>> the local cbs affiliate said three men saved his life. >> probably those three right there. >> wife and two kids. remember him in your prayers. >> we'll see you back on the couch tomorrow. >> bill: good morning, everybody. what is in the f.b.i. memo? these are the questions washington is waiting for this morning. at the white house put on defense. a report in the "new york times" saying president trump permanently appealed to james comey to end the investigation of former national security advisor michael flynn. something the trump team says did not happen. there is a lot to go through and we'll follow the facts as we always do. good morning. i'm bill hemmer. >> shannon: i'm shannon bream. "the new york times" claiming comey wrote a memo following a meeting in the oval office. the white house said the president has never asked mr. comey or anyone else to end any

investigation including any investigation involving general flynn. this is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and mr. comey. >> bill: up the street lawmakers are looking for answers inside the building there. many will say they'll do what it takes to figure out the facts. >> i want to see the memo. i want to talk to director comey to determine how contemporaneous his recording of the conversation was but also importantly not just what was said but what did director comey hear. how did i take it? that can only be done with all due respect to the "new york times," that can only be done by looking at the memo and talking to director comey. >> shannon: catherine herridge is live in washington with the latest. >> this morning the congressional committees with oversight are asking for comey's memos with one republican congressman they should be a meeting -- one week before his wife's f.b.i.

interview. the expectation according to senator john mccain is that comey will publicly testify in the near future. meantime a law enforcement source confirms to fox news the former f.b.i. director documented at least one meeting with president trump that made him uneasy. it is not clear from our reporting this morning whether it was the mid february meeting cited by "the new york times" where the president asked comey to let go of the investigation into the former national security advisor mick nrien who had resigned or a january meeting where the president asked comey for his loyalty and comey said he would always be honest with the president. the white house has disputed both accounts. because of his background as a lawyer, career prosecutor and government beer congratulate comey is known as a note taker and standard practice to take notes after a meeting to memorialize the conversation. in early march two weeks after the meeting cited by "the new york times" comey publicly stated his intent to serve out

his term during his speech at boston college. it strikes current and former agents as noteworthy. >> boston college is a leader in thinking and educating on these important issues. this is a great place to have it. hope you'll do it many more times. you're stuck with me for another 6 1/2 years. >> there is a precedent for using f.b.i. notes after a dispute with the bush white house over surveillance. robert mueller provided his notes to validate comey's version of events. >> shannon: what are your contacts saying what they're calling a double standard? >> two incidents the obama administration involved russia and the fight against isis and the c.i.a. officer outed and removed from oversees posting for security reasons. president obama on more than one occasion made public

statements that appeared to downplay hillary clinton's use of a private server for government business and that was also the subject of an ongoing f.b.i. investigation telling 60 minutes it didn't pose a national security threat. after that 60 minutes interview the white house spokesman appeared to walk back the comments saying there was no attempt by the president to undermine the importance or independence of that f.b.i. investigation, shannon. >> shannon: catherine herridge with the latest in washington thank you. >> bill: this comment has come into greater focus from last week. andrew mccabe said this to the senate intelligence committee on the hill. >> has the dismissal of mr. comey in any way impeded, interrupted, stopped or negatively impacted any of the work, any investigation or any ongoing 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. >> bill: that comment no effort to impede is getting attention here. chris stirewalt here to analyze this. good morning. we have not seen the memo as i like to say to you, big picture where are we this morning on this? frame it. >> we're in this larger sense in terms of the investigation, we have no idea where we are because we don't know -- not only have we not seen the memo, we haven't seen the larger investigation. we don't know what truth it will bear, if any. we have no idea where all of this goes. to a certain extent we are shadow boxing here. we aren't sure exactly what we're dealing with. >> bill: all right. richard burr is a republican from north carolina and investigating all things russia as is the house and the f.b.i. you have three active investigations right now.

this is what he said, all right? he met with comey the day he was fired by the president. the director of the f.b.i. shared more information with senator warner on myself than any director has ever shared. something as material of that probably would have been something he would have shared had it happened. okay. should he have? >> well look, we are dealing with snippets of a memo. i'm sure james comey wrote memos. it was his practice and how he rolled. it is also good practice in washington especially when you are dealing with somebody like president trump to send out emails and record for -- with others this just happened, fyi. i doubt that comey took trump seriously. i highly -- perhaps he should have given the fact that trump would fire him over this stuff but he probably at the time said probably explained to the president let's say that's what happened, probably explained to the president oh, i appreciate that you like general flynn and i'm sure you'd like us to go easy on him but that's not how

it works. we need to see it through to the end and it may have been part of the fact and the prior reporting as for the pledge of loyalty. that all goes into what probably ends up with comey getting canned his eloquence was suggesting that these politicians now are perhaps not offering comment because they want to keep their powder dry. here is the doctor from last night. have a listen. >> nobody, not even from the white house, has come out under their own name in defense of the president. who will step out now and defend the president in these denials which could very well be true, when you have seen what happened to republicans who stepped out in denials on two other cases and were left on an ice floe off norway. >> bill: you have that fjord. politically what is the

calculation for those on the hill as we wait, paul ryan and others? >> trump is basically -- to a certain extent he has been on his own since he got to washington he is very much on his own right now. he doesn't trust his staff and given the amount of leaks that come out of the white house his staff doesn't trust him. the republicans in congress don't trust him. he doesn't trust them. this is getting to be a very, very isolating situation. we talk about presidents in a bunker. this guy is in a bunker that is in antarctica, far removed from the rest of what's going on in this city and government and he needs to be reattached to it in order to have a credible presidency. >> bill: we'll watch the dance on the hill today. thank you, sir. you drew the short straw today. thank you, here is shannon. >> shannon: as this unfolds, we can't forget about monday's headlines. a report saying president trump revealed highly classified information during his meeting with russian officials last

week. national security advisor h.r. mcmaster called the story as reported false. yesterday he doubled down defending the president. >> it's wholly appropriate for the president to share the information he thinks is necessary to secure the safety of the american people. that's what he did. it was wholely appropriate. i should just make maybe the statement here that the president wasn't even aware of where this information came from. he wasn't briefed on the source and method of the information, either. >> shannon: they're very carefully choosing your words when you are out there defending the president as you should. >> bill: that seems so long ago and very action from vladimir putin of all people commenting on that. breaking news. washington, d.c. senator tom tillis, a republican from north

carolina collapsed during a race in washington he was given cpr and taken away in an ambulance. he is fairly new to politics. 11, 12 years out of north carolina. he was a businessman and he saw things that needed to be changed in america and that's why he pursued politics. we don't know his condition, shannon. you know about this race. >> shannon: i run this race a couple of times and a great get together in washington because its members of congress, their staff and the media who cover them and you all run this 5k together. it's a flat asphalt course running on a road. there aren't a lot of hills or those kind of things. he is a fit guy. it's not a long course. >> bill: a fit guy, a good man. we hope the best for him. when we get updates you'll hear it here. 10 minutes past. big day ahead. a lot of news to get to. in the middle of all this breaking news you're looking live at joint base andrews where air force one takes off and president trump will deliver the commencement address to the coast guard academy later this morning and we'll bring it to you live as

it unfolds. >> shannon: alleged james comey memo and a series of leaks to the media. is this about the intel community getting even with the president? the c.i.a. director was set to brief the intel committee last night. this is a scene you might expect to see not here in the u.s. but overseas. >> bill: this is remarkable. you would think it was istanbul. this was washington, d.c. outside the turkish embassy. we'll tell you what led to this in a moment. but there's plenty of time for scotts outdoor cleaner plus oxiclean to work it's magic. all while being safe to use around plants and grass. guaranteed. this is a scotts yard.

