protesters speaking out and them trading strange words and almost fists and punches on the statehouse floor. these are elected officials. that's the amazing thing. maybe it's good. they all need a little summer break. great to see you, ed. >> i might be back in a couple weeks. the governor of texas is considering a special session so they might all be together in the same room. >> stand by for more. kumbaya it is. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. welcome to "inside politics." president trump again tweets his frustrations with a russia election meddling investigation which now includes big questions about his son-in-law. >> look, we have a special prosecutor. we're going to be looking at this. you know, this might be -- come out to when -- you know, what

did the president know and when did his son-in-law tell him? >> plus the first shoe drops in a white house shakeup and the first public comment from robert mi mueller since he became special counsel overseeing the investigation. >> you can be smart aggressive, articulate, but if you are not honest, your reputation will suffer and once lost, a good reputation can never ever be regain. >> and this morning a trademark trump counter punch. she slams germany saying the new chancellor kae chancellor can't always be trusted to lead. >> translator: trans atlantic relations are of immense importance. they rest on mutual values and interest particularly when we near times as we are now of intense challenges. the last few days showed me that the days where we could completely rely on others are over. >> with us to share their reporting and insights, carol

lee, cnn fill mattingly, perry bacon and mary katherine ham. in a moment the goings and comings at the white house. first, though, the investigation itself and why several new wrinkles matter. here's one. cnn has learned that during last year's campaign russian government officials discussed potentially derogatory information about then candidate donald trump and some of his top aides. dana bash is part of the group of reporter who broke the story and joins us with more. >> john, two former intelligence officials and a congressional source tell cnn that russian government officials discussed having potentially, quote, derogatory information about then presidential candidate donald trump and some of his top aides. in conversations intercepted by u.s. intelligence during the 2016 election. one source described the information as financial in nature and said the discussions centered around whether the russians had leverage with trump's inner circle.

the source says that the intercepted communications suggested to the u.s. intelligence officials that russians believed, quote, they had the ability to influence the administration through the derogatory information. but the sources privy to the description said the communications written by u.s. intelligence cautioned that the russian claims to each other could have been exaggerated or even made up. now, the details of the communication shed new light on information, u.s. intelligence received about russian claims of influence. the contents of the conversations made clear to u.s. officials that russia was considering ways to influence the election even if their claims turned out to be false. cnn first reported the u.s. intercepted discussions of russian officials bragging about ko cultivating relationships with trump campaign aides including michael flynn as a way to influence trump. following cnn's report "the new york times" said that trump's campaign chairman, former

campaign chairman, paul ma nafot was also discussed. >> do we know who the russians were specifically talking about in the trump inner nicircle? >> none of them would say. one of the officials said the intelligence report masked the american names, but it was clear the conversations revolved around the trump campaign team. another source wouldn't give specifi specifics citing the classified information. but as for comment the white house tells cnn the following. this is yet another round of false and unverified claims made by anonymous sources to smear the president. the real is a review of the president's income from the last ten years showed he had virtually no financial ties at all. there appears to be no limit to which the president's political opponents will go to perpetuate this false narrative, including illegally leaking classified material. all this does is play into the hands of our adversaries and put our country at risk. john, the office of director of

national intelligence, the fbi, neither kmeptcommented and the president himself has insisted he has had no financial dealings with russia. >> let me toss this one at you. do the intelligence officials in the united states think the russians really had this information about trump and his associates or could the russians have been saying you know what? the united states is listening to us, let's just make something schnupp. >> that is a really primportant question and we don't know. we know throughout the course of reporting and looking into this whole issue with russia trying to influence the election is how crafty they were and they still are in trying to spread disinformation. our sources acknowledge it is possible in this case, but we also know that the financial entanglements of some people associated with trump are part of the investigation into russia meddling. >> part of the investigation and knowing the end of that investigation might help us and certainly would help people watching at home. dana, thank you very much.

