lavrov there was a productive conversation. they talked about a way forward on syria and the secretary acknowledged that the state of the relationship between russia and the united states is at a low point, that syria is one of the factors where we would like to see the relations improve. but i would not say that they match -- mapped out a specific way forward on how to deal with the issue of syrian atrocities or even how to move forward on the geneva process. so we're participating in the geneva process, we support the geneva process. we believe that in addition to achieving a crease-fire in syria, cessation of hostilities, the political process needs to follow. >> what made it productive then? >> hi. thank you for doing this. have you presented russia with visual evidence? have you asked them to take any action and have you gotten any response from them? mr. jones: so we have a -- we have not presented this particular -- i have not presented this particular evidence to the russians. but we have an ongoing conversation with th

minister lavrov: [answering in russian] translator: well, i just answered that. president trump publicly says all of it is false news. just give me one fact that will prove that. everyone keeps saying everyone knows everything, but giving no proof. well it is not serious. ,and the final question? >> barbara from the bbc. you said you wanted american input to help with the security zones. can you tell us what specifically you are asking or for and whether mr. tillerson or mr. trump suggested in any way they would be participating with you in these zones? thank you. minister lavrov: [answering in russian] translator: well first of all, , the very idea of setting of those areas put forward by president trump and rex tillerson -- this was the start implementing this idea in practical terms. and we would be happy to welcome any contribution. and the experts on the ground, they discuss the details and parameters of this contribution. we have all the channels and the way to promote this process. both now and in geneva. today, we have to come to an understanding that is

secretary tillerson was firm and clear with minister lavrov. russia holds tremendous influence over bashar al-assad. a key point was telling russia to use its power to rein the regime. simply put, the killing and devastation has gone on for too long in syria. minister lavrov was clear that he shares the same goals the united states does in syria -- a unified and stable nation. both men agreed that the way to bring stability must come through diplomatic and political means. we call upon russia to use its influence with the assad regime to get it to adhere to a negotiated cease-fire. that cease-fire, we believe, will reduce violence and also ensure unhindered humanitarian access and stop the indiscriminate killings of civilians. these actions will help create the conditions on the ground for a political resolution of that conflict. with that, i will turn it over to acting assistant secretary stuart jones. he will take your questions at the end. thank you. mr. jones: good morning. thank you for being here this morning. since syria's civil conflict

—— sergei lavrov. administration on this particular day? -- sergei lavrov.iring comey the evening before you bring sergei lavrov into the oval office just puts more and more light and suspicion on this whole question of what went on between the trump campaign and russia. but i do think that president trump and rex tillerson have in their dna a desire to improve relations with russia. that is not necessarily a bad thing. the world would be a safer place if the us and its allies got along with the us and its allies got along with the russians. but it is an uphill battle. one because of syria and because of ukraine and also because the political climate in this city right now, the knives are out on the question of russian interference in the american election. it is not a situation in which it would be easy for trump to reach out and make some concessions to putin. what do you think president putin is making of what is happening here in washington at the moment, is this emboldening him with his public showing that russia somehow muddying the waters in american

earlier today, the president met with the russian minister, sergey lavrov. that didn't happen in this context. there was a photo of that meeting tweeted out by the russian side. maybe by the trump white house at this point, as well. there was an engineered opportunity, where the pool was called hastily. we didn't have any short warning about his intention to have this visual of, of course, a nixon-era official, henry kissinger, in with president trump today. they've had a relationship for years and kissinger advised and counselled president trump as a candidate and as president. he is a notable figure, for sure. but the president, knowing that would generate a question, and the team that went in today, our colleagues here did ask the question. that response, terse but important, that james comey was not doing a good job in the estimation of president trump. no response on matters like timing or the rationale behind it, behind the not doing a good job idea. no comment on the larger russia implications. a brief statement but it allows us to see the president o

secondly, you talked about the conversations with lavrov. again, the case made that russia is aiding and abetting. did the secretary walk away with any kind of agreement with the meeting or any kind of achievement to have them say they are willing to step back? they have been telling multiple secretaries of state. mr. jones: so, on the issue of the u.s. hostages -- no, we don't see a connection between u.s. hostages and what we are talking about going on here. on the issue of the conversation between the secretary and foreign minister lavrov, there were productive conversations. they talked about a way forward on syria. the secretary acknowledged the state of the relationship between russia and the united states is at a low point. that syria is one of the factors where we would like to see the relations improve. i would not say they have mapped out a specific way forward on how to address the issue of syrian atrocities. or even how to move forward on the geneva process. we support the geneva process. we believe in addition to achieving of ce

