any deeper than it already is. but we've seen a number of moments in the past month that i think do cause that divide to become more and more serious. whether it's the travel ban that was develop polarizing. whether it's donald trump sidestepping questions about issues like anti-semitism or hate. these are situations, these are stories that become very polarizing, that get people arguing all over their social media feeds, but i do think it's crucial what you just said there about the campaign. we saw this during the campaign. this is what the president -- this is what worked for the president when he was just a candidate, when he was vying to become president, and we're seeing much more of the same from him. >> cnn's senior media correspondent brian stelter in new york with us. brian, thank you so much for the insight. >> thanks. the white house is expected to name a new communications director friday. two administration officials tell us mike dubke will take over the job from sean spicer. spicer has been doing double

duty, communications director and press secretary. dubke is the founder of a republican media services firm and a veteran republican operative who opposed the trump movement. still ahead here on "cnn newsroom" we'll have more on president trump's impromptu news conference including the moment he snapped at a jewish magazine reporter asking about the rise of anti-semitism in the united states. plus, some people are left scratching their heads about that news conference, though some loved it. why donald trump's diehard backers say they still believe in what he's doing. >> there's still people in donald trump's administration that are left over from obama. and i feel they're sabotaging donald trump. today, unlimited gets the network it deserves.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." we are following reaction to donald trump's press conference. he was highly critical of the news media. at one point the president of the united states asked a question from a friendly reporter but that exchange didn't go so well. let's take a look. >> are you a friendly reporter? >> i'm friendly. >> watch how friendly he is. wait, wait. watch how friendly he is. go ahead. >> so first of all, my name is jake turks from ami magazine. and despite what some of my colleagues may have been reporting, i haven't seen anybody in my community accuse either yourself or any of -- anyone on your staff of being

anti-semitic. we understand that you have jewish grandchildren. you are their zeidi. >> thank you. >> however, what we are concerned about and what we haven't really heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. there has been a report out that 48 bomb threats have been made against jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks. there are people who are committing anti-semitic acts or threatening to -- >> you see, he said he was going to ask a very simple, easy question. and it's not. it's not. not a simple question. not a fair question. okay, sit down. i understand the rest of your question. so here's the story, folks. number one, i am the least anti-semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life. number two, racism. the least racist person. in fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a republican -- >> [ inaudible ]. >> quiet.

quiet. see, he lied about -- he was going to get up and ask a very straight, simple question. welcome to the world of the media. but let me just tell you something. that i hate the charge. i find it repulsive. i hate even the question because people that know me -- and you heard the prime minister. you heard netanyahu yesterday -- did you hear him? bibi. he said i've known donald trump for a long time. and then he said forget it. so you should take that instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that. >> style of the news conference not one that has been seen before, quite frankly. mr. trump may have faced some tough questions. but for the people who voted for him in office, they think that he is doing a great job. our gary tuchman found out the president's diehard supporters are put off by anything that his administration has done thus far. >> reporter: yuma county, arizona is trump country.

was before the election. still is. >> he's done fantastic compared to what we had before. >> what do trump supporters make of the controversy swirling around the white house? many believe it's pure conspiracy. >> who do you think's behind all this bad news about donald trump? >> well, i think part of it is the democrats. but i also think part of it is the media. >> do you think any part of it is donald trump? is he responsible for any of this? >> at this point in time i don't have a feeling that he is. >> reporter: many people in yuma county who voted for trump agree but are far angrier about it. >> there's still people in donald trump's administration that are left over from obama. and i feel they're sabotaging donald trump. >> reporter: but ken mani does believe that general michael flynn had to go for the sake of the boss. >> he stepped away so donald trump can continue with his administration. >> reporter: a similar sentiment

about general flynn from this man, visiting from michigan, also a red state in this election. >> maybe the guy was in over his head to start out with. i think he's a good man. he was a general in the army. he had to know what he was doing. but he made some political mistakes and paid the price for it. >> reporter: we go inside loot's casino, which is said to have the state's oldest pool hall, and definitely has a lively restaurant and bar, with lively opinions about the trump administration and its russian connections. >> i'd like to have them on our side i believe. >> so you have no problem with that relationship? >> no. >> and what may have been done during the campaign? >> no. >> reporter: however, this trump supporter feels a bit differently. >> do you think his people could have been talking to russian operatives? but does it bother you? >> yeah. it does. >> so does it affect your feelings about the man you voted for, donald trump? >> there's going to be something wrong with everybody that's in that office. >> reporter: but as for the turmoil at large, many say they have no worries at all. >> i love it. i'm elated every day. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn,

yuma, arizona. the topic mr. trump and russia. still ahead, what the u.s. president has to say about his ties with that country. 3:26 a.m. in atlanta, georgia. we are live across the united states and around the world this hour. you're watching "cnn newsroom." hey there, hi. why do people have eyebrows? why do people put milk on cereal? oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. i got your back. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you.

welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom." it is good to have you with us. i'm george howell. following the story this day of president donald trump answering questions about his administration's possible ties to russia in what can be described as a combative news conference thursday the president said he has nothing to do with russia and he doesn't know who does. our jim sciutto has this report. >> it's all fake news. it's all fake news. >> reporter: it was the first time the president answered questions on cnn's reporting that during his presidential campaign senior advisers were in constant communication with russia. >> it's a joke. and the people mentioned in the

story, i noticed they were on television today saying they never even spoke to russia. >> reporter: trump said he was not aware of any campaign advisers or staffers speaking with russia. >> no. nobody that i know of. >> reporter: but cnn is told by u.s. officials that then president-elect trump and then president obama were briefed on extensive communications between russian officials and other russians known to u.s. intelligence and people associated with the trump campaign. when pressed, the president said only that he himself had nothing to do with it. >> well, i had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: mr. trump also denied any commercial ties to russia. >> i own nothing in russia. i have no loans in russia. i don't have any deals in russia. >> reporter: and when trump's former national security adviser michael flynn spoke to russia about sanctions, trump said that he did not instruct him to. >> i didn't direct him. but i would have directed him because that's his job. >> reporter: despite his blanket denials, trump still vowed to find and potentially prosecute

those in the intelligence community who he accuses of leaking information to reporters behind stories that he claims are fake. >> i've actually called the justice department to look into the leaks. those are criminal leaks. they're put out by people either in agencies dish think you'll see it stopping because now we have our people in. >> reporter: at the same time president trump plans a review of all the intelligence agencies. cnn has learned the white house is considering tapping billionaire stephen fineberg, founder of a new york investment firm and long-time friend of the president, to lead the review. zplt gentleman you mentioned is a very talented man, very successful man, and he has offered his services. and you know, it's something we may take advantage of. but i don't think we'll need that. at all. because of the fact that i think we're going to be able to straighten it out very easily on its own. >> this was cnn's jim sciutto reporting for us. now, at that news conference reporters asked the u.s. president about a russian ship

off the u.s. east coast. he said that he wouldn't say whether he'd do anything about any russian provocations but also doesn't think that the russian president vladimir putin is testing him. our fareed zakaria said this is pretty much par for the course, business as usual for the russian leader. he spoke to our anderson cooper earlier. >> i think that putin has always had this view that russia needs to be the other great power in the world, that it was denied that role by the united states starting with the clinton administration, then the bush administration, then obama, and he has been trying to reassert that role. and every time he's tried he's gotten a lot of pushback from the united states, from nato, from japan. russia's efforts here are not unusual. what's unusual is, you know, frankly the petulant way that donald trump is responding to it. when russia does all the things you're describing, what is donald trump's response? is to say to the media it's all

your fault. we need a serious policy, a serious strategy to deal with precisely this challenge that russia is presenting, both at the geopolitical level, discrediting democracy, and the geostrategic level. >> one of the things leon panetta, though, secretary panetta, brought up in the last hour is the national security infrastructure is not in place yet. >> well, again, that's part of the problem. that's part of the turmoil. you don't have a national security adviser. the key work of government is done by a committee called the deputies committee. deputy national security adviser, deputy secretary of state, deputy secretary of defense. and they in a sense make the government run and then they push up the big decisions to the cabinet offices. guess what? there's no deputy secretary of state. there's no deputy secretary of defense. i think the "washington post" calculated there are 700 key positions that require senate confirmation. donald trump has not named 660 of those posts. so forget about the senate delaying. he hasn't named the vast majority of the people who need to come up before the senate.

