hands of the special counsel. former fbi director robert mueller is the electiselection creating rare agreement in washington? president trump saying there was no collusion with his campaign and russia. rod rosenstein will brief the senate today and house tomorrow about the context and confines of the russia probe. rosenstein's memo. why comey should be released helped to create the recent drama. will the mueller move tamp it down? >> now three committees want comey to testify about what trump told him making him the most wanted man in washington. this as there are several new damning reports about fired national security adviser michael flynn that add to the crises facing the trump administration. we have it all covered for you this morning. joe johns. let's start with you at the

white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. this is a ray of hope for the trump administration to finally put this behind them or the law of unintended consequences at work. how the firing of fbi director james comey could lead a top trump administration official to name bob mueller, a towering figure in american law enforcement to lead the investigation into russian interference in the last election. the white house issuing a statement from president trump responding to the appointment of a special counsel. the president says in part, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein naming former fbi director robert mueller to oversee the investigation. rosenstein signing the order before alerting attorney general jeff sessions and giving the white house less than an hour

notice before making it public. the surprise announcement comes after pressure for the deputy ag to appoint a special prosecutor after president trump initially cited a memo rosenstein wrote as the basis he fired james comey. >> he made a recommendation. regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> reporter: one source telling cnn, rosenstein is throwing president trump overboard with the special counsel. a move the white house opposed. >> there is no need for a special prosecutor. you have two senate committees looking into it. the fbi is conducting their own review. >> reporter: a statement from rosenstein explaining the public interests requires me to place this investigation under the authority of the person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command. the move follows back-to-back bombshells from trump. including a memo from comey where he documents the conversations with trump.

where he asked to drop the investigation into the fired security adviser michael flynn. today, more bad news for the administration. the new york times reporting that president trump knew flynn was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist on behalf of turkish interests weeks before the inauguration. still named him as one of the top advisers giving him access to the nation's biggest secrets. another report connects the dots further. flynn stopped a u.s. military plan turkey opposed. the plan restored after flynn was fired. what is the president really thinking about the appointment of bob mueller as the special counsel? we may have an opportunity to find out today. the president is hosting the president of colombia here at the white house in a news conference is scheduled this afternoon. chris and brooke. >> joe, thank you.

we will take that this afternoon. in the meantime, robert mueller's appointment of special counsel is drawing unity among republicans and democrats because of the sterling record and expertise. cnn's laura jarrett is live in washington. laura, good morning. >> good morning, brooke. this is a person with a truly stellar reputation. widely respected within the fbi and justice department. he was appointed first back in 2001 by president bush before 9/11. he is largely credited with rebuilding the modern fbi and transforming the bureau into key part of the country's national security infrastructure. he also has bipartisan appeal. president obama asked him to stay on at the helm for additional two years beyond the ten-year term before james comey finally took over. i also want to highlight. he is really supposed to have autonomy to run the investigation in a way unlike other federal prosecutors. special counsel regulations say

he is not subject to the day-to-day supervision of any official within the justice department. the regulations say he can only be removed by personal action of the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein in this case. of course, hypothetically, the president could try to direct rod rosenstein to fire mueller. i know there is a lot of confusion about what the rules are here. it is really his decision on what to happen with the investigation from now on. brooke and chris. >> i'm sure that rosenstein will be very slow to take up any new assignments from sessions or the president to write memos advising anyone's ouster. let's discuss with our panel. david chalian and maggie haberman and jefferey toobin. what does special counsel mean as opposed to special prosecutor

and what does mueller mean? >> the terms have he solvevolve the years. archibald cox was a special prosecutor. then the independent counsel. laurence walsh was an independent counsel. now the law has expired and there is a special counsel. independent counsel, special prosecutor, special counsel. it all basically means the same thing. someone outside of the supervision of the justice department who can investigate an area that is very much their own. >> i ask because some of the skepticism is if there is no crime, how do you have a special prosecutor and the ag trying to explain. this is to investigate. not just prosecute. >> exactly. it is very clear that mueller

