They used an a. M. Bat door as top agent as a kree kruter. It led to flynns oust eras security advisor. And vital intelligence, sources tell cnn that the yemen raid in alqaeda which cost the life of a navy seal did produce valuable intelligence, laptops and cell phones with hundreds of names and information for future u. S. Strikes. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Breaking news. Suddenly the Trump Administration is being rocked by another fastgrowing crisis over shadowing the president s dramatic visit today to the navys newest aircraft carrier. The attorney general Jeff Sessions has just recused himself, meaning hes stepping aside, from any investigations into contacts between the Trump Campaign and russian officials. Key republicans today have been calling on him to do just that, while there are calls from democrats for him to step down. At issue, revelations that sessions then a u. S. Senator and trump advisor, met with russias ambassador during the campaign, but failed to disclose that during his confirmation hearing. The ambassador is considered by u. S. Intelligence to be one of russias top spies, and general Michael Flynns contacts with him led to flynns oust eras National Security advisor. Sessions denies ever discussing campaign related issues with anyone from russia, but more than a dozen democrats have called on him to resign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying he lied under oath and should leave immediately. The white house insists sessions is a victim of a partisan attack and the story was exploding today as President Trump visited a new u. S. Aircraft carrier, the us srk s gerald r. Ford highlighting had i plan to boost defense spending and americas military might. Forced to address the crisis, the president voiced total confidence in his attorney general, saying sessions probably testified truthfully. Ill speak with democratic senator Diane Feinstein and the judiciary and Intelligence Committees and our correspondents analysts and guests are standing by with full coverage of the days top stories. Lets begin with our senior congressional reporter manu raju, hes up on capitol hill where theres been a steady drum beat of calls for the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to resign or at least to withdraw from any investigations. Manu, bring us up to date. Reporter thats right, wolf. Calls had been intensifying all day from Jeff Sessions own party for him to at least step aside from this investigation into russia or anything involving the Trump Campaigns contacts with russian government official. Now, republicans are not going as far as democrats who want sessions to either resign or appoint a special prosecutor, but sessions taking the step today to recuse himself to calm the political fire storm. Under mounting political pressure, attorney general Jeff Sessions stepped aside from any fbi inquiry into russia and the Trump Campaign. I have now decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matter relating in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States. Reporter the decision came after new revelations that sessions met twice with the Russian Ambassador during the campaign season. Sergey kislyak, the Russian Ambassador, is considered by u. S. Intelligence to be one of russias top spies and spy recruiters in washington. According to current informer senior u. S. Official, russian official dispute this characterization. Sessions failed to disclose those contacts with kislyak during his confirmation hearings in january. In sworn testimony, sessions was asked about russias meddling in the elections and alleged ties between Trump Associates and the kremlin. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i didnt did not have communications with the russians and im unable to comment on it. Reporter in a questionnaire, senator Patrick Leahy asked sessions if, quote, you have been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the russian government about the 2016 election. Either before or after election day. Sessions response, no. But sessions said he did not mislead the committee, saying that the two meeting with the Russian Ambassador were not tied to his role in the Trump Campaign. I was taken aback a little bit about this brandnew information, this allegation that surrogates and i had been called a surrogate for donald trump, had been meeting continuously with russian officials, and thats what i struck me very hard and thats what i focused my answer on. And in retrospect, i should have slowed down and reporter democrats say that sessions recusal is hardly eough. Demanding that he resign. The fact that the attorney general, the top cop in our country, lied under oath to the American People is grounds for him to resign. Reporter Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wouldnt say if sessions committed perjury, but called for a special prosecutor. It would have of alice and wonder land quality if this administration were to sanction him to investigate himself. Reporter but House Speaker paul ryan rejected call for an independent investigation. If there really is nothing there, there on the whole russia issue, why not just allow a special prosecutor to investigate first of all, we dont have that law because remember at the end of the day we have to protect our intelligence assets. We do not want to compromise our sources and our methods of getting intelligence from any adversary let alone russia. Reporter now, wolf, the fbi inquiry