director's position at the fbi. lou: he was restoring public confidence in the fbi. the first requisite was the firing of james comey to reach that goal. the second will be what? is there a readily available candidate in the opinion of the president to replace comey? >> by default the deputy director becomes the acting director. the president as he said in the letter tonight began the serving process and that was offered immediately. the goal is to act on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to restore confidence in the fbi. lou: and as i go through all of the memoranda, the letter of the attorney general, the memorandum from rod rosenstein, it's all pertained to the handling by the director of the investigation of the clinton e-mails. why do we presume that this clears the way for a reopening of the iestigation into the hillary clinton e-mail by the fbi? >> it would be improper for me to comment on any investigations ongoing with respect to mrs. clinton in the e-mail. that's up

james comey was not a member of the fbi when he headed the fbi. my guess is somebody in -- you're going to want a careerist because you're going to want somebody with no political background at all. they're going to have to be searching for a careerist here. >> absolutely, i agree. he's got a huge problem in his hands in terms of perception. and i just don't know why he is doing this at this time. and it's hard to figure out trump. it will be interesting to find out when he got the recommendation from sessions to remove comey. >> or did he ask for the recommendation? >> he asked for the recommendation. was it a visceral reaction after last week's testimony? if the recommendation came weeks ago, then it wasn't. so -- >> it's clear to me that the president has felt comfortable that he's gotten enough complaints that he believes he has enough cover here. that's the impression i've gotten when this topic has been talked about. >> it's very hard also. the attorney general who has recused himself from the russia investigation is now saying the person in

when the fbi director was in fact in los angeles? didn't he deserve a phone call or a face-to-face conversation? why did he decide to do it that way? >> he followed the proper protocol in that process, which is hand written notification. and at the same time no matter how you fire someone, it's never an easy process. and he -- so he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do. i'm not wear of the conversation. josh. >> was the president aware james comey asked for more resources in the russian investigation and did that factor into his decision? >> not that i'm aware of, and i think that would be a better question for the department of justice. >> on the campaign trail president trump said he actually praised director comey for having the guts to reopen the investigation. how is he moved by a letter that said that director comey was if anything too harsh on hillary clinton. why did that move the president to fire him? >> again, i think you're looking at two very different positions. the president was wearing a different hat

today's fbi continues to reflect on fidelity, every every and integrity. it is a model emblazoned on the seal and worth its weight in gold. and for the past 100 years years, the men and women of the fbi have lived up their commitment to fidelity and bravery and integrity and precisely because they have done so they have the reputation that has today. even so these are qualities to be causally burnished by the men and women of the bureau to insure that day did not rust for lack of use. for most of us fidelity is a full to an obligation or trustor duty to the men and women of the fbi fidelity also means fidelity to country and justice and lot. fidelity to the constitution's to equality and liberty bravery is willing to face danger or trouble bravery is not the act of rushing brothers leave but the quiet diligence dedication to face down those who would do less harm and bring them to justice the well-known tennis tibia and arthur ashe once said remarkable heroism is sober not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost but the urge to serve others whateve

was an fbi moment. the fbi was thrown out. i mean how do you explain that? he doesn't even understand the history of the country and the number of times the soviet union was attacking our elections. for 50 years. >> there's a great television series in the reagan years. they have our military secrets now they are in tour party stuff lou: why doesn't anybody say the chinese are coming? because they are here to. >> i've a chinese dr. who is my pride and joy. lou: is she an american citizen? i was talking about chinese nationals. >> she is special though. lou: she's a delightful young lady. let's turn to one other element in that's mccabe. with all of his connection to podesta and the dnc to the democratic party, to his wife the democratic candidate and the fbi didn't find it necessary for him to recuse himself legs are you kidding me? >> he should not recuse himself. lou: they have to have an ig report to know what is common sense and a conflict of interest. >> once we get this thing moving forward and as

if the president is trying to pressure the fbi on that inquiry, it makes sense that the fbi director might try to shield the agents doing that work from that pressure. by not letting them know that that pressure was being exerted by the president directly in the oval office on the agency's director. so, according to "the times" tonight, this pressure from the president that has been denied by the white house but is asserted by "the new york times," reportedly with contemporaneously documentation from comey. if that pressure happened, that pressure was not conveyed to the people who are doing the work of the investigation. now we also know that despite that pressure, despite that reported february 14th meeting where the president allegedly told the director to kibosh the flynn investigation, we also know from other independent sources that the investigation into flynn wasn't stopped by that meeting. that it continued past that point. we know that in part because of the reporting just last week that federal grand jury subpoenas have now been sent out to flynn's former business associat

