let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house, joe. >> good morning, allison. he was using the language and rhetoric and tone that the country has become accustomed to from its presidents. mr. trump certainly reaching for the reset button last night on capitol hill and a speech very well received by one critical audience, those congressional republicans that will have to try to push through his agenda. >> president trump striking a more presidential and optimistic tone. >> i'm here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength. >> in his hour long speech to a joint session of congress. >> it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. >> off the top the president condemning the surge in hate crimes since he took office. >> recent threats targeting jewish community centers and vandalism of jewish cemeteries as well as last week's shooting in kansas city remind us that while we may be a nation divided in policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of it's very ugly forms. >> spending much of his speech laying out a very

let's begin our coverage with senior washington correspondent joe johns live at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. it was the most important speech of this president's new administration, and he's gotten rave reviews for it so far. it was a different side of the president that called on america to put away the trivial fights. but his call for democrats and republicans to come together, easier said than done. president trump striking a more presidential and optimistic tone. >> i am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength. >> reporter: in his hour-long speech to a joint session of congress -- >> it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. >> reporter: off the top the president condemning the surge in hate crimes since he took office. >> recent threats targeting jewish community centers and vandalism of jewish cemeteries as well as last week's shooting in kansas city remind us that, while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms. >> repo

day 46 of donald trump's presidency begins with senior washington correspondent joe johns live at the white house. joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the white house this morning is not backing away from the president's wiretapping claim. the takeaway from here is the president firmly believes it happened and that it needs to be tested and investigated, despite the fact it's been contradicted by a former director of national intelligence and the fbi. >> president trump's unfounded claim that former president obama ordered his phones to be wire tapped in the midst of last year's election coming under fire. sources say the fbi is now asking the justice department to publicly refuse the allegations. so far the justice department has remained silent. such wiretapping of a u.s. citizen's phones would be illegal or require a court order under the intelligence surveillance act. former director of intelligence james clapper who spearheaded the investigation of russia meddling into the election gave a firm no. >> for the part of the national security apparatus i oversaw as dni, i was there

let's begin with joe johns, live at the white house. joe. >> good morning, chris.hat the president was wrong on his wiretapping claims and that his campaign activities are under investigation, it appeared the white house was going to mount a defense from the briefing room, but by the time the president stepped in front of the microphones in kentucky, he didn't have anything to say about it last night. president donald trump dodging the

let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. joe? >> reporter: good morning, chris. i think you can take what's going on on capitol hill as a sign that lawmakers have picked up the pace of their investigation into russia's interference in the last election. the question is the extent to which the fbi director is willing to share all he knows with members of congress. >> reporter: fbi director james comey heading to thrill as tension builds between the justice department and lawmakers over president trump's unsubstantiated wiretapping claims. the justice department under pressure to deny or provide evidence of the president's allegation. comey meeting with the gang of eight, the bipartisan group of lawmakers clear to receive access to the nation's most highly classified intelligence. >> as part of the gang of eight, we want to be informed on a periodic basis. >> reporter: this intelligence set to be extended to all members of the house intelligence committee. prior to the meeting, taking issue with comey saying he hasn't been forthcoming with intelligence regarding ru

cnn's joe johns live at the white house with more. the big question, joe, is this a distraction play by the president in light of the fact he could answer it himself? >> certainly a big question there, chris. the preliminaries on capitol hill are just about over now. it's pretty clear that members of congress are about to get down to the evidence and the testimony in their big russia investigation, and as part of that, extremely likely members of congress will also be spending at least some of their time and attention on the president's unsubstantiated wiretapping claim. >> white house press secretary sean spicer making clear the president doesn't plan on back heading his unsubstance eighted plan that former president obama wiretapped his phones during the election. >> will the president withdraw the accusation? >> why would he withdraw it until it's adjudicated? that's what we're asking. >> reporter: still offering no evidence. >> it's not a question of new proof or less proof. the answer is the same. >> reporter: despite denials of

let's begin with joe johns, live at the white house. joe. >> good morning, chris. after those big reveals from the fbi director that the president was wrong on his wiretapping claims and that his campaign activities are under investigation, it appeared the white house was going to mount a defense from the briefing room, but by the time the president stepped in front of the microphones in kentucky, he didn't have anything to say about it last night. president donald trump dodging the biggest challenge to rock his administration at a campaign rally monday night. >> the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission is investigating the russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. >> reporter: fbi director james comey and nsa director mike rogers facing five hours of questioning before the house intelligence committee.

