saw it different, she didn't. fast-forward five years, he goes to run and correct the record in support of hillary clinton, does something similar to a staffer then gets fired, was her response in 2008 appropriate? do you believe she should have said, okay, advisers, i trust you, this guy's out of my team? >> well, that's a lot. i think so. are you sure hillary clinton was aware of all of that? >> she said she was aware. she said she was aware of it. she was in her words dismayed at the time. this is the "the new york times" breaking this reporting according to multiple sources and, yes, over the weekend she did not deny it. she said she called the woman up recently, was glad the woman was heard but she did not apologize for not firing this man. should she have? >> on the spot.

>> on the spot. >> so. >> um-hum. >> we have to leave it there. we've got a big interview ahead and we appreciate the time you've given us. thank you. >> thank you. important questions. good morning to you and welcome to your "new day." it is monday, january 29th, 8:00 in the east. poppy harlow -- you're pregnant? who knew? just days away from the big event. thank you for toughing it out. you're the best. the cloud of the russian investigation hangs over the trump white house even on the eve of the president's first state of the union address. lawmakers on both sides doubling down on their support for the special counsel bob mueller but republicans are split over the need for legislation to protect him after reports the president attempted to fire him last june. >> the white house also faces a really important deadline today. today's the day it must implement these sanctions

against russia, sanctions that were passed unanimously by congress last summer. why sanctions because of russia's interference in the 2016 election. this comes ahead of the president's first state of the union address tomorrow night. he is expected we hear to call for unity while touting the country's economic success and calling on americans to support his immigration and infrastructure plans. >> let's get after it. white house principal deputy press secretary raj shaw, good to see you. >> good morning. thanks for having me on. >> our pleasure. big day. not just the eve of the state of the union but today's the deadline to effectuate these sanctions that were passed 98-2 against russia for election interference. will you act today? >> the department of treasury does plan to act today to issue a report and take this process the next step forward. i've been aching your show for the last few minutes. i want to challenge the premises

which is to stay that this president is somehow not been tough on russia. it was just last month that the president authorized the sale of offensive weapons to ukraine which is something the previous administration was not willing to do in its fight against russian separatists. we'll move forward on the sanctions and meet our statry obligations and we're always going to fight for american interests. >> raj i have to question your premise of questioning the premise. you don't think a pretty clear case not just how long it took but that the president's talk about russia is so consistently mild compared to what he says about other foreign countries let alone actors, you think it's a close call? >> i certainly don't agree with your premise at all. i think the president unlike members of congress or people screaming from the peanut

gallery is actually responsible for america's foreign policy. we have to work with russia in some areas. we have to work with them in the middle east, we have to work with them on the issue of ukraine and others, but this president has been tough. he has been forceful and he's pursued america's interests around the globe. he is exporting energy to eastern europe. he is in the interest of ukraine giving them offense pz with. this is something that president obama refused to do and he is on a lot of fronts challenging russian interests. in syria he authorized military strikes. again president obama promised to do, laid out a red line and then he blinked. this president doesn't just talk the talk he walks the walk. he's been pursuing american interests around the world. >> there's so many counter acts that paint a picture of leniency, i'm not arguing whether or not when he says ugly things about other people -- >> chris, chris, chris, again,

yeah. we can't win. either we're being -- >> i don't think you're having it both way -- >> i think you're trying to have it both ways. >> he calls kim jong-un rocket man and but russia he calls nothing. russia has been a known malfactor. he never calls them out -- >> he just ordered military air strikes in syria. >> not on russian troops. >> hang on. because we've been deconflicting in that area and some of his diplomacy has worked and we haven't had to escalate the situation. i would certainly defend his actions. look, north korea is threatening to annihilate portions of the united states. of course, if vladimir putin went in that direction, the united states and this president would respond forcefully -- >> that's not the line of action that if they attack us then he'll be strong. gees, i'd hope so. >> or if they issued threats. >> he won't even acknowledge that they interfered in the

