his side of the story related to jim comey. some of the conversations comey had with the president and where jeff sessions was a participant to get the rest of the story. comey's statement i don't want time alone with the president and that interaction and accusations flying around about con varversations he may or may have had. we want all of the facts out there. >> reporter: the chairman of the intel committee has not said if the hearing will go forward tomorrow. sessions is expected at the white house later this morning for a cabinet meeting. his first after days of deflection of whether the president has confidence in the attorney general. >> not a hard question to answer. laura, thank you. president trump cannot seem to stay quiet about the russia investigation. the president slammed james comey again. retweeted about the chance of impeachment. why is he doing this? cnn's jason carroll is live in

washington. no tweets yet this morning, jason. >> reporter: it is still early, john. the he said-he said battle under way. president trump has offered to testify under oath about what he said or did not say to comey. all this as he continues to attack his former fbi director in the wake of last week's testimony. president trump on the defensive. retweeting a tv news clip downplaying the chances of his impeachment just one day after lashing out at the former fbi director james comey. the president suggesting comey acted illegally by leaking notes about the conversations calling the fbi veteran cowardly. >> no collusion. no obstruction. he's a leaker. >> reporter: after comey revealed he leaked the memos in hopes it would lead to the appointment of the special

prosecutor. >> i needed to get that out in the public square. i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. >> reporter: comey testifying the president asked him to let the investigation into the former national securikurecuritr michael flynn go. a charge president trump flatly denies. >> i didn't say that. >> reporter: the president's son appearing to contradict his father's denial in a new tv interview. >> when he tells you to do something, guess what? there's no ambiguity in it. there is no, hey, i'm hoping. you and i are friends. i hope this happens, but you got to do your job. that's what he told comey. >> when i read the statements over how he contacted jim comey over time. it felt like deja vu. >> fired preet baraha, he had interactions with the president before he was let go. >> he called me in december to

shoot the breeze. it appeared to be he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship. >> reporter: bipartisan lawmakers calling on the president to turnover tapes if they exist of his conversations with comey almost one month after trump tweeted they may exist. >> i don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all. >> i hope there are recordings of jim comey. if that is out there. i doubt there are there. >> if there are tapes, he should let that be known. no more game play. >> reporter: a number of the team stating disclosure could happen soon. >> the president will address the issue of the tapes next week. >> you are your own worst enemy, mr. president, knock it off. >> reporter: lindsey graham encouraging the president to stop. >> you may be the first president in history to go down because you cannot stop talking about an investigation that if

you were just quiet would clear you. >> reporter: the president is now looking at another legal about t battle ahead. the attorney generals from washington d.c. and maryland will file a lawsuit against president trump alleging he violated the constitution by allowing his business, namely his hotel, to accept payments and benefits from foreign governments. the lawsuit suggests trump broken his promise to separate himself from the businesses. the attorney general will review that at the noon time pressor today. >> thank you, jason. let's discuss with our panel. we have analyst john avlon and david drucker and karoun with the washington post. david drucker, why not do what they do with james comey. let him testify in open and closed session? >> they might. i think this may have to do with

jeff sessions figuring out what he wants to do. it is interesting. jeff sessions fits the trump pattern in the regard. it is not so much what we find out that he did and who he spoke to and who he didn't speak to, but the fact that things were not disclosed. this is a pattern of things that probably were harmless. certainly would have been characteriwhale shark chastated as the normal. >> the part that is eyebrow raising is he did not disclose those? >> i think so. there is a disagreement. russia is a major adversary of the united states. the president to his detriment politically will not recognize that publicly. even when he wreck size recogni trouble with allies. a country as influence al in the

world as russia, you want to stay in touch with all sorts of people in washington. >> karoun, that scratches the surface of what they want to hear from sessions. james comey opened up a can of worms. what did jeff sessions think when he asked him to leave the room that day. what was the reaction when the fbi director said you need to keep me separate from the president. and so many areas to go into here. >> certainly. he is another character now in the whole drama unfolding that many members of congress want to hear from. because they feel his account will corroborate things of comey said or clear the president to some extent. he does seem to have been in the room for the last minute. certainly he played a major r e

