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 inuendo. >> he has shown zero opposite

for any investigation of donald trump. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to "new day." alisyn is off. brooke baldwin is joining me this morning. >> good morning. >> we begin this morning with the investigation into russia's election meddling. it is now in the hands of a special counsel. the deputy attorney general taking it on his own behalf. naming former fbi chief robert mueller to head up the probe. remember, rosenstein, deputy ag. he said he did not think we needed one. what changed? trump saying he looks forward to the end of the situation. >> the special counsel comes fired fbi director james comey who is the most wanted man in washington. you have three committees. wanting him to testify about what was told to him in the private meetings. there are several reports of

fired national security adviser michael flynn that add to the crises facing the trump administration today. we have it covered for you this morning beginning with joe johns at the white house. joe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. starting another day here with the white house once again reacting to events rather than directing them. the president last night huddling with his advisers in his office before issues a terse 57-word statement after the appointment of bob mueller. the highly regarded law enforcement figures to head the investigation of the russian meddling of the election. the white house issuing a statement from president trump responding to the appointment of the special counsel. the president says a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion with my campaign and any foreign entity.

rod rosenstein appointing robert mueller to oversee the investigation. rosenstein signing the order before an hearding jeff sessions and giving the white house an hour's notice before making it public. the announcement comes after mounting pressure from the deputy ag to appoint a special prosecutor after the 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. the move the white house opposed. >> no need for a prosecutor. you have two senate committees looking into this. 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 a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal

chain of command. the move follows back-to-back bombshells for president trump. including a damning memo from comey where he documented private conversations with president trump and which he says the president asked him to drop the investigation into fired national security adviser michael flynn just one day after flynn was terminated. and today, more bad news for the embattled administration. the new york times reporting that president trump new flynn was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist on behalf of the turkish interests weeks before the inauguration and named him as one of the top advisers giving him access to the nation's biggest secrets. another report by mcclatchy suggests that flynn stopped the plan turkey opposed. so what is the president really thinking about the appointment

of bob mueller as special counsel? no tweets so far this morning. we will see the president. he will be meeting with the president of colombia this afternoon and a news conference is scheduled. chris and brooke. >> joe johns, appreciate it. bob mueller as special counsel is drawing something unusual these days. praise from democrats and republicans and the intelligence community. if you look at it on its face, that is good development. sterling reputation matters and experience matters. where does this lead us? cnn's laura jarrett in washington with more. he is starting off with positive momentum. >> reporter: absolutely, chris. this person has a stellar reputation. widely respected within the fbi and justice department. he was first appointed to be the head of the fbi back in 2001 by president bush. just before 9/11. he is largely credited with rebuilding and transforming the

bureau after the attacks. mueller has bipartisan appeal. president obama asked him to stay on at the helm of the fbi two years beyond the normal ten-year term before james comey took over. most importantly, chris, he is supposed to have more autonomy to run the investigation than anyone else might have. the special counsel regulations say he shall not be subject to the day-to-day supervision of any official within the justice department. now rosenstein can however request an explanation for any investigation steps he may want to take. mueller will be required to prepare a confidential report to rosenstein at the end of the investigation and the decision to rethere's lease that is left department. >> what will the public know? that was part of the motivation to pick a special counsel. what will it mean? thank you for the reporting. let's bring in the panel. cnn national security analyst matthew rosenberg.

he broke the new york teams story of the trump transition team knowing general flynn was under investigation. we'll talk to him about that. thank you for being here. also joining us the host of cnn's smerconish. michael smerconish. and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. the man and the mandate. what does this move mean for the investigation? >> it means that mueller takes over any aspect of the investigation relating to criminal law and possible violations. you know, that doesn't just mean narrowly russia and possible collusion with the trump campaign. it means possible false statements made in the course of the investigation. certainly anything involving michael flynn and his activities and possibly and most importantly, financial matters relating to all of this which could include mueller subpoenaing the president's tax returns. >> is this just toobin

speculating? >> no. look at points two and three. any matter that arose or may arise directly from the investigation and then the omnibus catch-all. any other matters within the scope of 28 cfr section 600.4a. >> as we have learned from the special counsel in the past, they go off in new directions over the course of not months, but years. these investigations go on for a long time. most famously the whitewater investigation of ken starr into the monica lewinsky scandal. >> we have the response directly as it was dictated from the president to the senior staffers in the white house.

