he described it as, put steve bannon after this book, put steve bannon in the category of jilted ex-girlfriend or angry ex-spouses. when the split is at its worst, that's when the government wants to talk to you the most. when you maybe have incentive to tell a story. maybe you don't -- you no longer feel compelled to protect somebody i think the points that -- steve bannon was a fly on the wall for a lot of important things, but wasn't directly involved that we know, in stuff like the russian meetings. or the air force one statement about the trump tower meeting. it would be useful to ask him questions about what he saw and what he heard in those times. you're going do want to get this interview done before you interview the president. >> jewel yarks a little more speculation, how far along do you think this means mueller is. >> i think that this is right. it felt like last week the pace was really fast when we were talking about a potential sitdown between the president and mueller, now we're taking a step back, looking at other people the president has worked with. it seems this puts us a b

they fired steve bannon. steve bannon is not an employee of the white house. and i'm not sure the reason they wanted to subpoena him is that -- i'm not sure he has the right not to answer a question. i mean, if it's a friendly and informal process, then obviously he has the right not to answer a question. but if he refuses to answer a question before a congressional, he has no standing as a private citizen not to answer a question if he is sworn under oath in front of the congress or he can be cited for contempt of congress and thrown in jail. >> anna lease jordan, this conversation about loyalty is so irrelevant to the mueller probe because we worked in the white house where a lot of the senior staff -- it was very disorienting to have a lot of the senior staff in the bush white house -- they were not targets or subjects, but they were witnesses in the pat fitzgerald special counsel investigation into the leaking of valerie plame's name. no more loyal than scooter libby. but loyalty doesn't get you through the criminal investigation into the underlying crime.

imagine what we can do for you. >>> it was subpoena day for steve bannon while steve bannon was actually getting subpoenaed today by the house intelligence committee in the middle of his meeting with the house intelligence committee because he was refusing to answer the questions of the house intelligence committee. "the new york times" revealed that steve bannon had already been hit with a subpoena by special prosecutor robert mueller. steve bannon is now the first person from president trump's inner circle to receive a subpoena from the special prosecutor. "the times" reports that mr. mueller is likely to allow mr. bannon to forgo the grand jury appearance if he agrees to be questioned by investigators in the less formal setting of the special counsel's offices. the subpoena came davis michael wolff's book "fire and fury" was released. in the book, steve bannon is reported as harshly criticizing president trump, his family and members of his staff, and speculating about their legal culpability. bannon called the trump tower meeting between donald trump jr., jared kushner, paul manafort

president trump ripping steve bannon tonight. bannon just one of the many trump insiders who are quoted in an explosive, new book that paints a personal portrait of an incapable, disinterested,

that is something that steve bannon faces. the really big question, trump wants to go after him, to after him for defamation for big payday. to do that it is a high burden, he would have to show malice on steve bannon's part. cheryl: depends on what the disclosure in the contract says, if it's a monetary hit, whatever it will be. i want to read the statement from president trump, he as always president trump does, did not mince words and criticism. steve bannon has nothing to do with me and my presidency. when he was fired he not only lost his job but lost his mind. steve was a staffer that worked for me after i already won the nomination after defeating 17 candidates. steve bannon's comments to michael wolff back in september, there was nothing to the russian investigation, all was well. what do you think changed? >> i will say this though. i think president trump is on to something when he says steve bannon is in it for himself. it is not just the "60 minutes" interview that contradicts some of the stuff he said to wolff. al

advising steve bannon not to talk to that committee today. having somebody on those two different sides of the story both represented by the same attorney? that's weird. that does it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. so that's weird. >> yeah. >> that's the weird thing. >> i found one weird thing in the news today. >> no, but it really is. i remember commenting on that and talking about it when it was revealed who this lawyer attorney burke is representing. reince priebus, don mcgahn, and steve bannon. there was bound to be a conflict very soon. and here we had it today. >> and it's interesting. because he was representing priebus and mcgahn for a long time before this. and that alone seemed like a strange potential conflict. now he is representing bannon as well. one thing to keep in mind here is if there is a conflict of interest, as it relates to the mueller investigation and the things that mueller is looking at, presumably mueller's lawyers will purs

steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. when he was fired he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. he ways staffer who worked for me after i had already won the nomination by defeating 17 candidates often described as the most talented field ever assembled in the republican party. now that he is on his own, steve is learning that winning isn't as easy as i make it look. steve has very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country. now i read your book, the devil's bargain, and it was largely about how steve bannon really was the person who put trump in the white house. >> and -- look, trump would not be president were it not for steve bannon. but the fact that he gets public credit for it has always been something that enrages trump. in the trump myth, he is the -- >> like when he was on "time" magazine cover. >> when he was on "time" magazine cover, he got angry at bannon, he doesn't want a co-star. bannon used that line with me, trump doesn't want a co-star,

at all to steve bannon and called that a misnomer. let's get to senior corresponden. jeff, what did you make of the brief but important comments? >> very brief comments and it was the president's decision to answer that question. we saw him for several seconds. the aide are are saying thank you and they are being escorted out. the president decided to answer that which i decided was swg. he was paying attention to the breitbart radio show last evening when steve bannon referred to the president as a great man. he also said he changed his tune quickly there. certainly interesting. dana, i think it raises an initial question. is this feuding permanent with the president and steve bannon or will they at some point make up, if you will and will steve bannon still be in the mind of this president? i think we have seen several times the president has a hard time fully getting rid of advisers and things. we likes to collect different thoughts and continues. steve bannon is in that group there, but certainly interesting that he decided to add

in his mind, steve bannon was just a staffer. so the idea that he could get co-billing with him drives him crazy because he's a narcissist. >> it will be his ability to nickname and label his points with names that stick. little marco or little bob corker, lyin' ted, crooked hillary. how does sloppy steve rate compared to some of the other nicknames? >> if anything it is more humorous than being mean-spirited. for a long time, people talk about how steve wears these multiple layers. how his hair is disheveled. he has this almost troll-like appearance. he doesn't have the traditional suit and well grouped is maintained. bannon almost wears his outfits as a badge of armor. he sees himself going into war and he doesn't care about being disheveled. it's funny. i think most people read it and are chuckling to themselves with this fight between president trump bannon. >> the thing that i find fascinating with the break-up between trump and bannon, i'm wondering when these two realize that they need each other. >>> or deserve each other

he described it as, put steve bannon after this book, put steve bannon in the category of jilted ex-girlfriend or angry ex-spouses. when the split is at its worst, that's when the government wants to talk to you the most. when you maybe have incentive to tell a story. maybe you don't -- you no longer feel compelled to protect somebody i think the points that have been made on spot on. # -- steve bannon was a fly on the wall for a lot of important things, but wasn't directly involved that we know, in stuff like the russian meetings. or the air force one statement about the trump tower meeting. it would be useful to ask him questions about what he saw and what he heard in those times. you're going do want to get this interview done before you interview the president. >> julia, a little more speculation, how far along do you think this means mueller is. >> i think that this is right. it felt like last week the pace was really fast when we were talking about a potential sitdown between the president and mueller, now we're taking a step back, looking at other people the president has worked with. k

he said, "steve bannon has nothing to do with me nor my presidency. when he was not only lost hisjob, he lost his mind." he goes on, "steve was rarely in a one—on—one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue whom he he helped write looks." sarah sanders has condemned the contents of the book as completely untrue. she says the meeting was not an act of treason. i think it is ridiculous accusation and i am sure we have addressed previously. if that is in reference to comments from mr bannon, and i would refer you to the ones previously on 60 minutes where he called the collusion with russia about this president a total farce. i think you need to look back at that. if anything has been inconsistent it has been bannon, certainly not the president nor this administration. the book also says the steve bannon believes the russians were taken after the meeting to meet donald trump. the president has always denied that happened. with the ongoing investigation into possible russian collusion in

i will quote steve bannon. he's lost it. >> his advisers, top among them former strategist steve bannon, criticizing the president's family and questioning the commander in chief's fitness to serve. >> i spoke to steve and saw a transformation not only of steve but of everyone. steve, in his language, is the most vivid. and the transformation was, you know, we thought this presidency could work, we thought donald trump was an interesting character and we might be able to do something here, and they saw over that time come to the conclusion he cannot do this job. >> the president threatened lawsuits and demanded the book not be published. the white house called it fiction. but then they had trouble pointing out specific falsehoods. and the president's whole week became rockier still with reports that white house council don mcgahn lobbied attorney general jeff sessions, urging him not to recuse himself from the russia investigation. "the new york times" broke that story last night. now ken dilanian reports, quot

