>> all around the globe. >> with this president and his former exxon mobil ceo secretary of state, perhaps the answer to my question was not so surprising after all. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. and i will see you next week. hey, i'm brian stelter. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is a special edition of "reliable sources" after a seismic shift in the white house communication team. you know by now sean spicer in and anthony scaramucci in. where does that leave kellyanne conway? i'll ask her in just a moment. the bigger question is this. what, if anything, is going to change? can president trump solve the crisis of credibility that imperils his white house? we have an all-star panel standing by with us.

reporters, former communication chiefs and republican strategists all here to weigh in. first, counselor to the president kellyanne conway. i said before had that the president's war against the media is harming the country, like a slow acting poison. today conway and i had a blunt conversation about that. but, first, i asked her about scaramucci's arrival. kellyanne, good morning, thanks for being here. >> good morning, brian. thank you. >> i know you and anthony scaramucci had a chance to talk off camera. what was your conversation about? what is going to change at the white house now that he is running communications? >> here we are at cnn studio we're very happy to come and take questions from, i think, an outlet that has been incredibly unfair against this president. i guess you made a business decision to do so and we're here to connect the american people

with the president's message and answer your questions as respectfully as i can. i think sean spicer should be and the president invited sean to stay on. sean made a different decision and i stand with everyone in the white house including scaramucci and the president and vice president to thank sean for his service. we'll do what we can to push back. there's defense, trz there's offense and really my main grievance and my main objective as somebody who does not work directly but as counselor to the president tries to support what they're doing in the white house. my main objective is can we get complete coverage? i know we're never going to get unbias coverage, but can we connect americans through shows like yours and elsewise on cnn and else where with the information they need? they need to know that there have been over 800,000 jobs created. they need to know that there are 25 record highs for the dow

jones since donald trump became the president. a 24/7 hotline waiting for them at the white house as you and i speak here that they have better protections through the veterans choice act. if they can't access timely quality care through the va which most veterans say they can, they have the option of going into the private system like you and i could and getting that quality care. people need to know that the regulatory roll back has meant that property owners and taxpayers and parent of public school students that they have more freedom now than they had a short while ago. they need to watch the commissioning of the "uss gerald ford" yesterday and know that the thousands of patriots who will be on that vessel going through our world's waters. they will know when they see that vessel coming that military might for america is back. >> so, in your first answer, you made several points about the administration's accomplishments. but you started by attacking cnn. why does attacking cnn make america great again? >> no, i'm sure you want that to

go viral. i'm not attacking cnn. i am wondering cnn spends -- >> made a business decision to be unfair to the president. what we're trying to do is cover an unusual president and explain what the heck is going on at a white house that seems dysfunctional. >> first of all, that's not fair. i constantly hear this coming out of the mouths of people that never worked in any white house, yet alone this white house. if you want a candid, clear look at the white house, come inside. a two-way street. we don't see that. i'm a very accessible person you'll find with anthony scaramucci and others in humble. we don't get the calls to come in. we turn on the tv and one-way, nonconversation using words that are meant to deny the president his do. i'm here to ask you -- >> you're welcome here any time

presidency. >> thank you for the platform. i want america to hear what has been done for them. the forgotten man and woman are not forgotten to us. >> it's not your -- i was just going to say, not our job to do your pr. it's your job. the white house has admitted there was a lot of failures because the press secretary resigned and left his job. >> that's sean's decision. and sean was up against incredible odds. as the president said in a tweet about sean, he thanks him for his service and he thinks he took a lot of unnecessary abuse. let me get back to whether we're attacking or not attacking cnn. i don't feel sorry for cnn or you or me. we are fine. you and i have health care benefits that are given by our employers. you and i have great jobs and we're safe in our jobs. you and i have disposable income. god bless you and your wife, jamie, and your new daughter. we are people who are not struggling paycheck to paycheck

and not worried about paying the rent or the mortgage or the student loan voucher or the payment this very month. we're not deciding between groceries and health care benefits. i'm there for those people. brian, if we can rely on your help at cnn not to do our pr. that's silly. that's nonsense. to connect america with the information they need. if you're going to cover russia, russia, russia while we're talking about america, america, america, we're always going to be like this. if you actually look at the polls -- this great polling analysis where they said 6% of americans. 6% said russia was the most important issue to them and main stream media given it 75% of coverage. 35% -- >> in the bloomberg study. that's right. 11% for immigration. but that same bloomberg poll found only o440% of americans support this president. is it only to play to the base or try to reach 100% of americans, not just 40?