into russia comes as the House Intelligence Committee and senate Intelligence Committee are conducting separate inquiries as well. The House Intelligence Committee meeting today with fbi director james comey. And after that briefing, the top democrat on that Committee Adam Schiff came out and was krilt cal of james comey for not being forthcoming about a number of details and now schiff, too, joining those calls for an independent prosecutor but something right now the republicans are not agreeing to. Wolf . Manu, we heard sessions say at that News Conference that two of his aides, professional aides in the Senate Office were in the meeting with the Russian Ambassador in his office that day. They are both retired colonels. He said, im pretty familiar with the retired colonels. They usually take notes. Do we know if there are contemporaneous notes that would back up sessions assertion there was absolutely no discussion of the campaign, it was other issues like ukraine, issues like that, those were the only issues that were discussed . Because i assume committees and others will be looking to see if there are contemporaneous notes. Reporter indeed. I think we are still trying to find out exactly the details about the contents, what exactly was discussed and if there is anything that could corroborate what senator sessions at the time, then senator sessions said in that meeting. We dont have that information yet. The question will be whether or not the senate or House Intelligence Committee looked into this. Senator richard burr, the Intelligence Committee chairman telling our colleague ted barrett he would not ask sessions to come and testify before his committee so well see if anyone else looks into that or sessions provides any of that information to corroborate his own comments today, wolf. All right, manu, thank you. Manu raju up on the hill for us. Lets turn to our justice correspondent evan perez. Evan, how did sessions explain why he didnt disclose the meeting with the Russian Ambassador when he was there testifying under oath . Well, wolf, the attorney general says that he simply did not understand the question. He simply was answering a question because he thought senator franken was asking him about a cnn report. Take a listen to how he described it, this extraordinary press conference a little while ago. My reply to the question of senator franken was honest and correct as i understood it at the time. I appreciate that some have taken the view that this was a false comment. That is not my intent. That is not correct. I was taken aback a little bit about this brandnew information, this allegation that surrogates and i had been called a surrogate for donald trump had been meeting continuously with russian officials, and thats what i struck me very hard and thats what i focused my answer on. And retrospect, i should have slowed down and said, but i did meet one russian official a couple of time. That would be the ambassador. Reporter so, wolf, now you have the attorney general just barely almost a month in office, hes now stepping aside from overseeing anything having to do with this investigation that is still ongoing by the fbi. In his stead, there is now going to be the Deputy Attorney general who is going to be overseeing any of these matters. As you heard there, he is not willing to step down, which is what democrats are asking him to do. He believes this is going to be sufficient to be able to handle this issue, would have. Give us some more, evan, on what he said. He did discuss during that meeting with the Russian Ambassador. Reporter well, you know, one of the things that happens with the attorney general sessions, the former senator sessions, is that, you know, hes a little bitd wordy in trying to describe these situations. He began by saying he didnt really remember. But then as he spoke, he gave a lot more detail, including talking about ukraine. Take a listen to what he said. I started off by saying i dont remember a lot of it, but i do remember saying i had gone to russia with a church group in 1991, and he said he was not a believer himself, but he was glad to have Church People come there. Indeed, i thought he was pretty much of an old style soviet type ambassador. And, so, we talked about a little bit about terrorism, as i recall, and somehow the subject of the ukraine came up. I had had the Ukraine Ambassador in my office the day before to listen to him, nothing that russia had done nothing that was wrong in any area and everybody else was wrong with regard to the ukraine, and got to be a little bit of a testy conversation at that point. Reporter and, wolf, the attorney general made was very careful here today to say that he was not confirming the existence of this investigation. Of course, we know that it does exist. It is one of the most important things that is being handled across the street at the fbi. He also said that all along he had planned to get around to addressing this issue. As a matter of fact, today he had already scheduled a meeting with his staff to discuss whether or not he should recuse himself. He said all along this was something on his plate. Obviously hes only been in office for about a month, would have, and he was going to get around to this eventually. He said the ethics advisors, the career ethics experts at the Justice Department told him its best that you recuse yourself, and he said he was going to do so, and thats exactly what he did. All right, thanks very much, evan, for