Reporters, former communication chiefs and republican strategists all here to weigh in. First, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway. I said before had that the president s war against the media is harming the country, like a slow acting poison. Today conway and i had a blunt conversation about that. But, first, i asked her about scaramuccis arrival. Kellyanne, good morning, thanks for being here. Good morning, brian. Thank you. I know you and Anthony Scaramucci had a chance to talk off camera. What was your conversation about . What is going to change at the white house now that he is running communications . Here we are at cnn studio were very happy to come and take questions from, i think, an outlet that has been incredibly unfair against this president. I guess you made a business decision to do so and were here to connect the American People with the president s message and answer your questions as respectfully as i can. I think sean spicer should be and the president invited sean to stay on. Sean made a different decision and i stand with everyone in the white house including scaramucci and the president and Vice President to thank sean for his service. Well do what we can to push back. Theres defense, trz theres offense and really my main grievance and my Main Objective as somebody who does not work directly but as counselor to the president tries to support what theyre doing in the white house. My Main Objective is can we get complete coverage . I know were never going to get unbias coverage, but can we connect americans through shows like yours and elsewise on cnn and else where with the information they need . They need to know that there have been over 800,000 jobs created. They need to know that there are 25 record highs for the dow jones since donald trump became the president. A 24 7 hotline waiting for them at the white house as you and i speak here that they have better protections through the veterans choice act. If they cant access timely quality care through the va which most veterans say they can, they have the option of going into the private system like you and i could and getting that quality care. People need to know that the regulatory roll back has meant that Property Owners and taxpayers and parent of Public School students that they have more freedom now than they had a short while ago. They need to watch the commissioning of the uss gerald ford yesterday and know that the thousands of patriots who will be on that vessel going through our worlds waters. They will know when they see that vessel coming that military might for america is back. So, in your first answer, you made several points about the administrations accomplishments. But you started by attacking cnn. Why does attacking cnn make America Great again . No, im sure you want that to go viral. Im not attacking cnn. I am wondering cnn spends made a business decision to be unfair to the president. What were trying to do is cover an unusual president and explain what the heck is going on at a white house that seems dysfunctional. First of all, thats not fair. I constantly hear this coming out of the mouths of people that never worked in any white house, yet alone this white house. If you want a candid, clear look at the white house, come inside. A twoway street. We dont see that. Im a very accessible person youll find with Anthony Scaramucci and others in humble. We dont get the calls to come in. We turn on the tv and oneway, nonconversation using words that are meant to deny the president his do. Im here to ask you youre welcome here any time presidency. Thank you for the platform. I want america to hear what has been done for them. The forgotten man and woman are not forgotten to us. Its not your i was just going to say, not our job to do your pr. Its your job. The white house has admitted there was a lot of failures because the press secretary resigned and left his job. Thats seans decision. And sean was up against incredible odds. As the president said in a tweet about sean, he thanks him for his service and he thinks he took a lot of unnecessary abuse. Let me get back to whether were attacking or not attacking cnn. I dont feel sorry for cnn or you or me. We are fine. You and i have Health Care Benefits that are given by our employers. You and i have great jobs and were safe in our jobs. You and i have disposable income. God bless you and your wife, jamie, and your new daughter. We are people who are not struggling paycheck to paycheck and not worried about paying the rent or the mortgage or the student loan voucher or the payment this very month. Were not deciding between groceries and Health Care Benefits. Im there for those people. Brian, if we can rely on your help at cnn not to do our pr. Thats silly. Thats nonsense. To connect america with the information they need. If youre going to cover russia, russia, russia while were talking about america, america, america, were always going to be like this. If you actually look at the polls this great polling analysis where they said 6 of americans. 6 said russia was the most important issue to them and main stream media given it 75 of coverage. 35 in the bloomberg study. Thats right. 