media @specialistsfnc on twitter and facebook. 5:00 will never be the same. "special report" is next. still on the trump demonstration changes the timeline, saying the president lost confidence in fbi director james comey right afte. democrats continue to equate president trump with richard nixon plus the house speaker is here to react to the moves for the first time. this is "special report" ." good evening. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. the reverberations from tuesday's surprise firing of fbi director james comey have political washington in the kind of frenzy rarely seen even the most pressure packed times. president trump is defending himself, saying comey was not doing a good job. vice president mike pence is

sticking up for his boss, calling the dismissal of the right at the right time. congressional democrats, some of whom have called for comey's head following the clinton email investigation or demanding a special prosecutor. john roberts joins us from the north lawn. >> good evening. in this tangled web of claims and counterclaims, one thing that we did learn today that was new, the firing of james comey had more to do with what president trump was thinking that we were first legibly. 24 hours after firing james comey, the white house today dramatically shifted the narrative. initially officials insisted they deputy attorney general made the recommendation in recent days. today the deputy press secretary said the president has been thinking about it for months. >> in regard to the termination of the former fbi director comey, the president over the last several months lost confidence in director comey and frankly he had been considering

letting director comey go since the day he was elected. >> democrats labeled the firing as a nixonian, accusing the president of trying to snuff out the investigation into russia's election interference. >> were those investigation getting too close to home for the president? the dismissal of director comey establishes a very troubling pattern. >> meeting in the oval office with nixon's secretary of state henry kissinger, president trump insisted that firing the fbi director was a matter of poor performance. >> he wasn't doing a good job. >> white house officials insisted comey's firing was not about the russia investigation. >> as has been stated repeatedly and the president has been told he's not under investigation. figure one of the big catalysts we saw with last week on wednesday, director comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had essentially taken a stick

of dynamite and thrown it into the department of justice by going around the chain of command. >> in a moment rich with irony or defiance, president trump met in the oval office with russians for mr. sergey lavrov and ambassador sergey kislyak. he was at the center of the controversy surrounding michael flynn. >> is it ironic or is it for president poking a finger at the critics? >> these meetings have been on the books for a while. there's not a strategy to go after the democrats on this. i think frankly this saddest thing is that the democrats are trying to politicize and take away from something the president should be doing. >> if president trump was considering firing comey right after the election, it must have also been on his mind when he praised him for reopening the clinton email investigation in late october. >> it took guts for director comey to make the move that he

made. >> what changed? being elected president, according to the white house. >> once you take over leading the department of justice, it's very different than being a candidate. there's a very clear distention between those two things. i think also having a letter like the one that he received and having that conversation, the outline of the basic atrocities in circumventing the chain of command of the department of justice. >> late today the president again ripped his democratic opponents, tweeting " "dems have been complaining for months and months about director comey. now that he has been fired they pretend to be aggrieved. phony hypocrites!" it's rough out there. >> bret: let's get reaction from house speaker paul ryan mr. speaker, thanks for with us. i want to ask you what your initial reaction was when you

heard the fbi director james comey was fired. >> obviously firing in fbi director is no small thing and quite a serious matter. i think the truth is james come comey, who is a worthwhile and dedicated public servant, i think you lost the confidence of a lot of republicans and a lot of democrats aced upon his conduct, his actions, and some of the comments he made. most importantly, he lost the confidence of the president, and it's entirely within the president's role and authority to relieve him. that's what he did. >> bret: were you given a heads up? >> rights before it happened. he basically called me when i got off a flight to tell me he had made the decision. i also think if you take a look at the fact that he was losing confidence in the justice department might think the president felt the right thing to do was to let him go, move on. i think it's really important at this point now that we find a replacement soon, so that he was very qualified and capable so we

