to publicly bully his attorney general jeff sessions. he called him out for having a very weak position on hillary clinton and saying he should be investigating his rival. why is the president attacking the first senator to his presidential campaign as a supporter? is mr. trump just trying to push him out. cnn politics reporter and ted for at large. and -- let's set the table here with this why he keeps talking about the election, talks about hillary. instead of just making it a statement. let's show the proof of the obsession. here's a montage. >> the question for every senator, democrat or republican is whether they will side with obamacare's -- my opponent didn't work hard there. because she was told -- she was

told she was going to win michigan. there is no path to victory for hillary clinton. people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the democrats had under hillary clinton. hillary clinton gave them 20% of our uranium hillary clinton did a reset. remember? with the stupid plastic button. hillary clinton got the questions to the debate and didn't report it? that's ha horrible thing. when wikileaks which i had nothing to do with with, comes out and happens to give, they're not giving classified information. the they're giving stuff what was said at an office about hillary cheating on debates. which, by the way, nobody mentions that hillary received the questions to the debates. >> so, let's talk about why this works for the president. let's once and for all put to

rest the idea of who keeps doing this. this isn't about the media that keeps bringing up the election. it's the president. he does it all the time. the question is why. >> well, i mean he is fixated on it for one. so that's part of what may just be the way he sees the world. but also, he prefers to talk about politics and election politics and rehashing that than he likes talking about the nitty-gritty of policy. you seem to hear him talk about it more and more. this is a very busy weak. jar rad kushner on the hill twice. a hark bill coming to a due or die moment. this is not the week you expect him to be talking about hillary clinton again. yet he is. this is the fallback he goes to re-orient himself and to appeal to his base and kind of make them, remind them again that they picked him. they love him. he's the guy that's their guy. so, again, you're seeing what

has been a pattern that's played itself out in h several rounds. >> so, safety, this is exhibit a. this is the day that he is supposed to be using his great deal-making skills to get whatever health care bill he wants across the finish line. today is the high-stakes vote on health care. and yet, his tweets have been dominated by hillary clinton. >> well, i think the only thing that he's disciplined about is what he's obsessed about, which is fighting all -- when it comes to this russian investigation. his general nature. this is how he's operating as president. he doesn't really care about other institutions or the independence of the attorney general of the united states or ethics laws that compel the attorney general to recuse himself. this is the only thing that he has discipline about. it is sabotaging himself.

the health care piece is interesting, because the story of health care, however it turns out the president is not idealogical. who could really, and may yet get democrats on board to do something to actually fix obamacare as it exists. but at the moment he's positioning himself as outside. attacking republicans. you guys said you wanted to do this now you can't get it done. he's not driving the process. not really dialed in. he doesn't have a health care reform agenda that he's driving. he's just trying to kind of cheer lead for it, demand for itnd a making it very clear to republican the if they don't get it done that he'll attack them and probably campaign against them next year which would certainly be something that we could expect he'd do. >> chris, any indication that it's working that gop senators are more likely to vote on this moved to to start debate because

of the president's calling them out? >> not that i can tell, although i do think if they wind up getting to 50, on this motion to proceed, basically to start the debate, chris, that he will claim victory in somewhat rightly so. he did keep pushing it after mcconnell delayed the vote twice. after it was clear they didn't have votes. it's continued to say let's not walk away from it. but, i see it direct connection between donald trump's approach yesterday as he scolded senators, you'd better be for this because if not you think the obamacare nightmare is good for the country. and the way he treats jeff sessions. everyone from susan collins to -- not idealogical allies like and respect. when you see trump attacking him, it's the same sort of approach. that's his m.o. that seems to be what he thinks gets things done. i will tell you fra my

experience watching and covering the senate. that approach has not typically worked. could it work for him? sure. he has gotten to a place i certainly didn't think he was going to get to, which is the white house. i'm not ready to rule it out but i'm not sure if they do get the 50 votes he deserves as much credit as he's probably going to take. i'm go on the record as being skeptical still. it's still going to be very heard. they basic already lost -- rand paul said -- very skeptical. they lose two, they're okay. lose three, that's it. it's just the math is very tough. >> we have a graphic of the eight senators, gop senators to watch as chris just said, susan collins is already a no. the so you're on capitol hill every day. what should we be looking for today? what are the telltale signs we're looking for? >> think that the real question

