good evening. we begin tonight with an extraordinary day in american politics. a day unlike any we've seen in decades. a day enwhich two american republican senators sounded the alarm the president's behavior is debasing the country and destabilizing institutions. republican senator bob corber, a frequent target of the president's said the president

should leave the details of the tax plan to congress. the president lashed out to senator corker on twitter complete with nicknames and things that just aren't true. cnn's manu raju spoke with senator corker today. >> nothing he said in his tweets today were true or accurate, and he knows it. and people around him know it. i would hope the staff over there would figure out why he's so controlling and know that everything he said today was absolutely untrue. >> is the president of the united states a liar? >> the president has great difficulty with the truth on many issues. >> let's take two of those issues from the president's tweets today. the first he wrote, quote, bob corker who wrote -- keep in mind we're not privy to senator corker dog catching prowess or

lack thereof, but the statement about -- writing quote, congress should reject this deal is send it back to the president. when it ultimately came up for a vote senator corker voted against it. next corker tweeted the president dropped out of the race. >> four times he encouraged me. i don't know it's amazing. unfortunately, i think world leaders are very aware of it. much of what he says is untrue, and people here are because these things are provably untrue. they're just factually incorrect and people know the difference. so i don't know why he lowers himself to such a low, low standard and debases our country

in the way that he does, but he does. >> the white house would have you believe the president's tweets are a great to communicate directly with the american people. others would believe there's nothing to see her, just another twitter feud. here's what paul ryan said today. >> let's focus on helping people, improving people's lives and doing the things we said we would do that accomplishes that. that's what we should be focused on. >> this is not just the twitter this and twitter that. this is the president of the united states saying untrue things continually, daily untruths, false statements, this statements of facts, lies, call them whatever you want. it happens so often with such regularity that it starts to seem normal. it's anything but. the president's words and behavior have consequences. the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee now saying publicly the leaders of other countries are aware the

things the president says are untrue. just a few hours ago senator jeff flake announced he would not be seeking re-election and in so doing gave an extraordinary rebuke of the president from the senate floor. here's some of what he said. >> we must never adjust to the present coarseness of our national dialogue with the tone set at the top. we must never meekly accept the daily sun green of our country, the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institution, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency, reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused and countenance as telling it like it is. when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified. and when such behavior emanates from the top of our government

it is something else. it is dangerous to a democracy. i am aware that there is a segment of my party that believes anything short of complete and unquestioning loyalty to a president belongs to my party is unacceptable and suspect. if i have been critical it is not because i relish criticizing the behavior of the president of the united states. if i have been critical it is because i believe it is my obligation to do so. and as a matter and duty of conscience, the notion that one should stay silent as the norms and values that keep america strong are undermined and as the reliance and agreements that ensure the stability of the entire world are routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters, a notion that we should say or do nothing in the face of such mercurial behavior is, arb, historic and i believe

profound profound profoundly misguided. >> as for white house reaction, sarah sanders was asked. >> i certainly think history is going to look at this president as somebody who helped defeat isis, who built an economy that's been stronger than its been in several decades, who's created over 1.7 million jobs since being elected. i think those are the things people actually care about, not some petty comments from senator corker or senator flake. >> petty comments is something this white house is familiar with. cnn's correspondent jeff zeleny joins us now. the white house seems to want to play down what happened between the senator and the president. >> they do. and it is a growing storm. i think it's so important to take note of the full stock of this day as you were just

saying. this was extraordinary watching a senator from a sitting party denounce his own president. we're not talking about fights between democrats and republicans that have become routine. this is a fight inside the republican party. this is a fight as i talked to one republican today, the heart and soul of the republican party. and the reality is the white house wants to show this is simply a one off here. but they do realize that the reality here is there is such a narrow room for error here. if the president's ajnlda wants to get through they need virtually all of these votes, including the vote of senator flake and senator bob corker as well. if they want to nominate new people. senator corker is presiding over the foreign relations committee for another 14 months or so. so we sat in the room and again and again people voted for this president because they like his strength -- there may be some

glee in the steve bannon the former white house chief strategist, part of the world going hard after jeff flake. but the reality is who will replace him? that is the question that worries republicans in this town, has the whole agenda been undermined here, anderson. >> president trump's trip, what do they say about that visit. >> it was largely overshadowed. the president was up on capitol hill talking to senate republicans. he did not mention at all this sort of food fight that was going on back and forth between him and senator corker. they did talk about tax reform. but the reality here is this is still a very tough lift and made even harder today. with every comment from jeff flake going out on the senate floor will there be other senate republicans who also find it within them to speak out against this administration? of course not many.

