. >>> let's get to jeff zeleny at the white house. jeff, what are you hearing? >> reporter: president trump is meeting with airline executives. but that's not what he's been talking about all morning long. he has been engaging with john mccain on capitol hill really in a way that we've not really seen a president engage with him. but also, his supreme court confirmation fight. now suddenly looking very different this morning. the president was out early this morning sort of pushing back at senator richard blumenthal, who says judge neil gorsuch, trump's supreme court nominee, has been disheartened by the comments the president has been making. the white house right now is confused about what the president is doing, quite frankly. the strategy here was to put the judge forward, have him speak to senators openly and honestly, have him talk about, you know, his record on the bench. but the president this morning sort of pushing back at these comments. it's creating some discord inside the west wing here. we'll see if the president talks about that this morning. and

we'll go to the white house and check in with jeff zeleny. sanctions against iran are scheduled to be announced any moment now, can you tell us more about that, jeff. >> reporter: that's right, carol. we're told in about 30 minutes or so, from the treasury department. this is separate from the iran nuclear deal. this is, as clarissa was just saying there, these sanctions are the latest step in this escalation really happening over the last couple of days. the president was up tweeting this morning early about a variety of topics, including iran. take a look at this. he said, "iran is playing with fire. they don't appreciate how kind president obama was to them. not me." so the full scope of the sanctions and the specificity we do not yet have. we'll be alerting that shortly. but certainly iran front and center here as the president is beginning his final workday of a second full week in office. carol, what he is doing now is meeting with a group of ceos from top american companies to get advice on the economy. and he's also expected to get an

christine and miguel. >> thank you, jeff zeleny. busy day for you. president trump now claims he wanted to give travelers one month's notice before the travel ban. he insists he was overruled by law enforcement officials. he did not specify which agency overruled him. he was urged not to delay because the advance warning could trigger ayinigger terrori country. >>> and a swearing in for jeff sessions. he was confirmed among party lines. a bitter pill for democrats. especially elizabeth warren. warren refusing to remain silent. firing off this tweet. there's no rule 19 to silence me from talking about jeff sessions anymore. let me say loudly, this is just the beginning. if jeff sessions turns a blind eye, he will hear from all of us. if jeff sessions makes the tiny attempt to bring racism into the justice department, he will hear from all of us. consider this my warning. we will speak out. senator warren's use of the word persist is notable. used by mitch mcconnell used to describe her actions before he silenced her on the floor. she said she felt she

jeff zeleny, let me begin with you. some very key questions to the vice president there, about the media of course but the key one was, who should european leaders listen to, you saying you are committed to the nato alliance, or the president, who in the past has called nato obsolete. >> indeed, poppy, that was really the first time the vice president has asked that on a world stage, world setting. i'm not sure there was a clear answer to that. he said that the president supports nato in its broad outlines here and he was trying to suggest that he of course serves at the pleasure of the president and they can believe the president. but i'm not sure that it was as crisp an answer as perhaps that reporter wanted. poppy, i think a headline as well, the vice president talking for the first time about general flynn and that entire episode of his abrupt resignation last week. it was because general flynn apparently lied to the vice president or certainly didn't tell him the truth. the vice president said, "for the first time

. >> jeff zeleny is sitting by, he's the one normally asking questions of sean spicer, i think it's a great thing they brought in the skype seats local reporters an anchors across the country who had never gotten to talk to the white house in this manner but now we learn this news that cnn was blocked in addition to other news organizations, what do you make of this? >> reporter: brooke i think it is something the continuation of what the trump administration views the media, the president has long benefitted from having an opponent for so many months it was his republican rivals and now hillary clinton, i was at the c-pac this morning, it is very clear he's following steve bannon in making the media the opposition but i think brian is right in the sense we not hyper ventilate in this, it is unacceptable in every form not to be allowed into a briefing but not like people are being thrown out of a room at this point. yesterday at the end of the briefing as i was sitting there in the room sean spicer indicated there may not be an on-camera briefing today. that was a decision made long b

let's begin with jeff zeleny at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, carol. what we're seeing are the emerging outlines of the trump foreign policy doctrine here. of course, we know what he said when he was running for president on the campaign trail. things are often different when you have the realities of government. we are seeing a harder line on russia particularly from his ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley. this is what she said yesterday. >> this escalation of violence must stop. united states stands with the people of ukraine who have suffered nearly three years on russian occupation and military interventionment until russia and the separatists it supports respect ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, this crisis will continue. >> reporter: she went on to say the sanctions would not be lift ed right now if the situation remains the same in eat earn ukraine. still more fallout from those phone calls with world leaders, particularly australia. the u.s. ambassador -- the australian ambassador to the u.s. came here to the white hou

