Were watching all of the above for you over the next hour. But first, weve got breaking news today in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, just a heartbreaking situation in hollywood, florida. At least six people have died at a nursing home after the facility lost its air conditioning three days ago. Firefighters are evacuating more than 100 other elderly residents from this particular home. Right now many are being treated for respiratory diseases, dehydration and any kind of heatrelated issues. The mayor of hollywood, florida lamenting how easily this could have been prevented. Im very disappointed that Something Like this could have taken place. I think there were certainly many ways Emergency Services could have been alerted to this circumstance and unfortunately, Emergency Services were called obviously too late. Officials are also saying that theyre conducting a criminal investigation to what exactly happened. Cnns miguel march questions is outside that Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. Awful, awful, awful. We dont know how this happened. What more do you know . Reporter look, theres a lot of conflicting information out of here. What with he do know for sure is that six people are dead. There are another 12 in critical condition. And the doctor in the emergency room for Memorial Hospital says the death toll could go up. I want to show you how this works out here. There are two facilities here, the rehabilitation of Hollywood Hills and community hospital. Both of those are the ones that are in question here. Both are now locked down. Both are now subject to a criminal investigation. 50 feet that way is Memorial Hospital. Its a class a hospital. They have Emergency Care facility. They can handle any level of trauma out there. But the company that runs this facility, lashing in, has nothing to do with memorial say that they lost power after irma. An employee says that there were generators, not only one that the Company Owned but also rentals that they had. It is not clear if they failed, but how it is that nobody raised their hand and raised an alarm when you had a perfectel good hospital 50 feet away is a huge question. The police chief of hollywood says its now a criminal investigation. Right now the building has been sealed off and were conducting a criminal investigation inside. We believe at this time they may be related to the loss of power and the storm, but were conducting a criminal investigation, not ruling anything out at this time. Now, the city of hollywood is also checking its facilities, 42 facilities that are similar to this, urgent care facilities for the elderly or Elderly Care Facilities to make sure theres no problems h. They havent reported anything so far. Everything seems fine. Theyve also sent out word to the entire state. The governor is weighing in. Theres great fear and frustration about how this could happen. It is the days on where the bad things can happen and just a tiny thing goes wrong in the most vulnerable can pay for it with their lives. Brook. A hospital across the street. Miguel march questions, keep us apprised of any developments there. Meantime, another nursing home has graciously stepped up to help with this. With me now raffle marijuana ton owner of the senior care residences. He is the first licensed senior care administrator in all of florida. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you. First just its my understanding you or your facilities are taking in some of the elderly evacuees. Have you already done that or how many people are you anticipating housing . We expect about 30 residents to be coming in sometime in the next couple hours. We just got our power back up on our 26th street campus, our commercial boulevard facility came up yesterday. One of our assisted livings came up monday. And were back up, except for one facility, which we still are on generator power. And were monitoring every resident in there. Were doing fine. But were able now with our other facilities to take in some of the folks that had to be moved from the other facility. So if youre taking in about 30 or so people, do you have any idea how theyre faring, their conditions . Are they okay . We have no idea at this point what condition theyre in. I would presume that all of us that have been down here through this with the warm temperature, theres probably a certain degree of dehydration. We have been hydrating our residents since the beginning. Its a standard operating procedure. And were prepared. We practiced this. Rehearse it. But of course, until it actually happens, you really never know. But ive got to tell you, im so proud of my staff. Theyve done a magnificent job. As tired as they all are, as tired as we all are, they keep going and now were prepared to help others. Good for you. Thank you so much. Gosh, at least thats wonderful for people to get that kind of help. Its just horrendous to think this happened to somebodys grandmother or grandfather. As we continue to cover, were waiting for the White House Daily briefing. In the meantime, my colleague john berman has traveled farther south. He is down in big pine key. Ill let you take it over from here, john. Reporter so, brook, about mile 30 in the florida keys. We went to Sugar Loaf Key about mile 21. Most buildings there had their roofs. Here on big pine it is a much different story. You can see this house behind me right here. Just the surge went right through the wall there and wiped the entire house out on to the sea which is there behind the camera there. This house is gone. The roof is still there, but nothing else. I think we have a shot from the sky right now to give you a sense of the entire coastline right here, what it looks like from the air right now. And this is where there was this giant surge. Residents tell us they saw an eightfoot surge here which overwhelmed house after house after house. Now, we have seen some residents here coming back home. As i said, i talked to the owners of this house. They own a few properties on here. All of them, they believe, will need to be completely rebuilt. They are getting food and water now. Food and water have arrived here in a different part of town. People have been driving to the center of town, picking up pallets of water provided by the military and other also other givers. I think what people want more than anything else is communications. People want to be able to reach the outside world. And we put together cnn put together a little packageful whfor people to