but to contrast with gianforte's high negatives. so they were trying to win a close race they thought was maybe a five-point race that bothersome resemblance to the clinton/trump race of two candidates with a bunch of problems and voters slanting a little bit more republican so they would elect a republican. it's unclear if that will pan out today. one factor that again it's hard to nail down the meaning of is montana because of this big rural population has a lot of early voting. about half of voters typically these days cast early absentee ballots. they were slanting more rural which were places that gianforte did well when he ran for governor. democrats were fairly confident thequist vote was coming out. he's from one of the most conservative parts of the state. he pent 40 years as a musician with a big following in the state. people were aware of him, they had no idea he was really into politics and they think they were already getting some votes, some kind of protest votes and personal votes in favor of him. democrats are not c

the only people there saying this reporter touched gianforte are gianforte's people. the fox reporters have not said that happened, jacobs himself said he didn't do that. >> reporter: that's right. the fox reporters are the most interesting. they're a third party. they don't have a dog in this fight. they sort of lost their interview because of how this played out and they wrote on their website and said on tv that this was a gianforte initiated confrontation. that jacobs was just asking a question and they've been very clear on that point. >> what a remarkable story. thank you very much. >> let's go 2,000 miles east. these questions. the comments coming out of members of congress are pretty incredible. what do we know that the ties he has in washington with the administration and anything else we need to know? >> well, this is the kind of race where republicans and democrats, political operatives of both sides say, if this guy manages to lose or even make this race close, then we know something is wrong. this is a bellwether. with the president's approval ratings as

there's a republican poll that says gianforte up a lot.talking to strategists on both sides, and gianforte who ran for governor last year started a double-digit lead in the republican response was to define the very early on with a bunch of personal problems with taxes and they take credit for his negatives also been high. to contrast with the negatives. they were trying to win a close race because they thought it was maybe a five-point race that bore some resemblance with the two candidates for a bunch of problems with a little more republicans to elect republicans. that's what they're hoping for. it is unclear if that is going to pan out today. one factor that it's hard to nail down the meaning of is montana because of this population, half of the voterss catch early absentee ballot and they were a little more rural ci that gianforte did well when he ran for governor, but we'ref tho fairly confident waste is from one of the most conservative parts of the state and before he was a candidate, he spent 40must years with a big following in t

you're at gianforte's headquarters as i said. quha what's going on there following the assault charge? >> reporter: a lot of excitement here from people in the inside, they tell me they believe their candidate will be victorious tonight, in fact, they believe the reporter pushing too far to go inside that room and that's exactly what they were telling on the inside. they believe he will stand up and be victorious in this and they believe that he was the one who started this confrontation. that's not what we heard from other folks around montana today. they thought this was a slight to the entire state and they're hoping that people come out and vote and turn this election around. >> so, ryan, has gianforte directly addressed what happened or responded to three major papers pulling their endorsement of him? >> reporter: not at all. in fact, we walked inside trying to see if he could get a glicmpe of the candidate, where he's going to show up tonight. so far no one knows that. there's a small police presence on the inside. everyone

gianforte left shortly thereafter. they asked me to leave and then between the police and the paramedics, i was sort of not quite paying attention to anything else. >> all right. ben, i want to thank you for making time, and i truly hope your elbow is okay. >> i -- i -- it's not my pitching arm, so i should be okay. >> okay. ben jacobs of the guardian, who you just heard his account, he says, of being assaulted by the man who is running to represent montana in the united states congress the day before he will be on the ballot in the special election there. greg gianforte, who did this in response to a question from ben, according to ben and to the audio that we just heard, about the cbo score on the ahca. ben jacobs, i hope you get a clean bill of health. thanks for making time tonight. i appreciate it. >> thanks. >> i'm joined now by jennifer rubin and stephen ratner. we were going to talk about the budget, but i feel like, jennifer, have you ever heard of such a thing in your time in politics? >> this is absolutely s

especially for greg gianforte.re standing in the room and preparing for an interview with the g.o.p. candidate when the guardian reporter came in, ben jacobs, he started asking him questions and when gianforte pushed back and said he would later, jacobs persisted and that is when gianforte threw him to the ground and started punching him. that is when jacobs tried to get his composure, said his glasses were broken and that he was calling the police. kimberly, i can tell you -- i was standing there. 2-3 feet from these men when it happened. i was in the room with our photographer. we were shocked. we had never seen anything like that in response to a reporter coming in and asking questions. >> kimberly: unbelievable. quite an intense experience. i'm glad you told the truth and came forward about it. thank you, alicia. it didn't take media for long r the media -- pretty think they blamed? watch this. >> you can draw a straight line from republican candidates thinking that sort of behavior is okay when you have donald

