russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. >> that's not true. >> democrats are lighting their hair on fire to get you to cover this story. >> what we've seen so far, scary, very scary. >> mr. kislyak is a well-known, world class diplomat. stop spreading lies. >> it was more than jeff sessions and michael flynn who met with this ambassador. >> i'm not going to deny i talked to him. >> we need the fbi to fully cooperate. at this point the director was not willing to do that. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome no your "new day." president trump blasting democrats for what he calls a witch hunt. jeff sessions recusing himself from investigations involving russia and the trump campaign. sessions is under fire. why? he failed to disclose that he

met twice with the russian ambassador during the 2016 race. >> lawmakers from both parties are battling over what's next for sessions as we learn more about who in the trump campaign met with that very same diplomat. the shadow of russia looms over the trump administration on day 43 of his presidency. let's begin our coverage with cnn's sarah murray live at the white house. good morning, sarah. >> good morning, alisyn. jeff sessions may be recusing himself but that doesn't answer all the questions about ties with this president and his advisers and russian officials. we've now learned that not only did jeff sessions meet with the russian ambassador, michael flynn met with the russian ambassador. now even donald trump's son-in-law, a senior adviser in this white house, jared kushner held his own meeting with the russian ambassador. >> i have recused myself in the matters that deal with the trump campaign. >> reporter: attorney general jeff sessions recusing himself

from any investigations into the trump campaign. >> let me be clear. i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian enter meeld airs about the trump campaign. >> reporter: defending himself amid revelations that he failed to disclose in his confirmation hearing that he met with russian ambassador sergey kislyak twice during president trump's campaign last year. >> i don't think there's anything wrong with a united states state nor meeting with an ambassador from russia. >> reporter: under oath, a different answer. >> i did not have communications with the russians. >> reporter: the attorney general admits -- >> in retrospect, i should have slowed down and said, but i did meet one russian official a couple of times. >> reporter: and now plans to submit a supplement to the record of his congressional testimony. >> my response went to the question as i indicated about the continuing surrogate relationship that i firmly denied and correctly denied.

i did not mention in that time that i had met with the ambassador. and so i will definitely make that a part of the record. >> reporter: sessions' first meeting with kislyak last july on the sidelines of the republican national convention. cnn obtained copies of then senator sessions' expense report. it appears to reveal sessions used his own campaign funds, not official senate funds, to travel to the rnc, possibly undercutting his claim he mate with kislyak as a sitting senator, not as an adviser to the trump campaign. president trump staunchly defending sessions. the president issuing a statement that reads in part, sessions did not say anything wrong. he could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. this as a senior administration official confirms another undisclosed meeting with the russian ambassador. this time between former

national security adviser lieutenant general michael flynn and the president's son-in-law, jared kushner, now a senior adviser. the three meeting at trump tower in december. the official describing the meeting as introductory and an inconsequential hello. this meeting was not included in press secretary sean spicer's initial line of contacts between the russian ambassador and flynn who was fired last month for misleading the vice president about his discussion with kislyak about sanctions. there is yet another meeting with the russian ambassador that came to light yesterday. this is one that occurred at the gop convention over the summer between national security advisers to donald trump's presidential campaign and the ambassador. and it is clear he is still keeping busy as moscow's man in washingt washington. he was spotted earlier on tuesday at donald trump's address to congress. it's unclear who offered the invite. >> thank you, sara.

dozens are saying recusal is not enough. they want the attorney general to resign. republicans are praising the attorney general's move of recusing himself. many of them also were saying that's the right move. but republicans are resisting right now growing calls for a special prosecutor. cnn's sunlen serfaty live on capitol hill with more. it's a surprising part of this story, how many republicans said recusal, probably right move. special prosecutor, we'll see. >> reporter: that's right. that will be something we'll be tracking in the days ahead, chris. democrats up here are trying their hardest to keep up this drum beat. they are not satisfied by jeff sessions' recusal and they say he needs to outright resign. others on capitol hill are pushing for more information. they want jeff sessions to return on capitol hill to explain what they say was misleading testimony under oath. >> for the good of the country, attorney general jeff sessions

