john berman joins me.ve you. >> great to be here. >> we begin with president trump, targeting cnn in his escalating war on the media. the president posting a weird wrestling video that has been widely criticized as juvenile, and leaving many of his members of his own party in disbelief. this as the president prepares for the g-20 summit in germany at his first face to face encounter with russian president vladimir pewten. >> sources tell cnn the conflicts in syria and ukraine will be on the agenda with vladimir putin but no plans for the president to bring up the interference in the u.s. election. we have this all covered beginning with suzanne malveaux live at the white house. a lot going on this morning. >> good morning, john, that's right. president trump is going to be at bed minister for much of the day, returning to the white house late this evening or so. he'll be hosting military families for the july fourth festivities tomorrow. the president is spending much of the holiday weekend, however, using

. >> cpr training that john berman does, and he'll take it from here. >> i do. i have both gumption and training. a lot of news. let's jump right into it. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> all right. hello. i'm john berman. i want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. we are just minutes away from one of the most anticipated meetings of the year and one of the most analyzed moments of donald trump's presidency. mr. trump and vladimir putin about to sit down for their first official meeting. at stake, armed conflicts in syria, ukraine, trade in europe and asia, domestic politics and questions about past, present and future espionage. all that in a simple question of whether the two men will get along. they already shared a brief handshake. an arm grab right there. a simple pat on the back. a brief grin. that's on the sidelines of the g20 summit in germany. a short time ago they assembled for this, their class photo. president trump there on the bottom left. angela merkel, the moshost, rig in the center wearing red. while we wait t

john berman joins me for the american tradition. >>> we do have some breaking news, north korea claims it tested it's first intercontinental missile. >> after the launch, president trump seemed to mock kim jong-un on twitter, asking if he has anything better to do with his life and -- this comes as the president prepares for a crucial international trip. recovering all of this, let's begin with cnn's paula hancock, in seoul, south korea, let's begin with the latest on the ballistic missile test. >> we know right now that the u.s. and south korea and intelligence authorities are working together to try and analyze the data and figure out if in fact north korea did fire an icbm. north korea claims it was a great success, they claim that there was an intercontinental ballistic missile, and they say they can hit any part of america. some experts suggesting alaska could be in its sights. also not denying it, we heard from the joint chiefs of staff here, they are saying that today's launch had an improved range from the one fired on that 14th. that one fired on that 14th was touted by all ex

john berman, up after a quick break. >>> hello, everyone. i'm john berman in new york. off today. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. from a warm embrace in poland to a possible cold shoulder in germany. president trump is in hamburg for the g-20 summit. he and german chancellor angela merkel wrapping up a bilateral meeting's behind closed doors almost an hour. we may see them shortly. the two have starkly different views from climate change, to immigration, to trade. all of this comes on the heels of the president's trip to poland where he sent conflicting messages. in

. >>> all right good morning everyone i'm john berman. >> breaking over night, the thumb heard aroundorld. >> the thumb of john mccain, that is, an opposable dagger in republican efforts to repeal and rae place obamacare after midnight after being cornered by colleagues, called by the president himself, the senator from arizona voted no on what kpob the republican's last best chance to overhaul obamacare. he did it with a simple thumbs down. that thumb not just casting judgment on health care reform but perhaps on the entire trump presidency. >> yeah. presidency that seems less focussed on policy than personality. a white house consumed with itself, senior advisers hurling f-bombs at each other. the another saying he likes to blank his own blank. we don't even know if steve ban non can touch his own toes. all this as the republican agenda withers in the shadows. the this is a huge moment for health care and the presidency. as we speak, house republicans are meeting right now to try to figure out what to do next. we got a lot to cover. let us begin with cnn's phil mattingly on capitol

