before. on my first trip overseas i have comment to this ancient land to reaffirm the enduring friendship between the united states and the state of israel, and it will always be enduring. and that's number one to me. we are not only long time friends, we are great allies and partners. we stand together always. this moment in history calls for us to strengthen our cooperation as both israel and america face common threats from isis and other terrorist groups to countries like iran, that sponsor terrorism and fund and foment terrible violence, not only here, but all over the world. together, we can work to end the scourge of violence that has taken so many lives here in israel, and around the world.

most importantly, the united states and israel can declare with one voice that iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon, never, ever, and must cease its deadly funding, training, and equipping of terrorists, and militias, and must cease immediately. on those issues, there's a strong consensus among the nations of the world, including many in the muslim world. i was deeply encouraged about d conversations with muslim world leaders in saudi arabia, including king salmon, who i spoke to at great length. king salmon feels strongly and would love to see peace between

israel and the palestinians. many would like to end terrorism and the spread of redicalization. many muslim nations have already taken steps to begin following through on this commitment. there is a growing realization monday your arab neighbors that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by iran, and it is indeed a dead. there's no question about that. i thank both you and prime minister netanyahu for your commitment to achieving peace between the israelis and the palestinians. i also look forward to discussing the peace process with palestinian president abbas. young israeli and palestinian children deserve to grow up in safety and to follow their dreams free from the violence that has destroyed so many

lives. the united states and israel can also bring safety and greater prosperity to our people through stronger ties of trade and commerce, already our two countries do a great deal of business together. we have a strong foundation on which to build an even closer trading relationship that benefits both of our countries. i'm going to try and narrow that trade deficit just a little bit. is that okay? huh? he doesn't mind. he wants to keep it the way it is, i understand. today we have so many incredible opportunities before us, and my hope for this visit is that we seize every single one of them. i am thrilled to be here on behalf of the american people. i know israel and america share the same goals, and i have great confidence that we can achieve tremendous success together. we can achieve all of our goals

together. president rivlin, i look forward to working with you and to seeing more of the sacred land and getting to spend time with the remarkable people of israel. thank you very much. thank you. [ applause ] >> all right, listening there to president trump speaking with israel's president rivlin there in these prepared remarks. we have a copy of these prepared remarks so we were able to follow along and see truly historic things that president trump is bringing with him to israel and saying and the new policies that he wants to establish in terms of a relationship with israel. let's bring in our panel to discuss it all. we have cnn white house correspondent sarah murray live in jerusalem, political analyst david gregory, tony blinken and senior fellow farah pandiff.

great to have all of your perspectives. david gregory tell us what you heard there. >> a couple of significant things we should address this morning. the fact that president trump is making israel and the middle east such a priority so early in his administration represents a major shift, and in this case with regard to the relationship with israel, this shift is toward israel's way of thinking about national security, is it a shift toward not only israel, but to sunni states who consider iran an enemy. and it is a marked contrast from the work of the obama administration, which sought to negotiate and did negotiate with iran a nuclear deal that prime minister benjamin netanyahu opposed at every possible turn, and trump agrees with that, even though he has kept the agreement in place, he is coming out here this morning with the israeli president saying that iran

cannot have a nuclear weapon, so i think strategically, the president is signaling to israel and to sunni allies in the middle east, that there is a different emphasis in terms of national security and america's foreign policy that's much more in line with the thinking of the israeli prime minister. it harkens back to me to the immediate 9/11 post-9/11 period when the bush administration got very close to the administration of prime minister ariel sharon. >> when you plant trees in israel it's greater significance, the planting of trees and making the desert green over the last 100 years is something that's been very important to the israeli people, now president donald trump has a tree of his own in the holy land. tony blinken, david gregory brought up the issue of iran. the president's remarks with reuven rivlin, the israeli president were very brief. within the very brief remarks the focus on iran was