should resign. >> reporter: democrats insisting that it is' attorney general jf sessions' recusal doesn't go far enough. >> he's proved he's unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust. >> reporter: they are now demanding sessions go before the senate judiciary committee to face more questions about his past testimony on russia. >> i do think he should recuse himself. >> reporter: republicans stopping short of calling recessions to resign but initially split on his recusal. some calling for sessions to step aside. >> if there's going to be investigations about russia, he may actually become a witness and i don't think he should be leading the investigation. >> reporter: applauding him after he did so. >> the recusal was the right move. it doesn't say he's necessarily admitting guilt. >> reporter: house speaker paul ryan defending sessions. >> we have seen no evidence from any of these on going investigations that anybody in the trump campaign or the trump team was involved in any of this. >> reporter: all this as a top

democrat on the house intelligence committee is blasting fbi director james comey for dodging questions about the bureau's investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. election last year. >> in order for us to do our investigation in a thorough and credible way, we're going to need the fbi to fully cooperate. at this point the director was not willing to do that. >> reporter: democratic senators are calling for more transparency as five congressional committees are investigating the trump campaign's ties to russia. >> the intelligence community has to cooperate with the committees on the hill. it's parent there is a problem. it's up to mr. comey to help solve that problem. >> reporter: and while all these congressional committees are moving forward and continuing their own investigation, many democrats are saying that's just not good enough and they are calling and pushing for the new acting deputy attorney general to appoint an independent special prosecutorment alisyn? >> we have one of those democrats with us. i want to bring in democratic senator richard blumenthal,

member of the senate judiciary committee and also the former attorney general in connecticut. great to have you here. >> thank you. >> yesterday you tweeted, unless jeff sessions can provide a credible explanation, his resignation will be necessary. yesterday at a press conference he gave what he believes is that credible explanation. so let me play that for you. >> let me be clear. i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. and the idea that i was part of a, quote, continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government is totally false. that is the question that senator franken asked me at the hearing. >> are you satisfied with that explanation? >> no, i'm not. it really begs a lot of the

critical questions that ought to be answered by him under oath. >> such as? what questions linger? he said he did not discuss campaign business with the ambassador. >> for him to be meeting with the russian ambassador at the height of the campaign while there were widespread reports of russian interference in the campaign, a major cyber attack, an act of cyber warfare including misleading propaganda and so forth, really requires him to be more forthcoming. he has to say, for example, who was at the meeting, what was said? if he doesn't remember, the aides who were at the meeting should be brought in and his notes and their notes should be questioned. >> we do have some of this. he said it was just a meeting, i believe, between the two of them. he said we had a conversation, he came in. we talked about a number of issues, one of them was ukraine and we ladd a disagreement over that. i don't recall any discussion of the campaign in any significant

way. it was in no way some sort of coordinating effort. >> he had two of his aides, possibly three. they were undoubtedly taking notes. he undoubtedly went over this meeting with the people who prepared him to testify before our committee. i personally feel i was misled by liss responses. he should be brought back to testify again under oath and answer our questions. we're shut down because he avoided questioning by falsely denying the meeting. >> today, you are writing a letter to senator grassley and calling for that. you want senator sessions to be brought back so you can pose these questions directly. he has a different idea. he suggested last night on cable news he would like to submit a written supplement to the record giving this further clarification. why isn't that enough? >> not enough because we have questions that we would have asked had he not falsely denied that these meetings occurred.

remember that the department of justice isn't just any agency of government, he's not just any cabinet official. he's the legal conscience of the nation. his integrity ought to be beyond reproach. the trust and credibility of his department is at stake. when he testified before that committee, he knew as a prosecutor that words matter when you testify under oath, and i want to know from him why he falsely denied that he had that meeting. >> he has recused himself from any of the investigations into any russian ties with the trump campaign. do you want him to resign? >> if he fails to provide us a credible explanation, i think he has to resign, because he had to have known when he testified before our committee that this question would arise, had to be prepared for it, and his false denial i think requires him to resign unless he has a credibility explanation. i don't know what that explanation could possibly be. >> is there going to be a special prosecutor set up? >> i think there has to be for that investigation to be

