jim acosta stand by. i want to get to david axelrod now, for -- to get his reaction to this breaking news. david axelrod, what's your reaction to flynn's resignation? >> well, he was in an untenable position, don, and the administration was in an untenable position, anyone who saw the interview with steven miller, the white house aid yesterday on the sunday shows in which he was asked about this and refused to answer. you could hear the sound of a branch being sawed off, and the fact that the president who always seems willing to comment on almost anything has been so receip reticent to comment on this. and the story that broke tonight, the administration had been advised that he had had these conversations, and had been advised that he had misled the vice president made it absolutely impossible for him to continue, and we should point out that flynn's always been a controversial figure within the trump orbit, there's been a lot of talk in washington that general mattis and others had misgivings that ther

, no relation to jim acosta. once again, pointing out those first couple of rose empty. we'll take another quick break and wait for the president and have our coverage resume right after this. >>> we're waiting and watching for the president of the united states, donald trump. we're told momentarily he'll walk into the east room and formally make the announcement that alexander acosta will be his pick to become the next secretary of labor. law school dean, former u.s. attorney in florida. highly respected. we'll, of course, have live coverage of the president's remarks, presumably we'll hear from alexander acosta as well and then see if the president takes questions from reporters. and that's always been at least in the left few news conferences a little sensitivity there. the president taking questions at news conferences from reporters. >> they've been doing, i think it's fair to say around the so-kaufled msm, the mainstream media going to "new york post," fox news, town hall, christian broadcasting network, da

. >> shepard: treating jim acosta from cnn, a guy's never met but a good reporter. treating him like he's -- i'm not going to use the word. i'm not going to give twitter love it needs. it's crazy what we're watching every day. it's absolutely crazy. he keeps repeating ridiculous lines that are not true at all. sort of avoiding this issue of russia as if we're some kind of fools for asking the question. really? your opposition was hacked and the russians were responsible for it and your people were on the phone with russia the same day it's happening and we're fools asking questions? no, sir, we're not fools for asking the question and we demand to know the answer to this question. you owe this to the american people. your supporters will support you either way. what were your people saying? we have a right to know. we absolutely do. you call us fake news and put us down like children for asking these questions on behalf of the american people. it's inconsequential.

want to get back to jim acosta, mark preston, and major general spider marks and jill doherty. general marks, i have to ask you this, i don't know if you heard my reporting with "the washington post" reporter, adam entous, who reported on this, talked to us about how the nsa were listening to phone calls for the russian ambassador. it's fascinating information. general marks, they should have known this russian ambassador was being monitored. that's standard operating procedure. what did you get out of that? >> general flynn was aware that any communications he makes, he's vulnerable, it's going to be picked up. he's intimate with that, both metadata and the internal. the thing that you need to realize on mike flynn and i know him exceptionally well. he's a very bright guy and a very savvy guy and an organizational man. he understands where his right and left limits are. so he had to get permission from somebody before he started to engage in these communications with the russian ambassador. now, clearly, i don't know that that was the president himself to gave him that authori

did you notice jim acosta was asking him about the emails. they try to make it steam like he's ranting and raving and he's not. today's press conference represents everything about trump's amazing candidacy that got him elected. cnn and others in the mainstream media don't get it. tom prr my twitter feed lit up on this whole thing. we have people from the left and the right. we have anti-trumpers, and pro-trumpers, and everybody else in there. but there is a strong anti-media commentary going on because of this. what's your take? you are a journalist. >> trump made a lot of hay out of attacking the media. the problem is, they are so vulnerable to attack. they have written a number of stories that are just dead wrong. some of the networks have put themselves in an extremely adversarial position to trump. he does hit back. people don't trust what they have to say. but you saw trump has a way of communicating to people that works -- not on the coast -- but works in a large part of the country. and people in the press have never gone the it. they

>> absolutely. >> jim acosta? >> yes, of course. jim acosta or whoever asked the question. it was a response to a specific question. >> would he have said it to you, julie? >> it's not a racist -- >> never mess with april ryan. never mess with her. >> all right. i appreciate it and thank all of you very much. by the way, this harward story turning down the president for the national security adviser position developing at this moment. friend of harward's telling cnn he was reluctant to take that job because the white house seems so chaotic. more to you in just a moment. thanks to all of you and april, of course i want everyone to show about your new book. "out front" next, breaking news, law enforcement officials telling cnn michael flynn changed his story under questioning by the fbi about russia. the latest details on that and the breaking news of admiral harward as nationwide protests over trump's immigration rates and his border wall, see those right now tonight. new details about what the wall could look like and what it will cost. we'll talk to the men who weaponized

