Nancy reagan had a mastectomy in 1987. We have a team of reporters kate bannon broke the story. And dr. Sanjay gupta is on hand before the procedure and Kaitlin Collins is at the white house. I want to start with kate bennett. Was this planned or emergency procedure, what can you tell us . Reporter i dont believe it was an emergency procedure. I would imagine that this is planned, of course the white house has not said that but all indications point this to not being an emergency. Im going to read the statement from the First Lady Office so were all on the same page. This morning First Lady Melania Trump underwent an embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney condition. The procedure was successful and there were no complications. Mrs. Trump is at Walter Reed National military Medical Center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week. The first lady looks forward to a full recovery so they can continue her work on behalf of children everywhere. Speaking of that, it was just last week we saw her in the rose garden delivering her information about be best her new initiative and the formal platform and the president in the front row. The week before that at the state dinner, hosting and that white hat moment that we all saw. So certainly shes been more public. More visible and weve seen her a lot lately. Clearly todays news is quite shocking to most people. And kate, tell us about President Trump we know hes been at the white house all day. Obviously he participated and was watching the ceremony in jerusalem with the opening of the u. S. Embassy there. He also had some important meetings, not at the hospital while his wife was going through this, that was her decision, you say. Well i think knowing the first lady, and covering her, shes very private. She doesnt like a lot of attention drawn to herself. I would imagine that if the president does go anywhere, if he leaves the premises of the white house, it involves more security and a bigger motorcade and a media press pool that needs to go with him. Just understanding how the first lady operates, it is very it is very different operation in the east wing than the west wing and the fact they pulled off an entire surgery for a first lady without any leaks coming out of that tells you just how differently they operate. I would imagine that they wanted to keep this very close to the vest and therefore the president was not going to be present during the operation but certainly her Communications DirectorStephanie Gresham told me hes expected to visit shortly. Are her parents her parents live in the area. Are her parents with her at the hospital. That is unclear. I dont know the answer to that. Just learning these things. Kaitlin collins at the white house, this news broke moments after the White House Briefing and they left the announcement to the First Lady Office. But what is the white house the west wing, what are they saying about this now . Reporter no comment yet except for the statement from the first ladys Communications Director, the west wing has been quite silent. As kate noted, the president is expected to go and visit the first lady at walter reed. We have no indication that hes done so yet today. Of course hes been at the white house this morning, several meetings and a lunch with the Vice President. And of course when he does make a Movement Like that, a trail of reporters goes with him anywhere. And that is not happened today. But it does seem like the indication is that he is going to go. We would assume somewhere shortly in the next short while which is why the white house likely isnt going to comment until that movement actually takes place. But we do know the president has not gone yet but it does seem he will go here in the next short little bit. Let me bring in dr. Sanjay gupta to try to understand what exactly is going on here. Sanjay, the First Lady Office described the surgery as an embolization procedure for a benign kidney issue. What does that mean . What is going only here . Well, there are a bunch of terms being thrown around. First of all, it is unclear whether the first lady in fact had surgery, an open operation, or just this embolization procedure, not to minimize it, but it is different. It involves putting catheters into the blood vessels and then threading those catheters to an area close to the kidney, to basically try and inject some glue or something in the blood vessels to stop blood flow to to a particular area and in this case a particular area of kidney. Why is that done . Typically it is done because youve seen something that youre worried about and in terms of the potentially being able to cause bleeding or to start bleeding. And that is why it is typically done it could be a cancerous mass but in the statement as you point out, they are very clear, this is a benign mass. It is a benign lesion they are saying. So they are not saying it is cancer. But they doesnt mean it is something you might not be worried about that could potentially bleed. But again, was it surgery or the embolization procedure alone. Shell be in the hospital for several days, sort of speaks to the significance of this in terms of her recovery. What exactly was it that required the treatment, those are things we dont know, jake. And sanjay, you mentioned the fact shes expected to say in the