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 clear this matter up.

whether or not the tapes exist. >> at it point, i believe the fbi director. >> i will tell you, i didn't say that. >> you may be the first president in history to go down because you cannot stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that if you were just quiet would clear you. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> time-lapse. very cool. chris is off. berman is with me. jeff sessions ready to answer questions about russia and james comey firing. sessions offering to testify tomorrow, but not clear if that will be done in public. >> president trump is accusing james comey of being cowardly as the battle heats up if president trump has tapes. his private attorney says the president will address the issue within the next week. hold your breath. a lot to cover.

we start with laura jarrett in washington. laura, we still don't know if the attorney general will testify in public. >> reporter: that is right, john. the agreement to appear before the intel committee caught members by surprise over the weekend. one big question unanswered. will sessions testify in public or behind closed doors or some combination of both. lawmakers have been clamoring for weeks to question sessions on the firing of the former fbi director james comey to any undisclosed contacts sessions may have had with russian ambassador kislyak. sne senators are concerned that sessions may avoid testifying in public by scrapping publicly scheduled appearances on tuesday. members of the intel panel says if sessions does testify, they want to hear from him directly about comey's revelations last week. >> the key difference is we have to get his side of the story

related to jim comey. some conversations comey had with the president where sessions was a participant or around to get the rest of the story. comey's statement i don't want to get time alone with the president and the accusations of conversations he might or might not have had with russians prior to the election. >> reporter: now the came of haf the intel committee is not saying if he will testify. all this over the simple question if the president hresi confidence in the attorney general. amimo alisyn. >> thank you. president trump cannot stay quiet. the president slamming james comey again and retweeting about his own chances of i am preampe. we have jason carroll live in washington. >> reporter: he loves to tweet. we know that.

we know he said-he said battle is going to continue. the president has offered to testify as you know under oath about what he said or did not say to comey as he continues to attack the 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 impeachment just one day after lashing out at former fbi director james comey. the president suggesting comey acted illegally by leaking his notes about the conversations calling the fbi veteran cowardly. >> no collusion. no obstruction. he's a leaker. >> reporter: after comey revealed under oath he revealed the memos hoping it would lead to appointment of special prosecutor. >> i needed it to get that out in public square. i asked a friend of mine to share the memo with a reporter.

>> reporter: comey testifying he look looked to let the investigation into michael flynn go. >> i did not 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 is no ambiguity in it. there is no, hey, i'm hoping. you and i are friends. i hope this happens. you got to do your job. that's what he told comey. >> when i read stories about how the president has contacted james comey over time. it felt like deja vu deja . >> reporter: fired attorney general bharara. >> he called me in december just to shoot the breeze. it appeared to be he was trying to cultivate a relationship. >> reporter: bipartisan

lawmakers now calling on the president to turnover tapes if they exist of his conversations with comey one month after trump tweeted they may exist. >> i don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up. >> i hope there are recordings for james comey's sake. >> if there are tapes, he should let that be known. >> reporter: a member of the trump team said disclosure could happen soon. >> the president will address the issue of the tapes next week. >> you are your own worst enemy here, mr. president. knock it off. you may be the first president in history to go down because you cannot stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that if you were just quiet would clear you. >> reporter: alisyn, the president is now looking at another legal battle ahead.

the attorney generals from washington, d.c. and maryland will file a lawsuit today against president trump alleging he violated the constitution by allowing his business namely his hotel here in d.c. to accept payments and benefits from foreign governments. the lawsuit alleges trump has broken his promise to separate himself from business interests. the attorney generals plan to reveal details about the lawsuit at a noon pressor. alisyn. john. >> you will cover that. thank you, jason. let's bring in the panel to discuss this. white house correspondent margaret talaf. political analyst of the daily beast john avlon. let's start with john avlon. we have a vested interest in this. why not just have jeff sessions testify in public in front of the senate intel committee? >> that is the answer in terms of transparency.

