to $48,000. you all are so sweet to donate to his family. >> 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 over this

hearing. deputy white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders explained how president trump came to his decision. >> he asked him to put the comments that he had already made directly to the president in writing. the findings in the letter in the recommendation were original thoughts by mr. rosenstein. the deputy attorney general along with many others felt like director comey is not who should be running the f.b.i. at this point. the president very much had been thinking about letting director comey go since november 9. wednesday's testimony didn't help. i think was the final piece that put the president in a place where he felt like director comey was no longer the person that should be leading the f.b.i. >> shannon: chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live on capitol hill. >> there is a critical meeting that seemed to pave the way for

comey's termination. a meeting with comey and his new boss rod rosenstein. republican senator james langford last night they had the meeting they didn't connect. >> when comey's boss is in place and only been there a couple of week, mr. rosenstein met with comey. they did not connect. had some issues there and he made the recommendation to the president this is not going to work long-term. to have somebody that has the trust. american people and made the recommendation and the president made a decision to say do it and follow through. just that straight forward. >> legal contacts are pointing fox news back to the rosenstein memo. that memo laid the foundation according to the white house for the firing of then f.b.i. director james comey. they point to the fact that rosenstein interviewed a half dozen former senior justice

department executives both republicans and democrats about comey's performance last year and concluded this was a major error when you publicly discussed the findings of the clinton email probe and then last week during his senate testimony he doubled down and said he did not regret those decisions. meantime the search for a permanent replacement at the f.b.i. continues in earnest and a half dozen prominent names are in circulation including john pistol. he spent 27 years at the f.b.i., retired as a deputy director and went on to lead the tsa as the administrator there. ray kelly the former nypd commissioner in new york city. ken wayne stein, a career employee for the justice department before he retired. it was an entity set up after 9/11 and trey gowdy a republican congressman who made his name investigating the

benghazi attacks and chris christie. we have two women who are prominent and also in the mix, townsend, a homeland security advisor under george w. bush and kelly ayotte. what's key today is the acting f.b.i. director will be in the congressional hearing room behind me where he will be testifying as part of the worldwide threats hearing. this really is a place holder for the bureau. justice department senior leadership are looking for someone to replace mccabe in the acting director's position before they get to the critical decision on a nominee to lead the department. >> shannon: and to oversee so many things that have threads connected to this russia issue and that's what it will be all about today and connected to that congress issued subpoenas for mike flynn. what can you tell us? >> late yesterday fox news confirmed the senate intelligence committee has issued subpoenas to mike flynn.

he resigned over his contacts with the russian ambassador and not being straight with the white house and pence about those contacts. they asked flynn at the end of april to cooperate and declined on the advice of counsel. this represents a major escalation. the hearing today will focus on this issue of russia and what they call the gray zone where bad actors go to play when they cannot compete on a level playing field with the united states and they use the cyber and information campaigns to inflict a lot of damage, which is what we saw last fall in the election, shannon. >> shannon: we'll get back to you as soon as things get cooking. thank you very much. >> bill: a good back drop there. james comey sending a letter of goodbye to his former colleagues at the bureau last night and urges them not to dwell on his ousting but continue his work. >> a president with fire an f.b.i. director for any reason

or no reason at all. i won't spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. i hope you won't, either. it is still and i'll be fine. democrats demand a special prosecutor and paul ryan asked about it with bret said that move is not necessary. >> i don't think that's a good idea. first of all we have three investigations going on right now. a house investigation by our intelligence committee, the appropriate committee and the senate intelligence committee and the f.b.i. investigating all things russia. i do believe these three investigations are the way to go. let's get them done and see them there and go where the facts may lead. >> bill: steven hayes analysis. weekly standard. do you have a sense as to where this story goes given this hearing today that starts this morning? >> i don't know that anybody has a real sense of where the story goes. so much of it depends on things that we're not seeing at this point. i do think particularly with

the news, the revelations over the past 24 hours, you're hearing from republicans on capitol hill less comfortable defending the trump white house on this. the changes in the story from the white house that it was originally started only by the deputy attorney general and the trump white house had nothing to do with this. that story has been revised. other revisions to the white house's story that are making republicans on capitol hill including some who initially defended the firing of james comey even more nervous. >> bill: can we confirm that comey was looking for more resources to investigate this matter, yes or no? >> there are different arguments about that. you had a spokesman for the justice department say that no such request took place. you have members of the senate who spoke with james comey on monday, they say, who said that he was asking for more resources because he was concerned about mounting

evidence of potential collusion between some people in trump world and russia. we don't know the answer to that. i suspect we will. >> bill: democrats want a special prosecutor. it appears from mcconnell and ryan that's not going to happen. if that's the case, then, steve, can democrats obstruct along the way to force their hand? >> they sure could. i think the real question is what about the republicans particularly the senate republicans who have publicly expressed concerns about the timing of this and why it happened and the changing stories from the white house. people like ben sasse and john mccain and others, would they work with democrats to slow things down if the trump white house can't get its story straight or if senator mcconnell and paul ryan won't push for some kind of independent review. >> bill: sarah huckabee sanders did abc and nbc this morning. she also did a briefing

yesterday afternoon. from that briefing they suggested that comey asserted himself in a way that just was not appetizing to those in the administration. watch here. roll it. >> director comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the department of justice by going around the chain of command when he decided to take steps without talking to the attorney general or the deputy attorney general when holding a press conference and telling them he would not let them know what he was going to say. that is simply not allowed. >> bill: my expectation is whoever is the next f.b.i. director will be much more low profile. agreed on that or not? >> hard for that person not to be much more low profile than james comey. >> bill: we'll watch it today at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. steven hayes, talk to you soon. >> shannon: other big events we're keeping an eye on this hour and next. vice president mike pence

addressing a washington summit on the persecution of christians around the world. attorney general jeff sessions is in west virginia speaking on the opioid crisis. former president bill clinton delivering the keynote speech at a healthcare conference in d.c. and the senate armed services committee holding a hearing on cyber policy. former director of national intelligence james copper will testify. so you cannot get bored this morning. it is not possible during this show. >> bill: i would say one thing as we try to follow along all this. is there smoke, fire or nothing? keep an eye as to whether or not there were leaks out of the f.b.i. if there are maybe those agents are talking anonymously but still talking. if there are no leaks for the next week or two this may all be behind us. keep an eye on that. president trump sounding the hypocrite alarm showing video of democrats demanding james comey be fired questioning why they're outraged why they fired him in turn. talk to the panel today.

the search is on for the next f.b.i. director. who is on that short list? talk to senator mike lee on that in a moment live straight ahead. >> shannon: a major healthcare provider pulling out of the obamacare exchanges in numerous states. dr. ease equal emmanuel will join us to talk about whether the law is actually imploding. >> thank you very much for this great honor and privilege. i am honored to become a wildcat. >> shannon: secretary betsy devos delivering a commencement address to a chorus of views. students even turned their backs on her. >> congratulations to all of you. crafted interior. all of these are feats of engineering. combining them with near-perfect weight distribution...

