let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. deja vu on the battle between the courts and the white house. the president had a couple tweets this morning criticizing the federal courts as well as

joe johns is at the white house for us. what's the response from the white house this morning? >> reporter: good morning, fred. well, among other things, the white house very much trying to downplay this latest activity by north korea. the president tweeting that among other things, north korea had disrespected the wishes of china's president by launching this missile. a clear indication that the administration wants to put onus on president of china to interact with north korea to bring resolution to the nuclear ambition of that country. the white house statement from the press secretary officially just two lines saying that the administration was aware of the missile launch and the president was briefed. there was reason for concern for the missile launch but also saying north korea has always been provocative in response to a question about the timing of the missile launch occurring a few hours after the secretary of state chaired that big beating at the united nations. quiet at the white house as the president prepares to go to pennsylvania to celebrate the 100th day of his

rosa, and joe johns at the white house. rosa, first to you, explain to us this case of the dreamer that was deported. >> reporter: good morning, john. well, juan manuel montes-bojorques came to the u.s. at age of 9 and filed for dhaka status in 2014 and then he gained a second daca protection status in 2016 that doesn't expire until 2018. here's where the dispute comes. on february 15th, his attorneys allege that montes bojorquez was hailing a cab in montana and was picked up by immigration. his wallet was somewhere else, in the car of a friend. after a few hours, he's taken to a deportation office and then gets deported to mexico. now, dhs says that none of this happened, that they to not have record of that pickup and that deportation. now, here is where both parties do agree. they do agree that montes bojorquez was picked up on february 19th and deported on february 20th, deported by immigration officials on february 20th. and so, we come back to this lawsuit and why judge curiel is involved in this. i know you're scratc

let's start with joe johns live at the white house. give us the latest, joe. oh, joe? >> reporter: it's another attempt to salvage a measure of success after all the recent failures on health care during the administration. important to say donald trump very much needs a win and he needs it now. >> we have a good chance of getting it soon. i would like to say next week. >> reporter: president trump pushing hard for a legislative win before his 100th day in office next week. reviving his health care effort that failed weeks ago. >> the plan gets better and better and better. it's gotten really, really good. a lot of people are liking it a lot. >> reporter: republicans want to help the president deliver on one of the key campaign promises as democrats remain skeptical a deal will be reached. >> you can put lipstick on a sow and call her monique and she's still a pig. that's this bill. >> reporter: a draft proposal published thursday by politico contained a ban on patients for pre-existing conditions. it would allow states to seek waivers for the mandates if they show it

let's start with joe johns at the white house. joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the trump administration likes to say that it is keeping its promises on things like deregulation and energy policy. it's the reversals on things like foreign and economic policy that are much more noticeable this morning. more evidence than ever this new administration is discovering a big difference with what you say on the campaign trail and what you have to do in the oval office. >> i said it was obsolete. it's no longer obsolete. >> reporter: in a stunning reversal. president trump abandoning his hardline position nato. >> nato is obsolete. >> in my opinion, nato is obsole obsolete. >> it is obsolete. >> reporter: asserting it was his criticism that prompted the alliance to start fighting terrorism. >> i complained about that a long time ago and they made a change. now they do fight terrorism. >> reporter: despite the fact that it has been a central focus on the military alliance for years. this about-face coming as trump seeks support from u.s. allies with worsening relations wi

chris and ali. >> thank you, joe johns. joining us is david gregory andrade drucker and a.b. stoddard. david gregory. how is it a win for the gop in a district they held since 1979 and have an upstart get almost 50% of the vote? >> i don't think it is a resounding win. they come away at least. i think, you know, this is a strong showing for a democratic candidate in a really conservative red district. but despite that strong showing, i think there are some reasons to temper the enthusiasm. i think there are limits to the anti-trump progressive democratic wing of the party as you look ahead to the mid term race. i think they have to find a way to coalesce around the message other than anti-trump. you don't have to particularly be for something, but go back over the role of government and health care. i don't think it can be just anti-trump. in a lot of districts, tried and true republicans will come home. what made it close here, of course, these are more college educated republicans. more might rtt romney republica than donald trump. >> david, the guy got almost 50% of the vo

