obama care. >> he does. he was on the hill for a speech today. he dodged repeated questions from one of my colleagues about the situation. he heard 2 questions and clearly didn't want to speak about it. >> athena jones, thank you. >> next breaking news. president trump fighting back, saying he didn't collude with the russians but adding he's only speaking for himself. plus vice president mike pence, is 2 bombshell developments wearing on him? and is trump about to lawyer up? good evening i'm erin burnett. "out front" tonight, the breaking news, president trump defiant, taking questions for the first time after a week of bombshell revelations from sharing classified information with the russians to damning

information about collusion with russia. the president has taken no questions until late today and in a press conference, when asked about the special prosecutor, the president was terse and dismissive, saying he's the victim. >> i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. >> witch hunt. and then when trump was asked a specific question about another explosive development with what was the answer? listen for yourself. >> did you tnt urge former fbi director james comey in any way, shape, or form to close or back down the investigation into michael flynn and also as you look -- >> no. no. next question. >> but the one thing trump did say today was perhaps stunning statement from the president of the united states. listen carefully to this. >> there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always

speak -- i can only speak for myself and the russians, zero. >> speak for myself. is he opening the door to the possibility of associates colluding with the russians. words in a must have been unsettling to an already stressed out staff. he was stressed but clearly angry. >> no question, erin. angry indeed that it has come down to this. he was trying to suggest intentionally that this is something that is happening, he's going to get back with his agenda here, trying to put it in a partisan frame. his white house is going to shift and try and blame democrats on this. the reality here is he's about the only man standing, republican, at least, who doesn't think this is a good idea. across the capitol today -- president trump fuming over the appointment of a special count

to lead the probe of russian medaling inning the 2016 election. >> i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. >> since the firing of james comey roiled washington he asked him to stop investigating 3450i68 flynn's relationship with the russians. as special counsel robert mueller oversees his role. the president said he had not engaged in collusion with russian officials, making clear he was speaking for himself, not anyone on his campaign. >> there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can only speak for myself and the russians. zero. >> asked whether he had done anything wrong, he said this. >> i think it's totally

ridiculous. everybody think so. >> long-time personal lawyer and he meeting today to hire an outside legal team, cnn has learned. one republican close to the white house said the president also defend his firing of comey saying he believed it would be a bipartisan move. >> when i made that decision i thought it would be a bipartisan decision. you look at the democratic side, not only the republican side who were saying such terrible things about mr. comey. >> speaker paul ryan and most republicans across washington welcome the move. >> the whole point is to have an independent investigation and follow the facts wherever they may lead. >> yet unlike republicans, the president did no such thing. >> believe me, there is no collusion. russia is fine, whether it's russia or anybody else, my total

priority, believe me, is the united states of america. >> snowy the trump inner circle, inside the west wing here they know how serious this is. a small group of advisors convened a meeting here to plot a strategy ahead, looking for an outside circle of legal advisors. every president who has faced this has hired outside lawyers. they're going to present the president with a plan. the republican source said they need more firepower on this. that will happen on one front. the white house trying to turn the page when he flies to saudi arabia beginning tomorrow for an eight-day trip. of course, many of these troubles will likely follow him. >> thank you very much. out front b fronow, our panel.

mark, let me start with you as well here. witch hunt? >> in his eyes it is. it's -- it just amazes me right now that donald trump, if he is innocent as he said, but if he is innocent in his heart and in his mind, he should embrace the special counsel, open up the books, say come on, let's gets this over with. i hate to say it, but he looks guilty by being so forceful against an investigation. >> senator, look, the president has referred to this russia investigation, which by the way is clearly now bipartisan. you've got everybody behind bob mueller. he's referred to the witch hunt

consistently. in march, mike flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt. a couple of weeks ago he says there's no collusion, when does it end? do you think, senator, that he should be using these words and keep saying that it's a witch hunt again and again? >> you know, i think he believes it's a witch hunt and if you look at the facts, there's nothing so far that's been alleged that there's any criminal activity or any collusion between the trump campaign and the russians and that's what he's basing this on and the investigation that jim comey was under was not a russia investigation. >> that's what rosenstein said. >> that's a big problem. look. i think every republican is doing what every republican does which is run for the hills when

