still going further on this issue than most republicans right now, which to anyone familiar with darrell issa is pretty shocking. issa has earned his reputation as a hard-right partisan warrior. coming to national attention for spearheading the recall of democratic governor greg davis in 2013 and during his four-year reign during the house oversight committee, issa launched right-wing conspiracy theories about the obama administration. but if you look at how congress issa's district voted last year, his new found willingness to cross party lines is not quite as surprising. after all, he eked out a win by just over 1600 votes and crucially he's 1 of 23 house republicans whose districts went for hillary clinton. the congressman avoided meeting with his constituents, skipping a town hall planned by voters who wanted to talk about obamacare. he knows he'll be facing a tougher race for re-election next year. joining me now is rick wilson. rick, i thought that moment was fascinating for issa. he's a fascinating figure. i find him actually quite dynamic and compelling in his own way. >> sure. >> thi

darrell issa is responding to that. don't forget, he is a republican and pretty strong conservative republican but also represents increasingly house constituency and narrowly won re-election. he barely survived. in his district, hillary clinton won by a substantial margin. darrell issa is -- i know him quite well. you know, some people think he goes over the line from time to time. he is a very shrewd, very tough guy. i don't think he is likely to be dismissed by other republicans and the fact that he came out and said jeff sessions can't handle this himself is not without political significance because it will make the democrats feel they have more of a case here. >> jake, you're nodding your head. >> no, howard is right. i'll add to what he said. also, i agree with everything he said. he is from a marginal district. he is a very strong, smart guy, who i also know quite well. but he is no longer chairman of the oversight house committee. he doesn't have as much power in the house as he used to. he doesn't particularly

this is darrell issa. someone who has really no tie and no sort of rapport with those foreign policy views or those two men that i know of. this is someone who is looking at the facts as they exist and suggesting a special prosecutor. it's a remarkable development. >> eli, what does the drip, drip, drip of this feel like that? >> well, i mean, you can sense the -- i wouldn't say panic but they're frustrated at the white house. you heard sean spicer say today, i don't know where this goes, if there's nothing more to investigate, what do we do with this? that conditional phrase is interesting, we don't know there's nothing more to investigate. the fbi continues to investigate. the white house would like us to believe that whatever fbi director comey said to reince priebus over the phone about a week ago, that that was a full exoneration and that clears the trump campaign and the white house of any wrongdoing and we don't know that. and the fact that he has enlisted devin nunes, has enlisted senator burr, it

of what's breaking down right now. >> robert, what do you say about how significant it is that darrell issaould say a special request for an independent prosecutor going outside the box of ag sessions needs to be considered? >> i think issa is on to something. look, an investigation is an investigation is an investigation. you have senator mitch mcconnell, republican leader, also saying perhaps we should look into it. we have obviously darrell issa. what i heard from tom cotton is let's not get ahead of our skis. it appears we need an investigation, but let's be thoughtful and methodical about this. i guess the question really is not about an investigation. i think everyone agrees we should look into this. the real question is, what does it look like and what is the scope of this? and i think we need to be very thoughtful about this to make sure that we cross all of our ts and dot out of our is. >> so, marjorie when it comes to discerning a distinction between trump associates and business connections with trying to advance trump organization financial interests around the world to actually

we're back with republican congressman darrell issa.he president had what is widely reported to be tough phone calls with foreign leaders including the prime minister of australia. you've seen all of those reports. we just reported. was it appropriate for president trump to start off his new administration with such a tough phone call with a key u.s. ally? >> well, you know, we always would hope that you can do the best you can when you're ending a deal that shouldn't have happened. president obama in his last days negotiated roughly 1200 refugees from a country that doesn't take refugees for the most part to come here, and i think after the president's controversial or not 90-day stay, it was appropriate for him to say, we're not doing those, call us in 90 days. and i'm sure with the pressure you have in australia to get these people off the islands and out of australia, both were under a lot of pressure. >> but, you know, if the u.s. doesn't live up to that commitment, it will raise questions about america's willingness to honor inter