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you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar. >> shannon: controversy erupting at a florida college graduation ceremony as students loudly booed their commencement speaker education secretary betsy devos. >> thank you very much for this great honor and privilege. i am honored to become a wildcat. >> if this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. >> shannon: students got up and turned their backs. thousands had signed a petition calling on the school to cancel her appearance. many of them taking issue with

the comments she made earlier rs of ear calling historically school choice. >> bill: that was brutal. the reception was down right brutal. good for the college administrator to step in and she got through the speech. listen, we'll have this merging of ideas and thoughts and figure out what's best in the end. that was a rough one. 16 past the hour. news alert former president bill clinton about to speak at a healthcare summit in washington, d.c. as it's happening news that aetna late last night is pulling out of obamacare exchanges in the state of nebraska and delaware. the last two states weren't even offered covered. dr. ezekiel emanuel. good morning and welcome back here to "america's newsroom." a tough one. how do you explain it and defend it now? >> well, aetna has had a very

small footprint in delaware it's had only 12,000 people insured. let's get to the big picture. the big picture is as they said and other insurers have said we need to government to do several things. one is to guarantee they'll pay the cost sharing subsidies to cover deductibles and co-payments up to $60,000 for a family. the government and speaker ryan in particular has said that's got to be part -- we won't -- >> bill: this is under obamacare, nothing to do with the house did last week. >> you're absolutely wrong. this is for 2018 and 2018 they have to put the rates in now. the government has uncertain. the one thing insurance companies hate is uncertainty. speaker ryan has made sure they're uncertain. he is holding the bag and he is responsible for this leaving. it's the republicans being responsible. >> bill: let me go back to what you said. this was is their writing now, okay on screen.

our individual commercial products lost nearly $700 million between 2014 and 2016. are projected to lose more than $200 million despite a significant reduction in membership. i don't know what that has to do with paul ryan right there. they're covering fewer people and losing more money because of it. your witness, go. >> any retailer goes into a market, they expect to lose right at the start because they are investing in administrative procedures and the insurance industry you don't know who is coming in. they had a hard time pricing their product because they didn't know who would show up. you expect that loss. that is built into your situation. the problem going forward and the problem now is we're talking about entering the market or keeping in the market for 2018 is the uncertainty today. that uncertainty today is created by the trump administration because they haven't done three fundamental things. number one, said they'll enforce the mandate which is

why you see 3 or 4% of people not buying insurance. number two, the cost sharing subsidies saying they'll pay them. if they don't pay them the insurance companies have to pay them and they will be at a significant tens of billions of loss. third, what's called reinsurance risk corridors to help the insurance companies when they get a bad risk selection. those three things everyone have said and republicans agree are necessary to stabilize the market. they haven't done that. let me finish. they haven't -- >> bill: you said three things. >> they haven't done those. insurance companies see uncertainty and therefore they raise the rates or leave the marketplace. that's what you're seeing, the republicans are at fault on this. >> bill: my turn. projection from the cbo, 21 million will be enrolled in the exchanges by 2016. in 2016 you had 12.7 million enrolled. a little more than half. if you had more people sign up and use the exchanges the

companies would have -- the government would have the money to take care of these people. they checked in at slightly more than 50% of the projection in the first place going back seven years. >> right. >> bill: what does that have to do with speaker paul ryan in 2017? >> look, everyone hoped that enrollment would be higher. three fundamental things that happened there. first the opening of the exchanges was a disaster and that actually colored how people looked at it. the second thing is 2016 -- >> bill: last question and i'll let you go. why didn't democrats -- i will let you. why didn't democrats come with their own proposals to fix obamacare in the first place? last answer. >> we have. wait a second. we have come with our proposal. i've mentioned the three things we need to do. democrat hillary clinton had a set of proposals how to

stabilize the exchanges. we've had many proposals. here is the fundamental thing. we could have had more people in the exchanges. that cbo projection hypothesizeed more employers would drop insurance. fewer did. one of the big reasons they didn't drop insurance that rates stabilized in the private insurance market and that's actually accounts for most -- of course, the fact is speaker ryan is responsible for this upset with aetna because he did not guarantee the cost sharing subsidies. >> bill: thank you for your time. bill clinton speaking now. you come on back and we'll continue another day. i appreciate you coming in. there is plenty to discuss. >> every time. >> bill: thank you, doctor. >> shannon: you'll need a whole hour for that next conversation. all right. check this out. a motorcycle versus a dump truck doesn't work out well for that motorcycle. we have details on exactly what happened.

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sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. >> bill: show you this fiery crash on video. motorcycle bursting into flames right there. oh, slamming into a fuel tank, the slamming the fuel tank into a dump truck. in eastern china. the rider of the motorcycle survived. you see him get up out of the flames and dragged away. quick reaction from the driver of the dump truck pulled him to safety. some of those buy standers helping as well happened in china. >> shannon: what an amazing -- a bit of a miracle walking away from that. major confirmation battle could be in the works on capitol hill over who is going to replace james comey. democrats suggesting any possible successor is a non-starter unless they get a special prosecutor named to oversee the russia

investigation. here is senate minority leader chuck schumer. >> this special prosecutor would have much greater latitude in who he can subpoena, which questions they ask, how to conduct an investigation. >> shannon: senator mike lee of utah sits on the judiciary committee and joins us live. we've got a list, a number of names floated out there. have you got a pick? >> you know, there are a lot of people who could take this job. it is important and a lot of people will be paying attention. one name i think the white house out to consider is merrick garland who was nominated for the supreme court last year. a long history -- lead prosecutors behind the tim they mcveigh prosecution in oklahoma city and an exciting pick. >> shannon: oversaw the prosecution of the unibomber. an interesting pick. how do your democratic

colleagues oppose him? do you think the white house would consider it? >> i suspect the white house might. i think it has some advantages to it because as you point out, this is someone who has a lot of bona fides as a prosecutor. he has been one who has got allies as a potential director nominee in both political parties. >> shannon: he sits on a very important circuit court, the d.c. circuit there opening up his seat to a republican nominee is an interesting twist as well. do you think it would give him pause even if on the chance that he would be tapped for a f.b.i. director? >> i don't know him and haven't discussed it with him. it would be up to him. i would imagine this might be a post that might interest him and it might be a post that he could serve in very effectively. >> shannon: okay. the other question, the growing number of democratic senators who say we aren't voting for anyone and block the confirmation and vote no unless

we get a special prosecutor, somebody independent from the administration to oversee the russia investigation. there are multiple investigations going on now. any chance -- there are a couple of republicans who say they aren't completely opposed to the idea. any chance they would have enough leverage to shut down things in washington until they got that prosecutor? >> the decision whether to appoint a special prosecutor isn't theirs or ours. it belongs to the attorney general of the united states. in this instance attorney general jeff sessions has recused himself. the decision falls to the deputy attorney general. that will be up to him. not to the senate. i think we need to let that process play out and i have ever confidence. i think overwhelming majority of democrats nearly all of whom voted for deputy attorney general rob rosenstein to be confirmed should have confidence in him as well. >> shannon: you're in the group of 13 talking about it for weeks. what's the progress there?

the senate is starting fresh in contrast to what the house has passed. >> we have a group in the senate that's reviewing what we could do to get rid of obamacare and what would come next in its wake. my number one priority in this and that of most of my colleagues is to make healthcare more affordable for the american people. i proceed with the understanding as the federal government has gotten more involved in the process it made prices go up as they've overregulated and subsidized substantially. healthcare has become less accessible rather than more. so i think we need to revisit whether it was such a good idea to begin with in 2010 to have this massive federal partial takeover of our healthcare system. >> shannon: we'll watch closely. it is a long process and majority leader said don't get impatient with that. senator lee, keep us updated. >> bill: not that long ago democrats had a different outlook on james comey. you might remember this in

january. >> it's classified. all i can tell you is the f.b.i. director has no credibility. >> bill: president trump is firing back on that. the words he is using to describe this 180. >> shannon: plus it also was not long ago that illegals surged over the u.s. border by the thousands. we'll talk about what has made that number plunge. >> people are afraid that if they come that they will get returned to their country and rightfully so. r visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.