11 for immigration. But that same bloomberg poll found only o440 of americans support this president. Is it only to play to the base or try to reach 100 of americans, not just 40 . I thank you for putting the poll up. I want your viewers to see. 35 health care. The only coverage cnn gives health care is whether or not it will pass and whether or not it has the votes. A stunning failure. One of the stories of the year. There you go, using those words. If you want it to be a stunning failure or youre going to insist it is a stunning failure, you are denying literally the millions and millions of americans who were lied to by the last president. You like your plan, keep your plan. If you like your doctor, keep your doctor. They dont have Health Care Benefits through their employer like you and i do. That was 2009, its 2017. Lets look forward and not backwards all the time. Lets look forward and look at all the people who did not benefit from obamacare. You cant sit here, brian, and deny the fact that 19 of the 23 coops have failed. Pulling out the exchanges with dozens more promising to do so this year and next year. If obamacare is not repealed by 2018, we will have over 1,300 counties where there is one choice which means there is no choice. Right now 40 bear counties with no choice. Medicaid is unsustainable. Were trying to save it for the future and try to give flexibility to the governors. Help change the accounts. I appreciate that. But theres plenty of time to cover both. Theres plenty of time to cover both. Were on a 24hour channel with an infinite website. Russia is a big story because journalists love america and america was attacked last year. And americas probably going to be attacked again next year around the midterms when you call it a hoax. I managed the winning campaign. It has what to do with that campaign. That may be because by the time you became campaign manager, the deal was already in. The conversations were already had. We dont know, kellyanne, but shouldnt we find out . Are you alleging there was active conversations with russians trying to change the Election Results . Because very few people are saying that. Are you saying that or just trying to put it out there because you guys are so invested . What is there . What constitutional crisis are we facing right now . I tell you what, i tell you what we do know ill leave that to Jeffrey Toobin and the law expert. Many people are afraid if this president fires Robert Mueller we will be in a constitutional crisis. Why doesnt the president want mueller to prove that trump was right and isnt mr. Mueller and his band of democratic donors doing that . Brian, lets back up. Im asking you to please cover the issues that america are telling pollsters, including cnns pollsters. You are not being honest to your own poll figure you look at the issues that people say are most important to them. Youre not covering them. You just went right back to russia. I think people can care about multiple issues at the same time. Certainly, folks that i talk to care about a lot of issues. Thats america and donald trump. He is making good on those promises with or without the help of a number of cable stations. But, lets be honest here. You cannot with a straight face tell me that most you have this disproportionate, out of whack, unequal coverage on russia with nothing there. Theres nobody even Chuck Schumer this weekend gave an interview, suggesting that Hillary Clinton should look in the mirror. Id say that right back to you. Heres what is true. Millions of people dont have health care and they think they would. The Unemployment Rate way down. The job creation way up. The stock market way up. The Regulatory Reform americans know that. Americans feel it. Still 50 of americans strongly disapprove of the president. Youre a pollster, will that ever change . Are you trying to convince the 60 or according to gallup well show the headline that has a record low Approval Rating as of this weekend. 36 . Almost twothirds of americans dont support the president right now. Are you trying to persuade them or just to appeal to the base from now on . Again, you want that to say the president said on november 9th, as he was elected and Hillary Clinton called my cell phone and congratulated and important word, conceded. I know that they cant let go of these Election Results. Were talking about Hillary Clinton, again . Honestly. I dont have time for that. If youre going to talk about russia and talk about emails and talk about investigations, youre going to always be talking about Hillary Clinton. I didnt bring up russia. Your network is obsessed with that. Youre vested in it. All the chyrons say it constantly and the reason i raised her doesnt mean its not a big story. Its not a big story. What makes it big, you cant tell me this is about the campaign and not talk about Hillary Clinton. The reason i just raised her is because when she called to concede the election to donald trump, he immediately went up to the podium and said something that remains true at this moment. I will be the president of all americans, even those who do not support me. Hes not appealing to the base. Making good to his promises. When i go around this country and you ever want to come, come and join me. Youre in new york right now and i agree with you. The Opioid Crisis is undercovered by the crisis. I agree with you. Youre welcome. I dont want it to be a media skeptical. Why doesnt the president talk about it . He talks about it plenty. As a White House Commission there is 45 million committed to it in his health care bill. Hes tweeting about pardons not about the Opioid Crisis. He tweets about many things and put together a White House Commission on this, a Bipartisan Commission and hes sending secretary of hhs tom price and i out to meet with people. I want to tell you something, when i meet with those people who are suffering from