things get tough. they don't want to look like they're attached to a president who is making a lot of missteps and causing a lot of problems for them. they see this as a welcome reprieve that they can now move on and we don't have to argue this question anymore. so this is a good thing for them. is it a good thing for the country? i don't think so. i think that having a special prosecutor by definition, they always try to find something. they have to justify their existence and a special prosecutor that comes back and says we don't find any problems here, name one, ever. that's their problem. if that's the truth, that's the problem. le. >> tim, witch hunt? >> no. let's go back to what senator graham said today. he comes out of the briefing and says this is gone from a counterintelligence to a criminal investigation. i'm sorry. but that means that there's probable cause of something. this is not a witch hunt.

in fact, let's not forget something really important. until the revelation -- until the firing of comey, more importantly until the revelation of the comey memos, the president was not at the center of these discussions. the discussion was roger paige, maybe manafort. the skepticism is now directed at the president. >> i want to play again -- i just pointed this out but i think it is very important. the president speaks in trump language, a language that we have all started to learn a little bit. sometimes there are questions. i want to say what he specifically said about collusion between his campaign and russia. here he is. >> there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign. but i can only speak for myself and the russians. zero. >> jen, what did you hear there? is he saying there may have been

collusion between the campaign and russia? what is he saying? >> i'm sure bob mueller is listening and his team he's probably putting together at this point. what i heard is him trying to separate himself. we won't know if that is truthful until we see the outcome of mueller's investigation. what trump has been consistent about is that he has constantly said there's nothing to see here. there were no contacts. remember that was his claim at the beginning and time and again it was proved he was lying. >> if someone on the trump campaign was colluding with the russians, if that ends up being the verdict and trump did not know about it it vr at the time, he's referring to this as a witch hunt. would he be in trouble in any way? >> no, he wouldn't. he would have to have knowledge and participate in the collusion with the russians to be actively

involved. if he knew nothing about it -- we see this all the time in campaigns. >> he didn't know general flynn did something and asked someone not to look into it, isn't that -- >> general flynn's a different situation. if he was aware that there was an active criminal investigation that might lead to the arrest and charging of flynn and he actively tried to suppress that by telling comey, leave it alone with the implication, otherwise you'll be fired, that would be obstruction of justice. >> let me say the idea of special counsel that comes in that is not part of congress, that is not part of the executive branch. it's so confusing what's going on right now. so many threads that need to be followed and at some point tied up. i think the idea -- what he said

about general flynn or supposedly said is a lot different than perhaps colluding with the russians. >> the president, these past 72 hours of news didn't take questions until today. the vice president has also been very quiet. senior administration advisor is telling cnn that mike pence is going to continue to be a quote unquote loyal soldier but he looks tired and this is wearing on him and he hasn't been coming out and defending the white house. as we all know, sometimes when he's done so whether it be for rosenstein or kislyak, his words haven't proved true. >> he's a man of integrity, whether you agree with his politics or not. a pretty straight shooter. he's once gotten caught up with the trump administration saying something wasn't true so maybe he's holding back because he

doesn't want to get in the middle of this. the story is changing, it keeps changing in terges of what we first heard of why comey was fired and we hear from the senators that the memo was written after president trump had made the decision to do the firing. things are moving pretty quickly and information is changing. if i was mike pence i probably would just hang back out of an abundance of caution. >> in a sense, that's a very scary thing for this president. he's always been a front person. up next, rob rosenstein briefed the senate today behind closed doors but we're finding out what he said. and we now know when he knew that jim comey was going to be fired. plus questions for the vice president. did he know that general michael flynn was under swregs before flynn was named national security advisory.

