i'm poppy harlow in new york. no shortage of news this morning. the president just delivered a major economic speech on the world stage. he's leaving davos, switzerland, heading for air force one. here at home a firestorm over new headlines on the russia investigation. earlier this morning the president worked hard to discredit new reporting that last june he tried to have special counsel bob mueller fired by his own white house attorney. a source tells cnn that white house lawyer, don mcgann, refused to fire mueller and threatened to quit. the president for his part denies it all. listen. >> did you seek to fire robert mueller? >> fake news, folks, typical "new york times" fake story. >> keep in mind firing mueller is a red line that many in the president's own party have repeatedly said he should not cross. our jim acosta is traveling with the president. we'll get to the details of the speech in just a moment. what can you tell us on this front? >> poppy, as you said, the president is geding ready to depart davos. he laid out what he believes to

. >>> time for poppy harlow and john berman after this break.e's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. powerful skincare,s now light-as-air a breakthrough moisturizer whipped for instant absorption feel a light-as-air finish in a flash new olay whips ageless >>> good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. what could possibly go wrong? the government is set to run out of money in 63 hours. people are wondering if they'll be told to leave and the u.s. cabinet secretary saying she doesn't know if norway is predominant lead white. raise your hands if that sounds for like good ingredients for a cocktail. key republican members are saying they don't know if they

. >> now you may have recognized that interview and that was our very own poppy harlow interviews missnd if you want to hear the full interview, poppy's podcast, boss files, subscribe today on itunes. i know you ha've been working t a long time and can't wait to see the full thing and can't wait for barbecue for breakfast. [ applause ] here we go. >> thank you, coy. she's an amazing woman and setting such an example for little boys and girls out there everywhere. my thanks to kathryn smith. have fun. i have no doubt you will. we have a lot of news to get to. let's get right to it. >>> all right. top of the hour, 10:00 a.m. eastern. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. we have breaking news and i got to tell you this is going to make waves. sources tell

i am poppy harlow. >> i am john berman this morning. one question haunting the white house, who is going to tell the president he doesn't have an actual button, not to launch a nuclear war at least, and that's one question, and the more important question is bragging about button size and performance. >> that's a good question. the president wrote somebody should tell kim jong-un that trump also has a nuclear betten and it's more bigger and powerful than his, and my button works. seriously, the words of the president. >>> just, shaping up to be a big morning because one of the men closest to the president calls out that infamous trump tower meeting calling it unpatriotic, and this is from the new steve bannon book, and even if you thought it was not treasonist, you should have called the fbi immediately. our joe johns is at the white house with all of it. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. one tweet from the president this morning on iran, a theme he handled yesterday, yesterday very busy, of course, two tweets on north kor

i am poppy harlow.iness on his first workday of 2018 trump is taking on the leadership of iran. president obama and his own justice department. a lot to get to. let's get to joe johns. i hope you had a good break. what is the president up to this morning? >> reporter: i did, indeed. thank you very much, poppy. the fact of the matter is the president put out a couple tweets this morning, just a lot to unpack quite frankly. the first one coming down early this morning. the president restating some of the grievances

i am john berman. >> i am poppy harlow. the administration blasting a judge for blocking. president sticks to a bottom line demand for a wall after oscillating a lot in that meeting yesterday. >> the judicial order came overnight throwing things into turmoil just after the president's 55-minute public display of competency, so what feat of strength comes today. >> reporter: it is fascinating, john. it certainly adds a level of uncertainty to the tug-of-war over the d.r.e.a.m.ers. it's only temporary and, by the way, the justice department, the

i am poppy harlow.or his first order of business on his first workday of 2018 trump is taking on the leadership of iran. president obama and his own justice department. a lot to get to. let's get to joe johns. i hope you had a good break. what is the president up to this morning? >> reporter: i did, indeed. thank you very much, poppy. the fact of the matter is the president put out a couple tweets this morning, just a lot to unpack quite frankly. the first one coming down early this morning. the president restating some of the grievances he complained about on the campaign trail related to the obama administration's unfreezing of assets of iran that had been frozen since the iranian revolution. let me just read you the tweet. he said the people of iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt iranian regime, and all the money that president obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and their pockets, and people have little food and big inflation and no human rights and the u.s. is watchi

