team? what kind of dance are you doing? >> ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop. >> stay out of trouble in the city. if you have any problems we have bail money. >> bill: good morning, everybody. is a war underway in washington two reports highlighting the growing battle between president trump and the intelligence community. this is the president going on the offensive today. promising to bring, quote, low life leakers to justice. his words from earlier today. it's a thursday. it's "america's newsroom," good morning to you. >> shannon: good to see you. i'm shannon bream in for martha maccallum. here is what's being reported. the "wall street journal" says intelligence officials withheld sensitive information from the president over concerns of trust. "the new york times" reports president trump may call for an investigation of the nation's intel agency. >> bill: the president went to

twitter today promising to root out the leakers after a day earlier calling their actions criminal. >> papers are being leaked. things are being leaked. it is criminal act and it has been going on for a long time. before me. but now it's really going on and people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the democrats had under hillary clinton. >> shannon: chief white house correspondent john roberts joins us live. what is the president saying? >> the white house is changing the message away from lieutenant general michael flynn who had to resign on monday in what flynn might have been saying in his conversations with the russians and now turning it toward the idea that people are leaking this information. the president clearly very upset, speaking his mind this morning on twitter. twitter storm on this whole thing. here is one of them. the spotlight has finally been put on low life leakers. they will be caught.

and then this, leaking and even illegal classified leaking has been a big problem in washington foreyears. failing "new york times" and others must apologize. the white house pushing back today against a report in the "wall street journal" suggesting that the president is not getting all of the available intelligence in his briefings. the "wall street journal" suggesting the president isn't getting information but not getting background sources and methods because the intelligence community doesn't trust him and members of his inner circle to not leak it because of all the suspicion about ties to russia and language that the president has used in talking about the spy agencies. for its part, the white house says this morning, quote, there is no reason to believe that any of this is accurate and from the office of the director of national intelligence this morning, quote, any suggestion that the u.s. intelligence community is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true. but the fact that the president is on the war path against the

leakers. past presidents have tried to go after them and plug the hole. there are so many people in this administration trying to upset the apple cart at the white house that rooting them all out will be difficult and may be, when you have sensitive information that's very tightly held among a small group you might be able to identify one or two individuals but it's still a big hill to climb. >> shannon: the white house may get an assist from congress. >> chaffetz and the chairman of the house intelligence committee yesterday -- judiciary committee yesterday sent a letter to the inspector general of the department of justice asking for an investigation saying we have serious concerns about the potential inadequate protection of classified information. we request that your office begin an immediate investigation into whether

classified information was mishandled. here is what chaffetz said last night on the first 100 days. >> >> bill: the president has made serious allegations in the movement of this information. no matter where you are on the political spectrum you can't have classified information migrating out into a non-classified setting. so if there has been something that has been mishandled we want them to look at it. >> on top of this the white house is thinking about undertaking a very large comprehensive review of all of the intelligence gathering agencies and potentially putting in to head that investigation steven fineberg, the ceo of serverist capital and member of the advisory council. fineberg knows how the flow of information goes in organizations and may be the one that's ultimately put in charge of looking into this.

the white house saying it won't broadcast what any kind of review will look like. >> shannon: makes sense. thank you. >> bill: a lot to talk about. the white house we go. sarah huckabee sanders with me now. good morning and thank you. does the president think the intelligence community is undermining him? >> i think there are clearly some issues in terms of the amount of leaks that are coming out of that. i think the bigger issue is how in some ways the media is giving a lot of credibility to stories that frankly just aren't true. you have thinly sourced and deep background issues that have very little factual information in it. >> bill: like what? >> i think the story in the with a street journal where the director of the national intelligence agency has said it's not true and that security information is not being withheld from this president. i think that is a very dangerous step and very dangerous ground the media is going down to create a false

narrative. >> bill: are you saying the "wall street journal" story is not accurate? >> the director of the national intelligence agency is saying it's not accurate and we haven't seen anything to back up that information is withheld from this president on national security. >> bill: is the president getting the intelligence he needs to do his job? >> i believe he is. and based on the information that we have and based on again the director of the national intelligence agency who should know, i believe that he is getting that information. >> bill: there is another story from "the new york times" now, will the president appoint a new commission or committee or individual, however you want to characterize it, to investigate and look at perhaps -- perhaps investigate isn't the right word. to analyze the intelligence community in washington as it operates today? >> we don't have any personnel announcement at this time and we won't broadcast the way we might go about looking at this.

the president takes leaks, particularly leaking of national security and classified documents very seriously and he won't let it go unnoticed. i think he made it pretty clear this morning that he was going to take this as aggressively as possible and certainly hunt down the low life leakers as he called them. >> bill: that's not a no. you are leaving open the possibility that a review may happen and that perhaps someone like steven fineberg could be appointed to lead that review, correct? >> i'm leaving open the possibility if people are playing with national security this administration and president will do everything it can to make sure it doesn't continue to happen. >> bill: if there are leakers, the white house is firmly in belief there are many, how do you find them? does that ever happen in washington >> i certainly think you find some of them. again, i think this president is going to take extreme measures to do exactly that.

and again, going back to what he talked about extensively on the campaign, his number one priority is national security. he takes it seriously and he will do everything he can to protect the documents and classified information that should certainly not be leaked out, particularly by politically-motivated individuals. >> bill: andrew puzder, how big a blow was that losing him for labor secretary? >> there are a lot of qualified people out there. it wasn't something that obviously was in his best interest and i think he saw there would be some obstacles and in the best interest of the president and administration to find somebody with less distraction. we have a lot of great candidates that we're looking at and hopefully making an announcement soon. >> bill: will it be today?be, n. it will happen in short order. >> bill: why do you think a dozen republican senators couldn't get behind him?

>> that's a question you would have to ask those senators specifically. i know the president wants the best person in the job and focused on making sure he gets somebody there that can implement his agenda and drive the mission. >> bill: there is a rally in orlando on saturday. how come? what does the president want to get from that? >> you'll have to talk. it's a campaign rally. what i can say is this is a president who has never shied away from the fact he likes taking his message to the people. he is constantly having to fight a biased media and this is a way for him to go around that and speak directly to the people and i think it's great for him to have that opportunity. >> bill: what is his message on saturday? this is not standard operating procedure, as you know. but we did not expect it to be standard and he has said that. what is his message in orlando that he couldn't deliver in palm beach or even at the white house? >> to see what that message is you'll have to listen.

you said it isn't standard operating procedure. it's exactly why donald trump won the presidency. people weren't looking to continue the status quo. that has failed and clear it didn't work over the last eight years. they wanted somebody to come into washington and shake it up from the inside. that's exactly what they're getting. they're getting somebody working for them and talking directly to them and i think that's exactly what saturday is all about. >> bill: as you know, we'll cover it. thank you, sarah, for your time this morning. sarah huckabee sanders there from the briefing room at the white house. >> shannon: a lot of folks to kick off the 2020 campaign we'll see it on saturday. that didn't take long. >> bill: true. >> shannon: we'll see. >> bill: more coming up on that. 10 minutes past. >> shannon: critics seizing on the flynn controversy comparing it to watergate, pearl harbor and 9/11. is that a fair compareson? our panel will weigh in. >> bill: shannon, house foreign affairs committee putting iran on notice. the hearing begins in less than an hour on that. we'll talk to the committee

chairman about what is the agenda today. ed royce is coming up live today. >> shannon: new video coming in. secretary of state rex tillerson meeting with russia's foreign minister as u.s./russia associations are under the microscopes. >> the democrats are trying to get the whole nation wrapped up in this but they were never worried about hillary clinton's realtime leakage of highly classified information while she was secretary of state. g ne.

