and athena jones cited his tweet of january 2nd. he said, you know, it's not going to happen in reference to north korea's intercontinental nuclear capability. what can he actually do to curtail their nuclear ambitions? >> well, as he goes forward, i mean, this will eventually be a crisis. i don't think tonight was a crisis. this was an intermediate missile, this is not new. tonight is not a crisis. but overall this issue in the next four years will be a crisis. because north korea intends to have a deliverable nuclear weapon. and i think for donald trump, it was actually, this has been a pretty good few days on east asia policy. first of all, very successful visit to korea and japan by his defense secretary and then he had a very successful telephone call with xi jinping. and now, what better way to show support and show solidarity with the japanese people than a north korean test. so i think it has been a good day for the president in terms of the policy coming ahead. and i think it's pretty clear what needs to be done. first of a

also with us, athena jones. start with you, athena, as i understand the president has recently come before cameras. did he say anything in reaction to what we've learned about north korea's missile launch? >> reporter: hi, ana. no, he didn't. but i want you to watch this tape and listen. you'll see exactly how it went down. then we can talk about it on the other side. go ahead and play that. >> reporter: north korea fired a projectile, do you know what happened, can you comment on that? >> reporter: so you can clearly hear that the president heard that question and decided to ignore it. we saw a statement earlier from the white house spokesperson saying "we are aware of the report and are closely monitoring the situation." it's clear they're taking a cautious approach to responding to this. you guys have been talking about some maybe strategic reasons for not overreacting to what was in the end not a long range missile test, maybe more smoke than fire. a cautious approach, very different from what we might have

boris, ana. >> athena jones. swedish government officials show the overall crime rate changed very little over the last ten years. something stockholm had in mind. tweeting this, we look forward to informing the u.s. administration about the immigration and integration policies. with us to help break down the latest from washington and mar-a-lago. we have eugene scott here with us in new york. good morning. >> good morning. >> so we have to ask about trump's comments going into the weekend about sweden. you heard the sound bite earlier. the back and forth twitter war. he acknowledges. we have the tweet. my statement to what is happening in sweden is reference to a story on fox news concerning immigrants and sweden. to be completely clear, he brought sweden up among other terror attacks. brussels, nice, paris. he has clearly an issue here with facts. too many examples to cite. he said things that are untrue. it doesn't hurt his credibility. >> it doesn't. we saw it this weekend that he returned to the campaign tra

i want to bring in athena jones. she's live at what's being called southern white house, that's mar-a-lago. the president just tweeted about this. what did he say? >> reporter: hi, pamela. the president saying my statement as to what's happening in sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on fox news concerning immigrants and sweden. now, i want to play for you this segment that was broadcast on friday night and then we'll talk about it on the other side. let's play that. >> perhaps notation on earth is more committed to accepting foreign migrants and refugees than sweden. 2016 alone the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers. despite having a population of less than 10 million people. only 500 of these migrants were able to get jobs in sweden. if these arrivals are not able to work they can commit crimes. >> reporter: and that segment went on. after that initial part, carlson talked with the filmmaker said the swedish government was covering up all kind of violent crimes that these refugees t

so athena, the kicker here is the white house and the lawmaker. both say there's nothing wrong with this. >> hi, frederica. that's exactly right. of course, others disagree. let's look at the statement that my colleague, senior white house correspondent jim acosta got from the communications director for the house intelligence committee. this is one of the folks the white house reached out to for help in knocking down these reports about contact between trump aides and russian officials. this is what the communications director says. chairman nunez did nothing inappropriate. he made inquiries by "the new york times" and no evidence to support them and told that to multiple supporters and then a white house aide asked if he'd speak to one more. so he spoke to that reporter as well telling the person the the same thing he told other reporters. and so as far as the chairman of the house intelligence committee is is concerned, this was not at all inappropriate. we know the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, chairman richard bird, told some

john and christine. >> athena jones, thank you. the federal judge in seattle will hear from both sides later today. judge james robart wants to know how it will proceed. the department of justice has two options to appeal to the ninth circuit or supreme court or ask for more evidence to the district court to justify the ban on legal merits. a conference with the judges is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. >>> the democrats are raising concerns of a series of sweeping i.c.e. raids. hundreds of immigrants from new york and los angeles and fear is running rampant in the immigrant communities. i.c.e. officials say these raids have been planned for weeks. president trump is tweeting he is keeping a campaign promise to remove gang dealers and drug dealers from the country. >>> new false statements on the issue of alleged voter fraud. steven miller claim people were bussed from massachusetts to new hampshire to vote in the election. there is no evidence of that at all. nevertheless, miller said that is why donald trump did not win new hampshire. >>

