usually there is a crack, there is smoke that comes out before the lava comes out of the earth. but it's a quick change and folks have to get out of there. it's a very dangerous situation. >> absolutely, and terrifying. thank you, stephanie, i really appreciate it. thank you all so much for joining me this hour. "inside politics" with john king starts right no

. in this, a long-time journey tri trickster who says the prosecutors haven't called him in yet. >> what's the purpose of this investigation except to undo the results of the last selection? >> truth is the point. >> we haven't found any evidence. >> how do we know that? the investigation isn't completed. >> people who will never come here for a trial, including the caterer which means he has indicted a ham sandwich. >> we begin with new words from the special counsel. the president tweeting this morning, this phony witch hunt is going to go even longer so it

wrongfully impacts the midterm elections, which is what the democrats always intended. will this go on even longer so it wrongfully impacts the elections which democrats always intended? republicans better get tough and smart before it is too late. that from the president. this yet again separates the president from the facts, separate him from the truth. mueller is a republican appointed by the republican/trump justice department. but it does face a new posture now that rudy giuliani is the lead lawyer. they said they might not comply if the special counsel issues a subpoena for his testimony. or, get this, giuliani says the president might show up but then invoke his fifth amendment rights. the president loves this new people approach. but he is too focused on cable buzz and perhaps hurting the president's legal standing. julie hirschfeld davis of the

"new york times," and sue kim of the "washington post." the president's former lawyers who said, let's play nice, let's not criticize bob mueller by name. the president coming out of the box again this morning after a weekend of rudy giuliani. they think they're winning, right? because fox news loves it, the president on capitol hill loves it. what about the legal case? >> i think they think they're fighting back. i'm not sure they think they're winning, but the president is actually conscious of the fact that he could be affecting the legal case. right after rudy giuliani went on tv last week, he was very happy with his performance, he thought he was combative and the right kind of tone. but the more he heard about the legal implications of some of what rudy giuliani said, the less happy he was, and i think there is a recognition here they could be creating a lot of problems even as they're putting on the face that the president wants to see on this debate.

i think the problem, and the reason he's starting to go to this theme that the investigation is going to interfere with the midterms and that's not fair, is because the president is getting ready to ratchet this up even further. you have republicans on the hill threatening to impeach the deputy attorney general. you have giuliani continuing to go on tv talking about how mueller is beyond his mandate, this is unfair, and you have the president personally attacking the investigators in mueller's probe. this is, i think, going to go to a new level. >> i think it's therapeutic in some respects for the president to be out there fighting like this, but in a legal strategy, i'm not sure how wise it is, or if it matters at all. i don't think we're sure on robert mueller. he's waging this on a two-front war. the political fight, which he may be winning in the sense he's discrediting this investigation or trying to discredit it. it's working among his base, but i talked to some frustrated republicans who want the president to succeed. they say, why doesn't he just focus this week on the matter at

hand, iran, north korea, actually substantive matters that have to do with his job. he's clearly focused on this as we can see by his string of tweets. >> he's focused on this because he wants to be. whether it's strategy, a lot of people don't question the strat -- strategy on this. the president didn't know anything about the payment, didn't know where the money came from? well, the president did know about the case and he reimbursed the money. listen to giuliani here talking to george stephanopolous yesterday saying what if the special counsel issues a subpoena, saying come in, answer questions? >> well, we don't have to. he's the president of the united states. we can assert the same privilege as other presidents have. president clinton negotiated a deal in which he didn't admit the effectiveness of the subpoena and they withdrew it. but hillary clinton treatment is what i'm looking for. and that is no under oath, only

a q & a, we get the questions in advance and they write a report two weeks before. >> slight twisting of the facts. he has a point, i guess, of some of the hillary clinton part. back to the bill clinton part. yes, bill clinton did agree to go in after the threat of a subpoena. according to his lawyers, he was not going to win in court. the president went in and under oath said a lot of things he said in public were not true. >> they're walking a very thin line right now. the president has been telegra h telegraphing this strategy for several weeks now. this is where he wants to go and this is where he wants his team to go. when you talk about the narrative or winning the public fight, winning the fight of whether or not to comply with a subpoena would likely end up in the supreme court and could have ramifications for decades with the supreme power. i'm not sure you win it in that sphere. that's not a fight they want to

