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CNN NEWSROOM

Senate Panel To Admin: Preserve Records On Russia; President Trump Sweden Comments Based On Fox Report; New Suspect Sought In Death Of Kim Jong-nam; What Lasted Longer Than Michael Flynn; Fight To Free Mosul; Democrats Fight Back Through Social Media; The Struggle To Survive An Arctic Winter; Hip Hop Mogul Headlines Unity March. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 19, 2017 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[17:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Grant Hill and Kristen Allude keeping it real. All right tonight on All-Star on TNT this evening. Don't miss it.

I am Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me this Sunday. NEWSROOM with Pamela Brown starts right now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Breaking news, the Senate committee investigating Russian hacking of the 2016 election tells the Trump administration preserve all of your documents. CNN learning formal requests were sent to more than a dozen organizations, agencies and individuals on Friday the same day the men of the intelligence committee received a classified briefing on Russia from FBI Director James Comey. That is not the only big headline today. Sweden is now asking the United States to explain this cryptic comment President Trump made during a rally last night in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You look at what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden, Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers, they're having problems like they never thought possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So in response to that the Swedish embassy tweeted unclear to us what President Trump was referring to. Have asked U.S. officials for explanation, Trump's remarks as the administration's latest misplaced reference, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway referring to a bowling green massacre that never took place. And White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred to an attack in Atlanta later clarifying, he meant Orlando. I want to bring in CNN White House Correspondent Athena Jones. She is live at what's being called southern White House, of course that would be Mar-a-Lago. Athena, the president just tweeted about this. What did he say?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela, that is right. The president saying my statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants and Sweden. Now, I want to play for you this segment that was broadcast on Friday night and then we'll talk about it on the other side. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps notation on earth is more committed to accepting foreign migrants and refugees than Sweden. 2016 alone the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers, despite having a population of less than 10 million people. Only 500 of these migrants were able to get jobs in Sweden. If these arrivals are not able to work they can commit crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that segment went on. After that initial part, Tucker Carlson talked with the filmmaker who said the Swedish government was covering up all kind of violent crimes that these refugees that Sweden has accepted that are responsible for. We have no evidence of that, but now it's clear, at least what the president was referring to. We know he is an avid watcher of cable news he particularly likes Fox. I got to tell you, Pamela, this lack of precision, the president repeating things he hears, something he is been doing since the very beginning his campaign. It's causing problems. It's already causing problems. It shows words matter. That the whole world is watching and listening very carefully to what the president has to say.

BROWN: Of course the irony of all this he tweeted out yesterday saying the media is the American people's enemy and is fake news, media as a whole. Athena, I want to ask you about this news from the senate intelligence committee asking the Trump administration to preserve documents related to Russia. Was this based on a specific concern that documents would be destroyed?

JONES: It's not clear that there was a specific credible concern that the documents could be destroyed. We know senate Democratic leader the minority leader in the senate Chuck Schumer sat on the senate floor on Thursday said he is concern. He said there's real concern some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine light on those connections. That is a concern expressed by him. Not certain that others and people on the senate intelligence committee expressed that concern, but it's not uncommon in any sort of investigation to want documents to be preserved. So we have that report from my Capitol Hill (inaudible) colleague who said that the senate's intelligence committee sent over agencies, organizations and individuals to preserve those records. And we know from the man who is reporting that those letters were sent on Friday which is of course the same day that the FBI director James Comey briefed senate intelligence committee members. So a lot going on here, a lot of developments even on this weekend, this holiday weekend, Pamela.

BROWN: Absolutely. All right Athena Jones thank you so much. I want to bring in my panel now to discuss all of this. CNN Political Analyst and Senior Editor for the Atlantic, Ron Brownstein, and also with us, Sarah Westwood, White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner.

