McConnell Faces Pressure; White House Search for DNI
HILL: "The Washington Post" reporting this morning President Trump's support for background checks following two mass shootings drew a warning from the NRA. Meantime, calls for Senate action on guns are now at Mitch McConnell's doorstep in Kentucky. CNN's Lauren Fox is live in Louisville with more for us this morning. Lauren, good morning.</s>LAUREN FOX, CNN POLITICS CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Erica. That's right, pressure is growing on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. We expect Tim Ryan, a Democratic presidential candidates, will be headed to Louisville tonight with supporters from Ohio trying to pressure the majority leader to take action and bring gun legislation to the floor of the United States Senate. But, of course, he's not just getting pressure from Democrats. Yesterday, President Trump said he was open to doing something on background checks. And we know that privately and publicly he is putting pressure on Republicans to take action. He is having conversations with Senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, somebody who has supported expanding background checks in the past. Now, behind the scenes, GOP aides say, look, their members are talking. They're having conversations. They're trying to figure out how to stop more mass shootings. But the reality is, a background checks expansion would be maybe too much for Republicans to stomach. So the big question is, is there something they could do on so-called red flag laws to incentivize states to pass more of those? They're also just trying to get a sense of whether Trump is actually serious about supporting something for the long haul. Look, they're all the way on recess and there's a big question whether or not the president is going to keep his focus on this issue moving forward. Now, I've been told from Republican aides that if there was ever a moment to do something, now would be it. There's a perception that the NRA is weak and I want to leave you with one thing that one Republican aide told me yesterday. He said, quote, there is a growing disdain for that part of the gun culture that thinks the essence of the Second Amendment is being able to walk around with a military grade weapon. So that gives you a sense of where the Republicans are at this moment. Erica.</s>HILL: Lauren Fox with the latest for us. Lauren, thank you. Sources close to the Trump administration tell CNN exclusively that White House officials rebuffed efforts by Department of Homeland Security colleagues to make combatting domestic terror threats a greater priority in the national counterterrorism strategy. Now, this reporting comes as the search for a new director of National Intelligence returns, of course, back to square one after President Trump's first choice, Congressman John Ratcliffe, abruptly pulled out of the running. Alex Marquardt is live here in Washington with the latest developments for us. Alex, good morning.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Erica. That's right, there are big questions this morning over why the White House, for over a year, repeatedly ignored the Department of Homeland Security's calls for the Trump administration to focus more on domestic terrorism. Now, sources are telling our colleague, Jake Tapper, that the White House only wanted to focus on the jihadist threat while disregarding the rise of racial extremist violence here at home. Now, eventually, a paragraph about domestic terrorism was inserted into the official national counterterrorism strategy, but a source called that a throwaway line that does not mention white supremacists. Now, as you mentioned, all of this is happening as the White House seems to have hit the reset button really in its search to replace Dan Coats as the director of National Intelligence. The Trump administration, of course, suffered a huge blow when Congressman John Ratcliffe withdrew himself over a five-day firestorm over his lack of experience, his exaggerated resume and his noteworthy political partisanship. Sources are telling CNN that the White House is going through a more deliberative and diligent process, while also looking for someone who would be palatable to the president. Several administration officials are telling CNN that they are willing to take their time, they're consulting with the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, as well as others on Capitol Hill and various national security experts. Some of the names that we are hearing being floated are the former Georgia Congressman Saxby Chambliss, the former NSA director, Mike Rogers, and the current ambassador to the Netherlands, John (ph) Hoekstra. Time is very much ticking, though, Erica. Dan Coats steps down exactly a week from today. The White House still hasn't said who will be the acting DNI during that nomination process. Dan Coats' number two, Sue Gordon, would be the logical choice given her decades in the intelligence community and wide separate respect for her. The president recently said that he does like Sue Gordon but she is very much part of the intelligence establishment, which the president has repeatedly criticized. Erica.</s>HILL: All right, as you point out, the clock is ticking. Alex, thank you. Up next, living in fear. We speak with members of a Latino community to find out how the shooting in El Paso is now affecting their everyday lives.