the president made clear yet again this morning he sees all of it as a joke. russian officials must be laughing at the united states and how a lame excuse for why the democrats lost the excuse has taken over fake news. that's in a morning tweet. one of his top aides went on television to defend the president's right hand man who happens his son-in-law. >> jared kushner has said from the very beginning he's willing to go and share any information that he has with congress, with the fbi. i think it's very important to recognize that the president has expressed full confidence in jared kushner and also went on to note the considerable progress and very large important portfolio that jared oversees here at the white house. >> just a few points of note here as to why kushner partyima. >> jared kushner met with russian ambassador in early december during the presidential transition. he then met at the ambassador's suggestion with a russian banker who not only was the subject of u.s. sanctions at the time but

who was well known as a former spy and confidant of vladimir putin. kesh n kushner failed to disclose those on the form to get his security clearance. why does this matter? i mean, beyond the fact that we know the president's conduct in firing james comey is under investigation by the have counsel. now we know the president's right hand man sits across the hall in the west wing has some questions to answer in the fbi and to congress. in the current state of play in this white house, why does this matter? >> because this is the closest that this investigation has gotten to the president. this is -- obviously we've seen this investigation has hung over the white house since the president was inaugurated. but there's always been a little bit of a buffer around the president. now you have his most senior and closest adviser next to his daughter and who has a very broad part folio and there's still a number of questions that have not yet been answered about his contacts with the russians, the nature of the contacts with

the russians, what his motivations were for some of these meetings. that's why it matters. it's going to be very difficult. i was on the president's foreign trip and when the news of jared kushner started to break, you know, you could kind of find it difficult to find white house officials whereas it was easier before that. and that's because this is the most significant thing to happen in the course of this investigation for the president. >> obviously the stature of the age matters, the stature of jared kushner matters, but it's the questions. there simply aren't any answers to the stories, the explanations for why certain meetings happen, . i think what this does right now, and it's worth noting. jared kushner and his team have made very clear he is willing to come up and speak with anybody. in march he said he was willing to meet with the senate intelligence committee. they have not backed off that claim. that's saying something, that he's willing to do that without any protection. clearly shows their kind of position on. this the fact that all of these

questions are hanging out there, the fact that that he's that close to the president and this investigation as it moves forward is clearly in more serious phase, the posture of both the senate and house intelligence committee system in a different level than it was a couple weeks ago. bob mueller ratchets things up to a different level. his name being involved makes this significantly more note worthy than it was even ten days ago. >> in part because michael flynn and paul manafort don't work at the white house. now we have someone sitting at the white house who is involved in these meetings who is thinking about the health care bill, thinking about himself as well and if he's in any kind of legal jeopardy. >> you mean the trump agenda. i want to listen to james clapper. he was the director of national intelligence. served in several administrations, but was in that job when the obama administration ended. he's talking here want just about jared kushner, but he says when he was in the intelligence community during the

presidential campaign and then during the transition, they saw a number of meetings. u.s. officials eavesdrop on russian officials. they see these meetings jared kushner is having. they see the meetings mike flynn is happening. listen to this and then saying at the end i think something we can all agree with. >> i will just say there were a series of communications and dialogues that we grew -- i say we, the members of the intelligence community were aware of this were very concerned about. we didn't know the intent. didn't know and certainly didn't know the substance of these conversations and dialogues. and so what this merits, what it requires i think is an airing a transparency and play out this investigation. this is something the country badly needs to clear up this cloud that's hanging over us right now. >> couple of very important

points there. number one, he pushes back on the president saying this is all fake news. there's no feed for an investigation saying i don't know how it's going to turnout, but we saw a number of things that concerned us that made no sense, that were out of normal protocol and the fbi should investigate them. then the last point was the point i meant that everyone could say amen which is we need to get this over with and get to a point where there's a report and transparency and whether you agree with the president, disagree with the president, think he did something horrible, that the american people get a report they can trust and move on. >> i'm with him on that is to actually have a conclusion to this. the middle part we're in with the dualing leaks actually didn't help us get there. the meeting with the banker is one of the more problematic things we've seen between trump folks. it's something jared kushner is willing to come to the hill and talk about it. reporters in both the flynn story and the most recent one have cautioned themselves to say