fbi over here. the fbi around the clock is collecting evidence, questioning people on the record and they are analyzing data. if they find evidence of something being done wrong here with the department of justice they can pull together a grand jury and actually press criminal charges. is this aimed specifically at donald trump's team? no. it's at the russian investigation overall. but as the departed director has said already, yeah. they are considering whether or not somebody on team trump might have been involved. >> that's the criminal part of this. what's congress up to? >> this is the political part in the middle. look at the committees right there. they can pull the committees out and put people on the spot. summoning witnesses to appear on tv and on the record telling them what they know, establishing timelines, pecking away at the story and keeping the story front and center in terms of the politics and the news cycle. you can expect that with republicans in charge of the house and the sena

for the fbi had. so he was someone who was looked at as a great leader of the fbi, even though people understood that there was a huge controversy over the clinton e-mail case. >> well, there's also a huge controversy over the trump campaign and russia. what's next in the investigation? >> sorry, stephanie, say that again. >> russia investigation, what's next? >> well, it's going to go on. it doesn't stop. but you have to ask yourself, what influence -- what sort of effect on the agents that are running it? are they now going to think that there's no great appetite for this in the justice department and will they be a little more timid about it? it will go on. thean who's going to be the director of the fbi now, who was the number two, andrew mccabe, will continue to oversee it. he was well briefed on it so he won't miss a step here, but you have to wonder about the sort of psychological effect on the fbi. >> i want to bring my panel in. jeremy bash is a former chief of staff for the cia and the defen

how did he leave the fbi? how was he viewed in the fbi by current agents whether or not there when he was there, how was his tenure viewed? >> a lot of respect. a very rigorous person, speaks with precision. he would never gratuitously said a certain someone had been extremely careless not a federal crime, wouldn't have let that slip. i talked to him at length about six months ago. he and comey get along great but he wasn't terribly happy about the way that played out. >> wasn't terribly happy about comey's behavior? >> that particular instance i think he thought was poor judgment. but they got along really well. having worked together for years. >> comey's public statements about mueller are glowing. >> and mueller's private statements about comey are glowing, too, i think what happens now the fbi sticks with its counter-intelligence investigation and mueller looks at crime. he looks at money. he looks at obstruction of justice. the fbi is set up as an intelligence agency. that goes against spies and is a cri

but of course we know that the fbi director was really well respected at the fbi. i heard it from a few of the fbi agents i spoke with and we heard it from the acting director when he testified yesterday. he said that director james comey was very well respected, very well received and despite the white house saying morale at the fbi is low, we know in fact morale at the fbi was high. many people respected james comey. so it is unclear at this point why the president is coming out on the attack, especially in light of the fact he was considering the president visiting fbi headquarters today. we know plans are in place for him to go over to the headquarters. they have been making preparations for that at the bureau. but two officials telling us those plans were scrapped because of the timing of this and now the timing of these tweets, the optics of this and the relationship between the president and the fbi seems to continue to erode. the president not doing himself any favors with these tweets. >> how will this be received by the current eastbound membmembe. honest

and the state of the fbi. >> he's a showboat p he's a grandstander, the fbi has been in turmoil, you know that, i know that, everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> reporter: testifying on capitol hill today, the acting fbi director said its simply not true. >> i can tell you also that director comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi and still does to this day. >> reporter: the acting director of the fbi there took that one step further. he said it's just simply not accurate to suggest there's a crisis of confidence at the fbi. under questioning he also said something else that contradicted the president, he said that he would not expect the director of the fbi, james comey, to ever tell the president or anyone else they were not the subject of an investigation. so credibility here also a question here in some of the president's interview. now we're also expecting the possibility of the president traveling to the fbi, possible tomorrow to show confidence for the organization. we

acting fbi director is testifying contradicting claims that the fbi lost confidence in james comey. it has amplified calls to appoint an independent commission. >> the independent decision effort would run bar lel to the fbi department of justice and investigation where a special council displaces and disrupts the investigation. >> the independent commission would have subpoena power. but it would not have the power to bring criminal charges and it would run parallel to the fbi probes. they would have greater autonomy but they could be overruled or fired. a special council would displace the fbi and nginvestigations. it was created after water gate to look into executive branch wrong doing, a special prosecutor could not be fired by the president or whoever appointed him or her. senator, we just went through the options, i assume that you think that there needs to be some sort of outside investigation. do you and if so what should it be? >> i am joined by many of my democratic colleagues and i open soon to be joined by republican colleagues in calling for a special prosecutor that w