see what its like for these people to come home. And also for people to reach out to their loved ones across the country. Theres no way to get a phone call out here on cell phone or email or anything else, so sat phones which cnn and others have are are very precious commodities right now. Watch this. I want to go home. I want to see my home. I want to see that we have a home. I cant believe that the water is still in the house. Cant even get in there yet. My house where i pay taxes and im not allowed to get in here. Ive spent five days on the road its hot here and theres no electricity. Theres nothing here. Theres no gas, no water, no stores. It looks like you had a crew with sledge hammers and they were angry at somebody. How are the kids, are they although . Watching the news and not knowing whats going on with your house and everything, your life. Oh, my god, the roof. You havent been able to talk to anybody . No. Its gone. Wanted to let you know were okay. Hey. Yes. Im alive. I know. Im fine. Everyone is good. Please get in contact with mom and the rest of the ive still got a lot of whis key and beer left. Its just getting warm. Right now im okay. Right now my family is okay. Im okay. Reporter im alive. Thats the message from the people who rode out the storm here getting messages back to loved ones. Theyre here. They are haert folk. Help is beginning to arrive. I saw a line of a couple dozen utility trucks into the main road here, u. S. 1. So, again, theyre going to get to work, but there is so much work here, brook, that needs to be done. Watching that peegs, seeing everyone on those sat phones telling loved ones theyre alive, goose bumps. Well check back in with you momentarily. Also, were going to take everyone live to the caribbean where a week after irma struck people there are describing an incredibly dire situation. Theyre talking about lack of food and water and some say theyre being forced to fend for themselves. And in politics today, look who is coming to dinner. The top two democrats in congress, Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi, both joining President Trump at the white house this evening. What cnn has learned about their dinner plans and how republicans feel about that. Also happening right now, the president is meeting with one of the republican senators who publicly criticized his response to charlottesville and questioned his moral authority. What South Carolinas senator tim scott is telling President Trump today. All of this as we are waiting for that White House Press briefing to begin. Stay with me. Im Brooke Baldwin and this is cnn. Sfx tmobile mnemonic sfx tmobile mnemonic sfx tmobile mnemonic tmobiles unlimited now includes netflix on us. Thats right, netflix on us. Get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. Taxes and fees included. And now, netflix included. So go ahead, binge on us. Another reason why tmobile is americas best unlimited network. Sfx tmobile mnemonic you myour joints. Thing for your heart. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Lets go to the white house. I want to start off by reiterating the messages that fema administrator brock long and the president s Homeland Security officer tom bossert made this morning regarding the on going relief efforts in the wakes of Hurricane Irma and harvey. Life sustaining operations are still under way. And we encourage everyone in the designated areas in florida, puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands to register online at www dot Disaster Assistance dot gov. Thats the quickest way to register for federal assistance. As i said yesterday, the president was pleased that members on all sides of the aisle came together last week under his leadership to deliver critical relief to those affected by the storms, and he has continued that spirit of bipartisanship and unity this week. Last night he hosted republican and democrat senators to discuss advancing the administrations lejs laif priorities, particularly the importance of delivering tax cuts and reform for the middle class. Today in addition to important meetings with republican and democrat house members and senator tim scott, the president will also host senators consumer and congresswoman pelosi this evening for a bipartisan discussion on tax reform. Tax reform is one of the most significant ways that we will jump start our economy, creating jobs and raising wages for all americans. The president and his team will continue to engage with all members of congress who are willing to work with us to deliver this critical relief for the American People. Finally, on a slightly lighter note, id like to announce that frank from false church, virginia whose letter i read last month offering his services to mow the white house lawn will be here on friday. Hell work with the ground keeping crew at the white house and will help cut the grass in the rose garden. The president is committed to keeping the dream alive for kids like frank, and were all looking forward to having him here. And with that ill take your questions. John. A couple of questions. First of all, can you give us a readout of the meeting that the president had with senator scott this morning . Sure. This was a very productive meeting that the president and the senator both wanted to have something to discuss potential Solutions Moving forward to bring the country together, focus on unity, also talking and touching on some of the priorities for the legislative agenda moving into the fall. Did senator scott express his displeasure at all with the president s initial reaction to charlottesville . Not although all. They talked about it pretty indepth, but the focus was primarily on Solutions Moving forward. And that was what both people came to the meeting wanting to discuss is what we can do to bring people together, not talk about divisions within the country. Second question, following the meeting that he had with the president last night, West Virginia senator joe manchin said in his. World you get 30 democratic and 30 republican senators agreeing on a plan for tax reform. Does the president believe he can get 30 Democratic Senators and still stick to his principles for tax reform . I think america hopes he can. I think for the sake of most americans, the goal is i would actually set the sights much higher and that you have every member of the senate come together to help pass massive tax cuts and bring tax reform to this country. Two questions, ific. The president s dinner tonight with schumer and