papadopoulos said that candidate trump committed and jeff session was very enthusiastic about it. we have papadopoulos and has been -- pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. he's claiming that sessions did not tell the truth to congress. we asked sessions what he thought about that today. we got a statement from his lawyer saying sessions stands by what he told congress and stands by his recollection. >> yeah. we got the statement. chuck championshiper, the attorney for the attorney general. attorney general sessions testified under oath about his recollection of this meeting and he stands by his testimony. jake, thank you very much. great reporting as usual. and to our viewers, remember, you can watch much more of jake's interview later tonight. one-hour cnn special report, the mysterious case of george papadopoulos. 11:00 p.m. eastern later tonight. we're going to have much more on the breaking news right after this. . hijacked from dreams. pulled from decades of obsession. taken from the souls of artists. we confess. we stole everything we could. from everything we've ever mastered

sam, another issue for jeff sessions, george papadopoulos contradicts sworn system by jeff sessions regardingle meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. the following coming from his sentencing memo. while some in the room rebuffed george's offer mr. trump nodded with approval and deferred to mr. sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it. here's what he said. >> i have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. after reading his account and to the best of my recollection i believe that i wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the russian government or any other foreign government for that matter. i pushed back against his suggestion that i thought may have been improper. >> i pushed back at his suggestion said jeff sessions. is it possible he perjured himself here? >> it's honestly so difficult to know who's lying about lying at this point, isn't it, jim? we have a long way to go from the george papadopoulos statement in the sentencing memo to proving that the att

president trump blasting attorney general jeff sessions over federal charges against two republican lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections. mr. trump sarcastically saying, good job, jeff, in a tweet suggesting that sessions should have considered the political consequences despite justice department guidelines to the contrary. we'll talk about the breaking news and more with congressman ted deutsche of the foreign affairs and judiciary committees and analysts here with all of the day's news. first, the cnn senior white house correspondent, jeff, the president regularly has criticized jeff sessions, but this stands out right in the middle of two criminal investigations? >> it does stand out. it's pretty extraordinary that the attacks from the president have become routine by now. this was different. the president was talking about an ongoing criminal case, suggesting the attorney and his justice department should have used political considerations here to not effectively go after or indict these two house republicans. but, jim, all this comes as another sign. the president at war with his ow

it is not about jeff sessions or jeff sessions as some sort of southerner. it is jeff sessions as the attorney general who was appointed by trump, reduced himself from treduced -- recusing position from the russia investigation. >> and i want to talk about this op-ed published in your newspaper, mr. trump suggesting strapping people down to a lie detector test to find out who did it. for a president who often complains about witch hunts, what are your thoughts about this witch hunt and is it a matter of national security as mr. trump says it is? >> well, i doubt it is a matter of national security, but other presidents have authorized lie detector tests to find out le leaks. this is not unusual. as a journalist, i find it sat and rather pathetic, but the fact is leaks are a nightmare for every administration. and this one is no different. the difference inside this one is because it is like an anonymous source speaking, but it is an anonymous source writing which may to my mind give it more credibility. but i don't believe it is a national security issue. it

never mind jeff sessions, the first in the u.s. senate. ve the now president a lot of street cred with the conservatives. one other tweet that the president sent out on this labor day, again, about sessions sort of, the democrats none of whom voted for sessions must love him now. same thing with lying james comey. the dems hated him. until i fired him. then he's a wonderful man, a saint-like figure in fact. really sick. putting the comey stuff aside for a second and focusing on sessions, he kind of has a point. no question democrats and some republicans are appalled with jeff sessions policies on immigration. separating families. criminal justice. lack of reform. but just on this whole issue of the russia investigation, yeah. does he have a point? looking at you, democrat. >> i'm very conflicted by it. for all of the reasons you listed. i think jeff sessions is terrible. i think he's one of the worst ags that we have ever had, especially talking about underserved xhup underserved communitied who need to be protected and the thing is we have

attorney general jeff sessions to investigate.ls cnn aides believe they are closing in on exposing the writer. this chaos unfolding as former president barack obama unleashes jabs on president trump, breaking with tradition after months of silence. and in just a few hours, obama will take center stage for round two. this time at a rally in california. >> it did not start with donald trump. he is a symptom. not the cause. [ applause ] he's just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years. they're undermining our alliances. cozying up to russia. what happened to the republican party? >> i watched it but i fell asleep. i

