>> we heard from the president's personal lawyer yesterday, we will see what they have to say it now. >> thank you for being with us today. we wait on the statement from the president's lawyers coming up. >> this is a fox news alert, we >> harris: we will pick up the coverage. awaiting mark kasowitz, who the president has brought on to work with him, for him, as he faces a firestorm of information coming in from that hearing of james comey, the fired fbi director james comey. so what is coming out of that that this attorney feels he needs to respond to? it may be things like such. james comey saying he did feel like the president was asking him to back away from an investigation of his national security adviser, but he did not feel pressured. we've heard that before. he did not feel that he could stand strongly against the president and tell him they should not be discussing this.

did it go so far as though to reach a point where there was any legality being crossed? it's a high stakes showdown. the nation riveted today. hours of testimony first and now an attorney who represents the president coming up to speak. reaction pouring in from both sides of the political aisle after fired fbi director james comey gave his side to the conversations he had with with president about the russia investigation. this as new questions are being raised about what was actually said between the two men and whether what the president said amounts to obstruction of justice. you're watching "outnumbered." the fox business network megan mcdowell is here. former spokes person for the state department is here. right on time with legal analysis like no other can give. today's hash tag one lucky guy. judge andrew napolatano.

we're better for you being here today. >> very kind to say that. high stakes day. >> harris: let's start with the news. he said he was put under unrelenting pressure at a point. james comey said president trump pushed him repeatedly in private conversations to drop the investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. but in an exchange with senate intel cherair richard burr stopd short of saying the president's actions amounted to obstruction. watch. >> did you sense the president was trying to object strub justice or just seek for a way for mike flynn to save face, given he hard already been fired stphr. >> i don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation was an effort to obstruct. i took it as a very disturbing thing. very concerning. but that's a conclusion i'm sure the special council will work towards to try and understand what the intention was there and whether that's an offense. >> harris: while we wait for the

president's attorney to give a response, we understand there's a two to three minute written statement, i can tell you this is his long time attorney. he has seen him through a lot of different things. i want to go right now to judge napolitano. you know the history of this men. >> i do. i do both of them. mark kasowitz office is just a block from here. one of the premiere litigators in new york city. not necessarily a person with a great deal of experience in criminal law or in dealing with the justice department, but a very very high end, very polished, very intelligent, very competitive litigator who can bring a great team of experienced people with him and who has represented president trump in his matrimonial issues and in many, many, many, mayor litigations that then private citizen donald trump was engaged in. >> harris: some of them in the presidential campaign leading up to becoming the leader of the nation. >> yes. >> harris: so that's recent history that they share.

the allegations against trump university as an example of that. they have a lot of history. then that begs the question. why do you need your big long-term friend attorney to come up and step up after james comey leaves the hill? what happened to make that necessary? >> because the general impression created, in my view, by jim comey was one of credibility and condemnation of the president. calling the president a liar, went under oath. as the former fbi director suggesting that there might have been a corrupt motivation for the order to shut down the investigation of general flynn but it would be up to the special prosecutor to determine what the motivation was. these are damning, damning statements that beg for a response. without a response, we are left only with the general impression of, in my view, not everybody will agree. i'm just gathering information about the way it's being

perceived nationwide. as credible, compelling and condemning. >> harris: one of i guess the big questions that's looming here, too, is that we don't often get to see a peek into an investigation. but because he's talking about things on the hill, are we getting a peek into an investigation that might involve the president? are we getting a little taste of what robert mueller has? >> think of robert mueller as jim comey's lawyer. robert mueller is the chief investigator and chief prosecutor. we just saw his star witness. star witness is a really compelling professional. he's been involved in thousands of investigations. many, many prosecutions. he knows exactly how the system works. he's a terrific star witness. we know something will soon happen. i'm gonna tell you what it is. it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. an interrogation by robert mueller personally of the president of the united states about all the allegations that jim comey made this morning.

