>> greg: got to go back. >> eric: set your dvrs. "special report" is next. >> bret: and expensive, wide-ranging and extraordinary news conference from president trump dealing with the media, russia, into leaks, obamacare, taxes, and more. in a way, no other president has. this is "special report" ." good evening prayer and welcome to washington. president trump insisted he was having fun during an afternoon news conference that started with the announcement of his new labor secretary nominee. 78 minutes later, the range of topics he covered were broad. his biggest focus, media coverage and fake news, explaining his firing of his national security advisor and the neck stops with the

relationship with russia. the president talked about a lot of other topics and we'll cover those for you too. this was president trump sounding a lot like candidate trump. chief white house correspondent john roberts is live on the north lawn and was in the east room for the event. >> good evening. this was a hastily called news conference. we only got the notification probably about an hour and 15 minutes before the president went on the stage. it was initially to introduce us to alexander acosta who is the president's replacement nominee to be labor secretary but it also gave the president a chance to try to change the subject from the terrible headlines that had been dogging him. it was an opportunity for president trump to recapture the freewheeling days of his campaign, a spirited back-and-forth with the media he mostly sees as hostile and out to get him. >> president trump: much of the media in washington, d.c., along with new york, los angeles, in particular, speaks not for the people but

for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system. we have to talk about it to find out what's going on. the press honestly is out of control. the level of dishonesty is out of control. >> the president dismissed negative reporting as fake news, insisting the entire narrative about his tap having contacts with russia is a ruse invented by the democrats. >> president trump: talk all you want about russia which is all fake news, fabricated deal to try to make up for the loss of the democrats and the press plays into it. stick a wire while he fired his national security advisor for not coming clean about his contacts with russia, in response to a question from fox news the president said general michael flynn did nothing wrong during those calls. >> president trump: when i first heard about it. i said that doesn't sound wrong. my counsel came, don mcgann, white house counsel.

he told me. i asked him and he can speak very well for himself. he said he doesn't think anything is wrong. stick with the president repeated he has no financial obligations to russia and sought to knock down reports that his campaign manager paul manafort was in contact with russian officials during the campaign. >> president trump: i have nothing to do with russia. to the best of my knowledge no person that i deal with does. >> earlier in the day, president trump lashed out at leaks of damaging information against him, including the content of classified phone calls with world leaders. in his press conference, the president revealed he's told the justice department to launch a criminal investigation. >> president trump: i've gone through all the folks in charge of the various agencies and where i've actually called the justice department to look into the leaks. those are criminal leaks. >> the president blamed the leaks on holdovers from the obama administration and complained that while the leaks are real, the news is fake.

and that is delaying his agenda. >> president trump: reince priebus is working so hard putting out fires that are fake fires. they are fake. they are not true. isn't that a shame because he would rather be working on health care. he would rather be working on tax reform. >> while the president has been forced to withdraw a cabinet nominee, fire his national security advisor and lost a case against his emigration ban in the week, he insists things are humming along. >> i turn on the tv, open the newspapers and see stories of chaos, chaos. yet it's the exact opposite. this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. >> the president also revealed today that sometime next week he will release a new executive order on extreme vetting, the so-called immigration ban, one the presidents as well, randomly protect the country but the real question is will it pass legal muster?

's first one certainly did not. >> bret: john, much speculation about who would be the next national security advisor and talk about vice admiral bob harward. where are we on the choice question! seems that according to the financial times, vice admiral harward might be out. the vice admiral wanted to bring in his own staff the national security council. it looks like those negotiations may have gone off the rails. we are trying to run this down but according to the financial times, vice admiral robert harward has declined to be the next national security advisor. >> bret: president trump had more to say about the media during today's news conference. >> president trump: many of our nations reporters and folks will not tell you the truth and

will not treat the wonderful people of our country with the respect they deserve. the media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we need and they are not happy about it, for whatever reason. the press should be ashamed of themselves. >> bret: let's get some rationale from fox news media analyst howard kurtz. good evening. it was quite something. you couldn't turn away paired what you make of the way this president riffed into the media? 's ago you couldn't turn away. that was the harshest and most sustained attack on the media by president. he scored some points by denouncing fake news. his supporters must have been on their feet cheering. at other times he was over-the-top and those who don't like him, as he jokingly predicted, the headlines will say he was ranting and raving. >> bret: what worked well?

