joining me now is justice correspondent jessica schneider. what more do we know about this in anticipation of comey's testimony? >> well, at first, we're dealing with the issue of executive privilege. you heard it from sean spicer right there. the decision is still not made. the white house not ruling that possibility out. so there's still a question as to whether or not president trump will try to block some of james comey's testimony on thursday. we know from our sources that comey is eager to tell his story. today, a source with knowledge of comey's thinking tells us that comey, after he met with the president, was in fact disturbed by his interactions but did think that the president could be taught on how to talk to director. he would have done more than write an memo if any of those actions rose to the level of obstruction of justice. of course, if comey takes all of these things together, he might come to a different conclusion about this. that takes us back to, will president trump try to exert executive privilege to stop the testimon

cnn's jessica schneider has details. >> reporter: a new report rev l reveals that vladimir putin gave direct orders to defeat hillary clinton. according to a bombshell report, the obama administration knew putin was directing cyber attacks in the 2016 campaign three months before the election. intelligence from inside the russian government was sent to the white house. it detailed the direct involvement in the hacking meant to disrupt the presidential race. >> this was a moving picture. it is not a clear snapshot of what the russians were up to. at first we thought they were trying to do what they always do. pull information and use it later down the road. then it looked like they were trying to interfere in the election. mostly by creating doubt. >> reporter: former national security adviser tony blinken deliberated strategy. >> the more we play it up in public, the more we play their game. we create further doubt by making it into a big public matter. >> reporter: a former senior obama official said it is the ha hardest thing about my time in government. i feel we choked. the post d

jessica schneider is outside the supreme court with more on this surprising feith day decision. jessica. >> reporter: for sure, john. an unexpected decision by the supreme court and a decision that could have both sides in this case, the trump administration as well as the plaintiffs, claiming small victories here. the trump administration will likely claim victory for the fact that the supreme court in a 6-3 decision allowed parts of this travel ban to take effect. saying that some foreign nationals may, in fact, be banned from this country. but the plaintiffs call it a victory, because the supreme court has said that anybody who can claim what they're calling a bona fide relationship to any person or entity in this country, that those foreign nationals should be allowed to come here to the united states. of course, that's exactly what some of these plaintiffs were looking for. one of the plaintiffs in particular, in hawaii, looking for a visa for his mother-in-law to come here to the united states. so as to this surprising and somewhat split decision by the supreme court, the q

jessica schneider reporting. the white house is clamming up tonight about more than just the russia probe. multiple officials refusing to answer a key question. does the president still believe climate change is a hoax? let's go to senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, you and other reporters, you repeatedly pressed for information from press secretary sean spicer. from epa administrator. and you got more push back. you didn't get answers. >> that's right, wolf. keep in mind president trump there was media availability earlier this afternoon. he was asked once again whether he believes climate change is a hoax. whether he believes it is real. he did not answer the question. once again, he left it to his top aides and administration officials and today it was the ea administrator scott pruitt's turn to explain what is going on inside the president's head when it comes to this question. he was struggling to provide climate cover. i tried at one point during the white house briefing earlier today press p

jessica schneider is with me now to set more of this up.ouse officials? is there any explanation of the tweet storm this morning? >> brooke, it's clear the white house is trying to dial these tweets back. especially because when they came out this morning, it appeared president trump was admitting that he was under investigation after, of course, repeatedly stressing for the past few months that he wasn't. president trump, when asked about the tweets, ignored reporters' questions. they asked whether or not he plans to fire special counsel mueller and also asked the president how he knows he's under investigation. we have heard from white house aides. they say that these tweets are the president ex em pemplifying he believes he's his own best defender and, yes, that tweet referred to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. a lot has developed, though. let me take you through it. mueller himself has hired 13 new attorneys and he plans to hire more. vice president mike pence has hired his own lawyer. when asked about it today, vice president p

our justice correspondent jessica schneider is following all of the breaking developments for us. so jessica, what is the latest? >> wolf we are learning that james comey will stick to the facts and leave legal analysis aside. that's from a source that jake tapper said he will detail from the president specifically the president's request for pledge of loyalty and his request to comey to stop the investigation into michael flynn. but that source says comey won't go so far as to conclude whether or not the president's actions may have constituted obstruction of justice. tonight, the president is weighing in on james comey's upcoming testimony. sources say the white house still hasn't set up a war room and is slow putting together a rapid response team to come to the defense of the president. part of the hold up, a still only partially assembled legal team. president trump's personal attorney is official outside counsel. administration officials said he will determine the official white house response. but there is no top flight legal defense team at the ready just yet. one source sa