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>> bill: secretary of state rex tillerson meeting with his russian counterpart. secretary tillerson meeting with lavrov in bonn. secretary tillerson said this. give it a listen just into us here in new york. >> foreign minister lavrov and i had a productive meeting. we discussed a range of issues of mutual concern. as i made clear my senate confirmation hearing, the united states will consider working with russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the american people. where we do not see eye-to-eye the united states will stand up for the interests and values of america and her allies. as we search for new common ground we expect russia to

honor its commitment to the agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in the ukraine. >> bill: that just in from germany. marie hart, how are you doing? good morning to you there in washington what do you think they can do together? >> well, listening to what rex tillerson said it sounds like something john kerry would have said. our policy that we said many times was we'll work with russia when it's in our interest to do so and oppose them when they invade crimea and eastern ukraine. there are places you can work together certainly but there are outstanding issues of great concern. not just crimea, not just ukraine, what they're doing in syria, helping assad bomb hospitals, but also this interference in the election. back home what you've been covering so much the domestic politics surrounding russia, trump's inability to criticize them over anything, it seems. i think this is all swirling not just in foreign policy but

in domestic politics here, too. tillerson has a fine line to walk in this relationship. >> bill: we'll see how fine that is. sebastian gorka characterized the relationship reflecting on your time the following way. a quick listen from last night. >> it's ironic the last administration that whispered, that saw secretary clinton approve the sale of 20% of our uranium to russia they're the ones that didn't create the problems but we are? >> bill: they have their arguments. >> i have mine, too. >> bill: i come back to my original question. they are giving this an effort to see what they can do together. and there is the thinking if you can pull russia away from china even a little bit or pull russia away from its relationship with iran even a little bit perhaps you have -- perhaps you have a lane in which you can get things done.

what do you think of that? >> right. a number of different administrations have tried that. remember president george w. bush looking into putin's soul. we work together on environmental issues. the trump administration needs to be clear eyed and realistic whether you can pull russia away from assad. can we use russia to try and get a political resolution in syria? sure. we shouldn't be naive. i'm concerned that president trump seems really unwilling or unable to criticize russia over anything. it's actually quite bizarre to me. >> bill: we'll see about that. it's 3 1/2 weeks in, okay? you know what his objective was. he said it a year ago. we'll try to figure out how we can work together. bring it back home for a moment. do you believe the intelligence community is undermining this president and this administration? >> i don't. i served at c.i.a. for six

years before i went to the state department. the intelligence community, especially at the high levels, prides itself on being apolitical and serving presidents of both parties. i saw that "wall street journal" story this morning. i thought it was pretty thinly sourced. look, are there people that are concerned? >> bill: a big pushback on that. >> that's right. i think people are concerned in the intelligence community, though, about some of these issues. >> bill: i understand that. do you think you were served well in your time on behalf of the intelligence community or do you feel like you were burned a time or two? >> i think certainly when i served at c.i.a. under a republican and democratic administrations it is an amazing place to work. i do think the intelligence community over the past 10 years has become a political lightning rod. think back to the enhanced

interrogation techniques and they've been a political punching back. it isn't good for the intelligence community and our nation's security. i think president trump has done some of that. >> bill: you were never burned? >> i don't think so, no. i don't think so. >> bill: okay. we'll jog the memory next time. thanks for coming. >> oh no, what am i forgetting? >> bill: i wanted to get your reaction to figure out what the relationship is now and likely be in the future. a fascinating development to watch. thank you for your input. thanks, marie. 20 past the hour. >> shannon: a master questioning. he always knows something the rest of us don't know. okay. well, coming up president trump accused of playing favorites at news conferences in order to avoid tough questions. he only took two yesterday and mainstream media outlets are melting down. cnn says the fix is in from a reporter already tangled with

the president. >> mr. president elect. can you say categorically. can you give us a question -- can you give us a question. can you give us a question? >> bill: i'm not going to give you a question. you are fake news. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur... ...tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms...

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>> in the last three news conferences all the questions to the american news media have been handled by conservative press and i think, wolf, no other way to describe it but the fix is in. >> shannon: that is jim acosta complaining about not getting questions by president trump during the news conference with the israeli prime minister. he took two questions none from

mine stream media. i'm joined by howard kurtz and host of media buzz. of course, in that earlier interaction it went back and forth with the president pointing his finger at acosta saying you are fake news. now it seems like in his selection of questions he's sending a message of well. >> the establishment media is having hyperventilation of the president's selection of questioner but the facts. eight questions from american reporters at the four news conferences the president has held with foreign leaders. six of those have come from fox, fox business, the "new york post," christian broadcasting, town hall and the daily caller. it is quite deliberate he hasn't called on any of the broadcast networks or major newspapers. some of the questions have been good and not so good. it was embarrassing on monday as the controversy swirled about national security advisor mike flynn hours before he was forced to resign, that the

questions asked at that news conference did not mention general flynn. >> shannon: you hear acosta talk about the christian broadcasting network, david brodie who has done a lot of articles with him. a costa talked about that like in a condescending tone about it. brodie as a piece out today where i did ask about flynn. it is not as if i won't ask the news of the day. did they think i would read a bible verse? these aren't organizations that don't do news. >> david brodie is a good reporter and he worked the question into the palestinian/israeli relations. i don't think president trump will go four years without calling on more established outlets and sean spicer gives them a crack every day and some alternative outlets but it is a very sharp break with the past, shannon. >> shannon: i don't recall anybody crying about the fact that fox news would go weeks or

months at a time without being questions for folks at the white house during the press conference. >> nobody cared about that. fox is part of the mainstream media. what was striking at the netanyahu presser yesterday was when president trump talked about fake news and how the dishonest media have treated mike flynn very unfairly, which kind of raised the question of you just fired the guy. and so, you know, his own people have said publicly the president asked for flynn's resignation. he had lost trust in the national security advisor. flynn had not been candid at all with vice president pence and so i understand, you know, the concern about leaks. an unprecedented level of leaks, including about president's own calls with foreign leaders. that's a legitimate concern on president trump's part. but at the same time nothing in the "washington post" story that set off the chain of events was shown to be untrue.

