the russian connection issue will not go away largely because of this man, victor yonokovich, a politician who became president of ukraine. in 2005, paul manafort says he began consulting with him, advising him and his party through tumultuous elections that included a divisive campaign, allegations of corruption, voter fraud. manafort is credited with helping get him elected president of ukraine. in an interview with cnn last year, manafort says the ideals he brought to ukraine were pro-u.s. and his job was focused on bringing ukraine closer and closer to europe and away from russia. >> as far as the administration is concerned, you will see if you do any fact checking that i was the person that negotiated the framework which is based upon which ukraine is now part

of europe. that was my role. that's what i did. when it was completed, i left. >> but yanakovich moved closer to vladimir putin. the policies divided the ukrainian people. leading to riots, police killings, dozens were shot to death, including targeted killings of his political opponents. ukrainian president fled his own country to russia and to the safety of his friend vladimir putin on february 22, 2014. all the while he was continuing to be advised by paul manafort. then there's this, a ledger identifying $12.7 million in possible payments to manafort from the ukrainian political party, from 2007 to 2012. a newly released document, allegedly signed by manafort

himself which a member of the o ukrainian parliament is proof paul manafort was receiving illegal payments while working as a political strategist. >> this fake invoice and fake contract is about selling of computers. by paul manafort to this company. >> manafort's spokesman says the signature does not belong to his client. the allegations are false. how did manafort just two years after his former boss fled ukraine for russia come to the rescue of donald trump's campaign for president? starting in the 1970s, paul manafort worked or consulted for three republican presidents. was a lobbyist works with firms who represented military governments that needed a friend in washington. somalia, the philippines,

angola. they were all clients of his firm. also on the list, rupert murdoch's news corporation and donald trump. testimony before congress, paul manafort was blunt about his overall job and his compliants. >> technical term for what we do and what law firms associations and professional groups do is it lobbying. for today, i will admit some people term it influence peddling. >> in march of 2016, donald trump needed a different kind of influence peddling. his campaign tapped paul manafort as the insider the donald trump campaign needed to win over establishment republicans to clinch the nomination. paul manafort was brought in to make the reality tv star and real estate developer appear more presidential. >> i have known donald since the 1980s. we talked about it. he felt i could help him as i felt. he made the changes.

>> five months later, paul manafort was gone. his troubled past in ukraine was coming back to haunt him. as cnn first reported, the fbi was looking into possible construction and money laundering involving ukrainian politicians, including the work of manafort's firm. current and former u.s. officials tell cnn high level trump campaign advisors, including manafort, regularly communicated with russians known to u.s. intelligence, though manafort called that allegation 100% not true. >> in addition to all these other connections, manafort -- he admitted he worked for a russian billionaire who is supposed by close to or has ties to vladimir putin. he says he has nothing to hide. when is he going to answer questions about this? >> when he answers those questions, will any of them be on the record, sworn testimony before the senate or house intelligence committees that are looking into all this russian

election meddling? we only have a statement from manafort saying he has instructed his representatives to reach out to committee staff and offer to provide information voluntarily regarding recent allegations about russian interference in the election. that doesn't sound like testimony to me. it doesn't sound like he is going to appear publically up on capitol hill. >> that also may be because -- he could face much more serious issues in criminal matters. >> it's no secret manafort is wanted for questioning in a ukraine corruption case. there are also reports the u.s. treasury department is looking into some money transfers he has been involved with. there may be legal reasons why paul manafort just isn't ready to go on record anywhere just yet. >> drew griffin, thanks. there's breaking news tied to the investigation. the first republican member of the house has called for a house intelligence chairman devin nunes to step aside. saying it's up to the speaker

ryan. he thinks nunes should recuse himself. as we said the white house was on the defensive today, denying it tried to block former acting attorney general sally yates from testifying at a public hearing scheduled for today but canceled without explanation by congressman nunes. today, nunes says he invited fbi's director james comey to testify again in a closed door hearing. it has been eight days since he testified at the first hearing and only hearing. that's when he asked for first time public -- said for the first time that the fbi is investigating possible contacts between the trump campaign and russia. since then the questions have been mounting. jim acosta has the latest. >> stop shaking your head. >> reporter: defiant in the face of questions on trump campaign contacts with the russians. sean spicer was once again pouring it on. >> if the president puts russian salad dressing on his salad, that's a connection. at some point you have to take

