Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20170214

Described a main topic of discussion. Reporter with pressure mournting on the white house on monday afternoon, counselor Kellyanne Conway said that the president supported flynn. Flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president. Reporter moments later a different take from the press secretary. President trump refusing to answer questions. About his controversial adviser. We still dont know what the president knew and when he knew it. In a statement, democrat adam schiff accusing the administration of not being forthcoming who was aware with the flynns conversations with the ambassador. Democrats now calling for an immediate classified briefing into the situation. Writing, we in Congress Need to know who authorizes actions, permitted them and continue to let him have access to our most Sensitive National security information despite knowing these risks. The president meets today with new jersey governor and former federal prosecutor Chris Christie as well as his new attorney general jeff sessions. Back to you. All right, joe, thank you very much. So, Michael Flynns departure raises as many questions as it answers. It comes alt a critical moment. The first foreign test for the administration after north koreas launch of a blalistic missile. And the travel ban the president says is needed to protect National Security. Ryan brown live in washington with more. They have to start with a permanent replacement. Reporter thats right, chris. Senior Administration Officials are telling us theres a review under way to see who might take the job. Right now in an acting role, we see retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg has stepped up. He was the chief of staff to the nsc. He was there. Kellogg is a longtime retired military officer, he had 36 years in the military. As we said hes the acting National Security adviser currently. He was one of the earliest senior military officials to back trump. Theres a loyalty factor as well. Some other names were hearing, general david petraeus, highest amongst them. Of course, the former cia director, led military officials in iraq and afghanistan, including the famous surge in 2007. He but he comes with some baggage. He resigned after an extramarital affair. Hes currently on probation. Were hearing reports that petraeus could come to the white house as early as this week to discuss the potential positions in the administration. Finally, were hearing the name of retired vice admiral howard, a former navy s. E. A. L. He served on the National Security council during the Bush Administration and served underneath james mattis. He has a very close relationship with one Senior Member of the administration. Back to you guys. Thanks so much for all of that. Lets bring in our panel right now. We have David Gregory, abby phillip and phil mud and criminal defense attorney paige pet. David gregory, a lot has happened while they were sleeping. Why did this reach a head last night. Well, a couple of reasons. This was last stunningly bad judgment by the National Security adviser, general flynn, a controversial figure for months. He was involved in this Campaign Rhetoric of lock up Hillary Clinton. His son spread false and defamatory of Hillary Clinton on the internet and had to beremoved from any position in the white house as a result. General flynn has been controversial. And he has presiding over a fledgling Foreign Policy in the Trump Administration. Its been a disaster. The rollout of the executive order. The fact that the Trump Administration has provided comfort to National Politicians in europe and ongoing questions about this relationship with russia but he also lied to the Vice President. The president was in a position he couldnt have had more turmoil. Hes had plenty of leaks. All of this going on within the white house. You add to all of that, if he was a target for blackmail, if he could have been compromised by russia and cozzying up to Vladimir Putin this becomes a big National Security threat. Well, the last part of that, david, is certainly where we have to going here, abby, the idea that Michael Flynn is the end of the understanding of this, that he lied to mike pence. Is very hard to swallow. The word out of the white house was, after they said he had full confidence yesterday, new information came up. Why wasnt the old information enough . Could it be true that Michael Flynn did this all by himself. The degree to which mike pence is genuinely very angry how this handled. He feels very much blindsided by Michael Flynn and his handling of the situation. On some level theres a concern on pences side. He was misled and he gave flynn the benefit of the doubt and you have to remember in this context, mike flynn is one of the closest advisers of the president. He briefs him every single day. So, the president has given him quite a bit of rope. I think mike pence has done exactly the same thing. And that came back to bite him. This issue came to a head for trump because of the amount of controversial in the headlines. This is a president who looks at the newspaper everything morning and doesnt like to see his staff at the top of the the New York Times and the Washington Post every day. He wanted to find a way to resolve