dave and rene. >>> jeff zeleny, thanks. the trump administration tit-for-tat with beijing is driving wild swings on wall street. erasing a 510--point loss after officials tried to calm fears of a trade war. hours later china retaliated with the proposed tariffs of soy beans and chemicals and planes and cars. that sent stocks tumbling. the president insisting in a feet th tweet this is not a trade war. neither tariffs package goes into effect yet. larry kudlow calls this not a trade war. >> this is a process of tariffs and comments on the tariffs and ultimate decisions and negotiations. there is back channel talks going on. i understand the stock market anxiety. i get that. on the other hand, don't overreact. >> that assurance may have worked. stocks rebounded. trade tensions escalated and investors are concerned. a trade war would be devastating for consumers and businesses with companies like apple, boeing, starbucks and intel relying on china for the portion of the sales. china tariffs are strategic striking at exports. t

i want to bring in cnn white house correspondent jeff zeleny. cnn political analyst mark preston. cnn legal analyst laura coates and cnn law enforcement analyst josh campbell. good evening to one and all. jeff, let's start with you. you're standing there in front of the white house. president trump's allies were all set to go on the offense against comey. is that blown out of the water now that the bombshell after bombshell after bombshell has been leaked from comey's book? is the white house in panic mode now? >> reporter: don, good evening, certainly it's complicated by these new details coming out about the book and suspect it's going to continue happening the next several days before the book's official release next week. look, the white house and republican national committee which is sort of overseeing the response to this always knew this was going to be a heavy lift, if you will, so their one strategy is to try and go after james comey. they're trying to undermine his credibility. they're trying to assail his character. interestingly using the words of democrats to remind a

this was a transition that didn't vet people. >> jeff zeleny is back with me. jeff, look, this is pretty incredible when you talk about jon tester saying, look, it's 20 or more people. you're learning about an inspector general report from a few years ago about morale in the medical unit under jackson. what are you finding out. >> reporter: we are indeed, erin. the president was trying to replace his va secretary, who he had just sent on his way because of a variety of disciplinary issues and overspending so he was looking for someone in a hurry so that's why he picked ronny jackson. we have been looking through this inspector general's report this afternoon talking about morale that was very low in 2012. not just with ronny jackson but with one of his contemporaries who was there, another doctor. essentially they were feuding. on a scale of 1 to 10, the inspector general talked to everyone in the medical unit and they said the morale is at a 2. so these are the people who are required to provide medical attention to the president and vice president and other st

jeff zeleny, first to you.low, top economic adviser do some of the rounds today, trying to maybe quell fears that this is the opening salvo of some sort of trade war, despite the president's tweet, which does seem contradictory to the message from larry kudlow, which is don't overreact. >> that was larry kudlowe's debut, if you will, on the government side of this. he was out doing interviews this morning on the north driveway at the white house, talking openly about how this is a process and it's not the end of the negotiations but indeed the beginning. it is a notable that we've seen a consistent pattern here. the president will send something out on social media online and there's no administration official to sort of explain it or back it up. that is what larry kudlow was trying to do. certainly trying to ease the concern of the markets here. the fact that this is happening in a mid term election has many republicans concerned and worried. the fact of the matter is if you look at maps of the country from ma

on your previous response i think i might know where this one is going, we're getting a sense, jeff zelenyeporting this morning about how allies of the president respond to the coming james comey interview with george stephanopoulos. comey refers, i believe, to the president as a mob boss which is what set sean hannity off, it was a parallel right there. but the fact that republican party is putting out this website saying lying comey, we're also being told the republicans are coming out with ads with democrats speaking out against james comey, what do you make of this effort to discredit the former fbi -- this former fbi director? >> i think what's happening here, there's a lot of focus on what's going on with the investigation. a lot of what you're seeing isn't specifically always related to the investigation. it's related to coloring the american peoples' views of the investigators so if indictments come out the president can say, look, i told you all along this was a witch hunt. look at the indictment maybe against people in the white house and therefore if the president takes action,

