it later tonight as usual, good work. and don't miss her special report, fatal attraction or fatal mistake, the carolyn warmus story. it airs later tonight 10:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. that's it for me. thanks for watching. the news continues right now on the news continues right now on cnn. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> you're watching cnn on this friday afternoon, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me as president trump is about to head over for 17 days of r and r, he delivers arguably the biggest promise of his campaign while dealing with a new level of scrutiny by investigators. the jobs numbers are doing exactly what the president wants, but the russia investigation is crossing his red line. first to the jobs numbers. a july report did come out today and more than 1 million more jobs have entered the economy since he took office. unemployment has reached a 16-year low. however, cnn has learned special

counsel bob mueller is expanding the investigation beyond possible collusion with russians during the election to the finances of both the president and his campaign associates. plus, mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas regarding that june 2016 meeting that the president's son, don junior, held with a russian lawyer, according to a person familiar with the matter. but as the russia case continues to widen, president trump is using it to try and deepen his support. i want you to listen to what he told folks last night in west virginia. >> the russia story is a total fabrication. it's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of american politics. what the prosecutors should be looking at are hillary clinton's 33,000 deleted e-mails. most people know there were no

russians in our campaign. there never were. we didn't win because of russia. we won because of you. that, i can tell you. the reason why democrats only talk about the totally made-up russia story is because they have no message, no agenda, and no vision. it just makes them feel better when they have nothing else to talk about. >> let's begin with pamela brown there live for us in washington. and so, this is all this great reporting from you and evan and the justice team, specifically on what these investigators are looking into. of a financial nature, which predates the campaign. >> reporter: that's right. in fact, we're told that any leads, any investigative leads that are even unrelated to russia or the campaign are still being referred to the special

counsel, and we're told through our sources that investigators are trying to piece together the financials on only president trump but also his family members, also the trump organization. and so as you know, as we've reported, subpoenas have already been issued by the grand jury as part of this investigation, and we've also been told through our sources that investigators have been combing through a list of shell companies. they've been looking at a roster of people who have stayed at trump tower. they've even dug into the backgrounds of russian associates, business associates, who were connected to the 2013 miss universe pageant in moscow that the president had brought to moscow. and they're also looking at buyers of trump real estate. they are looking at, basically trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together in this expanding investigation to see, in one part, if there were any financial crimes committed, but also to learn or make sure that there's not a threat of blackmail on behalf of the russians in terms of being --

having financial leverage, and also another reason why investigators are interested in this is because they can use what they gather as leverage in the investigation to perhaps encourage cooperation among some of the subjects in this investigation. >> let me ask you to stick around because of all the details and all your reporting. i want you to join this conversation in a second but you know the president's lawyers, they say they're cooperate. for how long, especially as i mentioned, president trump has drawn the line in the sand as far as how far investigators can go. here is what he told "the new york times" last month. >> mueller is looking at your fitnesses and your family's finances unrelated to russia. is that a red line? would that be a breach -- >> i would say yes. over the years, i've looked at maybe doing a deal in russia, but i never did one. other than i held the miss universe pageant there. >> so, with me, cnn political director david chalian, former

federal prosecutor is here and pam is with us as well. david, beginning with you, that sound byte, that was the red line that we referred to now, you know, where trump has drawn this line with regard to looking into his finances, and how he's pushing back on this investigation. but you know, you know pam's reporting is that, you know, they believe that this is part of the original mandate if there was illegal coordination of russian security forces in the campaign, these investigators say fair game. >> right. so as pamela's report included, the original language from rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general when he set up the special prosecutor and appointed mueller, clearly said anything that may arise through this investigation. it's such wide latitude. so in statute, in the way this was set up, there's really no red line. and then, the republicans on capitol hill that sat down with dana bash, susan collins and lisa murkowski, said very clearly, the president doesn't get to draw bob mueller's red

