killed in the line of duty. and the hero's act corsponsored guy corman will readd veterans to their force and prioritizing the department of justice funding. it is critical to support the veteran and loved ones that paid the ultimate price while protecting our communities. the president is glad to sign those bills today. also also in washington today, betsy de vos visited the eagle charter school to celebrate the launch of the department of education's new individual with disabilities act effort. at the state department, secretary tillerson met with foreign minister of brazil and is departing for australia this afternoon where he will join defense secretary mattis to

participate in the australia kwraoudz pheupb steerial consultations. secretary mattis will attend the ashangri la. with that, i'd be glad to take a few questions. >> thank you, sean. i want to ask about the push for the travel ban to the u.s. supreme court. is it fair to say that one of the reasons the president wants to keep this going is obviously now we have a full court in panel, but also because it gives the white house perhaps a chance to build up some momentum especially if you look back at yesterday. it appears his base was very pleased with what the president decided to do. i'd also like about the xl pipeline. can you give us an update on what's happening in terms of jobs and development? >> i think what we've said with respect to the executive order in question has been fairly consistent since its

implementation and the first court action. so last night we asked the supreme court to hear this important case and are confident that the president's executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism. the president's not required to admit people from countries that shelter and sponsor terrorism. until he determines they are properly vetted, that's pretty consistent with what we talked about. i don't have an update -- are you talking about in terms of production? i don't have that at this time. >> you asked about climate change and whether the president thought it was a hoax. now it's been 48, 72 hours. what does the president actually -- does he still believe it's a hoax? could you clarify that? nobody else in the white house can. >> i have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. >> do the american people deserve to know? >> as administrator pruitt pointed out, what the president is focused on is making sure we

have clean water, clean air and have the best deal for the american workers. blake? >> quick question for you related to the paris climate agreement. why does the president feel it's important to reduce carbon emissions and export clean energy technology? >> i think he understand the importance of clean air, clean water, as i just mentioned, to help the environment, but also doing so in a way that provides the american workers and our economy a way to grow. but obviously, as administrator pruitt pointed out, we've got a lot of technology that we can export to other countries and help them. >> just a question related to climate change. the definition of climate change is a change in the earth's weather pattern. the administrator said today that he does feel there is some value to the studies that say

the earth is warming somewhat. does the president share the epa administrator's thoughts on this topic? why is the administration sort of backed away from using the word climate change? >> as i have mentioned to you, i have not had an opportunity to specifically talk to the president about that. >> yesterday the president painted a pretty dire economic picture if the united states were to stay in the paris accord saying it would be disastrous for the u.s. economy, yet dozens of the top ceo's and american corporation lobbied the president in order to stay in the paris accord. why would the president argue that this is bad for the economy if all of those people are saying we need to do this? is the president right about the economic forecast and all those private sector leaders wrong? >> the president took input from a lot of individuals. there were other sectors that were very concerned about the implementationist. frankly, i think there were some companies and organizations that are among those that you

mentioned that while they maybe wanted to stay in, also expressed concern about the target level. at the end of the day the president's number one priority is to get the best deal for the american people. this is who they elected last year. i think one of the things we've got to remember is that the president was very clear on the campaign trail about his position on this. he's also clear that he was going to negotiate the best deal for the american people. if you look at all of the deals that we have, whether trade deals or paris, the president's made it very clear that he's committed to getting the best deal for america, america's workers, america's manufacturers. >> is he going to replace elam musk? >> i don't know at this point. >> president's critics are claiming the pulling out of the accord will lift china as a global leader. do you agree with that sentiment? what does the white house have to say about that? >> i think part of the reason the president said it was a bad deal yesterday is because countries including china were not making substantial progress

in reducing their carbon footprint. they weren't doing enough and america was carrying the load. so i think by negotiating a better deal, hopefully we can get a better result for our country and the world. john? >> thank you, sean. yesterday the president of france delivered a sharply worded speech in english reacting to the president on the climate change decision saying it is bad for all of our children. he specifically called on scientists to come and move to france. what's the president's response? >> i think that the president has made it clear since day one that his job is to protect the interests of this country and our citizens. as he said yesterday, he was elected to represent pittsburgh, not paris. >> thank you, sean. the washington post has reported that the administration is considering returning the properties in maryland and new york to russia. what is the reason for that?

