senator leahy: i don't know. the republicans have to decide whether they want to be raise it or they want the united states, the greatest, most powerful, wealthiest nation on evident, to go into default. >> will the democrats hold up the debt ceiling vote? senator leahy: i would like to see an up or down vote on it. here are a lot of things where we have to come together. for example, we have this investigation into russia. almost every day new material comes out showing how heavily involved russia was in our election. they are not interested in us. they are interested in having control here. we've got to have more public hearings. general flynn has taken the fifth, i understand that. attorney general sessions was supposed to assigned to different committees and he backed out. let's let the american public find out and that's something that both parties want to see. >> in terms of the investigation into russia, it sounds like in some instances, the federal end of this thing which will be run by former fbi directo

but as senator leahy said, they will at least try. >> finally, senator leahy, the former chair of the judiciary committee and former prosecutor had this advice for the trump administration on a travel ban -- let it go. how will that be received as the trump administration thursday had another set of bad news from the federal court? >> yeah, if they bring us to the supreme court, do they want to take that risk? >> and how many republicans are backing the president on this? this issue as it has been challenged in court has not been embraced by republicans on capitol hill. it does not seem like an issue that they want to go to town over. >> but it was a big campaign promise by president trump to ensure the safety of americans by having more stringent vetting, etc. >> we are in a heightened time of terrorism. >> that's been happening unfortunately on a regular basis. i think it's an issue he may push to the supreme court. of course with justice gorsuch, it is the scales back in favor of a more conservative court. they may make that gamble. >> it is memorial week. we think we will have a q

>> c-span's guest on "newsmakers" is senator patrick leahy. use the ranking democratic member of the senate appropriations committee, and a member and one-time chair of the senate judiciary committee. he is the dean of the senate which means he is the longest-serving in this summit in the fifth longest-serving senator in u.s. history. thank you for being with us. senator leahy: thank you very much. >> let me introduce our reporters, the chief congressional correspondent and -- for the washington examiner and the congressional reporter for the los angeles times and chicago tribune. both returning to our set today. thanks her being here. as we start this thursday afternoon, we have just heard the trump travel ban has had another downturn in the federal court. i'm wondering what your reaction is to this and is this headed for the supreme court? sen. leahy: it's interesting. the ninth circuit already knocked it down. now the fourth circuit has knocked it down. this next one is a more liberal circuit and knocked it down. a more conservative one kno

senator leahy: we have two different things. special counsel does their investigation. they have tools and abilities that congress might not have, but the american public has every reason to wonder what is happening to our government. are we being manipulated by russia, a country that does not have our best interest at heart, that's what we have to ask. reporter: senator cornyn. reporter: senator cornyn, do you have a mement, sir? -- moment, sir? your takeaway? senator cornyn: we got done with a very important briefing from the deputy attorney general who appointed robert mueller, the forer director of the f.b.i. to head up the investigation into the russian issue. one of the issues i raised with him is my concern that we have multiplicity of congressional committees investigating this same matter and how can we best coordinate those activities with director mueller and the f.b.i. so we don't inadvertently interfere or impede his investigation? we understand the importance of the executive branch and director mueller has special counsel doing this investigation. we don'

c-span, newsmakers is next with senator patrick leahy of vermont. then john kelly testifies before congress on the president's 2018 budget request. at 8:00, our conversation with counterterrorism and intelligence officer malcolm nance on q&a. >> c-span's guest on "newsmakers" is senator patrick leahy.

matthew leahy, a bright, sporty student. in his teens, he began smoking cannabis and having hallucinations. by 2012, his mental health had spiralled. matthew was a patient at the linden centre, run by the north essex partnership trust. a week after being admitted, the centre phoned his mum. as you could tell, that was the wrong report. we will bring you that on that mental health unit in essex. but let's return to the electoral commission. the electoral commission says seven million people haven't yet registered to vote in next month's general election. there's been a spike in the amount of young people registering, before tonight's deadline. jonathan blake has been looking at the numbers. the deadline to register to vote is coming up at midnight tonight so, first of all, let's remind ourselves of who exactly is eligible to vote in the general election. if you are 18 years or over and you're a british citizen, then you can vote. citizens from some commonwealth countries living in the uk are also eligible. as for the number w

senator leahy: the ninth circuit already knocked it down. this next one is a more liberal circuit and knocked it down. there is not a split in the circuits so you don't have an automatic, it will not automatically go to the supreme court. question the administration has asked itself -- do they really want this to go to the supreme court?

