>> never dull on this show. >> tomorrow is thursday. tail end of the week. >> stay within yourself, everybody or run to the radio. >> bill: by now you know the bombshell. firing igniting a political storm in washington james comey is out at the f.b.i. the white house says he was fired over his handling of the investigation of hillary clinton's emails. there are many questions this morning among them why now and ultimately who will replace comey at the f.b.i. it is a busy wednesday and a big two hours ahead. i'm bill hemmer. >> shannon: i'm shannon bream. this news broke around 5:30 eastern time last night president trump firing james comey after recommendations. some lawmakers questioning the timing of the dismissal.

democrats calling it nixonian wanting a special prosecutor to look into the possible ties to russia of the trump campaign. the white house firing back saying it was the only option. >> director comey had lost the confidence of the rank and file in the f.b.i. and lost the confidence from members of both sides, republicans and democrats in the house and senate. frankly, most importantly he lost the confidence of the american people. the president made a swift and decisive action and let director comey go. >> bill: we have team fox coverage all morning law. chris stirewalt is there for analysis. we start with kevin corke from the north lawn at the white house. what are they telling you this morning? >> good morning. they're talking about a number of things. most notably the timing. the letter, the president writing to his director.

the president went on to write that he still did not have confidence that mr. comey could lead the bureau and that's why he ultimately made his decision. comey learned of his dismissal while in los angeles for a speech. let me walk the folks at home quickly for a timeline of how we got to this point. i want to remind you back in july of 2016 it was comey who announced the f.b.i. would not recommend criminal charges against secretary clinton and the investigation of her email and in october he found new emails and two days before the vote he said he would stick with his july statements they wouldn't be moving forward. a number of democratic critics say it was a mistake among them chuck schumer. >> they fired sally yates. they fired ferrara and now they fired director comey, the very man leading the investigation.

this does not seem to be a coincidence. this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house. >> the president wasn't going to sit by idly for that. he tweeted crying chuck schumer saying i don't have confidence if him any longer than xo indignant. drain the swamp. this morning the president has been active on twitter tweeting among the following things, the democrats have said some of the worst things about james comey including the fact he should be fired. now they play so sad. he added james comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job bringing back the spirit and prestige of the f.b.i. he added comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in washington republican and democrat alike. when things calm down they will

be thanking me. amid calls for a special congressional committee to look into so-called ties between russia and the trump camp. very calm, quiet day at the white house ahead, bill. >> bill: an understatement. we have not seen him or little of the president the past several days. will we this morning, kevin? >> my gut says no. but then again you never know. the unpredictability of this administration is what makes it so provocative to cover. now it's not scheduled but again you never know. we'll see if that happens. >> bill: kevin corke from the the north lawn. >> shannon: why not? according to the president's letter it goes back to july when director comey held a press conference stating no charges would be brought against hillary clinton involving her email scandal. >> secretary clinton used several different servers and administrators of those servers during her years at the state

department. 150 emails have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information. eight chains contained information that was top secret at the time. they were sent. 36 of those chains contained secret information at the time. and eight contained confidential at the time. we can't find a case to support bringing criminal charges on these facts. >> shannon: catherine herridge with more. >> my contacts are pointing to two pivotal events. first april 25th, the date that the new deputy attorney general rosen stein was confirmed and tasked with doing a review of the f.b.i. director's conduct last year and whether he still had the capacity to provide leadership to the bureau. he concluded that statement in july of last year, the f.b.i. director had effectively colored outside the lines.

he had gone beyond his role as a principal investigator for the u.s. government and put on his hat as a prosecutor recommending against criminal charges. with that act he usurped the powers of his boss, attorney general loretta lynch. the second event that i'm being pointed to is comey's congressional testimony before the senate judiciary committee last week. it was in that testimony that he said in effect i would do it all over again. he said he was faced with a choice last year about going public with the reopening of the clinton email case. he said i could go public or i could conceal it. they said the use of conceal was extremely loaded. the f.b.i. never conceals anything. they properly choose not to discuss ongoing investigations which is what director comey had not done. my contacts are pointing me specifically to language in

this letter from president trump and it is that comey, he says, told him on three occasions that he was not the source of the f.b.i. investigation. if this is in fact the case, my contacts say it's more evidence that f.b.i. director comey had become entirely political. if he told president trump that he was not the focus of this investigation, he again stepped outside the boundaries of his responsibilities by commenting on the subject of an ongoing probe. now the senior republican on the senate judiciary committee is one of the few who said it was a hard decision but also time for new leadership at the f.b.i. >> they really don't have a lot of credibility based upon what they said last october when comey reopened the presidential inquiry about the emails. >> the new acting f.b.i.

director is andrew mccabe, critics say mccabe really brings a lot of baggage to this job. in 2015 his wife, dr. jill mccabe, ran forea state senate race in virginia and received nearly $700,000 from democrats in that state, including a pac run by the virginia governor, a long-time clinton ally. the f.b.i. concluded there wasn't a conflict for mccabe with his wife's situation and also with the email probe which he would eventually go on to have a principal role. former agents have told me it was another indicator to them there was a broken culture at the f.b.i. that they did not see that had the appearance of a conflict for someone so senior within the bureau. >> shannon: thank you. >> bill: there was plenty reaction from all this. i want to bring in chris stirewalt. good day and good morning. you've had 15 hours to think about it. what do you think now? >> i think that one of the

wisest people i know about politics in washington put it this way. when everything is an 11, nothing is an 11. the thunderous freak-out and panic that has consumed washington over this, everything loses perspective. it is a big deal but it is not, somebody said, a coup, a constitutional crisis. this is weird but it is not 11. it's not the death of the republic. >> bill: first of all, the letter that president trump put out. this is not from the deputy attorney general who issued that 2 1/2 page letter but from the president's own hand. while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i'm not under investigation, the judgment of the department of justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. that gives fuel to the other side. that he thinks something was up. how do you see that? >> i see that he needs a

proofreader. the president needs somebody that would say probably leave that line out. i know the president wants to reinforce constantly that no one so far has been able to put any substantive case up there was collusion between his campaign and the kremlin. no one has been able to do that. he likes to reiterate that. this was not the space to put that because what they wanted to do as they were hastily trying to put their rationale together on this. they wanted to say we were doing it because of the hillary clinton investigation and the email. by dumping russia into this letter, it confirms their case. >> nixonian was the theme. when you are a democrat everything is watergate. examine that in the political

realm. you heard if he says black they'll say white and on it goes. >> i think the right historical analog is that of bill clinton's, the first term looks like that. scandal, crisis, the gang who can't shoot straight. bill clinton, as we will recommend in his first term got it together. his administration found a way to get past the turmoil and scandal. democrats passed legislation in congress. we don't know which way this administration will end up. the right analog is the first term of bill clinton so far. more to come from you, stirewalt in d.c. >> shannon: we have a big show for you at home today. were the reasons behind comey's dismissal legitimate? we can talk about the names

being floated now and lindsey graham on the future of the russia investigation. it is not going anywhere. >> bill: was we watch this comey story we'll see from the white house a bit later the president hosting the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. the scene at the state department 45 minutes ago. the kremlin's top diplomat meeting with rex tillerson and heading to the oval office and a sit-down with president trump. liberty mutual stood with me