proportionate. iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon, must cease its funding and training of terrorists and militias. if there's one message, one thread of the president's advisity so far, whether it be to saudi arabia, his speech to the sunni leaders in this stop in israel, it is making iran the common enemy. >> john, you know, you're exactly right and this is the common denominator the president is trying to find with the arab states and with israel. it's ironic, because he really dug into that line about iran never getting a nuclear weapon. the nuclear agreement reached by president obama is exactly that, and it's an agreement that president trump has maligned but it does more than anything we've been able to do to put far into the future of prospect of iran getting enough materiel for a nuclear weapon. everyone is united around that principle and there's a lot to be done to push back against iran's objectionable activities,

whether it's support for terrorism, destabilizing activities in various countries. there's a danger of overcalibrating and overcorrecting oen this. iran just had a remarkable election and despite all of the manifest imperfections of that election in the system, nonethele nonetheless, the candidate who is the most pragmatic, the one who wants to open iran to the world and if he's going to do that, to behave a little bit more responsibly around the world, rouhani, won a resounding victory. there is change in iran. there's demographic change. there's societal change. young people want to be connected to the world. we have to walk a very fine line between on the one hand making sure we are pushing back against iran's objectionable activities but not closing the door on a relationship as this country evolves, because that will only reinforce all of the hard liners in the country who want to keep iran stuck in the past. that's the line the president has to walk, and it's difficult to do that, if you're actually putting all of your focus on bringing people together in this

crusade against iran. >> there you go. it seems it's very clear, farah, which side of the line president trump is on. i mean, in his speech he just said there was a growing real decision among your arab neighbors, he told israel, that they have common cause with you in the threat posed about i by ran and as tony says, this moment is an interesting and ironic time to say that, because here is this more moderate, more modern president rouhani, who has just been elected, so what's the calculus here? >> you know, i think you have to put these two speeches side by side. what he said yesterday and n saudi arabia and what he said today in israel, each of these speeches are careful, they're measured, they're calculated, and they're sensitive to the audiences he's speaking to. yesterday when the president spoke to the room of more than 50 leaders from muslim majority nations, he was very specifically speaking about the

ideology, that underpins extremism, and i think that was really important for us to hear, both in the room, and here in america. but backing up that kind of proclamation that he finds it very important that we debunk the narratives of the extremists, he talked about wanting to learn lessons of the extremism, and he also talked about the need to have muslim voices speak out against the terrorist organizations, connects very nicely to what he's trying to do on this speech. today, as he just delivered this speech about how he looked at the region, my thought was really about how the words that he's saying obviously are speaking to not just israel, but it's speaking to the global population of where this administration is positioning itself around all these issues, and i would like to see a change in the credibility gap that he has right now, when he's

speaking to muslims around the world to do more to fight extremis extremism. this president needs to follow up his words with action, and if he is learning from the issues of extremism over the course of the last 15 years, as he said in his speech yesterday, we need to see both here at home and abroad the change and n sentiment around the push of hate speech that's gone forward, a debunking of this idea that we can have an us and them, and most particularly, alisyn, when he gave this speech in saudi arabia i'd like to see him make a deal with the saudis that's good for america, which means to stop the incitement of hate, and anti-semitism is very much a part of that. >> we saw the motorcade leave. they are headed to the old city of jerusalem and sarah murray, white house correspondent with us as well, farah was saying so far the remarks are careful and deliberate. the next part of the president's

itinerary is risky in the sense that he is visiting sites no sitting u.s. president has ever visited before. >> yes, and it's going to be interesting to see how -- >> that's right and there's a reason for that. >> go ahead, sara murray. >> reporter: yes, i mean he's visiting more sensitive territories, first stop expecting to be the church of the holy sepulchre, perhaps the holiest site in christianity and the western wall. an american president has never visited before as a sitting president. it's an area of contention as to whether it is in israel, that's something we saw the president's advisers stumble over in the weeks leading up to this trip, saying only that the western wall is in jerusalem. we know that prime minister benjamin netanyahu wanted to accompany president trump on his visit to the wall, and advisers to the president sort of let that go by. they wanted it to be more of a religious trip.

