hard time they happened the way he described they will. he was straining to imagine them. that wraps this up for this hour. i'm chris matthews in washington. i'll see you back here at 7:00 p.m. eastern for "hardball." this is history making. s tonight on "nbc nightly news." check for local listings. peter picks things up from the white house. >> good afternoon to you. we are on a rain drenched north lawn here at the white house this afternoon. finally after a tumultuous week, the president is speaking in an exclusive sit down interview with the president on firing the fbi director james comey. >> look, he is a show boat, a grand stander. the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that. i know that. everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a

year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general. did you and for a recommendation? >> what i did was i was going to fire, my decision. >> you made the decision before they came in the room. >> i was going on fire comey. there's no good time to do it, by the way. >> kit was in your letter. you had made the cision. >> i was going on fire him rerdss. he made a recommendation. he is highly almosted. a very good guy. a very smart guy. the republicans like him, the democrats like him. he made recommendation. regardless of the recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> let me and you, you write, i greatly appreciate you informing me under three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. why did you put that in there? >> because he told me that.

>> yeah. and i've heard that from others. >> was it in a phone call? did you meet face to face? >> i had a dinner with him. he wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay home. the dinner was arranged. i think he asked for the dinner. and he wanted to stay on as the fbi head. and i said i'll consider it. we'll see what happens. weighed very nice dinner. and at that time he told me, you are not under investigation which i knew any way. >> first of all, when you're under investigation, you get all sorts of documents and everything. i knew i wasn't under. and i heard it was stated at some committee level that i was in. >> so that didn't come directly -- >> then during the phone call he said and it another phone call he said it. he said it once at dinner and twice during phone calls. >> did you call him? >> in one case i called him and in one case he called me. >> did you and, am i under investigation? >> yes. i said if it is possible, will

you let me know, am i under investigation? he said you are not under investigation. >> but he's given sworn testimony that there's an ongoing investigation into the trump campaign and possible collusion with the russian government. you were the center piece of the trump campaign. >> all i can tell you -- i know that i'm not under investigation. me personally. i'm not talking about campaigns or anything else i'm not under investigation. >> there it is. part of that exclusive conversation between lester holt and donald trump. the rest tonight on nightly news. we have a full team standing by to help me break it down. katy is joining us, and mike viqueira is with us from capitol hill. the reaction from lawmaker, perhaps, as striking as anything so far. what have you been hearing on both sides of the aisle so far,

among other things saying his mind was made up? >> well, i think republicans are on their heels over the last 48 hours. with these revelations pouring forth, the shifting time lines and rationale. i think you're seeing republicans trying to figure out how far this is going to go and whether the story has legs. as far as president trump'ser comments, impugning the character, calling james comey a grandstander, the person replacing him here testifying today, lauding james comey saying the rank and file had nothing but respect for him. the rank and file at the fbi. andrew mccabe, the person who is the acting director now saying he himself was privileged to work under james comey. then we confront the two top members of congress, the senators, republican richard burr, mark warner.

they emerged with rod rosenstein to talk about the ongoing investigation. then we asked them to respond each in turn to these comments by president trump about james comey. >> i trusted james comey. i thought he had made some mistakes last fall but i never called for his resignation. i thought he was a straight shooter. frankly, i'm offended at the president's comments today. this is a continuing pattern of disrespecting the men and women who serve in our intelligence community. i think the president would be better served regardless of his views, supporting the ic rather than continually questioning, repeatedly calling into question the leaders' integrity. >> the president just told lester holt that he was going to fire director comey, whether or

not that he had recommendation or not. and he called director comey a sh boat, a grandstander. do you agree with that? you just heard something different. >> i'm not going on speak for senator warner. i put out a statement the night of the director's he firing. i found him to be one of the most ethical, upright, straightforward individuals i've had the opportunity to work. he provided our committee more access to information than any director of the fbi. sure, there were fbi employees who disagreed with how he handled the clinton e-mail announcements in his interwax the attorney general at the time. the lion's share of filibuster employees respect the former director and it shows the professionalism that he brought to the role that he was in. and i'm sure he will at some

