the credit to flow a little more easily. liz: as the closing bell rings we must tell you that the dow did recover. we had been up 152 at the high of the session. as we wait to the closing bell, david and cheryl and a news conference that is imminent. david: thank you. it shouldn't be much longer. we're waiting the president of colombia in south america. he is very fluent in english by the way but he may speak in spanish because of protocol. we are very pleased to have you on an extraordinarily. the press conference should be any moment but we have breaking news what happened with general flynn, what happened with the firing of jim comey. all that led to a 300 point loss

yesterday but day we had reversal. a lot of people saying negative arrows would continue. instead, cheryl casone we have green arrows. melissa: technology companies came in. hello, everybody, i'm cheryl casone, in for melissa francis. this is "after the bell." we have all eyes on the white house to see if president trump responds to questions about james comey's firing and independent counsel appointed by deputy attorney general to head up the investigation into russia's involvement in our election and if there were any ties to the trump campaign. we do have blake burman standing by in the east room of the white house. break, what do you expect to hear? do you think the president will

answer questions after the statement with him and the colombian president? port: this one could go in any number of directions. we're here in the east room. this could go east, west, north, south, any way they take it, there are a litany of issues from the president on this day. the president making two big pieces news within the last hour or so one of them he doubled down against the need for special counselor potential russian meddling and potential coordination with his campaign during the 2016 campaign. he feels that special counselor hurts the country as he put it. the president also saying, i quoting here, it also happens to be a pure excuse for the democrats having lost an election that she should easily one because of the electoral college being slanted so much in their way. that is all this is. i think it shows division and i think it shows we are not together as a country.

just got the two-minute warning, cheryl. we anticipate the president will be here in 120 seconds. other big piece of news, i send it back to you, president confirmed himself, joe lieberman, former democratic senator turned independent, is top contender to be the next fbi director. he might be asked about lieberman, special counselor? keep in mind, i didn't even mention the name jim comey. a lot leading in here, cheryl. send it back to you. >> mr. rosenstein on capitol hill briefing the senate. that we'll be talking about during the hour. blake burman standing by in the east room. david: we want to go quickly kirsten haglund, conservative political commentator. kirsten, we heard about the president's comments vis-a-vis the special counselor. differs dramatically from the calm, collected notice he gave to the announcement yesterday, when he said i stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion between

my campaign and any foreign entity. it was very calm. not so today. today he was talking hard ball and coming out with tweets. >> right. i think from now on, especially with the fact that we have a special counselor appointed to this case, the president needs to make sure that he stays on message. message discipline has been something that a lot of people within the white house and without have desired from this administration. and now that this is going on he makes sure he keeps that discipline. obviously the tweet this morning didn't really add very much. it was very different -- david: kirsten. i want to stop for a moment, we see rex tillerson, secretary of state, sitting down, preceded by vice president pence. general mcmaster there as well and reince priebus they're all lining up. this is of course a meeting that he has had, talking for the past half hour with juan manuel santos a close ally from the

country of colombia, juan manuel santos a recipient of nobel peace prize for work he has done bringing warring factions, in a decades-long civil war in colombia, bringing those factions together. the president talking about the drug trade between colombia and united states how to stop that. also talking about narcoterrorism because there a connections between terrorists, international terrorists and the drug trade. there is a lot to talk about. because there will be questions at the end i assume at this press conference. we don't know absolutely for sure, cheryl, that questions concerning the firing of comey and appointment of the special counselor will arise. cheryl: robert mueller as well who will lead this independent counsel. that news broke last night. president by the way having lunch at white house with several network news anchors and fox news's own bret baier who got the statement blake burman read to you from the white house. at least questions from the american press will 100% focus on this investigation.

remember the acting deputy attorney general, the deputy attorney general if you will, rosenstein had the private meeting with the senate. dick durbin came out he told us that he knew when he wrote that memo that he knew that mr. trump was indeed going to fire james comey ahead of time. david: interesting thing though we also had a may 4th testimony been reexamined of jim comey where he said he never had any political interference with any fbi investigation. that seems to contradict handwritten notes he put forward or at least his supporters put forward taken back in february around the time of the firing of general flynn, suggesting that the president was pressuring him in certain ways with regard to the investigation to drop an investigation into general flynn. so, there is a lot of conflicting information, some of it augers well for the president. some of it augers well for his opposition. so, all of this is going to be sorted out.