this issue in a way he didnt cat pit lated in the end. A tangled web were trying to make our way through, your old friend sally yates comes back in to play as the main player, she was dismissed by donald trump because he said she couldnt carry out the travel ban. She warned the white house a month ago that Michael Flynn had done this and could be exposed to blackmail. So, talk about sally yates role. Well, alysin, this is another example of sally yates trying to do the right thing. Sally yates not just had the problem for the potential for blackmail but she also identified the possibility that flynn had violated federal law. Theres a law on the books called logan act, it prevents a private citizen having discussions like this with a foreign government. Now its an old law. It hasnt been used to prosecute anyone. Its still on the books and its a felony. As soon as she recognized there was a problem like this inside the white house she did everything she could to let them know about it. It just appears they didnt care. Phil, you have so much experience being in the room and figuring out how the politics meshes with intel. The idea that Michael Flynn was just freelancing and this was a conspiracy of one in terms of who was controlling this dynamic is a little hard to swallow, how could that be possible where despite warnings by the doj, clapper, brennan, that the white house went to flynn and he said its all okay and the analysis ended there . Boy, you got to scratch your head on this one, chris. By the way, happy valentines day. You got to scratch your head on this one. This conversation happened obviously some time ago. Presuming the Russian Ambassadors phone is tapped, the National Security agency is intercepting that phone call and theres a transcript. That transcript can be viewed by people like the attorney general and the fbi director and they can ask for the name of the american in that call. That name is general flynn. Over the period people should have known that there was a conversation and that conversation included presumably talk about sanctions. The timing here to me is key here. Lastly, chris, i cant understand how if youre general flynn with the history of National Security you can go to the Vice President and say, i dont remember having that conversation. Its written down in the transcript. What happened here . David, help us understand that. To chris point, unless mike flynn went rogue and decided to do this on his own that means that the Vice President didnt know what he was doing and the president didnt know what he was doing . Or he was acting with the permission of somebody else . Well, its a serious question. Lets reremember the broader context, pence is so mad about this. He goes out and vouches for flynn in national interviews. He said, they didnt talk about sanctions based on a conversation he had with flynn. So, he was lied to. You dont do that to your Vice President. Give the Vice President credit, hes not going to let the president be sold out like that. From all the agencies from state, to defense, to intelligence, in bringing that information into the white house to coordinate how the president makes the decision. We know that President Trump has been cozzying up to Vladimir Putin from the campaign. Dismissive of the information that he tried to interfere with the election. Theres going to be a lot more questions about this. Let me add, i dont think the Trump Administration can blame this on the dishonest media, can they . This is actually a senior official lying to the media. Lets stick with the facts on this. Because even the conclusion, abby, that the Vice President was lied to, how do we know that in the context of this wasnt like parallel agendas that were going on where flynn was cozying up to the edadministration. Denial about the hacks. Sheltering russia from any responsibility of be nefarious. The president saying he wasnt sure of russias involvement of separates in ukraine. How comfortable are we reporting as fact, yes, flynn lied to everyone, they didnt know what was happening . Well, i think this is where we need to sort of make a distinction between, you know, what was potentially illegal and what was maybe not the smartest thing to do. I think that theres to your point a broader ethose in this edadministration of wanting to t closer to russia. Without question, Michael Flynn as the National Security adviser was prosecuting that objective leading up to the inauguration. The question is, did he go across the line and did he do something to sort of interfere with National Security in specific conversations . Its pretty clear that the topic of the sanctions was front and center. The question is, how far did he go . And was he up front with other officials in the white house about how far he went . Its conceivable that the white house officials knew that he was communicating with the Russian Ambassador. Its also conceivable that Vice President pence did not know the degree to which that conversation had veered into a very concrete discussion about how russia should respond to u. S. Sanctions at the time and thats where the dishonesty or the misleading of the Vice President becomes the main issue and i think that pence was genuinely surprised and has been as far as everything i have heard from aides this week. Hes very angry about this. Panel, thank you very much for all of that insight. Obviously, much more on where the white house goes from here coming right up. And where they came from. Yesterday, in the afternoon, full confidence flynn had. Kellyanne said that. And then sean spicer said something different. Two more members of trumps cabinet have been confirmed. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin in the Oval Office Last night. Saying, everything mnuchin touches turns to gold. Condemning north koreas weekend Ballistic Missile launch. The actions called, quote, a grave violation of the countrys international obligations. Flooiki haley issuing a scathing account. We have a live report coming up on new day. Tmaralago is known for weddings but it turned into an open air situation room. This is raising ton of eyebrows. Was this the place to sit next to japan and review options in light of north koreas Missile Launch. Thats whats happening in the picture on your screen. Well discus what this means to security, policy and common sense. Next. Shocked by your wireless bill every month . Additional fees. Tacked on taxes. Come on with tmobile one, taxes and fees are now included get 4 lines of unlimited lte data for 40 bucks each. Thats right all unlimited. All in and now, for a limited time save more than you pay in taxes on all smartphones. So switch to tmobile and save hundreds vs. The other guys. Its better than a tax holiday and its only at tmobile. For millions of baby boomers theres a virus out there. 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All right, President Donald Trump facing criticism after turning a dinner table into an open air situation room at his maralago estate. Photos show the dx and japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe reviewing news after north korea fired a Ballistic Missile came to us. Lets diss cuss. We got David Gregory and abby phillip and matt lewis. Brother gregory, you have covered white houses in the past the protocols, the intentionality, and this, how do you make sense of it . I think its amateurish. I think they should be discreet. Youre at a public place. He owns the country club for crying out loud. Any number of places they can go to have some serious conversations to review documents, to have phone calls as necessary. You know, phil mudd was saying when this first came to light in talking about it yesterday, you dont want to create a crisis atmosphere. But youre the president of the United States. Youre the Prime Minister of japan. Use some discretion here. Anyone else would be the subject of Donald Trumps criticism for being a disaster as he might said for doing all of this out in the open. Matt, these pictures are incredible. Theyre just incredible. To look at. If you have never seen what goes on inside a situation room this image the flurry of activity captured here. Using cell phones to illuminate to the messages. Diners sitting around, concerned, this beehive of activity. What is happening . Why didnt they excuse themselves and go elsewhere . I think donald trump likes being around people. He likes theed a ration, the buzz of being around people. A couple of layers, a National Security liability here. Meaning if swin overheard them . Or thats a problem. Thats the big problem. Theres also a matter of deco m decorum. And is maralago is being used to parade around governmental officials and World Leaders to perform for guests. Those are the optics. If you paid 200,000 a year to belong to maralago you could have a seat where the action is. You know, we do know that the president went to a wedding reception reportedly after this moment. So he stayed on campus there and moved around. Abby, lets flip it 180 degrees. Who cares where he does the business of the state if this was secure enough to the secret Service People around him and abes handlers its good enough for us. Just to be clear, the secret service is concerned about the physical safety about the president and their guests. This is the prerogative of the aides and the advisers around the president. None of whom said to him, hey, mr. President , i think we should move into another room and do this in private. Which tells you where they are about delivering that straight news to their boss. You know, the general public may or may not care. I think a lot of people look at these images and theyre surprised they think that National Security decisions should be dealt with in private. I think thats actually a monsense feeling about this. Of course Donald Trumps supporters are going to say, whats the big deal . People are looking at these pictures and thinking, wow, i cant believe thats happening . They wouldnt have private conversations in a dining room filled with other people. I just want to interject here, look, the reason i think this matters more broadly it says something about how theyre running things in the white house. Couple of things going on, i think theres turmoil and incompetence and open disdain for the media and so theyre playing games with who they call on at press conferences and all the rest. And this stuff matters if something really bad happens. If theres a real crisis then people should be alarmed. It doesnt matter what trump spotters think. This is how our government