i am poppy harlow. >> i am john berman. welcome to "fire and fury" friday, or maybe it should be called possible obstruction friday. at this minute the explosive new book raising alarming questions about the president's fitness is on sale despite the president's empty threats to sue to stop it, and this has "the new york times" raises questions about obstruction of justice. it says the president personally urged the white house counsel to stop sessions from recusing himself in the russia investigation. >> we will get to why in just a moment. and questions abound in the book after the world learned about donald trump, jr.'s meeting with the russians, and wolff rights, it was about adoption policy, and even though it was likely, if not certain, that the times had the incriminating e-mail chain and it's quite possible they knew "the times" had the e-mail chain. for the first time we are hearing from the author of the book himself, michael wolff, answering questions about how fit the people closest to the president think he is

i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman.ust moments ago, "broken and unfair," those words from the president, reacting to a court ruling that blocks the administration from removing protections for some 800,000 d.r.e.a.m.ers, people who were brought to this country illegally as children, but have lived here, in some cases, for years and years, and have been protected up until now. president trump accused the opposing side of running to the ninth circuit, known for progressive decisions, in search of political victories destined to be overturned, he says. >> we will see the president again next hour, holding a cabinet meeting, later today. he will hold a press conference, of course, we'll carry that live right here. this as members of congress maybe scratching their head this morning, as much as we are, trying to figure out exactly where this president stands on a deal for d.r.e.a.m.ers and the wall. let's get to kaitlan col

. >> i am poppy harlow. we begin with breaking news. what looks like a break through in the talks between north and south korea, both sides agreed to hold military talks. >> military talks. what does that mean? north korea says it will send a delegation to the winter olympics in south korea, and those games start one month from today. will ripley on the ground where these talks happened. what came from the talks? what can you tell us? >> reporter: probably the biggest announcement that came out within the last hour, john and poppy, north and south korea will be engaging in talks in the near future on de-escalating military tensions on the peninsula, which sounds like welcome news until you hear what the north korean negotiator also said is that north korean weapons are pointed at the united states and not south korea or china. they said the united states must learn how to peacefully co-exists with a nuclear armed north korea or face ruin, and the north korean official said that north korea denu denuclearization is not happening. so the

i am john berman. >> i am poppy harlow. we begin with breaking news.looks like a break through in the talks between north and south korea, both sides agreed to hold military talks. >> military talks. what does that mean? north korea says it will send a delegation to the winter olympics in south korea, and those games start one month from today. will ripley on the ground where these talks happened. what came from the talks? what can you tell us? >> reporter: probably the biggest announcement that came out within the last hour, john and poppy, north and south korea will be e

poppy harlow determined here helpful. >> without a vikings win, but i am here and proud of my team. >> life is full of ups and downs. good to have poppy. >> good to be here. >> the u.s. government shutdown heads to day three. the deep divisions over the fate of d.r.e.a.m.ers failing to produce any compromise. now, there is a major problem we'll address this morning. we don't know what the specific issues are that are keeping the parties apart. why aren't lawmakers telling us more? we will push for answers. now, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said he is willing to start debating immigration legislation if there's no agreement by february 8th. senate minority leader chuck schumer wants a firmer commitment. >>> so where has president trump been all weekend this weekend? he's largely remained on the sidelines in the heated negotiations. he only needs 51 votes to get this through. not going to happen. each side blaming the other. hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed today. suzanne malveaux joins us live on hill. any progress at this 6:01 a.m. hour? >> reporte

i'm poppy harlow in new york. john berman has the morning off, deservedly so. it is the first day of the new year and the last day of the president's holiday in mar-a-lago. he is due back in washington tonight w spending bills, immigration, trade battles all on the front burner and iran very much front of mind for this president. this morning he writes "iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the obama administration. the great iranian people have been repressed for many years. they are hungry for food and freedom. along with human rights, the wealth of iran is being looted. time for change." let's go to sara murray in west palm beach where the. the is enjoying the final few hours of this working vacation. so many messages from him on iran yesterday during these protests, sara. >> reporter: that's right, poppy. as you said the president is on vacation for a few more hours before he heads back to washington, d.c., but it's clear that at least today and last night foreign policy ha