they didn't want to use it to make a political statement, but as you can see, just by that, it's certainly going to be a visit that's fraught. after he leaves the western wall, he will be meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. they're also supposed to dine this evening with the first lady and the prime minister's wife, but i think what you saw sort of earlier from the president in his prepared remarks is laying the groundwork for trying to move forward with a mideast peace deal. i imagine he's going to take a similar tone tomorrow, when he meets with president abbas in the palestinian authority. >> and david gregory, we just can't overstate the significance of these images we're about to see of the church of the holy sepulchre and the wailing wall and the president visiting that and all that that, all the message and weight that that contains. >> politically and more importantly religiously. i covered president bush, whose trip to the holy land was made very much as he said at the time as a pilgrim, and this is a pilgrimage for president trump as well, because it is

politically fraught. he's not going there with the israeli prime minister. he's not trying to trample upon what is official u.s. policy, not to talk about jerusalem owned or part of israel because it is a dispute. there is a timing and religious issue. this is in hebrew [ speaking in foreign language ] the 50th anniversary of the reunification so it marks the time israeli forces recaptured the western wall, which is the westernmost wall of the second temple, where ancient jews would go to offer acsfis asacrifice a high priests would enter into the holy of the holys for official sacramental reasons. that was destroyed. the jews were exiled into babylon and ultimately the second temple destroyed later by the romans. this is the heartbeat of judaism

in the world. jews pray at the wall, but we pray toward ju ruse lem. psalm 137 talks about jews in excite. if we ever forget you, jerusalem, should my right hand wither. it's important religiously and sends a powerful message to jews around the world and also to evangelical christians who are an important part of the president's base for some unity is important to them religiously and church of the holy sepulchre where jesus is said to be crucified underscores why it is an ancient and holy and contested city because of those holy sites, and the president is wading into all of that to send a very powerful message. just the political point to go to the western wall is to suggest the importance of the jewish character of jerusalem,

the importance of jerusalem to israel, that's a powerful message to the israeli state. >> we shouldn't overlook the fact that the walk from the church of the holy sepulchre is ten minutes to the western wall, ten minutes, 500 meters, on top of the western wall the mosque, the third holiest site in all of islam, the proximity of all these sites help explain why there is such a contest in that region. tony blinken, as you look at live pictures inside the old city, as they await for the president's arrival, your final thoughts here? >> look, i think the president's right to plunge into this, and it's fraught with peril. past presidents have tried, and failed, but he's right to try and to invest the united states in this effort to bring peace. but we shouldn't expect any quick results from this. the parties are so incredibly divided, the gulf between them is huge, on the final status issues particularly on borders, on security, on refugee, on

jerusalem. i think what the president is trying to do, he understands israel and history and to build confidence. at the end of the day the israelis have to take risks for peace. he has to kons vinconvince them that and find a coherent palestinian partner. none of that is easy. if you can get people talking again that's better than the alternative. >> can i raise whatever point quickly. talk about being fraught. the president's going to the part of the the western wall where only men can pray. there is another side where women are alloweded to pray, and women have been challenging that within the reform movement of judaism. they thought they had a deal for women to be able to access a critical part of the western wall. that deal has fall an part, so even that piece of it, the president is walking into going to a part of the wall, and this is controversial among jews, that only men can go pray where the president will insert a node today. >> thank you for all of that

perspective. very important to keep all of this in mind as we watch the unfolding events there in israel. so we will have much more on president trump's visit, this historic visit to jerusalem. he and the first lady are headed to the old city, he will visit the church of the holy sepulchre as well as the western wall, we'll bring all of that to you live. >> this is a chance for the president to refocus from what has been real problems here in the united states, where he cannot shake the russia investigation, fired fbi director james comey expected to testify, maybe one week from now. we'll speak with former cia and nsa director michael hayden about the fallout, next. nally 'e aleve direct therapy®. a tens device with high intensity power that uses technology once only available in doctors' offices for deep penetrating relief at the source. aleve direct therapy.

