i'm fredricka whitfield. newsroom starts right now. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> and we begin with this breaking news, just moments ago, cnn learned that president trump's attorney is calling for an end to the russia investigation. this comes just hours after the firing of former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe. cnn white house correspondent abby phillip is at the white house, so abby, help us through all of these new steps. >> well, good morning, fred. this morning is really a remarkable development, in part because it contradicts everything the white house and the president's lawyers have been saying up until this point, that they want to see this investigation taken to its logical conclusion, which is what they believe will show that the president had nothing to do with any sort of collusion related to russia. but now, john dowd, who is the outside attorney for the president on the issue of russia, has issued a statement to cnn and to some other outlets saying that i pray the acting attorney general

i'm fredricka whitfield. after a chaotic week in the west wing, a close ally of the president describe ing it as pu madness, this week the president is said to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum. the closest allies may soon feel a concern of a trade war and anti-global meat market. >> your solution hazlet china off the hook. if there's more conservatives than allies, please reconsider you're solution. we may more tires than anywhere. this tariff on steel is going to hurt our allies. >> how determined is the president to go ahead with these tariffs, with all this pushback? >> it appears he's ready to go the distance, fred. we should know, whether it's on the horny rock or just. -- to the 1980s. you had senators like lindsey graham, ben sass and others who said that tariffs are a bad idea. or other allies abroad like south korea, china and the u.k., the president seems set on moving forward with this. we should mention the prime minister of great britain, teresa may, shared a phone call this weekend with

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york today. president trump is sharpening attacks ahead of tuesday's all-important pennsylvania special election. at a campaign rally, trump's speech touched on everything from drug dealers to being presidential to oprah winfrey. but he did not mention the russia investigation. well, today that changed. on twitter trump blasting the russia case saying the only collusion was done by the democratic national committee and hillary clinton. but as those tweets came out just hours ago, trump's own cia director was contradicting the message on national tv. >> the russians attempted to interfere in the united states elections in 2016. >> when you say russians, russians with ties to the kremlin, russians with ties to putin's regime? >> yes. >> all right, let's bring in cnn white house correspondent boris sanchez. boris, the president is going against his own intelligence community yet again all while he shifts his focus again on 2020. >> reporter: that's right, fred. this isn't really something new. we've

i'm fredricka whitfield. the white house in the midst of relentless chaos. trump is spending the day away from washington at his florida golf course today. a close friend describes him overall as unravelled and unglued after the trump administration stirred up an epic week of disarray at home and overseas. sharing that spotlight is white house chief of staff john kelly who just yesterday defended his handling of the rob porter domestic abuse scandal. kelly changed his story with an explanation that stunned even his white house colleagues. some of them saying point blank kelly isn't telling the truth. but kelly says, quote, i have absolutely nothing to even consider resigning over. in a few hour, the president will head back to washington, d.c. to attend the gridiron dinner with many of washington's top journalists, his favorite people. the event is a long-standing tradition where the president allows himself to be the subject of jokes. we'll see if that happens tonight. cnn's boris sanchez is covering the president for us from west palm beach, florida. given

i'm fredricka whitfield. newsroom starts right now. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> and we begin with this breaking news, just moments ago, cnn learned that president trump's attorney is calling for an end

i'm fredricka whitfield. after a chaotic week in the west wing, the white house looks to push reset with plans to tackle some big controversial issues. this week the president is said to put new tariffs on steel and aluminum. the move, which has drawn strict criticism by his own party and america's closest allies, is fueling rumors of a trade war and rattling global markets. >> this is an action basically to protect our national security and economic security. the president was quite clear. we can't have a country that can defend itself and prosper without an aluminum and steel industry. >> and tomorrow also marks the president's self-imposed deadline for the deferred action childhood arrivals, or daca, to end. they're future remains in limbo. federal courts have ordered the administration to keep daca going until the courts weigh legal challenges. >>> also, up in the air, the staffing in the west wing with some top aides announcing their departures. trump joked about it last night at a white tie annual event

