president to make it the greatest presidency in history for the american people. google it first. we're back in an hour. time to hand it over to cuomo for cuomo "prime time." great to give you a break. always good to see you. tonight we have to get after it. and get beyond the headlines. we now know the president wants to release the memo. and the pus back witon is growi. that'sust the surface. the real deal is to get deeper into the motivation. and what's going to happen when this memo comes out? that's us tonight. let's get after. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." breaking news once again tonight. a bipartisan plea from senators urging president trump to hold off on releasing the republican intelligence memo. and any effort to under mine special counsel robert mueller

and his russia investigation. but objectively this president has great interest in doing actually that. he will probably release the memo in the exact hope that it makes his base distrust anything that comes out from any barrage of justice that is critical of him. smart play for the president? maybe. bad move for you is this definitely. once the administration of justice is a maybe in the mind of the american people, how much holds us together? that's the question. we're about to go one on one with senator joe man chin. he's going to give us insight into the memo process. the democrats haven't seen the memo. we'll go one on one with a former trump campaign advisor. facts first. there are concerns inside the white house. that fbi director christopher

wray, trumps pick for being a cleansing agent. that he may quit if the memo is made public. that is raising hell among the trump team. he is trumps guy. why would he defy trump if he didn't really believe in his position? deep state. he got there. e real question is why are these republicans willing to push trumps personalolitical interest at the cost of under mining the department of justice. listen to paul ryan speaker of the house. >> the more transparency the better. so that the people of the country can see there's civil liberties are being protected and the constitution is being followed. accountability is the correct ant dote for this. >> they aren't doing any of that. almost none of your law marks who voted for the memo have seen the actual basis for the conclusion in it. and none has seen the fisa application that they are claiming fts manipulated by the fbi. think about how backwards that

is. conclusions that you agree with before you know the facts that those conclusions are based on. and you heard paul ryan there say it several times. they want transparency. if he wants transparency, why has he not called on the president to release his taxes. why not say open your books, mr. trump. open your private holdings so all the questions about money movement can be disinfected by the daylight of transparency. why should you believe their intentions are in the interest of trarn parn si when they ignore the president's profound lack of transparency? the larger question. could there be problems on how fbi handled surveillance. absolutely. why not wait on the inspector general report. showing what was done and release it to all of us. why don't they do that?

it seems because they want to control the message. and that is not about over sight. those are the facts. that's the situation. on one with democratic sator e joe mansion of west virginia. a member of the intelligence committee. senator, there was bad weather. thank you for making your way through it to be with us tonight. >> it's worth it. i'm glad to be with you. >> you're a good man to do that. is it true that the house members of the intel committee from the gop didn't let you guys see the memo? not everyone ranking member senator burr. republican. >> that's true. we have not, no one has seen the memo on this side. the way the intelligence committee works on the senate we know it doesn't work on the house side from what devin nunes has done. he was sanctioned by his own

commit to have after the russian investigation. he comes back and sarts this investigation on his own and won't reveal sources. we have nine different intelligence agencies that we cross check with to make sure that we're all in sink before anything is said, leased or afwreeed upon. we don't come from the senate side unless we have agreement and bipartisan way. they're working in this house intelligence strictly on partisan. on a partisan participation. that now how the intelligence committee on either side has been set up. and devin nunes pardon the pun, he has neutered the confidence people could have in the house intelligence committee. the senate intelligence committee under chairman burr from north carolina republican, and ranking member mark warner from virginia, basically are working together. and they will work together and findings.ome out with our

working together. not trying toefeat each other. i cannot believe how they're operating and under the guidelines that we're also supposed to operate under. trying to come to the facts. and the findings that we have released to the people. they have confidence in. it's just absolutely unbelievable. >> dysfunction. one sided power play. it won't be new to people. however, what will be new is whatever is in the memo. once it is opened up like pandora's box. you will not shut it up again. not being having a democratic memo. what happens if when the memo comes out you have a sizable portion of people largely who will identify as having voted for president trump. who say i don't trust the fbi. they were in ka hoots to help clinton and hurt my president. i don't trust the administration of justice. >> the only thing i did say is i

have been on the entej committee. the armed services committee for six years. i am so thankful and appreciative of the intelligence committee. the judicial system the fbi. the cia and all the people that protect us every day and do up and beyond what anybody can imagine. that they do to keep us safe. and i would say if you don't, you haven't spent enough time with them. if you don't believe this sincerity and the professionalism they have is real, then go out and spend some time before you start talking and degrading them. these people do not do this for fame or fortune. i can assure you. they can all do an awful lot better financially into the private sector. these are true patriots. i respect them. bob mueller is by far the most respected person we have in the judicial community. that both sides will agree upon. adnistration doesn't move on hat bob mueller.