can get that person up and running soon, and i think the other thing that's important at this point is to make sure that the professionals of the fbi know their jobs are valuable and they have to keep doing what they're doing, do their jobs objectively and thoroughly. i am pleased that the white house has said the work they were doing, and investigations they are doing will continue. i think it's important. i think the doj, attorney general and assistant attorney general should make it clear to all of the people in the professional men and women at the fbi that they should keep doing their jobs thoroughly and professionally. while we find a replacement. it's important the administration moves quickly. >> bret: mr. speaker, you know it's not just democrats who are raising a lot of concerns about this and about the timing of it. it's also republicans. this is senator burr, chair of the senate intel committee. >> the timing and the reasons for this decision made little sense to me. i don't think i've heard anything since last night that

would clarify that in any way. the reasoning, dealing with an election issue from last year. if that was the impetus behind it, it should have been done on inauguration day. not in maine. >> bret: your reaction. >> welcome i think the president lost patience and i think people in the justice department lost confidence in director comey himself, and i think the president was looking at a situation where you had seen her justice department officials losing confidence in me does not want to see the fbi disarray. he wants to see the fbi up and running and moving well, i think director comey kind of become -- became an issue. it is within the president's authority and rolled through this period he a tremendous decision that's his right. let's go forward and get a capable person to replace him come on let's make sure the men and women at the fbi keep doing their jobs. >> bret: a couple more things, quickly.

senator mccain and a few others are calling for a special prosecutor prayed obviously democrats are in lockstep. why is that not a good idea? stick i don't think it's a good idea. we have three investigations going on right now. how's investigation by our intelligence committee which is the appropriate committee to do that, i believe. and we have a senate intelligence committee. you just played richard burr. and have the fbi investigating all things russia. i don't think that's a good idea. i think the intelligence committee is the one that should do it. the methods and sources of our intelligence gathering are also at play here. we have to be sensitive so we don't compromise any informatio information. i really do believe these three investigations of the way to go. let's get them done. let's go where the facts lead, and i do think that director comey was compromised clearly his superiors at the justice department felt that way and the president made a presidential decision. >> bret: how it happened. are you okay with all of that? obviously it's his prerogative

but how it transpired and the images today out of the oval office, considering that the fbi director was leading a counterterrorism investigation about possible collusion between the trump campaign and the russians. you had the russian foreign minister and the u.s. russian ambassador to the u.s. was the focus of a lot of these investigations, including mike flynn, and why the attorney general recused himself. your reaction to that. >> first of all, there's never been any evidence presented that president trump had anything to do with any of this, i think they mentioned in testimony the other day. let's make sure there's no innuendo. the second point is, these investigations are continuing. the people at the fbi who do the investigations are still there, working on the job. i think it's an important point to be made. the way i look at this is as keep these investigations going. that's what we've been doing and what we will continue to do. i don't know all that led up to

this decision. the administration i'm sure we'll make that clear about the process that led to this but also let's make sure we have a clear process going from here, and that means find a replacement soon. make sure people do their jobs, and i believe the committees in congress looking into all things russia are the appropriate committees, and they are doing their jobs. >> bret: we say when we report this that there is no evidence of collusion. james clapper has said that, but there's also an ongoing investigation that sally yates and others have not talked about great >> that's right but i think it's important to know there's been no evidence presented in any of the stages f this that suggests that collusion occurred. it's important that people know that. there's a lot of things were looking at. we are looking at the unmasking of mike flynn. a lot of those questions still have yet to be answered. >> bret: do you think that played a part? lack of progress on the unmasking and the leak investigation quickly >> i can't speak to that. i can speak to the fact of the

president saw an fbi director people have lost confidence in, including high senior officials at the justice department. >> bret: okay, let's turn. you've got a heavy agenda. you just passed your version of health care repeal and replace. you've got four months, three months congress is in session. not here in august for you've got the budget that is supposed to come over the 22nd. you need that. 12 appropriations bills, debt limit increase, conference of tax reform, obamacare repeal and replace from the senate and infrastructure. how do you get that done? >> throw some border patrol in there and infra- structure. >> bret: dodd-frank. you have 45 days. >> we walk and chew gum at the same time. rolling back 13 job killing

