the visit makes pence the highest-ranking trump administration official to visit an active u-s combat zone. it comes four months after the president committed several thousand more u-s service members to the 16-year war right now- investigators trying to figure out what sparked the fire that destroyed this house in germantown. firefighters discovered the single story home in flames- after receiving calls about smoke in the vice president mike pence in afghanistan today for a surprise pence in afghanistan today for a surprise visit. he arrived yesterday-- for his first trip to the country as vice president. he rallied u-s troops and met with top afghan officials. the visit makes pence the highest-ranking trump administration official to visit an active u-s combat zone. it comes four months after the president committed several thousand more u-s service members to the 16-year war effort. right now- investigators trying to figure out what sparked the fire that destroyed this house in germantown. firefighters discovered the single story home in flames- after receiving calls about smoke in

flynn is the first trump administration official and the fourth connected to the campaign to be charged as part of mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the russian government and members of trump's team. president trump's former campaign chairman paul manafort and his deputy rick gates were indicted last month. the charge against flynn is the first in mueller's probe that has reached someone in the trump white house and is the latest sign that the special counsel's investigation is intensifying. we will continue to update this story as we get more information. into the newsroom. ( darya ) our top story this morning... not guilty. that is the decision reached by the jury in the trial of jose garcia zarate.( james ) he was acquitted in the murder of kate steinle in san francisco. the jury reached the verdict yesterday afternoon. garcia zarate was charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a gun. ( darya ) the jury found him guilty of the gun possession charge but not guilty on all other counts. steinle was walking on pier 14 wit

the edge of empire alive and people like erik prince very wealthy so prince briefed top trump administration official directly talked up his plan publicly on the d.c. circuit and published op eds about it he patterned the strategy he's pitching on the historical model of the old british east india company which had its own army and colonized much of britain's empire and india quote an east india company approach he wrote in the wall street journal will use cheaper private solutions to fill the gaps that plague the afghan security forces including reliable logistics and aviation support you know you go to the wall street journal you go to bloomberg or you go to financial times and you see all of this stuff openly discussed the never gets the sauce on the shrieky cable news which is pushing hoax after hoax after hoax about very are social issues where is the empire is being divided out and cut and chopped all the wealth stolen around the world in the only in the pages of the fight and bubble for.

. >>> a former high-ranking trump administration official will cooperate with robert mueller in the russian investigation. today, michael flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about hi his conversation with a russian diplomat. serena marshall has more from washington. >> reporter: one of the president's closest advisers. >> lock him up. >> reporter: facing the same chants he once led against hillary clinton. michael flynn leaving court, after agreeing to fully cooperate with the special counsel. >> how many more figures have to be brought to justice because of their ties with russia? before we end up connecting these dots. >> reporter: the charge stems from his contacts with sergey kislyak in december 2016. the obama administration had just imposed sanctions for their muddling. flynn then consulted with a senior transition team official, who said the trump team did not want russia to escalate the situation. flynn made that request to the ambassador. and putin did not issue retaliatory actions at that time. the official was jury charared . >> the plea document suggests that the special co

first of all, that multiple senior trump administration officials who worked for him during the campaign and since he has been in office have repeatedly lied about contacts with the russians. even if they aren't guilty -- this isn't about huma, but about president trump. >> hillary clinton was honest? >> even if they're innocent of everything they act guilty. let's get some answers. it is not a distraction for the country to figure out how the russians did and how they did it. flynn is actually so far the most problematic. i was interested that president trump didn't talk about flynn. he focused on manafort. flynn's conversations with the russians are the most problematic so far. katie says they're normal for any administrations but he said to the russians don't worry about the sanctions we put in place because of the election. >> let's address the flynn problem and not say obama always. >> you are maximizing when you consider the enemy's behavior while minimizing your allies. >> it is two separate things. >> they aren't separate. >> let's go back to what the president said to also telli