doesn't try to remove him. because you will see i truly believe in my heart that you will see democrats and republicans coming together as americans. and doing their job in the senate and in the house. i really believe that. >> just look at how the dominos are lined up here. again statement against self-interest. i'm in the business of checking the fbi and calling out when they do things wrong and their choices and methods. we do it all the time. it's a possibility of it being not done the right way in all cases. once this memo comes out and says they were cheating on fisa. they were subverting the process and doing it to help clinton. boom that falls. if that process was manipulated and those people were involved. the mueller investigation. how can we trust that. look at the lawyers they put around him that donated money to clinton. he put together a clinton committee. like the fbi. i can't trust them. anything that coming out of this

committee is tainted. then what? >> chris, as soon as mr. mueller found out anybody had any connection or ties whatsoever. he eliminated them. removed. when they keep talking about all of the things that we can't believe or can believe or who's trying to sway each other, the facts are direct. and what we have in front of us to work with. you can't make this stuff up. you really can't. and i tell people you're entitled to your opinion. and i know the theories people have out there. and all the paranoia. you're not entitled to your own facts. >> they fixed that. that's what this memo is about. they can have their own facts. they have goud di and others going in there and look at body of evidence. they put they close o opposition. they lease it to the people. and there's narrative

constructed by them. they have their own opinion and facts. >> let me say this. if anything comes out of the intelligence or armed services that's not bipartisan. don't believe it. if we can't come to an agreement in those very, very restricted confine that is we work in. that the public never gets to see. and we're not worried about the cameras. we're not worried about the hype. of politics being a democrat or republican. we're worried about the facts the security of the country. if you see something coming out of committee. the three committees almost. you have foreign relations, armed services and you have intel. anything that comes out on a partisan basis with only republicans or democrats. something is wrong. >> something happened. and they're playing politics. >> people have heard that. that's what the show is about. giving you the chance to speak to people. now i'm going to have a

conversation with you. that i wouldn't have with you in person. i would be afraid you'd slap me around. i know you from your time as governor. you held that state together in the middle of crisis. by getting people to stay together. when they hated some of the people on the ground for what was going on. you tried to bring that to congress. in the senate. bipartisan ship. standing against your own when you need to. standing with your side when you have to. where has is gotten you? you stand up and tell the democrats they should have respected the president. they have to be more open minded about what works and what doesn't. the vice president of the united states goesown where you are going to be in a knife fight for your seat. and this is what he says. run this sound of vice president pence. >> i looked him in the eye. i told him i said joe the people of the mountain state are counting on you. i said let's get this tax cut done together. joe voted no. joe voted no to give working families more of your hard

earned money. >> forget about the fact that that's not true. what that tax bill is going to do for your people. i have done my home work. that was your reward for standing up and saying democrats should respect the president. the vice president goes down there and under cuts you in your home state. what does that tell you? >> well, it tells you basically the leadership that we have in the vice president and the mike pence. he's been a governor, i was a governor of my state. never once did i attack a republican because i was a democrat governor. i looked at them as west virginiaens. we had to work together and fix the stay. we always did that. when he comes and first of all it's unbelievable, chris, is that mike pence comes to west virginia two days after the president gives a state of the union speech. talking about how we should get

together and bipartisan way. he spoke about joe mansion did not vote to repeal the horrible affordable care act. i'm sorry mr. vice president. i will not throw 200,000 west virginiaens off healthcare because you don't like it. and you're trying to keep a political promise. why don't we sit down and fix it in a bipartisan way. there's nothing that you have done since youave been vice president to work in a bipartisan way. you talk a good game. you don't sit down and work. i'll give you an example flt they couldn't get 51 republicans. they lost three republicans on trying to repeat the affordable care act. as soon as that was defeated, we had 12 democrats and 12 republicans cosponsor a bill. the republican and patty murray fixing the healthcare bill. and mitch mcconnell held that up. we haven't been able to vote on it. help us there, mr. vice

president. fix something. he talks about joe mansion didn't vote for the tax cut. i worked with 21 different meetings with the his administration. with mr. vice president. and the republican administration. i work with them. through this entire process. i met with them i gave them four proposals. and i spoke to my friends the night before. and i said before we throw caution to the wind we have never in history of the united states ever started out thinking we would have an extra $1 and a half trillion of debt. you put the importance for the wealthiest americans and wealthy corporations. you left the working west virginia with a temporary tax. to add insult to injury you went ahead and repealed the mandate which was unravelled the whole health care. yoir determined to throw all the west virginiaens, hundreds of thousands off of healthcare.