russians may be exaggerating much of this. also i would note wasn't everybody discussing derogatory information about the trump candidacy at that time? this is just piling on a narrative which is what the president is upset about. they have given the narrative to people by not being transparent about this. if in fact he was not doing anything wrong, he could have put it on the form. >> and he could step out. you mentioned, and to his credit, he said he's willing to testify on capitol hill. do we know when that's going to happen? they have to coordinate with the special counsel investigation. but to the point you made, why was he meeting during the transition at the ambassador's suggestion with a russian banker who go to your search engine, who is kbonown as a banker unde sanctions, a private citizen about to come in to a new

administration, a lot of people say should not be meeting with a russian banker close to putin under u.s. sanctions. >> right. and i think the question is the white house has said that he did not -- that jared kushner did not discuss business or sanctions in this meeting. and i think if you're looking at it from the outside, it could be hard to imagine that those issues wouldn't come up given who this bank -- what this bank is, how close it is to putin, how much the sanctions were important to them. so again, i thaink that we are backed in a place where there are more questions than there are kanswers and it's just goin it continue. >> that's why we need that testimony. the banker in question, his statement said he discussed kushner and company business, discussed, you know, private real estate dealing business with jared kushner. jared kushner through his spokesman has said no, he discussed u.s. government business and just essentially having a dialogue with the kremlin about -- so that they could get off the ground running. >> the bank also said this meeting was part of a series of meetings and no one's been able

to find the other meetings this particular banker has had. the idea that they were on a tour of talking to american companies and no one's been able to figure out who else he would have met with. >> and as we move into the next chapter of this investigation, we know the president's new top lawyer, outside lawyer, which was at the white house this weekend, he has been loyal to trump for about 15 years and he's going to be the senior guy. he's going to be the senior guy who hires a team of washington lawyers. we also know jared kushner has a very accomplished taeattorney w was in the clinton administration and knows how these things work. as you build the legal teams, what does that tell us about again how this week is different from, say, last week or two weeks ago in terms of a, the legal ramifications and the caution you need to take if you're one of the people involved and what it does to the president doing his job, his day job. >> this idea that kushner would do a press conference and say no, this did not happen, i think we're past that. his lawyers are probably saying no and maybe hell no even.

>> i know jamie and i think not. >> it's reality, right? whether or not they think they did anything wrong and the white house makes clear, one, they don't think they did anything wrong, and two they believe this is designed to take down the president by people that are upset with the election results. that's not a messaging point from them whchlt you ta. when you talk to the white house, there are many people in there who firmly believe this is absolutely a conspiracy. nothing they saw over the course of the campaign would indicate that they did anything wrong at all. that might be the case. but when lawyers get involved, it's a recognition that hey, this is serious. you say stuff right now whether on a social media platform or off the cuff at a press conference or testifying in front of a city committee that could get you in very big trouble if you're not sure to cross your ts and dot your is. >> i would say that's the term for me that's interesting. even if there is no nefariousness, when you get

lawyers involved and you get to this level, folks who say things sloppily or carelessly can get themselves in trouble. and then the other thing is once you start lawyering up, a white house, an administration that is sort of understaffed and having trouble bringing new people on is going to have more trouble convincing folks on its smallest of people they trust to come on because they're going to have to lawyer up maybe at some point. that's a lot of personal expense. you're going to a whole other level we'll get more on that later. you see the president tightening the circle around him at the time he might need more help. everyone sit tight ahead, one senior white house staffer is out and some new are in. next, the president fires back in a high stakes sparring match with one of america's most important european allies. -what? -we gotta go. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday.

we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ] [ music and cheers get louder ] the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. it'that can make a worldces,rd froof difference.ica. expedia, everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. james com ♪

this is a story about mail and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪

when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges.