well, this was announced that i'm meeting with lavrov.ub of days ago i spoke at a very good conversation, very public in the sense that everybody knew this was taking place, i meet -- i talk all the time, just spoke with the new head of south korea who just got elected. i speak with the head of india, i speak with the head of china. i have to speak with putin, also. it's called russia. but when i spoke with putin, he asked me whether or not i would see lavrov. now, should i say no, i'm not going to see him? i said i will see him. during that discussion with lavrov, i think we had a great discussion having to do with syria, having to do with the ukraine, and maybe that discussion will lead to a lot less people getting killed and will lead ultimately to peace. so o i'm ok with those discussions, lester. i think it's a good thing, not a bad thing. >> ok. you just heard the president confirm he had this meeting with lavrov and kislyak, the russian ambassador at the qualify o putin. >> at the request of putin. again, he did not have to have th

lavrov laughs and this is the view of russia on the investigation.rrible image and who was staffing him when he makes this announcement last night and the very next day he's meeting with the russian more infinster? >> what about that, kimberly dozier, on the other hand, if sergey lavrov is in town he has to meet with rex tillerson and there was this outrage when he was in moscow and should the president be meeting with lavrov albeit under this awful timing? >> he's here and there are things to be discussed like this plan that the russians have agreed with turkey and iran for de-escalation zones which would stop some of the fighting and violence in syria, so it is an opportunity to discuss that face to face, but let's be honest, until these investigations are over, every single interaction between this administration and russia is going to be problematic. timing from yesterday to today? yeah, awkward and i don't see how you get around that. >> so steve hall, overnight you wrote, interesting that potus first goes after cia. now fbi. is nsa next? intel

political plit coolitico said t about his decision to meet with lavrov.chose to meet him because putin asked him to. he asked specifically on the call when they last talked. let's bring in former u.s. ambassador to russia during the obama militia. i don't mean to might. mike mcfaul. and from the atlantic, russian born journalist. doubting the wisdom of allowing russian photographers into the oval office on top of the face of it. no american journalists allowed in for the russian meeting for what they might have brought with them. perhaps this is a good opportunity, as i always ask you, to repeat to the american people. we have been attacked and are under attack by russia? >> well, we were attacked by russia. they influenced one of the most sovereign things we do as a nation, choose our president. and yet the president, president trump refuses to acknowledge those basic facts. and at a time when we're discussing this, we should be serious and somber about it in meeting with the foreign minister. now let me clear up a couple of things from my own experience

we only learned, right, he's there and lavrov is there. the context of this meeting, he tells these men that the man who had been investigating russia, let's be clear, this started as a counterintelligence investigation by the fbi. >> exactly. and kislyak. >> and kislyak. the man who's investigating them and their government that he's a nut job, that he got rid of to take the pressure off. >> yeah. >> first of all, if donald trump had absolutely nothing to do with any of this, which, again, we still don't know. the core substance of the matter. it's just a wildly inappropriate thing to say. you know, i mean, wildly inappropriate thing to say to those two interlocutors in the context of that meeting a day after -- >> it is a remarkably important point it's not two random russian officials in there, sergey kislyak is the guy whom around all of this stories swirl. >> there's a very good chance he's at the core of the actual counterintelligence investigation that james comey was overseeing. right? so he is telling someone who is potentially su

but when i spoke with putin, he asked me whether or not i would see lavrov. i said i'll see him. during that discussion, i think we had a great discussion having to do with syria and the ukraine and maybe that discussion will lead to a lot less people getting killed and will lead ultimately to peace. so i'm okay with those discussions, lester. i think it's a good

here is sergey lavrov speaking after his meeting with president trump.yria in great detail in the context of the ideas that have been put forward regarding the setting up of the escalation areas. we've got a common understanding regarding the fact that there should be a step that would contribute to the cessation of violence through the territory of syria. let's go to the us state department where we can speak to barbara plett usher in washington. this russian plan for new safe zones over syria, are the americans signing up to this, do we know? they are signing up to this, do we know? they a re interested signing up to this, do we know? they are interested in the concept because both mr trump and mr tillerson have talked about zones of some kind. the secretary of state has talked about stabilisation zones. not much detail to it but what he has in mind in areas that could be secured, where refugees could be secured, where refugees could return, this would create fa cts o n could return, this would create facts on the ground that would prevent islamic stat

