>> shannon: it is a busy one for you. on monday, important charity work for you. best wishes. >> bill: thank you very much. i'll catch you next week. have a great weekend, bye-bye everybody. >> jon: president trump about to take off on his first overseas trip as commander in chief after strongly denying, once again, any ties between his campaign and russian interference in the election. good friday morning to you, i'm jon scott. >> julie: i'm julie banderas and for jenna lee. deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein is back on capitol hill this morning for the second time in two days to brief house members behind closed doors.

he filled them in on the firing of director comey. president trump in the meantime is it sticking with his denial he ever asked james comey to back off from any investigation. >> the entire thing is been a witch hunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself and the russians. zero. it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because among other things. >> i will not partake in anything such as a witch hunt. we are going to find the facts and go wherever the intel and the facts take us to the truth. we have confidence in mueller. i think rosenstein is a very dedicated, tough professional. what these people do their job and let's work with them. the speed to the president circled back to his original reasons for firing james comey,

that it was a recommendation from rod rosenstein, but rosenstein admitted to senators yesterday, he knew trump wanted comey gone when he wrote a memo justifying it. meanwhile, reuters reporting trump officials had 18 previously undisclosed contacts with russian officials, including the president's visit with russia's foreign minister and ambassador in the oval office last week. and new today as this. u.s. officials criticizing the turkish government over violence at the embassy this week. turkish president was spotted watching the fight where his security staff appeared to attack anti-protesters after police refused to disperse them from a nearby park. >> jon: with the probe heating up into allegations of collusion between president trump's staff and russian officials and the president forcefully denying any wrongdoing, lawmakers are

reacting to the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel to lead an independent investigation. >> his ability to conduct investigations of all things russia has been severely limited, probably in an appropriate fashion, i think a lot of members want the special counsel to be appointed, but don't understand that you're pretty well knocked out of the game. that's probably the way it should be. >> so far i've not seen any evidence of collusion, is that right? >> evidence that would establish that there is collusion. they're all all kinds of rumors around, there are newspaper stories, but that's not necessarily evidence. >> for going to do it, somebody like mueller is a good choice because he's been around the block and he's going to go over the facts laid him. the danger when you have a special counsel is somebody who is out to get an rack of a bunch of convictions, that could end up running amok.

>> jon: glenn hall, u.s. news editor for "the wall street journal," the appointment of robert mueller. that's a good news, bad news situation for the white house. >> for the white house and members on the hill. they're happy, they got a bipartisan appointee that they think will bring down some of the headlines and allow them to get back to work, but also it means this will drag on for a while. mueller has to read up and he is known as a very thorough investigator, so this could be with us for a while. >> jon: we're looking at him kevin mccarthy, he's a speaking live on capitol hill. i want to listen for just a moment. and with that, you never know how live television is going to go. the ball is out of the court of congress.

robert mueller is going to be the point man for these investigations. >> i think that's right. especially if they're going in the direction of possible criminal probes. when they've got a grand jury and they've got evidence going in that direction which is what rod rosenstein told the senators yesterday, then the senate in the house will defer to the investigation because they can't bring criminal charges themselves. >> jon: it's interesting because during the campaign, donald trump's talk about hillary clinton's emails. there was one thing he said which many people took to mean he was encouraging russia to hack hillary's email system. there is also an interesting tweet that we dug up. he said if russia or any other country or person has hillary clinton's 35,000 illegally to lynn, perhaps they should share them with the fbi. that was back in the days when he likes the fbi.

>> he is not a love-hate relationship. he wants to be close with the intel coming in, but he doesn't want this investigation to continue to get underway. he's got this challenge where he really wants to move on, but the investigations are going away. >> jon: he flat out said yesterday on that appearance at the white house that he did not interfere, did not try to request that james comey go easy on this investigation. >> it will come down to what words were exactly spoken and who said what and where the relay tapes, as donald trump as indicated there might be, versus comey's notes? i don't know when we'll see the end of that. >> jon: is it fair to say the white house has not been consistent with its stories about all of this? >> i think that through all of this and as leaks come in and out, they've had a hard time managing your response. we've had different responses coming from different members.

getting a corrugated response might be a challenge. >> jon: we are pointing out that all of the allegations swirling around russian meddling in our election, there is no direct evidence so far that ties any of this to the president. >> know, all of the hearsay and innuendo, although leaks, there have been no real evidence. we see nothing that proves anything. let's be fair, there are no charges that have been brought yet. >> jon: that could apply to michael flynn as well. he seems to be the focus of the investigation at this point, but we don't know. >> that's right. what we are hearing from the grand jury, they're looking at michael flynn's involvement, things like working with turkey instead of russia and we are seeing the same thing on the other investigations as well, that michael flynn seems a bit the center. >> jon: here's elijah cummings. let's listen in. >> jon: the to mac >> this is my feelings.