that reporting. Sudden crisis involving the attorney general accelerated today as President Trump visited the u. S. Navys newest aircraft carrier. Our Senior Correspondent jeff zeleny is joining us from newport news. All of this, the sessions issues, certainly stole the spotlight from the president. Reporter it did indeed, wolf. The president was making a dramatic entrance here. He was trying to make sure his bid to strptd strengthen the military budget was getting out into the country trying to carry that momentum forward. But he what asked by reporters whether the attorney general should recuse himself. He said no. By the time the president returned to washington, the attorney general was doing just that. President trump arrived on the uss gerald ford today. Over shadowed by the growing controversy of the attorney general. Do you have confidence in the attorney general . Total. Reporter two hours later announced from the Justice Department, he would recuse himself from any investigations involving the Trump Campaign. I should not be involved in investigating a campaign i had a role in. Reporter the president was watching that press conference aboard air force one after landing at joint base andrews. He could not escape questions about sessions earlier during a tour of the navy vessel. Mr. Sessions recused himself from investigation into your campaign in russia. I dont think so. When did you first learn sessions spoke to the Russian Ambassador . When were you aware that he spoke to the Russian Ambassador . I wasnt aware of that. When did you find out . He should have spoken truthfully about i think he probably did. Reporter overtaken by news back in washington over his attorney general. I am calling for one of the largest defense spending increases in history. Reporter the president didnt mention the sessions controversy during his remarks here today, and Administration Official told cnn the white house only learned about sessions contacts with the ambassador wednesday night when first reported by the washington post. Its the latest in a string of unwelcome distractions for the Trump Administration over potential links to russia. Last month the president s National Security advisor Michael Flynn forced to resign over not being forthcoming about his conversations with the same Russian Ambassador. But no member of the cabinet is closer to the president than sessions, who joined mr. Trumps movement long before many republicans took his candidacy seriously. At this time in americans history, we need to make America Great again. [cheering and applauding] reporter and there was this moment at the republican convention. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor and great pleasure to nominate donald j. Trump for the office of president of the United States of america. Reporter the white house now in damage control as the president s agenda in congress is now competing with the deepening investigation into the Trumps Campaign and russia. Now, wolf, the white house is defending the attorney general with white house Spokesman Sean Spicer saying the president values him tremendously. Wolf, if you take stock of this fastmoving series of developments, it was just late last night when a senior Administration Official dismissed all of this as a partisan attack. Now, of course, he recused himself with the blessing of the white house. In the first six weeks of this add macon, georgia, wolf, nothing has moved this quickly. Yes, sessions said he informed the white House Counsel of his decision to recuse himself. Jeff zeleny, thank you very much. Joining us now, senator Diane Feinstein of california, the ranking democrat of the Judiciary Committee. Also a key member of the Intelligence Committee. Senator, thanks for joining us. Youre welcome. Did the attorney general Jeff Sessions go far enough by recusing himself . Well, i think thats a very important step that he took today. He moved himself out of the way and now hopefully an independent investigation can go on with no potential conflict of interest. After all, this was a man who participated intimately in the campaign, he was very close to the president , and its the right thing to do. And it was done, and i think it puts us a step ahead. This, wolf, is probably one of the biggest investigations any committee of either house will participate in. What the russians have done is unparalleled in its depth and breadth. So, the investigation has to go on untarnished and unblemished. And it cannot be conflicted. And i think this recusal enables some of that to happen. What do you say, senator, to some of your fellow democrats in the house of the senate like senator elizabeth warren, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a hundred other House Democrats who want sessions not only to recuse himself, but to actually resign . Well, i think you see the depth and breadth of the concern. Senator sessions, attorney general sessions, has had every opportunity to change the record, to file an amendment to say, i misspoke. Heres what the facts are. But he did not do that, and the fact of the matter is he did not tell the truth under oath before the Judiciary Committee of the United States senate. And you just dont do that. So, i understand whats out there. I also understand that we have to move on, and we need to get these investigations begun in both the senate and the house, and they have to proceed in a way that there is no fault that can be thrown at them. And, so, i think that there