short time period, the trump administration official is he was an obama administration official, but he was a trump administration official in the white house. but i think it's important to focus on what this plea deal is about. we should also remember that mike flynn was being investigated for a lot of things. a foreign agent registration violation. he wasn't reasonabled. all these sorts of things. and this was a pretty small guilty plea. what he's pleading guilty to here. and i think it's important to remember that that what the mueller investigation is after, what it can ask, what michael flynn might be testifying about, may not have to do with this very interesting, you know, late december conversation. it could have to do with a lot of other things. and i think the myopic focus on simply that two-day period where he's talking with kislyak, sort of hides the fact, obscures the fact that michael flynn was a major figure in the trump campaign and the white house. >> i think that is a critical point, because mueller is a very strategic person. he gets the george papadopoulos plea, he

the visit makes pence the highest-ranking trump administration official to visit an active u-s combatt comes four months after the president committed several thousand more u-s service members to the 16-year war effort. president trump paid a holiday visit to wounded troops yesterday. he visited those he calls "some of the bravest people anywhere in the world" at walter reed national medical center. during the visit - the president awarded a soldier wounded this year, with a purple heart. new information -- this morning about the man accused of intentionally running down pedestrians in melbourne, australia. police now say that man told investigators he heard voices before driving into a crowd of terrified shoppers. 19 people were hurt. right now police are calling it a "deliberate act" - but not terrorism. new details about the so-called slender man stabbing case in wisconsin.. 16-year-old anissa weier se but she could be released in three years. authorities say wy'-er and another girl tried to kill a classmate to impress the fictional internet character, slender man. the other defend

flynn is the first trump administration official in the fourth connected to the campaign to be charged as part of a special counsel robert mueller's wide-ranging investigation into possible collusion between russia and members of trump steam. we are going to say it early, no evidence of that collusion. and then there is this. "it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusation of treason and other outrageous acts but i acknowledged that the accusations i spoke of in court today were wrong." john roberts on the north lawn, we are live right now. >> good afternoon today, sorry, i couldn't hear you for a second. we got our first statement from the white house a little while ago, the president's attorney on the russia investigation is working inside the white house counsel office. michael flynn was the national security advisor for a duration of only 25 days and then going on to say "the false statements involved the false statements to white house officials which resulted in his resignation in february of this year. nothing about the guilty plea or the cha

kimberly: today's visit makes highest trump administration official to visit a active combat zone. this comes four months after the president committed several thousand more service members to the war effort. president trump payday personal holiday visit to wounded troops today, visiting some of the bravest people anywhere in the world at walter reed national medical center. during the visit, the president awarded a soldier with a purple heart. d.c. publicw, two charter schools are closing middle schools. this will happen gradually over the next few years. theirhools did not meet goals in chair about the reasoning behind it and joins me in the studio with this developing story. this has to be disappointing. anna-lysa: it is disappointing for some community members, but the goal is to close them by 2021. the board believes this is the best decision for the students and their futures. >> we respectfully and passionately request the board vote not to follow the staff recommendation to close. anna-lysa: representatives for the charter schools on monday night requesting they reconsider

. >>> a former high-ranking trump administration official will cooperate with robert mueller in the russian investigation. today, michael flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about hi his conversation with a russian diplomat. serena marshall has more from washington. >> reporter: one of the president's closest advisers. >> lock him up. >> reporter: facing the same chants he once led against hillary clinton. michael flynn leaving court, after agreeing to fully cooperate with the special counsel. >> how many more figures have to be brought to justice because of their ties with russia? before we end up connecting these dots. >> reporter: the charge stems from his contacts with sergey kislyak in december 2016. the obama administration had just imposed sanctions for their muddling. flynn then consulted with a senior transition team official, who said the trump team did not want russia to escalate the situation. flynn made that request to the ambassador. and putin did not issue retaliatory actions at that time. the official was jury charared . >> the plea document suggests that the special co

