time for cnn news room with john burman. >> good morning, you guys. >> let's get started. all right. moments ago the president lashes out and a key official expected to testify today that she warned the white house about contacts with russia, high drama on capitol hill. obama for the defense for the first time. the former president speaks since the house vote to repeal his signature health care bill. it takes little courage to aid those who were already powerful. and the dramatic election that could tell us where politics are headed around the world and all the way to the oval office. good morning everyone. hope you had a great weekend. >> so what did the white house staff know about flynn's contact

with russia and when did they know it? today key testimony from an official fired by the trump administration, testimony drawing a misspelling from the president himself. >> we'll get to that in just a moment. for the first time sally yates will describe concerns that she voiced to the white house about flynn's -- she is expected to contradict the white house by saying she delivered a serious urgent warning. here is the rebuttaled asked how it got into the newspaper after she expland it to the white house council, not counsel. >> just saying. >> i can't spell either. >> we are expecting to hear for

sally yates a lot more about what she was worried about, what she was concerned about when she went to the white house back on january 26th the raise concerns about mikechael flynn. we are expecting to hear more about his russian contacts and also essentially why they decided to go to the white house because he had mislead vice president pence and others about his discussions with the russian ambassador here in washington. there is a lot she won't be able to say because those two people were front and center as the u.s. intelligence agencies looked and watched as what they believe was happening with russian interference or attempted interference with the u.s. election. we expect that's lot she won't be able to talk about because of the classified nature of this.

you can tell from the president's tweet already there will be a lot of politics here. i think republicans will try to paint sally yates in particular as an operative. she has been in the justice department for 30 years but she got fired at three or four days after the beguning of the trump administration because she refused to enforce the travel ban, the first edition of the travel ban. we expect to hear a lot more about what the concerns were last year about russian interference in the election. there is a lot and we'll expect we'll hear a lot. cannot answer the questions from sally yates and from the rm toer director of national. >> it's unusual in a settle hearing. that's what we'll watch for today. thanks so much. we have new information on the b

progress or lack there of. >> yeah. that's right. talking to a number of lawmakers to sit on the house and intelligence committees. they are saying it is not going to move quickly. there is no way this will be concluded before the summer recess this august. it means it is a wide stretch well into the fall and possibly even into next year because of the data that they need to go through. james langford said if you stacked up all of the records and be taller than him and he 5'10". he said going through each of these leads is leading to even more questions. one of the questions they are struggling is whether or not any of these meetings had anything to do with the campaign or what is designed to help those trump associates businesses in their own bottom line. they sent out letters late last

week including the former trump adviser who refused to the committee last week. in a new letter coming overnight carter page also declined to list a number of his other meetings but doesn't knowledge it with someone -- but that official, u.s. authorities believe actually was a spy for the kremlin. this is one thing that he did knowledge he actually met with but a number of other meetings he did not disclose taking too much time. >> they could subpoena those documents but interesting he said you'll have to ask the obama administration for those. thank you. theer discuss is cnn political analyst for politics.

matt lewis and senior writer for the daily beast and counselor. nice to have you here. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the big picture. sally yates was fired because she refused to implement the travel ban. anything but a typical federal official. how about the significance of today? >> this is one of the first times we'll hear about what the trump administration knew about what michael flynn was really doing. michael flynn it now appears was much more involved with foreign powers. he registered as an agent of turkey. he had numerous contacts with russians. the question that covers over this whole saga is what was the relationship between trump campaign and russian government. the russian government was

working to help donald trump. what, if any, connection the trump campaign had to those efforts the big question and today is one small window. >> what is the level of urgency matter? one of the things we heard is sally yates will testify. it is a warning that he was lying about it. why is that an issue? >> michael flynn was supported fwi white house throughout this whole period as the reports kept coming. at one point donald trump said i haven't heard anything about it. it was only when there was a direct contradiction between what he told the vice president and what the facts that came out later. so the white house stood behind michael flynn for a long time and they cut him loose. sally yates significance is that she was warning well in advance

of this. >> matt lewis, the white house was not distancing itself for a while. now they are trying to put in many themselves and michael flynn as we can. we look back at the harshest thing the president himself has said about michael flynn in all of this and this is it. he has supported fly gnn. the president doesn't seem to be distancing himself that much. >> yeah. it makes it hard for the press shop and the communications people to do what they want to do which is to provide distance between them and flynn. when the president isn't sort of fl playing along. donald trump likes him. he considered him reportedly to