will ripley, joe johns, we appreciate it. >> let's bring in cnn analyst. general good morning to you. i want to get your reaction from something we heard from cnn analyst john kirby about this missile test. let's watch. >> this is kim giving us the finger, giving china the finger, giving the u.n. the finger. i think the timing is planned and pre ordained in his mind. >> the retired rear admiral making it plain for us. what do you make of his comments? >> i love john kirby speaking like a sailor. he's absolutely correct. look, this regime has been in place for over 70 years and i think what's different now is that we have run out of time over the course of many, many decades, we've watched and we've been prepared for provocations from the north and they have routinely pushed the envelope of what we would call a form of normalcy on the peninsula. what we have now is that we've run out of time. all estimates are that by 2020 north korea will have an icbm, an inter continental ballistic missile capability with a nuclear tip capable of reaching the west coast of

we have joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. the administration advancing and retreating on the issue of regime change in syria after the bombing strike on friday night that was largely symbolic. it did at least send a message that the president is not afraid to use force. >> every time one of the horrific attacks occurs, it draws russia closer to some level of responsibility. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson talking tough of russia's role in the syrian chemical weapons on the eve of the first diplomatic trip to moscow. >> p regardless of being complicit or incompetent or out witt witted, they failed. >> reporter: slamming the administration for the agreement to ensure the assad's stockpile was destroyed. >> how can they cover for assad? there are answers that need to come from russia. >> reporter: nikki haley and h.r. mcmaster echoing tillerson's criticism and keeping the door open for imposing additional sanctions on both russia and iran due to the support for assad. >> i don't think anything is off the table. >>

joe johns. thank you very much. let's bring in analyst david gregory and editor a.b. stoddard and white house reporter for the journal eli stokos. great to have you on, eli. trump raises his hand. we got it done. glad i was involved. how do you grab victory with the jaws of defeat with the nobody democrat? >> this is a ruby red republican district in georgia. democrats are excited to get out and vote. you expect that. given the trump presidency and all of the enthusiasm he has engendered among opponents. this is also a soft under belly of the republican party of the trump coalition. this is a district that is not strong for him. he relies on working class whites. it is a district where republicans make hay. democrats still are vulnerable from the attack from president trump and others in the district. they are liberal. they will raise taxes. they will increase regulation. it will be total liberal government. there are still a lot of republicans out there who may be soft on trump, but they don't want to put a democrat in there. >> a.b., explain how this is a referendum

let's begin our coverage with joe johns. he's live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> good morning, alisyn. it is tax day when millions of americans have to have their taxes in and a reminder president trump has not released his tax returns. he ran on this issue of transparency, obvious used it as a political weapon. now that he's the president is going to release his tax returns? >> we'll have to get back to you on that. >> the white house on the defensive facing mounting criticism over the administration's lack of transparency. >> we're under the same audit that existed, so nothing has changed. >> press secretary sean spicer again citing routine audits to justify president trump's refusal to release any tax returns except an irs audit does not prevent disclosure. this lack of transparency now jeopardizing another trump key campaign promise, an overhaul of the tax code. "new york times" writing democrats are uniting around a pledge not to cooperate on any rewriting of the tax code unless they know specifically how that provision would benefit the

joe johns walks us through some of these breath-taking about-faces. >> i said it was obsolete. it's no longer obsolete. >> reporter: in a stunning reversal, president trump abandoning his often repeated hard-line position on nato. >> nato is obsolete. in my opinion, nato is obsolete. here's the problem with nato. it's obsolete. >> reporter: asserting also it was his criticism that prompted the alliance to start fighting terrorism. >> i complained about that a long time ago and they made a change. and now they do fight terrorism. >> reporter: despite the fact that it has been a central focus of the military alliance for years, this about-face coming as trump seeks support from u.s. allies amid worsening relations with russia. >> right now we're not getting along with russia at all. >> reporter: a geopolitical foe he's resisted criticizing in the past. >> i think i get along very well with vladimir putin. i just think so. >> putin says very nice things about me. >> reporter: the president now hardening his tone but again stopping short of going directly after the russian presiden

joe johns at the white house good morning. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. fights over government shutdowns are usually i should say often very predictable in washington, d.c. however, this has been a very unpredictable first 100 days, so difficult to say what has happened. what is clear is that the president of the united states has signs as far as he's concerned the administration and the congress should do whatever it takes to avoid a government shutdown. nonetheless, the president's messages he's been sending over his desire to get funding and any spending bill for his border wall seems to be muddling the message just a bit, his homeland security secretary talking about that just yesterday on "state of the union." >> i think it goes without saying that the president has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall. so i would suspect he'll do the right thing for sure, but i will suspect he will be insistent on the funding. >> so the president does have an extraordinarily busy week this week, at 9:30 this morning, eastern ti

