troops to vladimir putin assassinating journalists. that was a telling moment -- >> that was a huge moment. >> and raised questions not only in our minds but in a lot of other people's minds, but you can trace events from that point toward and they just doesn't make sense. none of them make sense. his kowtowing in helsinki doesn't make sense. no president that has been in his chair, sitting in his chair before him has ever considered that for a moment. >> i know that moment for us was a big one, and we looked at him differently ever since that moment. you could see our faces in realtime on television literally transition from seeing him as, you know, a reality star buffoon who kind of is bumbling his way towards the presidency because of his branding ability. we saw that he could win. we also saw at that moment like, whoa, what is going on here. and we looked at him differently ever since and he gave us material to worry about as it pertained to russia every step of the way. >> and, willie, he continues to do that. i remember you and s

what vladimir putin would have him say? you know, i get asked all the time, is there evidence of collusion? when is this investigation going to wrap up? i don't know the answer to that question, but there are just hundreds of puzzling questions that we need to get to the bottom of in this case. >> listen, you're on the intelligence committee. do you think your committee should subpoena that interpreter? >> well, yes, i do. now, i know exactly how that plays out, and of course chairman schiff, when we actually -- when this first came up, when the reykjavik summit so famously landed like a lead balloon, i know that adam schiff at that point wanted to subpoena the interpreter, but the republicans who were in control at the time said no. but, look, i know how this plays out. we can subpoena that interpreter, but the white house is going to claim executive privilege. that's what they did with pretty much all of the white house witnesses that we called into our investigation. so now we're in a world of litigation and contempt pro

putin and the president so that in the intelligence community, we can compare what vladimir putin said to president trump with what we're seeing and hearing in our intelligence collections activities. we can understand their intent. what the president has taken away from not just the intelligence community and his national security team but from the american people is the ability to really understand the intent of a country that's clearly an adversary to the united states. >> so is it your gut feeling that what we're publicly learning about this stuff given the way intelligence agencies work that maybe they know more about what behavior there may be with the president and russia or of vladimir putin than any of us publicly really know? >> sort of. but let me echo what shawn says. they know half of the story. if you're looking at russian intelligence and russian diplomatic sources in moscow, for example, they've got to be talking presumably, maybe in secret meetings, maybe in conversations with american officials, what was discussed between putin and the president. but the problem, to e

on vladimir putin. i mean, i don't see really any -- you're talking about a few specific actions. in general, this president has never said anything negative about vladimir putin. has he, steve? >> i will concede, for example, the helsinki presser was to me -- >> no. has he said anything negative about vladimir putin to your knowledge? >> i don't know. but i know what he's done. and a thug like vladimir putin and he is a thug, he respects actions and force a lot more than he will pay attention to maybe some harsh words from president trump. believe me. he cares a lot more about the ukraine being armed and about his soldiers being killed directly in combat with america than he cares about maybe getting some disturbing comments out of president trump at a gaggle. >> just interesting. i mean, kirsten, just interesting the president who, you know, is more than happy to insult just about everybody else has never said anything. i mean, not that i can recall at all. >> it's not just that he hasn't said anythin

putin with vladimir putin's translator. what will we ever know about what donald trump said to vladimir putin and what vladimir putin said to donald trump? it could be that the american interpreters who have been present in those discussions are the only people who can tell us, and right now the only people who might be able to get answers from those interpreters are robert mueller and our next guest, the new chairman of the house foreign relations committee. joining us now is congressman eliot engel, a democrat from new york city and chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs. mr. chairman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. i really appreciate it. given this reporting in "the washington post", you have announced one of the first investigations or the first investigation you intend to do in your committee is to find out what vladimir putin and donald trump have been saying to each other. how will you try to do that? >> well, let me first say that since the time in 2016 when the russians interfered in our e

putin and the president, everything in helsinki between the president and vladimir putin. the real issue is the president took extraordinary measures to stop leaks and officials in this government, the deep state who want to leak this information, they are the people talking to the washington post and trying to create this fake news story. this information was not concealed from the president's senior advisers. >> top democrats in the senate, dick durbin, had this to say about the notes in question. >> he thinks interpreters notes, wants to destroy them so no one can see what was said. it raises serious questions about the relationship between this president and vladimir putin. >> we are hearing from lawmakers that they want to subpoena and get their hands on the interpreter and/or the notes. >> the incident recounted in the post about interpreters notes was from the meeting in hamburg. if you saw when the camera pulled out of the meeting in hamburg rex to listen was sitting there and he talked to other officials about it. inside the administration after a couple of specta

