that the role of the f.b.i. director, and the reason why want statute was changed so that want f.b.i. director's term of years is 10 years, designed to cut across administrations to ensure that the president who appointed the director, that the director would outlast the tenure of that president. and so director comey, i think, is trying to explain in this awkward context why he'll be honest, not disloyal in some sense, but loyal ultimately to the constitution and the country. >> woodruff: well, now i want to turn, both of you, to this-- i think it was their next meeting, february the 14th, in a meeting in the oval office. now, this time it was with the president, the vice president, the attorney general, several other senior administration officials. at the end of that meeting, the president asked everyone to leave, except for comey. and according to mr. comey's statement, mr. trump turned back to the subject of general michael flynn, who had been fired just the day before, and he said: matt apuzzo, how does th

of the f.b.i. motivated to do so out of his own whatever was going through his mind. but those who have been put together a conflict of interest, rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general appointing robert mueller who is attacking on ought broadest terms for god knows what, this administration. that means republican leaders toad silent and permitted it to happen. congressman, you have got to hate that kind of violent political act as well. >> this situation with the special counsel, there again something that causes concern. in my opinion, i would think mr. mueller need to consider recusing himself from this. what an obstruction investigation, mr. comey would be aer witness. and he has a personal relationship with that witness. so i would think that if he is following the rules he would consider recusing himself from this work. now, i think it's also important to look at mr. rosenstein who says he wrote the memo and made the recommendation that mr. -- lou: he told the president to fire james come

as a result the f.b.i. is unlikely to regain public and congressional trt it in has a directoruns the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. having refused to admit his errors, the director cannot be expected to implement the necessary directive actions. rosenstein testified his memo to congress. he said notwithstanding my personal affection for director comey, i thought it was appropriate to seek a new leader. it was rosenstein who then chose comey friend and former colleague robert mueller to be the special counsel which is clearly a breach of requirements that there be no appearance of conflict of interest of any kind, including being colleagues and friends of the appointed special counsel. now rosenstein dares to warn us about leaks. urging americans to exercise caution on left-wing news stories attributed to anonymous officials which is just about the bulk of their political reporting. i believe the deputy attorney general now has only one honorable path in the mess he helped create.

looking at the f.b.i. and the justice department as a threat? is he -- was that the goal of issuing that statement? it was very strangely worded, particularly the first sentence, because he refers to stories in particular that don't say the origin of the officials, whether they're u.s. officials or foreign officials. we don't have any idea what he's referring to with that. the sources that we're dealing with are american officials. we're not getting information from foreign officials so educate our stories, inform our stories about the f.b.i.'s investigation. so we're really not clear what the intention was there with that statement. clearly, he's -- you know, rod is in an incredibly difficult position right now. maybe he is kind of doing -- making these -- some people would call them mistakes, under that pressure, because he's feeling the pressure. >> seems to be scoop after scoop, then anger and more anger from the administration. and that's reflected in a lot of the response around the president, in the

of the f.b.i.'s relationship to the seder and to trump and this is sort of what our our our reporting so far has focused on it's the f.b.i. is the only real investigative body that can look into these things but once we learned that the f.b.i. was basically running this man inside trump tower who had his criminal connections and that he supposedly. was a very high value informant. and trying to understand the nature of that and also noticing that the f.b.i. has fought vociferously to a when he was supposed to be sentenced for his crimes they went into these secret presentation for the judge and asked for leniency due to his tremendous service to the united states we don't know exactly what that involves we certain things have been said we're not sure if they're correct but at the same time this man clearly has these connections his business partners and be a rock in to him self even in the e-mail said something about referred to one of his partners as a gangster so it's all there and the f.b.i. is r

