What are you learning . Thats right, john. This is another example of the white house putting pressure on the department of justice and sessions to do something about the fbi. The axios report says at the urging of the president sessions told the fbi director chris wray that he wanted the Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe fired and in turn, the fbi director threatened to resign over the issue. Now its important to keep in mind that mccabe cant be fired. Hes a career fbi agent so wrays only option perhaps would have been to reassign him and thats what we reported previously for months. Mccabe has been telling people that he plans to retire in march completely aware of some of the political fire that hes been taking from the president and his allies over the fbis handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and his connections to the two fbi employees who has been revealed sent antitrump messages, these Text Messages, they had an affair and they were sending Text Messages between each other and the president has publicly called if are mccabe to step down. Hes repeatedly tweeted these attacks on the fbi and mccabe saying basically, when he learned that mccabe was going to retire saying the fbi director Andrew Mccabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go. Mccabe has been sort of this punching bag of sorts for the president and republicans who have taken issue over many of things that have gone wrong, they say, at the fbi. After this report from axios surfaced last night, the former fbi director sent his own tweet, sort of saying how good this was that someone was standing up and this is what he said, good to read reports of people standing up for what they believe in, and then he went on to quote mlk saying the ultimate pressure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Poppy and john, i can tell you that people inside the fiber taking good to this. Theyre happy to see that the fbi director is perhaps standing up to sessions and the president. Shimon, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you very much for going through all of that. Whats really interesting about the white house response is theyre not denying it. They are saying that the president does have a problem with some, quote, Senior Leaders of the fbi. Kalen collins is at the white house with more. Good morning. Yeah, good morning poppy and john. Thats right. The white house did not deny this in a very lengthy statement that they issued. They did not deny this reporting specifically, but they said the president has enormous respect for thousands of rank and file fbi agents who make up the worlds most professional and talented Law Enforcement agency. The statement continued he believes politically motivated Senior Leaders including former director comey and others he empowered have tainted the agencys reputation for unbiased pursuit of justice. The president appointed chris wray because hes a man of true character and integrity and the right choice to clean up the misconduct at the highest levels in the fbi and give the rank and file confidence in their leadership. Its worth noting that the president has had a troubled relationship with the fbi ever since he first took Office Nearly a year ago, and just in december he tweeted that he believed the fbis reputation was in tatters and the worst its ever been and chris wray is someone the president hand picked and we are seeing him put him in a very difficult position with the comments that hes made. Today this is noteworthy because the president could comment on this to reporters because we will see him for the first time here at the white house this afternoon as he signs off on trade racks and the first time we will see the president since the Government Shutdown midnight on friday, john and poppy. Caitlan collins, well be watching that very closely. Jeffrey toobin, you heard that white house statement that read in part politically motivated Senior Leaders including former director comey and others in power have tainted the agencys reputation for pursuit of justice. Leave, can a president or a attorney general fire a deputy fbi director if they think that that person is biassed . Not under the letter of the law, but i mean, what we are learning is that the president believes that the fbi is like any other agency, like the department of the interior. That the president has absolute authority to control and fire anyone who works there. Traditionally that has not been the case. The reason the fbi director has a tenyear tenure is because he is supposed to be insulated from these sorts of political pressures and the president has made clear that he thinks the fbi director owes him loyalty and him personally loyalty and not the government and not the rule of law and that has led to certainly the firing of comby and now this conflict with wray. What about the fact that wray pushed back and that wray threatened to quit. What does that tell you . That tells me that like comey, wray is trying to preserve the independence and the integrity of the fbi. And the firing wasnt worth the public firestorm. Right, and thats true, but look at, you know, what the white house is trying to do. They are trying to control the fbi every day in politically moat politically sensitive cases and in cases that involve the president as a potential target. You take great umbrage. We