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>> shannon: iraqi forces in the battle to retake mosul. government troops focusing on the northwest part of the city as they work to liberate a handful of areas still controlled by isis. heavy gunfire in the streets. that massive operation has been going on since october. >> speak an conceal. speak would be bad. there is an 11 days. lordy, that would be bad. concealing in any view would be catastrophic. honestly, as between really bad and catastrophic, i said to my team we have to walk into the world of really bad. this is terrible. it makes me mildly nauseous to think we had an impact on the election but it wouldn't change

the decision. >> bill: that was a week ago. rob rosen stein who was approved two weeks ago yesterday as the one who wrote the 2 1/2 page letter detailing why james comey was wrong about the hillary clinton email scandal from the beginning. "new york times" says comey's deserved official. the back drop for the view of alberto gonzalez former a.g. under george w. bush and dean of belmont university college of law. good morning. timing is perfect. help us understand the reason for this now. >> listen, jim comey is a talented, deeply dedicated public servant and i honor his sacrifice. but i think we can all agree many people on both sides of the aisle believe in the past year his words and actions from led many to conclude that he no longer is the right person to

lead the f.b.i. so the fact that he was removed really is not in and of itself that controversial. what's controversial is the timing and why now. of course, underlying the sub text here is whether or not it was intended to in some way interfere or stop an ongoing investigation about possible ties between the trump campaign and the russian government. and i'm not suggesting there was any of that. if that was the motivation, then in any judgment it would have been improper motivation to remove the f.b.i. director. >> bill: i understand the point you're making. is there ever a good time to fire the f.b.i. director? how would you defend that? when is it? >> when you come into office, for example. we already had the back drop of jim comey's conduct during the campaign and it would have been i think much more appropriate to make the change at that particular time. one thing i want people to

understand and realize, the ill logic of suggesting we've lost confidence in jim comey and we want him to continue to run a very important and sensitive investigation. it cannot be the case that because you are running an investigation that may involve the president of the united states that the president cannot remove you if he believes you are not competent to do the job. if that is the real motivation here. i have to believe in the judgment and the opinion of rod rosen stein, one of my attorneys when i was the attorney general. i believe there is evidence there to support the conclusion by the president of the united states that we needed new leadership at the f.b.i. >> bill: you're in a transition phase, trying to build your cabinet. a lot of positions to fill and it is almost as if you want to put a notch on the board so you don't have to consider it and that perhaps could be the logic as to why comey stayed on. now you have the ruebenstein letter released last night.

you were mentioned in this letter. it is not the function of the f.b.i. director to make such an announcement referring to lie of last year regarding loretta lynch's meeting with bill clinton. at most he should have said the f.b.i. completed its investigation and said it to -- he ignored a longstanding principles. we don't hold press conferences of a criminal investigation. also in that letter he mentions you. alberto gonzalez serving under a.g. called the decision an error in judgment. okay. you agree with that? it was an error in judgment. >> absolutely. >> bill: and isn't that terms for termination? >> at that particular time there well could have been sufficient basis to remove the f.b.i. director. but i will also ask where was the attorney general?

i could not imagine my attorney general after -- bob mueller saying this is what i found in the investigation and the attorney general, the chief prosecutor saying based upon this information i'm going to go forward with an indictment or not go forward. again there are so many things that happened in connection with this investigation and how it was handled and how it was announced that is very, very unusual. very troubling, quite frankly. >> bill: i'm out of time but i thank you for yourself. alberto gonzalez out of belmont, tennessee. >> thank you. >> shannon: russia's foreign minister is in the washington meeting with secretary of state tillerson ahead of a visit with president trump. we'll get reaction from senator john cornyn plus this. >> what is wrong with you? get off. stop it. >> bill: where does it stop?

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you can actually remember, instantly. add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight. and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount >> shannon: russian foreign minister is in washington meeting with the secretary of state rex tillerson at the state department and expected to meet with president trump later this morning. during a quick photo op this morning lavrov responded sar castically to a question. >> former lavrov to the state department and express my appreciation for him making the trip to washington so we could continue our dialogue and our exchange of views that began in moscow with the dialogue he hosted on a very broad range of topics. thank you.

>> does the comey firing have a shadow of the -- >> you're kidding. >> baiting the press. joining us to discuss this and more senator john cornyn. senator, thank you for your time. let's start with the russia issue first. the timing is rather fortuitous meeting with the secretary of state and the white house. ukraine, syria, so many topics. just weeks ago secretary tillerson said this relationship is at a low point. >> it is still at a low point with the russians attempting to interfere with the elections and protect being assad, the invasion of crimea and ukraine. i'm glad that secretary tillerson is talking to the russian foreign minister. there are things that we need to try to work out in common

but they are clearly one of our most significant adversaries in the world and we should be very clear eyed about that. >> shannon: just days ago then f.b.i. director james comey said they have not dialed back their interference by his judgment in u.s. politics. it's interesting that we have these dloip mat -- diplomatic meetings and you smile and walk around. comey said they are actively trying to interfere in our democracy. >> there is no question about that. we saw the act of interference in the french elections a few days ago. but through a combination of cyber espionage, propaganda efforts and co-operating taking phony news story and enter the mainstream is how they undermine confidence in our democratic institutions. >> shannon: on the left they say there has been an

undermining of our democratic operations because of the firing of james comey. the person who the president will ultimately select to fill that position comes through you first, the senate judiciary committee. what do you make of the timeline or process and what kind of person would you counsel the president to look for in the midst of all this heat? >> he needs the find somebody with good experience working in law enforcement. somebody of impeccable reputation and independence. james comey was a good man who made a bad mistake in the way he handled the clinton email scenario. depending on who you were talking to one day our democratic friends thought he was a knight on the white house. the next day they thought he was the devil incarnate. this was within the president's authority but it is really important and essential that we have a new f.b.i. director that shares the confidence not only of the president but of congress and the american people.

>> shannon: what do you say to those on the left who view this or portray it as an attempt to shut down the multiple russian investigations going on feeding through the f.b.i. what can you tell us about progress on that front? >> i can promise you it won't work. if somebody has that thought clearly the bipartisan investigation of the senate intelligence committee under the chairmanship of b*ur and warner. we have a commitment to get to the bottom of the russian investigation. rod rosen stiene deputy attorney general just confirmed by 94-6 i think it was enjoys broad bipartisan support and has a great reputation. they are committed to getting at the bottom of the department of justice investigation as well. nothing will change by virtue of director comey's termination. >> shannon: thank you, sir, for your time.