can conclude. there are no cases to be brought and close up shop. what is interesting and unclear at this point is how much public disclosure of his work there will be. in normal circumstances when the justice department investigates something and declines to bring charges, there's nothing. you never hear anything. what mueller decides to do about that and whether he simply has no report or he makes a report, the independent counsel law which -- or the walsh and kenneth starr which was independent counsel in the white water lewinsky. there was a provision for the report. that is something we need to keep an eye on. >> we found out a bit. the white house found out within the hour as mueller was named this special counsel and to tell you this morning, this is the

president's response. quote i stated many times thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. i look forward to the matter concluding quickly. in the meantime, i will never stop fighting for the people and issues that matter for the people of the country. these are the words from the white house. this man has gone silent. crickets on twitter. what do you make about the statement tand what do you make about the colombia president hosted at the white house this afternoon? >> the crickets are necessary for the administration. i think with donald trump, he has a reaction that evolves over time. he was a bit relieved yesterday. they believe this gives them so

space. this gives them the ability to say we can't talk about it. sean spicer is a tomato ball. they can not talk about it because of the work. we don't know what it means for the investigation. i don't know if that gives them room to say we have to let the special counsel do their work. it is helpful for trump to have and this will sound strange. i think he likes having a single focused opponent. this crystal izes one thing to focus on. mueller is the opponent. >> that would be a huge mistake. >> correct. >> for the president. i hope he understands that. saying that he knows how the investigation will come out is wrong. it is inappropriate. these are trump rulines. >> he said this for days. >> this was a chance for a new

start. a window into the fact that the president is not a victim, david chalian. everything he is dealing with that is negative has been self generated. even mueller, that's great. he will not find anything. he did not need to say that. it is a chance to say nothing going forward. to maggie's point. how much does mueller's appointment as special counsel lower the temperature of concern around the white house? >> i think that it lowers temperature to a far greater degree for republicans on capitol hill than it does in the white house. no doubt there is a sigh of relief at the white house. for all of the reasons that maggie stated. i would go back and look at the press briefings during lewinsky. that was not the case. i don't imagine this will go away as a question entirely. i think in addition to the tone in the president's statement, chris, which maggie is right.

uncharacteristically non combative. he made focus he has an enemy or opponent to focus on. he did not do when i get hit, i hit back harder yet. we will see if that reaction changes. >> why is this different, david? there have been opportunities and mixed messaging and the tweet the next morning from the president. why is this different? >> i think donald trump is in a different place and getting different counsel from lawyers he is heeding in a way now because the new procedure is up there. i will say, brooke, if you look at the statement and listen to what is coming out of the white house. they are focused on saying there was no collusion. this investigation is not just about collusion anymore. that is where it started. if you look at the rosenstein announcement of this, it goes well beyond that mueller will investigate any avenue that grows out of this investigation. this is not just to say there is

no collusion, i think that really is limiting in its response. mueller has a wider berth. >> jeffrey? >> if there is one thing we know, where they end is not where they begin. the classic example of that is the so-called whitewater investigation by kenneth starr of the land deal in arkansas wound up being about monica lewinsky. things can go in many directions. >> that is the concern. that's why they did not like the legislation. that is why congress did not renew it. >> among other reasons. the key thing is it is up to mueller now to define his jurisdiction. it is not -- it is out of the white house hands. it is out of the justice department hands. that is a vulnerable feeling to be investigated by someone with no limits. >> true. it is never about collusion. one of the political problems is the president has been denying

the existence of russian interference. in his mind, it equated with him doing something wrong or artificially installed as president. that was never the case if fact. we have never seen him on the canvas before. the president has been on the canvas this week in the fight that he is waging. maybe what are you hearing about that created any shift in perspective? >> it is an interesting point. you saw his speech yesterday in connecticut before the coast guard graduates which is an uplifting speech about foreign policy or directional about the presidency. he gave what my colleague would call a "me" speech. a self pity fest. he was under attack and treated unfairly. that is how he sees this. to go back to the original question that you asked. i think we heard silence for the last 12 hours. i would not say this is the end of it. this is the last we hear of him.