. >> let's bring in senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, there's been many reports that pruitt right now is on very thin ice. what are you hearing? what's the latest? >> reporter: there is no question that epa leader scott pruitt is on thin ice. as we were playing that interview, we got word from andrews air force base who asked the president a question as he was flying to west virginia this afternoon if he still had conference in his epa administrator. he answered, i do. so he does have confidence in his epa administrator, but this comes after a backdrop of what i was told earlier today that the president was not pleased with the outcome of that interview. he was watching the interview on fox news and was not pleased with the fact he was doing it, for one, and how poorly he seemed to be doing in that interview. all signs so far have been pointing to the fact that scott pruitt's days might be numbered here as more nfrinformation is coming out. one of his top advisers resigned this morning from the agency -- excuse me, wolf -- >> that i

jeff zeleny and kate bennett also join us.ten in to the president of france. [ speaking french ] >> mr. president, first lady, dear melania, and dear friends. it is an honor for brigitte and myself to be here with our friends you were so kindly to invite. >> we'll go back to jeff zeleny and kate bennett. jeff, why is this the first state dinner? is it traditional that it's taken so long to have one? >> it's not, anderson. actually, this is a little longer than most state dinners. they're so -- it's no question, though, that the reason that france was picked for this was indeed because the trumps were invited last year to paris, to the bastille day parade, and they were treated to quite a show in paris. i remember it well. that's why the president decided to have france be the first state dinner here. and anderson, i am struck so much by watching the pre

let's go to jeff zeleny in florida near the president's mar-a-lago resort. specifically, jeff, what is the dnc alleging? >> reporter: well, wolf, certainly an interesting lawsuit today from the democratic national committee accusing the trump campaign of conspiracy for working with wikileaks in the release of e-mails and working with the russian government. now, this is a 66-page lawsuit that was filed in manhattan earlier this morning, and this is really essentially reviving much of what we have learned over the last year or so about how these meetings in trump tower with russian officials. but what it is doing, wolf, in an interesting legal strategy is essentially accusing the trump campaign of being a racketeering enterprise, going after them through an old rico statute. that was used in organized crime cases. it's an open question if a judge will allow this to proceed. it's an open question if this will ever be litigated or not. but it certainly raises the stakes here. it's not naming the president directly, but it is naming everyone else directly from hi

our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny is traveling with the president in hialeah, south florida right now. jeff, do we expect to hear more reaction to the comey interview? >> reporter: certainly, wolf, one of the central questions was, did president trump watch that interview last evening? we have got an answer to that. white house press secretary sarah sanders telling reporters as they were flying to florida, that the president did indeed watch, in her words, bits and pieces of that interview. we certainly know the president firing back on social media, on twitter, accusing james comey of lying to congress, committing a crime. but wolf, so far, as we stand here today in this school gymnasium in hialeah, florida, the president not mentioning james comey at all, not mentioning him once. he's listening to hispanic business leaders here talking about job growth, talking about the republican tax cuts. that's what republicans hope he sticks to. of course they're trying to win the midterm elections here. so far the president not going taf jam after james comey at all as he begins a fu

. >> jeff zeleny, tell me more about how they met for the pompeo meetin and what was discussed. >> reporterat was the most interesting information since the president said seven weeks ago he wants to have a summit. the reality is the fact that the secretary of state designee went to meet with kim jong un, this is the highest level diplomacy virtually in a generation here, since madeleine albright went at the end of the bill clinton administration. but we don't know exactly, brooke, what they talked about. we know the topics in general. of course the centerpiece here is denuclearization. will kim jong un agree to denuclearize, essentially end his nuclear program? much skepticism about that. from what we're able to gather so far, much of the discussion was about logistics, was about sites where the meeting would be and things like that. the fact that there is such high-level negotiations going on certainly makes many administration officials believe there's a better than 50/50 chance this meeting will happen. of course, brooke, so many questions about when they do sit down. a question of if i