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president trump is in jerusalem headed to the church of the holy sepulchre. back in the united states the president having a hard time escaping the cloud of the russia investigation. the administration is not denying that president trump discussed firing comey with two russian diplomats that he was meeting with inside the white house. joining us is general michael hayden, former cia and nsa director. thanks so much for being with s us. it fascinating that the president and his staff not denying the "new york times" report last friday he called former fbi director james comey a nut job and says the firing

relieved pressure on the president. start with the appropriateness of such things. >> john on so many levels that would be inappropriate. you should not talk about your own government, your over governance with a foreign official that way, and i certainly wouldn't trash talk about a former director of the fbi in the front of a foreign official like lavrov, and kislyak. isn't it amazing the contrast between how carefully crafted the last two days have been in saudi arabia and in jerusalem, compared to that absolutely horrific meeting last week with the russians in the oval office on practically every level. >> general, as you know, he also reportedly divulged classified, sensitive information to those russians. what do you think about that? where does that go? >> look at the line-up. the fact of the meeting was

problematic. the photographs weren't supposed to happen. he apparently divulged someone else's classified information and the trash talk about the director of the fbi. it all creates this sense of less than competent administration contrasted frankly with what happened over the past 48 hours. with regard to the narrow question, the reviewing of the information to the russians. number one legally the president has total authority to do that. the problem you now have is it wasn't ours in the if, plafirst. we have to make nice with the foreign service or services whose information that was. that's not a light lift, but it is a manageable lift, given that in all of our relationships, most nations get a great deal more from us than they give to us. they'll swallow hard and accept our apology. >> we're looking at live

pictures from the old city of jerusalem, expecting general trump to arrive any minute. fired fbi director james comey will testify before the senate intelligence committee as soon as next week after memorial day. you've been a former government official testifying on capitol hill. i can't imagine you've been in the situation the likes the former fbi director will find himself in. how far do you think he will go in his testimony next week? >> i don't know, that's a great question. this will be must see tv to see what jim feels appropriate for him to reveal in open session. certainly he's been badly treated by the president personally, so there may be motivation to let himselfen for forthcoming than he worth side might be. out of my personal experience, i know that jim comy takes notes after meetings so he's going to have a body of documents that he can fall back on should he want

to reveal these kinds of things. >> is there any way robert mueller prevents james comey from testifying in this open session, now that mueller has taken the helm of this, is there any reason he'd not want to have james comey go in front of everyone and speak? >> great question, alisyn. there probably are reasons bob mueller want to limit this to not sully the actual investigation, and keep in mind, these men are very close friends. they have a personal relationship. so i think director comey will be responsive to what former director mueller says. on the same hand, though, director mueller in friendship with director comey, might want to give him some head room to defend himself against some pretty ugly accusations that the president has made. >> that's the real question here. how far will the former director go in defending himself? are there any restrictions as to

what he can discuss? >> well, certainly in open session he has the classification problem. you probably do have and director comey even in these circumstances has to respect the office of the president. i think there will be some limits but at the end of this, john, we'll know more about this relationship than we did going to in. >> comey is well-known for taking contemporaneous notes, an inveterate note taker. that's his version of events, just as he remembers it or how he wanted to preserve it. so how much stock will investigators put in those notes? >> well, alisyn to be perfectly candid as a legal matter, contemporaneous notes give you more throw weight than your memory and second i have to be candid. the president's relationship with the truth has been strained at times and so i think there

will be an instinct that all tie also go to the fbi director, and before we forget, folks, this week john brennan is going to testify in open session in nt from of the intelligence committee, so we'll probably learn a lot more about the first thing we're looking at here, which is the russian involvement in the american electoral process. >> you have a he said/he said setup where fbi director james comey will be pressed at a minimum by the democrats there to directly contradict things that president trump has said. do you think he'll jump at that chance or do you think he'll be more reserved? >> i think he's going there, he doesn't have to go at all. he's going there voluntarily. clearly he has some things that he wants to say, director comey, i've known him personally is a very careful man and he does have respect for the office of the president, so he'll be looking for that sweet spot there, where i think can he defe he can defend his bureau and himself against some of the charges made.

