see this >> he will head from here to rome going on to meet with the pope. we imagine that will be a very

interesting conversation. i'm joined today by eric sean. good morning. everyone. successful trip being praised. >> with the horrible attack on the ariana grande concert that has taken so many young lives touching the theme the president had on this trip a fight against terrorism, against the culture, against the payments by the palestinian authority to terrorists and families of terrorists, the p.a. spends $300 million a year, 8% of its budgets rewarding activities and those families, palestinians, the president referring to that in his speech earlier this morning in jerusalem. clearly a change of culture, behavior and motive. he is calling for in the muslim world. >> shannon: we saw him over the weekend with the remarks he gave in saudi arabia and the opening of that huge counter

terrorism intelligence area where they'll try to combat where so much of this is happening, online. he has talked about giving hope to the population there throughout the middle east which tends to be younger especially in saudi arabia, giving those people hope for an economic future and other options so they aren't so easily swayed by ideologies that would seek to capitalize on their despair, to radical ao*ids them and he equipment them. isis claiming responsibility for what happened in manchester saying the person was a soldier of the caliphate carrying out the bombing in an exit area where people would be leaving. 22 dead, 59 or so others injured. some are critically injured. remarks from british prime minister theresa may not backing down. the president saying we stand with the u.k. and eric, as you said, it follows on the theme of what he has been saying throughout the middle east region people need to step up

and flush out the terrorists and we won't bow or bend to them. the president called them losers today. a lot of psychology that feeds into the way the white house and president refers to these individuals and a very specific term he used this morning. >> they're often young men who seem to be alienated from society who have been radicalized rather it's isis, al qaeda or other group of radical islamic terrorism or just a spun out because of the economic difficulties according to some. one of the parts of this trip that is so interesting, the president is a businessman, hailed, of course, not as a politician. but talking about empowerment in the palestinian territories. there was a call, a similar to the marshall plan for what is called a trump plan to try to encourage and empower the economic fortunes of the younger people in some of the arab states as well as in the

palestinian territory to potentially prevent some of the radicalization we've so tragically seen recently and especially with what's happening in manchester, england. >> shannon: you're looking at marine one in tel aviv, israel as the president taxis toward air force one. he will take off there and head to rome. his next touchdown on the trip which takes him to nato and brussels to sicily as well. it is a wide ranging nine-day trip. for a lot of people they say it's changing the conversation a bit because there is so much domestically going on for this administration, positive and negative dealing with fallout from the firing of f.b.i. director james comey and also decision now we have from former national security advisor, a brief stint, 24 days, michael flynn saying he won't comply with the senate subpoena asking him for documents as they continue their investigation into russia. also back here at home we'll hear more today. a couple of hearings in the house and senate.

the house gop leadership will hold a press conference to talk about tax reform. healthcare reform measure now the senate debating its own version working on that and also this budget. the president's budget rolls out this morning. there is a lot going on domestically and "the new york times" had words of praise. he has been very disciplined on this trip and been diplomatic and calm and for the most part has stayed away from twitter. there have been a few things. most of them positive and highlighting the trip thus far. highlights of the trip. he is getting some praise from this trip maybe it will temporarily help him change the narrative. >> he is beginning to change the conversation not only with israel and the palestinians but also with the coalition of sunni arab allies and gulf states. this is something completely new, attaching israel with the sunni arab allies in a crescent

against tehran and the extremism we've seen coming out of iran for all these years. potentially on the verge of a new breakthrough in the middle east. we'll see how it will play out and talking about some of the controversies a moment ago. new allegation today that the president tried to ask nsa director mike roj ders and dan coates to ask them to publicly say there was no collusion with the russians. they according to the reports backing away from that saying no, they won't do that. they'll be on the hill later on this morning testifying so we'll see if they talk about that question. clearly these domestic issues and the controversies and crises continue in some way overshadow some of the trip. of course, the major issue today, the issue of terrorism, radical islamic terrorism and how the world, how the arab world can fight against that.

>> shannon: we're looking live. you see the president and first lady as they are walking to air force one and jerad kushner and ivanka trump, the son and law and daughter of the president and a meaningful trip for them as well and seeing them -- see the deep roots of their jewish faith and all four of them visiting the western wall yesterday with ivanka and her husband, for them you've seen a solemnity to this trip as well and this morning as they were remembering the holocaust and the president laying a wreath and remarking just about how deep the ties between these two countries are. let's listen in. >> that will continue as he meets the father at the vatican at 2:00 p.m. eastern time.

>> shannon: it seems that there has been a real affinity between these two couples. the first ladies were at a hospital yesterday. seeing the relationship develop between the two of them, they seem to have a lot of mutual admiration and praise for each other. and again, watching president trump and prime minister netanyahu together, you see in them a real it appears bond and camaraderie. they're on the same page about things that matter like iran, like the threat of terrorism, the threats in that region and beyond. we know the iran nuclear deal was a real source of tension for israel with the last administration, with president obama. and we've heard continually from the prime minister that he

feels a new sense of hope for this relationship and for the u.s. commitment to israel. >> the prime minister telling me last july when i interviewed him in jerusalem that he wants to test iran to make sure that they are fulfilling the requirements of the nuclear deal even though basically he opposed what the obama administration was doing. you have to also remember not only are they on the same page with iran, they go back decades. netanyahu was the u.n. ambassador in the 1980s when donald trump first built trump tower. they have known each other for a good 30 or 40 years through all these years in new york at events. it's a bond that is both personal and in some sense political as you say on the same page. >> shannon: we see a hug between ivanka trump, a senior advisor, as well as being a daughter to the president. her husband, jared kushner taking on a prominent role in

this administration and tasked with working on getting middle east peace efforts moving. you see the young couple speaking with the well. a lot of affection among them as well. it is a big job for someone in their early 30s. the president has invested a lot of confidence in him and others to reattempt this dialogue. the white house managing expectations on this trip saying we don't expect to come out of this with any grand announcement or agreement but we want to make sure that we open the lines of communication so the president with palestinian later abbas this morning. i have assurances that they're serious about peace. we know this has been attempted so many times in the past but the president hoping that this trip will give new life to that effort. >> talk of incremental steps, not dealing with the specific issues, right of refugees to return, east jerusalem and jerusalem as the capital.

but small baby steps maybe dealing with the palestinian funding of terrorist families and dealing with stopping the settlement building by israel. if there can be some meetings of the mind on some of the smaller areas, that can then lead to a broader peace. >> shannon: now we'll say goodbye to the president as he heads from here to rome. ultimately to new tasks and meetings there abroad and we'll keep an eye on the coverage and bring you there. everything live this morning. this is a fox news alert now isis reportedly claiming responsibility for a bombing that has left the country and a whole world stunned. 22 people are dead. a manchester arena and dozens more hurt in the most deadly attack in britain in more than a decade. good morning. i'm shannon bream. welcome to america's newsroom and welcome eric joining us as well. >> i'm eric sean in for bill hemmer has been made. an arrest has been made in the

attack that unfolded in a flash. >> oh my god. what happened? what's going on? oh my god! >> that horrible explosion as the ariana grande concert was ending inside that packed arena in manchester. as you can see it was filled with families and children and parents waiting for their kids to come out. the shots had people scrambling for the exits and panic. many parents rushing to get in to find their children who were still inside. >> shannon: here is what we know so far. at least 22 are dead, 59 more hurt. some of them critically. investigators believe a suicide bomber detonated a single improviseed explosive device near the entrance to the arena as concert goers were going out. >> they do know the attacker's