. >>> first, let's go to our senior white house correspondent, jeff zeleny. jeff, the president has answe d ed -- answered reporters' questions aboard air force one. >> reporter: he has, indeed. the president has never answered a question directly about stormy daniels. we have asked him questions as he's walked out on the south lawn of the white house, as he's been around this building. today he did break his silence on stormy daniels when he was flying back from west virginia to joint base andrews a short time ago. we're waiting for the videotape, wolf. from the pool reporters on the plane, we know what the president said. he was asked directly about that payment for $130,000. you'll remember that was the payment that was made to stormy daniels right before the 2016 election. the president asked directly about that, he said he did not know about that payment. and then he said you'll have to ask any questions to his lawyer, michael cohen. and then he was also asked about where he got the money for the payment, that $130,000. he says, i don't know. wolf, not sh

cnn's jeff zeleny is at the white house. jeff, i thought that this trip to west virginia was about president trump promoting tax cuts and tax reform. >> reporter: that's what republican leaders thought, as well. that's why he went to west virginia, home of one of most competitive senate races. and it got off to a start about the tax plan. what republicans hope the president would talk about for the next several months. instead, he reverted to one of the old standbys of his campaign -- immigration, and bluntly, the word rape. >> mr. president, tell us about the border plan. >> reporter: president trump traveling to west virginia today to sell his tax plan. >> so now once again you see that america is open for business. one of the big things is our tax cuts. >> reporter: within moments he moved on from the biggest legislative achievement of his presidency to -- >> when i opened trump trump tower, everybody said, oh, he was so tough, and -- i used the word rape. and yesterday it came out where this journey coming up, women are r

this is just coming in from our intrepid white house reporter jeff zeleny who just talked to larry kudlowt the white house -- >> in mar-a-lago. >> -- excuse me, in mar-a-lago, and what he said about nikki haley is she got ahead of the curve. there mooifight have been some momentary confusion. that's something to have a top official saying on the record, dissing the u.n. ambassador. may i just add quickly on the broader question of whether the sanctions are going to take place, kudlow told jeff zeleny about confusion. no, and then makes clear there is confusion, we have a set of sanctions and additional sanctions are under consideration but not determined. >> not determined. but when she went on "the "today" show" she specifically said russia and iran would pay a price. stop this. clearly they're still trying to work this through. the president stopped it, and nikki haley wants a smackdown. >> lawmakers trust what she says, other countries trust what she says. this isn't -- i think you're absolutely right, and she is being thrown under the bus right now. maybe if she and tillerson didn't d

jeff zeleny has been busy, life in washington with these exclusive details. what does it look like, jeff? >> reporter: we are learning this morning that president trump's allies are preparing an extensive campaign to fight back against james comey's publicity tour. they're trying to undermine the credibility of the former fbi director who's memoir of course comes out next week. the white house and the president, i'm told, signed off on this plan last evening to brand comey as a liar and leaker. perhaps the most interesting thing of all here is a central part of the republican plan is criticism from democrats, of course, many democrats furious at james comey for how he treated hillary clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. here's a flavor of some of those blistering words. >> democrats have been very critical of james comey and many of you did call for his resignation. >> i was appalled by what director comey did. >> comey acted in an outrageous way. >> he made a mistake, maybe he's not in the right job. >> of course it's an open question how successful rep

>> jeff zeleny, i appreciate that. i want to bring in cnn national security analyst james clapper, the former director of national intelligence. director, thank you so much for coming on. and i've been wanting to talk to you about this book. you have some knowledge of information what happened behind the scenes because you were there. in this new book according to the associated press james comey writes about his first meeting with trump after the election in january, and you were at that meeting. comey says after you briefed the trump team on the russian election interference he was taken aback by what the trump team didn't ask. and here's what he writes before i get your response. they were about to lead a country that had been attacked by a foreign adversary, yet they had no questions about what the future russian threat might be. instead he writes they launched into a strategy session about how to spin what we just told them for the public. is that your recollection? >> yes, it is, don. that is accurate. the fact r

our jeff zeleny joins us now.statements from the white house as well as from former president obama. >> reporter: we are indeed, anderson. president trump and first lady melania trump issued separate statements this evening. they are at their mar-a-lago resort having dinner with the japanese prime minister. the president's statement reads in part this, anderson. it says, mrs. bush was an advocate of the american family. among her greatest achievements was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection. she will long be remembered for her strong devotion to country and family both of which she served unfailingly well. anderson, we should also point out that mrs. bush was very astute about politics of course throughout her life as the mother of one president and the wife of another. and she had words to say about president trump as well during his campaign. of course jeb bush, a son she thought would be president at one point, she said, i don't understand

