an advanced fiber-network infrustructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. . welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thanks for sharing your day with us. day two for white house chief of staff john kelly who's quickly making his mark. if you were worried, president tweets, he isn't about to give up tweeting. on the menu nor republicans, a choice to try again now with obamacare or ignore president

trump and his pressure and move on to something else. plus a big question. were your tax dollars used to help the president's son twist the truth? the "washington post" reports that the president while on air force one with the help of taxpayer paid white house aides personally worked with donald trump jr. on a misleading statement about a 2016 trump tower meeting with russians. >> if that's true, then that was a bad decision by the president, which will make us ask for questions. when you get caught in a lie about one thing, it makes it hard to just say, let the other stuff go. >> with us to share reporting and insights, jackie kucinich of the daly beast. and bloomberg politics representative and a cnn correspondent. took hours for the foul-mouthed scaramucci to get the boot and general kelly to impose his rules how to get access to the president. those rules we're told apply to everyone including presidential

daughter ivanka trump and presidential son-in-law. . if they hold -- if they hold -- people like the social media director can't just walk into the oval office and suggest a tweet storm? that would be a big change. but can kelly change at least tame the president? that's a big question. for the answer, keep an eye on the twitter feed. actually tame since kelly began work yesterday, but the president serving notice about an hour or so ago he isn't about to go off the grid. "only the fake media and trump enemies want me to stop using social media." he goes on to say, he has 110 million people, only way for me to get the truth out. we start there. is that a message from the president to us? is that a message to general kelly? or a little bit of both? and in general kelly's defense, look at the president's twitter feed in the last -- pretty tame since kelly got on the job. >> the irony, journalists love that the president is -- i mean, it's just like the most direct contact with have to a

president's brain that i can think of, you know, in memory. you're wondering what the president's feeling? he's going to tell you, because he's going to tweet it out first thing in the morning or late in the evening. so maybe this is a message to john kelly. maybe this is a message to his supporters but i don't -- even john kelly cannot imagine he's going to take this job and suddenly be able to stop this president from tweeting, you want to help this president, the last thing you want him to do, don't use social media. it's how he uses social media. we don't want you to stop. senate majority leader, speaker of the house, committee chairman on capitol hill, they might. you were going to say -- i'm sorry. >> no lie. i think sara is right. i don't think anybody wants the particular ed to stop tweeting. you saw a story, forgive me, this morning, kelly trying to wri right the president in terms of afghanistan. in terms of the travel ban. he's taken him, closed the door and had a face-to-face with the president. you're already seeing seeds this

is not someone who will be steamrolled by the president. perhaps because he's a general and the president likes to surround himself by folks in the military. perhaps that will maybe not change things, that clout, but right the ship inside the white house. still remains to be seen. even in 248 hours at this point? a little over 24 hours. >> like anybody bringing in a new job, hiring a person. ease in. make it look like things will be better. that was an easy thing for him to do yesterday, to fire scaramucci. like i'm making my impact and we're jumping at it, saying, look, he's going to get the place ship-shape. we'll have to see how this plays out. >> easy thing. even the president, all the attention after scaramucci got with the foul-mouthed vulgar "new yorker" interview even the president was a little repulsed by that. the president said, yes, go for it. i so want you to take this job. you can fire him. the president's first instinct

bring in anthony scaramucci. his first reflex. if you're general kelly you have to be thinking about that. >> and talking to the hfairly short history of the white house chief of staff. we don't know what general kelly negotiated behind the scene, but he thinks probably very important for him to have told the president, i have red lines. if you cross the red lines, i will walk. i don't expect that's a conversation any of us will become privy to. but that could include something like twitter. for example, where the chief of staff says, i know you need to tweet. part of how you operate. either run them past me or if you say things demonstrably false in the tweets i won't stick around and defend you. whatever the parameters of conversations we don't know the details of yet may very much have been part of the negotiation. >> and evidence he in the past thought about resigning or threatened to resign or said he should resign. he's already walked up to that a

