nick paton walsh, cnn, iraq. >> it's been three years since isis took over mosul, a city that once had a population of nearly a million. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. >> up next, breaking news. president trump about to arrive at his first re-election fundraiser tonight. check the date. it's still 2017. and one of his own hotels, the media invited and then uninvited. plus, first on cnn, a top intelligence official telling lawmakers he still can't convince trump that russia meddled in the election. and the president teases a quote, unquote great surprise with the health care bill. is he turning this into a reality tv show? let's go out front. >> good eve innievening. the president about to arrive at a mega million dollar fundraiser. here is what you need to know.

$35,000 a plate. it is for his own re-election campaign for president and it is being held at his own hotel in washington. wow. he's only been on the top for five months. the 2020 presidential election is about 40 months away. let me just say that again. 40 months away. protesters tonight are already lining up outside the hotel. and there are some major questions, okay? never mind the historical proposition of running for re-election. how about who's paying for the hotel being held at the president's international trump hotel and where is the money going? jim, they were letting the media in earlier today. changed their minds. what is going on? >> reporter: well, you remember the president saying during the campaign he wanted to drain the swamp, it depends on whose swamp is being drained. the president is doing a swamp like thing tonight and holding the fundraiser at his own hotel. a couple of things on this, though. we did ask the deputy press

secretary, sarah huckabee sanders during the briefing, what is going on. and she said, well, the president is running for re-election. i tried to ask the question whether it was appropriate to hold it at his own hotel. she didn't answer the question. a lot of critics here in washington, including the former ethic czar norm eisen is saying just by having the trump family running that hotel that the president is violation of the clause of the constitution which bars foreign gifts to the president of the united states. they are disregarding that concern and on top of that, erin, i think it is worth pointing out, remember, the trump hotel the leased from the federal government. the federal government actually owns that building. the trump company is leasing the space to run a hotel there. so a fundraiser for the president with a building bearing his own name is actually owned by the taxpayers, not

donald trump. >> which obviously could be extremely significant. jim, we're going to be checking back in, of course, as we suspect the president to be arriving there momentarily. thank you. >> reporter: you bet. >> also tonight, sources telling cnn that president trump's apparent unwillingness to punish russia for meddling in the u.s. election and address the serious ongoing threat has some administration officials increasingly frustrated. dana bash is out front. you broke this story very significant thing coming from officials here. what more are you learning. >> reporter: well, erin, multiple senior administration officials say they are struggling to convince president trump that russia still poses a threat to the integrity of america's election. one official told our colleague sara murray there is, quote, no evidence to show trump is actually engaging on the issue. the president still gets his daily briefing and of course that includes updates on russia. but beyond that, an

administration official says there is no paper trail, schedules, nothing to indicate the president is convening meetings or round tables on the subject the way he has with other threats, for example, threats against the u.s. power grid. on top of that, a congressional source tells me in a recent closed door meeting, national security agency director mike rogers actually expressed to lawmakers how frustrated he is that he can't convince trump to even accept u.s. intelligence that russia meddled in the election, erin. >> that's a pretty incredible thing to say. top intelligence officials, obviously you mention rogers, but others also have called this a major threat. why is president trump so resistant, so reluctant to address it? >> well, people who have spoken to the president about this say they think he's struggling to separate the investigation into his campaign's potential collusion with russia from the investigation into russia's

meddling in the election itself. now, one source close to the president said trump sees everything regarding russia as being organized as a challenge to him. and one congressional source told me he can't admit anything that may taint his election. he is more hung up on how it affected the outcome election than what russia actually did. >> we hear this again and again. that rally is consistent with his public focus on that. what is the white house saying about your report tonight? >> well, sean spicer insists the president is taking this threat seriously and says the white house is taking action, just doing so quietly. he gave a statement to us and said the united states continues to combat on a regular basis malicious cyber activity and will continue to do so without dragging to the media or defending itself against unfair media criticism. he pointed to the fact that trump upheld the obama administration sanctions against russia. that's true. but erin, there is some real republican concern about not