point have an opportunity to share, if he wants to, his side of the story. but i'm confident that the vice chair and i look forward to working with acting direct o'mccabe in the interim, or whoever the president chooses. at the end of the day, mark and i do realize whoever is president has the authority to pick their director of the fbi. we don't have that. >> now they have their investigation. it is continuing now. they have speenl aed records from general flynn. also, they did confirm that they have invited none other than james comey to come speak to the committee next tuesday. comey has not yet responded. >> all right. we just walked out of that briefing. the questions being peoplered at sarah huckabee sanders. the use of the word showboat and a grandstander. what struck me is the way president trump after the

dismissal of michael flynn spoke glowingly of him but the way he spoke so disparagingly of james comey. >> we also even saw in his conversation with lester holt that today, even now, the president acknowledging that he was misled by flynn. the vice president was misled. that he wasn't aware of the russian payments for a speech to be done. still praising his service to be done today. at the same time, in the same breath, that he was not willing food for comey. years of service. even if you disagree, even though we know the president has the right to do this. to choose to mock him in a way or deride his character and to still praise, at least be positive about michael flynn is striking. the president should explain y. wh he persists in saying things aboufln that are so favorable. he have one can acknowledge his service to the country as a

general. but there are some real serious questions. even politically it is striking that the president would do that. >> the rainy day here at the white house, i think, matthew, is indicative of the storm clouds that appear to be swirling around washington, d.c. you had a strong exchange with sarah huckabee sanders. in the contradictory statements from members of the administration including the vice president and the president today. i want to play part of that and get your take. >> vice president pence yesterday said the firing was based on the recommendation of the attorney general and deputy attorney general. we know now that's not true. was the vice president misled again or did he mislead the american people? >> i believe i've answered that question. >> if you have, i don't think i caught it. the vice president said yesterday that the president chose to accept and support the decision of the deputy attorney general and attorney general. >> he certainly accepted the deputy -- that doesn't mean that he wouldn't still accept his

recommendation. i mean, they're on the same page. why are we arguing about the smanltics of whether or not he second it? they agreed. i'm not sure how he didn't accept the deputy attorney general's recommendation when they agreed with one another. >> the simple fact is, the story has changed. we were told by the vice president, sean spicer, and frankly, sarah huckabee sanders within the last several days is different from what we heard from the president today. and you have new reporting about what vice president pence may have known before he made his own public statements. >> that's right. so vice president pence yesterday was saying what the whole white house was saying. this came after the memo from rosenstein. the reporting from politico and my colleagues indicates that pence knew before this that trump was considering and moving to fire james comey. that he did not read the memo and suddenly discover, this is what he would do. which raises the question, why

if pence knew president trump would fire comey, did he try to make it seal like it was based on that memo. and we didn't really an answer to that today. >> a lot of people are focusing on this today, that we learned about the way, at least how president trump describes him. that he was off the hook, that he was not under investigation. what was striking is the fact in at least one of those conversations, we were told a phone call. the president called comey and said hey, am i under investigation? you're not. notable because during one of the conversations they had over dinner, they were also talking in the course of the conversations about whether comey would stay on as filibuster direfbi director. >> a lot of people who have been doing this a long time will say that's inappropriate. legally is there a problem with that? pete williams will have to give you his explanation on that. in terms of optics and shared

hypocrisy, you have to look back to what donald trump did after bill clinton met with loretta lynch on that tarmac. that's the best reference we can give you. he used that as a sign that washington was corrupt. that the clintons were corrupt. that you couldn't trust her. who knows what bill clinton said to loretta lynch in that conversation? they said they were talking about gulf and grand kids. he didn't buy. that he said there's no way. he believed bill clinton was somehow trying on influence the investigation. >> he said it was bad judgment. those were his words. bad judgment. i thought somebody was joking but it's not a joke. it is a very serious thing, he said. hillarclton is so guilty. it shows what's happening with our laws and wh our government. he said that in denver, colorado on, july 1st. he also said it a number of other times. for donald trump to do that and then to assume that there is a completely different set of