fmy doctor recommended ibgard. abdominal pain and bloating. now i'm in control of my ibs. nonprescription ibgard-calms the angry gut. . welcome back. president trump is back home but sparring with one of america's biggest european allies continues. a morning tweet complains we have a massive trade deficit with germany plus they pay far less than they should on nato and military. very bad for the united states. this will change. if you remember the campaign, the president likes call himself a counter puncher. the tweet was no doubt a response to this dis from the german chancellor. >> translator: we areconvinced trans atlantic. they rest on mutual values and interest, particularly when we are in times as we are now of intense challenges. the last few days showed me the

days where we could rely on others are over. >> what are we to make of this in the sense that if we do, the united states does have a trade deficit with germany. after china it's number two and three. the president during the campaign promised he was going to deal with this. but his critics would say there's a more graceful way to air these grievances especially when the person at the other end of the complaint list is angela merkel who is an important ally in germany. why is he so tough on her when he's so nice to the president of the egypt or saudi arabia. >> we started in saudi arabia and then went to isreal and while the president was in the middle east meeting with the leaders, he was very kind. then you moved into europe and his speech in brussels on nato was very harsh and all the leaders were kind of standing around looking at each other and

you saw him take a much more strident approach. angela merkel is one of -- germany has become with the uk leaving the european union, their importance has only increased in terms of relations with the u.s. he was very critical in private meetings in terms of trade deficit. his approach was very stick. it was all lecturing and being h harsh and saying that they're not doing enough and not stepping up enough. i think to europiean allies the were taken a back. they had felt that at least he wasn't going to come there and do that. when they had given them a bunch of things, he arrived in brussel and they had taken steps on foreign fighters. and they felt that they were giving him a lot of things. so in return they weren't going to get this sort of finger wagging that they did get. >> but they did get it and the german counter argument is yes,

we have a trade deficit but we also buy a lot from the united states. german diplomats also say mercedes benz and bmw have a lot of plonants that employ a lot o people. trade he believe in his heart is why he is the president of the united states. >> and those states the president did very, very well. con particulars here is important. angela merkel is in the midst f a campaign and taking a shot at the american president is not something out of the ordinary. what i was struck by in the wake of the comments and the reaction to the comments right now is the importance of the european leg of the trip and just the dynamic. and the shift there, which was so crystal clear as carol kind of pointed out. again, whether you have issues with nato, whether you have issues with how kind of the eu is set up, there was an expectation going into this trip and i think we spoke about it

before he left that everything he talked about on the campaign, he was starting to ratchet back a little bit on foreign policy. his nato speech was essentially almost without saying they were obsolete kind of going back to a greatest hits from the campaign right now. and i think the european leaders not just from the speech but just from the private meetings, you're going to see a lot more of that, whether it's what you saw from the leader of france, whether it's what you've seen and heard from the leader of canada. this is something you're going to see a lot of more from traditional allies. when i talked to foreign policy people, is this their kind of doctrine, how it's being molded right now of you give carrots to people that maybe aren't the most assured allies in the world and you give sticks to the people you assume is always going to be there. i think that's a legitimate question they need to answer. is this all intentional and is this how we plan on running foreign policy. >> you make an important point. yes, he's counter punching angela merkel. you can't do, that you can't use

that language. they're giving as hard as they're getting. trump is an issue in europe. she's in a campaign. theresa may talking about how she was going to talk about intelligence problems with president trump. she's in the middle of a campaign. the italian prime minister saying the eu must take his future into must elected. the just elected president of france. he's at the nato summit. he looks like he's making a "b" line for president trump. and then. just watch. it's angela merkel who gets the first embrace from the newly elected president of fans. as much as the president is counter punching for his political purposes, they're playing the same game. >> yeah. angela merkel is probably not super upset he tweeted about her in a campaign sense.