and what twould white house have to see before giving back those propertys? >> the state department said, quote, the u.s. and russia have reached new agreements. the state department's the lead on that. they've been very clear where we stand on that. charlie? >> president following the kathy griffin meltdown and does family get a personal apology? >> does what? >> does the family want a personal apology from kathy griffin? >> the president, the first lady and secret service have all made it very clear their view on those thoughts. steve? stkpwhrf sean, it's been a matter of curiosity in this town for a couple of days now. is the white house going to invoke executive privilege to prevent james comey from testifying next week? >> that committee hearing was just noticed. i think obviously it's got to be reviewed. >> that's not a no. >> it literally, my

understanding is the date for that hearing was just set. i have not spoken to counsel yet. i don't know what they're, how they're going to respond. >> two questions. one on the tax bill and one on the debt ceiling. the rose garden yesterday the president said something about our tax burden. we heard something about a building draft in the house ways and means. is that what he was talking about? >> i think, as you know, secretary mnuchin and director cohen were here laying out the broad principles of what they look to see in legislation. they had several discussion both in the house and the senate. bipartisan and industry groups. i think the reception that the president's initiative has received in both chambers is moving along very well with leadership and frank and raoeul members. >> we've been getting mixed messages on whether you would like to see riders attacked on

decrease in spending or whatever. >> i think secretary mnuchin and director mulvaney have been waiting on this. this is something we're going to wait on congress on. it's something our team will continue to work with on. jessica. >> two questions. number one, we heard the administrator talk about this decision on the paris climate accord. he said it is not a signal that the u.s. wants to disengage in climate policy. what are the steps that the administration is doing to engage internationally on climate? climate has been a key part of the cooperation between the u.s. and china. will you try to replace that very important sort of intersection of interest with something else? will you continue to do some technological cooperation with the chinese? do you have thoughts on that? >> this is a decision that was just made yesterday afternoon. i think the president is going to gauge both with domestic stake holders he mentioned in the speech yesterday. he looks forward to talking to

leaders in both parties about a way forward. and reasonable ways in which we can engage in that. then he'll obviously continue to talk to world leaders. that's a process that has to evolve. >> the relationship with china, the point of cooperation, have you given thought to how you'll manage? the model was you managed tensions with china by having areas of cooperation. this was previously an area of cooperation. there's obviously other areas that the white house is working on now with china, other cooperation on the area of climate. >> the relationship that president trump has established with president xi has been quite remarkable. he's talked about it very clearly. it's a model in which they'll continue to build their relationship and talk ab issue, whether it's this or north korea or other areas economic areas that they're going to work together on. i think the great thing about this issue is that the relationship that the president has and continues to build with president xi is one that will allow them to move forward.

>> thank you, sean. in a recent statement by senator mccain, he said that vladamir putin is a greater threat to the united states security than ivan. has the president had any conversation with you about that comment? >> no, he hasn't. >> secretary mnuchin said he wants the debt celling raised before the august sres. this morning gary cohn said the administration is willing to do whatever it takes to get it passed by august. the freedom caucus said they want spending cuts. doesn't sound like the secretary will get a clean bill. what's the administration willing to take as far as spending cuts? >> i think that was the nature of what jen is asking. i think that is a conversation that our team is going to have with congressional leaders and other stake holders freedom caucus and other members about what it's going to take. there's bipartisan recognition

that we need to get that done. and so secretary mnuchin, director cohn, other members of the team will continue to work with congressional leaders to figure out what it takes to get it done. april? >> sean, could you tell me, how is the president dealing with the fact that there are several people from a bipartisan group, mayors, who are against the president's withdrawal from the paris agreement? how does our president move forward with what he's saying about making coal great again and taking the bulk of the economics of clean energy and walking out of the paris plan and have mayors say we're going to continue the paris agreement. >> if a mayer or governor wants to enact a policy on range of issues, they're accountable to their own voters. we believe in states' rights. so if a locality, municipality or a state wants to enact a