>> and cnn bringing you reaction from around the world this hour. our clair sebastian live in moscow and from the g20 summit in germany. cnn's atika shubert. clair, first to you. mr. trump says that he'd love to get along with russia, but there have been recent incidents like the military ship that's creeping up the u.s. east coast. what sort of reactions are you hearing from russia? >> george, russia isn't giving any credibility to the accusations coming out of the u.s. that it's been saber rattling, it's not just this ship. there's been an accusation from a senior military official that they deployed a cruise missile in violation of a 1987 treaty. the kremlin saying that they are in full compliance with that treaty and they haven't been formally accused of this. there was another incident last week where the u.s. military says russian planes buzzed a u.s. destroyer in the black sea.

they actually released pictures of that to show the proximity of those planes. the russian defense ministry saying those incidents didn't take place, they're frankly surprised at the concern of the pentagon. russia is essentially sticking to its line, it's not doing anything out of the ordinary. but as for how this relationship will progress, well, they're basically saying we are still open to dialogue. the russian president in fact saying yesterday while addressing the fsb that it is time he says to restore dialogue with the u.s. intelligence services, that this would be in russia's interest. but i think there's certainly some confusion with all the mixed messages coming out of washington, george. >> atika, this question to you. the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson met with the russian foreign minister. what came out of that meeting? >> well, you know, tillerson's kept a very low prevail until the g20 summit meeting. so it's really sort of his diplomatic debut. it may not have been the first

time he's met tillerson before but it's the first time that he met sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister before but this is the first time since he's been appointed as secretary of state. so it was at the beginning they had a very cordial few minutes. we were able to see them. but then were quickly ushered in for the meeting. afterwards tillerson had some pretty harsh words on ukraine saying specifically that the united states expects russia to help to deescalate the violence in ukraine. so that's a much more measured tone and that's specifically i think to reassure u.s. allies in europe that the united states is going to keep with its policy. on the other hand, tillerson also said that he is looking to work with russia on areas where they can coordinate but where they can't he said he will act in u.s. interests. for the most part, however, tillerson has been quite low profile at the g20 meeting here.

he hasn't had any press conferences, only a brief statement, and this is really sort of a wait and see approach by many of the ministers here. it's really their first time meeting tillerson. it really depends when he goes back to washington what happens next. >> atika shubert live for us in germany. also clare sebastian live in moscow. we appreciate the reporting today from both of you. we'll stay in touch with you. other news stories we're following this hour, top members of the president's national security team will attend the munich security conference starting in just a few hours. the vice president of the united states, mike pence. defense secretary james mattis. and homeland security secretary john kelly will take part in the talks. they will discuss threats facing europe and the rest of the world. the head of samsung is under arrest on corruption charges in connection with the scandal that brought down the president of south korea. jae yi lee is accused of bringing president park geun-hye to gain support for a merger which would have given lee a

tighter grip on samsung, south korea's biggest conglomerate. a suicide attack at a shrine in southern pakistan has killed at least 75 worshippers. it's wounded more than 200 other people. the isis affiliate in afghanistan and pakistan is claiming responsibility for the attack. the pakistani military spokesman says the border with afghanistan is now closed for security reasons. build the wall. that has been a rallying cry for president trump and his supporters. but the real thing, well, it could look entirely different. we'll explain as "newsroom" continues. tais really quite simple.est it comes in the mail, you pull out the tube and you spit in it, which is something southern girls are taught you're not supposed to do. you seal it and send it back and then you wait for your results. it's that simple. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast,

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we have to have their back because these are the people that support us and allow us to be so successful in what we do.

>> i just want people to see us as equal people. like we're not here to take away people's jobs. >> the topic of illegal immigration. a big beautiful wall between the u.s. and mexico, as the president has described it. it's been the top of his to-do list for well over a year now. he campaigned on it and wasted very little time officially ordering its construction. but what will that wall actually look like? our drew griffin went in search of answers. >> reporter: it is 18 feet tall, made of steel, with a cement base. call it what you want, but the government planners, security experts, and homeland security officials who will be in charge of building it call this a fence.

this is the most recently built barrier between the united states and mexico near brownsville, texas. and cnn has been told by multiple sources within the agencies involved in building, paying for, and enforcing this barrier that this is what president trump's wall may look like. u.s. customs and border patrol is planning to present the plan for border security to its bosses possibly this week and cnn has learned new details. first they say the wall should not be a wall, it should be a fence. and that could become a sticky situation for a president who insists otherwise. >> on the fence, it's not a fence. it's a wall. you just misreported it. we're going to build a wall. >> reporter: sources tell cnn the biggest job in moving forward is convincing the president that the fence is more secure and it will be be up to homeland security secretary john kelly, sources say, who must find a way to allow the white house to spin the promise of a wall into a fence.