that's where we got to cnn's joe johns live at the white house with more. can't think of another occasion when someone running a committee went to the subject of the committee before vetting information with his own investigators? >> reporter: it's pretty interesting. nunes said he had a duty to alert the president because this information had nothing to do with russia and everything to do with surveillance. look, you have an fbi investigation going on that evan was just talking about, you have the whole country watching to see how congressional republicans are going to handle their own investigation and then the chairman of the house intel committee does this. it certainly raises questions about the ability of this house intel committee to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. >> reporter: house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes stunning washington. >> i thought it was important for the president to know this. >> reporter: rushing to the white house to warn president trump that communication involving members of his transition team may have

joe johns live at the white house with more. now two judges but the same problem. >> that's right, chris and the president making it clear he plans to fight this out in court even expressing regrets that he didn't press harder for it during the first go around. last night when all we had was the hawaii ruling the president was also making it quite clear he plans to take this all the way to the supreme court if necessary. >> a new blow to a key federal policy holder. a federal judge in maryland becoming the second judge to rule against president trump's revised travel ban. >> you don't think this was done by a judge for political reasons do you? no. this ruling makes us look weak. >> the president talking tough after the ruling last night. >> this is the opinion of many. an unprecedented judicial overreach. >> a hawaii judge blocking the ban nationwide just hours after it was scheduled to take effect. ruling the state had reasonable grounds to challenge the order as religious discrimination and pointing to the presidents own word

cnn has all the angles covered for you starting with joe johns live at the white house. good morning. >> the white house facing an extremely tough sell on this story this morning. questions of credibility, questions of judgment, swirling around the white house and the oval office. among other things a former director of national intelligence and the sitting director of the fbi both contradicting the assertions of the president of the united states. >> president trump's unfounded claim that former president obama ordered his phones to be wiretapped coming under fire. sources say the fbi is now asking the justice department to publicly refute the allegations but so far the justice department remained silent. such wiretapping would be illegal or require a court order under the foreign intelligence surveillance act. >> the former director of national intelligence that spear headed the investigation into russia's mettling in the he ex-giving a firm no to any such claim of wiretapping. >> for the national security apparatus that i oversaw there was no such wiretap activity mou

let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house. good morning. >> good morning, allison. the confirmation hearing of jeff sessions was must see tv as his then colleagues in the senate got to grill him. he was sworn in three weeks ago today as the federal governments top law enforcement officer and now there are questions about whether he may have made a misleading statement during the hearing about contact with russia that could at least potentially have far reaching consequences. the justice department revealing that he met with him twice. contacts sessions did not disclose under oath at his senate confirmation hearing. >> i have been called a surrogate a time or two during that campaign and i did not have communication with the russians. i have no information about this matter. >> denying any impropriety. now saying i never met to discuss issues of the campaign. have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false. but the justice department revealing that sessions met with him last july on the sidelines of the republican natio

let's begin our coverage with joe johns live at the white house, joe. >> good morning, allison.ustomed to from its presidents. mr. trump certainly reaching for the reset button last night on capitol hill and a speech very well received by one critical audience, those congressional republicans that will have to try to push through his agenda. >> president trump striking a more presidential and optimistic tone. >> i'm here tonight to deliver a meag

let's begin with cnn's joe johns live at the white house. it certainly has legs this story, that's for sure. >> reporter: certainly seems that way, chris. jeff sessions was one of the president's earliest supporters in the united states senate, now attorney general, now on the defensive about statements he made before a senate committee during his confirmation hearing. the justice department revealing attorney general jeff sessions met with russian ambassador sergei kits love twice during president trump's campaign in 2016. contact sessions did not disclose under oath at his senate confirmation hearing. >> i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians. i would just say to you that i have no mfgs about this matter. >> reporter: sessions denying any impropriety, releasing a new statement saying, quote, i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false. but the justice department revealing tha

cnn's joe johns live at the white house with more on this. what do we know now, joe?ll, chris, this appears to be just the beginning of an attempt to walk back that sensational claim made by the president on twitter. this morning, we're learning that when the president wrote he was wiretapped, he didn't necessarily mean wiretapped. and when he said president obama did it, he didn't mean that, eithe either. >> any comments on the wiretapping? >> reporter: the trump administration looking to buy time, failing to meet a congressional deadline to present evidence to back up the president's unsubstantiated claim that former president obama wiretapped the phones at trump tower during the campaign. the house intelligence committee agreeing to give the justice department until next monday's hearing to provide proof, suggesting that they may subpoena the administration if their questions go unanswered. this as the white house is now offering a new explanation for the president's baseless claim. >> he doesn't really think that president obama went up and tapped his phone, perso