promised we would goet to this, you take umbrage with the notice that there is political bias. Andrew mccabe is a distinguished agent now at a senior level and the only charge against him as far as im aware has any factual basis is that his wife ran for state the state legislature in virginia during the 2006 campaign and was a democrat and was supported by terry mcauliffe. The democratic governor of the state. Theres no evidence that mccabe did anything to help his wife win. Theres no evidence that he was a partisan. He, presumably, like every other fbi agent votes in elections, but the idea that his wifes candidacy makes him unqualified to be a Senior Leader of the fbi is something that doesnt have any precedent in our law. Since then the revelation of these Text Messages between peter struck and lisa paige to the folks working on the fbi investigation and the russia probe is in andys office. They think theyre talking about discussions about trump in andy mccabes office. A few have come out and we at cnn have not seen them. These have been released by republican lawmaker rob johnson, and here are some of them. Lisa paige saying unbelievable that the 2016 president ial race would come down to clinton versus trump. Now the pressure is the midyear review about Hillary Clintons email investigation. Another series of texts, you say we text on that phone when we talk about hillary because it cant be traced. Those are just a few. So what . What does that tell you . I mean, yes, the fact that this investigation was going on in the middle of a president ial campaign, everybody knew that. Obviously, they had to resolve it. This idea that fbi agents cant acknowledge whats going on in the real world. I read those Text Messages and i think so what . Theres also this new revelation that some six months of texts, they cant find them and is that in any way suspicious to you . Let there be an investigation of why theyves did appeared. Stuff gets lost, and it happens in Law Enforcement where i worked for a while. You know, if there was someone who got rid of these Text Messages for some sinister reason, that we should know. If they disappeared just in the normal course of business, we should know that, too. Care to weigh into the Stormy Daniels tempest and the latest page of it, that this group, the sort of liberalleaning group saying look, doj, you have to investigate whether this is improper use of potentially Campaign Donations . The prosecution of john edwards. Right. The former senator from North Carolina was based on a similar theory, that these sorts of expenditures could be seen as an Illegal Campaign contribution. John edwards was acquitted. So, you know, i do think legally its probably a long shot, but you know, the question of who where this money came from and why is certainly one that i would imagine would be of interest to voters and the public. Whether its a crime, its hard for me to say. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Counselor we got through a lot there. So this morning the government is open, so now what . The president just wrote the last hour, nobody knows for sure that the republicans and democrats will be able to reach a deal on daca by february 8th, but everybody will be trying with a big additional focus put on military strength and Border Security. The dems have just learned that a shutdown is not the answer. Cnns Suzanne Malveaux is live on capitol hill to take the temperature of where things are. Suzanne . Reporter good morning, john and poppy. There are negotiations taking place on the budget side as well as Immigration Reform and whats going to happen on the budget side is they will have to come with an agreement on spending caps and domestic and military spending. At the same time theyll be dealing with this daca deal and whether or not they can get something done in this very narrow wend owe and the february 8th deadline or whether or not Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell will take it up after that, after the deadline, but before march 5th when that daca deal expires. I had a chance to talk to senator Susan Collins of main. As you know, she was one of the republicans who hosted and brokered this Bipartisan Group to come forward with this agreement that ended this shutdown, and she told me about, first of all, her conversation with the president that she had after the deal was done. She said that he did not outline any specific red lines or parameters about the daca deal or Immigration Reform that he mostly listened, but he did express some optimism getting to the march 5th deadline and didnt mention the february 8th deadline, and also Susan Collins, she is one who is really going to have to hold Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnells feet to the fire in terms of promises here. A lot of people, democrats, as well as some republicans not quite sure if that is a deal that is good on paper, that is a real commitment here. Some democrats feeling cheated. Senator collins addressed that criticism specifically about the promise that was broken when she brokered her own deal with mcconnell over health care reform. The deadline of the majority leaders premise to me on Health Care Issues certainly slipped and i was not at all happy about that, but the fact is that we are continuing to work on that. Senator says she will continue to work on that with her colleagues