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we have learned about what happened behind those doors. here's senator blumenthal. >> it was a counterintelligence investigation before now. it seems to me now to be considered a criminal investigation. >> there is mounting evidence of obstruction of justice. no conclusion yet that there was but that evidence needs to be pursued. >> senator blumenthal and senator graham. sunlen is out front at capitol hill. sunlen, this is a significant development. as you heard senator santorum say here, the deputy attorney general saying he knew jim comey was going to be fired before he wrote that controversial memo. that is a significant development also. >> it is. i can tell you after talking to many senators after the breeflg today that was notable, a big top line of the briefing today, the fact that rosenstein got so many questions about the detail of the memo and the impression that both democrats and

republicans were that rosenstein told them he knew on may 8 that james comey was going to be fired, that date so important, because that's one day before james comey was actually fired by president trump and most importantly, that one day before he wrote that memo that was used originally by the white house as justification for why james comey as ultimately dismissed. that time line really important here. >> thank you very much, sunlen. i want to go back to the panel. senator santorum, let me start with you on what believe learned about the investigation itself here. you heard senator graham. it was a counterinvestigation, it seems now it's a criminal investigation. and there's mounting evidence of obstruction of justice. you said if this really is the case, if this has switched from a counterintelligence investigation to a chill investigation, that could be

very significant. >> no question about it. obstruction of justice, obviously, those words are very worrisome words if you're in the administration. who was involved and what's going on. that's very are troubling. again, having been one of those senators who walks out of briefings, you hear sometimes what you want to hear and not necessarily what's being said. so i -- you know, lindsay didn't say it was a criminal investigation. said sounds like -- >> seems to me, right? >> a lot of it is conjecture at this point. what we do know that when you have a special prosecutor, special prosecutors are usually focused on trying to prosecute somebody. that to me is very worrisome. >> jim do you agree with that? does the senator have a point? they have somebody they want to prosecute. otherwise time and money was wasted. >> we wouldn't be at this point if comey wasn't fired. democrats and republicans have

become increasingly concerned about the information that's been coming out. we're at this point because it's warranted and because there's concern in the public about what exactly happened here. ultimately all these people work for the public, so this is a way to restore some confidence. what's also interesting about this, erin, is that there hasn't been a lot of discussion right now about the work of the senate intelligence committee. the democrats in the senate have been pushing to get an independent prosecutor. they got that for free, essentially, because rosenstein wanted that done. they just requested financial information from treasury last week. their work becomes more important now. >> from the legal perspective, how significant do you think it is? >> to call it a criminal investigation. >> to call it a criminal investigation. obviously, by having a special prosecutor, they're looking into anything unlawful.

>> it depends on who said it. if rosenstein said this has been m transformed from counterintelligence to capitol hill -- criminal. >> which is what you get from him. >> to me, the optics are this. the public -- if the public views it as a criminal investigation, it's a lot more serious than calling it merely a counterintelligence investigation. so the words are important. and the truth of the matter is, any kind of an investigation by special counsel that leads to criminality all of a sudden becomes a criminal investigation, anyway. there's no question he's investigating and if he finds a crime a crime's going to be charged and it will be handled criminally. >> how worried should the president be? >> he should be very worried because bob mueller is a very

serious man. i wanted to add one thing. words matter. a counterintelligence investigation means we're focused on the russians. >> what did the russians do to the u.s. election? >> yeah. and how can we strengthen our defenses. if you say criminal, it means americans is involved. if it becomes a criminal investigation, it's about americans and that changes it. >> a counterintelligence investigation is important, too. but capitol hilly -- >> i think he parsed it perfectly there. >> counterintelligence investigations kemds involve americans. >> of course they can. criminal investigations can't just be what happens. that's the thing. that's the reality. >> one thing i think is worth noting, bob mueller was proba y

probably -- he's pretty good at listening and understanding some of these things. that gives me more pause when lindsay graham says that. >> he is an active private practitioner, too, lindsay graham. >> the other news today was president trump as we know, had said that deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's memo he cited for firing him. >> director comey was actually very unpopular with many people. i got a strong recommendation, as you know, from the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein -- >> all right. so the way he says it is comey was unpopular. . i also got this memo from rod

rosenstein. rosenstein today behind closed doors told them explicitly that he knew comey was going to be fired before he even wrote the memo. so the memo had 2340g toe do with it, right? >> well, unless -- the president said to lest every holt that the memo had nothing to do with it. he said something about the reason he thinks, he's sort of speculating which memo was written because apparently rosenstein had been unimpressed with comey's appearance in the hearing. i think this is the first time we've heard this. the reporting that's been done on this is -- the impression at least is somebody asked for this memo. i think the presumption was that the president wanted it. we don't know if it was the white house general counsel who wanted it. now there's this new bit of information that's interesting. i would like to get more information about that because that's the first we've heard that. >> this timeline is going to

become more and more crucial. thanks so much to all. next, did the white house know that general flynn was under investigation? before trump named his national security advisor. after a week of explosive developments, the president today bragging in the press conference about winning the election.

