sharyl: how much aid do we give to the palestinian authority?or graham: bejeweled $3 million and $4 million. sharyl: every year. sen. gra beef is not with the palestinian people. i think, in many ways, they're a victim of this, too. but the bottom line is, if you really want peace in the mideast, you've got to stop this crap. the american taxpayer should not send money to a government that takes our money and other money to reward their kids for killing our kids and israelis. taylor force was a victim of a corrupt, sick system. sharyl: would it be enough for them to disavow the payment system or do they have to present a law that shows they no longer will pay that kind of money for those acts? sen. graham: they have to change their law. they have literally a schedule. the longer you're in jail, the more you get paid. it's in a schedule in the palestinian authority law books. they have a martyr section. they've paid millions of dollars over the last 10 or 15 years to families like the man who killed taylor force, fairly large payments in terms of

he is now meeting the palestinian authority leader mahmoud abbas. they are expected to speak it anymore meant, let's go live for the very latest. >> we are hearing they are about 5 minutes out for making comments, we are looking at a live picture and see the two podiums there at the presidential palace in bethlehem, where president trump is meeting with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. they arrived there about an hour ago to a ceremony, a marching band, various dignitaries, bethlehem's mayor. representatives from the church of the nativity. that said, the discussion today will most likely focus on issues of the region. in particular, as we heard yesterday, restarting peace talks. coming to some kind of terms or 82 state solution. president trump spoke at length yesterday when he arrived at the airport and gave remarks at the airport after the ceremony about his trip to saudi arabia and efforts to bridge it piece not only in the middle east but again here in the region between israelis and palestinians. that will be the main topic of di

we are working hard with the palestinian authority to pass m essa 9 es with the palestinian authorityneeds to be found and the only elliptical solution is to in fact work on returning gaza to the control of the palestinian authority, the government. but now, there is no sign of that happening and rivalry between the main palestinian factions looks set to remain a potential stumbling block for peace efforts. meanwhile, nearly2 potential stumbling block for peace efforts. meanwhile, nearly 2 million people living in gaza are left in the dark over what happens next. yolande knell, bbc news, gaza city. arsenal have given themselves one final chance to sneak into the champions league next season. the gunners beat sunderland 2—0 to keep themselves alive in the top four battle, with manchester city and liverpool. arsenal manager arsene wenger told the bbc, "we've got in on the final day many times" before. alexis sanchez‘s brace means arsenal could yet secure a top—four finish by beating everton at home on sunday, but only if fourth—place liverpool, who are a point above them, fail to beat m

i also applaud the palestinian authorities continued security coordination with israel. they get along unbelievably well. i had meetings and at these meetings i was actually very impressed and somewhat surprised ata how well they get along. they work together beautifully. but there could be no lasting peace unless the palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate, and violence, and hate. there's such hatred. but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long. all children of god must be taught to value and respect human life and condemn all of those who target the innocent. as part of our efforts to move forward toward peace today, we will also discuss my administration's effort to help unlock the potential of the palestinian people through new economic opportunities. lastly, i want to be note the positive ongoing partnership between the united states and the palestinians on a range of issues, private sector development, job creation, regional security, counterterrorism and the rule of law, all of which are essential to moving forward tow

president trump gets said to meet with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. the have already begun that meeting. let's head over to washington to hear from kevin cirilli. changed in just a couple votes away from passage of a new health care bill? >> four top republicans met with president trump led by mark upton. late last evening he introduced an amendment that would provide $8 billion worth of funds to folks centered around the issue of pre-existing conditions. this has gotten the backing of the house freedom caucus. representative upton saying there could be a vote as early as tomorrow. this frankly we have heard time and time again. clearly this is a white house that wants to get a vote done before house members go into a recess on friday. vonnie: democrats having a press conference today as well. would it solve anything? could there be bipartisan agreement on this? could ask to the senate even? should any legislation that emerged out of the house extend to the senate it would radically change in some ways. in going to the process of reconciliation. the b