and he met with lavrov. lavrov is not the same level as trurch. he's not a head of state. when i was in the white house arched negotiations with lavrov happened at the secretary of state level. it's a significant give to pontiac and russia to have him in the white house. it's a questionable time to do that. >> what do you say? it is different than the meeting in moscow to meet with punts. it is different for president trump to do that. >> the american people wanted a change. and they were well aware that the obama administration started out with hillary clinton and that famous reset button and the premise at the time was that the bush administration had so badly dealt things in the world that they needed to go to moscow and reset things. she brought that button along as an example. there was president obama himself promising a prominent russian leader that if you just give me time and tell vlad i'll get things in order, whatever the conversation was. the fact of the matter was that at the end of the obama ad

let's go to nick enjoys us on the phone where lavrov made some comments. very,sergey lavrov was was staying away from vf ei invest -- fbi investigation earlier and he said he did not know it had happened. any other been emanating on this particular issue, the firing of james comey? with when he made comments rex tillerson and this is lavrov style, somebody asked the question and what you thought of james comey's firing and he said , really, was he fired? which should be interpreted exactly as it was meant with a great deal of sarcasm. more of a jab at the media for at the briefing, he said it is not an issue for me to talk about, this is an internal u.s. matter. hoping to keep the focus on topic that of the reason he came here in the first place, the discussion of syria and fighting terrorism. vonnie: and saint trump and putin will meet in july -- and saying truck them and putin will meet in june -- trump and putin will meet in july. and talk about sanctions and syria. on the other side of the capital, henry kissinger was in the room with president trump w

sergey lavrov and ambassador sergey kislyak. he was at the center of the controversy surrounding michael flynn. >> is it ironic or is it for president poking a finger at the critics? >> these meetings have been on the books for a while. there's not a strategy to go after the democrats on this. i think frankly this saddest thing is that the democrats are trying to politicize and take away from something the president should be doing. >> if president trump was considering firing comey right after the election, it must have also been on his mind when he praised him for reopening the clinton email investigation in late october. >> it took guts for director comey to make the move that he made. >> what changed? being elected president, according to the white house. >> once you take over leading the department of justice, it's very different than being a candidate. there's a very clear distention between those two things. i think also having a letter like the one that he received and having that conversation, the outline of the basic a

sergey lavrov responded, are you kidding? the two men walked off.that particular question. we weren't sure what was going on with that apparent news conference, which was brief. here in washington president trump is going to be meeting sergey lavrov very soon. fascinating to see these men meeting on the day all of washington is talking about those allegations from the democrats that there is a cover—up over alleged links between the trump campaign and the russians. just as donald trump meets the russian foreign minister. we'll bring you more from washington as it comes into us. now, i think we canjust now, i think we can just take you back to washington because i think maybe we're seeing sergey lavrov the russian foreign minister. that is a shot of just russian foreign minister. that is a shot ofjust outside the white house. slightly obscure shot. bear with us while we see if we can get that image of sergey lavrov arriving at the white house. as we say, extraordinary timing, really, right as all these allegations are swirling around washington once

and with a meeting with lavrov, he said it was very, very good.they are talking about russia and assyria. we are waiting a news conference from sergey lavrov and he will be speaking from the russian andssy in washington, d.c. we will bring did to you. let's look at the dollar. abigail doolittle is with us. abigail: one of the big stories is the dollar. the bloomberg dollar index more -- down more than 3%, the worst year since 2009. longer-term chart of the bloomberg dollar index and we see around 2015, the bloomberg dollar in text started to go to the pattern of uncertainty and congestion. debte congestion, too many crisis. it crosses below the $200 moving and the gainers are gaining momentum. the last one took it to the bottom of the range and the near -- in the newest one is nearing it. , theis entire range broadening formation, dropped down, it could be a 20% drop. we have had the president trump administration reiterating or suggesting they like a weak dollar and perhaps that is behind some of the bearish we are seeing. it could be a pretty bi