no to as an answer. >> reporter: pressure is mounting on the white house and devin nunes. >> are you going to recuse yourself? >> reporter: would not say whether he plans to recuse himself in the russia investigation. >> an investigation continues. we have had an investigation into russia for many, many years. >> are you going to recuse yourself? is that a no? >> reporter: nunes and the white house won't answer big questions such as who cleared him on the white house grounds one day before revealing new information about the possible incidental collection of communications by mr. trump and his associates and who gave nunes access to that piece of intelligence. not only are fellow democrats on the house intelligence committee demanding nunes step aside -- >> at this point, there's one thing that needs to happen to rescue this investigation. that's that chairman nunes needs to recuse himself. >> reporter: fellow republicans are calling on nunes to provide answers.

>> there needs to be explaining to do. have i have never heard of any such thing. obviously, in a committee like an intelligence committee, you have to have bipartisanship. otherwise, the committee loses credibility. >> should he reveal his source? >> absolutely. i can't imagine why not. >> reporter: another controversy swirling around the investigation emerged today, as "the washington post" obtained a letter reporting sally yates who was fired by the president and was scheduled to testify before the house intelligence panel. the letter from the justice department to yates' lawyer appeared to advice she would need to consult with the white house before testifying stating she needs to consult with the white house. she need not obtain separate consent from the department of justice. the white house insisted it would not stand in the way. >> i hope she testifies. i look forward to it. let's be honest. the hearing was never -- was

never notified if they choose to move forward, great. we have no problem with her testifying. plain and simple. >> jim joins us. is it clear or when salasly yat' testimony will be rescheduled? >> reporter: no word yet. that hearing as you know is scrapped by nunes. of course, you heard democrats speculate this was scrapped because this was not going to present itself very favorably for the president. no word yet when that hearing will be rescheduled. we should point out white house press secretary sean spicer was asked whether he could provide new information as to how devin nunes made his way on white house grounds last week. spicer did not answer that question today when he was asked the question. he blamed the media for its coverage of all of this. as we have seen, for the last several days, we're asking these

questions. there's just not answers. >> jim acosta, thanks very much from the white house. the senate intelligence committee is investigating russia's meddling in the u.s. election s and the connection with trump's administration. sally yates, her attorneys say she will testify, speaking about subjects related to michael flynn. doesn't think executive privilege applies because of the conversations have been talked about publically. then the hearing is canceled. >> that i don't know. what's happening on the house side of it, they have cleared a bunch of their schedule this week. all the con strotroversy arounds is a distraction. >> we had congressman heinz who said they're not having regular

meetings. >> that's too bad. when you deal with intelligence information, that's current, that's active. the intelligence committee meets multiple times a week. >> more than just the russian investigation. >> that's correct. a lot more than the russian investigation. that's ongoing in the house and senate. there are other issues. there's oversight that has to occur. >> for your committee -- how critical is it that it truly is bipartisan? when you see the questions and the only open hearing the house has had, all the republicans are asking about leaks. all the democrats are asking about russia. it's like it's two different hearings. now it's just completely broken down. >> now you are getting into pure politics. it's essential that an investigation like this is nonpartisan more than bipartisan. when you deal in intelligence committee, specifically, no cameras are on. open conversation. you are talking about very difficult issues that are national security issues. that's not a partisan issue. we all want to protect the nation. >> your meetings are behind closed doors. that makes it easier for --

obviously, the public, reporters would like to know what's going on. for as an investigator, that's critical critical? >> it's not a smoke filled back room. we deal with america's secrets. it's no grand secret that we're trying to actually find out what nations or terrorist groups are trying to do to us before they do it. we are making every means to watch what's happening outside the united states before it comes here to avoid something like a 9/11. you deal with very private intelligence in trying to intercept communications. those are classified issues. if you talk about those issues, you can't talk about it in public. >> there's a lot you can't say. whether you have seen -- i assume you have not seen the information that congressman nunes says he has seen. is that something you would want to see? >> sure. i think the house and senate intelligence committees cooperate together. i have not seen what chairman nunes brought out. it would be responsible to share

