margaret brennan reports that they worked to put their differences aside in their 30- minute meeting. >> reporter: swiss guards saluted president trump and the first lady as they arrived for a face-to-face meeting with pope francis at the apostolic palace. mr. trump introduced his sizable entourage including daughter ivanka and son-in-law jared kushner. the polite papal encounter was a sharp contrast to their clashes during the campaign. >> for a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. >> reporter: when asked about the border wall pope francis said it's not christian to build walls instead of bridges. >> i don't like fighting with the pope. i don't think this is a fight. >> reporter: the two leaders also have opposed views on many issues. >> we will suspend the syrian refugee program. [ applause and cheers ] >> reporter: president trump tried to ban syrian refugees. pope francis personally took in 12 muslims who had washed up on greek shores to rome on his papal plane. when asked about their upcoming meeting, pope francis said, quote, i never made a judgment abou

margaret brennan, cbs news, the vatican. >> brussels is a daylong trip and president donald trump will return to italy late thursday for the may 26-27 group of seven summit in sicily. >>> the senate intelligence committee is holding a closed- door meeting this aft discuss developments with their investigation into russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. yesterday, the senate committee responded to fired nsa director michael flynn's decision not to comply with the subpoena to produce personal documents related to his connections with the russians. meanwhile, the hearing with fired fbi director, james comey, has been delayed and he is to speak with robert mueller first before testifying public to be. we've also learned president donald trump has hired a private attorney, marc kasowitz , to represent him as the russia probe moves forward. >>> dc police need your help to track down a guy who was in a sexual abuse case. he followed a woman into the store in the 600 block of bickford place northeast this month and authorities believed he forced the woman to the back of the s

margaret brennan, cbs news the vatican. >>> lawyers representing the family avenue four-year-old girl who drowned last year at a south jersey state park are speaking out. they say she was allowed to get into a lake without a flotation device even though she couldn't swim. >> the lake staff and the camp knew she couldn't swim. they knew she needed float tease. and they took away the only protection she had to keep her afloat. they look the other way and they allowed her to drown. >> cami, drowned while camp out in lake absegami. her family is speaking out to remind people to be vigilant with chirps specially as the summer swim season approaches. >>> confusion in south jersey after a nuclear pour plant warning accidentally aired on television. take a look. this is the warning that went out last night. message alerted people of a nuclear power plant emergency at the hope creek plant in salem county. new jersey office of emergency management tweeted, a drill was mistaken for an actual emergency. the message went out in error of the officials investigating how this incident happened. >>> a

ma margar margaret brennan is traveling with the president. >> reporter: today mr.rump called them partners againin th fight against extremism. >> drive them out. drive them out of your places of worship! drive them out of your communities. drive them out of your holy lands! and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: mr. trump also helped to inaugurate a center to counter extremist messaging and. standing beside the king of saudi arabia, the president abandoned the heated campaign rhetoric that characterized his lek election-winning platform, one built on his view that islam hates us. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: while he softened that language, president trump did offer a gentle nudge to the mostly-male leaders that he hopes for a bright future for both men and women. >> when young muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves. it has to be done. >> reporter: first lady melania trump spent the day at events focussed on women's emp

here's margaret brennan. >> we're very small town with a small budget. >> reporter: bedminster mayoren parker serves a town of ng200 residents, including the president of the united states. >> he's been a good member of the community by and large, and the second highest property inxpayer in the town. on reporter: but since the election, donald trump's visits ore taxpayer funded. this morning, president trump ineeted he was staying in bedminster to avoid "a big lssruption in new york city." he said it, "also saves the country money." ane new jersey golf club is cheaper to secure than the president's new york penthouse. the police department estimates that would cost more than $300,000 per day when mr. trump is there. $1at's double the $146,000 the n.y.p.d. is already paying to protect the first lady and their son, barron. sst month, mr. trump told fox that's why he'll summer in new jersey. >> that costs almost nothing because it's hundreds of acres and security and they don't have ra close up streets, et cetera, et cetera. >> reporter: but bedminster is still paying a price. mayor par