i quote, michael smerconish, as i have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. he says i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime, i will never stop fighting for the people and matters most importantly to the future of our country. is that something he should say? >> with regard to president trump, i thought it was a sober analysis from him. i'm more surprised, brooke, by the lack of tweeting which is in his best interest to treat this in a different manner than he treated any of this thus far. can i float the idea that perhaps this was rosenstein's reven revenge? the lack of head's up to the white house was proper. i cannot help but wonder if this is rod rosenstein getting back at the white house for having thrown him out there and that two and a half page memo on may

9th and allowing the president to say it is because of the rosenstein memo that i fired comey. that is not what the memo said. >> isn't it just as likely that rosenstein took the temperature of people at the doj and fbi and they all had eyes spinning in their head and how compromised this had become and political overlays there were and he wasn't in favor of this initially it seemed like the best course. especially when he could get mueller. >> i want to be clear. i like this course of action. give me credentials and credibility. i think we are headed in the right direction. chris, i entertain telephone calls from hundreds of people in the course of the week. one call stands out recently. brian in i don't thiyonkers who i don't know what to believe anymore. i'm thinking of him. i think he gets peace of mind that we have taken politics out of this.

>> okay. let's move on, matthew, for the reason we have you. the bombshell in your paper. trump team knew flynn was under investigation before he came to the white house. tell me what you learned. >> so we learned that michael flynn in the final months of the campaign without telling anyone, never registered, department tell trump. worked for turkey as a paid lobbyist through a third party company. after the inauguration, justice department started poking around on this. they realized wait. he was working for turkey without telling anyone. they started the investigation. on january 4th, flynn spoke with don mcgann, the chief lawyer. now the white house counsel. he said there is an investigation going on. the justice department is looking into it. january 6th, flynn's lawyer was told the same thing. you can go on and be the

national security adviser. the trump administration let him do this at the time he was under federal investigation. that gives you ready access to the president. gives you access to every american secret. it is a tremendous policy shaping planning role. you know going into office you have a guy under investigation. this isn't just a simple i failed to register investigation. those are weak investigations. they tend to be. what we also learned is a grand jury in the eastern district of virginia in alexandria that is investigating this. it is led by the veteran counter espionage prosecutor. that suggests the justice department thinks there is a serious case here. >> i have a question of the implications. matthew, we will come back to this. in terms of how the developments changes the political dynamic. mueller is in there and this is a good move. that is an unqualified benefit. hopefully this is contagious and

makes them think about ways they can all be on the same page. we all are looking forward to james comey testifying next week. tell us what was in the memo. why you wrote it. why you didn't tell the doj. nobody tried to impede your investigation. big questions. but might comey who has a good relationship with mueller go to mueller and say does it help or hurt and mueller may say hold off. >> will he do that? >> that is a good possibility. both mueller and comey served in the george w. bush administration after 9/11. enormously dramatic and important time. they were both involved in the confrontation with president bush about the famous hospital confrontation involving john ashcroft's bedside. they are close associates. comey undoubtedly will go to mueller and say do you want me to let you get your sea legs and

get up to speed before i go public with this very important part of your investigation. mueller may well say as prosecutors tend to say, don't go public. let me investigate for a while before you put this very important story out. >> does it cement, michael smerconish, his bona fide, as special counsel to take on comey of the vestiges of policy? >> i see little likelihood that comey goes forward with testimony next week. what it brings to my mind, you ask about the political ramifications. this is good news for republicans. as far as they go home to the districts and no one can demand what are you doing about the russia probe. similarly, democrats need to not overplay their hand and allow this to breathe and not

perceived as interrupting the normal course of the investigation by mueller. >> let me throw up one picture. matthew, chime in. we started seeing the cover of "time" magazine. it is the white house kind of becoming the kremlin. >> kremlin bleeding in. the red is supposed to suggest the bleeding in to the white house image. i don't know if you can see it. >> i can see it. >> your reporting is a little bit of the palate of paint to paint the portrait like this. what do you make of the suggestion in terms of what we know? >> everything looks bad. is this smoke? is this fire? i don't think we know that at all. you know, even if there were attempts by people in the campaign that were communicating with russian officials, how much they can do together? was this anything but ill

conceived let's try to plan something. i don't know. i don't think there is anybody out there who knows. this much we know. we have spoken to people who have seen a ton of intelligence who say look, there are things that look bad. can we prove them into court yet? no. i mean, i think there is something there. what is it? is it the kremlin taking over the white house? that seems fantastical. >> gentlemen, i appreciate it. thank you for all of the information this morning. just minutes, we will discuss the stories with the players down there in d.c. we have republicans and democrats. had not been easy to get the gop on the show. charlie dent. carlos curbelo and peter king. we have joe manchin and dick durbin. we also have madeleine albright.

