worry about public safety. >> manu raju reporting. that's it for me. thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >> up next, cnn reporting the white house asked the fbi to knock down media reports. what was the fbi's response? plus senator bernie sanders ready to launch more than 100 rallies across the nation. he talks president trump and the gop town hall outrage. he's my guest tonight. trump's right-hand man steve bannon making a rather public appearance. he breaks his silence. let's go"out front." good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front, we have exclusive reporting tonight that the white house asked the fbi to knock down media reports about contacts during the presidential

campaign between donald trump's associates and russians known to u.s. intelligence. pamela brown and evan perez broke this story along with jim sciutto, manu raju. pamela and evan are out front. let me start with you, pamela. what are you learning tonight? >> cnn is told the fbi refused a request to knock down media reports about communications during the 2016 presidential campaign, between donald trump's associates and russians known to u.s. intelligence. multiple u.s. officials telling cnn the white house sought the help of the bureaus and other agencies investigating the matter, to say the reports were wrong and there had been no contacts whatsoever. you'll recall cnn and "the new york times" first reported that just over a week ago, the reports about these contacts that were made during the campaign. erin, so far the white house has not commented. >> this was a very significant report. evan, this is not a typical request. it's pretty stunning when you

hear it on the face of it. how did it start? >> a u.s. lawmaker official tells us when deputy director andrew mccabe and white house chief of staff reince priebus on the day after those stories were published, a white house official says mccabe told priebus "the new york times" story vastly overstated what the fbi knows about the contacts. the white house official says priebus later reached out to mccabe and fbi director james comey asking for the fbi to at least talk to reporters on background to dispute the stories. a law enforcement official says mccabe didn't discuss aspects of the case, but we don't know exactly what mccabe told priebus. i should add the fbi has declined to comment on the story. >> pamela, the white house chief of staff, reen priebus, denied the story. this is what he said on fox news sunday earlier this week. >> "the new york times" last week put out an article with no

direct sources that said the trump campaign had constant contacts with russian spies, basically treasonous types accusations. i can assure you, and i've been approved to say this, that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. there's nothing to it. >> pamela, is the investigation still going on? >> it is going on. the fbi's counterintelligence division, also several members of the house and senate intelligence committees tells cnn congress is still investigating those alleged contacts. that has begun and they're starting to collect documents and records as well, erin. >> which is obviously important. that's going to determine what happened here. evan, this is not a typical back and forth between a white house and the fbi. there may be disagreements, but this is not how it usually plays

out, right? >> that's right, erin. the communication between the white house and the fbi is unusual because of a decade-old restriction on such contacts. the request of the white house is technically a violation of procedures meant to limit communications with the fbi on pending investigations. the trump administration's efforts to press comey run contrary to justice department procedure memos issued in 2007 and 2009 that limit direct communications on pending investigations between the white house and the fbi. the fbi director comey rejected the request that came from the white house according to sources we talked to because the alleged communications are still the subject of an ongoing investigation, erin. >> all right, thank you both very much. also breaking tonight, cnn learning that the white house asked for an intelligence report to prove the security threat for the seven countries in trump's travel ban is substantial. some in the intelligence community are concerned. they're worried about what

they're being asked to do to prove this. jake tapper broke the story. he's out front now. what are you learning tonight? >> erin, this temporary travel ban is on individuals from seven muslim majority country, somalia, sudan, yemen, libya, iran, iraq, and syria. the department of homeland security and justice department are working on intelligence report that will demonstrate the security threat from these countries is substantial and they've all been exporters of terrorism into the united states. the situation has gotten more dangerous in recent years, the official says. and more broadly, the refugee program has been a major incubator for terrorism. this was requested in light of the court's conclusion that the trump administration pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of these countries has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the united states. cnn also learned that, as you mentioned, some current intelligence officials are concerned about this assignment.

