duck. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thanks so much for joining us. you can watch the show anytime. go to cnn go, and we'll see you back here tomorrow night, and we'll see if we have that memo. it could be out a few hours from now in the early morning hours. good evening. with the president about to speak with a public function about to be held, we begin tonight with the drama over the nunes memo. keeping them honest, it is in many ways a phony drama. it is a forgone conclusion. it is and always has been. we should point out the document in question is not some bipartisan of fact by the partisan committee, it appears it will be something of a press release. something let out under the intelligence committee membership, chaired of course by congressman devin nunes.

so despite grave concerns from the director of the fbi, christopher ray, as well as from officials at the department of justice, the memo is in all likelihood going to be released. how will we know this? we know it because the president himself said he wants it out. he's been calling for it. on tuesday night he said the odds of it being released are 100%. >> don't worry. 100%. could you imagine? >> again, the grave concerns of the republican fbi director the president himself chose have not swayed himch and according to new reporting those grave concerns have not gone away. just yesterday the bureau said, quote, we have great concern of the admissions that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy. the president wants it out even though there's concerns that the work of tens of thousands of intelligence professionals may

be smeared. we learned today the president has been telling friends he wants the memo made public not in a way of rebuilding the house but as a way of impugning the russia investigation and the people running it. every indication we have from the president, from his son don junior who's been tweeting up a storm lately and others, this is about attacking the fbi and the justice department. what's also still not known is if the white house had any role in the crafting of this memo with staffer chairman nunes. nunes has said he did not have contact with the white house. but when pressed with the intelligence committee about whether any of his staffers had contact with the white house, he didn't answer. and sarah sanders apparently had no answers either. >> did anyone work with nunes that night? >> not that i know of.

>> he wouldn't answer that question. he has worked with the white house before when it comes to intelligence and the russia investigation. >> look, we have certainly coordinated with members of congress as is appropriate, as the specifics on this i just don't know the answer. i'm not aware of any conversations or coordination with congressman nunes. >> in a moment two of the chairman's house colleagues join us, a republican and a democrat. first cnn's jeff zeleny at the white house with the very latest. the president has been telling his associates, what, this memo is going to discredit the russia investigation? >> reporter: anderson, we did learn that today. talking with some friends and associates of the president they said in recent days he's been calling around particularly after the "state of the union" address to see how it went, that he believes the release of this memo will indeed discredit and confuse if you will the russia investigation. simp lee by exposing bias, in his view of the fbi. so that is something the president has been openly saying

as the white house has been trying to show they've been doing due diligence here and going over this 3 1/2 page memo. the president himself read this memo himself yesterday, we are told earlier today. but the reality is the president was always planning to review it and release it. so the point here is he has been talking about how he believes this will discredit the investigation was simply refuted by paul ryan today when he told reporters this should not impugn the russia investigation. so they are in odds with each other. of course, he does support the release of this. but certainly the president getting ahead of this believing this will discredit the russia investigation. >> i understand the fbi today still pushing back on the release. >> they are indeed. and throughout the day we heard they were redacting it. a senior official said they

might be making accommodations to not anger the fbi here. but the reality is the fbi has the same view it had a day ago. they are sternly opposed to this. and a u.s. government official familiar with the fbi released this statement tonight to were jessica schneider. it sounds like this is just spined spined. he was confirmed on a 92-5 vote in the senate back in august 1st here, and this big confrontation between the fbi and the white house, it had some officials here he might leave or quit. certainly this is the biggest confrontation between these agencies we've seen so far in this administration. >> so far as we know it looks like the memo is going to be

released tomorrow? >> it certainly does look like that. the president husband indicated to his advisers he is going to sign-off on this. in fact, major news and a big surprise if he did not do that. to send a word the capitol hill intelligence committee can release this. it seems the white house does not want the president to speak about this publicly. we had a couple of opportunities to and today we shouted questions at him. he often likes to stop and explain his thinking on things. he did not answer our questions on this today. the reality is tomorrow at this point this will likely be released because there was a five-day review period. so the question is what happens after this, how these two agencies continue to sort of exist here. but by tomorrow at this time it should be released, anderson. >> skrojoining us now house judiciary chairman congressman