>> ron, you heard reince priebus in joe john's set up piece for us. look, this president is achieving things at a breakneck speed. is he talking about executive action? president trump has signed more executive actions. >> only to a point. he is right. there are two continuums you have to look at what president trump has accomplished and has not accomplished. the first is executive action and legislative. they are struggling with health care and tax reform with an uncertain future that will evolve into a tax cut. tax reform is revenue neutral. they have been able to get more done through executive action. legislative action is more lasting. and to david's point from a moment ago, the conventional republican agenda less regulation and spending and less taxes where they have been able to consolidate and support and move forward on the executive side and regulatory. then the distinctive trump items. the reconsidering nato and immigration. of those big agenda items, only immigration is moving forward in the way he said. china is a currency manipulator. th

back to you. >> joe johns at the white house, thank you very much.ring in patty solis-doyle, republican strategist doug hye and we're awaiting david gergen. the key meeting is thursday with xi jinping but he's not tweet being that this morning and not, doug, tweet being judge gorsuch on this confirmation week. "did hillary clinton ever apologize for receiving the answers to the debate? just asking." >> i don't think that's going to come one xi jinping. >> i don't think so and i'm just asking how does that help one single american, doug, what do you make of it? >> i think it does help one single american, donald trump. he can steer the conversation to wherever he wants it to be, even if it doesn't necessarily make sense to you or i, and so we know if the meeting with china doesn't go well, we'll be talking about the latest thing that donald trump tweets, the latest outrage du jour and not focus on a meeting that didn't go well. if you look at the meeting with angela merkel the chancellor of germany, it didn't go well and what we saw from the white hou

joe johns at the white house. thank you very much for that. let's talk about all of this big breaking news this morning. laura, got to start with you. what exactly did the court do here and what is the law school impact and what is the political impact? >> well, the court honored what's called the tenth amendment and said, essentially, two things. one, the right to actually have federal funding can be conditioned, but it's got to be done beforehand. it cannot be done after the fact. and, so, when you have the tenth amendment, it essentially says you cannot common deer these state and local officers and enforcement agencies to take on the role of the federal government. but if you are going to do that, they have to have notice and opportunity to be heard beforehand. and what it sounds like happened with this particular executive order is that the rug is being pulled out from under these cities who took funding, did not know about the new conditions and now are being asked to align themselves and their priorities with that of donald trump's camp

joe johns at the white house. joe, the president headed to wisconsin. >> reporter: that's right, john. he's headed to kenosha, wisconsin. among the things he's doing is he's signing an executive order in line with his buy american, hire american initiative. buy american refers to federal procurement laws, and hire american refers to bringing skilled workers in the united states from other countries. now, the president's trip to wisconsin comes at a time when his job approval ratings appear near the bottom of the list compared to some other modern presidents. want to call up the graphic now. trump at 39%. president obama was at 61% around this time. george w. bush 55%, bill clinton 49%, george h.w. bush 56%, and ronald reagan actually topping that list at 67%. while the president is out in wisconsin today, some of his very top aides will be back here at the white house debating whether the united states should stay or depart from the paris climate accord. now, this is a very hotly debated topic here at the white ho

cnn's joe johns is l'ouvive at white house with more on that. hi, joe. >> hi, alisyn. the administration is certainly applying pressure to russia, but other than that, the president has been pretty clear that he does not want to telegraph his intentions as to syria. nonetheless, in the big picture, when you look at everything, the united states has been sending a lot of mixed messages in the region. >> if you gas a baby. if you put a barrel bomb in to innocent people, i think you can -- you will see a response from this president. >> reporter: white house press secretary sean spicer telling reporters that another chemical attack or use of barrel bombs could result in more missile strikes. >> when you watch babies and children being gassed and suffer under barrel bombs, you are instantaneously moved to action. >> reporter: this would mark a dramatic escalation of u.s. action, considering that assad's regime has dropped 495 barrel bombs last month alone, according to the syrian network for human rights. hours later, the white house walking back this apparent red line, sa