is one other thing that should be done, and that is consideration of a special prosecutor. Right now the number two and number three in the Attorney Generals Office are up for confirmation. None of us really know them very well. That confirmation will be taking place next week. But it seemed to me that a very prudent step at this time would be the appointment of a special prosecutor, somebody who is without blemish, someone who has inordinate skill, and can put together the kind of robust investigation that really needs to be done. Who would name this independent prosecutor . Well, thats a good question. Probably within the department somewhere, but we can look into that, but somebody thats independent from everyone thats there now. Do you believe that senator sessions perjured himself to you and your Judiciary Committee when he said he did not have communications with the russians . Well, he didnt tell the truth. Let me put it that way. Anyone that knows ambassador kislyak knows that hes a rather formal persona, and hes not easily forgettable. So, this last meeting or talk took place in september when there was a lot of heat going on about what russia was doing. And, so, it is in i cant comprehend his not understanding this seriousness. This particular ambassador has been a fixture in washington for a very long time and has a very big reputation. And one would remember meeting with him. Whats the difference between you didnt tell the truth and actually lying . Because as you know, he was testifying under oath. Well, perjury is another specific thing with respect to its intent. And i cant comment on whether he perjured himself and im not going to do that right now. But i am going to say that i do not believe this was the truth. He has recused himself. Now there is an opportunity to move on, get the number two, number three confirmed, and hopefully be able to get a special prosecutor, someone of substantial reputation and presence who is really able to do this free from any conflict or aspersion. Should there be a perjury investigation . Well, im not there yet. Id like to think that one out. Id like to really look at the perjury law, which i havent done. Current and former u. S. Intelligence officials are now describing to cnn the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak as the top spy and recruiter of spies. Is that true . Well, i cant testify to its truthfulness or untruthfulness. I can say thats the reputation certainly, and hes been in washington for a very long time, and he has been a very strong representative for russia, no question palomino that. About that. I assume youve met with him and know him. I do, i have. What kind of meetings did you have with him . Oh, i was at the embassy once for dinner with some other senators and former house member. I believe hes been in my office from time to time. Its that kind of a meeting. So, when you did meet with him, you just assumed in addition to being a diplomat, the top russian diplomat to the United States, he was also an intelligence operative . Well, you know, in this business, one always makes somewhat of that assumption, and youre always careful what you say. Theres no question about that. Do you agree with congressman adam schiff of california who is the ranking democrat on the House Intelligence Committee who now says that the fbi is not being forthcoming when it come to trump russia ties . They had a briefing earlier in the day and he emerged from that session very disappointed that the fbi wasnt sharing what he would regard as very important information. Well, i have every faith in adam schiff. I think hayes enormous credibility. I think hes very good spokesperson for the committee and for our party as well. And, so, i dont know exactly i just read about this exactly what the point is. But i do know this, that our Committee Staff have to have access he to whatever we need to have access to, or this kind of investigation is not going to work. I was vice chairman of the committee at the time when the gang of eight material came out. So, i have been briefed on that material, and it is very serious stuff. What the russians have done is unprecedented in the history of this country. And the investigation has to be strong and forthright, and the Intelligence Community has to cooperate with the committees on the hill. If they fail to do that within a fairly decent period of time, were going to need to look at an alternative because there is no reason for our two committees, intelligence of house, intelligence of senate, to have to fight over who has access to what information. The senate and the house should have access to whatever it is they need to do an adequate investigation, period. Do you have confidence, senator, in the fbi director james comey . Confidence in what sense . That hes going to do a fair job in this investigation of russian contacts with Trump Campaign officials, and whether there was anything inappropriate as far as Trump Campaign officials in what they were doing or saying to the russians . Well, let me put it this way. Mr. Comey was very forthcoming when he briefed the gang of eight, and i was part of that briefing, along with our chairman senator burr, and he was very forthcoming then and he appeared before our full committee and was forthcoming. I dont know what the problem is right now. Im no longer either ranking or chairman, as im just a regular member. But its apparent there is a problem. Its up to mr. Comey to help solve that problem, and