margaret brennan is there with the president. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. some fractures between the u.s. and its allies are visible on the president's final stop. a sharp contrast to that warm reception he got in the middle east. all six major industrialized powers are trying to convince trump of the merits o free trade and the global threat of climate change. leaders will urge the president nhouti gases. the president has not yet decided.iden trump told japan's prime minister that his focus is on security cooperation. he will also see uk prime minister theresa may who yesterday spoke to him about leaks from u.s. officials regarding the manchester attack. >> intelligence that he shares between law enforce mnlts agencies must remain secure. >> president trump said leaks of sensitive information poses a threat to our national security. after that he drew attention with some aggressive posturing, brushing by the prime minister of montenegro and with two intense handshakes with france's president. >> 22 o 23 the nations' presidents are not paying what theyul i

margaret brennan was there. >> my view of how you translate america first into our foreign policy... >> reporter: secretary tillerson explained to state department employees how hi plans to implement president trump's america-first policy. >> if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably can't achieve our national security goals or our national security interests. >> reporter: tillerson defended the u.s. strategy to isolate nuclear-armed north korea and said conditions are not yet ripe for a meeting with dictator kim jong un. >> we'll it iso ready to sit down under the right terms. >> reporter: he explained a plan to rebuild trust with russia by getting president vladimir putin to broker a ceasefire in syria. >> the relationship between our two nations is the lowest it's been since the cold war. >> reporter: but tillerson is tackling these thorny issues without the usual top diplomats. he's still not appointed policy directors for asia, the mideast or russia. of the 119 jobs that require senate signoff, only three have been confirmed. pres

we have more on that from margaret brennan at the white house. >> i would not be happy. if he does a nuclear test. i will not be happy. >> reporter: north korean dictator kim jong-un's expanding nuclear arsenal is president trump's top foreign policy challenge. what are you making of the north korean leader. >> people are saying, is he sane? i have no idea. i can tell you this, but he was a young man of 26 or 27 when he took over from his father, when his father died, and at a very young age, he was able to assume power. a lot of people i'm sure tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else, and he was able to do it. so obviously he's a pretty smart cookie. >> reporter: kim is accused of widespread human rights abuses, yet president trump told bloomberg news that he'd be honored to meet him. white house officials later stipulated that north korea would first need to abandon its nuclear weapons. it is unusual for an american president to publicly empathize with authoritarian leaders. mr. trump has made a point of praising leaders with an iron gri

margaret brennan has the late reaction from the white house. >> the president responded with this paper statement, i will read to you saying, quote, as i have stated many times a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know, there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime i will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. now this news broke as the white house was interviewing candidates to replace comey at the fbi. >> no politician in history i say this with great assuredly, has been treated worse or more isfairly. you can't let them get you down. >> reporter: a defiant president ngump rallied grand jury waiting coast guard cadets by recounting his own approach to diversity. >> you will find that things are not always fair. you will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. >> reporter: sources say the president's own frustration is

here's margaret brennan. >> we work very hard to get you the most accurate and up-to-date information. >> reporter: press secretary sean spicer tried to explain why white house officials have given conflicting accounts this week e to why the president abruptly fired f.b.i. director james comey. es and i think sometimes we inn't have an opportunity to get into see him, to get his full thinking. >> reporter: in an earlier twitter post, the president proposed canceling all press briefings, arguing it was "not possible" for his surrogates to speak with "perfect accuracy." in a fox news interview, president trump acknowledged that his team is out of sync. >> are you moving so quickly that your communications department cannot keep up with you? >> yes, that's true. >> so what do we do about that? >> we don't have press conferences, and we do-- >> you don't mean that. >> just don't have them, unless i have them every two weeks and i do it myself. we don't have them. >> reporter: the president also said there is unfair hostility towards spokespeople like spicer. hi i think he's a little wsmay