be having, particularly in the summer or fall leading to a midterm election. there is danger right there putting up this hard line and saying this is where we're going to be and we won't win office. but is that a fight you want to actually have? same with taking the fifth. if you actually have a sit-down interview with the president. i just think the element here is how they're trying to walk this fine line. i don't think any of us know what the legal implications are, other than giuliani ought to not talk about stormy daniels anymore. i do think everybody can acknowledge there is a very fine line here, and things can start to spill over and that's where things become very problematic. >> in terms of invoking the fifth, he has the clear constitutional right to do so. we don't know the legal implications just yet. it's the president himself who, during the campaign, said if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? i think if that's what happens, there will be some pr questions he'll have to answer. >> no doubt about that. plus, imagine you're a republican in a close race and this is playing out in september/october and this is

all you're being asked about when you would rather talk about the economy, you would rather talk about jobs, you would rather talk about things here in washington. writing in the national review, again, there is a political argument going on right now on a very important subject. we have to admit even these people writing these articles, we have no idea what the special counsel knows. we have no idea of the evidence they've amassed. they wrote, how are we supposed to grapple with whether the president should be compelled to testify when we don't know what mueller is alleging? what crime does mueller want to ask the president about? and if there isn't one, why are we even talking about an interview, let alone a subpoena? >> the lines here are fairly obvious, the political lines. i think, though, what you were saying earlier, julie, the president realtime likes what rudy giuliani says.

it's that feedback loop that comes back about 24 or 36 hours later. the president is watching this on television and that's when he doesn't like what he hears here. i still think rudy giuliani, i wonder if he's getting too much exposure on this. he did meet with the president over the weekend so he obviously has his blessing, but i wonder how long that will last. he seems to be fairly out there, talking about everything the president -- i don't know how long he'll like that. >> and people who know bob mueller, particularly people loyal to this president who know bob mueller, say the idea you're going to rattle him is a joke. >> right now rudy giuliani is speaking mostly in terms of hypotheticals, whether the president is going to agree to an interview, what he's going to do if he does go into an interview, the potential that he'll take the fifth. when they get down to brass tacks on these questions, if mueller does go forward and get the president to sit down with him, there will be a technical legal fight, and it's only then we're actually going to know what the president's play is and

whether this is all just messaging and showing that they're tough and they don't want to cooperate, or whether this is actually a legal strategy they're going to pursue to the end. >> it's become like wwe in the court of public opinion. we'll see how it plays out. up next, guess what? big primaries this week and the president picks a side in one crucial gop race. sort of. hi i'm joan lunden.

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ellen. that's my robe. you could save $782 when liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. welcome back. the president weighing in on one of this week's senate primaries today, urging west virginia republicans not to support a former executive who served prison time but is surging in the polls due to the latest message. he said not nominating blankenship would make for a republican win in november. and in indiana, unlike west virginia, it's a rare chance for republicans to pick up seats. the president is neutral in this three-way indiana contest. three candidates running.

we saw one of them campaigning last week. i was out there for a couple days. luke messer. this is his county, decatur county. all three candidates listen to messer saying, i will be the best, the closest to the president. >> the men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. >> you know who he's talking about, people like my mom. she worked at the delta faucet factory, raised me and my brother by herself. that's why i back the trump agenda in congress. >> you talked about how president trump should get the nobel peace prize. listen, i believe the only reason why the north korean dictator is meeting with the united states is because of president trump. >> you can see why the congress might be so pro-trump. back in his home county, the president won it big, won it huge. a bigger mark in decatur than

statewide. this is sullivan county, a small rural county. they're out on the border of illinois out here. this a much smaller, rural county. tom rotina, secretary of state, says don't listen to messer. i'm more like trump, especially when it comes to building a border wall in sanctuary cities. >> i'm to do dd rokita and i'm running for senate to fight politics. i'm for guns and i'm for the wall. it's time to put america first. >> the president has allowed us for the very first time in a long time to be the party of the working man. you see the deep state bureaucrats, you see the establishment. this will take a pro-trump conservative fighter. >> the third republican

