. hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington, 8:00 p.m. in jerusalem. wherever you're watching from around the world thanks for joining us. right now we're following breaking news on michael flynn. a source tells cnn that he will refuse a congressional subpoena. instead he's prepared to plead the fifth amendment meaning he won't answer questions from the u.s. congress on his dealings with russian agents. we're going to get to this major development in just a few moments. but first take a look at these

live pictures coming in from jerusalem right now. any moment now we expect to hear a joint statement from president donald trump and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we'll bring that to you live as soon as it gets under way. it's running a bit late but we'll have live coverage. today has been another day packed with history with president. the president also visited's religious sites including one of the christianity's host holy sights. he also went to the western wall. isreal is the second stop on the president's trip. after this the president heads to vatican city. then to nato headquarters in brussels. then to sicily for the g7 summit. our white house correspondent sara murray is joining us live from jerusalem. sara, the president's words were once again measured during appearances in saudi arabia.

has it been the same in isreal? >> we have mostly seen a choreographed visit from president trump today. i think that was certainly evident when we saw him visiting the western wall. as you know, wolf, that can be a political tight rope for politicians and he rebuffed advances from prime minister benjamin netanyahu who wanted to join president trump on his visit to the western wall. instead president trump's advisers made clear he wanted this to be a private visit without trying to send any political signals that would have potentially inflamed the palestinians or those in the arab world. but there was an indication that trump may be feeling a bit more comfortable in isreal and those were some comments he made earlier with benjamin netanyahu essentially saying he never mentioned the word isreal when he met with russian officials in this oval office meeting where he is allegedly shared highly

classified intelligence with russian officials. of course the reporting out of that is that intelligence came in part from a u.s. ally. the reporting was never that president trump named that u.s. ally, but that it would not be that difficult to determine who shared the information with the u.s., that president trump was passing on to the russians. so i think we can play a little bit of president trump mentioning that today. take a listen. >> just so you understand, i never mentioned the word or the name isreal. never mentioned it. during that conversation. they're all saying i did. so you had to know the story wrong. never mentioned the word isreal. >> so you see that president trump reviving what was a big controversy back at home, obviously a sensitive issue when it comes to sharing intelligence with the israelis all on a trip where his advisers were hoping to turn the page leaving that

kind of chaos behind him. i'm pretty clear he cannot leave those things behind even as he is in the midst of this very ambitious foreign trip. >> any moment night we'll be hearing at a joint statement. you're looking at live pictures. there you see the prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his wife. they're getting ready to receive the president. i assume the first lady will be there as well. what do we anticipate? just statements, or will they answer reporters questions as well? >> well, we are anticipating statements from them. it will be interesting to see if they focus mainly on the mid east peace process. that's what president trump has been focussed on in his remarks through isreal. how they share a common enemy in iran and he believes that should bring both sides to the table toward a mid east peace agreement. also they've now had this private meeting after both prime

minister netanyahu and president trump brought up this sensitive intelligence issue. it will be interesting to see if they say anything more on that. and then as you pointed out, wolf, they head to dinner privately with their wives. >> they're walking in right now. the president and the first lady. they're going to be i guess signing a little welcome book for the arrival there. this is the prime minister's residence in jerusalem, i believe. let's listen in.

>> but thanks to you we can paint the wall. we've got the budget to paint the wall. [inaudible]

>> this is a gift from us to you. it's a bible from 150 years ago. it's 150 year-old bible in english. and it describes what happened here. it all took place here. >> that is really beautiful. thank you. >> it's a good book. it's the good book. >> it's the book. how should we do this?

>> should we do one? or maybe if you're here? we're done. that's it. thank you. >> that's the son-in-law and that's the son. >> thank you are everything you're doing. >> nice to meet you. hello. i'm a big, big fan of both of you.

>> i hear about you from my mother. she talks about you all the time. >> i can relate a lot to what baron is going through. >> woe'll see how he turns out. >> it's very hard. >> he's a child. he doesn't have any tools. >> they're waiting for us outside. we'll give you a 60-second tour.