this is a very significant moment in america's history. one, we have an election that was interfered with the russian russians. two, we have a situation where there is question as to whether there was some type of collusion. three, we have to discover if there was a cover-up. i'm convinced that the congress has a very significant local as does the special counsel. i think that congress is role is

to look forward, to make sure this does not ever happen again. the threat that somebody in russia or some foreign land could dictate who sits in the oval office and determines our policies and our destiny, should upset every single one of us as americans. i know mr. rosenstein was the u.s. attorney in maryland for 10 years. i was very pleased with the selection of mr. mueller. you will not push him around. as a straight shooter. he will bring some normalcy to this process. that's my final point.

we have to let this process play out. it needs to play out. normally what happens when you have investigations, those who are investigated are quiet. the attorney speaks for them. as you know, i'm an attorney. and basically says they're going to operate. that's it. i think that's what we all need to do. let this process play out. we should never forget what started all of this. that is, the 17 intelligence of the united states of america unanimously concluding that the russians tried and to some degree interfered with our elections. we are dancing with angels, the question is what did we do at

this moment? what did we do about that? what difference did we make? did we sit back and say, i'm not going to be bothered? or do we do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen again? keep in mind, the russians are looking forward to interfering and more elections. they just did it apparently in france. we've got work to do. again, we have been fortunate. i think if he were to ask the members of congress how they feel about special counsel mueller, i guarantee you, 90% of them would applaud that. hopefully now, we can move forward. the american people wants us to

do things for them. they have spent the last few months turning on their televisions almost every hour, not every day, every hour, and learning things that worry them, that hurt them, that concern them, and it's their turn. it's their turn to have us do some things for them. i'm not going to answer any questions, but. i just said that. >> reporter: there is no conflict with mueller? >> he's a pro, come on now. i believe that there will be no problem -- there may be some disagreement, but no problem with us sitting down, working with mueller and his assistants

and coming up with a plan so we don't interfere with his investigation and we are allowed to do it we need to do. i cannot emphasize enough. again, when we are dancing with angels, the question is, will we look back, will people look back and say what did you do to make sure that our elections were fair, transparent, in a way the founding fathers meant them to be? that's a great threat. i don't want to lose sight of that. >> reporter: how much was mr. rosenstein pressed to say and explain why he wrote that memo? >> i can't answer that. i could, but i can't. >> reporter: he was out here talking all about it. >> oh, he was? what he say?

>> reporter: what about joe lieberman and the fbi? >> i like joe lieberman. i think he's a wonderful man, i've known him for a long time. we have to be very, very careful with this selection. as you know, chairman jay chafz and i worked very hard. i didn't run for the senate, so i'm not there to cast a vote. that's the type i would prefer. i think they would prefer that too. they want a police type agency. this morning i said on cnn, i said this is turned into a mess. we had to straighten this out.

i think we need to pull politics out of this as much as possible. by the way, for those same reasons is why i like mueller. the same reasons. thank you all. i really appreciate you all. by the way, one of the thing. if there is at any moment that the press in our country's history has a major role, it is this moment. this is your moment. you have got to put it out there so people can understand what's going on. i've said it before and i'll say it again, this is about the fight for the soul of our democracy. we cannot afford to lose this one. thank you very much. >> jon: one of the long serving members of congress, elijah cummings, democrat of maryland, a member of the house oversight committee. three points. he said the election was interfered with by the russians,

his question was there some type of collusion? he means with the trump campaign, and was there a cover-up? it strikes me a little more than four years ago, five years ago, mitt romney said the russians were our greatest geopolitical flow and he was mocked by then president obama. >> how things have changed. this is the biggest problem. he made a very good point in that and let's focus on whether they did interfere and what we can do about that. that's a very different question then was their conclusion therh russia? >> jon: glenn hall, "wall street journal," thank yo thank you. >> julie: new information on the investigation of russian meddling and our presidential election. house members getting briefed today on the appointing of robert mueller, a special counsel. take a listen.

