Russian ambassador and his role in the firing of fbi director james comey. Mean when i will, President Trump is hurling an insult, tweeting out quote i believe the james comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought, possible. Totally illegal . Very cowardly. Detailing one of his conversationwise the president. Want to bring in White House Correspondent athena jones. She is in new jersey where the president spent the weekend. Ultimately its the Intelligence Committee that gets to decide whether or not its a closed or open hearing, right the. Reporter thats exactly right, boris. Its up to the senate Intelligence Committee to decide not only if the hearing is open or closed but when it takes place. As you mentioned my colleague manu rougeue recalling this request took the committee by surprise. Thats why we havent gotten a definitive answer about their plans. There are some members concerned the attorney general may be trying to avoid testifying publicly. Among those the vicechairman of the committee, senator mark warner of virginia. Another democrating on the committee whos concerned about this is ron white, and hes sent a letter to the chirman and vice chirman asking that any session with sessions be open to the public. We also have outside groups like the American Civil Liberties arguing it should be open. And you also mention there are a lot of questions the investigators may have for the attorney general, one of them being his involvement in the firing of the fbi director. We know comey believed he was firing because of his handling on the russian investigation. We know that sessions was involved in that firing, even though sessions was supposed to have recused himself from the russian investigation, forgy investigation involving the 2016 campaign, of which he was a part of trumps campaign. So we still dont know when this will take place and if well be able to watch it. Athena, were still in suspense about whether or not this testimony is going to happen as were still in suspense over whether or not there are recordings by President Trump as he lands at an air force base spending the weekend in new jersey. Hes heading back new the white house. Athena, back to the question, were still in suspense whether or not there were recordings with his meetings with james comey. What are vow learned about that. Reporter that is right. This has been a big mystery since the president almost a month ago tweeted the suggestion there may be those tapes. What we heard from a member of his team today, speaking to abc this week saying working with mark cas wits, the president wanted to address this issue next week, in the coming days. And we will find out if there are any recordersion of those conversation. If we find out there are recordersion, it doesnt necessarily mean the white house will decide to turn over those recordings to congressional investigators. And this is an issue thats been not only the minds of journalists but also republicans. Listen to what collins and senator diane if i knowstein had to say about this issue on the state of the union. He should voluntarily turn them over not only to the senate Intelligence Committee but to the special council. So i dont think a subpoena should be necessary. And i dont understand why the president just doesnt clear this matter up once and for all. There were no witnesses. If there were tapes, please bring those tapes forward. Reporter so there you heard demands from both parties that the president answer this question of whether there are any sort of recordersion. And if there are recordersion, to turn them over. You heard senator collins saying that a subpoena shouldnt be necessary, but well have to wait and see if it ultimately is. Finestein has also took to twitter tweeting release the tapes, mr. President , what are you afraid of . So poking the president a bit there. Well see how he responds. Boris. All right, athena jones reporting from new jersey where the president spent the weekends. Thank you. Lets dig deeper with our panel. Joining me now josh rogan, Cnn National Security analyst, julie cian and douglas brinkly. Doug, lets start with you. It is up to the Senate Judiciary committee whether or not the session is open or closed. I can see the predicament theyre in, because they want. Each of them has a different value. In a closed testimony they can get work done and figure out if there were any meetings, at least as much as sessions is willing to provide. But the open hearing tells the American People what theyre doing. The situation they dont want to be in as stealing the sessions testimony away from the Senate Appropriations committee and away from the sebt judiciary committee, which also have very good reasons to have the attorney general testify in public. Theres stuff going on all over the world that Jeff Sessions is involved in, has nothing to do with the russia investigation. So theyre between a rock and a hard place. They want everything, and sessions doesnt seem to be willing to give them everything. So theyre going to have to negotiate and come up with a solution. And julia, what do you make of this report that some centers fear he may be trying to avoid public testimony . I think he clearly is. And part of that has to do with whether he lied to the Senate Judiciary committee in his hearing, so i think there is a sense among members of hes sort of