clearly mr. mueller has a lot on his plate. here we have the president of colombia and the president of the united states. let's listen to the two gentlemen. again president of colombia is fluent in english but there may be a translator. >> thank you very much. it's a great pleasure to welcome president santos to the white house. colombia is one of our closest allies in the hemisphere. and today we reof a firm partnership between our two great nations. president santos and i had a very productive meeting, and we will continue to work very closely together to bring peace, safety, and prosperity to the hemisphere. perhaps no area is really more important in terms of

cooperation than our joint effort to end the terrible drug crimes that playing both of our countries. recently we have seen an alarmed, a very highly-alarmedd. last year colombia cocoa cultivation and cocaine production reached a record high, which hopefully will be remedied very quickly by the president. we must confront this dangerous threat to our societies together. i affirmed the united states willingness to affirm colombia's efforts, drug trafficking networks, cocoa cultivation and cocaine production which there is far too much. the drug epidemic is poisoning too many american lives and we're going to stop it, many different ways.

one of them will be the wall. my administration is committed to keeping drugs and gangs from pouring into our country. already border crossings are down more than 73%. secretary kelly is with us. he has done a a fantastic job. thank you very much, mr. secretary. in short we have a tremendous group of people working with us in terms of i.c.e., the i.c.e. patrol and the border patrol agents. they have done a fantastic job. i like you to give them miest compliments, mr. secretary. ms-13, likewise a horrible, horrible, large group of gangs that have been let into our country over a fairly short period of time, are being decimated by the border patrol, by i.c.e. and by our incredible local police forces, and they are getting out of our country,

or, in some cases going directly into prisons throughout our country. but they have literally taken over tns and cities of the united states. theyill be gone very quickly. i look forward to working with president santos as we target drug trafficking. both the united states and colombia have strong law enforcement and security relationship. we've had it and especially over the last fairly short period of time. together we will continue to fight the criminal networks responsible for the deadly drug trade that our people a really strong commitment to getting rid of because they want a much brighter future. president santos and i also discussed the deteriorating situation in venezuela and it is

really in a very pad state as you see as we all see through the media. a stable and peaceful venezuela is in the best interests of the entire hemisphere. america stands with all of the people in our great hemisphere yearning to be free. we will be working with colombia and other countries on the venezuelan problem. it's a very, very horrible problem and from a humanitarian standpoint it is like nothing we've seen in quite a long time. the united states and colombia are also strong economic partners and we will continue to pursuerade policies that benefit both of our peoples. the nations common goals of protecting our citizens. expanding opportunity, an stopping the drug crisis that will improve the lives of our people and many throughout the

region. so many people are being so horribly affected by what's going on in terms of violence and in terms of drugs, we're going to take care of the situation and we both agreed to take care of it strongly and quickly. president santos, it was an honor to meet with you and your entire group of representatives. very talented people indeed who have been working with us and my representatives and i look forward to many more productive meetings such as the one we just had. i would like to thank you very much forebeing at the white house, being our guest. i would like to congratulate you on winning the nobel peace prize. that is a very freight -- great achievement. thank you very much. the. >> mr. president, i want to thank you personally for this warm and productive visit.

and for the strong support colombia has received from your administration, from congress, and from the american people. [speaking spanish] >> translator: as you know our nations have had a long time strategic alliance, an extraordinary friendship. weelieve in the same principles of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. and we work so that the western hemisphere can be more prosperous and safe. the united states and colombia, both democracies of greater, of longer standing in the hemisphere, we have supported each other. our soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in the korean war at

the request of the united states, we sent anti-drug experts to afghanistan. today colombia and the united states are working together to support central america in their fight against drug cartels. the violence of organized crime. i can say, mr. president, based on our conversations this afternoon, that i have no doubt that the united states and colombia continue to be today more than ever a support one for the other. our alliance was strengthened. our most valuable cooperation has been in colombia which i can sum up in very simple terms. when colombians were fighting to survive for our democracy to survive actually, faced with a threat of terrorism and drug

trafficking, the united states stretched out a hand an helped us win that battle. we will never forget it. today we are living in a different country. today colombia is a more peaceful society, a more modern and a fairer society. in november last year we ended the longest and last armed conflict existing in our hemisphere. the guerrilla is putting down weapons at this precise time to the united nations. insecurity has come down significantly. today we have the lowest levels of violence over the last 40 years. at the same time, we have had significant progress for our citizens, in issues about