i was a little surprised he went as hard as he did after the press when, in fact, you know, he himself concluded that flynn had to go. >> shannon: steve bannon, there were several tweets yesterday from main traoem media outlets who said basically that reporters who were -- said they referred to him as the opposition party. that's the opposition party all lined up. bannon has been very -- you know, love him or hate him you know where you stand with him. he doesn't mince words and spoken to a number of media outlets saying i view them as the opposition party and i'm not interested in kissing and making up. >> he doesn't hide his disdain for the press and he did coin that phrase and president trump endorsed it after he first said it. i think what he said was a little more of a joke or jieb or jab perhaps but it's true.

lots of people in that administration who don't think highly of the press. president trump, chief among them. >> shannon: all right. howie kurtz, good to see you. we'll see you on sunday for media buzz. >> bill: our business is our industry. we watch it closer than a lot of people do. i think that whole skype aspect to the room really -- when you go to a skype question in a monitor it can change the tone and the flow of that conversation. >> shannon: people don't like change and -- >> bill: what do they want to know and where are they calling from? >> shannon: home in their pjs. >> bill: president trump battling intelligence leaks early on and shake-ups on his team. critics are calling it a potential watergate moment. whoa, too soon? too far? we'll debate that fair and balanced in a moment. >> shannon: a fox news alert. an iranian general responsible

for the death of 500 americans is traveling to moscow. another violation of the iran treaty. more on that with congressman ed royce. >> bill: the mystery behind the murder of the north korea's half brother. another arrest has been made. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life.

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beautyrest black. get your beautyrest. >> shannon: a fox news alert. the markets open after another big performance. they closed at high levels with the fifth session in a row. buyers are optimistic the trump administration will be good for corporate bottom lines. in fact, the president again tweeting this morning, quote, stock market hits new high with longest winning streak in decades. great level of confidence and op -- optimism even before tax plan roll-out. >> bill: police in malaysia

arresting a third person in the apparent poisoning death of the half brother of north korean dictator. they say it's the boyfriend of a woman who was already in custody. the mystery deepens. senior foreign affairs correspondent picks up the story from london with more. greg, what did you find out? >> mystery indeed, bill. there were two arrests today malaysian time. authorities are reporting this tied to the apparent killing of the half brother of kim jung un, north korean leader. the second of to women believed to be involved in the alleged poisoning death of this person arrested by malaysian officials said to be indonesia, no nationality on her boyfriend. this follows the wednesday arrest of the other woman tied to the alleged attack. she was nabbed at the airport where the incident happened. she was carrying vietnamese

documents. she looked like she was trying to leave the country. kim jong nam is the brother of kim jong-un. no results of the autopsy. we presume he was poison. one line of analysis says the members of part of the north korean intelligence. he was critical of the regime and reportedly targeted in the past. finally there was no mention of this death in pyongyang today or this week. today, in fact, is the 75th anniversary of the birthday of kim jong il, the late former leader and father by different mothers of these two individuals. no word whether also kim jung unwas doing extra celebrating. >> the latest there from london. >> shannon: president trump's

presidency is drawing ominous comparisons from critics. dan rather tweeting watergate is the biggest political stand all of my lifetime until maybe now. the editorial page editor at the "wall street journal" fired back we're far from watergate levels. the democrats are in the congressional minority. however much they watch the i word, impeachment is not the goal. they want to cut off his power, his hold on much of the american public. to do that they need to make him look like a loser. doug shown, an advisor to president clinton and -- good to see you both. >> shannon: good to see you. matt, there are several media-out lets and lawmakers going straight to the wall. watergate, pearl harbor, 9/11.

>> when we were attacked on 9/11, we recognized that we need to do something that was broader, that had the jurisdictions to look at the comprehensively how we could protect our country from this type of terrorist attack. russia has attacked us. they attacked us in november in trying to compromise our free election system and there is evidence that they are continuing to try to infiltrate our country. >> shannon: comparison? >> this is absurd. the fact that you have democrats who are actually out there war mongering against russia and they want us to take a more and more boisterous and aggressive stance against russia. a republican president who is trying to ease things and thaw relations with this important country. vladimir putin is a bad guy, a thug. my guess is president trump will have to take him on over and over again. but like president obama before him and president bush before him, he wants to at least start out with the attempt to not be, you know, at each other's

throats. i think it's the responsible thing. these democrats are being so partisan so early in this trump presidency it could have a horrible political effect on their standing. >> shannon: doug, you know republicans and democrats alike on capitol hill are sounding alarms over potential russian interference in the election. i want to go further back. in the "new york times" they wrote ladies and gentlemen, we were attacked on december 7th, 1941, pearl harbor, attacked on september 11th, 2001 and attacked on november 8th, 2016. that most recent attack didn't involve a horrible loss of lives but devastating in its own way. he is referring to the open and democratic election of a u.s. president. >> correct. look, this is part of a larger russian plan and plot. i've written a book. >> shannon: before the russians. just the fact that somebody was elected on that date and comparing it to 9/11 and pearl harbor. >> i was trying to make the

point it's part of a larger plan by the russians. what i call putin's master plan in my book involving destabilizing nato, destabilizing the middle east, increasing the degree of spying. just yesterday they took five islands off of japan. there is a worldwide plot by the russians of which the election was only a small part, shannon. i don't think this is watergate but certainly there is a larger effort going on. it is not just about an election. it is about a fight with the russians that is not going to be negotiated. it is going to be met with strength if it's going to be stopped at all, not pretty please. >> shannon: matt, with all these things swirling around a lot of folks think the president was on the bit of a roll the first week or two and important executive orders targeting a lot of things people care about, regulations to business, those kinds of things. but have they gotten massively

sidetracked because of these real concerns people on both sides of the aisle have about russia? >> shannon, donald trump is taking on washington and there is no question that the entrenched interests in washington are taking donald trump back on which is some of the things he is facing. that's why his momentum seems to have slowed. i do think the trump team itself have to get fully staffed up. they now have to kind of refigure out how they'll handle the nsc and i get tired of reading "washington post" and "new york times" stories that have 10, 11, 12 sources from inside the trump white house. they need to start working as a team and realizing they have to protect the president politically and they have to stand up for their agenda and leaking can be useful but there is way too much of it both in the bureaucrats inside washington and from the trump team. >> shannon: five seconds and we're out, doug. >> we have to see this as not a partisan fight, but a nonpartisan battle against russia who is trying to bring us down.

if we do that, we can move past this and really confront an enemy. >> shannon: a lot of people on the hill see it that way. >> john mccain and lindsey graham is right. >> no, no. that's another debate. >> bill: obamacare in a death spiral from one of america's largest insurance companies. in a moment house majority whip on the republican's plan to fix it. a big meeting on that this morning. >> shannon: plus we're awaiting the start of a hearing on whose goal it is to put iran on notice. the chairman of that committee very important, ed royce will join us live as well as the israeli prime minister makes it clear that president trump has unwavering support for the jewish state. >> there is no greater supporter of the jewish people and the jewish state than president donald trump. i think we should put that to rest.