>> the president's right. it's been an unprecedented flood of illegal leaks of classified information designed to damage him. "the washington post" story on mike flynn, the information was true and that's why he fired the national security director. much of his coverage has had a relentlessly negative tone, he was right. >> bret: what was off base? what didn't strike the right tone? >> he criticized today's "wall street journal" report that some spies are allegedly withholding information by saying they never call me. you can't just ring up the oval office. the fourth paragraph has a denial from a white house official. the president said a "new york times" piece had been discredited. that's far from clear and there's an fbi investigation. i don't know it helps trump to be going on and on about don leman and his cnn programming even if he's right about the shows lineup. seems like small potatoes for president.

>> bret: he spent a lot of time on the media and obviously we don't pull well as a giant organization. is that why he spent so much time on it? >> we are a vulnerable target to look at the way the words the president used. hatred and venom. these frustrations date back a long time to the campaign, the transition and he believes the press is trying to undermine his victory and paint a picture of chaos. other news he made today was drowned out by his assault on the media which doesn't help him pass his legislative agenda. the thing then that would actually ensure he gets more positive press. >> bret: when i say we don't poll well, the media as a whole. trump at 55%. we will talk about that with the panel. there are questions about the intelligence community and who may be leaking information to

the community. president trump pledged to go after the leakers plaguing his administration, committing what he said were criminal acts. here is catherine herridge. >> after a "wall street journal" reported that the intelligence community is withholding information concerning leaks, president trump hit back. >> president trump: they took the front page story of "the wall street journal" and they wrote the story that's not true. >> the office for the nation's top spy denied sources and messages for the top -- "any suggestion that the u.s. intelligence unity is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true." a government official told fox president trump has been receiving the president's daily brief and the tension came after former national secured advisor mike fine gathered intelligence for a separate brief.

that's typically not how it's done. >> taking raw information and looking at it first person and making your own assessment, it bypasses the potentiality of politicization. >> the president is backing away from naming stephen fienberg to review the intelligence committee as well as the exciter branch. mr. trump said his nominee for the director of national intelligence, dan coats, may soon be in place with cia director mike pompeo and fbi director comey. >> they are in position, so i hope will be able to straighten it out. >> this comes as the senate minority leader went to the floor to pressure white house cooperation with congressional investigators. >> there's real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to russia. these records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations. they must be preserved.

>> republican chairman of the senate intelligence committee rejected democrat calls for the attorney general jeff sessions to recuse himself. >> i'm not sure why you would ask an attorney general not to perform their job. i don't remember anybody asking for loretta lynch to recuse herself after she spent time on an airplane with bill clinton. stick with a former director of national intelligence james clapper issued a statement calling for a robust investigation that will me feet disparaging or disruptive of the intelligence community. most aim to put politics to one side. >> bret: president trump has overturned on obama-era regulation, or rule intended to block coal mining debris from being dumped in certain areas. made by person group watch the president sign it into law, the regulation, along with coal miners and energy company officials. >> special people, special

workers. we are bringing it back fast. it's been very few days since i've been here and this is long ahead of schedule. this is about four years faster than it would've happened. it's my honor and fellows, go back to work. i think we will take them into the oval office. >> bret: critics of the regulations as it could eliminate thousands of jobs and ignore existing rules. the interior department has said it would protect streams and forests. while president trump was describing coverage of alleged russia connections with his administration as a ruse, his top diplomat was getting his first official taste of negotiating with the russians. rich edson is at the state department. >> good evening. secretary of state, on his first overseas trip, meets the seasoned russian diplomat. at the meeting in germany,

rex tillerson spoke with russian foreign minister sergei lavron. following their discussion, tillerson outlined what he expects from the relationship with russia. >> the united states will consider working with russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the american people. where we do not see eye to eye, the united states will stand up with the interests and values of america and her allies. >> bret: tillerson pushed russia to adhere to cease-fire agreements in eastern ukraine. the trump administration has criticized russia for the surge and fighting there. while the secretary is overseas, his boss president trump also discussed russia at a news conference. he said it would be a good thing if the u.s. got along with russia when asked about perceived russian provocations, he noticed a russian spy ship operating in international waters off the u.s. coast and said an aggressive action against it would benefit him politically.