>> it's interest, sunlen because if you look at the reporting from jim acosta at the white house, paul ryan said he was given the impression that the white house is embracing much of the republican plan. part of the problem here is there seems to be a communication gap. or at least some communication fuzziness here where the people on capitol hill, you've been watching up there, are not 100% sure what the president backs. and one of the issues is that the republicans are losing support right now from their own ranks from this plan. mark sanford, mark meadows among those who came forward and said they can't vote for it now. do you think leadership is worried about losing more republican votes? >> i think they certainly are, and i think that many of those republicans in recent days who have expressed some concern about the bill, concern about the drafts that are coming out. they want to tamp down all that rhetoric. i thought it was notable we saw paul ryan earlier today in an interview come out and basically try to rein in much of what we're hearing. this narrative coming out of the hill

jim sciutto is right about that. j jim acosta talk about what jim sciutto set. what is the president saying about cnn's reporting about the trump aides in constant contact with the russian officials in the 2016 campaign? >> so far he's not saying anything about this. i tried to ask him that question at news conference with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu earlier. let's look at that. >> questions about your ksh contacts with russians in the campaign -- >> comment on reports that there was contact with senior advisers in your campaign with russian officials? president trump, no comment on that? >> there you have it. not only i but sara murray tried a few minutes later in the oval office. you can't really say that the president couldn't hear those questions. certainly heard mine in the east room of the white house, stopped in his tracks, looked around as to had a was going on and decided to move on. and sara murray asked in the oval office and he chose not to answer it. this is a question i tried to ask then president-elect trump during the news conferenc

let's get to cnn's jim acosta and renee marsh. good evening to you. if we thought we would ease into the weekend, jim, we were mistaken. federal judge is granting that washington state attorney general's request to immediately halt this executive order on immigration. you have been looking at the details. bring us up to speed. >> right. according to what has happened out in washington state, there is now a temporary restraining order that was issued by a judge in that state, essentially siding with the washington state attorney general who has asked for a restraining order, a stoppage to this executive order that banned people from coming in from seven predominantly muslim countries, according to the washington state attorney general who has been on the air for a good portion of this night. this is now a nationwide restraining order issued by this judge and i do believe we have some sound for this attorney general. here's what he had to say earlier tonight. >> judge robart's decision puts a halt to president trump's unconstitutional unlawful order. it

get to dana bash, david gergen, jim acosta and jim sciutto. after a welcome and a half of abrupt changes from the administration today moved closer to embracing positions long held by the obama administration on israeli settlements, sanctions towards iran and even towards russia. put it into perspective. >> temper that thought at least for now. yes the u.n. ambassador, nikki haley first comments criticizing russia for military aggression in eastern ukraine, it's news but balance against weeks and months of public statements by president trump. is it a real change? have to see. remains to be seen. on israeli policy yes, a mild statement of criticism against settlement building but in the midst of a promise still not yet realized on moving the u.s. embassy from teleavif to jerusalem. and we've seen president trump back off that promise over time. power centers in the administration might want to be more aggressive. seeing a move to the center or different power centers in the administration expressing themselves with the result of the battles un

i spoke with jim acosta. jim, i suppose his position had been untenable or growing that way. wasn't this sort of accusation of potential blackmail that was the turning point? or was it that he misled mike pence, the vice president? >> i think that revelation that the justice department had warned the trump administration a month ago, michael. that was certainly a turning point in all of this. i think also, this feeling inside the white house, that it just was unacceptable after the national security adviser, michael flynn, the former national security adviser, had misled intentionally or unintentionally, the vice president, mike pence, about whether he had contacts with the russian ambassador, that he discussed the russian sanctions that were handed down by the administration. he did not have the conversations about the sanctions. he did have the conversation. the big turning point earlier today, when kellyanne conway, the counselor to the president said, the president had full confidence in michael flynn. and within an hour of that, the press secretary, sean spicer, brought

first jim acosta has the latest. >> reporter: a stunning development this afternoon when it was revealed by senator richard blumenthal, a democrat from connecticut, that during his meeting with supreme court pick neil gorsuch that basically the judge agreed with some of these concerns that have been voiced up on capitol hill about the president's comments on the jud judges' handling of the case of his executive order trying to impose the travel ban in the seven predominantly muslim countries. judge gorsuch according to blumenthal said it was disheartening and demoralizing to make these remarks. it was over the weekend the president referred to the judge out of washington state who issued the temporary restraining order as a quote so-called judge. interesting to note the white house is not denying this. as a matter of fact, the white house -- a spokesperson handling the case on capitol hill, his movements up on capitol hill, says, no, those are the words that judge gorsuch used. consider this, anderson. senator chuck schumer, the senate minority leader, apparently also heard similar remar