michael flinl becomes the first trump administration official to plead guilty to lying to the fick. the retired army general, who also worked on the trump campaign -- >> the next president of the united states -- robert: has promptsed his full cooperation with the fuller investigation. plus -- >> what's in it is tax relief. robert: senate republicans hoping far legislative win fall in line and get close to passing a long-promised tax overhaul but who would benefit and who would pay more? >> there is going to cost me a fortune this thing. believe me. this is nod -- not good for me. robert: democrats disagree. they say corporations win and the middle class loses. >> our economy is already stacked against working men and women. robert: plus, as the clock ticks down to a government shutdown, can crisis be averted? we discuss it all with michael crowder of politico, shawna thomas of vice news. alexis simendinger of the hill >> and john -- jonathan swan of axios. >> this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- their leadership is instincti. they understand the challenges of today a

this also now marks the first trump administration official to be charged in mueller's investigation.re keeping our eye on that courthouse right now to see flynn is expected probably to be leaving any minute now. as we wait for that over to the capitol, where there are, of course, three separate ongoing investigations into russian meddling in the 2016 election. manu raju is following all of this for us. manu, how are lawmakers reacting to the big news this morning? >> well you're hearing more democratic reaction than republican reaction at the moment. democrats saying this raises significant concerns about just how -- who directed michael flynn to do what and they say this really shows a good reason why the special counsel's investigation should continue unimpeded. now, dianne feinstein, the top democrat on the judiciary committee put out a statement saying this it's critical we determine whether flynn spoke with the russians on his own initiative and who knew and approved of his actions. this is just one more proof point that these investigations must be allowed to continue without i

otherwise well not many other people and that includes quite a few members of the donald trump administration? officially you're hearing from the secretary state rex tillerson for example that he believes this is a brave move by the u. s. president. but i can tell you that quite a few. career diplomats in the state department would say e scolded a courageous and just decision but palestinian leaders say the move destroys the two state solution with the palestinian president mahmoud abbas accusing trum. of coming down firmly on israel's side in the conflict let's take a listen to the two of them advised seeking out is today. this is a historic day. were profoundly grateful for the president for his courageous and just decisio. to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. and to prepare for the opening of the u. s. embassy here. their recognition of jerusalem as the capital is rejected by the arab world. i'm goes against all the efforts to foster peace on is nothing less than a declaration that the united states it's withdrawing from the role is played in. this process the decades. let's g go to the ci

meanwhile trump administration officials admit it could take years to complete the embassy move from tel aviv to jerusalem. our cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson is joining from us jerusalem right now. regardless of how long it takes, this is certainly a monumental decision. what's at stake and how is this decision being received in the region? >> reporter: well, israel the minister oftance port here in israel described this as a historic day. he said any country that doesn't recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel doesn't therefore recognize the state of israel. the mayor of jerusalem a couple of hours ago welcoming this decision by president trump on the wall behind me, the gate on the old -- around the city walls, the old city of jerusalem, there was projected the israeli and u.s. flag side by side together. so on for israelis this is a by and large a very welcome decision. but for palestinian negotiators shah wary talking earlier saying president trump is putting himself and the united states in an impossible position as a potential negotiator in between pale

trump administration official putting tilting after lyingading guilty after to fbi agents. is is not just any senior trump administration official. this is michael flynn. we are joined now by megan , andy and jeffrey wright he is joining us from washington. jeffrey, let's start with you. this is not just any -- this is not papadopoulos. this is not manafort. this is the highest administration official buspar. what is the significance of all of this? >> i think it is extremely significant for trump, especially that flynn is connected to obstruction of justice and the other, the potential for collusion with russia during the campaign, and a beasley, the involvement of kushner makes a quite personal for trump given his family -- connection to kushner. i think is the worst day yet in the russia probe for trump. joe: megan, would you agree? yes, it is dialed into a very senior figure in the administration. even more significantly, there is an indication that a plea deal has been breached in terms of ongoing cooperation, in terms of what michael flynn might say about conn's direct

