Skip to main content

tv   Wolf  CNN  May 31, 2017 10:00am-11:01am PDT

10:00 am
>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we now have new details about efforts to get the fired fbi director james comey to testify at a u.s. senate hearing. the plans to testify were up in the air after it was announced that the investigation into russian meddling was being turned over to special council robert mueller. our washington investigative editor eric lish blah is joining us right now with new
10:01 am
information. you've been doing a lot of reporting on this. first of all, tell viewers what you're learning. > what we're told by sources is that in fact, comey will testify. he will testify publicly maybe as soon as next week before the senate intelligence committee. and that he is ready and eager to discuss these tense couldn't confrontations with the president over the russian investigation. >> so you've got two the. theys one he's agreed to testify in public before the senate intelligence committee maybe as early as next wednesday evening. wednesday morning, is that right. >> that's in the mix, yes. >> that's one that heal testify in public maybe as early as wednesday morning before the senate intelligence committee and two, he is ready and even eager to speak about his conversations with president trump about the entire investigation. >> correct. he and bob mueller special counsel have been discussing the parameters. they don't want to mess up the criminal investigation that mueller is now embarked on with the public testimony. it's unlikely that comey will be
10:02 am
willing to discuss the russia investigation itself. we'll stay from that. but we're hearing that he is willing and mueller is willing, as well to have him testify about these run-ins where the president allegedly told him to let go of the investigation, for instance, into michael flynn, to -- where he wanted his loyalty to keep him on as fbi director, that he is ready and prepared to talk about those tense confrontations with the president. >> you say tense. it's extremely tense because if in fact he says what has been reported that the president tried to discourage him from pursuing this investigation, some are alleging that that could even be obstruction of justice. >> that is the phrase that's being tossed around especially by democrats and you know, it's one thing to have the accounts leak out over the last few weeks through the media. it's another to hear them directly from the fired fbi director all 6'8". we now how the president is glued to tv.
10:03 am
this will be about as close to a face-to-face confrontation as you might hope for. >> stay with us. i want to bring in the senior political analyst mark preston, our congressional correspondent phil mattingly and chief political correspondent dana bash. eric is still with us, as well. mark, how significant potentially could this public testimony by the fired fbi director be? >> very significant. and we should note to our viewers that comey and mueller are very close, you know, they have worked together very well. when he does come up to capitol hill it is going to be a very orchestrated dance. there's no question what he sayses before congress when he does testify as eric has reported that it's going to be with a blessing of mueller. there's not going to be anything that's going to be put out there that will jeopardize the independent counsel investigation that robert mueller is going to do. i've got to tell you what, if
10:04 am
i'm the white house right now, if i'm donald trump right now, i'm concerned. these are very damning allegations against the president. >> dana, it will certainly keep all of this russia investigation right atop the agenda. >> look, i am not afraid to admit on television that i was extremely skeptical that after bob mueller was appointed as special counsel concept tickle that comey was really going to testify even though the intelligence chair and top democrats said that he would do just that. this great reporting that eric has about the idea that not only is he going to testify but he's going to talk about what everybody wants to know which is what really happened in these meetings with the president when he allegedly said you know, back off at the same time he was saying by the way, do you still want your job is going to be, of course, a barn burner of a hearing. i still am going to be very interested to see like you were saying, mark, how far he goes given the fact that he understands that that is very
10:05 am
likely going to be and already is part of the mueller investigation. >> yeah, and the president's tweet this morning, phil, he took a direct swipe at the fired fbi director. let me read to you what he tweeted this morning about six hours or so ago. so now it is reported that the democrats who have excoriated carter page about russia don't want him to testify. he blows away their case against him and now wants to clear his name by showing "the false or misleading testimony by james comey, john brennan." witch hunt. that's what the president is calling it. he's alleging that comey who is about to testify and we're learning this thanks to eric's excellent reporting, maybe as early as next wednesday, next week sometime publicly. the president this morning said that he was engaged in false or misleading testimony. he used the word testimony. you provide false testimony to congress, that's a crime. >> that's not a subtle statement. there's a lot to unpack in that
10:06 am
