david axelrod, this is a significant moment here.esident need to have a private conversation with just james comey and no other presidential aides present? >> look, i think there are a lot of things about this story that if you were a defender of the president you would say, well, look, comey told him that he wasn't the subject of an investigation, he wanted to get it out, this was an obsession of his because he thought it was hanging over his presidency, the thing that is very hard to explain is flynn. we know president obama told him that flynn, that he ought to reconsider flynn. we know that the acting attorney general came to the white house to report that flynn had lied and that the vice president had repeated that lie. and it took 18 days for the white house to act, or even apparently tell the vice president why, and now this meeting with flynn where he clears out the room, and obviously it's highly improper to clear the room out of the attorney general and others, and have this conversation, what is it about mike flynn that ca

david axelrod, you said obamacare passed, quote, because of the sustained personal commitment of the president to the cause, the details and the process. do you see that from president trump sharing that commitment to getting a republican version of health care bill passed? because he certainly ran o it, he has been making calls about it. is that enough? >> no. look, i don't think that president trump has the personal investment in this issue or the knowledge of the issue that barack obama did. he -- president obama listened to all the details of this law. when he spoke to lawmakers about it, he understood it in intimate detail. for president trump, this is important to get a win and what isn't clear is whether he understands what a win is or what it would look like. and that makes his involvement difficult because he doesn't quite know where to go with this. i thought it was interesting to hear jeff talk about the fact that some of these moderates are hoping that he can impose on other republicans this bill with more heart. this is sort of what happened in the house. they had to rol

david axelrod, what do you believe?be a mistake for the president to even try to block director comey from testifying? >> huge. you know, you presentationed two options to mark. the third is the worst which is you -- you try and block him. the courts say you can't block him, and then you get the worst of both worlds. look, this story is a blazing inferno because the white house and the president have laid log after log after log on the fire. this would be another huge log that would create suspicion. i had senator tom cotton, a republican on that senate intelligence committee at the universities of chicago institute of politics and i asked him whether he thought the president should invoke executive privilege and he said, no. if you don't have anything to hide, the best thing for for you is to get all the facts out at quickly as possible, and we'll see if the president does that. one last note on that. it was clear from senator cotton and others that i've spoken to that the republicans are very much preparing for comey'

back now with david gergen and david axelrod and robby mook.oblem is roger stone for the trump administration when it comes to this investigation? because he says, look, he can explain it all and there was nothing there? >> i think he could be in very deep trouble. if any of the statements, and, as you said multiple times, he claimed the contact through julian assange, he predicted that john podesta would be in the barrel way back in august. if those statements are true, if what he was saying at that time is true, he's in very big trouble and the trump campaign is in very big trouble. so i'm frankly surprised that he is willing to testify. if his story is different than the story he was repeatedly telling before the lelection whn he maybe didn't take this very seriously or any conversations with wikileaks very seriously, his credibility is going to be up in the air, and that's going to urge investigators to look even more closely at this. >> david gergen, how do you see his testimony in. >> i think it's going to be very important. he gave every

. >> david axelrod, what do you make of trump calling this situation a cloud.hat on himself? >> there's no question about it. even this week, not just on this investigation, but in other ways, he keeps digging holes for himself. but i agree with van in that, you know, he seems obsessed with the salacious element of this report, but i think that if you're told by the fbi director and you want to interpret it more broadly than he means it, that you're not under investigation and the impression is that you are, you know, your frustration is why can't you just say i'm not? i think that that is shot through this. the flynn stuff is different. clearing the room out, asking for him to go easy on a guy, in he did for flynn, including se - delaying his firing for 18 days after discovering he had lied, all of that is suspicious, but it's not unreasonable for him to say, i want to get this behind me. i want you to say i'm not under investigation, so i can move on with what i want to do. >> the ethics of the -- you said this is the equivalent ofs nixon tapes. do you agree?