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>> bill: there is a key hearing on iran set to get underway in a few moments. yesterday in his appearance with benjamin netanyahu president trump said this about tehran. >> one of the worst deals i've ever seen is the iran deal. my administration has already imposed new sanctions on iran and i will do more to prevent iran from ever developing -- i mean ever -- a nuclear weapon. >> bill: ed royce chairs the house foreign affairs committee is with me now. thank you for your time. your hearing top of the hour on iran. what's that all about? >> one of the things that has just happened is general salamony, responsible for the death of nearly 500 americans as a consequence of him hitting up the forces, the organization that is responsible for

assassinations outside iran. he was just caught in moscow violating the existing sanctions we have on his travel. so when the president of the united states says that this was a badly negotiated deal, we now see that not only are they developing these ballistic missiles, but they are in consultation with the head of the their terror network in moscow. obviously for additional weapons of war. and we have to move now. >> bill: that's a clear violation of the iran agreement, correct? it's not the first time he has been to moscow. it's at least three, right? >> this is the third time. the previous administration, here is the difference. the previous administration didn't want to admit he had been in moscow. we had the photographs of it. the reality here -- >> bill: here is the question, sir. does the u.s. stand up to iran

on anything? >> that is what has to change. and the point is, this is a violation of a previous sanction that we had on iran. and until now the former administration has decided to roll over. the question is, do we move now and do we hit iran with all the sanctions that we have at our disposal? and do we begin to organize the international community behind us? because we've lost a lot of ground. we've had billions transferred in wealth to iran. some of it on cash and gold on pallets, you know. it has been unbelievable. they don't take us seriously and that's why they're developing these new icbms. now is the time for the administration to move on establishing and pushing the new sanctions, not allowing -- not allowing companies to do business with iran. so we're having hearings this morning on exactly that subject. >> bill: i want to talk to you

about the intelligence stories out there. rex tillerson is in place and mike pompeo at the cia and the head of the national intelligence is not. how do you view that? why the delay? what's the effect of that? is that essentially conducting policy with one arm behind your back, or is that an overstatement? >> i think the slowdown on all of the secretaries and all of these appointments have been injurious to our interests in foreign policy. and our interests to get the new team. when we talk about some of these personalities, general mattis or rex tillerson, dan coates. look how long it took compared to the last 200 years of u.s. history to get them into their positions. look at the way this was drawn out. 30 hours of debate on these appointments? it is absolutely ridiculous.

and what it does is it hamstrings the new administration in terms of their ability to move quickly in response to things like this latest provocation from iran. >> bill: you have the majority in the senate, too. it is not like you are without power here. >> but remember the minority in the senate has been able to stretch this out 30 hours at a time. that on the clock means they can't move other initiatives. >> bill: the last question on this. everybody wants to find the leaker. when does that ever happen in washington >> well, i'm not sure. but i know that the intelligence committees on the house and senate side who are tasked with part of this responsibility, are doing their investigations. >> bill: all right. we'll leave it there for now. the hearing begins on iran in 10 minutes. thank you for your time today. ed royce, the republican from california. thanks. >> shannon: new developments as the president tries to fill his cabinet. a senate vote is expected today

on congressman nick mulvaney to be the new omv director. a replacement for former labor department nominee andrew puzder could come very soon. ♪ everyone deserves attention, whether you've saved a lot or just a little. at pnc investments, we believe you're more than just a number. so we provide personal financial advice for every retirement investor.

t-president's cabinet in flux this morning with some appointments still up in the air. mulvaney facing republican opposition ahead of today's senate vote for the office of management and budget. the fallout continues after andrew puzder withdrew his name for labor secretary. what is it about republicans not backing mulvaney? >> it is because senator john mccain doesn't think the next budget director should be someone who has supported

budget cuts at the pentagon. >> i will vote to oppose congressman mulvaney's nomination because it would be irresponsible to place the future of the defense budget in the hands of a person with such a record and judgment on national security. if this is the beginning, not the end, of the fight to rebuild our military. >> he also points out president trump has spoken a lot about beefing up the defense department and he thinks mulvaney's long time enthusiasm for defense department cuts conflicts with the president's point of view. mccain also says normally he would give a new president the benefit of the doubt and support their preferred cabinet secretary his opposition is not personal but based on principle. if mull vany is to be confirmed today, it will be by the slimest possible margin, shannon. >> shannon: do we know how long

labor relations and peter and -- and two that sat on the labor relations board. no timetable for a confirmation hearing or vote. the senate is on their way out of town tomorrow for recess and they won't be in at all next week. >> shannon: you don't want to get in the way when they are taking off. peter doocy, thanks so much. >> bill: sarah huckabee sanders was talking about that. maybe we get a name today. >> shannon: she played a little coy with that. >> bill: they have a short list. when congress is on their break, right, when it's a friday in d.c., what's that like? >> shannon: we call it the jail break. you don't want to stand on the steps or be in the way. they have places to go. >> bill: straight to the

airport, off they go. president trump calls the leakers in washington low lifes and he believes those targeting his administration will be caught. where are we today, then, on the leaks and the calls for a full investigation? we'll talk to house majority whip steve scalise in moments here on "america's newsroom."

>> shannon: tensions rising between the white house and the intelligence community as president trump accuses government insiders of illegal criminal leaks. it's a lot this morning. i think he called them low lifes. well, welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm shannon bream in for martha maccallum. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning. the stakes are getting higher after leaks force mike flynn's resignation this week.

america's top spy agency dinieg a report that the intelligence community is hiding information from president trump. catherine herridge is leading off this hour. good morning there. serious allegations. has there been any response on all this reporting? >> this morning the office for the nation's spy chief is denying that sensitive information, including sources and methods, are being withheld from the white house after the "wall street journal" reported new divisions and mistrust between the intelligence community and trump administration issuing the statement that says any suggestion the u.s. intelligence communication is not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true. the "wall street journal" reported cited current and former officials that the intelligence community withheld information about how they got the intelligence, what people in the i.c. call sources and methods, bill. >> bill: what are you learning from your contacts on this?