tweet. first and foremost, this is the same administration for the last six months has tried to keep carter page within six miles of them at all times and don't want to acknowledge he played any role in the campaign. he played a very limited role. it's worth noting what the president is tweeting out in terms of carter page testifying isn't exactly true at least according to sources i've been talking to on the committee. they had not set a date. carter page set his own date, suggested his own date. basically the way he's being viewed right now as this investigation moves forward is somebody they're interested in obviously. he's a noteworthy name but he's not a key component or a key player. they're more interested in talking to paul manafort or michael flynn or james comey. when you look at the entire scope of things, to both dana and mark's point, this is a key component of this investigation because publicly it gives legs to what's going on behind the scenes and we've been told about for the last couple of weeks. we know the parameters are starting to form in terms of who the committees reached out to, the documents they're trying to
10:07 am
get, the subpoenas they're starting to release. now we're going to see in a public forum how the investigations are starting to progress. it's a bombshell moment. it's going to freeze the entire town in the lead up to and during this moment. it will give a sense kind of based on the questions no matter what jim comey can answer where they're actually starting to go with this right now in these early stages. >> comey and mueller, the special counsel, they're very close. you say they've already had some conversations how far comey can go in his public statements. >> right, right. i mean, there is concern, legitimate concern that you don't want public testimony to mess up a criminal case. there's precedent for that in the iran-contra case and other situations that it could sort of bleed over into the criminal investigation. a judge could throw something out. they're very concerned that that not happen. i think there's also a feeling at least within comey's camp that the public has a right to know what happened here when you're dealing with such enormous consequences. i would say as far as the
10:08 am
president's tweets it seems like trump is playing a dangerous game here attacking the credibility of a former fbi director who remember, we now know kept meticulous notes on all of these. he's basically, trump's basically saying who are about you going to believe, me or him. >> not just the former fbi director but john brennan as well as when he used in quotes false or misleading testimony. >> he's saying believe me, not them. we'll see. >> you know, we're talking obviously about a very important thing which is the testimony and the investigation. but there's also a human element we can't forget here. this is a man who dedicated his life, james comey, to justice, to law enforcement, and rose to the highest position possible in law enforcement. fbi director. and he feels scorned. and publicly humiliated by the president of the united states by not only firing him when he was in california, learning about it on cable news, and then you know, tweeting pretty nasty
10:09 am
and taunting things at him afterwards. so and he's also somebody you know this far better than i known to understandably really care about his reputation and about the ethics he's tried to live up to, a standard he held himself to that he hoped others would, as well. and you can't underestimate that that he wants to try to set the record straight and kind of i'm not saying he wants revenge but the human element is, of course, he wants to speak for himself. he hasn't been able to. >> you remember what the president told the russians about comey in that meeting according to all the reports. not very nice words about comey. eric, let me get your notion, will he bring his notes with him? will those contemporaneous notes had he on his meetings with the president, a, will they be made available to the senate intelligence committee and b, will he start reading from the notes at that testimony? >> i think that's still at issue. the fbi as we understand it has
10:10 am
been -- has frustrated some of the committees with the slow pace of turning over documents and comey's notes and memos are central to that. i will be surprised if he does not come with notes of his own. they may not be the contemporaneous notes that he made at the time because those are now such a central piece of evidence. >> they certainly are. go ahead, mark. >> i was just going to say, actions and words need to be married together. if you look at a couple days after the inauguration when president trump called out jim comey, made him walk across the room, tried to give him this hug only to have a month or so later where now he is trashing him and eventually fires him, you got to take everything in perspective and in line here. and in many ways that helps jim comey a lot. >> go ahead. >> i can't remember as dana was getting at such a personal drama between two figures like this. if you're talking about nixon and j. edgar hoover to have such personal animus between the president and fired fbi
10:11 am
