said he was a good guy, but nothing more than that. no effort to protect himself. that was the key point. so therefore the obstruction of justice charges unwarranted. >> things will be getting underway in about three hours. you have been through a lot of these high-profile hearings. andlong we expect these be, will the fireworks be a front side of this? how you expect his hearing to go? i think the fireworks will be at the beginning with the opening statements and opening rounds of questions from senior members on both sides. as the hearing progresses, ground will be covered. as you cover it a second and third time, it will be less interesting, but when hillary clinton had testified before the house benghazi committee, that took hours and hours. i do not think it will take quite that long. this is a rare opportunity to grill james comey on something everyone cares about, so i think we will see multiple hours of hearings going on. that will find out about

around 10:00. and our cameras will be there. you will be at watch the hearing in its entirety on c-span3 this morning as well as www.c-span.org. and if you are not near a television this morning, get the c-span radio app. if you miss that, we will be reairing the hearing with mr. comey at 8:00 p.m. eastern time here on c-span. highlights oning c-span2. if you want to see the whole thing, we will re-air it at 8:00 p.m. c-span -- eastern time on c-span. you can watch the hearing, and alongside the video of the hearing, you will see any tweets from the president as they are happening in real time. if you would like to see both of those things happening at the

same time, go to our website. let's get you your calls. we want to hear what you have to say to washington about this. terry, a republican. you are up first. good morning. caller: i must say, i know i lookingrd the liberals for smoking guns come but i just see a smoking p shooter. -- this is just the liberals in the media showing how they had donald trump and i cannot get over the fact that their gal hillary lost the election. (202) 748-8000 -- host: are you referring to mr. heards statement you yesterday, no smoking gun their? caller: if they want to talk about collusion, there was collusion in the election. as we know, the democrat committee stacked against bernie sanders. there was no hacking that i know of. john podesta headed his emails

to wiki leaks on a silver platter when he responded to a with his password, which was password. there is nothing here. actionse his vengeful by the democrats and liberal media who cannot accept their gal lost and they are out to thesey trump and so-called reporters are loyal to the democrat party. mark warner, democrat from virginia and the vice chair of the senate intelligence committee, you will hear his questions this morning. he has released his opening statement as well, and he references the former director's opening statement released yesterday. he said "in further violation of clear guidelines put in place after watergate to prevent any political interference upon fbi investigations, the president called the fbi director on two , march 30 andions

april 11, and asked him to "lift the cloud" of the russia investigation." "at the same say time, he was pressuring senior leaders of the intelligence committee to downplay russia investigation or intervene with director comey. director and nsa admiral rodgers had plenty of opportunities to deny those reports yesterday. they did not. this is not how a president of the united states behaves. relentless of the outcome of our into those russia director comey's firing in his testimony raise separate and troubling questions we must get to the bottom of. republican, virginia? -- independent caller. what do you have to say about that? caller: hi, i have been paying .ttention to this issue there is a couple of things i

would like to say about it. i read comey's opening statement, which was released yesterday, and foreign fbi director -- four an fbi director to be that offended by the president's actions, asking him to have some loyalty and stuff like that, i don't know. he just an oversized baby? i am not sure. host: the response from those who see it is troubling is that the fbi is supposed to be independent. that is why they have a 10 year term. they crossover between presidents caller:. -- presidents. caller: but that does not mean the president that cannot talk to him. host: but he asked for his loyalty. caller: the president should

expect the loyalty of everybody, right? ,nd comey even said what truthful loyalty, right? we are all americans here. we are supposed to be on the same team. of course we want to do things that are law abiding, and with gee, i hope to ask you can see your way clear, letting this guy go off, that is not telling him to break the law. but i would like to make one other point, if i could. is that all right? host: yes. caller: what we need to understand on this day and age, i have been on your show several mundt and since the smith reauthorization act, which was put in the 2012 national defense , the nba's national defense suthorization act -- ndaa'