>> general always great to talk to you. thank you for walking us through this. >> thank you. israeli leaders are touting president trump's historic first visit and the unbreakable bond as they call it between the two nations. so you are watching here live pictures, the president is traveling to the old city of jerusalem. he will visit the western wall, which is just rife with all sorts of connotations and significance, so we're watching it all for you and we'll bring it to you live. author and former senator george mitchell will join us as well.

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we've been following this all morning long for you, this is the pat rifg at tresident are church of the holy sepulchre. this is one of the most important places in all of christianity. he will go from one of christianity's most holy sites, he will walk then to the western wall, and that is the holiest site in all of judaism. so joining us now to help us understand the significance of this visit and these sites is former senator george mitchell. he was the special u.s. envoy to

the middle east under president obama. he's also the author of "a path to peace: a brief history of israe israeli/palestinian negotiations and a way forward in the middle east." senator, i can't imagine a better guest to help us understand the significance of this. tell us what you see as you watch these live pictures. >> i think it's important that an effort be made and i commend the president and administration for doing so. historically when there has been no movement, any effort at all toward a peace process, the possibility of violence rises. it's volatile. the immediate prospects are not great given the high level of hostility, the deep differences between the two societies and two leaders. the effort is important and at some point i think israelis and palestinians will see their best interests enables the

palestinians to get a state and the people of israel to have reasonable, stepable security. >> we do want to talk to you about your suggestions and ideas for the peace process, there you see jared kushner interestingly in the foreground there, he is the person the president is tasking with trying to bring mizzle east peace to become a reality, but first i want to bring in david gregory, who has been watching this visit with us all morning. tell us the significance of the location of where the president and first lady are right now. >> this is the church of the holy sepulchre, refers to the tomb of jesus christ. this is where the gospels tell us principally the gospel of matthew jesus was crucified and body buried in final rest. as all things are in jerusalem it's a political place, too, in that the administration of the church is shared between the greek orthodox and the armenians. there have been actual fist

fights over administration of what is now the church that evolved over time. in the history of christianity in the holy land, it's quite interesting that what christians have done over time in holy places they build churches, so the sites of churches are usually where archaeologists, biblical archaeologists have gone to uncover why they are holy, and so this of course goes back thousands of years to understand the first finding of evidence that this was the site of the crucifixion and ultimately the tomb of jesus and then the church was by constantine later built and enlarged over the years. i think it's quite significant as senator mitchell talks about the prospects for peace that you have an american president who is taking the time to walk the very delicate, religious line, to signal to the faithful around the world that he's going to come as a pilgrim to pay respects and to show honor for a

place that visitors from around the globe, christians, jews and muslims, come to this city to walk their sacred text, and so the holy sepulchre is a place that christian pilgrims will come literally to walk the gospels, and to try to better connect with the ministry and life of jesus christ. so it's a very powerful symbol that he's sending, and later on when he goes to the western wall, another symbol that we can talk about with regard to jews. >> it's so interesting the juxtaposition to look back at the history, millennia here, how it's steeped obviously these sites are just so laden with all of the significance and the history and then the modern day challenges, and senator mitchell, is this a moment, do you believe, where there is a window of opportunity for whatever reason for middle east peace, after obviously so many administrations as you can

attest to, have tried? >> there's no obvious reason to believe that the president will be able to pull the parties together, although circumstances have changed significantly in the few years since i was there on behalf of president obama which may operate to the advantage of the president seeking an agreement. first, as evidenced by the president's visit to saudi arabia yesterday, many of the gulf arabs have increasingly awakened to the reality that their real challenge comes not from israel but rather from iran, and the prospects of their uniting to do something to try to reduce their differences with israel, to join in a regional agreement in opposition to iran's drive for hegemony in the reason creates opportunity. on the other hand the differences between israelis and palestinians are as wide and deep as ever and a high level of mistrust and hostility not just