in the next couple of weeks and as you know, just two and a half weeks to that deadline and whether or not the government will be funded and the big question, what the president wants and whether or not he will sign on and what they are willing to take on. Suzanne malveaux, thanks so much. We do have breaking news. U. S. State Department Officials tell cnn that u. S. Citizens were among those killed in the attack in a hotel in kabul this past weekend. The taliban released a statement claiming responsibility for this attack. Much more on that as we get it. Storm after stormy, the Watchdog Group says that those alleged payoffs from Donald Trumps personal lawyer to a porn star may have broken the law. Does this go anywhere . Also, a first volley and a new trade war. The president slaps new tariffs on chinese goods. Will there be a response . The president heading for the glitz and glamour of davos, but who will not be going with him . The first lady raising all kinds of new questions. This morni is back open. Congress now has 16 days not only to keep it open, but try to salvage a deal to protect some 800,000 d. R. E. A. M. Ers living in this country. The president says he is ready to negotiate, but could new developments in the russia probe get in the way . Joining us now is cnns political commentator matt lewis, and patrick healy. So the governments open. Thats great. Everyone wants to talk, thats great, but they want really different things. Patrick, republicans are claiming a victory and you know, look, schumers got a major challenge on his hands. His leverage is gone. What do dems do now . Its a real problem. Chuck schumer is hes great at winning elections. Hes terrific and very much helped the democrats get the majority back in the senate in 2006. He built it out in 2008, but here hes without leverage. His the democrats didnt have strong leverage on tax reform last month. That got away from them. Now theyre bfkasically lookingt a situation in three weeks where they need to put together a deal both on daca and on Government Spending and they dont at least right now, they dont have the votes. They certainly dont have the votes in the house, and what theyve really sort of given up, frankly, is the weapon that the shutdown gave them. Right. To sort of say to the house youre going to have to vote both to reopen the government and on something on immigration and on something on spending. Upon right now its sort of Chuck Schumer is the master political tactician good at winning elections. Not here. Right now the political tacticians in the white house are talking a lot and some may suggest talking too much. We heard Mick Mulvaney who is the budget director moments ago speaking to chris cuomo on the issue of what the white house wants for d. R. E. A. M. Ers here. Listen to what Mick Mulvaney said. What his position is on it . How do they get to stay . Who gets to stay . Depends on what we get in exchange. What do we get for a border secureit security . What do we get for a wall. He gave the president everything he wanted on the wall. I challenge that. Senator schumer says he insists that he gave it. Well have a discussion. Did he really offer 20 billion in appropriated funds or did he just offer 20 billion in authorized funds . Keep in mind, there is Border Security that was authorized in 2006. Right. That senator schumer voted for. Right. But that still has not been built yet because no one has appropriated that. Where are we on that . The very beginning when he was asked, what happens to the d. R. E. A. M. Ers and he basically said what do we get . The white house saying all of this big love that the president has for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers is conditional and transactional. Yeah. Everybody is probably going to be playing the exact same game in three weeks that we were seeing play out over the weekend where you cannot talk about the d. R. E. A. M. Ers without talking about the border wall. Once you Start Talking about the border wall, how much money is in what format is quite enough to make that handshake happen . This is what has been so frustrating for the lawmakers watching this and both republicans and democrats have said they feel in the senate and they get close and the terms switch and change because the white house is looking for a more do you put on the table from their list of demands. So the governments open for three weeks, but this is really act one of a play that we will see continue as we get into february because the issues have not changed. Youre hearing it the morning after they struck the deal. Its the same issues on the table. Wall, but Border Security versus daca and thats not going away any time soon. Matt lewis, two quick questions for you. The first is do you think the president himself can really claim victory here, himself, because he was a persona nongrata on capitol hill and we literally didnt see him for three days. Is this a win for him and his messaging . Was his tweeting enough or is it hard for him to say i won on this . Well, look, i think its a win for him and i applaud him for going dark. I think that its not ease per donald trump to keep his mouth shut. The fact that he was able to do it paid off. Ill just make this point. Ive been very vitt cal of donald trump, but i think there is also a possibility that donald trump does things that a normal, sane, competent