community jews in the streets. >> here is what everybody needs to know mr. jones, you have a long track record of losing. you lose virtually everything that you run for. you've run for congress and you've lost, for mayor, for alderman and we're not in the business of predicting the news. but i predict you will lose. >> consistency paid off. and i'm on the ballot for the november election. >> we're going to go. >> i keep running because i'm a better man than most of these people in washington because i don't -- >> we'll see what the voters think about that. we'll see if the voters think -- >> i believe in standing for the truth -- >> -- to represent them. arthur jones. we heard your opinion and we'll see what happens. chances are you'll go down in flames. we're following news. let's get right to it. >> i'm disappointed that chief of staff john kelly continues to say rob porter is a man of integrity and honor. >> the president and chief of

staff have had full confidence and trust in hisables. >> it is a lack of character and decency. >> the fact that somebody couldn't get clearance should be a huk red flag. >> cnn learned they've known for months, this is on general kel yif. >> i want to compliment them for reaching a deal. >> do you have support the deal. >> our dreamers hang in limbo. the republican moral coward is must end. >> this is not consistent with what we told the voters. >> this is "new day". >> good morning. it is thursday, february 8th, 8:00 in the east. white house chief of staff john kelly under fire after saying she's shocked by domestic abuse allegations against rob porter. but sources tell cnn that kelly knew for months that he was accused by ex-wives of physical

and emotional abuse. kelly protected him. amid this fire storm, we'll hear from president trump in just minutes when he speaks at the national prayer breakfast in washington. john kelly is with the president at that event. they traveled there together. >> will he mention that? probably not. but you could always be surprised. will the president take an opportunity of prayer to pray for the victims of domestic abuse, a form of torture that is underreported and underrepresented in this country. we'll see. the scandal over shadowing a major bipartisan agreement on capitol hill. senate leaders reaching a two-year budget deal could prevent a federal government from shutting down. that would happen tonight. but it is only half of congress. nancy pelosi, who represents the democrats in the house, says no votes from her caucus unless paul ryan commits to an immigration debate the way mitch mcconnell did, the gop senate leader. if he doesn't, she doesn't get

that, she won't vote on the bill. we have abby philip live at white house. >> good morning. well today we are learning that there are new questions about white house chief of staff john kelly's judgment in the wake of the disturbing allegations about a senior white house aide and his right-hand man rob porter who is has been accused by two women of domestic abuse. now we've learned that john kelly new about the allegations for months and apparently did nothing about them. >> reporter: white house chief of staff john kelly expressing shock over what he calls quote, new allegations of domestic abuse against white house staff secretary rob porter. but sources tell cnn that kelly learned about the accusations last fall and continued to elevate porter's profile in the west wing despite knowing he had trouble obtaining a security clearance due to the alleged abuse. kelly standing by a statement calling porter a man of true integrity and honor, even after

the daily mail published these shocking images of porter's first wife colby helderness. she said he choked and punched her during a 2005 trip to italy. he denied the allegations from both ex-wives but resigned on wednesday saying that these outrageous allegations are simply false. i will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign. two sources familiar with the matter tell cnn that president trump only learned about the allegations against porter this week. and was upset by the reports. a senior white house official blaming porter for, quote, misleading the staff after the white house rushed to defend porter after the initial report. >> the president and chief of staff have had full confidence and trust in his abilities and his performance. >> reporter: sara sanders also calling porter a person of the highest integrity and exemplary character. his second ex-wife telling her story to the washington post. >> i'm not at all surprised that people who work with him in a professional capacity see him as

a model of discretion and integrity and character because i believe that he is. and in his personal life, he is also abusive and angry sfwrnchs two sources tell cnn that hope hicks has been romantically involved with porter and helped draft kelly's initial statement. politico reports that an ex girlfriend contacted don mcgan after hearing hicks and porter were dating. kelly already coming under fire this week for saying this about undocumented immigrants who did not sign up for president obama's dreamer program. >> the difference between 690 and 1.8 were the people that some would say were too afreight to sign up and others would say were too lazy to get off their as but they didn't sign up. >> reporter: kelly has been criticized for falsely claiming that fedrica wilson took credit for securing funding for an fbi