members like darrell issa are going to need to show their constituents that they are a check on trumpely taking him on. it's not going to be easy. >> david, nunez says i haven't seen any evidence of inappropriate contact between trump folks and officials of russian. but he's still going forward. >> congressman schiff, the senior democratic, said that was a premature way to approach it, that's going out there and saying here is what we think will happen before we have the investigation. clearly there is a split between republicans and democrats as what they see happening down the road with the house committee. in the senate, senator burr are working a little closer on investigating. >> there are problems, though. >> yeah. >> because warner has raise the some questions about whether senator burr should have been communicating with journalists and that -- >> at the request of the white house. >> at the request of the white house and senator collins has raised about it. while that started out as bipartisan i think that is in da danger dissolving. >>> president trump's theory about the osc

california republican darrell issa, member of congress, has now come out publicly saying he believes a special prosecutor is needed when you consider the investigation of russian interference into the 2016 election. and possible ties to the trump campaign. now, congressman issa, who is a friend of the president, supporter of the president, says he just believes that attorney general jeff sessions, also a friend, is just too close to this president and this white house to be the one overseeing that kind of investigation. willie, you also mentioned sort of the twitter duel that has unfolded. the modern way between president trump and the newly elected chairman of the democratic national committee. tom perez was selected yesterday by democrats gathered in atlanta. as head of the republican party, it was president trump who offered congratulations, but he also suggested that he could not be happier for him or the republican party. feint praise in that tweet. and then tom perez fired back saying, call me tom. don't get too happy. i and the democrats are united in the country and will be b

so far, darrell issa's office says no way. no way, he is not going to meet with his constituents next week when he is home in his district. but i think they are going to keep asking. meanwhile, in idaho, idaho, about 50 of senator jim risch's constituents piled into his constituent post office back home in idaho this week. watch this. >> good morning. >> how are you? >> good morning. good morning. >> hi there. >> i hope you guys all fit. good morning. >> we will. >> good morning. >> we're friendly. don't mind us. we'll fit. yeah, there's more of us. we're still coming. senator risch's staffers very politely welcoming those folks and then they politely listened and agreed to pass on the request that senator risch should hold a town hall with his constituents back home in idaho and then they handed over their request in writing and it was signed by over a thousand people. no word yet on whether that idaho town hall will actually take place but all over the country, red states, blue states, everywhere, people are making it known

. >>> one of the president's biggest supporters in congress, congressman darrell issa, is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate russia. >>> also new today, the white house is pushing back on an ap report based on a leaked document which appears to challenge the president's theory behind the travel ban. >>> and as i just mentioned, moments ago at the dnc meeting, one of the leading contenders in the race suddenly dropped out moments before the vote is set to take place. we'll take you live to nbc's alex seitz-wald in atlanta. >> reporter: so mayor pete buttigieg of south bend, indiana, one of the rising stars in the party, he's a 35-year-old navy veteran, rhodes scholar, he just dropped out of the race. he didn't have a ton of support among dnc members but he might have enough to swing it one way or the other between tom perez and keith ellison. however, he decided not to endorse from the stage. talking to aides from the other campaigns, the thought was most of mayor pete, as he likes to be called, his support came from the ellison side of the camp, so this could be very good

one of your republican colleagues, darrell issa from california making news over the weekend thinking he thinks a special prosecutors needs to be appointed to look into this. there is not enough built in to the existing structure. you need to turn to a special prosecutor to the possibility of connections between the trump campaign and russia. russian intelligence. do you agree with your colleague's call? >> i'm not ready to jump that far. i'm waiting for some sound people like one of our congressman from kansas, mike pompeo who is the cia director. when somebody of quality like mike looks into this matter and communicates with congress. then i think we'll start making some reactions, but i don't to want overreact right now. i'm concerned about national security. i'm very concerned about breaches in our security. i think the jury's still out and i want to hold my judgment a little bit longer on that issue. >> i want to ask you about obamacare as well. we can put poll numbers on the screen. nbc/wall street journal poll, what we find here currently asking people, obamacare, good idea, ba

but we do need to know what happened during the elections. >> reporter: tonight darrell issa called an independent investigation critical for transparency. all looming as the president prepares to give his first joint address to congress tomorrow night. lester? >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> the white house revealed that president trump plans to hike defense spending by 10%, or $54 billion. as part of his first budget proposal. and it would put other federal agencies in line to absorb some potentially deep cuts. we get details on this from nbc's hallie jackson. ♪ money money money >> reporter: the president who's talked plenty about his money -- >> i'm really rich. >> reporter: -- now spending the taxpayers' in a new budget blueprint that's as much a political document as a financial one. >> we have to start winning wars again. >> reporter: that means a lot more money on the military, a lot less almost everywhere else. president trump wants to add $54 billion to beef up the pentagon, intelligence agencies, and homeland security. and slash the same amount to agencies like the epa and