hiding from them. But also on joshs point, theres sort of a mythology out there that the Trump Administration can get past trump russia, if only they can get past it and trump stop tweeting or whatever. And i think this whole thing about sessions, shows theyre not getting past it. The tentacles of the investigation are too broad, too wide, covering too many people of the administration that until its resolved, its going to be very hard for some of these cabinet secretaries to function effectively and run government as people expect them to. Douglas to you, whether or not its a closed or open session its still historically significant that the attorney general of the United States is going to be testifying in this situation, right . Well, very much so. But it makes sense for Jeff Sessions to get this out of the way as quickly as he can. Theres a great poet of new england, robert frost once said, the only way out is through. The only way out of this russia probe is to go through it. So for sessions to kind of go in there quickly, do it this week and try to get it behind him. Because if he waits and does it after the Mueller Report comes out months from now perhaps, therell be a lot more questions. Right now its about the comey situation, why did you not, you know, stay there for, you know, you lingered and then you left. Why did you do that . How many times did you meet the Russian Ambassador . Maybe he didnt meet him a third time, so he may build a bit of clerical error for himself. And remember many of these members like Jeff Sessions. He will know how to handle himself, whether its a private or public this week. And juliet, he talked about several phone calls he received from the president. And he said listening to comeys testimony was like daja vu. Here he is. So he called me in december essentially to shoot the breeze and ask me how he was doing. It was similar to what comey testified to with a call when he got on the helicopter. I didnt say anything at the time to him. He was not the president , only the president elect. He called me again two days before the inauguration, again seemingly to check in and shoot the breeze. And then he called me a third time after he became president and i refused to return the call. And reporting the phone call to the chief of staff, to attorney general, i said it appeared to be he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship. The day after he reported that phone call, he was fired. He called cultivating a relationship. James comey called it pachrennage. Does that to you signal theres a pattern developing with President Trump in which he tries to develop personal relationships with people he should keep at arms distance in. Absolutely. It does show a pattern of practice towards people who are close to investigations that impact trump or his family. Remember procedura was in new york the investigation, which covers the family, and what he was investigating we still dont know. But it sounds so familiar when listening to both testimonies and also getting back to sessions, the attorney generals failure to protect his underling and comey was also very familiar. So in some ways sessions is sort of back in the news because of that interview today. Look, the idea that donald trump did not know what hes doing, that sort of mythology sort of cultivated by paul ryan and others. It appears that donald trump knew exactly what he was doing, and he did it again and again. Now, thats for someone to decide whether thats a legal dace, but certainly from the outside it looks like hes its a pattern of behavior hes done throughout his adult life. Skraugjosh, he said hes spo with president obama three times. Similarly, james comey said he met with president obama twice in all of his years of service. With President Trump that number was nine, nine different times, three meetings, six phone calls. Is that unusual . Yeah, its very unusual. And i agree with juliet, i think this whole idea that donald trump is just a novice who doesnt understand youre not trying to make friends with the guy when is investigating you, i dont know buy that at all. I think this is how he uperates and he was checking in to see if these guys were onboard with the program and when they werent, he fired them. And the evidence was he fired them. So this also speaks to the situation Jeff Sessions is in. We know from a lot of reporting both inside the white house and from the Justice Department that Jeff Sessions and bu raro arent on the best terms. He doesnt like how hes handled his recusal the president refused to it. So sessions is in the same position. Does he do whats loyal to trump or does he do what he needs to do protect himself now that hes wrapped up in all this investigation stuff . And he cant win, its a loselose, thats why he wants to talk behind closed doors. So hes going to have to choose between backing up trumps story, putting himself in gemmerdy or saving himself, maybe losing his job. All eyes will beoon Jeff Sessions on tuesday, even if it is a closed door session. Thank you so much for the time. We appreciate it. Thank you. Heading to the newsroom, as Jeff Sessions offer totestify sits on theforefront, the question still on everyones mind, will trump choose to testify . What these Fraternity Brothers are likely to face in Court Tomorrow morning. And the mustsee moment when mr. Trump gives a bride and