>> i thank you for putting the poll up. i want your viewers to see. 35% health care. the only coverage cnn gives health care is whether or not it will pass and whether or not it has the votes. >> a stunning failure. one of the stories of the year. >> there you go, using those words. if you want it to be a stunning failure or you're going to insist it is a stunning failure, you are denying literally the millions and millions of americans who were lied to by the last president. you like your plan, keep your plan. if you like your doctor, keep your doctor. they don't have health care benefits through their employer like you and i do. >> that was 2009, it's 2017. let's look forward and not backwards all the time. >> let's look forward and look at all the people who did not benefit from obamacare. you can't sit here, brian, and deny the fact that 19 of the 23 co-ops have failed. pulling out the exchanges with dozens more promising to do so this year and next year. if obamacare is not repealed by

2018, we will have over 1,300 counties where there is one choice which means there is no choice. right now 40 bear counties with no choice. medicaid is unsustainable. we're trying to save it for the future and try to give flexibility to the governors. help change the accounts. >> i appreciate that. but there's plenty of time to cover both. there's plenty of time to cover both. we're on a 24-hour channel with an infinite website. russia is a big story because journalists love america and america was attacked last year. and america's probably going to be attacked again next year around the midterms when you call it a hoax. >> i managed the winning campaign. it has what to do with that campaign. >> that may be because by the time you became campaign manager, the deal was already in. the conversations were already had. we don't know, kellyanne, but shouldn't we find out? >> are you alleging there was active conversations with russians trying to change the

election results? because very few people are saying that. are you saying that or just trying to put it out there because you guys are so invested? what is there? what constitutional crisis are we facing right now? i tell you what, i tell you what we do know -- >> i'll leave that to jeffrey toobin and the law expert. many people are afraid if this president fires robert mueller we will be in a constitutional crisis. why doesn't the president want mueller to prove that trump was right and -- >> isn't mr. mueller and his band of democratic donors doing that? brian, let's back up. i'm asking you to please cover the issues that america are telling pollsters, including cnn's pollsters. you are not being honest to your own poll figure you look at the issues that people say are most important to them. you're not covering them. you just went right back to russia. >> i think people can care about multiple issues at the same time. certainly, folks that i talk to

care about a lot of issues. >> that's america and donald trump. he is making good on those promises with or without the help of a number of cable stations. but, let's be honest here. you cannot with a straight face tell me that most -- you have this disproportionate, out of whack, unequal coverage on russia with nothing there. there's nobody -- even chuck schumer this weekend gave an interview, suggesting that hillary clinton should look in the mirror. i'd say that right back to you. here's what is true. millions of people don't have health care and they think they would. the unemployment rate way down. the job creation way up. the stock market way up. the regulatory reform -- >> americans know that. americans feel it. still 50% of americans strongly disapprove of the president. you're a pollster, will that ever change? are you trying to convince the 60% or according to gallup we'll show the headline that has a record low approval rating as of this weekend. 36%. almost two-thirds of americans

don't support the president right now. are you trying to persuade them or just to appeal to the base from now on? >> again, you want that to say the president said on november 9th, as he was elected and hillary clinton called my cell phone and congratulated and important word, conceded. i know that they can't let go of these election results. >> we're talking about hillary clinton, again? honestly. i don't have time for that. >> if you're going to talk about russia and talk about e-mails and talk about investigations, you're going to always be talking about hillary clinton. >> i didn't bring up russia. >> your network is obsessed with that. you're vested in it. all the chyrons say it constantly and the reason i raised her -- >> doesn't mean it's not a big story. >> it's not a big story. what makes it big, you can't tell me this is about the campaign and not talk about hillary clinton. the reason i just raised her is because when she called to concede the election to donald trump, he immediately went up to