darrell issa was in a verylose and contentious re-electi that took place not too long ago.hose voices are being heard. there are at least 36 seats that are at stake in 2018. every american needs to look at their member of congress and hold them accountable and say where do you stand, because this is not about party, this is about the democracy of our country. where do you stand? are you okay with russia having a role or playing a role, a nefarious role in our elections? should it be investigated? should we know the facts of the matter? we've got a president who has not shown his tax returns. we see people within his campaign and now within his administration that has ties to russia. we have a right to save our democracy. the only way that we're going to do that is if we know. i think there's got to be mounting pressure on every member of congress, irrespective of party, to make sure there is the kind of investigation that was done over a period of time and i think that it should be a special commission like the 9/11 commission because that's how serious it is for our democr

here he is. >> should there be a special prosecutor, darrell issa's call for a special prosecutor to look into this? >> my question would be a special prosecutor for what? i think russia's involvement in activity has been investigated up and down so the question becomes at some point, if there's nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate? chairman nunes spoke very clearly today when asked over and over and over again about all of this and said that he has seen nothing that leads him to believe that there's there. >> joining me, robert costa, national political reporter with the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst. greg miller covers the intelligence community for the "washington post." right on this story. simon marks is a chief correspondent with "feature story news." i want to go to robert, i'm watching poor sean spicer on the nanny cam basically being watched every minute by the president. the president clearly wants spicer and priebus to tell top intelligence officials to squash this. there's no secrets. he's trying to shut down any intere

she signs it by name and then below her name there's 200 other people in congressman darrell issa's district full-page ad in his local paper. they end it by inviting others to join them. "would you like to add your time the petition? would you like to call representative issa and ask him to come to the town hall?" they give the phone number so other people can invite their congressman, too. so far, darrell issa's office says no way. there's no way, he is not going to meet with his constituents next week when he is home in his district. but i think they are going to keep asking. meanwhile, in idaho, idaho, about 50 of senator jim risch's constituents piled into his constituent post office back home in idaho this week. watch this. >> good morning. >> how are you? >> good morning. good morning. >> hi there. >> i hope you guys all fit. good morning. >> we will. >> good morning. >> we're friendly. don't mind us. we'll fit. yeah, there's more of us. we're still coming. senator risch's staffers very politely welcoming those folks and then they politely listened and agreed to pass on the request tha

>> reporter: still another issue for the trump white house, california house republican darrell issas a special prosecutor is needed to investigate the russian interference in the election and possible contacts with the trump campaign. darrell issa is a trump supporter but says attorney general jeff sessions is too close to the president to oversee this kind of investigation. jose? kelly o'donnell thank you. the president will lay out his vision when he addresses a joint session of congress on tuesday evening. nbc news will have live coverage at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 pacif pacific. >>> the democrats will chart their future. in atlanta, they elected a new chairman to guide the party forward as the trump presidency unfolds. more tonight from sarah dallof. >>> a great american, mr. tom perez. >>> tonight, a new leader promising a new path forward for democrats. former labor secretary tom perez elected chair of the democratic party. >> we will all be able to say the united democratic party led the resistance, ensured that this president was a one-term president. >> perez was endorsed b

. >> bret: darrell issa, who has led to spending investigations. we are back with the panel.onah, what about all of this? think it seems to be that it is an entirely defensible position to say we should get to the bottom of it. the problem is, it is pretty clear that democrats want this as a political issue. they want to use it to beat up trump. i don't find particularly persuasive the argument from the congressman that says we can pray can reasonably fbi comes to a conclusion on this. if the fbi comes out with something, this is the same fbi, today is monday, i am not sure whether they fbi is popular right now. it seems to me that the fbi has perfectly legitimate role to take point on this. at the same time, we need to figure out what happened. it is a serious issue. >> bret: mara. >> no party want to investigate its own party. that is a given. republicans don't want to say that you have a special prosecutor with the exception of darrell issa, who has some credentials, but he also comes from one of the toughest districts in congress. he is probably thinking about that. he wo

