his credit, it is what it is. he's being more flexible on this topic. i don't know if he deserves credit or blame, that's just the reality of where we are. >> what do these words mean and what do they mean for russia? will they move russia in that is the big question on the table. thank you for joining us. "inside politics with john king" starts right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome "in the politics." i'm john king. president pru tin sutin is sitt with rex tillerson. the u.s./russia relations are in a tail spin. >> frankly, putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person. and i think it's very bad for russia. i think it's very bad for

mankind. it is very bad for this world. plus, several big new developments in the russia election meddling investigation. and all of them are bad for the trump white house. for starter, democratic and republican sources who know the intelligence say there is simply no evidence to back this. >> when you look at susan rice and what is going on, and so many people are coming up to me and apologizing. they say, you were right when you said that. pran perhaps i didn't know how right i was because nobody knew the extent of it. as the 100-day mark approaches for the president, he belittles susan rice and the secretary of state delivers a may maya copa. >> there's no other way to say it. i got into a topic i shouldn't have and screwed up. >> with us to share reporting and insights, amy wall, jeff zeleny, perry bacon and jackie

cosinich. let's begin with the remarkably blunt and remarkably pointed language used by key players on both sides. as we set the table, we're waiting to hear from rex tillerson and sergey lavrov. no word on what was discussed in the meeting, but we know the conversations throughout the day in moscow have been tense. we'll take you live when the press conference starts. it's hard to overstate this. president trump says his russian counterpart is propping up a, quote, animal in syria. and he says the president needs to make better choices. and the ambassador to the united nations says she knew syria planned to use chemical weapons. >> i think they are nervous. i think they very much feel as if they have been weakened by assad's actions and their cover-up. they realize that the

international community didn't buy it and is not buying it. and they now have to figure out how to save face. >> senator haley says save face, but president pru tin is criticizing the united states and nato warning against further strikes in syria. and the foreign minister work in a dig at the trump administration's personnel troubles. >> translator: this is particularly important at a time when as far as we understand not all the key posts in the state department have been filled. and it is far from easy to get a quick, clear answer to many current and future issues. >> the ambassador follows the news back here in washington. michelle co skkco kin -- kosins here with the latest. this is much more of a salvage mission? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, the state department had to frame this trip, the secretary of state, as a kind of exploratory

trip. to see what he could get out of this, what kind of cooperation there might be in this relationship. what kind of foundation they can now relay. and how to work past some of the differences. not that those were necessarily going to be worked out by any means on this trip, but always forge a path moving forward. we're waiting, again, for the press conference to get any more clarity on this. because there's not much information coming out of the meetings. they certainly didn't start great as you saw with the russian foreign minister, really just launching into it. this is a period of time before a big meeting where it is generally a photo op and there is some pleasantries and welcomed exchanged. but the russians wanted to show themselves in a position of power here. they are hosting the u.s. delegation. and they wanted to lay it out first stop, that they don't believe the u.s. strikes were legal, for one thing, that they should not happen again.

and yeah, the other criticisms as well. it was also a big mystery for days as to whether russian president vladimir putin, who just a few years ago, honored secretary of state tillerson with an order of friendship here in russia. would even meet with him at all, breaking president. now we know that meeting is still going on. they have been meeting for about 20 minutes. and that, too, will lend a little more into how much movement there could possibly be on these two very hardened stances that we have been hearing over and over again over the last couple of days. and rhetoric that the russian government today called primitive, john. >> michelle kosinski in moscow. thank you. we are waiting for the press conference from secretary tillerson and president lavrov. even when things are tense, back in my days covering the white house, when you go to a big

meeting like this, normally they try to turn the temperature down and saying, yes, we acknowledge differences, but we'll see if we can work together. instead, putin says the united states violated international law. donald trump says he's associated himself with an animal. the russians say there's a way to move forward here, stop launching military strikes. both sides, forgive me, ladies, but this seems to be a testosterone moment. >> it seems like a changed tone for the president. he's one of the really last officials left in this town in washington who is not conveying the obvious about russia here, but in his interview this morning, he's getting there. but look, this is a high-stakes moment. but so interesting, every movement that this president has, every drama inside the white house, plays out on the world stage. and russia is watching the staffing issues. that was a fascinating reminder of -- we know all your key positions aren't filled. >> it's a key source of tension