loyalty is still viewed as a very important characteristic here at the white house, and those people running for office will be loyal. but these votes are so important. tax reform is one thing republicans are still clinging onto tonight. there's still not an exact path as to how they will happen. >> maggy, have you seen a day like this? >> no, think about how many times we've said that over the course of the last three years. this is staggering. one of the take-aways you have two senators bob corker and jeff flake saying i can't take anymore of this and i'm not running for re-election. basically you have two people who are freed to buck the president as hard as possible in as raw terms as possible because they're not at risk anymore. the question then becomes when there be a ground swell of others behind them.

there is no evidence of that so far. he be been against trump for a long time. corker has been a much slower and deliberate burn. their language today was very, very different. corker essentially called the president unfit for office. flake clearly did. whether that then leads to new criticism or rising criticism remains to be seen. what you saw from paul ryan does not suggest there are a lot of people who are going to follow them into the breach. >> david, people may say this on capitol hill privately, but to maggy's point, unless they plan to leave office, it doesn't seem like you're going to hear a lot of people standing up like this. >> i think we probably won't see others standing up, anderson. we now have two additional republican senators who have broken sharply with the president, cries from the heart, just a moral indignation of what

they've been living with and what they've kept silent about. and what that means is the president now has three people who have broken with him. corker, flake, and mccain. and he can't lose more than two on any big vote that's coming up. he also has the susan collins thing out there. so his coalition to get things passed is now in some jeopardy. after giving these very tough speeches, it may be very, very hard for senator mcconnell and others to convince them to go along with policies like corker is very sensitive about the size of the debt and whether the tax reform bill is going to add a lot of money to debt. and he'll vote against it. he said he won't vote for one more penny beyond what he's already agreed to. so this does jeopardize the

president's path. >> you said it's a day like no other. can you just explain why you say that? >> well, i can't remember a time in american history when their loyalty to the president is such a premium. senators have broken away from a party of a president of their own party and placed his agenda in jeopardy, placed his presidency in some jeopardy. it's extraordinary. we've just never had anything like this. we've had rumblings before, we've had anger before at presidents. but to have these kind of open breaks with the inflammatory language they used and its moral language, it is about moral unacceptability of the president. that goes well beyond anything we've seen. >> chairman rogers, do you agree

with david this is something we haven't seen? >> obviously we had impeachments before where members broke with their party. that's pretty serious stuff. but i think this is very indicative of what's going in enpolitics. remember beth of these really started with personal jabs from the president to these members and then this gunfight back and forth for both of these members. and it became so personal. if you look at politics across the country it is mean, it's small, it's petty and it's personal. and i worry about the health of politics in both parties, by the way. look at what happened with the democrats in las vegas, they were fighting amongst themselves with the same kind of fervor, just didn't get any media attention. that's what worries me most about this. yes, trump brings a lot of this on himself. yes, i think he weakens his position for changing big things in washington when he starts singling out his own party and goes after them personally. but if you look at politics at every level in this country, the

social media boom has been really, really good for communication for just everybody. but it's also been really, really bad and it gives people permission to be this mean. that's why people are saying this is a hard enough job as it is. it's almost a way of life. you have to be in two places, away from your family a lot. you cannot have a bigger influence somewhere else. i know one person that made that decision looking at how mean politics was getting and how little focus starts to go on the things that matter in people's lives. and politics in this town has gotten away from things that matter in people's lives and gotten that personal animus that i hope ends soon. >> but it also raises questions about where does the republican party go? what does the republican party look like 2, 4, 6 years from now? >> what we've seen in its primaries there have been a number of insurgents who have run increasingly hard right.