>> it is almost 9:30. there is much more from the hill in moments. senators are gathering early on the floor. one source telling fox news they want to hear what mitch mcconnell has to say about the comey termination. many haven't weighed in. democrats are outraged at the move. it was only weeks ago where some democrats said they had lost confidence in james comey in that job. newt gingrich says you can't have it both ways. >> look, if trump comes out at lunch time today and says the american flag is red, white and blue chuck schumer will yell it's actually fuchsia. they're in a knee jerk -- if president trump is for it, it has to be wrong. let me scream for a while. i never joined in. that wasn't fair to any of us. i was covered. i tried lots of things over the years. but i didn't give up. i kept on fighting.

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who work for him. the decision rattling washington today. you are looking at a movement now on the senate floor. there is majority leader mitch mcconnell, the republican from kentucky. we will see if he offers comment on this. if so, it might be the first we've heard from him either written or in the spoken word. democrats are demanding a special prosecutor continue the f.b.i.'s investigation into possible ties between operatives of the trump team and russian nationals. there has been no evidence that has been made public about collusion between the trump team in this past election. >> shannon: the democrats gathered on the senate floor. a notice was sent out to be there to hear mitch mcconnell. you have to wonder whether that means democrats are lining up on the senate floor. a lot of times you know, bill, covering this it's empty, no

one is there. but it looks like today there will be a lot more people in the chamber listening and watching and anxious to weigh in on this very public firing. >> the how -- house is in recess. the senator is not. reading from rod rosenstein's letter. the senate confirmed him yesterday. over the past year the f.b.i.'s credibility have suffered substantial damage and affected the entire department of justice. drop in here now. >> democrats are willing to concede the status quo is unsustainable. i appreciate their willingness to knowledge that obamacare hasn't lived up to its promises. that is the reality that senate republicans entirely agree with. it's why we're working to keep our commitment to the american people to move beyond the failures of obamacare.

if our friends on the other side of the aisle want to join us with replacing obamacare with reforms i welcome their input. it's disappointing it's taken our democratic colleagues this long to come around but i enjoy a robust debate as we pursue smarter healthcare solutions. as we continue working to address this critical issue it is tore po remember why we need to act in the first place. across the country americans are feeling the pain of obamacare. listen to these recent headlines. thousands of obamacare customers left without options as insurers bolt. more insurers abandon obamacare. who might be next? obamacare choices could go from 1 to 0 in some areas. obamacare is failing the american people and it keeps getting worse. families face skyrocketing premiums, fewer choices and the

risk of losing the doctors or plans they like. just this week we saw more troubling news out of states like maryland where one major insure he proposed an increase of more than 50% warning the obamacare market is in the early stages of a death spiral. we saw similar stories out of connecticut, too. there insurers have requested double digit increases which could top out at 52% amid worries the last two insurers on the exchanges may leave. these states aren't alone. i continue to hear from people in kentucky desperate for relief from obamacare. one woman purchased the obamacare. only then did she find out how hard it would be for her to actually get care. here is what she had to say. today i'm making payments for a healthcare plan that doesn't cover my doctors, does not cover all my prescriptions.

it is almost totally useless. i'm the only person but i'm sure i speak for many. i'm only one person but i'm sure i speak for many people finding themselves in this difficult situation. obamacare is a failed law that continues to hurt americans every single day. it is taking a bigger bite out of their budgets as too many have discovered, covering fewer services they actually need. we've all received letters from our constituents like the one i just shared. these families are the ones shouldering the burdens of obamacare and counting on us to act and move past the failures of obamacare. if we don't, this situation will only get worse. that's why we continue to engage in productive conversations with each member of our conference on the way forward to providing relief from obamacare. i look forward to continuing these talks and welcoming our democratics colleagues to the conversation if they are ready

to join us. but it is certainly an important step for the entire democratic caucus to acknowledge the status quo is failing the american people and congress can't sit by while americans suffer the consequences of this failed law. now one final matter. what everyone thinks of the manner in which director james comey handled the investigation into secretary clinton's unauthorized use of a private server and her mishandling of classified information, it is clear what our democratic colleagues thought of it both at that time and consistently thereafter. last year the current democratic leader said it appeared to be an appalling act. one that he said goes against the tradition of prosecutors at every level of government. and the prior democratic leader when asked if james comey should resign given his conduct of the investigation, he replied of course, yes.

it's also clear what our democratic colleagues think of the man who evaluated mr. comey's professional conduct and concluded that the bureau needed a change in leadership. the democratic leader just a few weeks ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and said he had developed a reputation for integrity. what we have now our democratic colleagues complaining about the removal of an f.b.i. director who they themselves repeatedly and sharply criticized, that removal being done by a man rob rosenstein praised.

two investigations are currently ongoing. the senate intelligence committee's review of russian active measures and intelligence activities and the f.b.i. investigation disclosed by director comey. today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians may have done, but also to let this body and the national security community develop counter measures and war fighting doctrine to see that it doesn't occur again. partisan calls should not delay the considerable work of chairman b*ur and vice chairman warner. too much is at stake. deputy attorney general rosenstein was just confirmed

on a bipartisan vote 94-6. 94-6. and that fair consideration should continue when we receive an f.b.i. director nominee. as i said yesterday once the senate receives a nomination to fill this position we'll look forward to a full, fair and timely confirmation process. this is a critical role that is particularly important as our country continues to face serious threats at home and abroad. >> mr. president, the democrat leader. yesterday the president fired the director of the f.b.i. jim comey who was leading an active investigation into the trump campaign's possible collusion with russia. the president provided no reasoning for the firing other than he had the recommendation

of his attorney general who has already had to recuse himself from the russia investigation for being too close to the president and his deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein. mr. president, there is little reason to think that mr. rosenstein's letter is the true reason that president trump fired director comey. why? because if the administration truly had objections to the way director comey handled the clinton investigation, they would have had them the minute the president got into office. but he didn't fire director comey then. the question is, why did it happen last night? we know director comey was leading an investigation in whether the trump campaign colluded with the russians, a serious offense. were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?

