discussed a plan after election day to set up a secret communication channel for the white house to communicate with the creme len. >> the president has answered little to no questions from reporters. >> mr. president, did jared try to set up a back channel to the russians? >> establishing a war room inside the west wing that is able to quickly respond. >> we are not going to comment on jared. not just comment. >> we have communications with a number of countries. >> this is off the map no other experience like this. >> we have not heard from kushner at all. >> hateful words directed at muslim passengers on an

afternoon commuter train. >> the loss of two very compassionate lives. we always appreciate the fact that you are up and with us in the morning. good morning to you. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. good sunday to you. president trump is back in washington after nine days of diplomacy on the world stage and is calling his first overseas trip as president a home run. but back here at home, mounting questions about russia and the ongoing investigations, they are continuing. >> there is a reminder of what he is dealing with. that came just moments after the president and first lady returned to the white house. >> mr. president, did jared try to set up a back channel to the russians? >> this morning we are also getting some new details on how the president's family is plotting the political strategy ahead. cnn's ryan nobles has all of that for us. >> reporter: the president is

back in washington after his lengthy trip aborder and even those his team feels confident the trip was successful he returns to plenty of controversy including a number of issues that involve his son-in-law and senior visor jared kushner who has yet to respond to reports he attempted to set up a secret back channel line of communications with the russian government during the transition. his connections to the kremlin continue to be a specific line of inquiry by variations looking to russia' attempt to intervene in the u.s. elections. now despite these issues, a white house official says that kushner isn't going anywhere. he does plan to keep his head down and keep focused on his wide portfolio of responsibilities in the west wing. in the meantime, the white house is shaking things up creating a war room designed to quickly rebut the attacks that pour as a result of this ongoing investigation. the president's children are getting involved as well. donald jr. and eric trump ansd r

his wife spent the last few days in washington meeting with groups including the teams at the rnc and pac the american priorities which supports the trump administration. the goal was to get all of the teams on the same page ahead of the midterm 2018 elections and the president's own reflex bid in 2020. >> let's bring in princeton history professor julian and kyle from the washington examiner. the headlines are not about this nine day visit. it's about russia and his son-in-law and the secret communications. it seems that their strategy now, more than ever, is to say very little, maybe even nothing about it. >> yes. the scandal is starting to consume the administration and they are trying to both contain president trump, meaning keep him away from twitter, and, at

the same time, they are moving away from the media as much as possible. they don't want to speak about this. but that won't stop the story. at this point, the investigations are being conducted on multiple fronts and we are getting daily bombshell reporting about something new. so behind the scenes, they are now creating this war room, possibly shaking up their staff and theynd this is the main issue they need to contend with in coming week. >> kyle, jared kushner, obviously, at the center of this story this weekend. the white house saying that kushner is going nowhere. is that the typically posturing we should expect from the white house or is this something more? is he different here? >> no. it's something we should expect from this white house. throughout every scandal they have had, their general policy has been to say no, we are not backing down, we are not considering any alternative option until the last moment. you saw it with mike flynn back earlier this year. he was supposed to be with the administration ongoing until suddenly he wasn't.

so jared kushner is an important part of this administration and one of the few people that president trump seems to trust but i don't think that this means -- it's not a different message coming from the white house at this point. they mean what they say until they don't. >> i don't think i've ever heard jared kushner's voice, julian. is there any chance we would hear from him about this? >> no. that's not his style. he is one of these behind the scenes political characters. he does like to talk to the media but not directly. so, look. at some point he might have to speak and at some point the questions might be too much to remain silent but if we expect what he has done before, we won't hear much from him. many people have not heard his voice which is kind of remarkable since he is one of the more influential members of this white house. >> let's talk about in this discussion of speaking with reporters, kyle, "the new york times" is reporting one of the variables under consideration as the president returns in their

discussions of kind of revamping the white house and making major changes is ending the daily on-camera briefings and press secretary sean spicer would limit his interaction with the reporters and put the president on more rallies and iowa rally skilled for this week has been cancelled and facebook live video. technical vaadvancements aside have we seen this before? >> it is a staple of the media landscape here in d.c. it would be a real shift away from convention. this is unconvention white house, obviously. it does speak to a little bit of the possible lack of confidence that president trump has in sean spicer, if he is willing to maybe take him off camera every day. >> julian, you're the history professor. have we seen this before? is this approach that we should be familiar with where we will not see sean spicer every day on camera?