what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. >> someone committed a crime here. there is a weasel. that person is the person who got ahold of the information that happened in that meeting between the president and the foreign minister of russia and that was classified information that this person got ahold of and they leaked it to the "new york times." that's a felony. it is unamerican. they endangered the lives of their families and other americans. >> bill: that was just yesterday. idaho republican senator with martha talking about the leaks in the "new york times" and the russia matter. now we wonder about the james comey deal today.

is there an obstruction of justice charge to be filed? ultimately what can be done about all these leaks in d.c. former assistant attorney general thomas dupree here. thank you for your time today. first on the obstruction of justice charge. how difficult is this to prove? start there with the legal standard. >> obstruction of justice is a difficult case to prove. you need to show a specific intent to corruptly interfere with or impede a federal investigation and i can tell you there are many situations out there where someone is having a conversation and it could be close to the line but you can't prove motive beyond a reasonable doubt. in many potential prosecutions that's the sticking point where you say there is a lot of smoke here but we aren't sure we can establish before a jury there is actually fire here. >> bill: now jonathan turley

has a piece on the hill today titled the comey memo offers zero evidence to impeach trump. he has stingers. if this is food for obstruction of justice it is a very thin soup. i don't know if you've read that yet but analyze his position on that now. >> i think right now we're all in a difficult position. what we're dealing with is anonymous sources characterizing the memo that comey wrote. so we haven't seen the memo itself. we don't know what the facts are. i will say this. this whole thing illustrates why presidents need to be extra careful in having these types of communications about ongoing investigations because regardless of whether there was a corrupt intent to tamper with an investigation, this is the sort of thing that fuels the fire because it enables people, critics of the administration and others to question what was the president's motive in saying these things to comey? what did he say? what was his intent?

these are not discussions the white house wants us to be having. i think the white house needs to get out in front of this story and need to be transparent and forthcoming. they need to start countering this narrative that is building day-by-day in the publy sphere that the president was trying to impede this investigation. >> bill: how long or when will congress see that memo? >> we're not too far off from seeing it. i can't imagine that there would be a lot of internal resistance to disclosing it. i'm confident many people in the f.b.i. want this thing out there in the public sphere. congress wants it. i suspect it won't be long. maybe days away if that from this entering the public domain. >> bill: do you see the commander-in-chief and the former f.b.i. director going back and forth between each other. last week the tapes, now the leaks to the "new york times" with the memo, is this a

tit-for-tat and ultimately how dangerous is it for the country, for our government? >> well, on the first part i think we'll see continued back and forth firing over the barricades over the foreseeable future. it will be carried out on an official level if director comey -- former director comey testifies before the hill. if the president continues to fire off tweets aimed at comey. we'll see them engage at that level. i think we'll also see the battle of the anonymous sources and see people from within the f.b.i. and people close to the former director perhaps people in the white house firing back and trying to push their story forward often under cover of anonymity. this is dangerous? absolutely dangerous. we're on a very fraught path right now. no one wants to be having this discussion in washington and i suspect that one thing that really could go a long way toward quelg the fire is for the president to appoint a new f.b.i. director someone who is independent who will give the american people comfort and

confidence that the f.b.i. is going to move forward with this investigation without any sort of impediments or tampering. >> bill: that's how you get in front of it, a new f.b.i. director. >> that's step one. >> bill: what about putting information out there? what could or should the white house do to get in front of it other than appointing a new director? >> i think the white house could be very forthcoming about what was actually said. so far we've seen the white house deny the comey memo to say it's not what actually happened. i think it would be helpful for the white house to affirmatively put its story out there to say look, these were the discussions that happened. this is what the president said and this is why he was not in any sense trying to impede the investigation. i think denials are one thing. i think it would be helpful for the white house to be more forthcoming and positive and say look, here is what we said. >> bill: very good. tom, thank you, in washington, d.c. come on back, okay? we'll rely on folks like you to take us through this as we move

forward. thank you, sir. to our audience you're watching marine one land there. joint base andrews where the president will transfer from here to air force one and then he will proceed up to the coast guard academy on the east coast of connecticut and deliver an address that you'll watch later this morning. >> shannon: it will be the commencement address there. always interesting the watch. they have a beautiful, sunny day for their transport. the president heads to joint base andrews first and then we watch and get to him him board air force one and see who he has with him today as well. plenty to discuss. interesting to see if he has family or advisors with him as he makes this trip today. as we saw his commencement address at l*ibt university over the weekend. he didn't talk about the controversies as that moment. we've had three or four since then. at that point it was the firing of f.b.i. director james comey. he didn't get into politics. a lot of water under the bridge since that one. see what he has to talk about

today. >> bill: senator marco rubio was on air about an hour ago. one of the things he said rings true. he said we're not doing this based on a news article. which suggests that he and others who are serious about this business, they want the evidence and facts. the suggestion is the evidence is the memo. when will we see it? tom dupree was making the case it will be sooner rather than later. in the meantime, relax. we haven't seen anything yet. >> shannon: and as he talked about and in the article that you mentioned with professor turley as well. when you start talking about things like obstruction of justice the federal statutes are very broad and vague. it's a tough case to make. based on anything we've seen so far and the comment the president made if it's accurate as alleged by "the new york times" saying they've read part of the comey memo that he said take it easy on him or can you let this thing go, he is a good

guy, you know, just about everyone out there says that would be an incredibly difficult case to actually prosecute in court if you are claiming they were trying to corruptly derail an investigation. >> bill: gregg jarrett is an attorney on staff here and a colleague of ours. he writes this. obstruction requires specific intent to interfere with a criminal case. there is no proof at the moment of crime by the way. he continues if comey concluded that trump's language is vague ambiguous, then he has no duty under the law to report it because it doesn't rise to the level of specific intent. as an attorney, is that what you would look for, shannon? >> shannon: there has been a secondary question there. if this is so explosive, why didn't comey raise it back then. if it's something you truly thought would rise to the level of obstruction you wouldn't hide it even if you memorialized it in the memo. he shared it with other f.b.i. officials but specifically kept

it away from the people doing the investigation. if it was thought to be such an explosive bombshell and potentially criminal in nature, would you have hidden it back then? >> bill: adam schiff is a democrat and outspoken on the house side and investigating all matters russia. three active investigations underway. the house, the senate, the f.b.i. he said this earlier. if you thought it was so concerning, suggesting this to former f.b.i. director james comey, why not bring it to us? now we just heard the clip a moment ago from the acting fbi director mccabe, is the white house at this point trying to impede or affect the investigation and the quote from mccabe is no effort to impede the f.b.i. investigation from the white house. as we board air force one and we push forward on this story, we'll take it slowly and try to

figure it out step-by-step as we go and we'll see whether or not the president has much to say about this when he arrives at the coast guard academy in an hour's time. >> shannon: we'll take folks live there. breaking news. we're awaiting a news conference where lawmakers will face a multitude of questions. this is the house gop we're talking about and house democrats. the gop will want to talk about something else. tax reform ahead of tomorrow's hearing before the house ways and means committee. joining us now illinois congressman peter roskam who is on that committee. thank you for your time today. i want to start with a little bit of the news of the day and we'll move on to tax reform. here is what the senate majority leader had to say about dealing with news of the day while trying to get something done on capitol hill. >> i think we can do with a little less drama from the white house on a lot of things. so that we can focus on our

agenda, which is deregulations, tax reform, and repealing and replacing obamacare. >> shannon: what kind of complication is it for you dealing with all the distractions while trying to get to the business that you and the president a have promised to do? >> you would like to focus on tax reform and look at a once in a generation opportunity we have to have a transformational moment and update the tax code. there will be continuous drama around town and around the world for that matter. we have to not minimize those questions. they are serious questions that have to be dealt with but not overwhelmed by them. let's realize we have this incredible season that is right now. we have a national consensus that nobody likes our tax code and we aren't competitive and let's use that, recognize the national inflection point that's here and have this transformational moment. tomorrow will be a big day and a continuation in terms of hearings about this very theme.