in gianforte 47.9%, quist 46.3%. again, 47% of the vote, gianforte in the lead by a small margin there. again, 47.9 the% to rob quist's 46.3%. kyung lah, thank you very much, in missoula at quist headquarters. we'll get back to her when warranted on this broadcast. i want to bring in david chalian, gloria borger, david axelrod, evan perez and global affairs analyst david rhode. via skype, we want to talk to a person a little bit later, david ehrlich -- darryl ehrlich and he is with the billings -- in billings, montana. we'll discuss him in just a moment. david chalian, how much of an impact do you think this assault charge had on today's election? >> well, it looks like maybe not as much as the news coverage would suggest. we woecht knn't know about that necessarily. going in before the body slam incident, this was going to be a close race. it looks like this is close, but i do want to underscore something kyung said about that key county, yellowstone county, that's where billings is, don. this is probably the greate

>> greg gianforte needs to handle this. the idea that he might not show up at his own headquarters to give a speech, it is ludicrous. he's the candidate. he has an obligation to show up. he needs to take it head-on, explained that it was a moment of high stress. he made a mistake, never should've done it. he should apologize personally to the reporter. he should apologize to the media outlet "the guardian" and his constituents if he selected. if he loses, apologized to the people of montana. republicans in washington should do something similar. him. what you did was wrong. you should never do that. they have no right in washington to sit in superior judgment to the voters of montana. if the voters in montana decide to send him, he is sent. people in washington need to respect it. if you do you make point about getting in front of it and owning it and saying i made a horrible mistake, and i'm ashamed of my behavior. it was unacceptable. i let myself down, my family, the voters in montana that deserve so much better. i want

gianforte, should he win, which is by no means a certain thing. the house of representatives has the power to block someone from being seated. paul ryan says that if gianforte wins he will be seated, as montana's at-large representative. >> vick on the hill, stand by. garret, what's been the reaction there on the ground in montana? >> well, craig, last night there was sort of two questions after all this broke, right. was this going to get into the bloodstream in time so voters would hear about it before they voted and change any minds. the answer to the first question absolutely yes. we've been at this polling place only about 20 minutes and talked to a dozen voters off camera, every one was aware of this incident and reactions from shrugging it off to sort of appalled by it. i've tucked to quist voters, what i've heard from both sides it fired up the bases of both sides. a man voting for quist who wish he could have voted for him another dozen times. another cup whole voted for greg gianforte and they were unbothered by this. what i have not hea

gianforte's campaign claims the reporter was the aggressor.incident grabbed national headlines of course and during gianforte's victory celebration last night he apologized to jacobs. take a listen. >> last night i made a mistake. i should not have treated that reporter that way. and for that, i'm sorry, mr. ben jacobs. i also want to apologize for the fox news team that was there and i'm sorry to each one of you that we had to go through this. that's not the person that i am and it's not the way i'll lead in this state. >> reporter: gianforte was a strong favorite throughout the campaign and that continued even after he was charged with the misdemeanor assault wednesday. however, the last minute controversy unnerved republicans but it's unclear right now if any impact this body slamming incident had on the polls as many voters had already voted early. over to you, wisdom. >> all right, annie yu reporting. thank you very much annie. 4:50 is the time. also in the news this morning the white house is redoubling its efforts to eliminate all feder

the gianforte campaign.hey have released a statement saying that jacobs aggressively shoved his recorder in gianforte's case and that "greg then attempted to grab the phone that was and pushed in his face. jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away. three of montana's largest newspapers have respect sended d their endorsements. we're told that mr. gianforte is due in court on misdemeanor assault charges from yesterday's incident and that can happen anywhere between now and june 7th we are told. keep in mind that the polls close in montana today at 8:00 p.m. mountain time. but there are a large number of montana voters who have already been voting for the past three or four weeks and have already turned in their votes. the result is. for now, i'm alicia acuna in bozeman, montana. fox news. >> both sides are talking about this. a lot of people are saying if he should lose then the republicans are going to say well it's because this incident happened. >> yeah. >> and if he won they're saying all right it doesn't