building. >> even for someone that is that empty about -- we were stunned. >> reporter: sparking outrage by saying it was a lack of ability to compromise rather than slavery that caused the civil war. well when porter first announced his resignation yesterday afternoon, said he would leave the white house in a matter of weeks. now -- cnns that learned that will be moved up, he might be out as early as today as the fallout continues. >> joining us now is the chairman of the house freedom caucus, congressman mark meadows. good to have you. >> great to be with you. my good friend jim jordan sends his best to you. >> he is always a treat to have on. we appreciate you taking the opportunity. making the case to the american people. dealing with policy and politics. so we're watching the prayer breakfast and forgive me if i have to dump out of this interview if the president makes

his remarks on our watch. >> you should. >> we always -- he know he is traveling there with chief of staff john kelly, a sign that his faith in him remains strong. does yours, given this latest accusation about what the white house knew about rob porter, when they knew it and what they did or didn't do about it? >> well, obviously my wife and i are involved in a number of different ministries, but one in particular where it deals with abuse and there can be zero tolerance for this. and so as you look at the reports that have come out, they are very troubling. i must confess, i've dealt with rob portman before. it came as a shock when i read the reports. i know it came as a shock to the president as well. and so you deal with this -- we need to make sure that you deal with any situation as quickly as you can but this resignation is welcomed. i don't see the confidence in

general kelly being diminished within the west wing. but we can have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior. >> so if it is true that the allegations made against porter by two ex-wives were reported to the fbi as early as in january 2017 and cnn has sources that confirm that the white house did know about this, if they did nothing all that time and as we saw general john kelly's first statement did not mention the domestic violence and he said they were new to him. if that is not true, congressman, what kind of accountability should there be? >> well obviously there should be accountable. but chris, there is two things. one is the fbi and their knowledge of it and certainly security clearance issues, we deal with those all of the time. and there is a myriad of reasons why somebody may or may not get a full security clearance. and yet at the same time,

obviously if they know that those individual accusations had been made and were verified, then certainly there is no excuse to ignore that and i think we both agree on that particular thing. it is real easy to rush to judgment already and say this is what they knew when and where. and yet at the same time, i believe his resignation not only will be received but it comes as a shock to many of us who have worked in and around the west wing and certainly know -- know rob to be someone who is not only efficient, but gives the demeanor of being the last person you would suspect of this kind of behavior. >> and porter denies the allegations. he does have a sterling pedigree academically. harvard law school and a rhodes scholar and it is not your job to vet him but it is the chief of staffs -- >> it is the chief of staff -- >> the security clearance. >> and there needs to be accountable. >> and he still had temporary

clearance a year in. he didn't have permanent clearance and they get those files -- we had walter schaub on the former ethics czar there in the white house, he said they would have seen it. they would have known. so if they did know, and they did nothing, what does that tell you? >> well, i know walter well. he's appeared before a -- hearings before. i would say in this particular case to say that they would know everything that goes into that is probably going a bit far. would they know that he didn't have full clearance, would they have some issues they could have investigated further, certainly they could. but chris, to spell it out and suggest that they had pictures and all of the kind of testimony that you are relaying out today is just not accurate. >> all right. we'll let the facts lie. i won't chase you on it because it is not your responsibility. once we know more we'll tell you. right now we see the president of the united states, donald trump entering here and traveled with his chief of staff.

a vote of confidence in kelly. he's saying hello so let's keep talking until he makes his remarks. the budget, mr. meadows. to hear that republicans may get behind this bill that is being put in the senate right now, pops the eyebrows because of all of the spending. what happened to justice for the deficit that means so much for you and your caucus? >> well, as you know, we took an official position last night to say we can't support this. it is eye-popping and eyebrow-raising and we have to figure a way to not only fund the military but we've gotten to a point, chris, where we hold our military men and women hostage so we have to figure a way to correct that. >> i get the problems with sequestration when it comes to the military and i've heard it from the men and women trying to make the most of the dollars and cents they get and there is a lot. paul ryan said we spend more than -- ten of the next country's, why can't we do it for less. it seems to be a different tune