gives the palestinian authority $300,000 a year and shells out that much to the families, about 7% of total budget. taylor's killer was identified as bashar mos allah. the palestinian ambassador to the united nations defends the payments. >> there are, you know, a large number of palestinians who are receiving compensation. they are victims of israeli terrorism. >> reporter: taylor's parents hope the bill would discourage acts of terrorism. >> it's so important that the taylor force act passes so that other sons and daughters, brothers and sisters aren't lost in this way. >> reporter: senator graham says president trump will sign the taylor force act, but passage remains uncertain because not one democrat supports it. in new york, eric shawn, fox news. rick: political unrest mounting in venezuela as calls for president nicolas maduro grows wider. it's the third pay raise this year and comes as the economic crisis continues to worsen. this prompting month long protests which led to 20 deaths. those concerns fuels by weak currency and surging inflation. >>> all fun and games until someo

israeli government generally is going to be very different than the relationship he has with the palestinian authorityas one palestinian official says, there has to be a catch-up. they have to play a lot of catch-up to foster any trust for a potential deal. >> all eyes on the white house. ayman, thank you so much. >>> next, we played that emotional plea from jimmy kimmel yesterday. his newborn son, billy, had emergency heart surgery just days after he was born. but not everyone was touched by that story. now some conservatives, they're actually hitting back at him. the question is why? we're going to dive into that debate. before we go, i want to give you a quick check on the market. trading has just begun. look at this, we already see the day is starting 30 points down. now, what's interesting is we haven't seen this in a few days. with all the geopolitical risks, the news about north korea, about the filipino leader coming to the u.s. that hasn't spooked the market. but auto sales slowing, that is negative. this idea that the u.s. with the cleanest of the dirty shirt, money is flocking here. if mone

. >> reporter: now, president trump is expected to meet with president abbas in the palestinian authority tomorrow, and what you're seeing is really the notion that he's going to try to turn the israelis and the palestinians against a common enemy, iran, and unite them in that. now when you talk to analysts leading up to this trip, no one really believes that there's suddenly going to be this huge shift and that there's going to be an enormous breakthrough for mideast peace, but they do believe that israeli and palestinian leaders are at least making signals that they're willing to show up at the negotiating table. whether that ultimately leads to a deal, though, that is still a big question, poppy. >> all right, sara murray in jerusalem, thank you very much. let's go to oren liebermann as well, our correspondent based in jerusalem. this is a significant week. this is jerusalem week. this is also a president trying to walk quite a tight rope here after quite a dust-up within the administration over comments on the western wall just ahead of this trip. >> reporter: and so far, he's walking

commander-in-chief united states air force academy paid wednesday the president will host the palestinian authority for an official visit and thursday will host a national day of prayer event and as a mention last week you attend an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the battle aboard the uss intrepid and meet with the prime minister of australia. but continue to update you throughout the week. with that, your questions. >> to go back to comments the president made on health care regarding preexisting conditions. he said particularly the bill he wants to sign would mandate the preexisting conditions. can you talk through what he meant their? was he referring to something he wants to include in the bill? >> i think both in the sense of macarthur meadows amendment ensures the preexisting conditions are continued to be covered. obviously this bill hopefully passes the house this week or whatever that thing goes through an issue that is important to him. >> how is that if those people are treated affordably. the high-risk pool, and what are you doing to ensure that doesn't happen? >> he mentio

president mahmoud abbas in bethlehem in the west bank at the palestinian authority's presidential palace. both leaders condemning the attack in manchester expressing support and condolences to those, families of those who were killed and injured and saying they are willing to work together in fighting terrorism regionally and throughout the middle east. donald trump called those -- the people that carried this out or person who carried it out, evil losers, not only in this attack but in the middle east and all terrorism. he went on to say society can have no tolerance for this bloodshed and slaughter of innocent people including children. both leaders after expressing support and solidarity into their discussions and we heard this yesterday and hearing it again today, both sides of the israelis and palestinians back to the table to restart peace talks. today donald trump set it up by saying israelis and palestinians can make peace, that will begin the process of peace throughout the middle east, something he said to muslim leaders. with benjamin and yahoo and israeli president, ma

he met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority mahmoud abbas during his quick stop in the region. him and first lady visited yad vashem. earlier in the day the president was briefed on the manchester attack and british prime minister theresa may to offer support. the president has made expanding courter terrorism efforts a key theme of his first trip abroad. >>> cbs news has learned president trump asked top intelligence officials to refute the fbi investigation into possible russian collusion. the president reached out to admiral mike rogers, the director of the national security agency and national intelligence director dan coats testifying at this hour on capitol hill is former cia director john brennan. he led the agency's investigation into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. >>> even while navigating his first official trip overseas president trump is sending a message to congress here at home. his administration has delivered $4.1 trillion budget. the proposal seeks to speed up economic growth and includes deep cuts in suppo