>> the briefing was very good. what i learned and i'm very satisfied with is the special prosecutor will have the breath of scope necessary to follow all leads directly and ten gentle to the russian attempt to influence our election. for me, that is the most important question there. >> julie: republican congressman, chris stewart is a member of the house intelligence committee and joins me now. thank you very much for joining us and on a very busy day. first i want your take on the appointment of special counsel, robert mueller and a decision on how that might affect the investigation of congress. >> it was the right decision and i think it was an excellent choice and mr. mueller. over the last ten days or so, i've been talking with my colleagues and saying i think we need to consider the possibility of special counsel.

the reasons why, the first is there's chaos all around us. we've become so focused on this one thing that we've neglected the other responsibilities of the committee. the second thing is it's become so partisan. to the point where it didn't matter what we concluded. it's a relief from many of us that we can put it outside the committee now, put it into the hands of and independent counsel and let them do the work. >> julie: senator ron johnson disagreed and said i think congress' ability to investigate this process fully is going to be hampered. another republican, senator lindsey graham also not happy about it. how can you subpoena somebody to come to congress when they're under a criminal investigation? you can't. what would you say to that?

>> i disagree. those potential conflicts existed while they were doing their investigation. the only difference is you have someone who is outside of the process and someone who can bring some credibility and hopefully some bipartisanship. we've been having these independent investigations going forward in the house and the senate. i don't see it being that much of a difference. we may have to coordinate with them and we will be, but i think that would have happened anyway. >> julie: let me ask you by not responding to subpoenas whether you believe that michael flynn had a greater risk of criminal prosecution? >> i really don't know. the primary thing we focus on is that counterterrorism. i went to moscow last august and i came home and i think it was one of the first people to say rush is going to mess with our election. it was very clear that they were. it's very clear that they did.

that's not been the only focus, but it should be the primary focus on the house side, that counterintelligence side and how do we protect ourselves? some of the more detailed subpoenas, that's best left now to mr. mueller. >> julie: i want to ask you one thing and it comes down to conflict of interest. chairman jason chaffetz has demanded records. he revealed yesterday that he is leaving at the end of june. my question to you is is there a conflict of interest here? as robert mueller must dig now into comey's firing. considering there were longtime friends. comey once referred to mueller as a mentor. it seems complicated. >> i don't see a conflict of interest.

we just left a meeting with mr. rosenstein. he was very professional, very reassuring. he's going to defer to mr. mueller on almost all of these issues now. i think people understand that there is a political environmen environment, but again, i'm very optimistic that we can work through some of those potential conflicts to aunt investigations. to answer your question directly, i don't think that's a conflict of interest at this point. >> julie: chris stewart, thank you very much for your time. >> jon: the russia investigation in the chaos surrounding the white house taking on a life of its own and the news media. our media panel joins us on the reaction. >> it's clear that's how he's to run his white house and that's why four months and, he's having criminal lawyers you strong boy, you smell bad huh?

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>> julie: this is a fox news alert, leaving on the political turmoil behind, president trump will be taking off shortly for his first overseas trip. he leaves in about three hours on a nine day trip taking him to saudi arabia, israel, italy, and the vatican, where he is to meet pope francis and finally to belgium. secretary of state, rex tillerson laid out the objectives. >> that is the purpose of this trip is really one of conveying a message that america is back in terms of our role, as as a convene or, a facilitator. >> julie: our benjamin hall is on riyadh, saudi arabia with a review of the president's trip. >> good evening. great anticipation here in this country for this upcoming visit. you only have to drive around to see how big of a deal this is.

there are u.s. flags across the city. they are clearly rolling out the red carpet and they are also speaking to people here. they're very honored that this is the first country he has chosen. it's also symbolic that he picked saudi arabia. donald trump coming here to the heart of the region written with division. he is meeting the crown prince who has met before in d.c. and he'll be giving a speech on islam to the leaders of 50 islamic countries around the world. that will be a major event. we'll be sticking to the foreign minister here in riyadh. he's been talking about the upcoming trip. >> the worldview is wanting to restore america's role and he supports that, he wants to defeat isis and we will work with that. >> is no secret that relations

between saudi arabia were flawe flawed. the u.s. and obama reached out to iran, he canceled on deals with saudi arabia, so they're hoping that this trip as a reset for the relationship between the two countries. there is a lot for them to work on together. there are very involved together on the fight against isis. saudi arabia is the country giving them second-most in the ad campaign. both leaders or talk about pushing back against iran. they are saying upwards of possibly $100 billion of work may be done here. very important beginning to a very important trip. >> julie: benjamin, thank you very much. >> jon: the investigation into possible russian meddling in the u.s. election seems to take more on protectable terms every day. it's been a roller coaster for those of us in the news media, trying to keep up with fast-moving developments. here's a taste of recent