we've always wondered about his bromance with vladimir putin. this has been true ever since he became president. even before he became president, he has praised vladimir putin, he trashes everybody else pretty much, right? the question that's always been before he became president, did his company -- was it saved by russian money? did it engage in money laundering for russians, many of whom bought apartments, at least 86 apartments in trump companies for cash. so there's always been this question somehow of whether the russians have a hold on him. but i think he admires putin as well as a tough guy. now, the reports are trump trying to keep his dealings with putin away from others in the american government, but that's a separate issue, very troubling. though in the meeting, the post said he took away the notes from the interpreter. then secretary of state rex tillerson was also in the room. there might be a private aspect to the talk, but trump was not alone with putin in that meeting, though he was in helsinki. the u.s. government still has no

putin -- to vladimir putin and vice-versa. and by the way, show, if helsinki is any indication of what was said, we know publicly when he sold out the u.s., publicly when he blamed america for russian's sbooerns. interference. if that's what he said publicly, heaven knowles what he said privately because we'll never know because dent have proximate cause in with him and he took the notes. >> i think that helsinki moment is one we will all remember for a long time. take the notes away from the translator and interpreter, that tries a new level. there's another aspect with this with respect to this meeting that we're not talk about here and sam touched on it. there's an immense amount of intelligence value in what he stowed president trump. that allows the intelligence community to understand vladimir putin's intentions and allows us to compare what he says to the president to what we're seeing in our own intelligence collection activities. when the president doesn't share that information and when he takes deliberate action to

how many times was he prodded by vladimir putin to do just that? you're right. this didn't all happen all at once but the hard to look over the past two years and finds moments when trump himself, distinction from others in his administration or other officials, is directly critical of russia or putin, or in favor of a policy that goes against russia's interests. >> one thing about this. the president, you know, complained about leaks repeatedly, and in your article you point out that his desire for secrecy may also be driven by the embarrassing leaks that occurred earlier on in his presidency, however, these stories continue to come out, greg. who benefits from this, particularly this story, made public? what might an agenda be for someone who wants to get it out there? >> i think you know, these leaks do continue in this administration and i think to a large measure that's because of how trump treats his subordinates. right? many people in this administration realized that they could be dismissed on any day with an insulting tweet, and not, you know, that loya

putin on the campaign trail while trying to do business with vladimir putin. at least according to what buzzfeed's reporting is, while trying to give vladimir put uh a $50 million penthouse in trump tower moscow. so this is -- i don't think there's going to end up being a clear line between where the trump business deal ends and where trump's collusion with russia begins because it's donald trump himself who has erased whatever line might have existed between the two. now, that being said, sort of one of the interesting theories that we've seen come out over the last couple days is the idea that sort of the -- benjamin witus at law fair has been writing about this. that the obstruction could be the collusion, that's sort of the way the president has been trying to stymie the russia investigation is the thing that he's doing on russia's behalf. >> thank you all. i appreciate your time. and happy birthday to susan. >> happy birthday, susan. >> we'll be right back. >>> the big question about the russia investigation tonight. why did president trump reportedly go

putin has over him and under either scenario, it is extraordinarily clear that vladimir putin and russian intelligence is able to manipulate the president of the united states and that he is compromised in some way, whether willingly or unwillingly. >> phil -- i'm sorry, sam. let me stay with phil with this. phil, there is this meeting that was supposed to happen, the second summit between president trump and president putin and scheduled to happen during the fall of 2018 and postponed until after the midterm and supposed to happen now in 2019. do you expect "the new york times" that we saw yesterday about the fbi investigating if whether the president was working for russia and now this "the washington post" reporting, the scrutiny decreases the li likelihood of that or the likelihood the president will go into the meeting without subordinates or making sure his interpreter doesn't share what happened in the meeting? >> you're asking me to read the president's psychology. i'll take a shot at that. >> try for me, phil. >> it's sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. i'll give it a shot! i think the s