>> harris: and is that because they have happened since he's been president? anything outside of the white house statements at this point would not be something that they could access. is that not true? >> no, that is not so. the allegations before the special prosecutor, independent counsel, are of potential collusion between the trump campaign -- >> harris: and that happened before -- >> that happened before donald trump was president. >> harris: i see you nodding, marie. >> yes. i agree with a lot the judge just said. you used a word that i think is really important is credible. that people looking to take apart the comey testimony are going to have some challenges doing that. whether or not there's obstruction of justice here, and i don't know. you're better qualified to make that judgment than i am. what he outlined was very inappropriate behavior by the president. and we should hold our president i think to higher standards than not just committing crimes. if you take this from a legal perspective to a political one

which often what we talk about on the couch, that will have lasting consequences for i believe president trump's agenda and for what happens in the next month. one other thing i came away with today is that bob mueller has a lot of work to do. >> harris: i want to interject here. we have just gotten the written statement from mark kasowitz, president trump's personal lawyer. he will be saying this so i'm not going to read all of it to you. you can hear it from kasowitz. i want to pull out a section for the judge. mr. comey's testimony makes clear that the president never sought to impede the russian investigation. according to mr. comey, the president told mr. come kwrrbg it would be good to find out in that investigation if there were some satellite associates of those who did something wrong. he did not exclude anyone from that statement. why say that? why is that important? >> mark kasowitz has an almost impossible task to accomplish in two minutes, which is to refute the essence of what jim comey

stated in three hours. i don't know that a statement like that is gonna do it, but i'm gonna wait and see. >> harris: there's much more here. it may change even. >> to that point, should the senators both on the democrats and the republicans done more to push jim comey? it seemed as if watching that hearing, that it was very short. they did not go into a lot of detail with him. they could have drilled down a great deal more. because if he accuses the president of the united states of being a liar, but then continued to have private phone conversations with him. then he said he never would have stepped down as the fbi director. if he was so compromised, why didn't he resign? >> those are all great questions. i actually share your criticism of the lukewarm nature of the questions that were put to him. >> i can show you where it wasn't so luke warm. let's watch. he wanted to know, wanted to point out the use of the word

hope. let's watch. >> he's a former prosecutor. he knows how to ask questions. >> there's 28 words there that are in quotes. i says, quote, i hope -- this is the president speaking. i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. now, those are his exact words, is that correct? >> correct. >> you wrote them here and put them in quotes. >> correct. >> he did not direct you to let it go 37. >> i took it as he wanted me to do. i didn't obey that. >> you may have taken it as a direct shrupb but that's not what he said. he said "i hope." >> those were his exact words, correct. >> you don't know anyone who has ever been charged for hoping something. >> i don't as i sit here. >> harris: hope, the significance? >> to get -- >> harris: i hope you will. >> a point marie made. this is not a criminal prosecution. this is essentially a political endeavor what we saw today and

whatever the next few steps will be. it is not the obligation of anybody to prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime. but what bob mueller will try to determine is what was donald trump's motivation? was his motivation to conserve resources, to enable him to become the president and govern better? legitimate motivations. saying shut this down and look for these leaks. or was his motivation venal, i don't want anybody going after flynn because i don't know what flynn will tell about me. and the motivation is what turns an ordinary presidential order into a corrupt act. >> i think part of the problem going on here. we were talking about this while it was going on. james comey is not an innocent school boy in this. >> agreed. >> my big question he told the attorney general he didn't want to be alone with president trump but kept speaking with him privately on the phone. he also had a friend of his leak information to "the new york times." a columbia law professor.

my thought was to settle personal scores. lot of politics on his par as well that i think because he did so well today in his testimony, is being bypassed. there are a lot of politics at play all the way around. and i think it is a little short sighted to accuse our president of the united states of being a liar. it is a very very aggregious serious thing to say. >> i agree with everything you just said. >> is it normal to leak to "the new york times?" >> here's the question. what did he leak? did he leak a memo sent to himself on his i phone which was his and was he free to leak? or did he leak an official government document, which former at the time it was leaked a government employee he does not have authority to leak. his name is professor daniel richmond. a former fbi agent. >> a friend. >> it was a friend of jim comey's. >> he's now teaching at columbia