let me go outside the supreme court now where jessica schneider is standing by.talked about everything the travel ban means, but they got other big rulings. >> reporter: that's right. when it came to the travel ban, we are already looking toward next term when the supreme court said they will take up one important opinion. the cake case out of colorado. they agreed to hear it two days after they granted same-sex marriage as a right. a cake owner declined to make a cake for a same-sex couple when they came in and asked him to bake one for their wedding reception. the cake shop owner saying it violated his religious. the supreme court will, in fact, take up this case in the fall and decide whether or not individual business owners have this religious liberty to say, no, i don't want to provide services for same-sex couples because it violates my religious beliefs. note, kate, as we approach the end of the term, this is the final day the supreme court issued decisions, we are on retirement watch. justice anthony kennedy, it's speculated he could potentially retire.

cnn's jessica schneider has the very latest. >> reporter: dave and christine, tough and intense questioning is expected today when the attorney general testifies. several questions linger, including what role did jeff sessions have in the firing of james comey, especially since sessions had recused himself from the russia investigation. also, what is sessions' response to comey's contention that sessions left him alone with the president and then didn't respond when comey told the attorney general it was inappropriate. and perhaps most pressing, did jeff sessions have a third undisclosed meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyak, something comey told senators in a closed-door session last week that investigators are looking into. all of these questions swirl, all as the white house is weighing whether to exert executive privilege. press secretary sean spicer would only say that it would depend on the scope of the questions, but a senior administration official is telling our sara murray that the white house actually might hold back and hope that jeff sessions actually restrained on his

cnn's jessica schneider joins us with that. the house issued subpoenas today. who were they to the. >> seven in total. four 067 them related to the russian probe. also former national security advisor michael flynn and both of their business entities. those are the documents both men have been reluctant to turn over. and there were other subpoenas seeking information on the issue of unvailing. this all relates to the unmasking request made by former obama officials. so all of these subpoenas issued today as congress continues to ramp up all of their investigations. anderson. >> the subpoenas on the unmaskicing, i understand the house intelligence aides suspects that came directly from chairman devin nunes, but nunes recused himself from the investigations for now. >> you're right. and the fact that devin nunes has subpoena power despite removing himself from the russian investigation, that has the concerns. he can in fact unilaterally issue subpoenas, and one senior aide tells us, those three subpoenas, that likely came from chairman nunes himself without any c

cnn's jessica schneider has the latest from washington. >> reporter: well, dave and christine, james comey's much-anticipated testimony could happen as soon as next week. that's according to sources. the details of this testimony, they're still being determined, but sources do say the fired fbi director will once again sit before the senate intelligence committee and publicly recount his run-ins with the president. as you'll remember, it was back on february 14th when comey had that meeting with president trump, and sources say the president urged comey to drop the investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. sources do say comey documented the president's plea in this way, saying "i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go." the president once again invoked comey's name in a tweet wednesday morning, saying in part, "the false or misleading testimony of james comey, john brennan, witch hunt." we know that james comey has spoken with special counsel robert mueller to work out the paramete

cnn's jessica schneider has all the late on the russia investigation. jessica? >> well, you know, jake, it's fair to say that tomorrow's testimony, it will be intensified in the wake of james comey's accusations last week that sessions left him alone with the president and didn't respond when comey told sessions the president made him uncomfortable, but questions do remain about how wide-ranging jeff sessions' testimony will be and will the white house try to intervene? >> it's an honor to be able to serve of you in that regard. >> reporter: attorney general jeff sessions praising the president in today's cabinet meeting. >> you're right, jeff, thank you very much. >> it followses of tensions between the two over sessions' recusal over the russia investigation back in march. sessions will testify tomorrow in front of the senate intelligence committee. sources say he tried to raise a closed hearing and after objections from democrats agreed to speak publicly. the white house is still weighing whether to exert executive privilege to preclude some of sessions' test

we have jessica schneider with the latest. know about the subpoenas that were issued by the house intelligence committee? >> there were seven subpoenas in all. four related to the russian probe were issued to president trump's attorney, and the national security advisor, and michael flynn. that is four. the others are the other three subpoenas that were issued on the general topic of unmasking, the unveiling of american eye dent tips in the intelligence reports and they were issued in the obama administration officials, several of them. john brenon and susan rice and former u.n. ambassador samantha power. and the fact that chairman devin nunes who had stepped aside, he was the one who issued them. >> that is what is so fascinating about this is he said he would be stepping aside back in april. these subpoenas were issued and overseen by him. that's what democrats are saying. >> the republicans in a sense are mincing words here. they are saying that claim nunes didn't recluse himself. merely that he was stepping aside. house sp

