years. we are a better program for her. she's brought passion, expertise and, most of all, precision. precision in her words to make sure that we, i, always got it right. that's what real journalists do. that's what kate is. thank you, kate. we'll miss you. "cnn tonight with don lemon" starts now. not a good week to be president. this is cnn tonight. i'm don lemon. all quiet at the white house at the end of what can only be described as another week of chaos. a president under fire from leaders around the world for acquitting the paris climate accord. his own staff refusing to say whether he still thinks climate change is a hoax. meanwhile, there is vladimir putin's winking suggestion that patriotic russians may have hacked our election. next week, james comey's senate testimony. the white house not looking forward to that. they're considering whether to muzzle the fired fbi director. a lot to discuss. here to help us, host of "the

big interview." good evening. >> evening. >> it is going to be huge next week, with the fbi. the former fbi director james comey testifying before a senate intelligence committee. he was asked whether he felt the president pressured him to drop the investigation into michael flynn. he's going to be asked that. so how do you think this showdown is going to go? >> i think it is going to be one of the most explosive moments of the trump presidency so far. and that's saying a whole lot. one cautionary note, it is possible this will be postponed. the white house is working, as you know, trying to claim executive privilege to stop him. also, the special prosecutor, mr. mueller, his investigation is metastasizing so quickly. i can see a possibility that one of two things happens. he asks the former fbi director to delay his testimony or truncate what he may otherwise be saying. something to look at between now and next week, either of those two things happening. >> this all can and probably

will change by the time the day comes that he is to testify, you think. do you think it is going to be -- since you mentioned the president asking for executive privilege, is it better to block him or let him do it? if the optics of blocking him may be worse than him actually testifying. >> no good answer to that question for president trump. either way he goes, it is going to be big trouble. look, it doesn't take anybody out of elementary school to realize president trump's presidency is in a heap of trouble. today, these bombshell revelations keep cascading. it's been 24 hours at most since the president said he isn't going to abide by the paris accord. you had the stories today, the special prosecutor is widening his investigation. the russian banker close to putin who met with the president's son-in-law tells one story about what the meeting was

about. the son-in-law tells another story. one of these two people is not telling the truth. it keeps going. the difference between now and watergate, during the time of the mid-70s and richard nixon, we thought things were moving fast then. if we had one big bombshell development in a week, maybe ten days, things were moving quickly. that rolled out over, what, a two-year period. this is all rolling out in a matter of days. every day, there's not one but two or three new developments. >> yeah. >> that tells you inside the white house that no matter what the appearance on the outside looking in is, there's chaos inside. there's also big split, different people with different views of what the president could do, should do in order to get out of it. >> let's talk about that. they're putting on a good face or not talking about it. sean spicer saying, you have to talk to the president's lawyer. but maggie haberman of the "new york times," interviewed the president a number of times, says she thinks the president is looking forward to the speckle

of it, the show of it. do you believe it? >> this person has a lot of experience so i listen carefully when that talk gets out. on the one hand, because he is a showman, a great showman, loves a speckle, loves a show, loves a television circus atmosphere, i can see why he'd say, boy, that's great. trump's name is up there. on the other side, what the former fbi director has to say cannot be good news for him. >> yeah. maybe do you ever wonder if he understands maybe there is no collusion, that he thinks of, in the way he thinks of collusion. >> right. >> but it's often the coverup of -- or not being worth coming wi -- forthcoming. >> at the president's level, it is almost always the coverup. if president trump gets in much deeper trouble -- and that is an if. we don't have the facts. one of the things we really need are the facts. >> exactly. >> if it turns out that he

didn't know or it wasn't outright collusion, then everything pift pivots around . that's not the way to vet it. when you have this many people doing this many things in secret, telling this many different stories, you have to believe there has been law breaking. >> you don't know other people's actions or what they said. >> exactly. >> can't be for sure. >> you can't be for sure. you have on top of this is business with the paris accord, the president pulling out, which only happened hours ago, really. it got pushed back on the second page. this is momentous. >> can we talk a little more about hacking? vladimir putin weighing in today on intelligence reports that say russia meddled in the u.s. election. listen to that. >> okay. >> translator: a girl, a 3-year-old, can do this attack. they pass it off like this. the specialists can invent anything and they will blame someone else.

