yea,that and homeowners, renters, motorcycle and boat insurance. huh.that's nice. what happens when you catch a fish? gecko: whoa. geico. more than just car insurance. see how much you could save at geico.com. i'm ok! hello, i'm wolf blitzer. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. president trump talking tough on russia after walking back comments from his jaw-dropping news conference with vladimir putin. at a cabinet meeting only moments ago right here in washington, he said no president in the history of the united states has been tougher on russia than he has. and here's what else he had to

say. >> are they still targeting the u.s.? >> let's go. make your way out. let's go. we're finished here. press, let's go. >> thank you very much, everybody. make your way out. >> we're doing very well. we are doing very well and we're doing very well, probably as well as anybody has ever done with russia. and there's been no president, ever, as tough as i have been on russia. all you have to do is look at the numbers. look at what we've done. look at sanctions. look at ambassadors not there. look, unfortunately, at what happened in syria recently. and i think president putin knows that better than anybody. certainly better than the media. he understands it, and he's not happy about it. and he shouldn't be happy about it because there's never been a president as tough on russia as i have been. okay. thank you very much. >> this comes only a day after the president tried to walk back his comments during the summit with vladimir putin in helsinki.

he came under a lot of fire when he seemed to take putin's word about russia's attack on the 2016 u.s. presidential election. our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny is joining us. what do you make of the president's comments just now about russia? >> there may be another cleanup act coming at the white house. specifically the question he was asked in the cabinet room just a short time ago. if he believes that russia is still targeting the u.s. he paused for a moment and said no. then some confusion and loud noises in there as often happens because these white house aides, more than other administrations, are trying to get reporters out so the president does not answer questions. the president often wants to answer some questions. so there was some shouting back and forth. we have checked with the pool reporters who were inside that cabinet room and they say they have no doubt at all the president was saying no when asked directly if the u.s. is still being targeted by russia. the reason this would be a big deal, this again would be the

president going against the own words, the own evidence from his director of national intelligence. from his intelligence community. just a couple days ago, dan coats, the director of the dni says the united states is, frankly, still under attack. they said that russia was successful during 2016 and might want to retry it in 2018. so the president there also moving on to say that no president has ever been tougher in the history of relations. the administration has been far tougher than the president, no question. there have been so many sanctions imposed. but in helsinki, wolf, you and i were both there watching president trump, standing alongside with vladimir putin. certainly not as tough as any president in the history of this country. vladimir putin, of course, stood alongside four american presidents. president trump was very much agreeable with him. he's been criticized for that. so the white house again, wolf, i expect these will be questions coming up in the white house briefing, the first one in quite

some time coming up later this afternoon. but particularly the question we should ask, does the president still believe that russia is targeting the u.s.? he said in a word, no. we'll see if they try and clean that up as well, wolf. >> i suspect they're getting ready for that. jeff zeleny, thanks very much. joining us for perspective, political analyst julie hirschfeld-davis, also our cnn political analyst david gregory and our chief political analyst gloria borger. you know, the question that cecilia vega, the network white house pool reporter, she specifically asked the president, is russia still targeting the u.s., mr. president? the president responded, thank you very much and then he said no. and everybody -- he was looking right at her when he said no. this is, obviously, very different from what the u.s. intelligence community believes that russia is still targeting the u.s. >> right. and we reported yesterday as well that russia is about to step up some more targeting of

the united states, and i can only think back to the president saying that putin's denials were powerful was the word that he used. so he has his own intelligence community, not only the dni but his entire intelligence community saying, get ready. things are going to get bad and i think the dni said the red lights are flashing. and yet the president of the united states dismissing it. it seems remarkable to me because only yesterday he had to come out and apologize, sort of, and say, i do have faith in my intelligence community. well if you have faith in your intelligence community, they are telling you that the russians are still targeting us. so which is it? >> his director of national intelligence, dan coats, issued a statement after the president's awkward news conference in helsinki on monday and, among other things, he said we have been clear in our assessments of russian meddling in the 2016 election and their

ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy. earlier he said they were still trying to do it in the midterm elections coming up in november. the president said, no, they are not targeting the u.s. any longer. >> right. so that has to be cleaned up. and i think what's so important, even in the political debate, if you are someone who believes there's an overstatement of what the 2016 meddling amounted to, is it hyperbole to say it was pearl harbor or 9/11, you can put that aside. what we have to learn from our short-term history is that you can't have a failure of imagination. and we don't have to when it comes to russia. russia has attacked critical inpractii inf infrastructure before as they did in ukraine in 2014. they did interfere in our election in 2016 and no question they'd like to do more. we know that putin is a bad actor on the world stage. we know the united states government feels that way and acts accordingly but the president of the united states has shown repeatedly his infatuation for this imperial

figure who is vladimir putin. and that is what is so troubling. i don't know what the administration policy is toward russia. and i don't know how often it may be changing given how erratic and ill informed the president appears on the subject. >> it may be two policies. it may be his advisers and then the president of the united states. >> this is why this matters. obviously, the fact that he's done this news conference and had to come and clean it up yesterday. he's now again seeming to take issue with what the intelligence community is telling him about the election interference and whether it's going on still. but the reason this all matters is because he was in that room by himself with vladimir putin for more than two hours. and the question is, what did he say to vladimir putin? and if he, in fact, does not believe that the meddling and the interference and the attack on american democracy and our voting system is still going on, that would affect what he said or didn't say. so because he has been on such a different page from the rest of his administration, he alluded to how tough they've been. his administration has been tough. there have been a lot of

sanctions. they expelled all these diplomats after the poisoning in the uk. there have been concrete moves but he, with every step, public statement, he undermines them because he makes it clear he doesn't actually agree. when he has the opportunity to stand next to putin, he won't press the issue. >> the big factor here is russia is a complicated issue in terms of our foreign policy because there's areas where we might work with russia, potentially in syria, notably elsewhere in the middle east but the president can't get his own ego out of this. he cannot give any quarter on the idea of the muellermeddling because it seems to delegitimize him. in his mind it does. and so he so admires the way that putin conducts himself that he lets that get in the way. so this is, to your point, what are they saying behind closed doors? what business relationships did the president have before he was president with russia that could

undermine his judgment? we need to know these things. and anybody does because the policy is so delicate. >> and we need to know what occurred in the meeting. that's very difficult to find out because you have a note-taker and that's about a translator and that's about it. >> no note-taker which is significant. >> just a translator. and the russians today said we'd like to get moving on some of the practsical implementation of agreements we reached in this meeting. and we're all saying, what agreements? >> the president said it was a great meeting. read a couple tweets earlier today. he said some people hate the fact i got along well with president putin of russia. they would rather go to war than see this, it's called trump derangement syndrome. and then he said so many people at the higher ends of intelligence love my press conference performance in helsinki. putin and i discussed many subjects in our earlier meeting. we got along well which bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. big results will come. he seems to be confirming what

the russian foreign ministry and defense ministry is saying. there's some major developments under way right now but he's not giving us any details. >> this is why congressional oversight is so important. what is the republican-controlled congress going to do? who are they going to have testifying on capitol hill? how is anyone going to get a debrief? are they going to get this translator's notes? it's just a mess, and i am not even sure the president has debriefed his own people. do we know that? >> i don't know that we have. he has obviously talked with them about what was said in that room. in terms of concrete agreements. some of the things about arms control, about an agreement to help secure israel's border with syria, all of those things, they're very, very vague. i think going in, his administration, his advisers were so intent on downplaying expectations. i actually expected to see a lot more concrete detail, at least on the issues that they were going to agree to talk about. what is this conversation going to be around new start?