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>> bill: it's a jam-packed thursday morning awaiting two senate hearings. first the intelligence committee will get underway in 26 minutes from now. they're speaking with the new acting f.b.i. director andrew mccabe, screen right there director of national intelligence dan coates, cia director mike pompeo and admiral mike rogers. senator mccain and the armed services committee speaking to

former director of national intelligence james clapper who makes his second appearance this week. now as a private citizen. we're watching all that for you. stand by. more on that. >> shannon: meanwhile democrats remain up in arms over the firing of james comey but it wasn't that long ago some them tune. >> he should take a hard look at what he has done and i think it would not be a bad thing for the american people if he did step down. >> he clearly has a double standard. in these jobs, if you're not in it for a while you can't take the heat. i think he couldn't take the heat from the republicans. >> classified and we can't tell you anything. all i can tell you is the f.b.i. director has no credibility. >> shannon: president trump wasting no time calling them out tweeting dems have been complaining for months about director comey. now that he has been fired they pretend to be agrieved. phony hypocrites. former advisor to president

clinton and doug schoen and alex coniant. because we had maxine waters there i want to play a more recent interview from her where she differs on whether or not comey should have been fired depending who was doing the firing. take a listen. >> if the president had fired him when he first came in, he would not have to be in a position now where he is trying to make up a story about why. >> if hillary clinton had won the white house, would you have recommended that she fire f.b.i. director james comey? >> let me tell you something, if she had won the white house, i believe that given what he did to her and what he tried to do, she should have fired him, yes. >> shannon: she started that interview saying president trump should not have fired him. let him do his job but had hillary won she should have fired him. how do democrats thread the

needle? >> there is a simple answer. in the midst of the russia investigation where there been requests by the justice department for more funds recently where general flynn's documents have been sub aoen add to fire the f.b.i. director in the middle of an investigation is a mistake. the critique and criticism from republicans and democrats is fair and reasonable. it's not the idea of replacing him but the timing. i think it's the wrong timing and raises questions and certainly ones including the need for the possibility of a special prosecutor. >> shannon: is this like some other decisions we havey seen from the trump administration? people could be supportive of it the timing the pr side of it wasn't handled as well as it could have been? >> there is no doubt the pr side wasn't handled at all. they wrote the letter, sent it

and assumed that republicans and democrats would be fine with it. but i'm shocked that there is political posturing, hypocrisy in washington, d.c. it was naive to the maximum to think that democrats would be okay with firing jim comey at this moment as doug just said. there are a lot of republicans on capitol hill in the buildings behind me also troubled by the decision to fire comey now. i think if he had fired him on his first day in office or fired him once the russia investigation was completed it would be received far better in d.c. to surprise everybody late in an afternoon with no warning really caught people offguard and their subsequent explanations have not matched with the subsequent reporting. they're saying they fired him on the advice of the justice department. all this reporting out there that president trump decided to fire him because he personally didn't like comey and was personally angry about the russia investigation.

they need to square that and get everyone on the same page as soon as possible to move on. >> shannon: congresswoman waters interview there seems to be a bit of a double standard. we have another clip from the stephen colbert late night show where he announces that director comey has been fired and the audience breaks into cheers. they heard hillary clinton saying he cost her the election essentially and colbert seems a little surprised by the reaction, are these trump fans? explains it was donald trump and jeff sessions who recommended the firing. then the audience boos, that seems like, you know, people are just being led along if it's good, great, if it was trump, then it's bad. >> i would say at the outset you are talking about maxine waters and i guess what i would call an informal survey of opinion on the colbert show. that's not how we make policy or make decisions in this country and to me alex has it exactly right.

if the president had fired comey at the start of the administration i think there would have been widespread bipartisan support. if he waited until the end of the russia investigation the same. i think the real issue here is the timing. how the decision was made. there has been back and forth on that as well. and i just think that we really need outside independent prosecutors toex am inwhat happened, why, what comey did, what's going on and reach conclusions on a wide range of issues. frankly, maxine waters, colbert, their audience don't speak to me as an american or as a democrat. it's entertainment and maxine waters is not the mainstream of my party. >> shannon: alex, you speak to doug. he agrees with everything you said. >> i don't agree we necessarily need an independent outside special prosecutor now but we need an f.b.i. director. the sooner that president trump

can nominate a new f.b.i. director. you just had lee on, somebody who can get strong bipartisan support in the senate and the stature and independence to conclude the f.b.i. investigation in the way the public, senate and house can have faith in. that's critical. we'll be in crisis mode until we have somebody with that integrity. >> shannon: comey said a president can fire a director for any reason or no reason at all. we'll see who is next. >> bill: we're about to hear from the new acting director of the f.b.i. for the first time in that role in minutes, andrew mccabe getting ready to take center stage at a senate intelligence committee hearing. we'll drop in on that and let you know what's relevant to the white house matter and russia matter. plus, did you see this from new jersey?

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weapons. progress denies isis a pub. they had been planning to use it to attack the west since 2013. >> i have a wife that had breast cancer. she will always have a pre-existing condition. i don't want to have to choose which state i live in in order to get healthcare for her. >> i don't want you to have to move to another state to get healthcare. i want everyone -- every american to be able to afford and get and have continuous healthcare insurance. >> bill: that gentleman is a republican from new jersey, macarthur. he is the one who went to the white house to fight for more coverage on pre-existing conditions. he has a remarkable personal story to share along the way. chris stirewalt fox news contributor with me now. he was there for five hours, took the heat in the heavily

democratic part of his district which went for trump by seven points. he has taken the heat. he is standing there and they came loaded to go after him. >> he is doing it right. that's what you have to do. holding the public trust even if it's part of the public trust in the house means you have to go to the part of the district you don't want to go to. you need to listen to people yell at you who won't vote for you because you represent them, too. he did there what others of his colleagues who have not run, who have not fought and shouted and screamed, who haven't gotten livid. you have to stand there and take it sometimes. >> bill: his story is touching. lost his mom to cancer, an 11-year-old daughter die with major health issues. one of the audience members said we know your story. answer our questions. it was clear that many in the audience are pushing for single

payer and you will hear more of this, chris. >> sure, you may eventually in years to come hear it from republicans. both parties have come to terms with the idea that they want the federal government to make sure that people have health insurance, which is something that wasn't a case prior to obamacare. now republicans and macarthur says we're going to -- this is a responsibility of the federal government to make sure people have health insurance and use the insurance industry as a third party payer. it's where both parties have ended up. >> bill: did i hear you say that? this is where republicans are bound as well toward the single payer system? >> i think both parties like out sourced single payer. they use a cartel of insurance companies, federal government take tax revenues. they handle healthcare for the country. i think that's basically where we are. i think republicans gave up the fight a long time ago. not a long time ago but at

least a year and a half ago on this question is this going to be free market or whatever. i think people have accepted in the republican party that they believe that coverage is the job of the federal government. >> bill: did you hear ezekiel emanuel 30 minutes ago. he says paul ryan is the reason there is disruption in the insurance markets. can you back that up? >> no. that's stuff people say. he is right in the sense that insurance companies look at what is going on and say i'll take another half step back. the problems for this -- you talk about a pre-existing condition. the problems with this law and the exchanges for the 7% of americans who are on the individual insurance market, these things were seriously already rolling way downhill. when you see aetna pull out and see these companies pull out saying obamacare promised us a lot more money than we're getting here. it is not worth it to stay here so see you later. >> bill: they're pulling out of nebraska and delaware.

i don't know where this ends. do you? >> the democrats hope it ends with the republicans losing the house like they did in 2010. that they can do exactly the same thing. take that energy and flip it around. the real takeaway from macarthur, he did a good job of standing in the lions den. the democratic base is riled up. they hate donald trump and they love obamacare. they want to prevent cuts to it and they'll be there and hope it translates at the ballot box. >> bill: good analysis there, chris, from d.c. >> shannon: we're waiting that senate hearing on worldwide threats. expect russia to take center stage and acting f.b.i. director andrew mccabe stepping in to testify in place of ousted director james comey. what might we learn about both those situations? >> bill: also have you heard about this story? the number of illegals crossing our southern border is now down 80% this year alone.

we'll take you there live and look at the factors behind this significant drop. termites, feasting on homes 24/7. we're on the move. roger. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. termites never stop trying to get in,

we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home.