the Opioid Crisis. No Democratic Group untouched i never touched a single one nor would i ever . Did you support the president . How would you vote . Are you a democrat . Were here to help everyone and we would like your help, at least being honest enough to say people aren arent as privileged as you and me, brian, are suffering. When you talk about the Approval Ratings and talk about look at the approval on the economy. Look at the numbers that matter to people. Look at all the job creation. Look at the 70 billion they project will be saved. The 14 congressional review acts that this president has put forth. Look at how hes building the wall. Look at the illegal border crossings and everything. Look at isis in recrutreat. Retreat before november 8th or 9th. A lot of these things were already happening. I appreciate your point about the president s momentum. This is a white house in crisis whether you recognize it or not. I work there. Where do you get that . Its a white house in crisis back it up. Misleading and false statements on a regular basis. To well, to most of the country even if you stick with that 36 that approve no matter what. Youre not looking at part of the disapproval are the independents who voted for him and want him to ignore all the nonsense and all the noise and all the russian nonsense. Thats part of it. Part of it is people upset with congress. The president s Approval Rating is far higher than the Approval Rating of the media or the congress and theres a reason for that. Americans are looking at the media. Theyre looking at congress and saying, do your job. Your job is not to russia, russia, russia all day long. And hoping that something will drop from heaven and this will be real and not phony. The job in the congress, the job in the Congress Figure out what is going on through investigations. Why dont you cover what you do know is real. Which is that millions of americans dont have health care. Lots of reporters that are covering a lot of things. What you see on one hour youre acting like what you see on one hour of cnn equates to the entire National News media and tens of thousands of hardworking journalists who love america and want to make sure that the president is doing his job. Sure. You look at his job through the lens of russia. I look at his job through the lens of america. On that, were always going to disagree. Number two and most importantly, this president is out there all the time. I mean, youve got cnn reporters with him. If you just stopped and talked to those people and asked them why theyre there, how did these, how do the veterans feel now that theyve got an ability to access care. How do the coal miners feel that their Health Care Benefits were protected and the Regulatory Burden that was placed on them by the last president was lifted in the first couple of months . How do the pro lifers feel . Signs like you should be an assignment editor, kellyanne. Im sure you can get a job in the newsroom. Why would i want that . Im counsel to the president. They dont get enough attention. Big scandals going on. Since its a show about the media, since i want to hear about. No, you cant get away with that. What are the big scandals going on. Please, name them for me. When you look at this president s rhetoric, his behavior when it comes to the media its rhetoric. Or what happened before you dont think that his words against the media are poisoned, kellyanne. His rhetoric is a scandal . When he calls real news outlets fake news he poisons our public discourse. Makes it harder for us to communicate as a country. Makes it it harder for us to it doesnt stop, it doesnt stop people at cnn on personally attacking each of us and running these ridiculous intrigue stories basically since the day weve been there where the only people that got fired so far. Shouldnt be personal attacks. But a lot, kellyanne. Dont work in the west wing in the inner circle. Youre complimenting cnn, youre complimenting cnn for taking action and holding journalists accountable for not following editorial practices. Why hasnt the white house held aides accountable for false statements . Brian, that is ridiculous. Are you telling me the fact that three of your colleagues were forced to resign or got fired here because they were slandering my new white house colleague Anthony Scaramucci and accept their apology because he has class and grace. That reflects on cnn that youre going to go out and end up being slanderous, hit jobs on a great man. This is a twoway street. Youre looking at everything through the lens of the media. You said that hold on. This morning Anthony Scaramucci said go ahead. I just wanted to say you said there are big scandals when i asked you what these big scandals are. I cant let these incendiary words float out there without i wont do that. But if you can tell me what these big scandals are, you came back with rhetoric and made it about the media. But you made it about the media. The president s lies and voter fraud and about wiretapping, his repeated lies about those issues. He doesnt think hes lying about those issues and he knows it. He has gone forth and he has talked about surveillance. Doesnt mean youre not lying. Are you back to the clintons now . What are you talking about . What kind of analogy is that . I mean, look, brian i appreciate the clinton pivot. I respect what you do and how you do it. You and i are going to disagree. Scaramucci said there could be leaks coming from the white house communication shop. Lets play the clip for those that didnt see