he's a vital part of the rnc. you can expect republicans to come forward and say he wasn't initially a donald trump backer. and if you think about who he supported for president, he wasn't looking at donald trump as his preferred candidate for the 2016 election. he was looking at marco rubio. so you can expect them to say he donated to democrats as well as republicans. >> except that he substituted for donald trump at mar-a-lago last weekend. >> they've grown incredibly close, and you're going to see that as the primary issue. there's no escaping this. he's on that team. >> thank you both very much on that breaking news. >>> still ahead, protecting the special counsel. we're going to dive into the implications of president trump's attempt to dump the man in charge of the russia investigation. one thing in common. they read more. how do they find the time? ... with audible. audible has the world's largest selection of audiobooks. for just $14.95 a month... you get a credit good for any audiobook ... and you can rol

chair for the rnc. that's amid "the wall street journal" report alleging years of sexual misconduct. we'll look at why wynn is a problem both for the party and for the president. plus, saving the special counsel, democrats and one republican now taking action to protect robert mueller after learning president trump ordered him to be fired last june. but is the response on the hill more of a collective shrug? and how could this impact the potential sit-down between the president and prosecutor? meanwhile, an even exchange or a bad deal, democrats are slamming the white house's immigration proposal calling it a ransom note. but can the two sides reach a compromise in time for the dreamers? >>> we begin with the breaking news casino mogul steve wynn resigning his position as finance chair of the republican national committee, that is according to the republican familiar with that decision. just a short time ago rnc chair ronna romney mcdaniel telling nbc news she accepted wynn's resignation. sh comes in th

the fact that steve wynn is the rnc finance chairman. so far as we know, again, politico reporting he's not, nbc news has not confirmed that reporti reporting. tell us about the relationship between the white house and the political fund-raising arm there was the rnc. >> reporter: interestingly, in an election year, the political committees really work at the behest of the president as a re-elect apparatus for whoever that president is. it's not just the rrcnc. the dnc works the same way. we saw during the election because president trump had a bare-bones campaign staff, he leaned fairly heavily on the rnc. one of the rinse th-- one of ths that reince priebus became the chief of staff at least for a time. the two are fairly intertwined. you talk about the deafening silence, yes, from the rnc, also from the white house and a handful of top republican lawmakers and officials. none of whom have weighed in on this story. granted it broke yesterday, but none of whom have weighed in yet. we'll have to see if that changes now that steve wynn, a

ultimately with president trump hand picking wynn to be the finance chairman for the rnc. and now on saturday again a white house official telling cnn that the president backs his resignation in part to limit any kind of political damage that could hit the rnc or the white house. no official statement coming yet from the white house nor any tweets from president trump as we've come to expect on weekends. boris sanchez, cnn at the white house. >> the chief diplomat correspondent for "the new york times" is in brussels right now. it seems the white house was quick to distance itself from steve wynn.

. >> the are rnc is demanding that they return any campaign contributions from wynn much the way that the republicans did with harvey weinstein. allegations of wynn are being used to put the pressure on the republican party, and the democratic national committee is saying that the rnc have helped to fund the campaign of the alleged child molester, and blindly attacked women's health, and supported a president who is accused of sexual misconduct by a dozen people, and now they are silent amid sexual misconduct against steve wynn, one of the party's most senior officials. and to give you a sense of how close these two men are. steve wynn has been to the trump white house multiple time, and just last week, president trump was supposed to be in mare lego for a are rnc fund raise er, which he could not make it down there because of the shutdown and the co-host, you guessed it, steve wynn who made the speech for the president, and the president sent a video down, and mentioning steve wynn in the video as well. so, they are very close. coincidentally, to dday is stev wynn's 76th birthday. th

official from undermining the investigation. >>> let's begin with the sexual assault scandal of the rnc. steve wynn says the claims against his are preposterous. >> the person is left with the choice of weather insulting publicity or major-year lawsuits. it is deplorable for anyone to find themselves in this situation. the director of wynn reports says it is forming a committee to investigate these allegations. cnn miguel marquez has more. >> reporter: to charges that he ever assaulted any woman. the blistering statement from wynn himself after a bombshell "wall street journal" report that a manicurist in 2005 was forced to lie on a massage table naked while she claims wynn raprap. . wynn in his statement said the accusations is the continued work of my ex-wife, elaine wynn, with whom i am involved in a terrible and nasty lawsuit in which she is seeking a revised divorce settlement. elaine wynn's attorney told "the journal" that's just not true. wynn, the latest high profile and politically connected man accused of sexual misconduct. "the wall street journal" said it spoke to more than