i'm fredricka whitfield. in the past hour, cnn has learned that president trump's attorney is calling for an end to the russia investigation. this development comes just hours after attorney general jeff sessions fired former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe and just 26 hours before mccabe planned to retire with full ben anytimes after serving more than 20 years at the fbi. according to sources, mccabe was accused of misleading internal investigators about his role in directing other fbi officials to speak to "the wall street journal" about his involvement in a public corruption investigation into the clinton foundation. president trump celebrated the move on twitter saying andrew mccabe fire d the hard working men and women of the fbi. saying comey was his boss and made mccabe look like a choir boy. he new all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the fbi. the former cia director responded to the president's tweet by tweeting this, when the full extent of your venn nallty and polit

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin yet another shuffle to the president's legal team. today trump's attorney announcing the powerful d.c. attorney joseph digenova will not join the president's team for the russian probe. this coming just days after digenova and his wife, also an attorney, met with trump. the president tweeting today in part, many lawyers in top law firms want to represent me in the russian case. adding, quote, i am very happy with my existing team. besides there was no collusion with russia except by crooked hillary and the dems. of course, all of this after the massive marches across the country for gun safety. >> americans are being attacked in churches, nightclubs, movie theaters and on the streets. but we the people can fix this. >> a powerful moment as young people called on lawmakers for change. the demonstrations launched by the teens who survived the parkland, florida school shooting. later today the president returns to washington from mar-a-lago, and tonight one of his alleged mistre

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york this saturday. new developments and new questions unfolding in the stormically daniels saga. president trump's lawyer admits to taking out a home equity loan to keep the adult film star quiet about an alleged affair with trump. daniels tells cnn exclusively that the controversy might actually be a boon for her career. >> i think it's pretty clear with the new development comes new interest. >> and a possible meeting in the works between president trump and north korean dictator kim jong-un. the president tweeting just moments ago that both japan and china are supportive and enthusiastic about the prospects of this face-to-face. could this mark the beginning of the end to a nearly 70-year standoff between the u.s. and north korea? and the president responds after a deadly shooting at a v.a. clinic. what we know about the gunman and his victims. all right, let's begin with the latest on the case causing more trouble for this white house. trump's personal attorney michael cohen used his official trump

i'm fredricka whitfield. we've got breaking news on the controversial firing of former fbi director, deputy director, i should say, andrew mccabe. cnn has learned mccabe documented his conversations with the president of the united states in memos. the former fbi deputy director was dismissed just 26 hours before he planned to retire with full benefits adverti s after s years at the fbi. according to sources, mccabe was accused of misleading internal investigators about his role in directing other fbi officials to speak to "the wall street journal" about his involvement in a public corruption investigation into the clinton foundation. he denies the allegations and he's firing back. in a blistering response, mccabe is calling the dismissal an attack on the fbi and his credibility and claims its part of the president's ongoing war against the fbi and the special counsel's russia investigation. let's bring in now cnn justice correspondent laura jarrett. so laura, where should you begin? >> i think we should star

i'm fredricka whitfield. at this hour the president is taking off on air force i without first lady melania. trump is set to touch down in washington just minutes before cnn's anderson cooper's interview with stormy daniels airs on "60 minutes." the adult film star accuses the president of an affair and paying for her silence ahead of the 2016 election. meanwhile melania trump will be spending the week in mar-a-lago with their son baron. >>> and more turmoil for trump's legal team. the announcement today that joseph digenova will not join the husband's team for the russia investigation. the president telling cnn that there are conflicts with joseph digenova and his wife victoria toens i toensing after being interviewed last week. boris, you first. the president lashing out at that russian investigation and money for his border wall in a series of tweets this morning, but no mention of the upcoming stormy daniels interview to air tonight. so what is the president's frame of mind? >> reporter: hey there, fred.