>> when i spoke with putin, he asked me whether or not i would see lavrov. now, should i say, no, i'm not going to see him? >> let's get to david axelrodax. so good to have all of you on. i want to ask you, as you watched that interview on nbc news with lester holt, was there anything that changed your mind or clarified to you the position in the white house in firing james comey? >> only further clouded the issue. >> why are you laughing, too, david? >> i mean, you know, that was an absurd -- these last -- even in the pantheon of donald trump stuff, this last 48 hours was really extraordinary. i can't help but think, as someone who worked in the white house, that the worst job on the planet is to be a surrogate or spokesperson for donald trump. because invariably, you get out there on the lenl, or on the branch, and the branch gets cut off behind you. he sent people out there to tell a story yesterday and went on national television and said, that really wasn't true. >> he contradicted his own staff. why are you laughing as well? this is a serious question.

. >>> president trump met yesterday with sergey lavrov.was the president's highest level in-person contact with russia since taking office. kenneth craig reports. >> reporter: cameras caught russian foreign minister sergey lavrov going into the white house, but the u.s. press corps was kept out of his oval office meeting with president trump. instead they were given these handout photos from the russian government. president trump spoke about the meeting after lavrov left the grounds. >> we want to see the killing -- the horrible killing in syria stop as soon as possible, and everybody is working toward that end. >> reporter: improving russian relations was also a chief topic. lavrov said he appreciates the business-like approach of president trump and secretary of state rex tillerson. >> translator: they're willing to negotiate, to come to an agreement in order to address and settle certain issues. >> the high-profile day-to-day meeting came after fbi director james comey was fired after overseeing the election and russia and possible tie

lavrov was in the audience. the cameras showed him bursting out laughing and now we see this kremlin theme, that russia is a victim of anti-russian hysteria in washington. that russia unfairly gets blamed for everything that happens. mr. putin said of the washington establishment, either they don't understand the damage they're doing to their own country, in which case they're simply stupid, or they understand and everything they're dangerous is that corrupt. some very strong words there. whether this was a gambit to w. the optics don't look good, especial ahead of mr. trump's first trip abroad as public. there are a lot of questions about what went ons behind closed doors. snth vladimir putin certainly no friend offering a helping hand. i want to you break down for us how significant putin offering up a transcript and i want to put into perspective, lavrov who was there last week. john mccain said that guy is a thug kgb guy who has been hanging around putin for 30 years who never should have been in the oval of

. >> state department officials say that the reprimand intensifies -- pressuring sergey lavrov terrain in the assad regime. >> it's important that president trump is taking that step. >> russia continues its a part of the seoul or regime, claiming a regime changes failed strategy and that the united states and its allies are too focused on o, syrian president bashar al-assad. u.s. signing a report from amnesty international says that man is responsible for this prison, for his regime executed between 5,013,000 people between 2011 and 2015. referencing the state department report, the house will vote on a bipartisan sanction bill targeting those who conduct business with the seoul or regime in an attempt to restrict its financing. >> james: rich edson at the state department. here in washington, the search intensifies for a successor to fbi director james comey. president trump is receiving lots of unsolicited counsel from both sides of the aisle on who he should select, while the investigations into his campaign's dealings with russia turn on. we are foxing coverage. brit hume assesses

i want to mention that sergey lavrov has just arrived behind me at the white house. we don't have videos to show you. this is considered a closed press meeting. the small pool of report ares who would normally cover this not allowed in the oval office with this meeting. he was just over at the state department and andrea mitchell got a little reaction out of him. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentlemen? yes, he was fired. >> what you don't hear is sergey lavrov go he was fired, really? real sarcastically. i want to bring in jeremy bash. i want to get reaction from you on sergey lavrov within t, the the meeting happening now as the questions are circulating from democrats about why the president would fire the guy who is essentially heading up the investigation despite the white house's intense denials that had anything to do with comey's firing. >> one of the messages you would want the white house to give to putin and loavrov who is visitig is extreme concern and pushback for their interference. we have the opposite reaction calling it fake

that sergey lavrov was meeting donald trump.g donald trumpm it is interesting that sergey lavrov was meeting donald trump. it is not often i would say this but i think the ft have nail beds. the first word is unabashed. failing —— firing his fbi chief has unleashed a storm against him. accusations that he has done itjust against him. accusations that he has done it just because against him. accusations that he has done itjust because the fbi were investigating allegations of legs between him and russia, so what does he do? he calls for warmer links with russia. it's the kind of plastic trump move. the question is, i was going to say finally, but we have to remember we are illegal month into his presidency. as he underestimated the storm gathering against him, because now people are calling not just against him, because now people are calling notjust for against him, because now people are calling not just for an against him, because now people are calling notjust for an fbi investigation but for a special investigation but for a