these are not proofs. they're trying to shirk responsibility. >> just yesterday, putin said so-called patriotic hackers, remember, could have meddled in the election. many people are saying this is the closest he'll ever come to admitting there was some sort of interfering in u.s. elections. what's your reaction? >> i think that is a widespread belief. second, i want to make clear, this is not necessarily my opinion, but i'm convinced many americans think vladimir putin is about as trustworthy as a dog with a roast beef sandwich and won't believe anything he has to say. if the special prosecutor is left alone to do his job for long enough, we'll eventually find out. >> as you said, we need to find out the facts. >> exactly. there are so many different stories being told. that's why i think -- talk about obstruction of justice, perjury. somewhere in this mess, you have to believe there's some of that.

you have too many people telling different stories. that raises the question, what is it the trump administration has to hide? if you didn't have anything to hide, he'd be coming on and saying, listen, i want all the people to come out publicly and talk about the meetings. i'll tell you what i know about it. that's not what he's doing. >> that's not what anyone at the white house is doing. now let's talk climate change and the paris accords. he visited europe last week. then he had the announcement yesterday. you wrote on facebook you think while president trump cozies up to president putin and president duterte, he is losing influence on the stage with his america first policy. >> the only people standing with you against the paris accords are syria and nicaragua -- >> nicaragua who wanted more actually. >> they wanted more. what president trump is at risk of doing with himself as a person, with his presidency and with our beloved united states

of america, is appearing to be yesterday's man and yesterday's country. like some of the people who still like disco. they're stuck back in the ' 070. or the men who wears the belt and slacks. it's yesterday's stuff. the united states of america has always been seen as going forward, progressing, always moving forward. now, under president trump and with this act, he sort of said to the world, you know what? we're yesterday's country and i'm yesterday's man. >> i'm wearing beltless slacks right now. just listening to disco on my run earlier today. >> not double knit. >> something on the facebook page, you wrote, a reckless action. why is this a blow to america's standing on the world stage again? because we set the example. >> not only world opinion,

american public opinion favors the paris accords. i do think it was reckless. that flows into a whole other conversation about what's going on in the white house with president trump himself. i think by pulling out of the paris accords, it was a matter of anger on his part. i think he's bewildered, enraged, and this happens to presidents when pressure gets on that trump has. you can argue no president has ever had that pressure. again, to use richard nixon, when things began to press in on him, when he got the feeling i'm angry, outraged, i can't control things, richard nixon got mean as a wolverine. there's some of that in president trump happening now. i think it is one of the reasons he pulled out of the paris accord. he doesn't like what the leader of germany or leader of france says. he thinks the europeans are all slightly elite, and he is angry about it.

angry, enraged, bewildered president running a chaotic white house is not just bad for his presidency, it's really bad for the country. >> bad for the world in this case, pulling out. >> amen. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> always a pleasure. when we come back, did the trump administration try to drop sanctions against russia? vladimir putin gets testy when pressed about hacking. we'll bring that to you next. ♪ 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 ♪ but you've never had 'em quite like this. at red lobster's lobster & shrimp summerfest,

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all of washington waiting for james comey's testimony next week, the former fbi director who was fired by president trump testifies in front of the senate thursday about the russia investigation. no doubt the kremlin will be watching, too. i want to bring in cnn global affairs analysts and chief investigator correspondent for yahoo! news. good evening, everyone. it is friday. let's see if my mouth will work during the segment. kim, president trump's russia problems are growing. i want to play something we heard from russian president vladimir putin today on accusations that russia meddled in the u.s. election. listen. >> translator: it's easy to say it is not our fault. oh, it's the russians. they intervened. they interfered. it is like anti-semitism. the jews are no blame. you are an idiot because the jews are to blame. >> what do you make of that strange comparison and putin's denial his government was involved? >> this is one of those cases

where the joke has gone a little too far. it was funny in the beginning. moscow was enjoying the discomfort of the trump administration and the democrats versus the republicans. now, it's starting to really have blow back on them. they had hoped, at least, since trump won, that they would see a warming of relations. now, they're looking ahead to possibly four years of this administration under investigation, defending itself with very little chance of some of the warmth and cooperation they were hoping for. so is he getting annoyed? well, he is getting a little taste of what sean spicer and trump officials have been getting for the past several months. well, it's fair play. >> michael, i'm glad you're here. your reporting, as i understand, for yahoo! news, there was a behind the scenes effort,