credible and independent. >> who are you looking to to call for that? >> well, my open is that our republican colleagues will join us because they did eventually join us in calling for recusal. now, remember recusal simply means that he takes himself out of the investigation. but the fbi has the real responsibility here for investigating not only what happened before the election, but what happened afterward, the pattern of apparent conciliatory calls and meetings between the trump administration and the russians i think opens a line of questioning that the fbi has to answer. it needs to be protected through a special prosecutor from any kind of political interference. >> while i have you here, i want to ask you about another story percolating today. ha is reporting by the indy star, newspaper in indianapolis, about then governor of indianapolis, mike pence. they discovered that he used a private e-mail account, an aol

account to conduct state business. they found out, in fact, that as governor at times on e-mail he discussed very sensitive matters including homeland security, including the security gates at the governor's residence and the state's response to terror attacks. mike pence was outraged by hillary clinton using a private server. is a private e-mail account as governor different? >> really it's very much the same kind of practice, because not only did he put it out of reach of the freedom of information laws, but also made it more vulnerable to hacking. in fact, there was a hack apparently into his personal account. the point here is hillary clinton eventually acknowledged she made a mistake, and my hope is maybe mike pence will as well. >> senator richard blumenthal, thank you for being on "new day." >> thank you. up next, what republicans are saying about jeff sessions recusing himself from

investigations involving president trump. what should happen next? congressman will herd joins us, republican from texas. why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

nice tells you what you kind want to hear.ifferent... but kind is honest. this bar is made with cranberries and almonds. so, guess what? we call it cranberry almond. give kind a try.

z2a1gz zx9z y2a1gy yx9y

bowing to bipartisan pressure attorney general jeff sessions recusing himself into investigations on russia's ties into the trump campaign. how important is all this? let's get reaction from a republican congressman from texas, will hurd.

congressman, good to see you. >> good to see you, chris. thanks for having me on. >> to repeat the record, you said previously on this show and elsewhere that you know very well from your time at the cia that this ambassador from russia is someone you wanted to see kicked out of the country when other diplomats and russian operatives were removed by the obama administration because of the meddling in the leaks. you still feel that way? >> absolutely. this is something i was advocating back in october. i think kicking out the 31 intelligence officers is a good move as well. i had said this should be a basic step, kicking the ambassador out of the country. the closing down on the two locations in the u.s. used by russian intelligence and the treasury sanctions on the gru and svr i think are good moves. russians are our adversary, they are not our friend, and we need to be taking this activity into

trying to manipulate our elections very seriously, and we need to be doing a review of this in a bipartisan sober fashion. >> let's get into all that, but first, with the headline, what do you think of the attorney general's decision to recuse himself? >> i think the attorney general recusing himself was the right move. any sense of impropriety needs to be removed from this review and this activity, and the acting deputy attorney general will be calling the shots and is probably likely to tap one of the 92 u.s. attorneys to be involved in this. of the 92 u.s. attorneys, they have been selected by many different presidents and they're all sharp individuals that are committed to prosecuting the law. >> if semblance of impropriety is the issue, why not go for a special prosecutor and then have it go from there? >> well, if you use one of the 92 u.s. attorneys that are

already in, i think that is an independent voice. are people calling forgetting somebody out of retirement who hasn't been involved in the legal system for a while or who hasn't been working with fbi and the intelligence agencies on how to develop a case in something like this, you need folks that are prepared, that understand the system, that are up to date on what's happening, and i think within department of justice, you have the folks who will do that. these are men and women that have pro prosecuted some of the most serious cases across the country and are very political cases as well. >> the counterpoint is they're still exposed to political vulnerability because of what their status of employment is. we'll see if any of that happening. putting on your cia had, your experience with intel. when you see you have a growing list of people who had meetings with the russian ambassador and other officials -- now i think

we're up to at least five people connected to the campaign who did it. are you concerned with the fact that this happened or there seems to be a desire to keep it quiet that this happened? >> i think everybody who has had contact with the russians need to get in a practice of oversharing. if you were to look at the obama administration or the george w. bush administration, how many people in those times had contact with russians? yes, the russians are our adversary, but we are working with them in certain areas. so there's always going to be contact between government officials and russia. i think the problem is we're making this a partisan activity, and we should be focused on how do we prevent -- how do we fully understand what the russians were trying to do to manipulate our elections, how do we respond to those types of things in the future? how do we work with our allies to make sure this kind of stuff