is that enough from the rnc or do you want more. >> at the right place to be. obviously facing serious allegations and affected the value of his stock and not a matter for the rnc and is the appropriate first step. >> when there was the harvey weinstein sexual harassment and assault allegations, the rnc had no problem waiting and i'm not. i make in all, the chair say in three decades worth of harassment allegations, harvey went to in-line box to the tune of three quarters of a million dollars. democrats and the dnc truly stand up for women like they say they do, returning this dirty money should be a no-brainer. if they were willing to weigh in on harvey weinstein, why shouldn't the rnc way and just as much or just return the money in that situation. >> first, let's agree that there is a very serious topic, a national discussion, overdue. we all have mothers, wives, daughters, friends. we owe them all the duty of a serious conversation. in the case of harvey went in, he's admitted to wrongdoing and checked himself into rehab and he's denied the allegations and

he's the finance chair of rnc. >> no, not really. i'm not. >> why not. >> because the allegations were just revealed yesterday. and look, i get that it's very popular to immediately jump to conclusions from both sides. look, this is an issue as you pointed out in your lead that we've seen on both sides. we need to give it a little bit of time. that's what a lot of people would say. he's denied the allegation sgls are you surpri . >> are you surprised you haven't heard any republicans speaking out. they're aware that the power in las vegas combined with the knowledge the jobs they held were among the best paying available there, added to feeling of dependence and intimidation when he made requests of them. some said the feeling was heightened at times by the presence in a confined office space of one or more of his german she padres trained to respond to commands in german. are you surprised no republicans have spoken out other leaders of the republican national committee? >> no. i'm not surprised. i think if it comes to money and pol

but he is the gfinance chairman of the rnc. this is a president throughout his campaign has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct himself. i think this is certainly going to be increased pressure when lawmakers return to washington next week if the white house and rnc do remain silent about this. of course important to note wynn said this is preposterous that these things did not happen. but the scope of the allegations that were reported by the "wall street journal" go as far as rape, so i would find it very difficult for the president to remain silent here giving the glowing speech that he gave in that video that we played a couple minutes ago. >> all right. well, good to see you all and thanks for joining the conversation this morning. >>> want to tell you about a deadly bombing in kabul this morning. these are the numbers coming into us now. 40 people are dead. 140 others are injured. reuters citing afghanistan health ministry put the number of dead above 60 however. so some conflicting numbers there. but very sig

you have not seen that with many members of the rnc. they didn't cut ties with roy moore in alabama and like ron was saying, you know, the core of this problem is they have the president who has been accused of sexual assault and sexuality harassment by multiple women. honestly, if they keep the money, i don't know what sort of repercussions they'll have because they have all of these other issues going on. >> right. i want to read a tweet now from walter. you said, hey, gop and democrats, instead of pointing fingers every time one of your donors turn out to be a filth bag, how about passing some meaningful bipartisan campaign finance reform. get the corrupting influence of money out of politics now. when there are stories like this coming out about people, weinstein, wynn, who have had up to this point so many influence in both parties. >> well, i think unfortunately this is a distracting race to the bottom when people start hypocritically demanding that the other side give back money from a bad donor. the reality is that we have a cam

wynn stepped down yesterday as the rnc finance chairman. ellison barber has the latest reaction from washington. reporter: rick, steve wynn is walking away from job at the rnc but not admitting guilt. in a statement provided to fox news he is resigning to avoid, quote, distraction for the party. a single statement, sentence saying she's accepted wynn's resignation, when a billionaire casino mogul is accused in pressuring employees to engage in sex acts with them. "wall street journal" interviewed dozens of people who worked at wynn's casinos and found a pattern of sexual misconduct. >> i think they are very serious allegations and should be treated as such. reporter: wynn tributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to republican candidates and committees. public records show over the years he's made donations to democrats and republicans, and "new york times" say the amounts are $5.2 million. as the republican national committee's finance chair, wynn helped the rnc raise more than that. democrats are calling on the rnc to return any money the

i'm waiting for the statement from the rnc. i'm waiting for them to give back the money the way that they demanded democrats do and the way they did. i'm waiting for a statement from the white house in terms of donald trump's closeness with steve wynn. i think it's kind of creepy he liked the story. birds of a feather, i guess. the republican party needs to respond to this. not that it's a partisan issue, clearly we know it happens on both sides, but i think the republican party has historically been very silent when it comes to issues of sexual allegations of sexual harassment of people of their party. i know, roy moore comes to mind. so i think they do need to say something and say something pretty quickly and say something that underscores that they do care about these allegations and they take them seriously. >> do you think it was different -- alice, i'll bring you in, do you think it's different when a democrat is accused, you don't think democrats are silent and they try to figure out what their strategy is going to be?