lavrov is asked about the firing of mr.es comey. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over -- >> what -- you're kidding? you're kidding. >> so a small joke there perhaps from mr. lavrov. here's how everything went down last evening. we had a letter from president trump to fbi director comey. here's what president trump said to the fbi director while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i'm not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgment of the department of justice that you're not able to effectively lead the bureau. it is essential that we find new leadership for the fbi that restores public trust and confidence. sarah huckabee sanders, the white house spokesperson was on msnbc this morning, defending the president's decision. here's what she said. >> i think that we were at a place where the fbi has -- the reputation of this department has been under major scrutiny. taken a big hit. we need to restore credibility back there. i think that has to come from the new leader.

lavrov. i thought it was very, very good. killing, thee the horrible killing in syria stop as soon as possible. everybody is working towards that end. it's an honor to have henry kissinger with us. he has been a friend of mine for a long time. thank you very much are being here. appreciate it. >> why did you fire director comey? president trump: he was not doing a good job. excuse me? not at all. questions]asking president trump: thank you, everybody. thank you. >> that video from the white house late this morning. we're live on c-span at the korean economic institute in washington for a look at the south korean presidential election. the new south korean president sworn in today, taking his formal oath of office and saying he would be willing to visit rival north korea under the right conditions. they will be talking about the future of u.s.-korea relations in this discussion of the korean economic institute. back to the white house for a moment. video from the oval office today. we

but when i spoke with putin, he asked me whether or not i would see lavrov. i said i'll see him. during that discussion, i think we had a great discussion having to do with syria and the ukraine and maybe that discussion will lead to a lot less people getting killed and will lead ultimately to peace. so i'm okay with those discussions, lester. i think it's a good thing, not a bad thing. >> just part of my conversation with president trump today and in the fallout from our interview, questions being raised about the president saying he planned to fire director comey regardless and the shifting events the white house has been offering about the surprise dismissal. our chief white house correspondent hallie jackson looks at the tape. >> reporter: in this tale of two days, the story keeps changing. >> regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> reporter: flash back to tuesday night when the white house said the president acted based on the clear recommendations of the department of justice. >> no one from the white house. that was a d.o.j. decision. >> reporter: wedne

at the national security agency that in fact they ought to be aware of what the president said to lavrov think these are questions that need to be answered. obviously congress wants to get the answer to these. but i think the white house has to explain exactly what went on in that meeting. and one thing that we know did not get discussed in that meeting, wolf, as we spoke about last week, was the question of russian hacking. >> that did not come up, you're right. and we're going to get -- once again we're going to get reaction from the white house momentarily. h.r. mcmaster, the president's national security adviser expected to walk outside the driveway there at the west wing of the white house, walk over to the microphones and make a statement and hopefully answer reporter's questions. rebecca as we await general mcmaster to show up at the microphones, what's your reaction to these developments? >> it's obviously astounding, wolf, especially coming from president trump who campaigned essentially on hillary clinton and the way he said she mishandled classified information. as these revel

we're waiting to hear from lavrov. and the meantime, when there is a meeting between the president and some high-ranking official, a leader from another country, the press is invited in and there is a photographs that are taken. we all share the same photographs and we share some of the same video and that's the way it works. right now, there are no photos of the meeting that happened in the oval office between president trump and the foreign minister who are waiting. there were photos taken by the russians. those photos are now part of public consumption. their online, we are choosing not to show them because as part of the press here in the united states, we think it's important that the press have access to official photos from the white house, which we don't, so we won't show them. you'll probably see them online. here's the russian foreign minister, the man of the hour with some comments. we will listen and hear. rich rich edson is standing by. let's listen in here. >> today we've had a meeting with rex tillerson