but told reporters today to not read too much into it. >> jessica schneider reporting there. jill dougherty now joins us live from moscow. and we just heard vice president pence reiterate just routine, just routine. but it really is anything but with this investigation ongoing and all the while russia has been tired of this, of course, he's reported. but it just keeps evolving, it seems. >> it does. and you know the russian media are covering this. they are, to a certain extent. the words that you're hearing most often, i would say, would be witch-hunt and hysteria. hysteria. they would say by the main stream media in the united states. and the witch-hunt which is the phrase we just had on the screen from president trump and others in his administration is basically the idea that the russians are saying there are enemies of the president who want to destroy him and his presidency. so, they are drumming all of this up. they also, president putin was almost laughing about parts of it just a couple of days ago. he joked that if comey, the former head of the fbi, needed any help

jessica schneider, cnn, washington. >> let's talk about this with david swerlick. and lynn swede is the reporter for the chicago sun times. the white house weighing if executive privilege is something to use. what exactly, lynn, might the white house be weighing in trying to make that decision? >> i don't think we will know right away. thursday is a long way off in political time. i think they are weighing not just the success of the challenge to the senate intelligence committee and comey to proceed, but whether or not a fight is worth it. it is not lineal. it is not will he testify or not. there are various stops along the way. >> could be limitations. >> you could have -- we know that a president has privilege, but not absolute privilege. you could have a negotiation as to what the testimony would be about. the senate could reject a claim of presidential privilege. the senate could go to court. comey could go to court. we have a lot of twists and turns f. the turns. if there is a court fight, it might not be reresolved. if it goes to what happens in the meetings

jessica schneider's tracking all this side of the story. jessica, lay it out for us. >> reporter: kate, they want to know if attorney general jeff sessions had an additional undisclosed private meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyak during the campaign. so, sources tell cnn the inquiry centers around that april 27th, 2016 date at the mayflower hotel rights here in washington. that's when you saw that video, then candidate donald trump delivering his first major foreign policy address. and ambassador kislyak actually sat in the front row. but just prior to the speech, then senator sessions and ambassador kislyak attended a small vip reception with organizers and diplomats. investigators are looking into that, and they haven't yet determined if, in fact, a private meeting between sessions and kislyak took place. investigators also acknowledge it's possible any additional meeting was incidental. but of course, this could be problematic for sessions if it emerges he did meet with kislyak. sessions already had to recuse himself from the r

cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider joins us now from washington with that part of the story. good morning, jessica. >> reporter: good morning, john and poppy. like you said, the transition team, it was put on alert by the team's general counsel's office, that everyone must preserve documents and materials related to the russia investigation. that's being reported by "the new york times." this preservation memo states that people "have a duty to preserve any physical or electronic records that may be related in any way to pending investigations." so, this is just the latest and another indication that special counsel robert mueller's probe is widening, casting a wide net. you know, this memo, also according to "the new york times," also details specific people whose background records should be saved. those people include former campaign manager paul manafort, carter page, former national security adviser michael flynn, as well as informal campaign adviser roger stone. now, typically, this is the type of preservation memo that's put out just after the justice department issues

cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider is live with us now with more on the details. jessica, what is the president's argument here? >> reporter: kate, whatever the president's argument is, it is seriously undermining his own justice department's argument. put it this way, doj lawyers are in the midst of a long and protracted legal fight here, and all this time they've been trying to convince the courts to essentially ignore the president's own words. and so far, of course, no court has ignored president trump's statement. and now this morning the president is once again making life very difficult at the doj, attacking their argument on two fronts. so, here goes. first, the president has called it a travel ban this morning three separate times in his tweets. now, that term alone flies in the face of what his lawyers have labeled it. they've insisted repeatedly that this is merely an executive order or a temporary ban. on the second front, the president has admitted both today on twitter and even back in a march rally that his second executive order on this travel ban w

cnn's jessica schneider is here with us and she has the latest on the investigation. jessica, what has cnn learned about this possible escalation in robert mueller's probe? >> well, we know that mueller's investigators are set to talk to some key intelligence officials and it really marks the clearest sign yet that mueller may be investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president himself. special counsel robert mueller's team is expected to question the president's director of national intelligence, dan coats, as soon as this week according to a source familiar with the matter. national security adviser, admiral mike rogers, will also be interviewed by investigators. in addition, those investigators want information from nsa deputy, richard legend, who a source says wrote a memo documenting a conversation in which the president allegedly urged admiral rogers for the fbi to lift the cloud of the russia investigation. the interviews are the strongest and most public indication yet that mueller is moving to expand the investigation. law enforcement sources te