policy that their voter ors their citizens believe in, that's what they should do. with respect to lected officials, there was a large contingent of officials at every level of government that were very pleased with the president's decision yesterday and applauded him for that. >> bipartisan group republican and democratic mayors are still very upset. >> we have some bipartisan support for it. >> last topic. there are numbers of pieces found at the museums. there were some very negative words spray painted on lebron james' house. what is the president saying about this? specifically are saying over the last 130 plus days people are feeling that there has been a divide that is perpetuated from this white house. >> i would respectfully disagree with the premise of that.

i think we need to denounce hate in any form, any act. this president made it clear from election night to his inauguration that he wants to unite this country and move it forward. >> secretary tillerson endorse withdrawing from the paris climate agreement? >> i'm not privy to the conversations that individuals have with the president. >> he wasn't at the announcement yesterday? >> i don't know. >> can you clarify the nature of the conversations that jared kushner had with russian officials and a banker in december and what was the date? >> i cannot, and as i have mentioned the other day, that we're focused on the president's agenda. going forward all questions on these matters will be referred to outside counsel. >> how can you not answer questions on it when the president is still tweeting about it? >> we're focused on his agenda. all questions will be referred to outside counsel. >> do you have any update on the

search for the fbi director? >> as i mentioned yesterday, couple days ago, the president continues to meet with some candidates. when we have an update, we'll let you know. >> you said you haven't talked to the president about whether he still believes climate change is a hoax. would it be possible for you to have that conversation and report back to us at the next briefing? >> if i can, i will. >> given you can't say where the president stands on climate change, does this mean that members of this administration helped the president make this decision to withdraw from the paris accord without knowing where the president stands, without knowing whether he thinks climate change is real? >> my understanding is that individuals gave the president advice on the deal at hand and he made a decision on what was best for the country and our people on the merits of the agreement. >> we know the president heard a lot of points of view on this, on both sides of the issue. there was an impression, maybe a false impression, that it was a

difficult decision and that he was waivering. in the end he was emphatic about getting out of the agreement. in the end, was this an easy decision or was it a close decision? >> i honestly don't know. that's what the president is the ultimate decider. when he comes, gets the information that he's required, he lets us know that he has a decision and he announces it. >> there's a lot of talk ab renegotiation. why renegotiate? united states has the authority to simply reduce the targets. why not just do that? >> because the president believes that it is in our country's best interest to renegotiate the deal. >> president signed a waiver that -- i know you said this wasn't any sort of peace deal. how confident that supporters can feel that this is a campaign promise that he is going to keep? >> when he signed the order, no

one should consider the steps in any way to be a retreat from the president's strong support for israel and for the u.s./israeli relationship. the president made this decision to maximize the chance of successfully negotiating a deal between israel and the palestinians fulfilling a solemn obligation to defend america's national security interests. but as he repeatedly stated his intention with the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but when. >> is there a time frame now? >> his ultimate goal is to get peace. it's not an if. it's a when. >> following up on caitlin's question, is it still the administration's decision though that jared kushner was in the meeting as a representative of the transition, representing the president? >> as i said to caitlin, we're focused on the president's agenda. going forward all questions will

be referred to counsel. >> does the president still have confidence in jared kushner? >> absolutely. >> thank you, sean. one of the ethics waivers the white house released, all white house appointees concerning discussions retroactive. was that aimed at -- the white house had steve bannon's communication. would that apply retro actively to address those communication? and any response to director schaub's claim that if you need a retroactive labor, you have violated the rule. >> that's correct. there's two pieces to that that are important. one is remember, this didn't have to do with the law or regulations. this had to do with the president's pledge, his pledge. so he is the ultimate decider on that. this isn't with respect to law or regulation. and that what we discovered was that several individuals on staff had previously worked for media organizations and in order