the podium and said something that remains true at this moment. i will be the president of all americans, even those who do not support me. he's not appealing to the base. making good to his promises. when i go around this country and you ever want to come, come and join me. >> you're in new york right now and i agree with you. the opioid crisis is undercovered by the crisis. i agree with you. >> you're welcome. i don't want it to be a media skeptical. >> why doesn't the president talk about it? >> he talks about it plenty. as a white house commission there is $45 million committed to it in his health care bill. >> he's tweeting about pardons not about the opioid crisis. >> he tweets about many things and put together a white house commission on this, a bipartisan commission and he's sending secretary of hhs tom price and i out to meet with people. i want to tell you something, when i meet with those people

who are suffering from the opioid crisis. no democratic group untouched i never touched a single one nor would i ever? did you support the president? how would you vote? are you a democrat? we're here to help everyone and we would like your help, at least being honest enough to say people aren aren't as privileged as you and me, brian, are suffering. when you talk about the approval ratings and talk about -- look at the approval on the economy. look at the numbers that matter to people. look at all the job creation. look at the $70 billion they project will be saved. the 14 congressional review acts that this president has put forth. look at how he's building the wall. look at the illegal border crossings and everything. look at isis in recrutreat. >> retreat before november 8th or 9th. a lot of these things were already happening. i appreciate your point about the president's momentum. this is a white house in crisis whether you recognize it or not.

>> i work there. where do you get that? it's a white house in crisis -- back it up. >> misleading and false statements on a regular basis. to -- well, to most of the country even if you stick with that 36% that approve no matter what. >> you're not looking at part of the disapproval are the independents who voted for him and want him to ignore all the nonsense and all the noise and all the russian nonsense. that's part of it. part of it is people upset with congress. the president's approval rating is far higher than the approval rating of the media or the congress and there's a reason for that. americans are looking at the media. they're looking at congress and saying, do your job. your job is not to russia, russia, russia all day long. and hoping that something will drop from heaven and this will be real and not phony. the job in the congress, the job in the congress -- >> figure out what is going on through investigations. >> why don't you cover what you do know is real. which is that millions of americans don't have health care.

>> lots of reporters that are covering a lot of things. what you see on one hour -- you're acting like what you see on one hour of cnn equates to the entire national news media and tens of thousands of hard-working journalists who love america and want to make sure that the president is doing his job. >> sure. you look at his job through the lens of russia. i look at his job through the lens of america. on that, we're always going to disagree. number two and most importantly, this president is out there all the time. i mean, you've got cnn reporters with him. if you just stopped and talked to those people and asked them why they're there, how did these, how do the veterans feel now that they've got an ability to access care. how do the coal miners feel that their health care benefits were protected and the regulatory burden that was placed on them by the last president was lifted in the first couple of months? how do the pro lifers feel? >> signs like you should be an assignment editor, kellyanne. i'm sure you can get a job in

the newsroom. >> why would i want that? i'm counsel to the president. >> they don't get enough attention. big scandals going on. since it's a show about the media, since -- >> i want to hear about. no, you can't get away with that. what are the big scandals going on. please, name them for me. >> when you look at this president's rhetoric, his behavior when it comes to the media -- >> it's rhetoric. >> or what happened before -- you don't think that his words against the media are poisoned, kellyanne. >> his rhetoric is a scandal? >> when he calls real news outlets fake news he poisons our public discourse. makes it harder for us to communicate as a country. makes it it harder for us to -- >> it doesn't stop, it doesn't stop people at cnn on personally