. >> and i'm poppy harlow. >> the big speech is over and all eyes are on the white house and what seems to be the release alleging fbi abuses all tied to the trump dossier. the white house is pouring over this memo from devin nunes. >> john kelly said the memo will be released pretty quick, i think. or as the president put it overnight, 100%. >> all right. let's go to the white house. kaitlyn c kaitlan collins is there for a sense of what is going on. this is the morning after the speech, but we are on the eve of maybe minutes before the release of the big memo. >> reporter: that's right. it's a big of question what is going on. the big question is has the president seen this memo yet and right now no one seems poised to answer that question. we know that according to the white house as of the state of the union address the president had not laid eyes on this memo yet and i'm told by a white house official that after the speech was over the president came back to the white house but he didn't go into the west wing. instead he went straight into the residence. i'm told by someone who spo

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman.zying 24 hours in the russia investigation, no longer just inching toward the president. this morning it is more like careening. we know special counsel robert mueller wants to counsel the president and we know why. sources tell cnn the special counsel wants to hear

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. of the state of the union, is this some grand moment of bipartisan togetherness, or is it wednesday? you might want to bet on wednesday. the president's speech, all 80 minutes of it was well received by those who watched, a more republican audience. whatever partisanship might be short lived as evidenced by what the president said just after the speech. >> you'll hear about the key exchange berman notes.

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman.esident is canceling a trip to florida, it must be serious. moments ago the white house announced the president will not leave for mar-a-lago unless a bill to keep the government running is passed. they might have to live for a while without some vitamin d. a republican congressional insider tells cnn this is going to get worse before it gets better. with less than 15 hours to go now on the official countdown clock, there is a full-scale standoff in the senate. >> my colleagues, where is the urgency here? the reason we're here right now is our friends on the other side say solve this illegal immigration problem right now or we're going to shut the

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. if the president is canceling a trip to florida, it must be serious. moments ago the white house announced the president will not leave for mar-a-lago unless a bill to keep the government running is passed. they might have to live for a while without some vitamin d. a republican congressional insider tells cnn this is going to get worse before it gets better. with less than 15 hours to go now on the official countdown clock, there is a full-scale standoff in the senate. >> my colleagues, where is the urgency here? the reason we're here right now is our friends on the other side say solve this illegal immigration problem right now or we're going to shut the government down. >> there is an urgency. there's an urgency in their lives because of the uncertainty of tomorrow. whether tomorw wil mean deportation for themselves and their families, yes, there a re urgency. >> i find it rather disingenuous to say we're against this short-term continuing resolution because we want another short-t

i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow. the president fired one fbi director and this morning new reporting that the current fbi director became so enraged he threatened to quit. >> axios said christopher ray fired the deputy director, mccade had been a public target of president trump for months, largely for his role in the hillary clinton investigation. cnn shimon prokupecz has more on this from

i'm poppy harlow. have a great weekend. i'm brianna keilar in for kate bolduan. president trump is aboard air force one, wrapping up an international trip and saddled with new baggage from the russia investigation. the latest bombshell, president trump ordered the firing of special counsel robert mueller last june. according to one person familiar with the matter, the president backed off when white house lawyer don mcgahn, the chief counsel, refused, and threatened to resign instead of carry out his wishes. the president denies the reports. but the explosive claims raised new questions of possible obstruction of justice. a short time ago, the president

. >> i'm poppy harlow. it is pretty clear that first week of the new year will end like so many weeks of the first year of the trump administration, almost entirely engulfed in revelations and controversies from russia and the russia investigation to a chaotic west wing. today the explosive tell-all that president trump calls phony and full of lies, well, it has been on sale everywhere and i mean everywhere now for an hour. days ahead of schedule. despite the president's best efforts to stop it. defending his reporting this morning the author of "fire and fury" says 100% of the people around president trump question his fitness for office. >> what's the suggestion there? because that goes beyond saying okay, the president's not an intellectual. what are you arguing there? you say, for example, he was at mar-a-lago and didn't recognize lifelong friends. >> i will quote steve bannon, he's lost it. >> but wait, there's more. this morning "the new york times" is reporting that the president personally ordered t