to continue having those discussions and advancing the president's agenda and priorities, it was important to make sure all individuals had the opportunity to be able to speak to the media about what the president was doing to make the country stronger. for what it's worth, today happens to be national leave work early day. i hope you all get a chance to participate and maybe go home, if you participated in national donut day. but with that, i hope you get to take advantage of that day. thank you. >> are you going home early? >> jenna: i hope you stay because we'd like you to stay throughout the program. we'll be here as well. i guess the leave early workday applies to on certain offices within the white house. sean spicer wrapping up the white house daily briefing. getting a lot of questions about the president's decision to withdraw from the paris climate agreement and the latest travel ban as well.

i'm jenna lee. epa administrator scott pruitt also took to the podium, trying to handle a little damage control on the climate issue. here he is. >> we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. we've reduced our co2 footprint to levels of an early 1990s. in fact, from 2000 to 2014, we reduced our carbon footprint by over 18%. and that's been largely accomplished through innovation and technology, not government mandate. so when we look at issues like this, we are leading with action and not words. >> jenna: let's bring in our panel. great to have you both. lead by example rather than through this sort of agreement. what do you think about that? >> well, i agree with you that it is damage control because the decision that the president made is economically reckless and, you know, i'm not a tree hugger,

jenna. my focus on this is about our competitiveness. and when you have the clean energy industry growing at 12 times the rate of the rest of the economy and the president just makes a decision that flies in the face of scientific reality, what is it going to take for him to understand? is it that mar a-lago needs to be under water? my take from scott pruitt and sean spicer that neither of them would just address the question about, is the president still on the same page that climate change is a hoax. how hard is it to answer that question. >> jenna: i'm curious what beverly thinks about that. that that question is being asked, beverly, and the white house response. >> i think it's a fair question. i think it's okay to be asked that. but i think it ignores the point that we are seeing. i see so many on the left putting all their eggs in one basket in this agreement. by the way, it's nonbinding.

president obama wasn't even able to get it ratified by the senate. they're focusing on that instead of what we know actually works, what has actually reduced co2 emission. that is the free market. that's what we heard secretary pruitt talk about. >> jenna: i'm curious about that point. that was also a point made by the white house. perhaps there's better ways to do this. you can also do it through state regulation. if a certain state felt very strong about this issue and its voters. maybe that's the better way to approach it. scott pruitt said we're open to other agreements and that discussion can take place. what do you think of that? >> i think a big part of this decision also makes it very clear to our diplomatic allies that we are not a country that's going to be held -- >> jenna: for us. for us. turning away from the federal government perhaps and looking more toward state based solutions. what about handling the problem that way? >> well, i think that's

absolutely what's gonna happen. but on a national level, overwhelmingly voters request this. but now cities and states and businesses and other leaders have said, okay president trump, you removed yourself from the table. this is probably the worst business deal he's ever done. he's taken himself away from the table. now others will step up to make sure that the u.s. can continue to lead. >> jenna: the fervor is strong. the outrage is strong. i want to play sound from nancy pelosi. >> i do not have for donald trump a mother, grandmother of five, grandmother of nine, how is he ever going to explain to his grandchildren to the air they breathe assuming they breathe air. i have to assume that is the case. >> jenna: assuming they breathe air? beverly?

where do we even begin with this? and we really want to talk about families, we really want to talk about children. let's talk about energy cost. this paris agreement would have risen cost for the average american people. wealthy people can pay for higher energy costs. those struggling to make ends meet cannot. with natural gas, with clean coal that we are seeing energy costs go down. that is the free market. that is not a nonbinding agreement with the rest of the world. >> jenna: just a final thought from you. i'm curious whether you think the outrage really matches the topic. the same thing was said about president obama's children, we assume they breathe air, i wonder what the reaction would be? >> look, i mean, nancy pelosi was trying to be cute. but what this boils down to is coal is our past. clean energy is our future. donald trump has said very clearly that he has no interest in that. but the great thing about this country is that we've got business leaders, we've got