rules for him may be surprising to many folks but this is the way he has operated. it is just a fact with him. rules don't apply to him in the same way they apply to others. he ultimately knows best. the confusing part is not only that, but the time line of this. you had sarah huckabee sanders say faye donald trump made this decision back on wednesday when the fbi director was in front of that will senate judiciary committee. that was last week. the "new york times" said he made the decision before that when he was watching the sunday shoets he and stewing. yesterday, just yesterday sarah huckabee sanders said he made the decision based on the recommendation of the ag. so it mutates daily. nobody knows what donald trump will come out and say. that was part of the problem with the campaign and the transition. it is clearly continued to be a problem during the administration. donald trump says things and his staff is forced to figure out a

way to back him up. the wiretapping claims are always good example of that. so the credibility issue is one that will get to the heart of the communications staff. when can you believe what they say in front of that podium? when will they be contradicted the next daily or the next hour or the next minute by either the interview with the president of the united states or potentially a tweet. >> it has been a story the first 100 plus days and it will be a story until they can resolve this. >> we appreciate you being with us today. i want to get to my colleague, host of "all in" on msnbc. what struck you most as you watched this interview today as we talk about not just the evolution of the narrative here, the story that the white house is putting out, but the president basically declaring his entirely own version of the events? >> first in a bizarre way it was a relief that we don't all have to keep pretending what was pre

bosster usually, it was a reverse engineered chain of documents that led to the firing, the shifting stories, the back and forth. the whole they know was driven by the president of the united states and it was nice to get the president of the united states to say it on the record so we can just cut all of that out. the second thing was in lester's follow-up about the allegedly three occasions in which james comey said he wasn't under investigation. the associates of james comey have called it literally farcical. so let's say it is unclear. the president in the context of what was etension lay job interview. comey wanting to stay on, asking the fbi director if he is under investigation, in any other context would be viewed as obstruction. it is a bed rock sacrosanct principle that you donal have political officials asking about investigations of them or their friends or allies.

the fbi underer barack obamaer indicted a democratic senator. you couldn't have barack obama calling the director of the fbi saying is the senator under investigation? that would have inaugurated impeachment talk in the republican house. >> frankly, the frustration of those of us in the front row during the obama administration, we would try to get their take of something going on in the news. any investigation of any kind and they were deliberate about it saying we're not going to go there. the rules at least in the eyes of this administration have changed. i want to talk to you about what's going on on the hill. andrew mccabe staying russia investigation will continue, despite the firing of james comey. how do you view this playing out going forward? today he said, mccabe said a series of things that contradicted what we heard from the white house. he said the rank and file did support james comey. the white house said the

opposite was true. what do you make of his testimony today? >> i think if you're asking, who do i trust to take temperature of the rank and file of the fbi? i think andrew mccabe. again, as mccabe himself said, 35,000 people. i myself have talked on former prosecutors, current prosecutors, fbi folks, all of whom do have a very high view of james comey. so i think it is pretty clear who is right about the temperature of the fbi. >> go ahead. i was going on say what he said though was about the investigation forward, is he said this investigation was in his words, highly significant compared to what president trump said over the course of the laugh 48, 72 hours, tweeting this was in his words, a taxpayer funded charade. >> let's be clear. i think these two things have been conflated. let's completely cut out any

question of collusion. we don't have all the answers about the actual criminal sabotage that was pulled off in the hacking. we have a pretty good sense. there is an investigation. even if collusion doesn't begin to enter the picture. there's an actual investigation that has to be maintained. what we know is that there is an investigation of possible collusion. that was said by james comey in an open hearing. there is a real question now. this is where you start to get to a place, if not a constitutional crisis, the depth of the american institutions. does it get slow walked? there are ways they can get slow walked. does a message come from on high in all sorts of different ways to wrap this they know up quickly if you can't find anything, or is it given the time and breadth to get to what happened? >> he also said, that comey had reached out to rod rosen stinl saying he needed more money, more staff, more resources for

this investigation. we heard at least from mccabe that they had sufficient resources at this time and there had been no impediment to their investigation. let's be clear, they have a long way to go before we have all the answers. thank you. we'll be looking forward to seeing you tonight on "all in." for those of you just joining us, i want to play more of this exclusive interview with donald trump just days after he fired fbi director james comey. take a listen. >> look. he is a showboat, a grandstander. the filibuster has been in turmoil. you know that. i know that. everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a year ago. it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> monday you met with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. did you and for a recommendation? >> what i did was i was going to fire comey. my decision.