the president has not been increasingly part of that agenda, and he's concerned with his base leaving him. he's run a very, very hard right anti-immigration campaign in the primaries, and that's what bolted him ahead. the president is personally pleased a at today's events. he's personally pleased flake is not running. >> he sees it as a victory. >> it's a victory for him. that's how he sees it in his mind. if you're a republican leader, you're concerned you're going to get a lot of hard right candidates who either can't win the states in arizona where there's been a trend in democrats that had their eye on trying to turn it into at least a purple state over the course of a couple of cycles in the future. they think they may be able to accelerate that. very conservative who a lot of

established gop leaders have been against. the concern is that if someone like kelly were the nominee, you end up with a lot of people who basically can't capture their states that could impact the senate majority. and the map looks pretty good for republicans next year. >> there's also a message senator flake is sending essentially saying history is going to judge people harshly, and when he looks back he wants -- he asked the question what did i do? well, a lot of critics say, well, you're stepping aside. you're not actually remaining in the fight. >> sure. well, listen, senator flake is obviously angry about the politics in his own state. his own popularity is down to 18%. and there's a very good chance he was the republican likely to lose re-election. he's obviously caught up in the political side of this. anderson, the three cases we have here of corker and flake, what we have are three senators

who go beyond politics. they're really worried about what's going to happen to the country. they're deeply worried wale get into war with miscalculation by the president. and they're deeply worried about what it's going to do to our norms and ideals here at home. that's what senator flake spent most of his time on his departure statement today, in his fair well address so to speak. it's about the legacy to come. and they want to get out and away from and not support what they see are really dangerous trends for the country. >> chairman rogers, do you see any other republicans who plan to run again speaking up if they have these same feelings? >> listen, i think republicans have been pretty open about talking about the pettiness and sometimes those personal attacks that i just think are absolutely nonsense and not fitting for the office of the prezitancy. i think i've heard them say

that. but what i think republicans doing, and remember standing up and walking away for the entire republican party is not going to happen. nor are members going to awith a walk away from things they've been trying to accomplish of what they think is good for the country is wrong. remember, the administration is bigger than a president. so they're going to work in the national security circles. i know john mccain is doing certainly a lot of that work to try to make sure that the administration of this government is well-positioned in case that there is something big happen ins asia, let's say. or that we have to continue this fight against isis, we need people of those stature, of that interest, of that knowledge-base continuing to work through that. what you hope happens is these republicans in both the house and the senate start to lead up, so they stay out of the pettiness and start to lead up to the white house about the kinds of things we can

accomplish to get done. that's what i think republicans are going to start doing. what he was trying to say is we are rolling up our sleeves every day on this tax bill, and that's what we're going to focus on. that's what i think you're going to see republicans do in the days and weeks ahead. >> the problem with that, though, and i think this goes to your original question what an extraordinary day this was, as everything gets reduced to as ryan described it petty bickering, this was not petty bickering. what we saw today was unusual. bob corker, he criticized the president, the president was watching television and took to twitter. bob corker then twitter and then gave another in a series of extraordinary interviews where he is basically making clear he considers the president to be

beyond the bounds of normalcy. that is not a petty dispute. >> thanks very much. coming up, how both senators comments are playing out on capitol hill, what colleagues are saying next. and how senator corker how world leaders are aware most of what the president says is untrue. breaking down that ahead. get 4 unlimited lines for just $40 bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now netflix included. so go ahead. binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network. you're more than just a bathroom disease.. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms.

crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability. remission can start with stelara®. talk to your doctor today. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options for stelara®.

(cheering) a triangle solo? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money sam and yohanna saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. extraordinary rebukes today from two republican senators against the president. senator bob corker said the president's debasing the united states and struggles with the truth. senator jeff flake says for him it's now a matter of conscience. phil, senator flake's retirement announcement, what are you hearing about how this came about? >> there's no question there were political elements of this. the senator and his campaign aides have told me have been pulling down in arizona for a

while now. they recognize not just a well funded and well liked challenger in his primary they recognized was going to be difficult. there was also the person. i think anybody's who's been paying attention have seen the seeds of this sewn from the senator. week after week he wrote a book about this, he declined to endorse president trump. he's spoken about this repeatedly on-air, on the senate floor that there were significant problems he had with the trekz of the republican party, problems he laid out very clearly on the senate floor. take a listen. >> it is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end. in this century a new phrase has entered the language to describe the accommodation of a new and undesirable order. that phrase being the new normal. that we must never adjust to the present coarseness of our national dialogue with the tone