>> bill: this will be the headline of the morning. we're waiting for the hearing beginning on the hill. it will include the new acting director of the f.b.i. andrew mccabe who serves the role of his previous boss in the last 36 hours. mccabe is in, comey is out. what will he say and what approach will the senators take? we'll take you live to the hearing at the top of the hour here. >> shannon: u.s. now seeing a major drop in illegal border crossings out of central america. all coming after three years where you remember the numbers were ballooning hitly roughly 80,000 people annually. we're reporting live from the border in the city of mission,

texas, to tell us more. good morning. >> shannon, the question is why, right? the push factors haven't changed. the violence and poverty in central america. border patrol isn't doing anything different. it appears the president's mere threat of enforcing the law and the media scare around it have turned back thousands. >> you can see the river is right there. so as soon as they run through that gap within two or three minutes they're in the house. >> the rio grande valley where texas dead ends into the gulf of mexico but to central american immigrants it's a new beginning. >> they say you can earn money. >> these men from guatemala tried to -- >> any one who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed. >> president trump's rhetoric on the issue isn't different from president obama. >> if you get here, you are likely to be turned back.

>> this time, however, immigrants appear to believe it. >> words matter. the rhetoric has mattered. the discourse that is emanating from the attorney general and this administration they will be sent back and quickly deported. >> the busiest sector along the mexican borders. the numbers have fallen through the floor. the question is why. >> the laws in the books all this time are now being supported. >> the numbers tell that story. since voters elected donald trump, apprehensions of women, families and children fell every month from 15,000 in november to just over 1,000 in april. the media may have inadvertently scared immigrants away with its reporting about ice raids, deportations and the wall. >> the media has a big say in what happens. they put that out there and people come or don't come depending on what they say. >> because of the drop in traffic you have less babysitting and more enforcement. that raises the smuggling cost

from $8 to 10 grand to central americans. >> shannon: thank you for that report. >> bill: we're moments away now. the hearing beginning as we get news from the white house the president will move forward to a commission to investigate voter fraud and suppression. it is considered about election integrity. what we're learning on that in a moment as we get ready for that hearing. don't move. back on all of that in a moment. customer traffic? can we push the offer online? brian, i just had a quick question. brian? brian... legacy technology can handcuff any company. but "yes" is here. you're saying the new app will go live monday?! yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes.

>> shannon: we are awaiting the start of a critical hearing on capitol hill. the senate intelligence committee holding its annual worldwide threats hearing less than 48 hours after the unexpected firing of f.b.i. director james comey setting up what could be a wild ride. i can't imagine what they'll have to talk about, bill. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm shannon bream. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. the hearing starts in a moment.

reports the russian investigation was picking up steam. that hasn't been confirmed. the top dogs from the intelligence community will testifying in a matter of moments including andrew mccabe, the first time we've heard from him since the firing of james comey 36 hours prior. democrats say they will not support anyone to replace comey unless a special prosecutor is appointed. watch how that argument goes today. mike lee said this last hour. >> the decision as to whether to appoint a special prosecutor isn't theirs or ours. it doesn't belong to the senate. it belongs to the attorney general. we need to let that process play out and i have every confidence. nearly all democrats voted for deputy attorney general rod rosenstein to be confirmed should have confidence in him also. >> bill: what about the

reaction of the president to mccabe as the acting director and will it impact the search for a permanent replacement in any way? >> fair questions. you heard the president say he had confidence in mr. mccabe. he is very experienced. a rare occasion, bill, when i can say an acting f.b.i. director is a lightning rod of controversy and certainly that would appear to be the case for andrew mccabe. keep in mind his wife ran for political office in virginia and close ties to the clinton campaign and virginia governor. some including iowa senator chuck grassley asking questions about his qualifications the move into that position on a permanent basis. we'll talk more about that in a moment and share a bit of what the former director of the f.b.i. had to say to f.b.i. employees. james comey took to social media to express his gratitude for all that was done during his time in office. he said look, i have long believed that a president can

fire an f.b.i. director for any reason or no reason at all. i won't spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. i hope you won't, either. he went on to say it's done. i'll be final though i will miss you and will certainly miss the mission as well. >> bill: kevin, how soon does the white house expect to move on this? do you have any leads on who might draw the most interest at the moment? >> the first question is a little tougher because obviously while the interview process is already underway, you never know how quickly they can turn around and come to a consensus. this is an important decision. do you want to get someone who will have strong republican support but also a couple of votes from the democrats. it seems unlikely. i want to throw one name out to you who seems to always pop up whenever there is a major opening somewhere in washington that's trey gowdy. he hasn't expressed an interest in this. because he is so no nonsense there is a growing consensus among some on the right that he

would make a terrific f.b.i. director, although i'm not so certain he would want to give up the position he is currently in. want to share a couple other names, adam lee, michael anderson in chicago and the f.b.i. executive from cyber a few other names we're hearing. the vetting process, if you will, bill, continues even as we speak. >> bill: thank you, kevin. watching all that with you as we go forward. kevin corke from the white house. >> shannon: joining us now is judge andrew napolitano, fox news senior judicial analyst. judge, oh my goodness. as you were sitting down we talked about something that crossed from senator feinstein. top democrat on senate judiciary. she says both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein should recuse themselves from any decision regarding special counsel. this comes as two weeks ago during his confirmation hearing they were insisting he move forward with appointing special

counsel. >> she is asking the deputy attorney general for whose confirmation she just voted after she as you pointed out asked him to commit to appointing an independent counsel to recuse himself, how far down the pecking order are they going to go? this is a political request and it will go in one ear and out the other. we do have the separation of powers even though she is on the judiciary committee she can't tell the f.b.i. how to do their job. >> shannon: she is one who will be critical once they move forward with an f.b.i. director. a number of democrats say they'll block anything and they won't move forward on a vote on an f.b.i. director. >> they can slow down but not block. this appointment is not subject to filibuster. they would need 51 votes to confirm the person. there are two searchs going on. the search for the interim director of the f.b.i., someone to replace andrew mccabe who has some ethical and political baggage with which the attorney general doesn't want to deal.