he's the highest ranking trump administration official to make that trip. >>> back in washington, president trump made a visit to walter reed, meeting with wounded service members, saying he wanted to wish them a merry christmas and a happy new year. he also presented a wounded warrior with a purple heart. >>> with the clock ticking, the senate is expected to vote soon on a stop-gap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown just before christmas after it passed in the house late today. but the measure also leaves a lot of unfinished business hanging until the new year. let's get more from nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. >> reporter: racing to keep the government open at christmas. the house tonight voting to keep the lights on for four more weeks. >> the bill is passed -- >> reporter: after a scramble to get enough republican votes. the president charging today house democrats want to shut down for the holidays in order to distract from the very popular just-passed tax cuts. house republican, don't let this happen. with democrats drawing a hard line. >> why not vote to ke

we're getting closer to senior level trump administration officials.e very high level like mike flynn unless he can give you someone mike flynn unless he can give you someone who is an even bigger fish. dairy crest pleaded guilty. what happens next in the investigation? —— he has pleaded guilty. happens next in the investigation? —— he has pleaded guiltylj happens next in the investigation? -- he has pleaded guilty. i am sure robert mueller is meticulously putting together all these bits of information, as was just discussed. michael flynn was key to a lot of what was going on in the potential collision with the russians and attentional obstruction ofjustice with the filing of james comey. flynn's name comes up again and again. you can be sure that robert mueller and his ace team are putting together how all those dots are connected through michael flynn and with his senior trump characters, like perhaps even the president's son—in—law has vice president, being implicated, we're getting ever closer to the oval office. robert mueller is not going to go

both the president and his lawyers and lawyers for senior trump administration officials, such as jared kushner and others in that sort of tier, have said they're really confident that there's going to be no evidence of collusion, that michael flynn has nothing to say that will be incriminating about any of their clients. however, you can't be a very good lawyer if you're not planning for the possibility that there could be information or allegations that michael flynn might make that you aren't aware that he has at his disposal. and you don't know everything that he's discussed with bob mueller. he had a cooperation agreement signed december 1 that was very favorable to michael flynn, a big red flag that whatever he told the prosecutor was very valuable to his investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election. robert: carol, what about the possibility of a pardon for general flynn? his own brother brought up the topic on twitter, then deleted the tweet. carol: yes, his brother, joseph flynn, as i'm sure is true for many members of mike flynn's extended family -- he's got a lot o

. >>> mike pence is now the highest ranking trump administration official to visit a u.s. combat zone. the vice president making a secret visit on thursday night to afghanistan, rallying the troops and meeting with top officials. >> i say to all of you, in the days ahead mind your mission, take care of one another, respect the unified chain of command and never doubt every day every operation and every decision that you make matters. >> the vice president has departed afghanistan, we're told, and is heading back to the u.s. for the holidays. >>> president trump paid a holiday visit to troops at walter reed medical center. >> some of the bravest people anywhere in the world. we will wish them a merry christmas and happy new year and we love those people. >> during the visit, the president awarded a purple heart to sergeant prado who was injured last month. >>> breaking news overnight, legendary sportscaster, dick enberg, has died. >> oh, my, what an exciting day. >> oh, my, what a voice. family members of the beloved hall of fame announcer confirm he was found dead in his h

legal definition of what collusion would be, but there were no fewer than nine trump administration and trump campaign officialss contacts with russians. just because donald trump, himself, didn't pick up the phone and say, hey, let's fix this election, doesn't mean that nothing bad happened here. and what's really alarming is that they seem to be laying the groundswork here on fox and public statements to make it possible that over the holidays, they're going to fire bob mueller. that would thrust this country into a constitutional crisis the way nixon did when he fired archibald cox during watergate, it would be on its face, evidence of obstruction of justice. we would have a you know really really serious constitutional problem in this country. it used to be unthinkable that it would happen. now they are developing lame pre techs like bob mueller did the right thing by firing or sidelining some people on the investigation who had some indiscreet, you know, tweetings about fought liking trump as if that should discredit everything they're doing. mueller responded properly, you have republicans on the hill cal