republican congressmen who were brought to a well-publicized charge ahead of the mid terms by the jeff sessions justice department. two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. good job, jeff. how do you view that tweet? >> well, you know, again, this is the president talking about a case -- two cases involving the first two republican members of congress. the two first members of congress, period, to endorse donald trump. and donald trump is nothing, if not loyal. whether people have broken the law doesn't matter, as we saw with paul manafort. what matters is, do you stick with donald trump? and these two republicans have stuck with donald trump. so he is sticking with them and using them as a cudgel to once again attack his attorney general and suggest that his attorney general should have either gone easy on them, because they're trump-backers, not prosecuting them all or prosecuting them on a different timetable, where it would have helped him politically. once again, the president showing that he believes the attorney general's job is to be his political hack. and one of th

he's unable to confront jeff sessions face to face on this. he's unable to make the hard decision. instead he continues to lampoon and deride sessions in the media. does jeff sessions beat him to the punch? and what does that political story look like? jeff sessions has served the public for 35 years as a u.s. attorney, attorney general in the state of alabama. as a united states senator, he has a healthy impression of himself, as most senators do, if you will, and does he want to go out being fired by a tweet as rex tillerson was, or does he actually want to go out on his own terms? i think it actually might be the latter, and we should begin to consider what that story looks like. >> hey, frank, how are feds doing their jobs these days when the president says he doesn't have an attorney general, and this week in the last 24 hours, called the fbi a cancer on the country? >> it's difficult. you know, first and foremost, to professionals. they're going to put their heads down and keep doing the work, but the fact of the matter is everybody is paying attention to this, their partners,

president trump launched one of his fiercest attacks yet on attorney general jeff sessions. terview witrump slammed sessions for his recusing himself from the russia probe. president trump said i don't have an attorney general, it's very sad, he went on to say that sessions performed very poorly in his confirmation, and the people who worked with him for a long time in the senate were not nice to him. but he was giving very confusing answers. and yet, this is how president trump responded afterwards when asked if he will fire jeff sessions. >> we are looking at lots of different things, i have a great cabinet, we have the greatest economy ever in the history of our country, so we're very happy with the way things are running generally speaking. >> panel is back. they're looking at lots of different things. why doesn't he just fire jeff sessions? >> it could not be more painfully obviousi inhow many ts various people around him have said we know how much you don't like jeff sessions, you can't fire him. >> he said he was sad, he was confused and he was putting him down at ever

still, now he wants the attorney general jeff sessions to investigate, citing national security as a justification. >> yeah, i would say jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was. because i really believe it's national security. we're going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he's talking about, also where he is right now. supposing i have a high level national security meeting and he has got a clearance. you know we talked about clearances a lot recently -- and he goes into a high-level meeting concerning china or russia or north korea or something, and this guy goes in. i don't want him in those meetings. >> keeping them honest, that is his privilege. he is the chief executive, and the author works in the executive branch. the president could, if he likes simply fire whomever it is, because clearly, a president, any president ought to be able to trust the people who work for him or her. and, yes, what the senior official wrote obviously says a lot about dysfunction at the white house. what this official did not do, however, is reveal or even hint at

i don't think anybody saw that coming with jeff sessions, but the reality is jeff sessions has continuedd up to this president, done so under his own terms, but at least he's due credit for doing so. >> good point. hey, frank, is there anything in what we've just been talking about, what we've witnessed, say, just this week that a mueller would be interested in while he does his work? >> all of it. i mean, i think he's probably got somebody on staff just responsible for writing down every one of these utteran ces. it was interesting today -- two things about the commentary. one, it seemed to confirm everything bob woodward was talking about in his book. but the other part of that, too, he seemed to be laying the groundwork in the instance of a dismissal that maybe he can't be cornered on this one in terms of an obstruction of justice issue. that point notwithstanding, the fact remains that he has said so many things about jeff sessions, about the russia investigation that point to potential obstruction of justice. like i said, somebody is keeping notes on every single one of these uttera