election. >> he did. he's done it multiple of times. >> he says it's a hoax -- >> chris, you need to the transcript. in his recent trip to asia he stated that while vladimir putin has denied that he meddled -- >> he says he believed him. >> he says he believes what he's saying. >> what does that mean. >> check the transcript. please pull the tape. i beg of you, give all your viewers the opportunity to hear what he actually said verbatim from his own mouth. he says he trust that's many intelligence agencies in the united states that told him otherwise that russia did meddle in the election. >> now he trusts them because he was just asked -- i'll give you a transcript. >> please read the transcript. i beg you. >> he wouldn't even answer the question. don't beg, just answer your question. you're not lying to me. >> what is your question? you went from russia to the fbi. >> it's the viewers. you say he trusts the intelligence community. he was just asked if he trusts the fbi and he said, i don't

know. we'll have to see. i got a lot of concerns about these missing texts and secret organization. there is no secret organization. there are no missing texts. did he come out and say i was wrong, the fbi said i was great i never said that? nope. don't tell me he doesn't trust the intelligence community. he does it when it suits him. he says it's a hoax and witch hunt. that's not being tough on russia, raj. >> first of all, you're conflating separate things. >> i'm just following your strain of thought. >> hang on. i think the -- you need to show your viewers the tape of what the president said in asia about the intelligence community talking about russia meddling in the previous election -- has it called it a witch hunt? >> he's called investigations into collusion a witch hunt, which there have been millions of dollars spent over the last year, not a shred of evidence has been skproezed that links

this president. >> why would it be exposed? the investigation is not over. >> i think that there have been millions of dollars spent. dozens of witnesses. you've had the full cooperation of the white house and this president. the president is free to speak his mind on this matter. >> nobody says he doesn't have the right to speak. it's about whether he says what he says is right. it's not about his right to say it. nobody questions that. >> you just talked about the fbi. that's an important matter. i think we can discuss it. this president has been clear for months now that there are certain factions within the fbi, there are certain folks in the political leadership who have shown political bias. we all want justice that is free of any kind of political influence, that is completely blind and completely, you know, in pursuit of the truth and of justice. >> and you're once again questioning whether or not our justice department acts with justice on its mind without any proof?

>>, by the way, and i know you're going to get to this, this memo that's been outlined by members of congress, a lot of people have made allegations, allegations in the press by members of congress and by the administration. we want justice that's aboveboard. we know that there was political influence that impacted the decisions of james comey the last fbi director. >> how do you know? >> he said so under oath. he said that he changed the way in which he called the hillary clinton investigation, what he publicly called it rather than a criminal probe which is what it was. he changed the nature of what he called it because the attorney general political appointee of the obama administration. >> james comey never said that he was under undue influence or duress but making those decisions. he was explaining a process. don't say james comey admitted that he was getting hostile influence from anybody there. he never said it, raj. consider pai

why paint the fbi as a nefarious organization? >> chris, chris, chris, quit putting words in my mouth. the president and this administration loves the thousands of rank and file fbi agents throughout the country. they do a tremendous job and they are the backbone of the greatest law enforcement agency this world has ever seen. what we are talking about is a few bad apples of the senior levels of the fbi that have allowed politics to take place -- to influence decisions that should be exclusively about justice -- >> you have proof of that? >> excuse me? >> you have proof of that other than this comey thing which is not substantial? >> i have the fact that the lead agent in this russia investigation was removed from the case specifically for political bias. peter strzok. >> he was removed because he was practicing communications on government equipment that he shouldn't -- >> and he was showing political bias which is something you refuse to admit. show the viewers exactly those

text messages which led to his removal. he said -- he specifically stated antidonald trump bias and pro hillary clinton bias. he was in charge of the clinton investigation -- the lead agent in the clinton investigation. >> he was one of them. >> he was in the room interviewing her in an interview which they did not put her on the record. >> it wasn't that she wasn't on the record. she was on the record. she wasn't under oath. >> they didn't even take a transcript. >> it doesn't matter, they're all federal agents. you're wrong. >> chris, i'm not wrong. he was removed from the case. you can scream from the rooftop at cnn the man was removed from the case. >> i'll deal with that in a second. you just said something that's not true. she wasn't put under oath. it doesn't matter. you lied to a federal agent you're busted. doesn't matter whether you're under oath or not and there was a transcript of the proceeding. >> there wasn't. >> of course she was on the record when they did it. they preserved the testimony. >> show me the transcript. >> you find it.