greg gianforte charged overnight with a misdemeanor assault by the county sheriff. you can't make this stuff up. the alleged attack took place at gianforte headquarters in boseman. >> so far, the candidate has held off taking a stance on the republican health care bill, waiting for the congressional budget office to weigh in on its effects. "guardian" reporter ben jacobs tried to press gianforte for his stance now that the cbo has released its score. listen to what happened next. >> -- the cbo score, because you know, you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill, and it just came out and -- >> we'll talk to you about that later. >> yeah, but there's not going to be time. i'm just curious -- >> speak with shane, please. >> just -- >> i'm sick and tired of you guys! the last time you came here, you did the same thing! get the hell out of here! >> jesus. >> get the hell out of here! the last guy did the same thing. are you with "the guardian"? >> yeah, and you broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same damn thing! >> you just body

some of are saying they like what they gianforte did.others are saying we didn't listen to it we knew it was out there but we didn't care because it's just the liberal media. there is this conversation that's happening among people who follow the news industry which is how can we bridge the sort of gap between all of those -- conservatives who don't trust the media and get them to start knowing that you know we're acting in good faith with good intentions. maybe you can't because they're not even listening. from the second that -- it's not as if they're reading the recall a and considering it or listening the audio and considering it they're not paying togs it because they don't trust it. and this by the way -- you look at the tapes of trump there -- two things have happened. one over the course of several decades the conservatives have done a masterful job at capitalizing the waning trust in media among kevgts and using it to advantage. second thing happened too is that on oxycodne more than the media would like to admit we have not tol

the fallout for gianforte has been swift. already three of the state's biggest newspapers have rescinded their endorsements and democrats are already rolled out facebook ads atacking gianforte for the alleged body slam. >> the democratic candidate rob quist so far declining to comment. one thing worth noting, the sheriff, brian goodkin, confirmed he gave gianforte's campaign money. early voting has been under way for week and 259,000 votes have already been returned. there are only 700,000 total registered voters in montana. could be somewhere between 50 and 70% have already voted. >> a lot of concern that turnout might be light because of the upcoming holiday weekend. >> i don't think so. i think now it is high. >> today the president's first foreign trip takes him to brussels where events are just getting under way. the main focus is nato. candidate trump wants to disparage -- since taking office, he reversed that stance after nato made a few adjustments saying it is no longer obsolete. the president still wants other count

gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault.after the incident, gianforte's spokesman released a statement utterly at odds with what you heard on the tape. scanlon claiming that jacobs, quote, aggressively shoved a recorder in greg's face and began asking badgering questions. jacobs was asked to leave and after asking jacobs to lower the recorder, jacobs declined. greg then attempted to grab that phone that was pushed in his face. jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away from greg, pushing them both to the ground. fox news reporter alicia acuna, who was in the room, described the scene very differently. >> when ben jacobs from the guardian came in with his recorder, placed his recorder right up to him about here, and started asking him questions about the cbo report on the republican health care bill. and you heard what happened from there. i, myself, was standing about two feet from both gianforte and jacobs when this happened. there was a table in between us, but i did see the whole thing when gianforte grabbed him by the nec

gianforte accountable. you know, traveling across this state i have seen -- i have seen such great energy and enthusiasm like never before in this state. to all the montanans and the people across this country who took time to volunteer and to make calls to engage for the very first time in election, don't be discouraged. be determined. you know, i've met so many of you along the way who have never been involved in politics before and stepped up for the very first time. and so i'm just saying you must continue to be involved. you must continue. and in the coming months there'll be critical legislation that's going to be passed that will -- >> giving a concession speech there. he's already called gianforte to congratulate him for his win. he seems to be taking it in good step. also interestingly enough saying if you're pinning your hopes on him and it didn't work out, obviously don't be discourage wrshd be determined. that's his message to those who will be disappointed thooeng with a republican winning that

that's greg gianforte.e very proud of him for years to come. >> let's get into this with cnn political commentator april ryan who is here with us. she's also white house correspondent for american urban radio networks. we have david jolly and cnn political commentator ben ferguson, a conservative talk radio host. great to have all of you here. april, let me turn to you first. it's so interesting hearing the spectrum of voters. we heard from whitney saying this hasn't changed people's opinions. some are saying that -- a lot of people voted early. >> right. >> they are hearing this audio and they want to change their vote. what do you think is better for the republican party? for him to win or to lose? >> well, for this president who supported him, he wants to see this as a win. even with all of this going on. he's a staunch supporter, a loyalist to donald trump, which he's in need of right now. he is like him. he's a business mogul. donald trump needs people like that in his camp who are espousing exactly wh