with his committee first that everyone can see it. then to share it with our committee as well. >> does it surprise you he did not share that with his committee? he seems to be acting unilaterally. he is the chairman. i guess it's his purview to do that. when people are looking for transparency and non-partisan, how do you think he is doing? do you think he should step down? >> i will leave that up to the house to determine his defendst. they work together hand in hand. they share information back and forth. it's a loss of trust if one has information that the other doesn't. we have to be able to work in a non-partisan way. that's the way our committee is working together. these issues are hard and they're serious. you don't want to mess up. >> senator mccain said nunes has a lot of explaining to do. lindsey graham says unless he shares who he met with, what he has been told, he lost his ability to lead.

>> i couldn't disagree with that. with his own committee, there's no reason his committee wouldn't see that and be able to share with our committee, including sources. we're used to dealing with classified information. there's not a source that we're not used to getting a chance to deal with top secret material. >> when you hear them saying that he has his ability to lead, you think he is able to lead? >> it's up to the house to determine that. i come electricfrom a faith bac. you say, i messed up. whatever it may be, clear the air. let's move on. that's likely. i don't know what the relationships are like that. i would say when you make a mistake, admit it and go forward. >> the democrats and folks who see what's happening on the house side, why should they have confidence in your committee in the investigation? obviously, there's skepticism. >> there's skepticism. people say, do an independent committee. here is the challenge that we have that. if we can do our business and do it the right way as we handle information in hard investigations on some difficult

issues we deal with, our staff is up to speed, we all have clearances. we all have access to the information. we know what we are reading. if you set up some independent commission, you are going to have to deal up new staff, go through the process, everybody will have to get up to speed, everybody has to get connections. it's months in the process. let us finish our work. at the end of the time, we will put out a nonpartisan, bipartisan report. we will sign on to with all of the staff and members. let everyone look at see. this is similar to what president obama did at the end of his time. he went through an investigation of all the russia. he put it out in december. he said, this is the investigation we have done. the american people aren't going to be happy because there will be some aspects we can't share. >> do you have a time line? >> we don't. we're going through interviews, background information. we're doing source documents. going through it as fast as we can go through it. it's a lot. >> appreciate your time. >> glad to do it. coming up, congressman devin nunes did not endorse donald

trump. now he is seen as a devoted defender of the white house. he was involved with the transition. his path from obscurity to the firestorm he is at the center of. new details to question jared kushner. details ahead. i moved upstate because i was interested in building a career. i came to ibm to manage global clients and big data. but i found so much more. ( ♪ ) it's really a melting pot of activities and people. (applause, cheering) new york state is filled with bright minds like victoria's. to find the companies and talent of tomorrow, search for our page, jobsinnewyorkstate on linkedin.

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devin nunes taking fire from inside his own party. they are calling on him to recuse himself. walter jones say it's up to speaker ryan but he does think nunes should step aside. representative nunes was relatively unknown. those days are over. randy kay has more. >> the president said that president obama tapped his phones. >> no, no, no. that did nat happen. >> reporter: devin nunes in a rare moment of disagreement with president donald trump. aside from that, the republican chairman of the house

intelligence committee has been a loyal soldier for president trump. consider the history. >> if you have any intelligence -- >> reporter: new nunes didn't ba candidate. the two have been in contact. their relationship led to nunes becoming an adviser on the trump transition team. after the election, trump continued to turn to nunes who takes credit for helping shape the president's national security team, including his cia director. before coming to washington in 2003 as a member of congress, devin nunes was a dairy farmer. he grew up on his family's farm in california. he once said all he wanted to be was a dairy farmer. now instead of wrangling cattle, he is caught up in some wrangling of a different sort. nunes, like trump, has gone against the assessment of russia's meddling in the election,

prepostero preposterous. he slammed calls for an independent prosecutor to look into it. >> we can't have mccarthyism back. we can't have the government -- the u.s. government or the congress legislative branch of government chasing down american citizens, hauling them before the congress as if there is some secret russian agents. >> reporter: now he appears to be the go to for the trump white house, calling a washington post reporter at the white house's request to knock down a negative story about trump and russia. >> how is it compromised if i'm trying to be transparent with the press and if the white house asks me to talk to a reporter, which it was one reporter. >> reporter: nunes told a reporter once, you can't have regrets in this business. you have to learn from your mistakes and go on. if nunes has made any mistakes in washington, as his critics have suggested, it seems history will have to be the judge.