>> this is from 5,000 years ago. >> this is a necklace from 5,000 years ago. >> all right. so you see the prime minister of

isreal benjamin netanyahu and his wife welcoming the president of the united states and the first lady of the united states to the residence of prime minister's residence in jerusalem. we still do anticipate that the prime minister and the president will be making statements. we're toll fairly soon. but they're still going through a little tour of the prime minister's residence. sara, based on what we know, we still anticipate statements before they actually sit down for dinner at the residence. is that right? >> yeah, that's right. you see the podium set up there. that would give us an indication that they are going to speak again. i think we heard a little bit more than we expected from them earlier when they were meeting at the king david hotel and they were speaking about israeli intelligence. they've now had some time to meet privately. so we will see again what comes up as they both give their statements, if they're

predominantly talking about trying to move toward a mid east peace deal. if the possibility of moving the embassy comes up again, something the president does not plan to do immediately. something he promised on the campaign trail. and again, whether this issue of president trump sharing sensitive israeli intelligence with russia comes up in these statements. wolf, it's worth pointing out that all sides of this wanted this visit to go well, wanted this meeting to go well. what we may hear are two glowing statements about what a wonderful day they all had together and how they're all committed to reaching a peace agreement. as you know, this is something that has been thwarting presidents for decades, trying to reach this mid east peace agreement. it's one thing for all these parties to indicate they have a willingness to come to the table to talk about it. an entirely different thing to actually reach an agreement. this is just day one for the president in meeting with sides on the israeli palestinian

conflict. tomorrow he's slated to meet with president abbas of the palestinian authority and speak much more about this. very jam packed schedule for president trump here abroad. >> we'll stand by to hear from the president of the united states and the prime minister of isreal momentarily we're told. they'll go to the microphone there is and make their respective statements. we'll see if they answer any questions from reporters. elise is our global affairs correspondent. she's with us. john kirby, cnn diplomatic analyst, former state department and pentagon spokesman. john, this is all -- you've been there. you've done it. all very, very choreographed. every symbolic step potentially could have diplomatic ramifications. >> especially in this part of the world where everything is so hyper sensitive. so yes, a very, very well scripted day. just from the appearances of it. not at all surprised that it is so -- cast in such positive terms. i do think sara is right. when they go to the podium, we're going to hear about what a

great day it was and how both leaders are looking forward to moving the bilateral relationship between the united states and isreal forward in a very constructive positive way. >> he became the first sitting united states president, elise, to actually visit the western wall in the old city of jerusalem. sim bo symbolically that's significant. >> it is. for president trump to go as a sitting president is very significant. but there was a little bit of controversy surrounding this because, a, the israelis wanted prime minister netanyahu to go with him and they said no, we'd like him to go alone thac. that feeds into whether the u.s. considers the western wall to be part of isreal. there was a lot of back and forth from the administration about whether it considered it part of jerusalem, part of isreal. i think this is what is, you kow, clouding this whole visit about what the administration's position is on jerusalem.

the whole idea of moving the embassy. it's a very delicate subject. they have to have sensitive conversations. >> i think what you're seeing here are his promises now running smack dab into politics. geo politics and that's where it gets tough. >> and finding out how complicated this is. you remember president trump said i think it's easy to solve mid east peace. he's going to find over these next two days just how complicated this issue is. >> tomorrow he meets with president abbas where he will hear a very different set of circumstances and have to address a different set of concerns. it will be interesting to see what is said after that meeting. >> the meeting with president abbas of bethlehem in the west bank not far from -- just outside of jerusalem will be significant because the president, president trump believes there isn't a moment right there, there is an opportunity given all of the concern of the moderate arab

states right now as far as iran is concerned, maybe they can all get their act together and come up with some sort of israeli palestinian peace deal. >> i know that's what he says, but back to having politics smack you right in the face, don't forget the domestic politics and isreal, there are rumors that netanyahu is vulnerable, that there may be rumblings of elections. the last thing prime minister netanyahu is going to do is i ali alieniate his base. the prime minister has worked hard. we'll see what they say, effectively gotten president trump not to talk about the two state solution. not to talk about an independent palestinian state. and also not to talk about settlements. it will be interesting to see what they say. if he is able to keep the president from talking about those things today it's going to be much more difficult for

president trump not to talk about those things tomorrow. >> don't forget this is the second time he's met with president abbas in a month. up until now he's only really seen the conflict from an israeli lens. now that he's meeting abas abas tomorrow when he goes to bethlehem, he's going to be seeing that wall sneaking through the palestinian territory. >> it looks like the president and prime minister walking in. there's the first lady of the united states. mrs. netanyahu walking in as well. the wife of the prime minister of isreal. you heard her speaking as part of that tour was going on in the prime minister's residence. let's listen in. because the president and the prime minister are being introduced. >> president donald trump and the prime minister of isreal, mr. benjamin netanyahu. [ applause ]