let's go to jeff zeleny at the white house. what does the president say about the ninth circuit judges here today? >> reporter: it was a blistering and rather extraordinary attack on the judicial branch of the government. and the president also was talking about the urgent threat of terrorism. he says he's been in office two weeks and knows things that other people do not. he was casting all of this as a reason why his executive order must be upheld. and this is what he said directly to those judges. >> i think it's sad. i think it's a sad day. i think our security is at risk today. and i was a good student. i understand things. i comprehend very well, okay? better than, i think almost anybody. and i want to tell you, i listened to a bunch of stuff last night on television that was disgraceful. it was disgraceful. but courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right. >> reporter: now anderson, so interestingly, last night at this time,

let's start with jeff zeleny. jeff, what are you hearing about a possible new executive order? >> wolf, the white house is considering a new executive order focusing on extreme vetting, or they are possibly considering revising the one signed just a couple weeks ago that stirred so much unrest here. but they are still working throughout the week and i am told by one official they are going to go slower than they did initially, trying to get everything legally right with this. but as white house lawyers and justice department lawyers work throughout the weekend, the president was heading south to florida with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. >> i welcome you to the very famous white house. >> reporter: president trump hosting his second official visit from a key american ally, japanese prime minister shinzo abe. but after the renewing the long-standing security commitment with japan, the president talked again about terror threats facing the country. in the wake of his travel ban being blocked by a federal appeals court. >> so, we'll be doing something very rapidly having to

jeff zeleny is now available. jeff, you asked a great question. i'm not totally sure whether we got the full answer whether general mcmaster wants to do away with steve bannon can he, what was the sense you got from sean? >>. >> that was the question, if this new national security adviser will be able to have his own team in place and sean spicer said several times he will have the full authority to create his own set of advisors here within the national security council but i was asking specifically about the principal's committee we talked about that several weeks ago and that includes stephen bannon the chief strategist essentially a political advisor and policy advisor, and i heard sean spicer leave the door open to that, he said i don't want to get ahead of that, or say that's something that will happen but wouldn't close to door to that possibility. he said that would be a decision that general mcmaster would have with the president. i think that's a essential question of the national security council. it certainly is one of the things that

wolf. >> jeff zeleny at the white house.y much. >>> dana, why does he think he will get this kind of benefit from going after the mainstream media or some elements of which he calls fake media? >> i am not so sure that he really thinks that he is going to get a benefit ultimately. i just think what jeff zeleny just said is right on, that he operates in a world where he needs an opposition. he doesn't necessarily have one right now, nothing and no one as sort of -- as interested as the media. it, of course, continues to rile his base. once he loses his base or if he loses his base, then he starts to really, you know, begin to crumble. so he needs to continue to do that. i am just not sure if going the extra mile, continuing to go after the "new york times," you know, cnn and others, is going to get him anywhere because the more he does that, the more those of us in journalism, you know, feel compelled to double and redouble and triple our efforts to do our jobs. >> some have suggested, ron, during the campaign he had low ener

jeff zeleny at the white house, thanks very much. let's discuss all of this with our panel, jason johnson, juliette kayyem, paul singer, washington correspondent for "usa today." paul, as the reporter, you know, on all of this, your take. it shouldn't be a surprise that the president attacked the judiciary. he did it with judge curiel during the campaign. he did it just a few days ago on twitter to the washington state federal judge, saying he's a so-called justice. what do you make of when he said this morning if these judges wanted to help the court in terms of respect for the court they would do what they should be doing? he said a bad high school student could easily ruin on this in his favor. >> we always talk about the fact that the president has a bully pulp pulpit. i think we've never quite seen it quite so much bully. and in this case, donald trump is really, as jeff zeleny said, beginning to run up against the limits of a government that's based on on three co-equal branches. the fact of the matter is trump is used to havin

jeff zeleny, thank you very much. so we appreciate it. let's bring in our panel, tony blan ken former deputy secretary of state. senator rick santorum, laura coates, our legal analyst and maria cardona, political commentator as democratic strat just. let me begin with you, mr. blanken. ken cuccinelli, the former ag of virginia said last night on this network that there is a brilliant move on the part of the trump administration to bring up the fact and to argue the fact that it was the obama administration under your time in the state department that made this list of these seven countries, these seven muslim majority countries that they have used in this travel ban. he called that a brilliant move. how do you see it? >> look, first, poppy, i think it's important to say that what we just heard was deeply troubling. the president put himself above the law. he suggested that there is no judicial review of what the when president trump does it, it's wrong and dangerous. he questioned the impartiality of the judges. he called yesterday's hear

senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny has the latest. >> christine and dave. good morning. white house issued guidance on wednesday about the transgender bathroom issue which was controversial in the last year. a directive issued to states to disregard what president obama to call for extra protections for transgender students. a new executive order was not put out. foreign note, this is not taking away any protections. it is taking away the federal guidance of what to do saying this should be in the hands of the states. christine and david. >> this likely ends in the supreme court. they will probably have the last word. the biggest national gathering of conservatives shifts in high gear. the political action conference welcoming top republicans to the podium. gop figures once viewed as fringed are ready to address the gathering as members of the white house staff. tal kopan is leading the digital coverage of cpac. tal, this is an administration packed lineup. go through it for us. >> reporter: absolutely. you know, thereat's one of the really interesting things about cpac.

we get more on that now from cnn's jeff zeleny. >> good morning.resident trump clearly making good on immigration promises he made during the campaign. we are looking for him to sign the new immigration order to do a redo, if you will, of that immigration order he signed in the first week of his presidency that was blocked by the courts. but before he did that, he ordered his department of homeland security to go after specifically tightening immigration laws. and white house press secretary sean spicer explained it like this. >> everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at anytime. that is consistent to every country, not just ours. if you're in this country in an illegal manner, obviously, there say provision that could ensure that you be removed. but the priority that the president has laid forward and the priority that i.c.e. is putting forward through dhs' guidance is to make sure the people who have committed a crime are the priority of their efforts. >> expanding deportations and enforcing the law. that is what this white house s

bring jeff zeleny. i guess he can do that. he did it. his own supreme court pick is slamming his comments on the judiciary. what is going on? >> this is coming at end of extraordinary day long series of comments from the president that started out with harsh words this morning speaking to law enforcement officials. continued throughout the day and the president has been going after judges for a long time. been a hallmark of his life filing lawsuit after lawsuit. but as president it takes on such a different tone. his nominee for the supreme court, judge neil gorsuch, just eight days ago at white house being nominated he said he's disheartened by this and dispirited by the comments, echoing the feelings of federal judges everywhere. made the comments in a meeting with the democratic senators making his way through capitol hill. may be strategy at play as well. you can be sure when the confirmation hearings begin, will be asked about the comments. already putting distance between himself and president on those comments. >> and senate confi

more now from cnn's jeff zeleny at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, christine and dave.president trump is heading to the cpac outside washington for the conference today. giving a speech to conservative activists. it was a year ago where he shipped th skipped this event. republicans working against him. saying they did not want him to win the nomination. boy what a difference and a victory makes. he is going back as the man of the moment. activists are excited to see him and hear his agenda and rally him forward. now steve bannon, the white house chief strategist who has influence all over the white house is seldom heard from. he made an appearance yesterday and gave a sense of his world view and what the president plans to do in office. >> if you think they will give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. every day. every day it will be a fight. that is what i'm proudest about donald trump. all of the opportunities he had. all of the people have come to him and said you have to moderate. every day, he tells us, i committed to the american people.

let's begin with our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, some pretty tough talk today. >> reporter: tough talk indeed, wolf. now, this is from one of his key advisors who was at the center of every decision that's made inside this white house. we know his world view and we see the actions his fingerprints are all over. but we seldom see or hear his voice. we did hear that today. and he said the president is simply doing everything he promised to do. president trump's most influential advisor had a blunt message today for anyone wondering whether the president will change in the white house. >> all the opportunities he had to waver off this, all the people have come to him and said you have to moderate. every day he tells reince and he, i committed this to the american people, i promised this when i ran and i'm going to deliver on this. >> reporter: steve bannon, a master mind of the west wing making a rarely public appearance today. he joined white house chief of staff reince priebus on stage at the conservative political action confer

we begin with our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, what is the latest? >> wolf, president trump is increasingly sounding the alarm about the growing urgency of terror threats. even as is one of had i biggest campaign promises that executive order now hangs in the balance. >> it's common sense. you know, in things are law, and i'm all in favor of that some things are common sense. this is common sense. >> surrounded by law enforcement officials today at the white house, president trump defended his travel ban. but the courts will have the final say on whether what he calls common sense is constitutional. >> i actually can't believe that we're having to fight to protect the security in a court system to protect the security of our nation. i can't even believe it and a lot of people agree with us. believe me. >> reporter: the supreme court may ultimately rule on the immigration order that sparked international backlash, but the president is trying to conflate and litigate t. sounding the alarm about the threat of global terrorism. the threat from radical is

senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny with the latest. >> reporter: christine and dave, good morning. new guidance on wednesday about the transgender bathroom issue that was controversial in the last year. essentially they issued a directive to states to disregard what president obama did last year by calling for extra federal protections for students using transgender restrooms. there was no new executive order. it advised people to ignore the guidance from last year. important to note. this is not taking away any protections. it is taking away the federal guidance of what to do. saying this should be in the hands of the states. the white house put out this statement last night. it says, as president trump has clearly stated, he believes the policy regarding transgender bathrooms should be decided at the state level. the joint decision made by the department of justice and department of education returning power to the states paves the way for an open process to take place at the local level with input from parents and students and stee teachers. betsy devos parted ways with jeff se

jeff zeleny and jeff perez are with us now. jeff, do we know who the president is planning to meet with today? >> ana, we do not know who he's meeting with today. he's still in mar-a-lago, his retreat in florida. we'll have a few staff meetings, we're told, then will fly back alert today to the white house. we do not believe a decision will be made on who his national security adviser is until later in the week. no earlier than tomorrow. but the chief of staff of the white house, reince priebus, was asked over the weekend about, you know, the difficulty of finding someone to fill this position, which certainly is weighing on most of the president's advisers here in the wake of general flynn's resignation. let's listen. >> the president has said very clearly that the new nsa director will have total and complete say over the makeup of the nsc and all of the components of the nsc. and there is no demand made by president trump on any candidate for nsa director at all. >> reporter: so that of course is the central question here, w

get to jeff zeleny with the breaking news of the evening. talk about the president now signaling expansion of deportations of undocumented immigrants in the country. what is the white house saying? >> he is indeed. sent two memorandums to the department of homeland security saying going to enforce existing u.s. law. anyone in country as undocumented immigrant could be subject to being arrested. this is different from the obama administration that was generally reserved for criminals, a violent criminal. didn't have the bandwidth to go after everyone but sean spicer made clear that everybody undocumented could now be at risk. >> everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at any time. that's consistent with every country, not just ours. if you're in this country in illegal manner, obviously there's a provision that could ensure you be removed. but the priority the president has laid for and i.c.e. is putting forward through dhs's guidance is make sure people who pose a risk to security are priority of their efforts. >> to make clear

let's bring in senior white house correspondent, jeff zeleny. jeff, you asked the white house press secretary, sean spicer, about that today.ers what he sa >> reporter: how much authority he will have to sort of assign his own adviser and structure to this. we asked sean spicer specifically how full of authority that would actually be, and the context here is steve bannon. the chief strategist of the white house who in the early days was added to the principals committee of the national security council. very unusual. so we asked the press secretary if he was included in this full authority. >> said that he has the full authority to structure his office as he sees fit. does that extend to the principals committee as well? after he comes in, tooks a look at the whole apparatus, if he advises the president to prefer not to have a chief strategist as a member of the principals committee -- >> the president has made clear to him as i said, he's got full authority to structure the national security team the way he wants. obviously, something like that

cnn's jeff zeleny has been doing digging for us on that. jeff, this executive order that president trump said he would sign last week opening an investigation into his claim that millions of people voted illegally in the election. what do we know? >> anderson, it was a week ago today he was supposed to sign it in the oval office and it didn't happen. at the time he said he was running out of time taking the first trip out of washington to philadelphia and then they said he would sign it on friday and saturday. it didn't happen but we do know that he was making a big issue last week. his initiative of saying that three to 5 million people voted illegal illegally. he tweeted about it, as well. take a look at this. he said i will be asking for major investigation into voter fraud including those registered to vote in two states. those who are illegal and those who register to vote are dead in many for a long time. depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures. so that was supposed to be followed by an executive order or memorand

let's begin with our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, what is the president saying and doing about this? >> wolf, the president is speaking out against these rising incidents of anti-semitism. he called it horrible, but he did not say if he's directed his justice department or other agencies to do anything about it. these threats have been rising ever since he's been inaugurated and before. >> this, too, is a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance, and hatred in all of its very ugly forms. >> reporter: president trump speaking out today against a wave of anti-semitism during a visit to the new smithsonian museum. >> the threats targeting our jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil. >> reporter: the president's condemnation of bomb threats and vandalism at jewish sites across the country came after days of enduring sharp criticism for virtual silence on rising anti-semitic threats.