fbi was in fact in los angeles? didn't he deserve a phone call or a face-to-face -- >> he followed the power protocol in that instance which is handwritten note face and at the same time in a matter how you fire someone it's never an easy process so he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do. >> reporter: wolf, we're learning a short time ago the president finished meeting with the acting director of the fbi, andrew mccabe. he came to the white house and did not see him enter or leave. he was here meeting face to face with the president. the white house is actively searching for a replacement, getting input from cap hull and other places but even when they bring someone n. the reality is this has stirred up something that trump investigation did not want. >> the timing of the fbi chief's firing hasxd infuriated democra and more than a few republicans are also voicing deepÑi concern. let's bring in hour chief national correspondent jim schulto. jim, there are now growing calls for an independent outsid

lost faith in the fbi director? there's a special agent who wrote us who said the vast majority of the bureau is in favor of director comey. this is a total shock. this is not supposed to happen. the real losers here are 20,000 front-line people in the organization peopbecause they l the only guy working here in 15 years who actually cared about them. what's your response? >> look, we've heard from countless members of the fbi that say very different things. in fact, the president will be meeting with acting director mccabe later today to discuss that very thing, the morale at the fbi, as well as make an offer to go directly to the fbi if he feels that's necessary and appropriate. and we'll certainly provide further information on that meeting for you guys. >> -- represents fbi agents is asking for a voice in the selection process of mr. comey's success successor. is that something the president supports? >> i haven't had that conversation. i know at this point it's being run through the department of justice. i wou

i trust the fbi because we are think thate, if you these fbi agents, especially with the fbi having some problems now and people questioning credibility, which i do not. i was a staunch supporter of comey. i think he is a man of integrity. did he do some questionable things? yes, i guess you could argue both sides of that. but i will see -- i will say this. let the fbi do their job. there is no trump or congress that will buy off the fbi. i will tell you why. it will come out through leaks. if you think these fbi agents are going to risk the hard work that they are doing and let this all get shoved under the carpet, no, it will come out in volumes if there is anything going on. i want to make one other point that has been curious. something that maybe people can chew around with. there has been all kinds of leaks, there have been comments in the papers about all of trump's associates including roger stone and others. and there has been little pieces that you can to on and say -- why did he say this or why did men fort have all of this money. i have yet to hear any leaks about from himsel

who will be the next fbi head? yes, so who will be the next fbi head? yes, so the deputy director isn't fbi vetera n. so the deputy director isn't fbi veteran. he has been there a while. but they have launched the search for a permanent director immediately, and people who have worked at the fbi, and also korea federal prosecutors are also probably going to be on that list andi probably going to be on that list and i think democrats are waiting to see whether the new fbi director will be fair, or whether he will be a trump loyalist —— career. a a federal law enforcement agency, you don't want —— when you lead a federal law enforcement agency, you don't want somebody to have too many conflicts of interest and so you wa nt conflicts of interest and so you want somebody who is independent, who can do a fairjob, and make sure the investigation into trump and russia is carried out properly, instead of leaving one way or another. left—leaning liberal candidate moonjae—in has claimed victory in south korea's presidential election. with 80% of the v

this guy's track record under the fbi -- they have great people in the fbi -- hasn't been not stellar. >> but again, jesse, when you look at that long letter from rosenstein, it had nothing to do with any of that. they could have made that case. it would have bolstered their case, made it bigger. >> it was tangential to the matter at hand. i think they thought they were probably on firmer ground. particularly with this being about hillary clinton. for the trump administration to fire the fbi director for his handling of the hillary clinton issue? i mean, regardless of what democrats on capitol hill are saying, that puts you on pretty solid ground legally and morally as well when you are going to take somebody out. like we didn't like the way you handled the trump investigation, that would not have looked very good but if you are saying we did like the way he looked into the investigation of our opponent, that makes him look pretty good. >> all right, john roberts. thank you so much. we will be checking back with you perhaps. let's go now to our chief intelligence correspondence co, ca

comey to step down as fbi director. this is what gives hypocrisy a bad name. >> jenna: let's bring in our panel, democratic strategist don calloway and rasmussen report political analyst amy holmes, great to have you. there's a lot to get through, things changed due to my changing moment by moment, we will do the best we can. let me ask a subquestion, the american people, are we better off because of the decision to fire james comey? >> i think we are if we can turn the page and have a fresh start and how these investigations move forward without all of this vitriol and partisanship. i can tell you that at rasmussen reports, we've done pulling on the question of the russian investigation for example, and we have seen that even the american public of unlikely voters are very divided when it comes to partisan view of how this is moving forward. 52% of the likely voters actually want to see the clintons also investigated for their connections to russia. so if we can move forward in a bipartisan or nonpartisan way, i think