set at the top. >> anderson, i know you guys have made this point a lot, but it's worth noting again. the idea that a sitting republican senator would go onto the senate floor and make a speech like he did regarding a sitting republican president is simply unprecedented. a number of senators i spoke with after today called it historic, they never expected to see anything like they did on the senate floor. but there was also a somber mood how this came about and the recognition they were losing a colleague they liked. >> as far as the impact both highly respected on had hill, what are the senators you've been talking to saying about all of this? >> it's an interesting thing. you talk to republicans, there were many who almost gave a standing ovation on the senate floor. not a lot, but a handful after the senator finished his remarks. it was the democrats i think were the most jarred by what they'd seen. i caught with senator cory

booker, and another not just about the individual on the man but on the institution as a whole. >> i think this is a sign, a terrible sign of a growing, flashing neon sign that the institution is breaking down, and that a guy like that who is such an honorable man, a truth teller as he sees it is leaving the senate. and it's just a bad sign. >> his leaving affirms that working together it's not about -- >> anderson, i think somber again is the best way to put it right now. it's not just for senator flake but senator corker as well. these are reliable republican votes, but reliable members of the senate both parties felt they could work with. not just with this administration but past administrations as well we've seen in such short supply.

>> right after senator flake, he spoke with cnn's jake tapper and explained why in more detail he felt he need to say the things he said about president trump. have you ever seen a day like this? >> no. >> two sitting senators like this going after the president? >> no. i think historically you'd have to go back to the impeachment of nixon. not even clinton because there were democrats that were criticizing bill clint's behavior but they were not going at the core of his character the way we've seen flake and corker and mccain and susan collins and ben sas cue as well. it's historic. the question is this number going to stay small? >> you asked him if he thought his colleagues who haven't spoken out against the president are complicit on the debasement of our nation.

this is what he said. >> i can only speak for myself, and i don't think we ought to normalize this kind of behavior. the president, you know, tweeting at people and even foreign leaders, opposition figures, calling our democratic colleagues losers or clowns, these kind of things are things that we shouldn't be okay with. and it happened during the campaign. some of us spoke out during the campaign. the problem is we keep waiting for a pivot that simply isn't happening. >> are there actually members of congress who are still believing there's going to be some sort of a pivot? >> no, i don't think so. maybe hope springs e-term, but i think maybe the facts are what the facts are. i think people are hoping that they can muster through with this type of situation. look, a lot of republicans like the energy, like the fact that president trump brought them to the house, agree with him on a

lot of ishes. that's not to say there aren't a lot of republicans on capitol hill who think we're making too big a deal of this, and we're all liberal media -- of course there are. but i think when it comes to the republic republican establishment and republican leaders throughout the country, there's a recognition this behavior is not normal, and it would be better if he changed it. but they don't expect he ever will. >> there has been criticism of senator flake today people saying, look, if you really believe what he's say, is the conclusion, well, i'm going to step aside and give up are or should the conclusion be i'm going to fight, i'm going to try to run and if i go down swinging i'm going to go down swinging? >> craw, i asked him that question, why not just fight for it. he's facing a very trump-like

character, kelly ward. she's called for mccain to step down. she's like that ilk of the party. he's just accepting the fact -- i mean i said this, i said it sounds like history's going to judge you well, but you think the republican voters of arizona won't. and he said yes. >> let's just play that. >> i think this fever will break. i don't know that'll it'll break by next year. right now the vast majority of those who voted in republican primaries seemed to be okay with the president's policies and behavior. >> because it seems like the message from him stepping down is, you know, good people who do not believe in this president should just give up. >> well, if they're in states that make it difficult, i'm not

going to justify his decision one way or the other, but the fact is re-election was going to be very, very difficult for him. the heart of the republican party in places like arizona or tennessee where corker's from are with trump the way they are with flake or corker. i think sarah sanders said something like that earlier today. here's the thing. the she said the voters are with the president and not with flake or corker. the republican voters in those states are. but that's not the population of the nation. and you see this in the polls. president trump is focused on the base. and that seems to really be his only focus. and that's going to mean that republicans like bob corker and jeff flake who are conservative republicans but, you know, willing to do deals with democrats and establishment types, they're not going to fair well. but zwrenerally speaking president trump is not winning

