jeff zeleny, what are they saying? >> reporter: he said this, as i have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know, that there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. the president goes on to say this. i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime, i will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. it ends with that. so erin, it is three sentences. from the president himself directly, who again only learned of this as he was interviewing fbi directors, potential directors this afternoon. he was told this. he was not asked about it, not asked for his input. he was told this. so of course he again is saying he looks forward to this matter ending quickly. but erin, that is very much hopeful and wishful thinking. the reality here as it settles into this white house that this will be the sound track of the summer, perhaps much longer r than that, into the fall, it has overtaken the legislative age

jeff zeleny is back at the white house. you heard what evan just said. not good news for the white house because they won't know what's going on. we're hearing they got less than one hour notice. and they weren't told until it was signed. we have signed it. the deal is done. what's the reaction there? >> at the very moment the it was signed, the president was interviewing candidates for the fbi director. he still had control over this. i was talking to a senior administration official. they are still trying to get their hands around this. but you're right. they had less than an hour to deal with this. but one official told us that it was still sinking in. we were told about it, not asked about it. the president was described as being shocked by this but also is seeing yet again for one more time the limits of his presidential power here in the executive branch. we cannot point out enough, erin, this is the third straight

jeff zeleny, thanks. part of the president's plan to push back against all the russia suspicions and allegations could involve two former members of his campaign staff, ex-campaign manager corey lewandowski and former deputy campaign manager david bossie, both spotted at the white house last night, mentioned as possible players in an outside rapid response team working closely with the white house war room. bossie may also be in line for a position within the trump administration. >> investigators are trying to figure out exactly why jared kushner met in december with a russian banker with links to vladimir putin, what the point of that meeting was. that's according to "the new york times." cnn has already reported kushner met with russian ambassador sergey kislyak, seeking to engage further with russia. kushner was then told to meetgo of a russian bank under sanction by the u.s. >> and the white house pushing back on reporting kushner tried to set up a secret back channel with the russians by blaming the

jeff zeleny, stick around. let me go to sara murray now who is in the room waiting for the president and the president of colombia to come out. sara, president trump i'm sure will be asked about the big developments, the former fbi director claiming that the president asked him to ease up on the flynn investigation, to let it go, and then, of course, the appointment of a special counsel. >> reporter: that's right. there are a number of questions for the president about just the events that have unfolded over the last few days. of course, jake, as you know, these sort of bilateral press conferences can be a little challenging to predict. each side gets questions in, so the colombian press will have an opportunity to ask questions of the president as well as of the colombian leader. you can bet the question coming from american press will be more about how the president feels about this decision to appoint a special counsel. i think also just whether he bears any responsibility for the way these events have playe

our coverage begins this morning with jeff zeleny at the white house. >> reporter: the white house will be waking up today to the bomb shell that president trump delivered by firing fbi director james comey late tuesday night. it is something that the white house under estimated the fallout of. the top officials worked throughout the night to reshape the narrative that got away from them in the firing of the fbi director. now the letter, the very brief letter that the president sent to the fbi director thanked director comey for his service but also had some very unusual language. let's take a look at that. it said this. while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i'm not under investigation, i never the less encourage the judgment of the department of justice that you're not able to effectively lead the bureau. so essentially in that one paragraph there president trump, all but confirmed that russia was on his mind. that the russia investigation that the fbi is leading was on his mind. now going forward here the president did not speak about this on tue

who we just heard live, jeff zeleny there on the north lawn for us, we appreciate that. ng in brian fallon and jeff kingston and brian fallon of the hillary clinton campaign. jack kingston and former senior adviser to donald trump and the trump campaign. so much to dissect here and of course, republicans are split over the comey firing and some expressing shock and disappointment while others say the fbi director had to go. we'll be live ahead with our panel and senator john thune. i count on my dell small business advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪ ♪ when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challe

jeff zeleny is at the white house with that and more. the video, the back story, are really fascinating. what else can you tell us about "the new york times" reporting from this evening? >> reporter: "the new york times" is reporting on the backstory between what the fbi director was thinking in the moment. this was based on his recollection, the very detailed basically journal he was keeping at the time, every time he had a meeting with the president. and michael schmidt at "the new york times" is reporting that the fbi director just had a sense of unease about this, and our pamela brown reported this yesterday that the fbi director was really, you know, leery of talking to the president. he said on more than one occasion that the president should reach out after the justice department, don't call him directly, but it's clear, anderson, that the president was, and perhaps, still is, obsessed about the notion of him being square in the middle of this russia investigation. of course, when he was firing the fbi director just last week, he