jim comey is out at the fbi. >> wow. trump fired the fbi director. like you can't justifier the fbi director. if he's gone, who's going to investigate russia's ties to -- oh. >> fallout after james comey is fired as head of the fbi. this morning, concerns about constitutional crisis in the future of the investigation of russia and the trump campaign. >> president trump is set to meet with sergei lavrov later this morning. >>> and severe storms threaten the heartland, a system that produced tornadoes and hail in texas is on the move. good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, may 10th. in the heat of an investigation into russia tampering with the u.s. elections, the fbi has been fired. in an extraordinary move, james comey was ousted while on a west coast trip, no advance warning to the wider department of justice. the white house issued a statement saying president trump acted based on recommendation from the attorney general and jeff rosen stein. sessions said he would recuse after he failed to disclose meetings with the russian ambassador. and on th

but as fbi director, he continually pushed the traditions and the core of the fbi. one thing that sort of your viewers might have noticed was he was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and red tie. time as throughout his fbi director, effectively his uniform. sort of the stereotypical look of a hoover era g-man. he was fanatical about his white shirt dark suits and bright or white ties. why,ed him years later even to the point where he would with aids orse agents who came into his office wearing a blue shirt working shirt -- or a pink shirt. i said why the obsession with white shirts and in a way that was actually much more deeply philosophical that i had generally ever seen him and reflective, he explained to me that for him, it was an important leadership moment, that he understood how much fbi,e he was making in the how much she was reorienting and shifting and how wrenching this iod of change for the fbi was, and he felt it was important to keep the look of a hoover era agent for the agents who came in and met with him so they had some simple and some totems of the

supervisor of the fbi. if he goes to the director of the fwi, and says, shhhh, please shut it down, close it down, that's the word that michael schmidt uses in the "new york times" story, that is, as far as i can tell, obstruction of justice. there is a statute many federal prosecutors are familiar with, title 18, united states code section 1503. it is often prosecuted in the federal courts. it says whoever corruptly, maybe i can just read it. i'm sorry to -- yeah. whatever corruptly influences or endeavors to inflew entuence th administration of justice is guilty of obstruction of justice. it is not a complicated law. if you corruptly with bad intent, try to influence or endeavor to influence, do administration of justice, that's a crime. that is something prosecuted often in federal courts here. and i think, you know, it's very important to establish. we are in the beginning stage in this process. first we learned of this conversation. and fbi, white house says there was no attempt to shut down. if there

along with the fbi and the pentagon's inspector general. pronouncing the question of collusion closed. >> the fbi is doing a whole lot more than the russian investigation. that's probably one of the smallest things they've got going on their plate. >> whether tone-deaf or just ironic, donald trump met with two senior russian officials today, giving a warm reception. comey's ouster now has a growing number of lawmakers demanding they appoint a special prosecutor independent of the administration and capitol hill to lead the probe. >> were those investigations getting too close to home for the president? if there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now. >> the multiple existing investigations are already expanding. sources tell cnn just days before being fired comey asked deputy attorney general rob rosenstein for more resources to tweet to the bure eo's russian investigation. a request they denied. and federal reports have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of michael flynn. >> the decision t

second, you've got a president under investigation by an fbi director firing that fbi director. third, you've got a recused attorney general recommending to the president that he fire the fbi director, regarding the matter as to which he's recused, and then underlying all of that this truly passionate, well thought through and sincere and real takedown of comey's behavior by a clearly frustrated and infuriated rod rosenstein. how that all stacks up? tbd. >> the -- the thing i'm trying to ask you about is the timing. you don't have insight into why rod rosenstein acted when he did. the timing of it related to the russia investigation has a flashing red siren on top of it screaming suspicion in terms of the trump/russia investigation. if this was driven by those things he put in his memo. if it was driven by the handling of the clinton investigation, what explains them doing is today? especially given they know that we'd all see the connections to all the russia -- >> hasn't been there long. so he comes in. he takes a little time to sort out what's going on. he's furious. he's bui

andrew mccabe, the actbe fbi director, and michael j. garcia, a former prosecutor and associate judge on new york's highest court. ranking democrat on the senate intelligence committee objects to the attorney general's role in finding a new fbi director because sessions recused himself from the russia case. >> i don't believe he should be part of the review process, if he can have a true recusal. whoever it is, should be a law enforcement professional. >> reporter: warner's call to skip a politician is echoed by republicans. >> we have a chance to reset as a nation. the president has a chance to clean up the mess he mostly created, so i would encourage the president to pick somebody we can all rally around including those who work in the fbi. >> reporter: senate majority whip john cornyn, former texas attorney general was interviewed long with mike rogers, former fbi agent, rogers has the endorsement of the 13,000 strong fbi agents association. while able candidate, graham advised against him. >> it's time to pick somebody within the ran