jessica schneider, thanks very much. let's get perspective from david axelrod, matthew rosenberg, and carl bernstein. david, how big of a deal would it be if then senator sessions did in fact have another undisclosed meeting with the russian ambassador? >> well, "if" is an important word, but if that were the case, it would be a very big deal. because, remember, the rationale for him not disclosing the previous meetings were that they wanted, particularly the one in his senate office, happened in the course of his duties as a senator. that he routinely received foreign diplomats. this is a meeting off-campus, one on one, and it's another thing that he didn't disclose. and anderson, the bottom line is, if you have nothing to hide, you don't hide anything. and there is stealth that pervades this entire story from the president on down, and the attorney general has been guilty of it, as well. so this would really add a log to the fire. >> matt, i mean with, if this meeting did take place, and again, it's an if, we don't kno

jessica schneider, cnn, washington. >>> jessica thank you for that.s in the "washington post" report, jessica mentioned was that direct line drawn between vladimir putin and election interference. president trump may bring that up if he meets with vladimir putin on the sidelines of next month's g-20 talks in germany. let's get some perspective from the kremlin. we're joined by cnn's foreign moscow bureau chief jill doherty. thank you so much for joining us this saturday. what does this apparent confirmation about vladimir putin's direct order to meddle in the 2016 election change? does it alter anything at all? >> you know, i don't think if you're talking about the meeting that we expect will happen between president trump and president putin, in the early part of july at the g-20, i don't think it's going to affect much of anything. this is a subject neither leader wants to talk about. it's something that he avoids or just completely denies, trump and then do you have president putin, who also doesn't want to get involved in that subject, it's someth

jessica schneider is here with what people need to know.xplain for me when they say defining a bona fide relationship. what is that? how do they prove that? >> well, brooke that was really the big question when the supreme court issued the ruling on monday. parts of the travel ban could take effect, you said it, what does bona fide mean? the state department issued their interpretation of that term and it's drawing scrutiny and how they're doing it. if the traveler is from any one of those six muslim majority countries or a refugee from any country they must prove that they have either family ties here or they've been offered a job or attending school here. so, when it comes to family ties, you must show that you're a parent, a spouse, achild, adult child, son or daughter-in-law, or sibling who already lives here. now relationships that won't allow you to enter the united states if you're from one of the six they include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins, and a big list of what many people consider f

so, we've got cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider. she is standing by, but first to the white house. athena jones is there. athena, what is going on here? what is all -- what is this all about? what are you hearing from the white house? >> reporter: hi, kate. well, we have seen a series of tweets from the president this morning, starting just before 8:00. he sent out four tweets on this subject in the last hour or so. the white house isn't commenting on this specific tweet, not explaining exactly why the president -- they say he does believe that he's under investigation, but they're not saying why. for instance, has he been directly informed that he is, or is he basing this on recent reports? they are referring all questions about the russia-related matters to the president's outside legal team, as they've been doing now for several weeks. but my colleague, jeff zeleny, did speak with a white house official who says that this latest tweet storm is by design. this official says it's a sign the president is taking matters into his own

that remains to be seen as we approach october. >> jessica schneider, thank you for the update.ey toobin, and neil represented hawaii. one of the states challenging the president's travel ban. neil, what's your reaction to the supreme court not only agreeing to hear the case, but ruling foreign nationals, some foreign nationals can in fact be prevented from entering the u.s.? >> yeah, i was really surprised to hear president trump declare a unanimous victory today, because in reality, he lost 6-3. the supreme court let stand the district court's injunction blocking major sections of both his travel ban and his refugee ban. and to be sure, you know, some of the technical stuff about non-connected u.s. persons, the heart of the lawsuit that hawaii has brought has been -- remained intact by the supreme court today. we're very much looking forward to oral arguments in october. >> jeff, is that how you see it? >> not really. you know, this has been an un-ending series of defeats for the president in the lower courts. he did get all nine justices, liberals and conservatives alike, to

let's start with jessica schneider on capitol hill.r: alisyn, the testimony made more interesting by the opening statements by the senate intelligence committee. a seven-page document that goes into detail of the comey's five of nine interactions with president trump. interactions that comey said he was compelled to write down. something he never did with president obama. concerning, awkward, inappropria inappropriate. these are the words fired fbi director james com

cnn's jessica schneider joins us with more. jessica?el ban that will go into effect includes the four nationals from the six muslim majority countries. so if those foreign nationals cannot prove that they have a bona fide connection to any person or any entity in this country, they can in fact still be banned. however, foreign nationals who can prove a family connection here, who can prove that they have been admitted to a university or have a job offer here, those people will be let in. so really, the question amounts to what exactly is a bona fide connection. who will determine that, and will this in fact create somewhat of an onerous burden for immigration officials? that's something that justice clarence thomas actually alluded to in his dissent saying the full travel ban should have gone into effect because it creates too many difficult scenarios for immigration officials to figure out. so the question now becomes when does this go into effect? the trump administration has said that 72 hours from the court's decision, it will in fa