bob goodlock. >> good evening. good to be with you, anderson. >> the fact they took this step and saying, quote, they have grave concerns that impact the memo's accuracy and they've all met with chief of staff kelly to look at the memo. does that concern you at all? >> i've had the opportunity to review both the memo and the underlying documents as the chairman of the house judiciary committee. i think it's important the american people have access to the information contained in this memo. i do believe that the president, whatever advice he gave the president, should let the memo speak for itself. he should release it. but i don't think he or anybody else in the white house needs to comment on it. >> i'm wondering why you feel it needs to be released now. obviously the house intelligence

committee has an incredible vital oversight roll. if there's an investigation of wrongdoing that's incredibly serious, but if there is an investigation why wouldn't one of the first steps before going public be to bring the fbi leadership, including director ray or anybody who may have done something wrong, in front of the committee, the house intelligence committee and grill them? wouldn't that be the next step rather than releasing a memo? >> well, first of all, the director, in my opinion, has not done anything wrong. it's not about him. but it is about several other people in key positions in the department, in the federal bureau of investigation. and i think that this is part of a much larger investigation. as you know congressman trey gowdy and i as chairman of the judiciary committee and several members of the committee have launched an investigation into another aspect of this related

to the fbi's handling of the clinton investigation. and at some point a lot of these things start to come together. but i called months ago as did most of the republican members of the house judiciary committee for a special council to handle that. this needs to be out from the fbi. it needs to be handled separately, and we're continuing to do this investigation. and we'll continue -- but the american people need to know the basics of what is going on and what is at stake here. they have an absolute right to know they're civil liberties are affected by this. the public has a right to know, absolutely. >> you launched an investigation. i don't understand if there is this investigation by the house intelligence committee as it sounds like there should be, why not start having witnesses? whether it's chris ray or others directly involved from the fbi? i just don't understand the need

to immediately release this memo now. >> i can only speak for myself, and personally i believe that this memo lays a predicate for the public understanding the larger nature of the entire investigation and the bias involved here, that some of the public has seen through some of the parts of the struck page texts that have been released. but i think this is important. no, our committee has not yet reached a point. we started our investigation much later, and we're expecting the next step will be a report from the inspector general of the department of justice, which i think will also be very important. but i think this is an important aspect of this that will, i think, help the focus on how this investigation should be conducted. because while director ray should do the right thing within the fbi, i think this goes beyond what he can do and

requires outside supervision. the public has a right to know about it. >> so you're saying it's about educating the public. shouldn't the public be fully educated and hear what the democrats, what their problems with this memo are? i mean if it's really about educating the public, why not release both these memos at the same time? >> well, first of all, the work on this has been going on for quite some time. the democratic memo is much newer. but after -- >> does that matter? >> the members of the house -- i think it does matter. the members of the house have an opportunity as hundreds of them unveiled themselves with the majority memo, have an opportunity to review the minorities memo. and after sources and methods are carefully addressed and removed from the memo, then i think that the committee should. but, again, i'll have to leave it to the intelligence committee to decide.

it's those members of that committee who make the decision. i wouldn't disagree with you. >> but all this tuck about the process, that the full house has to see it. that's actually not some process written in law or written in stone. i talked to chairman mike rogers, former chairman of the house intelligence committee. and he said on monday night, no, if the committee wanted to release it they could have done a second vote right then and released the democrats memo at exactly the same time. if they really wanted it released, there is no process written in stone, correct? >> no, i think that's correct. but there is a process for declassifying classified information, and they have followed an orderly process to accomplish that. they should do the same thing with the democratic memo. >> but waiting a couple of days to republic one so the democrat -- again, if it's about educating the public i don't understand why you don't release them together. >> anderson, first of all, when

this memo is released the democrats will be perfectly free. and i have no doubt they will comment on the contents of this memo. and so that will give you a pretty good idea of what is contained in theirs. and theirs will come out in a little bit. i have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever. >> yeah, they can comment, but, again it doesn't have the same specificity as the republican memo will have. the democrats are saying the republicans have basically cherry picked facts from reams and reams of intelligence and put it into a four-page memo that there's no rebuttal for. and you know they can't come forward with facts that are classified. that would be inappropriate. so if it's really about informing the american public, i don't know how you're informing the public in a one-sided way. in benghazi, when both sides couldn't come to an agreement, they both released reports at