that's unusual. >> if we are hear thag from darrel issa and the white house continues to push, sean spicer reaching out to intelligence officials, top republicans saying we need to swat these russia stories and push them down, what is that telling you? >> issa was defeated for re-election. he's gearing up for a race. he wants to get to the center. individual republicans in congress want to look like they are doing their part without congress creating political problems for the trump administration. i think, you know, when republicans fail to hold the president akountable, it's a matter of self-interest. if you have a special committee and they create headlines about trump and russia, that's not good for any of these pple. i think issa wants to look like he wants an investigation. there had been signs the democrats in the senate were increasingly satisfied with what richard burr is doing before this weekend's story about the phone calls with the white house. so, i think if there's going to be anything in terms of accountability, it comes from the senate, not the house. >> okay, you are talk

darrel issa has called for one. he's the first member of the house republicans who has broken ranks. >> if this gets to the point of a criminal referral by the justice department or to the justice department by the fbi, then yes, i think there absolutely ought to be an independent prosecutor here. but what we need, i think, more than anything else and i think what we have seen in the course of the early stages of this investigation is we need an independent commission. i would love to say that we can fully do this investigation within the house intelligence committee and the senate intelligence committee. in order to do that we're going to need strong bipartisan support, need to be dedicated to following the facts wherever they lead. we're going to need the full cooperation of the fbi and that is a big question mark at this point. i would take more comfort in knowing that there was a fully independent body in doing its work as we're doing our work in intelligence committees. i think that is the single most important

. >> we heard from a key republican member of congress this week, darrell issa who says the attorney general jeff sessions must recuse himself from this russia investigation. let's listen. >> you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions who was on the campaign, and who is an appointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office to take not just to recuse, that's -- you can't just give to it your deputy. that's another political appointee. >> sthat a senior republican congressman. what is your response? >> i think the real easy answer here is that the fbi has already said this store i have b.s. those are their words. i apologize to my mom. literally, those are the words of the fbi. that the story was b.s. they came to us. they approached us. we're putting that story out there. i think the american people deserve to know the truth. and that's exactly what it is. that there's nothing here. just because reporters say something over and over and over again doesn't start to make it true. at some point, we get to a place where we have to move on and

that's contrary to what congressman darrell issa said over the weekend.et's listen to that. >> you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and who was an appointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office to take not just to recuse, you can't just give it to your deputy, that's another political appoint gee. you do have to do that. >> okay, so eli, is that just posturing or is it significant? issa is calling for a special prosecutor for special investigation. nunez is not? >> politics plays into this big time. issa was reelected narrowly and as for nunez, he's the chairman of the house intelligence committee and yet you have to question the independence of that body with him in charge, given that this is the person who the white house who sean spicer the press secretary has enlisted to speech reporters to defend the administration for them. and i talked to nunez because spicer facilitated that conversation on friday, and the interesting thing to me is that nunez and spicer respect' on

so congressman darrell issa i met because he was an exhibiter. i was in my job actually, i was a lawyer then. he was our volunteer chairman, and he served for many years on our board. but even before he came, the basic principle of our organization since 1982 when i first heard at my first board meeting was we must make the ces accessible to anyone with an idea which mean we are doing it for the smallest company. this year we had at least 600 start-ups. we had many more. we had a separate area for start-ups that was subsidized. it's in eureka park, we call it, it was the buzz area of the show, and basically everyone who exhibits they come in with an idea. we tell them don't have a lengthy business plan, get feedback for four days from potential investors, partners, retailers, media, and i promise, you'll have a different idea of what your business is when you leave, and that's what happens. we've had walmart go around and place orders, investors like mark cuban come, and that's what that's about. our show is about innovation. no time in the histo

soutnern california lawmaker darrell issa says it would be improper for attorney general jeff sessions investigation. it's unclear whether issa would have any influence on sessions. issa supported trump during the election. still ahead. two sisters meet for the first time. they learned about each other through social media. the story, after the break. live look outside... san francisco for the weekned... it's the delicious progressive indian fare in san francisco. come out and try popular indian street food. it's all happening at union square from 2 to 3. the event is free to attend. feel a cold sore coming on? only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. it penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells.. don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. abreva. need a fast absorbing try nivea in-shower body lotion. wash. apply. it absorbs fast. for 24 hour moisture. quickly rinse for smoother skin. ready to go! nivea in-shower body lotion. also available with cocoa butter. a heartwarming meeting at the oaklan