republican president couldnt do. The republicans havent been very good at winning shutdown battle, but donald trump just won one. It looks like Donald Trumps going to actually move the capital to jerusalem. Donald trump has broken norms and in some cases, the norms were there for a reason and they were very important norms and its dangerous, but in other cases donald trump has broken norms that are arbitrary and theres a reason for republicans to applaud that. Matt, you also say when youre giving credit to the president here or at least saying hes getting what he wants, youre saying there isnt enough focus a split, a divide or a civil war inside the Democratic Party . Absolutely. I wrote a book about the republican civil war, and im not alone. Weve been chronicling the tea party and the split between the socalled, you know, republican establishments, and now you have the trump thing. Theres been so much effort and energy focused on the problems on the right, and i think that there really is something happening on the republican side, but weve mostly ignored the skichisms and the cleavagesn the left and whether thats the rise of the burdeernie sanders elizabeth warren, and you have democrats basically caving into pressure and worried about losing elections and now you have the liberal base very upset with people like Chuck Schumer calling them sellouts. This is an underrated story, but the democrats as they seek to win the midterms this is going to be a subplot we really should be paying attention to. So lets switch gears to whats going on with the axios reporting, patrick, that the attorney general Jeff Sessions had been earn frpressuring the director andy mccabe whom we know the president very much dislikes and it enraged wray so much that he threatened to quit. The fact that the president keeps up this fight whether its comey and the the Deputy Director and on and on and on and the significance of this and the fact that wray wouldnt do it and said ill quit over this. Whether directlier indirectly, all of this pressure is coming from donald trump. He told my times colleague mike schmitt last month, i can do whatever i want, whenever i want with the Justice Department and that is his attitude. That is how he ran his company. That is something that hes chosen, President Trump has chosen not to adjust to in the federal government, in terms of being a leader who is not just sort of strong arming individuals. He Still Believes in the strong arming approach. He wants this guy gone. He sees wray and sessions clearly as instruments of his own authority, but he oversteps. He oversteps time and again, and to end in terms of the their play, and the president s play certainly has been to cast doubt on at least the fbi investigation, but to try not to undermine the fbi itself, hes sort of leaving that to anything, but its not so much that you can do that. Wray was supposed to be the guy that was apolitical, if he drags him into that mix that could be problematic. Simmering on the outside and sill on the outside of all of this discussion is the Stormy Daniels issue. Michael cohen allegedly paying off this adult film actress 130,000 to stay silent about an alleged affair she had with the president and Michael Cohen and this woman denies the affair and no one denies the payment still and now common cause wants to get involved following a suit saying there is a violation of election law here. How long does this stay in the background . How long before this starts to be something democrats want to talk about it, if republicans get nervous about it. Probably into the midterm elections unless something sticks and becomes an actual case and an entity that has to go through reviews and discovery and investigations would pursue, but certainly this is, you know, its a whipping point for people who want to kind of point out that to try to shake Donald Trumps hold on the evangelical base because this is a question of adultery. Its a question of something thats a bit tawdry. It grips our attention and headlines very, very well and it doesnt necessarily mean that that will happen, but its certainly a very its politically advantageous although not necessarily overplayed and various groups that want to charge trump over this will and are coming out saying that they shall, but the question really for everything that will be happening this year is going to be so governed by the political season that were in which is completely focused on november. And its not really a question so much of did the president cheat on his wife or not, was there a payoff weeks before the election to keep someone quiet and how is that money allocated . Where was that money from . That was the crux of it. What about rises to the investigation that actually takes hold and yes, fec can take a long time. This will be happening and operating in parallel to the season that were in and so the way people interpret it and the way people see it will not be purely as a matter of was this an inappropriate use of funds and people will be arguing over it in the political sphere. Thank you, guys. Cara, matt, patrick, thank you very much. We have a lot ahead. The first lady was going to go switzerland, to davos to the World Economic forum with the president. Shes not going. Why . We are moments away from the opening bell on wall street. Christine romans joins us with a preview. Good morning. Speaking of davos, the president will be on his way to speak even as though hes announced a couple of big tariffs that are making news on washing machines and solar panels. Some whispers of protectionism potentially and thats something theyre talking about in global circle, but for stocks mixed. The futures are mixed and maybe if youll get momentum youll see record highs again. Alltime highs yesterday. Watch netflix when the opening bell rings in two minutes. We expect netflix to hit a record high and it had a Record Number of subscribers and outlined a 39 million cost associated with kevin spacey. Ill have that after the break. Lets begin. Yes or no . Do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet . Do you want 4. 