that's donald trump. you know, the president always says we're at a turning point moment as a country. it's a critical time for our country. he's providing the leadership that this country needs as we lead the world into this new century. and now i tell you what, i think he needs reinforcements in washington, d.c. do you agree with that? so let's do this. let's show our appreciation again for president trump and the leadership that he is giving to this country, and let's redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to standing together, working hard, and making america great again. >> wow. good-bye, folks. that was great. what a great young man. before going any further, i want

to take this moment to send our prayers to the victims of the tragic boat accident that took place in your great state last week. i have to tell you, the whole world was watching that. we lost 17 beautiful souls, including nine members of one family and babies for whom life was just beginning. their lives were cut short, but they and their loved ones will never, ever be forgotten. a tragedy. we will hold their memory close to our hearts. i want to thank your governor, mike parson, friend of mine, a great person, for his leadership during this terrible tragedy, along with the coast guard and all of the first responders who were incredible. thank you very much.

thank you. next year will mark the 120th anniversary of the veterans of foreign wars, the oldest major veterans organization in our country. that's pretty good, right? [ cheers and applause ] for more than a century, the vfw has represented american heroes who promoted american values, and they did so with honor. you are the universal symbol of the patriotic pride that beats loudly in every single american heart. we don't apologize for america anymore. we stand up for america. we stand up for the patriots who defend america. [ cheers and applause ]

and we stand up for our national h anthem. we're putting america first again, and we are seeing the incredible results. we're destroying the blood-thirsty killers known as isis. almost gone. we're calling the threat by its real name, a name that wasn't mentioned for a long time. it's called radical islamic terrorism. that's what it is. you have to know your enemy before you can defeat your enemy. earlier this year, i recognized the true capital of israel, as josh said.

jerusalem, where we just opened the american embassy. they thought it would never be named, and after it was named, they thought it would never get built. and i built it within four months. how about that one. you know that story. four months. they came to my office. they had a document to be signed. $1 billion for the embassy. i said 1 billion? they didn't have a site, didn't know anything. our great ambassador to israel called, david friedman, a very successful lawyer in new york city. he said, you know, we could do it a lot faster. we have a great site, a building already on the site. we could renovate the building quickly. we could open the embassy if you'd like to do that, sir. i said, how much would it cost? he said $150,000. i said, what? what? he said, i think we can do it in

four months. so we're talking about 1 billion, maybe in 20 years, probably never happens, right? we know what goes on. he says i'd rather build ships or i'd rather build something else if we can save the money. we can save that money, let's use it wisely. so i said, david, let's not do 150. let's do, like, how about 400,000 and make it nicer. and it's beautiful. it just opened and it is beautiful. so we're many years ahead of schedule. and i understand, frankly, every president for the last many presidents is that we're going to open our embassy in jerusalem. then they never did it. they all failed. they never did it. and i understand why. because when it came time and when people were hearing rumors about it, i was inundated from calls of every leader from all

over the world imploring me, even demanding that we not do it. to a point where i never took their calls. i called them back after i did it. it's one of those jobs. i was getting calls from kings and presidents and dictators. i was getting a call from everybody. when i knew what it was about, i'd say, tell them i'll call them next week. then i called them and said, oh, i didn't know you felt that way. it's too late. but i understand why i did that night do it. there was tremendous pressure. we did it. we're proud of it. it's there. enjoy it. [ applause ] and by the way, the biggest fan may very well be the evangelicals. they wanted that built. they wanted that there. so we're very proud of it. we've removed unnecessary restraints on our war fighters

in afghanistan, those who risk their life and limb for our country. they deserve rules of engagement that give them the best opportunity to finally defeat the enemy. [ cheers and applause ] and we're making for the first time in years a lot of progress in afghanistan. i withdrew the united states from the horrible one-sided iran nuclear deal. and iran is not the same country anymore. that i can say. we'll see what happens. we're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster. we're also pursuing the

denuclearization of north korea and a new future of prosperity, security, and peace on the korean peninsula and all of asia. new images just today show that north korea has begun the process of dismantling a key missile site, and we appreciate that. we had a task meeting with chairman kim, and it seems to be going very well. i know we're joined today by many incredible veterans of the korean war. thank you for your courageous service. as you may know, we're also working to bring back the remains of your brothers in arms who gave their lives to korea, and i hope that very soon these fallen warriors will begin coming home to lay at rest in american soil. that's starting the process.

