scott, please be careful. just extraordinary what's happening there. we'll continue to follow it. thanks very much for watching "360." that's all the time we have tonight. i'll seal you tomorrow night. time to hand it over to don lemon. "cnn tonight" starts right now. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. we're live in washington for you. our breaking news tonight, sources telling cnn president trump's lawyers are trying to limit the questions robert mueller might ask the president in an interview. they want the special counsel to agree not to question trump about -- wait for this -- anything he's done in office. which doesn't sound like a deal mueller would take since it would mean not asking the president about the firing of james comey and possible obstruction of justice. and we've got more breaking news tonight. this on president trump's fixer michael cohen. one of cohen's business partners, a russian immigrant known as the taxi king has

quietly agreed to assist federal or state investigators as part of a plea deal that is according to "the new york times." how much does cohen's business partner know, and who is he talking to? much, much more on that in a moment as well. and it comes as the president doubles down on his unproven claims that he is a victim. a victim of a so-called deep state conspiracy. repeating a suggestion of spies in his campaign, even though there is no evidence of that. and officials have told cnn there was no such source planted inside the trump campaign. >> a lot of people are saying they had spice in my campaign. if they had spice in my campaign, that would be a disgrace to this country that would be one of the biggest insults that anyone's ever seen. it would be very illegal aside from everything else. it would make probably every political event ever look like small potatoes. >> you know what it would make? it would make absolutely no sense. afterall, these hypothetical spies presumably have been trying to harm trump's campaign,

and they didn't because he won. but that's not stopping the president and his allies from trying to cast doubt on the investigation. arranging a thursday briefing with the justice department for republican leaders, just republican leaders on highly classified information. that as a president was in no mood to answer questions about his own hand-picked deputy attorney general. >> do you have confidence in rod rosenstein? >> what's your next question, please? excuse me, i have the president of south korea here, okay. he doesn't want to hear these questions, if you don't mind. >> well, somebody definitely doesn't want to hear those questions, and i'm not sure it is the president of south korea. we have more breaking news for you tonight. cnn predicts stacey abrams will win the democratic primary in georgia's gubernatorial race. she now has the chance to become the nation's first black female governor. more on that in a moment.

so lgts bring in cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto, dana bash, laura coates and jack quinn, former white house council to president clinton. i got a little sleep, i can pronounce your name tonight. i had trouble with her name. >> laura coates. >> it's a tongue-twister. more on that in a moment. so much news to report, dana. it's like drinking from a fire hydrant. you have new reporting. the president's lawyer is trying to narrow the scope of the mueller questions if the president does indeed speak with him. >> right, big if. this is reporting i did along with evan perez and gloria borger. it is, as you said, the idea of trying to narrow the scope to specifically questions before donald trump was in office, and about even more so, russia-related questions, meaning because they argue that this whole thing was supposed to be about russia collusion. but they also don't want the

president to be asked in a face-to-face interview about obstruction of justice, which they know that robert mueller has been trying to probe other witnesses on. an obstruction of justice would be about the firing of james comey. so we're told by our sources that because the trump legal team understands that that's a mueller point of interest that they would say well, those questions can be asked and answered in written form. so, look, the obvious question is whether or not robert mueller is going to go for it. and the answer is we don't know. what we do know according to sources we have talked to, they were cautious saying look, these negotiations are inching along. one source even -- a couple of sources even admitted that robert mueller isn't interested in written answers. so that may be a bridge too far for him, and this might end up in the supreme court if in fact they can't reach an agreement, and robert mueller is determined to speak in some way, shape, or form to the president of the

united states. >> if he's not interested in written answers and narrowing, it, jack, to not being able to ask questions post election, i mean, that seems pretty audacious. do you think that's feasible at all? >> i think the idea of limiting this to before the election of the president is frankly crazy there is no way that mueller can stand for that. >> well, it's his lawyers. it's a strategy from his lawyers, but i'm sure he would like that as well. >> it is a strategy. first of all, it's very clear that obstruction of justice is clearly one of the mandates that robert mueller has. secondly, it is as clear as can be that when a president takes action in his official capacity, the courts have authority to consider whether that action is consistent with the law. and here, you know, the president's actions have to be as fast -- his testimony has to be assessed in terms of his