[17:05:00] Ron, I want to go to you first on the Sweden story. We know what President Trump said last night. Talking about this, apparently as he tweeted what Fox News reported and then you have the Swedish, embassy tweeting out, what is he talking about? We're asking for more clarification. What do you make of the president's explanation that he was referring to a rise in crime in Sweden based on this Fox News report?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND SENIOR EDITOR OF THE ATLANTIC: Well, as Athena says it continue as pattern from the campaign. What's striking is how little the pattern has changed as president. The willingness to kind of pick up a report from a conservative outlet, a conservative voice and essentially broadcast it as president without it going through any of the processes that you would imagine that historically have vetted every word that comes out of a president's mouth is just a characteristic. And you know you get the kind of situation that we have, for example this weekend in Munich at the Munich conference on security where you have open questioning by U.S. allies when Vice President Mike Pence and others speak reassuring words about the NATO alliance whether in fact they are speaking for the president. President's words matter. There's no question that they are emerging from this president to a very different process than we have seen probably for any other in modern times.

BROWN: Right, I mean his whole style all along and what's has been appealing to a lot of his supporters that he sort of shoots from the hip with what he says. But now that he is president, how significant is it? What are the possible ramifications particularly when he talks about another country and insinuating that there's something bad going on in that country?

SARA WESTWOOD, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDET: It can be a double edge sword. You're exactly right, his speaking style. The fact that he doesn't give as much consideration to how his words are going to play among the political class, that was refreshing for a lot of his supporters. But it has gotten him in trouble repeatedly particularly when it comes to matters of foreign policy. That is an area where a light touch is required. And President Trump's temperament is not well suited for the world of diplomacy and why I think Vice President Pence is such an effective mouthpiece for the Trump administration, because he has always been so good at putting a more nuanced face on the Trump administration's policies and I think it's why you see he is the one delivering the strong pro NATO message this week.

BROWN: Ron just this morning - do you want to go?

BROWNSTEIN: One quick thought. Which is that, I'm not saying Sara is saying this, often a remark that Trump style is appealing to his supporters and they like this kind of off the cuff, not scripted. And there's unquestionably a portion of his base that does like that. That by itself was not enough to win. If you look at the exit polls one quarter of the people who voted for him said they doubted whether he has the temperament or qualifications to be president. They wanted to take a chance. They didn't like Hillary Clinton. They had doubts. If you look at his approval rating in polling, among independent voters, among college educated white voters his approval rating is down to 35 percent. So I think it is a mistake to that say everyone who was with him initially is comfortable with those style that he has brought to the White House.

BROWN: Fair point. I want to go to what we heard this morning, John Kasich warning about the impact of the president's words and the impact they have on our relationships, the U.S. relationships we say with allies. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, OHIO GOVERNOR: And the fact of the matter is that words matter. I think the administration needs to understand that loose words, frankly, causes great concern. One of the things that amazes me on this trip over here is as much as the Europeans criticize the United States of America, they love us, they need us, they tell us that and in some sense they are almost begging us to say, please stand with us. You're the leader. No one else can fill your role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, Ron, I want to pose the same question to you as I asked Sara. Do you think President Trump understands the possible ramifications that can come from his statements particularly when talking about other countries?

BROWNSTEIN: John Kasich is the physical embodiment of what we are just talking about, kind of a reluctant or ambivalent Trump. His constituency is exactly the kind of voters that we're describing. No, look, Donald Trump, President Trump views himself as a disrupter as much abroad as at home. In his interview the Sunday before the inaugural he said quote he could care less if the European Union dissolved, the European Union that grew out of an American initiative dating back to the 1950s. One of the other political leaders at the conference that Governor Kasich is attending said they view that as a verbal declaration of war against Europe. I think he revels in the idea he is someone that is breaking the China both at home and abroad and kind of shattering diplomatic norms, but there are real world consequences to it. And there is a great deal of uncertainty, not only in foreign capitals but among many on Capitol Hill like Senator John McCain who has emerged as his deepest critic from either party as far as his conduct on foreign affairs.

[17:10:20] BROWN: As well as Lindsey Graham when it comes to Russia. Listen to what Senator Graham said at the security conference about Russia today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY GRAHAM, REPUBLICAN SENATOR: I hope he'll embrace the idea that as the leader of the free world he should be working with us to punish Russia to our German friends you're next. To our friends in France, they are coming after you. To my friend Mr. Lavrov, I hope you finally suffer some consequences for what you and your regime have been doing to the democracies in 2017. It is going to be a year of kicking Russia in the ass in congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, Sara, what kind of message does this send that congress and even the vice president are taking drastically different stances than the president?

