from that, be presidential in the rose garden there, and that will be interesting to see which way he chooses to go today. >> pelley: now, the documents that comey leaked were his own notes, which were unclassified, had no secret information in them that we are aware of. does that make a difference? >> well, it does make a difference in terms of this question of his character. if he was just relating private conversations, he did it anonymously, that's something that people might think isn't straight shooting, although he explained yesterday he did that because he thought if he did it himself, reporters would never leave him alone, but there is nothing that i've read or heard from legal experts that suggests there was anything wrong with turning over the information. former director comey was quite clear in testimony yesterday that these memos that he wrote and then handed over to his friend to pass on, that he made sure there was nothing classified in them so that he wouldn't run into any problems if, in fact, the information got out. >> pelley: in fact, what he

said yesterday was giving information to reporters is like feeding seagulls at the beach. we have our eagle on capitol hill, nancy cordes, with us, as well. unanimous circumstance how did g.o.p. senators react to this idea that comey had leaked information? >> interestingly, scott, they were not really up in arms about it. it is what the president's private lawyer has really chosen to focus on and the president tweeted about it as well, this morning, but lawmakers by in large seem to take it at face value, and one g.o.p. aide explained to me later that they didn't really feel that comey is in any jeopardy for what he did, because after all, he was merely sharing his side of conversations that the president himself has talked about publicly, has tweeted about, has even threatened to release tapes that include the content of those conversations. so they're saying the president can't very well exert executive privilege over these conversations and say comey can't talk about them when the

president himself is discussing them openly. >> pelley: now, what we're seeing here is the rose garden, the romanian president klaus iohannis is making his opening remarks. if this goes the way these things usually do, what will happen is after his remarks here in another minute or two, the floor will be opened up to reporters for questions, and that is what we are awaiting at this point. the president undoubtedly going to be asked about his tweet this morning, which he called the former f.b.i. director james comey, the man that he fired, essentially a liar and a leaker of information in the way that is in the president's view improper. you know, jeff pegues has been following the legal aspects of all of this. jeff, what are some of the legal issues that these tweets bring up? >> well, what i think is interesting, scott, if you look over the course of the

administration, the 140 or so days that president trump has been in office, every time he tweets, every time he makes a statement about russia, in a lot of ways it opens up more avenues of investigation for the f.b.i. and others looking into this. if you look at the wiretapping claim of trump tower, if you look at the tweet referring to tape recordings, if you look at the tweet today even, calling james comey a liar, in a way every time the president tweets about this issue or addresses this issue, it just increases the pressure on the white house to respond in some way. >> pelley: jeff, thank you very much. john dickerson, we have a special counsel investigation, a senate investigation, the f.b.i. investigation. how long is this going to dog the trump administration in. >> we don't know. i mean, in talking to members of the senate intelligence committee, the primary thing that comes across to me in these conversations is they say it

just keeps getting bigger. so as nancy pointed out, this started out as a question of collusion between the trump campaign and russians meddling into the election. now it has grown into something bigger, a question about the president's attempt to influence the investigation. so it is getting bigger, and it can take some time, as nancy also pointed out. there is that dance steps, the investigative committees have the make sure they're not getting in the way of the special counsel, and so they sometimes have to wait to get this information in the right sequence. so it could take quite a long time. the real, of course, thing to wait for is what the special counsel brings forward, because that has the weight as opposed to everything in between which is speculation and anonymous sourcing, that isn't to say that won't bedevil the presidency and the white house, but really everything is speculation until the special counsel comes forward with his final report, and that could be kuwait a long ways away. >> pelley: now will let's go

live to the rose garden where the president is standing next to the president of romania. the romanian president is wrapping up his remarks. if this proceeds the way it normally does, there will be questions invited from the american press and the traveling romanian press, as well, probably three questions for each side. but president trump tends to wing these things and to have them his way, so we don't quite know which way this will going but that's what we would typically expect. the president met with the president of romania earlier today, talked mostly about security issues. romania, as we said, is nato country. they have recently pledged to fulfill what president trump has asked for, and this is that each and every nato country spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defense and on the alliance. >> thank you so much, president trump. >> thank you.

