e. . hurricaneing home with no deal, what the parents of otto wa warmbier are saying about that summit a pilot is shot down in cross-border tensions. we are covering all angles from the region. also ahead this hour, he hasn't announced his bid for 2020 yet, some suggest former u.s. vice president joe biden is stoping some major hints.

we are live in atlanta. we want to welcome our viewers here and around the united states right now. i'm george howell. "newsroom" starts. it's 5:00 a.m. on the u.s. coast. the u.s. president is set to take the stage again in a few hours at an annual gathering of conservatives, better known as cpac. this is the first time we will hear from him after he returns from kim jong-un in vietnam. >> that summit ended abruptly without the two side reaching a deal. while it was taking place the president's reputation was taking a beating in congress and the man saying the most unflattering things, his former personal attorney and sell-style fixer michael cohen. cohen will be on capitol hill in a closed door session. there is this. congressional investigators have questions following a "new york times" report. it says president trump insisted his son-in-law and adviser jared

kushner receive a top secret clearance despite objections of officials. mr. trump denied he was involved. a lot to cover here. we get more now from cnn's abbey philip. >> reporter: the white house now defending president trump's power to grant top secret clearance to his son-in-law and top white house official jared kushner over the career of intelligence officials who raised concerns about his background check. >> was the president involved if jared kushner's security clearance process? >> we don't discuss security clearances. i don't discuss my own. i will tell you the president has the absolute right to do what was described. >> reporter: the counsellor to the president kellyanne conway not standing by ivanka's claim three weeks ago that her father wasn't involved in the process. >> the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's

clearan clearance. >> she has to right to do that. >> reporter: the new york times reports that last year trump ordered white house chief of staff john kelly to grant kushner's clearance, despite president trump's categorical denial to the "time's" in an interview if january. >> did you tell anyone else in the white house to override the clearance? >> no, i don't think i did it. but i wouldn't do it. >> it's a special office that does security measures. they're all career people. there was nobody in the political process that had anybody to do with it. there was nobody that pressured it. it was just done the normal regular way. >> reporter: house oversight chairman elijah couplings in a sharply worded letter is now demanding the white house turn over all security clearance by

monday. now the president is firing back on michael cohen. two days after he testified before cummings' committee in public. >> he is a racist. he is a conman and he is a cheat. >> reporter: the president suggesting that congress demand a manuscript of cohen's book he claims is a love letter to trump. tweeting your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradiction against his thursday. the like a different person. she totally discredited. but as trump remains fixated on con, his comments this week giving dictator kim jong-un a pass for the death of an american student returning to the u.s. in a coma after months of detention from the north korean regime is coming under fire. the family of otto warmbier now saying this. kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable

cruelty and inhumanity. no excuses or lavish praise can change that. and president trump is now trying to clean up his comments about kim, tweeting on friday afternoon this, i never like being misinterpreted, especially when it comes to otto warmbier and his great family. he continued to say, of course, i hold them responsible for his death. he was not asked whether he held north korea responsible. he was asked whether he held kim personally responsible for american student's death. in response, president trump said i take him at his word when kim said he had nothing to do with it. abby philip, cnn, the white house. abbey, thank you. on the other side of the world, kim jong-un is on his way back to pyongyang. kim left on board a private train, several hours ago. north korea is portraying the summit as a success that deepened the respect and trust between the two leaders. but could there be more to the story? let's get the latest here, live

from will ripley in vietnam. he has been covering the summit for the past few days. before we get to the summit, yourself, i want to get your thoughts to the president's response to otto warmbier's death, essentially letting kim jong-un off the hook. given your only in of how that country works, is it possible that kim did not realize what was happening here? >> reporter: it's not possible, george. nothing happens in north korea at that level. an american student being held in the country without kim jong-un's knowledge. now, did he know about what happened immediately afterwards in terms of what caused otto to have the oxygen flow off his state. once it was cleared, it would have to have been flagged up to the very top to make a decision about how to proceed? the fact that north korea kept otto hooked up to a machine for

more than a year without telling the observary and without telling us. we went every time we asked for and up/down on his condition. we never got a response. that was deception. kim jong-un was certainly police it in that deception, george. >> here in the united states everything seems to be viewed from a binary position. you would say the president walked away from the bad deal. you would say democrats have criticism saying he came back with nothing to show for it. how is north korea framing this summit? >> reporter: well, the sense i have gotten from speaking to my sources, is that the north koreans didn't think the negotiations needed to end so abruptly. they felt they were making progress, getting down to business, expanding what they were offering. hoping that the u.s. would be willing to budge on this contentious issue of sanctions relief up front. and the north koreans were, frankly, shocked and bewildered

