it's wednesday, january 24th. 8:00 in the east. big developments in the russia investigation, all in just one day. sources tell cnn that robert mueller wants to interview president trump to question him about the decision to fire former fbi director james comey and former national security adviser michael flynn. another sign the mueller probe is ratcheting up and perhaps somehow closing in on the president, special counsel questioned attorney general jeff sessions for hours we're told last week. we also have exclusive reporting about a former trump associate who may be thinking about cooperating with the special counsel. >> shortly after president trump fired comey, he asked acting fbi director andrew mccabe to come to the white house and then he asked him who he voted for in the 20167 election. that was in an oefl office meeting. he then be readed mccabe for donations his wife had taken from terry mcauliffe, a democrat in his organization. mccabe told the president he did

not vote which is not unusual in that community. but he also said he found the conversation disturbing. joining us now is the reporter who broke that story. cnn political analyst and white house reporter for "the washington post" josh dossy. let's start with the question that predent trump put t andrew mccabe which was, w it as simple as who did you vote for in 2016? >> it was a get-to-know-you meeting. he was thinking about making mccabe acting director. it was clear he was looking for loyalty. he wanted to know who did you vote for, berated him about his wife taking contributions from a clinton supporter and made clear to mr. mccabe, i want to know what your affiliations are. the people are telling me they're democratic and i don't like the sound of that. >> was he that specific. did he say i want to know what your political leanings are?

>> he said who did you vote for in the election. i think that's a pretty specific question. he wanted to know did you support clinton or did you support me. >> the reason i ask and i press on this is because you see it or he saw it, i guess, as a loyalty test. lots of people do. but we just had the rnc chair in who said he's just making conversation, that was just a get-to-know-you meeting he had with andrew mccabe. >> i heard that. it's unusual our sources said to us last night for a president to ask a civilian servant, a nonpartisan person who they voted for. that was followed up for criticizing him for his wife's political donations for democrats. i guess he could be making small talk. those two things together i understand mighted to us he was looking for some sense of how he felt pligolitically.

>> how did mccabe take it? >> it wasdisturbing. there was a conversation with the president,e went in and the president asked a number of political questions. several people in the fbi described it to my colleagues as he was disturbed by the conversation. >> it was interesting to hear andrew mccabe, as you report, say that he didn't vote. >> right but that's pretty normal. a lot of top fbi officials just like many journalists who are involved in this world don't cast ballots in presidential elections or are not affiliated with a party so you won't have the concerns of partisan political activity. as you know, when the concerns are there it taints the findings and taints the work. >> you learned from our legal experts today that is customary because if you're involved in an investigation, you don't want to be seen as partisan somehow, so you sit it out and don't exercise your civil duty or your civil right. did that satisfy the president when andrew mccabe said he didn't vote? >> it's unclear. he brought him back in again for a perfunctory interview to

become the permanent fbi director and obviously chose chris ray. since then he talked about the money he took, the fact he thinks he's a democrat. we've seen seen him taunt andrew mccabe on twitter. he's far from the president's favorite person. and i don't think his answers satisfied him if all the president's subsequent comments are an indicator of that. >> let's talk about your other reporting that robert mueller is preparing, getting ready to interview president trump and vice versa. do you have any sense of what that will look like? is that a sit-down in person, a submission of written questions and answers? >> well, the negotiations are at pace now. president trump's lawyers are looking to make an interview as accommodating to him as possible, whether it's some written, whether part is videotaped. what bob mueller's team has told the president is they're interested in two parts, the firing of mick flynn early in

the administration and the firing of james comey later in the administration. those are kind of the bucket areas, what the president was thinking, the preceding events, what happened afterwards, what precipitated the president to take both of these moves. the negotiations are beginning now. his lawyers are obviously going to the president and saying here is what we want. pluler's team saying here is what we want and we expect this to happen in the coming months. >> coming months, not couple of weeks? >> well, it depends. these negotiations could go well. i think president trump's lawyers are expecting to talk talking to mueller's team as early as next week. it depends how they could go. they could in a few days figure it out or it cou take some time. >> thank you very much. joining us reynaldo mariotti and senior political analyst david gregory. renato, the timing of moving in to want to interview trump, having done comey and sessions, what does that tell you? >> it tells me as to the obstruction piece of mueller's