veracity. the special counsel needs to sit with him personally, needs to enable him to react to questions. he needs to assess his demeanor, and he needs to be able to follow up the questions that he puts to the president. >> yeah. >> he can't rely on written answers. those written answers are probably not going to come from the witness. my own sense of it is that this is all posturing. >> you don't think that he is going to sit down? >> i think it's quite unlikely. >> yeah. >> i think that they are building a case to be able to say they really went to the ends of the earth to try to make this work, but mueller wouldn't be cooperative. >> and just to be clear, i agree with you, and i think it is pretty obvious that the trump legal team is trying to pressure robert mueller by putting this out. >> and just one other point here. the proper way to limit the president's testimony here, which is supported by case law

is that the president should be called upon to testify only where his evidence is essential to the investigation and where it can't be gathered from other sources. >> but they are investigating his -- so it seems like he would be essential. i want to get to jim in the essence of time here. it seems pretty absurd that they would want to do this. there is so much to look at after the election and while he is in office. >> this seems to be in the category, and jack knows better as a lawyer, but in a defense lawyer's wishful thinking. just look at the list of relevant topics for the special counsel relating to this question of obstruction of justice. you have the firing of james comey. you have the loyalty dinner, you'll remember, as james comey has said in his book as well as in congressional testimony that he went to dinner with the president, invite beside i the president, asked to make a pledge of loyalty to the president. you have the oval office meeting with the russian diplomats where in addition to it appears the president shared classified intelligence with the russian, but he also spoke again of how

the investigation put pressure on him about, and how firing the fbi director relieved that pressure, the firing of michael flynn. the firing of sally yates, her role relating to the president that michael flynn might have lied and might therefore be a risk of blackmail. jeff sessions' recusal from the russia investigation. of course the president has beaten him up repeatedly in public for that. and the crafting the false statement about that trump tower meeting with the russians, another thing that happened really a year later after where on air force one the president with hope hicks and others crafts a statement that gave a false meaning, reason, rather, for why donald trump jr., jared kushner, paul manafort met with the russians when we know that they were offering dirt on hillary clinton. he said it was just about adoption. look at that there. that's a list of seven topics that are very relevant. we know by speaking to witnesses that these are topics they've been asked about in relation. we already know that the special

counsel's interest in this on the question of obstruction of justice. >> and the president's lawyers argue, as you well know, jim, that all of those things are within the president's right as an executive leader of the executive branch which is why -- >> why would he not want to answer questions? >> if that is put to the constitutional test, you don't think it will be? >> just the point is that courts routinely determine whether or not a president's official actions are lawful. >> yeah. >> you know? >> laura, let me just read the scope to you, because i know you want to respond to this. this is the scope set for robert mueller's investigation. any links and/or coordination between the russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of president donald trump, right. president donald trump. any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. >> this is this. there is also a third component which talks about jurisdictional issues as well. anything else you may come across where you need additional guidance from rod rosenstein to say this is within my jurisdiction, or it covers. that's why you have things like

the ukraine and other countries coming into play. remember, you hit a great word, dana, and that's executive. if he were to try to confine this whole conversation to before he was the president of the united states, well, there goes your claim of executive privilege about why you want to try to tailor what you can actually expose. every president would want to have very close to the vest the opportunity to talk to their advisers, kitchen cabinet members and say we want to have these free-flowing discussions. if he says i want to limit it to a time before i was in the office president, you can play aye ply privilege to that period of time, it's very counterproductive. if he would like to have mueller narrow it down to simply one topic, fine. how about this? what did you do wrong? that's a very narrow scope of topic. it's only one thing. >> executive privilege applied to pre-presidential. >> that's my point. and so the idea that he would say i'd like to have this, i bet you he will still try to assert the fifth which is not indicative of whether you're a