>> shannon: let's talk about one of the main issues that keeps coming up. the idea of a border tax that you will raise revenue by imposing taxes on imports but let taxes go on products that are made domestically and exported. even within the gop there is not agreement on that. the president didn't include it in his outline of the tax reform. >> this is the bigger picture. how do you get a tax code that's permanent and how do we get the u.s. on the same footing as the rest of the world is? in other words, 160 other countries around the world are countries that adjust at their border. in other words, they take their taxes off of their products as they export them and we don't do them. we're in the fine company of other countries like somalia and north korea, no joke. we have to update our tax code. if you're a manufacturer in my

constituency in chicago you're paying your income tax including the cost of your product. when it's exported a foreign jurisdiction is taxing it as well. the problem is the inverse is not true. if you manufacture something overseas, they take the taxes off at the border and we don't tax it here. what we're looking for is a level of parity. one of the proposals is this concept known as border adjustment. here is the larger point. we have to put this all in the context of updating our tax code. so what does it look like if our economy is growing at 3% instead of 2%? what does it look like if folks have more money in their pockets? what does it look like if the tax code in its entirety is simplified and if we've leveled the playing fields and we have a manufacturing renaissance in this country? we'll have a hearing on that next week. the more we learn the better it looks. >> shannon: you've been doing hard work on this for months and look forward to the

roll-out and the debate in the house and beyond. thank you very much for making time for us this morning. >> bill: 29 past the hour. we'll let you know how the stock market is responding. all the action out of washington and where do we stand on the f.b.i. matter? there is a lot moving. peter king shares his view in a moment live and we'll talk to him on that. >> shannon: deadly storms hit the nation's heartland. it swept from texas to the great lakes. folks now still assessing the horrific damage. ♪ the sun'll come out tomorrow... ♪ for people with heart failure, tomorrow is not a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ i love ya, tomorrow in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto.

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i can just quit school and get a job. daddy's here. hi hey buddy hey dad i think we can do this. adam baily. adam baily. >> director comey will have to testify before congress, i imagine it will be before the judiciary committee and turn over the notes and anything else that he kept and we'll go from there. but look, i don't know -- unless you were there, no one knows entirely what happened. we need to establish facts before we jump to conclusions. >> shannon: that's florida

senator marco rubio saying congress will get to the bottom of the bombshell report from "the new york times" on an alleged memo from james comey. the times says president trump asked comey to let the investigation into flynn go. somehow the white house is denying. peter king sits on the house intelligence committee and joins us live. how do you get your hands on the memo and what would you like to know about it? >> first of all, i have real questions here. first of all, if director comey in any way thought that he was being intimidated or the president was trying to interfere with the investigation i believe that he had an obligation to report that. report it to the justice department, to tell those around him. because that could be considered a crime and as director of the f.b.i. he had an obligation to make that known. as far as i know he didn't. when deputy director andrew mccabe was testifying last week he said there has been no

interfering or obstruction of the investigation whatsoever. director comey comes before the house intelligence and sen all at intelligence committee. i'm not aware of him saying to anyone in congress and senator burke concurred about any interference in the investigation. secondly, i don't know what investigation they're talking about. there is the russian investigation that the f.b.i. was conducting but also an investigation i believe even from press accounts of what general flynn told the russian ambassador and what he told the f.b.i. agents later. now, that could have been the investigation they were talking about. i do know from press accounts there was ambiguity about the conversations. i don't know what president trump said to director comey. if this was as serious as it is now being made out to be why has director comey been so silent for the next few months. >> shannon: those are

speculating because of his firing and other statements the president has made that there is friction between him and the intelligence community and it may be a payback. i want to read from a piece in the "washington post" today. he doesn't seem sure whether the intelligence community is his friend or enemy. the love/hate relationship needs to change. it's self-destruction. intelligence relationships are built on trust so are successful presidency. "the new york times" also reported one of the first things that comey and the president talked about in the meeting a according to the memo was the president's worry about these leaks why they weren't being stopped and investigated. every day there is a new leak. what does the president do? >> this is a real national security issue. whether you support president trump or not. this goes to the office of the presidency. to have people leaking out confidental conversations between the president and heads of state. between foreign ministers of foreign countries. also leaking out classified

information talking about alleged wiretap information. it goes back to december when it happened on the front page of the "washington post" the intelligence community's analysis of the election when congress was being told who russia favored in the election. 99% of the intelligence community outstanding patriotic americans. there are people in the intelligence community and also i would say probably holdovers from the obama administration still in the white house who are working against this president. absolutely disgraceful and dangerous. i wouldn't care if it was hillary clinton or bernie sanders in the white house you can't have these types of leaks against the president of the united states. >> shannon: this is how h.r. mcmaster characterized it yesterday. here is what he said. >> national security has been put at risk by those violating confidentiality and those releasing information to the press that could be used

connected with other information available to make american citizens and others more vulnerable. >> shannon: is anyone going the pay for this? is anyone going to be tracked down as the leak or leakers and actually be punished if any way? >> first of all, the f.b.i. has to do its job. they have to start doing intense investigations. we don't know who leaked the information on general flynn. that was a serious violation of law. as far as what happened in the white house the last several days it is important for the white house to get its act together. they have to have somebody in the white house who will be able to have control over who has access, who doesn't. who could be leaking. this is national security. they have to start making an example of people. find out who did it, fire them and have them prosecuted. >> shannon: something the president raised according to the comey memo are the f.b.i. director himself. peter king, always good to see you. >> bill: some other news including this. the deadly storms and tornadoes striking many in the midwest. at least two dead.

dozens injured after powerful storms tore through wisconsin flattened homes at a housing division in oklahoma. this morning the full extent of that damage still unknown but the sun is up and matt finn is watching this from our midwest bureau. how bad was it? >> first responders are searching for any other potential victims as anxious residents are returning home. a very difficult morning for a lot of folks who have either lost a loved one or waking up to a flattened house. in chetek, wisconsin, the barron county sheriff describes the damage of a mobile home park there as total devastation. at least one decision there. first responders say as they arrived they could hear the screams of the victims. >> as we sent people out of here, i know we carried babies out and elderly and people out. >> some people helping a lady out after trailer and her husband was buried inside. so i crawled underneath the

trailer checking his vitals, cpr trained and until the emts got here. i think he made it. >> in oklahoma a strong tornado hit near elk city 110 miles west of oklahoma city. fire officials saying that twister killed at least one person destroying 40 homes and damaging many more. dramatic video of a pickup truck crashing into the opposite lane of the highway. reportedly hydroplaned and hitting the cable barrier. no word on the driver's condition. forecasters say there is a big risk of severe weather in the midwest and in the lower plains again tomorrow. >> bill: thank you, matt finn from chicago watching all of that. it is that time of year. so watch the skies, pay attention to the local forecast. the warning is out. >> shannon: we have a little more information for you about senator tom tillis the