now. but look at what we saw in the tax bill. i was shocked. i lost money -- i didn't lose tax money, because i'm in that top bracket so you took care of me. i lost money on bets that you would allow that tax bill given how it explodes the deficit. what has happened to you giefs on this? >> well i can tell you on the deficit, it is interesting we get all of these deficit hawks that were democrats and everybody coming out when we were talking about giving the american taxpayer money back in their pocket. but they were not anywhere to be found yesterday here on capitol hill. all of a sudden when it comes to spending that same dollar, which is not their money, it is the american people's money, they're very liberal with that. and i can tell you that when we look at the kind of numbers that we're talking about right now, chris, we talk about a trillion dollars deficit over a ten-year period and it would pay for itself over 15. this is money that actually won't happen that way. when we're looking at increasing it, we could give three different tax cuts the size of

what we just gave -- if we could get our spending in line. so i think it is incumbent upon us, we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem and it is time we get that under control. >> you may have both now. because that is a giant if that this tax cut will pay for itself. you will certainly -- >> i don't know that it will -- i'll be glad to come back at some other time and we can debate that back and forth. because i could give you real numbers. but right now when you look at economy growing hopefully as much as 5% in this next quarter, it is good for the american people. and so to suggest that that was the wrong move actually would -- would be to discount 3 million people that have gotten bonuses and wages that are going up and that is good for the economy. >> it could be. we know this is -- we know this discussion. >> it is good right now. >> but 5% -- did the government come up with a cure for cancer i don't know about. >> no, you may make the argument it may not be good in the future, but today it is good for

the american people. we're seeing it in their paychecks. >> it is good politically but when you -- >> i don't brag about that. >> he did. >> i'm taurking about thousands of dollars in bonuses each and every day in my district, people getting more money in their pocket than they would just a few months ago. and it is not a $1.50, it is a thousand dollars. >> unless you are in the top echelon and then life is good. i was surprised if you cared about the companies giving back savings to labor, to the workers, you didn't mandate that. you could have. you could have put it in the tax bill that you are going to get certain money back and you have to give a certain percentage to your workers. you didn't do that. >> no. we didn't do that. we have another bill coming out, chris, that hopefully you'll follow on april 15th, rodney davis and i were we make the tax cuts permanent for individuals. so i look forward to seeing how many democrats we get on board for that and hopefully we can

come back and talk to you about that particular issue. when we really talk about helping the moms and dads and aunts and uncles on main street. >> and that is an important conversation. and you know, you know these aren't empty words from jim jordan and my discussions. you are always welcome here to discuss -- >> i'll come back. one of the few conservatives -- you're a worthy opponent, a good debater and a good journalist and so jim and i have a high regard for your ability to banter back and forth with the fakes so i'll be glad to do that. >> high praise. high praise. i appreciate it. let me ask you one more thing. you have to deal with the spending part of this. you don't like it. i get it. nancy pelosi said her caucus isn't going to move on it unless paul ryan commits to have the same immigration debate and timing in substance as mitch mcconnell did. so do you think there is a chance that should happen and do you think it should happen? >> well, i could tell you the same promise that mitch mcconnell made to his group. i don't see the speaker making that. now -- >> you do not see it?

you do not see it? why not. >> i do not see that commitment. i do see a commitment to bring an immigration bill to the floor. will it be on nancy pelosi's terms? absolutely not. i believe at the end of the day you'll see a hundred democrats or more come across and vote for this bill either tonight or friday morning. but there is an immigration debate. there is going to be an immigration vote. president is committed to that. the speaker committed to that. and certainly we have to get that done. but on nancy pelosi's terms, that is certainly not going to happen. no matter how long she stands on the house floor and speaks. >> don't make her break her own record. that is a long record to break. >> we may have to. >> congressman meadows. appreciate your making the case to the american people and you're willingness to be tested on it. appreciate it. >> same here. thanks, chris. good to join you. >> we are standing by for the president at the national prayer breakfast. people are being introduced right now. so we're keeping an eye on that. and we'll bring it to you as soon as the president begins

speaking. meanwhile, white house chief of staff john kelly's judgment has been called into question today. after he defended this top west ring aide amid allegations of domestic abuse. is kelly now -- is his job in jeopardy? is his judgment impaired? we discuss all of that next. 3. coming at you with my brand-new vlog. just making some ice in my freezer here. so check back for that follow-up vid. this is my cashew guy bruno. holler at 'em, brun. kicking it live and direct here at the fountain. should i go habanero or maui onion? should i buy a chinchilla? comment below. did i mention i save people $620 for switching? chinchilla update -- got that chinchilla after all. say what up, rocco. ♪ say what up, rocco. new year, new phones for the family. join t-mobile, and when you buy one of the latest samsung galaxy phones get a samsung galaxy s8 free. yahoooo! ahoooo!