WESTWOOD: Well, Pence has been interesting to watch this weekend, how he is spoken about Russia, because he is trying to draw a distinction between being weak on Russia and wanting to reset relations with Russia, because President Trump hasn't really articulated that distinction himself but hinted that that is where he wants to go with the U.S.-Moscow relationship. You've seen that tougher language against Russia come from Nikki Haley the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. she is talking how the U.S. will not tolerate Russia's actions in Ukraine and so you do see the foreign policy as it relates to Russia starting to take on a more nuanced shape. President Trump hasn't really addressed the Russia issue himself yet. But we will expect him to have to do that eventually especially as we get further into his administration.

BROWN: All right, Sara Westwood, Ron Brownstein, we have to leave it there. Thank you to you both for your analysis and perspective. We appreciate it.

And coming up on this Sunday much more on the breaking news, the intelligence committee telling the Trump administration, to preserve documents on Russia. I'll get reaction from Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist from Florida, he joins me live.

Plus new leads in the mysterious death of Kim Jong-un's half brother as accusations swirl that North Korea ordered the killing.

And a bad cold and a bag of coffee, Jeanne Moos on all the things that lasted longer than Michael Flynn in the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:36] BROWN: Breaking news on President Trump's administration and Russia. The senate intelligent committee investigating Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election. Telling the Trump administration to preserve all your documents related to Russia. Let's talk with the man who experienced American politics inside both parties. That would be Democratic Congressman is Charlie Crist a former Republican governor of Florida and author of "The Party's over how the extreme right hijacked the GOP and I became a Democrat." Congressman, thank you so much for coming on.

CHARLIE CRIST, DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN: Pamela, it is a pleasure to be with you, thank you for having me.

BROWN: I want to get your thoughts. How significant is this request to preserve records on Russia, in your view?

CRIST: I think it's very important. You know, I was governor of Florida. I also was attorney general before I was governor. So investigations are nothing new to me. When somebody makes a request to preserve that kind of documentation they are doing it for a reason. The reason is to preserve the record. They want to be able to investigate appropriately and properly, make sure they have a good documented rationale. As to what it is they are looking at and reviewing. The only way to do that is to preserve the record to get those documents and make sure that they are preserved so those who are investigating can have those documents to review in a comprehensive fashion.

BROWN: Earlier this week Congressman, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi alluded to this idea that the Trump campaign could be deleting documents related to Russia. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I'm afraid they will destroy the documents, but that level -- the fact that I would even say that, that level of trust has gone so far low in all of this. That is too bad, because we're talking about the national security of our country, our intelligence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So what is your reaction to that? What do you think was behind those comments?

CRIST: Well, genuine concern. Leader Nancy Pelosi is incredibly intelligent. Her concern is coming from a genuine place of a patriot and wanting to be sure that we protect the sanctity of our democracy and the integrity of our elections. I know that is where she is coming from, because I've been with her in many meetings and talked about this issue. So I applaud her concern, hopefully --

BROWN: Do you have the same concern?

CRIST: I hope it isn't happening. I think we all should be concerned. I think it's important that whenever you're talking about the possibility of a foreign country messing around with the American electorate and our actual carrying out of our democracy why wouldn't you be concerned about that.

BROWN: But concerned about documents being deleted related to Russia specifically what Nancy Pelosi was speaking about.

CRIST: Well she is concerned about it, I'm concerned about it. Let me put it that way. I have no independent information that indicates that may be happening. You know as a former prosecutor you always give the benefit of the doubt and everyone is always innocent until proven guilty. But making the request I think is prudent and smart.

BROWN: Congressman let me ask you Democrats as we know have complained for years about congressional Republicans obstructing President Obama's agenda being the party of no. Do you feel Democrats have been too quick to turn on President Trump?

CRIST: I don't think so. I think we've shown a willingness frankly to try to work together, for example, in the area of infrastructure. Listen Democrats, Republicans and independents know that we have roads and bridges that need help, rails that need to be improved, airports and seaports that need be modernized. I think we can all agree on that. Another area where we all agree and the president said as much during the course of the campaign he wants to protect social security and Medicare. Certainly Democrats feel the same way. I know the citizens in the county that I have the privilege to represent feel that way as well. I think there are areas where we can agree. Certainly there is somewhere we cannot.