identity. manchester police have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection to this attack but we don't know the charges as of now. >> shannon: as we told you earlier isis is claiming responsibility. that's the report. so now listen to some people who were inside the arena describing how quickly this all turned so chaotic. >> we heard screaming and everyone was running from the back towards the front. people were in the balcony, it was awful. >> everything went calm for five or six seconds. it was very still and then all of a sudden there was pandemonium everywhere. >> the attack coming hours before his meeting with the pontiff. speaking earlier this morning in jerusalem the president said the innocent people were

murdered by what he called evil losers. >> president trump: dozens of innocent people, beautiful young children, savagely murdered in this heinous attack upon humanity. i repeat again that we must drive out the terrorists and the extremists from our midst. obliterate this aoefl ideology and protect and defend our citizens and people of the world. >> the headline simply sums this up. killing our kids. >> shannon: we have got fox news coverage. we're live at the white house and begin with catherine herridge live in washington good morning. >> u.s. government official says the investigation is focused on the suspected suicide bomber and their close network of associates. they're hopeful a review of the forensic evidence, the explosive device and security camera video will reveal

whether the suspect acted alone or had a support network with activity groups. manchester's chief constable explained earlier. >> the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or part of a network. the attacker, i can confirm, died at the arena. we believe the attacker was carrying an improv iced explosive device which he detonated causing this at atrocity. we would ask people not to speculate. this is a complex and wide ranging investigation. >> authorities are working with a name but not ready to confirm it publicly. the british prime minister condemned the murders as cowardis. >> they're cowardly attacks on innocent people. this attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice. targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people.

>> the official told fox news the attack shows a level of sophistication between recent plots involving knives and vehicles as weapons. it shows premeditation. an explosive -- the disfigureing impact of shrapnel to maximize casualties. >> shannon: planning went into this one. what are we learning about this claim of responsibility? >> according to an intelligence group that tracks groups worldwide the islamic state has claimed responsibility stating it was carried out with an explosive device planted at the concert venue. this claim was posted on one of these media apps called telegram. fox news is working to get more independent corroboration on that claim. meantime a government official said islamic terror groups have maintained a steady call to hit

concert halls and civilians. homeland skaoufrt said there was no credible threat to venues inside the u.s. but folks can expect increased security for some time. >> shannon: thank you. >> horrible terrorist attack occurred only moments after pop star ariana grande had left the stage. she was not injured and she tweeted this. broken. from the bottom of my heart i am so sorry. i don't have words. we're learning the rest of her tour has been suspended indefinitely and that is clearly understandable. >> shannon: we're learning the first victim to be identified had met ariana grande. 18-year-old posted this picture two years ago online before last night's concert. she was so excited to see the pop star again. meanwhile, some manchester residents are opening their homes to suffering victims from the explosion. they are using the twitter hashtag room for manchester to let those in need have a place

to stay. local hotels taking part in that movement and offers reportedly started almost immediately after news of the bombing. >> our team fox coverage continues with reaction from the president as we saw a few moments ago, he has wrapped up his visit to israel. air force one at the airport taxiing and ready to take off to head to europe. he met earlier today with the palestinian leader abbas in bethlehem and had some strong words against this manchester attack. here with more kristin fisher live at the white house with more on what the president had to say. good morning, kristin. >> good morning. president trump has already spoken out and condemned these attacks twice this morning. once with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem and one with abbas in bethlehem. he echoed the same message since he touched down in saudi arabia three days ago. the arab world must come

together to fight terrorism and this message for the evil loser behind the attack in manchester. listen. >> i won't call them monsters. because they would like that term. they would think that's a great name. i will call them from now on losers. because that's what they are. they are losers. >> this morning president trump also spoke on the phone with britain's prime minister theresa may. the white house says the two leaders agreed that this attack on primarily young children, their mothers, attending a concert, was particularly gruesome and they agreed to talk about it more when they meet in just a few days at the nato summit in brussels. >> just so horrific and beyond comprehension. thank you. >> shannon: our coverage

continues all morning long as prayers and condolences are flooding in around the world. in manchester the terror investigation is just beginning. what kind of support did the suicide bomber have? could it happen here in the u.s. >> president trump says the united states stands with the united kingdom today and with the whole world in our shared challenge to rid our globe of terrorism once and for all. >> president trump: all civilized nations must be united in this effort. this trip is focused on that goal, bringing nations together around the goal of defeating the terrorism that threatens the world. are allergies holding you back? break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist allergy relief instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist experience you'll barely feel. using unique mistpro technology,

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horrible morning of death to innocent young people. peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded, and even rewarded. >> eric: that was president trump on his meeting earlier this morning with palestinian leader abbas. that as news broke of the horrible attack in manchester that has killed so far at least 22 people and so many of them children. the president in his meeting reinforcing that middle eastern nations and the u.s. have a common objective to wipe out terrorism. he met with the leader whose very own organization is paying terrorists and their families with hundreds of millions of dollars for those acts. john bolton joins us, former u.s. ambassador to the united states nations and chairman of the gate stone institute in new york. how can terrorism end when the palestinian authority shells

out $300 million a year to support it? the president referenced those payments, they called them martyr payments. >> the short answer is it won't end. in fact, this is part of the problem. as you think about this, 15 1/2 years after the 9/11 attacks on new york and washington when we thought we had a national resolve to put an end to this problem, we're still seeing the tragedies that we've just encountered in manchester, england. we still see this problem with the palestinians. and i think we somewhere along the way lost our will power to do what we had sort of agreed to do after 9/11, which is to do whatever was necessary to destroy the terrorists. we got distracted. >> eric: how can that culture change that radicalizes young man where the palestinian authority is paying, rewarding -- it's a reward system if you

kill an israeli or someone else your family gets paid money for that act. >> i have think one thing you don't do is dignify the palestinian authority as a partner in peace, something that has been tried which has failed for close to 50 years now because they aren't going to be a partner for peace. this idea that you can negotiate between the palestinian leadership and israel and create a palestinian state that will not be a haven for terrorists is a delusion, i think. the broader problem is the united states has lost its way in leadership. now it's possible that we're seeing a return to american leadership, certainly the president's rhetoric points in that direction. the fact is, we have to remember again the idea that we had after 9/11, that the way to destroy the terrorists is to kill them. not to donation building. >> eric: what does the president say? he sat with abbas and referenced the payments. i'm thinking of the case of

taylor force. a 28-year-old west point graduate. that's taylor right there. he is walking in tel aviv with his friends and a palestinian terrorist comes out and starts knifing them, 12 injured, taylor was knifed to death. now there is a bill in congress to cut off some of the palestinian payments unless they stop their payments. what do we do? prime minister netanyahu said if the manchester attacker were a palestinian he would get paid for this. >> cutting off the funds to the palestinian authority is a good step. defunding the u.n. refugee agency in the middle east would be a good step because palestinianian refugee status is hereditary. the only hereditary refugees in the world. there are a lot of things that could be done. what it requires is breaking with longstanding conventional wisdom. and that hasn't happened yet. it may happen. i hope it does. but until we do that.

until we take decisive steps, this infrastructure that supports terrorism with our consent in effect, with our implicit consent will continue. >> eric: it is continuing as we see those payments are continuing. one democrat we're told supports that bill as it sits in the house waiting for some action. jo joining us this morning. >> shannon: fox news alert. we're awaiting a hearing by the senate armed services committee on worldwide threats. europe has become a popular target for terrorists with hundreds of militants coming back from war zones and right into those nations every year. what can be done to stop it from happening again? as the news continues to come in we'll keep you updated.