you're right, mr. vice president. i didn't vote for that. it's not good for west virginia. you should not come to my state saying ta you know what is best for my state when you would do everything you could to harm my state. >> when it comes to what will work down there, we'll split the difference. it's hard for me to agree reaching out to the other side will get anything done in this current triable environment. i agree you 100% when you said this type of behavior going there under cutting somebody who wants to work with you. that makes washington suck. to borrow your phrase. senator, thank you for coming on. to address the american people. >> chris, if i can say -- jurs one thing. i worked with susan collins. my dear friend. 2013 they shut down government. my republican friends shut it down. it was wrong then. we got the common sense coalition and opened it back up. they shut it down the democrats

i thought were wrong. but they did it. we opened it back up. we're working together. the vice president should be working with us. in a bipartisan way. and coming down here and attacking the person, me. who voted more as far as in the center. 54% of the votes i voted with the republican administration. because i want to get things done. if i can explain it i can vote for it. what he accused me of i can't explain that to west virginia. it doesn't make sense. >> that's how things are right now. i remember 2013. it was joe mansion walking tall and susan collins carrying the talking stick. thank you very much for being with us. i'll speak to you soon. we have more breaking news in the russia investigation. the old legal team is out. for one of trumps former campaign aids. his name is rick gates. his new team was seen at the building where the special counsel works. does that mean he's ready to make a deal?

we take you inside, next.

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this one's below market price and has bluetooth. same here, but this one has leather seats! use the cars.com app to compare price, features and value. why did former trump aid rick gates change lawyers? why did his attorneys offer their reasons for withdrawing under seal? meaning privately. in this memo. is it going to make things better or worse? great topics for great debate. former obama white house ethics czar. and cnn legal and former trump

white house lawyer. jim shults. that you think. you heard the questions. gates changing his legal team. what's your theory? >> well, chris, thanks for having me back again. my theory is that there's a smell of a plea bargain in the washington air. tonight. there could be a lot of other explanations, chris. >> what are they? >> sometimes lawyers and their clients don't get along. they see the strategy differently. they have a difference on a question of ethics. gates we know got a little bit of trouble for appearing in a video to raise money for his defense. maeb he's running short on cash. he has a new lawyer. tom green. one of the toughest negotiators of plea deals in washington. he's been seen going in and out of the special counsel headquarters. and just like we had the signs with michael flynn.

when flynns lawyer was seen there at mueller hq. i think there could be plea talk going on. >> all right. what do you think, jim? he smells a smell in the air. i smell many i floor manager. he has a jasmine thing going on. >> there are three things. he's right about three issues. one is there's sometimes the client doesn't have the money to pay the bill. doesn't have the green. to do it. two, there's some disagreement between the lawyers. on between the lawyer and the client on strategy. three, that there's some conflict of interest. or some issue that prevents the lawyers from going forward. this is all under seal. we don't know. it could mean that the strategy is to go harder and not make a plea deal. tom fwreen is known as a very tough trial lawyer as well. so i think it's purely spe speculative whether a deal is in

the works. they could be doing in saying no deal, we're going to court. >> very reasonable. i'm unsatisfied. we don't know enough to make it interesting. let's talk about something else. the memo. if it's true the reporting and the president is looked at it or briefed on it and wants to release it. when the memo comes out does it make the situation better or worse? >> this memo is going to be a gigantic belly flop. a dud in e pa tomic. when people come out and see as we have been hearing more and more details coming out. so many members of congress have seen this. there's no basis for the allegation. they haven't examined the under lying evidence. mr. trumps own fbi saying that the memo is misleading. the let down is going to be so severe. i think people are going to be disappointed and angry at this political game playing political games to try to lash out at the russia investigation.