. >> david axelrod, there are a bunch of republicans, more moderate. 22 million americans over the nextears who would have had health insurance under obamacare. dean heller in nevada, he faces a tough reelection as we know. now the pro-trump action committee is threatening to strike a major advertising barrage against him. you remember the fight to convince skeptical democrats of the affordable care act, obamacare, seven years ago. is this the right way for republicans to go? >> what i don't remember is a big blast of media on behalf of the aca. that was one of the frustrations for those of us who worked in the white house, and the marines never came on this. i think they are trying to put pressure on dean heller, because his state, affordable health care act uninsured has gone out to mainly -- they've had republican governors come out against this bill. else the most vulnerable member of the senate, but he's vulnerable because donald trump lost that stalt. i see local politics and caucus politics and my guess is he's going to stick where he is. >> one of the things -- david is right. o

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joining in david axelrod aba work for the ov administration. flrm including communications director and state department spoke person. what it like personally david watching some of the work you and president obama worked on get taken apart by the administration. >> you know maybe this sounds disingenuous, anderson i'm less concerned about sort of 9 impact on president obama's legacy than i am the impact on the country moving forward. you see something like this today and the impact on the issue of climate. is deeply concerning. but more than that, the issue of american leadership and prestige in the world, and ability to shape events as we've shaped them since world war ii. knows are very much in question because of the decisions which i believe were made almost entirely on a political basis. to appease the president's base and not on the basis of the substantive facts. that's what concerns me. i think that there will be more durability to these accomplishments moving forward. but the one that worries me the most is just america's leadership in

let's get the bottom line from david axelrod. is this media cynicism?s this a good thing that, you know, it is nice to be nice to the president? everybody is so tough on him all the time. >> i think it was embarrassing. i sat in committee cabinet meetings when i was in the white house. i think the president would have burst out laughing if a couple of people had gone down the row doing that because it was so clearly orchestrated. felt very north korean. i think donald trump is in a deep hole. his polling numbers are bad and we know that he reads them. the general narrative the negative and he's trying to create an alternative reality and they're trying to keep his spirits up. so we get what is this new reality show. but at the end of the day, only general mattis talked out of there with his dignity. >> i am curious what it's like in the white house. don't you have to be sick of it. yes, mr. president, how high? >> not if you have a secure president. there is no doubt that there is an aura to the presidency and when you walk-through that oval office you

david axelrod says that james comey didn't make her go to wisconsin. and that hillary clinton blames everyone, but herself. there are people part of the mainstream media who you abhor who are appalled what she's doing and make her take responsibility in nicer language than you, lisa. the role that russia interference may have played and voter i.d. laws in wisconsin important to make sure that we do about eter. hillary clinton lost, i get it, we're sad, president trump, rah, rah, rah. i'm done. eric: the u.s. had successfully looked at an anti-missile system looked at an anti-missile system after north korea whuuuuuat?rtgage offer from the bank today. you never just get one offer. go to lendingtree.com and shop multiple loan offers for free! free? yeah. could save thousands. you should probably buy me dinner. no. go to lendingtree.com for a new home loan or refinance. receive up to five free offers and choose the loan that's right for you. our average customer could lower their monthly bills by over three hundred dollars. go to lendingtree.com right now

david axelrod, if the fbi does confirm that this stabbing was an act of terrorism, it will be the firstdomestic terror incident of the trump presidency. are you surprised we haven't yet heard directly from the president on this act, this stabbing in flint? >> well, i'm a little surprised because it's out of character for him not to leap into these stories. but i'm actually encouraged by that because i think the job of the president is to gather the facts and then respond responsibly proportionate to those facts. and if that's what he's going to do, that would be a welcomed innovation in his approach. we saw what happened during the london attacks when he waited right in and got into a back and forth with the london mayor and so on. that's really not the role a president should play. so, if this marks more of a reflective approach, a more responsible approach, that would be a step forward. >> you know, rebecca, this incident comes as the united states supreme court is taking up the president's proposed travel ban, lower courts have said it's not constitutional. but this ban, the travel b

david axelrod says that james comey didn't make her go to wisconsin. and that hillary clinton blames everyone, but herself. there are people part of the mainstream media who you abhor who are appalled what she's doing and make her take responsibility in nicer language than you, lisa. the role that russia interference may have played and voter i.d. laws in wisconsin important to make sure that we do about eter. hillary clinton lost, i get it, we're sad, president trump, rah, rah, rah. i'm done. eric: the u.s. had successfully looked at an anti-missile system after north korea tests another missile. maybe beefing up our defense spending is a good idea. roller derby. ♪ now give up half of 'em. do i have to? this is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire. but, if we start saving even just 1% more of our annual income... we could keep doing all the things we love. prudential. bring your challenges. how if guests book direct ater, choicehotels.com and stay twice they'll get a $50 gift card? summertime. badda book. badda boom. got you a shirt!

