♪ ♪. two new bombshell. president trump told the russian that is firing james comey eased the pressure on him. second to senior white house advisor is a significant person of interest in the russia probe. president heading oversee for his first trip broad as commander in chief. we got a lot to get to tonight on the 5at630. let's get to it. the white house is not denying a "new york times" report that president trump told russian officials, quote, i just fired the head of the fbi. he was crazy. a real nut job. i faced great pressure because of russia that's taken off. the other report is from the "washington post." the paper is reporting a senior white house advisor close to the president is a significant person of interest in the russia

probe. let's bring in niles stand white house columnist for the hill. >> plenty to talk and write about. keeps it is busy. >> let's start with the revelation that the president told the russians during that oval office meeting firing james comey took pressure off of him. first, i was a little surprised that the white house is not denying this. how damaging could this be to the white house? seems to draw some sort of a direct link between the president admitting the reason he fired comey was because of the russia probe >> the last point is crucial. one of the difficulties that the president faces his critics raised the specter of the obstruction of justice in his firing of comey. these remarks seem to be pretty close, they set up this linkage, trump in essence saying pressure is

james comey. that's a big problem >> this person of interest in this pretty much probe be someone close to a white house advisor close they don't trump, give us an idea, when they say person of interest. we hear about that, but people at home may be wondering are we talking criminal issues here? what can we gain from this today? what can we glean from it >> it's always an interesting phrase when law enforcement uses those words to describe someone basically means someone short of direct suspect, but in a graver situation they merely want to have a chat with. this is another problem. it shows this probe getting closer and closer to the white house if these reports are correct. the president would protest that he personally has no involvement or has not been involved in any kind of dodgey dealings but if it's people in the white house close to him as the "washington post" is

is a real political peril i think >> what you are hearing is going on in the white house? the president is in the skies headed oversees and sort of left this behind. everybody here must be running around and scrambling trying to figure out what's next? what will we hear >> i think the atmosphere within the white house from my own reporting is different, pertaining to this controversy than it has been from another storm since the start of the administration. and i think the difference, shawn, is that at the start of the administration, there were various political or policy issues, some of which sort of came up against the legal world. mostly in the political vein. now we're talking about things where even some republicans have started talking about impeachment as a distant possibility. that's different from before. >> also, i was seeing today that the house oversight committee one of the senior democrats is -- may ask for those may 10th documents related to that meeting in the

trump, and the russian officials. at the same time, we have the special council, you know, former fbi director mueller going to be investigating as well. how are these two going to co exist and effect each other going down the road? >> it's an interesting question, because in the past, there has been some rivalry or jockeying for position when you have a situation like this. sometimes the special council will say that he has the capacity to really drive the investigation and the real world effect of that has been that the congressional committees haven't always got as much information as they wanted. it is somewhat a case-by-case basis, sarah, we can't see that for certainly but past history would suggest some kind of butting of heads when a situation like this arises >> the "new york times" asked sean spicer for a statements even though he did not have the white house briefing on camera because the president is out of town. his statement says. the real story is that our national s

undermined by the leaking private and highly classified information. that seems to be the sticking points they keep going back to, that these conversations are leaking out. you know, do we know or is there any idea who within the dministration is leaking this information? >> you know, there's some conjecture one way or another, it is certainly a popular belief among conservatives that people in the national security ap rats, people some remnant of loyalty to president obama that is, i would stress a theory rather than a proved fact >> niles stand itch, white h house. president trump headed to saudi arabia, his first oversees trip as commander in chief. he will head to israel on to

rome will meet with pope francis he will meet in brussels and italy. drawning us is dr. rob savani who recently returned. welcome back >> thank you >> tell me about the first visit to saudi arabia, this is the big one, what can we expect to come of this >> two things one economics and the other politics. the economics is saudi arabia announcing that it's going to invest bills of dollars in u.s. economy. one of the beneficiary will be a company in the dc area, lockheed martin will sign a 7 billion dollars deal. on the political side it's iran. the sue denies were worried. they want to make sur that from this moment forward there is not only no tilt but that i ran will be contained and that its venturism will be stopped >> we're looking at

earlier. the president got off of marine one and headed to air force one. we've heard that the draft of his speech to muslim leaders will dial back some rhetoric we heard from him in the past perhaps during the campaign and even since he's been in office and calls for coalition against extremism in the battle between good and evil. how critical is this as part of his trip as he's speaking to the leaders >> it's very critical. at some point the president really was insulting to many muslims. however, if you listen to the comments by the saudi for an minister al do al ja bear. they want to showcase that saudi arabia is the regional power. the issue about the islamic world, muslims in particular, i think it's history, there are now focused on containing iran