. >> i'm poppy harlow. at any moment we will hear from president trump amid the scenic swiss alps. the president is in davos at a gathering of the business elite that businessman trump never got invited to. he is there for the first time as president. if he's as talkative as he was last night at the white house, we may hear a lot more about the russia probe, what he thinks obstruction is and isn't, a path to citizenship for d.r.e.a.m.ers and why it's, supposedly not a, quote, big deal, to ask the acting head of the fbi if he voted. >> the cameras will be allowed in any minute now, we believe. the question is what more will he say about his legal vat gee in the russia investigation, because he provides some major tells when he surprised reporters at the white house, even beyond saying he is eveninger to speak to investigators. >> are you going to talk to mueller? >> i'm looking forward to it actually. >> you want to. >> just so you underthere's been no collusion whatsoever. there's no obstruction whatsoever. and i'm looking forward to it. >> you would do it under oath? >> i would do

i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow.nt we will hear from president trump amid the scenic swiss alps. the president is in davos at a gathering of the business elite that businessman trump never got invited to. he is there for the first time as president. if he's as talkative as he was last night at the white house, we may hear a lot more about the russia probe, what he thinks obstruction is and isn't, a path to citizenship for d.r.e.a.m.ers and why it's, supposedly not a,

i'm poppy harlow in new york. no shortage of news this morning. the president just delivered a major economic speech on the world stage. he's leaving davos, switzerland, heading for air force one. here at home a firestorm over new headlines on the russia investigation. earlier this morning the president worked hard to discredit new reporting that last june he tried to have special counsel bob mueller fired by his own white house attorney. a source tells cnn that white house lawyer, don mcgann, refused to fire mueller and threatened to quit. the president for his part denies it all. listen. >> did you seek to fire robert mueller? >> fake news, folks, typical "new york times" fake story. >> keep in mind firing mueller is a

i'm poppy harlow in new york. of the united states is now denying that he called african countries s-holes or said about haitian immigrants in this country take them out on any deal to protect their status in this country. today, the 8-year anniversary to the day of the haitian earthquake that killed

. >> i am poppy harlow. you can't make this blank up, those words from the former secretary, sean spicer, except he didn't say blank. michael wolff spent a year inside the west wing, and pretty stunning observations attributed to senior advisers to the president, and saying the president is like a child. >> and calling meetings between donald trump, jr., and russians, unpatriotic and treasonous. >> there you heard it. kaitlan collins at the white house. every hour that passes we get more from michael wolff about his time in the white house, these new revelations about how things operated or frankly didn't inside the west wing. >> the book has not been published and it's continuing to dominate the news cycle, with more excerpts coming out, and only six months in one quote from bannon quoted by michael wolff saying the daughter will bring down the father. as you know, bannon and ivanka trump were part of two very different factions here in the white house, and john and poppy, we are seeing the fallout continue

i am poppy harlow. >> i am john berman this morning. the white house, who is going to tell the president he doesn't have an actual button, not to launch a nuclear war at least, and that's one question, and the more important question is bragging about button size and performance. >> that's a good question. the president wrote somebody should tell kim jong-un that tr

. >> i am poppy harlow.ou can't make this blank up, those words from the former secretary, sean spicer, except he didn't say blank. michael wolff spent a year inside the west wing, and pretty stunning observations attributed to senior advisers to the president, and saying the president is like a child. >> and calling meetings between donald trump, jr., and russians, unpatriotic and

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. what could possibly go wrong? the government is set to run out of money in 63 hours. people are wondering if they'll be told to leave and the u.s. cabinet secretary saying she doesn't know if norway is predominant lead white. raise your hands if that sounds for like good ingredients for a cocktail. key republican members are saying they don't know if they have the votes and, meanwhile, democrats are not so sure how far they want to push back. would they suffer from a shutdown? >> all of that and all they can agree on is that they don't like what former white house chief strategist steve bannon is telling them. they like what he refuses to tell them even less but the news that bannon will tell the special counsel everything is raising all sorts of new possibilities this morning. bannon would not talk about anything pertaining to his time in the white house or his time on the transition team, at the direction of the white house. the fbi went to bannon's home last week, tried to issue him a subpoena to appear before

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. a dizzying 24 hours in the russia investigation, no longer just inching toward the president. this morning it is more like careening. we know special counsel robert mueller wants to counsel the president and we know why. sources tell cnn the special counsel wants to hear directly from the president about the details surrounding the firing of fbi director james comey and national security adviser michael flynn. >> this as we're also learning the fbi director who temporarily replaced comey faced an eerily similar line of questioning about loyalty from the president. andy mccabe purportedly very disturbed after the president asked him whom he voted for and confronted him about past campaign donations to his wife from a group with ties to hillary clinton. >> shimon broke pez with more. what are you learning? >> that story published by "the washington post" says that during an oval office meeting the president asked then acting fbi director andrew mccabe who is right now the deputy directo

i am poppy harlow. >> i am john berman.come to "fire and fury" friday, or maybe it should be called possible obstruction friday. at this minute the explosive new book raising alarming questions about the president's fitness is