you're in the government. you should show us all these things instead of playing cat and mouse with this memo. >> put it out. >> strzok was removed by mueller. you make it sound like nun he is discovered all of this for you guys. >> it was an exercise of accountability by our justice department not its weakness. it's strength and then you allow people, because you didn't check him not once, i've checked everything you've said about this and there's nothing. there was a secret agency on the basis of those texts, they said there was a conspiracy afoot because of the missing texts, you never corrected it. it was b.s. and none of you came out to say they shouldn't have said it. how is that okay, raj? >> let me just step back and say we're happy that certain text messages are found. we want to see what's in those text because they may reveal further political unbias. >> are you unhappy they said there is a secret organization when there is none? >> when you said they said this

are that. there are allegations made and the department of justice inspector general investigated those matters. >> gates, dowdy, senator johnson. why wouldn't you call those guys out? >> they're raising very legitimate questions, chris. >> they said there was a secret agency on the basis of one text that they didn't understand the context of. they're saying that the missing -- >> because everything around it was deleted, chris. >> you then got the text. they never corrected the assertion. you don't think that's unfair, raj? >> i think ron johnson has spoken to it. i'm going to let members of congress speak to their own words and defend their own actions. what we are saying is we want a department of justice and we want an fbi that's above political bias. >> of course. >> we believe that the thousands of fbi agents who risked their lives and worked tirelessly for the greatest law enforcement agency in the history of this world -- >> do you trust the fbi?

>> they're leadership -- >> do you trust the fbi? >> yes, and the president -- hang on. you can't interrupt me he every time. the president has strong faith and belief in chris wray, the new fbi director. he's a man of integrity who he believes can clean up the upper ranks and ensure any questions about impropriet are resolved and no questions about taint or integrity when it comes to the fbi. >> does he regret pushing on wray to get rid of mccabe? >> let's just step back for a second and say, the president has -- has spoken at length and so have members of congress about political influence at the higher ranks of the fbi. remember, the president promoted andrew mccabe and made him the acting director when he was removed. >> he then asked him who he voted for in the oval office? >> i talked to two individuals in the room and they told me that that report was false and that was not -- those were not the words of the president.

>> but was it the intention of the president? >> the intention? >> it takes us back to the s-hole thing, who cares? >> this is a -- hang on. i wasn't in the room but two individuals who were in the room told me that he didn't. the president -- >> hang on. i want it clear. he says i don't think i asked him asked and if i did, it's not a big deal. >> he was promoting him in the meeting, chris, to become the acting director of the fbi in that very same meeting. >> i'm told him he was interviewing him to be the permanent director and there was no chance of that. >> the president did promote andrew mccabe to become the acting director and mccabe said under oath that there was no effort to influence his investigation, there's no efforts from the white house or the department of justice to influence things that he did. so, you know, the president has confidence in the fbi, he has confidence in the new director chris wray. we want an fbi that's above

taint, above questions, above political malfees answer. >> don't you want the proof of these types of suggestions before you qualify your belief in the fbi? >> when the lead investigator of this highly politically charged investigation is removed for billy bias that is a strong piece of evidence to suggest there's a lot going on there that raises questions. it's being investigated by the department of justice inspector general. we support that investigation and want to see what it finds. >> you think bob mueller can be trusted? >> sure. the president spoke to this in an interview the "the new york times," bob mueller is a role we respect the process. we've been fully cooperative. remember, the last president to be hit with a special counsel subpoena was bill clinton and not this president. >> there has been no subpoena, is that your way of saying that he will if asked to meet with the special counsel he will say yes? >> the president spoken to that. i know he and his attorneys are working on that. they would be the ones to