a guy who worked his way up from agent to number two and acting number one. they'll appoint an interim. why? it may be months before a permanent director is in because of the delay by the democrats. white house looking for permanent. justice department looking for interim. >> shannon: as you were speaking there we see the witnesses walking in and this would have been testimony by the f.b.i. director james comey today. now mccabe will fill that seat. do you think we get anything meaty from this hearing today? it will be about russia, comey's name will come up. >> we may get something meaty about north korea, believe it or not. we won't get anything new about russia and we wornt learn anything about the intelligence or criminal investigation. there are two. about the alleged involvement of the trump campaign with the russian intelligence services. those are ongoing investigations. as we know you aren't supposed to legally give a snapshot of where an investigation is.

they'll ask but they won't get answers. >> shannon: what about north korea? what will be new today? >> i do believe that one of them, either director pompeo of the cia or admiral rogers of the nsa will warn about the seriousness of north korea's threats and their ability for cyber-warfare or actual delivery of military hardware in the neighborhood of our allies and even towards the west coast of the united states. fairly confident we'll hear that from them. >> shannon: we'll know we'll get questions about russia where the different investigations are going. what do you make the decision about the senate intelligence committee to formally subpoena former national security advisor michael flynn. >> his lawyers received two sub aoen yas, one from the united states attorney for the eastern district of virginia outside of washington, d.c. and one from the senate intelligence committee. we haven't seen the documents.

we haven't seen the subpoena. you don't have the fifth amendment privilege for documents. a person can say they won't testify. you don't have that situation with documents. they want to look at any business that he had with a foreign government as he was a general and he will be required to surrender those documents. >> shannon: they asked without a subpoena and didn't get what they wanted. now a subpoena. a lot of talk he wouldn't come forward and cooperate with the different entities investigating unless he had a chance at immunity. it has been rumored. >> we won't see him today. they have probably several weeks to surrender the documents. investigators will investigate the documents and the senators will call in the general and

call him in and he probably won't answer. he hasn't been charged with anything yet. anything he does say might be used by the prosecutors against him. no one is saying he committed a crime. but he is vulnerable when he is under oath and they're asking him questions about his own financial documents. >> shannon: let's listen in. richard burr the republican and chairman of senate intelligence committee. >> our elections is a significant threat, the purpose of today's hearing is to review and highlight the extent -- to the extent possible the ranges of threats that we face as a nation. the national security threat picture has evolved significantly since 1995. what used to be a collection of mostly physical and state-based national security concerns has been replaced by something all together different. today our traditional focus on countries like north korea, russia and iran is complicated by new challenges like strategic threats posed by

non-state actors in the cyber arena and the danger of trans national terrorists who can use the internet to inspire violence and fear in the homeland all without leaving their safe havens in the middle east. what has not changed, however, is tearless dedication of the men and women who make up the united states intelligence community. the very people represented by our witnesses this morning. one of the many reasons i find so many -- so much value in this hearing is that it provides the american public with some insight into the threats facing our country. but it also lets people know what is being done on their behalf to reduce those threats. i encourage all the witnesses today to not only address the threats to our nation, but to talk about what their organizations are doing to help secure this country to the degree they can in an

unclassified setting. director coates, your written statement for the record represents the collective insight of the entire intelligence community. it is a lengthy and detailed account of what this country is facing. it is also evidence of why the substantial resources and investments this committee authorizes are, in fact, necessary. from the human tragedy of the refugee crisis in the middle east, to the risk that territorial ambitions will set off a regional conflict in the south china sea, it is a complicated and challenging world. director pompeo, the korean peninsula is a point of concern to me and many on this committee. i would like your insights into what is behind north korea's unprecedented level of nuclear and missile testing and how close they are to holding the u.s. mainland at risk of a nuclear attack. i would also value your sense of how tuesday's elections of a new president in south korea is

going to impact things for us on that peninsula. general stewart, i'm sure you're aware of the reinvigorated policy discussions on afghanistan. while we all respect that you can't offer your own recommendations on what that policy should be, i would very much value your assessments of the situation in afghanistan today, including the state of governments in kabul, the sustainability and proficiency of the afghan security forces and rather taliban reconciliation is a realistic objective. if the u.s. is rambling up in afghanistan we need to know the views on what we're getting into. i also hope you'll share your assessments of the battlefield in iraq and in syria with us this morning. your insights into conditions on the ground, including ongoing operations to dislodge isis from mosul and

sustainability of the mosul dam would be interesting. rogers, i made a couple references to cyber already. of the many difficult challenges we'll discuss this morning, nothing worries me more than the threat of a well-planned, well-executed wide scale attack on the computer networks an systems that make america work from banking and healthcare to military and critical structure. the functionality of our modern society is dependent on computers. when the first line of the statement reads nearly all information, communications networks, and systems will be at risk for years, unquote, that alarms me. admiral rogers, i look forward to hearing from you on this line of assessments. director, as head of the nga you sit at the nexus of innovation and data collection and analysis. given the complexity of the

intelligence questions the ic is being confronted with and the global nature of our national security threats to this country and that this country faces, expectations of nga are high. we know the ic can't be everywhere at once but that is still kind of what we look to the nga to do. i would appreciate your sense of what analytic strengths are today and what the role of commercial imagery is in nga's future. director mccabe, welcome to the table and into the fray. to the extent possible, i hope you will discuss the bureau's assessment of the terrorist threat within our borders. your agents are often our last line of defense here at home and i will say continue to do outstanding work. we're fortunate to have six people with the experience and

the dedication that we have today. i'll close there but i would like to highlight for my colleagues the committee would be holding a classified hearing on worldwide threats this afternoon at 1:30. i will do everything i can to make sure that the questions that you ask in this open session are appropriate to the venue that we're in. i would ask you to think about that long and hard and if there is a question to move to a staffer to ask them whether this is the appropriate area and if you as our witnesses feel there is something that you can't sufficiently answer in an open setting, that you will pause long enough to get my attention and we'll try to make sure we move to the appropriate setting. with that i turn to the vice chairman for any comments he might make. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for your leadership on this committee and i want to join in welcoming the witnesses. it's good to see you all. but it is impossible to ignore

that one of the leaders of the intelligence community is not here with us today. the president's firing of f.b.i. director comey tuesday night was a shocking development. the timing of director comey's dismissal to me and to many members on this committee on both sides of the aisle is especially troubling. he was leading an active counter intelligence investigation into any links between the trump campaign and the russian government or its representatives and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts to interfere in our election. for many people, including myself, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the president's decision to remove director comey was related to this investigation. and that's truly unacceptable. we were scheduled to hear directly from director comey today in open session.

we and the american people were supposed to hear straight from the individual responsible for the f.b.i. investigation. we anticipated asking director comey a series of questions about his actions and the actions of the f.b.i. in terms of looking into which trump associates, if any, and some of their actions during the campaign as it relates to the russians. however, president trump's actions this week cost us an opportunity to get at the truth, at least for today. you may wonder a little bit how seriously i know the white house continues to dismiss this investigation. point out simply for the record the [tpro-pt/] fropt page of the "new york times" which shows pictures of an administration that doesn't take this investigation too seriously. it is important to restate the critical importance of protecting the independence and integrity of federal law

enforcement. this is central to maintaining the confidence of the american people in principle that all americans, no matter how powerful, are accountable before the law. the president's actions have the potential to undermine that confidence and that should be deeply concerning no matter which political party you belong to. this week's remarkable developments make our committee's investigation into russia's influence on the 2016 u.s. presidential election even more important. while it is clear to me now more than ever that an independent special counsel must be appointed, make no mistake, our committee will get to the bottom of what happened during the 2016 presidential election and again i want to compliment the chairman on his work in this effort. we will not be deterred from getting to the truth. these actions will no nothing to undermine our resolve to follow the evidence wherever it leads. we hope to speak to mr. comey and we'll speak to anyone and