let's bring in jeff zeleny. how else is the white house preparing for this?er: bracing for what potential stories james comey has to tell about private interactions he had with the president at the beginning of the mfrgs. now, for all the talk of the well-orchestrated plan they're doing on behalf of the white house, there's one thing they can't control. and that's what the president does after he sees james comey on tv. president trump's allies are mounting a campaign to fight back against james comey. hoping to brand the former fbi director of two words. lying comey. through this website and digital ads, republicans are trying to undermine comey's credibility kicking off a media blitz for the new tell-all memoir. republicans are turning to democrats. >> made a mistake. maybe he's not in the right job. >> reporter: reminding americans there's plenty for all sides to dislike about the former top law enforcement official. the irony of republicans using democrats to discredit comey underscores the political contradictions around the former fbi director who trump

our senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny is in florida covering the president. jeff, the president talked about tax cuts today but it seems safe to say that other things were certainly on his mind. >> reporter: wolf, no question. good evening. so many other things on the president's mind. as he was opening a week-long trip to florida at an event this afternoon i was there watching him talk about tax reform and economic growth. he was sticking to script unlike he often does not. clearly aides tell me trying to show he's not bothered by any of this even as more storm clouds gather over the white house and people very close to him. ♪ to the hills >> reporter: president trump in florida promoting republican tax cuts and economic growth. >> usa open for business. whose was that? >> reporter: but that message overshadowed again today by fallout from his extraordinary public fight with james comey. the fbi director he fired nearly a year ago. white house aides tell cnn the president was intent on showing that comey was not getting under his skin. the president's silence

cnn's jeff zeleny joins us from the white house with the latest. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. no doubt people at the white house here, advisers and likely the president himself, keeping an eye on the stock market. of course, there was a lackluster jobs report this morning, but a few moments ago, i spoke to the president's new top economic adviser larry kudlow and he insisted again the president is not after a war here with china. he said this is a process. this is a negotiation. but it is quite unusual because it is playing out in public here. this back and forth, everyday, $50 billion, $50 billion here and there. but, larry kudlow insisted the president had to do something, has to act because of theft of intellectual property. the question is what is the next step for the white house? so much going on here, so many different agenda items on the president's plate here. this is one of many. there are many republicans in this town who wonder what the president's plan is for this. these very public negotiations happening here,

jeff zeleny at the white house live for us and, jeff, just minutes ago, you heard from the president'sef economic adviser, what did he say? >> we did, brianna, good morning. the reality is larry kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, has been coming out and speaking virtually every day for the last several days here, trying to ratchet down the rhetoric and trying to explain this is all part of a process this is something that is being negotiated very much in public. but this is what he said a short time ago when we caught up with him on the north lawn here at the white house. >> we're not running a trade war. if you read this thing, you'll see. this is just a proposed idea which will be vetted. nothing has been executed. there is no there there yet, but there will be. >> so this is something we have heard all week long from larry kudlow, basically on his first week on the job here, fresh off the commentary side of things at cnbc. he's saying this is a process, an ongoing negotiation, discussion. he said nothing is happening. in fact, things are happening. look at the markets t

jeff zeleny is live at the white house. obviously as this is all coming out and all of the details about what the president said, according to jim comey and his obsession with the women issues and the moscow prostitutes, what are you hearing about trump's response right now? >> erin, there is a bit of a pins and needles sense here at the white house. i can tell you one is white house staffers and other allies of the president are largely seeing this book as everyone else is, through news media reports. it's not actually coming out until next week. some five days from now. i am told by a couple of white house officials they have not seen it. the question is, when the president is going to respond? not a matter of if, likely when. could it be this evening? white house officials say they don't expect that. but of course that is entirely up to him. the question here is the republican national committee is essentially taking over the battle plan for this. their main plan is to discredit, try at least to discredit james comey are

i want to go to jeff zeleny "outfront" first in west palm beach. jeff, how concerned is the president tonight? >> well, erin, it's interesting, because so much focus had been on james comey. but i was talking to a white house official who said he has weathered james comey. it is michael cohen that is consuming him. and the key point, erin, is this. michael cohen is viewed in the west wing at least as a wild card, someone who never came in the administration, although he wanted to, but he was blocked for a variety of reasons. so he never came inside the administration. and frankly, the white house officials have no control over him. so i am told the president has been asking multiple people what he should do about this, if he thinks that michael cohen will flip. i'm told the president still does not think that he will, but that has not sort of calmed all these questions here. and erin, we have pointed out again and again how different michael cohen is than all the other advisers, the other people mentioned. it's probably confusing to some viewers her