. >>> republican congressman darrell issa of california says he wants a special prosecutor to investigatea's alleged involvement in the president election. issa says president trump's attorney general and former surrogate jeff sessions should not lead the investigation. the president has denied that anyone on his campaign team had contact with russian officials before the election. >>> back to our area, declining enrollment and lack of funding could soon shut down some schools in pennsylvania's university system. 14 schools are in the system, four in our area, including cheney, westchester, kutztown and millersville. educational officials san jose they'll hire a consultant to make recommendations which may include closings, but others could involve consolidating degree programs and launching new marketing campaigns. >>> it has been warm enough this week that bears are coming out of their winter hibernation. a family found these five bears in their yard in north jersey just yesterday. they took this video. this is in sussex county. the bears pawed against the tree and several used the trun

we just heard that darrell issa is now calling for a special prosecutor to investigation this. is that likely to happen? >> right now. it's likely not. it's important that a key top republican has broken -- this is someone who went after hillary clinton, as well. you saw republican members of congress get pressure on health nd russia. some republicans now saying donald trump has to release his tax returns. you're seeing the energy bubble up. at this point, it's not reached president trump to buckle and call for a >> tuesday night, int session of congress for the first time. what do you expect to hear? an you exwe might not have a "you lie" moment like we saw up against tal about chamber whoicti this is thal first chance to lay out in more specific detail what he wants to do on obamacare and tax cuts. even though we're now 38 days in, the president hasn't said what he wants on those big issues. >> george, thank you. always a pleasure to chat with you. george has a big show this morning. he'll go one on one with the newly elected dnc chair, tom perez. and ahead of the president's

from the russians in connection with the trump campaign. >> you heard darrell issa say jeff sessions should have to recuse himself from the investigation, so who would lead this? this should come from the justice department and it's difficult when the head of the justice department is so connect ed to the company and has been to loyal to the administration. i don't know who's next in command, but it has to be someone who is not so intimately connected to the success of the presidency. ultimately, it should be session, who handles this responsibility and demonstrates his independence. >> but if he has to recuse himself, the it would seem that would obligate his role in selecting a special prosecutor. will there or should there be reprecussions for the chief of staff reince priebus or the deputy director, mccabe, who who were involved in these decisions when you know, we're seeing it now, many are saying it's inappropriate for the white house to have this kind of conversation with the fbi. >> well, certainly, we want to be caution and learn what happened and have the facts before any k

. >> i got an early surprise hearing ellis say darrell issa playing both sides. of that in all of his time in congress. darrell issa is a great indication of what we are seeing going on in politics in america. this is this kind of unknown that hangs over everything. we will take you through what we will see with the president addressing congress. and we start with the biggest mix up in the academy awards history. how did they get best picture wrong? we think we know now. we will take you through it. hollywood's best get caught up in it. >>> we will take you through the numbers. you know, your partner, dave, christine romans, she loves the numbers. >> she's a smart one. >> how the president wants to cut taxes and cut spending and spend a lot more. does it make sense? we will take you through. >> i love the math, chris. i love the math. >> i was told there would be no math. >> no math in journalism. >>> back channel talks with the united states and north korea on hold after it was announced vx gas was used to kill the brother of the north korean dictator. a bizarre

. >> do you agree with darrell issa that a special prosecutor is needed? >> no. >> why not?justice department over the course of time has shown itself with the professionals that are there to have the ability to investigate these type of things. i just think, jake -- and this is whether you're a republican or a democrat. we've seen it happen on both sides. when a special prosecutor gets involved, the thing gets completely out of control. and i think that doesn't serve anybody's purposes. we have a lot of important problems to deal with in this country. i'm not saying that's not one of them. but i believe the justice department can handle it. >> back with me now, cnn political commentators jack kingston and maria cardona. maria, does chris christie have a point that it only becomes more complicated once there's a special prosecutor, that the justice department can handle it just fine? >> well, it certainly becomes more complicated. but complication is what trump faces when the issue of russia comes up. and that is his problem and his administration's problem right there is th