david axelrod, gloria borger, dana bash, mark preston and kevin madden.on the menu right now. what happens in the short term for what the agenda is for the trump administration right now? >> i think this is one of the most potentially important implications. we talk a lot about the 201 election. the question is what about tomorrow and the next day as senate republicans are trying to hammer out an agreement amongst themselves on a piece of legislation to repeal and relays obamacare. the fact that this republican didn't lose, not so much that she won but that she didn't lose is one of the main things that is allowing republican leaders to breathe a sigh of relief because she would have lost and the democrat in this race did pound away on health care as an issue, there's no question that is some skittish republicans and there are lots of them, would have taken that as a -- as a issue and said you know what? this is not something we should touch right now. and perhaps moved away from it. we don't know the if this is definitely going to seal the deal amongst r

david axelrod says that james comey didn't make her go to wisconsin.nd that hillary clinton blames everyone, but herself. there are people part of the mainstream media who you abhor who are appalled what she's doing and make her take responsibility in nicer language than you, lisa. the role that russia interference may have played and voter i.d. laws in wisconsin important to make sure that we do about eter. hillary clinton lost, i get it, we're sad, president trump, rah, rah, rah. i'm done. eric: the u.s. had successfully looked at an anti-missile system looked at an anti-missile system after north korea there's nothing traditional about my small business. i count on my dell small business advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs, and i get back to business. ♪ i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free. it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. try super poligrip free. ♪ ltry align probiotic.n y

politics the wiser you should get which is why i just did a double take upon hearing something that david axelrod actually said on c.n.n. recently which news busters dot org was quick to catch axelrod is a senior political commentator for c.n.n. he started his career as a chicago tribune back in the early eighty's he's worked for media outlets political consultancy firms universities. he was even a senior advisor to president obama so this guy has worked in news and politics for several decades so he should be really wise about a lot of things by now you think now in this recent c.n.n. appearance axelrod did say some things that i thought were why for instance he talked about how the media tends to focus on the hysterical political strategizing the media does around certain issues over covering the sensational stuff well ignoring stuff that has a more direct effect on the day to day lives of people like you know health care financial reform or deregulation he said the media get submerged in a frenzy to cover more scandalous stuff which i think is a wise observation to make but that wasn't the thi

. >> joining us now are david axelrod and mike rogers who was chairman of the house intelligence committeessing to have you both here. david, how unusual is that? is that -- is it normal to have -- >> it's not unusual if you live in north korea. here in the u.s., that is very unusual. i attended cabinet meetings. i've never seen anything like that. usually, the president gives a short statement. they leave. then there's business. you go through the cabinet and the cabinet reports on the business that they're doing. look, you have an embattled president who wants to change the narrative. he enlisted his cabinet to do that. i think at some expense to them, because they look so servile that it was absurd. >> chairman rogers, did it strike you as odd? >> odd and a bit clumsy. it reminds me of that old will rogers saying. it's like that feeling you get when a baby gets ahold of a hammer. it just feels really, really odd. you are not supposed to laugh at my jokes. >> it's really funny. i hadn't heard that. >> i will tell you the one thing that bothered me about it is that the adulation -- this w

joining us our political and legal panel, jeffrey toobin david axelrod, david gergen gloria borger as well as carl bernstein. gloria you said earlier today director comey left a lot of bread crumbs out there about the attorney general. did the attorney general clarify anything, address any of the unanswered questions? >> sweep the crumbs away is what he did. first of all, the big confrontation today between senator ron wyden and sessions was about one of those bread crumbs because comey had said, well, i expected -- the question to comey was why didn't you go to sessions? and he said, well, i expected him to recuse himself because he had been in the campaign, et cetera, et cetera. and then there was another issue that was more problematic. and that's a key word. it's my least favorite word of this investigation because everything seems to be problematic these days. but he was asked about it today and he got incensed. outraged. >> he said innuendo. >> yeah, innuendo and outrage and there is nothing problematic. and then comey also sort of implied that if he was fired because of russia

and david axelrod, a senior advisor and jen pataki, from the state department and spokesperson. >> whatavid, watching some of what you and president obama worked on taken apart by this administration? >> maybe this sounds disingenuous, anderson, i'm less concerned about the impact on president obama's legacy than i am the impact on the country moving forward. you see something like this today and the impact on the issue of climate is deeply concerning, more than that, the issue of the american leadership and our prestige in the world and our ability to shape events since we've shaped them since world war ii, those are very much in question because of these decisions i believe were made almost entirely on a political basis, to apiece the president's base and not on the basis of the substantive facts. that's what concerns me. i think that there will be more durability to these accomplishments moving forward, but the one that worries me the most is just america's leadership in the world. >> do you think -- do you think president obama sees it in that same kind of perspective? >> you know,