>> no. the press briefings have become an absolutely staple of presidential politics since dwight eisenhower. really the norm. this would be a break and to do this in the middle of the scandal, i think, would only cause more suspicion and more tension with the press and let's remember, at the same time, the one thing no one is talking about is legislation and republicans on capitol hill are taking notice that for the talk of ending sean spicer, what they really want is legislation and there are just cricket right now and that is making them nervous. >> julian, getting back to legislation. getting back to what people elected this president to do, they are weighing the development of a war room and let's put up a couple of faces of the potential members of this war room. how would that change the approach from the white house to this russia probe if these men lead the war room and they kind of isolate potentially this story line? >> well, if you have people like

corey len do you ski coming back, they were very effective during the campaign. their strategy is much more aggressive. it's to go after the accusers and it's to go after the institutions whether it's congress or the media that are attacking the president and it's not so sit still. i think we would see a return to the campaign style that was so characteristic of donald trump in october and november to go after all your of your enemies constantly and make them the problem rather than the president. >> kyle, i thought the point of a war room or the clinton style war room from the '90s you would isolate the story line and put the mainstream leaders of your administration back on track to get some of the work of legislating done. you put your chief strategist in the war room you take the top people and put them only on this story line. is that is the way this is supposed to work? >> you would think not but this

is a president who is obsessed with communication strategy and getting the message out there. for years, president trump has been a fixture in the tabloid media in new york because he has loved communicating with people. putting top aides on this kind of war room single track field really kind of speaks to what his real priorities are which is getting his message out there and shift story lines and not necessarily getting legislation done. >> stay with us. we will see you both at the bottom of the hour. thank you. >> thank you. we know the fbi has joined portland police in investigating that stabbing on a commuter train. all of this as we are learning more about the man accused of killing two men and wounding. next, what that suspect was seen doing in a facebook video that could influence the case. >> yes, a shark? see the fin? >> oh, my god.

>> yeah. the video now surfacing showing kayaker surviving a shark attack. we have got more of this video, these terrifying moments ahead. also, race day in indy. 33 drivers on a quest to win at the brick yard. only one will taste victory and, of course, the milk! our daughter home, e brought that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin.

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the fbi is looking into the background now of the man who police say stabbed three people on a portland commuter training and killing two of them. >> they are trying to determine if he could be charged with federal hate crimes. he is being held on a number of charges including murder and attempted murder. there is his picture. in the meantime the city of portland is remembering the two people who died. they call them heroes. they stepped forward to stop what police said was hate speech directed at two women who were on that commuter train. one of those killed was reportedly a city employee, an army veteran, and father of four

children. the other was a man killed who was a recent graduate of reed college and a third stabbing victim survived. his mother says she is still just reeling from what has happened. >> they missed the jugular by a millimeter. they cut one of the carotid arteries and he will have some paralyzization. >> we hope he recovers. we are now learning more about the background of this man accused of the stabbing. cnn digital correspondent dan lieberman is with us live from new york. what are you learning, dan? >> reporter: we are starting to get a picture through social media of who the suspect is. this 35-year-old jeremy

christian. he can be seen recently in on a facebook here giving a nazi salute. other postings show him shouting racial slurs across social media. just last month, he was at a free speech rally in portland shouting at people carrying a baseball bat which police confiscated. on facebook, you can hear him. he can be seen expressing anti-muslim and anti-semitic and white supremacist views. authorities say they are going to be looking into all of this, in his extremist ideology as part of the investigation. the suspect, we do know, has an extensive criminal record going back to 2002 on kidnapping and robbery and weapons charges and we have seen an outpouring of support on social media for the victims' criticism of this brutal attack. portland's district attorney praising the actions of the two victims. he had this to say. >> franklin, we ney, we need toe

than ever people stranded. now is the time to stand up and not stand down. >> reporter: hillary clinton on twitter also responding saying, quote, it's heartbreaking. no one should have to endure this racist abuse and no one should have to give their life to top it. in this case he is held on murder charges and police say he could face additional charges once he faces the grand jury. he'll be in court on tuesday. >> have we heard anything from his family, dan? >> no, sir as of yet, we have not heard from his family, i do not believe. but we are starting to get a sense on tuesday, he will get a court appointed attorney and hopefully we will learn more next week. >> dan lieberman, thanks for the update. >> you got it. joe biden putting this at the doorstep of the white house and saying trump's rhetoric is partially to blame for division in the country and the rise in