billions of dollars into the u.s. economy on track as soon as possible. >> another hot place as well the president is going to be traveling to is israel. where nuclear weapons will be a big topic there as well. what are we hoping to gain or to come out of this meeting with israel with? >> when you visit the border of israel and lebanon, it's only a '30-second time frame between a hes rocket and hes supported by iran hits israel where the refineries are located. this is an he can say stent shall threat to israel, the prime minister and the leaders will emphasize to president trump that he had needs to reverse course on the previous administration's dealings with iran. they want a tougher, robust action against the islamic

there are intelligence that are upset we since learned that the information the president gave to the russians during the oval office meeting came from israel. will this affect these talks during this visit? >> i don't think when you go to israel before you get on the -- on an airplane from israel, they, you know, you have to be there three hours in advance. i think the intelligence had to do with isis and islamic groups are trying to use technology to blow planes and i think that's what the israelis provided to the united states and i think again, that's history. the president is there, they want to get his attention on iran because for israel, a nuclear iran is an extent shall threat in addition to what i mentioned earlier their support for

>> he's saying all each country needs to pay its fair share when it comes to this. tell me what you think could come out of this, what do you think we could be looking at from that? >> i think while the discussion is going to center around sharing a goes it concerns nato, there's energy security facing europe. they will want the president of the united states to give assurances that they will not allow russia to hold europe hostage with gas exports behind the scenes, this will be a major issue, because there are countries friendly to the united states like bij an that can prov

a discussion that the europeans will have with the president. mr. president, we need your support on diversifying gas supplys into europe. >> thanks so much for coming in. we certainly appreciate your perspective. all eyes will be watching. this is are a big deal they're hoping the president hits a home run and sort of takes heat off of what's going on here back home. >> thanks for having me. let's check in with gwen and get the latest with rocky weather rolling in because of the heat >> we got a lot of instability going. take a look at the big picture. storms firing up to the northeast in through central portions along that i95 corridor, i 70 corridor seeing activity. take a look across i95 these are moving to the east, 15 to 20 miles an hour, we do have a severe thunderstorm warning howard counties until 7:15 p.m., there's been reports of small hail and winds and they

heading out. here's a look at your weekend planner, by the time we get through saturday, sun and clouds, lot more on sunday, not much sun, what a cool-down we're having from the 90's we're headed to the 70's. and less humidity i'm happy to say, so fairly comfortable of here's a look at the seven-day forecast. temperatures in the 70's right across the board as we get through to the end of the week, we do have a few days where we'll see a few pop-up storms here and there as that heat continues to cause a lot of instability, we have a couple frontal systems to deal with. so be prepared. back to you. >> thank you, it was only two weeks ago the president members of house celebrated the passing of the american healthcare act? seems like ages ago >> the bill still in the senate. the question is what's next? we'll talk about that when 5at630 returns. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ two weeks before the house strutt pass the new healthcare act. >> the congressional budget office is expected to score that bill some time next week and the administration will release its 2018 budget tuesday and it will likely include big cuts to healthcare services. >> chris jacobs founder and c e o and a senior healthcare policy analyst at the public policy administration. are you hearing anything about what exactly we might see in that budget >> the president has said we want to reduce spending. unfortunately he made a commitment during the campaign not two reduce medicare and that's simply not sustainable. we have 10,000 baby boomers retiring every single day. we need two right size program to make it preserve and sustainable for future generations. so hopefully. president will be bold in putting forward entitle reforms which we need. >> t

out today that said we may see obamacare premiums going up as a result of the anticipation of whatever we might see coming out of the this budget. what are you hearing about that? >> premiums continues to rise because of the regulations that obamacare put into effect and it's why hopeful the house and senate will concept to act and move forward on repealing all of obamacare including the regulations. because the regulations are what are driving up premiums and driving insurers out of the health insurance >> let me ask you, backtrack. what do you believe, of the house plan? do you think the house plan as it stands right now is a good thrown for america? >> i think it needs to go further. i think it's the regulations that are ultimately driving up premiums, and driving insurers out of the marketplace, so i think the house plan was good to start but i believe we need to go further in terms of reducing the premiums, the burden of the premiums that are --

of regulations, excuse me, that are raising premiums for americans. >> any word on -- we talked about the bills still in the senate. i'm sure there's lot of negotiating going on with that, any word on what exactly will stay in, what will go? what do we know right now about it >> it's preliminary. we're expecting a congressional budget office on wednesday that will give senators a better sense of the fiscal impacts of the specific policies in the house legislation. then they will chart more specific course forward. >> america will be watching, there's a lot of folks concerned about preexisting conditions. along with premiums rising and staying where they are and general coverage. so we will stay on top of it. chris, certainly we'd love to have you backing chris jacobs founder and ceo. if you live in virginia you have until may 22 to register to vote for the november election. the primary is just a few weeks agos away >> you don't think about

we do have something coming up in november but you have to plan now. what are the candidates for lieutenant governor justin fairfax joining us to talk about his goals when 5at630 returns.