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allegations of domestic abuse by to of his ex-wives. senior white house officials knew about the allegations for months and scrambled to protect porter once they became public. but the white house claims that he misled everyone in the west wing. so let's talk about all of this and more. we have cnn chief commit political analyst dana bash and john gregory. and john kelly is supposed to be overseeing all of this. and rob porter hid the allegations from people. >> how do we know? >> i'm taking them at their word that they didn't know. >> the fbi organizes the vetting. >> and furthermore, he didn't have full security clearance or permanent security clearance. and our reporting said john kelly knew for months. >> look, we don't know how specific the information that john kelly got was but our understanding from sources, gloria borger and others at the

white house -- our white house team is that he certainly had a head's up and information that there were problems with the background checks and we're told even to the point where he understood that there were issues of domestic violence. and that john kelly, who very much relied on rob porter, rob porter has become until yesterday integral part of the kelly machine at the white house, didn't do anything. so -- what we don't know is how specific it got. but at the end of the day, this is a question of leadership, it is a question of ownership. we know from our reporting that the president himself was furious. he didn't know about the specifics until he saw it in the paper. and this is so complicated on so many levels because -- we have to remind people that rob porter is dating hope hicks.

who is probably the most important aide in the white house. >> the communications director. >> who helped craft the -- the sort of misleading or at least -- or omitted important facts about rob porter. >> and the second one from kelly said that these were new. and that becomes the issue for me at least, david gregory. i don't care who is dating whom in the white house. i don't. >> but it matters here. >> it only matters if it winds up affecting the performance and the truth to the american people. but it is a big if. and that is the problem that they have. and i think it is going to reside right now in the person of john kelly because you knew he had temporary clearance and the fbi is doing the check and walter schaub is on the show and he was ethics guy and oversaw those kind of things and involved and he said they would have known. they would have seen. so, if he wanted to make a decision, david gregory, that i've talked to porter and i believe his side, there was no real judicial proceeding, i'm

good with it. that is one thing. but if he said these are new to me, that is something very different and it goes to mike pence saying fake news when christine brennan accurately reports why he got pushed back from the olympian and didn't want to meet with him and fake news when the president doesn't like things and that has to be called out. >> and if this was known and they are not saying. that is a huge issue. and if they didn't know at all, you have to say why. because this is not an accusation and he could deny it. there is an fbi background check. there are interviews done. there are records, including restraining orders and hospital records that one could check and vet and ask some questions of. and by the way, hope hicks unfortunately is quite relevant. why? why would you have someone might be romantically involved with the person involved who is doing her job which is to craft a statement about all of this. there is no way she should be anywhere near this. and that speaks -- when you have a big public relations problem,

it is not just a problem of optics of how things are run and what is true and the fact is they put out a statement saying from john kelly, this is a great guy. i just can't say enough nice things about him and then he has to put out a statement late last night and say domestic violence accusations are serious and shocking. so they are acting like they don't know what they are doing. and that is the problem. and so there is a lot of to get to as to what happened here. and i think we're just at the beginning of it. >> and david, i will just add to what you were saying about hope. i asked somebody last night who was in the white house for a long time and is no longer there, is there any chance -- is there any scenario in which hope would have recused herself from the situation and the answer was laster. no. hope tells people what to do. hope is the one who decides -- what happens in the white house with these things. she doesn't get told what to do because she is a powerful force. as close as they come to the

president and to the president's family. >> this is damaging on that skeer -- score. when you cover politics people lok to shed blame real fast and this is bad for john kelly. >> i was going to say, and that is the other thing we have to keep in mind here. i have heard my colleagues and i've heard and you have heard the president sort of erupting every now and then about john kelly. from the interview that he gave on fox, where he called the president uninformed about immigration to a whole host of things that have rubbed the president the wrong way. and that john kelly had some enemies in the white house. but up until yesterday i was told there is no way john kelly is going anywhere because the white house can't take another trauma. >> well the question now -- and we have no reason to believe that is changed right now, but let's see how this goes. because the question is -- is the trauma of this going to be