>> jake, when you say that, when you're talking about that white house official, you said that person told you the refugee program has been a major incubator for terrorism. these are things they're asking intelligence officials to corroborate, right? to say this is true. what are the concerns from the intelligence community about doing so? >> first of all, some in the intelligence community disagree with the trump white house position, sources telling cnn the department of homeland security's in-house intelligence agency, called the office of intelligence and analysis or ina, that they filed a report disagreeing with the trump white house view that blocking immigration from these countries strategically makes sense. some officials say they don't think nationality is the best indicator for potential terrorism. a spokeswoman for the department of homeland security confirmed our report saying, quote, while dhs was asked to draft a comprehensive report, the document you're references was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an

official, robust document with thorough interagency vetting. it went on to disparage its own intelligence division report saying, quote, the ina report doesn't include data from other intelligence community sources. it's incomplete. pointed internal discussions about the merits of various intelligence products. it's an integral part of developing any official dhs intelligence assessment. >> it's pretty stunning, intraagency sniping like this, public. that is troubling on so many levels. you're also reporting, jake, on concern within the intelligence community ha the white house is going about this entire premise the wrong way. >> that's exactly right. the notion of the trump white house seeking an intelligence report to fit its pre-existing policy instead of the other way around, is an issue for many in the intelligence community, sources are telling cnn. sources also telling cnn's

pamela brown there are those within the department of homeland security that have concerns intelligence at the department might be politicized. a department spokeswoman called that accusation absurd and not factually accurate. according to the senior white house official, the president and his team are determined no matter what to prove the ninth circuit argument is wrong as are any of those in the media and democrats who made the same argument. congressman jerrold nadler who appeared on cnn last month. >> the various people who have committed terrorist acts in this country from 9/11 onward, none of them came from any of the seven countries that are the subject of the president's executive order. >> this is what the important thing is for the white house, the senior white house official telling me that that argument is using the most narrow definition of the term committed a terrorist act that you can use. it means the definition of a terrorist attack is only those attacks in which an innocent civilian has been killed. for instance, that definition

would not include, you might recall, the ohio state attack last november when a somali born student who arrived in the u.s. in 2014, attempted to run over and stab 13 innocent people on campus. he did not succeed. that would not fit in the definition of the ninth circuit or congressman nadler. but the white house hoping to bolster its case for the ban is using a broader definition which would include non-lethal failed terrorist attacks, investigations and convictions of any individual attempting to join or support terrorist groups. >> certainly one that macon vince many out there. jake tapper, thank you so much. >> thank you. "out front" next, breaking news, live pictures of town halls under way or about to start. protesters and angry constituents are lining up. what are they accomplishing? senator bernie sanders is out front. deportation stoking fear in the immigrant community, now growing underground network of safe houses, basically an underground

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breaking news, protests at republican town halls across the nation. right now crowds lining up in pace, florida, where congressman matt gates is expected any moment. in arizona ma that mcsally is on stage right now. we're watching both of these events. more than two dozen town halls across the country. the anger from many attendees is clear tonight. ryan young is "outfront." >> do your job!

>> you work for us! >> reporter: anger erupting at political town halls across the country. >> what are you afraid of. >> reporter: in covington, kentucky, a packed room demanding senate majority leader mitch mcconnell hear them out. >> senator we're not protesting the election, we're protesting right to work. we're protesting losing our health care, protesting russian interference in the white house, protesting the fact that to get in front of you we have to pay dollars. why won't you hold a town hall with your constituents? we want to hear from you. we want to talk to you. >> was somebody else invited to speak? anyway -- >> reporter: in charles city, iowa, senator chuck grassley came face-to-face with constituents, this tiny courthouse filled to capacity, issues ranging from obamacare -- >> how is betsy devos a qualified candidate for your

vote? >> a president gets elected and has to carry out the responsibilities of which he was elected, that that person ought to have the team that they need to get the job done. >> don't you believe that the team should be qualified. >> then we would not have tillerson being secretary of sta state. >> reporter: in some cases angry voters across the country holding empty chair town halls for lawmakers reluctant to show, voicing the displeasure by posting missing congressman notices on milk cartons. marco rubio constituents printing a life size cutout and hiding his face anywhere's waldo puzzles. >> i thought you were in europe. i saw all these missing child posters all over town. are you going to host a town hall? i'm glad you're okay.

