>> you don't have to be a veteran to be affected by tra a trauma. >> keep your hands out! >> rape, robbery, can result in dreadful dreams. if you suffer from nightmare rewriting them with the help of a tear piste or an app can ease your fears and put you back to sleep. and you know what, sometimes on saturday, just need to smile or laugh. here's yours for the day. ♪ maniac maniac >> it's the music that does it, the gorilla, the sunshine there in the dallas zoo there challenging "flashdance." look at him go. i love it. victor has not one thing to say about this. >> nope. next hour starts now. a new report reveals russian

president vladimir putin gave direct orders to defeat hillary clinton and help elect donald trump as president. >> that is as close to a bombshell internal coup, if you will. >> obama knew about russia a long time before the election. and he did nothing about it. >> it's not like we had an immediate clear snapshot. >> there's no evidence of collusion. >> another republican republican says he cannot support the health care bill. >> consults to medicaid are the most dramatic. >> i think they'll probably get there. we'll have to see. >> announcer: this is "new day" weekend, with victor blackwell and christi paul. good morning, to you. president trump juggle two big issues this weekend. russian making allegations now pointing directly to the kremlin. and the vote on his signature health care bill that seems to

be drowning in the senate. some say at least struggling. in about two weeks, the president could be standing face-to-face with the russian president of the g20 meetings in germany. >> and now president trump also slamming the obama administration as the stun "washington post" report suggests the obama administration knew about moscow's attempt to hack the u.s. elections in july. but they didn't do enough to stop them. and in the meantime, more skeptical senators weighing in on the republican health care plan. there is the docket of all of the faces, or many of them, right now the fifth gop senator dean heller, has come out against it. in fact, let's listen to him for a moment here. >> i'll tell you right now, i cannot support a piece of legislation that takes interests away from tens of millions of americans and hundreds of thousands of vets. we have to take care of the expansion states.

that's what i want, to make sure we're taken care of here in the state of nevada. >> and ryan nobles is following the investigation at the white house this morning. good morning. >> victor, good morning to you. and president seizing on this "washington post" report that outlines exactly when and where president obama learned about russia's attempt to intervene in the american election. this "post" report is a bit of a bombshell, it details in specificity at the time when president obama was informed by the cia russia and vladimir putin in particular were said to intervene and help donald trump. there's one in the report that describes the administration's response as sort of a choke. that they dhoked and did not do enough to stop intervening in the election. not surprisingly president trump agrees. list ton what he said to fox set to air tomorrow. >> i just heard that obama knew about russia a long time before

the election, but he did nothing about it. but nobody wants to talk about that. the cia gave him information on russia a long time before they even, you know, before the election. and i hardly see it. it's an amazing thing. to me, in other words, the question if you have the information, why didn't he do something about it? he should have done something about it. >> it's not true that president obama did do anything, he specifically asked vladimir putin about it at the meeting. and he certainly didn't go as far as some of the recommendations that were given to him. the obama administration officials were saying that the simple reason behind that the damage had already been done. and that president obama was very concerned about the political ramifications. that it would look as though he was helping hillary clinton in the election. now, it's also important to

point out that president trump himself were very skeptical of the reports that russia was involved in the election. he pushed back on it a number of times as a candidate. and even after he was elected, he suggested that perhaps china may be partially responsible. he even said that the hack could have been accomplished by a 400-pound man in his bedroom. so, the idea now that the white house is finally acknowledging the fact that russia is involved in this, is something to keep in mind as you kick back and look at all of the criticism president trump has for president obama at this particular point. victor. >> ryan nobles at the white house. >> and now the white house correspondent, lynn sweet. and chicago sun-times, and page pate, thank you all for being with us. page, i want to ask you first and foremost about something ryan just said, as here is a tweet from president trump just about 11 hours ago. said just out, obama administration knew far in advance of november 8th about

election meddling by russia, did nothing about it, why? the fact that the president now seems to be acknowledging that there was some sort of russian interference, did that change anything when it comes into the investigation into collusion? >> well, christi, i think it does. we now have the first element of what someone, a special council or prosecutor could prove was unlawful interference. we now have evidence and president trump agrees that they did have information that they tried to influence the election. we now know that president trump after the fact has admitted that. the only question now is will the special council find collusion. collusion is not a legal term. it's really conspiracy, aiding or abetting. and did anyone in the trump transition team do anything to assist the russians either before or after the fact? that could be a prosecutable case. >> and questions about whether