to the fbi. we will try and get that to you and get back to you shortly, wolf. >> stand by for a moment, evan perez is with us as well. evan, you cover the fbi for us, justice department. this is a shock. >> it certainly is, wolf. because essentially the fact he is leading this investigation into the trump/russia connectiones it was seen he was frankly untip ofable. when he made that announcement in march, at hearing here in capitol hill, where he announced that there was this ongoing investigation, not only looking at the broader trump/russia issue but also looking into whether or not there was coordination between people associated with the campaign and the russian government, it really cemented the issue that this was something that made him untouchable, least until this investigation when it was over. there is a lot of criticism into how he handled some disclosures. not only during the clinton e-mail investigation last year whether he should have revealed as much as he did, there's a lot of c

-- and lead the fbi and restore confidence of the american people. this was the right decision at the right time. >> considering the bipartisan concern, why not support an independent panel? >> the evidence, the facts that are in public today are very clear, the former director of national intelligence has said there is no evidence of collusion. the president and i remain confident the committees in the house and senate looking into every aspect of issues that arise out of the election will be able to do their work in an orderly way. the president was informed several times by the former director of the fbi he was not under investigation. the simple fact is director comey had lost the confidence of the american people. the support i heard from them is of the senate today when i was over by the senate chamber, support for the decision being expressed in this capitol building and around the country is reflective of the fact that it was time for a fresh start at the fbi. the president did as he is done in so many cases, he provided strong leadership. to

. >> was the fbi aware -- was the fbi aware that mr. steele reportedly paid his sources who in turn paid their sub sources to make the claim in the dossier? >> same answer, sir. >> here's one you should be able to answer. is it vital to know -- is it vital to know whether or not sources have been paid in order to evaluate their credibility and if they have been paid, doesn't that information need to be disclosed if you're relying on that information in seeking approval for investigative authority. >> i think in general, yes, it is vital to know. >> the fbi and the justice department have provided me material inconsistent with the answers enclosed settings about the reporting relationship with mr. steele, will you commit to fully answering the questions from my march 6th and april 28th letter in providing all requested documents so that we can resolve those inconsistencies even if in a closed session being necessary? >> because as i sit here i don't know all the questions in the letters, i don't want to answer that specifically but i com

we need an fbi director that's nonpartisan. i believe the president is going to do what he's done in other areas which is try to find the right person. i've had the opportunity to work with the fbi after the attack in orlando last year. there are a class act. they work hard, they want to do the right thing. my experience with the fbi is governor has been outstanding. >> jenna: we certainly know there's a lot of fbi people hard at work right now while we are talking to make sure we are staying safe. there are some comments coming from the white house at just over the last several minutes were rejected by the no leader of the fbi. for example, the white house said yesterday that the investigation into russia's meddling was one of the smallest things on the plate of the fbi. the acting director mccabe said that's just not true. it is a significant. how concerned are you about some of the disparities that seem to be coming out based on why comey was fired and where the investigation stands now? >> i know the fbi has a lot of obliga

locktime observers of the fbi, former fbi agents f new act director. fbi who was the former deputy to james comey, they all say that the trump russia investigations at the fbi will continue. they can't be stopped, nothing can stop or slow down those investigators, nothing can intimate them out of doing their work. and that sounds awesome as a pep talk because, of course, we don't know that for sure. we've never been in this position before. we don't know what's going to happen to those investigations. late tonight, the news crossed that there are four candidates the administration is now considering to be the new director of the fbi replacing james comey. one of them is the andrew mccabe, one is alice fisher. she's very accomplished lawyer, there is some controversy from her time in the george bush administration from her connections to the prison at guantanamo and interallegations at guantanamo. another candidate is judge michael garcia. he's an appeals judge in new york state and a former federal prosecutors and ins commissioner from the george w. bu

lost confidence in the director. >> the fbi director had broad support within the fbi and still does to this day. i don't think there is a crisis of confidence. >> reporter: the trump administration suggesting firing comey would help end the investigation into the russia election meddling. >> we want to come to its conclusion with integrity. we have by removing director comey to take steps to make that happen. >> reporter: something the interim director vowed. >> you cannot stop the men and women of the fbi from doing the right thing. >> reporter: the president claiming he wants answers on russia. >> there is no collusion between me and my campaign. if russia hacked and did anything having to do with our election, i want to know about it. >> reporter: insisting he did not try to interfere with the fbi investigation. >> did you ask him to drop the investigation? >> no. >> did anyone from the white house? >> i want the investigations. >> reporter: president trump explaining why it took 18 days to fire national security adviser michael flynn after sally yates met with the white house co