investigation, he's getting closer to a conclusion. a prosecutor does not interview a key subject in a probe like this until very close to the end, after he's already gathered all the key documents, spoken to the less important or more peripheral witnesses. whatever the president says about his firing of james comey will dramatically impact mueller's investigation of obstruction. so this is sort of where all of the rubber meets the road, so to speak. obviously we've heard and cnn has reported over the past months of various other aspects of mueller's investigation, from facebook to the trump tower meeting and so on. this doesn't mean that mueller is going to be investigating the other meetings, but it means as to this portion of the investigation, it's very far along. >> david, it's interesting to think about the president

sitting down with robert mueller. that's an interesting scenario to imagine. polls suggest that most americans want robert mueller to get to the bottom of this. if the president we to somehow avoid a face-to-face interview, do you think there would be political consequences? >> i don't necessarily think there would be political consequences. i think the president very much wants to meet with robert mueller. i think his lawyers may be concerned about how undisciplined he is. i can't imagine a more undisciplined figure to be deposed or interviewed which is why i'm sure they want a combination of written answers and face-to-face. let's also remember, the obstruction area is certainly an area of inquiry by the special counsel, but it's not only that. whatever he's doing with regard to paul manafort and his deputy, mr. gates, there is a wide area here that the president could be questioned on, and i think that's important to remember. and i also think in fairness to the president, we have to point out that he could do himself a

lot of good. there may be things that he can corroborate, that he can help the special counsel with that will validate what the president has said about not knowing certain things, being removed from certain questions. remember, hillary clinton of course, as other figures have been, was interviewed as part of the e-mail probe and that didn't lead to any charges. so i think we have to consider all sides of this. >> renato, what piques your interest in terms of questions for the president? and are you interested in this latest anecdote about how he interviewed mccabe when he was in his office as acting fbi director and said who did you vote for, what's up with your wife and all this democratic money? >> i will tell you -- let me start with the second part of that question first. i thought it was very interesting that the president apparently asked mr. mccabe about who he voted for. that is very unusual, and i have

to say, i find it absolutely unbelievable that there's a suggestion that this was just small talk, like asking about baseball or the latest movie you watched. it is very unusual to be asking people in the fbi who they voted for, who their partisan political leanings are. he clearly according to the reporting we just heard a moment ago followed that up with questions about his wife and her political leanings. the president later called out mccabe on twitter for alleging he was partisan. what it suggests is that the president believes that people should either be on his side or not on his side. you've used the fbi as people who are either for him or against him, and that's not what the fbi is supposed to be. they're supposed to be neutral investigators of the law. that's very concning. and think it's something mueller could ask him about because itoes to the idea of loyalty that comey talked about when he testified before the

senate, the senate committee where he said that the president wanted essentially -- his interpretation was that the president wanted him to be personally loyal to him. now, in terms of questioning i think really what mueller is going to be asking about is the decision-making process that called the president ultimately to fire comey. he's going to ask about the conversations with comey in great detail to see what areas of true disagreement are there between trump and comey about what was said during those meetings. trump may ultimately agree with comey as to many of the points about what were said during the meetings. that ultimately could aid in his investigation. >> let's also remember, i think it's patently ridiculous that the basis for the president firing comey, since he made it so clear that he was unhappy with the russia probe, but as it pertains to the investigation, the president and his lawyers may assert and may be right that, look, they had a basis for removing him from the deputy

attorney general who basically went through the underlying causes to do so. >> except trump said he was going to do it anyway. >> this is why the investigation would have to happen. but i think it's important to remember that he had that basis, according to the administration. >> renato, what do you see in the fact that rick gates, this top campaign official -- aide to donald trump at the time has now hired this high-powered attorney that suggests that something is closing in on rick gates? >> well, it certainly suggests that gates may be wanting to go in a different direction in the way that he is handling the investigation. i will tell you that as somebody who has been both a federal prosecutor and now on the other side of it, given the array of charges against gates and the years he's facing in prison, cooperation is very much logically the best move for him given that federal prosecutors