law. >> you have a president, also n unprecedented that is so personal. i'm not saying i agree with comey. but that is an incredibly unique situation. just because there's politics of play, of course there's politics at play, doesn't mean what comey said wasn't true. >> i completely agree. >> hell hath no fury as an fbi director scorned. a lot of this seems so deeply personal. this should be about national security. this should be about whether or not president trump did ask him to lay off with michael flynn which he also said comey said trump did not specifically ask about the investigation except on unrelated matters. he also never asked to stop the investigation. so there are also damning statements on both sides. >> absolutely. >> harris: i would say this. there was one exchange fairly early on of all the senators who

were speaking today at that hearing with james comey. senator rubio exchanged about, look, if you really thought that there was a problem with this president, why didn't you go to the white house counsel? why don't you take care of it then? >> good question. >> harris: let's watch that and then we'll discuss it. >> did you say anything to the president about that is not an appropriate request? or did you tell the white house counsel that is not an appropriate request? someone needs to tell the president he can't do these things? >> i didn't, no. >> why? >> i don't know. as i said earlier, the circumstances were such that i was a bit stunned and didn't have the presence of mind. i don't want to make it sound like i'm captain courageous. i don't know that i would have said to the president, sir, that's wrong. in the moment it didn't come to my mind. what came to my mind was, be careful what you said so i said i believe flynn is a good guy.

>> harris: i'm not captain courageous? is he painting himself as someone who's a victim? >> a martyr. >> harris: what is that? >> i tell ya, i think that's being self-effacing. when a witness admits fault, that enhances the witness's credibility. no witness is perfect. you just ourilliant case against him. no witness is perfect. he admits he has an ax to grind. we all know he was not only fired, but he was fired in a humiliating way, where his employees learned about the firing before he did. he obviously had sleepless nights about it. >> i encourage the viewers to go back and read the literally years of editorials from "the wall street journal" just about jim comey. the one they published yesterday, they said when you're dining alone in the green room with an operator like mr. comey, calculating, self-protective, one of the more skilled political knife fighters of

modern times. that's how they -- and this goes back years, in terms of his over the top pursuit of frank quatrone, scooter libby. said comey essentially siccing his buddy, special prosecutor patrick fitzgerald on scooter libby, karl rove and dick cheney even when he knew they weren't behind the leaks. >> harris: i could go on. >> we want you to. >> harris: couple housekeeping notes for you. james comey is now in a private behind closed door meeting with senators. as soon as he departs, we'll show you that. what's on the left side of your screen is us waiting for president trump's personal attorney to step up and give list response in a statement which we have received. sometimes things hold. usually they do. i gave you a little bit of that. but we want it to come directly from mr. kasowitz. he'll step up and we'll get to hear his reaction to james comey

on the hill. so now if you want to go on -- >> it's very fascinating. >> she was on a roll. >> can i say something? you and i really i think we spend a lot of time outside the belt way and media. there are a lot of drinking games. lot of people celebrating putting what i wouldn't think is incredibly great taste events that were going on while watching this. the average american is at work all day not paying much attention. how much of this do you think has legs and will hijack trump's agenda? >> now it's up to the republicans and the house and senate to move that agenda long. we've seen great slow going. >> harris: do they have his back? >> increasingly, they will not. but they know that next year they will not get re-elected. >> harris: james comey departing that behind the scenes closed door meeting with senators. now remember, we saw the public version this morning. and there were many, many, many

times when he said, i can't talk ab that in open court or open session here. but as soon as we go behind, that might be something i might be able to answer. so we don't know yet what some of those questions and answers might have been inside that room. but now james comey has left. he was in there for about an hour. >> i'd like to pick up with that. i do think this is up to republicans. do republicans still feel comfortable supporting the president, not withstanding what they learned about him today? or does this give comfort? i'll give you an example, your father's colleague jeff flake is often criticized for being critical of the president. does this give comfort to people like that to distance themselves from the president? because when and if they do, he's not going to get his legislative agenda passed. >> this is what i keep my eye on. the dow jones industrial average hit a new all-time high during the comey hearing. >> we know what the financial