>> thank you. >> trump, donald, sarah and i are absolutely delighted to welcome you and melania to the prime minister's residence, the united capitol of the jewish state. we've known each other for many years and it's always good to see you. but it's aillso wonderful to se the blossoming friendship between our two beautiful wives. you're so welcome here. we're so pleased to see you. we're honored to have you in our home. you've been today, mr. president, to the western wall, one of the holiest sites of judaism. you've been to the church, one of the holiest signs of

chrissi christi christianity. we protect the christian sites as no one else does. we protect christian sites, muslim sites and jewish sites. we're committed to the freedom of all faiths and to the rights of all. mr. president, i appreciate the fact that you went to the western wall and you were the first acting president who's done that. the people of isreal applaud you for it. [ applause ] >> we had a terrific discussion today and when i say terrific, it accomplishes everything. we can talk about deregulation. we can talk about economics. i think we quote each other. we understand each other. and so much of the things that we wish to accomplish for both of our countries. but i want to thank you especially today for your deep commitment to isreal's security, its well-being and its future. i have no doubt that as we work

together you and i, the alliance between our countries will grow ever stronger. i want you to know how much we appreciate the change in american policy on iran which you enunciateenunciated just an. and your bold decision on the use of chemical weapons in syria and how much we appreciate the assertion of leadership in the mi middle east. i look forward to working closely with you in this volatile middle east. i believe together we could roll back iran's march of aggression and terror in this region and we can thwart iran's ambition to become a nuclear weapons state. i also look forward to working

closely with you to advance peace in our region. because you have noted that common dangers are turning former enemies into partners. and that's where we see something new and potentially something very promising. it won't be simple, but for the first time in many years, and mr. president for the first time in my lifetime, i see a real hope for change. the arab leaders who you met yesterday could help change the atmosphere and they could help create the conditions for realistic peace. these are all great signs on your historic visit. it's a visit that i think has echoed down the ages because the great abraham lincoln is reported to have said that there

was no city on earth you so much desire to see as jerusalem. well, mr. president, donald, there's no city on earth where you are more welcome than right here with us in jerusalem. welcome to jerusalem. welcome to isreal. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to be with my good friend prime minister netanyahu. and of course sarah. thank you. and also thank you for that beautiful tour. melania is still talking about it. thank you very much. you honored me and melania by being one of the first world leaders to visit the white house as you know. and we had a very good and sound discussion. and now you honor us again by welcoming us to your home on my

first trip abroad as the president of the united states. this is a landfill filled with beauty, wonder, and the spirit of god. i've been amazed by the glorious and beautiful monuments and holy sites and the generosity of your incredible people. because it's all about the people. i was deeply moved by my visit today to the western wall. words fail to capture the experience. it will leave an impression on me forever. today we reaffirm the unbreakable bond of friendship between isreal and the united states. a friendship built on our shared love of freedom, our shared belief in human dignity and our shared hope for an isreal at

lasting peace. we want isreal to have peace. but we are more than friends. we are great allies. we have so many opportunities in front of us. but we must seize them together. we must take advantage of the situation and there are many, many things that can happen now that would never have been able to happen before, and we understand that very well. that includes advancing prosperity prosperity, defeating the evils of terrorism and facing the threat of an iranian regime that is threatening the region and causing so much violence and suffering. during my travels, i have seen many hopeful signs that lead me to believe that we can truly achieve a more peaceful future

for this region and for people of all faiths and all beliefs and frankly all over the world. in my visit to saudi arabia, i met with many leaders of the arab and muslim world. including king salman who treated us so beautifully. and really wants to see great things happen for the world. he really does. i got to know him well and he really does. these leaders voice concerns we all share about isis, about iran's rising ambitions, and rolling back its gains and about the menace of extremism that has spread through too many parts of the muslim world. i'm encouraged that they pledge cooperation to confront

terrorism and the hateful ideology that drives it so hard. america welcomes the action and support of any nation willing to do the hard but vital work in irr irradicating the violent ideologies with so much blood shed and killing here and all over the world. we are willing to work together. i believe that a new level of partnership is possible and will happen. one that will bring greater safety to this region, greater security to the united states, and greater prosperity to the world. this includes a renewed effort at peace between the israelis and the palestinians. and i thank the prime minister for his commitment to pursuing the peace process. he's working very hard at it.