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the senate intelligence committee holding a hearing on the worldwide threats of terrorism. the featured witness director of national intelligence dan coates. you see senator john mccain beginning his opening statements. the "washington post" this morning and yesterday had a report that president trump asked mr. coates to help him refute the allegations of russian collusion. also asked mike rogers about that, too. you can be sure that lightning issue will be raised. this is happening as we're also learning more about the horrific bombing at the concert in manchester. that's where greg is with the latest. >> you know i've covered way too many terror attacks across europe. this is looking like maybe the worst, the most horrendous or right up there not because of the style of the attack, not because of the number killed, but the victims killed.

children and teenagers, young girls going out to have a great time to watch one of their favorite pop stars. instead, ending up in a bloodbath. prime minister theresa may is usually very stoic in her pronouncements. she was quite emotional today. she said, and i quote, this attack stands out in its cowardice, it is done with a maximum amount of carnage. talking about those targeted. 22 killed, 59 injured. about 19 of them in critical condition in hospitals all over the manchester area. many of them again children, teenagers. also 60 people -- 60 young people probably treated at the scene. here is more about what prime minister may had to say. >> we struggle to comprehend the warp and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a thing to cherish, but as an opportunity for carnage.

>> isis has claimed responsibility and are looking for a support network for the suicide bomber who did the carnage. there was one arrest. not clear if there was a connection. there are a lot of people still looking for lost loved ones, missing children, missing teenagers, parents trying to connect with the folks they love. very emotional scene here in manchester, england today. >> eric: so heartbreaking. greg, thank you. >> shannon: the u.k. is dealing with a number of terror issues, specifically the return of foreign fighters to their shores. 850 british citizens have traveled to syria to support isis and other terror groups and as of this past february, roughly half have likely returned home. at least 200 others have been killed, convicted or remain in the middle east. the growing issue. the director of the margaret thatcher center for reform as well as a fellow at the

heritage foundation. michael walz is a former counter terror advisor to dick cheney. good to see you this morning. michael, i'll start with you. it's no secret that isis has been encouraging people around the globe to go after soft targets. sporting events, concerts like this. is it possible for authorities to secure all those locations? >> shannon, as a father, this makes me sick. it is one thing to go after civilians. another thing to go after children. tactically in this case the suicide bomber placed himself outside of the security barrier but at a choke point and a place where they would maximum the explosive effect of the suicide bomb. no doubt there is a cell behind this bomber both to produce the bomb and also to guide them into the location. you know, strategically this underscores president trump's trip and particularly his speech in riyadh where he pinned the rose on the broader

muslim community to stop this from within. it also goes to the military angle here where we cannot allow the sanctuaries to fester. we had our navy seals hit al qaeda in the arabia peninsula and yemen last night. a troop increase in afghanistan and syria, and then to your point about refugee flows. isis has weaponized refugee flows. we have to strike a balance between assimilating and screening refugees as they come in. >> shannon: there are thousands -- tens of thousands that have flooded into the region across europe. the u.k. has a general election coming up in a matter of weeks. how do you think this does or doesn't factor in to how people are feeling there leading up to that election? >> i think the latest terror incident will cause great outrage.

we're at war with islamist extremists. there are several thousand islamists who are under police surveillance at this time. there are 500 active counter terror investigations in any one day in the united kingdom. authorities have prevented 13 major terror plots over the last three years. so the scale of the challenge is very fast for the united kingdom at this stage. in terms of the election, i'm not sure what the direct impact will be in terms of, you know, voting on june 8th but certainly the prime minister, theresa may, has projected resolve and determination. more needs to be done in terms of combating the terror threat. we need tougher laws in britain in terms of detaining terror suspects. we need tighter border controls. brexit due to take place two years from now will strengthen those border controls and make it harder for islamists to

infiltrate in the united kingdom and we have to place the country on a war footing in terms of defeating the threat at home and abroad. this is a war to defend our civilization and our freedom against mon trously evil threat. >> shannon: michael, nile brings up a great issue there. a problem here, there and around the globe and the fact these authorities have thousands of people they are trying to track. investigations here we know in the u.s. in all 50 states. how do they possibly stay one step ahead? >> well, those are defensive measures that all of our governments have to look at and have to take a hard stance on. my point is that we can't be right 1,000% of the time. the terrorists only have to be right once. we look at the number of attacks in europe just over the last few years and you can draw a direct line to the sanctuaries that we've allowed to foster in syria. so while we take defensive measures, we also have to take

measures to undermine this ideology of islamic extremism. again to president trump's speech in riyadh, it has to come within the muslim community and there has to be military, informational and economic aspects to this. this has to be a global effort across the spectrum that we have to take on not just tougher laws and stricter borders at home. >> shannon: michael and nile, thank you both for your expertise lending us that this morning. good to see you. >> eric: throughout the morning we'll have continued reaction at home and abroad to this horrific attack. coming up we'll ask house majority leader kevin mccarthy about it and the president's budget proposal. >> shannon: there will be testimony by former cia director john brennan this morning. we'll take you there life to capitol hill.

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>> shannon: as news continues to break overseas, here at home president trump's first budget proposal came out this morning. the white house looking to cut more than $3 1/2 trillion in government spending over a 10-year period. that includes $800 billion from medicaid, a $193 billion reduction in food stamps but social security and medicare are not going to be touched. all of this hinges on a tax reform plan that no one has seen. we spoke about that and much more earlier with house majority leader kevin mccarthy. >> shannon: before we get to the details of the budget and other things we want to discuss this morning i want to give you a chance to react to the events in manchester from yesterday. >> my thoughts and prayers go out to all those in manchester. this was a cowardice attack on children as well. but this continues to show that the world is not a safe place. we stand with england just as we've done in the past and we will be able to work through this and help them.

>> shannon: i know the president has offered his support and the support of the u.s. to british authorities as they try to weed through this terrible tragedy. also today we are getting the president's budget. i know it's just a framework and lawmakers take it from there. there has been a lot of criticism of drastic cuts to medicaid and other social programs. i want to read to you a little bit what we're getting for the committee for a responsible federal budget. we appreciate the administration's focus on reducing the debt when using more realistic assumptions the president's budget doesn't add up relying on assumptions and promises instead of confronting tough policy choices will not fit the country's fiscal woes. what do house lawmakers do with the proposal? >> it is a framework. look at what the framework has done. different from the budgets we've had from the past president. this budget balances. it puts a priority when it comes to the military where the military was cut for a number of years and we look at what has transpired around the world. it also does welfare reform

helping people get back to work in the workplace. it also talks about tax reform, pro growth. bringing the growth rate back up into america. so that is a very good framework to start from to be able to build on as we work through the budget process here in congress. >> shannon: let's talk about specific cuts. $800 billion in cuts over 10 years to medicaid and reduction in food stamps and mick mulvaney has said there should be a work requirement for anyone who is able-bodied on food stamps. we've heard it's a heartless budget from the left and benefiting the rich, giving them tax breaks at the expense of the most needy and poor in our country. how do you respond to that criticism? >> remember what trance period after 1994 where republicans took the majority and tried to remove -- be able to move welfare reform. it was finally signed.