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. breaking news. the trump administration denying a new york times story that general michael flynn warned the trump transition team that he was under investigation. obviously, an incredibly crucial thing if true, because trump went ahead and named him national security advisor, anyway. this is leading to new questions an what vice president pence knew, also because he led the transition team. did he know? tom foreman is out front. >> reporter: the trump administration knew about the investigation into michael flynn far before what has been investigated. the president was repeatedly warned about a problem with his

pick for national security advisor yet gave him the job anyway? >> general flynn is right over here. put up your hand. >> according to the times, the retired general's company was secretly paid more than a half million dollars to consult with the turkish government. on january 6, more than two weeks before he was sworn in, flynn himself told the white house transition team he was under investigation. this is the revelation from the times which 2 trump administration says is not true. and two days later, then acting attorney general sally yates told the trump team flynn had been deceiving them about his conversations with russia and he might be a target for blackmail. >> we were concerned about the underlying conduct even before there were misrepresentations about it. >> a truly great general right

here. mike, thank you. >> through all of that the president stoods by flynn who was a strong supporter in the election. >> that's why i'm standing up here saying that donald trump should be the next president of the united states. >> he was fired 18 days after that lost warning amid a flurry of reports about his suspected russian ties. but even then -- >> i don't believe that was known. >> the administration up to and including the haven't expressed surprise over his foreign entanglements. >> let me say hearing this story today was the first i heard of it and i fully spore the decision that president trump made to ask for general flynn's resignation. >> the trump administration says this latest revelation is not true but none of this looks good for mike pence. he was the guy in charge of the transition. even if it's just all the other stuff, people will say either if you knew about it, why didn't you do something? and if you didn't know about is,

w -- it, why not? >> will herd is with us. congressman i appreciate your time tonight. the new york times reports that general flynn warned the trump transition team that he was under investigation. the white house, of course, as you know is denying this. but if it is true, is it ok this they would still have gone ahead and made general flynn the national security advisory? >> well, there's a whole lot of questions that need to be answered in this investigation, and i sit on the house permanent select committee on intelligence and this is one of the areas we're looking at. for me, the question is how do we ensure that in a bipartisan and thorough manner do we get through those questions? these are things i'm sure we'll be talking about as this investigation continues. >> the fired fbi director jim

comey wrote in a note that president trump asked him to let go of the investigation. the president was asked today if he did this. his response was very terse. >> did you tnt urge former fbi director james comey in any way, shape, or form to back down the investigation into michael flynn and also -- >> no. no. next question. >> congressman, it is going to come down perhaps to the word of the former fbi director and the word of the president of the united states. between those two, who would you believe? >> well, my goal -- and i sit on the oversight in government reform committee as well. these memos, we have requested the cenontents of these so we c review them and also have former fbi director comey testify before the committee next week.

this is very important to understand the context of the memo, what was said and understand what ksh the contents. so i can't -- i'm not going to comment 2348 we get all the facts, gather all the facts and figure out where that leads us. and that's -- it's so important that we don't just react to some press report here o or there. but we have to be deliberate and thorough and we have to show restraint as we uncover the facts. >> former fbi director going to heed your request and come and testify? >> i'm pretty confident he is and that hearing may be as soon as the 24th of may, which is late next week. >> so the president of the united states sponsored to the special counsel, obviously, to bob mueller. he did so first on twitter saying this is the greatest witch hunt of a politician in american histories. he also in the press conference today said this is a witch hunt.

he said the special counsel quote hurts our country. do you think this is a witch hunt and that the special counsel, this situation hurts our country? >> i think the special counsel is a move that's going to make sure that the american people can be satisfied with however this ends. we got to make sure that this is done the right way, that we don't react, that we show restraint, that we get to all the facts so that we can be proud of what happens in this investigation. >> but you are -- are you proud of the fact that there is a special counsel, that it is bob mueller? you think that this is fair and nonpartisan? >> i think mueller has the respect of 3450i colleagues both in the house and senate from both sides of the aisle that he's distinguished himself in law enforcement and he has the right law enforcement and legal background to understand the gravity of this situation and to do it in a thorough way.