is do people like that really take this vote. trying to keep debate alive, maybe can he can keep working with house members and trying to find something better than what's on the table. you heard the president specifically calling out shelly yesterday when she -- she was got to vote for this. you know he's been putting pressure on helde-- anything he is going to be interpreted by democrats as kro the aisle. he's up for election in 2018. can't take the moves and explain them away. they're going to be doing a hard fast calculation about what is the more risky step to ic ta. the i think it's moderates like that that are going to be making the difference because they're the ones that came out and said i don't like any direction this is going at all. the idea that if you actually let something proceed and go ahead in the senate process, the idea is that when that's done you're going to reconcile it with the how's bill which is

probably going to be more conservative at the end of the day if you're going to be able to get something through the smaet at all. so you might be able to win back the mike lees of this world but if you're going to be trying to make this happen you have to win back the people that said this whole thing isn't right because it's not addressing medicaid. and that's going to be them trying to explain to their constituents why they can take a procedural step that isn't actually a step that's an doorsment of the bill. >> by the way, to den's point. regular folks do not understand the difference between a motion to proceed and voting for some sort of bill. the second he votes for the motion to proceed, you can guarantee a slew of ads. no matter what happens after that, he supported donald

trump's unpopular health care law. >> it would be nice to have some type of debate. >> i think that's the point of john mccain. he's going to be the ten center of the day. not just the senate doing its job and having a debate but working with democrats to get something done. i think there's a lot of republicans who want to have a debate even if the bill goes down. to say that they cast a vote and that here are their principles they fought for. but the miccain symbolism is alo we should debate ant work with democrats. >> it is easy and appropriate to criticize the tactics the president uses, but where is the proof that it isn't working, david gregory because look at how the republicans respond. they don't criticize what he says. they'll say jeff sessions is a good man but they won't say the president is bullying him.

thael' say you have to ask the president. i don't take his he tweets very serious i will. i don't really know. i don't want to get into that. they're not stepping up and stepping strong. paul ryan made his name by being a guy that spoke his conscience. that has disappeared. he can barely bring himself to say i don't think mueller is a democratic -- that's the best you can do? >> i continue to be surprised buy this but the reality is trump has enough support among republicans. soften a little bit but enough support and republicans are afraid. they're both afraid of what trump will do generally, or -- and/or do to them and what he's doing now is very much -- you know, we can make fun of what he did in front of the boy scouts at the jam bo-- his own retelli what he achieved in the campaign is remarkable. what he did to democrats and

republicans alike. and that is a reminder of his political potentsy and how he'll use it against other republicans. i think a lot of them think, for all we dislike about him, we still have a shot here at maybe health care that look the troubling. the but tax reform. which is something they could run on. >> also -- sorry. they also have not had to get to the point where they have to figure it out. remember all these things are a ripeness thing. you can continue to excuse what he's saying about jeff sessions when it's just a series of tweets. the but if he actually fires jeff sessions, he has a lot of friends in congress. they will not take that very well. that's going to be a very, very different thing if that happens than right now with what is basically a tweet storm that maybe is just to pressure jeff sessions into toeing the line. >> we do keep hearing that would

be sort of reaching the rubicon about getting rid of sessions. we've heard it a couple times this morning that then the confirmation process for whoever the next person would be wouldn't go swimmingly. >> he hasn't just stepped over the norms of goff -- he's acted as though they dent exist. the so all of those things. firing the attorney general would be a huge problem internally and externally. and the fbi director as there's an ongoing investigation. but this is donald trump. to david's point, this is someone who has not only gotten ritds of those forms or tried to get rid of them. has run proudly and said these are ridiculous form the and i'm not going to respect them. this is modern day presidential in his words. >> i wonder though, if, by bullying him in public if the

eventuality wipe eventuali eventuality winds up being sessions won't take it, okay. but if he isn't, and he stoeps aside has the president now lost leverage so that even if session decided to leave, it will be interpreted as his being pushed out. >> not only that -- look at how difficult it will be to move forward and get another attorney general. what happens to rod rosenstein. you have now just gone through -- barrelled over all sense of independence in the justice department, and you empower the special council and i think it just becomes much more difficult for republicans to stand by and say well, you know, we wish he wouldn't do that. >> this public shaming of sessions makes trump look far worse than jeff sessions. it's not even close. >> panel. thank you very much.