there's a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you senator. senator, we need to to hear from you, your constituents. >> reporter: some lawmakers citing concerns for safety. congressman louie gel mert saying the house sergeant of arms advised us after former congressman gabby giffords was shot at an appearance, that civilian attendees at congressional public events stand the most harm of being harmed or killed just as happened there. giffords responded to say i was shot on saturday morning. by monday morning my offices were open to the public. to the politicians who have abandoned their sive ville obligations, i say this, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. >> so much passion here today. we heard over and over they want to see more done in small towns. we talked to senator grassley and he said this isn't worse

than what happened during the tea party meetings in 2009. he said he won't skip any meetings. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. next, independent senator and 2016 presidential candidate bernie sanders, senator, good to have you back. you just saw gabby giffords there at the end of ryan's piece, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. you've been told they have been told they have a chance of being could. do you understand why they're not showing up zm. >> i honestly don't. i don't accept it for a minute. if you don't have the guts to face your constituents, you shouldn't be in the united states congress. if you need police at the meetings, that's fine, have police at the meetings, have security at the meetings. but don't use that as an excuse to run away from your constituents after you support repealing the affordable care act, doing away with pre-existing conditions, if you're going to do all those

things, answer the questions your constituents have. >> today when marco rubio was i guess seen -- wasn't at a town hall, there he is on a milk carton. he should be holding one? >> well, i think that every member of the united states congress, that's what you're elected to do. that's what a democracy is about. i have probably held more town meetings in the state of vermont than any public official in the history of our state, and i enjoy doing that. that's what my job is. i have to hear from people, explain what i have to do. people agree, people disagree. that's called democracy. i hope every member of congress, every member of the senate adheres to that principle. >> when they're holding these town halls, they have faced an onslaught. there's lines of people coming in frustrated. sean spicer said, in his words, there's a bit of a pro feshl

protester manufactured base showing up at these town halls. you recently said the difference between this movement and the tea party is the tea party was funded. i want to play for our viewers what you said a couple weeks ago. here you are. >> it's not a tea party because the tea party was essentially funded by the billionaire koch brothers family. >> the white house saying the exact same thing about this movement. here is sean spicer. >> i think we need to call it what it is. it's not these organic up rise sings we've seen through the last several decades. the tea party was a very organic movement. this has become a very paid astroturf-type movement. >> can you say, senator, with absolute certainty that what he said is not true? >> i hope i do not shock your viewers by saying the white house occasionally lies and that's just another lie. what's going on now is people all over this country are

beginning to rise up. they're demanding answers to what happens. erin, if you throw 20 million people off health insurance, thousands of people are going to die. if you do away with pre-existing conditions, then people are not going to be able to get health insurance who have cancer or have diabetes, people want to ask their republican representatives what happens, why are you doing this? what are your plans for the future. i think you are seeing people organizing effectively, but unlike the tea party, this is not being funded by the billionaire class. >> the tea party, though, was real. when it came time to vote, they voted, and they swept, right? it was real. so anyone who tried to dismiss it by saying it was funded or paid was wrong, right? that's the reality of the situation. >> well, the reality is that donald trump won. he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, but he did win the election. but there are people all over this country now -- by the way,

it's not just democrats. there are republicans who are looking at trump and the white house saying, hey, you told us, mr. president, that you were not going to cut social security, medicare and medicaid. you sent out a million tweets promising us you wouldn't do it. now you have brought into your administration people whose whole career is based on cutting social security, medicare and medicaid. you told us, mr. president when you campaigned, you were going to stand up to wall street. you brought half of wall street into your administration. what's going on? those are some of the questions i think that people want answered. >> senator, some of the staffers who worked on your campaign, i don't know if you're aware of this, they have a new project called #wewillreplaceyou. they want your support. they're threatening other democrats. i'll quote what they say. democrats must know there is a price for collaborating with trump. in any democrats who give legitimacy or support to trump do not support us and must be

replaced. do you support that strategy? wi say no to trump every single time or we'll boot you out. >> it's a free country. people can do what they want to do. i don't know what that means, say no to trump. i voted for two of trump's nominees because i thought they were within the mainstream of political life in america, and i voted against all the othersnd because i think you had a bunch of right wing extremists. i think what good politics is about is taking a hard look at the totality of what members of congress and other candidates are saying and doing and supporting or not supporting them on that basis. right now in my view we need a mass movement of people, and i think we need members of congress actively involved in that movement, to tell president trump that we are not going to give tax breaks to billionaires, we're not going to throw