senator patrick leahy from the senate judiciary committee joins us next. stay with us. it's an important question you ask,

i'm also pleased that senator leahy, vice chairman of the full committee has gin joined us. the department of homeland security plays a pittal role in keeping americans safe by working to combat terrorism, manage our air, land, and sea borders, administrate migration laws, administer cyberassets. the event in manchester,

senator leahy. senator leahy: secretary kelly, i won't start off discussions about building the wall asking if the check is in the mail from mexico. you can keep watching the mail, i don't think it's being seventh by express mail. now on the campaign trail, president trump promised his supporters a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. he's taken office -- since taking office he's twice tried to block individuals from six muslim majority countries from trying to enter our country. the practical effect of that, it actually has an effect on vermont's economy. we border canada. one vermonter recently wrote to me about the toronto school district's ban on student trips to the united states because of what's been said about muslims. this vermonter writes, vermont relies heavily on student destination trips as a driver of the more than $3 billion the tourism sector generates within the state. this is a state of only 625,000 people so the $3 billion is a big factor. other vermo

matthew leahy, a bright, sporty student. in his teens, he began smoking cannabis and having hallucinations. by 2012, his mental health had spiralled. there'd been a situation with his father, and the police were called and he was admitted to hospital. i was told, "don't come and see him for seven days, let him settle onto the ward," so i respected that. i never got to see my son again. matthew was a patient at the linden centre, run by the north essex partnership trust. a week after being admitted, the centre phoned his mum. actually this is the day the lies began. the phone rang, it was about 1:30, 1:15, and the doctor... just said, er... "matthew's been found hanging, it doesn't look good." i couldn't breathe, ifell to the floor on my knees, and my partner took the rest of the call. and there he was on the trolley, and the next instruction was, "do not touch, he's a crime scene." and i asked, "could i take a cutting of his hair?" "no, you're not allowed to touch, he's a crime scene." just 20 when he died, at his inquest th

leahy: let me ask you this. during your investigation into hillary clinton's emails, a number of surrogates like rudy giuliani claim to have a pipeline to the fbi. he boasted "numerous agents talk to him all the time regarding the investigation." he even insinuated he had advance warning about the emails described in your october letter. former fbi agent jim calstrom made similar claims. now either they are lying or there is a serious problem within the bureau. anybody in the fbi during this 2016 campaign have contact with rudy giuliani about the clinton investigation? dir. comey: i do not know yet but if i find out that people were leaking information about our investigations whether to reporters or private parties, there will be severe consequences. dir. comey: -- sen. leahy: did you know anything from the agent? dir. comey: same answer. i do not know yet. sen. leahy: any other former agents? dir. comey: i do not know yet but it is a matter i am interested in. sen. leahy: you are looking into it. dir. comey: c

. >> i'm joined by patrick leahy. his committee will oversee the next fbi director's nomination. thank you for joining me. >> i sympathize with miss welker on the allergies. >> you're getting it done in washington. it hasn't quite moved up here to new york quite yet. the president, as i'm sure you know, suggested last week that he might have tapes of the conversation that he had with the former fbi director james comey. what is your reaction? >> if he has tapes, let's hear what he said. if his conversation was with mr. comey that i want you loyal to me, not to the rule of law, then that's a very serious question. >> do you plan on asking to subpoena? asking for a subpoena for those tapes? >> if there are tiapes, they should be turned over. if not, we have what they did during nixon years west subpoena them. >> how do you get confirmation on if they exist? >> well, apparently you're not going to get it from the president's spokesperson. he sounds more like he's trying out for "saturday night live" at the press conference. has the far more serious thing than a comedy show. this is

leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent to proceed as in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, yesterday we received president trump's first budget submission. he calls it a new foundation for american greatness. well, that might get an award for fiction, but it couldn't be further from the truth. instead of building a foundation for the american people, it pulls the rug out from under them. this budget has to be understood as something more than just a photo op with a spoken on the cover of the budget. you know, the president's budget displays a fundamental lack of understanding of the rule of government of, by, and for the people and supporting the middle class, in lifting up the most vulnerable among us, and serving our values and interests as a nation. it proposes to cut nondefense discretionary spending by over $1.5 trillion. that's $1,5 00,000,000,000 over ten years, including a $260 billion cut by 2027. that would be a 40% cut to nondefense prog

