kim has between 15 and 35 nuclear bombs. verifying that all of them have been destroyed is going to be a really tough task for the trump administration. >> certainly will be. brian todd, good report, brian. thank you. that's it for me. thank you very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, breaking news, first lady melania trump hospitalized. t plus, top republicans say the white house needs to apologize for an aide's cruel joke about john mccain. why is there still no apology? and is the vice president going for a power grab? let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erin burnett and "outfront" tonight, the breaking news. first lady melania trump hospitalized after undergoing a kidney procedure. her huds the president, expected to return to the white house any moment after visiting the first

lady at the walter reed national medical center in bethesda, maryland. in a sincere thank you to everyone who has reached out to everyone with good thoughts and prayers. she's in good spirits and doing well. we knew very little, though, about this procedure. the first lady's office releasing a very brief statement, which reads, quote, this morning, first lady melania trump underwent embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney condition. the procedure was successful and there were no complications. mrs. trump is at walter reed national military medical center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week. now that briefly worded statement raising a lot more questions than it provided answers. especially because the first lady will remain hospitalized for several more days. her office says trump had been experiencing an issue with her kidney. last time we saw melania trump

was five days ago. she and the president personally greeting the three americans freed from north korea at andrews air force base in the wee hours of the morning. she honored military mothers and spouses prior to that. and a week ago, of course was her big solo spotlight day, when she unveiled her campaign about children. caitlyn collins is "outfront" live at the white house. the president just returned from visiting melania at walter reed. he did so in the early evening. what are you learning about their visit and the first lady's condition? >> well, the president was there for about an hour or so. he did travel over there by marine one. he is now on his way back to the white house. he tweeted shortly as he was on his way over there, saying the first lady was recovering well and that she was in good spirits. and a white house official told us that the president did phone melania trump before she underwent that procedure. and he also spoke with the doctors after everything was finished. so he has been in contact with her. of course we reported earlier, the president remained at the

white house today while melania underwent her procedure. he had several meetings, a lunch with the vice president, mike pence watching the ceremony of the opening of the u.s. embassy in jerusalem. but they are saying she's in good skpirits, that she's recovering without any trouble. but they aren't giving a lot of details about what the procedure was, whether it was planned for several days or if it was more of a last-minute type of things. those are likely the details we'll get over the next few days. we know that the president has been out there, he did visit with her for about an hour or so. and her communication staffer stephanie grisham is at the facility with the first lady as well. >> caitlyn, thank you very much. i want to go straight on our chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta and white house reporter kate bennett who broke the story with john avalon. sanjay, we don't have a lot of information on the afraidfirst condition. we know she'll be spending the week recovering, which seems like a long time to spend in the hospital. >> it does seem like a long time

to spend in the hospital. this type of procedure, as you mentioned, an embolization procedure, it's not really surgery. it's basically threading this catheter near the kidney and injecting a glue-type substance to try and stop blood flow to an area of the kidney where the abnormality is. sometimes a procedure like that can even be done as an outpatient or an overnight stay. you worry about someone developing pain or having infection and you want to make sure that the procedure did the job that it was intended to do. but it does seem like a long time. i don't know if this is because she's the first lady, just an abundance of caution or why the longer stay. >> yeah, a lot of questions there. sanjay, the statement they put out was brief and obviously it lacked significant detail. certainly not explaining this very important point about the amount of time she may be hospitalized. why could that be? >> you know, i don't know. we've been trying to figure that out as well.

i've talked to folks over there, i think one of the things that we heard back was it may be shorter than this. i think they wanted to err on the side of it being a longer stay. but we just don't know. the other thing that we don't know and that was really important to me is, this is described as a benign kidney condition. benign obviously is good. we don't want it to be anything other than benign. but what exactly is it that was treated here? some is of the benign things that happen to a kidney are things like sifts. but those are not treated using embolization. so was it some sort of mass? was it something else? this statement in part gives us some information, but there's a lot it doesn't give as well. >> and kate, you've been working, reporting this all day. the president visiting 34melani early this evening. she went through the procedure without him. what are you learning? >> well, i think it's not unusual that the president wasn't there. most of these issues involving first ladies are private.