meanwhile, republican congressman darrell issa is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate thisential trump tie to russia. >> i cannot have a friends of mine jeff sessions who was on my team and an appointee. you're going to have to use a special prosecutor in office, not just to recuse, you can't just give it to your deputy, that's another political appointee. >> we asked the white house to discuss this with us, but the white house declined our office. but we have new jersey governor chris christie. do you think a special prosecutor is needed? >> no, i don't. there are people there who have the ability to investigate these kinds of things. and this is with a republican or a democrat, when a special prosecutor gets involved, you think it's completely out of control. that doesn't serve anybody's purposes, we have a lot of important things to deal with in this country, but i believe the justice department can handle it. >> let's talk about the fact that reince priebus reached out to the fbi to knock down stories about the fact that the fbi was investigating these contacts was not

we'll never know until we get a prosecutor involved says darrell issa. what do you think of that?t a separate unique agency of the attorney general's office. the a.g. actually appoints the individual. that person has unfetterred authority that is akin to the attorney general himself. but here you have a real problem. a lot of this involves classified information, national security data and so forth. which a special prosecutor doesn't have clearance for that. who is better equipped for that? probably the intelligence committees themselves. they do have national security clearance. you know, it's way too early at this juncture, it seems to me, for a special prosecutor to be named. jeff sessions would want to be able to have a conversation with the intelligence chairman and find out what they have and determine for himself and seems to be an honor and honorable man whether it merits a special prosecutor. let's say you get a special prosecutor and you have an indictment. then the problem of a sixth amendment and a public trial, which is a requirement. with all that classified informat

. >> this was darrell issa when he was on bill mar's show last night. this is what he said as it pertains to going forward. >> you cannot have somebody a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who is on the campaign and who's an apopointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutors statute and office to take not just to recuse, can't just give it to your deputy. that's another political appointee. you have to do that. we're going to have to do it -- >> all right, so, jay, do you see potentially what would happen? >> when you've got republicans calling for it, that's a very powerful message. that's really when it's going to happen. especially if there are a lot of, you've heard a lot of unhappiness, a lot of worries from particularly the moderate members of the republican party who face re-election in blue state, saying they have to distance themselves and convince purple state and blue states to reflect them and they believe an independent prosecutor could be helpful in this case. >> here's the danger for the white house. follow the stream where ever

we had darrell issa, top republican, one of the senior members of the judiciary committee speaking abouthether or not the february by is sufficient to investigate what is going on there. let's play the tape what darrell issa said. >> you can not have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions who was on the campaign, who was an appointee. you are will need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office to take, not just to recuse -- david: so isis says you need a special prosecutor. you say? >> that is nonsense. first of all he says use special prosecutor statute. that statute was repealed 10 years ago. there is a regulation in the justice department that allows for the appointment of special counsel to investigate matters if there is a conflict of interest in the department of justice but right now, we don't have any evidence that any crimes have been committed. there is no reason to have a grand jury. the fbi is doing counterintelligence investigations of various intercepts but at this point, according to published reports and everything we know, there is no evidence that anybody, a

here's what congressman darrell issa, who used to chair the house oversight committee, he said this last on "realtime with bill maher." >> we're going to ask the intelligence committees of the house and senate to investigate within the special areas -- >> an independent prosecutor. >> you're right that you can not have somebody, a friends of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and was an appointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office. now, we have to work with them. we don't have to trust them. and we need to investigate their activities and we need tdo it because they are bad people. >> so his comments follow in line with the new nbc news/wall street journal poll on the trump administration's alleged ties with russia. 53% say congress should investigate alleged contact between the russian government and the trump campaign. 54% say congress should investigate russian interference in the election. and 38% feel president trump's relationship with vladimir putin is too friendly. meanwhile the white house is pushing back on an a.p. report based on

darrell issa over the weekend saying there should be a special prosecutor looking into the situation. you are not really hearing much support from other republicans including devin nunez himself who believes it can be done through the house intelligence committee. today he tried to reassure the public that he was moving forward in a deliberative, bipartisan manner. he significantly tried to downplay reports of russian contacts with the trump campaign during the elections, even as his committee has just begun to look into the issue. here is how he described it it to reporters today. >> can you say categorically there were no contacts whatsoever between officials affiliated with the russian government and the trump campaign? >> not that i am aware of. we still have not seen evidence of anyone from the trump campaign or any other campaign, for that matter, that's communicated with the russian government. >> reporter: now, jake, a few hours later adam schiff, the top democrat on the committee, talked to reporters, actually raising concerns about mr. nunez's comments hoping they could disc