director, yore a situation like this. >> especially what the president said about comey as recently as this morning in this tweet suggesting maybe he was lying in his testimony before congress. phil, very quickly, this is a committee, the senate intelligence committee, where there has been good bipartisan cooperation by the chairman and the vice chairman. >> this is the investigation that everybody's really been looking to on capital little. this is an important signal from bob mueller. there was a lot of question, dana hinted at this, how these investigations would be able to move forward now that there's a special counsel. that will mueller is willing to make this happen publicly is a good sign for committees and staff we've been talking to that are wary how much leeway they'll have to conduct these investigations in the months ahead. >> that's an important part and a sign how aggressive mueller will be in his own investigation separately, the fact he could have quashed this and he's not going to. >> eric, welcome to cnn. great to have you on our team. excellent reporting for all our
10:12 am
viewers here in the united states and around the world. eric lichtblau, thanks to you, dana and phil, as well. other important decisions from president donald trump. as we wait for a pick for a new noib fbi director and whether he will send additional troops to afghanistan, the president seems to be moving ahead on two other critical issues, the paris climate deal and moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. our white house correspondent sara murray is joining us from the white house. our global affairs correspondent ellise labott is the in new york. sara, what are you hearing about the u.s. and the paris comrimt accords? >> reporter: sources tell us president trump is expected to withdraw from this agreement. the mechanism by which he will do so has yet to be determined and things could still change until he makes the decision and announces it publicly. he said on twitter today he'll announce it within the next couple days. we are expecting that to to be public later on this week. this is a huge shift from what we saw under the obama
10:13 am
administration. it's a huge shift in how america lies with so many countries across the globe. remember 195 nations nearly every country on the globe signed on to this agreement in 2015. it's a very big deal. the notion that the u.s. is backing down on this. it also highlights the split playing out right here in the west wing, the president has met with a number of advisers pushing him to stay in this agreement including his own daughter ivanka trump. he is set to meet with secretary of state rex tillerson who wants him to ta in the agreement. he's hearing from other factions in the white house, steve bannon as well as his epa administrator who are saying get out of this. this is killing jobs. that appears to be the direction he's headed. we wait for his public announcement, wolf. >> we'll wait and see. looks like it's a done deal. we'll wait till it happens. there's another important decision the president has to make whether or not to live up to his oft stateded campaign promise to move the embassy from
10:14 am
tel aviv to the jerusalem. there's a deadline of sorts tomorrow. where does this stand? >> reporter: the deadline is for the waiver that president obama signed last year that expires on june 1st. in effect, that would keep the u.s. embassy in tel aviv for now instead of that controversial move to jerusalem. president trump has said that he does want to move the embassy but we are being told, myself and cnn white house producer dan murkia that the president will hold off for now, that heal sign another waiver. he's expected to sign it sometime this week. in effect, keeping the embassy, what officials are telling us is that the president does still support the move. but you know, with all of the efforts that he's making to restart the peace process between israelis and palestinians, it might not be the best time or the best climate. you know, president trump and his aides have been told by diplomats in the region the saudis, the joraniadannians thit
10:15 am
a good time. it should be done in the context of a peace process. for now the u.s. embassy remaining in tel aviv. >> american presidents have been signing that waiver for about 20 years going back to bill clinton, george w. bush, barack obama and now the president trump about to sign that waiver, that six-month waiver, as well citing national security concerns for not moving the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. all right, elise and sara, thanks very much. coming up, more on the president's decisions. is the president about to make a call that will reject the advice of every major european ally? the pope and his own daughter? we'll have a closer look at the paris climate deal controversy. and later, the typo gone viral. the president invents a new word. sends twit near a tizzy. with my moderate to severe crohn's disease,... ...i kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i was doing okay...
10:16 am
then it hit me... ...managing was all i was doing. when i told my doctor,... ...i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease... ...even after trying other medications. in clinical studies,... the majority of people on humira... saw significant symptom relief... ...and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability... ...to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened;... ...as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where... ...certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb,... ...hepatitis b, are prone to infections,... ...or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. just managing your symptoms? ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.
10:17 am
10:18 am
we asked people to write down the things they love to do most on these balloons. travel with my daughter.