you know, the president is an elected official for all intents and purposes, the first lady isn't. so she is very private already and then is taking liberties with that in a way. but certainly the president was not there, i believe he comes with extra baggage, a motorcade, a press pool that has to travel with him. this is a first lady who, as i've covered her, has been intensely guarded, intensely private. i would imagine that him not being there had to do with her request, as such. he called her right before the procedure. he called her doctors right after. i've learned he spent about an hour there with her, meeting with her physician, sitting with his wife and being with her present there. certainly i would imagine she wanted to get some rest this evening and he is now back at the white house. again, i don't think it's unusual that this first lady has opted to do this quietly. and we heard about it after the procedure was finished. >> that makes sense. when you look at it, and i understand the point about

motorcade and being there, but the statement came out at 3:12 in the afternoon, that's when we found out this had happened. speaker ryan came out with a tweet, 4:51. the president came out with a tweet at 5:09. it was two hours after the news broke. he was on twitter today. the israeli embassy, leaks at the white house, all on the table. but he was very quiet about this. >> yeah, i would say that's probably not a best practice. when your spouse has some kind of medical procedure possibly involving surgery, but it was a big day at the white house with the jerusalem embassy. presumably we found out that he had called and had been speaking to her doctors and obviously went to the hospital then. i'm not sure other presidents, other spouses would have kept that degree of distance, but they have their own rhythms. and the main thing, we all wish her well. and this is why some things transcend politics. >> that's true. sanjay, as we look at the brief statement, did not give a lot of

detail. the procedure itself came out of the blue. there was no warning. as kate points out, she's very private. but it does raise some questions about transparency when it comes to the president himself. because sanjay, here is what we have heard about his health from his doctors. >> his health is excellent, particularly his mental health. he thinks he's the best, which works out just fine. >> his overall health is excellent. i've told him if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old. he has incredibly good genes, just the way god made him. >> sanjay, do you have any confidence that we know much about the president's health, which is a matter of public concern? >> it's a fair question. i will tell you this. i think there are sins where there's inaccuracies and there's sins of omission. i think when you look at the statement, for example, from the first lady's office, i'm not saying there's anything inaccurate there, but there's more that we would like to have

known about what has happened here. when it comes to the president's health, for example, the press briefing you showed, i was there, i was astonished that there was so much that was given about the president's health, but when i asked about these very important tests of his heart, that wasn't even told to us. it wasn't in the official record. there were sins of omission when it came to the president's heart. that's the bigger concern. not that what we're reading is inaccurate, but we're not hearing the whole story. >> and that is part of the pattern. >> that's a problem for the president. he's set a terrible standard for tra transparency about his health. he dictated the document by dr. bo bornsteen. that sets a bad precedent. first ladies' health have been handled in a low-key way. even going back wearing a presidential history nerd hat, grover cleveland had a surgery

on his jaw that was done in secret offshore during his second term. >> and kate, obviously the fact this didn't leak is pretty remarkable. because everything leaks from this white house, it seems. what enabled them to pull that off? >> i think it speaks to what were saying. the east coast and melania trump operate completely different from the president. she has a loyal team of about ten staff members, as opposed to the west wing. i think the decisions were made privately with her staff. it is remarkable that the first lady of the united states had a full medical procedure at walter reed that no one knew about until she was out of surgery. i think that very much speaks to the differences between this first lady and this president when it comes to how they handle details, how they handle their personal lives, what kind of attention they like on themselves. i would imagine the president likes plenty of attention. the first lady is quite the opposite. so looking at this as an example of how the two parts of the building are very, very different, i think is really a

compelling away to look at this marriage and this administration and this first couple. >> very interesting point. thank you all so very much. next, the white house passing on another chance to apologize for that cruel john mccain joke. even top republicans tonight are speaking out and saying it's time to just say sorry. plus, on a deadly day of violence, jared kushner speaks out, praising trump for moving the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. this is what was happening nearby. >> when president trump makes a promise, he keeps it. >> and he was lois lane to christopher reeves superman. we'll look back at the life of actress margo kidder. discover card. hey, i'm curious about your social security alerts. oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ewww! being in the know is very good. don't shake! ahhh! sign up online for free. discover social security alerts.