. >> so strong words there, of course, and we also heard from patrick leahy. he was a former chairman of a committee. he said on twitter "this is what obstruction looks like" and he quoted that quote in the article that says that donald trump said i face great pressure because of russia, that's taken off. >> in a couple of moejts we'll get some answers. now ri678d blumenthal who sits on the judiciary committee, senator, second time we've spoken this week. you heard someone quote. i'll say it again. "i just fired the head of the fbi. he was crazy, a real nut job. i faced great pressure by russia. that's taken off. kwoilts that's what he said to the russian ambassador. >> it is sadly, tragically for our nation, mounting evidence of obstruction of justice. not proof, but evidence that has to be put together in a mosaic that could lead to charges. the president shoovbl putting pressure on the russians because they interfered in our election. there is bipartisan consensus that the russians meddled in our democratic institutions in an unprecedentsed scope and scale

hairman leahy, said he was going to make sure the blue slip process was not abused. that is pretty much my position as well. i think it is very important that the white house work very closely with senators, both republican and democrat, but particularly those states where they have two democratic senators. and i think a big factor for me is the extent to which those democratic senators make sure that they have adequate communication with the white house. and then, there is another division. i think the blue slip is more respected for district or judges than it has been for circuit. in the case of circuit, going way back to ronald reagan, i can tell you that senator grassley and then senator jepson suggested someone for he eighth circuit. we got a phone call that said they decided to go with somebody else. it is much more a white house ecision on circuit judges than the district court judges. so, then, that would lead me to say -- this is going to be an individual case-by-case the district court judges. decision, but it leads me to say that there is going to have to

democratic senator patrick leahy shared a link to the report on twitter, saying in his own words, "this is what obstruction looks like." republican congressman scott taylor isn't so sure.rep. scott taylor, (r-va): "of course, there is context with text, and we don't know the context of the meeting itself and what he was trying to do. we don't know that, of course." white house press secretary sean spicer didn't refute the story when responding to it, friday, but said -- quote -- "the president has always emphasized the importance of making deals with russia as it relates to syria, ukraine, defeating isis and other key issues..."...spicer then added, "james comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with russia."grant lodes kron4 news (pam) an east oakland phone store has been robbed in broad daylight several times since last month... and the management staff has now had enough. it is happening at the metro p-c-s store on 38th avenue and international. take a look at surveillance video. you can see groups of young people swarm into the store .. and go after

senator leahy, over to you. comey. back, director you mentioned that you liked this -- of course, last year we didn't have an annual meeting. last year, it has been, i think, last year is the first time in 15 years that the fbi did not testify before this committee. but a lot has happened in the last year and a half, as noted. senator feinstein noted that americans across the country have been confused and disappointed by your judgment in handling the investigation into secretary clinton's e-mails . on a number of occasions, you chose to comment directly and extensively on that investigation. you even released internal fbi memos and interview notes. i may have missed this, but in my 42 years here, i have never seen anything like that. but you said actually nothing in regard to the investigation into the trump campaign's connections to russia's illegal efforts to help elect donald trump. was it appropriate for you to comment on one investigation repeatedly, not say anything about the other? >> i think so. can i explain,

. >> c-span's guest on "newsmakers" is senator patrick leahy. he is a member from one-time chairman a senate judiciary committee and the dean of the senate which means he is the longest-serving in this summit in the fifth longest-serving senator in u.s. history, thank you for being with us. senator leahy: thank you very much. >> let me introduce our reporters, the chief congressional correspondent and the congressional reporter for the "los angeles times" and "chicago tribune." thanks her being here. as we start this thursday afternoon, we have just heard the trump travel ban has had another downturn in the federal court. i'm wondering what your

leahy: thank you. madam president, i couldn't help but think with the discussions earlier today that the president's dismissal of f.b.i. director james comey is so inappropriate that it's hard to know where to begin. in less than four months, this president has pushed our country to the edge of a constitutional crisis, a crisis that in many ways seems more complex, potentially more threatening than the one instigated by president nixon's order to fire the special prosecutor who was investigating watergate. now, first i think we can easily dismiss president trump's transparent pretext for dismissing f.b.i. director comey. president trump claims to have removed the f.b.i. director because of his unfair treatment of secretary clinton. this does not pass the laugh test, and we know it's not true. president trump celebrated director comey's mistakes in handling the clinton young people investigation. he encouraged leaks from the f.b.i. he pressed director comey to release more embarrassing evidence. he even