at the very end of our meeting, i said to chairman kim, good relationship, good feeling. i said, i would really appreciate if you could do that. he said, it will be done. so i was very happy, and i think that process is starting fairly soon, we hope. because we believe in no american left behind. we believe in that. no american left behind. i want to thank the vfw for your devotion to our fallen heroes, unknown soldiers, prisoners of war, and those missing in action and their families. no one better understands the horrors of war than the people in this room. it is the warrior who bears the

scars of battle and who prays most fervently for peace. that is why we remember george washington's advice that the best way to preserve the peace is to be prepared for war. and that is exactly what we do all the time. my thinking is always on military and military strength. that is why i'm proud to report that we are now undertaking the greatest rebuilding of our united states military in its history. we have secured $700 billion for defense this year and $716 billion next year, approved.

we're ordering 147 new f-35 lightning fighters. this is an incredible plane. it's stealth. you can't see it. so when i talk to even people from the other side, they're trying to order our plane. they like the fact that you can't see it. i said, how would it do in battle with your plane? they say, well, we have one problem. we can't see your plane. that's a big problem. stealth, super stealth. the best in the world. we make the best military equipment in the world. also, remember this, jobs. we're ordering 239 apache and blackhawk helicopters. you know what they are. they're incredible. 19 major naval vessels and

nearly 8,000 humvees. and these will be humvees that are used by our great soldiers, not handed out to everybody like you've been reading about in the past. all made right here in the usa. and we're adding nearly 30,000 new soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, and i've directed the pentagon to begin the process of creating the sixth branch of our military. it's called the space force. we are living in a different world, and we have to be able to adapt. that's what it is. a lot of very important things are going to be taking place in space. i just don't mean going up to the moon and going up to mars where we'll be going very soon.

we'll be going to mars very soon. but from a military standpoint, space is becoming every day more and more important. i'm also thrilled to say that we have secured for our military service members and their families the largest -- oh, you don't really want it. you're too patriotic for this. the largest pay raise in almost a decade. largest pay raise. [ cheers and applause ] you don't want it. anybody willing to give it up for the sake of your country? okay. keep it. you deserve it. you really do. it's been a long time sense you' -- since you've gotten a raise. you deserve it. my administration is committed to ensuring that our war fighters have the tools, the resources, the fire power that

they need to defeat our enemies with overwhelming force. hopefully we will never have to use the kind of power that i'm building and helping to build for you. hopefully people will look at us and they'll say, let's pass. let's pass. america is a peace-loving nation. we do not seek conflict, but if conflict is forced upon us, we will defend ourselves. and if we must, we will fight and we will do nothing but win. as the great general macarthur once said, in war there is no substitute for victory. we're also committed to ensuring that when our warriors return

home as veterans, they receive the best care anywhere on earth. since taking office and working alongside of the vfw -- and by the way, your representatives have done an incredible job on helping us with the va. complicated subject. so many different things. they helped us so much. because we put in legislation. i said, let's make sure it's legislation that's good and that works, not legislation that's obsolete before we even get it. if we're going to fight like hell to get everybody to approve it, let's get approved what's good. and we've enacted some of the largest va reforms in the history of the va. probably the largest. last year i signed into law the landmark va accountability act,

which nobody thought we could get approved. nobody. we're good at getting things approved. now when a bad person, maybe a federal employee in this case, but somebody bad mistreats or neglects or abuses our great veterans in their time of need, we can turn to them, look them in the eye and say, you're fired, get out. before, there was nothing you could do. you had to live with these people. we've gotten rid of a lot of people over the last year. only the bad ones. the good ones we cherish. we cherish the good ones. but we had some bad apples and they're gone. as promised, we established the white house va hotline, and

every va medical center now offers same-day emergency mental health care. something very important. we're greatly expanding telehealth and walk-in clinics so our veterans can get anywhere at any time. they can get what they need. they can learn about the problem, and they don't have to necessarily drive long distances and wait. we are also -- it's been a very big success. we're also processing veteran disability claims more quickly than ever before by far. the va has implemented the decision ready claims process, where claims can be completed in under two weeks. we're striving for one day. but under two weeks. it used to be many, many months. last year i signed