. >> all right, let's go out to our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, i suppose his relationship had been tenable, or growing that way. but was it the potential idea of blackmail that was at issue, or was it because he misled mike pence, the vice president? >> i think it was that the administration had warned him a month ago, that was certainly a turning point in all of this. all of this feeling inside the white house -- it was just unacceptable that the national security adviser, now the former security adviser had misled intentionally or unintentionally, about whether or not he had contacts with the russian ambassador, or discussed the sanctions handed down by the obama administration. originally, michael flynn said he did not have conversations about the sanctions, it turns out later he did have conversations about the sanctions. it turned out earlier, when kellyanne conway said the president had full confidence in michael flynn, and within an hour of that, press secretary sean spicer brought the reporters into the office and said no that was no

but let's get right to cnn's dana bash, david gergen, jim acosta and jim sciutto. a lot to get to. good evening to all of you. jim sciutto, i want to start with you. after a week and a half of abrupt changes coming from this administration today, they moved closer to embracing positions long held by the obama administration on israeli settlements, on sanctions for iran, and even towards russia. put this into some perspective for us. >> well, i think we should temper that thought, at least for now. yes, you had for instance his u.n. ambassador today at the u.n. security council nikki haley her first comments before the u.n. security council criticizing russia for its military aggression in eastern ukraine. that is news, there's no question. but we have to balance that against really weeks and months of public statements by president trump. is it a real change? we'll have to see. it still remains to be seen. on israeli policy yes, a mild statement of criticism against settlement building but in the midst of a promise still not realized on moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jeru

here's jim acosta, i respect i m as well. i've worked with him for a long time. he is saying that the fix is in. he said flatly that basically you are on a corrupt deal. >> you might want to go to cbnnews.com. there is the plug, by the way. you can go down the list, if the fix is in, that would mean the fixes and for all the conservative news. that is not the case at all. >> ed: just one of many times that president obama got what you might consider a softball. watch this one. >> during the first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving in thised office, humbled you the most and troubled you the most? >> now, let me write this down. >> ed: that was at "the new york times," he is now a colleague of jim acosta at cnn. you are being accused that the fix was in.e he was asking the president about what enchanted him in the first 100 days.s. >> there are no softball questions here at all. it's very, very simple, news was made with those questions todaym on michael flynn, on the settlements question, i asked a par

this was a point he made and jim acosta pushed him rightfully so, the leaks are real, the news is fake, here we was. >> the leaks are real, you're the one that wrote about them ant reported them. the leaks are absolutely real, the news is fake because so much of the news is fake. so one thing i felt -- i have respect. it's very important to me and especially in this position, very important, i don't mind bad stories. i can handle a bad story better than anybody. as long as it's true. >>> maeve, talk about the appointed he's making there. the other great question was on when we have sound from then candidate trump bring on the leaks, wikileaks when it's comes to hillary clinton and the campaign, but these are the leaks he doesn't like. >> yes, he seems to have double standards and jim rightfully pushed him the fact that he is under cutting the credibility of the news media by constantly saying it was fake news, and it would be framed as him rant against the press and he did rant against the press for quite some time in a very measured tone. but that was very much the mode he was in as p

first, let's go to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, as we awaiting the ruling on the travel ban, the president trump is talking about -- >> the white house is bracing for the ruling on that. awaiting the ruling as the president has been highly critical of the judges on that case. sean spicer was trying to do some damage control after the president's pick for the supreme court. neil gorsuch told senators in private conversations that mr. trump's comments on the judges were, quote, demoralizing. spicer told the press gorsuch wasn't criticizing the president just speaking generally. here is what he had to say earlier today. >> the judge was very clear he was not commenting on any specific matter. he was asked about his general philosophy. so you can't then take that and equate it back to the specific. he literally went out of his way to say i'm not commenting on a specific instant. >> reporter: but that does not line up with what a white house spokesperson told multiple outlets including cnn yesterday. and spicer's comments are at od