millions of people who lived in this country sometimes for decades out of this country, that we're not going to have a foreign policy which is destroying alliances that we have had for decades, that we're not going to do those things. that's what i think the politics of the moment is about. >> do you support this concept of being primary, that's what it's about, democrats turning on democrats? if you work with trump too much, we're going to take you out, and put in somebody -- they talk about this as the bernie sandersization -- >> you're asking me about a small group of people who do a good job getting publicity. i don't know what that means. what you have to do is look at the totality of what a candidate does. if you don't like that candidate, don't support them. do what you want. i think right now my goal is -- by the way, this coming saturday i think the republicans have not

seen anything yet. they're worried about the protests, they'll see more. this coming saturday we believe there will be well over 100 protests, most of them in republican offices around the country, district offices, demanding that republican members of congress meet with their constituents and answer the questions that their constituents have. >> i know you've got at least 130 rallies already planned right now. you do get some destain from some of in the republican party, including some you know well, you debated not long ago senator ted cruz. here is what he had to say about democrats today. >> there's a technical term for their base. moscow. >> i was going a different direction which was bat crap crazy. >> what do you say to senator cruz. you have 130 rallies this weekend and he's making a joke calling democrats bat crap

crazy. >> i think that senator cruz and many of his colleagues, a whole lot of them who received substantial campaign contributions from some of the healthiest people in this country. in senator cruz's case a number of billionaires supported his campaign for president, i think they are living in an alternative universe, and i don't think they know what's happening to working families, to the elderly people. just one example, erin, p the affordable care act is repealed tomorrow, you are a senior citizen out there who already can't afford the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs, you'll have to pay $2,000 more a year for your prescription drugs. how can you do that if you're trying to get by on $15,000 a year social security. if you're 23 years of age and right now you're on your parents' health insurance program, you're going to lose that if the affordable care act is repealed. what is most frightening, if you

have diabetes, you have cancer, you have a pre-existing condition, you're one of tens of millions of people in that position, what happens to you? maybe senator cruz should start answering those questions, talking to his constituents about those issues rather than making fun or disparaging others. >> senator sanders, thank you very much. >> thank you. next, a rather public appearance by the man at trump's right hand. did we see the real steve bannon this morning? hiding immigrants in the shadows of safe houses. we'll be back. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop

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tonight rather public comments from one of the men closest to president donald trump. bannon is a crucial voice in trump's ear. today he attacked the media and praised his boss as man nyicly focused. >> he laid out an agenda with

those speeches with the promises he made. our job every day is just to execute on that, is to simply get a path to how those get executed. >> sunlen serfaty is "outfront." >> i want to thank you for finally inviting me to cpac. >> the west wing operator typically behind the scenes making a rare public appearance. >> it's not only not going to get better, it's going to get worse every day. >> chief white house strategist steve bannon making it crystal clear. >> every day it's going to be a fight. >> reporter: he's not backing down from his fire brand style. >> they're corporatist, globalist media, adamantly opposed to a national agenda like donald trump has. >> reporter: taunting press in his trademark role as the media's top antagonist. >> if you look at the opposition party and how they portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition and now portraying

the administration, it's always wrong. >> reporter: displaying his store read loyalty to the president. >> every day in the oval office he tells reince and i, i committed this to the american people, i promised on this and i'm going to deliver. >> reporter: joined on stage by chief of staff reince priebus, the two competing power centers in the west wing holding a public kumbaya moment, brushing aside any reports of a power struggle inside the trump white house. >> in regard to us two, i think the biggest misconception is everything you're reading. >> reporter: presenting themselves as the yin to the other's yang. >> i can run a little hot on occasions, and reince is, it's low key. the only way this works, reince is always kind of steady. >> reporter: that harmony wasn't an organic one. >> the reason we're good part mers is we can disagree. >> reporter: they come from polar ends of the f can

movement. >> we're different but we're very similar. >> reporter: reince priebus, the former head of the republican national committee, representing the establishment wing of the party. steve bannon, the former chief of the fire right breitbart news which frequently targeted the gop establishment. in november trump named both top advisers, sharing up an unusual power sharing agreement between the two men with such different views of the world as equals in the white house. >> the white house is running so smoothly, so smoothsly. >> reporter: the white house now taking pains to squash any talk of discord. >> we're a coalition. a lot of people have strong beliefs about different things, but we understand you can come together to win. >> the optics of that joint appearance so important today, the white house in putting out reen priebus and steve bannon, essentially trying to send the