kennedy: president trump continues to attack jeff sessions, accusing him of helping out the opposition mid-terms. the president tweets. the two republicans were charged just before the mid terms. good job jeff. he was referring to the indictments of duncan hunter and chris collins. hunter has not ended his race. earlier in the show, south carolina senator lindsey graham says the pot deserves an attorney general who sees eye to eye with him. maybe it's time for jefferson to go. will beauregard be shown the door? antoine. i will start with you. president trump had eric holder. and they were good friend, they were like minded and there was a great deal of trust. i'm sure there was a particularly special bond there. does the president deserve to have an attorney general he or she can trust? >> i think there should be a wall between the attorney general and the president. there should be a fire wall. i think sessions has an obligation to do what's right. not by donald trump, but by the constitution and office he put his hand on the bible to be swor -- to besworn in to. kennedy: the presiden

president trump is taking another swing at jeff sessions. rive the attorney general right out the door? or just drive him to drink? the panel returns to talk twitter, obstruction of justice and jefferson beauregard sessions after the break. bettef throwing your money right into the harbor. i'm gonna regret that. with liberty mutual new car replacement we'll replace the full value of your car. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty ♪ i needthat's whenvice foi remembered that my ex-ex- ex-boyfriend actually went to law school, so i called him. he didn't call me back! if your ex-ex- ex-boyfriend isn't a lawyer, call legalzoom and we'll connect you with an attorney. legalzoom. where life meets legal. it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now, from $899, during sleep number's 'biggest sale of the year'. it senses your movement, and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. it even helps with this. so you wake up ready to put your pedal to the metal. it's the final days where all beds are on sale. the que

i want to ask you about something else regarding jeff sessions. in a new court filing, former trump campaign adviser george papadopoulos, he's the guy that pleaded guilty in the special counsel's investigation to lying to the fbi, he claims both sessions and trump supported his proposal during the campaign that trump should meet with vladimir putin. he put this in a court filing, his attorneys did, and he says, then that directly contradicts what jeff sessions told your committee in a public hearing. here is jeff sessions. >> yes or no, after the march 31st meeting did you take any steps to prevent trump campaign officials, advisers or employees from furthering outreach with the russians? >> mr. nadler, let me just say it this way, i push back at that. you made statements that the he did, in fact -- at the meeting, i pushed back. >> congresswoman, do you think jeff sessions lied to you? >> well, obviously based on his statement that he pushed back he was obviously aware of it, and we'll just have to see. maybe we have to bring the attorney general

him, this comes as jeff sessions is telling people that he realizes his relationship with presidentp is not going to end well one way or the other. of course, you noticed last year when president trump first started attacking him, jeff sessions kept his head down, kept doing his work at the justice department, and later on as those attacks continued, he started pushing back a little against president trump. now, wolf, in recent weeks the attorney general is readily conceding to people that his relationship with president trump has sunk even lower in the last few weeks. he's even taking to joking to people, wolf, that he checks out the president's twitter feed to see what his job status truly is. now with the president calling on the justice department to act at his political will as he did as far as those indictments of those two republican congressmen go, president trump criticizing jeff sessions for bringing those indictments, now jeff sessions is telling people that he is prepared for whatever the outcome is going to be with president trump, even, wolf, if that includes president

it is jeff sessions. it is going to remain jeff sessions until the president decides to potentially fire jeff sessions, something that the president has said he will not do until after the midterms. so we are now seeing another flare-up of this dissatisfaction that the president has with a top cabinet member, jeff sessions. there's another piece to it too. in this wide ranging interview, steph, the president also talks about the fbi. and he says -- and i'm going to quote you this line here or paraphrase it. he says i hope to be able to put this up as one of my crowning achievements that i was able to expose something that was truly a cancer in the country, referencing the fbi and his long-running fight with fbi leadership there. we are still reporting how that is sitting inside the walls of the fbi headquarters, steph, but you can imagine not great potentially given that the president is now calling some of those members, calling the agency, calling the corruption he's trying to root out, he believes insi

are you going to fire jeff sessions? is >> we are looking at lots of different things. >> and flood zone, and right now, president trump in new bern, north carolina, handing out meals by those affected by hurricane florence, and we will have a lot more coverage coming up. >>> and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, and while in north carolina, the president continues to hand out lunchboxes the people in new bern, north carolina n the flood zone. where, thank goodness the rains have finally stopped. we will have more coverage coming up. meanwhile, here in washington, the republicans are pushing back from the requests of christine blasey ford, the woman accusing brett kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers. she wants the fbi to investigate her allegations before she testifies publicly. and the president is standing by his mom knee. >> i wou -- by his nominee. >> i would want to see her, and hear what she has to say. if she does not show up, that is unfortunate. i have given her a lot of