reaction. >> we are living a very big moment right now. how will lawmakers respond to the presidents clear intent to influence this russia investigation? >> he may have been a crooked, but at least he was our crock. he was in a russian agent. >> when we unfold his connection to the kremlin. >> donald trump might only have 14 months left in his presidenc presidency. >> jon: ellen ratner danny bruce, both facts news contributor. tammy, to you first, it seems like there has been a conviction without trial. >> within a before. the accusation used to be a

point, a communist or witch and now it's russian. this has been based on media by gossip, insinuation, accusations with no facts. we've never really seen this before and part of the problem is that there is no been real direct pushback. a column from wednesday addresses the need for the white house to changeover its munication team. there's been no involved narrative or making it clear that what's being discussed is gossip, but it also highlights the fact that the media now is very clearly operating in an attempt to nullify the last election when they are supposed to be a pillar that confronts power and asks questions of power, but now it's an oppositional force that is looking to simply nullify. >> jon: this is congressman

brad sherman of california live on capitol hill. >> a decision is not final until it's final. an implication on his memo, well delivered after the decision had been made could have affected the finalization of the decisio decision. >> reporter: did he suggest he was pressured anyway? >> he avoided at least ten times any question that would answer your question. >> reporter: the answer on that topic coming from democrats or republicans? >> democrats. >> reporter: what about the pushback? >> he doesn't know that happene happened. he is not aware of it.

there were short outbursts of applause, maybe two or three occasions. report back were you satisfied with how forthcoming he was? >> we began this month thinking the issue was whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and the kremlin. we end this month as we always do any circumstances, saying it's not a possible crime and we have no idea whether there was collusion or not. as a cover-up. the question for the second half of this month as it was fired in a brilliantly unsuccessful effort to derail an investigation into collusion? we'll have to see. >> reporter: you feel that

mueller will be able to look into that question? >> he'll certainly have the staffing. this is remarkably difficult, both questions. only and competent collusion is detectable collusion. it's not that hard to collude without it never being detectable at all, especially when it is entirely common for campaigns to talk to foreign leaders and foreign ambassadors. i was shocked when then senator sessions said he hadn't met with russian officials, it turned out he did. i met with 15 ambassadors yesterday and i'm not even in the senate. campaigns are meeting foreign officials all the time. only on rare occasions does the intel community have a tape of what was discussed, and so only and competent collusion is

detectable. the issue is what was the motivation for firing comey, was it to derail the investigation? >> jon: that's democratic congressman, brad sherman, no fan of president trump, who is talking about the closed-door briefing that was just received by rod rosenstein, the man who initially wrote the letter of justifying the firing of former fbi director, james comey. deputy attorney general, rosenstein just brief members of congress about everything that's going on, including his choice of robert mueller to head the investigation and possible russian meddling. let's get back to our media panel now. ellen ratner, as well as tammy bruce. allen, it seems like there is an

awful lot of questions here and a lot of people, getting out in front of this with accusations without being necessarily support it by the facts. >> and terms of a russian investigation, we are going to have to see. i don't believe that somehow there was this collusion between donald trump and the kremlin. i just don't believe it. however, they may have also tried to influence what we do here. that's a very separate issue. in terms of the white house communication team that tammy bruce talked about just recently or just a couple seconds ago, i think this starts with the president. i have great faith in sean spicer and i don't think it needs to be changed. i consider him very good at what he does. he has relationships and that's the thing. if we bring in somebody, even a fox person who i like --

whatever you want to call us, you cannot let that go. sean spicer has the hardest job in washington, d.c. >> jon: i mention this in my interview with glenn hall, but barack obama mocked mitt romney for suggesting the russians were our greatest political fall. knowing capitol hill, it's all about the russians. >> they are the one country that could do immediate military damage. president trump has got a soviet man that he is having to deal with. russia is aware of these things. all of it is public discussion. what we heard from the state with brad sherman is that you've

got a dynamic or he is admitting that the accusations that are being made really can't be provable, but it probably still didn't happen. it's so impossible. they already know what their answer is going to be when there is at least an admission that this did not occur. this is what we are talking about about with the media, their responsibility. he never found he was pressured to stop an investigation. nobody seems to remember that. >> jon: thank you both. >> julie: thank you. this just then, the pentagon investigating what they call an unprofessional encounter between two chinese jets and eight surveillance plane over international waters. authorities say the u.s. aircraft was conducting a routine exercise when it buzzed by the warplanes. national security correspondent,