the same time. that seems fair. >> first of all, let's naught overlook the fact this memo has been in preparation for quite some time. the democrats have been fully aware of that. and they say, no, you shouldn't release one until you release both. and secondly, they have tried to prevent the release throughout this process. even today when changes were made to the memo that their request and the fbi's request, they complained that was not proper. so i think the american people need to see the basis for this debate. the democrats to the extent that they have information in a memo that once it is clear that sources and methods have been protected, and once it is clear that the members of congress have had an opportunity to review it, we can do that quickly. i have no doubt. then an appropriate vote should be taken. but, again, i'll have to leave that to the intelligence committee. i don't speak for them on that.

i'm just giving you my opinion about the necessity of the american people seeing what was taking place in the department of justice. and then they'll hear a lot more about this beyond that. i have absolutely no doubt. >> even though, obviously protecting sources and methods are incredibly important. but the fbi has taken this really unusual remarkable kind of unprecedented step to put out saying they have grave concernmizech and it's not just about sources and methods but omissions which alter actual fundamental understanding of what went on. but let me ask you -- >> i get where they're coming from, but after all the department -- it is the federal bureau of investigation that is being investigated. and that is a very unique thing in our country's history. >> has a memo like this -- >> i do not know of a similar circumstance in the past. >> so in all the history dpaegs.

>> i don't know everything to know about that. >> but in all the history you do know of the house intelligence committee and the oversight role its had for decades -- i haven't found any evidence of a memo like this at this stage being put out. it is an extraordinary step. >> i think that's why it has been carefully vetted and gone through the process it's gone through. it's up to the white house now, to the president to make the final decision. and it's my hope that the american people will see it and see it shortly. >> you say it's been carefully vetted. republicans kept saying monday and tuesday, and speaker ryan said, look, christopher ray, the director had a chance to look at it, he didn't ask for any changes, implying the fbi was fine with it. we now clearly know the fbi was not fine with it. the fbi wanted the opportunity to come and testify before the committee and explain their concerns and the republicans on had committee said no.

does that seem like careful vetting? >> i definitely believe it does. there are thousands of pages of documents that a few members of congress and several staff members of the judiciary committee, the intelligence committee have had the opportunity to review who have top secret clearance. and i think this is ready for the american people to consider. i definitely think that in the course of this investigation director ray and other members of the bureau will have an opportunity to testify, maybe in a classified setting, maybe in a public setting depending upon the questions to be asked to give their point of view about this. i also think it is very important that there be independent reviews of what's happening in the bureau and that we not depend just on the bureau's opinion whether they would like to see this released or not. >> absolutely. obviously reporters are all for

transparency. according to reporting, though, the president has been telling associates that on the phone and in conversations he thinks this memo can help discredit the russia investigation. i know you've seen it. but if the president thinks it does and is releasing it with that in mind, are you comfortable with that? >> i am not going to comment on the president's comments, but i will say -- and i'll go a step further with regard to mueller investigation. the mueller investigation should absolutely proceed. and this action and other investigations that are going on do not impede that investigation. in the judiciary committee we have been very careful to give a wide berth to mr. mueller. we have made sure it is impartial, that people participating in it have an impartiality and professionalism that we did not see for example

in the struck, page texts. we asked for the removal of some other people participating. however, that does not change the fact that mr. mueller is oprofessional, both an investigator and an attorney and he should proceed with his investigation. >> i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. coming up next a democratic member of the house intelligence committee weighs in on all this. we'll be right back. turn up your swagger game with one a day men's. ♪ get ready for the wild life a complete multivitamin with key nutrients, plus b vitamins for heart health. your one a day is showing. the things we do rising before dawn. sweating it out. tough to do it all. but we can always find time to listen to great thinkers and explorers whose stories take us places our hamstrings can't. all we have to do is listen.