i'm fredricka whitfield. outside of the white house, just in the past hour, the white house has been on lockdown after reports of shots fired near the north lawn. people on the white house grounds are sheltering in place. the secret service says a man shot himself on the north fence line. cnn's producer is on the phone. what more can you tell us? [ inaudible ] >> liz? >> this is ryan. >> liz, are you with us? >> can you hear me? >> yes. okay. we're going to have to try and re-establish our connection. meantime, cnn's boris sanchez is with us. he's traveling with the president as we look at live pictures outside of the white house, in addition to some taped images as well. boris, what are you learning about the circumstances of this shooting, how it's being responded to, the president's response has been after being told? >> hey, fred, yes, this all unfolded about an hour ago. the man walked up to the gate of the north lawn of the white house just across from lafayette park, a very secured police presence ther

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york this saturday. new developments and new questions unfolding in the stormically daniels saga. president trump's lawyer admits to taking out a home equity loan to keep the adult film star quiet about an alleged affair with trump. daniels tells cnn exclusively that the controversy might actually be a boon for her

i'm fredricka whitfield. we start with a red line in washington. cries from both sides of the aisle with a clear message for the president, do not fire special counsel robert mueller. >> are you worried that the president is prepared to order the firing of mueller. sure looks that way from his tweets. >> well, as i said before, if he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency, because we're rule of law nation. >> this would undoubtedly result in a constitutional crisis and i think democrats and republicans need to speak out about this right now. don't wait for the crisis, but i would hope that that would be the result that we would affirm our system of checks and balances and appoint an independent counsel. >> this as the president is escalating his attacks unleashing a slew of tweets denying collusion, calling out mueller by name, and slamming fbi, fired fbi deputy director andrew mccabe's claim that he kept memos of his conversations with the president. "spent very little tim

i'm fredricka whitfield. and coming up next, "vital signs" with dr. sanjay gupta. >> at the age of 79, rosemary smith became the oldest person to drive a formula 1 racing car. she is exception aal, but recen years, she is part of the growing trend. we are talking about aging, and all of the mysteries. we know more than ever about how we age, but we don't still fully understand why we with age or how as life gets longer, how the grow old well. as research continues, sometimes in unconventional ways, we are slowly starting to unlock its secrets. this is "vital signs." i'm dr. sanjay gupta. >> reporter: it's a new day here in the hills of sardinia, italy. and here, it begins with the shot of caffeine. but this is no ordinary village. >> this is one of the clusters of villages some two hours away from the capital where the longevity of the residents has become a global phenomenon. male residents here are ten times more likely to reach the age of 100 than men in the rest of italy. >> translator: we were surprised to observe a particular sex ratio in most o

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i'm fredricka whitfield. you're looking at a view from across the country because this is the day of the march for our lives and there are gatherings taking place everywhere from washington, chicago, boston and fort worth, texas. people have been gathering all morning long, but now we're officially about just under 20 minutes away from the official start of the gathering here in the nation's capitol where there will be speakers, at least 20 speakers all under the age of 18. then there will be performance, star-studded performances from ariana grande who of course was touched by violence at a performance in england, a deadly, violent attack taking place there. miley cyrus taking to the stage. jennifer hudson with her personal encounters with her family with gun violence. and there are thousands of families who have gathered here in the nation's capitol coming from all over, from parkland, florida where just a month ago 17 killed at marjory stoneman douglas high school through gun violence. i want to go to cnn'

i'm fredricka whitfield in for kate bolduan. they traded schoolyard taunts and threats of nuclear annihilation, today president trump and kim jong-un are backing away from those nuclear buttons they each boasted of just a couple of months ago. the white house delivering what may be its biggest shocker yet, president trump has accepted north korea's invitation and will take part in direct talks with the volatile dictator. the stunning developments even catching trump advisers off guard, and carrying huge risks in what could be the most consequential nuclear talks in decades. cnn's barbara starr is at the pentagon. so, barbara, why would kim jong-un extend this invitation? >> reporter: why would he extend it and why now? look, i think most analysts looking at this agree that the sanctions against north korea are feeling the bite, that he's feeling the bite, and he is going to want to get some sanctions relief that may be one major motivation on the part of kim. but, why now? he comes to the table and possibly the strongest positio