contact about the specific. >> is that a chance that he might say no, are you saying? >> i'm saying i'm just not qualified to speak -- >> you're the deputy white house press secretary. who's qualified -- >> sure and that's a fair point. he surely intends to. the details are being worked out between his legal team and the special counsel. >> tomorrow night, what might expect, mr. shah? >> the president is going to lay out opt mittic vision for our country. takes unifying address. it doesn't just talk to the individuals who voted for this president. he's going to talk about five key issues, the economy and the great successes we've had over the last year. we have a record stock market. we've created over 2.5 million jobs. he's also going to talk about trade, international trade. we just returned from davos. he's going to talk about the need for free, fair and reciprocal trade among nations. where the united states is leading and the whole world is growing, he's also going to talk

about the issue of infrastructure, the need to rebuild the united states. we have $1 trillion plan that involves state and local investment, public/private partnerships, very excited about. we think it's something democrats can get behind as well. there's also going to talk about immigration and his plan to move forward on immigration, a permanent solution for the daca population, real border security, ending the visa lottery, reforming the chain migration system. what we're doing to keep america safe to ensure that the individuals coming into this country are properly vetted, to ensure we're putting the maximum pressure on north korea and confronting that regime and dealing with threats across the world including russia as you just mentioned. >> all right. and while i have you, if the president wants to release that memo that you have so much concern about, you know he can do it, right? >> sure. >> he has the power and classify and declassify whatever he wants. >> the president certainly has the authority. there's a process, a constitutional process that's in place.

the house of representatives may vote out for release this memo and then it goes in the president's hands and he has the ability to object to it and just say i want to release or i don't want to release it. that's a five day review period. if that happens, we're going to have a whole national security review and look at this document and then make a determination. the president will make a determination. >> it's hard to look at that time and review it if you don't let the department of justice have eyes on it. do you think that's the right call on it? >> i'll say this, the constitutional process as laid out involves the house of representatives, the house intelligence committee and the white house and the president of the united states. the department of justice doesn't have a role in this process. >> but the intelligence community including the department of justice, they're always part of this and forget about just the optics. you're saying you guys can't see it because you're the ones who are suspect within it, sends a very ugly message about the level of confidence in the department of justice once again?

>> when you say it sends an ugly message, it could send a message of accountability. it could shed light on allegations that have existed for a long time. i haven't seen the memo. we will see what's in it if the house of representatives votes it out. >> has the president seen it? >> no, the president hasn't seen it. >> why not? this is been going on for a week. >> he's got a state of the krun to prepare for. he just got back from international travel. there's a lot on the president's agenda and if the house of representatives votes this memo out we'll consider it. >> all right. i appreciate you coming on the show. you're always welcome here to make the case to the american people. >> thanks for having me on, chris. >> be well. such an important conversation and we did exactly what raj just asked many times to let our viewers listen to what the president himself said in his own words on that asia trip. this was in hanoi last november about putin and russia and who he believes and what he believes so here it is.

you judge. >> i believe that he feels that he and russia did not meddle in the election. as to whether i believe it or not, i'm with our agency's especially as currently constituted with their leadership. i believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. i've worked with them very strongly. there weren't 17 as was previously reported. there were actually four but there were saying there were 17 there were actually four but as currently led by fine people i believe very much in our intelligence agencies. >> okay. let's bring in john afterla. that was cleaning up what he had said on air force one, you remember. >> oh, yeah. >> this is him cleaning it up after all the brouhaha after that. >> i think what's key is it's important to play that clip. the white house is hanging their hat on it to say the president doesn't have this adversarial

relationship. >> so let's tie it all together. even that was qualified. >> what does that mean? >> the people he has in the top now so now it's okay but before -- >> he was just asked do you trust the fbi and he said -- here it is -- >> do you trust the fbi? do you trust the fbi? >> we're going to see. i am very disturbed as is everybody else that is skrnt. when you look at five months, this is the late great rose marry woods with a step, right, this is a large scale version. >> was rose marry was her middle name. if there's any analogy to watergate, rosemarie woods was nixon's -- but for the grace of mcgahn goes the president trump