the one and only poppy harlow here. thank you. >> did you see the vikings last night? >> i did. a long time agonizing vikings fan. is this your year? >> yes, it is. >>> let's start with this. president trump declaring he is not a racist. he has a credibility problem. he is denying he referred to haiti and other nations using the s-hole word. i've said the word enough. you know what he said. he clearly expressed a presence from brown people from hard-hit countries. now we have this sickening coverup with lawmakers in the oval office disagreeing with what was said. some republicans first said they couldn't recall. now they say they do recall and the president never said that. please, don't be distracted. no one denies the comparison he made, the preference he stated. and that is the problem. the president creating his own trouble, jeopardizing any daca deal. the president saying the democrats are holding up the deal on the d.r.e.a.m.ers as a threat for a government shutdown looms for this friday. some democrats will vote against keeping it open if it doesn't include protection for

. >> i'm poppy harlow.dent is undercutting the house and the white house on a plan to hold off a shutdown. and also his own chief of staff, he shuts him down on whether or not his views on immigration have evolved. quite a morning. >> incredible. a source inside the white house tells us the president hated general kelly's comments in an interview where the general said that the president has changed his attitude on the dreamer issue. he has evolved on the wall. and that during the campaign, the president was uninformed on border issues. hated it, and is fuming. cnn's

i'm poppy harlow in new york. the president of the united states is now denying that he called african countries s-holes or said about haitian immigrants in this country take them out on any deal to protect their status in this country. today, the 8-year anniversary to the day of the haitian earthquake that killed some 300,000 people and many fled to this country. if those quotes aren't shocking enough, mere minutes he denied using them a senator in the meeting with the president says that's not true. the president used these words repeatedly. dick durbin spoke to reporters last hour. >> senator lindsey graham and i made our presentation. we have been working for four months, six senators, three democrats and three republicans, to create a bipartisan way to deal with the crisis we face where more than 700,000 d.r.e.a.m.ers, protected by daca, are going to lose that protection starting march 5th of this year by a thousand a day. as senator graham made his presentation, the president interrupted him several times wi

one and only vikings fan, poppy harlow, joins us. up first, president trump declaring he is not a racist. once again, he said he is the least racist people that these journal issists ever would have interviewed. he has a credibility problem. his real problem is he expressed a preference. why do we have to have people like these brown people, right, because that's what he was talk about, to people from norway and that he preferred. what's the difference? there is a color difference. you have a sickening coverup. lawmakers in the oval office that insist that the president didn't say what is being reported. the white house, white house staff had a chance to walk it back. they didn't walk it back. don't be distracted. no one denies the comparison that i told you about. that is the real problem. >> the president is creating more of his own trouble. and it puts the prospects of a daca deal in skwreptd. some are threatening to vote against the deal if it does not include protections for hundreds of thousands of d.r.e.a.m.ers. the president

poppy harlow joins me. always nice because i get you twice. there is two of you. it is amazing how you are working and doing everything perfectly. >> glad you see it that way, my friend. >> i don't want to have to jump in any different mode this morning. take it easy. president trump looks to reset his presidency in his first state of the union address tomorrow night. the president faces a tough task. he is expected to call for unity, but he has been so intent on division. so how will he do that? somewhat of a mystery. much more easy to understand is what the policy side of this will be. the president is expected to tout his business tax cuts and a strong u.s. economy while pitching the american people on his controversial immigration plan. a big question there, is he going to come out tonight and say something he doesn't have to? boy, will it be helpful to lawmakers. key announce he will not try to remove or fire in any way special counsel? lawmakers are divided over the need for legislation to protect bob mueller and his investigators after reports that presiden

. >> i'm poppy harlow. a government shutdown now seriously seems more likely than ever.tween the republicans and democrats is widening. and the president slamming the democrats again and once again bringing up the russia investigation calling it a hoax. last hour, press secretary sarah sanders spoke with reporters at length on the white house lawn. listen to part of it. >> i'm certainly not going to try to predict the future, but we definitely want to get a deal done on the budget. we want a clean budget

i'm poppy harlow in new york. for president trump the new year begins with encouraging words for protesters in iran and attacks on iran's regime. here's what the president wrote, iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the obama administration. the great iranian people have been repressed for many years. they are hungry for food and freedom along with human rights. the wealth of iran is being looted. time for change. this comes as the trumps wrap up their mar-a-lago holiday this afternoon, head back to washington by dinner time, returning to a packed agenda for this president leading up to year two beginning officially of the trump presidency in 19 days. our sara murray is watching all of it from west palm beach, florida, where the president is currently. a number of tweets and messages for the iranian people, sara? >> that's right. it's clear the president's mind is on foreign policy this morning and as you mentioned in that tweet he's coming out on the side of the protesters ta

