Page 9 - Backing Down News Today

White house is backing down, but everything changes if theres an inquiry. >> when it comes to contempt or any other issue that might go to the ag, do they believe that ag barr will be on their side no matter what? does the president have in ag barr what he did not in sessions and what he said he wanted, which was a protector? >> well we have seen instances in which this attorney general seems to be protecting the president and this is a case in point. because hes effectively made the decision to...

To follow through on it. i think a lot of the world is looking at donald trump and thinking we got this guy, we understand how he bluffs, and therefore we can keep testing him. the one thing donald trump -- the real danger is that donald trump does not want to appear to be weak. he does not want to appear to be backing down, which could lead to the kind of miscalculation that leads to war. >> well, pompeos tough message on iran was enacted on capitol hill today by senator lindsey graham. lets li...

Hard in the opposite direction was quite striking. >> and you think, john, that was because it seemed somewhat ambivalent. the president seemed to be backtracking. we know the president likes to punch harder. you know, we know. his wife said thats his style. and weve seen him punch down, if you will. you think he was just pushing back harder to try to make his point? >> the president is very responsive to the needs of his ego. and he values being seen and projecting the image of a tough guy. and...

She said, i think thats a bit of a tenuous story. 7- eight other women who had also said that al franken had made them uncomfortable or touch them inappropriately. and you have to take the entire body of work there. you cannot be partisan and have to take the totality of the story. >> politically kirsten gillibrand if she starts backing down -- figure out i did think either of these threats down the accusations considering the fact they have zero corroborating evidence and even the witnesses tha...

Reporting on the ground there for us. this morning could be the moment we all look back on and say, ah, that is when we knew the presidents exact 2020 campaign message. a searing, unforgettable display where the president welcomed a rally chanting send her back. this was in response to his attacks on ilhan omar. this morning all the major papers have new articles about the presidents 2020 campaign strategy and basically that moment is it. cnns lauren fox live on capitol hill. seems crystal cle...

President and the attorney general walking away. the statements that we just heard, the president acknowledging that he is not going to be able to fight in court this battle over whether there should be a formal citizenship question on the census. instead, hes going to do what the department of commerce originally recommended, go through existing data from social security, irs, u.s. citizenship and immigration services, the state department, other aspects, elements of the u.s. government and get...

Census and now it seems to be that is the route they are going to take after all of this and this fight over the last few days. >> kaitlan collins at the white house for us. lets chew over all of this. earlier today, a lot of people thought president trump was going to try to insert this question through executive action and there were many commentators saying, this was going to prompt a serious legitimate constitutional crisis. are you surprised that the president seems to be backing off that p...

Washington bureau chief for usa today and glen kirschner is a former federal prosecutor. thanks to all of you for being with us. susan, let me start with you. the president and his attorney general for this matter at this press conference today very clearly did not want this to look like he was backing down, but this is a president who was saying he was going to fight through the courts to get this question on the census next year. he now says thats not going to happen. and what he says is going...

Humiliated the u.s. president by rebuffing president trump attempts to try to get talks going between the iranian government and the leadership and the trump administration and the iranians essentially are saying that if this conflict, they are not going to be the ones who are going to be backing down, pamela. >> fred pleitgen from tehran. i want to bring in cnn national analyst bren sind grad. where do we go from here, what is the path forward? >> this is one of the choose your own adventure mo...

And nations capitol resuming normal operations for the first time in 35 days as members of congress try to avoid another shutdown, the clock ticking 20 days before another shutdown deadline, the president threatening to declare a national emergency if a border deadline deal is not met by february 15th. and the president backing down without getting any funding for a border wall. here are the senators with the daunting task of finding a bill the president will support and house speaker nancy pelo...