message there's nothing to see here. we'll see, erin, if this harmony continues, especially since they're such vastly different men with vastly different policy prescriptions and approaches. >> sunlen, thank you. kaley mcnerney, normer senior adviser to the president, dan pfeiffer. dan, let me start with you. we never see steve bannon -- actually that's not true. we see the back of his head or a side eye, but he never talks. what was your impression on him on stage? >> i think this whole thing was performance art, two trump staffers interviewed by a trump supporter about how awesome trump is. it felt like they were protesting too much, no, no, we like each other, there's no dissension. it's hard to see the real steve bannon. if you want the see the real steve bannon go back to the speech in 2014 behind closed doors, read what breitbart has written about him.

i'm not sure we learned a lot about him. >> kaley, you were there. what was the reaction in the room? >> people started looking to each other and saying to each other, wow, steve bannon is really good. all the way from the ballroom, all the way out to the compactitaxi stand, steve bannon, steve bannon. he was a hit. people thought he was direct, he was smart. he had very pointed thoughts. i fully agree with the other folks in the room, he should be out more in a public forum. >> that would go against his whole m.o. which is that the media is evil. opponents of steve bannon paint him as exactly that, they accuse him of being a white supremacist, white nationalist. you see these again and again, quoting people like nancy pelosi to other critics. what we heard from bannon about what he's most proud of did not fit with that narrative at all. here is what he said. >> i think one of the most

pivotal moments in modern american history was his immediate withdrawal from tpp. >> tpp, it's a trade deal. that's what steve bannon said was number one. >> i think -- i agree with kayleigh that steve bannon is sharp. he's sharper than a lot of people going on tv for trump. his answer the politically smart answer. where trump will be most politically successful is when he's doing economic populism, inserts himself into culture wars, when he is getting involved in some of the theatrics of the trump presidency or doing the things that can be viewed by many, myself included, as being biased towards immigrants or attacking refugees, all those things. that is worse for him. if he is going core to a working class economic populist message, that's probably the best place for him to agree. i disagree with trump and bannon

on the substance, but from a political point of view, probably the right thing to do. >> back to why he doesn't appear on the talk shows, i met him and found him to be very personable. others expected him to be very different. he slams the media constantly and he did so today, called it the opposition. a new quinnipiac poll with bad news, voters trust the media, 52 to 378%. that's not great for us, but it's really bad to the president of the united states. 37% of the people trust him to tell the truth. that's not good for steve bannon. he was preaching to the choir in that room. that's not the nation. >> six days ago there was also a fox poll, a fox poll that had it tied. it's a smart strategy and plays into this elite versus common man type theme. but ultimately it will come down to results.

attacking the media is great for conservatives, they buy into that. if the economy is not soaring if obamacare isn't replaced in a robust form, there will be issues. out can't attack the media if you're an eight-year president. >> you talked about it as great theater today. they really said they love each other. it was sort of shocking. it goes against a lot of reporting. here they are talking about each other. >> we slaer an office suite together. we're basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11:00 at night. >> i have a little thing called the war room. he has a fireplace with nice sofas. >> a very dear friend, a very dear friend and someone that i work with every second of the day, and actually i cherish his friendship. >> the thing i respect most and the only way this works is reince is always kind of steady. his job is by far one of the toughest jobs i've ever seen in

my life. >> do you buy it, dan? >> i think it is possible they don't hate each other as much as media reports would have you say, but it is clear they have their -- there are different factions of the white house. there's a bannon faction and priebus faction and they spend a lot of time telling reporters how dumb the other one is. >> thank you very much. appreciate both of your time. sne next, fear of deportation, safe houses through an underground railroad and jeanne moos with the lighter side of steve bannon and he's already a legend to some. >> send in steve bannon. ♪ yeah, 103. well, let me ask you guys. how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. well, i'm sure you talk to people all the time who think $100k is just pocket change.

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tonight the president calling recent immigration raids a, quote, military operation. >> we're getting really bad dudes out of this country. and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before. they're the bad ones. it's a military operation.