jeff zeleny is traveling with the president and joins me live from florida. e president and the allies preparing for the comey media blitz. >> reporter: jake they really have. for the last week they have been preparing to discredit and simply raise questions about the objectivity of the former fbi director. a week after the first excerpts were released the white house believes that they have largely weathered this storm. i was talking to several republicans who have spoke within the president this week here and one said this jake. so far he's weathered comey. it's cohen that's consuming him. michael cohen, his personal lawyer here. so that's what the white house is use questions about james comey, as well. they believe that's largely a success. they believe that you know several questions have been raised about this. jake first and foremost they believe most all of this about james comey not donald trump. the white house sees that as a win. jake? >> all right. jeff zeleny traveling with the president in florida. thank you. i'm back with the panel. do you think

. >> let's start there with jeff zeleny in washington. it's my understanding, too, jeff, since the president has made his comments the mexican government has formally asked the state department and department of homeland security for clarification on the president's comments whachlt can you tell me about the president's plan? >> they did, brocke. certainly the president has been amplifying his rhetoric. from the weekend on, he was down in mar-a-lago, talking, tweeting about immigration. this, of course, is taking it to the next level here. he has a sense of urgency in his voice but nothing has changed in terms of how the situation has been there. it's unclear in how he is exactly ratcheting this up except he seems to be playing to his base and get some support from that. this isn't that unusual. the president saying we don't have laws at the border don't necessarily align with the facts here. he has been in office 15 months or so and he has certainly talked about immigration a lot but is not necessarily championing any new specific laws he

. >> jeff zeleny live at the white house for us. jeff, the president surprised even members of his own team with this new $100 billion threat of a counterpurnch. do they share his view that an end will justify the means? >> several advisers here all say one thing consistently, the president is drooifiving this t here. the incoming new economic adviser, larry kudlow, was talking to reporters earlier this morning here at the white house, and he was essentially again trying to, i would say, calm fears and cool tensions about this and saying, look, this is simply the beginning of a negotiation. the president is just throwing this out there. but the reality here is that without any warning or any further explanation, there is a lot of concern. we've seen republicans, like ben sasse of nebraska, he is very sharp against this. a lot of republicans from farm states as well. so there is no sense here what the end game is, but there is a lot of concerted worry that the president is saying the short-term pain is worth it. politically republican

let's check in with our white house correspondent jeff zeleny. he's inside the east room. a lot of talk about the special relationship today, but the two leaders do seem to be talking past each other on issue number one, the iran nuclear deal. >> there is a lot of talk about that special relationship, the president going to great lengths to show that he is at least friendly with the french president. we've seen them hold hands throughout the morning, we've seen them smile and laugh. of course, the white house is essentially rolling out all of the bells and when i sistles he. of course, the state dinner coming this evening. the white house is hosting the macrons. will there be anything substantive that come from this? we heard trump essentially belittling the iran nuclear deal. it's unclear if there will be anything substantive from that. we know there is a deadline looming. we don't know what the president will do on the iran nuclear deal. but we do know the president often listens to the last person he hears here, so in the private conversations he is having with the frenc

. >> we'll go back to jeff zeleny and kate bennett. jeff, this is -- why is this the first state dinner? is it traditional that it's taken so long to have one? >> it's not, anderson. actually, this is a little longer than most state dinners. they're so -- it's no question, though, that the reason that france was picked for this was indeed because the trumps were invited last year to paris, to the bastille day parade, and they were treated to quite a show in paris. i remember it well. that's why the president decided to have france be the first state dinner here. and, anderson, i am struck so much by watching the president there, talking about the warm relationship, the special relationship. this does not sound like candidate donald trump who often made fun of the french when he was running for president. this certainly is a sign of how he has grown in office, at least in one respect here. now he has a new friend on the world stage, and he indeed is the president of france. also the new president of france. so i'm struck by that as he re