. >> let's bring in jeff zeleny.ary john kelly had a different message today in mexico. explain. >> wolf, he did indeed. he specifically was asked about those two words, military operation. of course, john kelly, a former military man, long time decorated military man had specific language and a sharp response to the president. >> there will be no, repeat, no mass deportations. everything we do in dhs will be done legally and according to human rights and the legal justice system of the united states. and again, listen to this. no, repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations. none. yes. we'll approach this operation systemically and in an organized way, and in a results-oriented way, in an operation way, and a human dignity way. this is the way great militaries do business. the united states, mexico, and many others. >> and white house press secretary sean spicer was also asked about the military operation. he said the president was simply using that as an adjective, wolf. >> jeff, the president also g

thanks jeff zeleny as we wait for the ninth court of appeals on whether to lift a block on the ban. our investigations have uncovered the alleged selling of passports under the eyes of one country that is not part of the ban, but there's also alleged connections to iraq and syria, two countries that are part of the ban. the allegation center around venezuela's embassy in baghdad. you might ask why that matters, because venezuelan passports can be used without a visa to enter countries, including some in the european union. also venezuela is a hotbed of violations. in the end, passports got into the hands of people who shouldn't be getting them. the u.s. has known about it, too. here is our drew griffin with passports in the shadows. take a look. >> reporter: there is good reason this venezuelaen strolling the streets of spain instead of venezuela. lopez is frightened, because he says he told the truth about venezuela, possible terrorists and corruption that will have him forever looking over his shoulder. >> i'm concerned about my safety and my family's safety. everywhere i go or wh

cnn's senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny joins me now. jeff, you just heard that president trump called the governor of missouri to offer an affirming statement against anti-semitism, what happened. but before the cameras earlier, he was talking much more about the budget and saying that the government will have to do much more with less. >> reporter: he said exactly that, jake. that's a standard refrain from all presidents and most politicians saying they'll have to do more with less. but that becomes much more difficult when you factor in all the presidential wish lists that includes that $15 billion border wall in mexico. >> finances of our country are a mess, but we're going to clean them up. >> reporter: president trump meeting today with his new budget director as he prepares to submit his first spending plan to congress on march 13th. the president and his team still grappling with how to make good on campaign pledges like tax reform and overhauling the affordable care act. >> health care is moving along nicely. it's being put into

we get more from jeff zeleny at the white house. >> reporter: christine and miguel, in a speech hereident delivering a sharp tone against judges against the judicial branch. questioned if politics was involved. >> i don't want to call a court bias. i won't call it bias. we he haven't had a decision yet. courts seem to be so political. it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right. that has to do with a security of our country which is so important. >> reporter: those sharp words from the president drawing rebuke from his nominee to the supreme court. neil gorsuch. he is making the rounds to senators on capitol hill and republicans as well. he said he was disheartened by the comments about the president politicizing judges. he said it is not right. he, of course, is trying to distance himself from the president as he tries to get democratic votes to win confirmation. no question, the president trying to win this case in public opinion. all eyes at the white house today. once again on san francisco. president trump awaiting a

our coverage begins with jeff zeleny life at the white house. what's the latest, jeff? >> president trump's tough talk on the campaign trail is getting its test on the world stage. some of the first calls with foreign leaders intended to be courtesy calls are actually confrontational. new tension between president trump and a major u.s. ally. sources say the president grew angry during a phone call with australia's prime minister last saturday. president trump calling the australian refugee agreement a very bad deal. that resettlement deal reached by the obama administration will transfer refugees currently living in detention centers on islands off australia to the u.s. >> i'm in the going to comment on the conversation. >> reporter: prime minister turnbull repeating to president trump that according to the deal nearly 1,300 refugees have to pass u.s. screening requirements. sources say mr. trump kept insisting it was a very bad deal, remarking one of these refugees will be the next boston bomber. >> i always stand up for australia in every forum. >> reporter: the prim

get to jeff zeleny w

jeff zeleny has been doing digging for us on that. >> reporter: this executive order president trumpaid he would sign opening an investigation for his claim that millions of people voted illegally in the election, what do we know. >> it was a week ago today he was supposed to sign it in the oval office. it didn't happen. at the time they said he was running out of time, taking his first trip outside of washington to philadelphia, and then they said friday and saturday. it didn't happen. but we know he was making a big issue last week. his initiative of saying that three to five million people voted illegally. he tweeted about it as well. take a look at this to refresh your memory. he said i will be asking for a major investigation into voter fraud. including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those who registered to vote are dead and many for a long time. depending on results, we'll strengthen up voting procedures. that was supposed to be followed by an executive order or memorandum calling on the justice department to investigate it. it hasn't hap