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♪ ♪. june 13th, voter in virginia will head to the polls to the primaries >> running for lieutenant governor and here in our studios. thanks for joining us. let me ask you, you have run for office once before. >> yes, i have >> that was how many years ago >> that was four years ago i ran for attorney general for virginia >> why are you jumping back in to run for lieutenant governor >> four years ago, we won 49% of the state-wide vote. we were endorsed by the "washington post." i'm very passionate about public service and about what we can do to provide more opportunities for people.

particularly economic opportunity. i grew up in northwest dc, raised primarily by my mom, i have a great dad but my grandparents took us into their home and created an incredible story. my family all four my mom's kid to college and two to law school. and it's really the american dream and success story and to make that possible for more people. i say what folks did for us is gave us spiritual wealth, we didn't have a lot of money but we had faith and hope and optimism and when you get that kind of spiritual wealth you have a spiritual debt that you must repay, that's why i'm focused on public service >> what's going on federally the healthcare act is a huge topic what are your thoughts on that if you were to become lieutenant governor? how do you feel as though perhaps you might be able to influence that in some way and what's your thoughts on it? >> absolutely. well, in virginia, we need to expand medicaid, we're one of a handful of states that have not expand about 19, 31

so many economic benefits, create 30,000 jobs, we've lost about 10.4 billion dollars that federal funds by not having expanded medicaid but also would cover 400,000 more people with health insurance, i would push as lieutenant governor of the commonwealth of virginia, we got to prioritize. of a healthier work force is better and economically the right thing but morally right thing >> do you think virginia is facing any other problems and what's your plan >> virginia is great place to live, my wife and i live in fairfax county county. it's confusing it's our last name. and my sister's name is virginia. true story. so my wife is a dentist we have two young kids in fairfax county, so we have a stake in the future of the commonwealth. at great place to live. we have a diversifying economy, very wonderful place but there are challenges, so some of the ones we focused in on

i was in the major crimes and narcotics unit in alexandria and virginia. we have a school to prison pipeline. there was a study done saying virginia was number one in referring young people to the criminal justice system, and we want to change that. it's not something we want to be number one in. our system is incredibly expensive, about 3 billion dollars a year, about a billion and a half solely on incarceration. we spend $150,000 a year to lock up a young person in our state prisons. i'd rather spend that money on the front end in enrichment programs, behavioral health, really lowers the chance that a kid would be involved in the criminal justice system. we can save money and lives of our young people >> former prosecutor, what is your stance on gun control, because obviously it is a very hot topic and in virginia as well, what are your thoughts on whether or not your going to try to stiffen the, you know, the laws or anything around that? >>

focus on common sense gun safety measures, you know, 90 plus % of people in this country favor universal background check. about 80% gun owners do as well. responsible gun owners believe that this is something that will help again stop guns from getting in the hands of peanut butter who are dangerous, criminals, who may be a danger to themselves or others. we here in virginia in april, unfortunately commemorate a somber anniversary, ten-year anniversary of the virginia tech shooting. i was down in blacksberg recently. we don't want things like that to happen again. >> justin fairfax county >> justin fairfax county, thank you for coming in. we'll be right back.

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former fbi director james comey we learned agreed to testify in an open session before the senate

if you will recall, he was fired last week by president trump. we have heard all sorts of reasons come out from the deputy ag rod rosen stein recommending be he fired for his handling of the hillary clinton investigation, the president came out and said no, it was my decision. of today we learned the president told russians in the white house that, you know, the pressure was relieved when he fired james comey. this is a huge deal. both the house and the senate have been asking committees have been asking for him to come forward and testify. >> we were not sure, we had not heard whether or not he was going to be. there was question as to whether or not with the special council being appointed would he wait to work along with it? that investigation, as we mentioned here tonight, former fbi director james comey will be testifying in an open session before the senate intelligence committee big news here on this friday. >> one of the interesting things i'm sure they will ask

wrote about his conversation with president trump in which the president asked him to shut down the investigation into michael flynn. we'll have more on this at 10:00, 10:30 and 11:00.

announcer: today on "tmz" -- harvey: so there are bigger fish to fry in israel than donal trump because prime minister netanyahu entertained a dignitary yesterday of the highest order. >> yeah, benjamin netanyahu hosted aerosmith. he's sitting down and he's meeting with aerosmith and he goes -- >> this is your second visit, right? >> yeah. >> well, you don't want to miss a thing, right? [laughter] >> katy perry dropped a taylor swift diss track. there's been this ongoing feud between katy perry and taylor swift. taylor swift came out with the song "bad blood." >> "bad blood" came out so long ago. yeah, she's done. harvey: what has tlor swift come out with in a long time? >> taylor swift is a much bigger superstar. >> has taylor swift ever done the super bowl? katy perry has.