| | | | This is a real exchange that happened between President Donald Trump and Fox News' chief White House correspondent John Roberts in a press conference with the Norwegian Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoon.
Roberts: "Are you open to meeting with (special counsel Robert Mueller)? Would you be willing to meet with him without condition? Or would you demand that a strict set of parameters be placed around any encounter between you and the special counsel?"
Trump: "Well, again John, there has been no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians or Trump and Russians. No collusion. When I watch you interviewing all the people leaving their committees, I mean, the Democrats are all running for office, trying to say this that – but bottom line, they all say there's no collusion. And there is no collusion.
"And when you talk about interviews, Hillary Clinton had an interview, where she wasn't sworn in, she wasn't given the oath, they didn't take notes, they didn't record and it was done on the Fourth of July weekend. That's perhaps ridiculous and a lot of people looked upon that as being a very serious breach and it really was.
"But again I'll speak to attorneys – I can only say this, there was absolutely no collusion. Everybody knows it. Every committee – I've been in office now for 11 months. For 11 months, they've had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government. And it has hurt our government. It does hurt our government. It's a Democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election that frankly the Democrats should have won because they have such a tremendous advantage in the Electoral College.
"So it was brought up for that reason. But it has been determined that there is no collusion and by virtually everybody. So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I mean certainly we'll see what happens – when they have no collusion and nobody's found any collusion at any level it seems unlikely that you'd even have an interview."
So, um, yeah. (Huge thanks to the one and only Brenna Williams for her help with that exchange.)
In case you weren't counting -- and I was -- Trump uses the exact phrase "no collusion" seven times in that answer. He goes with the alternative "nobody's found any collusion" once. Let's call it a soft eight.
For Trump, it's virtually Pavlovian. Any mention of the Russia investigation immediately elicits the phrase "no collusion." (In a 30-minute interview with The New York Times over the holidays, Trump said the words "no collusion" 16 times.)
Why? Because he has absolutely convinced himself that there is no "there" there, and that "everyone" knows it. In his answer to Roberts, he argues -- wrongly -- that a) "they all say" there is no collusion b) the whole investigation is a "Democrat hoax."
To be clear:
On Point A: Both Mueller's special counsel investigation and the congressional investigations into Russia's attempted interference in the 2016 election are ongoing. While no collusion is alleged yet, it is incorrect to assert that those investigations have definitively concluded there was no collusion.
On Point B: The congressional committees looking into the Russian matter are led by Republicans. The Justice Department, which chose the special counsel, is run by Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Mueller was appointed as FBI director by Republican President George W. Bush.
The Point: Trump is obsessed and irritated by the ongoing Russia investigations and the questions he continues to get about them. He believes he is totally innocent of any wrongdoing but, in defending himself, he relies on a script built on inferences, questionable facts and outright falsehoods.
--Chris | | 🚨 ISSA 'NOTHER RETIREMENT🚨 | | California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced he will retire at the end of his term, CNN's Eric Bradner reported Wednesday.
"Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve," Issa, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, said in a statement. "Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in California's 49th District."
The news comes the same week that Rep. Ed Royce, the powerful chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and another California Republican whose district includes parts of Orange County, announced his retirement. Issa is now the 31st Republican in the House who has announced they will be leaving. Four of the 23 Republicans in districts Clinton carried in 2016 are retiring in 2018 (read more in Chris' analysis here).
Issa's retirement marks yet another major opportunity for Democratic takeover. As Eric pointed out on Twitter, Issa's district in California was already a Democratic target and "now looks especially ripe."
In case you need a refresher, CNN keeps tabs on who's announced their plans to resign, retire or run for another office. | | ATTENTION: THE POINT IS ON INSTAGRAM | |  | | CNN's Brenna Williams and Chris are bringing you Point fun to Instagram! Check out CNN Politics' Instagram story daily (Monday through Thursday) for more news analysis -- sometimes paired with emojis -- from Chris. | | Today Chris revealed he has never seen "High School Musical." So we -- his CNN millennial pals Saba, Brenna and Leigh Munsil -- are making today's interlude: "Breaking Free," from the Disney musical hit.
Chris' rebuttal: Whatever! I am old. It is known. | | TRUMP, DACA & THE WALL: AN EXPLAINER | | CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet wrote a very important and handy guide to what you should be paying attention to when it comes to President Trump and his administration's plans to overhaul the US immigration system. She writes:
"From Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to 'temporary protected status' (TPS), the alphabet soup is enough to make anyone's head spin. But it all boils down to this: More than a million people are on the verge of losing protections that keep them from getting kicked out of the United States unless Congress and the President can agree on a solution.
"And that's just the beginning. The administration is also pushing its plans for a border wall, calling for a sweeping overhaul of legal immigration and looking for places to build more immigrant detention centers."
Check out her full breakdown here. You can also read more from CNN's Tal Kopan in her latest report from Wednesday. | | | Photo courtesy: Screengrab/Instagram | | | California Sen. Kamala Harris posted a photo of her and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Wednesday, celebrating the news of the two being appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Honored to be named to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee with my friend @CoryBooker. I look forward to continuing the fight for justice, equality, and defending California against this Administration's attacks on our values," she wrote. The two are considered potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. | | CNN's Director of Polling and Election Analytics Jennifer Agiesta writes:
New polling from Quinnipiac University out today pegs Donald Trump's approval rating at just about the one year mark of his presidency at 36% approval to 59% disapproval, almost identical to December's 37% approve/59% disapprove result.
Half (50%) say Trump's first year in office went about as they expected it to, with 20% saying it was better than expected, 29% worse. The poll asked whether Trump has done more, less or about the same amount as most previous presidents in his first year, and overall, 44% say less, 28% more and 24% about the same as most previous presidents. There's a large partisan gap here, with 72% of Democrats saying Trump has done less than prior presidents while 57% of Republicans say he's done more than most previous presidents.
There's been very little change in perceptions of Trump's personal traits, including on whether, overall, he is fit to serve as president: 40% say yes, 57% say no. Those figures were 40% yes and 56% no in early December. The poll was fielded from January 5 through 9, amid much discussion of Trump's fitness for office in the wake of the publication of "Fire and Fury." | | SUPPORT FOR #METOO AT SOTU | | CNN's Caroline Kenny reports: "Some members of Congress plan to make a statement during President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address later this month by wearing the color black. The gesture is meant to show support for the anti-sexual harassment #MeToo and #TimesUp movement, which has spread across the country. The sexual harassment scandal has plagued Congress in recent weeks, forcing several members to resign from office as a result. Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California, who has led the #MeToo movement on Capitol Hill by sharing her own story and encouraging fellow members and staffers to do the same, is part of the group planning to don black ensembles on January 30. The announcement came just days after black dresses ruled the red carpet at Sunday's Golden Globes in a show of solidarity for the movement, which has also deeply affected Hollywood. A-list stars also took activists for the cause as their guests to the event."
Read more in Caroline's full story here. | | | Happy Wednesday! Just another reminder to tell people you know to subscribe to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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