jennifer griffin joins us live from the pentagon. what can you tell us about this close encounter? >> the incident occurred wednesday in the east china sea, west of north korea. two chinese aircraft intercepted the constant phoenix. it's known as a sniffer plane, a spy plane the contest for signs of a nuclear test in the atmosphere. the u.s. surveillance plane was operating in accordance with international law according to a statement released by the pacific spokesman. while we are still advancing the incident, initial reports from the aircrew characterized the intercept is unprofessional. the issue is being addressed with china through appropriate diplomatic and military channels. meantime, the pentagon has deployed a second aircraft carrier strike group to the waters off the korean peninsula. the first time in seven years the u.s. will to have two aircraft carriers.

i'm told the dod will not be talking about the incident with the chinese warplanes publicly, but was told they came much too close. >> julie: we are also learning today about new u.s. air strikes in syria. what more have you learned? >> the use of the air strikes reported on yesterday. we're getting more details about them. these were unusual because they targeted pro-assad forces for the first time.they saw a convod three tanks, artillery, and 20 armed vehicles heading towards their position. according to the strike left sent out today by u.s. central command, when they carried out the two air strikes in the border of jordan, targeting for the first time pro-assad forces, the target appeared to include equipment.

the pentagon cannot rule out that there were casualties and cannot rule out that there were iranian forces present with the syrian pro-assad forces setting up positions outside that u.s. training camp. >> julie: jennifer griffin, thank you so much. >> jon: for more on the news breaking out of syria, david deb tule, he was principal attack planner for operation desert storm and is now dean of the mitchell institute for airspace studies. how much of a ratcheting off of u.s. involvement in syria do the air strikes represent? >> it's really not a ratcheting up. these air strikes were self-defense actions when these pro-syrian forces moved and a very aggressive fashion toward coalition forces along with some u.s. training forces.

i think to say it's a rationing up is really more than what it really was. >> jon: syria is a mess. you've got pro-assad forces, you got anti-assad forces, the russians who are aligned with assad have been known to bomb the anti-assad forces. these forces we had yesterday where pro-assad forces. will there be this kind of tit-for-tat bombing attacks continuing? >> again, it depends. you said it right up front, the situation is extraordinarily complex. however, one of the reasons that there was concern of the threatening nature of these pro-assad forces is because they had penetrated essentially a deconflict in zone that had been set up and agreed upon between u.s. and russian elements and the russians actually tried to

reach out and stop these pro-syrian forces from moving in an aggressive fashion. again, i think to attribute anything more than this was a defense of self protection manner fully in accordance with the law and strategic patience is something that was used in this response. the u.s. forces, the air forces didn't just run out and attack them. they conducted several warning passes, they fired warning shots, and since there was no holding in their aggressive movement, they went ahead and constructed the lead elements of this aggressive forest. >> jon: will continue to keep an eye on developments. lieutenant general, thank you for your expertise. >> julie: no reactions to the president's budget ahead the official release. our panel will weigh and on once and, what's out, and why some to

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>> jon: new information on the times square crash that left an 18-year-old woman from michigan dead and 22 others injured. the driver, 26-year-old richard rojas of the bronx, now charged with murder and attempted murder as well as aggravated vehicular homicide. the nypd says he drove three blocks in times square yesterday hitting pedestrians before steel security barriers stopped his car. the pyongyang are served in the navy but was discharged after disciplinary problems. he had been entrusted twice before for driving under the influence. after he was taken into custody yesterday, investigators say he told police he was hearing voices and expected to die.

>> julie: the presidents budget now in the hands of the office of management and budget. we are awaiting the cbs score. this "wall street journal" piece giving a bit of a preview. it will spare the two largest drivers of future spending, medicare, and social security leaving trillions and cuts for programs. that includes discretionary spending to education, housing, environment programs and -- in addition to new proposed reductions to nondiscretionary spending like food stamps, medicaid, and federal employee benefit programs. kathy ruiz, and lawrence jones. thank you both for talking to us. you both were nodding your head as i was reading that. i don't off i read it really well.

are you looking forward to the score, is it positive? >> i'm not too concerned about this cbo. sometimes i can get into partisan politics. what i would like to see the president due is more tests. with the military, i'm okay with the military getting an increase, but i think the president could have gone a little further and justifying why the military spending, i do feel like with north korea and some of these other countries, we have a threat ahead of us. if you're going to say your conservative fiscally -- >> julie: when you look at the military and the tasks they are up against, the president said he will come into this white house and he would defeat isis. his strikes in syria alone, that's something we do not see with the former administration.