, the f.b.i. by saying the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. those were lies, plain and simple. >> trevor: whoa, whoa, whoa, james comey, calling the president a liar? how dare you tell us things we already know! we didn't (bleep) for this! we want new information! ( applause ) so today comey gave really impressive testimony with details on every meeting, every phone call he had with trump, who, what, where, what facial expressions they had when they spoke, what they smelled like, everything, and the reason comey was able to go into such meticulous detail is, immediately after every single interaction he had with trump he wrote memos which james comey should be awarded for. he's the only person who wanted to remember his meetings with trump. the only question is why? >> now, you've had extensive experience at the the department of justice and at the f.b.i. you've worked on -- for the presidents of both parties. what was it a

tomorrow the former f.b.i. director will testify before the intelligence committee investigating russian activities during last year's election. that coverage tomorrow live at 10:00 eastern on c-span3. followed by your calls and social media comments. reminder you can follow online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. if you miss it during the day the hearing will be at 8:00 p.m. on c-span2 and later that night on c-span. right now we take you over to the senate intelligence committee that is mark warner, the ranking democrat, vice chair of the intelligence committee, they are hearing today from n.s.a. director mike rogers, deputy attorney general rob rosen stein, and f.b.i. and dan coats, director of national ntelligence. senator westerner: everyone wants to interfere or down play or halt the ongoing investigation not only the justice department taking on but this committee as taking on. i hope as we move forward on this you'll realize the importance that the american public deserves to get th

brings in the f.b.i. director and says please stop your investigation. if that isn't an obstruction of justice, i don't know what is. >> if you are a republican i think you have got specific things you can defend the president on. but atmospherically this is a horrendous day for the president. >> politically i thought it was damaging to the president. >> today was predicted to be the worst day of the presidency and donald trump knows it. >> they wanted watergate and they got a water balloon. everything they learned we already know. howie: the president hitting back at a news conference. >> no collusion, no obstruction. he's a leaker, and frankly james comey confirmed a lot of what i said and some of the things he said just weren't true. howie: the media hardly buying his claim of complete vindication. comey also going after the "new york times." >> that report by the "new york times" was not true, is that true? >> in the main, it was not true. i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with

this is posted on the website. the f.b.i. wants to hear from anybody who can shed light on what the guy's motive may have been for the shooting here in alexandria. jonathan? jonathan: brad, it would be nice if they figure out why he came here in the first place. thank you for your report. this is an area that is very quiet. del ray is as bucolic as it gets. a lot of place where families want to start families because it's quiet. they never hear ambulance sirens or sirens of any kind around here. shellshocked is describing how people react after what happened. the gunfire went on what many minutes with gunfire from the capitol police and the gunman shooting at each other. all around there are markings of the gunfight because there are bullet holes as i said earlier in cars, windows, at the ymca. that is the backdrop for that. there were bullet holes in the windows there and the side as well. you hear stories that some people in nearby apartments and doors were opening their doors taking people running from the scene trying to

the f.b.i.? the operation fast and furious scandal. there the attorney general lied to congress and the claimed falsely executive privilege over 64,000 documents. the attorney general was as a result held in contempt of congress and benghazi, we know what happened there. they lied and lied some more, and no prosecution, no final report from the f.b.i. the clinton email scandal, nothing here, move along. oh, yes, it's just a matter, not an investigation as attorney general loretta lynch put her hand on the scale of justice and apparently the neck of the f.b.i. director. and the justice department of course spying on journalists, including our own james rosen and the associated press and it goes on and on. we are talking about a rancid stinking swamp that grows. it's not drained yet. joining me to discuss the fallout from today's hearing, olympic media managing editor, katie fratus and matt schlapp. katie, how did in your judgment did the attorney general do today? >> i think jeff sessions was fan

this was the week the former director of the f.b.i. went before a senate committee and accused president trump of lying and attempting to derail the russia investigation. britain's ruling conservatives were shocked by an unexpected defeat at the polls. and the golden state warriors set a new record with 15 consecutive play-off wins after taking the first three games of the n.b.a. championship. here are the sights and sounds of the past seven days. >> commanding a spotlight entirely his, james comey turned it on to the president. >> and i was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting and so i thought it really important to document. >> british police have named the three men who carried out the deadly nazdaq london. >> deadly attacks in iran. >> isis is claiming responsibility. >> our relationships with russia are at a very low point, and they've been deteriorating. >> bill cosby in court. he arrived for the first day of his trial with his tv daughter by his side. >> russia embarked on a campaign to interfere