they had all the same talking points they do today and what happened? more people went to work. more people were able to buy homes and send their kids to college. it enhances the economy of america and puts more people in the workforce. >> shannon: a lot hinges on tax reform getting done. you work around the clock in the house on that potential roll-out. where are we on that and what is your time frame? do you have one for getting something done? >> this is exactly on the same time frame from the beginning to do. regulatory reform, which we were able to achieve, more thre signed into law. the most ever. we were able to do healthcare reform in the house that is now moving to the senate. now we've started on tax reform. we'll have another hearing today inside ways and means. this is about being fair and making it simple in the process. lowering the corporate rate, taking the seven individual rates and lowering them to three and changing the direction of where the tax code

works. the current tax code pushes you to put your company in another country to have a tax advantage. if you are successful, it forces you to keep money overseas. we have more than $2 trillion sitting overseas to invest in america. the current rate we have gives you an advantage if you want to import instead of export what you make in america. so we're transforming all that. we put it out to the american public. we're walking through the hearings today and we'll get tax reform done this year. >> shannon: you mentioned import/export and the border adjustment tax. there seems to be some critics on both sides of the aisle for that concept. has the gop coalesced? are you negotiating with members? >> we're doing oh hearing on that today. bringing in experts for and against it. walking it through committee. asking the questions. making sure that it would work properly. that it would enhance and build

more jobs into america and reward you to bring manufacturing jobs back to america to be able to send overseas instead of rewarding those businesses that are made in other countries, get a rebate leaving their country and coming to our country and compete against us on a different level playing field. we want to have a level playing field out there so that's why we're having the hearing today to walk through the border adjustment tax. >> shannon: we're about out of time. back in 1986 the last major substantive overhaul of the tax code there was bipartisan support. it was a bipartisan package. do you think you'll get democrat votes what you're working so far? >> i would hope the democrats would want a pro-growth tax code and not have the highest corporate rate in the world. i would hope that they would actually want to join with us. that's why in the hearing today it is a bipartisan hearing. anybody can ask a question on either side of the aisle and we're looking forward to hearing their ideas as well as we move tax reform forward.

>> shannon: house majority leader kevin mccarthy. good to see you. >> eric: a horrible attack in manchester. police departments in our country are now stepping up measures to protect us. how do we stop it? can we prevent it? we'll be live from a popular arena, madison square garden here in new york city in a moment. meanwhile new air strikes targeting the terrorists in yemen. we'll bring you details of that new mission next and bret baier who was just on the saudi/yemen border moments ago. he will have a report on that coming up as america's newsroom continues this morning. sure we could travel, take it easy... but we've never been the type to just sit back... not when we've got so much more to give

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>> shannon: this is a fox news alert. sir roger moore has passed away. the actor was 89 years old. he died after a brief battle

with cancer. most well-known for his role as british secret agent james bond. a role he played in seven different bond films in the 70s and 80s. he had been knighted by queen elizabeth in 2003 in recognition not only of his career but his charity work. he is survived by his wife and three children. roger moore dead at 89. what an icon for so many for a generation and for that movie franchise. >> eric: live and let die, i can't believe he was 89 years old. >> shannon: he seemed younger. our best to the family. >> eric: more fox news coverage about the deadly concert bombing in manchester. police departments here in our country are stepping up security measures and patrols out of an abundance of caution because of the heightened security alerts in europe.

this morning you see increased security at madison square garden? >> indeed there is a substantial show of force all around new york city including here at penn station. one of new york's busiest commuter hubs. it is also attached to msg, madison square garden. one of new york's most iconic concert venues. the nypd saying they're moving heavy weapons team to high profile locations throughout the city including explosive detection dogs and counter terrorism officers. there are random bag checks going on at transit locations. i've seen it here today at penn station. new york's governor announcing he has directed state law enforcement officials to step up security and patrols at airports, bridges and tunnels out of caution. securing such large venues is a priority for law enforcement

that creates the huge challenge when trying to secure areas outside the main security point. there was an estimated 21,000 people in attendance at last night's ariana grande concert in manchester. here the capacity is 19,000 on most nights depending on the performer. >> new york is the number one target in the world for international and domestic terrorism. but there are many targets throughout the world like we saw that are vulnerable and that weren't expected to be a target and yet they became one. >> there is nt a major concert scheduled until thursday night when billy joel takes the stage as he does with his residency here. security is always tight for the concerts here. they will be extra vigilant moving forward as well. >> eric: as we learned, if you see something, say something. >> shannon: we're watching three big events on capitol

hill. two hearings focusing on terror and one on russian meddling. we're awaiting house republicans and an update on their agenda. more coming up. heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

>> shannon: this is a fox news alert. we've been keeping an eye on the senate armed services committee meeting this morning. the director of national intelligence coates testifying this morning. we understand as we expected, that a very hot topic has already come up in this morning's conversation. that hearing there on the hill. reports that the president approached coats about pushing back publicly on a story there was any collusion between the trump campaign and russia. the reports are from the "washington post" that both he and mike rogers, who heads up nsa, were asked to push back publicly and both declined. a bit of what coats had to say about that a short time ago.

>> 2016 elections coats and rogers refused to comply with a request which they both deemed to be inappropriate. is that an accurate reporting, director coats? >> mr. chairman, as the president's principal intelligence advisor, i'm fortunate to be able and need to spend significant amount of time with the president discussing national security interests and intelligence as it relates to those interests. we discussed a number of topics on a very regular basis. i have always believed that given the nature of my position and the information which we share it's not appropriate for me to comment publicly on any of that and so on this topic as well as other topics, i don't

feel it's appropriate to characterize discussions and conversations with the president. >> isn't it true that some of these leaks can be damaging to national security, director coats? >> leaks have become a very significant -- played a very significant negative role relative to our national security. the release of information not only undermines the confidence in our allies, but our ability to maintain secure information that we share with them. it jeopardizes sources and methods to find out what is going on and what those threats are. lives are at stake in many instances in leaks and they jeopardize those lives. >> shannon: you've been

listening to the senate hearing now. >> paul ryan addressing the tragedy in manchester, let's listen. >> the whole house of representatives, we stand ready to help in any way we can. freedom, compassion and peace will always prevail over violence and hate. >> in the face of heinous acts of violence we must stand united against those who want to harm us, our allies and our way of life. especially as you've just heard from the speaker when they put young, innocent lives in their cross hairs. my heart and my prayers, along with those of my colleagues, are with the victims, the family, the friends of those killed, law enforcement officers who continue to work to investigate this act and reunite the families as the speaker just said separated in

the chaos last night. it is our responsibility to protect our children and it is government's first job to protect our citizens. that's why i've joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to offer a bill which is what we intended to come out and talk about this morning initially. it is called protecting young victims from sexual abuse act. unfortunately under the current law amateur athletic governing bodies, organizations responsible for training our olympic hopefuls claimed that they had not been required to promptly report allegations of sexual abuse that they received two the law enforcement authorities. most recently the "indianapolis star" investigative report uncovered that over the last 20 years, at least 368 children, olympic hopefuls, reported instances of abuse to usa gymnastics based in

indianapolis. but usa gymnastics allowed these allegations to remain dormant and unreported to law enforcement. our law assures they implement much stronger policies and procedures to prevent abusive coaches. >> shannon: the house leadership speaking as they do, the gop side of the weekly presser. we'll monitor that as we get more news from that. we want to turn back to the events in manchester last night and bring in dr. walid phares, a foreign affairs analyst. thank you for joining us this morning. i want to ask you about some of -- this has been the theme of the president's entire trip thus far, combating extremism and terrorism specific language talking about this tragic attack in manchester. he says i'm not going to call these people monsters. that's what they want. instead i'll call them evil losers.