usually secure convictions. it doesn't surprise me that gates might be cooperating, and i think that's really bad news for paul manafort because that just makes the evidence against him even stronger because mueller is going to know everything that gates knows. when i say everything, that's really important i think for everyone in trump's camp because gates was obviously part of the campaign and gates will be sharing with mueller his knowledge on a variety of subjects. >> not good news for manafort, that's for sure. david gregory, you advanced a theory early on that now has more meat on the bones. boy, political moves to discredit the justice department may wind up leading to a crisis when the special counsel delivers his findings to senste rosenstein. sure enough, now we see the memo released that there was bad surveillance by the justice department, the president redoubling his efforts by saying it has the worst reputation ever

and everything is toxic there. the missing texting between two of the people involved in the probe, ron johnson, sitting wisconsin senator -- little irony, that's where joe mccarthy came from -- says secret society meets off campus. that's what an informant says, but no real proof. how high is your concern now? >> your interview with former attorney general gonzalez i thought was interesting. it is upsetting to anybody connected with the justice department, the fbi and to american citizens to hear this kind of thing, because there's so much innuendo, and we cannot forget what good and important job fbi agents do and employees political and non-political of the justice department. it's important for citizens to have faith in those institutions, faith that is well-placed, by the way, even though they make mistakes. they could very well have made mistakes here. let's also remember this is a political process now, just as the clinton administration and their allies beat up on ken

starr and his investigation, so, too, are they going to do that here. this is where mueller has got to account for his investigation. but remember, the fbi chief who trump put in place has stood up for his people and so have people at the justice much for all the analysis.ry lawmakers say they're ready to tackle immigration reform. will there be a bipartisan solution. senator joe manchin met with president trump this week. we'll talk about that meeting next. you do all this research

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new signs that the special counsel is heating up his investigation. sources tell cnn he does want to question the president and soon, and he wants to talk to him specifically about decisions to fire former fbi director james comey and former national security adviser michael flynn. we also now know that recently the special counsel has interviewed the attorney general, jeff sessions, and the former fbi director jim comey. let's bring in democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia, member of the senate intel committee. joe manchin, we've known each other a long time. i've seen you be a true advocate for your people as governor and senator in west virginia. i have never heard you say that anything sucks before i read that "new york times" piece. obviously you've had it. what sucks, my brother? senator, tell us why you said

that. >> chris, i got to the point -- so many good people up here, both democrats and republicans. they're all my friends. i work with them. when you get us together, it sounds like we make sense. we want things to work. and all of a sudden all the power transfers to two people, the majority leader and minority leader who makes a decision what moves and doesn't move. the majority sets the agenda. i keep thinking my be loved robert c. byrd laying in his grave, he's got to be twisting and turning thinking how did we get to this. we've got to come back to regular order and where other senators have input and our voices are heard. we're able to move the dialogue. that's where you saw the common sense coalition come together with susan collins and so many democrats and republicans. we had 25 senators about equally divided, ds and rs who want the place to work and make sense and understands there's a pathway forward. that's what we've been working

on. i said the place sucks when it doesn't work. i get a little frustrated at times. i let it fly that day. i probably shouldn't have. >> i like it. it's good for people to hear the frustrations and more importantly see why, see whom to blame, who to ask for better. >> hold on, hold on, second. the blame game is what's the problem up here. the blame game really destroys the trust we should have in each other. it's nobody's fault, but it's everybody's fault. if i blame you, you're never going to try to fix it with me. i'm not going to blame my democratic or republican friends -- >> i'm just talking about transparency. it doesn't make sense to anybody who is not initiated in the process because it doesn't work like the way you guys do it anywhere else in society. it doesn't work in running a household, running a relationship with a spouse or in a business. on immigration, what's the suck factor? >> there's not a person up here,