between the secretary and his boss, sergey lavrov. >> this is fascinating in the history of the administration. and what comes out of the meeting today, fascinating. >>. they seem to ignore the previous history before coming into this office. when donald trump was on the campaign trail saying, wouldn't it be nice to have a better relationship with russia? sure, it would be great. but reality is a different set of circumstances. and they are running into that full-on. and we saw it with the sudden turn-around on syria. it wasn't news to any of us that assad was using chemical weapons on his own people. apparently it was news to the president. and so, we're seeing this happen in live time. but it's not like this is all new information. >> it's a key point. and the question is, if it's not new information, do you think you're the one who can change it? president trump does think he's the great negotiator. but yesterday secretary tillerson said russia can make a choice, step away from assad and

iran. step away from supporting hezbollah. that's what the administration asked of putin. that's what the george w. bush administration asked after trying a fresh page, that's what they said. this is not new. >> well, to watch the internal dynamics of the white house, beyond just the issues on staffing, but that you seem to have players within the administration saying different things about what we're doing at different times. so are you an ambassador, nikki haley, making pretty forceful sta statements about russia. she's been doing it all along. the president is now following in the same path. you're getting rex tillerson on the sunday shows saying this is a change in policy. we're still focused on isis first. now it seems that we're actually changing our policy. and nobody really knows who is leading the charge with the president who ran on and is still very proud of the fact he's an unpredictable character in an unpredictable world.

>> that's a very important point. a, who is leading the charge, who has the most influence. and b, the list of options is so bad. that's why it was so hard for obama administration. the president is telling fox news, we're not going into syria. by that he means boots on the ground, but the white house says we don't rule out military action if he uses chemical weapons again. maybe if he uses barrel bombs and others against children. it's unclear at that pouchblt and then putin, this is about pride and power. and if the united nations as we speak, about to be a big press conference in moscow, president putin saying we are a power to be reckoned with. and nikki haley trying to pass a resolution at the united nations security council condemning this action. russia vetoed power. nikki haley saying you should be embarrassed of yourselves. >> to my colleagues from russia, you are isolating yourselves from the international community every time one of assad's planes drop another barrel-bomb on civilians. and every time assad tries to starve another community to

death. people not just in the west but across the middle east and the world are speaking out against assad's brutality. it is long past time for russia to stop covering for assad. >> this is cold war-like, new cold war-like rhetoric, the two sides against each other. the question is, a, does somebody blink? and if nobody blinks and the trump administration is new to this posture, the putin administration has been pretty strong in this posture. nobody blinks, so what happens next? there cannot be a political solution unless assad comes to the table. assad is not going to leave unless the russians say, sorry, bud, you lost our support. so unless there's a big change here, this is high drama and there are ripple effects. russian progression in europe, russian steps elsewhere in the world. other things happen. but if nobody blinks, this is just talk. >> it is such a huge shift. you think about november when tillerson was picked, we all thought, whoa, trump picked somebody close to putin, does that mean we'll have a pro-putin

government in some ways. now tillerson is talking there in aggressive language about the shift. so i do think someone has to blink here, be but it is in the clear what trump's policy needs to be. they are debating internally a lot. putin will not blink. it sounds like trump will not either. >> the state department, jeff, they call them confidence building measures, when you're in a rut like this and they are in a rut, you look for something. you look for something, yes, we disagree about everything but agree to do this, to try to take a step forward. what is it? what does secretary tillerson look for at the meeting to come out to say, is it to go to geneva and start the political conversations again that frustrated the obama administration? because the united states comes in with the goal of getting assad out of power. the russians come in with the goal of keeping assad in power so they don't get anywhere. >> and the talk of cleaning house in the obama administration and moving people out of the state department. the reality is the challenges are exactly where john kerry left them. keep the bricks on the table and everything is exactly the same.