>> president trump: the greatest thing i could do is shoot that ship that is 30 miles out sure out of the water. everyone's going to say oh, it's so great. that's not great. that's not great. i would love to be able to get along with russia. you have a lot of presidents that haven't taken that tac. >> also reports of discord at the white house between reince priebus and the secretary regarding investor appointments. "we have a close relationship and speak often. "a former senior official who has worked on all and asner says it's common for white houses and secretary of state's to wrestle on ambassador appointments. >> bret: rich edson live at

the state department. thank you. new efforts have begun by the trump administration to open avenues to work with russia on the military front but the president's defense chief is issuing a warning. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is traveling with the secretary of defense. >> there is rising evidence that russia has begun interfering in several upcoming european elections using similar techniques that it employed during the u.s. election. hacking, leaked emails, fake news. do you believe the russians the? >> there's very little doubt they have either interfered or attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies. >> philip reed love who -- described to fox news how his emails were hacked and released by russia in an effort to discredit him. >> my email was hacked and

placed on d.c. leaks. those emails were contrived by the trolls in russia. he warned that russian efforts to undermine elections would not stop. >> russia sees the world in a zero-sum game. the only way russia can ascend is that the u.s. declines. they are just trying to discredit our form of democracy. >> of the pentagon said the chairman of the joint chiefs to talk to the russian counterpart. russian president vladimir putin called for resumed intelligence sharing with u.s. intelligence services. from nato headquarters, jim mattis ruled that out, adding its premature to talk about cooperating militarily with moscow. >> russia is going to have to prove itself. >> the defense minister chastised the defense secretary saying if the u.s. thinks it's going to negotiate from a

position of strength, talks or hopeless. >> i have no need to respond to the russian statement. nato has always stood for military strength. >> the optics of the president's senior military advisor meeting with his russian counterpart at this time are awkward, as u.s. lawmakers demand more information about what, if any contact, the trump campaign had with russian government officials during the election. traveling with the defense secretary. jennifer griffin, fox news. >> bret: the news conference was full, president trump ripping democrats for delaying confirmation of cabinet nominees. he talked about getting big ticket items before congress. mike emanuel is live tonight with what we are learning. >> president trump made reference to the legislative agenda. tax reform, health care and more. vice president mike pence has been a regular here on capitol hill, meeting with leadership and rank-and-file

members on those issues and others. a tax reform, there is some discomfort with some senate republicans on a adjustment type tax part of the house plan. trump administration and its republican allies have expressed some frustration with the pace of confirmations. south carolina congressman mick mulvaney was confirmed by the senate today to lead the office of management and budget, the vote was 51-49 along party line lines. john mccain voted against mulvaney. mccain explained his opposition. >> congressman mulvaney has spent six years in the house of representatives pitting the national debt against the military. he often supported amendments to cut national defense funding. >> scott pruitt's nomination to be the administrator of the epa passing a procedural hurdle. the vote was 54-46 with all

republicans and two democrats supporting pruitt. susan collins is opposed but supported the proceeding. heidi heitkamp and joe manchin were also in favor. rich mcconnell made the pitch for the epa nominee. >> pruitt is just the candidate we need at the home of epa. we should confirm him. doing so will represent another positive change in washington that can give hope to families, hope to families in kentucky and across the nation who are recovering from the last eight years. >> today the president's nominee for u.s. ambassador to israel had his confirmation hearing before the senate foreign relations committee. david friedman is seen by some as a controversial figure. friedman says he regret some of the language used during the campaign, blasting jewish american liberals. friedman says he understands the difference between a political

campaign and diplomacy. friedman's hearing was interrupted multiple times by protesters. >> bret: mike emanuel live on the hill. up next, republicans say they are getting closer to getting rid of obamacare but what about replacing it? here is what some of our fox affiliates are covering. fox 5 in new york. a new jersey judge rules for a second time that a criminal complaint against governor chris christie can go forward. the judge says there is probable cause to believe the governor new lane closings on the george washington bridge in 2013 were not part of a routine traffic stop. fox carolina in greenville. the arrest of an accused white supremacist who officials say was planning an attack in the spirit of dylann roof. accused of purchasing a gun from an undercover fbi agent. this is a live look at

sacramento from fox 40. the big story, northern california residents are being allowed to their homes after the evacuation over the water level at the oroville dam. officials say the level is 26 feet below the emergency spillway but the new storms are in the forecast and residents are returning to grab those things and leaving their homes once again. that is tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

