a lot of them that are lingering out there it is coming up tomorrow, in the meantime, thank you for watching this who of msnbc live. live in washington right now "andrea mitchell reports." >> comey fired. the president fires the fbi director, the man in charge of investigating possible links between russia and the trump campaign. >> did the president fire director comey to impede the russian investigation. >> as you know very clearly and stated repeatedly and the president has been told, he is not under investigation. >> democrats calling for a special prosecutor. >> our democratic colleagues are complaining about the removal of an fbi director that they

themselves sharply and repeatedly criticized. >> i think that the committee can carry out it's responsibili responsibility. >> if there was ever a time you could warden a special prosecut prosecutor. >> i can't go into the specifics, but we know it was rather kpre siecomprehensive fo briefing. it was clear the fbi was taking it's job seriously and a substantial investigation was under way. >> senator diane feinstein hinting that james comey had a lot say about the classified briefing about the russian investigation.

how can the president say he was firing him for the e-mail proed. >> he has to hang tough, a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing, and he hung in there and did the right thing. >> meeting with the president after starting the day with the state department. >> does the comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentleman? >> was he fired? >> yes. >> you're kidding? >> what about the russian investigation? >> president trump is defending his decision to fire fbi director james comey. president trump's explanation,

republican and democratic alike, when things come down, he will be thanking me. questions mount over the timing of mr. rosenstein's record, and why the recusal did not preclude his being at all involved in the decision. rank and file comey sporters are reeling today. our team is in please, kristin welker on capitol hill, pete williams, and robert costa, the moderator of "washington week." kristin, first to you, you just caught president pence on the hill.

>> did the president fire director comey to impede the russian investigation. >> as you know, he is not under investigation. and as former director clapper of the director of national intelligence said, there is no evidence of collusion. >> but director clapper -- >> but they said there is investigations into the possible ties between russian officials and campaign officials. >> that is not what this was about. he put the safety and security of the american people first. by accepting the deputy attorney general to remove director comey as head of the fbi. they have to have confidence, and because of the actions that the attorney general outlined to

the president that were endorsed and agreed with by the attorney general. >> the president made the right decision at the right time and now we look forward to finding that individual that can leave that education, and the outstanding men and women of the fbi bac t a place where we moveast the difficult politics of the last year that swirled around director comey's leadership, and back to a place where everyone knows that they can do it's job. >> there are still so many questions about the timing of all of this there was praise of candidate trump for jim comey and what he did. why wait, why praise him when he took office, and now claim that s he is suddenly on a moment's

notice, firing him because of what he did with the clinton e-mails, it doesn't track. >> you kept hearing him say it was the right decision at the right time because there is so much focus on the timing of this. when we pressed him about the timing, he said the deputy attorney general con conducted this review on his own accord of fbi director james comy. i asked him, did they con destruct this review, and he dodged the review. but that have the critical question here in is an administration that knows they're getting a lot of backlash finish this decision. based our our decisions, they were eected democrats to be more supportive and they're

getting a bitter backlash. you heard him denies flat out that it was a chance to tamp down the investigation. >> thank you for that. pete williams you have information that directly contradicts what house -- white house has been saying. they were asking for more money to expand this probe. >> there is a strong feeling, the fbi director was fired because he would not drop the russian investigation. that is the general sense there despite what is being said by the justice department and the white house. that feeling is what was said, and some fbi staffers say that in the days before the firing,

he met with rob rosenstein says he completely mishandled the investigation and asked for more staff and budget to be able to continue and to in essence expand the russian investigation. this is an investigation of ruia hacking on the investigation last year and the potential connections between the russian hacking of the election and members of the trump campaign. after that meeting, the fbi director mentioned this to members of congress with whom he has been in regular touch. that is just an additional fact in the steps leading up to this decision to fire him. i think a fundamental question that remain social security what is the genesis for the memo.