100 senators that i know, that does not want these children to have their home which is the united states of america. >> talking about the d.r.e.a.m.ers? >> talking about the daca children. those children that came in undocumented, no powers of their own, and they came here with their parents at very young ages. they're here. everyone realizes this is the only home they have. we're not going to send them where elsewhere they don't know and put them i jeopardy. weo from there? said, where do what aut the parents? they called them migration with many more people in the family. that needs to be tightened up and vetted properly. just because you might get a pathway to citizenship, united states citizens and our whole citizenship is based on family. >> is pathway to citizenship even on the table? >> for daca, it is. you saw -- it's a 12-year pathway. two years' credit for daca and

it's still a ten-year process. do the parents that are trying to work things out? that's what's holding it up. it's not holding up do these children belong in america or not. it's what else can you close. then you have the border, border security, border wall, whatever you want to call it. they're getting into a tiff about this, chris. we have to have border security. if the president calls it a border wall, we do need wall. we need to repair some wall, build some new wall. we need other technology, too. >> it's messaging you guys are going to have to swallow him rubbing your face in it saying i got the wall, you lost. >> it doesn't matter. >> it matters politically and that can create energy. you have the president also fighting your assumption a little bit. you're saying the men and women up there want to help these people. nick mulvaney was on here and the president echoed his own statement that i'm going to give on daca only as much as i get in rern. there's no such thing as calibrated compassion. >> i met with him two days ago,

sat in his office. myself and doug jones sat with the president. i can tell you he believes these children need a pathway forward. there might be people around him that aren't quite as sympathetic as he is. my gut tells me the president wants to get this done. i'm willing to continue to keep working with limb in a bipartisan way, be an honest broker, tell him what i think we work and won't work. reneed to get past this. the rhetoric is what it is. the president is going to say what he's going to say. that doesn't upset me as long as we have a final product and a pathway forward. we can do this. we're going to continue to keep working. the common sense coalition is going to stay together. we're going to see if we can work this thing out. we have a hard deadline. march 5th these kids start moving out technically if we don't do something. february 8th the government shuts down again if we don't have a deal. there's no time to waste here. >> don't make collins break out that stick. if she breaks out that stick, joe, you're a big man, but she

can swing that stick. >> i can catch that stick, too. it's been thrown at me. >> it wasn't thrown at your head. you weren't in front of the glass elephant? >> that's a bunch of crap. sometimes people's reflexes aren't as good as they should be. it was never thrown at somebody's head. we figured we ought to go to basketball. a little easier to catch. >> and softer if it does hit you on the led. immigration, do drugs come nto across the southern border? yes, they do. is it the biggest way they come over? probably not looking at the estimates of what happens in tunnels and other large cargo. and it certainly isn't our biggest concern when we talk about something that is a specific concern to your state. we need a documentary on this recently for hln. opioids are only getting worse. it's good that the administration is talking about it, getting their hands around it. but it ain't enough. money is not making it onto the

streets and into communities where it's needed to combat this with treatment and enforcement. what's your take and what's your request? >> my request has been this. make sure once you identifythe front line of defense where the war really is taking place, west virginia is the front line. we can't be just disburse out money to fight a war if it's based on population. we're 2 million people. if you base it on the death we have per thousand, we're number one. give us enough bullets to fight the war so we can stop the enemy from moving in. opioids are going to be a big part of this, addiction and how do we fight it. it starts with the kids in kindergarten, education and prevention. it starts with cleaning up the people addicted and getting them back into productive society. we have a long way to go, chris. we can do it. it's ravaging every state. >> it is the perfect storm.

the senator said it was something we should pursue. so we did. you and new hampshire stick out because small populations but big infestation. it's the perfect storm of a drug surge. not only is it uniquely addictive and synthetic and shipped from big pharma suppliers, but you have overprescribing as an aspect we never had to deal with with more elicit drugs. the urgency is there. we'll stay on it for you, senator. >> let me say this, chris. first of all, when you talked about how drugs are coming, fentanyl, a deadly drug, comes mostly through the mail. security, we talk about walls. we need ever thing. we need technology, drones, new agents, border patrol. we also need dock patrol where it comes through our ports. we need high-speed boats to intercept. we're talking about all of this. when you hear someone talk about just the wall, there's a lot more than just the wall. >> senator when you're talking opioids, your argument does not suck. i will tell senator collins to spare you the talking stick.