obviously it's a very important day and week on capitol hill. >> all this chaos within the republican party and president separating himself from his own party, that has one set of implications for him. another one for the cldemocrats. this could be opportunity. now, the woman on your screen, nancy pelosi, they just put out a new agenda which they call a better deal and say they are retooling their message to re-connect with americans. will it work? if so, why? we're going to discuss with the house minority whip next. hi.

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s >> very often politics is a matter ever perspective. you have trouble within the gop. trouble between the president an his own party. that could be opportunity, though, for the democrat the. the question is are they seizing that opportunity. the president writing them off as just obstructionists. joining us now is house minority whip senny hoyer. good to have you on the show, sir. >> good morning, good to be with you. >> sitting president saying that the out party is doing nothing but obstructing. we heard it during president obama's tenure, hearing it again now. is it fair criticism? >> i think not. essentially what he's strfrustrd

about is the inability of his party to pass a repealth affordable care act and/or a replacement to the affordable care act. he should not be surprised. this is not obstruction. we are defending the affordable act which we're very proud of and we think has made a difference in the lives of millions of people giving them access to affordable health care. are there problems? there are. we need to fix them and are willing to do so. the to this point the republicans have been simply on a party san effort without including not only democrats but the public. no amendments have been allowed to be offered. now trying to move forward. see what happens. but we ought to be working in a bipartisan way. it's not obstruction. it's do it's defensing a piece of legislation we think is important. >> could there be criticism you haven't defended it enough. -- that obamacare is dying on

the vine, death spiral. the president calls it a nightmare. i don't hear full-throated defense from democrats on this on a regular basis fighting those probl propositions. >> i disagree. the i think we've been fighting pretty effectively. the affordable care act is working. not in every instance but part of it is because the republicans have underminded it. they put forward in the mcconnell bill way that is can be sustained for the next two years. very frankly it can be sustained an success now and in the next ten years. the affordable care act is working. we have some 20 million people who have insurance who didn't have it. people with preexisting conditions getting insurance. many more children covered. but there are problems as would be the case in any large piece of legislation that is very

complex, as the president observed. gee, this is complicated. who knew? he should have known. the but the fact of the matter is i think both leader pelosi and myself and others, we've been saying the affordable care act is working. don't undermine it. the of course republicans for the last six years have been underminding confidence in hit operation. it's working. weal ought to make it better and that's what our republican friends ought to join us in doing. >> polls reflect growing enthusiasm by people because the more they learn about what might replace it, they're getting concerned so they want to hold on to what they have. cost becomes a big issue. the on the one hand you have the rate of cost increases is lower after the aca than it was before. that's a good -- correct. >> the bad fact is you do have individual markets with big

problems of price spiking. are there opportunities for ideas of the democrat the and potential bipartisan moves to address those specific issues? >> chris, i certainly think there are and we need to address them. i think there are problems as i have said, and we need to address them and we've given some suggestions how to deal with small market, but frankly, had the -- if the republicans would come together and just use the mcconnell language that is the most recent bill that hasn't come to the floor, they want to sustain it just for two years. if you do those, the reinsurance, which was necessary because it was hard to figure out in a large new program like this exactly what the cost should be and what the risks were going to be. so the answer to your question is absolutely. we're prepared to work with our republican colleague to make the act work, work well and work in every state in every county and bring prices down. >> so, as you may know, the congressman, the president is a

frequent watcher of the show and he has tweeted while we've been talking and saying this is going to be a very interesting day for health care. dems are obstructionists. what is your response. >> my response to the president, mr. president, you said you were going to offer a bill. you haven't done it. you said you were going to offer a bill that gives everything insurance at lower cost and better quality. mr. president, where is your bill? we haven't seen it yet. all we have seen are bills which the cbo says are going to knock millions of people off their insurance. put at risk people getting insurance who have preexisting conditions, put an age tax on seniors, and undercut very, very batly medicaid. mr. president, where is your bill that's going to give everybody insurance at a lower cost and better quality? talk is cheap. send us your bill. >> and if this vote today, if