>> jessica schneider, thanks very much. the attorney general's status as a former long-time colleague did not quiet skepticism some had before his testimony nor the criticism afterwards. for more on the reaction both good and bad, let's go to cnn's manu raju on capitol hill. what's latest you're hearing tonight? >> the reaction, anderson, has really come along party lines. you're hearing democrats express frustration over why not only jeff sessions wasn't able to e. are call certain key elements including whether or not he had those interactions with sergey kislyak at that meeting at the washington hotel last year but in addition this policy that he is chieting, that jeff sessions cited in terms of why he can't discuss any of these interactions with president trump himself. but republicans on the other hand said jeff sessions did what he needed to do. they believe he was as forthcoming as he could have been and they believe this whole sessions testimony was a sideshow from the ongoing russia investigation. here's marco rubi

>> jessica schneider. elizabeth foley constitutional law professor at florida international university. also cnn legal analyst laura coates, a former federal prosecutor. professor foley, the fact that kushner is considering adding on a well-respected -- or trading a well-respected washington attorney for an extremely tough litigator who's represented people like jack abramoff, does that tell you anything? >> not necessarily. i mean, look, we don't know why jamie gorelick wrote the letter that she did. you know, there are a couple possible reasons here. one is that even though it doesn't rise to a level of a formal conflict that would require gorelick to recede from the case, nonetheless the appearance of impropriety with the connections to mueller may be disturbing to kushner. and therefore, he may want more zealous advocacy, someone who doesn't have that kind of tie. the other possibility too, there's been a lot of public criticism of gorelick from the political left. she is a liberal lawyer, and she's re

we get more from cnn's jessica schneider. >> reporter: james comey will stick to the facts and leave legal analysis aside when he was the on thursday. that's from a source who told jake tapper comey will detail his interactions with the president specifically the president's request for a pledge of loyalty and president's request for comey to stop the investigation into michael flynn. but that source does say comey won't go so far as to include whether or not the president's actions may have conconstituted obstruction of justice. sources says the white house has not set up a war room and slow to put together a rapid response team designed to come to the defers of the president. the legal team son lie partially assembled. one source says the number of conflicts of d.c. attorneys may be one obstacle but a leading litigator say there's concern among washington lawyers since president trump is quick to contradict his staff as we saw earlier this week. >>> thank you. stay with cnn all day tomorrow for full coverage of james comey's testimony. special coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

cnn's jessica schneider has more. >> reporter: christine the white house will not stands in the way of fired fbi director comey's testimony on thursday. president trump has decided not to xrt his executive privilege. on top of that, chairman of the senate intelligence committee richard burke says comey will have wide latitude to talk about. he has spoken with james comey several times, burrchairman burd ranking member mark warner have met with andrew mccabe. they've asked mccabe to hand over any of the memos that comey kept. chairman burr says he doesn't expect to get those memos before thursday's hearing, christine, dave. >> jessica, thank you. a reminder, cnn will have full coverage of the comey testimony, thursday at 9:00 a.m. eastern, early start begins extra early thursday and friday, lucky us. 3:00 a.m. eastern time. >>> at least one bar in d.c. is opening up clearly for the comey hearings and serving what they call russian vodka favors and fbi sandwich itself. >> i wonder what the drinking order is going to be, what is the word you have to drink on? >> oh, obstruction? >> i don'

let's begin our coverage with cnn's jessica schneider live on capitol hill. jessica. >> reporter: chris, james comey will start with seven pages of opening statement in his testimony. in the statement, we know he document and recount five of the nine encounters with president trump. encounters that comey felt necessary to document. it is something that james comey said he never did with president obama. concerning, awkward, inappropriate. these are the words fired fbi director james comey describes to use with interactions with president trump in the seven-page opening statements. chronicling the efforts to drop the michael flynn investigation and clear his own name. after an oval office meeting on february 14th, comey describes the president clearing the room. telling advisers he wanted to speak to me alone before turning the conversation to flynn who he fired the previous day stressing that flynn did nothing wrong in his contact was russia. although he misled the vice president. he is a good guy and has been through a lot. i hope you can see your way clear t