i joked before president trump left that maybe he didn't have global coverage on his phone and that would help his trip and i may have had a point because since he's been back he's been tweeting more and i do think it takes its toll. the first part of that, prenato was fairly successful. the nato speech obviously i think was a break from tradition in foreign policy and not good for our -- for the western democracies. but to come back and start attacking merkel is classic trump. but i think the folks who supported him even some reluctantly are not made uncomfortable by american president going to europe and making european leaders uncomfortable talking about how they have to pay their way and nato even if it makes others in this town uncomfortable. i think that's something to remember but i don't think it does our alliances any good. >> this is a lot about policy. think about the paris agreement. the european leaders really support that and donald trump sounds like he is going to pull out of it or sometimes those meetings in private, they push

him on it. the pope pushed him on it. there's a big policy issue. there's a huge gap in policy. i think that's what's driving a lot of this. i would say also running as trump has become something you do in europe almost the same way john osoff will. merkel's opponent right now is attacking trump as harshly as she is. it's one way to win election in europe is be as anti-trump in europe but i think that's where we are. >> we'll see as the sparring continues. the president promising a decision this week. this could escalate or perhaps maybe a little detante. trump communications director is out and some aides appear to be back in. wake up ready to perform. now through june 11th, save $600 when you buy select tempur-pedic adjustable mattress sets. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com.

won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. switch and you could save $509 on auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

detente day dete welcome back. michael duck is out as white house communications director. you probably had no idea he was the communications director. it's supposed to be that way. it's an important but largely blooin t behind the scenes role. the person who thinks what should be the president be focussing on and how the staff

can help and maybe the cabinet help sell administration priorities. why he's out, though, is important. the president blames his staff for all the headlines about the russia election meddling investigation. and is looking to shake things up a bit at the white house. we're told not to look for a big flood of departures. sean spicer, he's delivering an on camera briefing today after being virtual ly invisible durig the president's international trip. two former trump campaign aides have been around the white house a lot. corey lou corey lewandowski. bossie, anything but establishment. what does that mean? the president going back to people who worked for him in the campaign who he believes like he fashions himself are counter punchers. if there's something in the media or something in the conversation in washington that's anti-president, you know, harmful headlines, that these guys are going to fight back.

but how? what are their specific jobs? what do they do? >> i don't think we exactly know except this president feels he's not being served well by letting people in that weren't with him in the start. he feels very comfortable with them and they can defend him. corey lewandowski, these are combative people is exactly the way he wants to conduct his administration which is already combative. if he brings him in, certainly that's going to be the case. >> he has a press coverage and he's going to hire corey as a solution? he's known for grabbing a reporter. that actually happened during the campaign. the campaign coverage of trump he won, but it wasn't because he had good press coverage. so it's odd to think these guys are going to solve that problem. they may solve the problem of being more combative, they may yell at reporters or colleagues more. but it sounds like he's

hunkering down, going with people he trusts. he's not doing what i thought he would do. you would have thought in the beginning if he were to govern and really get things accomplished he would have brought in people who knew about governing, who had relationships on the hill. it's hard to see these guys really helping with governing unless the view is governing can't help until you knock the russia story off the front page. >> does that part come to it? because the president's mad at mike and the staff at large for the russia meddling investigation. you talk to republicans up there and they're critical of the white house communication and political talk. why isn't the president going to this district or that district. there's been a lot of criticism of how these guys work. my question is what's the end goal and if you're going to hire more people maybe you get to perry's point. i lived through the clinton white house. his deputy did -- they brought in lanny davis, very aggressive

attorney to fight back. but bill clinton was still impeached. he still had to go before a grand jury because the basic facts were the basic facts. no matter how good your team, you can't change the facts. >> the white house is as preoccupied with the story line as its critics are and this is perhaps a reflection of that. the guys they're talking about are not just counter punches, but first punchers. the thing they may have over the folks now and i don't know if it ends well, but they may have a closer relationship with trump himself. but i don't think a shakeup helps him unless the person brought in can tell him no in a credible way sometimes and we have not seen the person who can do that on a regular basis. i'm not sure these guys are it even if they're close to him. >> as you laid out with the clinton model, the idea of having a dual track, you have them on the outside attacking

people. i think we've been on the other end of some of those phone calls. the interesting part about mike's departure is anybody who who's covered a white house knows, and you laid it out, communications director, in terms of the things that are very lacking in the white house for pushing their agenda forward, that's the communications director job. while mike never settled in with the team, he never gelled with the operation by all accounts, didn't gel with the guy who sits in the oval office, that should be a crucial component of whatever they're doing next. you don't leave that job open or have a slow transition period. that job is what lays out the opportunities for you to succeed on capital hill on the things you want to keep your head down and keep working toward as your outside team is fighting to not back any news about investigation. >> but it's hard to do that job to plan where is the president going to be? where is he going to be next week? what's he going to do in the big speech here? 's hard to do that when reince