i think he should apologize. >> reporter: gianforte has disappeared. he was last seen driving away from the incident and cancelled all appearances today. as for voters, elizabeth green said a congressional candidate should act the way she teaches her son 1578. >> like i tell my son, it is important to keep your hands to yourself. and to use your words. and if candidate for congress can't do that, then definitely doesn't deserve to have that position. >> reporter: doug steiner voted for gianforte. the incident did not change his mind. >> no. >> why not? >> because i have heard too many versions of it and i'm not sure what happened, no offense, but i don't trust the media much. >> reporter: if convicted, gianforte faces a $500 fine or six months in jail, or both. so far no republican has called for him to withdrawal draw from the race or if nn scricted, scott, to in the take the seat. >> pelley: the trust worthy barry petersen in montana tonight. thank you, barry. tonight the u.s. senate has completed its investigation of the wounded warrior project. the

gianforte is not on it yet.ay with you until he caught does come up and give you the speech. let me ask you there on the ground. after this instrument which you witnessed, did you speak with voters who said they changed their minds based on the incident? >> what we have been seen, and i have actually been talking to a lot of the local reporters who live here as well, they were experiencing the same thing. it really depends on where -- they were ahead of the game. some people said they weren't really bowed and then they voted for it for the attack. other people want the other way. you never know how these things are going to play out. it's just some people thought it was great, some people thought it was terrible. that's just the way it is. in the end, it didn't really change what was the expected result here. gianforte was expected to hold onto this republican that would vacate to be secretary for president trump. i think it's tighter than i thought it would be. especially after the incident of last night. >> th

sounded like gianforte. so we're expecting that the sheriff's department may make further statements about this tonight. we expect the people of montana will probably make a statement about it tomorrow. up until now the montana special election for this congressional seat had been considered kind of a tossup which is remarkable. montana hasn't sent a democrat to congress since the late '90s. montana is notoriously difficult to poll. donald trump winning the state. what does that mean? we don't know. coming into the election each the election was anybody's guess. what happens now with police involved, with an ambulance ride involved, with a reporter being x-rayed for injuries with broken glasses, with witness statements about what happened, i mean, how this plays with the voters, who knows? and what this does to our politics, we'll see. polls start opening in montana at 7:00 a.m. local time. we will keep you posted. oh, millies. trick or treat! we're so glad to have you here. ♪ what if we treated great female

well, the reporter, who gianforte attacked, said he was asking gianforte questions about the republicanh care plan when the candidate body slammed him. think about that, the gop health care plan is so bad, republicans would rather body slam reporters than answer a question about it. [ light laughter ] his response to the question was to give the reporter a pre-existing condition. [ laughter ] now, as if all of this weren't bad enough, gianforte's statement afterward actually managed to make things worse. his campaign actually tried to claim that he was the victim. >> the candidates spokesman issued a statement, it reads, quote, "tonight, as greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, 'guardian's' ben jacobs entered the office without permission. aggressively shoved a recorder in greg's face and began asking badgering questions." >> seth: so you're a politician, and you freaked out because a reporter asked you a question? you understand, that's the job, right? you can't become a veterinarian, and then go, "you're never gonna believe this. some guy walks in my office and han

quest conceded the race, that montana will hold greg gianforte accountable as greg gianforte pledged to fight for montana families with the message. >> i'm going to washington to get things done, to drain the swamp and fight for montana families. >> there is question about being seated in the event, but paul ryan telling reporters they will not stand in the way letting montana decide who they want. greg gianforte will face criticism from democrats once he gets to town and a persistent washington press corps. he will have to appear in court, misdemeanor charges. greg gianforte replaces ryan think he it was named interior secretary this year. rob: thank you. heather: despite the fact that he was on a entirely different continent the mainstream media blaming donald trump for greg gianforte body slamming of that reporter. rob: don lemon scolded one of his guests for refusing to accept his opinion on the matter. >> the guy who is in office has said horrible things about reporters, calling them an enemy of the american people. that has nothing to do with anything? people feel they can get

gianforte, but in montana, we respect everyone's rights. >> okay., because, there are special circumstances around this. tomorrow is election day. will voters have a report from you that may satisfy them before the polls open and they go cast their ballots? because don't you think they need to know this by the time they go to the polls tomorrow? >> this is not about politics. this is about the investigation. and if we have all of the information that we need by tomorrow, then, absolutely, we will provide that. what we can, that is appropriate, that will not at all jeopardize the integrity of the investigation, we will provide that to the people. >> sheriff, jeffrey toobin, our center legal analyst here on cnn has a question for you. >> sheriff, in montana, is it a crime to body slam someone? >> if there is an assault, then, yes, of course that's a crime. >> are there circumstances when it's okay to body slam someone? >> there's all sorts of different -- you can run into a million different types of situations where there's two sides to every story a