few times. we know he's capable of it. >> to that point yesterday. cnn reporter, when the president fired the fbi director. homeland security secretary john kelly, over at homeland security called comey. don't know each other well and found it distasteful. didn't like it. didn't like it. maybe i'll resign, too. i don't like the way this is happening and comey told him to stay. i don't know if the president knew that before he hired john kelly but knows it now. what does that do? >> hiring a rule-following kind of guy. people who know john kelly say he's not illogical but believes to an order of the way things should be run and that was distasteful to him. one of the other things on the president's tweets and the notion of reining them in. jeff sessions thing. someone like john kelly probably finds distasteful and others on the hill. president saying, yeah, thinking about firing jeff sessions but feels boxed in and needs to get it out. vent. ultimately fileted his attorney general on twitter a couple

days. didn't actually fire him, and he got to sort of test out what would happen if he did. republicans responded forcefully and said, it's going to be a huge problem if he tried to do that. in that sense, some aides think it's helpful for the president to tweet his feels, el phfeels helpless and feedback, no, it's not something you can actually do. >> we should mention kelly has kind of thrown himself on a grenade for the president. he has -- he said that the whole travel ban limitation was his fault. we don't know that that's actually how things went down, but he took the -- >> how do we know it's not true? >> yeah. i think that -- >> i'll take that one for you. >> thanks. and the other thing he's done, speaking of the president's tweets. the president said he was wiretapped, kelly i think came on cnn and said, well, i'm sure that the president has a really good reason for saying that. he didn't say it wasn't -- some of the other cabinet secretaries maybe other people in the president's party said, i don't know if that's true. kelly didn't.

kelly walked the line and was very loyal to the president on that issue. so it's not that he -- he hasn't called out the president perhaps when he has had an opportunity. >> he has the stand. has the stature. generationally equal with the president. turned down the job before. leverage over the president, talking about red lines. listen here. the president hired one of the stars of my cabinet and the president heaped a lot of praise on his veteran affairs secretary david shulkin, a shold overfrom the obama administration. subcabinet. listen to david shulkin this morning. how dig a deal is this reset? >> i do. i do. i think that this is a reset. i think that -- this is a white house that is dealing with so many issues and trying to move so quickly, that it's taking a while to learn the best way in which to organize itself internally and to represent itself externally and i think we're now on the right path, and

i think everybody's committed to making sure that we support both chief of staff kelly and the president. >> in some says pretty tame and positive, is a pottive of the change. if you just listen to it as he goes through it. a damning indictment. 6.5 months. just now learning, they're just now figuring out how to organize. how to communicate, internally and externally. i thought he was going to run washington bike a business and we were stupid and he hired the best people? that's a -- this is the way -- pretty damning. >> in washington, right? i think we have to see who fills some of these other positions now. who takes over for scaramucci? is that going to reflect, you know a more trump emphasis or be somebody more that can be associated with kelly? i mean, i think there's a lot to play out here yet, but i think people are generally on capitol hill, people i talk to, like, okay. this is, seems like a sane move. >> i'm told the general has a favorite communications

director. won't mention it. won't get in trouble. people figure it out lives in san francisco, helped secretary kelly through his confirmation. has a nice life. see if he can convince him to come to washington. >> and wanted reince priebus gone, ivanka trump sided with him and hoped to get one of their own as chief of staff, instead general kelly. the national economic adviser, calls chief of staff, pushback from conservatives. powell, another friend of ivanka in the white house. president decided to go with general kelly pap tweet, instagram from yesterday from ivanka trump looking forward to serving alongside john kelly. as we work for the american people, general kelly is a true american hero. nice of her to say that. my question, what happens inside? does this rei li-align factions? against sfooechb b against's steve bannon and what does this do? >> i like the serving alongside

line. figure of speech. okay. we're a team. i'm equal to him. is he going to be able to keep the family from running in and out of the oval office? i think that's probably a hard thing to do in any president -- >> is that what the president wants? the president is known to like, not only like people dropping by saying hello but to like tension. call it creative chaos or just chaos depending on your perspective. >> i don't think there's any chance, that general kelly is aiming to keep the family out of the oval office or having dinner with the president or any of the sidebar conversations almost nobody else in the white house really has the ability to do, but the question is, twofold. one, can he diminish the kind of shots across the bow everybody is firing at one another's camp, undercut, competing policy proposals or whatever, personality conflicts. and two, with any degree of assuredness get readouts and