i look forward to his doing so because we cannot differ on these things. We have to be together, and we have to see that these investigations are properly carried out. Senator, the white house is now confirming a New York Times report that was just posted that Jared Kushner as you know, an advisor, top advisor to the president , his soninlaw, and the former National Security advisor Michael Flynn who was forced to resign, that the two of them met with the Russian Ambassador kislyak in december over a trump tower in new york. This is a meeting we didnt know about earlier. We knew that flynn met with the Russian Ambassador here in washington. Does that concern you that Additional Information like that is now coming out . Well, it does concern me. I hadnt heard this before, so, its news to me. And i think there is a real underestimation of russia, and what russia has been doing in the world. And, you know, the people killed, the plane shot down, the abandon with which they proceed, and its very deeply troubling. So, i think now that we have general mattis in place and we have a strong secretary of state, that this really needs Major Administration attention because there are a lot of us that are very worried over where all of this is going. Senator feinstein, i want you to stand by if you can for a moment. I need to take a quick break. There are other developments unfolding right now, even as we speak. Lets take a quick break. Well be right back. Thanks, wolf. music pla throughout announcer get on your feet for the nastiest bull in the state of texas. crowd cheers its league night . saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico goin up the country. Bowl without me. Frank. im going to get nachos. Snack bars closed. Gah ah, ah ah. Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. But theyre different. D kind its nice to remove artificial ingredients. Kind never had to. Weve used real ingredients, whole nuts, and Natural Flavors from the very beginning. Give kind a try. That 100k is not exactly a fortune. Well, a 103 how long did it take you two to save that . A long time. Then its a fortune. I told you we had a fortune. Get closer to your investment goals with a conversation. Were following breaking news. The attorney general of the United States Jeff Sessions just a little while ago removed himself from any role and possible investigations of russias role in the u. S. President ial election. Sessions stunning announcement comes amid a political fire storm touched off by the disclosure that the attorney general met with russias ambassador to the United States twice last year during the campaign. I want you to listen to what sessions said just a little while ago. My reply to the question of senator franken was honest and correct as i understood it at the time. I appreciate that some have taken the view that this was a false comment. That is not my intent. That is not correct. I was taken aback a little bit about this brandnew information, this allegation that surrogates and i had been called a surrogate for donald trump, had been meeting continuously with russian officials, and this ats what i it struck me very hard and thats what i focused my answer on it. In retrospect i should have tloed down and said, but i did meet one russian official a couple times, that would be the ambassador. With retrospect he should have volunteered the information that, yes, he didnt discuss, he says, political issues with the ambassador, but he did meet with the ambassador at the Republican National convention in cleveland, brief meeting with others, but a substantive meeting in his Senate Office with the ambassador, two of his aides were present. Joining us now, the top democrat of the House Oversight and government reform committee, representative Elijah Cummings of maryland. Congressman, tlanks very much for joining us. Wolf, its good to be with you. You wanted sessions not just to recuse himself from any investigation, but to actually resign. Did the attorney general go far enough by recusing himself at least today . No, he didnt. As a matter of fact, wolf, he left me with more questions than before he started. First of all, im glad that he did recuse himself. The question is how far does that recusal go . Is it just up until the election day . Because a lot of the concerns that all of us as americans should have is what went on before the election and whether there was talk of taking down the sanctions and thing that of nature which would have been far after the election. I have a lot of concerns. Wolf, we democrats and others have been asking him to recuse himself for a few weeks. And suddenly now he says because hes talked to his ethics people that he is going to recuse himself. They say they told him he should do it because he was involved in the campaign. Give me a break. He is the number one Law Enforcement officer in the country. He has been a u. S. Attorney for the state of alabama. And as an attorney, he knows and i know that there are certain things that you dont have to talk to the ethics people about. You know it. And when you come before a committee, wolf, the Judiciary Committee in a confirmation hearing and you tell them that you have had no communication with the russians and you volunteer the information, and you know how important every syllable you say is, i really wonder about that. Suddenly i found it interesting that he got a memory today. That was very interesting, that he remembered some things and he didnt