so they both have bipartisan background. >> and peter baker, there's a lot of questions about james comey, because you heard adam schiff, the democrats are really unhappy with that briefing yesterday and they're even talking, he's even talking about subpoenaing the fbi director if they don't start getting the answers. >> we've got a situation now where an fbi director uncomfortable no doubt finds himself really in the crosshairs of a real partisan fight. there's a lot of bad blood among democrats for the fact that comey came out shortly before the election with his statement saying he was relooking at some emails to see whether or not hillary clinton her personal server was back at issue. he then put out another letter three days before the election saying no, turns out nothing here but democrats still believe that was one of the biggest causes of her defeat, and they're not likely to accept sort of the kind of answers that congressman schiff talked about on your tape. >> let's talk a bit about sergey kislyak the russian ambassador. the importance of him in the whole drama and the fact he

is with us, peter baker i will start with you.e us your assessment of where things stand after the first week of the rollout of the alternative to the affordable care act. >> well, earlier in your program you got the left and right, very different critiques of this plan and a president who isn't quite sure which way forward. he is said contracting, in fact, the policy to paul ryan, which as you demonstrated, very smart -- master of the subject, but i think the question is, what investment is he going to tut into the path of this bill. he doesn't really care, think about some of the specific details, what he wants is a winner, he says you have to have a win and a something he can wall call repeal and replace. whether this is, whether it is or not is unclear. policy -- -- and so we are waiting to hear from the president. and. >> dickerson: what do you make of the legislation put forward by paul ryan? is it the best he can get? >> well, i think he tried to split the difference between the people, pragmatic republicans who want to mak

joining me now, peter baker chief white house correspondent for the "new york times." ived and worked in moscow when he was the moscow bureau chief for the "washington post." peter, in your opinion is sergey kislyak a diplomat or is he a spy? >> well, look, in the russian system it's essentially without a difference. if you are the ambassador from russia in washington it's your job to meet and cultivate american officials and to collect information. whether he had any formal ties or not, i don't happen to know. what he was doing here in washington is what ambassadors have done for a long time. the problem is he did it with officials from a campaign that wasn't yet in office who then didn't necessarily tell the full truth about their contacts. that's what's gotten both michael flynn and now jeff sessions in trouble. >> is there reason to believe kislyak was meeting with sessions because he was a senator or because he was part of the campaign? the "washington post" contacted all 26 senators in the armed services committee and none of them had met with kislyak except for s

>> we cover it all, with dan balz of the washington post, carol lee of the wall street journal, peter baker of the new york times, and ylan mui of cnbc. >> celebrating 50 years, this is "washington week." funding is provided by... ♪[music] >> additional funding is provided by newman's own foundation. donating all profits from newman's own products to charity and nourishing the common good. the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! >> once again, from washington, robert costa of the washington post. >> good evening. meeting new people isn't always easy. and that was apparent at the white house where president trump hosted german chancellor angela merkel for the first time. it began with a traditional photo op with reporters, with the two leaders notably did not shake hands. later, during a joint press conference in the east room, a reporter asked the president about remarks made by the white house press secretary, who suggested british

we cover it all with peter baker of the "new york times," margaret brennan of cbs news, and yamiche alcindor of the "new york times." >> celebrating 50 years, this is "washington week." announcer: once again, from washington, robert costa of "the washington post." robert: good evening. the house republican health care plan to replace obama care cleared two major hurdles in congress. a wall of conservative resistance remains. most americans just want to know, how will it affect me? here are some basics of the proposal. young people would be able to stay on their parents' plan until age 26. insurance companies would have to cover people with preexisting conditions and offer essential health benefits like preventative care. there would be no annual or lifetime coverage limits. the house plan would not require people to purchase coverage. employers would not be required to provide affordable insurance to employees. also, federal subsidies for out of pocket expenses would be eliminated. in addition, the expansion of medicaid that was part of the affordable care act would end in 2020. it's not jus

our sunday group, dana perino, cohost of "the five" ," bob ward road from "the washington post," peter baker, who covers the white house and laura ingraham, editor of lifezette. peter, i'm sure you've been working your sources feverishly ever since trump's tweets started appearing on saturday morning. do they have any evidence to back up his contention that president obama ordered the wiretapping? >> i don't think they do. basically elicited that from very two well-connected senator senators. a sweeping assertion. we obviously do have some reporting out there about an investigation of people around trump and it certainly conceivable that some of the people around trump have had their communications intercepte intercepted. remember, the fbi intercepts a lot of russians communications and if they were talking with americans, they might have already tripped over that. >> chris: he was saying that they wiretapped his phone and trump tower. didn't offer any evidence. >> the president of the united states at the time, there is no evidence he ordered that. if >> chris: laura, first there's the ques

let's bring in the chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker, with more on are you today? >> good. what are you hearing? >> this is obviously such an extraordinary thing. this man was national security adviser to the president of the united states. and, obviously, he has been in the cross hairs right now of the -- both the investigating committees on the hill and the fbi. he is trying to cut a deal. as you played the clip from jeremy bash, the deal usually goes if you're trying to flip on somebody higher. in this case, though, he's looking for a way to tell his story without worrying about being prosecuted for his words. and that's what often trips up people. you talk about iran-contra, these other cases. people got tripped up because of things they said publicly that were not true or were contradicted by other facts. the cover-up is often worse than the original crime. and this is a situation where you've got a very high former official, very high former adviser to the president of the united states seeking to protect himself against criminal prosecution. i

