saying he was asked to shutdown the flynn investigation. asking i hope you can let this go. he's a good guy. i hope you can let this go. cnn has not seen the memo. the story first reported by "the new york times." the story said flynn did nothing wrong despite being fired. sources tell cnn the encounter happened after the briefing involving vp mike pence and attorney general jeff sessions. comey was so appalled by the president's comments, he documented the exchange. one of a number of memos he wrote out of concern that the president was trying to stop the investigation. the white house flatly denying the allegations saying the president has never asked mr. comey or anyone else to end any investigation. this is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the

conversation with the president and mr. comey. in a tweet last week, president trump threatened or warned comey about potential tapes of the conversatio conversations. tapes comey hopes exist to corroborate his account. the meeting happened one day after flynn was fired and two weeks after the president summoned comey to a dinner at the white house, reportedly asking him to pledge loyalty. comey refused. three months later, comey was fired. the president said russia was on his behind when he made that decision. >> when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story. >> reporter: on capitol hill, top congressional leaders stunned at the latest bombshell and largely silent. >> i think they are shaken and shellshocked by this news. >> reporter: one republican, the chair of the house oversight

committee. jason c jason chaffetz is requesting a subpoena for all information between comey and president. house speaker paul ryan added we need to have all of the facts. >> i saw that speaker ryan said things about getting to the bottom line. i think he should be more aggressive. this is not a type fime for republicans to hide. >> reporter: both demanding an immediate investigation as a growing number of lawmakers calling for comey to testify as soon as possible. a move the sources say the former fbi director supports. >> the country is being tested in unprecedented ways. history is watching. >> if these allegations, senator, are crtrue, are we getting closer to the

possibility of another impeachment process? >> reluctantly, wolf, i have to say yes simply because of obstruction of justice is a serious offense. >> reporter: this crisis comes after the white house spent tuesday trying to clean up the fallout from another damaging disclosure that the president shared highly classified information with top russian officials in a meeting in the oval office. cnn has been told the information came from israeli intelligence. the president is expected to visit both jerusalem and bethlehem as part of his tour on friday. sets up the possibility of more drama while the president and top aides are on the road. chris and alisyn. >> joe, thank you very much. members on both sides of the aisle want to say james comey's memo. even if a subpoena is needed. cnn's justice correspondent evan

perez is in washington. what have you learned? >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. the bad news for the president is there are more memos to be revealed according to people close to james comey. he is known to document big moments in tenure. a source told pamela brown that the fired director shared e-mails close to him about major conversations he had with donald trump. particularly those that he felt left him uneasy. the conversation left comey concerned that the president was trying to stop the investigation. comey also wrote memos after other discussions with the president. congress has asked the fbi to turnover memos and e-mails that comey may have written. the white house and president, however, are disputing how comey described the conversation. it will be comey's word versus the president. one surfacing from critics of james comey is why didn't he say something earlier before he was

fired. his friends say comey didn't pa want to affect the ongoing russia investigation. chris and alisyn, he insured the comments did not get back to agents conducting the investigation. >> evan, thank you. let's bring in the panel. david gregory. legal analyst jefferey toobin ad editor at large, chris cillizza. david gregory, where are we in terms of gravity of chrrisis? >> we are in the deep end of the pool. this is a serious situation. for me, i think this is a time of reckoning for republicans in congress. they have to make a decision to what extent they are going to rein the president in and what extent they will investigate what it is he is up to with regard to the russia investigation and why and how he has allowed his self destructive

insecure personality to sabotage the presidency. he is showing open contempt and reckless disregard for the institutions of the country. that is at the heart of the dealings with james comey. that has to be dealt with. there is another aspect. somehow, president trump whose vast experience involves real estate and build golf courses and hotels thought he could come to washington and pick a street fight with the fbi of the . he is learning he can't do that. he is learns people write notes and memos and the empire strikes back. >> i think you are on to something. chris, build on that if you can. president trump was going to do things differently. the same rules didn't apply. obviously his supporters liked that very much. he was able to break through washington bureaucracy. he, possibly thought, he could go to the director of the fbi

and make his wishes known. there are still rules that apply and they have serious consequences. >> that is right, alisyn. remember, the campaign that he ran was effectively -- campaigns are not governed by a lot of laws in terms of what you say. he said lots of things that if he had been president would have gotten him in a lot of trouble. during the campaign and a campaign most people didn't think he would win, i don't want to say he got a pass, but he was able to weather those things. i think donald trump brought this business perspective where, you know, hey, if somebody is doing something you don't like, bring them in. talk to them. that works in business. there are laws against that sort of thing for good reason. when you are president of the united states. we talked about this in context. donald trump is, let's remember, the first person ever elected with no military experience or