republican out of north carolina. it appears he collapsed in a race this morning. may have been suffering from dehydration. a 5k race that members of congress, staff and members of the media who cover them run together. a 5k. on a flat surface not generally a grueling area but a little warmer than it has been. we're told he did suffer dehydration, taken to the hospital and is awake there. this is a guy who is fit. this is nothing new to him and not a very taxing race. so we hope it's nothing more than than dehydration. >> bill: give him fluids. good luck to you. age 57, recovering. fists flying at our nations capital and nothing to do with your member of congress. this was a mess. what sparked violent clashes outside the turkish embassy in washington, d.c. it keeps on going. >> shannon: that's not how

reroll here. moments from now house republicans will head to those microphones on the screen and face reporters and they want to talk about tax reform but the white house and trump are facing repeated intel leaks to the press and democrats are already beating the drum to impeachment? >> i think this is going to put us a little bit further on our way to what i've been calling for for so long, that is impeachment. thank you. [cheering and applause] can we at least analyze customer traffic? can we push the offer online? brian, i just had a quick question. brian? brian... legacy technology can handcuff any company.

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>> shannon: violent protests erupting outside the turkish embassy in d.c. at least nine people injured, two arrested including one who was charged with assaulting a police officer. the chaos unfolded hours after president trump met with turkish president erdogan at the white house. that's now how we do it in the

good usa. >> bill: you would have thought it was out of the turkish capital overseas. we have that and we have this right now on the florida senate. chuck schumer the minority leader of the senate on the floor now calling for the transcripts of the former f.b.i. comey and president trump's meeting. all this as democrats and sojourn allists are getting on the scene about the big i word before getting that memo and frankly getting facts. watch. >> are we getting closer and closer to the possibility of yet another impeachment process? >> reluctantly i have to say yes. >> is it an impeachable offense? >> you were saying it could lead to impeachment but we weren't near that yet. >> now we're talking impeachment. do you think it's a bridge too far? >> what do you think it's the impeachment possibility. the president fires the guy coming after him after asking him to drop the case.

>> bill: george w. bush, richard fowler, gentleman could day to both of you. if it's wednesday it must be impeachment, brad >> democrats have been talking impeachment since the president took the oath. they remind me of the boy who cried wolf. comey gets fired, impeachment. by comey's own admission the president can fire for any reason or no reason at all. the president has discussions with the russians and discusses classified material in an effort to try to wooh to russians to help us to fight terrorism. the president is the keeper and custodian of our secrets and has every right to discuss intelligence as he sees fit. there is nothing there. comey says the president tried to influence the flynn investigation. he makes a note allegedly in his diary but months go by. he does nothing and as a matter of fact the deputy director of the f.b.i. testifies before congress under oath there is no outside influence on any investigations. the democrats are seeking a crime when none exists.

>> bill: richard. think about this now and you think about it getting ahead of the story. and it was clear just watching all the cable channels last night, this is the theme. even david gergen, advised four different administrations says it's watergate territory or impeachment territory. a bridge too far for the moment. what is your view on that? >> this is a tough time for the american people, no question about that. we have got to figure out what evidence we have here before we can say impeachment. i've called for some sort of russia commission but what i will say is this. if this comey memo. >> bill: you are getting three investigations right now. >> i think we already know that the house investigation is problematic at best because of nunez and his connection to the white house and having meetings at the white house.

>> bill: he has recused himself from some of that. continue. >> the senate investigation is troubling because it is mired down in the politics of chuck schumer versus mitch mcconnell. we know if this comey memo is indeed true, right? a lot of sources saying this memo does exist. when we see the memo we'll argue the f.b.i. investigation could also be in jeopardy. here is what needs to happen here. one, this white house is caught completely flat footed and said nothing over the past 24 hours. donald trump hasn't tweeted a thing, unlike him. they know they're in trouble, number one. number two and more importantly. >> bill: maybe they're just getting organized. getting their defense together. >> they should have got organized a long time ago. they knew this was coming. more importantly is that white house flat footed and this is bad for the american people. there is clearly some smoke here. and the fact that a lot of republicans are quiet, mum is the word from a lot of republican members speak to the

fact this president is almost toxic. >> bill: we'll see how much there is. ironically for those that charge has trump compromised the legal system the same objection can be made for impeachment based on his still undisclosed memo, brad. >> the only smoke is the smoke screen created by the democrats to try to destroy the president. how does a president fight against unnamed sources for people breaking the law themselves. the leaker of the intelligence that was allegedly leaked to the russians by the president, which is worse? the conversation that the president allegedly had, which the leaker says is damaging to national security, or what the leaker did? actually what the leaker did is more damaging to our national security, richard and should be troubling the american people. >> you have to be utterly spineless to see problems in this white house

and some of those problems could rise to the nature of criminality. if it's true what the comey memo says. >> bill: we aren't there yet. >> if, if, if. >> there are multiple sources on this memo. if it's true it would indicate this president obstructed justice point blank, period. >> you are wrong. >> how am i wrong? >> you get the evidence. you follow the evidence. here is how you know, richard. it's the actions of the f.b.i. director. what he put in his notes, his actions after it was said. >> bill: we are out of time. we need to see the memo. thank you richard and brad. >> shannon: now a free woman, chelsea manning is out of a military prison pardoned by barack obama after serving seven years of a 35 years sentence. >> bill: stay with us out of washington awaiting a news conference.

house leadership will be on the microphone. how do they react from the news overnight. chuck schumer on the floor with the senate. back with all that after this. liberty mutual stood with me when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

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>> bill: it has been some time since we've seen numbers like this. 25 minutes into trading the dow is off almost 200 points. the reason is the agenda in washington, d.c. is it stalled? do you not get tax reform as quickly as many had expected? there is a big reaction right now from the markets. we'll see where we go. it's only 9:55 in the morning. want to give you a snapshot at the open now. >> shannon: we'll take you to the press conference about tax reform when it starts. army intelligence analyst chelsea manning is free. formerly known as private bradley manning walked out of a kansas military prison after

serving seven of a 35 year sentence. he was convicted of espionage. president obama commuted the rest of the sentence before he left the white house. tell us what happens next for manning? >> hi, shannon. right now chelsea manning remains an active duty soldier for the u.s. army, unpaid but still receiving benefits including healthcare benefits. this is manning back in 2013 known as private first class bradley manning. he was then wanted to be called chelsea. she was placed in a u.s. disciplinary barracks, a men's facility. the army was forced to provide hormonal treatment for gender dysphoria. she is receiving the benefits. the reason that's important.

she is eligible for gender reassignment surgery, something that for the first time would be provided by the u.s. military. shannon. >> shannon: all right. what do we know about where manning is now? >> we actually don't know, shannon. this whole thing has been clothed in secrecy. the army told us there is nothing more that they can tell us. as i mentioned, a lot of secrecy around her release and we've been told not to expect chelsea manning the make any appearances. her lawyer stopped giving interviews this week. she is arguing her first amendment right trumps the espionage act under which she was convicted. we haven't heard from president trump on this. he was highly critical when president obama commuted this sentence. >> shannon: thank you very much. >> bill: minutes from now we'll hear from republican leadership in the house following that

democrats will hold their own news conference and then we see the president live at the coast guard academy. all that coming up next hour.