everyone that has something to offer in this investigation. and mr. mccabe, didn't necessarily expect to see you here today. we don't know how long you will be acting f.b.i. director. but while i will adhere to what the chairman has indicated in terms of the line of questioning i want to make sure my first question for you will be for you to assure the committee that if you come under any political influence from the white house or others to squash this investigation or impede it in any way you'll let the committee know. this investigation has had its ups and downs and again some, including myself, sometimes have been frustrated with the pace. we'll no doubt face other challenges in the future. but ups and downs and bumps sometimes is how bipartisanship works. it's a constant struggle but one worth making and i'm proud of the way members of this committee from both sides of the aisle have conducted themselves in one of the most

challenging political environments we've ever seen. chairman burr and i have put this investigation on a solid bipartisan footing with a shared goal of getting the truth. in spite of the events in the last 24 hours i intend to maintain our committee's focus on the investigation. the recent actions only increase the burden of responsibility on all of us to make sure we live up to the challenge to uncover the truth wherever it leads. there is consensus that russia massively intervened in the 2016 presidential elections. nor do i imagine that any member of this committee was surprised to see the exact same russian playbook just being run during the french elections that just took place last weekend. no one should forget back in mid 2015, we had some folks in from the german services recently, that there was a hacking into germany as well.

it's fair to say that germans should anticipate seeing more cyberattacks directed against their elected officials with their upcoming national elections in september. in short, russia's direct interference in democratic process around the globe is a direct assault that we must work on together and is clearly one of the top worldwide threats. that being said, gentlemen, i want to start again by thanking you for your service to the nation. i want to particularly note that director coates who is -- testifying before this committee for the first time since his confirmation. i know you and your wife were ready for retirement and i thank you for being willing to serve your country one more time and i want to recognize the men and women who you represent here today. the thousands of dedicated intelligence professionals who toil in the shadows, put their lives on the line and make sacrifices most of us will never know in order to keep our country safe and i also want to

make sure they know that i appreciate their efforts and am proud to represent them not only as vice chair of the intelligence committee but as a senator of virginia where so many of those intelligence professionals live. this hearing is important to review the threats and challenges we face as a nation. these threats continue to multiply. as the world becomes more complex and challenging, good intelligence gives our policymakers and national leaders a heads-up on the challenges they need to address. the intelligence community in many ways is our nation's early warning system. however, a fire alarm only works if you pay attention to it. you cannot ignore it simply because you do not like what it is telling you. similarly, we need to make sure all our policymakers pay attention to the warnings provided by you, the independent nonpartisan intelligence professionals. since the second world war america has relied on a global

system of alliances, institutions and norms to insure our stability and prosperity. today many challenges threat en that system. that system that has been built up over the last several years. countries like china and russia are seeking to undercut and delegitimize institutions. we must work together to stand vigilant against that threat. similarly rogue states such as north korea have sought to undercut the global non-proliferation agreements. and admiral rogers as the chairman mentioned we share enormous concern the up side and down side of new technology and the threats posed by cyber and other technology actors and i would add as well, our dominance in terms of overhead in many ways is a threat as

well from the emerging nations. terrorist groups and extremists are able to access a lot of these new technologies and while isis in particular continues to suffer losses in syria, iraq and libya, unfortunately it continues to spread its hateful ideology on social media. that's a few of the challenges we face. i look forward to the discussion we're about to have and i thank you for being here and look forward to this hearing. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank the vice chairman. for members' purposes, we have a vote scheduled on the floor at 11:00. it is the intent of the chair and vice chair that we will rotate the gavel so the hearing continues through. members will be recognized by seniority for five minutes. when we conclude the open session, hopefully with enough gap for our witnesses to have some lunch, we will reconvene

at 1:30. the afternoon vote to my knowledge is not set yet but we will work around that so plan to be back at the skiff by 1:30 for that hearing to start. with that, director coates, the floor is yours. >> chairman burr, vice chairman warner and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i'm here with my colleagues across the i.c. community and i speak with mike pompeo, the two of us new to the job have inherited intelligence community with leadership and professionals with expertise that is exceptional. and it is a great privilege to hold these positions and know that we have the support from

across 17 agencies relative to gathering intelligence, analyzing and synthesizing that intelligence and several of those leaders are sitting here today and we're most appreciative of their contributions to their country and to this issue. the complexity of the threat environment is ever expanding and has challengesed the i.c. to stay ahead of the adversary and it hasn't been an easy task. given the tests we face around the world, the i.c. continues its work to collect, analyze and integrate these and other issues. we appreciate very much the support from your committee to address these threats in a way that will give the president, the congress and other policymakers the best and most integrated intelligence we can assembly. in the interest of time and on behalf of my colleagues at the table i'll discuss just some of the many challenging threats we

currently face. intelligence community's written statement for the record that was submitted earlier discusses these and many other threats in greater detail. let me start with north korea. north korea is an increasingly grave national security threat to the united states because of its growing missile and nuclear capabilities combined with the aggressive approach of its leader kim jong-un. he is attempting to prove he has the capability to strike the u.s. mainland with a nuclear weapon. he has taken initial steps toward fielding a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile but it has not yet been flight tested. it updated its constitution in 2012 to declare itself a nuclear power and its officials consistently state nuclear weapons are the basis for a regime's survival suggesting kim does not intend -- not intend to negotiate them away.

although intelligence collection on north korea poses difficulties given north korea's isolation, the i.c. will continue to dedicate resources to this key challenge. it requires some of our most talented professionals to warn our leaders of impending north korean actions and of the long-term implications of their strategic weapons programs. in syria, we assess that the regime will maintain its momentum on the battlefield provided, as is likely, it maintains support from iran and russia. the continuation of the syrian conflict will worsen already disastrous conditions for syrians and regional states. furthermore, on april 4th the syrian regime used the nerve agent seron in what is the largest chemical attack by the regime since august 2013. the syrian regime probably used

chemical weapons in response to battlefield losses along the hama battle front in late march that threatened key infrastructure. we assess that syria is probably both willing and able to use cw, chemical warfare, in future attacks but we do not know if they plan to do so. we are still acquiring and continuing to analyze all intelligence related to the question of whether russian officials had foreknowledge of the syrian cw attack on april 4. as we learn this information, we will certainly share it with this committee. cyber threats continue to represent a critical national security issue for the united states for two key reasons. first our adversaries are becoming bolder, more capable and more adept at using cyberspace to threaten our and shape outcomes.

the adversary grows as they continue to develop cyber capabilities. the impact of these is the ongoing technology into the critical infrastructure and into our daily lives. our relationships and businesses already rely on our critical -- on social media and communication technologies and on critical infrastructure. it is becoming increasingly reliant on the internet. as such this raises the potential for physical, economic and psychological consequences when a cyberattack or exploitation event occurs. the worldwide threat of terrorism is geographicly diverse and multi-faceted and it poses a continuing challenge for the united states, for our allies and partners who seek to counter it. isis is experiencing territorial losses in iraq and

syria with persistent counter terrorism operations degrading its strength. however, isis will continue to be an active terrorist threat to the united states due to its proven ability to direct and inspire attacks against a wide range of targets around the world. outsidr act and syria isis is seeking to foster interconnectedness among its global branches and networks, align their networks to its strategy and withstand counter isis efforts. they can direct, enable, assist and inspire trans national attacks. they continue to pose a significant terrorist threat overseas as they remain focused on local and regional conflicts. in home grown violent extremists remain the most frequent and unpredictable terrorist threat to the united states homeland.