operates. I have seen this up close. This is not the test. The test is when something bad happens do they know what to do . This is not indicative of a team knows what to do or has a layer of decorum of how they think about these big decisions. Then, candidate trump made a lot of hay about president obama was sleeping during the benghazi attack, which was he . Which was all false. He talked about how he wasnt on top of it and he was missing and that Hillary Clinton wasnt around. And now, this . Thats part of what makes it so head scratching is that he goes to a wedding reception afterwards and takes sort of, you know, lighthearted pictures . Thats in the eye of the beholder. Do you want the president remember the criticism that george w. Bush got when he was at a Childrens Book read zblg and he sort of when is period into his ear. Andrew card when is period in his ear. Do you want a president to look freaked out and to run out of the room or calmly you know, it sends signals. So, i dont i wouldnt bash trump too much on that part. But i do think theres no adults that will come to the president and say, you need to come to this undisclosed location right now or this secure location now. Thats what happened with george w. Bush. He wanted to come back to washington after 9 11. Remember, that was 9 11. The pentagon had been hit. Very different. But still the adults in the room. Speaking of the adults in the room, abby, the president needs them now more than ever. He has to deal with the flynn situation. The executive ban the way that goes matters for a millions of people around the world but it matters for the politically face early on for the president and its administration. The Virginia Judge just put another nail in the coffin. What do we know about what theyre thinking about how to approach this problem . Well, look, lets put it this way it has been several days since the president has not been able to enforce his urgent National Security yet they havent resolved it. It shows you how difficult this decision is and partly because how they proceed whether they decide to go with a new executive order or layering on executive orders around ones that currently exist and is on hold could potentially undermine their case in court. If they go route, it might be the fastest way to get policy on the table and a plan moving but it might basically fore stall their chances in the court. The white house wants to win the president wants to win. Court may not be the best option. Has to do with refugees and immigration from countries they think are vulnerable for terrorism. Its very unclear. Abby, david, thank you very much for all of the information. We have other news to tell you about. Coming up cnn is inside north korea and we have a live report for you. Our correspondent just arrived in pyongyang, what theyre saying about the u. N. Condemning their Missile Launch and what they plan to do next. Well take you there next. And mike. Michelle. Okay, you need uniforms, work gloves, goggles, hard hats, all the safety gear. Im on it. Well thats good, cuz i got 15 more new guys starting tuesday. Im ready. Youre ready . Oh, im ready. Am i ready . What . Am i ready . Youre ready. Im ready cintas. Ready for the workday. Listerine® kills 99 of bad breath germs. This is 100 useful for a 100 fresh mouth. Just ask listerine® users. The very people we studied in the study of bold. People who are statistically more likely to stand up to a bully. Do a yoga handstand. And be in a magicians act. Listerine® kills 99 of bad breath germs so you can feel 100 in life. Bring out the bold™. Also try listerine® pocketpaks for fresh breath on the go. Mattress firmness . Fortunately theres a bed where you both get what you want every night. Enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. Sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. She likes the bed soft. Hes more hardcore. So your sleep goes from good to great to wow only at a sleep number store. And right now save 50 on the ultimate limited edition bed. Go to sleepnumber. Com for a store near you. All right, we have some news for you on the issue of the executive order banning travel to Different Countries to around the world. Federal judge in seattle said a lawsuit brought against president s ban can and will proceed. What are the next steps about this a judge in virginia said the ban cant be enforced there. Is this confusing . Lets make it more clear. First option, go back to the ninth Circuit Court of appeals and ask for a full bench review. It was three judges that upheld the Lower Court Ruling upholding the ban. The Trump Administration is filing the paperwork to have that decision reviewed by these judges. This may or may not work out this the governments favor. The ninth circuit is known as the most liberal. Second option, an emergency appeal right to the Supreme Court. Justice kennedy could review the case and decide whether to open it up to the full court. This could happen in as little a few days. 44 divided along ideological lines. So, would the court take it . Theyre not likely to take a situation that would split them . We have seen that from their behavior thus far as an eightjudge court. Also, they dont like the Supreme Court preliminary matters. They like to make rulings on final cases. So, two