remember other things. Theres one more thing, wolf, that got me a little concerned. What we have seen in the Oversight Committee in the house is when somebody comes before our committee and then say they forgot something under sworn testimony and they want to correct it, they then come back and say, oh, let me tell you, i forgot this, or i should have told you this. This would have never come out. I dont think this would have ever come out if it were not for the dripdrab of the press bringing these things out. And, so, im still concerned. I do not think it was enough. I think he left a lot of questions unanswered. The other thing that concerns me, too, wolf, is that i dont know what he knows now. In other words, he should have recused himself a long time ago. Hes been sitting ruaround, i guess, talking to comey and others. We dont know what he knows. Its going to be interesting what he sends to the Judiciary Committee to try to clear the record. But i can tell you that im still not satisfied. Im concerned, and i think that we as a country and we as a judicial system are better than that. Do you believe, congressman, that the investigation needs an independent special prosecutor if the acting Deputy Attorney general who happens to be an obama appointee, handles the investigation . What do you want to see happen right now as far as the overall investigation . What i have what i want is what ive been saying. Ive wanted the last two or three months the bill that congressman of california and i put forth for an independent 9 11 type of investigation. Im not interested in having senators on a panel. Im not interested in having congressmen on a panel. Keep in mind, wolf, that i was the Ranking Member of the Benghazi Committee and in many ways that was a fiasco because it got caught up in politics. What i want to see are an equal number of well established citizens who truly care about america, people that we highly respect, to look at this thing very carefully, have subpoena power, and equal number appointed by democrats and republicans, and for them to then come back with findings and then recommendations how as to how we never he let this happen again. I am tired of the dribdrab, we get a drop here. We have President Trump saying nobody has had any contact with the russians. Then we find out that his soninlaw had communications. We find out that flynn had communications. We find out that all these other people had communications. We need to take this into an independent situation, let reputable citizens look at it and come back with findings and recommendations. Do you believe that the attorney general perjured himself as a senator when during his confirmation hearings he told senator al franken under questioning, i did not have communications with the russian, and then in a written response to senator Patrick Leahy, the question was have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the russian government about the 2016 election either before or after election day . His answer was a simple, no. Do you believe he perjured himself . Wolf, im going to im not sure. I want to look at all the evidence. As a lawyer, im not going to do what the republicans have done on my committee where they come to all of these conclusions before they have all the evidence. But i can tell you one thing. On its face, i dont think that the attorney general, if that was one of his people and they did what he did, i believe that he would fire them. And i can tell you as a lawyer of more than 30 years, certain conduct from lawyers is just not acceptable. As a matter of fact, this is the kind of conduct that could get you disbarred. And, so, thats a real problem. And this is the number one Law Enforcement officer in the United States and your audience needs to understand this. He is overall of the law enforce. Officers in the country. He is over the fbi. So, we need to have the very best there and we dont have to have we dont need to have any question marks behind the person who is in charge. One quick question. Youre the ranking democrat on the Oversight Committee. Do you have confidence that the chairman will Work Together with you, pursue these issues that youre concerned about . Were talking about jason chaffetz. No, no, i do not. Why . Because we have asked we were presented with 43 items with regard to what we will be looking at over the next few years. Democrats asked to look at the emoluments clause, a number of everything. On a party vote, every single thing we wanted to do to look at this the situation with President Trump and all the conflicts of interest and other things, they voted down. I think basically what the republicans have done is pretty much circled the wagon and in some instances and i hate to say it, it hurts me to say it, but have put party first. Now, there are exceptions and i applaud Lindsey Graham and mccain and portman and others. But we have got to put country first. Youve heard me say this before, wolf. This is bigger than trump. This is about saving our democracy. And ive seen that chipping away, chipping away at the very fabric of that democracy. And now we need to have a true investigation, independent folks looking at this who care about america because this is bigger than us. This is not just about now. This is about generations yet unborn. And us passing on a democracy that is even better than the one that was in existence when we were born. Congressman Elijah Cummings of maryland, thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. Lets