it. Tomorrow, ill have a meeting with incommunication staff and say, hey, i dont like these leaks. Well stop the leaks. If we dont stop the leaks, im going to stop you. Its just really that simple. Bravo. Do you think thats true that there have been leaks from inside . Heres what im going to tell you. I think our job at the white house is fwhaut not about to si read about ourselves. I would get much better press coverage if i was good at that. Folks working overtime for them and not the president. Whether theyre inside or outside the white house. I am interested in getting timely information out to america. I think the medias job is to be skeptical, but not cynical. The medias job is to be probing or pugnacious and if youre going to tell me that this has not been a contentious relationship since day one, its just not true, brian. I agree that it has been. I agree that it has been. But i try to support their efforts completely because were working on behalf of america. Will you be reporting to scaramucci now that he is taking more power . I report directly to the president as he does. That ben fits me. Were you consulted in bringing in scaramucci . I was. I try to make this conversation about the American People and the ones who are truly suffering and you went back to making it about the media. I respect that this is a program about the media, kellyanne. You knew that when you came on the show. If you disagree with me, its okay. But do you agree or disagree, brian, that one essential component of the media at large is to make sure that america gets the information they need and they deserve because you telling them they may not hear the information. Thats not happening. I think it is happening. I think the public is better informed than ever before and able to access all of it on the internet. If you dont mind, let me ask you one more question about the media because were on reliable sources. Time warner owned and the president of the United States was complaining about cnn in front of the ceo of at t. Have you talked with the president about this pending merger . I wont reveal my private conversations with the president. I know that that gentleman, i think, has been very helpful to us in some of our business counsel or roundtables and we appreciate that. We invited ceos and working men and women and everybody across obamacare victims, people we had, people in the white house from many different listening sessions. We appreciate that. And the point about that, about the ceo being there is people are wondering and the vanity fair story that cnn is trying to punish cnn by not approving the deal and asking for concessions in the deal. Do you know anything about that . You are going by, you just said the word implied. Thats an important word. Thank you for admitting that. Information where people no proof. But there is concern that the president would be trying to punish a news outlet for coverage he doesnt like through a business transaction. That is a concern. I can tell you that is not what consums his day. I promise you that. He is there for the people who are relying on him to make good on his promises and be a sovereign nation that has borders where we worry about america, American Interest and American Allies here and abroad. Where the 50 or 6 0,000 factoris and jobs stay here. And people feel like they dont have to live paycheck to paycheck and this president wont lie to them about health care. Thats what consums his days. He also tweets a lot about television. So. You should be happy that we have such an engaged, you should be happy that we have such an engaged president. But, you know, 99 of what the president does and says is not on twitter. Its done in the oval office. Its done in his cabinet meetings. Meetings with different cabinet members. Done with Business Leaders and done with his National Security briefing and done with the Vice President and senior staff. Were trying to be accessible. I have always been someone who i thought has decent relationships with many in the media. But i dont know how this is sustainable. Hes the president. If you can say to me with a straight face right now, brian, that people on this network are more likely to show respect to him than disrespect, im listening. But i dont believe it from a content analysis alone. The rolling of the eyes and the curling of the lips. I also respect you and im worried. More than anything else, kellyanne, im worried about the credibility problem. When you hear us come on television and say, why should we believe them . On january 21st, 22nd when you talk about alternative facts. I wonder if you regret that six months later. Do you know what alternative facts are . Do you know what they are . I think theyre your interpretation of what is going on. Thats not true. Lets put it to rest here and im sure it wont get covered and get tweeted out today. But lets do it. Alternative facts, i meant to say alternative figures but alternative facts are partly sunny, partly cloudy. When you say we have the highest rated show and another show that is a competitor says we have the highest rating show. The others are using the demo. Alternative facts, brian stetler. Glass half full glass half empty. Everybody knows what we meant and there are hiccups in the media every single day. They wanted to look at it through the most negative lens possible. They know what sean spicer meant by that is that you now in 2017 have people looking at the inauguration up close and in person and people watching on their screens, which they couldnt do