was it tasked to the department. did rosenstein come up with this independently, and is this what they have been looking for? we just don't know the false so that yet. >> and one of the things you're working on is who might be nominated to replace jim comey. >> they said they talked to talk to part-time for interim fbi director. there is a director right now, but apparently there is some talk about possibly bringing in others to be interim director. two fbi special agents in

charge. they run local offices, and two people at the fbi, one of the executive assistant directors in charge of general and signer, we have not heard who they are considering to succeed james comey, but they are names that have been getting a new fbi director they believe will take a fair amount of time. >> and peter alexander, the president had a meeting with f lavrov, but also with henry kissinger. let's talk about the president and his actions here.

he informs that scramble last night, they thought that democrats would praise them because comey has been blamed by hillary clinton for her election loss. despite criticizing him for politics back in the campaign, they really had confidence in the way he was handling this lunch investigation. >> they were caught flat footed in their effort to end the messaging war. several top aides rushes to try to get to president trump's message to suggest that it was part of his failings. what is striking is the unannounced meeting with henry

ki kiss kissenger. this coming for the first time about the firing of james comey. now approaching six days where he said the reason he was fired is because he was not doing a good job. what was striking to me about that is the reason is that the memo that was concurred by attorney general jeff sessions put the focus not so much on his broad duties, but on the handling of the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. he said the handling of that investigation was wrong and he described a textbook version of what they're not to do.

as the department of justice said it is specific to what had been taking place over the comey investigation. >> to robert costa, there is another mystery here. the brief filing letter saying i'm just firing you despite the fact that you told me three times i'm not part of the investigation. there has been no other back up about it and it runs count tore what we're hearing on the hill about the russian investigation. >> right, what i have been picking up late last night and this morning is that they really feel like they're in a box. in the corner, because of how the white house handled this and how the president articulated his position in that letter to director comey. it makes many americans feel privately and publicly that more

needs to be done in terms of the investigation, that if not a special prosecutor, more has to be done to delve into what the president knew about his position with the fbi, the state of the investigations, and how that prompted this decision. >> peter alexander and pete williams all on the case, thank you very much. kristin welker caught up with lend si graham to get his take on the investigation? >> this is a counter intelligence investigation. we don't have special prosecutors for this kind of investigation. right now it is counter-intelligence gathering about whether or not trump officials coleluded with russians. i don't have any evidence, but the fbi needs to keep loong

and do their job. >> first, your reaction to lindsey graham's comments and then we'll talk about the bigger issue. >> strong disagreement. i think the facts are certainly right for the appointment of a special prosecutor in a couple regards if first i think the firing of director comey in these circumstances, where the attorney general who is supposed to rescues himse-- recuse himse and i think it is tainted and it wa warrants the appointment of a special prosecutor. things have come to light, like general michael philflynn, a an they have to potentially pursue general charges the failure to

report the acceptance of foreign moneys, any false statements he made have made. i think we're certainly ripe for the appointment of a special prosecutor, special council, and i don't think anything else will provide even a modicum of public confidence that this russia investigation and those in the administration that are impacted by it will be conducted fairly or rigorously. >> from what you know, the president's assertion in his firing letter that he was told three times she not the subject of the target of an investigation, is that true? >> i can't comment on who may or may not be the subject of an investigation. i can say the president is hardly a credible source on any of this stuff. this is someone who obviously suggested that clapper testified there was no evidence of collusion just earlier this week, and this was in public testimony where those comments can be vetted and in fact that is not what director clapper testified at all.

the director himself was asked a question, and would not respond to whether or not the president was a subject of the investigation, but regardless of what the president is, his associates, you know are clearly the subject of the investigation and the administration itself i think has a profound conflict of interest in the firing of the director. so it is hard to package a worse scenario. they feel like it was time to devote more time and attention. >> we confirmed at nbc news there was that request. there was a briefing to some people on the hill. >> that, andrea, is a far more credible explanation for the

timing of this firing. if indeed, the fbi director went to the deputy attorney general rosenstein and asked for more money, and needed to demote more, and say this is why, that is a far more believable reason for his firing as tainted as it is, than the idea that what the director did last year, that the president then applauded was now suddenly a cause for him to be terminated. >> guess who is echoing the president's claim and the vice president's claim today that there is nothing to this russia investigation. the russian foreign minister, lavrov and his press conference. >> i just answered that, president trump will publicly say that all of it is false news, just give me one fact that would prove that.