down dow do downloads on what the family, downloads from those people or from the president on all of the nature of those conversations, ideas and people that are being suggestive to the president so he has full awareness of what's is going on in his white house? that's something reince priebus had trouble doing and spent a lot of time trying to be in the room so he could see for himself things nobody else was going to tell him. which was a terrible position from which to try to exert leverage. >> right. >> it's nod bad to have different perspectives in your white house. not bad if you are donald trump and not an ideological conservative, remember, he was a democrat, lived in new york for a while. so it's not bad for him to have steve bannon in one ear and jared kushner in another ear and john kelly, if all of those people are giving you different arguments about, for instance, a policy decision, and then you make your way to an answer, and you make a decision and execute it in a way that is not total chaos and pandemonium. that's kind of like the goal of john kelly in this situation.

it's fine to have lots of perspectives. channel them into something that's actually productive. >> we know he reached out to the democrat leadership. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer, house and senate respectively. a courtesy call. something any new chief of staff would do. is that all, or expect he will somehow try to bring a different approach? >> i think more hope now he could bring a different approach. perhaps, because someone needs to make nice with the hill. someone needs to get all of these people together and start working with each other, because as carl wrote today, the abject threats and other things that happened throughout the health care process haven't worked. ended up, sara said, in chaos. in going down pennsylvania avenue. so -- kelly has a lot of respect on the hill. that could be really good for donald trump. >> there were democrats unhappy with his handling at the homeland security department. thought he was way too tough, and so i mean, we'll see how that's reflected. >> and tough especially in enforcement. what secretary kelly said,

general kelly out of respect, what secretary kelly said then, you passed the laws. either change the laws or shut up is what he said in a speech here in washington. sit tight. the president in air force one helped his son craft a misleading statement about a campaign meeting with russians. if you have medicare

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ykeep you sidelined.ng that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. welcome back. new reporting in the "washington post" today adds a new wrinkle to the special council investigation to russian meddling in the election and whether the president and his team are trying to distort the truth. remember a few weeks back word broke at that june 2016 meeting donald trump jr. took? his initial statement to the media turned out to be less than accurate. to be kind. back then the president's legal

team said the president had no involvement in drafting that statement. >> i wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all. nor was the president. i'm assuming that was between mr. donald trump jr., between don junior and his lawyer. i'm sure his lawyer was involved that's how you do it. you know that. to put this on the president i think is absolutely incorrect. >> absolutely incorrect. the president's private attorney says, well, the "washington post" i noted reports today that in fact the president himself personally dictated his son's misleading statement. the newspaper says as air force one flew back from the g-20 summit in germany the president dictated a statement to white house aide hope pix and served as a go between, between the president and his son to discuss russian adoptions is not true and the account later had to be corrected. what do we make of this? which is a big deal. number one, proves you can't listen to the president's

private attorney who goes on television. apparently what mr. secula was not true and whatever your views on the story you pay for it watching at home using hope pix and other white house employees to help him, puts them in legal jeopardy as well or gets them a conversation with investigation council even if there's nothing to this? >> important for two reasons. number one, brings the white house noi more squarely into the mix about something nfor a long time was about the campaign then the transition and moved into the transition become about the white house, but this makes it more current. it makes it now. not pre-jim comey. now. it also gives the congressional panel and more importantly the special council's office a new line of inquiry that goes directly to the president himself. it's just not -- it's not a good situation.

>> well, why would they come out and say the president had nothing to do with it, if the president had quite a bit to do with it? >> look at this entire meeting. the whole way this unfolded. right? first no discussion, or recording of the meeting's then a few people in the room. then about adoptions. they just have dribbled out what actually went on there, much worse for than than if they'd come clean and admitted the whole thing at the beginning. it's sort of the attitude of this white house that you just take this first offense. we'll say it's about adoptions. and think maybe that's never going to come out. well it does. it really looks -- >> if they haven't figured that part out by now they need to stop, pause and reconsider. no meetinging with russians. jeff sessions had a couple meetings and jared kushner -- even nothing bad about the meetings the fact they said there were none, they trickle out and explanations aren't true. come to the issue of credibility. when the president's legal team now speaks for him, you know,