community thinks. >> certainly investors were not unnerved by what they heard. it's not -- there was no more there than they were already aware of, in terms of what comey said. >> harris: and what i have heard you also in your analysis say with different subjects that sometimes will cause the dow joan, the market to tilt in one direction or the other, said it's taking away that uncertainty. apparently were they not so disturbed but they maybe didn't think they learned anything new. >> quite frankly torque be blunt, it didn't speak impeachment. >> did anything illegal or impeachable happen? did the president do anything illegal or impeachable? there's a lot of pomp and circumstance and show ponying, by the way, that he was doing to try and distract. >> the decision is it a political one? i think the answer to your question is no. this is the beginning, not the end, of a very sophisticated

high end resource rich investigation by bob mueller. >> that's the bottom line is extraordinary. we're not even how many months into his presidency. not even six months into his presidency and impeachment is the bottom line? >> harris: for democrats. your party has been talking about this almost since inauguration. i said your party. i didn't say you. >> that's an extraordinary statement. >> harris: i don't speak for all tall girls. you don't speak for all democrats. >> if the democrats win the house of representatives in 2018, is this their first order of business? impeachment? >> harris: that's a fair question. your party has been talking about it. >> it shouldn't be their first order, no it should not. but i think you will have an increasing number of members looking to introduce articles of impeachment. >> harris: what kind of day has james comey had? >> quite frankly -- harris, i don't care what kind of day he's had. it shouldn't be about him.

this is turning into so much about the personalities of these two men. this is about national security. this sabt russia's involvement with the united states of america. >> harris: do you think he thinks he did the nation a favor by coming forward and revealing -- -- [ [ talking at the same time ] >> i think he was thinking ab his own reputation and the book deal and the hbo movie that will be made out of this. >> all of those things may be true. they also don't mean that what he said isn't true. >> absolutely. >> he volunteered to show. when you volunteer to show, you don't have to answer all their questions. he answered everything that was put in front of him except what he said was a secret. >> i am so frustrated with how much the agenda that republicans should be focusing on has been hijacked by this. not in part because of our president's own doing as well. let's not pretend that this isn't a complete and total media

circus at this point. for those of us who care about the supreme court, who care about repeal and replace, who care about tax reform, this is a complete and utter distraction. >> media circus. there is one person who could have made this much more of a media circus. if the president had been tweeting every time comey used his name. >> he hasn't tweeted since yesterday in his own account and the potus account. >> harris: donald trump jr. was tweeting. he was tweeting out things, pointing to things that supported what his father was saying. he was live tweeting that event. you talk about flooding the zone, if you will, or driving the narrative. and the president did that effectively yesterday some would argue. look at all he accomplished yesterday. going to ohio, meeting with business and family members of those who have really suffered under obamacare, talking infrastructure. there were a lot of things that have gone on leading up to that in terms of meeting with gop leadership at the white house to

talk about repeal and replace obamacare this week. the national press club though is what we're focused on to the left of your screen. that is where we are expecting the president's personal attorney, mark kasowitz, to step up and give us his two to three minute statement about what he saw and his vision ahead legally for president trump after james comey was on the hill. >> do we know it will be a q and a? >> harris: my notes don't have any information about that. i only have a little bit of the statement that i read for you. i only have the statement. so we don't know yet. it's obviously a room full of press. it's an opportunity if he wants to fill the narrative. >> certainly in my modern life time, i don't remember a president setting his personal attorney on to sort of do any kind of -- >> even richard nixon didn't do that. it is unprecedented. harris pointed this out earlier so my idea is not novel.

it does point out the devastating effect that the general impression, not the specific little items that we're addressing. that's what we do for a living. the general impression of director come kwraoes testimony was very very negative for the president. they have to get their narrative out there before the news cycle turns or this general impression will fill in, sit in with the public unrebutted. >> harris: this is an tune for mark kasowitz to step up and not just give his statement, but if he takes question, he can turn that narrative, if that's his goal. >> a good trial lawyer, which is what mark is, wants to make the opening argument for his client. you make that opening argument either by attacking the other side or bolstering your own client or doing both. >> so far all we've heard, we did hear from white house spokeswoman sarah huckabee sanders who just said president trump's not a liar.