unsuccessful, to drop the sanctions against russia. the state department official you spoke to was on cnn ingi sae russians doing anything strikes me as a bad, bad idea. my colleagues were concerned about this. so was i at the time. what i was reacting to was simply a rumor that some people in the new -- in the incoming administration were going to make a very bad decision. >> so, michael, also told cnn off camera that he heard something was in the works about relaxing sanctions but didn't know if it was true. what can you tell us about this administration's efforts to ease sanctions with russia? >> what we know is that in those first couple of weeks, there were taskings to state department officials to develop proposals for easing of tensions with russia in exchange for its

cooperation in fighting against isis in syria. and that the steps that were falled f ed called for, in terms of easing tensions, would include or be considered for inclusion the lifting of sanctions, the easing of sanctions and possibly the return of those diplomatic compounds that had been shut down by president obama in its last couple weeks. >> kim, our correspondent in russia, matthew chance, confronted the russian bank chairman, gorkov, with questions about why he had a secret meeting with the president's son-in-law, jared kushner. here's how that went. >> mr. gorkov, quick question, what did you really speak to jared kushner about in new york when you met him in december? >> no comments. >> did you talk about sanctions? excuse me. >> no comments. >> what was discussed? the white house says it was a diplomatic meeting. that kushner met you as part of the transition team.

your bank says it was a business meeting. >> sorry. >> were you a conduit to the kremlin, mr. gorkov? >> no comment. kim, why can't we get a straight answer about what was discussed at that meeting? >> because it probably veered all over the map. maybe it was a little bit about jared kushner's business dealings in russia. maybe it was a little bit about what would happen with the upcoming white house, hopes for the future. you know, the more we watch this play out, this drama that keeps unfolding, the more i think the worst thing that could happen for all sides is if there's no evidence of either wrongdoing or nothing that can exonerate either side. so what is not clear is why was the trump administration, its campaign members, more comfortable with moscow than

almost anybody else, at least on the foreign side of things? possibly it was because they felt embattled. they'd already been doing business with some russian businessmen. it was just a natural fit. but at this point, we don't have anything that says collusion, but we don't also have a really good explanation of where was this loyalty here? why were they leaning so far forward into this relationship? >> another development, michael, we know the house intelligence committee chairman nunes by this point. everybody knows who he is. he's concerned about the unmasking of americans in classified reports. the "washington post" is reporting that his committee engaged in the same practice late last year, and it is something president trump is accusing the obama administration of abusing. it seems there is a whole lot of -- or at least some hypocrisy here. >> the whole unmasking issue is murky, or at least what is driving nunes and some of the other republicans on this. as we know from everybody we've

spoken to, current and former administrations, republicans and democrats, it is not all that unusual for senior intelligence officials, foreign policy officials, to request unmasking, to understand what u.s. persons are having conversations with people that are under -- that are being monitored by the u.s. government. >> as it relates to the russia investigation, can't we call it for what it is, a deflection? maybe there is investigating that needs to be done for unmasking. when it comes to this, it's not the same thing. >> right. look, the point is, unmasking in and of itself, there's nothing wrong with it. it is perfectly permissible. what would be wrong is if somebody after -- requests an unmasking for political reasons and then discloses the identity of americans. now, it is conceivable that that

did happen here. after all, michael flynn's conversations with the russian ambassador were disclosed. his identity was disclosed. somebody may ultimately be charged with a crime for leaking that. we have no evidence that anybody senior in the obama administration, anybody who has been accused of doing this unmasking was party to that. we just have to reserve judgment. let the fbi do whatever investigation is doing and we'll see. >> my point is though, and you're right, that could have indeed happened, but can't they keep the two investigations separate as to not to murky -- murk up the waters when it comes to in? >> sure. they should have. they should. but there are some people on -- you know, on the house intelligence committee who believe this is a legitimate issue. if there was unmasking for political purposes and leaking, that would be wrong. it is a totally legitimate thing to investigate, but it doesn't

in any way take away from the severity of the issues being investigated in terms of russia and potential collusion. >> i always appreciate your time. especially on a friday night. thank you, michael and kimberly. >> thank you. james comey's senate testimony next week. will the president try to shut him down, and would it even work? what in real time?stomer insights from the data wait, our data center and our clouds can't connect? michael, can we get this data to...? look at me...look at me... look at me... you used to be the "yes" guy. what happened to that guy? legacy technology can handcuff any company. but "yes" is here. so, you're saying we can cut delivery time? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes. [ sighs ] hey, i was using that. what, you think we own stock in the electric company? i will turn this car around right now!