other government leaders who are going to say, okay. you ceded leadership on this, but we won't. >> jenna: maybe we'll all hug trees this weekend. i know you're not a tree hugger, but maybe we'll all take a moment. great conversation. we appreciate it. lit policy, little politics. thank you very much. while the paris agreement dominates the headlines north korea is making bolder threats against the u.s. you didn't hear a lot about that during the press briefing. plus more deaths in afghanistan. four people killed in protests. demonstrators demanding the resignation of the government in the wake of that deadly truck bombing in kabul that killed 90 people this week. former green beret commander, author of the book "warrior diplomat" and fox news contributor. great to have you on the program. let me pick up a little off of what our previous conversation was about. we are seeing such outrage about

this particular issue and everyone has their right to be outraged about whatever they want. i'm curious as a veteran how you see it. we don't get the same outrage about nuclear north korea. we don't get the exact same outrage about a terror attack in man chester that killed a little girl. i'm curious your thoughts on that. >> look, jenna, i'm looking at this through the lens of national security. and the defense department, a number of admirals and generals, even secretary mattis in his confirmation testimony pointed to drought, famine, natural disasters and other effects of a warming earth of climate change as a senate security issue. and those issues lead to failed states that terrorist groups are taking care of that we have to deal with. i'd like to see the united states continue a leadership role. whether we do this through an accord or the private sector, we do need to, from a military standpoint, even a national security standpoint, deal with

the effects of a warming. >> jenna: i'm curious about the emotion. the wife of a combat veteran seeing our men and women come back from war zones and seeing the emotion about this issue and this decision by the president. not seen in some of the other areas. it's striking to me. our viewers can make up their mind about what we think about it. that's what i'm curious about as someone who's deployed before. >> it's striking to me as well. afghanistan barely makes the news. we have almost 10,000 soldiers there. we have green berets, navy s.e.a.l.s. and others on the.yend of that spear that are being killed every week and there doesn't seem to be the same level of outrage. i think you raise a valid point there. >> jenna: it's interesting. it's one i'll continue to ask about. i am curious about north korea. this continues to pop up in the news. i ianbremmer said on north korea, trump could either start a war

or win a nobel peace prize. he went on to say ultimately either the u.s. backs down and accepts this continued slow deterioration of the status quo tore u.s. does something like engages in direct strikes against north korea. here you're kind of hitting a box. you don't know what's in the box. you don't know what's going to come out of that box. it's pretty dangerous. ian told me he would be against donald trump reaching out to north korea. what do you think ab where we are at this time? >> i think what he's getting at, the bottom line is, we can't just let the status quo continue. the clinton administration tried to reach a deal with the north koreans. they clearly continued to build their program. i served in the bush administration with the six party talks. those didn't work. the obama administration basically did nothing. now we have north korea not on on the verge of being able to strike the united states, but we have security treaties with japan and south korea. if he is able to hit our allies

with a nuclear short range missile, even an easier to achieve short range missile, we are going to have to act. what ian is getting at is whether we do something bold like have the president of the united states sit down with jong-un and try to come up with an agreement or whether we end up having to take military action. we need to do something different. now, there's a lot of in between things that we can do there. there's covert operations. of course there's cyber. there's very aggressive kind of missile defense. i'd even like to see more pressure on the chinese. i think the chinese have the ability to possibly even engineer some regime change there and put someone more reasonable in place that will also work with the chinese and allay their fears of a unified korea that doesn't work in their interest. >> jenna: that would be a huge move if that was the case. one of the things we're looking at is how do you prioritize all

of these things? what do you think ab global warming and climate change? so the priority is interesting. great to have you on the program. thank you very much. >> thanks, jenna. >> jenna: the trump administration is giving the state department power to collect data from international travellers. the information could include the last five years of a person's social media history. i'll be curious about your social media history. do you have that? do you even know what that is, trace? >> reporter: i don't. i'm a twitter dropout, jenna. this is really all part of the president's campaign promise to enhance the vetting and screening process to those applying for u.s. visas. to be clear, this does not apply to everyone opinion the state department said the u.s. gets 13 million visa applications each and every year and this new vetting would only affect a fraction of those. namely, i'm quoting, those who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security related visa ineligibilities.