be a possible vice president. he obviously tapped him for an important role, national security adviser. he goes to the democratic convention and shouts lock her up. flynn and trump hit it off. they were incredibly close. one gets the sense that, you know, flynn had to be thrown under the bus but donald trump, you know, there's cognitive dissonance there. the communications people would defer it if donald trump war little less positive. >> not some casual hallelujahng. we are getting a sense of how the white house is going to deal with it today. they will sally yates who want to run as a democrat and they will question why she didn't go

to the white house sooner with her alarm. we heard the president and the president himself is all right rebutting this. >> absolutely it's effective. we are seeing them try to cast doubts on sally yates and her motives, really frame her actions as an obama official. acting as someone rooting if that side of the aisle. she'll be under oath. she will be telling the truth in this testimony. but certainly republicans in the white house are going to try to cast doubt on what she is saying and frame it from the context of she worked in the obama administration. she didn't want to implement the travel ban. she didn't want this administration to succeed.

the more president trump can turn this into a political football back and forth it muddies the water and some might forget it is about russian meddling in the election and colluding with this campaign. we haven't heard from her. there was a whole back and forth but we will also hear from someone who came out in the media and said i didn't see any evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia up until january 20th. what's the most important question he can be asked today? >> well, whether he has seen

anything that changes his opinion. >> you wouldn't have seen more intelligence after he stepped out of the role. >> probably not. my sense is that he will be pretty cautious in what he says. people in that world tend not to make categorical and how imperfect it is. he is accusing her of leaking. you know, we have never had that before. we have never had presidents who k did this kind of thing. the misspelling is the least of it. the idea that the president is -- you know, the guy who is in charge of the justice department is threatening a witness, it is kind of disturbing. >> a reminder that watergate

reporter said. he esshade where there are lies and secrecy there is a good road map to follow. you lies, michael flynn lying. we have secrecy in that the -- does it provide a good road map? >> the good news is there lab hearing today and we live in this great country where we have an opportunity to get to the truth. you know, things are not hidden as they might be say in russia. >> it is to name one country. >> just to name one. and i think there's a serious -- obviously a serious thing here. if russia knew that mike flynn was lying to the administration they would then -- he would be

in a compromising position and it would make him -- you know, they have the potential to then blackmail him. and, you know, oftentimes the way it works is you open the door to them by giving them an opportunity and they could begin working you and lobbying you and trying to turn you. and so it's a very serious thing. i do think the one thing we may learn today, we'll find out more about is whether or not sally yates just gave a heads up or implored them this is a very serious matter. so look, we are blessed to live in this country. we will find out some information today. >> thank you so much. overnight president obama, the former president, broke his si silence. he spoke about something or

someone to be more specific. find out whom in just a moment. new reaction to a historic election, a landslide win that some are looking to reverse trends around the world all the way to the white house. also in this north korean diplomacy, another american citizen detained. more on that in a moment. benefiber® healthy shape is a clear, taste-free, 100% natural daily fiber... that's clinically proven to help me feel fuller longer. benefiber® healthy shape. this i can do! so i wanted you to in thave the ring to match. at jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry... the engagement ring you had designed just for her. that's why he went to jared. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want.

booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation, in case i decide to go from kid-friendly to kid-free. now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your vacation is very important. that's why booking.com makes finding the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah

when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and.

so i use excedrin.ments from my life. it starts to relieve migraine pain in just 30 minutes. and it works on my symptoms, too. now moments lost to migraines are moments gained with excedrin. [heartbeat] we're on the move. hey rick, all good?

oh yeah, we're good. we're good. terminix. defenders of home. all right. this morning as the senate takes up to repeal and replace we are hearing from the guy with his name on it. former president barack obama spoke last night about the house vote to throw out his signature legislation. >> there was a reason why health care reform had not been accomplished before. it was hard. it is my hope and the hope of millions that regardless of party such courage is still

possib possible, that today's members of congress, regardless of are going to look at the facts and speak the truth. >> those comments coming from the former president after he received the profiles. we are following all of this. it was so clear who he was talking about but he didn't even have to say the president's name. >> that's right. he didn't explicitly mention president trump's name. he also didn't mention this vote that we saw on thursday, the house republican effort to at least pass through hair chamber. that is what he was talking about. he had a message for republicans as it moves forward. here is part of what he said. >> i hope that current members of congress recall that it actually doesn't take a lot of