jeff zeleny is at the white house for us right now. jeff zeleny, what does senator lieberman say about this interview with the president? >> well, this is sort of coming out of left field. the president is urgently searching for an fbi director. the former senator is telling jay shalor that it was not sought after or expected. he got the request yesterday afternoon. he said that he's enjoying private life and he reiterated that this was unexpected. this does sort of speak to something that the white house is trying to, a, fill this position as quickly as they can and they are trying to look for someone, at least one school of thought here is -- and there's always multiple schools of thought in this white house. one school of thought is to pick someone that could be confirmed somewhat easily, who would not be seen as an elder statesman and not above reproach. senator lieberman has long-standing relationships with senators that he served with. it might work in that respect. in another respect, another school of thought is that a law enfo

you just heard jeff zeleny say to that this is an agenda item. so that is is a realization that this is true. so try and get a team solely dedicated to that, those are the only people that answer those questions. every time somebody gets questioned about the russia investigation say talk over there and then more importantly perhaps, free up everyone else in the west wing who is not working on that at all in the administration the flexibility to try to enact an agenda is just a strategy that attempts to cordon off what is all consuming so the entire administration is not engulfed by it. >> then jared kushner issue, apparently the whole thing is jared island. this is how some of the trump staffers are referring to him to "the new york times." they discuss his special status in the white house. the fact he left that trip early almost protective of the president knowing the news was going to drop on this kremlin communication. >> probably was a smart move. there are definitely are a couple different fangss in the white house. one that is circling the

jeff zeleny. thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> let's bring in the washington bureau chief for chicago sun times, lynn sweet. good morning to you. there are several reports here we want to discuss. let's start with "the washington post" that jared kushner wanted to initiate this secret line of communication with the kremlin. it is 2:00 p.m. where the president is. there's not been a response from the white house via twitter from the president and as jeff zeleny just said, the president is following every incremental detail of this. what do you glean from silence from the white house and the president? >> i glean from this that somehow there's some discipline that president trump imposed upon himself or has imposed on him because of all of the stories and reports from the unfolding russian saga, this one is the most damaging, it is hard to see how jared can continue in the world he has without this allegation hanging over him being a major distraction. having said that, victor, the silence from the trump camp is b

we want to get straight to cnn white house correspondent jeff zeleny who is live in riyadh. ake a step back to the breaking news we have this morning about this missile launch overnight by north korea. what is the white house saying about it this hour?

let's go to our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. a rather somber day for the president. >> wolf, it was the first time that trump visited national cemetery since taking office. he was telling stories of gold star families and unknown soldiers. amid the swirl of controversy here over the russia investigation, it was also another reminder there is another major decision weighing on the president. that's whether to send more troops to afghanistan. >> present -- >> president trump paying respects today at arlington national cemetery. on his first memorial day as commander-in-chief the president honoring heros for wars gone by. >> we pay tribute those brave souls who raced into gunfire, roared into battle, an ran into hell to face down evil. >> and hailing those fighting in conflicts still being waged today. >> today a new generation of american patriots are fighting to win the battle against terrorism. ♪ ♪ ♪ with t >> with the sound of taps echoing across arlington, the president and top military commanders looking on, a poignant remind

joining me is brianna keilar and jeff zeleny. both of you covered hillary clinton on the campaign trail. reunited again. i can't wait to hear your thoughts on what we heard from her today, brianna. this seemed to be a more raw hillary clinton. >> it was. jeff and i were discussing this because at first i thought this is the hillary clinton who's very stoic as she talks about foreign policy and then all of a sudden things got very interesting. and at times she was almost trolling donald trump by saying i won by 3 million votes and then sort of saying that she would rather he tweeted her than tweet about foreign policy. she said she was happy to be the diversion and she also did some intraspection and she seemed to really point fingers at the fbi director james comey and russia. >> she did. she said, look, i take personal responsibility. but it's clear she put most of the blame on russia and james comey saying, i would have won october 27th. of course, the next day is when james comey released that letter. >> the election isn't on

cnn's jeff zeleny has more from the "uss intrepid." >> reporter: president trump came back to new york last night with a spring in his step after the house passed his version of the health care bill. of course, he talked about it before leaving washington. he was delayed coming to new york city to meet with the prime minister of australia. when he did sit down with him, he had health care on his mind. >> could change a little bit, could get maybe even better. it's a very good bill right now. the premiums are going to come down substantially, deductibles are going to come down. it's going to be fantastic health care. right now obamacare is failing. we have a failing health care. >> reporter: the president and the prime minister were at a black tie dinner, but it is clear that domestic politics front and center for president trump. they believe they need to carry this momentum from the health care bill, though without question, a legislative victory for president trump, something that allude e eluded him in the0 days. he got it in the second week after that. christine and dave. >> republ