. >>> cnn "newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman will pick up after this break.e it easy to save $600 on car insurance, so being cool comes naturally. hmm. i can't decide if this place is swag or bling. it's pretzels. word. ladies, you know when you switch, you get my bomb-diggity discounts automatically. ♪ no duh, right? [ chuckles ] sir, you forgot -- keep it. you're gonna need it when i make it precipitate. what, what? what? when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman. breaking news this morning, i didn't do it. i got a lot of e-mails and was new at this whole politics thing. that's the first defense, 11 pages worth from jared kushner responding to questions swirling around the trump campaign and the white house. arriving on capitol hill where he will meet behind closed doors with the staff of the senate intelligence committee, investigating the efforts of russia to meddle in the

try listerine® zero alcohol™. >>> all right good morning everyone i'm john berman. >> breaking over nightnd the

. >> and i'm john berman. someone stated donald trump has stated clearly, concisely and without any ambiguity that last year he took a meeting with a russian lawyer after being told she might have information helpful to the campaign. this is not an unnamed source. this is the son of the president of the united states. "the new york times" reports that donald trump jr. took this meeting because he was promised damaging information about hillary clinton. >> and it wasn't just trump jr. that showed up. he brought others. significant others, son-in-law jared kushner, son-in-law to the president. and also then campaign chairman, paul manafort. the admission is a full 180-degree turn from a statement hours earlier when donald jr. said the meeting was to discuss the issue of russian adoptions. so there's a lot to unpack here. what does this mean about the trump team's willingness to accept help from russia? we're covering all angles of the story here in the united states and in moscow. let's begin at the white house

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. president trump in the air with the fate of a nuclear showdown in the balance. the president departed minutes ago for key meetings in europe as his administration scrambles to respond to the first ever test by north korea of an ick k intercontinental ballistic missile. >> shortly before taking off, the president called out china for its economic support of north korea writing in a statement, "trade between china and north korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. so much for china working with us. but we had to give it a try." meanti meantime, we are getting in new video of that missile test carried out by north korea where state media reports that kim jong-un described the event as a fourth of july gift to america. let's begin at the white house with suzanne malveaux. good morning, suzanne. >> president trump is on his way to warsaw, poland, a quick stop, about 15 hours or so before he goes to hamburg, germany, for that g-20 summit meeting with world leaders. this morning before he

i'll john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow.o denial from the white house on an explosive new york times report that donald trump jr. knew before he met with a russian lawyer during the campaign there was a, quote, russian government effort behind that meeting. that effort from the russian government was to help his father's campaign with dirt on hillary clinton. how did donald jr. know that? because of an e-mail from this man, a publicist. >> earlier this morning, the russian lawyer who was in that meeting spoke to nbc news. >> translator: it's quite possible maybe they were looking for such information. they w

. >> and i'm john berman. public shaming, sit twalistic humiliation. that's what friends are for. an extraordinary morning with the president launching new attacks against the attorney general. will jeff sessions last at day? it's just one question in what's shaping up to be an historic day. president trump still seething over the recusing. he put out a statement that says attorney general jeff sessions has taken a weak position on hillary clinton crimes. >> also, senator john mccain makes a dramatic return to capitol hill today to cast the vote on the moving ahead of health care reform just days after being diagnosed with cancer, brain cancer. mccain's surprising return expected to add emotion and pressure to a vote that is still too close to call. and jared kushner is headed back to capitol hill. the this time to tell the house intelligence committee what he told senate investigators yesterday, that he did not collude with the russians. let's again at the white house. at the president has had a lot to say, a lot to write this morning before 9:00 a.m. let's focus first on the att

john berman has the day off. president trump gives a stunning improve deepens the battle lines with his own justice department on the six-month mark of his presidency, lashing out once again over the russia investigation and all of its key players in this sit-down with "the new york times." but the most scathing remark saved for his own attorney general. jeff sessions may have been among donald trump's most loyal supporters during the campaign, but a fuming president trump will not forgive him for recusing himself in the russia probe. >> sessions should have never recused himself. and if he would -- if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and i would have picked somebody else. >> we will hear from jeff sessions shortly, in his first live remarks since he was attacked by the president. before that, though, a devastating diagnosis. senator john mccain is battling brain cancer. the iconic warrior, both in politics and on the battlefield, facing one of his toughest battles yet