pelosi. In the past president has called Chuck Schumer a clown, pelosi a loser, but now he seems to recognize that he needs them. How does that work . I think its less about him needing but more about the president wanting to work with them and wanting to help move this country forward. As weve said many times before, weve got a very ambitious legislative agenda for the fall and the president wants to work with anybody that wants to move America Forward and if theyre willing to do that, sit down and be part of that conversation on both tax cuts and tax reform, responsible immigration reform, the president certainly welcomes those conversations. Does he view schumer and pelosi as equal allies on the hill forgetting things done on par with mcconnell and ryan . Look, the president is a republican and certainly i think ideologically thats a much cleaner match up, but again, if these people and these individuals, whether theyre democrats or republicans, want to come together to push the president s agenda and the agenda that clearly the American People want to see or they wouldnt have elected donald trump, then were certainly happy to have that conversation and move that ball forward. I know the president came out today but a lot of people believe that may not come to pass. Senator alexander has introduced a more stable bill to stabilize the insurance markets. What does the president make of democrats efforts on single payor. I think that the president as well as the majority of the country knows that the single payor system that the democrats are proposing is is a horrible idea. Yank of anything worse than having goth be more involved in your health care instead of less involved. The president s focused on looking at ways where goth gets out of the way, people have more control over their own health care and looking at ways to, again, fully repeal and replace would certainly be a priority. But we want to move this system forward and make sure that were in a place thats actually sustainable and that we have a Healthcare System that works, that people who are under that Healthcare System actually have a say in. But could he sign something thats not a full scale repeal . Obviously im not just saying single payor, but something on wed have to see the specific pieces of that legislation before were going to weigh in on a hypothetical bill. Is Vice President pence going to be attending that dinner tonight . I believe the Vice President is actually hosting another dinner at his residence with other members of congress. Well make sure we get more details to you on that later today. On a different topic, i wanted to followup on some statements you made yesterday about james comey. You said some of his conduct likely could have been illegal. I was wondering what specifically you were referring to there once the one thing you pointed out were those memos that were given to the times but those didnt contain any classified information and were handed over once he was a private citizen. They were created on an fbi computer. They clearly follow the protocol of an official fbi document. Leaking on a sensitive case regardless of classification violates federal laws including the privacy act, standard fbi employment agreement and none disclosure agreement, all personnel must sign. I think thats pretty clean and clear that that would be a violation. What do you want to see happen . Thats not up to me decide. Im certainly not an attorney, but i think that the facts of the case are very clear. Following up on that, so youre not saying that the Justice Department should look into this, but you do believe that comey did that his act of leaking those memos was illegal . The department of justice has to look into any allegations of whether or not something is illegal or not. Thats not up to me to decide. What ive said and what im talking about are facts. James comey leaking of information, questionable statements under oath, politicizing an investigation, those are real reasons for why he was fired and the president s decision was 100 right which weve said multiple times over and over. And in fact, i think the more and more we learn the more thats been vindicated. Just on a another topic. Can you give any details on where the president will be going tomorrow in florida, anything, any details on that trip . He will be in the naples and fort myers area and as soon as those final details about specific stops are locked in, well certainly keep you guys posted. Two questions. The first one, after meeting with senator scott, is the misdemeanors mind changed at all about that Mission Statement . Should he have been more forceful and will he sign this bipartisan solution condemning the president was clear in his initial statement that he condemned hatred, bigotry, racism of all forms. He continues to stick to that message. Hes been very consistent in that fact. He and the senator talked about that and discussed that and agreed that that was the appropriate place to be in terms of whether or not hell sign the joint resolution, absolutely, and he looks forward to doing so as soon as he receives it, which he hasnt done as i came out here earlier. One other topic. His meeting with Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi tonight, this is the kind of thing that conservatives who ran against him in the president ial race warned about that he would be cutting deals that would not hold the ideals of kevlt. Why is he just meeting with the two of them . Is he hoping to strike an immigration deal . I think its pretty disingenuous for people to say hes only meeting with democrats. The president is the leader of the Republican Party and was elected by republicans. He beat out 16 other candidates to take that mantel on and certainly i think one of the strongest voices. And so the idea that the Republican Party ideas are not represented in that room is just ridiculous. Is immigration going to come up and will the president consider reaching some kind of deal similar to the threemonth extension working with democrats on the dreamers issue . I wouldnt be surprised if it came up tonight, but im not going to get ahead of the conversation that are going to take place later this evening. And alice always well keep you posted on what those look like. The number two at fema withdrawing his nomination for consideration. Did the white house know about the ig audit when the president decided to nominate him . Were not going to get into the back and forth. Our focus particularly at fema right now is on the safety and security of those that have been affect by the hurricane. Were not going to go down rabbit holes on personnel and our focus is on that right now. This morning on cbs senator m man chin. Do you know on what basis the president is he 39. 