i believe the military is one place where you cannot or should not cut. what do you think of the score first of all and do you think the cbo score should have been released before republicans and congress voted? >> i think it is nonpartisan. but they do have to say it is important. what he's saying is we'll see a huge growth in the next ten years, which is kind of saying, trust me, it's going to be okay. it's unrealistic, we haven't seen a kind of growth in eight years. usually, you see depths. we'll finally see a dip. the president is saying just trust me on this one. he's seeing it long term, not the short term. >> i don't like it's a matter of the president saying just trust me. that's a step in the right

direction. the fact of the matter is we have to cut spending and that's something republicans have been advocating for years. we can keep passing this on to my generation to pay for. i think it's getting out of control. >> julie: we are cutting from education to get to the militar military. >> let the states do what they're supposed to do. >> let's take away from education and america's youth, that's what he saying. >> turned her back over to the state, let them take the money and decide what they want to do. i would rather see the department of education give money to the children who need it. >> there is no legal authority, there is no constitutional

authority, that should have been left up to the state and the president is making sure the state gets back to their control because they know what's best for the military. >> we've had free public education for hundreds of years. if we cut the department of education, that might stop. >> they're not responsible for that. the president is a saying let them have their money. >> julie: i'll let you to host the next segment. thank you both. >> jon: a new chapter and the saga of disgraced politician, anthony weiner and his infamous sting scandal. the former congressman was in federal court this hour. an update doesn't always come back up. [ toilet flushes ] so when you need a plumber, you can count on us to help you find the right person for the job. discover all the ways we can help at angie's list. why dointo engineeringeffort the can-am defender? because a job worth doing, is worth doing right.

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>> julie: a fox news alert, disgraced former congressman,

anthony weiner, moments ago pleading guilty and a sexting case involving a 15-year-old girl. or angles joins us live from the federal courthouse in lower manhattan. >> it was certainly an emotional morning for anthony weiner inside the federal courthouse today as he not only pled guilty to a single charge of transferring obscene materials to a minor, but also publicly admitted what he did out loud in court. we have video to show you of him leaving here, he did not make a statement. he read from a prepared statement in court. he detailed what he described as obscene communications with a teenager. he knew it was morally wrong to do so and it was unlawful. he started off calm, but he gave into tears as he read through his admission while wearing his suit and still wearing a wedding band. the statement lasted about

2 minutes and the next statement was a powerful admission of his guilt which read in part, this fall, i came to grips for the first time with the depths of my sickness. i had hit bottom. i entered intensive treatment, found the courage to take a moral inventory of my defects, and began a program of recovery and mental health treatment that i continue to follow every day. anthony weiner surrendered to the fbi early this morning and was brought here to federal court before the news broke that he had made a plea deal with federal investigators. that single charge of transferring obscene materials to a minor stems from the investigation that we all know about into the former congressman after a 15-year-old girl from north carolina went public in september of last year with claims that she and he had a licit online contacts that started in january of 2016. she also accused him of asking her to undress on camera. it was this investigation that uncovered emails sent and received from hillary clinton's secret server to her a grade, huma abedin and that led james

comey to reveal that they had discovered the emails just before the 2016 presidential election. today was the first time anthony weiner has appeared in court to face charges of inappropriate behavior online with a minor. while he could get up to ten years in prison, the government and remake during -- and recommending 20 months. that also includes $150,000 and bell package. he's had to forfeit his passport, he'll have to forfeit his iphone, he is required to stay on the new york area. sentencing will be in september, he was released to go home and that is the latest from here. >> julie: thank you very much. i do want to add to the story because today's guilty verdict is quite a contradiction from when the accusations originally came out fromgirl. i had held an exclusive interview with him on the phone and he told me he believes that he was not guilty, but somehow she was paid off and was set up.

today, a guilty verdict. a change of to and from anthony weiner. stay tuned boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee.

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>> jon: julie and i will be back in one hour. "outnumbered" starts now. >> harris: on this friday, we start with a fox news alert. president trump is doubling down on his claims that he is a target of a political witch hunt. this comes a day after the justice department appointed a special counsel to investigate russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. the president says that appointment divides americans and he is insisting he never colluded with the kremlin. this is "outnumbered." i'm harris faulkner. here today, meghan mccain, anchor of the intelligence report, trish regan, cohost on "fox & friends" weekend, abby huntsman is here and today's #oneluckyguy, the former governor of the great state of arkansas,