. >> david, axelrod. >> first of all, i agree with jeffrey and everyone else and david. this would increase the level of this crisis by 100 fold. every single member of congress, republican and democrat, said at the time of mueller's appointment, this is what we need, this is the impartial guy. you saw newt gingrich's tweet. i think what's happening now is because -- precisely because he is hiring these very, very high powered prosecutors that jeffrey talks about, there's a sense of nervousness and foreboding about where this might go. so there's a strategy now afoot to try and sully the investigation as political and to turn it into a republican/democrat thing. i think it's very hard to do with a guy like bob mueller. >> it's classic donald trump and his team. he is too close to trump, he can't be special counsel. he is too close to hillary and democrats. he can't be special counsel. they know that this guy is going to run a top notch, ethical investigation with some of the top lawyers in the country. they're frightened of that. they're going to crush to try to discredi

let's get perspective from david axelrod, matthew rosenberg, and carl bernstein. david, how big of a deal would it be if then senator sessions did in fact have another undisclosed meeting with the russian ambassador? >> well, "if" is an important word, but if that were the case, it would be a very big deal. because, remember, the rationale for him not disclosing the previous meetings were that they have been,pleural the one in his senate office, happened in the course of his duties as a senator. that he routinely received foreign diplomats. this is a meeting off-campus, one on one, and it's another thing that he didn't disclose. and anderson, the bottom line is, if you have nothing to hide, you don't hide anything. and there is stealth that pervades this entire story from the president on down, and the attorney general has been guilty of it, as well. so this would really add a log to the fire. >> matt, i mean with, if this meeting did take place, and again, it's an if, we don't know, it would seem to raise more questions about that argument that sessions made to da

. >> david axelrod, you know very well that brady press briefing room is like a stone's throw from the west wing. help us understand how -- and we have president trump on record initially talking about russian meddling. now totally backing off and unable to answer the question. what's up? >> well, look. that -- it may be a stone's throw away but i think in that white house it also could be the grand canyon for the relationship between the spokesman and the president. i don't mean their personal relationship. i have no reason to believe he's not talking to the president. but, look. the hardest job in america is to be donald trump's spokesman, because only donald trump speaks for donald trump and we saw that -- we've seen that so many times. we saw sean spicer and the vice president and others go out, for example, and explain why the president fired james comey only to be contradicted by the president on national tv. i think that's what happened is that sean spicer's decided to pull in his horns and simply plead ignorance rather than making declarative statements and then being proved wr

folks i didn't recognize doing office things and mixed in among them in shirtsleeves, look, it's david axelrod, they, there's the president-elect, there's joe biden about to be vice president. these low-key offices very busy, all taxpayer funded. that is a standard thing now, every president-elect gets taxpayer funded transition offices. after this last presidential election it was no exception. taxpayers paid for the trump folks to have low-key big centrally located transition office space in washington, d.c. just like every other modern president has had. what was different this year with this president-elect is this president-elect did not use those offices. we paid for them anyway but they didn't really use them. they used trump tower instead. why not? yes, there were some trump folks who worked out of the taxpayer funded transition offices in d.c. during the transition in november and december and into january before the inauguration, there were some people there but the candidate himself was not there. none of his top people were there. none of the decisions about the transition and the

but i think we also have to pull back, and david axelrod was talking about the polarization we're seeing in this health care fight and in washington. true. but maybe, just maybe the process might work the way it's supposed to, which is you get to a place where you don't achieve what you want from a conservative perspective, you have to start dealing with democrats. maybe you might get to a more constructive place of dealing with some of the problems within obamacare that have to be addressed. this is bigger than politics because the policy has so much impact, is so complicated to implement over time. >> chris, given what david is saying there, do you think -- can humpty dumpty be put back together again, or is this bill dead? >> short answer i don't know, which is the answer to everything in the donald trump era. when people ask me for predictions, i say i didn't think the guy who is the president would be the president. take that as a caveat. it always can be until it's officially dead. it's not officially dead. i'd be in the skeptical camp, clarissa. david mentions this. the longer a c

jason miller, chief political analyst gloria borger, and david axelrod, and editor at large chris saliza. good evening to all of you. where shall we begin? why don't we start with mr. preston. remarkable day in american history, don't you think? is this the worst day of this young presidency? >> we've used that terminology a lot. given so many things that have happened during this presidency. but i don't think it was the worst day of his presidency. i don't necessarily think it was a great day to have the former fbi director on national television across every network, laying out what he felt was intimidation by the president. i also don't think we can look at this through one prism. there are different ways you have to look at it. politically, legally, we just saw this past hour from gary tuchman's piece we were talking off camera, where his supporters still seem to be with him. so i just think it's very complicated. honestly, i've been saying this the last 24 hours, and will for the next receive or seven months, this is a very little piece of a very big jigsaw puzzle. >> i want to get