president or not, but also executive privilege and say listen, i don't want to tell you everything. we know the nixon case you can't hide behind executive privilege if you're trying to hide wrongdoings, but still, it's another step in a counter production process. >> you know where a criminal investigation is at stake, executive privilege is going to yield if the president is the only one who can provide the evidence that the prosecution is looking. >> laura, i expect either the trump folks or to the mueller people to be calling you tonight since you gave that bit of information. >> no, no, thank you. >> i'm going to ask you to be the trump tweet whisperer. he said tonight the person placed very early into my campaign wasn't a spy put there by the previous administration for political purpose, how come such a seemingly massive amount of money was paid for services rendered, many time higher than normal. follow the money, exclamation point. the spy was there early in the campaign yet never reported with

collusion with russia because there was no russia. he was only there to spy for political reasons and to help crooked hillary win just like they did to bernie sanders who got duped. okay. what is he talking about there? it sounds like we're back in september of 2016 again. >> look, he is -- he continues to, along with his allies, but he is the biggest mega phone, conflate the notion of a confidential source which we understand was at least one was trying to get information about russia and a so-called spy, which sounds a lot more nefarious. and he is saying that what the fbi paid that person or people was a lot of money. we don't know if that's true. we don't know how he has that information. and big picture, what he is trying to do is muddy the waters and continue toe make this whole discussion about russia, about the investigation look like it

is fruit from a poisonous tree. >> i want to move on. >> we have to fact check. there were many factual inaccuracies. there is no one planted inside the campaign. the fbi all the time sends confidential source. they send someone to speak to papadopoulos and others because there was evidence supplied by a u.s. intelligence partner, australia, that papadopoulos was talking about getting dirt on hillary clinton from the russians. so they sent someone to talk to him to sort of glean more information from him. that is not planting a spy inside the campaign. as far as the money is concerned, there are public records that show that this confidential source has been named by others, but i don't believe we're naming was a contractor for the u.s. government and received money for contracts that he performed to a million dollars, not tied to this work. >> right. >> he did a number of contracts that related to u.s., russia, china security, that kind of thing. that may be what the president is referring to, but it's a

presidential tweet so we don't know. >> it wasn't just about hillary clinton's campaign. it was most importantly the information they got was about russia interfering in our elections. >> but it sounds good. it sounds god for the president. >> so let's talk about this. michael cohen's business partner, his name is evgeny freidman. he is known as the taxi king, taking a plea so he doesn't go to jail. so he is going to help prosecutors. how much pressure does this put on cohen? >> my understanding of his cooperation deal is it's for both state and federal investigations, right? federal investigation involves a man named robert mueller. this guy was facing $5 million in legal penalties, four on counts crimes that have sentences up to 25 years. i mean, he wouldn't get 100 years, but still, he was facing a number of years in prison and a lot of money. bumped down to $50,000 and much less prison. when you have that, that's not good for the guy on the other end. jack knows this better than me.

and just another point i would make. so the president's lawyer, michael cohen, long-time lawyer is now facing the possibility of severe charges. the president's lawyers' partner was already charged multiple times. he didn't pay $5 million in taxes. there is just a lot of messiness so to speak around the president. >> laura, this taxi king, it seems like he got a pretty generous offer. what does that tell you about the value of his cooperation? >> the sweeter the deal, the sweeter the information they have to give you there is no incentive if you're a prosecutor to give someone a generalious allocution and deal here unless they're going to give you some information. normally speaking you would hang somebody on that hook long enough to be able to secure the information you want before you actually give the person the final sentence. once it's given to this, they there is no incentive to cooperate. michael flynn had a sentence that is elongated now because they want to have more information and time to get information from him before they say here is our final what your sentence should be. here he must have really great

information for them. but i would caution people against thinking this is somehow going to link inevitably to donald trump. it may be michael cohen is in fact the biggest fish they're trying to hook, and this person gives them the direct connection to it. >> people have been saying that they believe michael cohen is in a lot of trouble here. >> that's true. >> he told me he believes everything is going to be aboveboard in the end. so we shall see. thank you. appreciate it. >> good see you. >> good to see you guys as well. when we come back, top republicans are meeting with the justice department on thursday about a confidential source, just republicans, just them. so why are no democrats invited? plus, hawaii's kilauea volcano spewing lava, toxic gases and flaming lava bombs. love bomb lava bombs, geez. we're live where the molten rock is flying.