95 commissions for stocks, 0. 50 options contracts . 1. 50 futures contracts . What about a dedicated service team of trading specialists . Did you say yes . Good, then its time for power e trade. The platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. Looks like we have a couple seconds left. Lets do some card twirling twirling cards e trade. The original place to invest online. When heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. Windows in a whole new light . Do it right choose the number one provider of custom Window Coverings in north america Budget Blinds. Were your neighborhood experts, with style and service for every budget. And right now you can get extra savings up to five hundred dollars on selected Window Coverings. Hey, its a beautiful new year. Lets get your house a whole lotta gorgeous. Go online, or call eightfivefive Budget Blinds and get a free consultation right at home. Now thats beautiful it takes a lot of work but i really love it. Im on the move all day long. And sometimes, i dont eat the way i should. So, i drink boost to get the nutrition im missing. Boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. All with a great taste. Boost gives me everything i need. To be up for doing what i love. Boost high protein be up for it new this morning. A fierce reaction from china to the u. S. Plan for tariffs. New tariffs issued by the president on solar panels and washing machines. In a statement he, expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the move. Are these the opening shots . Yes, ill answer the question in what appears to be a new trade war. Christine romans is here. This has been going back and forth between the u. S. And china for a while and this is the president s latest move. This is a new sheriff in town. For the first year weve been waiting to see what kind of tariffs this president is going to impose on these products and product categories. He promised on campaign trail that the u. S. Was not getting a fair shake and that for too long administrations hadnt done anything about it and he would and this is what the United States is imposing new tariffs on solar panels. A 30 tariff on solar panels and thats targeting china and thats the main source. China says its an abuse ever trade rules and is angry about it. Washing machines up to 50 . These are large washing machines and think lg and samsung. South korea says it will file a complaint with the world trade organization, that is of course, the International Architecture to solve these disputes. Theres a reason the Trump Administrations doing this now. The president s action makes clear again that the Trump Administration will always defend american workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses. Some of the trade folks that weve been speaking to, say they dont expect a trade war over this. China has more to lose than the u. S. In a trade war. Well watch carefully how the language evolves here. The solar in particular, theyre worried that this will raise costs for American Consumers of these goods specifically solar and we have so many jobs in the u. S. Thats installing solar and not necessarily manufacturing done in china, 154,000 solar installation jobs and sales, Product Development and theyre worried about the costbenefit analysis for consumers. Coal jobs, 50,000 coal jobs in the United States. That gives you a perspective of energy. Its a third. Thats a good point. Christine, thank you. Youre welcome. The president is headed to switzerland, davos and the World Economic forum. The First Lady Melania Trump was going to join him and now she is not going to join him. The white house cites white house and logistical issues that exist now. The president s personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid off an adult film actress to keep quiet about an alleged relationship. Kate bennett is in washington for us, following all of this. Kate, what do you make of it . Well, i think you can take it at face value. Scheduling logistics, it happens. When you dont hear from a first lady. We havent heard from her in a while. We are sort of forced to write our own narrative and the clues shes given are curious. Take, for example, the tweet she put out on saturday to mark the oneyear anniversary of the inauguration of her husband and it did not include anything to do with her husband. It sort of has a faceless military escort here. She talks about the wonderful moments shes had during the year, but she doesnt say thank you, mr. President or its been a great ride for us. Et cetera. With this first lady she remains quite mysterious and however shes popular and the most popular member