. >> the other piece of news we've been discussing and jeff zeleny can help us piece this together a news that dropped from the "new york times" the fact that all and part of this raid involving michael co kren earhe this week was also looking for evidence and related to -- and how it's related to we don't know yet, but that "access hollywood" tape that dropped before the month before the presidential election. >> this is very interesting. what it says to me is that the authorities, the prosecutors, are trying to get a better sense into what the exact role that michael cohen was playing in the trump campaign in the final days leading up to the election. it clearly -- that of course was a bombshell that came out in october in 2016. seals li seems like a long time ago, of course. it seems like they were trying to piece together a bit of what was going on in those days leading up to the election. we didn't know at the time that michael cohen was the person leading the effort here for the hush money. he was writing the check of $130,000 through that illegal entity he set up. it seems to

. >> jeff zeleny at the white house. thank you so much. >>> turning to the world lead. one of the biggest mysteries in the russian interference in the 2016 election is who done it? and today we're getting some answers. the names of putin cronies and russian oligarchs who tried to help propaganda get into your news feeds and your hearts and minds before you voted. the trump administration handing down all new sanctions. coming closer to vladimir putin than ever before including friends, family, and exspies. we'll tell you how they ended up on this black list. all part of the effort to destabilize its in the and u.s. across the globe in a statement today, the president said we cannot allow those seeking to sow discord and rancor. that is a statement delivered on paper and we should point out that is contradicted by the president's past personal remarks about russian election interference, which he has significantly belittled and called an excuse by democrats for their defeat. we have the story covered from here in washington, all the way to the russian capital of moscow.

jeff zeleny has the story president trump defending his trade threats today, acknowledging economic pains, but offering no apologies for punishing china.trump radio interview / no name font needed:"i'm not saying there won't be a little pain, but the market's gone up 40%, 42% so we might lose a little bit of it, but we're going to have a much stronger country when we're finished, and that's what i'm all about."the president hoping to force china to change its trading practices, escalating his weeklong volley with beijing by threatening new tariffs of $100 billion of chinese imports -- in addition to $50 billion proposed earlier this week.sarah sanders, white house press secretary:"the president is going to actually do something and be tough when no one else is willing to do this."yet the threat against china is rattling investors, spooking the stock market and worrying american farmers -- many of whom are trump supporters.nebraska senator ben sasse - one of the many farm state republicans voicing concern -- blasted the move, saying: "hopefully the president is just blowing off steam agai

. >> with me now are jeff zeleny. the president made that comment at his joint news conference with the president of nigeria a little while ago. watching that press conference of netanyahu's certainly seemed like he spoke in english, that he had an audience of one. >> there's no question, the president was watching that i'm told from just off the oval office, he was watching that speech, he's -- he agrees with peng men netanyahu about this entirely, they had a phone call over the weekend on saturday they spoke. this is something that the prime minister is simply doing to a.m.ably phi via message here, the president stopping short of saying what he was going to do, boy, listening to him in the rose garden certainly seemed that all signs are pointing to the fact that he plans to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. >> what about the headlines on north korea, and how he floated again the notion of meeting kim jong-un at the dmz. >> the president is focused on the optics of what that would look like. the history of the me

>> this is some terrific reporting from our colleague jeff zeleny about the fact that the president is just sort of feeling like he weathered the comey storm but very upset and consumed, as you mentioned, with michael cohen. i mean, michael cohen, this is the ultimate question of loyalty, the ultimate question of somebody who the president has trusted with the most sensitive of issues for years, whether or not michael cohen will still vhave the president' back, even in the face of legal jeopardy. i make that assumption based on the fact that a federal judge and the president's justice department said it was okay to raid his home -- or at least his hotel where he is staying as well as his office. it's very, very interesting. i will just say on the comey thing, you know, maybe the president feels okay because we haven't seen jake tapper interview james comey yet. >> he better be ready. >> dana, thank you so. we are 40 minutes away from jake's live interview with james comey. do not miss the tough questions he'll have for the fired fbi director on "the lead" at the top the hour. next, the

my colleagues jeff zeleny and elise labott confirmed that mike pompeo, who has been nominated by thew to north korea, met with kim jong-un with other intelligence officials, to try to set up this meeting between president trump and kim jong-un. we heard the president earlier today saying exactly whether or not that meeting will take place but that high levels talks were going on. there was one confusing moment earlier this evening when it sounded like the president said yes, he in fact had spoken with kim jong-un, but the white house later clarified that no, those talks were taking place among high level officials, and we now know who those high level officials are, including the cia director who may soon be secretary of state. >> the u.n. ambassador, nikki haley, had said on cbs' "face the nation" saying that mnuchin, the treasury secretary, would be announcing a new round of sanctions against russians who were linked to the chemical stockpiles in syria. the white house then -- no sanctions were announced. what's been happening over the last day? >> reporter: there's been some forei