>> what else have you been able to learn about chairman nunes' personal story? >> he is portuguese american. he is a pretty normal dad. he is a low key guy. he is soft spoken. he is not one to crave the spotlight. he certainly did crave that chairmanship for the intelligence committee. he got it beating out senior members. clearly he didn't think it was going to be as high profile a position as it s. itis. it's not something he was looking forward to. the idea of a low key chairmanship clearly long out of reach. >> thanks very much. new information about the senate intelligence committee's plans to question the president's son-in-law jared kushner about his russia contacts and whether he will testify under oath. ne button to join. it's like i'm in the office with you, even though i'm here. it's almost like the virtual reality of business communications.

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we are learning more about the senate russia investigation as plans to question jared kushner. it will likely be under oath if a private interview. it will likely focus on his meeting with a russian banker who has tied with vladimir putin. adam perez joins us with

details. what can you tell us about the meeting and the banker? >> this isn't just any banker. he met with the chairman of veb. that's a state owned bank that has deep ties to the kremlin and to russia's security service. he was put in the job by vladimir putin and he is a product of the russian academy of the federal security service, which trains russia's spies. of course the obama administration slapp epe epe eps on veb. the meetings -- the meeting adds to the questions about what the russians were up to with all their efforts to reach out to people close to president trump. >> how is the white house characterizing kushner's meeting? >> they defend kushner's meeting. they say all of this was above board. listen to sean spicer describe the meeting. >> jared did a job during the

transition in the campaign where he was a conduit to leaders. that's until we had a state department in place for people to go. remember, we had a delay in some of the things. that was his role. he wants to make sure he is clear about the role he played and who he talked to. that's it. >> that doesn't quite settle the issue. veb confirmed the meeting in a statement to cnn. they described kushner doing this meeting in his role as the head of the kushner company. his family's real estate development company. the russian bank says it was meetings with big financial institutions here and around the world. the kremlin says they have no idea about this meeting. this raises new questions, was kushner acting as a trump transition official in charge of foreign relations as white house says or was he doing his family's business? >> evan, thanks. joining us is former white house communications director for president obama jen zaki.

you broke the story for "the new york times." have you learned more about this? this is a story on two fronts. it's a story about possible russian connections. it's also a story about the conflicts of interest -- the white house is saying, he was a key transition figure before -- but on the other hand, he is having meetings with russian banks as part of the kushner corporation and a russian bank with ties to the kremlin. >> that's under sanction. he meets with the russian ambassador. fine. he is with the transition. that's appropriate. why does somebody doing transition dip low the maic initiatives need to be with any russian banker? i done thi't think our state department officials meet with russian officials. what were they talking about? that's the key question here. was it just a pleasantry?

why are you talking business with a bank under sanction? it goes back to what goes on at this white house. we get a little information and we're told, nothing to look at here. it's fine. >> i would ask another question. why did he get in to meet with jared kushner? and how did he get the access to meet with somebody so close to the president who was going to have a major role inside the white hou whi white house. >> the russian ambassador said it up. >> they said they didn't discuss business. >> we don't know. >> that's what they did. >> the russian bank says -- >> the question is -- >> if they didn't discuss business, did they discuss sanctions. it's not normal to meet with the head of a state run bank of a government where we have an adversarial relationship. >> it was at the request of the ambassador. >> that's not a normal meeting. it was either they were discussing sanctions -- remember what flynn got into trouble with. or they were discussing business