the hearts and minds of most americans. >> but it is interesting -- i mean flake's not going anywhere for a while. >> 15 months. >> right, corker as well. so they're going to continue to be the voices out there, and to the point earlier, are other people going to be joining them. that's one of the things to watch. >> i doubt it. we'll see how many join. but here's the other thing. president trump has a legislative agenda, and where are corker and flake going to be if they're not only with the president but they reswrept him and think he's degrading the nation? where are they going to be if something happens with the mueller investigation or senate or house intelligence committees that require some action on their part? the president is alienating these people that are there to help him. up next how republicans see this remarkable day. are they worried about the gop infighting, that's ahead.

ything to get pregnant. new one-a-day couples pack gives you both nutritional support you may need. for her to prepare for a healthy baby and for him to support healthy sperm. be in it together. you know win control? be this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender. (vo) go national. go like a pro. but you know it's you, so know this. the activated charcoal in charco caps absorbs gas for fast gas relief without passing the gas. charco caps, put less boom in the room. for fast gas relief without passing the gas.

our recent online sales success seems a little... strange?nk na. ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. they're affordable and fast... maybe "too affordable and fast." what if... "people" aren't buying these books online, but "they" are buying them to protect their secrets?!?! hi bill. if that is your real name. it's william actually. hmph! affordable, fast fedex ground. helping small businesses.ut, jamie -- damage your vehicle? we got you covered. [ glass shatters ] property damage? that's what general liability's for. what?! -injured employee? -ow. workers' comp helps you pay for a replacement. what's happening? this is carla. how's it going? and if anything comes up, our experts are standing by. ♪ boo!

more now on the stunning day in washington. two retiring republican senators going after a sitting republican president, attack his moral

character. bob corker of tennessee says the president is difficult with the truth on many issues and jeff flake from arizona says he wont be complicit in the white house. >> there's an undeniable potency of a populous appeal of mischaracterizing or misunderstanding our problems and giving in to the pim pulse of escape goat and belittle -- the impulse to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us ninety-two a fearful backward looking people. in the case of the republican party those things also threaten to turn us ninety-two a fearful backward looking minority party. >> joining me on their take of all this, former communications director for ted cruz and also a former senior advisor to the trump campaign. amanda, what does this mean for the republican party? >> well, i think it means trump is remaking the party in his own

image. there's been a lot of hand wringing tonight justifiably so. if you look at these people who support trump, they're happy with what's going on. and if you think about it, they have a reason to be. essentially they're going to repeal jeff flake and bob corker and replace them with very ardent trump supporting republicans in the form of marsha blackburn, i think is a strong conservative who has positioned herself as a trump surrogate and kelly ward. will they have have difficulty, probably, especially kelly ward. but trump is getting republicans who will support him to the edge of reason rather than jeff flake and bob corker, which is worrisome, but he is driving people who won't go to the limit for him and replacing them -- driving those people out of the party and getting people who will.

so trump's happy. >> jason, the president has reason to be happy, no? >> well, i think amanda made some good points, but my take on it is senator flake is down more than 20 points in a republican primary in arizona and he's down by 10 plus points in the democratic election next year. senator flake was going to lose his own primary. and he even made some comments today aside from his attacks on the president where he essentially admitted that his positions on immigration and on trade issues were out of step with the republican base. and so i think we need to take a step back and look at kind of the full picture here with regard to senator corker. i think it's also important we point out really who he let down today. he let down his constituents in tennessee who alecked him as a conservative to go and fight for tax cuts in these different conservative agenda points. but i think he also let down his fellole colleagues in the u.s.

senate. this was a lunch today where the president was coming in to try to work and senator corker woke up, booked himself on tv and essentially went around doing doing the dirty work of the dnc. and i think most republicans at this point have now turned the page at that point and people forget who corker and flame are. and the breaking news you'll be talking about later is was secretary clinton and the dnc paying for this shady russian research file. that's what most republicans will be talking about. and all this talk about a civil war is really out of the window. >> amanda, is that what you see senator corker doing? >> i see senator corker trying to raise all the alarm bells he can about why president trump is dangerous. and that doesn't make him a democrat or a member of the dnc. i think there's been a lot of analysts talking why this is bad for corker and flake.