those who are subject to extreme vetting would be asked to provide a 15 year history of where they lived traveled and worked plus all e-mail addresses, passport numbers and the names and dates of births for siblings, children and current and former spouses and domestic partners. they would also be asked to provide a five year history of all social media platforms like we talked about including their user names and handles. all this information is voluntary, but not providing it could mean you may not get a visa. critics and immigration lawyers call it absurd. a san francisco attorney saying quote, the united states has one of the string skwrepbt visa applications processes in the world. the need for tightening it further is unknown and unclear. but the state department points to cases like san bernardino terrorist who entered on a fiancee visa. she had written extensive posts

about jihad but u.s. policy at the time prohibited dhs from reviewing those messages. state department said it is always looking to improve screening to protect u.s. citizens and we should note the new measures will be in effect for at least the next six months. jenna. >> jenna: interesting. trace, thank you very much. back to the paris climate agreement. the president said it's all about who he works for. >> i was elected to represent the citizens of pittsburgh, not paris. >> jenna: we are live in the steel city to see what its residents have to say about that. we're also going to talk to this guy. he's the out of work coal miner who challenged hillary clinton on the campaign trail last year. he's running for senate. what does he think about the president's decision? we'll talk to him next. new parodontax. the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey

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>> jenna: the west virginia coal worker who confronted hillary clinton during a round table event is now setting its sights on politics. now hoping to challenge west virginia senator joe manchin. he also is up forts president's decision to withdraw from the paris climate agreement. he joins us from charleston, west virginia. we have a little bit of a delay. i just want to mention it. what do you think of the president's decision? >> well, jenna, one, i appreciate having me on the show.

i think it's a great decision for the people in west virginia. coal mining is key for us. people are worried about the future and the things that are in store for the rest of the world. we won't have a future if we don't keep our present now. >> jenna: one of the reasons you asked that question of hillary clinton is because of your family. you showed her a photo of your family. this is a big concern for you and the future of your children. it is one of the reasons you're pursuing politics. i'm curious your thoughts on reaction to the president's decision. you're coming from a different perspective. here former secretary of state john kerry. >> solar has gained 17 times the rate of our economy. tkhr are 2.6 million jobs in clean energy, half of them are in states that donald trump won. so he is not helping the forgotten american. he is hurting them. their kids will have worse asthma in the summer. they will have a harder time

having economic growth. he's made us an environmental pa raoeuia in the world. i think it is one of the most destruckive moves i have ever seen by any president in my life time. >> jenna: what do you think about that? >> well, i think a lot of people on the other side think everything he does is in direct competition to the rest of the world. i think they think everything he is going to do is destroy us and the rest of the world. but honestly, like i said, i believe what he's trying to do is take care of the people here first. take care of the people he made promises to on the campaign trail. take care of the people that helped put him into office. while we do have other energy sources available, coal is paramount to west virginia and the people here. and that's what we need to go forward. to move forward to even have a future. we need to take care of our present right now. present for us is po r to put coal back in the forefront. >> jenna: when it comes to environmental issues what do you

think is the solution? we all care about the planet. we want a healthy place for all of our children. what is the best way to address that concern? >> well, honestly, i believe that we should look at trying to maintain the sources that we have right now and trying to self-regulate. not let the rest of the world tell us what we need to do. if you look at california emission on cars, that's something that's handled in california. that's something they saw as a problem that they needed to regulate. why can we try to regulate what we're using now instead of the rest of the world tell us how to do it. the united states has always been very innovative in our technology. with cleaner coal sources available and energies like that, you know -- i think we have the technology and the resources available to make things cleaner and to do a better job than we were. i think that's one of the reasons president trump backed out of the agreement is because we can do it in a better way than what the agreement was