this story, it develops by the day, and this week it developed by the hour, catherine. >> i think it's a little more knewianed than the "wall street journal" suggests. the president has been getting the daily brief and they also noted it does not routinely include raw data or discussion of sources and methods. fox news has learned independently that former national security advisor mike flynn wanted to pull together overnight intelligence reporting and raw data for the president to review and may explain the blocks reported by the "wall street journal." for additional context it is routine for agency heads such as the c.i.a. director and military intelligence, which mike flynn once ran, to get raw data as part of their morning brief. but again it is not routine for the president because he gets the finished product. this also comes as the congressional investigations are broadening. late last night in a letter obtained by fox news the republican chairman.

senate judiciary committee and rarnging democrat feinstein sent a letter to the attorney general and f.b.i. director asking for the transcripts of the flynn phone calls. the justice department report on the phone calls and the potential leak of classified information to the media. >> bill: that's a lot. thanks. come back when you get more. there will be more. >> shannon: meanwhile, house oversight committee chairman chaffetz is calling for a new probe by the justice department's inspector general looking into recent leaks leading up to the resignation of michael flynn. >> it happened before -- potentially happened before the president was actually sworn in. but you can't mishandle classified information. so we want the inspector general to dive into that issue as he can do at the department of justice and look under the hood and find out the truth behind this. >> shannon: mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. mike, what are top lawmakers saying calling for looking into

this leak issue? >> good morning. the chairman. house oversight committee and judiciary say they have serious concerns about the potential mishandling of sensitive, classified information. chaffetz and good lat writing a letter requesting the office begin an immediate investigation into whether classified information was mishandled here. chaffetz explained he is ding up in the sensitive media. he talked about that last night with our colleague martha maccallum. >> no matter where you are in the political spectrum you can't have classified information migrating out into a non-classified setting. so if there has been something that has been mishandled we want them to look at it. >> he notes president trump made serious allegations about the handling of sensitive information and he is calling on the highly regarded department of justice inspector general to check it out, shannon. >> shannon: in the meantime how

are democrats reacting to these calls for action, mike? >> the top democrat on the house oversight panel is blasting chaffetz saying he is failing to look into michael flynn's lies and russian ties. cummings of baltimore is the top democrat on the house oversight panel and he says the chaffetz is taking his marching orders directly from president trump instead of looking into flynn lying to vice president mike pence and the american people. he said he didn't want to go on fishing expeditions but that's what chaffetz is doing here and cummings says congress should be doing independent oversight and not distracting the american people. >> shannon: mike emanuel live on capitol hill. thank you. >> bill: president trump is not happy with the flood of damaging leaks and the president said this about general flynn just the day after he was removed by the commander-in-chief. >> michael flynn, general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the

media. as i call it the fake media in many cases. and i think it's really a sad thing that he was treated so badly. i think in addition to that from intelligence papers are being leaked, things are being leaked, it's criminal act, and it has been going on for a long time before me. but now it's really going on. and people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the democrats had under hillary clinton. i think it's very, very unfair what has happened to general flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally -- i stress that, illegally leaked. >> bill: the president tweeting this just this morning quote. the spotlight has finally been put on the low life leakers. they will be caught. end tweet.

louisiana congressman steve scalise, house majority whip. what can congress do about the leaking? >> i think it's something that congress is really concerned about and looking into. first of all it's happening there is a high chance it's illegal. the fact that you have people in intelligence agencies that would be leaking information, including possibly classified information, is something that ought to concern all americans and we'll look into it. >> bill: i get it and i have a lot to get to. i want to stay on this topic for a moment. what can congress do? you hold a hearing. they'll conduct hearings. can you squeeze the leakers to the point where you put pressure on them so there are no leaks in the future, or can you get a name and prosecute? >> you can do all of that. congress doesn't prosecute but congress can look into it and find out who is doing it and if we do find out individuals who are breaking the law, we'll turn that over to the proper agencies who can then go in and actually bring people to justice. >> bill: i don't hear a great

sense of confidence from that answer. >> we're going to look into this and hopefully we find out who is doing it. because clearly it is happening. potentially in violation of law. we'll find out what's going on. >> bill: okay. let's talk about obamacare then. we'll leave that behind here. the head of aetna says this law is in a death spiral. that's the words that he is using. there is a meeting today. what will republicans do now on that? >> first of all we strongly agree and have been saying for years that obamacare has failed and the american people have said it's failed. what we've said we want to repeal the law and replace it with reforms that lower costs and put patients back in charge of their health decisions. when the government took over the healthcare system, we knew from the beginning what was going to happen was you would see less care, higher costs. both have happened. unfortunately to the detriment of millions of families. we're working now and through our committees on not just repealing the law but replacing

it. allowing states to have more control over medicaid, for example, which is probably the most broken form of healthcare. letting families have real choices. so that you don't have some unelected bureaucrat in washington what you can and can't buy but you and your family sitting down and finding out what's best for you. >> bill: the head of aetna, the people keep dropping out and premiums continue to rise. can you stabilize the insurance market? >> yes. it is not those of us here in congress, you have dr. tom price installed as the secretary of hhs a few days ago and we met with him. i was with him this morning. he is already doing things to stabilize the marketplace and create a real marketplace where companies will come back in and write policies with premiums that families can afford. again, families would be deciding what they want to buy. one of the reasons so many people are dropping out is because costs are too high.

your cost is 25% higher but you might have a $10,000 deductible. that's not healthcare. >> bill: that's expensive. >> yeah. it doesn't work. >> bill: are you weeks or months away? >> i think we're more on the side of weeks away. the good news is you can see these hearings on c span in public view where committees are having open hearings with votes in the next few weeks on the different bills to actually repair the damage that was done by obamacare and put in place a better system. this will not be what nancy pelosi did when she wrote a bill in the back room the night before the vote. nobody read the thing. we knew it would be a failure and it has played out that way. this will be a much better approach where families actually get to decide how their healthcare should be provided with their doctors. >> bill: at a meeting yesterday with benjamin netanyahu, the press conference what the white house. what was the context of your meeting with him that we need to understand about this

changing relationship between our country and the israeli government under a new administration? >> first of all a very positive meeting. a very good meeting. when you meet with the prime minister, you see very clearly his focus is on trying to find a peaceful solution to resolve the conflicts in the middle east and especially with palestinians. i thought it was very encouraging he and president trump had such a good meeting because there should be no ray of sunlight between our two countries. the bond between the united states and israel has ever been stronger. we reaffirmed that and talked about some of the details. how to get other sunni arab states involved in checking iran and stopping iran from getting a nuclear weapon. how we in congress can do more to step up sanctions against iran. we all believe iran violated agreements they have made and testing ballistics missiles that they're trying to develop a nuclear weapon and be able to deliver it and attack countries

like israel and the united states and other arab states. we talked about a lot of the things that are involved in establishing peace in the middle east. >> bill: we had ed royce on 30 minutes ago wondering when the u.s. ever stands up to iran. maybe now is the time. thank you for your time today. steve scalise. come back. thanks. >> shannon: we've been reporting on this now. an update a russian spy ship off the east coast stirring up new concerns. they're spotting the vessel this time where it is and what it means for already tense relations between washington and moscow. >> bill: president trump getting set to talk straight to the american people. where he is headed in days. we'll tell you about that and why. plus there is this. >> shannon: a terrifying tragedy streams live on social media. capturing deadly gang violence