national defense authorization i. our media, through the government, can create any kind of story they want and tell it to us as if it is fact. leave it there. he referenced mr. comey's seven pagesrks, long, made public yesterday. the washington post has decided to take his testimony, his opening statement, word for word in a full page of their newspaper this morning, and lay it all out there, all seven pages. our caller was referencing there was a conversation the president had with mr. comey, where he asked for loyalty. opening statement, mr. comey writes "near the end of our dinner, the president returned to the subject of my job, saying that he was glad i thatd to stay, saying he had heard great things about

me from jim mattis, jeff sessions, and many others. he then said i need loyalty. i replied he will always get honesty from me. as i wrote in the memo i created immediately after the dinner, he might have understood the phrase differently,ty" but i decided not to push it further. it had helped and an awkward conversation and my excavations had made clear what he should expect." romney, democrat, good morning to you. before we hear from you, i want to show our viewers stationed outside of mr. comey's home this morning, hoping to get the former director as he makes his way from mclean, virginia, to the capitol hill here in washington. as we get side of him, we will show you that as well. of him, we will show

you that as well. what do you want to hear from this director? caller: hi, i want to hear from the from -- from the former director comey in detail what he believed that mr. trump was trying to get at when he told him i want loyalty, and he drop the flynn case. i believe comey will be telling the truth. host: you do? caller: yes. it seems like he has always been , and truthnt person telling, a boy scout type of behavior, and i do not think he has anything to gain by lying. there is nothing he can gain by lying. feel that way when, last summer, he made -- he held the press conference about

the probe into hillary clinton's private mail server? caller: yeah, yeah. political,ink he is i think he's just trying to do his job. man, and it is sad the way he got fired the way he did. our caller says she believes mr. comey and everything he says on capitol hill, the hearing getting timeway at 10:00 eastern over on c-span3. we will continue to talk to you here on c-span until the house goes in. 216 heart, that is the tableware that gentleman is sitting, -- table where that gentleman is sitting. there are 15 members on the senate intelligence committee, republican and democrat, and they will be covering the

questions about what he wrote yesterday or his opening openingt -- for his statement. again, you can watch on c-span3 the entire hearing this morning, or get the c-span radio app. our caller will be believing the former director. according to a poll, a majority of american believes that americans believe president trump is interfering with the russian probe. 56% majority of u.s. adults say trump is interfering with such investigations rather than law 61 percent say trump fired coming to protect himself rather than for the good of the country. comey also faces serious credibility problems ahead of his highly anticipated senate testimony thursday, with 36% of americans saying they trust what he says about russia and the election a great deal or a good amount. or not athim less

all. substantial skepticism across party lines, given his role in forstigating the campaign hillary clinton and donald trump has taken a toll. trump is seen as less trustworthy, with one in five people saying they trust him about what he says in russia's role about the 2016 campaign, while just over seven in 10 trust him less. half of adults said they could not trust what trump says "at all" on these issues, compared with one quarter who say the same of comey. james in tennessee, an independent what. -- an independent. what do you have to say? caller: thank you for taking my call. probably comey what beat trump. trump lied his way into the white house. host: are you still there, james? caller: yes. host: what would you say to mr.

trump's lawyer, who put out it statement yesterday saying "i am pleased mr. comey has finally publicly confirmed that the president is not under investigation in any russian probe. the president feels completely and totally vindicated." caller: trump had him by himself. take rocket scientists to figure this out. allowed -- how can one meager source be right and all the rest of this wrong? i am through licking his but. i believe he wants to be kim jong-un. people who go with trump will get colder. they are not going to have insurance if it goes like he wants it.

you will be a fool. thank you. host: the republican national committee, who is handling all to the russiaes investigation, says this yesterday. "president trump was right, director comey's statement reconfirmed what the president had been saying all along -- he was never under investigation." hill, we on capitol interviewed senators on the senate intelligence committee about how they are preparing for this morning's questions and answering. here is senator susan collins on what she said about her expectations for this morning. senator collins: i believe that comey will be far more forthcoming. i think that is why he agreed to testify. it provides a foundation in some ways, but the hearings tomorrow is on the russian investigation

as opposed to the hearing today, which was actually called for another purpose. that since mr.ct comey has agreed to testify, he will be more forthcoming in his answers. i have a lot of different questions to ask him. want to know about the phrase in the president's letter where he fired mr. comey. hethe course of the letter, says "while i greatly appreciate your telling me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation." i want to ask mr. comey that is an accurate representation of what occurred and find out more about those three separate occasions.