is he vladimir putin's pawn? this as the president phase day 23 of his shutdown with plenty of tweets but without any apparent plan on how to end things outside of just, give me what i want. i'll talk to history-making congresswoman, how she'd like to see things resolved. plus, secretary of state mike pompeo continuing a crucial and controversial middle east tour expected to meet with the saudi arabia crown prince 100 days after the death of jamal khashog khashoggi. a live report from nbc's andrea mitchell from the region. that is coming up within the hour. we begin with two major reports rocking donald trump's presidency this evening. first, the very latest from the "washington post." the president hid

putin against his own intelligence services and said he didn't know why vladimir putin would want to meddle in the united states elections. that was something very important for the russians. the russians looking up that the relationship between the u.s. and russia was improving after that meeting. vladimir putin was invited to go to washington early 2019 something looking more bleak right now. essentially what you're hearing from the russians most of the time they have their version of events of what happened in the meetings. they always say, look. these are two leaders speaking to one another. they always say the russians are not trying to influence president trump but believe that vladimir putin has the upper hand at those meetings. one of the interesting things here in russia is the notion even of asking for notes, of asking for interpreter notes after such a meeting took place is something that is absolutely out of the question here in russia. what happens afterwards there is an official read-out from the russian side that is provided and there is no questioning of what is in th

vladimir putin. this comes as we learn president trump tried to conceal details of his meeting with the russian leader, even confiscating the notes taken by an interpreter. we have a lot to talk about. we begin with lauren fox, inside the hearing room on capitol hill. it will be confirmation hearings for william barr shortly. >> reporter: in just a little over an hour bill barr will take the seat behind me and unfold his confirmation hearings to be the next attorney general. first the committee chairman lindsey graham will begin reading his opening statement. after that the top democrat on the committee, dianne feinstein will read her opening statement. then bill barr will be sworn in and will make opening remarks. two significant developments we expect in the remarks. first, bill barr will say that the mueller investigation should be able to continue its work. then he'll say it is in the best interest of congress and the president for the findings of the investigation to be able to be released to th

he so believed vladimir putin's position or wanted to believe vladimir putin's position that he felt it imperative to call david sanger and tell him about it. of course lawmakers want to know what else went on during the conversation with vladimir putin and president trump? the only way they think they can get the answer is to see the interpreter's notes which the president took, or to interview the interpreter. >> it's hard to imagine there is an explanation for the president seizing the interpreter's notes, especially everything we know that's going on at the time. want to talk panic? it's calling an off the record conversation with david sanger to push a lie that as early as october of 2016, the intelligence community's unanimous assessment is russia was intervenintervening. the president of the united states is trying to push back on that narrative. if there is reluctance among members of congress on either party frankly to -- >> there is reluctance. >> there shouldn't be. >> it would break a precedence that they are allowed to speak freely to each other. >> a hostile foreign pow

donald trump with vladimir putin and no records or staffers allowed to listen. we know there are no detailed notes from trump's face-to-face interactions with putin at five locations over the past two years. that's according to recent reporting, and a new piece in the financial times sheds light on one of those meetings when trump sat down with the russian president at the g20 summit in november, trump had previously cancelled their meeting that was after russia's attack on ukrainian vessels but when the two leaders did end up speaking at the summit, white house officials characterized it this way. as is typical at multilateral events, president trump and the first lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including president putin. from new reporting, we now know that was a lie. "the accounts of people familiar with the conversation said it appeared longer and more substantive than the white house has acknowledged. according to a russian government official's account," it's always a russian government official, "th

look, the bush administration misread vladimir putin from the very start. russia was helpful in some ways with iran and then i vadinvadin crimea and then a reset under obama which wasn't successful. but you have to worry about things in common with russia's influence given what we know about this zblip do you think the president would rather be talking about the wall and trying to gin up support among his base in the midst of this shutdown than the various russia matters at hand? >> i think that's one of the big political reasons we have the shutdown and the wall. but the cnn polling over the weekend quickly shows that for the first time noncollege educated white voters, 47-45 don't support the president. the base is beginning to crack. >> thank you all very much. >>> meanwhile, the "wall street journal" reports that the white house asked the pentagon for a plan to launch military administration against iran last year. this request fold an attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. cla ris is warded is live in northern syria with more on this. what have you le