saying we should do it. >> jenna: you bring up a valuable perspective. this is a personal question for you because you're on this next big adventure. that's running for senate. it's a big pursuit and very cool. it's really cool to see your story and how you're attempting to get involved. you felt you were getting a calling from god. i'm just wondering if you could tell our viewers a little about the motivation of getting involved now? >> well, it's something that since last year with everything that happened meeting secretary clinton, we went to the state capitol on the national day of prayer and listened to franklin graham speak about how christian people don't run in politics and we don't have those kind of people to choose from. he encouraged people to get out and run. it was something that was in our minds for over a year. something my wife and i prayed about daily. so when we sat down one night, i just felt like god was telling me we needed to pray about it together. it was a decision that involved

both of us, obviously. if we weren't on the same page, we would take it as a sign that the lord had something else in store for us. but we prayed specifically about this race. we know that it's a big step to take for someone who's never been in politics. we understand that. but i prayed specifically about running in this race and the next day we got a letter from a gentle man in arizona that had been written about a month prior to us praying and it said that if i lived in arizona, he would vote for me to run for legislative office. he thought that i should consider running for office in west virginia. so we took that as a clear cut sign that the lord said, this is what i want for you. >> jenna: sometimes you gotta take some big risks. our viewers will be looking for your website. it's coming. you're putting it all together. great to have you on the program. we'll have you back many more times. thank you very much. >> thank you, jenna. i appreciate it. >> jenna: wish him a lot of luck. in the meantime, comedienne kathy griffin speaking out after

her controversial photo holding the president's severed head. wait until she has to say. our panel will weigh in next. >> i don't think i will have a career after this. i think he -- i think he -- i'm gonna be honest. he broke me. what's the best way to get two servings of veggies? v8 or a fancy juice store? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant... done! that's not fair. glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. you all the time.ories am i going to pass away like my mom did? and so you know this is something that's important. losing my mom to heart disease and then being diagnosed myself. it's like a war we're trying to

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>> less than a week to go before james comey is set to go in front of a senate committee. they said president trump has not ruled out trying to stop the fbi director from testifying. the president could make an argument based on executive privilege. how would that work? what about the possible political backlash if it did. that's coming up on shepherd smith top of the hour. >> jenna: you've got to listen to kathy griffin holding a news conference today after her photo stunt holding the severed head of president trump. >> i'm not afraid of donald trump. he's a bully.

he broke me. he broke me. he broke me. then i was like, no, this isn't right. this is not right. but i apologized because that was the right thing to do. i meant it. and then i saw the tide turning. i saw what they were doing. okay. they're trying to spin this. they're making it about terror. that was never my intent. i would never want to hurt anyone. >> jenna: jessica carlow, kristen tate is a contributor to the hill and author of government gone wild. that sounds appropriate. gone wild. what do you think about that? >> this is unbelievable. kathy griffin, instead of taking responsibility for what she did, she's trying to victim aoeu herself. this is what liberals do. any time they get called out on anything, they try to find any way possible to make themselves into victims. kathy griffin have the right to free speech? absolutely. when you intentionally incite

violence by glorifying the decap kaeugs of donald trump, it doesn't say something about free speech. it says something about your own sanity. i can't believe her comments here. i mean, i can't believe what she's doing. >> jenna: the press secretary was asked about this. it continues to be a big story of the week which is one of the reasons we saw this video we thought this is the next stage. is it a liberal conservative issue as kristen is talking about? >> i don't think it is. people have come out immediately to decry this. i didn't see one liberal on twitter defending it. yes, her free speech rights, let the markets aside. she lost her endorsement. cnn doesn't want her on their new year's eve broadcast. that's how the constitution works. but this, to me, is not a right/left issue. it's an issue of what is right and appropriate.