when president trump and his delegation rejected the offer and walked out. they felt that didn't need to happen. kim jong-un was so confident in arriving here in vietnam, he would emerge and walk away and leave this country with a signed deal that he did not have a back-up plan. it was a sign of north korea's desperation that they scrambled to assemble a late night news conference here in hanoi. it happened on midnight after the evening president trump accused north korea of all sanctions being listed for the exchange of one of their important nuclear sites. certainly not the only one and not one of their undeclared sites the u.s. has been seek transparency on. they basically didn't know what else to do other than to get in front of the cameras and kim jong-un instructed his foreign ministry officials to say they felt a huge opportunity had been missed and kim jong-un may have lost his ability to negotiate. at this stage, george, where this goes is unclear. >> that is significant to point

out. will, thank you for the reporting. let's talk about all of this now with amy pope. amy a former member of the u.s. national security counsel under the former barack obama. she is now an associate fellow with chatham house and joins us this hour from our london bureau. good to have you with us. our will ripley saying a moment ago on the surface, north korea framing it as positive, behind the scenes, north korea's leader expressing frustration, even disappointment. in your view, are things better off or worse off in the wake of this summit? >> reporter: look, i think the president is squandering a real opportunity to make some progress. but this is not just about what happened at the summit. it's really about what happens before a summit. the president can't expect to just walk into a meeting and negotiate very difficult and hard-fought challenges. what needs to happen here and by all accounts what didn't happen here was you need to have empowered your diplomats to go

in ahead of time to break down the difficult questions to get agreement on the minor details that ultimately allow you to negotiate much more significant progress. and that didn't happen here. so the president shouldn't have expected that it would have gone any better. >> amy, there is also the issue around otto warmbier. president trump essentially letting kim jong-un off the hook. what do you think of president trump's response, also saying he was misinterpreted? >> reporter: well, i think what we see time and again is that the president's first instinct is to side with the strong men and against american values against american intelligence, against american information. and we saw that happen here. whether it is putin with russia, or on the issue of the journalists in saudi arabia, or here, you see the president first and foremost supporting the point of view that he is being given by someone, who by

all accounts should not be trusted. so whether the president wants to characterize that as being misunderstood, it's a pattern. from that pattern, some troubling conclusions can be drawn. >> amy, i also want to talk with you about another story that has washington insiders questioning whether president trump's family is getting special treatment. the chairman of theous oversight committee demanding they turn over documents that he personally intervene in a security clearance. contradiction accuse trump and his daughter of lying over how the clearance was approved. listen here to ivanka trump. >> the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance. >> reporter: so no special treatment? >> no. >> reporter: did you tell general kelry or anyone else in the white house to overrule security officials? >> no, i don't think i have the

authority to do that. but i wouldn't do it. >> can you help us square the circle there? >> reporter: well, at this moment in time, you can't square the circle. the only way to do it is to get the underlying documents. we know from the new york "time's" reporting, there was a memo written by general kelly when he was chief of staff to suggest the security clearances were ordered. there was also apparently a letter written by the white house counsel in this case. so i think lawmakers are right to question those documents. they're right to request any correspondence that underscores the decisions being made about security clearances and until that information is laid out there and until it's quite transparent, i don't think we can know what the truth is. but needless to say, there is enough of a question here that it is absolutely appropriate for lawmakers to do the oversight that they are entitled to do. >> amy, finally, given what we have heard from mr. trump's former attorney michael cohen last week, he is at the time do

do it again to testify in capitol hill in a closed door setting. does cohen's testimony open additional doors for new questions in your view? >> reporter: absolutely. on a number of different issues, of course, there was already the campaign finance allegations and the pleas that he had offered about his own criminality and suggesting the president was involved. there are questions about tax evasion. there are additional questions about obstruction of justice. all of these lines of inquiry involve the president. they involve his closest advisers. i am quite certain that mueller and the prosecutors in the southern district of new york are continuing to pursue those. i would not expect this investigation to be wrapped up very quickly. it looks like there is quite a lot more that can be investigated here. >> amy pope providing analysis for us in our london bureau. amy again, thank you for your time. >> reporter: thank you. now to the former trump

campaign chairman paul manafort. he is making a desperate plea to judges for less time in jail. manafort faces up to 25 years in prison for financial crimes in one case, but it is an uphill battle for his legal team. it's especially because, as one judge puts it, he intention ally lied to the court. evan perez has this. report. paul manafo >> reporter: paul manafort asked a judge to show leniency when he sentences him. he was found guilty in bank crimes. manafort's lawyers say the possible range of 19 to 24 years in police isn't disproportionate to the crimes he committed. manafort they say is truly remorseful for his conduct. they point out that manafort is a first time offender, he is nearly 70-years-old and in poor health after spending months in jamie after another judge decided he was trying to influence witnesses.