candidate, a former state representative, a businessman. he is a little more subtle in selling himself just like trump. he says like the president he isn't a career politician. he says like the president he doesn't work in washington. he uses cardboard cutouts to say they're just the same. he's saying, send me to washington. i'm like trump. >> now i'm running for senate because i want to rebuild our country. president trump was right. we need fewer career politicians in washington. folks who actually live conservative values who harnt beholden to special interests and who puts you first. >> i'm a lifelong businessman, conservative, business as usual in washington. unless we change that to get people there who are living in the real world, i think we can expect the same results. >> they count the votes tomorrow. it's interesting, a lot of republicans, even those who

support the congressman, think mark brond survived in the end saying, if you're like a governor, you're the problem. >> and trump was a democrat recently as well. it doesn't seem voters are holding it against him. i guess we'll find out tomorrow, though. it's fascinating. it is a lesson. obviously outsiders will have the upper hand in this election. what i see is the white house going to weigh in on this. in indiana, it seems like they're not going to at all. in west virginia, we saw the president weighing in here this morning. he is keeping an eye on this, the white house is keeping an eye on this, because folks on capitol hill are constantly reminding the president a democratic house, a democratic president. >> she doesn't like the tweets, she doesn't like the stormy daniels story, she doesn't like the tariffs.

she lives on a farm with her husband. you hear this all the time, democrat, republican. the mood, the climate that exisexis go with donald trump still exists. >> which guy can distance themselves from joe donnelly and mike braun is the only one who can. it's time to get someone else in there, new blood, change things up a bit. get an outsider in there. joe donnelly is a career politician. >> you're running for office as a politician but you don't want to be one in this environment. >> you could say that he's just like trump, the way he bills himself, but you could also just say he is not an incumbent in a year when it's very difficult to be a republicanincumbent. if you're out there with all the voters, the environment is not good. they consider the incumbents to be part of the problem.

what brought him to office, yes, mike braun is like him, but i believe if it's not in this particular state or race, they have to differentiate themselves in some way and many don't do that. >> you meet trump voters who aren't necessarily republican voters. people split their tickets out there. do they play in this race where joe donnelly, republicans really want that seat, they want to keep the senate majority. let's move to west virginia. the president tweeting this morning saying he has remained neutral in this race up until the day before the primary. the president tweeted to the great people of west virginia, we really have a great chance to keep making a difference. the problem is, don blankenship, currently running for senate, can't win the general election in your state, no way. remember alabama.

vote representative jenkins or a.g. morrissey. >> he's clearly telling voters don't support blankenship, but that supports the anti-blankenship vote if you're saying choose jenkins or choose morrissey. i'm not sure the white house is left with too many options here, because we've seen the problems that happen when he does weigh in on a candidate in a primary. remember alabama with roy moore. i don't think he had a choice there. >> and blankenship, like roy moore, has taken off in the polls. he attacked the establishment. president trump saying don't vote for john blankenship, but he's saying i'm the best candidate. i'm the business guy. i'll kick them in the eye. here's the statement he said. >> the establishment is misinforming him because they do not want me to be the senator in the u.s. senate and promote the

president's agenda. tomorrow west virginia will send the swamp a message. no one, and i mean no one, will tell us how. i am trumpier in the morning. >> a couple weeks ago, they felt like they were okay here. they felt blankenship had cratecrate d d derred, and they are completely freaked out. i think more broadly, does blankenship winning all of a sudden put this off the table for the republicans? i think the answer is no if you look at numbers in west virginia or just in general. but the bigger issue here is mitch mcconnell weighing in and saying, please help out on this one is this is not unlike what we've seen in past cycles where if blankenship wins, every single candidate on the ballot will have to answer what he's saying on a daily basis from there on out, and that creates

problems not just in west virginia, but it creates problems all over the map where republicans are already having problems in a year when they were supposed to be on offense. >> you saw executives with safety violations, et cetera. when you see politicians, they think, i'm going to move up and be in the state senate. then i'm going to run for even higher office. trump has kind of blown that plan up. everyone is always for change, but still there's a secret, the wink-nod advancing in politics. now you think, huh? >> it's causing problems for both sides, but there are few people like donald trump. there are few people that have the celebrity and the sense of this. he had been running for president off and on for the better part of a couple decades.