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more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper the president and his allies are taking aim at the russia investigation by trying to cast doubt on his own justice department and repeating his unproven claims about so-called spice. i want to bring in now cnn political analyst the executive editor of sentinel newspapers and cnn national security analyst, mr. matthew rosenberg of the "new york times." good evening to both of you. matthew, the president doubling down on false claims that there were spies placed in his campaign. here is what he said today. >> a lot of people are saying they had spies in my campaign. if they had spice in my

campaign, that would be a disgrace for this country. but some man got paid based on what i read in the newspapers and on what you reported. some person got paid a lot of money. that's not a normal situation, the kind of money you're talking about. so hopefully that would be, and i think the department of justice wants to get down to it. and i can tell you congress does. >> there were a whole lot of "a lots" in there. a lot of people are saying. saying people didn't believe the newspapers, it's all fake news. but cnn is reporting even though a lot of people are saying, that there was no spying inside the campaign. and you've reported extensively on that. >> yeah. the fbi had evidence to start an investigation from one of our intelligence, from the australians, an incredibly close ally. so they send an informant to question some of the people they were interested in. the informant didn't get a lot of information for them it looks like. but a lot of people are saying he is the president of the united states. >> that's his refrain, though.

>> this is his government. he can find out any of this. he has access to every piece of intelligence that is produced by our country's national security agencies. i mean, we're in this weird zone where the people who run our country, the president, the party that controls both houses of congress are claiming fob victimized by the government they run. >> well, he kind of makes a condition of it. and that's the thing. the very first word that he uses, "if" and i go back to dandy don meredith. if if and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a hell of a christmas. it's gas lighting, man. he is just spewing that stuff out there because why? what happened up in new york? who copped a plea. >> michael cohen's business partner. >> so he doesn't want you looking over here. he wants you looking over here. so he sits in a pool spray in a limited pool spray where there are limited access by reporters who can call him on it if he

were actually in a briefing room. he gets to spew this nonsense and kicks you out of the room. >> and gets upset if you ask him a question. he doesn't want to hear that. >> exactly. >> meaning that president of china doesn't want to hear it. he doesn't want to hear that. korea, excuse me. this meeting between gop leaders and the justice department and the fbi and the intelligence community. on these intelligence source documents. what do we know about this meeting? >> well, what we know is -- they should be involved there should be some democrats there too. this has been bipartisan effort in the past, right? you share information so that we can all go hey, you know what? it is or it isn't. it is what it is. usually what has happened is the department of justice has given information to the politicians. look, what it's all about? and they're not doing it. >> listen to sarah sanders. here is what she said about

that. >> oh, yes. >> to my knowledge, the democrats have not requested that information. so i would refer you back to them on why they would consider themselves randomly invited to see something they've never asked to. >> well, i grew up under a republican democracy, and i don't know where i am anymore. because honestly, if you sit there and listen to what she has to say, why wouldn't the democrats think that they were -- >> i mean the rationale here is oversight. congress is supposed to have a role to oversee investigation, these agencies. and that's what we're doing here. but you're not inviting the other party. you're not inviting the people who aren't your backers, you know. and that's -- that makes this look political. no inclusion. >> we keep playing that game, what if, what if, what if. can you imagine if there was instead of on the state tv where hillary clinton is president, if hillary clinton were president and this happened or if barack obama had -- democrats had done this. >> they would have never let

barack obama get away with that. >> and here is the thing. if they had done it, they should have also been lamb baaaed for doing it and they should have been investigated. >> 100% agree. just to give people perspective on how ridiculous it feels, what's happening in washington, what's going on. it's so ridiculous. do you any that this information with all republicans, matthew, that it's going remain confidential or do you think there will be selected leaks? >> i'm going to guess for leaks because i know this town. i've seen a lot in a year and a half. >> i don't think? you think? >> leaks around here. >> i'll take the over/under on that one, brother. >> i think the question is hours, days and to which outlets. if chairman nunes is involved i suspect it won't be to "the new york times." he doesn't really answer our phone calls anyone. i think cnn is in the same boat. i know today nunes was questioned by some reporters in the hallway. he said he doesn't discuss committee business with reporters and referred everyone to his sunday appearance on fox