>> jeff zeleny at the white house for us, thank you so much. the white house is pushing back strongly today gengs the cnn exclusive cnn reporters found that the fbi rejected a request made by the white house to try to publicly knock down reporting by both cnn and the new york times about contacts between president trump's campaign staff and russians known to u.s. intelligence. cnn's jim sciutto joins me now. jim, the white house's push back is interesting because it actually ends up confirming the reporting. >> between all the push back and the normal insults and the object fa skags, this essential fact. the white house confirms it did speak to the fbi about these communications and did ask for help knocking down stories describing those communications. and more broadly, the white house is not denied the existence of these communications between trump advisors and russians known to u.s. intelligence during the campaign as cnn reported last week. tonight the white house vehemently defending, asking the fbi to deny reports of communications betwe

jeff zeleny is at the white house. sean spicer also told his staff not to leak news of his anti-leaking meeting. so how do you and i know about it? >> jake, it leaked. that is an example of journalism 101 or washington journalism 101. some leaks are sanctioned. some leaks are not sanctioned. all leaks are not created equally. no one knows that more perhaps than the president himself who has spent a lifetime in new york dealing with tab loit tabloid r and others. i am told he signed off personally on that meeting with sean spicer and his staffers to check their cellphones. it allows you to send messages and then they disappear. i am told it was sanctioned by the president, he knew about this and it was designed to send a signal across the government entirely, not just here in the white house, that they do not want leaks to happen. sometimes to send the signals, smaller leaks have to happen. jake, the bottom line is that the president is frustrated by this. and sean spicer, his role, among many, is to enforce what the pr

let's begin at the white house with cnn's jeff zeleny. >> even as the white house was hoping to change the subject and focus of the nomination of the supreme court, the president changing the subject back to what's been dividing his administration, immigration. it will fire up again in the form of a supreme court campaign. carol, there's already television advertising in key states against senators urging them to vote for confirmation. this is the biggest decision of president trump's presidency, a lifetime appointment to the court. that's why democrats are vowing to try and block it. >> here they come. here they come. >> reporter: in a prime time reveal, president trump unveelg judge neil gorsuch as his nominee to the supreme court. >> i only hope both democrats and republicans can come together for once for the good of the country. >> as this process moves to the senate, i look forward with speaking with members from both sides of the aisle. >> reporter: setting up a battle between senate republicans. >> i think it was an absolute home run. >> reporter: and democrats vowing a confirm

jeff zeleny reports that the white house isn't backing down but it is insisting the ban is not a ban. >> it's been a long time. too long. >> reporter: the white house is still trying to clean up the mess. and clear up confusion across the government. from its executive order on immigration. secretary of homeland security john kelly coming out in hopes of restoring order. >> this is not, i repeat, not a ban on muslims. >> reporter: four days after president trump signed an order closing the nation's borders to refugees and others from seven predominantly muslim countries the controversy threatened to escalate into a washington crisis. the president fired acting attorney general sally yates, a holdover from the obama administration, after she stood in defiance of trump's travel ban. the white house said she betrayed the department of justice and swore in a new acting attorney general. as democrats protested the substance of the order, republicans were furious for not being consulted. >> regrettably the rollout was confusing but on a going forward basis i'm confident secretary kel kelly

i want to quickly go over to senior white house correspondent, jeff zeleny. he has new information. jeff, the president had been talking and tweeting about this. what's the latest? >> reporter: he has been, wolf, all day long. you can tell the president is, indeed, paying attention who that is going to be coming out of this ruling. i am told the white house counsel don mcgann and his flock of lawyers are watching and paying attention to this ruling and they are going to be giving the president updates in realtime. unclear if the president is watching this at the moment. he has meetings and other things wrapping up. wolf, they are keeping an eye on this. this is affecting his most important executive order, his most important campaign promise and other things going forward here. it's his first taste of the limits potentially of executive power and authority, wolf. >> jeff zeleny at the white house for us. jeff, thank you very much. let's go to the ninth circuit court of appeals, this panel is now underwhey. >> appearing today on short notice. as you have heard, you'll each have 30 min