attacking each of us and running these ridiculous intrigue stories basically since the day we've been there where the only people that got fired so far. >> shouldn't be personal attacks. but a lot, kellyanne. >> don't work in the west wing in the inner circle. >> you're complimenting cnn, you're complimenting cnn for taking action and holding journalists accountable for not following editorial practices. why hasn't the white house held aides accountable for false statements? >> brian, that is ridiculous. are you telling me the fact that three of your colleagues were forced to resign or got fired here because they were slandering my new white house colleague anthony scaramucci and accept their apology because he has class and grace. that reflects on cnn that you're going to go out and end up being

slanderous, hit jobs on a great man. this is a two-way street. you're looking at everything through the lens of the media. you said that -- hold on. >> this morning anthony scaramucci said -- go ahead. >> i just wanted to say you said there are "big scandals" when i asked you what these big scandals are. i can't let these incendiary words float out there without -- i won't do that. but if you can tell me what these big scandals are, you came back with rhetoric and made it about the media. but you made it about the media. >> the president's lies and voter fraud and about wiretapping, his repeated lies about those issues. >> he doesn't think he's lying about those issues and he knows it. he has gone forth and he has talked about surveillance. >> doesn't mean you're not lying. >> are you back to the clintons now? what are you talking about? what kind of analogy is that?

i mean, look, brian -- >> i appreciate the clinton pivot. i respect what you do and how you do it. >> you and i are going to disagree. >> scaramucci said there could be leaks coming from the white house communication shop. let's play the clip for those that didn't see it. >> tomorrow, i'll have a meeting with incommunication staff and say, hey, i don't like these leaks. we'll stop the leaks. if we don't stop the leaks, i'm going to stop you. it's just really that simple. >> bravo. >> do you think that's true that there have been leaks from inside? >> here's what i'm going to tell you. i think our job at the white house is fwhaut not about to si read about ourselves. i would get much better press coverage if i was good at that. folks working overtime for them and not the president. whether they're inside or outside the white house. i am interested in getting timely information out to

america. i think the media's job is to be skeptical, but not cynical. the media's job is to be probing or pugnacious and if you're going to tell me that this has not been a contentious relationship since day one, it's just not true, brian. >> i agree that it has been. i agree that it has been. >> but i try to support their efforts completely because we're working on behalf of america. >> will you be reporting to scaramucci now that he is taking more power? >> i report directly to the president as he does. that ben fits me. >> were you consulted in bringing in scaramucci? >> i was. i try to make this conversation about the american people and the ones who are truly suffering and you went back to making it about the media. i respect that -- >> this is a program about the media, kellyanne. you knew that when you came on the show. >> if you disagree with me, it's okay. but do you agree or disagree, brian, that one essential

component of the media at large is to make sure that america gets the information they need and they deserve because you telling them they may not hear the information. >> that's not happening. i think it is happening. i think the public is better informed than ever before and able to access all of it on the internet. if you don't mind, let me ask you one more question about the media because we're on "reliable sources." time warner owned and the president of the united states was complaining about cnn in front of the ceo of at&t. have you talked with the president about this pending merger? >> i won't reveal my private conversations with the president. i know that that gentleman, i think, has been very helpful to us in some of our business counsel or roundtables and we appreciate that. we invited ceos and working men and women and everybody across obamacare victims, people we had, people in the white house

from many different listening sessions. we appreciate that. >> and the point about that, about the ceo being there is people are wondering and the "vanity fair" story that cnn is trying to punish cnn by not approving the deal and asking for concessions in the deal. do you know anything about that? >> you are going by, you just said the word implied. that's an important word. thank you for admitting that. information where people -- >> no proof. but there is concern that the president would be trying to punish a news outlet for coverage he doesn't like through a business transaction. that is a concern. >> i can tell you that is not what consums his day. i promise you that. he is there for the people who are relying on him to make good on his promises and be a sovereign nation that has borders where we worry about america, american interest and american allies here and abroad. where the 50 or 6 0,000 factoris

and jobs stay here. and people feel like they don't have to live paycheck to paycheck and this president won't lie to them about health care. that's what consums his days. >> he also tweets a lot about television. >> so. you should be happy that we have such an engaged, you should be happy that we have such an engaged president. but, you know, 99% of what the president does and says is not on twitter. it's done in the oval office. it's done in his cabinet meetings. meetings with different cabinet members. done with business leaders and done with his national security briefing and done with the vice president and senior staff. we're trying to be accessible. i have always been someone who i thought has decent relationships with many in the media. but i don't know how this is sustainable. he's the president. if you can say to me with a straight face right now, brian, that people on this network are more likely to show respect to him than disrespect, i'm listening. but i don't believe it from a content analysis alone.