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so i am hoping for a cure. i want this, to uh, to be a reality. um, yeah. new tonight, the white house refusing to apologize for an aide's joke about john mccain dying. here's ross shaw taking reporter questions today. >> why not just apologize so america doesn't think that that is an acceptable way of speaking inside of this white house? >> well, i understand the focus on this issue, but it's going to be dealt with and has been dealt with internally. >> kelly sadler told meghan mccain that she would apologize publicly. that hasn't happened. why not? >> i wasn't on the call. i was told she made it prior to the story being published. >> why hasn't she publicly poll

jidsed as she told meghan mccain she would? >> she has addressed it with the family directly. >> according to shah, the issue is being dealt with internally. why not apologize, though? john cornyn said today, i think an apology is appropriate. and the number three republican senator john boon said, obviously what was said is wrong is inappropriate. it would have been a lot easier if they had just nipped it right away and she came out with an apology. adding later, it would have been nice if trump himself had apologized for the remark. noting, i'm guessing he's probably beyond that at this point. on that he has a point, because if toning what your staff says, admitting that you're wrong is what's required from a leader, doesn't seem like we're going to get it. because trump's example is usually don't apologize, unless you have to, which in his case is pretty much never. >> the lawyers for the opponents said if you would simply apologize for some of your

rhetoric during the campaign, the whole case would go away. and i was wondering -- >> i don't think it would, number one. and there's no reason to apologize. there's nothing to apologize for. >> when was the last time you actually apologized for something? >> oh, wow. i do believe in apologizing if you're wrong. but if you're not wrong, i don't believe in apologizing. >> i hold my line and people wanted me to apologize and we can't do that. >> "outfront" tonight, joan walsh, national affairs correspondent for the nation and jason miller, former senior communications adviser for the trump campaign. jason, everybody knows what was said here was wrong, cruel, whatever word you'd like to use. why can't they come out and say sorry? >> well, erin, i agree with you on that point, i think this could have been handled a lot better. and last thursday, kelly sadler should have come forward and apologized. i think the white house could have announced this was being dealt with by hr or internally. i think this probably then goes

away. i think it probably wasn't even something that would have been discussed going into the weekend. certainly not something that's discussed now. i do not think this is something that the president needs to go and apologize for. it's not something that he said. and i don't think that it's really an issue that should be continuing for three or four days later. going back to the initial point, yeah -- >> that's why you have the number two and three senate republicans who are asking for the apology. it's not the media asking for it. it's not democrats. you got top republicans today. >> a lot of these folks are getting back into town and are just being asked the question now. but like i said, this is something that shouldn't have gone past last thursday. again, it was an unfortunate comment, shouldn't have been made. deal with it with an apology. the white house can deal with it, whether it's hr, whatever their internal protocols are, but this is not something that warrants going three or four days down the road. i think the president is spot on when he put the tweet out a

little while ago saying this was literally a traitorous type action to leak something like this. that's really problematic. >> first, joan, isn't it true if jason said this could have gone away with an apology, should have, could have, but nobody at the white house had her do it. >> that's the truth. >> nobody asked her to do it. she wouldn't have defied her boss on telling her to do that. >> a reason that this is still a story, we learned from kelly sadler apologized to meghan mccain. that meghan mccain asked that she do it publicly. kelly sadler said she would, she did not. that's one reason. the other thing we learned over the weekend, erin, is that mercedes schlapp, the acting communications head, let it be known she stands with kelly sadler. and then people are finally doing what jason is doing and acting as though the person who leaked this is the real problem, rather than the person who said it. i just want to say one thing about the president and leaks.