ten years earlier. You have people certainly watching on tv, listening to the radio, multimedia way of doing that. But i also said on all the networks that day i didnt think it was a particularly important piece of information because it doesnt matter. What matters is if the president is able to move the needle economically and through National Security. Indeed, since january 22nd, he has. Thats not an alternative fact, that is a fact. Over 800,000 jobs and tax reform after that. But alternative facts. Let me just repeat for those at home, partly cloudy, partly sunny. When cnn says its got the highest rated show and then a competitor says, we do, because one is using the demo and one using the overall ratings. Ask any lawyer any time when an alternative fact is. Thank you for raising. I knew you meant it to be snarky, but im glad to have the platform to explain it. Come back, kellyanne. Ill come back and i hope you come to the white house and come on the road with me to meet americans who think help is on the way. No, theyre not the base. We hear from people all the time, no, i didnt vote this year. I didnt vote for him. I respect the office of the president and its current occupant and i want him to succeed. Its our nation, our time. I agree with them. Ill tell you and set it up. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Take care, brian. More to come here. You can watch Anthony Scaramucci oneonone with jake tapper. Coming up next hour noon eastern time here on cnn. Up next Anthony Scaramucci making all the sunday round. 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Heres something else. I dont share it with mom. I dont. Right, mom . I have a brand new putter you dont even know about its awesome. Safe driving bonus checks, only from allstate. Sometimes i leave the seat up on purpose. Switching to allstate is worth it. Hey, welcome back to reliable sources. What a weekend its been. The sixmonth mark of the Trump Presidency marked by a shocking shakeup on friday. Something many people saw coming, but didnt think it would happen right when it did. Sean spicer resigning and apthany scaramucci and Sarah Huckabee sanders promoted. Lets talk through all of it with an allstar panel who have been there, done that. Covering the white house, also a cnn analyst, dan pfeiffer who was president obamas former White House Communications director now with cnn, as well. Don baer who was a communication director in the Clinton White house. Now he is also the chief speech writer back then for clinton. Now worldwide ceo of Strategic Communications firm and scott jennings, cnn political commentator and former special assistant to president george w. Bush. Great to have you all here. Were going to stay with you for the rest of the hour because so much to analyze. First to you, tara, lets get honest about this. When you interview Kellyanne Conway or other aides on television, that person shouldnt be allowed on tv and what do you make of that . What do you make of how polarized the country is to the point where a lot of viewers dont even think we should hear from people like conway or scaramucci . I think they should be on television although they may offend some people who dont agree with them politically, we should be hearing from the people who work in the white house because at the end of the day, personnel is policy. Whoever has more power in that white house is going to affect the way that policy turns that day. You saw that from the paris climate agreement. You saw that when people novarro in the trade office was cooking up a nafta plan to actually pull out of the agreement. So, as much as someone, you know, like kellyanne and others say palace intrigue and who has power in this white house really will tell you what is going to happen that week and how its going to affect everyday American People. Why it seems far away and it is good to have these people on the record talking about whats hap pg in the white house, even if there are denials and spin. And its our job to sort of break it down and explain, hey, this person, at this moment, has a lot of power. They have seven people working underneath them and right now trump is listening to them. For example, steve bannon is sort of on the outs and i think youll see that reflected in policy. Gary cohn is rising up. Anthony scaramucci a long island financier. His stock is super high in the white house right now and hes sort of more aligned with the, you know, the globalist side, the pro banking trade side of the white house. I really do think it is important for them to be speaking. For them to be showing america their world view because they are the people who are affecting the world that we live in. Scott jennings, youre new here at cnn. You have been supportive of president trump. A report that actually, someone from the white house reached out to you ask aed if you would com on in a communications job. Is that true . If so, why did you decline . Im not going to talk about any krvegconversations i had wie white house. I want to talk with tara about the need to have white house official os on television. The alternative is sources say. So, if you have on the record sources that are willing to come on television and talk about what the president s agenda is, i think tara is exactly right. You need to interview those people. Kellyanne had people you wanted to about and all of those things are important. You gave her a lot of time. I think interviews like that, the one scaramucci is doing are vital to make sure people feel like theyre hearing