and he is trying to further his own issue. >> remember what was going on. it was mid december. remember what was going on in mid december. obama administration is trying to figure out what sanctions regime it's going to institute. there's the meeting with flynn where flynn is allegedly talking about perhaps when the trump folks come in. >> sanctions. >> so sanctions is in the air in mid december. it's central to russian/u.s. relations. >> you are saying they didn't discuss business. but didn't jared kushner while he was on the transition meet with the chinese company to help set up this deal that ended up going through? >> yes. >> which worked out very well for the kushner family even though jared kushner said he has separated himself from benefitting financially? his family has benefitted from this chinese company which has ties to the government which president obama would no longer stay in the waldorf astoria out

of concerns of being recorded by chinese intelligence. >> yes. you have that. we're having the kind of realization bit intelligence community and in public there was a russian campaign to attempt to interfere with the election. at the same time, kushner is meeting somebody who was once part of -- tied to russian intelligence, a bank intertwined with the russian power structure, with vladimir putin's regime, with this russian security services. this is -- you can google this. this is one google search. did nobody do any due diligence? what kind of business are you running you don't check out who you are meeting with. >> if it was a courtesy meeting, which is what -- >> why? >> because the ambassador asked him to. >> so? >> so then i would say to you so. it was a courtesy meeting at the request -- >> but wait. the russian -- >> you are the new -- >> you sent a deputy, somebody else to go to the second

meeting. you blew that off. you met with the banker. why didn't you send the minion to meet with the banker? >> i can answer that question. i've never been president. i don't know i would say this is who meets with the russian ambassador. you are expecting too much. it's just -- it fits into the conspiracy that the left has just -- it won't let go of that -- as sean spicer said, if he uses russian salad dressing, there's a link to russia. >> so why didn't white house -- why didn't the white house months ago lay all of this out? >> remember, he has voluntarily agreeing to testify. >> he was asked. and he said he would go. >> he broke the story. this just happened. why months ago didn't they just say, yeah, the ambassador asked. we had this meeting. we had that meeting. >> i don't want to speculate that they have a sense that there's some unfriendly people, sharks infesting the water of washington, d.c. >> let me ask you, do you know

if it was a wise decision to do this? >> i can tell you this. there's a lot of things that you do in public life that, yeah, i will meet with him. >> i will meet with the former intelligent agent from a bank under u.s. sanctions at a time when russia hacked the election. why not? >> i don't think -- >> remember -- >> he is not a foreign leader. he is a russian banker with tied to -- >> americans -- >> why is the russian ambassador telling jared kushner who to meet with? the list of possible explanation -- there's some conspiracy theories about russia. we have to be very careful. what are the explanations? he has no experience in foreign policy and naive and so did he this? that's not great. it was related to his business interests, not government service? that's not great. it was actually to talk about sanctions in the middle of the obama administration's reviewing that issue. >> let's remember when we were told about the meeting, it was some sort of the courtesy call. then we find out because of your reporting that actually through

the other side that he was doing it -- he wasn't doing it as a conduit for the transition team. he was doing it as head of kushner industries. >> what's best case -- what is the best case scenario? >> there's a conflict. >> what's the most -- >> listen -- >> if i was -- he is a man about town. even before all this, he was going out -- >> if you met him you would forget about it. everyone who meets him forgets about it. >> not a memorable guy. >> i don't think i met him. >> i met him. i remember meeting him. >> the hardest working man in washington. >> keeps lots of meeting. he probably had a list of people in the clinton camp, probably had people in the jill stein camp, just in case they got elected. he throws himself with reckless abandon or great abandon to meet everybody he can. >> it's not -- >> he is doing his job.

>> a speech for $500,000 to sell one-fifth of the u.s. you a-- >> wait a minute. >> this is not a foreign leader. >> i was asked to go to a charity run by some russian exile. i did a google search. found out this person has an incredibly shady background. even though it's a charity event. no, i don't want to be in the same room with some shady person. why is jared kushner -- >> you who he was and you took a meeting with him. >> "new york times" has tighter ethics rules. it's amazing. i don't want to get -- we don't know what happened in meeting. that's been an issue throughout the last few months. we are finding out a little thing. no, it's not a big deal. then it turns out it is. it's more than we were told. that's what i don't get here. if you announce it and say we have this meeting, this is what happened, it goes away. >> for all the talk during the