darrell issa is even mentioning that possibility right now. certainly they'll have to be a lot more republicans calling for that. and they would have to be some evidence that will be turned up that would maybe push him in that direction. that is not -- we're not there right now. paul ryan, the house speaker, addressed some of this this morning. take a listen to what he had to say about this investigation. >> we have an ongoing investigation. i'm not going to get ahead of that investigation. we've seen no evidence. there was an intelligence communications investigation yesterday. the house republicans have bn doing an investigation on russia itself and we have a bipartisan investigation through the house intelligence committee. i think just last night they finished their oversight plan to go forward. so i'm not going to get ahead of the investigation that's occurring now but just so you know, this has been investigated. we've been investigating it and we'll continue to investigate just to make sure no stone is unturned. >> what you heard there

can't say any of those things about darrell issa. he is in a different category from john mccain and lindsey graham, who have been suspicious of vladimir putin and his efforts in the region. i think this is a game-changer for the white house. and their arguments against darrell issa cannot mimic the attacks on the media and the attacks on their critics. >> does that open the floodgates for the republicans? >> i thought the arguments, they sent out the surrogates on the sunday shows. and they weren't tight in the common sense reasoning for why not. when the public starts to think, just prove you're innocent and let everyone look into it in a bipartisan manner? just prove that you're clean on the question of ties to russia. when it gets easier to make the case for getting to the bottom of it than against, i think the white house is in trouble. >> sean spicer, the white house press secretary, according to an article in politico, is conducting a leak investigation, trying to figure out who in my press office is talking to reporters in a

. >> reporter: republican congressman darrell issa was more blunt. >> we cannot have a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and an appointee. you are going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute in office. >> reporter: commerce mon devin nunes is a strong supporter and rebuffing calls for the house intelligence community to conduct its own investigation. weijia jiang, cbs news the white house. >> president donald trump has repeatedly denied ties between his campaign and russia but reiterated that point again sunday, tweeting that russia talk is fake news. many on social media are talking about the week -- leak from the white house about a crackdown on staffers about leaks to the media. take a listen. andrew triggs" press secretary so when you have to confiscate people's phones? what's next? full body cavity search? o'keefe stephanie rice "dear brave white house staff, america loves you. you are strong and hilarious. keep up the good work." do you think press secretary sean spicer is doing the wrong thing or -- writing or going to for? join the conversation o

there's an investigation, darrell issa on hbo's bill m maher. >> let's go to and let this ply out the way it should. >> reporter: there's a call for an investigation into the special operation raid in yemen which president trump approved last month. it cost the live of navy seal ryan owens. he said his son is owed the investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. stephanie ramos, channel 6 "action news." >> "action news" will have complete coverage of president trump's speech tomorrow night. you can watch it live on 6abc and "action news" anchor monica malpass will be in washington, d.c. for reaction from local lawmakers. >>> sports news, joel embiid fans may not see him on the supreme court this season. his knee injury will keep him out indefinitely. it was too swollen this morning keeping him from practicing. last week, sixers announced ben simmons is out for his injury. >>> the real life struggle for equality that's the story behind a new mini series coming to abc, when we rise airs tonight. >> born and raised in philadelphia. today the harlem globe trotters star came

we just heard that darrell issa is now calling for a special prosecutor to investigation this. is that likely to happen? >> right now. it's likely not. it's interesting that a key top republican has broken -- this is someone who went after hillary clinton, as well. you saw republican members of congress get pressure on health care and russia. some republicans now saying donald trump has to release his tax returns. you're seeing the energy bubble up. at this point, it's not reached a critical mass that would cause president trump to buckle and call for a special prosecutor. >> tuesday night, we'll see president trump speaking to a joint session of congress for the first time. what do you expect to hear? and what do you expect, as we're hearing from some people, heckling? from the democrats in the crowd? >> i'm not sure about overt heckling. we might not have a "you lie" moment like we saw up against president obama. a lot of democrats are talking about bringing guests to the chamber who they say are victims of president trump's policies. refugees. undocumented immigrants and oth

republican congressman darrell issa is also worried about this. >> we will ask the intelligence committeese house and the senate to investigate within the special areas here. >> and independent prosecutor. >> you are right that you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign, and who was an appointee. you need to use the special pros cue or thes statute in office. now, we have to work with them, but we don't have to trust them. we need to investigate the activities and do it, because they are bad people. >> and joining us is jonathan swan, the national political report for axous, and so what do we know here? >> well, we know why they are doing it, but are they making a grave miscalculation? they are doing it because they are desperate. we have got this steady stream of the news about russia connection connections, and they feel it is inaccurate. and the fbi is wink, wink, nod, nod, this is wrong to the white hou house. and of course, if you are a human being in this situation, and someone tells you that story is wrong, you will do whatever you can to defe