hospital all week. We live in a in a medical world where shun could get a tumor removed as an outpatient procedure and go home that night. This sounds pretty serious if she has to stay in the hospital all week. I agree. It is certainly worth learning more about, why that decision was made. This is the first lady, is this more out of an abundance of caution in this regard, after these embolization procedures because you stopped blood flow to a particular area in this case the kidney. There could be pain associated with that and people could be at risk of infection because of that. You want to make sure that the procedure worked, there is no longer blood flowing to this lesion or mass or whatever it is as well. So those are all important followups, but oftentimes they take place as an outpatient. In this case theyve said that she is going to stay in the hospital for a few days and think that does speak to the significance of this. And you noted, the term they used is a denni a benign kidney and were used to hearing the word benign in association with cancer. Is it possible that it is being used with a different association or only used with regards to cancer . No, i think it could be used in different conditions as well. In fact, if i heard benign kidney condition, the first thing would you think of is maybe a cyst or Something Like that. Those are more common certainly than a type of mass. There is that could warrant this type of treatment. Cysts are something that people develop as they get older. Certainly given that she had an embolization procedure, that wont be used to treat a cyst. That would be used to treat Something Else. And we dont know what that is. There are certain masses that are benign, one of them has a a big word, it is angio myolip oma, a type of benign mass that has blood vessels and one of the concerns about Something Like that is that it could bleed. So an embolization would be done in that case. But did she have surgery and what was treated, and why why do they think she needs to be in the hospital for several days. The statement is wanting, i would say, in terms of what exactly is going on. Obviously our thoughts and our best wishes are with the first lady. Were just trying to get to the bottom as to what is going on. That is right. Sanjay, the procedure that you just described that might meet the criteria of what were getting from the first ladys office, why would you want to stop blood vessels from going to that area and what then would you do as a physician . The embolization procedure is done again to stop the blood flow and the reason you want that done to a particular area is because there is something there that you worried could bleed. It could be a mass for example, that has a lot of blood vessels in it, and you know that the history of those types of masses may be to bleed. So you want to prevent that from happening. It could be that it maybe already had some bleeding in the past and caused some pain and that is what sort of warranted the whole investigation and workup. But that is typically there is also things, jake, people have heard the terms like aneurysm, which is a weakening of the blood vessels, and those could bleed. You could treat those with embolization as well. We dont know. All we know is that she had a embolization procedure and we dont know if she had Something Else done or did not have Something Else done. And we dont know what was specifically em bollized. And while we are on air discussing this, it is my understanding that President Trump has tweeted something about this Chinese Telecom company Kaitlin Collins, President Trump raised eyebrows by talking about how he wanted to help this Chinese Company, zte. What has he tweeted and have we do we have any understanding as to why hes trying to help this Chinese Company. Hes raised eyebrows about this and this comes i should note as the president has not visited the first lady yet at walter reed. Of course we reported that she did go in this morning for the surgery. The president remained back here at the white house. And now the president tweeting again about this chinese phone company that was under a ban for seve for seven years buying any american products, something a point of contention after the president tweeted he would help bring this company back after it was penalized by the United States and the trump administration. For selling technology to north korea and iran. Now the president tweeting again saying the large chinese phone company buys a big percentage of individual parts from companies and this is reflective of the larger trade deal were negotiating with china and my personal relationship with president xi after there is bipartisan pushback to the president s tweet on sunday about helping this company out and something people said flew in the face of his America First campaign promise. Now people are raising questions about it does appear the president is tweeting once again about this phone company. It is still unclear into f hes on the way to walter reed or remains here back at the white house. And a lot of people in the National Security community pushing back on this, concerned about Chinese Technology being used for espionage if it comes to this country. Well talk about that and more later in the show. But were going to stick with breaking news right now. First Lady Melania Trump in the hospital after undergoing surgery for a kidney condition and will be there for the week. Well go live to walter reed Medical Center next. Stay with us. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to liberty mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. Call for a free quote today. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. If these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. Actually, its bulkier. Always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection thats a lot less bulky. Always discreet. Ftheres flonase sensimist. Tchy and watery near pollen. It relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. Im trying to manage my a1c, then i learn type 2 diabetes puts me at greater risk for heart attack or stroke. Can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk . I asked my doctor. She told me about noninsulin victoza®. Victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar, but for people with type 2 diabetes treating their cardiovascular disease, victoza® is also approved to lower the risk of major cv events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. While not for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. announcer victoza® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not take victoza® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. Stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing, or swallowing. Serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. So stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. Tell your doctor your medical history. Gallbladder problems have happened in some people. Tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. Taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. Change the course of your treatment. Ask your doctor about victoza®. Back with breaking news. First Lady Lady Melania is in the hospital where she had surgery for a benign kidney condition at walter reed. We know that President Trump plans to visit her there. Hopefully were told soon, if that happens well bring that to you. Cnn joe johns is outside of walter reed. What do we expect to see as the president arrives . Reporter depends on how he gets here of course. There are multiple gates leading into and out of walter reed as you know. There is also daunting washington rush hour traffic to consider. So certainly a possibility that the president might travel by helicopter and simply fly over all of the traffic. Now discussion on the air about how closely secret this was and how closely guarded it was. I can tell you earlier today, i did reach out to someone who absolutely would be in the know about a notable persons who come in and out of walter reed and in this situation, reaching out to that person earlier today, absolutely no clue that the first lady of the United States was headed here to walter reed. So theyve kept it very quiet and put it out in a statement publicly earlier today. Back to you. Joe johnson in bethesda, maryland outside of walter reed. Joining me now historian Douglas Brinkley and Anita Mcbride, chief of staff to laura bush. Anita, ill start with you. First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the first lady and her family at this time. I do wonder as a communication issue, we know she had this procedure this morning. Are you surprised that the white house waited until hours later to reveal it and the fact that the statement is so sparing of details, although were told shell be there for the week, which suggests a fairly serious procedure. Is that a surprise to you . Well i can completely understand their need and desire to keep this as private as possible at the end of the day youre right, all of us do wish her well and a speedy recovery and that should be first and foremost. Notwithstanding any medical expertise of anyone that may give an opinion on the condition of her health. But when laura bush had neck surgery in 2007 and she went to the hospital with g. W. And we did not release any information on that until after it was over and that she was going home. And in fact, george w. Bush was in australia for the apec summit and part of it is difficulty in scheduling Something Like this. If there is if it is not an emergency, there is a lot on the first ladys schedule and they have to pick and choose the best possible time when things are not the schedule is not so terribly impacted and obviously this seemed to be the best time. And what was beyond the scheduling issue, because you have firsthand experience with a situation like this, the First Lady Laura Bush getting surgery and not informing the public or press until after it was over and that is different than one would treat it were it being the president , the commanderinchief. Of course. Was it about privacy, was it about she didnt want the stress, shes about to have surgery and doesnt want to deal with the stress of cameras and security as she goes to the hospital, why make that decision . Well it is a combination of those things. And also the fact is with the president of the United States, he is the elected official and it is important that the country know and there is a right to know and a need to know. That is not really the case with the first lady. At the same level that it is for the president. That is fair enough. And douglas, you just heard