punishing russia more than that or trying to prevent interference in the future. senator john mccain told me he wish it is white house would push the house of representatives to rush a bill for additional sanctions against russia. also, lindsey graham and senator have a bipartisan push to create a 9/11 commission of cyber experts which is a way to try to work around frustration that the president isn't doing enough. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and we just have a video in. the president seconds ago arriving. you see the motorcade. arriving at the trump international hotel in washington for this fundraiser for his own re-election campaign in 2020. 40 months to go. pretty much the earliest ever to do such a thing. he's just arrived, though. $35,000 a plate. up front now, though, a member

of the house foreign affairs committee. thanks so much for being with me. you just heard dana's reporting that the nsa director rogers said behind closed doors how fres traited he is he can't convince trump to accept that russia meddled in the election. your reaction? >> well, i don't think there is any question that russia attempted to influence the presidential elections this last fall. in fact, i was part of the gang of eight classified briefing, much of which has been declassified since then. and i don't think that can be really disputed. in fact, ambassador nikki haley testified before the foreign affairs committee today, basically saying the same thing, that russia did try to influence the last presidential election. the question is, did they have any impact on that. >> right. i know that's obviously no evidence of that at this point. and chairman, you know, as you

say, you don't question this. you have told the president this. i know personally that russia was behind the attacks. a long roster of cabinet members have said russia was behind the attacks. but the president has been unwilling to say this definitively and direct tly. i wanted to play some of what he said since he was elected, which is since he began getting old classified intelligence briefing. >> as far as hacking, i think it was russia. but i think he also get hacked by other countries and other people. could have been china. could have been a lot of different groups. if russia hacked. if russia did anything having to do with our election, i want to know about it. >> could have been china. could have been other countries. if russia hacks. will anything convince him, do you think? >> i think he's now had the intelligence briefings we had prior to the election. it is clear it was a nation state attack by russia out of

the kremlin to influence the elections. i remember at the time, erin, actually getting briefedly intelligence officials and also stating this is before the november election why aren't we calling out russia for what they're doing and why aren't there consequences to this? because this attack, not just on republicans or democrats, this is an attack on all americans in our democracy itself. >> there obviously were serious issues in terms of how this was handled by the prior administration as they were handling this. but as you point out, it is not just that they did it. they are going to do it again, right? we heard that repeatedly. >> as we sit here, we remain exposed to this kind of attack. >> i believe they are now embolden to continue such activities in the future, both here and around the world and to do so even more intensely. >> how damaging could it be to

this country, chairman, if the president refuses to accept russia hacked and will continue to do so? does this embolden them? >> clapper and jay johnson were the two that briefed us at the time. this is nothing new, by the way. foreign adversaries have tried to influence our elections in the past. i prosecuted the director of chinese intelligence trying to put money into the clinton campaign. it is just they have a new tool now and it is cyber tools, cyber space, cyber attacks. i saw this play out in france. it played out in germany. playing out in ukraine right now. this is disinformation warfare campaign russia is getting good at. they will engage again in the 2018 elections. >> so today, i'm not sure if you know this, but the former u.s. ambassador to nato in the george w. bush administration, nick burns, accused trump of

dereliction of the basic duty to defend the country for what he says is the disinterest of russia's meddling. adam schiff told cnn this afternoon that he, quote, completely agrees. do you? >> well, look, in the congress, our response to crimea, but also the russian interference in our elections is the russian sanction bill. i'm hopeful that this will move very quickly through the house and go to the president's desk. i think russia needs to be held accountable. there need to be consequences to this. if there are no consequences there is no doubt in my mind that russia will continue to try to meddle in our elections, whether it be 2018 or the next presidential election. >> is dereliction a fair word? >> i wouldn't go that far. i think, look, china does a lot of bad things, too. there are a lot of foreign adversaries, iran, china, north korea, russia constantly conducting cyber attacks.