the details now from jeff zeleny. so what is sean spicer doing to crack down on these leaks?first and foremost, sean spicer is trying to get the word out to his staff and others throughout the whole government, throughout the administration, that they are serious about this, the president from the top down is serious about leaks and they want everyone to stay on message. so he had a meeting last week, and he urged, in fact, told people not to use these encrypted apps that you can communicate with people privately in messages that disappear on your phones. and he also checked people's phones to see if they had been sending text messages and other things to reporters. we were told earlier today by multiple sources that the president signed off on this, that he was so intent on finding -- or putting a stop to this, he signed off on this plan. sean spicer tells me that's not true, he was acting alone here. but the point remains the same. we stand by our reporting on that. they wanted to get the word out that they're trying to crack down on leaks. we'll see if that happened, becau

cnn's jeff zeleny at the white house with that. >> good morning, carol. secretary of state rex tillerson certainly is getting a full agenda here as he is now confronting with what president trump dealt with last week with world leaders, these courtesy calls turned confrontational. new tension between president trump and a major u.s. ally. sources say the president grew angry during a phone call with australia's prime minister last saturday, calling the australian refugee agreement a bad deal. that deal transfers refugees currently living in detention centers on islands off australia to the u.s. >> i'm not going to comment on the conversation. >> reporter: prime minister turnbull repeating to president trump that according to the deal nearly 1,300 refugees have to pass u.s. screening requirements. sources say mr. trump kept insisting it was a very bad deal, remarking one of these refugees will be the next boston bomber. >> i always stand up for australia in every form. >> reporter: the prime minister saying the conversation ended courteously. a source says

our white house correspondent jeff zeleny is live at cpac. what can we expect from the president this morning? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, poppy. while trump branded conservative is different than the brand of conservativism usually embraced here, the people i talked to are simply happy there is a republican in the white house and republicans controlling both sides of pennsylvania avenue for the first time in decades. yes, donald trump isn't necessarily the first choice of some of these conservatives. a year ago, like i said, there were cries to try and stop him from winning the party's nomination. that's all ancient history. so he is going to be taking that victory lap, like you said. i'm told his speech is not going to be one filled with policy. it's not going to be the specifics that we heard in terms of the world view of stephen bannon, his chief strategist yesterday, who talked about economic nationalism, and how this country must change the political world order. but president trump i'm told is going to simply thank these acti

>> senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny up on capitol hill tonight. jeff, thank you very much. let's go to the other end of pennsylvania avenue where senior administration official says president trump would like a compromise immigration bill that would let so many people stay in the united states legally. let's go to our senior white house correspondent jim accosta. jim, what are you hearing over at the white house about this very sensitive issue? >> reporter: wolf, we are learning that white house press secretary sean spicer told press secretaries up on capitol hill today that the president is expected to signal an openness to a compromise immigration bill in his speech later tonight. that's a big shift for the president who once spoke of a deportation force as a candidate for president. but senior administration official now says the president could be willing to sign a bill that creates a path to legal status for the undocumented, but we should caution this could be a float with some lead weights attached to t. white house spokesperson sara huck a

jeff zeleny, thank you very much. "out front" now, the independent senator angus king who sits op the senate intelligence, armed services and budget committee. you heard judge gorsuch calling trump's comments disheartening and demoralizing. does this make you more likely to support judge gorsuch's nomination to the supreme court? >> it's a good indication he is going to call them as he sees them. i haven't yet met with him and i'm about to dive into the reading of his opinions as a circuit court judge so i can't say that this changes my mind in any way because my mind isn't made up. i think it was striking he was willing to say what he did, which by the way was totally appropriate. but it's important he would say that today. apparently the white house didn't deny it. listen, i used to practice law. the first thing you tell your client is don't talk about the judges before the decisions are, one. and two, the utter disrespect for the separation of powers for the constitution, for the independent judiciary to try to del

cnn's jeff zeleny live at the white house, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. we heard the tough talk from the president throughout his bid for the presidency. and his tough talk also has been extending to his calls with foreign leaders. the latest, as you said, a dust-up with the australian prime minister in a call last week that we are just learning about. it was a very confrontational phone call. this morning actually, just a few minutes ago, the president talked about how he is going to give tough talk and straight talk to, he says, straighten out the world. let's listen. >> the world is in trouble. but we're going to straighten it out, okay? that's what i do. i fix things. we're going to straighten it out. believe me. when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. they're tough. we have to be tough. it's time we're going to be a little tough, folks. we're taken advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. it's not going to happen anymore. >> reporter: that may sound good as campaign rhetoric,