it's got to be better than that. from comey. i thought he was a liar, that's what i did why i did what i did. then the white house response is no, he's not. >> i agree with that. >> she held a press briefing while this was going on? she did a press briefing? >> yesterday sean spicer held one while the president was talking in ohio and talking health care. things go on simultaneously. you can even cover it. we were covering the senate hearing. i want to get to this. journalists, if they do get to shout out a question, one of the things they may ask about is james comey today talking about the president's request for his loyalty. let's watch and get some reaction. >> talk for a moment about his request that you pledge loyalty and your response to that and what impact you believe that had.

>> i don't know for sure. i don't know the president well enough to read him well. i think it was -- first of all, our relationship didn't get off to a great start having the conversation i had to have on january 6th. this didn't improve the relationship because it was very very awkward. he was asking for something and i was refusing to give it. i don't know him well enough to know how he reacted to that exactly. >> harris: judge, why even go there? i have to think everything has a motive now. >> to me, this was very damning because the implication and what jim comey said was a quid pro quo. you want to keep your job, you'll be loyal to me and shut down this flynn investigation. that would be very very serious if that's what the special prosecutor believes was the president's intention. >> harris: what kind of evidence do you need? memos we haven't seen. >> this is a he said/he said. i don't know if we have the clip. the president of the united

states being interviewed by judge pirro about this loyalty thing which he said didn't happen. i didn't ask it. >> politics of this is still really important. the point about sarah huckabee's response saying it's not good enough. do you know what else is not good enough? senator ryan saying president trump is young and new at this. >> i thought that was terrible. >> who ever is doing the messaging on, this it's so wrong you're hurting things. both sarah huckabee and senator ryan. >> if you're saying your boss isn't a liar, you're not in a good place. let's just start there. you can't just -- this is a legal question, right? you can't say i didn't know what the law was or the norm was. that's not a good defense. he is president of the united states now. i agree that i was unsatisfied by paul ryan's response. i think he gave a press conference during that committee hearing. i was unsatisfied.

>> harris: real quickly, mark kasowitz the president's personal attorney is in the building. we are told this is coming up very quickly. he's going to speak. i know the question wes would be asking. i don't know if he will be taking questions. we're just now getting a two minute warning. we're going to work with that. at any moment we will toss there. >> here's what frank wants. he's the communications expert of all communications expert tweeted earlier. the president is not a liar is almost as bad as nixon's, i am not a crook. bad language. bad strategy. >> that is exactly right. if your first comment from the white house is just that statement -- sarah huckabee knows better. she knows better. >> paul ryan -- you talk about damning, that could have been said tongue and cheek by mrs. pelosi, his opposite member. >> harris: this attorney has known the president for decades. >> yes. >> harris: he has been with him

at some of the toughest legal moments in president trump, then private citizen's career. >> yes. >> harris: he has been there for purchases, divorces. >> yes. >> harris: all of those things that have touched him deeply, personally and professionally. >> he can speak from his heart about donald trump. >> harris: he can perhaps turn this around. what do you know about kasowitz that gets this done today? >> brilliant. eloquent. tenacious. this is a different forum for him. marie has more experience as a pr person than mark kasowitz. his specially is a panel of judges or before 12 jurors. >> harris: where would you tell him to start? >> i would start with the most damning things jim comey said. liar, looking for a quid pro quo, trying to shut down the flynn investigation for an improper purpose. those are things that in my view have to be addressed. >> harris: of course, we have the benefit of having the statement. i said this before. i know this as a journalist.