first of all, that tweet was incoherent. it said this was all fake news, it didn't happen, but there are leakers and traitors. the president then is the number one traitor. because you know he actually goes out to the press and he trashes his staff. he did it during the campaign. he trashes his cabinet. sometimes off the record, sometimes publicly. so this president, this all comes from the top. he hates john mccain. he'll never apologize, and he loves to leak and trash his own people on his own time. so he's got no credibility to attack anyone else in this situation. >> joan, hold on a minute. a couple things can be true at the same time. i clearly said these comments were inappropriate and shouldn't have been made. i said an apology should have been made days ago and we shouldn't have gotten to this point. at the same time, the fact that the comments were leaked out of the white house and they had a meeting about this and that then leaked out, i think, is very problematic for this white house. >> traitorous. >> i think it's traitorous. >> to repeat something about

john mccain dying. we're not talking national security. >> it's traitorous for someone to leak it out, because not only does it -- >> traitorous -- >> -- it pulls the entire white house into this mess, when we should be talking about the embassy moving to jerusalem, the fact that this morning gallup put out the single highest set of poll numbers this president has had in his entire presidency. >> we should be talking about the 52 palestinians who died -- [ all speak at once ] >> the rest of the country is completely different from this topic. i've been very clear where i think on it. >> let me read the tweet that the president came out. the so-called leaks coming out of the white house are a massive overexaggeration putting out by the fake news media in order to make us look as bad as possible. nobody has disputed, anybody has disputed what was said. so it's not an exaggeration and it's not fake news. with that being said, he continues, leakers are traitors and cowards and we'll find out who they are.

kellyanne conway was asked about whether she and the president talked about staff changes, about these leaks. she was asked, do you think there will be staff changes? she said, i do, actually, yes, i do. do you think someone's going to be fired over there? and then my question, are we really going to say the person who leaked it is going to be fired and not the person who joked about john mccain dying? >> two separate things. probably disciplinary measure that goes along with making a comment like kelly sadler said. i'll leave it that to the administration folks. i'm not going to play their role. i also think there's a severe punishment should go along with leaking something from the white house. so i think again the punishment is probably warranted on both. but i'm glad to hear kellyanne make that comment because it's about time they track down and find out who some of the leakers are. they're not serving the president approximately, the count --

serving the president well or the country well. >> this is the leakiest white house in our adult memory. i'm sure kellyanne occasionally is one of them. starts at the top, starts with the president's disrespect for his staff, for the truth. it trickles down to a dysfunctional white house where everybody is at each other's throats and happy to backbite and backstab. so this is more than just some errant staffer who spoke out of turn about a joke or whatever you want to call it in a staff meeting. this is systemic. >> and that's why i think they should have said something about it last thursday. because i don't think the rest of the folks in the white house would have made a comment like that. and i think that's why it would have been better if they took quick action on thursday. again, joan, we're going to agree to disagree on our opinions on the president. but i notice you're not pushing back on the accomplishments and the things that we should be talking about, things that president trump it doing. >> we didn't get to those.

>> we didn't to the palestinians who died, who were shot -- >> then tell hamas and tell iran -- [ all speak at once ] >> thank you both. next, we have breaking news on the numbers. 58 people dead in gaza protests as the u.s. opens its new embassy in jerusalem. we'll go live on the ground to this day of violence that we saw. plus, the vice president on settling trump loyalists according to a new report in "the new york times." what's going on with pence? brighthouse financial