Anita Mcbride talk about the right to know and the need to know is not the same as with the first lady and that is true but the desire to know might be just as strong. Lady melania is the first to undergo such a procedure when mrs. Reagan had a mastectomy. That is pretty significant i think. It is significant. Since she may be recovering for a week. It is great news shes handling this well. Walter reed hospital is the best doctors in the country. So shes in great care. But it is odd in some ways that a white house that leaks things all of the time didnt have this leak out in in way. It is a matter of personal privacy. What usually happens is the first lady in a couple of weeks will probably talk about this to somebody. Betty ford, when she had breast cancer, she had an opportunity for awareness. Even in president ial history, william mckinley, his wife would have ep electic fits and people thought that was a sign of mental instability and teach the public about epilepsy to work through the condition. So that good news is she seems to have pulled there through and well find out more in the coming hours. And kate bennett, our expert on the east wing and the first lady pointed out, douglas, in terms of the lack of leaks that youre talking about, that is the big difference there are a lost them, but one of the big differences between the west wing which leaks like a siv and the east wing in which people who work there have tremendous little ty and affection for the first lady. That is a great point, jake. And i think that the first lady has learned to create a culture of loyalty around her. We still dont know much about her child rearing with barron and the time in virginia versus the white house. So it is a veil of secrecy and it is unlike donald trump, who likes to kind of bruise people every day and create some people anxious to leak on him. Lady melania is a beloved first lady. Her numbers are high in public approval polls and im sure that the country right now is just saying, my gosh, i cant believe she had this and we didnt know about it and hope that shes able to mend quickly and well learn more about problems that people have with their kidneys and and what Something Like this means for all of us in our lives. One of the great things about president ial history and the story of first ladies is when illness does come in, the public gets kind of a quick education and medicine about it because we watch what they do and how they recuperate so carefully. And kate bennett, our expert on the first lady and the east wing, i dont want to sound like a broken record, but there arent records any more. I dont want to sound like a broken cd, but let me say, staying for a week at a hospital suggests something serious. People have tumors removed as an outpatient procedure and dont spend one night in the hospital. Does the First Lady Office recognize that there are a lot of people out there who might see this is serious and i wond whaer is going on. I think they do theyre aware, the American Public wants to know more about the first lady and this is the lady melania mystique since her husband being in office and her not moving to washington even until june of last year. Well want to know more and i thinker instincts are correct, staying in the hospital for several days makes it appear more serious than the statement is saying. But it is true, she has surrounded herself with a staff that is extremely loyal and makes it more difficult to cover her. But she has ten people on staff and she took her time hiring them and it is very interesting to juxtapose the east and west wing and agree with douglas by all means that we would want to know more and in coming days wee might know more. However, my gut is telling me this statement might be all we get and this is very common for lady melania to keep things close to the vest and be very private. Kate ben eat, Anita Mcbride and doug brinkley. 55 are dead and 3000 injured, the deadliest days in years in the gaza strip while Jared Kushner and ivanka trump opened the embassy in jerusalem and one country is recalling ambassadors from israel and the United States. That story is next. Your company is constantly evolving. And the decisions you make have far reaching implications. The right relationship with a Corporate Bank who understands your industry and your world can help you make well informed choices and stay ahead of opportunities. Pnc brings you the resources of one of the nations largest banks, and a local approach with a focus on customized insights. So you and your company are ready for today. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. If youd have told me three years ago. That wed be downloading in seconds, what used to take. Minutes. That guests would compliment our wifi. That we could video conference. And do it like that. snaps if youd have told me that i could afford. A gigspeed. A gigspeed network. Its like 20 times faster than what most people have. Id of said. Id of said youre dreaming. Dreaming definitely dreaming. Then again, dreaming is how i got this far. Now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. More breaking news in our world lead today. Turkey just announceds it recalling the ambassadors to the United States and to israel because of the deadly violence in gaza. A spokesperson for the Turkish Embassy said they dont know how long this recall will last. This comes after scores of palestinians were killed by Israeli Security forces when the palestinians tried to cross the border into israel. This is the deadliest day in the region since 2014, the violence happened while President Trumps daughter and soninlaw were attending the opening of the new u. S. Embassy in jerusalem, something President Trump promised he would do on the campaign trail. Kaitlin collins from the white house filed this report. Reporter for President Trump, it was a day of ceremony and celebration. As he fulfilled a Signature Campaign promise. Today we officially opened the United States embassy in jerusalem. Congratulations. Its been a long time coming. Reporter the move upending decades of American Foreign policy and handing israel a long sought victory. Trump appearing by video at the Opening Ceremony as daughter ivanka trump and Jared Kushner and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin traveled to jerusalem. When there is peace in this region, we will look back upon this day and remember that the journey to peace started with a Strong America recognizing the truth. Zblvrjts but barely 40 miles away on the gaza border, clashes between palestinian prerts protests left 50 dead since 2014. Smoke and sirens and teargas filled the air as Israeli Soldiers tried to keep protesters from entering israeli territory. Palestinians who believe jerusalem should be the capital of any future palestinian state are furious at the u. S. Move. And said it shows the u. S. Cannot be a fair broker in the peace process. The white house is blaming hamas for the deaths. Were aware of the reports of continued violence in gaza today. The responsibility for the tragic deaths rests squarely with hamas. Reporter President Trump also making a stunning departure from his promised to put America First and be tough on china. If china does not stop its illegal activists, including its theft of american trade secrets, ill use every lawful president ial power to remedy trade disputes reporter as he vowed to revive a Chinese Company penalized by his administration after it sold American Technology to iran and north korea. Trump tweeting, president xi of china and i are working together to give massive chinese phone company zte a way to get back into business fast. Too many jobs in china lost. Commerce department has been instructed to get it done. After a seven year ban on the company from purchasing anything from u. S. Companies. The president s move also undercutting top u. S. Intelligence officials. Raise your hand if you would recommend that private american citizens use wawe or zte services. None of you are raising your hand. Reporter now the president is continuing to tweet about zte, jake, saying it is part of a larger on going trade negotiation with china which goes against what wilbur ross said today, that it is not a campaign issue. The president promised to bring back job and we didnt know he meant chinese jobs and that is as his other campaign promise, moving the u. S. Embassy from jerusalem has triggered protest. Ian lee witnessed the deadly crashes where Officials Say 55 people were killed and more than 2700 injured. Ian, what did you see . Reporter well, jake, we heard that the white house is blaming hamas for the deaths and hamas is blaming the white house saying the blood is on their hands. We were out there and this was this was seven weeks of protests leading to this day. We saw tens of thousands of people out there trying to get across that border into israel saying theyre returning to lands lost in the 1948 war. But it was chaotic. We saw teargas flying over, drones dropping teargas on to protesters, that was the first marines of by israel to push protesters back but they continued to surge forward and that is when we heard a heavy machine gunfire at times, we also heard tanks being fired and there were airstrikes in the northern part of gaza, and jake, this is just the first day, were expecting all of this to happen again tomorrow. Ian lee in gaza for us. Thank you so much. When it comes to saying sorry in the trump white house, that is in internal matter. Wait, does that miss the whole point. Stay with us. Itis tries to get in my way . Watch me. mike ive tried lots of things for my joint pain. Now . Watch me. joni think id give up showing these guys how its done . Please. Real people with active Psoriatic Arthritis are changing the way they fight it. Theyre moving forward with cosentyx. Its a different kind of targeted biologic. Its proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. Dont use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. Or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Mitzi with less joint pain, watch me. For less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. Ask your rheumatologist im 85 years old in a job where. I have to wear a giant hot dog suit. What . Wheres that coming from . I dont know. I started my 401k early, i diversified. Im not a big spender. Sounds like youre doing a lot. But i still feel like im not gonna have enough for retirement. Like theres Something Else i should be doing. With the right conversation, you might find youre doing okay. So, no hot dog suit . Not unless you want to. No. Schedule a complimentary goal Planning Session today with td