>> shannon: breaking news and two big news conferences will be getting underway this hour on capitol hill. as looming white house troubles cast a cloud over the republican agenda. republicans set to begin any minute followed later this hour by the democrats. they want to talk about something, i have a feeling the press will want to ask questions about something else. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm shannon bream. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. house speaker paul ryan and republican leaders set their sights and healthcare and tax reform. is the drama in the white house crowding out a lot of this. the latest bombshell claiming president trump asked comey to drop all matters involving michael flynn. the white house strongly denies it. peter king reacts this way last hour here on "america's newsroom." >> if director comey in any way

thought that he was being intimidated or the president was trying to interfere with an investigation, i believe that director comey had an obligation to report that. report it to the justice department, to tell those around him. that could be considered a crime. >> bill: mike emanuel working the halls on the hill. what are the concerns you are hearing now about putting this republican agenda forward, mike? >> bill, good morning. house republicans leaving their conference meeting this morning are taking a lot of questions about the latest headlines and not much about their legislative agenda. paul ryan is walking in here. he would love to be talking about tax reform and moving forward with healthcare but he is expected to get questions about the latest headlines from "the new york times" and let's go to the speaker of the house. >> bill: hang with us a moment. we're watching the monitor here

trying to wait until we get the house speaker in view now. so here is kevin brady, normally these matters start on issues of the economy, taxes and jobs and that's the anticipation now as well. also the healthcare push that has been prominent for the past several weeks. we'll drop in and see what they're saying now about the comey matter and everything that surrounds that. >> special interest loopholes, time to deliver fairness for all taxpayers. time to lower taxes for all americans on every income level. time to cut the sky high tax rate on businesses so that american headquarters and american jobs no longer move overseas for a better deal. it's time to end the death tax. it's time to level the playing field for american manufacturers and make america more competitive. it's time for tax reform that creates over a million new jobs and helps americans keep more of their hard-earned money. so it's time for washington to lead on this issue now and that's what we're doing.

tomorrow ways and means republicans will hold a major hearing on tax reform related to growth of jobs and wages and the u.s. economy and we encourage all americans to tune in. thank you. >> good morning. first i want to thank chairman brady and the members of the ways and means committee. thank you very much, kevin. this will be an opportunity how tax reform with create jobs and grow our economy. i heard it last week talking to small business leaders in wisconsin. everywhere i went they talked about how our tax code is a source of constant frustration and it is clearly time for a change. for us and for the trump administration this means lowering tax rates for hard working americans. a simpler tax code so families can finally understand taxes. slashing business tax rates so businesses can compete on a level playing field. encouraging companies to create

jobs and make things here in america rather than overseas. and reining in the internal revenue service so it works for the taxpayer and not the other way around. this is how we create jobs and reach our economic potential as a country. we look forward to moving forward on this legislation. it has been 31 years since we last reformed the tax code. it was the year i got my driver's license. the opportunities like this come around only once in a generation. if we're serious about letting americans keep more of their paychecks and serious about bringing jobs back home and bringing manufacturing back home, then we have got to reform this tax system and seize this moment. thank you. >> good morning, everyone. welcome back. as you heard from chairman brady and from the speaker as the committees continue to work creating jobs in america, also on the floor this week we have other bills.

john f. kennedy proclaimed this week to be national police officers week and we aloe a great deal of debt to all of our officers who work every single day not knowing whether they'll come back or not. we share in the rewards from safe streets, neighborhoods, the lives that we live freely. and they've become role models for our children and others. but in 2016, 118 police officers died in the line of duty. that's 118 fathers, mothers, daughters, sons and friends. and we want to thank them for their service and for their sacrifice. so this week on the floor we'll have two major bills. the probation officer protection act by dave reichert, former sheriff and thin blue line act by buchanen and make sure our law enforcement have all the tools to be able to work in a modern society as well.

last night we had passed the strengthening state and local cybercrime fighting act to help train law enforcement on cyberattacks. more than 300,000 machines just recently in 150 countries were attacked. also, if you watch what we'll have on the floor today, will hertz, modernizing government. we spend $80 billion a year on i.t. in government. 80% of that is legacy programs. if we modernize government we will create a more efficient, effective and accountable government for all americans. those are just some of the items that you will see pass the floor this week. >> i applaud chairman brady in his effort to start the process of tax reform so we can actually lower rates for families to put more money back in the pockets of hard working families who know that our

taxes are too high already and want to get our economy moving again and get growth and bring those companies that have left america back to our country so we can grow our economy here. i think it's important that this week we are recognizing police officers week. you know in louisiana last week we lost 10 officers in the line of duty. and three of those were officers who were killed in baton rouge in one day in july of last year, one officer still battling from that tragic day, is a sheriff's deputy. i went and visited with nick and his family last year as he was battling in the hospital and he still battles to this day. it is a tough battle. he is a tough man and he has a tough family. so nick remains in our prayers just like all those other officers who died in the line of duty standing up and protecting our communities. so i think it's important we all remember those police officers this week as we pay special tribute to them and

their families. one other person who we are standing up for this week joined with our conference chair kathy mcmorris rogers and other members introducing a bipartisan bill called the steve gleason act. a legislation we passed two years ago when medicare back in 2014 made changes that actually took speech generating devices away from people who were battling louger ig's disease and other debilitating diseases so nobody could denied their voice if they're battling a disease like als. that law is set to expire. we won't sit back and wait and yesterday i joined with steve gleason in new orleans to highlight this more. the chair woman has done the same thing highlighting the fact we aren't going to let

this law expire. we'll stand up for people with als and steve gleason is a true inspiration to the people in new orleans and around the country. his motto is no white flags. what that means is you never give up and no matter what your life's limitations might be, you don't let it hold you back from achieving your full potential and with the steve gleason act renewed permanently everybody will have a voice, even those who are battling debilitating diseases. >> as the speaker said, we have a once in a generation opportunity to enact meaningful tax reform. you think about what that means to every person in this country. it is an issue in which we've been working on for months. we've been talking about it for years and this is our opportunity to get it done. we have the administration, we have the house, we have the senate, and a president that knows this is a priority and wants to move it this year. americans need tax reform. our system is way too

complicated. something is wrong when hard work is punished in our country. that is not the american way. it's time -- you think about all time. we just finished tax day on april 15th and all the time that americans spend filling out their taxes and that is precious time that they could be spending with their families or working on growing their business. that's what we want them to be focused on. american people have been calling for this reform. this week we'll have a major hearing on tax reform. i look forward to getting it out of the house, getting it enacted because this is the way we grow our economy, create jobs, spur innovation. i also wanted to say thanks to the men and women who serve us in local law enforcement day in and day out around this capital around this country. as was mentioned, this is police week and it is important that we take some time to thank them and to reflect on those who have given the ultimate

sacrifice for me representing eastern washington it's deputy sheriff michael est who gave his life, but we will not ever forget him and his service. thank you. >> questions. >> thank you. do you believe that president trump may have been trying to influence or intimidate f.b.i. director james comey when according to this memo? secondly, do you still have the same level of confidence that you had before? >> there has been a lot of reporting lately that requires close examination. what i told our members this morning. we need the facts. it is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president. we have an obligation to carry out our oversight regardless of which party is in the white house. that means before rushing to judgment, we get all the pertinent information.