interesting is what happened when he had met with lavrov. only saw, thanks to russian media since our media was blocked out, the media that he dubs fake news which that's another parallel that we have to draw between trump and putin. they are both pioneers of fake news. >> well, the news certainly faked him out yesterday because they got those pictures. sfa and he seemed shocked. he says russia lies. have you been paying attention to foreign policy or, you know, the meddling in our election or any of that? i mean, it's -- it's really -- it's really quite remarkable. >> jack, i want to ask you, why is he so concerned about, you know, what putin has to say? i've got to meet with putin. he doesn't have to meet with anyone in the oval office. >> i agree and from early on in the dam pain, you know, there's a -- there's a level of clue esness, nooaivety and this is astounding coming from the president of the united states just to -- to -- to not understand that he's playing chess with a queen down, because -- and you foe, apparently he doesn't lis

lavrov denied he even knew james comey had been fired.y, met with president trump in the oval office, then went to the russian embassy where he addressed a host of questions, russian and american. the u.s. reporters were asking him about the comey issue. the russian government and lavrov had been denying anything about knowing about comey's firing. lavrov even says i never thought i would have to answer such questions in the united states. given your highly developed democratic systems. lavrov says it's obvious the relationships between the u.s. and russia has problems. they're hoping they can work together. he did note of the obama administration, he says it was "guilty of dirty tricks and sabotaging the u.s.-russian relationship." working on the current administration on safe zones, trying to stop the fighting in syria. not enough details on what russia wants to do in syria. continues backing the dictator there, bashar al-assad. officials say they talked about ukraine, syria, and on the ukraine, they u.s. officials say they are not goin

sergey lavrov began his day at the -- department. tillerson was expected to press him on a settlement to the civil war in syria. trump'sas objected to decision to armed kurdish forces in syria. they are the only force that can seize raqqa. in south korea, the president is push for peace with north korea. he was sworn in -- in after a landslide election. would fly to the u.s., china, and japan to broker a peace deal. see --u.k., they may with poland before brexit. britain returned as a top es wanting toor pol work abroad. they said they want to get to the u.k. before brexit and what might be tighter immigration walls. this is bloomberg. on the rise. the latest data showing --. we look to the inventory data due and roughly 12 minutes. this is bloomberg. ♪ vonnie: live from new york, i am vonnie quinn. oil rising. industry data showing crude stockpiles decline. .oining us now, oliver we will put aside the api data. do you expect from the eia? is going to be the number a lot of traders and participants are keeping an ion. the average ana

sergey lavrov has been a senior come for 25 years. they know how to play this game. they would have been sizing up the administration expertly over the last little while, looking for any opportunity to strengthen those links, hoping that the candidate they clearly favored in the u.s. election, donald trump, will bring them in from the cold. and the end game, of course, is to get those sanctions lifted. >> mason: elizabeth palmer in sochi, margaret brennan at the statement, thank you, both. with the house in recess, republican members are hearing from angry constituents at town meetings back home. most complaints at first were about the g.o.p. plan to repeal and replace obamacare. then, the comey story >> tell the truth! tell the truth! >> reporter: at one town hall... >> answer the last question! >> reporter: ...after another... >> open your eyes. >> all right, all right. >> reporter: congressional republicans on recess this week... ( booing ) >> reporter: ...have been getting an earful, and now another issue is testing their hearing. >> i have a question in regards

lavrov preparing to take some questions on all of this. fast-moving developments here within the past few minutes, john. >> thank you, raymond. >>> meanwhile, market really doesn't seem to care about much of this stuff. dow is down 16. a lot of that is simply disney on the back of earnings. the vix below 10. our mark santelli and bob pisani join us. on a day where there are so many long-term questions, we are not getting many clues. >> a lot of people said this is going to be a political earthquake and move the markets. you can see by the market reaction that basically they are saying, this is a political event, not an economic or markets event. if we see some deterioration in business confidence or something down the road, maybe that's an issue. i heard some people actually try to turn this on its head and say, this may accelerate the trump economic program as a means of putting all of this behind them to move a little bit more aggressively on the tax reform issue. i think that's an plausible an idea as any right now. >> we might have to

of course, this will be the first time that lavrov, the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, willunited states to meet with rex tillerson, the secretary of state. they both share, or both administrations, the russian and the u.s., share the same views when it comes to this issue of collusion in the presidential elections. they both say it's fake news. they've both used that language. they both say it's false and there's nothing to it, and they say it's getting in the way of these two countries forging a more productive relationship. and what they're trying to do, they say, is to move beyond that and to carry on, regardless. so, it's in that context, i think, that sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister, will be traveling to moscow. he's on his way there now, and meeting rex tillerson, the secretary of state, there tomorrow. >> all right. thanks so much for that, matthew chance for us this morning in moscow. >>> president trump's travel ban now hanging in the balance after a critical federal appeals court hearing. both sides under intense questioning from judges on the fourth c