10:19 am
roller derby. ♪ now give up half of 'em. do i have to? this is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire. but, if we start saving even just 1% more of our annual income... we could keep doing all the things we love. prudential. bring your challenges. on the campaign trail, then presidential candidate donald trump vowed to withdraw from the paris climate agreement and move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. now the time has come to see if those promises ring true. i'm joined by our senior international correspondent fred
10:20 am
pleitgen, military and diplomatic analyst retired add jirl john kirby and a.b. stoddard. you got a lot of advice to the president and whether or not to go along with the paris climate accord. apparently even the secretary of energy rick perry was saying keep it, go with it. his daughter ivanka said go with it. rex tillerson, former chairman and ceo of exxonmobil said keep to the agreement. but there were others saying follow what you promised during the campaign and get out of it. >> yeah, it appears that you would think the sort of stronger voices the one you mentioned particularly rex tillerson would prevail. it seems that the president who is embattled right now not only because of the russia investigations but also because his legislative agenda is so badly stalled seems to want to really kind of satisfy the base. i think we shouldn't be surprised that news broke a few days ago. he's going to want to say that he fulfilled a campaign promise. >> he tweeted this morning
10:21 am
expect the announcement shortly. you were what, the state department spokesman when the deal was worked out. what are the national security ramifications if any from the u.s. leaving the paris climate accords. >> there's many. the pentagon itself called climate change a threat multiplier. climate change will have wide-ranging implications for u.s. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems such as poverty, social tensions, degradation from the environment, enfectule leadership and weak political institutions that threaten domestic stability. climate induces stress can generate water scarcity and contribute to instability and conflict even in situations which were previously not considered at risk. it is absolutely a national security imperative and threat. >> you were once a spokesman for the pentagon. from the u.s. military's perspective, you think this would be a blunder. >> absolutely, i do. it's not just me.
10:22 am
it's uniformed members of the military, generals and admirals who are out on the frontlines right now and having to deal with the kinds of instability that is caused by climate change. so look, he talks about wanting to rebuild the military. he has to devote a lot more money in future budgets to the pentagon spending to deal with the kind of insecurity and instability that pulling out will cause him. he doesn't have to pull out all together. the great thing about the paris agreement is there's flexibility in the targets. each nation can determine for themselves what those are. he can just take a look at the agreement. if he doesn't like the targets, maybe adjust them. there's no need to pull completely out. >> what's the reaction over there, fred? you're on the other side of the atlantic right now. the president met with eu leaders, nato allies, the g-7. everyone is on board with this agreement except apparently the president. >> it's one of the things that angela merkel lamented when he she came back from are a meeting with the president both in brussels and italy, as well.
10:23 am
she shade right now on climate change, you have a 6-1 situation within the g-7 countries where all of them are on board with the climate accords. they want to see this through and want this to continue. the only ones that apparently don't or are not clear on it yet is the united states. we've heard from european leaders continental european leaders over the past couple days saying we're not sure whether we can rely on the u.s. anymore as a partner both the germans said this and the italians said this well. the italians said we simply don't see eye to eye with the united states on climate policy. so this is something that not only is a big issue obviously in the scope of climate itself but then also diplomatic relations especially with these close european partners that of course, any right now are questioning whether or not the white house is still behind them and fully has their back. so this could be a big diplomatic problem, as well. on the other hand, wolf, what could happen is you would see the european country who are still going to stick to this
10:24 am
climate agreement, they're not going to give it up just because the u.s. is giving it up. they'll try and forge closer ties with countries potentially in asia, as well who are also still going to hold on to this climate agreement. so it could make for some pretty difficult diplomacy especially with the european allies because climate policy here in europe is a very, very big issue, wolf. >> i want people to listen to this clip. lynn say graham speaking about if the u.s. were to withdraw from the paris accords. a.b., listen to this. >> but if he does withdraw, that would be a definitive statement by the president that he believes climate change is a hoax. stay in the deal, make it a better deal would be my advice. >> and so if he pulls out, what does that mean to you? >> it means that the leader of the republican party is in a different spot than the rest of the world. it would be taken as a statement that climate change is not a problem, not real. that would be bad for the party,
10:25 am
bad for the country. >> although during the campaign, you and i remember he repeatedly said if he's elected, he's out of that paris climate accord. >> well, there are a lot of republicans like senator graham hoping once the president put this cabinet in of very respected trusted people, that the "grown-ups" would persuade him to take a different tacts and change his mind on some of his campaign promises. this is obviously, it's not only the pentagon has seen this as a national security threat for years. it is a real -- really affects our place at the able diplomatically. that's why secretary of state tillerson was weighing in. it's not just developmental policy. it's about our place in the world and vacuums being filled by the chinese and others if we step away from the table. >> he is capable of changing his mind. take a look what he used to say during the campaign about moving the u.s. embassy, john, from tel aviv to jerusalem and what he's about to do maybe as early as tomorrow. here's an exchange i had with him during the campaign.