back to you. >> all right, joe johns at the white house. back down to earth, as you said. thank you so much, joe. the president's insistence on funding a border wall, a wall that he did say mexico was going to pay for, finding a difficult time winning friends and influencing enemies. while democrats are wholly united against it, some republicans even balking, fretting about this possibly risking a government shutdown. sunlen serfaty is on the hill with more. they're in a pinch if they want to try to get this. >> reporter: absolutely right, poppy. and as you smartly point out, democrats are united in saying there is essentially absolutely no way that they will support the spending bill that includes funding for this wall, but notably, increasingly, we're seeing some republicans start to send the message that the administration in essence back off of this, fight this fight another day. they know that they need democrats to sign on to this spending fwoil get it passed and to avoid a government shutdown. so, we're seeing that rhetoric setting up this big week on capitol hill. h

joe johns for us at the white house. and there were a lot more reversals in the last 24 hours, joe. >> reporter: absolutely, and i think it's a difference between what you say when you're on the campaign trail and what you have to do when you're in the oval office. take russia. that's another good example. donald trump talked a lot about improving relations with russia, but over the last 24 hours, he has sort of gone 180 degrees from saying things couldn't be worse with russia to tweeting just a little while ago, within the last hour, that things will work out just fine with russia. but listen to what he had to say just yesterday. >> i think i'd get along very well with vladimir putin. i just think so. putin says very nice things about me. i think that's very nice. i got to know him very well because we were both on "60 minutes." we were stablemates, so we did very well that night. right now we're not getting along with russia at all. we may be at an all-time low in terms of relationship with russia. >> reporter: you kin

joe johns is at the white house with more. he does not like 100 days anymore. >> reporter: no, he certainly doesn't, and i can tell you, though, whatever he says then versus now, the fact of the matter is, there is not a lot for this administration to point to in terms of legislative success over the first 100 days. and at least on capitol hill, if they were to pass health care, it would mean some progress, moving in the right direction. what they're telling us on capitol hill about the current health care proposal is that they may be able to pick up something like 18 to 20 conservatives that they didn't have the last time around when the bill failed in the house of representatives, but the devil's always in the details. you've heard that before. and quite frankly, they still have to send around legislative language, which could happen today or tomorrow as well as have some type of a conference call tomorrow. now, here's the problem. at the same time, on april 28th, the end of the 100 days, the congress and the president have

cnn's joe johns is there. not only do we get this sort of policy shift from the secretary of state, joe, but also more words from the president, beyond just major, major conflict on north korea. he sort of talked about kim jong-un in terms that we hadn't really heard before. >> reporter: he certainly did, and i have to underscore that blunt language by the president in the interview with reuters. essentially speaking in blunt terms that there could be war. and it raises a couple questions, first, whether it was intentional to send a signal to north korea about president trump's resolve, or in the alternative, whether the president of the united states and the secretary of state of the united states somehow were not on the same page, because you saw just from elise labott's reporting there, hey, he's talking about direct talks with north korea. there was something else interesting in that interview as well that was president trump's assessment of kim jong-un. and when you listen very closely to it, it sounds li

we have it covered for you with joe johns at the white house. hi, joe. >> reporter: good morning, amimo alisyn. the president meeting this week as the administration takes the most important steps yet on the world stage. meanwhile, playing in the background, questions of collusion with the campaign and the russia investigation. president trump kicking off a critical week of diplomatic talks. hosting egyptian president abdel fattah el sisi at the white house and then a sit down

let's start with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. a defining moment for this president and this administration administration. as a candidate, donald trump slammed china for the trade policies and promised to win at the negotiation table. now with hot spots around the world in crisis, he sit down face-to-face with the leader of the country he attacked on the campaign

let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris.h talk for sure. the strategy is not clear. administration seemingly sending mixed messages. one step forward. two steps back. on the issue of regime change in syria after the friday night bombing run that sent a message this president is not afraid to use force. >> every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws russia closer in to some level of responsibility. >> reporter: secretary o

we have joe johns with more. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. more evidence that approaching the first 100 days, this administration is acknowledging what sounds good on the campaign trail and what works in the oval office. >> i said it was obsolete. it is no longer obsolete. >> reporter: in a stunning reversa reversal. trump abandoning his hardline position on nato. >> in my opinion, nato is obsolete. >> it is obsolete. >> reporter: asserting it was his criticism to prompt the alliance to start fighting terrorism. >> i complained about that a long time ago and