we know president trump is paying close attention to this case and manafort's lawyers seem to be using their memo to drive home one of the president's favorite talking points. the mueller investigation has so far found no collusion. manafort's lawyers argue that the mueller investigation targeted manafort for prosecution after the special counsel failed to find collusion in the russia investigation. the judge in this case, ts ellis last year expressed some septembercism about the mueller investigation, saying he thought that prosecutors were using manafort to get to president trump. now, we will see in the coming days whether the manafort arguments have any influence. he is scheduled to be sentenced on thursday. evan perez, cnn, washington. >> evan, thank you. as to michael cohen, the president's former attorney, dropped a few names in his testimony. members of the trump organization could be next on the democrat's witness list. we'll have that story for you.

also an indian air force pilot captured by pakistan is now back home. the tensions between the two countries is far from over. >> that story ahead as "newsroom" continues.

. what you are seeing right here, a moment that eased temgss between two pilots walked across the boarder from pakistan into india this after being released

and the center of an international incident. pakistan called it a gesture of peace. he had been in captivity since wednesday when his jet was shot down in a dog fight over the skies in disputed cashmere. the cashmere border has seen an upthe egg in military skirmishes in the past week. cnn is carrying all options, nic robertson is live in islamabad and our correspondent sam kylie on the ground in new delhi, let's start with you with the release of this pilot. clearly, it has taken the pressure off these two nuclear powers. india's leader is clearly taking an approach when it comes to keeling with tensions that might have been dealt with diplomatically before. it's more assertive, it seems. >> much more assertive, absolutely right. prime minister modi enjoying

international support. britain, france, issuing various statements, calling for calm but also recognizing india's quote/unquote right to defend itself against a potential terrorist attacks. >> that is, of course the doctrine of pre emshurngs perhaps most recently in the invasion of iraq. nonetheless, a new attitude struck by india. very different from the past when following, for example the mumbai massacre of 2008, 164 people killed. the indians tied the killers there to operations inside pakistan to terror groups, resisted caution in the military to attack. in this occasion and in the future, prime minister mody? an election year one should note

is committing india with interest as he puts it if there are future attacks either tore pakistan or groups within the pakistani controlled territories. they also say the return of their pilot was shot down in a dog fight a few days ago in pakistani controlled cash merri territory was they're not particularly grateful, they're simply saying that was under the geneva convention. a different attitude to the more consilltory voice from the pakistani future. it's in a sense as well as establishing a more belligerent attitude. there is an obligation a vow that future terrorist attacks tied to pakistan must result in

some kind of response that gives them less wriggle room in the future this video crucial, in fact, after days of tension walking across the border, this was framed as a gesture of peace by pakistan's leader, imran khan. how is it being framed across pakistan? >> reporter: precisely that. this is something they decided to do. it was in their capacity to do, to hand them back swiftly and quickly. in a sense to show, you know, these actions have been taken. we said we were going to strike back. if you came across the border and struck us. we've done that. but here's your pilot back. i mean, there is a real sense of under population here, imron con

the new prime minister here has struck this right. there is support for him doing this. there is perhaps less support for some of the international diplomatic actions, for example the foreign minister not going to islamic corporation. some 50 nations in abu dhabi yesterday and today that perhaps that was a misstep when the foreign minister was speaking, he said the man that leaves the group that india holds responsible in mid-february, he is in pakistan and there have been diplomatic missteps, as to how to handle this crisis windia how to manage public sentiment about it. there is a sense the prime minister has got it right. another thing people will tell you, look, we had quite in the