role. i want to address one things that david was talking about. the connection and contact with members of the team and russian ambassador. while a top adviser of the president, it makes sense he would be in touch with foreign dignitarie dignitaries. that is a role for future diplomat in chief. secretary of state. not for the attorney general. when the meetings first came out that he hadn't disclosed them, sessions excuse is i did that as a member of the armed services committee. nobody else on the committee had been doing it. this is a diplomatic function. not a military function or legal function which are his roles. >> john avlon. >> the weirdness of this is heightened by the fact that in october, congress got the report saying the russians were meddling in the election. all of this is against a back

drop of russia being a hostile power and not typical outreach. we knew they were playing a malevolent role. what were you talking about? this is an international power. you deserve to have your guard up. the failure to disclose. not once, not twice, but three times. this is serious and not limited to sessions. >> how about the weirdness of the fact we still don't know if there are tapes in the white house. >> that is incredibly weird. if you don't have the president showing an adverse interest in studying american history, it would be obvious that history shows that having tapes in the oval office is a bad idea. watergate was a problem for the executive branch. the fact they are playing with this idea there may be taping conversations in the white house and nobody can say if they are or not except dianne feinstein

is calling out for that. it show why there is a credibility gap. >> the tapes don't belong to the president of the united states. since watergate, the tapes are public property. i thought one of the most interesting moments of the hearing is when james comey saying lordy, i hope there are tapes. if there are tapes, they will come out eventually. they do not belong to the president. even if he was involved in installing and taping. whatever is on the tapes would become public. i'm skeptical than it was a bluff. >> i think the tapes belong to snuffalupagus. >> that runs into legal territory. they tried to issue the subpoenas that the lawyers being overbroad. you have to say i know something that is there and you can plead the fifth amendment.

self incrimination. i don't know specifically what the legal fight will be down the line. congress has tried to request these tapes. we haven't got to the point of subpoena yet. demands have been made. if the tapes do not exist, it is not the first time the president said that something has been going on. it reminds me of the wire tatapg wiretapping. many weeks had the president been wiretapped. he hadn't. jim comey is not in his job anymore and he said there were no wiretaps. will it be the president shrihif when he talks about it? we are heading into legal territory if the president will not say they exist. >> a yes or no answer to the question. we should be able to hear it. it is either yes or no. i wish i had it here. the other interesting thing is the clearly hostile posture

toward the investigation and toward the independent counsel. let me read you what ari fleicher. advice for potus. you have not been vindicated. you won't be unless bob mueller says so. stop talking. you are heading into a giant perjury trap. john avlon, sage advice. be careful what you say and they keep saying a lot. >> this president has impulse control problems. the chance he is not going to say something is virtually nil. he offered on friday to speak to bob mueller. the fact that he is pulling a general akbar -- it's a trap. if they could, they would have contained him a long time ago. he is not wrong. it raises the question of the president's lawyer saying we will see about the sanctity of

the special counsel. there are constitutional problems here. the president said that never stopped him before. he would be delighted to testify. >> a weird bread crumb when jason who is ally with the white house would not rule out firing bob mueller. >> that is outside counsel. >> panel -- >> sorry. not just outside counsel. rosenstein was asked and he would not commit to writing anything down to say bob mueller could keep his job without interference. >> a new legal headache for the president. he is about to be sued for allegedly hiviolates the constitution. will bob mueller look into that as well? we will discuss that next. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care-

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former u.s. attorney opening up about the interactions with president trump saying his own experiences mirrored those of james comey. >> they are unusual phone calls. what i have been reading about how the president has been contacting jim comey over time. felt a little bit like deja vu. it appeared he was trying to cultivate some republican. it was a peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general with the president and me who has been asked to investigate various things. >> p bharara was fired in march

after refusing to side with other obama-era attorneys. let's bring in the panel. david drucker and karoun demirjian. you may have an attorney adding more legal weight to the argument that the president intervenes or meddles or makes inappropriate kmeptcomments. you also have bharara is not apolitical. >> it doesn't make what he said in the interview on "this week" any less true or credible. it can color a little bit how people interpret rate whwhat he say. it was interesting what he said about the president. it is not so much all of the time. sometimes yes, but not what he does, but how he does it.