gianforte told him to talk to his press guy. gianforte grabbed jacobs bit neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. we watched in disbelief as gianforte began punching the reporter. as gianforte moved on top of jacobs he began yelling something to the effect of, i'm sick and tired of this. jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. he asked us for our names. in shock we did not answer. jacobs said he wanted the police called and went to leaf. gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. at that point i told him and scanlon, who is now present, we needed a moment. the men then left. she went on to say, to be clear, at no point did any of us who witness this assault see jacobs show any physical aggression to gianforte who left to give statement to local deputies authorities. jacobs was examined at a later hospital and was allowed to leave. state republican party officials have yet to comment. >> incredible story. >> incredible. >>> we continue to follow

the reporter said gianforte slammed him to the ground following a health care question.unning in today's special election for the state's only congressional seat. >>> the british police have eight people in custody over the manchester bombing. two were arrested this morning as the network behind the bombing widens. the british government has reportedly stopped sharing intelligence on the bombing with the u.s. after leaks. and the brit, government is livid, according to the bbc. president trump is in brussels for a nato meeting where prime minister theresa may is expected to talk to the president about the leaks. >>> and scott pelley spoke to a couple who were in the foyer of manchester arena when the bomb went off monday. phil and kim dick were waiting for their 17-year-old daughter tamla and 15-year-old daughter sasha. they described what they saw. >> out of it, there was a little girl is stuttering toward me with all her blond hair all in her face, a fwash on her mouth, her shoulder. >> kim half carried her and half dragged her to the foyer doors. >> inish hi blood was

>> greg gianforte needs to handle this. the idea that he might not show up at his own headquarters to give a speech, it is ludicrous. he's the candidate. he has an obligation to show up. he needs to take it head-on, explained that it was a moment of high stress. he made a mistake, never should've done it. he should apologize personally to the reporter. he should apologize to the media outlet "the guardian" and his constituents if he selected. if he loses, apologize to the people of montana. republicans in washington should do something similar. condemn him. what you did was wrong. you should never do that. they have no right in washington to sit in superior judgment to the voters of montana. if the voters in montana decide to send him, he is sent. people in washington need to respect it. >> kimberly: you make point about getting in front of it and owning it and saying i made a horrible mistake, and i'm ashamed of my behavior. it was unacceptable. i let myself down, my family, the voters in montana that deserve so much bette

greg gianforte is being charged with assault.ppened, basically he body slammed according to alicia our own reporter who was there. but what i find crazy about all this is you have members of the media saying that this is all because of donald trump, that this guy who did a bad thing, he did it because it's okay because of donald trump. explain to me that logic. charlie: it's another example where these guys will politicize anything and everything and blame donald trump for everything. it's surprising we haven't blamed it on the russians and found a russian connection for why the guy did this. this is a one-off sort of thing. the guy doesn't like the press. he didn't handle it the best way. but the truth of the matter, considering what people think of the media, maybe if this guy had done this before so many people voted, it might have helped him in the election. trish: i don't know about that. but people are sort of fed up with the media. katie, i would say a lot of journalists come to work every day and they just want to do thei

montana republican greg gianforte is the big winner last night.on, he s also has an assault charge. >> i should not have treated that reporter that way, and for that, i'm sorry, mr. ben ja cobs. >> okay. so is this an isolated incident or was there something larger here about hostility towards the press. let's discuss. david, you could trunk this up to one guy's hair trigger until you read her tweets. she was on assignment on the ground here. montana gop voter to me, quote, that audio made me cheer. the audio of the assault. she smiled as she walked in to vote for gianforte. next, you're lucky someone doesn't pop you. what do you think is going on here? >> you can ascribe what happened to the character flaws of one volatile overindulged man and who happened to snap in a moment and happened to snap again and direct the press spokesman to lie about it and who snapped again over the next 24 hours at intervals when he didn't do anything about it and one imagines he will continue to snap throughout his life. i am horrified about reaction from the polls

police charged gianforte with misdemeanor assault.is running against rob quist, the election is today and we will get reaction and the results tonight. mercedes. >> at least we are not living during the time of hamilton and burr and the duel. tensions are high day of the election. all you need to say is i'm sorry, what i did was wrong and i find it so disappointing that gianforte has not come out and apologize. >> i agree. if it was okay for politicians to beat up pushy, nerdy, left-wing journalist, ders would be running 24/7. he should come out and say i made a mistake, i lost my temper. when i find really appalling is how many people, how many republicans can't say i condemn this behavior. this is not appropriate. people coming out with excuses about how he had it coming. it's nonsense. just condemn it and move on. >> bret: here is paul ryan and nancy pelosi. >> should the gentleman apologize? yeah, i think he should apologize. i know he has his own version and i'm sure he's going to havel for this, no matter what the circumstance.