the republicans get their votes in the senate, and it of moo moves on to the debate phase do you know what that means. we're dealing with the same universe of thought and potential policy there. do you know what would be on the table, what would be debated? >> well, i think what's going to be debated are ways and means on our side to improve the affordable care act, and to oppose those provisions in the mcconnell bill that will undermine the insurance for people i just discussed. >> how do you overwhelm the numbers? because repeal and replace was a very useful slogan for a long time and never any need -- >> never any replace. >> right. now, they need to put meat on the bones and are struggling within their own ranks on that side. on your side, how do you overcome the resistance that the aca has to die? it has to be changed. otherwise they won't deliver on the promise.

you don't have the numbers. how do you deal with that reality and still make fixes to something they want to get rid of? >> chris, i think we have the people. it's an amazing turnaround. the aca was underwater last year. it is now a majority of the public. 75% of the public says make it work better. don't nevaundermine it. i think we have the people on our side which is why, mick cccl has not been able to get the 50 votes he needs. there are so many senators from many states who expanded medicaid and don't want to see that jettisoned. and believe that the so-called replacement bill will be very hard to millions of people around the country. when you say we don't have the number, clearly, at this point in time, the majority of members of the united states senate have been unwilling to move forward on the replacement bills offered

by mr. mcconnell. so right now i think we're in the majority. we'll see on this vote to proceed. it's a tough vote for republicans, but i think senator mcconnell's not sure tail at all that he has those votes. of court senator mccain is coming back. it's ironic. he has very severe health problem, and mcconnell bill would perhaps not for senator mick ca mccain or others but would put at risk such people with a serious illness. we'll see what happens. >> take your take on one other thing. you've been in there for a while. in a whip capacity. you've got your own set of elbows. what's happening right now with the president and jeff sessions, have you ever seen anything like this before, not face-to-face, not man to man, but bullying in public, seemingly pushing him to either resign or to toe the line. his most recent tweet this

morning. attorney general sessions has taken a weak position on hillary clinton crimes, where -- what do you make of the tactic and the underlying premise of hillary clinton? >> look, i think it's absurd, frankly. hillary clinton. el ought to focus on his own problems and the problems that we have here at home. on the affordable care act, jobs, infrastructure, all the things he talked about. he continues to do this distraction mode of his because he's under siege. jeff sessions did the right thing in recusing himself. he had been involved with discussions with the russians. i think he did the right thing. it was the ethical thing to do. but of course, president trump only cares about people who do the things that he wants done, loyal to him. irrespective of what they ought to do or what the facts are. i think the american people are

seeing that and they're not happy, which is why his numbers are so low, the lowest of any president in my lifetime. >> what about depending the proposition that hillary clinton got a pass and that if you want to know what happened with russia, you need those dnc servers and dnc wouldn't turn them over? what do you know about the reluctance of the dnc and whether or not that was the right move? loo >> look there's no allegations the russians were working with the dnc. >> not yet. >> there's no smoke there. frankly. and this business about the use of the private server. pence used it when he was governor of the indiana. i think all of that is distractions. and frankly, he congratulated comey for the actions he took which i think clearly,s if anybody was hurt, and hurt badly, it was hillary clinton through those actions.

but the fact of the matter is, again, the president continues to want to distract people with irrelevantsies. the election is over. the he won. he got the electoral votes so he's the president of the united states. he has a responsibility to the american people to focus on what they're concerned about. jobs, no jobs bill. infrastructure, no infrastructure bill. replacement for the affordable care act. none has been offered as i have said. so many other issues that he just ignores. and continues to distract the american people with irrelevantsies which don't affect their lives and embarrass our country and the leadership around the world. >> thank you for bringing the democratic perspective on the show. >> thanks chris. >> chris, as you've been talking about, the senate is poised for