>> that is not how the secretary of homeland security john kelly described the raids while in mexico. >> listen to this. no, repeat no use of military force in immigration operations, none. >> now, obviously those two statements seem to be very much at odds with each other. despite secretary kelly's comments, it is trump's rhetoric fueling real fear among immigrants, driving many to build an underground network of safe houses. tonight we take you outside this web of shelters. kyung lah is out front. >> reporter: pounding, sanding, laying the groundwork at this secret home in los angeles. >> how many families? >> about three families that we can host here. >> reporter: this pastor walks us through one safe house for the undocumented running from immigration officers, an underground network. >> essentially what you're doing is trying to hide people. is that right? >> that's what we need to do as

a community. >> reporter: on the other side of l.a., another safe house in this man's home. we're not naming him or telling you where he lives because of what's at stake. >> it's hard as a jew not to think about all the people who did open the doors and their homes and took risks to safeguard jews in moments when they were really vulnerable as well as those that didn't. >> reporter: this is beyond sanctuary churches. we've already seen at this colorado church offering refuge for an undocumented woman. federal agents don't enter religious houses without approval under a policy put in place during obama's presidency. >> i donald john trump do solemnly swear. >> reporter: faith leaders believe that will change under president trump. private homes fall under fourth amendment protection and need a warrant before authorities can enter. >> something sort of like this. >> reporter: reverend zach hooper says faith groups across los angeles county could hide 100 undocumented immigrants today. and that number could soon be in

the thousands. >> people will be moving into a place so i.c.e. can't find them, so they can stay with their families, so they can be with their husbands, so they can avoid being detained and deported. >> reporter: the idea comes from leaders across all faiths in los angeles. just days after the election pledgeing opposition to trump's immigration orders. >> not going to stop until we get to the place that god is calling us to. >> reporter: people who may not agree with you would look at what you're doing and saying you're simply aiding and abetting the violation of federal laws. >> i'll speak for myself. i feel really convicted that i answer to god at the end of the day. that's who i'm going to see when i die. i hope we can live up to our -- to who we are. >> reporter: the pastor is clear eyed about the risk. >> we're trusting to god that he

would guide us to the right decision. >> reporter: doesn't mean there's an easy choice. >> there's some element that i'm entering into territory that i don't totally know what the consequences are. what the moral consequences for me if we don't act, this isn't a moment to be standing idly by. >> pretty incredible all those people you were able to find and that man and his story as a jew and how he feels about doing this. when you were talking to that pastor, how likely is it that they will go after these religious leaders. >> technically under the lou it's possible. let's look at reality. if you look back into newspaper reports or court records when the last time that the federal government decided to go after somebody of the cloth who might be offering sanctuary to someone, you have to go back to the early 1980s. the optics here when we talk to people about the reality of it, the optics don't look good for the federal government to go in and put a pastor in handcuffs for this, especially when

they're convicted. >> all right, kyung thank you very much. up next former house speaker john boehner saying republicans won't be repealing and replacing obamacare. he's consulted vaeted a tough guy persona. who is the real steve bannon? jeanne moos is next. as a control enthusiast, i'm all-business when i travel... even when i travel... for leisure. so i go national, where i can choose any available upgrade in the aisle - without starting any conversations- -or paying any upcharges. what can i say? control suits me.

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withevery late night...g... and moment away... with every click...call...punch... and paycheck... you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security and your medicare. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare. breaking news. former house speaker john boehner says republicans will not repeal and replace obamacare. obviously a hugely significant statement from the former speaker. this is something president trump has promised to do with republican blessing. but at a conference today, politico reporters said boehner said they'll fix obamacare. i shouldn't call it repeal and replace because that's not what

is going to happen. they're basically going to fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it. by the way, isn't it what president obama wanted to do? tom mcclintock of california. congressman, let me just ask you. president obama had always said if you can come up with a way to fix the problems, which nobody can deny we're there, he would sign on, right? is former house speaker boehner right that president trump's promise to repeal and replace obamacare is not going to happen? it's just going to be tweaks? >> well, i don't know. unlike john boehner, i can't read minds and i can't tell fortunes. but i can tell you there is a very strong consensus in the house that the obamacare is collapsing on the american people. we're hearing the complaints constantly about that. more people are opting now to pay the tax penalty than to purchase a plan on the obamacare exchanges. that tells you a lot right there. but as we repeal it, we have got to be certain that we have fixed the problems that gave rise to obamacare. and i think that the deliberations in the house are moving very rapidly in that