obama era regulations. we have the health care bill through. now are going to go back at it working on reform, infrastructure. more efforts in securing the border and the military. we have a full plate of things necessary to fulfill promises and making sure we get the economy growing. reforming tax code, overhauling regulations, getting the military what they need, securing the border and infrastructure is a big piece of our agenda. so all of these things are all for 2017, we are getting back to work on monday on moving some of these things through and yes we have a full packed agenda. we can walk and chew gum at the same time. we have different committees working on the bills. it's an ambitious agenda but that's what people elected us to do. get this country back on track and i'm very excited about it.

i'm excited we have a president pushing us, encouraging us to get it done and we are very serious. that's why i am here in ohio talking about tax reform paired with think it's really importan important. getting people back to work, raising wages. listening to manufacturers here in the heartland about what they need to see to get this economy growing and we are going to be working on this all summer and into the fall. >> bret: what do you need to see before you get to tax reform? health care, correct? >> is makes it a lot easier and better, so we would like to see before we do tax reform. >> bret: can you get it done before the end of the summer? health care? >> absolutely. i really do believe we can get up by the end of the summer. i hope the senate can move this bill fairly quickly, hopefully in a month or two. >> bret: they said they are starting from scratch. >> at the same time, were going to be working on tax reform. so it's not as if we wait for one to be finished and then go work on something else. we've been working on tax reform

all along. we've been working on border security all along. we've been working on rebuilding the military all along. been working on dodd-frank legislation. all of these things at the same time and now we sequence when we bring the bill through congress. the when there is concern in white house about the ability to muster republican votes. we have talked for this before. democrats often seem more united legislatively to get things through. you have said it's the will of the house but you're not the house speaker who cracks the whip like nancy pelosi did or some other previous house speaker's to get votes across te finish line. you saw how tough health care was. are you going to get tax reform through? >> i like the process because it's more collaborative. we invite more people to participate in the processes have just -- obamacare was a bill written in harry reid's office on christmas eve of 2009.

that's hardly the process i get you good policy. this did take more time but we included so many other members of congress from all different backgrounds to participate in fashioning this legislation and it made it all stronger because of it. i'm really believe that's the right style for running and managing congress. more people involved, more members having a say so. it's going to be a little bumpy on the way but tax reform, we all agree on tax reform. we are wired as republicans with the same dna which is stop overtaxing manufacturers and producers. stop hurting families with an abusive irs uncomplicated tax code. we are in agreement on the critical principles and we also know that this is key for economic growth. getting the regulatory agenda through, which we are on her way to doing in reforming and overhauling the tax system, the two crown jewels of getting america's economy growing faster and getting people to work. faster wage growth. we know its importance were

dedicated to it and i am very confident we will get it done this year. >> bret: mr. speaker, no appropriations bill or continuing resolution or omnibus spending bill has passed since 2012 without democrats apart. in this current environment with this partisan atmosphere, as a result of what just happened this week, how can you get democratic support on any legislation effort? >> well, it's their choice if they want to make everything partisan. if they want to try to stop anything happening. that would be an unfortunate choice for the democrats if they make that choice. we just passed out finally build two weeks ago they did have democrats support. as you know, you take 60 votes to pass appropriation bills so they all have to be bipartisan. it would be a little strange my mind if democrats are going to filibuster funding the military, it felt to coat democrats are going to filibuster securing the

border, the things people sent us here to do. it would be surprising to me if they are going to shut down all of congress and do nothing. that makes no sense. i can't imagine they would do that. are they upset about this issue or that issue? sure. we won the election. we are advancing our principles and ideas. we're getting it done and producing results. that's what matters. the country is polarized and partisan but i can't imagine democrats are going to take their toys and go away and do nothing to work to advance people's interest. >> bret: quick answer on tax reform. will you get to president trump's 15% corporate tax rate or is 20% your redline quick spec >> i have no redlines on this. i would like to go us low as possible. it's a question of getting the numbers to work. that's what it is. we would love to get to 15%. we will see what we can do. the lower the better, as far as