>> that was the weak nod part i was talking about. >> the point here is tomorrow is going to be one more piece of information in terms of what the midterms are going to be. look for the president, i'm told, to weigh in even more. he's chomping at the bit on the outside. we'll see how he does. the white house now preparing backup options just in case because their cia director faces another tough confirmation battle. your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. hello. give me an hour in tanning room 3. cheers! that's confident. but it's not kayak confident. kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to help me plan the best trip. so i'm more than confident.

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interrogation program which uses torture in some cases to get information. she wanted to bow out, but the white house convinced her to stay the course and today the president tweeted his support. >> we have the highest qualified woman who is tough on terror. win, gina. we'll see what happens at the confirmation hearing. it seems, though, after a couple weeks of will she make it, am i wrong when i say the movement seems to be in her favor as long as she does all right at the hearing? >> i think the interesting element in the last 72 hours, going back to friday with the reporting, and something may be known differently, but on the hill people feel she's probably in a pretty good place. joe manchin is on the committee, and it's different than mike pompeo and the committees he had. it's very apples and oranges to ronny jackson. people said she's the next ronny jackson. this isn't even close to that.

there are democrats in tough elections that it's difficult to vote against a national security official, and maybe people aren't paying as much attention to this. people with intel securities or ties are bringing very hard behind the scenes to bring people in favor of her. they believe she is continuity for the agency despite the so-called torture, that she is somebody who should be atop the agency and that should clear her path forward. by no means it will be easy but i think a lot of people have said watch the hearing. how she answers these questions could be the be-all, end-all, but heading into the hearing i think she's in good shape, all things considering. >> you have leon panetta supporting her nomination. >> and those constantly in war with the trump white house with the trump white house on this one. >> i think that will help on the hill, too, and the hill recently in the last few days have ramped up their republican campaign on

blaf of je behalf of gina haspel. now that pompeo is done and ronny jackson has withdrawn his nomination, they're clearly focusing and doing all they can to ramp up the public relations campaign, and i think it's helping a little bit. >> let's do the math. you saw a bunch of democrats who were looking at it, and as of today barring a setback at the hearing, several of those democrats up on top there. you have heidi heidkamp of west virginia, bill nelson on the ballot in florida, joe manchin of west virginia, senator joe donnelly of indiana, senator clair mccaskill of missouri, senator angus king of maine, senator doug jones. can you get the flip side on the democrats? >> it's essential to watch, but one thing we learned in the pompeo confirmation, rand paul

will likely support this president. i mean, he has raised objections but it seems like he is coming down on the side of trump's side. there is a lot of democratic support for her. it might be helping her on the hill, but will that create any issues with the president? is he wondering, why are all these democrats supporting her? i think that's one thing to keep an eye on, but everyone i talk to at the white house is more confident than a week ago but not sure how she'll perform on wednesday. she's been in the agency forever but we've not really heard from her before. >> is this a part of other things going on here? >> that's key, too, her performance in the hearing. one thing going on at the white house and elsewhere is preparing her for these hearings. given she has had a fair amount of momentum leading up to the hearing coming up, the fact she would have volunteered to step aside indicates that there is something going on in those

preparations that is either rubbing her the wrong way, has rubbed the president the wrong way, or somebody is having last-minute reservations or worries about whether she's going to be able to get through this with her credibility intact, with the credibility of the agency intact. i do think it could be an issue here of, you know, they've been so focused on these mini crises and large crisis surrounding ronny jackson, for instance, that they haven't really gotten down to the basics until now. this is a time when she has to be ready to answer these questions. >> she has to be ready and she's someone who has been a covert operative most of her life. she lives in the shadows. that's the bax sics of her job,o live in the shadows. democrats ask her about her role in the former torture. do you remember the president talking about this? >> tortupeople say torture does work. believe me, it works. waterboarding is the minor form.

some say it's not actually torture. let's assume it is. they asked me the question, what do you think of waterboarding? absolutely fine. but we should go much stronger than waterboarding. that's the way i feel. >> she's going to have to say the president, my boss, is wrong. >> sanders got asked about his current position and sarah sanders said, not answering. she's raising her profile to the rose garden event later this afternoon. they're all going in the same direction but in very different ways