i want to update you on a story we told you about yesterday. law enforcement sources tell cnn security personnel from turkey took part in the bloody attack on people protesting the country's president during the embassy in washington, d.c. the state department confirmed it and the outreach expressing concerns. the video shows a mix of turkish embassy staff and staff for erdogan of the violence. this comes as president trump hosted the turkish leader at the white house. >> this is a trick of diplomacy. he says yurnerdogan is a good m. reportedly some of his goons do this on american soil? what is next? up next, reaction by

congress about the special counsel. we will speak to both sides about mueller's appointment and what it means being on the same page moving forward in the house and senate investigations. [vo] one m life. intelligent technology can help protect it. the all-new audi q5 is here. i count on my dell small for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and

i get back to business. ♪ ♪

[vo] the grille is distinctive. but it's usually seen from the rear. the all-new audi q5 is here.

democrats and republicans showing rare agreement on the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel to lead the russia investigation. cnn's suzanne malveaux is live at the capitol with more. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. a rare moment for republicans and democrats to agree on something. they agree on this. this is all the way from people on the left like representative john conyers who says this is a serious investigation. and richard burr says this takes the political influence out of the investigation and equation. one reason they point to the person selected bob robert mueller who is well known on capitol hill. one that many journalists know

having covered 9/11 with bush and obama. this is someone that members of congress can go back to the constituents and say we will get to the bottom of it. >> he is as good as it gets. his credentials are impeccable. he has nothing to prove. he has been silent politically. it doesn't get better than robert mueller. >> many of us hoped he would be named as special counsel. >> reporter: this does not mean the other investigative bodies will not move forward. the fbi and inspector general and various agencies and committees. senate and house intelligence committees and senate judiciary committee and oversight as well. they will still try to get james comey before them over the memos. they do not think that will happen next week because much of the focus is going to be on the special prosecutor's investigation. chris. >> that's a strong point now. how will mueller appointment

affect comey coming forward and investigating. it is good to have democrats and republicans agreeing on anything. special counsel is a good move if you thought one was necessary. the question is how will this announcement affect what is going on in the investigations in the senate and house. joining us now is republican congress member charlie dent. he was not in favor of the special prosecutor, he says he does have confidence in mueller and supports his appointment. why the shift? you were against it. now you are for it. tell us why. >> thanks, chris, for having me on the program. i said last week after the firing of director comey that there was an inevitability of the investigation similar to 9/11 style. i select this appointment.

director mueller has impeccable credentials. this is the right thing to do. this will help the situation. you have been talking about how this effects the investigations. i did serve on the house ethics committee. i was chairman of the committee. i was involved with sensitive investigations and sometimes interaction with justice and sometimes congress is asked to defer an investigation to justice. i served as chairman and we often did that when the request was made. it remains to be seen how members of the intelligence committee will react to the request. i expect there may be entanglements. >> given the development, it is time to reset and get everybody on record where they stand. do you believe there are legitimate questions to investigate about russia's interference and potential collusion with members of the trump campaign team/staff? >> yes. no question in my view that the russians meddled in the

election. that is well established. i don't think anybody is debating that. they were trying to harm one candidate more than the other. meddling in our elections, but france and germany and russia is a threat. they are a hostile actor. we need to get the facts and get to the truth and let the chips fall where they may. there is no question the russians have misbehaved here. >> i asked about a second perspective. any questions or issues arise of potential combination or connections or communications or potentially collusion with russian actors and members of the trump team or campaign staff. do you believe that is a worthy pursuit? >> i believe that is why we are having the investigation to find out if there was collusion. i hope there wasn't any. if there is, there will be serious consequences. >> you don't think it is a hoax? you don't think it is a plan launched by democrats to sabotage the president, do you? >> no. it is very clear to me that

there is concern. you know, we heard discussion about michael flynn as the discussion. we have to investigate to find out if there was collusion. i'm not aware of any at this moment. that is the point of the investigation. >> the reason i ask is even though we have had a lot of i incendiary and questionable moves. certain leadership came out and stood up to talk about what was happening with the president. why were you so slow to check the power of the president in the recent regard? >> i cannot speak for anyone else. i can only speak for myself. i have been critical of the president at times. i criticized his travel ban the day it was ordered. i had disagreements with the president on health care and other issues. last week, i said there was inevitability to some type of an