the rolling of the eyes and the curling of the lips. >> i also respect you and i'm worried. more than anything else, kellyanne, i'm worried about the credibility problem. when you hear us come on television and say, why should we believe them? on january 21st, 22nd when you talk about alternative facts. i wonder if you regret that six months later. >> do you know what alternative facts are? do you know what they are? >> i think they're your interpretation of what is going on. >> that's not true. let's put it to rest here and i'm sure it won't get covered and get tweeted out today. but let's do it. alternative facts, i meant to say alternative figures -- but alternative facts are partly sunny, partly cloudy. when you say we have the highest rated show and another show that is a competitor says we have the highest rating show. the others are using the demo. alternative facts, brian

stetler. glass half full/glass half empty. everybody knows what we meant and there are hiccups in the media every single day. they wanted to look at it through the most negative lens possible. they know what sean spicer meant by that is that you now in 2017 have people looking at the inauguration up close and in person and people watching on their screens, which they couldn't do ten years earlier. you have people certainly watching on tv, listening to the radio, multi-media way of doing that. but i also said on all the networks that day i didn't think it was a particularly important piece of information because it doesn't matter. what matters is if the president is able to move the needle economically and through national security. indeed, since january 22nd, he has. that's not an alternative fact, that is a fact. over 800,000 jobs and tax reform after that. but alternative facts. let me just repeat for those at

home, partly cloudy, partly sunny. when cnn says it's got the highest rated show and then a competitor says, we do, because one is using the demo and one using the overall ratings. ask any lawyer any time when an alternative fact is. thank you for raising. i knew you meant it to be snarky, but i'm glad to have the platform to explain it. >> come back, kellyanne. >> i'll come back and i hope you come to the white house and come on the road with me to meet americans who think help is on the way. no, they're not the base. we hear from people all the time, no, i didn't vote this year. i didn't vote for him. i respect the office of the president and its current occupant and i want him to succeed. it's our nation, our time. i agree with them. >> i'll tell you and set it up. thank you for being here. >> thank you. take care, brian. more to come here. you can watch anthony scaramucci one-on-one with jake tapper. coming up next hour noon eastern time here on cnn. up next anthony scaramucci

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house. now he is also the chief speech writer back then for clinton. now worldwide ceo of strategic communications firm and scott jennings, cnn political commentator and former special assistant to president george w. bush. great to have you all here. we're going to stay with you for the rest of the hour because so much to analyze. first to you, tara, let's get honest about this. when you interview kellyanne conway or other aides on television, that person shouldn't be allowed on tv and what do you make of that? what do you make of how polarized the country is to the point where a lot of viewers don't even think we should hear from people like conway or scaramucci? >> i think they should be on television although they may offend some people who don't agree with them politically, we should be hearing from the people who work in the white house because at the end of the day, personnel is policy. whoever has more power in that

white house is going to affect the way that policy turns that day. you saw that from the paris climate agreement. you saw that when people novarro in the trade office was cooking up a nafta plan to actually pull out of the agreement. so, as much as someone, you know, like kellyanne and others say palace intrigue and who has power in this white house really will tell you what is going to happen that week and how it's going to affect everyday american people. why it seems far away and it is good to have these people on the record talking about what's hap pg in the white house, even if there are denials and spin. and it's our job to sort of break it down and explain, hey, this person, at this moment, has a lot of power. they have seven people working underneath them and right now trump is listening to them. for example, steve bannon is sort of on the outs and i think you'll see that reflected in policy. gary cohn is rising up. anthony scaramucci a long island