>> bret: president trump said today he intends to get obamacare repealed and replaced legislation moving through congress early next month. that process has been slower than expected. peter doocy tells us some in the

g.o.p. aren't getting impatient. >> we've seen a lot of executive orders but not much action from the republican-controlled congress where lawmakers are getting ready to take next week off even though they still haven't voted on the item atop the to-do list, repealing obamacare and replacing it. >> pending our drafting issues were going to be bringing it out after the recess. >> some republicans are starting to get worried about political fallout if nothing is repealed or replaced soon and president trump says the white house is almost ready. >> we should be submitting the initial plan in march, early march. us to go the house freedom caucus endorsed a conservative replacement proposal written by mark sanford and rand paul. this morning at a meeting, final details of the legislation were not revealed. >> i think we have succeeded in giving our members a very in-depth view of what the replacement parts for leave and

-- will be and an in-depth range of options. >> lawmakers gave health and human services secretary tom price a standing ovation before price spoke about what he can do on his own with the power that comes with his position to got obamacare. another critical player in the effort to dismantle the affordable care act had a confirmation hearing this morning. nominated to run the centers for medicaid and medicaid services. >> patients and their doctor should be making decisions about their health care, not the federal government. >> the irs isn't waiting for congress to chip away at the aca, deciding not to reject tax returns that don't reveal whether a person has insurance. some insurance companies can't wait much longer. aetna's ceo said policy is in a death spiral. >> they are supposed to have

their plan to repeal the affordable care act. we haven't seen it. >> nancy pelosi said about obamacare, you have to pass the bills you can find out what's in it. republicans are still trying to figure out what to put in their own bill so they can pass it. >> bret: peter doocy, thank you. asking the u.s. supreme court to reverse a decision today over the refusal to provide flowers for a gay wedding. the supreme court ruled she broke antidiscrimination and disk termination laws. >> she contends the wedding was incompatible with her beliefs. international news. a car bomb in a baghdad neighborhood killed 47 people and wounded 60 others. isis is claiming responsibility. iraqi officials say the bombing targeted car dealerships. four other attacks around

baghdad left eight people dead. officials in pakistan say the death toll from a suicide bombing has climbed to 75. another 200 people were wounded. they say the bomber walked through a door and entered the hall before setting off explosives amid a gathering of worshipers. in the u.s., it would not be a stretch to say democrats are lining up to take on president trump either indirectly in the 2018 elections or directly in the 20208 presidential race. carl cameron looks at who may be in the running. >> five hours after donald trump was sworn in he filed a document indicating plans to run for reelection. already at least nine democrats have begun looking at a white house run against him. >> i'm surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. >> elizabeth warren of massachusetts has been leading

the senate regret resistance. cory booker is considered her nearest rival. others are being encouraged to run. among governors, there is andrew cuomo and john hickenlooper. former administration secretary of -- trumps approval ratings and first four weeks in office have democrats itching for the midterm elections. >> the left has to take this energy swirling around and organize it into real political action. the midterms may be their first real opportunity. >> in the senate, democrats faith a disadvantage. democrats have 23 seats up for reelection. republicans need only eight more for a filibuster proof majority.

democrats in red states are considered vulnerable. the national republican senatorial committee is running attack ads and several states. >> one of the most important constitutional duties as a u.s. senator is to confirm justices of the united states supreme court. >> put your country ahead of your party. >> the entire house is up for reelection next year. for the last 80 years, the president's party has lost ground in midterm elections. democrats are hoping that's the case next year but they know it's going to be tough particularly in the senate. >> bret: thank you. stocks were mixed. dow gained another 8 for another record close. s&p 500 was down 2.

nasdaq lost 4.5. president trump's ambassador to the united nation says the u.s. supports a two-state solution between israel and the palestinians. ambassador nikki haley made the remark after her boss cast doubt about the american insistence on the two-state solution. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he's enjoying the relationship with the new president. the prime minister spoke with sean hannity this afternoon. >> interesting to watch the president say what a cherished ally israel is and there's no better supporter of the jewish people in the state of israel then donald trump. >> how do you know that? >> i've known him from the time that i was serving as israel's ambassador to the u.n. and we would bump into each other in new york city. we've gotten to know each other over 40 years and most recently obviously. we've always had a great alliance between israel and america. >> bret: you can see more of

the interview tonight on " "hannity." president trump unloads in the media in a news conference been we will get reaction from the panel when we return. y nose." y nose." hashtag "no sleep." i got it. hashtag "mouthbreather." yep. we've got a mouthbreather. well, just put on a breathe right strip and ... pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone. so you can breathe ... and sleep. shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. breathe right. have you any wool?eep, no sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. luckily, the geico insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. everything stolen was replaced.