greg gianforte apologized to the reporter during his victory speech. and the fbi russia investigation focusing now on jared kushner's role during the campaign and transition, including kushner's relationship with fired national security adviser michael flynn as well as russian contacts. >>> president trump wrapping up the overseas trip with the g7 summit. the president is vowing to plug the leaks in the manchester bombing investigation. this as we learn the terrorist behind the attack may have had isis training. we have all of this covered. let's go first to cnn's ryan young in bozeman, montana. you assault a reporter one night and the one the election the next. ryan. >> reporter: john, what a 24 hours. body slamming and charges fired and three newspapers pull endorsement and you still win an election. >> thank you, montana. >> reporter: just 24 hours after charged with assaulting a reporter, greg gianforte heading to washington after winning a special election for montana's open house seat. gianforte directly addressed the shocking incident at his vic

now the gianforte campaign has a new statement out.they allege that basically this reporter, jacobs, was being aggressive and badgering. let me read you that quote, tonight as greg was giving a separate interview in a private i was, the guardian's ben jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a microphone in greg's face. he was asked to leave after jacobs to lower the recorder. jacobs declined and greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away from greg, pushing them both to the ground. it's unfortunate this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer barbecue, end quote. joining me now on the story, charlie sykes is editor and chief of right wisconsin and msnbc contributor joy reid back was. charlie, as i mentioned, the sheriff also giving us the late-breaking information that they already had interaction with the candidate and the reporter. and they're looking at this as you would any other attempted po

greg gianforte doesn't see any.tethered himself to trump during the campaign and invokes trump in victory. they are still counting votes and not sure exactly where it will land. it might tick up a couple of points. in the presidential ection last november donald trump won montana by 21 points over hillary clinton. that was his margin. it looks like the gianforte will be about high single digits when all is said and done. a 10, 15 point swing in the democrats' direction. democrats will tell you they think that is good news but there was a time there they were hoping to get closer than that and maybe win the state. remember montana has a democratic u.s. senator jon tester up for reelection next year. it has a democratic governor. barack obama came within three points of winning the state when he first ran in 2008 when there was an unpopular republican president back then, george w. bush. democrats hope this was an outside target for them. they were hoping there was an outside shot at victory. they make progress. how d

republican greg gianforte scores a decisive win over democrat rob quist. >> gianforte's victory celebrationively subdued. he took a contrite tone, owning up to making a "mistake." ryan young is in boseman, montana. ryan, any sense of why the now congressman did not apologize before his victory? >> reporter: great question. i would love to ask him that question, dave. you know, all day yesterday, no one knew where gianforte was for the day. and of course, he popped up and gave that apology. i would love to ask him, what happened in that series of events, what led to this, and of course, that apology that you'll hear in a few seconds was pretty contri contrite. just listen to it for yourself. >> sometimes hard work is borne out of hard lessons. >> hear, hear! >> last night, i learned a lesson. last night i made a mistake. and i took an action that i can't take back, and i'm not proud of what happened. i should not have responded in the way that i did, and for that, i'm sorry. >> and you're forgiven! >> i should not have treated that reporter that way, and for that, i'm sorry, mr. ben jacobs.

gianforte due in court next month. faces six months in jail if convicted. breaking news meantime in the investigation into the russian election meddling. the fbi is reportedly looking closely at the president's son-in-law. sources say investigators are, focusing on contacts between jared kushner and russian officials including meetings with russia's ambassador, and a russian banker. but nay point out that, kushner is not a target of the investigation and not accused of a crime. >> president trump in sicily gathering with world leaders for the g-7 summit. taking part in a full day of meetings expected to focus on terrorism, trade and climate change. ight when it comes to their financial contributions for defense. >> 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they're supposed to be paying for their defense. this is not fair to the people well, in addition to his d rebuke, the president also made headlines when he appeared to push aside, as you see there, the prime minister of mont nay grow to position himself front an