i think woo should pay attention to why voters are receptive to this message trump is pushing. in many ways they're dealing with the overhang of the bush administration. if you look at three big issues. amnesty of border control, the bail outs and this war on terror that seems to go on endlessly, you look at these candidates, they're in trouble, and they have some kind of hang ups with these issues. that is why if steve bannon and trump can go in and pummel these guys again and again. the gop war has been going on since the end of the bush administration. while we thought there was going to be a new republican revolution after obama's presidency ended, repeating a republican party dissolution, and donald trump is breaking it apart and remaking it in his own image where he demands ultimate loyalty from candidates, sitting senators, members of the house.

and i sincerely worry what happens when good people decide they can't get on that train and leave and all you're left with are people willing to detrump's bidding. we've got to take a break. we'll talk next to former director of national intelligence james clapper. hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. you've probably seen me running all over the country in search of our big idaho potato truck. but not any more. i am done with that. ooh, ooh hot - just gonna stay home on the farm,

eat a beautiful idaho potato, and watch tv with my dog... tv anncr: the big idaho potato truck pulled into town today and it's really a sight to see. oh man...let's go.... (distant) you comin', boy? sfx: (dog) gulp! woof. what twisted ankle?ask what muscle strain? advil makes pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. he's brought us to the obstructed justice at the fbi. and in direct violation of the constitution, he's taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth.

if that isn't a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become? i'm tom steyer and, like you, i'm a citizen who knows it's up to us to do something. it's why i'm funding this effort to raise our voices together and demand that elected officials take a stand on impeachment. a republican congress once impeached a president for far less. yet, today, people in congress and his own administration know this president is a clear and present danger who is mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons. and they do nothing. join us and tell your member of congress that they have a moral responsibility to stop doing what's political and start doing what's right. our country depends on it.

sounding the alarms bells against the president today senator bob cork squr jeff flake both voiced their concerns about the president on the world stage. they warned the president has, quote, purposely been breaking down relationships around the world. this is the chairman of the foreign relations republican. >> do you trust him with the tuckl nuclear codes? >> i expressed my feelings weeks ago about his leadership and his stability and the lack of desire to be competent on issues and understand, and, you know, nothing has changed. >> senator flake took it step further say ogthen floor of the senate that president trump's tweets threatened the, quote, alliances and agreements that ensure the stability of the world. clapper joins us now. senator corker saying president trump could be sending the u.s. on a path to war.

do you believe that's true the. >> well, it's certainly a possibility, and that's what concerns me about some of the president's intemperate statements in relation to north korea. no one knows what the ignition point is from kim jong-un. kim jong-un is not surrounded by a group of seasoned capable temperate advisers like president trump is. he's it. and what you see surrounding kim jong-un is a bunch of sycophants generals taking notes. >> who are probably in fear of their own lives. >> exactly. that's a management technique kim jong-un has used very effectively. so he gets very little push back. and i do worry what his boiling point might be in the face of

some of these inflammatory tweets and statements the president makes. >> and that's an unknown. >> and by the way, it's worth noting to the extent there's religion in north korea, the dity is kim jong-un and his predecessors, his grandfather and his father. so when you insult the head of state of north korea you're also insulting their diety. >> and other thing senator flake argues, our allies are looking for leadership. what does the lack of leadership in the world look to you? >> what it looks like to me is i think very small groups of the coalition of the willing. i spent a month in australia in june and got asked a lot of questions about what are we going to do to fill this leadership void that has been

traditionally filled by the united states since the end of world war ii. and as we vacate that position of leadership, that causes great angst among our particularly our friends and allies and particularly such is staunch close ally as australia. and that's just one example. >> one of the few countries that followed with us after the world war. for eight days we've watched inane behavior by the president, congresswoman wilson and the chattering class in washington. are the checks and balances we've relied in our history, are they strong enough? >> anderson, i think you've raised the key question. for me, the issue is the country sufficiently resilient to withstand these onslaughts on

our institutions both externally and internally. and lots of other people from outside the united states have that same concern. they're very concerned watching what's going on here. and its the kis dns do you believe the institutions are strong enough? >> i would like to think so. they've withstood a lot in our history. we withstood civil war. >> they've never been eroded -- i don't know if never. but it does seem this president is eroding trust in a number of institutions. and that message is coming from the top. >> it would seem so. i will tell you, this is very hard for me as somebody who's spent 50-plus years in the intelligence community serving the commander in chief, 34 or so