boris, ana. >> athena, thank you. it is worth noting the overall crime rate changed very little over the last ten years. something that stockholm had in mind. we look forward to informing the u.s. administration about immigration policies. meantime, holding nothing back in the effort of ending questions home and abroad about the stance toward russia. mike pence telling leaders it will hold russia accountable. this as the white house chief of staff geeoes on the talk shows sunday to talk about the contact last year with russia and the trump campaign. >> top levels of the intelligence community assured me that story is not only inaccurate, but grossly overstated and it was wrong. that story in the new york times is garbage. frankly, they used different words than that. >> it is clear the white house won't get the final say on this. the senate committee suggests it will conduct a deep dive investigation into the trump and russia connection. ryan nobles has more. >> reporter: good morning. this is a significant developmen

fred. >> athena, then there's this. i understand the president is also getting some rather mixed reviews on a new poll. >> reporter: that's right. a new poll out -- i believe we can put those numbers up on the screen. his approval standing in his new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. just 44% approve of the job he is dog. 48% disapprove. so his numbers are underwater on that poll. let's go to the next bit of news from that poll about the news media. the question was, does the news media exaggerate problems? this is interesting. 53% in the poll agreed. 45% disagreed. so i guess you could maybe read that as a little bit of good news. the president might see that as a little bit of good news. he is constantly criticizing the media, and those numbers would suggest that there may be some agreement among the public that the media gets things -- or makes a big deal out of things that they shouldn't. but overall, those approval numbers, not good. those numbers, fred, are aligned with a lot of polls we've seen lately with the

athena i want to turn to russian now back to this topic. you have a committee official who says congress, who is saying that donald trump did nothing improper. tell us what's going on. >> that's right so we've talked about the cnn exclusive reporting from earlier this week that the white house chief of staff, reince priebus, talked with the fbi and asked the fbi to weigh in on the to try to knock down some of these reports about trump aides, trump campaign aides having contacts with russian officials during the campaign. the fbi refused to get involved. so the white house reached out to others, among them, the chairman of the house intelligence committee. that's chairman devin nunez. we have a statement from the communications adviser to the intelligence committee. i want to read what it says. it says chairman nunez did nothing inappropriate. he made inquiries into the allegations published by "the new york times" and couldn't find evidence to support them. so he told that to multiple reporters. and then a white house aide asked if he would

athena jones is traveling with the president in palm beach, florida.ena, we know that one of his top advisers was more than just hinting but really delivering the message that all options are on the table, and they're going to continue moving forward on this travel ban. >> hi fred. that's right, the big question is, what is going to happen next? they're discussing all options. it's very clear that the president believes as he told us on the flight down here on friday, that his administration would ultimately win out on any court battle but also made the argument there is a sense of urgency here because he believes he feels the nation's security is at stake. it's clear they'd like to take some actions rather quickly, sooner rather than later certainly, but just what those actions will be is still being worked out. let's go ahead and listen to what the president's senior policy adviser, steven miller, had to say on fox news sunday, and then we'll talk about it on the other side. let's play that. >> we're considering all options, seeking an emergency stay

athena jones is at the white house with more. athena, they're taking away guidance, they didn't write new guidance. but also the division within the president's own cabinet on this one. >> reporter: hi, poppy, that's right. sources tell cnn the education secretary, betsy devos, was not originally on board with this new guidance, you're right, it's a new letter that basically rescinds another "dear colleague" issued by the obama administration last may without ruling on whether they believe the law applies here. so here's the deal. we're told from some sources that the education secretary brought her concerns about this issue to the attorney general jeff sessions. she was concerned that this new guidance runs counter to promises to protect all students. she was summoned to the white house for a meeting with sessions who was an early endorser and supporter of candidate trump. she had a meeting with the president and with sessions and was told to get on board. but she did push for language to keep students protected. it says, "presi