election about ties to bankers, who knew that ties to russian bankers are okay? ties to wall street, that's a problem. ties to russian bankers -- >> volunteered to talk to them. i don't think there's anything to hide. it will be another box we can check -- >> wouldn't it be better to avoy the drip, drip, drip? all of this is one thing after another. why not lay it all out? >> persecuted republican party member. i would say -- >> persecuted? >> there's a theory among my people that you just -- why even try? the critics on the left will move the goalpost. you just can't play that game. today, president trump did an executive order that may end up in something like 800,000 new jobs. the sierra club did not like it. he took on the clean power -- >> we will talk about that next. >> the point is, he is governing. i think that that's where he

needs to be. >> can i just -- jen, you would know this because you've run a communications office. can you figure out why they wouldn't just put everything out there? is it disorganization? is it trying to -- >> you have been in situations like this. take a heat off my champion indication brethren. my bet is they didn't know a lot of the details. a lot of the details about who met with who is not something sean spicer and all of them knew. >> we have to take a quick break. president trump rolling back the obama legacy, ending the war on coal. i know, we need to talk about this. it's time. it is a big decision for us... let's take the $1000 in cash back. great! yeah, i want to get one of those gaming chairs with the speakers. oh, you do? that's a surprise...

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the trump administration took a major step toward changing the u.s. approach to fighting climate change. the president signed an executive order that rolls by environmental regulations ending a moratorium on coal mining on federal land. we have details. >> pmy administration is puttin an end to the war on coal. >> reporter: taking steps to strip down regulations to combat climate change. >> i am taking historic steps to lift the restrictions on american energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job killing regulations. >> reporter: signing an executive order at the environmental protection agency that undoes the clean power plan. the initiative to curb carbon

emissions at coal fired power plants. that effort by the obama administration has been tangled up in legal challenges and hasn't even gone into full affect yet. president trump's order allows for new coal mines on federal lands by lifting the three-year moratorium. rescinds six obama executive orders aimed at curbing climate change and regulating carbon emissions, including one that says climate change poses a threat to national security and another instructing the federal government to prepare for the impact of climate change. >> the actions represent the largest attack on climate action in our country's history. >> reporter: still tbd in all of this, the paris climate change accord, which this doesn't touch. these new changes will make it harder to meet the benchmarks of the agreement. >> we're going to bring the coal industry back. >> reporter: climate change is an issue where trump has been all over the map.

in 2012 saying in a tweet, global warming is a concept created by and for the chinese in order to make u.s. manufacturing non-competitive. more recently after the election in an interview with the "new york times," he admitted there's some connectivity between humans and climate change. also telling trump's choice of scott pruitt to head the epa, a skeptic of climate change who sued the epa when he was oklahoma attorney general. continues to cast doubt on the role of carbon dioxide. >> i would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming we see. >> reporter: the white house touting the move as a campaign promise kept with the goal of job creation that they claim the mining industry is embracing. >> they are very bullish on this. >> reporter: democrats and environmentalists see little economic benefit and a lot of potential environmental harm. >> the coal industry has been losing jobs for year after year

after year. the jobs are not going to be coming back. >> reporter: cnn, washington. >> back with the panel. this is what president trump campaigned on. nobody should be surprised by this. it's what he talked about. >> yes. part of his national security is energy independence. it's all of the above energy idea that we need to have it from all the sources. the economic impact of cheap, abundant energy is something like 800,000 new jobs over the next decade. i think it's very good. remember, all of these would have been passed by the u.s. senate and the u.s. congress if they were popular. president obama did it by executive order because he could not get it through his own party. >> the president sold this as energy indindependence. we don't import coal. we don't need energy i independence to help the coal

industry. it's losing jobs -- >> we can -- >> for reasons unrelated to the issues that he is raising. >> how much he can -- >> if you don't buy overseas oil because you got coal. >> but people are moving towards clean energy. that's what's happening. we're moving away from this. we're moving away from the idea we need to pleat oollute to get energy. it's not going to bring back jobs. it's not why they are losing jobs. they are not losing jobs because of -- >> is the president out on a limb promising the coal industry will come back, promising the coal miners? >> no. after eight years it's good to have a president who doesn't see a conflict between creating jobs and more energy avenues for creating energy and clean air and clean water. i don't think they have to be in opposition to each other. you look at some of the specific regulations allowing for leasing on federal lands and things like this. this is a no brainer for continued coal production. it's something he promised on