did he have the right to fire james comey? yes. we need an elected official accountable to the people to oversee law enforcement or they are rogue police operations. it is how he did it. it is the way he did it that did not inspire confidence for the american people for reasoning and management skills. if you understand how people are and high levels of government the way he humiliated james comey is the reason we are where we are today with what we know and the memos and the hearing that was just concluded and what bharara talked about was unusual behavior on part of the president in dealing with certain parts of the government that caused trump more trouble than he seems to say he wanted and he would be better off if he operated in a more conventional fashion when it comes to this. >> good luck. i mean, that's not what he -- i know. i appreciate that, david.

that is not what he ran on and that's not what his voters like about him. this is vintage donald trump. bharara was right. he did want to cultivate a personal relationship with him. he likes operating mano-y-mano. either donald trump didn't know about or he doesn't think it is important in how he operates. >> he cannot take what he feels is a professional rebuff of the approach. it is what it is. they cannot have that relationship with the president. you have seen the president seems to be when he fixates on something, he fixates on it. the frequency and number of times he was trying to ask the former fbi director about the russia investigation. the extent to which he talks about it given an opportunity, contradicting the line from his staff in the days or weeks prior is remarkable.

so that's total speculation to say that had something to do with why he would react strongly to comey and bharara's rebuff of attempt to establish a personal relationship that they could not accept because of their jobs. you are dealing with people in two different worlds that have to interact with each other given what they are dealing with given the fact that donald trump is president. >> if you are fixating over something as president, fixate over north korea and agenda. don't fixate over the personal relationships that are when you try to make them personal rather than professional raising real problems of conflict of interest for the individuals. in the case of bharara and comey, you had two things. president proactively telling them you will keep your job. both men having great reputations for independence and competence in positions.

preet high profile. suddenly, reversing that previous assurance. for reasons that seem to be related to ongoing investigations. at least not proven to be so. everything about that is odd and inappropria inappropriate. here is where you hope someone assumes personal instincts of the office. the inability to do that is a problem for the united states. >> that is why this is so important. during the campaign we talked about this is donald trump being unconventional. part of the secret sauce. this activity and behavior is hurting the agenda that he says he wants to pass. by the way, there is support in the country for the agenda. he is hurting it. >> now a special counsel. everything is different with a special counsel. i want to bring up the word emoluments. the washington post appointing

an attorney general to file a lawsuit saying the president has not separated himself from the businesses. i am not a lawyer. >> i took the l.s.a.t. >> if the lawsuits go anywhere, it could mean the president has to open up some of the financial books. that could ultimately mean some taxes. >> i'm sure that will be part of the discovery if this continues. d.c. and maryland said they have standing to bring the case. the fact that so much business is directed in the trump enterprises means it is taking away taxpayer funded things like the convention center. they are saying this is a problem. it is a problem because we are talking about it being a problem and constitutional violation, but problem because it is resulting in things to the detriment of tax paying citizens in d.c. and maryland.

they are pryibringing this suit the provision about the emoluments clause. they are filing it today. the question is does it go anywhere. you cannot have a case like this proceed without getting into the profit and loss. >> that is a big deal because of the discovery and this is basic. this is in the constitution in terms of founders laid out as being a problem. politics is perception. the president can say it is innocent. when foreign governments start directing a great deal of business to the private properties, it is because they are speak the language which is spoken all over the world. curry favor with the party or family in power. there is no way to recuse yourself from the conflict even if you want. >> last topic, so many of the president's critics were wrong. it now shows and they propedict