senator patrick leahy from the senate judiciary committee joins us next. stay with us. it's an important question you ask, but one i think with a simple answer. we have this need to peek over our neighbor's fence. and once we do, we see wonder waiting. every step you take, narrows the influence of narrow minds. bridges continents and brings this world one step closer. so, the question you asked me. what is the key? it's you. everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges. >>> welcome back. let's stick with the politics lead. while president trump is on a busy trip overseas, back at home congressional inve

leahy: thank you. madam president, i couldn't help but think with the discussions earlier today that the president's dismissal of f.b.i. director james comey is so inappropriate that it's hard to know where to begin. in less than four months, this president has pushed our country to the edge of a constitutional crisis, a crisis that in many ways seems more complex, potentially more threatening than the one instigated by president nixon's order to fire the special prosecutor who was investigating watergate. now, first i think we can

the chairman and ranking members of the house-senate appropriations committee, particularly senator leahy from vermont, in our chamber. i want to thank speaker ryan and leader pelosi and all of the staffs for working so hard last week and over the weekend to forge an agreement. and i must tell you, mr. president, and i must tell my colleagues, the negotiations between our two sides were consistently productive and always respectful. throughout the process, both republican and democratic members and staff negotiated in good faith because we all wanted to get something done. i believe this experience bodes well for the 2018 budget and future negotiations between our two parties on appropriations. if we can show the same desire to get things done, the same mutual respect, the same ability to compromise, we can get a darned good budget for the year 2018 without the specter of government shutdown hanging over the country's head. and i would say one final thing. it shows that when our republican colleagues are willing to work with us, we can get things done. all too often, particularly from the

mueller -- senator leahy?. >> was just take away. i will go into the briefing itself or the questions and it but i felt before the briefing that the public deserves the oversight by the congress and how russia tries to influence our country is still tries to influence our country could be dangerous robert mahler is a good man and an honest man with integrity i have known him for years. i think that was very critical for him it does not mean that the job is done. >> do they make that independent investigation?. >> they have two different things that congress may not have but the public has every reason to wonder what has happened to our government to be manipulated by russia that does not have our best interest at heart. >> senator?. >> we just got through with a very important briefing with the spent the major role former director into the russian issue one of the issues raised with him is my concern that we have multiplicity of congressional committees investigating the same matter and how could we best coordinate those activities w

the fbi worked closely with the champlain college's leahy building. it was a textbook collaboration between state, local, and federal authorities. and i want to thank all those. it turned out to be a very disturbed young man who was doing it. but you only have to turn on the tv and see what happens in different parts of country. >> thank you, senator graham will be next. we'll go to senator cornyn. >> good morning, director comey. i'm disappointed to see that former secretary of state hillary clinton was in the news yesterday, essentially blaming you and blaming everything other than herself for her loss on november the 8th. i find it ironic because you're not the one who made the decision to handle classified information on a private e-mail server. you're not the one who decided to have a private meeting with secretary clinton's husband in the middle of the justice department's ongoing investigation into secretary clinton's server. i used the word "investigation" here because according to a recent piece in "the new york times" you were forbidden from

muller [inaudible] senator leahy, do you have a comment? >> what is your take away from the briefing? >> i won't go into the briefings or any of the questions, but i felt before i went to the briefing that the public deserves a strong [inaudible] how russia has tried to influence our country and whether they still try to influence our country is dangerous. is a good man and an honest man and he's a person of integrity and i've known him for years. the appointment of robert muller was a very good one. it does not mean the congress should now say our debt job is done, we don't have to investigate this. we really do >> does it make the investigation tougher going forward? >> no i think it's two different things. they have tools and abilities that the congress may not have, but the american public has every reason to wonder what is happening to our government. are we being manipulated by russia, a country that does not have our best interest at heart. that's what we have to answer >> senator cornyn you have a moment >> what's your take away >>

