The Union Address whether the president will mention at all this ongoing russia probe which you said, you know, is really russia fever that the country needs to get out of its system. Will he address it in any way . To answer your question we want full transparency. Thats what we have said all along. Well make a decision when and if that becomes necessary. In terms of the state of the union, im not getting ahead of the president s address. Its tomorrow night. I know you are all excited and will eagerly tune in and can see at that time exactly what will be included. April . Is there a need to address it . We have addressed it every single day we have been here. Its a question you guys ask over and over again. In fact, we spend more time on that than any other topic despite the fact that time and time again, poll after poll says no one cares about the issue and its not the thing that keeps people up at night. Wed love to talk about the things that do. My guess is that will be the focus of the president s state of the union tomorrow. April . Two topics. Back on the state of the union. Typically when the president s give the state of the Union Address, particularly his first, president s are normally optimistic when they say the state of our union is whats the state of our union . You will hear it tomorrow night. We have an economy thats booming. Isis is on the run. We are remaking the judiciary in a way that believes in upholding the constitution. There are great things happening in this country. You can expect the president to talk about what we have done this year and what well do in the years after this. I want to go to the issue of black unemployment. Is the president going to start targeting black up employment as hes saying that unemployment has gone down over his watch . I have never heard of a targeted approach from this administration. Is the administration aware that the black Unemployment Rate from december, 6. 8 . The white Unemployment Rate is 3. 7 . The asian Unemployment Rate is 2. 5 and the hispanic rate is 4. 9 . The black Unemployment Rate continues to be higher and is actually more than two times that of the white Unemployment Rate. Is that something this administration is touting or trying to fix, make an active effort to fix in 2018 . You can see from the steps we have taken already we are trying to fix unemployment for all americans. Thats the point the president has made time and time again. He wants it to be better for everybody. We have made significant progress in that both through the number of regulations that have been cut to make it a more jobfriendly market, a more jobfriendly environment, and certainly adding to that the tax cuts and tax reform legislation that the president led on has been historic in whats happened and in the way its helped our economy and certainly helped create jobs across the country. Why did he take issue with jayz then when he was talking in terms of black america . He took issue. He screamed in all caps, have you seen my black unemployment numbers . They are better than they have been and we are making progress. We want to continue to do that. Look, we want every day to be better than the day before. Again, certainly for black americans, hispanic americans, across the board this is a president who wants life to be better for all americans. Hes going to keep fighting and pushing for it. You will hear him talk about that again tomorrow night. John . Thank you, sarah. The former attorney general of the United States eric holder described Andrew Mccabe as a dedicated Public Servant who has served the country well. Would the president , would you describe him in that same manner . I dont have a personal relationship with him. Im not going to describe him. I think we have talked about the concerns we have with some of the actions that hes taken. In terms of anything specific regarding the Deputy Director, particularly the news reports of today, i would refer you to the fbi. Francesca . Based upon past tweets the president put out regarding mr. Mccabe doesnt seem to be a big fan of mr. Mccabe. Is he disappointed hes leaving his post as the deputy fbi director. I havent asked you. I can tell you that he didnt play a role in the process. Again i would refer you to the fbi for specifics. Thank you, sarah. In one of the president s tweets in december he said Andrew Mccabe is, quote, racing the clock to retire with full benefits, 90 days to go. Does the president believe Andrew Mccabe should be allowed to retire with full benefits . I would refer you to the fbi. I have a question about the state of the union. You mentioned who was going to be in the first ladys box. You talked about the guests but i cant hear about the president s family. Can you say which of the family members will be there and can you potentially preview for us some of the travel the president may take . Usually the president takes travel to push his agenda afterwards. In terms of family, all of the president s children and the first lady will be at the state of the union with the exclusion of baron. I dont believe hell be attending as of now. In terms of travel, well keep you posted on any scheduling announcements we have over the week. Margaret . Thanks, sarah. I want to ask you a question about the at work and also the treasury, i believe the deadline is today [ inaudible ] can you tell us whether thats going to happen and whether the names will be public and the impact on sanctions . Will portions of that be public . We expect the reports today. I would refer you to the department of treasury for specifics on that. If