why, why would steve bannon do this? he even -- even as he said yesterday on a breitbart radio show, he still believes trump is a great man. still supports him. why in the world would he -- what's his incentive? i understand he spoke on the record. what does he gain by doing all of this. >> you sound like one of steve bannon's allies who called me yesterday and said, why would he do this? why would he do this? >> maybe it was ayman. if you know the answer, you're smarter than me. this does not strike anybody close to bannon as even one dimensional chess. i can't fathom a strategy. one thing we will be reporting on axios is bannon has told friends that if trump -- if the russia process ends badly for trump, he would requester running in a republican primary against mike pence. he does have large visions for himself. >> interesting. >> i was hearing steve bannon with all the information he revealed yesterday and pushing the investigation this direction, hasn't spoken to robert mueller. >> now wondering if in fact he would

do you agree with steve bannon? >> i like to associate myself with what president trump had to say yesterday. >> according to a -- they appeared to tweet a welcome. it shows senator mcconnell smiling to the camera. a clear celebration of victory there. let me ask you about that. mitch mcconnell is thrilled. he doesn't like steve bannon. thinks he's a nuisance there. what's this going to mean to them in 2018, does that improve mcconnell's ability to get an agenda through and what agenda would that be. is there something that can easily pass. >> well, the fact that bannon has been pushed aside, marginalized, is a good thing for everyone and the country. i think there is a challenge for our party, and it was this. it was the substance of the article. there are a lot of things stated in that article about the president's impulsiveness, lack of focus, you know, temper. tempt permtal. we had all heard and on paper. and it seems to me it further exacerbated this question of a dysfunction dysfunctional than we might think.

steve bannon, what does he say? takes the high road. >> president's voter fraud commission has been decommissioned. cnn has learned the effort to prove the unprovable has been in turmoil for months. >> the first big nor'easter churning up the coast. after a very rough day for many of you in the south, "early start's" coverage from washington, seoul and beautiful snowy south carolina continues now. welcome back everyone. >> we'll get to the bomb cyclone that's hitting the east coast shortly by first the white house. president trump delivering a crushing rebuke to his former chief strategist steve bannon. after excerpts from an upcoming book. they quote ban non calling the meeting between a russian lawyer and top trump officials at trump tower, language is tough for me this morning. treasoness and unpatriotic is what bannon called the meeting. he also reportedly told author michael wolff they're going to crack don junior like an egg on national tv. >> the president saying bannon quote lost his job. the white house sai

steve bannon? donald trump people? the man? the election, it is important the base of donald trump supporters stay together. this has gone some way to fracturing it. we don't know to what extent and whether it will still exist at three election time. but there is no way you can say this is helpful. —— the election. but equally, what is the issue with breitbart news? will the donald trump supporters stop listening to steve bannon's show and reading his article is? the problem cuts both ways. he used to work with steve bannon. speaking to me earlier. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. chinese sailors finish in the top 20 in one of the world's toughest ocean races, the sydney to hobart. the japanese people are mourning following the death of the emperor. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singapore

adam: but in regards to steve bannon, steve bannon confirmed to fox that he indeed did say those things and was quoted accurately. e-mac? liz: thank you adam shapiro good reporting there now we have former george w. bush senior advisor karl rove joining me now mr. barricks is the first to say these quotes attributed to him are made up but bannon is not saying he was misquoted. what do you make of all this? >> well i think you've got to look at these what appears in the book on their own merits. there are serious statements like in the excerpt that appeared in new york magazine which appears that steve bannon is talking directly to michael wolf the author of the reporter given almost unfettered access to the white house during the past year but then there are other quotes that are from being relayed to michael wolf by somebody else like barrick said this or friend of trump said that, or this occurred in a meeting between steve bannon and roger ales, one of whom is now dead and the other of whom will have to be asked whether it was he, he was the source for those meetings or those depicti

steve bannon going after donald trump jr. hard, calling o out that june 2016 meeting with the