funded by industry part of casting doubt like a recent washington post report says the trump administration officials prohibited the cdc, the health and research institution from using evidence-based, science -based in budget planning documents. president tromp did not have a war on science but he is leading the charge. president tromp promised everyone would have insurance. the analysis from the nonpartisan cbo revealed under the house republican healthcare bill there will be 3 million fewer people to have health insurance than are currently covered today. 23million. to hit the most vulnerable and hit them the hardest. 14million of the 23 million people who would have lost coverage with medicaid beneficiaries. that's right despite the assurances everybody will be taken care of, the republican bill would cut funding to medicaid that safety net program to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities families with children have access to healthcare that they need. on top of that to drive up costs of premiums with the steepest increases. indeed the health care debate has been predicated on lies over

michael flinl becomes the first trump administration official to plead guilty to lying to the fick. retired army general, who also worked on the trump campaign -- >> the next president of the united states -- robert: has promptsed his full cooperation with the fuller investigation. plus -- >> what's in it is tax relief. robert: senate republicans

about his contacts with russia michael flynn is a first trump administration official to be charged as part of a criminal investigation by special counsel robert mueller the former national security adviser says a senior member of trump's translation team. asked him to reach out to russia's ambassador to the u.s. before the president's inauguration a move that is not allowed his guilty plea shows flynn is cooperating with the mueller investigation and could be an important source of information for prosecutors investigating others in the white house white house correspondent can be how could reports arriving at federal court in washington michael flynn ignored shouted questions by reporters. inside moments later the former national security adviser to president donald trump pled guilty to lying to the f.b.i. court documents show the charges against flynn stem from his lying about efforts to obtain advanced knowledge of how foreign governments might vote on a u.n. security council resolution about israel as well as phone conversations flynn had before traub was even sworn in as presiden

erik prince very wealthy so prince briefed the top trump administration official directly talked up his plan publicly on the d.c. circuit and published op eds about it he patterned the strategy he is pitching on the historical model of the old british east india company which had its own army and colonized much of britain's empire and india quote an east india company approach he wrote in the wall street journal will use cheaper private solutions to fill the gaps that plague the afghan security forces including reliable logistics and aviation support you know you go to the wall street journal you go to bloomberg or you go to financial times and you see all of this stuff openly discussed the never gets the sauce on the shrieky cable news which is pushing hoax after hoax after hoax about very are social issues whereas the empire is being divided up and cut and chopped all the wealth stolen around the world in the only in the pages of the financial press you know well of course the east india company was a colossal failure and bubble the first could be the south sea bubble as well that the

charged him with willfully and knowingly making false statements to the fbi, he is the first trump administration official to be charged with connection to the investigation, we will bring you updates throughout the morning. >>> the new york times is reporting that president donald trump pressured several united states senators to stop the ongoing investigation, that comes as the white house is facing questions about the fate of secretary of state rex tillerson. >> reporter: new questions are being raised as to whether or not president donald trump inappropriately pressured republican leaders in the senate to end the senate's russia probe, this as the president pressured the senate intelligence committee chairman, richard burr to bring the investigation to a swift conclusion. the reported claims that president donald trump also complained that mitch mcconnell was not doing enough to end the investigation, he also asked roy brunt to wrap up the investigation, in the in the meantime, questions are being asked about secretary of state rex tillerson's future. >> he is committed to doing the job. >> the presid

. >> the former trump administration official says must was crafted in his time in the white house. >> this is a document that is unapologetic for who america is and what we stand for. >> president trump says it centers around protecting the american homeland, people and the way of life. peace through strength and advancing our interest. including being tough with china. >> the efficacy if there isn't the option to use force. it must have an iron fist. >> even some critics of president trump are calling the national security strategy more traditional and even tempered. the problem is what he says now contradicts what he says or tweets in the future sending mixed signals to long-time allies. >> many corners of the globe depend on -- not on the u.s. troop but the commitment. >> the defense official says always putting america first has proven harmful in the past. >> at world war i and world war ii we tried to go et alones. one of the message is when america leads the world looks for partnership with us. >> who they are with and what they stand for is a prime focus in the year ahead. in