>> thank you for being with me tonight. >> thank you, erin. >> "out front" next, president trump facing the test of his political life. so why is he still talking about winning the election? and the house majority leader caught on tape talking about putin paying trump. was he joking? 6 with an unlimited mileage warranty on your certified pre-owned mercedes-benz, you can drive as far as you want for up to three years and be covered. so no matter where you go, your peace of mind and confidence will be as unlimited...as your mileage. visit the certified pre-owned sales event, now through may 31st. and learn more about our unlimited mileage warranty, only at your authorized dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. i am totally blind. i lost my sight in afghanistan. if you're totally blind, you may also be struggling with non-24. calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com.

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. the president seizing an

opportunity to tout his signatures campaign promise. building a border wall. so today there was a question about the wall. it actually was directed to the president of colombia at the joint press conference. after he answered the question, the president didn't think he did a good job, so he jumped in. >> president, santos, to you heard president trump say critical to stopping the flow of drugs into the united states will be the wall he wants to build on the mexican border? >> that was a long and very diplomatic answer to your question. i will say it a little bit shorter. walls work. just ask israel. they work. believe me, they work. >> and you see the kind of little bemused smirk, smile on the face of the president of colombia there. "out front," v v ch our panel.

i want to start with the wall quickly. look, the president of colombia did give a long answer and he didn't answer the question. it's a little less than diplomatic for the president of the united states to say you did a terrible job. that is what he did, though. that's what he did. how effective was it? >> i think it was effective for people who like donald trump, his pugnacious way of interacting with people. he boiled it down talking about israel there and saying that walls work. obviously, he hasn't really done a great salesman's job in terms of the wall because most people don't believe a wall would work in the way he thinks it would. that's why it's stalled in congress. it's interesting to to see donald trump still promising when he's been in office four months, right, and he's going back to the campaign promises and he's made very little

progress, not only on the wall but any number of promises that he made. >> chris, he cares deeply about his base. his approval ratings down, his disapproval rating up. does he care more about the wall? forget tax reform, health care, forget anything else. is the wall really the ultimate number one thing? >> you know, erin, i'm hesitant to say there's a be all, end all, number one thing for donald trump. if he has shown anything in the campaign and in his presidency is that he has sort of a fungible sense of what his views are and what's a priority. i think he clearly knows that the immigration issue and the wall in particular are what vaulted him from basically an astrus in the primary to the top

candidate. all the difficult slogs he'll have legislatively, health care, tax reform, very difficult, i think funding to have wall is going to be very -- you're asking congress to spend $15 billion potentially on the wall, that's going to be a hard sell given his current political capital which is roughly zero. >> by the way, he talked an a lott of different things but what he hadded to say about comey, what he had to say about flynn. when he was talking about comey, that was his moment when he was asked about why he fired jim comey. i want to play and see how many people responded the way i did when i heard this. >> the fbi has not had that special reputation with what happened in the campaign, what happened with respect to the clinton campaign and even you

could say directly or indirectly with respect to the much more successful trump campaign. >> much more successful trump campaign. >> it is -- this is the same man who was bragging about "apprentice" ratings ten years after the ratings have slid. he will stop bragging about the election wins when he has won in other ways, from a congress, legislation that he signed. right now he doesn't have much else to brag about. he continues to mislead people by saying "this is purely an excuse for the democrats having lost the election." that's not true. we know because the fbi opened the investigation in july of 2016 before election day. >> chris, it's almost like he took a little pause and said the much more successful trump campaign. he had to say it. i think no matter what your politics are you laugh at that a

little bit. obviously, it was a more successful campaign. he won. >> yes. brian mentioned, he in that -- he goes on and says atlantic the electoral vote, well, even though the elek tralg -- >> the democrats won that -- >> why do you need to say that? i mean, look, he is someone who if he wins, he spends you a lot of time reminding you that he wins. if he loses, he declares victory and goes on. >> i'm surprised he didn't bring the electoral maps. >> it's win-win for him. the problem for drumpl is the brace is always going to be informed, no matter what, those aren't enough people to get him elected. >> not enough to give him the power he needs to push through things like tax reform.