bigger than the potential trauma of a shake-up again. we don't know the answer to that. and the other thing i want to say is -- rob porter on paper, rhodes scholar. >> harvard law. some pedigree. >> and just personality wise, i've not talked to anybody who didn't say he is a sweet and soft spoken guy, a boy scout is the word -- having said that, they did promise the president -- the president promises as a candidate he would hire the best people. and when you hire the best people, it means across board and you have -- you have to be able to rely on -- >> and you have to vet them. >> and there should be a process here. there is very damaging stuff. it is reported -- but there should be a process here. the point is the absence evof a process, if they just rushed him out of the door, there wouldn't be due pros he. but to be so inept in the way

they responded to this and -- catalogued what they knew and when me knew it and these kind of things speaks to just disorganization. and i would say this about general kelly. >> quickly. >> he's a controversial chief of staff and he does things the president really wants. and he's a civilian now and he could reel off remarks that are controversial, but there is good and bad i think the president would evaluate on him. >> and he went with him to the prayer breakfast. he was with john kelly. so that means something. >> thank you both very much. joining us now to talk about all of this ademocratic congressman alex wallwell of california. good morning. >> good morning. >> i know you've been listening to our conversation. do you still have faith in chief of staff john kelly. >> there are a number of individuals who have come into the white house or who are still at this white house that have issues. jared kushner for example, failure to disclose multiple contacts with foreign governments. i don't think he should have a security clearance, prior to

john kelly was the hiring of michael flynn with prior undisclosed con acts to russia. and so this is a pattern that goes beyond john kelly. it is the practice of this president. >> but listen, you know the reputation and the word on the street about john kelly was that he would be this moderating agent on the president. but then there have been a series of controversies that he seems to not have quelled but rather created. and just this week he was telling reporters that part of the dreamers are too lazy to get off their ass -- that is why they are not enrolled for daca and now put out a statement about how rob porter is a man of integrity and honor but our reporting said he knew about the domestic violence. so where does that leave us with the white house chief of staff? >> well americans are hoping that he would be there with the fire hose and too often now we've seen that he's there with the gasoline.

but it starts at the top. this is a president who has led i think in -- in an office of a chaos and that is reflected right now as i stand here on capitol hill. where we are trying to solve an immigration issue and no congressional leader can tell you what president trump wants. and so that plays out in his white house, that plays out in the legislation and we must work on for the american people and it is not helping a single person in america right now. >> and so what do democrats do? do you call for john kelly to be replaced? >> no. honestly, it is the president's right to run his own white house. we have to -- in the legislative branch work around the white house if they are not willing to work with us and i think you are seeing on the senate side they did that yesterday. they struck a bipartisan deal. i hope we could do the same here on the house side. but there is different branches of government until it starts to affect the american people, i still think the person's name is on the door and that is most responsible and that is donald trump. >> and so what are you going to do in the house?

what will happen with this budget deal given the fak th-- fact it doesn't address immigration. >> it takes four people to make a deal in congress. three people agree. nancy pelosi, chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell. the odd man out is paul ryan. he is not offering to -- to the house democrats the same deal that the senate democrats got. so we're just asking him to -- let's strike the same deal and get a bipartisan budget. let's solve the dreamers issue. let's provide border security and move on for the american people. >> and without that, is this budget going to happen by midnight tonight? >> i don't think it will. i think -- democrats on the house side believe strongly that we need to have the same bipartisan cooperation we see over in the senate. and that there is no reason that paul ryan should treat us any differently. >> and you're willing to shut down the government over it? >> no. there is three sides -- three sides of this are willing to keep the government open. the one person who is left out

here is paul ryan. i think he should really just try and work with us. i don't understand why he wouldn't want to be part avenue big bipartisan solution to keep government open and solve the immigration crisis. >> i want to ask you about the -- another thing that people have been waiting on, with baited breath and that is the democratic rebuttal to the nunes memo and the white house until friday to release it. the word is they will release it but with many redactions. so what are your thoughts on this? where does that leave the american public in terms of knowing what is really happening in the house intel committee. >> the american public wants a memo without political edits. they want us to move on and end the attacks on process and get back to listening to witnesses and receiving evidence. the larger issue is what we've heard just in the past few days from mike pompeo and rex tillerson which is that the russians haven't left our democracy. they are still here and they're getting ready to attack us in 2018 and so disunity is a sword for russia.