but i think russia is really the best at what's called disinformation campaign warfare and we better be ready for it this next election sighcycle. >> i want to ask you about syria. the administration claiming credit today for preventing an attack. monday night the white house issued a statement saying syria was getting ready for another attack warning it could pay a heavy price. mattis said it appears they took the warning seriously. and nikki haley had this to say. >> due to the president's actions, we did not see an incident. i would like to think that the president saved many innocent men, women and children. >> two days later there is no attack, chairman. can the administration come out and do this, definitively claim credit? are you comfortable with this credit claiming? >> well, i was at that hearing

on the foreign affairs committee and i do think by sending a message that there is a red line and if you cross it there will be consequences unlike the previous administration, that did stop, in my judgment, a serious -- we had good intelligence that there was a premeditated chemical attack in the near future. again, they attacked children in hospitals. so, look, if it does happen tomorrow, there will be a severe price to be paid for that. i'm very sure of that. >> chairman, thank you so much for your time. good to see you. next, the head of the senate intelligence committee says investigators are chasing every pathway on trump/russia k collusion. >> and trump's awkward hugs and handshakes. power play or political mistake? plan that gives us more. a we want more than just texting.

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reality? >> reporter: not quite. saying that the committee has in fact interviewed more than 40 witnesses so far and said that the issue of collusion is something that they are still chasing, something that they are trying to determine at this point in their investigation. take a listen. >> well, i would only say that there had been public comments that suggest that there has been no overwhelming evidence to suggest there was collusion. but we have to chase down every potential -- every potential pathway that we see. when we conclude all those, we'll make a final report. >> reporter: now, erin, i followed up and said have you seen anything? and he said, quote, it is not for me to judge. a sign this is an area still that the committee is digging in closely. one reason why they are trying

to bring in these trump associates. and also tonight we are learning that richard burr did have a conversation with bob mueller, the special counsel and richard burr believes he is going to get to actually see that memo that fired fbi director james comey wrote about his interactions with president trump and congress has been demanding but has not seen yet. >> and that also reflects what the democratic ranking member said last night to us. he said collusion is still very much at the heart of this, that the jury is out. i know you have some more information about some of those trump associates right now going to testify before congress. i think a big part of this people may not realize is lot of these folks have not yet testified. >> that's right. and the big names, including paul page. what we are learning tonight is the national security advisor for the trump campaign was scheduled to be interviewed

today before the house intelligence committee, but that was canceled because of a scheduling conflict. they do believe that gordon was telling me earlier today he's more than willing to answer questions. he said he did nothing wrong, only a handful of conversations with the russian ambassador. but all these are moving behind closed doors as the committee is trying to interview these eye witnesses that they could actually probe a little deeper about what happened, including roger stone, who is of course the trump advisor. july 24th is when he's going to go behind closed doors and talk to the house intelligence committee. of course, erin, he wanted to talk in public. that's something the committee will not let him do, erin. >> thank you very much. all right. now senior political analyst mark preston joins me, along with jackie ka sentic. you heard he said it was too early to make that call. how significant is it that he

seems to be contradicting the president? >> it is very significant for two simple reasons. the first is does richard burr want to use a lot of his time, probably a majority of his time right now to be looking into a republican president to see if he's done any wrongdoing. he doesn't necessarily want to do it. but obviously he feels compelled he has to do it because that is his job. secondly, it is up to a member of his own party. can you imagine if he was able to uncover collusion on behalf ofassociated with trump. the fact he hasn't taken it off the table does say something. >> what i think is also important here, manu and i were referencing this, right, is there is bipartisan agreement on this, right? you just heard burr. the ranking democrat was here. i referenced what he said. let me just play it for you. >> to be clear, when it comes to the collusion issue specifically, senator, in your view, this is still very much an

open area of investigation. >> this is in a sense the heart of the investigation. >> obviously, jackie, he seems to be very much on the same page as senator burr. >> and these two have been on the same page from the get-go. when the house was still going through their investigation, you turn to the senate and you can see something is going on. but what they are saying is this is still very early. as much as the trump administration wants to say this has been going on forever, that's not the case. this is something that is going to continue to go on whether or not they like it, both in the congress and outside with the other investigations that are going on. >> i think, mark, it is important to point out here when it seems like this has been going on for a long time and in many ways it has. but when you are looking at let's just say the senate intelligence committee, they are quick to say this has been going on for four months.