but at the same time, it's jeff sessions between the president and bob mueller. so i think that is part of the rallying cry. but i have to tell you, these attacks this weekend underscore the fact that the president has not even a fifth grade appreciation for basic civics, for separation of powers, for the independence of the judiciary, for the systems that undergird the republic, and he has no regard for them at all. >> and agreed, but he also has no -- i mean, the things he said about jeff sessions were so offensive, we couldn't read them on tv. how much of a stain he is on humanity. >> what came across from the excerpts that have been reported out is just the constant cruelty of this president. it seeps into absolutely everything that he does. even if you're ideal logically opposed to him, the cruelty can't be separated from what you might stand to support. this, though, was really probably the absolute worst insult that a yankee can throw around about a southerner, speaking as a mississippi girl, i mean, i have never been a fan of jeff sessions. i don't like h

. >> -- are simply -- you know, senator, jeff sessions. >> yeah, whatever you think about jeff, he's a good man. if you don't want him to be your attorney general, you have a right to replace him, but you're going to have to replace him with somebody who gets confirmed. nobody's going to -- >> how do you explain that he berates his own attorney general, repeatedly, almost day after day after day. it's awful. >> he does it with everybody. he went after the pope. he goes after me. but here's what i would say. i would -- >> is this a stable individual who does that to the sitting attorney general of the united states? >> i think most americans believe that he was the answer better than hillary clinton. >> well, she got 3 million more votes. >> i know, but -- >> he won the electoral college. he is the dually elected president of the united states. >> but don't you think everybody in the country understood who donald trump was? i don't like a lot of things he says about jeff or other people, but most people factor that into the equation. they believe that they had nothing to lose and that

-- jeff sessions should go.nt weeks, "while i am ag, we will not be impartially influenced by political consideration." their people on both sides of gather like that kind of talk coming from a department of justice. you think of the president gets out of jeff sessions, even after midterms, he runs the risk of looking like he is just getting rid of anybody that feels in political opposition to him. >> i think it will be more about the focus moving forward past the midterms. if he gets mired in it, i think you're right, if any. it will become a political problem for him. but i agree with jeff sessions, should be political. he should focus on the policy side of the equation. if they do that through the midterms, then the president is going to recalibrate. it's all about the agenda, because the president needs to have confidence that he has members of his team who serve at the pleasure of the president, have a vision, have a focus, and agreed to execute on the vision. >> ebony: jose, you get the final word. do you

he took aim at jeff sessions.l go to what the president told reporters at the hill in what they described as a free wielding interview. here is what he said to the hill. he said i'm so sad over jeff sessions because he came to me. he was the first senator that endorsed me. he wanted to be attorney general. he went through the nominating process and did very poorly. he was mixed up and confused and people that worked with him for a long time in the senator were not nice to him. he was giving very confusing answers that should have been easily answered. that was a rough time for him. the president there attacking jeff sessions when it came to his nomination which was more than a year and a half ago. jeff sessions did fail to mention the two meetings he had with the former russian ambassador during the campaign. so again the president was at it again attacking his attorney general just moments ago. here is what he said. >> i'm disappointed in the attorney general for numerous reasons. we have an attorney general. i'm

running obama era investigations of two very popular republican publici ahead of the midterms by the jeff sessions justice department. two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. good job jeff. the democrats, none of whom voted for jeff sessions, must love him now. same thing with lyin james comey. the dems all hated him, wanted him out, thought he was disgusting until i fired him.

jeff sessions hired him.

and it is to the just jeff sessions. you can make it about jeff sessions. but truly you have mueller's team handling manafort and several other cases and you have the southern district of new york which i think is handling probably some of the more which closes sif cases th exploels ssiove cases that can . and i'd like to spend few day tsz looking at the trump guy nantszs and see if i can find anything if i had a couple dozen agents. >> so anything different about something or may not happen around the attorney general? >> i think if the president ultimately decides to fire jeff sessions while the mueller investigation is ongoing, i actually believe that that is an obstruction of justice charge that will right itself. because the president has articulated no disagreement on policy matters. what he obsesses about isprotec. he has used the certainly salgtszing t term saddling the president with controversy. and it is nothing but obstruction if the president ultimately does fire jeff sessions. >> and i'm not sure what the president really expects. jeff session