how does that psychological -- that choice affect the psychology of those who are drawn into this activity? >> well, shannon, the massacre in manchester, like the one in paris and california and orlando compels us, leaders and citizens, to act and think about it. acting, for example, the state department would issue a warning not to travel. stating important changes in narrative like the president, maybe congressional leaders, all of that is important and a reaction. but thinking about it is very important. meaning what is it that we can do? governments can do to detect before it happens and what is it that we can do to affect the formation of these jihadists? it's unescapable. this tragic event will force us to do so. >> shannon: the president talked about the fact speaking in saudi arabia and israel over the weekend saying i'm not here to lecture you but this is about us assisting you.

you have to be the ones to drive this out of your holy places, country and society. how do they do that? how do we help them do that? >> the president's speech in riyadh and all the declarations that were issued after that is the absolute right thing to do. but it is 8 to 10 years late. meaning had we done that in the years that followed 9/11 or at least immediately after the arab spring, that is to address the arab and muslim world to ask them to form a coalition, the next day this conference in riyadh declared they'll put an army of 34,000 troops, they declared the same day they are launching this counter extremist center. these are measures we should have done years ago. i am confident that the president is leading the right track but we need to catch up. we need to catch up, the arab governments need to catch up. we'll be attacked until we're ready to counter strategically. >> shannon: is it too late for some measures that we're investing it? what else should we invest in

looking ahead? >> we're late like in every major conflict in world war i and world war ii and cold war, we're late that we understand. what is important to understand we're late. the measures will be taken are going to be very important such as there is a consensus among experts we need to end isis syria and iraq and libya. number two, we need to have a new narrative. it is important that president trump would say it. more important the 50 arab muslim leaders will start saying it over the next weeks and months. then, of course, we have a different strategy in the west. in britain, america, france. even if mosul and raqqa will fall we still are dealing with an army of individual ji 45d hadists and sells. the challenge is ahead of us. >> shannon: we talked earlier about the numbers that are staggering in europe of those who have left, gone to the battlefields, become hardened and trained and have seamlessly

gone right back into society. tracking them is nearly impossible because there are thousands of open cases all across europe and here in the u.s. as well. so for those who are already back infiltrated into the society, what is our best hope for rooting them out before they attack from within? >> you send the antidote. these individuals, those they are in the thousands across europe and perhaps here in north america, they don't gather together and march as brigades. they are disbursed and individuals. we need to track them in a different space in the intellectual space. you need to go online and find them. most importantly you need to educate the public, then you have a much wider system that will track them. not just law enforcement, the public and these communities as well need to be very helpful to us. >> shannon: we know we've heard in the san bernardino case in california there were people who had concerns and afraid to raise them for fear of looking like they were judgmental or racist, those kinds of things.

it is all of our jobs. dr. walid phares, thank you very much, sir. >> eric: all this is going on, on capitol hill a busy day. john brennan is testifying on capitol hill now getting underway at this hour. you see him there. he is appearing before the house intelligence committee on russia's interference in our presidential election. we'll have a lot on that. meanwhile, the hearing going on here follows this guy, james comey. he wants to speak with special counsel robert mueller. before he talks publicly on the hill he wants to talk to the special counsel. >> shannon: president trump taking new action against al qaeda in yemen. ahead the latest military operation there on the ground. >> eric: throughout the morning on "america's newsroom" we'll have continuing coverage of that horrible, deadly bombing in manchester. just ahead the chairman. house homeland security committee, there he is

congressman michael mccaul of texas will join us about whether or not a similar attack can happen here. >> i was at the ariana grande concert and left the concert before the explosion and -- everybody was screaming. hey, need fast heartburn relief?

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>> eric: right now on capitol

hill that's director john brennan testifying. in front of the house intelligence committee. the subject russian interference in our presidential election. let's hear what he has to say. >> the main judgments contained in the january classified and unclassified assessments, russia's goals were to undermine faith. denigrate secretary clinton and to help president trump's election chances. it was a special privilege to serve as a c.i.a. officer for first 25 years of my public service and the highest honor of my professional career and always will be to have served another four years as director of c.i.a. c.i.a. officers of all disciplines past, present and future th tremendous dedication, talent and courage and recognize this country's national security relies on their outstanding work and the sacrifices they and their families make on behalf of

their fellow citizens. we owe a great debt of gratitude for what they have done and continue to do to protect this country. i will now be pleased to take your questions. >> again, mr. brennan, thank you very much for your long service and for agreeing to come this morning. i'm joined on our task force who i would like to yield my five minutes to tom brady. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. director, if you could just take a quick minute before i start with my line of questioning with regard to what happened last night in manchester, to dobest you can f expert opinion to try to reassure the american people that what we do in this country and what we're trying to do would help thwart and stop any kind of similar activity here in the future. if you could help try to put american minds at ease briefly, i would appreciate any words that you might have of advice.

>> i would say that isis and al qaeda and their terrorist affiliates continue to try to carry out these outrageous attacks in europe and the united states. but i can say with great confidence that this country has the absolute best intelligence community that gets together the experts from intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security and does a great job of making sure that our federal structure is interoperating as best it can with state and local officials and local law enforcement. and so i have seen a tremendous, tremendous growth of capability as well as enhanced national architecture since 9/11 in terms of the ability to share counter terrorism information quickly, christ -- threatened it gets to those individuals who take

action on it. i can assure the american people that i know today my former colleagues are working even harder than they ever have before to prevent attacks. >> to the matter at hand we heard the member speak in his opening and the press numerous times with regard to in your opening statement the russian investigation, what the russians were trying to do with regard to our election. the russians interfering with our election, whether it be through the rt or propaganda or whatever. we know that that is now unfortunately become the new norm and something we'll all have to deal with. in our charge on this committee isn't so much necessarily to try to seek out and root out criminal behavior, especially now in light of the new special counsel robert mueller who will be looking into those type of things, but for us on the intelligence committees whether it be here or in the senate to try to improve the intelligence

community's ability to do our jobs and to make a report, a recommendation to you and the new administration as to how we better defend ourselves against what russia and/or others may be trying to do with regard to affecting our republic and democracy. if we do find any kind of criminal behavior, i think the minority would agree those type of -- that type of information would be referred to the justice department which is the proper jurisdiction. but with regard to the main question at hand. in your experience with the russian trying to involve themselves in our election, did you ever find any evidence as the ranking member spoke of collusion while you were the director, did you find direct evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and putin in moscow while you were there? >> i never was an f.b.i. agent or prosecutor so i don't do

evidence. i do intelligence throughout the course of my career. as an intelligence professional we try to make sure we provide all relevant information to the bureau if there is an investigation underway that they're looking into criminal activity. i was convinced in the summer that the russians were trying to interfere in the election. and they were very aggressive. it was a multi-faceted effort. i wanted to make sure we could expose as much of that as possible. >> was there intelligence that said the trump campaign was colluding with moscow during that campaign? >> it was intelligence that the russian intelligence services were involved -- having been involved in many counter intelligence cases in the past i know what the russians try to do. they try to get individuals, including u.s. persons, to act on their behalf either

wittingly and unwittingly. i was worried by the number of the russians had with u.s. persons. when i left on january 20 i had unresolved questions in my mind if they were successful in getting people to work on their behalf in a witting or unwitting fashion. the f.b.i. investigation was certainly well-founded and needed to look into those issues. >> when you talk about -- i am running out of time but hopefully i'll be able to circle back. can you describe their capabilities beyond prop gand why and whether or not you had intelligence to infiltrate the campaign with capabilities beyond just propaganda and beyond just reaching out or trying to influence the news or the campaign and how long have we known about these type of