BROWN: So I actually -- you mentioned some of the areas where you are in agreement with President Trump and you also said that you're willing to potentially support his plan to impose 35 percent tariffs on U.S. companies that send jobs abroad. Here's what you said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The concept is a good one. I think the spirit of it is on the mark. And I think the most important thing at least that I heard in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, was look, Charlie if you win, you guys got to work together up there to do what's right for the American people, because they've had it up to here with the divisiveness and arguing. Whatever we can do to help American workers get back to work and help the middle class in our country we need to do it together and do it in a spirit of cooperation. Any good idea that is presented, we have to be open minded to receive it. I mean just because the messenger is somebody that was in a different party is no reason to cast it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:20: 22] BROWN: So that was six weeks ago. Now a super PAC is vowing to mount a primary challenge against any Democrat that doesn't fight President Trump on every single issue. Are you willing to risk a primary challenge to support Donald Trump on this issue?

CRIST: I'm willing to do what's right for the people of my district. I got elected to fight for them. They are my boss. Literally, they call it a democracy. We people. So that is what I'm going to do. I'll fight to preserve social security. I'll fight preserve Medicare. I'll fight for our veterans. I am going to fight to protect our environment and I am going to fight for women's right. These are things that are very important to the people of Panels County, St Petersburg, Clearwater, Mar-a-Lago seminal, this are thing I think are important to Americans. One other thing, the thing I heard most about during the course of the campaign, all of those issues were very important along with jobs. But so was the notion of working together as I said six weeks ago on CNN. It is important. People tell me that all the time whether I'm shopping at the public or CVS or Walgreen's. Charlie, work together. Do what's right for us. We don't care about party as much as we care about making sure that people are being represented appropriately. Put people above politics and do the right thing.

BROWN: Let me just quickly ask you congressman, one of the headlines today is what President Trump said about Sweden last night and he tweeted that he was referring to a Fox News report that he saw about immigrants going into Sweden and as we know that caught the attention of leaders in Sweden, the Swedish embassy tweeted out it's looking for clarification. What's your reaction the president took something he saw on Fox News and went to this rally and spoke about it?

CRIST: Well I don't know if we know it was only from Fox News. Maybe he tweeted that.

BROWN: He did tweet that.

CRIST: I believe you, but I think, you know, he is getting briefings that you and I aren't privy to. There may be more than what was reported and what Fox had to say about it. I'll reserve judgment on that. I know that some of the Swedish officials said we're not sure what he is talking about. I'm sure they are concerned. We're all concerned. I think what the president understands is when he says something everybody hears it. It's important. And people have to be cautious with their words and be prudent and I'm sure that he will. And will strive to do that going forward.

BROWN: All right Congressman Charlie Crist thank you very much. We do appreciate it. Have a good day.

CRIST: Thank you, my pleasure.

BROWN: Coming up on this Sunday, a new twist in the death of Kim Jong-un's estranged half brother. A live report on who police are searching for now in this international murder mystery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:39] BROWN: Welcome back. Live in the CNN newsroom. Now to the mysterious and still unsolved death of the North Korean leader's half brother. It has been six days since Kim Jong-nam was attacked at an airport in Malaysia and then died shortly afterwards, several new developments happened this weekend. South Korean officials now say they believe it was a hit, an assassination ordered by the North Korean government. Also today, seven new suspects are being hunted. That is in addition to four people already in custody. Let's go live to the capital of Malaysia right now, Kuala Lumpur. CNN Saimah Mohsin is there. So Saimah, what makes the South Korean government so sure that whoever killed Kim Jong-un's half brother was acting on orders from Pyongyang?

SAIMAH MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Pamela, the latest information from Malaysian police where they revealed to us pictures of four new suspects. They say are North Korean citizens. They also told us in a packed press conference that these men left the country on the same day as the attack. They consider them suspects. Now it's because of that the South Korean unification ministry, it is am ministry that deals with North Korea and Seoul say they have no doubt any more that Pyongyang is behind this now murder investigation. And you'll remember that it was as early as the next day after he was killed that South Korea intelligence officials said they believe North Korea was behind this, because they have made several previous attacks on his life, Pamela. BROWN: So what else are Malaysian investigators saying about the

cause of Kim's death?