saying the rank and file of the fbi deeply support mr. comey. >> i can tell you also that director comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi and still does to this day. i can confidently tell you that the majority of the fbi employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to director comey. >> reporter: this comes as comey was invited to testify on tuesday before the senate intelligence committee. no word yet if he has confirmed that appearance, but this would be a classified closed session and that means it is off limits to the public. we do know that other people in the administration plan to talk to some senators. rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, also at the center of the comey controversy. he was invited to discuss the comey firing. this issue is not going away anytime soon. christine and dave. >> thank you, manu. >>> rod rosenstein denying reports he threatened to resign in the aftermath of the james comey firing. the washington post reported rosenstein was angered about the memo used as the prime justification for dism

fbi. i do think that the tradition of the fbi has been to have a political people appointed as directorsst fbi. i don't believe there's ever been a politician to run the fbi. it seems like now would be a particularly bad time to break that tradition which i believe is a sentment charrod by senator lindsey graham that he expressed earlier today. >> matthew alexander, all measured. even understated about the crisis as currently unfolding. i appreciate your time. now to the panel as promised. matt miller was a former official at doj under holder and msnbc contributor jeremy bash and msnbc analyst and former chief of staff at the cia and pentagon and jennifer rogers joining me in new york. matt, what do you think is the message being sent by this white house floating these obviously partisan names at this moment? >> it's troubling. it is especially troubling if they pick either of the candidates to be head of the fbi. as you were eluding to, there has never been a head of the fbi in its histor

fbi agent himself. stand by, general michael hayden is joining us right now. former cioa director. your reaction, general hayden? >> well, wolf, i was stunned as anyone. director comey and i have history. we haven't always been on the same side of things in the bush administration. but he has been principled and been his own man. some of his critics say his own man almost to a fault. i thought he was the right guy for the clinton administration and russian investigations. it's surprising he is being fired for things he did in summer of 2016. those are tough decisions. i've second-guessed them as much as anyone but i recognized jim was off the matt there and. and as jeffrey pointed out, te didn't like what director comey did last summer. so i think the time to fire him for what he did last summer would have been in january when we were changing out a lot of people in government. i suspect he may be fired now for what he did last year, not because of last year, but perhaps because the administration think

you served in the fbi. you were the assistant director of the fbi. put yourselves in the shoes now of the argumegents. how do things change for them? will they do things differently? >> no, john. i don't think they will. and i think the investigation will go on. the work of the rank and file and the current management of the fbi will continue unabated. i don't see that as the problem. i think one thing we're not talking about enough here is the role of the deputy attorney general rosenstein. now, he isn't somebody that just fell off the tour bus. he's been in the department of justice for decades and throughout last summer he's sitting as the united states attorney in maryland having been appointed by president obama. so he would have had a pretty close view of what was going on when director comey held the july 5th press conference, when director comey went into great detail of the misdeeds of hillary clinton and then the recommendation that no charges be brought, his testimony and a number of hearings throughout the summer and early fall last year

it was really that third one by the fbi that the white house feared the most because of course the fbi has, like the senate and house investigations, subpoena power, the ability to compel documents, testimony, offer immunity. but the fbi has something those other two investigations don't have. they have the resources to conduct a very thorough investigation, and they have the ability to bring criminal charges. and so not only was this a counterintelligence investigation that comey was leading, but it was one that put trump and his inner circle in criminal jeopardy. that is what i think ultimately caused the president to decide that he wanted to impede this investigation first by firing sally yates just a day or two after the president learned that the fbi had interviewed mike flynn and basically flynn had lied to the fbi. and then now firing the leader of that investigation in hopes to clean house and probably install somebody who he thinks will be more favorable to him and his team. >> and, raj, first of all, welcome to the broadcast. secondly, i know you have viewed this as just the

i don't know what he said by the fbi. by that time he had been interviewed by the fbi. if he made a false statement to the fbi saying a conversation was different than what he relayed to pence, he has a bigger problem. >> i agree with that. i'm saying the blackmail issue, take it off the table. somebody should ask sally quin, i'm sorry that anderson cooper didn't do it in his interview. somebody should ask sally quin, duh, why didn't you just go to flynn and say, by the way, we know, we have the tape recording of you lying. you're no longer subject to blackmail. that's the easiest thing any intelligence operation knows that if somebody is subject to blackmail, if somebody is going to be blackmailed because he's had sex or because whatever, you go over to the guy and you say, by the way, we have the picture of you, you're no longer subject to blackmail. it is the easiest way to undo any blackmail by the russians. >> let me go to bill crystal. bill, your thoughts on this? >> i think it's interesting -- alan is right -- the way in which trump ordered or suggested to comey