between the peoples but between the two leaders themselves. when president abbas met with prime minister netanyahu in 2010, i was present in the room with them, along with then secretary of state clinton, and rather than their gaining traction toward moving toward, the meetings tended to validate their negative assessments of each other. they were very difficult meetings and didn't make any progress at all, and ended rather quickly. so all of that still remains but no t nonetheless you have to try because it is important for the region, for the interests of the united states, and in terms of reducing the possibility of violence, particularly given the tremendous level of violence all around the area. you can't isolate israeli/palestinian relations from the region in which they're located, and it can affect, each can affect one another. >> you brought up iran and i want to read to you what the president just said about iran,

in his public address. he was with the president of israel and he says, there's a growing realization among your arab neighbors that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by iran. so obviously israel welcomed that statement, but this is the same moment that iran has just reelected president rouhani, who is seen as more moderate and more modern certainly than some alternatives or predecessors. so explain what the calculus is on isolating iran. >> well, there's a long history of hostility between arabs and persians, iranians and of course between sunni and shia. so there is a natural enmity and hostility that goes back a very long way between all of the gulf arabs, led by saudi arabia, and the iranians. now, the arabs and particularly the saudis are obviously deeply

disappointed that president trump did not carry through on his often stated promise that he's going to tear up the iran agreement on his first day in office. he's obviously recognized that doesn't make any sense, and we're going forward with the agreement, but they'll swallow that, because they like the anti-iran rhetoric that he engages in, and the lack of any interest in a rapprochement or better relations with iran. at the same time, it's very clear from the election in iran that the vast majority of people there want good relations with the united states, and the west. and that's where we should be pushing, i think. >> senator george mitchell, thank you for all of your expertise and sharing it with us on "new day" this morning. >> thank you. >> john? as we speak, the president visiting some of the holiest sites on earth. right now he is inside the church of the holy sepulchre. of course, the site where jesus was crucified. shortly he'll visit the western wall. what message does this send to

the world? fareed zakaria joins us to give us the bottom line, coming up. you do all this research on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to

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time for the five things to

know for your new kay. president trump is in jerusalem visiting the church of the holy sepulchre before touring the western wall. he becomes the first sitting u.s. president to visit that wall. here in the united states the white house is set to present its budget plan this week. cnn learned the blueprint calls for an $800 billion cut in medicaid. fired fbi director james comey set to testify before the senate intel committee as the trump administration avoids denying i think that's a double negative that the president discussed firing comey with two russian diplomats in the white house. former "today" show host billy bush breaking his silence about the donald trump "access hollywood" tape that got him fired seven months ago. he tells the hollywood reporter he wishes he changed the topic but didn't have the strength of character at the time. ringling brothers barnum & bailey circus is folding its tent after a 146-year run. protests over animal treatment along with slumps sales led to last night's final show in

uniondale, new york. >> end of an era. president trump reaffirming america's friendship with israel and taking aim at iran. all of this is coming up. ompany. i had some severe fatigue, some funny rashes. finally, listening to my wife, went to a doctor. and i became diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma ...that diagnosis was tough. i had to put my trust in somebody. when i first met steve, we recommended chemotherapy, and then we did high dose therapy and then autologous stem cell transplant. unfortunately, he went on to have progressive disease i thought that he would be a good candidate for immune therapy. it's an intravenous medicine that is going to make his immune system evade the tumor. with chemotherapy, i felt rough, fatigue, nauseous. and with immune therapy we've had such a positive result. i'm back to working hard. i've honestly never felt this great.