i want to bring in our senior white house correspondent, jeff zeleny and molly ball. good to have both of you on. good evening. jeff, we could start with any number of breaking stories today. let's start with the president expressing confidence in his e.p.a. chief scott pruitt and despite the ever growing list of controversy surrounding his cabinet official, he even floated replacing sessions with pruitt this week. what do you know about that? >> don, certainly a number of developments here today. but as for scott pruitt, we do know the president has been thinking about this for several week we know that jeff sessions, attorney general, is the most, you know, the biggest member of the cabinet with a target on his back. he is furious for him for more than a year for recusing himself in the russia investigation. one way around confirming a new attorney general is to appoint an acting attorney general. the only person who can be appointed as an acting attorney general is someone who has been confirmed by the senate already. so scott pruitt, the former attorney general fro

. >> late word from pam brown and jeff zeleny, white house officials say there are no plans to respond to anything from the book tonight. people familiar with the matter say the white house and the rnc not plan to respond toach allegation, largely because they know less about these incidents in many cases that we do. phil mudd, frank rooney, and alison. in fact he seems to be poking the president, talking about his hand size and the white circles until hi eyes from tanning. >> yeah, i think revenge is best served cold. i think that that is partly what it is. i mean, don't forget, this is a president who fired him. comey was fired in a way that no one would want to be fired. he didn't know about it. he was halfway across the country. i think he has some scores to settle here, but moreover, i think it gives us an important hint about what he has been saying to the special counsel the what his testimony would be about this question of obstruction. here he says, you know, i'm not going to tell you whether i believe this is obstruction or there isn't obstruction, but he does give you chapte

yesterday jeff zeleny was asking the homeland security director why now? what has happened? here's her answer. >> why is this such an urge emit priority right now for the president to sign? >> i think what i would say is the numbers continue to increase. april traditionally is a month in which we see more folks crossing the border without a legal right to do so. we are seeing more and more advertising unfortunately by the traffickers and smugglers to our south specific how to get around our system, enter our country and stay. why today, not yesterday, tomorrow? today is the day. >> well, she's right. seasonally there are moments when they come. this is one of those seasonal moments. you get accustomed to it in a normal policy process, you have something set in place so when these seasonal changes happen, you are ready for going off to do it. you don't do it in response to something you do on tv or something that you heard anecdotally over dinner. that's fundamentally the problem and the issue with this white house, which is they're not terribly data driven, which leads you t

jeff zeleny is out front life at the white house tonight. jeff, you really pressed secretary nielsen about the timing of this announcement, why she was sent out today to talk for 25 minutes when she was unable to answer so many crucial questions. and she didn't have answers for you. >> well, erin, that is the central question, why is this happening at this moment. again as you said, an unspecified number for an unspecified strength of time as well as an unspecified price tag here. so many questions unanswered. we asked the secretary again why now. let's watch. >> why is this such an urgent priority right now for the president to decide? >> i think what i would say is the numbers continue to increase. april traditionally is a month in which we see more folks crossing the border without a legal right to do so. so, partly it's modelling, partly it's anticipating. clearing out the border in a fraudulent way. why today, not yesterday, why not tomorrow? today is the day we want to start this process. >> so, she said right there today is the day. to

they are responding to this in some respect, our jeff zeleny has been reporting that the rnc has launched a website lyin' comey to undermine the credibility of jim comey. i think we'll expect more of that to come from sean hannity and other voices in conservative media. this fight is just beginning, wolf. >> it looks like it is. thank you. >>> senator ron wyden of oregon is joining us. senator, thanks so much for joining us. >> good to be back. >> i want to start with your reaction to these quotes from the new comey book. you've been hearing all of the reporting going on iflts look, i disagreed with jim comey on plenty of matters. i disagreed with him on the handling of the clinton e-mail. i strongly disagreed with his views with respect to technology, particularly weakening strong encryption. i have never known him to be a liar. >> so you basically believe what you're seeing these quotes emerge, "new york post," associated press. >> my experience is i've disagreed with him plenty on policy issues, but i have never seen any evidence that he lies. >> in one portion of the book, according t