the campaign trail. this is another example of the president making good on his promises. >> it's a dishonest promise to the coal miners and people in the towns. they are going away because of competition, because of automation, because there's a lack of demand. it's not going away because of the federal leasing on lands. in fact, that ceos of coal companies who will benefit from that. we will see. in a year or two when jobs don't come back. that's when we will know. it's a shame that it's a promise made that's not going to be delivered. >> sean spicer dodged the question on whether president trump believes climate change say hoax. >> he did. >> this is in line with that. >> i would add that the president has not yet decided whether he will formally withdraw from the paris agreement. we haven't seen that yet. what he has done is he rolled back the policies that would

need to meet that agreement in effect. but donald trump has not yet come out and said he is going to withdraw from it. that's my question, is he going to or is he just going to leave the united states to taking a back seat? >> that will be a showdown with kushner on one side and conservatives on the other. the one thing yajack is right about is obama couldn't pass this. he couldn't pass a plan to deal with climate change through the senate. he got it through the house. he had to resort to the regulatory system that was available at the epa. this is a classic elections have consequences. our two parties disagree about climate science. every other democracy this isn't a debate. science is settled. we have a democratic and republican party where this is a fundamental divide. it's not surprising that trump is keeping this promise. >> think what a competitive advantage it would give america

over european if we got out of the accord. china and india, they have had a competitive advantage over our domestic manufacturers. >> when you talk about national security issues, the reason that china and india committed to the paris accord were the world's biggest emitters, the three of us is because of us. we're being irresponsible globally. >> thank everybody on the panel. there's a fair chance that the u.s. led coalition was responsible for an air strike that killed dozens of civilians in iraq. what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts.

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if your uc or crohn's medication isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach. there's a fair chance, his words, that civilians were killed 11 days ago and 112 bodies were pulled from the rubble. many could not escape the city because it's believed isis is using them as human shields. they've been trying to gain control of mosul. >> reporter: the destruction here in western mosul appears to be significantly more vast and widespread than it was in the eastern side. and you also see that there are a lot of these really narrow alleyways that winded deeper into the neighborhoods and this

is one of the main challenges security forces are facing. you see the traces of the life that was. of how bustling these particular areas would have normally been and part of the challenge when it comes to trying to protect the civilian population is that even though the iraqi government did encourage people to stay put in their homes, even if they wanted to leave, they wouldn't have been able to because isis would not allow them to leave these neighborhoods. isis was holding every that lived across this entire city as human shields. he's saying that isis, as the forces were coming through, began to decrease its presence. so at least this family felt they could stay. that's the other reason they

couldn't go, obviously because it's difficult for them to try to flee. the day before this area was liberated, isis took her husband. they had no food left and he went out to try to get them food and isis took him away. she's still here because she's waiting for her husband, who's the little girl's uncle to come back. she's hoping somehow he's going to return home. the people here are trying to get information as to which route may or may not be safe and possible sniper positions. the sounds of battle are all around. and just in this one small part of western mosul, you can see a little bit of appreciation for the intensity of the battle, how terrifying it must have been for those civilians who must have been there amidst all of this.

anderson, the situation is growing even more difficult and as the u.s. and iraqi military search for answers and ways to decrease civilian casualties, we have also just heard from the high commissioner for human rights for the united nations who says within the time frame of 17 marks to the 22nd, at least 200 civilians have been killed in western mosul alone. >> stay safe. we'll be right back. r. kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you.

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that's all the time we have. thanks for watching. cnn tonight starts right now. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> trump white house facing accusations over a cover up. the administration denying it blocked former acting attorney general from telling the house intelligence committee what she knows about the trump campaign and russian officials. that hearing was supposed to happen today but was canceled. the person who canceled it, chairman nunes. saying he's moving forward with the probe. but democrats charge he's too close to the white h