i'm wondering, athena, we know that the prime minister from japan is visiting.ident getting ready to have some dinner, i understand. have you noticed anything changing where you are in terms of a scramble, in terms of the team there to react? >> ana, we're no longer near the estate, but i can tell you about the press pool that is at the estate, that is at mar-a-lago. they are reporting that they are going to try to ask the president to respond to this news. i have been reaching out to white house sources, also reaching out to japanese sources to get any sort of response, to learn anything about whether either leader has been briefed about this news, whether the national security adviser, michael flynn, has been briefed, what they might say, and so we're hoping that the press pool gets an opportunity some time in the next few minutes to get some sort of response from the white house. it's unclear if they are still monitoring the situation, as the folks are at the pentagon or the state department or if they were caught flat footed. we do know, as i believe you guy

cnn's athena jones joins me from the white house. athena, the governors are expecting a replacement plan from the president. will there be specifics? >> reporter: hi, fred. that is the big question. we're not getting a lot of indications that the specifics have been worked out. we know what is one of the president's main campaign promises and i don't think a big speech has gone by that he hasn't mentioned the need to repeal and replace obamacare. of course this has been a main goal of republicans on capitol hill for several years now, and house republicans voted more than 50 times to repeal and replace the law. but the big question right now is what exactly to replace it with. this is both a big priority for this white house and also a big challenge. take a listen to deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders talking about what the administration hopes to do. >> i know that the goal is that we make sure that people don't lose their coverage and that we have to put a high priority on the people that need it most. we have to lower c

cnn's athena jones. what's happening there? >> reporter: hi, fred. we just got a note from the press pool the two leaders wrapped up their round of golf at trump international at jupiter and headed to another activity. we know a few details about four hour round. the two were riding together in the same golf cart. ereny els, the south african pro golfer part of their group and he was making a make america great again hat part of establishing a strong personal relationship between the two leaders, president trump and prime minister abe, important to the japanese prime minister. that's why he was the first foreign head of state to visit with president-elect trump in november soon after he won the election but also made news on the trip down here, on air force one when he came back to the press cabin to show his wife, first lady melania trump, it was her first flight on air force. i asked about the immigration ban and these new security measures he's promising. he said he was certain that the administration would ultimately win any court battle but that

white house correspondent athena jones joining me now. so, athena, do we know what the president was referring to specifically and what is the white house saying about the comments now coming from sweden? >> hi, fred. well, it's still unclear what the president was referring to yesterday when he talked about what happened in sweden on friday night. the white house so far offering no clarification, but you can see that that comment raised a lot of eyebrows. a lot of people were watching that rally yesterday, not just here in america but around the world. i can tell you i got a lot of questions on social media about what he may have been referring to. we know that the president likes to watch cable news, and we also know that he especially likes fox news. so it is certainly possible that he saw this segment and that that is what led him, the segment we're about to play, and that is what led him to make these remarks. his larger point being that sweden has had a liberal policy on accepting syrian refugees. he believes that's a bad idea. let'

i want to begin with white house correspondent athena jones. the president seems like he's ready to talk health care, but are we going to get specifics? >> reporter: i'm not sure we're going to get any specifics from the president tonight. we'll wait and see what we hear. but we do know this is one of his main campaign promises, repealing and replacing obama care that covers everybody at less cost. this is a huge priority for him, a huge priority for other republicans on capitol hill. but it's also a huge challenge. we're seeing in districts across the country where members of congress are being confronted by con stitch wents about being fearful of losing their health care. governor john kasich who actually met with president trump and talked about health care, talked about those town halls and the impact they're having on face the nation on cbs this morning. >> i don't understand everything that's going on with these town halls, but what i think is's having an impact on, hey, people are watching. i don't think they mind reform, but don't take

athena jones joins us from the white house. athena, it seems like the president is ready to talk health care, but does that mean he's ready to give specifics? >> reporter: that's the big question, it's not at all clear that the white house is prepared to off specifics. we're seeing ideas proposed on capitol hill. but this has been a huge goal for republicans for years now. this was one of the president's main campaign promises, the idea of repealing and replacing obama care. he promises a terrific plan that would cover everybody at less cost, but wanting to do these things and succeeding in doing these things are two very different things that's proving to be a big challenge. we're see iing -- people tellin emotional stories, ohio governor john kasich who, by the way met with the president here on friday and talked about obamacare and this whole plan, he talked about those town halls on cbs's "face the nation" this morning. take a listen. >> look, i don't understand everything that's going on with these town halls, but i think