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we are just hours away from

a crucial vote in the senate to begin debate and appealing obamacare. president trump tweeting the republicans need to step up to the plate and blasting democrats. joining us now joe manchin of we west -- >> i think mitch mcconnell, definitely knows what he's going to do and what direction-- >> why isn't he sharing it. >> i don't know. i really don't know. here's the thing. i will say this if you're voting to proceed because they're saying just get on the bill and we can fix everything. if you're voting to proceed, you're voting to repeal because that's exactly what will happen. that means we don't have a chance to fix it. they're saying democrats are obstructionists. i know the only place to truly fix something is to go through the order early process. the if you don't go to the committee you can't get the

expert witnesses and find the best pathway forward. if it goes just like proceed and we'll fix everything if you get on the bill, and well they control the amendments. they can basically shut off the amendment process. they have so much -- it's not the right way to do it. it has not gone through the orderly process. we said put it back in the committee. that's the vote should be taken. >> well it's not just democrats that are feeling the way you are. republican the are too. republican counter part in west virginia, shelly, she's on the ferchs abo fence about voting for something to repeat before you know what's going to replace it. there's a republican congressman from texas who seems to be call her out. he got the region she's from wrong but he seems to be targeting her among other female senators. >> the fact that the senate does

not have the courage to do some things that every republican in the senate promised to do is just absolutely repugnant to me. if the -- the some of the people that are opposed to this, they're some female senators from the northeast, if it was a guy from south texas, ig might ask him to step outside and stelt this aaron burr style. >> what do you think of that, number one? and is this the female senatorer's fault? >> i'd be okay to step outside with him. if he wants to talk on my people in west virginia and throw them out in the cold, i'm glad shelly understands the constituent base the same as i do. it's not a perfect bill that we have. the affordable care act is not a perfect piece of legislation. it needs repair. we both agree to that. the we need to fix it. we need to try to get people healthier. need to get them more

accountable. we need to prodetective and shore up the private market without collapsing. of the all can be done but we need to work together. that's -- type of rhetoric is so uncalled for in this body here. we want to fix and repair things. i'll work with republicans liberals conservatives, everybody. but the bottom line at the end of the day, that we have a healthier population, more cost-effective to have them in the fork force than welfare. how about the sympathy for elderly americans who have given us everything. how about those who are preexisting conditions, deserve some compassion? i can't beli i can't believe this process and the hard and calculated rhetoric we see coming from the system. it's uncalled for. >> senator, next topic. attorney general jeff sessions. he seems to have lost the

confidence, i think it's fair to say, of the president. he is a friend of yours, jeff sessions is. you were the only democrat who voted to confirm him. the does jeff sessions deserve this? >> i just said jeff do your job. the bottom line is when you go and take a will and pleasure job, you come and you leave when the term of the person you're working for, which is the president, or in my case, when i was governor, when i had that, when my term was over, everybody left and new people came in. when you lose the confidence and the president has a right to put his team together, who he feels confident. i just would say if that's the direction they're going to go, the next person who has to go through the confirmation of the senate is going to have a challenging time to make sure they're going to adhere to the rule of the law and not one person's wishes. >> senator joe manchin thank you very much. >> it's going to happen quick,

i'm sure. >> thanks so much. >> all right. if it's going to happen quick, has the senator from west virginia says, what's going to happen? do the republicans have 50 votes to proceed? whatever that means. we're going to ask the man whose job it is to whip those votes. at the republican senator john cornyn, the whip of the senate majority. next. does your bed do that? i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store. going somewhere? whoooo. here's some advice. tripadvisor now searches more than 200 booking sites to find the hotel you want and save you up to 30%. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry.

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>> all right. it is a big day today for the health care battle. there's going to be a procedural vote in the senate. which is basically a vote deciding whether or not to proceed with debate on a bill in the senate on health care. republicans have to have 50 votes to do it. it would sound like a low hurdle, but it isn't, because of the unknown and all the politics surrounding the possibilities of health care. let's talk to the majority whip in the senate. republican senator john cornyn. he's in h charge of counting votes for the republicans. it it's good to have you on this important day. >> thanks, chris. >> where do you stand with the math? >> well if this were a normal situation we would have 100 senators to voting to get on this bill and begin the debate because every senator will have an opportunity to offer amendments to improve the bill amtds the senate will be able to work its will. unfortunately this is not a