your first reflex should be to trust these people. trained good lawyers trying to protect the president, who if he did not wrong just needs competent spokesmen for him. jay sekulow after the story, apart of being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, not accurate and not pertinent. what is he trying to say? a bunch of words strewn together? >> he also said the "new york times" reported a version of this. not that the president helped craft it but signed off on it a couple weeks ago, i think. at that point jay sekulow says that report was incorrect. again, a pattern. this is not, crisis com, not the white house strong suit. >> and this story out. if incorrect, if they could challenge it on the facts, they could give us a chronology of what made everyone -- people watching the president on air force one. chronologies how he spends his time. if they could shoot this down --

they could shoot this down. >> and pix is a communication staffer. either the president did or did not dictate this statement to hope pix. they wanted to deny it, hope could put out a statement saying this is flatly inaccurate. i was on air force one with the president. he dictated no such statement to me. they could put that statement out there and call it a day. the problem is, another statement about russia coming from the white house. and we don't know what jay sekulow knew or what their vefr version of events was they told him when the reporting came out. part of the problem. >> the president knew either at the time -- >> right. representing trump, and sort of the trump family, it's you don't know if they're telling you the whole story when you go to them and say, what happened on air force one? when you were trying to decide if you were going to cover for don jr. or jared kushner? and you don't know if any family member including the president is giving you a full account of that. >> and margaret made an important point about the idea we don't know what the president

knew at the time. did we know about the e-mail kman donald trump jr. put out. had to. got caught, and better account, being transparent but the e-mail, dirt on hillary clinton. we want to meet with you. the first story, on a "hannity" program, does your father know about this, point blank asked. >> did you tell your father anything about that? >> it was such a nothing. there was nothing to tell. i mean, i wouldn't have even remembered it, until you start scouring through the stuff. literally a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame. >> a wasted 20 minutes? now the issue is, the "post" reporting again, special counsel, perhaps in the end it's nothing. but talk to hope pix and the others on airs one. eventually the president. >> the reflex of every white house, to say as little as possible when you get into a situation like this. but you don't want to do, say things that will be proven wrong

or proven lies later on. >> or aggressively -- misrepresent -- >> later on, 24 hours later, which keeps happening. >> the problem is jared kushner was also on that plane with the president at the time. he knew about that e-mail chain, because he was on it. so -- the question -- the notion they're crafting this statement with no information, i mean, jared kushner had that information available to him. he was also on that flight with the president. it's hard to believe that they crafted a statement like that even believing at the time that it was going to hold up. proven inaccurate. >> and general kelly brought in to help and the russia cloud. the two things pulling at the trump agenda since day one. people say, where is obamacare repeal? tax reform? nowhere to the found. infrastructure, the border wall. adds more questions, meaning more time to congressional investigations. >> it bothers me a lot, because,

one, he put his son in jeopardy. now we have to wonder about what don junior's team will tell you about what he actually did. if he didn't know about the e-mail, the statement may have fooled you. if you know about the e-mail with don junior, it's a misleading statement. if that's true, that was a bad decision by the president, which will make us ask for questions. when you get caught in a lie about one thing it makes it hard to just say, let the other stuff go. >> that's a republican senator saying that. a lot of times when the democrats on these committees say we need to talk to this witness again, bring this person back, a long way to go. the president, as in the past, see if this is new world order, tweets democrats witchwitch-hun this is a republican senator saying we got to talk to everybody. >> and may end up absolutely nothing except a bad p.r. instance and judgment. when an investigation becomes

squarely about the old cliche, what did you know and when did you know it? it's a hard place to get out of. and general kelly's timing now, couldn't come at a more important time. certainly if there were ever a time for organization, discipline and for everybody to get on the same page, be a little more careful about the messages put out it's now. he's inheriting a lot on his plate. >> and not used to taxpayer dollars and financed employee to do donald trump jr.'s business. just maybe. we'll see. up next, president trump still pushing lawmakers to repeal and place. most of them in their meeting this hour seem ready to reset and look ahead. tax reform or some other big challenge. no, please, please, oh! ♪ (shrieks in terror) (heavy breathing and snorting) no, no. the running of the bulldogs? surprising. what's not surprising?