ameritrade®. Tech dont wait for a chip like this to crack your whole windshield. With safelites exclusive resin, you get a strong repair that you can trust. Plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. Customer really . singers safelite repair, safelite replace. burke so we know how to cover almost anything. En almost everything even close claws. driver so, we took your shortcut, which was a bad idea. [cougar growling] passenger what are you doing . driver i cant believe that worked. I dropped the keys. burke and we covered it. Talk to farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum whhes happy. Im . Your familys finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. And they only take 15 minutes to make. Augh family giggling oh my. Birds eye voila so veggie good. A new line from the white house after reporters pressed raj shah about the really bad i guess it was supposed to be a joke that an aide made about senator john mccain dismissing his vote because he was, quote, dying any way. Take a listen. Why not just apologize so america doesnt think that is an acceptable way of speaking inside of this white house . Why hasnt she publicly apologized as she told Meghan Mccain she would. And are there concerns that this white house is more concerned about the fact that there was a leak than about the content of what was said . To all of that, the white house said this is an internal matter and would say no more. The Political Panel joins me. So bill crystal, let me start with you. The response this is an internal matter and dealt with internally, it is tacitly an acknowledgment that kelly sadler did make the comment. Wouldnt call that progress but they are not denying she made it. And we have to judge the white house by the fact that, a. , she made that comment, and b. , they are not apologizing for it and that is how it stands and the nature of the white house. It is Donald Trumps white house when ch is unembarrassed to say vulgar things. And when scolding staff after this leak, Sarah Huckabeesanders focused on the leak rather than what was said. Here is what Meghan Mccain said about the leaks coming from the trump white house. If you are working in the white house, you should expect anything you are saying if something said something that egregious back stage i would expect it to be on the daily mail in seconds. We dont live in a time any more and you arent working in a white house that doesnt have a leaking problem i dont agree with that. I dont think that i dont feel like if somebody said something bad here that we would someone hear would automatically leak it. I think the people would be reprimanded and it would be dealt with. The leaking is about this this place is a snake pit the white house. Yeah, the white house is a snake pit and the people are out to get each other and all white houses are the reflection of the person on the top. So whatever were seeing happening among the staff is a reflection on donald trump. He sets the tone and this is what it is like. And so the i think that they are correct that they have a problem with leaking. They should be very concerned about it. That is a separate issue from this being said. I think this is probably as big of a problem, but lets not minimize the leaking is a problem and a major problem and ask why is everybody working in the white house want to leak everything that happens here. And you worked in the executive branch during the Clinton Administration and worked in the white house, for Vice President dan quayle. What would have happened had somebody said Something Like in thin a meeting and it leaked out, do you think . I hope that someone that that person would have been rebuked in the meeting itself. If it leaked out, i think there would have been a phone call obviously to senator john mccain and apologizing a Public Statement of a rebuke about the staffer and im not sure about being fired but as chief of staff i would have said, we regret this was said and weve weve told the staff this was inappropriate and we send our apologies. But not just to the particular individual but to the country. This is the tone this is the white house and not the Republican National committee or a campaign. This is a taxpayerfunded individual employee, our employees saying this. And so the public is owed an apology. I guess there are two things i dont understand. One of them is in what world does making a joke about a war hero dying of brain cancer make sense and Meghan Mccain said when kelly sadler called her to apologize and she said you need to make it publicly and she said she wouldnt wo but she hasnt. Why would you tell somebody youll going to apologize and not. Does kelly sadler not realize shes making her name synonymous with this horrific remark and this is going to last for ever . Right. So it is possible that shes being blocked from apologizing. But it is also possible that this person is not a trustworthy person. After all, this is somebody would said this in the first place. So i dont know i dont know i think people are speculating that trump is not allowing her to apologize but i dont think we know the answer. I think the answer to what kind of place do people talk like th this, in a place where people at the top just insults people and says the most horrible things about them possible so are we surprised that people