the firing but you heard the ke and the answer. do you trust the fbi? we'll have to see. that's not a yes. the white house can say he trusts them all he wants when he's asked. he said, no, john. >> you take the president at his word, you view everything in the context of everything he said. he didn't answer a simple yes or no question. the president of the united states should answer with an unequivoc unequivocal yes. there's a lot of dodging. there's a lot of substance on both sides. he cannot even -- the question whether he'll fire mueller, the president said it is but his deputy white house press secretary referred it to counsel's office. they're dealing with uncomfortable facts and they're trying to pick examples. >> why dodge on that? that struck me. chris said you're the deputy press secretary who's qualified then, the president has said it in his own words it was only his attorney that walked it back. why the run around from the

white house press corps on this? >> that's significant. the easy thing for the deputy press secretary to say, the president's already spoken to this. that was a punt to his counsel and i think that indicates where the decision making is right now, the dowd statement's may be more strategic state of play than the president's statements on this issue. >> thank you very much. should lawmakers do more to protect special counsel bob mueller? it's a key ke. we'll ask the republican congressman next. ♪ upbeat music you wouldn't feel good not knowing the price here. don't let it happen when you buy your diabetes test strips. with the accu-chek guide simplepay program,

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i've got legislation protecting mr. mueller and i'll be glad to pass it tomorrow. i see no evidence of president trump wants to fire mr. mueller now. i don't know what happened back last year, but it's pretty clear to me that everybody in the white house knows it would be the end of president trump's presidency if he fired mr. mueller, so i think we're in a good spot with mr. mueller. >> lindsey graham warning of the stark contrast were president trump to fire robert mueller. this comes after reports revealing president trump did want to fire mueller last summer, obviously, he didn't act on that. now, some bipartisan lawmakers do want to pass this bill to protect mueller from being terminated. will that happen? joining us pete sessions of texas. first of all, i know you were working very late and you were traveling. thank you for doing this. i really want to talk to you

about immigration but i need you on the record about this congressman, do you think this is a law you would back because it is necessary? >> what i would say to you, chris, is the entire process is still unfolding unfortunately in front of us rather than where it needs to take place as a full investigation. what happened originally was the president saw the team that mr. mueller assembled and that team did not appear to be completely fair. there appeared to be some bias with them. now, what should we do with the bill? i have no reason to believe that we need to pass any bill that tells the president how he should or should not conduct himself as it relates to mr. mueller. i think that you have already heard that the president has appropriately listened to counsel, appropriately allowing this to take place and move forward and i believe -- it's in the best interest of americans

if we do allow former director mueller who is honorable and good man to not only complete his investigation but to report to the nation all the findings and facts he's got. we're jumping out on things that congress sees or jumping out on things that the president said. let's let bob mueller do his job. >> thank you for weighing in on that. immigration. the give on the part of the president if he would allow that characterization is that there will be a pathway of citizenship for d.r.e.a.m.ers. that is something that's taken as a foregone conclusion, there's a big part of your party that doesn't like that. how much resistance is there today idea? >> let me say this, we've been working for a number of years on the house side for this exact same issue. we looked at it differently. we looked at it in terms of daca. we understand these young people came to the united states not as legal adults.

if they registered and went through a process, they can work and have money and they can continue what they're doing. they live their life as long as they don't break the law and it is an issue we need to deal with. about 75% of daca people who are registered are from mexico. mexico is a close neighbor of ours and we know that they are here in this country, but the question is what process should they be involved in? i am for them receiving what we've called a long time as guest worker status. that is what bob goodlatte has. that's the big that we are pushing in the house. it's important but the big question is what happens when we bring in another million or so people into a system that's called medicare and social security when we can't even pay for that system ourself. why would we bring people into our system that would cause it to be a failure? why would we allow people who

are in this country to move ahead of people who lawfully attempting to do that? we want to give them a status that they can continue to work in this country, continue to follow the law and continue to work and be apart of what this country does but we do not think that having a citizenship pathway is the correct way to do it. but addressing them much like what other countries do and they are welcome in this country but we should not extend citizenship as part of the daca plan. >> so no pathway to citizenship, permanent worker status with different kinds of qualifications and never any chance of getting benefits of citizenry like social security and the like. the pushback on that congressman will be these people were brought there through no-fault of their own, they've gone to school, they work and are productive and serving in the military, why don't they deserve

