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attorney general was given a speech and came right at former fbi director james comey calling him a political pun dant. we have more breaking news that's more urgent, actually. a.g.barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor to investigate the origins of the mueller probe. we know who he is and this man is no joke when put on the case. and what lead to the subpoena for donald trump junior. we know what prompted the republican controlled senate panel to issue the summons but what we don't get is why lindsey graham the head of the senate judiciary committee is telling trump to ignore it. we'll get reaction from joe mansion ahead. he helped confirm the attorney general. does he regret it? what does he think of him putting his own man on the case

to look at what was done in the campaign? it is a new week. but everything is getting bigger than before so let's get after it. >> breaking news this hour, cnn has learned the attorney general bill barr has raised the stakes. he has tapped a top federal prosecutor to investigate the origins of the russia investigation. we know he thinks there was spying but we also know that the i.g. is looking at this right now. so what will john durham that is the top federal prosecutor in connecticut nominated by this president to head that position but he's been in the d.o.j. since 1982. and he has been relied on by attorneys general of both

parties before. this guy is no joke. this is a man that knows how to do this job. let's get reaction from joe mansion, democrat from west virginia. the new york times just broke the story. were you aware that the ag. put the connecticut u.s. attorney on the case of looking into the origins of the fbi investigation into russian interference? >> well, first, good to be with you. >> good to be with you. >> i did not know until i just heard you and the promo about two minutes ago. >> so what do you know about mr. durham? do you know any of his history? janet reno used him.

holder wound out expanding his credentials and now barr is using him. >> he sounds well qualified and has much experience, i just can't figure out what they're going to try to undo. if you want to know what lead to the investigation it was the evidence. we watched it unfold and it lead us in the direction we went. you have people that pleaded guilty. i was happy to see that our president was not involved in colluding with foreign agents against our country and that was proven but there were people that did an awful lot of wrong and was proven also. that's all collusion. it may be something that you

answer for politically. you know what they want. you know what your friend lindsey graham wants and others like him. they believe you faked the finding to the fisa court that they had nothing and it's been by a deep state. >> this is not the lindsey i know. i can't explain what's going on right now and his thought process. he lost his dear friend john mccain and our ally. that might have had some effect but i can't speak to that. i just know that the facts of what we're seeing unfold and what has happened has been because it was clear and evident. >> have you talked to him about any of this? >> we spoke a little bit about what was going on and he felt very strongly about what he is

saying so i never doubted his se narity about it. >> he's telling trump junior to break the law. he's telling him to ignore a senate subpoena. >> i spoke to him before i heard he said that because i can tell you this, being on intel committee last year, we were going down one path and the mueller investigation started and we were not going to not do our job. i have all the respect for richard burr and mark warner. that committee is the most bipartisan committee that i've had the pleasure of serving on since i have been in the senate. they're most professional and staff is excellent and they're doing their job and cross their tees and dot their is and do the resear research. >> they have been pretty clean all along. i'm talking about lindsey graham on the judiciary side. he's someone that people have always respect for his legal acumen and now he's making the

opposite arguments that he made against president clinton and pointed out about obstruction and subpoenas and referring to what triggered watergate. >> all i can say is its not the lindsey that i have known. for him to do and say things of late does not make sense to us that have been close friends of his. >> you voted for a.g. barr. >> yeah. >> when you see what he has done now, if you could go back, hindsight is always 2020, would you cast your vote differently. >> let me put it back in content here. first of all i voted for most of the appointments if they were qualified and in good standing. i might not have agreed with their politics. but if they were qualified and in good standing i always gave the executive the differential

they should have in putting their staff together. as a former governor i asked state senators to do the same for me. with voting for mr. bar the way i did and seeing after what he has talked about and his testimony before the senate, give me great concern about the mueller report. he interpreted it one way and did not think that mueller had any concerns about how he evaluated it i was waiting to hear that. seeing that now he's doubling down trying to find out how the investigation started gives me even more pause. either i made a grave mistake and i'm sorry for that or the man is still qualified. just disagree with him. >> you're going to have to talk to him about that. >> i've had him on the show all the time.