education, housing, health and social services. millions of colombians have been lifted out of poverty. today, we continue incomes to you, as partners, in peace colombia, to consolidate peace in the most affected areas. with robust support of your government we are removing thousands of anti-personnel mines that murdered and mutilated children, women and soldiers. we are healing their wounds of our victims and we are embarking on a big sole development program. such as today we're working with your administration to take advantage of the unique opportunity peace offers so as

to reduce permanently the production of cocoa leaf in colombia and fight more effectively the other links in drug trafficking including consumption. we must continue and deepen the fight against organized crime, transnational crime. responsible not just for drug trafficking but also for human trafficking and illegal mining. our shared agenda framed within a high level dialogue that we colombians values includes cooperation which has allowed us to have unprecedented progress towards quality education for everyone and this is a priority in the policies of my government. and we wish to do more with regards to innovation and technology. with the active participation of

the private sector we have reached trade agreements, investment agreements that are mutually beneficial. this morning, we established entrepreneur council between the united states and colombia. we are and wish to continue to be the best destination in latin america for american businesses. colombia will continue to be very proudly a close friend and a strategic ally of the united states. dear president trump, i hope you can visit us soon so that can personally witness the transformation underway in our country. i hope to be able to welcome you to a colombia in peace, more

equitable colombia, better educated colombia that you have so much contributed to. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. does anybody have any questions? i'm shocked. john, go ahead. >> mr. president, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> [inaudible]. mr. president, like to get your reaction to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate the russian interference in the campaign. was this the right move or is this part of a witch-hunt? >> well, i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch-hunt and, there is no collusion between certainly myself a my campaign but ian always speak for myself and the russians. zero. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided

country because of that and many other things. so i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together, john. and i will also say very strongly, we've had tremendous success. look at our job numbers. look at what is going on at the border as we discussed before. you look what will be happening, you will see some incredible numbers with respect to the success of general mattis and others with the isis situation. the numbers are staggering, how successful they have been the military has been. tomorrow as you know i'm going to saudi arabia, going to israel, i'm going to rome. we have the g7. we have a lot of great things going on. so i hate to see anything that divides. i'm fine with whatever people want to do but, we have to get back to running this country, really, really well. we made tremendous progress in the last 100 and some odd days, tremendous progress. you see job numbers.

you see all of the production that is starting, plants starting to open again, haven't been open in years. i'm very proud of it. that is what i want to be focused on, believe me there is no collusion. russia is fine. whether it is russia or anybody else, my total priority, believe me, is the united states of america. so thank you very much. >> translator: president trump, president santos, can we say today we're setting a new road map in the relationship between colombia and the united states which are the concrete commitments? you were talking about the conflict time. many funds are needed for that. and president trump, many deaths, human rights violations.

there is plenty to be done. >> as well as a very, very serious problem. we haven't really seen a problem like that i would say, mr. president, in decades in terms of the kind of violence that we're witnessing. the president was telling me, and i knew that venezuela was a very, very wealthy country just about the wealthiest in your neck of the woods and, had tremendous strengths in so many different ways. and now it's poverty stricken. people don't have enough to eat. people have no food. there is great violence and we will do whatever is necessary and we'll work together to do whatever is necessary to help with fixing that. and, i'm really talking on a humanitarian level. when you look at the oil reserves that they have, when you look at the potential wealth that venezuela has, you sort of have to wonder why is that

happening, how is that possible? but it's been unbievably poorly-run for a long period o time and hopefully that will change and they can use those assets for the good and to take care of their people because right now, what's happening is really a disgrace to humanity. and john, i think you also had a question for the president, if you would like to. >> does he have another one? >> yeah. >> a question about the commitment. >> translator: the commitment on president trump's side and his administration was shown through the approval of the budget that for colombia means an increase in the support to fund the post-conflict era. last night we received from a very important organization, the atlantic council, a report which

includes both parties presided by a republican senator and a democrat senator with a road map recommending the governments of the united states and colombia to follow. this morning we established the entrepeneur council of united states and colombia so the private sector can have a voice in that road map. this means we are working together on every front that can be convenient for both countries we have ratied for tt commitment today, during our conversation. and as i said before, we have the best of relations with the united states. we are strategic allies in the region. and we will continue to be so. >> thank you, mr. president. president santos, to you, you

heard president trump say that critical to stopping the flow of drugs into the united states will be the wall that he wants to build on the mexican border. do you agree with him? would that wall be a step, a positive step and a step towards reducing the flow of drugs across the border? >> i believe that the best way to fight the drug trafficking by collaborating. this is not a problem of colombia only or a problem of the united states only. it's a world problem. and we have to all work together. we declared the war on drugs 40 years ago, the world declared the war on drugs and it's a war that has not been won. so we must be more effective and more efficient. now we are doing very big effort because of the peace process, to having a new strategy.