. ♪ >> sean: welcome back to "hannity," earlier today president trump met with palestinian authority as at the white hous white house, a press conference were president trump called for peace between the israelis and palestinians, let's take a look. >> president trump: i'm committed to working with israel and the palestinians to reach an agreement. any agreement cannot be imposed by the united states or any other nation. the palestinians and israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, warship, and thrive and prosper in peace. there can be no lasting peace unless the palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate and hate, such hatred -- but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long. >> sean: when i was recently in israel, i asked prime minister benjamin netanyahu about peace and palestinian authority as a matter of law were awards terrorist for attacking and killing his release, this was his response. >> the first test of peace was to say to them "hey, you want peace much more to prove it. confront terrorism,

if you think about it, abbas through the palestinian authority is a sinai, controlling much of the sinaior penetration on the part of palestinians in the sinai region. hamas, pretty much all of the west bank is not under israeli control, even though obviously it is. so, you know he, hope springs eternal. every president right or left, republican, democrat, has hoped to score a sweeping comprehensive deal between the israelis and palestinians to little avail. but this president, thinks given the novelty of his approach to this that he would and he could. this luncheon and this visit is all part of the process, winning over all warring parties. a lot easier said than done. >>> to wall street, the dow is about 13 points, 14 points. we had been down 60, i should say south of 60, when it looked like this whole health care thing was falling apart. a word that couple reluctant members won over again, largely moderate congressman won over on the idea that preexisting conditions were covered. the losses ebbed a bit, their 1/5 about what they were about an hour ago. that does not mean a deal is do

of our people and our land. >> president trump had some markers of his own, demanding the palestinian authority stop payments to palestinians in israeli prisons. and rain in anti-israel incitement by palestinian media. president trump is pro-israel, palestinians believe he's the one president who might strike a deal. >> his ability to connect, work towards a shared goal, have diplomacy, it's something that's going to pay dividends. >> before the meeting, national security advisor h.r. mcmaster prime the pump at the israel independent state dinner saying the president is "not a super patient man" and "does not have time to debate doctrine." his reputation is good because we can no longer afford to invest in policies that do not advance the interests and values of the united states and our allies. whether president trump can be the one to succeed as an open question. he promised today he will be dedicated to the task. >> i will do whatever is necessary to facilitate the agreement, to mediate, arbitrate anything they would like to do come i would love to be mediator, arbitrator, facilitator. >> po

we are waiting for donald trump and palestinian authority president abbas to make some comments. we will get into that. they will be expressing gratitude about working together and the prospect of restarting peace talks and they are about to step to the podium. i will send it back to you. >> the president walking out in bethlehem, israel, about to give a speech along with palestinian leader abbas. >> there have not been toxic three years, donald trump acknowledging that was one of the toughest deals of all. he stressed the strong bonds between the us and israel, >> we understand he may start the talk with comments about the terror attack in manchester, england, overnight. let's ahead and listen. >> translator: in the name of god most merciful. [speaking arabic] >> this to abbas speaking a different language. we don't have a translator on right now so we will try to get that figured out or move into english in a second and he is speaking before donald trump. >> some of the issues that will be addressed here or have been, peace in the middle east, the only credible idea would be an

the two-day visit will include separate meetings with netanyahu and the palestinian authority president as part of an effort to help find a peace deal. the president also plans to spend time at a holocaust museum, the western wall, and other holy sites in israel. >>> meanwhile, happening today in washington, a top republican lawmaker plans to speak with former fbi director james comey about the russia controversy swirling around the white house. republican jason chaffetz chairs the house oversight committee. he said he's looking for meetings related to documents between comb and president trump. the president -- comey and president trump. the president fired james comey this month. a ranking senator wants to see if the president made the decision based on worries over what the russian investigation might conclude. >> we need to flesh that out, see what the response is. it's got to come from director com comey himself. >> dianne feinstein is on the committee looking to alleged ties linking russia to the campaign. president trump said he was thinking about the russia investigation when he