direction. >> so these town halls, a lot of the frustration that has been at these town halls has been about obamacare, right? >> yep. >> you yourself have held a few town halls. at one of them things got so heated that you had to be escorted out of the building. it was that tense of a moment. you still held other town halls after that. but that's not the case with some of your fellow republicans. earlier today, senator marco rubio was confronted about this at a hospital. he hasn't held a town hall. here he is. >> i saw these missing child posters all over town. are you going to host a town hall? i'm glad you're okay. but are you going to host a town hall. >> good to see you, man. >> a town hall today? we need to hear from you, senator. senator, we need to hear from you. we're your constituents. >> congressman, what do you say to fellow republicans who are not holding town halls and talking to their constituents? >> well, i wouldn't second guess any of the decisions of my

colleagues with respect to their constituencies. i can tell you i find them very useful in exchanging ideas and listening to the concerns. i mean, there are legitimate concerns that people have that we need to address. after all, we're going to be judged by the health plan that we put in place. and there is no way to spend that. you can't use talking points on something like that. people know fundamentally what's going on in their own lives. and any politician or pundit who tries to convince them otherwise is going to look foolish. we've got to get this right. >> congressman sanders, i just had him on, he had a very different view. he said you're elected to hear what people have to say. i want to make the point. you've held the town halls. be you're cutting them a break. here is what senator sanders said. he is not cutting them a break. >> no, i don't. no, i honestly don't. and i don't accept it for a minute. if you don't have the guts to face your constituent, then you shouldn't be this the united states congress. and if you need police at the meetings, that's fine.

have police at the meetings. have security at the meetings. but don't use that as an excuse to run away from your constituents after you support repealing the affordable care act throwing 20 million people off of health insurance, doing away with preexisting conditions. if you're going to do all of those things, answer the questions that your constituents have. >> all right. and we just lost the shot for congressman mcclintock. so i'm sorry than. if we can get him back to get his reaction, we'll do that for you. we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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tonight the man who has been

called president trump's brain, who is he? well, jeanne moos knows. >> reporter: the man "snl" portrayed as the grim reaper wasn't so grim as he made a rare public appearance. >> you know, i can run a little hot on occasions. >> you may never have heard his voice before, but you've probably seen cartoons of him holding president trump on his lap, whispering in the president's ear, being a master puppeteer. steve bannon has an announcement. just a second, the strings are tangled. >> and that's how we wound up with president bannon and his dummy danny. >> reporter: president bannon has his own parody twitter account tweeting things like day 33, donald trump still believes he is president. there are impeach president bannon t-shirts. and even a "new york times" editorial called him president? "the late show" showed bannon tucking in president trump. >> night-night. don't let the bedbugs bite.

>> reporter: but in person, the only thing bannon flicked was the press. >> the mainstream don't get this at the opposition party. >> reporter: does the actual president mind all the talk of president bannon? >> maybe bannon is calling all the shots. >> if that wasn't true, then a certain cable news fan wouldn't have felt the need less than an hour later to tweet "i call my own shots". >> reporter: former obama adviser david axelrod campaigned bannon and reince priebus to a song and dance team as they got touchy-feely. >> a very dear friend. >> perhaps to dispel rumors of turf battles. this was like bannon's coming out. >> you know, steve, you're a really likable guy. you should do this more often. >> reporter: get out a little more from under that mask "snl" put you under. >> can i have my desk back? >> yes, of course, mr. president. i'll go sit at my desk.

>> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> and somehow we all know that steve bannon finds all of that very humorous as well. by the way, our apologies to congressman mcclintock. we couldn't get his shot back in time. we'll have him back again soon. "ac 360" starts right now. good evening. thanks for joining us tonight. two cnn exclusives. new reporting that says the white house pressed the fbi to knock down reports of trump campaign contact with russia. also tonight new reporting on white house efforts to factually justify the travel ban, but concern as well among some in the intelligence community that they're being pressured to tailor the reporting to fit a predetermined agenda. again, this is reporting you'll only see here on cnn, beginning with the fbi story. joining us for that is chief national security correspondent jim sciutto and evan perez. jim, what did you find out? >> cnn has told cnn that the fbi rejected a white house request to publicly knock down media reports,