financier. his stock is super high in the white house right now and he's sort of more aligned with the, you know, the globalist side, the pro banking trade side of the white house. i really do think it is important for them to be speaking. for them to be showing america their world view because they are the people who are affecting the world that we live in. >> scott jennings, you're new here at cnn. you have been supportive of president trump. a report that actually, someone from the white house reached out to you ask aed if you would com on in a communication's job. is that true? if so, why did you decline? >> i'm not going to talk about any krvegconversations i had wie white house. i want to talk with tara about the need to have white house official os on television. the alternative is sources say. so, if you have on the record sources that are willing to come on television and talk about what the president's agenda is, i think tara is exactly right. you need to interview those

people. kellyanne had people you wanted to about and all of those things are important. you gave her a lot of time. i think interviews like that, the one scaramucci is doing are vital to make sure people feel like they're hearing directly from named sources at the white house. >> i think it's newsworthy that scaramucci and wants to be very visible. no amount of smooth talking and no amount of spin can solve this white house's crises. scott, do you think i'm wrong? >> well, i think that the white house has a lot of things going on that they think if only people would cover it more, it would really alter perceptions of this presidency. so, that's why you hear kellyanne talking about those things. an enormous amount of frustration. they feel like issues related to the russia investigations, for instance, get vastly more coverage than issues than the economic turn around because of the decisions they're making. the frustration, i think, boiled

over last week. that's what caused -- >> doing well under hillary clinton, as well. i got frustrated by kellyanne's comment because if you look at job growth last year at this time under obama, pretty much the same as it is today. they are taking credit for something they don't deserve 100% credit for. >> that is an allegation you can make against any white house. any president is going to take credit if they are doing better. they made policy decisions particularly on the regulatory side that have boosted confidence to reinvest, create jobs, et cetera, et cetera. look, the reality is i think there is frustration at the white house that they think their better policy decisions are not getting covered and the worst of it, the russia investigation and whatever is most frustrating sand getting to much coverage. scaramucci is going to be out there and forceful about making that case and the president certainly wants to see people on tv who are willing to have that

fight all day, every day. >> let's go inside the decision with don and dan. since both of you were communication directors in democratic white houses. tell me, dan, actually, don, if you don't mind. don first. if you were there for the clinton years looking back a couple decades. what should scaramucci do and how should the press street this change? >> what i think scaramucci should do is not what he started to do. he does not need to be a high-profile, public figure out there on every show. the press secretary is the one who is supposed to be the one mostly dealing with the press. multiple spokespeople and maybe scaramucci is good and he wants to do it. what this white house needs is exactly what kellyanne demonstrated they don't have the ability to do. they need discipline and focus and somebody inside that is able to bring them several things that strategic commune kagicati ought to be bringing them.

they need to hold on to who their supporters are but bring over those swing voters that they're losing. we know they're losing because of the poll numbers and what's going on there. they need to be creative and find new ways to engage people so that they're actually paying attention to what they want them to pay attention to rather than all this other noise and be inspiring that same time. useful for them to move some people to believe they're acting in the better interest of the whole country. they need to be integrated. there are so many different voices and coordinated. there are so many different voices. so many different platforms. so many different messages out there and they need more coordination and, finally, they need to be sustained. they need to be able to carry a message and a theme and a set of ideas forward for more than half an hour. i think kellyanne's performance demonstrates exactly why they need someone who will work inside to bring the folks and the discipline. i don't know whether that's what

scaramucci was hired for and whether scaramucci sees that as his role. >> and, dan, last word to you. you were very recently there, this time last year, not this time last year, but recently in the obama years doing this job. what should scaramucci know about it? >> scaramucci may be the right guy in the wrong job. what it really boils down to is you have to develop a strategic communication plan and use it to persuade the public and stakeholders to adopt the president's agenda. the president, vice president and everyone down to undersecretaries and far flung agencies to communicate the message. not the job you can do if you're sitting in a cable greenroom all the time like it seems scaramucci is doing. i don't know if that's going to solve the problems that have