a meeting at the white house, we understand knew tasks were allowed in to photograph the meeting, they distributed the photos, and there was no american news media in that photo opportunity. >> you just can't make this stuff up. the american press kept t, the russian press allowed in, lavrov i have to say i noticed is more consistently on point with the president's message than sean spicer is. it is disturbing on so many levels. i'm pleased to see some republican members step up and call out the dangers in this firing, i hope they go further

and join democrats and a call for an independent prosecutor. for the vice president of the united states, who i came into congress with, and who i like, this is a terrible thing to watch. he was asked did the president fire comey to impede the russian investigation, his immediate answer could have been no, but he had to think about it, do i want to commit myself to something when i don't fully know the facts, and to suggest as he later did that the president had in mind the safety of the american people, doing what was best for the safety of the american people, nobody believes that. i don't think anyone thinks this is unrelated to the russian investigation, and i think that

is why a dramatic step needs to be taken to restore confidence, and that should be an independent council. >> are you suggesting the vice president is lying? >> i think he may not know the full details, i think that is the best explanation that he simply doesn't know what went into the decision to fire director comey. he was whiting, and he may not know if this was the justice department making a recommendation on it's own, or them telling the president give me reasons t fire this guy. we'll have to find out if played a role in his firing. i think one of the questions

should be what was he will doing, what was he will looking at in the investigation. we're doing our own investigation and i'm sure the fbiment today pursue everything that the congressional committees were pursuing. we had an impact on the department, but none the less, profound questions about the timing and the decision that is beyond troubling. >> thank you, congressman, thank you for being with us. >> thank you, andrea. >> tomorrow, don't miss lester holt's exclusive one on one. tune in on thursday for all of it. coming up, comey's firing calling for a special prosecutor. angus king will be joining us

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i can't go into the specifics, but you and i know that it was rather comprehensive for this kind of briefing. the fbi director was precise, and he presented us with substantial investigation. it was clear the fbi was taking it's job seriously, and that a

substantial investigation was under way. >> senator diane feinstein saying they have information about the investigation. joining me now, thank you very much, senator. first of all, your committee in the last 24 hours asked for specific information connected to the russian investigation, correct? >> yes, one of the classic questions in any investigation is follow the money. >> so the intelligence committee was asking questions. there was a grand jury also trying to subpoena, according to some reports, some of mike flynn's information, we understand now we have confirmed

that the director comey asked for more resources, for more money, and this is coming from hill and judiciary sourcing. so all of this coming together does not lead you to conclude that the white house motive, the rapid firing, fearing within a day, less than a day, of getting the information according to the memo, the president fires the fbi director without handing him a notice or saying anything in person. >> you add all of those things together, and then to me, the question is the timing relative to what they said was the basis of the decision. it talked about things that mr. comey did last summer and fall.

everybody in the world has known about that. if that was a reason to fire him, they could have done it on january 21st. why now as this information is heating up. those three documents released yesterday, they were all dated yesterday. this happened very fast. and one little parenthetical, jeff sessions said several months ago that he was rescu rescuesing -- recusing himself. now suddenly he is conducting the investigation. if that is recusal, i would hate to see what active involvement looks like. >> clearly there are a lot of suspicion for the reasons you name. if the president was going to fire him for what he did last summer, even though he praised him last summer, on october

31st, for what he did on the clinton investigation, why wait all of these months and fire him now. >> exactly, that makes it hard to believe that all of a sudden we decided what director comey did last year is something that we should be fired for. >> are you getting the information that you asked for on this treasury department? >> we have not seen the returns come in yet, but those requests just went out. we have had very good cooperation. so, we're well into this, sending requests out for people to preserve documents and to prepare interviews. we're forging ahead, but i think given what happened in the last 24 hours, noise what we're doing, there needs to be a special pros cue or a special