what is the conversation going to be around syria? we got very little detail from that partially because president trump himself focused so intently on election interference and defending himself. >> i want to point out senator lindsey graham, republican, key member of the armed services community just tweeted this. a big discrepancy between president trump's statement and dni coats' warning. it's imperative we get to the bottom of what is going on so we can be prepared to protect ourselves in advance of the 2018 elections. my personal view, the russians are at it again. >> and think about that. you have the intelligence community saying this is a big threat. republican leaders finally saying, you know, russians need to know it's not going to happen again. and the president is an apologist for president putin. even in his use of language, it's so imprecise to be reckless. and who on the president's staff, including some very experienced people would allow a

meeting where there's only a translator to be president? it's so irresponsible. i don't care what your views are about the mueller investigation. there's every reason for engagement with russia. this is irresponsible policy. go back, near-term history when president george w. bush was asked by the associated press, do you trust putin and his immediate answer was i got a chance to look in his soul and i do trust him. i was sitting in slovenia next to condoleezza rice and she went like this. she said to karen hughes, his counsel, we do not talk about vladimir putin like that. you cannot trust him. that was a major issue at that time. >> very quickly, and gloria, because a lot -- all of us have studied history. we know history. know the u.s./russian relationship. when the president says no american president has ever been tough earer on russia than i ha there have been a few american

presidents who have been pretty tough on russia during various crises, including the cuban missile crisis. >> and no president has ever been stronger. and no president has ever been more popular. you know -- >> tear down this wall. >> he gave a strong denial. >> it's just, it's just absurd. you talk about the issue of trust. who trusts president trump to debrief them about what actually occurred in that meeting? i think there is an issue there not just with trusting putin. but it's about trusting the president because he is not known for telling the truth. >> right. >> and so who knows how he would color what occurred during this meeting. >> exactly. >> we're going to continue this assessment. a lot more unfolding on the breaking news. what did president trump say when asked if russia was still targeting the u.s.? take a look at this. there's a briefing about to happen over in the white house. we're hoping the white house will clarify what the president exactly said. lots of controversy again

emerging on this day. we'll have live coverage of that white house press briefing with sarah sanders. stick around. plus, a flight risk. that's what a russian national charged with acting illegally here in the united states as a foreign agent is being called today. mar kia will arrive in court an time now. we'll have the latest. we're live on the scene. atch wht they love in more places. get an unlimited family plan with netflix on us. and right now, buy one samsung galaxy s9 and get one free. add the activia 2 week probiotic challenge to your healthy routine and see how activia yogurt with its billions of live and active probiotics may help support your digestive health so you can take on your day. start the activia probiotic challenge today. it works or it's free! you're smart,eat you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is

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an accused russian agent is expected to be in court here in washington in the next few minutes. maria butina spent the last three years in the united states trying to infiltrate conservative political circles, including the national rifle association and then using those

connections during the 2016 presidential election to set up back channels between then candidate donald trump and russian president vladimir putin. our crime and justice reporter shimon prokupecz has been following this for us. >> she'll be appearing in court. a little interesting color is her lawyer is asking she appear in street clothes so that request was just made to the judge and they're deciding whether she's going to appear in her prison jump suit or street clothing. this is set up as a detention hearing. prosecutors wanting to keep her in jail behind bars as they proceed with their case. the concern here is that she could flee. she's not a citizen of the united states and essentially she could just walk into the russian embassy and then be shipped back to russia. but prosecutors gave us a preview of what they're going to argue as to why she should be detained. and it's really a fascinating list of information and evidence they've been able to gather

about her. they say that she has been in regular contact with russian intelligence. at one point, as part of her operation here, she offered sex for a position in an organization. they also say that her operation here, and this is directly from the court papers they released, that her plan was calculated, patient and directed by the russians. so, really, a lot of information in these documents that they released. it's clear that the fbi has been monitoring her, following her. they say that they moved to arrest her on sunday because she was going to leave the area. she was planning on moving to south dakota, and they were concerned she was going to leave and that's why they arrested her on sunday. >> if you read this 17-page court document, government's memorandum that support pretrial detention it reads like a spy novel. >> and its textbook of how the russians developed these kinds of operations. this takes time. they study people. they learn about who they want

