 -- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Attorney General Jeff Sessions vehemently denied that he in any way colluded with Russia in the 2016 election or had a third private meeting with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Still, he remained tight-lipped about his conversations with President Trump.

The deputy White House press secretary said the president has "no intention" of getting rid of special counsel Robert Mueller after lawmakers on Capitol Hill said plainly it would be a terrible idea. But asked whether the president has confidence in Mueller, Sarah Sanders said she did not "have anything to add."

Another lawsuit and counting; Nearly 200 Democrats plan to file a lawsuit against President Trump alleging he violated the emoluments clause by profiting from foreign business deals, the Washington Post reports.

A Trump-inspired candidate did far better than expected in the Virginia gubernatorial primary Tuesday night. Republican Corey Stewart, who billed himself "the Trump before Trump," barely lost to establishment pick Ed Gillespie, who was supposed to win in a landslide. Gillespie will face Democrat Ralph Northam, who's lieutenant governor, in the general election for governor in Virginia in the fall.

Today is President Trump's birthday. He turns 71 today.

THE TAKE with ABC News' MaryAlice Parks

Washington, D.C., is full of offended men these days. Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared before the Senate Intel Committee to adamantly defend himself and almost no one else. He started by calling any insinuation that he was involved with or aware of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials "a detestable lie." The word choice noticeably similar to that of former FBI Director James Comey, who last week kicked off his remarks saying it was the White House that lied when it said his FBI was in disarray. While Session was emphatic that his meetings with Russians were proper and he did not perjure himself during his confirmation hearings, he stopped short of outright shielding the president. It was his reputation he was there to defend. Did the president care about Russia's trying to hack into the U.S. election systems? Nope, Sessions said. (He admitted, frankly, that he didn't really care, either). Could he shed light on how or why the White House decided to fire Comey? Hardly. Could he say simply that Trump never asked about pardoning individuals involved in the Russia investigation? Nope, not that either. The attorney general refused to give answers about his conversations with the president: a decision that, like when a defendant pleads the 5th, raises eyebrows and has a tendency to beg more questions than it puts to rest.

SENATE SETS UP TO TEST TRUMP

Senators on Capitol Hill are sending President Trump a clear message. By agreeing to a bipartisan amendment that would strip the White House's authority from relaxing, suspending or terminating sanctions against Russia without a mandated congressional review, they have now taken foreign policy into their hands. It's a threat, an act of defiance in a way to make sure this White House acts on Russia after its alleged interference in U.S. elections. The Russia sanctions amendment was added to the underlying bill on Iran and may come up for a vote in the Senate as soon as this week. Late Monday night, Republicans and Democrats struck a deal to punish Russia by imposing sanctions over its alleged meddling in the U.S. election, its violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, and its continued aggression in Syria. To become a bill, the U.S. House of Representatives would also have to pass the legislation and be signed into law by Trump. No word yet on whether Trump plans to veto the expected legislation, ABC News' Mariam Khan reports.

STILL HASHING OUT HEALTH CARE BILL

While much of the oxygen on Capitol Hill Tuesday was sucked up by Sessions' testimony, there was another huge story snowballing: Senate Republicans' continued inability to reach agreement on their version of an Obamacare replacement bill by their self-imposed July 4 deadline. The conference is meeting regularly to discuss a bill, but there are deep divides on how to roll back the Obamacare Medicaid expansion and how best to lower premiums. The train isn't at a standstill, but it's moving a lot slower than Senate Republicans had hoped: "Let's put it this way, the total bill hasn't been resolved," Sen. Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has some jurisdiction over the bill, told reporters Tuesday. Remember: Before it votes on a bill, the Senate has to have the Congressional Budget Office analyze its budgetary impact, or "score" it. All of this pushes back the date for a vote on the bill, not to mention the release of the bill to the public. Democrats say they will fight any vote unless there is an open hearing, but so far the White House seems OK with the slowed pace. The president Tuesday said he now thinks the House bill, which only weeks ago he had praised, was "mean" and urged senators to be more "generous" with their language. Perhaps, the shadow of the Russia hearing has been a blessing in some way for the group, stealing their process away from the spotlight, ABC News' Ali Rogin notes.

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

Expecting an announcement today that the Trump administration has granted Defense Secretary James Mattis the authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.

President Trump pays a visit to the Labor Department, delivering remarks at the Apprenticeship Initiative kickoff.

NEED TO READ with ABC News' Adam Kelsey

President Trump says the House health care bill was "mean." President Trump did not pressure Republican senators to rush a new draft of the health care bill at a Tuesday meeting, sources say, but instead lamented the saga that took place on the House side, and said the bill that passed in the lower chamber was "mean" and the Senate bill should be more "generous." "He wasn't prescribing deadlines, because I think he recognized what happened in the House wasn't good," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. http://abcn.ws/2rY3wjA

Sessions says he was never briefed on Russian interference. In his testimony Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has not read the consensus report from U.S. intelligence agencies on alleged Russian meddling and has not sought any briefings. http://abcn.ws/2sZAQoK

Coma-stricken student released from North Korea arrives back in United States. University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced in 2016 to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea, has been released and is back in Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon arrival, however, Warmbier had to be transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. http://abcn.ws/2slYCNZ

Who is James Comey's friend and leaker Daniel Richman? Daniel Richman is the Columbia Law School professor through whom former FBI Director James Comey shared details of his contemporaneous memos about meetings with President Trump to The New York Times. Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he wanted to get a record of his meetings with Trump "out into the public square" so he decided to ask a friend to share the content of his memo with a reporter. http://abcn.ws/2roP2uJ

WHO'S TWEETING?

@SenWarren: As our top law enforcement officer, the AG must be truthful and uphold the law. Sessions cannot continue to serve. He should resign.

@sahilkapur: Al Franken responds to Jeff Sessions, who called him out at the hearing. "he misled the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath"

@DylanByers: Senate reporters, you are free to conduct your stakeouts, per Senate Rules Committee. (For now)

@cathleendecker: Asked if Trump has ever expressed upset at him for recusing, Sessions will not answer. "You're impeding this investigation" Heinrich says.

@THR: Oprah rules out a run against Trump in 2020: "I will never run for public office. That's a pretty definitive thing" http://thr.cm/TrbfIx