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while saving for the things you want to do today. -whoo! the news tonight and the conversation voupding the nunes memo and how the president plans to use it, and the white house nor chairman nunes have deny. or is it material merely as republicans on the committee have said is this just a case of lawmakers doing their job and exercising oversight in the name of transparency? before the break we spoke the house judiciary committee congressman goodlatte. you heard the congressman defend the memo. i'm wondering how you respond. >> it's painful for me to watch an otherwise honorable man like chairman-goodlet trade his historical legacy as he retires in order to cheer lead this second rate hit job, which the american public is about to see

is precisely that. i listened it the chairman say things that weren't true, alleging this has been underway for a long time. but republican and democrat members alike saw this. this was not a product of an investigation. there is no investigation out of the intelligence committee. and again, very soon if this memo is made public people that are implicated in it and institutions that are imlicated in it will quickly rise to their defense, and the public will see what a shoddy second hit rate this is. >> could it be used to discredit the russia investigation? because again the president has been reported as saying to his associate or friends it could be. >> it's interesting paul ryan is saying exactly the opposite, this will in no way intersect with the mueller investigation. i will side with the speaker on that. it makes absolutely no mention of bob mueller or of the russia investigation. again, it's a series of

unfounded and out of context attacks on the department of justice, on the fbi and a number of individuals. by the way, most of whom are republicans, some of whom are trump appointees accusing them of bias. and i'm never a fan -- chairman goodlatte said, let's let the public know. the public's not in a position anymore than the committee was, anderson. we were not afforded the opportunity to review the underlying intelligence when the memo was presented to us. nonetheless, this memo is of such low quality when it's out there people sill see this is the latest installment of second rate efforts to impugn the fbi. >> there's omissions of facts which color the overall fact picture. what congressman goodlatte was saying was that democrats will have a chance to respond, they could respond on television or wherever about what's in this

memo once it's released. is that really accurate? i mean if it's about educating the american public i don't understand why they wouldn't just vote to let the democrats release their memo at the same time. again, like the benghazi investigation had two reports released at the same time. >> again, chairman goodlatte made it sound like the nunes memo was something that had been the product of months of work and lots of investigations. i will tell you this. there was not a single hearing, interview or deposition associated with this so-called nonexistent hearing. i'm a member of the committee doing the russia investigation. we've done hundreds and hundreds of interviews. it is a little younger tan the nunes memo. but the fact they're not being released -- and by the way, the democratic memo won't be released unless the president says it's okay. i would be shocked quite frankly because the democratic memo takes the republican memo point

by point and screws up the republican memo. again, you'll have a chance to look at it and the people accused of things will respond, and this will be shown for the effort that it is. >> sanders said she just didn't know. nunes says he didn't work with the white house. when asked whether his statures did by a democratic member of your committee, he didn't answer. do you believe have or have any evidence this was in fact a coordinated effort? this is an issue, because in the past devin nunes has worked with people in the white house and gone to the white house claiming to be briefing the president and the president on things of which the white house apparently already knew. >> yeah, congressman quigley in our hearing asked precisely that question that the chairman refused to answer. so i don't know the answer. there's a larger point here, and it's extremely important.

we asked that as would be traditional with oversight -- remember house speaker ryan called this oversight. oversight is about hearings and calling people in front of your committee, asking them tough questions. we asked that the fbi and the doj, both of whom are badly criticized in this memo be given an opportunity to come in and talk to us about these allegations. if that had occurred you would say, golly, we've learned something and congress wouldn't spin-off the rails with a bunch of poorly founded allegations. the committee refused to provide an opportunity for the department of justice or the fbi to answer these charges. this is not oversight, anderson. this is a political hit job. >> chairman goodlatte said he doesn't know of any other kmachl, though, he doesn't know the entire history of all committees and oversight, but he doesn't know of a memo like this being released. and there's been obviously decades of oversight by congress, law enforcement communities, of the fbi. do you know of any other