strikes against this being taken right now. Option three, like trump tweeted, see you in court the government could go to court and fight for the ban against the states of washington and minnesota on the matters at the District Court level. In fact the District Court judge in the original case is moving forward his schedule right now and he could decide if the travel ban violates the constitution or not. So, what else . If trump decides to relent in terms of just battling it out, the smartest move could be just to do it over. Rewrite, modify the existing order or even issue multiple new orders if they want, each one vetted the right way this time. Go to the agencies. If you do thats probably the best chance for the administration to have the case of getting these policies into effect. Political reality that would be perceived as a give. President trump is someone who doesnt like to give, alysin. All right, chris, another big story, we want to bring you live to pyongyang. We understand that will ripley our correspondent is there with their reaction to the u. N. Comments on the test Missile Launch. Will, can you hear me . Reporter hi, alysin. Yes, i can. We just arrived a few moments ago. I walked into the hotel, we dont have internet yet so our information is limited from the outside world. I can tell you whats showing on the evening news, the first images i believe of the missile that was launched, they show the north Korean Leader standing next to what looks like a pretty large mobile Missile Launcher and they showed the actual firing of the missile itself. Analysts are telling us, in south korea, while this missile traveled 300 miles, they believe the range is actually four times than that, 1200 miles. What north korean media saying that this was a solid fuel a solid fuel missile which is significant. This allows the type of missile that can move and be launched without a lot of preparation. Certainly a troubling development. In the hotel here, the lights have cut out at least four times the whole hotel goes into blackness. You have this country spending a considerable amount of resources to develop these missiles yet they cant keep the lights on. Will, youre the First Western correspondent there in pyongyang. The information is invaluable that youre giving us. Is anyone commenting or reacting to the u. N. Edadmonishing north korea . Im about to walk into a meeting. In fact, im putting on my suit jacket as we speak to go into several officials. We have thrown our bags down. Were told to get changed quickly. Im hoping to get some official comments about what the United Nations is saying. The talk of more sanctions, does not phase our north korea minders one bit. They have lived under very strong sanctions since 2006 the First Nuclear test north korea has tested. Undeterred by any International Condemnation or efforts. Clearly the scant resources that this country has is being devoted to accelerating this. Will, again, theres no substitute for you being there on the ground there. Thank you. Chris . All right, not an easy place to report from. Well get more from will ripley throughout the morning. Up next, an abrupt end to Michael Flynns tenure as National Security, should this happened even sooner . There are facts. Lot of speculations, palace intrigue here. But there are facts you need to know. Well give them to you next. E. That has everything to do with the people in here. Their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. Theyve got the parts, tools, and knowhow to help keep your ford running strong. 35,000 specialists all across america. No one knows your ford better than ford. And ford service. Right now, get the works a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation, Brake Inspection and more for 29. 95 or less. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® tais really quite simple. Est it comes in the mail, you pull out the tube and you spit in it, which is something southern girls are taught youre not supposed to do. You seal it and send it back and then you wait for your results. Its that simple. Why are you checking your credit score . You dont want to ride the 13l forever, do you . The doctor said its not contagious. [coughing] credit karma, huh . Yeah, its free. Credit karma. Give yourself some credit. Were following breaking news for you. General Michael Flynn has resigned as President Trumps National Security adviser after criticism for discussing sanctions with russias ambassador before President Trump was sworn in and then allegedly misleading the administration about it. Flynn fell short of saying he lied in his resignation letter. Lets discuss with this Hillary Rosen and john phillips. Great to see both of you this morning. John, according to the Washington Post on the very day that the Obama Administration was announcing sanctions against russia for med ling in the 2016 election, Michael Flynn was on the phone with the Russian Ambassador saying, dont worry about that well handle sanctions. Well ease those when we get into the white house. How troubled are you by this series of events . He shouldnt be doing that. If he did that he should lose his job which is exactly what happened. Three things jump out at me after taking a look at the initial facts of this story. One is that mike pence