racially charged attack like the one in portland. >> he didn't name president directly but his comments were directed at the white house. listen for yourself here. >> i thought we had passed the days where it was acceptable for political leaders at local and national levels to bestow legitimacy on hate speech and fringe ideologies. but the world is changing so rapidly, there are a lot of folk out there who are both afraid and susceptible to this kind of negative appeal. we saw the forces of populism, not only here but around the world, called to close our nation's gates against the challenges of a rapidly changing world. the immigrant, the minority, the transgender, anyone not like me, became a scapegoat. just build a wall! keep muslims from coming to the

united states. they are the reason i can't compete. that is why i don't have a job. that's why i worry about my safety. and imagine, i imagine, like me, many you seen this unfold was incredibly disorienting and disheartening. your reaction, you graduates in particular, is understandable. but i assure you that this is a temporary state of affairs. the american people will not sustain this attitude for long, i promise you! >> the former vice president addressed cornell students at the graduation there yesterday, just one day after hillary clinton went after the president's policies in a graduation speech at her alma mater, wellsley college.

>> a line of storms moving through on the southeast now and it's not pretty. damaging winds and two-inch hail stones we are hearing. >> this is major. here is what happened in missouri. look at this. hurricane force wind damaged buildings, took down tree limbs there yesterday. let's go to allison chinchar with a look where these storms are heading today. we are seeing some flashes of lightning in atlanta. >> i was mesmerized by the downtown camera shot with the lightning flashes. if people are sleeping in atlanta they won't be for long because i imagine the lightning and thunder will wake them up. you see it there. that is where the storms are headed. this is the same line of storms that we had from yesterday they they were big producers and especially in term of damaging wind and hail. almost 200 hail reports and i want you to keep in mind many of those were baseball sized and larger. that is not the kind that is just going to put a couple of dents or two in your car. that is going to total your car. the good news we don't expect

the hail to be as widespread as yesterday and certainly not as large. three-inch hail will do some damage to vehicle not on to mentions yourself, house and things like that. hail reports were big yesterday and so were wind reports. a lot of power outages through the overnight and hopefully the folks can get that power restored pretty quickly. also flooding, especially into portions of southern missouri around branson. people know about the tourist destination there and picking up nearly 6 inches of rain. in some cases, in less than 12 hours. obviously, causing some problem there. we still have flood warnings in effect for portions of southern missouri for that reason. because the rain is really just now starting to exit portions of missouri and push further south. here is a look at atlanta. you can see the storms moving in there just to the east of dallas now starting to push through portions of little rock and also into memphis but talking a lot of lightning, especially around atlanta. if you are within that perimeter area, it's just lightning left, right, top, bottom, no matter where you look look you are

looking at a lot of lightning right now and in addition to heavy rainfall and stay that way as we go through the day today. 40 million people under the severe threat for today and extend from detroit to charlessocharles charleston, south carolina, and houston in texas. we are talking hail, damaging wind, and the potential for tornado. but, again, as we look at the forecast going forward, we still expect a lot of storms to continue through the day, so make sure you're on your guard. if you have outdoor barbecue plans for the holiday weekend you may have to watch the radar a little closely today. >> heads-up helps. >> we had the double box up there. i want people to know that wasn't a reorganized of the best of the last hour. these are live pictures of what is happening in atlanta right now as the flashes of lightning go across the sky line there. all morning, we have seen them. allison chinchar, thank you. >> president trump has been overseas meeting with world

leader, sources says his sons donald jr. and eric have been holding meetings of their own with the republican party. we will talk about what we know about those conversations. ♪ i got to run to keep from hiding ♪ ♪ and i'm bound to keep on riding ♪ >> plus the music he made and the band he inspired. we will take a look back at the life and career of gregg allman, founding members of the allman band. ♪ not going to let them catch the midnight rider ♪ to be a nightmare! does nobody like the future? c'mon, the future. he obviously doesn't know intel is helping power autonomous cars and the 5g network they connect to. with this, won't happen in the future. thanks, jim. there's some napkins in the glovebox. okay, but why would i need a napkin?

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♪ well, welcome to sunday morning. always glad to have you here. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell.