the president may have known. let's listen to the former homeland security secretary jeh johnson with why they didn't come out with the information. >> the more information thing is there was a powerful foreign actor trying to put this thumb on the scale of our democracy. the question is why i was voluntarily willing to go to washington this week and testify about it. is what are we going to do about it? what next? our election infrastructure in this country is exposed. there were vulnerabilities that came to light last year. so what are we going to do about that for '18? or '20? and frankly, the current president through his rhetoric is kind of sending the signals that this is something that will be tolerated. so powerful actors like the russians they look at what they

think will happen if they do something. and we've got to make this kind of behavior cost prohibitive. >> that wasn't the sound i was talking about, he said, to the house intel committee, one of the candidates was predicting that the election would be rigged. so, we were concerned by making the statement that could be challenging the integrity of the election process self-. sarah, is there a problem here for the reputation of president obama? should they have done more, should they have done something differently? >> it's impossible to know whether if the obama administration had done something different if the outcome could have been avoided. but clearly, jeh johnson was right, at the time when president trump was going on and on about how the election had been rigged and how the democrats were going to fix the results to make sure hillary clinton won. then a few weeks before election day if you have the sitting president of the united states come out and then drawing more

attention than they did to the questions that we knew something about that russia was potentially meddling in the election. i think that would have set off somewhat of a panic, particularly among republicans who had this underlying fear that the election was going to be illegitimate because of democratic meddling. so, i think the obama administration at the time was operating offer the assumption that hillary clinton was going to win the election. and that maybe this could be something they could focus on at a later date. >> a lot of people, lynn, wondering, okay, certainly, there could be questions about how the obama administration handled it. but that doesn't negate the current president, president trump, from doing something about it to stop it from happening in 2018 and 2020. any indication that there is something, some sort of plan in the white house to try to stop this? >> well, just -- the answer is no. and just think of the sound bite you used a few moments ago, where trump is saying if he knew

about it, he should have done something about it. okay, certainly, toss your words back at you to what are you going to do about it? because we know that the state voter files in many states were looked at by an outside player. we know now that there was russian intrusion in the campaign. we know that your administration and many players are very interested, friendly talk to russians. you even.foreign minister and u.s. ambassador from russia here in your oval office. so, there are many issues involving russia, outside of the investigation, that president trump could be looking at. and, yes, one of them could be putting in some kind of policy. some kind of statement. some kind of further spun shment to russians to make sure it doesn't happen again. we have not seen any of it. in fact, there's been talk of lifting the narrow sanctions that president obama put it near

the end of his term. so, you have a very good point there, what are you going to do, president trump, now that you have this on your watch. >> and he may be confronted with that very thing next month at the g20 summit where he will most likely at some point, sarah, be face-to-face with president putin. how would he approach president putin on this topic? and will there be some substantial conversations about syria, about ukraine, about hacking? >> we don't know yet whether putin and trump are going to have more than just a passing conversation when they do meet at the g20. the white house hasn't signaled the type of interaction they're going to put on the books between the two leaders. certainly, trump will face tremendous pressure at home to confront putin on all of those issues you that mentioned. it's not clear that he will, because he ran on this platform of normalizing relations with the kremlin.

clearly, this issue of russian meddling has become so politicized but the trump administration has to walk this fine line maybe embracing the fact that russia meddled. embracing the fact that this is the subject of multiple counterintelligence reviews. and not that the russians potentially handed limit a victory that his campaign allegedly colluded with russian actors. that's a difficult balance and i don't think the white house has quite found it yet. >> all right, sarah westwood, page pate, lynn sweet, thank you so much. there's a desperate search in china where more than 120 people are missing after a landslide. now, this started at the top of a mountain and buried a village in central china. look at the video. emergency responses have been activated and the president called for an all-out search to find potentially anyone buried

under this mud. there were 800 people digging through all of this. py they were avl to save one couple and this newborn just a few hours ago. up next, a republican senator says it's a quote, lie, that the health care bill will lower premiums. with the gop leaders looking into next week's decision. we're ziggi indigging over the of it all. also, a confederate flag is flying over a restaurant in south florida. and the business owner cannot take it down, although it is dividing his community. garfunkel (instrumental)