lines. that's not how this works. so i do think that you played that sound from the president last night from west virginia. he didn't -- he wasn't going after bob mueller, despite all the news of the day being a grand jury and the -- they were on the money trail and all the reporting that was out there. he didn't go after mueller. what you heard there was his planned political attack on democrats, on this being completely trumped up charges, and that seems to be the strategy that he's in right now. it's almost as if his legal team got to him and got him convinced that bob mueller and his investigation is here to stick now and it's in a new phase. this is going to be with him and he can't wish it away. >> no, whether it's correct or not, politically, you know, he's saying to you, the voter, you know, those people are trying to delegitimize your vote. well, when we think of, you know, special counsels, just to you on the law, you think about the clinton administration, you think about white water and just to make the point again, you know, that whole thing started when they were trying to

investigate a land deal and wound up talking about monica lewinsky and this dress. so, looking at the current situation, is it unusual for this kind of investigation to cover this much ground? >> it's not unusual at all. in fact, i spent years investigating white-collar crime, and every time i investigated any kind of white-collar case, you would always look at financial dealings, because they tell you who someone is connected to. it tells you who owes that person things, who they owe things to. it tells you about what their motives are, so it's a pretty common thing to look at financial dealings in any white-collar investigation, and certainly here, there may have been a lot of reasons for the president's finances or his businesses' finances to be relevant. for example, whether there's leverage that the russians have over him or his family or perhaps a benefit that was

given, et cetera. >> you say common, but let me play this sound. i was watching this morning and i went, what did he say? this is the special counsel, ken starr, speaking of white water, he said this about the mueller investigation on new day. >> you're moving beyond collusion with russian operatives or russian interests or the russian government itself and into that which doesn't seem to have a direct tie to russia, then these questions are, in fact, raised, and it becomes a litigable, as we say, question, that people are going to squawk about it and disagree about it. i don't think it is clear one way or the other, but i do think it is a -- certainly a serious matter when a special counsel is accused -- and i was accused of that -- of exceeding his or her authority. that's a serious matter, because we do not want investigators and prosecutors out on a fishing expedition. >> a fishing expedition. did your ears perk when you heard that? >> without a doubt.

ken starr is the textbook photo if you look up fishing expeditions as related to independent counsel. so, it is odd to hear. and he admitted that, that he was accused of that, but it is odd to hear him warn against fishing expeditions when as you noted earlier, brooke, his investigation started with a land deal and ended up with an intern in the oval office. >> pam brown, how would your sources or, you know, folks tied to the investigation respond to that? >> reporter: well, i mean, you know, i think from the viewpoint of those involved in the probe, they think that everything they're doing is relevant, and look, if they get a lead or unearth facts that could be a crime, you know, they're not going to turn a blind eye to it. so, in that regard, i think those involved in the special counsel probe feel like they are doing exactly what they were appointed to do, and they have been given wide latitude but certainly i think it is sort of ironic that kenneth starr was sort of warning against this

notion of a fishing expedition, given the point david made. >> i think irony is precisely the word. and what about the grand jury also. this broke during the show, but we're talking more about how they're issuing speeb subpoenub witnesses. what does that tell you about the stage of the investigation now? >> i still think we're in an early stage. i know the viewers may not want to hear that, but i think what we're going to see in the months ahead are witnesses being called to testify before the grand jury using grand jury subpoenas, and that the purpose of that is to -- for, you know, not only to force people to testify who might be reluctant to cooperate but also to get their testimony under oath and i think we're also going to hear about a lot of grand jury subpoenas for documents and records. a prrosecution and investigatio like this is going to leave no stone unturned. if i was mueller and on his team, i would be doing everything i could to gather all the information possible given the importance of the investigation. >> just something our team was

talking about this morning, and chalian, i know you're not a lawyer. >> to the great dismay of my mother. >> sorry, mrs. chalian. i think you've done all right. how do they find grand jurors, you know, americans who aren't plugged in, who aren't biased, either way, on this whole thing to sit in a room and hash this out? >> you know, it's a good question. although it's also not clear, brooke, how much everyday americans are focused in on the details of this story, day in and day out, the way we are in the media, in the beltway. i do think there's probably, to pam's point of all her reporting, it's like you hear all of these things out there, you're living your life, going about your business, and then p pam's reporting today is like putting it all together. i think people check in and out. so i don't know that they've been so immersed in some way that they're unable to look at evidence in a fair manner. >> sure. >> reporter: can i just make one point really quickly? there's a key difference between