>> what do you think chairman burns leadership of this investigation has been like? senator collins: i think they have done in excellent job. they have been aggressive, picked up the pace in recent community --r committee has sought the right to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony without having to come back to us for permission. i think that is all progress. thank you. senator susan collins, republican of maine. one of the 15 members of the senate intelligence committee who will be able to ask former director comey about his interactions with the president when he sits before them in that this morning. 10:00 a.m. is when the hearing gets underway. we will bring you to the room half an hour early at 9:30 on today here on the

washington journal, here on c-span. if you will not be able to watch, you can still listen. we have a download on your phone, the free c-span radio app. that, you can get c-span, c-span2, c-span3, and listen. we will be re-airing it throughout the day. go to c-span.org for more details. c-span two then hearing in its entirety. in club p.m. eastern time, we will be showing you the highlights. but go to a democrat in arizona, welcome to the conversation. caller: good morning. this is james robert. historical pattern of behavior, the behavior has been coming on for a long time, 48 years, ever since nixon the backing on the dollar

with gold. we had to compete with everybody in the world. there was about a 22-1 difference, and we have gotten to this? this is outrageous. we need to be represented and the only way we can have that is to have publicly function that probably funded elections, federal -- publicly funded elections, federal government, and it is pretty terrible when another government is to buy off our elections. .ere is where we are at this is what republicans have caused to make themselves rich, and it is demonstrating for a lot of people. thank you so much. dorothy, clinton michigan, republican. the morning. caller: what i have to say about this whole thing and director noey is that there has been

evidence, no actual proof of any collusion, and the guys that were testifying yesterday -- admiral coates and the other guys name, but they said they were not forced or harassed into saying anything that trump might have said to them, that nothing like that ever happened. and the independent guy that called earlier, he is talking about the propaganda law that was passed after world war ii. they just suck it in there and reversed that, so the media could lie and say whatever they wanted because it is illegal now . -- it is legal now. before it was and illegal, now it is legal. the network stations, msnbc and cnn, it is all day long this and if they found

out it was him, the leaking, all the emails, and they have to say russia, russia, russia because if they find out otherwise, they would know that the democrats are behind leaking those emails. host: did you watch all three hours yesterday? not, but ii did caught the highlights and i saw on the internet portions of it. but nobody has been able to show any proof of any of this, and they are making such a humongous there ist trump that nothing there, and i do not understand why people have justendent thinking and listen to msnbc and cnn, because it is all a bunch of garbage. host: dorothy -- i am not saying it is perfect, but there are two sides to every coin. host: we covered that hearing yesterday in its entirety, and

the democrats on the panel and some republicans also asked director coates and admiral rodgers not if they felt pressure, but were you asked? and they refused to say so in an open session. i want to show you this moment and others from yesterday's hearing. this is angus king asking director coates and nsa director rogers what was their legal basis for not answering the committee's questions. >> so what is the basis for your refusal to answer these questions today? i the basis is what previously explained. i do not believe it is appropriate for me -- >> i am not satisfied with i do not believe it is appropriate or i do not feel i should answer. i want to understand the legal basis to reduce worthy of to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and today you are

refusing to do so. what is the legal basis for your refusal to testify to this committee? >> i am not sure i have a legal basis, but i am more than willing to sit before this during thisd investigative process in a closed session and answer your question. >> we will have a closed session in a few hours. will you answer my questions in a direct and unencumbered way? involvedlosed sessions staff going over the technicalities of another -- a number of these issues and is not involved us -- >> but if you meet with a committee in the closed session will you answer these questions adequately kwai -- unequivocally and without hesitation? >> -- >> i will, but i need to work with the lighthouse -- white house legal counsel to see if they will exercise executive -- responses that i