to target. in this case, she was given specific orders. they have these conversations. they have recorded conversations in russian that they were able to obtain of her with handlers, people that she was talking to about the operation, about what she was doing here in the u.s. so, really, if you, according to these documents, there's overwhelming evidence to suggest that she was here on behalf of the russian government. >> we'll see what happens in this court procedure that's coming up in the next few minutes. shimon, thank you. also moments ago, the president addressing a russian president vladimir putin in the controversial summit in helsinki and said this. listen carefully. >> is russia still targeting the u.s., mr. president? >> let's go. make your way out. let's go. we're finished here. press, let's go. >> thank you very much, everybody. make your way out. we're doing very well. we are doing very well and we're doing very well, probably as well as anybody has ever done

with russia. and there's been no president ever as tough as i have been on russia. all you have to do is look at the numbers. look at what we've done. look at sanctions. look at ambassadors. look unfortunately at what happened in syria recently. and i think president putin knows that better than anybody. certainly a lot better than the media. he understands it, and he's not happy about it. and he shouldn't be happy about it because there's never been a president as tough on russia as i have been. okay. thank you very much. >> let's get some reaction from capitol hill. republican congressman chris stewart of utah is joining us. he serves on the house intelligence committee. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> good afternoon. >> so let me get your quick reaction to a couple points the president just made. he just was asked if russia is still targeting the u.s. and he said no. your reaction? >> i am honestly not sure what he means by that. if we're talking about cyberattacks, i can tell you as of last week, they were.

i think as of yesterday they were. now maybe he has some agreement or some mechanism in place they've agreed not to do that. i hope that that's true. but i would like to have him further explain what he means by that. >> because even his own director of national intelligence, dan coats, former u.s. senator, and ambassador to germany, twice in the last two weeks he said russia not only did it in the 2016 election but is continuing to do so, looking ahead to the 2018 midterm elections in november. on monday, after the president's news conference in helsinki, he said we have been clear. this is dan coats. we have been clear in our assessments of russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy. so he and the president seem to disagree on this sensitive issue. >> well, you know, look. mr. coats is exactly right. and, wolf, i've said it to you and virtually to every media appearance or private

conversations as well. there's no question that russia was active and seeking interfering in the election. i don't know that that's surprising to anyone. i was in moscow a couple months before the election. when i came home i said they're going to try to interfere. this isn't new activity. they've been doing it for virtually generations. i think the president sometimes conflates two things. he mixes up two things and puts them together. did they seek to interfere? no question that they did. the second one is, was there collusion between the trump campaign and the russians? there's no evidence of that. the president sometimes puts those two in the same silo, if you will, and they're really very different issues. the dni is right. they were interfering and they seek to interfere in the future. that's one of the main reason yes the house intel committee wanted to get our report as as quickly as we did so we could warn states and put in fixes to what we know is going to be nefarious activity once again in 2018 and 2020. >> by the way, not just dan

coats, the director of national intelligence, it's mike pompeo, the secretary of state, former cia director, james mattis, the secretary of defense. they all say russia is still doing exactly what they were doing in the 2016 election. it's ongoing. it's pervasive in their own words. and quickly, what do you think -- go ahead. >> let me very quickly on that. look, why would they not try to do this in 2018 and 2020 when they've had remarkable success in 2016. i think their primary objective was to sow discord, break down the democracy and break down trust in our electoral system. they far exceeded their expectations in that. having that success, why would they not try to do the same thing and continue that same activity? >> yeah, they've not only succeeded in sowing discord. a lot of partisan fighting but one of their objectives was to sow discord among the nato allies. there's a lot of tension between