get some insights now from our experts who are here. David, let me start with you. It took him a long time, the attorney general, to decide to recuse himself from any of these investigations. Why did it take so long . Well, attorney general sessions said it took long because hes only been there three weeks. Once he got there he started looking into this. Of course democrats are pointing out [ inaudible ] prior to him actually arriving at the department of justice three weeks ago and could have recused himself before he even arrived. It took him so long because it took this long for it to be publicly disclosed, wolf, that he had these meetings with the Russian Ambassador. Thats why it took so long. He knew he had these meetings, two meetings with the Russian Ambassador. He clearly should have volunteered that information in response to the questions. Theres no doubt about that. And if he did lets take him at his word what he said today. It was a breaking news story, cnn story that al franken then came in and asked him about. Lets say he was thrown by it and didnt fully understand. Why then the next day did he not submit written answers that clarified his statements because he knew when he walked out of there that he clearly left an inaccurate statement . He acknowledged today in his News Conference he probably should have done that. But he didnt do that and now were moving forward. It was interesting, mark, that just before sessions announced he was recusing himself, the president was asked on his tour of this new aircraft carrier, should sessions recuse himself from investigations into your campaign and russia. The president , President Trump said, i dont think so at all. I dont think so. And then sessions decided, well, he is going to recuse himself. Yes, clearly not on the same page. It strikes me even though its still very early in the Trump Administration, how they dont seem to have their message together. Last night when this story broke, they didnt have the correct answer to give. Sessions waited until 4 00 this afternoon, allowing time for republicans to come out, wolf, and say that he needed to recuse himself. It looked like he was forced to do so. And then donald trump probably shouldnt have answered at all. He shouldnt have said anything at all when he was asked by the reporters, and clearly hadnt been connected with the department of justice or with sessions what was going on at that time. The president said he didnt know about the meetings sessions had with the Russian Ambassador. I think sessions didnt want to go public. He could have at least told the president , i did have a couple meeting with the Russian Ambassador. There was nothing to recuse himself. Let me play, rebecca, a little bit of the mixed mess alans weve been getting throughout the day from the white house and now from attorney general sessions. You dont think he should recuse him snefl there was nothing to recuse him zefl. He was 100 straight with the committee. Since i have been involved with the campaign, i should not be involved in any campaign investigation. He made a statement that was 100 accurate and he stands by that. In retrospect, i should have slowed down and said, but i did meet one russian official a couple of times. That would be the ambassador. He should have slowed down. And told the senate, you know what, i did have a couple meeting. We were talking about Armed Services committee issues, ukraine, stuff like that, nothing about the campaign. Clearly sean spicer was wrong. I mean, he was just plain wrong. He said something that was incorrect. Even though Jeff Sessions in his statement made clear that he wasnt recusing himself necessarily from any specific investigation, he said hypothetically not confirming anything, if there was anything to do with the campaign, now in the futurely recuse myself from all of it just a blanket sort of hypothetical here. Sean maybe was right that there wasnt necessarily a specific investigation that they were confirming that he would recuse himself from. That said, it didnt mean that he wouldnt need to recuse himself. David, there is a bigger problem here. Why doesnt the white house know what is going on . Right. We should make clear to the audience those sound bites you just played, theyre from the same day. That was sean spicer today, attorney general sean spicer in the morning and attorney general few hours later. Lets make that clear. Attorney general sessions said that he did inform white House Counsels office this afternoon that he had come to this conclusion, that he was going to recuse him sechl. That was the form at white house notification. But in what planet ive never covered an administration where the white house when a Crisis Communications moment is happening like this in one of the agencies of an administration, the white house usually starts running point on that and making sure that everyone is singing from the same page. It reminded me a little bit of Michael Flynn on the day he was forced to resign, only hours earlier a Top White House official, kellyanne conway, said they had complete confidence in him. Complete confidence in him, and then several hours later was about 10 30, 10 45 at night where Michael Flynn decided to step down. You know, one thing about the story is that i think its been under covered, well see how it plays out, i think the democrats are probably going a little bit too far by saying he needs to resign right now because it really make it look