>> well, as jim acosta said, $54 billion. but coming at the cost of cutting spending in other areas to a large extent. and it's very interesting, wolf. one of the biggest skeptics of cutting funding at the state department for diplomacy, which the pentagon sees as vital to fighting isis, one of the biggest skeptics, james mattis. before he became the civilian defense secretary, a couple years ago as an active-duty general he testified on capitol hill about what he thought about cutting state department funding. have a listen. >> i would start with the department of state budget, and frankly they need to be as -- as fully funded as congress believes appropriate because, if you don't fund the state department fully, then i need to buy more ammunition ultimately. so i think it's a cost/benefit ratio. the more that we put into the state department's diplomacy, hopefully the less they'll have to put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome of an apparent american withdrawal from the international scene. >> even though th

, he talked about jim acosta, more than him, talked more about hillary clinton than him. he talked about the media, fake media, whatever he wants to call us we're not paying too, but instead of offering an optimistic positive view of what he's doing for this country it was an airing of grievance. clinton, clinton, obama obama, george w. bush were bigger than that, but if you are a soldier in harm's way right now, if you are a hungry child in apla cha or the inner city, if you are an unemployed worker in the hollow shell of a small town that's not a president focused on your needs and wants that's a president focused on bad press, it was unhinged, wild and i can't believe there are republicans on capitol hill and in the white house that don't understand that might play well for the population that voted for the president but a lot are going to watch that and say that guy isn't focused on me, i don't know what he's focused on. >> it was almost a half an hour opening statement that he made very little as you point out nominee secretary of labor. jim acosta you asked a few qu

our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, is joining us with the latest. jim, what are you hearing about whether the president will actually talk about this comprehensive immigration legislation tonight? >> reporter: wolf, we are told he will. we are told the president is expected to signal an openness to a compromise immigration bill in his speech to congress tonight, part of that bill, a possible path to citizenship for the so-called dreamers. those are the kids who are brought to the u.s. illegally. the president is also talking about a bill where undocumented immigrants who are not committed to crime can stay in the u.s. legally, that is a big shift from where he has stood in the past. it's just one of a number of big-ticket items for president trump who will be delivering perhaps his most important speech since his inauguration. with polls showing a majority of americans disappointed in his first month in office, president trump will try to hit the reset button in a speech to a joint session of congress. in a rare moment of humility, the president is

jim acosta joins me with the latest. what do you know, jim? >> reporter: there has been some whiplash today at the white house. earlier the white house counselor kellyanne conway said he had the full confidence of the president and sean spicer said it's being evaluated. the best way to put it is that flynn is in a gray area. a senior administration official said the knifes are out at the white house where there are fears washington is hunting for flynn's scalp. flynn was it at the president's side as top officials huddled over how to handle north korea's weekend launch of a ballistic missile held on an outdoor's patio at mar-a-lago resort. cell phone flashlights raised security questions. the white house was vague about flynn's future when asked dir t directly on the sunday talk shows. >> does the president still have confidence in his national security adviser? >> that's a question that i think you should ask the president. >> general flynn has said up to this point that he had not said anything like that to the russian ambassador. i think no

>> thank you very much, jim acosta. and "outfront" now, the republican senator, jim langsford. he sits on both the homeland security committees. thank you so much, so much as it is every night, to talk about. you just heard the president say, nothing's off the table, those are his words in regard to iran, including military action. do you support that? >> i support trying to fix what we're dealing with iran right now. we tried to do additional sanctions last year when they did ballistic missile tests and continued having that same behavior before. that was blocked before. it did not move forward and finish the legislation. i think that is a natural response. i know that the president last year made statements that the ballistic missile tests are separate in negotiation and agreement from the nuclear tests, but clearly, iran is trying to test missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. haas in violation of all of our agreements. we should have some sort of response. >> right. so he has said he wants to go ahead with sanction. you're right, obviously making a distincti

jim acosta is over at the white house. how is the actual announcement going to happen? >> this is what happens when reality television meets the potomac. the cross hall as we call it inside the white house has been lit for a dramatic entrance for the president of the united states. all day long we've been seeing these dramatics building. we understand from talking to our sources that both neil gorsuch and thomas hardiman have been making their way to washington today. thomas hardiman as a matter of fact was spotted by one of our producers filling up his gas tank at a sheetz gas station in pennsylvania entering into the nation's capital. presumely he put enough gas in the tank to get here. all indications are neil gorsuch will be president trump's pick. however, we should point out this is president trump. he does have a flair for the dramatic. so all bets are off until we get the final announcement. donald trump's son is here, vice president is here with his wife as well as other top congressional leaders. >> jim acosta, we'll get back to you. stand by as we wait for th