where he frequently discusses committee business. >> with the reporter. >> so you're giving it about a half hour. >> but the thing is maybe what he is saying is that they're not reporters. because he is discussing it. >> look, keep it in perspective. what they're really saying is that there are reporters that we want to have the story. we want them to have. >> of course. >> and the rest of you, we don't really want you to be involved in the process. we know you're going to get the information anyway. but we're going to get ahead of it by giving it to the people we want and put our spin on it before the truth makes its way around the world. >> so he was asked today if he had confidence in rod rosenstein, and he said next question. is that a no? >> what do you think. come on! actually, that's a good question in so much in the past when he said he is a very good man, that means the next day they're out the door. so maybe by not saying anything he is all right. >> rosenstein is not supposed to be at the meeting, is he? no. >> he is off the guest list which is strange.

i don't want to reel read too much into that. maybe he has a doctor's appointment. but it is odd. >> everyone on the hill said that would be a red line for them if rosenstein or mueller canned before the end of the investigation that would be a red line. he is trying to have his cake and eat it too. he is playing both sides. he is trying to pressure these people but he is not willing to take that last step and hopefully he won't. >> i want to get your response to homeland security pushing back on putin meldling in the election. >> do you any reason to doubt the assessment that said it was vladimir putin who tried to meddle in this election to help president trump win? >> i do not believe that i've seen that conclusion. >> january 27th assessment. >> that specific intent was to help president trump win. i'm not aware of that. >> it was a great question by our very own manu raju, but does

she lose all credibility with that answer? >> what credibility? go back to the point in time where candidate trump stood up in public and encouraged russia to look at e-mails and get involved in our election. what more do you need than that? seriously. what more do you need? the man said it himself from a podium in front of a lot of people. what more does anyone need? >> last word, matt. >> i mean, she is either ignorant or being disingenuous. >> or both. >> i don't know which one it, or both. but:00 look, the assessment is clear. the intelligence community, there is a document. you can get it online. i've read it. you've read it. it says russia favored trump. now, she may disagree the findings. but to claim she has never seen it and she is the secretary of homeland security? they were part of the people who put that together. she hasn't read one of the crucial documents produced by the intelligence community in the past year and a half? that's nuts. >> don't you think it's tough if she answers that question honestly in public, what happens

privately? >> yeah, she is going to follow his lead. but, don, they don't answer honestly in publicly ever. only. >> here is the thing. dan coates, mike pompeo who got from cia to the secretary of state. >> i got to go. >> he's answered honestly. >> thank you both. i appreciate it. when we come back, what may be the art of no deal. president trump saying there is a very substantial chance his promised june 12 meeting with kim jong-un won't happen. so who holds the cards now? there's nothing small about your business. with dell small business technology advisors you get the one-on-one partnership you need to grow your business. the dell vostro 15 laptop. contact a dell advisor today. ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪

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the president strongly hinting today that his planned summit with north korea's leader, which was supposed to happen in just three weeks may be off. >> there is a chance that it will work out. there is a chance, a very substantial chance that it won't work out. i don't want to waste a lot of time, and i'm sure he doesn't want the waste a lot of time. so there is a very substantial chance that it won't work out, and that's okay. that doesn't mean that it won't work out over a period of time. but it may not work out for june 12th. >> all right. robin wright is here. she is a contributing writer at the new yorker who is a fellow at the woodrow wilson center. good evening. so good to see you in person. thank you for coming in. the president says this summit with north korea may not be in three weeks. what do you think? >> well, there is a tremendous iffyness about american

diplomacy with north korea at the moment, both in terms of the date as well as the substance. the president has talked about denuclearization that north korea has to give up everything first. and of course the north koreans are not going to give everything up without some kind of incentive. and they've also started playing "hardball." and the one thing president trump has learned, the lesson of the last 11 presidents is that north korea is the most mercurial country in the world, and the dynasty run by the kim family through three generations is very hard to deal with. and it will be the toughest challenge of his presidency. >> people hate it when you say i told you so. but when all this was announced and they were so happy and giddy about it, every expert who came on cnn and on other networks were all saying hey, slow down. we don't know if this is going to happen. we've gotten almost this far with kim jong-un before, and then nothing ever material i'ded. >> well, there was a tumult summitt that the south koreans