preb re -- >> this is not the james baker reset, but it will be interesting to see if they have someone with that kind of figure come in and do those. you're on the hill all the time and there's really a desire for that to have -- isolate this russia stuff and have some sort of traction on a legislative agenda that where you can talk to people in the white house and get a very clear answer and it's consistent and they don't have that right now. >> the consistent part is the right thing. everybody sit tight. next turmoil? what turmoil? if you listen to the president's friends and long time confidants, he makes fepeople fl inspired, like a million bucks.

♪ there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any medicare supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust... or go with someone new. you're not stuck in a network... because there aren't any. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. rates are competitive. and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. like any of these types of plans, they let you apply whenever you want.

there's no enrollment window... no waiting to apply. so call now. remember, medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now. because the time to think about tomorrow is today. rumor confirmed. they're playing. -what? -we gotta go. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ]

[ music and cheers get louder ] the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. juswho own them,ople every business is different. but every one of those businesses will need legal help as they age and grow. whether it be help starting your business, vendor contracts or employment agreements. legalzoom's network of attorneys can help you every step of the way so you can focus on what you do. we'll handle the legal stuff that comes up along the way. legalzoom. legal help is here. welcome back. snubs and slights are part of the job in trump's white house. that's the online headline of a piece in "the washington post" detailing how the president's strusk style means awkward and humiliating moments.

it's well-sourced peace and written by ashley parker and it includes this priceless pushback. quote, president trump has a magn magnetic personality. he treats everyone with respect. he is brilliant with a great sense of humor and an amazing ability to make people feel special and asspipire to be mor than they ever thought possible. loyalty is to be applauded. but at a minimum, the treats everyone with respect part, well, that would break the fact check machine. >> i'd like to pufnch him in th face. knock the crap out of him. he's got the temperament of a loser. >> these people are stupid. i never attack him on his look and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there.

>> i don't know what to say. let's not have a low energy conversation here. again, you applaud loyalty. it's a white house this n crisis. it's a piece well sourced. the nicknames he gives people, some things he's said to take them down. anyone who's been around this president knows the sharpness, the sarcasm and sometimes the meanness comes with the territory. he does have some of those other positive qualities like a magnetic personality, but that quote is beyond priceless. >> it doesn't jive with the facts and it suggests he's one dimensional which he does not. during the campaign he was known for this. everyone who stood on that stage with him had a name. there was a label. low energy and everything else. and so it doesn't -- when you have that much evidence to the contrary or you're not acknowledging your boss's faults to a certain extent, it just kind of lacks credibility.

>> but she knows the president. she worked for private businessman donald trump. does it reflect that she knows well at a time when he's mad, at a time when he's frustrated that's not only what he wants but demands to hear from the people that work for him? >> i wasn't surprised by the quote. i think of trump as someone who is tough on somebody. the story went of him insults not just paul ryan, nikki haley, but also insulting jared occasionally. he pokes at everyone. he always makes clear i am in charge and you are not. so i was a little surprised to say yes, he's really nice. i don't think that's what he's trying to do. he's trying to shake up things. maybe he needs to be told how nice he was but it's not going to convince anybody. >> he likes to hear good things about himself. that's probably why he preeappr the saudi arabia part of the trip versus the nato part of the trip. the thing that gets me about this and seems out of line with his brand is the mean streak is

actually partly what a lot of voters voted for. they thought they needed that on their side sometimes with really good reason. felt sort of bullied. >> they wanted pull. this is -- washington is the china shop. >> it's seems counter to what many voters like about him. >> it seems in my mind he's talked to friends, he's frustrated, he didn't know who to trust, so she's trying to pump him up. another friend of the president, i think it's more new york swagger than he's trying to belittle them. i always say he makes people feel like a million bucks. another trump friend saying things at times that are true. just not fully context yuual. >> i think people that have worked with him, the statement itself is rather absurd and that's not a shout at hope.