to be rewarded for their efforts like any other american? >> well, these are all legitimate questions. they're questions that we have dealt with in trying to work through this issue. the bottom line is, we need to change the systems that you're talking about where they're sound. social security and medicare are literally on the drink of failure. >> what if they pay in? >> well, they probably are. probably they're employer is paying in and we're still in trouble. but the facts of the case are that they ought to be given an opportunity to save their own money, to be a part of their own system if they would choose and it's called 401(k) and other savings activities. we're having to look at every single entitlement program that we have in this country and i don't believe that we should add to help increase the demise of those systems. >> right. congressman, as you know, this population isn't what's responsible for the entitlement

problem. you've had a problem with social security and medicare that hasn't been addressed for many, many years, many different -- >> and that is that we're living longer. >> right. you guys don't want to raise the age. you don't want to mess with the company on who gets -- how much of your income gets taxed for social security. if you were to deal with those, you'd never have to worry about this population. >> my wife and i pay over $10,000 a year into a system that is failing and i would like to see that system be changed a bit but we still either way have to move where it's actuarially sound and the bottom line is that people who have come across, we have not thrown them out of the country. there is no plan to do that. they're allowed to work. they've been given free education through 12th grade. we've allowed them to have instate tuition. i think we've been very good and we should be and they're responsibility back is to come

and be a great citizen and to enjoy the opportunities that come to them, but this is exactly what happens when you go to any other country for whatever reason that you walk into it. all we're simply trying to do is to deal with the circumstance how do we deal with it and to simply say we'll go and offer now an opportunity for citizenship, the votes do not exist because we do not believe that's the right thing to do. >> it's important to know that because it's being talked about as if it's on the table and the party's behind it. it's good to know there's division on that. you're saying the votes aren't there. thank you very much for weighing in on this. appreciate it. >> poppy? does the president trust the fbi? it's remarkable that we have to ask that question but we do. the white house insisting again this morning that the president's words are clear on this. it's just they're not.

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does president trump trust

the fbi? moments ago white house deputy press secretary raj shah said the president sides with the intelligence community over vladimir putin when it comes to russia meddling in the 2016 election. his evidence, he cited this moment last november. >> i believe that he feels that he and russia did not headle in the election. as to whether i believe it or not, i'm with our agencies especially as currently instituted with their leadership. i believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. i've worked with them very strongly. there weren't 17 as was previously reported. there were actually four but there were saying there were 17. there was actually four. as currently led by fine people, i believe very much in our intelligence agencies. >> here's what the president said, though just last week about the fbi when speaking to reporters.

>> do you trust the fbi? do you trust the fbi? >> we're going soo-to-see. i am very disturbed as is the general as is everybody else that is intelligent. when you look at five months -- this is the late great rosemary woods with a step, right? this is a large scale version. here to debate ana navarro and mark water. mark, let me begin with you. it was a remarkable important interview. they covered a lot of ground. but the evidence that raj shah is pointing to to say there should be no question almost as if the president has never equivocated on russia and meddling in the election and how it talks about russian president vladimir putin. we just heard last week, he was asked, do you trust the fbi and he said we'll see. what do you make of the white house argument? >> i think we're talking about two separate issues.

i can go back all the way back to the very first news conference the president trump had early in his term. it was in the east room if i recall where he said he believed that russia and other actors possibly had attempted to meddle in the election. the question is did it change the outcome, no. the other question is was there any collusion -- >> mark, mark, it's not -- marc they have not been investigating and they have never said this is about whether they changed the outcome of the election or not. that's not the findings of the january 7th intelligence report and you know that. it's about the meddling in the election it has nothing to do with the president's victory. >> and the president's been very clear. russia attempted -- he believed and possibly other actors attempted to influence. he said it again in november. the difference is when you're talking about now allegations of investigations that involve collusion, still no evidence. that's where -- that's an entire different issues. that's what the president is