council to lead this investigation. it seems to me that the department of justice is attendanted in this situation. not the men and women of the fbi, but in terms of the leadership. i just think it is crucial because the whole issue at stake here is public confidence in our system and the rule of law. when you have a potential suspect firing the chief investigator it raises some questions. >> is it credible that director comey told him three times he is not a subject or targ, is that credible? >> i have no idea, i thought that was a rather strange thing to put in the letter. it was strange all around. that is what the president claims, i don't have that verified from mr. comey. i would be surprised if he could

make such a representation because it is still ongoing. >> coming up, are there echos of water gate? reporting for nbc news as the presidential crisis pspiralled. stay with us. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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after leaving senator comey, the richard nixon library tweeted fun fact, president nixon never fired the director of the fbi. he did a lot of things, and many of them were criminal. tom brokaw says this analogy does not hold. we're not there, but there is a sense of real crisis because all of the issues raised by journalists and senators like angus king. l of the reasons that the us what claim for the firing of jim

comey do not hold up. >> we dealt with it every day on a factual basis. not a lot of speculation. now the media landscape changed a lot. but i think all of us as reporters, where ever we have in new york, washington, or across the country. we have to take a deep breath and deal with them as we know. watergate was a general enterprise run from the white house. some of the top aides were on their way to federal prison and burglars were paid off out of the white house. so the big difference with what we're dealing with now, but having said that, there are a lot of elements that need more explanation. i have not run into anyone that thinks jim comey was doing a good job, and as you remember,

hillary clinton and the others in the democratic party all but blame them for her loss. so there is a lot of con strugs, and our obligation is to sort it out and deal with the truth. >> exactly. the problemn getting a clear navetive is the president fired him on the same day he received that memo, fired him for cause because of what he says is what happened last summer after praising him for what he did last summer. praising him after he -- and then in the last 48 hours, a lot of incident issues rose. his accident for more money to expand the proed, the subpoenas, the question to the treasury department, so there is a lot of

incidental issues that peaked williams and others reporting, that indicates that there were reasons to believe in the fbi, according to sources, the stated reason for his firing is not the reason he was fired. >> that is the essential issue here, andrea. for all of the political coming and going, what we have to keep focus on, this investigation, the possible washington involvement, and the need to continue. and the number of people that i spoke to that say they have faith in the justice department, and if not in the justice department than in the fbi to continue that investigation. there are professionals there that are at work, i assume are, right now. . if you need go outside of the fbi, then that is a whole different set of circumstances. what we ought not to do is dismiss the entire fbi apparatus

because of a dismissal of a man that was ahead of it. he was not just an investigator, but a ad hoc prosecutor as. >> that's right, when he came out and read that bill of particulars, what it sounded like was an indictment in the democratic party and professionals at the fbi and in the justice department. there is another big difference the partisanship on the hill. you a few questioning the timing of all of this. they said this only makes a very challenging investigation more confusing, but in general, you a real partisan divide between the republicans and the democrats on the senate side. back in water gate, how long did it take for people like the

freshman congressman from maine to stand up and become a deciding vote on the impeachment committee? >> it didn't happen until he called for the socievote. when i was a white house correspondent, i was assigned to the white house and i lived a long time, it seemed like 24 hours a day sometimes in that little both. every few weeks i would slip out and go to the hill and talk to a select group of republican and democratic senators to get their read on what the thinking was up there. and what i found every time i went back and until the closing days, it was guarded. the republicans and the democrats were talking to each other about what they happen and how they have to prepare for it because the nation was at stake. that is gone now, now you don't

have the cross party dialogue where they talk about what if the russians were involved in our campaign. how do we deal with it as a country and a party. and quite honestly, and i'm a big fan of the 24/7 news cycle, when i finished at 7:00, i didn't have to hit a switch and be on msnbc, i could work the phones and find out what to talk about the next morning if was a different kind of pace to the investigation and the speculation that went on. i think it is in the country's interest that we have a long review, and not just get immediately polarized on a republican or democratic position and not be able to see the middle. >> tha you, tom brokaw. i learned my craft from you. >> thank you for having me on,