i'm fredricka whitfield. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. >>> thank you, fredricka. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. remember the president promising to lead the guns debate and being scolded for going against the nra? the report is out today and the nra is happy. >>> tomorrow is an election in pennsylvania. if a democrat wins, be prepared for some panic. >>> and on the left of the democratic fields. >> if you win the election today, are you going to pledge another six-year term? >> i am not running for the president of the unite

thanks for being with me today, i'm fredricka whitfield. newsroom with ana cabrera starts right now. >>> you are in the "cnn newsroom." i'm ana cabrera in new york. i hope you've had a wonderful weekend. first up this afternoon, the president uncensored, captured on a recording obtained by cnn slamming former president george w. bush, attacking his own intelligence departments, and even saying this about the chinese president's recent power grab. >> don't forget china's great, and xi is a great gentlemen. he's now president for life. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] president for life! no, he's great. and look, he was able to do that. i think it's great. maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day. [ laughter ] >> now, the president said this during a private fund-raiser at mar-a-lago this weekend. i want to go live now to the white house and cnn white house correspondent, boris sanchez. boris, it's kind of shocking to hear a u.s. president praise an authoritarian leader. and then again, we've heard this president do many athings, man

i'm fredricka whitfield. and coming up next, "vital signs" with dr. sanjay gupta. >> at the age of 79, rosemary smith became the oldest person to drive a formula 1 racing car. she is exception aal, but recen years, she is part of the growing trend. we are talking about aging, and all of the mysteries. we know more than ever about how we age, but we don't still fully understand why we with age or how as

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york. president trump spent his sunday slamming the "new york times" over a story of a potential hiring of an impeachment lawyer. he's also repeating the line we've heard many times before, no collusion. and shifting the blame to his 2016 campaign foes hillary clinton and the democratic national committee. all of this after a raucous night in the steel country, the president energizing the crowd to vote for the pennsylvania gop candidate on tuesday, but also looking forward to his own campaign come 2020. >> but our new slogan, when we start running in -- can you believe it -- two years from now is going to be keep america great, exclamation point. keep america great! >> cnn white house correspondent boris sanchez joining me now outside the white house. boris, this was the president unscripted to a degree, unleashed. >> that's right, fred, and that's just how he likes it. i spoke tie whio a white house official last night during the speech who is familiar with the president's prepared remark

i'm fredricka whitfield. we are following breaking news. moments ago president trump unloaded on the nation's top law enforcement and diplomatic and justice agencies with a stunning tweet now quoting from the president, as the house has concluded there is no collusion between rush shand the trump campaign as many are finding out now, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the fbi, justice and state. fired former fbi director james comey responding to the the president via tweet, mr. preside president, the american people will hear my story very soon, and they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not. all of this is hours now after former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe was fire and the president's attorney calling for an end to the russian investigation. according to sources, mccabe, the former deputy of the fbi was accused of misleading internal investigators about his role in directing other fbi officials to speak to "the wall street journal" about his involvement in a public corrupti

i'm fredricka whitfield. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. >>> thank you, fredricka. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. remember the president promising to lead the guns debate and being scolded for going against the nra? the report is out today and the nra is happy. >>> tomorrow is an election in pennsylvania. if a democrat wins, be prepared for some panic. >>> and on the left of the democratic fields. >> if you win the election today, are you going to pledge another six-year term? >> i am not running for the president of the united states, i am running for the united states senate, 2018, massachusetts, whoo hoo. i am in this fight to retain my senate seat in 2018. that's where i'm focused, that's where i'm staying focused. >> no pledge, though, on the six years? >> i am not running for president. >> whoo hoo. i didn't know folks in massachusetts said wouhoo hoo. we begin the hour with new presidential tweets and one that speaks volumes. the