donald trump is helping make vladimir putin's dreams come true. true i know that every single time that i suit up, there is a chance that's the last time. 300 miles per hour, that's where i feel normal. i might be crazy but i'm not stupid. having an annuity tells me retirement is protected. annuities can provide protected income for life. learn more at retireyourrisk.org annuities can provide protected income for life. ♪ and if you feel, like i feel baby then come on, ♪ ♪ oh come on ♪ let's get it on applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. -we're in a small room. what?! -welcome. -[ gasps ] a bigger room?! -how many of you use car insurance? -oh. -well, what if i showed you this? -[ laughing ] ho-ho-ho! -wow. -it's a computer. -we compare rates to help you get the price and coverage that's right for you. -that's amazing! the only thing that would make this better is if my mom were here. what?! an unexpected ending! dad! hiding when i was supposed to be quitting. i thought, i should try something that works. i should try nic

quote, and it would be the wildest success that vladimir putin could dream of. "the times" continues, quote, after russia annexed crimea in 2014, american national security officials believe that russia has largely focused on undermining solidarity between the u.s. and europe. its goal has been to upend nato. russian actions toward achieving that goal have included, quote, russia's meddling in america's elections and russia's efforts to prevent former satellite states joining the nato alliance. quote, with a weakened nato, putin would have more freedom to behave as he wishes, setting up russia as a counterweight to europe and the united states. senior trump administration officials discussing president's behavior with "the times" on the condition of anonymity. they tell the paper that an american withdrawal from nato would accomplish all that putin has been trying to put in motion. quote, essentially doing the russian leader's hardest and most critical work for him. so that was, like, midnight last night from "the new york times," and we don't know who these sen

and so i think this raises a ton of questions about what the president's interactions with vladimir putin is like and also why there is that level of secrecy. it's also just noteworthy that this information is coming out. the fact that we know about this means that u.s. officials are concerned enough that they are raising these red flags with the press. i think that's why you've seen disparage of reports that's been damaging to the white house. >> you mention also the cabinet officials being kept out of the dark. i want to play you some sound from secretary mike pompeo. this is what he said in response to "the new york times" article. >> the notion that president trump is a threat to national security is absolutely ludacris. the idea that's contained "the new york times" story that president trump was a threat to american national security is silly on its face and not worthy of a response. >> so jill, this question is for you. we keep hearing these words, ridiculous as pompeo says. sit ridiculous or extraordinary considering this is an inquiry about the president of the united states? >>

he broke that story about president trump concealing details of that meeting with vladimir putin. terrific reporting. thanks for being with us. you report that the president went to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of these conversations. what lengths? >> well, in one case, he comes out of a meeting with putin and actually turns to the interpreter, the u.s. interpreter and takes that interpreter's notes and instructs the interpreter he's not to discuss what just transpired with any other officials, including officials in the trump administration. i mean, this is just -- needless to say, extremely unusual. no president in our lifetime has gone into a lengthy meeting with a russian leader without either at least one aide if not multiple aides, but trump does this routinely. >> why does it matter that there be people taking notes, that there be some kind of record of these dialogues? >> yeah, that's a great question. and the answer is that there are a number of reason yes it matters. for starters, the president is supposed to be advancing u.s. interests in these meetings. and

did he destroy notes from talks with vladimir putin? how the president responded. >>> they have the vacation because they don't have to use their say cavacation days. >> no paycheck? no apparent problem says an sxhik advi economic adviser, but the pain is growing. >>> women will not see cuts to birth control coverage thanks to a ruling from a federal judge. >>> and the field of 2020 democrats expands by two. already one of them facing harsh backlash for positions uncovered from the past. this is clearly going to be an enormous democratic field as we approach 2020. good morning, everyone. happy monday. welcome to "early start." >> and it is monday, january 14th, it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. a trio of big stories about president trump breaking over the weekend. two of them new revelations connected to the russia investigation. the "washington post" reporting that the president went to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with russia president vladimir putin. among the unusual steps he took, confiscating his own in

nato, of course, the alliance of vladimir putin hates most. turns out he found a unwitting ally in undermining it. from the "times" report, "there are few things that president vladimir putin of russia desires more than the weakening of nato. last year, president trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying nato, the withdrawal of the u.s. senior administration officials told the "times" that several times over the course of 2018, mr. trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the north atlantic treaty organization. current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared mr. trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set. this new report on the heels of friday's revelation that donald trump was suspected by his own fbi to be working on behalf of russia when he fired fbi director jim comey leaves this white house in a very precarious position. joining our conversation, rick stengel, former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. phil, matt and eli