examples where there hasn't been an investigation but intelligence was examined by one group, republicans or democrats on a committee and then decided to release a memo. and they had to get the president's sign-off to do it? >> i don't any of any example of a memo being released. and frankly, anderson, as i think about the history of this country and the many investigations done in the national security realm, very serious charges, that a work product would be produced without actually talking to the entity being investigated, that a work product wouldn't be produced with every attempt to make a bipartisan conclusion. not only can i not think of a memo being issued on a partisan basis out any ruview, but conscious of the fact that america needs to trust its

institution. i cannot think of this process which would get thrown out of a court in any second has been followed in this case. >> do you trust his staffers did not have some sort of contact with or direction from the white house? do you believe there was no contact? >> well, i don't want to sf speculate on something that i don't know about. this is something that got kicked off the day comey announced he was recusing himself from the investigation. certainly the president has made his desires known. then we get the allegations that susan rice and sampaioers were unmasking improperly. both of those things turned out to be false. both of those things exist only to throw sand in the gears of

this investigation and create doubt in the american population that the fbi and specifically the mueller investigation are happening in an unbiased way. they are happening in a nonbiased way. there is zero proof or evidence there is political bias in the fbi. but if you say it often enough there will pea people who have doubts about it. >> thank you very much. coming up ahead we're going to talk about all of this, what it may mean and why the president seems so determined to release this memo. heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn?

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get your insurance quote today. what can a president [ do in thirty seconds? he can fire an fbi director who won't pledge his loyalty. he can order the deportation of a million immigrant children. he can threaten an unstable dictator armed with nuclear weapons. he can go into a rage and enter the nuclear launch codes. how bad does it have to get before congress does something?

fired fbi director james

comey stepped into the memo controversy today. he tweeted, quote, all should appreciate the fbi speaking up. i wish all our leaders would. in the long run weasels and liars never hold the field so long as good people stand up. not a long of schools or streets named for joe mccarthy. here to discuss is phil mudd, mike shields, former chief of staff for the republican national committee, and jen psaki. do you know of the situation where a memo like this was released without, you know, talking to -- having the fbi testify before a committee at this stage of an investigation? >> i do. and we quickly forget history in this country including democrats. look, i think this process is fraudulent. you've got to have both parties sit down together. they have to talk about the individuals involved in the

case. and they might offer recommendations for improvement. just a few years ago we had the so-called torture memo come out. in that case it was the democrats who owned the committee. they came out with their memo, and republicans came out and said we're going to issue a minority memo separately. and finally the cia came out and said we have a perspective, too. let me tell you how many witnesses they came out with, none. i don't remember any of us testifying with the congressional committee. i think the process is fraudulent. but to say we've never seen this before ignores history. we have. >> jen, how important is it for the intelligence committee to basically ignore the fbi director and deputy attorney general? >> well, it's pretty extraordinary. one thing i'd like to say to phil's point, it is true this happened in 2014.

i can't defend how senator feinstein handled it. but the way the president at the time handle it is very different, and that's a key pivotal difference here. because president obama took the memo which was sent to him from the intelligence committee and asked the dni to run a process. this is being rushed out of the door. look, the pres dependent we're making is there's no precedent exactly for this in terms of how trump is handling this. and the question of does it matter if devin nunes was involved in the white house drafting, of course it matters. he's been a witting or unwitting puppet of the white house. but this is memo the president has said he think will impact the russia investigation. even if it won't, this is an intentional misleading of the public. and that's a precedent that's very dangerous to be setting in

this country. >> chairman goodlatte said, look, this is about educating the american people about what concerns they have. i totally get that and i believe in trance pattern, obviously. but if it really is about educating the american people, why not allow the democrats to have a, you know, their response or their take on the nunes memo both released at the same time? >> look, i think that would be ideal. we're not looking at an ideal situation. i think one of the things that really frustrates a lot of conservatives is how devin nunes takes a lot of hits and adam schiff is not hit by the media for how partisan he is. the leaks coming out of his committee, the entire process is broken. the democrats are out for blood on this thing. they're leaking things that creates an entirely broken system where there's lack of trust on both sides. so a year into an investigation there has been multiple leaks but never any actual evidence that has come out about collusion. should we be surprised that a