independent investigation. these events are moving quickly, chris. let's face it. revealing classified material with the russian foreign minister and ambassador and comey memos and the president and director comey may have said to each other. it is exhausting and time consumi consuming. we have work to do and we need to move forward and let the investigation proceed and congress needs to get about its work of dealing with tax reform and infrastructure. we have to fund the government. we have things to do here. >> absolutely. the question is why is this happening. this is self inflicted from the white house all the way up to the president. this is not about the media trying to distract from work of government. the facts are clear. the most recent reporting is the white house knew that flynn was under investigation. they had been warpned by the president and acting ag and flynn himself. they still signed him up as nsa

and pretended nothing was going on for 18 days after a severe warning from the acting ag. that's about them. not coverage of that move, right? >> look, that is a failure of vetting and failure of judgment. certainly a lot of questions about general flynn's suitability for the position even before the revelation of the turkish connection. i cannot defend that. it is a terrible failure of judgment and vetting. >> what is your -- last question. what is your take on the washington post reporting that kevin mccarthy. he comes out of the meeting with the ukraine official. saying i think putin pays trup.z joke or otherwise? >> i know kevin well. he can make comments. there are a lot of serious issues here. that is not one of them. >> ryan telling people to keep

quiet. >> i know kevin. he is a funny guy, to be honest. i think he like many will make a facietious comment. i will have a conversation with kevin about it. there are bigger issues here that we are dealing with. i don't think that is one of them. >> here is what we know on the positive side of the ledger. to get you and the democrats agreeing anything is good is unusual. hopefully it is contagious and leads to work on policy measures for the american people. congress member dent. thank you for coming on. >> thank you, chris. >> brooke. >> deputy attorney general rod rosenstein will brief the full senate on the russia investigation and comey's firing after naming a special counsel. democratic senator joe manchin joins us live next. els have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast,

for fast pain relief. tylenol®

♪ you might not ever just stand there, looking at it. you may never even sit in the back seat. yeah, but maybe you should. ♪ (laughter) ♪

big day. word of a special counsel appointed by the deputy attorney general and rod rosenstein will brief the senate behind closed doors. he will do that with the house tomorrow. you have bob mueller former head of the fbi named special counsel. what will that mean and what are the democrats going to want from him and from rosenstein today? big questions. we have just the man to answer. senator joe manchin of west virginia. he is a member of the senate

intel committee which is conducting the probe into the russian role of the 2016 election. senator, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me, chris. >> special counsel. good move? robert mueller is the right choice? >> it sounds like the right move and choice to put confidence back. someone was saying winston churchill was saying america will do everything right after they try all else. special prosecutor will do his job. we will see where it goes. we will make sure we uncover and have transparency. let the intel take you to the facts and facts will take you to the truth. >> it is good to have republicans and democrats agreeing on anything let alone something sensitive as this. if there is not consensus about the move, there is consensus of

the man. the move is suggestive of reality. mandate of a special counsel as you know and the american people will learn is because there is a perceived difficulty in doing it through the normal challenge. there is a concern about conflict and interference from the normal channels. in this case, that seems to mean what we have seen with the former fbi director all the way up to the president. there have been efforts if not inclinations to affect the investigation. do you believe that is reality? >> almost certainly. i think there has been serious allegations made and speculat n speculations and you know the town of washington is full of gossip. chris, the american people have to understand the rule of law is something different from any other nation. no one is above it from the president to the person down to having no connection or ties or authority or no power that you think. they still have the power of the

rule of law. that is special. with that being said, as administration, i think they would want to clear this up. i want to make sure this administration and our president can move forward and govern our great nation. that's what needs to be done. if they can't and that can't continue on in an orderly transition of how we do our job every day, you make adjustments. i think you will see things start moving. we have to get the fbi director. we have to see how that plays out. that will be an interesting process. mr. rosenstein stepped to the plate. there will be a lot of questions today. a lot of democrats i heard in caucus and republicans too, why was the letter that was written in the defense of firing comey and his thought process will be very, very watched upon and eager to hear his explanation. it will be a great day for us to get answers. >> what do you want? >> i want to hear why he took

the position he took in justifying comey's firing. everything i heard about comey, he was not a hot dog or glory hound or anything people said. he was ultimate professional. with that being said and looking back at what we have done, why did mr. rosenstein write such a letter justifying why he had to get rid of him. if i had been elected president, the day i was elected and sworn in, i would have brought comey in my office. i would say you have an impeccable record, but your services are no longer needed. hindsight being 20/20, you move forward. why was he kept on until he lost favor? a lot going on we want to talk about. i have known general flynn. we worked with him on armed services. he is an upstanding guy. why he seems to have gone off the rails i don't know.