administration imposed the sanctions for russia's attempts to meddle in the election. >> they portray him as act ago lone. trump supporters pushed the notion it is not unusual for incoming administration officials to speak with foreign governments. >> another big question, why did first son-in-law jared kushner, a top white house adviser, direct mike flynn to contact russian officials? democrats on both the house and senate intel committee say they want kushner who already appeared before both panels to return and answer new questions. revelations about kushner have been dribbling out for months now, forcing kushner and other trump aides who had denied or down played them to backtrack repeatedly. >> the actions of another key player then transition adviser k.t. mcfarland also raising questions. "the new york times" reports she wrote an e-mail saying that new russia sanctions were an obama administration ploy to box trump in diplomatically. she added russia has just thrown the u.s. election to him. >> unclear whether she meant the election had in fact been thrown to trump by moscow or only that democrats were painting it that way. also still unclear, what the trump team would have gotten for lif

the trump administration, i should say, sanctioning two officials, linked to the country's ballistic missile program. we're covering all of that and more with our guests, including house foreign affairs committee, ed ad adriano and our correspondents all standing by. first, let's go to ryan nobles in florida. >> reporter: the president had no public events on his schedule today, so the only way we can really glean as to what he's thinking about or working on is through his twitter feed. if that's the case, we know the president is thinking about health care, he's thinking about taxes, and he's also continuing to find ways to discredit robert mueller and his investigation. after tweeting on christmas day, tomorr "tomorrow it's back to work," president trump spent today on the golf course. the 110th day of his presidency that he's spent with one of his personally branded properties mep hit t. there may have been some work discussed as well. also joining the foursome, georgia senator david perdue, a loyal republican vote for the administration, but someone hoping to form a bipartisan so

. >>> coming up, the e fusive praise republicans and trump administration officials lavishing on donalde been jarring for many americans and not unusual for particular kind of government. can any of these people tell trump hard truths when they talk to him like this? >> i know i speak on behalf of the entire cabinet and of millions of americans when i say congratulations and thank you. i'm deeply humbled as your vice president to be able to be here. here's to the heroes -- america's small business owners. and here's to the heroes behind the heroes, who use their expertise to keep those businesses covered. and here's to the heroes behind the heroes behind the heroes, who brought us delicious gyros. actually, the gyro hero owns vero's gyros, so he should have been with those first heroes. ha ha! that's better. so, to recap -- small business owners are heroes, and our heroes help heroes be heroes when they're not eating gyros delivered by -- ah, you know what i mean. my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldn't spend time with my grandson. now depend fit-flex has their fastest abs

previous administrations and the current administration, there's a quote here from a senior trump administration official that told "the posts" if it changes one electoral vote you tell me the russians didn't tell hillary clinton not to campaign in wisconsin, and tell me how many russians changed the vote in michigan, and the president is right. and downplaying the russian interference, and they didn't change the vote so why should we care? >> what it has come down to for the president and his close allies and advisers, it's not so much russian interference but whether it throws into the question the legitimacy of president trump's election, and that's why it bothers him so deeply, and he cares about it on a personal level. he feels that as long as we are talking about russian interference it's questioning the legitimacy of his election and presidency and that might be one of the reasons why this administration has not made this a national security priority. >> selena, trump also tweeted about health care this morning saying based on the fact that the unfair and unpopular mandate has been eliminated, the

that he researched both statutes and that he warned president trump about flynn's possible violations. quote, a senior administration official close to mcgann said he felt like the president and others in the administration at times were using him and his office as scapegoats for trump keeping flynn, for example, reince preibus, then the president's chief of staff, said on "meet the press" in february that trump did not take sooner action regarding flynn because the legal department came back and said they didn't see anything wrong. the records turned over to the special counsel appear to contradict such a narrative. they show that mcgann researched both statutes, clearly raised issues as to flynn possibly violated federal law and that white house counsel don mcgann voiced these concerns to president trump. after meeting with the acting attorney general, sally yates. if this new reporting from foreign policy is true, if there are white house records that show that the white house counsel knew that flynn lied to the fbi, that he was aware that that was a criminal act and that he conveyed that information to the president, tha