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climb to get these votes because there are now five republican senators who say they just cannot support it at least in its current form. take a look. some expressing concern, gop leaders can only afford to lose two bhebs of the caucus in order for the bill to pass next week's potential vote. the latest to voice opposition, senator dean heller. blue skate re can, democrats are targeting to unseat in 2018. he talked about the problems with this bill. take a listen. >> i'll tell you right now, i cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of americans. you have to protect medicaid expansion states. that's what i want. make sure that we're taken care of here in the state of nevada. >> joining me now, georgia state senator michael williams, an early supporter of the president in the campaign. good to have you this morning. what's the response that you heard from governor heller? >> first of all, we need to

support the president. with replacing obamacare, that's what the people want. >> but what the extent? senator heller said this is not going to drop premiums for people who need that reduction in premium costs. do you dispute that at all? >> definitely i dispute that. i haven't read the complete bill, but we have to go out there and make sure that people can afford the premiums. i know i've experienced an increase in mreems with obamacare. several other people can. have. >> let's put up the slate of senators who either now right now or are expressing serious concern. there are eight here. the latest we just played of senator heller of nevada. there's also this ad campaign of a super pac that supports president trump. coming out here, hold senator dean heller accountable for turning his back on voters after promise two replace obamacare.

is this appropriately for the president to go after a vulnerable republican who is up in 2018? >> absolutely. politics is tough. it's rough. it's a contact sport. and again, we need people out there that are willing to stand up. just defend the principles they believe in. again, we have to repeal and replace obamacare. not only that, but we need to change the entire health care system in the country. we have too many elected officials in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies. if you're not wanting to stand up and fight what we believe in. >> what's the impact of the cbo score -- >> the impact of the -- >> cbo score that comes out next week. >> i'm not aware. >> hasn't come out yet. from the house when it came out there were 23 million over an additional ten years who would be removed from health care, which many people think kind of sunk the house plan. what role will it play for the senate, do you believe? >> again, talking about people

that are not insured in our country? >> an additional number of people who could lose insurance because of the plan that the republicans support? >> well, let's look at the plan that obamacare -- how many people lost their insurance coverage. couldn't afford their insurance coverage. i don't believe a lot of things that came out in response to people losing their insurance. i mean, it happens, but -- i'm just extremely frustrated with the political environment that we find ourselves in. we have too many people that are not concerned and worried about the people that are having to pay these premiums. again, i just -- i don't want to -- i have a son that had an accident, major accident. he's gone through probably 12 surgeries. my insurance premiums have gone up over the years. and we are stuck with tens of thousands of dollars of medical

bills. my wife is having a baby next week. and i have no idea what that is going to cost us because of the way these insurance companies run their business and just go after profits instead of people. >> let me ask you -- first, congratulations on the baby. let me ask you about this, if the senate bill goes forward, then the state would be allowed to determine what exactly these insurance plans will be able to cover. they don't have to cover the essential health benefits that the comfortable care act requires them to. so, if you relied on some of these programs, it's a good chance that your wife's pregnancy would not be covered. if states had the options to remove them. >> you touch on a very important point. and to me that is the states in allowing these insurance companies to compete across states right now when you have insurance you can only have certain plans in various states around the country. we need to open that up and allow for a free market society in our country. right now, how many states only

have one insurance company in their state right now? they're pulling out and pulling out. until we get free market and competition in our insurance plans we're not going to see the benefit that we need. >> so, you're a new father, should these insurance companies be required to cover pregnancy, cover obstetrics? >> if i buy a policy that covers my wife's pregnancy, obviously it should cover it. >> but i'm saying, should they be required to cover it. when you married your wife, you may not have known. should there be a list of required benefits that every plan should have? >> no, i don't believe that should be the case. i don't think that the government should come in and say that you have to give insured all of these requirements. i don't think that's fair. you allow the free market to work. the free market society has helped billions of people come out of poverty over how many billions of years. >> quickly, do you think it will

pass the senate. >> i do. >> senator michael williams, thank you so much. next the former director of the cdc will join us with this take on the republican health care bill. also coming up, years after a scandal rocked the department of veterans affairs, president trump signs a bill to make sure the veterans get the care that they need. stay close. (bell ringing) i love how usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. at one point, i did change to a different company with car insurance, and i was not happy with the customer service. we have switched back over and we feel like we're back home now. 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, and that they can be protected. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life.