explosion by his national security team, this is new video, meeting today in bethlehem with palestinian authority abas. later the president will speak at holocaust memorial in jerusalem. >> top house democrat is accusing former national security advisor general michael flynn every making false statements to investigators about who found dollars his overseas trip. yesterday flynn invoked his fifth amendment right and refusing seen from lawmakers investigating russian election meddling. flynn's attorneys justified his decision not to turn over document by siting quote escalating public frenzy against him. senate could hold him in contempt of congress foreign soaking the fifth. >> five jurors have been select for the sexual assault trial of bill cosby. jury had come from western pennsylvanian then be sequestered here in montgomery county for the trial which is set to start june 5th. the 79 year old cosby accused of drugging and assaulting temple university employee at his home in montgomery count any 2004. cosby had said the encounter was concentual. >> closing arguments are expected today in the mu

melissa: president trump meeting with the president of the palestinian authority today.why president trump may be the first to negotiate a lasting middle east peace agreement? my name is pam. i'm 51 years old. when i was diagnosed with pneumococcal pneumonia, it was huge for everybody. she just started to decline rapidly. i was rushed to the hospital... my symptoms were devastating. the doctor said, "pam! if you'd have waited two more days, you would've died." if i'd have known that a vaccine could have helped prevent this, i would have asked my doctor or pharmacist about it. that $100k is not exactly a fortune. well, a 103 how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. i told you we had a fortune. get closer to your investment goals with a conversation. . david: tesla shares, even though they had a big miss in earnings, slightly lower after releasing first quarter results, revenue did more than double. new model 3 is on track for initial production in july, but again, the earnings were way off. melissa? melissa: the negotiator in chief, the

this includes separate meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. the president has called negotiating peace between israel and palestine.. as the "ultimate deal." (justine) it's the (justine) deal."the "ultimate palestine.. as israel and peace between negotiating called president has called negotiating peace between palestine.. as the "ultimate deal." (jr stone) it's the race that has been run more consecutive years than any other in the world... the annual bay to breakers run in san francisco. and take a look. an estimated 50-thousand people took to the streets with costumes on...and enthusiasm. but not everyone there was there to run.. thousands of people showed up just to dress up and watch. (jr stone) coming up... get ready for another round of hot weather....(justine) meteorologist lawrence karnow is back with what to expect for bay to breakers tomorrow. (jr stone) karnow: it was another hot day away from the coast. temperatures again soared into the 90s in the valleys. but at the coast it was a much different story. a

he met with the head of the palestinian authority today.ense situation on the korean peninsula. i'm not sure it's best use of his time to relitigate the 2016 election. >> finally, the word that susan rice is refusing to testify before a judiciary subcommittee when you are on about russia interference in the election. her lawyer said it was because it wasn't a bipartisan invitation. how do you think that's going to go over? >> to be clear, she's following longstanding protocol, which is that witnesses come in response to bipartisan invitations. more importantly, there's no evidence that susan rice did anything illegal or inappropriate. i hope that we will have conversations among senators going forward about what unmasking is and isn't. there were questions asked of director comey about this today as well. in the fbi oversight hearing. i don't think there's any compelling evidence that susan rice did anything wrong in the particular incident at issue here. >> you don't think democrats on the committee should take -- join hands with republica

theie: we were watching palestinian authority arriving at the white house.to be an interesting meeting. interesting global reaction. any idea what we might hear from >> we'llbal leaders? have to wait and see. the conversation will center around terrorism and national security. thinks -- thanks kevin cirilli. keene sitsg up, tom down with former fed chairman ben bernanke. look for that live in just a couple of minutes. reminder of what happened to european equities. little change for the stoxx 600. after the decline reaching the highest level in 20 months yesterday. strong economic data out of the germane on gdp unemployment. bloomberg markets continues. this is bloomberg. ♪ vonnie: i'm vonnie quinn. welcome to bloomberg markets. from bloomberg world headquarters in new york we are taking you from washington to san francisco this hour. u.s. stocks slipping from records high ahead of the fomc decision. apple shares weighing on the .ajor averages the u.s. dollar is gaining against most of its g10 peers. the white house is confident that they are only a few vote