prior governing experience. that was seen in his favor during the campaign. he doesn't know how this stuff works and frankly he has shown it and has little interest in learning how government works. i think he says and does things in public and private the way he would do in business. there are rules against that. the one thing that would suggest he is not blindly blundering in is jeff sessions and james comey before the one-on-one, allegedly, with james comey where he said he wanted the russia and flynn thing to go away. that would suggest a level of savvy planning and knowing he probably shouldn't be doing what he was doing. that belies he blunders into it and doesn't know better. >> i'm small to paint all business men in the same broush. these are unique to him and

going on a long time. he is well known in political circles for exercising influence. we should not be surprised with that. the difference between words and deeds. you can say all of the crazy things. now that we see actions, if he did try to stop this investigation, if that is why he fired james comey, we keep talking about it legally. is this obstruction of justice? what is the reality here in terms of what needs to happen to trigger the likely consequence which is impeach pmenmentimpeac indictment? >> people should realize that in a criminal courtroom, the decision of whether to try and convict someone of a violation of title 18 united states code section 183 is not the issue. the issue is did this person violate the law and is this person fit to be president?

however, that judgment will be made based on evidence. and, you know, as compelling and important as this story was originally in "the new york times" and then recoported on c. there is more to come out. what do the memos say? as we have been discussing. contemporaneous notes are very good evidence of what went on in that conversation. these memos exist in the world some day somewhere. we will see them sooner rather than later. the other point is are there tapes? donald trump insinuated there were tapes. if there are tapes, we will see them. i'm sorry, david. >> no, he is barrelling down the highway as he has for a long time. america is not a court of law. america is not an impeachment proceeding. america will take this in. people doing their oversight

with executive branch will take this in. this is wholly consistent with what donald trump said for months. the same issue with the birther nonsense law that launched him into the campaign and the issue with hillary clinton. i remember being in the spot saying he marinates in authoritarian thinking. he is meeting with erdogan. he has nothing but show of contempt for the idea that russia could manipulate america and electoral system or him. he could be subject to it, too. he just is thinking about his legitimacy and what makes him look bad and insecurity. now a white house shakeup? it is him. this is his destructiveness. this is where we have to say

this is a highly politicized environment. let's focus on digging deep on the areas we have to protect. that is the point of reckoning for republicans. >> chris, one of the questions this morning is who will americans believe? james comey or donald trump? as you may recall, the acting fbi director after james comey was fired, andrew mccabe went before congress last week and he said that no one had impeded their investigation. listen to this. >> has the dismissal of mr. comey in my way impeded, interrupted, stopped or negatively impacted any of the work, any investigation or anything ongoing projects at the federal bureau of investigation? >> the work of the men and women of the fbi continues despite any changes in circumstance or any decisions. there has been no effort to impede our investigation to

date. >> okay. chris, is it possible are we learning that james comey did not share his memo with anybody? >> that is my first impression. we don't know how widely this was share. it is possible that andrew mccabe hasn't seen it. rubio's question is is there anything in the dismissal of james comey that has impeded the investigation. obviously this stuff happened well before james comey was dismissed. again, jeff keeps making this point. the legal front is not what's eventually going to take the lead here. it will be the political front. you have to listen like a lawyer, i think, although i did not go to law school like my mom wanted me to. you have to listen like a lawyer because the language and tense and just like h.r. mcmaster denying things that were in the

reporting of what donald trump told the russians. listen carefully. that is about the dismissal. we don't know how widely this was distributed. one other point here, alisyn, you asked who will america believe. lots of america will believe donald trump because they will believe whatever donald trump says. that is beside the point. the issue is what does the comey memo say? the are there tapes? there is actual evidence that will be produced here. >> you know what that means if nothing else? time. districaction of governing and x relief and the issues of the white house. i can't believe the president hasn't tweeted yet. comey wants to come in. chaffetz wants the hearing. what does the president say in the interim? this is time.