times" front page headline, before congress, trump urges into trivial fights, "times" reporter peter baker and maggie haberman praising the president as he wrote this -- that from the "new york times," and it all began last night with the president walking into the congressional chamber to thunderous applause. [applause] five minutes' worth of applause as he entered and went to the podium. mr. trump delivered a message, a call to action on the nation's challenges. >> the time for small thinking is over. the time for trivial fights is behind us. we just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts. the bravery to express the hopes that share our souls and the confidence to turn those hopes and those dreams into action. from now on, america will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears. lou: joining us tonight to discuss the president's pledge to put small thinking behind us and answer whether house republican leadership can do just that when it comes to the repeal and replacement of obamacare. chairman of the house freedom caucus, congressman mark meadows join

enforcement analysts, the former fbi director tom fuentes, chief correspondent for the "new york times", peter baker. he is also former moscow bureau chief for the washington post and cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. the political ramifications of the president's allegations very serious allegations against president obama. they are enormous. the congressional investigation, the white house says it now wants to see how distracting is this, though, says for republicans. >> well, it's distracting only in the sense that they now have to make a decision about whether they're going to support the president in his charge or whether they're not. look, the white house was sent spinning. they're like gerbils in a wheelhouse here going round and round trying to figure out a way to deal with the president's charges without having to address whether or not this actually occurred. i would argue that if the president believes this occurred and there was a warrant for this, key have it immediately declassified and just put it out there for the american public to see. >> the president, as you know, tom, h

joining us, bob woodward, peter baker, laura ingraham and dana perino. sure you have been work your white house sources feverishly ever since president trump's tweet starts appearing saturday morning. do they have any evidence to support that president obama ordered the wiretapping of trump tower? >> no, there isn't an evidence chain that would support such a sweeping assertion. we have reporting about an investigation of people around trump. it's conceivable people around trump -- the f.b.i. -- there is a lot of russian communications. chris: he was saying they wiretapped his phones in trump tower. >> and if the president of the united states barack obama ordered it, there is no evidence that we know about to that effect. chris: laura, there is the question whether this is true. it would be very dramatic if president obama ordered the tapping of phones in trump tower. why does donald trump want to keep breathing life into this story about the russia-trump connection at the precise moment he's trying to unveil and push his agenda. >> perhaps one of the r

"the new york times" peter baker and maggie haberman write, quote. >> we must restore integrity and theonight, we are removing gang members, drug tlers, and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens. switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration and instead, ado adopting a merit-based system, we will have so many more benefits. it will save countless dollars, raise workers' wages and help struggling families, including immigrant families enter the middle class. i believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals. to improve jobs and wages for americans, to strengthen our nation's security, and to restore respect for our laws. >> so, you know, it's interesting there. the first is union members have always wondered why democrats weren't tougher on illegal immigration because it drives down american wages. just does. i'm sure there is going to be like 20 people that do -- will show how it doesn't. i think it makes sense that most americans believe it does. and then but the la

peter's currently a partner in the baker mckenzie toronto office, a firm with which we have had the good fortune to collaborate with on a number of different conferences and events. thanks for coming out for this. paula stern is the founder and chairwoman of the stern group which she founded in 1988. she's also truly a wealth of knowledge and i'm privileged to call paula a dear colleague as paula serves on the atlantic council's board of directors. it is hard to find someone with both the experience and expertise of paula. that's why she's always one of my first calls on any trade related matter. paula served as chairwoman of the u.s. international trade commission and as commissioner for nine years analyzing and voting on over 1,000 trade cases. next to me rafael fernandez de castro, prove for in both mexico city and syracuse university's maxwell school of citizenship and public affairs. rafael, you are really the ultimate expression of a strong u.s.-mexico relationship. i've had the pleasure to know rafael, worked with him for a number of years. he is a prolific writer as well, having

gregg, the son of the founder of the greggs bakers chain, has been jailed for 13—and—a—half years for indecently assaulting four boys. 0ur correspondent peterad some and the judge had some very strong words? he did. this brings to an end a 20—year process to try to bring colin gregg to process. way back in 1997 he stood trial here in newcastle, accused of abusing a boy. 0n newcastle, accused of abusing a boy. on that occasion he was found not guilty. down the years, though, other victims came forward, and it is for those that he has now been convicted and sentenced. this relates to four boys over a period of almost 30 years, nine counts of indecent assault. what do we know of colin gregg? he was a man of wealth, the court heard. way back in the 19605, the court heard. way back in the 1960s, he played a part in setting up 1960s, he played a part in setting up family's greggs chain of bakers. mostly in his life he worked as a teacher and head teacher. but, the court heard, was an aggravating feature. the court said he had used that cloak of respect ability and hidden behind it in order to abuse boys. thejudge said he hidden behind it in order

baker hughes. the two companies are still expecting that deal to close by midyear. >>> the trump administration's trade adviser, peter, is stepping up bilateral trade agreement talks, focusing on germany. but our next guest says bilateral trade agreements leave the u.s. vulnerable. joining us now is michael froman, former u.s. trade representative under president obama. thank you for being here this morning. >> great to be here. thank you. >> we've spoken a little about your concern about the bilateral agreements. this is something the trump administration has said they can move quickly on. what are your biggest concerns about that? >> well, i think as both germany and france have conveyed to the trump administration, they're not in a position to negotiation bilateral trade agreements because they're part of the european union. the uk is a different story. when the uk exits the eu, there could well be an opportunity for a bilateral agreement. i think the bigger issue is that other countries are moving ahead with larger agreements, platform agreements with many countries, because that's the most efficient way to set r