Intelligence chief says american democracy is under assault by President Trump. This comes after the firing of fbi director james comey and that sent shock waves still finding their level in washington. Lawmakers are calling on the president to turnover any taped conversations the president may have with james comey. President trump is also preparing for a major test this week. First foreign trip of his presidency. Lets begin our coverage with cnns joe johns live at the white house. Good morning, joe. Reporter good morning, alisyn. With the firing of the fbi director as an example, the former head of National Intelligence making an extraordinary assertion that the president of the United States himself is eroding the system of checks and balances at the core of american government. The fallout over President Trumps firing of fbi director james comey isnt going away. I think in many ways our institutions are under assault both externally ands thats the big news here is russian interfere
Combined with the most wifi hotspots. Its a new kind of network. Xfinity mobile. The president arrived tonight in new jersey for a Holiday Weekend at his golf club in bed minister having already provide the fireworks back in washington. Today his feud with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and his rage at their criticism of him lit the capitol sky. For more on the fallout and whats next, lets go to cnns sara murray. Whats been the white houses response so far to the allegations by scarborough and brzezinski . Reporter well, anderson, were now in day two of this. The president s fight with two cable news hosts, this time over a National Enquirer story and whether there was an attempt essentially to go after these anchors with this story, whether they reached out to the president to try to get him to kill it. The president is insisting that Joe Scarborough called him, but officially theres no comment on this from the white house. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she wasnt even sure today if
We believe people operating on High Standard have an account tablt office on all of these cases and we will not accept abuses of the law. Thank you very much the chair recognizes the gentle woman for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. This is so great to you have here today. We are really excited to have you attorney general sessions and we just thank you for your many years of service to the state of alabama and now your continued work for our nation as our attorney general. And ive known you for a very long time. And youve served our state for a very long time. And the people of alabama know you well. So weve heard a lot about russia today. And things you may or may not have heard. And that somehow you are guilty of collusion with russia. So i have two questions for you. Have you ever worked with russians to influence an election . No. Have you ever in any capacity, personally, politically or officially ever done anything to hurt or harm the National Security of the United States
Start with us. Im dave briggs. Im rene marsh. Its 4 00 a. M. In the east. First, President Trump is standing firmly behind scott pruitt this morning after controversies mount. Returning from the event in West Virginia yesterday, the president was asked if he still has confidence in pruitt. I think that scott has done a fantastic job. I think he is a fantastic person. I just left coal and energy country. They love scott pruitt. They feel strongly about scott pruitt. They love scott pruitt. The president s backing is so strong sources tell cnn he floated replacing attorney general Jeff Sessions with scott pruitt as recently as this week. Sessions is a target of the president ever since he recused himself from the russia investigation. The president endorsed pruitt despite the headlines and allegations he sidelined top aides who pushed back on spending. More from cnns sarah ganim in washington. Reporter good morning, rene and dave. Reports that scott pruitt sidelined officials after they
you were in that hearing. juana summers is a senior writer for cnn politics. sarah ganim. and we should also give a shout out to sunlen serfaty, who is not here, but the four of you put together this incredible piece for cnn.com where you interview 50 people, you know, current, former, hill, staffers, aides, et cetera, on their stories and what hasn t been done. but, mj, first to you. just hearing from congresswoman speier about these two current members of congress accused of sexual harassment. what more do we know about that? yeah, brooke, this was a really stunning hearing. i think, first of all, the fact that this hearing even happened is pretty significant. it s sort of this recognition on capitol hill right now that this is a serious problem in both the house and the senate and members are interested in having a discussion about how these antiquated policies can be changed. and then the stories that congresswoman speier and com stock told of various stories