past a genuinistic media in the past. but on this particular issue here and in years the india here is on a more even kiel. the concern is what they see across the border in this election year in india. they feel the media there is heaping pressure on the prime minister there, potentially to make good that sam told us about the issue of future strikes. so i think the feeling on this side is the prime minister's got it right. it's down to india to see how they respond. >> nic robertson live for us in islamabad, thank you for the reporting. we'll stay in touch. one of osama bin laudin'ssons is on a best wanted list. there is a whereabouts of the

hamza bin ladin. he has called on his followers to call on attacks against the united states and allies. osama bin laden was killed in 2011. they indicate hamza bin ladin was being groomed for leadership. the u.s.-backed syrian democratic forces have started their final push on the last bit of territory inside syria. the military says it's advanced more than 1 kilometer into the enclave. heavy fighting, though, is under way. three sdf fighters have been wounded so far. all this despite the u.s. president's claim that all isis territory there had already been taken. the operation started friday as the civilians were moved out of harm's way. a spokesperson tweeted this, after comrades, the operation to clear isis has started at 1,800

this evening. the u.s. military is leading a major exercise and trying to fog out local forces tackle a growing threat, cnn pentagon reporter ryan brown is there. >> reporter: here at this military base, u.s. special forces are working with local counterparts in burkina faso. >> we believe burkina faso is getting tougher. we work with them as they confront the security challenges. >> reporter: the u.s. military has had advisors here. they're working with local security forces, both police and military to develop their ability to fight isis and al qaeda who have carried out attacks that have rocked the wral now the u.s. is cutting its

forces in west africa. re-using the number of troops on the ground which raises concerns whether the united states will be able to continue these kind of training efforts. but u.s. commanders are saying they are reviewing additional options, whether it's drones, or perhaps additional u.s. military advisers that can help burkina faso in this fight. >> we, therefore, any additional resources we put into advising or training or assisting here could make a big difference. >> reporter: it still remains to be seen, whether or not local forces can handle this diverse terrorist threats carrying out fisted attacks crossing the border from neighboring mali. >> thank you. they were once the guests of president trumped a his state of the union address back in 2018. now the parents of otto

warmbier, he died after imprisonment in north korea, they are angry over the president's latest comments about their son. we'll explain. also now that michael cohen has testified before congress, we find out who lawmakers want to talk to next. stay with us.

you. all of you. how you live,

what you love. that's what inspired us to create america's most advanced internet. internet that puts you in charge. that protects what's important. it handles everything, and reaches everywhere. this is beyond wifi, this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity, the future of awesome. good early morning to our viewers here in the united states on cnn and usa and our viewers world wide on cnn international. i'm george howell with the headlines we are following this hour. celebrations across india after pakistan returned, a captured air force pilot, his jet was

down in the disputed cashmere region on wednesday. pakistan calls the release a gesture of peace. the cashmere border has seen an uptick in military skirmishes in the last week. a top democrat wants them to provide more information on how jared kushner got a top secret security clearance. on thursday, the "new york times" reported that the president personally intervened to secure that clearance, despite concerns from his then chief of staff and others. the president previously deernd any involvement. right now kim jong-un is on his way back to new york. he arrived on board his private train. new york portrayed his summit as a success between the two leaders. but the family of otto worm beer lashed out at president trump saying the leader did not know

about their son's condition while he was in a prison there and not holding the north korean leader responsible. after 18 months, warmbier was returned in a coma. he died within days of returning home. the warmbiers were appreciative of president trump for getting him home. mr. trump's refusal to blame kim jong-un for their son's death, it drew a strong response. we get more from cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: analysts called it a low point in an already dismal news conference. >> he tells me he didn't know about it. i will take him at his word. >> reporter: the president president saying he supported kim jong-un's stats that kim didn't know of american college student otto warmbier's deteriorating condition in a prison. >> i don't believe he would have allowed that to happen. >> reporter: now that statement

is receiving a warm rebuke from his parents. fred and cindy warmbier said they could hold back no longer, saying kim and his evel regime are responsible for the death of our son otto. no excuses or lavish praise can change that. >> for them, this is a horrible six to go through. i can understand their concern about what was said. >> reporter: otto warmbier, a student at the university of virginia was arrested for allegedly stealing a political sign during his tour of pang yang in 2016, it was widely seen as a show trial. he went. >> i am a incident scapegoat. >> reporter: he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. a year later, diplomats asked for a meeting and told them the young american was in a coma. warmbier was quickly evacuated and died a couple days after returning home. trump initially attacked kim and

his regime for the death. >> we need only look at the depraved character of the north korean regime. >> he embraced warmbier's parents, inviting them to the state of the union address. >> you are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world and your strength truly inspires us all. >> reporter: analysts said that seemed to be a far cry from his friends e comments th his comments this week. the president took to twitter saying he had been misinterpreted on thursday. quote, of course i hold north korea responsible for otto's mistreatment and death. most important, otto warmbier will not have died in vain. i love otto and think of him often". >> the president is saying there with is no indication the president knew when it happened. >> reporter: that's impossible, after his death, doctors believed he had been in a vegetative state 14 months before being sent home.