>> except this president did decide to use military power inside the border of syria against the regime. >> without a doubt. >> they want to call it a one-off, but he owns a bigger piece of this than president obama was willing to own. >> without question. and he got some widely deserved, you know, that he was hailed as doing something by democrats and republicans alike. this policy, though, is a bit -- there's a bit of a vacuum about it. what is the administration's policy, but yesterday i noticed a change in washington in the trump washington in the last four or five days. they are really trying to put a lot more information out, the pentagon briefing yesterday, i was told the president was specifically, he was specifically wanting to hear from his defense secretary to put information out there, to show that we're strong and say, we had a briefing at the white house yesterday by four senior administration officials in the very high levels of the national security council talking directly about why they believe that russia was come poliplicitl

of this. there are things going on, but there isn't a policy, necessarily. and we don't know what the president's view of putin is. has that changed? at some point he has to come out to say that explicitly. >> the public is not enamored with the involvement in syria than it was during president obama's term. and you start asking in the abc news/"washington post," okay, do you support it? a majority saying they support it. should we do more of these? no. it's more than boots on the ground. the idea of doing the strikes over and over again, also not getting the support. >> if the policy is changing, we'll hear from the secretary of state. >> and the other thing the poll brought up, they don't think it is particularly effective. >> so if the president is going to change, the president has to explain what it is to pull the public with him. we're keeping our eyes on moscow, rex tillerson and his russian counterpart are scheduled to speak to reporters

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y282uy ywty daily life a guessing game. and bloating made will i have pain and bloating today? my doctor recommended ibgard to manage my ibs. take control. ask your doctor about nonprescription ibgard. welcome back. we are waiting for a big event for a press conference between sergey lavrov and rex tillerson. first, sean spicer is on an apology tour for a blunder that ignored history and defied common sense. >> you know, you had a person

has despicable as hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. >> quote, hitler didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. what did you mean by that? >> when you come to saran gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad is doing. >> uh-huh. sean spicer spent much of tuesday afternoon on the telephone apologizing for that. there was more, we edited down. he made a public apology on cnn this morning and there was more. >> i made a mistake. there's no other way to say it. i got into a topic that i shouldn't have. and i screwed up. it's a very holy week for both the jewish people and the christian people. and this is not to make a gaffe and a mistake like this is inexcusable and reprehensible. on a professional level it's disappointing because i have let the president down. and so on both a person and professional level, that will

definitely go down as not a very good day in my history. >> let's start with it, that's not a very easy thing to do. he works in one of the highest profile and toughest positions in this town to go out there publicly to say i'm sorry, i messed up and let my boss, the president of the united states down. so it takes a lot for sean spicer to issue an apology. number one, he's had credibility issues in the past from day one in the administration from things he said from the podium. some people say, is this a domino effect? number two, mostly democrats, but some groups associated with jewish-americans have called for his ousting. is there any evidence, jeff, i'll start with you, you covered the white house, any evidence he's lost the president's support? >> we don't know at this point, to be quite frank. i've been working the phones and last evening as well, and to a person, everyone was saying we'll see how the president reacts to this, which means they are going to wait to see how the president reacts to the news coverage of this. we'll see if he still has the support. i do not think he's lost the

support immediately on this, but there was definitely an issue or reason that sean spicer went out on the apology last night. he had no choice and was told by top advisers to the president, perhaps not the president himself, but he conveyed that as well to go out and do this right now. the interesting thing about this, though, sean spicer, i am told, was not completely making this up, pulling this out of the air. there's been a lot of chatter on fox news and other places and other news map sites about the holocaust. about assad. so this has been out there in the ether, unclear if he was pulling from that or not. >> so has the resources of the entire u.s. government at his did po sal looking for historical reference deciding to go to the alt-right internet where there are routinely anti-semitic things said. great. >> exactly. the challenge for spicer is he had multiple times to clean this up yesterday in the briefing