had on this trip a fight against terrorism, against the culture, against the payments by the palestinian authority to terrorists and families of terrorists, the p.a. spends $300 million a year, 8% of its budgets rewarding activities and those families, palestinians, the president referring to that in his speech earlier this morning in jerusalem. clearly a change of culture, behavior and motive. he is calling for in the muslim world. >> shannon: we saw him over the weekend with the remarks he gave in saudi arabia and the opening of that huge counter terrorism intelligence area where they'll try to combat where so much of this is happening, online. he has talked about giving hope to the population there throughout the middle east which tends to be younger especially in saudi arabia, giving those people hope for an economic future and other options so they aren't so easily swayed by ideologies that would seek to capitalize on their despair, to radical ao*ids them and he equipment them. isis claiming responsibility for what happened in manchester saying the person was a soldier of the caliphate carryi

preventing incitement to violence, particularly in media outlets directly associated with the palestinian authorityrengthening efforts to combat terrorism, including defeating isis, measures to provide economic opportunity to the palestinian people, and additionally, the president raised concerns about the payments to palestinian prisoners in israeli jails who have committed acts of terror and to their families and emphasized the need to resolve this issue. later this evening the president, along with the vice president, mrs. pence, will host a discussion prayer and dinner. the president is proud to welcome the faith leaders to the white house for the first time an thank them for their support ahead of the national day of prayer which is tomorrow. the vice president hrauls deliver a keynote address at the susan b. anthony 2017 campaign forgala. the vice president office has more details on that. and with that, take your questions. ken? >> sean, on healthcare, does the president feel like we've reached a point here with the house that's a make or break moment in terms of getting the bill through the

wednesday, the president will host the president of the palestinian authority for a official visit, and on thursday, he'll host a national day of prayer event, and as i mentioned last week, he will then attend a event commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of coral sea and meet with the prime minister of australia. i'll continue to update you on the schedule throughout the week and with that, your questions. jill. >> thank you very much. so to go back to the comment the president made -- [question off mic] was he referring to something he wants to push to include in the bill, talking about the language that's already in there? >> well, i think both. in the sense to the macarthur meadows amendment shows that preexisting conditions are continued to be covered. but then obviously this bill hopefully passes the how is this week or whenever it does, and then go through the house. this is an issue that is important to him. >> how does he ensure, though, that those people are actually treated? there's a message from aarp that if you're looking at the high risk pool, premiums can be as

been israeli children, the suicide bomber's family would have received a stipend from the palestinian authorityestinian law. that law must be changed. [applause] i hope that president abbas heeds the principles, the clear, strong moral and practical principles that you enunciated today, president trump. stop rewarding terrorists, stop glorifying murderers. i believe this is the first and the crucial step towards the road to a genuine peace that israel seeks, and that i believe that together with you we can achieve. president trump working with you, i believe we can advance peace between israel and arab neighbors as well as the palestinians because of the common danger that the arab world and israel face from iran. and because of the leadership that you bring to this process. ultimately, around the world, i have no doubt that freedom will defeat fear, that light will vanquish darkness, because that is the story of america. a nation that has defeated the forces of tyranny, the beacon and hope of all humanity and that is the story of israel, a nation that has overcome unmanageable odds and hope of

been israeli children, the suicide bomber's family would have received a stipended from the palestinian authority. that's palestinian law. that law must be changed. [applause] i hope that are president abbas heeds the principles, the clear, strong, moral and practical principles that you enuciated today, president trump. stop rewarding terrorists. stop glorifying murders. i believe that this is the first and the crucial step towards the road to a genuine peace that israel seeks and that i believe that together with you we can achieve. president trump, working with you, i believe we can advance a durable peace between israel and its arab neighbors as well as the palestinians because of the common danger that the arab world and israel face from iran and because of the leadership hat you bring to this process. ultimately, around the world i have no doubt that freedom will defeat fear, that light will advantage wish darkness because that is the story of america, a nation that's defeated the forces of tyranny, that is the beacon and hope of all humanity and that is the story of israel, a nation that's