this is a very fluid situation. so he may add or subtract. it may be a contemporaneous type thing. >> something else we haven't focused on, something james comey said. he absolutely believes that he was fired because of the russia investigation. president trump did say that basically in his interview right after that. but that is something that, are we all accepting as fact? >> harris: all right. fox news alert. attorney to the president of the united states. let's watch. >> i'm donald trump's personal attorney. he will make a statement. he will not be taking questions. >> ladies and gentlemen, i'm mark kasowitz, president trump's personal lawyer. contrary to numerous false press accounts leading up to today's hearing, mr. comey has now finally confirmed publicly what he repeatedly told president

trump privately. that is, that the president was not under investigation as part of any probe into russian interference. the president -- mr. comey also admitted that there is no evidence that a single vote changed as a result of any russian interference. mr. comey's testimony also makes clear that the president never sought to impede the investigation into attempted russian interference in the 2016 election. and, in fact, according to mr. comey, the president told mr. comey, quote, it would be good to find out, closed quote, in that investigation, if there was, quote, some satellite associates of his who did something wrong, closed quote. and he, president trump, did not exclude anyone from that

statement. consistent with that statement, the president never informed or substance directed or suggested that mr. comey stop investigating anyone, including the president never suggested that mr. comey, quote, let flynn go, closed quote. as the president publicly stated the next day, he did say to mr. comey, quote, general flynn is a good guy. he has been through a lot, closed quote. and also, quote, asked how general flynn is doing, closed quote. admiral rodgers testified today that the president never, quote, directed him to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate, closed quote, and

never, never, quote, pressured him to do so, closed quote. director coats said the same thing. the president, like wise, never pressured mr. comey. the president also never told mr. comey, quote, i need loyalty, i expect loyalty, closed quote. he never said it in form and never said it in substance. of course, the office of the president is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving the administration, and from before this, president and from before this president took office to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to under mind this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information an

privileged communication. mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. today mr. comey admitted that he unilaterally made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the president. the leaks of this privileged information began no later than march 2017 when friends of mr. comey have stated that he disclosed to them the conversations that he had with the president during their january 27th, 2017 dinner and february 14th, 2017 white house meeting. today mr. comey admitted that he leaked to friends of his reported memos of those privileged communications, one of which he testified was

classified. mr. comey also testified that immediately after he was terminated, he authorized his friends to leak the contents of those memos to the press in order to, in mr. comey's words, quote, prompt the appointment of a special counsel, closed quote. although mr. comey testified that he only leaked the memos in response to a tweet, the public record reveals that "the new york times" was quoting from those memos the day before the referenced tweet, which belies mr. comey's excuse for this unauthorized disclosure of privileged information and appears to be entirely retall -- retaliatory. we will leave to it the authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all the

others that are being investigated. in sum, it is now established that the president was not being investigated for colluding with or attempting to obstruct any investigation. as the committee pointed out today, these important facts for the country to know are virtually the only facts that have not been leaked during the course of these events. as he said yesterday, the president feels completely vindicated and is eager to continue moving forward with his agenda, with the business of this country, and with this public cloud removed. thank you. >> harris: we're letting this breathe for just a second because there are questions being shouted out. we didn't know if marc kasowitz would take any. he has not. he has left the room after about three and a half minutes of speaking on the president's behalf about response to james

comey's testimony on the hill today and also a host of other things that have come out. the top intel chief in the "washington post" story who were accused of also saying that the president asked them to back down on an investigation are looking into the former national security adviser michael flynn. let's bring it out to the couch. you said something that resonated with me. you said i'm a friend of president trump. you're concerned. why? >> i am concerned. you know, i don't agree with everything he says. i don't agree with the tone. i think i understand his head and his heart and i think i understand what he believes he was elected to accomplish and the frustration that he has confronted by dealing with things like this, so he can't get to the business of governance. but i am concerned after hearing jim comey today. it was far stronger, more credible and more damning than the statement we got from jim comey yesterday. when i read that i said, well, if that's all there is, we're

gonna fall asleep during this hearing. but that was not all there is. and i'm even more concerned with -- who is also my friend, marc kasowitz's response which was a conclusion response and an attack on comey. it did not go to the essence of comey's allegations. >> harris: megan, you had something similar about that while he was speaking. >> the president is not my friend personally. i don't know the president. but i am all deeply concerned as a life long republican. i come from the home state of arizona, as do you. arizona is ground zero for obamacare. >> harris: and what doesn't work about it. >> 160% premiums. i have friends paying more for their premiums than their mortgage. it has to be reformed. when we're talking about the agenda, we're talking about average real life americans who are feeling the ramification of the implosion of obamacare. we are not going to get any place as long as we're continuing to focus on russia and comey.