MOHSIN: Yes. They are still having trouble finding out what exactly caused the death. They say they are waiting on toxicology and pathology reports. They are also saying, though, they won't release the body or complete their post mortem examination or autopsy until and unless a member of Kim Jong-nam's family formally identify him or they have a DNA test. It's going prove incredibly difficult. You will know that Kim Jong-nam was living in exile. His family members are either in hiding or inside North Korea, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Saimah Mohsin, thank you so much for bringing us the latest from Kuala Lumpur. We do appreciate it.

And coming up, this Sunday, the fight to free Mosul, and a new offensive to retake the Iraqi City from ISIS, what about all the innocent people caught right in the middle of it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:25] BROWN: In Iraq this weekend a large scale military mission has began to push ISIS out of Western Mosul. Iraqi forces dropped leaflet all over Western Mosul a few hours ago, warning the 800,000 civilians there that the offensive was about to start. Mosul is the last remaining ISIS stronghold in Iraq. Our Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is following development from Istanbul.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest and perhaps decisive phase to drive ISIS out of Mosul, Iraq's second largest City began at the crack of dawn. Before Iraqi Prime Minister announced the beginning of operations on Iraqi television, Iraqi and coalition aircraft and artillery pummeled ISIS targets in the western part of the city. Overnight Iraqi airplanes dropped millions of leaflets on Mosul calling on ISIS fighters to put down their weapons and surrender and warning civilians to stay in their homes and cooperate with Iraqi forces. Since then those forces have moved from the south and the southwest towards the center of the city. They're first objective to take Mosul airport. Resistance is expected to be fierce. ISIS has dug a complicated network of tunnels in the city and is already using armed drones and is expected they will as usual use many suicide car bombers. The most difficult or challenging part of this operation for government forces will be to minimize civilian casualties. There are as many as 650 to 800,000 civilians living in the western part of the city and ISIS has never hesitated to use civilians as human shields. The humanitarian situation in the west is dire. Food, medicine, fuel and drinking water, safe drinking water are in seriously short supply and humanitarian groups expect hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee the city as the fighting intensifies. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Istanbul.

BROWN: Thanks to Ben Wedeman. Fighting back through social media how Democrats are now trying to take one of the president's favorite tools and use it against him. You're live in the CNN newsroom and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:25] BROWN: After devastating losses in the general election Democrats are trying to strike back using cyber space. CNN Brian Stelter takes a look at the party's social media revenge plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Should I keep the twitter going or not, keep it going?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: President Trump has been lining up feather ruffling tweets since his inauguration. But on Capitol Hill the Democrats have been flocking to social media too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join me by calling your congress person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Upping their aptitude for a new era of political communication.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM CONNOR, FORMER PUBLIC POLICY MANAGER: The tools are more limited for the minority party right now. The more attention they can draw to something the more likely they are able to get some sort of victory out of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Adam Connor helped opened up Facebook's first Washington office. For years now, he is been helping members of congress learn how to use social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONNOR: Donald Trump has demonstrated that social media is a tool that can have power and authenticity and is something that they can no longer ignore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is overhauling the Democratic media center and implementing a new broad strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK SCHUMER, INCOMING SENATE MINORITY LEADER: We're reaching the American people where they are, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and twitter. Hi, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP) STELTER: Just in time for controversial confirmation hearings that

most constituents didn't watch live. What many did see were short shareable snippets meant to sway their opinion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a yes or no?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I support accountability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you not want to answer my question?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: This clip of education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos received more than 25 million views on Senator Schumer's Facebook page. In response to EPA nominee Scott Pruitt, Senator Cory Booker posted his floor speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I have the floor?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: And Hawaii's senator Brian Shots posted this series of hashtag memes talking the EPA's importance. Earlier this month Republicans stopped Elizabeth Warren from presenting an opposing view of the Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions from Coretta Scott King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm surprised the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So she logged on to Facebook live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to read the letter.

CONNOR: Used to be just the moment on the day of the hearing is what people paid attention. Now you have this after effect. The memes, the unflattering clips, so it really is a full cycle that is what the nominees have to kind of weather.