cnn's jeff zeleny at the white house. the take us inside the white house strategy. and they seem a tad defensive. >> reporter: defensive is one word for it, john. perhaps that's a charitable word for it, as well. i was here late last night and the white house was in fu full-court explanation mode. but trying to get on top of this story. quite simply, they were caught flat-footed by this, which is very difficult to imagine, really, unless you consider the fact that the communications shop here at the white house, and most people working in the west wing, i'm told, didn't know about it until right before it happened. i am told this was held by a very close group of people, the president, a few of his top advisers, people simply did not know it was going to happen last evening, around 5:30 or so. now, fast forward until this morning. the white house sent the vice president up to capitol hill to explain this, to essentially do a cleanup duty, if you will, which vice presidents also often are called upon to do. but the president is not expecting to address this. but you

jeff zeleny is at the white house with that and more. the video, the back story, are really fascinating. what else can you tell us about the nim noo"the new york times" from this evening? >> reporter: "the new york times" is reporting on the backstory between what the fbi director was thinking in the moment. this was based on his recollection, the very detailed basically journal he was keeping at the time, every time he had a meeting with the president. and michael schmidt at "the new york times" is reporting that the fbi director just had a sense of unease about this, and our pamela brown reported this yesterday that the fbi director was really, you know, leery of talking to the president. he said on more than one occasion that the president should reach out after the justice department, don't call him directly, but it's clear, anderson, that the president was, and perhaps, still is, obsessed about the notion of him being square in the middle of this russia investigation. of course, when he was firing the fbi director just last week, he

jeff zeleny, i'm going to shift gears here. the president's first foreign trip, we learned the three countries he'll go to and the order -- saudi arabia, israel and the vatican. it's a fascinating intinerary. it's fascinating to go to canada or mexico first, which is traditional, but this is a fascinating tin rahry he's choosing to do. risk-reward? >> high risk, i think. one of the things the administration says it's trying to do is send the message that they are open to the muslim world. i mean, of course, his muslim ban was at the centerpiece of his campaign, but he hopes there is what he calls a historic summit in saudi arabia. he's going to be focusing on meeting other world leaders from that part of the world but also so focused on middle east peace. this is one of the things he promised, and it's been so elusive for president after president, but he is trying that. but in addition to this, he's also going to the nato summit as well as meeting leaders at the g7 in sicily. so, a huge agenda at the end of this month. health

trump's words for authoritarian leaders drawing fire. >> jeff zeleny joins us from the white house.with the president of the philippines, it wasn't in line with foreign policy. >> that's right, recent foreign policy. there has been a long relationship between the u.s. -- of course, that changed during the final months of the obama administration, largely because of the expletive that the president referred to mr. obama as. the trump administration trying to reset all of that. they say because of the rising nuclear threat in the region there, they need the philippines on board. certainly, it raised eyebrows here at the white house. as we talked to administration officials, the invitation was not a conveyed to some people in advance. they were indeed surprised by that. we will see when and if that actually happens. the philippino president is not sure if he could schedule this in. he has other trips planned abroad. >> jeff zeleny, thanks very much. >>> the latest on mayday violent protests. arrests have been made. one of the most dangerous gangs in the country has members in 40 states

jeff zeleny is out front at the white house. joseph, nobody seemed to have any idea that this was coming. >> reporter: indeed, erin. this was a very closely kept credit at the white house. i'm told only a handful of top advisories knew this was coming. i am told moments ago that the president himself has been considering this, been thinking about this for at least a week. did not necessarily have the rational when they first started talking about but then asked the attorney general and the deputy attorney general to look for that rational and that explanation. and that is what we got this afternoon. the timing of this, of course, so interesting, erin because the russian investigation front and center, it is one of the things that aggravates this president more than anything at all. as you were reading in that shortlered e letter there, it's just about five paragraphs longs, by the president saying he was essentially vindicated by this russian investigation, saying he was not a target of this investigation, he is trying to sort o

he has other trips planned abroad. >> jeff nel zeleny, thanks very much. >>> the latest on may daypro. arrests have been made. one of the most dangerous gangs in the country has members in 40 states. president trump spoke out against them. who are they and why do they inspire so much fear? if you have to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the