impanelling a special grand jury, which is a judge, you get approval from a judge and then you convene a group of people dedicated to the case and have a set schedule and just using a grand jury that's already sitting that just, you know, signs -- just allows the subpoenas to go forward with documents and testimony and to be clear, we don't know -- we don't know if mueller has impanelled a special grand jury or if he's just using a sitting grand jury in d.c. i just think it's an important clarification to make. >> totally. these are questions people are asking, trying to understand the process. pamela and david and renato, thank you so much. coming up, the theater, not that kind of theater, the theater in the west wing, that's intensifying. new details about national security adviser h.r. mcmaster and his standing in the white house, why my next guest says the president's core supporters are declaring war on trump's top national security aide. also it's been called the most sophisticated terror plot

ever attempted. how authorities foiled this chilling isis plot. and great jobs numbers out today, 1 million jobs added since the president has taken office. unemployment rate, the lowest it's been in 16 years. does the president get all the credit and why is wall street seeming seeming seemingly unfazed by all things russia? you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we'll be right back. if you have medicare

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pure clay masks from l'oreal paris. albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. . we're back. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. reports are intensifying of this feud between national security adviser h.r. mcmaster and the president's inner circle. general mcmaster has seen his standing questioned after he removed a top intelligence adviser, seen as a continuation of his effort to purge acolytes of his predecessor, general michael flynn, from the national security council. i've got kaitlan collins joining us from the white house. kaitlan, we're hearing two senior white house officials say general mcmaster has been, i

believe the word is irritated by the impression that he has lost some standing with the president. what are you hearing? >> reporter: that's exactly right. we've heard from two white house officials that he is a little annoyed with all these reports, that he's lost some good standing with the president. but mcmaster has drawn the ire of some conservatives this week after two things. one, he dismissed ezra cohen wannik. he was brought in by michael flynn before he was fired as national security adviser earlier this year, and secondly, we found out this week that mcmaster has written a letter to susan rice extending her security clearance. this is barack obama's national security adviser who has been accused by some of mishandling classified information pertaining to trump associates. so that's drawn some ire. but the white house has said that mcmaster sent this letter to all past national security

advisers so they could weigh in on the current administration's discussion over these national security issues. but we're hearing that mcmaster is feeling the heat here in the west wing. >> so all right, given that reporting, let me ask you, we knew about some of the tensions, whether or not they should draw down on the 9,000 troops in afghanistan and the back and forth in agreement with the president and mcmaster over there, but reading your "daily beast" piece today, you talk about how the president's political base has declared this all-out war on the president's top national security aide. why? >> well, because some of the people that he has fired were known as banner carriers, spear carriers for the trump campaign. they were originally hired by michael flynn. so the concern in trump's base is that this is h.r. trying to put his stamp on the national security council. what i hear from others is that what you see is h.r. is getting

rid of people who proved really hard to work with or some people whose loyalties seemed to be divided, who didn't understand the chain of command, that, yes, they were allowed to talk to people in trump's inner circle over in the west wing, but they had to let him know about it. so, what you see is a shaking out of the different tribes as they learn to work together, and the result of general kelly, retired general kelly now being chief of staff and saying to mcmaster, you're in charge, it's your team. if someone's not working, tell me and they're out. >> you talk about the tribes. i'm curious, how long has this whole -- has this been brewing? because you know, we remember mcmaster was seen as a prized pick. when did this go wrong? >> you've got these different teams of people who are trying to come up with brand-new policies on a bunch of contentious issues, everything fr from how to solve or draw down the war in afghanistan to how to