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like technology that can update itself. an advanced fiber-network infrustructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. welcome back. senators gather for a weekly luncheon at this hour and most republicans have a message for the trump white house -- ishs mind your own business. the president and his team spent the past few days you probably know criticizing the gop senate saying it should try again to find 50 votes for an obamacare repeal and replace plan. with us yesterday, for example, you might remember this -- >> promised folks you'd do this seven years. you cannot go back on that.

>> well, that's the white house budget director. here's the response from texas republican senator john cornyn. number two in the republican senator leadership. >> i don't think he has that much experience in the senate, as i recall. he's got a big job and ought to do that job and let us do our job. ha, you know all of the players. mick mulvaney, used to be a member of the house. he's viewed -- viewed skeptically by the senate anyway. >> a take, doesn't take it well when a former house member tells him how to do their job. struck me over the weekend saying the senate do votes until they do health care. the senate's not going to be driven by that. it's a totally bad strategy. they're trying to figure how to move forward but mick mulvaney is not the answer. >> and the big issue especially for people watches at home is the policy. will the president cut off subsidies to insurance companies hurting low-income people who get obamacare, and what about

exchange problems? short-term fixes debating long-term things and part of it plays out here in the climate in washington and to the point senator cornyn one of them, he's not alone. blount, a key republican senator, stay on health care until we get it done? come back to health care where there's more time to get beyond the moment we're in. put wins on the board, and also in the republican leadership, until someone tells how to get that illusive 51 vote, i think it's over. and president on twitter saturday, sunday, monday. don't be quitters. figure it out. >> look like fools. >> and they they look like fools. much appreciated on capitol hill. >> and not sweating it. >> what does that tell you? not just the health care debate but the senate telling the president go away. >> they know they're more popular in their states, most of them, than the president, and they know that there's not going to be repercussions. he can't do anything to them now. all of the i'd's threats are

falling on deaf ears why it's important to cultivate relationships with these people rather than -- than stick, stick, stick. there has to be carrots here. >> and also things they recognize that are priorities and that they recognize that he is on the cusp of recognizing priorities and then it will be like, we need to get this stuff done and trying to get to it. a series of nominations. right? including the fbi nominee chris ray. issue of the debt ceiling and very real issue about some kind of a tax reform or tax cut plan, because, look, mid-term season is almost upon us. there's a lot of concern that all of these gains in the markets, that the president touts on twitter, are a limited time only and investors expect to see action or a good-faith sign or movement or something, and all of these things are also sharing their to-do list. they know where to be working and campaigning.

>> he feels so close to the votes they needed. so he wants to keep hammering. because when he sees that margin he thinks, we can push them a little harder, get there. what you don't see is, lisa murkowski and susan collins go home for the weekend, free hugs at every stop and airport they're in. john mccain doesn't cast a vote like that and all of a sudden decide he's coming back next week to change his mind. these are not three votes that are just going to, like, flip on a dime. >> and senator mccain, due to his health, he won't be back anyway, until september. the votes just don't exist. you know? end of the day, it's a vote-counting exercise and they're not there. these guys want to do something where it looks like they're doing something. you know, oddly enough, the big legislative achievement so far the russia sanctions. >> the first big if he signs, i guess when he signs it. rand paul talking yesterday. he says, he's got things he thinks can get done. for all criticism republicans

had about the obama administration using executive action, talking about some executive action on health care. >> i'm still very excited about trying to let people join associations across state lines to buy their insurance, and i think he can act by executive order to do this. so we've talked to the secretary of labor, and i'm hoping that president trump will move forward with actually doing some of this through executive action. i think the president is very open to this and so i'm keeping up the dialogue we ought to try to do something. >> is that going to be the earned he earn end here? bailouts, others call them subsidies on obamacare. bigger question. if the congressionalest collapses or put on pause, is that what will happen? president trump use the executive action? >> a sign of weakness if this is what you are resort to and do

litt things around the margins. he can do a few things but it won't resolve the issue on either side. >> interesting to watch going forward and watch republican senators coming out of that lunch. open to the president's nudge or more defiant. up next, the president talks tough to an adversary that stands tough with less confrontational rhetoric. e of b. but who takes care of mom? office depot/office max. this week, filler paper just one cent with five dollar minimum purchase. ♪taking care of business. twith choices like the classicr. crab lover's dream and new favorites like dueling crab legs with dungeness and snow crab. it's happening right now right here at crabfest. red lobster. now this is seafood.