jeff zeleny for us at the white house. and we also have this, increased scrutiny, the president's son-in-law and his ties to russian banking executive and here is this exclusive reporting. simone, what do you have? >> back in december when kushner met with his banker sergey gorkov, we didn't learn about it until march. we've learned that the fbi has been krscrutinizing that meetin. certainly they are looking at it and want to know what that meeting was about. it's still not really clear to u.s. officials and to those of us in the media what this meeting was about because back in march a statement was issued basically saying it was about a business, sort of a personal business. as you know, white house officials and other officials have recently said that the meeting was sort of a way to be a direct communication with vladimir putin. this is being scrutinized by the fbi. from a counterintelligence perspective, they really want to know, was it this man, was sergey gorkov sent there to wage some sort of influence or was it mo

a lot to chew on here with cnn's jeff zeleny. jeff, let's start at the top. the white house anticipate president trump meeting with kim jong-un in actuality, and would that be soon theoretically in. >> reporter: in a word, jake, no. there's no diplomatic relations between the two countries, the u.s. and north korea at all, let alone talks between these two leaders here so that would be something aspirational at the very least here, but it certainly raised a lot of eyebrows. the president saying that, particularly his use of the word honored. with a nuclear threat looming and tensions rising, president trump declaring today he would be honored to meet with north korean leader kim jong-un. if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, the president telling bloomberg news, i would, absolutely. i would be honored to do it, that comment raising eyebrows after the president offered curious words of praise about kim jong-un. >> at a very young age he was able to assume power and a lot of people tried to take that power away whether it was his uncle or anybody

let's go to our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. what are you hearing, jeff? >> if we are getting new information, top new variety of people inside the white house and people close to this white house, the justice department and on capitol hill. we are finding that the president kept this decision extraordinarily closely held, close to the vest, unlike most of the decisions he sort of publicly discusses, like afghanistan decision, like the climate change agreement. this something that was viewed differently. but wolf i'm told by multiple sources that the president has grown increasingly agitated by the fb i director since last wednesday's hearing up on capitol hill. i'm told it was a distraction for the president. even the short term win on health care in the house last thursday was not enough to distract the president apparently. going into the weekend, he was again growing increasingly agitated by the fbi direct popper one source said the president viewed comey as his own man. the president did not see him as loyal or trust worthy. the context here wolf, ver

let's bring in our political correspondents and our legal specialist but over to jeff zeleny first. ff, this is a bombshell right now. jeff, tell us what the "new york times" is reporting, because this is going to cause another uproar. >> reporter: it is indeed. michael schmidt who covers the justice department for the "new york times" is reporting this, that he's really laying out a series of memorandums that the director of the fbi, former director of the fbi i should say james comey wrote about the meetings that he had with the president, and one particular meeting in february when the president asked him to essentially let go the michael flynn investigation, the investigation into whether the first national security adviser michael flynn had any interaction or what interaction he had with russian operatives. the president, you know, said that michael flynn is a good guy. he asked him to let it go. now, this story is based off of a series of memorandums that the former director wrote at the time to sort of keep a record of what the president was asking him. the "new york times" go

. >> so as we're looking, and jeff zeleny is joining me now from the white house. but let me look at this piece of information. it was sarah huckabee sanders who was in for sean spicer. apparently he's still on navy reswrrsest duty from the pentagon. but here's a piece of information. the white house official siz officials at the highest levels including the president are monitoring sarah huckabee's performance this weekend in place of sean spicer in the briefing room. two white house officials were sharply critical of the press shots handling of the comey news last night. it was, an embarrassment. another official said it was a disaster. and another thought it was handled poorly. o that coming in from our own jim acosta. jeff zeleny, let's get back to you. >> reporter: a little bit of context to jim acosta's reporting there. he's watching sarah sanders like he does with every briefing, the president. and they believe sarah sanders is a good communicator, a good spokeswoman. but there's also a good bit of blame to go directorly to the oval office. you can blame a l

quickly back to jeff zeleny at the white house. now former fbi director james comey, jeff he managed over the past several months to irritate democrats and republicans with various decisions he made. we know that fbi confirms, not that long ago, fbi since july has been engaged in a criminal investigation into any alleged connections between trump associates and russia. that investigation presumably continuing but still despite the irritation of the president, despite the irritation of hillary clinton, we stayed on and now all of a sudden following these late-breaking developments he has been fired. this is a major development. >> it certainly is, wolf. as pamela was reporting, no one saw this coming at all. let's be precise. i said terminated earlier, he was fired. make no mistake about it, this fbi director was fired. this is the height of all irony perhaps, wolf. that's the only word that i can grasp to think at this moment. he was someone who of course played an outsized role in the general election here and now he is someone wh