the precedence is the comey hearings. in public and in private. he has given this up. it is the intel committee to follow-up on the investigation. the more that is public, the more that is transparent, the better for democracy with a civics stress test. >> margaret, one more issue in the game. are there tapes? are there not tapes? will the white house release them? it seems the white house sees utility in stringing the american public along. >> there is an interest if sessions testifies in open the way jim comey did. the differences are obvious. one is sessions himself may be to some degree in the cross-hairs of the investigation. jim comey intimated that is the case. the attorney general recused himself from the russia investigation. it seems there will be limits on what he could say whether in open session or in closed session. to me, what i'm interested in is

really where the boundaries are on the topics. >> i was struck that the intelligence committee set a precedent already by allowing dan coats and admiral rogers to answer questions because they did not feel it was appropriate. in the 1990s and the tobacco executives brought before the commerce committee saying we did not think it was appropriate to answer questions in open session. they put themselves in a difficult position to exert leverage. they established what angus king and others acknowledged a remarkable precedent. to allow jeff sessions to go venue shopping here and move from opening hearing on one side to the closed on the other is erosion of congressional oversight. >> i want to play a moment that

some may have missed this weekend. from a member of the president's private leg teal team. he was asked about whether or not the president might weigh in and fire the special counsel bob mueller. listen. >> will the president promise not to interfere or attempt at anytime to order the firing of bob mueller? >> the president of the united states as we all know, a unitarian executive. the president will seek the advice of his counsel and inside the government as well as outside. i will not speculate what he will or will not do. i can't manaimagine the issue w arise. the president with his adviser was discuss if there is a basis. >> john avlon, he doesn't think it will rise, but he will follow-up. i was on with jeffery lord. he will go after bob mueller a

little bit. it seems you are starting to see people close to the white house throwing shade all of a sudden on the special counsel. >> it seems that way because it is that way. this is the break glass scenario they are comforting with. the special counsel has enormous power and credibility. their feeling is there is nothing to stop the president from derailing the investigation and firing mueller. the independent counsel statute expired. this is a special counsel assigned by the deputy attorney general because the ag recused himself. the enforceful independence that previously existed does not exist. if they do something that doesn't look bad -- if bill clinton could fire louis fried, he would have. including larry starr. >> margaret, why wouldn't

president trump fire robert mueller? is that the answer if president trump doesn't like the investigation? >> i think break glass scenario is the right way to put it. that is an extreme move to say the least. probably really too early to be considering a move like that. it may have been considered, but discussing it seriously. to do it really risks crossing a line with republicans. so far, the president has been able to count on the house speaker and senate majority leader to hold down the line. a move like that could be a game changer. >> ron brownstein, you noted there are clear sides that don't seem to be budging here. in some ways, the president can say this. this really has one path to conclusion. >> look, i think the special counsel investigation right now is the only game in town.

the most important thing that happened last week was james comey laid out a pattern of behavior while not all experts, former prosecutors like bharara have said the basis for the beginning of the investigation of obstruction of justice. on the other hand, you saw the unanimous or entirely unanimous rejection of the idea from congressional republicans who did not challenge what comey said. saying he was remembering it incorrectly or misrepresenting it. even if the president said that comey alleged, it was okay. not a violation of the law. the only way that changes if mueller presents them with evidence forced them to act. what presents them is 1973 and the office of legal counsel in the justice department. they don't have the force of the court decision, but the justice department opinion that the sitting president cannot be

criminally indicteindicted. they want to push this off on mueller, probably it will be back in their laps before the 2020 election. >> it is complicated by the fact no matter how they spin it, we are living in the era of ethics. senators are on regard of praising robert mueller. that will make that spin a bridge too far. what we have seen is no matter what happens, call it a victory and hope the base doesn't pay attention. that disconnect with rhetoric and reality is growing. with serious consequences for the pursuit of justice. >> margaret, if only there were tapes that existed so we could know what was said between the president and james comey. what's next? what is the next move for congress? can they subpoena something they don't know exists? >> we saw kind of a shot across the bow with that with the intel chairs last week sending a letter to the white house counsel office. it sounds like the white house is suggesting they will have an

answer in the next week or so. we have seen timelines like that slide. remember on twitter a few months ago was the suggestion evidence of president obama wiretapping president trump as well. president trump seemed in the news conference last week to suggest everyone would be disappointed when the answer to this came out. i think that maybe means there was no secret taping system. i think this is an answer that the white house will have to put on the record to answer lawmakers in the investigating committees. >> if there is a taping system, you should reflect on what this means in the last month. no one in the white house stepped up and said there are no tapes. interesting. classic he said-he said. president trump escalating his war of words with james comey. exactly who will americans believe? we ask a republican congress member next.

usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. the process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like you're a part of the family. i love that i can pass the membership to my children. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life.

fothere's a seriousy boomers virus out there that's been almost forgotten. it's hepatitis c. one in 30 boomers has hep c, yet most don't even know it. because it can hide in your body for years without symptoms, and it's not tested for in routine blood work. the cdc recommends all baby boomers get tested. if you have hep c, it can be cured. for us it's time to get tested. ask your healthcare provider for the simple blood test. it's the only way to know for sure.

tthat's why at comcast,t to be connected 24/7. we're always working to make our services more reliable. with technology that can update itself. and advanced fiber network infrastructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. a source tells cnn the senate intelligence committee is letting a plan to have jeff

sessions testify tomorrow. if he does testify, will it be in public or behind closed doors? that is the question we ask of adam kinzinger here. let's get to jeff sessions. last time you were on "new day." you talked about the impending james comey testimony. we have a case of he said-he said. comey says one thing. the president said another. this is what you are looking for. watch. >> so many iterations to come out on that. james comey has a good reputation for the truth. to say i'm going to pick this guy over this person and that leads to the iteration there are so many issues to come out right now. this raises major red flags and we need answers. the question is we need to have faith that the administration and justice is being served on all levels. no matter where it is. >> so james comey told his story

to the senate. the president says it is not true. who do you believe? >> it is hard to tell. that's why we need every iteration. if sessions testifies tomorrow, that is essential. what it comes down to if you are republican in cases, every new piece of information you say, it is not real. it is not true. if you are my friends on the other side of the aisle, every piece of information you assume is true and scream for impeachment. i heard a few do this. this for me is about bigger than what it means for 2018. what this means for 2020 and what this means -- this is defending the institution of democracy. my bigger concern is we look and say we hold our leaders accountable. we need all of the information to hold them account able. on james comey's testimony, there are concerning things he said. without a doubt, the president

acted improperly to ask. does that rise to the level of obstruction of justice? i don't know. i have not heard people make the strong case it does. there is a lot of information that needs to come out. people have to have patience to fall through that line. >> you are a republican congress member. it is june 12th, 7:20 a.m. you are not willing to say you believe the president of the united states that he did not say those things to james comey? >> look, you have what the president says he didn't say that. james comey said he very much say things like i hope you call the dogs off basically or in this investigation. my question is does that rise to the level of obstruction of justice. i have not seen a case of that. if there are tapes in the oval office, we should hear those. >> what do you make of the game? the president has been dangling the notion out for a month. what do you make of the game? >> about the tapes? >> yeah. >> i don't know what to make of

it. there are times i don't know what to make of something on twitter or anything else. i just know if there are tapes, we want the tapes. i know that if in fact the president is telling the truth on this, he did not say any of those things to james comey. tapes will vindicate him. people calling for impeachment will look bad by having jumped to that conclusion. i say, look, i don't try to overplay this. i served in the military. i served my country. a lot of people have and a lot of people given lives to defend this country. it is not about the war on terr terror, but defending the institution. this goes beyond the political implications. they go to where people have trust and faith of the institutions. >> it is the faith of the presidency and former fbi director. their honesty counts here. there are people with whom you say yes, i believe them when they say "x." it is not notable you are not willing to say that about the president. >> i'm not willing to say that

at any point about any person. you have words against james comey and sessions and whoever else is involved. if you play the micro managing game as an official which is every five minutes, you will be wrong or right on something. i have believe it will come out. >> the attorney general should testify in public? >> yes. there are advantages to testifying behind closed doors because they can say things, but testify in public so the american people can see. >> ari fleicher. advice for potus. you have not been vindicated. you will not be unless bob mueller says so. stop talking. you are heading into a giant perjury trap. >> yes. he needs to let the investigation move forward. we have tax reform and other things we need to do. i wish he would send these

messages instead of this day-to-day. we will come to answers in the investigation. it may take a while. it doesn't serve him well or the party well to comment on every little thing. >> were you on the foreign affairs committee and served in iraq and afghanistan. the u.s. military all overed world in somalia and afghanistan. we now know the special forces may be involved in the philippines as well. what do you make of the growing u.s. involvement? >> i think terrorists and ideology that people are at risk anywhere. the problem is we have to stay engaged. i agree with what the president is doing with the more aggressive approach. we have to realize it is the next generation war on terror. it took us 50 years to win the cold war on ideology.

