Trump Rejects Bannon's Hard Line Against Mueller, For Now.
BLITZER: We're following breaking news out of New York City. A terror attack that killed eight people and injured a dozen others when a man in a truck mowed down bike riders and pedestrians on the West Side. Much more on that coming up. But we have another breaking story we're following right now on President Trump and the Russia investigation. I want to bring in our senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny and our chief political analyst Gloria Borger. They are both working their sources. Jeff, first of all, what are you learning?</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know that the president for now is going to reject the advice of Steve Bannon. Of course, this is the advice of how to handle the special counsel Bob Mueller here, how to treat him essentially. So, the president is I'm going to stick with the legal strategy that he has now which is to cooperate with the special counsel's office, including allowing White House aides to be interviewed, including turning over e e-mail and other matters here. This is something he's been thinking about for a while, but he's going to stick with the team he has. And this is interesting because it's certainly shows that it's more of this strategy of just going along to try to speed up this investigation to try to not be a road block, if you will. But as Gloria knows, there's some dissension in the ranks over what the president should do.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Look, the president is hearing from lots of people outside the White House. Friends and his former adviser Steve Bannon, who are saying, you know, you really ought to get more aggressive here. And I was talking to one person who said, look, the thinking is, you're going to take the same abuse whether you go after Mueller or you don't go after Mueller. And you have to protect yourself. That's the argument that Steve Bannon is making to him directly on the phone recently. And the president let it be known he's sticking with the strategy right now from his attorneys, which is just cooperate with Mueller, give him everything he wants. And however, there's a caveat here. We both know this. The president could change his mind at any moment. He's not happy with the Papadopoulos stuff. He has said to people, you know, what else is coming down the pike that I don't know about. I didn't know who this person was. That's what gets him agitated and that's what, you know, gets him upset.</s>BLITZER: We reported, he was, what, seething yesterday when he was watching TV and watching the indictments, the guilty plea by George Papadopoulos come down.</s>ZELENY: He was spending and he was, you know, spending most of his time in the residence of the White House talking to lawyers. He actually spent half the day in the residence again today. That's where he usually has his meeting with the lawyers. But he was seething yesterday, I'm told, because he was, as Gloria said, surprised by that. But we spoke with lawyers in the White House, that Ty Cobb specifically told me that they are sticking with the strategy that's working here. They believe that working and cooperating with this is the way to go here. But one other person inside the White House told me this. This is Bannon's wishful thinking. It's not going to happen. So, the idea of sticking with this strategy is supported by the chief of staff as well as other top advisers here. But as Gloria said, it could always change. It's the president's decision.</s>BORGER: Well, and he gets to have it both ways. He gave Steve Bannon his blessing. Go do what you have to do, fight Mueller on the outside. But meanwhile on the inside, I'm going to stick with my lawyers.</s>ZELENY: And we're also learning that top some aides, like Hope Hicks a prime example, the president's communications director. She'll be being subjected to questions and some interviews I guess we should say, interviews after the president comes back from Asia. So, that's an example of the cooperation here that they are doing so far. We'll see if it works.</s>BLITZER: Yes, because we've heard from some of the president's lawyer, clearly, Jay Sekulow, one of his lawyers and Ty Cobb, they got nothing to hide. They're willing to cooperate if necessary, the president will be willing to give an interview to the prosecutors as well. Guys, standby. There's a more we're following. That's it, though, for me. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks very much for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.