the united states on one hand and whether germany or france or the uk, the nato allies on the other hand. what did you think of what the president said on montenegro in that interview with tucker carlson on fox last night when he seemed to be raising questions. well, why should u.s. troops go in and protect montenegro if it's attacked by russia? >> article 5 compels us to. until we rewrite the rules of nato, that is our treaty obligation. i think that it's probably appropriate that we look at some of the rules of engagement on nato and maybe we need to update them. but this is built on the foundation of mutual defense. and montenegro went through the process. they were admitted into nato. they are a small member admittedly and certainly not a powerful military force. but once we sign that treaty with them and allow them as a treaty member, then we have that obligation. and, look, i have been saying for years now, two or three years, when i've been in europe, to our nato allies, you have to

be willing to pay more and contribute more to your own defense. you can't ride on the american coat tails and expect us to defend you when you're not willing to spend what you have agreed to spend. the president was right on that. it's a baste family squabble, but there's no question that the policy is exactly right. nato has the -- nato members have to be willing to contribute to their own defense. why? to counter russia. an expansionist russia. and it's one of the things where i agree with the president when i say when he said he's been very tough on them. >> chris stewart from utah, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. still ahead -- the president calls the people of montenegro strong and aggressive, though the proom minister of that country might say the same thing about mr. trump. we'll explain. we have a live report. also, controversial comments from the president calling the u.s. commitment to defending nato allies into some sort of question. we're going to talk to the former u.s. ambassador to russia to get a sense of how much these

words may be damaging u.s. relations. but in very differents f

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the trumps arrived just a short time ago to offer their condolences. the agent was a married father of two. he suffered a stroke while on duty. our deepest cop dolenss to his family and his friends. president trump has put the u.s. commitment to defending all nato allies into question right now. and it stems from his recent remarks during an interview. listen to this. >> why should my son go to montenegro to defend it from attack? >> i understand what you're saying. montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. >> i'm not against montenegro, or albania. >> they're very strong people. they're very aggressive people. they may get aggressive. and congratulations, you're in world war iii. >> serious statement from the president. montenegro is a nato country located in southeastern europe. it's smaller than the state of connecticut. its population roughly the same as the city of baltimore. president trump does have some history with the country.

last year at the nato summit, the president famously pushed aside the prime minister of montenegro as leaders prepared for a group photo opportunity. our international diplomatic editor nic robertson is joining us from london. give us some context into all of this. we know it's a small country, a small population. but why do you think the president called it aggressive? >> you know, wolf, it's very hard to say. look, i used to spend quite a bit of time in montenegro. the people there were tall, i didn't find them particularly aggressive. if we put it into context, more than the fact its population is probably -- its total population is probably smaller than the whole of the standing army in china, nato is a group of nations that have mutual strategic interests. and the strategic interests for nato in montenegro is perhaps and certainly this is the way russia views it, to deny russia

its important port facilities. montenegro has a deep warm water port. now when montenegro was part of yugoslavia and the warsaw pact, the soviet union used to have access to that deep warm water port on the mediterranean. when it was montenegro sides now with nato, that takes it away from russia. so think about it like this. russia annexed crimea because they wanted to make sure they would have the port facilities there, the warm water port facilities in the black sea. montenegro, not quite the same stature. not quite the same level of port facility, but this is perhaps why russia has looked displeasingly upon montenegro joining nato. that's a little bit of context and that perhaps goes to understand why the special prosecutor in montenegro last year accused two russian secret service members of a plot in

2016 to kill the prime minister and effect a coup in the country because he was trying to join montenegro. that's the bigger picture about -- that's the bigger picture about montenegro and its relevance to russia and its relevance to nato. but as -- from what the president was saying, that would seem to raise that very fundamental question for nato, all nato allies, not just tiny montenegro but all of them. would the united states step up were one of its allies in nato attacked? and it's an open question. and it shouldn't be for these allies, an open question, wolf. >> let's not forget montenegro was admitted as a full member in june of last year. and donald trump was president of the united states when that occurred. nic robertson, thank you for that perspective. let's bring in john, the former u.s. ambassador to russia. this is a big deal right now. the words of the president, the message that he sends out.