>> you had made the decision before. >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it by the way. >> in your letter you said, i second their recommendation. you had already decided. >> he made a recommendation. he is highly almosted. a very smart guy. the democrats like him, the republicans like him. he made a recommendation. but regardless of recommendation, i have going to fire comey. >> joining me now, california congressman, eric swalwell who sits on the house and judiciary committee. you're in my home town of oakland, california today so say hi to my folks. your retook what i heard from lester holt's exclusive sber view. he admitted among other things, directly asked will james comey if he was under investigation and basically this came in the course of what was in affect job interview for comey.

>> if if you have a sense of smell, this stinks. i actually asked james comey if president trump himself was under investigation, and director comey said, i can't answer that. so i don't know what was exchanged between the president and director comey. i will say that this is all the more reason we need an independent commission to get to the bottom of this and to make recommendations. and i can announce right now a second republican has signed on from michigan. so i'm seeking more republicans to work with us. i think a bipartisan path is the best way to find out just what happened with russia's interference. >> to be clear you need a byn bipartisan path. your leverage is limited here. how do you force this equation? how do you make this case beyond making on it television, to execute this case that there should be a he shall prosecutor? >> the case that our country was

violated by a foreign country. >> we understand it bust how do you force that issue when the white house says we don't see a reason for it? >> you find people who want to put country over party. i've had ongoing conversations with republicans, and i keep going back to them. and i will take them at their word that they are concerned too. the september 11 commission was not created on september 12. it was actually november of 2002. it took time and work but that's the only way to the truth, one search party in this effort. >> let me and but somethi that senator mike lee tweeted today. this was striking. he said instead of a special prosecutor, donald trump should nominate merrick garland to replace james comey. is that feasible? >> we want someone who is independent from the president

he and someone with law enforcement experience. i'm open minded to anyone who can make progress with this investigation. that's all the american people expect. >> why do you think the trump administration -- what do you think the trump administration is trying establish? do you think it is something more sinister? that the message we heard from numerous members of this administration was, hey, the decision was made on tuesday. that's when the presidenter got the recommendation. today we mattered the president's mind was made up. he was going to fire james comey all along. >> i don't buy it. ilth oftentimes the simplest explanation is the correct one. you have a pattern when people do their job, they lose their job. same thing with sally yates had she told the white house counsel that the president's national security adviser she believed had been compromised. now james comey told congress back in march that the

president's campaign was under investigation. i think it is more of a pattern. that's what investigation is for and that's what we have to do in the house. >> eric swalwell of california. congressman, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> to see much more of the exclusive one-on-one interview with president trump from the white house, of course, you have to tune in to "nbc nightly news." that airs tonight. do not miss it. more reaction to the interview with lester. chris van hollen. an outspoken critic. so beautiful. what shall we call you? tom! name it tom! studies show that toms have the highest average earning potential

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good afternoon to you. peter alexander live at the white house. we're still following breaking news surrounding our exclusive interview. i want to tell you some news that we're just reading from the "wall street journal." they're now reporting that rod rosenstein pressed white house counsel don mcgann to correct what he said voumding the fbi firing. according to a person familiar with the conversation. according to the journal,

rosenstein left the impression that he couldn't work in an environment where facts weren't accurately reported. the deputy attorney general objected to statements by white house aides citing his critical assessment of mr. comey's job performance to justify the firing. joining me now, chris van hollen. senator, i appreciate you being here. you were tweeting on this just a matter of moments ago. you said the president's story changes by the minute. that he tried to pin it on rosenstein but as suspected it was trump. how can we believe anything he says? what is your retook what you heard on this day from the president, saying he had this plan all lining the fire james comey? >> as you just indicated. hear the president of the united states stepped on their own cover story. they were trying on pin this on

rosenstein. they used his letter as the pretext for firing fbi director comey. now we learned from the president himself, no, he had been planning to fire him all along. that his blood pressure was rising, clearly upset that comey was investigating him for collusion and we were learning that was heating up. comey was asking for more resources. they issued grand jury subpoenas the other day and clearly trump had had enough and decided to fire the guy who was leading the investigation. what we keep learning is you cannot believe a word they say from one moment to another. >> what do you make of what we heard from the president today, as he laid out that story. do you believe do you know if there were three actual occasions when the president was told by james comey that he was not under investigation? do you know if that's a true statement? >> i do not know if that's a