he stews over these things and lashes out. the big question is what this means for his mind set going on an international trip that he already wasn't really looking forward to and it was already fraught with potential danger. i'm not sure what this means day after day. i know they think this gives them distance. to david's point earlier, day after day of dealing with this. yes, this takes it out of the question of his own government investigating something. it will not make anything end. >> let's talk about rod rosenstein who is the deputy attorney general and the person who appointed robert mueller to lead the process and david, dana bash had a report from the senior republican source. saying sources believe rosenstein is throwing trump overboard with the special counsel. he is to testify today at the senate briefing and the house tomorrow. what do we expect? >> he wanted to get this done before going up to the hill to

brief the senate and house members. now he can say look i appointed a special counsel here. remember our reporting here at cnn last friday night was rosenstein was disinclined at that point to appoint a special counsel. something changed from friday night to wednesday. that's a short time frame for something to change. something shifted. rosenstein knows no doubt what a huge reputational hit he was taking about the comey firing. he is no doubt building back up or fortifying and building walls around his reputation trying to rehabilitate. >> as jeffrey toobin is mentoring us along in the process, the big reason for the special counsel is there is an appearance of conflict. it seems a competing set of interests. this doesn't define that as the situation. panel, stick with us. coming up on "new day," we will talk about all of this and what is to come?

the big foreign trip with big guests. republican congress men back on the show. charlie dent. carlos curbelo and peter king and joe manchin and dick durbin. we have former secretary of state madeleine albright. and the claim that trump's transition team knew michael flynn was under investigation weeks before the inauguration. the question is why was flynn still appointed to become national security adviser? what did president trump know and when? we'll dig deeper here on "new day" next. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something...

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attract new customers. that's when fastsigns recommended fleet graphics. yeah! now business is rolling in. get started at fastsigns.com. there are several damning reports out today about fired national security adviser michael flynn. pick up "the new york times." their reporting is flynn knew he was investigated before the inauguration. flynn stopped a military plan that turkey opposed after being paid by turkey as a foreign agent. let's bring back the panel. maggie haberman and jeffrey toobin and david chalian. we learned that president obama warned trump about flynn. we knew sally yates warned about

flynn with the blackmail with russia. and now this. why despite all of that, did donald trump hire him on? >> president obama warned against this. now we learn that michael flynn told don mcgann in early january he was under federal investigation for his work with turkey throughout the campaign. none of that was red flag enough to not be named national security adviser. sally yates warned after he was in the position. there were early warnings here. there were people in the transition operation set up during the campaign that were saying to then candidate trump. i'm not sure michael flynn is the right guy for the white house. you may want to keep your distance from this guy. the warnings were there. guess what? listen to what comey says in his

memo that he says trump was still saying after he fired him and we're in the middle of february after the warnings. let this go. mike flynn's a good guy. he said the day he resigned. he talked about flynn's character. donald trump has seen in michael flynn in his relationship with him a loyal soldier who was with him and on the campaign with him. stood up with him and impressed by the general factor. there was nothing. no matter how many red flags swaying donald trump away from the opinion. >> two observations. the first learning curve is the duty to the people. not the people around him. remember flynn has said through counsel, i told them. they knew. i was open about my situation. maybe he did not disclose the money. people knew i wasn't hiding. this remember that about flynn and the ledger of him. maggie, take us inside the

reporti reporting. what does this is a about what was known and what was heard and acknowledged and respected by the white house? >> it was heard and acknowledged and not respected. i want to take you back a little bit as i was thinking about it when david was talking. mike flynn was loyal. that was the main category. mike flynn was considered for vp briefly. you have to look at a major moment which ak ccelerated mike flynn. chris christie and jeff sessions had not recommended flynn for any higher appointment. he did not think that was up to his potential. he wanted the state department. one other job, defense or national security. when christie was gone, flynn pushed for those with the trump family and other members of the transition. that was the accelerant. i don't know how much is trump

personally saying i have to be loyal to my guy versus the advice he was either way, the white house counsel office has not taken the steps we are used to see white house counsel take to say this is a problem. flynn telling the white house i'm under investigation for having registered as a foreign agent for another government and helping to kill certain proposals as far as we understand from reporting. that is problematic. it does make you wonder what else may come out as this is pulled out. >> we are learning from the mcclatchy report that the early days, the first move to take the isis strong hold of raqqah would be using the kurds. syrian kurds. because turkey apparently opposed that and, you know, flynn was getting paid by turkey. >> and turkey has real concerns about the arming of the kurds. there's a huge dispute going on

for generations. >> then president trump opposed that move. >> yes. >> on the advice of flynn. >> that is our understanding of it. that is all i suspect is what gets looked at as we go forward. we know this is a president who is often swayed by whoever he last talked to and whether he had the full information and interests flynn was acting on is not clear. as we understand from our reporting, about what flynn warn warned the white house counsel, this should have been on somebody's mind. >> it is a window into the standard. right now, we are talking about it wasn't a crime. this is the new standard of behavior in government. it is not. it is semblance of impropriety. ordinarily, something like the i work for turkey, but i disclosed it. ordinarily a huge red flag. it means people may think you are compromised when the raqqah operation comes up.

