washington. we'll start there. we know how much the president really loves these rallies. but there are some minimum wage par developments in the russia -- some major developments in the russia investigation he'll have to address soon enough at least. >> reporter: that's right. the president is having a little bit of a replay of what he did last year at around this time. the white house correspondents dinner is usually the place where the president will show up and make fun of himself and perhaps the press corps and political scene. he skipped it last year. he's skipping it yet again this year. instead, he's having a campaign rally in michigan. it's something his aides knew he enjoyed in part because of the counter programming that it presented to the dinner, a very washington affair often. and also because the president, as you mentioned, likes to be on the trail road testing some of these lines, perhaps attacking his enemies. these rallies tend to be very much a free-wheeling affair.