. >> and i'm john berman. breaking news this morning, shocking battle inside the west wing of the white house, stunning, extraordinary, bizarre, all those words apply because of who this fight is between, the chief of staff and the new communications director. and stunning, extraordinary, bizarre, because of just how public this fight is playing out on cnn this morning right before our eyes. on the tv. as we watch communications director anthony scaramucci seemed to publicly knife chief of staff reince priebus. >> that's right. you'll hear from him in his own words in just a moment, but the headline here is that he says if reince wants to explain he's not a leaker, let him do that. scaramucci was calling in to cnn to explain a very confusing statement he made on twitter last night. in light of -- which is a felony i will be contacting the fbi and justice department, #swamp. and he tagged chief of staff reince priebus. now, he appears to be blaming priebus for the leak of this information, which by the way appe

. >> cpr training that john berman does, and he'll take it from here. >> i do.ning. a lot of news. let's jump right into it. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> all right. hello. i'm john berman. i want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. we are just minutes away from one of the most anticipated meetings of the year and one of the most

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman.e air with the fate of a nuclear showdown in the balance. the president departed minutes ago for key meetings in europe as his administration scrambles to respond to the first ever test by north korea of an ick k intercontinental ballistic missile. >> shortly before taking off, the president

. >> "newsroom" with john berman. ♪ when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites.relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. >>> morning. john berman here, breaking news of the morning, big drama, big stakes and in some cases big contradictions for president trump. a strong defense of key nato ally, his clearest statement yet of what he called the destabilizing activities of russia, but also a fairly blistering critique of his own intelligence agencies and a public full throated aggressive ambivalence about the notion of russian meddling in the u.s. election. that's just the beginning today. as we speak, the president is on his way to germany for the g20 summit. he arrives there shortly. we will cover every twist and turn. first though his warning shot to russia while standing in front of thousands cheering in

. >> and i'm john berman. breaking news this morning, i didn't do it. i got a lot of e-mails and was new at this whole politics thing. that's the first defense, 11 pages worth from jared kushner responding to questions swirling around the trump campaign and the white house. arriving on capitol hill where he will meet behind closed doors with the staff of the senate intelligence committee, investigating the efforts of russia to meddle in the 2016 election. we should see his arrival any money now. >> it was so meaningless, i e-mailed an assistant from the meeting after i had been there for 10 minutes and wrote can you please call me on my cell phone? pamela brown will walk us through all the important points in the statement in a moment. let's begin with the hill. this is jared kushner, leaving his residence, as he is getting ready to exactly where manu raju is. statement on the record that will be read before he meets with staffers today. >> we are not expecting senators to be at this meeting. it will not be conducted under oath. just a staff meeting. ty

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. hour with kate bolduan who will take calls from reince priebus starts right now. >>> anytime, anywhere, john. thank you, john. thank you, poppy. hello, everyone. i'm kate bolduan. president trump will have holy hell to pay if he fires his attorney. that from republican senator, lindsey graham. it comes as a white house brawl is breaking out in plain sight, giving the public a strange, front row seat of the disarray in the west wing. in a fascinating interview on cnn, anthony scaramucci is blaming reince priebus to state he is not a leaker. more on that in a moment. first, the warnings are growing louder from republicans on the

. >> i'm john berman. at this hour with kate bolduan who will take calls from reince priebus starts right now. >>> anytime, anywhere, john. thank you, john. thank you, poppy. hello, everyone. i'm kate bolduan. president trump will have holy hell to pay if he fires his attorney. that from republican senator, lindsey graham. it comes as a white house brawl is breaking out in plain sight, giving the public a strange, front row seat of the disarray in the west wing. in a fascinating interview on cnn, anthony scaramucci is blaming reince priebus to state he is not a leaker. more on that in a moment. first, the warnings are growing louder from republicans on the fake future of jeff sessions. manu raju is live. you caught up with senator lindsey graham and he did not hold back. >> reporter: he did not, indeed, kate. several pieces of news in the hallways. one piece he's moving pretty aggressively to insulate the special counsel from president trump. he's drafting bipartisan legislation and plans to offer next week