you mentioned jeff sessions earlier. the president in an interview with hill tv said this week i don't have an attorney general. it's sad. now, he later clarified the reports he didn't mean literally there was no attorney general. but did he mean that jeff sessions -- he doesn't have an attorney general who protects him? is that why he's mad at jeff sessions? >> i think he's mad at jeff sessions because he had an attorney general that wasn't up front with him when he recused himself. i mean, we're sitting here talking about this bombshell report from the new york times about rod rosenstein who only has the ability to abuse the power that jeff sessions himself has -- howard: it is a year later. should the president fire jeff sessions if he's so unhappy that he keeps taunting him? >> i think the president should really clean house. i know a lot of people say he shouldn't do it now. he should wait. i understand that. but politically the american people elected donald trump because he's not political. he does what's right. a

meaning jeff sessions. joining us now are phil mudd, cnn counterterrorism analyst, jackie kucinich and cnn political analyst, and cnn senior political analyst, john avlon. guys, i just want to fact check the president's tweet that he sent out yesterday afternoon that goes against jeff sessions, as though this is jeff sessions' fault. the department of justice is investigating these two men for misusing campaign funds and for insider trading. so, here it is, two long running obama era investigations of two very popular republican congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge just ahead of the midterms by the jeff sessions' justice department. okay, that's not a fact. those aren't true. these were investigations started by the justice department in 2017 when president trump was president. > yeah. let's not forget there is footage of congressman collins making -- taking a call about this insider trading on the white house lawn during a picnic. so, there's so much to unpack here. let's also not forget an

now, the president is saying jeff sessions is not doing good enough on border security. it's striking people as notable. >> there's little factual basis to argue sessions hasn't done enough on immigration. it's a weird argument to make. while he is of one mind on the hot dutton issues, he cares about the integrity of the d.o.j. on institutions. when the president goes after him, they are going to butt heads. >> let me play something the president said about jeff sessions in that fox interview fairly recently. watch. >> will you fire him? will you fire sessions? >> well, i'll tell you what, as i said, i wanted to stay uninvolved. when everybody sees what is going on in the justice department, it's a very, very sad day. >> very quickly to you, barbara, where does this go now. the president, if he fires jeff sessions, he is going to have a tough time getting him confirmed. you have the president going after the fbi saying eradicating the issues he has with the fbi is like fighting cancer, making that comparison. >> yeah, everything he says that undermines the ability of the

is this just jeff sessions trying to hold on to his job? >> it looks that way. it's hard to see how the president could get someone new confirmed. even after the election, because sessions still has friends up on capitol hill. sessions, by the same token, seems very happy as attorney general. he is implementing his agenda, which he refers to as the president's agenda, at breakneck speed, changing charging practices and sentencing practices in the department, obviously having a major impact on immigration policy. so, what so many doj watchers have noticed is sessions' failure to stand up strongly to the president when he denegrat es the justice department. >> on one hand you write it is a pitiful thing to watch but on the other it is deadly serious because the attorney general does not protect the president. can you explain what you mean by that? >> sure. the attorney general is not the president's personal lawyer. the attorney general does not sit in place to keep the president, for instance, out of criminal trouble. the attorney general's job is to represent the

i believe that jeff sessions is safe until the midterm elections. afterwards it will be two years.for an attorney general change but clearly president trump -- i don't know what he thinks, if maybe rod rosenstein becomes an even better ally if he gets elevated to that position, but what it also tells me is that it's very close to the picture we get painted by bob woodward in the book. if the president sitting around complaining that jeff sessions has a stupid hick southern accent at some of the stories that he tells. it sort of makes that ring true. but it can't be fun at the sessions house old every night to have to deal with this kind of criticism from a man that you thought you were supporting at great risk to your own political career. >> shannon: who's going to want the job next? >> that is a very good question. because the issues are not going to go away. you can assume that jeff sessions thinks he's staying there because he's getting some things done on immigration, marijuana policy, things that he cares about. i think jeff sessions is going to have a really big book deal af