would come to suggest the possibility down the road of some kind of summit. but after a period of negotiation. after all, the trip of a president or the meeting of a north korean lead worry be the ultimate reward, not the beginning of a process. that's the tradition in american diplomacy. and so when the president heard about this suggestion and said oh, that's a good idea, let's do it, and it surprised the south koreans. and i think the president is trying, frankly to catch up right now. >> even making coins. they made these coins with the date. there it is right there, that this meeting, peace talks. and then it's got the president's name on it, and of course the supreme leader. what do you think? >> well, they revealed the coin on monday. and by tuesday he is saying there is a very substantial chance that the talks won't happen on june 12. i still think it will happen, but i think kim jong-un has kind of reeled the president in. he has played some hardball, and he is now making the president go to him. >> right. >> kim has defined the

diplomacy, how this is going to play out, the pace and now he's making it clear that he is going to have a lot of demands that the president will have to address as well. >> and let's be clear. if this does happen, i mean this is very good. but this is just strategizing and, you know, we're repeating what the president is saying, it may not happen when it seemed in the beginning that it was inevitable that it was going to happen. i want to play, robin, this is an interesting exchange. this is a between a reporter and the secretary of state, mike pompeo today. watch this. >> there were reports that when you met with kim jong-un, you were looking out at a sunset, and he allegedly said wouldn't it be great if there were american hotels lining the scene. do you believe that he's open to the idea of american investment in north korea? >> i do think it's something that if we get this right and we get the denuclearization right that america would be quite capable of delivering them with lots of things that would make life better for the north korean people.

>> american hotels in north korea. as they say, wicked smart. that was calculated. he's been reading the art of the deal. he knows his audience. >> absolutely. when i was on the dmz, the demilitarized zone between north and south korea a few weeks ago right after the summit between the korean leaders, kim said the same thing. he talked about if they had a trump tower and a mcdonald's in pyongyang that the americans would never attack. so i think he actually has made that comment before. >> it has been said that the president appears to be more interested in the imagine try th -- pageantry that goes along instead of reading the briefings. the perils in a summit like this, there are plenty of them, right? >> enormous. that's what the clinton administration and the bush administration discovered during the past two attempts to deal with north korea. the framework agreement and the six-party talks, and they thought they were getting very close, but this was elaborate

diplomacy that played out over a very long period. i think there is a real concern that there has been so little time that getting trump up to speed on these details at a time that kim impressed the south koreans as being in full command, not only of the issues but the room in which they negotiated and the table where they talked. >> the president spoke favorably of kim jong-un, saying that he could assure his safety, meaning the safety of north korea as well. watch this. >> we will guarantee his safety, and we've talked about that from the beginning. he will be safe. he will be happy. his country will be rich. his country will be hardworking and very prosperous. >> can he follow through on what he is saying? >> well, clearly, the united states is holding out the possibility, the carrot of investment, aid. they say not by the u.s. government, but by american entrepreneurs.

the danger is what we can deliver in a fast enough time. this is where you get into sequencing. who gives up when. and it also sends a very dangerous message to, you know, bad guys around the world, look, if you have a nuclear weapon, the united states will guarantee your safety and we'll make you prosperous. >> thank you, robin. >> thank you. >> always a pleasure. when we come back, the former ambassador who compares president trump's leadership style to a dinosaur, saying, quo, he has to be a boss. if you don't show him deference, he kills you. plus, a volcano, hawaii's big island not letting up on the situation, and it's getting worse every day. we're going to take you there, coming up.