you have a palestinian entity split and the palestine authority on the west bank.e each other. maybe netanyahu is worried about pressure on his administration by the trump administration to resume a process they feel is a dead-end. the palestinians are not in a position to offer anything definitive. >> arthel: we look at the live pictures there, the presidential palace in palestine, you have the welcoming committee there. ruled out for president trump, and back to your point, president trump is it trying to accomplish what has thus far been completely mission impossible. >> the middle east is the land of miracles and perhaps there will be another one. but the 82-year-old mahmoud abbas has not been able to designate a successor to himself, he is not in good health. i am worried about the situation there and i think additional pressure of a peace process at this time is not actually going to make anybody's life easier. i wish it would, but i'm afraid i am a veteran of many failed peace prophecies. >> kelly: if i can jump in there quickly, you talk about this being a

authority says they are intended to provide for palestinian families and prisoners in the face of whation. critics simply say it rewards terrorism. for instance, payments of the family of taylor forest, he walked with friends on the boardwalk in tel aviv. and officials say money is being paid to the convicted killer of this young man. massachusetts teenager ezra schwartz. only 18 years old, a rutgers university student and gunned down riding in a minivan two years ago. the israeli ambassador to the united nations called for the u.n. to take action. >> let's be very clear, killing innocent people and providing incentive for bloodshed are not resistance. they are plain and simple terrorism. i call on the international community to face the truth for what it is. demand that mahmoud abbas and these terror payments immediately. eric: ezra's mother ruth now joins us from boston. first of all, ms. schwartz thank you for coming in tonight and the condolences to the loss of your son. inconceivable, you have to deal with the death of your son and then you have the payments? what are you calling

now asking them to recognize israel as a jewish state, something that the palestinian authority has beeno. on the palestinian side, there has to be a unified negotiating consensus. they have to have some key po t points. on the israeli side there has to be an acknowledgement of what it would look like. palestinians say you haven't defined a border for us to recognize. you keep moving the benchmarks, the issue of settlements keep coming up. >> and on the other side of the coin, one gets a sense that for israel, there's not really a constituency, netanyahu can't get everybody together at the same place so they're going to say keep the status quo. >> the israeli government has shifted to the hard right. you've had more settlement, political parties represented in the israeli government, not inclined to have a two-state solution. by that, really a peace deal. they want to try to maintain the status quo. perhaps even a one-state solution, which obviously would be problematic for both sides. certainly on the israeli right of this government. >> jim vandehuy has a question. >> you saw him smirk

tomorrow he will be meeting with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas in bethlehem.p to the holocaust memorial here in jerusalem to lay a wreath. a very busy schedule. we have been talking all morning kind of the bullet points what is likely to be discussed first and foremost, the quote, unquote, ultimate deal resuming peace talks between the palestinians and israelis. i think two other issues that will come up, the settlement issue here in israel. israel's continued construction of settlements in the west bank and then also moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to here in jerusalem, a very contentious and divisive issue, even biff president trump took office. and the white house has kind of scaled back its support of moving the embassy here and also encouraging israel stepping back on the continued construction of those settlements. and just to give you a little color, guys. the hotel in downtown jerusalem is very close to the jassa gate to the old city. if you have never been here you see the tower of david and then did you go through the muslim and jewish quarters

one day the president will host the palestinian authority for a visit, and thursday he'll host a national prayer event and then attend a commemorating event for the battle of coral sea or the u.s.s. intrepid. i'll continue to update you for the schedule throughout the week. with that, your questions. jo? >> i want to go back to the promise the president made this week on "face the nation" about preexisting conditions. he said there would be a mandate that preexisting conditions would be covered. was he talking about a bill that's already in there? >> an amendment ensures that preexisting conditions continue to be covered. again, obviously, as this bill hopefully passes the house this week or whenever it does and then goes through the senate and the house, this is an issue that is important to him. >> how does he ensure, though, that those people actually are treated affordably? there was an estimate from aarp if you were in the high risk pool, the premiums can be as high as $25,000 for somebody. what is he doing to ensure that doesn't happen? >> there's two things i think he mentioned in