room, in a statement, and he finally did. you're right, that was not easy for him. i was talking to him walking back into the white house after the interview with wolf blitzer, and it was a humble sean spicer, no question about it. he said, i came out here on my own. i'm trying to set the record street. and now that i did, i'm trying to set the record straight. tough thing for him to do. >> the other problem is, other than not comparing anything to hitler as a rule, is this is not the first time that this white house has said something or done something that is offensive, particularly to the jewish people. let's not forget, holocaust remembrance day when they decided to omit jews from their statement. and defended that. not to mention how long it took for the president to come out and condemn some of the anti-semitic events going on around the country. so if this was an isolated incident, and you're absolutely right, sean spicer did, that's not easy what e the did. but when you stack it on some of the other things that have

happened in other parts of this administration, it's not good. >> well, to the challenge for republican base, back when president obama was president, they were very much against any involvement in syria. even bombing in syria. now they have a republican president. they want to be supportive of this president. they are looking for reasons to not be upset about an american first president going in and making a military strike in another country. what's one way you help to generate enthusiasm. you say, look, this assad guy, he's so, so bad, right? we had to do this. the president is so strong to stand up to him. none of this is new to anybody paying attention to syria that assad is a really bad guy. he's been doing really bad things. but if you want to keep your base from getting sort of squeamish about the fact that the president who ran as a nationalist is now becoming more internationalist, you've got to keep the focus on, look how bad this assad guy really is. >> it is interesting, he had two

spokespeople out there speaking very openly, speaking very intelligently about the subject. having sean spicer say something like this, his way, the action was odd. mattis and haley were doing well explaining the policy. >> ambassador haley and general mattis were speaking there, he's probably wishing that today. another big story, if you pick up "the new york post qugts this morni ," donald trump liked to speak to "the new york post." i like steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. i had beaten all the senators and governors and didn't know steve. i'm mild strategist and it wasn't like i was going to change strategy because i was facing crooked hillary. but steve is a good guy, and i told him to straighten up. steve happens to be steve bannon.

he became the chief strategist. if he's nobody as the president suggest there is, why is he called the chief strategist to the president of the united states if he's nobody? >> it makes zero sense. the fact is, steve bannon was one of the earliest cheerleaders and supporters. it was why he was brought in, because an outside group said he would be the perfect person to lead this. donald trump praised him in his victory speech. they are very close. >> if you picked up the newspaper this morning and your boss said, i like him but -- >> i would start taking the things off the wall in my office and putting them in a nice little box. >> but can he afford to lose steve bannon? reince priebus, the chief of staff, mr. washington establishment, former state party chairman out there. jared kushner, a democrat or independent close to the president, a family member, represents the business community, represents the new york part of donald trump. then you have steve bannon who is american first, tea party,

energy in the party, breitbart news, the conservative slice of the media. can you lose that constituency if you're donald trump? that's the one base that you have. >> well, if you ask donald trump, that's his base, not steve bannon's base. >> do you want to touch that? >> that's the question, whether he's willing to test that. because you do see on some of these news organizations that there is some unrest about bannon's place. but bannon made a very -- big mistake in going up against the president's son-in-law. he's very big on his family. and that is never going to change. >> red line. >> there is worry, i talked to a republican close to the white house this morning who said, you can't have him become an enemy. because steve bannon on the outside is very dangerous to this administration, having him on the inside, which is why the president said the ball is in your court, to change how you're doing business here. but they don't want to have him on the outside. that's risky. >> if the president wants to test that theory, he can call to the guys he used to call lion t ted, jed and marco.

the president says he believes susan rice committed a crime, but the democrats and republicans who reviewed the intelligence have a different conclusion. they tell cnn that what susan rice did was her job.