when the president standing next to vladimir putin sided with vladimir putin really against the intelligence services of the united states on a question of grave importance. the second shoe came the other day when the president took the position that the soviet union was right to invade afghanistan. a position that gorbachev didn't take. so the third shoe that will drop is when the mueller report comes out. let's all just take a deep breath and wait for that. >> yeah. it is extraordinary to have watched it unfold. gabriel sherman and carole simps simpson, thank you so much for being here. george will will be right back with us. >>> next up, the latest for the republican that was for building a wall and proudly politicking on white nationalism even before donald trump. nald trump (clapping) every day, visionaries are creating the future. ( ♪ ) so, every day, we put our latest technology and vast expertise to work. ( ♪ ) the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, affordably and on-time. (ringing) ( ♪ ) the future only happe

he's an association, a very close association of president vladimir putin. the business he is controls were sanctioned under the russian sanctions legislation that congress enacted through bipartisan action in 2017. as i have sponsored numerous bills with mr. mccarthy when he was the majority leader. to make sure that the congress was on record and had policies which would staunch the attacks on our country, on our security, by the russians. i was deeply disappointed that the republican senate rejected a similar resolution yesterday. when i say rejected it, the majority of the members of the senate, 57 to be exact, support it. -- supported this resolution. talked to secretary me knew chitch -- mnuchin yesterday and the day before. i asked secretary mnuchin given the concerns about this legislation, about the withdrawing of sanctions, that they give us until february 28 to have hearings, to reflect upon, to have further discussions with the administration to make a determination whether we thought this action was in the best interests of our country. unfortun

the russian president vladimir putin is hosting he's. in moscow discussing the face of. the russian president vladimir putin is hosting. discussing the face of. in northern syria. today. what we were. when we were. even percent of americans or something and really experience hardship. for.

. >> well, the plot thickened today in the mystery of donald trump and vladimir putin. the financial times reported late today that donald trump sat down for a fifth -- for a meeting that was at least 15 minutes long with vladimir putin at the g-20 summit in november after president trump publicly announced that he canceled a one-on-one meeting with vladimir putin at that same summit because of recent russian aggression against ukraine. president trump did not have an american translator or a staff note taker with him in that meeting. vladimir putin did have his translator present, and so only the russians really know what was said in that meeting. the financial times report came at the end of what was an already historic day in the senate intelligence committee on this very subject. when the leaders of america's intelligence agencies refused to publicly answer the question -- does the president of the united states secret discussions with vladimir putin put the united states at a disadvantage in dealing with russia? >> it's according to press reports donald trump met p

putin? i want to bring in mike rogers. he's our cnn national security commentator, and lisa monaco, a former homeland security adviser under president obama and a cnn national security analyst. lisa, just for instance, when it comes to a president meeting with a foreign leader and you have an interpreter, how does that process usually work? >> so usually, brianna, what you have, and this has been true across many, many administrations, you would have multiple people also present in that meeting in addition to interpreters from both sides, from both countries. you would normally have the national security adviser, the secretary of state, the seniormost expert at the national security council who is expert on the topic at hand, in this case russia and vladimir putin. and, indeed, president trump has a noted expert working on the national security council staff, fiona hill, who literally wrote the book on vladimir putin but yet she was not present in that room. so what we see here is how presid

trump reportedly has gone to great lengths to keep his talks with vladimir putin secret. what might he have been trying to hide? >>> leaving mueller alone. mr. trump's pick for attorney general says the special counsel should finish his investigation and then the results should be made public. is that giving the president second thoughts about william barr's nomination? >>> and rejected. president trump says no to a proposal by a senate ally, lindsey graham, aimed at re-opening the government. mr. trump refusing to budge even as our poll shows that most americans blame him for the longest shutdown in u.s. history. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> tonight, president trump is hitting back against fresh allegations that he's a puppet of vladimir putin. declaring that he, quote, never worked for russia. that extraordinary pronouncement by a u.s. president prompted by blockbuster reports related to the russia investigation. cnn has obtained transcripts showing that fbi officials say