true statement. today in his testimony, the new acting director of the fbi mccabe indicated that that would not be standard operating procedure to inform a person, whether they were or were not the subject of investigation. if it were true, what we flernld the president was that he ner initiated the question. that he asked comey whether he was under investigation as part of a job interview. >> that's not illegal but is it inappropriate? >> totally inappropriate. the idea is comey says i'm willing to serve, i'm willing to continue to serve and the president in considering that says am i under investigation? clearly the implication being, if i am, i don't want you. well, i don't know whether that happened original. what we do know is that president trump no longer wanted him because he was engaged in an investigation which clearly

could lead to the president. we don't know. that's the purpose of the investigation. president trump was very worried and decided to intervene. >> he called happy showboat, he called him a grandstander which is quite a contrast. what did you make of the language this president, it is not infrequent he's been heavily critical of those that he's been critical of. what do you make of, he sort of disparaged the fbi director? >> yeah. it is kind of head spinning to their president of the united states calling somebody else a big showboat. listen, the acting director of the fbi testified today that comey continued to have the confidence of the rank and file of the fbi. which is interesting. the new cover story, what we just heard from the white house spokesperson today, said that

comey was fired because he didn't have the confidence of the rank and file of the fbi. so that cover story was shattered by the testimony of acting director of the fbi. the issue is they keep changing their story and they keep changing the story because they don't want people to know the obvious truth. the president kind of said it. he wanted to fire him. he said wasn't because he wasn't doing his job but that's not what the president thought. he didn't think that after the election. he praised comey for doing a good job with the clinton e-mails. so he fired him as an attempt to ent interfere into this investigation of collusion with the russians. they keep changing the story and it keeps getting shot down again and again. >> let me and but the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein. you were among those individuals who recommended him forgot post. what was your reaction when you

read that he recommended that comey be fired? >> well, i've been very disturbed by the way rod rosenstein allowed himself to be used in this manner. yes, we know that he didn't nerve great the recommendation for the firing. but i am disappointed that he allowed himself to be used in this man. he the letter was used as a pretext for it. and i think the only way for him to restore confidence in his own office, and in the integrity of the justice department, is for the appointment of a special prosecutor. someone who cannot be fired by the president of the united states. so rod rosenstein for his own reputation, and for the good of the justice system, needs to make sure that happens. maybe he asks the senior career person there to make appointment so we can assure the independence of that special prosecutor. that's the only way forward to

restore any kind of confidence in this investigation and the system. >> thank you for your perspective. we appreciate it. we'll be back much more on this breaking news coming out of president trump's exclusive interview with lester holt after a short break. you are watching msnbc. today we are live from the white house. we're back in a moment. ♪ nobody does underwater stunts, sylvia. except me, of course. this is my stop. adios! ♪ if you're a stuntman, you cheat death. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. número uno! "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours.

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more breaking news from the lawn of the white house. lester holt, our colleague, sitting down in an exclusive interview with president trump. jonathan, this afternoon, you tweeted, what trump told lester holt about asking comey if he's under investigation has me wondering what loretta lynch must be thinking. i know you had a chance to sit down with loretta lynch not too long ago. i wamtd to let you and pound on that thought. >> when i interviewed then attorney general loretta lynch, she and i were supposed to talk about criminal justice reform. she was supposed to speak on that at the as penalty ideas festival. her chance meeting on the tarmac with president bill clinton caused us to mostly talk about that.

that was breaking news coverage. everyone picked up that interview. at the time that was the most extraordinary thing to have happened. that the former president of the united states gets on the plane of the courage attorney general who is investigating, or at least the justice department was investigating the e-mail issues with secretary clinton. and everyone was talking about how inappropriate that was. what did they talk about? in that meeting in aspen, then attorney general loretta lynch said they talked about the grand kids and it was a very casual conversation. here today, president trump tells our lester holt that oh, yeah. absolutely. he asked the fbi director who we all know is investigating the trump campaign about issues related to russia and collusion. whether he is indeed under investigation. this takes the clinton tarmac, loretta-clinton tarmac meeting and wlos it up by 1,000.