that first lady melania would never move to the white house. here she is moving with their youngest son barron to the white house. what difference will this make? what affeeffect will this have president trump if. >> during the campaign, president trump flew home to trump tower and he was as unconsequenunco unconventional as ever. i would not bet much money. >> one of the words in axios is he is in political isolation. maybe this makes him less isolated. >> if you believe the stories that he is by himself often watching tv in the white house. this will absolutely change the situation. >> history shows if presidents are less isolated and wives are

with them, it has a steadying influence. that is the hope. shoutout to barron's t-shirt. >> the kids in the houses are the experts. >> panel, thank you very much. we need to tell you about u.s. troops in harm's way in somalia and philippines and afghanistan. the war on terror seems to be escalating under president trump. so what is his strategy? we take a closer look at that next. these days families want to be connected 24/7.

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expanding. u.s. troops at risk. we saw in somalia with the air strikes against al qaeda there. the al qaeda affiliate has heavy weapons and armorred vehicles. u.s. moving against it. in syria, not just the battle for raqqah which u.s. troops will be involved in as military advisers at risk there. in southern syria, a number of air strikes against iranian-backed militias by the u.s. because they moved in in a threatening position. that is a significant threat to the u.s. troops down in southern syria. the u.s. moved to take them out. in the philippines, not very well known and not much information about it. u.s. special forces also stepping in the southern philippines at the request of president duterte there to move against forces and providing

intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. in afghanistan, three u.s. troops killed over the weekend in a so-called insider attack by an afghan soldier. they are in an area where they, too, u.s. forces battling isis in eastern afghanistan. will this be enough to push isis over the brink to end that group? probably not. john. >> barbara starr, thank you. intense oppressive words to describe not just alisyn camerota, but the record-breaking heat in the midwest and northern u.s.? how long will it stick around? meteorologist chad myers with the latest. >> john, it doesn't typically happen with forecasted record highs. this forecast brought to you by xyzal. the pollen is flying and so is the humidity. the highs today in the mid-90s

after starting out in the 70s and 80s in spots. we reach a record high in new york of 95. the old record of 93. we break that this afternoon. how long does it last? we get a break on wednesday and thursday for the extreme northeast and new england. the rest of the country stays oppressively hot. 96 in st. louis on tuesday. that is 13 degrees warmer than it will be in orlando. alisyn. wow! that's intense. i've worn a dress to match. >> and oppressive. >> you could have gone with hot. >> i think we are trying to move away from that in tabcable news president trump accusing james comey of doing something illegal by releasing their c conversatio conversations. we discuss this next.

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will be far more prevalent than anyone thought possible. totally illegal question mark? cowardly! let's bring in associate dean and yale law school and supervisor james galiagno. let's start with the white house and the private attorney that they think they have an argument that james comey is tainted by the fact he orchestrated the leak of the information about the meetings through his friend at columbia law school. do you think james comey looked to a moral high ground here? >> i don't think so. he didn't follow normal department of justice protocols. we can't expect him to follow the protocols in the situation created by the fact that no one was following the right protocols. he is in the situation where he can't give the memos to the leadership at the department of

justice. he believes he was fired under a pre-text by them and compromised. he could have turned around and given the memos to the committees in congress, but these committees have so much in-fighting that they look like an episode of "real housewives of d.c." instead of bipartisan committee. if he wants this to get out in the public, i think that he was left in his mind with having to do it through a third party. as a private citizen, he could do that. it is not illegal. there was no privileged or classified. i don't think that the white house really has a claim here. >> it won't stop them necessarily from using it to try to maybe fire up his base. that may be a separate subject. james, i want to bring up preet bharara who was fired by the president as every other u.s. attorney. he did the first interview over the weekend since his firing.