secretary kelly seems to have already begun. in testimony to congress repeatedly referring to the border fortification as a barrier. >> yes, there are many, many places that we need some type of physical barrier right now, backed up by men and women of border protection. >> reporter: why would president trump agree to a fence instead of a beautiful wall, as he says? security and common sense. u.s. customs and border patrol officials on the ground and in charge of actually securing the border tell cnn a fence actually offers more security than a solid wall. one source telling cnn you never want to have a barrier in place that will obstruct your vision. that prevents you from seeing the other side of the border. another saying, "i'm not calling it a wall because we are talking about a fence that we can look through. that's what we need." it's more secure for border agents. it eliminates many environmental factors like drainage. and its costs will be

significantly lower. if the current plan is approved, it will look like this bollard-style fencing, the steel slats secured six feet below ground and standing 18 feet above. the slats reinforced with rebar and cement. another part of the proposal according to sources, it will not go coast to coast. this is the current fence from the pacific ocean to the gulf of commotion, with large gaps in between for a total of 654 miles. the latest plans involve adding 177 new miles of fencing and replacing 272 miles of already built fence. according to one high-level source with knowledge of the project. that means the total barrier between the united states and mexico will cover 831 total miles of a nearly 2,000-mile border. still, not even half according to these sources. >> our thanks to drew griffin for filing that report.

and we should note a recent government study did not say how effective the border against is but it did say the barrier was breached more than 9,000 times for most of 2010 to 2015. "newsroom" will be right back after this. uh, sorry. it's unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, most advanced 4g lte network in america. (thud) uh... sorry, last thing. it's just $45 per line. forty... five. (cheering and applause) and that is all the microphones that i have. (vo) not just unlimited. verizon unlimited. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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first of all, you're all fake news. i hate you all very much. and thank you for being here. first question, no. next. >> but mr. president, no one has even asked a question -- >> doesn't matter. no. next. >> mr. president, you've been in office for just four weeks. >> and yet we've made so much progress. in fact, if you ask my american, they'll say i managed to make the last four weeks feel like four years. four more weeks. four more weeks. four more weeks. >> "the tonight show's" jimmy fallon there. he is not the only tv comedian poking fun at the trump administration. "saturday night live" has been giving mr. trump's press secretary and the news media a pretty rough go. jeanne moos has this report. >> reporter: when president trump stood behind a podium and asked a reporter -- >> you okay? >> reporter: -- it reminded us of another podium and a fake reporter asking the same question. >> just mentally, though, are you okay? >> are you kidding me?

>> reporter: melissa mccarthy as press secretary sean spicer drove her "snl" podium into immortality. the world's most famous motorized podium. so did you have to teach melissa mccarthy how to drive a podium? >> we did. it was a lot of fun. >> reporter: "snl" gave this small pennsylvania company, monkey boys productions, less than 48 hours to create the podium. "snl" first suggested rigging a segway, but that was deemed dangerous. so they took a motorized wheelchair, removed the seat, and built a podium on it out of foam and wood. mccarthy controlled it with a joystick. >> you don't have a chance! >> reporter: in per had her first rehearsal mckarth chriss driving was a little bit tentative. >> it's nothing she'd ever done before. but once she got the hang of it she was flying around having a great time, trying to run people over. >> reporter: of course even non-motorized podiums have

misha mishaps. >> boom. >> hillary's collapsed. and obama essence. >> we cannot sustain -- whoops. was that my -- >> reporter: yep. your presidential seal. >> all of you know who i am. >> reporter: podiums are always getting abused. by coaches -- >> well -- [ microphone feedb k feedback ]. >> reporter: makes mccarthy seem almost gentle. but when you get off the podium try ton take it with you. >> the then prime minister of italy tripped on a mike cord at the white house. silvio berlusconi decap stated the podium but kept talking. when your podium acts like a bully -- >> we've been calling it the bully pulpit. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> and live from new york it's saturday night! all right. we leave you this hour with a story about tennis stur genie bouchard.

she's kept her ward after losing a very public bet. she gambled with a random fan online, tweeting that our atlanta falcons would win the super bowl after they grabbed the first half lead. you know that didn't happen. as we all know, the new england patriots won that game. so genie took the fan, john gurky, to see a basketball game in new york wednesday. bouchard described the date as awesome. john even kissed her. and the smitten student called it's best date ever. good for him. and good for her. thanks for being with us. the news continues here on cnn. stay with us. try johnson's extra moisturizing bath routine: a wash with 10 times more moisturizers... and a rich cream to lock them in. (baby laughs) feels good, doesn't it? johnson's. for every little wonder. . . .

i'm just telling you. this is fake news put out by the media. i inherited a mess. it's a mess. >> and that is just the tip of the iceberg. an erratic performance by president trump at the news conference and left many asking what could come next just four weeks in his term? i'm alison kosik. >> i'm miguel marquez. it is friday, february 17th. everything at the white house is