normal time and our democratic colleagues are simply staying out of the debate and even though they know that obamacare has significant problems, that need to be addressed. that's why senator from new hampshire offered bills that would pay billions of dollars to insurance companies in order to stabilize the insurance market. we're willing to work to stabilize the markets but we want reforms too. that's what this bill gives us an opportunity to do. >> quick side note, can you ensure the president won't pull those subsidies? because if you're going to do a bill to shore up these mashlrke you need the subsidies. do you think you could guarantee anyone you work with that you could stop him from doing that? >> we all recognizing that stabilizing the insurance markets is an important first step but it's not the last. the president said if we pass a

bill he'll sign it. right now, as you know, there is some question about it, because of the way that the bill, obamacare was passed, whether or not they're mandatory or simply discretionary. the if we were able to pass a bill, it would end the debate and help stabilize the market. >> your democratic colleagues say that they're saying out of this vote today for a couple reasons. s see essentially it's a bait and switch. this will be a repeal vote. if you vote to proceed you are therefore voting to repeal because that's the only thing on the table and the idea of amendments, you have the numbers so you can control what the amendments are and you'd box the democrats out so they're avoiding it. what do you say? >> i say that's not the case. under the budget reconciliation process, the so called votorama, every senator has a right to have it voted on. we'll be voting on a number of different amendments. the i'm not sure they're

interesting interested in an outcome and actually passing legislation. every single senator, democrat the and republicans will have an opportunity to offer an amendment. we will vote on repeal and a two-year transition. that's important to some of our members. a number of the medicaid expansion states have what they believe is a better solution than the status quo. they'll also offer that. i think on balance. what this better care act does is it improves the status quo and no vote is simply a vote to maintain the status quo, which i think we all recognize is unacceptable. >> why the rush? why not do it the ordinary way of going into the committee, having the hearings, brings in the testimony, and promulgating this policy the way you normally would? >> well, we've been debating it for seven years and unfortunately health care has become partisan. that's really to the detriment of the country. we need to get back to

bipartisan health care legislati legislation. unfortunately when the democratic colleagues lost the majority, they realize what an albatross obamacare has been for them at the ballot box. the so they're now kicking it over to us and saying see what you can do. can you do better? if we can't do better we into ed so simply go home. i believe we can do better. it would be better yet if our democratic colleagues would work with us and settle the partisan nature of health care legislation. that really doesn't serve the best interest of the country. we need to get back to that. >> let me get your head on something else that's going on now. what do you say to the president and his open attacks of his earliest senate supporter jeff sessions. he said he had a very weak position this morning. he should be going after hillary clinton and he isn't. you know what he said in his "new york times" interview

saying sessions had done the wrong thing. the what's your mess taj to the president. >> i know jeff sessions well and it's a good and honorable man and es think he's doing what he believes he's obligated to do under the rules that go eagover attorney generals. and in order to restore the credibility of the department of justice and the fbi, something we sorely need. that he made the right decision to recuse himself. i i agree with him. i think in order to maintain the impression of impartiality, which is so important to building public confidence, that i think jeff sessions did the right thing. >> well, we'll see what happens, and if sessions is removed for decides to step away because of all this heat, it will be interesting to see how colleagues like you react in the senate. thank you very much for joining us. good luck with the vote today. >> thank you very much. >> okay, chris.

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when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. >> so, this is a very exciting day for me. my first book comes out today. trustee a novel called "amanda wakes up." it's about an idealistic young journalist trying to navigate the news world during a crazy presidential race. to talk about it i'm going to turn it over to our reliable sources host, brian sette brian. great to have you here. >> i'm taking over the congratulations. when you first told me you were

writing a novel, i wondered how much was real and how much was fictional. >> well, you write what you know. as they say. for your first book. the so, it's based on my 25 years in news. the all of my experience in this business. and all of the sort of ethical dilemma as we face and challenges is melded in there. >> it feel the a lot like it's about the 2016 election. when did you start writing. >> i would have been a miracle worker if i had written this during the 2016 presidential campaign because a we were a lit busy. and i don't think books can come out that fast i started writing it in 2012 i didn't know it was going to be a book. i started writing it because -- we forget now that we've just lived through 2016. that was also a crazy presidential race and it was filled with lots of colorful characters. frank i l i was struggling