first off, gianforte should be ashamed of himself.ow the book at him even though the sheriff gave to his campaign. if you're not tough enough, responsible enough, disciplined enough to take questions about the budget you're not responsible enough to go to washington, d.c. i promise you, i promise you if you try a stunt like this with some of the reporters i know in d.c. you will see these hands in lawsuits in ways you can't comprehend in montana. that's the first thing. the second thing, i think this is dangerous not because it represents a cowardice on the part of the president of the united states but a cowardice on the part of a political party that has to know good reporting helps everybody. having investigative reporters helps everybody. if you claim these reporters are bad and terrible under these circumstances you're going to miss out when they are investigating the other side. it's dangerous to democracy and should be an embarrassment to paul ryan and any republican who wants to support this guy. >> i'm not a big fan of this f

republican greg gianforte scores a decisive win over the democrat, rob quist.forte's victory celebration was relatively subdued. he took a contrite tone, owning up to making a mistake. joining us live now with the latest, cnn's ryan young in boseman, montana. so, he apologized. i got the feeling, ryan, that the apology was meant for a national audience, maybe not a local audience. >> reporter: well, you know, one of the things i thought about that apology, we were wondering if he was going to make a statement about this at all. a lot of people thought it was very contrite and the fact that he mentioned the reporter's name, some people were very happy about that. i can t

. >> upset in montana republican candidate greg gianforte wins special election a blow to democrats who hoped to regain ground after gianforte was charmed with body you slamming a reporter hours before voters went to polls, u.s. stock markets futures record closes for the s&p and nasdaq up arrows day after day dow this morning factored down 18 s&p futures down two nasdaq futures down two, gm sued for allegedly rising diesel engines to pass emissions tests, will he proton james carries a cavs to the third straight showdown with the warriors passes jordan on the way, and a thriller in pittsburgh penguins beat senators double ot to reach second straight stanley cup finals will highlights in sports. >> top of the mo wering into memorialized day would weekend 5:01 a.m. in new york may 26 welcome to fbn:am first look at markets and latest. >> breaking news president donald trump attending a g-7 summit, in sicily italy, he is expected to have a tough debate over trade and climate change, with other g-7 leaders, this comes a day after the president put pressure on nato members to pay their fair

republican candidate greg gianforte charged with misdemeanor assault. here's how that went down. >> the cbo score. because you know you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. >> we'll talk to you about that later. >> yeah, but there's not going to be time. i was just curious -- >> speak with shane, please. i'm sick and tired of you guys. the last time you did the same thing. get the hell out of here. >> are you wi are you with the guardian? >> yes. you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same thing! >> greg gianforte released this statement. he was given a separate interview in a private office. tonight, as greg was giving an interview in a private office, the guardian's ben jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shored a recorder in his face. it's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer bbq. fox news correspondent alicia alcuna was there. she saw the fight. she tells a ver

again, gianforte winning the thing. still tabulating the votes, but gianforte is going to be the winner. just a short while ago in bows man, his hometown out there, he declared victory and for the first time since that incident last night, he publicly addressed his altercation with that reporter. take a listen to what he had to say. >> last night i made a mistake. and i took an action that i can't take back. and i'm not proud of what happened. i should not have responded in the way that i did. and for that i'm sorry. >> and you're forgiven. [cheering and applauding] >> i should not have treated that reporter that way. and for that, i'm sorry, mr. ben jacobs. [ applause ] >> i also want to apologize for the fox news team that was there, and i'm sorry to each one of you that we had to go through this. that's not the person that i am and it's not the way i'll lead in this state. >> all right, again, that's greg gianforte a short while ago in montana. he is the congressman elect for montana. republican candidate, again, he

sheriff contributed hundreds of dollars to gianforte's campaign. in a press release the sheriff says his support for the candidate will have no effect on the investigation. >>> we're going to move on now to the other big breaking news from overnight, britain is so angry at the u.s. over leaks to the media from the manchester bombing investigation. >> the final straw apparently was the publication of these photographs published by "the new york times." they show what was left of the bomb indicating that the suicide bomber must have had help making it. british officials have just revealed they will no longer share law enforcement information with the united states. >> let's head over to manchester right now. abc's molly hunter is live for us there. molly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kendis. that's exactly right. and prime minister theresa may plans to talk to president trump about this at that nato meeting in brussels later this morning, but here investigators are looking for that bombmaker on the loose. >> whoa. >> reporter: overnight n