>> congress member adam kinzinger, thank you. >> anytime. >> alisyn. john, the president says he will reveal whether or not he has the tapes of the conversations with james comey this week. what happens if there are no tapes? what's next? it's not just a car, it's your daily retreat. the es and es hybrid. lease the 2017 es 350 for $329 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

thithis is the new new york.e? think again. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov

won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

did president trump secretly record his conversations with fired fbi director james comey and will we hear if the tapes exist? the president's attorney weighed in on the questions. >> the president said he will address the issue of the tapes whether the tapes exist or not next week. that is the decision the president will make in consultation with his chief couple marc kasowitz. >> so will we actually find something out this week? we have george w. bush director matt schlapp. matt, do you think president trump tapes his conversations in the white house? >> it is a great question. i'll be honest with you.

i asked every person i can think of what gets taped in the oval office and doesn't. i do not think there are any tapes of in-person conversations with these gentlemen or anyone else. i am told by people in the intelligence community a lot of conversations, phone conversations, are taped with world leaders and such. >> sure. that is different. >> sure. my guess is there is nothing here to this. >> my next question, matt, are you comfortable with the president of the united states threatening and suggesting something that is not true? >> i think if there are no tapes, i think that, you know, implying there might be tapes is not the right strategy to use for sure. once again, there is a bit of confusion about what gets taped in terms of phone conversations, not meetings in the oval office.

maybe they are tracking that down. >> david frumm? >> i don't think there are tapes. donald trump has a long history of intimating of recordings to intimidate people. he did that with his biographer. that is untrue. it is hard to imagine the mechanics of the taping of the president's conversations with james comey. the most important conversation took place over dinner. not in the west wing, but the mansion. either the president was fumbling around with the record app on his smartphone or the civil service employees have gone to installing listening devices. if it had happened, we would know about it by now. >> matt, is there something troubling not trusting what the president of the united states says? >> alisyn, this is a recurring theme. i know there are people that are

skeptical of donald trump and they are not his biggest fans. i think that when it comes to the questions about what happened with jim comey or not, we should -- i think all your questions are fair. including my questions about whether or not jim comey always tells the truth as well. the fact is the american people will not -- they have to look at these two gentlemen and have to make a determination. from people like me who worked with jim comey during the bush years and democrats who watched jim comey, they find him less than credible. >> before we get to jim comey's credibility and sticking to the president's credibility. you, matt, are skeptical? >> no, no. >> are you the person who just said i find it hard to believe that these tapes would exist and i don't think it is a winning strategy if they do exist. >> i looked at the recent tweet. it said jim comey better hope

there are not tapes that exist. i read that tweet as saying that, boy, jim comey might be saying things that are less than the truth. i just talked to -- you had judge gonzalez on your show last week. we had him on the radio show over the weekend. a lot of people who worked with jim comey who have issues with him. that is the point the president is trying to make. >> david, you hear the talking points and the perspective from the other side which is james comey can be unreliable witness or narrater. how can you figure this out? >> donald trump paid $25 million in a fraud case to a case he said he would never settle. people can see it on youtube. donald trump saying i never said that followed by the thing he said he never said.