this whole issue of montenegro. john mccain, chairman of the senate armed services committee tweeted this. the people of montenegro boldly withstood pressure from putin's russia to embrace democracy. by attacking montenegro and questioning our obligations under nato, the president is playing right into putin's hands. do you think mccain is right? >> yes, i do. i think we're seeing in a daily basis here, the attempt to correct the record yesterday, the statements on montenegro today, we're seeing the president is really struggling to sort of promote -- to project the strength that he needs to promote u.s. interests. and with respect to russia, this is an important relationship. we can't just afford to put it in the hold box for the next two years. so i think it's really time for the president maybe to give secretary pompeo his national security adviser john bolton the

lead on dealing with russia. these are two people who know america's place in the world. they're tough. they're respected by the russians. and it's not unusual in american history. we've had times when during watergate, during the clinton impeachment, when the president simply has to -- he can't do everything himself in any event. he needs to look to some of his strong advisers to lead the diplomacy. >> but this president, he'll get some advice but he does what he wants to do. he doesn't necessarily accept that advice going into these sensitive meetings. >> but we have an agend waiting russia we know. some very important things we need to address, and they need to be addressed urgently. the whole question of election interference, i think we've been going at it completely the wrong way for the last two years. it looks as though congress is readying a new round of sanctions which we would then

announce publicly and all that does is force putin to stand up and show that he can stand up to american bullying. what we need to do is get congress and the treasury department together and come up with a package of sanctions which we would then take privately to putin. led by pompeo and bolton and say, here's what's coming unless we see some change in what's being directed against our -- >> you are a career foreign service officer and spent a lot of time in russia over the years. you speak russian. when the president says, as he just did once again just now, that no american president has ever been tougher on russia than he has been, i see you beginning to smile. >> well, the president, frankly, says a lot of things that beg to be discounted. i think of harry truman and dwight eisenhower as two presidents probably tougher. but that was the soviet union, a

tougher time. we're dealing with a russia now which is very aggressive. and it will only respond to strength. and that's not strength only in terms of our military establishment. it's also the strength that we show in sitting down with the russians and making clear to them what the consequences for their actions will be. that's not been happening. >> very quickly because it came up when i interviewed adam schiff, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee last night. that private meeting, two-hour meeting the president had with putin in helsinki. only their interpreters were present. he's convinced the russians taped that meeting and have an audiotape, whether putin was wired, the russian interpreter was wired. they have the full -- they know precisely every word that was said. wasn't exactly sure if the u.s. did the same. you've got a lot of experience in these meetings. >> i would be surprised if the finns didn't do it. >> it was in their presidential palace. >> i left there convinced the

finns have a full tape of it as well. >> we have had an interpreter in the room. i know the interpreter. she's a professional. interpreters at that level understand their job is not just to interpret. it's also to keep notes and keep a record. i'm sure she has been debriefed by mr. bolton, maybe by fiona hill, the president's chief adviser on russia. so i think we probably have a pretty good sense of what was ever said in that meeting. i expect secretary pompeo will talk about that when he testifies before congress next week. >> i assume everybody by now has a full tape of that meeting and they'll be able to review the questions. how much are they going to share with congress is another question. john beyrlie. thanks for all your diplomatic service to our country over the years. appreciate it. new video of a man who wants to be the next supreme court justice. and it's raising some eyebrows. we'll have details. when you ne♪ ♪ lean on me, when you're not strong ♪

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president trump had one clear mission when he made a prepared statement yesterday afternoon over at the white house. clean up the damage he created monday when he broke with the u.s. intelligence community and members of his own party by suggesting russia might not have been behind the 2016 election interference here in the united states. let's replay some of those remarks. >> i realized that there is a need for some clarification. in a key sentence in my remarks,

i said the word would instead of wouldn't. the sentence should have been i don't see any reason why i wouldn't or why it wouldn't be russia. i accept our intelligence community's conclusion that russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. >> but then he stopped reading from a prepared script. he ad libbed this. >> could be other people also. a lot of people out there. >> let's bring in our political reporter chris sa lcilizza. did the president undermine the entire message he was trying to get across? >> yes, is the answer to that. what's remarkable about it is you see in there, he's reading from the written statement and then he goes and ad libs it. but far from the first time donald trump has done this. he's done it a lot. we'll go in order.