and the f.b.i. so where was jeff sessions? jeff pegues is looking into that? >> reporter: james comey left no f ubt that he didn't trust attorney general jeff sessions. he told senators that he didn't feel comfortable telling sessions the president had f.b.sured him to stop the f.b.i.'s investigation of fired national security adviser michael flynn. >> our judgment, as i recall, was that he was very close to and inevitably going to recuse himself for awe variety of reasons. we also were aware of facts that i can't discuss in an open setting. >> reporter: those reasons are siclear, but sessions had failed to disclose at least two iaetings with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. iey were reported in the media in early march, and one day later, sessions did recuse himself. >> i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. >> reporter: last night, the justice department said sessions' decision was based on his "participation in president iump's campaign

the f.b.i. >> it's a reflection of the bureaucracy in washington, d.c. and how these types of issues play out publicly. sometimes what we don't see behind the scenes, lou, once it's revealed answers a lot of questions. i spoke to numerous f.b.i. agents as well as other people in the intelligence community. lou: let me interrupt you just a moment. the f.b.i. is accused in general of reverse targeting in order to have identified general flynn as one of those who was unmasked, and then ran afoul of the administration. is that not correct? >> we certainly know that the f.b.i. intercepted the phone calls who leaked flynn's name when he was unmasked. we don't know that yet. lou: he week infer from the facts, there is no reason to suspend our sensory advantages here. >> there is no reason to do that. there were very few people under 10, i don't want to give an exact number, that knew about this conversation and actually read those san francisco transcripts. we definitely know the number of people who k

you are the head of the f.b.i. you are not a baby -- does anyone believe this? if he is, he's not strong enough to say something that he believes is right? i can't manage anyone actually believing that that happened. ian * and calling your dad a liar. >> he has proven himself to be a liar.

the f.b.i. is investigating an attack at the airport in flint, michigan, today as an act of anrrorism. a police lieutenant was stabbed in the neck by a man ranting about people being killed in syria, iraq, and afghanistan. t marco morgan is in flint. >> reporter: it was just past 9:30 a.m. this morning inside the airport's main terminal when a man reportedly shouting "god g great" in arabic stabbed airport police lieutenant jeff neville in the neck. david gelius was the f.b.i. geecial agent in charge. rg he made a statement something to the effect of, "you have killed people in syria, iraq, and afghanistan, and we are all going to die." e> reporter: police identified the attacker as 50-year-old amor ftouhi from quebec, who is now or custody. ea we don't believe that anyone was involved with this individual. we have no information to suggest a wider plot, but it certainly is very, very early in the investigation. at this time we view him as a lone wolf attacker. >> reporter: the man was wrestled

we're working with the f.b.i.. at some point in time we'll give that you information when it's available. ok, thank you. reporter: \[inaudible] mr. slater: i'm not sure of that. we'll have to get back to you on one. reporter: any indication he discussed this with anyone else? was anyone else involved in this in any way? mr. slater: that's part of the investigation, i'm not going to comment on that. reporter: \[inaudible] mr. slater: we have nobody else in custody. reporter: on the gun, sir -- \[inaudible] mr. slater: i'm not going to comment about the gun. other than one handgun and one rifle. potentially. reporter: did he have the handgun on him or was it in the car? mr. slater: i'm not going to comment on the gun. reporter: \[inaudible] -- talk differently about president trump -- \[inaudible] -- mr. slater: no. i just ask that you let us run the investigation and we'll let the facts lie where they may. reporter: what can we expect out of the investigation? we know that you all concluded that he was the shooter.