doesn't happen in france and in germany and places like that. >> i know there's a political price for taking positions on this kind of stuff, but do you believe this is a witch hunt, looking at all these people? that's what the president has called it. that's what some of his supporters are calling it. or do you believe there are real questions here that go to the role of administration officials and any coordination or simple contact with russia during that period? >> i think -- i have full faith and confidence in the fbi to pursue any counterintelligence and counterespionage cases properly and accurately. i think a review of some of this contact is valid, but if there is no evidence, then we need to move on. that's one of the reasons why if there are investigations, it should not be done out in public. you are looking at sensitive sources and methods. you may be looking into people that ultimately there is no fire

even if their possibly is a little bit of smoke. this is why we have to allow our law enforcement professionals to do their job, and that's where members of congress and the investigatory bodies the house and senate should be sure the job was done properly. >> what do you think is going to happen next? >> i think what's going to happen next is the process is going to work, law enforcement is going to do their review. you're going to have department of justice make decisions on where to go next. i think the house and the senate have already been involved in investigating the russian attempts to impact our election, and looking at what sources and methods they were using, how they were using cyber activity, was the government response to these activities appropriate? how do we change to do that? so this is a serious matter, and we need to make sure we're doing this in a bipartisan and

thorough way because we've got to protect an institution that is so vital to our republic. >> will hurd, always appreciate the candor. look forward to talking to you about this more as we go forward. have a good weekend, sir. >> you do the same. >> alisyn? >> chris, what a week. for president trump we will look at the highs and the lows. we'll come "the bottom line" with ron brownstein next.

i think it's fair to say it's been a roller coaster of a week for president trump. it started with the high, of course, with his speech to congress, and it ended with this jeff sessions controversy. where does it go from here? let's get "the bottom line" with cnn political correspondent ron brownstein. obviously the president was feeling good after the rave reviews for his address in front of congress. he doesn't want to be talking about the jeff sessions stuff. he had other things on the agenda. what now? >> first of all, roller coaster has been the defining principle throughout his political career. this has been a political figure defined by highs and lows.

we should president expect anything less. this was the most severe version of it i think we've seen. i think it's a mistake to view the speech as a reset. i think it was a reaffirmation of his determination to redefine the republican party as a populist, nationalist party built around the white working class, but it was the most effective presentation of that argument that we have seen. it's an argument that has limits. as he show, it has some real power as well. then to go from that directly into the mall strom of the russia to story with another senior official being forced to acknowledge that at the least he misled congress and the public about his contact with russia shows that that's not going anywhere. >> the president made a choice, took to twitter once again, attacked the democrats, said this is about sour grapes about the election. he went out on a limb about what sessions meant and said and that he's honest, before we know all the facts of the situation. by doing that, he stoked what is the political dynamic here.

give us the bottom line on what this is for the democrats to a man and woman when they talk to me about this, they say, hey, they didn't this this bipartisan equanimity feeling about the e-mail, about benghazi, where they thought let's let the process takes its course. how much is fuel for the fire? >> i think it is. i think the best arguments democrats will have in 2018, particularly the parts of america that are the most uneasy about president trump, white collar suburbanites, their best argument is you need a check, a legitimate oversight and a policy check as well and a ppt that stirs polarizing emotions. to the extent that republicans seem to be seen as rolling over

or even covering up, when contacted by the white house to knock down some of the earlier stories, this is going to be broadly speaking, not specifically about congress, but broadly speaking, i think that's the best argument democrats have in 2018. >> ron, let's look ahead. what is happening with the travel ban? a month ago we heard it was a vital national security importance, it had to happen urgent urgently. >> from the white house. >> from the white house. >> then we heard it would be announced, the revised plan last week, then we heard this week. then we heard it couldn't be because they didn't want it to eclipse the president's good reviews. where are we with this? >> there's mixed signals. the political argument that they didn't want it to be caught up in what they thought was the positive aftermath, the wake of the speech on tuesday. there's also the reality they have to craft something that's more legally defensible. they still have the same basic geography problem of the

challenges will go through that district court in seattle and through the ninth circuit and potentially to a divided supreme court. they're trying to scale it back, for example, exempting current reese is a holders. in the interim they've suffered a significant blow in that career intelligence professionals at the department of homeland security concluded there was no basis for a geographically targeted ban, and then the administration rejected that analysis. you can bet if and when this is rereleased and goes back into court, you'll hear something about that analysis. >> there were two. you had a couple weeks ago, there was a report out that the white house received a reckoning by security officials that those countries represent no imminent threat to the united states and then homeland security came out and said they don't think the threat is people coming here radicalized, but they get here and become radicalized.