the best unity is for us to -- the best shield for us is for -- for us to show unity and get our act together and start putting in reforms that will protect us from what happened back in 2016. >> what about what the republicans are claiming? that adam schiff intentionally put -- put intel into the memo having to be redacted that the white house is biased and only redacting the democratic and not the republican side. >> you can't have a counter memo unless there is a original memo and ours was only in response to what was put out there. it goes no further than that. but it would be irresponsible to leave unanswered such baseless charges that have a collateral effect of really reducing the confidence that the american people have in the fbi and so we want to show they put together a serious application to surveil a member of the trump campaign and at the seriousness of this investigation is probably beyond what most people understand it to be.

>> congressman, thank you for talking about all of this. >> my pleasure. >> you so see in the little box, that is the national prayer breakfast. the president has arrived. he arrived with chief of staff john kelly. we're waiting for him to speak. he's still a couple of down the dais. so as soon as he gets up there we'll bring it live. one of the big stories this morning is a gay american olympian refusing to meet with mike pence. we'll talk with the mother of that athlete and get the story straight once and for all. next. i do outrank my husband, not just being in the military, but at home. she thinks she's the boss. she only had me by one grade. we bought our first home together in 2010. his family had used another insurance product but i was like well i've had usaa for a while, why don't we call and check the rates? it was an instant savings and i should've changed a long time ago. there's no point in looking elsewhere really. we're the tenneys and we're usaa members for life. usaa. get your insurance quote today.

so the very much reigniting a feud with an openly gay olympian. u.s. today reporting that pence tried to set up a meeting with figure skater adam rappon because he was critical of the vice president leading the delegation and he said, you mean mike pence. the same mike pence that funded gay conversion therapy. adam is referencing a statement from his 2000 congressional campaign website that reads

resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior. now before pence was vice president he was the governor of indiana. what brought him on to the national stage was his open and aggressive support of that state's religious freedom restoration act. which was a fancy way of saying allow people to use religion to avoid laws mandating equal treatment for the lgbt community. that is what it was at the time. we begged him to come on to defend it. he wouldn't. joining us now is adam's mother kelly rippon. can you hear us? >> yes, i can, chris. good morning. >> great. it is good to have you. first things first, congratulations to the family, we know you must be very nervous. we wish him well. and we are so appreciative of your son representing the country. >> well, thank you. >> because that is what this should be about.

however, you now know what is going on. were you aware if the vice president had asked to meet with your son? >> you know, i do not handle his communications. he has an agent and a publicist, but my understanding was that when he -- when certain things were published a few weeks ago, i think it was, that his office reached out for a conversation. i don't know about a fa face-to-face. but i think it was something about that. but i can't be sure about that. so i don't know -- i can't say that that is true. >> and you were aware that your son didn't want to do it? >> no. this is -- this is the part that i think is misunderstood, chris. i believe that you can say it many different ways.

i don't think he ever said i refuse to do that. because that suggests that -- a tone offen -- of intolerance andin flexibility and a closed door. i think what he said -- and what he said to me, the tone that he conveyed to me was i have a huge responsibility to give united states figure skating my absolute best performance and i can't do that having side conversations about different things. i need to put 100% of my energy like i have all season on competing and training for the olympic games and for their events he was responsible to give his best performance for. so he conveyed to whom ever, i don't know the individuals -- that any kind of communication was -- would have to be done after the competition is over, right. it makes perfect sense.

>> so he's saying i can't do that, it was reported he refused. so the tone -- >> i get. it i get your concern and wanting to concern. it was quoted saying what he was saying. but he is an american, he's entitled to his opinion and we understand his not wanting to be distracted when he has the biggest moment of his life upcoming. >> but he was never quoted as saying i refuse. >> no, he was quoted as saying the guy -- mike pence who did this and this or no thanks and whatever. >> and in reference to his history. >> understood. >> not supportive of the lgbt community. >> and understood. and you said what is bothering you is the vice president saying that is fake. fake news. let's put the tweets up there. >> well you know, i don't like that. >> i know. i get it and i want to you say why but i want people to understand what we're talking about. so mike pence said heading to the olympic to cheer on the u.s. and he's talking about christine brennan trying to support

