president says, i like vanilla ice cream. the chief can decide whether i get vanilla or chocolate ice cream. it's up to the chief. vanilla is how that one plays out. we'll see you back at this time tomorrow. wolf starts right now. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington, 9:00 p.m. in moscow, 2:30 a.m. wednesday in pyongy g pyongyang. wherever you're watching around the world, thank you very much for joining us. dangerous dismissal of erica's cyber chief says the president has not given the order to thwart russian cyber attacks. russia is attacking again. trump 2020. the president in an unusually early announcement revealing who will run his reelection

campaign. someone with very little political experience. and west wing drama. why ivanka trump is ruffling the feathers of senior white house advisers, including chief of staff. brazenly ignoring warnings on russia and failing to give the order to head off further russian cyber attacks. that's what we're hearing on capitol hill today. listen. >> you would need basically to be directed by the president for the secretary of defense. >> yes. in fact, i mention that. >> have you been directed to do so given the strategic threat that faces the united states and the significant consequences you recognize already? >> no, i have not. >> the news came as one of president trump's closest aides, the white house communications director hope hicks, testifies before the house intelligence committee where she's refusing to answer questions regarding her time in the white house. let's go to our senior

congressional correspondent manu raju. he's up on capitol hill. manu, what else are we hearing about her testimony? i know it's going on behind closed doors. >> reporter: we're in hour 3 of this closed door testimony. what we are now learning is she's not planning to answer some key questions about her time in the white house. this is according to congressman chris stewart, a republican who sits on the intelligence committee, saying he does not expect her to answer a number of these questions. this is a change, because a number of members going into this closed door hearing, including the republican leading the investigation, mike conway, believed that she would, or they wanted her, at least, to answer those questions during her time at the white house and the transition period. we'll see what she says about the transition period, if she answers any questions about that. but wolf, this is keeping in line with other key witnesses who have come before the committee, including steve bannon, the white house chief strategist, as well as president trump's campaign manager, corwin

lewandowski, who would not answer certain questions. bannon himself said preserving the right for the president to assert executive privilege or topics regarding the transition. and when bannon was in the white house, he would not answer those questions. we'll see how far hope goes today. some of those questions seemed to be off limits. they were wondering about her role in crafting a misleading statement to the public once it was revealed last year about that meeting with donald trump at trump tower with the russians. uncertain that she'll answer that because, of course, she was at the white house at that time drafting a statement on air force i, wolf. >> i know you're working with your sources. we'll see what you came up with. manu raju on top of the hill. it's been the two-week mark since the florida massacre. we know what's weighing on the president's mind today and that would be the russia

investigation. our chief correspondent jim acosta is joining us from the white house. jim, we're hearing a pretty familiar message from the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. instead of the presidential daily briefing, this is like the presidential morning briefing. the president receiving information from fox news and then dissem nagt it via twitter. the president was on a tirade early this morning putting out all sorts of tweets about the russian investigation. we can throw some of them up on screen. one of them in all caps, witch hunt, with an exclamation point, so it shows you where the president's mind is on all of this. i think it is no surprise that he is tweeting about the russian investigation, that this is under his skin this morning with hope hicks testifying and talking to investigators up on capitol hill. after all, she is as close inside the inner circle with the president as you can possibly get. long time aide to the president and, of course, then candidate trump during the campaign, and it will be interesting to see, asman manu said and what she wi

be talking to investigators about up on capitol hill, because while she may be inserting privilege during her time at the white house, that doesn't cover the time as top aide to candidate trump during the campaign. on fox news earlier today, the deputy press secretary was saying that executive privilege is, quote, nothing new. so i don't think it will be any surprise if hope hicks is asserting that during her testimony up on capitol hill today, wolf. the other thing that will be coming up at the briefing which is scheduled to happen at 2:00 at the white house with the press secretary sarah huckabee sanders. you heard house speaker paul ryan talking about this earlier this morning that they're not going to go in the direction of banning assault weapons. we're nearing the age of peming

