Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20200221

Breaking today, sourcing telling cnn that President Trumps new personnel chief john mcatee told the cabinet officials that they are to report to him, the appointees in the agencies who might be seen as disloyal to trump and the agenda. And he is, as you may recall one of the trump loyalists brought back to the white house in the post acquittal vengeance tour. And yesterday, mcatee told the cabinet officials to be prepared to name names. Reporter today the white house is making another effort at a post impeachment purge. Johnny mcintee is the president s man who was marched out without a clearance two years ago and now he is running the Personnel Office in the west wing and he is on the look out for staffers disloyal to trump. And this is first reported by axios, and he had asked them to identify political appointees who is against the president s agenda, and warning that changes may be made. He is expected to focus on the state and the defense departments and both at the center of the trump impeachment officers coming after he relocated alex vindman and his brother, and also gordon sondland. So the new appointment wont have new powers after he has named a new acting director of intelligence here. He pushed Joseph Maguire out after he warned that russia is at it again to interfere with the 2020 election, and then the president dismissed the findings as another misinformation launched by democrats, and despite that information coming from his own officials. Trump has now replaced mcguire with the ambassador the germany, rick grenell who is a vocal supporter with little intelligence experience. Gr grenell is only expected to stay there temporarily and he is to name doug collins as a successor, but collins says that he is not interested. This is not a job that interests me at this time. It is not one that i would accept, because i am running a senate race down here in georgia. Collins is a way to avoid choosing sides in the primary, and now with collins out, he says that he has four great candidates for consideration, but he declined to name them. And jake, the search is still ongoing and the president is speaking at a rally in las vegas despite intelligence showing that russia is interfering with the 2020 election, but he is describing it as democrats with another witch hunt, but this intelligence shared with the lawmakers and the president is coming from his own officials. That is right, the office of the National Intelligence director. And lets chat about this. The president has valued loyalty, and loyalty to him and to be clear, and he is emboldened by the acquittal and the vast majority of people who have been caught up in the fallout. Yes, this is a president who is seeming freed. One thing to remember is that when the president s previous chief of staffs were in the job, john john kelly. He used to say often to President Trump, dont do this or you will get impeached. And well, he was impeached that. Threat is now no longer operative here, and so President Trump feels that he can do whatever he wants. And he has been paranoid particularly about his staff. He has always actually had a loyalty litmus test frankly for a lot of the political appointees and they have not been able to stick with it, because it is difficult to find the candidates for the government jobs who have a squeaky clean record of not criticizing trump, but now he feels that he has no choice to not only have a litmus test for the people coming in, but to get the people out who he thinks is disloyal to him, and this is a new phase for trump and new era in the administration and it is only going to escalate as we go forward to the november election and signaling tactic to the supporters that he is fighting back which is something they love to see. And john kelly oversaw when mcatee was shown the doors over gambling issues or Something Like that, and now he is back with the post acquittal purge, and he is telling the cabinet officials to root out disloyalists among the ranks. I have not heard anything like that since the 50s anyway. And it is remarkable, and what we have seen from time and time again, you are with him or against him and that is the lenses with which he views the administration, and time and again, he has sought to catch anyone who criticizes him or disagrees with him or someone who tells him something that he does not want to hear as disloyal or a traitor and something that the angry democrats and the career officials who testified in the impeachment inquiries were never trumpers he says. And all that not true. All that not true, but part of it was his calculus to try and erode trust in the institutions so that he could convince the public that all of the investigations were simply a hoax or a witch hunt. Now, because he is emboldened by the acquittal, this pattern is even more concerning, because he does in fact just surround himself with the yesmen, then there is a question of moving forward of how the trust anything that comes out of the administration. And you worked in the obamaed a min istrati administration effect might hathis have on the political appointees who have been told or heard from their bosses or from axios who broke the story that are told that if you are disloyal to the president , well, watch out, because we will name names and tell it to the director of personnel. When you serve in the public, there is a discretion at the president , and he has every right to have people in the inner circle who he trusts, but the problem is that trumps definition of loyal is beyond what is good for the country. He is literally incapable of separating rule of law from what is rule of trump. That is where this is becoming a challenge, because it not only