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topping our political radar today, the department of

homeland security and the department of justice institute ag n instituteing a new policy that will prosecute anybody illegally crossing the border. this is the no tolerance policy for border crossings. it could end up separating families at the border. the white house prepared to send an outline of new cuts to capitol hill tomorrow. the rescisions, as they're called, would slash around $15 billion of the federal budget. the cuts do not reflect the $2 trillion spending plan made back in march. the president has to review it. once it hits capitol hill, don't bet on it passing the senate. george bush in washington today. the two discussing the iran nuclear deal ahead of saturday's big deadline. the u.k. and others trying to persuade president trump to stay in that deal. the president, though, seems to have other ideas. in a tweet he's calling on the deal's architect to stop, quote,

what is possibly illegal, shadowing diplomacy. secretary kerry is trying to find a way to preserve the deal. he stays in touch with counterpart just like every previous secretary of state. the first lady melania trump stepping into the spotlight today, announcing her eagerly a waited platform regarding respecting children. america feels good about the first lady. 57% now approve of her, her highest numbers to date since january. republicans gave her an 85% rate, independents, 56%, and democrats just 38%. but that's on its way up. kate, the first lady has to like it. good, new numbers as she prepares for a big announcement.

>> reporter: absolutely. this is a big surge for the first lady of 10 points. she is up among democrats, she is also up among women by 13 percentage points. now women find her in a favorable position rather than unfavorable. she's had a high profile lately. we saw her do the state dinner, we saw her in the white hat everyone talked about that day. we also have seen her be quiet and perform biusiness as usual around january when these polls were taken. around the same time, the stormy daniels scandal broke. now those that are liking her a bit more in january, she has also indicated she's doing more. the platform indicates they're probably getting a bit more used to seeing the first lady. of course, she didn't move into the white house until june of last year. she hasn't been living there full-time yet for a year. but these poll numbers do indicate she is the most popular trump family member, and she's

definitely above her husband in terms of approval and favorability. he hasn't seen numbers this high in cnn polling since 1999. we compare these numbers, however, with predecessors laura bush and michelle obama. she is still behind them a little bit. >> it's the factor of american politics. thank you for sharing your insights today. if the first lady for any president is interesting, melania trump more so in that her husband is in political turmoil most of the time. she has lately stepped up her profile. she has said she's going to make cyberbullying a focus. people say focus more at home.

>> she heard that advice from inside the white house as well, because everybody knows that in focusing on cyberbullying, you are going to call attention to the president who goes on twitter every day and sometimes hurls abuse at people and uses that media that's not exactly uplifting. but to the degree that people do not like donald trump and feel negatively toward him, she gets the flip side of that. she gets sympathy when she is out in public more than others we've seen, which is partly why her numbers are lower. she is seen as hanging back from him, separate from him, and she's been able to divorce herself a little bit -- pardon the word, i'm not base that ingn anything -- but just to stake out a separate territory from him, and i think that's helped boost her a bit in the eyes of the public. >> and whatever your views of donald trump and melania trump, one of the worst things to do is raise a child in the white

house. it doesn't make for necessarily high marks. >> president trump's schedule is free around 3:00, so we'll see if he's in the audience to watch her. devin nunes at it again. why he's taking on attorney general jeff sessions. that's next. who understands your industry and your world can help you make well informed choices and stay ahead of opportunities. pnc brings you the resources of one of the nation's largest banks, and a local approach with a focus on customized insights. so you and your company are ready for today.

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welcome back. the house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes is back in the news. he wants congress to hold attorney general jeff sessions in contempt. nunes says the doj is holding classified materials related to the russia meddling investigation. the doj says, yes, it is holding information with the help of the fbi and other intelligence agencies. quote, disclosure of responsive information to such requests can risk severe consequences, including potential loss of lives. to that nunes said this.

>> we're just not going to take this nonsense of every time we peel something back, every team we need information we get ignored, we get stalled, we get stonewalled, and then lo and behold, we get accused of we're going to destroy the nation's ability to keep it secure. >> so a champion of truth, justice and transparency or shell man for the president on television? >> the interesting part here, to not directly answer your question, is there is an element of truth to this. when it comes to the justice department national security side of things in general, when it comes to responding to questions from congress, they on use this as an excuse not to give them what congressional oversight demands and, frankly requires, and is constitutionally allowed to get. i think that's always been frustrating for lawmakers. what's different is this is run by congress and a congress furious with different types of issues, and i think winking and nodding as to why they're really going after these documents.