what he said. he tweeted and talked about this last thursday in the white house, but he was in favor of raising the age to 21 for assault rifle weapons. he appears to be backing away from that, and in his remarks yesterday at the white house he did not mention raising the age anymore to 21 for purchasing assault weapons. it sounds like that is really not on the table anymore for the president, wolf. >> we know the rifle association and the nra opposes raising the age limit to 21 from 18. jim acosta at the white house, thank you very much. he's also the ranking democrat of the armed services committee. thank you for joining us, senator. >> thank you, wolf. >> pretty stunning revelation that mike rogers, head of the national security agency, that he has not received an order from the president of the united states to stop russian cyber

threats. what could explain that? >> well, it's very difficult to explain. rogers said very clearly we're being attacked by russia cyber forces. their intent is to disrupt the election. they're much more sophisticated than they were in 2016. they've learned a lot. they're coming in and it's going to get worse before the election. yet he has not been asked to take action. he has the ability to disrupt these activities at the source, and also we know that the white house is not going to vote on sanctions congress passed on a strong, bipartisan basis to hope. it seems to be absolutely paralyzed after an intrusion. >> let me play a little more

about your meeting. watch this. >> we're watching the russians spread more information, become more sophisticated, and we're just essentially sitting back and waiting. >> i don't know if i would characterize it as we're sitting back and waiting, but i will say it's -- and again, i apologize. i don't want to get into classified here. it's probably fair to say that we have not opted to engage in some of the same behaviors that we are seeing. >> so, senator admiral rogers is making it clear the u.s. has not made russia pay a price for meddling in the u.s. presidential election, getting ready to meddle. they say the u.s. intelligence community in the upcoming midterm elections in november and the 2020 presidential elections.

so how do you explain that? why not make them pay a price? what are you hearing? >> well, i'm not hearing much, but it seems that the white house is paralyzed, that they're not taking effective action and there's several different ways. one, you could invoke sanctions. two, you could basically stop the attacks and make it more difficult. as admiral rogers suggested, when we sit by and do nothing, they get more and more aggressive. this could be relatd to the fact that the 2016 election and the fact the intelligent committee found about. the other day he said, we are being not only probed, we're bei

being. it's his responsibility to at least ask for recommendations from his entire cabinet and present a coordinated effort to deter, stop and defeat these intrusions. >> you know the president's explanation has always been that this is just an excuse that the democrats and is. and the fact he was elected president of the united states and that's why he calls this overall investigation a witch hunt, as you know, a hoax. when you hear that, what goes through your mind? >> it is a complete dismissal of facts and professional judgments by people who are not political politicians. admiral rogers is a career naval officer. he's dedicated his whole life to this nation and the united states navy. he spoke honestly as a

professional saying, we can't do this. they will all tell you we are basically under assault right now and the president dismisses some type of 2016 political dynamic. it is just consciously, deliberately ignoring the facts. >> you raise the point about the u.s. -- under u.s. law, the president signed it into law, could impose sanctions against russia, but he's delaying and failing to do so. last august the senate passed a new law in russia. i think the house vote was 96-2. he reluctantly signed it into law and since then has done nothing. how do you explain that? >> i think it's all caught up in

this attempt to undercut allegations about the 2016 election. i think he might be afraid that if he recognizes the fact and imposes punishment on russia for the current activities, that will totally undercut his version of the 2016 events, that there was no russian involvement, he won the election simply based upon his policies and his promises and his programs, and the reality is different. but the danger -- not only the danger, the reality, is that while nothing is done, the russians become more aggressive, threatening our basic institutions. nothing is more basic than the free election and they're doing it deliberately rkts to undermine the confidence in the neighborhood. we have to take effective action. whether it's sanctions, whether it is disrupting their attack.

that's an operational judgment. we have to do something. >> senator jack reed, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. some states are now openly welcoming delta after republicans in georgia are threatening to take away a very important tax break after the airline backed away from the national rifle association. i'll speak live with a republican lawmaker about that and more. plus, the parkland shooter's neighbor speaking to cnn saying she had no doubt he would attack a school. you're going to hear local police. the president making a big announcement for 2020.