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. potently explosive words. and one explosive word that's missing. donald trump jr. was told before the meeting he'd be given compromising information about hillary clinton that was part of a russian government effort to helps his father's campaign. russian government effort. those three crucial words, they are new, and very important, especially given the word that is missing. denial. no one in the white house or donald trump's orbit is denying

chris is off this morning, john berman joins me from new york. john, great to see crow. >> so much news, we had to be in two cities at once. >> that's right. so let's get right to it. up first, "the new york times" and "washington post" with new reporting that president trump's legal team is trying to undercut special counsel, robert mueller. the president's lawyers are investigating the investigators in hopes of discrediting the russia investigation. >> "the washington post" also reports that the president is asking advisers about his ability to pardon his aides with, family members, and possibly even himself. this as the president has re-shuffled his legal team. we have it all covered for you. let's begin with cnn's senior washington correspondent, joe johns, live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> john, i think reshuffling is the word. the president has already signalled that he is geari inin for a fight against the special counsel investigators, citing conflicts. and it appears now that the president's team is looking to the past for in

john berman joins me. great to have you here in studio. >> great to be here. >> another busy news day. >> it is. >>> at the starting line, a spectacular show of force along paris' famed champs d'elysees. president trump and the first lady joining france's president to mark bastille day. 100 years since american troops arrived on french soil to join world war i. even overseas, new questions about russia. what and when did the president know about his son's e-mails and the meeting with the russian lawyer to get dirt on hillary clinton? president trump defending his son saying most people would have taken that meeting. >> the scramble to respond to this controversy now has white house aides exposed to scrutiny by counsel. aides of the president and jared kushner's legal team, they began strategizing in late june about how to manage the disclosure of you'll discovered emails. all this going -- newly discovered emails. all this going on as the health care bill by republicans at least right now is falling shorts

john berman has the day off. live at this hour, president trump leaves the white house and heads to the pentagon. but, he just ignited another battle with his own attorney general in the department of justice. you can see where jeff sessions is about to speak for the first time since president trump raged over the russian investigation. a long-time ally recusing himself from all things russia. here is what he told the times. >> sessions should have never recused himself. if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and i would have picked someone else. >> we will hear from jeff sessions in his first live remarks after the statement from the president. >>> john mccain is battling brain cancer. he faces one of the toughest battles yet. those closest to him say he will never surrender. more on that in a moment. now, with "the new york times" interview with with the president, caitlin is at the white house. after those choice words it president had for and about jeff sessions has a

john berman joins me. great to have you here. >> happy to be here. >> a new poll shows president trump's approval rating sliding the a record low. the abc news "washington post" poll finds 36% of americans approve of the job mr. trump is doing, the lowest of any president in seven decades. mr. trump unleashing a flurry of tweets defending his son's meeting with the russian attorney and once again attacking the media and hillary clinton. >> this as one of the president's biggest campaign promises, to repeal and replace obamacare, faces a new setback. the senate delayed the vote as senator john mccain recovering from blood clot surgery. let's begin with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> good morning, john. president trump is back in washington, d.c. frankly hoping to turn the page after a week of revelations regarding donald trump jr.'s meeting with the russian lawyer. it does appear that the swirl of contingency is continuing to affect the president's approval ratings. >> congra

john berman joins me here in studio. >> good to be here. good morning everyone. >> feels like a friday so far. >> a little bit. >> we're having fun because president trump bidding au revo revoir to france. all sorts of pageantry, 100 years since american troops arrived on french soil. the two men say good-bye with a complicated maneuver, the never-ending handshake. we will show that to you. president trump now returns to washington to face the crisis over his son's meeting with the russian lawyer. there are new questions surfacing about the president's claim he only found out about that a few days ago. >> while that's going on, white house aides and jared kushner's legal team are facing new scrutiny from the special counsel for their role in responding to the rerelease of don junior's e-mails. the new health care plan crafted by senate republicans being analyzed right now. it might still not have enough support to reach the president's desk. cnn has every angle covered. let's begin with jeff zeleny live in paris this morning. good morning,