10:26 am
>> will you recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem? >> the answer is yes, i would. >> when? >> how quickly after you become. >> very quickly. it's a process but fairly quickly. the fact is, i would like to see it moved and i would like to see it in jerusalem. >> apparently he's not going to do it now. he's got a deadline every six months for 20 years, an american president has to sign a waiver saying for national security interests, concerns, the u.s. embassy will stay in tel aviv. >> governing is now clashing against campaigning and he's realizing what presidents before him realized that it's better for our interests to keep the embassy in tel aviv where it belongs. we've talked about this many, many times. moving it to jerusalem while it sounds great could actually do a lot of damage to the peace process and quite frankly could, put american tourists and american civil servants working in jerusalem, i'm sorry in israel at risk. it's not a smart thing to do.
10:27 am
back on that if i could back on client change, wa we do by pulling out of this is creed leadership to china. president xi said he's going to stay at it. if we see leadership on climate changing to china, the standards won't be as transpatient. we won't have a voice in making sure accountability is for all the members. >> is there a consistent reaction in europe to how the president did during his meetings over the pasts several days? >> you know, there is a bit of division among the european countries. countries like hungary felt the president did quite well. most of the larger continental european countries you take germany, france, you take italy, i think that they came away a bit alienated with this new administration saying they don't know where they stand with the white house at this point in time. you have leaders like angela merkel saying look, we're just not sure what this white house is going to be about in the next couple of years. i think one of the things you're
10:28 am
going to see is what john kirby was talking about, a lot of the european countries first of all will work closely together with one another. it's an interesting thing for european cohesion. the europeans are working together a lot more closely at least the continental european ones. but you're also seeing them gravitate towards asia more, countries like germany with a big export sector and in terms of climate policy trying to deepen and forge relationships with china specifically. tomorrow you have the chinese prime minister going to berlin and having meetings with angela merkel. going to be develops very interesting what those two will be talking about, what sort of agreements they'll come to in light of some of the things merkel has been saying about the trump administration and if the president does make good on his campaign promise to get out of that captain climate agreement. >> fred pleitgen in london, amy, thanks so much. important discussion. coming up, a devastating suicide blast during morning rush hour.
10:29 am
at least 90 people are dead. the death toll expected to rise. we'll have a live report how the attack was carried out.
10:30 am
♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. that's what it means to go long™. call now and request this free decision guide.
10:31 am
it's full of information on medicare and the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. all plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients, and there are no network restrictions. unitedhealthcare insurance company has over thirty years experience and the commitment to roll along with you, keeping you on course. so call now and discover how an aarp medicare supplement plan could go long™ for you. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. plus, nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they would recommend their plan to a friend. remember, medicare doesn't cover everything. the rest is up to you. call now, request your free decision guide and start gathering the information you need
10:32 am
to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪ the future isn't silver suits anit's right now.s, think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air.
10:33 am
find love anywhere. he's cute. and buy things from, well, everywhere. how? because our phones have evolved. so isn't it time our networks did too? introducing america's largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. it's a new kind of network. xfinity mobile. a massive explosion rocked the diplomatic section of afghanistan's capital today. as many as 90 people were killed in the suicide blast in kabul, the capital. hundreds of others were injured. the attack took place during morning rush hour insuring that a maximum number of people would be there. it also came close to several western embassies including the german and french embassies. let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, i know there were u.s.