carrot and stick. stick by forced eradication. we have already eradicated this year only 15,000 hectares, which is the whole volume that we eradicated last year. we're starting to eradicate, to substitu voluntarily through a program where the peasants and we have 80,000 families alreadye going to substitute for legal crops. this is the first time that this could be done because of the peace. before the conflict did not allow us to build roads, and to give these peasants an alternative. now we have. so we have take advantage of this opportunity and continue reducing the production of cocoa. in the meantime, we will work together, the u.s. and colombia, with other country, central america to, fight the other

links of the chain, the intermediaries. we have destroyed 22,000 laboratories in the colombia jungles, seizing the cocaine in the transit. we have seized record amount of tons last year and this year. we're doing even better than last year. so by working together we can be much more effective and, that is the commitment we just made or ratified this afternoon. >> that was a long and very diplomatic answer to your question i will say it a little shorter. walls work. just ask israel they work. believe me they work. we have no choice. peter baker. yes. >> thank you, mr. president. in the light of very busy "newsweek" a lot of people would like to get to the bottom of a couple of things, give you a chance to go on record here. did you at anytime urge former fbi director james comey in any

way, shape oform to close or back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also as -- >> no. no. next question? >> next question. as you look back over the past six months or a year, have you had any recollection where you have wondered if anything you have done has been something that might be worthy of criminal charges in these investigations or impeachment as some on the left are implying? >> that is totally ridiculous. everybody thinks so. we have to get back to working our country properly so that we can take care of the problems that we have. we have plenty of problems. we've done a fantastic job. we have a tremendous group of people, millions and millions of people out there that are looking at what you have just said and said, what are they doing? director comey was very unpopular with most people. i actually thought when i made that decision, and i also got a very, very strong recommendation as you know from the deputy

attorney general, rod rosenstein, but, when i made that decision i actually thought that it would be a bipartisan decision. because you look at all of the people on the democratic side, not only the republicans side, that were saying such terrible things about director comey. then he had the very poor performance on wednesday. that was a poor, poor performance. so poor, in fact, that i believe, you would have to ask him, because i don't like to speak for other people, i believe at iwhy the deputy attorney general went out and wrote his very, very strong letter. and then on top of that, after the wednesday performance by director comey, you had a person come, after readjust the record, which many people have never seen before because there were misstatements made, and i thought that was something that was terrible. we need a great director of the fbi. i cherish the february --

february by. it is special. no matter where you go all over the world the fbi is special. it has not had the reputation with what happened in the campaign. what happened with respect to the clinton campaign. even you could say, directly or indirectly with respect to the much more successful trump campaign. we're going to have a director who is going to be outstanding. i will be announcing that director very soon. and i look forward to doing it. i think the people in the fbi will be very, very, very, very thrilled. and just in concluding, we look forward to getting this whole situation behind us, so that when we go for the jobs, we go for the strong military, when we go for all of the things that we've been pushing so hard and so successfully, including health care, because obamacare is collapsing, it's dead. it's gone. there is nothing to compare anything to because we don't

have health care in this country. look what is happening. aetna just pulled out. other inrance companies are pulling out. we don't have health care. obamacare is a fallacy. it's gone. we need health care. we need to cut taxes. we're going to cut taxes. if i get what i want it will be the biggest tax cut in the history of our nation. and that's what i want. it is going to bring back companies and bring back jobs. we lost so many jobs, so many companies, two countries not so far from you, mr. president, they're very close to you, actually and to many other places throughout the world. we're going to change that. we're going to have expansion. we already do. you look at what is 7 haing with ford and with with ford and general motors in michigan and ohio, and tremendous jobs announced in so many different fields. that is what i want to focus our energy on. i can only tell you, there was no collusion.