legislation -- it's amazing i just said last year. it's been a long time already, hasn't it? that was some campaign, wasn't it? i signed legislation so that veterans can use their g.i. bill education benefits at any point in their lifetime. it's a big difference. they never expire, so vets can get the education they need when it is right for them. with the vfw's tremendous help, we passed veterans choice, the biggest thing ever, the biggest thing. that's got to be the biggest improvement you can have. so now if you can't get treatment you need in a timely manner -- people used to wait

two weeks, three weeks, eight weeks. they couldn't get to a doctor. you will have the right to see a private doctor immediately, and we will pay for it. and you know what, it's very, very cost effective. thousands and thousands of lives are going to be saved. your quality of life is going to be so much better. so you don't have to wait online for 2 1/2 weeks to see a doctor like in the past. veterans choice has been passed. my administration also understands we cannot be a safe country if we are not a prosperous country. we have to think of ourselves. you have to see these trade deals i'm working on. they're a disaster. we're losing hundreds of billions of dollars with individual countries a year. and we got to stick it out.

we got to fight it. nobody else fought it. i went to some of the countries. i said, how did it get so imbalanced? they said nobody ever called. they said nobody ever called. they do whatever they want and we just put up with it. not any longer, folks. not any longer. making tremendous progress. they're all coming. they don't want to have those tariffs put on them. they're all coming to see us. and the farmers will be the biggest beneficiary. watch. just be a little patient. they're all aiming at anybody that likes me. and they have lobbyists like nobody's ever seen. they have the best lobbyists ever put together. i was hearing and reading that they have some of the greatest lobbying teams ever put together. you've got to stop the president from putting tariffs on these countries and these companies that are ripping off the united

states. you've got to stop him. just remember, we're going to do something that honestly nobody else could do. nobody else could do. [ audience member yelling ] thank you, darling. i like you too. that was good timing. we're now in the midst of a great economic revival. and it's for that reason that i chose this as the time. last year our country lost $817 billion, with a "b," on trade. we lost $817 billion. and people say, oh, could you do it this week? could you get it done immediately? these countries have been ripping us off for decades. it doesn't take a week. it takes a little longer. but we're going to get it done.

just remember, we can't lose $817 billion. we rebuilt china. what the european union is doing to us is incredible. how bad? they made $151 billion last year, our trade deficit with the european union. they sound nice, but they're rough. they're all coming in to see me tomorrow. they're all coming to the white house. i said, you have to change. they didn't want to change. i said, okay, good, we're going to tariff your cars. millions of cars. mercedes, all of them. bmw, so many cars. i said, we're going to have to tariff your cars. they said when can we show up? when can we be there? would tomorrow be okay? oh, folks, stick with us. stick with us.

amazing. but remember they have the biggest, best, strongest lobbyists and they're doing a number. just stick with us. don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. i mean, i saw a piece on nbc today -- nbc. not just cnn. cnn's the worst. but i saw a piece on nbc. it was heartthrobing. they were interviewing people. they probably go through 20 and then pick the one that sounds like the worst. but they went through a group of people. in fact, i wanted to say, i got to do something about this trump. terrible. and that piece was done by the lobbyists and by the people that they hire. it was a total setup. this country is doing better than it's ever done before economically. this is the time to take off the

rip-off of tariffs. we have to do it. you know, other countries have tariffs on us. so when i say, well, i'm going to put tariffs on them, they all start screaming, he's using tariffs! china charges us when we make a car 25% tariff. we charge them 2.5%. other than that, it's a fair deal. similar things with other countries. like the european union. they're a big abuser. but it's all working out. and just remember, what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening. i'll tell you, i have so many people that are so in favor. we have to make our country truly great again. remember, make america great again. then in 2 1/2 years, it's called keep america great. so the way we keep america great

is to make at least reasonable. i'm not saying -- at least reasonable, at least fair trade dea deals, not stupid trade deals like we've put up with for 25 years. so we're changing it, and we're changing it rapidly. >> all right. we're going to continue to monitor the president of the united states. he's addressing the veterans of foreign wars, a national convention in kansas city, missouri. going through a lot of his regular stump speech issues, making it clear that he is going to increasingly impose tariffs on various countries, including close u.s. allies like the european union, canada, mexico, among others, even though there's such strong opposition even including from speaker of the house paul ryan, who earlier in the day said he opposes these kinds of tariffs, which he sees as a tax on the american people. so many products coming into the united states will wind up costing the american public a lot more. i'm wolf blitzer in washington.