we want to get straight to cnn white house correspondent jeff zeleny who is live in riyadh. jeff, i want to take a step back to the breaking news we have this morning about this missile launch overnight by north korea. what is the white house saying about it this hour? >> reporter: the white house is keeping one eye on that missile launch in north korea even as the president prepares to deliver a major speech here later today to the muslim world. the white house released a statement a short time ago saying this. it says we are aware that north korea launched a mid-range ballistic missile. this system last tested in february has a shorter range than the missiles launched in north korea's three most recent tests. and they are referring to the department of defense for more information on this. the launch was something a distraction here but the white house is focusing on this speech that he will give to the muslim world later today. >> we are looking at live pictures and help walk us through what we are anticipating today and the mood there as we wait to hear from president tru

let's go to our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. ff, the president opens up to reporters. tell our viewers what he did. >> reporter: he did, wolf. and a decision that's been widely approved and wikileaks comed by many republicans in washington, the president is seething over this decision to name a special counsel to look into any allegations of russia meddling in the 2016 election. now, he talked about this for the first time in a -- you know, this this type of saeting, in a press conference in the east room of the white house. he said it was simply political and it called it, again, a witch hunt. >> i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself, and the russians, zero. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. so i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together. believe me, there's no collusion. russia is fine. but whether

jeff zeleny at the white house, thanks very much. a key player in the investigation, ranking democratic congressman adam schiff. thanks for joining us. >> is this obstruction of justice? >> i don't think we need to conclude one way or another. in fact, all we have so far in addition to the president's own statements and add mission of bringing up comey's longevity in the context of whether he's the subject of the investigation is this newspaper report which may very well be accurate but still at this point still a newspaper report that the president asked comey to drop the flynn case. that's very serious business. if it was done with the intent of impeding or obstructing that investigation, then it's a real problem and, of course, one of the things you look for is what was the president's intent? was this part of a pattern of interference? why if this story is correct did he ask other people, for example, to leave the room before he had this conversation? is that a consciousness of guilt in the sense of knowing that this was an impro

joining me now with all of their thoughts and much, much more, my cnn colleague jeff zeleny, margaret, phil mattingly and you can probably alltel i have a bout of laryngitis. let's start with our white house reporters. jeff, what did you make of that, particularly the idea that he said this is what winning looks like as he went through all of the list of the reason s why their budget deal was a win? >> i think he's doing it for the reason that republicans are being hammered at least here in washington on this spending bill. we've been talking so much about first and foremost he didn't get the funding for his border wall. it was an acknowledgement they didn't want to shut down the government for that. he was trying to one up the democrats, if you will, by using what no one else in this town, country have, the pulpit in the rose garden of the white house. he was trying to seize the narrative to say look, we won here, we got the largest increase in border security, but not paying for that wall specifically. so a lot of optics here. he said a lot during the campaign. you're going to be so

cnn senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny traveling with president trump and filed this reportay, president trump delivering touch words on terrorism. >> obliterate this evil ideology and protect and defend our citizens and people of the world. >> fighting extremism already the key focus of the president's first trip abroad and even more urgent in the aftermath of the attack in england. >> reporter: so many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives, murdered by evil losers in life. i won't call them monsters because they would like that term. they would think that's a great name. i will call them from now on losers because that's what they are. they are losers. ♪ >> reporter: traveling in the middle east, the president's words coming far faster than his policies to combat terror. he's yet to unveil his plan to fight the islamic state which claimed responsibility for the manchester attack. at each stop along the trip, the president urging leaders to join the fight against extremism. >> we arrive. >> reporter: in saudi arabia he spoke of the false glory of

>> jeff zeleny for us. we have breaking news on a big white house priority.n eastern appeals court just doubled down against the president's travel ban saying the ban drips with religious intolerrance and violates the establishment clause of the first amendment to the u.s. constitution. this new ruling upholds a lower court's decision to indefinitely that ban from going into effect and likely means the supreme court could weigh into this battle. was this decision a surprise in anyway? >> given the political make up of the court this isn't a surprise. still no doubt today's decision is another significant defeat for the trump administration in this ongoing legal drama over the president's travel ban. this time ten judges on the court finding that the executive order likely violates the constitution and must remain on hold. the ruling was lengthy but pointed saying the president's power is not absolute and cannot go unchecked. the trump administration had tried to justify their attempt to ban foreign nationals from six muslim-majority countries on national secu