this pattern over and over again. unfounded allegations. it's so disappointing. i think there's going to be anger. >> for all your high dujen. jim has a smile on his face like i realize my kids forgot one slice of pizza. why are you so happy? >> i'm entertained by norm. this is over sight. this is what the executive branch and the legislative branch of government do all the time. the legislative branch asking questions ovt executive branch. the fbi is part of the executive branch. nobody accused speerk ryan of doing trumps bidding. he agrees transparency is -- he's seen the memo. >> that paul ryan thing threw me. i was zoning out. now i'm back. paul ryan is all about transparency? he won't tell trump to release taxes. this isn't over sight. this is out of sight. they wornt let the democrats

have their memo come out. it reeks. talk about a smell in the air. how does this not reek of political opportunity? trumps own guys saying don't do this it's the wrong way. how is that disinfecting trarn pa transparency? >> you have the fbi coming out against the release of the memo. what you have is the intelligence committee on the republican side. >> of the house. just the house. they won't show it to the senate colleagues in their own party. >> it's still the intelligence committee. they have credibility. that staff has credibility. and if they have determined it's the right thing for the american people that the american people see this, that's well within their right to do. in the role as an oversight role. in the legislation. >> norm, the american people are only going to see their reckoning of it. jim says we see it all the time.

we have never seen it. maybe with the torture memo. the sides didn't line up the way they are now. we have never seen in our lifetime the congress go around the intelligence community to force one version of something. on a judicial application. that they haven't everyon seen. >> it's shocking. i don't know if the majority will be allowed to keep the name intelligence in the title of the committee after what they have done. if they had credibility it was shot long ago when devin nunes took his first midnight run to the white house to coordinate stories with the president. he's acting as as much as an advocate for the president when jim was his lawyer in the white house. if the intelligence committee were serious here's what they would do. there's an inspector general who has clearances and expertise to look at this. refer it to him.

he'll come back with straight answer. there's a fisa court. waants.that over sees the go to the court. make your claim tth court. have the court look. why aren't they doing that because they know they're going to get booted from both of the independent reviews. they're taking the cheap shot. it's going to have huge blow back on them. it's a disgrace and it's a sad day for our country. >> final point. >> i wonder if it was a different topic if norm would be saying the same thing. if we were talking about some other issue in the executive branch. that the democrats wanted to have over sight on. and were seeking information and trying to publish information. if he would be saying the same thing. if it's just entirely hypocrite kal. >> the hypocrisy is obvious. it's right now in the circumstance, it's on the republican side. i'm not saying both sides aren't capable of this.

it's just what's happening now. one clarification. you know this. jim he didn't represent the president. he represented the white house. he was working under the constitution and we respect you for the service to the country. and i appreciate you being with us here tonight. norm, i say it every time. you have the best hair in the business. jim. you have a beautiful head. see you later. why are we pushing back on jim shulgs reckoning here? the facts lead us in a different drerks. say president trump has been cling frids. saying the memo would expose fbi bias against him. that's the motivation. not just over sight. and the balance against grave concerns from his own fbi director. what does that mean? we go one on one with a trump insider. he has seen all of this. can he make the case to you that it's the right move? 'sup, world? it's the box with 30% savings for safe drivers.

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all right. let's get more on the breaking news. president trump supposedly moving closer tonight to lease

the gop memo. he hopes will under mine bob mullers russia investigation. despite warnings from the justice department that damage the such move might do. one on one with former campaign senior advisor. good to have you. thank you very much. nothing sgamting about a skull ring on your finger. the president wants to do this. based on the facts as we see them. this will show some of the investigating done at the fbi level was engineered against him. if so fact o. you can't trust if it's negative against me. >> as someone who is kind of in this jackpot, i have testified before the house intelligence committee. i have been called to testify before the senate intelligence and judiciary committee. senate intel twice. there are a will the of us

trying to figure out what's in the bottom of this. i quit the campaign in june of 2016. i worked and lived in russia in the 90s. somehow i'm being called in front of the congressional committees. which cost 20 to $30,000 each time you go. you can't go unrepresented. even if you're just a witness. there's a lot of us, people who have been following this department of justice since the obama administration. we watched for example the former secretary of the former attorney general on the tarmac. of the airport in phoenix. with clinton. >> bad move. she turned over the reigns to comey to make a decision. whether or not there was material for a prosecution. unusual. you're making a key distinction. >> i can fwo through the list. there's a litany of things that look bad and smell bad. and if this memo exposes this, as crimes.