cnn's jessica schneider joins me now. jessica, do we have any sense what comby is likely to say about his interactions with president trump? >> we no from your our sources that james comby is eager to tell his story and testify. in fact, he is's already consulted with special counsel robert mueller about the parameters of his testimony and now a source tells cnn after some reflection on his interactions with the president james comey may be viewing the intent of the president a bit differently. tonight new insight into how james comey might recount his conversations with the president. a source with knowledge of comey's thinking says that while comey was disturbed by his interactions with president trump, comey believed he had the situation under control. the source says if comey believed at the time any specific encounter constituted obstruction of justice, comb woe have done more than just write a memo, but when comey pieces together the president's possible pressure to drop the fbi investigation into michael flynn in hi

cnn jessica schneider reports. >> tonight white house spokesman spicer won't say if the tapes of the president's conversation was james comey exist. but he continues to promise the president himself will answer the question. >>> the president said he will make an announcement on this. i expect it this week when he is ready we'll let you know. >> the house intelligence kpt demanded any tapes by friday and the senate intelligence committee is pledging to follow the money as part of its probe. committee members got word they will get access to the tresry department financial crimes unit as to possible collusion between the trump campaign and russia. >> i have long felt that the follow the money questions are right at the heart of our work in terms of tell the american people what has happened in our democratic institutions. >> michael flynn. >> meanwhile michael pipeline is facing more fire from congress. a pair of top house democrats digging into whether flynn may have misled officials by omitting a trip to the middle east from his security clearance form where he worked to secure a en

joining us live, jessica schneider. let's start with trademarks. >> reporter: you mentioned it.t could have implications for the washington redskins. i'll explain how in a second. this case ruled the act that does not allow trade mark registration ifs they disparage people or groups. they said it was broad. what's interesting about this case is this involved a ban called the slant. they wanted to register their trademark, but the trademark office said it was disparaging to asian americans. today, the supreme court saying, no, this is part of free speech. it cannot reject trademark applications on the basis of disparaging people. what's interesting and what the implications could be is the washington redskins had their trademark revoked in 2014 because of a similar issue. of course, the redskins or groups challenging this saying the redskins disparage native americans. so, this case put a point on it saying no, you cannot reject these trademark registrations or applicationings. it will be interesting to see exactly how the redskins move forward in this decision by the supreme cou

our justice correspondent jessica schneider joins us with more. know about this legal revach? >> it's twofold. jared kushner has contacted some high power criminal attorneys who could potentially step in and represent him as these investigations continue to unfold according to "the new york times", who said some big names are being considered, including abby noel. and second of all, any change in attorney is being signed off by kushner's current attorney. she released this statement saying, after and then continue retain her as his attorney. the fact that kushner is considering adding on a well respected or trading a well respected washington attorney for a tough litigator. >> we don't know why jamie wrote the letter that she did. there are a couple possible reasons here. one is even though it doesn't rise to the level of a formal conflict that would require her to recede from the case, nonetheless the appearance of impropriety with connections to mueller may be disturbing to kushner. there mofore he may want someon without that tie. and there's b

. >> jessica schneider, thanks. >>> jackie spear is a member of the intelligence committee.her earlier. >> when chairman nunes said that he was stepping aside, did v you did believe that he would have no involvement with the russian envegs gags? >> i think that is what everybody believed. that is what rescusal means. you are no longer associated with anything in the investigation. >> did he have the thought? >> the rules of the house intelligence committee require that the chair or the chair incon just with a ranking member or a committee as a whole has to issue the subpoenas bay vote. this case, he acted arbitrarily and did not consult with the ranking member, adam schift. and it was all for three yeatri. there is no a reluctance for them to show up. st so this was done, i think, purely to entertain the president and show that mr. nunes was listening for his cues from the president and not doing what he had made a commitment to do, which is to recuse himself. >> you said he didn't have the authority to do it by the regulations. and speaker ryan's office had issued a stateme

jessica schneider is with us right now. jessica, what are you learning? >> fbi said the gunman has been in alexandria since march living out of his car. several people tell us he has been staking out the shooting for weeks. the shooter was seen using his laptop in the lobby of a nearby ywca and frequented a nearby bar at least a half dozen times. he stood out for his gruff demeanor and unfriendly attitude. investigators are piecing together a profile of 66-year-old james hodgkinson and returning to his social media pages and criminal record. hodgkinson used his facebook page as platform to voice hate for conservatives and the president. calling republicans stupid. wrote that party hated americans and is full of smoke and mirrors. in march he linked to a change.org petition with trum post trump is a traitor. time to destroy trump and company. on facebook in 2015 hodgkinson posted a cartoon about congressman steve scalise, commenting here is a republican that should lose his job but they gave him a raise. hodgkinson primarily using facebook to talk about hi

let's start with jessica schneider on capitol hill. set the scene. >> reporter: alisyn, the testimony made more interesting by the opening statements by the senate intelligence committee. a seven-page document that goes into detail of the comey's five of nine interactions with president trump. interactions that comey said he was compelled to write down. something he never did with president obama. concerning, awkward, inappropria inappropriate. these are the words fired fbi director james comey says he describes with the interactions with president trump. chronicling the efforts to encourage the fbi to drop the michael flynn investigation and clear his own name. after an oval office meeting on february 14th, comey describes the president clearing the room. telling advisers he wanted to speak to me alone before turning to flynn whom he fired the previous day. stressing flynn did nothing wrong with contacts with russia although he misled the vice president. i hope you can see clear to gle this go. the president denying this exchange took