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march 20, starting at 9:00 in the morning perhaps? right around this time slot. you'll see judge gorsuch make his case before the senate judiciary committee. mark it down. it's on the calendar now. >> shannon: we'll be there. president trump getting set to talk directly with the american people in his first campaign-style rally as commander-in-chief. the president tweeting join me in florida this saturday at 5:00 p.m. for a rally at the orlando international airport. let's talk about it with jonah. how much do you think he has missed these campaign rallies? >> by all reports he has missed them a lot and clearly enjoys the energy that he gets from these things and i can totally understand why they want to get him back out in front of a big pro-trump crowd. >> shannon: to be clear sean spicer has said it is a campaign event handled by the campaign arm. the president, i think, filed

his paperwork to run for reelection on inauguration today. no secret he trademarked the phrase he will use next time. some people think it's a bit early. a piece says this trump runs the risk of appearing presumptuous beginning his campaign so early. shouldn't one master the art of governing before one begins to campaign for a second tour? the white house is in a state of chaos. i take -- i would object to that last part. i wouldn't say by all accounts. the white house says everything is fine. >> some -- many accounts see some chaos. look, i think that's right. there is a danger here for donald trump in that if he is going the run for reelection which is premature to have a lot of conversations about that. if he will be running for reelection he needs to win over voters who aren't already for him. and these rallies so far it is his first one as president. the rallies so far are basically only aimed at people

who already agree with him and already would march through the gates of hell for him. that is not a way to reach outside of your already-existing coalition. this is like 35% of the electorate are the kind of people who would show up at the rallies and go nuts. he needs to reach out to the -- as president, if he wants to get his approval ratings above 50% he needs to reach out to independent swing voters, people saying this is not what they wanted. people who basically wanted the sort of presidential guy that donald trump said he was going to pivot to, that he really hasn't pivoted to, at least not consistently. >> shannon: we talked about a piece earlier, too, that said even though you hear people throw around the word impeachment or big trouble. democrats know it's not an actual reality. if they can make it look like this president is a loser or losing some nominees, losing michael flynn, that kind of thing, it breaks down some of that support, that base that you've talked about. so is this just yet another way

the president can say i can go around all of you. i can go talk directly to these people. they will show up by the thousands. i'll connect with them and as much as you try to bruise me or make me look like a loser, i'll connect with these people who will prove i'm not. >> look, presidents have been doing this kind of stuff since time immemorial. barack obama was recharged by the rallies. what most presidents have done, they've used these sorts of events to sell a legislative agenda. to sell a specific idea or policy proposal. it remains to be seen whether trump will be doing that or whether he is just doing this for the psychic reward of it. it's smart for him to go out but it would be good if it was tied to an actual legislative agenda. may it will be in this. that remains to be seen. a lot of voters who voted for donald trump did it for jobs, for the economy, for all sorts of serious things and not to see the president of the united

states get into a constant fight with the failing "new york times." depends on what the messaging is out of these rallies to see whether they're successful or not. >> shannon: if he can take policy along to sell as well as part of this rally. could be a benefit or opportunity in the midst of the crisis. >> right. they are supposed to be sales trips. >> shannon: jonah goldberg, good to see you. >> bill: we'll be there. >> shannon: i would expect thousands will show up. >> bill: i'll tell you, that press conference with benjamin netanyahu yesterday. these used to be pretty -- pretty standard events. with this president you don't know. trump tv. i've had a fascinating developments between the relationship the two had yesterday. that is there. now we have this. the first state to join the president's immigration order is now confirmed. the texas governor greg abbott on that in a moment. but what does this development

mean for that state and what does it mean for the travel ban with the courts now still in the way? >> shannon: democrats taking the president to task over moscow even after michael flynn's resignation. our panel will weigh in. first here is congressman elijah cummings. >> what did the president know and when did he know it? was the president aware of flynn's efforts? did he support them? so they can keep watch over operations below the sea, even from thousands of feet above. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better.

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>> shannon: a russian spy ship cruising off the east coast of the u.s. now moving from connecticut to virginia. it was spotted steaming south 65 miles from norfolk home of the u.s. atlantic fleet. it was last seen near a u.s.

submarine base near connecticut. that spy ship can also collect and analyze u.s. navy sonar capabilities. >> bill: now texas has become the first state in the country to support president trump's executive order on immigration. the state's attorney general filing a brief to back the travel ban as it continues to work its way through the court system. the governor from texas, gregg abbott with me now. thank you for your time and good morning to you, governor. what's the effect of this if you've got the 9th circuit that says it's unconstitutional and 40 some other cases against it. can texas do what it wants? >> here is the deal. as the former attorney general who was involved in filing 31 lawsuits against the obama administration, i know these federal courts quite well. what we all know here in the united states of america is that the ninth circuit out on the west coast, the california region, is completely liberal and they have refused to follow the law in this case.

it is clear that the president of the united states has the discretion to protect the american people and i want to show you the nexus with texas with regard to this travel ban. remember the attack on ohio state university just a couple of months ago by a somali refugee. he came through the state of texas on his way up to ohio state. remember last year an iraqi refugee was arrested in houston, texas, because he tried to blow up a huge mall in houston, texas. so these refugees from the countries that were identified by the president have proven to be a danger. and remember this, bill, the judge in this case in the lower court said there was no example whatsoever of refugees from these terror sponsor nations posing a dairng. that judge and those courts are absolutely wrong in the position they took. the president of the united states is simply trying to protect the american citizen. >> bill: i understand the case

you're making. can a court come in and say we oppose it and then the order is frozen, right, governor? >> well, here is the deal. what i think the trump administration is doing is the correct approach, that is if you would trying to string this out a little bit until we get the next supreme court appointee confirmed because i think this will go to the supreme court. i think it will be a 5-4 decision. if you go to the supreme court right now you get stuck and so it basically what you would call a delay of game right now until we can get the new justice to the supreme court confirmed. >> bill: all right. another topic speaking of delaying the game. you have taken a position with regard to the nfl and the potential for a future super bowl in your state. you just hosted it in houston, texas, a senate bill moving through that would make it illegal for transgender people to use bathrooms they feel that match their gender identity. you said, i believe it was just