>> i invite him on the show all the time. i want to talk to him. >> let me ask you something, before i let you go, you always save the best questions for last. are you thinking at all about going back to the state house and running for governor of west virginia? i know that democrats wouldn't want to see that senate seat up for grabs without mansion in it to fight as a democrat in west virginia. but have you given it serious thought or no? >> i have and i am. i'll put it to you that way. i love my state. i really love my state. i was born and raised and i know the people there and i miss them every day and when i go back home the greatest feeling i have is when i'm driving home crossing the mountains into west virginia, i feel like i have been freed. i'm back home. yes i do miss it. i want to make sure that i put myself in the position i can help in the most possible ways i

can. knowing how patriotic we are with defending and want to be in a position to dechd ofend our cy and keep it strong. >> can't do both. when do you decide? >> i'll make the decision soon. i'd like to make it through the summer. i just came off a campaign. i have to talk to my family and make sure that they're up for another one if we do this and make a decision that's really good for the family but also that i think i can be in the position to help the state. it's all about west virginia. >> always has been. i have known you a long time. you look the same. i look like my father now. >> no, you're not changing. you're okay. >> when you make your decision it's going to matter a lot to my audience. i wish you the best.

>> he went much further than nice words. why would you praise a man that's notorious for undermining democracy? we're going to use it as the beginning of a great debate but we have breaking news to digest as well. (alarm beeping) welcome to our busy world. where we all want more energy. but with less carbon footprint. that's why, at bp, we're working to make energy that's cleaner and better. we're producing cleaner-burning natural gas. and solar and wind power. and wherever your day takes you... we have advanced fuels for a better commute. and we're developing ultra-fast-charging technology for evs.. at bp, we see possibilities everywhere. so we can all keep advancing.

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>> his job will be to investigate the origins of the russia investigation. this is something the president has been asking for and it's certainly a good start for the great debate. we have anna navaro and mike shields. thank you for making a quick adjustment and we're just learning about this. he's been in the d.o.j. since 1982. used by janet reno. he was used by barr. so the idea that the a.g. is putting had imin place to look at the origins of the investigation but there's another one looking at it in utah and inspector general, your take on it.

>> they're panderring ing to do trump and his administration. a point of personal privilege i was hearing your interview with senator mansion about lindsey graham. lindsey has been a friend of mine for so many years. i used to be able to pick up the phone and talk to lindsey any time i wanted. he hasn't picked up the phone in a long time so i'm going to use your show to talk to him. i was proud to be a supporter of lindsey graham. i hosted fund-raisers for him. i travelled for him. i loved this man. he was a truth speaker. he was a straight talker. he was john mccain's best friend. when i see what has become of lindsey graham right now, it hurts my heart. like senator mansion, i don't recognize him. he is a man that loves his country and is a patriot and served his country. i am proud and grateful for his

service but i am hoping that lindsey graham realizes that he is not serving this country or constitution well or the memory of john mccain well. ask himself what would john mccain do in this moment. he's not in congress or the u.s. senate to be donald trump's accomplis. donald trump's lawyer. donald trump's defender and adviser, a legal adviser for donald trump jr. he is there to represent the people of south carolina. lindsey, go back to being lindsey. i feel like it's an episode of the body snatchers. >> to hear it from his mouth he doesn't have any concerns about what they're doing. they're all questions of straight law. i don't see why they would

encourage him a. >> you don't have to have a take. >> let me get will in here. >> hey, this is mike. >> i'm sorry. >> that's all right. first of all, i think lindsey represents the people of south carolina. he does what the people in his state want him to do and that's why he'll get reelected. second i i love when people love a politician that's on their side and they're so thoughtful when they agree with them but when they disagree they're no longer thoughtful or an expert now they lost their way. so i think he's doing exactly what he thinks is the right thing to do and my guess is he has a clean conscious.

>> it's not that i disagree with lindsey graham. lindsey graham disagrees with lindsey graham. there's so much on the report about him saying exactly the opposite of what he is espousing now the hypocracy is undeniable. i knew him before i was a cnn pun da pundant. i knew him when i was a young republican supporting john mccain. >> maybe he's afraid. >> i knew lindsey graham when -- >> i get that you knew him. >> when he was willing to risk everything to do immigration reform. and willing to risk an election to do immigration reform and it's better to lose an election than to lose your soul. than to lose your integrity and conviction, than to lose your principle and your morals and lose yourself, who you are in order not to lose an election. i know his numbers were horl

befo -- horrible before he started being donald trump's bff but is it worth it, that's an answer only he can provide. this is not about me being a cnn pundint. i knew him way before that. >> what's lindsey's problem? when it comes to how he sees subpoenas and how they're supposed to be respected. he was saying the complete opposite than right now. >> there's a lot of that going around. >> no, let's just stick with him. i don't care if it's contagious. >> either they're all politicians and you can cast them all with a broad stroke, gerald nadler his idea of contempt was completely different with eric holder than it is now as the chairman of the