the dismissal of director comey establishes a very troubling pattern. this administration has removed several law enforcement officials in a position to conduct independent investigations of the president and his administration from acting attorney general sally yates, to ferrara, and now jim comey. what should happen now? what must happen now is that mr. rosenstein appoints a special prosecutor to oversee this investigation. deputy attorney general rosenstein sat in the judiciary committee and promised to appoint a special prosecutor at the appropriate time. he said, quote, i'm willing to appoint a special counsel whenever i determine it's appropriate. so my colleague, senator kuhns asked him would you agree it's vital to the law enforcement

system that any investigation be fair, free, thoroughly and politically independent? mr. rosenstein answered yes, i do. if there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now. mr. rosenstein already expressed concern that director comey affected the f.b.i. the attorney general has had to recuse himself from being too close to the president for tin vest gaition. if mr. rosenstein believes this investigation must be, quote, fair, free, thorough and politically independent, if he believes as i do that the american people must be able to have faith in the impartiality of this investigation, he must appoint a special prosecutor and get his investigation out of the hands of the f.b.i. and

far away from the heavy hand of this administration. mr. rosenstein has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor right now. he needs no congressional authorization. this would simply be a step that he could take as outlined in the department of justice guidelines and in a law passed after watergate to get an independently minded prosecutor insulated from various special prosecutor. that means the special prosecutor would have much greater latitude in who he can subpoena, which questions they act. now to conduct an investigation. the special prosecutor can only be removed for good cause such as misconduct, not to quash the investigation. third, there is built-in

congressional oversight. congress is notified whenever a special counsel is appointed, removed or finished with the investigation. the appointment of a special prosecutor would be a welcome step in the right direction but it is not the only action that should be taken. there are a great many outstanding questions about the circumstances of director comey's dismissal, the status of the executive branch investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia, and what the future holds for these investigations. so i will be requesting that the majority leader call a closed and if necessary classified session, all senators briefing -- i will be requesting that the majority leader call a closed and if necessary classified all senators briefing with the attorney general and the deputy attorney general separately, at which they can be asked

questions. some of the questions. why was attorney general sessions, who had recused himself from the russia investigations, able to influence the firing of the man conducting the russia investigation? did deputy attorney general rosenstein act on his own or at the direction of his superiors or the white house? are reports that the president has been searching for a rationale to fire the f.b.i. director for weeks true? was director comey's investigation making significant progress in a direction that would cause political damage to the white house? why didn't the president wait for the inspector general's investigation into director comey's handling of the clinton email investigation to conclude before making his decision to

fire him? was this really about something else? no doubt we'll have an opportunity to question mr. comey, now a private citizen, about what happened. but we need to hear from this administration about what happened and why and what is going to happen next. and that's why again i am requesting that the majority leader call a closed and if necessary classified all sessions briefing with the attorney general and the deputy attorney general separately at which they can be asked these questions. i hope the majority leader agrees with me that we need to get to the bottom of this and get a handle on all the facts so that we can grapple with them. i remind him and my republican friends that nothing less is at stake than the american people's faith in our criminal

justice system and the integrity of the executive branch of our government. i yield the floor. >> bill: you want drama, plenty of it today on the floor of the senate. mitch mcconnell, republican followed by the minority leader chuck schumer. mcconnell made a point of indicating the vote in the senate from two weeks ago yesterday that was a 94-6 vote to confirm rob rosenstein to be the deputy attorney general who is at the center of all this decision in the letter first released yesterday. schumer is saying there is little reason to think that rosenstein's letter was the reason for the termination and repeatedly called for a special prosecutor. we can hear that from democrats for some time now. john thune, senator from the hill with me now. i know this is on quick notice. is it the right thing to do to

appoint a special prosecutor or not? >> that's not going to happen, bill. the leader noted in his remark this morning there are already investigations underway for months. senator richard burr and senator mark warner the chair and ranking democrat on the senate intelligence committee have been working this. there is a lot of work done. f.b.i. investigation underway and plenty of investigations out there already into this matter which are independent and objective and going to get to the bottom of all the facts and let the facts lead the investigation and the discuss going forward. we're fully confident in that and all these, you know, statements are being made by democrats and senator schumer and others on the floor this morning are simply designed to gain attention and to try and generate some sort of public support out there for what they are calling for. but that's not going to happen and i don't think the american

people think it's what we ought to be doing, either. >> bill: do you believe james comey should have been fired? >> that's a judgment call, bill. i'm someone not in the intelligence or judiciary committee. my observation over the past year has been he has gotten outside his lanes when it comes to the job of the f.b.i. i always think the f.b.i. does its best work behind the scenes and he has been a very public figure over the course of the last year. there are questions whether or not that has compromised his ability to do his job effectively. the confidence of the american people and the confidence of the agency and the confidence of congress. it is a judgment call. the president made that decision. i think there are some unanswered questions about the timing and the way in which it was done and so i'll wait until we get a more full explanation of that and answer to those questions. >> bill: tell our audience when there is a good time? >> for which? for termination if you are questioning the timing now.

>> the timing, of course, is right on the heels of an announcement there would be a grand jury seated to ask questions about the investigation into russia. to me it seemed the timing of that probably wasn't the best in terms of when the white house did it. if you look at what's been said over the course of the past several months there is plenty of bipartisan support for what the president did. democrats and republicans indicated they don't have confidence in james comey and this is something that should have been done. the question why it's done now i think that's something the white house and the justice department will have to explain. again, hopefully they'll do that in the days ahead. >> bill: busy morning. thank you for your time. republican senator from the hill. >> shannon: let's bring in our panel, marie harf and brad blakeman. you heard the remarks from the senate republican and democrat

there. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell referred to the fact that democrats had a lot of complaining to do about comey over the last few months and the president said in a tweet recently. now, to refer to that we're looking back to schumer's comments back last fall he said i do not have confidence in him any longer to restore my faith i'll have to sit down and talk to him and get an explanation why he did that. the hillary clinton handling and statements in public and lets as well. democrats haven't been a fan of comey's, sometimes they have. >> that's how outrageous this in. the democrats don't like jim comey and been critical of him and we've shied away from saying he should be fired by a president who his administration is investigation, the f.b.i. is investigating the trump

administration. what mitch mcconnell said and the trump administration is saying they're saying democrats are the only ones upset with this. senator mccain questioned the timing. senator burr who leads the intelligence committee put out a negative statement. there are republicans who are being critical and saying we need these unanswered questions to be answered. you cannot say this is all just a partisan issue because republicans on the hill are questioning this. >> shannon: we want to get brad before we run out of time. your response to that. people on both sides of the aisle say whether we agree with the issue here or not the p.r. is terrible in the middle of a russian investigation. >> no doubt. bernie sanders, let's not forget him. the darling of the democrats says comey should go. the bottom line is this. if democrats say that he bungled the investigation of hillary clinton, totally

inappropriate, overstepped his bounds, was incompetent. he is incompetent to investigate democrats but suddenly competent to investigate republicans. the president did it after a thorough report by the deputy attorney general who is also comey's superior and all laid out to the facts as why he should take the recommendation of the attorney general and he did just that. >> shannon: given all the breaking news we have to wrap it up there. marie and brad, great to see you. >> bill: much more on this busy day. bret baier on what he is learning this morning and we'll talk to him about that. lindsey graham questioned director comey about russia and called by the president yesterday before this decision went public. he is our guest as well coming up at the top of the hour on america's newsroom.