those are two basic premises that this is based on and got blown up by their own people. >> you don't want to lose twice. you don't want to put this out again, go into court and have it defeated again. i think it's certain it will face another legal challenge. they've got this problem, in the reverse of what president obama faced on issues like immigration where state republican attorneys general went through conservative district courts in texas, lou the conservative fifth circuit and ultimately to a tied supreme court. until he has a supreme court majority -- it's not clear with even five republican appointed justices he would have a supreme court majority on this. their legal position is tenuous. >> ron brownstein, thank you very much for "the bottom line." have a great weekend. >> you, too. support for president trump and his promise to crack down on border security is coming from a somewhat unlikely source. we'll introduce you to some of his least likely cheerleaders. >> but first, do you want to see

someone who goes above and beyond become a cnn hero? >> yes. >> here is how. >> bring it in, girl. >> every year cnn heroes honor everyday people doing extraordinary work to change lives. we've crossed the globe to tell the stories of these amazing heroes. but we can't do it without you. we need you to tell us who you think should be a cnn hero. >> look how far we've come in a week. >> you can nominate someone in a few simple steps. go to cnnheroes.com and fill out a form to tell us about your hero. it's that easy. you can make your hero a cnn hero and shine some light on their amazing work. (vo) what if this didn't

have to happen? i didn't see it. (vo) what if we could go back? what if our car... could stop itself? in iihs front-end crash prevention testing, nobody beats the subaru impreza. not toyota. not honda. not ford. the all-new subaru impreza. more than a car, it's a subaru. [car[clicking of ignition]rt] uh-- wha-- woof! eeh-- woof! wuh-- [silence]

[engine roars to life] [dog howls] ♪ dramatic opera music swells from radio ♪ [howling continues]

but shouldn't it be about firsts?d in zeros. and seconds... how about adding a third? we think there's a bajillion ways to measure success. and whether you have hundreds or millions... we think you deserve the financial freedom to sleep like this at night. this is the new success story. and at t-i-a-a, we're with you. start today at t-i-a-a dot org.

president trump's policies are gaining support from a surprising place. juan carlos hernandez pachco is backing the president as he navigates the twists and turns of becoming a citizen. the story? cnn's rosa flores has it. >> he's working for the american people. he's not working for me, obviously, because i'm not an american. >> reporter: surprising words for donald trump from an undocumented immigrant who just spent 20 days in an immigration detention center. >> do you feel his policy targeted individuals like yourself? >> that wasn't his policy. i don't car it his policy. i consider it more like the law. >> reporter: the 38-year-old

says he agrees with some of trump's policies like border security, terrorism and even hard line immigration, and he's not alone, saying some of his cell mates, also undocumented, think favorably of president trump. why? >> donald trump was the first president that promised and deliver. >> reporter: husband and father of three u.s. citizens has been in the u.s. for nearly 20 years. he was picked up by i.c.e. even though he was not the intended target just days before his son's eighth birthday. >> just can't imagine spending my little one's birthday far away from him. >> reporter: in his adopted hometown of west frankfurt illinois, he's just known as carlos, the former manager of a popular mexican restaurant in town. more than 70% of the votes in this country went for donald trump including those cast by

carlos' best friends. >> are you guys donald trump supporters? >> we both voted for trump. >> reporter: when immigration agents detained their friend pointing to two of his duis from nearly a decade ago, his friends stood by carlos. >> no politician has a platform that you're going to agree with 100%. the immigration stance that he has, no, we didn't agree with that. >> reporter: dozens of people in this small town of about 8,000 including the mayor, the police and fire chiefs, wrote letters of support for carlos asking the judge to have clemency. >> if you knew my friends, you should respect. >> reporter: it's tough to find someone in this town who doesn't support carlos, but one did tell cnn the man had plenty of time i think to get his citizenship, you know. a point carlos agrees with. >> yeah, i wanted to be legal for ten years.