. >> reporter: and he infuriated trump when he told former aide david axelrod. >> i'm confident thati think i could have mobilized a majority of the american people. because if you succeed the country sulk seeds. >> reporter: after november's election the pair made nice after the meeting. >> he was nice to me with words and when i was with him. but after that there has been no relationship. >> reporter: now, one former obama official told me that one of the president obama's attributes is he's a mag ma tift. while he disagrees with most of the trump agenda, he doesn't want to see him fail as president. when they met obama treated trump as his successor, offered him candidate advice and perspective on a range of issues. but in his words, trump never struck obama as a particularly deep or intellectually curious guy and we're seeing that in real >> thanks very, very much. let's get to the panel. it is very fascinating, not only the relationship between the current president and the former president, but the current president tonight within the next hour or two, he's going to leave the w

folks i didn't recognize doing office things and mixed in among them in shirtsleeves, look, it's david axelrodt-elect, there's joe biden about to be vice president. these low-key offices very busy, all taxpayer funded. that is a standard thing now, every president-elect gets taxpayer funded transition offices. after this last presidential election it was no exception. taxpayers paid for the trump

david axelrod will be a critic but today called him the incredible shrinking president. >> people shouldread that "wall street journal" editorial. we aren't talking with the "wall street journal" editorial page of a place that's been -- that's some liberal establishment media and it's such a sensible editorial. it basically says why do you keep shooting yourself in the foot when you should be keeping your eye on what at least to me, i'm not president, but would seem to be your two most important priorities which is figure out a tax reform bill and send it up to the hill and figure out infrastructure so you can get the economy growing at 4%, not 2% or 2.5%. >> but walt, he needs congress to do that. by all indications, the republican party is backing it in matter when we are saying about the "wall street journal" editorial board or what criticism he's getting. as long as republican leadership is on board, is it wrong for investors to still hold out hope for some of these legislative items? >> on board for what? i haven't seen that mitch mcconnell has either scheduled the health care refor

. >> reporter: and he infuriated trump when he told former aide david axelrod -- >> i'm confident thatk i could have mobilized a majority of the american people. >>. >> reporter: after november's election, the pair made nice in an oval office meeting, but they have not spoken since inauguration day. >> he was very nice to me with words and when i was with him, but after that, there has been no relationship. >> reporter: athena jones, cnn, washington. >>> up next, we take you inside the fight for the iraqi city of mosul. we come into this world needing others. ♪ then we are told it's braver to go it alone. ♪ but there is another way to live. ♪ a way that sees the only path to fulfillment- is through others. ♪ having mplaque psoriasise is not always easy. it's a long-distance run. and you have the determination to keep going. humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear a

. >> reporter: and he infuriated trump when he told former aide david axelrod -- >> i'm confident thatf i -- if i had run again, i think i could have mobilized a majority of the american people. if you succeed, then the country succeeds. >> reporter: after november's election, the pair made nice in an oval office meeting. they have not spoken since inauguration day. >> he was very nice to any with words, but -- and when i was with him, but after that, there has been no relationship. >> reporter: athena jones, cnn, washington. >>> up next, we take you inside the fight for the iraqi city of mosul l. cnn's nick paton walsh is there as iraqi forces close in on the last remaining isis fighters. i have age-related macular degeneration, amd, he told me to look at this grid every day. and we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression, including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd after 15 years of clinical studies. preservi

big panel, paul here, jason, mary catherine, jeffrey tubin, carl bernstein, david axelrod and phil mudd. you said if that isn't obstruction of justice, i don't know what is. >> i think that's true. when you look at the full scope of activity here by the president, when you see him demanding loyalty and then making the demand -- also, think about the scene in the oval office. it's just astonishing. he asks the vice-president of the united states and the attorney general to leave. doesn't that suggest that he wants real privacy? >> and jared kushner sort of lingers and he tells jared kushner to leave. >> he tells kushner to leave. he wants comey alone. and what does he do? he says, can we make the investigation of michael flynn go away. repeatedly asks him, let him go. that to me is obstruction of justice. and the reason you know it's obstruction of justice is that when comey doesn't end the investigation, trump fires him. that's a pretty compelling case. >> catherine, is it obstruction of justice to you? >> i've been somebody who along the way has been more likely to believe comey and be