through him we want to play you the response to this from the senator from vermont, patrick leahy. >> our allies, they tell us where their sources are, they assume we are never going to release it. they may have worked for years to develop the source. they also know if the sources revealed, that source may have a very short life left. it's just never, ever done. it would be almost inconceivable that any president would allow something of that nature out, anything that would disclose sources and methods. those are things we protect. >> james: it sounds like even patrick leahy, democratic senator from vermont, takes this "washington post" article with some skepticism, saying it's inconceivable any president would do what the article alleges. we are awaiting a briefing at the white house. you can see the press corps there, including john roberts. a briefing from general mcmaster of the white house national security advisor. bearing in mind that the trump administration and rex tillerson has already said that of the conversations between the president and russian foreign minister, no sour

matthew leahy, a bright, sporty student. in his teens, he began smoking cannabis and having hallucinations. by 2012, his mental health had spiralled. matthew was a patient at the linden centre, run by the north essex partnership trust. a week after being admitted, the centre phoned his mum. and the doctor... just said, er... "matthew's been found hanging, it doesn't look good." i couldn't breathe, ifell to the floor on my knees. just 20 when he died, at his inquest the jury recorded an open verdict. each patient supposedly has a care plan, and it came to light that matthew had no care plan, he had no key worker, no—one knew, for two days there wasn't even any observation sheets, so where was he? the police report says, "matthew was taken to a place of safety." it was the most unsafe place he could have been. i remember him texting me, "mum, please let me come home, i'm in hell here." the inquestjury said matthew had been subjected to a series of multiple failings and missed opportunities over a long period of time. after t

advice chairman leahy. >> thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member tester and chairman cochran for the opportunity. a couple brief opening remarks. secretary kelly, thank you for being here today. there are many issues to discuss, not the least of which is top of today's hearing, the budget's -- president's budget proposal which is just delivered to us on tuesday, including his plans for the department of homeland security. secretary kelly, i've known you a long time and been an ood o admirer of yours. i knew you when you were in the marine corps. so i will do what marines were expected to do, speak frankly. i think this budget proposal can be summed up pretty quickly, abysmal. i'm not surprised that the budget before us proposes billions of taxpayers dollars to build a misguided wall on the southern border to fund the president's deportation force. executive orders man dagt these things were among the first things that president trump did when he took office. now, the orders may have fulfilled a promise on the campaign tr

mueller is going to -- [inaudible] >> senator leahy, any comments? >> what's your take away from the briefing? >> i won't go into the briefing itself or any other questions in it, but i felt before he went to the briefing that the public deserves a strong, open public oversight by the congress, and how russia has tried to impose our country and whether still tries to influence our country because that would be dangerous. we should go ahead with that. in no way detracts from what robert mueller will do. he's a good man. he's an honest man, a person of integrity. i've known him for years. i think the appointment of robert mueller was a very, very good one. but as good as that appointment is -- [inaudible] it does not mean that congress -- look, our job is done, we don't have to investigate this. we really do. >> does it make of the independent investigation going tougher going forward? >> no. i think with two different things, the special counsel do their investigation. they of tools and abilities that congress might not have, but the american public h

leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i note that the chairman and i are well aware of how well it does when we can each take one of these bills. that's what we should do. you know, i mentioned this when the vermonters were here last weekend, when marcel and i hosted them. so many had driven through the night to join the hundreds of thousands of people in the nation's capital for the climate march. and many of them asked, why can't we do it the way we used to? i told them we were ready to go to all theil

newsmakers this week talked with patrick leahy the top democrat on the appropriations committee about the president his first budget. here's what senator leahy said on the budget and appropriations process going forward. >> i like appropriations. i like the mechanics of it and i like the fact that we often work in a bipartisan fashion. but yet a bill through, as you know, just a month ago to make sure we didn't have a shutdown was entirely different than what the white house said as we were negotiating. they were long negotiations, bipartisan negotiations. the white house had these dram dramatic cuts unless there's money to build the the wall along the mexican border they

leahy: another area, mr. president, every day seems to bring new disturbing revelations involving this president and his administration. i almost hesitate to say every day because sometimes it's every hour. yesterday's report that the president pressured former f.b.i. director comey to terminate the ongoing investigation into michael flynn is extraordinary. if it's true, of course it raises questions of obstruction of justice. now, the notion that the russia investigation could be led by a political appointee of this president who serves at the pleasure of this president is preposterous. yet senate republicans have attempted to justify deputy attorney rosenstein's failure to appoint a special counsel. their arguments are wrong. i'm going to take a few minutes to explain why. understand what happened. the president says he fired james comey because james comey wouldn't pledge loyalty to him. apparently pledging loyalty to the rule of law was not as important. most americans don't care whether the director of t