thats something you could coordinate that would be helpful. We are coordinating and they are taking the lead. For questions specific to it, reach out to the department of treasury in terms of timing. I will let them know you said they can tell us. On 5g, i know there is a lot of speculation about what might happen and whether there is a security case to make for one secure network, but some experts including the republican fcc chair, i guess, are concerned about the idea of one nationalized network. Can you bring us up to speed on whether the idea is dead or alive, where that stands . As we outlined in the National Security strategy, i believe it was on page 19, a few people will be proud of me for memorizing that. We discussed the need for a secure network. Right now we are in the earliest stages of the conversation. There are no decisions made on what it would look like, what role anyone would play in it. Simply the need for a secure network. Thats the only part of this conversation we are up to now. Just one network or multiple possible networks . There are a lot of things on the table. These are the earliest stages of the discussion period. There is no decision made other than the fact, the need for a secure network. Dave . Tomorrow night will the president talk about an urban revitalization plan . Im not getting into the details beyond what was discussed last week on the state of the union. I think it is something worth tuning in to. One last question. Hunter . Thank you, sarah. The president has touted black unemployment when faced with allegations of racism. Given the numbers, why do you think so many in the Africanamerican Community are still so uncomfortable with the president . Thats a question you have to ask them. We hope and pray and expect to spend every day working to build a greater relationship within that community. As i said before, with all americans this is a president who wants to lead for everybody. Hes not looking to lead for any one person, any one group. He wants to be the president of the United States. If you look at the policies hes enacted over the first year you can see hes doing exactly that. Hes building an economy that helps every american. Hes cutting regulations that help every american. Hes helping put isis on the run which helps on the safety and security of all americans. Hes helping secure the border and put an end to loopholes in the failed immigration system. Those things benefit all americans. Thats what we have done in the first year and look forward to in the next seven years. Thanks, guys. Im brooke baldwin. You are watching cnn on monday afternoon. Watching Sarah Sanders in the White House Briefing as major breaking news is hitting. She was answering questions about Andrew Mccabe. Hes already left the building. The fbis second in charge stepping down effective today. Hes been the Deputy Director. He was expected to retire in march in his 20plus years with the agency mccabe was there for the clinton email investigation, obviously the current russia investigation and has been a frequent target of President Trump. The president even seized on the fact that mccabes wife was a democrat who ran for state office in virginia. Amidst myriad tweets coming out against him from the president , let me read one for you. Why didnt attorney general sessions replace acting fbi director Andrew Mccabe . A comy friend in charge of the clinton investigation but got big dollars for his wifes political run from Hillary Clinton and her representatives. Drain the swamp. Lets go to the white house. Jim acosta is the chief White House Correspondent who asked an excellent question which was, you know, you were asking the question about the pressure thats been put on multiple people, as you pointed out, multiple levels of government on doj, fbi and folks central to the investigation. Shes saying that all the questions about mccabe, dont ask us, ask the fbi. What did she say about the pressure . I was looking at this quote. Its remarkable what Sarah Sanders said. She did say, yes, the president has been applying pressure. She said the only thing the president applied pressure to is to get it resolved so you guys and everyone else can focus on things Americans Care about making sure everybody gets the russia fever out of their system once and for all. Thats an acknowledgment that the president has applied pressure. She didnt say there hasnt been pressure. That would have been lying. Hes tweeted about the fbi director. There are reports including from cnn that he wanted to fire special Counsel Robert Mueller and so on. Thats a pretty interesting acknowledgment from Sarah Sanders. What she was trying to say and the way she was spinning it is the reason the president is doing this is there is nothing to see here with the russia investigation. We wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Thats not how Law Enforcement investigations work. Thats not how special counsel investigations work. There isnt really much you can do as the president of the United States to expedite that investigation. You can try to do what nixon did during the watergate era and have a saturday night massacre of that rsort. As Lindsey Graham and the speaker of the house said at the russia investigation that the Mueller Investigation should go on. That would cause something of a constitutional crisis. What we have seen from this president as far as he thinks it can go. One of the questions is whether or not any of those efforts crossed the line into illegality that would fall under the heading of obstruction of justice. When i asked