let's get to cnn's jim acosta and r

jim acosta, great reporting. thanks so much. >> thank you. >>> now, to moscow and matthew chance standing by. russian involved, with this fallout from michael flynn's resignation. how concerned will the kremlin be with his resignation, the manner he's gone and whatever is likely to replace him in this role? >> it's embarrassing for the kremlin, in the sense they have repeatedly, in the past few minutes, when i've spoken to them, denied there were conversations about the possibility of alleviating sanctions between michael flynn and their ambassador to the united states, survey kislyak. they are not going to comment on that. it's an internal u.s. matter, they say. not prepared to discuss it. it's astonishing, really, they've gone out on a limb, to really follow the white house denials. that any conversations about sanctions took place. those denails appear to be unfounded. and the situations seems very different, which leaves the kremlin with some egg on its face. and i think it underlines to the kremlin the conce

it may be hard to get in a question for trump like jim acosta. >> go ahead. >> one more followup. >> can i have a little bit -- peter should i let him have a little bit more. >> just because the attack of fake news. >> i'm changing it from fake news though, very fake news. >> i know. but aren't you -- >> yes, laugh right along while he eviscerates everything you stand for, jim. let's get into it with the professor, and political scientist christina greer. this is what we call a very good panel in the business. professor we'll start with you. what comes to mind? >> well, the first thing is what richard nixon said when i'm not a crook. you say i'm not a crook, the people think of you as a crook. and if people write not the enemy, which is what a lot of reporters are writing right now. rather you should point out that you're protecting the truth and explain why and that's very importan important. >> so the reporter jim acosta is trying to get at some sort of confrontation with the president. most people never have that moment. what do you think is the right wa i -- way to make that adva

jim acosta was there. >> reporter: john and alison, the president is supporting michael flynn despite the fact he fired him this week. at the news conference with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the president slammed the media and leakers in the government about flynn lying about the calls to the vice president. here what is the president had to say. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he has been treated unfairly by the media. as i call it the fake media in many cases. from intelligence, papers are leaked. things are being leaked. it's criminal action. it's been going on for a long time. before me. now it's really going on. people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the democrats had under hillary clinton. >> reporter: the president declined to answer questions from cnn about reports that trump advisers were in contact with the russians during the campaign. we learned that vice president mike pence is getting to the bottom of how he was misled. he was not informed tfor two weeks. john and alison. >>> thank you, jim. the administration is denying our report tha

let's get important from jim acosta. >> reporter: president trump is lashing out the media. time in front of a military audience at the u.s. central command in florida. accusing the press of downplaying terrorist attacks. he did not specify, but here is what he had to say. >> you have seen what happened in paris and nice. all over europe. it is happening. it has gotten to a point it is not reported. in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. they have their reasons and you understand that. >> reporter: as for an explanation of the comments, the white house produced a list of attacks that occurred since 2014. the white house claims the attacks did not receive enough coverage, but on the list are some of the worst acts if the last two years. paris, nice, france, san bernardino, california and the orlando nightclub shooting. the white house did not explain what the president meant when he said the press does not report on terrorist attacks. >> jim, thank you. >>> democrats launched a blitz against secretary nominee betsy devos. the confirmation vot

that exchange with jim acosta was horrifying to me, i think back to days, people used to pick on barack obama for wearing a wrong color suit, have you a president talking to the press, like that saying, now you are very fake news. that creates a dynamic or continuing to foster this dynamic where americans do not have faith in a free, fair press. >> i think jessica. >> come in. >> i think that american people lost faith in the press a long time ago, because mainstream media has been lying to us for a very long time, but to get back to the president, two wrongs don't make a right, and humility says it best, you are our president, you represent all of us. and it is time to unite us. and by name-calling or asking someone's heritage, that does not help, so it was a great press conference today, we stau the trump candid trump but now i want so see president trump it is time for him to leave. >> angela brings up a great point, we found out through wikileak e-mail is you know, listen, supplying to hillary clinton of the question which trump covered today. >> one of the 11 times he talked about