>> jenna: how do you know when you cross the line? >> if you don't stand up you get run over. and what's happening to me has never happened ever in the history of this great country. >> jenna: never hanned ever, kristen? >> this kind of hate and inciting of violence has become the norm on the left. the white house. rapper snoop dog. he mocked the assassination of trump. another rapper bow wow. >> ted nugent. >> >> jenna: i know you have a point, too. there were people that said outrageous things. >> then got an invite to the white house. >> jenna: where do we learn? are we learning or are we going backwards?

that's the question. is this getting worse or getting better? what do we do about it? >> i think that it's something that's extreme is an aberration that we have seen sculptures pop up all over the country. skup khurs of donald trump that are not particularly flattering. this is a man who does get mocked. president obama was mocked as well. i do worry that we are not getting any better. this is certainly a bad week for that kind of progress. i really do resent the fact that kristen just rattled off those examples. not discussing what ted nugent did. the secret service. >> you found one person, one person. >> why didn't you mention him? >> jenna: really quick, we go back and forth but i don't know if we're really accomplishing anything. how do we define the line? should we define it or does free speech protect that and we should always be examining the line? quick shot from you kristen and jessica. >> i think kathy griffin does have free speech but this isn't about that.

this is about the left and what they see being moral and not moral. it's unfortunate that it took someone portraying the decapitation of the president of the united states to provoke outrage from the left. at the end of the day kathy griffin isn't relevant. >> i don't think the left needs something this extreme to be outraged about it. i think they had outraged plenty. samantha bee just a few months ago made a joke about a kid who had cancer. she apologized. weu want to protect free speech. if anyone is in danger we know where the rules are. >> jenna: jessica, kristen, thank you very much. we'll see where it goes from here. a nasa mission unlike any other. will these satellites help forecast the weather better? >> helping hurricane forecasters understand and predict the intensity of hurricanes.

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>> jenna: the atlantic hurricane season just began. scientists have a new tool in their arsenal called the cyclone global navigation satellite system. it's a series of eight small satellites launched nearly six months ago. our chief meteorologist has more on that. this will make forecasting more accurate. not to say your forecasts aren't accurate, but in general? >> not that my forecasts are completely accurate. the national hurricane center that gives the overall forecast that everybody uses. this will help the process. over the last years, we have gotten much better at the track of the. the strength of a storm we're not that good at. this will make a big difference.

>> jenna: strength of the storm, intensity, this is the real threat to life. >> like last year we had matthew which went over haiti an affected much of the eastern seaboard. the intensity of that storm was very difficult to get a handle on. they get a scan about every 30 minutes. looking at the top of clouds. these sat hraoeults that are in orbit are able to penetrate all the way through the rain and get the winds at the surface. they're getting a read every 12 minutes instead of 30. we're getting it much much faster. there are eight of these going around now. the big thing is they're small and much less expensive to launch. so we hope to see much more of these things going up into the atmosphere that will help our forecast. >> jenna: sounds like a positive development. >> i am very excited about it. >> jenna: thank you very much, appreciate that. very personal announcement right after the break. you don't let anything

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>> after ten years, i've decided it's time for a change. today is my last day. i'm not one for long good-byes but i didn't want to leave without telling you it's an honor and a privilege to serve as your anchor and i'm truly grateful for that. so thank you for giving me that opportunity. there is a group of people that have been with me since day one who support and presence has meant the world to them. they're all behind the scenes and you rarely see them. we've been together like a family. with some incredible stories over the last decade. they mean so much to me. they're gems. this place would not be the same without them. i love being a journalist. i believe it's what i'm called to do. i have really big ideas on how

to serve you in that particular arena. the time is now for that. so i can't wait to tell you more about it. so join me on twitter, instagram, facebook at jennaleeusa and let's talk. because it's not over. it's just beginning. thank you. i'm jenna lee. here's shep. >> shepard: jenna lee, good-bye and good luck. we'll miss you. it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 in dc on a very busy news day. the white house leaving open the possibility that president trump could try to block his former fbi director james comey from testifying before congress. there is a lot at stake here. director comey could answer questions about russian meddling and whether he believes he was fired because he would not pledge loyalty to the president. word of a secret white house time designed to fight back against most damaging accusations about moscow. and vladimir putin talking today about accusations of kremlin interference