and afterwards win or lose, i think that he will fire jeff sessions. because i think he wants an attorney general who will be his bouncer, you know, at the velvet ropes protecting him, not as he said when naming sessions, not protecting the united states, but protecting him. i think that is what he wants. and whether or not that person goes all the way and fires rosenstein and mueller and shuts the investigation down to the extent that he or she can, i don't know. but i think that at the very least the idea would be to control it, to oversee it in a way that keeps it from harming the president, if all else fails to keep secret parts of the mueller findings that really should be shared with the american people. and that rosenstein and sessions probably will make public. but that a new attorney general might not. >> david, anyone that would do what eugene just described could not be confirmed and anyone confirmed would not do what eugene just described. >> and president trump's comment that he does not have an attorney general, what he means is that he do

this seems like he's focused on what jeff sessions is doing. >> he continues to be brooding about jeffne who will talk to him. it's a huge focus of his. it's clearly a focus of his today on labor day. he evidently did not go golfing today. he's given assurance to republicans on capitol hill that he'll wait until after the midterms to wait and make a change and fire jeff sessions, but that does not mean that jeff sessions is not in the cross hairs every day until then. but this tweet days really stunning because the president is saying out loud that the justice department should be politicized when that is not the justice department's role. >> right. it's very remarkable. that's a very good point. these two congressmen were trump's first allies in congress. >> congressman chris collins of new york, republican there, he was the first member to endorse president trump. the second congressman to endorse president trump, duncan hunter of california, is the second congressman referenced in the tweet. both of them were charged with federal crimes in recent weeks. >> what's your reporting arou

she was so good in there. >> now back on the issue of george papadopoulos, attorney general jeff sessions attorney put out a statement saying when it comes to what happened in that campaign, session stands by his testimony that he discouraged him from setting it up. >> only got two weeks in jail, a $9500 fine. i guess he was very, very smart to plead guilty and cooperate. thanks very much. let's bring in our colleague, jake tapper trk ak of the lead and the state of the union. jake, you had a chance to sit down with papadopoulos for an extended interview. we're going to see more of that later tonight. but tell us how that went. >> it was interesting because b obviously one of the big questions, mysteries, is once george papadopoulos learned from this professor that the russians were claiming they had hillary clinton's e-mails, remember, this is before anyone else knew that third-degrs happened, the n is, who else did he tell? anyone in the trump campaign? there are reports in "the new york times" that a former trump campaign staffer remembers papadopoulos sharing that information, but no

let's turn to president trump's littest dig at his attorney general jeff sessions. t telling the hill tv quote, i don't have an attorney general. and calling sessions mixed up and confusioned during his confirmation process. president trump spoke about his frustration as he had left the white house yesterday. >> i'm disappointed in the attorney general for numerous reasons, but we have an attorney general. i'm disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons and you understand. >> you're going to fire him? your going to fire jeff sessions? >> we are looking at lots of different things. i have a great cabinet. we have the greatest economy ever in the history of our country. so we're very happy with the way things are running generally speaking. >> but "the washington post" reports even trump's allies have grown frustrated with his attacks on the attorney general. a information white house official telling the paper quote, it is a complete disgrace the way trump is acting like a schoolyard bully against sessions. for his part attorney general sessions appeared at

as of now, jeff sessions has always fought back. he said in a statement just last month he is not going to i lou political considerations to get in on his actions there. this is though extraordinary because the u.s. attorneys in new york and california that oversaw both of these were trump appointees. that is extraordinary. he said last week in a rally in indiana that he would get involved. perhaps this is what he meant going after the specific allegations here. >> a good question, why now? ponder that, maybe it will evident in the coming hours. thank you for jumping in on that with me. >>> coming up, democrats are sharpening their strategy one day ahead of a major face-off on capitol hill. tomorrow begins the process of what could be trump's most enduring legacy the makeup of the u.s. supreme court. confirmation hearings begin for judge brett kavanaugh. he would become the fifth conservative voice on the highest court of the land giving the right-leaning justices the default majority. let's go to manu raju who all this great new re