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seizures, and worsening of lung problems. most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness, loss of appetite, and bruising. (woman 2 vo) i don't know what tomorrow will bring but i'm doing what i can. (avo) ask about namzaric today. >> michael flynn is a fine person. i've fired him because of what he said to mike pence. what was wrong was the way other people, including yourselves in this room, were given the information. he was classified information given illegally. the leaks are real. the news is fake because so much of the news is fake. i don't mind bad stories when it's true. i'm not ranting and raving. i'm telling you. >> can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised her campaign had contacts with russia during the election? >> i told you general flynn was dealing, that's one person prayed he was dealing, as he

should have been? >> during the election? >> no, no one i know of. russia is fake news. i've called the justice department to look into the leaks. those are criminal leaks. >> bret: freewheeling, sounded and felt a lot like the campaign trail and candidate donald trump. it started with an introduction of the new labor secretary nominee, alexander acosta. the dean of the florida international university law school is well respected on both sides of the aisle. expected not to have any problems in confirmation, although the first nominee data. what about the news conference, what we learned and its tone and tenor? let's bring in james rosen, tom bevan, mollie hemingway. and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. >> i would watch a donald trump press conference any time any day. so entertaining.

particularly after eight years of these lengthy press conferences where obama would take 90 minutes to get through four questions. this was fascinating to watch. there was a lot of substance on russia, talking about the labor secretary, what happened with mike flynn, immigration executive order. what made it entertaining was the outcome he's rough around the edges. he is imprecise with his language and that's problematic but he's focused on his goals. he is businesslike about that and he punches back. it's interesting. we are coming out of weeks of this narrative that russia was in control of the election and i think for a lot of people the way they hear that is that they are idiots -- the media want them to believe they are idiots for falling for the russia thing. nobody was pushing back on that and he pushes back hard. it was refreshing. >> bret: the supporters of donald trump, you thought on social media. they were cheering.

the opponents' heads were exploding. it was the dash the dichotomy was amazing. >> felt like we were transported to the campaign. he was talking about his poll numbers. bashes the media. that's one of the most interesting things about this. the dichotomy that exists between what the press talks about and what donald trump talks about. he said at the top that he is speaking to the people. he wanted to go out there and change the narrative and rebuffed the claims that the administration was in chaos. that this russia stuff was true. he was able to do that pretty effectively. if you are looking at it from the point of view of his supporters, he was able to do it effectively. if you are a credit, you look at what happened today and thought it was ineffective. >> i was struck by the fact that in commentary that you offered on air after the news conference he said his supporters would

probably be delighted. i am paraphrasing faithfully. you said opponents of donald trump will say he was unhinged and sure enough, jake tapper, our colleague at cnn use that word to describe the performance. unhinged. maybe because i come from new york city and i grew up listening to donald trump more or less my whole life, i'm not shocked or appalled by behavior like we saw today. i find it riveting as a performance. he's got this boozy, schmooze the rat pack delivery. kind of a comic delivery that works for him. the left, with each news conference, each event, it tries to up the ante and basically say to everyone that if you don't respond to donald trump in apocalyptic terms, you're going to be out of polite, civilized society. we live in the district and we feel it in our relationships. i didn't find anything in the

news conference that struck me as unhinged. it was a canny reflection of counsel he's received that the most persuasive speaker on his behalf is donald trump himself. >> i found him hinged. [laughter] 's the one you often don't hear that hinged. >> it was a stream of consciousness. it was a performance unlike any other. you think of the jfk press conferences or reagan or others. this is a performance art. i suppose i'm willing to be schooled on this. you have to judge him by his own terms. if you try to connect the dots for the sentences or the fragments, it doesn't always hold together. i would say the high point was when he mentioned to me. i thought i was going to be the surprise new national security advisor. >> bret: it's still open. >> of got to weigh it.