claims steve bannon is their new champion. carly shimkus with serious xm 115 here with the reaction online. >> reporter: steve bannon at the comments attacking donald trump's own children in the president's response sent shockwaves across social media but looks like no one is enjoying this more than majority leader mitch mcconnell who sent this gift of his smiling face, send that out shortly after the president issued his response was no secret bannon and mcconnell don't get along, bannon vowing to remove mcconnell as senate majority leader. there is so much more reaction on this story, trump supported bill mitchell tweeted did this, no one voted for bannon. the guy i voted for delivering in spades for me. the rest is noise was another twitter user right looking like this author is not credible, the trump train needs to put a stop to the left trying to divide us. speaking of the left some in the democratic party are embracing what bannon had to say, senator mark warner tweeted i don't often agree with steve bannon but we shoul

why subpoena steve bannon? why not do a voluntary or informal interview the way they have done with white house people and trump campaign people? based on public reporting, we believe everybody from the white house counsel don mcgahn to hope hicks to christopher steele to george papadopoulos, there is a ton of people questioned by the mueller inquiry but didn't get a subpoena. they didn't get told to turn up as a witness. before the grand jury. why is steve bannon the one and only senior trump advisor being treated this way and given a subpoena and told to testify to the grand jury? does that necessary mean they asked him to do an interview and he refused? michael schmidt says, quote, the subpoena could be a negotiating tactic. mr. mueller is likely to forego the appearance if he agrees to be questioned by investigators in the less special setting. he says yet the subpoena could be a negotiating tactic. mr. mueller is likely to forgo the appearance if he agrees to be questioned by investigators in the less spec

but steve bannon is long gone. and i think it would fail in the courts if it were tested. >> in that new book that came out, he talked about that meeting at trump tower with russians, including the president's son, and others as beingunpatriotic. then he went one step further in that book, and spoke about money laundering being at the heart, not obstruction of justice or collusion but money laundering. what's your reaction to that? >> that revelation is profoundly important. as you know, because i've said it before with you, i believe deutsche bank is an essential element of this investigation. it goes back more than a year when it came to light that deutsche bank was involved in money laundering involving russians. deutsche bank has loaned money to -- tens of millions of dollars to donald trump and his family. so that is probably one of the likely areas of focus. but the other reason that that relationship is very important is that whatever his claims of privilege, whether it's fifth amendment or executive privile

his thoughts on steve bannon's harsh words for the first family. and they let the wolff in the white house. the man behind that book defending his work. apparently there are tapes. so what's the strategy for this white house? today's briefing is expected to start in about 30 minutes. you can see reporters there already starting to assemble. also the big story today, a snow bomb. parents of this country under a blizzard warning. and, folks, it's about to get worse. after the snow, many of us will start to see subzero temperatures. we're going to check in with the one and only al roker in just a few moments. we start with denial and threatened litigation from the white house. just moments ago, president trump, who has threatened steve bannon with legal action, made his first public appearance, excuse me, his first public comments about those explosive things that his one-time campaign chairman and adviser said in a new best-seller. >> any words about steve bannon? >> i don't know. he called me a great man last night so he changed his tune pretty quic

steve bannon's hands are on a pink slip. and trump had famously recently said bannon lost his mind after being fired. tonight let's be clear, steve bannon lost his largest alt-right platform for power. and it was never his to begin with. steve bannon rose to power by melding what he called grass roots populist outrage with funding from the conservative elite. that may have been a messy alliance, but it always worked up until tonight because of the money. a former banker himself steve bannon did have a kind of special independence from the gop structure because he had independent money. but he also forgot a cardinal rule of power. what puts you on top can also bring you down. as sean connor explained, the same sword they night you with, they will good night you with. and as jimmy cliff observed, the harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all. a special panel on this developing political news, christina greer, katty kay, ej dionne, and eric deegans, krit tim a critic and analyst. and i begin to go around the horn with