judiciary committee or they change their minds and a lot of times we love it when a politician will change their mind. why don't they stick to the same thing and read the evidence and see what's going on. >> they're both terrible. either you're saying all politicians have situational ethics or it's that lindsey graham developed a new definition of what obstruction of justice is? >> no, i think lindsey graham knows what he is talking about. look at how lindsey graham was during the kavanaugh hearings. and when you agree with him you think he's wonderful. >> but she's got you on the idea that he's the one disagreeing

with himself. >> mike is being more cynical than is necessary here and certainly he has been in the past. the guy is getting killed because of what he said about the president in the primary. caught between two different sides and can you blame him for making points where he sees points to be made? >> yes. i can. because i have known him for so long. this is the reality. donald trump struck fear in the hearts of republicans because he involved himself in primary. most of the republicans against donald trump, whoever spoke up against him lost in primaries. lost in generals, decided to retire or died. he made it so this is much more of a trumpian republican party

now and they know he will get involved. donald trump prefers a democrat to what he views as a disloyal republican. he prefers a democrat to be in mia love's seat. he prefers a democrat to be in jeff flake's seat because he doesn't want to deal with what he sees as a disloyal republican. so i get it. i get the political reality. it's just that me, my personally. somebody that's known him for so long very expected more of lindsey graham who is brilliant. who is brilliant. >> a very smart man. he now has some controversy pegged to him. >> i invite the senator on all the time. i don't want to talk about him and i don't want to bring people on to take shots at him. >> by the way, chris, chris,

lindsey if you have an issue with anything i'm saying, you know my number, baby. give me a call, because i've got to talk to you. >> anna, thank you. mike shields -- i called you will shields but that's an athlete. you're an athlete of a different sort. president trump has a date with the leaders of both russia and china coming up. these are really big meetings. what should happen, what are we worried about potentially happening? the perfect guest with a new bo book? next.

sometimes you get lucky and we did tonight with a topic we must address and we have the perfect guest for it. why? context. the president is planning his first face to face with putin since the mueller report. at the same time, the president is taking his trade fight with china to the next level so guess who we have? knows both of the issues, looked

deeply into the roots of where we are and where we might be. he just wrote this book in my ha hand. we went to college together. i love everything you are doing. you're so successful. tomorrow it goes on sale. >> it does. >> shadow war. now coming out of the shadow, what is the plus minus on the meeting with putin? >> if trump is willing to publicly or privately confront the russian president on all the ways it's trying to undermine this country, fantastic. that's a win. >> zero indication. >> that's been his attitude

prior to the election and since the election. you've seen people say the president won't go there. why is that? there's a personal connection he takes based on the interference of the election. but for our interest, america's interest whenever military commander and intelligence official and the president's own advisers know that russia is acting every day in ways to undermine this country but the president won't confront them, that's a problem. >> but it's great for russia and one of the things you get into about what will feed their own reach and their own aggression. how does this play into it? >> russia is fighting a war every way to undermine the u.s. do they know they will do it again in 2020? maybe not so much. they don't know that russia deployed weapons in space that sounds like star wars but it's a fact today that there are

satellites as u.s. space command refers to them that are capable of taking out the satellites that we depend on. our military does. civilian technologies. russia is fighting a war under the waves. deploying more advanced quiter sub marines to deploy closer to u.s. shores without warning. they're finding multiple ways to undermine the u.s. but the only way to fight back is to have leadership from the top which it doesn't have and the remarkable thing is that china, two different countries, two different histories, two different governments is fighting a very similar strategy to undermine the u.s. >> they have a trade and economic situation. one absolute problem for the u.s. is that u.s. markets have priced in a successful deal with china. >> they have. >> if you don't get one you'll have market issues and that could undermine the economy at the worst possible time for this president going into it.

but what does the tariff battle mean? >> we're in a situation. we're in a game of chicken. the president will not confront russia for whatever reason. on china he is confronting them in a way that previous presidents have not been willing to do. that is on trade. we have known china is a bad actor on trade for years. they restrict u.s. companies in china. they steal i.p. there's a chapter in this book about the thousands of spies they deploy to steal information. they do it really well. it's theft. that's a good thing. that's a good thing. the question is will his strategy work? can you beat them and get what you want? because in effect he's demanding china change it's economic model here.

we'll see. the u.s. has a strong economy. we can fight this battle now while the economy is strong. china has limitless stimulus and they can also fight this battle. i'll i'm telling you, china is an authoritarian country. it has zero political incentive to give into an american president. that's a game of chicken. >> here's my sell for jimmy's book. congratulations again. here's why, these are tough topics he breaks down so if you read this book you're 100% up to speed and they each have at least five fingers off the palm of their main incentive and main plan. it deserves everything that comes it's way in terms of sales and accolades. the shadow war goes on sale tomorrow. the best to you again. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here tonight. so the attorney general has done a very big thing tonight on our

watch. the president said i want more people looking at how did this probe start? why did they do it? a top notch federal prosecutor that has a long history of getting to the bottom of sticky subjects. he was just picked by barr. why now? what will he do? what does it mean? and we're going to take on what lindsey graham used to say and says now with a man that understands the law better than i ever dreamed of, next. she can stay with you to finish her senior year. things will be tight but, we can make this work. ♪ now... grandpa, what about your dream car? this is my dream now. principal we can help you plan for that . i'm begging you... take gas-x.ed beneath the duvet your tossing and turning isn't restlessness, it's gas!