i will miss you. i did think you are right. the country is divided. he's not the one who caused it but his supporters will love this and those who are skeptical about him are going to wonder about how hinged he is. >> bret: let's look at the pushback from opponents who say this white house is not operating, as he said, like a fine-tuned machine. the firing, as he called it, of michael flynn. the fact that you don't have an nsa yet. this is his defense secretary traveling overseas, asked about russia's potential interference. >> i would say there is very little doubt they have either interfered or attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies. >> bret: that's going to continue no matter what the news

conference has or does. he still faces some headwinds. >> he does but we've had this way of discussing russian meddling in elections that's so over-the-top that so extreme and when you drill down to get the facts it's much more restrained. i think there's a need to push back on this extremism and how we are talking about russia. i don't think a lot of people disagreed there was some meddling. did it affect the election? did it, as elizabeth warren said, was that a cyber attack on the election? the rhetoric is over-the-top and it's causing some delusional thinking and a large sector of the population. losing groups come up with conspiracy theories. this theory is destabilizing. people need to calm down and be careful with how they are reporting what happened. >> bret: a statement just in from the director mike pompeo, he is answering claims that the

intelligence is being withheld from the president. he says "it is the cia's mission to provide the best intelligence possible and explain the basis for the intelligence. the cia does not, has not, and will never hide intelligence from the president period. we are not aware of any instance that has occurred. today's "wall street journal" story is dead wrong and impugns the integrity of thousands of professional intelligence officers by peddling gossip without citing a single example to support its claims." >> this is the problem. you give "the wall street journal" reporters the benefit of the doubt. they didn't make this up. someone told it to them but you have the administration saying this is flatly untrue. we saw similar reports paired "washington post" reported a meeting that never happened. there's a lot of misinformation. i think trump is rightly aggravated and frustrated by the fact that there is a coordinated

campaign of leaks out there. some of them classified, some not. some just room a real stuff. all intended to damage him and perhaps undermine his presidency. >> bret: this is the president on the tax plan and obamacare. >> tax reform is going to happen fairly quickly. we are doing obamacare in the final stages. we should be submitting the plan in march. >> bret: as he lays it out, sounds like it's going to be rapid-fire once they get to obamacare first in early march and then tax reform and infrastructure. >> at the republican retreat in philadelphia we heard that speaker ryan had laid out an aggressive timetable for the repeal and replacement of obamacare and then we have been led to understand it wasn't going to move that fast and even the president told bill o'reilly it could move into next year. now we are back to mid-march from the president. i think that might have come as something of a thunderbolt.

>> bret: after this, we are back with our own version of news conference sound bites. winners and losers when we come back. ng means making tough choices. jim! you're in! but when you have high blood pressure and need cold medicine that works fast, the choice is simple. coricidin hbp is the only brand that gives powerful cold symptom relief without raising your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. ♪ it's not just a car, it's your daily treat. ♪ go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. experience amazing. and this is they like lobster party.y, red lobster's lobsterfest is back with 9 irresistible lobster dishes. yeah, it's a lot. try tender lobster lover's dream and see how sweet a lobster dream can be. or pick two delicious lobster tails with new lobster mix and match. the only thing more tempting than one succulent lobster tail,

is two. is your mouth watering yet? good. because there's something for everyone, and everyone's invited. so come in today.

>> bret: since this news conference covered so much ground, 78 minutes and many different topics, we are back with the panel. kind of a winners and losers of moments in the news conference. each panelist will choose their moment and toss it to somebody. >> this is a mildly edited sound bite. it's interesting because i think it is both revealing and odd. let's go with the videotape.

>> president trump: it would be great if we could get along with russia. just so you understand that. tomorrow you will say donald trump wants to get along with russia. this is terrible. it's not terrible. it's good. the greatest thing i can do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore out of the water. one is going to say oh, it's so great. that's not great. false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with russia. >> bret: charles. >> when he says the greatest thing i could do is shoot that ship out of the water, a kind of sat up because that means initiating world war iii. what's revealing about this is that drum's response to this idea -- trump's responses to think about the reaction rather than the merits of starting a third world war. what's odd is that he seems to believe the country is itching

to do something horrible with russia. and resisting having a good relationship. if he did shoot that spy ship offshore and the russians responded, i don't think everyone in the country is going to say that's great. he has this idea that he's swimming upstream and wanting good relations with the russians. i think he would be applauded. the only problem is there is zero chance of that happening with a man like putin who is so resentful and opposed to the united states. >> bret: doing provocative things. >> i chose the clip because i laughed and it communicated an important message. >> president trump: i spoke to putin twice prayed he called me on the election. i told you this and he called me on the inauguration. we had a very good talk, especially the second one. lasted for pretty long period of