white house correspondent jeff zeleny traveling with the president. he's in rome as well. at's the latest jeff? >> wolfe, after four days in the middle east the president arrived here not talking about that russian investigation. the manchester attack heightened the urgency called fight extremism. it also showed how difficult it'll be. >> obliterate this evil ideology and protect and defend our citizens and people of the world. >> fighting extremism already the key focus of the president's first trip abroad, even more urgent in the aftermath in the attack in england. >> so many young and beautiful innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. i won't call them monsters, because they would like that term. they would think that's a great name. i will call them from now on, losers. because that's what they are, they're losers. >> traveling in the middle east the president's words coming far faster than his policies to combat terror. he has yet to unvail his plans to fight us lask state which claimed responsible for manchester attack. the pres

our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny is joining us. jeff, the president's latest tweets and latest remarks only deepening the turmoil sparked by the firing of the fbi director james comey. >> wolf, turmoil is deepening indeed, largely because the president's own words himself. now we end this extraordinary week here with so many more questions about why the fbi director was fired. but now tonight about whether the president was secretly recording him. >> president trump adding new fuel to the fire today, inis escalating fight with the fbi. making a veiled threat on twitter to james comey. the president saying the fired fbi director better hope there are no tapes of our conversations, before he starts leaking to the press. stunning words from the commander-in-chief. directed at the nation's former top law enforcement official. the man who was leading an investigation into potential collusion between the trump campaign and russian operative before being fired tuesday. the president refused to answer the question he raised himself in an in

jeff zeleny picks up the story here. >> reporter: president trump adding fuel to the fire in the escalating fight with the fbi, making a veiled threat on twitter to james comey. the president saying the fbi director better hope there are not tapes of conversations before he leaks to the press. stunning words from the commander in chief directs at the top law enforcement official, leading the investigation into collusion between the trump campaign and russian operatives before being fired tuesday. the president refused to answer the question he raised himself in an interview with fox news. >> what about the idea that in a tweet you said there might be tape recordings? >> that i can't talk about. i can't talk about that. all i want is for comey to be honest and i hope he will be, i am sure he will be, i hope. >> reporter: the white house press secretary refused to answer if there's recording system in the oval office or whether the president is taping conversations there or elsewhere. >> i talked to the president, he has nothing further to add on that. >> reporter: when asked again and again,

. >> it is great to be with the president of egypt. >> from inviting the president >>> that was jeff zelenyrting for us, our senior white house correspondent. let's get back to our panel, chris, why would the president of the united states extend an invitation to duterte to come to the white house, given this record that he has, killing his own people? >> 7,000 people, according to human rights watch killed in this >> the short answer is, wolf, i don't know why he would do this. the slightly longer answercy think that donald trump revels in of the way things are traditionally done. he likes -- in the same interview where he is praising kim jong-un, he says and that is breaking news. he likes making a splash. he likes doing things that are unorthodox. he believes that people who voted for him likes him to do these things even if it is breaking with tradition, or even if it doesn't make political sense, i think he revels in that provocation, he revels in us saying i don't know why he is doing it. >> the president was given state papers with president zhaeduter so the question is what went wro

let get right to mark preston, jeff zeleny and michael isikoff. president trump held his first news conference since the avalanche of breaking stories this week and he was asked about the comey memo. let's take a look. >> at any time urge former fbi director james comey to back down or close the investigation into michael flynn? and also as you -- >> no, no. next question. >> you get the sense the president did not want to talk about that. it was an opportunity for him to give his side of the story, his rebuttal to all of the information that we've been learning in the memorandums that the fbi director was holding and really keeping in realtime here. but the president made clear that he's angry by this ideaf anndendent investigation into this, of course it's a distraction, he called it a witch hunt. he i didn't mince word as he talked about what he really thinks about this investigation. let's watch. >> well, i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can

jeff zeleny, thank you very much.the president wraps up his first overseas trip, let's take a step back and assessed how he handled it. joined by retired admiral john kirby and elise. i asked both of you last week before the trip started to give me thoughts on what you thought were the biggest challenges facing the president. john, you told us staying strategic, staying on message and staying engaged were big challenges. >> he had a strong -- he was able to stay out of the details on the peace process. but the unifying message came by villifying iran. right when they were reelecting a moderate president. the way he has couched terrorism, no talk about the social economic and political factors that go into radicalization. so i think he's mixed there. on message, yes, he was very disciplined. i think he gets an "a" for staying on message. i would have liked to see him do a press conference. yes, there's risk but i think that would have been useful. then staying engaged, i go back to what i said earlier. i think he fell

our jeff zeleny is traveling with the president, recapping the entire week of the nine days in all. the same time he said he could not think of a better place to be to end his journey there with military men and women and their family members. >> reporter: fredricka, this president likes to be around people who are cheering him and taking photographs of him. he loves the music and the rivalry that comes with that. this was an intentional way to end this journey of his. his first time coming over to europe and even in the middle east levering the u.s. as president here. he was talking about some of those goals. he was giving the highlights of the successes, he did not talk at all of the deep skepticism among european leaders about his commitment to the nato alliance or some other things he was pressured by particularly on climate change. he got an ear full we are told from a lot of our allies here about his waivering on climate change. it was interesting. he's been talking a lot during the presidential campaign and inaugural speech about his america's first agenda and referring to na