capabilities? >> there is a lot of intelligence that has been built up over the years of russia's m.o. trying to gain influence in western democracies. how they've been able to use individuals and politicians, political parties. they've been able to use elements within the media to try to make sure that their objectives are realized and so again knowing what the russian m.o. is and has been, including in elections in europe, i certainly was concerned that they were practicing the same types of activities here in the united states and that's why as i said we set up a group in late july that included the f.b.i. and nsa. i wanted to make sure that every information and bit of intelligence we had was shared with the bureau so they could take it. it was well beyond my mandate as director of c.i.a. to follow on any of those leads that involved u.s. persons but i made sure that anything that was involving u.s. persons, including anything involving the individuals involved in the trump campaign, was shared with

the bureau. >> eric: john brennan threading the needle carefully there. he said russia was aggressive in the election interference but when it comes to the potential gaition of collusion with the trump campaign and the russians he wasn't able to pin it down. indicating that the russians tried to reach out. perhaps tried to influence u.s. persons, as he said the allegation one of those u.s. persons was former general mike flynn. he denied any wrongdoing. but there is adam schiff. let's listen to what he has to say. >> are you aware of any efforts the president has made to enlist the support of intelligence community personnel to push back on a narrative involving the collusion issue that mr. rooney was asking about? >> i am unaware of it. >> i want to ask you about the allegations concerning the president's meetings in the white house in the oval office .

first what concerns you might have if the allegations are accurate about sharing information that we may have obtained from an intelligence partner, what impact do you think that might have on not only that partner but other intelligence partners willingness to share intelligence with the united states, but more than that if you could also shed your insights on one other thing and that is the russians reaction to that meeting was at least two fold. one was vladimir putin's offer to validate what happened in the oval office, to provide his own transcript of that meeting. but also the russian publication of photographs from that meeting. the russians had to understand the publication of those photos would be harmful to the president or the president would have invited american press into that meeting. what do you think motivated the russians to public those photos and what do you think motivated putin to made he claim he would

provide their own transcript of the meeting? is this just further efforts to weaken the president? disrupt our political process? how do you explain those events? >> a lot of questions there, mr. schiff. first one i would like to make is i shared classified information with the russians while i was director of c.i.a. c.i.a. on a routine basis shares classified information with russians on terrorism matters. it doesn't mean it becomes unclassified. it means that it retains the classification but is released to russia or other partners. so that in itself is not unprecedented. i don't know what was shared or said in the oval office but if the reports in the press are true that mr. trump decided to spontaneously share some intelligence with the russians, i think he would have basically violated two protocols. those two protocols are one is that such intelligence classified intelligence is not shared with visiting foreign minister or local ambassadors. it is shared through

intelligence channels and make sure it is not exposed. if the press charges are accurate he didn't do that. secondly, before sharing any classified intelligence with foreign partners, it needs to go back to the originating agency to make sure the language in it is not -- even just providing the substance going to reveal sources and methods and compromise the future collection capability. so it appears as though at least from the press reports that neither did it go in the proper channels nor did the or ij all agency have the opportunity to clear language for it. that is a problem. what i was concerned about, though, is the subsequent releases of what appears to be classified information purchase porting to point to the originator of the information liaison partners. these continue to be very, very damaging leaks. i find them appalling and they need to be tracked down. so that was where the damage came from, i think. that it was released in the press. now, the russians are watching very carefully what is going on in washington right now and they'll try to exploit it for

their own purposes and to see whether or not they can further i think cede partisan animosity in washington and try to royal the political waters here. even though the election is over, i think mr. putin and russian intelligence services are trying to actively exploit what is going on in washington to our detriment. >> on mr. rooney's questions, when you had these concerns raised about the russian efforts and their potential effort to sub born u.s. persons to their cause in the hacking operation, did you take steps to set up an organizational structure to analyze the russian campaign so that members of the f.b.i., c.i.a., nsa and other agencies would look at these allegations in a cohesive fashion?

>> yes. and i also recognized that this was an exceptionally sensitive issue. active counter intelligence case trying to stop and uncover what the russian intelligence activities were in the midst of a hotly debated presidential campaign. that included information that may have involved u.s. persons, contacts with russia. benign or not. so therefore one of the key pieces of any type of counter intelligence effort is to compartment the efforts so your operators, investigators, collectors, can continue to uncover what the russians were doing. we set up a group within c.i.a. i spoke to jim comey and mike rogers to make sure they could send over their experts so they could share information among them. even the most sensitive information that was not disseminated within the community. i wanted to make sure that learning the lessons of 9/11 there weren't going to be any stove pipes and barriers to sharing information from the

intelligence and law enforcement communities. >> eric: former c.i.a. director john brennan testifying saying, for example, that potentially the president could have violated some intel rules if the press reports are correct about his meeting with the russians, also talking about the russian interference in the presidential election. he also offered words of reassurance to our country in the wake of the attack in manchester, joined now by texas congressman michael mccaul chairman of the homeland security committee and foreign affairs committee. thank you for joining us. after the horrible events. i mean, it can happen here. go to the airport, you stand on the sidewalk before you get to the security. look both ways and wonder. you go to the mall. you stand in line for a show. that's the soft area target where this apparently happened. can we better protect ourselves from an occurrence of this here in our country? >> we are, eric, we can't stop

all of it. we know every day messages are coming out of raqqa, syria, that no doubt impacted this case in manchester, to attack. and it's not just hard targets, mainly soft targets like what we saw at the boston bombing, a sporting event. they also like to attack concert events. they did that in paris. in the paris attacks. i don't think there is any coincidence that this attack occurred at the exact same time the president of the united states was visiting talking about the threats of radical islamist terror to not only the region but to europe and to the united states. i think this is probably a direct response to that. >> he also urged the muslim nations in their own culture and in their own communities in the mosques, moderate muslims to speak out, for the governments to take action. do you think he can change that culture? >> we have to. i think the president's remarks, that's probably the best speech i've seen him give

reaching out to the muslim community. at the end of the day, the solution lies with them. they have to step up to the plate and clean up their own religion, which has been perverted by this radical islamist terror. so i think it was a profound meeting the president had with the saudis. then to go to israel and then to the vatican really looking at the three major faiths in the world stemming from abraham trying to reconcile the three religions so we don't have this terror. unfortunately, eric, in our lifetime it won't end. this ideology is way too strong and we'll see more attacks in the future. >> we had the minnesota stabbing attack just last year. quickly we're running out of time. what do we do? >> i think we make sure that these -- as we squeeze the caliphate and foreign fighters come out of the region, we ensure they don't get into the

united states. we know 10,000 of them came from europe. we know that they're going back to europe right now, which is a huge threat to europe. we want to make sure -- i had a task force to look at foreign travel terrorists to keep these terrorists from coming and entering the united states and conducting what we just saw in manchester. >> thank you, thank you for your service as our intelligence services as we see john brennan testifying to try and protect us from the similar horrible attacks that occurred in manchester. let's listen to john brennan's testimony. >> i don't know. but i know that there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not u.s. persons were actively conspiring, colluding with russian officials. >> do you know the basis of that information that you shared with the bureau? what was the nature of the evidence?