we'll see if that holds. >> jeff zeleny, thanks.page pate, laura coats andkq jeffrey toobin, jeffrey lord, paul begala and elizabeth, and ken guch nelly. i want to start with the legal mind. jeff, what do you make of the arguments you heard tonight? >> i know from painful experience how difficult it is to predict the results of any case based on oral argument. the real answer is we don't know. the judges were clearly giving both lawyers a hard time. i think on the standing issue whether washington has the right to bring this case, i think washington is in good shape there. on the merits, the bush appointee, judge clifton, seemed very kept cscent cal of whether was appropriate this stay. judge friedlad, the obama appoint appointee, seemed like she was sympathetic to the plaintiffs, washington state. and judge camby, the 85-year-old brother-in-law of walter mondale, was harder to read. i just don't know. >> what about the issue of standing? >> i thought washington made some compelling arguments about they had people who were going to

let's begin right now with cnn's senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, a lot happening at the white house right now. let's begin first with the breaking news. the details, what are you learning about the details of these new sanctions the trump administration has just announced again iran? >> reporter: indeed, kate, this is the first concrete step the trump administration has taken against iran, after talking about it all week and putting the country on notice, as you said earlier. just a short time ago, the treasury department here issued a new list of sanctions. and these are largely against companies that have a business relationship in terms of producing missiles. this is separate from the iran nuclear agreement we've talked so much about. this is sanctions for about 25 or so individuals and companies related to missiles, all going after of course the testing that happened earlier this week. now, these sanctions largely are the same, a similar variety to what the obama administration has done, critics will say they don't have much teeth here, bu

let kick things about at the white house cnn's jeff zeleny was in the east room. now outside. the headline hearing the president say there will be new steps that they can take to keep the country safe next week. what does that mean. >> reporter: indeed, brooke, that's the headline out of that news conference and these steps still being worked out i'm told. -- redoing or rewriting executive order. it was two weeks that the president signed this and created such an up roar. so there's a school of thought of rewriting that, but there's another as the president has sort of suggested, he did not show his hand there at all in the news conference, he did talk about the threats facing the country that he says he knows and he knows alone since taking office three weeks ago. let's listen. >> i've learned tremendous things that you could only learn frankly if you were in a certain position, namely, president. and there are tremendous threats to our country. we will not allow that to happen, i can tell you right now, we will not allow that to happen, so we will be going forward and doing

as reporter jeff zeleny shows us -- it comes amid reports of tension between president trump's top aides the tone at the annual conservative gathering was noticably different from just a year ago. last year -- a considerable amount of time was devoted to stopping then-candidate donald trump from winning the g-o-p nominiation. at the white house today. president donald trump talked tough about immigration, comparing his crackdown to a battle plan. president trump: "we're getting really bad dudes out of this country. and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before. and they're the bad ones. and it's a military operation, because what has been allowed to come into our country." in mexico today -- homeland security secretary john kelly offered a clarification to the words 'military operation'.. saying, emphaticallly, there would be no use of military force in immigration operations. later in the day, the white house said, the president was just using the words "military operation" as an adjective. another big story tonight:the santa cruz police department and santa cruz city officials say they

. >> for more on this let's bring in cnn's senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, it seems like we're hearing one thing from the white house and a different story is leaking out after. >> reporter: essentially the president confirming those tough phone calls we've been talking about all morning that really have certainly have rankled the normal course of diplomacy. but nothing seems normal these days. it's very common for leaders of countries to have their first phone calls. but we are learning, as "the washington post" first reported, these courtesy calls became confrontational. trump says he's going to do this tough talk with foreign leaders but it makes the job for the new secretary of state much more difficult here. this all came out of last saturday's round robin phone calls. the australian phone call, we're told, was the most confrontational of all. australia, after all, is an ally of ours. but it's a different moment for tough talk here in washington. >> not just an ally, a really, really close ally. >> like an ally, not just an ally. >> capital "a." no

>> jeff zeleny, the president saying new steps next week to keep the country safe. that mean a rewriting of the executive order? >> reporter: it could, but also could signify a defeat, and so far the president has not liked to acknowledge that there was sort of anything wrong with what he was doing, so i'm looking they are potentially looking at a new executive order, potentially making changes to this one or potentially introducing something all new next week. but the president was talking about the urgent need for securing the nation's bored with the threat to the country. >> while i've been president for this short period of time i've learned things that you couldn't have learned frankly if you weren't president. and there are tremendous threats to our country. we will not allow that to happen i can tell you that right now. >> reporter: so the president saying there are urgent threats, but brooke, i can hear the helicopters behind me coming over the white house marine one, the president will be leaving shortly to go to florida with the prime minister there, so as