. >>> on friday, darrell issa called for a special prosecutor in the case. he appeared to backtrack today saying "i certainly could see where if there is an allegation of a crime at some point the call for a special prosecutor makes sense," then adding "currently we don't have that." this evening his office put out a statement focusing on the obama administration, "right now we have speculation and assumptions but not clarity and fact, including questions about russia's actions, what the fbi knew of the cyber breaches, what the obama administration did in response, and potential actions of former national security adviser michael flynn." he goes on, "president obama and attorney general lynch allowed obstruction to linger, clouding their work and calling into question the impartiality of the fbi's finding," concluding by saying "any review conducted must have the full confidence of the american people, which is why i recommended an independent review. i want the trump administration to be successful, and that starts by embracing transparency." nowhere in the

. >> reporter: republican congressman darrell issa was far more blunt. >> you cannot have somebody, ariend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and who is an appointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office. >> reporter: congressman devin nunez, a strong supporter of president trump is rebuffing calls for a special prosecutor, but says his house intelligence committee will look into the claims. weijia jiang, cbs news, the white house. >> president trump has denied any ties between his campaign and russia. he reiterated that point in a tweet on sunday calling the russia talk fake news. >>> in our bay area watch dozens of east bay residents displayed because of an early -- displaced because of an early morning fire in hayward. at least seven residents had to be rescued from their balconies. no owas seriously hurt. crews are working to restore power to the complex, which is why the residents have been displaced. >>> palo alto's effort to roll out a bike share program for the community could take another turn tonight. the proposed five-year con

. >> i want to ask you about the darrell issa being open to a special prosecutor. what point is it in the best interest of the country to sort of take it away from elected partisans at this point whether it's a commission. i know a select commission, outside commission or a special prosecutor. where are you in this? >> i think that's way, way getting ahead of ourselves here, chuck. there are no allegations of any crime occurring and there's not even indication that there's criminal investigations under way from the fbi as opposed to the investigations of the intelligence bureau. if we get down the road that's a decision that attorney general sessions can make at the time. >> the senators are getting calls on their own. you called during your campaign against mike prior. you called for a special prosecutor for the irs. how does this russia allegation, when does that rise to that level, in your mind? >> i think that's far down the road from what our inquiry might reveal in the intelligence committee and that's something that can be decided down the road and right now

you do have to do that. >> congressman darrell issa followed that up today with a written statement onhy he believes we need a special prosecutor to investigate trump world's connections to russia. "an investigation is not the same as an assertion of specific wrongdoing, it's following the facts where they lead so the american people can know what may or may not have taken place. any review conducted must have the full confidence of the american people which is why i recommended an independent review." the chairman of the house intelligence committee, devin nunes, held an unprecedented press conference today in which he discussed what the committee has been finding in their investigation. >> i don't have any evidence that would -- of he phone calls, that doesn't mean they don't exist, but i don't have that and what i've been told is by many -- by many folks is that there's nothing there. >> axios reported today congressman nunez was one of several government officials including cia director mike pompeo asked by white house press secretary sean spicer to talk to reporters, "to try to di

representative darrell issa of california has called for a special prosecutor to investigate reported communications between russians and the trump campaign. meanwhile president trump rejected reports of his ties to russia in a tweet yesterday he called it fake news put out by the democrats. and played up by the media. joining me in washington d.c. is evan osnos of the new yorker, he and his colleagues analyze russia's relationship with the trump administration in a new cover article titled active measures. and here in new york, julie loffe of the atlantic covers politics and world affairs and focuses on russia. i'm pleased to have both of them on this program. welcome. >> thank you. >> so avenue an, your-- efan, your cover, breat piece, a lot of people glad you wrote it, probably not the trump administration. what surprises you most when you look the the amount of confrontation that you see between united states and russia, in the piece you really unpack what the russians have been up to, particularly in a sim et rick warfare against the u.s. and increasingly the u.s. what coming int