Sarah Sanders if there was anything improper, illegal, obstruction of justice she said no. It hardly puts the matter to rest. Thank you, jim. For more on Andrew Mccabe lets go to our cnn crime and justice reporter. For people just tuning in learning this guy after 20 plus years, supposed to retire two months from now and now has already left the building. Why . Reporter thats a good question, brooke. We are getting different answers depending on who we talk to. Certainly people at the fbi are telling us that it was Andrew Mccabes decision, that today would be the day he leaves. We dont know why. We dont know what sparked this decision. Did something happen over the weekend . One person said perhaps he was fed up with everything and just came in, thought about it over the weekend and decided today was the day. We have jims reporting where people are basically saying he was forced out. There are different stories here. People are perceiving it differently. Essentially just to give you color about what happened today, there is a monday morning meeting with executives and Andrew Mccabe walks in to the meeting, tells the staff he will be leaving, hes stepping down today. He portrayed it as his decision, that he ultimately made the decision. Thats essentially what we are told happened. He left the building. Signed out. Well see. Hes still technically an employee of the fbi. Hell be on terminal leaf through probably mid march, march 18 which is the date he was expected to retire. What this means to the men and women of the fbi and how they found out about this. How they found that Andrew Mccabe was no longer the Deputy Director was through the media. They are not happy. They feel they should be told by the leadership whats going on. Of course. We expect Christopher Ray to have a phone conference calling the leaders across the fbi to brief them on what happened today. Maybe after that well get a better answer as to exactly why today. It does come as a surprise in the sense it happened today. It is not a surprise he was leaving the fbi, but why today . Stay with us on cnn. More on this breaking news. The fbi Deputy DirectorAndrew Mccabe stepping down effective immediately. Sources describe the move as a surprise. Well talk to the panel next. Also ahead, Hillary Clinton under fire for letting a former Campaign Aide keep his job after he was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young woman. Hillary clintons former Campaign Manager who called for his firing is now speaking out to cnn saying that it was a mistake and she was over ruled. Blasting Hillary Clintons newest response. More on that coming up here on this busy monday afternoon. This is cnn. Im brooke baldwin. 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. vo just one touch. Ith with fancy feast creamy delights, she can have just the right touch of real milk. Easily digestible, it makes her favorite entrees even more delightful. Fancy feast creamy delights. Love is in the details. Oh theres one. A the sea cow manatees in novelty ts . Surprising. Whats come at me bro . Its something you say to a friend. Whats not surprising . How much money matt saved by switching to geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Im never gonna be able ill take a sick day tomorrow. On our daughters birthday . Moms dont take sick days. Moms take nyquil severe. The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine. 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. I. Prilosec otc 7 years ago,my doctor recommended. 5 years ago, last week. Just 1 pill each morning, 24 hours and zero heartburn. Its been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10. Straight years, and its still recommended today. Use as directed. Today, the new new york is sparking innovation. You see it in the Southern Tier with companies that are developing powerful batteries that make everything from cell phones to rail cars more efficient. Which helps improve every aspect of advanced rail technology. All with support from a highlyeducated workforce and vocational job training. Across new york state, were building the new new york. To grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd. Ny. Gov. We are back with breaking news here. The fbi Deputy DirectorAndrew Mccabe is now out. He has essentially sped up his retirement in mid march. It is now if he ceffective as o. Why, we dont know. Deputy independent counsel in the investigation of president bill clinton and the affair with Monica Lewinsky joins us as well as gloria borjer and chris cillizza. Welcome to you all. I know there is a lot we dont know. A lot of head scratching at the moment. Gloria, beginning with you and almost piggybacking off jims question at the briefing. Given the pressure on the fbi and doj, given that mccabe is mentioned in this nunes memo and has been in cross hairs of the president for months, alarm bells or not. Sure. We knew he was going to retire. He wants his entire pension and this may have been the first moment he could do this and still get the pension. We know from jims reporting that he was told by ray im starting my new management team. Clearly you are not part of it for this limited period of time. If you look at the big picture here you have a president who was upset with mccabe, publically tweeting about it. Jeff sessions, his attorney general went to ray, the head of the fbi and said you have to get rid of that guy. Chris ray was upset enough to go to don mcgan, white house counsel, and complain. We know the game of telephone from the oval office all the way down has been going on for quite some