this is september 2016. one of the debates with hillary clinton. maybe it was. i mean, it could be russia but also could be china. now it could also be lots of other people. let's go to the next screen. it could also be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds. no 350-pounders. only 400-pounders. that's when he is a candidate. now he's president. this is january 2017. as far as hacking, i think it was russia but we also get hacked by other countries and other people. there's a theme here. i'll go along. i'll go along with russia. that's like when my wife says i'll go along with getting that dinner. i'll go along with russia. it could have been china. could have been a lot of different groups. another one. i have said it very -- i've said it very simply. i think it well could have been russia but i think it could, well, in the next screen you know what it's going to say, could have been other countries. i won't be specific, but i think

a lot of people interfere. look, wolf, it's a very simple thing here. donald trump in his heart of hearts is not convinced that russia meddled in the election. despite the intelligence community's unanimous assessment it did. despite the senate intelligence committee's assessment it did. he isn't convinced. he makes that clear over and over again when he speaks in public and what we heard on tuesday is the latest example of that. >> we also heard just now from the president, he doesn't think russia still targeting the united states as his intelligence community is convinced, including dan coats, the director of national intelligence. chris cilizza, thanks for that report. we're only minutes from the white house press briefing with sarah sanders. not that many reporters yet. it will be packed. this will be the first of a press briefing over at the white house in quite a while. several weeks. we'll bring it to you live. lots to explain. we'll be right back. to your healthy routine

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♪ cnn has just obtained some sound of president trump's supreme court nominee, judge brett kavanaugh, where he lays out his thoughts on an independent counsel. his remarks from a 2016 panel discussion that could now be front and center during his upcoming senate confirmation hearing. our senior congressional correspondent manu raju joins us from capitol hill right now. manu, what exactly did he say? >> well, two years ago at an event speaking to a conservative group in washington judge kavanaugh said he wanted to overturn the ruling from three decades ago that upheld the cons

usalie ali consti constitutionaliy that forms the basis of independent counsel ken starr with whom kavanaugh worked with in the mid 1990s. this is getting a lot of scrutiny because kavanaugh said separately that he does in the believe a brez can president ca indicted because of the president not having the same issues of regular citizens. people wonder what this may mean for his views on the mueller investigation. mueller is a special counsel, not an independent counsel, so they're governed differently under the rules. but it could have implications if this ruling were overturned. when he spoke to this conservative group two years ago, he said this -- >> i think justices of all stripes agree that stare decisis is important but not an inexorable command. it is not inflexible. it is not absolute. >> can you think of a case that

deserves to be overturned? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> would you volunteer one? >> no. actually, i was going to say one. morrison v. olson. >> that's the independent counsel statute case. >> it's been effectively overruled but i would put the final nail in. >> reporter: wolf, the republican chairman of the senate judiciary committee chuck grassley told me earlier he does not view this has a big deal but democrats trying to press him on this very hard in his confirmation hearings. >> we'll see what happens, manu. thank you very much. we're only moments away from the white house press briefing. the first since the president's testy nato summit. the awkward meeting with the british prime minister, theresa may, the controversial meeting with vladimir putin in helsinki. looking at live pictures. we'll have live coverage of that. much more right after this. un-stop right there! i'm about to pop a cap of "mmm fresh" in that washer. with unstopables in-wash scent boosters by downy. ah, it's so fresh. and it's going to last from wash to...

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hi, i'm brook baldwin. you're watching cnn on this wednesday afternoon. thanks for being with me. the first white house briefing in more than two weeks is actually happening today. and that is moments away. live pictures there inside the briefing room. the timing is critical since the president now has another comment he may need to clean up. just yesterday he made a point to say that he had,