cnn's joe johns is live at the white house with the crises facing the president. joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the focus certainly this morning on the new administration's foreign policy messaging. a pair of curious responses from the trump administration to troubling developments on the world stage. a warning. our report contains disturbing images. north korea raising the stakes ahead of donald trump's summit with the chinese president. secretary of state rex tillerson responding to the provocation with the foreboding statement. this after president trump threatened to go it alone if china doesn't confront the north korean threat. on the campaign trail, trump insisted north korea was china's problem. >> this is your problem. you solve the problem. >> reporter: a senior white house official issuing a dire warning that the clock has now run out. all options are on the table. this as the world reacts in horror to one of the worst chemical attacks in syria in years. experts say it is likely another saran gas attack. as world leaders condemn the atta attack, i

. >> let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the biggest problem for this administration on this issue is objects. the picture this creates, especially since donald trump the candidate ran on issues of transparency. used it as a weapon. it also gives fuel to the critics who love to question whether this administration has something to hide. >> the president is never going to release his tax returns? >> we'll have to get back to you on that. >> reporter: the white house on the defensive, facing mounting criticism over the administration's lack of transparency. >> nothing has changed. >> scene spicer again citing routine audits to justify president puresident trump's refusal to release his tax returns. "the new york times" writing that democrats are uniting around a pledge not to cooperate on any rewriting of the tax code unless they know specifically how that provision would benefit the billionaire president and his family. a growing number of republican lawmakers also calling on the president to make his returns public. >> i thi

we have it covered for you with joe johns at the white house. hi, joe. >> reporter: good morning, amimo alisyn. the president meeting this week as the administration takes the most important steps yet on the world stage. meanwhile, playing in the background, questions of collusion with the campaign and the russia investigation. president trump kicking off a critical week of diplomatic talks. hosting egyptian president abdel fattah el sisi at the white house and then a sit down with king be abdullah on thursday. he will also meet with xi jinping on thursday at mar-a-lago. a key point of convention, north korea's nuclear ambitions. president trump offering a vague, but head turning assessment to the financial times saying he may act unilater unilaterally, quote, if china doesn't act, we will. he expects the high profile meeting with china to be difficult. particularly after all of the tough talk after the campaign. >> we cannot continue to allow china to rape our country. that's what they're doing. china is responsible for nearly half of our entire

let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. on a day when millions of americans have to file their taxes it's a reminder donald trump ran on transparency and used it as a weapon. now after he's gotten the job and taken

let's begin our coverage is joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. this new administration is saying iran is playing by the rules, but they are still reviewing the iran nuclear agreement. the latest example of this administration sort of going in two different directions on foreign policy. if you will remember, donald trump just railed against this deal while he was on the campaign trail. but now he's in the oh value office, it looks different. >> fails to achieve the objective of a nonnuclear iran and only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state. >> rex tillerson declaring the iran nuclear deal a failure, one day after the state department said exactly the opposite, affirming that iran has been compliant to the deal. tillerson ratcheting up the rhetoric. >> and unchecked iran has the potential to travel the same path as north korea and take the world along with it. >> announcing the deal is under review but stopping short of threatens to make additional sanctions. >> my number one priority is

let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. the administration says it is reviewing the iran nuclear deal, but so far they appear to be playing by the rules. there is skepticism. the latest example of the administration seemingly going backward and forward at the same time on a foreign policy issue where the president railed against the deal during the campaign. now that he is in the white house, it is complicated. >> the jcpoa fails the objective of the non nuclear iran. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson declaring the iranian nuclear deal a failure. one day after the state department said the opposite. affirming in a statement that iran has been compliant with the commitments to the deal. despite the compliance, tillerson ratcheting up the rhetoric against tehran. >> unchecked tehran has the potential to travel along the same path as north korea. >> reporter: stopping short against threatening additional sanctions or dismantle the agreement. one of donald trump's

we have joe johns with more. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. more evidence that approaching the first 100 days, this administration is acknowledging what sounds good on the campaign trail and what works in the oval office. >> i said it was obsolete. it is no longer obsolete. >> reporter: in a stunning reversa reversal. trump abandoning his hardline position on nato. >> in my opinion, nato is obsolete. >> it is obsolete. >> reporter: asserting it was his criticism to prompt the alliance to start fighting terrorism. >> i complained about that a long time ago and they made a change. >> reporter: despite the fact it has been a central focus of the military alliance for years. this about-face coming as trump seeks support on u.s. allies over russia. >> we are not getting along. >> reporter: he resisted criticizing in the past. >> i think i get along very well with vladimir putin. i just think so. >> vladimir putin says nice things about me. >> reporter: the president now hardening his tone, but stopping short of going directly after the russian pres