been plaguing the trump administration because it is one of not having a plan and not having discipline and what i would recommend scaramucci do, hire people with real governmental experience both in previous administration or on congress enacting a legislative agenda. his experience does not really fit with what the communication's director does. even as much of a tv personality he is. >> these are terms we have used on television for lots of years. isn't part of trump's message the chaos, the confusion, the drama. isn't that part of his message? >> that's why he's not moving forward at all on an agenda and getting anything done on behalf of the american people right now. >> i think to myself when they talk about draining the swamp. very hard to do that. just hired a hedge fund guy to come in and run communications while talking about draining the

swamp. i wonder if what they mean attacking the media because that is something they can show that looks like action even when it's not. >> i think the one thing that unites the various wings. the bannon breitbart and globalist wing is hatred for the media. now, i will say every white house since the beginning of time has believed if only the press more fairly covered their boss, their approval would be up, they would get more done. but what is different is, in most white houses, it's venting. in this white house, it is the only strategy they can all agree on, which is to attack the media. it's not clear what strategic object oive that ladder is up to, but the one thing that everyone there seems to be bought into. >> the one thing about scaramucci and they have taken a lesson from dan pfeiffer in my shop. they want more one-on-one time

from the president and reporters off the record in the way that obama did. he often had reporters into his oval office for happy hour just to talk about policy. that's something that's not happening right now. they may be outward viciously attacking the press, right now they're regrouping on how to have a better relationship with the press behind the scenes. that's what you're going to be seeing coming forward. he is looking at the people who work in the communication shop right now. a lot of them are closely tied to the rnc, to sean spicer and reince priebus and they had a relationship behind the scenes with the press. even more combative than what you saw during the press briefing. scaramucci was saying, i'll get around to all of you. thank you for your questions. they're trying to change the tone. at the end of the day, trump loves the press. he loves interviews, especially on the record ones. even more than off the record ones. i think you're going to see a shift with him. >> panel, stand by. after the break, the behind the scenes story of how that "new york times" interview happened.

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hey, welcome back to "reliable sources." i'm brian stetler. this week a team visited the white house to be an off the record meet and greet with president trump. but the reporters had lots of questions and they persuaded the president to go on the record so they could quote him for the majority of a 50-minute long interview. what an interview it was. trump said he regretted appointing his own attorney

general jeff sessions. and the president seemed to warn robert mueller not to look into his finances. there was so much news from this interview and so much intrigue about how and why it happened. back with me now, the panel, tara, dan, mike and scott jennings. scott, first to you on this "new york times" interview i would like to see the president giving more interviews and holding more press conferences since he hasn't done that since february. was this ill advised because of all the comments he made about the russians investigations? >> i'm not a lawyer, but if i have to imagine what the president's lawyers are thinking about it, probably cringing a little bit because he did say some things in the interview that have implications for the investigation and implications for the people who will have to answer questions before congress and the special counsel. that's unfortunate. also unfortunate for jeff sessions some of the things that were said. so, i actually think the president is probably his best advocate. so, i want to see him doing more

interactions with the press, although i think in this particular case, it might have been a bit ill-timed to do a wide-ranging interview at this moment. although, i think the president should be as accessible as he wants be and as tara said earlier, he likes to do these things. this timing might have been off. >> to borrow the words of david french. seems like fox news and trump aides are prepping the battlefield for the moment the president maybe fire robert mueller. is the press taking that possibility seriously enough? are journalists sort of wrapping their heads around what a crisis this could be? >> i think so. i think sort of the political world and the media learned a lesson because it seemed impossible to imagine that trump would ever fire jim comey and then he did that, which was -- in addition taviolating important government norm was a massive and political and legal mistake. so, i think the press is rightfully taking trump's