partisan in that they are playing politics. Instead of saying, he should recuse himself and lets see where the investigation goes. I think politically democrats might be overshooting their hand a little bit. All right, guys, everybody stay with us. There is more breaking news coming in. Were following some of that news over at the pentagon. Sources are revealing some of the Vital Information seized during that deadly u. S. Raid on alqaeda. Were getting some of that information now. Stay with us. Special edition. Do this is one gorgeous truck. Oh, did i say theres only one special edition . Because, actually theres five. Ooohh aaaahh uh hooooly mackerel. Wow. Nice. Strength and style. Its truck month. Get 0 financing for 60 months plus find your tag and get 5500 on select Chevy Silverado pickups when you finance with gm financial. Find new roads at your local chevy dealer. Imy moderate to severeng crohns disease. I didnt think there was anything else to talk about. But then i realized there was. So, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. He said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. In clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. If youre still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. I was thinking around 70. To and before that . Re . You mean after that . No, im talking before that. Do you have things you want to do before you retire . Id really like to run with the bulls. Wow. Hope youre fast. I am. Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change with Investment Management services. We have much more ahead on the breaking political news. The attorney general Jeff Sessions late this afternoon removing himself from any role of possible investigation of russias role in the u. S. President ial election. Also breaking news from the pentagon where were learning new details about the Vital Information seized during last months raid in yemen. Our Barbara Starr has been working on it. What are you learning . Good evening, wolf. There have been a lot of questions about this raid, did it achieve any of the intelligence objectives that it set out and the answer coming out that indeed it did. Reporter tonight the u. S. Military and Intelligence Committees are working in overdrive trying to locate and monitor hundreds of people contacts find in the trove of intelligence retrieve during the raid last month targeting al qaeda in yemen where navy s. E. A. L. William ryan owens and civilians died. The raid was part of an expanding u. S. Action in yemen. Pursuing in yemen. Reporter many of the contacts being upon toward appeared to be located in the west but not in the u. S. , officials say. As cnn has reported, laptops and cell phones were grabbed during the raid, yieldingter bites of data, multiple senior u. S. Officials tell cnn the intelligence recovered is vital and is, in fact, being acted on. You can get lots of different type dollars of use from this information. Some are cell phone numbers or very specific locations that you can take immediate actions on to strike specific targets, to get intelligence from individuals using certain phone numbers, for example. Reporter all the seized intelligence is classified and wont be in public because future operations could be put at risk. There is no independent verification but senior u. S. Officials say theyve learned new information about al qaedas strong hold that will lead to more raids. Al qaedas recruiting, training and targeting intelligence, and how al qaeda in yemen manufacturing nondetectable bombs, all of which could intensify a u. S. Campaign in yemen. Overnight, based on u. S. Intelligence more strong holds attacked. The worry al qaeda in yemen will launch new attacks. The problem is if you were to leave it alone right now, its going to get bigger, capabilities will get larger, and again this has been the most competent organization in bomb plots and trying to take down airplanes. Reporter the possibility of more attacks that is in a very large sense leading to expanded u. S. Military effort. Barbara starr reporting for us over at the pentagon. Coming up, our breaking news. Under fire for not disclosing his talks with russias ambassador to the United States during the campaign, the attorney general Jeff Sessions steps aside from any investigations into Trump Campaign contacts with the russians. But Top Democrats say thats not enough. They say he should resign. Predit the market. But through good times and bad. At t. Rowe price. Weve helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. 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Were President Trump and his aides blindsided by this new controversy. Holding back, a top democratic says he is not answering key questions from the senate Intelligence Committee. What does james comey know about russias alleged election meddling and what isnt he sharing . Under lock and key, senator rand paul blasts. Tonight rand paul is asking members of his own party, what are you hiding . We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Breaking news tonight. The attorney general sessions bowing to pressure from fellow republicans recusing himself from any investigation related to the trump president ial campaign. Sessions announcement coming in the midst of a new firestorm over his newly revealed contacts with russia as the feds and Congress Look into the trump camps possible ties to moscow. Democrats are demanding more,
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