directly from named sources at the white house. I think its newsworthy that scaramucci and wants to be very visible. No amount of smooth talking and no amount of spin can solve this white houses crises. Scott, do you think im wrong . Well, i think that the white house has a lot of things going on that they think if only people would cover it more, it would really alter perceptions of this presidency. So, thats why you hear kellyanne talking about those things. An enormous amount of frustration. They feel like issues related to the russia investigations, for instance, get vastly more coverage than issues than the economic turn around because of the decisions theyre making. The frustration, i think, boiled over last week. Thats what caused doing well under Hillary Clinton, as well. I got frustrated by kellyannes comment because if you look at job growth last year at this time under obama, pretty much the same as it is today. They are taking credit for something they dont deserve 100 credit for. That is an allegation you can make against any white house. Any president is going to take credit if they are doing better. They made policy decisions particularly on the regulatory side that have boosted confidence to reinvest, create jobs, et cetera, et cetera. Look, the reality is i think there is frustration at the white house that they think their better policy decisions are not getting covered and the worst of it, the russia investigation and whatever is most frustrating sand getting to much coverage. Scaramucci is going to be out there and forceful about making that case and the president certainly wants to see people on tv who are willing to have that fight all day, every day. Lets go inside the decision with don and dan. Since both of you were communication directors in democratic white houses. Tell me, dan, actually, don, if you dont mind. Don first. If you were there for the clinton years looking back a couple decades. What should scaramucci do and how should the press street this change . What i think scaramucci should do is not what he started to do. He does not need to be a highprofile, public figure out there on every show. The press secretary is the one who is supposed to be the one mostly dealing with the press. Multiple spokespeople and maybe scaramucci is good and he wants to do it. What this white house needs is exactly what kellyanne demonstrated they dont have the ability to do. They need discipline and focus and somebody inside that is able to bring them several things that strategic commune kagicati ought to be bringing them. They need to hold on to who their supporters are but bring over those swing voters that theyre losing. We know theyre losing because of the poll numbers and whats going on there. They need to be creative and find new ways to engage people so that theyre actually paying attention to what they want them to Pay Attention to rather than all this other noise and be inspiring that same time. Useful for them to move some people to believe theyre acting in the better interest of the whole country. They need to be integrated. There are so many different voices and coordinated. There are so many different voices. So many different platforms. So many different messages out there and they need more coordination and, finally, they need to be sustained. They need to be able to carry a message and a theme and a set of ideas forward for more than half an hour. I think kellyannes performance demonstrates exactly why they need someone who will work inside to bring the folks and the discipline. I dont know whether thats what scaramucci was hired for and whether scaramucci sees that as his role. And, dan, last word to you. You were very recently there, this time last year, not this time last year, but recently in the obama years doing this job. What should scaramucci know about it . Scaramucci may be the right guy in the wrong job. What it really boils down to is you have to develop a Strategic Communication plan and use it to persuade the public and stakeholders to adopt the president s agenda. The president , Vice President and everyone down to undersecretaries and far flung agencies to communicate the message. Not the job you can do if youre sitting in a cable greenroom all the time like it seems scaramucci is doing. I dont know if thats going to solve the problems that have been plaguing the Trump Administration because it is one of not having a plan and not having discipline and what i would recommend scaramucci do, hire people with real governmental experience both in Previous Administration or on Congress Enacting a legislative agenda. His experience does not really fit with what the Communications Director does. Even as much of a tv personality he is. These are terms we have used on television for lots of years. Isnt part of trumps message the chaos, the confusion, the drama. Isnt that part of his message . Thats why hes not moving forward at all on an agenda and getting anything done on behalf of the American People right now. I think to myself when they talk about draining the swamp. Very hard to do that. Just hired a Hedge Fund Guy to come in and run communications while talking about draining the swamp. I wonder if what they mean attacking the media because that is something they can show that looks like action even when its not. I think the one thing that unites the various wings. The Bannon Breitbart and globalist wing is hatred for the media. Now, i will say every white house since the beginning of time has believed if only the press more fairly covered their