jim acosta reports on mr. trump's visit to u.s. central command. >> reporter: the president is still taking victory laps. this time, in front of military commanders. >> we had a wonderful election, didn't we? and i saw those numbers. and you like me and i like you. that's the way it works. >> reporter: in a visit to u.s. central command in florida, president trump offered a dark world view on the global world of terrorism. >> radical islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland, as they did on 9/11. >> reporter: the president insisted to his audience, the news media is playing down the terror threat but offered no proof. >> it's got on the a point it's not being reported. and in many cases, the dishonest press doesn't want to report it. they have their reasons. and you understand that. >> reporter: mr. trump is also lashing out at recent polls that show the public is weary of his controversial travel ban. tweeting, any negative polls are fake news. people want border security and extreme vetting. the president is making

cnn's jim acosta has the preview. >> reporter: dave and christine, the president appears to be ready to strike a positive tone to the joint session of congress. renew of american spirit is the theme of the speech. the white house is signaling that president trump is sharpening the budget axe to make cuts to non defense spending in washington. only the pentagon is spared in the budget plans. white house officials say the president is expected to propose a $54 billion in defense spending. that increase is larger than what the government spends at the state department and epa. the president said at the white house yesterday, federal agencies should brace for leaner times. >> we're going to do more with less and make the government lean and accountable to the people. we can do more with the money we spend. with a $20 trillion in debt, the government must learn to tighten its belt. something families all across the country have had to learn to do. they had to learn to do it. >> reporter: the white house cautions the full proposal from the budget will not be out until may. dave and christi

jim acosta. jim, you're on the north lawn ever the white house, what are you picking up? >> wolf, this is just a fascinating developments and the white house we should point out is not disputing this. the president's own supreme court pick as we've been saying, neil gorsuch told senate democratic blumenthal that the comments about the judge's handling the executive order case are demoralizing and disheartening. the white house confirms that gorsuch did say this. you recall the -- the executive order as a quote so-called judge and he described the oral arguments in the ninth circuit court of appeals as quote disgraceful for now. the white house is not planning on commenting but given the way he's been tweeting about this, no one rules out any further comments from president trump. but you've mentioned and pam mentioned that senator chuck schumer said that judge gorsuch said something similar to him. it's important to put at the senator's office put out questioning why judge gorsuch did not go forward and condemning his words. >> it's pretty amazing that a supreme court nom

. >> i want to go to our senior white house correspondente jim acosta. any word to the appeal? >> that is why they have a high degree of confidence in making this filing late today. but, wolf, we heard the president today talking tough on terror. president trump is lashing out at the news media. in front of a military audience accusing the press of intentionally downplaying terrorist attacks. he did not refer to which attacks. but here is what he had to say. >> all over europe, it's happening. it's gotten to a point where it's not being reported and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press does not want to report it. they have their reasons and understand that. >> i asked for an explanation. press secretary sean spicer told the press the president believes the terrorist attacks are not being covered as he would like them to be. and he will provide a list of attacks that warranted more coverage. the terrorist attacks are always covered as major news around the globe. it's not exactly clear what the president is referring do in this case. >> as you know, jim, the president m

>> jim acosta joins me with the latest. judge gorsuch according to senator blumen that will said it was disheartening and demoralizing. the president referred to the judge out of washington state. interesting to note that the white house is not denying this. the white house spokesperson who was handling judge gorsuch's case. his movements up on capitol hill said no, those are the words that judge gorsuch used. consider this. chuck schumer and the minority leader also heard similar remarks. but senator schumer's office issued a statement for not going further in condemning the president for his remarks. you sort of get the outlines for the political dynamics that may be emerging during his confirmation hearing. he may be pressed further as to why he is not going further and condemning the president for going after the judges handling the case. >> we are expected to talk to senator blumenthal any minute. we want to get a firsthand account about how the conversation transpired. jim, just be clear. you are saying them to confir

my colleague, jim acosta, reporting that the intel chairman did then reach out to media. he does not believe that he did anything wrong there. but this is something that has raised the eyre of certainly not just democrats, but also republicans. we heard from the vice chairman of the senate select committee on intelligence, mark warner, a democratic from virginia. who has said he's reached out to the cia, reached out to the chairman of that committee, to express his grave concerns about this, these reports that they got involved, anyone got involved, talking with reporters. we heard from a republican member of congress, congressman darrell issa, who talked about this last night during an interview on realtime with bill. >> mario:. he said that first, the intelligence communities need to investigate, but then went further. take a listen. >> you cannot have something, a friend of mine, jeff session, who was on the campaign and who is an appointee. you're going to need the special prosecutors statute and office to take not just rekus. you do have to do that. we're going to ha