here on the stage with -- a human rights activists, brian lacey in the creative arts, senator patrick leahy, and a leading marine biologist. in the interest of time, i did not describe the challenges that currently face our nation. from a security perspective alone, i think it is fair to say the challenges we face today are as complex and difficult as any we faced since world war ii. the pace of change is unprecedented. navigating in the days ahead will require leadership. your generation of leadership will play an increasingly important role. our education system, our military, the public and private sector, all need strong, value-based leadership. as graduates of st. michael's, i believe you are uniquely capable of providing that leadership. i will close by making a simple request regardless of where life takes you, have the moral courage to do what is right even when it is tough. commit to being something bigger than yourself whether it is in your professional life or your personal life. remember the ethics instilled here at st. michael's and bring that forth with you as you go to throug

christine leahy's perfect response to stay in yo lane. we just got the keys to our new house! we got the keys! ahhh! wooo! this is exciting we've got our own house! yeah! i'm sorry do you like it here maddie? i love you. i love you too. >>> good morning, everybody here's a live look, sun glare, accident, eastbound on the 30 bypass right here near 322, we went from the heavy thunder boomer last night, flooding, to wicked sun glare for ride in this morning. hopefully that sun will dry everything out quickly for morning rush hour, drying it out on i-95, not bad at all to day we will see unusual traffic patterns, folks started the holiday weekend, they will take a half day and move in or out of town. septa running with minor delays on the first few trains out of the gay. patco high speed line running with the special schedule. heading to the shore on the way to cape may we will start to sing along between 12 and two when we will see increased volume, flash bag friday let me take you back, to the wildwood boardwalk, one year ago. lets take a listen. >> watch the tram car. >> watch

senator patrick leahy. >> was it appropriate for you to come on one investigation repeatedly and not say anything about the other? >> i think so. >> reporter: comey said attorney general loretta lynch forced his hand when she had an impromptu meeting with former president bill clinton during the investigation. >> her meeting with president clinton on that airplane was the capper for me. and i then said you know what, the department cannot by itself credibly end this. the best chance we have is if i do something i never imagined before. step away from them and tell the american people, look, here's what the fbi did. here's what we found, here's what we think. >> the fbi doesn't always have a difficult time keeping secrets. take the case of daniella green who was a fbi translator who marrieden someone in isis. >> reporter: back in 2014, the fbi here in detroit assigned daniella green as an interpreter on its investigation of dennis cusspert. a top recruiter for isis. but six months later she was married to him in syria. ♪ >> repr:orte dennis cusspert made a name for himself as a rapp

features include author of the admiral, leahy and king. the five star admirals who won the war at seas. honestly of a code breaker that outwitted admin will -- at midway. timothy, co-author of never call homer heart --ve pilot. on c-span3.iversary next, a panel discussion on millennials and socialism. with history and english professors in pennsylvania. the first speaker explores the early stages and the passing of the pure feud and drug act of 1906. -- food and drug act of 1906. second argues for literacy materials to explore essentialism. -- socialism. later a panelist talks about how millennials use spoken word poetry for some discretion. -- for self-expression. the center for vision and values at grove city college hosted this hour-long event, which was part of a conference titled " the god that failed coming in some and socialism then and now. " >> good afternoon everyone. my name is kyle george stead. i have to say, it would not be a true visit back without al stereotypical brain, nice to see most of your made it dry.

patrick leahy calling it nothing less than nixonian. joining us now is former assistant special watergate prosecutor and former assistant u.s. attorney. former ambassador norm eisen and also cnn contributor and laura coates. let me begin with you given your history with watergate and all things nixonian. look at "the new york times" then, and look at the front page of "the new york times" today. is this nixonian as many democrat dechls are saying? >> look, it's clearly nixonian to the extent that what the president is doing is firing the person who is in charge of an investigation into him. there's no question that the parallel is there. there are some important differences, though. the good news is that the fbi is an ongoing institution. the people who are there doing this investigation are going to continue the investigation no matter what happens to james comey. he's not a critical part of this investigation whereas with the watergate prosecution force there was just a small group of us that were the prosecutors. when archie cox was