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bill barr has gotten a top federal prosecutor to investigate the orangigins of t russia investigation. let's bring in ken. good to have you. thin because durham deserves respect. he's been in the doj since 1982. he has been used by ags of both parties. he's respected for his ability to look. there's no reason to prejudice any of it except for on a level that has nothing to do with durham. you have a u.s. prosecutor in utah looking at this for awhile. you have the i.g. looking at it. we don't know what his report is yet. why do this now? >> well, he's looking at a define slice of it and the idea

is to operate that way and their powers are limited within the department to a certain extent. i think the better question is the one you raised about utah and what's the interaction between durham that is a 37 year -- >> 1982. >> and as you noted -- >> he's been in there a long time and he's worked on sensitive matters for, as you noted, chris, attorneys general of both parties and by all accounts on all of those efforts he's done a good job. that's all positive. i don't think this is out of the blue. i think that i am somebody who has raised questions in our earlier discussions about the origin of this investigation and it's the investigation and then there's some of how they conducted it most particularly the fisa warrant with respect to carter page. that looks to be the fbi's

weakest point in light of the weakness of the steel dossier and what they didn't tell that court. i think they're on much better footing with mr. durham with starting the investigation and all but some of the tactics u d used, most particularly the fisa warrant are going to be difficult to defend i think. >> jim baker doesn't see the reason for speculation. someone that agrees with you is lindsey graham. i want to ask you something, do you think it's just politics that has lead to his difference in perspective? that he got beat up in the numbers really badly for the way he spoke about trump during the primary and now that he's president he's making his play and doesn't want to be caught outside his own party getting primary and that's why he is saying things that run completely contrary to what he said in the past? >> i'm not in the habit of

defending lindsey graham but i'd point out in that primary when he got out remember the jokes about ted cruise and including one about killing him on the senate floor, who did he endorse? he endorsed ted cruz for president. so look, lindsey graham is a political operator. and he adjusts as the circumstances change. some of that is politics and frankly some of it is very sincere. donald trump, some people will view this differently, has been a learning experience for a lot of people in the republican party and that doesn't mean they have adopted him, some of them oppose him based on what they have learned but he's been a completely unique animal and i don't know that any of the usual plays, descriptions work here. >> it's one thing. >> lindsey graham 20 years ago would say something different. >> ignore the subpoena? what lawyer would say that?

i get that he's playing politics but telling trump junior to ignore the subpoena? i know he's not going to tell somebody openly to break the law. but is that really politics or is that doing too much to be too nice? >> i'm not sure how to describe it but i would say that i think the trump junior subpoena is in a category all it's own. what i haven't seen reported or discussed very much is when he went back and testified before them previously was he would sit as long as they wanted him and answer every question and he did that and now it's the senate committee going back on that arrangement. >> kushner went back twice. >> jared didn't make that kind of a deal. >> you just said -- >> if donald trump jr. hasn't

been part of the administration. >> you said that this president has been a learning curve for people. we had to learn that just what you hear today may not be what you hear tomorrow. i have to jump. i'm out of time but i really appreciate this. >> good to be with you chris. >> i love having you often and early. thank you, sir. >> i'll be back. >> different story. are you a game of thrones person? i'm going to try not to give anything away. but it's not unusual that when something becomes hot people start naming kids after characters but there's a lot of people that name their kid after a main character in game of thrones that really changed what she is about last night and i feel like there could be 500 if not more parents across this country right now like this, what did we do? next.

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i have to tell you, today the parents all over this country with very mixed emotions from what happened on the show last night because you got 560 people who have named their kids after a character who went totally bad last night.

things went really bad if you were somebody who want your kid to be named after danerys. she's been the central heroin of the whole thing. in 2011, at least 3,500 girls -- since 2011, 3500 girls have been named khalessi or danerys. i want to bring in donald lemon whose parents may be worried about his choice of first name. donald j. lemon. >> it's not donald. how dare you? i'm out of here. my name is not donald. >> who says? >> my birth certificate. >> do you have it? >> who are you? trump? and i'm obama? what is going on here?