of the trump family according to our new polling and shes seven points higher than the president in terms of favorability and up from a year ago so her poll numbers continue to climb. However, we dont hear from her. We see her watching back and forth to marine one. She got on marine one with the president to go to maralago on that same day that the Stormy Daniels story broke, and she spent the weekend down there and returned with him, but we still havent heard from her, and this trip to davos was planned. Again, shes very conscious of things like using resources for her own activities. It could very well have been something to do with getting back and forth from the World Economic forum to any sort of solo event she wanted to do. Certainly, however, i didnt wake up this morning with an email in my inbox from her office saying no, no, no, your reporting is incorrect or its this or we want to push back. So i think were left to infer that perhaps this could be because shes laying low. All right, kate bennett for us. Kate, thanks very much. We do have breaking news to tell you. A high School Shooting, we are just learning about. This is a shooting at Marshall County high school. This is located in benton, kentucky, a town of about 4500 people, two hours northwest of nashville. This is according to benton city clerk, beth cooper speaking to cnn. We know the Police Department there is located inside of city hall. Officers have gone to the high school already. Youre talking about a high school of 1300 students that the school. 1300 students, about 74 teachers. No word yet on casualties or injuries. We will get you the very latest when we can. Much more ahead. Stay with us. You might take something for your heart. Or joints. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. When did you see the sign . When i needed to jumpstart sales. Build attendance for an event. Help people find their way. Fastsigns designed new directional signage. And got them back on track. Get started at fastsigns. Com. We do have breaking news out of benton, kentucky. We told you about a high school there. We are getting an update. It is no longer an active shooter situation, indicating the shooter is in custody or has been neutralized and we are hearing there are injuries reported. We do not yet know how many, but again, we are getting more information as we speak. We will bring it to you when it comes in. Of course, we will. In the meantime, we have some more political news. This morning republicans are joining the president in declaring victory over this shutdown, the end of the shutdown. Is it too early to claim a big win . What does it mean for the midterms and a major battle still under way for the next 16 days. Joining us now is stephen law, the president and ceo of the Leadership Fund to senator Mitch Mcconnel and he knows the brain and the man in the middle of all of this better than all of us do. Thank you for being here this morning. Republicans are claiming victory. They are saying we won. What now . Because you just heard Mick Mulvaney who was in charge of the whole shutdown from the white house saying well see if we get a daca deal. What do we get in return . What do we get in terms of a wall . Where does this go . The democrats have had a pretty bad month. The tax bill they opposed has turned out to be great for the economy resulting in ghobonusesr hundre hundreds of thousands of workers and the shutdown thats ended up in terrible disaster created divisions within the democrats ranks and i dont know if thats a trend, but ill take it. But what are republicans going to do now . What do you think they should do now because we have another shutdown three weeks away or the possibility for it and you have the issue of d. R. E. A. M. Ers. Youve had a number of jobs in your career and one was working in the chamber of commerce which was incredibly supportive for the protection of d. R. E. A. M. Ers and to withdraw the right of the individuals the right to work and deport them to countries they dont know is not in the best interest of america. The question, what needs to happen and what do republicans need to make happen in the next three weeks . Sure. There are a lot of republicans who are very supportive of the deal to provide relief to the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, but theyre not going to want to give it away without the democrats giving something in return which is Border Security. This is where we will see the ideological fissures in the Democratic Party play out. It is basically an open Borders Party and they dont want restrictions and controls and there are others who are mainstream liberals who would like to cut a deal, and it will be just as difficult, if not more so for the Democratic Party to come to an agreement on what the deal would look like on daca as it would be for the republicans. Let me ask you this, youve got demands from the white house and Sarah Sanders reiterated them yesterday in order to have a deal for d. R. E. A. M. Ers, the four set of pillars and what they want on Immigration Reform, is a solution to daca, an end to what they call, a lot of republicans call in the white house chain migration, and an end totally to the visa lottery system and Border Security that in her words certainly includes a wall. Do you see democrats giving on all of that . Thats the point of negotiation that needs to