the rnc is a legal entity, it's run by 165 members. of course president trump has a lot of sway, but there is a chair of the committee, and there is a committee. and someone should stand up and say this guy should not be our finance chairman? >> in a normal world, steve winn is not going to be at this meeting. >> but here's the thing, every time an allegation comes up, president trump sees himself in that person. so you can't separate that from this. so it will be very interesting to see what he does in this particular case. but he just feels like he's been in their shoes, he's been on that side, we saw it with roy moore even. >> this is one of those days where we feel like we're back in december, where every hour there's a new person caught up. now we have a new hillary clinton aid, burns strider, and hillary clinton was presented with -- the campaign manager said we got to dump him, and she said no. hillary clinton having a blind spot for men behaving badly is not news. >> look, time's up. you can't -- you know, that shouldn't happen

steve wynn is the finance chair of the rnc. that's no small thing. that's a much bigger role in the republican party that steve wynn had than harvey weinstein had in the democratic party. republicans who have sfanl financial and political ties to steve wynn including the current president of the united states, president donald trump should be asked and have their feet held to the fire regarding their ties with this guy. we don't need to give back any money until all of this plays out in a legal setting. that begs the question, why didn't you treat the democrats and harvey weinstein with the same level of benefit of the doubt. it almost seems as if the gop is acting kind of cynically here and does not actually care about sexual abuse of women. >> well, the president of the united states and the head of the republican party does happen to have quite a few allegations of sexual conduct levelled against him hanging out there. maybe that's part of the problem. thank you very much. >> thank you so much for having me. >>> one more story to get to here tonig

who's writing about the rnc staying silent on the allegations. as of now they have not commented on the allegations? no one at the rnc. >> as far as i know unless nbc or msnbc has some statement i do not. we've been trying to get this out of them all day. as far as i know they have not commented on this. which would be at least a little bit less conspicuous than it is now if they hadn't gone all in after the immediate aftermath of the harvey weinstein allegations and hitting the democrats and the dnc, as they should have, for the harvey weinstein money they've gotten over the years. now harvey weinstein donated significantly less to the dnc than steve wynn did to the rnc. so it stands to reason if, this is a gigantic if the republican party and rnc wanted to be ethic cli consistent here they would come out with a statement this is beyond the peal fael for us,e allegations and we would like to sever our relationship with steve wb wynn and give back the money he has lavished on us and our campaigns. >> just in 2016 he gave over $1.2 million. just a

he was a bit of a weird pick for the rnc, making donations to republican and democratics. he's supposed to lead the fund-raising for house and senate candidates for republican elections in the fall. right now they have only a razor thin majority in the senate and are facing the threat of a major blue wave according to pos but t -- polls but the rnc has yet to comment and their big meeting is taking police next week in washington, d.c. is the rnc going to keep steve wynn in charge of all that cash they're going to need for house and senate candidates. not to mean that dean heller is up for reelection this year and he's one of senate's most vulnerable republicans right now. steve wynn and his wife have donated tens of thousands of dollars to dean hiller over the years. joining us now is the "daily beast" white house reporter who is writing about the rnc staying silent on the wynn allegations. >> they haven't commented? >> as far as i know. and we have been trying to get this out of them all day now. >> as far as i know unless nbc or msnbc has some statement i do not. we've b

should the rnc be returning any donated money from him? >> well, obviously, what happens in vegas is not staying in vegas. this is a major, a major new development, and we'll see how it plays out. as it does play out, if it proves that there is more than just an unhappy divorcee, then we'll see. there's going to be a lot of money returned. that certainly happened with the weinstein situation. if this plays itself out, we're, what, less than one day into this whole thing. as it plays itself out, i think we'll find there's going to be a lot of questions raised about who's received money from steve wynn. we're not there yet. but we're headed down a path. and so i suppose all the -- anybody who goes to vegas, be aware that it may not stay in vegas. >> all right, congressman john garamendi, thank you. >>> all right, coming up, lawmakers on capitol hill turning their eyes to the sexual abuse scandal involving olympic dr. larry nassar who they're pressuring for answers. >>> plus, stuck and held captive in filthy conditions for years. grim new det

he was supposed to be at mar-a-lago at a rnc victory fund-raiser. one of the coast hosts of that fund-raiser, you guessed it it, steve wynn. the president sent a video and said singling out steve wynn. cnn obtained audio of that video. >> steve wynn, i want to thank you. i want to thank the whole group. the money raised. you're really special people. thank you very much. we'll see you the next time. >> in fairness, the president did mention several other people in that video, but steve wynn was certainly among them and, coincidentally, steve wynn turns 76 today. back to you. >>> the other big political headline democrats looking for a way to protect special counsel robert mueller after reports that the president tried to fire him from the russia investigation. kaitlin collins is at the white house. how exactly are democrats looking to protect mueller? >> they are proposing this legislation and ongoing budget negotiations that are going on on capitol hill after they pass that short-term spending bill and this legislation would protect the special cou