you can be against it for a million reasons. >> looking through the lens. >> it is a question of judgment. how can you hire this person? >> he's a good guy. he is loyal. he went against obama. >> those are the things that trump looks for. >> this is national security adviser. the most important job at the center of american foreign policy. >> this is not donald trump. this is someone telling you how they are thinking at the time. >> one of the things we have seen with the president over and over is he has been very good over the course of his life and the course of the campaign and the transition to bending reality to how he wanted it to be. that becomes really impossible with the special counsel in place right now. it is why you somewhere seyou he seen the reaction. he can go back to the last time he did that. he will never change. this is the way he views the

world. through the prism of who is loyal to him. >> chris, about don mcgann now. he gets the warning from flynn january 4th. he says i'm under federal investigation. now after we heard sally yates in detail telling anderson cooper about her experience. sally yates three weeks later sending up a flare about the same person to don mcgann who doesn't perceive it to be urgent. that is not the first time flynn comes across don mcgann's desk. i find that interesting how don was perceiving this. >> key insight. it makes me think of what leon panetta said here. i said what would you do in a situation like this. he said you go to the president and tell him don't do this. this is a problem. he says you are disloyal. you are out. now what? then you leave. duty is to the american

constitution and the american people. the question is what were people choosing as priority? staying in place or pleasing the president? panel, thank you. all of the drama in the white house rattling wall street. stocks took a dive. dollar weakening. this rally was the trump bump. is it over or is this just jittery nerves by the mueller announcement? we have details ahead.

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and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin. the turmoil in the trump administration is rattling markets around the world. the dow taking the biggest hit since last september. we have the cnn money chief christine romans with us with more. i haven't wanted to look at my 401(k) after yesterday.

what is going on? >> it doesn't look like the fears are quelled. the calm broken on wall street. reports of a comey memo cracked what has been an optimism in markets about the trump presidency. the dow down 373 points. the harshest selloff since september. dollar erasing all of the post election gains. money flowed into gold and bonds. wall street's fear gauge spiked 42% from the lowest level in decades. until now, markets ignored washington headlines high on the tax cuts and deregulation. that changed yesterday. >> i think we're at a point where it seems like his presidency is starting to crackle and become vulnerable. i think wall street is feeling that for the first time. >> not the agenda the presidency. that was the difference. futures are down again. corporate profits are strong. the dow down.

futures down about 85 points right now. chris chris, it looks like another weak day. >> you teach us all the time. sometimes it is fear. sometimes it is volatility that creates opportunity for them on wall street. we will see how it plays out. christine, thank you very much. democrats and republicans in washington agree. full stop. let's appreciate the moment and hope it is contagious. why they agree. the big news. robert mueller. former head of the fbi is going to be the special counsel. they say he is the right man for the job. what kind of independence does he have? the attorney general, the doj, capable. this was all about keeping something separate. what's the ability? we discuss.

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former fbi director robert mueller appointed as special counsel to oversee the investigation into russia's election meddling for a start as part of the mandate of special counsel one of the concerns is he can look at anything that may quote arise. mueller is regarded as an investigator and prosecutor with an impeccable reputation. the democrats and republicans in

washington are agreeing this was a good choice. let's discuss why. cnn's law enforcement analyst and assistant director tom fuentes and we have analyst phil mudd. let's start with the man and get to the mandate. phil mudd, mueller. tell me about him. right guy for the job like this? >> best i ever saw. hands down. 31 years i have been around government and in government and outside. i never saw anybody like this guy. integrity, brains, drive, commitment. he also would kill me for saying this. he has a heart and sense of humor. you won't see it. he is not anti-media. he will not talk and he won't leak. when i saw this announcement, i was thinking of the variety of people i worked with in my life. secretaries and kings and fbi directors and presidents. never saw any better. if you have a kid, this is who