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in the wake of the parkland, florida shooting that killed 14 students and three staff, the gun control on the clock is ticking. survivors are on capitol hill today and the president is sitting down with republican leaders.

will this be a turning point in the gun debate here in the united states, or will congress lose the political momentum? let's break it all down with cnn's congressional reporter lauren fox. what are the options on the table, lauren? >> well, wolf, lawmakers were back on capitol hill last night, and i will say there is not a whole lot of appetite to do wide-ranging gun reform. instead what we're talking about is narrow proposals, one of them being banning bump stocks. the president has talked extensively about this. he may take unilateral action on this and lawmakers are comfortable with that on capitol hill. we're also talking about background checks. this is another narrow proposal. lawmakers are calling about a bill called fix nix. it allows federal authorities to enter more data into the criminal instant background system. it is a far cry from the bigger and larger background check comprehensive proposals we saw in the wake of the sandy hook shooting back in 2013. we should also note that lawmakers have talked a little

bit about raising the age at which you can purchase a rifle from 18 to 21. president trump talked about that last week. he seems to be backing off that proposal and the national rifle association is also opposed to doing that. not a whole lot of interest, perhaps, from conservatives to move on that. and two proposals we haven't seen much discussion of on kapt positively hi da -- capitol hill, limiting the size of the assault weapons ban. they're saying in the senate and the white house, there is not a lot of appetite for that. >> the president made it clear he's not anxious to move ahead on these very sensitive issues. the president will have a chance to talk about gun control when he meets with a group of congressional republicans later this afternoon. his message to a group of governors was that lawmakers shouldn't fear the national rifle association. >> don't worry about the nra, they're on our side.

there's nothing to be afraid of. and you know what, if they're not with you, we have to fight them every once in a while. that's okay. they're doing what they think is right. >> republican congressman tom reed of new york is heading over to the meeting at the white house with the president. he's joining us from capitol hill. congressman, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me on, wolf. >> let's get through some of the specifics. the president seems to be backing away from his promise a few days ago to raise the age limit from 18 to 21 to purchase rifles throughout the united states. you think that's -- where do you stand on that? he clearly says he's willing to fight the nra over some issues, but on that he seems to be moving back towards the nra position. >> well, i think that is part of the conversation that we're having up here on the hill, and rightfully so. but i think conversations like the prior reporter just indicated, things like fixing the background check system, making sure the data is up to date and fluent in order to be the best functioning system we could potentially have. not only the age issue, but fix

the nicks is the opportunity. but maybe a bigger picture that's arising, a lot of folks are asking, what happened to nikolas cruz? how did the shooter exhibit all these warning signs, yet mental health wasn't there? he wasn't removed from society to keep our citizens safe. where did this individual fall through the cracks? >> do you think someone should be 21 to purchase in the united states throughout the country an ar-15 style rifle, or is 18, from your perspective, old enough? >> i'm open to that. you can buy a six-pack of beer at 21 and not 18. maybe the same logic obviously can apply to a weapons purchase, so i'm open to that conversation. if we think that's the only thing that's going to solve this problem of mass shooters in america, i want to take on the bigger issue and solve the problem for the american people back home, and that's this mental component.

i've never seen a conversation about that. you have nikolas cruz who appears to be a poster child for a mentally deranged individual who gave every warning sign there is something wrong here, yet the system failed and we failed the american people by not making sure the system was working. >> certainly there are a lot of issues that have to be addressed, including, as you pointed out, mental health. what about reviving the ban on assault weapons in the united states? would you be in favor of that? >> i don't support that because i do believe once you start going down that path -- i stand with the second amendment. i believe that's one of our individually constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and going down that path for me is a bridge too far. i'm willing to have the conversation about gun reform, about background check reform, but at the same time we can't miss the opportunity to really moving the needle in regards to removing these mentally deranged threats that exist in our society and make sure we're reforming the system to address people like nikolas cruz.