i'm concerned. >> bret: mr. speaker, thanks for the time. >> you bet. take care. >> bret: as i mentioned, the visit of russia's top diplomat of the white house and the russian ambassador to the u.s. comes on the heels of the comey firing, and as democrats seek to tie the dismissal to moscow's efforts to impact american politics. rich edson has that part of the story tonight from the state department. >> sergey lavrov arrived to the white house nearly one month after russian president vladimir putin extended that same courtesy to secretary of state rex tillerson in moscow. that act of diplomatic reciprocity comes in an awkward time. president trump has just fired fbi director james comey. as the fbi investigates russian interference in the u.s. election. lavrov says there was no discussion of the white house of such, as he calls them "absurd issues." >> translator: well, you seem to be all grown-ups.

i never thought i would have to answer such questions, particularly being in the u.s. taking into account your highly developed democratic system. >> russian president vladimir putin told cbs news comey's firing is unrelated to russia. >> translator: we have nothing to do with that. president trump is acting in his accordance with his law and constitution. >> in washington, lavrov engaged in a familiar game, negotiating and deflecting questions. he accused the obama administration of pitiful, dirty tricks and says there are problems in the u.s.-russian relationship, though he says there is a desire to settle the issues. >> translator: trump and secretary of state are businesslike people and they

want to reach agreements. >> lavrov says they discussed the de-escalation in syria. u.s. officials say they are waiting for more details on how russia would administer them. as the u.s. pushes russia to support a syria without its dictator, lavrov says the world should not focus so much on one figure. state department says they discussed russian involvement in fighting in ukraine and that "sanctions on russia will remain in place until moscow reverses the actions that triggered them." secretary tillerson and foreign minister lavrov are on tomorrow negotiations. traveling separate larry to the arctic council in fairbanks, alaska. one item, russia has been expanding its military presence in the arctic as the ice their melts. >> bret: rich edson at the state department pray thank you. when we come back, the man who orchestrated the comey firing will tell you all about deputy attorney general rod rosenstein.

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liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. >> bret: one of the major players in the drama over the james comey firing is deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. who is he and why did he go after the fbi director? catherine herridge has answers outside the fbi tonight. >> the vice president said the decision to fire the fbi director was based on the recommendation of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. career prosecutor who has worked for republican and democratic administrations. >> he's a man of extraordinary independence and integrity. he came to work, sat down, and made the recommendation for the fbi to be able to do its job that it would need new leadership. >> rosenstein was appointed u.s. attorney under george w. bush,

and eight years under president obama. >> i can assure you if it's america against russia or america against any other country, i think everyone knows which side i'm on. >> though democrats were frustrated by rosenstein's refusal to commit to a special prosecutor in the russia probe. >> i view it as an issue of principle. as a nominee for deputy attorney general, i should not be promising to take action on a particular case. >> rosenstein has been part of several high-profile cases, including whitewater. as well as the 2012 federal investigation of retired marine general james cartwright. as part of the review into the fbi director, rosenstein solicited input from seven former senior justice department executives, including former attorney general eric holder and alberto gonzales. >> so many things happened in connection with the investigation how it was handled and how it was announced that's

very unusual, very troubling. >> rosenstein and attorney general sessions are leading the search for interim director. comey deputy andrew mccabe has the job for now but political donations from a longtime confidant to mccabe's wife are problematic. >> okay, well, he's got political problems. i don't think he's the person that should be taking over. >> late today fox news confirming that mccabe went to the white house to meet with president trump to talk about morale at the bureau and tomorrow he heads to capitol hill where he will testify about the threats facing the bureau at the annual hearing before the senate intelligence committee. >> bret: white house saying it stays away from making an announcement for replacement. is there a short list? >> there are five key names circulating tonight. among them john pistole. he spent nearly three decades at