the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that. i know that. ever you take a look at the fbi a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> reporter: the president said he decided to fire comey well before the deputy attorney general weighed in. >> he made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> reporter: in his letter firing comey, the president claimed the fbi director had told him he was not under investigation three separate times, including during a dinner at the white house, a dinner he said he believes comey requested. >> he wanted to stay on as the fbi head, and i said, i'll, you know, consider it, we'll see what happens. but we had a very nice dinner. >> reporter: the president said comey also assured him he was not under investigation in two separate phone calls. >> i said, if it's possible, will you let me know, am i under investigation? he said, you are not under investigation. i know that i'm not under investigation. me, personly else. i'm not

big focus for the fbi. he wanted to reassure them that the work should continue no matter all the controversy swirling around the firing of the fbi director. and we also know, wolf, that today, the justice department began interviewing people who could be interim directors. the signal there being that andy mcgabe, andrew mcgabe, is not long for that job. in 2001 i was in argentina when that country had five presidents in over a week. we are looking at the fbi which is one of the most steady institutions in this country looking at possibly three director in the space of about a week. >> that's amazing when you think about it. evan perez, thanks very much for that update. let's dig deeper into all of this with our specialists and our analyst and jeffrey toobin, when the republican chairman and democratic vice chairman, richard burr, mike warner, now issued a subpoena to former fired national security adviser michael flynn, subpoena requests document relative to the investigation into russian interference of 2

how will the fbi be affected by this? >> makes a good point but a number of executives were coming up the rank when i was in the fbi. is there a slight chance some aspects of an investigation be affected? potentially, yes, but i have full confidence in the individuals in the fbi they're full-steam ahead. this in particular is moving forward. i find it strange. we're missing a lot of facts but i find it strange, frequently in the fbi we don't go over. in extreme circumstances ask for more resources in an investigation. usually that's done internally. it has a $10 billion budget and 36,000 employees and usually funds and resources are shifted around to enhance an investigation if it needs more resources. the reason you may go ask the department of justice to have more career attorney put on it. we have to get through the fact. it was a shot clock to the fbi and employees. the interim staff there and director and the rest of the staff in the executive level will march forward as they have done for the last 20, 30, 40 years w

the director of the fbi overseeing an investigation into the trump campaign. and we know this because today, the president himself weighed in. since comey was fired two nights ago, the white house has offered a series of shifting, conflicting, pretextual rationales for the move. vice president mike pence, press secretary sean spicer, white house counselor kellyanne conway among others all insisted the president was merely acting on the recommendation of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, who conducted a review of his own initiative. asked yesterday if the president had made up his mind to fire comey before receiving rosenstein's memo, deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders answered unequivocally. >> isn't it true that the president had already decided to fire james comey, and he asked the justice department to put together the rationale for that fire something. >> no. >> when did he make the decision? >> he made the decision for the final decision to move forward with it was yesterday. >> okay. that was yesterday in the press briefing. today, in an

asking to stay on as fbi director. don't you see how that's a conflict of interest? the fbi director saying he wants to keep his job and the president is asking whether or not he's under investigation? >> i don't see that as a conflict of interest. neither do the many legal collars. >> the suggestion there that if a guy is trying to keep his job, maybe it's to tell the president what he wants to hear as opposed to what's going on. senator grassley said that he was told very much the same thing by the fbi director, that president trump was not a target of the investigation into russia, shep. >> shepard: you asked a question about democrats and others that had said that they were in favor of the removal, the firing of, the resignation of this same director comey. and that those same people are now complaining about the timing thereof. >> yeah, there's no question sarah huckabee sanders read a long list from the democrats saying that he needed to be fired, resigned, whatever. this was all in the wake of his october 28th p

he enjoyed broad support in the fbi and still does. i can tell you that the vast majority of employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to director comey. >> that was the acting director of the fbi today in his first public comments. joining us now, michael scherrer, e.j. deon and michael, you had dinner with donald trump. did he ask you to pledge loyalty to him at the dinner? the night before he fired jim comey. go ahead. >> he actually said we were also dishonest media. >> yes, he did. >> yeah. >> you -- there's a transcript you have out that's absolutely fascinating where he goes along and talks about dishonest media and he said, oh, by the way, you are, too. i suppose he's just smiling? >> he's very charm, very gracious, very hos pit balance. but it's strange because there's this underlying hostility. he kept bringing up an aggrievement, this feeling that the press had not treated him fairly thark his story was not getting out, that the many successes of his administration had not been heard. we watched parts with him of that