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now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. breaking news, at least 58 palestinians killed by israeli forces in gaza, as the u.s. officially opens its embassy in jerusalem. this is according to the palestinian ministry of health. it's the deadliest day there since the 2014 summer war. palestinian officials also claiming more than 2,700 people have been injured. israel says its actions were necessary to protect its borders and a government spokesperson is just saying at this moment, all terror activity will be met with a harsh response. so threatening to respond -- to continue to respond. president trump's son-in-law and se

senior adviser jared kushner spoke at the embassy opening, saying, today was actually the beginning of a journey of peace. >> when there is peace in this region, we will look back upon this day and remember that the journey to peace started with a strong america recognizing the truth. >> ian lee is "outfront" in gaza tonight. ian, obviously the israeli defense has come out and said they'll respond in kind to what they call acts of terror. what is the situation like there now? >> reporter: well, erin, this was the deadliest day in gaza since the 2014 war. we heard also the white house blaming hamas for the violence. hamas is blaming the white house for the violence because of this embassy move. there's a lot of people here who are angry. we were out there on the front. there are tens of thousands of people all up and down that border with gaza and israel. and what they were trying to do

is trying to get across that border. and israel said they're just not going to allow that to happen. they've used tear gas when they were moving close. when they got closer to that border fence, that's when they started opening fire. it was easy to see how that death toll could rise so quickly, because at times we heard almost gunfire. we heard tanks firing, which the israeli army said were at hamas positions. also there were a couple of air strikes in the northern part of gaza. the u.n. has come out and urged restraint from the israeli side. but when you talk to these people, you get a real sense that this is a grassroots movement, that people say they want to go across, they want to return to lands they say that were lost to israel during the 1948 war. but here's the thing, erin, these protests, big, violent today. we're expecting the same thing tomorrow. >> ian, thank you very much. and as ian points out, when it's grassroots, it's much more

difficult to control. "outfront" now, the democratic senator from oregon jeff merkley who sits on the senate foreign relations committee. there's been a lot of bloodshed. ian lee was in gaza, saying it's expected to continue tomorrow. israeli defense forces tonight saying they'll respond in kind to terror. so the rhetoric is upping even itself it's still dark. people died today. many were injured. does president trump bear some of the blame or not? >> well, the situation is certainly horrific. and i think that symbolically this move represents for many palestinians the end of their hopes for a two-state solution, that they will have someday a land of their own, that essentially, it's been held for a long time, that the movement of the embassy would be part of a coordinated effort with a plan for each population to have their own country. and the palestinians now see that, without america as a fair

broker between them, see it as a diminishing or disappearing objective. >> so, you know, when jared kushner said, we're going to look back and see this as the beginning of peace, this is gonna be the day, what's your response? >> well, there's a lot of bloodshed today. i don't think it will be seen as the beginning of peace. but i do think israeli has reached the point where it's strong in every conceivable way. it has the world's most amazing military, second to the united states. it has addressed its issues related to electricity and water. it has just -- in every possible way, high-tech companies being sold for billions of dollars. it's an amazing place. so if this isn't a moment for a gesture towards the possibility of two-state solution, i don't know when that moment will ever be. >> so, jared kushner today when he did address the ongoing violence, was very clear about who was to blame for it. here's what he actually said in jerusalem at the embassy in his

speech, senator. >> as we have seen from the protests of the last month and even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem, and not part of the solution. >> and of course at the white house, they were also very direct, explicitly blaming hamas, the palestinians. of course to many, that's not only subjective, but it's also provocative, and that line that we just heard jared kushner say, was not actually in what the white house released and called a transcript of his comments today. is it possible that was simply an honest mistake, or did they not want him putting the blame to be in there? >> well, that's hard to say. but i will say that his inability to articulate the challenge faced by people in gaza is part of the problem. that is, you have a population living in a confined area. it's -- the water systems are completely shattered from the