athena, what more are you learning about the president's next move on this issue? >> reporter: hi, ana. this is interesting. there's been a lot of speculation about what the administration would do to continue to try to enforce this ban through the courts, but the president when he came back to the press cabin on the flight down here on air force one yesterday, he was ouring the first lady around because it was the first time melania trump was riding on air force one but he came back, asked a bunch of questions. i asked him about the immigration ban. he stressed that he thought the administration would ultimately be successful in any court fight, but that it could take a while, so they're discussing a lot of other options. take a listen to what else he had to say. >> the unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily. but we'll win that battle. but we've got other options including filing a brand new order. could very well be. but i like to surprise you. we need speed for reasons of security, so it could very well be that we do that. >> reporter: so i don't kno

so athena, the kicker here is the white house and the lawmaker.ing wrong with this. >> hi, frederica. that's exactly right. of course, others disagree. let's look at the statement that my colleague, senior white house correspondent jim acosta got from the communications director for the house intelligence committee. this is one of the folks the white housech

athena, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. busy weekend at mar-a-lago, but took a break between meetings and golf outings to have that campaign rally in melbourne, florida. it was those off-hand remarks about sweden that left a whole lot of people confused

>> we'll get back to you, david chalian and athena jones as well. and, jake, he makes an excellent point. this person who is about to be nominated to become secretary of labor, the vetting process must have been going on for weeks presumably. it takes awhile to get someone ready for this. they must have had somebody in the wings. >> keep in mind also and we'll talk about this with our panel, but when they come up with their picks for these various cabinet positions, it's often they have a list of three or four more individuals and there might be vetting on several of them before president trump ultimately makes his pick. in addition, the puzder nomination has been in trouble for quite some time. he a few weeks ago was talking about not even wanting to go through the confirmation process and there were rumblings about that. in addition, last week or the last week before when two republicans came out, including johnny isakson who is not one who normally expresses concern about republican cabinet nominees. johnny isakson talking about how he was waitin

let's begin with athena jones who joins us

let's begin with our white house correspondent athena jones. athena, official there deny judge gorsuch's remarks, even though the aide they appointed to help him get confirmed have actually confirmed those remarks. >> hi, wolf. that's right. another day, another argument over facts. the white house disputing the idea or the facts that supreme court nominee neil gorsuch called the president's tweets about federal judges disheartening and demoralizing. supreme court nominee neil gorsuch meeting with senators who will decide his fate and avoiding questions about president trump. this after senators from both parties say gorsuch told them in private that he found the president's remarks criticizing the federal judges handling a challenge to the administration's immigration ban demoralizing and disheartening. >> there's no question that judge gorsuch said to me that he found these attacks on the judiciary by the president to be disheartening and demoralizing. >> today, meeting with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss the nomination to the high

cnn's athena jones is following the president. athena, can we expect to see classic campaign trump today? >> hi, pamela, i would say absolutely. the answer is yes. we know that campaign rallies are where the president has felt most comfortable. these are events that energize him. his goal so to get around the media filter. he doesn't want to be edited or contexturalized. he wants to speak directly to his fans, his crowd. we expect to hear a lot of the kind of rhetoric we heard on the campaign trail. we'll be talking about repealing and replacing obamacare, the need to build a wall on the southern border. we expect he could go through the list we heard him detail at thursday's press conference, the accomplishments he feels he's achieved in his first four weeks in office. something we know the president is very much looking forward to. and as you mentioned, the white house is describing this as a campaign rally. the campaign is paying for it and we should note that he filed a form with the federal election commission on inauguration

white house correspondent athena jones has more. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine.other busy week ahead anchored by the first speech to the joint session of congress tomorrow night. he kicks off today with a series of meetings at the white house with governors and also meet with health insurers. a topic is obamacare. the president talked about obamacare in the brief remarks to governors at the gala here last night. take a listen to what he had to say. >> obamacare has had tremendous problems. i won't say in front of the democrat. we will repeal and replace. you will see something very special. >> reporter: you heard the president promising something special when it comes to repealing and replacing obamacare. the details of replacement plan are still being ironed out. also expected today, the president will layout his budget priorities. the president will call for a substantial increase in military spending in the budget and call for cuts to several federal agencies, including the environmental protection agency. back to you. >> athena, thank you. >>> expect presiden

>> athena, obviously the focus has been on the travel ban rece recently. but president trump has been juggling a lot of different things, including hosting japanese prime minister shinzo abe at his florida resort this weekend. what have they been up to today? >> it's been a busy day, a day of golf diplomacy. the president and prime minister spent about four hours on the links at the trump national golf club in jupiter. we know from a source that the two shared the golf cart together. that a south african pro golfer, ernie els was part of the group. we know the president was wearing a white make america great again hat. he tweeted a picture of himself high-fiving the japanese prime minister. after that golf outing the pair headed to a second trump national golf course this one in west palm beach for a somewhat mysterious couple of hours. the white house isn't saying what they were doing there. the presumption is they were having lump. we're still awading word on that. but the next thing up on the schedule for the pair of them is going to be delegation dinne