it's not easy. i've heard it's one of the toughest deals of all. but i have a feeling that we're going to get there eventually. i hope. i'm certain we will have very productive discussions and we're going to have very productive discussions in my opinion with the leaders of other nations also. and i feel strongly about that. because there's a lot of love out there. and people from all nations, even nations that you would be surprised to hear, they want to stop the killing. they've had enough. america stands ready to assist in every way we can. our deep and lasting friendship will only grow deeper and stronger as we work together in the days ahead. i thank you again for hosting us in this beautiful and ancient

land. it's a land of wonders. i appreciate it very much. great honor. thank you. [ applause ] >> where would you like us to stand? there.

>> thank you very much. >> there you heard the very strong statements from the prime minister of isreal and the president of the united states. both of them expressing hope. even some optimism from president trump that a peace deal between the israelis and the palestinians potentially is possible. the president saying i have a feeling we're going to get there eventually. i hope. i want to go right to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta who is traveling with the president in jerusalem. jim, give us your analysis of what we just heard from these two leaders. >> well, i think you heard the president sum it up right there. middle east peace he's heard is one of the toughest deals of all. the art of the deal comes to the holy land is what it sounds like from the president. he is hoping and he's placed his

son-in-law jared kushner, a senior adviser to the president in this position in hopes of reaching some kind of middle east peace deal. the white house is not under any impression that's going to happen on this trip but hoping to set the table with that. one of the ways they're doing that and we've heard this over the last 48 hours, when the president was in saudi arabia, now that he's in isreal, he is sort of playing the game of the enemy is my friend. he was talk in saudi arabia about the threat posed by iran and low and behold he arrests in jerusalem after visiting the western wall and so forth and is talking about the threat posed by iran and the iran nuclear deal. and so this is a message that we're hearing from the president repeatedly throughout this foreign trip. he hasn't said so far he's going to rip up that iran nuclear deal. i suppose that will be one of the questions that is asked. but he certainly emphasizing that every step of the way. but i do think it's interesting,

wolf, once again, the president who comes from that really background of putting middle east peace in negotiation terms as if it is a deal that perhaps he can bring his skills to bear and make happen. the prime minister certainly someone who will be driving a hard bargain in that department and the president now is going to meet with the palestinian president next. he's going to find perhaps not as receptive an audience because the palestinians have their own laundry list of issues they feel the united states has not paid close enough attention to and they certainly feel that perhaps the president's feelings are more heavily weighted in the direction of isreal than in terms of the palestinians. i think it will be fascinating must watch tv to see how the president handles the palestinian president after this very warm reception he's received here in isreal from the prime minister and the israeli president and so on. >> he received a very warm reception from the saudi king in

riyadh. now very warm reception from the prime minister of isreal in jerusalem. john kirby and elise are still with us. john, the notion, the theory is that with this iranian fear that the saudis, egyptians, the moderate sunni arab states have, maybe you bring them into this peace process. they have a lot of money to contribute that the p palestinians, whether it the west bank and working together with isreal and the united states, you can come up with some sort of two state solution. that's the u.s. goal right now. >> yes. he's clearly trying to use iran as a unifying element. he's putting his finger on the sunni whchlt you sunni. when you put your thumb on the scale in terms of the muslim faith like that, you are making it a little bit harder to get long-term peace in the region which is what he says he wants.