the house oversight and government reform committee is appropriately requested this memo and i'm sure we'll hear from mr. comey about why, if this happens as he allegedly describes, why he didn't take action at the time? there are a lot of unanswered questions. i told our members now is the time to gather all the pertinent information. our job is to be responsible, sober and focus only on gathering the facts. that is what congress does in conducting oversight of the executive branch. i will leave it to the committees that are doing the investigations. just remember, there is an investigation occurring at the f.b.i., there is an investigation in the house and an investigation in the senate. we have three investigations going on. i won't micromanage investigations. the point is this. we can't deal with speculation and innuendo. there is a lot of politics being played. our job is to get the facts and be sober about doing it. >> what about the political

impact. your members are on the ballot in two years. do you worry about some of the drip or controversies have an impact. >> i don't worry about things outside of my control. i worry about things within our control. whether or not we do what we were elected to do. solve people's problems. that's the other thing i would like to make. i think people in america turn on the tv and they think this is all that's happening. this is all we're doing and discussing. that's not the case. i want the american people to know that we're busy hard at work fixing their problems. you just heard from the chairman of the ways and means committee talking about moving down the path of getting comprehensive tax reform done because we know it's really important to unlocking economic growth and competitiveness for american companies. the point i want to make here is, we'll walk and chew gum at the same time. we'll keep doing our jobs, we'll keep passing our bills and keep advancing our reforms that we're elected to advance while we do the other things within our responsibility and that's what we'll be judged in

2018. did we make people's lives better? did we solve problems? did we fix the problems that people are confronting in their daily lives? that to me is what matters most and that's how we'll be judged. >> given your ambitious agenda have you considered or identified what the point would be where the current executive of the white house is unsustainable to get things done >> the last thing i'll do is pre-judge anything. i want to get the facts. our job is to be sober, dispassionate and get the facts and do our jobs and follow the facts wherever they may lead. craig, did you have one? i want to give it to the wisconsin guy. >> you've been criticized for not exercising more independence from this president. how do you respond to that criticism? >> we have two investigations in congress going on now with all things being russia and the government reform committee requesting these documents. there is plenty of oversight that is being done. what we don't do is try to meet

the facts within some 24 hour news cycle. what we do is dispassionately do our jobs and make sure the investigations follow the facts wherever they may lead and that obviously takes some time. one more thing. there is an f.b.i. investigation going on now with all things related russia done by the career professionals at the f.b.i. who will continue to be career professionals and the acting director said the other day no one has tried to impede that investigation. a lot of work is being done. that's the proper role of the legislative branch in conducting oversight of the executive branch and we won't try to play to the crowd or try to meet timelines. we'll do it the right way and follow the facts wherever they may lead. >> is it time for an independent commission? >> bill: the first question about whether or not there was intimidation of the f.b.i. director and confidence in the president. here is what the house speaker just said. we need the facts. some people want to harm the president, he said, before rushing to judgment we need to

hear from the f.b.i. director james comey. why did he not report it at the time? that was the question house speaker paul ryan presented there. he said no speculation, no innuendo insisting the agenda will go forward and ultimately that political question from mike emanuel about 2018 he said it quite clearly. we will continue to advance our reforms. did we make the lives of the american people better? did we solve problems? that's how we'll be judged in 2018. speaker ryan there in a moment. democrats come up in 14 minutes and we'll carry that live, too. in the meantime shannon has more now. >> shannon: it's bring in judy miller, fox news contributor. what we're hearing in the "new york times" article they say the memo also as part of comey's recollection of the meeting it started with a discussion about leaks and the president was angry there wasn't more being done or expressed his concern he wanted to see prosecution. in a piece today in the "new

york post," one reason trump fired him is that comey refused to investigate leaks within the administration of classified material some bearing on national security. my view, his view is that comey may have been hesitant to investigate because he knew some of the leaks came from the f.b.i. what do you make of this situation? >> i think i would prefer to believe what the president himself said, which is he was firing comey because he was a showboater and because he wouldn't let the russia investigation go. whatever michael goodwin thinks is at this point interesting but not relevant to what we're talking about today, i think. >> shannon: we have a lot of leaks. that's not up for debate because they're showing up every day. there has been a lot of conversation about why you can't track these people down. you know how important it is to have people giving you information as a journalist, important information. do you worry if there is a crackdown on leaks it will hurt transparency and the

administration will go so locked down people won't have any idea what is going on. >> they'll try to do what every administration does, go after leakers. barack obama started more leak investigations using the espionage act of 1917 than all presidents combined to stop leaks and he couldn't do it. look, the business of journalism is all about leaks and our country depends on leaks as a check and balance on power. a powerful president, a president who abuses his power, a corporation, that's why we're in business. so to focus attention on leakers and leaks is really to miss the point here. everything we know about donald trump and his relationship with the russians we know through hard nosed investigative reporting. that's what's going on now. >> shannon: some of the information and the way it's been released could be criminal in nature and we have folks this week who are leaking information about what happened between the president and

russians in the oval office. that meeting. yet they ended up releasing information into the public sphere that was the very power they were angry about the president sharing. isn't there hypocrisy in that? >> there is always tension between the public's right to know and classified information and clearly the people in that meeting were disturbed enough by what they heard to go back and to call the director of the nsa and the c.i.a. and say we have to do some damage control here. the israelis apparently the source of that information felt under enough pressure to stress that this would not affect the relationship between the united states and their country on intelligence sharing. so this is the natural process of journalism who -- journalists trying to cover an administration. every administration tries to cover up -- every administration tries to hide

things that are embarrassing. we have to go on doing our job and press ahead. >> shannon: is the media going too far talking about the things "the new york times" admits there was a conversation between the president and russian officials wasn't illegal but people are screaming obstruction of justice, talking about impeachment. is it too much reactionary over the top hype? >> there is a lot of democrats who would like to see donald trump exiled. they would like to see him sent off to an iceberg in antarctica someplace. that isn't going to happen. this investigation will proceed and we'll find out whether or not james comey actually wrote what he is purported to have written in those memos. we'll find out through an organized process and the political process and journalism will both continues. >> shannon: republicans and democrats want those tracks to continue and a lot of folks confident it will. thanks for coming in. >> bill: shannon, what do all

these allegations do on the republican agenda, repealing obamacare, tax reform, cutting regulations. more from what house speaker paul ryan said a moment ago. >> shannon: russia in the headlines again. what vladimir putin is saying about all of this and that meeting at the white house just today. >> bill: we're on stand by for president trump. he will be seen later this hour. his national security advisor says he did nothing wrong. >> there are no sensitivities in terms of me or anybody who has been with the president in many of these engagements. he shares information in a way that's wholly appropriate. if th

happened as he describes, why he didn't take action at the time? >> bill: the last point in critical. democrats are coming up in minutes. paul ryan saying lawmakers need

more evidence. marc thiessen, good morning to you. want to squeeze in a couple of points here. what paul ryan said some want to harm the president. we won't rush to judgment. we need to hear from f.b.i. director comey. what did he not report at the time? as we see air force one touching down in connecticut. marc. >> paul we saw there encapsulates the problem they face. the beginning part of that press conference they all walked out and four house leaders talked about their plans to have a big hearing on tax reform tomorrow and all the questions that came after that were about trump, comey, russia, investigation, subpoenas, etc., etc. they'll have a hard time pushing through their agenda with the distractions generated from the white house. >> bill: the first comment he made was that we need to seize the moment. when it comes to tax reform,

healthcare reform. they know they have the majority. we see the president in a matter of moments here, speech at the coast guard academy. there are distractions and questions will come from reporters. however, they can continue their meetings. they can continue to meet in committee. and push things forward. what's to stop them? >> nothing is to stop them. that's the important point. there will be more investigation, more hearings but the committees that are meeting to conduct those hearings and investigations aren't the same ones that write the tax code and write healthcare reform. they can walk and chew gum at the same time as he said. in terms of the white house, steve mnuchin and gary cohen are not distracted by comey. they're doing their jobs focused on tax reform and healthcare reform. they should be doing their job. >> bill: take us inside the west wing and tell us about the cabinet members as they continue to pursue what they've been working on there.