musings about this seriously. and the question to me is not whether the media will take it seriously, but whether republicans in congress will actually it's actually whether republicans in congress will do anything if trump takes that dangerous step. >> is the hardest part of your job, trying to connect all the dots every day? here we are talking about his white house for the entire hour this morning. there are so many news stories that happened, so many shocking things that happened. is it difficult to step back from the glass and get the big picture as a reporter? >> you don't really want the public to read, because they don't tend to buy the newspaper on a saturday morning. jared kushner revealed he left

off 77 companies he has over a billion dollars in debt to. that is something that would dominate the news coverage in the prior administrations. this time these stories don't stick. >> what do you mean? you look at the president approval ratings, that indicates to me the public is paying attention and is disturbed by what's going on. >> you could say that, there's a feeling, i think that people have about this presidency and how he's doing. it may have even less to do with the media coverage and more to do with the fact that he's struggling legislatively. you can choose your news, if you watch fox news, you watch a different network, you get a different idea of the story, and i think americans think they have to read and choose. choose their news, a lot of them do. but the at end of the day, i think as you said, we have to sit back, we have to think about all the things that happened this week and continue to use

that to build the blocks into a bigger story and use context when things start to happen when the mumblings about bob mueller being fired. as i as reporter don't think that trump will fire bob mueller. when comey was fired it was out of the blue. whenever trump fires people, it has been out of the blue. katie walsh, his deputy chief of staff, the communications director. you didn't see it coming. saying he's going to fire mueller is part of the smear campaign, the idea that he could be fired. it questions his credibility. >> right. >> interrutrump is one of those that doesn't think he's being played by the media. he enjoys saying fake news to his staffers. we have so much more control than you would think, when he sees something in the media that predicts his next move, it might change his next move. >> i'm the opposite.

>> i think the new york times interview revealed why this white house needs a strategic person. imagine if he spent that hour with the new york times reporters on the record, talking about what he wants the country to believe he's already done, and the agenda he wants to push forward, maybe even how he talked about health care, and how he wanted congress to solve the health care situation now. other things that he thinks are important, imagine what a difference that could have made for him, instead, he's distracted the whole country to russia, which is exactly the issue that he wants to move away from. i was a white house correspondent covering the first bush administration before i did all these other things, and i can tell you, we would have died for an hour long interview on the record like that for the president. one way or the other, whether he was talking about all the shenanigans going on in his white house or talking about his

agenda, they are misusing the most important, most powerful tool they have. >> at the time, there was only the new york times and the washington post. the media had more power then to decide when the president got to speak to the people. >> i worked elsewhere. >> one more -- >> we had some power there too, but that's a different story. >> one more point. do you expect the president and his aids to allow the cameras back on in the briefings. friday for the first time in almost a month, they came on camera. this is an ongoing problem, i don't want to lose sight of it. the sunlight foundation said this is a white house hostile toward the press, a secretive government, turning the cameras on could maybe help with that. do you think they will do it? >> i think they will do it for a while, because scaramucci is going to look like he's playing

ball, until they have the chance to use it again as a stick to whack the press with. here's -- i think you ought to go well past that. kelly anne offered you the chance to come in, find out what's going on inside the white house, find out what's going on. i think you should remember an hour long special in which you go in and find out what's happening. it will be great for everyone, and a real service to the country. >> don baer, tara palmerieri. thank you for being here on this special edition of the program. >> thank you. sign up for our nightly reliable sources newsletter at reliablesources.com, all the days news wrapped up for you in your inbox. we'll be back here this time next week. for more conversation about the media and its role in society and politics. thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next week. yeah. ♪

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these make cleaning between myi love easy.sy. gum brand for healthy gums. soft picks, proxabrush cleaners, flossers. gum brand. staff shake-up, sean spicer is out, a fresh face is in. >> the president's a winner, okay? and what we're going to do is do a lot of winning. >> can anthony scaramucci right the ship? trump team under fire. a new report says jeff sessions maybe did discuss trump campaign matters with the russian ambassador. >> as the president's inner circle prepares to talk to congress. one of the senators