now, a look at secretary of state rex tillerson's meeting with russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov. >> welcome. welcome. thank you very much. i want to welcome foreign minister lavrov to the state department and express appreciation for him making the trip to washington so we can continue our dialogue that began in moscow with the dialogue he hosted on a very broad range of topics. thank you. >> does the comey shadowing -- >> what did you say? [inaudible questions from audience] >> foreign minister lavrov held a news conference following meeting with president trump and

him, lavrov and secretary of state, rex tillerson addressed the press.ch how sarcastic lavrov is, when a reporter asks about comey. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks gentlemen? >> was he fired? [ talking over each other ] >> you're kidding. you're kidding. >> seth: you're kidding. get out of here. [ light laughter ] you know when they walked out of the room, lavrov said, "why do you let reporters ask questions like this? you should just bang, bang. no?" [ laughter ] "problem over. no more questions. why, why, why, why, why? bang, bang. problem over." [ light laughter ] so what really prompted trump to look for a reason to fire comey? well, obviously, there's the ongoing russia investigation, and on top of that, there is also the media attention comey has gotten for that investigation. according to "the wall street journal," trump grew unhappy that the media spotlight kept shining on the director. he viewed comey as eager to step in front of tv cameras. which may explain why, when the two met in the oval office in january, trump's fir

the president trusting sergey lavrov and ambassador sergey kislyak.member, it is t was michael flynn's meetings with kislyak that led to the downfall of the former national security adviser. >> u.s. intelligence officials consider kislyak a top russian spy, but that didn't stop a warm welcome from president trump, unlike the greeting he had for german chancellor ainngela merk, a key u.s. ally. how about them for some optics? the u.s. press pool was not allowed into the white house for the meetings with the russians. russian state media was permitted inside, and these photos were taken by them and released by them. and just this morning, russian state media announced president trump will meet with russian president vladimir putin in july. so, let's go live to moscow and bring in cnn's diana magnay. diana, good morning to you. what is the reaction to all of this in moscow? >> reporter: hi, dave. well, president putin was asked about it on his way to a hockey match, and he acted as though it was a real surprise that he should be asked. he said this has n

you have lavrov at the white house today. on the day after the president fired the person who is in charge of the investigation into whether or not there was any collusion or connection with the trump campaign. >> meghan: i can't stand james comey, we've talked about many times. i think he is a complete and total show pony that made the narrative about him after too many interviews. everything and anything he could and he only made it worse. i didn't think he was great to put it very mildly. that being said, this was done and a very strange fashion. a manila envelope was delivered to him personally. he thought it was a joke behind him that they were playing on cable news. there was no talking points given to his people. in the middle the night, kellyanne conway going on and talking to anderson cooper as he's rolling his eyes at her. there are ways to control a media narrative and this is very, very sloppy at the moment which i think is adding to the anxiety. do i think this is the right decision? ultimately yes. why now? >> h

president putin saying, i spoke to lavrov, his foreign minister, today. and joking in kind of a deadpan way that president putin does, i'll be forced to issue him with a reprimand because he did not share those secrets with us, not with me, nor with russia's intelligence services. it was very bad of him. but then president putin goes on to criticize the criticism of president trump unfolding there in the u.s. president putin saying, it's hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such is nonsense and rubbish can dream up next. what promises me, the president of russia says, is that they are shaking up the domestic political situation using anti-russian slogans. either they don't understand the damage they're doing to their own country, referring to the united states, in which case they are simply stupid, or they understand everything in which case they are dangerous and corru corrupt. so strong words from russia's president intervening in the controversy swirling around president trump. stephanie, whether it's a useful intervention for presid

but i'd say to lavrov if he can reach alaska, he can reach you.'t you want to talk about north korea and what we can do together to deal with kim jong-un. >> what do you want people to take from the book "democracy stories from the long road to freedom". >> i started this book four years ago and i had no idea that he would put it into the an environment that we've had. >> fortuitous. >> in some ways. i would say democracies take time to build. it takes time for people to build kcconfidence in institutions. it takes just a moment for it to bring down and for those institutions to be gone around or to be -- to lose their relevance. as americans, let's not let that happen to ourselves and by the way, our institutions are robust and we'll get through this. but also let's stand for those who don't have the benefits of the liberties that we enjoy. we were given a tremendous gift in these institutions. everybody needs to respect them. >> madame secretary, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. >>> so how does the white house explain director co