inside of the white house are talking about this. And one of the things candidate trump said was to den grate john mccains war service. They say kelly sadler is a victim. Shes also a little bit of a victim and none of us were in that room and the people who leaked that are people who have an an imous against her and it is logical, will there be a mccain replacement and not be able to come to washington. She could have meant it very matter of factually and that i thought this morning he was remote and i was in otherwise i might not have been here now. I was so appalled. Fine, if she wants to explain what she said, she should come on television and explain it. This isnt hard. Her boss should explain it. I dont think it is not her decision. This got out that she said this. Shes an employee at the white house. It is the white house chief of staff or the head of her division of the white house, Sarah Huckabeesanders, i guess, would have the responsibility to make this to set this right and again it is not just a matter of being polite to senator john mccain, this is the white house and again i come back to that and is this a proper representation of a white house employee in terms of what the American People see and it has gotten out so they should fix it. It could have been a oneday story and it is now about to enter day five because of the way theyre handling it. Stick around, everyone. He was Vladimir Putins number one enemy in a of the number one american enemy in russia and that man joins us next. Stay with us. First steps for moments that matter, tracfone keeps you connected, for less. Can you send that to me . Yeah. Our smartphone plan gives you talk text and data with unlimited carryover for just 15 a month, no contract. All with nationwide coverage. Tracfone. For moments that matter. All with nationwide coverage. Liberty mutual saved us almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. Liberty did what . Yeah, they saved us a ton, which gave us a little wiggle room in our budget. I wish our insurance did that. Then we could get a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey, welcome back. This guy, right . laughs yes. Ellen. Thats my robe. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. Led californias fight ofor clean, renewable energy. Or he cleaned up pollution at the port of l. A. And created more goodpaying jobs. Antonio villaraigosa for governor. Because Antonio Villaraigosa millions got it done. Healthcare he defended womens healthcare, banned militarystyle assault weapons, banned workplace discrimination, and more. Antonio for governor. This afternoon a Russian Company indicted about special Counsel Robert Mueller called the charges of election interference against it a, quote, sham and a quote, makebelieve crime and to justify his investigation. This week marks one year since Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel. Joining me now to talk about this and much more is michael mcfaul, the former u. S. Ambassador to russia under president obama. Hes out with a new book titled from cold war to hot peace, and ambassador thank you for joining us. Do you think people affiliated with the Trump Campaign conspired with agents of the russian government to interfere with the 2016 election . Well, conspired is a strong word. I dont know what that word means or definition what it means in a legal sense, but did they meet with russians to try to help their campaign, to obtain kompromat to advance their objectives is absolutely yes. So you are saying they did, but whether or not it is a legal matter is separate. But they definitely met. When you hear they wanted to Work Together with the russians to win in the election. They were taking help from the russians. I think that is pretty overwhelming. Whether it is illegal or not, ill leave to mueller and the other investigators. When you read about the developments or see them on tv, what raises your antenna the most, the manafort money laundering, the trump tower meeting or papa dop list. What alarms you the most. This is a familiar game plan from putin. These are things ive seen before. Disinformation and fake news, the things weve been talking about now, i was the target of that as ambassador back in 2012. So that is nothing new and we need to get ahold of that. Were not dealing with that problem either as a government or the social Media Companies out here where i live, they need to be more effective in how they diminish that. But the second piece is the money piece, jake. Another familiar tactic putin uses money to create leverage to make people do certain things that he wants to in the future. I dont know if that is what he did here in the United States, but i have seen that tactic both inside russia and other countries in europe. Officials put out that the kremlin favored donald trump and you write in the epilogue of your book, did putin make trump president . Of course not. American voters did that. Did putin help trump win . Maybe. Why maybe and why not yes or no. Why maybe . Well the preferences were clear. Donald trump, candidate trump said a lot of things that were in putins interest, the way he defined them and secretary clinton was the exact opposite. So it was very rational tor pute toin want trump to win. Then he intervened. He used extra order nir extr extraordinary measures and stealing data and publishing it and using hi social media platforms to help sway voters. But what we dont know and now i want to put my Political Science professor hat on and take my ambassador hat off, to measure the independence causal influence of what the russians did against the back drop of literally dozens of variables that influence the outcome of that vote, that is a hard social science question and therefore, i can say definitively they did something. It is probably in the margins, but this election was won in the margins. 