john berman was tweeting gordon hayward yesterday that's how excite head was.the red carpet courting hayward with banners, billboards and dollars. the all-star forward said this was the toughest decision of his life but he chose the celt ticks and a four-year deal with a reported $128 million. hayward's new teammate and fellow all-star isiah thomas was so happy he went into the kitchen and took off his shirt and started dancing. the celtics fans, they were quite happy as well, but jazz fans on the other hand, hayward's former team, they didn't like this decision. instead of firing up the grill on the fourth of july they were firing up his old jerseys, setting them aflame. and alisyn and "newsroo day" fa out there, avert your eyes if you're easily nauseated. joey chestnut gobbled down 72 hot dogs to redeem champion at nathan's famous hot dog eating contest, the tenth time winning the event and raising the mustard belt. he beat his own record by 2, 72 hot dogs, equals about 15 pounds, the size of a thanksgiving turkey. stack 72 end on end it would be 38 feet high

john berman, you're my hero.r being here today. >> oh, i'm holding out for hero just like bonnie tyler. allison camerota, it was great to be with you this morning even if not in the same place. "cnn newsroom" with poppy harlow picks up after a quick break. >> announcer: cnn heroes is brought to you by geico, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote. and by servpro. ♪ you're gonna have dizziness, nausea, and sweaty eyelids. ♪ ♪ and in certain cases chronic flatulence. ♪ no ♪ sooooo gassy girl. so gassy. if you're boyz ii men, you make anything sound good. it's what you do. if you want to save 15% percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. next! ♪ next! this school year, it's okay to stumble. to struggle. to want to give up. but not to give in. to be scared. but not scared away. or hit the wrong note. and keep playing. you're learning resilience. tenacity. lessons you can't put a letter grade on. lessons i'm learning, too. here's to

john berman joins me. >> happy birthday, america. >> great to have you here. >>> we begin on the starting line with breaking news. a new provocation from north korea. the regime claims it successfully launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, landing roughly 200 miles from japan's coast. if true, it would be a significant development in north korea's efforts to threaten the u.s. president trump reacting on twitter, asking if kim jong-un "has anything better to do with his life." suggesting china could increase pressure on north korea. >> the president is preparing for a crucial international trip where he will meet with leaders at the g-20 summit including a face-to-face session with russian president vladimir putin. this as new jersey governor chris christie tries to move past his beach day controversy, signing a budget deal that ends a government shutdown and reopens all state parks and beaches today. we have this all covered. first, let's deal with north korea. we'll go to paula hancocks live in seoul, south korea, for the latest. paula? >> reporter: well, john, this is ce

i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman.news this morning, shocking battle inside the west wing of the white house, stunning, extraordinary, bizarre, all those words apply because of who this fight is between, the chief of staff and the new communications director. and stunning, extraordinary, bizarre, because of just how public this fight is playing out on cnn this morning right before our eyes. on the tv. as we watch communications director anthony scaramucci seemed to publicly knife

i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman.meone stated donald trump has stated clearly, concisely and without any ambiguity that last year he took a meeting with a russian lawyer after being told she might have information helpful to the campaign. this is not an unnamed source. this is the son of the president of the united states. "the new york times" reports that donald trump jr. took this meeting because he was promised damaging information about hillary clinton. >> and it wasn't just trump jr. that showed up. he brought others. significant others, son-in-law jared kushner, son-in-law to the president. and also then campaign chairman, paul manafort. the admission is a full 180-degree turn from a statement hours earlier when donald jr. said the meeting was to discuss the issue of russian adoptions. so there's a lot to unpack here. what does this mean about the

thank you for joining us, i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman.at this hour" with kate bolduan starts right now. >>> hello, everyone, i'm kate bolduan. the leader of the free world soon to be the leader of the free lunch for republican senators. a short time from now, president trump will be hosting republican senators at the white house to figure out what the he can they'll do next. it comes after the revised gop gop health care bill collapsed and after a very disappointed president -- his words -- says he is willing to let obamacare fail. maybe this will fix everything. the president sending out this statement earlier on twitter "the republicans never discuss how good their health care bill is and it will get even better at lunchtime. the dems scream death as obamacare dies." let's go to kaitlin collins at the white house. no laughing matter, this is life and death for many people when we're talking about health care but talk about this lunch. what are we expecting? what are you hairing? >> we're