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a full plate for president trump this week. he is taking aim at former president obama for one thing, questioning why president obama didn't act on the russia information, based on a "washington post" report that links vladimir putin directly to the hackings. and says president obama knew about it as early as july of last year. we asked former kgb spy jeff possky if he believed it was

possible that vladimir putin directed it. >> it was a very secret operation, right? >> uh-huh. >> we're talking about doing something that stabilized another country, you want to keep that secret. that in and of itself is difficult. when you do want secrecy, the fewer people that know about it, the better. in my case, there were about five people that knew about my identity. and the more people you involve in this kind of an operation, you have to very more people involved. the more likely it is that a real leak will come out, and we don't have one yet. >> and also the president dealing with the gop vote, may be voting we should say, on the health care plan in the senate on thursday. the numbers are not in they're favor as of this morning, there were six gop members threatening to vote no. >> your opposition to the bill kind of focuses on a specific

fund. it's the prevention and public health fund. about 12% of cdc's overall funding that would be cut. >> well, that's one aspects. but the big question here is a simple one, it's will americans be hittier from a public perspective, that's the most important issue. we know beyond a shadow of a doubt under the affordable care act, because of the cdc, more than 20 million americans have health coverage. that saves lives. if they lose coverage, that will cost lives. one aspect that hasn't gotten the attention of others is this prevention fund. it's very important. if you lose that fund there will be more cancers, more infections, more heart attacks and strokes that could have been prevented that cost american lives and american dollars. >> also, we were talking during the break, you said if people lose insurance coverage, and how many potentially could lose their coverage, that would cost

the country as well? >> these are not just about numbers or people, these are people's lives. the data for every 1 million people who gain health insurance, between 1,000 to 5,000 deaths are prevented per year. in 10 or 20 million lose health insurance, that's american lives. >> i'm dealing with numbers here because that's all we have in front of us right now. the 12% potential cut in the senate bill. the 17% cut proposed by the president of the united states, the krtsdz and tcdc and the bude out a few weeks ago. what would that mean to the people who rely on the cdc but also the work that you do to prevent disease? >> this would be devastating and it would make americans unsafe. cdc works 24/7 protecting people whether in hospitals or flood fly or cancers and heart attacks and strokes. you lose the ability to prevent cancer, heart attack, stroke,

infections in hospitals. these are things that are threats every day that we as ourselves can't control, we as a society have to control. that's what the fund allows, that's what cdc does as its mission. >> you talk about the deaths that are prevented when people gain health coverage. i want you to respond to something that hillary clinton tweeted out. she tweeted out, forget death panels. if republicans pass the bill, they're the death party. the death panel was the lie of 2009 according to politico. is this the most effective use of her sway? is this the way hillary clinton should be fighting this bill? >> i can't comment on that. i can say from a public health doctor's perspective, the question is very simple, does this bill improve america's health? and if it denies coverage or makes coverage less comprehensive so people have to pay more and get less care for what they need, then more people will die it.

there's whatever happens in the end, i think that has to be the most important question asked, will this make americans healthier. >> tom frieden, thank you very much. veterans still facing a lot of problems tess department of the veterans affairs. well, president trump had a proposal to fix those. and two in the reserves. our 18 year old was in an accident. when i call usaa it was that voice asking me, "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. it actually helped to know that somebody else cared and wanted make sure that i was okay. that was really great. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. usaa. we know what it means to serve. call today to talk about your insurance needs.