talking about. >> ana is wearing very patiently looking lovely and red waiting. you said there's been no evidence. the investigation has not colluded. no report has been put out. who knows? we don't know. we have no idea if there's evidence of collusion or not. anna, to you. that was a press conference cleaning up what he said on air force one and let me read back to you, a reporter said to the president last november, did russia attempt to meddle in the u.s. conversations? the president says, he said he didn't meddle. he said he didn't meddle and the reporter says do you believe him? >> well, i can't stand there and argue with him. so that's what he initially said. >> that's a recurring theme with him. where he attacks the u.s. intelligence community and somebody reminds him that he is the president of the united states and what that means for those agencies and then he cleans it up. we see this over and over again. i think it's no coincidence that

we have seen in the last several weeks a coordinated effort by the white house and right wing media to paint the fbi as tainted, as having conspiracy theories -- engaging in secret societies and such conspiracies. what he's doing is simple. it's politics 101. it's called bracketing. they are trying to preempt whatever mueller may find or may not find so if it's not positive toward them they can say it was a tainted investigation. it has no credibility. >> marc, ann is saying they're attempting to sew doubt, sew doubt in the minds of the american people before he with know what mueller's reports finds. how can you argue differently that this administration is not at the least trying to sew doubt? >> i don't believe it's the administration trying to sew it. i think the facts that have been coming out over the course of the last few months -- >> calling it a witch hunt, the greatest hoax, not sewing doubt.

>> it's very concerning when you see evidence that the comey had already started to write his news release exonerating hillary clinton before he interviewed her. when you see evidence of text messages being exchanged between people at the highest level of these investigations that are questioning -- >> it sounds like you're saying this shouldn't even be investigati investigating. is that what you believe? >> if there is any kind of evidence bias, the fbi at the highest level, not the rank and file but at the highest level, they showed a previous position to support or change an outcome of a hillary clinton investigation or to launch a donald trump investigation, those are concerns that we have to take a look at. >> so anna, marc is talking about peter strzok and lisa page in these text messages that even democrats have said need to be looked at but what he's not mentioning that mueller

immediately moved them off of anything having to do with these cases. >> i think those texts are disturbing and when mueller find out he took swift action and did what he had to do. some of these folks in trying to help donald trump and his case actually hurt it. those texts speak for themselves but they overplay their hands by taking a text about a secret society that was in jest, that was sarcasm that was wittyism out of context and try to turn it into some actual secret society. is there anyone stupid enough to think that trained officers would refer to a secret society as a secret society. they were selling girl scout cookies. what is -- so then they sound like absolute cooks. >> marc, very quickly. we can laugh about it and those girl scout analogy but in all

seriousness -- >> they get me every year. >> we spoke to raj shah about this and senator ron johnson. he said he had inform ants that were telling me about these off-site meetings that they were having. it comes out that it's a whole bunch of nothing and a joke and the white house wouldn't weigh in on this. again, do you agree with that strategy? >> i don't think anybody should try to overplay and i agree with raj and i believe chris was saying in that interview is that let's get all the information out, let it be transparent and let the people decide in terms of what was overplayed. you always run the risk on both sides, especially in hyperpolitical times like now of overdrama tiesing any situation. we have to get the information out there, do it in a responsible manner that does protect intelligence assets and methods if that's necessary but let's get the information out there. let the american people decide if there was any kind of inappropriate activity at the highest levels in these investigations. >> all right.

thank you to you both. i appreciate. we're out of time. >> thank you. chris, throwing the information out there, with no context and not knowing what the secret society text meant. >> that was the point. president trump will deliver his first state of the union address tomorrow. what is the message? how about the tone? that's going to be the trick. we get the bottom line next. samsung galaxy phones get a samsung galaxy s8 free. yahoooo! ahoooo! plus, unlimited family plans come with netflix included. spectacular! so, you can watch all your netflix favorites on your new samsung phones. whoa! join the un-carrier and get a samsung galaxy s8 free. all on america's best unlimited network.