let's begin with joe johns live at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. plenty of doubt and skepticism this morning, the department of justice is going to be able to come up with anything responsive to the house of representatives request. that is in part because past and current government officials who should know, who should have access to information have already denied the president's assertions. still, it's an important moment because of how it could affect the president's ability to be credible going forward. >> the president has one of two choices, either retract or provide the information that the american people deserve. >> reporter: pressure mounting for president trump to provide proof of his unsubstantiated claim that former president obama wiretapped phones at trump tower during last year's election. >> i have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but i also believe that the president of the united states could clear this up in a minute. >> >> reporter: one of the president's top advisers referring to alleged monitoring that she says

. >>> trump finally unveiling his new travel ban, and joe johns is live at the white house with the latest for us. hi, joe. >> reporter: hi, alisyn. some call the charge unsubstantiated and some call it evidence free, and what is clear the aides for the president of the united states have been working very hard to try and defend it, or to at least call for it to be investigated, which brings us to the justice department which is under increasing pressure to speak out. the fbi director, james comey, was, quote, incredulous after the weekend tirade accusing former president obama of wiretapping his phones during the 2016 election, and comey concerned the president's unfounded allegation will make the fbi look bad, and then the justice department silence on the matter now frustrating comey. >> we have only heard unsubstantiated anonymous sources make those claims and i don't think director comey commented. >> sean spicer doubling down trump's accusation, but he, like the president, offering no proof. >> there's no question that something happened, and the question is, is it surveillance or a

joe johns is live at the white house with more. no proof, no regrets. they only go together with this administration. >> that's a fact and look the white house staff has been doing what it can to sell a message which such shaky evidence but it's starting to look extremely likely as you said that members of congress will now use their time and resources to investigate the conclusion about wiretapping that the president announced over the weekend on twitter. >> white house press secretary making clear the president doesn't plan on back pedaling his unsubstantiated claim that former president obama wiretapped his phones during the election. >> will he with draw the accusation? why would he with draw it until it's ajude kated. >> still offering no evidence. >> it's not a question of new proof or less proof or whatever. the answer is the same. >> despite denials of wiretapping from former top intelligence officials. >> there was no such wiretap activity. >> spicer continuing to insist on an investigation. >> there is a concern about what happened in the 2016

joe johns is live at the white house with more. what have you learned joe? >> well, think about it. you have the federal investigation, evan perez was just talking about. that's on going. the eyes of the nation focused on how the republican congress is handling the investigation on it's own and then the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee essentially doing an end run around established procedures. raising questions about the ability of this committee to be fair and impartial. >> house intelligence committee chairman stunning washington. >> i thought it was important for the president to know this. >> rushing to the white house to warn president trump that communication involving members of his transition team may have been picked up through normal incidental surveillance. all conducted. >> it does appear like his name and others ended up into intelligence reports. most people would say that's surveillance. >> nunes himself under fire for going to the media before briefing democratic members of the house intelligence committee. >> we can't have a presidential whis

joe johns is live at the white house with more. >> it's been very tough because of the lack of evidence and now it's starting to look extremely likely that members of congress are going to use their time and resources to investigate the president's wiretapping claim made on twitter over the weekend. >> the president doesn't plan on back pedaling his unsubstantiated claim that former president obama wiretapped his phones during the election. >> will the president with draw the accusation? does he have any -- >> why would he with draw it until it's ajudicated. that's what we're asking. still offering no evidence. >> it's not a question of new proof or less proof or whatever the answer is the same. >> despite denials of wiretapping from former top intelligence officials. >> spicer continuing to insist on an investigation. >> there's a concern about what happened in the 2016 election. the house and senate intelligence committee have the staff and capabilities and processes in place to look at this in a way that's objective and that's where it should be done. >> now the house intelligence co