yesterday, the nfl needs to learn its place in the united states, to govern football and not politics. care to expand on that, sir? >> sure. what happened last week on friday a low level person with the nfl came out with a harsh statement basically saying texas, the state of texas better come to heel and comply with the standards of the nfl or they may not be allowed to have a super bowl in the future. what that amounted to was the old saying of someone who lives in a glass house throwing stones. the nfl has its own share of problems. the nfl coddled its players who refused to stand for the national anthem. the nfl has its own problems with regard to people such as violence against women. the nfl has its own problems to solve. the last thing the nfl needs to do is get in the business of telling states how to operate their own political operations. imagine this. if the nfl tries to come down on the state of texas, i might

just pass a bill in the state of texas mandating that all nfl players have to stand and put their hand on their heart when the national anthem is played. if the nfl really wants to solve this problem about bathrooms for people who are trans genders the nfl should impose on all its teams to put their own bathrooms into their stadiums to accommodate it instead of trying to dictate to states. >> bill: you say you don't care what the nfl thinks. they're walking on thin ice. will this bill pass? will it be your version of the bathroom bill we saw in north carolina? >> first understand this. that is that senate bill in texas is completely different from the north carolina law. the two were not the same. the media haven't read the law. that said we're early in the session and don't have an idea whether it will pass or not. all i'm trying to say is the nfl has no business whatsoever

trying to get into the politics of various states. the nfl has its own problems that it must fix. >> bill: understood. governor, thank you for your time today. more to come on all that. thank you, sir. on the immigration issue now, make sure the join martha for a town hall discussion next tuesday, 7:00 eastern time, first 100 days right here in the fox news channel. check it out next tuesday with martha on that. here is shannon. >> shannon: this is a tough one. children losing their lives, it is caught in the crossfire of gang violence in chicago. coming up, what gang members are telling us. >> bill: also the white house targeting intelligence leaks calling it a matter of national security. this from just last hour. >> if people are playing with national security, this president and this administration is going to do everything that it can to make sure that doesn't continue to happen.

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>> shannon: time now the white

house confirm for us the president is taking part in a congressional listening session. a number of congress members and many of them we understand who were early supporters of his are there. talking, chatting, talking about things on the hill they have to get done. there is a lot there. they're discussing it now and when we get tape, sound or anything interesting we'll bring it to you right away. >> bill: in the meantime, this ongoing story continues. the intelligence community apparently striking back after the president's repeated attacks. a series of leaks resulting in the resignation of his national security advisor general michael flynn. president trump tweeting this earlier today quote, leaking and even illegal classified leaking has been a big problem in washington for years. failing "new york times" and others must apologize, end tweet. a former massachusetts senator scott brown, both are fox news contributors. good morning to both of you. wow. so sarah huckabee sanders 90 minutes ago led our program

earlier today suggesting the story in the "wall street journal" is not true and wouldn't go far to suggest that the administration wants to analyze and do its own report on how the intelligence community is conducting its business today. that's a lot for even one day. i guess senator the question is this. is this a fight you care to have? is this a fight you can win? >> sadly, it's a fight we're having, bill. it doesn't benefit anybody, especially the citizens of this great country. what you are seeing now is obviously mr. pompeo and former senator dan coates need to get in there and find out where these leaks are coming from. the amount and type of information comes from a very specific area within the intelligence community. there is no problem to get in there and then do the revetting, do the lie detector tests and find out who is doing this stuff. they have ways to do it.

you get the re-evaluations on a regular basis. you have to fix it, bill. it is putting our national security in jeopardy and the intent is to undermine this presidency. i get it. the american people get it. it is mobileizing his base even more. >> bill: leslie, where are you on this now? >> well, first of all, i think if we look at what the "wall street journal" said, i don't think they are inaccurate. if you listen to some individuals like congressman sh*ship there is great concern and question in connection with russia and how warm the president is not only to that country but to that leader and statements that were even made by mad dog mattis today with regard to russia hacking into and compromising western elections. the intelligence community should be giving and is giving, as they said, the president

daily briefings. let's remember the president requested less information, the president has himself requested that these meetings be paired down and historically intelligence communities have provided presidents with information but not necessarily how they got it or who they got that information from. >> bill: any suggestion that u.s. intelligence community is not providing the best intel to the president is not true. that's what we're going with here. but take it a step further to both of you. who knows where this goes? but senator, i mean, is it smart to call a truce? because you remember the first full day in office, the c.i.a. was president trump's first stop and it happened on a saturday afternoon. >> he has made the effort, obviously. there are clearly problems between the intelligence community and this administration. it is unfortunately a new standard being set with this president versus prior presidents. the onslaught that is happening

right now without even it being a full month in office, bill, is just unprecedented. i guess that will be the new norm for other presidents down the road. sad for the american people. of course they need to call a truce. you need to bring in the heads of those department. get dan coates and others and bring in the heads, sit down and have a so-called beer summit like president obama did with the cambridge cops and figure it out. it doesn't benefit anybody, especially the american people. >> bill: still waiting for coates to get confirmed. the whole cabinet is not in place. we're knocking on the door of march already. >> this is not only unprecedented, bill. this is in my opinion just wrong. this commander-in-chief, donald trump, is the leader of the free world and he needs to lead and lead by example. he needs to stop tweeting negative things or using a press conference with the

eyesly prime minister to make disparaging or intelligence community. everyone agrees regardless of ideology and whether you like this president or not or voted for him or not. the first responsibility of this president and the intelligence community is the safety and security of all americans here and abroad. and i think that this rift, this divide if you will is problematic and i agree with senator brown that it is problematic for the american people. >> bill: we'll see next. thank you for your time. good to have you both on. >> shannon: violence in chicago continues unabated with three children becoming the latest victims in three separate shootings. dramatic video streamed live on facebook capturing one of the deadly shootings as it happened. [shots fired]

>> shannon: mike tobin is live in chicago with perspective from gang members behind the city's ongoing violence. stunning reporting, mike. >> to understand this violence and the difference to life we see from the gang-infested neighborhoods you need to understand that to the gangster ruthlessness is collateral. a young man with a reputation for racking up a lot of kills is intimidating and in that world, that translates to power and respect. >> you are carrying a gun now, are you? >> i always carry one. >> this man says he became active with the black disciples at age 9. >> selling drugs when i was 11. >> no one formally joins a gang. the young man started hanging around gangs mostly for protection going to school. they got their first guns as pre-teens usually a gift. >> i looked at it was love and this person loved me for the simple fact they want to see me protected and they give me something to protect my life.