even my enemies have said there is no collusion. so we want to get back and keep on the track that we're on because the track that we're on is record-setting. that is what we want to do. we want to break very positive records. thank you. you can ask a question. >> rikard do, you have another question? >> yes, sir, for you, mr. president. my question in a nation had to rebuilding an rebound from epidemic of crime and drugs over many, many years, what do you make of mr. trump's america first policy, and further, you have had a tough time with conservative radio. sometimes en callea punching bag. you said you have to persevere. i'm curious if you have given any advice to president trump how to do so? >> i'm, i don't think i'm in a position to give any advice to president trump. he can take care of himself. [laughter]

an and what i, what we did in colombia, you quite rightly mentioned is persevere. we, when you know poor devastation and you know you're doing the correct thing, you simply have to persevere and that is what we've done in colombia and that's why we were on the verge of being a failed state some years ago and now we're one of the stars of the region. and that's through hard work, perseverance and clarity of your objectives. and that's what we have done. and we have to continue because the trip is not over. [speaking spanish] >> translator: mr. president, i would like to ask you about trade. you're about to start renegotiation of nafta and colombia and like other countries in the hemisphere has

a large trade deficit with the united states. are you worried about the fact that that could contribute increasing that trade deficit? >> on the peace process in lombia. >> there has been long process and it's been a great thing to watch in a sense that the president did a fantastic job. that is not easy after so many years of war. so i'm very, very proud to get to know you and i congratulations you. there is nothing tougher than peace and which want to make peace all over the world and you are really a great example of somebody that started it. farc is, that was a long, tough situation. as you know very welcoming from the country but, i think the president has done a magnificent job, not easy but he has done a magnificent job. [speaking spanish]

>> translator: clearly impossible. on the trade issue, our deficit with the united states is not so large. it's a moderate deficit which of course both countries will try to increase the volume all of trade in both directions an investments also in both distributions. colombia is becoming an important investor here in the united states. this is something not many people know but we have considerable invests in the united states. we have attempted to give -- flows of trait and investment. getting together those main players who are the investors in the private sector. i believe the foundations have been laid. we have the future agreement which is working well.

the number of colombian businesses is very important to the united states has grown -- exporting to the united states has grown and we both believe we can take greater advantage to increase flows in both directions because the benefit for the both the colombian and american people. >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you. thank you. david: wow, what an interesting press conference that was. president donald trump, juan manuel santos, the president of colombia together. of course they talked about issues concerning trade between the two countries. the success that colombia, amazing success colombia had against both drug traffickers and terrible civil war that has gone on for decades. virtually, 50, 60 years, but of course the president was asked about current problems that he has been having with the firing of fbi head jim comey. he was asked specifically about

the appointment of the special counsel yesterday by the justice department, about which he said i'm fine with whatever people want to do but there's no collusion with russia. when he was asked about whether there was any criminal charges or whether he was concerned about criminal charges concerning either him or his administration, he said ridiculous. the entire thing has been a witch-hunt. we want to bring this country together. cheryl? cheryl: saying it buit has divided the u.s. we wa to bring in blake burman. he he is standing by in the east room at the white house, blake, i think initially answered one question this is a witch-hunt. he said that this is divided very clearly as david just is pointing out saying there was no collusion between himself and rush insurance. will that be enough to satisfy the u.s. press corps going forward? reporter: president respected move to have the special council, bob muller, he feels everything, all the headlines

was a witch-hunt that was from the tweet this morning. cheryl, you saw a little bit of president trying to refocus everything back to the economy. back to the jobs, back to the successes that he believes that his administration has. each one of these russia answers he answered the question, look we've got to move forward. we can't be divided. we've got to, we've got to move forward together as a country. he was asked separately what about the whole conversation with jim comey as it related to michael flynn. as you know there is the memo out, that fox confirmed in which flynn said that he asked the president, in which comey said that the president had asked him to drop the flynn investigation. the president was asked point-blank about that, he said no, no, next question, cutting off the reporter, then moving forward. but even then the president talked about how he wanted to move forward witjobs and building plants and the like. he talked about getting forward the largest tax cut the country