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former fbi director james comey set to testify before a senate committee next week about the russia investigation. but the big question, will president trump try to stop him? today, white house aides dodged a direct answer. >> is the white house going to invoke executive privilege to prevent james comey from testifying before the senate intelligence panel next week? >> that committee hearing was just noticed and, obviously, it's got to be reviewed. >> that is not a no? >> it's just saying that literally, my understanding is the date for that hearing was just set. i've not spoken to counsel yet. >> the president will make that decision.

>> here to discuss, a former white house ethics lawyer. >> evening. >> there's a lot of reading between the lines when it comes to the spokespeople for this particular administration. laura, let's talk about kellyann conway. and sean spicer. they won't rule out that president trump would invoke executive privilege. what does it cover? >> it is not an absolute privilege. there is no constitutional right to having it. what it does is says, listen, we want the advisers and people who work for the president to be able to be candid. we're going to preserve the secrecy about their conversations and hold it to be things you cannot reveal to other branchs of government or other people. however, it is not an absolute privilege. frankly, it doesn't apply when there is a hint of government misconduct. more importantly, it has no teeth to it, don. if you are a private citizen and no longer a subordinate of the executive branch.

meaning comey, who no longer works for the federal government, is a private citizen, and cannot have a threat to be fired for insubordination if he violates it. you have a toothless threat that can't be evoked. >> well -- >> who wanted to get in there? >> i think he still can evoke executive privilege with former employees of the executive branch which was comey. i think he fails in this case probably because he waived privilege with his interviews and his tweets. i don't think the fact that comey, who probably has a first amendment right to testify, is no longer with the administration, fore closes the president from asserting the privilege. the privilege goes to the president, not to comey. >> well, that's -- >> i don't disagree with laura. in principle, i think in the end, they lose probably in congress and certainly lose with respect to mueller if he wants the same testimony, because of the law enforcement override.

>> and i absolutely agree. one other thing about the executive privilege, don, is this, look, it applies to things that usually refer to your constitutional duties as president of the united states. arguably, we're talking about things that happened before he even took office. therefore, it is a question whether executive privilege can apply in this circumstance at all. >> if you look historically, president obama tried to assert executive privilege with fast and furious investigation. he essentially lost. president bush tried to assert it with respect to the firing of the u.s. attorneys. he essentially lost. you lose these things because that overriding interest in the right of people to know and when there is law enforcement interest, generally, no pun intended, trumps the president's desire to keep things secret. >> richard, i want you to get in here. from a political perspective, what outcome is worse for the president, comey delivering damaging testimony before congress or perpetuating the appearance of a coverup by blocking it? >> well, he is not going to

block it. i mean, this is absurd. that he could talk about director comey with a russian am bass tor -- ambassador, say all sorts of things to the russian ambassador, but somehow prevent mr. comey from testifying in front of the united states congress about what the president said to him, that's absolutely absurd. the president has been giving b. there's no executive privilege on any of this. furthermore, the fact mr. comey is a former employee is relev t relevant. he'll say what he wants to say. i don't think the president is going to be able to get a federal judge to prevent comey from testifying. >> you're sure he's not going to block it? why are you sure about that? >> i don't see how he could do it. he can try to persuade the chairman of the committee to disallow that line of questioning. that's just going to be a

political disaster for the republican party. if the chairman of the committee goes along with that. so i do not see as a practical matter how the president could block it. once again, he's been talking to the russians about comey. to tell comey he can't talk to the united states congress about what happened, what those conversations were, about russian espionage, the investigation and whether the president was trying to block the investigation, that's something the congress has the right to know. there's no executive privilege for coverups, and certainly no executive privilege for coverups of collaboration with foreign spies. this makes absolutely no sense. >> laura, let's talk a little more about this. thousands of tweets. michael mentioned the tweets. president trump's twitter page. tweets that include the president saying former national security adviser michael flynn should seek immunity, and threatening james comey after he was fired. how important will those tweets be to robert mueller's invest fwa