year into that as this is dragging on, that people are putting out different memos and this sort of thing is happening? i mean this environment that has been created of using this russia investigation for partisan gain, for leaking stories -- what do you know, shortly after some good news comes out in the trump administration, we're going to go back to talking about the russia investigation. and the republicans are sick of it. >> mike, you believe the republicans leak just as much as democrats. obviously for different reasons and at different times. >> look, i think the committee is broken. but to lay that at the feet of devin nunes is absurd. there are plenty of democrats trying to use this for partisan gain. >> but you believe it would be ideal to release both at the same time? >> i don't think it matters. the democrats are saying this is not going to affect mueller's case and it's really trumped up,

but we want to release ours at the same time, sure, they're going to have their say. the fbi is going to have their same. i'm a law enforcement republican. i think americans sleep safely at night because the fbi is protecting them, and we should keep that in mind. i understand the leadership of fbi to protect their institution and the people they work with them. to a point. but in the end they work for the american people. the american people have elected representatives. and if those representatives want to release information, it's shocking to me the media isn't supporting this. we're fine putting those things in the air at times. >> we just like getting accurate information. and if this is cherry picked information -- we don't really know because we won't see the underlying intelligence. phil, if you were christopher ray and this intelligence was released would you stay on the job? >> i would for a simple reason.

the american people haven't seen one critical aspect of this and that is the flip side. let's say christopher ray says the honorable thing for me to do when the president that appointed me decides i'm running a corrupt enterprise is to leave, in the coming months maybe later this summer or maybe earlier, the special counsel mueller will release some sort of indictment. if ray leaves, i think that'll be a tough situation. ahead a conversation with dav david axelrod about the current affairs of the trump white house. be right back. really easy. easy. that'd be nice. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." phone: for help with bookcases, say "bookcase." bookcase. i thought this was the dresser? isn't that the bed? phone: i'm sorry, i didn't understand. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." does this mean we're not going out? book-case.

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with the nunes memo burning up official washington, it's always good when cooler heads prevail. joining us right now is cnn political commentator david axelrod. i guess, what does the fight over this memo say about where we are as a country or where our parties are? >> look, i've said this consistently, which is in a democracy party wins the white house, they have a right to make policy subject to the approval of a congress. you may not like the policies they make, but that's our system. but the institutions have to endure. and if you begin to subjugate the institutions to politics to this degree, that's a real danger for the country. and the notion that a president would overrule his own fbi

director, the guy he appointed, his own appointee at the justice department, both of whom have warned that this was reckless, dangerous, had potentially grave consequences -- in order to certify what is apparently a blatantly political objective, the fact that you have one committee in the house unwilling to share that memo even with their own counter parts from the same party in the senate, the fact that they won't release the democratic memo so that people can get a full picture, all of this undermines institutions, undermines confidence in those institutions. and that should be a big concern to people of both parties. >> i mean is there any going back now from this precipice? because it just seems like every few years we talk about participates partisanship, and it's unlike how it used to be. there's this evolution of stuff.

it seems like we're at all-time high. >> we keep waiting for the fever to break. but the concern is that once the glass is broken and you set these precedents, then it becomes easier for the next administration or parties to do this in the future. this is why, anderson, i've been so -- so reluctant to join with others who say -- who even talk about impeachment now. because impeachment becomes a tool that you use to get rid of presidents with whom you don't agree politically. that's a very dangerous thing. and if you do it once then that precedent is established. and that's why i say wait for this probe. but my concern about this president is he has absolutely no regard for institutions norms, perhaps even laws when they're inconvenient.

and that makes it -- he is setting precedence that may be followed by others. >> but it's also interesting the extent to which it is now his republican party, and people are just going along. i mean other than a handful of republicans they're just going along with the president on this and saying things i'm not sure i've ever had republicans say in this way. >> well, you would not have thought even a year ago that the republican party would be the party that would be running over the fbi, justice department, intelligence committee. but i think there's an effort going on, a campaign being run to -- to degrade the investigation that mr. mueller is conducting. so as to perhaps make it easier for the president not to testify or to refuse to testify. or if the result is negative, to be able to make the case that the whole probe was politically motivated and invalid.