. >> jeff zeleny is on the novrt lawn for us. add the demeanor that you saw, and correct me if i'm wrong, people normally called on who were not called on in this press briefing. >> dana is right about her observations about working in this white house and what the people here inside the west wing are going through. just in terms of the whiplash that was last week. quite fanningly aids are afraid to speak for the president or say what they think he thought. knowing that could obviously, change moment by moment in some respects. i was told by a top official in the west wing saying a new policy is going to be going forward. i'll have to check on that and get back to you. the president changes his viewpoint. i did see a subdued sean spicer. one of the reasons here that he did not answer the question about if there's a recording system, i don't believe he kn s knows. i don't believe that people in this white house, most of them in the administration, know about this. if there is some type of a systemic recording system, this is known

cnn's jeff zeleny joins me now live from the white house. jeff, before he was president, mr. trump was very clear, u.s. troops were in afghanistan for far too long, he said. what is the argument for a potential change of course? >> reporter: well, jake the best argument now is the resurgence of the taliban in afghanistan, and the president had one meeting and one meeting only on his public schedule today. that with his national security advisers, h.r. mcmaster, who was laying out this range of options for doubling down in afghanistan. now, four years ago mr. trump said we should leave afghanistan immediately. of course, then it was hypothetical. now he's commander in chief, and that has touched off a fierce debate here at the white house. president trump out of sight again today at the white house. it's an unusual absence from the stage. five straight days without public events as he considers one of the biggest foreign policy decisions of his presidency, whether to sign off on a pentagon plan for a u.s. troop surge in afghanistan. >> one of the things that he has asked his n

jeff zeleny begins or conch from the white house. >> reporter: the white house is back in business after the president's first international trip. they're trying to change the sumt from the russia investigation, trying to make a pi pivot. but the chances of doing that is unlikely. the russia investigation is consuming the white house here in terms of how they're going to respond to it. jared kushner the president's son-in-law and senior adviser he is telling associates he is willing to talk to the fbi and members of congress about the back channel communications he was trying to et up with russian officials. it's something they were trying to offer to do to build a connection with the russian government here. so many questions about that because they were acting at the time as private citizens but they were members of the transition. there are key agenda items the president has on his desk that he wants to act on. he is going to withdraw or keep the u.s. in the lobby agreement. european leaders urged the president to stay but most people here at the white house would be surprised if the

let's go to jeff zeleny. sean spicer was back in the briefing room today as questions persist about potentially an even broader shakeup. >> those questions do persist at the white house. the mood i'm told in the west wing is fraught with tension. particularly over the russian investigation. which has stuff staffers wondering if they would be in trouble of their own. one white house official said everyone is working hard to support the president but that's getting harder and harder to do. the white house on the defensive tonight. struggling to contain a crisis over the deepening russia investigation. >> what i'm telling you is that the reason the president frustrate said because there is a perpetuation of false narratives, use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that don't ultimately happening, and i think that's troubling. >> at his first bhowhite house briefing in over two weeks, answering dwre answering grievancesing. one senior adviser announcing resignation today. other

. >> our jeff zeleny, let's go to you. if you were to do a work cloud of that work meeting, wholly appropriate were the words mentioned the most and he said the president had the information but didn't actually know how sensitive that information was. >> that was pretty extraordinary at the end of the news conference. he said the president simply was not briefed on the very sensitive nature of this. the implied sort of statement there is that he couldn't have shared anything inappropriate because he wasn't briefed on it. but let's watch the national security adviser say that about the president and then we'll talk on the other side. >> the president in no way compromised any sources or methods in the course of this conversation. the president wasn't even aware of where this information came from. he wasn't briefed on the sourt of information either. >> so again, saying the president wasn't aware of the sources and methods, it didn't answer the question about classified information being shared. the national security advise