let's start with cnn's joe johns at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. for an administration that has tried to downplay the first 100 days as a ridiculous standard, this administration is working hard to document and orchestrate the president's progress. even going as far as setting up a war room in the west wing to track it. now a flurry of activity in the final days. >> we have a once in a generation opportunity to do something really big. >> reporter: after much hype, the white house revealing a one-page summary of the tax wish list which includes slashing tax rates for corporations and reducing the number of tax brackets and doubling the standard deduction for individuals. the skeletal outline would benefit wealthy americans and devoid of details of what it would cost and how it would be paid for. >> this is paid with growth and with reduced reduction of different deductions and closing loopholes. >> reporter: many economists are challenging this as a magic wand of growth saying the cuts could increase the national debt by trillions. a reality that w

with us for the hour today, joe, john and pete and erin brown with ubs o'connor.o with us from chicago today is rick santelli. we begin with the markets. the focus on the banks today given earnings from wells, jpmorgan and citi. it is aix

cnn's joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: chris, the latest example of the trump administration essentially appearing to move in two different directions at the same time on an important foreign policy issue. this time it's the iran nuclear deal which donald trump railed begi begi against on the campaign trail. >> fails to achieve the objective of the non-nuclear iran. it delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson declaring the iranian nuclear deal a failure. one day after the state department said exactly the opposi opposite. affirming that iran has been compliant with the commitment to the deal. despite, tillerson raftcheting p the rhetoric. >> iran has the potential to travel the same path as north korea and take the world along with it. >> reporter: announcing the deal is under review, but stopping short of issuing sanctions. >> my number one priority is to dismantle the deal with iran. >> reporter: tillerson's attempt to clarify the administration position, the latest in a string of mixed messages on foreign policy. earlier

london, thanks so much. >>> coming up next on "morning joe," our coverage continues on the breaking news of the u.s. air strikes in syria. senators johnmike lee joining mika and joe. >> bob woodward and t"the new york times"'tom friedman. "morning joe" just moments away. whatever they went through, they went through together. welcome guys. life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. tidy cats lightweight with glade clean blossoms. our newest odor fighting scent! gives you the power of choice plus... the power of pleasant. exclusively in lightweight! every home, every cat, there's a tidy cats for that. hey team, i know we're tight on time, but i really need a... ...sick day tomorrow. moms don't take sick days. moms take nyquil severe: the... ...nighttime sniffling,sneezing, coughing, aching, fever best... ...sleep with a cold, medicine. are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anyt

let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. tough talk for sure. the strategy is not clear. administration seemingly sending mixed messages. one step forward. two steps back. on the issue of regime change in syria after the friday night bombing run that sent a message this president is not afraid to use force. >> every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws russia closer in to some level of responsibility. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson talking tough of the russian role in the syrian chemical attack on the eve of the first diplomatic trip to moscow. >> regardless of whether russia was complicit or incompetent, clearly they have failed in their commitment to the international community. >> reporter: slamming the kremlin for allowing syria to house chemical weapons. >> how can they with a straight face cover for assad? >> reporter: nikki haley and h.r. mcmaster keeping the door open for keeping sanctions on russia and iran due to the support for assad. >> i don't think anything is off the table. >> rep

cnn's joe johns is at the white house with the latest. >> reporter: the latest, alisyn, is the presidentself has been trying to clear up some of the muddled messaging coming out of the white house which is complicated by gaffes and missteps from the briefing room. including the white house assertion that russia tried to cover up syria's involve mament the chemical weapons attack last week. >> we're not going into syria. >> reporter: president trump stating he has no plans to escalate the involvement in syria after last week's strike. stressing he was compelled to act because of the syrian dictator's use of chemical weapons. >> massive barrels with dynamite and drop them in the middle of the group of people. you see the same kids. no arms, no legs, no face. this is an animal. >> reporter: president trump blaming president obama's inaction for the crisis in syria. >> what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it. you would have had a much better -- i think syria would be better off. >> reporter: the comments are in stark contrast to the comments f