gags? >> very important. they go to essentially your motive, your content. it gives contextual clues to the invest investigation, to say what was the motive or intention behind the acts you took? remember, we hardly had any cases of low hanging fruit. a smoking fwgun and shn saomeon this is miy nefarious intent an i was trying to do a bad thing. but you have these things that will be used against him in the investigation, to further the investigation along. it may ultimately be used against him if he does have a hearing about it. it'll come into play. it is one of those situations where perhaps being silent would have been the most proactive and prudent thing to have done. >> right. in addition to that, laura, the point of this all is that it shows the specific intent that the prosecutor has to prove. the president has to have an

intent to obstruct the due administration of justice. all these comments he makes proves his state of mind, so a prosecutor would argue. that fwif gives the context la raising. >> rod rosenstein, who appointed mueller as special counsel, tells the ap in an interview he would recuse himself from any oversight of mueller's probe if he became a subject of the investigation. he says, i've talked with director mueller about this. he is going to make the appropriate decisions. if anything i did winds up being relevant to his investigation, then as director mueller and i discussed, if there is a need from me to recuse, i will. how do you think this will play out? >> i don't know he will be a subject of the investigation, but i do think he is clearly going to be a witness to the investigation if there is, in fact, an obstruction investigation. because it was the rosenstein memo that first gave cover and sort of the excuse for the

firing of comey. then the president went on lester holt's interview show and said otherwise. then roesenstein has to talk about why he wrote the memo and what sessions was doing there when supposedly retuesdcusing himself. all of that will make rosenstein a witness. when you are a witness, you shouldn't have oversight responsibilities for the same case. >> i appreciate it. >> thank you. when we come back, the white house won't say if the president believes in climate change. should be a simple question, but nothing in this white house is simple. ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected.

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accord. he's also hailed by supporters for keeping a campaign promise. why won't the white house say though whether president trump believes clie mamate change is hoax? >> what you're seeing is yesterday, it didn't work to attack the president for withdrawing from the paris accord. today, they're trying to get this artificial argument going of, does he fit neatly into one box or the other? look, i've had conversations with the president on the issue of environment, cleaning up our air, our water, everything. he's very supportive of this. if he were to come out today and say, you know what, i think the way you define climate change is a hoax, then he'd be attacked as being a heretic. if he said, you know what, actually, i do believe in your definition of climate change, then he'd be a flip-flopper. you know what? right now, he's keeping it focused where he needs to, which is on jobs, the economy and the whole reasons why he went ththu -- >> jason, that was a great answer but you did not answer my -- >> don, it's the truth.

>> listen, he should try us again. try the american public and say how he feels about climate change. if you've spoken to him on the issues, do you believe the president thinks climate change is a hoax? >> i think what the president believes -- and i have not asked him the direct question on this and these were conversations during the campaign -- what i think is the president probably has a lot of questions about the junk science reports that have come out. i think it is clear that people have obviously had an impact on the environment and what we're seeing with climate change issues. i think there is also hysteria around it. back to the paris accord for a moment here, look, this was a really bad deal. there's one thing the president kn knows, it's how to -- >> if you could answer my question, jason, with all due respect. >> i answered your question. >> no, you didn't. why can't the white house say whether the president believes in climate change or if he thinks the a hoax. you said he is keeping it

where -- >> i started -- >> you said you've had multiple conversations with him. i'm asking two straight forward questions. yes or no or i don't know. >> i believe that the president is very strongly supportive of the environment and making shei we have clean air and clean water. the media wants tight definitions for what counts as climate change and what doesn't count as climate change. he's smartly staying away from getting typecast by folks who ultimately want to take him down. >> i understand that people are -- listen, there may be folks out there who want to trip him up. the reason i'm asking is because of what he said before previously about climate change. that, in fact, it was a hoax. then in 2009, he wrote the letter. he signed the letter along with every member of his family now who is in the white house, running his businesses, saying -- asking president obama to sign on to green jobs. i'm trying to get clarity, whether he believes it or not, the way he put it before, as he believed before. that's it. jason candor, go ahead.