STELTER: After President Obama's inauguration in 2009 Republicans stepped up their social media game as well, beginning a year's long messaging competition with the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President made an outstanding choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Now both parties are seeing more followers. They are sharing talking points on more platforms than ever, but also adding into the plethora of false information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just this morning, France tweeted and this is a quote, scapegoat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Congressman Cummings and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: It is not scapegoat, it's stonewalled and that is exactly what the Republicans in congress are doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Bested by fake account for ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday.

BROWN: And our CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter joins me now. Good to see you Brian, good piece there. Have the Democrats had any major success yet with this social media strategy that you pointed out in the piece?

STELTER: They have more followers. They have more contents, but not political success that we can point to. You think about the confirmation hearings that I mentioned and we've seen almost all of Trump's nominees go ahead and get confirmed so far. Of course the labor secretary situation ended up having to have a new labor secretary nominee. For the most part Republicans have succeeded in their efforts in the past 30 days or so. What the Democrats are doing they are arming themselves with these social media tools and they are trying to meet Trump on his home turf on social media. The president received so much attentions, so many kudos for his use of Twitter and Facebook during the campaign and now it's the Democrats who are trying to catch up.

BROWN: And one Democrat in particular who has become more outspoken online would be former first daughter Chelsea Clinton. Just this morning she reacted to the president's speech last night when he said something happened to Sweden even though there was no incident. Here's what she tweeted. She said what happened in Sweden Friday night? Did they catch the bowling green massacre perpetrators? There she is talking about what Kellyanne Conway said about the bowling green massacre which never happened. Do you think that is effective?

STELTER: You know it's a lot easier to get shares and likes and re- tweets. A lot easier to get that than it is to get votes. What we see here are the Democrats trying to figure out how to basically be their own media companies. President Trump was very effective during the campaign. Creating Instagram and tweets and Facebook posts and getting them to spread virally. Not that the Clinton campaign was less successful doing that, but Donald Trump took to twitter in really a unique way. What we see now from senators and representatives on the Democratic side is an attempt to figure out what's shareable, what will go viral, some with more success than others. Cory Booker had a lot of success doing that. I mentioned that mistake that Nancy Pelosi and Cummings made. You have to be careful out there on the social web. Some of these congressmen are getting tricked or getting fooled by misinformation or hoax accounts. It can be a twisted web on the worldwide web.

BROWN: That is right and then there's this other strategy with trolling. You saw that with former President Obama's White House photographer, he had been trolling President Obama on Instagram and one example of that after those photos surfaced of President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister looking at documents at a public dining room in Mar-a-Lago, Pete Souza responded with this picture of President Obama in el Salvador with the caption when we were on the road, National Security discussions and head of state phone calls were conducted in a private secure location set up on site. Is trolling becoming the hot political attack of the future from what you have learned?

STELTER: Souza would probably say he is not trolling, but a lot of people would call it that. He is trying to get under Trump's skin, trying to show a contrast between Obama and Trump and every picture Souza seems to posts now is meant to show that contrast. It's a way to say something without actually saying it. Souza has been doing that for the past few weeks. We see other Democrats I think trying to critique Trump more directly. The president said at his rally I'm going around the filter of fake news speaking to you all directly. That is exactly what the minority party is trying to go on social media as well. You can think of all politicians nowadays as their own immediate where a companies trying to create their own content to influence voters.

[17:45:06] BROWN: A lot of them, a lot of these politicians are older and having to learn how to use it as you pointed out some of those examples. We know President Trump continually uses twitter to get his message out. Are you seeing Republicans other Republicans also using this strategy as well?

STELTER: Indeed. This is sort of like an arms race. Every, two every four years around the mid terms but really around presidential elections one party leapfrogs the other party in use of technology. Right now it's the Democrats having to play catch up after Trump's win in the White House. But you can imagine four or eight years from now it will be the Republicans trying to play catch up when the Democrats can take power back. It's this constant effort to try to get ahead of the other party with the use of social media and use of data in order to win votes.

BROWN: All right Brian Stelter, thank you so much. And a reminder you can catch Brian on his show "Reliable Source" every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Stick around, Brian. We have a lot more to discuss.