during part of that time because there were so many ethical issues, particularly when my boss at the time had one version of how he watch the things depict the. and i started writing things down to try to kind of process. >> i think when people read it and see these characters they're going to think it's about 2016. so it's incredible that you did all that beforehand. >> well look i knew 2016 was coming, so as i was writing, even in 2014 i was making a pretty safe bet there would be a female president candidate and there would be some sort of larger than life male candidate. i can't say those didn't end up covering some of it. le but i sold this book, i should say at the beginning of 2015. the and donald trump didn't get into the race until june of 2015. >> your character's named amanda gallo. how is she like you and not? >> amanda gallo is very

idealistic. i like to think on my best days i am too. the she's really trying to do the right thing. i think she figures things out faster than i do to tell you the truth. but look. it's not just about a young journalist. it's about the story of a woman in the work place and trying to figure out when enough is enough, what she's willing to sacrifice for success. i think that awful us, you know, can relate to that on some level. >> it's all in this morning show environment which is so strange, everyone wakes up at 3:00 in the morning gets their hair and makeup done. it's such a weird unique environment. what are you trying to tell ra readers about morning tv. >> i was trying to peel back the curtain on what our lives are like. i think most of the fun story and interesting story happens behind the scenes. all the relationships we have and all of the decisions is that are being made in real-time

amend the breathless quality to our job. i've tried to capture that for the viewers because often i thought if there were a camera just trained on us during commercial breaks that the audience would be fascinated. >> and there's a handsome male coanchor you have. the is he based on chris cuomo. >> you mean the scathing han some character in the book? he is based on some coworkers that i have had. >> a combination. >> a comzit -- i did steal some of chris's best lines, with permission from chris. >> we saw last year real-life stranger than any puck sfiction. do you feel like you're topping anything from last year. >> i couldn't but i'll try.

something funny happened while writing the book that is that things that i already wrote did come to pass. >> such as? >> the talk of illegal voting, that illegal voting had somehow changed the outcome of the election. by the way, that's what donald trump also came to say. and i wrote it years before that. because i mean the truth is i'd like to pretend i'm psychic but apparently there are favorites. i had here, years ago writ than gisell. bun chin the idea. all sorts of things i planted and my editor the and i would scream when we realized it's actually happening. >> the title amanda wakes up, what is her awakening. what does she realize. >> you have to read it. she does go through an awakening, and basically, she really, really tries to see both

sides. and she realizes that she does have some biases, she does have some preconceived notions, and she does need an awakening for how to be a truly fair journalist. >> amanda wakes up, out today in bookstores. >> thanks so much. >> that is great. so amanda wakes up is one kind of baby. but we have more good stuff. the other babies. new editions to the knew day family. take a look. one of our producers, leslie tucker miller. knew boy an saturday. liam patrick. our publicist also gave birth to a little boy. leo cameron. moms, babies all healthy. we love healthy babies, makes live worth living. and this, your latest baby. >> a long gestation period of five years for my baby that has been birthed today. >> you are looking well.

you've come through it well. >> i feel good. little exhausted from it but i feel good. available at your local bookstores today. >> i'm ordering 100 of them. >> great christmas presents. >> is it which is only half of what you told me i have to buy. >> thank you for all of that. i really appreciate it. time now for cnn news room with pop poppy harlow. >> he has

hey, i've got the trend analysis. hey. hi. hi. you guys going to the company picnic this weekend? picnics are delightful. oh, wish we could. but we're stuck here catching up on claims. but we just compared historical claims to coverages. but we have those new audits. my natural language api can help us score those by noon. great. see you guys there. we would not miss it. watson, you gotta learn how to take a hint. i love to learn. watson, you gotta learn how to take a hint. you myour joints...thing for your heart... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

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811 is available to any business our or homeownerfe. to make sure that you identify where your utilities are if you are gonna do any kind of excavation no matter how small or large before you dig, call 811. keep yourself safe. . good morning every. i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman. public shaming, sit twalistic humiliation. that's what friends are for. an extraordinary morning with the president launching new attacks against the attorney general. will jeff sessions last