i want prosecution. i want to lock them up. >> that's a big if. here's the first problem. if that's what you want, this isn't the way to go about it. it's no unilateral. this isn't going to lead to that action. it will lead to push back and political warfare. that's what it's starting as. it's not bipartisan. tactically it draws criticism for me. >> i have been in front of one committee. >> fair point. no reason and it's not right to talk about that questioning. those are politicians. >> political prosecution. >> i do not see a potential for over sight. maybe senate intel. they haven't been doing what everybody else is doing. completely divided. reeks of politics. thatst not the fbi. that's not mueller. that's not the doj. those are the politicians. on the fbi level that's the suggestion they're making. the fisa application. think about it. if i came to yound said the

democrats were doing in and putting out this memo, most people haven't seen the fact basis but believe in the conclusion. the judicial proceeding they say was monkeyed with for political advantage. none of them have read the application. >> do you find that unusual a congressman wouldn't read something? >> 100%. in this context. subverting the justice system. >> dozens of documents of multiple pages. and the staff deals with that stuff. they read the summary. in the intelligence committee i met with them. i met some of the staff on the republican side. i have complete confidence. >> why won't they show the senate colleagues? >> if you think that's the first time, anything. these guys have always been -- bh i worked in congress they were arguing against each other. >> why won't they let the democratic memo come out?

>> i this i they will. >> they voted to put it through a process. >> you're talking about timing. >> timing is everything. >> and the democrats should have got started sooner. >> they couldn't have gotten started until they understood there was another one. this was kept from them. >> i want to see both. i understand there's a timing problem for the democrats. let me tell you this. i find it rather interesting. that people are up in arms about there's a damage to national security. the one sided nature of this. when the media and the democrats have been living on leaks that are filled with national security information and one sided information for over a year now. and for some reason this memo is over the top. compared to really important intelligence information that's been spilled out into the media. because in a way to attack the >> well, i would ask you to point out an example of something that's leaked out that is amount to what they'll say about a fisa proceeding. what is leaked out?

>> first of all. >> nothing from mueller. except crumbs that are meaningless. we see no evidence of collusion. that's a true comma but. true. i haven't seen any. comma but i don't know anything mueller has. >> mueller reputation i believe he is still that way. he thinks leaks are just the crime of the century. i believe -- >> you're fortifying my point. we don't know what he has. >> i have a problem with people around mueller. in the past. who have been a part of this thing. i have a problem with chris wray. who in december dissembled and. >> he just got there. brought in by the president to be a cleansing agent. >> if he saw the coverage after wards. he was dancing around and trying not to answer questions. saying he didn't think he could bring a fisa warrant to discuss

it with them. they were the chief over sight committee for fisa. >> he's respecting the protocol for the procedure. >> this has been stone walling since. >> why would christopher wray have any incentive to stone wall. when he was put there as a cleansing agent. >> i don't know. i come from fly over country. these people are unusual to begin with sfwl trump picked him. he's of high honor and integrity. >> the president regretted other picks as well. >> all of them? wray comes, rosenstein says don't do it this way. why not wait for the inspector generals report? what about the report? let it come out. see what it shows. >> that's what wray was saying in december. >> if you don't wanto engineer the pitics and the narrative. why not wait is do it that way? >> at this point in time there's so many things going on that are questionable in this investigation. in all the investigations. i'm excited to see the memo. we need the memo.

we need both. as soon as the democrats go through. >> then what? >> we decide. >> decide what? >> charges could be brought. >> in basis? >> i don't know. >> just understand what you're saying. there can't be charges come from a memo that the department of justice doesn't accept as legitimate. it doesn't work that way. it will not happen. >> we can get closer and closer to finding -- closer and closer to what happened. if we understand what happened and was completely ethical and not illegal, then so be it. if somebody was using democrat opposition research in order to get a fisa warrant. on somebody who worked for the president. and then grew that out into a massive surveillance operation. i was unmasked. my wife was unmasked. my father an insurance agent was unmasked. >> you know the protocol is specific for when that happens.