president trump meets with the palestinian authority president and vows to work as a mediator to help achieve peace with israel. can this u.s. president succeed? where so many of his predecessors failed. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following breaking news. fbi director james comey is defending his handling into the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails. comey said it made him quote mildly nauseous to think that he swayed the outcome of the presidential race by announcing just days before the election that the clinton probe was being reopened. but he stood by his action and said would he do it again. we're also following the high stakes effort by the white house and the house gop leadership to pass their revised bill to repeal and replace obamacare. two key moderate republicans switched their votes to yes after president trump committed to support extra money to fund coverage for people with preexisting conditions. the president and the vice presid

abbas, under intense pressure at home to protect american funding for his palestinian authority and secureelease of some of the thousands of palestinian prisoners, many currently participating in a hunger strike in israeli jails. landing a significant concession from netanyahu will be difficult given the power of israel's political right wing. netanyahu is seeking concessions that the palestinian president is unlikely to agree to. yesterday, the israeli prime minister demanded abbas' top financial payments to palestinians who carried out attacks on israelis prayed >> you want to make a step toward peace? cancel the payment, cancel the law that requires payment. fund peace, not murder. >> president trump is expected to visit yours alone. they will want to hear in the coming days about what he expects them to do to end the conflict. >> bret: conor powell, thank you. the administration pushes back on the narrative that it gave to democrats on the budget. we will talk about that and a host of issues when the panel joins me after the break. what about the people i care about? ...including this

to that end, tomorrow he'll be meeting with president abbas of the palestinian authority, and it's worth noting that when you talk to experts and analysts about this, they're not expecting any kind of major breakthrough in terms of getting to a peace agreement from this short trip, but it will be very interesting to see what the president does have to say about this publicly in his various stops over the next few days. back to you guys. >> sara, so much made of the president being on this week-long trip as he deals with a number of headaches here at home. is this trip so far serving as a break from that, or does that remain a focus there? >> reporter: well, i mean, i certainly think the saudi arabia portion went pretty smoothly, and i think his advisers want this to be a reset, a way for him to appear presidential, to say, look, i can still get some victories on the chart for the united states. but the problems at home don't go away. there are still a lot of focus on the russia investigation at home, and to that end, the president's chief of staff, reince priebus, as well as senior advis

tomorrow he will visit with mahmoud abbas, the head of the palestinian authority, they will visit the holocaust museum, the israel museum, other events, and that's where the focus has been. they have a been able to with important photo ops and important meetings and gestures and symbols offent action keep some of that at bay. >> and we're not hearing from the white house, may be not surprisingly. elijah cummings has address in the past, whether or not flen was honest or who gave him the security clearance. he later was on the doorstep of something elijah cummings says doesn't hold water here. >> that's today's developments. hey, the obama administration gave this guy a clearance so why are you questioning us? if he misrepresented this key fact this trip, and bethe way, the pentagon is questioning whether he should have gotten permission separately to be paid by russia. if he misrepresented this, you could question, why didn't they get to the bottom of it? and how good are the security vetters in this government? >> that was a separate level of clearance under the obama administration

. >>> president trump meeting today with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. aring before cameras, making statements. they did not take any questions last hour, though. president trump calling for a regional solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict. >> the palestinians and israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace. and i will do whatever is necessary to facilitate the agreement to mediate, to arbitrate anything they would like to do. >> daniel ilon, former israeli foreign minister and msnbc's amon mohadine also with me. in broad terms, what did you make of the president's remarks? >> you noticed the stark difference in the two laid out their statements. certainly president abbas welcomed the initiatives, he felt there was a lot of optimism on the palestinian side. he was encouraged by the comments president trump made. but when you look at the details, you see the stark difference and the gaps that exist. president trump is making reference peace as a general abstract term. d