i'm fredricka whitfield. "inside politics" with john king begins right now. >>> welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing yet another remarkable news day with us. forget fire and fury. president trump agrees to a summit with north korea's kim jong-un. it's a huge gamble. >>> plus a warning from the attorney representing stormy daniels. he says the film industry has examples that she's eager to make public and the white house has a cover-up. >>> as we're waiting to hear from florida's governor about gun control, newly released tapes remind us of parkland's horror and a mother's panic. >> what is she saying and what is happening? >> someone just entered the room. >> okay. who is it that entered the room? >> are they the police? >> stay together, i love you, i love you. it's mom. >> is it the police? >> no, it's the police. it's okay, it's okay. it's the police. they said put your hands up. >> i love you, i love you. it's going to be fine. can you hide somewhere? can you play dead? >> we

i'm fredricka whitfield. we start with the issue clearing weighing on the president's mind today, the russia probe. trump is escalating his attacks on special counsel robert mueller on twitter, while lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are sending a clear message to the president, do not fire special counsel robert mueller. >> do you think that the president is laying the groundwork to fire mueller? >> i just hope it doesn't go there, because it can't. we can't in congress accept that. >> if he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency, because we're rule of law nation. >> this would undoubtedly result in a constitutional crisis, and i think democrats and republicans need to speak out about this right now. >> the president also taking aim at deputy director andrew mccabe and his claim that he kept memos of his conversations with the president. mccabe's lawyer firing back with a tweet, we will not be responding to each childish defamatory disgusting and false tweet by the pr

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york. president trump spent his sunday slamming the "new york times" over a story of a potential hiring of an impeachment lawyer. he's also repeating the line we've heard many times before, no collusion. and shifting the blame to his 2016 campaign foes hillary clinton and the democratic national committee. all of this after a raucous night in the steel

i'm ryan nobles in today for fredricka whitfield. outrage growing over two high profile deadly police shootings. protesters are expected for another day in sacramento after an independent awe toputop

i'm pamela brown in for fredricka whitfield. a lot going on today, despite five guilty pleas and more than a dozen indictments, including against russians, president trump tweeted his lawyers, quote, have shown conclusively, there was no collusion with russia. well, it's just the latest inaccuracy that he's been hurling after his nearly 90-minute vent session on the stump. he not only cited some fake news, fake facts, could we call it, but also delivered some really insight on what his 2018 campaign trail may look like as republicans face midterm elections. the president unleashed, improvising more than an hour of praise about his tax cuts, his looks, 2020 campaign, and much more. but he only spent a little bit of time, only a few minutes, actually, on the republican that he was supposed to be promoting. and he also slammed multiple democrats, the press, and past presidents, but take note of the soft touch he took with north korean dictator, kim jong-un, who's expecting to meet with president trump by may in an historic diplomat

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york today. we begin with new developments in the stormy daniels saga. president trump's lawyer now facing questions after taking out a home equity loan to help keep the adult film star quiet about an alleged affair. cnn has also learned that michael cohen used his official trump e-mail address and signature to handle the matter. the adult film star tells cnn the controversy is actually helping her career. >> i think it's pretty clear that with the new developments comes new interest. >> this all comes as president trump prepares to hit the campaign trail today. he'll be stumping for a pennsylvania republican who is also in danger of losing in a district that president trump carried by 20 points. cnn's boris sanchez is at the white house for us. boris this is a controversy that is not going away any time soon. >> that's right, fred, there's the stormy daniels saga with these new revelations about michael cohen's use of trump e-mail to communicate with stormy daniel's attorney and facilitate this