defeat isis. past administrations haven't come up with solutions any quicker or easier but you have a president who wants things turned around quickly so that puts more stress on the process and then you've got mcmaster asking teams of people to go to the pentagon, go to the cia, get the information i need to turn around a white paper so i can present it to the president's staff, and that not happening fast enough. the people who didn't help it happen fast enough are out, and some of them, though, had, through the campaign or through the early weeks of the trump administration, forged really close ties with people like jared kushner and bannon, and that is where you get the complaints as they're on the way out. >> susan, as we look ahead to see what results from all of this, and i know there are scenarios here, we've talked to a number of government officials who say one possibility, although they're saying unlikely, is that mcmaster could be transferred to handle troops

in afghanistan. are you hearing that? >> reporter: i think what you're going to see is he's got a reprieve now. you've got a few weeks, a few months to turn around this operation and get the president some of the new ideas he's been pushing for, so i think that's been -- that can has been kicked down the road. >> okay. kimberly and kaitlan, thanks, ladies. coming up next, two major terror plots being called the most sophisticated terror plot ever attempted have been toward thwarted. one of them, a plan to put an i.e.d. on a commercial airline, how authorities stopped that. today's jobs numbers point to a strong economy. does president trump get all the credit? we'll be right back. and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a medication... ...this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain... ...and protect my joints from further damage. humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years.

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authorities in sydney, australia, are breathing this massive sigh of relief here because they just foiled two major terror plots, both of them allegedly linked to isis. one plot involved planting an ied in the cargo of a commercial passenger plane. the other would have unleashed a toxic gas on the public, maybe in public transportation. australia's police commissioner said the plans, if not stopped, could have been a catastrophic event. >> the investigation was in relation to an allegation that an australian-based individual was planning to undertake preparations for an attack against australian aviation targets. it is alleged that this individual was receiving information and being inspired and directed directly from isil in syria.

this advice was coming from a senior member of the islamic state. this is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on australian soil. and if it hadn't been for the great work of our intelligence agencies and law enforcement, over a very quick period of time, then we could very well have had a catastrophic event in this country. >> at least two people, both are brothers from sydney, have been arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses. renee marsh is live with us and paul crookshank is our senior terrorism analyst. renee, just tell me more, the details, you know, the sophistication level of this. >> yeah, brooke, the coordination and the grade of weaponry used in this particular plot, hands down, it is extremely chilling, and isis commander essentially sent partially assembled bomb components via air cargo from turkey to australia, and the

bomb parts include high military grade explosives. the intention was to build a bomb and place it in or on board a flight on july 15. what's new and really concerning here is that isis is essentially shipping do-it-yourself bomb kits to extremists in the west. now, as you know, and we've covered, building those powerful bombs from scratch is probably one of the most difficult things for extremists, but what this plot shows is that isis is making it easier for them. again, flying those partially assembled components to the west, then talking them through the final steps. police say that this device was in luggage that was supposed to be checked, but at no stage did it actually get past airport security. the australian police didn't elaborate as to why this attack never did proceed as planned, but the other part of this plot, brooke, involved a plan to release this toxic gas in public. the two men involved, they have

been identified. one is a 49-year-old, one a 32-year-old, khalid as well as mohamed, both of them were living in sydney. >> i'm still back on bomb parts via airmail, paul. can you tell me more about that. >> these are alarming details with a capital "a." this is sort of like the ikea model of terrorism. they managed to get this high-grade military explosive to turkey and then dispatched it by air freight on some kind of jet carrying the cargo all the way to australia, then were in touch through these online encryption apps with the cell, these two individuals in sydney in terms of finishing up what was already a partially-constructed device and now that massively increases the capabilities of extremists on the ground. it's been a big challenge for extremists in the west to build sophisticated, powerful bombs. we've seen some devices create, the boston attacks, for example,

but that was a fairly low-grade explosive. that wasn't high-grade explosive. this was military-grade sploes skp i -- explosive and they got it on a plane all the way to australia. if they managed to send this partially constructed device to australia, could they have sent other devices to other countries, including the united states or might they try to do that in the future. now, what we understand is that this device, a replica was then created by the australians and it wouldn't, they think, have beaten a security sydney airport, but of course the next time round, they get a chance to learn from this and to put something even more sophisticated, more difficult to detect together. >> thank god they stopped this. but when i was reading into the details of this, and you think of all the terror attacks we've covered, the thwarted terror attacks, this is another example of brothers, paul, working together. >> yes. and several brothers, because in fact, it was a brother in isis,