>> athena jones, thank you so much.ppreciate it. >>> and still to come right here in the newsroom, vice president pence weighed in on the relationship between russia and the u.s. on a trip to munich. his direct message to president putin. you are live in the "cnn newsroom." we'll be right back. that's why she takes the time to season her turkey to perfection, and make stuffing from scratch. so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor. i love the smell of napalm in the morning. no, this is double espresso. hodor! hodor! ehhh, hodor. you guys watch game of thrones, right? inconceivable! surely, you can't be serious. i am serious. and don't call me shirley? that's the unlimited effect. stream your entertainment and more with unlimited data when you switch to at&t wireless and have directv. plus, get the amazing new iphone 7 on us. that's your underwearstrong, dude.cleaner. so clean...keeps you could wear them a second day. charmin ultra strong. it's 4 times stronger, and you can

cnn's athena jones is joining me now from the white house north lawn.athena, they're very clear about this. they feel like they did nothing wrong. they say that there was nothing inappropriate with these inquiries. >> hi, brianna, that's right. the white house insisting that this was not inappropriate for the chief of staff, reince priebus, to talk to the fbi, to ask the fbi to knock down these reports about contacts between trump campaign aides and russian officials during the campaign. and they maintain that it was the fbi who started that conversation in the first place. white house press secretary sean spicer saying, we didn't try to knock the story down. we asked them to tell the truth. of course, the fbi declined and now we're learning, as you mentioned, that the white house -- we already knew they asked other agencies, but they also asked folks on capitol hill, including house intelligence committee chairman, devon nunez, here is the statement from nunez. he did end up talking to reporters about this story. here is the statement from the communic

athena, thank you so much. we'll keep our eye on the white house. this important meeting with an american ally is set against a strange backdrop, the president's campaign past now causing problems in his present her for more on this new reporting about this constant contact with russian intelligence, former chief of russia operations for the cia, steve hall, is here. also former cia operative bob baer is here as well. bob, we still do not know the contents of those conversation. we may never know. but if it was constant contact, which is where the cnn reporting stands, would that raise suspicion in your mind? >> oh, absolutely. they're identifying russian intelligence officers. they know the names. the russians target the united states. they would target the trump campaign. and there's no conceivable reason these aides would be in touch with russian intelligence. there's just none at all. this raises a counterintelligence red flag. and as for the conversations, the content, we simply don't know where the national security agency has recordings of th

cnn correspondent athena jones is at the white house, and athena, the white house is being very clearthink they did nothing wrong here. that they were just inquiring about whether this opinion that officials may have had over at the fbi, was something that could have been put out there publicly. as the fbi responded. what's the white house saying? >> they maintain that there was nothing inappropriate about these conversations. that the chief of staff, reince priebus had, with the deputy director of the fbi. they maintain that it was the deputy director, andrew mccabe, who initiated this conversation in the first place. the white house press secretary sean spicer said we didn't try to knock the story down. we asked them to tell the truth. and senior administration officials have denied the white house was attempting to exert pressure on the fbi. insisting that the white house wasn't, they weren't discussing the pending investigation, but rather a news story. of course the news story, that ongoing investigation. i should tell you, that a source close to trump told my colleague here last

he have is not vacationing in his vacation home. >> thank you, athena. >> u.s. foreign policy, great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> i want to look at some of the comments that the u.s. president made during the press conference. he berated journalist. the sort of people that said that phrase were dictators how do you think that resonate was people? >> obviously, it divides people. before going down that road, dictatorship, i want to keep focus on the point here. he throws of deflection. he didn't want to be held to account for the details of what might have happened around his ties and mike flynn. he coherent on policy so this is default tactic. this can go on and on without thinking he is a dictator. >> some critics suggested it could have been a distraction from the bigger issue, the questions we will continue to ask with the trump transition team. that news conference in the united states many americans reviewed it one way others reviewed it another way. i want to ask you about the vice president of the united states in europe at this hour speaking wit

let's begin this morning with athena jones live in west palm beach florida.ing. >> good morning, the president had a busy weekend but