>> up next, putin pays trump. and as twitter asks, why is chuck schumer smoking a dooby. jeanne moos has answers. you know who likes to be in control? this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender. (vo) go national. go like a pro. usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. the process through usaa is so effortless,

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other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain, and swelling. talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess. why would this be awkward, you say? mccarthy was caught on tape telling other republicans quote two people i think putin pays, represent rohrabacher and trump. awkward seating arrangement. you wouldn't put them together at a wedding. mccarthy says he's just joking. the panel says there's a tape, they heard this tape and know kevin said it, about a year ago during the campaign. joke or not at the time, it's

not a joke anymore. >> it's not a joke. whatever sort of relationship trump's campaign aides had with russia, whatever sort of fascination that donald trump has exhibited towards putin, it's really become a nightmare at this point for this presidency, for this part snich. i they thought they would be in a different position moving their agenda forward with oeb care and tax reform and now this cloud hangs over them. i talked to some today and constituents are asking senators about this probe, about russia, about trump and they're not able to keep on topic in terms of what they want to talk about. seemed like a joke then and lighthearted then and republicans frustrated this could drag down the presidency.

>> it's not a joke you would make if you liked the guy, to be blunt about that. he may not have meant it when he said it, may have been being facetious. that's different than being a complete joke. it always comes back to tapes. >> are there more tapes. i have myself wondering if mccarthy and paul ryan are worried there are more tapes. the same question we're asking about the oval office, are there tapes? >> that has to be something that has fear on capitol hill. the "washington post" now has this tape what else. >> donald trump floated the idea he never knocked down and refused to comment on the may or may not have taped james comey. does that mean they have a taping system and haven't commented on it? if the president doesn't have a taping system and floats it in a tweet the next day he was speaking metaphorically like

wiretapping. >> quotes. >> i don't know why you wouldn't do tat. my basic point you should assume if you're a politics everything you say and do is either on video or audio. i feel like we see these stories more and more often. >> thank you all. next, several senators sharing a laugh while smoking up. luckily there's powerful, 24-hour, non-drowsy claritin. it provides relief of symptoms that can be triggered by over 200 different allergens. live claritin clear. what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter.

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everyday a senator makes a pot joke op twitter. today is that day, jeanne moos. >> reporter: the metaphorical cheech and chong. >> quarter pounder, man. >> reporter: of the u.s. senate, bipartisan cheech and chong, republican senator, ben sasse, who just finished a workout and democrat chuck schumer holding his fingers as if he were holding, let's let senator sasz describe it in a tweet, holy-moly, it looks like senator schumer and i are smoking a rooefr from outside a wedding to which he said -- >> that et scal late quickly. >> as senator sasz told glen beck. somebody did a photo shop of it with a huge one in his hands.

>> reporter: one started a caption contest with entries like, bartenders i'll have a double. many think it was nice to have you guys providing a bipartisan laugh during these grim days while others couldn't get over sasse's word reefer. >> reporter: sasse may have been doing it ironically, doing an imitation of cheech and chong. >> one constituent contributed maybe you should try that, might be amazed what you would get done. suggesting a little reefre madness might counteract the political madness in washington. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> ben, somehow seems to fit his

personality. thanks to all of you for joining us. don't forget you can watch any time anyone, ac "360" begins right now. >> good evening. tonight, witch hunts and whiplash. witch hunt is how president trump described the russia probe today and whiplash is what the firing of james comey is causing. for the third time in nine days, the opposite of the answer that came before. in addition to everything else we'll be talking about and the search for the new fbi director the president's upcoming trip overseas we begin with another verbal backflip from the president of the united states. here's what he said with the president of columbia. >> director comey was very unpopular with most people. i actually thought when i made that decision and