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>> shannon: a bombshell announcement rocking washington f.b.i. director james comey gone. president trump firing comey on the recommendations of attorney general jeff sessions and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. a busy morning. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." >> bill: we're rolling. i'm bill hemmer, good morning. the bombshell, now the aftershocks and fallout. mr. comey's departure creating a political minefield. chuck schumer calling for a special prosecutor. repeatedly to handle this russia matter. the search for comey's replacement already underway and the former a.g., alberto gonzalez last hour on america's newsroom praising comey and saying it was time for him to go. >> jim comey is a talented, deeply dedicated public service and i honor his sacrifice. i think we can all agree many people on both sides of the aisle believe in the past year his words and actions have led

many to conclude he no longer is the right person to lead the f.b.i. >> shannon: let's check in with ed henry live in washington good morning, ed. listen, democrats wanted comey out for his handling of the clinton investigation. we heard the hu and cry. a lot of them this morning his biggest defenders. >> the president going after chuck schumer labeling him trying chuck saying he wanted comey out before the election. had said that he had lost all credibility because of the hillary clinton email investigation. the president is going to hammer that. frankly, there is even fresh you are information about democratic hypocrisy on all this just from yesterday. the former campaign chairman for hillary clinton john podesta before this firing was on twitter yesterday morning attacking comey over his more recent testimony before the senate saying the american public is getting mildly

nauseous listening to jim comey. that was yesterday morning. a few hours later after the firing podesta is saying at real donald trump didn't you know you're supposed to wait to saturday night to massacre people investigating you? john podesta was referring to the fact that james comey in that senate testimony just days ago had made another big mistake suggesting huma abiden had forwarded thousands of emails to her husband, anthony wiener and some of those had information. the f.b.i. had to walk it back and same james comey's testimony was not fully accurate. >> shannon: what do you make of the president's relationship with comey. we've seen them at times very friendly. >> bill: the charges of hypocrisy for democrats will get thrown back at the white house. the relationship when you look at this video there three days

after the inaugural you the donald trump as the new president calling james comey over during a ceremony at the white house and saying you are doing a good job. that comes on top of what happened right before the election when james comey inserted himself to the -- >> it took a lot of guts. i disagreed with him and not his fan. i tell you what, what he did, he brought back his reputation. he brought it back. he has to hang tough. there is a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. what he did was the right thing. >> he was talking about inserting himself in the election. the white house are arguing in the days ahead as the furor continues that what changed for the president is this report from the deputy attorney general saying that james comey had overstepped. >> shannon: thanks, ed. >> bill: the senate is convening on the hill and started a few moments ago, you

heard from chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell. party leadership from both sides weighing in on the news of the day and the ousting of james comey. earlier this morning john cornyn told us the following. give this a listen. >> james comey was a good man who made a bad mistake in the way he handled the clinton email scenario and depending on who you were talking to one day our democratic friends thought he was a knight riding on a white horse and the next day they thought he was the devil incarnate. >> bill: reaction from the hill. what are you hearing in terms of a new f.b.i. director already? >> good morning, mitch mcconnell had a heads-up that james comey was going to be fired. the president called mcconnell before doing it. he says there will be a full, fair and timely confirmation

process when a new f.b.i. director nominee is announced and mcconnell jumped on hypocrisy with democrats saying a lot of them wanted to fire james comey until the president actually did it. >> the democratic leader a few weeks ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and developed a reputation for integrity. the democratic colleagues complaining of removal of an f.b.i. director who they themselves sharply criticized repeatedly. that removal being done by a man, rod rosenstein who they repeatedly praised. >> bill: chuck grassley of iowa this morning saying it is time to suck it up and move on. bottom line, time to turn the page. there are a lot of serious matter. >> democrats are responding in a significant way. we heard from chuck schumer.

generally speaking what are they saying? >> well, they are expressing they're alarmed by the timing of this removal of james comey from his post. we saw all the senate democrats on the floor this morning to see what senate majority leader mitch mcconnell would say about this issue and they're calling for a special prosecutor at this point. >> did deputy attorney general rosenstein act on his own or at the direction of his superiors or the white house? was director comey's investigation making progress in a direction that would cause political damage for the white house? why didn't the president wait for the inspector general's investigation into director comey's handling of the clinton email investigation to conclude. >> i asked tim kaine, hillary clinton's running mate if he

had someone in mind to be the next f.b.i. director. he said he did not but he can bet the confirmation process will be intense. >> bill: come back when you get more news. in the meantime before the news went public yesterday the president made a series of phone calls and one of those phone calls went to south carolina senator lindsey graham and he is our guest in 30 minutes. stay tuned for that. >> shannon: now that comey is gone the beltway is guessing who will replace him? bret baier has special report. he won't be the new f.b.i. director. but it will be tough. we have an acting director now, bret, where do we go from here and how does the president find someone that works for everyone? >> it's interesting. starting to hear names. it is the parlor game in fast forward. sped up because i think there is want and need to get someone

who is respected on both sides of the aisles and who can get through fairly easy as tough as that might sound. a couple familiar names and then some not so familiar ones. the familiar once, senator kelly ayotte, a former senator from new hampshire. former u.s. attorney. someone this administration respects. she escorted and dealt with the neil gorsuch nomination. she obviously has her independence. she was clearly not a pro trump the candidate during the election and yet she is respected on both sides of the aisle. another name representative trey gowdy who is representative from south carolina was the head of the benghazi independent committee. he is being talked about today. a couple of names, one long

shot ray kelly who is the former new york police commissioner. you also have bush administration justice department officials mike phillip if town as a lawyer now, and larry thompson. these are names being circulated. how fast this moves forward and specifically the president can gain that independence he is looking for in this next pick. >> shannon: as you outline the possible names we're watching live at the white house as russian foreign minister lavrov meeting with the president. we'll keep an eye on that arrival there as well. a couple of names, you talked about larry thompson would be the first african-american and kellyan could be the first woman. they have to get through that

guatemala let on capitol hill starting with the senate judiciary committee. how much pressure to pick someone outside of washington like ray kelly or do something more out of the box and away from the d.c. bubble? >> that's a possibility. again, this is president donald trump. so we've seen unconventional picks before. a lot of people praise his cabinet now, the picks that he ended up with. and i think that there will be some real mulling over of these names. the reason the attractiveness of somebody like kelly ayotte. she is known by the senate and she is respected on both sides of the aisle and maybe that makes the confirmation process a little easier. one other point and i think this comes to this investigation and you saw senator schumer on the floor talking about wanting to interview and ask questions to the attorney general jeff

sessions and rod rosenstein. that's because the real question in all of this is did it start bottom up or did it start top downother words, was president and the administration looking for a reason and then got this document? or was it after rosenstein looked at it all and sent it up and that's how it came together? that's the administration's take. i think there are skeptics on capitol hill. >> shannon: that's a critical question. we'll tune in tonight. bret will interview house speaker paul ryan tonight at 6:00 eastern tonight. thank you for your time. >> bill: so much information in this letter here. one line that sticks out the director made serious mistakes. one of the few issues that combines people of diverse perspectives. >> shannon: something he didn't say. he didn't recommend his firing.