joe johns is live at the white house with more. this was a big move. it was a big gamble for nunez. >> that's right, chris. with a federal investigation underway and the eyes of the nation focused on how the congress is handling this, the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee appearing to do an end run around established committee procedures raising new questions about the ability of this committee to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. >> house intelligence committee chairman stunning washington. >> it was important for the president to know this. >> rushing to the white house to warn president trump that communication involving members of his transition team may have been picked up through normal incidental surveillance. apparently all legally conducted. >> his name and people and others ended up into intelligence reports. most people would say that is surveillance. >> nunez himself a member of the president's transition team underfire for going to the media before briefing democratic members of the house intelligence commit

our joe johns is live at the white house with that in a moment. >> good morning, poppy. the president appears to have a serious and growing credibility problem on this wiretapping issue and it's creating the situation on capitol hill where members of his own party have to challenge him and contradict him but the reaction in the briefing room so far has been to continue digging in. >> hold on. hold on. and i am trying to answer your question jonathan if you can calm down. >> white house press secretary sean spicer defiant and comb combative. >> he stands by it but you're mischaracterizing what happened today. >> angry defending the president's unsubstantiated claim that former president obama wire tapd phones at trump tower despite leaders from both parties saying there's no proof. >> we cleared that up. we've seen no evidence of that. >> spicer continuing to cite media reports to try to justify the president's baseless accusation. >> there's widespread reporting that throughout the 2016 election there was surveillance that was done on a variety of people. >> the leaders

. >> we'll have live coverage for that. joe john is at the white house. a rare apology from the trump white house, not on the wiretapping claims, but on a, quote, supposedly unintentional slip by the white house press secretary sean spicer while defending the president's comments on trump tower surveillance. take a listen to what sean spicer said yesterday. >> on fox news, on march 14, judge andrew napolitano made the statement, three officials toed fox news the president obama went outside the chain of command and didn't use the nsa, fbi and the department of justice, he used gc hq. it's the initials for the british intelligence spying agency, president obama said he needs transcripts and there is no american fingerprints on this. >> let me bring in our cnn diplomatic editor, nic robertson joining us from 10 downing street. it was pretty shocking to hear sean spicer quote from a report on fox news by a legal contributor, a legal analyst, judge andrew napolitano, alleging that the british intelligence was actually spying on donald trump during the campaig

lee are live on capitol hill. first to joe johns the white house, a surprise meeting, joe, set the scene. >> reporter: it's certainly clear from the surprise meeting, wolf, that the white house is worried and is hoping that they can change some minds in this freedom caucus about 27 members, we're not clear how many members of the freedom caucus are expected to show up here. our jeff zeleny reported several hours ago that they are expected here. the white house is using a variety of methods, just about everything at play here in washington, as it always is when there's a tough vote and it's very close. there's a certain degree of cajoling going on, also a certain degree of threatening. also the president giving clear indications to conservatives and moderates who are not so sure about this bill that he's got their backs if they're republicans. the problem for the white house is they're running out of time, and it's not clear at all that members of that freedom caucus are going to back down. in fact, there was some reporting earlier t

interest in crushing the army of confederate general john bell hood, who, as craig pointed out, was joe johnson's replacement. "i do not wish to waste lives by an assault." he quickly sent word to henry w. halek who was chief of staff in washington, "atlanta is ours and fairly won." the civil war as we know was bitterly fought, but sherman's decision not to destroy hood and his army in atlanta was a clear indication of something. just what this man's attitude was toward the confederacy and its people. sherman simply did not want to go into -- go back into fighting a war of maim and blood. but he couldn't remain in atlanta. he had to do something. o he planned and this took place over a period of time to institute a new form of warfare, to institute destructive war against the confederacy. and how was he going to do that? by marching to the sea. lincoln and grant were not in favor of this, but sherman quickly wore them down, began his march from atlanta to the sea, on november 14, 1864. one of the things i want to point out if you remember nothing else about my part of it, i know you'll remember everything craig said. but my part of it, i

you can target john smith who lives ten miles away from joe's pizza the way you can on the internet.the tv isn't that far away from being a giant ipad hanging on your wall. >> mike, will there be a peak, high water mark for the amount spent on digital? will this push people away from it all going forward? >> i don't think so. i think ultimately a technical solution will be at the forefront of really giving the advertisers kind of the trust, confidence and really transparency that they're looking for. as was stated earlier, i mean, the most effective way to reach people that are in market for your product is via their mobile device. >> yeah. >> i think it's a challenge but ultimately i think google and facebook and others will figure it out. >> mike jackson, matt britton joining us this afternoon. thank you so much. >> appreciate it. >>> coming up, 29 days away from the tax filing deadline. we have some last-minute strategies for you. that's next. >>> also be sure to tune in to "power lunch" tomorrow. i'll be speaking with ib ibm ceoginni romety. that's at 2:00 p.m. don't miss it. the