STELTER: All right I will be back.

BROWN: Now in today's impact your world, a struggle on Indian reservations to heat their homes is a live or death matter in South Dakota. One organization is helping them stay warm in a simple but impactful way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Winters here can be life threatening. One spirit is a nonprofit that helps South Dakota people here on the Pine Ridge reservation here in South Dakota. We have homes that are below standard, our people struggle with poverty and no jobs. So many people here have wood stoves, because it's the cheapest way to heat your home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would probably have to just burn anything, just burn clothes or burn shoes something just to keep warm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're kind of in open country. So sometimes the wood is farther to get. The people just struggle to be able to get out, to get the wood because of the poverty. There's no gas money to get out there. No vehicle. We go out, cut the wood. Carry the wood in the house where it's need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before just really cold, there's hardly any wood for us. Have to put plastic outside and inside just to keep warm. Brought that wood over and that is really helpful for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our culture to help one another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And for more information on one spirit at Pine Ridge reservations go CNN.com/impact.

And coming up on this Sunday, right here in the newsroom, Kim Kardashian's second marriage or Michael Flynn's White House job. Which one lasted longer? Jeanne moos has the answer.

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[17:52:00] BROWN: National security can adviser Michael Flynn lasted 23 days on the job. It took the internet only two minutes to start mocking his short-lived term. CNN Jeanne Moos reports of things that lasted longer than Flynn.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: General Flynn went from being sworn in to being forced out so fast --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After less than a month in office.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the shortest tenure of any national security adviser in modern history.

MOOS: So naturally the internet decided to document things that last longer than Flynn. For instance, I have food in my fridge that lasted longer than Michael Flynn. Someone else said my diet lasted longer. So does Amazon's return policy which happens to be 30 days. Flynn lasted only 23. Even dragon flies with a life span of a mere four months outlast the general. The roll of paper towels in my kitchen lasted longer than Mike Flynn.

Sure everyone is making the same joke, but it does put things in perspective. This lasted longer than Michael Flynn's tenure. Kim Kardashian's marriage to Chris Humphrey survived 73 days, three times as long the general did. Tweeted by someone, I once had had a fungal infection that lasted longer than Flynn. Noted another, in fact milk bottom when he assumed his role may still be good. Only if it was ultra pasteurized you can bet a car air freshener could outlive Flynn. Posted by someone, I'm pretty sure at least one David Blain stunt lasted longer. Bingo, blain starved himself in a flexi-glass cube suspended over London for 44 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the air supply suddenly get cut off and cause suffocation and maybe even death.

MOOS: Blaine survived but lost 55 pounds while Flynn will no longer be throwing his weight around. They used to say you're in like Flynn, now it's in and out. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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BROWN: All right thanks to Jeanne Moos. And coming up on this Sunday, one of the biggest names in hip hop takes on the president's travel ban. Russell Simmons joins me live after headlining the unity march through Time Square. His message for the president, that is next. Live in the CNN newsroom, we'll be right back.

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[17:58:16] BROWN: Welcome back. Business travelers may not have time for sightseeing while on the road, but the next time you're in the nation's capital, CNN Christine Romans has a way to be a tourist on the go.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, EARLY START SHOW CO-HOST: Washington, D.C. Is famous for its monuments, museums and history, but for visitors short on time, the best option to take in all the sights might be to lace up their shoes and hit the ground running.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today's tour we're going to take a quick run around the mall. D.C. is such a great place to run around. It's like a travel through American history.

ROMANS: Companies like City Running Tours in D.C. offers a selection of guided runs allowing travelers to choose the areas and sights that interest them most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to have that immersive experience in local city, but they also want to come away with it feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. This is a way for them to kind of maximize the benefits of both of those.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love to just explore by running, running really gets you off the beaten path a little bit.

ROMANS: When you're planning your next trip, pack your running shoes and see the city on the go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, so great to have you along with us.

Tonight the president clarifying what he meant when he seemingly referred to an event in Sweden during a rally in Florida talking about immigration in Sweden. The president tweeting within the last hour my statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants and Sweden. Here's the president in his own words at his rally last night.

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TRUMP: You look at what's happening in Germany. You look at what is happening last night in Sweden, Sweden.