he had interesting things to say about his conversations with the president. >> they are unusual phone calls. what i have been reading stories about how the president has been contacting jim comey over time. it felt like deja vu. it appeared to be he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship. it is a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general and without warning between the president and me or any u.s. attorney who has been asked to investigate various things. >> james, you have unique perspective. you know preet. analyze the case on the merits and the fact he made it. >> sure, john. i'm conflicted here. it is impossible for me to be unbias and partial. i have great respect for preet. i worked under him in a 25--year

career. he was the best attorney and best leader. here is where i have issue with this. i know mr. bharara says this is an obstruction of justice case. people like alan dershowitz argue the opposite. i think in the instance it comes across as partisan. i'll say it in this regard. when you have private conversations with a president-elect or president himself, bharara is one of 93 u.s. attorneys that serve at the pleasure of the president. every administration, the president has the right to fire or let go the u.s. attorneys. in this case, you are supposed to. it is protocol to submit a letter of resignation. whatever happened at trump tower, bharara was given the privilege of staying on. that changed. i feel it is unseemly. >> bharara thought it was

unseemly. it is interesting if any other attorneys had conversations. asha, president trump said 100% he would testify. you worked as investigator before. i have to believe that would be music to your ears. hearing someone involved in the case one way or the other. 100% i will testify under oath. good for investigation, maybe not good for the person who makes that claim. i was talking to alan dershowitz friday night who told me that president trump would be crazy to testify under oath. >> right. if he testifies under oath, then he is really potentially exposing himself to other crimes. he could, if he testifies truthfully, he will be fine. we have a situation with two die met diametrically opposed

events. he could open himself up to perjury. that is the basis that president clinton was impeached in the house. it is a dangerous strategy if he is not absolutely sure and his lawyers in particular are not absolutely sure that everything he will say will be truthful. >> we don't know if his lawyers were apprised of that. james, had james comey not been fired, we would not be talking about this. one irony, had he been allowed to stay on, his conversations would have been covered under executive privilege. >> sure, john. i'm a fan of director comey. he is an honorable and decent man. i'll push back on asha, i do believe he seeded the moral high ground to the white house. i think part of that was the

admission of the leak and john, if you go back, there were two more instances with a push back and stories to the new york times and related to comey associates or officials. the first the loyalty pledge and the flynn conversation in the oval office. the third in march when director comey was apparently very much inflamed over the fact that president trump was tweeting about illegal wiretapping trump tower. >> james and asha, thank you. listen up, john. the stanley cup is staying in pittsburgh. this will be relevant to you. the penguins winning the second straight title. details on how they did it and why this is so vitally important to john berman in the bleacher report.

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listen up, alisyn. stanley cup back to pittsburgh. penguins back-to-back champs after a thriller in nashville. coy wire has the bleacher report. >> good morning, john. millions tuning in to watch the game. sidney crosby and the penguins too much for the predators. give credit to the city of nashville. a sea of humanity in the streets of nashville. estimated 50,000 people just to watch it on the big screen outside the arena. packing the broadway and luke bryan played rooftop concert. inside, faith hill singing the national anthem. tug mcgraw waving the towels. that is as cool as brad paisley waving the catfish. the former predator who was traded to pittsburgh three he years ago would score the tie

breaking goal with just about 95 seconds to go. the penguins win 2-0. sidney crosby hoisting lord stanley cup for pittsburgh. the nhl's first back-to-back champs since 1994. no word yet on parade, alisyn. last year, they had nearly 400,000 people in the streets to celebrate the win. >> coy, you did the impossible. you made me care about that story. >> catfish? >> anytime you can inject food into sports. all of the excitement. i get it. >> you are privy with excitement. >> why are we focused on this? >> it was the finals. i love sport and competition. >> winter sports. >> in june. attorney general jeff sessions offers to testify in front of the senate intel committee instead of budget hearings. why does that strategy confuse

the senators? one democratic senator joins us with a game plan next. ♪ when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say...if you love something set it free. see you around, giulia