>> president trump is waiting up in the white house and back after a nine-day trip abroad. a white house overshadow by gathering storm cloud. we are getting details on new questions about possible contacts between his son-in-law jared kushner and moscow. >> a white house officials says that kushner is not going anywhere and will cooperate are all inquiries. we know the white house is preparing to establish a war room to contain the russia investigation. listen to former nsa director michael hayden's take on the controversy. >> what matter of ignorance, chaos, hubrus, suspicion, contempt would you have to have to think of doing this with the russian ambassador was a good or an appropriate idea? so, again, it doesn't make me feel very good about many things. this is off the map, michael. i know no other other experience like this in our history,

certainly within my life experience. >> in the meantime, president trump's sons donald junior and eric trump and his wife laura met with the republican national committee. is right now the right time, julian, to be making this a priority with a white house that is facing so much? >> meeting with the republican party about 2018 and 2020 might make some sense and what the republicans on the hill are thinking about. the focus has to be on the scandal and response to the scandal on handling these multiple investigations but they realize their mainly firewall is the fact that republicans control congress and i think the administration is counting on that to protect them. so what do members of congress care about? re-election. so that is why i think they are doing this simultaneously. >> so, kyle, when we look the

who is involved here, the president's sons, the rnc chair, you wonder what the dynamic is moopti amongst them. you got family members with political players. help us understand what is going on behind closed doors. >> it's not usual for the president's close advisers, for the president to have close visors outside of the white house and have them meet with outside groups. however it's a little unusual for those close advisers to be your sons who are also in charge of your business. so the dynamic here is a little strange because it's just -- you have to wonder,, you know, eric and donald jr. are both in charge of president trump's business. are they not only, you know, acting in the best interest of their father but acting in the best interest of the trump organization? that is something that has to be thought about here as well. it's definitely an unusual situation all around.

>> julian, talk a little bit more about that, will you? there have to be some questions about is this ethical to have the people who are running your business be so politically involved? >> sure. look. the ethics question has been front and center since the presidency began. the solution for president trump was to hand off the business to eric and donald. and we thought or heard they wouldn't be involved in politics and white house discussions. and, yet, according to what we are hearing, here they are and people in the room are aware of this. and this is one of the major problems facing this administration. the line between the trump business and the trump white house is very blurry and this is an example of where other people in the room are not 100% sure what the major motivation is of the trump family facing them. so i think it is a big and legitimate problem. >> but when you talk about family members versus political experts, let's say, or the political leaders in this case,

can they be equally effective, kyle? >> i'm not entire sure. you see with jared kushner, maybe as michael hayden said, maybe showing a little naivety and dealing with the russians. these are political neophytes and not experienced advisers but trusted advisers of president trump. seems to distrust people who have lots of experience in washington. it's a little strange and a little tough to gauge how well the trump sons might do in this role given the fact that most of their political experience is on the campaign trail and being a surrogate for their father. >> who is in charge? >> i don't think we know exactly who is in charge at this point. the trump camp administration has been very pro active in setting up its 2020 campaign.

we do know that, but i'm not sure republicans on the hill, even republicans on the rnc or even republicans in the white house have a dense of who is in charge. it should be the president at some level but it's not right now. i think there is a little bit of chaos disorganization and competing centers of power trying to decide how lieutenant republicans on the same page in the next two election cycles. >> his sons are, obviously, two people that the president trusts and believes, obviously, in very much. what about the rnc, kyle? do we understand the relationship between them and how are those conversations going -- how much of what is swirling around the white house with the controversies controversies a part of the conversations there happening? >> sure. it seems historically during the campaign and a little early why 0, there was a little bit of distrust between the trump camp and the rnc. since the election and since the

inauguration he has been below the ready and fund-raising and not the headlines or being in the news you saw during the campaign for the rnc and just the nature of the news cycle. it's tough to judge exactly how the new chairwoman of the gop and president trump get along. you haven't seen them in public together very much or heard too much about their conversations. >> all right. julian and kyle, we appreciate you sticking around for us. thank you. >> thank you. this morning, we are learning more about the man behind the bombing in manchester and also a warning from uk officials that members of his terror cell may still be at large. also, terrifying moments for a kayaker. a shark knocked him into the water. the whole thing caught on camera by people who were on shore. we will tell you what we know happened here. stay close.