play out. I think chain migration is a serious issue thats been elevated in the last few months that the vast majority of republicans and not just republicans, but also voters in general favor a solution to, and again, it comes down to the point that i think republicans want to get a deal to provide relief to d. R. E. A. M. Ers, but theyre going to need to get something from the democrats and the question is are democrats going to be able to work internally with their own ideological fissures and factions to be able to come to the table with something thats reasonable. Youve heard Mitch Mcconnell say hell bring up the issue of immigration on a level Playing Field on the senate floor and allow amendments if the gang of six bill comes to the floor or something similar, close to it with adjustments here or there, do you think that has enough votes on a level Playing Field to pass the senate . Its really hard for me to say, we havent done a vote count on that yet, there are provisions of it that would be acceptable to either side, and i dont think something you know Immigration Reform, comprehensive Immigration Reform passed the senate in 2013 with situations that are not dissimilar to this, and it passed once and it could pass the senate again and that could be the frustration from moderates from both sides, republicans and democrats, if you vote on it, it would pass. The house would be somewhat more conservative and the national thinking on this issue has also changid and think people have started to look more deeply into these issues and i think theres rising concern, as i said about chain migration and that was not the topic of discussion some time earlier, and so i think the senate process will have to work its will. There are obviously republicans who will be more conservative than the gang of six product, but theyre also going to be democrats who are much more liberal who really arent going to want to deal, and certainly not a deal that includes any restriction at all on immigration. Stephen, we appreciate it. We have to cut it short because we do have to come back to the breaking news on the School Shooting. The School Shooting out of kentucky and our alison kosik is standing by with that. We are learning new information from matt bevin, the governor of kentucky about the School Shooting that happened sch a short time ago. There has been one person confirmed dead, multiple others have been wounded. The shooter is in custody. Once again, was there an active shooting that began this morning. It seems like it began right around School Started or gettin started at Marshall County high school located in benton, kentucky and you see the tweet there from matt bevin. Tragic shooting at Marshall County high school. Shooter is in custody, one confirmed fatality, multiothers wounded. Much yet unknown. Interesting tidbit though from benton city clerk beth cooper telling cnn that the Benton County Police Department is located inside city hall, and when the call went out about this active shooting happening at Marshall County high school the entire Police Department, all of the members of the police force left the building and went to the high school where they are on scene right now. Marshall countier shouldivey sh officers are also on the scene. , th thanks so much for that report. A Major Development potentially in the russia investigation. The New York Times reporting that the attorney general Jeff Sessions was interviewed by special Council Robert mueller last week. Its very big considering this is someone in the president s inner circle currently working with the administration and again, the times just breaking this news that he was questioned several hours by the special counsel bob mueller in the russia probe. Notable, a spokesperson for the Justice Department did confirm to the times that this interview happened. So the times seems to have this completely solid. Were going to get much more information on this as we can. I will note, what is fascinating about Jeff Sessions is in his testimony. Yes. In his testimony to congress before he claimed he did not remember or would not answer questions based on the possibility of privilege down the road. Right. Which doesnt work with bob mueller. Would he use that with bob mueller . What would bob mueller try to get from him that he would not give . Youll remember Jeff Sessions recused himself from anything having to do with the russia probe back, you know, a year ago or so, infuriating the president. The president who didnt sessions himself at the risk of losing his job did feel like he needed to, he did that. And now hes sat down for hours with bob mueller. And, again, the things the questions that Jeff Sessions could answer deal with the two issues that seem to be of some interest to the special counsel, alleged collusion and alleged obstruction of justice. On the issue of collusion, Jeff Sessions was at these meetings, the meetings with josh papadopoulos. And at the meeting with george papadopoulos, it was do they want to meet with russian officials. Sessions recused himself from the investigation, but how involved was he or wasnt he in the firing of james comey . Also, youll remember that Jeff Sessions didnt remember, according to him at the time that he had meetings with sergey kislyak, the ambassador, and then remembered them again, had to be all of these changes to his disclosure