donald trump has put out -- as a former vice mayor of new york who dealt with him, donald trump is so dishonest that i would not believe him if his tongue were notariz notarized. the new york times discovered a $100 million mortgage. no american bank would lend to him because they don't trust him. donald trump is the least trust worthy person ever to hold the office of president. he may be the least trust worthy person ever to hold federal office in our lifetime. he lies habitually. the best defense for the supporters of donald trump is the president lies so much that it raises the question whether he can have any strategic plan. it is compulsive and so counterproductive, the defense would be it doesn't indicate

dishonesty, it is disconnection from reality. >> let's go back to the facts at hand. we are talking about the investigation about whether or not there are a lot of questions and if the president was a target of the investigation. for a lot of us who consume a lot of news on a daily basis are left with the impression that the fbi was investigating donald trump as a person. >> i don't know about that. i think we always talked about the people around donald trump. the names that we always keep hearing. carter page. paul manafort. jeff sessions. >> i think there was an impression that was restated continually that the president was under investigation. i do think he grew frustrated over the fact that the fbi director would tell him on multiple occasions he wasn't being investigated. there wasn't that clarity in the

public. these questions have corrosive effect. david can go through the past. i would like to talk about what is happening now. >> we will have an opportunity to do that this week. matt and david, thank you very much. john. reimagine shakespeare's production. sparking outrage. does it go too far? we discuss that next. [vo] what made secretariat the greatest racehorse who ever lived? of course he was strong... ...intelligent. ...explosive. but the true secret to his perfection... was a heart, twice the size of an average horse.

our 18 year old wase army in an accident.'98. when i call usaa it was that voice asking me, "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life.

live-streat the airport.e sport, binge dvr'd shows, while painting your toes. on demand laughs, during long bubble baths. tv on every screen is awesome. the all-new xfinity stream app. all your tv at home. the most on demand, your entire dvr, top networks, and live sports on the go. included with xfinity tv. xfinity the future of awesome.

in less than two hours, lawyers for bill cosby will give his side of the story. his defense is ready to call the first witness in the indecent assault trial. will cosby take the stand? cnn's jean casarez joins us now with details. jean. >> reporter: john, another interesting thing when the trial started one week ago and for all of last week, we never saw a member of bill cosby's family. not his daughter, not his wife. so when the defense arrives today and bill cosby does, will a member of his family be here? the prosecution concluded their case at the end of last week with two major witnesses. a toxicologist testified. if andrea constand had taken three pills of benadryl as she testified, she definitely could

have had the symptoms she said she had. inability to stand. inability to speak. double vision and inability to consent. also, although quaaludes are now illegal in the united states, they are available by prescription in canada. the final witness took the stand, bill cosby's deposition. the jury was told that bill cosby said in 2005 that did you give women drug s you wanted to have sex with. yes, bill cosby it was consensual. it was a woman he had an affair with and a party drug. now the question is, alisyn, who will the defense call to the stand in the defense doesn't have to prove anything. they don't have to put on any case. the main thing in the defense in this case is interested in reasonable doubt that bill cosby drugged and assaulted andrea constand. alisyn. >> thank you, jean, for that reporting. this court case.

18 penn state students in court charged in connection with the hazing death of the fraternity pledge. 19-year-old timothy piazza died after falling down the stairs at the party. some assaulted piazza trying to get him to regain consciousness. it was 12 hours before anyone called 911. moments ago, his parents arrived at the courthouse. prosecutors expect to play surveillance video from inside the fraternity house. california has turned into the center of resistance toward president trump on issues of climate change and immigration. cnn's kyung lah sat down with state leaders to find out why. >> opposing for the sake of opposition. i'm opposing to uphold the truth. >> reporter: the truth says california governor is what drives his opposition to president trump. jerry brown, the head of the most vocal state resisting

trump. now calling open season on the white house withdraw of the paris accord. the governor continuing cooperation with the german government. the german environment minister in san francisco instead of washington. >> this is very good we're here. >> reporter: that comes off the week long trip in china where governor brown signed green technology agreements and expanded climate deals and met with xi jinping in what could be mistaken for a visit with the foreign head of state. >> the president of the country directed our poll icy to go a different way. >> we are in an unusual and unprecedented situation in america. we never had a president like donald trump. he stands against the world and he won't be able to stand much longer. >> reporter: since trump's election, california has been ground zero for the opposition. the overwhelmingly democratic state legislature working on a