>> bill: true. critics meanwhile questioning the timing of the dismissal. how and when did the president come to this decision? karl rove will analyze all that in a matter of moments. >> shannon: democrats say the comey firing is like nixon's saturday night massacre? are they the right match? >> will people suspect cover-up? absolutely. if an independent special prosecutor is appointed there is faith we can get to the bottom of this.

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>> bill: we're just watching every development as it comes in. right now we hear from the department of justice by way of the associated press. they're saying that the search for the next f.b.i. director is already underway. they stress the james comey deputy andrew mccabe has that job now as we had reported earlier. we're watching all of this as it comes out of washington, d.c. at 10:16 a.m. eastern time. >> shannon: reaction from democrats to director comey's firing has been swift and sharp raising from condemnation and comparisons to the most infamous saturday massacre in 1973. president nixon firing archibald cox, getting it done through someone else and abolishing the watergate task force months before he was forced to resign.

richard fowler is a radio host and marc thiessen. this is what the president has to say. comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in washington republican and democrat alike. when things calm down they will thank me. we heard last week from hillary clinton that he cost her the election and now he is president nixon. >> i wouldn't go that far. the timing of this is why people are alarmed in washington and throughout the country. in donald trump had a problem with comey, he could have fired him on january 21st. when he fired -- when jeff sessions fired all the assistant u.s. attorneys across the country then. we don't want you, you have to go. the fact they waited so late to do it and also we learned yesterday from other networks reporting that there has been -- grand jury subpoenas issued for colleagues of mike flynn. this is all leery to me.

i think the best way to solve this problem for the trump administration. i said it over and over again and house and senate republicans is to ask for a commission, three democrats, republicans three folks, put someone like condoleezza rice, colin powell and people with integrity to get to the bottom tf this russia election, wikileaks, roger stone. get all of it out and have folks deal with it outside of the political rancor. >> shannon: there are a number of congressional committees investigating and other law enforcement agencies investigating. so many thing going on. the calls are being shot down that it won't happen. there are republicans who are calling for some sort of outside body or investigation. mark, i want to read something from a former speech writer for former president clinton with the brennan center for justice. the president says -- this has every appearance of a cover-up, a possible act of obstruction of justice as much as nixon

firing archibald cox. the only precedent i can think of. he called it terrifying on multiple levels. >> it's ridiculous. who is pushing back on the nixon comparison? the nixon library tweeted out. fun fact. richard nixon never fired anyone in the f.b.i. even they reject the analogy. in the 1970s there were no democrats saying they had lost confidence in archibald cox. all democrats who are slamming donald trump today they were complaining about james comey that he delivered false testimony saying huma abiden had forwarded thousands of emails to wiener's computer. they had to back off that. they were throwing charges against the clinton people and now he is st. james and donald trump is richard nixon for

firing him. which is it? >> let me make one point of this. you have to replace the names on this. if president barack obama had fired james comey on october 28th republicans people like -- they would have exploded. how awful. total white house cover-up, bad for business. you can't get mad at democrats for saying there is something fishy here. i think we can all agree blake from arizona said the timing is questionable, which is why i go back to my previous point now more than ever a select committee, you're right, eight different investigations happening. how about make it one and save the taxpayers some money and have a commission deal with this. if they recommend a special prosecutor they recommend it. >> shannon: since your head explosion has been suggested, marc, final word here. >> what richard and all the other people aren't telling us, how does donald trump benefit from this? he doesn't. if anything he is hurt by it.

the russian investigation will go on. career f.b.i. agents investigating this stuff. second of all, he has to get a new f.b.i. director in place. can you imagine the political circus those confirmation hearings will be? democrats will have a field day. this is not exactly good for donald trump. >> shannon: it will be a brave man or woman who decides to take on that role. >> amen. i nominate richard. >> not it. >> bill: interesting the hear what bret was saying a moment ago. it comes at a critical time. senator lindsey graham took a phone call from the president yesterday and we'll ask him what was said during that conversation. the former a.g. alberto gonzalez said this last hour. >> i have to believe in the

judgment and opinion of rob rosenstein. one of my attorneys when i was attorney general. there is evidence to support the ultimate conclusion by the president of the united states.

the firing of comey, drop in here now. >> possible connections to associates of the trump campaign and administration. one thing, mr. chairman, that sticks in my mind is the classified briefing that you and i had from director comey on march 15th. at this briefing, director comey outlined the counter intelligence and criminal investigations the f.b.i. is conducting involving russia's covert action to influence the presidential election. i can't go into the specifics

but you and i know that it was rather comprehensive for this kind of briefing. the f.b.i. director was precise and he presented us with substantial information. it was clear the f.b.i. was taking its job seriously and that a substantial investigation was underway. in addition, just last week on may 3rd director comey came before the judiciary committee and promised to update the committee and provide briefings on the russia investigation in a classified setting as necessary. then last night cnn reported that federal prosecutors had begun taking additional steps in the russia investigation in the past few weeks, including issuing grand jury subpoenas to associates of michael flynn

seeking business records as part of the russia investigation. in fact, reporters learned that prosecutors were issuing subpoenas as part of the ongoing investigation into russian interference in the election just hours before director comey was fired. at a minimum, the decision to fire comey raises questions about the appropriateness and timing of firing the person in charge of an investigation that could -- i won't say could, but would implicate the administration. to have this happen now is beyond surprising. i believe it's important to have deputy attorney general rosenstein and deputy director mccabe come before the judiciary committee and brief members on the reasons and the timing of the firing, as well as what steps are being taken

to ensure this action will have no impact on the work of the f.b.i. on the ongoing investigation. i also plan to work with senator blumenthal on legislation to insure that a truly independent prosecutor can be appointed. however, while we work on that legislation, i want to renew my prosecutor appointed to oversee the russia investigation. i have said on some occasions now that we're in unusual times and i recognize today's hearing is meant to be on the nominees who are before us for three important positions at justice. but given the events of the last 24 hours, i believe members should have the opportunity to speak out about these events. mr. chairman, i hope you will allow other members to say a few words if they would like.