the rnc may wish to react to that but the are. in. c will be, i think at this point forced to itself. we're going into the 2018 campaign. it will not want it hanging over its candidates. the company is very much tied to wynn. his name is on the company, right, wynn resorts? it already said in sec filings, standard sec filings if anything were to happen mr. wynne that could have negative effects on company. we saw the stock drop substantially when our story appeared on friday. and there are regulatory issues involved. you will see some regulators investigating this as well. melissa: anyone who hasn't read it in "the wall street journal" it details, many, many, complaints, many instances, many different people corroborating each other's story, who witnessed things. it is not just -- he brings up the point where we live in day and age right now where someone can make accusation, in a public forum, shout it on twitter, someone's reputation is tarnished whether followed through or not. that doesn't really apply to him, there are some peopl

he gave money to the rnc, it was said today by the chair of the rnc that they would wait until something occurred. we did not do that. we should all stand up for wome women. >> harris: i'm going to step in here, we are going to come back right after the commercial break. more time to talk about this, stay close.ri h to central new york. and turning the airport into a first-class transportation hub. all while growing urban areas into vibrant places to live and work. across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov. on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. i was wondering if an electric toothbrusthan a manual.s better and my hygienist says it does but they're not all the same. who kn

rnc chair mcdaniel released simple statement, single sentence, saying she accepted wynn's resignation. wynn, billionaire casino mogel, accused of pressuring employees to engage in sex acts with him. the wall street journal says they interviewed dozens of people who have worked at wynn's casinos, and what they found was a decade long pattern of sexual misconduct. >> i think they're very serious allegations, and should be treated as such. >> wynn has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to republican candidates and committees, public records show, that over the years, he's made donations to both democrats and republicans, the new york times says the contributions amount to more than $5.2 million. as the republican national committee's finance chair wynn has helped the rnc raise even more than that. democrats are calling on the rnc to return any money they've received from the billionaire pointing out that republicans called on democrats to return money they received from harvey weinstein. lindsay gram says the rnc chair should have time to look into the allegations cents, and if

in the republican national committee finance chair, wynn help the rnc raise even more than that. democrats are calling on the rnc to return any money they received from the billionaire pointing out that republicans called on democrats to return money they received from harvey weinstein. republican senator lindsey graham says the rnc chair should have time to look into the allegations and if they are true. >> should return the money. >> in a statement the dnc said quote - in the exact words of rnc chairwoman mcdaniel, if you stand for treating women well and you stand for the respective women, should not take money somebody treated women with the absolute highest level of disrespect. wynn says the allegations against him are preposterous. he has never assaulted a woman. arthel. >> ellison barber, thank you. >> and five people have been killed. a gunman opened fire in a small town car wash. this occurred near pittsburgh overnight. this happened in mel croft about 50 miles south east of pittsburgh. this was at 3 am. police are trying to determine if the shooter escaped or if the gun

i'm waiting for the statement from the rnc. i'm waiting for them to give back the money the way that they demanded democrats do and the way they did. i'm waiting for a statement from the white house in terms of donald trump's closeness with steve wynn. i think it's creepy he liked the story. bir birds of a feather, i guess. we know it happens on both sides. i think the republican party has historically beencomes to sexua harassment of people of their party. roy moore comes to mind. i think they do need to say something and say something pretty quickly and say something that underscores they care about these allegations and they take them seriously. >> do you think it was different -- alice, do you think it's different for democrats when a democrat is accused? you don't think democrats are silent and then they try to figure out what their strategy is going to be? >> from what i have seen of democrats, they actually come out and they have called for the resignation of their own. we have seen that with al franken and members of co

casino kingpin steve wynn has revined from ther resigned from the rnc. i'm joined by cnn political analyst julian zeleny and cnn political commentator errol louis. the president tweeted about the daca deal, we have heard that and nothing on steve wynn and no sort of official comment coming from the white house. how important do you think it is that there is some sort of acknowledge can't and reaction here? >> certainly, i think there are many americans who would like some reaction or acknowledgment but i'm not sure it's coming. obviously, this is a pretty precarious issue for president trump, given the multiple allegations that surround him, so he is a bit checked in talking about someone else's resignation for those kinds of issues and nor is it something that he is really addressed in the past, as the me too movement has gained steam and the questions of sexual misconduct have been front and center. this has not been at the center of his agenda, so i don't examine much. the real question in the long run is how much does this issue mobilize democrats an