let get right to mark preston, jeff zeleny and michael isikoff. president trump held his first news conference since the avalanche of breaking stories this week and he was asked about the comey memo. let's take a look. >> at any time urge former fbi director james comey to back down or close the investigation into michael flynn? and also as you -- >> no, no. next question. >> an emphatic no. what else did the president say? >> don, you get the sense that the president did not want to talk about that. there had a pushback on this. it was an opportunity for him to give his side of the story, his rebuttal to all of the information that we've been learning in the memorandums that the fbi director was holding and really keeping in realtime here. but the president made clear that he's angry by this idea of an independent investigation into this. it's the last thing he wanted. of course it's a distraction, he called it a witchhunt. he i didn't mince words as he talked about what he really thinks about this investigation. let's watch. >> well, i respect t

first, i want to go to jeff zeleny outside the white house. you're learning details about what led to trump's decision and it's shocking that he decided that comey was "his own man." >> that's right. we're talking to several people close to the situation, and this compilation of rorgts grows the president was growing increasingly agitated at his fbi director starting with a hearing last wednesday. you remember the fbi director said the decision back last year over the clinton e-mails made him mildly nauseous. that did not sit well with this. . he was stewing over this over the weekend i'm told. he told his advisors he sees comey as his own man and does not trust him to lead this fbi investigation. will there was some dissent iin views, i'm told. the president disagreed and now he's looking for a new fbi director. >> thank you very much for being here. appreciate it. >> there's still one question tonight above all others for president trump. >> because he wasn't doing a good job. very simply. >> reporter: those sparse words is all the president

jeff zeleny, cnn, the white house. >> thanks for the reporting. >>> a lot to unpackage here. let's bring in laurie who teaches relations live in london at this hour. let's start with this threat, some sail a veil threat, clearly a threat to the former fbi director james comey on twitter by the president of the united states. first of all, what does this say about mr. trump putting this on record and, second, leslie, what about the people around him who are supposed to be his advisora? >> i think his advisors have struggled to manage and contain the president. the biggest job is dealing what comes out of the president as opposed to what is coming out beyond the white house. clearly, this seems to be a case where the management of all the fallout surrounding the last few days since president trump fired the fbi director have made things much worse rather than better. a clear problem of the things that president trump is saying are leading people to believe that he is potentially obstructing justice which, of course, is a criminal problem. the firing itself is deeply problematic

jeff zeleny in sicily for us, thanks very much.h more on the breaking news coming up. >>> also, how the health care bill and proposed budget cuts are playing in kentucky where donald trump won big. when i first started working with capital one, my dad called them up and asked for "the jennifer garner card" which is such a dad thing to do. after he gave his name the woman from capital one said "mr. garner, are you related to jennifer?" kind of joking with him. and my dad was so proud to tell her, "as a matter of fact, she is my middle daughter". so now dad has the venture card, he's earning his double miles, and he made a friend at the company. can i say it? go ahead! what's in your wallet? nice job dad. with my moderate to severe crohn's disease,... ...i kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i was doing okay... then it hit me... ...managing was all i was doing. when i told my doctor,... ...i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease... ...even after trying other medi

. >> jeff zeleny, thanks very much. >>> having spoken to congressman himes, we will talk to someone else. more reporting on the fallout, including other republicans, including one who is demanding action from investigators. james comey was not first person investigating the president who ended up being fired. three have been axed. their stories coming up. ♪someday you'll let me put my way ycomb up there♪air♪ ♪'til then you're beautiful and i just stare♪ scalpel. i have no idea what i'm doing. i'm just a tv doctor. i never went to college. (scream) i don't do blood. but now, thanks to cigna, i can do more than just look the part. is that a foot? we are the tv doctors of america. and we're partnering with cigna to help save lives. by getting you to a real doctor for an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health. doctor poses. cigntogether, all the way. then you're a couple. think of all you'll share... like snoring. does your bed do that? the dual adjustability of a sleep number bed allows you each to choose the firmness and comfort you want. so every couple can get the

jeff zeleny, thanks very much for that. back senator ben cardin, the ranking member of the senate foreign relations committee. y can't the trump administration get on the same page when it comes to the question of russian sanctions. seems to have been a parent of sorts since the election. >> well, wolf, this is very disappointing. yes, they are saying there's no immediate design to weaken the sanctions. we should be strengthening the sanctions. yesterday in the senate foreign relations committee we had a long discussion about additional sanctions against russia. we have agreed that when we've returned after the memorial day recess work period, we will be meeting with secretary tillerson and shortly thereafter marking up additional sanctions against russia so we are now preparing as congress to say, look, we've given you a couple of months. russia's activities have only gotten more intense, not less intense. we have to show leadership. europe is looking to us to show leadership and we should be strengthening sanctions agains