the president was quick to get after democrats to say, wait a second. for months you were complaining about this guy. among others, individuals like chuck schumer questioning the credibility. the way that james comey had been handling the job and now you're suggesting that he shouldn't have fired him. you can't have it both ways. >> i think the president is grasping at straws here. it is fobl criticize the fbi director, to criticize james comey and his handling of a certain situation to say that they think he should be fired or let go of his job. but the way president trump went about it takes it beyond just a disagreement with james comey and then just brings into question the rule of law. i think that's what democrats are reacting to. it seems like the rule of law,

something that is the foundation of our democracy and the foundation of this country seems to be at risk. so i think it is possible to criticize comey but also criticize the way he was let go. and i think the president is on very shaky ground there. >> jonathan capehart, never afraid on share his opinions. >> tune in tonight for more of the exclusive interview with president trump from the white house. scalpel. i have no idea what i'm doing. i'm just a tv doctor. i never went to college. (scream) i don't do blood. but now, thanks to cigna, i can do more than just look the part. is that a foot? we are the tv doctors of america. and we're partnering with cigna to help save lives. by getting you to a real doctor for an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health.

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with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. our exclusive news with president trump telling our colleague lester holt that he decided to fire james comey before the recommendation from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> look. he is a showboat, a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil. you know that. i know that. everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a year ago. it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hand recovered from that. >> monday you met with the

deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. did you and for a recommendation? >> what i did was i was going to fire comey. my decision. >> you had made the decision before they came in the room. >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it, by the way. >> in your letter, you said i accepted their recommendation. you had already made the decision. >> i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. he made a recommendation. he is highly almosted, a very good guy, a very respected guy. the republicans like him, the democrats like him. regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire james comey. >> let's get right to kristen. yesterday, striking to hear your conversation yesterday and now president's own words today. >> reporter: incredibly striking. i asked vice president mike pence if president trump had directed the acting attorney

general to could not dpunduct t did this come from president trump. what he said seemed to contradict what we just heard from the president. take a listen. >> the president's decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove director comey as the head of the fbi was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interests of the american people and to ensuring the fbi has the trust and confidence of the people of this nation. >> peter, i just had the chance to interview a number of senators here on capitol hill. and a number of them said the president's response raise new questions about potential contradictions coming from the white house. the differing accounts from the vice president and the president today. those senators include chris

kuhns as well as lindsey graham. he made an interesting comment. he is the republican from south carolina. he said he would like to know if the president is in fact under investigation. so that could be a mounting question here on comment hill. i have to tell you i spoke with republicans and democrats is that almost universally they took issue with the way the president characterized the former fbi director. that he referred to him as a showboat and a grandstander. saying that time provocation isn't necessary in this type of situation. so the reaction continues to pour in there. a lot of focus what seems to be differing accounts coming out of the white house. >> i think you're right. new resxaks new reporting. i want to share with you, as we speak to several of our colleagues. the white house had been considering, as we reported. i reported this morning, a visit

to fbi headquarters, publicly floating the idea this morning as we know it. we're now told that idea was dropped today. administration officials tell nbc news the optics would not be good. fbi officials apparently said that the president was unlikely to have been greeted warmly having unceremoniously fired a very popular director. again, this is new reporting just coming into us at nbc. the fbi agents say that many of them voterdd for trump. few are happy about the decision to sack james comey and even fewer appreciate the way that it happened. my sense is most fbi employees feel a loyalty to comey. one person who works at the headquarters told nbc news, and whether they agree or disagree with the way he handled the e-mail case, like and respect him, trump would not be well received at the headquarters. so there's some breaking news for you right now. i want to get to our panelists. nbc news presidential historian michael beshlof.