dave boyer, washington "washing" dave? come on, dave. >> thank you, mr. president. apologies. >> that's all right. dave. >> mr. president, this morning on twitter you were referring to the testimony of james comey vindicating you, but i wondered if you could tell us in person, sir, why you feel that his testimony vindicated you when it's -- it really boils down to his word against your word, and also, if you could tell us, do tapes of your conversations exist? >> i'll tell you about that sometime maybe in the very fire future. in the meantime, no collusion, no obstruction, he's a leaker, but we want to get back to running our great country, jobs, trade deficit, we want them to disappear fast, north korea, big problem, middle east, a big

problem. so that's what i'm focused on. that's what i have been focused on. but yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. we are doing really well. that was an excuse by the democrats who lost an election that some people think they shouldn't have lost, because it's almost impossible for democrats to lose the electoral college, as you know. you have to run up the whole east coast and you have to win everything as a republican, and that's just what we did. so it was just an excuse, but we were very, very happy. and frankly, james comey confirmed a lot of what i said and some of the things that he said just weren't true. thank you very much. do you have a question?

>> and mr. president, if you could tell us, a couple weeks ago president trump was in brussels at the nato meeting, and not only was he encouraging nato members to pay up the 2% required of g.d.p. for national defense, but he also was saying that countries including yours who had now paid 2% in the past should make up for that difference. do you think that's fair? >> i was in brussels, and i met president trump, and i listened to his speech, and i liked it. because nato is based on values, but it is ultimately a military alliance. and, you know, military spending is. can kateed, and you need a lot of money because nato is the

strongest alliance the earth ever saw, and we want to keep it that way. so we have to spend money for defense purposes and spending money means if you're in an alliance, everybody has to spend money. this is called burden sharing, and i fully agree with the president with that. so, of course, some people like this better, and some didn't like it so much, but it's a simple fact that we have to do this, not as a purpose in itself. we have to do this to stay strong, be strong, and to defend our nation. >> 100% correct. and, you know, one of the things i was referring to during that speech was the fact, that yes, they haven't paid what they should be paying now, but for many years they haven't been paying, so i said, do we ever go

back and say, how about paying the money from many, many years past? now, i know no president has ever asked that question, but i do. we're going to make nato very strong. you need the money the make it strong. you can't just do what we've been doing in the past. so i did say, yes, you haven't paid this year, but what about the past years, the many past years where you haven't paid? perhaps you should pay some or all of that money back. you have a question? >> thank you. i have a question for president trump. on the matter of security, sir, you... many of the countries on the eastern flank of nato, including romaineback see russia as a threat to the security and the peace in the region.

do you share this vision, and do you think that the united states should act under article 5 if any of these countries are under military aggression? thank you very much. >> well, i'm committing the united states and have committed, but i'm committing the united states to article 5. and certainly we are there to protect. and that's one of the reasons that i want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force. but, yes, absolutely i'd be committed to article 5. >> thank you. mr. president, was there any discussion about the visa waiver program for romania? is there a time frame for including our country in this program? thank you. >> yes. we didn't discuss it, but there would be certainly... it would

be something we will discuss. mr. president? >> i mentioned this issue, and i also mentioned it during other meetings i had, because this is important for us. it's important for romanians who want to come to the united states. and, you see, more and more people come, president trump, from romania to the united states. some come as tourists. some come for business. and those who come for business should be encouraged. so the matter of visa waivers would be probably important to discuss, and we all hope that we will advance on this. >> oh, i look at those hands up there, president. do you have this in romania, too? >> i've got the microphone. if you allow me, mr. president. >> if i could only sell that. if i could only sell it.

who would like to ask. .. should i take one of the killer networks that treat me so badly as fake news? should i do that? huh? >> go ahead, john. >> be fair, john. remember how nice you used to be before you ran. such a nice man. >> always fair. mr. president, i want to get back the james comey's testimony. you suggested he didn't tell the truth in everything he said. he did say under oath that you told him to let the flynn -- you said you hoped the flynn investigation -- >> i didn't say that. >> so he lied about that in. >> well, i didn't say that. i mean, i will tell you, i didn't say that. >> and did he ask you to pledge -- >> and there would be nothing wrong if i did say it according to everybody that i read today, but i did not say that. >> and did he ask for a pledge of loyalty from you? that's another thing he said. >> no, he did not. >> so he said those things under oath. would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of events? >> 100%.