we've got excellent reporters and analysts to discuss what we just heard from the president of the united states. jim sciutto, you were listening very closely to a lot of the national security issues. so far in this address, he hasn't addressed the specific issue, what happened eight days ago in helsinki in the summit with putin. >> no, no. he was running through kind of a greatest hits list of applause lines coming out of the iran deal, bringing -- of course, relevant to this audience, the negotiations to bring home the remains of soldiers killed in the korean war, increase in military spending. always going to get a cheer from a military crowd, no question. as we were discussing before, certainly a mention of the anthem as well. this is a crowd that is going to be cheering for respect for the flag. but russia not mentioned at all. russia, which when you speak to u.s. military commanders and national security officials, they regularly put russia at the top of the list as imminent dangers to the u.s. one of the reasons for a u.s.

military build-up with this uncomfortable territory for the president, he has not mentioned russia and that there's bipartisan legislation on the hill sponsored by his friend lindsey graham that's seeking to further tie the president's hands and further impose sanctions on russia. that's a space the president has not gone so far in this speech. two days ago you'll remember his tweet threatening war on iran. he said in this speech that he's open, in his words, to a real deal with iran. was the president signaling serious openness to new negotiations on a deal to replace the one the obama administration negotiated? it seemed -- that seemed to be what he was saying. >> he said, quoting, the united states is, ready to make a real deal with iran. this a day after that very all-caps tweet that he posted warning the iranian leader rouhani that if he goes ahead and continues to make threats against the united states, they

will pay a price. i'm paraphrasing right now, like the world has never seen before. >> absolutely. a threat really that at the end of the day is somewhat empty because it's our reporting that there are no serious military options on the table for the president now. certainly the u.s. has military options to attack iran. but not ones under serious consideration right now. so that turn, perhaps it's classic trump. you seek to negotiate from a position of strength, so you make the threat as he did to north korea weeks before he was willing to sit down with the north korean leader. but this is quite a fast turn on a dime, even for this president. >> but in some ways in the spirit of this speech, right, about all the deals he has made and all the deals he is going to make. he had this whole riff about tariffs and how he's going to be strong and all these countries have ripped americans off, but he's in the middle of making a really good deal. what was striking about his talk about tariffs and trade is he's essentially, i think, feeling the heat around this.

he's seemingly to recognize people are nervous about this. farmers across the country, republican governors complaining about the fallout. he was telling people there, sit tight, something good is going to happen. at some point, it's not clear whether or not people are going to believe him or experience that or experience the real downside of tariffs and see it in realtime on their farms, car companies, and all sorts of ways. >> all the sudden he's pushing for a $12 billion subsidy to farmers and the agriculture industry in the united states. they're suffering right now as a result of this trade war that has developed. >> yeah, nia is right. it's a bad day for the trade war. the president, we've never seen him with this palpable level of discomfort where he's saying just please stay with me on this. it's because speaker ryan said something today against it. it's because the republican party is not the party of subsidies and bailouts. these farmers don't want a

bailout. it's an acknowledgment the fact it's being prepared with government spending that no one wants to spend in either party that the farmers are hurting as a result of these tariffs. he's really in a corner increasingly on this issue. what's also interesting is that he spoke about afghanistan but not our presence in syria. in the two hours of mystery behind closed doors with vladimir putin, which he wants to distract the conversation from, and he wants to talk about revoking security clearances for obama administration officials instead. what did happen, the russians are reporting, is there is a deal between the israelis and the russians that he's signing on to for some kind of moves in syria that are very complicated and do involve the iranians. we need to know what that is. that's something he should have been speaking to these veterans about. he was noticeably quiet on that today. >> let me play a clip. this is the secretary of state mike pompeo speaking at the same time as the president. he's been meeting with

australian officials. he spoke about iran and the threat that the united states sees from iran and the u.s. reaction. listen to this. >> i've spoken to the president about the meeting he held with president putin. i was part of a larger discussion as well. i've spoken to secretary -- or foreign minister lavrov following that. the president's been clear about some of the things that were agreed to. we're going to begin to put together a business council that will start processes. there were many things that came from what i view as an incredibly important meeting between president trump and president putin, one that i think the world will have benefitted from when history is written. i am looking forward to testifying tomorrow. i'll testify about a lot of thing, including the relationship between the united states and russia, but i think one of the things that gets lost is the determination that this administration has had in pushing back against russia's maligned behavior around the world. it is unequaled in the history of the united states in terms of