margaret brennan is at the white house. >> there was no collusion, and everybody, even my enemies, have said, there is no collusion. >> reporter: president trump said the appointment of special counsel robert mueller to probe russian election meddling is dividing the country. >> well, i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch-hunt, and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can only speak for myself and the russians -- zero. >> reporter: the president strongly denied interfering with the f.b.i.'s investigation. >> did you at any time urge former f.b.i. director james comey in any way, shape, or form to clez or to back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also -- >> no. no. next question. >> reporter: and mr. trump dismissed democrats' claims that he may have obstructed justice. >> i think it's everybody thinks so. >> reporter: despite saying last week that he had decided to fire comey before he met with attorney general jeff sessions and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, today the president said he acted in part on rosenstei

margaret brennan has more on that. >> no american should be forced to choose between the dictates of the federal government and the tenets of their faith. >> reporter: president trump's order falls short of the promises he made to social conservatives. >> get rid of and totally destroy the johnson amendment. >> reporter: as recently as february, mr. trump said he would lift the ban on religious organizations from endorsing political candidates, a 1950's era law named for lyndon johnson, but that would require an act of today's executive order only signals to the i.r.s. that it should not aggressively enforce the law, even though mr. trump in his remarks went further. >> this executive order directs the i.r.s. not to unfairly target churches and religious organizations for political speech. >> reporter: religious non-profits also wanted exemptions from obamacare provisions mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives, an issue a group of catholic nuns took all the way to the supreme court. >> and we know all too well the attacks against the little sisters of the poor. >> reporter:

white house and senior foreign affairs correspondent margaret brennan is traveling with the president. >> this is a battle between good and evil. >> reporter: today, president trump called leaders from more than 50 muslim majority countries partners in the fight against extremism, and urged them to battle terrorism at home.. >> drive them out. drive them out of your places of worship. drive them out of your communities. drive them out of your holy land. and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: mr. trump also helped to inaugurate a center to counter extremist messaging and online recruitment. standing beside the king of saudi arabia, the president abandoned the heated campaign rhetoric that characterized his election-winning platform. one built on his view that quote "islam hates us.." >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: while he softened that language, president trump offer a gentle nudge to the mostly male leaders that he hoped for a bright future for both men and women. >> when young muslim men and

margaret brennan at the white house for us. thank you very much. tu. trump's meeting with turkey's president erdogan has exposed a rift between the two nato allies. the u.s. is now arming kurdish rebels in syria, rebels that turkey considers to be terrorists. ire kurds are fighting their way toward raqqa, the city that isis lylls its capital, and holly williams is with them. >> reporter: we were 12 miles west of raqqa today, the so- called isis capital, where these lyrdish fighters are gradually encircling the city. and watching closely for isis fighters trying to flee. they're america's closest partners here in syria, backed up with u.s. coalition air strikes. "the americans are helping, and we appreciate it," said azad kabani, who has been fighting the extremists for three years, "but you can bomb isis 24 hours a day, and without us on the seont line, it will be no use." d ere are several hundred u.s. t'oops also on the ground here, elough it's the new weapons from america, mortar shells as well as artillery and armored rshicles, that the kurdish sol

margaret brennan is joining us now. margaret? >> reporter: well, scott, the white house has not responded yet to this breaking news. the communications team has been huddled for about 30 minutes now trying to craft some kind of response. a few officials did walk by that upper press area where we were gathered and simply said, we just don't want to comment yet. and all of this happened as the white house was interviewing candidates to replace james comey at the f.b.i. >> no politician i say this with great assurety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. you can't let them get you down. >> reporter: a defiant president trump rallied grand jury waiting coast guard cadets by recounting his own approach to diversity. >> you will find that things are not always fair. you will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fights. >> reporter: sources say the president's own frustration is at a high point. he's doubting his top advisers, e

we're joined now my margaret brennan at the state department and elizabeth palmer in sochi, russia. rgaret, let me start with you. how did this meeting come about? >> reporter: white house officials say that last week during a phone call, vladimir putin personally asked president trump to meet with his top diplomat sergey lavrov. the meeting in the oval office lasted around 30 minutes, and at the end of it, i asked president trump whether the firing of f.b.i. director comey had any impact, he said none at all. but an invitation into the oval pfice is an honor, and the fact that president trump went shrough with this despite all of te controversies shows just how deeply he wants to improve these frayed relations with russia. ffw, lavrov was invited into the oval office by president obama back in 2009, but he has not been welcome in washington for at least the past four years due to these deep disagreements over ukraine and the conflict in z,ria. >> mason: liz, why did the russians want this meeting so badly? >> reporter: well, as margaret mentioned, they've been shunned and under sanc