athena jones is traveling with the president in palm beach, florida. president has a lot of options on what he may ultimately do? >> reporter: it looks as though they're looking at a lot of different options, the president did talk about issuing a new order as early as tomorrow or maybe tuesday, he did not commit to that time frame. it's clear his aides are working on a couple of different approaches, the president does believe he will ultimately be successful in defending this travel ban in court, he feels the nation's security is at stake, the big question is what among these many options does the white house do. let's listen to some of what the president's senior policy advisor steven miller had to say about all this on fox news sunday. >> right now we are considering and pursuing all options, those options include seeking an emergency stay at the supreme court, continuing the appeal at the panel, having an emergency hearing on bonk or going to a trial on the district level on the merits. they also mentioned the possibility of new executive actions

cnn's athena jones has more now on the white house reaction. >> reporter: hi there. that's right. we did hear brief stams from japanese prime minister shinzo abe and an even briefer statement i should say from president trump here tonight at mar-a-lago, the president's estate here in palm beach. shinzo abe, the prime minister of japan saying north korea's most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable. saying north korea must fully comply with the relevant u.n. security council resolutions. that second line there is an echo of a line from the joint statement put out by the u.s. and japan after the two leaders prime minister abe and president trump had their first official meeting at the white house in that statement, they turg north korea not to make any further provocative actions or not to take any further provocative actions and talks about the need for it to comply with u.n. security council resolutions. you heard the prime minister echoing that call tonight. he also said ta during the summit with president trump, trump assured him that the united states will always come

. >> we are going to get more from athena jones in melbourne, florida. where it was like a flashback to campaign 2016. it was an extension, paid for by the campaign. the white house described it as a campaign rally, asked why he was doing a campaign event so early in his presidency, the president told reporters, life is a campaign, making our country great again is a campaign. what was interesting here was that here you had the president repeating a lot of the same rhetoric we heard on the campaign trail, a lot of the same arguments we heard a few days ago at that epic conference on thursday laying out some what he views as his administration's great accomplishments. he falked about the five-year ban on lob big and this travel ban and the need to keep america safe. it is not unusual to see a president go out on the road early in his press dwenidency t something. president trump wasn't pushing one specific policy like the stimulus package in 2009 when president barack obama first took office. he did try to sell one thing. he tried to urge democrats on cap

athena jones has more on the names in the mix. >> the president spending a third consecutive weekend here in palm beach. a senior administration official says it's going to be a working weekend. all kicking off with the rally on saturday afternoon at the orlando international airport. it's going to be a campaign-style rally, according to the white house, paid for by his campaign and something aimed at getting around the media filter that we have heard the president talk so much about and being able to talk directly to the people. he's also going to spend some time meeting with potential replacements for his now former national security adviser michael flynn. he's slated to meet with former ambassador to the united nations john bolton. also with lieutenant general mcmaster and with the acting national security adviser keith kellog, who was a retired lieutenant general. the top aids are also down here in florida with him for the weekend. they will be joined by the newly confirmed office of management and budget director mulvaney and also by tom price to talk about next steps when it co

let's begin with athena jones who joins us at mar-a-lago where the president sbent the weekend. good morning to you. what is the president saying he was referring to? how is he explaining this. >> reporter: you're right. that remark left a lot of people confused, it blew up on social media, asking what is he talking about. the white house says he was talking about a report he had seen, the president clarifying on twitter yesterday afternoon, sunday afternoon saying he had been watching a report on fox that aired on friday night. let's go ahead and play part of that and talk about it on the other side. >> an absolute surge in gun violence and rape in sweden once they began that open door policy. they know the crime has happened, the statistics are clear. they would refer to what is the root cause behind it and say, oh, it happens to be more violence, men raping people, not the refugees. they'll make excuses for it. the majority of the population in sweden still want an open door policy. it's confounding. >> reporter: now sweden takes issue with what was said in that report, this