>> if he's in a vegetative state for 14 months, does kim jong-un not know about it at all during that time? >> kim would have known as soon as they determined there was something that wasn't reversible. he would have known immediately. >> reporter: so why would president trump said he believed can im? analysts say it could have been for pure political expediency. >> some human rights groups have not been given much access, which is prioritizing the nuclear negotiations and thinking that human rights issues may get in the way. >> reporter: in the end, will kim jong-un face accountability in the case of otto warmbier? analysts, say, probably not. they were awarded nearly $3500 million in a wrongly death lawsuit, experts say it's unlikely the family will catch any of that what could happen is the family use it as possible leverage in negotiating sanctions relief for north korea. brian todd, cnn, washington.

>> brian, thank you very much. the fallout continues from michael cohen's testimony on capitol hill. house democrats now have their set eyes set i should say on key members of the trump organization. sarah murray explains what details lawmakers hope to uncover. >> reporter: some little known trump organization officials may face congressional scrutiny of their own after michael cohen suggested in his testimony they could have knowledge of potential crimes. >> to your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company? >> yes. >> who else knows that the president did this? >> alan weiselberg, ron lieberman and matthew calimari. >> reporter: at least one of those alan weiselberg, has already been swept up in the investigation led by the u.s. attorneys office for the southern district of new york. weisel berg was provided immunity for hush money payments to women alleging affairs with

president donald trump. trump denies those affairs. but weiselberg's limited immunity deal doesn't guarantee he will be spared from prosecutors looking into other matters. it could be a treasure trove of information,. weiselberg knows where all the financial bodies are buried, a source previously told cnn. trump told me he has been with me for 30 years and keeps a handle on everything. >> another matter is matthew calimari. how are you? >> donald, you know i don't care for jen very much. i got to be honest with you. because, wow, because, wow, i'm not doing too good. >> reporter: aside from that awkward moment in the 2004 live din name of nbc news' "the apprentice," matthew calimari kept a low pro time.

trump liked how he dealt with hecklers and hired him as a security guard, calimari climbed the ranks and eventually chief operating officer. >> i got some of the best people in the world. >> i have guys lined up. believe me. >> reporter: in his role overseeing trump security team, calimari has come under scrutiny for allowing blacks policy and using force, particularly when trump was using him during the 2016 feign i campaign. the third official left his gig in 2007 at the new york city department of parks and recreation. now, lieberman works closely with weiselberg on financial matters, a source tells cnn. since joining the company, he's helped rank high profiles in the city. a sweet deal for trump that caught the eye of at least one law maker this week.

>> taxpayers spent $127 million to build trump links in a quote generous deal allowing president trump to keep almost every dollar that flows in on a golf course built with public funds and this doesn't seem to be the only time the president has benefitted at the expense of the public. >> reporter: sarah murray, cnn, washington. >> sarah thank you. now to the deepening crisis in venezuela. the united states has imposed visa restrictions on dozens of those aligned with president nicholas maduro. it slaps sanctions on six security officials for obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid. listen. >> maduro supporters, with violation rights, steal from the venezuelan people or undermine venezuela's democracy are fought welcome in the united states. neither are their family members. >> in the meantime the self proclaimed interim president juan guaido says a transition is

under way to remove nicholas maduro. guaido has been gaining international support and legitimize his claims to the presidency. >> reporter: he is the one today making that transition costly in venezuela. not the opposition, who have demonstrated their democratic peaceful and resistant disposition and despite the oppression the political prisoners and the persecution, here we are. >> the u.s. is among more than 50 countries that now recognize guaido as venezuela's interim president. now to sudan in turmoil. still ahead, why protesters there are calling for the long-time president to resign. ( ♪ ) ready to juvéderm it? correct age-related volume loss in cheeks with juvéderm voluma xc,

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. demonstrators filled the streets of algerian cities on friday. state-run tv saying a man died of a heart attack after one protest in the nation's capital. mr. algerians are driving the president from office. he's seeking a fifth term. some demonstrators are demanding that parliament be resolved. sudan's long-time program omar al bashar has given up his rule as calls for him to give up power continue to grow i should say. for weeks now the african nation has been rocked by anti-government protests, critics say the demonstrators' demands are being arrived with live fire. we warn you, some of the images you see in this report are graphic.