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. "at this hour" starts now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> hi there. i'm brianna keilar in for kate ball wi baldwin. two breaking stories, both related to the russia investigation. first, word that the special counsel's probe has now breached the president's cabinet for the first time. cnn learning that robert mueller's team interviewed attorney general jeff sessions as part of its probe into russian meddling in the 2016 election. and whether the president obstructed justice since taking office. and there is a new twist in the president's ongoing feud with the nation's top law enforcement agency. word that the trump and sessions nearly lost their new fbi director. we have learned that christopher wray threatened to resign because sessions was pruessurin him to fire or reassign andrew mccabe. the president has made mccabe a target over and over again, suggesting that he's biased, and questioning why sessions has not replaced him. cnn's kaitlan collins is covering the story from the w

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. in the wake of the state of the union, is this some grand moment of bipartisan togetherness, or is it wednesday? you might want to bet on wednesday. the president's speech, all 80 minutes of it was well received by those who watched, a more republican audience. whatever partisanship might be short lived as evidenced by what the president said just after the speech. >> you'll hear about the key exchange berman notes. first, with his big speech behind him, the president could make this controversial memo public at any time, of course, about the fbi and alleged abuses of surveillance, et cetera. this is despite fierce objections from the president's own justice department. white house press secretary sarah sanders just on cnn said the decision-making process is still taking place. listen. >> i do know that we're going through that process. i know it will be part of what's taking place at the white house today, and we'll certainly keep you guys posted, as i know you'll continue to ask unt

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. the phrase of the morning is you can't make this blank up. that is reportedly a quote from former press secretary sean spicer, something of a mantra to him according to this new book, "fire and fury" by michael wolff, he reports what he says he saw inside the white house nearly a year inside the west wing doing reporting he says he saw white house that was aimless and clueless, beset by feuds and really with senior staffers mocking the president. >> remember, this is on top of those quotes yesterday attributed to steve bannon, that left the president furious and disgusted, those words from the white house, going after the president's family, calling the meetings between donald trump, jr., paul manafort, jared kushner and russians unpatriotic and treasonous. today the president's former chief strategist is clearly trying to mend fences. listen. a. >> by the way, nothing will ever come between us and president trump and his agenda. don't worry about that. >> kaitlan collins at the white house. i'm not sure the president sees it that way, but wh

the one and only poppy harlow here. thank you very much. >> good to be here. >> two for the price of one. we are in day three of the federal government shutdown. in just hours, the senate will have a procedural vote on a plan to reopen the government and fund it for three weeks. we got trouble, my friends. there are deep divisions over the fate of d.r.e.a.m.ers, failing to produce any compromise or really any details. what are the sticking points? what do the sides not agree on? senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says he is willing to start debating immigration if there is no agreement by february 8th. why the delay? why the resistance of putting this in the spending bill. senate minority leader chuck schumer wants a firmer commitment. but he too has not been vocal about what the sticking points are. >> where has the chief been? very much on the sidelines during these heated negotiations. he is calling on mcconnell to trigger the nuclear option if the stalemate continues. that is not going to happen. the blame game

poppy harlow joining me. thank you so much. >> good to be here. >> always good to have you. >> president trump looking to reset his presidency in his first state of the union address tomorrow night. the president expected to tout tax cuts and the strong u.s. economy, while pitching the american people on an immigration plan. this comes after reports that president trump tried to fire bob mueller last june. >> on top of that, the president's frustration with the russia investigation may have deputy attorney general rod rosenstein in the crosshairs. a house intel committee memo shows he approved an application to extend survey answer of carter page while the president was just beginning in office. the president wants that memo released. this set up a big showdown between the president and those republicans and his own justice department who is against this release. we have it all covered. let's begin with caitlkaitlan cs at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. president trump spent his weekend pre