cnn joe john at the white house and, joe, donald trump the president going to a county he won by 238 votes. >> wow. i didn't know that was the number, john. but i know he's going to kenosha, wisconsin today to visit the snap on tools folks. he's expected to sign an executive order that keeps in line with his buy american, hire american initiative. buy american refers to federal procurement laws. hire american refers to working and changing the h1b visa program that brings in large numbers of skilled workers. the president's trip to wisconsin comes at a time when his approval ratings appear to be tanking. we have a graphic here compared with other presidents. you see donald trump is at 39%. barack obama, 61%. george w. bush 55%. bill clinton 49% and george h.w. bush. while the president is in wisconsin today, some of his top advisors will be meeting to discuss whether or not the united states should withdraw from the paris climate change agreement and it's a hot topic here at the white house. another graphic. as you can see, among the people who oppose staying in the agreement, the epa

let's begin with joe johns at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. you could say this is a show of flexibility at the white house. perhaps the president showing his negotiating skills. but taking the border wall off the table at least for now is starting to look like the only option given the fact congressional republicans had avoided making government shutdown a priority. president trump signaling a willingness to drop his demand for congress to include a down payment for his border wall in this week's must pass spending bill. >> we feel very confident the government is not going to shut down. >> the conservative, conservative journalist, he's open to delaying wall funding hours after touting the importance of the wall on twitter. senate minority leader chuck schumer calling it good for the company as skeptical republicans welcome the shift. >> i'm for a wall that makes sense. a 2200 mile wall doesn't make sense of there's not a big appetite tore that. >> reporter: continuing to insist ultimately mexico will foot the bill for the law. >> why has the

let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. on a day when millions of americans have to file their taxes it's a reminder donald trump ran on transparency and used it as a weapon. now after he's gotten the job and taken a seat in the oval office, it doesn't seem to matter much. >> is it time to say once and for all, the president is never going to release his tax returns. >> we'll have to get back to you on that. >> the white house on the defensive facing mounting criticism over the administration's lack of transparency. >> the same audit that existed so nothing changed. >> sean spicer again citing routine audit as refusal to release tax returns. although it does not prevent dislo disclosure. >> another key campaign promise, overhaul of the tax code. democrats are uniting on a pledge to not rewrite unless they know specifically how that would benefit billionaire president and his family. a growing number of republican lawmakers also calling on the president to make his returns

let's begin with joe johns at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris.his is a show of flexibility at the white house. perhaps the president showing his negotiating skills. but taking the border wall off the table at least for now is starting to look like the only option given the fact congressional republicans had avoided making government shutdown a priority. president trump signaling a

joe johns is at the white house to help us understand it all. hi, joe. >> good morning, alisyn. the question seems to be where do they go from here on syria. the administration articulating its policy it will go it alone if necessary on difficult issues if there is a u.s. interest at stake. nonetheless very difficult this morning for the administration to put forward what you could call a coherent foreign policy. >> if you gas a baby, put a barrel bomb in on innocent people, i think you will see a response from the president. >> reporter: white house secretary sean spafr saying another barrel bomb could result in missile strikes. >> when you watch babies and children be gassed and sufrl under barrel bombs you are instantaneously moved to action. >> this would mark a dramatic escalation of u.s. action considering assad's regime dropped 495 barrel bombs last month alone according to syrian network for human rights. spicer meant to signal the president is never going to rule anything out. further muddying the waters this interventionist comment from secretary of state rex tillerson

let's begin with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. joe? >> chris, good morning. five days to go, and the white house and congressional republicans seem to be getting a reality check on the limitations of power. apparently settling on a strategy to do whatever it takes to keep the government from shutting down, though the president's messaging on his desire to get a border wall seems to be getting in the way. >> the president has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall. the right thing for sure, but i would suspect he will be insistent on the funding. >> reporter: the white house setting up a showdown with congress, just five days before a potential government shutdown, demanding that a $1.4 billion downpayment for president trump's border wall be included in this week's must pass spending bill. >> the democrats do not support the wall. the burden to keep it open is on the republicans. the wall is in my view immoral, expensive, unwise. >> reporter: democrats scoffing at the demand as some hill republicans speculate whether the f