courage to aid those that were already powerful, already comfortable. it does require the vulnerable and sick, those who often have no access to the corridors of power. >> president obama received this award from the jfk library foundation. the folks that he really gave kudos to in his speech were democrats who had pushed through obamacare with votes in 2009 and 2010. he specifically highlighted them saying that most of them lost their jobs for the hard vote that they took during those two years. it was also interesting because since we noted that he did not explicitly call out he did say that the reason why health care reform was not accomplished

before is because it was hard. >> unspoken. stick around. i want to bring in our senior political reporter. the question is, where are we now with health care reform? obviously the senate says it the taking it up. they say the house needs to be viewed with suspicion. rob says it does not meet the test of stability for people who rely on medicaid. this is the senate saying thanks but no thanks. >> i think that's right. ensz s essentially it is in the gar back in terms of what the senate is going to do. they will look at a skeleton version of this. there is a 13 member work group. a lot of people noeted it is al men. they have been talking about how

do they cobble together a 51 or 52 or so senators to pass this thing in that broad spectrum. people like rand paul doesn't believe the government should have any role in terms of pepping to -- helping to provide people health dare care. i think the fact that it made it out of the house that is probably more so ideal logical in the senate is good news for the senate's chances. we'll have to see what they are able to establish together. >> part of these houses is because they completely believe it won't make it through its senate at the form. ton other side you have congressman at the freedom caucus saying of the senate, you

know, work that has to be done on this they better not change it. if they change it you are not going have 218 votes. they are going to change it. where does that leave this administration? >> they are really going to change it. there is even an argument to be made that the senate could be helping the house by making changes and making it more palletable. if you think they are paying attention i think we will see if there really are not those votes. the difference will be if senate republicans have a plan, how respects have their plan. there will be significant deferences between them. they would come to the table and hash out some of the differences. it is difficult when you get to the final place and you say okay. remember when you celebrated in the rose garden but you hadn't

actually passed it, his the best you're going to ge. are you going to make good on that promise to repeal and replace? we don't know the answer to that question yes. >> i think people are paying attention to the specifics. i heard a young couple saying did you hear about the $880 billion cut to medicaid? specific numbers. >> it is. republicans are learning what the democrats had for so long. listen to this. [ no audio ] >> all right. let me read it out loud. she w he was talking about -- he was asked if people on medicaid would die. he said no one wants anyone to die. i'm now told we have it. let's listen.

>> he says during ten hours of town hall one of my answers wasn't very elegant. hi was responding to a false notion it will cause people to die in the streets which i completely reject. republicans are dealing with this. they own it to the extend democrats have for over six years. >> yes. and i think you do hear a different messages from the white house. the message there was essentially it is in a death spiral and republicans are here to fix it. we have better messaging than the congressman there was able

to mount in defense of what the democratic argument seems to be which is republicans don't care if you die. it seems to probably not be the greatest messaging either. you have heard that messaging before. the thing that i think democrats that's tough is that obamacare has been on the ballot. it's mostly lost. 2010 it lost. so there's the momentum at this point i think really is on the republican side. democrats have to figure out if they can muster as, you know, obama talks about the courage. they have got to courage but they don't have the forces at this point in either house to really mount a block. i think the other point is that obamacare will never really be repe repealed. the basic premise is it has a role to provide people insurance. it is probably not going away. >> all right.

great point. thank you very much. also, if you missed it over the weekend there was a little election in france, a big win for macron. 39-year-old former investment banker. >> giving you a chance to speak french on morning tfgtelevision. >> welcome christine. >> yes. it looks like the dow will be down about 21 points. up to a six month high and it fizzles a little by. last week you had the s&p and the nasdaq hit record highs. they were pulling last week and indicated had very good chances. france will stay and will keep the euro. that was good overall. there is a lot of work to be

done. that's not until june. it will be the next milestone there. retail earnings to tell you, that will be really important there. there is a deal today. kate spade being bought out by coach. that's a big move in that speck to. you guys have been talking about health care. this is triple the pace of job creation in health care. it has been a big driver of jobs. when you look at since the obamacare has opened you have about 1 ppt 2 million in three years. >> in three years. this is critical as the senate takes up health care reform. >> and if you take that money out there goes some of those jobs, no? >> one of the reasons it has been like that is they have been adding facile sis, have been adding wings they don't have

clai clari clarity. >> there's the bell. >> thank you for the french lesson this morning. we'll be right back. with e*trade's powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips, you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. ♪ ♪ e*trade. ♪ ♪ start trading today at etrade.com

the toothpaste that helpstax, prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try new parodontax toothpaste. it's clinically proven to remove plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. for healthy gums, and strong teeth. leave bleeding gums behind. new parodontax toothpaste. it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson.