form. Well have much more of this significant breaking news. The attorney general sat down last week for hours with the special counsel, bob mueller, in the russia probe. Much more on this ahead. Heavy, labored breathing heavy, labored breathing heavy, labored breathing coughing breathing through oxygen mask breathing through oxygen mask breathing through oxygen mask breathing through oxygen mask covered california. Its more than just health care. Its life care. This is cnn breaking news. We have significant breaking news to report to you. The attorney general Jeff Sessions sat down last week for hours. We have learned, with bob muellers team. This is a special counsel leading the russia probe. This is the first time that a current cabinet member of the Trump Administration has been interviewed in this probe by muellers team. We understand there was no subpoena issued. He went in and voluntarily answered questions, again, for several hours. No doubt those discussions covered Jeff Sessions own meeting with the Russian Ambassador Jeff Sessions own role in meetings during the Trump Campaign that involved george papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying about discussions he had with russians. Also the issue of obstruction of justice. What does Jeff Sessions know about how, why and when the fbi director james comey was fired. Lets get right to our justice reporter for the very latest on this. Shim mo shimon, what are you learning . This took place last wednesday and as you said went on for hours. Now what is important here is that sessions has been part of probably two of the central issues in this investigation. That is the russia contacts, also he was running the Foreign Policy team during the campaign and we know that much of that team is now under scrutiny, some of on that team, george papadopoulos, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the fbi. He was also in on the comey firing, helped draft a memo that ultimately was used as justification to fire the fbi director. So there are two central issues here that presumably sessions would have been questioned about. So, the fact that he went in without a subpoena is not that kind of it is normal for that to happen. He is the attorney general still. And certainly mueller has had a lot of questions and has been looking into a lot of the issues that sessions has been part of. Shimon, thank you for the reporting. Stay with us if you would. Lets go to the white house. Kaitlan collins is there. The department of justice confirmed, yes, this happened. Is the white house saying anything at this point . Reporter the white house hasnt responded at this point, john and poppy. We reached out for a request for comment on what they have to say about this incredibly significant move that the first person in the president s cabinet has been interviewed and well let you know as soon as we hear back from the white house. But this really puts the spotlight on this troubled relationship between the president and his attorney general that we have seen go on since Jeff Sessions first recused himself from anything relating to the russia investigation into the 2016 campaign and whether or not Trump Officials colluded with russia. We have seen the president publicly go after Jeff Sessions, not only on twitter, but in interviews, especially that one with the New York Times where he said he would not have picked Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general if he knew he was going to recuse himself. So this certainly could cause some problems, could bring up that fight between the president and Jeff Sessions because it has been dormant for quite some time now. The president still gets frustrated with Jeff Sessions, but does so only privately talking to old friends and allies, and he has not gone after him publicly in recent months. But we could see that get brought up again here, john and poppy. Well let you know as soon as the white house responds to this reporting. All right. Kaitlan collins for us at the white house. Lets bring in susan hennessey, our Cnn National Security analyst and steve moore, cnn Law Enforcement contributor. Susan first to you, just learning this information, the attorney general of the United States interviewed in the special counsels probe into russian meddling, the first cabinet official, certainly the person closest or most senior ranking official interviewed yet in this investigation. What is significant to you here . One of the things significant sort of over the past week really is the ramping up these attacks against the fbi, coming from the house intelligence committee, this memo from devin nunes, President Trumps tweet this morning regarding a series of Text Messages not preserved. So i think this does put additional sort of context into why the white house is potentially feeling so nervous and really ramping up their efforts to try and discredit Robert Muellers investigation. So well remember, steve, that testimony that we were all watching sort of jaws dropped of sessions in front of congress saying so many times over and over i cant recall or really trying to cite executive privilege or saying i might have to in the future to not answer lawmakers questions on so many things about any communication with russians from the Trump Administration or him personally. Can he d
vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.