i also think, again, you've got to think of domestic politics and isreal don't really lend themselves to finding a so collusion to the israeli/palestinian conflict. it could take some time. but you notice what you didn't hear. you didn't hear either guy talk about the two-state solution. that's what will really be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when he meets with president abbas. i don't know that it's going to be a frosty meeting with president abbas, but i do think that president abbas is going to want to drive down to more practical elements of mid east peace including a two-state solution. >> elise, what did you think? >> i think a couple of things are going on here. first of all, john is right about that. these arabs are not going to make a peace deal with isreal, are not going to get close to isreal and have a partnership with iran -- against iran until there is some steps for the palestinian. i've been speaking to a lot of ar arab diplomats.

president trump is trying to bring isreal into the fold. yes, there is a lot of cooperation to be had but we're not going to do it fully or publicly until isreal starts to take some steps. when president trump says there's a lot of love in the world, there's not a love of isreal in the world from these arab states. also what you didn't hear president trump say is echoing what prime minister netanyahu said, a unified jerusalem, the unified capital of the jewish state. this will continue to be a pi prickly issue. this is the embrace that the israelis expected. as he goes to the palestinian territory, he's going to say very nice things to president abbas. yes, the relationship with the u.s. and isreal, it will be a very tight relationship, but i don't think they're going to get a rubber stamp from president

trump like they expected. >> the israelis are encouraged that there are behind the scenes, not publicly, behind the scenes movement in terms of cooperation between isreal and various arab states that haven't necessarily happened in the past. that's encouraging not just to the israelis but to the u.s. side as well. everybody stay with us. there's a lot more coming up including breaking news here in washington. michael flynn expected to refuse to cooperate with the u.s. senate. we have new information, new details. what this means for the investigation, a lot more when we come back. urself down? try aveeno® sheer hydration. its active naturals® oat formula... ...goes on feather light. absorbs in seconds... ...keeps skin healthy looking and soft. aveeno® naturally beautiful results. eradic umbrellas!!

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now to a major new development in the russia investigation here in the united states. cnn has learned the president's former national security adviser retired general michael flynn plans to plead the 50 afifth an will not testify before the senate intelligence committee as requested. we're also told he will decline the official subpoena sent to him by the committee investigating russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. joining us now, cnn legal analyst, former federal prosecutor and cnn congressional correspondent phil mattingly up on capitol hill.

phil, what does this mean for general flynn for the russia investigation? this is a major new development of former national security adviser to the president of the united states refusing to testify. >> no question about it, wolf. what it means at least in the near term is it is unlikely you will see michael flynn in a public forum discussing what actually occurred, that all of these investigations are looking into anytime soon. a source close to him said it would be highly imprudent for him to do such a thing. it's ailes importalso important attention to the fact that not only is there congressional probes going to on, but an fbi investigation. several friends have received a subpoena because of this investigation. it's worth noting as well that michael flynn's lawyers requested or at least discussed the possibility of immunity with the senate intelligence committee earlier on in this

process. that was rejected. i'm told it would still be rejected up to this point in time. what this means is as the senate intelligence committee continues its investigation, really kind of quickens the pace of that investigation as it currently stands. michael flynn's participation and testimony and the documents the committee has requested for michael flynn related to any contacts between the former national security adviser and russian intelligence officials, those will not be part of the investigation. >> laura, explain for our viewers here in the united states and around the world the legal issues involved for general flynn right now. decision apparently to plead the fifth, refuse to answer questions from members of congress. the argument against that is if you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to hide, why not just go up there and tell everything you know? >> the fifth amendment is geared towards providing you with protection not to incriminate yourself. people will say the fifth amendment is used by only the guilty are really short sided in

the long run. the government has the burden to show your guilt. you don't have the burden to prove your innocence. therefore, it is actually prudent of him to make sure that he is not offering ways to incriminate himself given that he has at least four investigations around him. having said that, while he can certainly use his prerogative and say i'm not going to respond to your subpoena or give you documents, there are legal consequences, one of them being contempt of court. there are two avenues to get there. you can recommend the doj, the justice department to actually hold the person in contempt or you can ask a federal court. it doesn't always workout to get the contempt advance, but it's certainly a consequence here. overall, remember, he is facing a huge investigation. it is criminal in nature. it will have certainly jail time associated with it. he's probably getting advice from his counsel to not provide information at this time given the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel because he knows there's maybe a probe. whatever he says, whatever he

says, whatever he gives over in a document form can be used against him and likely will be used against him. >> all right, laura. thank you. phil, thanks to you as well. bring in wanda summers, cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris, and political reporter nia-malika henderson. the potential fallout from this could be significant. >> in some ways we kind of saw this coming because flynn at least through his attorney expressed a desire for immunity from both of the panels that wanted to hear him testify. so in that way it's not surprising. but what this means is all of the question s about michael flynn, what did he know, what was the nature of the relationship between donald trump and michael flynn, what donald trump knew. all of those answers won't be answered. all of those questions will still hangover michael flynn and hangover this white house.