time. i'm sure you probably get it because it was classified. perhaps everyone in the room has it. we had a very, very good talk. >> he says i'm sure everybody knows what we talked about because it was classified. it made me laugh but it communicates a couple important points. it reminds everybody that the media are cooperating in a coordinated leak campaign designed to give the idea that communication with russia is nefarious. and it argues that you can have good relations with russia and that it's not a negative. he puts it in the context of wanting to have good relationships with japan and china. there are all sorts of countries that have bad actors that we can have good relationships with. this narrative that we shouldn't have any good talks with russia, he is saying no, i'm going to approach foreign policy in a different way. i think a lot of his voters appreciate it. >> one o themes of the press conference with trump getting after the media and this

is one moment that i thought was probably one of the harshest. >> president trump: i want to see an honest press. i started off today by saying that it's so important to the public to get an honest press. the public doesn't believe you people anymore. maybe i had something to do with it. i don't know but they don't believe you. the one you talked about this earlier. media reputation, trust is at an all-time low. it's worst in congress paired one of the things that's going on here is i think trump supporters don't trust the media. "the new york times" sent someone out four weeks ago to iowa to ask them what was going on and their response was now a days, unless i see proof positive, i assume it's a lie. the problem we are having is that if everything is a scandal, nothing is. if every cabinet nominee has horns, no one does. the public is tuning it out and the media is suffering and they

haven't picked it up. >> bret: that's the disconnect. when you travel around the country, especially the middle part, the disconnect is what's happening and how it's perceived here and in new york and california. it's much different than how it's being perceived in the middle of the country. >> not just this news conference but all of donald trump's unscripted appearances, he forces his listeners to confront the complexity of human beings on the way their minds work and the dealings they have with each other. it's along the lines of i could do this. i don't want to. i may have to. i don't want to. i could if i did. i don't want to but i might. his relationship with the news media falls into that category. might be tempting to think he hates the news media because of the way he attacks the news media but i suspect he actually also loves the news media and he made it explicit today. >> president trump: i will tell you something. i will be honest. i sort of enjoy this back-and-forth end i have all my life but i've never seen a more

dishonest media than the political media. i thought the financial media was much more honest. i will say i never get phone calls from the media. how do they write a story like that without asking me? >> i know he's open to my phone calls. that's a positive. you've heard him say i've enjoyed this back-and-forth. frankly i don't know that there is another american alive who has given us many interviews as donald trump pass. >> bret: "the wall street journal" piece did say some paragraphs in that they reached out to the white house. one thing that wasn't covered a lot today was the meeting with the minors and a bipartisan group up there for the signing of the legislation that lifts the regulations or some of them on coal mining. >> president trump: you have put up with a loss. in other countries, they love their coal. over here we haven't treated it with the respect it deserves. >> president trump, we thank you

very much for everything you've done for us, everything you're doing for our industry is needed. i've been mining for 40 years. >> bret: and then he takes them on a tour of the oval office. >> that is the trump who won the election by making that connection against an opponent who had no clue, who said at onn the mine workers are going to essentially disappear. that i thought was the critical metaphor for the whole campaign. if he sticks with this and forgets about the press friday, i think it will be extremely helpful. >> bret: mollie, he is not out of the mines yet as far as the challenges he faces dealing with washington. >> establishment d.c., the media and people who don't like his campaign will be putting up a tremendous fight in the last two

weeks it seemed like they were going to win that fight. now he's fighting back a little bit. we will see if he has what it takes to take them on. >> bret: next up, one young man and what he calls his gangster grandma.

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>> bret: finally, tonight, we like to show you what the kids are watching on the internet. tonight, we get with ross smith and his 90-year-old grandmother. they have become viral sensations over the last four years. ♪ [laughter] >> run, run, run! >> you know what you remind me of? >> what? >> a q-tip. ♪ ♪ >> oh, yeah, it continues. nice job, ross, and he calls her

gangster grandma. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that is that for this "special report." it is fair, balanced, and unafraid. "the first 100 days" with martha maccallum starts right now. >> martha: breaking tonight, president trump came to work swinging today, determined to fight back amidst charges that the white house is a flailing and besieged. he declared apparently out of the blue, let's have a news conference today, shall we. it was the likes of which we have never seen, a full frontal jousting parry with the press and a packed east room at the white house. he slammed them, intel leakers, fake news, congress, perhaps tired of letting others communicate for him, he tried to write their ship as a multi-headed opposition tried to drag it down with a watergate anchor slung around its neck. welcome today 28, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. good happy with us tonight. what may have set him off