actually, a senior figure in isis connected to these two men, a brother of one of the men in sydney who connected them in turn to a controller in isis in syria who very much was the guiding force behind this plot, and then yet another brother, an unsuspecting innocent brother they were going to give this device to so he could take it on board and in the checked luggage and then the plane would have blown up. now, at the last minute, they decided not to give it to him to take on the flight. he actually then traveled but without the bomb. one conjecture from the australian police today is that the checked luggage was just too heavy to get on the flight and that's why they didn't proceed. >> alarming with a capital "a," to quote you, paul. thank you so much. coming up, we will find you. we will investigate you, and we will prosecute you. that is the message from the director of national intelligence today to leakers

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and the best unlimited. some great news for president trump. u.s. added more than 1 million jobs since he took office. the new numbers out today, 209,000 of them added in the month of july. that is more than what economists expected, and the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 16 years. the president, he took to twitter this morning. he was excited. he said, excellent jobs numbers just released and i have only just begun. many job-stifling regulations continue to fall. movement back to usa. peter is back with us today, former economic director with

the u.s. international trade commission, and international business professor at the university of maryland. and shelby holiday -- he's also a trump supporter. shelby, politics and business reporter for the "wall street journal." peter, this is huge, awesome news for the president. i mean, the man is six months in. is this the kind of news, you know, some folks will say, well, obama handed him a great economy. six months in, is this fair to say it's his to fully own. >> i don't think it's fair to say it's any president's to fully own after six months. if he could implement the balance of his program, tax reform, not so much cuts but rationalizing the tax structure, i think that we could see substantially more jobs created next month, somewhere in the range of 250,000 i think is indeed quite possible. >> are you worried at all that tax reform goes the same way as health care. >> absolutely. because in order to do tax reform, i think there has to be some tax cuts so you don't have so many losers lobbying against

it and that will require some entitlements reform and we've seen with health care, entitlements reform, there's not even agreement inside the republican party, never mind reaching across the aisle. >> shelby, what do you think? >> i think i would -- there's a lot of debate about whose economy this is and who should take credit for it. i think it's like running a relay race, each president handing off the baton to the next. yes, president obama left the economy in great shape for president trump. a lot of economists describe our growth as sluggish right now. it is not hit that 3% mark. still it's growing and people should be celebrating the fact that we are adding jobs every single month. president trump hit the 1 million mark in his first six months. that's something president obama did last year. if you look at the number of jobs created each month, on average, they're roughly the same, so you know, a lot of economists just say we should enjoy the fact that we are in a sweet spot, inflation is low, we're adding jobs. wage growth is a little bit sluggish. economists would certainly like to see that higher. but we're getting raises. we're not, you know, losing our

jobs. so, in general -- >> but -- >> president trump has reason to celebrate. >> but riddle me this, peter. you have this strong economy, strong dow. when was the last time a president had such strong economic news yet was so unpopular? i mean, normally the two go hand in hand. >> well, this president was elected under a cloud. we all acknowledge that because he didn't win an electoral majority. george w. bush, he had a decent economy. they came out of the box a little slow, but then he had a decent economy and until he got past his first midterm elections and won some seats in the house, things didn't get better for him, and i suggest that things aren't really going to -- the clouds are not going to go away until the special prosecutor stops digging in -- i don't want to get into that, but digging into his family's finances and going off on all kinds of rabbit warrens and he has the midterm elections. he's going to have to do well in the midterm elections for the sun to really shine on his

presidency. >> but the dow, i mean, what was it, one day this week, it was above the 22,000 mark. shelby, the markets seem impervious to said cloud. >> yeah, and i do think president trump can take credit with the stock market. we saw it shoot up after his election. it's the prospect of lower taxes. it's the prospect of infrastructure spending. it's the prospect of, at this point, of -- i mean, he has killed regulations, but mostly it's the promise of his agenda, and we have yet to really run -- get into the weeds in the tax debate. there are a lot of disagreements among republicans about how much we should cut taxes, who we should cut taxes for, big picture, it might not be so easy to get tax reform done, but it doesn't matter because investors say regardless, they think that the corporate tax rate will be lower. that is why the market's higher. that's why investors are plowing more and more money into it. and we'll see if it can get done, but generally, most people think something will be done. >> go ahead, peter.