>> so athena after the president tweeted see you in court, it's possible the trump administration may not appeal this decision? >> that's right. as you know, covering any white house is a team effort. my colleagues back at white house, jeff zeleny and jim acosta are reporting that administration is keeping options open. talked to official who said reviewing options in the court system and confident we'll prevail on the merits of the case but doesn't appear that's going to happen quickly. and more news on that front today. heard from the ninth circuit court of appeals that gave the ruling last night, that halted this immigration ban. they have asked for both parties to file briefs by next thursday to discuss whether they want to have this case reheard en banc, by a larger number of members of the court. it's not at all clear that majority of the 25 active judges on that court will agree to rehear the case but yet another wrinkle and question mark about the next steps legally speaking in the court for this executive order, this travel ban. >> indeed. evan perez you've been reporting on

athena jones joins us now from the white house with more on this. hr mcmaster was just appointed monday and he's already i guess appreciating himself with the president on certain things. >> that's right. the it's year use of the term radical islamic sterz. terrorism. security adviser does not agree with the president on the term. let's listen to what trump had to say yesterday at cpac, the gathering take iing place outsi of washington and we'll talk about what his new national security adviser says. >> so, let me say this as clearly as i can. we are going to keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. >> now, that line can be heard from the president yesterday is exactly what he said a week ago today at that campaign rally in melbourne. it's a phrase he used repeatedly in the campaign and not just president trump, but a lot of other republicans like the senator, ted cruz from texas. lieutenant general hr mcmaster say that is jihadist terrorists aren't true to their religion and that use of the term isn't help fful for u.s. goals of

our white house correspondent, athena jones as more on that. >> reporter: the president's comments at the rally on saturday suggesting there may have been some sort of terror incident in sweden on friday night left a lot of people all around the world scratching their heads. the president later sunday tweeting that he was referring to a fox news report that aired on friday night. here's some of what that report had to say. >> perhaps no one on earth is more accepted to. 2016 alone the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers despite having a population of less than 10 million people. only 500 migrants got jobs. >> that segment went onto include an interview who said the swedish government was covering up violent crimes supposedly being covered up by refugees. we have no way to back that up. the president is an avid watcher of cable news, but this lack of precision, the fact he said something that made it sound like he was talking about a terror incident, left a lot of people scratching their heads. the former swedish prime minister took to twitter to say sweden, terror attack

i want to bring in athena jones. . you were at the president's rally last night. was it clear at the time he was referring to a fox news report? >> no, it wasn't at all clear at the time. in fact, as soon as he said that comment about something happening last night in sweden, a lot of us were scratching our heads. people around the world viewing this rally were scratching their heads. . i got a lot of questions about it on social media. people were confused. let's play that report that the president says he saw that led to that comment and then we'll talk about it on the other side. that report from fox. >> no nation on earth is more committed to accepting foreign migrants than sweden. 2016 awe loan the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers. only 500 of these migrants were able to get jobs in sweden. if these arrivals aren't able to work, they are able to commit crimes. >> that segment within the on to inan interview with a film maker who accused the government of trying to cover up a lot of violent crimes that were supposedly committed by refugees. we

athena jones is live from florida. take a step back in time, get in the time kapsule, just a month ago all watching this down in d.c. quite a month it's been. dance with his wife. what is happening tonight? >> reporter: it has been quite a month don. really hard to believe it's only four weeks. should be measuring time in dog years because so much can happen any given day. and lot of what has happened not good news for the president. press conference yesterday, rally tomorrow is seen as something of a way to reset things for the president. on the way down here to mar-a-largo, he made a stop in south carolina, toured a boeing factory. here is part of what he had to say in that visit. >> when american workers win, america as a country wins, big league wins. that's my message here today. america is going to start winning again, winning like never ever before. >> reporter: so by now -- that's by now familiar rhetoric, the words and rhetoric from the campaign trail and very much what we expect to hear from the president tom

athena jones joining me from the white house. athe athena, are the governors

athena jones is near mar-a-lago where the president is is spending the weekend. you were u at the rally last night where the president made these comments. was it clear he was referring to a fox news report? >> hi, no, it was not at all clear that he was refer tog a news report of any kind. he seemed to be referring to a terror incident that took place in sweden on friday night. let's just play what he had to say and then you can decide what it sounds like he was trying to talk about. let's play that. >> you look at what's happening in germany. you look at what's happening last night in sweden. sweden. who would believe this? swede p. they took in large numbers. they've having problems like they never thought possible. >> and so, he grouped sweden in with other countries where there have been terror attacks. there of course has not been a major terror attack in sweden. the president later clarifying that he was referring to a report he saw friday night, a report on fox news, here is that segment that aired on friday night. go ahead and play that. we'll talk ab it