but i want you to know i very much appreciate this courtesy. thank you. >> you bet. senator cruz. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to welcome each of you. >> bill: senator ted cruz giving his assessment of where we think we are at the moment. we're hanging on to see if he had any comment about comey. there is senator feinstein. she echoes what chuck schumer said in the past hour as well calling for a special prosecutor. bearing in mind through all of this there is already a senate committee investigating possible ties to russia going back to the election. no collusion has been proven. we heard it from clapper and sally yates. mitch mcconnell says he trusts in the committee in the senate to do a fair and honest job and then when we talk to john thune on the republican side there will be no special prosecutor.

that's the position of republicans in the senate today. >> shannon: the chairman of that senate intelligence committee burr talking about concern for the timing of the dismissal. that commission has gotten a lot of bipartisan praise. moscow moving to hit the reset button. russia's foreign minister about to meet with president trump in the oval office. >> bill: the axe has been swung, james comey is out. how the president made that decision. we'll talk to karl rove in a moment live for his insight on that. the judge from earlier today. give this a listen. >> i don't think we know everything we know. here is what we know. the f.b.i. director serves at the pleasure of the president. even though he has a 10-year term the president can fire him for any reason. donald trump obviously wanted to make a very, very strong statement by the manner of the firing.

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>> shannon: we are watching live and hoping to get read-out from the white house where sergey lavrov is meeting with president trump. they are talking about syria and bringing about some type of conclusion to the ongoing multi-year civil war there. obviously the u.s. and russia disagree on a lot of things there including assad yaes role in the latest chemical weapons attack that got the world's attention. we'll take you there live when we know more. >> bill: the f.b.i. needs a new leader, james comey is out. many wonder how the president came to this decision. karl rove former white house chief of staff to george w. bush and fox news contributor. welcome to you, karl. the president has been quiet over this past weekend. many wondered why you go to new jersey and lay low, which

really has not been the pattern and perhaps now we see why. this tweet from two hours ago. james comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job bringing back the spirit and prestige of the f.b.i. with that as a foundation, karl, why did he make this call? >> well, there are two narratives. the narrative that i think is most reliable is that on the 24th of april rod rosenstein is confirmed as the deputy attorney general through whom the f.b.i. reports. he has -- comes into office with concerns about the way that comey handled himself. he takes two weeks. he obviously reading from his letter discussed this with the attorney general jeff sessions and then frames up a letter which he sends to the attorney general yesterday that i think is well argued. points out there is bipartisan concern that comey overstepped his role as the f.b.i. director. i would be more harsh. he violated a clear line in

america that has existed since the founding which is we divide the investigative decision and activity from the prosecutorial decision. he crossed that line with no statutory authority and violated in my opinion this line that we should have and rosenstein writes the letter. the attorney general frames it to the president with a recommendation that comey be fired. and on that same day the president writes a letter to comey and has it delivered by the former head of his personal security detail to comey. not knowing that comey is on the west coast. that's one narrative. the justice department recommends it and the president acts on it. >> bill: okay. that's one. is there another? >> there is another. politico today reports the president has been sort of raging at comey and the russian investigation for the last week and looking for a way to get rid of him.

and we don't know the strength of that narrative. it is a politico article. it looks like it's dependent upon sources in the west wing. >> that comey didn't defend the president enough with ties to russia, correct? >> right. >> bill: alberto gonzalez was okay with the firing and thought it was justified. he was questioning the timing. he said this, karl, stand by. >> when you come into office, for example, we already knew, had the back drop of jim comey's conduct during the campaign and it would have been much more appropriate to make the change at that particular time. >> bill: the answer was when is a good time to fire the f.b.i. director and he said do it during the transition? is that realistic? >> alberto gonzalez and i are good friends and close colleagues. i have a slight disagreement with him. trump did not have a traditional transition, he just didn't. when he came into office he had

nobody at the department of justice. it took him a while to get his a.g. in there. i think the a.g. having played a political role in the campaign with jeff sessions. he has been a friend of mine since college days, an excellent choice but he having been active in the campaign was a little restrained in how he could talk about this things. it took until they got the number two guy into the department and confirmed by the senate and then and only then could there be an appropriate review of comey's activity. he is right -- >> bill: can i read something from the "wall street journal." i want you to chew on this. tell me whether or not you agree with this. the reality is mr. comey has always been most concerned with the politics of his own reputation. it continues. he styles himself as the last honest man in washington he has dangled insinuations across his career about the george w. bush white house and surveillance and mrs. clinton and email and trump in russia.

is political and the way we don't want a leader of america's premier law enforcement agency to behave, end quote. is that true? >> i agree totally. i thought it was highly inappropriate he did what he did in july by taking that prosecutorial decision into his own hands and announcing once they did not -- they were not going to move with an indictment trashing hillary clinton. it was a grave mistake for him to get into the final stages of the campaign. tarnishing the f.b.i. by getting involved on what we know is a minor issue. he could have skated past the election without revealing they were looking into huma abiden's papers. i think it was wrong. i will tell you this. i used a term last night with martha maccallum that he was a hot dog. you referred to the incident in the bush administration. john ashcroft is gravely ill. so ill that he removes himself

as the attorney general and deputizes mr. comey to be the acting attorney general. nobody calls up the white house and says the attorney general is so ill. the president calls him and i'm sending over people for you to look and sign it and comey doesn't pick up the phone and call alberto gonzalez and say don't come over and see him. he has been removed from power. then he says he points -- he plants himself in the corridor outside of ashcroft's room and says if you try to get him to sign this then i'm going to resign and it will be worse than watergate. he could have called and said i'm now in charge. i know we have to reauthorize the program. i have some concerns. i with like to get these resolved. every time this program came up for reauthorization somebody had tweaks, so it was routine to noodle on the program. he had to be a hot dog. >> bill: thank you.

wish we had more time. comey is 6'7". imagine seeing that standing outside your hospital room. karl, thank you. shannon has more. >> shannon: we have a showdown whether the f.b.i.'s investigation into russia needs to be taken over by a special prosecutor or independent commission. >> there is not enough substance and merit to hire and to create a special prosecutor at this point. >> shannon: other side of the aisle doesn't think so. what should happen now that james comey is out? lindsey graham is conducting a russian probe and doing other hearings as well and will join us live next. ♪