the idea that the justice department, the intel community in general is fighting about this disclosure is the oldest in time at this point. it's kind of the underlying, what is the actual intent for these documents, and more importanting important iin ining --ly, what really want these documents for? >> these representatives you're most likely to see on another cable network talking back to the president. mark meadows says, it's time to hold the doj responsible for congress. we can brief you on the parameters, we can't tell you everything in the middle of an investigation. call us in six months, call us in a year, and if we did something wrong, then sue us. that's not good enough for these

guys. >> right, and most of those members of congress are on the president's speed dial. he's friendly with all of them. it seems to be part of an effort to discredit the entire thing here and to blur the lines on all the investigations going forward. >> back home, devin nunes is a vulnerable house republican. there is a question what happens in the primary, who is going to vote against him, and this is just one voter, but some voters think they would rather he be talking about the farms, the businesses and the community, not so much about russia. >> have you voted for devin nunes in the past? >> yes. yes. he was republican! >> what is it that upsets you? is it the russia stuff? >> the backing of trump no matter what. >> in california the backing of trump no matter what could hurt you, but we'll see how that one plays out. >> and devin nunes has staked out a position for himself now for months as president trump's prime defender on capitol hill. they tried to insulate him from

various aspects of the investigation, briefing him in advance on things the committee had found. there was a lot of talk about that last year. and now phil is right. there was a long tradition of congress and the administration facing off on matters of disclosure and oversight, but it speaks to the degree with which republicans in house have really positioned themselves, and devin nunes chief among them as protector of the president, that's a partisan one. >> he tarnished himself and had to step down because he was so close to the trump white house. when you look at mark meadows, you look at jim jordan, you look at rob desantis, you look at nunes in his diminished role, do any of these have leadership or are they guys just talking? >> they don't have much sway with the congressional leadership. these days it doesn't really matter if the president is on

your speed dial or vice versa. we hadn't even really heard about robert gates, but he has the president's ear and it goes a long way with this outfit. up next, john cain home in alabama. tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites... to show you the lowest prices... so you can get the best deal on the right hotel for you. dates, deals, done! tripadvisor. visit tripadvisor.com you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

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if you watched "the view" before checking in with us, you noticed megan mccain missing. she is spending time with her father back in arizona. john mccain is battling brain cancer, but he is also planning for his farewell. he wants president trump to stay away. this line stands out in mccain's final chapter of the "new york times." and some of his associates, though not his family, have started to quietly put out word that they want a mccain person

eventually appointed to fill his senate seat, a roster that includes his wife, cindy. senator mccain hopes to get his strength back to come back. but as he's planning his farewell, cindy mccain, that if john mccain were to step aside or were to pass, cindy mccain in the seat would be a tough sell for the republicans, would it not? >> i think it would. it's very premature at this point, and it's unclear if she would want a position like that. but what i think is so extraordinary about john's piece over the weekend and our reporting as well is the two men who stopped mccain's quest for the presidency, barack obama and george bush. they want him to speak. that tal that speaks to their rivalry. >> they made peace.

that's john mccain's way of doing business. i may punch you today but i'll be with you tomorrow. >> it's a poke at the president to make clear you want your former rivals who you've battled with in the political arena to speak, but you don't want the current president to come and speak or eulogize you. that shows how deeply he holds his views of president trump, not just personally, but in terms of what his presidency has meant. just going back to cindy mccain for a moment, this is something we used to see a lot. when senators or members of congress would pass away or have to step down because of health concerns, oftentimes the spouse would step in and it would be an interesting choice. but i do think, as jeff said, it would be a tough sell for the now republican governor. >> he has a fierce amount of support around him, john mccain. if he's putting this out, he's saying it for a reason. >> i think that's been kind of a tradition. we saw it with senator kennedy.

when senator biden became vice president, someone else came in. >> i think because of the dynamics in arizona right now, we're looking at the seat for the exiting senator jeff flake being one of the most competitive seats. sorry to cut you off there. thank you for joining "inside politics." you can check out the podcast as well. wolf blitzer starts right now. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington, 6:00 p.m. in london. 8: 8:00 p.m. in moscow. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you very much for joining us. president trump defiance. rudy giuliani saying president trump may plead the fifth and not comply with any