is not your fathers Vice President. In the old days any time there was a third world dictator who had sunglasses and the official portrait they get married or have the funeral thats where you send the Vice President. This man is clearly more involved in the goingon in this white house. The fact that flynn gave information that was incorrect was enough to get his walking papers. The other thing, during the campaign, donald trump was very loyal to his people. Any time one of his people got attacked he wasnt shy on taking to twitter and defending them. Sometimes people who are loyalists during the campaign doesnt translate to the best white house employees. That looks like thats the case here. The third thing is, this was a complete breakdown in the communications process. They still dont have a white house director of communications yet. You cant send Kellyanne Conway to say one thing and sean spicer out to say another thing. You cant do that. They need to fix that. So, john teed up for you, hillary a lot of different issues and problems were seeing. The sally yates then the acting attorney general alert eed the white house to this breach about Michael Flynn a month ago how are we to believe that the Vice President and President Trump didnt know that Michael Flynn had had this conversation . John articulately turned into a process problem at the white house. Its going to prove to be a much bigger issue. Essentially the president of the United States not only got sworn in but handed his National Security adviser top security clearance knowing that he had done this, knowing that he had broken essentially the law when he went around the sitting president and assured seemingly assured russia something about sanctions. At least we know the day president obama announced these sanctions Vladimir Putin was silenced. Hes never been silent before when being sanctioned or criticized by the United States. So, something must have been told to him or assured to him. The big question now, i think, i talked to democrats over the course of the last several hours, democrats are going to be wondering and asking, what did donald trump know and when dehe know it . I dont think this is going to go away today with mike flynn. John thats the heart of matter, unless you think that mike flynn went rogue and did this all on his own, nobody gave him permission, he decided this was a good idea then you have to chase this up the chain. No evidence at all to suggest that mike pence was in on this. If he was on this if he wouldnt have gone on cbs face the nation and say that this did not happen he might be the only one what makes you think he wouldnt try to mislead the sunday shows . He would be a fool to go on and do that. I absolutely believe that he was taken by surprise by this and that whats caused flynn his job. What about donald trump, john . Well, donald trump is a guy whos not shy about going on twitter and defending his guys. Do you believe, given that sally yates alerted the white House Counsel a month ago that President Trump was aware . I believe flynns departure began before yesterday. Donald trump hasnt given an interview on this subject. My guess he had been tipped off that there was a problem earlier and he took care of it. Look, we need to think about this in the Bigger Picture. White house staff come and go. And certainly in the early days of an administration when people are seen to be unfit and unsuitable for the role they got in and President Trump was warned that mike flynn was a hot head if you will. But heres the real issue, which is does this president feel accountable to the American People . Does he feel that what what happens between him and russia is somehow worthy of transparency to the American People . We saw him compliment an aide on sunday for going on tv saying that the president shouldnt be held accountable by the courts. Lets look at the Bigger Picture not just as a staffer going away today but what the president is going to assure the American People going forward. Very quickly, to tie this up, Kellyanne Conway yesterday went on television and said that general flynn had the full confidence of President Trump and then according to our reporting they had some new information yesterday they felt that it was not in the works what are we now to believe . Who knows . Thats the kiss of the death. Hilary rosen and john phillips, thank you. Chris . The white house is avoiding questions about Michael Flynn, its been going on for days. Theyve been calling on friendly outfits with softball questions. One of the pressers yesterday wasnt even a question about flynn offered up. The Trump Administration is trying to control message. Thats not unusual in politics. But how this white house is doing it is. Our media experts, next. Theree in the world like you, so i wanted you to have the ring to match. At jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. The Engagement Ring of her dreams you had designed just for her. In fact, with Custom Design Services in every jared. 