let's begin with our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, right now the future is uncertain, shall we say, for the president's national security adviser, or has that changed in the last few minutes? >> it may be changing, wolf. the white house is doing all it can to tamp down on the controversy swirling around national security adviser michael flynn. in the last hour kellyanne conway said flynn does have the full confidence of the president, and a white house official tells me flynn has apologized to vice president who said the national security adviser had not talked about sanctions against russia with the russian ambassador. now flynn says that may have in fact happened. president trump skated past reports that embattled national security adviser michael flynn is on thin ice. at a news conference with the canadian prime minister, the president defended his agenda to keep the country safe. >> i am just doing what i said i would do. >> reporter: but following revelations that flynn had conversations about sanctions against russia with t

let's begin with our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, there's a lot of ground to cover on this breaking story. first, what are you learning about the fbi interview with michael flynn? >> reporter: well, we are told, wolf, that the fbi did interview michael flynn, the national security adviser, when he was still at his post in the early days of the administration. not clear yet what the fbi did with that investigation or with that information that they drew out of that interview, but the white house laid out its version of events today, wolf, surrounding the resignation after national security adviser michael flynn, after senior administration officials told reporters that flynn stepped down on his own. the white house now says president trump asked for flynn's resignation. press secretary sean spicer said the white house was contacted by the justice department on january 26th about its concerns regarding flynn's conversations with the russian ambassador. spicer says white house counsel don mcgann immediately briefed the president on

jim acosta is joining us from the white house. fred pleitgen is tehran. and aaron david miller is here in washington, d.c. jim, this news conference happened even before the two men had a chance to sit down and have some quiet discussions in the oval office or elsewhere in the white house. it was as if we're watching live negotiations, at least on some points going on. >> that's right. and that is president trump playing the disrupter on the world stage. typically what we'd see is a president welcoming a foreign leader here at the white house. they would go behind closed, they would have lunch, their officials would meet with each other and they would try to broker some kind of joint statement that would be put out by both the press offices and then you would have a news conference where both of these leaders would come out and explain perhaps what they would talk about, talk about the disagreements they had. that didn't happen today. we saw the prime minister show up here at the white house and then within just a few minutes, they both came into the east

all right, jim acosta at the white house. thank you very much. up on capitol hill right now. >>> seeing signs of a growing republican revolt against one of the pillars of president trump's agenda. that would be his proposed wall at the border with mexico. our senior congressional reporter, manu raju, is digging into that for us. >> reporter: wolf, republicans are concerned about the price tag that donald trump's wall could cost. upwards of $15 billion. as we know, the trump administration wants congress to appropriate that money before mexico reimburses the united states. wolf, a lot of republicans are skeptical that mexico will pay back the costs of the wall. it was a centerpiece of donald trump's presidential campaign. >> we will build a wall. mexico is going to pay for the wall. we're going to stop drugs from coming in. >> reporter: that campaign promise to build a wall along the entire border with mexico is now crashing into a different type of wall on capitol hill. a growing number of republicans are pushing back on his plans which could cos

even when he was making fun of jim acosta, he was complimenting him at the same time. you could tell they were playing their roles, just like professional wrestlers play a role. he is playing president trump and he's going to yell at you. it was so clearly -- it wasn't really adversarial as it seemed. >> eric: didn't he set this up? the media bit. he knows they are generally not liked. they have a lower approval rating than most things in the world. >> dana: that was consistent during the campaign. >> eric: by picking them, it's bipartisan. you can have disdain for that group whether you are republican or democrat. >> kimberly: he played himself today and no one does trump better than the president himself. he said i'm having a good time. i enjoy this. and i think he was. he was doing it and they are going to say, trump riots. one of the headlines was trump brands at the -- trump rants. he called on cnn. he spent a considerable amount of time with jim's 14, who handled himself well. they put them in the cage on "saturday night live." >> juan: the question to me is, he