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six days after the deadly terror attack in manchester, uk official are now warning there is still a serious threat for more attack. >> this morning, one official said it's possible members of the concert bombers terror network are still at large. cnn international correspondent is live in manchester for us in front of the finish line in front of the manchester half-marathon as the city shows his resilience following this attack. what have you learned about the investigation and the possible threat there now? >> reporter: let me get you the investigation in just a second. i want to point out you hear a lot of people cheering behind me right now. how refreshing is it to see people in the city celebrating something and cheering after the hardships that they have been through this week. this is one of the events that people thought might not happen, actually, because in themeimmedy afterimagine of the attack there were security concerns but the general public in manchester stood up and said, no, we want this event to happen and show

the uk and the rest of the world that manchester is making it through this difficult period. i should point out there is a heavy security presence here. you might even see this as we are live right now. there are officers with heavy arms, heavy firearms and semiautomatic rifles that are patrolling this area so that is perhaps designed to alleviate some of the fears that people have. but it's something unusual because here in the uk as you guys know, officers don't always carry firearms so it's a bit odd to see heavily armed officers patrolling these streets. >> how about that investigation, the information coming from uk officials that the threat still looms? >> reporter: that's right. just a short time ago, the uk's home minister rudd was asked directly if she believed there were more suspects from this terror cell still on the loose. interestingly, she didn't dismiss that possibility but said potentially there could be other people out there but they won't know until the investigation is finished. the size of the investigation has really grown. the police say there are 1,000

security personnel that are assigned to just this one investigation alone. late last night, police put out security camera images of the man they believe is the suspect abedi. they say the images were taken as he was on his way to manchester arena to carry out the attack. most importantly, they now believe that they have found the apartment that he was using and they say that that apartment may have been the place where the final explosive was assembled. that is key because forensic teams will be combing that apartment looking for explosives revenue or any leftover equipment that might be there that might provide any further lead on how sophisticated this terror network was and how many people were involved. >> muhammad, the terror threat level had been taken down a notch from critical to severe. is it still at severe today? >> reporter: yes, it's still at severe and it's actually an important description. critical was the highest level and that is the highest level it's been in the uk in about ten

years. it was lowered to severe. they are both high alert situations. they both require increased vigilance from the ordinary public but critical meant that officials believe another attack might have been imminent. it's they no longer believe another terror attack is around the corner. >> muhammad lila, live in manchester, thank you so much. the mother of uber's ceo was killed in a boating accident on friday. bonnie kalinek died after the boat she and her husband donald were riding in hit a rock in fresno, california. in a statement the company called the incident an unspeakable tragedy and said the founder's father, the ceo's father, remains in serious condition. travis shared these photos on mother's day saying i appreciate my mom, her infinite love and huge heart more and more.

>> condolences to them, certainly. dramatic video for you here that shows a kayaker surviving a shark attack. let's show it so you can get a good look. a shark that grabbed the kayak. let's listen.

>> brian says he was paddling off the coast of california in march. he heard a bang and went flying into the water. see that nearby sailboat came to rescue him minutes later and he was not seriously hurt. i would think it would be really eerie for him to watch this video and see because it looked as though that shark was getting pretty darn close to him at one point. no word on why it would have turned away. >> good thing it did. >> absolutely. the world's biggest single day sporting event is almost here. the indianapolis 500. coy wire is set for race day in indy. how about it, coy? >> reporter: good morning. there is a real sense of history and it is picking up. since before the sun was up, they were lined up a mile away from the track and waiting in line to get into this place. i went inside the mind of last year's champion to see what these on drivers feel on perhaps the biggest day of their lives. that is coming up.

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five hours to go before the flag is set to drop on the greatest spectacle in racing, indy 500. >> coy wire is there and ready for the engines to start for the race. >> good morning to you, guys. >> reporter: last year, something interesting happened. a 66-1 long shot. a youngster from sacramento, alexander rossi was the first american born rookie since 1928 to win the biggest auto race in the world and how he did it was just as impressive usinging one fewer pit stop than the other drivers. he actually ran out of fuel after taking the checkered flag and his car had to be towed to victory celebration in victory lane! i asked the reigning champ what these drivers feel the night before the indy 500. >> it's a little bit of like a

conundrum. you're trying to, like, rest and prepare for, like, an event, right? but, at the same time, it's like the day before christmas and you're 5 years old, so you're like trying to balance those two things. so i actually took like advil p.m. last year. >> reporter: did you? >> just to go to bed. >> reporter: do it against because it worked! once these guys get rolling, they are going about 225 miles an hour! i got to ride with a living legend, mario andretti. only driver ever to win the indy 500 and daytona 500 and formula one world championship. little did i know i would be more scared than i ever had been my entire life. hi no idea what i was in for! >> going to be a bad hair day so you have to put your helmet on and all that. yeah, you'll hear some g-forces in the corners and go pretty fast. from there on, just enjoy the ride and just smile. >> reporter: woo hoo!