you want to point that kid to and say if you want an american hero, i know it is pollyanna, but you want robert mueller. >> tom fuentes, when you think of the assessments of mueller and amount of power and if you look if anybody wants to google the order is from the ag, this is his bio. obviously the headline is he was appointed by bush and at the fbi during and after the 9/11 stuff for 13 years. he can look at anything he wants. a tremendous amount of power. he can pick his own staff. fuentes, why do you agree? >> i agree with phil, chris. i worked directly for him. my last 11 years in the bureau as member of executive service. my last seven under director mueller. my last five under international operations where i was down the

hall and with director mueller almost every day on a number of issues. i know him to have the integrity and skill to do a great job at this. i would like to also add there is no other, i think, living human being in history, that has overseen as many cases as director mueller. 12 years as drikirector of the . probably 40,000 or 50,000 or 60,000 cases since that time. no other than j. edgar hoover since that long. and the cases were minuscule compared to the global operation of the fbi today. he has the experience. he will be able to come into the job and probably the first day figure out from the briefings and looking at the files exactly what's been done, especially in the russian collusion case and what leads outstanding and waiting to conclude the case. he will make that call.

and everybody loves him today, but all glory is fleeting. when he makes the call, half of the people cheering him today, if it goes against the president, democrats will be thrilled. republicans won't. if he recommends closing it, it will be the other way around. >> we have the character, the competence. let's get to the third c, phil, the cajones. he does not like this. he thinks it is a jinx. he was seen as a man of impeccable reputation and integrity. he is out because the president did not want him here. only rosenstein legally can remove a special counsel. who is rosenstein's boss? the president of the united states. can mueller deal with the particular politics of the situation? >> absolutely. i saw him maybe 1,000 times or 2,000 times.

i don't know how many around the table doing personnel decisions and threat briefings and strategic direction for the fbi. we met every more than for four and a half years. i sat down the hall from him in the fbi. i sat with him with many attorney generals. democrats or republican. i never heard him make a political statement. i cannot tell you how many times i have heard him discuss those issues. when he would do student conversations or speeches. people would ask him what defines you. he would say i was a u.s. marine. you can expect him to identify objective and pursue the objective. i know people talk about whitewater and how it got off the rails. he will never swerve. >> go ahead. >> he will not be intimidated by the president or anybody else. he was a marine.

he wasn't just a marine. he won two bronze stars in the vietnam war doing two tours as captain. he is not going to be intimidated. >> we will see him. uniquely tested this time around. fellows, i appreciate the perspective. very needed. brooke. >> chris, thank you for your "c" words. >> people use different combinations. i felt those fit. you can have that. >> thank you. let's move on to tom brady's wife. gisele talking too freely about concussions. >> another "c" word. >> it has the nfl investigating her husband again. the bleacher report is next. did w couples disagree on mattress firmness? fortunately there's a bed where you both get what you want every night. enter sleep number and the semi-annual sale going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow!

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the king, king james and the cavs remain undefeated in the playoffs. they take game one against the celtics. andy scholes has more in the bleacher report. lebron had the look in his eye, my brother. >> he did, chris. i'm not sure why they held the playoffs. the nba should have just fast forwarded to the nba finals with the cavs and warriors. like you said, lebron looking great in game one against the celtics after more than a week off to rest. 38 points. lebron is now three wins away from going to his seventh straight nba finals which is incredible. cavs win 117-104.

game two is tomorrow night on tnt. tom brady. that's not what his wife told cbs today. >> it is not the most let's say aggressive sport. he has concussions. he does have concussions. >> now again, there is no record of brady having a concussion last season or ever. the nfl releasing a statement saying nothing they reviewed indicates brady suffered contusico concussi concussion. they will continue to look into the matter. andy, thank you. the white house today bogged down in a multiple crises as the president prepares for the first overseas trip. what's at stake? we discuss next. stop, stop, stop! sorry. you make it sense what's coming.