has ever seen. in each one of these cases asked about russia, president saying look, i don't believe there was any coclusion as it relates to myself. i haven't done anything improper. the special council i'm fine with i think it's a witch-hunt. left's get back to things really matter in the country. cheryl: blake, david and i were talking, it is interesting he took that moment to set a different tone from the initial statement released from the white house last night with this independent counsel was first revealed. blake, thank you very much for your coverage out of white house in the east room. david. david: back with us, is kirsten haglund, conservative political commentator, richard fowler, national syndicated radio host and fox news contributor. richard, a lot of this hinges on whether or not president trump was trying to get comey to drop the investigation. democrats say if that is true that would be obstruction of justice which of course is an impeachable offense. now jim comey's memo back in

february, according to reports suggested that he was receiving pressure from the president but listen to what comey said in sworn testimony again, he had to be sworn in on this, on may 4th, about whether he was asked whether or not he did receive political pressure to drop investigations. lien to this. >> as has it happened? >> not in my experience because it would be a big deal to tell the fbi to stop doing something that, without appropriate purpose. i mean we're often times, they give us opinions that we don't see a case there, so you ought to stop investing resources in it, but i'm talking about a situation where we told to stop something for a political reason, that would be a very big deal. it has not happened in my experience. david: it hasn't happened in my experience. richard doesn't that he destroy the suggestion he received political pressure. he said he never has. >> impossible to know -- david: richard that was no, no you wait. that was sworn testimony, sworn

testimony in which comey said he had never received political pressure to drop an investigation. go ahead. >> we have to see what is in the memo. we have to the see memo in entirety. beyond that we need to cooperate stories of two individuals, vice president who was in the room, asked to leave and the attorney general, jeff sessions who was in the room and asked to leave, prior to the president speaking to jim comey. once we have the information we can have a conversation whether or not there is obstruction of justice charge at all. here is the good news. we have the special prosecutor. mueller is in place. he will get to the bottom of it. he will look at comey memos and get information out. what we have to do, what the president had to do like kristen said at beginning of show, have message discipline, stop talking about it, calling it a witch-hunt and let the investatn take its course. if tre is no tre there, he will be cleared and we'll move on. if there is a there there, then some folks will be going to jail. david: kirsten i see a

contradiction in comey's statement what he allegedly said in these memos and what he said in sworn testimony where he said there was no political pressure to drop an investigation but i see a contradiction in what the president has said. last night i had this memo that was calm, that was cool, that was saying i didn't do anything but let the investigation play its course. and then you had the tweet he this is morning and another statement saying the whole thing is a itch with hunt. >> really to know who is talking about what, what they're saying. i think that the press corps is frustrated. interesting thing there is special counsel appointed we'll not see a lot of information for a very long time. people will have to find something else to talk about. actually president trump did a really great job actually of staying on message during this press conference which i thought was fascinating. his temperment was very even.

he said he was unafraid to answer. someone didn't grow up to be a politician and hasn't had the experience did a very great job of answering the question briefly and pivoting what he wanted to brag about his accomplishments. as long as he keeps doing that, he should do that. let the investigation going on. cheryl: he definitely pivoted during the press conference. we saw that on our air. richard before the 4:00 p.m. hour we got breaking news out of capitol hill. rod rosenstein was doing a private briefing with the senate. that is never private because it was full senate. dick durbin came out and said he knew, he told them that he knew comey was going to be fired beforehand. doesn't that take the red meat out of this for the democrats, take red meat out of independent counsel's vision how this was handled between the comey and deputy attorney general? >> not at all, because the fbi started investigation back in july, right? this investigation is about

russia colluding with our election. all 17 intelligence agencies agreed there is some level of russian espionage in our election. now this, this special prosecutor -- cheryl: nobody, but nobody confirmed collusion. not even the right is exclusive story talked about the collusion. >> all 17 agencies agreed russiansen gauged in our election. this special counsel what they will do get to the bottom of it. did the russians collude? is there some form of espionage? who is guilty on the united states side engaging in form of espionage. this investigation started in july, way before president trump was even elected. that is part of it. the other part we have to realize here, whether we like it or not the only reason we'reersy because donald trump is ineffective manager and fired jim comey at wrong time. cheryl: independent counsel finding are giving a lot more answers. we'll learn more in next couple weeks. thank you. david: we want to switch gears a little bit to another key story