that we make sure the system doesn't allow the future nikolas cruz to be in the same position he was. >> you've seen the polls showing a specific majority. i assume in your district as well, congressman, who would support a ban on these assault type weapons, including an ar-15 style rifle, which you really don't need to go hunting. you need it if you're going to kill a bunch of people, if you will. that is an argument that is made by them. why wouldn't you want to come up with some sort of way to prevent the sale of these kinds of weapons in the united states? >> i want to go one step further, wolf. i want to prevent the next mass shooting from happening and restricting our second amendment rights just in order to accomplish something like banning x weapon to me is not really addressing the fundamental issue. that's where i'm willing to have the conversation on our second amendment restriction when it comes to background checks, things of that nature, because that to me needs to be looked at and seriously does need to be

looked at. but we cannot lose sight. nikolas cruz was allowed to be in the position he was, to purchase the weapon he was. yet he exhibited all the mental illness and disease that showed he had a violent propensity and we failed in order to address that situation. to me that is the heart of the issue. >> he was able to go out there and legally, in the state of florida, you only have to be 18, legally purchase an ar-15. if there were no ar-15s that you could legally purchase, he might not have killed as many students and faculty over there at that high school. >> now we can have the conversation, wolf, and i think that's an appropriate conversation to have and i could be part of that conversation and find solution as long those lines. also having that question of how did nikolas cruz fall through these cracks in order to commit this heinous crime? >> georgia's governor is vowing to punish delta airlines or any other business that cuts ties with the nra, so essentially

saying we must either be with the nra or you're going to be punished with additional taxes in your state. do you agree with that? >> the nra is not the monster. in my opinion, who the monster is is nikolas cruz. he needs to become the poster child across america to say, this is the type of individual that's the threat to america. to take on an organization to me is not the right place. the place to go is the individual who committed this heinous act. he needs to be held accountable for it and we need to learn from his life to make sure we keep american citizens safe. >> so do you agree with the georgia governor that delta should be punished for splitting with the nra? >> let's not lose sight of what the root cause of the problem is. nikolas cruz and mentally deranged individuals like him. they need to be attacked and addressed. >> but isn't the availability of

assault weapons like ar-15 style rifles, isn't that part of the problem, the easy availability of getting these killing devices? >> that's where making sure we have a background check system that's working, making sure people that are exhibiting these mental diseases, these violent propensities, are in a situation where they are restricted from accessing those weapons to commit these heinous acts. >> congressman reed, before i let you go, are you in favor of ending, closing up the loopholes if you buy these kinds of weapons at a gun show or on the internet? >> i'm open to making sure the system is working in terms of the background system to make sure it's functioning properly and that includes those. >> so you would be in favor of ending the loopholes? >> any part of the program that isn't functioning, i'm open to fixing it. fundamentally, nikolas cruz and

people exhibiting diseases like that need to be addressed and we have an obligation as the american people to focus on that. >> congressman reed, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. west wing drama. why ivanka trump's trip to south korea is apparently making some senior advisers at the white house upset, including chief of staff john kelly. plus goes undercover as a migrant and is told by a smuggler, don't put up a fight if you're raped. chilling video of a cnn investigation. stay with us. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. hallucinations and delusions. the unknown parts of living with parkinson's. what plots they unfold, but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during

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there are treatment options that can help. small business, internet providers promise you a lot.

let's see who delivers more. comcast business offers fast gig-speeds across our network. at&t doesn't. we offer more complete reliability with up to 8 hours of 4g wireless network backup. at&t, no way. we offer 35 voice features and solutions that grow with your business. at&t, not so much. get internet on our gig-speed network and add voice and tv for $34.90 more per month. call 1-800-501-6000. president trump is tapping his former campaign digital media director to run his 2020 reelection campaign. brad pasqual worked for the trump organization for 20 years, making web sites and digital

strategy for the trump business. he joined the trump campaign back in 2015 and now he will he had up the reelection bid in 2020. let's bring our panel to discuss. reporter and editor at large chris cilliza and jackie selenich. isn't it a little early to be announcing a reelection campaign? >> yes, it is, although we shouldn't be that surprised. remember, donald trump formed a selection committee to raise money almost as soon as he got elected. he raised $32 million for his 2020 campaign in 2017 alone. so he has sort of been running almost since he first won. it is a little odd. that's early to start raising that amount of money, and it's certainly early to put a person in place. but i think donald trump always more comfortable as a candidate, at least in his first year plus