of that was in the military. so i always looked at the office of president in his capacity at commander in chief with great reverence and respect. it's very disturbing for me to be in a position of worrying about the very pillars of this country. >> appreciate talk to you. thank you very much. more breaking news. the clinton campaign and the democratic national committee help fund research that led to the dossier that spelled out allegations president trump had connections to russia. that's according to a source close to the matter. we'll speak to the "washington post" reporter who broke that story today next. get 4 unlimited lines for just $40 bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now netflix included. so go ahead. binge on us. another reason why t-mobile

is america's best unlimited network. you're more than just a bathroom disease.. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability. remission can start with stelara®.

talk to your doctor today. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options for stelara®. 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. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey guys." it's home insurance made easy. ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy.

breaking news tonight a. source confirms to cnn the hillary clinton campaign and the democratic national committee helped fund research on that now

infamous dossier that revealed trump's connections to russia. "the washington post" broke this story. we've known for some time the firm behind the dossier, fussing gps was first funded by anti-trump republicans and then democrats. now for the first time we have an idea who those democrats were and how far up this reached. white house press secretary sarah sanders responded to the story tweeting the real russia scandal, clinton campaign paid for the fake russia dossier then lied about it and covered it up. today in the press briefing room, sanders berated our jeff zeleny. adam, the clinton campaign and the dow dnc helped fund this dossier? what do we know? >> they were working through a lawyer who was helping hire research firms. as all these campaigns are doing, they need research firms. they hire at home dig into the opponents and find out what is

available about their own candidate. this is a very common practice for them to engage with lawyers to act as middle men who then go out and hire research firms. that's what happened in this case. in march, the discussions begin between this lawyer representing the clinton campaign and the dnc and fusion gps. in april 2016 they reach an agreement and the funding starts. fusion gps hires christopher steele, the british intelligence officer, former, who is an expert on russia. and he begins to do these intel reports or these reports which he sends to his boss, the people who are paying the bills. fussing gps gives it to the lawyer who's representing the clinton campaign. that's basically what happened here. later come january, buzzfeed accomplish publishes the

dossier. >> you report that the lawyer representing the clinton campaign and the dnc, he was the one to receive the documents. do we know how much he shared with the campaign and when? >> just based on my own contacts at the time with members of the clinton campaign, they clearly were aware that there was -- that there was this issue about these contacts between trump and some russians. there seemed to be some awareness. but the details of how that information was shared is something we don't have enough information on at this point. we don't really know obviously -- based on the conversations we had today, it sounds like there was not the sharing of the actual reports that steele had written. those themselves were given to the lawyer. it doesn't pear they were given to the campaign or to the dnc. that's the way these arrangements are structured in order to protect the campaign, to protect the candidate in case something like this in the future comes out so they're not directly involved in the

research firm that's doing some of this work. >> jim, why is this information just coming to light now? the dossier came to the attention last winter and has been part of the investigation for months. >> to be clear it's been known for some time democrats funded this and republicans prior to that. but the specific information, it's possible there's a court case in the u.s. district court were fusion gps asked a federal judge to block efforts by devin nunes to subpoena a bank for bank records that were presumably establish payments and where the payments came from. that court case is under way right now. in fact, is judge is giving them a deadline of thursday, 3:00 p.m. to come to a settlement in that case. it's possible it's connected to that. but it's not clear why this information is out right now. >> does the intelligence community think the dossier is fake? >> no. one, as cnn reported some months ago, the intelligence

community has corroborated parts of the dossier, specifically meetings between trump associates and russian officials known to u.s. intelligence, some of them connected it's believed to the russian government. two, you'll remember cnn was first to report that the intelligence community considered the dossier material enough to at least make both then-president obama and president-elect trump aware of the existence of the dossier and furnish president-elect trump with a summary of the dossier in a briefing in january of this year before the inauguration. and three, in addition to the fact that he briefed him on that since then we know robert mueller, the special counsel turnover summer, interviewed christopher steele, the former mi6 officer of the dossier. cnn's reporting earlier this month that, in fact, the intelligence community took the