a lot of questions have to be answered. we will ask those questions. we will be interested in finding out the facts. >> so what do you do? rosenstein comes in and tells you they asked me to do it. plenty of stink on comey. i wrote it up how i felt. i was asked. this is what sessions wanted and the president wanted. that leads you to conclusion that the president was actually telling us the truth in that interview. he did not want comey there not because of the hillary clinton stuff, but because of the russia stuff. he thinks it is a hoax. comey seemed to be more emboldened on that. he got rid of him. if that is the conclusion, what do you do dabout it? >> if that is the conclusion and rosenstein is the lead person we have after attorney general sessions stepped aside which i thought was right for sessions to do because of his interaction

with michael flynn over the campaign. it makes it troubling. then people have doubts. can we really truly get an honest answer and get to the facts? we will find out. that's contradicting what he did last night, chris. >> that's understood. or is it reaction to what happened with the memo to assert independence. you will know better when you meet with him. another what if. what if the times reporting is an accurate window into the dynamics surroun s surrounding the nsa and then acting aga yates? then flynn told the white house counsel and others he was under investigation and yet nothing was done in the negative. in fact, they made him the nsa anyway. >> i can't explain it. that is troubling. as a member of the intelligence committee, i want those answers.

our staff has been interviewing and talking to people in that chain of information if you will. we will get clear to the top of it. you know, the thing we need to find out, chris, has our country or person had ties to the white house or president has been breached or compromised? should we be concerned about the interests of the united states of america that we all take an oath to protect under all circumstances? has that been breached? with that, there will be serious punishment toward those people if they had done that. if not, this is not a witch hunt. the democrats from my standpoint, i am not on a wit witchhunt. i am on a fact finding mission. i need to get facts to make decisions. we will corroborate with the

special prosecutor mueller. we will work hand-in-hand and do whatever possible to help and assist. he will run his own investigation. we will do ours. we will have to see at the end to make sure we get to conclusion that the american people have transparency and trust in the decisions we will make. >> now comes the wild card. people who are questioning this move. it is all about independence because of what seems to be apparent undue influence by the white house even in the form of the president when it comes to the russian investigation. he just tweeted. here's what he said. with all of the illegal acts that took place in the clinton campaign and obama administration, there was never a special counsel appointed. what does this response tell you about the president's respect for what is going on right now with this special counsel choice even if it is bob mueller?

>> well, i'm not going to speak on why the congress did not have a special counsel or special prosecutor on the two issues you just mentioned. this, i never heard of us being entwined with russia or any other foreign government to the level this accusation is being made. i think people are concerned and it needs to be cleared up. it will not go away. with that, then why don't we continue on? this appointment and this decision was made by mr. rosenstein. this was made by this administration and appointments they made. so i think it bodes well to say we are not afraid to look at this whole thing to unveil it and look at the transparency and making sure we allow the american public to see what we have seen and find out the facts we have found out and basically

to move on and do the job we need to do. we are talking about tax reform and we're talking about health care. these are serious things we have to address sooner or later, chris. the sooner we get on with this and completed and move on, whatever happens, happens, we can do our job. >> all right. senator joe manchin, i appreciate you being on the show. >> interesting time. stay tuned. >> that's a word for it. brook sd brooke. >> we are all are. gentlemen, thank you. it may be spring, but feels like summer in the east. today could be a record breaker. chad myers has the sweltering forecast next. you don't let anything

keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. time for the five things you need to know for your "new day." rod rosenstein naming robert mueller as the special counsel in the russia investigation.

the new york times reporting president trump knew weeks before inauguration that michael flynn was under federal investigation. despite that, he made him the advisor. and the not guilty verdict in the police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man. betty shelby in the death of terence crutcher. 13 gang members in los angeles were arrested. more than 50 raids targeted the gangs leadership. and the music world mourning after chris cornell, the lead singer of soundgarden died in detroit. he was 52. >> want more on the five things to know? go to cnn.com for the latest. it could be a

record-breaking heat in the east. we have meteorologist chad myers with >> thanks for pulling double duty today. 93 today in new york city and a 30 inch snowfall in colorado. in the middle is where the severe weather will be. there will be ef 3, 4 and 5 tornadoes. this is a high risk day. we get three of these days a year. this is a big one. if you are in oklahoma, kansas, tx, maybe toward nebraska, this is where they will be today. they will be big, chris. all the way in this area that's red. that's the danger zone today. we talk about this type of weather three times a year. this is a big day. >> and god willing, it will be a nonevent for the folks out

there. up next, will controversies here at home follow president trump on his overseas trip. is he ready for this trip? we asked a former secretary of state to weigh in. madeleine albright is here next. >> your new day weather is brought to you by consumer cellular. never pay for more wireless service than you need.