>> harris: i have to say our democrat iic representative actually agrees this is something that didn't hit bulls eye with the messaging. you had some thoughts for the attorney of how he should have handled this. >> i think from a messaging perspective, he did not do what he needed to for president trump. i think he said a number of things that were not actually accurate. he said jim comey said the president did not try to impede the investigation. jim comey did not say that. he very specifically did not say that. he basically said the opposite, that he ignored the president. i think this is not helpful. the white house needs to figure out how they're going to defend themselves. it is unatenable to say every question will go to the personal attorney, to not have a strategy to defend this white house. because then everything meghan is talking about isn't going to happen. >> harris: where's the war room? >> let's start with the strategy

of not rating, quote, closed quote. you have a lawyer -- if you're going to have a lawyer prepare a statement, don't have him read it. just issue the statement and then say something, particularly if you're not going to take questions. i just want to point out at least the dow is a measure of about a quarter of the economy dipped into the red. it hit an all time high. >> do you think they're watching that closely? >> i think the biggest thing that will hurt the stock market now and in the days and weeks and months ahead signs the agenda is stalled. >> we've been saying for months, judge that he needed to clean house with his team. especially everyone in his communication department. there's no better example of that than today what sarah huckabee sanders said, simply saying our president is not a liar. saying it's as horrible as nixon saying he is not a crook. they have to get something going with that. >> the question is how much of

their poor performance is created by president trump and how he communicates with them? >> harris: i would say this. out of all the people who could have communicated for the president today, he is a master at it. >> the president himself? >> harris: yes. to see the man who has worked alongside him legally, marc kasowitz, not nail it, as you put it, because he was quoting himself. >> marc can charm a jury. he can charm an appellate panel. but this quote, unquote, this meticulous response, i don't think it resonated with any of us, even those who wish the president well. >> he could also see some well known new yorkers going on tv for him. optically. he helped you with your three divorces? great. in this situation you're talking about national security, possibly lying. not the right person to send out just from a communication

standpoint. >> harris: i want to talk about leaking. james comey leaked. that's something that's been talked about. with so much talk about leaking information out of this administration, what comey said and how the president's lawyer fired back. we'll talk about all of it next. stay with us. (woman) when you have type 2 diabetes,

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>> harris: it has been a busy day learning more and more coming out of that hearing which was public that we could all watch today of the fired fbi director, james comey. just a short time ago saw him leave the then behind the closed door off the record meeting that he had with lawmakers just a short time ago. he departed that. he did not take any questions. and then moments ago we watched the attorney for president trump step up and he did not take questions. he read a statement in response. but let's talk now and listen to comey today as he first talked to information to the press and how some are calling it leaking,

what he did. watch. >> president tweeted on friday after i got fired that i better hope there's not tapes. i woke up in the middle of the night monday night 'cause it didn't dawn on me that there might be corroboration for our conversation, there might be a tape, and my judgement was i needed to get that out into the public square. so i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. didn't do it myself. i asked him to because i thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. >> harris: so did the friend leak it? we'll talk about it. here the president's own attorney, marc kasowitz, on that very point. >> of course the office of the president is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving the administration and from before this -- and from before this president took office to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be

those in government who are actively attempting to undermind this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communication. mr. comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers. >> harris: leaking. talk to me, judge. >> you have the former fbi director accusing the president of lying. you have the president's lawyer accusing the former fbi director of leak government documents. there's even an implication of perjury, although it was on some events that were not discussed in the hearing this morning, so it's not clear exactly where marc kasowitz was talking about. but this is high stakes. >> harris: what is at stake? the american people will watch this and say lies and leaking. what's at stake? >> the ability of donald trump to govern. i'm not talking about