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chuck schumer says it needs to move away from the trump white house. >> were those investigations getting too close to home for the president? if there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now. >> shannon: lindsey graham sits on the senate judiciary committee and they recently held hearings on russia. good morning, senator. among other things, senator schumer also said that there was little reason to believe the reasons outlined in the letter for the firing of former director comey were legit. should there be hearings into the firing itself? >> let's look at this. if i had a hearing about why he should be fired, comey, the first witness i would call would be schumer so he could tell us why he thought he

should be fired. there are 20 democrats at different times have called for mr. comey to step down as f.b.i. director. this is what gives hypocrisy a bad name. in terms of the timings the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein sent a letter to the president believing that the department was in disarray and needed a new leader, a new f.b.i. director. i have no reason to doubt he did his job fairly. if somebody coerced him i would like to know about it. i don't believe rod would sign a letter he didn't believe in. that's the timing. m terms of the democratic party almost unanimously as different times have called for comey to be fired. let's bring an f.b.i. director we can all have faith in and move forward. >> shannon: the reasons all date back to the things that made the democrats unhappy last year. why not fire him day one of the trump presidency. their beef is these things existed months ago, why fire him now? >> the letter from mr.

rosenstein gave a reason to fire him. maybe we should have fired him when schumer said to fire him. you don't want to democratic leader in charge of the f.b.i. the democratic leader called for his firing. maybe that's when we should have done it. i think it's better to have a letter from the deputy attorney general who gives us a reason as to why we need a new leader rather than a politician calling for him being fired. you have two choices, listen to chuck schumer the politician and you need to fire comey or the deputy attorney general who is a professional prosecutor and follow his counsel and advice. i think the president chose wisely. >> shannon: where do we go from here? are you confident the russian investigation, the multiple russian investigations in the house and senate and the officials in the f.b.i. will continue there. this emboldens the calls for a special prosecutor or commission. >> this is the counter intelligence investigation, not

a criminal investigation of the trump campaign. there is a counter intelligence investigation about collusion between the trump campaign and russian operatives. i've seen no evidence of collusion and i have looked. there may be some but it is counter intelligence, not criminal. if it ever becomes a criminal investigation we'll talk about a special prosecutor. you don't need a special prosecutor for a counter intelligence investigation. as to mr. rosenstein, he was recommended from the senators from maryland who are both democrats. he has a great reputation and he assessed after a couple of weeks on the job the current director had so much controversy around him that he could not adequately lead the f.b.i. now it's incumbent on the president to pick a new f.b.i. director that we can rally around. >> shannon: how do you think about kelly ayotte's name? >> kelly would be excellent. trump has picked a great

cabinet. the best i've seen since i've been up here. it is incumbent to the president. as to the timing you have to believe though rosenstein, ask chuck schumer why he wanted him fired. >> shannon: he was confirmed 94-6 weeks ago from both sides of the aisles. we'll see. senator good to see you. >> bill: also today the white house briefing will be must-see tv. live coverage at 1:30 eastern time the schedule now. at this moment also the russian foreign minister is meeting with the president at the white house. what comes of that meeting we'll tell you mom momentarily. did you see this? another flight, another fight. what sparked this one this time.

>> bill: somewhere in there you'll see the vice president mike pence. see now on capitol hill for what specific reason we have not been told but there is plenty to talk about. whether it has something to do with james comey or what it goes back to what the senate is dealing with right now on healthcare. you can fill in the blank right now. mitch mcconnell talked about how they can move forward and had discussions with mike pence throughout the week. bear in mind pence is on the hill with house members three straight days last week trying to get healthcare through. >> shannon: this has been one of his strengths for the trump administrations. he knows the workings off capitol hill. a former member himself. the trump administration has relied on him a lot. he knows the procedures and the people. he knows how it all works. when they need -- he gets sent.

>> bill: the word from the white house and department of justice is this. james comey was wrong to insert himself in the investigation of hillary clinton starting in july of last year. democrats have gone from like to don't like to like to don't like in their john going relationship with him. chuck schumer and others are saying they need a special prosecutor. mitch mcconnell and others say it won't happen. the senate has a commission into looking at the trump team and russia. clapper and yates repeated a few days ago there is no evidence of collusion between the russians and team trump going back to 2016. >> shannon: that's what we've

heard from democratic lawmakers including those as critical of the president like maxine waters. she has called for his impeachment. she hasn't seen any evidence of collusion between those two. the president remains confident he will be vindicated on that point and so far it appears that's the case. >> bill: we'll see if mike pence gets to a microphone. sarra huckabee sanders leads the press conference today. she will take care of that. she was the one who went forward with a lot of the cable operations late into the night giving the first response from the white house in the firing of comey. >> shannon: we got a glimpse of the vice president. we saw him there. a scrum surrounding him. any number of reasons he could be there. there are many legislative

proposals. we talked about healthcare with the senate. tax reform. infrastructure. all kinds of things he could be negotiating or talking about on the hill or maybe it's back to the bunny. did you see the official first bunny, the second bunny, the pences have their own bunny. >> bill: out of indianapolis, indiana ind. first bunny. there are a few names out there. we mentioned kelly ayotte, the former senator from new hampshire who could be a candidate for the head of the f.b.i. trey gowdy the republican from south carolina. former prosecutor. left the legal world. went to work in the u.s. house of representatives who has said he is trying to get out of work on capitol hill but it hasn't happened yet. >> shannon: he has often voiced his interest in not being a member of congress but made such a splash there and people have taken to his style. his investigations.

he has talked about wanting to be a judge. so maybe in a different role he would consider the f.b.i. whether he would get through the senate we'd have to see. it could get fiery. >> bill: we can read between the lines coming from the president's hand earlier today. there have been a lot. one is this. james comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job bringing back the spirit and prestige of the f.b.i. more of those tweets are online now. rod rosenstein is the deputy attorney general. you have heard his name a lot already today. up until last night you probably hadn't heard of him. he is the deputy attorney general working under jeff sessions. he was approved by the senate in a vote of 94-6 two weeks ago. 15 days ago. two weeks ago yesterday. issued this long release that was put out yesterday afternoon and in part of what he says,

shannon, over the past year the f.b.i.'s reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage. it has affected the entire department of justice. as you point out, he does not say fire the f.b.i. director. but it is insinuated in paragraph after paragraph and line after line. >> shannon: he is somebody who i believe was originally appointed under president bush and kept on and served under the obama administration. well respected. the vote strong bipartisan support. so much so that senator barbara -- she lobbied to have him stay on. he was a republican appointee. he is well respected and democrats have to knowledge that and republicans alike despite what they may or may not like about the letter. >> bill: another line. the director, his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument

but without a trial. a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do. those words from rod rosenstein. waiting for the vice president. don't >> jon: what a day on capitol hill. just hours after the firing of the fbi director by the president. now vice president mike pence makes an unannounced visit to his former colleagues on capitol hill. what is he about to say, what is he about to do, we don't know. >> jenna: while this is happening on capitol hill, we have the vice president, something is happening behind closed doors on the white house and estimating between president trump and the russian foreign minister who is in d.c. one that is highly