>> the protocol were relaxed. >> we don't know that. >> we know the power herself didn't do a lot of her own fisa, unmasking. some of the staff did it. >> you said that's not unusual. staff does the work. >> that's not true. when it comes to fisa. the fisa court is not been around for decades. this is a process that a lot of us are uncomfortable with. >> that's a different conversation. >> if the fisa process is being corrupted by political appointees because the department of justice. >> that would be g. wron >> the fbi politice. it's wrong. >> those are toxic -- you're not going to tell me. there's a toxic collusion and i don't know the basis. there's more news for you tonight. this is actually breaking on our

watch. the president's mind set on the memo. we're getting the washington post reporter who broke the story. he's going to be on the phone. that's up next. ne ♪ ♪ wow! ♪ i'm walking on sunshine ♪ wow! ♪ i'm walking on sunshine ♪ wow! ♪ and don't it feel good ♪ hey! ♪ alright now ♪ and don't it feel good ♪ applebee's handcrafted burgers. any burger just $7.99. now that's eatin good in the neighborhood.

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we know a lot of the what here. what's going on with the memo and what's being done to get it out. it's the why that's so confounding and so important. we're in luck. breaking news tonight on president trump and what his thinking on the nunes memo is. washington post reporter cnn analyst josh. has a buy line on the story. he's on the phone with us right now. josh, what did you learn? >> caller: we traced back the ark of the memo and how the president a couple weeks ago in a cull with republican lawmakers who said you should declassify this memo. and over time he repeatedly watched television shows with republicans like meadows and others on the air. including cnn. talking about the need to release it. and the president became convinced it would be a good against the russia investigation. he thinks the investigation is a

witch hunt. and a hoax. he thinks the actions taken here by rosenstein a deputy attorney general who is supervisoring mueller the special counsel. that portrayed in the memo will paint him in a bad light. and drive him out of the justice department. the president has been warned by his fbi director, justice department officials. intelligence officials of the risk of releasing this memo. the caution he should take. and he's been resolute he'll release it one way or another. >> not only have we heard the fbi director that trump chose that he may quit over what's going on right now. now josh with the washington post and an analyst is reporting that there's concern that wast in the memo about rosenstein another choice of the president, may force him out of the doj. who will be left? our thanks to josh. let's take the breaking news

into the great debate. with symone sanders and jack king ston. is there a concern in your smile that the president has the fbi director on shaky ground about what's happening? that rod rosenstein again both of the guys his choice. maybe on shaky ground. is this memo worth displacing his people? >> i don't know about them being on shaky ground. i have spoken to members of congress who have read this memo. and they're not hot headed people. there's suspicion on the left about some of them. people like peter king is one of your frequent guests. ross. michael con way. will hurt. these are not the hard right of the republican party. these are people who frequently criticize and vote against president trump. they are absolutely appalled and what they have learned about the fisa abuses. under a select few and the fbi

apparently under the other weaponize the power of the fbi on the for political reasons. these are thot not -- let me under score. i no these people well. they are not hot headed people. they are thoughtful. >> if i may -- no one is saying. >> never yield. >> the really issue is here no one is saying they're hot headed individuals. these folks along with speaker ryan are aiding and abedding and eroding institutions and doing donald trumps bidding. the fact of the matter is if the committee at the intel committee which used to be a highbrow bipartisan committee. interested in doing the real work of protecting institution ts against threats and working well with the intel community. if they are interested in doing the work they would release the democratic memo as well. they are not going that. if the fbi the trump justice

department, are all saying this shouldn't be leased, i think focus on politics with ou institutions here is a problem. >> i know you love tt expression. let me say this. i have served in the legislative branch and i'm loyal to the legislative branch. i have a bias. i can tell you we routinely fight with the executive branch over information over direction and policy. over drug approval, over roads. over intersections. >> that's fair. >> i can tell you the bush administration was just as difficult as the obama or clinton administration of whom i served. you cannot get information from them. in this case remember the fbi ignored subpoenas. and. >> there's a reason for it. it wasn't there's no understanding of any deceptive intent. they were trying to protect protocol. here's my question. >> protocol though. >> i get they were requesting it the right way. that's why the doj says they

were resisting. wray went to the president to talk to him about them. i don't see that as deceptive intent. i haven't seen proof. i was thinking while you were talking. i get what you're saying. i know will herd and ross. and she'll be. peter king i grew up. he called me a today. clipped his. >> here is my question, if the concern is valid, if this memo shows arguable breaches of protocol by people in the fbi, why would you go about exposing it this way when you have to know it will frustrate your very intentions of any action there on? because once this memo drops, it is seen as a one-sided forced narrative. the doj is uncomfortable with it and believes it is inaccurate.