one of the things very clear from steve bannon, and -- so interesting, steve bannon walks in quite late. he's offered a drink right away, and very demonstrably says no, i'm not going to drink. then he sits down, has dinner and really goes into it. he and roger ailes, two of them basically plotting future of the republican party in the trump administration. so many interesting things said, started out talking about -- they were building the cabinet together. and one of the things they started talking about, imminent subject right then, rudy giuliani and his disappointment over not being named secretary of state. ailes is so funny, you know what, sort of casual, just tell rudy, get him photographed once or twice coming out of air force one and rudy is all good. then started talking about john -- >> sorry, other questions to talk to you about. roger ailes says i wouldn't give donald too much to think about. bannon says too much, too little doesn't necessarily change things. is that something you heard? how did you interpret it? >> ongoing theme. to be clear bannon had a fondness for donald

let's start with steve bannon. bannon was telling people that he was going to run for president in 2020. if i was president was turning into when i am president. ivanka, who was described as an incompetent in the book and going on vacation whenever things get tough is described this way. jared and ivanka had made aernest deal between themselves. if at some time in the future the time came, she'd be the one to run for president or the first one of them to take the shot. the first woman president would not be hillary clinton, it would be ivanka trump. then jared kushner would get his turn. your thoughts, david. >> look, there's so much there, joy, listen, this is a perfect snapshot of the dysfunction of today's republican party. while we're focused on trump and bannon today, the important thing is this. for my fellow republicans, you broke it, you bought it. this is what happens when you follow a charlatan. this is what happens when you follow somebody incapable of leading a nation and a party. this is what happens w

they continued to just go after steve bannon. this isn't steve bannon's book. michael wolff was given access to this white house. he's known the president for years. what does it tell you? >> people at the white house have seen michael wolfe there. sarah huckabee sanders said the president and michael wolff talked for five to seven minute, which is significant. they're trying to say look, this book is not true. but all of these elements prove of the si of, the opposite of that. steve bannon, former adviser to the president. former top campaign official in the campaign talking about this thing. not only creating political problems, but as it pertains to the russia investigation, opening up a whole new can of worms there. the president fired back in the way they did over and over and over again. shows that this is going to continue on through the white house's own making. >> what is this going to do to other republicans? how are we going to get to the republican agenda when all of this is going down? we're going to hear from mitch mcconnell today. the president n

born to move. >>> did steve bannon betray you, mr. president? any words about steve bannon? >> i don't know. he called me a great man last night. he obviously changed the tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. >> joining the discussion now, george f. will, pulitzer prize winning author for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst. george, mitch mcconnell was trying to find a way to break the spell that steve bannon seemed to have break the spell steve bannon had over the president. as of tonight it seems like the spell is broken. >> and broken by steve bannon. steve bannon, who's sort of the -- in politics with the new york mets of 1962 were in baseball. that is, new parameters and ways of losing you've never seen before. he's been too busy racking up losses to have red mitch mcconnell's memoir. he should. the title of the memoir is a long game. in this case he knew he would wait them out and your enemies will end up destroying themselves. napoleon says when your enemy is des

daniel, what happened to steve bannon? >> steve bannon decided that he was important on his own, independent of president donald trump, important enough he could trash donald trump, go do his own thing and be a star independent of the man who made him a national public figure. i think what he quickly found with reaction from the president and possibly more important to him, financial backers, billionaire mercers, he's nothing at this point without their backing. issued this nonapology apology in which he grovelled because he knows that with donald trump he eventually forgives you if you grovel often enough. it's been remarkable and large fall for steve bannon. >> laura? >> yeah. i completely agree with what he just said. bannon got a little bit too big for his bridges. i think he thought trump's base was following him, he was true leader of the nationalist movement. he's not. how can you compete with power with leader of the free world? bannon's power came from being in the white house, proximity to the president. doesn't

reporter: the president says when steve bannon was fired he not only lost hisjob, he steve bannon was fired he not only lost his job, he lost his steve bannon was fired he not only lost hisjob, he lost his mind. does he feel frustrated by steve bannon, does he regret hiring him? about i think the president was that statement is extremely clear, what his position on mr bannon is. it was pretty lengthy and detailed and there was not much to clarify or add. he said a lot in this book and they had a long and close working relationship, is there a sense of betrayal? i think the president's statement fully addresses his position and his relationship with mr bannon. april? when was the last time the president talked to steve bannon, and this is a serious question, is the president now blocking steve bannon from calling his cell phone? lam not bannon from calling his cell phone? i am not aware he was calling his cellphone, i believe the last conversation took place at the first pa rt of conversation took place at the first part of december. this two powerhouses are fighting, what does it do t