18-year-old nonstory to sow seeds of division. and that bothers you. >> and it bothers me that -- that addressed adam with. the one above that. i want you to know we're all for you. that is wonderful and -- terrific. don't let fake news distract you and i think that when people say that word "fake news" over and over again, it implies that you can do things and never be held accountable because you could say it is fake. and that -- that repetition of that term, i don't think, is good. >> agree with you. we deal it all of the time. the fake news for this administration is a phrase that means we don't like this. and unfortunately people hear it

and when they read that tweet to your point, they -- some supporters of the vice president and the president will say well i guess they have it wrong about what he said. but everybody could read what was on the website for themselves. what he said about funding services to change sexual behavior. i don't know what else that can mean other than what your son took it as and in 2015 the vice president pushed a state law that allowed people to use religion to get around laws for equality for the lgbtq community. what is your take on that. >> right. i think that is -- i think that that is what he was speaking of. that it was -- in opposition to -- equality for all. not that -- you know, when states for instance -- when a student is in school and they have a learning plan, it is not to give them an advantage, it is to level the playing field. and protection for equal rights for people isn't to give any

group or marginalized community an advantage. it is to try to level the playing field. and i think that as a mom or as a citizen or just a human being, we don't want to see anyone be treated or guilted or shamed into feeling that they're less than who they are. >> amen. tomorrow night you'll have one of the proudest moments of your life. you'll be there for the opening ceremony. you get to see your son walk in. i know there is a gazillion athletes there. but what will that moment mean to you? >> it is a dream come true. it really is. to -- i flew over here there were a few parents from -- from various sports on the same flight that i was on, we came out of atlanta. and when we spoke to each other, we don't -- we just met for the first time. but we knew each other. because it is -- very few people -- parents of olympic

athletes understand the brutal commitment, physical drive and commitment that an athlete has to put their bodies through that exceptionally elite level of activity every day and the ups and downs and to have that thick skin. i'm sure he's not following a lot of this. >> good. >> and the things that we have -- are pretty limited. >> good. i hope he focuses on the olympics. i'm not getting choked up because you of. i was drinking and choking. but it is very emotional. there, i'm back. it is very emotional. we are all proud of the athletes there for us. thank you for talking to us this morning. >> you have a great day. >> i wish i had the emotional depth to get that choked up. >> do you need me to pound on your back. because i'm willing to. i have a mallet ee-- over here. >> it won't be enough. please continue. the president is set to speak at the national prayer breakfast and we'll bring that to you live as soon as it happens.

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donald trump speaking at the national prayer breakfast. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. and thank you randy for that very kind introduction. i want to thank you and congressman charlie crist for serving as co-chairs this year. it is an honor to be with so many faith leaders and members of congress, and dignitaries from all around the world as we continue this extraordinary tradition. i'm very glad to be joined by many members of my cabinet. they are doing a terrific job. i want to extend our

appreciation to the first lady of rwanda for leading the opening prayer. thank you. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> i also want to thank my two great friends mark burnett and roma downey. they are here. where are they? they are two terrific people. stand up, mark. you deserve it. even though he comes from hollywood. [ applause ] >> roma, thank you very much. thank you for being here. major scottie smiley and tiffany were moved by your faith and courage and inspired by your service and sacrifice. that was really beautiful, thank you very much. thank you. [ applause ] >> and to my friend and everybody's friend steve scalise, we are so glad to have you with us today. your presence reminds us of jesus' words the book of

matthew, with god, all things are possible. you are fantastic. you really are, steve. fantastic man. [ applause ] >> america's a nation of believers and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer. this morning our hearts are full of gratitude as we come together for the 66th annual national prayer breakfast. but our hearts are also saddened by the absence of the co-founder of this wonderful breakfast who passed away last year, doug coe who everybody loved. [ applause ] >> for 60 years doug devoted his time and passion to this prayer breakfast. and to other wonderful causes. today we are blessed to be joined by doug's wife jan and two of their sons david and tim. [ applause ]