the fbi and retired as a deputy director. also ray kelly, former commissioner of the new york police department. can wayne steen, career official of the department of justice and the first person to lead the national security division, newly created after 9/11. trey gowdy, republican congressman and the new jersey governor chris christie who has a strong connection to president trump. in this case, it's hard to see what trick -- say when they decision will be made. someone who can get through senate confirmation. >> bret: thank you. we heard senator kelly, new hampshire senator. senate intelligence committee issuing subpoenas to former national security advisor michael flynn for documents regarding the russia probe. this is coming from senator richard burr and

senator mark warner. they are cochairs of the senate intelligence committee. announcing that the select committee issued a subpoena for flynn. the subpoena requested documents relevant to the investigation into russian interference with the 2016 election who will continue to follow that breaking news. new questions tonight also about the relationship between flynn and his foreign business associates. at issue are two unusual payments totaling $80,000 sent by flynn's firm to a client. the firm says they were consulting fees for unspecified work. a turkish businessman says the payments were refunds for unperformed lobbying. the firing of the fbi director is dominating the news coverage over the past 24 hours. tonight we take a look at what you are seeing and hearing and reading. here is fox news media analyst howard kurtz.

>> the firing him james comey is an explosive story for the media but some news outlets and commentators could barely contain their outrage. >> breaking news, the bedrock of our democracy under siege. >> under siege? some journalists are using loaded language. new york daily news called it a coup. cnbc: not hard to imagine chain of events that would make a pence president. harsh criticism from pundits. >> it's an abuse of power by the president. >> a whiff of fascism. >> firing summarily with no warning in the middle of may because of something that happened in july is almost inexplicable. >> journalists are raising legitimate questions. having praised the fbi director's handling of the hillary clinton email probe. some doubting trump's claim that comey assured him he wasn't

under investigation. >> it's unethical, arguably illegal for that two of happened once, let alone three times. >> this is very simple. you are trying to make it complex. >> the president responded in real time when senator richard blumenthal criticized him on cnn, trump tweeted about the democrats passed false claims he had served in vietnam. "richie devised one of the greatest military frauds in u.s. history. there are questions about whether they press is giving the president sighed a fair hearing. >> bret: s&p 500 gained three. nasdaq up 9. there are other news stories happening. president trump's decision to brought

provide weapons to syrian kurds puts the u.s. more in the middle of the friction between the kurds and turkey, also part of the anti-isis correlation and a part of nato. jennifer griffin is at the pentagon. >> the reaction from nato ally turkey was swept into the point after the pentagon announced president trump had signed off on arming the kurds in syria. turkey's president said he would convey his displeasure in person when he visits the white house on may 16. >> translator: we want to believe our allies will prefer to side with us, not with a terrorist organization. >> the pentagon will send armored vehicles like this as well as machine guns, ammunition, and armored bulldozers to the kurds. a spokesman for defense secretary jim mattis called the kurdish fighters in syria "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize the isis capital in the near future." turkey considers the kurds

terrorists. >> i am not concerned at all about the nato alliance and the relations between our nations. it's not always tidy. >> today for the first time the state department placed a bounty on the head of al qaeda as syrian affiliates, state department rewards for justice program is offering $10 million for information on muhammad al-jawlani, leader of the al-nusra terrorist group. as president trump weighs a proposal to send up to 5,000 more american troops to afghanistan, nearly doubling the u.s. presence there. fox news has learned the first brigade of the 82nd airborne division stationed at fort bragg, north carolina, will provide the additional american troops. the president has still not signed off on the request. >> war sometimes doesn't give you all good options. that's the nature of war. it's not a good situation. >> a u.s. military spokesman in baghdad said the armed shipments for the kurds will begin very