6 . Are we not going to see a reduction . How can he assure the americans that the rich wont get a tax cut. The president s is on the middle class, grow the middle class, create jobs. Hes laid out those principles and thats where his focus and thats what hes going to push for as we move into this process. In january the president gave an interview to the Washington Post he said he wanted to see a program that would allow for insurance for everybody and that would lench medicare and medicaids ability to control drug prices. Bernie sand certificates seems to be offering a plan that would do that. Why does the president not support it . Im pretty sure that not only does the president not support it or america doesnt support it or Bernie Sanders would be sitting in the oval office right now. He pushed them during the campaign. He didnt make it through the primary. He didnt i think thats a pretty clear indication of what america wants to see, and its not a single payor system. Id like to ask im come back. Thank you. Go ahead. Two quick questions on tax reform. There are some democrats who are confused if the president was serious about creating a bipartisan tax plan, their thinking is that the president would also be meeting with ranking members, with the minority members on ways and means and on the finance committee in advance of the disclosure of the consensus outline thats going to come out at the end of september. Can you describe the president s view about how to create a bipartisan tax plan and does he want to get ideas from democrats or does he just want democrats to buy into the plan that bread and hatch will reveal . I think just by mere fact that hes been sitting down both yesterday and today with multiple members of the Democratic Party shows that he wants to have that conversation with him. I dont think you can make that any more clear than to have those ongoing conversations with multiple members of the democrat party. Quick question on florida. How soon will the federal government be able to estimate with any kind of precision what kind of additional aid might be necessary to address the destruction in florida in terms of what congress may be presented with were still in the Recovery Efforts right now and until we get a little bit further in the process it would be prema you are to put those estimates out there, particularly with precision. I would imagine that that takes us a good bit more time and once we have those numbers well let you know. Id like to ask, the United States is spearheading a meeting at the u. N. On monday on u. N. Reform. Could you give me some specifics on what the United States hopes to accomplish in that meeting . Im not going to get ahead of the meetings that are going to tapes, but i can tell you that on friday general mcmaster and ambassador heal will be here at the briefing to talk in more detail. Two questions on two different subjects. Just a followup to the president s meeting that he had he had with senator scott this morning. After the president s response to that white supremacist rally in charlottesville senator scott said that President Trumps moral authority was compromised. In terms of the conversation that they had, does the president under what trouble senator scott in regards to his response . They had a very open and honest conversation and committed to continuing those conversations and making sure that today was just the first step of many of those meetings. I think that will be an on going process and conversation that they have. On tax reform, with the meeting thats taking place this evening with Democratic Leaders from congress, what has been the reaction that youve seen from the supporters that were positive board support of the trump bandwagon from the start, this new tact that the president is taking in reaching out to democrats . This is something that the president talked about on the campaign trail of being a good dealmaker and being able to sit down with members of both sides and be able to bring a deal and bring good legislation for the American People. This isnt new. And people listened and heard the president and certainly supported him. And thats why hes here today. Thank you, sarah. Two different questions on two subjects. First, your earlier remarks about the nature of repeal and replace legislation would seem to rule out the white house support for a flatout repeal which is favored by Many Republican house members. Are you ruling out or disscourging a flat out repeal measure first . We havent ruled out anything that helps move this process forward. Approximate were grateful for the efforts that are continuing in congress and we hope that they do what they campaigned on and what they promised the American People they would do and thats not just repeal but its also replace. I think both of those parts are very important moving forward. The other thing is the president recently appointed 42 new u. S. Attorneys and its been reported fairly widely that only one of them was a woman, the u. S. Attorney for the district of columbia. Jas advance, former democrat appointed u. S. Attorney in alabama called this and i quote, a slap in the face, unquote. What is the reaction of the white house to that comment on this wave of appointments of u. S. Attorneys . I think that the president has certainly surrounded himself with a lot of strong women in various positions, including myself in a pretty high position and senior position in the administration, as well as hope hicks, kellyanne conway, a number of others. Hes continuing to add women to his staff at senior levels every single day, and i think thats a very positive step forward considering particularly on the communications side its the first time in history thats happened. Thanks, sarah. It was reported today that mike flynn jr. Is the subject of a federal investigation into election meddling. Is the president concerned that someone who served on his Transition Team is now the subject of a federal investigation . I havent had a conversation to him about that, but id refer you to outside counsel. A comment that Hillary Clinton made this morning. She said she wished that President Trump was the president of for all americans. Do you have any reaction to the president s role in the white house. I