so the idea that charges will come from it, how? the doj isn't going to take this up. so why do it this way if you have legitimate concerns? why not put out the i.g. report, independent, depth, time, let it come out, expose that and then act on it politically? doing it this way seems to frustrate the very intentions you're speaking to. >> well, i believe the i.g. report would have a lot of redacted information. people would not be able to understand that. therefore, the committee according to rules and procedures voted on it and now the president who, by the way, as you know, can declassify anything he wants to. now we're going through the right process on it. i think they really believe that there were absolutely civil liberties that were violated and that's where things are going to change. i think when people, for example, one of the most famous democrats in the fruited -- >> why can't we not see the memo from the democrats on the committee? >> you know, symone, let me finish this sentence. i'll answer that.

alan dershowitz who is a very liberal hillary clinton supporting democrat -- >> but that's politics, not his jurisprudence. >> symone -- >> hold on. >> dershowitz votes for democrats. i know the professor very well. he votes for democrats but argues for either side. he really does. go ahead. >> i think what's going to happen, people who spent a career championing civil liberties. i want to say this to both of you, i'm always suspicious of the intel committee. i think they withhold fro congress and the public all the time. we were told, for example, we were not, there was no metadata that w bng clected. >> chris -- >> you remember that. one of the heads of intelligence said that and the senate committee said it to senator ron wyden, said, no, we're not collecting that data. >> chris. >> let me say this. i think we could release the democrat memo. i'm not against that. >> it should happen and the fact that it didn't is really speaking that incentive i talked to you about, doing it this way undermines the intentions no matter how genuine you say they are. symone, final word. >> the "washington post"

editorial is out tonight saying speaker ryan is aiding and abetting in the tarnishing of the united states house of representatives, the high war of this committee. i just have questions. devin nunes recused himself, what happened to the recusal, where is the democratic memo, and if this information is so egregious, why are so many people coming out and saying that it is harmful to our institutions, it's not helpful to the investigation? this looks like republicans on this committee are doing the bidding of donald trump, and that has issues. that's problematic. that's not bipartisan. that's not in the best interest of figuring out and combatting the fact that russia interfered in our election. that's a bipartisan issue. >> fair points on both sides. let's leave it there. and unfortunately, we're not going to know more until this memo drops. and that will probably be very soon. lady, gentleman, thank you. all right. stick around. we have a special final fact next. guaranteed to tell you at least one thing you don't already know.

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today is your day. crush it. angie's boom chicka pop whole grain popcorn. boom! all right. tonight is not a final fact, more like a final feeling. not like the boston song. this is coming directly from me. you guys surprised me with how you responded here to this series, not just the ratings but the resonance, the questions, the concerns, the criticisms. i ask you every night and in the morning to get after it. and you did. for example, today our youngest, carolina, we call her cha-cha. she turns 8. look at that. if i look at that too long, i'll cry. i'm with her for her birthday. a guy comes up to me and says i don't like how you push sometimes. it always makes me think, that is perfect, that's all i want. popularity is a waste of time for a journalist. to put things out there that makes you think about what you know, that's a gift. that's a value.

too many people are seeking an echo of what they already believe. i cannot give you that, and the truth is, you shouldn't want it. not only is the truth more complex than partisan pundits make it, but why be one of the folks who says, i couldn't care less what other people think. pop always told me, listen hard, really hard, to the other side. that's how you know for sure when you're right, and you know how to improve when you're not. also, i have a secret to tell you. i have worn the same thing every damn night of this series. only like a dozen of you noticed. why? because i dig the look. but also to make a point about what matters. i focus on what i ask, and the work is what matters. that's how we provide value to you. not by what we wear. that's silly. so i want to say thank you to you for watching this. giving me the opportunity to burn the candle at both ends. i'm happy i did it to test power for you. i thank the people here who gave you the facts first. they worked very hard.

and i appreciate everything that is opportunity brought us. so thanks for tonight. anderson cooper is back for a special edition of "a.c. 360." that starts right now. welcome to a special late edition of "360." we begin with president trump determined to release the so-called nunes memo. the reporting comes from the "washington post." here's the lead of the story. "president trump was only vaguely aware of a controversial classified memo about the fbi's russia investigation when two house conservatives brought it to his attention in a january 18th phone call. the conversation piqued trump's interest. the "washington post" report goes on saying "over the next two weeks according to interview s eight officials he tuned into cable television segments about the memo, talked to friends and advisers about it. before he even read it, trump became absolutely convinced of one thing, the memo needed to come out. josh dawsey is one of the "post" reporters sharing the byline on