the likes of which are rarely seen between such close allies and not the only one as jim acosta reports tonight. >> reporter: with australuse tr australia. >> i love australia as a country. >> reporter: a deal cut by the obama administration by refugees in detention centers off australia that fled from muslim nations barred from sending people to the u.s. under the trump administration's travel plan. refugees the president incorrectly calms illegal immigrants. >> we had a problem where for whatever reason, president obama said they were going to take probably well over 1,000 illegal immigrants who were in prisons and they were going to bring them and take them into this country and i said why. >> sources tell cnn the president was so upset with the prime minister he abruptly ended the call and said the president had another testy phone conversation with mexican president enrique pina neto. a source told cnn the president's hash languapresiden e president's harsh language made the staffers' faces turn white. >> believe me, when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry

jim acosta is in the briefing room. on iran, the trump administration posed new sanctions against iran today because of the ballistic missile test that the u.s. condemned earlier in the week and now there's this back and forth going. strong words between the u.s., the trump administration and the iranian regime. this could get pretty intense but give me your analysis. >> well, look, this is what president trump said he was going to do, get tough on iran. he said during the campaign that the nuclear deal was no good and it was weak and iran got much more than it gave. the truth of the matter is it's really quite tricky, this whole ballistic missile thing. the u.n. resolution says iran should not do any missile test but only if the intent was to arm it with a nuclear warhead or nuclear capable. this is what the sanctions target. those dozen entities and another dozen individuals all talking about, all being sanctioned because of trying to help iran's ballistic missile program. the sanctions don't really violate the iran n

jim acosta is joining us with details. jim, this was an unannounced visit by the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. and president trump is expected to arrive at the white house at any moment and head straight to swearing ceremony of his incoming secretary of state, rex tillerson. but the afternoon was dedicated to remembering a fallen navy s.e.a.l. who died in the very first known military operation authorized by the president. a solemn day for the new commander in chief, making his first trip as president to dover, delaware, to meet with the family of william ryan owens, who was killed in yemen targeting al qaeda. president trump called his family tuesday, to recognize his sacrifice and years of dedicated service to his country. >> he went back, deployed 12 times, because he believed in the mission. and knowing that we killed an estimated 14 aqap members and that we gathered an unbelievable amount of intelligence that could prevent the potential deaths on american soil is something that i think most service membe

jim acosta, thank you very much at the white house. a bigger conversation on everything, jim. i have alex burns for the "new york times", matt lewis senior columnist for the daily beast, and simone sanders who served as national press secretary for the bernie sanders presidential campaign. happy friday to all of you. welcome. and alex, let me turn to you first. a quick note on watching the president down in south carolina. this is his special place, right? stand anything front of crowds. this is the oxygen, the people, the enthusiasm. and also on this whole message, which is part of the reason why, one, hire american, buy american. this is great news. is it as simple as it seems? >> well, i think for a lot of folks who have watched him with apprehension the last month, this event today was sort of a glimpse of the road he hasn't taken so far, which is if he were to go back to the white house and focus basically exclusively on issues related to job creation and manufacturing and really sort of middle of the road national security rhetoric, i think democrats would be terrified.

there are deep concerns here from many communities. >> jim acosta has a special guest. >> reporter: i'm with ted cruz. i think there was a moment during this process your name came up. what are your impressions of this selection of neil gorsuch? >> today was the most important decision president trump has made in the first two weeks serving in office. during the campaign he promised the american people he would nominate a principled constitutionalist to replace justice scalia and he honored that commitment. i think judge gorsuch is a home run. he is faithful to the constitution, following the law, protecting our bill rights and i think his record will yield a swift confirmation in the senate. >> reporter: you've seep the partisanship the last several days. is this thing jeff gorsuch can overcome? you have democrats holding up the nominee ace cross the president's cabinet picks. >> no doubts the democrats are engaged in unprecedented partisan obstruction. i hope they won't engage in that for the supreme court. i would suggest the democrats should apply the standard, what's changed from a

we get more from cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: john and christine, president trump is once gain lashing out at the media. this time in the audience at the u.s. central command in florida. accusing the press of downplaying terrorist attacks. the president did not specify which attacks he was referring to in his remarks. here is what he had to say. >> you have seen what happened in paris and in nice. all over europe. it is happening. it has gotten to a point where it is not reported. in many case, the dishonest pri press doesn't want to report it. they have their reasons and you understand that. >>. >> reporter: asked for an explanation of the comments, the white house produced a list of 78 attacks that occurred since 2014. the white house said most of the attacks did not receive enough coverage. on the list are some of the worst terrorism acts last two years. paris, nice, france and san bernardino, california and orlando nightclub. the white house did not explain what the president meant when he said the president has reasons for why it doesn't report on terror attacks. >> thank you. dem