steve bannon's attacks on the trump family leave

steve bannon, his attorneys are consulting with the white house. >> we were told by steve bannon's attorneys that they were on the phone in the meeting with the white house. instructions from the white house mr. bannon could not talk about anything of the transition or recent conversations he has had with the president. >> sarah sanders also confirmed that steve bannon's lawyer was conveying with the white house. is that the same proces that is typically followed. >> i hope he was not doing that because that would be an effort to read into the white house a committee's sensitive investigation. the white house has a right to put parameters in place for any time that steve bannon was at the white house but they cannot, they should not know what we are asking mr. bannon with respect to the campaign. >> sanders citing executive privilege that goes back decades. >> no. to my knowledge that has never happened in history. and it is happening right now with mr. bannon and also not supported by any case law or any statute. we believe this is the white house in most aggressive way yet, trying -- i hop

>> any words about steve bannon? >> i don't know. he called me a great man last night, so he obviously changed his tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. >> so kristen welker, a busy day at the white house with the overnight reactions from the lawyers first going after steve bannon, telling him to cease and desist and that they were going to file suit. we should point out they're also taking on michael wolff and the publisher as well with these threats, but this isn't the first time the president has made threats of legal action that haven't actually been followed up. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, andrea. still, it does underscore the fact this war is escalating between president trump and steve bannon. you could see his frustration there in his remarks when he said he obviously changed his tune pretty quickly, tried to put focus on the fact he's no longer in touch with steve bannon. that may be the case right now, but it is worth noting t

what could the future hold for steve bannon now? if the president is now his enemy, if he's lobbed all these grenades donald trump's way, obviously he can't be his chief defender in public, what is he going to become now? >> this is a great test who has resonance with that populist, nationalist base they cultivated together, is it president trump or steve bannon? steve bannon is the more intellectual, you know, adherent to the kind of ideas that base stands for. president trump seen as somebody who came along and took over and represented that base. it's -- it could fracture things. it could create internal warfare within that conservative movement. it was interesting to see breitbart's site on this. it takes a restrained view, not firing back at the president on this, and steve bannon privately has said to feel some confidence that the president might come back to him, might need him when he's politically vulnerable and wants support from that movement. >> again, i say this apparently seems like the end of the permanent break here.

trump and steve bannon get behind. and they'll break bread over it and they'll makeup because that's what all republicans are currently doing. they are all looking the other way because they want to cling to the power that is donald trump. >> and certainly, i mean, bannon has been telling people in the last day or so that despite his angry as trump is right now, he fully predicts down the road he and trump will start speaking again. he knows that in trump world you're rarely out forever. he still talks to former advisors. >> all you have to do is compliment him. that's the facts. >> that's the key. >> these guys are sticking with me. coming up the delicate topic fitness for hour. the 11th hour back right after this. >>> what's the president's reaction to the growing number of suggestions both in this book and the media that he's mentally unfit to serve as president? >> the same way we have when it's been asked before, that it's disgraceful and laughable. >> next week when he goes to his physical, are there mental test

lavished praise on bannon. >> i have a very good relationship as you know with steve bannon, a friend of mine for a long time, i like steve a lot. >> reporter: bannon on "60 minutes" expressed no hard feelings toward trump. >> i'm a street fighter. by the way, i think that's why donald trump and i get along so well, donald trump's a fighter, great counterpuncher. >> reporter: bannon now on the outside, appear to have had plenty of scores to settle with people around trump. >> right now, it's a season of war against a gop establishment. >> reporter: threatening to challenge any republican leader who dared stand in the way of the trump agenda. >> this is not my war. this is our war. they're just looking to find out who's going to be brute does to your julius caesar. >> reporter: the republican party leadership convinced the president to back a more conventional candidate for the alabama senate seat -- >> luther strange is our man. >> reporter: bannon got out the vote for the firebrand. >> this is not about judge moore. it's not about donald trump. this is about you. this is about you. 1