republican congressional candidate greg gianforte has been cited for assault after a reporter says gianforte slammed him and broke his glasses. here's a portion of the audio recorded last night. turn up the volume. >> the cbo score because you know you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you the bill came out. >> speak with shame please. just -- >> i'm sick and tired of you guys. the last guy that came in here you did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. you with the guardian. >> yes. you broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same dam thing. >> you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> after a cquestion about the cbo score. >> joining me trial attorney legal analyst ann bremer. a montana sheriff issued a citation for misdemeanor assault against gianforte. how serious is that citation? >> it's very serious, it's criminal and immediate. they interviewed the witnesses quickly and came to the conclusion he committed a crime within the same day, the same evening, and tim

gianforte didn't say anything?> he went into a room with an aide, closed the door, didn't come out. finally did come out and didn't speak to anyone. there were cops and ambulances outside. i believe ben is on his way to the hospital. you should ask him about that. but there were cops. cops were speaking to people. my understanding is that they must have spoken to gianforte, because he disappeared for a long time. the next time i saw him was in the passenger seat of a car with two of his aides and they drove away without saying anything. >> do you know approximately how many people were in the room when this happened? how many other people would have witnessed this? >> maybe 15 or 20. >> oh, wow. it was not an empty room. it was volunteers sitting there making phone calls. you know, his body guy, ben and i think were the only national reporters there. gianforte's wife was there. >> where is ben jacobs now? you said he's on his way -- >> last i saw him, he was in an ambulance. paramedics were saying in these situatio

gianforte spoke to supporters last night-- apologizing to them and that gianforte is still charged with misdemeanor assault and must appear in court sometime before june 7th. he could face a fine or even jail time if convicted. happening today-- a final farewell today for a bowie state student murdered just days before graduation. richard collins the third was stabbed saturday morning while visiting friends at the university of maryland. the 23-year-old was supposed to recieve his diploma this week. instead, an empty chair stood draped in his graduation gown at the xfinity center. collins had just become a lieutenant in the army. today's funeral service begins at eleven am at the first baptist church of glenard also in the day ahead. ce will be in annapolis-- for the graduation and commissioning ceremony at the u-s naval academy. the vice president will address the class of 2017. this will be the second commencement for vice president pence in less than a week. he spoke at the university of notre dame on sunday. new this morning-- something that is sure to annoy capitals fans. the stanl

gianforte charged with assault. here is the missoulian, gianforte charged with misdemeanor assault.whole bunch of newspapers beyond those front pages, a bunch of newspapers that once endorsed greg gianforte for congress, they rescinded on election day. i wonder if it's too late. this is a fallout of the news that broke last night that greg gianforte physically assaulted a reporter named ben jacobs from the guardian, last night before the election that gianforte is running in. ben jacobs made an audio recording of the incident that seems to back up his claim that the candidate assaulted him basically out of nowhere while jacobs was asking him question ises about health care. but gianforte's campaign released a statement saying it was basically the opposite, that ben jacobs apparently assaulted greg gianforte, that he grabbed his wrists, and the two of them end upped on the ground together. and it was the reporter's aggressive behavior that lead to the altercation. it's worth noting that ben jacobs' account was backed up not only by his audio recording, but by an eyewitness account by

tonight republican greg gianforte faces an assault charge as both parties try to measure the impact on voters going to the polls. nbc's kasie hunt. >> reporter: a reporter's question answered with violence. >> just -- sick and tired of you guys. the last guy that came here, you did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. >> reporter: montana republican con greggal candidate greg gianforte charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly body slamming ben jacobs, a reporter for "the guardian" newspaper. this shake-up hours before polls opened on this election day. >> next thing i know i'm being slammed down to the ground, and congressional candidate is on top of me. it was very disconcerting. >> reporter: jacobs was taken from the scene by ambulance and treated by the hospital. >> gianforte grabbed him by the neck, both hands, slammed him to the side, body slammed him. >> reporter: tonight the sheriff that contributed to gianforte's campaign says. >> probable cause to issue a notice to appear for the offense of misdemeanor assault. >> reporter: in montana dem

towards gianforte.ccount is directly disputing the formal public written statement of the campaign that accused the reporter in participating in th formal public written statement of the gianforte campaign that accused the reporter of participate manage the violence in some way. this is a pretty damning statement. i'm going read it as i pass off to brian williams for more coverage. at no point did any of white house witnessed the assault see jacobs show any form of aggression towards gianforte. and adds she is cooperating with the authorities. i'm ari melber. we have more coverage with "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" with brian williams now. >>> there's been another new york times bombshell, writing about the russians' attempt to influence donald trump threwthrough his advisers, including paul manafort and mike flynn. plus a majority of americans believe president trump is abusing his powers of office.