oh i'm john berman in washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture the integrity of our democracy is a big topic these days so just how vulnerable is our election system to x. alaska actor and activist mimi kennedy in just a moment and republicans have found a way to make trump care even worse and the sickest americans are going to pay the price more on that in tonight's rumble with julio rivera and alex was. the safety and security of americans elections is top news right now but one of the biggest threats to the integrity of our democracy is not getting the coverage it deserves although they were originally supposed to be the new frontier of democracy electronic voting machines have now fallen out of favor with most election integrity experts and for good reason do not only electronic voting machines are vulnerable to hackers they're also the perfect tool for anyone trying to steal an election and it all has to do with something called fraction magic for more on that i'm joined now by minnie ke

well i'm john berman in washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture the integrity of our democracy is a big topic these days just how vulnerable is our election system to x. alaska actor and activist mimi kennedy in just a moment and republicans have found a way to make trump care even when.

. >> time for cnn news room with john berman. >> speaking of people to be suspicious of. mixed message, point taken. we have a lot of news, let's goat it. all right, we have live pictures from capitol hill where republican senators hope their breakfast this morning is better than their dinner last night because it came with a side order of a complete collapse of the plan to repeal and replace obama care. done and over for now. doomed by the late night defectio defections. in fact, the news came shortly after the president reportedly told senate eors they would loo like dopes if they don't pass something. they are told he was caught off guard and annoyed. he says we were let down by all of the democrats and a few republicans most republicans were loyal, terrific, and work really hard. now they are working to repeal obama care and now just worry about replacing it later. an attitude being adopted by the senate majority leader. mj has more for us on capitol hill. >> reporter: what a dramatic night, mitch mcconnell getting two nails in the coffin last night. they came out to

. >> time for cnn news room with john berman. >> speaking of people to be suspicious of.ken. we have a lot of news, let's goat it. all right, we have live pictures from capitol hill where republican senators hope their breakfast this morning is better than their dinner last night because it came with a side order of a complete collapse of the plan to repeal and replace obama care. done and over for now. doomed by the late night defectio defections. in fact, the news came shortly after the president reportedly told senate eors they would loo like dopes

i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow. an admission from president trump's son that they were willing to accept russian help. in the summer of 2016, he met with a russian lawyer who claimed to have information close to the campaign. this woman claimed to have dirt on hillary clinton. >> not just donald trump jr. who attended, the president's son-in-law, jared kushner was there as was the campaign chair, paul manafort. all of this coming out as the president is backing away from his idea of a joint task force with the russians to fight russian hacking. it's drawing sharp criticism and sparked a new response from the president himself. the fact that president putin and i discussed it doesn't mean it can't happen, but a cease-fire can and did. what does this all mean? joining us, we are covering the story. susan malveaux is there. susan? >> good morning. there's a strong response inside and outside the white house. this story has been percolating the last 24-48 hours. statements coming from kellyanne conway, a top adviser and

john berman is here to celebrate the preholiday with me. >> all day today and tomorrow. >> fantastic. great to have you. >>> president trump ramping up his personal vendetta against the media. backlash for posting a strange wrestling video of himself attacking cnn. >> despite attacking morning cable hosts the president is still finding time to prepare for this week's g-20 summit in germany. he says he will not bring up the kremlin's interference in the united states election. let's begin our coverage with suzanne malveaux at the white house. good morning, suzanne. >> reporter: good morning, john. it is here where he will be hosting military families on july 4th for the celebrations. but he spent much of the weekend using his bully pulpit not to push forward the republican health care legislation or polishes but rather to ramp up his attacks at the media. >> the fake media is trying to silence us. but we will not let them. >> reporter: president trump escalating his ongoing war against the press, tweeting out this doctored video of himself pummeling a man with an edited cnn logo over h