as president, a more natural fit as a candidate than as a president, so it makes some sense that he's moving in that space of going over there, because that's where he sort of really, i think, feels his oats. >> let me switch gears and get your thoughts, jackie. president obama was caught on audio making comments that seemed widely critical of his successor, president trump. >> one of the things i'm proud of in my administration was the fact that, and i think these things are connected, we didn't have a scandal that, you know, embarrassed us. we made mistakes, we would screw up, but there wasn't anything [ inaudible ]

during those eight yerz. i know that seems like a low bar, but you didn't hear about a lot of drama inside our white house. >> and this is in a private speech he was delivering in boston. you're hearing a lot of that drama and talk of scandal now as opposed to during his eight years in the white house. >> i think when you're talking about the core staff, he's probably right. and especially when you talk about this white house. but broader in the administration, sure, there were scandals. there was the benghazi scandal. things republicans bring up all the time -- i'm losing the name of it at the moment. >> the eric holder issue when he was attorney general related to the government. >> precisely. there were scandals, there were issues. however, when you're talking about the core people, no, you didn't hear the same sniping. there wasn't the palace intrigue that you have with this administration daily. >> it's a difference, too, i

think, between a president in barack obama who really valued -- remember no drama obama -- who really valued we're going to keep it in house. a reality star, donald trump. his whole life has been lived in public feuds and public sniping. that's who he is. they're just so different. i do think obama deserves credit. there was not a huge scale scandal along the lines of monica lewinsky. but we do have 13 russians as well as a few people affiliated with trump's campaign who have pled guilty and another campaign chairman that's been charged. this is in one year. i don't think obama is wrong in drawing that contrast. >> he tweeted the president this morning, quoting judge napolitano, analyst on fox. he's got a very good point.

someone in the justice department has a treasure trove of mrs. clinton's issues. i agree with that. and the president quote that had and sent it out to his millions of followers. >> it seems like he likes to create drama within his own administration. he has gone after his own attorney general, like you pointed out. he fuels this where obama seemed to want to try to keep it in house. were there scandals? sure. but in terms of just kind of feeding it and really putting it out there, tillerson, a whole host of white -- >> name one in his cabinet. >> steve bannon. it's not going to compare with the commander in chief. >> we only have an hour-long show. >> it comes from the top. that's the sort of chaos that comes from the top.

>> thanks very much. a surprising announcement. another top u.s. diplomat calling it quits and this one is america's top representative, top expert over at the state department on north korea. plus, why chief of staff john kelly is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with ivanka trump's role in the white house. we have details.

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in an unexpected announcement, one of the nation's top career diplomats is calling it quits. joseph euan is at the state department. he will be retiring at the end of the week. it comes at a time when talks with pyongyang looked like a possibility. let's talk to former deputy secretary of state, former national security adviser during the obama administration. what's your reaction to the

decision as career expert on north korea expiring? >> wolf, this is a bad loss at a bad time. worked with him very closely over the years. the most experienced north korea hand we have in the government. spent more time with the north koreans than anyone else, knows the issues, consummate professional. this whole issue is about to heat up again. we had this olympic pause. it looked like things were calming down but that was a lull. it's over. it's heating up, and now we're missing our top diplomat. we still don't van have an ambassador to south korea. there is a little bit of a home alone feeling right now. >> this diplomat leaving not the only one. there's been a whole career line of state diplomats deciding it's time to leave. >> at the most senior levels and

also at the mid-career level. it's a real problem. >> what do you think of the president's decision to have ivanka trump, his daughter and adviser, leave the u.s. delegation to the closing ceremonies of the winter olympics games in south korea? >> i think the administration wants to put the best possible face forward and she can actually, i think, be effective at doing that. the larger issue is this. i think there is a lot of confusion about what the north korea policy really is. on the one hand the administration has done a very good job actually exerting economic pressure. i think that's one of the reasons you see north korea making these overtures, trying to get into some kind of talks with the south koreans and with us. they want to relieve that pressure. on the other hand, a lot of this rhetoric is very confusing to people. it's pushed the president to grasp any engagement because he's afraid of devastating south korea. >> now a secret u.n.