soon. tonight we are learning the u.s. backed forces among them, kurds, have taken a key city on the outskirts of raqqa and are ready to begin the assault on the capital. >> bret: jennifer griffin, thank you. education secretary betsy devos gave the commencement speech today at historically black bethune-cookman university in florida. many students and others of the school were against her appearance, so there were boos and heckling. >> as i said, i'm very grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. while we will undoubtedly disagree at times... i hope we can do so respectfull respectfully. let's choose to hear one another out. >> bret: many african-american said that devos offended them

when she said at historically black colleges were pioneers in school choice. she later said they were not born of choice but of necessity in the face of racism. fists flying sunday in california and monday night in florida, the latest skirmishes in the developing war over how air carriers treat their passengers and how passengers treat each other. adam housley has the story from los angeles. >> if you want to keep treating us this way, fine. i guess we can only do so much but there will come a day when congress won't accept it anymore. >> one week after congress told the airline industry to clean up its act, fights and cancellations have once again marred the formerly from the skies. >> what is wrong with you? >> in burbank, a southwest flight from dallas erupted into this. >> stop it! >> a flight attendant got pummeled when she tried to stop the brawl. the victim suffered a black eye, a cot, and a chipped tooth.

in that statement, southwest says "our employees are everyday heroes and trained to de-escalate conflict while delivering hospitality nearly 4,000 flights with nearly half a million customers who fly southwest every day." in fort lauderdale on monday, frustrated frustrations over canceled flights led to lines and clashe clashes. >> all of a sudden, one flight got canceled and a mob ensued at the front counter. at that point, the ticket agent couldn't handle what was going on, so they called for the police. >> at least 20,000 passengers were affected. the cause: a labor dispute between spirit and its pilots. federal court has granted spirit a temporary restraining order, forcing the pilots back to work. all this happens is the most part of homeland security is expected to expand its ban of

carry-on electronic devices. the airlines have been told to prepare for an expansion to include other areas, possibly western europe. >> bret: thank you. when we return, who initiated james comey's firing? the president or the deputy attorney general? we will discuss it and why it matters with the panel after the break.

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comey. >> you seemed happy with him at that point. what changed? >> he was a candidate for president, not the president. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he wasn't doing a good job. he wasn't doing a good job. >> bret: president trump in the oval office today, also tweeting numerous times today, including: "dems have been complaining for months and months about director comey. now that he has been fired they pretend to be aggrieved. phony hypocrites!" let's start with the panel. steve hilton, former advisor to david cameron. susan page, washington bureau chief at "usa today" and charles krauthammer. susan, your thoughts about the developments today and the fallout from yesterday. >> i thought it was pretty jaw-dropping. the decision to fire the law

enforcement official leading an investigation. something we haven't seen presidents do in the past and i realized that president trump says he's doing this for some other reason, but i think that created a firestorm that the white house did not expect, did not lay the groundwork to make the announcement and did not handle the communications about a very well. >> i agree with much of that. i think what you've seen the 24t its absolute worst rate if you look at the component parts. congress, the immediate reaction is to go hyper- partisan, get maximum political advantage. you have democrats who were saying 5 minutes ago that he cost clinton the election and should have been fired. now you some kind of martyr to the constitution. it's completely ridiculous. you have the white house, whatever you think about the substance of the decision, i think it's right, the handling is a disaster. it sets back the achievement of what really matters which is action to get the economy moving, jobs and incomes, all

the things you talked about in your interview with paul ryan. and finally, the media. as you showed in the fantastic compilation, they have gone insane over this period that does no credit to our political conversation, the culture of the country. no one can trust anything anyone says anymore. nothing is going to get done. if you are watching this from the outside, you have every reason to have a sense of revolutionary rage at these useless leaders in washington. >> bret: which led arguably to president trump to the election. this is "the new york times" three days before he was fired, james comey, former fbi director, asked the justice department for a significant increase in resources for the bureau's investigation into russia's interference in the presidential election. in his briefing with members of congress, mr. comey said he was frustrated with the resources being dedicated to the investigation. mr. comey is that he was hoping he would find a supportive boss and mr. rosenstein and according

to officials, pressed for more resources so he could accelerate the investigation. goes on to say he did press and ask for it. doj responded saying "none of this happened. the entire story is a fabrication." charles, from our sourcing and what we have tracked down, he did ask senators and the senate intelligence committee to help get more resources to speed up. they wanted the investigation sped up. he did not come according to the justice department, ask rosenstein directly who he would need to ask. there's the nuance. >> he said, she said. it turns out from your reporting, they are both right. there had not been a request to rosenstein the doj. there had been a request through the senate intelligence committee. the key point is the administration surprise. i think trump is totally sincere in his attacks, one after the

other, on the hypocrisy of the democrats. but it's surprising he should be surprised. these people are hypocrites from the day of their birth. it's in their dna. that's how they function. it was to be expected. yes, you say you want comey to be fired one day and then as soon as he gets fired, you attack the man who does that. but that's normal. and that explains, as susan says, why there was no preparation for the blowback. i assume that calculation was democrats don't like this guy. they accuse him of costing hillary the election, so there won't be much of a blowback. of course they will. democrats are looking for an excuse to say that there is a great collusion conspiracy and this was all being done in defense of that conspiracy, which i think remains implausible because if that was the intent of the trump administration, it's a colossal mistake.

having the opposite effect. >> bret: susan, you had not only the botched rollout of how it happened but today with the meeting in the oval office with the president and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and also the investor to the u.s. for russia, kislyak, who has been at the center of this investigations that led to the firing of michael flynn. those conversations he had, also the recusal of the attorney general in this investigation. and these pictures, by the way, susan, are from the russians. they are not from the white house press pool because they were not let in. >> the russians lead in their official photographer and they were putting out all kinds of photos. this is extraordinary. is this just coincidental or is it sort of an in-your-face? sku and you can say at a number of different ways. an in-your-face move by the

white house to say we don't care what you think. we are going to proceed. that's perhaps one of the reasons trump gets support from the people he gets support from because he doesn't do things were made with the optics would've dictated something else. >> bret: this is russia, who are you are accusing him of doing all kinds of things. and that is the image of the day after the firing. >> i agree it's in-your-face and perhaps it stirs up the base because it reinforces the image of trump as a fearless guy who will show himself with the russians even a day after that. but it doesn't help with people he needs help with, which is congress. his presidency hinges on the economy improving in on health care working out. for that he needs the congress and i think steve is right that what this has done, it has sort of reversed all the momentum he had. he now has to go back to health care. he now has to go back to get

help on tax reform. he's not going to get any of that from democrats who might've been tempted to cooperate on tax reform. they are not going to play ball at all. they're going to sit in the sandbox and throw sand. >> bret: this is pat buchanan who ran for president. before that, he worked for president richard nixon. reacting to the russian images in the oval office today. >> i am delighted the president met with the russians. there are issues far more important than comey. syria and whether we are going to send troops to afghanistan we have to talk to the russians. i know they are bad folks but i was with richard nixon and ronald reagan when they met with gorbachev and >> president trump: . they have to do it. >> he's exactly right. that's normal. you can't underestimate the degree with those who hate trump and believe this russia story.

this is a quote. "we have to determine whether the presidency was effectively stolen by a hostile foreign power." you assume a human wrote those words. they really believe it. that's why it really matters that it's been so badly handled because in the end, they've got a chance to work together and get things done. >> bret: next up, who may be in line for the top job at the fbi. ♪ a lot of people have vertical blinds. well, if a lot of people jumped off a bridge, would you? you hungry? i'm okay right -- i'm... i'm becoming my, uh, mother. it's been hard, but some of the stuff he says is actually pretty helpful. pumpkin, bundling our home and auto insurance is a good deal! like buying in bulk! that's fun, right? progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents,

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>> i am very confident that the president will go through process and he will choose an individual who will be able to lead the fbi not only back to credibility to restore the trust and confidence in the american

people but lead the fbi to even greater heights to ensure it does its job in enforcing our laws and protecting our country. >> bret: vice president pence talking about the selection for fbi director. three names that are familiar popped up today, congressman trey gowdy, also former senator from new hampshire and the former police commissioner of new york, ray kelly. we tasked our panel to come up with their own names. what do you think? >> i was pretty close to one of those. i think this atmosphere where everyone is so suspicious and doesn't trust anyone else, you've got to avoid something that even looks political. for me, the criteria, a law enforcement official, highly respected, the trust of the rank-and-file and the public and the lawmakers and politicians. when you narrow it down, i got

someone pretty close to ray kelly. i chose probably the world's most respected law enforcement official, bill bratton. >> bret: former los angeles police chief? susan. >> i agree. it has to be a careful choice. if you want to get to the confirmation process. i am suggesting mike rogers, seven term congressman from michigan. chairman of the house intelligence committee, worked well with democrats on the benghazi probe and a former fbi agent. he is also a generation younger. >> bret: charles. >> condoleezza rice. i know it's out-of-the-box grade you could say i'm out of my mind but i don't think you need a history and law enforcement. the one thing you've got to have is integrity.

unimpeachable integrity. she is obviously very skilled at many things. she goes all the way back, national security agencies. she also happens to know a lot about the russians. she could read the alleged collusion documents in the original russian if necessary. do you want someone from the outside it will stand for probity. i don't think she wants the job. i wouldn't really blame her. one thing you could do is have her stay a year or two or until the russian cases cleared up and then she would go on to be the commissioner of the nfl. >> bret: that's possible. that's what she wants to do. >> it would be a good way to work up to eight. >> bret: [laughs] make a case for trey gowdy. is it possible? he headed up the benghazi commission, the joint committee and is apparently somebody that

the president admires. >> i think it would be tough for democrats. he had rougher relations with democrats than mike rogers did. that leaves some scars. >> bret: trey gowdy didn't have great things to say about mike rogers. >> you can get through a partyline vote, you can get through with 51 votes. it's possible you don't need any democrats but given the tenor of today, it would probably be helpful for the administration to put forward someone who generates bipartisan support. >> bret: that is key? building a rapport with congress? seems tough. >> it's vital. going back to your interview with paul ryan, you laid out all the things president trump was elected to do. above all, get the economy moving. make it happen and do it this year. you've got to have the sense of

collaborative spirit that's completely shot to pieces. >> bret: panel, thank you. up next, life in washington, d.c., becomes a contact sport. whether it's connecting one of the world's most innovative campuses.

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of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution driving or operating machinery. most common side effect is nausea. thank you chantix. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. >> it has been a crazy last 24 hours. the whole contact politics is not over yet. we will continue to bring all the breaking news on the firing of the fbi director james comey, will even have a special edition of special report sunday night eight eastern and speaking of crazy, it is not here in washington for another reason. that i because the biggest sports night in the city's history, the capitals are defending stanley cup champions the pittsburgh penguins in game seven of their playoff series just down the street from us. they're playing game five in nba playoffs. so there's no online show tonight. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for the special

report. fair, balanced, and unafraid. the story with martha maccallum starts right now. go capitals, go. >> martha: good evening, everybody. i martha maccallum and this is the story. tonight, we have learned that now fired fbi director james comey could be back in washington testifying on capitol hill next week. tonight, got an independent citizen who will be very interesting in that iteration to say the least. at "the wall street journal" reporting today that the white house is becoming frustrated. by comey's lack of support and that they wanted him to stay quotes three little words, there's no ties when it comes to russia. supporters of the president's decision also out in force today saying that comey had a history of overreach and that he needed to go.