. >>> good morning, i'm john berman. >> and i'm poppy harlow. this morning two meetings, so many questions and a white house struggling to find traction. president trump summons republican senators to an all hands on deck special lunch to discuss the republicans' failure to repeal and replace obamacare after seven years of those promises, now the president is signaling the fight is not over, he wrote a short time ago "the republicans never discussed how good their health care bill is and it will get even better at lunchtime, the dems scream death as obamacare dies. >> this as new questions loom over a meeting with donald trump jr. and a russian lawyer and a whole lot of other people. one former senator says the eighth participant has a murky history that the russian american ike kaveladze was linked to a money laundering scream. >> cnn has learned ike kaveladze was the eighth person in the meeting at trump tower last summer with donald trump jr., jared kushner, and paul manafort. at first, we were only told that it was those three and the russia

i'm john berman. >> and i'm poppy harlow. as of 9:00 a.m. here on the east coast jeff sessions is still the attorney general and senate republicans have not passed a health care overhaul yet. will that be the case at the end of the show. as the president will say only time will tell. the senate is expected to take up an appeal only proposal. this just hours after lawmakers rejected the republicans most comprehensive plan to repeal and replace. >> this morning the president is on the attack against key votes within his own party targeting lisa merkowski. this is what he wrote. senator lisa merkowski of the great state of alaska really let the republicans and our country down yesterday. too bad. senator merkowski's name now part of the president's growing naughty list that now includes his own attorney general jeff sessions. the president seems to be trying to push him out. this morning sources tell cnn that several white house officials are telling the president 0 back off. let's begin with the health care debate. mj, where are we? >>reporter

i'm john berman in new york. wolf blitzer is off today.rean missile launch has raised the stakings for a possible nuclear crisis. in a cnn exclusive, u.s. officials say the two-stage missile launched by north korea is a brand new weapon that has not been seen before. barbara starr joins me now. what have you learned? >> reporter: what u.s. officials are telling me is they have not seen this missile before. when they initially looked at it after the launch, they thought it was a missile they were familiar with, something called the kn-17 liquid fuel, but after looking at all the data, all the intelligence, they found that it was a two-stage

i'm john berman in today for john king. we begin this busy hour with breaking news.ith donald trump jr.'s meeting last june with a russian lawyer says that others were present besides the group that has widely been reported. the associated press reports that a russian-american lobbyist was there, really not just any russian-american lobbyist. one with a lot of alleged connections. bring in my colleagues with these intriguing details. shimon, who is this exactly and how specific to the inve investigati investigation? >> reporter: we're lived there were other people in this room besides -- this all began with this russian attorney, this woman who was meeting there with trump jr. and manafort and kushner. we've learned there were other people including a russian-american lobbyist, he is from washington, d.c. he told the associated press that he was in the room. he was there on behalf of this russian attorney who she hired him for the sanctions.

so all of that when john berman and i see you at the top of the hour. >> we look forward to that. spying and now sentenced to ten years in prison in iran. princeton identifying him as his tow grad student xiyue wang.university saying he was arrested in iran last summer while doing research in connection with his dissertation. farce news agency saying wang was accused of gathering information and that the ruling can be appealed. iran has a history of arresting foreign nationals and holding closed doors trials. the state department says it's aware of the case but would not go in to specifics. >>> big symbolic rejection of maduro oig by voters in venezuela. 98% of the more than 7 million people who cast their ballots sided with the opposition on president nicolas maduro's plans to form a constitutional assembly without a vote by the people. the vote was organized by the opposition and had no binding result, but was aimed at weakening maduro's legitimacy. opponents see it as a pow fer grab. >>> south korea making a rare proposal for military talks with north korea. the move coming aft

ime john berman. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. u.s. president, donald trump and vladimir putin are about to sit down for their first official meeting. this meeting about to begin any minute. we expect to see pictures of it when it does happen. one of the most anticipated meetings of the year. now, they did shake hands earlier today. you are seeing images of them in a group setting. this may have been the first time the two men ever met, although, president trump, during the campaign, said clearly he met him in the past. he changed that story as the campaign went on and into office. the official white house version is what you are seeing there, is the first time the men ever shook hands. when they sit down to talk, this will be the first discussion they have on conflict in syria and ukraine, trade in europe and asia. domestic politics in the u.s. and russia and spying. very real question about past, present and future intelligence operations by the russians maybe even in the 2016 u.s. election. will president trump bring that up in this