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welcome back. vice president pence traveling overseas with tough words for vladimir putin of russia today. >> the united states of america strongly condemns russia's occupation on georgia soil. >> that's in georgia today. estonia yesterday. the vice president trying to assure russia's nervous neighbors the trump administration will not allow them to be bullied. >> at this very moment, russia continues to seek to redraw international borders by force. president trump has called on russia to cease its destabilizing activities.

my purpose here today is to reinforce that message. >> now as proof of that commitment the vice president made note of new u.s. sanctions about to be imposed on russia. >> in signing the sanctions, our president and our congress are speaking with a unified voice that -- that those matters that the president spoke about so eloquently in warsaw, about russian destabilizing activities, about russia's efforts to support rogue regimes, has to change. for there to be a change in our relationship with russia, russia has to change its behavior. >> well put. well put in explaining his policy. is his policy the president's policy? the vice president there saying you know, we're about -- talked about unity between the president and congress on the

sanctions bill. the president didn't want the sanctions bill. a huge bill passed, the president had no choice but to sign it. sitting on his desk at the white house and has not signed it. not only not signed it, hasn't said anything tab anywhere close to what the vice president is saying. why? >> typical what we would expect from an american top official in a place like that. that kind of tough talk about russia. the white house has been contorting itself a little bit to look like it supports the russia sanctions bill. i suspect there might be a signing statement that's going to come out with this bill, and maybe try and loosen some of the provisions. maybe taking time to write a signing statement. >> those watching at home and don't understand the language, signing statement, sign it into law but disagree with provision x, y, and z talked about the president so eloquently

explained in warsaw. the president wa in warsaw before the g-20 meeting and did talk about russian aggression. listen. >> we urge russia to cease it's destabilizing activities in ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes including syria and iran. and to, instead, join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and a defense of civilization itself. >> he did say that. not as detailed as the vice president. no mention of the election meddling in the speech, but he did say that. the problem is he undermined himself on the same trip, very same town, when asked about russian election meddling and did it happen, he said this -- >> mistakes have been made. i agree. i think it was russia, but i think it was probably other people and/or countries, and i see nothing wrong with that statement. >> are we -- we understand that

questions about the election, questions about the legitimacy of his victory get under the president's skin and have kept him from condemning the russian election meddling. are we just stuck there? are we stuck in that time warp and will not break from it, even though he's been president for six months now? >> the rest of the administration and congress has broken from it and is moving on, and to some extentying his hands. carl is right. we'll all look to see what wiggle room the administration tries to carve out for itself. in fair inside, any administration would. barack obama had this, george bush, also seek to assert as much space to try to control the issue as they could. part of president's power. of course, politics in president trump's situation loaded on top of it. you hear mike pence speak forcefully it sends one signal, that this is the u.s. posture. the second signal, when i hear the president saying these things. when president trump himself speaks that way it will send a different senate.

it's constructive vladimir putin executed retaliatory moves on u.s. personnel and stuff in russia after the congressional act, rather than waiting for donald trump for two reasons. number one, he knows that it's congress making decisions now. and two, perhaps his effort to try to encourage the president to use as much wiggle room as he can. >> and, please -- >> no. i mean, i think that margaret's right. i think it's telling that there were no, or very few, let's say, republicans who came to the administration's defense. yes, every administration wants more president's power but historically we would have seen more meshes of congress side with the president on that, and maybe weaken the majority with which this was passed by. we really did not see very many people come to the administration's defense because they don't trust president trump on the issue of russia because they've seen the statement he's made publicly and he doesn't necessarily believe that russia meddled in our election and inclined to think that, a

400-manned-pound in his basement helping and that the intelligence agencies do not agree with him on that. >> republicans don't trust him, think he wants to be more friendly with putin and one of the reasons the vice president took that trip, in the baltics, in georgia today, those governments and elected legislatures, remember during the campaign when president trump said things like this -- >> he's not going to go into ukraine. mark it down, put it down. >> he's already there, isn't he? >> the people of crimea, from what i've heard, would rather be with russia than where they were. >> no, that was candidate trump. candidates learn. all candidates learn, being president, but one of the reasons when the vice president travels the leaders in estonia and latvia and georgia and elsewhere want to hear it again and again and again and again. they still have -- >> want to be reassured that the white house actually knows what's going on over there.