. >> the president said he not only lost his job, but steve bannon also lost his mind. does he regret hiring him? sanders: i think the president's statement is pretty clear on what his opinion of steve bannon is and i do not think there is anything to add. closey had a long and working relationship. is there a sense of betrayal? ms. sanders: once again i think the present posse statement fully addressed his position. april. question, is the president now blocking c-span from calling his cell phone? ms. sanders: i'm am not aware they are calling his cell phone but the last situation to place in the early part of december. what does this do for the president's base? ms. sanders: i don't think anything to the supported the president and his agenda and those things have not changed. the president is exactly who he was yesterday as he was two years ago when he started out on the campaign trail. and i think the base is extremely happy. i think they're pretty happy with where he is. >> some people may not -- what happens there? ms. sanders: that is in question you have to ask

not by the deep state justice department, but by steve bannon. and in response, the president is now trying to destroy bannon. in a new book, bannon is quoted calling the trump campaign "treasonous," "unpatriotic" says jared kushner and trump jr. could face money laundering charges and no way the president didn't know about the infamous trump tower meeting, thought it was getting russian access dirt to incriminate hillary clinton. bannon said he told us the president to his face that his defense of that meeting was "insane." and bannon said, using words i can't say on live television i don't know if i can even say it on tape delay, and response, president trump went nuclear today on bannon in ways both jaw-dropping and laughable and oddly, weirdly predictable as far as this president's concerned. in a statement the president said the following -- steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. when fired he not only lost his job he lost his mind. steve doesn't represent my base. he's only in it for himself. guys, steve bannon was the pre

steve bannon is not independently important. his importance in this situation is derivative of president trump's campaign and his presidency. so the idea that steve bannon is somehow going to pull away donald trump's base, that's just not going to happen. steve bannon is a relatively small figure in all this. it is donald trump who has the problem and it is republican candidates who have got the problem because they have been shielding him from accountability. and they're the ones on the ballot this fall and all the indications we have are that it is a very difficult fall for the republican party. they could lose control. >> if i could have one point. everyone can jump on steve bannon now but why is he an important person? who made him campaign chairman of the presidential campaign? >> and who brought him into the white house at a level equal to the chief of staff? so it is very nice to attack bannon but isn't that kind of a failure of judgment of donald trump to make him one of the top advisers in the white house? >> hallie, i

i will quote steve bannon. he's lost it. >> his advisers, top among them former strategist steve bannon, criticizing the president's family and questioning the commander in chief's fitness to serve. >> i spoke to steve and saw a transformation, not only in steve but of everyone, and steve, in his language, is the most vivid. and the transformation was, we thought this presidency could work, we thought donald trump is an interesting, unique character, and we might be able to do something here. and they saw him over that time come to the conclusion, he cannot do this job. >> the president threatened lawsuits and demanded the book not be published. the white house called it fiction. but then they had trouble pointing out specific falsehoods. and the president's whole week became rockier still with reports that white house council don mcgahn lobbied attorney general jeff sessions, urging him not to recuse himself from the russia investigation. "the new york times" broke that story last night. now ken dilanian repor

. >> steve bannon, false moustache. steve bannon with fake glasses. >> this is what they do, they come up with some little line. they explo it it it. what's interesting, nobody else is disputing the specific anecdotes, the specific items. that's a telltale sign. >> right. nobody has disputed in the book, just that the people are bad. >> when we're talking about the overall arc of the story, where are the people who are quoted in this book who are talked to? we all know who was talked to in this book but no one has come out and given a full throated, this is a complete lie and it's astounding to me. in this book we are witnessing two completely different worlds, from the steven miller interview with jake tapper where he's talking to only one person, donald trump, and the rest of the community watching like we're all in the front seat of a roller coaster without a lap bar thinking, what the hell is happening here. how are we in this position in 2018, the united states of america where we are openly discussing from the tim

steve bannon does. ultimately both of them will have to testify to the truth and as we saw from your segment, cory is not worried about what he has to tell the committee. >> cory lewandowski was around for longer but i would argue because of the timing of when steve bannon was there and the critical role he played in winning this election, steve bannon may no more than cory lewandowski was about what went on at cambridge analytical, what went on with the mercer family and potential collusion between key actors like mike flynn and the russians. both are important players but i would argue steve bannon has been incredibly critical to that. >> no one voted for steve bannon, they voted for donald trump. >> no one voted to cory lewandowski, that's for sure. >> harris: we will talk about another topic after this. the president is getting ready to announce the fake news award awards. frequent trump critic compares him to a famous dictator. really? the power panel weighs in. alright, i brought in high protein t