impeachment. >> harris: getting stuff done. >> refocusing of the president's concentration and time on the business of governance. make some compromises. get some things passed. get the republicans in line. none of that stuff is happening because all of this is happening. >> you just laid out like a dream fantasy land. nobody is working with anyone. republicans so far in the house and the senate, more in the senate, seem to be suffering from complete inertia. they cannot move anything forward. there's no consensus at all. the dow is starting to sell off. it's down 31 points right now. basically if you don't get tax reform and healthcare overhaul done by tend of the year, you're looking at a recession. >> we agree. it's true. i fully agree with you. there's very little time between now and labor day when both the house and senate are in session. early june. it's fewer than 30 days. >> politically there's very little time between now and

midterms. it's coming fast. trust me. >> harris: you can call them bombshells. another one out of today's testimony. comey's take on that infamous tarmac meeting between bill clinton and loretta lynch during the private server investigation. what lynch told comey to do that he did not like at all. [team member] so, how can i help you? [customer] have you ever walked into the paint store feeling like you should really know more than you know? satin versus semi-gloss, and...i don't know! [team member] yes...i know the feeling. [customer] that's how i feel right now about all the financing options for this project i'm doing. i feel like i should know more than i know. [team member] don't sweat it. we have this new tool--my credit options guide-- that gives you a customized comparison like this, which helps you discover which credit options might be right for you. [customer] oh, this is better. they should make one for paint. [team member] want to get started? [customer] sure.

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>> the clinton campaign was using euphemisms, matters, things like that for what's going on. we were getting to a place where we were both going to have to testify and talk publicly about it. she said, yes, but don't call it an investigation. call it a matter. i said why would i do that? and she said, just call it a matter. it gave the impression that the attorney general was looking to align the way we talked about our work with the way political campaign was describing the same activity, which was inaccurate. we had a criminal investigation open. >> there you heard it. james comey laying out why he went public with the server probe and that loretta lynch told him to call the investigation a matter and not an investigation. what is the difference between those two things? >> well, this resulted in a lot

of fbi agents kidding jim comey, oh, you're now the director of the federal bureau of matters rather than federal bureau of investigation. i heard about the matter befores. but i did not hear his fear that loretta lynch was asking him to track the language that the clinton campaign was using which would be a serious abuse of power on the part of mrs. lynch. >> this language that he's using, that it made him feel queasy when it happened, this is part of jim comey being focused on his reputation. >> another set of problems. >> again, he is a master. i just want to point out quickly. "wall street journal" earlier in january when they asked the trump administration asked comey to stay on as fbi director. the lead of editorial in the journal on january 25th was, regrets, they'll have a few, in terms of the trump administration doing that.

i think they have more than a few regrets. >> how about the flip side of that? regrets, they'll have a lot, for firing. if he wassen fired we wouldn't be talking ab this today. >> harris: is it the firing or the way it was rolled out? >> we wouldn't have a special prosecutor. i believe bill mueller would not have been in that position. >> harris: we've gone back and forth over whether comey felt pressured. where do you come down on that? it's impossible to know now. he seems to be telling two stories. >> i don't think he sought pressure. he said he didn't feel pressure. he understood, i hope you can see your way to let mike flynn go, he's a good man, as an order, which he promptly disobeyed. >> harris: he said he wasn't strong enough to tell the president. i'm not captain courageous. >> he is such a towering personality, sometimes you just swallow it and go on to the next subject rather than refute it. >> harris: are you defending

james comey? >> no, but i understand jim comey's thinking. it's better to end the conversation than go toe to toe with the man in the oval office over his choice of word. >> harris: we're going toe to toe with a commercial but we're coming back. stay with us.

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>> president trump got on the record today after the fired filibuster director testified on the hill. through his attorney. you saw it live. judge napolitano was here to break it down.

>> pleasure to be with here. >> you're professionals and i love being here when these things are happening in real-time. >> excellent. we'll see you tomorrow at noon eastern and keep watching fox news for all the day's developments. here's shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast, 3:00 on capitol hill. james comey accused the trump administration of spreading lies. and admitted that he intentionally leaked a memo to trigger a special prosecutor. those but a couple of the dramatic moments. >> the administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the fbi. i was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting. >> do you believe that donald trump colluded with russia? >> it's a question i don't think i should answer in an open setting. >> the president's private lawyer going on the attack. >> today mr.