athena jones, set the stage for us. >> reporter: hi, very loud here. if i have problems hearing. i got to tell you, this rally is something the president is very much looking to and all about getting around the media facilitifilter and speaking directly to the people, his fans. the rally is a place he's been very comfortable. something that's energized him on the campaign trail and that's why he was looking toward to today and if you combine today's rally with that press conference on thursday, this is something of a chance for a reset for the president and for the white house. he's facing sagging approval numbers. i believe the latest ratings we can put up on the screen show he is underwater. more people disapproving. that's 55% of the job he's doing as president than approving. that approval number at 40%. this rally is coming at a time when the president is hoping to be able to reset and show his followers that everything is fine at the white house. so we expect him to highlight what he views as his administration's accomplishments over the course o

athena jones, thank you so much, in florida. i appreciate it. >>> we're also following new developments on the senate's russia investigation. the u.s. senate intelligence committee has sent letters to agencies, organizations and individuals to preserve records related to that investigation. manu raju is on the phone with us and elise labott is joining us from washington. manu, who's on the receiving end of these letters? >> well, it's the trump administration broadly. the intelligence committee is not specifying exactly what individuals have received this letter. of course they operate in secrecy. they do these types of investigations in a classified setting behind closed doors. but what we do know, fred, is this is an expanding investigation into russia's meddling in the elections as well as contacts that may have occurred between people involved in the political campaign and people close to the russian government or part of the russian government. as we know from our own cnn's reporting as well as reporting from "the new york

athena, thank you very much. keith boykin, and nia-malika henderson, our senior political reporter. kayleigh, i'm sure "the washington post" is shocked and happy to be left off of that tweet. in all seriousness, he's had a great day. chaos and turmoil, true headlines. but the headlines about the stock market and the economy are also true. a big moment at boeing. has this and then he goes off on twitter about the fake news media and, you know, had to drop the word sick which i'm sure was heartbreaking for him because he had to add in more news organizations. skeersly, why not capitalize on the fact that he had a good day at boeing? he looked presidential. everything was going his way. >> sure. he's an equal opportunity employer including more news organizes. it's a personal attack on the media. i think the public at large views the media with suspicion. i think when he attacks the media he highlights the coverage, encourages viewers to view the media and their coverage with discerning eye particularly when there a

athena jones was traveling with the president on that plane, live in palm beach, florida where he is spending the weekend at mar-a-lago. he came and spoke to you, what did he say? >> reporter: that's right, just a few minute into the flight after taking off from andrews air force base, the president and first lady melania came to the front of the plane to talk to us. i asked him about the travel ban and those new security measures he said would be coming, here's what he had to say. >> we'll win that battle. the unfortunate part is that it will take some time, we'll win that battle. but there's also other options including filing a brand-new one on monday. we need speed for reasons of security, so it could very well be that we do that. >> reporter: and so to be clear there, he was reiterating this idea that he believes that the government will ultimately win the fight over this immigration ban, despite the ninth circuit's ruling, he said that could take a while, so what he might do instead is file a brand-new order, he said, as soon as monday or tuesday. he was asking, is that the pla

let's bring in our white house correspondent athena jones. reporters went in expecting new cabinet announcement but the president gave them a whole lot more. >> boy, did he, wolf. this remarkable news conference did begin with that announcement that florida international law school dean, alex acosta would be the new pick to head the labor department. but it then went on for one hour, 15 minutes. it was classic trump. >> reporter: reminiscent of his tussles with reporters. he denied contacts with russian officials or himself and russia. >> speaking for myself, i own nothing in russia, i have no loans in russia, i don't have any deals in russia. >> reporter: in his first full-scale session with white house reporters, the president insisting amidst a flurry of top headlines there is no turmoil within his administration. >> this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. >> reporter: repeating bashing his favorite target, the media. >> i'm really not a bad person, by the way, but the tone is such -- i do get good ratings. the press is o

athena jones joins me live from palm beach.trump will hold a rally, campaign style very much. do we know what his message is? >> reporter: hi, jim. this is interesting. the white house hasn't previewed any specific policy proposals they expect the president to tout tomorrow and said they are focusing on this idea he wants to be back with the people. he relishes being on the stage. this is a part of the whole campaigning, that he really clearly enjoyed, and he wants to get around the filter of the media. that's why he had that long free wheeling press conference yesterday and why he's having the rally tomorrow. so, i expect we'll hear a lot of the same things we've been heer hearing from him the last year and a half. repealing and replacing obamacare, the border wall along mexico, talking about getting rid of regulation and like so a lot of the same campaign talking points we've been hearing. he of course did not run on specific intricate policy details. it is noteworthy he isn't selling something here, a specific policy, it's n