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albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. president trump is shaking up the embattled department of veterans affairs. yelled, he signed an employee accountability bill designed to fast-track firings and ramp up responsibility at the agency. >> remember, the va was rocked by revelations that cnn exposed. some veterans died while they spent years on a wait-list just to see a doctor. the question is where do things stand now? have they improved? cnn investigative correspondent

drew griffin. >> reporter: first of all, the scandal erupted when the scandal erupted while veterans were dying while waiting some cases dying while waiting for care. there are makeups. billions spent. and now much-improved wait time reported by the va. that sounds good. but deborah draper with the u.s. government's own accountability office has heard it all before. >> numbers that they're reporting based on their work, they're not reliable numbers. >> period? >> period. >> reporter: draper is director of gao which has labeled va's health care high risk in terms of government management. it's done so since 2015. draper says even today, the va's wait time lat da is simply not to be believed. they're longer? >> oh, yes, in almost every case we find that the actual wait times are actually longer than what the va is reporting.

>> reporter: it has been nearly four years since cnn exposed the wait time. fabricated wait times, delays inpatients who have died waiting for that care. it's been three years since congress approved $16 billion in additional funds for the va to fix those problems. in fact since 2009, the va's budget has nearly doubled. and yet the problems and some would say the lies at the va persist. >> still happening. >> reporter: eric handel is the lead investigator for the congressional committee that led a year's long investigation into veterans dying while waiting for care. yes, he says, then and now, the va is not telling the truth about wait times. >> none of it. the inspector general says the same thing. it was that way in 2014 when he reported on the wait time scandal. it is that way in 2017. still cannot trust the va's information.

>> reporter: in fact, just this march, a damning va inspector general report on seven va medical centers in the southeast found patients waited an average of 61 days for specialty care. two months. and a report found many patients in specialty care services experienced long wait times which were not accurately reflected in va's calculated wait times. in other words, the wait times were being manipulated. just one of multiple examples, a mental health patient seeking care. the va's official electronic scheduling system showed a zero day wait time when the veteran actually waited 120 days. the va inspector general determined staff inappropriately discontinued or cancelled an estimated 4,600 appointments. what is it like to make a medical appointment at the va? >> high, high need to make some appointments. >> reporter: tracy rodriguez invited to us find out. her husband served three tours

in iraq and afghanistan. he relies on the va for health care. april 24th, she sat down at her kitchen table and let us listen while she tried to make three medical appointments. the phone call itself took more than half an hour. >> he needs to see urology. yes, definitely sooner than july. >> reporter: the wait for urology, two months. surprisingly, an appointment for primary care could happen in just weeks. but when she tries to get an appointment for an eye docker, a specialties clinic, five months, abnormal, she says for her. >> one out of three is not bad. >> reporter: victor and kristie, the va wouldn't respond to direct questions on the unreeblt of the wait times, instead, we got information that the va is more transparent than ever about wait times.

and david shulkin is saying veterans are seen on a same-day basis. the va secretary did acknowledge much more needs to be done. and that he's committed to being very open about fixing wait times at the va. victor, christi. >> drew, thank you so much. now, representative steve scalise has been released from the intensive care unit of a hospital after being shot at a baseball practice. scalise is in fair condition. earlier medical reports said he was shot in his left hip and suffered significant damage to his internal organize begans. another shooting victim matt mika is also being discharged from the hospital. and flying high above a south carolina restaurant. next, why the owner of that restaurant wants it down but he can't take it down.

46 minutes past of the hour right now. the city of ferguson missouri were will pay more than $1 million over the death of michael brown. the city settled a wrongful death suit with brown's family for $1.5 million. the officer was not charged after there was an investigation. but the shooting set off weeks of protests across the country. a traveled to central south carolina this week but there's a confederate flag flying high above a restaurant in the town of orangeburg. some customers hate it. others revere it. what does the owner of the restaurant feel about the flag? truth is right now it doesn't matter. >> reporter: this broad stretch of john c. calhoun drive is flanked by two unambiguous landmarks and each in its own way signifies exactly where you are. on the right, a sign welcoming

you to orangeburg, south carolina, population roughly 13,000. and more than three quarters black. on the left, a confederate flag. the flag fly atop this pole right next to the sign for the edisto creamery. seemingly, everyone in orangeburg has an opinion about the flag at the ice cream shop. >> it needs to come down. >> never stop there and don't plan to. >> it's not bothering anybody. >> it definitely needs to come down. >> i think it will get more business honestly if they do take it down. >> what does the owner of this restaurant have to say? >> if there's any possible way to do it, i can. >> reporter: to understand why he cannot remove the flag you need to know about this man. mauri maurice bessinger, the founder