vladimir putin is an enemy of the united states. this administration in many ways has been pretty aggressive against the russians but this is something i just don't quite understand there's this hesitancy to attack vladimir putin personally. i want to get all of the information but it certainly would not make me happy if that's in fact what's going on. >> what do you make of the fbi's decision to announce this counterintelligence investigation? do you think it was an overstep on the part of the fbi, or does it concern you that they felt the need to go that route? >> i guess you can kind of look at it either way. we will know a lot more when the mueller report comes out in terms of what was known or what they were trying to find out. in terms of launching the investigation, my first reaction was massive overstep but i think there's a lot more information on that too. i always try to be not quick making judgment calls on something like that but we will see. the mueller report, we need patients to get this come out. it will give a lot

all signs point to the same way, vladimir putin has compromises information on donald trump. talk about it. >> it seems that the president defers to trump almost pro actively, not that the prussian preside -- russian president is issuing orders but that he's going out of his way to involve any friction with the russian president i think because he is anticipating that the russians could have a lot. my personal feeling, it's always just my personal view here, this is primarily about his financial dealings that are deeply entangled or seem to be deeply entangled with the russians for a long time and that he fears the exposure of that information. at the very least that's how he's acting. >> and i found interesting your lien "first the existence of the counterintelligence investigation is not scandal, indeed it would be a scandal if we found out today the fbi had not launched an investigation." explain that. >> it's interesting. the president's apologists and enablers and defenders are rushing to say this is the fbi, it's a vendetta, there's no way can you do this. but if you ha

. >> on the don met privately with vladimir putin and no one in the u.s. government has the full story about what discussed. >> another revelation of another undiscussed trump meeting. >> they know that they have to take me down in order to take donald trump down. >>> and as 2020s democrats make their populous appeal, the billionaires fight back. >> that's not correct and that's not american can. >> i'm a little bit tired of listening to things that there pie in the sky. >>> not one but twenty-two big announcements for stacey abrams when "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york. just a few weeks after the revelation that the president of the united states was suspected by his own government of working on russia's behalf, we're learning about yet another undisclosed exchange the president had with vladimir putin. no american interpreters, just putin and putin pfrs own interpreter. this is wildly out of step with the usual protocol and if you were disposed, you might conclude this is how the president meets with his handler. we knew the presiden

trump set up a plan to meet vladimir putin in person. buzzfeed says mueller's team learned about trump's directive, as well as e-mails and texts and other documents. cnn has not yet independently confirmed the report. neil is here, this is a block buster of a story. thank you for joining us today. is the president implicating a crime here? >> thanks for having me. look, we are reading the story right now, we don't know all the sourcing and so on. it is suggesting that the president was engaged in criminal activity, beyond treasonable doubt standards, it applies to the president at this point. and look here is the fundamental point, this is not just nefarious behavior, it is a federal crime to order someone to lie in their testimony to congress. that's what the buzzfeed article says and it says the mueller corroborated that with e-mails and text messages and electronic information. again, we don't know the ver at. if it is true, it is a block buster, don. it is the president himself committed felonies and did not direct somebody but he di

vladimir putin is a kgb human intelligence officer. his job was to turn people into traitors and to run agents into west germany to steal technology. he knows what he's doing. his senior staff were ex-kgb and fsb and a person like donald trump is a godsend. putin wouldn't do it directly, but through inference and he would use his oligarchy for donald trump to do the things he wants and he's already indoctrinated him and as we're seeing now, these things are playing out and the fbi had to have known it because the u.s. intelligence community knew this well before the election and had to start an investigation to determine if he was moscow's asset. witting, or wun witnessing. >> thank you both. mike quigley served on the house intelligence committee and you have power. you were in the majority and you control the agenda though you are not chair. what are you going to do about the revelations that we've heard? >> look, i think there are a lot of questions raised recently but none of them are a great big surprise to us. i'll say this, afte