i didn't say under oath. i hardly know the man. i'm not going to say i want you to pledge allegiance? who would do that? who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath? think of it. i harley know the man. it doesn't make sense. no, i didn't say that, and i didn't say the other. > so if robert mueller wanted to -- >> i would be glad to tell him what i just told you. >> and you seem to be hinting that there are recordings. >> i'm not hinting anything. i'll tell you about it over a very short period of time. do you have a question here? >> when will you tell us about the recordings? >> over a fairly short period of time. >> are there tapes? >> oh, you're going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. don't worry. john, do you have a question for the president? >> thank you. and president iohannis, you are no stranger to russian aggression. vladimir putin recently suggested that romania could be in russia's crosshairs. are you... how concerned should the world be about russian aggression in your region, and should concerned should we be

here in the united states about what russia tried to do in our election? >> everybody is concerned, but, you see, being concerned should lead you to being prepared. so in my opinion, we have to be very clear, very simple and very straightforward if we talk about russia and with russia. in my opinion, we need dialogue. but on the other hand, we need what we all together decided in nato, a strong deterrent. this combination, strong deterrents and dialogue should lead toward a solution, which is feasible for every party.

>> hello, mr. president trump, you mentioned earlier in the anti-corruption fight in romania, it is matter of high importance in our country, but we see now that the air force's attempt to consolidate the rule of law are sometimes undermined by politicians. is your administration going the support the anti-corruption fight in romania, and how can you do it? thank you. >> well, we support very strongly romania, and therefore obviously we do support that fight on anti-corruption. we will always support that. and we support your president. we think he's didn't an outstanding job, very popular, very solid, working very hard.

we know everything that's going on, and, yeah, and he's going to win that fight. he's going to win that battle, but he has our support. >> romania is a problem for the u.s.-romania partnership and for the american investor because we still have corruption in romania >> you do, but i can tell you that there are many american investors right now going to romaine yes and investing. in fact, i was give an chart just before our meeting, and we have people going over to romania and investing, and they weren't doing that a number of years ago, so that shows very, very big progress, and there really are a lot of congratulations in store, but a lot of people are investing from our country to yours, and people love from romania the united states, and they come here a lot, and we're very proud of them. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you very much.

>> pelley: so live with the president of romania, the president just directly refuted the sworn testimony of james comey. the president said that he did not ask for comey's loyalty and did not ask comey to let go of the investigation of former national security adviser michael flynn. he also said that he would be happy to speak to robert mueller, the special counsel, and tell him that, as well. so, john dickerson, chief washington correspondent, a remarkable situation here, john. the president says that comey was lying under oath yesterday. comey has said that the president is lying. >> reporter: that's right. the president made that commitment, as you pointed out. 100% he said he would be willing the testify andpeak to the special counsel. the challenge with the president's comments about former director comey is he's kind of got one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas. on the one hand he said comey

lied about those things, essentially, using his words from his tweet, and on the other hand he was so truthful he vindicated him. in fact, there is a way in which the president was helped by comey's testimony if you take out certain bits and makes the case the president wants. to he needs those things comey said to be truthful. so it's hard the say he was a liar and that he vindicated him. on the substance of the things going on outside of the james comey matter, the president finally said what he was supposed to say at that nato meeting, which is he supports the central tenet of the nato agreement, article 5, an attack on one country is an attack on all, but he stayed rigorous in his reluctance to talk about russia. he would not answer or he ducked the question of whether russia is a threat to eastern europe, so maintaining his posture that he doesn't want to engage with the question of russia as a threat. but he did make that commitment

to article five in nato when he chose not to during the nato meeting. >> pelley: john, thank you. nancy cordes, one of the things comey said yesterday is he took careful notes after his meetings and phone calls with the president because he was afraid the president would lie about them. >> that's right. interestingly, he almost pre-staged the argument that the president made just now in this press conference. he was asked point blank by one senator: why should we believe what you're saying versus what the president said about this matter, and he said, look, you have the look at the entirety of everything that i've said. you have to look at my testimony as a whole. you can't say, well, i liked these things that he said, so i agree with them, but on all these other things he's a dirty rotten liar, and that's essentially what the president just did. he said that comey in his testimony had backed up the president in some ways but then lied in a whole bunch of other ways. i will tell you, scott, this does not appear to be a close call when it comes to the republican and democratic senators sitting on that committee.