we start with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. five days to go. reality now apparently setting in on the slim likelihood of getting a do-over on health care with the house of representatives. now apparently settling on a strategy to bring the first 100 days to a smooth landing rather than a tumultuous government shutdown. >> the president has been pretty straight forward about his desire and need for a border wall. he will do the right thing for sure. i suspect he will be insistent on the funding. >> reporter: the white house setting up a showdown with congress five days before a position tensi potential government shutdown. demanding the border wall is included in the spending bill. >> the burden to keep it open is on the republicans. the wall is in my view immoral, expensive, unwise. >> reporter: democrats scoffing at the demand as hill republicans speculate if the fight is worth the political capital. >> that is a fighting worth having for 2018. >> once the government is up and running and stays up and running, we have to fight

we have the latest with cnn's joe johns at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. the first 100 stdays ending wita tussle. the tweets this morning are critical of the judges and ninth circuit and roefeferring to ridiculous rulings. the president saying we will see s you in the supreme court. if the court gets the case, indicating the white house would win. the white house blasting a fer d federal court ruling after blocking the executive order to strip federal funding from the so-called sanctuaries cities. citing trump words. >> i don't want to defund anybody. i want to give them the money they need to operate as a city or state. if they have sanctuary cities, we may do that. >> reporter: in a scathing statement, the white house calls judge orrick an egrigieo surks overruling and having the blood of dead americans on their hands. >> unconsciotitutional threat against the cities. >> reporter: hours earlier, the white house chief of staff reince priebus asserting the ninth circuit which blocked the first travel ban is going bananas. a far cry from the justice departm

let's start the coverage with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: chris, the attempts continue to salvage a measure of legislative success for the trump administration before the clock runs out on the first 100 days. the initial reaction to the effort given the last experience has been one of skepticism. >> we have a good chance of getting it soon. i would like to say next week. >> reporter: president trump pushing hard for a legislative win before his 100th day in office next week. reviving the health care effort that failed weeks ago. >> the plan gets better and better and better. it has gotten really, really good. a lot of people are liking it. >> reporter: republicans want to help the president deliver on one of his key campaign promises as democrats remain skeptical a deal will be reached. >> you can put lipstick on a sow and call her monique and she is still a pig. that's what this bill is. it's the same terrible bill. >> reporter: a draft proposal published by politico maintains the ban on rejectng patience with pre-existing conditions and guaranteed coverage for materni

let's start with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. president trump meeting with the leaders of three nations this week as the new administration tries to get off to a good start on the world stage. the first of those meetings occurring to try essentially to reboot the relationship with egypt. meanwhile on capitol hill, the white house continues to deal with allegations of collusion involving the russians and last election. president trump kicking off a week of high profile diplomatic talks. hosting abdel fattah el sisi at thes white house today ahead of the sit down with king abdullah on wednesday. on thursday and friday, president trump will host chinese president xi jinping for the first time at mar-a-lago resort. for the most important diplom diplomatic meetings thus far. a key point of contention, north korea's nuclear ambition. president trump offering a vague, but head turning assessment to "the financial times." saying he may act unilaterally, quote if china is not going to solve north korea, we will. the president tweeting he

let's start with cnn's joe johns at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the president's first 100 days ending with a familiar tussle with the federal judiciary that an unelected federal judge ruled against the administration. the judge using the president's words in the ruling. and a prediction this morning from the white house chief of staff that the unelected justices of the supreme court will eventually vindicate the white house. the white house blasting the court ruling after the san francisco blocked the president's action that thre threatened to strip federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities. >> i want to give them the money they need to operate as a city or state. if they have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. >> reporter: in a scathing statement, the white house calls judge william an egregious overreach and straarkly accusin officials in sanctuary cities with the blood of dead americans on their hands. >> cannot take away our rights or steal our tax dollars. >> reporter: hours earlier, chief of staff reince priebus asserted the nin

let's start with joe johns at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the president and his top diplomat, essentially, articulating the dual prongs of a more muscular approach to north korea than in the past. on the one hand, suggesting conflict could happen. on the other hand, in a bit of a shift, suggesting direct talks and a diplomatic solution could also be on the table. >> there's a chance we could end up having a major, major conflict with north korea. absolutely. >> reporter: a sobering message from president trump warning about the possibility of escalation with north korea in a new interview with reuters. cautioning the u.s. would love to solve things diplomatically, but it's very difficult. mr. trump praising china's president for putting pressure on pyongyang for stopping the nuclear tests. >> i established a very good personal relationship with president xi and i really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation. >> reporter: and offering a bit of praise for north korea's dictator. >> his father dies. he to