. >> i'm poppy harlow. the president fired one fbi director and this morning new reporting that the current fbi director became so enraged he threatened to quit. >> axios said christopher ray fired the deputy director, mccade had been a public target of president trump for months, largely for his role in the hillary clinton investigation. cnn shimon prokupecz has more on this from washington. what are you learning? >> that's right, john. this is another example of the white house putting pressure on the department of justice and sessions to do something about the fbi. the axios report says at the urging of the president sessions told the fbi director chris wray that he wanted the deputy director andrew mccabe fired and in turn, the fbi director threatened to resign over the issue. now it's important to keep in mind that mccabe can't be fired. he's a career fbi agent so wray's only option perhaps would have been to re-assign him and that's what we reported previously for months. mccabe has been telling peopl

. >> and i'm poppy harlow. we are following a lot of breaking news this morning. this morning, "the guardian" reports on some pretty stunning remarks from the president's former chief strategist. >> according to a new book seen by "the guardian," president trump's former chief strategist, steve bannon, said this about the 2016 donald trump jr. meeting in trump tower, where trump jr. was promised dirt from the russians on hillary clinton. steve bannon says, even if you thought that this was not treasonous or unpatriotic or bad blank, and i happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the fbi immediately. >> cnn's justice correspondent, jessica schneider, joining us live from washington. you know, a lot of people stunned to see these comments this morning from steve bannon, jessica. >> stunned is the right word. steve bannon going after donald trump jr. hard, calling o out that june 2016 meeting with the russian lawyer at trump tower. also in attendance, there were paul manafort, then campaign chair, and jared kushner. that meeting actually happened abou

. >> i'm poppy harlow. the president is undercutting the house and the white house on a plan to hold off a shutdown. and also his own chief of staff, he shuts him down on whether or not his views on immigration have evolved. quite a morning. >> incredible. a source inside the white house tells us the president hated general kelly's comments in an interview where the general said that the president has changed his attitude on the dreamer issue. he has evolved on the wall. and that during the campaign, the president was uninformed on border issues. hated it, and is fuming. cnn's abby phillip for us at the white house this morning. not happy at all, abby. >> reporter: more than a little pushback from the president this morning against his own chief of staff's comments, both publicly and privately. white house chief of staff john kelly was on the hill yesterday meeting with congressional hispanic caucus members and made some comments to them about the wall, trying to show how the president has moved on the issu

i'm poppy harlow. have a great weekend. "at this hour" starts right now. >> i'm brianna keilar in for kate bolduan. president trump is aboard air force one, wrapping up an international trip and saddled with new baggage from the russia investigation. the latest bombshell, president trump ordered the firing of special counsel robert mueller last june. according to one person familiar with the matter, the president backed off when white house lawyer don mcgahn, the chief counsel, refused, and threatened to resign instead of carry out his wishes. the president denies the reports. but the explosive claims raised new questions of possible obstruction of justice. a short time ago, the president sidestepped this latest cloud over his presidency and turned instead to salesman in chief, addressing the world's power brokers at the economic forum in switzerland. the president made no apologies for his america first policies that have wrinkled allies and enemies alike. >> i believe in america. as president of the united states, i will

poppy harlow -- you're pregnant? who knew? just days away from the big event. thank you for toughing it out. you're the best. the cloud of the russian investigation hangs over the trump white house even on the eve of the president's first state of the union address. lawmakers on both sides doubling down on their support for the special counsel bob mueller but republicans are split over the need for legislation to protect him after reports the president attempted to fire him last june. >> the white house also faces a really important deadline today. today's the day it must implement these sanctions against russia, sanctions that were passed unanimously by congress last summer. why sanctions because of russia's interference in the 2016 election. this comes ahead of the president's first state of the union address tomorrow night. he is expected we hear to call for unity while touting the country's economic success and calling on americans to support his immigration and infrastructure plans. >> let's get after it. white house principal deputy press secretary raj sh

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. "at this hour" starts right now. >>> happy friday. i'm ana cabrera in for kate bolduan. a report sending shockwaves through the white house raising new questions about whether the president of the united states attempted to obstruct justice. "the new york times" is reporting president trump gave firm instructions in march to the white house's top lawyer, stop the attorney general jeff sessions from recusing himself in the justice department's investigation into whether mr. trump's associates helped a russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. and the "times" reports that the president wanted sessions, a loyal ally, to protect him from the russia probe. it says special counsel robert mueller uncovered that lobbying attempt and other incidents that could potentially factor into an obstruction case. cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider is in our washington bureau. bring us the details. >> the president apparently erupted in anger in front of several white house officials when jeff sessions did recuse himself from the russia pr