think that type of misunderstanding of who this president is and frankly a misunderstanding of what hes been doing is exactly one of the reasons that Hillary Clinton is not the president and is instead pushing a book with a lot of false narratives and a lot of, i think, false accusations and placing blame on a lot of other people instead of accepting it herself. Thank you, sarah. A little over a week ago the canada, u. S. And mexico second round of negotiations on nafta. Next round in ten days in on the oh with a. Has the president been briefed on the second round . Is he happy with the result, if he was briefed and is he still considering canceling the entire agreement . Those negotiations are still ongoing and a final decision hasnt been made. And theyre going to continue to push forward to make sure that the best deal possible for americans and American Workers happens. Two questions. The last time the president im not sure. Im not aware of any conversation thats taken place in quite a long time, so. And i also want to ask about tonights dinner. Why not also invite Mitch Mcconnell and paul ryan . Look, youve got the leader of the Republican Party sitting at the table. This is the president s opportunity to have a very open and honest conversation with members of the senate, and i think anybody that tries to distort it into and other than that is just misunderstanding what the purpose is. I dont want to get it wrong either. Are you saying that if Mitch Mcconnell and paul ryan were there then that conversation would be distorted . Thats not what im saying at all. Im saying that if anybody thinks that a republican viewpoint isnt being represented is completely miss p understanding that the president is the leader of the Republican Party. So is the president negotiating on behalf of the Republican Leadership on the hill in this meeting or is he the president is negotiating on behalf of the American People exactly what he was elected to do. And the idea that you guys keep trying to distort this into a bad thing is i think exactly why this president was elected. They were sick and tired of business as usual. They wanted somebody who would break up the status quo, that would bring people from both sides of the table together to have conversations. This president has done more for bipartisan in the last eight days than obama did in eight years. Sarah, tim scott meeting, what other topics were on the table with the president beyond charlottesville with tim scott . They talked about tax reform. They talked about moving to a looking at different ways to bring the country together and about continuing ongoing conversations, making sure that they stayed in Constant Contact with one another and having a pretty open and regular conversation. Were there conversations about hbcu sources were saying that there was a conversation about a request from black republicans to have a high ranking black republican within this administration who knows issues and understands how washington up and down pennsylvania works. Was that a conversation in this meeting . There were certainly conversations about adding additional personnel that can tap into the Africanamerican Community that did come up, yes. So where did that go . What did the president say a commitment to absolutely work with senator scott to do exactly that and for the two of them to continue to have those conversations for his viewpoints to continue to be expressed directly to the president. Did they speak of certain issues or certain people as it related to that topic about bringing new specific people didnt come up. Let me bring you back to taxes and a couple questions there. The ppd contained on a Corporate Tax rate although Steve Mnuchin said the president is prepared to move for as low a rate as we can get. Mick mulvaney said he was adamant about a 15 rate. Is the official position from the administration that hits 15 rate needs to happen or that all thf is subject to negotiation . The 15 has been the goal. Its always been the goal. Were going to continue pushing for that. That certainly hasnt changed. And secondly, with working with or at least talking tonight with pelosi and schumer, one of the things that they want is not one penny of their campaign to the wealthiest americans. That is a marker that they have drawn in the sand. At this point is the president open to not having tax cuts as deep as one thought for the wealthiest americans. Again, the president s focus has never been on the wealthiest americans. Its been on tax cuts for the middle class and tax reform as a whole. Had thats been his priority. Thank you. Two questions, if i may. One is just since you raised the issue of mrs. Clintons book having a false narrative and false accusations, could you point us to a couple specific accusations in the book that you believe are factually incorrect . I think probably the biggest one is any place within the book where she lays blame for the loss on anyone but herself. Okay. Can i ask just a followup. The president issued a strong statement the other day on myanmar. I know that topic came up in his meeting yesterday with the malaysia. I wonder if the president feels that the leader of that country should be more forthright in condemning whats happening in that part of her country . I think anytime anyone seize Something Like that taking place, public condemnation is certainly appropriate. Were going to continue working with our allies and partners to be part of the process in whatever way we can moving forward. Yes. You mentioned a couple times today sort of emphasized diversity in the west wing and you talked about the president being very clear after dharltsville. I just want to read a comment from an null from espn yesterday who said donald trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself and other White Supremacists as a direct result. Hes unqualified and fit to be president. Why do you think do you have a reaction to that and is the president aware of im not sure hes aware, but i think thats one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly is a fireable offense by he is feen. Why do you think null africanamerican figures are saying things im not going to speak for that individual, but i know that the president has met, again, with people like senator scott who are highly rpd leaders in the Africanamerican Community. Hes committed to working with them to bring the country together. I think thats where we need to be focused, not on outrageous statements like that one. Is the