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preserving affordable housing preserves communities. so we are doing their kitchens and their flooring and their lobbies and the grounds. and the beautification of their homes, giving them pride in where they live, will make this a thriving community once again. ♪ the former american ambassador to panama, who recently resigned is not holding:00 be a about what it was like to work for president trump. he is really not holding back, comparing the president's leadership style to a velociraptor. joining me now is john feeley, the former u.s. ambassador to panama.

that was an interesting comparison. we'll talk a little bit more about that. i want to get to the heart of this. there is a fascinating profile of you just published in the new yorker. and in it you talk about your very first meeting with president trump and that he seemed more interested in his hotel there in panama than what was happening in panama. tell us than meeting and what was it like? >> sure, don. you know, it wasn't that he was more interested. what happened was -- and i'd briefed presidents before, what happened was the way the briefing was structured was really unique for me. his very first question to me is what do we get out of panama? what's in it for us. let's take a look at some of the asymmetries here. panna is a country of 3.5 million people. it has a gdp compared to the united states that isn't even on the charts. it's a good friend. we do a lot of work together. and there is a panama canal through which a significant amount of american commerce goes. his first question really was what do we get out of it.

i was taken aback by that. i gave him a litany of what we get from this relationship, which is clearly asymmetrical. and it was at this point where as soon as it didn't seem like a threat, as soon as it was clear we didn't have a trade deficit, as soon as it was clear that panama is working well with us on stopping drugs coming from south america or stopping undocumented migrants coming up through the isthmus, as soon as the threat seemed neutralized, it was almost as if he lost interest and asked me about the hotel. >> interesting. this is a quote from the article describing your thoughts on the president, okay. you said in private he is exactly like he is on tv except that he doesn't curse in public. he is like a velociraptor. he has to be boss, and if you don't show him deference, he kills you. do you think -- do you think he is intimidating his way through the presidency, and how is that different from other leaders? >> oh, i think a lot of what we've seen is intimidation, and in his personal style it's very

clear. he actually wrote this in his own book. but i want to be honest, don. my purpose on being here tonight is not to make attacks against the president. it's really to talk about why i left, which is not his personal style which i don't find adequate to the presidency, and i think coarsens and demeans the president but it's really about the values behind many of the policies. the values of what i've support and what my colleagues have supported over three decades in my particular clear that the united states is strong, that is generous, that is open, that seeks alliances, that wants to be prosperous but wants others to be prosperous as well. i have through republican and democrat administrations, i have always looked for win-win solutions. and in president's own book and in his own words, he doesn't believe in win-win situations. and that is a fundamental difference with the past. >> that's where i was going. so let's talk a little bit more about this. you resigned back in december

after the president's handling of white supremacist rally in charlottesville. and you say you realized that my values were not his values. explain to me why that was a breaking point for you? >> you know, it's interesting. that was a breaking point for me because i was raised in new york city which is a multicultural place. i was raised by an immigrant. my grandfather comes from immigrant stock, and he had told me a story, and this is also in the new york article. he told me a story about coming back after the second world war where he defended another black fireman from new york. my grandfather was italian. he was sworty, b swarthy, but h african american. they get on a troop ship after fighting they get told in no uncertain times the black guy doesn't sleep here. my grandfather and my family and the values i learned in school, the marine corps, everything i

had led me to believe that when white supremacists march with tiki torches in the united states, the first thing any responsible leader does is to condemn them. i studied like every other american the civil rights movement here in the united states, and i thought that we had made so much progress. obviously with a lot more progress to be made, but it just seemed like when he did not condemn those white supremacists, those neo-nazis, those folks screaming "jews, you will not replace me" that we had surrendered the moral high ground. one more thing, i was an ambassador. ambassadors are the president's personal representative. it's more than just somebody who is working in the bureaucracy, someone who has to be disciplined. we are all disciplined. i swore an oath to faithfully and completely execute the president's foreign policy. and it was on that day where i just realized, no, i can't do it any further. >> so do you think the president is racist? >> i don't know what the president is. and again, i don't -- i don't

know the president that well. i had one experience with him which was that one meeting. i think what i can say is that as james joyce, the irish writer once said, if you want to know what a man really thinks, watch what he does. so the big issue forbe me where i see a fundamental betrayal of our values is immigration. and i look at what this administration has done on our policy and the way it has almost declared war on not just on undocumented migration, but on legal migration, the temporary protective status decision a couple of weeks ago that takes people who have been here for 10, 15, 20 years living, working with legal status in the community, central americans, haitians, legal status, ties to the community and now says well, sorry, time for you to go back. that's just fundamentally not american. i work with a group down here called impact the immigration. and when i say down here, i'm in miami tonight. the immigration partnership and coalition.