>> no question the vice president does. he's won a lot of praise even from democrats being out there sometimes pulling the president with him on these issues. up next, has the white house had a hand in furthering a reckless conspiracy theory? there's nothing more important to me than my vacation. so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your vacation is very important. that's why booking.com makes finding the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah!

allergytry new xyzal®.ou have symptoms like these for relief is as effective at hour 24 as hour one. so be wise all take new xyzal®. welcome back. there's a new lawsuit that makes troubling allegations about a story that forced fox news to issue a retraction. the story concerned seth rich, democratic national committee aide found shot to death in washington last summer. a former d.c. detective is suing fox. wheeler says the network fabricated a story about the investigation and wheeler says that story was coordinated with the white house and a wealthy republican donor. now the lawsuit first reported by npr says the story that fox ran with was meant to establish that seth rich leaked the dnc e-mails to wikileaks and thereby

shift attention, shift blame away from russia. wheeler claims that president trump reviewed drafts of the story before it came out. and that fox reporter malia zimmerman maze up close with wheeler, also a fox news contributor. the network released a statement saying, "the accusation that foxnews.com published malia zimmerman's story to help detract from russian collusion is completely erroneous. the retraction of the story is still being investigated" the statement says, and no evidence rod wheeler was misquoted by zimmerman. fox news vehemently denies the lawsuit and this has nothing to do with race. thinking the president wa zscs u briefed and new about this, is will be interesting to see play

out in court. one damning piece of information, makes you roll your eyes, the way the business is supposed to work and how it sometimes works in this white house, sean spicer confirms a month before the story ran, the investor and the investigator, met at the white house with spicer, to brief them on what they were uncovering. >> this is an, something that started as internet conspiracy theory, and that has made its way at least in terms of, with sean spicer, into the white house. and that -- it's -- it's problematic. it's troubling. and i would be remiss if i didn't say i just feel terrible for seth rich's family. that they continue to have to deal with this story and hear about it while grieving the loss of their son. >> right. beyond the lawsuit, recycling the whole thing for this family, which has been through neff.

>> perplexing if you're sean spicer or anyone at the white house would have taken this meeting? why would you want to be involved? you want it to think it is wrong that the president would actually be involved in this. yeah. this family lost their son and will now have to continue to go through this, because, you know, fox news and specifically sean hannity weren't willing to let it go. so -- that's on them now. >> well, it's a troubling story. we'll keep an eye on the lawsuit. again, always be careful when lawsuits are filed. sometimes people have motivat n motivations for lawsuits. troubling details. thanks everybody for coming in. see you back here this time tomorrow. thanks nor joining us on "inside politics." wolf blitzer in the chair after a quick break. yeah, well it was $30 before my fees, like the pizza-ordering fee and the dog-sitting fee... and the rummage through your closet fee. who is she, verizon? are those my heels? yeah! yeah, we're the same size...in shoes.

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i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wr6r7 you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. up first -- the new chief of staff takes charge over at the white house, but an old problem resurfaces for the trump white house. that problem is clearly russia. the "washington post" reports that the president dictated a misleading statement issued by donald trump jr., his son, about

his meeting with a russian lawyer. the statement portrayed the meeting as primarily about the adoption of russian children here in the united states, but e-mails later revealed that trump's son was hoping to get damaging information on hillary clinton. a lawyer for the president has denied in the past that the president played any role in the statement. >> the president was not, did not draft the response. i do want to be clear. the president was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. i wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all, nor was the president. >> bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta from the north lawn at the white house. jim, the president's attorney jay sekulow, you heard him pushing back against what is the charge in this "washington post" report. what is he now saying? >> reporter: wolf, it's interesting. the denial coming from jay sekulow is not quite at emphatic as you heard in the clips from