president thank you, sarah. You said before the president has done more for bipartisanship in the last eight days than president obama did in the last eight years. Are you basing that off of meetings that hes held with the democrats here at the white house . Im basing that on the fact that hes actually willing to sit down with members of the opts party, does that president obama rarely did and certainly didnt listen to members of the opposite party. Yank of a single time where he made a deal with anybody from the opposite side, from anybody beyond the democrat party. And again, this president is committed to doing that. He hasnt just done it once, but hes continuing to do that as we move into one of the most ambitious legislative agenda weve had in a long time. And were committed to working with democrats. Hes both stated that publicly and in these meetings that hes going to continue to have. Does the president believe theres a mistake not to have invested more time and energy in the Schumer Pelosi relationship at an earlier stage in his term . I dont think so. I think right now were at a critical time where we have some big things on the agenda, tax reform, responsible immigration reform. Hes committed to working with both republicans and democrats to push those through and hopes that theyll come on board to do thatth thanks so much, guys. The president will be having an event here just momentarily. Thank you. All right. Lets get to it. Lets walk through some of the headlines beginning with a lot of those questions about this big dinner tonight. You know, at the white house with the top two democrats in congress, both Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi, both of whom he has referred to in previous months as losers or clowns. And now theyre coming to dinner. And, you know, some criticism from republicans that there are worries that he could bow to democratic wants and the response from Sarah Sanders was that no, no, no, that would be entirely disingenuous. Hes the head of the Republican Party. Do you think that thats a fair worry . Yeah. I think its a worry based on everything we know about donald trump, brooke. Remember, this is not someone who was a republican up until a few years ago. I would say during the campaign and even after the campaign in the white house, he is not a down the hill ideologically republican or kernlt. No. Thats part of his appeal, frankly. Right. To people that he is willing to have dinner with nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Candidly, while i think a lot of people, particularly democrats, might roll their eyes at the Sarah Sanders quote that donald trump has done more for bipartisanship in eight days than barak obama did for eight years, theres a decent chunk of the country that wont disagree with that. I think and there was a followup question, rightly so, im not sure having dinner with nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer is sort of the height of bipartisanship. But he did cut a deal with them. So hes doing things, i think, that will make republicans very uneasy, but might sort of help do the thing that people thought he might do, which is be so unorthodox. Yep. That he shakes things up. Yep. How about staying on the democratic theme, listening to Sarah Sanders talk about this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad plan. Im speaking in hyperbole. She referred to Bernie Sanders medicare for all plan as horrible. We know hes unveiling it this hour. And this notion of the single payor system and she was saying, hey, america object wrusel didnt like it. They didnt put him in the oval office. Also keeping in mind a lot of potential democratic contenders are supporting said plan. What do you think of all that happening today . Yeah. Five to my count signed on as 5 potential 2020 democrats signed on to the Bernie Sanders plan, as well as him who is mentioned. Look, i think theres a reason, brooke, that you see people like nancy pelosi, chris muvry, the senator from connecticut being a little bit skeptical of it. This is a when i say it, i mean the medicare for all plan. This is a sea change. In january 2016 Hillary Clinton essentially said that Bernie Sanders pushing single payor was a sure fire way to complicate her attempts in the Democratic Partys attempts to shore up the Affordable Care act and her quote was it will never happen in terms of single payor. You know, less than two years later here we are with every major con tender, short of joe biden signed onto it. I think it is i think that Sarah Sanders quote is indicative of what youll see if democrats do choose someone who is in favor of single payor. The if the government is going to assume all responsibility for coverage and cost for coverage for everyone in america, its going to require a lot of money. Where is that m. O. A. B. Going to come from . Taxes. Much higher taxes. Theres a reason that democrats have been fearful of this for years. I think the liberal base wants it. I dont know if it sells in a general election. Okay. You mentioned Hillary Clinton. Just let me end with the fact that, you know, we all know Hillary Clintons book came out yesterday and she was asked about this yesterday. You laugh because you know where im going because the question was Sarah Sanders has said that the book is selling a false negative and the question today was what specifically was false and she paraphrasing said any scenario in which Hillary Clinton doesnt blame anyone but herself on her loss. Thats the false narrative. I mean, thats not that idea of a false narrative is in and of itself false. I have written many things critical of Hillary Clinton and the campaign that she ran and her sometimes tendency to blame other people. But it is 100 it is not false that there are a lot of reasons that she lost, some of much were well beyond her control, including the russians attempted meddling in the election and the email releases through wikileaks, including james comey ten days before the election coming out and reopening the email investigation. Theres a lot going on there. Is Hillary Clinton the name on the ballot . Yes. Is it her campaign in that shes ultimately responsible for it. Yes. But its not false for her to say that there were a lot of factors of which many deserve blame for her losing. So that, frankly, a little bit of fake news from Sarah Huckabee sanders. If you want to put something specific that Hillary Clinton said that is not true or not accurate, thats not what she did . That press conference. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, let me bring in april ryan who just asked an excellent question of Sarah Huckabee sanders. One thing we hadnt talked about was this really important meeting at the white house today with the only black republican senator, South Carolina senator tim scott. And weve gotten a little bit of a read out and we heard Sarah Huckabee sanders tell you guys that the conversation was about the busy legislative agenda but also about charlottesville a little bit. And you asked a question, and i heard you sources saying that maybe they would add additional folks within the administration who would have a deeper connection with the black community. Will that be happening . Tell me what you know about this meeting. Well, what i know from my sources is that the president listened. He wasnt necessarily always happy with what senator scott had to say when it came to issues of race, but he listened, nonetheless, but hes taken a beating. He knows hes taken a beating on this. And he listened. Tim scott brought up issues of charlottesville, but he also brought up issues of the fact that this administration does not have certain times of African Americans in leadership. When i say certain types, republicans, high ranking republicans who know how to work washington, who know how to work both ends of pennsylvania avenue. And they feel thats missing and thats some of the problem here, you know, because some of the legislative pieces that would be in place like, you know, poverty issues, criminal Justice Reform are just not happening, and theyre very concerned about this. Its not just tim scott but other republicans. I talked to former republican congressman j. Krfrmt watts a few hours ago. So this has been reiterated throughout the black republican community. There is a major concern about issues that are just not happening in this white house, and theyre concerned that there are not the people here to be able to move those issues forward. And just to quickly the fact that it was senator scott, i think its the white house it was the white house that requested this meeting, according to senator scotts chief of staff. Just the fact that it was senator scott and we know what he said, questioning the president s moral authority. He had strong criticism in the wake of what happened in charlottesville. What do you make of the fact that it was this specific senator who said weve got to chat . Well, first of all, when you look at the Republican Party, there is and when you look at black republicans, charlottesville was huge for all america. But when it came to African Americans with the confederate stat uz and the alleged impetus for what happened in charlts and hear the president go back four, five times, you can take away everything, but when you get to the base of it, he is a senator who happens to be black. So that checked the core of this senator as well as others, and theyre very concerned with these five conversations the president had that, you know, if he had the teleprompter he spoke about what they told him to speak with, but when he did not have the teleprompter he spoke from the heart and when he spoke from the heart, sometimes that ruffled the feathers and it made you wonder. It made many people question his moral authority. Tim scott being a van guard leader, have a few still like j. C. Watts, even mikeel steele, you have these black leaders who are very concerned. Its important for the president to talk to someone who is on the hill, who can help him get things through even though its tough right now. April ryan, thank you so much. Good to see you again. Thanks, brooke. You too. And just a quick reminder to all of you, tonight here on cnn, Hillary Clinton talks to Anderson Cooper about what happened in the 2016 president ial race and so much more. The ac Hillary Clinton interview airs tonight 8 clock eastern here on kin. Coming up next, sources just telling cnn the Justice Department is preventing Senate Investigators from interviewing two top officials from the firing of james comey. Also just in we have some video of people down in the florida keys being turned away as they try to return home. We will take you back down to florida in just a moment. How much money do you think youll need in retirement . I have no idea. More than i want to think about. Choose wisely everyone. No cheating, no cheating. Then we found out how many years that money would last them. Nooooo oh no. How did this happen . How long do you think well keep oooooohhh you stopped oh youre gonna leave me back here at year 9 . Oh nooo. It turned out a lot of people fell short of even the average length of retirement. We have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. We have to do something now to make sure were set for then. Lets plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement. Prudential. Bring your challenges. What should i watch . Show me sports. Its so fluffy look at that fluffy unicorn hes so fluffy im gonna die your voice is awesome. The x1 voice remote. Xfinity. The future of awesome. Back to this cnn exclusive on the russia investigation. This is essentially the department of Justice Department versus Senate Investigators. Sources are telling cnn and our own Congressional Correspondent that the Justice Department is preventing the Senate Judiciary committee there interviewing two top fbi officials about the firing of now former fbi director james comey. Ive got john dean with me, former white House Counsel for president nixon. Man u, just beginning with you, why are they not allowing these guys to talk . Well, theyre siting the special counsels investigation. What we know is the special counsel is interested in this of course russia collusion aspect of it, any krim although that was involved with Trump Associates and russia associates. If appears to be looking into the issue or the possibility of any obstruction of justice. Now, the reason why this is such an interesting and Key Development was the Senate Judiciary committee wanted to talk to these two senior fbi officials as part of its own investigation into fbi interference. And what they want to know specifically is did they have any firsthand information about the circumstances around james comeys firing, about what they got in response was that this could be part of the special counsels investigation, so they did not want to allow them to sit down for a transcribed interview. To in response the Committee Said lights want talk about the investigation at all. Lets