>> reporter: ten weeks into sudan's anti-government demonstrations, this is now the longest wave of protest to the 30-year rule. al bashar declared a state of emergency. he added more security forces on to khartoum's streets, this has not stopped protesters calling on the president to step down. protesters have been met with excessive force. now they give authorities more sweeping powers. human rights watch, citing activists say nearly 60 people have been killed in security forces since 2018. the government's official death toll is 32, including three security personnel. amnesty international told cnn 1,500 protesters are if government custody. rights groups say they received supports of security forces entering private homes and abuse and detention, including sexual assault, torture and the use of electric tasers.

she told cnn she was arrested and beaten by security agents who forced their way into a make-shift clinic in khartoum. >> reporter: this one family is still looking for justice. her father was not taking part in the protest, his family says, they believe he was shot for giving shelters to protesters in his home in the khartoum neighborhood

. >> reporter: but in a news conference, police said no bullets were fired that day. since then the family tells cnn that the police say they would open an investigation. they have yet to see a post-more them report. >> thank you. politicians often apologize for their off-the-cuff remarks or comments, but it's not usually because of a compliment. ahead, what the former vice president joe biden said about the current vice president mike pence and how it could be an indicator of a possible 2020 presidential bid.

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he hasn't officially announced any 2020 presidential plans, but the former u.s. vice president joe biden is already

responding to criticism after praising his successor the current vice president mike pence. biden's quick walkback, though, could be a sign he is inching toward a presidential run. our jeff zeleny explains. >> reporter: apologies come often in politics, said him for calling someone a decent guy. >> a guy the a decent guy. our vice president. >> reporter: hardly an ugly slur, former vice president biden's words about successor mike pence sparked a telling reaction from the left. >> our vice president who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said, i'm here on behalf of president trump and there was dead silence. >> reporter: but there was not silence from cynthia nixon. joe biden, you called america's most lgbt leader a decent guy.

only minutes later, he apologized. you are right, i was making a point in a foreign policy context. there is nothing decent about being anti-lbgtq rights, that includes the president. the speed of his response is the latest sign biden is inching into the 2020 fight, testing calls seen as an asset in the democratic primary. >> how do they get anything done is we start talking to one another. >> reporter: meanwhile, another progressive candidate in the race. with washington governor jay innsle focusing on climate change. >> we have one chance to defeat climate change and it is right now and it is my belief that when you have one chance in life you take it. >> reporter: jeff zeleny, cnn, washington. >> jaffe, thanks. the pentagon is asking

congress to consider a proposal to form a new branch of the u.s. military. it would be called space force and would follow the directive from the u.s. president trump. >> and at my direction, the pentagon is working hard to create a sixth branch of the united states armed forces. the space force. it's so important. so important. people don't know, i mean, we're not just talking about going up to the moon, going up to mars. we are talking about, you need it. now you need it. you look at russia. you look at china. you look at what's going on, what they're doing. we need it. we'll be the best in the world, very shortly in space. >> the proposal calls for 200 people to establish the branch and 72 million dollars to create its headquarters. most of the staff members officially would come from the

u.s. air force. >> q 1, there, ignition. liftoff. >> and in the meantime, the united states is taking a giant leap into getting its own astronauts into orbit on american missions. spacex just launched the new crew dragon capsule. it is unmanned and expected to dock at the international space station sunday f. all goes as planned, the first crew will be by july. the u.s. has been sending its astronauts into space on russia's soyuz capsules since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. >> that wraps this hour of the cnn "newsroom." i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. "new day" is next. thank you for watching "newsroom." have a great day. ♪ shorten your cold by almost half

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and see how you can have an even better x1 experience. simple. easy. awesome. why did some of the president's closest adviser kick kushner get about sez ccess to without clearance? >> i wouldn't do it. >> why does he keep lying about this stuff? the parents of an american student who died after being imprisoned in north korea have lashed out at the president. >> he tells me that he didn't know about it. and i will take him at his word. >> it is not formal for the president of the united states to praise one of the worst dictators on the planet. the president of the united states insists