but there's so much collateral damage as part of that. and, you know, it's just kind of mind-boggling, and it's depressing. you know, i'm a believer in this stuff, and to see institutions -- so i could not have imagined having served in the white house these kinds of developments. and i don't think anybody republican or democrat save perhaps those people who served in the white house during the nixon administration could imagine this set of circumstances. now, it is important to remember that we did recover from what happened in the nixon administration. so when you say can you come back from that, but it takes the will of both parties to make that happen. >> what's so interesting about this memo, again, and phil brought up the idea of the torture memo the democrats put out, which i think is a fair comparison. but it just -- if that is the only other example that comes to

mind, it just shows how extraordinary this is. >> yeah, there's no question about it. i mean, i can't think of any parallel at all. and you're right about one thing, which is -- and you may be right about many things, anderson. but on the point about the republican party, i have to believe there are >> thanks very much. appreciate it. what we're learning about meeting between the director of the ci a and russian spy chief. more on that ahead. wn. sweating it out. tough to do it all. but we can always find time to listen to great thinkers and explorers whose stories take us places our hamstrings can't. all we have to do is listen. download audible to start listening. a heart transplant... that's a whole different ballgame. i was in shock. i am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent the rejection and prevent the recurrence

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was there a meeting? >> there was. i have that have a u.s. official with direct knowledge of those meetings. pompeo met with the heads of the kgb. the sbr which is sort of the e kwif lent of their cia. he met them last week. one, this is something that multiple administrations do this to exchange intelligence about terrorism, other common threats. it's something they do. now it happens that one of these intelligence chiefs is under sanction by the u.s. because of military action in ukraine. what i'm told by the u.s. officials is the cia followed the legal process here. they let all the proper algencis know we're doing this. we're doing this to exchange information. >> i talked to director clapper last thienight.

he said he done that in the past. it wasn't quite add fruitful as he hoped. how does chuck schumer factor into this? >> he's had a press conference on tuesday and sent a letter to director pompeo saying you did not provide information about this. why did you meet with the implication that the cia was keeping this in the dark. i'm told the staff was briefed before the senator held the press conference on tuesday. senator schumer making an implication about the meetings that the facts do not support. >> would we know about the meeting if the russian media had not reported it? >> no. that's another thing from the

cia's perspective is russia leaked the existence of this meeting on purpose via task with the intention of creating a c curfufle here in the u.s. they got what they wanted here. >> that's fascinating. coming up, he said a senator told him he was better than lincoln and washington. with best in-class towing best in-class payload and best in-class torque the f-150 lineup has the capability to get big things to big places --bigtime. and things just got bigger. f-150 is now motor trend's 2018 truck of the year. this is the new 2018 ford f-150. it doesn't just raise the bar, pal. it is the bar. gathered here are the world's finest insurance experts.

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[ coughs and sneezes ] nothing relieves more symptoms than alka seltzer plus maximum strength liquid gels. we begin the hour with the keeping them honest report. we begin with a pair of claims from the president. the first is about his state of the union message which was seen by tens of millions of people. huge audience.

no small achievement. not quite good enough for the president who tweeted 45.6 million people watched. the highest number in history. that's not true. according to nielson it's number six. really good, just not number one. then there's this from the gop retreat today. the president talking about senator orrin hatch. >> i love listening to him speak. he said once i'm the single greatest president in his lifetime. he's a young man, so it's not that much. he actually once said i'm a greatest president in the history of our country. i said does that include lincoln and washington? he said yes. i said i love this guy. >> an aide for senator hatch said that's not what he said. he said the aide said he would like to work with the president to make this the greatest presidency in history for the american people or as abraham lincoln said, google it first. we're back at 10:00 p.m. eastern in an hour from now.

time to hand it over to chris cuomo. it's great to give you a break in between shows. tonight we have to get after it and get beyond the headlines. we know the president wants to release the memo and the pushback with that decision is growing. the real deal is to get deeper into the motivations and what's going to happen. let's get after it. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to prime time. breaking news, a bipartisan plea from senators urging president trump to hold off on releasing the republican intelligence memo and any effort to undermine robert mueller and his russia investigation. objectively this president has great interest in doing exactly that. you will probably