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i think russian interference

is one of the worse things i have seen in my years in the senate, are you willing to appoint a special council to examine russian interference in our elections and other criminal activity. >> when i determine it is appropriate based on the policies and procedures of the ice department. >> that was rob rosenstein. but the chair of the senate intelligence committee had this to say today about the future of that investigation. >> does that imply an obstruction of justice here? >> no, it certainly doesn't, by e -- but i don't think that the -- i think the timing and the reasoning insights people to believe there is something being covered up. >> i'm not in favor of a special

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james comey's dramatic firing came as a shock to comey himself. he was addressing fbi agents at the l.a. command center in california when the tv screens behind him displayed the breaking news. he started laughing thinking he was pranked, until aides told him he had in fact been fired. joining me now is jeremy bash, the former chief of staff at the cia and matt miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department and nbc news justice and security analyst. welcome both. first to you, matt miller, the speed with which this was done, road rosenstein sends a memo claiming that the reason for firing comey is what he did last summer in july and again in october during the campaign, something that the current president as candidate praised

and then he's fired. >> everything about this defies belief. we're supposed to believe that rod rosenstein takes office and in his first two weeks, on his own accord, begins this review of jim comey's conduct. there's no sign he interviewed jim comey and asked him for his side of events. rosenstein didn't wait for that review. he issues this memo, cites no department regulations that he violated. there's no citations, which are the things you always see. and then on the day that he sends it, yesterday, two weeks after he has taken office, he sxleet completes his review, sends it to the attorney general. a and the attorney general agrees and sends it to the president who then fires comey without telling him. has his personal bodyguard deliver the letter. none of it makes sense.

>> and jeremy bash, on top of which he cites out of context supporting statements from people like eric holder who did criticize jim comey for what he did in the hillary clinton matter for breaking protocol. but not calling for him to be fired. >> yeah. i think we ought to stand up for comey here. you heard the comments by the vice president saying the american people have lost faith in him and somehow he was misleading the fbi down the wrong path. look, this is a guy, jim comey, who has been a career public servant, a career prosecutor. remember in 2004, he stood by the bedside of attorney general john ashcroft and they pushed back on the bush warrantless wiretapping program, refusing to sign that, forcing alberto gonzales to sign it on balf of president bush. comey appointed a special

prosecutor in the valerie plame case. this white house was concerned about that couldn't control him. this shows how important the congressional investigations now become. because although the fbi investigation normally has more resources than a congressional investigation, the white house can starve the fbi investigation of resources of capacity and their congressional investigations now have to step up. >> but do they have the staff? they don't have career prosecutors, former prosecutors. can they actually get to the bottom of all this? jeremy first. >> they don't have the resources that the fbi has. but again, if the white house wants to starve this fbi investigation, i don't think it will work. but there are ways they can do it. fundamentally, the bureau does work for the president. >> and very briefly, matt miller? >> if i were on the congressional committee, they need to continue investigating the underlying russian conduct

here. but i would want rod rosenstein and jeff sessions testifying how this process unfolded. >> thank you both so much. you're looking at a live picture. the white house briefing room set to start soon. stay with us. we'll be right back. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever bere. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off.

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insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. so don't wait. call to request your free decision guide. and gather the information now to help you choose a plan later. these types of plans let you pick any doctor or hospital that takes medicare patients. and there's a range of plans to choose from, depending on you needs and your budget. so if you're turning 65 soon, call now and get started. because the time to think about tomorrow...is today. go long. and a big day tomorrow. don't miss lester holt's interview with president trump. and that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell

reports." brian? >> well, thank you very much. and we are indeed coming on the air in advance of today's press briefing. sarah huckabee sanders will be the briefer. we want to make this point early and often. sean spicer has been gone on occasion, fulfilling his naval reserve duty, and most of that over at the pentagon. we asked this question on the air last night. we were assured in fact this had been scheduled, known about, and that's what we're looking at today. sarah huckabee sanders has a different style, more closely mirroring that of her father, the former governor of arkansas. to begin our coverage, we're joined just after 1:00 in the afternoon by our political director, chuck todd. we have not spoke since the first few minut