margaret brennan is traveling with the president in sicily. morning, alex. well president trump said this morning he wants to focus on security issues. telling japan's prime minister shinzo abe that he wants to specifically target that nuclear threat from north korea but this is gathering of the world's richest nation. seven in total. this is really about economic issues like free trade and so that's really what the majority of the conversation is going to be focused here with germany's chancellor and with eu leaders. president trump is under a lot of pressure and some of these fractures have come to the fore. particularly these differences over free trade. some of this we saw visibly at nato yesterday. that military alliance which is meant to counter russian influence and aggression in europe really became a counterterrorism summit because president trump said he thinks that's where their focus should be. but he ruffled some feathers because he did not explicitly recommit to the collective defense idea of a threat against one, a strike agains

white house and senior affairs correspondent margaret brennan is traveling with the president. >> this0 muslim-majority countries partners in the fight against extremism and urged them to battle terrorism at home. >> drive them out. drive them out! of your places of worship. drive them out of your communities. drive them out of your holy land! and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: mr. trump also helped to inaugurate a center to counter extremist messaging and online recruitment. standing beside the king of saudi arabia, the president abandoned the rhetoric of his campaign platform. one built on his view, that quote, islames shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: while he softened that language, president trump did offer a gentle nudge to the mostly-male leaders that he hoped for a bright future for both men and women. >> when young muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves, it has to be done. >> reporter: first lady melania trump spent the day at events focussed on women's empowerment in the conservative k

margaret brennan has that story. >> there was no collusion, and everybody, even my enemies, have saidre is no collusion. >> reporter: president trump said the appointment of special counsel robert mueller to probe russian election meddling is dividing the country. >> well, i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always s the russians. zero. >> reporter: the president strongly denied interfering with the fbi's investigation. >> did you at any time urge former fbi director james comey in any way, shape, or form to close or to back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also as you look back -- >> no. no. next question. >> reporter: and mr. trump dismissed democrats' claims that he may have obstructed justice. >> i think it's totally ridiculous. everybody thinks so. >> reporter: despite saying last week that he had decided to fire comey before he met with attorney general jeff sessions and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, today the president said he acted in part on rosenst

margaret brennan is covering the white house tonight. >> we had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of russia. our fight is against isis. >> reporter: standing alongside turkey's leader, president trump defended sharing intelligence with russian officials. >> we want to get as many to help fight terrorism as possible. >> reporter: this morning the president tweeted it was his absolute right to share what he called facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. he said it was intended to get the russians to quote, greatly step up their fight against isis and terrorism. yesterday his national security adviser, general h.r. mcmaster strenuously denied that any intelligencerc were compromised. >> i was in the room. it didn't happen. >> reporter: today he acknowledged that the disclosure was not preplanned, and he did not deny that classified information was revealed. >> i stand by my statement i maid yesterday. what i'm saying is really the premise of that article is false, that in any way the president had a conversation that was inappropriate or resulted

margaret brennan has more on that. >> no american should be forced to choose between the dictate also of the federal government and the tenets of their faith. >> reporter: president trump's order falls short of the promises he made to social conservatives. >> get rid of and totally destroy the johnson amendment. >> reporter: as recently as february, mr. trump said he would lift the ban on religious organizations from endorsing political candidates, a 1950s era law named for lyndon johnson. but that would require an act of congress. today's executive order only signals to the irs that it should not aggressively enforce the law. even though mr. trump in his remarks went further. >> this executive order directs the irs not to unfairly target churches and religious organizations for political speech. >> reporter: religious nonprofits also wanted exemptions from obamacare provisions mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives, an issue a group of catholic nones took all the way to the supreme court. >> and we know all too well the attacks against the little sisters of the poor. >> repo