>> that was jessica schneider reporting. let's bring back the panel.lly jane torrens, joey jackson, tom fuentes and former fbi director. eugene, to you. if, indeed, sessions did have a third meeting, what does it mean for him politically? >> this is another example of the attorney general engaging in some type of interaction with russia he did not reveal. it brings questions about his integrity up for people that trusted what he said and the hearing was actually true. he's been found to have left out information, already, from that time before lawmakers. this will raise another red flag. what's much more interesting to pay attention is what this is saying about the relationship between sessions and donald trump. the president, i think, as jessica reported is aware he does not have a lot of room on his plate for another controversy. if this ends up being one of those, the future of attorney general sessions is up for question. >> kelly, i want to listen to senator blumenthal here. sessions is emerging as a key figure in the russian probe. listen to what

jessica schneider now on what the ruling means and what happens next. >> reporter: in the unsigned opinion, the court sided with the government in part, temporarily barring entry for foreign nationals who are unable to make a credible claim of a bona fide relationship of a person or entity in the united states. >> i think it's clear from today's decision that most of the justices think that the lower court decisions went a bit too far and that at least parts of the travel ban should be allowed to go into effect. >> reporter: but for those with family, business or educational ties to the u.s., the executive order will remain on hold. as long as those seeking a visa can prove a close familial relationship or a business entity that is formally document in the ordinary course, they may be considered for entry. people like students who have been accepted to universities or a worker with an offer at an american company. >> the court seems to thread a needle actually quite elegantly where they have dealt with the people who have the biggest hardships, the saddest stories, the people who have clos

cnn's jessica schneider has more. >> there are none. >> reporter: attorney general jeff sessions grewngry and frustrated with the continued questions about a possible meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyak in april 2016. >> this is a secret inwendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it. and i tried to give my best and truthful answers to my committee i've appeared before. and i recused myself from any investigation into the campaign for president. but i did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations. >> reporter: the attorney general repeatedly rebuffed the spec

cnn's jessica schneider is digging deeper into his background. well-documented hatred of president trump and republicans. >> right. we know the gunman, he spent significant time on his laptop computer over the last two months near the scene of the crime typing up messages of hate. the gunman came to alexandria in march and filled his facebook feed with political rants. in public facebook postings james t. hodgkinson repeatedly railed against republicans calling them stupid, writing that the party hated americans and is full of smoke and mirrors. in this post saying republicans are the taliban of the usa. and in march, linked to a change.org petition. trump is a traitor, it's time to destroy trump and company. in 2015 he posted a cartoon about congressman steve scalise, the lawmaker he shot this morning, commenting here's a republican that should lose his job, but they gave him a raise. the gunman's profile picture, bernie sanders as uncle sam. hodgkinson reportedly volunteered for the sanders campaign, but there's no records of his involvement. t

we have the stories covered with jessica schneider live on capitol hill. >> reporter: chris, the senate intelligence committee is gearing up for two days of testimony. it starts with officials testifying and tomorrow fired fbi director james comey. today's hearing is scheduled to focus on the reauthorization of the fisa. senators will delve deeply into the controversy and the russia probe. america's top intelligence official dan coats set to testify today amid washington post reporting that president trump asked coats to intervene and ask the fbi to back off the probe of michael flynn. two days after then fbi director comey confirmed the potential collusion of the trump campaign and russia. this after cnn reported that president trump asked coats to publicly deny the existence of evidence supporting the probe and a conversation coats declined to comment. >> i don't feel it is appropriate to discuss. >> reporter: coats is one of several officials set to face a grilling today over encounters with president trump. including deputy attorney general rod rosenstein who will answer questions p

more on that from jessica schneider. >> reporter: a declaration from the white house that james comey's testimony will proceed unimpeded. comey will speak publicly to the senate intelligence committee thursday before moving into a closed session prch for lawmakers the questions about his conversations with the president have been mounting. >> we want to find out what comey was thinking at that time, if it had risen to that level of conobstruction, and if it had, why didn't he say anything about it? >> reporter: lawmakers plan to probe his relationship with president trump. >> the tone, the exact words that were spoken and the context are so important. and that's what we lack right now. and we can only get that by targeting those directly involved. >> reporter: a source close to comey's thinking said comey felt disturbed by his conversations with the president but believed he had the situation under control. director of national intelligence dan coates and dan rogers will testify on thursday. >> there is a lot of smoke. we have no smoking gun at this point, but there is a lot of smoke. a