the forces are insane! i had to tell myself to stop screaming because i was getting light-headed. i needed breathe! my head hurt and i was nauseous. they do it 300 miles and no bathroom breaks and they can lose 4 to 7 pounds during the indy 500 race and intense competitors and highly skilled athletes to whom i cannot hold a candle! >> if i was a better driver, i'd do it just to lose weight! >> right! that would work, 7 pounds? >> coy, thank you so much. >> reporter: you're welcome. we want to take a moment to look at the life and career of a titan in southern rock. gregg allman died at the age of 69 but wait until you hear what he was doing the night before. ♪ i got one more i guess i was born with a crayon in my hand.

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we are all looking for balance and thousands of people find it by taking to the water on paddle board. here is your look. >> stand-up paddle boardizing on getting on a giant piece of fiberglass with an extra long paddle and paddling along across the surface of the water. i tem people if they can walk and chew gum then they can do this. >> i like the kind of workout that doesn't feel like a workout. at first i had endurance issues and that was this paddle and i would get tired and have to go on my knees. the longer i did at the time more i could stand up and continue and i noticed my body got stronger and legs and core got stronger. >> i'm a commercial plumber. it's kind of takes the stress

out of running your own company. this helps you to relax and just get away from it all. just to listen to the water, to listen to the sound, the bird. i feel better than when i go to the gym. this kind of works everything all at once. balance is the key issue and you fall in. you get out. you get back up. go again. >> it's kind of like your own pist private boat. you just float and flied with the water. it's very peaceful.rivate boat. you just float and flied with the water. it's very peaceful. ♪ ♪ ♪ weathertech. made right, in america

made daily life a guessing game. will i have pain and bloating today? my doctor recommended ibgard to manage my ibs. take control. ask your doctor about nonprescription ibgard. gregg allman, founding member of the allman band, has died. he passed away in georgia and struggled with liver cancer and died from those complications and he was 69. >> he was the center of a fusion between jazz, blues, country, and rock and his sound inspired

countless jam band and southern rock stars. here is pablo sandoval. ♪ i got to run to keep from hiding ♪ >> reporter: he was a warm, kind hearted southern gentleman to his general manager but to the world gregg allman was an icon and pioneer to southern rocks. ♪ i'm not going to let them catch the midnight ride owner ♪ >> reporter: in 1969 while man was landing on the moon, gregg allman was teaming up with his brother to form the allman brothers band. new mix of rock, blues, country and jazz and catapulted the group's success becoming an influential act in the '70s as gregg panned the lyrics to songs midnight rider and sweet melissa and the blues epic "whipping

post." ♪ i feel like i'm dying jo >> reporter: the band was eventually committed into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame in 1995 but the road to success was anything smooth for gregg. his older brother died after the release of their first album and gregg struggled with drug abuse and rock romantic marriage to cher and one of his many marriages and he opened up to cnn about his battle with hepatitis c. >> i just started getting real tired, you know? energy just ain't there. >> reporter: it's also where he spent his final days working on a soon to be released album "southern blood." >> he fortunately got to hear some of the mixes of his final record and shared with me how happy he was. >> reporter: his general manager said that gregg was at peace with his family by his side as he died on saturday.

social media were flooded with condolences with fans and cher and ringo starr. i have led some kind of life, he wrote in his 2012 memoir. pablo sandoval, cnn, atlanta. next hour, we are talking to michael lehman, his long time manager and close friend there about what he was doing the night before he died and it's going to be pretty interesting, in doubt about it. kushner discussed a plan after election day to set up a secret communication channel for the white house to communicate with the kremlin. >> the president has answered little to no questions from reporters. >> mr. president, did jared try to set up a back channel to the russians? >> establishing a war room inside the west wing that is able to quickly respond. >> we are not going to comment on jared.