>> this is time. also in a 24-hour environment, it has been strikig that the white house has said nothing except the single statement which is a white house statement denying comey's version. >> they say it didn't happen. >> where's kellyanne conway? where's sean spicer? nobody has come out to defend him. >> because when you lie, you lose your credibility. nobody can be believed. who knows? i think we have to add to this discussion the outrageous necessary of the silence from republicans. insert president hillary clinton into this sentence and you know the independent prosecutor would need a vacation at this point because he or she would be working so long. it is ridiculous that republicans are citisit sitting.

come on. get in the game. get in the war. start doing your job here to oversee and rein in what is going on to get to the bottom of it. >> things are happening. we will tell our viewers about what republicans are doing and if the comey memo is the last straw for them who have been standing with president trump. . everng i did circled around that cigarette when i started taking the chantix that urge just slowly diminished and it was a great and empowering feeling. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if

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the james comey memo has washington in a frenzy. joining us again is david gregory and jefferey toobin and chris cillizza. in the past 48 hours, something has shifted. by the way, 40 minutes from now, the house freedom caucus is having an emergency meeting at the behest of justin demosh. things are percolating. >> i'm not rushing into the legal and political issues of the obstruction of justice. that will play itself out. this situation is grave enough to focus on what is ahead of us. from the political point of view, republican leaders and rank and file have to consider why they are in congress. to pass legislation and pass law and to act as appropriate check and balance in the system. you have a president who clearly shows, as i said before,

reckless disregard and contempt for the checks and balance system. the issue where he can sweet talk a deal. they have to get around the agenda which is completely thrown overboard and if they had any opportunity to work with democrats, that is really gone. as well as providing oversight. jason chaffetz. get in the game. he is now mr. independent. play it out. >> he is one of the few. he asked for documents to be contained and delivered to the oversight committee. chris cillizza, to david's point, this sets up republicans for a hobson choice. there is no issue things have changed. of course things have changed. what he did in the intel meeting

with the russians and what he did with comey and what he did with comey in respect. it is all deed. it is setting up as a hobson choice. they will come down to doing one thing or nothing which is checking the president and owning the mandate of their party and responsibility to their party constituents. as plain as that sounds, why aren't we seeing that? >> two things. one and you won't like these, chris. i talked to a bunch of republicans in the last 72 hours. i have not talked to many since the comey memo. it happened is ho12 hours ago. after the russian conversation with donald trump is one that donald trump seemed to be unstoppable as a candidate. in that things that would kill off other candidates. the "access hollywood" tape

being obvious. the fight with kazir khan. these are things that end other campaigns. he survived. the traditional pattern is they jump off the ship and slowly swim back to the ship when it became clear donald trump was still ahead and likely to be the nominee. again, let's remind you this is not in the last 12 hours. i think the comey memo is and i hate to use the word game changer. in the series of unbelievable occurrence, this is unbelievable. i was told the reason you don't see more republicans jumping off the ship is also because the electoral consequences are not yet clear. they didn't lose the georgia election outright. they did not lose other special elections. they have not lost anything they think they should win. there is a may 25th special

election. the georgia runoff on june 20th. those were sign posts of if we lose those, then you will see panic. i would argue that the last 12 hours have changed that. i think you will see outright panic before those events. that was the explanation given to me in the run-up to this as to why you did not see more republicans jumping ship. >> speaker paul ryan, you get the sense he has been so excited to have a grasp at the republican agenda. he has overlooked things that otherwise would have bothered him. now he is being called out for it. just last night on cnn town hall meeting governor kasich was there and he called out paul ryan. listen. >> i saw that speaker ryan said things tonight about getting to the bottom line. frankly, i think he should be more aggressive.

he should speak out more and hopefully he will. >> not exactly a brutal insult of speaker ryan. >> people are openly and publicly. we have all of the reporting from chris cillizza and privately on capitol hill. now people are saying it publicly. >> that is true. i have been writing about watergate. i covered the clinton impea impeachme impeachment. the one thing that drives the president out of office is when his party turns on him. barry goldwater and three pillars of the republican party went to the white house and richard nixon and said we can't support you. he announced the resignation the next day. when i visited paul in the white house. he said as long as the democrats are with us and richard gephardt, the democratic leader in the house at the time was

with us, we'll be fine. democrats stuck with clinton. the political question is will the republicans stay with trump? so far they have. we're in the middle of it. >> there is nothing dire. those were crisis points where it was existential. this is about checking in more and demanding better and interfacing with the white house and calling out. it is not about abandoning the president. i don't think anybody is expecting the republicans to run away from trump and say he should resign. it is about get in the game and own the accountability. be the check and balance you are supposed to be. >> there are levels. you have to figure out did he threaten the fbi director? did he tamper the investigation and say call off the flynn investigation. you have to deal with all of that. maybe it is a select committee. maybe a special counsel. this is the level of oversight. it is the question of who fears

donald trump. you want to look at jeff flake of arizona who understands he will have a primary opponent and who thinks and knows full well the president will oppose him. if he feels i can weather that, then all of a sudden things have turned. i don't know we're there yet. there's going to be a lot of pressure for people to get beyond politics and defend the institution. >> i take your point, chris, about the seriousness. this is really just about checks and balances. the one thing is republicans are worried about the pandora's box that opens here. sure this is about what happened. does the memo exist? now there is a clear road that leads to a place that is absolutely politically toxic and perilous for the republican party. that was point one. point two, i was thinking about this as jeff was talking about