>> i mean, it is not a hard question, right? do you believe the 97% of scientists, or do you belief ve the 3% of scientists? easy question. what bothers me most about this is even if he got an answer, i don't know how much good it'd do us. it'd change again depending on who he talked to last. what bothers me about him pulling out of the paris accord is that this is just him continuing to decide that it is not important that america be a leader in the world. i happen to think, whether you're talking about climate change or anything else, that the world and america, it's a safer place when america is in a position of leadership. >> and i couldn't agree for. that's why i think the u.s. needs to be leading on the economy. again, smart leaders, strong leaders don't enter into deals like this, where china doesn't have to reduce any of their carbon emissions until 2013. where the u.s. is going to have to reduce it by 26% to 28% over the next few years. that's not being a leader, it is

being a fool. >> two things here. first of all, it is not a deal. it is an agreement the entire world entered into to say, here's what we're able to do. it was everybody being a team player and saying, let's all tackle this together. a momentous thing. in terms of leading on the economy or anything else, nicaragua, syria, the united states. those are the three countries now not part of this agreement. nicaragua is not part of it because they didn't think it went far enough. leadership from this president is doing the same thing as syria. as far as leading on the economy, jason, this is -- i mean, the next frontier of jobs is going to be alternative energy. it is going to be renewable energies. just like we're allowing china to pour steel in and dump steel into our economy, now, we're apparently going to allow them to dump solar panels into our economy. we will again be behind because of this decision. >> and, you know, jason, i think you make a great point about our need to be very tough and strong with china. look, you're on the democratic side. you've run for office. you're very talented and skilled

politician. i mean, i think one of the things you can probably speak to is the fact that even large swaths of the democratic base right now are divided on this issue. this is part of the reason why president trump did so well with democrats, particularly union members this past year, because so many on the left, so many democrats want to completely wipe out coal jobs. they want to move everything into unsustainable, free energy jobs. >> can i jump in here? >> yeah. >> here's a question -- and i'm not speaking as a democrat or republican, just inquisitive american. when you think of the number of coal jobs that exist now, and you think about, there are more real estate agents in the country. there are more people who work in retail. more people who work in technology. why is so much emphasis placed on -- of course, we want people who work in coal country to have jobs, but why is the emphasis placed on an industry that really is not a giant industry in this country, that doesn't account for the bulk of jobs? >> excellent question. i think coal miners and people

involved in the coal industry, a lot of this goes back to the forgotten men and women that president trump was speaking to when he ran for office last year. we talk about people who have lost their jobs because of nafta, these other trade deals that have gone bad. this is symbolic of, you know, the u.s. is really the saudi arabia of coal. we're the coal leaders. so many people who completely misjudge this selection and think the coal industry is terrible and doesn't matter, they want to wipe out a lot of these jobs. i think many people, even if they're not directly involved in the coal industry themselves, they look at this and say, you know what, this is -- >> i'm being pressed for time. i don't mean to cut you off. i want jason candor to respond quickly. do you want to wipe out coal jobs? do democrats want to wipe out coal jobs? >> no. look, this is -- >> quickly, please. >> this is the same thing as when president trump said that he was going to bring all these jobs back at carrier. turned out that didn't happen. he is a salesman, not a leader. he just keeps selling.

that's all this is. >> we'll have to continue this conversation. thank you, gentlemen. lebron james says racism is part of america after his home was vandalized by racist graffiti. better over butter and the only thing that's going to stick, is a healthier new you you pam do it! bp developed new, industry-leading software to monitor drilling operations in real-time, so our engineers can solve problems with the most precise data at their fingertips. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better.

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. lebron james, tiger woods, hillary clinton. star yoejones is here. daytime divas. we're going to talk about that. a new show on vh 1. it wasn't on the dvr yet. i'm waiting so i can set it. so let's talk. let's get to our hot topics. let's talk hillary clinton. she's saying she talked about her loss. she blamed several aspects on the dnc's communications, their internet. >> she also took responsibility for whatever -- >> and james comey. >> -- role she played. i think that secretary clinton has every right to sort of look back and dissect or do an autopsy on the campaign. i saw her just recently just about a week ago and she's ready to move forward, but i think she's ready to step right back in to the political discourse. >> why do people want to silence

her? >> they've always wanted to silence hillary. this is not something new. secretary clinton is still one of the most brilliant voices and a voice of change. i think it's important for us to listen to. >> i'm not. i don't believe in silencing people. >> neither do i. >> that's what america is about. about freedom of speech. the thing is people are wondering whether it's politically, you know, good for the democrats that she is speaking out. >> right now i think that it is politically good for the democrats to have anybody with a real voice speak out. >> let's talk about lebron james. racial slur on the gate of his house in l.a. >> i think racism has reared its ugly head and come out and said hello to people. what people once only thought and was afraid to say i think with this president making it okay to come out from underneath your hood, that's what we're going to get. >> you think the president made it okay? >> oh, absolutely.