what should the rnc say in this instance? and what should republicans do now? >> well, they did the right thing in terms of, you know, trying to get ahead of this and getting wynn off of their radar screen, simply because they've got a meeting this week, their winter meeting here in d.c. area, so they don't want that to be the poppic of conversation, but it will be one of the topics of conversation. the chairwoman's muted response is rather amusing, particularly given, it sort of tells you when the shoe is on the other foot how tight that shoe can really fit. you know? so here we are. and it's actually been surprising that you haven't heard much from anybody out of the 168 members of the rnc, national chair, committee of men and women, but this week will be a chance with the reporters scouting the halls to ask them up close and personal what they think. >> jonathan swan. >> hanging over all of this, we can deduce something from this, is donald trump. and ronna mcdaniel doesn't do anything without donald trump's blessing. she always talks, they talked early yest

as lieutenant governor, as rnc chairman. how i find ways to listen to people, to be obedient, how i find ways to love them when i really want to smack them up side the head, to be chaste in that moment if you will, and to to be poor -- how to die one's self, to elevate someone else even though i am the chairman. i am the lieutenant governor. i am not the most important person in the room. the most important person in the room is that individual who is seeking help, that individual who requires assistance. that individual who has a problem, that individual who just wants to say, hey, how you doing? i like what you're doing. and i think a lot of our leaders have lost that aspect, those aspects of what it means to be a servant leader. so the first thing i want to just sort of drop with you is that. i look out in this room and i see the future of our country not 30 years from now, folks. get that crap out of your head. all right? i'm talking about what you're going to do when you leave here today. when you go back to your univer

reince priebus, back at the beginning of the 2016 cycle when he was at the rnc did this report that said the republican party is on a path to irrelevance if it can't get right with the rising sectors of the american electorate. donald trump comes along and threw cold water in the face of reince priebus and everybody else who believed that and

should the rnc be returning money donated by wynn? >> absolutely. i mean, it's been a common practice in american politics. even when there's -- even before the me too movement, you know, started to unfold in the past year. where if there's a hint of scandal with anyone to demand that you return the money back, you know, from the opposing party and/or you're just like them. so, you know, it appears from this reporting that it's pretty well documented. this isn't just, you know, flighty allegations. these are serious allegations. and there are a lot of them. give their money back and any other, you know, that has accepted, he has donated to. something you didn't see with sort of the weinstein event. so i don't know if that becomes part of it as well. but, you know, i would be surprised if the rnc did not return the money. >> all right, and patrick, turning to the russia investigation, amid reports that trump tried to fire bob mueller last june but didn't. once the white house counsel, you know, refused or at least said, you know, he would quit. did t

i was all about disruption when i was rnc chairman. i love disruption. i think anything that disrupts the status quo is good when it's done right, meaning it's not destructive. there's a big difference between being disruptive as a leader and being destructive as a leader. where you're tearing down, not building up, not creating the kind of synergies that are going to be important for a foundation to stand on to do future things. one of the things that i remember as rnc chairman was having a conversation about the health care bill at the time, now affectionately known as obamacare. one of the things that we were trying to figure out was how do you make the case to the american people about what this means and how it impacts them. of course, there was the typical sort of consultancy kind of cra crazy, outlandish stuff they want you to say and do and go out and say these things. but that's not factually right. we can't go out there and scare people out of health care or into health care. we have to inform them. we have to do it and make a principled argaum

i was all about disruption when i was rnc chairman. i love disruption. i think anything that disrupts the status quo is good when done right. meaning, it is not destructive. because there is a big difference between being disruptive as a leader, and being destructive. where you are tearing down, not building up, not creating the kind of synergy that is going to be important for a foundation to stand on, to do future things. where you are tearing down, not building up, not creating the kind of synergy that is going to be important for a foundation to stand on, to do future things. one of the things i remember as rnc chairman was having a conversation about the health care bill at the time. it is now actually known as obamacare. one of the things that we were trying to figure out was how do you make the case to the american people about what this means and how it impacts them? of course, there was the typical consultancy stuff, where they want you to go out there and say these things, but that is not actually write and we cannot go out there and scare peop

he's the head of the finance committee for the rnc. it's unclear still today whether any of those politicians are going to be returning any of that money. alex? >> all right. matt, thank you very much from las vegas. a statement from michael khouw hen saying steve is a truly great man who has been the driving force behind the rnc finance committee. >>> meanwhile, democrats are pushing back against the immigration proposal. nancy policy explaining her opposition to the proposal by saying this. >> that plan is a campaign to make america white again. it's a plan that says over 50% of the current legal immigration will be cut back. they want the ransom for these children to be $25 billion for a wall when we have all the needs that we have for infrastructure in our own country. so this is the fight that we will be having not about people but about value. >> well, back with me victoria, joe watkins, rick tyler. victoria, are democrats staging for a fight that they are going to lose by writing this proposal off? is it worth the risk of losing