affects the people who should have expertise, who are serving the presidency, but it is also affecting the broad swath of the Civil Service and effectively gutted the Intelligence Services and with the firing of Lieutenant Colonel vindman, he is chilling any person from the military and gordon sondland. And even his brother, and you cant have the same last name as somebody he does not like, so people cannot serve the country the way they used to so this is implications well beyond the hearings, but it is going to affect transparency. And so, now, vox tweeted about the firing of mcguire and a lot of questions. I personally once he stood up for the integrity of the whistleblower, i didnt think that he had long for that job. But then the question is about this Intelligence Committee briefing where somebody in mcguires office apparently said that the russians had a preference for trump and what intelligence that is based on and we will get to that in a little bit in the show. But alex ward wrote this on twitter, i asked a white house official if he really removed mcguire over the briefing, and he said absolutely why, and anybody from here on out who is opposing the president will be fired. And is it that bad . Yes, he is not fing around and just because there is a briefing that was said something that the president didnt like. And so the firing there to bring in rick grenell, and so longer term and what is it telling us about trump psychologically, he has a reelection and he really wants to be reelected and he is going to ask in my judgment and we have seen it various elements of the government to do things to help him politically, and some of the things are going to be borderline, and there is a little bit of that in the reelection campaigns and schedule the economic good news for a certain time in october. And you are talking about the investigations into the rivals. Investigations into the ri l rivals and not clear of what was happening with russia and the interference of the election and asking people in agencies to make sure that the money is flooding into key states and key parts of states and accelerating certain spending and there a lot that you can do as president and nixon did more than other people, but even three ere it i tiny if you have intimidated the political appointees and the career people and replace any political appointee who is serving loyally by the normal definition of loyal but not simply there to help you to do whatever you think is right for your own reelection. That is the most striking thing about ukraine, it is the personal political agenda and if you stood in the way of it, you are gone. And will there be people who stood in the way of it as there were six months ago . I dont have the answer to that question, because he is removing people in the inner and outer circle who would be willing the do so. So what is russia actually doing to interfere with the election 2020, and we will have the latest intelligence. Then, Bernie Sanders progressive supporters are not the only ones who are hoping that he wins the nomination, and so do some of the republicans. Why some of the republicans do, too. Stay with us. You can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. So, you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. Dont miss the final days of the ultimate sleep number event, save 50 on the sleep number 360 limited Edition Smart bed. Plus 0 interest for 24 months on all smart beds. Ends sunday. Tits great actually, ive been listening to audible. Its audiobooks, news, meditations. Gotta go hey you know, i do think its weird youve started commuting when you work from home. Ill be in my office. Download audible and start every day off right. [ dishave you ever wondered [ distant band playing ] what the motorcade driver drives when theyre not in a motorcade . [ upbeat music starts ] [ engine revving ] this one drives a volkswagen passat. Everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. Expedia. And we are back with the politics lead and an alarming warning from the Politics Committee that russia is yet again attempting to interfere in the u. S. President ial election and the u. S. Government must do more to stop it. We have this report. Reporter a classified briefing behind closed doors exploding into the open and causing the president to clean house at the highest ranks of his Intelligence Community. Cyber threats. Reporter shelby pearson, the top official on Election Security telling the house Intelligence Committee members twice in a briefing last week that russia is working in favor of president Donald Trumps reelection and that they have every intention of meddling again in 2020. The members of the Intelligence Community have uniformly said that the russians are planning to interfere in our 2020 elections. Reporter the Intelligence Community is assessed with high confidence after the 2016 election that the russian government aspired to help president elect trumps chances. They are at it again the intelligence briefer said, but she did not reveal the actual assessment, but parts of it. That angered many of the allies of the president. And a National Security official pushed back and telling cnn it is more that the russians view trump as someone they can work with, because they see him as a deal maker. When devin nunes a Ranking Member of the house Intelligence Community told the president about it, he was angry. When you talk to congress about the president , you have to give him a heads up, and it is a question of dysfunction at the white house that it was not transmitted to the white house in time. Reporter and then the president lit into his acting director of intelligence Joseph Maguire and it is happening again said the president again, meaning that the democrats like chairman adam schiff and thothe in the briefing would use it against him, and now, mcguire is out and so is the number two, and taking over as the acting dni is the u. S. Ambassador to germany rick grenell, a staunch trump loyalist with no experience in intelligence matters. And democrats blasting the choice as evidence that the president values loyalty over objective intelligence and risking National Security. What we are seeing is more and more that the National Community is becoming a propaganda arm of the white house. Reporter as november approaches, the intelligence officials are sounding the alarm about russias continuing and evolving tactics and a source familiar with pearsons briefing said that russia will hack, weaponize social media and attack the election infrastructure of the United States which will fuel chaos and questions about the integrity of the election process. One new tactic that the russians will use according to the New York Times is working from within servers in the United States rather than abroad to hinder the u. S. Intelligence agencies who are prohibited from working domestically. It shouldnt have come as a shock to anybody that the russians are going to continue to do what they did in 2016 given the success they enjoyed. Reporter and jake, moments ago we have learned that Joseph Maguire has resigned from the government officially and right after that, his number two, andrew hullman putting out a statement that he is leaving and he has confidence in the stability of the Intelligence Community which he says is going to guide them through the uncertainties that come with change. Jake. Alex marquardt, thank you. And now, joining us is congressman brad hendrick, and do you think that you are doing all that you can . Well, you always wonder if you are doing all that you can and we have taken steps since 2016, and if you are looking at the results and the report that we put out from the republican side from the Intelligence Committee after the investigation on foreign influence, we had a lot of findings and made a lot of recommendations, and it is about seven pages between the findings and the recommendations. A lot of those are being enacted. I think that we are taking steps as best we possibly can. People recognize it is a problem. Because quite honestly, it has been a problem since the soviet union. Russia has always tried to provide discord or create discord within our country, and they have been successful at that im afraid especially currently, and they have been able to do that or we have done it to ourselves in some cases. So yeah, we are doing a lot, and the American People are aware that theres this attempt to try and create discord amongst the American People, and you know, i work everyday to try to bring us back together and realize what the common enemy is in america. Talk about the briefing last week, because there is a lot of controversy about it, and i have been told that a lot of the individuals at the briefing were surprised when the briefer said that the russians had a clear preference for the President Trump, and democrats and republicans said they wanted to see the underlying intelligence underneath it, but to take a step back, putin did interfere in the 2016 election, and the clung conclusion of the committee was to help President Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton and he has subsequently admitted that he preferred trump to Hillary Clinton and why would you be so skeptical this time . Well, first of all, i am not going to talk about anything that happened in a classified setting and i am sorry that some people want to do that and maybe it is my military background because loose lips sink ships, so i wont comment on that, and informed observer and certainly a lot of americans are and your viewers are, but i would sit back and say that i dont understand why putin would want to prefer trump. And let me give you the reasons why. One, trump has put more sanctions on russian that we have before. He has increased the military, and why . Because of the threat of russia. He has strengthened nato. Why . Because of the threat of russia. So that is why nato was formed the soviet union and russia. He is trying to impede as best he can the nordstream two that makes a lot of money and feeds the country, and so we want to get our energy into europe. So, it seems to me that the president is working against, against putin more and more often. Right. And so if you are looking back it was president obama who told medvedev, hey, i will have more flexibility after my election. Right. Dealing with the missile defense. And it is President Trump who gave the ukrainians lethal aid and president obama who did not give them lethal aid. I understand that obama is not running for president , but it does not seem to make sense to me that is the preference based on what i am seeing and most of the American People can see. I appreciate the argument, and we have heard it before and he has strengthened nato and he has in terms of getting the countries to spend more on their own defense according to agreements in nato, but many people would argue that he has undermined the Nato Alliance in some ways, especially in how he has criticized various allies and praised putin in addition critics might say that President Trump has spread the Conspiracy Theory that it was ukraine and not russia who spread that theory, and he stood in helsinki and said that he backed putin with the u. S. Intelligence. Well, there is no country to interfere with the elections, and that is established. And going on, i wanted to take a step further. I was just in munich at the security conference there. We spoke to the leader of nato. And he has talked about how the president s influence has had a great effect on nato making it stronger. Now you may not like some of the things that he said and how he went about it, but it is a positive effect, and virtually every president in my lifetime has said that other countries need to pay their fair share, but they have not done much about it, and so i adisagree wih youn that point, and that is coming from the head of nato there. So i disagree with you on that one, jake. And so it is good that more countries are paying their fair share, and that President Trump had a lot to do with that, but the question of whether or not he is good for alliance is what a lot of the critics are talking about. But the other picture though, the other big question is that President Trump is a major disruptor, and i think that you and i can agree on that, and one of the results of that, we may disagree, that he is sewing distrust in the media, intelligence or others and putin backed him and so why is that not conceivable that they will back him again when it comes to the election interference . Well, again, the people want to say that so definitively and it is certainly the conclusion of some that putin backed trump, but i have never heard putin say that, but i will say that he has had success in sewing discord, and this is what he wants. As far as the agencies, i dont think that you to look much further than what took place in the fisa court, and we have only heard the beginning of that from the Inspector General for him to have distrust in some of the agencies because of the way they have conducted themselves in the fisa court, and 17 errors and omissions is a pretty polite way of saying intentional deceit in my mind at least what i have seen and hopefully america will get to see more of what took place. So i think that the president has a right to have some concerns about what is taking place within the agencies and more of it should come to light in the coming days. That is all of the time we have and i will go on twitter and put up how he explained why he preferred trump over Hillary Clinton and i believe he said it in helsinki and why. Okay. Thank you, brad wenstrup. Thank you, jake. And we will have more coming up. Youve been hearing a lot about 5g. But theres 5g. And then theres verizon 5g. Were building the most powerful 5g experience for america. Its more than 10 times faster than some other 5g networks. And its rolling out in cities across the country. So people can experience speeds that ultra wideband can deliver. 1. 7 gigs here in houston. 1. 8 gigs here in frigid omaha. Almost 2 gigs here in los angeles. Thats outrageous. Its like an eightlane highway compared to a twoland dirt road. Im happy to give you the tour, i lohey jay. It. Jay . Charlotte oh hi. He helped me set up my watch lists. Oh, hes terrific. Excellent tennis player. Byebye. I recognize that voice. Annie . Yeah she helped me find the right bonds for my income strategy. Youre very popular around here. Theres a birthday going on. Karl he took care of my 401k rollover. Wow, you call a lot. Yeah, well its my money were talking about here. Joining us for karaoke later . Ah, id love to, but people get really emotional when i sing. Help from a team that will exceed your expectations. 1 in 3 deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease. Millions of patients are treated with statinsbut up to 75 persistent cardiovascular risk still remains. Many have turned to fish oil supplements. Others, fenofibrates or niacin. But heres a number you should take to heart zerothe number of fda approvals these products have, when added to statins, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Ask your doctor about an advancement in prescription therapies with proven protection. Visit truetoyourheart. Com a former army medic, made of the we maflexibility to handle members like kate. Whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. So when her car got hit, she didnt worry. She simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said. I got this. Usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it easy. She can even pick her payment plan so its easy on her budget and her life. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa howling wind howling wind breaking news. New york city mayor Michael Bloomberg has Just Announced that he is going to allow the women to be excused from the nondisclosure agreements if they want. And they have identified three such ndas and he has done reflecting and said that his company wont offer confidentiality clauses for misconduct. And this is after Elizabeth Warren called him out. And so now, lets discuss this and i will start with you. Is this good enough . I suspect for Elizabeth Warren, it is not if there are three ndas that he is allowing. And it shows the impact of senator Elizabeth Warrens attacks on mayor bloombergs debate this week with the respect of his initial refusal to release the women from the ndas and to the broader point of not just Bernie Sanders but some of ther democr other rivals wer to make when it comes to President Trump at the top of the ticket, if it is someone who is like scrutiny about prior comments about women and faced discrimination lawsuits at his company, that is going to undercut their ability to go over President Trump over the same issues, so simply releasing them from the ndas is going to take away the scrutiny over the record. And take a listen to this cnn town hall with senator Elizabeth Warren and she went a step further with the demand for bloomberg to release the women from ndas. I used to teach contract law and i thought that i would make it easy. I wrote up a release and covenant not the sue and all that mayor bloomberg has to do is to download it. I will text it. Sign it. And then the women or men will be free to speak and tell their own stories. I think that the mayor should sign this and we all have a right to see. Now, that is obviously not what he has done and he has identified three such ndas that he is willing to waive. Yes, i mean, i think that cherry picking is a bad look when we are talking about what is over 40 women who have complained about 40 people. About employment problems. Yes, or pregnancy discrimination or what have it, but it is not the only thing. As recently as 2018, he was supporting Republican House members to get reelected and also helping republicans to get to the senate, so there is a huge problem that ultimately speaks to the broader point that you were making that if we want to defeat donald trump as democrats, we have to be able to take the moral high ground and bring out the best in the democrats and not draw the biggest contrast which is not a billionaire that kind of switches the party whenever it is convenient. And we have more breaking news that the Washington Post is breaking in the Bernie Sanderss campaign is confirming that he as been briefed on the fact that the russian government is apparently attempting to help his campaign in the election interference and one quick quote from the Bernie Sanderss campaign, i do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend. He is an autocratic thug, and lets be clear that the russians want to undermine the democracy, and unlike the effort, i am against their efforts to interfere. And the Mueller Report had quite a bit about the russian interfere in 2016 and whip up the sanders supporters i s aga Hillary Clinton and some of it ma i have worked with some of the sanders voter mace have st voters may have stayed home. And so back to the nda, i am going to say that i hate the ndas and i wish the whole law would give them up, i refused to sign one at the Weekly Standard and it is so now abused as matter and it is bad for the country, but leaving that aside, bloomberg is not a good candidate, but he has a good campaign. So if you are thinking about this, and people can say he did this and not admiral what he did, he can say, i came under pressure and i thought about it and released people. And what about donald trump, because he has not released anyone. So i am despite that miserable debate, i think that the Bloomberg Campaign is adjusting to what happened quickly. It is also important to remember that he has spent 464 million so far and he is going to be spending hundreds of millions more to help people forget about his debate performance. We will continue to talk about this and squeeze in a quick break. Fidelity now has zero commissions for online u. S. Equity trades and etfs. And fidelity also offers zero account fees for brokerage accounts, plus zero minimums to open an account. And only fidelity offers four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. With all of those zeros, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. Fidelity. So maybe ill win saved by zero so maybe ill win if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, Little Things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated. With an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression. Or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Breaking news. Bernie sanders released a statement on alleged russian interference after a new report from the Washington Post and u. S. Officials had informed the senator that russia is attempting to help the president ial campaign as results of the democratic primary, and sanders saying that the russians want to undermine american democracy by dividing us up, and unlike the current president i stand against their efforts or any foreign power who wants to interfere. I dont care who putin wants to be president. I want it to be clear thputin should stay out of american elections, and as president , i will make sure that you do. And it is sanders acknowledging what happened in 2016 and also saying that the ugly stuff on the social media may not be coming from our supporters and that is what people may have questions about. Yes, some russian influence and we dont know based on the reporting what form this interference is taking right now. It is on vox or twitter. And we dont have an answer to that, and Bernie Sanders is saying that it is pushing the negativity on the internet, but at the same time there is real life negativity happening from his supporters that the Sanders Campaign has not wanted to address. On the New Hampshire Election Night when another candidate came up on the screen and giving their election speech, pete buttigieg, the berniepoert supporters were booing and chanting wall street pete. And so there is real life thing, and things on the internet, and so there are things that both need to be addressed and not attributed to solely russian meddling in the 2020 election. And alexandria, the russians exploit the divisions in america, and the divisions are already there and they were not created by the russians. And so whether it is racial divisions or party division, and the next few months are going to be tense. Yes, and it is important for both of the moderates and the others to not take the bait there. Bernie sanders is right that there is not just russian, but obviously the republican party, and donald trump who want to sew division in Democratic Party and our government to continue to make people not believe it is going to be fixed and that they are the saviors and so it is critical that we operate in good faith here, and we should take Bernie Sanders at his word, and the other thing that is really important to acknowledge here is that again, like, you know, we have in the midst of someone who is spending 464 million to purchase the presidency and continue to pitch themselves on the democratic ticket as im also the billionaire save your the help government, it is really, really critical that as a Democratic Party that represents the working class of this country or supposed to that we are focused on that to defeat donald trump. What about you . I think that they should work to defeat donald trump and treating the progressives courteously and not yielding it to. That is my recommendation to the democratic friends. And so, fareed, one of the interesting things is that you have the Sanders Campaignm coming out to acknowledge it is true and he does not want it, and again, these are statements that President Trump has not made. Butt out, putin, i dont want your support and as president , i will stop it. He is publicly welcoming the support, and look, volume one of the Mueller Report, the Trump Campaign welcomed help from the russians even if the evidence was insufficient to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and moscow, they understood that they would benefit electorally with the interference. And also in the Mueller Report, the russians did use social media to try and sow discord between the supporters of sanders and Hillary Clinton to hurt her, and that is maybe what they are trying to do with the crowded democratic field. And so be weary of something that you read on twitter or facebook, because it might be somebody trying to sow this discord. And we will be joined by Michael Bloomberg for his first president ial town hall and followed by democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders at 8 00 p. M. Starting. And then we will hear from four more candidates on wednesday evening. Coming up john mccains unprecedented transparency and how Bernie Sanders is not following in his footsteps on one issue. Stay with us. Now, we know the trump strategy try to win by attacking, distorting, dividing. Mr. President it. Wont. Work. Newspapers report bloomberg is the democrat trump fears most. As president , universal healthcare that lets people keep their coverage if they like it. A record on job creation. A doable plan to combat climate change. I led a complex, diverse city through 911 and i have common sense plans to move america away from chaos to progress im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. And my lack of impulse control, is about to become your problem. Ahh no, come on. I saw you eating poop earlier. Hey my focus is on the road, and thats saving me cash with drivewise. Whos the dummy now . Whoof whoof so get allstate where good drivers save 40 for avoiding mayhem, like me. Sorry hes a baby do you recall, not long ago we would walk on the sidewalk all around the wind blows we would only hold on to let go blow a kiss into the sun we need someone to lean on blow a kiss into the sun all we needed somebody to lean on the new xc90 plugin hybrid electric. Xc90. Recharged. Wecome back, democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders said after his heart attack last fall he would release quote his comprehensive medical records and he told our dr. Sanjay gupta that he would make the medical records public for anyone who wanted to see them, because after all, sanders at 78 would be the oldest american ever elected. So he backtracked and said he would not provide the medical records and what has he provided . This is sanjay. Reporter last october i visited senator Bernie Sanders in vermont shortly after he had a heart attack. And the gods truth if you said, bernie, did you have a heart attack last week, i would have said, what are you talking about . I feel great. Reporter then he was back on the campaign trail, but the heart attack may have amplified concerns that voters had. A new york wall street journal report said that while most americans are comfortable with a candidate who has had a heart attack in the last year, 50 of voters have reservations. And people do have a right to know about someone running for president , and we will make at the appropriate time the public records available for you and anyone else who wants to see them. Reporter and this is in the conversation about health and age and everything. Yes, of course. Reporter an instead, he released these three letters from dr. Monaghan who said that you are in good health currently and engaging vigorously in the rigors of the campaign and travel and other scheduled activities without limitation. Monaghan noted that since the heart attack, sanders heart function had improved enough to stop using medications that he had been initially prescribed. Sanders daily medications are for cholesterol, thyroid and an aspirin. And the doctors said that his heart is comparable if not better to men his age. And experts say that a full release of the medical records would not shed more light on the health, but one could help, the injection fraction which is the amount of blood pumped from each chamber with the contraction and that is a function of the heart. In 2008, senator john mccain invited me and several reporters to evaluate eight years of medical records for several hours, but that has been the exception, and not the rule. Sanders told cnn at tuesdays town hall that what he released is enough. I believe we have released, anderson, quite more than any candidate has and i am quite comfortable with what i have done. Just to be clear, you dont plan to release any more records . I dont believe we will, no. Jake, it is important to point out that most people know that the medical records are protected by hipaa which is an act to provide medical privacy to people regardless if you are running for president or not, and the letters, jake, when you are looking at the letters and we moare reporting on the lette and the person who wrote the letter dr. Monaghan has been taking care of sanders for nearly 30 years, and these are the factors that we take into consideration as well, jake. Thank you, dr. Sanjay gupta. It could be the first step in trying to end americas longest war is next. Celebrating a successful business trip together is easy, if youre staying at holiday inn. Were there. So you can be too. woman no matter what business you are in, Digital Transformation never stops. Verizon keeps business ready for whats next. man we weave security into their business. second man virtualize their operations. third man and could even build ai into their customer experiences. We also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. Like 5g. woman where machines could talk to each other and expertise could go anywhere. woman when it comes to Digital Transformation, verizon keeps business ready. How we worship, or who we love. And the 2020 census is how that great promise is kept. Because this is the count that informs where hundreds of billions in funding will go each year for things like education, healthcare, and programs that touch us all. Shape your future. Start here. Learn more at 2020census. Gov managing lipids like very high tryou diet. Exercise. Tough. But if youre also taking fish oil supplements. You should know. They are not fda approved. They may have saturated fat and may even raise bad cholesterol. To treat very high triglycerides, discover the science of prescription vascepa. Proven in multiple clinical trials, vascepa, along with diet is the only prescription epa treatment, approved by the fda to lower very high triglycerides by 33 , without raising bad cholesterol. Look. Its clear, theres only one prescription epa vascepa. Vascepa is not right for everyone. Do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish or shellfish, have liver problems or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2. 3 of patients reported joint pain. Prescription power. Proven to work. Now with a new indication. Ask your doctor about vascepa. To challenge your thinking and test your execution. But great minds are driven to seek out the complex. They see what others dont, from an angle others wont take. They learn that embracing those challenges is what sets them apart. I am justin rose, and we are morgan stanley. If that was the last time ti was going to do that thing. Coming to Cancer Treatment centers of america, they treat the whole person. Everything is here. Imaging, infusion. I dont have to go anywhere else. They cared about me as a person beyond just being a cancer patient. Theyre my second family. Get care like no other. Call us at Cancer Treatment centers of america. We are back with the world lead. The u. S. And the taliban have agreed to a reduction of violence midnight kabul time which is a few hours ago. The hope is for longterm peace deal, but as Cnns Barbara Starr is reporting from the pentagon, there is skepticism if this ceasefire could bring an end to americas longest war. Reporter it is the first but fragile step towards ending americas longest war, the war in afghanistan. If the deal to reduce violence between the taliban and the United States works, the parties will sign a more Permanent Peace agreement for afghanistan next saturday. It gives President Trump a talking point for the campaign trail. Earlier in the week, he made the case that the deal is better than any alternative. We could win that very quickly and easily if i was willing to kill millions of people. I am not willing to do that. I am not willing to do that and significantly, that is not being called a ceasefire. It is almost certainly not the end of violence. I dont think at this point we should trust the taliban. They continue to fight the Afghan Government and fight the United States. And the taliban leaders negotiating with the u. S. May not be able to control the thousands of their fighters still in the field. If there are suicide or ied attacks, general scott miller, the head of the u. S. And nato forces has to quickly determine if the taliban are responsible. There are still major hurdles to any permanent deal, and one of the biggest being that the taliban which once shielded Osama Bin Laden wants all u. S. Forces out of afghanistan, and something that the pentagon is not ready to do. Nobody is right now calling for the complete removal of the u. S. And coalition forces. U. S. Forces will remain there as long as necessary to support our afghan partners. The pentagon expects to initially reduce the troop levels from approximately 12,000 to 8,600, and enough firepower, it says to suppress terrorist groups and fight remnants of al qaeda and isis. Now, the people of afghanistan certainly have paid a huge price in these years, these decades of war, but so have american troops. More than 2,000 killed in this war, more than 20,000 wounded. Jake. We can hope and pray for peace. Barbara starr, thank you so much. Tune in this sunday morning to state of the union at 9 00 a. M. And noon. And you can follow me on instagram or twitter or facebook. You can tweet the show, and our coverage continues on cnn. Have a fantastic weekend and i will see you sunday morning. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com this is cnn breaking news. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room, and we are following breaking news, the Washington Post is now reporting that Bernie Sanders has been formally briefed by top u. S. Intelligence officials on russian efforts to help his president ial campaign. We are also learning new details in the heated intelligence briefing that u. S. Lawmakers got on the russian interference designed to help reelect President Trump. It is more of the breaking news right now, and the justin correspondent evan perez is joining us, and a significant pm