he's the highest ranking trump administration official to visit an active u.s. combat zone.d several thousand more troops to that 16-year war afghanistan. >>> a lot of folks either headed out to see family or maybe family is driving in to see them. >> we need good weather and traffic. dave dildine checking things out for us in first 4 traffic at wtop hey there. >> hey there. we can do that for you. the early get away, it's a good time to get away. the beltway is not so bad. just west of woodrow wilson bridge, it's on the shoulder. >>> we were getting a structure fire response near nutley street. fairfax fire and rescue on the scene. details coming in. we understand chopper 4 is hovering over the scene. there you can see them congregated there in the heart of vienna. sort of maybe blocking some lanes of 123. be aware of that if you're traveling on masch will avenue both ways here in vienna. let's get a look at the get away forecast with storm team 4 and miss sheena forecast today, we have dry roads for travel. we have good weather for flying. the bus top, the kids want the wa

flynn is the first trump administration official in the fourth connected to the campaign to be chargeds part of a special counsel robert mueller's wide-ranging investigation into possible collusion between russia and members of trump steam. we are going to say it

. >>> coming up, the e fusive praise republicans and trump administration officials lavishing on donaldmp have been jarring for many americans and not unusual for particular kind of government. can any of these people tell trump hard truths when they talk to him like this? >> i know i speak on behalf of the entire cabinet and of millions of americans when i say congratulations and thank you. i'm deeply humbled as your vice president to be able to be here. ( ♪ ) ♪ one is the only number ♪ that you'll ever need ♪ staying ahead isn't about waiting for a chance. ♪ because one is... it's about the one bold choice you make that moves you forward. ♪ ...that you ever need the one and only cadillac escalade. come in for our season's best offers and drive out with the perfect 2017 cadillac escalade for you. get this low mileage lease from around $899 per month. ( ♪ ) coaching means making tough choices.d jim! you're in! month. but when you have high blood pressure and need cold medicine that works fast, the choice is simple. coricidin hbp is the #1 brand that gives powerful cold symptom relief wi

that confirms other reporting that we've heard, there would be a max exodus of other trump administration officials. we will be one year in, look at the people that have departed and now there's reporting there will be more. >> i generally wonder, eli, how that place functions. >> you cover it every day and you see sometimes it functions and sometimes it doesn't function all that well. and part of it is these people came into office, a lot not anticipating they would win the transition. they threw out the work chris christie did on the transition and brought all the people involved on the campaign into the administration. many of whom did not have the baseline level of experience you would expect for a lot of these positions and so that the reason for a lot of chaos and turnover. and a lot of positions especially at the agencies have just remained unfilled for the first year. we talk about the state department. we've seen people leaving the epa. a lot of these agencies, they are not staffed the way they normally are. so what you see on the whole is an administration and president a little more indi

. >> bret: a trump administration officials saying that these allegations should be heard.ut today, telling their stories again. obviously, they were told prior to the campaign. the white house says they aren't holding the line against these accusers. >> it is a problem for the white house. it was a tough briefing for them today to have two answer these questions, and they were asked about it by at least three or four different reporters. certainly, it is not going to go away, as capital health continues to grapple with dealing with this, and in a transparent fashion. however, she does have a point, sarah sanders, when she says he these things that were later down in the election, we elected it donald trump appeared at today, we have moved past it. and democrats have been over this before too. they elected to bill clinton twice. it is becoming more apparent to me that al franken getting taken out is just a way for them to be able to take the political high ground, despite not doing it for three decades. to be able to say it now that president trump has to resign. >> bret: v