i want to bring in senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny, and cnn special correspondent jamie gan gchgel. jamie, i know it's sad, she wouldn't want us to cry over her, but what can you tell us about the matriarch of the bush family? >> first she would say what are you making a fuss about, and then she would give you that look. she was 92 years old. it is a sad day. she would want us to have a bourbon toast, don, at this point. a lot of people were aware that her husband suffers from parkinson's. we've seen him in the wheelchair. but not so many people were aware that she's been suffering from copd and congestive heart failure for the last two years. she just got tired. she had been in and out of the hospital. she was having trouble breathing. and this past week she said, enough, we're going to do this on my terms, i don't want to go back into the hospital, i'm ready. she told her family that she was at peace. they all came and saw her. they were at peace. i know that her husband spent today at her side, holding her hand. and he's heartbroken. but i think she did things the way

this certainly was a surprise and now sources are telling the cnn white house team, my colleague jeff zeleny, that bossert was pushed out, this was not a decision he made, that he was pushed out of the door and that it even caught several white house officials off guard, especially those who work closely with him and several of them were in meetings without their phones when news of his departure broke and found out that tom bossert is leaving the white house from reports in the media. just to give you a sense of how sudden and surprising this is, not just to those of us who cover the white house, but also to those who work inside of this white house as well, that tom bossert, the homeland security adviser, is leaving here, kate. >> he's been a key advocate and key public voice. inside and outside the white house for the president on all homeland and national security issues. this is an amazing moment now. also other amazing moments that have happened in the last 24 hours, if you can keep track, kaitlan, the president, his attorney and the fbi, where do things stand at this moment is the onl

and my colleague jeff zeleny was reporting the president has been consumed by this. and he fix sates on every day. i will tell you i talked to a source familiar with this, these conversations that go on inside the white house about this. the source said earlier today that the legal team with the president at this point is not concerned that michael cohen is going to turn against the president and start singing like a canary. that at this point they expect cohen to to do what he has to do in the investigation. but he's not going to be a cooperating witness of some sort against the president. that is how they view things right now. they can't of course see into the future and know what's the unknown. but at this point they're trying to convey to the president hay don't think that should be a concern for him. of course the president from what we're told is very upset and furious that that probe has been launched and the raids took place. the question is at this point what happens in the future to michael cohen and what information uncovered and what case could be brough

we have cnn correspondent jeff zeleny, the white house reporter from bloomberg news, ambassador norm eisen, and cnn legal analyst laura coates. let me get your reaction, laura, first to what the president said that michael cohen only did a tiny, tiny, tiny little fraction of his legal work. how does that play out in both of these legal cases that are underway in new york and los angeles? >> well, it totally undermines and fatal is the idea that most of what was collected in a raid of michael cohen's home, hotel room and office would be overwhelmingly privileged information. if only a tiny fraction of t then we should have no problem getting through all the information, and a court finds that a lot can be disclosed and used by the prosecutors in this case. it also suggests, on the one hand, if you tell fox news that he represented you in the stormy daniels matter, it's odd what you said in an off the cuff remark you made on air force one that you had no idea of the payment or why or where it came from or why it was made, so it really contradicts the effort of michael cohen's law team.

happen with his personal attorney, my colleague jeff zeleny and i have been hearing from sources that president has been consumed by this behind the scenes quite worried as to the fate of his personal attorney in all of this. they have been long time friends, worked with each other a long time. so that's a critical part in all of this. the other thing we should note is i talked to a source with all these discussions a short while ago about rudy giuliani join in the president's legal team. this source was saying that rudy giuliani's presence is filling a need the legal team has had ever since the president outside attorney according to the source i spoke with when he left the president. 's legal team it created a hole and a need for somebody with a history in dealing with white collar cases. he's going to be bringing that to the table. >> jim as to ta, thank you very much. joining us is the former u.s. attorney in new york and our senior legal analyst is joining us. let's talk about rudy dpooul giuliani. he wants a list of how they can comply with the mueller investigation. then he hop