welcome back. last week donald trump told "the new york times" he believes the obama national security adviser susan rice broke the law and mishandled secret intelligence information. but cnn reports a very different story. rice's decision was to ask for more information when she saw intelligence reports detailing conversations between trump transition officials and foreign nationals who were under legal u.s. surveillance. the president, president trump, says he believes rice abused her power. that's a suggestion also made by the house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes. he's under review for intelligence reports. but now that the reports have been shared with key members of congress, what cnn is hearing is different. cnn reporters spoke to lawmakers and key staff members, a mix of democrats and republicans, all of these sources saying there's little dramatic in the documents

and that rice's request for more information appeared to be routine and in line with her legitimate duties. the president, of course, also has access to those documents. >> she said she didn't do it for political reasons. >> does anybody really believe that? nobody believes that. even the people that try to protect her in the news media, it's such a big story. and i'm sure it will continue forward. but what they did is horrible. >> well, let me just say, someone in the news media, i'm not trying to protect her. i called her out when she told judy woodruff, i don't know what he's talking about and had to come back to say, i was involve in the unmasking, they call it. but she says she hasn't done anything wrong. she'll have to answer in front of congress. however, based on this report, the president knows what is in these documents. >> right. and can declassify them. >> and we can share them. >> we would all know.

>> and redact the most sensitive stuff and we all would know. instead, he says something nefarious was going on in the obama administration. and talking to democrats, republicans, staff makers, elected officials, who say, we don't see anything there. >> which is why this is always going to be a problem for the administration. because they have, essentially, outsources have said to the house, the house and senate will investigate this. that's what they are going to do. and they tried to control some parts of the investigation. >> what the president is trying to do is shape public opinion. >> of course he is. which is why susan rice is at the center of this. there are a few democrats short of the president himself who is on an island someplace writing his book, short of the president himself, actually, ordering this. susan rice is probably the next best person in terms of someone on the right, you know, you think benghazi and other things. that's exactly why they went toward her, but she will have to testify. she should have to testify. and sort of get this all out

there. but if there's no their there, this has been one huge distraction by this administration here. but you're right, he's trying to convince his base of that. and he may do that. they may always believe him. but the house intelligence committee and the senate intelligence committee and the fbi may say differently. >> this confirms when nunes stepped down from the committee. i assumed they would learn something. nunes is no longer running this investigation. people will look at the documents and see nothing. we don't know, but it seems like this information conformed to the idea that he was not a credible chairman anymore and he, in some ways, had not been honest and straightforward about what the documents show. >> that's absolutely true. to jeff's point about it encouraging the base, that's fine, for the 35% of americans who support this president are never going to leave his side, that's a great strategy. but the president's real trouble right now is the fact that we can talk about the special election in a moment, but the fact that it's pretty clear that the rest of the republican base,

outside of those who are really strongly supporting him, not feeling as fired up. democrats, every time the president does this, it only enrages and encourages them and discourages independents. this president is stuck at 40%. and he's not going to move that meal like making susan rice the new boogey person of his administration. >> and i mentioned the cnn report, i want to get to "the washington post" reporting this morning that carter page, who is a distant foreign policy adviser, exactly how influential he was in campaign is a subject of great dispute, but he was involved on the letterhead in the exam pain. he was actually the subject of the intelligence court, a fisa warning, you have to go to the clunlgs a judges and convince them that he's acting as a foreign agent. carter page says none of this is true. carter page will be on the lead with jake tapper today.

so stay here this afternoon to watch that. he said i was so happy to see the confirmation is being revealed. that shows how low the clinton/obama regime went to destroy our democracy and suppress disdents who did not fully support their failed foreign policy. it is quote/unquote smart to say this about your base. an american citizen, if they went to, if someone can prove to me that the justice department, the cia, were all in co hoots with president obama to corrupt the fisa court, i'm waiting. you can't walk in to get a warrant, you have to show them something to get it. >> and the trump administration wants this guy to go away. they don't want anyone to talk -- they don't need this out there. so, who his constituency is at this point is kind of -- >> to that point, they have tried to say he was some hanger-on. i want to go back in time. early in the campaign there were

a lot of questions could donald trump survive? he did an interview with the washington post and they pressed him, what is your world view? who is your team? >> we heard you might be announcing your foreign policy advisory team soon. >> we are, in fact. i have thought in terms of, i could give you some of the names, i wouldn't mind. >> i would be delighted. >> okay, you ready? >> taking notes. >> lee farris, adviser to the house of representatives caucus, a counter terrorism expert. carter page, ph.d. george abadopolis, he's an energy consultant, excellent guy. the honorable joe schmitz. lieutenant general keith kellogg. and i have quite a few more.