wanted an abortion even though she's legally entitled to do that at her own discretion, a trump administration officialrom leaving the facility in order to get a legal abortion. eventually the aclu stepped in ato cert that young woman's rights and a federal appeals court judge let that 17-year-old get the abortion she wanted. now, the federal agency, the federal official that's tried to block these young women from obtaining legal abortions, office of refugee resettlement which is part of health and human services. this agency and the man that heads it are still on the crusade against immigrant teenage girl that is want abortions and the aclu continued their side of the fight. recently, they were trying to get the office to explain their reasoning behind their continued efforts to block these young women from accessing legal abortions. well, today the aclu got the government to release an extraordinary memo from scott lloyd, the trump appointee anti-abortion activist in charge of the office of refugee resettlement, appears to have made it a personal crusade. in a current case involving a teenage girl w

. >>> a former high ranking trump administration official will cooperate with robert mueller in the russianvestigation. michael flynn pleaded guilty yesterday to lying to the fbi about his conversation with a russian diplomat. he's now the first white house official to make a deal with investigators. abc news reporter serena marshall has the latest from washington. >> reporter: once one of the president's closest advisers, now -- >> lock him up! >> reporter: -- facing the same chant he once led against hillary clinton. >> lock her up! >> reporter: michael flynn leaving court after pleading guilty and agreeing to fully cooperate with the special counsel. >> how many figures have to be brought to justice because of their ties with russia before we end up connecting all these dots? >> reporter: the charge stems from his contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak in december 2016. the obama administration had just imposed sanctions on russia for their election meddling. the same day flynn spoke with the then-russian ambassador. flynn then consulted with a senior transition team official w

. >>> a former high ranking trump administration official will cooperate with robert mueller in the russianvestigation. michael flynn pleaded guilty yesterday to lying to the fbi about his conversation with a russian diplomat. he's now the first white house official to make a deal with investigators. abc news reporter serena marshall has the latest from washington. >> reporter: once one of the president's closest advisers, now -- >> lock him up! >> reporter: -- facing the same chant he once led against hillary clinton. >> lock her up! >> reporter: michael flynn leaving court after pleading guilty. >> how many figures have to be brought to justice because of their ties to russia before we end up connecting all these dots? >> reporter: the charge stems from his contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak in december 2016. the obama administration had just imposed sanctions on russia for their election meddling. the same day flynn spoke with the then-russian ambassador. flynn then consulted with a transition team official who said the trump team did not want russia to escalate the situati

>> i think you've seen an almost total erosion between what you're hearing from trump administration officials desperately spinning and trying to defend the president, trump surrogates who appear on cable networks all the time and the hosts, commentators, people being paid by rupert murdoch and 21st century fox and fox news. they're offering the same message. don't look or think about what may be under investigation. let's find whatever we can to undermine the pillars of the respect we confer upon. >> is it appropriate to call the channel a news channel? >> that's such a good question. >> shepherd smith is a journalist. he works for fox. bret beir works for fox. >> there are journalists, producer there is who work at fox news. fox news is not about news. fox news is about fox. fox news is about getting a tonal point of view, making sure that viewers get what they think viewers need to get, whether or not that involves, much of the time, facts. you know it's true because it's true at the most highly rated times of day, who is being paid, who is being promoted. anchors are slipping into those "f

according to another former high-ranking trump administration official there is an unspoken understanding within the national security council that to raise the matter is to acknowledge its validity, which the president would see as an affront. it's confirmed president trump spoke with vladimir putin today, according to the kremlin the white house initiated the call. national security analyst, former deputy secretary, you've got rob gold stone, intermediary between those wealthy oligarchs, and the saying putin wants to meet your dad. a month after he gets in the race, goldstone asking if the president, if trump wants to meet vladimir putin. what do you make of that? >> chris, it shows that the trump family, they had these rich, deep connections with the russians. we know, of course, because of the 2013 miss universe contest which occurred in moscow that also i think happened on the urging that trump had chummy relationships. we know there were russian investments in trump properties, certainly in the united states and florida and elsewhere. so these connections were there. they were alway