i was all about disruption when i was rnc chairman. i love disruption. i think anything that disrupts the status quo is good when done right. meaning, it is not destructive. because there is a big difference between being disruptive as a leader, and being destructive. where you are tearing down, not building up, not creating the kind of synergy that is going to be important for a foundation to stand on, to do future things. one of the things i remember as rnc chairman was having a conversation about the health care bill at the time. it is now actually known as obamacare. one of the things that we were trying to figure out was how do you make the case to the american people about what this means and how it impacts us? -- how it impacts them? of course, there was the typical consultancy stuff, where they want you to go out there and say these things, but that is not actually write and we cannot go out there and scare people out of health care. or in to health care. we have to inform them, but we have to make a principled argument. what i realized was there

we have reached out to the rnc for comment. we have yet to hear back. again, he is the current finance chair for the rnc and a close confidant of donald trump. >>> just to update you on another congressman accused of 145u89 says he wi sexual assault says he will not run for re-election. patrick meehan settled a former aide's complaint with taxpayer money. he denied the allegations but then told the philly inquirer he had a deep sfaeaffection for th younger aide and saw her as a soul mate. meehan tells his campaign chairman no characterization of the work relationship i shared with a uniquely close colleague would could have been more personally harmful. i truly didn't even consider or understand the full implications of the use of that term. and it is not just the world of politics where allegations of sexual abuse or harassment are making headlines. the michigan state athletic director is giving his resignation in the wake of dr. nassar. there could be an investigation in congress and a big protest is planned tonight at michigan state. we'll be back wi

he had the tie of national finance chairman which he has given up for the rnc. howie: are you willing to say right now? cathy: i'm willing to say the media will do the same with wynn as they do with weinstein. i don't think it's going to be given any different treatment to wiwynn that was given to weinstein. howie: many of harvey weinstein's victims were famous actresses which helped fuel the debate. ahead, behind the scenes in the war between the white house and the press as we look at some of the disclosures in my new book. a major media blunder about jerrod kushner's company blew up but corrections western hard to come howie: here is how the liberal magazine "mother jones" handled the story about the president's son-in-law. deutsche bank look at suspicious kushner transactions. "washington post," deutsche bank flagged suspicious kushner transactions. the german magazine charged deutsche bank had flagged suspicious information. but deutsche bank called the story wrong and says it's taking legal action. the bank telling me they have not submitted any report fla

rnc is silent. this guy holds a position tr them. he's the chairman. talk about hypocrisy. what's going on with your people? >> there's a woul street journal article. they talked to 150 people. you can never specific allegation is correct and true. >> one of them true. just one. >> very bad. usually when there's a pattern means something is there. i think it's unsustainable he'll continue to be a chairman of the rnc and winestein stuff will be thrown back at democratic candidates and they'll give back the money. >> why hasn't the gop said what you said. there are allegations and we have to look at it. >> all the organizations you go into a huddle at first. when these come out. and. >> after you were on your high horse. a moment ago. >> i just said, you heard what i said. >> i'm talking about the rnc. >> i manl they'll come out. >> is eventually okay? >> if it's tomorrow tths okay. they'll have to get rid of him. i do. i think we're -- >> you're trying to get a debate. >> on hilary we can go. we agree on this. they have to get rid of him. i thank rich for saying it. it's dis

in the rnc so far. that is the stock price pursuant to that story in the "wall street journal" which paints a picture of a pretty awful pattern and some truly vile acts there. you should read that story. wynn has issued his own denial. john ralston, thank you very much. >>> still to come, a republican co-sponsor of a bill to protect robert mueller from donald trump is now changing his tune. that story ahead. and plus the president has the best memory. primarily when it comes to telling you he has the best mem ory. tonight's thing one and thing two is next. managing blood sugar is a series of smart choices. and when you replace one meal... ...or snack a day with glucerna... ...made with carbsteady... ...to help minimize blood sugar spikes... ...you can really feel it. now with 30% less carbs and sugars. glucerna. this is food made to sit down for. slow down for. put the phone away, and use a knife and fork for. and with panera catering, it's food worth sharing. panera. food as it should be. >>> thing one