>> thank you, chris. >> i can't get enough of the stick. >> i'm so glad she shod it to us. >> i believe they were figin with the stick. >> i would say let's go shot for shot with the stick. whoever wins, they get what they want. >> whereas i believe somebody could just drop it or not catch it because that's where i come from. >> you wouldn't catch it but talk anyway and be insulted that someone threw it to you. that's right. meanwhile, a burst of new developments related to special counsel robert mueller's russia investigation. how significant are these? we'll ask republican congressman charley dent of pennsylvania next. i promise, to have and to hold, from this day forward

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. there is a republican push to release a memo from house intel chair devan nunez that alleges fbi abuses of fisa surveillance laws. sources say president trump is inclined to allow that memo to be made public, but what is in it? joining us is republican congressman charlie dent. good morning, congressman? >> good morning, alisyn. great to be with you.

>> great to have you. do you know about this nunez memo and what's in it? >> i know the memo. it was a memo prepared by i believe republican staff of the intelligence committee. i have not yet read it. but i mean there's a lot in there that has been discussed. >> such as -- i know some of it is classified, but in broad brush strokes, can you tell us if this is a bombshell memo or if these are chairman nunez's sort of cliff notes on something he's seen with fisa? >> since i have not read it, i can't comment on the content. even if i did read it, i couldn't comment on the content because it's classified. as i read in public reports, there's some suggestion that sa rules or laws may have been olated in the context ofhis investigation. i think that's what the allegation is. again, having said that, just based on news reports, without having read the memo.

>> here is the point. some of your republican colleagues seem to be in overdrive trying to discredit in different ways the fbi. let me just play for you what senator ron johnson said about the fbi last night on fox. >> more than bias, corruption at the highest levels of the fbi, the secret society -- we have an informant that's talking about a group that were holding secret meetings off-site. there's so much smoke here, so much suspicion. >> let's stop there. a secret society, secret meetings off-site of the justice department. >> correct. >> you have an informant saying that? >> yes. >> let me repeat bret baird's questions, secret society, secret meetings off-site. do you know what senator johnson is talking about? >> i have no idea. i do believe that the men and women of the fbi are good, honorable, professional people. i'm sure there are some bad apples, but we have a process to

deal with that. i think it's important that we not undermine the american public's confidence in the justice department and the fbi. >> do you think some of your colleagues are undermining the fbi? >> well, i am not prone to conspiracy theories. i really am not. i wish some of my colleagues would temper their rhetoric. we republicans have often sold ourselves as the party of law enforcement, not just the state and local level, but the federal level as well. these peoe at the fbi are vy much involved with counterterrorism operations, going out and putting their lives at risk every day. we shouldn't lose sight of that over the politics of this particular russia investigation. i have confidence in director mueller that he is going to run a thorough, fair, professional investigation. when there were problems with two individuals involved, he either removed them or demoted them. i do have confidence in this. we shouldn't do anything to

undermine this investigation. >> congressman, help us understand why some of your republican colleagues seem more focused on bringing down the -- talking about the fbi and their perceived issues with the fbi rather than getting to the bottom of the russia investigation. >> i'll tell you, i think what's disappointing to me, i served as chairman of the house ethics committee during the last congress. i was involved with sensitive investigations. we did them in a very bipartisan manner. i didn't do a thing about talking to my ranking member, linda sanchez. we always moved together. nothing was agreed to until everything was agreed to. it seems to me whatever issues there are with the fbi -- and there may be legitimate issues to look at here. i'm not questioning that. if we try to do this on a purely partisan basis, i don't think that serves anyone's interest or the american public's interest. they have to find a way to do this on a bipartisan basis. that's the intelligence committee, a secretive

committee. it's easier to do these things behind closed doors in a bipartisan manner than it is out in the open. they have to get that back on track. >> do you think it's possible that some members of the fbi have formed a secret skull and bones-esque society? >> well, look, i guess anything is possible, but i can't imagine there's some grand conspiracy here. call me skeptical, all right? >> do you think some of your republican colleagues are following the president's lead? the president is the person who started saying that the fbi was in tatters. >> well, the president i think has to be very careful. i just saw yesterday i guess in "the washington post" story that director mueller is very interested in the president's role in the firing of director comey and also mr. flynn, general fln. and the allegation is why did