. >> that is, what role can the palestinian authorities play in this? a lot of palestinians who say the palestinian authority is the security arm of the israeli government in the wempbs? can they even make a deal? >> well, it is a very good question. i think we're probably further away from a deal than we've ever been. not because of the leadership. they second the reality of israel, second it back in 1988. they've double it throughout the 1990s. they've sat in various peace conferences. and the real problem is that you have an israeli government which is filled with rejectionists from top to bottom. people who don't believe in a two-state solution. in the past year i've interviewed the israeli consul general in new york, others, they said they refuse to believe in the state. so you have an occupying power which controls the west bank, which basically says we don't believe in the two-state solution that the rest of the international community believes in. that donald trump claims to want. so you can't get a solution if one party doesn't recognize the ide

funds for the palestinian authority -- to stop terrorist payments will they senior israeli cabinet minutesfor meetings welcome thank you. >> good to be here. >> unbelievable, as american i have to say, that the palestini know authority would reward terrorists for about certain citizen murder of killer confounding palestinian man stabbed to death taylor, the president talked to mr. abbas about this they are continuing payments. >> they are continuing the payments, and this is just -- one supporting terrorism. this with speaking against violence -- and about favor of peas in arabic, education system two main messages mahmoud abbas futile -- children, too, if ilz should be limited sooner or later, second should, be get rid of -- and making -- paying insanity in jail -- and -- giving prizes to he terrorists, calling, money and the name of terrorist, killed israeli sifls civilians, this is us -- for any negotiations. >> for any sincere peace negotiation the -- going to continue a major statement in the jerusalem post -- sr., adviser to mr. abbas says demand at ramallah stopped payments to famil

so tomorrow, the palestinian authority that will change the dynamic. again, a different look at the relationship. notable too that both the president and the prime minister referred to each other by their first name. that's something that typically is not done, unless there is real friendship there. they're trying to lead with friendship on this trip in many ways. craig? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. steve clemens, editor at charge, thank you. ambassador ginsburg, good to have you. and of course, andrea mitchell there in jerusalem, as well. the trump administration barn storming the middle east to a certain extent. this his first overseas trip as president. his ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, also making her first overseas trip. she was here in amman, jordan. she has since traveled to turkey. when we come back on the other side of this break, my exclusive conversation with her about the refugee crisis that continues to persist in this part of the world. she also made some news on russia and north korea, as well. we'll be right back. cap

you can actually see live pictures right now of president donald trump being greeted by palestinian authorityud abbas. he just made the short trip leaving the king david hotel, about an eight-minute ride into bethlehem. that is where you see he is being greeted by palestinian official, including two young children. they're dressed in traditional palestinian clothes, giving the president some flowers alongside the palestinian authority president. >> well, the meeting between the two world leaders comes as this apparent attack rocks the uk at the end of an ariana grande concert in manchester, killing at least 22 and injuring 59 others. of course, we will delve into that this morning in our special coverage. but back here to the presidential palace here, the palestinian presidential palace where we have the president's arrival here. and there will be a welcome ceremony with president trump and president abbas as the president of the united states is expected to meet with abbas later on, sharing those remarks that we will be able to share with you as well. that as we can see from these live pictu

earlier today president donald trump met with palestinian authority president in bethlehem . he said that meeting leads him to believe policy lanes are ready to reach for peace. >> back in washington former cia director john brennan testified about his concerns over contacts and interactions between russia and people involved in the trump campaign. he spoke before a house committee today. >> fox news reporter tells us he stopped short of saying whether there is evidence of collusion. >> while president donald trump visits italy for the next leg of his overseas trip congress is busy looking into russia's interference into american politics. hearing from former cia director john brennan who says he knew the russians were working to undefined -- the mandatory 16 collection. he is not sure that was colluding with them. >> i had unresolved questions as to whether or not the russians had been successful in getting u.s. persons involved in the campaign or not. >> the senate armed services committee grilling national intelligence director who refused to say whether president donald t

has separate meetings scheduled over the next few days with the israeli prime minister and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. he downed played expectations for significant progress on the peace negotiations. >> you see a live picture of president trump and malania getting off the plane and walking down the steps. this is significant because it is the first to takes place for any plane who whatever whatsoevn saudi arabia and israel they have do not have any diplomatic privilege. please president trump and his wife, you will see him meet president netanyahu of israel for the first time in israel. s this the president's first foreign trip since becoming president back in january. >> we'll continue to dip in and bring you updates. >> we're off to a wet start storm tracker 6 live double scan, we have rain coursing through the region. some of it steady at times east of philadelphia. we go in with the two dimensional view, we have rain heavy at times. parts of in burlington county. a slug of it is heading to the north and east of camden and gloucester county. there's a thinner line of heavi