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i believe that the judiciary committee has the oversight responsibility for the justice department. therefore, it is fitting for the attorney general to appear there. >> that was senator dianne feinstein saying attorney general jeff sessions should go before the senate ju dish ardic committee. what is going on? we have senator chris coons on the senate appropriations sub committee. that was where jeff sessions was supposed to be testifying tomorrow. good morning, senator. >> good morning, alisyn. >> what is the issue here? that there's a debate with where sessions should be testifying? judiciary, senate intel or your appropriations committee? >> the attorney general comes in

front of the judiciary and sub committee responsible for judiciary every year. that is part of the oversight responsibility. i think the attorney general should make his appearance this year. >> is there a question? sorry to interrupt. is there a question if he will appear before the sub committee? >> yes. he has declined for months to appear in front of the judiciary committee. as of this weekend, he is seeking to testify in front of intel as you suggested in the opening. that may well be because he is trying to have his testimony be shielded from the american people. i don't think that's appropriate, alisyn. i don't think on an issue as important as whether or not the attorney general is acting outside the scope of his recuse al or misled our committee, the judiciary committee about the meeting with the russian ambassador. alisyn, the other thing is the process by which the republicans

are crafting repeal of obamacare. no hearings. no public discussion about it. and by news reports over the weekend, we may be days or weeks away from the republicans moving directly to the floor. a significant bill that would affect tens of millions of americans. give big tax cuts and cut back on health care and defund planned parenthood. that is wrong. >> some people think all of the russia cloud is eclipsineclipsi. one more second on jeff sessions. why not follow the james comey model? why not have jeff sessions go in front of intel in open and closed hearing. is that the answer? >> that's a good first step. good way for the same senators who ask questions of former fbi director comey to ask follow-up questions of attorney jeff sessions. i agree with senator feinstein.

the committee has the oversight responsibility for the department of justice. it is the judiciary committee which has more former prosecutors and lawyers on it. more folks familiar with what happens than any other committee in the senate. >> quickly, did you hear something from james comey that for you rose to the level of obstruction of justice? >> i think he laid out the core elements of obstruction of justice charge. it is a difficult case to make. i think a lot more investigation would have to be done. if you took froobi director coms testimony on its face, he spoke to intent and substantive action by the president to try to impede an ongoing federal investigation when he directed james comey to drop the investigation into former national security adviser flynn. >> on to health care. what do you mean the republican

colleagues are doing this in secret? there is no bipartisan effort to try to fix obamacare? >> none. alisyn, all the democrats in the senate sent a letter to the republican caucus saying we recognize there are flaws and challenges with the affordable care act. stop your efforts to repeal all of the affordable care act on a partisan basis and please work across the aisle with us. we can find a way to move forward and to get a better health care system for all americans. the response has been a whole series of closed-door meetings with virtually no outreach to democrats by the republican leadership. >> is it your understanding that your republican colleagues will be presenting their version of the obamacare replacement soon in the next couple of weeks? >> they are certainly trying. they have a shrinking window. they will use a vehicle to do this called reconciliation that allows them to do it by 51

votes. 50 votes plus the vice president. in order to do that, they are pursuing a path that is republican only. they are finding it hard to get to 50 votes in the republican caucus in the senate because some of the far right wants to completely repeal the affordable care act. the things that fund it and consumer protection provisions and ways it helped 24 million americans get access to health care and improved the quality of the health care that more than 150 million americans have. there are folks who are moderate republicans who want to save or extend the medicaid expansion. they have big internal divisions. mitch mcconnell, majority leader is pushing hard to get this done before the august recess. we're hearing rumors they are making progress. we have little insight to the provisions are of the bill. when the democrats pass the

affordable care act back in 2009, i wasn't in the senate. there were hearings after hearings after hearings over a year before they came to the conclusion that they would have to pass the bill without republicans. the bill had republican amendments taken up and voted on in committee hearings before it ultimately became law. a different process than the closed door process republicans are following now. >> we obviously will be watching both of the things very closely. senator chris coons, thank you. >> thank you, alisyn. >> thanks to the international viewers for watching. for u.s. viewers, "new day" continues right now. the key things we have to get his side of the story related to jim comey. >> will sessions testify in public or behind closed doors? >> there were questions about sessions that have to be asked. he should be sworn under oath. it should be public. >> some of the things he said just weren't true. >> i don't understand why the president just doesn't