10:34 am
citizens among the many who were injured. what are you hearing over there about who may have been responsible for this terror attack? >> reporter: well, wolf, that's right. about the americans, the latest estimate, 11 americans injured. a u.s. official saying they were working as contractors for the u.s. embassy which was nearby. you know, there's only a handful of groups in afghanistan that over the years have been responsible for this kind of thing. right now, the taliban say they didn't do it, and all the indications are that the coalition agrees. it's not likely got the hallmarks of a taliban attack. it's much more likely it's a group known as the haqqanis responsible over the years for violent vicious, devastating attacks, masters at the suicide bomb attack. this is just exactly the kind of thing they would do to strike at the heart of kabul at the heart essentially of the legitimacy of the afghan government. so this comes as president trump is considering whether to send
10:35 am
additional troops to afghanistan to help bolster that afghan security force and that afghan government. perhaps 5,000 additional troops on their way in the coming weeks to work as advisers and trainers for the afghan forces. afghanistan still some what, 16 years after the 9/11 attacks a place where security can become very fragile in just an instant. >> and this is one of the more secure areas near all the diplomatic, the diplomatic presence in kabul. it was supposed to be a very secure area and look what happened. so if the u.s., if the president does declare another 5,000 or so u.s. troops on the way to afghanistan, that what, brings the number total number up to around 10,000 american troops? is that right. >> reporter: yeah. they have just over 8,000 or so there right now. so it brings it up to over that, if that is exactly what happens.
10:36 am
i should mention this attack this morning, the u.s. military feels that the afghan police on site were the heroes here as devastate issing as it was, apparently what happened is this suicide truck which was a water tanker full of explosives, pulls up to an afghan police checkpoint in this very secure area, the afghan police do not let it through. that's when it detonates. that's when the bomber detonated causing this massive destruction 90 dead, 400 wounded. but if it made it through that checkpoint, if the afghans hadn't been paying attention, the devastation all the much worse in addition to that. the germans apparent having some people injured at their embassy. others injured. so this is an attack that had a very unique signature, devastating to the afghan people and causing a real impact in that diplomatic corridor, wolf. >> almost 100 people killed and
10:37 am
hundreds more injured. barbara, thanks very much. barbara starr reporting from the pentagon. coming up, a man arrested inside the trump hotel right here in washington, d.c. in his possession, two guns and 90 rounds of ammunition. the frightening report that police received about what he was allegedly plotting. we have details. that's next. it ain't no lie, baby... bai, bai, bai. ♪ bye, bye, bye, bye, bye ♪
10:38 am
5 calories, no artificial sweeteners and tastes amazing. bai. ♪ bye, bye 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.
10:39 am
as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl. and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so i asked my doctor. and he recommended eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. both made me turn around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily ...and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding,
10:40 am
like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. plus had less major bleeding. both made eliquis the right treatment for me. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. 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 for 10 years my tempur-pedic has adapted to my weight and shape. so i sleep deeply and 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. i count on my dell small for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪
10:41 am
♪ we believe in food that's anaturally beautiful,, fresh and nutritious. so there are no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives in any of the food we sell. we believe in real food. whole foods market. coming into cnn. police have now arrested a man inside the trump international hotel right here in washington, d.c. we're told he was in possession of two guns and 90 rounds of ammunition. let's go to our justice reporter laura jarrett. laura, what can you tell us? >> reporter: wolf, police say
10:42 am
43-year-old bryan moles traveled from pennsylvania to d.c. armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and dozens of rounds of ammunition. police and secret service were tippeded off in time and managed to arrest moles earlier this morning at the trump international hotel. now, at a news conference earlier today, authorities said they did not have enough information to immediately charge moles with making any threats against the president but a law enforcement source tells us that moles allegedly stated in cell phone messages to that tipster that he "wanted to get close to trump" and that he waned to be like timothy mcveigh, a reference to the man who bombed the oklahoma city federal building in 1995. moles is expected to appear in court sometime later this week. and we are told he is cooperating with authorities, wolf. >> yeah, very, very disturbing development that trump international hotel on pennsylvania avenue only a few blocks away from the white
10:43 am
house. the president was not at that the hotel. laura, thanks for that report. we'll check back with you when we get more information. coming up, president trump promised to repeal and replace obamacare. but a new poll says most americans think the republican plan that moved out of the house of representatives will leave them worse off. only 8% think the senate should pass it as is. we'll break down the numbers when we come back. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off. mattress firmness? enter sleep number... she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. you can both adjust the bed for the best sleep of your life. save $700 on the temperature balancing i8 bed. ends sunday. go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you.