>> well, carter page, ph.d., that was in march of 2016. we don't need the play is sound, but sean spicer said later he's an individual that the president-elect does not kw. >> coming back to that point in 2016 and throughout the campaign, foreign policy types who came with any bit of experience, who were part of the establishment, were going nowhere near the trump campaign. that was the team he was able to assemble. it was a pretty, i guess we can say, scrappy group of folks that were not exactly the most hoof high talent. >> that was the editor of the "washington post" asking questions there to say, i do have a team. i'm a credible republican nominee trying to win the support of the editorial page, which is more conservative as "the new york times," not like "the wall street journal," but that was a moment where he was proud of the fact he had carter page. adverti

the fact there was a warrant that was extended that a judge signed off on that, is not good news for the trump campaign regardless of how you slice it. >> we don't know what happened in the trump administration. we know carter page and manaforte down played roles on the campaign that were significant at times. they suggested that trump didn't know these people and then you talk to them talking about "the washington post" and one runs his campaign. adding to the suspiciousness of what happened between russia and trump. >> we'll continue to watch this as it plays out. wa up next, a bill was pulled because of the republican revolt, but the president says he did not fail. this as the 100-day clock ticks down. when a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient. stay with me, mr. parker. the at&t network is helping first responders connect with medical teams in near real time... stay with me, mr. parker. ...saving time when it matters most.

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negotiation. and negotiated for days and changes were made to the peace house conservatives. then a vote, a signature republican and donald trump campaign promise, a vote was scheduled. then the vote was canceled after speaker ryan told the president the vote would not pass because most of the conservatives had lobbied for days were still voting no. webster defines failure as a lack of success. president trump has his own lexicon. >> it's been very much misreported that we failed with health care. we have not failed, we are negotiating and continue to negotiate. and we will save, perhaps, $90 billion. $900 billion. >> there you go. >> but then they should have called a vote. >> remember back on that day of that week when the white house said there will be a vote on friday. no plan "b." now we are on to "c" or "d." the plan is, of course they can nor negotiate. every president goes through it, how to learn the ways in

washington. he can change as much as you want, but the reality here is, as long as the white house opens it to negotiation, i'm not sure anyone has come sort of to a deal here. it's gotten worse, actually. the vice president has a lot of skin in the game now, too. he was trying to bring him together, it didn't work. so they are trying a couple times. >> it is telling he still says, when they come back from recess, congress has gone back. we'll see the mood change, but the president wants to do health care because of the money you saved. if you pass repeal, it gives more money for tax reform. but if they come back, we have no evidence. mark meadows, the freedom house caucus chamber said the last go-around, there's no evidence we are making enough progress to get a bill for the house and the senate. and that will become a law. >> and they are in an awful place. if you are a house member, especially sitting in a district somewhat vulnerable in 2018. here are your choice, we get nothing done, the base is depressed. you had all

branches of government and failed to do anything on the most significant issue. or you pass something super unpopular with your base and get killed for it in 2018. so you have two choices. >> or you come back to the mess and they keep trying to do health care because they tie it to health reform. and we run through the president's first year and gets neither. or they get pushed back to the end. we talked earlier about the presence of what was reported on the health channel, we'll see how this plays out. i want you to listen here. one of the issues in the administration, the slow pace of staff, is the secretaries who make the day-to-day choices. the president says, it's not my fault. >> i am waiting right now for so many people. hundreds and hundreds of people. and they say, why isn't trump doing this faster? you can't do it faster because

they are obstructionists. so i have people, hundreds of people that were trying to get through. i mean, you see the backlock. you can't get them through. >> not true. >> you have to have people -- i'm not saying that the democrats won't -- i was going to say, i'm not saying the democrats won't obstruct them once they get there, but you have to name them first. and this administration hasn't named a lot of people. and in some sectors, it's because they don't agree on who should be named. so until thatinternal issue is revolved, they won't have external issues. >> is the white house obstructing the state, is the state obstructing the white house? there's a big fight about policy here. and that's why these appointments are not being made. and to the point that russia is noticing. >> the credibility challenge is also playing out this morning. helping the president with an election in kansas.