let's not forget president obama publicly confronted vladimir putin over the issue of russian election meddling, pressing the election leader in 2016. president trump has simply not done that. the president during that press conference in helsinki failed to really press the russian leader. further president trump was asked about these two reports on fox news over the weekend. he called them insulting. listen to this. >> i think it's the most insulting thing i've ever been asked. i think it's the most insulting article i've ever had written. and if you read the article you'd see that they found absolutely nothing. >> reporter: though, new cnn polling found that a majority of americans blame president trump for the partial government shutdown, the president went on twitter this weekend and attacked democrats over this shutdown again, suggesting they should return to washington trootry to hammer out a deal as he waits for them in the white house. meantime we're hearing that there is tension during these back and forth negotiations to reopen the federal government. not just between democra

putin, to continue to be complimentary to vladimir putin, up to and including that astounding helsinki summit, the subject of part of that washington post report where the president met privately with putin and basically came out on the stage with vladimir putin and complimented putin and questioned the american intelligence community. >> garret, do you know congress tried to question that interpreter? >> that's a very complicated answer. and there are some legitimate executive privilege concerns stemming from the idea that presidents need to be able to have some private conversations with foreign leaders and that's not necessarily a precedent that we should want to set as a democracy and as a government but you do have to look at the pattern of behavior here which this is a president who knows that these questions are being raised about his behavior with russia vis-a-vis vladimir putin and is still going out of his way to have these incredibly odd, one on one no staff conversations with the leader of russia. >> elie, is that executive privilege going to end up being the president's be

certainly a very symbolic visit by vladimir putin to belgrade after being somewhat divided right now in the geopolitical sense a means it has taken cool some building up close a time. he's with the european union but also wants to stay close friend of russia as well a thing that could prove indeed challenging to other states while serving is certainly trying to play this card more than twenty documents have been signed here in belgrade today looting deals in the energy and transport sectors we've got to realize that words we are ready to lengthen the turkish stream to european countries and to european consumers we have more than enough resources for that we are dealing with serbia on this issue this is also true for infrastructure development and also if a transitional infrastructure development on serbian territory we are ready to invest in it and these investments will be about one point four billion dollars but speaking of the divisions i should say they're quite visible in the streets like on wednesday for example thousands of people marched through central belgrade in oppositio

what he's discussed behind closed doors with vladimir putin. "the washington post" reporting president trump has taken extraordinary measures to prevent detailed records of his face to face meetings with the russian president from being shared on one occasion even seizing the notes made by his own interpreter. why? what is he so concerned about? here's what the president said leaving the white house a short time ago. >> i never worked for russia. you know that answer better than anybody. i never worked for russia. not only did i never work for russia, i think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question because it's a whole big fat hoax. >> joining me right now from the white house, be abby phillip. what did he say today? >> reporter: it was a do-over by president trump on that question when he was asked the same question he declined to give a yes or no answer to say whether he had worked for russia. but the president also tried to downplay the premises of this story which is when it comes to vladimir putin and russia, he has taken extraor

putin hoess turkish counterpart for talks on the conflict this set to discuss who should hold sway in syria's contested north also coming up. rescuers resumed the search for football players and maybe on osama his plane disappeared over the english channel tattering messages to friends and family saying the plane all sporting a pot. luck the holograms to bring in history to live at a chicago museum maybe fifty eight i believe. there was a holocaust survivor and bearing witness in the twenty first century. how to live on the touchy about thanks their company. two of the major players in the syrian conflict are set to meet for talks that could have broad implications for the country russian president vladimir putin is talking to his turkish counterpart richard on top of the agenda is the future of serious kurdish controlled areas goodish militia control much of northern syria and you can see that here in our map in yellow after they pushed out the so-called islamic state i is has lost almost all of the territory in syria and syria is mocked there in red and that led to president trump t

vladimir putin. we'll tell you why in our reality check next. (client's voice) remember that degree you got in taxation? (danny) of course you don't because you didn't! your job isn't understanding tax code... it's understanding why that... will get him a body like that... move! ...that. your job isn't doing hard work... here. ...it's making her do hard work... ...and getting paid for it. (vo) snap and sort your expenses to save over $4,600 at tax time. (danny) jody... ...it's time to get yours! (vo) quickbooks. backing you. >>> so remember when president trump said we would all get really tired of winning? well, there is one person who might actually be tired of it. vladimir putin. cnn's senior political analyst john avlon with a reality check. >> how's your new year going? i'm guessing not as well as vladimir putin's. autocrats ever getting a way with murder, alliances are being weak he end and the west is in chaos. britain's government suffered its latest fail with the implementation of brexit. pa