joe johns thank you very much. fbi director james comey hours away from appearing before the house intelligence committee. what is he going to say? evan perez live in woug with more. we were speculating this morning, imagine if comey went up there and said i can't talk about on going investigation. unlikely but what a day of possibilities. >> one of the first questions we do expect him to be able to answer today is about the unsubstantiated claim that obama wiretapped trump tower. we expect him to say it's not true and after that the answers are likely to get a lot more tricky. they're doing a wide ranging investigation of russia's attempted influence on the 2016 election and so is the senate intelligence committee and the fbi and comey today is testifying with mike rogers that's a director of the national security agency that helped produce the report saying that russia used hacked e-mails from democrats to help donald trump get elected. he's likely to talk in general terms about the bureaus investigation. he is worried about effecting what his agents are doing and mindful about getting the fbi dragged into yet another partisan controversy afte

joe johns at the white house. >>> eyes of the world are on fbi director james comey as he appears a few hours before the intelligence xhichlt what is he going to say to those three key questions? live in washington with more. obviously, there's stuff he can't say. this is a public hearing and he can't get into anything classified. he can answer these looming questions, especially on the wiretapping questions very definitively. >> that's right, poppy. one of the first questions we expect him to be able to answer today is about this unproven trump claim that president barack obama wiretapped trump tower. we expect comey to say that the president's claim is simply not true. after that, comey's answers are likely to get much trickier. the house intelligence committee is doing a wide-ranging investigation of russia's influence on the 2016 election. so is the senate intelligence committee and the fbi. comey is testifying with admiral mike rogers, director of the national security agency, one of the agencies that helped to produce that report a few months ago, saying russia meddled to try to help donald trump get elected. comey is likely to talk in general terms, worried about affecting w

joe," a packed house live from washington. former cia director michael hayden will react to the revelation that president obama never ordered a wiretap on trump tower. >>> plus, senators jeff sass, dick durbin, mark warner and johnd there's the health care plan. back after this. "morning joe" is just moments away. kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. ♪ heigh ho heigh ho ♪ ♪ heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go here's to all of you early risers, what's up man? go-getters, and should-be sleepers. from all of us at delta, because the ones who truly change the world, are the ones who can't wait to get out in it. because the ones who truly change the world, this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris calvo. that's pepe. boris doesn't just grow good coffee, boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even better coffee and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. that's blanca. yup,

live in this atmosphere. >> joe, these are people you know and talk to all the time. >> it is and john, i actually tweeted oute media and everybody in washington needs to read this column because you're exactly right. we are shocked and stunned and deeply saddened by everything going around and you said people that don't watch our show for three hours a day, you're exactly right. i talked to my relatives, every business person i know across america, that even the ones that didn't like trump, they now like him. they don't care about the tweets or care about anything, they don't care about the insults of judges or insults to the press, they like gorsuch and they are completely zoned out from what concerns us. you're exactly right. if you're for trump on election day, chances are good you're for trump today. >> right. he doesn't appear to be doing anything to grow that support but, you know, it's like if you cast with him, he picked the supreme court justice and tackling obamacare, that kind of stuff. >> look, i think -- the attacks by the media has hardening of the resolve among that base. i don't think the dem

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live with the u.s. secretary of health and human services, dr. tom price. good morning, everyone. it's friday. friday, march 10th. we have senior political analyst, mark halperin, john heilemann. joefor meetings, but couldn't make it back up because of the weather. speaking of weather, did you see this little girl? we are going to explain it to you. >> oh! oh! oh! >> we'll talk about the incredible winds and rough country across the country. she's okay. before we dive into news, joe, what is your take in washington? you had meetings yesterday on where things stand across the board. >> two big take aways. one, everybody is questioning why the house did what they did. why they handled health care the way they did. the senators, tom cotton is right, so many senators believing they made a mistake repeating the akes of the democrats in 2009, rushing into this. the concerns, also being whispered in the white house really surprised that house gop team didn't have everybody together. they didn't have the freedom caucus on board. they were blindsided by the way they were. a lot of surprise on that respect. on another, sort of thing we keep talking about, there's absolutely no evidence as j