>> you're the one named after the president. you tell me. that makes me obama. >> i have never been happier that my name is not donald. it's just don. >> donald j. lemon. >> it's not j. but you know, even the internet has my middle name wrong. >> jay. >> your middle name is a. >> what do you do if you're a parent and you named your kid after a character in a tv show that you love and that character ends up being a homocidal maniac, what do you do? >> i can answer that easily, i would never name my child after a television character. i wouldn't, but if you made a commitment, leave it. obviously you like the name. it's a fictional character. what does it matter anyways. i don't even watch game of thrones. can i tell you my game of thrones story? >> please. i was dating this guy. he loved game of thrones. it was one of the first dates

and i'm looking at him and i'm like what is this crap? can we mess around or something? i don't want to see this. i don't want to watch game of thrones. come on. better things to do on a he wanted to get out of there and you followed him home. >> no, he said it was an excuse to get rid of me. i'm going to speak for someone who voted for this president who's a farmer, who's hurting right now, and also concerned who to vote for next time, may not be this person for president next time. >> fighting for the heart of the country, these farmers are right in the cross hairs of this trade policy. we should be used to it by now. but this president likes to say nice things about bad leaders. why?

we have a latest example of it today. and it's something that you have to look at because there's too much talk about good explanations that don't hold water. so let's argue what's obvious, next. ♪

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i was going to do a clever misdirection play for the argument describing something that sounds like our president but it's actually some despite. there's no need for device or to be clever. american presidents don't lift up bad guys and that's a good thing. strong men prey on pandering,

but for some reason this president panders like never before. reagan, mr. gorbachev, tear down that wall. trump, nice wall. it plays as comedy until the consequence comes, the oppression from a despite and the ability to counter. no recent president, republican or democrat, has tried flattery of foreign fascist types for two reasons, it is not in america's interests to embrace those who would destroy democracy and embracing bad guys diminishes their position. not this president. kim, putin, duterte. urban. no real free press, cozying up to putin. he recently said this, we must

defend hungary as it is now. we don't want our own -- we want our own color, traditions and national culture, to be mixed with those of ers, we don't want that. we do not want this. we do not want that at all. we do not want to be a diverse country. sound familiar? that's because it is familiar. here's steve king of gop congress infamy. >> you cannot rebuild your civilization with somebody else's babies, you've got to keep your birthrate up and you need to teach your children your values and in doing so then you can grow your population and you can strengthen your culture and strengthen your way of life. >> that's the same steve king that our president still refuses to criticize. people wonder, why? my question is, why wonder? he's now praising orban for the same reason that he won't go against king. he's okay with what they say.

>> victor orban has done a tremendous job in so many different ways, highly respected, respected all over europe. probably, like me, a little bit controversial, but that's okay. that's okay. you've done a good job and you've kept your country safe. >> no, not safe. safe from what? democracy? diversity? not respected all over europe. look at the organizations there and what they're saying about him. in 2015 orban trumped trump, he built this big ass fence and sold it as a way to protect hungary from an invasion of asylum seekers and then he tried to rebuild brussels, saying they owed hungary. it's as if he wrote a script for this president. i know the pushback, it can't hurt to be nice. it depends on whom you choose to be nice to and why. my argument is, we know why. and i don't need to say it because this president's own

person says it. no irony, his ambassador to hungary, david cornstein, the u.s. ambassador there told the atlantic in a new interview trump "would love to have the situation that victor orban has." there you go. now, we call it out because you -- what you ignore you empower. so we call it out. you allow an administration to flout oversight, shirk constitutional mandates, bad mouth the judiciary, stack the courts with ideological exemplars. constantly seek wedge issues, carving the country into us and them. you mix in an increasingly hostile attitude toward longtime friends and warmth for perceived foes. where does it end up? most obvious point here is that you do not hear this president's pals saying orban is a bad guy,

potus is nothing like him. they're saying the opposite. my argument is, enough with the rationales, enough with reaching for reasons for why this might make sense in some alternate reality. see it for what it is. this president says nice things about the people that he admires. thank you for watching. "cnn tonight" with d. lemon starts right now. >> birds of a feather. i know it's cliche, but your mama always told you that, right, birds of a feather flock together, if you don't want fleas, don't lie down with dogs, don't befriend them either. >> there's too many. i will give it to you with putin. it's better to be friends with someone that powerful than not friends. if you can work together, that's great. if you can find a better way, okay, if you can ignore some of what he is to get to more of what you need to be, that's great. but it's bad guy after bad