just talk about the comey firing and i am told that the Justice Department has not been cooperative in letting these two individuals be come over for a transcribed interview, a real sign that this is possibly an area that special counsel bob mueller is exploring as part of this investigation. I just had a chance to talk to Dianne Feinstein about what theyre going to do next. She doesnt know yet. Just another sign of the escalating tensions between these various investigations that are moving forward right now. John dean, wouldnt all this suggest that theyre getting close to something . That whoo theyre looking into might be one of the main focuses of the probe, thus the denial for her allowing these two to talk . Brooke, thats very possible. But i must also put this in a bigger context. Its not unusual for this to happen. This is sort of standard procedure. These are two separate brafrmgz of government with different goals, different aims, different processes. And i can site many examples of this happening from watergate to iran contra to countless just bread and butter investigations where the department of justice has refused the senate or house request to probe in and get inside their investigative body. So i dont find this as particularly startling. It just does show the investigation is moving forward on several fronts. Okay. Let me switch and ask you about your other reporting on michael flynn, the former National Security adviser and how youre learning that House Democrats are saying he failed to disclose Something Else he did overseas. Yeah. Thats right. A mideast trip that he took back in 2015 as part of an effort for a major 100 billion project that would involve 16 new Nuclear Power plants with saudi arabia as well as the purchase of military hardware with russia. Now, why this is significant is the fact that he came back after this meeting in the mideast and did not disclose the fact that he did go there on a security clearance forms. As we know, brooke, is that that is required by federal law. And knowingly falsifying or concealing any information on the forms is a violation of federal law and its another example of him failing to disclose some foreign trips. Of course, this comes as Michael Flynns legal problems really are piling up. Mueller looking into a number of issues, including his communications with the former ambassador to russia. But i should say i tried to reach out to Michael Flynns attorney for a comment on this latest development, but the House Democrats say they have found and no comment yet from Michael Flynns attorney. So john dean, whats the story on what are the rules on disclosures on security forms . Because i think it was jared kushner, there were some revisions with his own previous disclosures. And why cant flynn just do the same . The Trump Administration has a deep amnesia problem with the fs86 form. Its a complex form. Its got lots of questions. Its done on a computer today and it takes a long time to do it. It keeps warning you, however, when you do the process that failure to disclose is a federal crime. And it also makes you acknowledge youve read that particular warning. I think theyre in a lot of trouble over this. The thing is this is seldom prosecuted, but it can certainly be used as leverage if there are other crimes involved to get people to talk about things they might not want to talk about. Well, i dont think after nicha cuts it in the eyes of the law. As you well know, john dean. Thank you so much for your analysis as always. Lets go back down to florida here, florida keys, to be precise. People there are apparently being turned away from going home. Brian todd is in the thick of this in the keys. Bryan, what are you seeing . Reporter brooke, this check point here has become kind of a de facto refugee camp. We can come and go as we please through this check point. The media is being let in out but local residents are being told they cannot get through. Sheriffs deputies are turning people back here and its really causing a lot of frayed nerves. A lot of people very upset with this. People told us that they were told in homestead by sheriffs deputies and other Law Enforcement that they could come here, that they could get home today and then when they get to this check point several miles down on u. S. One theyre being told they cant go back. So weve talked to some people who are very upset. One guy says, look, ive got 20 miles to go. I know my home is in good shape. Theyre teasing me. Hes very upset. One woman was afraid that her home is going to be lootd. Theyre basically at the end of their rope, brooke. One gentleman who was on a motorcycle, we just witnessed a confrontation. He came up on his motorcycle to a sheriffs deputy. He held a bottle of medication, looked like an empty bottle of medication as if to say, you know, i need to go and get some or i need to give it to somebody, and the guy the sheriffs deputy refused him. The guy tried to make an end run around the sheriffs deputy, the deputy jumped in front of his motorcycle, screamed at the guy and the guy finally turned around. So there is a lot of high tension. What were told by sheriffs deputies is we cannot let them go back yet because if we let them go in there, theres no cell phone, theres no landline. Theres no power. If they go in there and they try to get in their home and they get hurt somehow, then theres no way for them to call us. Thats why theyre not letting them back, but there are a lot of frustrated people here. So what are they to do if theyre turned around in the immediate future . Where do they go . Well, a lot of them have stayed right here. There are some cars over here, some over here on my right. Theyre just kind of camping out. And by the way, the weather is playing a huge factor in this just like everything for the last week and a half down here in south florida. It is a south florida september skorcher. Its 90 plus degrees here. There is no breeze. These poor people are sitting here in hot cars. A lot of them are saying im going to stay here in my car. I dont care. And we asked a sheriffs deputy just when the timetable is and he said i no idea. Some people are heading back up north, but a lot of them are staying right here and theyre miserable. I cant even begin to appreciate their frustration. Brian todd, keep an eye on that, please. Lets continue on. Our two for me. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke wald win. Cleanup and rory now taking
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