the president tweeted out a link to the report published by the rnc and followed that up with this. "despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters i respect and lots of good news for the american people to be proud of." the rnc and white house singled out 11 reports they consider erroneous, but all of the statements mr. trump himself has made have just 4% scored as truth by politifact. an overwhelming number of his statements, 69%, scored as mostly false, false or pants on fire by the same organization spp. >> until next year. >>> actress meghan markle is being honored by the london zoo in a very special way. in honor of her upcoming wedding to britain's prince harry the zoo has named a rare newborn okawapi after meghan and hopes it will befriend its male counterpart named harry. they're listed as endangered species and they're members of the giraffe family although they do not have long necks as you can see. >> i'm frances river a live look at our radar and our roadways this morning.. the storm is sitting to our >>> first the fog and then th

rnc headquarters in washington. steve wynn today addressed his resignation, calling the allegations against him a distraction. >> wynn, that that's right. he's speaking out today. but they're the lawmakers he raised money are quiet about those donations. >> kenneth moton for us, thank you. >>> next, democrats calling for legislation to protect special counsel robert mueller after reports president trump tried to fire him last june. the president consistently denying it. yesterday, calling it fake news. tonight, even a top senate republican says he's opened to a move to protect mueller's independence. abc's david wright is at the white house tonight. >> reporter: tonight, fresh from his quick trip to davos. >> i think it was a very, very successful trip. >> reporter: the president is gearing up for the state of the union, a speech the white house describes as "optimistic," "forward-looking" and bipartisan. president trump, eager to take credit for a roaring economy. >> mr. speaker, the president of the united states.

rnc headquarters in washington. steve wynn today addressed his resignation, calling the allegations against him a distraction. >> wynn, that that's right. he's speaking out today. but they're the lawmakers he raised money are quiet about those donations. >> kenneth moton for us, thank you. >>> democrats calling for legislation to protect special counsel robert mueller. after reports president trump tried to fire him last june. the president consistently denying it. even yesterday, calling it fake news. tonight, even a top senate republican says he's opened to a move to protect mueller's independence. abc's david wright is at the white house tonight. >> reporter: tonight, fresh from his quick trip to davos. >> i think it was a very, very successful trip. >> reporter: the president is gearing up for the state of the union, a speech the white house describes as "optimistic," "forward-looking" and bipartisan. president trump, eager to take credit for a roaring economy. >> mr. speaker, the president of the united states.

and the rnc, silent. this guy holds a position for them. he's the chairman. talk about hypocrisy. what's going on with your people? >> yeah. so there's a "wall street journal" article that is extensively sourced. i think they say they talked to 150 people. you can never know whether any specific allegation is correct and true, but usually we've learned -- >> let's say one of them is true. just one out of all 150. >> very bad. usually when there's a pattern, it means that there's something there. so i think it's unsustainable that he'll continue to be a finance chairman of the rnc, and the weinstein stuff will be thrown back at the rnc and at republican candidates and a lot of them will probably end up giving back the money. >> why hasn't the gop said what you just said, which is that there are a lot of allegations. if we find this is substantia d substantiated, he's gone. >> i imagine you go into a huddle at first when these things come out. >> after you were on your high horse just a moment ago. >> you heard what i said. >> i'm saying the rnc, not you. i'm double using my metapho

joining me now is ronna mcdaniel, chairwoman of the rnc. the president will tell us how well things are going one year into his presidency? what do you expect? >> it's a report card. he reports back to the american people what is the state of our nation the year into my presidency. he said the state of our union is strong. jobs coming to this country. wages are up. unemployment 17 year low. hispanic and african-american unemployment is at an all time low. such great things to talk about. and he wants to keep that going. he gets to talk about what he has accomplished, the record, the achievements and then what will we do going forward and reach across to democrats and think about how much better we could be together if you would work with me? >> sandra: that's no simple task. the white house is being very specific as to saying this president is going to make an attempt tonight to reach across the aisle, unify what is still a very divided congress. how can he do that tonight? >> he has had chuck schumer and nancy pelosi at the white house whe

i was all about disruption when i was rnc chairman. anything that disrupts the status quo is good when done right. meaning, it is not destructive. there is a big difference between being disruptive as a leader, and being destructive. where you are tearing down, not building up, creating the kind of synergy that is going to be important for a foundation to stand on, to do future things. one of the things i remember as was having a conversation about health care, the health care bill at the time , now known as obamacare. one of the things that we were trying to figure out, how do you make the case to the american people about what this means and how it impacts a? -- it impacts us? --re was the typical soul stuff, whereltancy they want you to go out there but we these things, can't go out and scare people out of health care. we have to make a principled argument. in thats this battle situation, we felt you had no control over the outcome, -- where you felt you had no control over the outcome, where you lose your grip and others say, don't