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all morning we've been looking at these images right now of president trump's first visit to israel. this is of the second stop on his major foreign overseas trip. he's getting a private tour right now of the church of the holy sepulchre, one of the most holy sites in all of christian faith and from here he will walk to the western wall, the holiest site of the jewish religion. how is the world perceiving this trip? let's get the bottom line with the host of "fareed zakaria gps" fareed zakaria joins us. it's interesting as we were looking at the pictures moments ago the president of israel, reuven rivlin welcomed president trump by saying "america is back." america is back is an interesting notion, and one i think the obama administration would dispute, we never left but the perception there is this is a return to something that has been missing. >> clearly the trump administration and donald trump

has decided what they're going to do is try to have a much more overtly pro-sunni/arab foreign policy, that means supporting countries like saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, egypt, and try to kind of help solidify the already emerging partnership between these sunni arab countries and israel. the big foe being iran. the sunni arab states, the saudi, the emirates and the israelis welcome this. they think it's a good idea. part of what's going on here is you know, we have to remember, countries like to flatter the incoming president. obama got a whole bunch of this when he was first president. the europeans were falling over themselves. the turks were falling over themselves. egypt at the time gave this extraordinary lions awelcome when he gave his cairo speech. so there's some of this, i hope the trump administration is sophisticated enough to

understand there is a feeling in diplomacy, if you think flattery doesn't get you anywhere, you haven't been properly flattered. >> but is this the right time to marginalize iran, given that rouhani was just reelected and that signals that iranians want to be more modern. they want a more moderate voice. >> that's i think the most interesting, important question about american foreign policy in the middle east going forward. can you really construct a stable, middle east by completely excluding iran, by essentially having an anti-shia foreign policy. remember it's not just iran. iraq is a shia majority country and the united states has an alliance with the shia country. right now what you have is a middle east out of balance between the shias and the sunnis. you see that playing out in syria, in iraq, in yemen, almost all over you have these tensions. you probably need to find some kind of stability that does involve both sides.

you can't just have, you know, policy toward one, but as i say for now, the sunni arab, he's talking to a small number also. these are the saudis, the emirates, the egyptian elites, they're very happy about it. the interesting thing is that even in the speech he gave on israel, he talked about iran as if it was to blame for the rise of al qaeda. the core problem we are faced which has been radical islamic terrorism, to say the words that donald trump would not say, is a sunni problem. it's a problem created by these very sunni autocrats. >> and saudi arabia, their history. >> it is the birth place, the place where 15 of the 19 9/11 bombers came from. osama bin laden's birthplace, it funded and fueled most of the radical islamic terrorism the united states has faded. iran has not. so that's the tension here. >> and in terms of the message he delivers to saudi arabia on that subject not dissimilar to

what we heard from president obama previously. right now the president will walk, make the ten-minute walk to the western wall. what is the significance, fareed, of this sort of religious pilgrimage president trump is making with the whole world watching? >> i think that is, trump is doing something symbolic that is i think important. it's important whenever the american president goes to demonstrate a sort of respect for any country's most important sites, and particularly religious sites. i think it's just symbolic, but symbolism is powerful. it's important that he does it with christianity, with judaism, i think to a certain extent he did it with islam as well. as you say, the speech that he gave about islam was frankly one that barack obama could have given. he in fact even used the same terminology. he said islamist extremism, obama tended to say islamism or violent extremism. neither of them chose to use radical islamic terrorism. you might recall last year when

obama said radical islamic terrorism, refused to say radical islamic terrorism, donald trump tweeted "obama should resign in disgrace because he refuses to use the phrase radical islamic terrorism." well, he had the opportunity and president trump also chose not to say it, probably for the same reasons. so that sense of reality check is becoming clear in this, on this trip, that donald trump has recognized that it's one thing to tweet as a candidate. when you are president, you do have to show respect for countries and faiths. >> fareed zakaria, thank you for the bottom line, great to have you here. >> pleasure. >> stay with cnn for more breaking cover age of the president's visit to jerusalem. cnn picks up after this quick break. so we can detect leaks before humans can see them. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better.

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you are free to go. tide and downy together. z282uz zwtz y282uy ywty good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow. the president walking in the path of history this morning, and making some history of his own. he is just now wrapping up a visit to the church of the holy sepulchre, one of the most holy sites in all of christianity. then he'll head to the holiest place in judaism, the western wall. he will be the first sitting u.s. president to visit jerusalem's western wall, that is also highly sensitive, because both israelis and palestinians lay claim to the disputed territory a