. >>> the president targets jeff sessions again. this time he slams the attorney general for not placing allies above the law. >>> nike throws its support behind colin kaepernick. now part of the iconic marketing campaign. everybody has an opinion on this one. >> they do. get ready for the latest boycott. i'm certain. >> maybe presidential tweet. i'm christine romans. welcome to "early start." >> i'm dave briggs. good to have you back. tuesday, september 4th. we will get to kaepernick in a moment. >>> we begin with tropical storm gordon. it strengthened overnight and expected to make it to hurricane status. up to 2 million people under hurricane watch for warnings. officials in biloxi ordered the evacuation of harbors and marinas. people along the coast turning to sand bags to keep boats and property safe. >> in new orleans, the mayor declared a voluntary vevacuatio for people outside the levee system. gordon has lashed south florida with rain and tropical storm force winds. many schools are closing early. we have meteorologist pedr

according to his attorneys, the president approved of that and then apparently delegated it to jeff sessionsct portion of that legal filing we're referring to. george papadopoulos' lawyers writing "while some in the room rebuffed george's office, mr. trump nodded with approval and deferred to mr. sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it. george's giddiness over mr. trump's recommendation was prominent during the days that followed." as you noted, christi, that contradicts what we heard from jeff sessions in the confirmation process to become the a.g. listen to this. >> i have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. after reading his account and to the best of my recollection, i believe that i wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the russian government or any other foreign government, for that matter. >> reporter: now, the white house has dismissed george papadopoulos as a coffee boy, someone who is not to be taken seriously, but it is clear that they are preparing fo

i am a long time friend of jeff sessions. i like him a lot.as personally ecstatic when the president named him as attorney general. but this situation as spiraled out of control and we have got to get to the bottom of the corruption, the conspiracy, the collusion and the cover-up going on in the justice department. and it doesn't appear attorney general sessions has the stomach to appoint someone whether it's a special counsel, or whether he gets people from the field offices far removed from d.c. but there has to be accountability for those people in the doj and the fbi who have made a mockery of true justice in this country. judge jeanine: sessions has to go whether you like him or don't like him. but the president just other evening said he's not going before the mid-terms. what does that tell you? that he's going the day after? >> if i were jeff sessions i wouldn't plan on buying any artwork for the office that would be delivered the day after the election. i will leave it at that. some cardboard boxes filling his office floor to gather up

he chose that attorney general, jeff sessions.t jeff sessions and the position isn't is donald trump's personal attorney? >> well, that's right, and look, i think it's fair to say that the president has a very different concept and understanding of the role of the attorney general than jeff sessions does. this relationship has not been good for a long time, ever since sessions recused himself. for a long time it was aberrational, i think now it is just openly dysfunctional. it should go without saying that this is not a healthy relationship for the president or for the country to have the president in open war fafare wi his attorney general. >> trump didn't say when asked that he would fire jeff sessions, but he didn't say he wouldn't fire jeff sessions. i guess for those of us who haven't worked -- and by the way, we're looking at live pict who is about to tour to a church in north carolina. so we are keeping an eye on that for you. and tom, he did not say that he would not fire him, but at some point, does it become hard or impo

the president has lost confidence in jeff sessions. >> then politico posted a story saying trump was personally lobbying republican senators to pull their support for sessions. yesterday, bloomberg reported that trump had declared the attorney general safe, at least until the midterms in november. while sessions remains in his job, the president did announce another exit from the west wing this week, a move made public in his preferred style, on social media. trump writing on twitter, white house counsel don mcgahn will be leaving his position in the fall. mcgahn reportedly was not told the announcement was reporting. last week "the new york times" reported that mcgahn has given 30 hours of testimony in the russia investigation. at a rally in indiana last night, the president issued this threat. >> but our justice department and our fbi have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now. because people are angry. what's happening is a disgrace. and at some point, i wanted to stay out, but at some point if it doesn't straighten out properly, i want them to do their job.

what is jeff sessions' fate. just weeks into his tenure as the attorney general the president was pushing back and he stayed and stayed and stayed and now it seems like after the mid-terms that could be the end of the road. your thoughts on jeff sessions' future? >> the president has made it clear he is sick of jeff sessions for quite a while now going back to march 2017, the day sessions recused himself from the russia investigation. sessions is still here and the reason for that is the united states senate. you just heard senator sullivan talking about it and basically sessions worked in the senate, served in the senate for 20 years. his old colleagues there, republicans who control the senate, have basically told the president until recently that they did not want him to replace jeff sessions and basically the message was if you fire the attorney general, you'll have to get a new one and the only way you can do that is through senate confirmation and we're not really in the mood to do it right now. and amazing