78,000 votes. And in the book you talk about u. S. And russia relations, the hot peace but perhaps seems here to stay. There is flo w there is no wa hot peace will be broken. You think this is how it will be between the u. S. And russia for ever. Not for ever. As long as putin is in power. We have a fundamental difference not just about this Foreign Policy or that Foreign Policy, it is about values. It is about democracy. He believes that the United States goes around the world supporting uprisings in syria, in libya and egypt and russia and ukraine. That is what he blames me of when ambassador, i was sent by obama to have a revolution against him and no amount of diplomacy and no nice meetings over a nice piece of cake will change that fundamental perception that he has of america. All right. Mike mcfaul, former u. S. Ambassador to russia. Everyone go buy his book. From cold war to hot peace. The white house said it is not embracing the words of two controversial patters but is picking them to participate in the Embassy Opening doing just that . Thats confident. But its not kayak confident. Kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to help me plan the best trip. So im more than confident. Forgot me goggles. Kayak. Search one and done. I think, keep going, and make a difference. At some point, we are going to be able to beat als. Because life is amazing. So i am hoping for a cure. I want this, to uh, to be a reality. Um, yeah. Because Antonio Villaraigosa millions got it done. Healthcare he defended womens healthcare, banned militarystyle assault weapons, banned workplace discrimination, and more. Antonio for governor. Only one candidate for governor when students were stuck in failing schools, led the fight to turn them around. As mayor of l. A. , Antonio Villaraigosa invested in classrooms and security. Graduation rates soared. Antonio for governor. Described as a religion bigot and these two american evangelical pastors delivering blessings at the Opening Ceremony to relocate the embassy to israel and one pastor suggested that hitler was fulfilling gods will to return jews to israel. Tom foreman has the story. We thank you every day that you have given us a president who boldly stands on the right side of history reporter the prayer by Robert Jeffers drew quick applause from team trump and fast fire from critics who noted the baptist pastors long history after tacking other faiths. It is an evil religion. It is an oppressive religion. Reporter he condemned islam, catholicism and hinduism and buddhism and said jews cant be saved and hes gone after mormons too. It is a cult reporter the white house tried to distance itself from the controversy. I havent seen those remarks but those arent remarks that the president but mitt romney a mormon tweeted such a religious bigot should not be giving a prayer at the Embassy Opening. What a good guy. Come here. I love this guy. Reporter for trump, however, the equation is wildly different. Jeffers strongly supported his president ial bid and advises the president and he helped push 80 of white evangelical voters to trumps side in the election. He said he may not be perfect, but hes going to make this country great. Hes a leader, that is what we need. And i want to thank you, pastor. Reporter another pastor taking part in the dedication, john hage, telling the breitbart website trump will win political immortality for the embassy move. Jerusalem is and always shall be the eternal capital of the jewish people. Reporter problem is, in the 90s, he suggested hitler was fulfilling a prophecy through the holocaust. And the hunters shall hunt them. That is the jews. Hitler was a hunter. Reporter he said his comments were grossly misrepresented, his group said the comments were based on the writings of a jewish theo loathan and cites context and history in defending his comments. Islam is wrong. It is a harassy from the pit of hell. Reporter he tweeted back at mitt romney that christians have believed jesus alone offers salvation and still believing that is, quote, neither bigoted nor news worthy. Jake. Tom foreman. Follow me on facebook and tweet me and get a new copy of the hell fire club at your local bookstore. That is it for the lead. I turn you over to wolf blitzer in the situation room. Thanks for watching. Happening now, breaking news. First lady hospital issized and hospitalize and will remain in the hospital through the week. The president is heading over there. Saving chinese jobs, President Trump wants to make china great again and pressing the lift of a crippling u. S. Sanctions on a chinese firm which violated trade restrictions on north korea and iran. Why is the president so eager to save chinese and embassy anger. The u. S. Opens the embassy in jerusalem making good on the president s campaign pledge