groom the surprise of their lives. Whuuuuuat . Rtgage offer from the bank today. You never just get one offer. Go to lendingtree. Com and shop multiple loan offers for free free . Yeah. Could save thousands. You should probably buy me dinner. No. Go to lendingtree. Com for a new home loan or refinance. Receive up to five free offers and choose the loan thats right for you. Our average customer could lower their monthly bills by over three hundred dollars. Go to lendingtree. Com right now. Fromi wanted to seeved, this great country. My last wish is for you to do it for me, as a family. Love, grandpa. Let us be lovers, well marry our fortunes together older grandaughter itll be alright. I know. Grandson how did you meet grandpa . Grandmother actually on a blind date. [ laughter ] i wish he was on the trip with us. Hes sitting right between the boys in the back of the car. [ laughter ] america all come to look for america all come to look for america lifes as big as you make it. The allnew 7seater volkswagen atlas with americas best bumpertobumper limited warranty. Hi. And i know that we have phonaccident forgiveness. Gent, so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight four weeks without the car. Okay, yup. Good night. With accident forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. He took a bold step by becoming the first senator to back donald trump during the campaign. And just two days from now attorney general Jeff Sessions could find himself in the hot seat. His former colleagues in the senate are debating whether to let him testify in his role with his firing of fbi director james comey and his meeting with russian officials. Its one of the many controversies surrounding the trump white house. Reporter the president s declaration he is willing to testify under oath. 100 . Reporter suggests the special counsel probe into Russian Election hacking could now include President Trumps firing of fbi director james coy. Since part of this goes to the rationale of firing mr. Comey and the rationale of trying to deflect if not stop the investigation of general flynn involves to some degree the president , so i would expect at some point if not right away, that he feels he has to depose the president. Reporter comeys memoerize now in muellers possession. Those memos could form the basis of expanding the investigation. Something comey hinted at on thursday. Do you believe this arise to the obstruction of justice . I dont know. Thats bob muellers job to sort that out. Reporter it appears mueller may also be looking into others around the president. Sources tell cnn that the fbi has investigated the possibility of a undisclosed third encounter at the Mayflower Hotel between Russian AmbassadorSergey Kislyak and attorney general Jeff Sessions. They say the meeting was discussing at an intercept between russian officials. The Justice Department insists there was no encounter, but democrats are pouncing. What we have is a pattern of contacts with the russians by flynn, by sessions, by kushner. Secret and then concealed. In fact denied possibly in violation of the law, that denial could could be purgeary. Could be purgeary. Reporter the drip, drip, drip shows no sign of abating. Trumps soninlaw and Senior Advisor could be investigated. Im glad Michael Flynn has turned them over. I hope other witnesses will do the same and in due course other witnesses will come by also. Reporter has responded to requests from democratic lawmakers for information about Donald Trumps loans. It says it will not comply with those requests, that it would be a violation of federal privacy laws to do so. Briana keilar, cnn washington. There are some stories you might have missed. First, President Trumps 110 billion arms deal with saudi arabia, may be fake news. They say there are a letters of interest or intent but no actual contracts. Brookings also notes nothing has been turned over to the senate for review. And the deals that have been identified actually started under president obama. And over seas south korea says it will not deploy a kroefbl u. S. Missile defense system. Its a move that could help better relations with china which feared the system could be used a spy tool. South korea says it will keep two previously launchers in place, though. And the popular game mine craft, could make a huge difference in the minds of kids living in refugee cramps and why they say young refugees who played the game felt significantly less hopeless. In tech new,s, is President Trump violating your First Amendment rights . If hes blocked you on twitter, he might be. Lawyers are now calling on the president to stop blocking people on the social media sight. They handle the president s twitter account is public forum all members must have access to. 32 of 500 may not sound like that much, but the number is up more than 50 compare today last year. Those are the steers you might have missed this week, and we still have plenty coming up. 100 , thats how President Trump answered a question about whether or not hes willing to testify under oath. The big question now is will he be called to testify . Youre live in the cnn newsroom, stay with us. [vo] what made secretariat the greatest racehorse who ever lived . Of course he was strong. Intelligent. 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At his side First Lady Melania Trump and his son barren,