the seat was in doubt for a while because of what amy talked about, would the republicans turn out? the republicans won, surprisingly close, but the republicans won. great win in kansas last night for ron estes who easily winning the congressional race against the dems. >> to the staffing for a second, there's still a loyalty test that exists many the white house. if you are not all on board in support, you still have to go through all the hoops, even if you want to serve this administration. that's the hold up, not on instruction. >> what is your lesson from kansas? >> if i were a republican sitting in a district that has a significant suburban area or any urban peace in it, i would be very nervous. if you look at sedgwick county, wichita, 60%. trump carried it in 2016. and this election, the republican carried it with 48%. that is a danger sign if i sit

in orange county, which went democrat, and any district that the president lost, i'm sorry, any district that he carried by less than 10%, i would be nervous as a republican right now. >> we'll watch the georgia special election in the atlanta suburbs. nikki haley is talking carefully in new york. she's talking provocatively. attention homeowners age sixty-two and older. one reverse mortgage has a great way for you to live a better retirement... it's called a reverse mortgage. call right now to receive your free information kit with no obligation. it answers questions like... how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money and more. plus, when you call now,

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welcome back. we are standing by for big diplomatic news in russia. secretary of state rex tillerson is having a press conference with the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. when in public, the secretary of state is speaking diplomatically. >> this is an important message in our relationship to clarify areas of common interest, even

when our tactical approaches may be different. and to further clarify areas of sharp difference, so that we can better understand why these differences exist and what the prospects for narrowing those differences may be. >> you got a flavor there of the diplomatic circumstances including to let the boss set the tone, usually. >> anything the russians say at this point, no one is believing it. the international community sees this for what it is. the international community has watched russia cover-up for assad for years. >> well, well, well, well. a lot of people asking, is she trying to pull them along? is she trying to overshadow the boss? or is this a deliberate strategy within the administration? tillerson keeps it calm many the meetings, she stirs it up. >> that's a good question. but i don't think we know the answer to it yet. but it's striking to see the two major players in diplomacy not

sound like they are on the same page. >> how much of this did we see in the obama administration? there were clearly divides over syria, especially with hillary clint clinton, but also with vice president biden. i can't remember if it was as obvious as it is here, but it was clearly happening. >> you make a good point. the powers of the un ambassador -- you are a good translator, jeff zeleny, listen to this. >> just so you understand, we're not going into syria, because there were questions, nikki haley is doing a great job, rex is doing a great job, our secretary of state, and general mcmaster, fantastic. but if you add it all up and take every word, they will say, oh, they are different. >> just a list or when he does a list you want to be first on it? >> i think you want the be first on the president's list. but he's also made the case to be the decider on this. nikki haley so far in the first 100 days wins more stars than most other people.

because she is, you know, she's out there, she's clear messaged on this, but we'll see what the president says when he explains his policy. >> she sounds more lindsey graham, certainly. >> she has a big vote this afternoon at the united nations security council. stay with cnn for that and weighing the news conference in moscow. thank you for staying with cnn for that. we'll have wolf blitzer in the chair after a quick break. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance

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hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in the u.s., 8:00 p.m. in russia. we start with breaking news out of moscow. the secretary of state rex tillerson meeting with the russian president vladimir putin. this meeting has been going on now for almost two hours. we're expecting to hear from tillerson and his russian counterpart at the end of the extended day of talks on russia's involvement in syria. the military strikes ordered by president donald trump among other issues. our senior diplomatic correspondent michelle kosinski is joining us