>> maybe it's not as deep of cuts. >> i don't think it's fair to say we think it's just the prospect of tax cuts. regardless of who might have been president now, i think the market would be stronger. maybe not as strong as it is because mr. trump is cutting regulation back, but we can't deny the fact that corporate profitability is increasing substantially, not just from operations in the united states but american companies earn a great deal of money abroad and they're doing very well abroad. it's not just that foreign economies are growing, but american companies are very well managed. they're very innovateive. they come up with lots of new technologies and that is broadly received, so i think that's a great strength of america and it's not something we should quibble about or assign to any one president. we have a strong economy because we have a strong fortune 500 or s&p 500 or what have you. >> that's true and we heard jamie diamond, one of president trump's economic advisers actually say that on an earnings call. he said, washington's a mess, they're not getting anything done, but businesses here in the

u.s. are strong and economies abroad are strong. and so, you know, enjoy the sweet spot. >> we like it. on that note, happy friday. thank you both so much. we'll take that news. coming up next, a warning from attorney general jeff sessions to the media with regard to leaks. could the justice department force journalists to give up their sources? plus president trump, any moment now, leaving the white house for a 17-day working vacation. what will he be up to in august? stay with me. 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.

we will find you. we will investigate you. we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, and you will not be happy with the result. >> strong warning today for white house leakers from the director of national intelligence, dan coats, who calls leaks a national security threat. the trump administration making it crystal clear these leaks have to stop. this coming after those transcripts of two of the president's phone calls with world leaders, both the mexican president and the australian prime minister were leaked, verbatim, to "the washington

post." but the white house also has its eyes on us, we, the media, when we publish leaks. i want you to hear what the attorney general, jeff sessions, announced at that very news conference. >> reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas. we respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect, but it is not unlimited. they cannot place lives at risk with impunity. we must balance the press's role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the armed forces, and all law-abiding americans. >> senior media correspondent and host of "reliable sources" bri brian stelter is with us. and paul callen. pam brown was there and she

pushed him as to whether the doj would change its practice of not prosecuting journalists and rosenstein would not rule out the possibility. legally, how far can they take this? >> reporter: you know, the supreme court often uses a phrase called having a chilling effect on free speech, and any attempt, i think, to prosecute the press aggressively to try to change their coverage of politics in america would not be met kindly by the courts. so that was rather a chilling, dangerous threat, i think, to a free press. and we haven't seen that, you know, happen in quite some time. there have been -- i can only think of one reporter arrested in the last five years or so on any kind of a serious charge. >> brian stelter, when you think in the last week of the stories that were broken because of leaks, there's a multitude. i mean, how do you balance this with the public's right to know? >> certainly, i think, what attorney general jeff sessions was doing today was trying to

communicate through the cameras to his boss, the president of the united states, to donald trump who has been so angry about leaks and frankly angry at jeff sessions, partly today was about sessions trying to keep his job by saying to the president, saying to the public, we are taking this really, really seriously, basically threatening, warning people not to leak. but as you pointed out, there's a lot we wouldn't know were it not for leakers. some people inside the government might be motivated out of pettiness, out of anger or bitterness, but some are motivated out of a sense of purpose, a public service, to tell people about, for example, mike flynn's misbehavior, the meetings that he didn't disclose, the donald trump jr. meeting with the russian lawyer. we have learned so much via leaks about the russia investigations, about troubling behavior inside the white house, even things that bring up president trump's emotional state and these leaks, these leaks, even though, you know, the leak sounds like a negative word, has a negative connotation, nobody wants leaks,