>> i think, mr. gowdy, this committee has now been provided information that relates to that issue in terms of information that the agency shared with the bureau. and that is something that is appropriately classified. >> all right. you learned that when? when in this chronology did you learn of the contacts between these official members of the trump campaign or -- there is kind of a -- there is trump himself, official members of the campaign and folks who represented themselves as being connected with him. >> i won't try to identify these individuals nor try to parse it. >> i don't want you to parse it. i want you to identify the individuals. >> eric: i am not going -- it is based on classified sources and intelligence. >> were they official members of the campaign? >> i'm going to defer to current agency officials to be able to further provide to you

information related to that. my understanding is this committee has access to the documents that we would have provided to the bureau. >> all right. last question because i'm out of time. we can use the word -- how did you test, probe, examine, cross-examine or otherwise test the reliability or credibility of that evidence you uncovered? >> i made sure the components within the c.i.a. that have responsibility for counter intelligence, cyber, and russia, were actively working to understand as much as possible about the reliability, accuracy of the information that they already collected and information that was available that needed further corroboration. >> we'll come back to it next round. >> i thank you, director brennan for being here. good to see you again. i want to use my five minutes

to try to paint a more specific picture around the methods and mechanisms the russians used to sub born, the word we've used here today our democracy and electoral process. i want the start with a quote by a report i know you're familiar with, the kremlin playbook in which they say that russia quote seeks to corrode democracy from within by deepening political divides, unquote. the russians stir the pot, heighten anxieties and know when they trigger chaos, even if it ends up negatively effecting them they're weakening us. i want to talk about people because you made reference to people. i don't want to do it specifically. i want to do it in the abstract. the kremlin playbook that i just referred to says further that russia looks to corrode democracy by quote investing in rising politicians, cultivating relationships with prominent businessmen or helping to

ensure its business affiliates become well positioned in government. mr. brennan, assuming you agree with that how specifically -- >> shannon: you've been listening to the house intelligence committee hearing today with former c.i.a. director john brennan. let's go to more reaction. rand paul, a member of the both homeland security and foreign relations committees. senator, thank you for joining us. i want to get your initial take what we're seeing out of manchester. >> i think it's horrifying and it shows us that we're never really safe at any moment either in europe or i think even also here. also i think it illustrates what we need to do as our first line of protect is defending our borders and be careful who we let visit our country and who we let come to live in our country. i want to have a great mixture of people from around the world allowed to come. we have to have the safety of our country. we have to be very concerned about that. i have think that this is more evidence -- we don't know if it

was an immigrant or not. but it is evidence that we have do need to control our borders and be very aware of who comes and who goes. >> shannon: as you know, the president -- at least the second iteration of his travel ban is tied up in legal maneuvering but on hold for now. there are countries on that list that were selected by the previous administration because of their concerns about the terror threat from those countries and many people in the country who say having any type of ban or freeze like that is discriminatory and cannot stand. >> i think you can do both. i've offered something similar to what the president has talked about but i also offered a way for frequent travelers to get part of a program. something called global entry like frequent travel program that we have here in the country. i would like to do that internationally. even in countries we perceive as risks. iran, saudi arabia, pakistan, syria, we could find people who are traditional businessmen and women go through a background

check and even in those countries that are risk for us i think we could find a good known traveler program, a frequent flier program. i think that would help it pass legal muster if we tried to internationalize this global entry so known travelers could still travel. >> shannon: very convenient. saves a lot of time. there is a background vetting process but in so many of these cases what critics worry about with foreign countries is that we rely on them for a good chunk of that vetting. is there a way we could do that reliably being able to be confident of the information they collect on these individuals that is then provided to us or to an international body or system? >> there are a lot of things we could do. for example, even with a country that we have a great deal of adversity with, iran, there are people who are iranian americans who mother-in-law, sister-in-law, cousin would like to come. if we have a sponsor we should figure out how to have a known traveler.

having a sponsor in the country makes all the difference in a world. if you are a 19-year-old male from the middle east we might be worried. if you're an 80-year-old mother-in-law and somebody voufps for them. we should allow ease of transfer back and forth in a veh are tee of countries. we can't just have an open border for the middle east. more scrutiny. a lot of security isn't necessarily checking you on the plane. we have to do some of that but check who you are related to and who you know and doing a background check. there are people who for cultural and educational reasons we want to exchange with the middle east. i think you could have both more scrutiny and frequent traveler program. >> shannon: i want to ask you about something else you're passionate about. getting the u.s. out of the paris climate agreement. plenty of critics say it's not good for the u.s.

are we bound by it? what's your plan? >> a couple of reasons why we should get out of the paris accord. i've asked president trump to get us out of that. we were gotten into it by president obama. congress didn't vote on it. i object to signing away our rights to some international body when congress doesn't even vote on it. there are estimates we could lose over 6 million jobs in the paris accord and cost $3 trillion. that's not good for my state of kentucky but also not good for the united states. and no one person should have so much power. we should never let the president, i don't care whether they're republican or democrat, have so much power to commit so many resources. it is incredibly unfair. we're treated differently than any other country. why would we agree to more severe rules than any other country? >> shannon: this president has skepticism about that deal and whether we stay part of it. we'll watch our legislation as well. senator rand paul, thank you

very much. >> eric: let's go back to the house intel committee. john brennan, pete king, republican of new york. >> the traditional way these assessments are drafted, are coordinated and published. >> without even getting to the final conclusion, if there were other evidence that indicated contrary, should that have been listed or not? >> you are dealing with a lot of information when you put together an intelligence assessment. it comes down to distillation process. and as you know, there were two products that were proud, an unclassified version and a highly classified version. and the attempt was to try to include in that highly classified version all of the relevant and pertinent information that needed to be in there in order to undergird the judgments contained. and so it was 100% of all of the information available put into that highly classified one? no. it was taken into account and

so therefore again some decisions had to be made about it. but i am unaware that anything was intentionally excluded because of intelligence, that is, that was for some reason one of agencies didn't want in there for a reason that was not a very legitimate intelligence reason. >> we can discuss that in executive session. mr. gowdy. >> thank you. director brennan, last time we were talking about the inception of your investigation 2016. i want the next question to include the inception up until your last day at the c.i.a. did you see evidence of collusion, coordination, conspiracy, between donald trump and russian state actors? >> i saw information and intelligence that was worthy of investigation by the bureau to

determine whether or not such cooperation or collusion was taking place. >> that doesn't help us a lot. what was the nature of the information? >> as i said, mr. gowdy, i think this committee now has access to the type of information i'm alluding to here. it is classified and i'm happy to talk about it in classified session. >> that would have been directly between the candidate and russian state actors? >> that's not what i said. i won't talk about any individuals. >> that was my question and you didn't answer it that way. >> i responded to your query. i won't respond to particular elements of your question. i was aware of intelligence and information about contacts between russian officials and u.s. persons that raised concerns in my mind about whether or not those individuals were cooperating with the russians either in a witting or unwitting fashion and serves as the basis for the

f.b.i. investigation to determine whether such collusion, cooperation occurred. >> all right. there were a words that start with c floating around. collusion, coordination and conspiracy and you used the word contact. in a previous answer you did a really good job of establishing that contact could be benign or not benign. so was it contact that you saw, was it something more than contact? what is the nature of what you saw? >> i saw interaction and aware of interaction that raised questions in my mind about what was the true nature of it. but i don't know. i don't have sufficient information to make a determination whether or not such cooperation, or complicity or collusion was take than place. but i know there was a basis to have individuals pull those threads. >> i don't want to put words in your mouth. you saw something that led you to refer it to law enforcement. and in your judgment, it is up

to law enforcement to test, probe, corroborate, contradict, otherwise investigate the full nature of that information you passed on. is that a fair way to put it? >> yes, it s. it is not c.i.a.'s job to make a determination whether a u.s. person is cooperating, colluding or whatever in some type of criminal or illegal manner. we give the bureau everything they need to follow that path and make such a determination and recommendation to press charges if they want. >> welcome, director brennan. building on the questions that my colleague, mr. himes, talked with you about, i would like to ask you some more specifics about russia attacking us and how their attacks specifically caused us to doubt our own credibility as americans. i would like to talk about truth and what it means to be truthful to your country if you are in a position of power.