2014 war. it's impossible to import materials to build an economy or export products. so there's an enormous level of desperation. and so if we want to have any chance of advancing peace, we have to understand the enormous plight that the palestinian people are in. >> searnator, let me ask you directly about the embassy itself. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu says it's an historic decision by president trump, and his view of it couldn't be more different than what we're seeing outside. here's netanyahu. >> what a glorious day. remember this moment! [ cheers and applause ] this is history. president trump, by recognizing history, you have made history. >> searpnator, what's your bott

line? do you support the u.s. embassy being in jerusalem or not? >> i very much supported it becoming our embassy in jerusalem, when it's part of a strategy to go forward with two people living productively, peacefully, side by side. and i think this is where it -- i mean, we're really talking about where conversations are held, but it's the symbolism of it, and the symbolism really represents to people living in the west bank and gaza, that there is no path for them to ever have a land of their own. they have been under occupation. it's an extraordinarily difficult life, and we have, we, the united states, have championed the vision that there would be a brighter future ahead. and really i'm hoping the president -- our president, can return to championing that vision. >> senator, thank you very much. i appreciate your time tonight. >> you're welcome, erin. next, vice president pence raising eyebrows and perhaps ire

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the way our teachers make us feel at school makes us want to come back the next day. from the janitors to the campus security. they participate, too. to make us feel like connected. we are all together. my school is really like a community. i appreciate my teachers because they don't only teach me inside the classroom, they teach me about life. one of the most influential people at my school are the campus security technicians. it's just everybody coming together. narrator: exactly why the california teachers association believes strong public schools make a better california for all of us. thank you. tonight vice president mike pence is exercising a lot more control over the republican

party ahead of the midterm elections. and some trump allies reportedly, not happy. "the new york times" is reporting pence is playing a much bigger role in the gop's future, and obviously some trump loyalists don't like it, right? is he trying to create his own power base? who knows. bombshell report. national correspondent with the "new york times" breaking this story and mark lauder, former press secretary for vice president pence and member of the trump 2020 advisory board. alex, your reporting is, mike pence is really getting a lot more power. what's happening? >> look, he's playing what is at this point in a president's term, an unprecedented role in shaping not just the sort of broad republican message for the midterm elections, but the specific places the president engages, how he engages in those places, and he's taken control to a great degree, of many of the levers of fundraising and

strategy, really across the party. even in cases where his own instincts and interest conflict somewhat with the president. there have been a number of primaries, including governor of florida, congressional one in texas, where the president's instincts have gone a different direction and the vice president has persuaded him to go in a different direction or gone around him. >> that begs the question. the public pence for lack of a better word, hads been very adoring of trump. here's some of what pence has said. >> it's the greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to a president who literally embodies american leadership. the book is entitled "the art of the deal" and it's actually an american classic. >> i'm deeply humbled as your vice president to be here. >> greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to a president who's keeping his word to the american people. >> it's not just what he says, his looks. the looks have not gone

unnoticed. but pence is a long-time political player. he knows what he's doing here. >> he absolutely does. and the reality that pence's own staff acknowledges in private conversations is that part of the reason why he is so adoring of the president in public and why he takes such pains not to do anything that could possibly be seen as disloyal is because there are people close to the president, on the inside of the administration and on the outside, who are watching for signs of disloyalty. and so if the vice president puts a false step in public, the president is sure to hear about it. and so far, he has not made a false step in public. he's simply trying to expand his influence over the party's political machinery, often in private. >> so in public, mark, we see, we hear that the public pence. but in private, you hear the reporting. your reaction? >> it doesn't really reflect what i noticed in the ten months that i served in the administration or in the six months since when i've been a part of both the vice president and president's political

operations. the president and the vice president have a unified message, a unified theme. and this is reflective of a strategy that was developed at camp david back in january, where at the president's direction, the vice president was going to be the tip of the political sphere. and so that's why you see him out there, you see him campaigning for republican candidates all across the country. raising money, and doing things -- >> mark, what about the report of him gaining so much power and authority over the entire gop apparatus, when you talk about fundraising and things like that, those are the levers of power. >> the vice presidents typically, of both parties, take a leadership role in fundraising during midterm elections because it's a lot easier to move the vice president around and the president has a busy day job. so, in this case, this is fulfilling that mission. so what i can tell you is that the vice president is firmly committed to enacting the president's agenda. you hear him talk about that publicly. i can guarantee you those are the conversations that are going