>> exactly. steve mnuchin and gary cohen aren't being called into the white house over comey or the russia revelations. they're doing their jobs writing tax reform and the members of congress who they are working with are working on tax reform legislation and healthcare reform legislation. there is no reason this should stop them. you could perhaps argue that this whole political environment would reduce the possibility for a bipartisan cooperation but there isn't any. you can't go from zero to down lower. the democrats have made clear they're the resistance. we won't get anything done bipartisan. what it means is republicans have to bear down and do their jobs because they know that if they are going to win the elections in 2018 and gain seats instead of losing seats and possibly losing the house and senate they have to deliver. they can't be distracted by all these things. they have to do it. >> bill: we'll watch it as we go. you wonder the president's ability to use his bully pulpit to forward his agenda with the

country, with his supporters and his base and onward. we saw air force one. stand by for president trump coming up. >> shannon: he will give a commencement speech at the u.s. coast guard academy as we await to hear from house democrats. moments away. will the president address the latest white house controversies in that speech? here is senator marco rubio. >> i spoke to one of the people in that meeting and they vehemently and repeatedly denied the president said or did anything that would have compromised u.s. intelligence, sources, intelligence relationships around the world. 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. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. now i can start relaxing

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there are doubts about whether tax reform will get done. all kinds of things contributing to that number. but it's a tough start. >> bill: haven't seen it in a while. maybe they need a breather, huh? they've been flying. president trump preparing to give a commencement address in connecticut. you'll hear that in a moment as we await democrats on capitol hill. we heard from republican leaders. two reports rattleling the white house including he shared sensitive information with russia. >> these are important matters whether it's this or the comey news. we won't base our opinion on a news article. i'm not saying they're wrong or right. i'm saying that they raise an allegation. we have an obligation to look into them. >> eli lake, a columnist with me. good day to you as we track all of this and we'll see the president in a moment. if we get cut off please understand. we'll see how far we get. first of all on the russia matter. this is your headline from

bloomberg. trump's best defense on russia is incompetence. the headline. explain. >> well, i think there is a temptation because he had lavrov in the oval office the day after he hired the f.b.i. director who had acknowledged an ongoing counter intelligence probe into the trump campaign and its potential collusion at least with russia, so that optics start off really bad. then you have the revelation that trump did not share sources and method but rather disclosed details of a very, very sensitive intelligence regarding isis plot with laptops against airliners that the russians could have reverse engineered to find out more about that source causing a potential intelligence breach. so much so that the intelligence community and the intelligence committees were briefed about this after the meeting. >> bill: we share information

with the russians all the time, don't we? >> there is a sharing of information. >> bill: this is a hot debate in america how much you cooperate with vladimir putin in order to get some level of progress in syria. you write, eli, this doesn't look like collusion with the russians, collusion implies the information should not be shared. where do we come down on what should be shared and what should not when you consider, as we see the president -- when you consider that the russians, their own people and airline was blown from the sky on behalf of isis in sinai, egypt, 18 months ago. >> that's right. in the abstract sharing information about isis plots against civilian airliners is not only appropriate but probably important in terms of the fact there has been u.s./russian counter terrorism cooperation since 9/11. the issue is when you have a president going off script as what is reported in that "washington post" piece, did he

then reveal details he should not have revealed that would allow the russians to know more about the source of that intelligence? since then it has been reported the israelis were the allied service that had source inside isis. that was not reported originally and we are told that the president did not know the source of the information. so i guess it is important to understand exactly what it is. some sources have told me that to pump the brakes is not as bad as what the "washington post" wrote, but i also would point out that the official pushback and -- from h.r. mcmaster did not address the initial claims in the "washington post" piece. so i still would like to see more information on that. >> bill: we're trying to figure this out as you are as well. who would have the incentive to leak that information? and the information itself. you know isis reads newspapers. they're watching. they're online. they see it. who has the incentive to make that information public?

>> there are two things that can be true. there can be legitimate concerns from people in the intelligence community. by the way, something like this would have been shared. the transcript of that meeting in the intelligence community. it doesn't necessarily have to come from someone who was in that meeting. there could be patriotic reasons to try to alert the "washington post". it is also true the national security state has been in a kind of resistance mode. a lot of it has been in a resistant mode to the trump presidency and a pattern of embarrassing leaks that aren't necessarily justified from a patriotic duty perspective. i'm thinking of some of those details about initial foreign leader phone calls with the prime minister of australia, and the president of mexico that we saw on the first week or so. >> bill: there is a pattern there you're saying. >> there is a pattern in the sense we know that the democratic party is very much in resistance mode and there are a lot of people in national security state that are very

uncomfortable with how trump campaigned when it came to russia because russia has really been seen by the professionals at this point in the government as an adversary even though both george w. bush, bill clinton and barack obama tried to reset that relationship. so every president tries to reset the relationship with russia. >> bill: i want to get to one more point. vladimir putin made comments earlier today. so our viewers know, he calls all this schizophrenia and one point he refers to the anti-russian sentiment as stupid ordaining rouse. you write the relationship with russia is complicated. how is this now evolving knowing that democrats are about to show a picture of president trump standing next to sergey lavrov, the foreign minister? >> it's evolving because so much is hanging over this white house with regard to these allegations. nothing has come out as evidence of significant collusion yet. the allegation hangs and it

casts a shadow over the white house. that affects the ability of trump to do what he campaigned on. to explore a counter terrorism partnership with russia. that said my personal view as a national security columnist is russia wouldn't make a great counter terrorism partner and should be isolated. but that's separate from trump's legitimacy to pursue his own foreign policy. >> bill: thank you for that. more breaking news. >> shannon: you heard from the house gop. now time to hear from the house democrats. we'll listen in to see what they have to say. this is cummings now who is speaking nou. over his shoulder you see adam schiff the ranking member on the house intelligence committee. >> we're deeply concerned that the failure of the house republicans the take action in the face of this onslaught of allegations would cause significant damage to the faith

of the american people have in the credibility and the integrity of our committees in the house of representatives. of course, speaker ryan has shown he has zero -- zero, zero appetite for any investigation of president trump. instead he appears to have minimized any oversight whatsoever. last night our chairman, representative chaffetz tweeted he wants copies of the comey memos. my subpoena pen is ready. we've been waiting for months for the chairman to pick up his so-called subpoena pen and use it against the white house. in march just a month after the president allegedly pressured director comey to drop the

flynn investigation, chairman chaffetz and i sent a bipartisan letter to the white house requesting documents relating to general flynn. but the white house completely refused. the white house is obstructing our investigation, covering up for general flynn, and refusing to provide not a single document. not a single syllable, zilch, nothing. is this what the white house has been hiding since march? were there conversations or emails within the white house about the president asking director comey to drop the flynn investigation? we don't know. so yes, i'm encouraged that the chairman sent a letter last night asking for comey's memos. but we need much more than that, ladies and gentlemen. at this point it is obvious that we need to subpoena the

white house and to demand the documents that chairman chaffetz and i requested in march. we also need a hearing with director comey in public. when director comey held his press conference last summer announcing no charges against secretary clinton, chairman chaffetz had him in the witness chair at a hearing before the oversight committee within 48 hours. why isn't he doing the same here? republicans are not doing their job to hold the republican president accountable. and so it's our job to do so. that is why, as i close, we need to restore credibility, accountability, transparency by passing this legislation to create a truly independent