they have interviewed a lot of people, but none of the central players related to trump. this kind of feeling of it is all done and we need to put a seal on it is inaccurate. >> absolutely. the fact is in the three major players have not even testified before the senate intelligence committee, right? general flynn, paul manafort and paige. it is not necessarily president trump. you are talking about three specific people who still haven't testified and it is those three people. let me just say this. a lot of people don't believe this, but i can't imagine that the three of us or most americans want there to be a finding that there was collusion that affected our elections because in the end we are all americans and when we see this division on this issue, it really is disheartening. >> it is not just once. it is not just twice but trump has tried to argue there is no collusion. it has been multiple occasions.

here he is. >> there is no collusion between me and my campaign and the russians. >> everybody said the same thing. >> they say there is no collusion. >> they're all saying there is no collusion. there is no collusion. i'd like to it to move fast, if possible. but i'll tell you what i really want. there is no collusion. we have nothing to do with russia. there has been no obstruction. there has been no collusion. there has been leaking by comey. but there has been no collusion, no obstruction and virtually everybody agrees to that. >> i mean, jackie, obviously you heard him there. everyone is convinced. they say there is no collusion. that is exactly what senator burr is saying he's absolutely not willing to say at this point. >> again, it is because the investigation isn't even -- it's just started in a lot of ways. and, you know, this is one of those things the president kind of got himself in trouble or it seems like he got himself in trouble for trying to get various officials like comey,

like admiral rogers, like other officials to say this publically and they just they weren't willing to do that. so again he wants -- it is understandable that he'd want a quick resolution to this, but they're just not there yet. these investigations aren't there yet. >> thank you both very much. next, we will take you live. the first trump re-election fundraiser at the trump international hotel 40 months before election day. who's paying his hotel for the $35,000 a plate event? and why can't donald trump, the deal maker, seal a deal for a bill to pass congress?

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breaking news. president trump, as you see, just arriving at his first re-election fundraiser in washington at the trump international hotel. it is a top dollar affair. the minimum just to be there is $35,000 a plate. it was supposed to be open to press. in fact, it was throughout most of the day. about an hour ago then banned. no press allowed. we are out front with more. who exactly is paying for this? >> reporter: that's a great question, erin. the president of the united states is holding his first campaign fundraiser for his 2020 campaign tonight at his hotel in washington behind me, and the american people have no idea who is paying for it. though, we have asked multiple times who is, we don't know if it is the rnc, the 2020 campaign or if the hotel donated this space. we don't know. our request for answers have not been answered. this is an event where the press has largely been shut out.

at first it was a closed event and the deputy press secretary justified it by saying there was a political event and they wanted to keep it separate. then they decided to open it up for a few reporters and one camera. then they changed their minds again and now no press is being allowed in at this event for the president where he is delivering remarks to want. now, this isn't that surprising because the president has increasingly distanced himself from the press in recent days. there have been very few on camera briefings and they haven't taken any questions when foreign leaders are in town. >> thank you very much, kaitlyn. as you heard kaitlyn saying, a lot of questions without answers. more now, general counsel at the campaign legal center, general counsel, former republican congressman from georgia, former senior advisor to the trump

campaign. larry, let me start with you. lots of questions about where the money is going, how this is working. can you explain how this could be? >> well, i can explain how they should be doing it. i don't know if they are doing it this way. so this is a trump campaign event. it is actually joint fund-raising event between the trump campaign and the rnc and they have to pay for it. the hotel should not be giving them anything for free or anything at a discount that it doesn't give to anybody else. by the same token, the hotel can't be charging them more than anybody else. they have to walk a thin line here. >> just to make sure we understand, technically speaking i know there was this whole question about this, but this hotel, even though certainly the same benefits trump and business there benefits his brand and all of that, which is a serious issue, but technically speaking it is on a lease to the government, right? so if they are paying the hotel, the money isn't going back into trump's pocket, right? >> well, it actually is because