of the president's agenda. the house ways and means committee. they're writing tax laws and holding hearings how to focus on tax reform. committee chairman kevin brady saying now is the time to act. >> president trump is leading a charge for bold tax reform that will unleash the growth of jobs an paychecks nationwide. now is the time to go bold. now is the time to deliver real results for american people. republican congressman tom reed is member of house ways and means committee and he joins us now. congressman, tying the two stories together with hope of tax reform with what is happening with the special counsel, the fact that a special counsel now has all this russia stuff, is that going to kind of clear the decks for you guys to do the hard work and come together on tax reform proposal? >> i hope so. even if it doesn't, i tell you we're focused on tax reform. it is biggest thing to do for

the administration. this is one of their top priorities. focus on the issue at hand is what we're going to do. david: senator mitch mcconnell came out with a statement on tuesday, saying whatever tax proposal comes through it has to be revenue neutral. now we heard kevin brady how this has to be a bold plan. the mitch mcconnell, sort of watered down that version by saying it has to be revenue neutral which usually means you don't get the the bold tax cuts this economy needs. how do you square the two notions? >> you go through the process. i appreciate revenue neutrality. we have a national debt crisis on us, get good sound tax policy on the books for the american people i'm open for that next. david: do you believe in static accounting which apparently is what senator mcconnell was referring to, or do you believe that is tax cut has a supply side-effect where it creates more revenue and more people get into the economy?

>> i don't know a elected official advocates for reduced tax burden on the american people. reducing taxes has a growth component to it, that should be taken into account with the bean counters in washington. david: will which have tax cuts before 2018? >> i firmly believe we are. david: really? >> this year is shaping up where we can thread this needle and get it to the finish line. david: even though the house and senate seem to have such different versions what tax reform is? >> no one can defend the broken american tax code. this is putting real problems, real burdens on american people and on mile-per-hour businesses and it is time to get it done. more delay we have the worst the problem gets not better. david: two major components of the trump tax plan, simplification going from seven individual rates down to three of the other are serious tax cuts, corporate rate going from 39%, one of the highest in the world down to 16%. what is the percentage of chance that we'll get those two rate

cut or two components of the tax reform done? >> well i can he tell you we'lle lower rates that is mission number one. david: 15% corporate rate? >> obviously we hope so or go low as possible. numbers are final subject to the negotiation of making sausage much tax reform. lowering rate we agree needs to be done for the american economy and mile-per-hour people. david: congressman reed, it is busy day. appreciate you hanging with us to appear on fox business. >> great to be on. >> fbi director -- [inaudible] >> is mr. lieberman, one of your -- >> he is. david: president could be announcing his pick for the fbi director at any moment as he confirms former senator joe lieberman is a top choice for the position. here now to react is bill daly, former fbi investigator. he joins us now. hi, bill.

so, first of all, what do you think of lieberman? >> kind of an interesting choice. i think with lieberman as well as other people that served in politics, i think for instance, frank keating's name has been thrown around, former governor of oklahoma once you're involved in politics, it gets tricky passing a litmus test being totally independent. as much as record may show it will have appearance. mr. lieberman, well-accomplished senator and shows moderate stands on things, would face a challenge from the political side. david: there are two groups. the lawmakers like senator lieberman and law enforcers, people who had a career either in the fbi or some other branch of law enforcement. you would go for the law enforcers? >> naturally you're talking about go for them. i think as far as passing that test and passing congress and going down the road, being able to pass the test of the american people as different issues come up and not have any kind of jaundiced view they have

lingering connections with the political party they ran under. i think that is where the issues is. certainly people who came from the fbi would be good to lead the fbi, you know, i think that people have added politics on it just complicate the issue if not during hearings and being appointed but i think going forward as well. neil: you're a proud former fbi guy. i don't know a single former special agent of the fbi who is nod extraordinarily proud of what the fbi does, what it accomplishes, what it represents. >> absolutely. david: what do the folks on the ground, what do the fbi special agents want? what kind of a person, a joe lieberman or somebody for example, a former fbi official richard mcfeely has been mentioned as nomination? >> exactly. mcfeely, mccabe, you know both mentioned as fbi agents in senior positions. with the fbi rank-and-file, employees and agents is looking for leadership. they're looking for leadership and someone to hold up the ethos and whole persona of the fbi, making sure it comes across