flurry of laws from one that makes the entire state a sanctuary for immigrants to proposing its own single payer health care system. >> california is out of control. >> reporter: president trump unable to ignore the state's rebelli rebellion. pledging to pull federal funding. >> we will defund. >> if you don't get in our way, no problems. you want to get in our way, that's where i come in. >> reporter: he is xavier becerra. the top cop in california. now spending much of his time in his new job filing lawsuits defending california's path away from washington. >> california is a forward leaning state. it's worked. we're prepared to resist any effort to dpliminish the rightsf the people of california. >> reporter: ledging the state's

economic leheft. created more jobs than most other states. >> as powerful as california is, can one state make much of a difference? >> one state can by getting other states to follow and getting other countries to join in in the coalition. yes, if we were isolated, california all by itself, no. we are not isolated. >> reporter: a battle cry as california leads in the fight ahead. kyung lah, cnn, sacramento, california. now to this headline. the latest shakespeare in the park sparking outrage. this portraying julius caeser with a trump-like assassination. and donald trump jr. says i

wonder how much of this is funded and does that change thing? >> this follows the kathy griffin things. there is sensitivity to it. every version of caesar, he dies. >> he is not normally wearing a blue power tie and business suit and looking like donald trump. what difference is this from what they did to kathy griffin did? >> you can see why the companies feel queasy about it. >> i don't want to limit art, but haven't me established that depicting the assassination of the u.s. president in jest is out of bounds? >> it is the question is what she did different than julius caesar? open for interpretation. u.s. troops in harm's way and more countries involved in the war on terror. a live report from the pentagon next. 're on to iabetes.

time's up, insufficient prenatal care. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you, budget overruns. and rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. we're coming for you, too. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.

i feel it every day. but at night, it's the last thing on my mind. for 10 years my tempur-pedic has adapted to my weight and shape, relieving pressure points from head to toe. so i sleep deeply but feel light. and wake up ready to perform. even with the weight of history on my shoulders. find your exclusive retailr at tempur-pedic.com ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them.

make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. fothere's a seriousy boomers virus out there that's been almost forgotten. it's hepatitis c. one in 30 boomers has hep c, yet most don't even know it. because it can hide in your body for years without symptoms, and it's not tested for in routine blood work. the cdc recommends all baby boomers get tested. if you have hep c, it can be cured. for us it's time to get tested. ask your healthcare provider for the simple blood test. it's the only way to know for sure.

u.s.-backed syrian forces launching a fresh round of air strikes seizing parts of raqqah, as the u.s. military is conducting its first offensive strike in somalia, putting terrorists under new powers granted by president trump. barbara starr is live at the pentagon. what's happening there? >> troops in harm's way in so many places under the trump administration, in the latest,

we can tell you just a short time ago it was announced a u.s. convoy in afghanistan in an area where they're fighting isis came under small arms attack, no injuries there but it underscores what is happening in the horn of africa, somalia, the first u.s. air strikes under the expanded authorities under the trump administration, against an al qaeda affiliate there. that al qaeda group armed with heavy weapons and armorred vehicles. in syria in raqqah u.s. troops will be there as advisers. last week there were several air strikes there in southern syria against forces backed by iran and the regime. those are forces the u.s. doesn't want to get involved with. they want to stick with isis but air strikes expanding there as well. in the philippines, u.s. special operations forces are now in the southern philippines at the request of the government there, helping them fight isis, and

circling back in afghanistan, we have now seen over the weekend very sadly three u.s. troops killed in a so-called inside ear tack by someone posing as an afghan solder, again, in this area of eastern afghanistan, where they are fighting isis very heavily. will any of this put isis and al qaeda out of business? probably not. john? >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you. we discuss with diplomatic analyst retired rear admiral john kirby. certainly the united states actively involved in the new hot spots around the world, admiral, but is this a new strategy? >> i don't know that it's a new strategy. it's certainly some more aggressive tactics and procedures being applied here but i think you need to keep this in perspective. some of this is a continuation of the previous administration's counterterrorism efforts, we see that in syria and iraq, the previous administration put together the 68-member coalition

to go after isis, same as in the pill fee philippines, it's not a new thing. some of this is an acceleration. you've seen that in yemen, we've seen that in libya with the president delegating more authorities to the pentagon, able to do things more faster, agree aggressi aggressively. in afghanistan, the ct, counterterrorism press are goen going after isis and some of this is without question an expansion, we see the strike in somalia that is something new. it's a combination of things but clearly they are more aggressive. >> john, do you understand president trump's strategy for fighting isis, if memory serves he promised to release his strategy within like the first 30 days of his presidency to talk about fighting isis, maybe he has done so to his general.