director brennan, was putin first within russia and then against us, working to undermine truth? and how exactly has he done that? >> mr. putin and russian intelligence services are determined to do what they can to influence in a very inappropriate and illegal way activities within western democracies to undermine the western-led liberal democratic order. they do that on a regular basis. they see that as western democracy as a threat to them. and so that's why the cyber domain right now is a growing playground for russian activities. and they will use that and exploit it whatever way they can. they have been involved in elections for many years trying to influence the ones here in the united states with propaganda or whatever. the cyber environment provides new opportunities to collect and release, to influence, and

they are increasingly adept at it. >> you said that they are going to do it again. the unclassified assessment said that. and that's there been any blowback or consequences to russia for their interference in our election? and most importantly, what would you do to try to prevent that from happening in future elections? >> first of all i think exposure is very, very important to make sure we're able to confront the russians and make sure that partners and all aisles in other countries around the globe are aware of this type of russian capability and it also is important, i think, to have the russians incur costs not just in terms of reputational damage but also actions that i think this government and other governments should take against the russians when they are caught in those types of activities. it is against our democratic values and something that i think we need to be able to

push back hard against. >> have you seen the trump administration do anything to push back, as you said? have you seen or witnessed? i know you are no longer a director, but have you seen any indication that we're trying to punish or stop the russians from doing this again? >> i'm not in a position to evaluate. there could be things going on behind the scenes. we were doing things behind the scenes to counter russian activities. we took actions in january in the last days of the administration in terms of a number of russian officials here and clamping down on their intelligence activities. maybe the current administration is doing the same thing, i don't know. >> can you talk about -- more about russia's disinformation campaign and what tools they use to do that? >> they use all sorts of tools. as i said, they have been able

to control various media outlets. they use our tv in the united states with a fairly significant audience. they use individuals who are writers or publishers, editorialists. again, some of this is very obvious to those who are involved because they are on the payrolls. i'm talking globally nou. on the payrolls of russian intelligence. they place pieces that advance russia's interests. >> i want to really go back to what i was trying to say before which is about truth. getting to the truth. i can't emphasize enough how damaging this disinformation campaign is. it troubles me so much that there are those in this country that -- who are practicing similar tactics, attacking truth. called disagreeable fact fake news and attacking the messenger rather than attacking the message that the russians are trying to get us to believe.

it's deny and these are putin's tactics that we're seeing and embracing in america. in other words, truth is being replaced by trust. people trust this person or this news source even if it isn't objectively true. we can't all agree on a xhaon -- common set of facts. that's a big problem leading to the divide we see in this country. our national security has never been as partisan as it is now. and i think that the truth is that they interfered in our elections and the truth is the american people want to get to the bottom of it. and the truth is we as elected officials and on this committee should be doing all we can to make sure that we find out how they did it, we make sure we know who helped them do it, and that we also get to the bottom of making sure it doesn't happen again. so my last question to you is,

do you believe that one of the things you talked about was exploit. you said that even though the election is over, putin and russians are still exploiting us. what did you mean by that? >> i mean that again this has been a pattern of russian intelligence services to try to take advantage of the openness of western societies, free press and other things, and political parties and systems to find opportunities and vulnerabilities that they can use to advance their interest. they'll continue to do this. i think they're probably taking some lessons from this past experience. i don't believe that this is goind not engage in these types of things in the past. i think what they will do is to further refine their tactics so that they can be as successful as poibfutu >> eric: the key point of that is mr. brennan not able to confirm there was collusion between donald trump himself and the trump campaign with the russians saying that he did see

evidence of contacts that raised in his view unresolved questions, he said, that clearly continued to this day. he was aware of intelligence that was worthy of investigation. also laying out how he says the russians aggressively try to use propaganda to undermine western democracies. we'll come back to it as the testimony continues. >> shannon: joining us now newt gingrich author of a new book understanding trump. a former speaker of the house. good to have you with us today. i assume you've been able to listen to a little bit of this hearing and hear what former c.i.a. director brennan has said. he said that he was looking at things that made him question whether the russians were able to use u.s. persons connected to the trump campaign willingly or wittingly. he said those questions weren't resolved for him by the time he left office. what do you make of what he has had to say? >> i think the question of russian influence is very

important. but i'm very disappointed in the one-sidedness of these questions. bill clinton got $500,000 from a russian bank while his wife was secretary of state. the clinton foundation got millions from russians indirectly through a foundation in canada while the secretary of state approved 20% of our uranium supply going to russia. the chairman of the clinton campaign has a brother who is a registered agent for a russian bank in moscow. if we'll talk about contacts, then let's talk about all contacts. we americans have to understand. we're the most powerful country in the world. many countries do it in a wide variety of ways. and i wish the congress would have some fairly open hearings about foreign efforts to shape america through a variety of influence devices, including giving money to universities, giving money to think tanks. there is a lot of stuff going

on here. this is narrowed down. i don't know why the republicans tolerate this. one question about one candidate. all the visible evidence is the clintons over years had vastly more contact with the russians and the clinton organization had vastly more contacts with the russians. somehow that's okay. i want somebody to explain to me what is the difference? why is everything the clintons do ignored while we're trying to figure out whether or not the former c.i.a. director might have seen something which might be important enough that they might look at it but he has no conclusion? if he has no conclusion, how come the press has all this coverage of a topic about which we currently know nothing? >> shannon: now that we have special counsel. robert mueller, he has said the d. o.j. said in announcing his probe it would look at russian collusion or efforts to influence the 2016 election and other related matters. you and i know special counsel

often goes far afield of where we see them starting. do you have any confidence that some of those other topics of influence by other members of other parties might be looped in at any point? >> no, my predict sthun is mueller will define this in an anti-republican narrow way and ignore everything about the clinton campaign, everything about the clinton activities. none of it will be looked at. >> shannon: do you think he will be fair? he has gotten praise on both sides of the aisle. do you think he will be objective? >> if you define the topic narrowly you've been unfair. i want to know what is his definition of the topic? who all is he going to look at? if he will look at the clinton campaign and the clinton team at least as aggressively as he looks at the trump campaign, then he is being fair. but to say to me oh no, we'll define this as an anti-republican investigation, what i promise you i'll be fair in my anti-republicanism, that doesn't make me very comfortable. there is way too much secrecy

here in looking at this. i'm very concerned. as you point out, we've had independent counsels who have totally ignored their mandate and actually told the person they are supposed to get to shut up go after a totally different person for political reasons. these things are very dangerous and they don't make me very comfortable. >> shannon: a lot of folks think somebody gets prosecuted. we'll have to wait and see. it will take quite a bit of time. we hope to talk to you about the president's international trip as well. hopefully you can come back and do that in the coming days. >> eric: besides the testimony on the house and senate side of capitol hill we're waiting for that man, director of the office of budget director mike mulvaney speaking at the white house. expect him to break down the president's controversial budget and we'll take it to you live when it begins.

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>> eric: this is where mick mulvaney will be speaking in just a few moments about the

president's budget. the >> shannon: we will get more details on that and much more. a busy day on capitol hill. the president will soon touchdown in rome and gone to meet. "happening now" starts now. >> the deadliest terror attack in great britain. ice is now claiming for the bomg last night in manchester. there's a lot of news today. >> julie: i'm julie banderas and for jenna lee. he bombing killed 22 people and wounding dozens of others. many of the victims were children. please say the man who set off the explosive device died in the attack. investigators are taking forensics to see if he had any accomplices