he has put the hotel in a trust. it is not a blind trust. you know, it is a pseudo trust where his children are managing the trust, but he still is going to make the profit from the hotel. so whatever they earn from this, he is going to get his cut of it. and it is not that he's not going to see how well the hotel is doing because he gets reports on how well the hotel is doing. so he is earning money from this and that's why he has to be very careful he walks that fine line that it is just a business deal. the fact he can do it legally doesn't mean he is doing it heelly or it is the right thing to do. this is just one of many instances where he's basically using the white house and his candidacy to market his private businesses and that's troublesome. >> congressman, separate from this, this is a 2020 campaign event, right? at the beginning of the show, i wanted to remind everybody it is 2017. this is more than two years

earlier than george w. bush or barack obama held their first re-election event. is it premature, congressman? >> i don't think it is. i think given today's political climate and the fact that so many people haven't accepted the election results, i think he's very smart to keep his powder dry. as you know, though, president obama and president bush before him immediately started raising money for the dnc or the rnc. and so we have been doing that as republicans ever since he's been elected. that's not unusual at all. i do want to get back at something larry said. to suggest he's going to profit from this, i think is an outrageous statement and to say you don't know if he's doing it legally, of course he is doing it legally. if you feel he's not, then the democrats would be all over him. and, so, i mean, i have to say, larry, i have a lot of respect for you, but i think the tone of your suggestions are not really fair game. all presidents have to use part of their office and they always

reimburse it. but when president obama just like president bush was flying around campaigning for re-election or campaigning on behalf of the other candidates they have to follow a stringent set of rules and they do reimburse the taxpayers when they use air force one and things like that. >> larry, let me give you a chance to respond. >> i think he is profiting from this because he is a businessman and he owns this hotel and he has a financial interest. and the profits from this are going to go into his trust and he is going to get the income from that. so i'm not sure how you can say he is not profiting from it. whether he's doing it legally, i assume what he's going to do is report how all this is being paid for and at that point we will see whether it's being done legally or not. but he is going to profit from this unless it is a losing deal from him, and i doubt it is. >> dan? >> he has to do it legally, though. >> well, we would know if he would do it legally if the white house would answer any questions about this, which they have refused to do.

>> they did that on their reports. >> in the report immediately before it -- let me finish. in the report immediately before this, the cnn reporter said they were asking the white house for responses. if they were doing it legally, they should just say that. even if they follow all the rules, trump is paying -- he is going to profit from this. he is using the presidency to profit from it. that is a very clear fact. and i promise you that if a democrat was doing that, your head would explode. and, so, what we have here is -- i don't really care whether trump has this for a fundraiser now or two years from now. i like to try to rank orders of my concerns on the daily outrage of the trump presidency. first is he's presidenting from his presidential fundraiser. second is refusing to let the press in, which raises real questions about what he is saying there that he does not want the public to know. and third is he's starting his presidential campaign when he is

barely unpacked the boxes of his first term. >> and congressman, on that point, let me just point this out. the president, right, with health care here has been put on hold. tax reform hasn't come up. right? there has been no legislation. he does have a supreme court justice now named. that was a significant victory. but to start a reelection campaign before you have any legislation passed does seem pretty surprising, right? what would be the platform if he were starting a campaign right now? >> i think he could do both and frankly in terms of the platform, he could talk about the illegal border crossing chopped in half by 50%, the american consumer confidence that has gone up and he could talk about working and doing something in syria and afghanistan, which president obama was reluctant to and for all the gloom and doom that his critics said his european trip was a disaster, the president of france has invited him to come

back and be his personal guest for bastille day. so he's absolutely doing a great job. >> okay. hold on. on that note, i want to give you, dan a good chance to respond. that was pretty significant, wasn't it, that invite for bastille day? >> i think it's fairly typical for a u.s. president to be invited to france. we should not overstep the fact that the president basically it was disinvited from the u.k., a country we have a special relationship with. but to the point is if trump wants to hold his fundraiser now, he can do that. but the question really is his signature piece of legislation, he apparently is so passionate about but knows so little about is before the senate. he has spent his day threatening the owner of the washington post with taxation, complaining about cnn repeatedly, retweeting fox news. and, so, you have to wonder what is he actually trying to do?