he had the tie of national finance chairman which he has given up for the rnc. howie: are you willing to say right now? cathy: i'm willing to say the media will do the same with wynn as they do with weinstein. i don't think it's going to be given any different treatment to wiwynn that was given to weinstein. howie: many of harvey weinstein's victims were famous actresses which helped fuel the debate. ahead, behind the scenes in the war between the white house and the press as we look at some of the disclosures in my new book. a major media blunder about jerrod kushner's company blew up but corrections western hard to come by. finest insurance experts. rodney -- mastermind of discounts like safe driver, paperless. the list goes on. how about a discount for long lists? gold. mara, you save our customers hundreds for switching almost effortlessly. it's a gift. and jamie. -present. -together we are unstoppable. so, what are we gonna do? ♪ insurance. that's kind of what we do here. ♪ no one burns on heartburn. my watch! try alka seltzer ultra strength heartburn r

[indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] >> former rnc chair michael steele would be part of a conversation on political .fficacy the washington president -- center for academic seminars hope -- hosted the session. live coverage begins at 9:00 eastern on c-span three. in the afternoon, a discussion on the future of air warfare air officials. this is hosted live at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two. his the governor delivers state of the state address to lawmakers of the capital. live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. eastern on c-span three. a reminder. he can follow all of these events live online at c-span.org , and with the free c-span radio app. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> congressional leaders have said that immigration legislation is on their agenda for 2018. next, a discussion on the prospects for immigration reform this year. this portion of washington journal is 55 minutes. ""washington journal co

when i say the was just a press release at rnc i stopped paying attention. howie: and the rnc website crashed. juan: clearly the president made his point. he thinks the press is not fair to him. i think he has gone beyond this regularly. we discussed this on "mediabuzz." i must say the contrary point is he has aright wing sphere that is almost an echo chamber and he also works the theme. howie: though many conservatives in the media who were never trumpers. mara: "breitbart" could have been on that list. howie: "in touch" magazine runs and interview with a porn star who says she did have a relationship with president trump. howie: the president's physician told the white house press corps that the president is in excellent health. but the reporters had lots of questions and at times seemed to be trying to poke holes in the doctor's report. >> on what basis would you advise the cabinet that the president is not able to perform his functions. >> a cognitive exam is not the same as a like logical exam. >> how does a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet qu

it's not the chairwoman of the rnc. it's the guy at 1600 pennsylvania. >> yeah, and we still radio silence from the rnc so far. the stock price. this paints a picture of a pretty awful pattern and some truly had vial acts there. you should read thatter to. obviously, wynn has issued his own denial. jon ralston, thank you very much. still to cop, a republican cosponsor of a bill to protect robert mueller from donald trump is now changing his tune. plus, the president has the best memory primarily when it comes to telling you when he has the best memory. thing 1, thing 2 starts next. hi, i'm the internet! you know what's difficult? armless bowling. you got this, jimmy! you know what's easy? building your website with godaddy. pick a domain name. choose a design. you can build a website in under an hour. now that's a strike! get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. build a better website in under an hour. i love you. >>> thing 1 tonight, donald trump is suffering from memory loss and i don't mean that time

ultimately with president trump hand picking wynn to be the finance chairman for the rnc. and now on saturday again a white house official telling cnn that the president backs his resignation in part to limit any kind of political damage that could hit the rnc or the white house. no official statement coming yet from the white house nor any tweets from president trump as we've come to expect on weekends. boris sanchez, cnn at the white house. >> the chief diplomat correspondent for "the new york times" is in brussels right now. it seems the white house was quick to distance itself from steve wynn. do you think perhaps they've learned a lesson from the roy moore episode, the senned candidate accused of sexual misconduct that donald trump had defended? >> well, they're learning lessons all the time. and the difference with roy moore is he really needed that senate seat because the margin is so thin. and what he said and i suspect is right even though he was afraid moore would lose, he wanted to support him to keep the majority, too, in the senate. and that's different things

. >> the rnc chair woman. you heard her say for the president tow ask the fbi acting director who he voted for, just getting to know somebody. does that seem credible to you? >> well, look. i think we know just based on administration officials and fbi or justice department that there's a certain way of handling it. with trump's interaction, particularly with mccabe, all he knew going into that meeting is that mccabe's wife received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions -- >> from the governor of virginia who had ties to clinton. >> right. basically clinton money which is what he was reacting to. was it appropriate? probably not. what he was doing trying to get at was whether or not there was some kind of force within the fbi that had basically prejudged what everything to do with this administration. on that point, he does have a point. >> it seems curious to me, having covered the tarmac meeting between loretta lynch and blin quiill clinton about i was a big deal. a big stink. she actual