we did a mentoring event tonight, and there was a young fellow who was one of the speakers. 24-year-old from nicaragua, came here just ten years ago under one of these protected status programs. he was 14 years old when he came here. couldn't speak a word of english. you know what he is doing today, don? he is in americorps. he is teaching in an inner city miami school. when the chief of staff john kelly says these people don't speak english, they don't assimilate, i fundamentally disagree with that. >> john feeley, enjoyed the conversation. thank you, sir. >> thank you very much, don. when we come back, hawaii's kilauea volcano is shooting lava bombs into the sky, and just yards away from a power plant on the big island. we're going to take you there live, next. ses, i knew at that exact moment ... i'm beating this. my main focus was to find a team of doctors. it's not just picking a surgeon, it's picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are.

visit cancercenter.com/breast the digital divide is splitting this country. we have parents who are trying to get their kids off of too much social media and computers, and then we have parents who would only hope their children have access. middle school is a really key transition point, right. the stakes start changing. students begin to really start thinking about their futures. what i like about verizon's approach is that it's not limited to just giving kids new tools, it's really about empowering educators to teach in different ways, and exposing kids to more active forms of learning. giving technology is not a total solution. teaching technology, now that is.

so here's the breaking news. as we look at these live pictures of hawaii's kilauea volcano putting on a spectacular show for us, but really causing havoc for everybody nearby. spewing chunks of lava that have burned homes, triggering earthquakes and releasing toxic gases. let's get right to cnn's stephanie elam. she's there on the scene for us.

stephanie, hello to you. what is the greatest danger here, toxic gas, ash, lava, all of the above? >> reporter: it's so dynamic, don. it's hard to say demanding on -- depending on where you are, one could be an issue more than the other. we know since i last spoke to you from the summit of kilauea, there was an ash explosion soaring ash up into the sky some 8,000 feet. that could make for respiratory problems. luckily it was the middle of the night here. but here in the eastern rift zone, i know most of us think of the volcano exploding from the top, but a lot of it is coming from this side eastern rift. over the last 24 hours fissures that had calmed down and were not spewing as much lava have begun to get stronger again. and we've seen that lava bubble up and create those rivers still heading down towards the ocean. what has happened those two fissures that have bubbled back to life, they have now crossed

lava across a geothermal plant across two different streams. they've quenched 11 wells there and filled them with cold water. they say they're monitoring it to make sure there aren't any steam events from that. you've got that concern. you've got lava percolating up from new fissures. i was in touch with one woman who said it's now behind her house. a street where there's this massive crack that was behind her house is now full of lava. luckily her house is okay. then you have the gases as well. today the trade winds have been blowing in our favor and pushing those winds off the island. but if they stop blowing and they linger it's really quite deadly and irritating as well if you just get a whiff of it, don. >> it's really fascinating, if you look over your right shoulder, steph, you can see that volcano erupting. there it is. unbelievable pictures. stay safe. when we come back, sources telling cnn the president's

legal team is trying to set limit on any potential interview between the president and robert mueller. but is there any chance mueller would go for that? we'll discuss. sometimes a day at the ballpark is more than just a day at the ballpark. [park announcer] all military members stand and be recognized. sometimes fans cheer for those who wear a different uniform. no matter where or when you served, t-mobile stands ready to serve you. that's why we're providing half off family lines to all military. ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪

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this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. 11:00 p.m. here on the east coast, live with all the breaking news for you. sources telling cnn that president trump's lawyers are trying to limit the questions robert mueller might ask the president in an interview. they want the special counsel to agree not to question trump about -- wait for this -- anything he's done in office. which doesn't seem like a deal mueller would take because it mean not asking the president about the firing of james comey and possible obstruction of justice. and it comes as the president doubles down on his unproven claims he's a victim, a victim of the so-called deep state conspiracy. repeating his suggestion of spies in his campaign, even though there's no evidence of that. and officials have told cnn there was no such source planted inside the trump campaign. and we have more breaking news for you tonight. cnn