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Ask your doctor if nonprescription ibgard is right for you. Ibgard calms the angry gut. Available at cvs, walgreens and riteaid. The Trump White House, avoiding questions about the president s nowousted National Security adviser Michael Flynn. In the last week, the administration has only really called on conservative Media Outlets or friendly at press conferences. None of them asked about flynn or north koreas missal launch. How is the white house trying to control the message. Lets discuss with senior cnn media correspondent brian settler and bill carter. Lets just, you know, did this on what we know and what we can show. Put up the list of people they have called on since flynn and north korea intrigue came up. None of those are heavy hitters when it comes to cover donald trump. Its not new for a white house to try insulate itself. We have seen anything like this which seems to be a continued assault on free press. Not just message spinning. They also have they have more range of outlets they consider friendly than i can recall. I also think its not particularly a reliable for them in the long term. Because at some point, even if youre a friendly person, if youre a journalist how can you not ask the most obvious question . T how do you call yourself a journalist and not ask about flynn yesterday . Its the most dominate story in the news. Sinclair the local news was there, it was a meeting with the Prime Minister of canada, justin trudeau. They were sent with a different story. I dont think its legit. If youre a news person you ask a news question. How much access do you get to the president . Are you going to ask about canadian hockey . You have to ask whats in the news. Twopart question. These journalists who did not ask about flynn they looked bad yesterday afternoon and they look even worse after flynn resigned. Friday afternoon, President Trump was on air force one on the way to maralago. When asked about flynn he said he didnt know. Its harder to believe that we know the acting attorney general who had been dismissed by trump, sally yates at the end of january had alerted the white house about this problem with Michael Flynn. And by the way, a big moment for investigative journalists. This story was led by the Washington Post, the New York Times the cnn of the worlds. If it werent journalists digging into this we wouldnt know about it. When you hear about Anonymous Sources or leaks from the government this is why its so important. This the job the, the media is going to do its job. What are we seeing here in real time . Okay, they break the story. Flynn resigns. He says in his letter, basically i own this. This wasnt some political trap set by the media. He owned it. What else are we seeing . This isnt the end of the story. Im seeing the media say, well, he lied to pence and he lied how do we know . The white house knew for weeks. They did nothing. They pretended they didnt know about it. They said yesterday he has the full confidence, Michael Flynn, of the president. Kellyanne conway said that which was a mixed message which sean spicer had to say. Its a messaging problem. But its not a credibility problem in terms of Kellyanne Conway went rogue. No, she didnt. No one is closer to President Trump than she is. They said there was new information that came after that. Do we believe at this point, do the facts tell us that this begins and ends with Michael Flynn . It doesnt seem that way and anyone who has covered this is going to keep asking the question. The white house wont answer it. The background Briefing Call this morning and youll see reporters are going to come out and say, we asked questions, can no, they were told by the white house. This may in the short term make the tensions between the press and the president even worse. We got a briefing coming up later today. Sean spicers first of the week on camera. Brian because theres a very likelihood that trump and the aides are going to blame the media both for breaking the story wide open and piling on. Thats not going to fly anymore. This is real news. The guy has resigned. The fake news is going to die. Its not going to fly. How are we supposed to see conways role now since shes a liaison . The fact that she said he has the full confidence just hours before he resigned. Was she being intentionally misleading or is she misinformed . It deepens that credibility issue for conway. Its more about the president. Whatever conway was told by the president. If the president had full confidence in him by 4 00 p. M. Thats not the decisive leader that the apprentice showed us on tv. You know what the bottom line is, Kellyanne Conway is a pro. Not a lot of pros in this white house. People like to make trouble in this white house and this aint a tv show and were seeing it play out in real time. Bill and brian, thank you very much. Thanks to our International Viewers for watching us. Cnn newsroom is next. For u. S. Viewers new day continues next. This is cnn breaks news. Welcome to your new day. We begin with breaking news. Trumps National Security advise irMichael Flynn resigning. The fire storm how he possibly misled the white house about his possible communications about sanctions before President Trump took office. Alysin says possibly, because the facts dont point this is all about Michael Flynn. The intelligence officials warned the Trump White House weeks ago that flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian Ambassador before he took office that he might be vulnerable to blackmail. So,