10:44 am
10:45 am
10:46 am
10:47 am
certainly was a core issue of the trump xab but a new poll finds a majority of americans aren't big fans of the house republican bill to repeal and replace obamacare. in fact, only 8% think the senate should pass the house bill as is. that according to the kaiser family foundation. the poll also shows 55% of the public has a negative view of the bill compared to 31% who view it favorably. joining us now, senior writer for cnn money tammy lubi. republicans blasted obamacare for sending health care costs skyrocketing but this poll shows most americans think they'll end up paying more under the republican plan.
10:48 am
>> yeah, 45% of americans feel that their health care costs are going to worsen under this plan while only 16% feel it's going to get any better. and that's a really big problem. there's also a lot more people who feel that the quality of their health care is going to worsen as well as their access to health insurance, period. so it's really not surprising that it has such a low favorability rating. >> tammy, the senate republicans face an uphill battle right now in overhauling this house bill because as it stands, if you americans apparently think the house plan lives up to the president's promises during the campaign on health care. listen to what happened during a town hall with republican senator bill cassidy. >> you want it to continue coverage caring for those with pre-existing conditions. eliminating the obamacare, the affordable care act mandates because americans hate the federal government telling them what to do. and lowering premiums.
10:49 am
and lowering premiums. you all may disagree and so -- so -- >> so does the poll also reflect some of the sentiment you just heard in that room? >> trump has been tweeting constantly that he's going to make health care better. he's going to lower deductibles. he's going to lower premiums. more access for all. that's all these great things. but a lot of people don't believe those promises and feel that this bill only 14% of them actually feel that it lives up to most or all of his promises. and about 40% feel that it lives up to some of his promises. some of the things they really don't like in the bill they don't like the fact that it's going to cut back on benefits to lower premiums. they don't like the fact that it's going to charge sick people more in some cases. and they don't like the fact that they'll be able to insurers will be able to charge higher
10:50 am
premiums for those who let their coverage lapse. there's a lot of things in this bill people don't like. >> tommy lubi, thanks very much. coming up, the white house on the hunt for a new communications director. but when you have a president who likes to tweet as much as president trump, will anyone really make much of a difference? we'll discuss that when we come back. home: it survived 4 food fights, a one-coat wonder named "grams", and rolled with multiple personalities. number one rated marquee interior. behr's most advanced one-coat hide paint. only at the home depot. in the mirror everyday. when i look when i look in the mirror everyday. everyday, i think how fortunate i am. i think is today going to be the day, that we find a cure?
10:51 am
i think how much i can do to help change people's lives. that helps me to keep going to cure this. my great great grandfather lived to be 118 years old. i've heard many stories from patients and their physicians about what they are going through. i often told people "oh i'm going to easily live to be 100" and, uh, it looks like i might not make it to retirement age. we are continually learning and unraveling what is behind this disease. i may not benefit from those breakthroughs, but i'm sure going to... i'm bringing forward a treatment for alzheimer's disease, yes, in my lifetime, i will make sure.