of maurice's gourmet barbecue. he showed off his collection of confederate memorabilia that filled his restaurants. he was a fierce defender of state rights. bessinger called the civil rights agent unconstitutional. and the supreme court ruling that integrated public schools a really bad decision. then in 2000 when this happened at the south carolina capital -- >> to protest the taking down of our heritage flag. >> reporter: maurice bessinger died in 2014. of the flags outside of his stores, bessinger wrote there they will stay. i will fight on because this is what god wants me to do. a year after his death, tommy barrise and wife gbought it.

for the sons of confederate veterans camp 842. >> we've been trying ever since to honor, honor the confederate shoulde soldier. >> reporter: bud braxton is commander. >> he put it in the hands of those he trusted he loved his confederate brothers and sisters just like we do. so there was nothing sinister. >> reporter: initially barrise accepted the flag. the group flew a larger flag in the aftermath of the 2015 church shooting in charlton. dylann roof killed church members. >> my windows were broken out. my phone was ringing offer the hoo off the hook.

everyone in town assumed it was my property. it looks attached to this building. >> i know it's unfortunate for him. me personally and a lot of people i know will not shop here because of this flag. >> reporter: maurice bessinger's battle for the flag rolls on. barrise has hired a lawyer. the attorney for the ice cream shop's owner said that corner is zoned for commercial use and the flag pole and marker should be remove because they're violating zoning laws. the city rejected that vote and plans to appeal. there's also a question of who actually owns that land. his attorney says that their land sale records show no exception for the roughly 130 square feet that bessinger told to the sons of confederate veterans years earlier. it's deed versus deed and could end up in court. and there's a new report

that uncovers how much president obama knew about the russia's meddling with the i election. at the top of the hour now, the white house revealing the responsibility that president obama did not do enough to stop moscow's alleged hacking. and on tomorrow's episode of united states of america" the coal industry slowly dying away. >> we went from 18 mines in this town to three. we went from 1500 employees to 150 people working. we are in an economic downturn in the coal industry. >> this is the main industry? >> it is. >> we the loss of the jobs it's devastating for families and communities. >> we struggling to get by. i just want a good job, that's it. >> no jobs needs to know money

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what's in your wallet? favorite, delicious indian food. >> however, there's i want to give you a look at how two brothers in atlanta are bringing more authentic looks to the table near you. ♪ >> hi, i'm neal adani and asmir.

indian food can be an intimidating experience. the flavor, the spices everything is different. we've taken the traditional indian meal and broken it down. first, you choose your base, then your protein. then you choose from chutneys, sauces or toppings. we just want people to try it and taste it then we're confidence they're going to love the flavor. is this our signature naan. we opened up the food truck in 2011. it was a low cost way to get out there feeding people and see what they think. now, we have two restaurants in atlanta. and we're looking for more locations. thanks, man. thanks for being a naan believer. good for them. make sure your saturday starts off -- listen, he's smiling

about this with a smile. listen. "maniac maniac." >> there you go, folks. in the pool. happy saturday. >> yeah, this is at the dallas zoo. apparently it's "flash dance." you got to wonder they didn't give him the right thing to eat? >> i don't know. i lost, everybody else loved it. of course, twitter had a lot of fun with this video. they added the music, obviously. this is not zolo's first time being caught dancing here. his keeper says he's been practicing for more than six years. >> you know what, he's happy, he's safe in that zoo, and that's what matters. and a nice smile for the day. and he did smile, just so you know. >> all right. there you have. share it online.

>> exactly. we're so glad to have you with us. we're going to see you back here at 10:00 eastern for "cnn newsroom." stay with us "smerconish" starts right now. ♪ i'm miking smesh connish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. a blockbuster "washington post" report confirms president vladimir putin gave direct orders to meddle in the 2016 u.s. election. putin sought to damage democratic candidate hillary clinton and help elect her opponent donald trump. given what president obama knew and why he knew it, why, according to a former senior obama administration official, did that administration quote/unquote choke when it came to responding to the russian interference? i'm about to ask