when there's a post-cold war conflict, how firm this administration has been in pushing back against those threats. >> yeah, that clip did not address iran, but it did address the russia issue. >> it does. here's the thing though. that position, that's the administration's position. no one has been tougher than us, trust us. there's some substance to back the position they've taken hard moves. the one they'll often cite is providing lethal weapons to ukrainian forces on the ground, a step that the obama administration did not take. but let's ask this question. if the -- one thing that's clear is that even republicans, even members of the president's own party do not have confidence in this administration's stance on russia. that's why you have someone like lindsey graham sponsoring a bipartisan bill as congress has already done to pass new sanctions on russia that the president cannot overrule. in effect tie his hands because they clearly don't trust him. it's interesting if you look at

the graham/menendez proposal, they also require senate approval requiring -- for u.s. withdrawal from nato. they wouldn't put that in legislation if they weren't concerned about the president's public comments about nato, which at least our nato comments say weakens the u.s. position towards russia. we know what pompeo will say. we know what the president will say. we've been tougher than anyone. but even the republicans don't trust their position. >> the fact that graham and menendez are working together to impose tough new sanctions against russia, very, very significant indeed. everybody stand by. there's other breaking news we're following here on cnn. ivanka trump is shutting down her fashion company. we have new information. you're going to hear what she's saying about that. we have that and a lot more right after this. your paycheck.

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some breaking news for our viewers. ivanka trump, the president's daughter and a senior adviser at the white house, has decided she will wind down her fashion company so she can pursue a career in public policy. you've been following the late-breaking developments. i understand she's put out a formal statement. >> that's right, wolf. i just got a call from a source that ivanka trump is going to address the staff of her company later this afternoon. look, at the end of the day, this was a brand that really faced a lot of criticism for many, many reasons, but sources close to the decision tell me that this was driven by her desire to stay in public policy, to stay in washington, d.c., and that the company had to operate under restrictions and limitations because of her role in the white house and that it didn't make sense to keep the company operating under those restrictions if she wasn't going to return eventually.

but that said, we can't ignore that this brand has been criticized. she's been criticized for keeping ownership of the company while also serving as a white house adviser, raising all kinds of questions about potential conflicts of interest and how she would address them. the brand has also been a target for critics of the trump administration and its policies. there was a boycott one women's group started after the "access hollywood" tape became public, calling on people to boycott ivanka trump goods, which were, by the way, targeted towards females, female empowerment. that's the message behind the brand. a lot of feminists saw that as a -- as sort of hypocrisy. that is just a few things that the brand was criticized for. so now we see ivanka deciding to shut it down. look, it's unclear whether or not all of this criticism, all of this scrutiny affected the

bottom line of the brand because it is a public company. it does not release financial statements on a regular basis. all we can see is that on ivanka trump's financial disclosure form that there was some payments coming from her company to ivanka trump personally. so you can assume that there was some profit coming out of the company, wolf. >> christina, thank you very much for that. we'll continue to follow that story as well. other news, the president with his latest spin on russia interfering in the u.s. election, tweeting this just a little while ago. i'm quoting him now. i'm very concerned that russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming election. based on the fact that no president has been tougher on russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the democrats. they definitely don't want trump, close quote. that simply clearly not true. the u.s. intelligence community has concluded that the russian leader putin was trying to help donald trump when he meddled in

the 2016 election, something the senate intelligence committee on a bipartisan basis recently backed up. if that's not enough, you can hear it straight from the source. we're talking about the russian president vladimir putin, who specifically said in helsinki at that joint news conference with the president that he wanted donald trump to beat hillary in the election. hillary clinton. listen to this. >> president putin, did you want president trump to win the election, and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that? >> translator: yes, i did, because he talked about bringing the right u.s./russia relationship back to normal. >> all right. senator mike rounds is joining us right now. he's a republican from south dakota. he's a key member of the senate armed services committee. senator, thanks so much for joining us. >> appreciate the opportunity, wolf. >> so what do you think of the president's claim this morning in that tweet that the russians are going to be working very hard in the midterm elections in