boss, their approval would be up, they would get more done. But what is different is, in most white houses, its venting. In this white house, it is the only strategy they can all agree on, which is to attack the media. Its not clear what strategic object oive that ladder is up to, but the one thing that everyone there seems to be bought into. The one thing about scaramucci and they have taken a lesson from dan pfeiffer in my shop. They want more oneonone time from the president and reporters off the record in the way that obama did. He often had reporters into his oval office for happy hour just to talk about policy. Thats something thats not happening right now. They may be outward viciously attacking the press, right now theyre regrouping on how to have a better relationship with the press behind the scenes. Thats what youre going to be seeing coming forward. He is looking at the people who work in the communication shop right now. A lot of them are closely tied to the rnc, to sean spicer and Reince Priebus and they had a relationship behind the scenes with the press. Even more combative than what you saw during the press briefing. Scaramucci was saying, ill get around to all of you. Thank you for your questions. Theyre trying to change the tone. At the end of the day, trump loves the press. He loves interviews, especially on the record ones. Even more than off the record ones. I think youre going to see a shift with him. Panel, stand by. After the break, the behind the scenes story of how that New York Times interview happened. It started off the record. Well talk about how it went on the record and what we learned from that incredible interview right after this. And youre talking to your rheumatologist about a medication. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain. And protect my joints from further damage. 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Selfie . Yeah ok. Desk in the background. Ok. Best day ever. crash when the unexpected strikes. Dont worry. Weve got you covered. The hartford strikes back. You. Smells fine, but yourin your passengers smell this bell dinging new febreze car with Odorclear Technology cleans away odors. For up to 30 days smells nice. Breathe happy, with new febreze. Hey, welcome back to reliable sources. Im brian stetler. This week a team visited the white house to be an off the record meet and greet with president trump. But the reporters had lots of questions and they persuaded the president to go on the record so they could quote him for the majority of a 50minute long interview. What an interview it was. Trump said he regretted appointing his own attorney general Jeff Sessions. And the president seemed to warn Robert Mueller not to look into his finances. There was so much news from this interview and so much intrigue about how and why it happened. Back with me now, the panel, tara, dan, mike and scott jennings. Scott, first to you on this New York Times interview i would like to see the president giving more interviews and holding more press conferences since he hasnt done that since february. Was this ill advised because of all the comments he made about the russians investigations . Im not a lawyer, but if i have to imagine what the president s lawyers are thinking about it, probably cringing a little bit because he did say some things in the interview that have implications for the investigation and implications for the people who will have to answer questions before congress and the special counsel. Thats unfortunate. Also unfortunate for Jeff Sessions some of the things that were said. So, i actually think the president is probably his best advocate. So, i want to see him doing more interactions with the press, although i think in this particular case, it might have been a bit illtimed to do a wideranging interview at this moment. Although, i think the president should be as accessible as he wants be and as tara said earlier, he likes to do these things. This timing might have been off. To borrow the words of david french. Seems like fox news and trump aides are prepping the battlefield for the moment the president maybe fire Robert Mueller. Is the press taking that possibility seriously enough . Are journalists sort of wrapping their heads around what a crisis this could be . I think so. I think sort of the political world and the media learned a lesson because it seemed impossible to imagine that trump would ever fire jim comey and then he did that, which was in addition taviolating important government norm was a massive and political and legal mistake. So, i think the press is rightfully taking trumps musings about this seriously. And the question to me is not whether the media will take it seriously, but whether republicans in congress will actually its actually whether republicans in congress will do anything if trump takes that dangerous step. Is the hardest part of your job, trying to connect all the dots every day . Here we are talking about his white house for the entire hour this morning. There are so many news stories that happened, so many shocking things that happened. Is it difficult to step back from the glass and get the big picture as a reporter . You dont really want the public to read, because they dont tend to buy the newspaper on a saturday morning. Jared kushner revealed he left off 77 companies he has over a billion dollars in debt to. That is something that would dominate the News Coverage in the prior administrations. This time these stories dont stick. What do you mean . You look at the president