10:52 am
10:53 am
10:54 am
we are going to be hearing from the white house press secretary sean spicer in the next hour, but it is not on camera. spicer is going to be holding an informal off camera brief iing known as a gaggle there. is going to be audio and cnn is going to bring that to you life. er more on spicer, the president and the press, we bring in cnn politics editor at large chris c
10:55 am
calizz, and you can take it live, why not let the cameras roll and we can see and hear what so going on. why can't we do that? >> well, the gaggle, and you know this well from covering the white house, and it is once thought to be informal thing, and done informal in the press secretary's office and not in brief iing room. the growth of the press corp, and the more formalizing has faded a little bit. i think that what i am odoing if i had to make an educated guess which is what i feel i make most of these days is that they are trying to fiddle with the formats here, and so a cabinet secretary and off camera briefing, and then one day sean does a briefing that is incredibly brief and walked out after six or seven questions, and we know that donald trump doesn't like the idea of the y
10:56 am
daily press briefing. he is proposinging that maybe he does one every few weeks. they are fidling with the format, and sean has been on thin ice for some time, and donald trump views him as the best spokesman and looking for w ways to minimize the way of the surrogates and maximize his role while doing all of the things that he does. >> it sound likes a votef of no coni dense that you don't think that your edadministration is coming off of the on-camera briefing in the face thing of serious and important questions from the reporters? >> particularly given what we know of donald trump, this is not someone unaware who knows that how you present yourself and the perception is visually, the power of television, and this is not someone immune to that, and so, yes, we have seen now two off-camera briefings from shauean in the last two we and the foreign trip was in between it, and i would not be feeling great about it if i were sean spirs, but one thing, i
10:57 am
thought that sean spicer's press conference yesterday was a di sas ter from the democracy perspective of not answering questions. what i thought is that donald trump thought it was a command performance and attacking the media and setting up an altertive media line, and then leaving. >> and he started with a lengthy speech of how great the president's trip was to saudi arabiaed -- to saudi arabia, israel, and the west bank, and it is a long length of how important it was. >> and my colleague said that historic was used three times to describe three different moments on the trip. look, sean spice ser beholding to donald trump and he has given up the idea of trying to maintain credibility with the press corps and trying to maintain credibility with his job with donald trump. the performance yesterday will i
10:58 am
think help with that unfortunately i would say. >> i simply don't understand. if you are having a briefing and when i was a white house correspondent, the gaggle was in the press secretary office and start the day of what is going on, but if you have a briefing in the briefing room and cameras there, and you not allowing the cameras to be turned on, you only hear the audio that is -- >> you make a good point on the timing that i didn't make. they were usually in the morning as opposed to the afternoon and a scene setter. >> and this is what the president is planning to do today and we would go into mike mur curry's office or joe lockhart's office and then move on and then later a on-camera briefing at 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon. the typo that went viral shortly after midnight and 12:06 a.m., and the president tweeted and we will put it up there, despite the constant negative -- and i don't know how the pronounce it. covfefe? >> i went qko-fef-fay.
10:59 am
>> well, i stayed up until 6:00 a.m., and the tweet was deleted a little bit later, and the president tweeted who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe, question mark, question mark, question mark. >> and i am 99% sure that he meant coverage, and second, this is dumb. and he put out a tweet that is wrong, and the big question is why is donald trump tweeting at 12:06 a.m., and then back up at 5:00 a.m. tweeting again. he shouldn't b. and every politician republican or otherwise says that the best thing he can do is to stop with twitter and the vn that no one can control him, and he may listen, but he does not follow through, and that is the problem well larger than the typo at 12:00 at night. >> proofread the tweets before you hit that tweet button.
11:00 am
>> are you telling me, because i need to do. >> yes. all right. thank you very much, chris. and i will be back at 5:00 p.m. in the situation room, and more on the breaking news, more ton the fired fbi director james comey ready to testify in public. we will hear from sean spicer as well soon. the news continues. >> this is cnn breaking news. >>le wolf, thank you so much. good to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin and you are watching cnn and any moment, we will be hearing from white house press secretary sean spicer as we are getting news on the now fired fbi director james comey. this is what we are hearing is that comey will testify publicly in the senate as early as next week, and his testimony is expected to confirm that president trump pressured him to end his investigation into the president's fired national security adviser, and think about that in fact if that happens next week.