november to help democrats get elected and make sure that republicans like you, i don't know if you're even up for re-election this time, but make sure republicans lose? >> well, i think what will happen is that they'll try to create chaos in the election if they can. that's what they were trying to do in 2016. they thought that hillary would win. when they saw an opportunity to help mr. trump, they took advantage of that. but what they really wanted to do is cause chaos. i think in 2018 they'll try to do exactly the same thing again. it's what they're doing in western europe today. and i don't think that they're going to change until we actually have the ability to send a very powerful message that it's simply not acceptable and there's a price to be paid. >> well, you're right. one of the goals of the russians, according to the u.s. intelligence community, the obama intelligence community, and the trump intelligence community is to sow discord, to create chaos in the american political system, but it didn't

stop there. the senate intelligence committee democrats and republicans also concluded that the russians not only wanted to sow discord but they also wanted to make sure that hillary clinton lost and finally that donald trump won. that was their goal. do you accept that was the goal of the russians, according to the u.s. intelligence community? >> i think the most recent reports that i could discuss that have been unclassified would suggest that they were not happy with secretary of state clinton's activities and what they felt was her interjection in mr. putin's last, if you want to call, his last election. he never forgot that. i think that's a large part of it. i think there was a significant amount of animosity between mr. putin and the former secretary of state. i think that played into the election process as well. >> yeah, clearly they didn't like hillary clinton. they didn't like the obama administration. and as you heard putin himself say, that's why he preferred and worked to try to help donald trump win the election. do you think there's any

evidence -- have you seen any evidence at all, senator, that the russians right now are working to help democrats? forget about sowing discord or chaos, but to help democrats win the midterm contest. >> the most recent reports that we've had have simply been they'll do everything they can to undermine the confidence in the election process. they do not like democracy. they do not like free elections. they don't like it when the united states has confidence in the outcomes of elections. so what you'll see them do is sow seeds of disbelief. they'll work their propaganda. they're not just doing it the way they used to do it, which is through newspaper ads and tv ads, commercials and so forth. they're using it through social media now. then they're doing one more thing. they're also trying to suggest -- and they will do everything they can to reinforce -- that they might be influencing the actual counting within the election process. they'd like us to believe that they might be able to impact certain areas around the united states where the votes are being

tallied. it wouldn't take a whole lot of those different locations where they could just suggest that we have the wrong numbers being added up, that they would then be successful in their move to give less confidence to us that our system is true and honest in its accounting systems. >> so how do you explain the president being so nice to putin when they met in helsinki and saying all those positive things about russia? and pompeo, mike pompeo, the secretary of state just a few moments ago saying that it was a great meeting and they've agreed to work together to create a joint u.s./russia business council, to even improve relations, even as you suggest and others suggest the russians are seeking to undermine u.s. democracy. >> yeah, i'm not going to say that i agree with the president's tactic in this particular case, but i think what he was trying to do was to get past the issue. i think what he wanted to do was say, look, we basically have 90% of all the nuclear weapons in the world today. we have to have a working

relationship. so if you're going to tell me that you didn't argue it, i'm not -- you know, i'm not going to stand here and argue with you and have a he said/she said. i think he wanted to get past that. i think that may have surprised mr. putin a little bit. at the same time, i'm not sure that was flnecessarily the corrt tactic to use. clearly mr. putin was actively involved in the elections. clearly they have not stopped and most certainly they'll be trying to impact the 2018s as well. we've got to have a relationship in terms of communications, but you've also got to have some sense of trust in those communications. right now i don't think we can trust anything the russian government is telling us. i don't think we can trust anything that they're trying to share on social media. i think whatever they can do to sow distrust in the united states, they will. and we have to take that all into account as we try to establish this relationship with another nuclear power in the world. >> yeah, and the russians are succeeding pretty impressively in those goals so far. let's see what happens down the

road. mike rounds, senator rounds, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, sir. the former acting director of the cia says the president's idea of revoking the security clearances of former obama officials is sending a chill through the u.s. intelligence community. why he compares it to mccarthy. plus, the united states' attorney general laughing and repeating "lock her up." you just heard him repeating that chant a little while ago, talking about hillary clinton. you're going to see what happened. stay with us. smart home technology...meet beautiful window coverings. can something so easy, and so affordable... also be this much fun? ohhhhh, yeaaaaah. get smart shades, by budget blinds and lutron. the #1 provider of custom window coverings. and the top name in smart home technology. call now for your free smart home consultation. get a free smart lighting control bundle with your smart shade purchase!