there's a lot to cover, so let's begin with cnn's jessica schneider live on capitol hill. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the senate intelligence committee publicly released james comey's opening testimony one day early at james comey's request, something that is highly unusual. in this seven-page opening testimony document, james comey recounts five of the nine one on one interactions with president trump, something james comey says he was compelled to write down after all of these interactions, something he notes he never did with president obama. concerning, awkward, inappropriate, these are the word

jessica schneider joins us now. what else has the president said about this? >> he's not just tweeting about it. it turns out he's talking about "the washington post" article, as well. he did an interview today, slated to air on sunday. this is what he told the interviewer in the wake of this washington post story, about the obama administration knowing as far back as august of 2016 about these russian hacks. this is what the president told the interviewer. he said, well, i just heard today for the first time that obama knew about russia a long time before the election and he did nothing about it. but nobody wants to talk about that. the cia give him information on russia before the election, and i hardly see it. it's an amazing thing. to me, in other words, the question is if he had the information, why didn't he do something about it? he should have done something about it, but you don't read that. it's quite sad. and what's interesting about this, anderson, is that it seems both this tweet, perhaps in this interview that will air on sunday that he taped tod

but first, let's get to washington and jessica schneider, which is setting up to be the next greatest show on earth coming up next week, jessica. what do we know? >> reporter: it is, kate. you know, this morning, the big question that's emerging, will president trump exert executive privilege to keep james comey from testifying, either in full or in part? we know from our sources that comey wants to tell his story and he's expected to detail how he felt potential pressure from the president, both when president trump asked him for personal loyalty shortly after taking office, and also in that now-infamous february 14th meeting when the president allegedly asked comey to shut down the fbi investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn and flynn's ties to russia. now, we know at this point that comey has taken the first step toward testimony. he's consulted with special counsel robert mueller about what the parameters of his testimony might be to ensure that there are no legal entanglements in his public account, but this morning, counselor to the president kellyanne

cnn's jessica schneider has the story. >> reporter: tonight, white house spokesman sean spicer still say if tapes of the president's conversations with former fbi director james comey exist. but he continues to promise the president himself will answer the question. >> the president has said that he will make an announcement on this. i expect it this week. and so when he's ready to make that announcement, we'll let you know. >> reporter: the house intelligence committee demanded any tapes by friday. and the senate intelligence committee is pledging to follow the money as part of its probe. committee members just got word they'll get access to data from the treasury department's financial crimes unit as part of their investigation into possible collusion or financial ties between the trump campaign and russia. >> i have long felt that the following the money questions are right at the heart of our work in terms of telling the american people what has happened our democratic institutions. >> michael flynn. >> reporter: meanwhile, michael flynn is facing more fire from congress. a pair

jessi jessica schneider has more. >> literally, my understanding is that the date for that hearing wasust set. i have not spoken to counsel yet. i don't know what they're going to -- how they're going to respond. >> reporter: counselor to the president, kellyanne conway, expects comey to talk but sent mixed messages when asked. >> we'll be watching with the rest of the world when director comey testifies. >> so he's not going to invoke executive privilege? >> the president will make that decision. >> reporter: comey no longer works for the white house, so the white house would have to take comey to court if they wanted to prevent him from talking and some say trump's tweets about comey and declarations like this -- >> we had a very nice dinner and at that time he said i am not under investigation, which i knew anyway. >> it sets a dangerous precedent that the president's conversations, you know, private conversations can be revealed. it will be a he said/he said type of thing. it is one side of the story. i don't think that helps the process. >> reporter: and there's new insight into h

more on that from jessica schneider. >> reporter: james comey's testimony will proceed unimpeded. >> president trump will not assert executive privilege regarding james comey's scheduled testimony. >> reporter: he will speak to the senate intelligence committee thursday before moving into a closed session. for lawmakers the questions about his conversations with the president have been mounting. >> we want to find out what comey was thinking. if he thought it had risen to that level of obstruction. if it had, why hadn't something been done? why didn't he act while he was fbi director? was that concern basically filed away for what purpose? >> reporter: lawmakers plan to probe his relationship with president trum ap and whether t president urged him to stop the probe into michael flynn and flynn's ties to russia. >> the tone, the exact words that were spoken and the context are so important. that's what we lack right now. we can only get that by talking to those directly involved. >> reporter: sources say comey kept detailed memos about his interactions with the president, a source cl