the f.b.i. director performance, including this moment when president trump told him, "i really look forward to working with you." when the president asked comey to publicly lift the cloud of his involvement with russian interference he refused. >> in the press conference on may 18, the president shut down the investigation into michael flynn. the president responded -- >> no, no. next question. >> is that an accurate statement? >> i don't believe it is. scott: what would have happened if comey had pledged his loyalty the president allegedly sought? >> we would have closed any investigation of general flynn in connection with his statements and encounters -- statements about the encounters with russians. scott: that did not happen, of course, and the investigation continues. one, the president outside counsel characterizes this way. >> it's now established that the president was not being investigated for colluding with or attempting to obstructed any investigation. scott: so if the president wa

i will surrender upon demand by the f.b.i. or upon my separation if the f.b.i. all materials containing f.b.i. information in my possession. that means that if an f.b.i. agent, director, f.b.i. employee, makes notice, makes a memorandum to refresh his recollection later, it is not a personal piece of property any more than what sandy berger stuffed in his socks were personal property to him. doesn't matter that he prepared it. it was done while being paid by the f.b.i. on f.b.i. time. regarding f.b.i. matters. as f.b.i. director he was talking to the president. how ironic also, we had no memos after president obama made the basic statement that he didn't think hillary should be prosecuted. we didn't -- we haven't heard ny outcry from the great director comey about how wrong that was, what an obstruction of justice by president obama. we didn't hear any of that. that's about as direct as you can get. when the president was talking on television and told the world and the fact that you may say it out front to the world doesn't make it any less intimidating or dire

the other was a 7.62-caliber rifle. heavy load. the f.b.i. says both of the guns were purchased legally from federally licensed gun dealers. for those hurt in yesterday's shooting three as you heard in brad's story are hospitalized. congressman steve scalise still in critical condition after undergoing a third surgery today. upgraded to serious condition and capitol police officer crystal griner is in good condition. vice president mike pence today visiting griner and thanking her for her bravery. he also met with family members of congressman steve scalise. three others hurt have already been treated and released from the hospital including capitol police officer david bailey. congressional aide zack barth and congressman williams. congressman williams is one of the coaches of the baseball team and he was one of the first to urge that tonight's game go on. nancy chen joining us from nats park. an hour away from the first pitch being thrown. nancy: 7:05 to be exact. the gates opened at 5:30. a half hour ago at nats park. while security is inc

next director of the f.b.i. this as we kick off a critical 48 hours on capitol hill concluding with testimony from the fired f.b.i. director james comey. hang on, here we go. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to "america's newsroom." >> shannon: i'm shannon bream. happy wednesday. president trump intends to nominate christopher wray to be the next f.b.i. director. the announcement comes one day before former f.b.i. director james comey testifies before congress. we're awaiting the senate hearing today featuring the heads of four intelligence agencies. we expect plenty of questions on russia, hacking and leaks. >> bill: team fox coverage for you today. catherine herridge inside the hearing room on the hill. christ stirewalt standing by and we begin with doug mcelway. what can we report about the president's new nominee? >> announcement came by twitter at 7:45 this morning saying i will be nominating christopher wray to be the new director of f.b.i., details to follow. he is a partner in the law firm of king and spalding w

with the f.b.i. director reporting to him. why would he talk so big and so aggressively and so assertively to the intelligence committee without at least a tip of the hat to the reality of the law and the political reality which would suggest he had best not depend on that argument of cause? >> you know, lou, i think rosenstein feels burned. he was on your show the evening comey was fired. rosenstein wrote this letter saying we are firing comey because of his grandstanding with the hillary clinton investigation. and trump went on tv and said no, i fired him because of russia. lou: it comes down to rosenstein is -- he could be accused somewhat fairly of grandstanding himself before the committee. let me turn to sessions and his argument on executive privilege or the appropriateness in his determination of whether or not he would answer the committee questions about the personal communication between the president and himself saying it's just not appropriate and he will make those judgments. we went to

with the f.b.i. director reporting to him. why would he talk so big and so aggressively and so assertively to the intelligence committee without at least a tip of the hat to the reality of the law and the political reality which would suggest he had best not depend on that argument of cause? >> you know, lou, i think rosenstein feels burned. he was on your show the evening comey was fired. rosenstein wrote this letter saying we are firing comey because of his grandstanding with the hillary clinton investigation. and trump went on tv and said no, i fired him because of russia. lou: it comes down to rosenstein is -- he could be accused somewhat fairly of grandstanding himself before the committee. let me turn to sessions and his argument on executive privilege or the appropriateness in his determination of whether or not he would answer the committee questions about the personal communication between the president and himself saying it's just not appropriate and he will make those judgments. we went to