>> gunfire linked to gangs is part of every day on the south and west side. just this week three children were killed by stray bullets. the police superintendent continues to cry out for tougher sentencing. >> we need to create a culture of accountability, of picking up a gun and using it. enough is enough. >> illinois's governor proposes add than state troopers. the president tweets about sending in the feds. the guys on the street say nothing will stop the gunfire. >> okay, if i live by these drugs, the product i'm selling and pushing in this neighborhood and it is putting food on my table and food inside my kids' mouths and keeping the roof over my head i'm not going to put it down. >> the young men i met with say there used to be king pins who controlled the big gangs. the government locked them up. the big gangs subdivided. clicks go to war with other

clicks and they are fighting each other. >> bill: sad story there. 19 minutes before the hour. in a moment moving past the resignation of michael flynn, what does the white house do now? are democrats using this as an excuse to launch a political feeding frenzy? we'll debate that in a moment. >> shannon: a military mother heartbroken and angry after someone shredded this american flag. it was hanging in front of her home. >> every one of these little strands is one of our people that is fighting for our country and never making it home.

>> bill: talking about the cabinet now. the confirmation vote in the senate for mick mulvaney director of the office of management and budget, omb is now underway. we do expect passage. so as the votes are tallied, we'll take you back there once we get a conclusion here,

though. mulvaney up for confirmation. >> i know he has now resigned, but he is not going to get off that easy. we need some answers to a whole lot of questions. but the obvious questions are, what did the president know and when did he know it? >> shannon: house oversight committee ranking mem beelijah cummings not letting go of the controversy of flynn. a new column reading it wasn't a question, cummings was trying to turn the departure of michael flynn into a club and use it to batter president trump like a baby seal. michael goodwin, "new york post" columnist is here. that's strong language. >> it was valentine's day but not a valentine to donald trump. it was clearly this what did he know and when did he know it trying to invoke the watergate line.

"the new york times" picks up the same line the next day. i just think this is so far afield. this is not a legal issue for donald trump. this is not a legal crisis. this is a crisis, but it is a political crisis. i believe that there are political ways to handle it and solve it. primarily i believe he has got to a, get the white house in order. i think he needs to delegate supreme authority in the white house to presume obly the chief of staff. if not, someone else who runs the white house, controls access to him as leon panetta said os fox you need a dictator in there. the president has to appoint a dictator in the white house. >> shannon: in addition to some of the things you talk about perception is everything in the middle of these kinds of battles. you just talked about also -- we have the quote here perception is everything in running the government. danger follows the image of being beset by outside criticism and internal squabbling.

loss of momentum is hard to regain. the president is having a campaign event to rally the troops on saturday. taking internal control you talk about the fact he needs to light a fire under folks on capitol hill and gets to get policy things done. >> look, he was elected for a very specific reasons. immigration, trade, jobs, jobs, jocks e jobs, rebuilding the military. if he can focus on those things and show results, then i think these internal problems will take care of themselves. this political nature of the democrats trying to bring him down. if he is popular because he is successful, then this back biting and this watergate nonsense will come to nothing. but it's all about the momentum. you started fast with the executive orders but they're of limited use. you've ultimately got to work with congress to get the big things done. now, for example, tax reform. paul ryan is saying tax reform won't happen until the summer or fall. you could easily see that

slipping into 2018. and then i think the impact gets diluted by time. if tax reform is going to spur economic growth the president has talked about 3 1/2 to 4% of gdp he is going to have to move sooner to get that bang going. it will take a little while to filter through the economy. i think look, there is a new president, new to government. a lot of these are rookie mistakes. a lot of these things have hit him very quickly. i think the way forward is really a way of substance with a political strength and i think this rally is kind of a revival rally to remind people -- i think also to remind him why he was elected, what those people want him to do. >> shannon: well, you talked a lot about them being in crisis. a lot of folks saying crisis prevents opportunity and we'll see if this administration, how they use that potential opportunity to move forward. >> there is still a great reservoir of support for him. a lot of people sitting on the fence waiting to see if he can

deliver. >> shannon: we'll see. thank you. >> bill: in a moment here jenna lee comes on next on "happening now." >> president trump is happy about the amazing run for stocks but unhappy with the media. the latest on what is the promise of an investigation of the leaks springing from washington, d.c. plus the new debate about the future of obamacare and are you safe driving over your local bridge? a surprising report and not in a good way. top of the hour. >> bill: that's something to think about. thank you, jenna. secretary of state rex tillerson is on the job and meets face-to-face with his russian counterparts as questions continue in washington over ties with moscow, where can the u.s. and russia work together? that report is next.

>> shannon: a military mother

in arizona is demanding answers after someone destroyed the american flag that was hanging outside her home. mary eklund says she has had 16 family members serve in the military and the disrespect to the flag has her fighting mad. >> we need to stick up for what we believe in. look what somebody did to the flag. and i just about went beserk. >> shannon: she plans to use what's left of the flag making a quilt honoring those who serve. >> bill: rex tillerson meeting today with russian foreign minister as the questions continue to swirl over the trump administration, it's ties to moscow. rich edson live from his post at the state department. what are the russians saying about this controversy in washington >> good morning, bill. russian foreign minister lavrov is at the g20 foreign minister meeting, meeting with rex tillerson. lavrov was asked what he thinks of all the turmoil that's

ongoing to washington, d.c. as it pertains to russia and said, quote, you should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries. all he had to say on that topic as critics have pointed out, russia has interfered in elections in the united states, in western europe and even more blatantly in the seizure of crimea and all the action and fighting ongoing to eastern ukraine. >> bill: we're trying to figure out with cooperation. how willing is the secretary to work with moscow. >> republicans -- some republicans have been alarmed about the trump's administration's openness of working with vp, even rex tillerson ceo of exxonmobile expanded that company's operations in russia. to that rex tillerson was asked about that and made a statement saying in setting up guidelines for which the united states and trump administration would work with russia. >> united states will consider working with russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the american people.

where we do not see eye-to-eye, the united states will stand up for the interests and values of america and her allies. as we search for new common ground we expect russia to honor its commitment to the agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in the ukraine. >> trump administration has pointed to counter terrorism. we're still waiting for details on how they would work together. >> bill: the trip overseas continues. rich edson at the state department for us now. >> shannon: we're getting a little breaking news from kevin cork at the white house saying the president has announced a 12 noon press conference in the east room as we find out more, we'll let you know. >> bill: hum. at us rapid-fire. things were touch-and-go. it really could've gone either way. but i had a decision to make. pancakes, or bacon and eggs? we decided to go with pancakes. because well, lola can be a real five year old when she doesn't get her way.

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often see presidents throw curveballs like this. this is an administration unlike no other. >> just when we thought it would be a slow day. also, march 20th is when the gorsuch hearings will begin. "happening now" is happening now. >> jenna: breaking news following the drama and the white house. >> jon: as the president talks tough on leakers, the white house as blaster reports that the president is not getting all the sensitive information in his intelligence briefings because the intel community is reportedly worried that information could be compromised. all this comes as the trump team deals with the fallout from his choice to be labor secretary. we have team fox coverage, peter