we're joined now by margaret brennan at the state department and elizabeth palmer in sochi, russia. margaret, let me start with you. how did this meeting come about? >> white house officials say that last week during a phone call vladimir putin personally asked president trump to meet with his top diplomat sergey lavrov. the meeting in the oval office lasted around 30 minutes, and at trump whether the firing of fbi director comey had any impact, he said none at all. but an invitation into the oval office is an honor, and the fact that president trump went through with this despite all of the controversies shows just how deeply he wants to improve these frayed relations with russia. now, lavrov was invited into the oval office by president obama back in 2009. but he has not been welcome in washington for at least the past four years due to these deep disagreements over ukraine and the conflict in syria. >> liz, why did the russians want this meeting so badly? >> well, as margaret mentioned, they've been shunned and under sanction for some years now in washington. so this was their ver

margaret brennan reports. >> i would not be happy if he does a nuclear test, i will not be happy. >>north korean dick tatsder kim jong un's expanding nuclear arsenal is president trump's top foreign policy challenge. >> what do you make of the north korean leader? >> people are saying, is he sane? i have no idea. i can tell you this. a lot of people don't like when i say it. but he was a young man of 26 or 27 when he took over from his father, when his father died. and at a very young age, he was able to assume power. a lot of people, i'm sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. and he was able to do it, so obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie. >> reporter: kim is accused of widespread human rights abuses, yet president trump told bloomberg news that he'd be honored to meet him. white house officials later stipulated that north korea would first need to abandon its nuclear weapons. it is unusual for an american president to publicly empathize with authoritarian leaders. mr. trump has made a point of praising leaders with an iron grip on power wh

>> margaret brennan, thank you. >>> many of the president's weekend meetings focussed on saudi arabia'snal rival, iran, which was not invited to the summit. iran elected its president on friday and we have the view from tehran. >> reporter: there's been such a mood of joy and optimism here in tehran ever since president rouhani's victory on friday. but that mood was shattered today when president trump called for iran's isolation. president rouhani won the election because he'd promised his base, millions of young people, that he'd pursue an agenda of what he calls engagement with the world. moderate iranians who suffered under sanctions for more than a decade hoped that western businesses would begin to invest here and that they'd be able to travel abroad without being treated as international pariahs. president trump's speech sends a strong signal that america will do whatever it can to block that. there is a faction inside iran's complex power structure that may be celebrating tonight. the hardliners, including iran's powerful revolutionary guard and their followers. closer ties with

margaret brennan is traveling with the president in jerusalem. et, good morning. >> good morning. on this trip president trump is not expected to make good on his pledge to move the u.s. beamsy to jerusalem. a unilateral decision that could add to tensions here because this city is claimed by both israelis and palestinians and president trump wants to broker a peace deal between the two. after touching down in tel aviv, president trump was welcomed by nearly every israeli cabinet minister and prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he then headed to jerusalem. >> we're not only longtime friends, we are great allies and partners. we stand together always. >> reporter: to visit religious sites including the church of the holy sepulchre and the western wall. >> very happy to see you. >> reporter: the president's first foreign trip started in saudi arabia saturday, where he proposed a new partnership with the arab and muslim world. >> this is a battle between good and evil. >> reporter: in a keynote speech sunday in front of leaders from more than 50 musli

. >>> margaret brennan is at the white house where former president obama, as charlie mentioned at the top of the show, first warned then president-elect trump about general flynn. margaret, good morning. >> good morning. well, mr. obama cautioned then president-elect trump against hiring flynn. this is advice given before the scandal had erupted regarding misleading statements made by flynn to the vice president about his contacts with the russian ambassador. >> we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed. >> reporter: during a 90-minute conversation two days after the election, president obama shared some personnel advice with the man who would replace him. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: according to former officials familiar with their conversation, mr. obama told the president-elect he should go with his instincts and hire people he wanted with one exception. retired general michael flynn. mr. obama cautioned that the new president would be wise to stay away. trump aides say he was suspicious of mr. obama's motives in coming forward. >> american excep