well. it is seen as being a fact-finding organization. david: right. >> just seeking the truth. i think that is what they're looking for. david: the heck politicians, i want what fbi special agents want. bill daly, great to see you. cheryl? cheryl: we want to follow all the breaking news out of capitol hill. react to all the news republican senator from north dakota and member of the senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs, senator john hoeven. senator, thank you for being here. >> good to be with you. cheryl: we want to back up with you. we heard from the president with the news conference from the president of colombia. he was asked about the independent counsel. he was asked if he pressured the fbi director at the time, james comey to go easy or kill the investigation on michael flynn. he emphatically denied that. you yourself in a briefing heard from the dep ity attorney general. was he asked about that? did he answer questions about the comey firing? >> as i recall he may have been

asked that question of the i'm not certain but i think it may have come up but not one that he would, that he answered. understand this was supposed to be a confidential briefing. when you have more than 100 people there i think he was very careful recognizing it is hard to keep it confidential. he tried to stick to information is already public. cheryl: you had senator richard durbin come out and say basically that he did say that he wrote that memo, recommending that jails comey be fired as fbi director already knowing that president trump was planning to fire comey. that is new information. that is already leaked out as you say. you can't have the entire senate there expect it all to remain off the record and confidential. >> that is why -- cheryl: is there any fire out of this though? >> again that is why i'm saying i he worked hard to stick to information already out there. he knew it would be hard to be kept confidential.

what he his determination as to comey not being able to lead the agency from mr. rosenstein's perspective went all the way back to when director comey held interview with regard to candidate hillary clinton. that was his longstanding position. cheryl: all of this on the shoulders, senator of rod rosenstein because of the fact that the attorney general jeff sessions had to recuse himself because of his admitted meetings with the russian ambassador to the united states. at the same time do you feel from your fellow senators that rosenstein and now this independent counsel run by robert muller will have the been robert mueller will have the cooperation of senate -- >> bringing former fbi director robert mueller in to lead the investigation, that is what he is doing, leading the ongoing fbi investigation. from both sides of the aisle there is positive reaction in

terms of strong support that mr. mueller will trite this very straightforward way. that will help to get to the facts. cheryl: but does rosenstein have the support, does he have the support as well of you and your colleagues? >> yes. he went through the senate. he was confirmed 94-6. cheryl: senator john hoeven, busy day of breaking news. thanks for staying with us. david: >> you bet. david: remembering an icon, positional day as we mourn the loss of television pioneer and fox news roger ailes for the personal memories of the life of roger stay tuned. that's next. think your large cap equity fund has exposure to energy infrastructure mlps? think again. it's time to shake up your lineup. the alerian mlp etf can diversify your equity portfolio and add potential income. bring amlp into the game. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses.

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. >> remembering the life of an icon and our founder. roger ailes, former chairman of fox news passing away this morning at the age of 77. tributing pouring in for the man who changed the face of all news. rupert murdoch, executive

chairman of twenty-first century fox and the fox news channel, out with a statement -- . >> you know, david, when he hired me here 10 1/2 years ago, he changed my life, and i owe so much to him. i have to say when we launched the fox business network in 2007. he called me in his office and said casone, you're looking at me like a flight attendant that's not going to give me any peanuts. stop that.

and he said it half jokingly, as we know working for him so many years, he was serious. >> the thing about roger, he knew exactly how to get the best out of everybody. he knew what it was about cheryl casone or david asman that was going to bleed into people's living rooms in a good way. you talk about him saving your life, he saved my wife's life. >> he did. >> my wife had a stroke in london. he said, david, i'm your boss, stay with your wife for as long as it takes to get better, until she can make it back to new york safely. because of the condition of the hospital she was in, she may not have survived had he not have given me time off to focus on her. so many people, not just the people in front of the camera but the people behind the camera. the technicians, folks saying the same thing happened to me and my family. >> i remember that story. when you told me that story when i came to fox news. i remember being in tears because of the love and support

you received from roger and his family and, of course, from mr. murdoch as well. >> he was a magnificent manager and simply would not be here were it not for him. he changed the face of news and we're grateful to him for that. >> that does it for us, we send it over to "risk & reward". it starts right now. >> the entire thing has been a witch-hunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself and the russians, zero. i thin divides the country. liz: the president comg out swinging, he is battling back as stocks retrace losses. the dow closing up 56 points. the nasdaq and the s&p ending in the green. this a day after market wipeout. that saw $300 billion in investor losses, that was the worst day in eight months. of course sparked by reports of the leaked memo that james comey wrote down that the president allegedly pressu