retired fbi special agent james wedig. i want to get your reaction to that. this morning on this broadcast, i reported the white house was weighing, although no decisions had been made, weighing the president making a trip to the fbi headquarters in effect to show his commitment to that agency. right now we're being told they were effectively told we don't think this is a good idea. what do you make of that? >> well, clearly the agents were upset the way mr. comey was fired, but at the same time, i will tell you, and i think you reported, that , you know, last year the agents were equally upset about the way mr. comey handled the clinton investigation. making the appearance before congress. and then, again, going before congress before the election. so -- >> so james, i guess the question would be had it not been handled the way it was unceremonio unceremoniously, effectively chopping his head off when he was meeting with fbi employees in california with no prior

warning, no phone call, had it been done more appropriately, would fbi agents have supported this decision, do you suggest? >> well, the agents enjoy the support of the american public. that's what they care about. changes at the top don't really affect the rank and file. and it doesn't affect the investigations. and so they understand that leaders at the top can come and go and can happen at the womim a president. >> right. i want to ask you, michael, if i can, you've seen our conversation, lester's conversation with president trump today. >> sure have. >> what really struck you most? a lot of people are focusing on his statement that he had decided from the very beginning, in effect, that he was going to fire james comey with or without that recommendation from the deputy attorney general. where does this sort of place itself in your understanding of the way presidential decisionmaking goes? >> well, that was amazing because the last couple of days the white house has been saying that he made that decision only after being advised by his attorney general and deputy attorney general that comey had

to go, so he's cutting the ground out from them, but more important to me is his account of especially the dinner with james comey because he was saying james comey wanted to stay on, this was essentially almost a job interview and trump during this dinner asked comey is the fbi investigating me? which only has at least the more than faint suggestion that he was trying to intimidate comey, perhaps curtail the investigation and that really begins to sound at least a little bit like something that brought richard nixon down which was obstruction of justice. the desire to stop an investigation that might immesh him. >> couldn't some people suggest they would say wait a second here, michael, the bottom line is his tweets were more intimidating if, you know, if you would, saying this was basically a taxpayer funded

charade, what he said there privately wasn't so bad, can you tell me, am i off the hook? good. >> my point of view, it's a lot worse both in appearance and reality for you to have an fbi director -- >> private dinner. >> -- who wants to keep his job coming in and the president essentially saying during that conversation whether comey will stay or leave. i'd like to know from you whether this investigation is going on or not. it doesn't look great. >> what did you make of that moment, michael, yesterday where the president was in the oval office, no american media, mind you, allowed inside. the only pictures came out courtesy of russian media that essentially were there at the invitation of the russian government, but there was the president alongside sergey kislyak, russian ambassador to the u.s., also alongside sergey lavrov, the foreign minister of that country, there he was alongside henry kissinger. a lot of people read this as effectively the president thumbing his nose at his critics as he sat by a guy who served under richard nixon and sat side

by side be some of the top officials in russia. >> i think i would focus on the russian part of it, peter, and here you have a president who is at least his entourage is under investigation for possible collusion with the russians. our relations with the russians are as low as they have been in a long time. the russians were accused of attacking our democracy last year by interfering with our presidential campaign and election and then on the same day that this comes to a head, with the firing of james comey, you have the scene with the president, you know, laughing it up with the foreign minister from russia and also the ambassador and as you suggested the american press was barred, those early photographs were from the russian side -- >> you're right. >> the optics were terrible and i think so was the reality. >> michael beschloss, james wedick, we appreciate your time. thank you. >> sure. >> we're going to be right back after this quick break. you're watching msnbc. we're live from a rain-drenched

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back now live. before we say good-bye, right now the president, again, tweeting he is replying to a tweet from rosie o'donnell in december where she wrote, "fire james comey." the president's response within the last few minutes, "we finally agree on something, ros rosie. you'll be reminded he called

disgusting,s a slop, criticized her in the first debate. the feud between the two of them dating back more than a decade. i'm peter alexander. follow me on twitter @peteralexander. instagram, @peteralexandertv. "deadline white house" with my friend, nicolle wallace, begins right now. hi, everyone. i'm nicolle wallace. it's 4:00 and our own lester holt is on deadline today with president trump and his first sit-down interview since the bombshell firing of his fbi director. president trump is contradicting his vice president and members of his senior staff in that exculusive interview detailing his determination to fire james comey. he also revealed to lester the specific circumstances in which he took the rather unusual step of asking the fbi director if he's under investigation. let's watch. >> look, he's a showboat, he's a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil, you know that, i know that. everybody knows that. you take a look