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all right. big night tomorrow night. president trump delivering his first state of the union address. people are saying, no, you're

wrong. he did it last year. that was a joint session of congress. it wouldn't have made any sense for the president in the first year to do that. the white house insists it's going to be a unifying address. what will the president say tomorrow night to achieve that mandate? let's get the bottom line of david chalian. do you expect unity and that type of talk and tone to dominate? >> donald trump's tone is an impossible game to play because you don't know what is going to show up on any given day. i am sure as raj shah indicated to you in the interview that the speech that will be scripted for him will be unifying and or at least attempt to be unifying and if he sticks to that script i imagine we'll see that. you can already see a lot of democrats out there trying to prebutt the state of the union by suggesting, even if he is to read a unifying speech, if that is followed the next day by a

disunifying tweet, does that really matter? i think at this point in the trump presidency, he's got a lot to prove day in and day out by his behavior, lornts we can actually assess that there has been some sort of shift in his approach to the job. >> david, there are some democrats, a lot, a few, that are boycotting. we had wilson from florida on earlier. she's not going. she said she's going to watch with her constituents. do you think that's an effective play for democrats here when they're trying to hash out a deal for d.r.e.a.m.ers, an immigration deal? >> i think it's a pretty safe play for someone like congresswoman wilson who can just play to her base and that's really -- she's not in a district that she's got to try to auwoo the middle. for certain members it can work for them politically. i'm a big believer of everybody should show up and hear what the president of the united states has to say. >> corey booker said the same thing. he doesn't see it as honoring

the president the way representative wilson did. this is a constitutional duty. the president's supposed to come. what you're honoring and respecting is your duty to go there and listen. the state of the union, i've never seen it on any list of greatest speeches. isn't the task for him to stick to the prompter and not tweet for as long as possible afterwards? >> how cool would that be if he tweeted from the house floor while he's there? i think you're right, chris. listen, if you go to the most recent slue of polls that came out last ecoaround his one year anniversary mark, you can see where he should focus his attention if he wants to start getting some response from the country at large. it's the economy. that's where he gets his best mark. he has a lot to tout there. he has a tax reform plan that he still wants to sell and turn that into a successful initiative this election year. you can see areas where if he were to stick to it, he might have a really successful speech

that way. if he's going to hammer away at his immigration plan which we know is met by the right and the left as not sufficient then i think he heads into more controversial waters and it's tough to have that unifying message that the white house is looking for. >> you bring up the economy and the president has touted it a lot including the lower unemployment rate for african-american, the lowest in history. that's true. it's also twice what the unemployment rate is for white americans now. jay-z, the super star and the president went at it this weekend and jay-z said, look, i'm paraphrasing here, it's not enough to just help us economically. it's about respecting, et cetera. it's about what you do full circle here. here's what the president wrote back. can we bring up that tweet? somebody please inform jay-z that because of my policies black unemployment rate is at the lowest rate ever recorded. what's your take away from this?

>> i don't know why someone else needs to inform jay-z if he just did. i just don't understand -- i understand the president is trying to pivot and distract from what jay-z was saying which was in the context of the s-hole comments that the president was reported to make in the white house. saying that that was hurtful. it seems to me the president missed an opportunity there to address. if some super star like jay-z is on national television saying something the president did was hurtful it may be beneficial for the president to try to address that comment but instead he wanted to make a separate point and distract if what jay-z was talking about. >> david chalian, appreciate it. thank you very much. >> thanks. "new day" is live in washington tomorrow morning. that's of course the day of the president's first state of the union address. the primetime coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. >> you'll be there tonight. >> i will. >> no rest. no rest.

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all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein be up for it hello, everyone. john berman here. so who else connected to the russia investigation does the president want fired this morning? this is no idle question. in the last 72 hours there have been reports he either tried to or mused about firing the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the special counsel and the deputy fbi director. he did fire the former fbi director and the current fbi director threatened to quit. so this roster would not only make for a decent justice department basketball team with a couple of subs included but it also has some in congress saying they need to pass legislative protections for robert mueller. some republi