the president interfere, does that rise to the level of obstruction? if i were the president, less is more -- i simply don't understand why he would want to interfere in any way. it's clear to me that at.i'm not aware that the president directly was involved in any kind of meddling with the campaign. there were others who had entanglements but not the president. if he has nothing to fear, if he says there's nothing to worry about, why continue to attack his justice department. it's his attorney general jeff sessions. it's his fbi director christopher ray. these are people who report to him it's the trump administration, these are his people. i find it odd he's attacking his own government. >> you think the american public can trust the fbi? >> yes, i do. i do. i believe -- again, i have agents in my own community who are involved in all sorts of sensitive matters, and i have a lot of confidence in the men and women. i think they're all very

professional. do they have political opinions? do all people in government have political opinions? of course they do. we like them to keep it to themselves. they have a right to vote, make a campaign contribution. we know that. when they're on the job, we expect them to be thorough, fair and professional and not let whatever political views they have interview with their work. i believe that's true with virtually most everybody in the fbi. there might be some exceptions, but i think that's just the way it is. >> congressman charlie dent, we appreciate talking to you. anks for being here. >> thank you, alisyn. great to be with you. police in kentucky are trying to figure out why a teenager opened fire at a high school killing two classmates, injuring 18 others. the latest in a live report next. who are these people?

the energy conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too? turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing. an investigation is under way intohy a 15-year-old studt reportedly opened fire inside a kentucky high school killing two other students and injuring 18 more. cnn's nick valencia is live in benton, kentucky with the latest developments. what have you learned? >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. what eyewitnesss describe

happened here yesterday is absolutely haunting. a 15-year-old male student is alleged to have walked into a school just as it was getting under way and gunning down his classmates. we know 20 victims suffered, 16 gunshot victims, five still in critical condition this morning battling for their lives. benton, kentucky is a very small town, a very small knit community, so small that some of these first responders have kids who go to this school. one of the first state troopers thought the 15-year-old girl who died here was his own daughter. the identities of those two students who were killed, they were released during a somber press conference. preston cope, 15 years old is said to have died at a nearby hospital in asheville, and bailey holt, 15 years old who died at the scene. one of the outstanding questions this morning is why. why would this 15-year-old do this? that's a question that investigators are looking at. this 15-year-old is in custody. we're also waiting to hear whether or not this teenager will be charged as a juvenile or

adult. that all is part of the investigation. chris, alisyn? >> thank you very much. appreciate you staying on this. "the washington post" reporting president trump asked the acting fbi director whom he voted for in 2016. is this evidence of overreach or inappropriate? first -- pregnant pause -- >> thank you very much for that ama. i bought you time. >> u.s. army v and a purple heart recipient is on a mission for more gold in the upcoming para olympics. his story now in "turning points." >> not in a million years did i ever think growing up i'd be a hockey player. i think the physical parts of the game really intrigue me. i'm rico roman, u.s. army retired staff sergeant and purple heart recipient. >> joined the military back in 2001. i served in kosovo in a peacekeeping tour, and three tours to iraq. my last tour, i was running a

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"the washington post" reports president trump asked acting fbi director andrew mccabe whom he voted for in the 2016 election and berated him about donations his wife received in her run for office. that all happened in the oval office when he was the acting fbi director. overreach by the president? let's bring in cnn national security commentator and former house intelligence chairman mike rogers. been a while, mike. happy new year. good to see you. >> happy new year to you. i thought you guys didn't love me anymore. >> i love you. it would be uncomfortable if i told the truth about that on television. let me ask you, what is right, what is appropriate and what is of concern in this conversation as reported between the president of the united states and acting fbi director andrew mccabe. >> i don't think this was any ill intent.