the appointment of a special counsel and the president's apparent reaction to it. how do you see these situations? >> well, i think it is a very good appointment, and i'm glad that it was done and the president's reaction to it is actually ridiculous because he is demeaning something that could, in fact, help solve a lot of situations and i think it is typical of his approach to the way he sees things that he is concerned about might affect his own posture. so i think it is unfortunate. he could have welcomed it. >> you say his response is ridiculous. my question is simple. if you have nothing to hide, then why not welcome this notion of having an independent special prosecutor looking into something. >> well exactly. i think he should have done that. but his initial reaction is always to see the wrong side. that is what troubles me. he is somebody that sees something in a very legitimate

approach as something that is against him and he could in fact welcome it. >> he just tweeted. not about you, secretary. don't worry about that. this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in american history. what is the benefit here? obviously there is the whole he doth protest too much aspect of this. but putting this to the side, as a political calculation, as he's heading to his first foreign trip, how he deals with adversity, what is your advice for the president with tweets like this, secretary? >> i am always amazed everything he does has to be the greatest. yesterday when he was talking to the coast guard academy, his things about him, the greatest problems in american history and now everything is the greatest. i think he needs to keep his mind on what is going to be i think a very important trip in terms of going to the middle east, spending time in saudi

arabia talking to the palestinians, going to see the pope, then go to nato and the g-7. what could possibly go wrong? he has to keep his mind on what he's doing. he represents the united states. and i hope, even though we seem to be setting a low bar for this trip, i hope there is not one single tweet about anything during the nine days that he's gone. >> so you have lowered the bar. we know just this past week this white house had to correct it ander erroneously stated the western wall was in the west bank. we know he's giving a speech to saudi arabia talking about islam. he appointed jared kushner to solve middle east peace. what keeps you up at night with regard to this president? >> i think having worked for two other presidents, they actually

worked very hard and were briefed in detail for trips like this. by the way, every presidential trip is complicated. you have to have some deliverables. it is an action enforcing mechanism for the government. and what keeps me up at night is that in fact this president is not well enough prepared to deal with the myriad of issues out there which are very complicated. what keeps me up at night is there is no a full team that is working at the state department that -- and all the questions about what is happening inside the white house. that's what worries me because there is an awful lot happening and we have a president that doesn't seem to do his homework. >> i remember when president obama went abroad to egypt, cairo. there was a major speech to the muslim world. i went there to cover it. and i remember for all the thought and all the scholarship

that went that speech it was still a die sis proposition. and now we have president trump with all the baggage he brings with him to saudi arabia where he has accused the entire faith of having something wrong with it, he is giving a speech written by steven miller, a man not regarded for high credentials in this regard. what is your advice for what should and should not be said. >> i think it is going to be very complicated because there will be many muslim leaders. what is president is the president of sudan, who is a war criminal has been invited. i do think this has to be a very carefully crafted speech because people believe based on his actions that the president is opposed to muslims. so the question is how he deals with that. also, whether he has any understanding of what islam is about, that there are a variety -- most americans didn't

know enough and the differences between the shia and suni. so it couldn't be more complicated and it requires deftness, which doesn't seem to be the main characteristic of president trump. >> you have a splendid eagle on your lapel this morning representing our freedom as a similar poll in the world as the trip starts. please come back and give us your take on it. >> definitely will. let's just not have a low bar. this is an important trip. >> thank you very much. we will see. now, already we have seen the president is tweeting. he has a very harsh reaction to the special docounsel. what is it? let's get after it. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning. welcome to your new day. it is thursday, may 18th, 8:00

in the east. brook baldwin joins me. president trump ending his short lived twitter hiatus, blasting the russia investigation, blasting the appointment of a special council as the greatest witch hunt in american history. this move by rosenstein, the man that the president said he respected so much that he took his advice in getting rid of jim comey, agreed upon by democrats and republicans, when is the last time that happened, now being trashed by the president. of course the former fbi director is the choice to look into the questions surrounding russia's interference. >> you have these three separate congressional committees who want james comey to testify about what president trump told him, essentially making him the most wanted man in washington. and several new reports about michael flynn adding to the crisis facing this trump administration. we have it all covered for