no one's surprised tender pieces and crunchy biteswhere, ended up together. that's just what happens when cats call the shots. friskies tender and crunchy combo. tasty textures cats gotta have. friskies. for cats. by cats.

the shlike a bald penguin. how do i look? [ laughing ] show me the billboard music awards. show me top artist. show me the top hot 100 artist. they give awards for being hot and 100 years old? we'll take 2! [ laughing ] xfinity x1 gives you exclusive access to the best of the billboard music awards just by using your voice. the billboard music awards. sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. hundreds have gathered to protest the newly elected president, macron's plans for labor reform specifically. >> earlier he met with the

outgoing president who con firmd the inauguration will be this coming sunday. they do it very quickly in france. let's go to the streets of paris. we find isa. >> reporter: the celebration is certainly over. i can tell you that much. take a look here at the scenes in paris. we have just come off whantd started us is more that be a thousand or so. there was 11 million or so that voted for lepen. they didn't want either. many people here are mainly big unions who historically vote for the left. today they are taking to the streets to protest against what they call an elited president

elect, a president who only serves those at the very top many telling me they don't have reform. what we have heard from the president elect is that he is trying to bring a more free trade globalized vision of france more open for business. he is trying to bring the employment rate down. he brings it down to 7% and he also wants to reform labor market. people here view them. it's a very say credit saying. he said he wants to make more record hours. many people saying that is not right and the unions are out in forced to. if you can see all the way down you can see so much riot police here. although will there are two unions or so there are large groups of other young kids who aren't here to start some

trouble. this is what we heard throughout the campaign and this divide we have had. it is against the globalized version of macron to those who are not the top. this is what we heard is that it's between the haves and have notes, the elitists and those that struggle to make it day by day. this is why we are seeing so many here in the streets. >> but a total shift as they have been for 60 years. thank you very much ton the streets of paris. guess who is predicting he could get richer? >> he gets richer no matter what

happens. >> who gets richer urpd the gop health care bill. tough talk about what that bill would do. >> he has richard during that tease. that's right. create a gift from the heart that could only come from the pandora boutique at jared. a world of pandora... including exclusive pieces designed just for jared. ready to be mixed, matched and stacked with help from jared's own pandora expert. the one gift that speaks volumes, you'll both treasure forever. that's why he went to jared. when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement.

just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the 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. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you.

all right. warren buffet who is very very weal wealthy said he believes medical costs are a tapeworm on the american economy. it can be very very painful. he said one of the biggest differences with the effort to repeal and replace obamacare will make him even richer. >> based ton house bill i am a lot healthier than i was a week ago. it was huge what they did on cutting taxing. there is one clear cut message that comes out of that bill. it is we are going to cut the hell out of income taxes for the rich on investment income.

>> all right. joining us now to talk about it steven moore, former economic adviser and austin is here, and former chairman under president obama. just to be clear here we know warren buffet's politics. he was a big supporter of health care -- of hillary clinton. just looking at the numbers here, this is a guy who knows numbers he says it makes me a whole lot richer. can you argue with that, that this is what the economists debated on thursday called reverse robin hood? >> warren buffet will not like the republican healthcare plan because he writes out billions and billions of dollars of income that he never paid taxes on by contributing it to the gates foundation. that's billions of dollars that was never taxed.

>> just to be clear that's because he's following tax policy. >> he is following the tax laws. >> he is hypocritical when he is saying i want to pay more tax. i'll say this. austin thinks i can verify this, that every time we have cut the capital gains tax going back to 81 and '87 and 2003 under george w. bush, every time we cut it we have had more revenue, not less. there are other taxes, by the way, in obamacare that really hurt the economy. the tax on health insurance plans, all of those things didn't just effect the rich. they effected the middle class as well. >> you know, you would verify claims. >> i'm waiting.