investigation showing that north korea is providing chemical weapons to syria, and we've seen syria over these years, but very recently outside of damascus use some of these chlorine gas attacks to kill a lot of civilians. >> no illusions. north korea will sell anything to anyone to make a buck and to be able to fund its nuclear and missile programs. and the fact that it's in a relationship, which it's been in for decades, with syria, is not a surprise. it seems to track this relationship up through january 2017. it may still be ongoing. it's something that, in particular, russia and china need to help crack down on. >> north korea did provide syria with a nuclear reactor capability that the israelis, i think back in 2007, went and bombed and destroyed. was that north korean assistance to the syrian regime? >> i think there was certainly some assistance there, but there's been assistance military to military going back, as i said, decades.

but right now, especially when we see these horrific ongoing attacks in syria using chemical weapons, we have to track down everywhere and russia and china in particular can crack down more on north korea. >> tony blinken, thanks so much. tony blinken joining us. up next, there is a brand new video surfacing of sergeant johnson taken days before an ambush killed him and three other u.s. soldiers. plus our own goes undercover once again and exposes the truth about brutal trading routes of migrants across south ofafrica. stay with us. you'll want to see this. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com and when youod sugar is a replace one meal... choices. ...or snack a day with glucerna... ...made with carbsteady... ...to help minimize blood sugar spikes... ...you can really feel it.

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now to a cnn exclusive that exposes the truth about the brutal trading roots of migranteds across africa. it all started when cnn went undercover in an auction of migrants in libya last year. our team unearthed the horrifying reality. here is a look back at that report. >> reporter: big strong boys for farm work, he says. 400. 700. 700? 800. the numbers roll n these men are sold for $400 a piece. >> those images truly shocked the world. but did anything change? nima and her team poeds as migrants wanting to be smuggled

to europe. here now is her exclusive report. >> working out of a local hotel that doubles as a brothel. inside the brothel, we're told to wait. we don't know what we're waiting for. utterly unprepared but all of a sudden we're on the move. our journey to europe is under way. we move to the local bus stop where we are told we'll put on a bus headed north but first he wants to know if i have everything i need. so we can't travel without the

contraception? as part of -- >> part of the journey. >> because the women are abused? what happens? the women are abused on the trip? >> libya. >> what happens? get pregnant? >> that's why you have -- it's not a guarantee. sometimes we have to meet one of the men like say somebody says i would like to assist you. don't kneel you don't know what that means. >> the doors lock behind us. from here begins the journey into the unknown, a journey that promises a litany of horrors,

rape, trafficking, slavery. >> in response to cnn's investigation, the state attorney general tells cnn, quote, we are actively involved in investigations and have commenced several prosecutions. we will actively prosecute any trafficker. it is neither solely about economic issues or underdevelopment but has deep cultural roots that must be exposed. >> how coordinated they were. the sense we had before was perhaps the rape, the abuse, this was a byproduct of vulnerable women being trafficked, being smuggled by criminal gangs. what we realized this time is

that the rape and the exploitation and the abuse, this is part of the trafficker's business model. so when you see him there, making sure that i have condoms, they're not for my protection. they are for the protection of the customers, the people that i'm going to be handed over to or would have been handed over to, had i been one of these vulnerable women. that's where you begin to realize when we talk about smugglers and prescribe almost an agency to these young women, these women are being trafficked. they're being lured by this dream of europe and then exploited in the most horrendous way possible. >> and as far as you know, the auctioning of these human beings in libya that you exposed, you showed the whole world, you just won a polk for outstanding journalism. is it continuing? >> it is. in fact, if anything the

militias who benefit from this horrific trade are stronger than ever. it felt at the time there was such an outcry, such a real emotional longing for something to be done that had translated into action. unfortunately, it hadn't. the situation on the ground in libya, the smuggling that works in west and east africa is still as active as ever they were. >> you and your courageous team are doing amazing work. thanks once again for doing what you're doing. nima elbagir. you can see nima's entire exclusive report later tonight on "ac 360" only here on cnn. thank you once again. >> thank you. moments from now, the white house is getting ready to hold its day by briefing as the president backs away, apparently, from one of his own proposals on guns and one of the people closest to him appears before congress in the russia investigation. stand by. we'll have live coverage. patrick woke up with back pain.

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nearly 18 months after the first signs of russian meddling, president trump has not implemented the sanctions. leading u.s. cyber command has added the russians have not changed their behavior and right now are interfering in current