certainly hope is that is what happens. i believe that is the appropriate thing. i do have to ignore knowledge because it >> the sensitive nature of the executive privilege aspect of this, i need to be talking to the general consul in the white house. i hope we come to a position where we could have this dialogue. i would welcome that. >> and i would add with an conclusion that both of you had testify that you had never been pressured under three years. i would argue that you have waived executive privilege by testifying on something that did not happen, and i believe you open the door to these questions. that you areef inappropriately refusing to answer these questions today. thank you mr. chairman. also a member of the senate intelligence committee. before that committee was rod rosenstein, andrew mccabe, the acting fbi director, along with directorodgers and the of national intelligence, dan coats, a former senator. if you go to our website, www.c-span.org you can watch it

in its entirety. hearing this morning will be happening in about 2.5 hours. the former director, his opening statement was released by the senate intelligence committee. produced this headline " two times, comey testimony contradict white house statements." describe in detail his encounters with the president donald trump. he wrote about a february 14 meeting along with the president in which trouble legibly told comey he wanted to talk about former security advisor michael: that former national security adviser michael flynn, who had resigned the day before. trump then said i hope you can way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. in a press conference on may 18, trump asked if you had ever urged comey in any way shape -- way, shape, or form to back off.

let's listen to that. >> did you at any time urge rector comey in any way, shape, or form to closer back down the investigation into michael flynn and did you -- >> no. no. next question. host: that was the president, may 18. on this one-on-one dinner january 27, comey allegedly saidd that the president his job was in high demand, and on asif he wanted to stay director? my instinct told me the dinner was, at least in part, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some kind of patronage relationship." from the white house briefing on may 12, press secretary sean spicer project of the notion that trump ever asked comey to pledge loyalty. wonder asked -- when asked directly if the president asked

comey to pledges loyalty during the january dinner, spicer responded "no." denise in utah, a democrat. go ahead. caller: thank you very much. there is that definitely proven collusion open and overagain -- over again. from the dossier that was produced by the british individual, it has been proven 90% true -- 98% true. i think trump definitely has act --d the monuments the emoluments act multiple times, and the anti-nepotism law enacted after kennedy, when he had his brother in the office. he is making it too uncomfortable for people to do their jobs and the press --

freedom of the press is our constitutional right and he is making it sound like it is horrible to listen to the radio, the news on the radio or the tv, or read the newspaper. that is our constitutional right. he has promoted his business over the american public. he does not care about being president. he cares about promoting his product. that is the only thing he cares about. like a dictator, walks like a dictator, and we'll get this country in a war with korea. korea fired four more missiles today. trump does not know what he is doing. i think they need to go ahead and impeach him, because they do not he will get us in a war. they already have the vice president takeover, and he is ruining the party of the republicans. i'm a firm democrat, but if the republicans do not wake up, come --8 the devotee kratz

democrats are going to take the house, the senate, and the presidency in 2020. theink it is very sad that united states is not afraid of the fact that the russians have had such a strong hold on us. i am going to leave it -- host: i'm going to leave it there. as you were talking, as you saw long tables are lined up for the media to be inside that room as , and thethe public line started early this morning. . staff are outside of the senate office building here on capitol hill, all anticipating the testimony from mr. comey. there are cameras outside of mr. comey's home as well in mclean, virginia. we are hoping to get a glimpse of the former director as he makes his way to capitol hill.

he will be sitting for an open session, and go behind closed doors to talk with senate intelligence committee members. we will have a camera in that room and outside as well, bringing you reaction. our coverage beginning with all of you this morning outside of washington, letting you hear from folks here, letting you know what we think about testimony from the rest are comey. we will take a short break. when we come back, senator mike in them utah joins us conversation, a republican. we will also talk about his latest book. and we want to show you did -- democrat some of her -- senator ron wyatt, who had this to say about this morning's hearing. >> we are reviewing the word the president said in public word for wordwi