it was definitely inappropriate. the understanding the fbi needs to operate as an independent agency and, yes, members of the fbi have political opinions like every american. if that's the sole standard, we're in a lot of trouble. the standard needs to be for those fbi agents not to act on their political biases in any investigation. most agents justice is engrained with them. having the president ask the question, it was inappropriate at the very, very least. >> interesting to mueller? >> probably, because if he's trying to show a pattern of behavior, if he's looking to do an obstruction of justice charge which, by the way, i think is really hard to get to. if that's what he's looking to do, he needs to show a pattern of behavior that would lead any jury to conclude, yes, that person was clearly trying to obstruct justice in this case. yeah, i think that's probably likely going to be a question. sounds like, according to e

reporting, that mccabe may already have been interviewed about that very topic, about the nature of that conversation. >> if nothing else, it's another reminder of where the president's mind tends to be, on him and his interests. you're talking about the fbi as if we could trust him. to listen to your republican brothers and sisters, it's the worst it's ever been, totally toxic, secret societies, all kinds of nefarious behavior. can't trust him. >> boy, i worry about this a lot. so what you're seeing is in the court of public opinion in day a defense attorney or single prosecutor tries to get up and impeach the character or integrity of a witness to taint their testimony. what you're seeing happen publicly now is that with the institution that is charged with protecting the united states. i worry about this a lot.

i know the men and women of the fbi. i know the oaths they take and how serious they take it. every single case they do, they understand they have the ability to take away someone's freedom. that is a huge responsibility, and in some cases can be a burden but they accept it and are very professional in the execution of those duties to make sure america is kept safe. i worry this constant barrage on the institution of the fbi is bad. can i just add one thing, chris? >> please, mike. >> the optics of what happened with the bureau is bad. if you ask the average american, they go, i don't get that, i don't understand why was mccabe's wife taking money and he visited the governor -- i don't like it. there was an interim investigation to my understanding that said he didn't violate any rules, but it just looked bad. so the fbi does need to be concerned about the optics, not the politics, but the optics of what they're doing.

they have a little responsibility here. the constant barrage about their character and integrity, i worry about that. they're doing cases all over the country, including counterterrorism cases in new york city, chicago, miami, all over the country trying to catch spies, like the chinese spy that just penetrated the cia recently. that's important work and we should not detract them fr that. >> you can impeach a witness but there's a standard of proof. you have senator ron johnson saying there's a secret society because some informant told him. it reeks of politics. you flip the r and the d under johnson's name and flip him talking about a secret society, talking about russian collusion, you have completely opposite points of view where johnson will say, oh, one informant, christopher steel, this former uk guy? not me, not enough. there's nothing there. now we're seeing it it's playing on the other side. why people don't trust the

politicians. having interesting point, the reason we know about the texts between two agents who were involved at one time in the investigation is because, not of republicans, of the inspector general. they did their own in-house check. there was accountability and mueller moved and took the agent off the probe. >> the fact that there was an allegation somewhere in the bureau -- and i don't think it was anything about the taint of the investigation, candidly. it was ability inappropriate behavior by two employees of the fbi, and that's what got him into trouble and i think they discovered all this other material. and when mueller found out about it, he took action right away to do it. i don't know what else you would ask him to do candidly in that case. he got the information -- the agent had a great reputation for all the casework he had done. remember, these were private conversations about political beliefs.

guess what? fbi agents have private conversations about political beliefs. their goal is never, ever, ever bring it into the office. never bring it into an investigation. mueller decided the optics were not good, we're moving along and we're going to correct that. that to me is the right standard. before we go out and start beating people, you have to understand that he saw a problem, he fixed the problem. >> a lifelong republican and a decorated veteran in bob mueller who was picked by the acting head of -- acting attorney general rod rosenstein who was trump's choice. mike, thank you very much. good to have you with us. >> always good to see you. that's it for us. time for cnn newsroom with poppy harlow and john berman. >> so soon? can't we do another three hours? >> yes, we can. come with me tonight. see you there. alisyn and chris, 9:00 p.m. >> oh, my god. you're a machine. >> i'll give you the stick. >> i'll be watching. >> you will not.

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powerful skincare,s now light-as-air a breakthrough moisturizer delightfully whipped for instant absorption feel a light-as-air finish in a flash new olay whips ageless good morning everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. a dizzying 24 hours in the russia investigation, no longer just inching toward the president. this morning it is more like careening. we know special counsel robert mueller wants to counsel the president and we know why. sources tell cnn the special counsel wants to hear