excuse me, i didn't stutter when i said that. when the president of the united states sort of appeals to a white nationalist agenda and embraces people who were fearful of the browning of america and for all practical purposes clung with their dying fingers to white male privilege, yeah, he made it okay. >> there was a press conference today in today's white house briefing. sean spicer was asked by reporter april ryan about lebron james as well as some other racial incidents. let's listen in and we'll talk about it. >> there are numbers of. [inaudible] have been found at the museum that the president toured of african-american history and culture. also there was a very negative word spray painted on lebron james home. what is the president saying about this? specifically people are saying over the last 130 plus days people are feeling there has

been a divide that has perpetuated from this white house. >> well, i would respectfully disagree with the premise of that. i think we need to denounce hate in any form in any act. this president made it clear from election night to his inauguration that he wants to unite this country and move it forward. >> from election night to the inauguration. do you think the president is handling these issues, addressing these issues? i. >> i don't think it even crosses his mind. that's one thing i did discuss with secretary clinton. some of these issues that were on her front burner have not only been put on the back burner. they've been taken off the stove. i don't think addressing racism to him in the least tiny bit. sean spicer looked as if jose lord, why are you asking me about these black people, it's not something we discuss with the president on a regular basis. >> do you think it's a matter of you don't know what you don't know and if you don't know maybe you just don't care about it? >> it's not his experience. i don't think it's his

experience. what is probably more bothersome for the president of the united states is he's not intellectual curious enough to find out other people who are not like him what their experience was. i think that is what lebron was trying to say. no matter how much money you have, come you come from, where you are, you're still black. >> let's talk more about lebron. jason whitlock had another take on the lebron james incident. here's what he had to say about it. >> he allegedly had the "n" word spray painted on his $20 million brentwood home. he wasn't. it his family wasn't there. he heard about it. racism is an issue in america. but it is primarily an issue for the poor. it's not lebron james' issue. lebron james, whether he likes it or not or whether people close to him are telling him or not, he has removed himself from the damages and the ravages of

real racism. he may have an occasion disrespectful interaction with someone, a disrespectful inconvenience. >> hate much? give me a break. his $20 million home? you don't get to tell somebody else what their racism experience is. >> money does not innok late you from position. >> ask the 44th president of the united states what it felt like to have people around our country speak about him in such racist terms over the course of eight years t. does n. it does not matter. you can be the leader of the free world and still be subject. >> if you're the first lady of the united states and you're michelle obama, people can call you a monkey. >> and it would be inappropriate to speak that way about the first lady but it wasn't inappropriate to speak about our

elegant first lady michelle obama. >> there's a difference between classism, social structure in society and racism. there is a difference there. maybe he has money. maybe he has some prif levilege the sense that he has money, but it does not innoculate. >> if somebody tells you there's two buses, no matter how much money, they will put you on the other bus. >> let's talk about daytime diva as. >> yes. let's lighten the mood. >> she's so gorgeous. vanessa williams. she plays one of the hosts of the long running women's talk show. tell me about "daytime diva as." is it "the view". >> no. you ask the same questions. >> who is barbara walters. who is star jones? who is lisa ling? >> remember now they have 25 years of experience in daytime and in news television. i've been in every green room and makeup room in the new york

area, so i've heard and seen a lot. i've got to pull from all of these experiences, so it's inspired by lots of different people. i can tell you there's a completely fictional account on the behind the scenes work of a daytime talk show and maxine, an homage on max robinson, our colleague. >> i write in my book how he inspired me. max robinson in chicago. peter jennings was in london and new york and frank reynolds or vice versa. i do have to say you sat your butt on a view today and i said that's the view. when you meredith did it, remember when he said april fool's? >> we were doing like a throw back thursday. i have to tell you all the women have been very supportive.

it's tag, you're it, vanessa. >> monday, june 5th. it premiers monday june 5th. we'll be right back. for my chronic back pain backed me up-big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. spent time, money. no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation-oic- and can help you go more often. number two? with my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them. movantik may cause serious side effects including symptoms of opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain and/or diarrhea, and tears in the stomach or intestine. tell your doctor about any side effects and about medicines you take. movantik may interact with them causing side effects. don't back down from oic. talk to your doctor about movantik.

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vladimir putin sure is doing an awful lot of talking all of a sudden. this is cnn tonight. i am don lemon. putin calls u.s. intelligence on russian hacking useless