a presidency more steve mnuchin than steve bannon. so if somebody wants to come at donald trump from the populist right, there is some vulnerability there, and then before the republican establishment gets too giddy about this, remember, as, you know, influential as steve bannon was, this presidency was never shaped by steve bannon. it's shaped and defined by donald trump and he is not changing. >> in the epilogue of the book there are quotes that muse, that supposedly steve bannon has been telling people instead of, if i was president, when i am president. is that a notion to take seriously? in the populist wing of the party? >> no. that is completely delusional. and so delusional it makes you wonder, maybe that was some of the affinity between donald trump and steve bannon. i have to tell you, though, chuck that as i read through the excerpts i had a reaction i was not expecting. i actually found myself hoping that this account was inaccurate. hoping it is exaggerated, bu as many stories as we've heard about the disfunction and the

steve bannon's base essentially became very much donald trump's base. there was a lot of overlap to begin with. but steve bannon very much said doubling down on the nationalist sort of angry message that we heard at the republican convention and we heard through the debates against hillary clinton, the lock her up fire was very much came from steve bannon. and sara sanders and stephen miller are defying reality. they know better than the three of us sitting there -- >> they were there. >> and how close president trump was. president trump relies on a certain tight knit set of advisers who he believes can help just as he did with the apprentice on nbc, people he feels understands his cultural connection to the rest of the country and steve bannon was first among equals. >> brian, you touched on this earlier, we're learning that bore ris is hearing trump and his team are making calls to some supporters, saying either with me or with bannon and that everybody is picking the president. does bannon have influence. is there bannonism for 2018 moving forward?

and he is still in touch with steve bannon. you're watching newsday from singapore and london on the bbc. still to come on the programme: chinese sailors finish in the top twenty in one of the world's toughest ocean races, the sydney to hobart. the japanese people are mourning following the death of the emperor. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa in spite of protest and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken the tanker would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens toda

it was steve bannon. gave him unlimited access to the white house, put him in front of the president, saying you can trust this guy. this book is not only unflattering, i think it's filled with militia untruths. you know, steve does not drink, but when you read some of the things that he says there, it makes you wonder because to say that don junior committed treason by taking a meeting is just absolutely ridiculous. >> we've got to leave it there. chris ruddy, always good to have you on. josh, as well. thank you so much. >>> coming up next, another story that is breaking and rocking the white house tonight that could be another key focus of the russia probe, we'll tell you that ahead.

how is that different with steve bannon? ms. sanders: this administration has not said on numerous aresions that there alternative facts. i know there was one reference, in which they were saying basically there's two sides to the story. that's very different from completely false information and opinion. reporter: the president said today steve bannon changed his tune about him last night. does the president feel the cease and desist letter had the desired effect on steve bannon? ms. sanders: i am not sure what aspect made him change his tune, what i think there was certainly a difference in some of the language that he used for this book versus the language he used last night. reporter: a question on oil drilling, please. rick scott, the governor of florida, is expressing concerns about the administration's offshore drilling plan which would allow drilling in most coastal waters. can the president afford to cross this important political ally, and what do you plan to say to governor scott? ms. sanders: our goal is not to cross

lavished praise on bannon. >> i have a very good relationship as you know with steve bannon, a friend of mine for a long time, i like steve a lot. >> reporter: bannon on "60 minutes" expressed no hard feelings toward trump. >> i'm a street fighter. by the way, i think that's why donald trump and i get along so well, donald trump's a fighter, great >> reporter: bannon now on the outside, appear to have had plenty of scores to settle with people around trump. >> right now, it's a season of war against a gop establishment. >> reporter: threatening to challenge any republican leader who dared stand in the way of the trump agenda. >> this is not my war. this is our war. they're just looking to find out who's going to be brute does to your julius caesar. >> reporter: the republican party leadership convinced the president to back a more conventional candidate for the alabama senate seat -- >> luther strange is our man. >> reporter: bannon got out the vote for the firebrand. >> this is not about judge moore. it's not about donald trump. this is about you. this is about you. 100%. >> reporter