i've been trying and trying, but the system is broke. >> reporter: now he's no longer in custody, he's vowing to remain with his family making this promise to his son. >> i told him i was here to stay. not going nowhere. >> reporter: rosa flores, cnn, west frankford, illinois. >> we learned the lesson that you can never assume someone is part of a monolithic block based on their name or how they look or their background. everybody feels individual -- >> a little bit is also perspective. what he's saying is i'm not a sit certain, i don't expect this man who leads the citizens to be my leader. but there are all these shades of gray, someone who has been in this country for 10 or 15 years, raised a family here, working, paying taxes. they're not the same as this believed-to-be bad person who comes across to commit crimes here. >> shoor. but do you still assume that that person wouldn't support donald trump and his policies? but he does.

>> he does. he also wants to be a citizen. very complex. that's why the president gave hope when he said he wants a compromise on this. we don't know where that stands. cnn is retracing the roots of christianity and they're learning more about the life and death of jesus with our very own david gregory as our tour guide next. >> how is your faith? you do all this research on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with

accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. and if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24/7. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. but they're different.d kind it's nice to remove artificial ingredients. kind never had to. we've used real ingredients, whole nuts, and natural flavors from the very beginning. give kind a try. z2a1fz zx9z y2a1fy yx9y

christians around the world

observing the holy season of lent in the weeks leading up to easter. perfect timing for the cnn original series "finding jesus" returning for its second season on sunday. joining us to talk about his trip to the holy land is david gregory, author of "how's your faith." >> a subject i'm interested and passionate about. it's a wonderful experience to be a part of. the series premier of "finding jesus" focuses in a central figure, the roman governor upon chess pilot. is there evidence about his life that helps confirm the gospel account. we went to the holy land to explore. >> reporter: on the shore of the mediterranean sea there is an ancient secret as old as the birth of christianity. here in caesarea, the majestic roman port, a fatal

determination changed history. the roman governor, mon shows pilot was called on to decide the faith of jesus of nazareth. he would be a harsh judge. >> he was a brutal, we hear about massacres and the bloodshed that was connected to the time that he had the rule of judea. he was not a nice person. >> reporter: we come to the amphitheater with dr. shimon gibson, an archaeologist who spent more than 20 years conducting excavations in the holy land. in 1961 archaeologists discovered proof of pilot's existence. >> you wouldn't think that at this spot under this wooden stance, this description was found, a latin inscription mentioning pontius pilot. >> this is one of the pivotal moments which changes everything because suddenly pontius pilot

comes out of this written inscription, it's not just this figure in the gospels. >> reporter: the israel museum here in jerusalem is a treasure house of artifacts from the first century. to visit here as a religious pilgrim or historian is to discover crucial evidence of the end of jesus' life. the left side of the pilot stone was chiseled away to fit into the theater, but the inscription is clear, tibirum, pontius pilot, perfection ous judea, a stone thought to be dedicated to pontius pilot. >> this is the only physical object from the time of pilot which has his name. >> reporter: the gospel of luke tells his story. pilot was called to jerusalem amid the uproar over the ministry of jesus. are you the king of the jews, pilate asks in the scripture?

and he answered them, you have said so. >> he probably thought of jesus as a minor rebel, the kind of which he saw many in his governorship. >> the ornate os airy next to the pilot stone is thought to belong to the jewish high priest. dr. gibson's excavations next to the power of david museum have uncovered further evidence of pilate's time in jerusalem. based on the gospels and writings from the period, the archaeologist imagine's pilate's judgment. >> he decides to make an example of jesus and have him crucified. i don't think he would have had a sleepless night over it. >> reporter: there are no records of pilate's last days or his burial place. history records he was called back to rome to account for the brutality of his rule. pilate may have ended the life of jesus, but for the faithful, this crucial episode marks just

the beginning. >> my gosh, fascinating. >> well told. >> that moment where you imagine them getting goose bumps where they see for the first time engraved in stone the real evidence of pontius pilate. why is he controversial in the gospels? >> you have competing agendas about the way he's written. there is the view that in the gospels when the gospels were written, they were essentially trying to rehabilitate a brutal roman governor, and they were also potentially trying to shift the blame from the romans to jews, the jewish high priest for the cruicifixion of christ. you have those who write and say no, it was actually the roman rulers who did this and were so awful at the time. look, this was -- jesus was a rebel exploiting the schism in

the jewish circles at the time, and there were others that were like him. so that's why, and i think the film does a good job of this, really going through the two versions of how he's portrayed where there is competing agendas, competing history and uncertainty about it all. >> to a lot of christians hearing what that historian gibson said will be a new reckoning, because they have been taught and it has been reinforced that what happened was pontius pilate said to the jews, do you really want me to kill this guy, and he washed his hands and left it up to them, which is something that is at odds with the reckoning you just heard of what kind of a person pontius pilate was, and he was very activist in his violence and decision making. >> one of the things that's so interesting -- these are theological debates that i'm certainly not going to resolve, but the historical piece is so enter interesting, going to israel where the romans have this unbelievable port. you get the sense -- he's the ruler in judea, he wants to live

at the port and lead his heed donistic life. there's evidence of him being there. the fact that they found the stone, the fact that they have what they think are the remains of the high priest, the juxtaposition is to realize you have evidence of the gospels. still so many questions about did the jews even have the authority to recommend condemnation, crucifixion for anyone? these things remain unresolved. there's still this evidence. it means so much for the faithful to be able to walk in those shoes. >> going there for you, did it answer questions or heighten more mysteries? >> it does both. for me as a jew who has more limited experience, still very much a student of christianity, i loved it because i love a sense of place. i love to walk the gospels. i went to other places that are not part of the film just to kind of inform my own understanding. i am among those who believe that a sense of place en livens

the idea, deepens the faith experience of trying to imagine the sacred texts for the christian and jewish traditions and also think about what we have to learn in a contemporary sense from these ancient figures. >> i think it's great. i think it's helpful to people of faith. i think it's just as helpful to people who are, whether they're agnostic or whether they choose to believe something else entirely, to look at the history of it is only helpful. >> the history of it is what the film does so well. not just the faith, but the history piece as well. >> catch the season premier of "finding jesus" this sunday night 9:00 eastern only on cnn. >> how about some giggles to end the week. >> let's do it.

across new york state, from long island to buffalo, from rochester to the hudson valley, from albany to utica, creative business incentives, infrastructure investment, university partnerships, and the lowest taxes in decades are creating a stronger economy and the right environment in new york state for business to thrive. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today at esd.ny.gov

former president george w. bush back in the spotlight. how about some late night laugh action? >> i have so many questions for you. i think question number one, where i really want to start is when your vice president dick cheney, when he shot that guy in the face, how did he tell you? did he call you? did he come in and close the door? how did that go down? >> what really irritated me about that is he shot the only trial lawyer for me in texas. >> did it ever seem funny at all

to you? >> well, every time cheney would come in, a lot of people would yell "duck." >> do you pay attention to pop culture? >> no. >> not at all. so you don't know that beyonce is pregnant? >> no. >> do you know who beyonce's husband is? >> no. >> do you know who beyonce is? >> yes. she's from houston. >> do you know, for instance -- do you know who won the academy award for best picture? >> pass the envelope, please. >> this is great for you, it gives you more material in case your impression had gotten stale. >> one of the first times was jaly leno. there was positive polling for him. he pulled me aside and said gregory just you watch, we're going to win california. i looked at him and said no, you're not. of course, he didn't.

he's great on these shows. >> he's clip pi and funny. >> only in the age of trump could george w. bush be totally celebrated by everybody, right, left and center. >> david gregory, have a great weekend. >> you, too. time for cnn "newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman. good morning. >> berman doesn't know who beyonce's husband is either. >> i didn't know who her sister was. there was news about solange. i asked michaela at the time, what is a solange? >> this is my every morning. we're going to do it now for two hours. guys, have a great weekend. >> let's get started. good friday morning to you all. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. thanks so much for being here. we have a flurry of new information this morning about previously undisclosed contacted between associates of then