commission. the american people deserve the answers and i want to thank representative falwell for his leadership. i want to pass the mic to our ranking member of the house intelligence committee. adam schiff. >> i want to thank my colleagues for introducing the legislation that will be the subject of the discharge petition to form an independent commission and i want to talk a little bit about why the commission is so important and what the role of that commission would be as distinguished from an independent counsel and what we're doing in congress. i want to mark on the extraordinary circumstances that have led up to today. if you look at the russia investigation through the prism of just one person, it underscores just how serious a

thoroughly independent and adequate investigation and department of justice and independent counsel truly is. let's start back when michael flynn worked for president obama as the head of the d.i.a. he was essentially fired from that job. some period thereafter he goes to russia with the financial support of russian entities like rt that the intelligence committee has concluded it is a propaganda arm for the kremlin. he doesn't get permission to accept the monies from rt he apparently or reportedly doesn't disclose the acceptance of those monies. he becomes a prominent surrogate for president trump in the campaign. sometime thereafter and during the transition he has contacts with the russians that he later would mislead the vice president and potentially others about. this results in his firing by

the president. the president as we learned from the acting attorney general yates was advised that mr. flynn had misled others in the administration or the vice president took no action on it until it was disclosed in public. once he was forced to fire mr. flynn he expressed no animosity or discomfort with the fact that mr. flynn led the vice president to mislead the country but rather angry at the press for revealing it. sometime thereafter, according to the president's own account, he meets and has dinner with james comey in which comey is concerned about whether he can keep his job. in the context of that dinner the president wants to know whether he is the subject of that same investigation. and the president, when he was asked by the president's account whether he is going to continue during that dinner conversation to keep comey on, he says we'll see. now it is reported that

subsequent to that dinner, at another meeting with director comey, he asks, others in the room to leave the room. he then has a conversation where the president asks him to drop the investigation of michael flynn. this is the course of the last couple years of events just involving one person within the russia investigation. and i think it underscores not only the seriousness of why this investigation has to go forward but why we have to ensure it is fully independent both in terms of our oversight responsibility but also in terms of if there were loss that were violated that we have an independent voice and decision maker at the justice department making those decisions. the commission brings two things, the commission brings an independent body completely removed from political considerations to give the country the confidence of knowing that body will follow the facts wherever they lead.

not as a sub stative for what we're doing in congress but as an important additive to what we're doing here much as was the case after 9/11 when the commission acted independently but also in conjunction with investigations going on in the congress. the reason why an independent counsel is also necessary is the independent commission doesn't make prosecutorial decision. the attorney general has recused, we thought, from involvement in these issues up until he played a role in the firing of james comey. at least recommending that firing. and it's not enough, i think, for the career professionals at the justice department who are very good and i have a lot of confidence in the career professionals. it is not that they're not capable of doing that job, it's that the result has to have the buy-in of the public.

with regard to all the circumstances in this one case the argument for independent counsel is quite profound. finally one last point on the commission and that is the commission would have the resources necessary to really do this job. it will have not only the political detachment but it will have the staffing and the single minded focus. we're doing the very best we can in the intelligence committee and i thank the leader for his leadership. at the same time both our committee and senate committees have limited resources and a big day job overseeing the intelligence agencies. we would benefit from having the single body that has the resources it needs. my thanks to the leadership and mr. cummings for his. this is an absolutely essential addition to the work we're doing in congress. >> thank you, adam. for your leadership on the

committee and thank you elijah for working with me to write this legislation in december and reintroduce it for this congress. i just signed the discharge petition on the floor and i did it because the cost of these events has become too much for the people that we represent. what is the cost? what is the cost of the president's alleged ties to russia? what is the cost of the president's alleged obstruction into the investigations that are taking place? and what is the cost of the president's abuses of power in firing people investigating him and sally yates and director comey? well, the cost is that our democracy has become a mess. our ability to help people put food on their table, a roof over their head and provide opportunity to their kids has been gridlocked and brought to a halt. and the future cost of future

elections is now threatened. it is not dispute i had by anyone but the president that russia attacked our democracy. >> bill: independent commission at the request by adam schiff. a house committee investigating, the senate committee investigating and the f.b.i. investigating. we'll see if that idea goes anywhere. president trump arrives in connecticut 20 minutes ago and makes a speech at the coast guard academy. when that begins you'll hear it live here on fox. first get a break here and we'll debate everything that's going on today. let you know what we've learned so far and bring you up to speed. that's next. their experience is coveted. their leadership is instinctive. they're experts in things you haven't heard of. researchers of technologies that one day you will. some call them the best of the best. some call them veterans.

we call them our team.

>> bill: one essential question throughout the morning. is there a memo from the former

f.b.i. director. we're waiting for donald trump to deliver the commencement address. you'll see that live when it begins. let's continue what we have learned so far. >> shannon: let's bring in david goodfriend, former staff secretary to president bill clinton and matt schlapp the. i'm guessing the two of you won't agree on much this morning. i want to give you both quickly a chance to say your piece. david, start with you. you heard paul ryan saying there are multiple tracks of investigations here. i won't micromanage. a number of republicans saying we want to follow both in the house and senate wherever the facts lead. are you confident they will? >> i am. the reason is because i'm standing here in the russell senate office building of the capitol behind me on fox news with you and we're not talking about tax reform or healthcare reform or jobs or infrastructure or anything of

the things that people voted for donald trump to do. we're talking instead about donald trump's actions or misdeeds or maybe even crimes in the white house. republicans in congress want to get things done. the minute that other republicans in addition to chaffetz and mccain start to realize this president is an impediment to the republican agenda you'll start to see action against this president. not by democrats like me, but by republicans who want to legislate. it ain't happening right now. >> shannon: i had our research team pull together statements from republicans expressing frustration about the inability to get their agenda moving because they deal with drama. it's longer than i thought. mccain and the list goes on, on the house side as well. how do they get things done and refocus on all those important issues when it seems every day there is a new crisis? >> we don't have a policy disagreement the here.

you have some drama out of the white house. you have some sloppiness with the staff around some of these decisions but actually it was democrats who always said all throughout the election process we have to get rid of jim comey. donald trump did what they asked him to do. on the question of russia it is simple. jim comey owes it to the american people to tell us what he knows. the only thing jim comey won't leak about is any evidence that shows wrongdoing by trump or any of his associates. >> shannon: we're just about out of time. we have to leave it there. thank you both. back with more right after this. >> bill: as we wait on the president. coast guard academy. shake! shake! shake! done! you gotta shake it! i shake it! glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. it's your glass of willpower that helps keep cravings... ...far, far away.

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>> couple things to keep in mind. we had a heck of heck of a run, this is a reflection as to whether or not the republican agenda get stalled. >> the president, we are standing by, he is going to speak at the commencement address at the u.s. coast guard academy. we wonder if he's going to weigh

in today on news topics, or if he is going to stick to -- >> watching liberty university on saturday was interesting. we've got to run, have a great wednesday, we're going to catch you later. bye-bye. >> the white house strongly denying this morning on the bombshell report the president trump pressured james kony to drop an investigation of his fire to national advisor michael flynn. good morning. i'm jon scott. >> and i'm heather, great to be here. "the new york times," let's begin there, reporting that director comey wrote a memo after his meeting with the president, back in february, in it, comey reportedly quotes that the president said, i hope you can let this go. the administration denying that the president ever asked the fbi director to drop any investigation. lawmakers on both sides of the