this threat will persist with many attacks happening with little or no warning. in turkey tensions in turkey might escalate. rapidly and unpredictably in 2017 as the government's consolidation of power, crackdowns on dissent and restrictions on free media continue. let me now take a quick run through some key areas of the middle east. in iraq baghdad's primary focus through 2017 will be recapturing and stabilizing mosul and other territory controlled by isis. isis in iraq is preparing to regroup, however, and continue an insurgency and terrorist campaign even as it loses territory. we assess that iraq will still face serious challenges even as the threat from isis is reduced. reconstruction will cost billions of dollars and

political reconciliation will be an enduring challenge. in iran, tehran's public statements suggest it wants to preserve the joint comprehensive plan of action because it views the deal as a means to remove sanctions while preserving some nuclear capabilities. iran's implementation of the deal has extended the amount of time iran would need to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon from a few months to about a year. tehran's malignant activities continue. for example, iran provides arms, financing and training and manages as many as 10,000 iraqi, afghan and pakistani shia fighters in syria to support the assad regime. iran has sent hundreds of its own forces to include members of the islamic revolutionary guard corp and the irgs source to syria as advisors.

in yemen, fighting will almost certainly persist in 2017 between houthi-aligned forces trained by iran and the yemeni government backed by a saudi-led coalition. neither side has been able to achieve decisive results through military force to this point. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and isis branch in yemen have exploited the conflict and the collapse of government authority to gain new recruits and allies and expand their influence. in south asia, intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018. even with a modest increase in military assistance by the united states and its partners. this deterioration is undermined by its dire economic situation. afghanistan will struggle to

curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the taliban. meanwhile we assess the taliban is likely to continue to make gains especially in rural areas. afghan security forces performance will probably worsen due to a combination of taliban operations, combat casualties, desertions and weak leadership. pakistan is concerned about international isolation and sees its position through the prism of india's rising international status including india's expanded foreign outreach and deepening ties to the united states. pakistan will likely turn to china to offset its isolation empowering a relationship that will help beijing to project influence into the indian ocean. in addition, islamabad has failed to curb militants and terrorists is pakistan. these groups will present a sustained threat to the united states interest in the region

and continue to plan and conduct attacks in india and afghanistan. pakistan is also expanding its nuclear arsenal and pursuing tactical nuclear weapons potentially lowering the threshold for their use. let me turn to russia. we assess that russia is likely to be more aggressive in global affairs, more unpredictable in its approach to the united states, and more authoritarian to its approach the politics and continue to look to leverage its military support to the assad regime to drive a political settlement process in syria on their terms. moscow is also likely to use russia's military intervention in syria in conjunction with efforts to capitalize on fears of a growing isis and extremist threat to expand its role in the middle east.

we assess that moscow's strategic objectives in ukraine, maintaining long-term influence over kiev will remain unchanged in 2017. russia's military intervention in eastern ukraine contains more than two years -- continues more than two years after the minsk agreement. russia continues to ex certain diplomatic pressure to coulders ukraine into the political provisions of the minsk agreement that would give moscow veto over kiev's strategic decisions. in china, they will continue, we assess, to pursue an active foreign policy especially within the asia pacific region and competing territorial claims in the east china sea

and south china sea, relations with taiwan and its pursuit of economic engagement across east asia. china views a strong military as a critical element in advancing its interests. it will also pursue efforts aimed at fulfilling its ambitious one belt, one road initiative to expand their strategic influence and economic role across asia through infrastructure projects. just a quick look at sub-saharan africa, expected to double in size by mid century. african governments face the threat of cue -- widespread terrorist attacks. in the western hemisphere venezuela's government will turn to repressive means to contain political opponents and street unrest. oil has long been the regime's cash cow but mismanagement has

led to declining output in revenue. we assess the venezuela government will struggle to contain inflation, make debt payments and pay for imports of scarce basic goods and medicines. mexico's government will focus on domestic priorities to prepare for the 2018 presidential election while seeking the limit fallout from strained relations with the united states. public demand for government action against crime and corruption will add to political pressure. as cuba heads into the final year of preparations for a historic transition to a next generation leader in early 2018, the government's focus will be on preserving control while managing recession. cuba, which continues to use repressive measures to stifle human rights and constrain democracy activists blames its slowing economy on lower global commodity prices, the u.s. embargo and the economic crisis

in venezuela, a key benefactor. let me make a statement on the threat from illegal drugs. the threat to the united states from foreign-produced drugs, especially heroin, meth and cocaine and opioids have grown in the past few years contributing to previously unseen levels of u.s. drug-related mortality, which now exceeds all other u.s. causes of injurious death. finally, i would like to make a few points that are important to the i.c. going forward. as you are all very aware, section 702 of the fisa amendments act is due to expire at the end of the year. i cannot stress enough the importance of this authority in how the i.c. does its work to keep americans safe and i know that is shared by everyone at this table. section 702 is an effective tool to protect our nation from terrorists and other threats. as i described in my

confirmation hearing 702 is instrumental to so much of the i.c.'s critical work in protecting the american people from threats from abroad. intelligence community is committed to working with all of you in both classified and unclassified sessions to ensure that you understand not only how we use our authorities, but also how we protect privacy and civil liberties in the process. additionally many of you have asked me as part of my confirmation process about the status of the i.c. it's effectiveness and efficiency and how can it be improved. as part of the administration's goal of an effective and efficient government the odni has already begun a review of the entire intelligence community to include the office of the dni. and to answer the very questions about how we can make our process even more streamlined, more efficient and

more effective. my office is proud to lead the review and i look forward to the confirmation of my principle deputy in order to shepherd this process to completion and i have total confidence she has the capacity and capability to effectively lead this effort. the recently passed intelligence authorization bill also includes the requirement for a review of the i.c. focused on structures and authorities 10 years beyond the intelligence reforms of the mid 2000s. i'm confident i can report back to the committee on the best ways forward for the whole of the i.c. in the short time i've been on this job i have learned that the i.c. is full of dedicated, talented, creative and patriotic men and women who are committed to keeping america safe. we must retain this posture while looking for ways to improve. in conclusion, the intelligence

community will continue its tireless work against these and all threats but we will never be on mission. although we have extensive insight into many threets in places around the world we have gaps in others and we appreciate the support provided by this committee and will continue to work with you to insure that the intelligence community has the capabilities it needs to meet its many mission needs. and with that, we're ready to take your questions. >> bill: director coats, thank you for that very thorough and comprehensive testimony on behalf of the intelligence community. quite frankly you make us proud seeing one of our own now head the entire intelligence community and i want to thank you and marsha personally for your willingness to do that and to also pass to you, we are anxious for your deputy to be considered by the committee. would you please send us a nomination? >> we are doing our best to do that and nobody is more anxious

than me. >> i'm sure that's the case. i'll recognize myself for five minutes. director mccabe, did you ever hear director comey tell the president that he was not the subject of an investigation? did you ever hear director comey that he was not the subject of an investigation? >> sir, i can't comment on any conversations the director may have had with the president. >> okay. general stewart. you heard director coats state on everybody's behalf that there is an expected deterioration of conditions in afghanistan. can you give us dia's assessment of the situation today in afghanistan and what

would change that deterioration? >> i paid close attention to the operations in afghanistan and i make two trips there each year. one before the fighting season and one following the fighting season. i get on the ground my own personal assessment of how things are going. i was there six weeks ago. the ndsf two years into taking control of the security environment has had mixed results this past year. those mixed results can be be said as a stalemate. left unchecked that stalemate will deteriorate in favor of the bell ij rens. we have to do something different than what we've been doing in the past. let me back out and talk about the fact that the taliban failed to meet any of their strategic objectives that they outlined during the last fighting season.