margaret brennan reports. >> we're a small town with a small budget. >> reporter: the mayor serves a town. >> he's been a good member of the community and the second highest property taxpayer in the troun. >> since the election the government visits are -- he said this saves the country money. the new jersey golf club is cheaper to secure than president's new york penthouse. they say that would cost $300,000 a day if mr. trump was there. that's doubled the 146,000 that the nypd is already paying. >>> the tsa is warning that they're looking to use big rigs and buses as weapons. they've killed and injured hundreds of people over the years. jeff pegues reports. >> reporter: this is a reminder of twha federal officials have been worrying about. they're turning large trucks or vehicles in general into deadly weapons. this truck attack carried out on the streets of nice, france, last summer killing 86 people and injured over 400 is exactly what u.s. officials are trying to prevent. in a issued new indicators and counter measures to help prevent commercial vehicles from causing large scale

margaret brennan, cbs news, jerusalem. >>> well the president is proposing 4.1 traveled spending plan which includes steep cuts of support to programs for low income individuals. the proposal was delivered to congress today, and is for the next fiscal year beginning on october 1st. lawmakers on both sides have said major changes will need to be made before it moves forward, proposal project this year area deficit will run to $3.6 billion. >> still ahead on "eyewitness news." >> heartfelt gift from the grave. meisha? >> courageous, sacrificial, modest, moral, awards that may come to mind. in today's love it meet a family who learned what this meant to them. from beyond the grave. that's coming up. katie? >> and, meisha, as they look ahead to the all important upcoming holiday weekends, not only are we going to warm to up near or slightly above 80 degrees, but our saturday is all-in-all looking really pleasant right now. dow think, however, that we will start to see some showers move in, sunday into memorial day itself, how much, and we will track all of the activity on this very busy p

there will be much more on president trump's trip to israel ahead, including live report from margaret brennan in israel, immediately following "eyewitness news" this morning. >> two days after a teenage boy disappeared in the delaware river, search teams have found a body philadelphia police say they've not identified the victim but father of 16 year old antoine fox say police told him they found his son's bodiment fox went out swimming friday night with three friends off pleasant hill park. his friends called 911 when they saw fox was missing. he wouldn't harm up. he wouldn't hurt you. he is a good kid. never really got into any serious trouble. and he should be here right now. >> fox attended abraham lincoln high school. >> investigators in maryland are working to figure out whether a murder on the university of maryland college park campus was hate crime. police say sean, who is white, clearly fatally stabbed richard collins, visiting student, who is black. happened saturday morning. collins walking with friends, 22 year old, who allegedly belonged to hate group on facebook, has been charg

with dan balz of "the washington post," margaret brennan of "the washington post," pete williams >> this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> additional funding is provided by -- newman' own foundation. donating all profits from newman's own products to charity. ku and patricia yuen, for the yuen foundation, committed to bridging differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting. and from contributions from viewers like you. thank you. once again, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. where to begin. it was a week where donald trutch's efforts to distance himself from the russia investigation grew more complicated by the words and actions of the president and his closest advisors he dismissed james comey as director of the f.b.i. that's his right. but why did that unravel and quickly and dramatically. the white house initially said he was dismissed because of his handling

margaret brennan has been traveling with the president.t stop, the g-7 summit in taormina, italy. >> i think we hit a home run no matter where we are. we're thrilled to be here right now, and we're getting on that very big plane. and we're heading back to washington and the united states. >> reporter: president trump used a visit with u.s. troops at an air base in sicily to declare his first foreign trip a victory. pointing to a $110 billion arms deal in saudi arabia and pledges of counter-terrorism support from partners as his key victories. >> we're going to have a lot of strength, and we're going to have a lot of peace. >> reporter: the president presented himself as a disruptor, not a diplomat. he was the only ford leader at the g-7 summit not to commit to the 2015 paris climate change agreement. the president tweeted he'd put off this decision for another week. the trump administration remains deeply divided on the accord, which put limits on greenhouse gas emissions. america's closest allies, including japan, germany, can dark france