not one of them challenged comey's memory or his voracity yesterday. they move that he is faithfully recounting what took place between himself and the president. some republicans may challenge his interpretation of what the president said, but they don't believe he lied. >> pelley: nancy cordes, thank you very much. let's go down to the white house lawn. margaret brennan, margaret, all of this controversy is happening while there are still several things going on in the world, of course, and one of them has to do with the middle eastern emirate of qatar. report exactly, where there are more than 1,000 u.s. troops key to that campaign against isis based in that emirate. the president just said something that really in many ways contradicted his own secretary of state who is sitting right here while he said it, because moments ago you had secretary tillerson say he was very concerned about the humanitarian effect, food shortage, people being separated, families separated,

and the impact on u.s. military operations and business of that blockade. but the president seemed to double down on it. he just said from here that, again, qatar has historically funded terrorism up to the very highest levels of its government, really doubling down on those controversial tweets he sent just earlier this week where he seemed in many ways to take credit for this diplomatic crisis that has seen many u.s. allies, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and others try to cut off trade, cut off flight, cut off access to this tiny emirate where there are so many u.s. military operations based out of. we did hear secretary of state tillerson specify that the air operations aren't being affected, but this long-term planning for the united states military is being impacted by the blockade, that the president of the united states just seemed to endorse. >> pelley: margaret brennan, thank you very much. jeff pegues is following the russia investigation. jeff, one of the things that jumped out at this news

conference was reporters pressed the president on whether there were audio recordings of his meetings with james comey, his telephone calls with james comey. the president said he would reveal that in a short period of time, and then he told the reporters, you'll be disappointed with the answer. >> yeah, it would have been so easy to say yes or new york but again, the white house, the president specifically here putting off an answer to that question. he did offer that you'll be very disappointed when you hear the answer, not sure what that means, but perhaps we'll see in the next few days. perhaps. the other big thing here, scott, that i don't think we can understate is the fact that the president just opened himself up to an interview with with the top investigator in this russia investigation, a special counsel, bob mueller. former director of the f.b.i., a prosecutor. and so if you are the president's personal attorney, perhaps right now you're pulling your hair out, because it's

going to be hard the walk back from making that kind of statement, subjecting yourself essentially to an interview with the top prosecutor in this case, just as you're calling out the former f.b.i. director about his integrity and whether he's telling the truth about these meetings. so at some point, the people leading this russia investigation are going to have to get to the bottom of the answers here about those meetings and what was happening in those meetings, and so to do that, it seems increasingly likely that they will have to question president trump. >> pelley: well,ings that to our team this afternoon, jeff pegues, john dickerson, margaret brennan and nancy cordes. essentially what's happened is that an investigation that began into whether there was russian meddling in the u.s. election and began the look into several members of the president's campaign has now moved into questions of the president's own

conduct in office. there reason -- will be much more on your local news on this cbs station, on our streaming network, cbsn, and we'll be back right here with a full wrap-up on the "cbs evening news." until then, i'm scott pelley, cbs news in new york. >> for news 24 hours a day, go developing news in the east bay.. chopper five over a hazmat spill good afternoon, everyone. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm brian hackney. >> developing news in the east bay. chopper 5 over a hazmat spill at the chevron refinery in richmond. crews have surrounded a black solid substance in the water. it was discovered about 6:30 this morning. boats and booms are trying to contain it. we are trying to get more information on the source and will bring you more as we get

it. for the time being, the all- important weekend looming and that means the all-important weekend weather forecast. hey, julie. >> hello, guys. sunshine, blue skies over the golden gate. temperatures warming up. 60s and 70s in the area. we're not going to get a lot warmer today. yes, we'll see sunshine. but temperatures stay below average for this time of year. in fact, we'll be warming up into the mid-70s for the warmest spots inland. 74 fairfield. 72 livermore and san jose. we are upper 50s along the coast, 61 san francisco. 67 oakland. so the weekend is coming, sunset tonight 8:30 and sunrise tomorrow morning 5:47. and just after sunrise we should start to see those clouds increase tomorrow. temperatures continuing to cool into the weekend. in fact, really struggling to hit 70 degrees this weekend. chance of showers in the north bay but if you are waiting for warm weather it's coming.

midweek next week we are back into the upper 80s by the end of the week. >> thank you. we're going for the world record for the shortest newscast ever. >> it was very short. >> it was. >> of course, we are going to bring you more on president trump's remarks today commenting on james comey's testimony. we'll see you at 5:00 and for the latest news and weather, always on cbssf.com.

♪ >> liam: so you still stressed? >> steffy: what stress? >> liam: hmm. no, really. how are you? >> steffy: i'm okay. how you doing? i know your dad isn't happy about the whole spectra situation, either. >> liam: uh...yeah. well, he doesn't get to have his building at the moment, but he does get to have brooke, so he's less grumpy than he could be. >> steffy: good. >> liam: yeah. >> steffy: well, i got you. so now i can have lunch with my brother today. >> liam: ah. that's good you're trying to get along. >> steffy: well, you'll be there to help. >> liam: i will? te