>> let me say one thing about warren buffet. he gave the largest charitable contribution i believe in the history of the world. he should not be criticized for that. it is not a loophole. >> yes. >> and my only point is -- >> warren buffet is correct. warren buffet is entirely correct that if you go look at the republican health plan it cuts taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars. on the other side -- and i haven't seen it as remarked, it is going to get donald trump in a heap of trouble because a central campaign promise he made to the american people is he would never cut medicare or medicaid. it is an almost $900 billion cut to medicaid. this bill cuts taxes or massively high income people by hundredsov of billions and cuts the healthcare for low and

middle income americans by hundreds of millions. >> let me -- >> no. >> let me stress one thing. he did say he would not cut social security and medicare. he never said we wouldn't -- >> that's not true. he said i am not -- >> he said to mike huckabee he would not cut maid medicaid or medicare. >> we'll get his tweets and he is going to get himself in a whole lot of trouble because they are going to run the tape of that. >> it isn't true because look, when w what obamacare was an increase in medicare spending. how will you reform -- >> you should ask donald trump that. you should ask donald trump. just can sk him. >> okay. guys, i have to jump in on this. we'll pull the tape. they ran three sound bites where he talked about not touching medicaid. when you look at how much money has poured into the healthcare

system it has 1.1 healthcare jobs added. they say if you pull out 60 to 80 billion a year which previous republican plan should do, should the trump administration expect the see job losses? >> i think the whole problem with our health care market -- and this is something liberals have been saying for decades is that we spend way too much of our health care. it is 15 to 16%. the fact that we are having more and more jobs, that health care and education. with are not building factories or middle class jobs i think is a bad thing. we spend too much on health care in this country. >> last word. >> i don't disagree with the main thrust of what he is saying there. i don't want to get rid of the education jobs. let's keep that.

>> that's thauz you're a professor. if we could deliver the same amount for less money we would be able to expand jobs in other industries. i don't think the jobs angle -- >> hang on. >> we have a reading of one of the things donald trump said, i am not going to cut medicare or medicaid. >> okay. i stand corrected. my only point is if you're going to fix obama dccare the massive increase in spending. all we want to do is turn some of this back to the states, deregulate it so they can come up with their own plans. they have i improved coverage and lowered cost. it is what austin was talking about. >> guys, we have to go. we are going to go here. it is the issue promising we

have more against the regime. yoe the ring to match. at jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry... ...the engagement ring of her dreams you had designed just for her. in fact, with custom design services in every jared... ...anything you can imagine, our expert jewelers can create. something completely original, completely unique... ...completely her. custom design that's why he went to jared.

enamel is the strong, wof your tooth surface. the thing that's really important to dentists is to make sure that that enamel stays strong and resilient for a lifetime. the more that we can strengthen and re-harden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients' teeth are going to be. dentists are going to really want to recommend the new pronamel strong and bright. it helps to strengthen and re-harden the enamel. it also has stain lifting action. it's going to give their patients the protection that they need and the whiter teeth that they want. ♪

this morning, another u.s. citizen is detained in north korea. professor kim hok-song is accused of hostile acts against the government while doing agriculture work in the country. ivan watson is live in seoul for us. this comes just a few weeks after another american professor

was detained there. >> reporter: that's right. barely two weeks. another american professor from the same pyongyang university of science and technology. now, poppy, imagine what it would be like to find out that your husband had just been detained by the north koreans on suspicion of plotting crimes against the state. that is what happened to kim me-yuk. the wife of this naturalized u.s. citizen, agriculture expert teaching techniques to harvest rice in north korea and also evangelical christian pastor. i asked this distressed woman what her message was to north korea right now.

>> reporter: now, she says that she was waiting in china at a train station for her husband to arrive from pyongyang on a train on saturday, and he never came off that train. she says he's been falsely accused. now, the two men that have been detained in the last 2 1/2 weeks, they are in a very serious situation, because you have this major confrontation between the u.s. and north korean governments over its nuclear program, you have u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, who's suggested that maybe these americans are being used as bargaining chips, and there are no official diplomatic relations between these two governments. two other, at least two other american citizens who have been in detention since 2015 and 2016 in north korea have been sentenced to 10 and 15 years of hard labor. john?

>> unbelievable. real people caught in the middle. ivan watson in seoul. thank you very, very much. a crucial day of testimony on capitol hill. what did the white house know about michael flynn's contacts with russia? a key witness under attack this morning from the president himself. we have new developments next. wiback like it could used to? neutrogena hydro boost water gel. with hyaluronic acid it plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. for supple, hydrated skin. hydro boost. from neutrogena

this i can do, easily. i try hard to get a great shape. benefiber® healthy shape is a clear, taste-free, 100% natural daily fiber... that's clinically proven to help me feel fuller longer. benefiber® healthy shape. this i can do! a cockroach can survive heresubmerged ttle guy. underwater for 30 minutes. wow. yeah. not getting in today. terminix. defenders of home.

are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®.

but we've got the get tdigital tools to help. now with xfinity's my account, you can figure things out easily, so you won't even have to call us. change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly.

add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight. and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount