alligator bigger than kayak chases him. you can see the reptile inching closer and closer. this is in mobile bay, alabama. can you imagine? jackie: that would be so scar scary. abby: "fox & friends" starts right now. >> fbi director comby. >> he wasn't doing a good job. >> if you watch any of the news. it was a coupe. the hindenburg, lewi. three mile island. >> getting close to home. >> i think it's startling that democrats aren't celebrating this since they have been calling for it so long. >> obamacare officially on life support. etna officially pulling out of the exchanges the by 2018. >> speaking at graduating and here is what happened. >> as i said, i'm very grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. [crowd booing] >> this is what four years of liberal arts college education

will do for you. is that what you are paying for u parents? >> we will make america safe again. we will make america great again. god bless you and good night. i love you. ♪ ♪ we're the kids in america ♪ everybody. brian: that is the delphi lacrosse team. that is how they choose to come out on their home field the american flag with the voice of the president giving a speech at a rally. ainsley: how dare them. that is so offensive. brian: he wasn't saying don't vote hillary clinton. he was talking about america. ainsley: how great america is. the president of the united states. brian: yet, the lacrosse team has to backtrack and apologize for anybody they offended with those words. outrageous. steve: we don't know if anybody was actually offended. we know they have preapologized for using donald trump who is by the way to the

whhorror of some democrats the president of the united states. brian: he won. ainsley: we are going to dive into this throughout the show this morning. we will replay that video for you if you missed it right now we are going to talk about who is going to replace the fbi director. brian: a lot of lacrosse highlights today. ainsley: you should be happy. brian: absolutely. steve: i'm going to hgtv. i love to see them when they flip those houses. meanwhile, let's talk about the news. intense search underway for the interim leader for the fbi. narrowing down to 4. they are looking for a permanent director of the fbi. ainsley: james comey breaks his silence, sending a letter to his former department. brian: it was classy. chief national correspondent ed henry is live to the capitol where the fbi director will testify in a few hours. is he also rumored to be a contender to take the top job. >> andrew mccabe acting director of the fbi. he will be a stand-in basically for james comey

before the senate intelligence committee today. that had already been scheduled. it's a hearing assessing global threat. you can bet there may be questions about russia and other matters before the bureau right now. mccabe very controversial in the waning days of the presidential campaign how it came out that as a top fbi official his wife had run for political office as a democrat in the state of virginia and had a lot of money raised over $500,000 by the democratic governor, terry mcauliff, who of course, was a top advisor to hillary clinton, the democratic presidential nominee. as i mentioned, mccabe standing in now for james comey in the testimony today. comey knew this morning, speaking out for the first time, a letter to fbi agents saying among other things, quote, i have long believed that a president can fire an fbi director for any reason or for no reason at all. i'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. i hope you won't either, he says to the agents.

it is done and i will be fine although i will miss and you the mission deeply. democrats are certainly not shy about diving in and charging that this is all about a coverup. that's why comey was fired. the president just as firm in saying no. it was about comey's poor performance. watch. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he wasn't doing a good job very simply. he was not doing a good job. >> while interesting you mentioned here's the list. the idea of restoring confidence in the fbi, which is something the president talked about in announcing all. this a lot of the contenders for the job we're told are insiders, people who may have the confidence of fellow agents. adam lee special agent in charge of the richmond, virginia agent. michael anderson chicago. paul abbate cyber unit. and william evan it's ina counters terrorism. andrew mccabe the acting

director is the potential full time chief if you will can cat for that. republican senator chuck grassley very powerful lawmaker said yesterday he cannot see that happening because of mccabe's ties to the democratic governor of virginia. back to you guys. ainsley: they will stay away from anybody controversial. >> highly controversial. above board,. brian: they just need a simple majority to get whoever across the finish line. they need all the republicans, not a single democrat although you would hope it would have bipartisan. steve: ed just indicated the real reason that the president got rid of jim comey because he wasn't doing a good job. apparently the president questioned mr. comey's loyalty and judgment. he was really angry that mr. comey would not investigate the leaks that we have heard so much about or his wiretapping claims. and mr. trump came one a plan on how to do this while watching television over the

weekend at bed minister when he was watching the sunday shows. he said i have an idea. the next day mr. rosenstein came in on an item unrelated and they talked about it they came one a letter the next day. and the next day after that mr. comey was gone. ainsley: the president touched on this. he tweeted about just the hypocrisy how one minute they like comey, the next minute they hate him. steve: the democrats? ainsley: the democrats. and then they like rosenstein. they approved him 96 to 6. now they don't like him because he suggested comey be fired. brian: rosenstein was upset because monday he was at a lunch with attorney general sessions with the president at which time the president says listen i'm going to get rid of comey. can you draw up an outline of all the things he has done. they do. they draw up an outline. all of a sudden by our show on wednesday, basically, it looks like rod rosenstein is the reason why he was fired. and he was so upset that he evidently threatened to resign.

he says i'm not going to be the fall guy. it wasn't my idea. i just outlined the reasons for him to let go. that's why the narrative changes. the president takes responsibility. among the people critical of the president is newt gingrich. if you are going to be the quarterback of the football team. have you got to tell everybody the plays. because the communication of the president's move, which has -- there is a myriad reasons to get rid of the fbi director. but out of all the reasons, they didn't is a a communication team in place. evidently the president is eating his dinner and realizes there is no nobody defending him on any of the shows. that's when he you saw kellyanne conway and sarah huckabee sanders come forward and start defending the president. is he mad at his communication team for not getting out there. ainsley: dems have been complaining for months and month about director comey. now that he has been fired they pretend to be aggrieved. phoney hypocrites. steve: all right. so could this be what the president is talking about where the democrats had been attacking the character of rod

rosenstein. keep in mind, he was approved practically unanimously by democrats and republicans like the final scores ainsley. ainsley: 96 to 6, 94 to 6. steve: got to add up to 100: 94-6. democrats not so long ago just absolutely loved this guy. >> mr. rosenstein is a very fine man, an excellent, long-time prosecutor in the justice department. >> i respect him as a prosecutor. once named under a republican president he was retained by president obama. he is a professional by every standard. and every measure of his performance. >> rod rosenstein is a professional prosecutor. he is a person who basically is a professional. he is a public servant. we trust his judgment. he has been a person who has called it the way it should be. he has not been partisan. and we believe this was a

welcomed nomination by president trump. steve: so there you have got them showing that he is a man of integrity and good judgment. and he's the guy who came one rationale and a number of just an eye ten area of reasons why mr. comey had to go. ainsley: makes it look like everything the president is for they're against no. matter what it is. we had newt gingrich on yesterday saying if the president said the flag was red, white, and blue, they would argue no, it's fuchsia. brian: newt has to get his story straight. newt tells us the letter pushed the story forward. then he tells "the washington post. it wasn't that the president has got to do a better job communicating. ainsley: that's two different things. he is saying the president has to do a better job messaging. brian: better job of messaging. newt said to us that that letter pushed the president to act. did he know that this letter didn't push the president to act? because it doesn't -- rosenstein was so upset he wanted to quit because of that. steve: there are so many different stories.

i don't know we know the full story yet. but we do know that if you watch the mainstream media, obviously james comey a big story and the fact that mr. comey himself yesterday put out that letter that said, look, if the president wants to fire me, he can fire me. last night, of the big three networks, you're not going to believe the ooment of coverage not just on comey but simply on the russian collusion thing. and just about the collusion. take a look. over on cbs, they did seven minutes and 58 seconds. about the russian theory. 7:53 on abc. and 9 minutes and 1 seconds over on the peacock network. it looked something like this. walch this. ainsley: not just the comey coverage. it is the fact that they said, what was it, wasn't specifically comey coverage it was all on the conspiracy theory. take a listen. steve: there you go. >> in a previous career, president trump was a master at explaining why he fired

someone. but critics are not buying his explanation for the firing of james comey. the timing raises questions. comey had just asked for more resources for his investigation of russian interference in the u.s. election, including possible collusion by team trump. >> but democrats tonight say they know why. they say it all comes down to russia. >> and adding to the white house concerns this week are new indications the investigation may vehicles anded to include trump's business and personal finances. >> fbi insiders tell nbc news that many at fbi headquarters believe he was fired because he would not end the russia investigation. brian: nobody thinks you can end the russia investigation here. no one also points to any proof of collusion. even maxine waters said i've seen the information. there's no proof of collusion. that something that you would see on inside edition or extra years ago. now the nightly news is running with innuendo.

steve: so what it is is if you are on the left and you don't like mr. trump, you see the firing of james comey as a coverup. it's a coverup. they are trying to get rid of that obviously the dems who have made it clear they want a special prosecutor, to them, russia will be their benghazi. they will push this for a very long time. brian: the problem with beangsz had you hard facts and had you people on the ground. here, you even have the people on the ground saying there is nothing that we have found to link these two things together. and it was beginning to go away. ainsley: just because the director is going to change doesn't mean that investigation won't continue. steve: oh, it's continuing. ainsley: hand it over to abby who has headlines for us. abby: happy thursday to all of you. we do start with obamacare because it is officially on life support. etna now fully pulling out of exchanges by 2018. health insurance company blaming the move on projected $200 million loss this year. financial hit it's no longer willing to take.

last year etna was operating in 15 states with losses of $450 million. remaining insurers are requesting big rate hikes next year. brand new video of in of general james mattis arriving in london with international leaders. they are expected to discuss terrorism and growing crisis in somalia where u.s. navy seal was just killed. kyle milliken died last week supporting al shabaab. so sad. education secretary betsy devos booed delivering a commencement speech at florida's buffoon. >> as i said i'm very grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. [crowd booing] abby: several students turning their backs and raising their fists in the air. she has been under fire for calling historically black colleges quote pioneers of school choice. that was a rough moment for her. brian: but she did great. she stuck with it. be a

meanwhile straight ahead. ainsley: one of the largest health insurance companies as abby was saying saying goodbye to obamacare. we say hello to stuart varney. brian: welcome back. steve: i miss you ♪ like bad medicine ♪ yeah, our insurance won't do that. no. you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance when liberty stands with you™. befi was active.gia, i was energetic.

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♪ steve: well, obamacare officially flat lining now with etna saying they will -- aetna saying they will pull

out of obamacare by 2018. ainsley: what does this mean? brian: host of varney and company for the fox business network. this is big news. you know jonathan gruber one of the architects said the insurancers undercharged early and they are just correcting. >> what a joke. brian: they undercharged. >> this thing was structurally flawed from the get-go. they needed far more young people, healthy people tone roll in these exchanges. fewer older, sicker people. that's not what they got. they got it the other way around. and so now costs are just spiraling upwards. the bought line here is obamacare is dead. this is the final phase of the death spiral. it's done. stick a fork in this thing because it's finished. by the way. we have anthem, cigna and molinena, three other huge health insurers, they are considering, quote, unquote, a total withdrawal just like etna. it's done, it's finished. >> if that is true and

obamacare is finished. you would think that mitch mcconnell would that take thats story and knock on chuck schumer's door today and say hey, it's dead. we have got to work together to fix it. >> what the democrats want from the senate bill is more obamacare. they will want more. steve: but it's dead. >> they want to resurrect it in the new bill that will eventually come out of the senate. the republicans are going the opposite direction, cut it back, replace it give the money to the states to decide how they're going to distribute that money. and allow the states to decide what must and must not be covered. there is a complete difference here in as they go into the senate. so we don't know what comes next. we haven't found yet. we're gonna find out soon because we have to because obamacare is dead. ainsley: these senators need to put their politics aside and think what's best for the american people. when you have companies like this pulling out. who is going to be left? >> there is virtually nobody left. brian: single pair. that's what they were hoping for.

>> that's where the democrats want to take. this they want like a british system. the national health service in britain or the canadian system. that's what he this want. a single pair where everybody is all covered by the taxpayer and you go to the government for government care. brian: they thought was going to be president to do it, hillary clinton. >> >> are we going to get that? that's where the democrats want to go. they will shape that bill as it comes into the senate and goes out of the senate. that's what they want. the republicans are going in the other direction. this is going to be the battle of all battles. healthcare in the future. the bottom line is, obamacare is dead. kaput, stick a fork in it. brian: i understand all the phrases. we will get more of that from 9:00 to noon. >> if you are not careful you will have to watch. brian: nare you kidding me? ainsley: can islamic extremism be cured?

james mitchell says no. he can s. going to join us next with why. brian: can you smell the rock is cooking for 2020? maybe a run for the white house? ♪ like the first of july ♪ because baby, you're a firework ♪ there's nothing more important to me than my vacation. so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. time's up, insufficient we're on prenatal care.es. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you, budget overruns. and rising costs, wipe that smile off your face.

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that's over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. ainsley: some quick headlines for you. a man accused of setting off a bomb in new york city wounding 31 innocent people wants a lighter sentence because he says police shot him too many times during his arrest. his name is ahmad rahimy. he claims that the brain injuries and ptsd that he suffered when he was shot by 11 times by the police should be taken into account in a potential plea deal. what do you think about that? good samaritans jump into action to protect the police being attacked out on the streets. you can seat cops in tampa.

they are struggling to pin down this man throwing punches before he reaches for the officer's gun. bystanders reach wasting no time to run over and get that situation under control. thankfully nobody was hurt. brian? brian: here is the question and we discuss this. consider a extremist be rehabilitated? that judge decided to enroll him in an experimental terrorist rehab program. six months later yousef was busted watching documentaries on isis the not trying to remember the good old days but the newest thing to do. here is the man enhanced interrogation program. worst of the worst al qaeda anybody else. wrote the book enhanced interrogation dr. james mitchell. dr. mitchell is rehab possible for a terrorist? >> i'm highly skeptical it's going to work. there is a lot of problems built in to any sort of effort to try to convince people that

they should give up these ideologies. one of the main problems is that the actual text of the quran and the hadith support these sort of ideologies of violence. so, these folks have to try to convince them that what they're reading doesn't actually mean what it appears to mean when you read it in clear sentences. brian: how do we get to people that are muslim and have no interest in killing you to read the quran and they have no problem existing in american society. how do we get the terrorists to be more like them? >> it's going to be tough. part of the problem, i think is that we are working at the wrong end of that pipeline. we should be working at the end of the pipeline where we are inno, ma'am could you late inoculating them against those attitudes.

it has sabotage features to it it's perfectly acceptable to pretend that you are accepting a more moderate ideology until you get out. that's built into the system. the other thing that happens is you spend all this time trying to convince them that the beliefs that are inherent in the quran and the hadith are not exactly what they appear to be and then you release them back into a community where we have mosques that are teaching violence ideology. like taking alcoholic, giving them some kind of treatment and releasing them in a bar. brian: i'm struck, too by reading you're book. if you talk to gang members they don't have education. they get involved in the only family they know and that's a street gang. this is different. dr. zawahiri is a pediatrician. khalid sheikh mohammed is anything but ignorant. you sat with him for hours. he is not a blood thirsty irrational guy. he believes he's doing the right thing. that kind of makes it harder. you have to outintellectualize the terrorist mind set.

>> well, the biggest problem is that a lot of these people who are seen as trying to counter this, are not really legitimate islamic scholars in the minds of the people that they're arguing with. i don't think these rehabilitation programs are going to work at all for a man like khalid sheikh mohammed or, you know, any of the other more senior people. normally, they may be useful for folks who are dabbling and are ignorant of islam in general. but if you have studied as much as they have it's not going to be useful at awesome remember khalid sheikh mohammed has an engineering degree from the united states. he is not some guy that you found on the street. the other thing that i think is problematic about this is one of the things that i discuss in my book anded that i a chance to do is advise advise some of our middle eastern foreign liaison

non-nonco-erive going through these rehabilitation programs. the program is give to management at some point when the religious scholar decides that the person is back on the true path of islam. you have to take that person's word for everything they say after that. because it's a sin for a muslim interrogator to take the word of an infidel over the word of another muslim even if that smawsm prisoner. brian: unbelievable. what a challenge. dr. james mitchell, if you want to know the true terrorist mind set and what they have against us pick up "enhanced interrogation." he spent hours with the worst of the worst. >> thanks for having me on. brian: college lacrosse team picking president's words for their pregame warm up. >> we will make america great again. god bless you. and good night. i love you. brian: seems like a pro-american message from our american president. why is the school apologizing? we'll discuss it.

>> and we will make america great again. god bless you. and good night. i love you. ♪ for an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health. doctor poses. learn your key health numbers, and take control today.

♪ >> we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again. and we will make america great again. god bless you. and good night: i love you. brian: that is one of the most successful lacrosse teams in the country 14-3. pumped up as the number one team in the country for the division two ncaa tournament. they thought team pumped up they would play donald trump's words. they are allowed to pick whatever introduction they want as long as it doesn't

contain vulgarity. ainsley: that's not inappropriate. that's right. steve: usually teams have patriotic music. this is a little different. these are the actual words of the sitting president of the united states. well, apparently, the coaches or the staff of adele ph of adee worried -- adelphi. the coaches came out and said this was not intended to be a political statement and we're sorry if we offended anybody. in the news accounts i read -- i didn't read of anybody that was offended. sounds like they are preapologizing just in case. ainsley: listen to the words it's god bless you and make america great again. it's not like it's a controversial statement. steve: no. ainsley: it's just because it's the president of the united states and there are a lot of people that didn't vote for him that don't like him. and this country is so divided that you can't even use the words of the president of the united states. brian: so bar stool sports

playing this and they get almost 800,000 hits with this. people are pumped up. by the way nassau county where they are from went for hillary clinton. steve: in new york. brian: suffolk county on long island went for donald trump. it was close. that is roughly peter king's district. this something that should not be offensive. for example, if some place in chicago played president obama's stirring words, he always gives stirring speeches, do you think so that would be -- would anybody be apologizing today? ainsley: no, no. there are a lot of people that didn't vote for him. his comment were all over the place. he was the president of the united states. brian: carried out the american flag out to open up their game. ainsley: i agree. what's happening? brian: this is unbelievable. steve: maybe people would be ongetionded that they were donald trump's words and then the team was rushing out to win. ainsley: maybe they were upset that they forgot to add you're going to get tired of winning. steve: that would have been a good one, too. let us know what you think about how the potus pumps up the players as the banner says right there.

email us at friends@foxnews.com, facebook us or tweet us. brian: play any music you want, abby if you that are team. if you go out to, i don't know, a song that has some vulgarity in it, not allowed to do that. ainsley: abby, you might not agree with the president but to be offended by the president. abby: if it gets you pumped up, that's great. i think it's great thing. if you are president of the united states, ainsley, regardless of party. we should get to that point. i do want to bring some headlines h this is a sad one. illegal immigrant deported 15 different times pleads not guilty in a dui crash that left a little boy fighting for his life. that family on their way home from disney land in california when police say illegal immigrant from mexico slammed into their car then took off. 6-year-old lennox blake now in the hospital with serious head injuries. ice agents confirm the suspect was deported 1e6r8 times this most recent this past january. lennox's father joins us with his reaction and update on his precious son's condition.

and a man left speechless when someone leaves a note on his car scolding him for parking in a veteran's care. the only problem he is a 20 year navy vet. >> really i appreciate you looking out for the veterans. i think it's really honorable, but, you know, before you actually judge somebody and touch somebody's car, why don't you get your facts straight first. ainsley: the store issued bill o'reilly an apology anissued --d him for his service. ainsley: maybe the most powerful man in america. >> what is that? >> that is the peck pop of love. abby: dwayne "the rock" johnson saying is he. poise would be important, leadership would be important. taking responsibility for everybody. if i didn't agree with somebody or something, i wouldn't shut them out. i would include them. brian: 50% of our country

would be against anything you decide. good luck bringing everyone together. abby: he doesn't realize that yet. brian: it's not going to work. ainsley: but he is the rock. brian: he is a great guy. a great american success story. steve: sure. meanwhile we have got janice dean with the weather on this thursday. janice: yes. good morning. it's beautiful here now. but we are expecting a ohio river valley and up toward the mid-atlantic where weekend see large hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, and then we are going to watch this area of low pressure develop off the coast of the northeast and bring a very wet day saturday. lingering in to sunday. coastal storm, be aware of this, ladies. we're all going to stay in bed on mother's day, including myself. i'm announcing that right now. i'm in bed all day on mother's day on sunday. please bring tweets and food to me. back to you, ainsley. brian: i don't understand the attraction of eating in bed. ainsley: al janice: all day long. ainsley: because it disgusts you to have corruption in your

bed. steve: that's why god invented the dust buster. ainsley: when you are a mom and it's mother's day you get to decide. bring the kids in and the husband and watch "fox & friends." stay in bed. steve: don't have to have the husband or the father do the cooking you go to the tasty diner north of washington, d.c. in bethesda, maryland. that's where griff is this morning talking with folks about james comey who is now looking for work. >> we are, guys. we probably should be talking with what these guys are doing for mother's day. we are at the tasty diner. it will be here for 80 years. truly the center of community in this area. pat late later flarity. what do you do. >> i read the newspaper. i sit around a lot. i look at the fireplace and take little naps two or he three times. >> do you believe all the news you read. >> not at all. >> pat is modest. he is telling me 25 years working at the v.a. >> well, close to that yeah. >> let me ask you.

i want to ask you about the fallout from the firing of fbi director james comey. but, first, for someone, and you have been coming here for four generations your family, and you've worked in federal government for 25 years. what do you make of what's happening in the country right now in president trump's leadership? >> there is a side to this thing, i think we can seat population is now tuning in to the politics and the national score. you know, several months ago, nobody cared. i think people are starting to care now. and realize that we have got some pretty weak promises made by somebody who doesn't understand. we're not in the golf business, and we are not building buildings. he is my -- he is working for me now. okay. and this is the big difference. and we don't have deal we can go through and those kind of things. >> let me ask you, pat, what do you think the biggest country the country is facing.

>> that trump faces right now? >> the whole country. >> well, i don't know. i suppose it's probably confusion. because we don't have any leadership. we don't have any programs that you and i can discuss and we go through the pros and cons and that type of thing. >> bottom line, pat, what do you make of the firing? thumbs up or thumbs down on that decision? >> well, i think it should have been done much earlier. i think -- but i think it would be too mac dellian about it why does it take such a long time for these guys to arrive at this conclusion. is it because we are getting too tight, finding too much information about the putin? >> thank you. we are getting tight on time. we're going to be telling you, too. talking to folks. standing around. quickly, steve, can you tell me what do you make of the fall-out of the firing of james comey? >> i think it needed to happen. i don't know if the times was right. i think it's something that should have happened and, you

know, maybe happened sooner. it was almost inevitable. >> inevitable. as you see from the paper here, the headline is the fallout and so we're going to be getting fallout from people all morning long here at the diner. i will try not to burn the place down. i have been making eggs and bacon and pan cakes. steve: thank you very much. i like that first guy griff says what do you do? i watch some news, i read the paper. i look at the fireplace. steve: that's the life. 25 years at the v.a. good retirement. ainsley: he deserves it. who is on replacement for the former fbi director. george napolitano -- george. [laughter] judge napolitano is here. it's thursday. i'm feeling the weekend. ♪ ain't that tough enough ♪ ain't that tough enough ♪ ain't that tough enough

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♪ brian: happy birthday, somebody. ainsley: is that a wedding cake or birthday cake? steve: celebrity birthday shortly. in the meantime -- [laughter] ainsley: george, simmer down over there. steve: judge andrew napolitano joins us. there is something going on in the department of justice and also at the -- you know, at the fbi and at the white house. they are looking for two people. >> there's a lot of moving parts as we speak or maybe later in the morning. attorney general sessions and deputy attorney general rosenstein are interviewing people for interim director. andrew mccabe, who is the present interim director by virtue of being the number one assistant to james comey is the acting interim.

he probably will not be the actual interim. why do we need an interim? brian: um-huh. >> if you listen to chuck schumer and company it's going to take a while to confirm the nomination of the permanent director. so while the white house looks for a permanent director and they have not yet started to interview as far as i can tell. the justice department is looking for interim. they don't need senate confirmation. they can hire that person this afternoon. they are not publicly known but all insiders with vast federal law enforcement experience. steve: that makes sense. the list we have seen of the people who may be next,nobody has heard of any of them. whereas the other list where maybe it's going to be chris christie. maybe it's going to be rudy. these are the four right here who are up for interim director. >> correct. this decision will be made on experience and chemistry. chemistry with jeff sessions who is new to the justice department and chemistry with the rank and file. even though comey had a lot of fans in the fbi, he had a lot of people who really disliked

him because of the hillary matter. brian: the way it unfolded. that was cited as one of the main reasons why he doesn't have a job anymore. judge, since you only need 51 votes thanks to harry reid in the senate, why do you think it's going to be a slow process? put it on the board and have a few days of hearings and confirm him. >> i hope it's not a slow process. the democrats are very, very, very well organized in their opposition to the firing of comey. i think they are going to drag this out and we're going to see hearings not unlike hearings for a supreme court justice where they ask many, many questions and try to get many, many concessions out of the person. just a feeling i get from the ferocity with which chuck schumer and company and uniformity democrats in the senate acted to the firing. ainsley: what's your reaction. democrats didn't like comey, now they do.

they liked the ronstein guy and now they don't. >> churchill said there are no lasting enemies. there are no lasting friendships there are only lasting interests. so when it's in your interests to like comey you like him. when it's in your interest to not like comey you don't like him. he was a lightning rod of a figure. he had a lot of friends and a lot of enemies and very little ground. sometimes the friends and the enemies switched. steve: he did write a letter and put it out to the fbi folks and said don't worry about me. i will be final. >> the president if he wants to fire me, he can fire me. >> judge: is he right. the president under the law can fire for no reason or any reason answered doesn't have to give a reason. brian: he was invited to testify, james comey on tuesday. we will see if he shows up. >> quite a mob seen if he does. brian: is he used to it. ainsley: more media meltdowns about comey's firing from the fbi. take a listen. >> awkward timing from the house. >> tonight major questions why fire comb i can't understand why now? >> the timing raises questions.

ainsley: tammy bruce says it has nothing to do with comey or any investigation he was leading. she explains why next. steve: in the next hour of "fox & friends," we are going to talk to kellyanne conway the counselor to the president about that hypocrisy ♪ and then i saw her face ♪ now i'm a believer ♪ and not a trace ♪ of doubt in my mind ♪ i'm in love ♪ i'm a believer me feel fuller longer. benefiber® healthy shape. this i can do! ♪ it's not just a car, it's your daily treat. ♪ go ahead, spoil yourself. the es and es hybrid. experience amazing. ♪

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>> awkward timing for the white house. russia's top diplomat visiting washington. only hours after president trump fires the fbi director investigating possible links between the trump campaign and russia's election hacking.

>> wire fire comb yansd why now. >> the timing leaves questions. comey had just asked for more resources for his investigation of russian interference in the u.s. election. steve: mainstream media in a complete meltdown over the firing of fbi director james comey. here to break it down. fox news contributor and radio talk show host tammy bruce. tammy, what's going on? >> look, what you saw there was no effort even to mask the bias. it starts with opinions. it'sinit's telling the audience. not just giving audience information about what's occurred with this firing. whether you agree or disagree it opinion and moving the audience into believing a certain thing like something is amiss this. is nefarious. the time something weird. these are suggestions. they are effectively pushing an audience into believing a certain thing which also, by the way, is false. this is within the president's purview. this is a dynamic that was necessarily clearly that democrats and republicans agreed upon. so they clearly seem to be

wanting to be a cloud over the trump administration. steve: no kidding it seems to have been there from the get-go. >> yeah. steve: you watch the coverage and hear the words nixonian, watergate, conspiracy. saturday night massacre. and those are in the news stories. not the opinion stories. >> exactly. steve: just goes to show you the temper of the times and hostility towards this president. >> that's it. we have known that the legacy media is hostile to the president. but the issue is, of course, for an audience, they are watching what they believe is news versus opinion programming. and they are thinking that this is actually a fact, which is, in fact, the news programming now effectively is deliberately misleading. it seems to me. their audience to achieve a particular political point of view. steve: sure. and sometimes the member of the media doesn't even have to say anything. it can just be an eye roll as this one is going viral. >> i was on your show also last fall saying we were going to win michigan and how we

were going to do it. and that was fun. here is what happened today. steve: what do you make of that? >> so sweet. like you are in the cafeteria at the high school. he just reused himself to being a child. to being a juvenile. when she was stating a fact. he just didn't like that. but you are right. you don't need to say anything. it's a message though to the audience that this woman, who has achieved historical achievement of winning the first presidential race, incredibly powerful woman in the country is to be mocked, is to be degraded and is to be dismissed. that's the eye roll. the eye roll is this person is not important. if it was a man, i would tell you he would not have used that same gesture. it's a typical dynamic of infan thattizing her and pushing her to the side. when the democrats complain about sexism and misogyny, hillary just needs to look at themselves. steve: tammy bruce, thank you very much. >> sure. steve: still ahead on this thursday, we have kellyanne conway, we have michelle malkin and dr. alveda king.

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(vo) call 844-4-brightstar for your free home care planning guide. ♪ >> fired director comey. >> because he wasn't doing a good job. very simply. >> if you used any of the cable news yappers the last 24 hours have you seen it. it was a coupe. three mile island. >> were those investigations getting too close to home. >> i think it's startling that democrats aren't celebrating this since they have been calling for it for so long. >> churchill once said there are no lasting enemies. there are no lasting friendships. there are only lasting interests. so when it's in your interest to like him. you like him h when it's in your interest to not like comey, you don't like him. >> obamacare officially on life support. aetna pulling out of the exchanges by 2018. >> bottom line is obamacare is dead. this is the final phase of the death spiral. it's done.

stick a fork in this thing because it's finished. >> we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again. we will make america great again. god bless you. and good night. i love you. ♪ >> we will make america proud again. brian: there you go. that is the voice of donald trump. donald j. trump one of his recent speeches when he said we are going to make america great again. so inspirational that delphi university used it to walk out to run out to begin one of their games. bar stools sports televised it and have to walk it back anybody insulted by it really to say make america great again is an insult. >> you should be proud. we should be safe. we should be great. god bless you and i love you. what's wrong with that?

steve: let us know. we're going to be talking about it in a little while and some of you have already weighed in. meanwhile, of course, if you turn on a channel, it's all about comey. comey is out. and we're going to be talking about that with kellyanne conway who is going to be joining us in the next half hour. the tv networks are talking about comey being fired and obviously it's part of a coverup because of russia. the president of the united states reportedly is thinking about going to the fbi headquarters tomorrow. just to show the men and women of the bureau that he is dedicated to their mission. and it does make sense that he might do that because i think rather than going up to bed bed minister he may be going to camp david. ainsley: people saying okay he is the president of the united states. he has a right to do that. even comey wrote a letter to the fbi saying he is the president of the united states. he has the reason to do. this even if there is reason or without reason, i wish you all the best. it's been a joy to serve you all. it walls a very classy letter. the left cannot let go of this.

is he allowed to fire who he wants. bill clinton did the same thing firing his fbi director. brian: but had ethics violations and he was replaced by somebody who ended up being bill clinton's nemesis louie freed big time. donald trump most reports, real prized after eating dinner after the announcement was made nobody was out there defending him. his communications team seemed to be caught flat footed. he tweeted this out. dems have been complaining months and month about fbi director comey. now that he is fired they pretend to be aggrieved. phony hypocrites. steve: i'm sure have you seen all the montages of all of the democrats calling for the head plaintiff comey after he did what he did in the summer and in the fall regarding hillary clinton and her email. and now, of course, many of the democrats are going why is he firing her? obviously it's a coverup because of the russia thing. judge napolitano joined us about a half an hour ago when we were talking about a current search for the interim

fbi. they have to find somebody. the worry is that the larger search for the permanent director could actually become something on par with looking for a new supreme court justice. watch this. >> if the democrats are very, very, very well organized in their opposition to the firing of comey, and i think they're going to drag this out and we're going to see hearings not unlike hearings for a supreme court justice where they ask many, many questions and try to get many, many concessions out of the person. just a feeling i get from the ferocity with which chuck schumer and company and the uniformity with which the democrats, particularly in the senate, reacted to the comey firing. steve: exactly. look for a big fight. and at every corner they are going to be asking about russia. whoever the person is, what about russia? brian: plenty of law enforcement people a political being that you have a simple majority in the senate. they could fight but swinging

and basically shadow boxing with somebody don't land any blows on if you pick somebody who is not

steve: president said the reason he got rid of james comey and sarah huckabee sanders said it was from day one he really wanted fired. yesterday he said in that joint press event that comey is out because he wasn't doing a good job. ainsley: i would love to hear what he is saying. he should have some interviews and tell the public why he decided to make this list and give -- encourage the president. brian: the president asked for the letter. he asked for the letter on monday. he got it on tuesday. fired him on wednesday. or tuesday night. steve: apparently rod rosenstein had spoken in past weeks. since he was confirmed with white house officials about, look, i quote a problem over at the fbi with james comey. and so eventually word came to the president, you know, that man right there, rod rosenstein has got a problem with james comey. and so the president said, all right. and this was early this week. all right. detail for me why you think he should go. he put together the letter.

the president read it. and he goes those are good reasons. all right. let's fire him. brian: other people have a different perception of that time line that the president was fed up over the weekend. steve: that's true, too. that's absolutely true. brian: sessions and rosenstein had a preplanned lunch together. and he said at the time, he said, listen, if you feel the same way, put it in writing. they did. and then they. ainsley: we can ask kellyanne conway. i read several articles this morning. different about that time line. the president attorney general sessions and the deputy attorney general rosenstein, they all met and they discussed reasons. so it wasn't -- in that article it didn't necessarily say there was a list that he handed the president. steve: here's the thing. it came down to the president was questioning james comey's loyalty and judgment. and apparently the president was also angry that comey was not investigating those leaks. remember the names were unmasked and they were leaked out and he was steamed, the president was. that comey wasn't looking into that. or the wiretapping claims. it all came to a head.

ainsley: rosenstein also agreed. you made a great point saying if he is nonpolitical. you look at the votes. 96-4. is he still recommending comey. then there's your answer. brian: all right. abby huntsman has the latest breaking news while we were talking. >> we do. i do have other headlines i want to bring you. the man accused of setting off a bomb in new york city wounded dozens of people wants a lighter sentence because he says police shot him too many times. ahmed rahimy says ptsd and brain injury should be taken into account in a plea deal. he was shot 11 times last september after he allegedly planted multiple bombs in new york and new jersey. three went off injuring 31 part-time. education secretary betsy devos booed delivering a commencement speak at buffoon university. watch this. >> as i said i'm very grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. [crowd booing]

ainsley: several students turns their backs raising their fists in the air. she has been under fire since calling historically black colleges pioneers of school choice. and piece of history ripped away overnight. crews working to remove this statue of confederate leader of jefferson davis in new orleans. outcry. some saying it racism. some carrying confederate flags and chanting president davis. others chanted take him down. the monument now moves to a museum. and band of brothers. these three siblings will soon walk across the west point stage together a as graduates. first time in more than three decades thee three siblings have finished at the school very same time. kohl and sumner are 21-year-old twin brothers. older brother noah is 23. sumner army engineer. kohl is headed to middle medical school.

how cool can is that? steve: what a family legacy. that's amazing. congratulations to the family. ainsley: band of brothers. thank you very much. ainsley: this image is heart breaking. little boy seriously injured at the hands of suspected drunk driver who is here illegally. he has been deported 15 times. that child's dad is outraged and he has a powerful message when he joins us live coming up. brian: obamacare is on life support. aetna pulling out overnight. what does that mean for the former president's signature achievement. a democrat senator chris coons joins us next. ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪ 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. love mom and dad' i'm takin' a nap. dude, you just woke up! ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪

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♪ ♪ brian: all right. obamacare officially on life support pun intended. aetna announcing it will fully pull out of the exchanges by next year. our next guest democrat prohibition there will not be a full-time healthcare bill until after 2018 which put a lot of people on back foot. they walked that back. they don't agree. joining us that member of the senate judiciary committee.

senator chris coons. >> thanks for the chance to be on again. brian: when aetna backs out and there is no trump care. >> i think it's a combination of things. there are some real challenges in having the exchanges work in the way they were intended to provide higher quality, 340r accessible healthcare for a broader number of americans. but i also think the uncertainty about what direction the trump administration is going, in terms of whether they are going to continue to enforce provisions of the current affordable care act makes it unstable in the marketplace. unfortunately, we're in a game of chicken right now. we can debate whether or not there is a death spiral or whether or not the affordable care act is stable. but the reality in the meantime is lots of my constituents in delaware are calling me and saying what am i supposed to be doing for healthcare this year? we should work together and find a constructive answer that moves us all forward. brian: so what i understand is when people say work together, republican also tell me that

means senators just want us to put more money in to make doctors happy and make these insurers happy. is your answer get more money and put it in? >> well, if we want to keep the promises that president trump made on the campaign trail, and retain the preexisting condition protection, and retain the medicaid expansion, that is going to cost more money. brian: right. >> one of the things that happened last year and i know this is technical but something called risk quarters which will put in place to protect insurance companies from losing money in the marketplaces was taken away. and so if that is taken away and the individual mandate is taken away, a lot of insurance executives say we can't make money in these marketplaces. that's part of what is going on. brian: when you say those risk corridors and one of the people who stopped is recall marco rubio. throwing more money at a program that not only do they not believe in was losing money to begin with the whole doctor fix, write taxpayer checks over to help doctors out. write taxpayer checks over to help the insurers out.

people are not happy with the quality of coverage. doctors are not happy with what he they're getting paid. no one is satisfied. >> one of the challenges in healthcare is that it is very complicated. so frankly the solution here won't be found by either party acting alone. there are things in the affordable care act that i tried to fix in the last congress. i introduced bills that would reduce some of the reporting and regulatory burden and increase the size of the small business tax credit to help employers provide healthcare through the exchanges for their employees. there is other fixes we can work on that will help reduce deductibles and improve quality that's only going to happen if we genuinely work across the aisle. that means that the current senate majority is going to have to stop trying to do this only on their own. the reason i predicted we might not see a senate bill for another year is because it's just that complicated. i wasn't part of the congress when they peaced the affordable care act. but i do think it has done great things for our country. it does have flaws that we need to work together to fix. brian: chris -- excuse me, senator. you got a call like senator

joe manchin says call me republicans, if you got a call, would democratic leadership prevent from you helping the republicans put together a plan? >> democratic leadership doesn't tell me who to talk to. i'm wide open to meeting with any of my colleagues who genuinely want to work across the aisle in a responsible way to fix what's wrong with the affordable care act. brian: if anything ever works bipartisan it will be guys like senator coons and march anand manchinand tester. brian: boy hurt at the hands of suspected drunk driver. weighs worse that suspect was in here illegally and deported 15 times. that boy's dad understandably outraged. he has a powerful message in his first national television interview next.

♪ ainsley: this image is absolutely heart-breaking. the 6-year-old little boy lives in california. he was seriously hurt when a suspected drunk driver ran a stop sign and slammed into his family's car and then that driver took off. the little boy's name is lennox lake. he has serious head injuries. he is improving this morning. as for the driver, he is an illegal immigrant. his name is does stan teen know bonda accosta. there he is there in court with his face blurred. the judge ordered his face to be blurred so we have, of course, done that ice agents confirm is he a mexican citizen who has been deported 15 times since 2002. the most recent just this past january. lennox dad benjamin lake joins us now. good morning, benjamin. >> hi, good morning. ainsley: i'm glad to know that your son is alive i know that doctors are saying he can make

a full recovery. tell us what happened. your life changed dramatically at 11:20 p.m. this past saturday. what happened? >> we were coming home from a little trip to anaheim after lennox had been a really good boy. drive up to center coast for doctor visit for my wife. we decided to stop in anaheim to play a little bit. on the way home we stopped and grabbed some milk shakes and we were a couple blocks from our house. and it had been raining earlier. we slowed down for the turn heading towards our neighborhood area. and i remember hearing screeching of tires and then we must have had impact because i was knocked out for a second. i came to. i asked my wife if she was okay. she said yeah. lennox was sitting directly behind me i asked if he was okay. she said he wasn't. he didn't look like he was responding. she pulled him on to her lap and started to try to get him alert. i started of calling 911. and i had a good samaritan stop that was coming over. i was pretty disoriented.

he had me turn off the car. i crawled out my wife's side where the impact wasn't on. my doors was not going to open. i got out of the car i looked around and i was thinking i would see the other driver of the other vehicle but there was nothing there. immediately after that i am trying to help my wife render first aid to our son. she had got him breathing and crying. he had a pretty big gash on his forehead that was bleeding. no-fly zone was bleeding. nose wa --nose was bleeding bots well. first aid. border patrol agents came out of atvs and suvs. they helped corral the trafficws that were there. waited for the eminent to arrive. ainsley: the guy responsible for this. he is illegal. he has been deported 15 times. his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and in addition to that, he fled. thankfully he was caught because his car was so badly damaged he couldn't continue driving. what is your message to the folks in this country that

have supported keeping illegal criminals here in this countr country? >> i just wish would that we wouldn't. i wish that we could find a better system. i mean, i don't feel like this guy represents all illegals but i feel like the ones that have the criminal record and have done bad things and have previously been deported, they shouldn't be finding ways back in to the country and being allowed to hurt further people. ainsley: that's what the president is saying. he just wants to deport the illegal criminals. he is not going to rip families apart he says. i remember interviewing kate steinle's family in northern california. they said the same thing. how did you feel about this before it really affected your family though? >> you know, kind of one of those things where i was kind of like indifferent. i just didn't really know the impact. i don't want to believe there was this big of impact. it's real. it's there. and it's scary to know that these people are running around and can hurt people and then it's hard to get any sort

of compensation from them. there is not much i can do as far as seeking any sort of recomp from him or anything. ainsley: what is your message to the president if he is watching? >> that we have a systemic problem that we all need to deal with i don't think it's republican or democrat. as americans, we need to make sure that our country is safe for our kids and for the future generations that we are not letting bad people stay here and keep coming back. ainsley: you were telling me earlier that you have three children, you and your wife. among of two of you have three children. lennox is your only biological child. you were told you didn't think you were going to be able to have children. i'm sure you think of him as an angel in your life. i'm sure it was the worst day of your life. i can't imagine seeing my spouse holding our child and not knowing what the next second is going to bring. it's a parent's worst nightmare, right? >> absolutely. even i know it's shortly past the event but i have

flashbacks, you know, every so often. i will hear a sound and remind me of the accident. just seeing lennox lifeless in my wife's arms was the worst thing ever. heart breaking. ainsley: doctors say is he going to be okay? >> is he expected to make a full recovery. we have a few more tests and scans to do just to make sure that we're taking care of everything as far as the infection. you know, long-term effect we don't know. as of right now he looks like he is going to make a full recovery. ainsley: when we look at those pictures, he is so execute. what's he like? what's his personality? >> he is a joy. he is just always happy. he has always been happy ever since he was a baby. he loves everyone he meets. he is nice to everyone. he makes friends everywhere he goes. he loves giving people compliments. he is a joy to be around. ainsley: there he is with his dog. ainsley: he loves his surfer hair. >> his hair is his pride and joy it took me and my wife a little bit to get used to. he loves it. so we are getting him grow will long.

ainsley: we will be praying for him. your go fund me page up to $21,000 now. almost 22 as you can see there now. if you want to donate. i'm sure the family would appreciate not only your prayers but your funds. go to our website it's foxandfriends.com. you will find a link there to your go fund me page. make it easier for you and your family to receive some of these funds. we wish you all the best. >> thank you so much for having me. ainsley: thank you for your story, benjamin. >> thank you. ainsley: you're you are welcome. what's happening inside the white house and who is on the short list of replacements for former fbi director james comey. we will ask advisor to the president kellyanne conway she is coming upment ♪ because i never felt the desire ♪ to let music set me on fire ♪ when i was saved, yeah. ♪ keeping the faith ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah they limit where you can earn bonus cash back to a few places and those places keep changing every few months.

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we will make america strong again. we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again. and we will make america great again. god bless you and good night. i love you. ♪ ♪ steve: whoever came up with that idea it's a good one. you have got the president of the united states talking as the adelphi university men's lacrosse team prepares to take the field to have the president of the united states have an inspirational message about great america. and, as you listen to it, you realize these words are very, very patriotic and symbolic. brian: something that's kind of interesting, too is they

are winning. this team goes into the ncaa tournament this weekend number one in the country. so they want to be associated with somebody who is winning. and they want to pull off a national championship. why not have the president from a big crowd that's your sound track. you can always pull out jay-z or def leppard is steve's choice. or elo. but they chose. ainsley: they can do whatever the heck they want. they are a winning team. amazing. they are playing the words of the president of the united states. brian: they got so blow back. ainsley: which is crazy. steve: coaches said look this is not intended to be taken as a political statement. sorry if anybody is offended. we don't know if anybody was actually offended. we know that given this political climate, maybe they felt, you know what? we are using donald trump's words, somebody in the stands might be offend dollars so let's just go ahead and preapologize. you know, did i google search, i couldn't find anybody who was offended. none the less, they did.

brian: use fdr, nothing to fear but fear itself. steve: hot most famous lacrosse coach or inspirational figure in the world? jake seinfeld? brian: jake seinfeld. steve: him or donald trump. ainsley: we asked you guys what you thought and this is from joe. i thought that was very motion straightal and appropriate. no apologies required. brian: good job panthers, the shane says this every time i hear at this tear up. he is one of the most patriotic presidents in my lifetime. god bless him, the adelphi team and country. steve: suzanne said it would make most feel proud and motivated. god bless and make america great again. offend some people. ainsley: i love that suzanne i agree with you. god bless you and i love you. it's so sweet. it's a message about love. god's blessings being great safe and proud. brian: take your head off on a loose ball. ainsley: run out with the american flag.

it's beautiful. steve: which of that part is offensive? would you let us know? because we can't figure it out. meanwhile straight ahead on this thursday, more on the firing, the sudden firing of fbi director james comey. the question everyone is asking now, who is going to replace him? we're going to talk to the counselor to the president of the united states kellyanne conway live from the white house coming up. don't go anywhere ♪ i ain't lying that i don't think of me ♪ taking it to the streets ♪ taking it to the streets ♪ no more need for ♪ taking it to the street ♪ oh ♪ blg it's like nothing you've seen. the power of nexium 24hr protection from frequent heartburn. all day, and all night. now packed into a pill so small, we call it mini. new clearminis from nexium 24hr. see heartburn differently.

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♪ ♪ steve: all right. let's go down to our nation's capitol north lawn of the white house kellyanne conway counselor to the united states joins us live. kellyanne, what's new?

i'm kidding. there is a story floating around. brian: i guess nothing. thanks for joining us. steve: story floating around the president may go to the fbi tomorrow there in washington. anything to that? >> the president's schedule is not to be released but he knows the latest moves will help to restore the confidence in the fbi. we need fbi and fbi director that is non-politicized that is impartial. that has the trust of those at the bureau. the trust from people from both sides of the aisle and the house and the senate and across the land. one thick nobody likes to talk about polls, my bailiwick. they don't talk about the poll that came out by the harvard harris online poll from april 14th of '17 that showed that jim comey had 36 unfavorable view. 1 to 2 upside down. some saying this man is the most popular person most respected person in america. 54% of had heard of them. among those he had a one fav,

unfav. democrats shown hypocrisy over the last 36 or 30 hours is stunning. and people should really look at that as schumer prepares for press conference ask him a few questions can you reconcile all your recent statements about jim comey calling in to question his credibility. saying you lost confidence in his ability to do a good job. steve: you know that's how politics works. they see somebody down they are going to take advantage. >> but it's not fair. we don't assess the value of someone's performance based on the situation at hand. talk about politicizing something. and i think this entire episode has shown leadership by the president and shown hypocrisy but also the lack of a message the democrats still have. they have no message other than to resist, obstruct, deny. and i think in this case insult and insinuate. between them and their friends in the media it's been quite a sphek speck coagulate kel. ainsley: speaking of insulting. i was watching your interview with anderson cooper.

you were invited to be a guest his show and he didn't like what you said and he rolled his eyes. show the folks at home what happened and we will talk about it? >> i was on your show last fall saying we were going to win michigan and how we were going to do it. so that was fun. here is what happened today. ainsley: what was your reaction today. >> i want to put a couple things in context. he had me sit through a bunch of tapes showing then candidate trump expending comey about hillary clinton's emails and talking about him and et cetera. and, you know, the fact is, that they showed all these clips and it showed candidate trump in grand rapids, michigan. i said thanks for the trip down memory lane and talked about winning michigan and then he rolled his eyes. and let me tell you something, hillary clinton is in search of sexism as a lame excuse as toy-to-why her disastrous campaign lost six months ago. i say sexism a lot of times when i show up for interviews like that.

can you imagine rolling your eyes having a male anchor on a network roll eyes at hillary clinton, a female representative spokeswoman for president obama or president bill clinton? i think not. so, and, of course, it went viral. but the whole interview, if people would look at that entire interview and then my interview yesterday morning on the same network with chris cuomo will see we feel very comfortable in this white house referring people to the fact that the president was in his full authority to take the advice of the deputy attorney general who wrote a two and a half page chalked full memo that is the subject title is quote restoring confidence in the fbi. that was the entire point to the memo. and gave his recommendations to the attorney general who shared them with the president who took decisive action. brian: right, kellyanne conway, bring us in to the play by play that led to this.m, rudeness aside from anchors, the word was that the president was eating dinner and shocked that nobody was even defending him.

and newt gingrich is on the record as saying the president is the quarterback but he has got to tell everybody else the plays in the huddle or else they can't defend him and that had you to scramble out along with sarah huckabee sanders and then quickly tell the president's side of the story. could you guys have done a better job messaging? >> i was very happy to come outside and give the president's point of view. i think when the president looks at most shows, he sees a 6 to 1 panel configuration that's laughable. and that includes many of the journalists on the panels. you had people using words to describe the actions of the president himself that are just incomprehensible. and presubjective, of course, all the presumptive negativity. we were happy to come out and shift the balance a little bit to at least give the white house perspective and happy to do it again this morning. brian: were you caught -- do you think the white house was caught flat footed? james comey might have been long overdue and best move possible but did you lose the messaging war because you

didn't expect this type of blow back? >> we didn't lose the messaging war. the president is -- he has full authority and control over his decisions here and he made the right one. in fact, no, i wasn't caught flat fiteed at all. i just arrived from a day on the road with secretary tom price out discussing the opioid crisis in michigan and west virginia. and was happy to come out when the president asked us to do that. steve: yeah. >> i'm also very happy that other people like united states senators have been out there expressing their point of view on this matter and reminding people how their democratic colleagues have felt about mr. comey and how they felt about mr. rosenstein, who now, the rolls have shifted. have you had democrats just confirm this man 94-6 in the united states senate two short weeks ago. and now some are calling into question his credibility. which is really a shame. we can roll the tape, show the montage, have you people who were criticizing, who were making jim comey criticizing

him. they are making he i escariot. now is he joan of arc. hypocrisy is important. holding hearings. inviting james comey to the senate. people should realize and see who they're dealing with before they hearings. steve: good point. kellyanne, we heard the president say yesterday in the oval room the reason he fired jim comey was he wasn't doing the good job. there is also the question whether or not he felt mr. comey was loyal and had good judgment and also there is a story floating around that apparently the president was angry that mr. comey would not investigate the leaks or the wiretapping claim that the president has suggested in the past. is there something to that? >> well, as our deputy press secretary sarah sanders said yesterday there is erosion of confidence overtime for any number of reasons. i think everybody has seen jim

comey's performance since january. he has been under oath several times. just this week the fbi had to correct his sworn testimony before the senate where he got wrong by a proportion of thousands, apparently, the questions over huma abedin's emails how many she forwarded to her husband disgraced anthony weiner, how many contained classified information. two apparently they had to correct. everybody halls seen what he has said and done including under oath since mr. trump has become president. the president should have any number of reasons for feeling that way. this is an all of the above answer. that the president has been watching. the president expects people who are serving in his administration to be loyal to the country and to be loyal to the administration. and i think certainly rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who oversees the fbi director, his memo

clearly laid out many of the morale -- this is important. i mean, the morale is down, people were shocked that he would have a press conference. that he would try to subvert his judgment for that of the department of justice. textbook example of what not to do. rod rosenstein apparently got to the department of justice 16 days ago or so, and did a fresh analysis and these were his conclusions. ainsley: all right, kellyanne, we just interviewed benjamin lake the father of 6-year-old lennox. they were heading to disney land on saturday. their car was hit by criminal illegal i will grant. he had been deported 15 times. and he was allegedly drunk. two times the blood alcohol level that's legal. and this little boy has undergone several surgeries. you could see the scar all around his head. this precious child. affected forever. this family is affected because this illegal criminal alien hit their family, this wonderful family. and we interviewed the dad. we asked him how he felt about deporting illegal criminals

before this happened to his family. he said you know, i really didn't think much about it. but now it has affected my child. what's your reaction to this story? >> i'm happy for his recovery and, of course, full tragedy was averted here. this is the entire point that the attorney general of the president and others have made. the idea that somebody is deported 15 times and can be on the road in a state that wants to be a full sanctuary state. some of these mayors and governors and law enforcement officials they have a choice to make. is this a sanctuary for citizens who live there or sanctuary for criminals? and the idea that we're just trying to tell people if you want money from the federal government, you have to at least respect the law. but this is a great example. have you kate steinle, harsh example and this new example. and the father was absolutely riveting and inspiring and we are so happy that the child is on his way to recovery. ainsley: go fund me page up to 32,000.

if you want to donate go to foxandfriends.com. thank you, kellyanne conway. steve: thank you for joining us from a rainy washington, d.c. have a great day. steve: we're going to step aside. back in a moment. at panera, a salad is so much more than one thing. more than one flavor, or texture, or color. a good clean salad is so much more than green. and with panera catering, more for your event. panera. food as it should be. we can't stay here! why? terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean! way ahead of you. charmin ultra strong. it cleans better.

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steve: we have been talking about what's going on in washington, d.c. if you take the main road out of washington north. connecticut avenue, you wind up in bethesda at the tastee diner and that's where our man griff jenkins is talking to people about james comey today. ainsley: did you take connecticut? >> yes. no actually, i took wisconsin avenue. ainsley: other ways to get there. >> let me tell you. if there was a hall of fame for short-order cooks, al-snowden here would be the

brett favre of it al, how long have you been cooking here? >> about 40 years. >> 40 years? >> yes, sir. >> we are making somebody's breakfast. we will not not to interrupt with that let me just ask you. everybody is talking about the president firing james comey. what do you make of it. >> i wish everybody would just relax and let the president do his job. i think the media is way too biased. if everybody just sits back, i mean, the stock markets love the guy. i love the guy that is doing the gentleman needed to be fired. he was talking way too much. you know, see ya. be done. >> you voted for trump. >> i voted for trump. absolutely. i'm the reason he is in office. >> you are the reason he is in office. >> absolutely. >> let me ask you, do they need to be flipped by the way. >> they can be taken off in a second. >> why don't you tell the president since you put him in office. you talk to him right there and tell him what he needs to be doing. do you feel like is he getting beaten up by media? maybe have you advice for him. i will flip this to you. >> he needs to come down to

the taste ye diner in bethesda. have a tasty breakfast and figure that all out. >> i flipped it so i didn't screw it up or catch the thing on fire here. let me ask you, too. aside from the fbi. how do you feel he is doing as president? >> you know, the stock markets love this guy. because they love this guy, there is more work out there for people like me. you know, because the people are making money, they will spend money. >> and al-is not the only one here. i want to quickly jump over here. because there are folks coming here. i'm trying not to get in her way. josh, two seconds. thumbs up, thumbs down, firing of james comey? >> it was overdue. it needed to happen. >> it needed to happen. there you have it. we have a little bit of diversity. fair and balanced at the taste ye diner, it's been here for over 80 years. steve: it has been. nice to meet the guy who put donald trump in office. the guy over at the hot plate. ainsley: the single guy. thank you so much, griff. steve: coming up on our telecast next hour, michelle

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>> the president over the last several months lost confidence in director comey, the doj lost confidence in comey. the bipartisan of congress made it clear that they lost confidence. and most importantly, the rank and file of the fbi had lost confidence in their director.

>> why did you fire director comey. >> because he was not doing a good job, simply. >> he knows the latest news will help restore the confidence in the fbi. we need an fbi director that is nonpartial. i think the hypocrisy over the last 36 hours is stung. >> if you watch the cable news yappers over the last 48 hours, it's stunning. it was a coup. >> were those investigations getting too close to home? >> i think it's startling that democrats aren't celebrating this, since they've been calling for it for so long. >> obamacare officially on life support. aetna now pulling out of the exchanges in 2018. >> the bottom line is

obamacare is dead. this is the final phase of the death spiral. it's done. stick a fork in this thing because it's finished. >> it will make america proud. we will make america safe again. we will make america great again. god bless you and good night. i love you. we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again. so that is this is a college on long island, they're a lacrosse team. the players are with to run, they're holding an american flag, and you can hear on the loudspeaker the words of the president. saying we're going to make america great again, god bless you. i love you. there's been maybe some backlash. you said you haven't read any backlash, but that didn't stop the coaches from apologizing. brian: michelle is with us

right now. michelle, were you offended by the lacrosse choice? >> no. i was not. and i think that, unfortunately, the officials there did not follow the rule never, never apologize. this is why the higher education bubble is bursting. brian: would you be offending if some college was using president obama's inspiring words to open up if that's their choice? >> no. of course not. and, you know, i think this is why more and more parents are realizing that college does not have a very good return on investment. steve: speaking of apologizing, i think democrats would like to see the president of the united states

apologize starting last summer when they were looking into hillary clinton's crazy e-mail situation. what do you make of what's going on and how the room temperature has risen in washington, d.c.? >> yeah. well, you hear this mantra over and over again that it's the timing, it's the timing of the firing that's really troubling. it's not the timing. it's the fact that president trump has the authority to fire and hire. these people still have not accepted that trump won and hillary lost, and they haven't gotten over that. and the hypocrisy is overwhelming. it is gob smacking. and it's volume. i mean, how phony have these democrat hypocrites been? let us count the ways. these people are now chewing and crying over constitutional crisis. constitutional crisis. where was their concern over

the constitution when you had president obama usurping and having an imperial presidency every day for the last eight years of his presidency. where were these people? where was the concern for the constitutional rights of the first amendment rights of journalists who dare to question him? the second amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners in this country? the fourth amendment rights of conservatives who were -- had their irs records plundered as part of a political witch hunt. and do these people even know what the 10th amendment is? constitutional crisis. and then you have maxine waters with her head-spinning justification for why she would have supported comey firing if hillary had been in place. but now it's the apocalypse. brian: no kidding. yeah, and she was on another network, and they kept saying the question over and over again but you called for him to be fired.

what's the difference now? why are you upset that he's fired? and essentially she had no answer. but she was honest the day before when she said so far from what she's seen, there's been no proof of collusion between the russians and the president. no one has said there's any type of collusion. but yet, it seems to be the theme he's hiding something. he was getting too close. that's why he got fired. >> yeah. that's right. and of course you have this continued stew of tinfoil paranoia from the media, and it's enough. enough already. you know, from the people who are crying about the lack of bipartisan and cooperation, and we need to, you know, have the olive branch and accept the results of the election. and it is months and months later, and they're still doubling down. i'm sick of it.

i know your viewers are sick of it too. ainsley: kellyanne conway said she was talking about the hypocrisy how they like comey, and then they don't like him, and then they like him now that he's fired, and then you have governor huckabee's daughter who was a spokesperson for the white house. she was saying she was shocked the democrats were so upset because that's exactly what the democrats are calling for. >> yes. and i'm so glad that she called out that hypocrisy. but mostly, of course, that it's donald trump himself that is calling these people out and fighting back. this is why he was elected to office to drain the swamp. and the swamp is, you know, as hysterical as ever that he's putting his imprint on washington, d.c. brian: but, michelle, do you think the president has to get a better job communicating whatever his decision is? a stronger, more people whatever it is to get ahead of the messaging? he had a tower around the block from madison avenue. he knows the value of communicating the message. do you think they could do a

better job at that? >> well, you could speak as clearly and with as clarion tone as you possibly could and still not be able to cut through the smoke screen of the antitrump media. i think they're doing a fine enough job calling out this hypocrisy and, yes, a lot of times repetition is the way that you need to defeat these people. steve: and to your point, michelle, we have a graphic to show how the networks covered last night. not just comey but the russian angle of it. and look at that. it's almost eight minutes on cbs about the same for nbc -- abc and nine minutes for nbc. and clearly, the message was -- the implied message was a lot of the folks on cable news was the reason donald trump fired james comey was because he wanted to cover up the whole russia thing. >> yeah. and what part of james clapper's testimony when

he said there was no evidence of collusion between trump and the russians do these people not understand? i mean, it's the agenda-driven media, and i think what people need to see clearly here is that -- i mean, these people are like marsha brady; right? russia, russia, russia. russia, russia, russia. and every time they soak up precious news time talking about that, they're distracting the american public from so many stories that are happening across this country. ainsley: all right. let's talk about this story. we interviewed the father of a 6-year-old boy who lives in california. they were going to disneyland, and they were hit by an illegal immigrant who had been deported 15 times. the guy's bloo guy's blood alcohol level was two times

the legal limit, and he fled. here's a picture of linux. he has undergone several surgeries. the good news is he survived, and he's okay. he's still in the hospital. this is what the dad said earlier. >> how did you feel about this before it affected your family, though? >> you know, it was kind of one of those things where i was kind of indifferent. i didn't really know the impact. i didn't want to believe that there was this big of an impact. but it's real. it's there, and it's scary to know that these people are running around and can hurt people, and it's hard to get recompensation from them. we have a systemic problem that we all need to deal with. i don't think it's rapport democrat. we need to make our country safe for the future generations that we're not letting bad people stay here and keep coming back. ainsley: just like kate steinle's family they said we didn't think about living in a

sanctuary city or close to the border because we didn't experience it. now it's a father's worst nightmare. >> yeah. and that father was so incredibly articulate, given the tragedy and the shock i would be in if it happened to one of my children, and he was able to express so clearly and distill the core issue here with regard to immigration enforcement. it is a systemic failure. this is a message that i've been sending for more than a quarter century now. look, this story continues to happen over and over and over again. this is why jeff sessions and donald trump have taken the steps they have in the last several months. and antagonize the entire open borders system. and as the father correctly pointed out, it is not a partisan issue, and we got to this mess in the first place because you have collusion and an alliance between big business republicans and open

borders democrats who saw sabotaging immigration enforcement as a way to secure a permanent ruling majority. just google the word drunk illegal alien kills, and you will see how frequently that this has happened in america. and finally, we have a president and an attorney general who have drawn the line. there's no more 15 strikes, you're out. 30 strikes you're out. 35 strikes, you're out. this was the entire purpose of removing the open borders prosecutorial discretion that was instituted under the obama administration that helped enable this crisis. this is truly a crisis. ainsley: brave to come out and talk about it, and our viewers are so compassionate. the gofundme page is now up to $35,000. was with $25,000 when we did the interview 40 minutes ago. steve: that's great. michelle, thank you so much for joining us today from okay. we covered a lot of territory. >> you bet. great to see you. brian: abby huntsman, you have the latest news.

>> abby, that was a powerful interview. well done. we have news starting with obamacare officially on life support. aetna pulling out in 2018. blaming the move on a projected $200 million loss this year. a financial hit it's no longer willing to take. aetna was operating in 15 states with losses of $450 million. remaining insurers are requesting big rate hikes for next year. and james mattis arriving in london with a conference with international leaders. they are to discuss terrorism and a growing crisis in somalia where a u.s. navy seal was just killed. kyle died last week supporting somalia forces fighting al al shabaab. steve: a lot going on. thank you, abby. ainsley: thank you, abby. steve: all right. coming up. ainsley: coming up. more on the fallout of the firing of james comey. could the president be planning to take matters into his own hands yet again with another surprising move.

ed henry live from washington, next. brian: and guess what? the rock might be running for president in 2020? what the chances of him giving trump a run or even going for a nomination? i think he's a republican.

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brian: all right. an intense search now underway for the new leader of the fbi. the list is now narrowing down to four, they say. steve: that's right. meanwhile as james comey breaks his silence, he sent a letter to his pals at the fbi. the people he used to work with. brian: chief correspondent ed henry is live where the acting fbi director will testify in just a few hours. and who knows. maybe james comey is going to testify on tuesday. >> that's right. good morning, guys. it's interesting james comey may be testifying next week. it's possible, anyway before the senate intelligence committee as they try to investigate the alleged russian ties to the trump campaign and the trump administration. that would be interesting because comey would no longer be tied to the administration, anyway.

now that he's been fired, would he be more willing to talk? we'll see mcabe will be testifying before the senate intelligence community, that was supposed to be comey testifying today about emerging threats around the world, but you can bet all of this is likely to come up as well. and we're actually told some new information this morning that it's likely the president will go to the fbi headquarters himself on friday, maybe to try to buck up the troops after very traumatizing situation for the fbi not just this week but in recent months over some of comey's missteps, of course. the former fbi director speaking out for the first time and that letter you mentioned to the troops at the fbi saying in part i have long believed that a president can fire an fbi director for any reason or for no reason at all. i'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. i hope you won't either, comey says. it is done, and i will be fine, although i will miss you and the mission deeply.

interesting yesterday the president insisted that firing comey had absolutely nothing to do with the russia investigation. watch. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. he was not doing a good job. >> now, we've talked about potential picks to replace comey as the fbi director some high profile people like ray kelly, the former new york city police commissioner, tray gowdy, the republican congressman, but the list we heard is actually being wigglinged down to more insiders from the fbi, adam lee, a special agent in charge in the richmond division, michael anderson, paul abday, and william from the counterterrorism unit. andrew mcabe as well, the acting director is supposedly in the running, but it's interesting. remember, his wife ran for political office in virginia, got all of that campaign money

raised in part by terry mcall, the governor of virginia who was so close to the clintons that republicans on the hill would be a nonstarter if they were nominated, guys. steve: that would be a nonstarter. ed, thank you so much. >> thank you. steve: 8:20 here in new york city. betsy devos disrespected during a complement ceremony. >> as i said, i'm grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. [booing] steve: well, coming up, the niece of martin luther king dr.al vitae king said there's another side to the story, and she's going to join us with that next. brian: plus having hot pizza delivered to your jail cell. we're not kidding. makes you want to go. migraines steal moments from my life. so i use excedrin. it starts to relieve migraine pain in just 30 minutes. and it works on my symptoms, too.

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steve: all right. we've got some quick thursday morning headlines for you right now. the man accused of setting off a bomb in new york city wounding 31 innocent people wants a lighter sentence because he says police shot him too many times during his arrest. claims the brain injuries and ptsd he suffered when he was shot 11 times by police should be taken into account in a potential plea deal. and special delivery. inmates at a chicago jail can now order pizza to their jail cell. the menu includes six pies all made by prisoners. the prison claims they aren't calling inmates. they're simply teaching them skills that they can use to then get jobs. ainsley: that pizza looks good.

thank you, steve. booze, booze, and more booze. that was the reaction. secretary of education betsy devos received during buffoon cook man's graduation yesterday. >> as i said, i'm very grateful for the opportunity to be with you today. [booing] one of the hallmarks of higher education and of democracy is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. ainsley: the secretary's commencement immigration was met with an outcry of protest and push back from the historically-black university. the naacp is even calling for the university's president resignation, joining us now to sort through it all is alveda king, she is the niece of martin luther king jr. good morning to you. great to see you, alveda. >> good morning, ainsley. how are you? ainsley: i'm great. so what was your reaction? that just happened yesterday. i watched the video. it's really hard to watch.

what was your reaction? >> i have been following the story as well. as director of civil rights concerned about life for life from the womb to the tomb, i'm concerned about college students in particular. i was a college professor for 19 years. so certainly if we go back to my dad, my uncle dr. martin luther king jr. who led peaceful protest with the goal of bringing people together in unity and to see a demonstration of that type that was very disruptive and very hostile, i was very concerned. and also, vect devos is for educational equity. she believes all education should be good, and i do agree with her on that front. and so to see them demonstrate in such a disruptive manner, they could have just said we're not coming. mail us our diploma. they could have stood up and turned their backs but to yell and boo. i spoke to a parent and the

parent says, well, we've worked very hard to get our children educated and to get them to college. and on such a day, we would want them to respond as statesman, states women with dignity, and that certainly did not happen. ainsley: dr. king, what were they so upset about? >> well, one thing that they probably concerned about in the african-american community, they want equity and found it in an afternoon american setting by a very powerful founder. so what they would see as a caucasian woman speaking at that occasion who represents something that they don't understand, educational equity or school choice. so they almost wanted to say how dare this woman come and speak on this day that is so important to us. but, you know, my uncle said we must learn to live together, martin luther king jr. as brothers, and our added sisters will parish as fools.

act 17:6 says god will love all people. and to say love one another and so use the six steps of nonviolent conflict resolution to resolve those differences. and this is the more excellent way that we want our students in america to consider, at least i do. ainsley: yeah, i watch the entire speech and the boos got louder and louder. i was proud of the president going to the microphone and saying, hey, if you want your diploma, you're going to have to stop this nonsense. >> absolutely. i support the president of that college, by the way. i support him. secretary devos, certainly president trump made a good choice with secretary devos, so i think that they need to take the more excellent high road and to understand what educational equity really is. ainsley: yeah, maybe they can sit down together and work out their differences. she did say she was going to go to the founder's house and

pay respects to that founder for starting this historical black college. so. >> good for her. good for her. ainsley: thank you so much, dr. king for joining us. good to see you. >> thank you. ainsley: thank you. coming up, removing our nation's history one piece at a time. while you were sleeping, an iconic civil war statue uwas taken down. and having breakfast with friends in maryland finding out what they think about the firing of james comey. jeff. >> that's right. we're at the tasty diner, we've been talking to them all morning, and you're going to hear next from the coaches of a youth football team. in the meantime, i'm going to keep eating bacon and bothering people. how are you guys doing? >> we're good. how are you?

steve: just a moment ago, we went live to the diner in maryland. ainsley: what streets do you take? steve: chris, you're eating bacon, and you're bothering people. >> i am, actually. you're quite a celebrity here, beth the manager's been here for more than 40 years. she misses you. she says hi and everybody says hello. i have a group of coaches here, it's john, john, mark james. i swear it sounds like the disciples. which team? >> maple wood football. >> giving me a dirty look because i went to him with a mouth full of food. [laughter] but what i have learned here about who of the disciples here have differing opinion when we talk about firing of

james comb auto. i go to you first, john, what do you think? sorry about that. >> it's okay. excuse me, you know, depending on what you hear in the media and this side, that side, i think we have to trust our president in the decision he made. we remember hear like companies like im how many people they fire a day, it doesn't make the news. we have to trust the guy on the top. >> you know, john, you mention something really interesting there real quick. the media. how do you feel the president's being treated in the media? >> i'm a fan of the media. first thing i do when i get to my office every morning is i read the front page of the wall street journal, new york times, and the washington post. but it's made me sick to my stomach the type of stuff that's talked about anymore and the hatred and the finger pointing, i can't stand it. >> somebody's texting me because i think they see you on fox and friends, which is what everybody should be watching.

now, mark, you have a little bit differing opinion. what do you say? >> i'm all about the how. you're absolutely right as president of the united states. he should be able to hire and fire as he pleases. but it's all about how you treat people, and i don't think he treated mr. comey who's a, you know, long time civil servant, done a lot for the community. i don't think he should just fire him without giving him the dignity to find out himself. he found out through the media. >> well, there you go. it's a little bit different opinion here. fair and balanced this morning. do you want to say hi to mom? >> hi, mom, i love you. >> and how about a shout how theout to the football team. >> hail maple wood. steve: all right. very good. fair, balanced, and bacon. ainsley: i love to see a group of guys together. the way y'all make fun of each other. some inside joke. it's really cute.

y'all just have a -- the brotherhood. steve: all right. ainsley: abby, you know what i'm talking about; right? >> ainsley, i totally get what you're talking about. i love how the two guys boies next to you are you, like, yeah. no support. ainsley: they must not have i any friends. >> well, we know that. except for us, of course. brian: yeah. >> i do have headlines i want to bring you, starting with good spartans who jumped into action to protect police being attacked on the street. watch as you can see the tampa cop struggling to pin down a man throwing punches before he reaches for one of the officer's guns. bystanders wasting no time to help take control of the situation. luckily no one was hurt. and crews working to remove this statue uof leader. protesters clashing some confederate flags. and listen to this.

the sexiest man alive may be trading that title for the most powerful man in america. >> what is that? >> that is the peck pop of love. >> we all know him. duane the rock johnson saying he's seriously considering running for president. the actor saying quote if i were president poised with the important leadership taking responsibility for everybody if i didn't agree with someone or something on something i wouldn't shut them out, i would actually include them. until you realize half the country is going to hate you, no matter what you say. brian: yeah. that's right. as soon as you make a decision, half the country says you don't care about me. the other half goes you do care about me, and that's what makes us america. steve: okay. rock, now we want to hear about your medicaid expansion plan. brian: will he still do his hbo show while president? >> hope so. why not? ainsley: well, you're fighting for our country, but maybe f18 pilots are facing an even bigger battle.

steve: that's right. it's a safety issue with their jets that could be deadly. brian: fox news correspondent leah gabel joins us more with that story. of course this is close to home with you. you fly these planes. >> that's true, and i spoke exclusively with f18 pilots, active do you tell people who are very concerned about something that essentially makes them like being drunk in the cockpit. so tensions are escalating across the globe, reports show pilots who fly all models of the f18, one of the united states most fierce-fighting aircraft are increasingly in harms way before they even make it into combat. since 2009, the department of the navy has seen a rise in hazard reports regarding what are called physiological episodes in f18 hornet and have hornet aircrafts. physiological episodes are basically when pilots become impaired with symptoms that jeopardize their flights. they're generally caused by oxygen loss or depressurization because of system failures in the plane. i spoke with current f18 pilots from both the navy and the marines. they would not go on camera

for concerns for their careers, but they each told me that the already alarming situation is worsening, and they're seeing firsthand how it's affecting the mind-set of our military elite. one pilot said quote we signed up for this. it is an inherently risky business. you may not come back each time usc the aircraft airborne but the navy and the marine core should give you a better than average chance. and they all echo a sentiment from a pilot who said this. when i go flying in combat is more likely to kill me is not getting shot down by enemy fire, it's a failure in my most basic life support system. well, according to testimony from navy admiral from 2016 dangerous episodes increased in some models by 90%. both the navy and the marine core have been open with us, although neither would offer an on camera interview. they both say they take pilot safety very seriously and a navy official added this is a complex problem and said naval

aviation leaders are engaging with the aircrew, they're listening to their concerns, and they're continuing their efforts to correct the issue. also that experts are working diligently to determine the root causes. but ainsley, brian, and steve, you know, the bottom line is while they're working on this situation, f18 pilots have to get in those jets and get flying, knowing there's no automatic back up system, nothing that would automatically detect a problem and then switch them over to emergency oxygen. brian: so let me ask you something. aren't these planes supposed to be faced out anyway? >> well, that is something they've been working on. they're trying to bring the joint strike fighter online as they try to move forward. however, they are the workhorse of the fleet right now. they're the ones doing it in combat, and they're not getting it fixed for pilots. steve: what is the problem? what's the matter with the plane? >> if anybody knew the answer, they would fix that. steve: it's something about the design? >> i go go into the details. it has to do with system failures and onboard pressurization system. sometimes it's a canopy seal.

but in my training, i had to experience an episode. they made my hypoxic, my fingers were tingling, i felt i was intoxicated, i couldn't even play patty-cake when this happened, and some pilots become unconscious. we talked my landing emergency on your show when i was in a f18. i was 26 years old when i had to land an f18 in emergency on a aircraft carrier. i couldn't imagine having to do it essentially intoxicated. ainsley: how often is this happening? steve: too often. >> too often. and according to that congressional testimony, some models of the f18, the incidents have increased in 90%. so the numbers are increasing, it's getting worse, and right now what needs to happen is the focus needs to be on fixing these problems for the pilots. the t45 pilot, the trainer actually stopped flying because of this and the navy grounded those aircraft until they could fix the problem. but f18 pilots, they have to keep on flying.

ainsley: when you were reading one of the quotes from the pilots, it hit home from me when they said every single day we go to work, i don't know if i'm coming back. i go to work every day, that is never a concern for me. i can't imagine. they are the abrasiv bravest vives. and you're one of them. >> thank you for saying that. steve: could the firing of james comey clear the way for tax reform in washington? haven't put this together yet. but bob massie has, and he'll explain them next. ainsley: and the fox and friends greenroom has gone wild. we're monkeying around in there. how cute, that little guy. both of them. ♪ we asked people to write down the things they love to do most on these balloons. travel with my daughter. roller derby. ♪ now give up half of 'em. do i have to? this is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire.

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the members now collecting benefits is as low as it has been. dating all the way back to 1988 is the last time it was this low. steve on something entirely different. steve: thank you very much, brian. fbi chief firing james comey may have an impact on tax reform. how is that going to work? let's bring in bob massie, the fox news analyst and host of the show property man. bob, explain this to me because this is not an angle i have heard yet. so the james comey are things actually spur republicans in congress to do tax reform? >> my position is very simple. the average american out there is not concerned about comey. it's a political government thing. leave us alone. i think this distraction is now gone. they have to get a new appointee and then have them selected and move on. but i think now what it allows, because this has been hovering, it was a question of when and how it was going to happen. now they can focus on the refor me in the senate now of

the obamacare and in addition for tax any type of tax reform that's going to help businesses. i think it was the white elephant in the room, and it's now gone. steve: okay. so everybody on capitol hill agrees with you. first, they have to take care of the affordable care act and repeal and replace it and stuff like that in the senate now. and then it's onto tax reform. but i like the way you just say, look, the comey thing was going to happen anyway. now we can move on. >> sure. steve: but, bob, you know how washington works. the democrats and the political left and the mainstream media, they're going to spend as much time as they can to further the idea that the whole thing behind trump's presidency is illegitimacy because the russians got him elected because he was colluding or his people were colluding. you watch other channels. you know that score. >> i'm pretty sure i went to the polls back in november, didn't have anybody put a gun to my head from russia to vote. i will say this much to you that pelosi and schumer are the greatest that i've ever seen of causing confusion.

and to spin it the way they want to. but, steve, i have to tell you honestly. look, you just talk to these people in the diner, people really don't want to hear this anymore. they're tired of the acrimoniy, and i think now -- i would like to have seen a few things handled maybe differently by the president but not withstanding that, just go right at it and get it done because it doesn't matter. everybody says this. we all know it. it doesn't matter when he does it, how he does it, the reason behind it. they hate it. i had somebody say to me yesterday, a buddy of mine for 40 years he says, well, what do you think about the king now? i mean, that's the mentality -- what do you mean the king? he was a right to do it. get over it and move on. the acrimoniy is not good but i think if democrats continue to do it, 2018 is going to be another great year for n congress for republicans. i really believe that, steve. steve: all right. interesting stuff. by the way, tune into bob's show property man airs

thursday evening at 8:30. thank you very much. >> thanks, steve. steve: you bet. coming up, fox and friends is going wild and ainsley and janice are kicking it up with the kangaroo. there you go right there. but first, let's check in with janice for what happens in ten minutes. >> that's a tough act to follow, steve, but we're i'm going to do our best, starting with the president's decision to fire the director of the fbi. and a critical hearing before the senate intelligence community today. you're going to hear from the man now leading the fbi. and other top intelligence officials about where we stand on digging into what role russia played in last year's election. could get heated. we're going to bring it to you live. we're going to talk to senator mike lee about the threat. and a major insurer says i'm out. can the left continue to defend obamacare? we're going to talk with one of its architects. zeek emmanuel. plus the vice president speaking out about the persecution of christians. busy morning. bill and i will see you at the

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ainsley: we're celebrating mothers just ahead of mother's day with some baby animals. they have mothers too. brian: a little bit of a stretch. but here to make it all sense. great to see you. >> great to see you. brian: so you brought some wild animals. >> we did. as you're celebrating mothers, a primal instinct to protect, so i brought you some young babies. brian: by the way, which smell great thanks to lysol. >> they do. there we go. so now -- this is black bear. this is probably not from jersey. hi. you can touch her back there. brian: really? >> yeah. nice and gentle. brian: now, how much would

this be if i were to buy them in a pet store? >> i don't know if you want to buy these because they get over 600 pounds. these do have protective mothers. a mom could be 4- 500 pounds and if you get close to a wild one, she would have something to say about it. ainsley: don't mess with a mama bear. >> what they would do is stomping and hissing. if you see them stomping and hissing, that's giving this guy time to get free. ainsley: could she bite you with your hands in her mouth? >> she could absolutely bite me. brian: that's the black bear. go run in the woods. >> there you go. another baby. so you can pet -- let me just hold her. ainsley: how cute is the warthog? brian: now, what do they do?

>> yeah, so one of the most important things for moms, these things are hunted by everything in africa; right? so what mom will do is dig a big, big den and then let the babies go in, and then she'll back into it, so it's tusks firsts. brian: they can't outrun much? they can't recollect has been outrun much and they're low to the ground. they go to the den. ainsley: this is our favorite character on lion king. >> favorite things is this little tail, let me see if i can get it for you. when they run, this thing is straight in the air, and they look like a remote control. brian: how about the kangaroo? >> here we go. red kangaroo, over 200 pounds, mom has to be carrying them in a pouch just like this. mom will get them when they're this big, completely unformed, and they form in the pouch. >> really? >> yeah. brian: what's in there? >> tools. the couch is like a warm blanket and a nipple where

they're going to eat and drink. ainsley: speechless now after that. >> he just said nipple, and they're done. brian: this is eight months old. >> eight-month old red kangaroo. another thing they can do is mom if someone gets too close to the baby, they'll rear back on this tail and whip you. brian: let's real quick. ainsley: little guy is so cute. >> oh, look at this monkey. >> talk about our campaign with lysol, that's supporting mothers. brian: gut instinct to put a diaper on. >> we're going to be right back with more animals. brian: we have a wolf next. don't tell the monkey.

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>> in the after the show we go to the wolves. >> stay with us. >> bill: good morning, everybody. knocks fuss alert. a jam-packed day on capital hill amid the fallout from the james comey firing. we'll hear from andrew mccabe for the first time. he is before the senate intelligence committee. sitting in for his former boss who was supposed to be there today. how things have changed in 24, 36 hours. if you love hearings, you'll get plenty of them today. i'm bill hemmer, welcome as we move forward. good morning. >> shannon: i'm shannon bream. a who's who of america's national security team will discuss the most dangerous threats facing the u.s. the impact of the sudden removal of comey could be a major issue hanging