we've seen a lot of statements that are clearly dictated by the president that kind of relates to that. how he operates in the oval office and how he deals with people that are employed by him is the same way he's been operating based on anybody that i've spoken to over the course of his entire career. he's 70 years old. that has been very effective up to this point and he's not going to change. people that have been with him for long periods of time grasp that. don't take it as personally. those who came in later, i've spoke tone some, are taken a back. they don't expect it in that forum. i will note in watching that video it's a reminer thder, the months, there were completely surreal moments that i completely forgot about. >> we're going to see in a little more than an hour sean spicer at the podium at the white house. talk about treating everyone with respect. he did not treat his press secretary with republican on the international trip. he didn't allow him brief. if you're the white house press

secretary, it's an important job. he didn't get to do that. there's been all this talk that he might be out. is this a sign that the president has taken a deep breath and decided sean spicer is here to stay, period, or here to stay for now, dot, dot, dot. >> i think what we saw on the foreign trip is what we'll see in the white house this is this layering of where you would have, you know, sean spicer was visible. he was around. those of us that were on the trip saw him and spoke with him. but they had rex tillerson was briefing us on the plane and then you had, you know, other senior administration officials who were coming out and briefing us. and i think that you'll probably see a little bit more of that in the white house. >> also a lot of off camera stuff on the trip which i think is a reflection that the president thinks he should be the only person speaking on camera. caps, gouwns, popcorns, 50 guys political and nasty.

be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has

recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®.

welcome back. as you probably know it's commencement season. there there's pomp, circumstance. political tur listen in. >> lwell, the country's gone crazy. in movie terms, the country was an aspiring uplifting drama. >> we must never allow demagogues to divide us up by race, by religion, by national origin, by gender, or sexual orientation. black and white, latino, asian american, native american, christian, jew, muslim and every religion, straight or guy, male

or female, we must stand together. this country belongs to all of us. >> from a trump perspective, they would say sour grapes. it is interesting listening to -- and mike pen hce has been out speaking on the president's behalf. but it is interesting how the president's critics are looking for big high profile platforms to make this case. >> hillary attacked him at the speech last week. college students are young. people voted for hillary. i think it's ail also natural tu have these liberals and attacking trump and getting loud cheers. mike pence goes and gets booed and they walk out. >> i mean, i want to applaud the students of brooklyn college and the people who brought him in to speak for thinking outside the box, pushing the envelope with

the brooklyn native socialist liberal. on the upside he got on honorary degree which is the only college that is free and applaud the notre dame audience. a lot complained that some of the students walked out. that is actually how college should work. a speaker comes you disagree with you. lodge that complaint. the speaker speaks. and we all move on with our lives. that was well done college students. you have learned something. >> and the speaker speaks part is important. whether it be from the left or right. if they're invited on your campus, they get to speak. the new special counsel, reel quick. let's do it. >> in regardless of your chosen career, you're only as good as your word. you can be smart, aggressive, articulate and be persuasive, but if you are not honest, your reputation will suffer and once

lost, a good reputation can never, ever be regained. >> i wanted to sneak that in because it's the first we've heard from bob mueller since he took the job. laying down a little bit of marker there in his advice to young people. thanks for joining us today. see you back here tomorrow. wolf blitzer in the chair after a quick break. s for a jurassic failure but today, you showed that cake who's boss. you pam do it!

and it's also a story mail aabout people and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you rumor confirmed. they're playing. -what? -we gotta go. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ] [ music and cheers get louder ] the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. 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

your first accident. switch and you could save $509 on auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington. 8:00 p.m. in moscow. wherever you're joining us, thanks very much. we begin with exclusive cnn reporting on the investigation into russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election including another member of president trump's personal circle, now being asked to provide information to the u.s. congress. plus increased scrutiny of the president's son-in-law and his ties to a russian banking executive. and some perspective on the president's mood in the midst of the russia investigation with one source telling cnn gloria borger, he now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for donald trump to be. he doesn't have