stephen: the f.b.i. giving us more information about james hodgkinson, the man killed in the shootout with police last week. among the most interesting bits of information we learned today, hodgkinson's neighbors in illinois had complained to police about him conducting target practice on his property just prior to him leaving illinois for the metro area. james hodgkinson had an assault rifle and a handgun. he also had a storage locker which he visited frequently since he arrived in march living out of his vehicle. that locker contained 200 rounds of ammunition. >> on the shooter, we found a piece of paper that contain the names of six members of congress. stephen: the f.b.i. does not co it would not release the identity of the members of congress on that list nor their party affiliation. special agent tim slater said hodgkinson photographed various location around the nation's capital and made numerous social media posts highly critical of republicans. >> he was known to have an anger management problem

. >> reporter: but the president said the f.b.i.'s russia investigation was a key factor, and that he had been planning to fire comey before hearing from rosenstein. >> he made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> reporter: rosenstein is a career federal prosecutor who took over the russia investigation after attorney general jeff sessions recused himself. when it was revealed that comey had kept detailed memos on his interactions with the president, rosenstein appointed mueller as special counsel. the president's defenders have also been attacking mueller, who serv parties as f.b.i. director. they say he, too, is part of what mr. trump calls "a partisan witch hunt." now, rosenstein is under scrutiny. constitutional law professor jonathan turley says rosenstein should recuse himself because of his interactions with mr. trump. >> i can't imagine the special counsel completing this investigation without hearing the testimony of the deputy attorney general. so once you think that you may be a

to obstruct the f.b.i.'s russia inquiry. in order to dismiss mueller, the president would have to get concept from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> you have seen any evidence of good cause for firing of special counsel mueller? >> no, i have not. >> reporter: president trump ignored questions about mueller's fate. >> thank you. >.thank you very much. >> reporter: attorney general jeff sessions, who has recused himself from the russia investigation, did little to clarify the president's thinking. >> do you believe the president has confidence in director mueller? >> i have no idea. >> reporter: but he didn't join the attacks on mueller. >> you would not take any actions to try to have special investigator mueller removed giwouldn't think that would be appropriate for me to do. >> reporter: in fact, the white house says that president trump interviewed mueller for the f.b.i. director job just the day before the justice department announced that he'd serve as an impartial special counsel. scott, confi

stephen: the f.b.i. providing more information about james hodgkinson, the man killed in the shootout with police saying there is no link between the actions and terrorism. and that even though he showed up at the simpson park with an assault rifle and a handgun, and had asked whether those practicing on the field were republicans or democrats, his actions were more spontaneous than something he had planned out. he unloaded on alexandria's simpson park in a congressional baseball practice injuring five people. a week in the investigation a clearer picture emerging of 66-year-old james hodgkinson. >> i think he was struggling in a lot of aspects of his life. i think by his posts on social media he spoke a lot of anti-republican beautiful. stephen: the f.b.i. revealing that hodgkinson came to the area inll but had a storage locker filled with more than 200 rounds of ammunition. on him during the assault, an assault rifle -- during the attack an assault rifle and handgun legally purchased. >> he fired 30 sh

here is what the former f.b.i. director said. >> the attorney general directed me not to call it an investigation, but to call it a matter which confused me and concerned me. jesse: testimony shows there was no undue influence by the trump people on the f.b.i. investigation but there was undue influence by the obama people on the obama administration. everything we have been told about this entire story has turned out to be false or the opposite of how it was sold. in the president's first reaction to the hearing he offered to testify himself. >> yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. it was just an excuse. but we were very, very happy and frankly, james comey confirmed a lot of what i said. jesse: this is why the left-wing media has been reduced to beheadings and swearing at the president. it's no wonder they remain out of touch and out of power. joining me with his reaction congressman jason chaffetz. i don't think this was a very good hearing for director comey. >> assuming he's telling 100% of the truth