he laughed about it and said, look, we have to find some sort of punishment for sergey lavrov because he didn't share that secret information with us and it is in that joking context he made those comments about passing on a record, a transcript of that conversation. but it is first the detail i heard that there is such a transcript of what actually was talked about in that meeting. >> thank you very much, if there is such a transcript. appreciate the reporting. another joke apparently once again on us. so let's bring in our political panel. cnn senior legal analyst, reporter and editor at large for cnn politics chris cillizza and phillip mud. file this under the category of you can't make it up. quick to the defense of president trump is russia, just like when lavrov mocked questions from the u.s. press core about comey's firing, just like when we had to learn about the meeting between lavrov and kislyak from russian media and now they say trump did nothing wrong with intelligence and we can prove it. what does this mean? >> two things. one, between the potential for a transcript out

he met with russian minister lavrov and kislyiak in the oval office. you recall national security advisor michael flynn was fired for lying about meet hessian had with the diplomat. the american press was blocked from being part of this meeting from covering this meeting. a lot of news agencies were using russian photos. what was that like at the white house when you were there? what does that tell us about the white house's relationship with russia? margaret: i was sitting there at my desk right off the white house briefing room looking at my twitter feed say, that's the oval office right now. this was supposed to be a closed to all press meeting. and then government websites run by the russian government, their embassy, their foreign ministry are posting photos, smiling photos, arms around each other, chuckling, hands being shaken, of not only the top diplomat, lav rombings v, but kisliak, the ambassador you talked about. that was what got attention. there are a -- there were a series of other moments, stunlabling into henry kissinger in the oval off

lavrov seemed to find it hilarious. what european leaders have historically wanted from u.s.sistency and engagement. the fear privately expressed by some officials here is that this president is embarking on his first foreign trip with his mind elsewhere. mark phillips, cbs news, london. >>> well, coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," the newest technology to come out of google's annual developers conference cnet's dan ackerman joins us on how google is planning to turn your smartphone camera into the ultimate search engine. plus, the series "real food" looks at the growing trend of kelp and how the seaweed is not just for salad anymore. and actress gina rodriguez from "jane the virgin" stops by studio 57. that's the "cbs morning news" for this friday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. >>> live from the cbs broadcast center in philadelphia. this is cbs-3 "eyewitness news" this morning. >>> time square, a driver runs down pedestrians on one of america's busiest sidewalks. >> this morning we're hearing from local students who were rig

he will meet with sergei lavrov today at the white house. the secretary of state was slated to meet with him, it will be the highest level face-to-face meeting with russia of the trump presidency. >>> the white house going into overdrive, trying to explain the firing and bringing out kellyanne conway who hasn't been seen on cable much lately. take a listen. >> why now are you concerned about the hillary clinton e-mail investigation when as a candidate, he was praising it from the campaign trail? >> i think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here, in other words, you're going back to the campaign. this man is the president of the united states, he acted decisively today. you want this to be about russia when this is about restoring confidence and integrity at the fbi. >> you want this about restoring confidence in fbi. >> i think the bigger point on that is my gosh, tucker, when are they going to let that go. it has been going on nearly a year. frankly it is kind of getting absurd, there's nothing there, we heard that time and time agai

president trump said the meeting was, quote, very, very good and at a new conference lavrov said they did not discuss the absurd issues related to the russian interference in the election pointing to the story that is fake news. mike pence said emphasizing unwavering u.s. support for ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. >>> and congressman tom mckoran played a critical role. last night he spent five years listening to his constituents at a town hall in new jersey. take a listen. >> folks, you get to ask the questions and i get to answer them. >> so answer them. >> he faced hostile questions not only on health care and the amendment he helped write, but on an array of issues involving president trump as well, the crowd took a page out of the democrats' playbook when the congressman discuss youed his party's celebration with the president in the rose garden after the health bill passed. >> a question you asked before about the optics of last week. i didn't think cheerg wing was appropriate that day and i didn't think jeering was appropriate either. i didn't think singing on th