this fbi under comey never prosecuted her. and she committed felonies. >> lou: let's go through the prosecution. the justice departmenty's fbi. famously involved in fast and furious. famously going to resolve with their agents stand negligent ruins of benghazi consulate. we never saw the reports from that. did you? i never saw the conclusion or a single person indicted as a result of an fbi investigation in the big scandals in the obama years, all eight of those years. >> we'll talk about the racially motivated hate crimeses with americans of all race and creeds that the fbi refuseded to do under director comey. and endangered american's election inte grity and lives and yet they are worried about a phantom russian threat. >> lou: who was it in the dnc who told the fbi they could not come in to the dnc even if the rushion invaded the piece of the united states. the servers of the democratic national committee and not a single person in the fbi ever explained why they rejected the decision of the dnc. there is a lot of question

in the fbi. many people believe this doesn't restore confidence in the fbi. a lot of people are raising questions about it destroys people's confidence in the fbi, that whoever the president appoints will now be in charge of an investigation into people who have been close to the president during the campaign. any potential collusion with russia. >> today's actions had zero to do with that. >> the president himself in his letter three times mentioned he's not under investigation. he himself brought up the investigation with russia and thanked the director. >> we don't know what those instances were. sean spicer was asked about that. sean spicer did not know when those instances were that james comey told the president he was not under investigation. >> deputy fbi director is now the head of the fbi. he's now under investigation. >> on capitol hill comey's firing was met with shock across the political spectrum. republicans expressing a range of concerns but then focused on the timing of the dismi

robert mueller became fbi director shortly before 9/11 and was at the heart of turning the fbi into a counterterrorism and counterintelligence operation. he extended his term, serving under presidents bush and obama. now he takes the reins of an investigation that led to the firing of his former deputy, jim comey. breaking news tonight. let's start off with chief white house correspondent john roberts. this does take change the dynac grace to go it is surprising, considering we heard from the acting director of the fbi, andrew mccabe, in testimony to the intelligence committee in the senate that the fbi has all the resources necessary to be able to conduct the russian investigation. we've heard increasing cost democrats on capitol hill and some republicans as well for the appointment of a special prosecutor. the american publicd be assured of this investigation is carried out appropriately and to its most thorough form. no response yet from the white house. i would suggest that the white house has signed off on this. they are in charge of the department of justice. they like to give i

director. >> the fbi is calling on the deputy attorney general as well as the acting fbi director, andrew mccabe to come to congress and brief them immediately. feinstein said the timing is beyond curious. she said the director then had promised to keep congress updated on the probe. >> it was rather comprehensive for this kind of briefing. the fbi director was precise and he presented us with substantial information. it was clearly fbi was was taking its job seriously and that a substantial investigation was underway. >> my law enforcement contacts are pointing me to april 25th as a turning point for the fbi director's future. that was the day that deputy attorney general rod rosenstein was confirmed and then he was cast. fbi director comey had it colored outside the lines. he had gone beyond his responsibility as a federal government's lead investigator and he put on his prosecutor's hat, recommending against criminal charges and the mishandling of information by then candidate clinton. this morning on fox news, the former attorney general was also consulted by rosenstein about the fbi

the morale at the fbi, as well as making an offer to go directly to the fbi if he feels it's necessary and appropriate. we will certainly provide further information. >> they are asking for a voice in the selection process of his successor. is that something the president is for? sec. sanders: i have not have a conversation but i know it's being run through the department of justice. i would refer you to them on what that process looks like at this point time. >> who did the president consult before making the final decision to fire james comey? sec. sanders: he spoke with a number of individuals, but at the end of the day is the president's decision. >> could he speak again with the deputy attorney general or the attorney general? sec. sanders: i know they spoke on monday. i believe the next follow-up was in writing. i would have to double check to be clear. >> is it accurate to follow a from the information we have that monday night the president made the final call and set of want this in writing as a recommendation and took the recommendation as the evidence he wanted to provide th

resulted in fbi repos? just reports. and then action. i can't think of one, can you? >> and i would add the irs scandal. lou: of course. >> that was a massive scandal. lou: the va scandal. the problem is we can keep going with those scandal. all of them. >> that's right. and here's the thing, lou, that bothers me. is you hear the media and the democrats talking about collusion between trump or his campaign and russian government officials. and that obviously if they -- if there was collusion to commit some type of offense, that obviously would be an issue. but even james clapper, even democrats who have looked at any of these intelligence, there's not one bit of evidence that there was any collusion. whereas all the other things you cite, we know that there were things that went wrong. there were va bureaucrats who were manipulating the wait list in order to deprive veterans of their care, and they outlined their pockets. the irs, obviously massive targeting scandal. so "fast and furious." all of those thin