what is the goal on a daily basis when the guy wakes up, other than tweet the first thing that comes to mind. >> thank you all very much. i appreciate it. i think that we're still uncertain at this point when he's going to go or what the situation is there. thank you all so much. next, trump promises a, quote, big sur prize on health care. is he trying to turn that into a reality show. and trump outspoken hacking, why isn't she talking to the president about this crucial issue? having moderate to severe plaque psoriasis is not always easy. it's a long-distance run. and you have the determination to keep going. humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation

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president trump tonight promising, quote, a big sur prize when it comes to the health care bill. so what exactly does that mean? are his words and deeds helping or hurting? tom foreman is out front. >> reporter: the president is painting a bright future for the health care bill. but at the other end of pennsylvania avenue, the picture is far more merky. >> this is the first president with no political nor military experience. and it has been a challenge to him to learn how to interact with congress and how to push

his agenda forward. >> reporter: the problem, this is part of it. >> heller is now standing with pelosi. unacceptable. if you're opposed to this bill, we are opposed to you. >> reporter: a political action committee run by the president's allies fire on his own party's senators for not backing the health care measure. the ads have been pulled but analysts are slack jawed. dean heller was already considered at risk for losing his seat, possibly cutting the republican hold on the senate to a single vote or worse. >> you can't attack the most vulnerable republican that you have, you know, over something like this and hand the democrats a messaging strategy that's going to help them defeat him. >> reporter: but the president also openly criticized the version of the plan passed by the house. >> mean, that was my term. >> reporter: again, giving democrats a free shot at his party's expense.

>> the senator version of trump care is even meaner than the house bill. >> reporter: maybe the friction was predictable. on the campaign trail, trump never missed a chance to whip up anger at congress and the d.c. establishment. >> it is time to drain the damn swamp. >> reporter: but with his approval rating in the basement, asked if the president is addressing the details of the health care bill, the majority lead r gave a nonanswer. >> the main thing is that i've said the status quo is simply unsustainable. >> reporter: and trump's personal calls for support are largely coming up empty. nearly a half year into his term he still has passed no major far-reaching legislation. >> the president's new at this. he's new to government. >> reporter: simply put, repealing and replacing obamacare has turned out to be enormously difficult and politically tricky for the

republicans and many feel that the president's big statements and his strong arm tactics are only making it harder. erin? >> big, big test to get it done. thank you so much. a un ambassador grilled about why isn't she talking to president trump about russian meddling in the election. president trump's handshakes and hugs. we have a grasp on this situation. i joined the army in july of '98. 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. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. ♪ whoa that's amazing...

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new tonight. u.n. ambassador nikki haley says she doesn't discuss russirussia interference with president trump. here she is earlier today. >> other administration officials have testified that they haven't spoke within the president regarding russian interference in last year's election. have you talked to the president about that? >> i have not talked to the president about that. and look, i think the best thing that can happen is for this investigation to play out, play out quickly. i have no reason to think that there was any sort of involvement between the president and russia. >> outfront now, democratic

congressman jerry conley of virginia. congressman, let's just look with that. nikki haley has been clear that russia meddled in the election. she said she has not discussed russian interference in the presidential election with president trump. of course, this is something that he has not said that he firmly believes happened to begin with. what's your reaction to the fact that she's not had those conversations? >> i think actually both the questioning on mr. sherman, myself, and mr. meeks, her answers were stunning. she has no instructions with respect to russian meddling in our elections. she admitted that she talks to the russians all the time about lots of subjects. syria, you know, europe, you name it. but not their meddling in our elections. so i asked her, well, have you been given instructions not to bring that up? she said no, i'm free to do