does it seem this is a military strategy now or is there something broader happening? >> that's exactly my concern, alisyn. i don't know what strategy they have. if they developed it i don't think they promulgated it. i won't speak to that. when you listen to president trump and his surrogates talk about terrorism and the threat and the very real threat that it poses you hear them talk about it almost purely in militaristic terms in aggressive military terms. there's no discussion or very little discussion i think to be fair to them, they have mentioned it a couple of times, the root causes of extremism in terrorism, working on issues of poverty and human rights and corruption overseas and that's a real problem here because this is a generational conflict. we've been at this now for at least 16 years, very aggressively on the ground. we're going to be at it for a longer time. you cannot kill your way out of a terrorism problem.

we can hit these guys as often and aggressively as we want but never going to kill the problem of terrorism. you have to get at the root causes and i don't see a comprehensive, cohesive multifaceted strategy in the works right now. >> admiral, if i can, i want to ask you about another diplomatic hot spot in the war right now. ironically enough it's the united kingdom. president trump if you read in the "new york times" perhaps reconsidering a visit to the uk, maybe because of his back-and-forth with the mayor of london, we don't know but what would that signify if the president of the united states is a, not welcome, or b, not willing to go to one of america's closest allies? >> it's troubling. this is as you said our closest ally. this is the relationship, special relationship that we have here with the united kingdom and for the president of the united states to either not be welcome or unwilling is a significant thing. i do understand the timing here, with the snap election and the political uncertainty, certainly now is probably not a good time

to go for any president, even if he was beloved until things settle down in the uk but as you know, it gets beyond the snap election. there's a real tension there. there's real dislike of president trump, and i don't think that's something that anybody should be proud of and i think we all should be concerned about the fact our own commander in chief may not be welcome in london. >> john kirby, great to talk to you. thank you. >> thank you. we're following a lot of news so let's get to it. >> with the attorney general's office has become a political office, that's bad for us all. >> will sessions testify in public or behind closed doors? >> the committee as the oversight is very fitting for the attorney general to appear there. some are concerned sessions may be avoiding testifying publicly

>> no collusion. >> if there are tapes he should make them public right away. no more game playing. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, chris is off and john joins me. another busy day. >> a lot going on right now. >> great to have you. >> attorney general jeff sessions offering to testify before the senate intel committee tomorrow, says he's ready to answer questions about russia and james comey's firing. will he do it in front of cameras in an open session? >> president trump slamming james comey anew calling him cowardly for leaking details of their conversations. republicans want the president to come clean whether tapes exist about the conversations with comey, this as we are seeing republicans now attacking the special counsel robert mueller. this is a new development, over the weekend. we have it covered. laura jarrett is live in washington. jeff sessions, we don't know

whether the testimony will be public, laura. >> we don't, john. the attorney general's agreement to appear before the senate intelligence panel caught by surprise. will sessions testify in public or behind closed doors or some combination of both? lawmakers have been clamoring for weeks to question sessions on everything from the firing of former fbi director james comey to any undisclosed contacts sessions might have had with serger is sergey kislyak. number may be avoiding testifying in public by scrapping previous appearances in front of the appropriations committees tuesday. members say if sessions testifies they want to hear him respond to some of comey's revelations last week. >> the key things some of the conversations jim comey had with the president where jeff sessions was a participant or

around to get the rest of the story. comey don't want time alone with the president and that accusation out there flying around about conversations he might or might not have had with russians prior to the election. >> the chairman of the intel committee hasn't said whether the hearing will go forward tomorrow but sessions is expected at the white house later this morning for a cabinet meeting, his first after days of deflection from the white house over a simple question whether the president has confidence in his attorney general. >> laura jar jet in washington thanks so much. president trump unable to be quiet about the russia investigation, tweeting about the prospect of getting impeached, so why is the president doing this? jason carroll is live in washington. i'm not sure we have a definitive answer to that question. >> certainly a number of gop lawmakers want him to stop doing it. looks like it'