the impeachment trial for clinton and watergate. donald trump has been president for 117 days. it is stunning. you know, this is not like the seventh year of donald trump's presidency. well, all presidencies get mired down. he has been president for 117 days. >> in that sense, he is very active. nobody ever said or done the kinds of things he does. your point is made. >> panel, thank you very much. coming up on "new day." we will get comments from susan collins and adam kinzinger. we will speak with adam schiff. what is the law and how would it apply here and what does it mean ultimately for the president? is this legal or ultimately political? answers ahead. whoa, this thing is crazy.

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obstruction of justice. what does it mean? how does it apply to this situation if the president asked then director comey to stop the flynn investigation what does that expose him to? we have two good minds. cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin and alan dershowitz. all right. professor. obstruction of justice. are we dealing with the right category of infraction and where does it go from there? >> i wish i was still teaching at harvard. it is so complex. under the unitary executive theory, the president has the right to tell the fbi what to do. thomas jefferson managed the

trial against aaron burr. president johnson interacted with the justice department and fbi. things have changed since watergate. did the law change? the fact he is president cuts both ways. he has the power to tell them what to do. since he is the only guy that can fire the director is he obstructing justice if he suggests? go soft this guy. he is a good guy. a complex and difficult issue. which we'll never reach. nobody will ever indict the sitting president for obstruction of justice. >> that is beyond the reasonable. you hire dershowitz to help him in the situation which is complex. this is politics. high crimes and misdemeanors. this is about appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior and votes. how does this size up in

analysis of wrongdoing by the executive? >> ultimately high crimes and misdemeanors what the house of representatives decides what it is. it is not a legal definition. it is a political definition reached each time the house of representatives needs to make the judge. they had to make it formally twice. andrew johnson and bill clinton. >> nixon escaped it. he resigned before they returned the article. >> correct. the issue of obstruction of justice, is there an attempt -- doesn't have to be successful. is there an attempt to interfere with the due descriptiadministr justice? that's what the statute says. i think if comey's memo says what the new york times and what cnn says it says, it certainly sounds like obstruction of justice because if you are in charge of the fooibi as the president is and say to the director of the fbi let it go.

end this investigation. that is an interference with the due process. >> additional fact and you fire that person. >> chris, are should have been watching "the godfather." >> it always comes back to "the godfather." >> you know, i would like for you to think about going soft on my friend. that's very different from an ordinary guy. the president is "the godfather." he has the power to fire the director. a soft request from the president is very different than a soft request from somebody else. on the other hand, the president has the constitutional authority to direct the fbi what to do. this is a case of first impression novel constitutional law. president trump created a full employment program for the media and constitutional law professors. thank you, mr. president. get back to governing the united

states. >> that is the political reality. this is a distraction to take time. you have to find out what happened. do you think he has provided fertile ground for republicans? i understand it has to be in caps and bold italics. a behavior of high standing that is inappropriate and worthy of political argument for impeachment? >> i think you have three steps. first, appoint an independent commission ala 9/11 to get all of the facts. the independent commission can then maybe suggest an independent or special prosecutor who can look at whether or not there are indictable facts. i think when the republicans will think about articles of impeachme impeachment. that may not happen until after the mid-term elections when those are a referendum on the

presidency of president trump. >> the people passing. to dershowitz's supposition. was the attempted kiss by the president of james comey back whenever it was t"the godfather kiss? what do you think? is that what that was? >> that is the question. we will know. just before we get to -- you know, how much drama ahead, let's see what the memo says. >> we have to get it. i have a prediction. there are no tapes. if there were tapes, the white house would not create a credibility contest with comey because they will lose that one. they were assertive saying it didn't happen because they know there are no tapes. >> gentlemen, i appreciate it. alisyn. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding answers over the comey memo. one gop leader says he wants to