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mixed messages are dominating president trump's twitter feed right now for days after the helsinki summit eight days ago the president refused to condemn russia for the meddling in the presidential election questioning his own u.s. intelligence agency's conclusion. today change of heart. listen to this. he tweeted he's concerned about russia's impact on upcoming elections in november. says they definitely don't want trump. let's bring in bob menendez. he's a democrat from new jersey. senator, let me get your reaction first to this tweet from the president. you've seen it. let me read it to you. i'm very concerned that russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming election based on the fact that no president has been tougher on russia than me, they will be

pushing very hard for the democrats. they definitely don't want trump. what's your reaction? >> well, that's the president's political action. the reality is that vladimir putin knows that he hit the lottery when he pursued undermining our election in 2016. it paid off. it paid off with a president that ultimately didn't challenge putin in helsinki. saying that he's the strongest president against russia is pretty amazing. it was president obama that after i passed with others the ukraine freedom support act that began sanctions as it relates to russia for invading ukraine and annexing crimea, it was president obama who created the european deterrent initiative with nato that reiterated our commitment to georgia for nato asession when they qualified.

and so this president who was bought kicking and screaming to sanctions on russia that passed the senate 98 to 2 who didn't want it but because of the overwhelming vote knew he would be overridden to signed it. the president is not someone who i think is putin's adversary. not by his actions today. >> i want to point out at his speech in kansas city, he discussed north korea, iran, and moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. the tariffs involving the european union never mentioned russia. didn't talk about that issue at all. we've listened to the rest of the speech. you and your colleague, republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina have outlined a bipartisan russian sanctions bill. give us a brief headline what you hope to achieve and do you believe the president will support it? >> well, i've been working with senator graham on this

particular issue. we've worked together on many other sanctions related, national security questions. we're going do pursue russia's energy sectors. the cyber section as a sectorial section. those are some of the things the legislation calls for. we have increasing bipartisan interests in the legislation. so it is my goal along with senator graham to make sure that we're protecting the united states, defending the united states, defending our democracy, and being a robust challenge to russia under putin. >> will the president support it? >> well, if we get a similar vote to the counting america's adversary through sanctions act, i don't think he'll have much of a choice. i hope he'll embrace it. what i saw at helsinki was a president that wasn't challenging putin. actually, it was a president that was rather stipyou lant to

what putin wanted. i'm hoping that he will imbrace the legislation, and in the absence of that, that we'll get incredibly strong vote as we did in the program that has him have to sign it. >> it will be veto proof if you get that kind of vote. the president is considering stripping people of their security clearances because he feels their public commentary about the ongoing russia probe is unappropriate. listen to what the speaker of the house paul ryan said just a little while ago. >> i think he's trolling people, honestly. this is something that's in the per view of the executive ranch. i think some of these people have already lost their clearances. some people keep their clearances. that's something the executive branch deals with. i think he's just trolling people. >> do you think the president is simply trolling people? >> no. i think the president has an enemy's list that he's developing. and this is one universe.

i think it's unfortunate because while he possessing the power, the reality is that you may want to call upon these people at any given time at any given moment in a crisis and say give me the history here of what transpired before, and you're going to want them to have those security clearances in order to exchange with them information to make very critical determinations. i think it's a mistake, especially when one is on a political vendetta. >> the president hasn't done it yet. he's thinking of doing it and has the authority. he wants to strip someone of security clearance. he can do so. it's something that hasn't happened in the past. senator, thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> just in. dramatic new dash cam video in the pursuit of a suspect. we'll have more when we come back.

hi. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. if you're keeping count with us, day number eight. eight and still not a single detail about what happened inside the president's private summit with vladimir putin. not a single detail. from a meeting between the american president and the former kgb agent in charge of the country that still attacked and is attacking the united states. day number eight. thought you should know. today the president tweeting about the russians impacting the u.s. elections. while we may be finally acknowledging, again, the truth about russian involvement, he was spinning it with false claims. here's the tweet. i'm very concerned that russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming election. based on the fact that no president has been tougher on russia than me, they will be pushing