of course we don't know what michael flynn ends up doing in terms of cooperating with this special counsel, with robert mueller. it also gives the fact that we have investigations going on in two parallel tracks. one going on in congress or multiple investigations going on in congress and then one going on from robert mueller, this special counsel. we don't know how they're going to kind of affect each other and whether or not they'll kind of be conflicts between these parallel investigations. >> during the campaign, chris, you remember this well, then candidate donald trump had this to say about hillary clinton's staffers pleading the fifth. >> there's people taking the fifth amendment. four people plus the guy who illegally did the server. you know, he put in the illegal server. so there are five people taking the fifth amendment. like you see on the mob, right? you see the mob takes the fifth.

if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> well, i feel like there's either a trump -- a piece of trump tape or a trump tweet that fits every circumstance essentially. two things. one, i actually think and laura makes the right legal point, but i think donald trump is channeling what the majority of people think about taking the fifth which is chafe somethithe something to hide. what does it mean for donald trump? nia touched on this. just to accentuate it. why knowing what he knew, being warned by the former -- at that point the current president of the united states, on november 10th, stay away from michael flynn as national security adviser, with all the red flags he knew prior, why was michael flynn hired? so the deeper that this michael flynn thing goes, the more poorly, even if there's no ties beyond this, the more poorly it reflects on donald trump. let's remember one of his first hires, one of his closest

advisers and he repeated said he would hire only the best people because all the people currently working in there were stupid and bad. >> right after memorial day the former fbi director who was fired by president trump, james comey, he has agreed to testify about all of everything he knows in open session before the senate intelligence committee. >> absolutely, wolf. i think that laura and chris has made this. the willing advice that mike flynn is getting is not do this. to plead the fifth. given the fact that comey has said he'll testify and do so publicly t does come from the judgment of president trump, has he made the right decisions. why he did not separate himself from michael flynn in those 18 days. i think this could become a distraction for them, particularly on a week where he has a high stakes foreign trip.

>> it also shows how much this is out of trump's control. right? i mean, they can message all they want. but there's so many people at this point who are involved at this point. not only flynn, house and senate investigations are going on and now this probe. you can't message your way out of this at this point. and so many things are at this point just they can't control at all. >> that's exactly right. and frankly donald trump has not demonstrated the ability to control the messaging anyway. it's more smoke around an already very smoky situation. donald trump insists there's no fire. >> he says it's a witch hunt. >> it's just flynn, comey, carter page, paul manafort, jared kushner. there's just a lot of pieces there that none of them are definitive proof of absolutely anything. that's why we have this special counsel and this investigation. but it just feels like usually innocent people, totally

innocent people say i want to talk as much as i can. they don't plead the fifth. more smoke in that. at some point i think we'll find out whether there was fire or not. donald trump continues to insist nothing to see here. meanwhile we've got a lot of smoke where he can't see through it. >> general flynn has the right to remain silent. he's under investigation. but he will speak presumably if the congress grants him immunity from prosecution. what are the chances of that happening? >> it's not clear from the reporting that wee done on the hill so far. i haven't seen a lot of people rallying behind. one question that sticks with me is we talk about the smoke and that there are all of these characters around. what happened when, the conversations that are being had. the question after spending a weekend reporting is how much do the american people actually know about all of these allegations? and how much they actually care about the wrongdoing. i spoke to a lot of trump supporters and they say they