jeff sessions to basically fire him. >> when history books are read jeff sessions doesn't come out. >although the president is attacking civil service officials by name on twitter imputing the credibility. >> it is pushed back and remains and you have seen some cracks here. this idea that maybe it's time for him to go. it is also interesting because donald trump seems to be the reasons he doesn't like this guy. it is hard to imagine i can make a move. >> makes you wonder who he would pick on. >> exactly. >> thanks, guys very much. >> that's right. >> and you can't do that. >> thank you very much. more on president trump's describe the damage as a gut punch to their communities. later kim jong un makes a new offer to take down a testing site and more. there are strings attached. you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >>> officials in north and south carolina. it is

they say it took him to say something, at least semi-nice about jeff sessions, but the theme in the book when it comes out next week is stunning. it is a national security theme. twitter could start world war three, or when all else fails, they bring them over to the white house to stage an intervention to tell the president that you can't do something. when that fails, they swipe documents from his desk. >> what is just as startling is the glimpse of how far the white house works, this is consistent, there is a lot of current and former people around this president that can't get on the phone fast enough to do an interview. that is how much dysfunction. if we were not in a time of relative peace and prosperity this could be even more impactful than just the impact it is having so far. it also tells us that this president is really isolated and how top down decision making and agenda setting this is. this is not a team effort. he has certain beliefs informed or not, who is driving policy in the white house and so much of his advisory around him is retraining the impulses. they are being

jeff sessions is doing just about everything the president wanted him to do as attorney general, excepter is still investigating and rod rosenstein is still -- whatever sessions has done is never going to be overcome of that moment for donald trump. you know, the comments here are, it's not something that happens, it's just sort of how at this point trump is going to, you know, fire up this at his attorney general, what form it's going to take. one thing that is shocking to me, we know the clock is running on sessions, basically until the midterms or until the mueller report comes out and he is probably gone, what's shocking, though, is that no one seems to have a good idea on who's going to replace him. trump has been hammering at sessions for the better part of two years now, and the folks around trump in the white house, outside the white house, no one seems to have a good idea, you know, trump is so focused on his anger at sessions, that he hasn't really started talking or thinking about who could possibly replace him. >> and part of his anger at sessions is grievances with the just

i'm so sad over jeff sessions because he came to me.ndorsed me and he want today be attorney general and i didn't see it. and then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly. i mean, he was mixed up and confused. "the washington post" the reporting tonight from inleakers inside the trump white house that the president's latest attack on his attorney general was, quote, also a raw expression of vulnerability and anger from a president who associates say increasingly believes he is unprotected. we will have more on the unprotected president and the attorney general he hates after this break with jill wine-banks and joyce vance. or delicious. or fun. but since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10%? which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like... well, i don't know what you'd wanna buy because i'm just a guy on your tv. esurance. it's surprisingly painless. start with 100% cleancheese? ingredients. like vermont white cheddar. then... add bacon, bbq chicken

and look, it is clear what the president wants to accomplish by firing jeff sessions.he wants to find a way to shutdown the mueller investigation and what is less clear if he is able to accomplish that even if he fires sessions, because the ten na k s -- tentacles are so far spreading that they have gone to the u.s. district attorney in washington and even if he fires jeff sessions, and if rod rosenstein becomes the acting attorney general, mueller is fine, and nothing will happen. but a new confirmed attorney general, then the senate will require that person to say that they will either recuse themselves or that they will in some way or another commit to not interfering with the investigation. i think that real question is if he can put an acting official in who would try to shut it down. that is the threat. it is a tough thing for the president to find someone who would do that. >> i am not so sure. but we will have to see. and something is clearly going to have to come to a head. thank you very much for your perspective as always. >>> and a coming up, empathy gap. a

. ♪ >>> president trump launches another attack against attorney general jeff sessions, this time overhe indictments of two of his earliest congressional supporters. plus, supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh's confirmation hearings begin today and senator richard blumenthal is warning sparks will fly. a hurricane warning issued as tropical storm gordon takes aim at the gulf coast. the storm has battered south florida take with heavy rain and wind. ♪ >>> good morning. it is tuesday, september 4th. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis bergdorf. as the senate gets ready to hear testimony from the supreme court justice nominee, the president is blasting, two long running, obama-era investigations of two very popular republican congressmen were brought to a well-publicized charge, just ahead of the mid terms, by the jeff sessions justice department. two easy wins now in doubt because there's not enough time. good job, jeff. the justice department declined to comment when asked by "the new york times." the president's claim is false and "the insider" trading investigation of congressman chr