>> thank you. thank you very much. great man. i want to thank you for carrying on doug's legacy also. and bringing our national together in prayer. you are indeed carrying on his great legacy. each year this event reminds us that faith is central to american life and to liberty. our founders invoked our creator four times in the declaration of independence. our currency declares "in god we trust." [ applause ] and we place our hands on our hearts as we recite the pledge of allegiance and proclaim we are one nation under god. [ applause ] >> our rights are not given to us by man, our rights come from

our creator. [ applause ] >> no matter what, no earthly force can take those rights away. [ applause ] >> that is why the words "praise be to god" are etched atop the washington monument and those same words are etched into the hearts of our people. so today we praise god for how truly blessed we are to be american. [ applause ] >> across our land see the splendor of god's recase and through our history we see the story of god's providence and in every city and town we see the lord's grace all around us through a million acts of

kindness, courage and generosity. we love god. we see the lord's grace in the service members who risk their lives for our freedom. we see it in the teachers who work tirelessly for their students and the police who sacrifice for our communities and sacrifice they do. [ applause ] >> and we see the lord's grace in the moms and dads who work two and three jobs to give their children the chance for a better and much more prosperous and happier life. as the bible tells us, for we are god's handiwork, created in jesus christ to do good works. americas heros rise to this calling in their selfless deeds they reveal the beauty and

goodness of the human soul. when catastrophic hurricanes struck, first responders and everyday citizens dove into rushing waters to save stranded families from danger and they saved them by the thousands. neighbors opened their homes to those in need of food, clothes, shelter, firefighters braved blinding smoke and flames to rescue children from devastating wildfires dur the horrific shooting strangers shielded strangers and police officers ran into a hail of bullets to save the lives of their fellow americans right in las vegas. a terrible day, a terrible night. but such bravery. families have adapted -- adopted babies orphaned by the opioid

epidemic. and given them loving homes. communities and churches have reached out to those struggling with addiction and shown them the path to a clean life, a good job, and a renewed sense of purpose and soldiers, sailors, coast guardman and airmen and marines have spent long months away from home defending our great american flag. [ applause ] >> all we have to do is open our eyes and look around us and we can see god's hand in the courage of our fellow citizens, we see the power of god's love at work in our souls and the power of god's will to answer all of our prayers. when americans are able to live by their convictions to speak openly of their faith and to

teach their children what is right, our families thrive, our communities flourish, and our nation can achieve anything at all. [ applause ] >> together as americans we are a tireless force for justice and for peace. we have witnessed this truth over the past year, for years isis had brutally tortured and murdered christians, jews, religious minorities and countless muslims. today the coalition to defeat isis has liberated almost 100% of the territory just recently held by these killers in iraq and all throughout syria. [ applause ] >> much work will always remain.

but we will never rest until that job is completely done and we are really doing it like never before. we know that millions of people in iran, cuba, venezuela and north korea and other countries suffer under repressive and brutal regimes. america stands with all people suffering oppression and religious persecution. last week during the state of the union the world was inspired by the story of a north korean defector, mr. gee song ho who is now back in south korea. before his escape, when song ho was being tortured by north korean officials, there was one thing that kept him from losing hope, over and over again he recited the lord's prayer.

he prayed for peace and he prayed for freedom. and now asa know sung ho is free and a symbol of hope to millions of people all around the world. [ applause ] >> here with us today is another symbol of hope. a very brave 9-year-old girl named sofia marie campa peters. she suffers from a rare disease that has caused her to have many strokes. at one point the doctors told sofia that she would not be able to walk. sofia replied, if you are only going to talk about what i can't do, then i don't want to hear it. just let me try to walk. [ applause ] >> she tried and she succeeded

and one of her doctors told her mom and they are right here in the front row where they should be, this little girl has god on her side. [ applause ] >> thank you, sofia. thank you, mom. great mom. i said do you love your mom? she said i have a great mom. i love my mom. right. just two weeks ago sofia needed to have a very high risk surgery. she decided to ask the whole world to pray for her. and she hoped to reach 10,000 people. on january 24th, as sofia went into surgery, she far surpassed

her goal. millions and millions of people lifted sofia up in their prayers. today we thank god that sofia is with us and she's recovering and she's walking very well. [ applause ] and i have to say this, sofia, you may only be nine years old but you are already a hero to all of us in this room and all over the world. thank you, sofia. [ applause ] >> heroes like sofia come from all across our country. and from every different background. but they all share one thing in common -- through their love, their courage, their sacrifice, we glimpse the grace of almighty god. so today inspired by our fellow citizens, let us resolve to