on privately. and i'll even give you the example going so far as, as you mentioned in the intro, that i'm on the president's 2020 advisory committee. the president's former campaign manager is now on the vice president's political action, his leadership pac. so there's no daylight between the two organizations. >> let's talk about that. cory lewandowski is who he's referring to today, the former trump campaign manager is on the vice president's political action committee. that could be a sign on being on the same page. that could be a sign of, i want one of my guys in there to know what you're doing, because i don't trust you. do you know which it is? >> i'll leave the kremlinology of lewandowski's recruitment to mark and others. but pence has been sophisticated to making sure there's not public daylight between him and the president. but mark's point is well taken in a be in number of ways, that normal for the vice president to play that role in advancing an

administration's agenda. what's less common, we've not seen it in a first term presidency like this, for the vice president to be dictating is pushing back on the president's own political activity the way the vice president is. and for a vice president's office and his internal political operation to be as influential as vice president pence's is. >> mark? >> i think what you're seeing, the vice president obviously has much longer ties in the political apparatus, as alex mentioned earlier. but i don't want to -- >> but he's speaking about the unprecedented nature of some of this. >> i don't want it to be confused with the fact that they are always working in concert with the president's team. i know for a fact that there were about a half a dozen senior staff members at the white house that talked to the very well respected and admired team at "the new york times" that reported on this story. not all of that was included. that was really characterizing the fact that these two operations are really one operation. and they're under the president

of the united states and nothing happens with the vice president. where the president's team is not fully in coordination. >> thank you both. and i would presume that the reporters of "the new york times," one of their jobs is to separate spin from reality. next, the fbi says china's zte phones here in the united states are susceptible to stealing information and spying. so why is trump lauding the company and looking for a way to help them? and jeanne moos remembering the actress who played lois lane. so, that goal you've been saving for,

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espionage. >> reporter: phones and other products made by zte are open to surveillance and hacking to the chinese government. >> none of you would. raise your hand if you recommend that private american citizen use zte services. none of you again are raising your hand, thank you for that. >> reporter: president trump surprised republicans and democrats when he tweeted president xi of china and i are working together to give massive chinese phone company zte a way to get back into business fast. christopher wray explained the risks in sharp terms. >> we are deeply concerned about

allowing the risks of any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our value. it provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information and provides the capacity to conduct uncontested espionage. >> reporter: just two weeks ago, the pentagon instructed u.s. military bases to stop selling zte phones. and barred companies from selling hard components. today however, commerce secretary left the door opened to helping zte as directed by

that tweet. >> they did do inappropriate things and they admitted to that. the question is are there alternative remedies to the ones originally put ford. >> it is incredible when you hear that and juxtapose it with as you said, the head of the cia and all intelligence agencies would you trust them with your phone and none of them raised their hand. >> so i spent most of today talking to multiple officials about this and here is my understanding, no intention to lift the warning about the zte phones and to be clear, there are 55 million phones that have been sold here in the u.s. might allow u.s. come spok-- components makes to shift

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movies. she was having a romance with a man of steel. wondering about clark kent. >> who are you? >> a friend. >> which they were in real life. kidder once told cbs, when you are strapped hanging from a ceiling for months and months, you get pretty darn close. she had bipolar disorder. >> i slept a couple of nights with a homeless man in a cardboard box. >> reporter: she picked herself up and became a mental health advocate. at the age of 69 she died peacefully in her sleep in her home. now they are all gone and she

could no longer hold on. she was there to catch her. and she delivered her catchiest line. >> easy miss, i've got you. >> you've got me, who has got you? >> jeanne moos cnn. thanks for joining us, there is a lot to get to tonight. news about first lady melania trump. getting the latest from pamela brown. >> reporter: we can tell you that the first lady is recovering and resting comfortably after a successful kidney procedure. her communications director told the press that she had just left the first lady and she was in