Approval Ratings, that indicates to me the public is paying attention and is disturbed by whats going on. You could say that, theres a feeling, i think that people have about this presidency and how hes doing. It may have even less to do with the Media Coverage and more to do with the fact that hes struggling legislatively. You can choose your news, if you watch fox news, you watch a different network, you get a different idea of the story, and i think americans think they have to read and choose. Choose their news, a lot of them do. But the at end of the day, i think as you said, we have to sit back, we have to think about all the things that happened this week and continue to use that to build the blocks into a bigger story and use context when things start to happen when the mumblings about bob mueller being fired. As i as reporter dont think that trump will fire bob mueller. When comey was fired it was out of the blue. Whenever trump fires people, it has been out of the blue. Katie walsh, his deputy chief of staff, the Communications Director. You didnt see it coming. Saying hes going to fire mueller is part of the smear campaign, the idea that he could be fired. It questions his credibility. Right. Interrutrump is one of those that doesnt think hes being played by the media. He enjoys saying fake news to his staffers. We have so much more control than you would think, when he sees something in the media that predicts his next move, it might change his next move. Im the opposite. I think the New York Times interview revealed why this white house needs a strategic person. Imagine if he spent that hour with the New York Times reporters on the record, talking about what he wants the country to believe hes already done, and the agenda he wants to push forward, maybe even how he talked about health care, and how he wanted congress to solve the Health Care Situation now. Other things that he thinks are important, imagine what a difference that could have made for him, instead, hes distracted the whole country to russia, which is exactly the issue that he wants to move away from. I was a White House Correspondent covering the First Bush Administration before i did all these other things, and i can tell you, we would have died for an hour long interview on the record like that for the president. One way or the other, whether he was talking about all the shenanigans going on in his white house or talking about his agenda, they are misusing the most important, most powerful tool they have. At the time, there was only the New York Times and the washington post. The media had more power then to decide when the president got to speak to the people. I worked elsewhere. One more we had some power there too, but thats a different story. One more point. Do you expect the president and his aids to allow the cameras back on in the briefings. Friday for the first time in almost a month, they came on camera. This is an ongoing problem, i dont want to lose sight of it. The Sunlight Foundation said this is a white house hostile toward the press, a secretive government, turning the cameras on could maybe help with that. Do you think they will do it . I think they will do it for a while, because scaramucci is going to look like hes playing ball, until they have the chance to use it again as a stick to whack the press with. Heres i think you ought to go well past that. Kelly anne offered you the chance to come in, find out whats going on inside the white house, find out whats going on. I think you should remember an hour long special in which you go in and find out whats happening. It will be great for everyone, and a real service to the country. Don baer, tara palmerieri. Thank you for being here on this special edition of the program. Thank you. Sign up for our nightly reliable sources newsletter at reliablesources. Com, all the days news wrapped up for you in your inbox. Well be back here this time next week. For more conversation about the media and its role in society and politics. Thanks for tuning in, and well see you next week. Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. Listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. And hey, unmanaged depression, dont get too comfortable. Were talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. And fragmented care stop getting in the way of patient recovery and Pay Attention. Every single one of you is on our list. For those who wont rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. Optum. How well gets done. When heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. To keep our community safe. Before you do any project big or small, pg e will come out and mark your gas and electric lines so you dont hit them when you dig. Call 811 before you dig, and make sure that you and your neighbors are safe. 811 is available to any business our or homeownerfe. To make sure that you identify where your utilities are if you are gonna do any kind of excavation no matter how small or large before you dig, call 811. Keep yourself safe. These make cleaning between myi love easy. Sy. Gum brand for healthy gums. Soft picks, proxabrush cleaners, flossers. Gum brand. Staff shakeup, sean spicer is out, a fresh face is in. The president s a winner, okay . And what were going to do is do a lot of winning. Can Anthony Scaramucci right the ship . Trump team under fire. A new report says Jeff Sessions maybe did discuss Trump Campaign matters with the russian ambassador. As the president s inner circle prepares to talk to congress. One of the senators