i'm ryan nobles in today for fredricka whitfield. outrage growing over two high profile deadly police shootings. protesters are expected for another day in sacramento after an independent awe toputopsy re an unarmed black man was shot eight times by police. his family demanding answers. in the shooting death of alten steriling in louisiana. a graphic disturbing body camera video laced with profanity was just released. it shows an officer threatening to shoot sterlings within seconds of arriving at the scene. his family now begging for a national conversation on black men dying at the hands of law enforcement. and cnn has team coverage. ryan young, live from sacramento. caylee hartung live from baton rouge. and we'll be joined by charles ramsey to break all of this down. but up first, let's check in with ryan young from sacramento. ryan, another day of protests expected. tell us what it's like there. >> well, we are preparing for another protest to start here. you look behind me. there's a stage that's getting ready to be set. this co

i'm fredricka whitfield in for kate bolduan. they traded schoolyard taunts and threats of nuclear annihilation, today president trump and kim jong-un are backing away from those nuclear buttons they each boasted of just a couple of months ago. the white house delivering what may be its biggest shocker yet, president trump has accepted north korea's invitation and will take part in direct talks with the volatile dictator. the stunning developments even catching trump advisers off guard, and carrying huge risks in what could be the most consequential nuclear talks in decades. cnn's barbara starr is at the

i'm fredricka whitfield. the next hour of the newsroom starts right now. >>> you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm ana cabrera in new york. thanks for being here. the faces and names of people close to the president changes and reshuffles yet again. this time, the upheaval is in president trump's legal anniversary. and a still-unsettled team of lawyers working to protect the president as the robert mueller probe continues into possible campaign collusion with russia. just a few days ago, a big announcement. the high-powered washington lawyer, joseph digenova would be joining the president's legal team. well, then we learned digenova's wife and legal partner, victoria toensing was also onboard, the news surprising some analysts saying there might be some conflict of interest. then this morning, a follow up. know, the two lawyers will not be joining the president's team after all. the reason, as mentioned, the president's personal attorney points to what he calls conflicts. also this morning, this comment from the

i'm fredricka whitfield. welcome this saturday. the white house in the midst of relentless chaos. president trump is spending the day away from washington at his florida golf course today. close friends describe him overall as unraveled and unglued after the trump administration stirred up an epic week of disarray at home and overseas. sharing that spotlight is white house chief of staff, john kelly, who just yesterday defended his handling of the rob porter domestic abuse scandal. kelly changed his story with an explanation that stunned even his white house colleagues. some of them saying, point blank, kelly isn't telling the truth. but kelly says, quote, i have absolutely nothing to even consider resigning over. tonight, the president will head back to

i'm fredricka whitfield. outside of the white house, just in the past hour, the white house has been on lockdown after reports of shots fired near the north lawn. people on the white house grounds are sheltering in place. the secret service says a man shot himself on the north fence line. cnn's producer is on the phone. what more can you tell us? [ inaudible ] >> liz? >> this is ryan. >> liz, are you with us? >> can you hear me? >> yes.

i'm fredricka whitfield in the nation's capitol. you see behind me and across the country people have gathered in major cities across the country from boston, minneapolis, parkland, florida and houston. they're all galvanized and empowered for today's so-called march for our lives. here in the nation's capitol people are gathering just behind me. it's a major staging ground. they'll make their way from the u.s. capitol nine blocks all the way to the white house. that takes place in just about an hour from now, but for now, the crowds are gathering. people have come by plane, by train, car. they've gotten here any way they can. in the thick of it all is our own cnn's ed lavin dara who has met up with a number of students, many accompanied by their parents. families are here. this is an incredible affair for so many who do indeed feel empowered. ed. >> reporter: hello, fredricka. here in the crowd we're with a unique group of people. it's a fascinating group of survivors and relatives of people who have died in some of the most high p

i'm fredricka whitfield in for kate bolduan today. more than three weeks after the deadly rampage at a florida high school, the white house unveils its proposals to combat gun violence at schools. it calls for the arming of teachers, but no major change to gun laws including the president's own call to raise the minimum age to buy some guns. meanwhile, the president may be on a collision course with the russia investigation. a white house spokesman says he believes president trump still intends to meet with special counsel robert mueller and answer questions under oath. and a new twist in

i'm fredricka whitfield. the next hour of the newsroom starts right now.