even in their own home, but these leaks do make the public better informed about what's going on inside the governments. >> but do you think -- >> that's certainly the intention. >> do you think, using paul's word of the chilling effect, will this warning have a chilling effect? will it make members of the media double down? >> the reporters -- the investigative reporters at cnn, "the post," "new york times," they are very careful about communicating with sources. for example, not using cell phones in some cases or using really secure apps or drop boxes. there's a variety of ways that journalists communicate with sources and i think that's partly why the government's having such a hard time investigating these cases. there's only been one prosecution that we know of of a leaker this year, a contractor who allegedly leaked to the intercept. that's the only case we know where sessions and the government has been able to prosecute a leaker. it's been difficult and i think that's a credit to the journalists who are being very careful communicating with sources. that will definitely not change. >> you know, i think -- i think

that also the reason it's difficult is because the laws, people don't understand that it's very difficult -- it's not a crime to leak information unless that information is classified or protected in some way. >> right. >> if you are simply a disloyal employee of the president, well, tough luck. >> it might get you fired but not prosecuted. >> maybe you hired the wrong person. you're not going to get a prosecution out of that. so, you know, i think the trump administration has tried to turn everything into criminal activity or criminal leaks, and it really isn't that at all. >> this is just what i wanted to jump in and say and then we'll go. just for perspective, the obama justice department was criticized for the high number of leak cases that it prosecuted. it brought more espionage act related charges against leakers than all previous administrations going back to 1945. paul callan and brian stelter, gentlemen, thank you. coming up next, president trump taking a new approach to the allegations of russian collusion with the 2016 campaign. what he is telling you, the

voter. and last friday, really, was it just last friday? we were talking about anthony scaramucci and reince priebus, but this week has been all about general john kelly, the new chief of staff, how he's making his presence known and felt in the west wing. ♪ there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses.

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when lindsey, a wisconsin police officer, saw that an 8-year-old boy in her area needed a kidney transplant to live, she decided to go beyond the call of duty. >> i'm excited for my birthday. >> reporter: from the day jackson was born, his mom, christy, didn't know how many birthdays he would have. >> a life expectancy for him, it wasn't very positive. >> reporter: jackson was diagnosed with a condition that causes his kidneys to slowly stop working. his mother knew that a kidney transplant was inevitable.

>> his labs just weren't showing that he was going to be healthy through another winter. i think it was that day i think i put something on facebook right away and please contact me if you'd be interested in being a living donor. this would be the very best gift we could ever receive. i was looking for jackson's hero. >> reporter: in the next town over, milton police officer lindsey saw kristi's plea on facebook. >> i saw it, looked at my at that time 2-year-old child and said if it were him and i needed someone to save my kid's life, i would hope somebody like me would do it. >> reporter: after an agonizing month-and-a-half wait, hope landed in kristi's inbox. >> i sent her a facebook message saying, i don't want to get your hopes up, but i am in the process. i got tested. >> reporter: after more tests and more waiting to see if she was a match, lindsey learned it was a go. jackson and his family had no idea she was a match, so she and her husband decided to surprise

them with the news. >> the doorbell rang. my husband and i walked in, and i saw kristi and i said, i have these for you. >> i had no idea what was going on but she had given me a gift and then she gave jackson a gift and i ripped open the gift, and the first word when i tore the little edge of the gift, it said, kidney. and i knew that that's what it was. >> reporter: what was it? >> it was her saying, here, i'm -- i'm here to save jackson's life. >> reporter: after a successful surgery, she did just that. what kind of person puts themselves out there like that to a total stranger? >> these days, not many people do anymore. >> reporter: can you believe that just happened? >> no. like it's just amazing that somebody is willing to do that for you. >> reporter: bidorf says the risks of donating her kidney are less than what she faces on the job. >> i took an oath to serve and

protect my community and now my kidney will serve and protect you. top of the hour. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> cnn has learned that special counsel bob mueller is expanding the investigation beyond possible collusion with russians during the election to the finances of both the president and his associates. plus, mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas regarding that june 2016 meeting the president's son don junior held with the russian lawyer and others, according to a source. as this russia probe is widening, president trump is using it to try to deepen