what actually led to this ambush. asked a short time ago on capitol hill if the trump administration was being forthcoming in all it knew about this, senator mccain s answer was no. jake? all right. jeff zeleny at the white house. thank you so much. the loss of a service member and the pain of his or her family is part of life in this nation that we at the lead try to treat with appropriate sensitivity and respect. we don t know exactly what president trump said to the grieving widow of sergeant la david johnson. congresswoman frederica wilson said the president said, quote, he knew what he signed up for, but i guess it still hurt, unquote, that the president did not seem to know johnson s name. and the congresswoman further suggested the president s words caused the widow to break down after the call ended. johnson s mother tells cnn that is accurate. he tweeted he had proof and the white house today said congresswoman wilson was trying to politicize a call to a widow and those
i did not say what she said. i had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who sounded like a lovely woman. did not say what the congresswoman said and most people aren t too surprised to hear that. [ inaudible question ] let her make her statement again and then you ll find out. reporter: wilson, a florida democrat, stood by her account. the soldier s mother also telling cnn the congresswoman s recollection was very accurate. when asked if she was shocked by the president s words, the congresswoman said this. stunned. still stunned. so insensitive. so insensitive. mr. trump is crazy. reporter: the extraordinary feud did little to shed light on what actually led to the ambush that killed johnson and three other american soldiers in west africa. for the president, it s the deadliest combat incident involving u.s. troops since taking office. asked earlier why he didn t address the attack for nearly two weeks, the president falsely claimed his predecessors did n
thank you so much for doing this. i want to ask you, there is this very uncomfortable situation going on right now when it comes to the president calling the grieving family of this soldier who was killed in niger, one of the four, la david johnson. with a congresswoman and now supported by a member of the family saying that the president was not respectful. maybe didn t even nola david johnson s name. however it went down, that family did not leave that encounter feeling good. what s your reaction? those are tough calls to make. i had to make them myself, talking to the relatives of fbi agents, other agents, federal agents who had lost their lives in the line of duty. they re tough calls to make, but they re the kinds of things that you have to do if you want to lead, you know, certain organizations. i m distressed to hear that the
woman s account was very accurate. chief of staff kelly and others were listening to the call. sadly at the center of it, a tragic loss and a family in pain. cnn s jeff zeleny starts us off today from the white house. reporter: president trump embroiled in a firestorm over his condolence call to the grieving would off of an american soldier killed in niger. didn t say what that congresswoman said. reporter: today at the white house, the president spoke about his call does to ms. johnson, the pregnant wife of sergeant la david johnson. who mourned the loss when his flag-draped toss debt arrived in florida. told cnn the president disrespected sergeant johnson by saying he knew what he signed up for. the president denied using those words, saying on twitter wilson totally fabricated what i said to the wife of a soldier who died in action, and i have proof. sad. he did not provide proof as the controversy escalated between the commander in chief and the family of a fallen soldier.
don t have clean drinking water or electricity in puerto rico. as cnn gets a rare and stunning perspective at the scope of the damage. good afternoon, everyone. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we re going to begin with the politics lead today in another jam-backed day at the white house. a bipartisan health care deal that the president seemed to support just yesterday, he is now slamming today, seeming to effectively kill that deal before it really got off the ground. president trump is making a push for his tax plan, meeting with members of the senate finance committee this afternoon, all while deal with the fallout from criticism from a gold-star family that he dealt with them disrespectfully. today, the president denying that he told the widow of sergeant la david johnson that the soldier knew what he signed up for, saying democratic congresswoman frederica wilson of florida who is close with the family and listened to the call on speaker phone fabricated the claim. told c