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it can only be described as a new bombshell. sources tell cnn a memo written by fired fbi director james comey says president trump asked him to drop the investigation into michael flynn. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle now want answers. cnn's suzanne malveaux live on capitol hill. it is more of an "and" than a "butt." you need to get to the bottom of the facts. >> reporter: absolutely, chris. i ran into john mccain yesterday in the elevator. i asked how his morning was going. he said horribly. this was before the comey memo came out. it really is ill lea grave sens concern and frustration. they feel they do not want to go down with this administration. get their act together. those are the polite words they

are using. late last night, mccain telling about the republican scandals. he says it is reaching watergate size and scale. all of this is happening as moderate republicans, particularly on the house side, are looking at vulnerable districts and races. in 2018, wondering if the trouble, the scandals regarding the crisis of the trump administration will rub off on them. we heard from congress member curbelo. he is from florida. >> this daily dose of controversy and scandal is bad for the government and taxes on the american people. >> reporter: not surprising, democrats on the oversight committees are calling for the attorney general sessions and top white house officials for further investigations to look into the comey memo. they are also demanding that comey at least very strongly at

this point requesting he go before an open forum to talk about what is taking place and produce the memo and reports in a public forum. the chair of the house oversight committ committ committ committee chaffetz talking about the idea over the obstruction of justice charges and possible impeachment. alisyn. >> a lot is happening, suzanne. thank you. a protest outside of the turkish embassy in washington. it turned violent. nine people injured in the demonstration. this is after president erdogan met with president trump. these got bloody when police and supporters clashed. >> down the street from the white house.

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nonprescription ibgard - calms the angry gut. so the latest white house issue is a problem for the overseas trip. a washington post op ed says the trip must be canceled. our relationship with allies are at risk due to the president's behavior and inability to adhere to basic norms of democracy and diplomacy. here to discuss is ambassador john negronponte. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> what is your reaction to the idea that james comey may have these memos that he wrote down that president trump asked him to let go of the michael flynn investigation. >> i think first of all, the

president has a tendency to think out loud. he said, okay, i hope you can let this go. i don't know. we'll see where that goes. it doesn't soundnessnecessarily serious statements. the idea that the president would cancel his trip,is kpaexa true. this is an opportunity for the president to demonstrate the seriousness of the united states in the rest of the world. >> no big deal to you? other people are saying this rises to the level of obstruction of justice? why don't you think this is a big deal? >> i listen to mr. dershowitz earli earlier. people have to assemble the facts and come to judgment. you cannot get instant wisdom. let it be looked into.

there are the affairs of state to attend to. the one thing certain is all of the controversy and flutter has been a distraction from the business of governing. he has the opportunity to go to israel and saudi arabia and europe and bruz el brussels and. he will have a chance to establish rap poport and have a chance to get the suspect as i back on track. >> this wasn't the first. in the past 48 hours, this is the second. we also learned that the president appears to have divulged classified information to the russian ambassador and the russian foreign minister. >> as long as i can remember and i was in the state department

and in the national security community for 44 years. there are many times that we have shared classified information with the russians for the purpose of arms control and counterterrorism. the issue as mr. mcmaster pointed out is not whether classified information was discussed. it is whether sources and methods were divulged. i cannot tell from what's available publicly about the conversation whether that happened. i doubt it did. you know, europol needs to know about this as much as america. >> is this how you divulge classified information? in this setting with photographers in the sit down with this russian ambassador who as you know, some in washington says doubles as a spy. is that how you divulge classified information or is there a process by which it

happens? >> when a president gets together with ambassador and discuss a sensitive matter. we can talk about the situation in syria or the situation with regard to terrorism. what is he going to do? almost entire conversation with international leaders involve some classified information or another. what do you think they will talk about in israel and saudi arabia? they will talk about the fight against isis. >> just one second. i'm interested because you dealt with sergei lavrov, the ambassad ambassador, who is considered -- i'm sorry. with kislyak. the ambassador whom people consider a spy. do you think he can be trusted with classified information? >> i don't know on what basis you say or others say mr. kislyak is the spy. he has been ambassador for a number of years. prior to that, he was the dependendeputy foreign minister.

the allegation he is a spy is because people think inappropriate things were told to him by michael flynn or they discussed inappropriate topics. that doesn't make him a spy. you don't have any basis for saying that. >> this is how the intel organizations classify him. >> i disagree. >> you think he can be trusted? >> i say be careful before you go around talking like that. >> you think he can be trusted. you are not bothered by the idea that trump shared this information nor bothered by the fact he may have said this to director comey? >> i think it is incontravertible how mr. trump goes about his business. i have not seen anything yet that goes over the top. i think little more orderly process has to be established in the white house and in the way we conduct our national security

business and our dielealings wi others. maybe as a result of what's happened with the last couple weeks, maybe the president will take some lesson from that situation and hopefully the situation will normalize because we cannot go on with constant controversy and cacaphony around here. >> ambassador john negronponte, thank you. >> thank you. >> all of the political question remains. what will republicans do? you have the revelations of potentially pressuring comey to back off flynn prior to firing by the president and the allegation that trump divulged highly classified information to the russians. there is a big gop member meeting this morning. what it could mean next. you make it detect what they don't. stop, stop, stop! sorry. you make it sense what's coming. watch, watch, watch!

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