think this is just that smoke and this doesn't change their opinion on the man they voted to elect. >> he still has as you well know according to the polls, among those who voted for him, he still has an enormous amount of support. >> he does. he has pal polarized even more extremely. not a lot of people like i don't really know how i feel about donald trump. you're either one or the other. i think it would take a crowbar to get some of these people away from donald trump. because when we talk about this and we report on this, they just ignore all of it or to the extent they pay attention they dismiss it as fake news. it's not going to change that base. the longer this goes, the harder it is to do what he said he would do which is get things done. economy. health care reform. immigration. build the wall. those things don't go anywhere because congress is totally fixated on this and it takes all their time. >> that's when you start to see

people who supported trump maybe, maybe, maybe, at some point start to question whether or not he can make good on all those promises. >> we're going to stay on top of this breaking news. major development involving general flynn today. thanks very much. coming up, president trump didn't just call on muslim leaders to unite against terrorism. he also called on them to isolate iran. we're going to speak to a former iraqi ambassador to the united states to get his take what the president is now saying. manait's a series of is nsmart choices. and when you replace one meal or snack a day with glucerna made with carbsteady to help minimize blood sugar spikes you can really feel it. glucerna. everyday progress. if you have a garden, you know weeds are low-down little scoundrels. with roundup precision gel®, you can finally banish garden weeds without harming precious plants nearby. so draw the line. just give the stick one click, touch the leaves

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arabia and israel joined in attacking iran. listen to this. >> they assassinate our diplomats. this is the behavior of a state sponsor of terrorism. tz. >> and the ability to continue with terror. and with all of the things we've been doing. there's no matter where we go we see signs of iran. >> want to bring in the iraqi ambassador to the united states. thank you for join iing us. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to get your quick reaction to what e we heard yesterday, what we're hearing in jerusalem today as far as iran being the unifying force for the sunni-arab states and the israelis and the u.s. and perhaps forging a new middle east.

>> but the being promote d as shia versus sunni and that's the dangerous element. >> you speak as an iraqi who is a kurd as well as a shia ya. so why are you upset? >> not just that. as an iraqi because it's bundling everybody who is not sunni in one camp. and even if you're not with iran, you would be bundled as that. so the people that are invited, it's being promoted as alliance of arab and sunni countries so to that it, sunni countries. so to me that's a dangerous narrative to promote. >> i'm confused. as what's the message here. who do you want to reach out to? this polarization does not help. attention needs to be reduced to manage the situation.

all the other issues, terrorism and everything else, that's a sunni problem. so i think that's what needs to be addressed. >> you heard the sunni foreign minister. you heard the president of the united states lash out for what they are doing in iran. specifically what they are doing in iraq right now. do you see the iranian role in iraq as something that is destabilizing and terrible? >> iran has a political interest in iraq. it may not align with the interests. the complexity of the region, but to be viewed that anybody who is a shia is with iran that's the dangerous narrative here. so to me that's the problem that we have. my ex-colleagues the minister of saudi arabia, the president's

statement, try to oversimplify the problem. we have a problem of isis. does it have to do with iran, so to me over simplification is dangerous. >> not only went after the iranian role in syria, he went after hez baa bollah by saying are playing a disruptive role. >> previous narratives of terrorism that now saying it's a good sign that based off change of that administration and views is to me something that has not fully understood the problem. >> what do you think of the way the president spoke about islam? >> it's a very good sign, but again, the dramatic change of

the narratives statements versus election tells me they have not fully digested the nuances of the region. they have not fully understood how to tailor it. i do understand that a good sign out of this that the u.s. is interested in engaging the region. that we need that. but at the same time, taking signs this early means they have not fully digested it. >> your prime minister did he have good talks with president trump? are they on the same page? >> there's good chemistry. they are on the same page. but the problem we have, we are confused for 48 hours. how do we read this as iraqis. where do e we stand. >> where will mosul. in a few weeks. >> three weeks, four weeks? >> i don't know exactly. less than 10% left on the side.

>> thank you. >> thank you for joining us. that's it for me. thanks for watching. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. in the meantime, the news continues right now right here on cnn. top of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. we're watch iing two major stors for you breaking a at this moment. the first president trump's fired national security adviser says he will plead the fifth and is refusing to cooperate with the senate intelligence committee over questions about the campaign's ties to russia. more on that in a moment and what this means for the investigation. but first, moments ago, president trump and israeli restroom benjamin netanyahu faced reporters at this joint appearance during the president's first overseas visit as chander in chief.