i'm john berman in new york. wolf blitzer is off today. a north korean missile launch has raised the stakings for a possible nuclear crisis. in a cnn exclusive, u.s. officials say the two-stage missile launched by north korea is a brand new weapon that has not been seen before. barbara starr joins me now. what have you learned? >> reporter: what u.s. officials are telling me is they have not seen this missile before. when they initially looked at it after the launch, they thought it was a missile they were familiar with, something called the kn-17 liquid fuel, but after looking at all the data, all the intelligence, they found that it was a two-stage missile, perhaps a deception. they put out the missile that was expected and put out another on top of it. why is that so significant? it's because this is now the configuration that gives the north koreans the eventual capability for that intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit the u.s., are they there yet? no, this is just demonstrating that capability. they will have to make a lot

i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow on the hill, capitol hill that is and on the hot seat. moments ago, senior adviser to the president, jared kushner arrived. he is behind closed doors with senate investigators. they want to know about the meetings he had with russians and russian officials as they investigate the russian meddling in the 2016 investigation. before sitting down with investigators, he offered a lengthy defense, 11 pages, to be exact saying he did not collude and did nothing wrong. he blamed it on a political newcomer. >> the down play of the meeting set up by donald trump jr. and a host of others with connections to russia. that meeting set up to provide dirt from the russian government so said the e-mail on hillary clinton. jared kushner said from his perspective, it was so meaningless, i e-mailed an assistant from the meeting after i had been in there and wrote can you call me on my cell, need excuse to get out. we are going to have more on the 11-page statement. first, i want to go to manu raju. >> we tried to ask him a question. he walked by reporters, w

i'll john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow. no denial from the white house on an explosive new york times report that donald trump jr. knew before he met with a russian lawyer during the campaign there was a, quote, russian government effort behind that meeting. that effort from the russian government was to help his father's campaign with dirt on hillary clinton. how did donald jr. know that? because of an e-mail from this man, a publicist. >> earlier this morning, the russian lawyer who was in that meeting spoke to nbc news. >> translator: it's quite possible maybe they were looking for such information. they wanted it so badly. >> the lawyer for donald trump jr. says this is much ado about nothing. several key officials will speak to them in the coming days. i want to begin with jason carroll at the white house. no denial this e-mail exists. >> reporter: no denial and no sign the stories are going away. senator john mccain, john, weighing in on this this morning calling the report very serious, saying it's just another shoe

john berman joins me. good to have you here. >> good to be here. >>> turning the tide after one of the most turbulent weeks of his presidency. in about 90 minutes, his new chief of staff general kelly will be sworn in. this comes as the president will be face-to-face also this morning with jeff sessions for the first time since the president launched repeated attacks on his attorney general. >>> vladimir putin ordering the u.s. to cut its diplomatic staff in his country by more than h f half, in retaliation for new sanctions. while the president is slamming china for not doing enough about north korea. we're covering all of this for you this morning. let's get to sara murray at the white house. good morning, sara. >> reporter: good morning, john. john kelly is being sworn in here at the white house, followed by a cabinet meeting. the question on the top of everyone's minds is does kelly have what it takes to bring order to what has become a very wild west wing. >> john kelly will do a fantastic job. >> rep

john berman joins me in studio. glat to have you here. hitting the reset button after one of the most chaotic weeks in his presidency. in just a few hours general john kelly will be sworn in. the standoff between president trump and his embattled attorney general will meet face-to-face at a cabinet meeting. >> as far as we know, the first time they spoke since the president started to say out loud he wished he was gone. russia's vladimir putin has ordered the u.s. to cut diplomatic staff by more than half in retaliation for new sanctions, and north korea's latest missile test has president trump intensifying pressure on china to do more to stop that country's nuclear ambitions. want to get with cnn's sara murray live at the white house. >> good morning. it is john kelly's first day in a very big job. he'll be sworn in later this morning followed by a cabinet meeting. the question on top of everyone's minds, can kelly bring order to this wild west wing. >> reporter: president trump turning to retired four star general john kelly, for help