whatever i want. >> you know, i want to play that exchange, because i think it's important for people to hear it. here's the exchange between you and the u.n. ambassador. >> what instructions have you been given about russia? presumably you talk to them about syria, right? >> i talk to my russian counterparts with a lot of things. >> but not with the russian interference with the elections, that's off-limits? >> i'm at the u.n. i have made it public that i think i do believe they interfered with our elections. i've also said we can't have any country interfere in our elections and i stand by that. >> i understand. but you now hold a very important diplomatic position at the united nations. the russians are at the united nations. have you received any instructions at all with respect to their meddling in our elections, like don't talk about that? >> it hasn't come up. what i appreciate is this administration does not tell me what to say or what not to say. >> does her explanation make

sense? if they were trying to cover anything up, they might have instructed her not to talk about it. but she's saying they haven't told her one way or the other. >> perhaps the single most important issue with bilateral relations with russia and the united states is their meddling in our election process, hacking into databases to interfere and influence that election that's profound. and her answer is what do you want me to say to them? i can give you a list of instruction it is she wants one. like do it again, and there will be huge consequences. we're not going to put up with it. we're going to impose sanctions. this will color everything about our relationship if you don't back off. i mean, that's what i would wat you to do about it. you're the united nations ambassador. >> congressman, why do you think she and other members of the administration have all said that they haven't talked to the president about this? we know his point of view on it overall. do you think they're afraid? what do you think the reason is?

>> i think it's a combination of informed fear of his reaction, and avoidance and denial. if i don't bring it up, we don't have any unpleasantness in the conversation. i find that astounding and a violation of her diplomatic mission and mandate. >> i want to show you live pictures of president trump's new hotel in washington, d.c. cameras aren't allowed inside, but he is holding his first re-election fund-raiser there. that's the trump international hotel. 10dz milli $10le million is the expected take. is this something to look into further or not? >> from the beginning, i have insisted that his whole relationship with the trump hotel becomes a massive conflict of interest the day he was sworn in. the lease agreement with the federal government is clear that an elected official cannot be

participating in that lease or benefitting from it. then there's the constitutional provision that prevents, precludes foreign emoluments, meaning foreign pay, and the fact of the matter is, this violates all of that. and i think it's a terrible perception problem. i think it really taints the process. i think it's most unwise. and i think frankly it's just plain wrong for the american president to be engaged like that. >> congressman, thank you. >> thank you. and next, jeanne moos and donald trump. ♪ you might not ever just stand there, looking at it. you may never even sit in the back seat. yeah, but maybe you should. ♪ (laughter)

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president trump sees the french president again in just two weeks. will he give him a shove or some love? here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: guess who's coming to paris? president trump accepted an invitation to celebrate the french national holiday, bastille day. i guess the white house wasn't put off by what the new french president said after the u.s. pulled out of the pasris climat accord. >> make our planet great again. >> reporter: maybe the two leaders will opt to make their hand shake great again. the first one was described as white knuckle. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: yeah, thanks a lot. that hand shake left president trump's fingers flexing for freedom. president macron later called it a moment of truth saying you have to show you won't make small even symbolic concessions. later that day, macron was on

the receiving end of president trump's alpha male grab and yank shake. india's prime minister -- >> a true friend. >> reporter: found another way to foil the aggressive hand shake. he hugged president trump not once, not twice, but three times. his technique was to offer a hand, pull the president into a hug, then employ a lingering double hand hold. you should know that india's prime minister is famous for his hugs. he's hugged everyone from president obama to mark zuckerberg to less than cuddly vladamir putin. he used a full body press when he hugged france's former president. the gesture prompted one fan to tweet, find you someone who will hug you like the india primary just hugged president trump. upon saying goodbye, he rested his head on the president's left

shoulder, then his right shoulder. he also has an odd habit of tugging on children's ears. but he better not try that on president trump. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> "ac 360" is next. thanks for joings us. tonight, the president is running for re-election. he's at his first 2020 campaign fund-raiser. both presidents obama and bush waited until the third year before even filingfor re-election. part of the reason for holding the event is to "help show that he's not going anywhere." it's happening at his own hotel in washington, which he and his family still have a financial stake in, which we'll talk about shortly. and contrary to what the white house promised, tonight's event is taking place behind closed doors. no reporters, n