they controlled no district centers, they were able to execute high visibility attacks that causes a psychological affect that has a debilitating effect. they maintain some influence in the rural areas but haven't controlled the district centers. having said that the afghan security forces did not meet their force generation objectives. had some success in training the force. they were able to manage a crisis better than they have in the past. they were able to deploy forces but failed in my opinion to employ the isr and the fire support to make them as effective on the battlefield as possible. >> bill: the f.b.i. news. you've been listening to a canvas of threats that span the globe. dan coats painting that picture starting with north korea and working himself around the globe. what we are waiting on is

andrew mccabe to start taking questions from the panel that may or may not relate to the firing of his boss, james comey. as we await that want to bring you up to date on what we've been watching and hearing and while this is ongoing, chuck grassley, the republican from iowa chair of the judiciary committee is calling on the f.b.i. now. confirm to the public whether it is or is not investigating the president. because it has failed to make this clear, speculation has run rampant. when you consider grassley's statement over the last 30 minutes that's why senator burr offered the question he just did a moment ago which mccabe refused to answer. >> shannon: the one we've all been waiting for. senator grassley mentions that he and feinstein were briefed and he says share when you told us, be transparent so that question. the speculation is not out there. so yeah, again the first question you see from chairman burr on this committee and

probably the answer will satisfy a lot of form because he didn't get more of an answer. >> bill: part of a statement the president put out when he terminated comey. you told i'm not under investigation three times. grassley also said in that statement, mr. comey briefed senator feinstein and me on who the target in the investigations are. it wouldn't be appropriate to review those details before the professionals conduct the investigation but he is calling on the f.b.i. to give it up. are you investigating the white house, the president or not? >> shannon: an important clarification. so many people are questioning the justification of the firing 48 hours ago. they have a lot of questions and what was spelled out for them in the memo by the deputy attorney general ron rosenstein a lot of people aren't accepting at face value. they question the timing and roll-out. having these answered by other officials in the intelligence

community could potentially benefit the white house. >> bill: since the firing of comey, that's why this hearing takes on so much added import. in addition to everything with regard to north korea and russia, iran, on and on. we'll be watching this. don't move. we'll bring you the relevant stuff in a moment as it continues from the hill. more on this in a moment. finding time to get things done isn't easy.

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>> bill: mark warner is taking his questions to andrew mccabe about russian interference in our election. drop back in quickly. >> and the fact this committee continues to investigate the type of tactics that russia has used, where do we stand as a

country in terms of preparation to make sure this doesn't happen again in 2018 and 2020? where have we moved in terms of collaboration with state voter files, in terms of working more with the platform entities in the tech community in terms of how we can better assure real news versus fake news. some general sense? i know you've only been in the job a short period of time. while it was russia in 2016, other nation states could launch similar type assaults. >> we will continue to use all the assets that we have in terms of collection and analysis relative to what the influence has been and potentially could be in future. russians have spread this across the globe. interestingly enough i met with

the prime minister of montenegro, the latest nation to join nato, the number 29 nation. what was the main topic? russian interference in their political system. so it does sweep across europe and other places. it is clear the russians have upped their game using social media and other opportunities in ways we haven't seen before. it is a great threat to our democratic process. and our job here is to provide the best intelligence we can to the policymakers to as they develop the strategy in terms of how to best reflect a response to this. >> one of the things i'm concerned about is we've all expressed this concern but since this doesn't fall neatly into any particular agency's jurisdiction, who is taking the point on interacting with the platform companies google, facebook, twitter, who is taking the point in terms of

interacting, how are we trying to ensure our systems is more secure? if i could have a brief answer on that because i have another question for admiral rogers. >> well, i think obviously our office passes and takes the point. there is contribution from agencies across the i.c. you might ask director pompeo to address that and others might want to address that also. each of the agencies to the extent that they can and have the capacity, whether it's nsa, whether it's ncia or other sources will provide information to us that we want to use as a basis the provide to our policymakers. relative to a grand strategy, i am not aware right now of any -- i think we're still

assessing the impact. we have not put a grand strategy together which would not be our purview. it would be the foundation what the strategy would be. >> my hope would be that we need to be pro-active in this. we don't want to be sitting here looking back after 2018 election cycle. last question briefly admiral rogers, do you have any doubt the russians were behind the intervention in the french elections? >> let me phrase it this way. we're aware of some russian activity directed against the french election process. as i said before congress earlier this week, we reached out to our french counterparts to say we've become aware of this activity. what are you seeing? i'm not in a position to have looked at the breadth of the french infrastructure. i'm not in a position to make a

simple declaratory statement. >> senator rubio. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. mccabe, can you, without going into the specifics of any individual investigation, i this i the american people want to know has the dismissal of mr. comey in any way impeded, interrupted, stopped or negatively impacted any of the work -- any investigation or any on going projects at the federal bureau of investigation? >> as you know, senator, the work of the men and women of the f.b.i. continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions. so there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the f.b.i. from doing the right thing, protecting the american people and upholding the constitution. >> bill: and this is for all the members of the committee

has has been widely reported and people know this, lab software is used by millions of americans. to each of our witnesses i would ask would any of you be comfortable with this lab's software on your computers? >> resounding no from me. >> no. >> no, sir. >> no, senator. >> no, sir. >> on the director of pompeo on the venezuela which was mentioned in director coat's statements, these militias in the street have been armed by the regime for purposes of defending, for lack of a better term, the regime from protestors. we're aware of the cozy relationship with hezbollah and links to narcotics trafficking.

the military in venezuela are russian variant of our stinger missiles. and director pompeo if you could comment on the risk that i believe exists that as these groups become more desperate and operate at some point outside the control of the maduro regime running around in the streets in search of money and food and anything else they want to get their hands on, the threat of any advance weaponry such as what i've just mentioned being sold or transferred to the farq, a terrorist organization, drug cartels in mexico or sold to terrorist organizations on the black-market, is that a real threat? is that something we should be cognizant of? >> it is a real threat as we have all seen the situation in venezuela. maduro gets -- in classified

setting i'm happy to share with you more about the details of what we know. we haven't seen any of those major arms transfers take place. we don't have any evidence those have taken place to date but the stockpiles exist not only in the maduro regime but other places as well. there are plenty of weapons running around in venezuela and the risk is credible and serious and -- >> staying in the western hemisphere for a moment and also to director mccabe and pompeo. i continue to be concerned about the potential and i believe the reality of a concerted effort on the part of the cuban government to recruit and enlist americans business executives and others even local and state political leaders in an effort to have them influence u.s. policy making on cuba and particularly the lifting of the embargo. would this be a tactic consistent with what we have seen in the past from other nation states including the

regime in cuba? >> yes, of course. frankly this is consistent with the attempt to interfere in the united states is not limited to russia. the cubans have deep ties. it is in their deepest tradition to take american visitors and do their best to influence them in a way that's adverse to u.s. interests. >> president trump: sir, fully agree, we couldn't share your concern about that issue >> president trump: is of the opinion of all of you that even as we focus on 2016 and the efforts leading up to that election that the russians continue to use active measures even at this moment, even on this day to try to use it in multiple different ways.