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fmy doctor recommended ibgard. abdominal pain and bloating. now i'm in control of my ibs. nonprescription ibgard - calms the angry gut. all right. president trump leaves tomorrow for the first overseas trip as his administration battles multiple controversial at home. our next guest is president of the council of foreign relations

believes there is reason to worry the trip won't go smoothly. richard haus is here with us now. good to see you. we will talk about the improv tour. on the news of the day, noting that robert mueller named as special counsel here overseeing the investigation. your response? your thoughts? >> i think in the short run it is good for the country. it is a grown up in charge of investigating the issue. he has credibility. it may take months or years to get to the bottom of it. people know it is in safe hands. it is like a mortgage. i don't know what comes at the end. it could be a balloon. >> you feel good about the beginning? >> absolutely. no other institution has the credibility to do this. congress doesn't. people don't trust. giving it to someone with a track record. this is a good thing. >> the politics of it line up for you right now. how about the policy

consideration? you understand the russian threat as well as anybody. do you believe this is a worthwhile endeavor looking into the interference and how far it went and how it was done and any issues of collusion of trump staff and campaign aides and current staff and efforts? >> absolutely. it is not because i have secret evidence that the collusion happened. enough people think it happened and you have to clear it up. either it did not or did. you have to get to the bottom of it. it cast the cloud over the administration. it cast policy over russia. it is complicated enough rather than looking at the policy. you have to look at it. just to clear the air and decks. >> he leaves tomorrow. israel, saudi arabia, vatican, nato conference. it's the first time overseas and meeting with the foreign leaders. we talk about russia and cloud of russia hanging over the white

house. does it follow him overseas? what do you anticipate? >> it will follow him more when he gets to europe. there is a lot of discomfort of donald trump in europe. this is not the kind of american president they are used to. they are suspicious to the issue with russia. intelligence release the other day not help matters. statements in the campaign of nato obsolete and support for brexit. he is coming into the european part of the trip with lots of bagga baggages. >> do you believe the conversation with the russians in the oval office, will that have a chilling effect? >> it raises questions in israel. it is not isolation. the fact he promised to move the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. it caraises again what can you rely on? reliability and predictability is essential for allies. mr. trump has been described as

many things, but reliable and predictability is not high on the list. >> and the information that was wrongly divulged in the meeting. they are not saying anything about it. maybe there is something about that. also, donald trump has been known to surprise people one-on-one. especially other world leaders. is there a potential here for a boost for him? >> absolutely. particularly with israel and saudi arabia. they are glad he is not barack obama. the relations there were very bad. to be -- i don't mean to be insulting, but the fact the bar is low. if donald trump has a normal visit and does the normal things and visited and gives an okay speech and nothing bad happens, he will get fairly high marks. in a funny way, the trip is set up for him to do okay. he has to stay on script.

stick to the speeches. stick to the planned meeting and not improv along the way. that is the risk. >> on the improv note. steven miller will write the speech for the visit in saudi arabia. where could this go wrong? >> the idea that miller is the one that is writing the speech. >> presumably other people will vet it. i'm less worried about the speech. traditionally, speeches go through several pairs of eyes. >> you are worried about the riffing? >> i'm worried about what they will say about iran. will he say something? saudis are involved in the war in yemen. united states is getting involved. it has a potential to be a quagmire. will he say this is not wise thing to be doing? >> he has one trick going into it. other than being nice to the

pope. >> you nice? >> he threatened the pope. isis is coming for you next. see how he handles that. the idea of letting the majority muslim population who will be listening to him satisfy their concerns that he thinks they are all bad people. he said as much as that many times before and not give discomfort to the israelis who feel he is going soft. how tricky a balance? >> it is a tricky balance. i think he can pull it off. he will say positive things about islam. he will say we have a problem and you have a problem of people pr perverting your religion. he can say the right respectful things and say we have a cancer here and we have to deal with it. israelis don't mind with that. they agree it is a problem for us all. they can live with it. >> okay. >> richard, as we go through the trip and how it is made manifest. come back and give us your take

on the opportunities and concerns. >> thanks. >> thank you. thank you international viewers. for you, "cnn newsroom" is next. for u.s. viewers, how the president and congress reacting to the huge news. there will be a special counsel. who it is and what they are capable of. "new day" is getting after it. come with us. >> deputy attorney general made a fine decision. >> rod rosensteiner fbi director robert mueller. >> a welcome and applaud. >> it is good for the country. >> 16 days before the inauguration, the trump transition knew there was an investigation looking into michael flynn. >> it is reaching a point of watergate size and scale. >> i want to see the documents. >> we cannot deal with speculation and i inue