margaret brennan is there. >> my view of how you translate america first into our foreign policy -- >> reporter: secretary of state tillerson explained to employees how he plans to implement donald trump's america first policy. >> if you imemployme. >> reporter: tillerson defended the strategy to ease late nuclear-armed north korea and said conditions are not yet right for a sit-down meeting with kim jong un. he explained a plan to rebuild trust with russia by getting president vladimir putin to broker a c-f >> the relationship between our two nations was the lowest it's been since the cold war. >> reporter: but tillerson is tackling these thorny issues without the usual top diplomats. he still has not appointed policy directors for asia, the mideast or russia. of the 119 jobs that require senate signoff only three have been confirmed. president trump has nominated an additional seven. tillerson also did not explain his plan to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs and cut a quarter of the budget. but he began a listening tour that will cost more than $1 million. >> as you know, we've just k

margaret brennan reports from jerusalem. margaret, good morning. >> good morning.ell the president was briefed on the manchester attack by his national security adviser this morning, and then spoke by phone with uk prime minister theresa may, to offer any support. and throughout all of the stops here in the middle east, president trump has made expansion of counterterrorism efforts a key theme. >> i want to send our condolences to the many families who lost their loved ones. >> reporter: president trump acknowledged the manchester attack and called for unity against extremism. >> i repeat again that we must drive out the terrorists and the extremists, from our midst. >> reporter: earlier, mr. trump traveled to the palestinian city of bethlehem to meet with palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. abbas said that to achieve peace, israel needs to recognize the state of palestine and halt settlement construction on its territory. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu continues to defy mr. trump's appeals to hold back. >> i am committed to trying to achieve a peace agree

margaret brennan was in the country where all three trumps arrived a few hours ago. made it a policy not to publicly lecture on human rights, but first lady melania and ivanka trump both celebrated women's empowerful in saudi arabia where women were recently granted more freedoms including the right to enroll at university and to open a bank account without requiring a man's permission. ivanka trump tried to fill her father's shoes , talking on social media. >> social media is an incredibly powerful tool. >> on the sidelines both first lady a country where segregation still exists. the first lady visited a g.e. call center staffed entirely by women and ivanka posted this image where both the kingdom and the united arab emirates pledged $100 million to a world bank women's empowerment fund. mrs. trump did not cover her hair on the trip. neither did ivanka, something mr. trump criticized michelle obama for not doing in 2015. the first lady was by president trump's side at nearly all of his public events and was personally welcomed by saudi's king salman. the two most p

margaret brennan is at the white house. with the president, but she's still at the white house. good morning. >> good morning. president trump will have to reassure a baggage he's carried including the firing of former fbi director james comey won't disrupt his agenda. relations with saudi arabia and israel were damaged during the obama administration in part due to the nuclear deal with iran, but president trump has his own fence mending to do with the muslim world given that harsh campaign rhetoric. white house officials say he's going to emphasize that he does not view the west as at war with islam. there are also going to be sweeteners like a $109 billion arms deal with saudi arabia. trump's son-in-law jared kushner shepherded these negotiations, even personally calling weapons manufacturers. many turn saudi arabia plans to invest about $200 billion in the united states over the next four years. and when the president meets with european allies a then in italy, he'll still have unanswered questions about whether he's go

margaret brennan is traveling with the president in jerusalem. margaret, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. well the president was briefed on the manchester attack by his national security adviser this morning and then spoke by phone with uk prime minister theresa may to offer any support. and throughout all of the stops here in the middle east, president trump has made expansion of counterterrorism efforts a key theme. >> so interesting that our meeting took place on this very horrible morning of death. palestinian leader mahmoud abbas president trump acknowledged the manchester attack. >> i extend my deepest condolences to those so terribly injured. >> reporter: mr. trump had traveled to palestinian territory to meet with abbas in bethlehem. abbas said that to achieve peace israel needs to recognize the state of palestine and halt settlement construction on its territory. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu defies mr. trump's appeal to hold back. >> i'm committed to achieve a peace agreement between israelis and the palestinians. ♪ >